USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Walks & talks about historic Boston > Part 31
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on the bench in the warm summer days. Some of the British officers who tented on the Common raised vegetables for their tables there, and it is probable they occasionally milked a cow that was quietly grazing near them, for a part of the Common was occupied by their tents and barracks, most of their time between 1768 and 1776. From the foot of the Common, now the Parade Ground, the British troops em- barked in boats to cross the river on their way to Lexington -the night before April 19, 1775. It was during the occupa- tion of the town of Boston that the Boston school boys successfully appealed to General Gage, that their right of coasting on the Common might be restored to them. When the Stamp Act was repealed in 1768 there was a brilliant celebration on the Common, and eighty years later, in 1848, it was the scene of a great celebration when the Cochituate Water was first introduced into Boston. In 1837 a large del- egation of the Sacs and Fox Indians from the Far West en- camped on the Common, and in all the gorgeousness of paint and feathers, gave exhibitions of their war dances and feats before interested thousands. On the Parade Ground, the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company hold their annual Drum Head Election of Officers on the first Monday in June. It is generally believed that the original parade ground was between the Old Elm and Tremont Street, and that here the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company used to gather and fire at a mark. The first trees on the Common were planted along the Tremont Street Mall as far as West Street. It was called the Great Mall and was the favorite promenade at sundown. The trees on the Beacon Street Mall were set out about the beginning of the 19th century. On this Mall opposite Joy Street was a "Wishing Stone," and the young people used to walk around it nine times, and then stand on it, or sit down on it, and wish their wishes, but they were not to tell their wishes else they would not come true. During those eventful years of the Civil War, many Massachusetts Regiments marched to the Parade Ground of the Common and there received the Colors of the Regiment from the hands. of the eloquent and great War Governor, John A. Andrew, and from thence bore them to the front, where they waved in the thickest of the fight, and now they repose quietly and in honor, in the Hall of Flags nearby. On this Parade Ground boys and young men have indulged in athletic sports. The Artillery have boomed forth the City's joy over some
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great event, or a welcome to some distinguished guest. Many Bostonians can recall some interesting incident in their lives connected with the Common. Up and down these pleasant shady walks lovers have strolled and told the "old, old story." Old Bostonians can recall the scenes on the Common on the Fourth of July fifty years or more ago. It was the Mecca for the residents of the rural districts for miles around. The Park was given over to them and resembled a "County Fair." Booths lined all the Malls. Merry-Go-Rounds were set up and the voice of the "Barker" was heard above the din of firecrackers and torpedoes. From 15,000 to 20,000 assembled and remained all day, listening to the Band Concerts and waiting for the Fireworks in the Evening.
MONUMENTS ON THE COMMON BREWER FOUNTAIN.
This is near the Park Street entrance, and was presented to the city by the late Gardner Brewer, a well-known and wealthy Boston merchant. It was cast in Paris and is a bronze copy of a fountain by Linard of that city. At its base are figures representing Neptune, Amphitrite, Acis and Gala- tea. Another monument occupying a prominent position on the Tremont Street Mall is the
ATTUCK'S MONUMENT IN MEMORY OF CRISPUS ATTUCKS, THE BRAVE AND PATRIOTIC COLORED MAN WHO WAS KILLED IN THE BOSTON MASSACRE MARCH 5. 1770.
THE SOLDIER'S MONUMENT
One of the finest in the country, stands on Flagstaff Hill, Boston Common, and was dedicated September 17, 1877, on the 247th Anniversary of the Settlement of Boston. The monument is of white granite and is over 70 feet high. The foundation is of solid masonry, cruciform in shape, built up from a depth of 16 feet to the ground level. On this is a platform of stone, covering an area of 38 feet square, and reached by three steps. From this platform rises a plinth nine feet high with projecting pedestals on each of the four corners. These pedestals are ornamented upon the sides and front with carved wreaths of laurel. Upon them stand
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four bronze figures, each eight feet high,-Peace-History- The Army-and The Navy. The Statue of Peace represents a female figure robed in classic drapery, scated on a stone; her right arm is raised and extended, and in her hand she holds an olive branch, toward the South. The figure repre- senting the Muse of History also occupies a sitting position and is clad in simple Greek costume. Her left hand holds a tablet which rests upon the knee; in the right hand is a stylus. A wreath of laurel encircles the head. The face is turned slightly away, and upward, as if in meditation.
