USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Some interesting Boston events > Part 4
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Rev. William Montague, who was Rector from 1786 to 1792, and who lived in Dedham, Mass., was the person to whom a man called Savage gave the ball which killed Warren, although the identity of the bullet has sometimes been questioned. Dr. J. Collins Warren believes that the bullet was buried with the body. In the Old South Church there is a photograph of the skull of General Warren, which shows a large bullet wound in the head. He was supposed to have been shot while climbing over a stone wall.
In 1815 a bust of George Washington was presented to the church, and is believed to be the first memorial erected to him in a public place. Lafayette said it was the best likeness of Washington that he had ever seen.
It has never been definitely determined who hung the lanterns in the belfry on that memorable 18th of April, the highest authorities being at variance between Robert Newman, the Sexton, and Captain John Pulling, Jr., a close friend of Paul Revere. It is certain that both had much to do with displaying the warning. Newman was discovered in bed and arrested, but nothing could be proved against him. Captain Pulling certainly acted as if he were guilty, for, dis- guised as a laborer, he made his way by sea to Cohasset, where he and his wife remained in hiding for some time. His wife was a Hingham woman named Sarah Thaxter. Each year the lanterns are hung in the belfry by one of the descendants of Paul Revere. On the next to the last anniversary the little boy who was carrying them fell and broke one, but it was soon repaired.
To the Rt. Rev. William Lawrence, the present Rector, is chiefly due the preservation of the building, which was reopened on Sunday, December 29, 1912.
WOODBRIDGE-PHILLIPS DUEL ON THE COMMON
The duel between Benjamin Woodbridge and Henry Phillips was the first in Boston which resulted in the death of one of the partici- pants. Both' of these men were merchants of the town and highly respected citizens, and the affair quite naturally caused much excite- ment. The origin of their quarrel, which started on the evening of July 3, 1728, at the Royal Exchange Tavern on King Street, has always been a mystery, though it must have been of a serious nature. They repaired at once to the Common, which had already witnessed several duels in times gone by, and settled their controversy near the old Powder House Hill and not far from the water where Charles Street now lies. Phillips ran his sword completely through the body of Woodbridge, who was not discovered until early the following morn- ing. There were no seconds. The survivor became much alarmed when he realized that he had probably killed his adversary, and as he walked across the Common he met Robert Handy of the White Horse Tavern and begged him to go back and get a surgeon for the wounded man. Handy, however, concluded that it would be safer for him to return to his Inn. Governor Dummer immediately issued
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a proclamation commanding all persons in the Province to endeavor to capture Phillips and bring him to justice, and hand-bills were placed upon all the town pumps and chief corners of the town, ac- cording to the custom of the day. Phillips, however, eluded his pursuers, with the aid of his brother Gillam and Peter Faneuil, whose sister married this same Gillam. He was concealed for a short time in the house of Colonel Estis Hatch and was then rowed from Gibbs Wharf in Fort Hill, in Captain John Winslow's boat, to the British man-of-war Sheerness which was lying near Castle Island. Officers endeavored to find this ship, and others from the cupola of the old Town House scanned the harbour in vain. The Sheerness had already departed for Rochelle, France, with her unhappy exile, who died the following year in distress over the deed he had committed. His mother went over to comfort him, but arrived after his death. Governor Burnett succeeded Governor Dummer about a month after the duel, and, with eighty-seven other prominent citizens, signed a petition for Phillips, certifying as to his honorable character and asking for his pardon for what was then a charge of murder.
Woodbridge's body was taken to the house of his partner, Jonathan Sewall, and his funeral was attended by the Commander-in-Chief, several of the Council, and many of the townspeople. He was buried in the Granary Burying Ground. A sermon with this duel as the text was delivered a few days later by Dr. Joseph Sewell, of the Old South Church. Phillips was only twenty-two years of age, and his victim was only a few years older.
A law was passed soon after to prevent duelling, which provided that, even if no injuries were inflicted, any person convicted of en- gaging in a duel should "be carried publicly in a cart to the gallows, with a rope about his neck, and set on the gallows an hour, then to be imprisoned twelve months without bail." Any one who was killed should be denied Christian burial and must be buried "near the usual place of execution with a stake drove through the body." The sur- vivor was considered a murderer and must be executed and buried in a similar manner.
