USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Popular history of Boston > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18
In the middle of May, 1766, the news of the repeal of the Stamp Act was received in Boston. The town then num- bered some twenty thousand people. The fate of the bill for the repeal of the Stamp Act had been for weeks almost the only subject of discussion. Upon it the patriots felt rested the destiny of the colonies.
Men scanned the blue line of Boston harbor, to see the white sails rise from the sea, and rushed to the wharves to receive the first intelligence from London. At length, on May 16, a lovely day, a brigantine flying the English flag was seen beyond the green islands of the bay, and soon entered the inner harbor. She was met at the wharf by a crowd, restless and impatient with anxiety.
An hour later the bells of the town began to ring; the long idle ships in the harbor shot their ensigns into the warm May air ; the booming of cannon startled the people of the neighboring towns, and, as evening came on, great bonfires on Beacon Hill blazed upon the sea. From lip to lip passed
14
-7
210
Young Folks' History of Boston.
the single expression of joy and relief, -" The Stamp Act is repealed !"
A few days later witnessed a more remarkable scene, - a public holiday to give expression to the joy. At one o'clock in the morning the bell of Dr. Byles's church, standing near the Liberty Tree, where the Colonists used to meet, gave the signal for the beginning of the festival. It was followed by
WAT!
THE HANCOCK HOUSE.
the melodious chimes of Christ Church, at the North End, and then by all the bells of the town.
The first shimmering light and rosy tinges of the May morning found steeples fluttering with gay banners, and the Liberty Tree on Essex Street displaying among its new leaves an unexampled glory of bunting and flags.
The festivities lasted until midnight. At night an obelisk which had been erected on the Common in honor of the
ADAMS OPPOSING THE STAMP ACT FROM THE OLD STATE HOUSE.
213
Patriotic Ladies.
I770.
occasion was illuminated with two hundred and eighty lamps, and displayed upon its top a revolving wheel of fire, as the crowning pyrotechny. The Hancock House, which stood on Beacon Hill where the Brewer residence now stands, was a blaze of light, and Province House was in its vice-regal glory.
The Stamp Act was repealed, but the British government continued to tax the colonies, and the sudden sunshine of joy soon was overcast, and the storm gathered again.
The article upon which the Crown made the most persist- ent attempt to raise a revenue was tea. The tax was a small matter, of itself; but if the right to tax one article was admitted, it acknowledged the right to tax all articles.
As the excise officers of Great Britain held control of the ports, and in some cities were supported by soldiery, no tea could be obtained without paying the tax. The people therefore resolved that they would neither use, sell, nor buy an ounce of tea upon which this unjust tax had been paid.
In February, 1770, the mistresses of three hundred fami- lies in Boston signed their names to a league, by which they bound themselves not to drink any tea until the obnoxious revenue act was repealed.
Of course the young ladies were as ready to deny them- selves the use of this fashionable beverage as were their mothers ; and only a few days later, a great multitude of misses, pretty and patriotic, signed a document headed with these words : -
" We, the daughters of those patriots who have and do now appear for the public interest, and in that principally regard their posterity, -as such do with pleasure engage with them in denying ourselves the drinking of foreign tea, in hopes to frustrate the plan which tends to deprive a whole community of all that is valuable in life."
214
Young Folks' History of Boston.
The spirit of liberty spread. Tumultuous meetings be- came common in the street. In 1768 the officers of cus- toms seized a sloop, named Liberty, belonging to John Hancock, and placed her under the guns of a ship-of-war in the harbor. A mob collected, seized one of the collector's boats and burned it on the Common. In 1770 a boy was accidentally killed by a royalist whom the crowd were deriding by an effigy. The funeral of the boy was made the occasion of a great popular gathering.
The corpse was taken to the Liberty Tree on Essex Street, amid tolling bells, where the immense procession began. Fifty schoolboys led, and were followed by about two thou- sand citizens. The pall was supported by six boys; the coffin bore a Latin inscription, -" Innocence itself is not safe." Business was suspended. The whole population of the town was in the streets, and the bells of the neighboring towns were heard echoing the solemn funeral bells of Boston.
Such was the temper of the people. The royal governor was almost powerless, and troops were brought to Boston and stationed on the Common. Ships arrived bringing rein- forcements ; the Common became a camp, and difficulties between the citizens and foreign soldiers were frequently occurring. Every one seemed to feel that the storm of war was gathering.
