USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Old landmarks and historic personages of Boston.. > Part 6
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LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
and about midway from the entrance to Pemberton Square to Beacon Street.
The Bellingham estate was also the property of Peter Faneuil, who received it from Andrew, his uncle, in 1737. The house, a fine old stone mansion, stood on the hillside some distance back from the street. Opening into the cellar was a curious cylindrical brick vault, resembling in shape a wine- cask, and used as a wine-cellar by the more modern occupants. It was about fifteen feet in diameter by twenty-five feet long ; and as it formed no part of the original cellar, which was amply sufficient for ordinary purposes, was considered to have been a place of concealment for smuggled goods.
The following description of the Faneuil house is from Miss Quincy's Memoir : "The deep court-yard, ornamented by flowers and shrubs, was divided into an upper and lower plat- form by a high glacis, surmounted by a richly wrought iron railing decorated with gilt balls. The edifice was of brick, painted white ; and over the entrance door was a semicircular balcony. The terraces which rose from the paved court behind the house, were supported by massy walls of hewn granite, and were ascended by flights of steps of the same material. A grasshopper yet glittered on a summer-house which com- manded a view only second to that from Beacon Hill."
Such was the mansion at the time of its occupancy by Gov- ernor Phillips. Andrew Faneuil erected on this estate the first hothouse in New England. The deed to him describes the mansion as "a stone house."
The Faneuils were French Huguenots from La Rochelle, ever memorable from its siege and gallant defence, and came to America after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The name is erroneously inscribed "Funel" on the stone which covers the remains of the Faneuils in the Granary Burying-Ground. Peter Faneuil is best known as the munificent donor of Fan- euil Hall to the town of Boston. He was born at New Rochelle, near New York, in 1700; was the wealthiest Bos- tonian of his day, and after having lived only forty-two years, died suddenly of dropsy in 1742. Like many of his
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KING'S CHAPEL AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
contemporaries, he was a slaveholder, and there is a sort of poetic justice in the fact that the first steps for the emancipa- tion of slaves in Boston were taken in Faneuil Hall.
Peter Faneuil lived in a style worthy his position as a prince among merchants. He owned a chariot and coach, with English horses, for state occasions, and a two and four wheeled chaise for ordinary purposes. He had five negroes, and four- teen hundred ounces of plate, among which is enumerated "a large handsome chamber-pot." His cellar was bursting with good wine, arrack, beer, Cheshire and Gloucester cheeses, - what wonder his decease was sudden ! - and he died owner of eight buildings in Cornhill and King Street, with many vessels and parts of vessels.
To retrograde a little, next north of Peter Faneuil's once dwelt Rev. John Davenport, who came over to Boston in 1637. He was one of the founders of New Haven, Connecti- cut. When the Regicides, as Charles I.'s judges Goffe and Whalley were styled, were forced to live in concealment, Davenport took them into his own house. Returning to Bos- ton he became, in 1668, pastor of the First Church, but died in 1670, after holding his charge but a short time, and lies in the " Old Burial-Place," opposite where he once lived. The estate of Rev. John Davenport remained for nearly a century the property of the First Church, and was occupied by Fox- croft, Clarke, and others.
Lieutenant-Governor William Phillips, by birth a Bostonian, became the proprietor of the Faneuil mansion and estate in 1791, which was confiscated in 1783 by the Commonwealth. Governor Phillips also acquired the Davenport estate in 1805, which gave him a magnificent homestead, well worthy one of the solid men of Boston. He was in office from 1812 to 1823. Mr. Phillips made a most liberal use of the fortune he inherited, was a great benefactor of the Massachusetts General Hos- pital during his life, and made valuable bequests to Phillips Academy, Andover Theological Seminary, and other institu- tions.
Rev. John Oxenbridge, another pastor of the First Church,
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LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
lived on the site of the Pavilion in 1671. A former occu- pant was Colonel Samuel Shrimpton, who at one time owned Noddle's Island (East Boston), and gave his name to what is now Exchange Street, once Shrimpton's Lane. Rev. John Oxenbridge was educated at Oxford and also at Cambridge, was a popular preacher and a fluent writer. Dying in 1674, he was interred, like his predecessor Davenport, in the Old Burying-Place opposite. George Cradock, Collector of Boston, lived here in 1728.
