USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The site of Saint Paul's Cathedral, Boston, and its neighborhood > Part 9
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not to make any fire in their Cooper shop chimnies, till they are sufficiently repaired to the satisfaction of the Selectmen, upon the penaltie of 20s." And Cap- tain William Hudson's "Castell chamber chimny" was specified as being in an unsafe condition. The habitations and shops built by the early colonists were exceedingly primitive, and ill adapted to with- stand fire. The roofs were thatched, and the chim- neys were constructed of logs laid crosswise, the in- tervening spaces being filled with clay. In trying to offset the fire-risk, the Town Fathers had ordered, some years before, that every householder should provide a ladder of sufficient length to enable one to climb to the ridge-pole of his house; and also "a pole of above 12-foot long, with a good, large swob at the end of it, that shall reach to the ridg of the house." An ordinance of 1654 provided that "if anye Chim- ney shall be fired soe as to Flame out att the topp, the owner thereof shall paye unto the town's treasurer, for the use of the towne, the sum of five shillings."
William Hudson, "Vintner," sold his estate on the corner of Dock Square and Hudson's Lane (now Elm Street), in 1674, to John Wing, a shopkeeper, for £1000. The property consisted of one Mansion house standing "neere ye towne dock, comonly called and known by the name of the Castle Tavern; to-
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gether with the land, yards and garden thereunto belonging; also the brew-house, stable and all other out-houses and buildings standing upon the same."
Arthur Mason, Biscuit Baker
C APTAIN WILLIAM HUDSON of Boston, Vintner and Innkeeper, sold this Winter Street lot, December 31, 1662, to Arthur Mason (1631- 1708), who was styled a "Besket Baker" in the deed of sale. In a later conveyance he is called a "Bis- cake Baker." He was admitted a freeman in 1664, and served the Town as a Constable. Samuel G. Drake, in his History of Boston, describes him as a "blunt, honest Christian." Arthur Mason was a legal guardian of Jonathan Gatliffe, a sixteen-year- old boy, who was charged at a County Court in Cam- bridge, March 20, 1685, with "frequenting Harvard College contrary to law" by being present at a festive gathering in the room of Francis Wainwright, a member of the Junior class.
As a constable Arthur Mason was resolute and fearless. On a Saturday night in January, 1666, Sir Robert Carr and Samuel Maverick, two of the Royal Commissioners, who had then recently been sent over from England by King Charles II, were having a
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noisy revel, with some of their friends, at the Ship Tavern, or "Noah's Ark," a favorite resort of theirs, at the North End of Boston. They had already as- saulted one constable when Mason appeared and ordered them to be quiet. An altercation ensued, during which Mason told Carr that he would arrest the King himself if the latter were found disturbing the peace in Boston on a Saturday night. For these words the General Court sentenced Arthur Mason "to be admonished in a solemn manner" by the Gov- ernor; while Sir Robert Carr was summoned to ap- pear before his Excellency to answer for "riotous and abusive carriage" to one of his Majesty's officers, a constable of Boston.
Anthony Stoddard, Linen Draper
A NTHONY STODDARD was an occupant of the house on this corner estate when Arthur Mason bought it in 1662. He was admitted a mem- ber of the First Church in 1639, being described on its records as a "Lynning Draper." The same year he joined the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- pany. Mr. Stoddard was an influential citizen of Boston, and the founder of a distinguished family. He was married four times, and his son Solomon was
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the first librarian of Harvard College, in 1667. He had a shop on Shrimpton's Lane, the present Ex- change Street. At a Town meeting, March 18, 1644, there was "graunted to Anthony Stoddard liberty to make his Enterance out of the street into his Sellar, neere our Pastor's house, in such manner as was Graunted to James Oliver, and to open his shop-win- dow-board two foot into the street." In 1650 Mr. Stoddard was appointed Recorder of Boston, and he represented the Town in the General Court for twenty-two years. No man in his time, it was stated, had been chosen so often for like service. He was also a Selectman four years. Chief Justice Samuel Sewall in his Diary (1679) described Anthony Stod- dard as "the ancientist shop-keeper in town."
Edmund White, Merchant
E DMUND. WHITE, of London, England, ap- pears to have been the next owner, although no record is found of any conveyance to him by Arthur Mason. He evidently was engaged in business in the Colony at an early period, for we learn from the Aspinwall Notarial Records that Edmund White of London, merchant, on January 30, 1639, appointed David Yale, also of London, his Attorney to have
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charge of all such "summes of money, plantations, goods, cattle, merchandise, wares and comodities whatsoever as are due, oweing or belonging unto mee by or from John Woolcot of Newtowne alias Cam- bridge . . . or by any other person or persons in New England." Recorded, June 15, 1649.
