USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880, Vol. III > Part 35
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It was chiefly against Thompson that the passions of the hour were aroused; and when the Mayor, on inquiry, learned that Thompson was not in the city, and would not be present at the meeting whose announce- ment had caused so much solicitude on his part, there seemed to him no reason to apprehend any serious disturbance of the peace, and no extraor- dinary precautions were taken. Upon the seizure of Garrison, however, by the inob, - the circumstances attending which need not be repeated here, - and his rescue by the police, the Mayor ordered the officers to take him into the City Hall, and offered his own body as a shield against the rioters. After a stubborn fight, the entrance to the City Hall was
1 The establishment of the State Reform School at Westboro', " for the proper disci- pline, instruction, employment, and reformation of juvenile offenders," the first institution of the kind in America, was due mainly to Mr. Lyman. He gave $22,500 to the school during his lifetime, the sole condition being that his name should not then be made public; and he left to it $50,000 more by his last will. The success of the school has been due as much per- VOL. 111 .- 31.
haps to his wise suggestions at the time of its foundation as to his princely gifts. In the last codicil to his will he suggested a separate school of a similar character for girls ; and to that sug- gestion we owe the institution now in operation at Lancaster. He was the benefactor, and for many years the manager, of the Farm School for Boys on Thompson's Island.
2 [ That on " The Antislavery Movement," by James Freeman Clarke. - E.D.]
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
gained, and Garrison was conveyed upstairs to the Mayor's office. As the crowd attempted to follow, the Mayor took his stand on the steps, and declared that "any person who passed there would have to pass over his dead body." Night was coming on, and the excitement of the crowd showing no abatement, it was thought best to commit Garrison to the jail, ostensibly as a disturber of the peace. The necessary papers were made out by the sheriff, who was present, and after a hard fight he was put into a carriage and conveyed by a circuitous route to the jail, where he again barely escaped falling into the clutches of the crowd assembled about the entrance. As the doors of the jail closed upon him, he sank exhausted on a seat, exclaiming, " Never was a man so rejoiced to get into a jail before." 1 He received no personal injuries while in the hands of the mob. On the day following his commitment he was discharged from the jail, and, acting on the advice of friends, retired to the country for a short time.
The Mayor has been blamed for not having a sufficient civil force at hand to check the mob in the beginning, and for not calling out the military forces later, to prevent the necessity of committing Garrison to jail as a criminal ; but it appears that he did use, as effectively as possible, the small police force at his command; and that, as the law then stood, he had no such power as the mayor now has to issue precepts calling the militia to the aid of the civil authorities. Mr. Samuel E. Sewall, an Abolitionist who took part in the meeting which caused the riot, and who was very active in efforts for Garrison's security, said, in a communication to the Liberator shortly after the affair, that he believed the Mayor " was as sincerely desirous of suppressing the riot as any man in the city," and that he had " adopted such measures as seemed to him calculated to effect the object."
There is no doubt that the public sentiment of the community was in sympathy with the mob to the extent of breaking up the meeting; and while it was not in sympathy with it to the extent of doing personal violence to Mr. Garrison, it was not in favor of punishing those who laid violent hands upon him. According to one of the papers, the mob was composed, in part at least, of "gentlemen of property and standing." The Advertiser of the day following concluded a very short account of the affair by saying : -
" As far as we had an opportunity for observing the deportment of the great num- ber of persons assembled, there appeared to be a strong desire that no act of violence should be committed any further than was necessary to prevent these fomenters of discord from addressing a public meeting. If those who call these useless meetings have not regard enough for the public quiet to avoid the summoning of another assemblage of this kind, we trust the proper authorities will take care that they are bound over to keep the peace."
It is true, as has been stated, that hardly a night passes in any of our larger cities without greater violence done to person and to property than occurred in the so-called " Garrison mob." It would long ago have passed
1 Boston Atlas, Oct. 22, 1835. This statement rison use substantially the same words in describ- is corroborated by persons who heard Mr. Gar- ing the affair shortly after it occurred.
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BOSTON UNDER THE MAYORS.
out of memory but for the prominence which the man and his cause after- ward attained. Garrison was then an obscure individual. During Mr. Otis's administration the mayor of Baltimore requested him to suppress the Liberator, copies of which were sent to that city. Mr. Otis wrote to him that the " officers had ferreted out the paper and its editor, whose office was an obscure hole; his only visible auxiliary, a negro boy ; his supporters, a few ignorant persons of all colors."
While the Mayor had no sympathy with the mob, and stood up bravely in defence of the object of its persecution, he was not as zealous as he might have been in seeking out and punishing those who had committed such an offence against the rights of an American citizen ; not as solicitous for the good name of the city as he showed himself to be when he called a meeting in Faneuil Hall to denounce the destruction of the Ursuline Con- vent; not as energetic as the mayor of 1837, who in two hours mustered a sufficient military force to put down the great riot in Broad Street. Look- ing back upon it at this day, one cannot but regret that the feeling which prompted him to shield Mr. Garrison with his own body had not induced him to make the effort, at least, to punish those who had so openly defied his authority.
At the municipal election in December, 1835, Samuel Turrell Arm- strong,1 the Whig candidate, was elected mayor for the ensuing year. He held the office for only one term, and the principal acts of his administration appear to have been the erection of the gloomy iron fence which still en- closes three sides of the Common, and the extension of the mall through the burial ground on Boylston Street. The new Court House in Court Square was completed this year; and the ringing of the church-bells was changed from eleven o'clock to one, - or, as it was said, from the hour for drinking to the hour for dining.2
For some reason Mr. Armstrong was not a candidate for re-election; and at the end of his term the Whigs put up Samuel Atkins Eliot,3 a suc- cessful and highly respected Boston merchant, and elected him over the combined opposition by a majority of about eight hundred votes. He held the office for three years, and showed a remarkable aptitude for the per- formance of its duties. Following the custom of his immediate predecessors, Mr. Eliot made no formal address upon the organization of the city gov- ernment at the beginning of his first term.
The most important act of his administration was the reorganization of the fire department. The necessity of bringing that department into a
I He was born in Dorchester, Mass., April 29, 1784; educated at the public schools, and became a printer, publisher, and bookseller. Ile had been a member of the board of aldermen for four years (1828-31) ; Licut .- Governor of the State for three years ( 1833-35), and Acting Gov-
ernor after the election of Governor John Davis to the United States Senate, March 4, 1835-
1 [See Vol. II. p. 509. - ED.]
$ He was a native of Boston, born March 5. 179S, and had served as a member of the board of aldermen while Mr. Lyman held the mayoralty.
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
higher state of discipline and efficiency was made apparent to the citizens on the occasion of the Broad-Street riot. The succession of violent dis- turbances of the peace which took place during these carly years under the city government shows that there must have been in these "good old times," as they are now called, a greater tendency to fighting and to the destruction of property than there is at the present time. The Boston of that day was small, but it was evidently intense. Its feelings could not
SAMUEL A. ELIOT.I
then, as now, find expression in the mild vagaries of a Radical Club. The truckmen, looking piously on the motto of the city seal, saw no other way of preserving the religion of their fathers than by burning the first convent that was set up in their neighborhood; the merchants, having in their keeping the material prosperity of the city, saw no other way of pre- serving that on which its prosperity rested-the Union of the States-
1 [ This cut follows a photograph, taken about 1850, kindly loaned by Charles W. Eliot, his son, President of Harvard University. A portrait of Mayor Eliot by Stuart, taken about
1817, is now in the possession of Professor Charles Eliot Norton, in Cambridge. For his family connections, see Vol. IV. p. 7. He died in 1862. - ED.]
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BOSTON UNDER THE MAYORS.
than by hustling Mr. Garrison, and then locking him up in jail for allow- ing himself to be hustled; the firemen -the embodiment of a long series of Fourth of July orations- saw no other way of vindicating American muscle and American independence than by breaking the heads of their Irish fellow-citizens.
It was on Sunday, June 11, 1837, that the Broad-Street riot occurred. An engine company returning from a fire came into collision with an Irish funeral procession. It would not have been a serious affair had not an alarm of fire been sounded on the church-bells, calling other fire companies to the scene. The Irish had a temporary advantage in numbers; but the firemen, and those who came to their aid, soon got the upper hand. The Irish were driven into their houses, whither they were followed by their assailants, who had now reached a pitch of fury which, but for the appear- ance of the military, would have ended in the destruction of the whole Irish quarter of the town. No lives were lost, however, but there was a good deal of blood-letting, and considerable property was destroyed. It was estimated that over fifteen thousand persons were concerned in the affair. The Mayor was on the ground at the first alarm, and finding himself powerless to preserve order with the small police force under his com- mand, he took immediate steps to have the military called out. Fort- unately for the peace of the city, the National Lancers, constituting a company of cavalry in the militia organization of the Commonwealth, had just been formed, and the members being well known the authorities were able to bring them together at short notice. Portions of several companies of infantry were also collected ; and in two hours after the affray began the Mayor entered Broad Street at the head of some eight hundred men under arms. The Lancers led the way and did the most effective service. The street presented a singular spectacle at this time. The air was full of fly- ing feathers and straw from the beds which had been ripped open and emptied out of the windows; some of the tenement houses were com- pletely sacked, the occupants fleeing for their lives. Peace was restored very soon after the arrival of the militia; but the people were in such an excited state that a military patrol was maintained through the night, and sentinels were posted at all the church doors to prevent false alarms. The energetic action of the Mayor alone prevented a serious loss of life. From the report of an investigating committee of the city council, it ap- pears that the blame for beginning the disturbance rests about equally on the firemen and the Irishmen.
The moral which the Mayor drew from the occurrence was that both the police and fire departments ought to be reorganized. He succeeded in making the changes hie desired in the fire department, but failed to secure the co-operation of the city council in his proposed reform of the police department. The firemen at that time received no compensation for their services. A small annual allowance was made to the engine and hook and ladder companies to pay for refreshments; but beyond that the free souls
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
composing the department disdained to receive anything. The Mayor saw that in order to secure discipline reasonable compensation must be made for the services required. He told the city council that " it ought not to be regarded as a matter of reproach to any one to receive pay for his labor." He saw no reason why the firemen should not be paid and still retain all the ambition, ardor, and generous spirit which characterize voluntary associ- ations, and which are not less characteristic of naval and military corps. The compensation was intended as an inducement for the firemen to place themselves under that strict discipline necessary to insure efficiency, and not as an equivalent for perils which could not be really paid for. The ordinance reorganizing the department and fixing the pay of its members was passed and went into operation on the first of September. For several weeks it was necessary to maintain all over Boston volunteer patrols against incendiaries.
In the following year authority was procured from the Legislature for the appointment by the mayor and aldermen of police officers, with all the powers of constables except the power of serving and executing any civil pro- cess. Under this authority a small police force for day duty was organized and placed under the city marshal, who was the principal health-officer of the city. This force was entirely separate and distinct from the watch, which at this time included one hundred and ten watchmen and ten constables, who went on duty at six o'clock in the winter and at seven o'clock in the summer, and patrolled the streets until sunrise.
At the municipal election in December, 1837, the inhabitants were called upon to give in their votes on several amendments to the city charter pro- posed by the city council. Most of the amendments were merely for the purpose of curing certain defects in the phraseology of the original act; but there was one which transferred from the inhabitants of the several wards to the city council the power of electing overseers of the poor, and this proposition was regarded with so much disfavor that all the amend- ments were defeated. They were again submitted at a special election in February, 1838, and again rejected.
