USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630-1880, Vol. II > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76
Revolution, 1689, one volume ; and Inter-Charter, 1689-92, three volumes. See Vol. I. of this History, Introduction, p. xix. - ED.]
2
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
Dudley. He was duly commissioned by King James, and he was assisted by sixteen councillors. As might be expected, Randolph considered him- self to be the true manager of this temporary government; and it might also be foreseen that harmony was impossible.1 The facts relating to the history of these months are so few, and they have been so judiciously presented by Dr. Palfrey in his admirable History, that it would be useless to repeat them here.2
Two special subjects may, however, be of interest to Bostonians, - one being the public proceedings relative to Dudley; the other, the successful establishment of an Episcopal church in the town.
It may be well, therefore, to cite the evidence of an eye-witness, Samuel Sewall, who thus enters in his Diary : -
" Friday, May 21, 1686. The Magistrates and Deputies goe to the Governour's [Bradstreet]. I was going to them about II a'clock, supposing them to be at the Town House ; and seeing a head through the Governour's Room, and Brisco in the Street, I asked if [the] Magistrates [were] there. So went in; and they were dis- coursing about delivering the Keys of a Fort which had been taken, [and] seemed to advise him not to do it till the Gentlemen [were] sworn. Mr. Nowell prayed that God would pardon each Magistrate and Deputie's Sin. [He] thanked God for our hithertos of Mercy, 56 years, in which time sad Calamities [had happened] elsewhere, as [the ] Massacre [in] Piedmont. [He] thanked God for what we might expect from sundry of those now set over us. I moved to sing ; [and] so [we] sang the 17th and 18th verses of Habbakkuk.
"The Adjournment which had been agreed before, [to the] second Wednesday in October next, at 8 o'clock in the Morning, was declared by the weeping Marshall- Generall. Many Tears [were] shed in Prayer and at parting."
On the same day President Dudley went on board the frigate, a little below the Castle, and the flag was displayed at the main-top. Then about five o'clock in the afternoon she sailed up to the town, the Castle firing twenty-five guns, the Sconce and the ships in port, Noddle's Island and the Charlestown battery joining in, the frigate replying, and flags everywhere displayed. Yet Sewall notes that there were not many spectators on Fort Hill. It seems that £21 was spent for wine at such festivities as there were, which was duly charged to the colony.
On Saturday, September 25, the loyal captains of the men-of-war cele- brated the Queen's birthday by firing guns and displaying bunting. The ships in port were mildly coerced into a simulated enthusiasm, but the authorities prevented the lighting of bonfires in the town. At Noddle's Island, however, the officers held a jubilee, and made a great fire in the evening with many huzzas; while in Boston many, doubtless, joined the Rev. Mr. Willard in lamenting such a profanation of the Sabbath, which then began at sundown.
1 [Mr. C. W. Tuttle communicated some particulars about Randolph to the Massachu- setts Historical Society's Proceedings, 1874, p. 240 .- ED.]
2 [The speeches of Dudley to the Assembly, May 17 and May 25, 1686, with Mr. Deane's remarks thereon, are in the Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc., 1864, p. 487. - ED.]
3
THE INTER-CHARTER PERIOD.
On Thursday, October 14, the King's birthday was commemorated in like manner; and probably many remembered, with Sewall, that the pre- vious day had been assigned for that reassembling of the old General Court, which was not to be.
These seem to be the only occasions on which Boston was especially re- minded of the presence of a new government; but a more important change was in progress. This was the establishment of Episcopal forms, dug: 20. 16026 Inohony (Reckleij not only by the per- mission, but with the encouragement of the Governor. Randolph was above all things, apparently, a zealot ; and it is curious to view his acts through the eyes of an equally devout Puritan : -
Thomas Savage Benja Davis: //
Josemich Dumer.
