USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Professional and industrial history of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 54
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present " Exchange Building, " and all days of the week, from one to two o'clock, was crowded with merchants from all parts of the city, who met to discuss business affairs and negotiate with each other for the exchange of such commodities as they desired to dispose of. The interior of the building contained a fine reading room, well supplied with papers from all quarters of the world. The usual place of meet- ing was in the street, which was crowded from sidewalk to sidewalk ; in rainy or inclement weather the reading room was made use of. No merchant of good standing ever failed, if within his power to be present, to daily meet his fellow merchants "on change."
Washington street from Dock square to Winter street was filled with retail stores of various kinds, and the inauguration of the present sys- tem of large and monopolizing dry goods stores, was, by a new depart- ure, instituted by George W. Warren, upon the premises (the store was burned in the great fire) now occupied by Macullar, Williams & Com- pany's clothing store, No. 400 Washington street. The store was of granite, two stories in height, and covered about one-half of the area of the present building.
An old, gable-roofed wooden building, with projecting stories, cor- ered the lot at the corner of Winter and Washington streets, and was occupied by Clark & Plympton, who sold laces and ladies' trimmings. Both Winter and Summer street, particularly the latter, were filled with genteel residences, as were Franklin, Winthrop and Otis Places, Federal, High and Pearl streets.
The grocery business was done principally in Commercial street and around the wharves, what is now Atlantic avenue being covered with water. "Wilde's Tavern," situated in Elm street (absorbed by the ex- tension of Washington street) was the starting point of many lines of stage-coaches to the surrounding towns.
Watchmen patrolled the streets at night, wrapped from head to heels in long caped coats, carrying a rattle of a half a mile power, warranted to awaken every sleeper within that distance. Upon an alarm of fire, which was given by the ringing and clanging of bells, the wakeful watchman, while on his beat, would stop at the corner of the street, and, shouting with all his might: " Fire! fire! fire, at the South end " (or wherever it may have been), would spring his deafening rattle and trudge on to the next corner, where he would repeat the ceremony. No one in Boston at that time needed the early edition of the morning paper to learn where the fire was. It was the custom of the watchman
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to proclaim the hour of night and the state of the weather, by striking three times upon the pavement with his staff, and shouting "one o'clock, (or whatever hour it might have been), a fair night and all is well." Ilis voice was seldom heard on rainy nights, as it would have awakened the families under whose porch he was comfortably ensconced.
The fire department was served by volunteer firemen, who received no compensation, the glory of being a fireman being a sufficient remu- neration.
Hand (or "tub ") engines only were in use, which were pumped by levers worked from each side of the machine, by the combined efforts of all the company.
To each engine was attached a rope, about an inch and a half in diameter and a hundred and fifty feet in length, and, upon the sound- ing of an alarm, a rush was made for the engine-house, and seizing the rope, the firemen tore like madmen, shouting and yelling through the streets, to the place of the fire. The engine first reaching the burning building obtained the place of honor, and the rivalry between the com- panies was intense and dangerous, often leading to bitter fights.
The head of the line was taken by the foreman of the company, and his place at a fire was at the " butt," or holding the nozzle. The fire company was a terror to all quiet citizens, and the change from a volun- teer to a paid fire department was welcomed as a blessing.
The transportation of merchandise through the streets from point to point was all accomplished by " trueks." This freight carrier was a Boston institution, known in practice nowhere else. It was composed of two long planks, placed side by side, four inches in thickness, about one foot in width and some twenty feet in length, with a space between them into which the horse was harnessed, the ends of the timbers forming the shafts; the whole resembling a huge pair of " skids," bal- anced and resting upon the axletree of a very small but very heavy pair of wheels. The whole formed a long and solid platform upon two wheels, which could be packed to any height required, with the heaviest merchandise. As the axle, the pivot of the platform, was much lower than the horse, it was necessary to lift the shafts in order to harness, and, consequently, the rear end was brought within a foot of the ground; this facilitated the loading, and for those who used it the " truck " was a very convenient vehicle; but woe to the passers-by if they were not upon the lookout when one of them was "in action " in their vicinity. When heavily loaded, three or sometimes four horses
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were used, giving a total length of some fifty feet to the monstrous team. Those who never have seen them, may form some idea of what they were, by imagining a team of three heavy truck horses hitched in tandem to an enormous platform composed of two heavy planks, the rear of which, prong like, projected some ten or fifteen feet beyond the wheels, and, in turning, described a circle of thirty feet in diameter, within which, if one was caught, the only means of safety from broken limbs, was, in being able to clear the whole with a jump, or by a leap upon the monster itself.