Under the authority of an act of the Legislature, a superintendent of alien passengers was first appointed by the city in 1837. It was made the duty of that officer to prevent the landing of persons incompetent to maintain themselves, unless a bond was given that the person should not become a charge to the city or the State within ten years; and the sum of two dol- lars was collected from all other alien passengers as a commutation for the bond. Some years afterward this assessment of "head money," as it was called, was resisted by the transportation companies; and a case being car- ried up to the Supreme Court of the United States, the law which authorized it was declared to be unconstitutional.
The erection of a hospital for the insane was begun in 1837, on the grounds adjoining the houses of Industry and Correction, in South Boston ; and was opened for patients in 1839.
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BOSTON UNDER THE MAYORS.
In his inaugural address at the beginning of the year 1838 the Mayor re- ferred to the commercial crisis which had occurred during the previous year, and stated that it had produced far less general distress in this community than in some others. He recommended the erection of a new city hall and a county jail; but no action was taken on these recommendations be- yond procuring plans and estimates for the former. No other measures of importance received the attention of the city council during this year.
At the charter election in December, 1839, Jonathan Chapman,1 the Whig candidate, was elected mayor, and held the office for the three fol- lowing years. When he took office in January, 1840, he addressed the city council at some length, recommending, as the principal object of their efforts, the gradual reduction of the city debt. From $100,000 the debt had in eighteen years risen to $1,698,232; but the city had in the mean time acquired a property which not only accommodated the public busi- ness, but furnished an income which covered more than half the interest on the debt; and it owned, besides, about $200,000 in bonds and notes, and between five and six million feet of land and flats. The national census taken this year gave the city a population of ninety-three thousand three hundred and eighty-three. The valuation of the real and personal prop- erty of the city for purposes of taxation amounted to $47,290,800,2 and the rate of taxation was $11 on $1,000. The annual current expenses of the city, excluding all except those for ordinary purposes, and also the payments on account of the principal or interest of the city debt, amounted to about $425,000. The public schools absorbed nearly a quarter of this amount.
The project of building a new city hall on land lying between the Court House and School Street, which had been purchased for the purpose dur- ing the preceding year, was not favored by the Mayor. When, later in the year, a new building for the probate and registry offices was completed, and the old county court house was abandoned, the city council decided to remodel the old building for the purposes of a city hall. This was done for a comparatively small expense, and the city government took possession of its new quarters on March 18, 1841, and listened to an address from the Mayor.
The year 1840 formed a sort of epoch in the commercial history of the city. Through the enterprise of Mr. Samuel Cunard, steam navigation was established between Boston and Liverpool.3 The event was celebrated by a great dinner, given on July 22, in a pavilion in front of the Maverick House
1 He was born in Boston, Jan. 23, 1807, and Christian Examiner, and the newspapers of the was the son of Captain Jonathan Chapman, who day, an effective speaker on social and political occasions, and altogether a man of rather bril- liant parts. had served in the office of selectman for the lown of Boston. Ile received his education at Phillips Academy and Harvard College, and en- ยบ See note p. 234. tered the Suffolk Bar from Judge Shaw's office. He possessed considerable literary ability ; was a contributor to the North American Review, the
3 [See Mr. H. A. Hill's chapter in Vol. IV, and the Mayor's Inaugural Address, City Doces ment 2 of 1841 .- ED.]
