Historic Shrines of America / Being the Story of One Hundred and Twenty Historic Buildings and the Pioneers Who Made Them Notable

by John T. Faris

ONE: IN THE LAND OF THE PILGRIMS

The riches of the Commonwealth

Are free, strong minds, and hearts of health;

And more to her than gold or grain,

The cunning hand and cultured brain.

For well she keeps her ancient stock,

The stubborn strength of Pilgrim Rock;

And still maintains, with milder laws,

And clearer light, the Good Old Cause!

Nor heeds the skeptic's puny hands,

While near her school the church-spire stands;

Nor fears the blinded bigot's rule,

While near her church-spire stands the school.

—John Greenleaf Whittier.

ONE: IN THE LAND OF THE PILGRIMS

Photo by Halliday Historic Photograph Company, Boston
OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON

I

THE OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON,
MASSACHUSETTS

FROM WHOSE BALCONY THE DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE WAS PROCLAIMED

Thirty-three years after Captain John Smith sailed into Boston Harbor, the first Town House was built. This was in 1657. The second Town House, which was built on the same site, was erected in 1712. In 1748 the third Town House, later the Old State House, followed the structure of 1712, the outer walls of the old building being used in the new.

Since 1689, when Governor Andros' tyranny was overthrown, the old building has been in the thick of historic events. How it figured in the Boston Massacre was shown by John Tudor in his diary. He wrote:

"March, 1770. On Monday evening the 5th current, a few Minutes after 9 o'clock a most horrid murder was committed in King Street before the custom house Door by 8 or 9 Soldiers under the Command of Capt. Thos Preston of the Main Guard on the South side of the Town House. This unhappy affair began by Some Boys & young fellows throwing Snow Balls at the sentry placed at the Custom house Door. On which 8 or 9 Soldiers Came to his Assistance. Soon after a Number of people collected, when the Capt commanded the Soldiers to fire, which they did and 3 Men were Kil'd on the Spot & several Mortaly Wounded, one of which died next Morning.... Leut Governor Hutchinson, who was Commander in Chiefe, was sent for & Came to the Council Chamber, where some of the Magustrates attended. The Governor desired the Multitude about 10 O'Clock to sepperat & to go home peaceable & he would do all in his power that Justice should be done &c. The 29 Regiment being then under Arms on the south side of the Townhouse, but the people insisted that the Soldiers should be ordered to their Barracks first before they would sepperat. Which being done the people sepperated aboute 1 O'Clock."

Next day the people met in Faneuil Hall, and demanded the immediate removal of the troops. The demand being refused, they met again at Faneuil Hall, but adjourned to Old South Church, since the larger hall was required to accommodate the aroused citizens. A new committee, headed by Samuel Adams, sought Hutchinson in the Council Chamber of the Town House, and secured his permission to remove the troops without delay.

The next event of note in the history of the old building was the public reading there of the Declaration of Independence on July 18, 1776, in accordance with the message of John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, who asked that it be proclaimed "in such a mode that the people may be impressed by it."

Abigail Adams told in a letter to her husband, John Adams, of the reading:

"I went with the multitude to King street to hear the Declaration Proclamation for Independence read and proclaimed.... Great attention was given to every word.... Thus ends royal Authority in the state."

A British prisoner on parole, who was an invited guest at the reading of the Declaration, wrote a detailed narrative of the events of the day, in the Town Hall, in which he said:

"Exactly as the clock struck one, Colonel Crafts, who occupied the chair, rose and, silence being obtained, read aloud the declaration, which announced to the world that the tie of allegiance and protection, which had so long held Britain and her North American colonies together, was forever separated. This being finished, the gentlemen stood up, and each, repeating the words as they were spoken by an officer, swore to uphold, at the sacrifice of life, the rights of his country. Meanwhile the town clerk read from the balcony the Declaration of Independence to the crowd; at the close of which, a Shout began in the hall, passed like an electric spark to the streets, which rang with loud huzzas, the slow and measured boom of Cannon, and the rattle of musketry."

