USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Some interesting Boston events > Part 2
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The Beacon was intended to give warning of attacks by foreign countries by sea, or by Indians on land. There was, however, little trouble with the aborigines in Boston, and one writer states that it is more than likely that the settlers annoyed the Indians as much as the Indians did the settlers. The Indians frequently complained that their crops were injured by cows belonging to the English. The Beacon, however, was made use of on several occasions. In 1689, at the time of the uprising against Governor Andros, a flag was hauled up on the pole as a signal to the soldiers at Charlestown that the controversy was soon to be ended, the Governor having agreed to surrender. Some years later, in 1768, an English officer arrived from Halifax, and the people quite naturally thought that his visit signified the arrival of more troops. They, therefore, placed a tar barrel in the pot on the Beacon to be lit when the King's ships arrived. Governor Barnard believed this to be an insult to his military capacity, and his Council ordered the Selectmen to remove the barrel, but they refused to act. The Governor, therefore, ordered Sheriff Greenleaf to take it down, which he succeeded in doing stealthily during dinner time. The battles of Lexington and Concord, the burning of Charles- town, and the battle of Bunker Hill were watched by the friends of both sides, who were huddled together on the six rods of land at the summit of the hill.
The hill upon which the Beacon was erected was sixty feet higher than it is now and was situated inside of the present State House grounds and almost directly in line with Park Street (then called Centry Street), which was laid out in 1640. Temple Street ran over the summit from the westerly side. The Beacon was reached by wooden steps and, on nearing the top, by steps dug in the ground. The boys of the South End and North End of the town used to battle for the supremacy of the hill-top, and another favorite pastime for the younger generation was to bat a ball up and down the hill, which was more difficult than it looked, owing to the steepness of the hill. Cows were pastured part of the way up the incline.
The Beacon was a tall pole, with cross sticks to be used in its ascent, and projecting from one side near the top it had an iron crane supporting an iron pot, for the reception of tar or some other combus- tible. It was replaced in 1768 "without the consent" of Governor
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Barnard, taken down by General Howe in 1775 and another pole set up the following year nearly in the centre of the British fort which had been built on the top of the hill. This beacon was blown down by a storm in 1789, and in the following year a monument was erected by a number of the inhabitants from the design of Charles Bulfinch, then a Selectman of the town, "to commemorate the train of events which led to the American Revolution and finally secured Liberty and Independence to the United States." It was a plain Doric column about sixty feet high, surmounted by a large eagle, the effigy of which is now over the President's chair in the Senate Chamber. This was the first public monument erected to commemorate the
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The Monument on Beacon Hill, from Bowdoin Place, showing the Thurston house as it ap- peared in 1811. At one time the hill was so steep in front of this house that it was necessary to hoist up all the wood and provisions. From an old print in the collection of the State Street Trust Company.
events of our Revolution. Several things contributed to its fate. To begin with, Thomas Hodson, in 1764, dug out so much of the hill belonging to him that there was danger that the structure would tumble down; then, in 1795, the building of the new State House by Governor Hancock necessitated encroachment on another part of it. A few years later the Mill-Pond Corporation obtained from the town the right to use still more gravel, and, in 1811, the town sold the land on which the monument stood to John Hancock and Samuel Spear. The hill was then completely removed and used as filling, and the column was destroyed, much to the disgust of most of the inhabitants, who wished to keep this old relic intact. The four slate tablets containing the inscriptions of the events connected with our Revolutionary War, from the Stamp Act, in 1765, to the inaugural of Washington as President, in 1789, were preserved in
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the State House. When the Bunker Hill Monument Association in 1899 presented to the Commonwealth an exact duplicate of the original column, these tablets were built into the monument, which stands on the same spot where stood its predecessor, opposite the end of Ashburton Place, only about sixty feet lower. The Committee of the Association originally consisted of William W. Wheildon, Robert C. Winthrop, F. W. Lincoln, Jr., Winslow Lewis and J. Huntington Wolcott.
There were only a few houses on Beacon Street in the early days, and the following anecdote shows clearly this fact. Mrs. Dr. John Joy was an invalid, and upon consultation with a physician he suggested that she move out of town "to Beacon Street," and she was frequently asked how she happened to go so far away.