"On Wednesday, May 26, Mr. Ratliff, the Minister, waits on the Council. Mr. Mason and Randolph propose that he may have one of the three [meeting] Houses to preach in. CAPTAINS OF THE MILITARY COMPANIES IN BOSTON. That is denyed ; and he is granted the east end of the Town House, where the Deputies used to meet, untill those who desire his Ministry shall provide a fitter place."
It is not necessary to repeat so much of this story as has been already told by Mr. Foote in Vol. I.1
Although we may not believe the story which Randolph 2 tells, that in October four hundred persons were daily frequenters of it, undoubtedly it attracted many. John Dunton attended this first service, and writes that Mr. Ratcliffe " read common-prayer in his Surplice, which was so great a Novelty to the Bostonians, that he had a very large Audience."
" August 5th. - William Harrison is buried, which is the first I know of buried with the Common-Prayer Book in Boston. He was formerly Mr. Randolph's Landlord."
2 Randolph writes : " We are now come to have praiers every Wednesday and Friday morn- ings on their exchange, and resolve not to be
1 [Vol. I. p. 200, et seq. - ED.] baffled by the great affronts ; some calling our minister Baal's priest, and some of their minis- ters, from the pulpit, calling our praiers leeks, garlick, and trash."
4
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
So writes Sewall, who adds that the second similar interment was on November 6, of " one Robinson, Esqre., that came from Antego; " and the third was of John Griffin, about one week later. He also records that on September 15 Mr. Ratcliffe married David Jeffries and Betty Usher.
Clearly the new ministry promptly began the exercise of its functions ; and it must be conceded that there were not a few who rejoiced to see the Church of England recognized in this place. So far at least the church was maintained by voluntary contributions, - not only the offerings at services, but such sums as were obtained by solicitation.
These slight items are, perhaps, all that can be gleaned in regard to Dudley's short and provisional presidency of these Colonies. The coming of Andros, known to Randolph as early as July 28, was known generally by August 23, when Dudley told Sewall that the new Governor would prob- ably arrive in six weeks.
Accordingly, on Sunday, Dec. 19, 1686, the guns announced the arrival of the frigate "King-fisher," bringing Sir Edmund to his new command.
Sir Edmund Andros was a gentleman of good family, high connections, and prosperous antecedents. For several generations the family had been seigneurs of Sausmarez in Guernsey; his father, Amice Andros, married the sister of Sir Robert Stone, cup-bearer to the amiable but unfortunate Queen of Bohemia, Elizabeth, only daughter of King James I. Through her, however, Victoria derives her title to the British Crown. Born Dec. 6, 1637, Andros, like his brother and father, was a stanch loyalist, and served three years in the army of Prince Henry of Nassau. At the Restoration he was made gentleman in ordinary to the Queen of Bohemia. In 1666 he was made major in a regiment of foot, which was sent to America, where he distinguished himself in the war against the Dutch.
He returned to England in August, 1668; and in February, 1670-71, he married Marie, daughter of Sir Thomas Craven. Her brother was the heir in reversion to the barony of Hamsted-Marshall, then enjoyed by the Earl of Craven, being the nearest heir-male. This marriage was doubtless owing to the early connections of Andros with the court of the exiled titular Queen of Bohemia; the Earl of Craven being her chief adviser and friend, most probably also being her second husband. A year later, Andros was made major of Prince Rupert's Dragoons.
In 1674 Andros, who had inherited the family estates, and had been sworn as Bailly of Guernsey, was appointed by James, Duke of York, to be Governor of the Province recently surrendered by the Dutch. Accompanied by his wife, Andros landed in New York, Nov. 1, 1674. Three years later he returned to England, having been an efficient and successful agent in establishing the affairs of that colony and of Pemaquid, also owned by the ·Duke of York.
During his vacation in England he was knighted, and returned to his colony in 1678, where he remained till January, 1681. For the next five years he remained at home, being made gentleman of the privy chamber in
5
THE INTER-CHARTER PERIOD.
