Rev. John Forbes wrote to his wife in 1783, just previous to his death,

as follows: "Upon hearing of the peace, having all my property in

Florida, I thought of going immediately to England. I might be of use to

myself either by giving a short representation of the importance of

retaining the province under the Crown of Great Britain or in finding

early what hopes I might entertain of being in a situation of remaining

in England with my united family, when the boys might be educated under

my eye." After Mr. Forbes' death his wife, Dorothy Forbes, hoping to

recover something from his estate as well as from her father's, made a

trip to Wilmington and St. Augustine. The land which Mr. Forbes owned in

Florida, which had been given over to the Spaniards, she received

compensation for from the British Government. In Wilmington, however,

she did not succeed, for when her father went to Boston he turned over

his Cape Fear estate, which he valued at that time at L3000, to his

nephew, Thomas Clark, who had recently come over from England. After the

war commenced, the whole of Mr. Murray's property was confiscated. It

was then claimed by Thomas Clark, who presented an account for more than

the assessed value of the property for his salary for caring for it. As

he had joined the disunionists it was ultimately made over to him by act

of the Legislature. Mrs. Forbes tried to recover some of her patrimony,

but without success. She did not even see her cousin, who wrote from his

plantation that floods prevented his leaving his estate to visit

Wilmington but that if she would come to him he would be happy to see

her and did not doubt of being able to convince her that he had acted

for the best in what he did.

SIR BENJAMIN THOMPSON.

Benjamin Thompson, otherwise known as Count Rumford was one of the most

distinguished men of his age. He came on both sides of his parentage

from the original stock of the first colonists of Massachusetts Bay.

JAMES THOMPSON, one of the original settlers of Woburn, was prominent

among those who fixed their residence in that part of the town now known

as North Woburn. Little is known of his English antecedents except that

he was born in 1593, his wife's name was Elizabeth and by her he had

three sons and one daughter all probably born in England. As early as

1630 when he was thirty-seven he joined the company of about fifteen

hundred persons who under lead of Governor Winthrop landed on New

England shores during the eventful year. He was one of the first

settlers of Charlestown and belonged to sturdy yeomanry of the country.

He was among the few adventurers who early pushed their way into an

unknown region and fixed their home in the wilderness, with Henry

Baldwin and a few others, in that part of Charlestown Village now known

as North Woburn. James Thompson was twice married. Elizabeth died

November 13, 1643, and he married February 15, 1644, Susannah Blodgett,

widow of Thomas Blodgett of Cambridge. The descendants of this early

settler are now very numerous in the country.

[Illustration: BIRTHPLACE OF BENJAMIN THOMPSON, NORTH WOBURN.]

Jonathan Thompson, son of the former had a son Jonathan who had a son

Ebenezer. Captain Ebenezer Thompson and Hannah Converse were the

grandparents, Benjamin Thompson, the son of the last, and Ruth Simonds

were the father and mother of the celebrated Count Rumford. His mother

was the daughter of an officer who performed distinguished service in

the French and Indian wars, which were in progress at the time of the

birth of his eminent grandson. The parents were married in 1752, and

went to live at the house of Captain Ebenezer Thompson. Here under his

grandfather's roof, the future Count Rumford was born, March 26, 1753,

in the west end of the strong substantial farm-house. The father of the

little boy died November 7, 1754, in his twenty-sixth year, leaving his

wife and her child to the care and support of the grandparents. In

March, 1756, when the child was three years old, his widowed mother was

married to Josiah Pierce, the younger, of Woburn. Mr. Pierce took his

wife and her child to a new home, which, now removed, stood but a short

distance from the old homestead.

Ellis in his "Life of Count Rumford" says, that Benjamin Franklin and

Benjamin Thompson were the two men most distinguished for philosophical

genius of all that have been produced on the soil of this continent.

"They came into life in humble homes within twelve miles of each other,

under like straits and circumstances of frugality and substantial

thrift. They both sprang from English lineage, of an ancestry and

parentage yeoman of the soil on either continent, to be cast, as their

progenitors had been, upon their own exertions, without dependence upon

inherited means, or patronage, or even good fortune. Born as subjects of

the English monarch, they both, at different periods of their lives,

claimed their privileges as such, visiting their ancestral soil, though

under widely unlike circumstances, and their winning fame and

distinction for services to humanity. We almost forget the occasion

which parted them in the sphere of politics, because they come so close

together in the more engrossing and beneficent activity of their

genius." It is not known whether these two men ever met together, or

sought each other's acquaintance, or even recognized each other's

existence, though they were contemporaries for more than thirty years.

Benjamin Thompson in his youth attended the village grammar school.