THE STATUE OF THE SAILOR Faces the Sea. It is in an easy attitude, the right hand resting on a drawn cutlas whose point touches the ground, the left hand supported by the hip. The naval costume is well executed. The Army is represented by the figure of a soldier standing at ease, with overcoat, belt and accoutrements. His musket rests upon the ground. One hand clasps its barrel, the other rests upon the muzzle. On the four sides of the plinth between the pedestals are bronze-mezzo relievos, 5 feet 6 inches in height, by 2 feet 6 inches in width, symbolical of incidents of the war. That on the front of the monument represents the departure of troops for the war and introduces the portraits of Gover- nor Andrew, Archbishop Williams, A. H. Vinton, D. D .. Phillips Brooks, D. D., Wendell Phillips, Henry W. Longfel- low and others,-standing on the State House steps, while with the troops marching by, are General Butler, Colonel Cass, Colonel Shaw and General Charles Russell Lowell. The Relief symbolizing the work of the Sanitary Commission has two parts; one, showing the present members of the Commission, from Boston, in consultation; the other repre- senting the work in the field. Portraits are given of Gover- nor Rice, James Russell Lowell, Ezra H. Gannett, D. D., E. R. Mudge, George Ticknor, Marshall P. Eilder, Colonel W. W. Clapp, Rev. Edward Everett Hale and several ladies. "The Return from the War" is the most elaborate relief. It represents a regiment drawn up in front of the State House. On the steps are Governor Andrew, Dr. Edward Reynolds. Henry Wilson, Governor Claflin, Mayor Shurtleff, Judge Putnam, Charles Sumner and others. Generals Banks, De- von, Bartlett and Underwood are on horseback. The Fourth Relief commemorates the achievements of the Navy, and has two parts. The left-hand portion shows a group of eleven figures and represents the departure of sailors from home;
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while on the right is a view of a naval engagement. On the plinth rests the pedestal proper, 14 feet 5 inches in height. terminating in a sub-base. The sides of the die are panelled. On that facing the South is cut the following inscription, written by Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard Univer- sity:
TO THE MEN OF BOSTON WHO DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY ON LAND AND SEA IN THE WAR WHICH KEPT THE UNION WHOLE, DESTROYED SLAVERY AND MAINTAINED THE CONSTITUTION THE GRATEFUL CITY HAS BUILT THIS MONUMENT THAT THEIR EXAMPLE MAY SPEAK TO COMING GENERATIONS.
From the sub-base of the pedestal rises the granite shaft which is of the Roman Doric order. About its base are grouped figures in alto relievos, representing the four sec- tions of the Union, North, South, East and West. Sculp- tured wreaths surround the shaft at irregular intervals. The capstone is a circular block of granite, 2 feet II inches high and 5 feet in diameter. On the block stands the bronze ideal statue of the Genius of America, which was cast in Philadelphia, and is II feet high, representing a female dressed in a flowing robe. Over the robe is a loose tunic. bound with a girdle at the waist. A heavy mantle, clasped at the throat, is thrown back over the shoulder, and falls the full length of the figure behind. On the head is a crown with 13 stars. In the right hand which rests on the hilt of one unsheathed sword are two laurel wreaths. The left hand holds a banner draped about a staff which reaches to a height of 6 feet above the head. The face fronts towards the South, and the head is slightly bowed. The cost of the entire monument was $75,000.00. Martin Millmore, of Boston, was the sculptor. It is without doubt one of the finest and most artistic Soldiers' Monuments in the country and Bostonians are particularly proud of it.
The Dedication Exercises were particularly impressive. Over 25,000 men marched in the procession, including the
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militia of the State, the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic, the leading generals of the Civil War, the State and city officials, civic societies, school children, etc. The procession marched over a route more than six miles long, and was four hours in pasing a given point. The principal feature of the dedication ceremonies was the oration by General Charles Devens.
Soldiers' Monument, Boston Common.
Boston Libraries
In the number, variety and value of its Libraries, Boston leads all American cities and will compare favorably with European capitals. It is well named the "Modern Athens,", for these libraries make it the seat of literature and science, a
The Boston Public Library
most desirable centre for the student and scholar. In these libraries there are not only many thousands of books, but also several hundred thousand pamphlets. Access to all of the libraries may easily be obtained by any one desiring to use them. The oldest library is that of the "Massachusetts His- torical Society, located at 1154 Boylston Street. This library was founded in 1791, and its object was to preserve for ref- erence, all books, pamphlets and manuscripts containing his- torical facts. In 1856, Mr. Thomas Dowse presented the So- ciety with 5,000 finely bound volumes, and many choice works. The library contains many local histories, and many histories
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of the Civil War. While the membership is limited to 100, the library may be used by anyone.
For many years the Society had its headquarters in the attic of Faneuil Hall, but it is now well housed on Boylston Street. In its rooms the visitor may see many relics of great historic interest. There are the swords of Myles Standish, Governor Carver, Governor Brooks, Colonel Prescott, Sir William Pep- perell. Captain Linzee and Colonel Church. There also is a silk flag presented by Governor John Hancock, to a colored company called the "Bucks of America"; King Philip's samp bowl: the desk used for many years by the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Old State House; an oak chair made in London in 1614, and brought over in the "May- flower" by Edward Winslow. There are portraits of Govern- ors Winthrop, Endicott, Winslow, Dummer, Belcher, Hutch- inson, Story Gore and others. The librarian is Dr. Samuel A. Green.
THE BOSTON ATHENAEUM
The Boston Athenaeum occupies a fine building on Beacon Street. It grew out of a Reading Club, established by a num- ber of Boston gentlemen in 1807. At first it included a mu- seum of natural history and an art gallery, but later on, the curios and collections were transferred to societies devoted to these different objects. The right to use the library is con- fined to the stockholders and their families. These stockhold- ers pay annual assessments which entitles them to take books from the building. About 3000 volumes are added to the li- brary every year. It was originally located on Congress Street but in 1849,. it erected and moved into the handsome building on the south side of Beacon Street, between Bowdoin and Somerset streets. In 1848 the corporation purchased the li- brary of George Washington at a cost of $4,000. There are many interesting and valuable collections on its shelves.
THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Boston Public Library was authorized in 1848, and was first opened in 1854 on Mason Street, the Hon. Edward Ev- erett being the first president of the board of trustees. He made a gift of 1,000 books to the Library. Today the library
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is one of the largeset in the country having over 900,000 books. For many years after leaving Mason Street, it was located on Boylston Street, directly opposite the Common, in a fine brick building erected by the city. In 1852, Joshua Bates of London gave the Library $50,000, and $50,000 worth of books. Mr. George Ticknor, a well-known Bostonian, for many years at the "Old Corner Bookstore," gave the library nearly 7,500 books, including his very valuable Spanish collection. The sons of Nathaniel Bowditch, gave their father's library of over 2500 books and manuscripts. Abbott Lawrence, Mary P. Townsend, and Jonathan Phillips, made liberal bequests, amounting to nearly $50,000. The Prince collection, which, in 1758 was deeded to the Old South Church, is now on the shelves of the Library. Several years ago it secured a fine collection of 12,000 volumes including the best Shakesperian collection in the country. It has many branches in different sections of the city, in South Boston, East Boston, North End, South End, Roxbury, Charlestown, Brighton, Jamaica Plain and Dorchester. Its advantages are open to all, and is much appreciated by all classes of citizens, and ranks as one of the largest libraries in the world for free circulation. The Li- brary now occupies the magnificent building on Dartmouth Street between Huntington Avenue and Boylston Street. On the front is this inscription "Built by the people and dedicated to the advancement of learning." It ranks among the very finest library buildings in the world and stands second only to the Congressional Library in Washington, D. C.
The City of Boston has six million dollars invested in its public library system. The cost of maintenance approaches $400,000 annually, and it grows year by year.
