USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The story of the Irish in Boston, together with biographical sketches of representative men and noted women > Part 16
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About the beginning of the present century, Deacon Nathan Martin C. Martin, the Milton postmaster for many years, a singer of note and a good musician, was on a visit at Thomaston, Me. On a certain Sunday he attended divine service there, and was invited to a seat in the choir, where he found a large bass-viol, which he tried, before the beginning of the religious services, and highly praised its superior tone.
The man who played the instrument told Deacon Martin that it was valued highly, not only on account of its fine tone, but also for its antiquity. " Ah," said Deacon Martin, " an old instrument, is it?" -" Yes," said the musician, " a very old instrument ; we do not know exactly how old, but it is something more than two hundred years old." This aroused the curiosity of the deacon, who was an anti- quarian, to examine it minutely, and peering through the sound-holes, he read on a piece of paper pasted within,1 -
BEN CREHORE, MAKER, MILTON.
Mr. Crehore's shop in Milton soon became the repository of un- repaired musical instruments of varied descriptions and kinds, and,
1 History of Milton, Teele.
.
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strange to relate, a piano-forte was among these. His ready tact and skill served him in mastering a knowledge of this, as of other things which required much patience and perseverance.
Its parts, mechanism, and movements were all familiar to him in a short time, and he began the manufacture of this popular instrument.
" The first piano-forte made in the United States was manufactured by Benjamin Crehore, in his shop at Milton, A.D. 1800." 1
Benjamin Crehore had planted the seed of an enterprise which to-day is as extensive as our continent. One of the largest and most successful piano manufactories in America sprung from his humble beginning. The inventive talent of Mr. Crehore could not lie dor- mant, and he sought some new venture after having transferred the piano business over to Lewis Babcock, a Milton boy who had been apprenticed to him, and also William and Adam Bent, who had been employed by him in the making of pianos. The War of 1812 had come to an end, when Dean Weymouth, a Southerner, who had lost his left leg in the service of his native land, took up residence in Milton for the purpose of acquiring an education that would be suit- able for the condition of things then existing. He had a charming manner and an attractive and gentlemanly bearing, which made him many friends. Among these was Benjamin Crehore, who conceived that the best way in which he could befriend the young man would be by rendering aid to his amputated leg.
His idea was practically carried out, and after much labor the soldier-student was made happy by the possession of a wooden leg made by the ingenious Crehore. The leg had joints at the knee, at the ankle, and in the foot, nicely adjusted by straps, and with sufficient elasticity to render its use easy and comfortable. Capt. Lewis Vose, a saddler by trade, and Crehore's neighbor, supplied the straps, covering, and padding for the leg. This invention created a great deal of talk at the time of its completion, as it was the first experiment of the kind ever made in America.
The leg disappeared after it had been returned to Mr. Crehore
1 History of Milton, Teele.
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by the soldier-student, who could not pay for it, and its whereabouts remain enshrouded in mystery to this day.
GEORGE DOWNING.
The subject of this sketch was the son of Emmanuel Downing, who married a sister of John Winthrop, Governor of Massachusetts. Emmanuel Downing arrived in this country in 1638, and his family followed him some years later. George was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1624, and studied at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass., where he graduated with the first class which completed the course of study at that institution.
His name appears on the list of the alumni. He was a preacher in the army under General Fairfax, and was afterwards heard of in the Scotch army, and as an ambassador in the Low Countries. He captured three of the regicides of Charles I., one of whom was his old commander, Key. In 1654 he married Lady Frances Howard, sister of the first Earl of Carlisle.
ANTHONY GULLIVER.
Anthony Gulliver was born in Ireland in 1619, died in Milton, Nov. 28, 1706. After removing from Braintree to Unquity in 1646, he bought land of Edward and Richard Hutchinson, sons and heirs of Richard Hutchinson, which was bounded north by Gulliver's Creek. He married Elenor, daughter of Stephen Kinsley, who bore him five sons and four daughters, - Lydia, born 1651, married James Leonard; Samuel, born 1653, died 1676; Jonathan, born Oct. 27, 1659; Stephen, born 1663; John, born Dec. 3, 1669; Hannah, married Tucker; Mary, married Atherton; Elizabeth, born Nov. 6, 1671; Nathaniel, born Nov. 10, 1675, married Hanna Billings.
