USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Proceedings of the Brookline Historical Society at the annual meeting > Part 30
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In connection with this biography of Paul Dudley it is interesting to relate what I was told by a grandson of Rev. Dr. John Pierce, the beloved pastor of the First Parish of Brookline, Mass., from 1797 until his death in 1849, a period of fifty-two years. . Dr. Pierce was driving one day with his grandson, then a boy, and was calling his attention to the Dudley milestones which they passed on
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the way. "Remember," said Dr. Pierce, "that these stones were placed by Paul Dudley, and to fix this fact in your memory I will teach you a couplet of verse which you must always remember;
"His name on every side you see; The very stones are marked P. D."
Many of the Dudley milestones must have been familiar to young John Pierce when as a student in Harvard College it was his custom to walk from his home in Dorchester to Cambridge at the beginning of the week and at the week's close to return in like manner.
Let us now speak of another native of Massachusetts who rose to distinction. Jonathan Belcher, son of Andrew Bel- cher, a councillor of Massachusetts Bay, was born in Cam- bridge, Mass., January, 1682, and died in Elizabeth, N. J., August 31, 1757. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1699 and then travelled in Europe for six years. Returning to Massachusetts, he became a Boston merchant and was later a representative in the General Court, a councillor, and agent of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in England.
He was appointed by the Crown in 1730 Governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire-then under the same jurisdiction-and served until 1741, when in response to the opposition to his administration he was superseded by Gov. William Shirley. He was appointed Governor of New Jersey in 1747, and held that office until his death.
Jonathan Belcher married January 4, 1705, Mary Partridge, daughter of William Partridge, Lieutenant-Governor of New Hampshire from 1699 to 1702. She died in Boston, October 6, 1736, and in 1748, when Governor of New Jersey, he mar- ried for a second wife Mrs. Teel of London.
Lastly, let us study briefly the life and activities of John McLane, a Boston merchant and benefactor. He was born in Milton, Mass., in 1761 and died there October 16, 1823.
It is interesting to relate of Mr. McLane that, having failed in business late in the eighteenth century and at a later period having recovered his lost fortune, he invited his creditors to a supper at the Exchange Coffee House in Boston. At the gathering, which proved to be a joyous one, each guest found under his plate a check covering the amount of his claim, including interest.
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In his will, John McLane made the Massachusetts General Hospital his residuary legatee, and that institution, then just beginning its great work, received more than one hun- dred thousand dollars from the estate. As a tribute of respect for this benefaction, the trustees of the hospital named the department for the care of the insane the McLean Asylum. The asylum, now great in itself, was located for many years on the Barrell estate in Somerville. It is now splendidly maintained in Waverley.
The milestones which were erected at the expense of John McLean were placed in position in 1823, the year in which he died. In fact, the work was completed after his death by his business partner, Isaac Davenport, who caused the name of J. McLean to be placed on all the stones.
The milestones which we are to consider in this paper were set on five roads which, then as now, connected Boston and some of the neighboring towns, and it is well to remember that all five lines of stones supplement the two which Judge Sewall had placed in 1707, and of which I have spoken pre- viously. The five roads radiate from a southeasterly to a northwesterly direction from the portions of Washington and Roxbury streets which extend from Eustis street to Eliot Square.
The ancient Lower Road to Dorchester, of which I shall speak first, began at the corner of Washington and Eustis streets, and, running through Roxbury and Dorchester, ended at Dorchester Lower Mills; it followed the present Esutis, Dearborn and Dudley streets, Columbia road and Hancock and Adams streets. On this road a line of milestones was placed.in the year 1734 by Gov. Jonathan Belcher "to guide the weary traveller on his way." Teel's History of Milton, published in 1889, tells us that a platway of these stones was at one time in the possession of Edward J. Baker, who died in Dorchester in 1891, and who was deeply interested in the local history of Milton.
We should find the three-mile stone in the immediate vicin- ity of the Hugh O'Brien School on Dudley street, Roxbury, but it has disappeared from sight.
A distance of one mile carries us to Hancock street, opposite Trull street, Dorchester, but the stone which stood there for one hundred and seventy-three years was removed in 1907
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for safe keeping to the grounds of the Dorchester Historical Society at Edward Everett Square. Placed within a foot of the front wall of the ancient Blake house, the appropriate home of the society, it has found a permanent resting place. · It is inscribed-
4 Miles from Boston Town Hous[e] 1734
The removal of a milestone from its proper location is always to be regretted, but a visit to the locality where it formerly stood, convinces us that it was by no means safe there, so rapidly is the neighborhood changing from a rural to an urban condition.