"As an investment it shows returns whose value cannot be computed in dollars and cents, but whose influence upon popular enlightenment and whose contribution to popular en- tertainment are manifest. More than 800,000 volumes are collected and classified in the Central Library : more than a quarter of a million are placed in the 13 branch libraries. There are 17 reading rooms, open to all, each of which is a delivery station, with some 2,000 periodicals and newspapers, available for those who come there. The Public Library statistics are impressive of its value. In 1913, our people were supplied with books to read to the number of 1,848,973. "
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Union Bank Building 40 State Street, 1850
Built about 1810. Here was the house and dry goods shop of Anthony Stoddard, the richest Bostonian and great- est real estate operator of his time. The record of his death in 1687 says: "He was the ancientist shopkeeper in towne." Stoddard's house seems to have been the State's Arms Tav- ern, where the Magistrates of the town dined, and was succeeded by the Royal Custom House. The Stock Ex- change was here in the early fifties. This corner was start- ing point for first regular stage-coach to New York City in 1772 .- From Historic Prints, published by the State Street Trust Company.
Union Bank Building, 40 State Street-1850
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Old Boston & Albany R. R. Depot, 1850
A view of Boston in 1840 from the Back Bay.
The Merchants' Exchange, State Street
The large building in the foreground is the Merchants' Exchange as it looked in 1850 to 1860. It was built in 1841 and was for many years a most imposing structure. In the centre of the front was a large and magnificent piece of carv- ing in Quincy granite of a Horn of Plenty, and as the writer has been informed was done at the State Prison. On the lower floor of the building the Boston Post Office was located for many years. On the second floor was the Merchants' Exchange where were files of home and foreign papers, and many items of interest to merchants. The building on the extreme right of the cut with the arched windows was the home of the Washington Bank. In the three-story building on the corner of State and Kilby Streets were the offices of the Firemen's Fund Insurance Company, on the second floor were the Banking rooms of the Bank of North America, and the top floor was the office of the Boston Clearing House.
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Merchants Exchange Building, State Street, 1850
Dr. Oliver Wendell holmes
"The year 1800 was the birth year of a large number of famous and brilliant men. William E. Gladstone, the grand old statesman ; Chopin and Mendelssohn, masters in music : Charles Darwin, the great modern scientist: Samuel F. Smith, the author of our great national hymn "America :" Alfred Tennyson, England's great poet ; and Abraham Lin- coln, the grandest figure of modern times." In that same year our genial and gifted Oliver Wendell Holmes, known the world over as the "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," was born August 29, in an old gambrel roof house on Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, under the shadow of Harvard University. His father was a minister, his mother was the daughter of Judge Wendell, a noted Revolutionary patriot. New England claims Oliver Wendell Holmes particularly as her own. As one has said, "He passed his life among her cities, and gently rolling hills, which he dearly loved; he supported her best impulses, her foremost institutions, he knew, in short, no other world." In think- ing of him we look at his literary genius and ability, and almost forget that he was a most capable physician. After studying medicine very thoroughly in Boston, he went to Paris and finished there. Returning to America he com- menced his practice in Boston. He won four Boylston prizes in two years as Professor of Anatomy at Dartmouth. and later became the Professor of Anatomy at the Harvard Medical School. He was a skillful dissecter, a life long medical educator and revolutionized the treatment of a most dangerous epidemic fever. In his genial humor he often referred to his chair of medicine as his "settee." For many years he was a constant contributor to the "Boston Medical and Surgical Journal," which was published by that well known Boston printer. David Clapp, whose office was on the north corner of Franklin and Washington Streets. Dr. Holmes and Mr. Clapp were warm personal friends. In an article entitled "The Evolution of the South End," pub- lished some years ago in the "Boston Globe" and written by
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Dr. Bundy an old time resident and physician in that sec- tion, he relates a little personal experience showing the humorous side of Dr. Holmes' nature. In 1860, Dr. Bundy was a student at the Harvard Medical School, and his spe- cial instructor was Dr. Holmes. He says: "the genial doc- tor was famous for his practical jokes, and I shall always
Oliver Wendell Holmes
remember an incident of which I was an innocent victim. The doctor once gave me a skull as a home lesson, with instructions to find out all I could about it and give a reci- tation or statement of the result of my study. Well, I took the skull home and pondered over it all the evening. I no-
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ticed all the points I could think of, until I regarded my- self as 'letter perfect' for my examination. Returning the next day, with my not cheerful companion, the skull, Dr. Holmes, at the recitation room took down from a near by shelf another skull and he said to me, 'Bundy, tell us what you know about that skull.'" Well, I began and told all I thought I knew about it and I flattered myself I had done very well for a student.