Thirteen years later, when Washington visited Boston, he passed through a triumphal arch to the State House. In his diary he told of what followed his entrance to the historic building:

"Three cheers was given by a vast concourse of people, Who, by this time, had assembled at the Arch—then followed an ode composed in honor of the President; and well sung by a band of select singers—After this three cheers—followed by the different Professions and Mechanics in the order they were drawn up, with their colors, through a lane of the people which had thronged about the arch under which they passed."

The ode sung that day was as follows:

"General Washington, the hero's come,

Each heart exulting hears the sound;

See, thousands their deliverer throng,

And shout his welcome all around.

Now in full chorus bursts the song,

And shout the deeds of Washington."

The Old State House was near destruction in 1835, as a result of the uproar that followed the attempt of William Lloyd Garrison to make an abolition address in the hall next door to the office of the Liberator, whose editor he was. A furious crowd demanded his blood, and he was persuaded to retire. Later the doors of the Liberator office where he had taken refuge were broken down, and, after a chase, the hunted man was seized and dragged to the rear of the Old State House, then used as the City Hall and Post-office. The mayor rescued him from the mob, which was talking of hanging him, and carried him into the State House. The threats of the outwitted people became so loud that it was feared the building would be destroyed and that Garrison would be killed. As soon as possible, therefore, he was spirited away to the Leverett Street jail.

For many years, until 1882, the Old State House was used for business purposes, after previous service as Town House, City Hall, Court House, and State House. It is now used as a historical museum by the Bostonian Society.

The historic halls within the building have the same walls and ceilings as when the old house was erected in 1748. For many years the exterior was covered with unsightly paint, but this has been scraped off, and the brick walls gleam red as in former days.

Photo by Halliday Historic Photograph Company
PAUL REVERE HOUSE, BOSTON

II

PAUL REVERE'S HOUSE, BOSTON,
MASSACHUSETTS

WHERE THE MERCURY OF THE REVOLUTION LIVED
AND TOILED

"Take three fourths of a Paine that makes Traitors Confess	(RAC)
With three parts of a place which the Wicked don't Bless	(HEL)
Joyne four sevenths of an Exercise which shop-keepers use	(WALK)
Add what Bad Men do, when they good actions refuse	(ER)
These four added together with great care and Art
Will point out the Fair One that is nearest my Heart."

Thus wrote Paul Revere, the Boston goldsmith, on the back of a bill to Mr. Benjamin Greene for "Gold buttons," "Mending a Spoon," and "Two pr. of Silver Shoe Buckles," which was made out one day in 1773 in the old house in North Square, built in 1676. To this house he planned to lead as his second wife Rachel Walker; his eight children needed a mother's care, and he wanted some one to share the joys and the burdens of his life.

Before his first marriage, in 1757, he had served as a second lieutenant in a company of artillery, in the expedition against Crown Point. Soldiering was succeeded by work at his trade of goldsmith and silversmith, learned from his father. He was a skilled engraver; most of the silverware made in Boston at this period testified to his ability. Later, when the rising patriotic tide seemed to call for lithographs and broadsides, he engraved these on copper with eager brain and active hand.

He began his patriotic work as a member of the secret order The Sons of Liberty, which had organizations in nearly all the colonies, held frequent meetings, and laid plans for resisting the encroachments of Great Britain. Once, when some three hundred of these Sons dined at Dorchester, Paul Revere was present, as well as Samuel Adams, John Adams, and John Hancock.

It was necessary to have a trusted messenger to carry tidings of moment from place to place, and Paul Revere was one of those chosen for the purpose. His first important ride was at the time of the destruction of the tea in Boston harbor. He had a leading part in bringing together the patriots who gathered on November 29, 1773, first at Faneuil Hall, then at Old South Meeting House, to protest against the landing of the tea from the ship Dartmouth, and he was one of the men who, on December 16, in Indian disguise, threw £18,000 worth of tea into the harbor. In preparation for the rallying of the men of the tea party at the "Green Dragon," the following ditty was composed:

"Rally Mohawks! bring out your axes,

And tell King George we'll pay no taxes

On his foreign tea.

His threats are vain, and vain to think

To force our girls and wives to drink

His vile Bohea!

Then rally boys, and hasten on

To meet our chief at the Green Dragon.

"Old Warren's there, and bold Revere,

With hands to do, and words to cheer,

For liberty and laws;

Our country's brave and free defenders

Shall ne'er be left by true North-Enders

Fighting Freedoms cause!