MASSACHUSETTS ISSUES LOTTERY TICKETS TO HELP REBUILD FANEUIL HALL
This cut, which is taken from an original lottery ticket to be seen in the banking rooms of the State Street Trust Company, shows one of the six thousand tickets sold under the auspices of the Massachu- setts legislature in 1762 to help rebuild Faneuil Hall, which was de- stroyed by fire the year before. A special committee, consisting of Thomas Cushing, Samuel Hewes, John Scollay, Benjamin Austin, Samuel Sewall, S. P. Savage and Ezekiel Lewis, was appointed to act as Managers of the lottery, and subscribers could get their numbers from the Board or from the firm of Green & Russell in Queen Street. The tickets were sold for $2 apiece, which brought in $12,000, but as there were 1,486 prizes amounting to $10,800 there was only a net profit of $1,200 to pay to the contractor. There was one prize of $1,000 and one of $500, all the others being of smaller amounts,
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ranging down to $4. The contractor made many complaints about the slowness of payment, and a committee was chosen to decide the dispute. Although Governor Hancock signed the original of which this cut is a copy, he did not sign all of the issue, and later on he exerted his influence against this scheme of raising money, which encouraged gambling and at the same time produced such meagre results. Faneuil Hall was occupied for a town meeting again in March, 1764.
Lotteries were regarded almost in the light of investments and were authorized by the State authorities. It was thought as respect- able to sell tickets as to sell Bibles, and the two have been seen classed together in the same advertisement. Without doubt lotteries were
BOSTON, April, 17.67. Faneuil-Hall LOTTERY, Number EIGHT This Ticket [No. /06d ] entitles the Poffeffor to any Prize drawn againft faid Number, ina LOTTERY granted by an Act of the General Court of theProvince of the Mafachufetts. Bay, forRe- building FANEUIL-Hall; fubject to no Deduction.
Picture of original lottery ticket to rebuild Faneuil Hall. In the collection of the State Street Trust Company.
a means of raising money (which could not otherwise at that time be procured) for churches, colleges, roads, bridges, ferries, wharves, etc. Advertisements were common, and often the figure of Fortune blind- folded and balancing herself upon a wheel was used, or men angling for prizes. Notices often spoke of the lottery as a "speedy cure for a broken fortune." One of the most important public lotteries was held by Harvard University to build Stoughton Hall and, later on, Hol- worthy; in 1774 the Province held one to replenish the treasury .. Charlestown also had a large one, as did Dartmouth College; there was also one to pave Boston Neck, to make Gloucester Road, to improve Plymouth Beach, and for the benefit of a paper mill in Milton. There were likewise many private lotteries, some of which were man- aged dishonestly, the drawn tickets often being sold a second time.
The lottery originated in Florence in 1530, and was first instituted in England in 1567, when the first drawing took place at the west door of St. Paul's.
General Lincoln of Massachusetts had a law passed in 1833 pro- hibiting the sale of tickets in this State.
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LIBERTY TREE
"Of high renown, here grew the tree, The ELM so dear to LIBERTY;
Your sires, beneath its sacred shade, To Freedom early homage paid. This day with filial awe surround Its root, that sanctifies the ground,
And by your fathers' spirits swear,
The rights they left you'll not impair."
Judge Dawes.
Hundreds of people daily hurry past the corner of Essex and Washington Streets and pass the spot where, exactly a century and a half ago, stood an old elm tree from the branches of which dangled the effigy of Andrew Oliver. Oliver was Secretary of the Province and personified to the people the Stamp Act,-the thing the colonists hated most in the world. This elm, which played such an important part in the early history of the Colony, came to be known as Liberty Tree. A freestone bas-relief now marks the spot where it once stood; thereon is the following inscription :-
LIBERTY 1765 LAW AND ORDER SONS OF LIBERTY 1766 INDEPENDENCE OF THEIR COUNTRY 1776.
The effigy of Oliver, discovered swinging from the largest branch of the tree, created wild excitement.
"Take it down," Governor Hutchinson commanded the sheriff.
"I don't dare to, sir," retorted that dignitary.
Local revolution was in the air-and the sheriff undoubtedly wanted to keep clear of the tar pot and a nice warm coat of many feathers.
