USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630-1880, Vol. II > Part 69
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But of still greater interest than all these, richer in historic association, redolent of more precious and stirring memories, was a building erected in 1729, - a building destined to become forever famous for the words spoken and the deeds done within its walls; a building which happily still stands a hoary relic of the past, a silent witness of some of the grandest acts and impulses of patriotism that dignify and illustrate our history. This it need hardly be said, is the Old South Church. Says Dr. Wisner, writing in 1830: -
" It was finished with two galleries, as at present, and the pulpit in the same posi- tion as now, but larger and higher than this, with a sounding board projecting from the wall above the casing of the window ; and with two seats directly in front, one, somewhat elevated, for the deacons, and one, still more elevated, for the elders. On each side of the middle aisle, and nearest the pulpit, were a number of long seats for aged people ; and the rest of the floor, except the aisles and several narrow passages, was covered with square pews." 2
The terror which such an array of elders and deacons, facing and over- looking the congregation, must have inspired among the younger fry can
2 Wisner, History of the Old South, -" His- torical Tracts." There is an excellent plan of the "Pues on ye Lower flore in ye Metting
1 Snow, History of Boston, p. 222. House " in the appendix to Dr. Wisner's tract, in which the position of the pulpit, and the names of the occupants of the several pews, may be seen.
515
TOPOGRAPHY, ETC., OF THE PROVINCIAL PERIOD.
be now only feebly imagined; and we are therefore duly relieved to learn, from the following vote passed at the first church meeting after the new house was built, that there was probably a place set apart for them somewhat re- moved from this awful surveillance : -
it
BURN
THE OLD SOUTH.
. " Voted, That the deacons be desired to procure some suitable person to take the oversight of the children and servants in the galleries, and take care that good order be maintained in time of divine worship."
1
516
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
It was in the lofty pulpit that towered above all these deacons and elders that the Rev. Thomas Prince was praying for deliverance from the dreaded invasion of the French fleet under D'Anville, in 1746,1 when -
" a sudden gust of wind arose (the day had till now been perfectly clear and calm), so violent as to cause a loud clattering of the windows. The Rev. pastor paused in his prayer ; and, looking round upon the congregation with a countenance of hope, he again commenced, and with great devotional ardor supplicated the Almighty to cause that wind to frustrate the object of our enemies and save the country from con- quest and popery. A tempest ensued, in which the greater part of the French fleet was wrecked on the coast of Nova Scotia. The Duke D'Anville, the principal general, and the second in command, both committed suicide. Many died with disease, and thousands were consigned to a watery grave. The small number who remained alive returned to France without health and without spirits." 2
Longfellow with excellent spirit has thus paraphrased the prayer of the old divine : -
"O Lord ! we would not advise : But if in thy Providence
A tempest should arise, To drive the French fleet hence, And scatter it far and wide, Or sink it in the sea,
We should be satisfied, - And thine the glory be.
" This was the prayer I made, For my soul was all on flame. And, even as I prayed,
The answering tempest came. It came with a mighty power, Shaking the windows and walls, And tolling the bell in the tower, As it tolls at funerals." 8
This, too, is the pulpit where Warren, having climbed in through the window by means of a ladder, stood, and with unflinching firmness pro- nounced his anniversary harangue 4 upon the Boston massacre, in defiance of official threats, in defiance of the scoffing soldiery who crowded the church and invaded the very pulpit5 in the vain attempt to overawe the dauntless orator.
Within these same walls, likewise, took place many another meeting of the early patriots, where the first faint sparks of resistance and rebellion were fanned into a burning and consuming fire. Hither came flocking from Faneuil Hall - which was too small to hold them - the excited throng that resulted in the famous Tea Party. It was in 1775, only two years later, that the old meeting-house was turned into a riding-school for Burgoyne's regiment of cavalry; "the pulpit and pews, and all the inside structure, being taken out and burnt for fuel, except the sounding-board and east galleries, the latter of which were left for the accommodation of spectators;
1 [See the note in Colonel Higginson's chap- ter in this volume. - ED.]
2 Wisner, Historical Sermons.
8 " A Ballad of the. French Fleet," published in the Atlantic Monthly, April, 1877.
4 An annual oration upon "The danger of
Standing Armies stationed in populous cities in times of Peace " had been instituted. Han- cock, Warren, and Lovell were among the first orators.