About 1850 his house stood on Squantum street, Milton. When the building was demolished, the brick chimney was exam- ined, and it was found to have been composed of imported brick,
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which bore the inscription " 1680." The house was at one time known as the Rawson House, - a name adopted from David Raw- son, who had married into the Gulliver family.
Anthony Gulliver became the possessor of a large tract of land in the heart of the town, most of which is now a part of the estate of Col. H. S. Russell. This property was owned and occupied by the Gulliver family for many years, and some of his descendants have lived on the land near by ever since. Lieut. Jonathan Gulliver, second son of Anthony, and a leading man of his day, married Theodora, daughter of Rev. Peter Thacher, the first pastor of Milton. Anthony Gulliver was the ancestor of a large number of able and influential men and women, who have been prominent in the history of church and town affairs of Milton for nearly two hundred years.
Some members of the family still remain among our citizens. Such forms of spelling the original name often appear as: Caliphar, Colliford, Cullifer, Gulliwer, Gouliver, Gullwer, Gullifer.
Capt. Lemuel Gulliver, who once lived at Algerine Corner, returned to Ireland in 1723, and gave a glowing description of the American country to his neighbor, Jonathan Swift. Lemuel's imagination was vivid and fanciful, and he turned it to a quaint account in this instance. He declared to Swift that "the frogs were as tall as his knees, and had musical voices that were guitar- like in their tones; the mosquitoes' bills were as long as darning- needles; " and from these exaggerated and fabulous accounts of the country, the great Swift conceived and wrote the famous " Gulliver's Travels," which was published in 1726, displaying a unique union of misanthropy, satire, irony, ingenuity, and humor. In a letter from Pope to Swift, dated 23d March, 1727-28 (Bishop Warburton's ed., 1766, vol. ix., 76), appears the following : -
I send you a very odd thing, a paper printed in Boston, in New England, wherein you'll find a real person, a member of their Parliament, of the name of Jonathan Gulliver.
A person of the same name represented the town of Milton in the General Court in 1727, and received his name in 1659, before
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either of the wits were born; although Pope happily adds that, "perhaps he was an Anabaptist, unchristened till of full age."
JAMES BOIES.
James Boies was recognized as a faithful citizen, an earnest patriot, a prominent manufacturer, and a projector of many valuable enterprises, and one whose business relations with his contemporaries were of the most honorable kind, and of value to the community in which he lived. Mr. Boies was born in Ireland in 1702, and died in Milton, Mass., July 11, 1798, at the advanced age of ninety-six years. He married as second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Jeremiah Smith, his fellow-countryman, and grandfather of Hon. Henry L. Pierce.
Mr. Boies settled in Dorchester in the middle of the eighteenth century, and in his younger day he acted as supercargo on vessels employed in bringing emigrants from Ireland to New England. He became familiarly known as " Captain Boies," and had great business capacity. On the 13th of September, 1759, he was with General Wolfe in the battle on the Plains of Abraham. In 1775 General Washington appointed him to take charge of the transportation of the fagots of birch and swamp-brush which had been piled up at Little Neck the previous winter. Captain Boies directed the work, and three hun- dred teams were engaged in transporting the material to Dorchester Heights, with which they were fortified, and the evacuation of Boston followed. The British army, under General Howe, numbered eight thousand troops, and they sailed for Halifax in a hundred and twenty vessels. Captain Boies was one of a committee of three who drew up instructions for the representatives of Milton on May 28, 1776, wherein was voted that the colony would support the Continental Congress with their lives and fortunes if it should declare the United Colonies of North America independent of Great Britain. And the representatives were directed to act accordingly in the General Assembly.
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In 1765 Ebenezer Storer sold his half of the old powder-mill estate, in Milton, to James Boies, who in turn sold the same to Edward Wentworth, which goes to show that even at that early time Irishmen were among the thrifty and energetic land-owners. In the same year he built a paper-mill on the slitting-mill site, and conveyed to Richard Clark. The old house near the paper-mill at Mattapan was built by Captain Boies for his own residence ; soon after he pur- chased the mill estate, June 29, 1765, he conveyed to Richard Clark the " northerly half of the dwelling-house in which he lived, and six acres of pasture-land bounded northerly on the ditch." Mr. Boies was interested in paper-mills and the manufacture of paper as early as 1760, when he had secured the services of Richard Clark, a skilful workman, who conducted the business with ability for five years, when, in company with Mr. Boies, he started the paper business in a new mill at Mattapan.