The day that Oliver's effigy hung, along with a boot, with the devil peeping out of it, might have been a holiday judging by the excitement that reigned throughout the town. The boot was intended as a pun upon the name of Lord Bute, Prime Minister of England. Business was practically suspended. Crowds came from miles around. All day long the figures dangled from the tree. When day closed the effigies were removed-a procession solemnly formed, followed by thousands of all sorts and conditions; the effigies were placed on a bier, and the procession marched solemnly to the Town House. From there it moved to the supposed office of the Stamp Master. On it went to Fort Hill, where the effigies were burned in full sight of Mr. Oliver's house. The Sons of Liberty, later on, compelled Oliver to make a public resignation before Richard Dana, Justice of the Peace, beneath the Liberty Tree; no other place would satisfy them.
Other figures of those favoring the Stamp Act and other English regulations appeared on the branches of Liberty Tree, including those of Charles Paxton, a revenue collector, and Benjamin Hallowell, Comptroller of Customs. Then a tablet was fixed,-a copper plate bearing the inscription in gold letters, "The Tree of Liberty, August 14, 1765." The spot became the meeting place of the Sons of Liberty
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and continued to be until the colonists were driven out of Boston by the siege. The date February 14, 1766, was set on it by the Sons of Liberty, and by their order the old tree was pruned. The repeal of the Stamp Act was also celebrated with illuminations on the tree and on the Common. The ground about the tree became known as Liberty Hall, and in August, 1767, a flagstaff was erected which extended through the highest branches of the tree; when a flag was hoisted from this staff, it was a signal for the Sons of Liberty to gather for an important conference.
The admiration of Bostonians for their Liberty Tree is shown by the will of a man called Philip Billis, who left a considerable for- ttune to two friends on condition that they would bury his body [beneath the shadow of its branches.
The British entertained as great a contempt for the tree as they did for the colonists. When poor Ditson was tarred and feathered he was compelled to parade in front of Liberty Tree. At length so great an eye-sore was the famous landmark that during the last week in August, 1775, a party led by Job Williams destroyed it. "Armed with axes," says the Essex Gazette of 1775, "they made a furious attack upon it. After a long spell of laughing and grinning, sweating, swearing and foaming, with malice diabolical, they cut down the tree because it bore the name of Liberty." One of the British party, during the attack, lost his life by falling from one of the highest branches to the pavement. The tree had been planted one hundred and nineteen years, in 1646, and the Pemberton Manuscript states that it bore the first fruits of liberty in America. Long after the Revolution the place where it had stood for so long was called Liberty Stump. On it was erected a pole which served for many years as a guide-post, which having decayed was replaced by a second pole just after the arrival of General Lafayette as a guest of the nation in 1824. As the General's carriage stopped in front of the famous spot he was much affected. A pleasing incident occurred there. A young girl, with a red, white and blue sash across her shoulders, came down the steps of the Lafayette Hotel opposite, bearing on a silver salver two goblets and a bottle of old wine from France. Lafayette drank the wine she gave him with great gallantry. Later, in speak- ing of the Tree, he said, "The world should never forget where once stood the Liberty Tree, so famous in your annals."
SIGNING OF THE CHARTER PAPERS OF THE BOSTON TEA PARTY VESSELS IN THE ROTCH WHALING OFFICE, NANTUCKET
The Charter Papers of the three ships that brought the tea into Boston Harbour in 1773 were made out and signed in the whaling office of William Rotch, which still exists as a Club at the foot of old cobble-stoned Main Street in Nantucket. Rotch sailed for London in the early part of the year in a ship commanded by Alexander Coffin, and while there he made a contract with the East India Com- pany to take a cargo of tea to Boston in three of the ships belonging to his firm. Two of the vessels were "whalers," one being the
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Dartmouth of New Bedford, commanded by Captain James Hall, and the other the Beaver, captained by Hezekiah Coffin of Nantucket; the third was the Eleanor.
