In an earlier chapter I gave a list of the streets, squares, lanes
and alleys, which existed in my boyhood, with the promise to say
something concerning the changes, which they had gone through, and
the houses and people and incidents associated with them. I have
since taken a passing glance at Court, Main, Middle and North streets
with the intention of referring to them again. In my treatment of
Water street I have dwelt in detail on its buildings and occupants.
The next street in order is Leyden street, the most interesting of
all the streets, associated, as it is with the first winter of the
Pilgrims, with the Common House, the store houses, and the seven
cottages, which with their walls of plank, their roofs of thatch,
and windows of paper, served as hospitals for the sick and shelter
for all. How far east and west the original street extended is
conjectural. It is probable that on the west it extended at least
as far as the fort, which in 1622 was built near the top of burial
hill, and that within a year or two habitations for single families
were constructed on both sides of the street. The easterly end of
the original street is more doubtful. It must be remembered that
what we call ropewalk pond was a part of the harbor, a broad cove or
bay with a wide entrance extending from a point on the south near
the southerly corner of the present foundry, to a point on the north
near the southerly end of the Electric Light building. It is probable
that this cove extended so far west that it felt the flow of the tide
for some distance above the present arch of Spring hill. It will
therefore be seen that this bay furnished an excellent boat harbor
protected from the ocean blasts, and, being in close proximity to
the store houses, was undoubtedly used as a landing place for boats,
plying to and from the Mayflower during her stay in the harbor.
In view of these conditions it is probable that the original street
extended no farther east than the narrow way which may still be seen
on the easterly side of the house with a brick end opposite the
Universalist church, a way which is referred to in ancient deeds,
and which in my opinion led to the landing place, and was used by
the Pilgrims in reaching or leaving their settlement by water. The
first official laying out of Leyden street was made in connection
with Water street in 1716, and is entered in the town records under
date of February 16, 1715-16 old style, or February 26, 1716 new
style. It is signed by Benjamin Warren, John Dyer, John Watson and
Abial Shurtleff, selectmen, and reads as follows: “Then laid out by
us the subscribers, Town Wayes (viz) as followeth A street Called
first street beginning att a stone sett into ye Ground att ye Corner
of Ephraim Coles smiths shop, from Thence to rainge East 21 Degrees
northerly To John Rickard’s Corner bounds at The brow of The hill, &
from thence To a stone att ye foot of the hill on the same Rainge The
sd street is: 40: ffoots in Weadth att The bounds first mentioned,
and to carrey its width till it comes to The Northerly Corner of
Capt. Dyer’s house There being a stone sett into ye Ground & from
Thence To Rainge East Two Degrees Northerly To a stone sett into the
Ground att The foot of The hill a little above Ephraim Kempton’s
house being the westerly corner bounds of the way That leads over
the Brook and from Thence Northeast: 16: Degrees Easterly 40: foots
to A stone sett into The Ground a little above John Rickard’s upper
Ware house, and from Thence To Extend Northeast: 6: Degrees Northerly
one hundred and Three foots to a stone sett into ye Ground being 16
Degrees Southeasterly 30 foots from a stone sett into ye Ground at ye
foot of the hill Neere or upon The Sootherly Corner of John Ward’s
land on ye westerly side of The Way That leads To ye New street
Thence from sd stone To Extend Northeast 5 Degrees Northerly 29 foots
To another stone sett in ye Ground in John Wards land & from Thence
To Extend North 20 Degrees Easterly To a stone sett into ye Ground
att ye North East Corner of Mr. John Watson’s cooper’s shop, and from
Thence to Extend North 7 Degrees Easterly to a stone and poast sett
into ye Ground above Thomas Dotyes Coopers shop, and from Thence to
Extend North 21 Degrees westerly to a stone and poast sett in ye
Ground above Thomas Doten’s cooper shop, and from Thence to Extend
North: 25: Degrees Westerly to a stone and stake sett into ye Ground
Within The easterly corner bound of new street said stake and stones
being West, & eleven Degrees Northerly 36 foots from the Northerly
part of A Grat Rock yt lyeth below ye Way The sd Way from ye stone
att ye foat of ye hill neere the Southerly Corner of John Ward’s
land is: 30: foot in width Till it comes to ye stake and stones at
ye Easterly Corner of ye New streete.” This laying out is especially
interesting as mentioning Plymouth Rock.