The five-mile stone should be near the corner of Adams and Park streets, Dorchester, but it cannot be found at the present day.
As we journey on for the next mile on Adams street, we see many evidences of the ancient character of this thorough- fare. We pass houses some of which were built possibly in the seventeenth century, and we see the stately elm trees bordering the way, the fast decaying fruit orchards and the primitive stonewalls which bounded the once productive farms. Before many years, all of these, with the exception possibly of the elms, will have disappeared, for there is to be seen on every side the three-story wooden apartment house.
The six-mile stone should be at about the corner of Adams street and Oak avenue, midway between Ashmont and Neponset, but we found no trace of it.
It is gratifying to record that the seven-mile stone has been cared for by the Boston authorities. It has been built into the Adams street wall of Dorchester Park and will thereby be preserved for generations to come. It is marked-
.7 Miles to Boston Town Houfe 1734
Descending the slope to the Neponset River, the picture of the valley and the hills beyond gladdening our eyes, we
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cross the river at Dorchester Lower Mills, and find ourselves in Milton, one of the fairest towns in the Commonwealth. Continuing on Adams street in that town, we find the last of the Belcher stones set in the front wall of Hutchinson Field, a metropolitan reservation. It is inscribed-
8 Miles to B Townhoule The Lower Way 1734
As we stand in front of this stone on the summit of Milton Hill and look on the beautiful picture embracing the Blue Hills and the wide expanse of Boston Harbor, we recall the three royal governors who travelled by coach and four the lower road to Dorchester in the eighteenth century. Time and again have Governor Belcher and Governor Hutchinson counted the milestones on this road as they journeyed to and fro between the Boston town house and their estates in Milton. The third chief magistrate was William Shirley, Governor of Massachusetts Bay from 1741 to 1756, succeed- ing Jonathan Belcher. Governor Shirley travelled continu- ally a portion of the lower road, for his home was very near where we hoped to find the three-mile stone on Dudley street, Roxbury.
The line of milestones which were placed on the Upper Road to Dorchester, and which extend through Milton to Quincy, should be considered next. These stones are shown on an original plan which is preserved in the Massachusetts Archives. It is entitled, "Boston Town House to the ten- mile stones in Quincy measures 1034 miles plus 1 rod. The Upper Road as travelled," and was drawn in 1802 by William Taylor of Boston, Surveyor.
The total distance, 1034 miles plus 1.rod, indicates that the stones were not placed in their proper locations, and further- more the distances between them vary from 78 to 120 chains. But probably the traveller of the eighteenth century replied, if the locations of his milestones were questioned, "Never mind, they serve their purpose."
The third milestone was in place on Warren street, near Rockland street, Roxbury, until about the year 1871, when it disappeared during the erection of a block of dwelling houses there. This information was given me by the late
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L. Foster Morse, who is remembered for his interest in the local history of Boston, and especially that of Roxbury, where . he resided.
One mile further on, we find at 473 Warren street, Grove Hall, the four-mile stone, which is the first Paul Dudley stone that we have considered. It is marked-
B 4 1735 PD
and it is interesting to say in addition that at the beginning of the nineteenth century one Bugbee had a tavern here, which was the first resting place on the road.
The next stone should be near the corner of Washington and School streets, Dorchester, but it has disappeared.
The six-mile stone, which stands at the corner of Washing- ton and Mora streets, Dorchester, is a peculiar one, and it would be interesting to learn the meaning of a portion of the following inscription-
HEMMS wc
6
M to B
TI
On Adams street, Milton, which was laid out as early as 1654, we see near the railroad station the next stone, which is inscribed-
B 7 1722
A walk of one mile on this ancient road to Quincy carries us to the location of the next stone, near the corner of Adams and Babcock streets, East Milton. The stone is inscribed-
B 8 1723
We find one mile further, on Adams street, Quincy, just beyond the Furnace Brook metropolitan reservation, the next stone, on which we read-
B
9
1730 JN
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I am informed by William G. Spear, who is an authority on the antiquities of Quincy, that the initials on this stone, J. N., are, to quote his exact words, "most likely meant for Joseph Neal."