It was this same Rotch who, after the Revolutionary War, moved his family and other Nantucket whalemen to Dunkirk, and from there carried on the pursuit of whaling, being the first ship-owner who ever sent a whaleship into the Pacific Ocean. On the occasion of a French victory, during his residence in Dunkirk, all the inhabitants lighted bonfires on their lawns, and any one who didn't do so was held under suspicion. Rotch was a Quaker, and it was contrary to his belief
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The Rotch Whaling Office, now the Pacific Club, at the foot of Main Street, Nantucket. The old whale weathervane can be seen above the building.
to celebrate in this manner. It was necessary therefore to seek the protection of the authorities in Dunkirk, who placed a representative on the lawn of all the Quaker residences to explain the reason why it was impossible for them to join in the celebrations. Rotch re- turned to America, but his son Benjamin and daughter-in-law never came back. She was so ill on the voyage over that her doctor advised her never to attempt the return journey, and she remained abroad all her life.
The old brick counting house shown in the picture above was built in 1772 by William Rotch & Sons, who occupied it until 1795, when they moved to New Bedford. The old building has an exceedingly interesting history. Many a whaleship has been started from here on her long voyage to report years later her success or failure; and, finally, when the industry died out in 1861, seven of the captains
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organized the Pacific Club, which was composed of retired whaling veterans, using the lower floor of the building for Club rooms. The last captain died in 1913 at the age of ninety, but the original twenty- four memberships are to-day possessions that are highly prized by the descendants of the old whaling families of the Island. There are also forty-four "annual" members, twenty of whom are summer visitors. The ship prints on the walls would excite the envy of all collectors, and it is a pity that the old stove in the centre of the room cannot repeat the whaling yarns that have been told around it. In the picture can be seen the whale weathervane rising from a platform so common in the Nantucket houses, which is built on the roof to enable the families to detect the home-coming of their ships.
The Tea Party was productive of several amusing incidents. All of the contents of the three hundred and forty-two chests of tea did not float down the harbour with the tide. When Thomas Melville, one of the "Mohawk Band," returned home his wife collected some of the tea from his shoes and preserved it in a bottle. It is believed that this possession was handed down to Samuel Shaw, son of Judge Shaw, and it is doubtless in existence to-day, the property of a member of the family. Several persons were detected in the act of stealing tea. One of the "Indians" filled his pockets and even the lining of his clothes, but was soon detected. Some one grabbed him by his coat, which came off, enabling the wearer to escape, but not without having to run the gauntlet of the crowd on the wharf, each one of whom gave him a kick. His coat was nailed to the whipping-post in Charlestown, the place of his residence, with the name of the owner labelled upon it in large letters.
It is only natural that Bostonians should take a deep interest in this old building, which serves to link together by its history the town of Nantucket and our city.
GENERAL WARREN CLIMBS THROUGH THE WINDOW OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH TO DELIVER HIS FAMOUS "MASSACRE" SPEECH
Warren raised himself, a Tory writer has said, from a barelegged boy to be a major-general. As a boy, he was manly, fearless and independent, which characteristics he still possessed as he grew into manhood. He was so determined to commemorate in a fitting way the Boston Massacre that he climbed in the window of the Old South Church, there being no other way of reaching the pulpit, and there delivered his address before an audience of townspeople and a com- pany of armed officers of the king's army. There's a story told of his college days at Harvard. Several of his class in the course of a frolic tried to exclude him by shutting themselves in a chamber and bar- ring the door so tightly that he could not force it. Warren, bent on joining them, saw that their window was open, and that a spout was near it which reached from the roof to the ground. He went to the top of the house, walked to the spout, slid by it to the open window, and threw himself into the room. At that instant the spout fell. He quietly remarked that it had served his purpose. He then en-
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tered into the sport of his classmates. "A spectator of this feat and narrow escape," says Knapp, "related this fact to me in the college yard, nearly half a century afterwards, and the impression it made on his mind was so strong that he seemed to feel the same emotions as though it happened an hour before."
Warren was a writer as well as an orator. He was, thirty-five years old when he delivered his oration on the anniversary of the Boston Massacre. It was in 1775, and the town was occupied by hostile troops. It had been given out that it would be at the price of life to any man to speak of the massacre, as there was unrest and clashing on every hand, and the parties concerned were on the verge of war. In the midst of such conditions, at his own suggestion, War- ren was appointed orator. The anniversary fell on Sunday. It was to be celebrated on Monday, and early in the day carriages and people began to arrive in Boston. The Old South was crowded. The pulpit was draped in black. On the platform were the chief leaders of the colonists,-Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and the rest. It was observed that the aisles were crowded with British officers, thereupon Samuel Adams courteously asked the occupants of the front pews to move that the officers might be seated. Some forty, in uniform, filled the pews and the pulpit stairs. The audience was uneasy. There was a stir among the crowd outside, and Warren drove up in a chaise and went directly to the house opposite the church, where he put on his black robe. To avoid the crowd he went around to the rear of the church, gathered his robe about him, climbed a ladder and entered the church through the window back of the pulpit. The silence that followed his appearance in the pulpit was oppressive.