In 1778 Mr. Boies bought the slitting-mill property, which was the first mill started in the provinces for slitting iron. His son-in- law, Hugh McLean, had been in partnership with him since 1771, and in 1790 they made partition of their business, and it fell to Mr. McLean.
Jeremiah Smith, Hugh McLean, and James Boies may be said to be the founders and early promoters of the paper industry of Dorchester.
About 1795 a young man from New Jersey, named Mark Hollingsworth, was given employment in one of these mills, and after the deaths of Boies and McLean he, in company with Edward Tileston, became possessed of the mills and water privileges. The descendants of Messrs. Tileston and Hollingsworth carry on the business to this day in the same locality.
James Boies was the father of Jeremiah Smith Boies, who grad- uated at Harvard College in 1783. He was for a time engaged in manufacturing with his father, on the Neponset river. After his father's death, however, he sold out, moved to Boston, and was elected an alderman.
The following quaint advertisement is from the " Boston News
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Letter " of March 23, 1769, which was the method of getting stock for the paper-mill of James Boies : -
ADVERTISEMENT. - The Bell Cart will go through Boston before the end of next month to collect Rags for the Paper Mills at Milton, when all people that will encourage the Paper Manufacture may dispose of them. They are taken in at Mr. Caleb Davis' Shop at the Fortification ; Mr. Andrew Gillespie's, near Dr. Clark's ; Mr. Andreas Randal's, near Phillip's Wharf; and Mr. John Boris' in Long Lane ; Mr. Frothingham's in Charlestown ; Mr. Edson's, in Salem, Mr. John Hariss', in Newbury ; Mr. Daniel Fowle's in Portsmouth ; and the Paper Mill at Milton.
Rags are beauties which concealed lie; But when in paper how it charms the eye ! Pray save your rags, new beauties to discover, For of paper truly every one's a lover. By pen and press such knowledge is displayed As wouldn't exist if paper was not made ; Wisdom of things mysterious, divine, Illustriously doth on paper shine.
Early New England manufacturers were dependent on English artisans, in a great measure, for skilled work in special lines of pro- duction, as but few in this country knew the business. The paper industry stood in greater need of American workmen than almost any other, and the importance and immense value to be attached to the successful efforts and enterprise of the three Irishmen who fathered the movement can never be overestimated.
James Boies and Hugh McLean petitioned the Congress of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, assembled at Watertown, on May 15, 1775, that John Slater, James Colder, William Durant, and William Pierce, then enlisted in the provincial army, be released from the service, as they had attained so great a knowledge of the art of paper-making that their attendance in the business was abso- lutely necessary to its being carried on. These men had worked at the petitioners' mills for two years previous to 1775, and it was decmed necessary to obtain their services again. On the following day Boies and McLean received a favorable reply from the Provin- cial Congress, and their petition was granted.
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JEREMIAH SMITH.
Jeremiah Smith was born in Ireland in 1705. In 1726 he came to Boston with his wife, and in 1737 moved to Milton. He was a neighbor and intimate friend of Governor Hutchinson, with whom he was a great favorite. Mr. Smith was also very intimate with Governor Hancock, at whose hospitable board the wits of the day were ever welcome, and Mr. Smith was never absent, except volun- tarily. He was the grandfather of Hon. Henry L. Pierce and Edmund J. Barker, of Dorchester; also, great-grandfather of ex- Governor Henry J. Gardner. His death occurred at Milton, in 1790.
On Sept. 13, 1728, the General Court passed an act granting the exclusive privilege to make paper in this province for a term of ten years to some Boston merchants. Among them were Thomas Han- cock and Benjamin Faneuil. A fine of twenty shillings was imposed on every ream manufactured by anybody else. These gentlemen leased a building at what is now Milton Lower Mills. Henry Deer- ing acted as agent and superintendent. These gentlemen carried on the business until 1737, when it came under the superintendency of Jeremiah Smith.
In 174I he was enabled to purchase the mill from the heirs of Rev. Joseph Belcher, of Dedham, with seven acres of land laying on both sides of the Neponset river, and bounded by the public landing and also the county road. Mr. Smith continued to carry on the business until 1775, when, having accumulated a fortune, he sold out to his son-in-law, Daniel Vose, and retired from active business. If to Mr. Smith belongs the credit of being the first individual paper manufacturer, to others of his countrymen is due the fact that the Neponset river was made by them the basis of paper manufacturing in the North American colonies, which, in a measure, lasts to this day.