A part of the smith shop of Ephraim Cole, at the corner of which
the above laying out began, is still standing, and may be seen in
the rear part of the express office on the corner of Main street.
The corner of John Rickard’s land was at a point on the stone
wall opposite the middle of the alley next to the house of Wm.
W. Brewster. Capt. John Dyer’s house stood where the brick end
house stands, and the Ephraim Kempton house stood about thirty or
forty feet from the present street on the lot now occupied by Mr.
Blackmer’s stable. It is probable that the land in front of the house
was kept open, and that the way across the brook began at the corner
of the narrow way above mentioned just below the Dyer house, and
crossing the open space diagonally, passed east of the Kempton house
to the fording place. All through my boyhood the Kempton house was
occupied by Mrs. Wm. Drew, who married for a second husband in 1833,
Isaac Morton Sherman, the father of Leander L. Sherman, formerly
the janitor of the Central Engine house. Its removal many years ago
marked one of the changes which have occurred in Leyden street within
my recollection.
Until, perhaps twenty-five or thirty years ago, there was an ancient
footway leading from Cole’s Hill at a point nearly opposite the south
front of the house of Henry W. Barnes, next to the Universalist
church, to Leyden street, directly opposite to the way to the fording
place above mentioned. That footway doubtless ante-dated the opening
of a way between Cole’s Hill and the water, and served to enable
those who were occupying lots on North, then New Street, to make a
short cut over the hill to Leyden street, and thence to either the
boat harbor landing or across the ford to the south side of the
settlement.
The John Rickard land referred to in the laying out of Leyden street
included all the land between LeBaron’s alley on the west, Leyden
street on the south, and the footway on the east, and extended to
Middle street. It was occupied for one hundred and eighty-seven years
by a house built in 1639 by Robert Hicks, which was taken down in
1826, when the Universalist Church was erected on its site. If it
were standing today, as it stood when I was four years of age, it
would be the oldest house in New England, and invaluable as a relic
of the Pilgrims. It was reached by a path or private way leading from
Leyden street, and this way was never laid out as a public way until
1827, after the Universalist church was built. A picture of this
house may be seen in Mr. Wm. S. Russell’s Pilgrim Memorials, where in
accordance with tradition it is called the Allyne house, after Joseph
Allyne, who never owned it, but merely occupied it a short time as
a tenant. It is often the case that a passing and perhaps trifling
incident fastens on a spot or house a name, which has no rightful
claim. I remember an illustration of this, which made Hon. Isaac
L. Hedge very indignant. He was born in the house now occupied and
owned by Wm. R. Drew on Leyden street, and lived there until he was
married, the house remaining in the possession of his father until
his death in 1840, and of his mother until her death in 1849, and
of their heirs until 1854, when it was sold. For a short time after
1854, before it was sold to Mr. Drew, Zaben Olney occupied it as a
hotel. Mr. Hedge became entirely blind, and employed John O’Brien to
take his arm and walk with him about the streets. One day in walking
down Leyden street he said: “Where are we now, John?” “Right by the
old Olney house,” John replied. Alas! “how soon are we forgot.” The
names of the wharves are gone, and Jackson, Hedge, Davis, Nelson and
Carver have given way to Long, Pilgrim, Atwood, Millar and Craig, to
be christened again by succeeding owners and occupants.
So far as the bounds of Leyden street are concerned, there has been
no change in my day except the widening mentioned in a previous
chapter at its junction with Water street. The changes in houses
have been numerous. The Turner house above the old blockmaker’s
shop and Turner’s Hall, has been removed, and its site occupied by
the Electric Light Co. Nearly in front of it, a little below, near
the westerly end of the blacksmith’s shop of Southworth and Ichabod
Shaw was a public well, on which the neighborhood relied for good
drinking water. The aqueduct water delivered through wooden logs
from questionable sources, led our people to depend largely on pumps
or wells. These were scattered all over the town, either public or
private, and even to the private wells householders were permitted
free access. There were public wells at the foot of North street, and
below the bank at the foot of Middle street, and there was the town
pump at the foot of Spring hill. Besides these there were the county
well, a well between the old Lothrop house and Judge Thomas’ house
opposite the head of North street, another between John Gooding’s and
Dr. Bartlett’s houses on Main street, another in the yard of Capt.
Wm. Rogers on North street, another in the rear of Jacob Jackson’s
house on what is now Winslow street, which was known as Jacob’s well,
and there was still another near the sidewalk on Sandwich street,
opposite the Green, between the Elkanah Bartlett and Rogers houses.
The wells on North street and below Middle street were liable to
be fouled by drains, and their water was not used for drinking or
cooking. Before the introduction of South Pond water, the whalemen
and fishermen filled their water casks at a pump in the yard of John
Tribble’s paint shop on Water street. But the well in Leyden street
was the one to which I was often sent when a boy with two pails and a
hoop to get our daily supply.
There was another old house near the so-called Allyne house, which I
well remember. It stood on the bank with its front door on what is
now Carver street, nearly opposite the easterly side of the house of
Henry W. Barnes, and was reached by the way from Middle street. It
was for many years owned and occupied by Wm. Holmes, the father of
the three captains, Samuel Doten, Truman Cook and Winslow Holmes,
and after his death, by his daughter Hannah, the wife of Laban Burt.
It was taken down forty or fifty years ago. The Universalist church,
and the parsonage east of it, stand on land bought of Barnabas Hedge
in 1826, with the agreement on the part of Mr. Hedge that the bank
opposite the church, which still belongs to his heirs should never
be built on. The Universalist Society was incorporated in 1826, and
the church was dedicated December 22, in that year. The sermon on
the occasion was preached by Rev. David Pickering of Providence. On
the afternoon of the same day, Rev. James H. Bugbee was ordained
pastor, the ordaining sermon being preached by Rev. John Bisbee of
Hartford. Between the time of the organization of the church, March
10, 1822, and the ordination of Mr. Bugbee, Messina Ballou and Rev.
Mr. Morse and others, preached to the society in one of the town
halls. Mr. Bugbee was followed by Albert Case and Russell Tomlinson,
who resigned in 1867, and was followed by A. Bosserman, Alpheus
Nickerson, George L. Swift, A. H. Sweetzer and W. W. Hayward and
others remembered by my readers. The parsonage house was at one time
owned by Jeremiah Farris, and its sale by him to Roland Edwin Cotton,
unaccompanied by whittling or dickering, was somewhat characteristic
of the purchaser. Mr. Farris meeting Mr. Cotton in the street one
day was asked by him what he would sell his house for next to the
Universalist church. Mr. Farris named a price, taking care to name
one high enough to allow for a discount, and Mr. Cotton, without
taking breath, promptly said, “Too much by half, I’ll take it.”
The house next above the Universalist church, long known as the
Marcy house, reminds me of a gentleman at one time its occupant,
who for many years filled a large space in the social and official
life of Plymouth, and performed elsewhere distinguished service in
behalf of the state. Jacob H. Loud, born in Hingham, February 5,
1802, graduated at Brown University in 1822 and after studying law
with Ebenezer Gay of Hingham, was admitted to the bar at the Common
Pleas Court in Plymouth in August, 1825, and at once began practice
in our town. His first office was in the building at the corner of
Spring Hill and Summer street, which was taken down a few years ago,
from which place he moved in 1827 to No. 3 Town Square, then called
Market Square, which afterwards became the post office when Bridgham
Russell was appointed postmaster in 1832. He married May 5, 1829,
Elizabeth Loring Jones of Hingham, and occupied for a time the Marcy
house above mentioned. From there he changed his residence to the
house next below Mr. Beaman’s undertaking rooms on Middle street,
but in 1832 he bought a part of the Lothrop lot opposite the head of
North street, and built and occupied the house now owned and occupied
by Mrs. F. B. Davis. After the death of Beza Hayward, Register of
Probate of Plymouth County, which occurred June 4, 1830, he was
appointed to succeed him, and held office until 1852. In 1853, 1854
and 1855, he was chosen by the legislature state treasurer. From 1855
to 1866 he was president of the Old Colony Bank, State and National,
Director of the Old Colony Railroad from 1845 to 1850, and again
from 1869 until his death, Representative in 1862, Senator in 1863
and 1864, State Treasurer again by a vote of the people from 1865
to 1871, and actuary of the New England Trust Co. of Boston until
his retirement in 1879. In 1871 he bought the house now owned and
occupied by Father Buckley, and occupied it during the summer months
until his death, which occurred in Boston, February 2, 1880.