One more mile carries us to Hancock street, Quincy, and on that thoroughfare, within sight of the church under which lie buried the second and sixth Presidents of the United States, we see what remains of the next one of this line of mile- stones. It is built into the stonewall in front of the Brackett house and we read on it only-
B 10
The eleven-mile stone formerly stood near the Adams house, at the base of Penn's Hill, Quincy, but it disappeared many years ago.
The twelve-mile stone is still to be seen on Franklin Street in 'Braintree as one enters the limits of that town. It is inscribed-
B
12 IM 1727 IH
On the broad boulevard which we now call Blue Hill avenue, and which was called Brush Hill Turnpike from 1805 to 1870, we find the McLean milestones, which were placed in 1823. They are six in number, are constructed of hammered granite of uniform size, and the inscriptions on them are similar, with the exception of the numeral indicating the distance from Boston.
The five-mile stone is at Harvard street, Dorchester, one mile from the Dudley stone at Grove Hall. It is inscribed-
Boston 5 Miles J McLean 1823
The six-mile stone is at the corner of Ormond street, Dor- chester, and the seven-mile is passed as one enters the town of Milton.
Continuing, we find the three remaining McLean stones in Milton. The eight-mile stone is about a quarter of a mile south of Robbins street, the nine-mile stone is at Atherton street,
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and the ten-mile stone is safely set in the stone wall of a private estate not far from the boundary line between Milton and Canton.
Proceeding on Washington street, Canton, which is the continuation of Blue Hill avenue, we find a line of stones which practically supplement all three lines which we have considered thus far. They differ, however, from one another in form and material, and were placed by different persons.
At the base of Blue Hill we find a stone which was placed by Lemuel Davenport of Canton. It is marked-
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12 Miles to Boston 1774 L D
One mile further is a stone set in a wall in front of a resi- dence which was formerly the Cherry Tavern. It is in- scribed-
13 Miles to Boston 1786 John Spare
John Spare, who set this stone, was a son of Samuel Spare, an early settler in Canton, and who was the first one of the name in New England. Both father and son were promi- nent in the Episcopal Church, or, as it was then called, the English Church, which was formed in the early days of the town.
Huntoon's History of Canton tells us that the fourteen- mile stone is not standing, the author believing, when he compiled the history, that the stone lay buried beneath a modern wall.
The fifteen-mile stone stands in front of the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Canton and opposite the meeting house of the the First Congregational Parish. We cannot learn who placed it there, for the inscription merely reads-
B
15 M
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Two miles further on the same road in Canton is a stone which bears the inscription-
B 17 M 1736 NL
This stone was set by Nathaniel Leonard, and is the first one placed in the town.
At the junction of Roxbury and Centre streets, Eliot Square, Roxbury,at which point the two last lines of milestones begin, we find the famous Dudley "Parting Stone." It bears on its faces the three inscriptions-
DEDHAM
RHODE
ISLAND
THE PARTING STONE 1744 P DUDLEY
CAMBRIDGE
WATERTOWN
It is a satisfaction for antiquarians to know that this stone was saved from threatened destruction a few years ago, and that it will now be preserved for many years to come by the Boston authorities.
Centre street, on which we trace the next line of stones, runs through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury to Dedham and beyond. The road was laid out as early as 1662, and was once called "The Middle Post Road from Boston to Hartford." The stones which we find on this ancient road were set by Judge Dudley, and four of them are in place today.
The three-mile stone is at the corner of Centre street and Highland avenue, just beyond Eliot Square, and is inscribed-
BOSTON 3 MILES 1729
It is one mile distant from the former location of Judge Sewall's two-mile stone on Boston Neck.
Proceeding on Centre street, we find one mile further, opposite Creighton street, the four-mile stone, a small one, set in a retaining wall. It is marked-
B. 4 1735
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The five-mile stone stands at the corner of Centre and Eliot streets, Jamaica Plain, and is the largest and finest of all the Dudley stones. It is about four feet high, almost three feet wide and quite symmetrical. It is, moreover, the only one on which a title is affixed to the name of the man who placed it. The inscription reads-
5 Miles Boston Townhouse P Dudley Esq 1735
The six-mile stone is opposite Allandale street, Jamaica Plain, and, like the five-mile stone, is large and well propor- tioned. It is marked-
6 Miles Boston 1735 P D
This is the last stone standing on this route, with one excep- tion; fourteen miles further on, we find in Walpole the Ezekiel Robbins stone, of which mention has been already made in this paper.