There is a piece of poetry which speaks of the Beacon and which is quite interesting in view of the fact that not long after the words appeared the monument was erected to immortalize the victory of the Yankees. The lines are :-
"As for their King, John Hancock And Adams, if they're taken, Their heads for signs shall hang up high Upon that hill call'd Beacon."
Robert Turner, a shoemaker, was the first owner of Beacon Hill, and later on it came into the possession of the Hancocks, who sold to the town the land upon which the State House now stands.
MRS. SHERMAN'S PIG
Although of seemingly small importance Mrs. Sherman's lost sow has come down in history, owing to the fact that the many lawsuits to which she gave rise finally resulted in changing part of the con- stitution of the Colony. Governor Winthrop records in his journal: "There fell out a great business upon a very small occasion. Around 1636 there was a stray sow in Boston, which was brought to Captain Keayne; he had it cried divers times and divers came to see it but none made claim to it for near a year. He kept it in his yard with a sow of his own." Finally Keayne, who, it will be remembered, left in his will a fund to assist the town in building the Old State House, killed his own pig. Soon afterwards Mrs. Sherman called, declared that the live pig was not hers, and accused Keayne of having killed her animal. The case was brought before the Elders, and Keayne was acquitted. Mrs. Sherman then carried the case to court, her friend, George Story, a merchant of London, acting as her attorney. The Captain was again cleared, and the jury awarded him $3 for costs, and he in turn sued his two accusers, recovering $20 from each one. This trivial matter now assumed the aspect of a political ques- tion between the aristocratic and democratic classes and occupied a prominent place in court for a year. Story again brought suit, but there was a disagreement among the magistrates and deputies, espe- cially as regards the "Negative Vote." Magistrate Richard Saltonstall took part in the trial and sided with the people. The final result was
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that in 1644 the "Assistants" or Magistrates of the Company and the Deputies, now called respectively Senators and Representatives, were divided into two co-ordinate branches, and each body could veto the proceedings of the other. A public speaker not long ago remarked that "Mrs. Sherman's pig was the origin of the present Senate" and that "he hoped the members of it would not disgrace their progenitor."
Robert Keayne, besides being the chief donor of the State House, was also Captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. He lived on the south corner of Washington and State Streets.
SOME EARLY RULES OF HARVARD COLLEGE
Some of Harvard's old regulations would not please very much the undergraduate or the graduate of to-day. President Dunster's rules, which were printed in Latin, were formulated in 1642 and continued in force until about 1734. No student was admitted until he was able to read, write and speak Latin perfectly, and he must also have an excellent knowledge of Greek, and during his college course he was never allowed to use his mother tongue except in certain public exer- cises of oratory. As Harvard was primarily a Ministers' college, every one had to read the Scriptures twice a day and was obliged to attend Chapel also twice a day, at six o'clock in the morning during the summer months, and half an hour before sunrise in the winter, and again in the evening. No scholar could buy, sell or exchange anything over six pence in value without permission of his parents, guardians, or tutors, and he received severe admonition if he were absent from prayers or lectures even once during the week. Another curious rule was that "every scholar shall be called by his surname only, till he be invested with his first degree, except he be a fellow commoner or knight's eldest son, or of superior nobility." In order to receive his first degree a student had to be able to translate the Old and New Testaments into Latin, and all his acts must have re- ceived the approbation of the overseers. Tobacco was not allowed except by permission of the President, with consent of the parent or guardian, "and then in a sober and private manner." It was also voted that every student must be in his room by nine o'clock under penalty of a fine, and no one could go to Boston except by special permission without being subject to a five dollar penalty.
