USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Walks & talks about historic Boston > Part 2
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At this time in England there was a violent struggle for power between the monarch and the people. Many of those who loved peace and quiet and foresaw the coming storm, fled to America. During the year 1635, three thousand settlers went to Massachusetts Bay, among them many men of wealth, influence and discretion. The Colony at that time was somewhat excited over the theological dis- putes, Roger Williams taking an active and leading part in dissenting from the Puritans. Winthrop often tempered some of the harsh laws of the Colony with a merciful mild- ness in their execution. On one occasion, it was reported to him that a man had been stealing from his winter's store of firewood and he was urged to punish him. "I will soon put a stop to that practice," said the Governor sternly. He sent for the offender. "You have a large family," he said to the culprit, "and 1 have a large magazine of wood. Come as often as you please and take as much of it as you need to make your dwelling comfortable." Then turning to the accusers, he said, "Now I defy him to steal any more of my firewood." In those early days there was a prosperous commerce between Massachusetts and the West Indies Islands, and as a result of the trade much bullion and un- coined gold and silver was brought to the Colony and a Mint was established in Massachusetts in 1652 and silver coins of the denominations of three pence, six pence and twelve pence, or shilling, were issued and this was the first coinage within the territory of the United States. Gover- nor Winthrop who was re-elected ruled wisely. Like Brad- ford of the Plymouth Colony, he courted the friendship of the surrounding Indians, and chiefs and sachems from the Mohegans on the distant Hudson River, dined at his table.
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They told him of the beautiful Connecticut Valley, and invited him to send settlers there. There also might have been seen the son of the aged Canonicus, his nephew, Miantonomoh, the brilliant young chief of the Narragan- setts, and the representative of the Nipmucks and Wam- panoags, with Massasoit, the great chief of the latter na- tion. Winthrop also cultivated friendly relations with neighboring settlements and distant colonies. At the time of his death he lived in the two story house on Washington Street opposite School Street.
There were no religious services at funerals at that pe- riod of our Colonial history. Rev. John Cotton preached a sermon in respect to Governor Winthrop on a Special Fast Day held by the church during his last illness. No religious services were necessary, however, to make the occasion of Governor Winthrop's death a solemn one. The portrait of Governor Winthrop, which hangs on the wall of the Senate Chamber in the State House on Beacon Hill, represents a fine looking man, his countenance beaming with intelligence and goodness. Regarding this portrait, there appears in the memoranda of the Winthrop Family the following incident. "One of the Pequot Sagamores, who knew Governor Winthrop, coming to Boston after his death, went into the room where the portrait was, and see- ing it ran out, very much surprised, exclaiming, "He is alive! He is alive!"
In a busy part of the old town of Boston, which he founded and which he loved, under the shadow of quaint old King's Chapel, lie the mortal remains of this truly great and good man. His moral was equally developed with his religious nature. He was amiable, kind hearted, sym- pathetic, serious and truthful. He was gentle in temper and free from vindictiveness. Generous in forgiving the errors of others, he was magnanimous in confessing his own.
Josiah Quincy well said: "Had Boston, like Rome, a consecrated calendar, there is no name better entitled than that of Winthrop to be registered as its "Patron Saint."
On Shirley Street, in the town of Winthrop, stands the Deane Winthrop House.
The house was built by Deane, the sixth son of Gover- nor Winthrop, about the year 1640, and is a typical Co- lonial farm house. It is still in a fair state of preservation,
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although it has weathered the storms and suns of over two hundred and seventy-five years. The Deane Winthrop Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution have met there and are making efforts to buy the property.
DEANE WINTHROP HOUSE ABUILT ABOUT 1000
The Settlement of Dorchester and Dattapannock (South Boston)
The first settlers of Mattapan or Dorchester came from Devon, Dorset and Somerset in England. On the 20th of March, 1630, the Company set sail on the ship "Mary and John" of 400 tons, commanded by Captain Squeb. They en- countered a violent storm on their passage, but says one of their number "they came by the good hand of the Lord through the deeps comfortably." In a poem written shortly afterwards by Governor Wolcott, son of Roger Wolcott, one of the passengers, some particulars of the voyage are nar- rated. This poem may be found in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Just a couplet from the poem will show the motives which actuated those persons to remove to a wilderness :
"Religion was the cause that did our hearts incline, And moved our founders to this great design."