JOHN HANNAN.
One morning, in the fall of the year 1764, a distressed wayfarer was seen sitting upon a rock at the Lower Mills, in Dorchester,
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weeping; he attracted the interest and sympathy of a benevolent individual. The latter inquired into his circumstances, and learned that his name was John Hannan, an Irishman. He was a chocolate- maker by trade, and reported that he had come to this country to improve his condition, - that he was friendless, homeless, and penniless.
The sympathetic stranger referred him to Mr. James Boies, as an Irishman of ample means, who, with Messrs. Wentworth & Storer, were constructing mills up the stream. Mr. Boies carefully ques- tioned him, and, satisfied with the truthfulness of his story, as well as inspired with confidence in Hannan's ability, employed him. Messrs. Boies, Wentworth, and Storer were then erecting a new mill on the site of the old powder-mill in Milton, and these gentlemen became interested benefactors of John Hannan. Boies built a chocolate-mill for Hannan, on the spot where now stands the famous, spacious, and commodious chocolate establishment of Henry L. Pierce, the descendant of an Irish settler named Jere- miah Smith; and on that site, in the spring of 1765, John Hannan manufactured the first chocolate made in the British Provinces of. North America.
In 1768 Barlow Trecothic bought the mill property, and Han- nan was compelled to leave. He opened a small shop in Boston, - by the assistance of Mr. Edward Preston, who put one kettle and other necessary apparatus into his fulling-mill in Dorchester, and there made chocolate for him until 1775, when a fire destroyed the building. Hannan then hired the mill in which he was at first employed, of the agent of the trustees of Trecothic, who had died in London, and engaged in the chocolate business on his own account. He employed a boy named Nathaniel Blake, to learn the business. Hannan was married to Elizabeth Gore, of Boston, in 1773, and they selected Dorchester as a place of residence.
His married life was unhappy and unfortunate, and so affected him that he left his wife, after closing his business, in 1779. Hc caused a false report to be circulated about his departure for the West Indies to purchase cocoa; but, in reality, he had started for
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Ireland, never to come back. He was never heard from afterwards, and it is conjectured that he was drowned at sea, or died on the pas- sage, without having revealed his true name. The widow Hannan attempted to carry on the making of chocolate, by the assistance of the Blake boy. The boy, like her late husband, took to his heels, and fled the premises, unable to tolerate her disposition.
It may be well to add that the importance of the industrial event introduced by John Hannan can be readily seen and appre- ciated to-day. From the year 1765, when this Irishman first started his valuable enterprise, the industry has steadily grown, until now its vastness is as extensive as the continent. Its influence is felt through- out the great commercial centres of the world. Dr. James Baker took up the business in 1772, and the honorable and successful record of the house under the late management of our ex-Mayor Henry L. Pierce is well known, and bids us look back into the days of Irish John Hannan, to whose knowledge and labors in the incep- tion of this immense business we are indebted.
HUGH McLEAN.
Hugh McLean was born in Ireland in 1724. In his younger days he followed the sea. While in this occupation he became acquainted with his countryman, Captain Boies, and was induced to settle in Milton. It was during his residence in Milton that Mr. McLean married Agnes, a daughter of Captain Boies. While in partnership with his father-in-law he accumulated a considerable fortune. He was father of John McLean, the benefactor of Harvard College and the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Hugh McLean owned and occupied the Jackson house, at Milton Upper Mills, on the west side of Blue Hill avenue, now owned by the heirs of George Hollingsworth, where he resided during his life. He died in Milton, December, 1799, at the good old age of seventy- five years.
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JOHN McLEAN.
This benevolent public benefactor, humanitarian, and worthy son of a worthy Irish father and Irish-American mother, was born in Milton in 1761. At the time of John McLean's birth, his mother was the guest of Jeremiah Smith, at Milton Lower Falls. His father was then at St. George, transacting business of importance. She preferred to remain among her kindred until his return, for the Smith, Boies, and McLean families were most intimately affiliated by race ties and relationship.
President Quincy, in his "History of Harvard College," states that John McLean was born in St. George. He lived at Milton with his father until he reached man's estate, and married Ann Amory, of the honorable and respected Amory family of Boston. Business adversity embarrassed Mr. McLean during the latter part of the eighteenth century, which was caused by an unfortunate decree of the French Council.