In 1656 the President and Fellows were empowered "to punish all misdemeanours-either by fine, or whipping in the hall openly, as the nature of the offense shall require, not exceeding ten shillings, or ten stripes for one offense." The flogging often took place in public, but this practice was abolished in 1734. Here are some of the early fines. Absence from prayers, 2d .; absence from public worship, 9d., and tardiness 3d .; neglecting to repeat the sermon, 9d .; leaving town without permission, not over 2s. 6d .; going out of college without proper costume, 6d .; frequenting taverns, not over 1s. 6d .; playing cards or any game for money was a finable offence, as was opening doors by picklocks. Fines were also levied for keeping guns, or for using them. This system of penalties proved so annoying to the parents that it was abolished in 1761, and methods of enforcing dis-
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cipline were employed which resemble the present day "probation," "suspension," or "expulsion."
There were some "Ancient Customs" that were lived up to even more strictly than the regular laws, and some of them are most inter- esting and amusing. No Freshman was allowed to wear his hat in
8. Giliai
Reproduction of a photograph of the Rev. Samuel Gil- man from a picture in "Fair Harvard" room. A memorial in the form of a tower room has been erected in the Unita- rian church of Charleston in his memory.
the college yard, unless it rained, snowed, or hailed, or unless he had both hands full. All Freshmen were obliged to go on any errand for any of the upper classmen at any time ex- cept during study hours, and after nine o'clock in the evening. No student was allowed to call up or down, or to or from, any of the college rooms. Another hard rule on the Freshmen was that they had to furnish bats, balls and footballs for the use of students, to be kept at the "buttery."
Towards the end of the eighteenth century candi- dates for admission were examined by the Presi- dent and two of the tutors. All undergraduates had to keep in their rooms and follow their studies, except for half an hour after breakfast, between twelve and two o'clock, and after evening prayers until nine o'clock. The students also had to submit to one public oral examination annually, in the presence of a com- mittee of the Corporation and Overseers, in order "to
animate the students in the pursuit of literary merit and fame, and to excite in their breasts a noble spirit of emulation." Those tests must have been even more nerve racking than the present three hour written examinations. No one was allowed to go beyond the yard without his coat, cloak or gown, and hat, nor could he go into any tavern in Cambridge without leave of the President or one of the tutors, unless he were accompanied by his father or guardian. No undergraduate could go gunning, fishing or skating over deep water without permis- sion, nor could he attend any stage plays either as actor or spectator.
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A costume was prescribed for all undergraduates which consisted of a "coat of blue gray, with waistcoat and breeches of the same colour, or of a black, a nankeen, or an olive colour." The coats of the Fresh- men had to have plain buttonholes, and the cuffs could not have any buttons on them. The Sophomores were allowed the privilege of having buttons on their cuffs. The coats of the Juniors had "cheap frogs to the button holes, except the button holes of the cuffs," and the Seniors could have "frogs" on all their buttonholes. The buttons
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ROOM IN WHICH "FAIR HARVARD" WAS WRITTEN IN 1836.
This room is in the old Fay House, now occupied by Radcliffe College, Cambridge. Rev. Samuel Gilman, the author of the poem, was born in Gloucester, and when he came from his parish in Charleston, South Carolina, to visit his brother-in-law, Judge Fay, who then lived in this house, to attend the 200th anniversary of the founding of Harvard College, he wrote "Fair Harvard" to commemorate the event.
This room is in the northwest corner of the second story. In this house at one time lived Edward Everett. While it was owned by Judge Fay, Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Story the sculptor, James Russell Lowell, and other famous men were guests of his here.
of all the classes had to be nearly the same colour as the coats. No garment made of silk was permitted, nor gold or silver lace, cord or edging upon hats or clothes. Another rule provided that "the tables shall be covered with clean cloths twice a week, or oftener, if judged necessary by the President and Tutors."
Commencement took place on the third Wednesday in July, and Cambridge in the early days was never so deserted during the summer as it is now. In the early eighteen hundreds Commencement Day was a State holiday, all the banks and offices in Boston being closed.
The dining-room, which used to be in University Hall, was the largest in New England, accommodating two hundred persons. It
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gained great celebrity on account of its ability to take care of so many students. The food that wasn't eaten or that couldn't be eaten was shared by a number of pigs, whose sties were near the rear of the building. The charge for board at "Commons" was $1.75 a week, and it couldn't be expected that meat could be served at every meal. The students, therefore, frequently saved some of their meat and with a fork jammed it against the under side of the table to help out at breakfast the following morning. Board at private houses or at some of the professors' residences was three dollars, and if a stu- dent received a high mark or an honor from the tutor with whom he was boarding his other jealous classmates attributed it to undue influence. In the early days the tuition charges were frequently paid in live stock, grain, or groceries.