Captain Edward Willis
M R. WHITE sold the Sherman lot (cotaining some 30,700 square feet) July 9, 1672, to Cap- tain Edward Willis of Boston, for £120, or at the rate of about two cents a foot ! The lot was fenced in, and was bounded on the South by "the lane going to the Common," Willis's Lane, now Winter Street. No mention was made of any house on this land until later. Captain Willis asked leave of the General Court to build a wooden house in 1683, but for some unexplained reason he was "steadily refused." At a public meeting of the freemen of Boston, April 4, 1690, Mr. Edward Willis was chosen a Commis- sioner "to set the price of wheate to the white bread bakers for the yeare ensuing."
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Colonel Samuel Vetch
T HE next conveyance is dated April 18, 1712. Elizabeth Willey, widow, and Ruth Willey, only daughter and granddaughter of Edward Willis, were the grantors. Colonel Samuel Vetch (1668-1732) was the grantee, and paid £400 for the land and a dwelling-house thereon. He was born at Edinburgh, Scotland, December 9, 1668, the third son of William Vetch, "a godly minister and a glorifier of God in the Grass Market."1
William Vetch was a Covenanter who fled to Hol- land with his two sons, Samuel and William. They completed their education at the University of Utrecht. Coming to America in 1699, Samuel be- came a trader at Albany, N. Y. In 1702 he removed to Boston, and three years after was sent to Quebec by Governor Joseph Dudley as a diplomatic agent. In 1708 he visited his parents in Scotland and then went to London, where he laid before Queen Anne and her ministers a plan for the conquest of Canada. His suggestions were approved, and he was des- patched on a war-vessel, with instructions to the Gov- ernors of the several Provinces. Arriving at Boston 1 International Review. Vol. XI. 1881.
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in April, 1709, Vetch was active in making prepara- tions for a campaign against Nova Scotia. In the expedition of 1710 Francis Nicholson was com- mander-in-chief, and Samuel Vetch was Adjutant- General. The fleet of thirty-six vessels sailed from Boston with royal marines and colonial troops. Port Royal was taken, and Samuel Vetch became the first English Governor of Nova Scotia. After two years' service he again became a resident of Boston, and then it was that he acquired the Winter Street cor- ner lot.
Mr. Vetch later returned to England, where he was living in 1719. Chief Justice Samuel Sewall wrote in his Diary that at about two o'clock in the afternoon of Friday, July 16, 1714, there was a great flash of lightning and a terrible clap of thunder, a bolt struck Colonel Vetch's house (that was bought of Captain Willis's heirs), and damaged "the end of the kitchen next Pollard's; split the principal Rafter next that end to the purloin; Ript off the Clapboards, loosened many more; plough'd off the cieling of that end wall here and there in a Line; Lifted up the Sash window, broke one of the Squares; knocked down two boys that stood by the dresser. "Tis the more Melancholick because Madam Vetch is just remov-
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ing thither, though the work of Transformation be not finished."
Samuel Vetch and his wife Margaret sold this property, March 22, 1714, to Captain Thomas Steel (1664-1735) for £1050 in New England currency. He was a native of Renfrewshire, Scotland, and came to Boston when he was about twenty-one years old. He became a member of the Brattle Square Church in 17II. Rev. Benjamin Colman, its pastor, described Thomas Steel as an "Honour to the King- dom and Church of Scotland, where he was born and educated; a Gentleman of superior Wisdom and Vir- tue." Mr. Steel joined the Scots' Charitable Society in 1686, and was its President for eight years. He retained the Winter Street corner lot until 1722. Whether or not he made his residence there is uncer- tain, but in later years he occupied a dwelling on Hanover Street, where he had a bake-house. He also owned a farm in the town of Leicester, Massa- chusetts. Thomas Steel married a daughter of John Nelson, who was a prominent citizen during the Ad- ministration of Governor Sir Edmund Andros, and active in causing the latter's overthrow.
