USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Old landmarks and historic personages of Boston.. > Part 9
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The figure of a winged Mercury, well executed in wood by Simeon Skillin, a North End carver, was placed over the door of the Post-Office in State Street. The tutelar deity was rep- resented in the act of springing from a globe. In one hand he held his emblematic rod, in the other a letter directed to the president of the Branch Bank.
In front of the old meeting-house stood the whipping-post, and probably the stocks, though this latter engine has been lo- cated in front of the Old State House. In later years, the stocks and pillory were a mova- ble machine, on wheels, and had no fixed position. Both were used as a means of enforcing attendance, or punishing offences THE STOCKS. against the church, and their location at its very portal served, no doubt, as a gentle re- minder to the congregation.
It is recorded that in the year 1753 a woman stood for an hour in the pillory near the Town House, amid the scoffs and jeers of the multitude. The Scarlet Letter is no myth ; Haw- thorne had but to turn to the criminal records of the Colony for the dramatic incidents he has related. The General Court enacted in 1695 a law to prevent marriages of consanguinity, the declared penalty of breaking which was that the man or woman offending should be set upon the gallows for an hour, with a rope about the neck, and in the way from thence to the
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common jail be severely whipped. The offenders were forever to wear a capital letter "I," cut out of cloth of a color different from their clothes, on the arm or back, in open view. If the culprit removed the letter, he or she was to be further whipped. No doubt there were Hester Prynnes thus branded and scourged in State Street.
Public whipping was inflicted as late as 1803, and per- sons are living who witnessed it. By order of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, two men were placed in the pillory, in the year mentioned, in State Street. Pier- pont, the owner, and Storey, master of the brig Hannah, having procured a heavy insurance on their cargo, for a voyage to the West Indies, the vessel was sunk in Boston harbor, November 22, 1801, and a large portion of the in- surance collected. Fraud being proved, both as to the lading and loss of the brig, the Court decreed that Pierpont and Storey be set in the pillory in State Street two several times, one hour each time, and imprisoned two years, and pay the costs of prosecution. THE PILLORY. The sentence was duly executed, the pillory being placed near "'Change " Avenue. The Sheriff usually performed the whip- ping by deputy. The whipping-post became a perambulating affair, and at one time was stationed in West Street. Its ac- knowledged utility appears by the Sessions Justice's famous charge, which lays down the law in somewhat startling phrase.
"Gentlemen of the grand jury : You are required by your oath to see to it, that the several towns in the county be provided accord- ing to law with,
Pounds and schoolmasters, Whipping-posts and ministers."
John Wilson, first pastor of the First Church, owned land on Cornhill and State Street ; the lane bearing his name, and
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running through his tract, was deservedly called Crooked Lane. His dwelling was on the site of the Globe Bank, de- molished in 1873 to widen the narrow way, which still retains, however, the old minister's name.
Wilson's Lane is chiefly remarkable for the number and ex- cellence of its eating-houses. This circumstance, with its old name, calls to mind Tom Hood's lines : -
"I've heard about a pleasant land, where omelets grow on trees, And roasted pigs run crying out, 'Come eat me, if you please.' My appetite is rather keen, but how shall I get there ?
'Straight down the Crooked Lane, and all round the Square.'"
The Merchants' Bank succeeded to the location of the United States Branch Bank, which was in its day a building of consid- erable architectural pretension. The two columns which now support the front of the Merchants' Bank performed a like ser- vice for its predecessor, and when taken down were fluted to correspond more nearly with the plan of the new building. Observation will show that the granite is of a different color from that used in the rest of the façade. The United States Bank building was built of Chelmsford granite, in imitation of a Grecian temple. It was at first proposed to take the site of the Old State House, but the project - happily for the existence of this old monument - was abandoned. The struc- ture was erected in 1824 ; Solomon Willard was the architect ; Gridley Bryant, master-mason. The columns referred to were brought from Chelmsford on ponderous trucks built for the pur- pose. On account of their great weight the proprietors of the bridges refused to permit the passage of the teams, and they were accordingly brought over the Neck. The moving of such unwieldy masses of granite - a marvel when it was first attempted - was eclipsed by the transporting of the columns for the Court House and Custom House.