The next house built by James Bartlett, Jr., in 1832, has been
referred to in a previous chapter. It occupies a part of the land
given by Bridget Fuller and Samuel Fuller, the widow and son of Dr.
Samuel Fuller of the Mayflower, in 1664, to the Church of Plymouth
for the use of a minister. The easterly boundary of the land was
the middle of the alley, long known as LeBaron’s alley. The house
which up to 1832 stood on the site now occupied by the house built
by Mr. Bartlett, was built by Lazarus LeBaron, and in my boyhood was
occupied by Dr. Isaac LeBaron, the grandson of Lazarus. Land for the
alley was thrown out by Lazarus LeBaron and James Rickard, the owner
of the adjoining estate, and was laid out as a town way, September
7 and 10, 1832. At the time of the Fuller gift there was a house
standing on the lot which was once owned by Rev. John Cotton, the
pastor of the First Church, and which afterwards was displaced by the
house built by Lazarus LeBaron.
The next house immediately west of the James Bartlett house, stands
on the site of a house built by Return Waite, which when the present
house was built not many years ago, was removed to Seaside, and now
stands a tenement house on the easterly side of the road on land
belonging to the heirs of the late Barnabas Hedge.
As I have stated the land on Leyden street extending from the estate
of Wm. R. Drew to the centre of LeBaron’s alley, was given in 1664 by
Bridget Fuller, widow of Dr. Samuel Fuller of the Mayflower, and her
son Samuel, to the church in Plymouth for the use of the minister.
A parsonage was built on the easterly end of the lot, which was
finally sold to Rev. John Cotton, the pastor of the church. The house
built by Lazarus LeBaron on the site of the parsonage, which was in
turn succeeded by the house built in 1832 by James Bartlett, Jr.,
and now occupied by Wm. W. Brewster, and also the house adjoining
the Bartlett house have been referred to, leaving to be considered
of the original Fuller land only that part which is now occupied by
the house of the late Harvey W. Weston. When Rev. Chandler Robbins
was settled over the Plymouth Church in 1760, the Parish agreed to
pay him a salary of one hundred pounds, to give him the privilege of
cutting wood on the parish lot, and to build for him a parsonage. The
Weston house is the parsonage, built at that time. It was occupied by
Mr. Robbins until 1788, when he built a house on the other side of
the street, which he occupied until his death, June 30, 1799.
Rev. James Kendall, the successor of Mr. Robbins, was ordained
January 1, 1800, and occupied the parsonage until his death, which
occurred March 17, 1859, and it was sold the next year to Mr. Weston.
Of Dr. Kendall, whose pastorate extended through a period of sixty
years, I cannot forbear to speak, as his life was one of the most
important passages in the history of our town. It is difficult to
realize that more than a generation has been born, and has lived to
nearly middle age, without a knowledge of his personality and a daily
observation of his character and virtues. He was born in Sterling,
Mass., in 1769, and after graduating at Harvard in 1796, occupied the
position of tutor in Latin at Harvard until he received an invitation
to settle in Plymouth. At his ordination the sermon was preached by
Rev. Mr. French of Andover, and the other parts of the ceremony were
performed by Rev. Dr. Peter Thatcher, Rev. Dr. Tappan, Rev. Mr. Shaw
and Rev. Mr. Howland. In 1825 he received the degree of Doctor of
Divinity from Harvard, by whose government he was esteemed one of the
distinguished incumbents of the ministry. I was in my early youth
impressed by the benignant traits in his character and the purity of
his life, as it was my fortune when nine years of age to be for a few
weeks a member of his family, while my mother was passing a summer
with her father in Nova Scotia. I remember him sitting in his study
in the back west room, where if I happened to enter I was always
greeted with a kindly smile and a cheerful word; I remember him in
the front east room on a chilly day sitting by a Franklin stove, and
often in the garden, which he tended with loving and faithful care.