5 Thatcher's American Medical Biography, ii. 164.
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TOPOGRAPHY, ETC., OF THE PROVINCIAL PERIOD.
and in the first gallery a place was fitted up where liquor 1 and refreshments were furnished to those who came to witness the feats of horsemanship here exhibited. Many hundred loads of dirt and gravel were carted in and spread upon the floor. The south door was closed; and a bar was fixed over which the cavalry were taught to leap their horses at full speed. In the winter a stove was put up, in which were burnt for kindling many of the books and manuscripts from Mr. Prince's library." 2
It was not until 1782 that the society returned to the old church, which, having been refitted and repaired, was opened with a service of purification, at which the choir sang, as an appropriate anthem: " He hath raised up the tabernacle of David that was fallen ; he hath closed up the breaches thereof; he hath raised up the ruins; he hath built it as in the days of old, and caused his people to rejoice therein. Praise the Lord !"
In the twenty years succeeding the rebuilding of the Old South two more churches were added to the list of those already described, in locations which of themselves show the rapid spread of the town, - Hollis Street, situated at the extreme south, and West Church situated at the extreme west end, of the town. The former was built in 1730, on a piece of land given by Governor Belcher for the purpose, the petition asking for " liberty to build a Meeting-house and house for the Ministry, near the Main Street leading to Roxbury, of timber." 3
West Church, on the corner of the present Cambridge and Lynde streets, was built in 1736, only a few years later. Like that of Hollis Street, the first structure was a small frame building; it was occupied during the Revolution . as a barrack by the British, who tore down the steeple on the pretext that it had been used by the rebels in signaling their friends in Cambridge.4 This society has had a succession of distinguished pastors down to the present time. The old house was removed early in the present century (1806), and. replaced by the substantial brick structure now standing upon the spot.
Several old inns which, though of no especial historic interest, were well- known features of provincial Boston from the middle to the close of the period, and relieved the monotony of old Newbury Street with their quaint swinging signs, representing a small menagerie of quadrupeds, were the " Lion," the "Lamb," and the "White Horse." These were near neighbors, being all crowded into that small stretch of the way between West and Boyls- ton streets. The "Lamb" was the original of the present Adams House, and stood upon the spot now occupied by that hotel.5 A droller conceit for
1 " A grog shop was erected in the gallery, where liquor was sold to the soldiery, and con- sequently produced scenes of riot and debauch- ery in that holy temple." - Recollections of a Bostonian in Columbian Centinel. Others, how- ever, say that the soldiery were not allowed in the gallery, which was reserved for the officers and their lady friends.
2 Wisner's Historical Sermons.
8 [See further in Dr. Mckenzie's chapter, and the Introduction to this volume, p. xxxix. - ED.] 4 [A sketch of this church may be seen in the contemporary view from Beacon Hill, at the time of the battle in Charlestown, which will be given in Vol. III. - ED.]
5 For an excellent description of these taverns see Drake's Landmarks, p. 392. See also the Introduction to this volume, p. xxix.
518
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
a sign was that of the old Salutation Inn, on Salutation Alley, at the North End, which was contemporaneous with those above-mentioned. This house was also called the "Two Palaverers," from the representation on the sign of two old gentlemen in wigs, cocked hats, and knee-breeches saluting each other with much ceremony. Here met the famous North-End caucus, of which Warren and Hancock are thought to have been members.1
Meantime changes were taking place about the Common, between the date of Bonner's map in 1722 and the edition of it which Price issued in 1633, if that can be called an edition in which the date was put in with a pen.2 There had been changes, however, in the plate. For instance, a row of trees appears planted along the Mall. In 1732 we find an order of the town to add " another row at a suitable distance from the former; and to set up a row of posts with a rail on the top of them."3 Five years later the Com- mon was separated from the [Granary] burying-ground by a fence running up the hill. The Bridewell had already, in 1712, been built upon Park Street ; in 1738 a workhouse was added, which is described as a large brick building, one hundred and twenty feet long and two stories high, with a gable roof. It was designed for the reception of vagrant, idle, and dis- solute persons, who were employed in picking oakum and other similar tasks, and who when they deserved it doubtless received " the discipline of the whip," as did the inmates of the Bridewell.4 To these buildings was added, in 1737, the structure which was destined to form for a long time a prominent landmark of the neighborhood, and to give a name to the ad- joining burying-ground. The Granary had first been built further up the street, near the Almshouse, but was ultimately moved down to the corner of Long-Acre Street.5 It was a long, plain, wooden building, of sufficient capacity to hold twelve thousand bushels of grain, in which were stored up, a few years later, in anticipation of the coming revolution, a goodly wealth of provisions, to be afterward doled out to the needy and suffering people. Opposite the burying-ground, on the east side of Long-Acre Street, lived Adino Paddock, who some years later set out the fine row of English elms, which flourished down to our own day, a conspicuous ornament of the street.6 Paddock was the first coach-maker of the town, and a man of sub- stance and character; he evidently kept a sharp eye upon his infant trees, as "Gleaner " tells of his darting across the street upon one occasion and vigorously shaking an idle boy who was making free with one of the sacred saplings.