The pediment was a favorite resort for pigeons, which becom- ing somewhat troublesome, by order of Gardiner Greene, the president, a wooden cat was placed on the accustomed perch of the feathered visitors. They were at first a little shy, but soon ceased to have any fear of the sham grimalkin. It was then
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removed to the directors' room, and presided for a long time over the deliberations of the board.
The United States Bank was established in 1791, and the charter expired in 1812, but was revived in 1816, and finally dissolved in 1836. The bank originated in the want of money to carry on the government. The directors were appointed by the parent bank at Philadelphia, and the div- idends which the bank de- clared were made up from the business of all the branches. Under the char- ter of 1816 the capital was thirty-five millions, of which the government owned seven. The at- tempt to permanently es- tablish a bank under gov- ernment control, like the Bank of England, proved UNITED STATES BANK. a failure, as is well known.
The removal of the deposits by Gen- eral Jackson affected the Boston branch but little, but it brought to light a defaulting official. The receiving teller, whose name was John Fuller, finding discovery inevitable, put forty thousand dollars into his pocket one afternoon and absconded. In 1836 Congress revived the charter, but Jackson vetoed it. A bank under the old title, established by the State of Pennsylvania, went into operation in the latter year, and continued until 1841.
The old United States Bank was erected on the site of the Exchange, in 1798, and bore on its front an American eagle, with its wings outstretched, as if in the act of swooping upon the bulls and bears of the street. On the expiration of the charter the State Bank purchased the building, and the eagle was afterwards removed to Faneuil Hall, where it is one of the curiosities to be seen there. It is made of clay baked in an oven at the South End ; and the fractured edges chipped away by relic-hunters have the appearance of broken pottery or tile.
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Formerly the proud bird of Jove, and emblem of our republic, was in the centre of the hall, guarded by an iron railing. The iron gates of the old bank now guard the entrance to the Cem- etery on Washington Street, near the St. James Hotel ; a rather singular transition from the shrine of Mammon to the abode of death. Thomas Russell was the first President in 1792, and Peter Roe Dalton, Cashier. The next location of the United States Bank was in Congress Street, on the west side, and not far from State Street.
"_ Where's the jolly host You told me of ! "T has been my custom ever To parley with mine host."
The Royal Exchange Tavern was on the southwest corner of Exchange and State Streets, and gave the name of Royal Ex- change Lane to that thoroughfare. Shrimpton's Lane was an 'earlier name. This tavern certainly dates back to 1727, and was then kept by Luke Vardy. At the time of the Massacre one Stone was the landlord. It was a resort for the officers of the British army before the Revolution. At the beginning of the present century it was kept by Israel Hatch, and was a reg- ular stopping-place for the Providence stages.
The rencontre between Henry Phillips and Benjamin Wood- bridge, which ended in a duel on the Common, had its begin- ning in this house. After the fire of December, 1747, which destroyed the Town House, the General Court was held at Vardy's for the few remaining days of the session. The Royal Exchange was also a favorite hostelry of the Masons, Vardy being of the fraternity. At a Masonic procession on St. John's day Joseph Green notices the jolly landlord thus : -
" Where's honest Luke ? that cook from London ; For without Luke, the Lodge is undone. 'T was he who oft dispell'd their sadness, And filled the Brethren's hearts with gladness. Luke in return is made a brother, As good and true as any other, And still, though broke with age and wine, Preserves the token and the sign."
The Royal Custom House, at the time of the Massacre, was
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on the southeast corner of Exchange and State Streets. Joseph Harrison was Collector, and William Sheaffe Deputy. With the sentinel on duty at this point began the affray in State Street. The sentinel, abused, beaten, and likely to be overpowered, loaded his piece and shouted for assistance to the post of the main-guard, which was opposite the south door of the Town House. The deplorable results which followed are familiar. The old Custom House had a balcony, from which shots were fired at the populace during the Massacre.
This circumstance, elicited during the investigation into the affair by the town authorities, did not tend to improve the re- lations between the people and the obnoxious officers of the customs. The town desired these officials to be present during the investigation and use the privilege of questioning the wit- nesses. Sheaffe, however, was the only one who attended. He had been a long time connected with the Custom House ; as deputy under Sir Henry Frankland, and as his successor when Sir Henry was removed for inattention to his duties. Sheaffe issued the famous Writs of Assistance. He was the father of the celebrated Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, and a devoted loyal- ist. Sheaffe lived in the vicinity of Scollay Square in Court Street. He had some pretty daughters, of whom Sabine, in his " Loyalists," says :-
" Susanna, Mr. Sheaffe's oldest daughter, married Captain Ponson- by Molesworth, a nephew of Lord Ponsonby.