It was the 5th of March, 1770, a clear moonlight night, with a light snow upon the ground, soon to be tinged with blood. A mob had assembled in front of the Custom House in State Street, where the British guard were stationed. Citizens had been insulted by a British soldier, and the town was again electric with excitement. Bells were ringing, people were running through all the streets.
The crowd pressed upon the British soldiers and attacked them with snow and ice.
215
Boston Boys and General Gage.
I770.
" Fire, fire, if you dare !" was cried on every hand.
There was heard the crack of a musket in the keen March air ; another, and another. Three citizens fell dead.
"To arms ! to arms !"
The cry ran through the town.
Drums beat, bells rang madly, the King's Council imme- diately assembled.
The citizens triumphed. The troops were removed to Castle William, on the island at the entrance to the harbor.
The funeral of the slain was attended by a great concourse of people, and another day of clanging bells and feverish excitement was added to those of the past.
The boys were fired with the spirit of their fathers. Gen- eral Gage was the commander of the military forces of New England, and his head-quarters were at Boston. During the winter, when the Common was a camp, the British soldiers destroyed the boys' coasting grounds. The larger boys called a meeting and resolved to wait upon General Haldi- mand, General Gage's subordinate, and report to him the conduct of the soldiers.
When they presented themselves before him he asked with surprise, -
" Why have you come to me ? "
"We come, sir," said the leader, "to ask the punishment of those who wrong us."
" Why, my boys, have your fathers made rebels of you and sent you here to talk rebellion ? "
" Nobody sent us, sir ; we have never insulted your soldiers, but they have spoiled our skating ground, and trodden down our snow hills. We complained ; they laughed at us : we told the captain ; he sent us away. Yesterday our works were again destroyed. We can bear it no longer."
" Good heavens !" said General Gage, on hearing the story ; " the very children draw in the love of freedom with the air they breathe ! "
.
216
Young Folks' History of Boston.
Turning to the boys, he said, -
"You may go ; if any of my soldiers disturb you in the future they shall be punished."
The English East India Company obtained a license to export a large quantity of tea to America. The news reached Boston in October, 1773 ; meetings were called and resolutions were passed that no taxed tea should be landed.
The ships arrived. A great meeting was held in the Old South Church, at which at least two thousand men were present, who were addressed by the patriots.
In the evening strange-looking people began to mingle with the crowd. They were dressed like Indians. One of them at last shouted, -
" Who knows how tea will mingle with salt water ?"
There was heard a wild cry, an Indian war-whoop. The strange-looking people disappeared, and the assembly dis- persed.
In the morning it was found that the men disguised as Indians had boarded the ships and emptied two hundred and forty chests and a hundred half-chests into the dock.
The news of this transaction enraged England. Parliament passed an act closing the port of Boston. Business in the town now almost ceased.
All the summer of 1774 troops were arriving from Eng- land. At the close of the year there were eleven regiments of Red Coats, as the British soldiers were called, in Boston.
Governor and General Gage had arranged to assemble a General Court at Salem in October. But the excitement was so great that he deferred the call by proclamation. The representatives, however, appeared at the previously ap- pointed place and time, and formed a Provincial Congress, and then adjourned to meet at Concord. This Congress called upon the people to arm. General Gage thus found himself ignored, his power as governor gone ; and with it the
DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA.
219
Paul Revere's Ride.
1775.
rule of the royal governors came to an end, after a period of more than eighty years.
The Provincial Congress at Concord placed under arms the whole militia of the province. It took measures for the es- tablishment of two magazines, one at Concord and the other at Worcester. General Gage, who was in command at Bos- ton, was soon informed of what the assembly had done. He was watchful of the patriots ; they were also watchful of him. The slightest movement of the loyalists was suspected. The whole population was prepared to rise in arms to resist the oppressor.
PAUL REVERE'S RIDE.
A day or two before the eventful 19th of April, 1775, Gen- eral Gage began preparations for an expedition to destroy the military stores that the patriots had collected. Boats from a ship-of-war were launched to carry the troops across the Charles River. The movement was observed by the patriots. Companies of soldiers were massed on Boston Common, under pretence of learning a new military exercise.
Dr. - afterwards General - Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill, at once sent Paul Revere to arouse the country. He was to notify Hancock and Adams, who were at Lexington, that a plot was on foot to arrest them, and to warn the people of Concord that the troops were coming to destroy the military stores collected there.