The truck so monopolized the streets that it was finally abolished by city ordinance.
The truekmen, a lusty set of fellows, with an esprit de corps equal to that of Harvard collegians, appeared in procession upon all " proces- sional " days, and attracted a great deal of attention and favorable comment by their neat appearance (in white linen short frocks) and good bearing.
Another obsolete "institution," secondary and auxiliary to the truck- men, were the "hand-carters," who had their stands in most of the streets, and were as plentiful as "banana" men now are in Boston. As the truck was adapted to the transportation of heavy merchandise only, all of the " bundle " business (there were but few expresses at that time) was done by the hand-carters, who were as useful in their way as the truckmen in theirs.
The " Miller Tabernacle," a wooden structure one story in height, was located upon the site of the present Howard Atheneum in low- ard street, and after the failure of the programme for the ascension of the saints, was sold for theatrical performances. Anna Cora Mowatt, supported by W. H. Crisp, the father of the present speaker of the House of Representatives at Washington, appeared in one of the earliest engagements. This building was destroyed by fire, and in its place was erected a fine granite building, which became the "swell " theatre of the town. Previous to this the National Theatre on Portland street (where Coleman's Horse Mart now stands) was the only theatre of any importance in the town in successful operation. The internal arrange- ment of the theatre was a typical one of the old style, and the last of its kind in Boston. What is now the orchestra was called the " pit." and was considered (next to the gallery) the poorest part of the house. It was entered by a narrow dark alley-way under the " boxes " or fam- ily circle, and was furnished with narrow and very uncomfortable
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wooden benches. Next above, and in the rear of the pit, was the genteel (and only respectable) part of the house; it was called the " boxes " and corresponded to our orchestra circle. The "third tier" was next above the boxes, and was frequented by persons of both sexes of the lowest character only, no person of respectability ever caring to risk his reputation by being seen there. In the midst, and open to all comers, was an immense open bar, filled with liquors of all kinds, which were rapidly dispensed by three or four active bar-tenders, who found ampleemployment in supplying the numberless and continual calls which were pressed upon them from all sides during the whole of the per- formance, which usually consisted of three, never less than two, pieces, and the theatre remained open, usually, until about midnight. Al- though wines were always kept at the bar, the traffic was almost wholly in liquors; the price of a drink was four cents, and the drinker was allowed to take from the bottle as much as he pleased. The gal- lery was above the " third tier," and was patronized only by ragged urchins and negroes. The prices of admission were, fifty cents for the boxes, thirty-seven and a half cents (two and thrippence) for the third tier, twenty-five cents for the " pit, " and twelve and a half cents for the gallery. There were no reserved seats. Macready, the great tragedian. when in this country, played at this theatre.
The area of Boston occupied for business purposes was exceedingly small, the whole of the business portion being east of Tremont street and north of Milk street. Beacon street and "Colonade Row " (Pre- mont street, facing the Common) constituted the court end of the town. Next in social grade came Franklin, Summer and Pearl streets, while High and Federal, and other streets in the vicinity, followed them.
Beacon street was, par excellence, the one and great aristocratic street of Boston, the crème de la crème, but the sacred precinct extended to Charles street only, and a resident beyond may as well have been in Roxbury. An innovation was attempted in buikling the granite block of dwelling houses beyond Charles street, but the houses remained vacant, and an offer of ten thousand dollars not being obtainable, they we're for a time used for storage purposes, two of them, at least, being filled with bags of wool. The John Hancock residence was still in its prime, and was, by far, the most princely residence in town. The last houses to be built on the upper of old part of Beacon street were erected, somewhere about the fifties, by Daniel Denny and Seth W. Fowle, between Somerset street and Freeman Place, and in order to
BIOGRAPHIES.
give them the proper space, it was necessary to excavate and remove the residue of Beacon Hill, a mound of gravel some fifteen or twenty feet in height, upon the rear of the lot.