1 [See Introduction to this vol., p. ix .- ED.]
2 [See the Introduction, p. liv, for reasons pointing to an earlier issue with Price's name, and the note on early views of Boston at the end of this chapter .- ED.]
8 [The three rows of trees on the Tremont- Street Mall are said to have been set out, -the outer row in 1728, the middle row in 1734, and the inner row in 1785. See Shurtleff, Boston, P. 372 .- ED.]
4 Pemberton, in Massachusetts Historical Col- lection, iii, 252.
5 [See Introduction, p. xxvi. - ED.]
6 The trees were brought from England, and were thought to have been planted in 1762. They were cut down a few years ago, despite the indignant protest of the press and a large num- ber of prominent citizens. Shurtleff, Descrip- tion of Boston, p. 368, has a chapter on "Pad- dock's Mall."
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TOPOGRAPHY, ETC., OF THE PROVINCIAL PERIOD. 519
A glance at Price's view will show equally marked changes in other parts of the town, will show Cotton Hill at this time, 1743, nearly covered with buildings; while rows of trees are seen extending along the crest of Beacon Hill even west of Park Street. The northeastern spur of the Tramount had long since been invaded. In this neighborhood, indeed, were already
THOMAS HANCOCK.1
1 [This cut follows a picture, by Copley, hanging in Memorial Hall, Cambridge. A companion likeness of Mrs. Hancock also be-
longs to the College. Crayons of the two,
likewise by Copley, of half-length size, are in the possession of the family. Perkins, Copley's Life and Paintings, p. 69. Thomas Hancock was born in 1703 and died in 1764. - ED.]
·
520
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
gathered some of the finest private residences of the province. The author of the "Gleaner Articles" has gone foot by foot over all this ground, together with a wide area to the north, east, and west, and with labori-
Thomas Hancock W:" Philips Joseph Shorbung Joshua Stenshows James Oty ous care set forth the metes and bounds of the old-time fields and pastures, enlivening his dry professional details with a rich store of antiquarian infor- mation. His history of the title of the State- House lot and vicinity is exceedingly curious and entertaining, but too full of technical details to be quoted. COMMITTEE FOR PRESERVING BEACON HILL.1 Suffice it to say that, in 1752, it appears to have been in the possession of one Shute Shrimpton Yeamans, who conveyed to Thomas Hancock, concerning whose title the author makes the following startling statement: -
"John Yeamans dying, the estate became again his son's, who in 1752 conveyed to Thomas Hancock (81 f. 168), 'a piece of land near Beacon Hill, containing two acres, late the estate of my great-grandfather Samuel Shrimpton, bounded south on the Common, west on said Thomas Hancock, in part, and in part on Common land ; then turns and is bounded north on Common land, then west on Common land, then north on Common land, then east on the street or highway leading from the Common to Beacon Hill.' Now there were about 75,000 feet of land or nearly two acres in the State-House lot, and the above description evidently proceeds on an erroneous idea that the Common lands of the town included nearly all Beacon Hill. But we have seen the old deed of . 1670 to John Turner, by which the town right is limited to six rods square and the highway leading to it. And from the Selectmen's minutes of Jan. 17, 1753, we find that on petition of Thomas Hancock an investigation was had of the town's rights, which were then also in like manner limited to six rods square and the thirty feet highway.
" The result is that Thomas Hancock thus obtained all Beacon Hill one hundred years ago without paying one cent for it, and he and those coming after him retained possession by pasturing cows there. These ruminating animals, while quietly chewing the cud in that splendid cattle-field (where, by the way, they must have been the observed of all observers), also silently eat up the inheritance of poor Shute Shrimp- ton Yeamans and his heirs. One of these very heirs, a high officer of the Common-
1 [The preservation of the hill had by this time become an object of concern. Thomas Hodson and others had already begun digging gravel in their lots on the north side; and the destruction of the hill becoming imminent, and
there being "no prospect of the town being able to purchase his land," this committee was instructed in 1764 to apply to the legislature for an act of protection. Their efforts only put off the evil day .- ED.]
