USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Topographical and historical description of Boston > Part 40
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
There is a tradition connected with the history of this island, probably of modern date, which has no facts to sustain it. The story is, that the mate of a certain Captain Nix was executed upon it for killing his master, and that he, to the time of his death, insisted upon his innocence, and told the hangman that in proof of it the island would be washed away. As the island bore the name of Nix certainly as far back as the year 1636, and as no man was executed in the Massachusetts colony for murder or piracy so early as this, there is no good reason for believing that the name of the island originated in the manner given in the tradition. That the island in later times was used as a place for the burial of execu- ted pirates and mutineers upon the sea is too well known to be disputed; an account of a case which hap- pened many years ago may not be out of place in this connection.
540
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
A snow, as it was called in the early days of the colony, set sail from Jamaica in May, 1726, bound for Guinea, under the command of John Green, a master mariner. At one o'clock on the morning of the twenty- seventh of the same month, one William Fly, then boat- swain of the snow Elizabeth, who, together with Samuel Cole, Henry Greenvill and others, had conspired to seize the captain and mate and then go a-pirating, put their design, into effect by most barbarously drowning the cap- tain and his mate Thomas Jenkins. After this Fly took command of the vessel, the name of which he changed to Fame's Revenge, and then, being well stocked with gun- powder, rum and provisions, set sail, first to the Carolinas and thence to New England, in pursuit of plunder, and more particularly in search of a better vessel. On the third of the following month, June, he took a sloop which he found at anchor off the coast of North Caro- lina, in which was one William Atkinson, a passenger, who afterwards proved to be the happy instrument of bringing the wretches to justice. It was not long after this that Atkinson, with the assistance of several other forced men, succeeded, by a stratagem, in seizing the three pirates mentioned, together with another man named George Condick, all of whom he put in chains and brought to Boston, where they were tried on the fourth and fifth of July, 1726, and found guilty of piracy, and were on the spot sentenced to be hung, the captain, William Fly, in chains; but the others, Cole, the quartermaster, and Condick and Greenvill, were re- lieved from this extreme disgrace. Fifteen forced sea- men, taken on board the piratical vessel, were acquitted and discharged. An account of the execution, which took place at Charlestown Ferry, is thus given in the
541
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
Boston News-Letter, published on the fourteenth of July, 1726: "On Tuesday the twelfth instant, about 3 P. M., were executed here for Piracy, Murder, &c., three of the condemned Persons mentioned in our last, viz., William Fly, Capt. Samuel Cole, Quarter-Master, and Henry Greenvill; the other, viz., George Condick, was Reprieved at the place of execution, for a Twelve Month and a Day, and is to be recommended to His Majesty's Grace and Favor. Fly behaved himself very unbecom- ing even to the last; however, advised Masters of Ves- sels not to be Severe and Barbarous to their Men, which might be a reason why so many turn'd Pirates; the other Two seem'd Penitent, beg'd that others might be warned by 'em. Their Bodies were carried in a Boat to a small Island call'd Nicks's-Mate, about 2 Leagues from the Town, where the abovesaid Fly was hung up in Irons, as a Spectacle for the Warning of others, especially Sea faring Men; the other Two were buried there." The burial of these men, and the gibbeting of Captain Fly, who had been boatswain under Captain Green, may have given origin to the tradition.
The infamous notoriety which this island bore from tradition was equally shared by other localities. Bird Island and its shoal, and the flats at the confluence of Charles River into the main channel, are frequently al- luded to as the places of execution and burial of crimi- nals. John Quelch, and his six companions in piracy, were hung on the thirtieth of June, 1704; Thomas Hawkins, a young man of the most respectable connec- tion in the province, was executed, with his nine associ- ates, on the twenty-seventh of January, 1689-90; Samuel Bellamy and his six pirates paid their forfeit in May, 1717; and John Rose Archer and William White were
542
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
gibbeted on an island on the second of June, 1724, for piracy. These criminals probably met their deserved fate at some of the above named places. Murderers and burglars were executed anciently on the Common or Neck.
The execution of Quelch and his partners in crime is thus mentioned in the Boston News-Letter, printed three days after the event. A broadside was also printed and distributed at the same time, and is pre- served in the archives of the Massachusetts Historical Society. The execution took place on Charles River flats, Boston side. "On Friday" [30 June, 1704] " was carried to the Place of Execution Seven Pirates to be Executed, viz .; Capt. John Quelch, John Lambert, Christopher Scudamore, John Miller, Erasmus Peterson, Peter Roach & Francis King; all of which were Exe- cuted, excepting the last named, who had a Reprieve from his Excellency. And notwithstanding all the great labour and pains taken by the Reverend Ministers of the Town of Boston, ever since they were first Seized and brought to Town, both before and since their Trial and Condemnation, to instruct, admonish, preach and pray for them; yet as they led a wicked and vitious life, so to appearance they dyed very obdurately and impeni- tently, hardened in their sin.
"His Excellency intends to send an Express to Eng- land, with an Account of the whole matter to Her Majesty."
Captain John Gallop, the first grantee of Nix's Mate, came to Boston as early as 1630, in which year he was a townsman of Dorchester. He was soon after a resident of Boston, where he had a house and wharf-right, and also had a grant of meadow land on Long Island of four
543
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
acres very early; for these, together with Gallop's Isl- and, are mentioned in his inventory taken on the twenty-sixth of February, 1649-50, probably a month after his decease. How he became dispossessed of Nix's Mate does not appear, as no conveyance of it by him or his heirs is to be found on record.
From Nix's Mate the reader can proceed northeasterly through either the North or the South Broad Channels, between Deer Island on the north and Lovell's Island on the south, into Broad Sound, and thence to sea. But the usual course out of the harbor is southeasterly through the main ship channel, between Lovell's Island on the north and Gallop's Island and George's Island on the south, where the channel is called The Narrows; and by pursuing the way southeasterly, leaving the Beacon (or Bug Light) on the Great Brewster's Spit and Buoy No. 6 Red to the north, and Buoys No. 7 and 5 Black to the south, and passing out to sea between the Brew- sters and Shag (or Egg) Rocks on the north, and the Centurion (No. 8 Black) and Hunt's Ledge and Toddy Rocks (No. 3 Black) off the shore of Hull, and Point Allerton and its Beacon and Buoy No. 1 Black on the south. A due east course of about three miles and a half will strike upon Thieves' Ledge, a noted fishing place. The proper course to this spot will be to pro- ceed due cast from the buoy until Green Island can be seen at the north of the Outer Brewster, and a tree on Little Hog Island (just south of Hull) can be noticed over the low land on Nantasket Beach just south of Point Allerton. A good fishing ground for flounders is said to be exactly midway between George's Island and Windmill Point at Hull. About a mile southeast of Point Allerton is another well-known fishing ground.
544
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
There are other passages out of the harbor be- sides those above mentioned. The Western, or Back Way, alluded to in a previous chapter, leads from the southeasterly side of Long Island and from Rainsford Island, through the northerly part of Nantasket Roads, southwest of Gallop's and George's Islands, and be- tween the Centurion and Hunt's Ledge, to the main ship channel. Ships have been known to pass from the harbor by the way of Point Shirley Gut. Governor Winthrop states, in his invaluable journal, that "the Barnstable ship went out at Pullen Point to Marble Harbour," (Marblehead,) on the twenty-second of Sep- tember, 1632. By the same authority we learn, as stated before, that Captain John Gallop brought in the Griffin a new way by Lovell's Island, at low tide, then called Griffin's Gap. This gap was probably what is now called Black Rock Channel, which connects with Hypo- crite Channel, that leaving Alden's Buoy and the Devil's Back at the north, leads to sea between Green and Calf Islands.
1
CHAPTER XLIV.
GALLOP'S AND LOVELL'S ISLANDS.
The Narrows . . . Gallop's Island . . . Granted early to John Gallop . . . Its Form ... Its Approach and Appearance . . . Its early Owners . . . Purchased by the City of Boston in 1860 ... Famous as a Place of Rendezvous for Pleasure Parties · · · Used for Government Purposes ··· Attached to Quarantine Es- tablishment in 1866 . . . Sea-wall commenced in 1868 . . . Lovell's Island . . . Its Position, Form and Size . .. Origin of its Name . . . Its Topography . . . Whiting Ledge, Ram Head, and Man of War Bar ... The Great Rock, and a Remarkable Shipwreck · · · History of Lovell's Island . .. Granted to Charles- town in 1636 . .. Sold to Elisha Leavitt in 1767 . .. Purchased by Boston in 1825, and sold to United States Government . . . Modern Uses of the Island .. . Sea-wall at Ram's Head ... Wreck of the Magnifique in 1782 .. . The poor Pilot turned Sexton . . . The Man of War America . . . Injury to the Narrows caused by the Wreck.
LEAVING Buoy No. 9 Black, just north of Nix's Mate, and proceeding down the harbor (taking the channel described in a previous chapter as The Narrows), about three quarters of a mile southeast of the Mate will be seen Lovell's Island on the northeast, and Gallop's Island on the southwest.
Of these, Gallop's Island appears very early under the jurisdiction of the town of Hull, and in the actual possession of Captain John Gallop, at whose decease, in January, 1649-50, it was apprized at £12 in value, and was estimated to contain about sixteen acres. This island, which on the chart very much resembles in form a leg of mutton, with its shank pointing easterly to the peculiar structure familiarly known as Bug Light, holds
546
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
an important position in the harbor, forming with Lov- ell's Island at its north the barrier of the Narrows, - the deep channel for the ingress and egress of all the large vessels when heavily freighted.
Gallop's Island is approached on its southern side, which lies very commodiously to the Nantasket Roads at its south, a most noted place of anchorage. The north side is a very abrupt and high bluff, upon which, during the Revolution, earthworks were thrown up for defensive purposes. The eastern part of the island is formed into a low Beachy Point, so called, being composed chiefly of small stones and gravel. This has always been noted as one of the most fertile of the islands of the harbor, and has, from time immemorial, been cultivated as a farm, in the days of the old quaran- tine regulations, the occupant supplying the vessels in the Hospital Roads with vegetables and milk, and pure water from a never-failing spring. Early during the last century it was jointly owned by Elisha Leavitt of Hingham, a large landholder, and James Brackett of Quincy. Mr. Leavitt died in 1790, leaving his half to his grandson, Caleb Rice of Hingham, who subse- quently purchased of Mr. Brackett his half, and in April, 1812, conveyed the whole to Lemuel Brackett of Quincy, for $1,630. Mr. Brackett and his wife, Sarah, by two deeds, dated first of October, 1814, and first of July, 1819, conveyed the same to Peter Newcomb, the then tenant of the island, for $1,815. Mr. Newcomb died on the twenty-second of April, 1833, aged fifty- two years, and was buried at Hull, leaving the estate to his wife Margaret, who survived him some years, and then dying, left the estate to her son Charles, who sold it to the city of Boston on the nineteenth of May, 1860,
-
547
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
for $6,500. Since the decease of Mrs. Newcomb the island has been a famous place of resort for pleasure parties, and the name of Snow, one of its most noted occupants, will long be remembered by the numerous persons who have partaken of his good cheer and re- markable style of hospitality.
Soon after the breaking out of the late war, the island was lent to the general government as a rendezvous for enlisted soldiers; and its green hill was covered with tents and barracks, and its turf was trodden down, and its pleasant appearance almost blotted out. With the exception of a very small portion of Long Island, which at one time was used for a similar purpose, it was the only place within sight of the quiet city that exhib- ited conclusive evidence of actual war; for the forts were so well managed, and their warlike inmates so carefully kept within their walls, that the innocent look- ing guns from the ramparts gave no alarm to those engaged in business or in seeking pleasure in harbor excursions. At the close of the war, the establishment at Gallop's Island became unnecessary, and the island was deserted by the soldiery, and the barracks conse- quently vacated. This seemed opportune; for the city, in view of the danger of threatening infectious disease, appeared to require more than ordinary quarantine ac- commodations. An agreement was entered into with the United States authorities by which the city came in possession of the government barracks; and an ordi- nance was passed by the city council, which took effect on the first of June, 1866, by which Gallop's Island was annexed to the quarantine establishment of the city. Fortunately this prudent measure of the city govern- ment was never put into use by the advent of the much
548
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
dreaded disease; but the city very properly added much to the efficiency of its already possessed resources. In consequence of the wearing away of the high bluff on · the northerly side of the island, it became necessary that a sea-wall should be constructed for the protection of this part of the island. This wall was commenced in 1868 by Major-General J. G. Foster, and completed in 1870.
The next object that demands attention is Lovell's Island, which lies northeast of the Narrows, and much resembles in form a dried salt fish. As it is bounded on the southwest by the Narrows, so it is on the east by Black Rock Channel. It is about three-quarters of a mile in length from northwest to southeast, and about one-third of a mile wide in its greatest breadth. It took its name, undoubtedly, from Captain William Lovell, who was of Dorchester in 1630; and it contains one large hill, with marshes to its north, east and south, and several small salt-water ponds. Whiting Ledge is at its southerly point; and Ram Head (whose shoal is denoted by Red Buoy No. 10 and Black Buoy No. 5) is a projec- tion from its northerly point, where there has been erected a sea-wall to prevent the washing away of this exposed part of the island. At its extreme westerly point is Man of War Bar, which in the latter days of the Revo- lutionary War proved to be a great impediment to the navigation of the harbor. On the top of the hill may be seen by every passer-by a large boulder that has served many generations as a comfortable cooking place. A little more than forty years ago, in mid- winter, a packet vessel from Maine struck upon Rams Head in the dead of night, causing immediate ship- wreck; and, although all the passengers, fifteen in num-
-
-
549
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
per, succeeded in landing and procuring shelter beside the Great Rock, they all froze to death before morning, it being one of the coldest nights of the year, the ther- mometer indicating in the neighboring towns a temper- ature several degrees below zero. On the morning succeeding this dreadful event, the bodies were found closely huddled together in the eternal sleep of death. Two young persons who were about to be married, and who were coming to Boston for making marriage pur- chases, were found dead beside the rock locked in each other's arms. Few, in their hilarious moments under this benevolent boulder, ever dream of the agony of that awful night.
The earliest mention of this island is to be found in the Massachusetts Colony records, where, under date of the twenty-eighth of October, 1636, the following entry occurs: "Lovels Iland is graunted to Charlestowne pro- vided they imploy it for fishing by their owne townes- men, or hinder not others." Any one who knows the island now, would hardly expect to find upon the records such an entry as the following: "The iland called Lov- els Iland is given unto the inhabitants of Charles Towne, & their heires & succeass's forever; pvided, that halfe of the timber & fire wood shall belong to the garrison at the Castle, to be impved wholly there. This was ordered with consent of the deputies of Charles Towne." There may be, however, some per- sons living who can remember the large tree that for- merly stood on the south point of the island, as it was a mark used by all the pilots of the olden time in guiding them up the harbor. Similar trees, which have likewise disappeared, were preserved upon nearly all the islands for the same purpose.
550
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
On the fourth of June, 1767, this island was sold by a vote of the inhabitants of Charlestown, passed on the second of March preceding, to Elisha Leavitt, of Hing- ham, for the sum of &266 13s. 4d. " together with the dwelling house and all other buildings and fences thereon standing." Mr. Leavitt left it, in 1790, to his grandson Caleb Rice, before mentioned; and from him the estate passed into the possession of the city of Bos- ton on the second of May, 1825, together with George's Island, both for the sum of $6,000; and the city con- veyed it immediately to the United States Government for the same amount of money. At the time of pur- chase by the city, this and Gallop's Island were in the occupancy of John Spear, who had erected fences and buildings upon them.
In modern times, the chief use to which the island has been put is that of pasturing horses; yet there are many persons who can well remember the time when it served as a run for tame rabbits, that in almost count- less numbers wandered over its pasture ground, and supplied the markets with dainties for the palate, and the young Boston boys and girls with beautiful and harmless pets.
The washing away of this island early called the at- tention of Boston to the protection of its headlands and points; and in 1843, on petition of the city government, a resolve was passed by the General Court of the Com- monwealth, instructing its Senators and Representatives in Congress to exert themselves to procure the passage of measures which should prevent further injury to the harbor from this cause. By the exertion of these mem- bers of Congress, an appropriation of $15,000 was ob- tained for the protection of Lovell's Island, and the
1
551
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
same was expended for the erection of the sea-wall at Ram Head, by Brigadier-General Sylvanus Thayer, then Colonel of Engineers. In 1849, an additional amount of about $5,000 was expended by the same officer in the construction of stone jetties. A further sum of $2,000 was used by Colonel Graham, also of the Engi- neers, during the years 1864-1866, for work done upon the same wall. Between the years 1866-1869 inclusive, $38,000 were expended by Major-General Henry W. Benham in repairs of the old wall, and in the con- struction of a new wall for the southeast head of the island.
Perhaps it would seem wrong, if, in this connection, the famous shipwreck of 1782 should be passed over in silence. It will be remembered by the older inhabitants that Boston harbor was frequently visited by the naval forces of France (then the Revolutionary ally of the United States) for supplies and repairs. The Count D'Estaing was here in the fall of 1778, and a part of the fleet of the Count de Grasse in 1782, just after his un- fortunate and unsuccessful attempt in the West Indies, where he was so completely and dreadfully defeated. Admiral Vaubaird, with fourteen sail of this fleet, arrived in Boston harbor on the eleventh of August, 1782, being a division of the unfortunate fleet of the Count. On entering the harbor through the Narrows, the pilot (with shame be it said, a Bostonian) conducted the Magnifique-as its name implied, a magnificent French seventy-four - against the bar at the western head of Lovell's Island, and there it sank; and there its skeleton lies at the present day, imbedded in sand. Several at- tempts have been made to obtain treasures from this wreck, but they have not proved to be in any degree re-
552
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
munerative. One attempt, made about thirty or more years ago, gave no return except specimens of very beautiful wood, of which the vessel was built. In July, 1859, another trial was equally unsuccessful. Truly, copper, lead, and cannon-shot in considerable quantities were obtained; but except the beautiful sight of immense quantities of perch and other small aquatics, the divers got very little else, except now and then the bite of a savage lobster, who held on to the poor fellows' fingers as tenaciously as does the bull-terrier sometimes with his more fero- cious grip. The French fleet left the harbor on the twenty-fourth of the following December, and the pilot was transferred " up town" to become a sexton and un- dertaker, he having served, as it was thought, a suffi- cient apprenticeship in burying. This distinguished in- dividual was for many years sexton to the New North Church, then under the pastoral care of the famous John Eliot; and it was no uncommon thing to find, on Sunday mornings, chalked upon the meeting-house door, the following significant lines :-
"Dont you run this ship ashore, As you did the seventy-four."
The loss of the French man-of-war was a serious matter for young America. Congress built a seventy- four gun ship, called "The America," at Portsmouth, the first line-of-battle ship ever built in America; and it was launched on the fifth of November, 1782, and its com- mand awarded to Commodore John Paul Jones. This vessel was presented to Louis XVI. the same year to re- place the lost Magnifique. But it came finally to a poor market, for it was captured from the French by the English, and became a part of the great English navy.
1
553
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
The bar where the Magnifique was lost, and which has sometimes been called Man of War Island, has been filled up by the action of the tides and currents to such an ex- tent that a large portion of it has been converted into solid land, and the place in which the main part of the wreck of the ship is buried is now never overflowed at high water by the ordinary tides. During the operation of removing the southwest portion of this island, under the direction of Major-General J. G. Foster, U. S. Engi- neers, during the years 1868 and 1869, for the purpose of widening the main ship channel, large pieces of planks and portions of massive oak timbers were struck at depths of twenty-one to twenty-five feet, and brought up by the machine. These were evidently fragments of the old seventy-four.
70
CHAPTER XLV.
GEORGE'S, PETTICK'S, AND OTHER ISLANDS.
Broad Sound Channel, and its Branches, North and South Channels . . . Middle Ground . . . Black Rock Passage and Hypocrite Channel . . . George's Island, formerly Pemberton's Island, and its Ancient History ... Bought by Boston in 1825, and conveyed to the United States . .. Size and Topography . . . Fort Warren . .. Old Earthworks . . . Approach to George's Island . . . Its recent Use . . . Pettick's Island, and its Form and Topography . . . Prince's Head, and Pig's and Harry's Rocks .. . Sheep, Grape, and Slate Islands . . . Pumpkin (or Bumkin) Island, properly Ward's Island, Devised to Har- vard College in 1682 . . . Islands in Hingham Harbor, Langley's, Ragged, Sarah's and Button Islands . . . Nut Island, sometimes called Hoff's Tombs .. . Raccoon Island . . . Main Ship Channel ... Outer Light . .. Brewster's Spit ... Corwin Rock ... Spit (or Bug) Light, built in 1856 . . . Centurion and Kelley's Rocks . . . Shoal and Kelp Ledges . . . Nash's Rocks . . . Thieves' Ledge .. . Ancient Description of Entrance to the Harbor . .. The French Men-of-War, the Magnifique and the Somerset.
To the north of Lovell's Island, described in the last chapter, Broad Sound Channel diverges into North and South Channels, which pass by the Middle Ground and proceed directly to sea in a northeast course between Nahant and the cluster of small islands, that, with the Brewsters, form the group at the entrance of the harbor. At the east, however, of Lovell's Island is Black Rock Passage; which, running out in a northeasterly direction, separating it from the Spit (or Bug Light) on the long bar of the Great Brewster, passes into Hypocrite Channel that leads to sea easterly between Calf and Green Islands.
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.