It was on the 20th of May, old style 1630, that the Company arrived on the coast of Massachusetts. It was the last day of the week and as the last rays of the setting sun gilded the land which was in the future to be their home, they were desirous to land, that the rest of the Sabbath might not be disturbed. But the Captain, not knowing the channel, and fearing that there might not be a sufficient depth of water, declined to land them and cast anchor for the night. The agreement was that the Captain should land them on the Charles River. But he failed to keep his contract and despite their repeated protestations the whole company was obliged to land with their goods on the Lord's day at Nantasket Point. History informs us that the Captain was afterwards obliged to pay damages for this act.
From their known habits we have no doubt that their first act on landing, was to kneel in prayer to Him who had thus far been a God to them.
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John Oldham, an old planter, had left the Plymouth Colony and settled at Nantasket, and afterward united with the Dorchester Company. They procured a boat from this man and on Monday forenoon, Captain Southcoat, Roger Clap and eight other able bodied men were appointed to take the boat and visit Mishawaum, at the mouth of the Charles River, and ascertain whether they could be accommodated. In the mean- time other parties sailed up a bay, now called from that cir- cumstance, "Old Harbor," and seeing that the peninsula, now known as South Boston, was a favorable place for the pastur- age of cattle. they immediately decided to settle in Mattapan, now Dorchester. By this means they could enjoy the use of Mattapannock (South Boston) as it was then called by the Indians. Dorchester, therefore, owes its early settlement to the benefits supposed to be gained by having Mattapannock as a pasture ground for cattle.
Many of the settlers of Dorchester were persons of note and figure, being dignified with the title of "Mr." which but few in those days were. Quite a number of these men were traders and when they first selected Dorchester as their resi- dence, intending it as a place of commerce. They first settled near the Neck, between Mattapan and Mattapannock, and there built their town. Arriving in May they were too late to do any planting for that season, and they soon came to want.
In the early part of 1631 bread failed in every house in the settlement, except that of the Governor. The people ate mus- sels, clams and ground nuts, and of these even they had but a limited supply. Accustomed to the best of fare and to com- fortable habitations it was a great hardship for these persons of good rank and circumstances in their native country. They endured great sufferings but murmured not. Their privations and sufferings are thus described by Captain Roger Clap in his Memoirs :
"O, the hunger that many suffered and saw no hope in the eve of reason to be supplied only by clams, mussels and fish. We did quickly build boats and some went fishing : but bread was with many a scarce thing, and flesh of all kinds as scarce."
Believing that God could aid them in their troubles they set apart February 6 as a day of fasting and prayer." Before the day came, however, they were relieved from their want and distress. Governor Winthrop, foreseeing that provisions would be needed had sent to Ireland for a supply. On the 5th of February, the ship Lion arrived, laden with food, and
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prevented the Colony from perishing by famine, and thus the 6th of February was observed as a day of thanksgiving and prayer instead of a day of feasting.
What Roger Clap says in his Memoirs of the arrival of a supply of provisions is well worthy a place in this story of the early settlers of Dorchester and South Boston. "And in those days, in our straits, though I cannot say God sent a raven to feed us as he did the prophet Elijah, yet I can say to the praise of God's glory, that he sent not only poor, rav- enous Indians, which came with their baskets of corn on their backs, to trade with us, but also sent ships from Holland and Ireland with provisions, and Indian corn from Virginia to supply the wants of his dear servants in this wilderness both for food and raiment."
In 1631 several ships arrived from England bringing a large addition to the Colony, and increased their stock of provisions, as each vessel brought food for the settlement. They gathered a bountiful harvest this year, and though they had enough and to spare, they practiced the strictest economy, not knowing what was before them.
It is believed that the form of government or town organ- ization which has prevailed in New England for over two centuries had its origin in the town of Dorchester. In 1633, the settlers began the practice of electing selectmen to provide for the best interests of the Colony and to put into operation all laws that might be made.