Then rally boys, and hasten on

To meet our chiefs at the Green Dragon."

Of the work done by the Mohawks on that December night John Adams wrote on December 17, 1773, "This Destruction of the Tea is so bold, so daring, so firm, intrepid, and inflexible, and it must have so important Consequences, and so lasting, that I can't but consider it as an Epoch in History."

The enactment of the Boston Port Bill was the cause of Revere's next ride. A meeting of citizens in Boston decided to ask the other colonies "to come into a joint resolution to stop all importation from, and exportation to, Great Britain and every part of the West Indies till the act be repealed," in the thought that this would "prove the salvation of North America and her liberties."

These resolutions were given to Paul Revere by the selectmen of Boston, and he was urged to ride with all speed to New York and Philadelphia. On May 30, 1774, the Essex Gazette told of the return of the messenger, and announced, "Nothing can exceed the indignation with which our brethren of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and Philadelphia have received this proof of Ministerial madness. They universally declare their resolution to stand by us to the last extremity."

Four months later another ride to Philadelphia was taken, to carry to the Continental Congress the Suffolk Resolves. Six days only were taken for the journey. When Congress learned of the protest in New England against the principle "that Parliament had the right to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever," there was no question that a new nation was ready for birth. "I think I may assure you, that America will make a point of supporting Boston to the utmost," Samuel Adams wrote, the day after Revere's message was read.

Once more during the historic year 1774 the Boston silversmith turned aside from his shop long enough to ride to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to give information of the prohibition by Great Britain of further importations of gunpowder, and to tell of the coming of a large garrison to Fort William and Mary at Portsmouth. The immediate result of the ride was the sending of a party of four hundred patriots against the fort, which surrendered at once. Little attention has been paid to this event by historians, yet it was one of the most potent of the events preceding the Revolution. One hundred barrels of gunpowder were seized at the fort, and this was a large part of the ammunition used later at Bunker Hill.

Then came April 18, 1775, the date of "that memorable ride, not only the most brilliant, but the most important single exploit in our national annals." The Provincial Congress and the Committee of Safety were in session at Concord. General Warren had remained in Boston to watch the movements of the British, and Revere had been holding himself in readiness to carry tidings as soon as there was anything of importance to be told. Now word was to be sent to John Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were at the residence of Rev. Mr. Clarke at Lexington, "that a number of soldiers were marching towards the bottom of the Common, ... and that it was thought they were the objects of the movement." Revere had foreseen the necessity for the ride, and, fearing that he might not be able to cross the Charles River, or get over Boston Neck, had arranged with patriots in Charleston that two "lanthorns" would be shown in the North Church steeple if the British went out by water, and one if they went by land.

On the night of April 18 Revere was rowed by two friends across Charles River, passing almost under the guns of the Somerset. After conferring with the Charleston patriots, who had seen the signals, he secured a horse, and started toward Lexington, proceeding with extreme care, because he had been told that ten mounted British officers had been seen going up the road. Once he was chased by two British officers. At Medford he awakened the captain of the minute men. "After that I alarmed almost every house till I got to Lexington," the patriot rider later told the story. Messrs. Hancock and Adams were aroused. Then Revere went on to Concord, accompanied by two others, that the stores might be secured. Once more residents by the roadside were awakened. He himself was soon surrounded by four mounted British soldiers, but his companions were able to proceed. After a time he was released by his captors, and he made his way to the Clarke house, where Hancock and Adams still were.

Photo by Halliday Historic Photograph Company
HANCOCK-CLARKE HOUSE, LEXINGTON, MASS.

Thus the way was prepared for Concord and Lexington. That the patriots were not taken by surprise, and the stores at Concord taken, as the British had hoped, was due to the courage and resourcefulness of Paul Revere.

Revere's rides as messenger did not end his services to the colonists. In 1775 he engraved the plates and printed the bills of the paper money of Massachusetts, and later he built and operated a powder mill. He was made lieutenant-colonel of State artillery, and took part in the unfortunate Penobscot expedition out of which grew the charges of which he was triumphantly acquitted by the court-martial held at his own request.

The old house in North Square was the home of the Revere family until about 1795.

III