We have now reached the corner of Beacon Street, which was first styled the lane leading to the Almshouse, a rather humble designation for the most aristocratic street of Boston. The Albion corner was once occupied by James Penn, ruling elder of the First Church, and a citizen of note. It became later the estate of Samuel Eliot, father of Mayor Eliot, noted for his reforms in the Fire Department. Both the Albion site and that of the block of houses west of it were occupied by Mr. Eliot's mansion-house and gardens. He was a true gentleman of the old school, wedded to the customs of a past generation. In the coldest weather he appeared in his customary cocked hat, small clothes, and ruffled shirt bosom, without cloak or overcoat. He was a dealer in dry goods at the west corner of Wilson's Lane, in Dock Square.
From the array of honorable names presented, Tremont Row was once entitled to be called the Rotten Row of Boston. En- dicott, Vane, Bellingham, governors of the Colony ; Phillips, lieutenant-governor of the State ; and the eminent divines Cot- ton, Davenport, and Oxenbridge, all found a residence here.
We continue our perambulations through School Street, which, receiving its name from the old Latin School, was called Latin School Street. Its limits were the same as now, and it was first called the lane leading to Centry Hill. It was laid out in 1640.
Below the old King's Chapel stood the Latin School, whose situation and removal to the opposite side of the street has already been described. It originated in 1634, and Philemon Pormont was "intreated to become schoolmaster for the teaching
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KING'S CHAPEL AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
and nourtering of children with vs." This was the beginning of that educational system in which Boston takes so just a pride. The grounds extended down the street nearly to the Franklin statue. The building itself was of one story, large enough to accommodate a hundred scholars. Franklin went to the Latin School one year, entering in 1714, at the age of eight years ; his statue is, therefore, becomingly placed near his alma mater. John Hancock also attended the school, entering in 1745 ; his much-admired and striking autograph was doubtless acquired on its hard benches. Robert Treat Paine, the elder, Lieutenant- Governor Cushing, James Bowdoin, Cotton Mather, Samuel Adams, Sir William Pepperell, and a host of names famous in our history, prepared here for future high stations.
The early masters were men of erudition and high consider- ation in the town. Ezekiel Cheever ranks at the head of the old pedagogues. He was one of the founders of New Haven, and a teacher for seventy years at New Haven, Ipswich, Charles- town, and Boston.
John Lovell presided over the school, as usher and principal, from 1717 until 1775, when the siege put an end to it for a time. He decamped with the Royalists in 1776. He delivered the first public address in Faneuil Hall on the death of its founder. Lovell's house adjoined the new school, and after the evacuation General Gage's coach and phaeton, with harness entire, were found there.
Of the school on the opposite side of the street, which, till 1844, stood on the site of the Parker House, many distinguished Bostonians have been pupils, among whom Harrison Gray Otis, Rev. Dr. Jenks, R. C. Winthrop, Charles Sumner, and the sculptor Greenough are conspicuous.
The Centre Writing School was built in 1790, on the north side of School Street. It was a two-story wooden building, and was pulled down in 1812, as it then obstructed the front of the new Court House. This was the school of Master James Car- ter. The pupils were accommodated by an enlargement of the Latin School.
The statue in bronze of Benjamin Franklin, in the grounds
3 *
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LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
of the City Hall, is by Richard S. Greenough, and was cast by the Ames Manufacturing Company at Chicopee, Mass. It is eight feet high, and stands on a pedestal of granite, capped with a block of verd antique marble. Four bas-reliefs represent different periods of Franklin's career. It was publicly inaugu- rated September 17, 1856.
When Franklin worked in the printing-office of Mr. Watts, Little Wild Street, London, he was called by his fellow-work- men the " Water American," because he refused to drink any- thing else, while they drank their five pints of beer apiece daily. When he went to England afterwards, as agent for Massachu- setts, he went into this office, and going up to a particular press (now in this country), said to the two workmen, "Come, my friends, we will drink together. It is now forty years since I worked like you at this press, a journeyman printer."
Franklin's celebrated toast at Versailles will not lose by repe- tition. At the conclusion of the war he, with the English Ambassador, was dining with the French Minister Vergennes ; a toast from each was called for. The British minister began with, "George III., who, like the sun in its meridian, spreads a lustre throughout and enlightens the world." The French ambassador followed with, "Louis XVI., who, like the moon, sheds its mild and benignant rays on and illumines the world." Our American Franklin then gave, "George Wash- ington, commander of the American armies, who, like Joshua of old, commanded the sun and moon to stand still, and they obeyed him."