1683, and lieut .- colonel of Lord Scarsdale's regiment of horse in 1685. Earlier in 1685 he commanded a troop of horse against Monmouth.
When his constant friend and patron the Duke of York succeeded to the throne in February, 1685,1 Andros doubtless was in the line of promotion.
Andros 2
When James II., under the new state of affairs, was in search of a governor for the disfranchised colonies in New England, he naturally turned to Andros as a person well fitted for the employment.
1 [The London Gazette for Feb. 9, 1684, con- taining an account of the death of Charles II. and the proclamation of James II., was reprinted in Boston by Samuel Green, and its contents are given in Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc., 1873, p. 105 .- ED.]
2 [This cut follows a portrait in the Andros Tracts, vol. i., which was engraved from a photograph of an original likeness, the property of Amias Charles Andros, Esq., of London. - ED.]
6
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
Palfrey, indeed, suggests that Andros had a "personal grudge against Massachusetts on account of old affronts," and that "it was not to be doubted that here was a man prepared to be as oppressive and offensive as the king desired." This inference may be doubted. It is true that during King Philip's war this colony had rejected the aid offered by Andros from New York. Some unfounded insinuations were also current in Massachusetts that the Indians obtained their arms at Albany. Andros indignantly denied the charge, both at the time and later in England. The Massachusetts agents, Stoughton and Bulkley, did not act very handsomely, but promised to do all they could to remove any misunderstanding. Still there is no proof that Andros continued for nine years to nourish his spleen ; nor is this charge brought against him by his contemporaries.
It may be rather assumed that the opposition to Andros was not per- sonal but general. The colonists had been for more than a generation virtually independent. Their charter as construed by themselves was all they needed. Their officials were natives, their legislature was of their own selection. When the charter was revoked, they were at once at the mercy of a sovereign little known but greatly feared. Under these circumstances, any royal governor who tried to follow his orders was liable to be hated as the agent of their oppressors.
Andros, who had before visited Boston in October, 1680, to wait upon Lord Culpepper, was received now with some formality. He landed at Governor Leverett's wharf about two o'clock, P. M., where Bradstreet and Danforth received him, and marched through the guards of the eight com- panies of Boston militia to the town house, -a wooden building occupying the site of our old State House. Here part of his commission was read, the oath of allegiance was taken by him, and then as governor he swore in a part of his council. Sewall records that the " Governor was in a Scarlet Coat, laced; several others were in Scarlet; " and that the " Governor stood with his Hat on when Oaths given to Councillours."
After speaking to the ministers in the library about the use of one of their churches for Episcopal services, part of the time, and probably partaking of the dinner, at which Rev. Increase Mather craved a blessing, the new Gov- ernor withdrew to his lodgings. His residence, perhaps only a temporary one, was with Madam Rebecca Taylor, daughter of Israel Stoughton, and widow of William Taylor; it was at the southerly corner of Hanover and Elm streets.1
On Wednesday Mather and Willard announced to Andros the decision of their churches, that they "could not with a good conscience consent that our Meeting-Houses should be made use of for the Common-Prayer Worship." On Friday about sixty "Red-Coats" were landed and marched to Mr. Gibbs's house at Fort Hill. On Saturday, Christmas-day, Andros went " to the Town House to Service, Forenoon and Afternoon, a Red- Coat going on his right hand and Captain George [of the " Rose " frigate]
1 [See the Introduction to this volume. Madam's husband spelled his name Tailer. - ED.]
-
7
THE INTER-CHARTER PERIOD.
on the left;" but, as Sewall also records with secret glee, "shops open to-day generally and persons about their occasions."
On Friday, Jan. 7, 1686-87, the cautious Sewall, being at Captain Win- throp's on business, met Andros there, and being presented, " I thankfully acknowledged the protection and peace we enjoyed under his Excellencie's Government."