" As soon as the British troops begin to move," said Re- vere to a patriot, "hang out two lanterns in the steeple of the North Meeting-house."
From this position the people of Charlestown would see the signals at once. The officers at the Province House would not discover them.
Revere rowed across the river with muffled oars. He reached Charlestown, and not a moment too soon.
·
220
Young Folks' History of Boston.
April 18th, - ten o'clock. The British troops are in mo- tion. Two lights flash into the darkness from the old North steeple.
" The British troops have marched, but will miss. their aim," said a patriot in the hearing of Lord Percy, one of the British commanders.
" What aim ? "
" The cannon at Concord."
Percy hastened back to the Province House and told Gage what he had heard.
"I am betrayed," said Gage; "let no one leave the town."
But Revere was in Charlestown already.
He flew on horseback over the country roads alarming every household, warning Hancock and Adams at Lexington, and despatching a friend with the news to Concord.
The British troops embarked at the foot of Boston Com- mon, for the tide then came nearly up to the side of the hill where the Soldiers' Monument now stands. They landed at Cambridge, and after a night's march reached Lexington early in the morning. They found there sixty or seventy armed farmers waiting to defend their liberties.
In the chilly spring morning, just before sunrise, Major Pitcairn rode upon Lexington Common.
" Disperse, you rebels," he cried to the armed patriots, accompanying the order with an oath.
He himself fired upon the patriots, at the same time call- ing upon the troops to fire.
The British fired. Eleven patriots fell dead, and nine were wounded. The patriots retreated.
The sun rose over the gray hills.
" Oh what a glorious morning this is !" said Samuel Ad- ams, when he heard that the contest for liberty had indeed begun.
221
Rallying at Concord.
1775.
The British hurried on to Concord, a distance of six miles. They found the country rising in arms, and that the military stores they sought to destroy had been removed. Companies of militia were hastening to Concord from the neighboring towns. Minute-men were gathering there from every road.
PROVINCIALS RALLYING AT CONCORD.
Two parties of British troops went in search of concealed supplies, one over the south bridge and the other over the north bridge. They were watched by the Provincials, who presently saw houses bursting into flame, and resolved to march to the defence of their homes. They advanced towards the north bridge, but the order was that not a shot should be fired unless the regulars attacked them.
At last the British fired. Two patriots fell.
" Fire ! for God's sake, fire !" shouted Major Buttrick of Concord, leaping into the air, and turning round to his men.
222
Young Folks' History of Boston.
The patriots fired.
The American Revolution had begun.
The British had found themselves surrounded by enemies on every hand. They knew they must retreat, and at once.
Back to Boston all the warm April day they marched, fired at by the minute-men who lay in ambush on every side. Finding the dangers increasing they began to run. At two' o'clock in the afternoon they reached a point about a mile from the place where they had murdered the people of Lex- ington in the morning. Here they were met by the flower of the British army, that had been sent for their succor from Boston.
These troops were under Lord Percy, and were twelve hundred strong, with two field-pieces. They were not a mo- ment too soon. Lord Percy formed a hollow square to re- ceive the fugitives, who, as a British writer of the time said, lay down to rest, " their tongues hanging out of their mouths like those of a dog after a chase."
Even when the regulars were thus reinforced their position was very perilous. Their enemies were increasing in num- bers every moment. In a short time the troops would cer- tainly be cut off and overwhelmed unless they moved at once.
The march was resumed and the fighting began again. More men came up to help the patriots, who had become weary with their long, irregular march and hard work. It was seven o'clock in the evening when the British force reached Charlestown. Protected by the guns of the ship-of-war in the harbor, they took to their boats and were ferried across to Boston.
The losses of the British were seventy-three killed, one hundred and seventy-two wounded, and twenty-six missing ; while the Americans lost forty-nine killed, thirty-six wounded, and five missing.
-
CONFLICT AT THE NORTH BRIDGE.
一
1775.
Dorothy Quincy's Wedding. 225
We will close this chapter with some stories of these days of patriotism and some account of the memorials of that noble and heroic period.
THE STORY OF DOROTHY QUINCY'S WEDDING.
In a Connecticut newspaper, printed one hundred and six years ago, appears this brief, business-like announcement : -
"September, 1775, on the 28th ult., was married at the seat of Thaddeus Burr, Esq., in Fairfield, by the Rev. Andrew Eliot, John Hancock, Esq., Prest. of the Continental Con- gress, to Miss Dorothy Quincy, daughter of Edmund Quincy, Esq., of Boston."