Starting again at the Parting Stone in Eliot Square, Rox- bury, we find the fifth and last line of milestones on the ancient road to Cambridge and Watertown. We find the road today in the following avenues and streets: Roxbury street, Columbus avenue, Tremont street and Huntington avenue, Boston; Washington and Harvard streets, Brookline; Har- vard avenue, Franklin and North Harvard streets, Brighton; and, crossing the Charles River, Boylston street, Cambridge, to Harvard Square in that city.
The three-mile stone on this route should be on Roxbury street, just beyond Eliot Square, but it has disappeared.
As we walk the next mile, we see a milestone on Tremont street, just beyond Roxbury Crossing, which is one of the Worcester Turnpike stones. It is set in the retaining wall in front of the Comins School and is inscribed-
To Boston Line 1 M 1810
While considering this line of stones, I will speak of another one which is to be seen at the corner of Boylston
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and Warren streets, Brookline. It is of similar design and size and was placed in the same year. It is inscribed-
To Boston Line 3 M 1810
This stone is not in its proper location, it being evidently placed in its present position by the authorities of Brookline to ensure its preservation. It stands in a triangular plot of town land at the intersection of the above named streets.
Returning to the line of milestones we are considering, we find the four-mile stone in front of the grounds of the House of the Good Shepherd, on Huntington avenue, Roxbury. It is a Dudley stone and is marked-
[B]OSTO[N] 4 MILES 1729 PD
The five-mile stone is now permanently placed on the lawn of the Harvard Congregational Church of Brookline. It bears the inscription-
BOSTON 5 MILES 1729 P D
This stone was formerly on the opposite side of the street, and it was largely by the efforts of the Brookline Historical Society that it was placed in its present appropriate position.
The six-mile stone should be near the corner of Harvard street and Commonwealth avenue, Brighton, but it has disappeared from sight.
The seven-mile stoneis in front of the North Harvard Street Primary School, Brighton. To preserve it, the Boston authorities have had it set in a brick wall, surmounted by flagstone. It is marked-
. BOSTON 7 MILES 1729 PD -
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A walk of a mile carries us to Harvard square, Cambridge, and there in the ancient burying-ground where "the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep," we find a milestone which is the last one we shall consider in this paper. It was set up in 1734, and supplements the line of stones which Judge Dudley placed five years earlier, and which we have just studied. It bears two inscriptions, the one on the face front- ing on Harvard square reading-
BOSTON 8 MILES 1734 AI
When the first West Boston Bridge was built the following inscription was cut on the opposite face of the stone-
CAMBRI[DGE] NEW BRIDG[E] 24 MILES J794
This stone was placed by Abraham Ireland of Cambridge on the east side of the first Middlesex County Court House, which stood in the middle of Harvard Square. The stone narrowly escaped destruction when removed from this loca- tion, and it then stood for some years in front of Dane Hall, then occupied by the Harvard Law School. After a second rescue from demolition, it was placed in its present location.
Abraham Ireland died in 1753 and lies buried in the bury- ing-ground near where his milestone stands today. His gravestone bears the following inscription, which is a fair specimen of the mortuary poetry of the eighteenth century:
"God brought him from a distant land And did preserve him by his mighty hand. God blessed him with old age and a great posterity. Pray God to give them Grace to fly to Christ ! To prepare them for great Eternity."
It is not possible, in a brief paper, to speak of all the mile- stones to be seen at the present time in Greater Boston. There are scattered stones in Boston, Quincy, Milton and other towns which I have not mentioned, and occasionally I am told of others in various parts of Eastern Massachusetts.
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You have, however, learned that there are still standing a goodly number of these interesting relics of provincial days; most of them now receive watchful care and will probably be preserved for many years.
It is appropriate to close with a quotation from Alice Morse Earle's delightful book entitled, "Stage Coach and Tavern Days." The words of the quotation were often used almost two centuries ago to induce travellers to patronize some particular stagecoach route; they are, "This Elegant Road is fully Set with well cut Mile stones."
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AMANDA MARIA (COREY) EDMOND
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AMANDA MARIA EDMOND, A BROOKLINE POETESS.