GOVERNOR WINTHROP TREATS WITH LATOUR AND THE SUBSEQUENT ARRIVAL OF D'AULNAY
John Winthrop had just been chosen Governor for the fourth time when Charles LaTour, one of the leaders of the French Colony of Acadia, visited Boston with the object of securing the help of the Massachusetts Colony in fighting his rival, D'Aulnay, who had his headquarters at Port Royal, New Brunswick, near LaTour's Fort, which was situated in the centre of the present city of St. John.
The Frenchman's arrival in Boston, in June, 1643, astonished the inhabitants as he sailed past the fort and dropped anchor before the townspeople realized what was happening. The soldiers had just been ordered to leave the fort a short time before, and LaTour could easily have captured the two ships-of-war in the harbour and then made trouble for the Bostonians. This fort, which was on Castle Island, was at once strengthened and manned. On his way in he chanced to meet a Mrs. Gibbons in a rowboat, and one of the sailors with LaTour recognized her and followed her to Governors Island, the home of the Winthrops. The Governor was there at the time, and he escorted LaTour to Boston, where he was given a splendid re- ception. The Frenchman showed his papers from the King of France and further won the Governor's confidence by attending church with him on Sunday. The visitors were granted shore leave provided they landed in small companies "that our women might not be affrighted by them," and they then paraded on the Common with the State militia. One amusing incident happened while the Frenchmen were on land; one of them saw a drunkard in the stocks and immediately went up to him and let him out, only to find himself in the stocks in short order. LaTour suggested that Governor Winthrop should grant him authority to hire four vessels to act as his escort back to his fort. The Governor granted this request, although many people in the Colony opposed his decision. The ships put to sea on July 14. Although it was agreed that LaTour should not compel his little fleet to fight, nevertheless his sudden and warlike appearance frightened D'Aulnay into retreat. LaTour found thirty volunteers, and they attacked his rival, capturing one of his ships. LaTour's wife persuaded him to make a second visit to Boston and
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implore aid, and in his absence the garrison was attacked by D'Aulnay, and all the survivors, who made a gallant defence, were taken prisoners, Madame LaTour among them. Three weeks later she died.
D'Aulnay then sent three messengers to Massachusetts to demand reparation for having rendered assistance to his enemy and asked an indemnity of £8,000. The magistrates of the Colony insisted that they only permitted LaTour to hire the ships. During their visit the messengers were shown such attention and were treated with so much ceremony that this large demand was finally reduced by agreement to "a small present in satisfaction." Some one remarked at the time that "the Government had to look as if it could pay it if it had to." A treaty was signed, and Governor Winthrop presented the Frenchmen with a sedan chair, which had just been given to him, and which the Governor declared was of no value to him! A salute of five guns from Boston, three from Charlestown and five from Castle Island sent them home quite contented and forgetful of the £8,000 demand. Several years later D'Aulnay was drowned while canoeing near Port Royal, leaving his wife to fight his old rival Charles LaTour. The latter through treachery soon captured her fort and compelled her to marry him in order to protect herself and her eight children. LaTour died much in debt and owing large sums of money to his friends in this Colony.
This controversy is also interesting as it showed very clearly that Massachusetts even at this early date took the attitude of an abso- lutely independent government in dealing with foreign powers.
SOME INTERESTING EVENTS ON BOSTON COMMON
The Common is owned by the people of Boston. On the day of General Sheridan's funeral, in 1888, the Mayor of Boston granted a permit to a battery of the State Militia to fire a salute on the Common. A gentleman was driving his buggy along Charles Street, and his horse became frightened by the noise and ran away, throwing out the driver and seriously injuring him. He then brought suit against the City, alleging it to be the owner of the Common, but Judge Holmes decided that the City couldn't be held liable for the reason that it had only a " technical" title and merely held the Common for the public benefit.