521
TOPOGRAPHY, ETC., OF THE PROVINCIAL PERIOD.
wealth (General William H. Sumner), as he looked at them year after year from the State-House windows, was probably wholly unconscious that they were feeding at his expense."
This magnificent estate came eventually, 1777, into the possession of the patriot, John Hancock, whose historic mansion will be described in the next volume.
THE BROMFIELD MANSION.1.
Of the residences in this part of the town at this time the most remarkable, both from its size and commanding site, was the fine old mansion built, in 1722, by Edward Brom- field, a prominent merchant, and afterward sold to his son-in-law William Phillips : -
1 [This cut follows a pencil drawing by Miss E. S. Quincy, which she kindly sent to the Editor. It was made in 1845, just before the destruction of the old house. This is said to have been the first house erected on Beacon Street. Ed- ward Bromfield, the builder, died in 1756, and Mr. Phillips bought it in 1764, and died in the VOL. II .- 66.
house in 1804. His daughter Abigail married in the mansion Josiah Quincy, Jr., the Revolutionary patriot, in October, 1769. Miss Quincy points out that the nearest end window in the upper story showed the orifice in which the young Bos- ton scientist, Edward Bromfield, son of the first owner, placed his solar microscope. - ED.]
522
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
" It was of three stories, and richly furnished according to the fashion of the last century. There were large mirrors in carved mahogany frames with gilt mouldings ; and one apartment was hung with tapestry, representing a stag-hunt. Three steep flights of stone steps ascended from Beacon Street to the front of the mansion ; and behind it was a paved court-yard, above which rose successive terraces filled with flowers and fruit-trees. On the summit, a summer-house, elevated higher than the roofs of the houses which, in 1861, form Ashburton Place, commanded a panoramic view of the harbor and environs. Some noble trees near it, a landmark before the Revolution for ships approaching the coast, were cut down by the British during the siege of Boston. The hill on which this mansion stood - between those of Governor Bowdoin and David Sears, both of subsequent erection - was levelled in 1845, and the site is now marked by Freeman Place Chapel and the adjoining houses on Beacon Street." 1
A little to the west, almost rivalling the above in solidity and elegance, stood in the latter part of the period 2 the fine mansion of Governor James Bowdoin, which, like its neighbor, was set back at some distance from the street and approached by long flights of stone steps. It is about these same steps that the droll incident is related that at a dinner party once given by the governor "a rain occurred, and the weather becoming cold the steps were found to be entirely covered with ice. Under any circumstances there would have been almost a certainty that life or limb would be put in jeopardy by an attempt to walk down; and the guests had probably done justice to the generous wines of their host, a circumstance which tended to increase the difficulty. At last they all concluded to sit down on the upper step, and so hitch along from step to step in a perfectly safe though it must be confessed in a somewhat ungraceful manner. " 3
Farther down the hill, opposite the King's Chapel, was another notable dwelling, the residence of one of the most eminent and public-spirited citizens of the day, whose name and bounty, by a happy conjunction of associations, still live as household words among us, and seem destined to remain as a lasting heritage to the town he loved so well. A descendant of one of the French Huguenots, from La Rochelle, Peter Faneuil came to Boston early in life, where on account of a family quarrel he succeeded unexpectedly to the estate of his wealthy old uncle Andrew Faneuil, and became in time the richest merchant in the town. He lived in a style that suited his estate. His dwelling, the old mansion inherited from his uncle, was withdrawn some little space from the street. The crest of the former owner, - a grasshopper, - similar to the vane on Faneuil Hall, yet glittered on a summer-house in the garden, which commanded a view only inferior to that from Beacon Hill." 4
Here worthy Peter lived and held his state after the old-time liberal fashion, with his negro slaves, his store of silver plate, his coach and chariot,
1 Quincy Memoir, p. 87.
2 John Erving conveyed to James Bowdoin, 1756. See Gleaner Articles. See Introduction, p. xlvii.
8 Gleaner Articles, p. 81.
4 Quincy Memoirs, p. 88. The summer-house is to be seen as a conspicuous object in Price's 1743 view of Boston.
523
TOPOGRAPHY, ETC., OF THE PROVINCIAL PERIOD.
and fine-groomed English horses. Dressed in his snuff-brown velvet suit and full-bottomed wig,1 his portly figure must have been a familiar and wel- come spectacle at church, on 'change, upon the platform of public meet- ings, in the closet of private consultation, - in every place and emergency, in fact, where his sound practical sense and well-filled purse could subserve the common weal.
