His only son, Frederick G. Webster, in the year 1863, while yet a minor, was tendered by Governor Andrew a commission as Lieutenant of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts,—Colonel Shaw's regiment,—one of the first regiments of colored troops organized in the country. He accepted his commission. Mr. Webster was too patriotic, too much devoted to the good cause, to withhold his consent that his son should enter the army, and the young man joined his regiment at Folly Island, South Carolina. In an engagement which occurred soon after the captain of the company was killed, and Lieutenant Webster took the place of his fallen superior, and his comrades testify that he filled it with intrepid courage and efficiency throughout the battle. Subsequently he fell sick with typhoid fever, was taken to the hospital at Beaufort, S.C., and there died, before his father could reach him. Mr. Webster leaves a widow and four grown daughters, sorrow-stricken at his sudden and unexpected decease.
Any one who knew Mr. Webster in connection with charitable and philanthropic work must testify to the gentle, loving kindness of his nature and to his ready sympathy with the sorrows and misfortunes of his fellow-creatures, and with every good work intended to ameliorate their condition. He was one of the original members of the Citizens' Law and Order League, was one of its first vice-presidents, and remained one of its officers to the day of his death. He was the treasurer of the National League, and the secretary bears testimony to his unfailing interest in the good work, to his thorough sympathy and hearty coöperation in all efforts to mitigate the evils of intemperance. No member of the League devoted more earnest zeal and self-sacrificing labor to promote the reforms initiated by the League. He was a member of the Public School Association, and a postal-card invitation to a meeting of that Association, on Saturday last, bore his name in connection with that of the Rev. Edward Everett Hale and several other gentlemen.
On Wednesday last Mr. Webster was out. On that evening he was feeling a little ill, and postponed engagements which he had made for Thursday. He supposed his illness only temporary, and expected to be out on Friday and again on Saturday. When his family retired Saturday night they bade him good-night, and he told them that he felt better. At three o'clock in the morning they were awakened, and, hurrying to his room, found that he apparently had difficulty about breathing, and in a few minutes he passed quietly away without speaking. Mr. Webster was a member of the New or Swedenborgian Church, and held to that faith very strongly. He was a believer that departed spirits still hover about their friends and assist them in the good which they are endeavoring to accomplish. If such be the case, many a good cause in Boston to-day is being helped by his presence, although he is gone from us forever.
IN OLDEN TIMES.
In Wickford, Rhode Island, is what is claimed to be the oldest Episcopal church in America. It was built in 1707, and was once stolen and transported a distance of seven miles. It was originally built on what was then called McSparren Hill, but in the course of seventy-five years the population had changed so that most of the worshippers came from Wickford, seven miles away. The proposition to remove the church was first made at a vestry meeting, but was so bitterly opposed by the few members who yet remained on McSparren Hill that the Wickford faction resolved on a coup d'état. The road from where the church stood to Wickford was all down hill. They mustered their forces one evening, collected all the oxen in the vicinity, placed the house on wheels, and, while the opposing faction were soundly sleeping in their beds, hauled the holy edifice to the spot where it now stands, and where it has since remained. As it was utterly impossible to move the house back up the hill again, the surprised hill residents could only vent their rage in unchurchly language. Although the old building is still standing, the present society worship in a more modern edifice.
The house built by Elnathan Osborn, in 1696, still stands in Danbury, Connecticut. One of the Osborns was six years old when General Tryon's British troops visited the place. The lad came home from school to find the house full of redcoats. They were making free with the contents of the buttery. The boy attempted to back out, when one of the men called to him, "Come in, lad, we won't hurt you." "Is there any cider in the house?" asked the soldier. The boy took out a large wooden bowl, went down cellar, and filled it several times with apple juice for the men. When the British fired the village, a few hours later, there was no torch applied to the home of Elnathan Osborn. The house still stands at the foot of Main street. It is a low, hip-roofed house, studded with enormous beams, and lighted with tiny diamond window-panes.
The oldest building in Boston is said to be the one which stands at the corner of Moon and Sun Court streets. It was built in 1677, and conveyed by Benjamin Rawlings to Ralph Barger, February 8, 1699, for £45, New England currency, as per record in Registry of Deeds, lib. 19, fol. 270.
John Hollis, Braintree, who died in 1718, left, as is recorded in the inventory of his estate, "one baptising suit."