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Lieutenant-Colonel Adam Winthrop
A DAM WINTHROP was the next owner, having bought the property of Thomas Steel, June 25, 1722, for £1250. Adam Winthrop, third of the name in Boston, was a great-grandson of Governor John Winthrop of Massachusetts. His name appears often in the Town records with the prefix "Honourable." He was a graduate of Harvard, Class of 1694; Lieu- tenant-Colonel of the Boston regiment; Representa- tive and Councillor; Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He also served the Town as a Con- stable, as a Clerk of the Market, and as an Inspector of the Grammar School. In 1708 he was chosen one of a committee "to draw up a Scheme of a Charter of Incorporation, for the Incouragement and better Government of the Town." The residence of Colonel Winthrop was at one time on Atkinson (now Con- gress) Street, which ran from Milk Street to Cow Lane, the present High Street.
Thomas Oxnard
N EXT in the series of owners was Thomas Oxnard, who bought from Adam Winthrop, December 22, 1742, the same corner lot, formerly the
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èstate of Samuel Vetch, and paid therefor the sum of £3600. Mr. Oxnard was from Durham, England, and came to Boston before 1737. He was a merchant and importer of foreign wares. In 1740 he was one of the promoters of the so-called "Silver Scheme," organized by an Association of Boston merchants, who issued their Notes, in opposition to the Land Bank or "Manufactory Scheme," for the purpose of furnishing a circulating medium, which was greatly needed at that time.
Thomas Oxnard was a prominent Freemason. On March 6, 1744, he was installed as Provincial Grand Master of Masons in New England, being the third incumbent of that office. The first Provincial Grand Lodge of Freemasons in America had been estab- lished at Boston in 1733. The residence of Mr. Ox- nard was on Tremont Street, "at some distance back from the road; the lot on which it stood extending from Winter to the next street running parallel with it on the north."1 This was a lane which followed the line of Hamilton Place. The latter is compara- tively modern, dating from 1806.
Governor Sir Francis Bernard, whose official resi- dence was the Province House, is said to have occu- pied Mr. Oxnard's dwelling during a part of his ad- 1 New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Register. Vol. 26, page 4.
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ministration, which began in 1760 and lasted nine years.
We have the testimony of Mr. Lucius Manlius Sar- gent, who stated that his mother once pointed out to him the room which she had occupied when visiting the Bernards.
The Public Granary
A N English gentleman, the Reverend Andrew Burnaby, who visited Boston in 1759, was the author of a volume entitled Travels through North America. He mentions therein the public Granary as one of the principal buildings in the South End of the Town, in the vicinity of the Cathedral land. Originally placed on the upper side of the Common, it was rebuilt in 1737 on the site now occupied by Park Street Church, on the corner of Centry Street (which led up to Beacon Hill) and Long Acre. It was established in order that the poorer inhabitants might obtain grain in small quantities at a moderate cost. The Reverend Mr. Burnaby, in an account of the inhabitants of the Province, stated that the gentry of both sexes were hospitable and good-natured. "There is an air of civility in their behaviour," he wrote, "but it is constrained by formality and precise-
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ness. Even the women, though easiness of carriage is peculiarly characteristic of their nature, appear here with more reserve than in the other Col- onies. . . . "
John Williams, Inspector-General
O N the eighth of August, 1768, Thomas Oxnard, the younger, Edward Oxnard and others, heirs of Thomas Oxnard, Senior, all of Falmouth (now Portland, Maine), in the County of Cumberland, and Province of Massachusetts Bay, conveyed this prop- erty to John Williams, Esquire, of Boston. It in- cluded a dwelling-house, with yards, gardens, land and all appurtenances, "situate near the Common." John Williams was Inspector-General of the Customs, and a pronounced loyalist. It is probable that he was a tenant of Thomas Oxnard before he bought the latter's estate.
In June, 1768, the sloop Liberty, belonging to John Hancock, Esq., arrived at Hancock's wharf from Madeira. The authorities decided to seize the vessel, claiming that a part of her cargo had been smuggled ashore in defiance of the Custom-house regulations. This exasperated the townspeople, and some of the officials, including Joseph Harrison, the Collector,
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were maltreated. An angry mob broke several win- dows of John Williams's house.
Hugh Percy
T HIS mansion was occupied by Lord Percy from the latter part of August, 1774, until the depar- ture of the British troops in March, 1776.1 Various other houses have been mentioned where he was sup- posed to have lived during the first two months of his sojourn in Boston. These include the residence of Gardiner Greene on Pemberton Hill, and the Han- cock House. Samuel A. Drake, in Old Landmarks of Boston, states that Lord Percy resided for a time with the widow of William Sheafe, a former Col- lector. She kept a boarding-house in Essex Street.