But Mr. Faneuil's crowning act of munificence was the gift of the hall which bore his name. It was indeed a noble gift, of which, be it said, the
F. MUNICK
THE FANEUIL-PHILLIPS HOUSE.2
town showed itself not unmindful. For its particular history the reader must refer to another chapter.3 It is well known that after its reconstruc- tion, in 1763-64, James Otis, making the dedication speech, by a happy prompting of the feeling of the hour, consecrated it forever in the hearts of
1 See his portrait in the chapter on the * French Protestants in Boston."
2 [This engraving follows a pencil sketch by Miss Quincy, kindly furnished by her. - ED.]·
8 [By Mr. C. C. Smith, on "The French Protestants in Boston," where a view of the second structure will be found. See the present volume, p. 267. - ED.]
1
524
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
the people, under the title of "the cradle of liberty." The title was pro- phetic; many and many a meeting memorable in the events of the time, memorable in the annals of the town and of the country, were held in these hallowed walls towards the close of the period. Nor is this all. Its associations belong to all subsequent times, and it has continued down to the present day to be the scene of some of the most momentous events in our history.
1. 1-1
JULIEN
THE BORLAND-JULIEN HOUSE.1
Meantime, it will not escape attention that we are drifting far enough away from the severe simplicity, the homely economy, and the narrow ways of the Colony. Notions of transatlantic taste and luxury having once crept in, spread apace; the royal governors and their friends, coming over in their gorgeous finery, aped the grandeur of the English court, and introduced new fashions of equipage and of hospitality which, with the increase of
1 [This is another of the old landmarks, as- sociated with the name of a French restaurant- keeper in the early part of this century. The building disappeared in July, 1824. The old house was built by Deacon Henry Bridgham, in 1670 (see Introduction, p. xxix), and during
a part of the Provincial period was the residence of Francis Borland, a noted merchant of the town. It fell to his heirs, and Monsieur Julien bought it in 1794. See Shurtleff, Description of Boston, ch. liv., for a full and interesting history of the estate. - ED.]
525
TOPOGRAPHY, ETC., OF THE PROVINCIAL PERIOD.
wealth and the weakening of church discipline, all contributed to produce a marked change in the mode of living. Evidences of this change have already been afforded in glimpses into several of the old households of the
Daled at the Pustim House Berton 30th March 14 A. Frankland Coll.
period. Two more, and those perhaps the most remarkable, should be added to the list. One is the famous Frankland 1 House on Garden-Court Street and Bell Alley, at the north end of the town : -
" It was built of brick, three stories high, and contained in all twenty-six rooms. A spacious hall run through the centre, from which arose a flight of stairs so broad and easy of ascent that Frankland used to ride his pony up and down with ease and
1 Sir Charles Henry Frankland was a lineal pensively educated; was a man of extensive descendant of Cromwell ; he belonged to a noble acquirements, literary tastes, and the friend of English family, had been thoroughly and ex- such wits as Horace Walpole, Henry Fielding,
Pror Os of the second church in Marblehead my wife was bardzo by the Rev. Mr Edward Holyoke ThouPastor of Church on the 17 april 1726 by the name of agnis surratg_
and Lord Chesterfield. He was appointed to the post of Collector of Boston in 1741, at the same time that William Shirley was made gov-
ernor. Frankland, the story of whose life is varied and romantic, resigned his lucrative office in 1757 to go to Portugal on account of his
526
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
safety. The parlors were ornamented with fluted columns, elaborately carved, and richly gilded pilasters and cornices; the walls were wainscoted and the panels embellished with beautiful landscape scenery; the mantel-pieces were of Italian marble, and the fire-places of the finest porcelain, which exhibited views of singular excellence. The floor of the eastern parlor was laid in diamond-shaped figures, and had in the centre a unique and curious tessellated design, consisting, it is said, of more than three hundred different kinds of wood, -as mahogany, ebony, satin-wood, etc., - encircling the coat of arms of the Clarke 1 family." 2
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