On Sunday, Feb. 6, 1686-87, "many scores of great guns were fired at the Castle and Town, in honor of the beginning of the third year of the reign of King James; much to the disquiet of the churches, it being the sacrament Sunday. March 3d, new officers of the militia were com- missioned, - left out Richards, Checkly, Dummer." Sewall had returned his commission before the change of government.
Sewall records little of public interest during the first half of the year 1687. During this period Andros was establishing his government, using his very ample powers. His council was apparently composed of twelve of those who had served under Dudley, with thirteen added. The two Winthrops, Randolph, Usher, Gedney, and the two Tyngs were probably resident in Boston; Stoughton and Dudley were daily visitants. Dudley and Stoughton were made judges; Usher, treasurer; Randolph, secretary ; while one Sherlock was made high-sheriff of the Dominion.
Early in March, 1687, an act was passed for continuing and establishing taxes. By it in every town the inhabitants were to choose a local tax com- missioner, who should, with the selectmen, prepare a schedule of persons and estates. Many of these schedules remain, a number being recently recovered from the papers of Treasurer Usher. At the State House are the Boston lists for 1686 and 1687, the first of which is published in extenso in the First Report of the Record Commissioners, with the names contained in the second. The first is not summed up; the second shows one thou- sand four hundred and ninety-nine male persons in town aged sixteen and upward; the tax, at twenty-pence per head, makes £124 18s. 4d. The tax on estates was £83 4s. 814d., at one penny on the pound, showing a valua- tion of nearly £20,000.
The following list of those taxed for over £50 may be instructive. The two parts represent real and personal estates : -
DIVISION I.
House, etc.
Trade, etc.
Capt. Anthony Howard
£30
William Colman .
£20
£30
Mr. John Foster
20
50
Humphrey Liscombe
30
80
Robert Howard
20
50
Maj. John Richards .
30
100
Dr. John Clark
30
20
Timothy Thornton
20
40
Capt. Elisha Hutchinson
40
40
John Parmeter
15
40
Widow Warren
50
20
Widow Kellond
40
80
DIVISION 3.
DIVISION 2.
Isaac Walker .
20
40
Mr. Meddlecott .
20
70
Samuel Checkley
15
40
Mr. Adam Winthrop
15
40
Thomas Savage
20
30
House, etc.
Trade, etc. £ 50
8
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
House, etc.
Trade, etc.
House, etc.
Trade, etc.
John Nelson .
£20
£40
Penn Townsend .
. £20
£40
Edward Lillie
30
20
Thomas Palmer .
10
60
Gyles Dyer
18
40
John Ballentine
30
30
George Pordeege
18
50
Col. Nicholas Paige
30
100
DIVISION 4.
Thomas Cooper
30
40
Simeon Stoddard
30
80
Francis Foxcroft
25
60
Edward Shippin .
40
100
Anthony Checkley
30
30
James Taylor
20
80
Charles Lidgett, Esq.
20
80
DIVISION 5.
Thomas Clarke .
40
60
Samuel Shrimpton
50
150
John Baker
IO
50
Madam Rebecca Taylor
32
20
James Lloyd
22
60
Bozoun Allen
20
30
William White
16
40
Benj. Bullivant, Esq.
16
40
Francis Burroughs
8
60
Thaddeus Maccarty 20
30
Eliakim Hutchinson, Esq.
40
70
Thomas Smith
12
50
DIVISION 6.
Capt. Benj. Davis
25
40
Capt. Nath. Byfield
12
60
DIVISION 9.
Muddy River, Rumney Marsh, and the Islands, we omit.1
It will be evident that the valuations above given of real and personal property are very low. For comparison, we note that Dudley's salary as judge was £150. Is it conceivable that he received three times the value of the best houses in town? We must multiply the £20,000 by at least five, to get a true valuation of the real estate then; and the £100,000 would represent much more than that value now does.2
Leaving our Boston statistics, we find that on one other point Andros soon offended the sensibilities of our citizens. The Governor was a devout Episcopalian, and he had Randolph at his elbow to spur him on. He was determined to have some accommodation for the services of his church ; and, after inspecting the three meeting-houses, on March 23 he demanded the
1 We further find the number of horses and cows to be as follows : -
Division 7
8 Horses, 27 Cows.
"
Division 1
6 Horses,
2 Cows.
2
13
21
3
5
13
4
14
53
5
18
13
6
30
33
DIVISION 7.