The Williams house, with its beautiful gardens, was one of the most pretentious in that part of the Town. And its history is of unusual interest, because the list of its owners and occupants includes so many persons of quality and distinction. The winter of 1774-5 was a severe one. "The climate is ten times more inconstant than in England," Lord Percy wrote, "for I have been in the Torrid and Frigid Zone fre- quently in the space of 24 hours. At some times so ' The Memorial History of Boston. III, 155.
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hot as scarce to bear my shirt; at others so cold that an additional blanket was scarcely sufficient."
While occupying the Williams house, Lord Percy was said to have dispensed lavish hospitality to the British officers and loyalists of the Town.
The latter undoubtedly fared well in Boston. A French traveler, who was entertained by General William Heath, wrote that the dinner, although sim- ple, was very good. There was no wine on the table, but the traveler was regaled with excellent cider, and was quite charmed with the "towdy," as he called it. For this classic beverage, consisting of rum, sugar and hot water, seemed to appeal to his fancy.
Quite naturally Percy did not find the Boston atmosphere congenial, although he was said to have later become quite popular among the citizens. But his early impressions were not favorable. In a letter to a friend in England, written soon after his arrival in Boston, he said: "The People are the most design- ing, artfull Villains in the World. They have not the least Idea of either Religion or Morality."
In another letter he described the people as ex- tremely violent and wrong-headed; "so much so," he wrote, "that I fear we shall be obliged to come to extremities . . . one thing I will be bold to say, which is, that till you make their committees of cor-
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respondence and congresses with other colonies high treason, you never must expect perfect obedience from this to the mother country. . . This is the most beautiful country I ever saw in my life, and if the people were only like it, we should do very well. Everything, however, is as yet quiet, but they threaten much. Not that I believe they dare act." 1
Again, on August 10, 1774, he said: "I am well with the people of Boston, even with the Selectmen. When the people come with complaints, I hear them with patience, and if they are just ones, I take care that they shall be immediately redressed, assuring them that we are come to protect the peaceable in- habitants, not to injure them; and that as we are de- termined to enforce obedience to the laws in other people, we shall be ever ready and desirous to be the first to obey them ourselves."
In a letter to his father, August 15, he wrote: "I have got some tolerable chaise horses from New York. . . . But what I feel myself the most com- fortable in acquiring, is a good house to dine in; for we are all obliged to remain at other times, and sleep in camp. By this convenience I am enabled to ask the officers of the Line, and occasionally the Gentle- men of the Country, to dine with me. And as I have " The Memorial History of Boston. III. 56.
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'command of the troops here, I have always a table of 12 covers every day. . . I have now quite a little army under my command, 5 Regiments and 22 pieces of cannon, with a proper number of the Royal Corps of Artillery to work them."
Earl Percy and his sturdy Northumbrian soldiers were said to have taken pride in braving the rigors of New England's climate, by remaining in camp on the Common after the cold weather had set in. As a protection from the wintry air they were provided with double tents, the intervening spaces being packed with hay.
The light infantry were encamped on Beacon Hill, and the old South Church was occupied by a squadron of cavalry. There were also batteries on the Com- mon, at Fort Hill, and on the southern shore of Charles River, opposite Cambridge.2
Earl Percy's father, the first Duke of Northumber- land (1715-1786), was one of the confidential ad- visers of George III, and a prominent supporter of his Prime Minister, John Stuart Bute. He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1763 to 1765, and after- ward Master of the Horse. In 1764 the King ap-
1 Charles Knowles Bolton. Letters of Hugh Earl Percy. Bos- ton, 1902.
'Jared Sparks. The Library of American Biography.
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pointed him "Vice Admiral over All America."
Hugh Percy, second Duke of Northumberland (1742-1817), who commanded the brigade, consist- ing of the Welsh Fusiliers and other regiments, which was sent to the relief of Major Pitcairn at Lexington, April 19, 1775, was at that time thirty-three years of age. He had served during the Seven Years' War, under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, and was pres- ent at the Battle of Minden, August Ist, 1759. He later became an Aide-de-Camp to George III, with the rank of Colonel. Earl Percy was made a Major- General in July, 1775, and Lieutenant-General the following year. He returned to England in 1777.