There was a vein of humor in his composition, which, unlike that I
have often seen repressed on the Sabbath by ministers of the olden
time, was too much the overflow of a contented and joyful spirit to
be concealed on a day to him the happiest of the week. As long as I
can remember he always carried a cane, which had descended to him
through James, his father, James, his grandfather, and Samuel, his
great-grandfather; from Thomas, son of Francis, who was born in 1649
in Woburn. This cane is now owned by his grandson, Arthur Lord of
Plymouth, and represents an ownership by seven generations of the
same family.
I remember him in the old meeting house, which was taken down in
April, 1831, officiating in black gloves with a sounding board
hanging over the pulpit, which I was in constant fear would fall on
the dear man’s head. I remember well the church itself, a large,
square building with doors on three sides, and a steeple surmounted
by a copper rooster, the like of which I have never seen since the
day when in April, 1831, while workmen pulled the steeple over, it
slipped off the spindle and took its unaided flight to the ground.
I remember the square pews with seats, which were turned up in
prayer time, and let down with a slam when the prayer was over, and
I especially remember the spokes in the pew rails which we boys
turned in their dowels and made to squeak when we thought that James
Morton, the sexton, sitting at the head of the pulpit stairs, was
either not looking or was asleep. And then there was the choir, with
Webster Seymour leading the singing, and I can see even now Simeon
Dike, father of the late Mrs. Samuel Shaw, drawing his bow across the
bass viol, which I think, with the violin and clarinet performed the
instrumental music.
Of Dr. Kendall, it may be appropriately said as was said of another:
“Pure was his walk, peaceful was his end;
We blessed his reverend length of days,
And hailed him in the public ways,
With veneration and with praise,
Our father and our friend.”
The custom of wearing black gloves in the pulpit referred to above,
which had once been universal, was abandoned before the middle of the
last century, and I do not feel sure that Dr. Kendall wore them in
the new meeting house, built in 1831.
With the estate of William Ryder Drew, some interesting incidents
are associated beyond the memory of most of my readers. It was from
his marriage in 1789 to his death in 1840, the residence of Barnabas
Hedge, whom I remember well. He was the last man in Plymouth to wear
small clothes, in winter with boots and tassels, and in summer with
buckled shoes. I remember only two gentlemen in Boston, Nathaniel
Goddard, who lived on Summer street, and a gentleman at the south
end, whose name was Wheeler, who wore small clothes as long as Mr.
Hedge. I am glad to see some indications of a return of a fashion too
handsome and becoming to have been permitted to go out. Mr. Hedge was
one of the founders of the Plymouth Bank in 1803, a Director from
that date, and President from 1826 until his death in 1840. The house
in question remained in the possession of the Hedge family until
1854, when it was sold to Zaben Olney.
One of the most interesting features of the celebration on the first
of August, 1853, of the anniversary of the departure of the Pilgrims
from Delfthaven, was the visit of the New York Light Guard with
Dodsworth’s band to Plymouth, and their participation in the parade
of the day. As the Hedge house was then unoccupied it was made their
headquarters. The celebration took place on Monday, and the arrival
of the Light Guard, Sunday afternoon, and their march through Court
and Main and Leyden streets presented a spectacle which so far as
known, caused no protest from the spirits of the Pilgrims against
such an unusual observance of the Lord’s Day. Though I was Chief
Marshal of the celebration, I have no knowledge of the ceremonies at
the headquarters, but as the commander had a chaplain on his staff,
it is to be presumed that they were interesting and appropriate.
Before the sale of the house to Mr. Drew in 1858, Mr. Olney occupied
it for a short time as a hotel, which during the winter months when
the Samoset was closed, as was the custom in its earlier years, was
well patronized.