In August 1633, the Rev. Richard Mather arrived in Boston. Says Blake: "There came with him a great number of godly people to settle here. There came with him 100 passengers and 23 seamen, 23 cows and heifers, 3 calves and 8 mares, and none died by the way, though they met with as terrible a storni as was almost ever heard of."
Mattapannock, now so valuable a part of the city of Boston, was in those early days, used only as a pasture for cattle, and the first settlers did not consider it of sufficient value to be divided. A fence was built near the present junction of Dorchester Avenue and Dorchester Street in the district known as Washington Village, and from thence ran a path- way to the Neck, commanded by a gate, and persons were appointed to drive the cattle to and from the pasture. Only a certain number of the people of Dorchester had a right to use Mattapannock as a pasture. In 1637, according to the Town Records, 104 persons had that right. In that list are
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numbered some of the most illustrious men among the Colo- nists. Several Representatives, three or four Captains, two Clergymen, quite a number of Good Men and Masters, sent their kine daily to South Boston to eat of the fat of the land. Among the names of the one hundred and four we find sev- eral widows. There was Widow Foster, Widow Sneed and Widow Purchase. Even good Richard Mather shared in this privilege, and sent his brindle to graze on the very ground, perchance, where now stands the edifice called by his name and devoted to the acquisition of useful knowledge. It is difficult for us to imagine the appearance of South Boston in those days. It was a peninsula, or rather an island at high water, covered with a rich growth of grass. In some parts there were clumps of trees which afforded shelter for the kine. It is interesting to note some of the regulations made at various times by the town of Dorchester in regard to the cat- tle to be pastured at Mattapannock. "April 3, 1638. It is ordered that for this year, only the oxen, mares, goats and young cattle shall be kept at the Neck, and no man shall keep any cow there, on pain of ten shillings for every cow so kept there contrary to this order.'
It is plain that this last order was passed to prevent persons from turning their cattle out to pasture before the grass was of sufficient growth to supply them with food. No division of the land in Mattapannock seems to have been made until 1642. When the division was made the town reserved a por- tion for a common pasture. Any person had the privilege of allowing his cattle to graze there by the payment to the town of a small tax.
"In 1637, the persons who owned land in Mattapannock were obliged to pay a tax of half a penny on each acre of plowed land. The total amount thus assesed was 19 shillings 9 pence, showing that about 475 acres was under more or less cultivation. There is no doubt that the Peninsula was much liked and frequented by the Indians. Powow Point at the south end of K Street and facing Thompson's Island is highly celebrated in the history of our aborigines. Here the Indians were in the habit of holding an annual feast. This gathering was in commemoration of a celebrated Indian Treaty which was of great importance to the early settlers and called together multitudes of the red men of the forest. It is said that during this feast, nothing was to be used but what came from the sea. Even the water was literally taken
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from the ocean and drank from clam shells. Near the centre of Powow Point is a spring of fresh water, which at high tide is completely covered by the sea. From this source, the Indians, in olden times, procured water for daily use. It is not known when the first dwelling house was erected in South Boston, but it was probably about the year 1660, by Deacon James Blake, an ancestor of the Blake family for so many years residents of that section. The site of the building was at City Point. In a will made in 1603, we find mention of the house and in the year 1732, it was so impaired by age that it was taken down and a new one erected on the same spot. Connected with the Blake house was a large orchard of one hundred trees of different kinds. Another old house on the peninsula was the Foster House on the corner of E and Fourth Streets opposite the school house. In the early fifties, the cellar of this house could still be seen. It was built soon after the Blake house, above referred to. This was the nearest house to Boston and in the early settlement was the only house west of Dorchester Street. This residence had a fine orchard of peach, apple and plum trees. In 1681, Mr. John Foster, one of the family who resided in South Boston, died. Under the date of that year in the "Annals" we find the following: "Died, Mr. John Foster, son of Captain Hope- still Foster, Schoolmaster of Dorchester, and he that made the then Seal or Arms of ye Colony, namely, an Indian with a bow and arrow, etc. Upon his tomb or gravestone, is writ- ten, as follows :
"The Ingenious Mathematician and Printer MR. JOHN FOSTER
Aged Thirty-three Years. Died September 9th, 1681.