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
at East Boston. Referring to the matter in his inaugural address at the beginning of the following year, the Mayor said it had already given to the city a commercial importance unknown to her before; and when con- sidered in connection with the great internal improvement through this Commonwealth, so shortly to be completed, the most important results to our prosperity might justly be anticipated. The period of general depres- sion in the various branches of industry and business seemed rapidly giv- ing place to one of activity and success ; and he thought he could say truly that in no period of the city's history had her prospects been so bright and cheering.1
During this year the Mayor incurred the enmity of the sellers of in- toxicating liquors by temporarily increasing the police force for the purpose of prosecuting the violators of the law. There was a license law in opera- tion at this time, which authorized the mayor and aldermen to grant as many licenses to retail spirituous liquors as in their opinion the public good might require. The Mayor was opposed to a license law, and in his address to the city government of 1842 he gave his views on the question at some length. It appears that he prosecuted the violators of the liquor law simply because they were law-breakers, and not because he expected in that way to cure the evils of intemperance. He objected to the license law because it created a monopoly, and because its enforcement necessi- tated the entering of a man's house or place of business for the purpose of procuring evidence. He said : -
" Let the licensing system be entirely done away, as wrong in principle and in- jurious in effect. Let the severest penalties be affixed to the keeping of disorderly houses. Demand of your police to keep the outside in order, - to see to it that the public peace is preserved, and the public proprieties in no way violated. But as to the use of spirituous liquors within, so long as it is peaceable and in order, leave that to individuals, and above all to the Washingtonians, who have grasped the sub- ject in the right way."
During the year 1841 another revision of the city charter was made and submitted to the Legislature, but no action was taken by that body; and the Mayor in his address at the beginning of the following year urged a renewal of the application for additional legislation. The application was made, but the higher power " smiling put the question by." 2
1 The great internal improvement referred to was the Western Railroad, which was completed and opened to the Hudson River in 1841. . The city government " noticed this joyous occasion " by visiting Albany, and receiving in return a visit from the officers of that city. [See the chapter on " The Canal and Railroad Enterprise of Boston," by Charles Francis Adams, Jr., in Vol. IV., and Mr. Ilamilton A. Hill's chapter on " The Trade, Commerce, and Navigation of Bos- lon," in the same volume. - ED.]
2 In the ordinary affairs of the city nothing of importance beyond what has been mentioned occurred during Mr. Chapman's three years of service ;. but it ought perhaps to be mentioned as something beyond the ordinary, that on Feb. 2, 1842, a public dinner was given to Mr. Charles Dickens, at which the Mayor made quite a no- table little speech, full of the kind of wit that is appreciated on such occasions ; and that on Nov. 24, 1841, the Mayor's wife danced with the Prince de Joinville, at a great ball in Faneuil Hall.
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BOSTON UNDER THE MAYORS.
Martin Brimmer) was the next mayor of Boston. He was the Whig candidate, and was elected by a majority of two thousand and ,sixty-one votes over Bradford Sumner, the candidate of the " Loco-focos."
His address at the organization of the city government on Jan. 2, 1843, was devoted largely to the question, which had been agitated for some years, of building a new prison for the county of Suffolk. He pointed out the defects of the old jail in Leverett Street, and the difficulty of caring for its inmates in a manner suited to the requirements of the times. He had given considerable attention to the subject of prison discipline and con- struction, about which an active controversy was going on at that time ; and he made some suggestions in his address which were acted upon when, at a later day, the new jail was constructed in Charles Strect.
Mr. Brimmer was also deeply interested in the cause of public education, and was an ardent supporter of the new departure advocated by Horace Mann. During his mayoralty he gave much thought to the improvement and increase of the Boston schools. At that time the literature of educa- tion was scanty. A valuable work - The School and the Schoolmaster, by Alonzo Potter and George B. Emerson - had recently been published, and the Mayor had an edition of three thousand five hundred copies printed at his own expense, and sent a copy to each public school and school com- mittee in the State.2
In his address to the city government of 1844 the Mayor sketched the rapid growth of the city during the preceding twenty-two years, for the purpose of impressing his associates with " the importance of enlarged views in relation to the improvements of the city, in extending and beautify- ing the streets and public places, in a careful attention to internal health and police, in an enlarged system of internal and external intercourse, in a liberal encouragement of charitable and literary institutions, in a far-sighted preparation for the moral, literary, and physical education of the rising generation."
The policy inaugurated by Mr. Chapman for a gradual reduction of the city debt was continued by Mr. Brimmer. The debt which amounted to $1,698,232, in 1840, was reduced under Mr. Chapman's administration to $1,594,700, and under Mr. Brimmer's to $1,423,800.
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