" The family account is, that on the day of the landing of a regi- ment of British troops in Boston, a halt was made in Queen (Court) Street opposite Mr. Sheaffe's house ; that Susanna, attracted by the music and the redcoats, went upon the balcony ; that Molesworth soon saw her, was struck by her great beauty, gazed intently upon her, and at last said to a brother officer, who, like himself, was lean- ing against a fence, 'That girl seals my fate.'"
Margaret, another daughter of Mr. Sheaffe, was remarkable for her beauty ; so handsome, according to tradition, "no one could take her picture." Previous to her marriage, Lafayette, who admired her, said to her lover, " Were I not a married man, I'd try to cut you out."
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At the time of the Massacre the Custom House was in a building used as a dwelling by Bartholomew Green and family. King Street was then full of dwellings, the occupants using the lower floor for their business. This Green, a printer by profession, had, according to Thomas, the peculiar faculty of recognizing at sight any vessel belonging to the port of Boston. Perpetually on the watch, as soon as a vessel could be discovered with a spy-glass he knew its name, and gave information to the owner. He had some small office in the Custom House at one time.
He who stood on the balcony of the Old State House in 1770 might count five taverns of repute in King Street. The Bunch of Grapes was the best punch-house, but Vardy's, the nearest, was probably most frequented by the barristers and officers of the court.
EXCHANGE COFFEE HOUSE.
From our stand-point, at the lower end of the Old State House, Devonshire Street opens at our right hand. The Pud- ding Lane of yore is suggestive of good living. Accordingly we find the well-remembered Exchange Coffee-House was situ- ated in Congress Square, once known by the singular title of Half-Square Court. The name of this house owes its origin to the fact that the principal floor was intended to be used by the
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merchants as an Exchange. It was a mammoth affair of seven stories, far in advance of the wants of its day, and was com- pleted in 1808, having occupied two years and a half in build- ing ; it cost half a million. An unsuccessful speculation, it was the means of ruining many of the mechanics who were em- ployed in building it. Destroyed by fire November 3, 1818, it was rebuilt in a less expensive manner, and occupied as a tavern until 1853, when it was demolished, giving place to the build- ings known as the " City Exchange."
The front of the Coffee House, on Congress Street, was orna- mented with six marble Ionic pilasters, and crowned with a Corinthian pediment. It had entrances on the State Street side and from Devonshire Street. The building was of an ir- regular shape, rather like a triangle with the apex cut off, and contained about two hundred and ten apartments. It was in the very centre of business, and was a stopping-place for stages going or returning from town. A number of Masonic Lodges occupied the upper stories.
Captain Hull made the Exchange his quarters when he was in port during the war of 1812. At the rooms of the Exchange was kept a register of marine news, arrivals, departures, etc. When Hull arrived in Boston after his fortunate escape from the British fleet in July, 1812, he wrote with his own hand in this book the following :-
" Whatever merit may be due for the escape of the Constitution from the British fleet, belongs to my first officer, Charles Morris, Esq. " ISAAC HULL."
On his arrival, after the memorable action with the Guerriere, Hull was the recipient of flattering attentions from the merchants, and indeed the whole population vied to do him honor. Hull, with straightforward manliness, wrote on the journal of the Coffee House a well-deserved tribute to the services of this same Lieutenant, afterwards Commodore Morris, who was severely wounded in the fight.
Dacres, who became Hull's prisoner after this engagement, lodged at the Exchange. Of him it is related, that when he went up the side of the Constitution, after leaving his own
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ship, Hull, eager to soothe the feelings of his gallant adversary, stepped forward, offered his hand, and said, " Dacres, my dear fellow, I am glad to see you !" The reply of the discomfited Briton was, " D-n it, I suppose you are." The twain became afterwards firm friends.