"His speech," says Frothingham, "imbued with the spirit of a high chivalry and faith, resounds with the clash of arms. The
speeches in which prominent actors in Grecian and Roman story develop their policy or promote their objects, not words actually spoken, but what the relator thought fitting to have been spoken, were regarded as valuable delineations of the temper of these times. But here were the words of an earnest and representative man, ut- tered on the eve of a great war, and in the presence of a military power whom he was soon to meet in the field."
For the sake of the cause, it has been said, Warren dared to speak what some scarce dared to think.
Some of the officers groaned when the Old South audience ap- plauded-though as a whole they remained quiet until the close of the oration. Captain Chapman of the Welsh Fusileers, seated near the pulpit, held up a handful of bullets in the course of the oration, and Warren, observing the action, dropped his white handkerchief over the officer's open palms and then continued his fiery remarks. Later, when the town's representatives moved that the thanks of the town be presented to the orator for the oration, the British officers pounded on the floor with their canes, some hissed, others cried "Fie! Fie!"-the latter, being understood for a cry of fire, caused some panic. Even then, the king's representatives did not succeed in breaking up the meeting. The 47th Regiment happened to pass the church at the time, and the commander ordered the
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drums to beat in order to drown the voice of the orator. It was learned afterwards that a plot had been arranged to seize Adams, Hancock and Warren. It had been planned that an ensign was to give the signal by throwing an egg at the orator, but luckily he fell on the way to the meeting, dislocating his knee and breaking the egg, thereby spoiling the scheme.
"The Assembly," says Samuel Adams, "was irritated to the greatest degree, and confusion ensued. They, however, did not gain their end, which was apparently to break up the meeting, for order was soon restored. It was provoking enough to the whole corps that while there were many troops stationed here, there should yet be one for the purpose of delivering an oration, to commemorate a massacre perpetrated by soldiers and to show the danger of standing armies."
"The scene was sublime," Samuel L. Knapp says. "There was in this appeal to Britain-in this description of suffering, dying, horrors-a calm and high-souled defiance which must have chilled the blood of every sensible foe. Such another hour has seldom hap- pened in the history of man, and is not surpassed in the records of nations. The thunders of Demosthenes rolled in the distance at Philip and his host; and Tully poured the fiercest torrent of invective when Catiline was at a distance, and his dagger no longer feared, but Warren's speech was made to proud oppressors resting on their arms, whose errand it was to overawe, and whose business it was to fight."
THE LAST BALL IN THE PROVINCE HOUSE, WITH SOME INTERESTING INFORMATION IN REGARD TO THE HOUSE
. Sir William Howe, the last Royal Governor of the Colonies, gave a ball at Province House on February 22, 1776, during the latter part of the siege of Boston. It was attended by the officers of the British army and the Royal Tories of the Province, and every one appeared masked and in some kind of masquerade costume. It was Sir William's idea to have some kind of festivity in order to hide the distress and general gloom caused by the siege. Nathaniel Hawthorne gives us a description, which, although full of romance and legend, nevertheless is an excellent picture of Boston at this time. The chief interest was centred on a group of persons who were dressed up most ridiculously in old regimental costumes which looked as if they might have been worn at the siege of Louisburg, or in some of the old wars. One person represented George Washington, others Gates, Lee, Putnam and other officers of the American army. They looked more like scarecrows than anything else. There was an interview between these skeleton warriors and the British Com- mander-in-chief, which was received with great applause. It is related that while the party was in progress there went by a parade with muffled drums, the trumpets giving forth a wailing sound which was evidently intended to worry Sir William and make him realize that troubles were near at hand. He went out of the house and ordered it to disperse. The Puritan Governors Endicott, Winthrop,
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