"Now, Bundy," said Dr. Holmes, pointing to a hole in the top of skull number two, "what foramen (a technical term for a cavity) is that?" "I was puzzled," said Dr. Bundy, "for that hole was not in the skull which I took home." "I was deeply meditating what that particular aperture in that particular place could be, when I detected a twinkle in the eyes of the autocrat." "Well, Bundy," said Dr. Holmes, "that foramen is simply the screw hole that was bored, for the purpose of hanging the skeleton to which this skull was once attached in its own closet." That joke was on me, as the latter day vernacular has it, and many a time has Dr. Holmes and myself, especially the former, had a good laugh over it." Dr. Holmes, by his writings and his songs and his genial manner, became dearly loved by all New England, and he won the love of all mankind. "Now genial, with humor, he sympathized with the foibles of a brother. Now, deeply touched with loss, he mourned a departed friend. Now, welling up with furious indignation, he pours out a stirring protest against an unpatriotic desecration."
"Oh Carolina, Carolina, child of the sun,
We can never forget that our hearts have been one,
Our foreheads both sprinkled in Liberty's name, !
From the fountain of blood with the finger of fame,
Go, then, our rash sister, afar and aloof,
Run wild in the sunshine, away from our roof,
But when your heart aches, and your feet have grown sore, Remember the pathway that leads to our door.'
"With the simple imagery of a sea shell in one of the most beautiful passages of all verse, he proclaimed his belief in the immortality of the soul."
"Build thee more stately mansions. O my soul, As the swift seasons roll !
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Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou, at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell, by life's unresting sea."
For over fifty years his stirring lines on "Old Ironsides" have been declaimed by thousands of school boys. They were written when he was quite a young man, a student in the Harvard Medical School. He was greatly beloved by his classmates at Harvard and his talents were always in demand, and cheerfully given at the class reunions. He wrote 44 poems for those occasions. That class of 1829 was a famous one, and their reunions have been immortal- ized by the tender and graceful verses of Dr. Holmes. His class poem, "The Boys" is a fine specimen of his quaint and genial humor.
"Has any old fellow got mixed with the boys? If there has, take him out, without making a noise. Hang the almanac's cheat, and the catalogue's spite ! Old Time is a liar! We're 20 tonight !"
Writing to Julia Ward Howe on her 70th birthday, he says: "To be seventy years young is some times far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old." He had three Boston homes : in Montgomery Place where he lived eighteen years ; then on the river side of Charles Street and from 1870 on the river side of Beacon Street. His summers were spent in Beverly. On one occasion, his old friend, James T. Fields, the author and publisher, wrote him from "Manchester-by-the-Sea," and Holmes, in his answer termed his summer town "Beverly, by the Depot."
"There is a humorous vein that runs through most of his poems, always wholesome and mirth provoking and reflect- ing the kind and sunny temperament of the man, but he once wrote, 'It would be one of the most agreeable reflec- tions to me if I could feel that I left a few hymns worthy to be rememberd after me.' When Lowell started the 'Atlantic Monthly' in 1859, he secured Dr. Holmes as one of his first contributors."
In the first number of that magazine appeared the first installment of the "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," pa-
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pers. They were always full of bright and witty sayings and of wisdom too. We give just a few quotations.
"Sin has many tools, but a lie is a handle that fits them all."
"Everybody likes and respects self-made men. It is a great deal better to be made in that way, than not to be made at all."
"I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving."
"If you would be happy in Berkshire you must carry mountains in your brain ; and if you would enjoy Nahant, you must have an ocean in your soul. Nature plays at dominoes with you. You must match her piece or she will never give it up to you."
"Give us the luxuries of life and we will dispense with the necessaries."
He was intensely proud of Boston and of all her tradi- tions. He carried Boston on his heart and on his tongue and had terrible maledictions for those who attempted to sneer at her. This love of Boston runs all through his "Autocrat Papers."
"Boston is the place to be born in, but if you can't fix it so as to be born here you can come and live here."
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