Mr. Foster was a graduate of Harvard College and was a man of considerable note. The funeral was attended by a large number of mourning friends, and in accordance with the custom of the times the afflicted family received many eulogies on the death of their brother.
The Foster House was built previous to the Revolution, re- placing the original house, already spoken of. It was, in its day, one of the most elegant houses in the vicinity of Bos- ton. It is related that in the early days of the war, several Continental soldiers who strolled over to the Neck were with difficulty restrained from destroying the house, they thinking
Walks and Talks About Historic Boston.
it belonged to a Tory, as several of the rooms were papered, a luxury almost unknown in those days, and to these Conti- nentals it was almost a sure sign that the occupant was a Tory.
In the early part of 1776, the weather was very cold and the harbor was frozen over. The ice was very thick and im- proving this opportunity about five hundred British grena- diers and light infantry on the 13th of February, crossed the ice to Mattapannock, intending to surprise and capture the American general, and picket post, stationed there, consisting of seventy men. They very nearly succeeded in their design but the general escaped. Not wishing to return without some exploit they set fire to several houses on the Neck, captured two prisoners and then returned. A detachment of Americans was sent to attack them, but the red coats escaped. Among the houses destroyed was the princely house of Mrs. Foster. This conflagration, wholly unprovoked and uncalled for, was one of the most dastardly and wanton acts committed by the British during their occupancy of Boston, for the inhabitants of Mattapannock were quiet and inoffensive.
Mr. James Blake, the son of the original settler at the Point. died in the sixty-third year of his age. His son succeeded to the estate and resided in the old homestead. In the latter part of 1775 he became fearful lest he should re- ceive injury from the British soldiers stationed at Castle William ( Fort Independence) who were in the habit of visit- ing Mattapannock. Several times his family were grossly insulted. and at last he was forced to remove to Dorchester, leaving his house and barn at the mercy of the enemy. One day the old gentleman saw the red coats at the fort point their cannon toward the Neck. and thinking they were about to practice a little, he sent his eldest son to take the glass windows out of the homestead as there was great danger that they would be broken by the concussion.
The young man immediately mounted his horse and was soon busily engaged, obeying his father's command, when a cannon ball passed directly through the window in which he was at work and lodged in the back wall of the house. For- tunately he was stooping to reach something on the floor at the time and hence escaped with his life. Soon another ball came whizzing by the house and passed very near the horse which stood tied to a tree about a rod from the house. The young man thought the British were becoming too social and leaving the windows to their fate he sprang upon his horse
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and returned with all speed to Dorchester. Soon after this a party of British soldiers visited the Point and placing a tar barrel against Mr. Blake's house, set fire to it and the house and barn were totally destroyed. It was such acts of vandal- ism on the part of British soldiers that made them cordially hated by the Colonists.
Mr. James Blake who died in 1750, was one of the most distinguished persons in Dorchester. He was for many years Town Clerk and Town Treasurer, and for several years the principal Selectman. All these offices he continued to fill till he was rendered incapable of active duty by reason of sick- ness and infirmity. He was an excellent mathematician and the most noted surveyor of his time. His plans were so ac- curate as to elicit universal praise and during his life he sur- veyed several whole towns. He once made plans of every acre of land in Dorchester, and that when its territorial limits were much larger than now. Many plans drawn by him are still in existence and show by their elegant construction the hand of a master workman,
In those early days of Dorchester few names stand out more prominently than Roger Clap. He came to America in 1630, with the original settlers in the ship "Mary and John." In his memoirs he mentions that the passage from England was made in seventy days, and the Word of God was preached and expounded every day during the voyage. He was one of the founders of the First Church in Dorchester and a mem- ber for sixty years. We pause here to give a little history of that Church.
The First Parish Church, Meeting House Hill, Dorchester, is the oldest religious society in Boston. It was organized in Plymouth, England, March 20, 1630, the eve before the embarkation of the first settlers of Dorchester in the ship "Mary and John." John Maverick and John Warham were the first pastors. The church held its first religious service in America in the open air in Dorchester the Sunday after their settlement in June 1630. Their first church edifice was a log house with palisades as a protection against the Indians, and it stood at the corner of Pleasant and Cottage Streets.