Richard Harris
40
20
Nathaniel Oliver .
40
50
Jonathan Balston, Sr.
20
80
Henry Munford
16
50
Joseph Parsons
20
40
John Poole
25
30
Peter Sargeant
40
60
DIVISION 8.
Capt. Samuel Sewall
30
100
Thomas Walker, Jr.
61
100
Sampson Sheefe .
20
30
John Eyre .
20
40
Benjamin Alford .
25
60
Simon Lynde, Esq.
30
100
Nicholas King
30
30
Jeremiah Dummer 20
40
Jonathan Bridgham .
20
30
8
118
There are tax-lists of the Andros time in N. E. Hist. and Geneal. Reg., xxxii., xxxv., etc. 2 [Perhaps two and a half times more would express it with approximate accuracy. - ED.]
9
THE INTER-CHARTER PERIOD.
keys of the South. A committee of six-Eliot, Frary, Oliver, Savage, Davis, and Sewall - waited on the Governor, and showed that the land was theirs by Mrs. Norton's gift, and that the house was built by the subscriptions of individuals. But two days later, on Good-Friday, "the Governor has service in the South meeting-house. Goodman Needham [the sexton], though [he] had resolved to the contrary, was prevailed upon to Ring the Bell and open the door, at the Governor's command, -one Smith and Hill, joiner and shoemaker, being very busy about it. Mr. John Usher was there, whether at the very beginning or no, I can't tell." So writes Sewall, who adds that on the Sunday following the "Governor and his retinue met in our meeting-house at Eleven ; broke off at past two, because of the
[DEFENSOR
IACOBVS.II.1
ON.AN
TAS: GRATIOR:EXTA
SOIT.
QVI . MA
FT . HIB : RES
MAG. BRIT. FRAN
. NI .
INOM
Y. PENSE.
SIGILLUM . & . NOVE
OBVERSE.
REVERSE.
GREAT SEAL OF NEW ENGLAND UNDER ANDROS.I
Sacrament and Mr. Clark's long sermon. Now we were appointed to come [at] half hour past one; so 't was a sad sight to see how full the street was with people gazing and moving to and fro, because [they] had not entrance into the house." Thenceforward the Episcopalians used the building until they got a church for themselves, though at such hours as did not prevent the true owners from continuing their services.2
By this act Andros defied the Puritan element, and arrayed the minis- ters and churches against himself. With the views of that age in respect to the power of the Crown, many temporal changes might have been accepted with resignation ; but so long as the Church of England was weekly shown triumphant over the Dissenters, the inhabitants of Boston needed no other incentive to rebellion.
-
1 [See an account of the Great Seal in private seal is figured in the Heraldic Journal, Historical Magazine, April, 1862, by George i. 141 .- ED.] Adlard, and the account in his Sutton-Dudleys 2 Sewall notes, Oct. 16, 1686: " This day the ground-sills of the church are laid; the stone foundation being finished." of England ; also see Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc., July, 1862, and Palfrey, iii. 516. Andros's VOL. II. - 2.
.
. AMERIC
IO
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
On Oct. 3, 1687, the Government obtained a notable but expensive victory. There was held at Boston on that day a Court of Oyer and Ter- miner, consisting of Dudley, Stoughton, Usher, and Randolph, to try the Ipswich leaders. That town had refused in open meeting to comply with the law and to levy the new taxes, " until it was appointed by a General Assembly concurring with the Governor and Council." Rev. John Wise, John Appleton, John Andrews, Robert Kinsman, William Goodhue, and Thomas French were the leaders; and they were accordingly brought to Boston, charged with high misdemeanors, and imprisoned to await trial.