The parade ground, at the western extremity of the Common, adjoin- ing Charles Street, was an unsightly swamp, which could not be crossed without miring to the knees.
What is now the Public Garden was a salt marsh, through which a creek ran to Charles street, which was made the depository of all the rubbish of the vicinity. " Bramin's Baths" were situated on the other side of Charles street, and were most popular. From 6 to 9 o'clock during the summer months the baths were frequented and crowded by old and young, who frolicked away the sultry evenings they were obliged to pass in town. From Charles street to Sewall's Point in Brookline (now the junction of Commonwealth and Brookline avenues and Beacon street ) was an unbroken sheet of water, intersected by the Great or Mill Dam, a narrow causeway, fifty feet in width, built of stone, across the "Great Bay" (one and a half miles in length), and a spur called the "Short Dam," now forming Parker street, leading to Roxbury.
From the foot of Beacon street a toll house was situated near what is now Berkeley street, and a swinging bar across the road prevented the passing of carriages until they had paid the prescribed toll. The great sheet of water extended to the "Fremont Road " (now Fremont street), which was a narrow roadway across the water to Roxbury, hardly wide enough to admit the passing of carriages going in opposite directions. The bed of the road was made up mostly of rubbish and " topped off " with oyster shells and gravel. It was but little used by others than marketmen, who, in order to be at market carly (before daylight), "put up " their teams and passed the night at a small tavern (with a swinging sign) situated on Tremont road, beyond the crossing of the Boston and Albany Railroad. The regular travel was over the " Neck " ( Washington street) to Roxbury. When Dover street was built it was considered so far out of town that the houses would never be occupied. As late as 1856 there were but nine houses on Chester Square, two upon the northern side and seven upon the southern, and from the latter a good view of the Common was obtained, and not a building of any kind interfering with the view on the west to Brighton and over Charles River to Cambridge.
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Boston fifty years ago controlled the cotton and woolen mannfactories of the country, establishing branch agencies in New York and the larger cities, while the headquarters remained at Boston. The people were enterprising and sagacious, never allowing the influence of the pocket to overweigh good judgment. Such an undertaking as cut- ting a channel eight or nine miles in length, sufficiently wide to permit the passing of an ocean steamer through ice thick enough to bear heavily loaded teams upon its surface, in order to afford the passage of a steamer to open water upon her appointed day of sailing, merely that it should not be said that Boston had not a good winter harbor, was a feat that has not been and will not be par- alleled in this or any other country. It was a formidable undertak- ing, but it was promptly and expeditiously excented, The spectacle of an ocean steamer making her way through the ice, the passage on both sides lined with thousands of people within a dozen feet of her hull, hurrahing themselves hoarse and cheering vociferous good-byes to the company on their way across the ocean, was a sight for a life- time.
The principal hotel in Boston was the Tremont House, on Tremont street, which was patronized by the best people, both as sojourners and permanent guests. Daniel Webster and many other notables made it their headquarters when temporarily in town. The Marlborough Ho- tel on Washington street, opposite Franklin street, was the transient home of a most serious class of people, who were drawn to it from the fact that morning and evening services were daily held in the parlor, and a blessing was asked at each meal at the public tables in the din- ing room. Some of the stages running to the towns in the vicinity made this hotel their terminus. No drinking or smoking was per- mitted, and the hotel was called by irreligious people " The Saints' Rest." The New England House, at the corner of Clinton and Black- stone streets, was well kept by Paran Stevens, who, when the Revere House Company was organized, was called to the charge of their hotel. Hle soon included within his care, upon his own account, the Tremont House, and afterwards the Fifth Avenue and other hotels in New York. He died a millionaire.