Dorothy Quincy was the youngest of nine children, and in 1 775 was living with her father in a pretty wooden dwelling on Summer Street, not far from the stately Hancock mansion, which fronted on the Common. She was fully the equal of Governor Hancock in social position if not in wealth, and had the advantage of him in age, he being some years her senior. She was the petted belle of Boston society at this time. The marriage was arranged, so the gossips said, by Madam Hancock, aunt of the governor, and widow of Thomas Hancock, the great Boston merchant, from whom Governor Hancock derived the bulk of his fortune. Miss Dolly being motherless, the madam chaperoned her about, and conceiving a deep affection for the beautiful girl busied herself in pro- moting a union between her two protégés with such good effect that in the winter of 1775 their engagement was an- nounced.
On the eve of the eventful 19th of April, 1775, Madam Hancock and Miss Dolly were visiting in Lexington at the house of a relative of the former, - a Rev. Mr. Clark. This had been the home of Governor Hancock that winter during the sitting of the Provincial Congress at Concord, and as it
15
226
Young Folks' History of Boston.
happened both he and Samuel Adams were present on this occasion.
At midnight Paul Revere startled this company by riding up with a message from Dr. Warren advising them to save themselves and alarm the country, as General Gage had or- dered a force to march that night to destroy the stores at Concord. There was great excitement in the little village ; the church-bell was rung, and the patriots came pouring in from all sides. Hancock and Adams remained on the green organizing and encouraging the militia until daybreak, when, learning that their capture was one of the objects of the ex- pedition, they retired to Woburn, and found shelter at the house of the Rev. Mr. Jones. The ladies remained in Lex- ington and witnessed the fight, Madam Hancock from the open door and Miss Dolly from the chamber window, until they were called away to attend to the wounded who were brought in.
After the British had passed on to Concord a message from Mr. Hancock arrived telling them where he and Mr. Adams were, and asking them to drive over in the carriage and bring the fine salmon they had ordered for dinner. The ladies did so ; the salmon was cooked, and the party was just sitting down to it when a man rushed in with the news that the British were coming, and the persecuted patriots were again obliged to flee, this time to a friendly swamp, where they remained until the alarm was proven a false one.
Next day Miss Dolly informed Mr. Hancock that she should return to her father in Boston.
" No, madam," he replied, " you shall not return as long as there is a British bayonet in Boston."
" Recollect, Mr. Hancock," she replied, " I am not under your control yet. I shall go in to my father to-morrow."
She did not go, however ; Madam Hancock would not hear of it, and it was nearly three years before she saw her
RopeWalk
Davis's L
Beacon St
Common St
Treamount Sr
Queen Su.
Prison
Church
Square
OLO
CMA
Cornhill
RawSONS L.
School St
school
0
Governows die
SECTION OF BONNER'S MAP, 1722.
Winter St.
Burying Place
229
Dorothy Quincy's Wedding.
1775.
native town again. Madam Hancock, poor lady, never re- turned.
After the battle Hancock and Adams found themselves proscribed men, and as the neighborhood of Boston was un- safe, they passed down through the interior counties of Mas- sachusetts and Connecticut to Fairfield and the hospitable mansion of their mutual friend, Thaddeus Burr.
Madam Hancock and Miss Dolly accompanied them. Mr. Burr was a gentleman of good family and ample estate, and received his guests with the utmost cordiality. At his hos- pitable mansion the two refugees remained for several weeks and then went on to the Second Continental Congress, which met at Philadelphia, and of which Mr. Hancock was Presi- dent. Miss Dorothy and the madam, however, remained at Fairfield all through this eventful summer.
In August Governor Hancock returned from Congress, and on the 28th they were married at Mr. Burr's house by the Rev. Andrew Eliot, pastor of the Fairfield church. It could not have been a very merry gathering, I think, for the groom was a proscribed man, and his house and property, as well as that of his bride, were in the hands of the enemy. Quite a number of guests were present, however, political friends of the Governor, and young lady companions of Miss Dorothy's whom the war had driven into exile. After the blessing had been pronounced the newly wedded pair entered their carriage and were driven by slow stages to Philadelphia, where Mr. Hancock resumed his duties as President of the Congress.