The people have made many uses of their property. Dr. Hale relates that the Common was used in the beginning of the nineteenth century, as a pasture for cows, as a playground for children, as a place for beating carpets, and as a training ground for the militia. In 1822 housekeepers had to give up beating their carpets, because a law was passed prohibiting it. The repeal of the privilege brought forth an amusing newspaper article entitled "The Last Shake."
In the early days the Common was the chief place for executions, and many unfortunates were presumably hanged from the branches of the "Old Elm" for murder, witchcraft, Quakerism, and even theft; but in 1812 executions on the Common were abolished. Indians and pirates have been hanged and shot, soldiers have been killed for deser- tion, and, during Governor Hancock's administration, a woman called Rachell Whall was strung up for stealing a bonnet worth seventy-five
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BOSTON COMMON IN 1804. From a sketch by Dobbins in possession of Mrs. J. E. Rousmaniere.
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cents. Some years previous another woman was hanged for murder. The first execution for witchcraft in Boston was that of Margaret Jones, who was accused of possessing imps. Mary Parsons was hanged a few years later, and then Mrs. Ann Hibbins, who was supposed to be a sister of Governor Bellingham, shared the same fate. It is believed her husband lost so much money that she became ugly and quarrelsome, causing her neighbors to accuse her of witchcraft. Many Quakers, including women, have met their death bravely under the "Old Elm," a graft of which is now growing near the Frog Pond. The last Quaker victim was a woman called Goody Glover, who was accused of bewitching the four children of John Goodwin.
There were many interesting rules restricting the use of the Com- mon. People were not allowed to walk or ride a horse here on Sunday, no matter how warm the weather might be, but both were permitted on week days. After 1822 horseback riding and driving were not allowed without a permit from the Mayor and aldermen. There was also a law to prevent Sunday bathing at the foot of the Common, which brought out the following verses in the Centinel :-
"In superstitious days, 'tis said, Hens laid two eggs on Monday, Because a hen would lose her head That laid an egg on Sunday.
"Now our wise rulers and the law Say none shall wash on Sunday; So Boston folks must dirty go, And wash them twice on Monday."
Skating, of course, was likewise forbidden on the Sabbath, and for many years smoking in the street was also prohibited at any time.
Cows were allowed to graze on the Common as recently as within eighty-six years, and there is still a restriction on one of the lots of land on Mt. Vernon Street, which obliges the owner of the property on the opposite side of this street always to keep a passageway to a pasturage near the Common of suitable size to admit a cow. Only one such animal could be grazed by one person, a man being chosen especially to "keep the cowes which goe on the Common," for a fee of 2s. 6d. per head. With a little imagination we can see Benjamin Franklin driving his father's cow home from here every night. Cows were often a menace to people walking or riding, and one fatal acci- dent happened in 1661, when General Humphrey Atherton, on his way home after reviewing his troops, ran into a cow with such force that he was thrown from his horse and killed.
The Common has always been used as a parade ground and place for celebrations of all kinds, besides being the site of one of the British fortifications during the siege of Boston. According to Dr. Edward Everett Hale the circles made on the Common by the British tents could be traced in the grass while he was a boy, and the trenches dug by the English soldiers were still used with great joy by the boys of his time when playing soldier. It is related that the Redcoats used to race their horses on the Common on Sundays and that they played "Yankee Doodle" outside the church doors during services, both to
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the disgust of the inhabitants. It is also recorded that Dorothy Quincy used to complain that the morning exercises of Earl Percy's troops interrupted her beauty sleep. While the British were in their encampment here, several floating batteries crept along the shore of the Common and fired upon the enemy, doing considerable damage; and it was from this same shore that the English troops embarked for Lexington the evening before the battle. It was also near here where we read that Colonel Thomas H. Perkins and others used to go snipe shooting. While the English occupied the Common many a Bostonian probably found that his cow had "gone dry" when he came to milk her; there is an anecdote, however, which shows that at least one cow got even with the Britishers. She ran into a stack of bayonets, one of which penetrated her body sufficiently to enable her to run away with it.
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