Ilarvey D. Parker, another noted hotel landlord, at that time kept in a cellar (well below the sidewalk) at the corner of Court street and Court Square (now covered by Young's Hotel), where he served his patrons as well and liberally as do his successors at the Parker House,
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but not at the same prices. Parker took "diners " by the week, giv- ing them the restaurant's bill of fare to select from, and the price per week was three dollars, or fifty cents per dinner, allowance being made for absences. No limit was made to the number of courses, the guest having full latitude to select the dishes to his taste. The Bromfieldl House, in Bromfield street, was another hostelry famous for its good table, and was most liberally patronized by the down town merchants and elerks as a dining place. Dinner tickets, good until used, were sold at five dollars per dozen, and very often when one of the holders of a ticket required the price of it for other purposes, he found the ticket as good or a better circulating medium than we find silver at the present day. George Young was then head waiter at "Fenno's," which ultimately fell into his hands, and became the famous "Young's Hotel," so universally well known throughout this and other civilized countries. George served his friends upon Saturday evenings with a splendid bird supper of many courses of game, for, exclusive of wine, one dollar each plate.
Small places for the delectation of patrons where specialties were dispensed, were much more in vogue then than at the present time.
"General " Bates, an Englishman, full six feet in height, who owed his title to his magnificent physique, kept " The Shades," and filled his rooms on Washington street, next north of the Rogers Building, with delighted partakers of Welsh rarebits, poached eggs and " Croton " ale. Nothing else could be had and nothing else was wanted.
The "Alhambra," on Washington street, opposite Bromfield street (where the store of Weeks & Potter now stands), furnished for forty cents the most luscious and juicy beefsteak and the lightest, most crispy and delicate fried potatoes to be imagined.
Campbell, on North Market street, made a specialty of a fine sirloin steak, for twenty-five cents.
lliggins, in Court street, made better stews than any one else in Bos- ton.
It was the custom to keep all retail stores open until nine o'clock in the evening, and on Saturday until eleven o'clock, and itinerant venders of catables found quite a sale among the clerks for their wares. Hot corn was sold, principally by negroes, with the cry, "Hot Corn, hot corn, two cents a car, " and an ear of steaming hot corn, with a small package of salt, was furnished to each purchaser for the two cents.
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Oysters were cried in the evening, and the melancholy sound of "Oy-ez, oy-ez," was heard in many streets.
Wheelbarrows of hot smoking lobsters filled the air with fragrance, as the lobster seller plodded his way, crying, " Lob; lob; buy a lob." The usual price was three cents a pound.
East Boston was a hilly pasture, with wooden houses scattered here and there, filled with Irish. Daniel Crowley, a bustling little Irish contractor, with his dump carts, was king of the place. It is related that his wife, belated at the ferry, finding the boat several feet from the drop, shouted as she rushed down the gangway, " Stop the boat, stop the boat ; 1 am Dan Crowley's wife."
Nearly the whole island was bonded to Daniel D. Brodhead, Charles A. White and others of a "syndicate, " for seventy thousand dollars, and they were obliged to forfeit the bond, as there were no buyers for the property.
South Boston looked down upon the harbor in almost as sullen and repulsive a condition as when the soldiers of Washington's army showed themselves at the summit (Dorchester Heights) to the astonished Eng- lish army occupying Boston. A few houses, surmounted by the Blind Asylum, were scattered here and there, but the larger part of it was an uncultivated and barren hill.
The firm of Carney & Sleeper was one of the wealthiest, most snc. cessful and prominent of the wholesale clothiers of Boston, well known for their sterling integrity and great enterprise. In addition to a most extensive wholesale business with all sections of the country, they were, and had been for many years, contractors with the United States government for supplying the navy with clothing. With a determina- tion of purpose not easily swerved, Mr. Galloupe applied himself so closely to the business, that he soon gained the approbation and good will of both Mr. Carney and Mr. Sleeper, which they demonstrated in a most complimentary and practical manner.
After a clerkship with the firm of slightly more than two years, Messrs. Carney & Sleeper, being desirous of relieving themselves from the cares of business, selected Joseph J. Whiting, M. Kehoe, jr., and Charles W. Galloupe, to whom, as equal partners ( Mr. Galloupe being then but twenty years of age and consequently a minor), they entrusted the business, making them their successors by forming a special co- partnership of five years (from January 1, 1846), contributing an abundant amount of capital for the continuation of the business.