A paper read before the Society by Rufus G. F. Candage, October 28, 1908.
The familar saying that "a poet is born not made" does not answer the question of what constitutes a poet. Dryden said, "A poet is a maker, as the word implies." Landor said, "A poet represents things impressed on his mind by the Creator." Sharp said, "The poet is one whose emotions, intenser than others, find vent in some form of harmonious words." Said Whittier, "Poetry is the lofty engine of thought the fire of poesy."
These definitions lead to the conclusion that a poet is one skilled in the art of metrical composition, has gift of poetic imagination, invention and creation, with eloquence of ex- pression in prose or verse. A poetess is to be measured by like rules. With this introduction I shall now proceed to give a sketch of a Brookline poetess.
Amanda Maria Corey was the daughter of Elijah Corey, Jr., and Mary (Richards) Corey, and was born October 28, 1824, eighty-four years ago today. The place of her birth was the old Whyte-Corey-Bartlett house on Washington street, Brookline, under the southwestern slope of Corey Hill. She was descended from Thomas Corey, who settled in Chelmsford in 1662, and from Edward Richards, who came to Watertown in 1630 and settled at Dedham in 1635, and she was therefore of New England Puritan ancestry. Her great grandfather, Timothy Corey, for whom Corey Hill was named, was a soldier of the Revolution. He was a farmer, a man of sturdy character, and the ancestor of the Coreys of Brookline.
To have been born of an honorable line of ancestry, it is said, is to be well born, and having been born, to have the ability and to use it aright for the improvement of one's inheritance is truly commendable. Whether Amanda Maria Corey did that or not I shall leave for the determination of
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my auditors after hearing the evidence contained in this brief sketch of her and of her writings.
The Coreys of Brookline were respected, honest and indus- trious farmers, who at Amanda's birth, for three generations had tilled the soil on the southwesterly slope of Corey Hill. In the house upon the farm, she spent her infancy and childhood. She attended the town schools, and there re- ceived her education. In childhood and girlhood she was reticent and thoughtful and she chose to roam alone through fields and woodlands, to climb Corey Hill, drink in the beauties of the landscape, listen to song birds, admire flowers and plants and commune with nature.
Her school and playmates called her exclusive and strange. They did not fathom the depth of her imagination and the nature of her poetic mind, which even then, was gathering inspiration for the songs soon to burst forth. Nor could they, for she lived in a realm apart from theirs. In a poem to her mother she explains this. I quote a portion.
Mother! dear mother! a song for thee; Thou shalt the theme of my minstrel be; Thou who didst smile on my ruder lays I warbled first in my early days. 'Tis the hand of a daughter sweeps the lyre, With a life whose melody shall not tire Till the brow is cold and the eye is dim, Of her who carrolled my cradle hymn.
Mother! dear mother! when I was a child, I loved the hill and the greenwood wild, When the silvery song of the soaring bird, And the circling insects hum was heard; Dearer to me than my childish play Were the haunts I sought of a summer day; But there was a greater love for thee In the heart that clung to flower and tree.
Mother! dear mother! as oft I strayed To muse alone in the woodland glade, They called me gloomy, they called me strange, But little they dreamed of the wondrous change Which the spell of poesy, sweet and wild, Had wrought in the heart of thy pensive child; And little dreamed they of the lyre she swept Where the old oak's shade on the green turf slept.
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Her school days were happy ones, and friendships were formed severed only by death. Early in life she had clear convictions as to her religious duties, which led her to unite, at the age of fourteen years, with the Baptist Church, and to remain a consistent member until called to the church above. Her religious exercises and feelings often found ex- · pression in her writings, which were marked by piety, faith, and trust in the goodness of her Maker; these gave her the hope of a better world beyond, where she would meet kindred and friends gone before, and be joined in due time by those left behind.
From the beginning her poetic ideals were high and pure, as will be seen by the following lines written at the age of fifteen upon a flyleaf of her manuscripts:
The spirit song is on me, and the lyre. The heart's own music pours, but not to thee Oh earthly fame shall the glad offering be,- Higher than this my spirit shall aspire, For oh, what art thou but a fleeting breath Bought by a weary life, or early death, Sweeter far to me the thought in after days, Cherished in loving hearts my name to live Thou blazoned on the rolls a theme of praise,
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