In 1784 he assumed command of the Second Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. Two years later he suc- ceeded to the ownership of the ancestral Percy estate at Alnwick, the county town of Northumberland. The freedom of this borough, according to a usage instituted by King John, was obtained by passing through a deep and miry pond, situated in the Town moor, on Saint Mark's Day. Percy had the reputa- tion of being a good landlord, and was accustomed to give frequent large entertainments. Moreover, he was said to have included dissenting ministers and tradespeople among his guests on these occasions. He was buried in Westminster Abbey in 1817, and
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was described as the Most High, Puissant and Noble Prince, Hugh Percy; Duke and Earl of Northumber- land; Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the County of Northumberland; Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. His son, Hugh Percy, became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and was a liberal patron of science.
During the years immediately preceding the Revo- lution, Boston was the most thriving town in North America. Its population in 1770 was about 20,000. Its name was the most important in British Colonial history. It built ships as cheaply as any place in the world, and carried merchandise for other Colonies, maintaining also a considerable trade with foreign countries, and especially with the West Indies.1
As showing the lingering Puritanical sentiment re- garding Sunday observance, just before the Revolu- tion, the following communication, which was printed in the Boston Gazette and Country Journal, January 16, 1775, may be appropriately given here:
"Roxbury, January 9th, 1775 .- Yesterday, although Lord's Day, Numbers of the Officers of the Army were Travelling our Streets, (with Scates either hung by their Sides, or open in their Hands) on their way
1 The Encyclopaedia Britannica. Eleventh edition.
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to Jamaica Pond; (nearly five miles from the Boston Court House) where having arrived, they sported themselves in Scateing for Several Hours in open View of one of our Meeting-Houses, to the great Dis- composure and Grief of the Pious and Well-Dis- posed; and setting an Example of Profaneness and Irreligion before the Young, too apt to be seduced by such Examples.
"But such Practises are contrary to the Laws of God, the Laws of this Province, and one of the Arti- cles of War, with the last of which at least, it is sup- posed, those Gentlemen are acquainted.
"It is expected that his Excellency, Governor Thomas Gage, to whom it is said Complaint will be made, will suppress such Profanation of the Sabbath in future, more especially as his Excellency was pleased, not long since, to issue a Proclamation for the Discouragement of Vice and Immorality; which surely he will Discountenance in those immediately under his Command.
(Signed) "AN INHABITANT."
In regard to the observance of Sunday in New England at an earlier period, it may be appropriate to insert here the following extract from the Boston Town Records, August 4, 1712: "Whereas the Jus- tices of the Peace and Selectmen are informed of fre- quent Prophanation of the Lord's Day by Loose, vain persons, negros, etc., unnecessarily Travelling or
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walking to and from Boston and Roxbury, with neg- lect of Attending the Publick Worship of God in either place; it is therefore ordered that the Consta- bles of and within the Town of Boston, and every of them by Turns, do warn and appoint eight Meet and Sober persons, Inhabitants of the said Town, on Lord's Dayes to Ward on the Neck or High- way between Boston and Roxbury, at some con- venient place near the Line of Defence. Four of ye said persons are to give their Attendance there from Seven of the clock in the Morning until halfe an hour after twelve at noon; and then to be relieved by the other four, who are there to continue upon Duty until the Dusk of the evening. And such Constables are to Examine all Passingers, and to Restraine them from Disporting, Idle Walking, or unnecessary travel on ye Lord's Day."
Travelers' Impressions of Boston
M L'ABBÉ ROBIN, who came to this country in 1781 with the French troops under Count Rochambeau, sent over to reenforce the American army, remarked that the observance of Sunday in Bos- ton was very rigorous, the most innocent pleasures, even, being forbidden. He wandered about the streets,
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which seemed deserted. "If, perchance, one meets a friend," he wrote, "he does not dare to stop and speak to him. A Frenchman, lodging with me, took it into his head to play the flute; the people gathered around, and would have committed some violence if the land- lord had not informed him of what was passing. One enters no house without finding everybody engaged in reading the Bible."
Jacques Pierre Brissot de Warville, a celebrated French author, and Chief of the Girondists, who visited Boston in 1788, thus wrote of the towns- people: "They unite simplicity of morals with that French politeness and delicacy of manners which render virtue more amiable. They are hospitable to strangers and obliging to friends. . . . Music, which their teachers formerly proscribed as a diabolic art, begins to make part of their education. In some houses you hear the forte-piano. ... Nothing is more charming than an inside view of a Church on Sunday. The good cloth coat covers the man; cali- coes and chintzes dress the women and children. One of their principal pleasures consists in little country parties. The principal expense of these parties is tea. Punch, warm and cold, before dinner, excellent beef, and Spanish and Bordeaux wines cover their tables; spruce beer, excellent cider and Philadelphia
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