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This special partnership existed until its termination by limitation in 1851, and upon its dissolution, a new firm, under the name of Whiting, Kehoe & Galloupe was formed.
With the rapid increase of the business of Boston came a correspond- ing change in and extension of, the locality in which the business was carried on, and it was soon evident that the old location in North street must be vacated by the firm for a more desirable one, in a better neigh- borhood, and in 1856 they removed to a new granite building (com- pleted for them by Mr. Benjamin Adams) in Federal street, near Milk street, which had become the center of the dry goods jobbing and commission business. Here a very successful business was done until the expiration of the partnership in 1859, when, Mr. Kehoe withdrawing, Joseph W. Bliss, Albert T. Whiting, Otis 11. Pierce and James Mckenna were added to the concern, and the business contin- ued under the firm of Whiting, Galloupe, Bliss & Co. This firm re- mained in Federal street until another change of locality was deemed best, when they removed to Franklin street, occupying a new granite store fitted up for them by the trustees of Harvard College, where a very extensive and prosperous wholesale business was done, not only with all parts of the country, but with the United States goy- ernment, by supplying the army, navy and Indian departments with clothing by contract.
In 1862 Mr. Whiting and Mr. Galloupe, in their turn, being desirons of relieving themselves somewhat from the cares of the business in which they had so long been engaged, withdrew from the firm and es- tablished, by a special partnership, as their successors their former partners, under the firm of Bliss, Whiting, Pierce & Mckenna, con- tributing ample capital for the prosecution of the large business to which the firm succeeded ; this ended the strictly mercantile life of Mr. Galloupe.
After their retirement from the clothing business, Mr. Whiting and Mr. Galloupe, having associated with themselves Mr. Charles A. Put- nam, cashier of the Washington Bank, formed a banking house, in- der the firm of Whiting, Galloupe & Putnam, and established them- selves at No. 16 State street, Where they were soon engaged in a very large and successful business. They were appointed by the United States government one of the agents of the five-twenty loan, and by their extensive connection in all of the large cities of the Union with the banks and most prominent bankers, they soon attained an honora-
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ble and respected position. The sudden death of Mr. Whiting in 1864. which occurred in the office at No. 16 State street, while sitting at the desk with Mr. Galloupe, severed a warm and sincere friendship and a close and always enjoyed connection, that had existed during the whole of the business lives of both Mr. Whiting and Mr. Galloupe.
Deprived of the support and companionship of his friend and partner of twenty years, the enjoyment and zest of doing business lost its attractiveness for Mr. Galloupe, and, after continuing the banking business for a short time under the firm name of Galloupe & Putnam, he retired, establishing his brother-in-law, Mr. Edward L. Giddings, in his place, who, forming a partnership with Mr. W. A. Tower, the present firm of Tower, Giddings & Co. became his successor.
There are few in Boston who, in a comparatively short business life, have had associated with them in close business relations so many well known men of public reputation as has fallen to the lot of Mr. Galloupe. Andrew Carney, whose name is well and gratefully known to thousands of distressed sufferers, distinguished throughout all his lifetime for his many and liberal charitable contributions, was the founder of that beneficent institution, the Carney Hospital at South Boston, second in its usefulness to hardly any other in the State: Jacob Sleeper, the munificent philanthropist whose large gifts and generous personal sup- port have placed the Boston University upon so high a plane; and Albert T. Whiting, the efficient chairman of the State Board of Police Commissioners, were his partners. Alanson W. Beard, the present United States collector of customs for the port of Boston; Alderman Sydney Cushing and Councilman John Taylor were all in the employ- ment of Mr. Galloupe.
After his retirement from the clothing business in 1862, Mr. Galloupe offered his services to the United States Government in connection with the War Department in Boston, and was appointed to take charge of the clothing and equipment contracts, in which capacity he served without compensation for more than a year. When there was no longer any occasion for his services, he was honorably retired and the thanks of the War Department tendered him in writing, through the officer in command at Boston.
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