A few years later he invited all of his creditors to a supper at the Exchange Coffee House, in Boston, where the sterling integrity which was the basis of his noble character manifested itself by a most pleasing and substantial act. When his guests assembled at the table every man found under his plate a check for the full amount of his debt, principal and interest.
His handsome countenance and commanding figure were very much admired, and the magnetic quality of his social and genial nature captivated those who had the honor of his acquaintance or friendship. He was rarely seen walking in the streets of Boston for several years, having become afflicted with the gout, which compelled him to ride in his carriage whenever he desired an outing.
The War of 1812 had scarcely begun when he was actively engaged in molasses speculation, and he bought all of this article that could be purchased, held it until its value rose, and cleared $100,000 out of this enterprise.
The Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard College are
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monumental edifices to his memory and generosity. He made the former his residuary legatee. The Massachusetts General Hospital, at the time of incorporation, was given $100,000 by the State, to fund it, with the stipulation that it might bear the name of any bene- factor who should contribute a large sum. Mr. McLean's legacy was in excess of that amount. Notwithstanding, instead of justly inscribing his name on the Massachusetts General Hospital, they placed it on the institution for the insane at "Barrels Farm," the " McLean Asylum for the Insane." The sum of $43,062.93 has been realized from his bequests to Harvard College to the year 1886.
He left many private legacies, amounting to many thousands of dollars. He made the minister and deacons of the First Church, Milton, the legatees of a trust fund of $2,000, the income of which is annually given to the poor; and the same sum was bequeathed to the Federal-street Church, Boston, to be used for a similar object.
On Blue Hill avenue, to-day, can be seen many milestones bearing these words, "J. McLean, 1823." He requested Mr. Isaac Davenport, his partner in business, to place them at certain distances along the road ; and, after Mr. McLean's death, which occurred before the work was finished, his name was inscribed on these distance indices by Mr. Davenport's instructions. Should the reader ever pass that way, let him reflect upon the good life of John McLean, whose Irish heart was warm, and throbbed as fast for his fellow-man as any of his race, and no hand was ever more ready to extend relief to the needy and suffering. On history's page will ever be written of him, He was a noble man.
.
JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY.
This eminent American artist was born in Boston, Mass., in 1737, of Irish parents. He was the son of Richard Copley and Mary Singleton, who had emigrated from the County Clare, Ireland, on the preceding year. Richard Copley was in poor health on his arrival in America, and went to the West Indies to recuperate and improve his failing strength. He died there in 1737, and his widow married
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Peter Pelham, an engraver of Boston, by whom she had a son, -- Henry. John had a strong penchant for art when but a boy, and developed it, uninstructed, without models or assistance, either in drawing or coloring. He had native genius, industry, and taste, by which he was aided in painting a picture of his half-brother, - Henry Pelham, - which he sent to Benjamin West, in 1760, to be entered in the Royal Academy, and which West declared was superb in color- ing, as well as artistic in design and drawing. It was named " The Boy and the Flying Squirrel." A flattering letter from West, urging Copley to come to England and make his home with him at his house, strongly tempted the young artist; but he resolved to remain with his mother, and assist her to maintain the family.
In 1769 he married Susannah Farnum Clarke, the daughter of a rich Boston merchant, agent for the East India Company, and the consignee of the famous cargo of tea which was steeped in Boston Harbor by an improved order of Red Men. Copley now fixed his residence on Beacon Hill, then a charming and beautiful suburb, which included seven acres of what is now a densely populated part of Boston. He pursued his art zealously, and with great success, while on this historic spot, and painted many of the distinguished people of his day. He visited New York in 1771, where he painted a miniature of Washington.
He embarked for Europe in June, 1774, to see and study Euro- pean art, particularly the works of the masters. He sailed for England, where he remained sufficiently long to acquaint himself with the leading artists and works of art, and then passed into Italy. Here he was enchanted beyond expression with the beauties in nature and art. He remained in Rome some time, and collected val- uable specimens of art in plaster-casts. He was in Parma two months, making a copy of "St. Jerome," for Lord Grosvenor, and improving in art studies. This copy is said to be unsurpassed. In June, 1775, his wife and family, excepting an infant left with his mother in Boston, arrived in England on the last vessel (the " Mi- nerva," Captain Callahan) which left Massachusetts Bay as a British colony.
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