[6] Dr. Benjamin Church, physician, orator and poet, grandson of the famous Indian fighter of the name; born in Newport, R.I., August 24, 1734; was lost at sea in May, 1776. He graduated at Harvard College in 1754; studied medicine in London, and after his return to Boston, became eminent as a surgeon. For several years previous to the Revolution, he was a conspicuous and leading Whig. He was a representative, a member of the Provincial Congress of 1774, and physician-general to the patriot army. Pecuniary embarrassment is supposed to have led to his defection from the cause of his country. In September, 1775, an intercepted letter of his, in characters, to Major Cain, in Boston, was deciphered; and October 3, 1775, he was convicted by a court martial, of which Washington was president, of "holding a criminal correspondence with the enemy." Confined in jail at Norwich, Conn., he was released in May, 1776, on account of failing health; sailed for the West Indies, and was never afterwards heard from.
[7] Gabriel Johonnot, born in Boston, 1748; died in Hamden, Me., October 9, 1820. Zacharie, his father, a Huguenot, was a distiller and merchant. His dwelling-house and store was on Orange Street, and his distillery on Harvard Street, directly opposite. At the bottom of the street was his wharf, wooden distillery, storehouses, etc. The mansion house and store were burned in the great fire, 20th April, 1787. Gabriel was a member of St. John's Lodge, Boston, 1780, and a charter member of Hancock Lodge, Castine, Me., 1794. He was chairman of a committee appointed by the company of Cadets, of Boston, August 15, 1774, to proceed to Salem, and return to Governor Gage, the standard presented to them; and was Lieutenant-Colonel of the 14th Regiment of the Massachusetts line, known as the Marblehead regiment, commanded by Colonel Glover. He removed to Castine, Me., soon after the Revolutionary war; took a prominent part in town affairs, and at one time represented the town of Penobscot in the Massachusetts Legislature.
[8] Nathaniel Appleton, Commissioner of Loans for the State of Massachusetts, a resident of Atkinson (now Congress) Street, son of Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Appleton, of Cambridge; died in June, 1789, aged 66.
[9] The Scollays were an old Scotch family. A John Scollay, the first mention of whom is found here, in 1692 leased the Winnisimmet ferry for one year. John, whose name is conspicuous in the early Revolutionary records of Boston, was a merchant, and was chairman of the Board of Selectmen, from 1774 to 1790. His portrait, by Copley, represents a portly, florid man, with a powdered wig, seated, his hand resting on a ledger. Thomas Melvill married one of Scollay's daughters. Col. William Scollay, apothecary and druggist, son of John, resided at first on or near the spot where the Museum stands, and his garden extended back to Court Square. He was associated with Charles Bulfinch and others, in the improvement of Franklin Place, now Franklin Street, where they erected the first block of buildings in Boston. Col. William was commander of the Independent Company of Cadets.
[10] Francis Rotch, a Quaker merchant, part owner of the "Dartmouth" and the "Beaver," was born in Nantucket, Mass., 30th September, 1750, and died in New Bedford, in May, 1822. Joseph, his father, the founder of a family of eminent merchants, was born in Salisbury, England, in 1704, and died in New Bedford, 24th November, 1784. In early life he settled in Nantucket, and rose from poverty to affluence by his industry, energy and enterprise, gaining, at the same time, universal esteem for his integrity. These characteristics he transmitted to his sons, William, Joseph and Francis,—especially to William, whose commercial transactions were of the most extensive character. All were largely concerned in the whale fisheries of Nantucket, of which they may almost be said to have been the founders. Francis was in England for a short time in 1773, but had returned home before his tea ships arrived. This affair was a very troublesome one for a young man of twenty-three to manage, as there was a tremendous pressure brought to bear upon him by Samuel Adams, and other influential patriots, to return the teas to England. He yielded temporarily to this pressure, promising the meeting of November 30th, that the tea should go back; but, probably after consultation with his counsel, Sampson Salter Blowers and John Adams, decided to withdraw his promise. Rotch pleaded that a compliance would ruin him, and as he could not obtain a pass for his ships, they would either have been sunk by the British batteries, or captured and confiscated under the revenue laws. He succeeded eventually in escaping loss in the affair, as the East India Company paid him the freight due on the cargoes of teas. His ship, the "Bedford," is said to have been the first to display the American flag on the Thames, after the war. The family settled in New Bedford, in 1768. He married his cousin, Nancy Rotch, who, at the time of her death, 24th April, 1867, was nine-two years of age. The accompanying portrait is copied from a silhouette, by Miers, profile painter, 111 Strand, London, apparently about 1795. It is very delicately painted, on a hard plaster surface. The features are well marked, and the lace ruffle at the bosom, and the queue, are exceedingly well done. It is now in the possession of Mr. George H. Allan, who received it from his uncle, A.A. Rotch.
[11] Jonathan Williams, a distinguished merchant and patriot, captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, in 1751; died March 27, 1788. Jonathan, his father, was a member of the Artillery Company in 1711.
[12] Judge Oliver Wendell, son of Hon. Jacob Wendell, was born in Boston 5th March, 1733; died, 15th January, 1818. Harvard College, 1753. His daughter, Sarah, married Rev. Abiel Holmes, the father of the poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes.
[13] William Cooper, son of Rev. William, and brother of Rev. Samuel, of the Brattle Street Church, and forty-nine years town clerk of Boston; died November 28, 1809; aged 89. The brothers were both active patriots of the Revolution.
[14] Ezekiel Cheever, the great grandson of the famous schoolmaster of that name, in the early days of New England, was born in Charlestown, Mass., in May, 1720. He was by trade a sugar-baker (confectioner), and from 1752 to 1755 was a selectman of Charlestown. Removing to Boston he joined the Sons of Liberty, and was active in the ante-revolutionary movements of the town, and prominent in its public meetings. He was appointed commissary of artillery in the army before Boston, May 17, 1775. He died a few years after the conclusion of the war. His brother, David, also a prominent Son of Liberty, was appointed moderator of the Old South meeting of December 14, but declined. Ezekiel was a member of the Committee that waited on the consignees and requested their resignation.
[15] Probably the following handbill is referred to: