USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Topographical and historical description of Boston > Part 45
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CHAPTER LI.
THE BIRTHPLACE OF FRANKLIN.
The House in which Franklin was born, situated in Milk street . . . First in the Possession of Robert Reynolds ... Ancient Boundaries of the Estate, in 1643 . .. Mr. Reynolds' neighbors ... Extent of the lot ... Estate fell to Lieut. Nathaniel Reynolds in 1670 ... Mortgaged in 1683 to Hugh Drury, and in 1691 to Simeon Stoddard · · · Josiah Franklin a tenant ... Particular boundaries of the Estate in 1691 . . . Decease of Nathaniel Reynolds in 1708, and Estate passed to his son Nathaniel · · · Sale to John Fosdick in 1725 . . . Death of John Fosdick in 1744, and the Estate in the possession of his son James ··· Death of James Fosdick in 1776, and the Estate passed to his daughter Sarah Foster ... The Estate released to Thomas Pons in 1782 . . . Sold to John Sweetser in 1794 . . . Death of Mr. Sweetser in 1802, and Estate devised to John S. Lillie · ·· Particular Description of the House . . . De- struction of the House in 1810 . .. Changes made since the occupancy of Franklin.
CLOSE by the large and comfortable mansion-houses that formerly lined the southerly side of Milk street, once stood a modest little wooden building, which from its associations soon eclipsed in notoriety and interest its more imposing neighbors. It was the humble tenement that first gave shelter to the infant Franklin, on the sixth of January, 1705-6, according to the old style of reck- oning time, and which, by the correction caused by the alteration of styles, is now considered the seventeenth of January, 1706, N. S. In the days of Franklin's father, the estate was quite small, the whole house not covering more land than would now be required for a genteel parlor, being only twenty feet on the street.
The first that is known of the estate can be read in the old " Book of Possessions," now carefully preserved with other valuable records in the city archives. The
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DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
It appears that the second Mr. Reynolds was not as thrifty as his father, although he followed the same trade of making and repairing shoes; for, on the fourth of November, 1683, he was compelled to mortgage his estate for security to pay £50, to Hugh Drury, at which time it was in the occupancy of Mr. Robert Breck, and the infamous Daniel Fairfield was an abutter on part of the easterly side. Soon after this transaction, Lieut. Rey- nolds, for he had the title, removed to Bristol, R. I., and mortgaged theestate to Simeon Stoddard, Esq., on the " and Estate passed to his se $691, for the like sum of £50, Death of John Fosdick ining the former mortgage on the James · · · Death of daughter s the following January. At this last men- tioned date, the estate is described by Lieut. Reynolds and his wife Priscilla, as "all that their , assuage or
Frankint, with all the lands wher
doth
¿nure
CLOSE by the large and comfortable mansion-hol lyin formerly 1 1 the southerly side of Milk street, or it the southeny ende wown building. . which from is now fenced in, butthe and bounded nortion, partly upon the streel estate to his wife, if she sur street by sª meeting 9 to revert to his rds ren. Bo, Atkinson's housing and lanroperty was ama on tu "vide, of Jonathan Balston, S Ely CHA che "o Bals Why & N Wy on land of sa Reynolds. ral hado do further described as "measuring in front fel strees from land of sª Balston to further side of the forthwes ernmost gate-post of sª messuage 32 foot & a half, be t," same more or less; & from thence to run upon a south- westerly line to the corner of the fence by the well (in- cluding halfe the well) 39 foot 8 inches, be the same more or less; & from thence to run upon a streight south-
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entry in this book reads, that the possession of Robert Reinolds in Boston was " one house & garden bounded with Edward Fletcher south, the High Streete west, the Fort Streete north, & John Steevenson east." The High street of 1643 was the Marlborough street of our fathers, and the Washington street of to-day. So was the Fort street (so called because it led to the fortification on Fort Hill) the modern Milk street. The easterly neighbor of Mr. Reynolds was John Stephenson, whose widow married for her second husban .. Mr. William Blaxton, the earliest English r -Hospital in which the Mr. Fletcher, on the southerly side,1 "pon the Charity trade, and undoubtedly served his customers " aving the razors, as well as the more substantial tools for crafts- men, which perhaps would cut as well as his sermons. with se, you . "imes edified those who weression of to lis louse and prepare it as a Hospital for the Reception
ich objects as shall require immediate Relief, for t "Ach this shall be your authority.
Kalbs. OsrVrstah I me occur if its Justerly por-
Art extenc .d westerly: ufer as the present Wash-
october, 1719, and on the twer shoemaker by occupa- is widowwas a the wife of DE) a resident of Boston, vate ,metir . she married iwn, and for a short time of in" sfick. "; war neireturned to Boston, where he
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1 enty-seventh of April, 1659, leaving his state + 17 wife Mary, son Nathaniel, and four daugh- rs. The house and land in Milk street, then valued at 110, was devised to the widow, to revert at her decease to his only son Nathaniel. The widow survived her husband about ten years, and died on the eighteenth of January, 1669-70, and Nathaniel came in possession of the Milk-street estate.
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easterly line by the fence 11 foot, be the same more or less; & from thence to run upon a straight southwest- erly line next sª Reynold's land 26 foot and one half, be the same more or less; & from thence to run upon S Ely line by the fence next to sª Reynold's land 68 foot & an half, be the same more or less; & from thence to run upon a N Ely line by & to the land of ye sª Balston 36 & an halfe foot, be it same more or less; & from thence to run upon a streight N Wly line by the land of sd Balston 47 feet, be the same more or less; & from thence to run on a northeasterly line to the aforesd street by the land of sª Balston 31 foot, be the same more or less." Reference is made to the will of his father Robert, dated 20, (2) 1658. This was discharged on the twentieth of April, 1693.
Lieutenant Nathaniel Reynolds died about the year 1708, leaving his estate in Milk street to his sons Nathaniel, John, and Philip; and the two last named con- veyed their right in it to their elder brother Nathaniel for £100, by deed dated the thirty-first of May, 1717. The last-mentioned Nathaniel died on the twenty-ninth of O
ity-first of May, 1725,
avid Ames of Bridge- h ... , ther
V r, whom a 1722, sold the estate to
John Fosdic It was while the first-named Nathaniel Reynolds w: the owner of the Milk-street estate, that Josiah Franklin became the tenant, probably about the first part of the year 1685, when he arrived from Ban- bury, in Oxfordshire, old England; and, as he dwelt there until the new possessor, Nathaniel Reynolds, the second of the name, desired it for his own use, he prob- ably continued to be the tenant until the year 1712, when he bought of Peter Sargeant, Esq., the house at
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DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
the corner of Union and Hanover streets, known as the Blue Ball. In 1717, Mr. Reynolds was certainly the occupant of his own house; but, at his decease, his widow removed to her native town, Bridgewater, leav- ing the house to some new tenant, perhaps to Mr. Fos- dick, to whom she sold it in 1725, as before mentioned. It was on a portion of this lot that Mr. Franklin had permission, on the twenty-seventh of April, 1692, to erect a small building eight feet square. The language of the record is as follows: "Granted Libertie to Josiah Frankline to erect a buildinge of Eight foote square vpon the Land belonging to L' Natha: Reynolds, neere the South Meetinge house."
Mr. John Fosdick died on the second of May, 1744, and his property was subsequently divided, on the fourth of February, 1745-6, between his two children, James Fosdick, gentleman, and Sarah, the wife of Jeremiah Belknap, leatherdresser; the Milk-street estate falling to James, and other property to Sarah. James Fosdick, who died in 1776, his wife having died in November, 1775, executed a will on the twenty-seventh of January, 1773, devising his real estate to his wife, if she survived him, and at her decease to revert to his children. Both parents having died, the property was amicably divided on the sixteenth of April, 1779, and the " old tenement in Milk street" fell to the heirs of Sarah Foster, the only daughter, who had married Ebenezer Foster, and died after her father made his will. In 1782 the heirs of Mrs. Foster conveyed their title to Thomas Pons, a jeweller, who, in 1794, with Daniel Wild and his wife Sarah, in her own right, conveyed the same to Mr. John Sweetser, merchant, for three hundred and fifteen pounds lawful money. Mr. Sweetser, who died in 1802.
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gave the estate to his nephew, John Sweetser Lillie, who was the owner of the house when it was destroyed by fire in 1810.
The old Franklin House in Milk street-for by this name the famous old tenement will always be remembered - was a quaint-looking building. The fol- lowing description, written several years ago for another purpose, will describe its appearance in its declining days: -
After leaving Washington street, and proceeding a short distance into Milk street, on the right hand, or southerly side, will be noticed a lofty warehouse, built of granite in a durable form and manner, and bearing, in raised letters beneath its cornice, "Birthplace of Franklin." This building occupies the site of the old wooden house which tradition, supported by good testi- mony, asserts to be that in which Boston's most distin- guished son was born, on the sixth of January, 1705-6, according to the old style of reckoning time, as entered in the town book of the records of births. The main house resembled in form some of the tenements of the olden time which have been preserved till now. Its front upon the street was rudely clapboarded, and the sides and rear were protected from the inclemencies of a New England climate by large rough shingles. On the street it measured about twenty feet; and on the sides (the westerly of which was bounded by the passageway, and contained the doorway, approached by two steps) the extreme length of the building, including a wooden lean-to used as a kitchen, was about thirty feet. In height the house was about three stories, the upper being an attic, which presented a pointed gable towards the street. In front, the second story and attic projected
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DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
somewhat into the street over the principal story on the ground floor.
On the lower floor of the main house there was one room only. This, which probably served the Franklins as a parlor and sitting-room, and also for the family eat- ing-room, was about twenty feet square, and had two windows upon the street; and it had, also, one upon the passageway, so near the corner as to give the inmates a good view of Washington street. Besides these windows there had been others in the days of its early proprietors which opened upon the easterly side of the house, the seats of which were retained until the
destruction of the building. In the centre of the southerly side of the room was one of those noted large fireplaces, situated in a most capacious chimney, which are so well remembered as among the comforts of old houses; on the left of this was a spacious closet, and on the right, the door communicating with a small entry in which were the stairs to the rooms above and the cellar, the latter of which was accessible to the street through one of the old-fashioned cellar doors, situated partly in the sidewalk.
On the ground floor, connecting with the sitting- room through the entry, was situated the kitchen, in a ten-foot addition to the rear part of the main building. The only windows from this part of the house looked back upon a vacant lot of land in the extreme rear of the lot which served as a yard and a garden plat.
The second story originally contained but one cham- ber, and in this the windows, door, fireplace and closet were similar in number and position to those in the par- lor beneath it. Some of the later tenants divided this room by a wooden partition, forming a small bedroom
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of the westerly portion, which received light only through the side window facing Washington street.
The attic was also, originally, one unplastered room, and had a window in front on the street, and two com- mon attic windows, one on each side of the roof, near the back part of it. This room was, also, at an un- known time, divided by a partition into two apartments, one in front and the other in the rear.
Such was, undoubtedly, the condition and appear- ance of the house at the time when the parents of Franklin dwelt within its walls, with their large family of children, several of whom received their first light beneath its roof; and such it continued about one hun- dred years after the Franklins left it for a house of their own at the former site of the Blue Ball, at the corner of Union and Hanover streets. But this old and much honored building, though it had stood from the colonial period of Massachusetts history, through the provincial, and had withstood the effects of the Revolution, never- theless was destroyed at last, on Saturday, the twenty- ninth of December, 1810, by fire communicated to it from the livery stable then situated at the corner of Hawley street, and kept by Stephen L. Soper. At the time of the fire the house was owned and occupied by Mr. John S. Lillie, whose son, Mr. Thomas J. Lillie, was born in it, and who well remembered every particu- lar about the house, its interesting traditions, and final destruction. It was at this time that the Old South Meeting-house took fire, and was saved by the exertions of our late fellow-citizen, Isaac Harris, Esq., for which he received a silver testimonial.
During the last days of the old house, the whole interior of the building, and especially the lower room,
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DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
presented a different appearance from what it did in the days of Franklin's father, - various improvements and changes having been made by the owners of the estate between the years 1712 (when Franklin left it for the Blue Ball) and 1810, when it was entirely consumed by fire.
Among the more perceptible changes of the estate, was the selling off of a very large portion of the land not built upon, two rectangular pieces only being left, - the one measuring twenty feet by thirty-six feet, and the other about forty-eight feet by thirteen feet, -for the accommodation of the modern in-dwellers. Besides this reduction of the estate, other damages of more im- portance to the tenant took place. The windows on the eastern side of the house were closed, the neighboring land being used for a stable; the candle vats in the cellar were covered over; the bed-chamber was made into two by a partition, as was also the room in the attic story. With these alterations others may have been made, extending even to the fireplace. It was absolutely necessary that the " common room " - as the parlor was usually designated in the early days of Boston, when one room was sufficient for parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room - should have a good old-fashioned fireplace, large enough for the comforts of a family of many children, together with the parents and occasional visitors.
For the days of Mr. Lillie, sixty years ago, when the estate had been shorn of its first commodious propor- tions, and when a cord of wood was a rarity with many of the Boston families, the curtailed fireplace would be much more appropriate, and undoubtedly more comfortable than one of larger dimensions, such as was
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generally to be found in houses in the days of Josiah Franklin, over one hundred years before.
Undoubtedly the old blue ball, which for so many years marked the Union-street residence of the Frank- lins, was also an ornament to the Milk-street building, and hung suspended from an iron crane projecting from the corner of the house. This noted ball was about twelve inches in diameter, and had upon it the following inscription : -
1698
JOSIAS FRANKLIN. 1698
On the twenty-fifth of December, 1758, the old house was entered by burglars, and many articles of clothing, together with a sum of money, no doubt considerable to the tenants, stolen. The occupant at the time was James Fosdick, Jr., a paver, son of James Fosdick, the owner. The following advertisement, which was published a few days after the affair took place, will give some idea of the costume of the family living in it at that time, - about forty-six years after the Franklins left it, to dwell in the old Blue Ball in Union street. Milk street, it appears, was then at the south end of Boston: -
"S Tolen out of the House of the Subscriber, living at the South End of Boston, on Monday Evening last, a blue Damask Sack Gown with close Cuffs, lin'd with white Stuff most to the Top, a flowered Silk Capuchin, with a Pink colour'd Lining, a Garlick Shift with Holland Sleeves, a white Fustian Jacket, without Sleeves; also 15 dollars, and a 50 s. piece. Who- ever will discover the Person or Persons that took the above things, so that they may be brought to Justice and convicted, shall receive TEN DOL- LARS as a Reward.
If any of the above Apparel be offered to Sale, it is desired they may be stopped, and Notice given to the Printer hereof.
James Fosdick, jun'r."
The above advertisement should have been dated on Thursday, the twenty-eighth of December, 1758. The
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Monday preceding this date was Christmas Day. It will be perceived that the thieves of the last century, in " cruel Provincial Times," had no more reverence for the day than did the law-makers of the preceding century, " in good old Colony times," who, being terribly tried by the manner in which the day was observed in 1658, about two centuries earlier, passed the following order at the very first General Court held subsequently :-
"For pventing disorders arising in seuerall places within this jurisdiccon, by reason of some still observing such ffestiualls as were superstitiously kept in other countrys, to the great dishonnor of God & offence of others, it is therefore ordered by this Court and the au- thority thereof, that whosoeuer shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by for- bearing of labour, feasting, or any other way, vpon any such accounts as aforesajd, euery such person so offending shall pay for euery such offence fiue shillings, as a fine to the county."
It was from this noted old house that Franklin was taken to the Old South Meeting-house, on the day of his birth, and baptized.
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CHAPTER LII.
THE BLUE BALL IN UNION STREET.
The Old Franklin House in Union street. . . James Everell the original Grantee ... Everell's Possession in 1643 . .. Portions of the Estate sold to Henry Maudesley and Josiah Cobham .. . Maudesley's Estate passes to Edward Breck in 1653 . . . Then to Robert Breck in 1654 . . . Breck sold to Roger Sea- ward in 1655 ... Dimensions and bounds of the estate in 1655 . . . In the Possession of John Gill in 1673, when he conveys it to Hon. William Stoughton . . . Division of Stoughton's estate in 1704, and the estate set off to Thomas and Mehitable Cooper ... In the occupation of James Fowles, etc., in January, 1706 .. . Sold to Josiah Franklin in 1712, and bounds at the time . .. Death of James Fowles in 1720 . . . Death of Franklin in 1745, and of his widow in 1752 . .. Estate advertised for sale in 1752 . . . Estate ad- vertised in 1753, to be sold in four lots ... Purchased in 1754 by Wil- liam Homes, and sold by him to Jonathan Dakin in 1757 . . . Passed from Dakin to his son Joseph in 1761, and to his son Thomas in 1780 . . . Passed to Anthony Dumesnil . . . Estate conveyed to Joseph Bradley in 1809, and to Tilly Whitcomb in 1811 ... Old brick house demolished in 1858 . . . The Franklin House taken down many years ago . . . The Old Blue Ball . . . Ben- jamin Franklin, and his ancestors . .. The Franklin Obelisk . . . The Old Wooden House .. . The Franklin Graves in Christ's Churchyard in Phila- delphia.