The City Hall stands on ground sold to the town by Thomas Scotto in 1645. The foundation of the present building was laid in 1862 with appropriate ceremonies. It is built of Con- cord granite, and was designed by Messrs. Bryant and Gilman. The first Town House was erected between 1657-59, at the head of State Street, of wood, where the Old State House now stands. A legacy had been left by Captain Robert Keayne, in 1656, for this purpose, which was supplemented by sub- scriptions from Governors Endicott, Bellingham, and others. This building was consumed in the fire of 1711 ; another, built
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of brick in 1712, was burnt in 1747, with the early books, records, and valuable papers. In 1748 the Town House was rebuilt. Faneuil Hall was also used as a Town House for nearly eighty years, and the first city government was organized there. In 1830 the city government removed to the Old State
THE OLD COURT HOUSE AND CITY HALL.
House, which was, on September 17, dedicated as the City Hall. In 1840 the old County Court House, on the present site, was remodelled for a City Hall, and continued to be so until the erection of the present building and dedication in 1865.
Our view of the Old Court House is taken from School Street, and shows how the building and surroundings appeared in 1812. In the left foreground is Barristers' Hall, and to the right the wall and enclosure of Dr. Samuel Clarke's house is seen.
The County Court House, referred to as occupying this site, was built in 1810, of granite. The main building was octago- nal, with wings at each side. It was one hundred and forty feet long, and was occupied by the offices of Probate, Registry of Deeds, and the County Courts. This building was called Johnson Hall, in honor of Isaac Johnson, tradition having
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ascribed to this spot the location of his house, - a name which does not seem to have been generally adopted.
Next the county property, in 1760, once lived one of the greatest of the ante-Revolutionary patriots, James Otis, " whose electric eloquence was like the ethereal flash that quenched its fire." Otis came to Boston when he was twenty-five, in 1750, and in 1761 made the famous speech against the "Writs of Assistance." Some severe strictures which he made upon the officers of customs resulted in an attack on him at the British Coffee House in King Street, by John Robinson, a commis- sioner of customs, and others. Otis was severely injured, and received a deep cut on the head, which ultimately contributed to cause his insanity. As an instance of the magnanimity of Otis, he refused the damages awarded him by the court, upon receiving an apology from his assailant. In 1769 Otis was causing the greatest concern to his friends for the increasing symptoms he gave of coming mental aberration. John Adams says of him : "I fear, I tremble, I mourn for the man and his country ; many others mourn over him with tears in their eyes." .Otis withdrew to the country in 1770, and, after a brief lucid period, during which he resumed practice in Bos- ton, he was killed at Andover in May, 1783, by a stroke of lightning, at the age of fifty-eight.
Next the residence of Otis, where Niles's Block now is, was the house of Jean Paul Mascarene, a French Huguenot of Lan- guedoc. He went to England and entered the army, coming in 1711 to Nova Scotia, of which he became Lieutenant- Governor, and ultimately rose to the rank of Major-General. He died in Boston in 1760. The house was of two stories, of brick, and painted white. The Mascarene family were loyal- ists, and retired to Nova Scotia when the Revolution began.
Dr. John Warren, the youngest brother of Joseph Warren, killed at Bunker Hill, next occupied the premises. The old house and gardens are still remembered by many. Dr. Warren served in the American army as hospital surgeon, and was long the most eminent surgeon in New England. On the day of Bunker Hill, the anxiety of the doctor for his brother led him
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to attempt to pass a guard, who gave him a bayonet wound, the mark of which he carried to his grave. Dr. Warren was the father of Dr. John C. Warren, scarcely less eminent in his pro- fession than his father. The old doctor died in 1815, and was buried from King's Chapel, Dr. James Jackson delivering the eulogy. Both Joseph and John Warren were born in the old wooden house on Warren Street, in what was formerly Rox- bury. The original mansion, being ruinous, was rebuilt on the site of the old in 1846, partly of the old materials, by Dr. John C. Warren. Many a pilgrimage is paid to the birthplace of the hero who placed himself, against the advice of friends, in the post of honor and of danger.
The Cromwell's Head, a famous tavern, was on the spot. where the building numbered 19 now stands, which is to-day, as of yore, devoted to the replenishing of the inner man. It was kept by Anthony Brackett in 1760, by his widow from 1764 to 1768 ; and later by Joshua Brackett. Its repute was good, for we find the Marquis Chastellux alighting there in 1782, before paying his respects to M. de Vaudreuil, com- mander of the French fleet that was to convey away Rocham- beau's army.