Doubtless all Boston was stirred on that day ; but we have no contempo- rary picture of the scene, as Sewall on that Monday concluded to take his wife to Sherborn, where they passed the week. Other evidence shows that the trial was memorable from the words used by Dudley, "that the people in New England were all slaves, and that the only difference between them and slaves was their not being bought and sold; and that they must not think the privileges of Englishmen would follow them to the end of the world." The jury, " strangers and foreigners, gathered up, as we suppose, to serve the present term," promptly convicted the six prisoners. They were fined, and Mr. Wise was suspended from the ministerial function. Exorbitant costs and fees swelled the sum of the expenses of the defence to some four hundred pounds.
The victory was for the present complete, and all the other towns sub- mitted. In this matter Andros does not seem to be personally implicated ; the other financial novelty was certainly favored by him. This was the theory that the Crown owned the fee to all the land, or at least that the ex- isting owners under colonial grants had so weak a title as to need confirma- tion by the Crown. After the overthrow of Andros, his enemies claimed that he threatened the widest application of the Royal rights; his friends asserted that " not one example could be produced, that the least compul- sion was ever used in this case to any man living within this Dominion."
Perhaps the truth lies between the two; the claim was made and was ac- quiesced in by members of the council and other friends, who were treated with on very easy terms. When the principle was well-established the great mass of free-holders were to be taken in hand; but the opportunity did not arrive.
On Oct. 26, 1687, Andros set out for Hartford, to assume command there. He received the surrender of the old government, rapidly passed through his new territories, and returned to Boston, November 16. During the autumn he built a palisade fort of four bastions at Fort Hill, with a house for the accommodation of the garrison.
Soon after this, Andros met with a great loss. On Jan. 22, 1687-88, " the Lady Andros departed this life, to the great grief and sorrow of his Excellency, and all that knew her," writes West. On the evening of Feb- ruary 10, the cloudy air illuminated by torches, the stately funeral moved through the streets of Boston. Sewall, in one of his more labored entries, has
II
THE INTER-CHARTER PERIOD.
described it; 1 and he adds: "No volley at placing the body in the tomb." Tradition adds that this tomb was in the King's Chapel yard, and was after- ward owned by Dr. Benjamin Church, of Revolutionary fame.
In spite of his affliction - perhaps in consequence of it - Andros was speedily at work again, perfecting the plan of government. In February an act was passed for additional imposts and excise; in March, one prohib- iting more than one town-meeting in a year: both must have aroused a strong, if concealed, enmity in our town. The scheme for asserting the king's title to all lands seems also to have been pushed, as it is to this year that we find assigned Andros's famous criticism of an Indian deed, "that their hand was no more worth than a scratch with a bear's paw."
In April, 1688, Rev. Increase Mather, the eloquent, learned, and patriotic minister of the Second Church in Boston, sailed for England as the in- formal envoy of the people. Andros knew of his intended journey, but did not oppose it. Randolph, who had with reason charged Mather with libel- ling him, brought a second suit against him. The prudent minister in a dis- guise went to Charlestown, thence to Winnisimmet, where a ketch took him to his desired shelter on board the ship " President." He sailed on April 17, 1688. Of his mission and its success we may speak later.
A few days before, on March 28, Sewall makes the following entry :-
" Capt. Davis spake to me for Land to set a Church on. I told him [I] could not, would not put Mr. Cotton's Land to such an use, and besides 't was Entail'd. After[wards], Mr. Randolph saw me, and had me to his House to see the Landscips of Oxford Colledgse and Halls. [He] left me with Mr. Ratcliff, who spake to me for Land at Cotton Hill for a Church which [they] were going to build. I told him I could not, first because I would not set up that which the People of N[ew] E[ngland] came over to avoid ; Secondly, the Land was Entail'd. In after discourse I men- tioned chiefly the Cross in Baptism and Holy Dayes."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.