A larger and more expensive structure was erected in 1643. In 1670 this building was moved to Meeting House Hill, which hill derives its name from the church, which, for nearly 250 years has been located there. In 1677 a new house of worship was erected which cost £200 and this was replaced
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by another structure in 1743 which stood until 1816. On February 3. 1896, this noble landmark which had stood for So years was destroyed by fire and the present edifice is as nearly as possible a duplicate and is the fifth church building which has stood on that spot. Including Maverick and War- ham and two coadjutors who assisted Rev. Richard Mather, this church had only eight ministers in 250 years of its his- tory. The list is as follows: Richard Mather, 33 years; Jo- siah Flint, 9 years : John Danforth, 48 years ; Jonathan Bow- man, 44 years : Moses Everett, 19 years ; Thaddeus Mason Harris, 43 years ; and Nathaniel Hall, 40 years. The old bell, originally cast in England in 1751, which was so badly cracked in the fire of 1896 was recast and now hangs in the belfry. All the old inscriptions were reproduced in the new casting.
Roger Clap was an active and liberal supporter of this church all his life. He was an active man in town and state affairs filling important offices in the town from 1637 to 1665. He was lieutenant of the Dorchester Training Bands in 1644. A lieutenant in the Artillery Company in 1655 and a repre- sentative to the General Court for fifteen years. In 1659 the General Court granted him five hundred acres of land. After the death of Captain Davenport in 1665, the General Court appointed Captain Roger Clap to the command of Castle William which he held until 1686, when he resigned. A little account of Castle William, now known as Fort Independence, may be interesting in this connection. "On a little island in the harbor, the first settlers in and near Boston, built a fort for their defence in July 1634. It had walls of earth and it was given the name of Castle William. In 1643 the mud walls having gone to decay, the fort was rebuilt with pine trees and earth under the superintendence of Captain Richard Davenport, who was appointed to command it. In a little time that decayed and a small castle of brick was built, having three rooms in it, a dwelling house below, a lodging room over it, and a gun room over that, wherein were six guns, called sacker guns and over it upon the top, three lesser guns. "Such was the condition when God was pleased to send a grievous storm of thunder and lightning which did some harm in Boston," says Roger Clap in his Memoirs. Captain Dav- enport, weary by severe duty, had retired in a room separated from the powder magazine by a thin partition and while asleep was killed by a flash of lightning, no material damage being done to the Castle. The Castle as it stood, cost about £4000.
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In 1663 the General Court passed a bill allowing two barrels of powder per annum "for saluting of ships" at the Castle. This Castle was burned by accident in 1672 and a new fort of stone was erected having four bastions and armed with thirty- eight guns. The bastions were long known by the names of "The Crown," "The Rose," "The Royal" and "The Eliza- beth." In 1864 a direct descendant of the Roger Clap family served as Sergeant of a Company doing garrison duty during the Civil War, Sergeant David Capen Clapp of the First Unattached Company Massachusetts Volunteer Militia.
"Captain Roger Clap was of the ultra Puritan School and by no means tolerant of the innovations attempted by the Antimonians and Quakers. It is said of him that his soldiers were treated as if they were of his own family and none were permitted to be enlisted, but pious as well as brave men. So greatly was he beloved by the people of Dorchester that in the year 1676, "when taken sick they kept a day of fasting and prayer, to beg his life of God, and when he recovered a day of Thanksgiving." He died February 2, 1690, and his grave stone in the Chapel Ground is standing on which his name is plainly legible.
The early settlers of Dorchester were a remarkable body of men, brave, intelligent, liberty-loving and God-fearing and many of the descendants are still residing in Boston and vicin- ity. The names of Blake, Clapp, Capen, Clement, Dickerman, Dyer, Duncan, Farnsworth, Fenn, Hayden, Hawes, Hill, Humphreys Jones, Knight, Kinsley, Minot, Nils Smith, Sum- ner, Swift, Wade, Wales, Weeks, Whitman, Wiswell Wil- kins, Withington and Wright, are all found in that early band.
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