The sign of this hostelry was the effigy of the Lord Protector Cromwell, and it is said hung so low that all who passed were compelled to make an involuntary reverence. The royal officers would not allow it to remain; it was too suggestive of the overthrow of kingly authority ; but Brackett, in whose eyes this circumstance gave it additional value, replaced it after the evacuation. Mine host Brackett's carte is surmounted by a fac-simile of the sign, from a plate by Paul Revere, and shows that besides board, lodging and eating, one might have wine, punch, porter, and liquor, with due care for his beast, for certain pounds, shillings, and pence. Brackett's, no doubt, commanded the patronage of his neighbors we have been noting. Rare Ben Jonson's lines might have been a trumpet- call to his votaries, -
" Wine is the word that glads the heart of man,
And mine 's the house of wine. Sack says my bush, Be merry and drink sherry, that 's my posie."
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But mine host of Cromwell's Head had in 1756 a more dis- tinguished guest, for in that year Lieutenant-Colonel Washing- ton visited Boston accompanied by Captain George Mercer of Virginia and Captain Stewart. He came to refer a question of command to General Shirley who had succeeded Braddock in the military control of the colonies. This was after the disas- trous campaign that ended in Braddock's defeat. Washington's next visit was with the commission of the Continental Congress as commander-in-chief.
The corner familiarly known as the " Old Corner Book- Store," where have gathered the disciples of black-letter and
COMMERCIAL UBULLETIN!
BOOKS & STATIONERY
A.WILLIAMS & Co
THE OLD CORNER BOOKSTORE.
red-line for so many years, is probably the oldest brick build- ing standing in Boston. It bears the date of 1712, and its erection is supposed to have occurred soon after the great fire of 1711. Shurtleff has given its various occupants in detail, but aside from its literary associations the corner has only a single historical incident.
Anne Hutchinson, who fills a chapter in the history of Boston commemorative of the ecclesiastical tyranny of its
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founders, lived here about 1634. She was the leader of the sect of Antinomians, and daughter of Rev. Francis Marbury of London, - an ancestor of Governor Thomas Hutchinson, and rector of several London parishes. Her mother was great aunt of John Dryden the poet. She was a woman of con- summate ability and address, for we learn that Rev. John Cotton was ensnared by her, while Winthrop wavered. The latter, however, became her bitter enemy, and pursued her with great vindictiveness. For a time she had all Boston by the ears, and even public business halted.
Islebius, a German, appears to have founded the sect of Antinomians about 1600. It held the "law of Moses to be unprofitable, and that there is no sin in children." " Mistris Hutchison," as Governor Winthrop calls her, after a two days' trial was banished in 1638, and went to Rhode Island, the haven of religious refugees. Going afterwards to New York,
she fell a victim to an Indian foray. Her followers in Boston, a numerous faction, were disarmed. Winthrop says " she was a woman of haughty and fierce carriage, a nimble wit and active spirit, a very voluble tongue, more bold than a man, though in understanding and judgment inferior to many women."
At the conclusion of Mrs. Hutchinson's trial she was addressed by Governor Winthrop as follows :-
" Mrs. Hutchinson ! the sentence of the court you hear is, that you are banished from out of our jurisdiction, as being a woman not fit for our society, and are to be imprisoned 'til the court shall send you away."
Mrs. H. "I desire to know wherefore I am banished."
Winthrop. "Say no more; the court know wherefore, and is satisfied."
Just before you come to the Universalist Church, ascending School Street towards Tremont, was the little church of the French Huguenots of Boston. This was the church of the Fan- euils, Baudoins, Boutineaus, Sigourneys, and Johonnots ; their names are not quite extinct among us, although the orthography may be changed in some instances. The church was built of
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brick, about 1704, was very small, and for a long time its erection was opposed by the town. Before building, the French occupied one of the school-houses. Queen Anne presented a large folio Bible to this church, which afterwards fell into the possession of Mather Byles ; and Andrew Faneuil gave in his will three pieces of plate for communion and baptism, besides his warehouse in King Street. Pierre Daillé was the first minister, deceased in 1715, and was succeeded by Le Mercier. A singular incident led to the discovery of Daillé's gravestone. While laborers were excavating a cellar on the Emmons estate on Pleasant Street they suddenly uncovered the stone which bore the following inscription :-
Here lyes ye body of yo Reverend Mr. Peter Daille minister of yo French church in Boston died the 21 of May 1715 In the 67 year
0 f his a g e.