Perhaps the reader is curious to know how this bride of high degree spent the hours of her honeymoon? Chiefly, she tells us, in packing up commissions to be sent to the officers of the volunteer army recently created by Con- gress.
After the evacuation of Boston Mr. Hancock became gov-
230
Young Folks' History of Boston.
ernor, and he and his wife took up their residence at the Hancock House.
DOROTHY HANCOCK'S RECEPTION.
Dorothy Quincy, afterwards wife of John Hancock, was the leader of Boston society at the beginning of the Revolu- tion. She lived in a stately residence on Summer Street. Her grandfather, Edmund Quincy, was Judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts and the colony's agent at the Court of St. James. We have told you the story of her romantic marriage with John Hancock.
The fine old Hancock House stood on Beacon Hill ; Hancock Street descends almost directly from the place. After Dorothy Quincy became Madam Hancock and returned to Boston with her husband after the evacuation of the town, she still led society, and the Hancock House was at times the scene of elegant receptions.
In 1778 a French fleet under Count d'Estaing came sailing into Boston harbor.
" We must give a reception to the officers," said Governor Hancock to the stately Dorothy.
The grand lady thought a breakfast to the officers would be the courteous thing, and so it was arranged that the French Count and thirty officers should be invited to break- fast at the Hancock House.
The Count cordially accepted the invitation, but instead of inviting only thirty officers to accompany him he asked all the officers of the fleet, including the midshipmen.
When John Hancock saw the great crowd of Frenchmen coming he sent word to his wife, -
" Get breakfast for one hundred and twenty more !"
Here was a situation requiring good management in- deed.
JOHN HANCOCK.
233
Dorothy Hancock's Reception.
1778.
We can imagine the stately Dorothy at the Hancock House enjoying the fine appearance of her tables with the ample food for thirty plates. She looks out over the Com- mon to see the French party in gold lace make its appear- ance. There comes a messenger in great haste.
"Get breakfast for one hundred and twenty more."
John Hancock was always equal to an emergency, and so was Dorothy. In this trying situation she did not rush into her room, lock the door, and sit down to cry, nor did she. abuse her husband and call him a brute.
How did the energetic Dorothy meet the difficulty ? She sent word to the guard to milk all the cows on the Com- mon and bring the pails of milk to her, then she despatched her servants who could be spared to borrow cake and other good things of the first families of the town for a breakfast table.
When the great crowd of Frenchmen came she was mis- tress of the situation and prepared to receive them with dignity.
"The Frenchmen," said Dorothy, "ate voraciously, and one of them drank seventeen cups of tea."
Some of the midshipmen destroyed the fruit in the gar- den. The Count seemed to feel that he had encroached on the rule of hospitality, and to make amends he invited Madam Hancock and her friends to visit his fleet.
Dorothy accepted the invitation and determined to in- vite all of her friends to accompany her.
She invited five hundred.
The Count received the party graciously, and provided an elegant entertainment.
The Count with a polite gesture handed Madam Hancock a string, and desired her to pull it. She did so, causing the firing of a cannon. This was a signal for a feu de joie to the fleet. Reports of cannon came from all the ships, and
234
Young Folks' History of Boston.
the party was enveloped in smoke and almost deafened at the sound.
Good Boston ladies are, we hope, always pleasant and beaming when their husbands introduce more company than was expected, - following the example of Dorothy Hancock.
STORY OF A VISIT TO CHRIST CHURCH.
We recently spent a Sabbath at Christ Church, whose steeple is associated with the historic signal lights that gave warning to Paul Revere. It was a late autumn day in which something of summer mildness yet lingered, though the flowers were gone and the trees were bare. We had often seen the sharp spire of Christ Church rising above the havened shipping at the docks and wharves near Charlestown Navy Yard, and had recalled the historic lanterns that once shone as a signal in its high window, and inspired the intrepid rider. The old chimes were ringing as we passed up Salem Street, filling the mellow air with the sweet music of " Antioch."
A great change has passed over this part of the city of Boston since those same chimes rung out in colonial days. Excepting Christ Church and Copp's Hill Burying-ground, little remains to remind the visitor that this was once the place of residence of the best English families. Salem Street is full of tenement-houses, and the streets that intersect this once fine thoroughfare swarm with the children of a foreign population, representing half a dozen nationalities. The air, though cleared on Sunday, is usually smoky from mechanical workshops, and hardly a house remains that would indicate any association of the locality with the best days of the New England colonies.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.