President Monroe visited Boston in July, 1817. He took apartments at the Exchange Coffee House. On the 4th a sumptuous dinner was served, at which the following guests were present. It would be hard to find a more distinguished company. General Swift, Superintendent of West Point Acad- emy, presided, assisted by Commodore Perry and Mr. Mason. The other guests were ex-President John Adams, Governor Brooks, Lieutenant-Governor Phillips, General H. Dearborn, President Kirkland, Chief Justice Parker, Judges Story, Jack- son, Davis, and Adams, Generals Cobb and Humphreys of the old army, Hon. Messrs. Pickering and Fales, Commodores Bainbridge and Hull, and other naval officers. The President returned the visit of the venerable John Adams, and the two walked, arm in arm, over the farm at Quincy, like any two plain country gentlemen.
The fire which consumed the Coffee House was destructive. The keeper, Mr. Barnum, lost $ 25,000. Eleven printing-offices, the Grand Lodge of the State, and several other Masonic Lodges were burned out.
Where the Traveller building stands was once the printing- office of the " Columbian Centinel," established in 1784. It was then the size of a sheet of commercial post writing-paper, and published semi-weekly. Benjamin Russell was the editor, a name well known in the annals of Boston journalism. Rus- sell was an apprentice to Isaiah Thomas of the celebrated Worcester Spy. Thomas had the ill luck to be drafted in 1780, and young Russell volunteered in his place. During his ser- vice he witnessed the execution of André, at Tappan, as one of the guards. Russell published the Centinel until 1824.
When the Duc de Chartres, afterwards Louis Philippe, was in Boston, an exile from his native country, he was in the habit of visiting the Centinel office to obtain the news from abroad,
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and, it is said, occasionally wrote articles for the paper. The Centinel was, at this time, distinguished for the accuracy of its information in regard to the war then waging between repub- lican France and combined Europe. An atlas which had be- longed to Louis enabled the editor to describe the topography of the battle-fields minutely, and thus surpass his contempo- raries. Louis Napoleon, late Emperor of the French, was, if report speaks true, at a later day, an habitué of the Centinel office. Thus the representatives of two opposing dynasties have eagerly scanned the columns of the same republican newspaper for intelligence that was to make or mar their fortunes. The Centinel was the leading Federalist organ of New England, and was ably conducted.
Next is Congress Street, named for the National Legislature. The founders of Boston called it Leverett's Lane, from Elder Thomas Leverett, who owned the tract through which it passes. It was subsequently Quaker Lane, from the old Quaker Meet- ing-house situated therein. Congress Street, at its junction with State, was once only eleven feet wide ; and Exchange, even now scarcely deserving the name of street, was once as narrow as Wilson's Lane, but was widened through its entire length. The lower part of State, where it meets Long Wharf, was also widened, - a proceeding so repugnant to one of the proprietors, that he took his gun and threatened to shoot any one that attempted to remove his building. It was effected, however, without bloodshed.
The Exchange is built upon ground which, in the olden time, belonged to Elder Thomas Leverett, who emigrated from Boston, England, where he had been an alderman, and a parishioner of Rev. John Cotton. He was a man of property and distinction in the province. His more distinguished son, afterwards gov- ernor, became the owner of this property, which he parted with in 1656. It became afterwards two estates, each having a pro- prietor of consequence.
Andrew Belcher, one of the most wealthy merchants of Bos- ton, and a contemporary with old André Faneuil, lived, in 1691, in the westerly part of this estate, which is described as " front-
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ing on the Broad Street near the Exchange." This was before they had found a name for the street. Belcher's house was of briek. He also owned two brick warehouses, " the one bigger and the other less," lying near the Town Dock ; an estate at the south corner of Washington and Bedford Streets, one in Wing's Lane, and other valuable property. He had been one of the Pro- vincial Council, and was a representative in 1698 and 1701.
Jonathan Belcher, afterwards governor of "the Massachu- setts," was in his tenth year when Andrew, his father, came from Charlestown to live in Boston. While in Europe, the Bostonian was presented at court, and made so favorable an impression on George I. that the King appointed him governor in 1730. The year previous he had gone again to England as agent for the colony, - a position he had not obtained very creditably, accord- ing to Hutchinson. Governor Belcher became very unpopular, and was superseded, in 1741, by Governor Shirley ; but was afterwards appointed governor of New Jersey. Shaw says Governor Belcher's house was after the model of Julien's, which is represented in another place ; he adds that it was standing a few years before he wrote, in 1817. Mr. Belcher was a very opulent merchant. His residence was in Orange Street, now Washington, in 1732. He was one of the foremost in organiz- ing the Hollis Street Church, and gave the Society land to build it upon. During his administration occurred the great religious revival, caused by the visit of Whitefield, and Faneuil Hall Market was built. Governor Belcher's son, Jonathan, of Bos- ton, became lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia. He was an able jurist, and had been also Chief Justice of that province.