After the dissolution of the society, the house of the French Church fell into the hands of the Eleventh Congregational So- ciety, which arose during the excitement caused by the coming of Whitefield. Mr. Crosswell was the pastor, dying in 1785, when the house passed to the Roman Catholics. Mass was first celebrated in the church in November, 1788. It was removed in 1802.
The Second Universalist Church stands next west of the French Church site, and like it is soon to disappear from the historic street. It was erected in 1817, after preliminary action in the preceding year by a meeting held at the Green Dragon Tavern. It was much enlarged and improved in 1837, and entirely remodelled in 1851. Rev. Hosea Ballou was the first pastor. Rev. E. H. Chapin preached here from 1846 to 1848, when he removed to New York, where he is still one of the most eloquent divines of the metropolis.
Province Street received its name in 1833, from its vicinity to the Province House. Before that time it was Governor's Al-
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ley. Chapman Place was Cooke's Court, from Elisha Cooke, a resident of colonial times, who was agent with Increase Mather in England to obtain a new charter for the colony. The house of Elisha Cooke becomes distinguished as the residence of Gov- ernor Burnet until the Province House could be made ready. The house was a two-story brick, with dormer windows, and faced the east. In front was a small court-yard.
Loring, in the " Hundred Boston Orators," says : "The res- idence of James Lovell during the Revolution was on the estate where Chapman Hall is now located, and his family wit- nessed, on the house-top, the burning of Charlestown during the battle of Bunker Hill. While Mr. Lovell was impris- oned in the Boston jail, in Queen Street, in consequence of General Howe having discovered a prohibited correspondence, proving his adherence to the Revolutionary cause, his devoted wife was daily accustomed to convey his food to the prison door." Chapman Hall was in Chapman Place, and is now suc- ceeded by the Parker House.
James was a son of that Master Lovell of whom mention has been made. He had been usher of that school, and master of what is now the Eliot School. He was among the prominent Revolutionary patriots, and had first been imprisoned and finally carried to Halifax on the evacuation. After being exchanged in 1776, Master Lovell became a member of the Continental Congress ; was receiver of taxes in 1784, and after being Col- lector of the port, was for a long time Naval Officer. His son married Helen, one of Mr. Sheaffe's handsome daughters.
Besides having replaced the Latin School, the Parker House also occupies the ground where there long remained an old brick mansion, erected early in the last century by Jacob Wendell. He was a wealthy merchant, and colonel of the Boston Regi- ment in 1745 ; afterwards a councillor, and a director in the first banking institution in the province. His son Oliver, also a leading Bostonian, was the grandfather of Oliver Wendell' Holmes, the only "autocrat " who has ever flourished in Boston.
Oliver Wendell was, like his father, a leading merchant of
E
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Boston. He was a selectman during the siege, and joined in the congratulatory address to Washington when it was termi- nated by the evacuation. The following original document shows us that Wendell was trusted by the commander-in-chief :- The United States of America to the Subscribers Dr.
To one month's services by Land and Sea, from March, 25th 1776, to April 25th, Strictly watching the communication from the Town of Boston to the British fleet Laying in Nantasket Road in Order to apprehend and seize any British Spies who might have Concealed themselves in the Town in order to Carry Intelligence to our Enemies of the Proceedings of the American Troops then in the Town of Boston, by Order of Major Generall Greene.
Thirty Days Each man at 12/ p Day is £ 108. -
BENJ WHEELER BENJA BARNARD ANDREW SYMMES JR
JOSHUA BENTLEY JOHN CHAMPNEY THOMAS TILESTON
Rec the within Contents in full
OLIVER WENDELL
The following is indorsed on the back :-
Pay unto Oliver Wendal Esquire one hundred eight pounds Lawful money for the use of the signers of the within account, he being employed by Major General Greene by my order to engage a number of persons for the within service in March 1776 when the Enemy evacuated Boston.
Given under my hand at Camp Fredericksburg Novem 12 1778 G. WASHINGTON
Hon Major Genl. Gates
To Ebenezer Hancock Esq Paymaster Genl Eastern Department
Sir, - Pay the above sum of one hundred and eight pounds Law- ful money to Oliver Wendell Esq in consequence of the above order for which this with his receipt shall be your sufficient Warrant By the Generals command HORATIO GATES John Armstrong Jr
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