DURING the seventy-five years that immediately suc- ceeded the settlement of Boston in 1630, the various streets and public avenues had no fixed and determined names; consequently all the estates that bordered upon them were described, as bounded, on "the street, " or lane, "running" from some well-known landmark to another, -some enjoying the distinction of being des- ignated as the "high street," "the highway," or "the main street," leading from or to some noted place on the
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DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
peninsula, just as fields were bounded in the country by lines running from a "marked tree," a "pile of stones," or a "stake," and sometimes from or by "the written tree." One of the old landmarks of Boston, concerning which much has been said and written, was situated at an angle caused by the crossing of two of these streets at what was considered two hundred years ago the centre of the town, but now the North End. One of these streets, now called Union street, was early known as " the way leading from the conduit to the milne"; and the other, Hanover street, was "the street leading from the 'orange tree' over the mill bridge to the ferry." The conduit was situated near Market Square, where Elm and North streets would meet if extended; and the milne (or South Mill) stood near Hanover street, and beside Mill Creek, (or canal), - now filled up to form Blackstone street. The "Orange Tree" was the name of a house standing at the head of the street, probably so called from a sign-board connected with Mr. Jeremy Houtchin's old house; and the ferry was Winnisimmet Ferry-ways, the starting point of Mr. Williams's boat for that portion of Chelsea which anciently bore the name of Winnisimmet. The old landmark that formerly stood at this corner gained its notoriety as being on the site on which stood for many years the residence of Josiah Franklin, the father of the philosopher, and was known to many as the Blue Ball, on account of the old sign that hung suspended at its corner, from the time Franklin obtained possession of the estate until the destruction of the house in 1858.
In the early days of Boston the old Franklin House in Union street was on a portion of the considerable "Possession of James Everill within the limits of Bos-
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ton." The estate was described in 1643 as "one house & houselett with the streete Eastwards & Northwards, the lane Southwest, John Button, Nicholas Willis & George Burrell Southeast." Mr. Everell, a shoemaker, dwelt on the westerly and southerly part of his large estate, and mortgaged it in 1648 and 1649 to Gov- ernor Thomas Dudley for £30 and £75, and in 1652 to Governor Simon Bradstreet for &150. These mort- gages were subsequently discharged, and the Franklin portion of the estate sold to Henry Maudesley about the year 1653, and the contiguous portion to Josiah Cob- ham, a webster, in 1659. In 1653, Mr. Maudesley's property became embarrassed, and his estate was taken from him by Edward Breck, of Dorchester, who con- veyed it to his son Robert Breck, of Boston. On the twenty-third of May, 1655, Mr. Breck sold it to Roger Seaward, a seaman, for the small sum of ££36 5s., at which time it was described as "all that corner dwelling house situated in Boston next to the now dwelling houses of James Everell, with the garden place back- side, and cellar place digged, containing 96 foote facing on the Norwest streete, & 37 foote Easterly to the streete leading Southerly to the Docke, bee it more or lesse as it is now bounded, the land of the said James Everill lying on the Southeast & Southwest side thereof."
From Mr. Seaward the estate passed to John Gill, of Dorchester, who conveyed it, on the thirtieth of April, 1673, to Lieutenant-Governor Stoughton, in exchange for a corn mill, commonly known as "Naponsett Mill," and several parcels of land, partly in Milton, and partly in Dorchester. Mr. Gill described his estate as "all those his houses & tenements, which are situate in Bos-
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ton neere unto the bakers' armes, together with all that land upon which they stand be it more or less as it is now bounded, Eastward & Northward by the common streete, Westward by the house of Josiah Cobham, Southward by the land of saide Cobham & the house & land of John Cotta, with all the privileges," etc. Cotta had bought his estate of Simon Lynde, Esq., a noted land purchaser of that day, who had previously pur- chased it of Mr. Everell.
Mr. Stoughton died on the seventh of July, 1701, leaving this and other estates in its immediate vicinity. His property was divided, three years after his decease, on the seventeenth of July, 1704, between William Tailer, Esq., of Dorchester; John Nelson, Esq., and wife Elizabeth, of Boston; Rev. John Danforth and wife Elizabeth, of Dorchester ; and Thomas Cooper, merchant, and wife Mehitable, of Bos- ton. To Tailer, Nelsons, and Danforths were given tracts of land in Dorchester and Oxford ; while to Cooper and his wife Mehitable, who was the daughter of his sister Hannah, wife of James Minot, were given all " his housing and land " in Boston, viz: "one brick messuage or tenement, commonly called and known by the name of the Green Dragon, in the occupation of Samuel Tyley now being, with the stables, outhousing, land, members, privileges and appurtenances thereto be- longing; one other brick messuage or tenement adje to the former with the land, members, & appces thereof in the occupation of Duncan, being; one other wooden messuage or tenemt and tenements below the Green Dragon next to the mill-pond with the lands, members, and appurces thereof, in the occupation of John Dra- per and John Gavett being, one other wooden mes-
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