Governor Leverett sold a part of his estate, next east of Governor Belcher's, to Jeremiah Dummer, goldsmith, in 1677. This Jeremiah, father of two distinguished sons, was himself a conspicuous man in the affairs of the town, and a deacon of the First Church.
William Dummer, the elder son, lieutenant-governor of the colony from 1716 to 1729, was a captain in the Ancient and Honorable Artillery in 1719. He was acting chief-magistrate during a great part of his term, the governor, Samuel Shute,
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being absent from his post. The principal events of Governor Dummer's term were the establishment of a linen manufactory in the town, and the introduction of inoculation for the small- pox, during one of its periodical visits, by Dr. Boylston. This terrible distemper, which had scourged Boston with great vio- lence at different times, was arrested by this simple expedient, which the Western world owes to the efforts of a woman. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu accompanied her husband to the Porte, where he was ambassador, in 1716. While there she witnessed the custom among the Turks of engrafting for the small-pox. She at once devoted her extraordinary epistolary powers to procure the introduction of this great boon into Eng- land, and, by great exertions, happily succeeded. Franklin's paper was established while Dummer was acting-governor. Governor Dummer provided in his will for the manumission and care of his three negroes. He attended Hollis Street Church, living close at hand at the time.
Jeremiah Dummer, the younger, was born in the old home- stead in State Street. He graduated at Harvard in 1699, and studied at the University of Utrecht, where he took a degree. A polished scholar and writer, he is known in public life as the Massachusetts Agent in England, 1710-21. He published an eloquent defence of the New England charters when they were threatened in the latter year.
In a building adjoining the west side of the Exchange was the first United States Custom House ; General Benjamin Lincoln was the first collector, and retained the position until 1808. He occupied part of the house for a dwelling. A distinguished Revolutionary soldier, General Lincoln fought from the lakes to Savannah. He was with Gates at Saratoga as second in command, and with D'Estaing in the assault on Savannah. The fortune of war made him a prisoner to Sir H. Clinton in May, 1780, with the garrison of Charles- ton. Again, at Yorktown, he had the satisfaction of seeing the army of Cornwallis lay down their arms. In Shays' Rebel- lion of '87 Lincoln commanded the State forces ; he was also lieutenant-governor in this year. General Lincoln's portrait,
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by F. A. Durivage, - copied from Sargent's picture in the Historical Society's Collection -is in the collector's room at the Custom House.
The Merchants' Exchange, now the Sub-Treasury and Post- Office, is one of the most imposing edifices in State Street. It was erected in 1842, and covers ground on which stood the United States Branch, and afterwards the State Bank.
The first action in regard to a post-office appears to have been an order of the General Court, November 5, 1639, as follows :-
"For the preventing the miscarriage of letters, it is ordered, that notice bee given, that Richard Fairbanks, his house in Boston, is the place appointed for all letters, which are brought from beyond seas, or to be sent thither ; are to be brought unto him, and he is to take care that they bee delivered or sent according to their directions ; provided that no man shall be compelled to bring his letters thither except hee please."
Somewhat later it seems to have become the custom to bring letters to the Exchange, in the Town Hall, to run the hazard of being forwarded by visitors ; but this proved so precarious a method that the Council, in 1677-78, appointed John Hayward Postmaster for the whole colony. John Campbell, publisher of the News-Letter, was Postmaster about 1704.
In 1711 the Post-Office was in Old Cornhill, and, when the great fire occurred in October of that year was removed to the south side of Milk Street, opposite Rev. Mr. Pemberton's. It was removed back to Cornhill soon after this. William Brooker was Postmaster in 1719. In 1754 the Post-Office was in Corn- hill, at the house of James Franklin, Postmaster ; in 1770 it was still in Cornhill, between King Street and Dock Square ; Tut- hill Hubbard was Postmaster in 1771. Between this date and 1788 it occupied the corner of Court and Washington Streets (Sears Building), and in the latter year was removed to 44 Cornhill, where New Cornhill now enters Washington Street.
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