Later he was apprenticed to Mr. John Appleton, an importer of British

goods at Salem, and later still was for a short time a clerk in a dry

goods store in Boston where he was when the "Massacre" occurred. It was

while at Salem he first displayed his fondness for experimental

philosophy, when accidentally his face was somewhat marked by a

pyrotechnical explosion. He used to steal moments to play the fiddle as

he was passionately fond of music. Lacking taste for trade he engaged in

the study of medicine with Dr. Hay of Woburn, meanwhile in company with

his friend and neighbor, Loammie Baldwin, walking to and fro from

Cambridge, in order to attend scientific lectures at Harvard College. At

length he became a teacher, first in Wilmington, then in Bradford and

then in a more permanent and lucrative position in Concord, New

Hampshire, then a part of Essex County, Massachusetts; once known as

Penacook but at this time as Rumford. His more public and noticeable

life now began. Here he married at the early age of nineteen Sarah, the

widow of Colonel Rolfe and the daughter of the Rev. Timothy Walker. When

he went to Concord as a teacher he was in the glory of his youth, and

his friend Baldwin describes him as of a fine manly make and figure,

nearly six feet in height, of handsome features, bright blue eyes, and

dark auburn hair. He had the manners and polish of a gentleman, with

fascinating ways, and an ability to make himself agreeable. His diligent

study and love of learning also added to his attractions. He was married

about November, 1772, and his wife brought to him a fortune. It was at

about this time that Benjamin Thompson met Governor Wentworth,--an event

which led to that series of difficulties and troubles which resulted in

his leaving the country. The governor was struck by the young man's

commanding appearance, and a vacancy having occurred in a majorship in

the Second Provincial Regiment of New Hampshire, Governor Wentworth at

once commissioned Thompson to fill it. Thus the young man received an

appointment over the heads of other officers of age and experience. It

was a mistake on the part of the governor and a mistake for him to

accept the office. The veteran officers over whom he had been appointed

so suddenly and unexpectedly from the plain life of a civilian were very

angry as was to be expected.

Young Thompson manifested in early manhood the tastes, aptitudes and

cravings which prompt their possessor, however humbly born, and under

whatever repression from surrounding influence, to push his way in the

world by seeking and winning the patronage of his social superiors, who

have favor and distinctions to bestow. He was regarded from his boyhood

as being above his position; he had also a noble and imposing figure,

with great personal beauty, and with those whose acquaintance he

cultivated he was most affable and winning in his manners. His marriage

enabling him to give over the necessity of school keeping, furnished him

the means for making excursions at his pleasure. Besides his

acquaintance with Governor Wentworth at Portsmouth, he had also on

visits with his wife to Boston, been introduced to Governor Gage and

several of the British officers, and had partaken of their

hospitalities. Two soldiers, who had deserted from the army in Boston,

finding their way to Rumford (Concord), had been employed by him upon

his farm. Wishing to return to their ranks and comrades, they had sought

for the intervention of their employer to secure them immunity from

punishment. Thompson addressed a few lines for this purpose to General

Gage asking at the same time that his own agency in their behalf should

not be disclosed. Besides his acquaintance with the royal governors, the

patronage he had received from one of them, the intimacy in which he was

supposed to stand with others, the return of the deserters, and his

independent spirit, as shown in speaking his mind with freedom, in a

way to check the rising spirit of rebellion, and in distrust of the

ability and success of the disunionists, caused him to be distrusted,

and unpopular by the inflammable materials around him. He therefore

became a suspected person in Rumford, where there were watching enemies,

and talebearers, as well as jealous committees, who soon brought their

functions to bear in a most searching and offensive way against all who

did not attend revolutionary assemblies. It was well known as it was

observable that Thompson took no part in these. He had occasion to fear

any indignity which an excited and reckless county mob, directed by

secret instigators might see fit to inflict upon him, whether it were by

arraying him in tar and feathers, or by riding him upon a rail to be

jeered at by his former school-pupils. If ill usage stopped short of

these extremes, the condition of escape and security was a public

recantation, unequivocally and strongly expressed, involving a

confession of some act, or word, in opposition to the will of the

disunionists, and solemn pledge of future uncompromising fidelity to

them.

There was something exceedingly humiliating and degrading to a man of

independent and self-respecting spirit, in the conditions imposed upon

him by the "Sons of Despotism" in the process of clearing himself from

the taint of "Loyalism." The Committees of "Correspondence and of

Safety" whose services stand glorified to us through their most

efficient agency in a successful struggle, delegated their authority to

every witness or agent who might be a self-constituted guardian of the

disloyal cause or a spy, or an eaves-dropper, to catch reports of

suspected persons. It was this example, followed a few years later that

led to such terrible results in the French Revolution.

Major Thompson insisted from the first, and steadfastly to the close of

his life, affirmed that he had never done anything hostile to the

revolutionary cause up to this time. He demanded first in private, and

then in public, that his enemies should confront him with any charges

they could bring against him, and he promised to meet them and defend

himself against all accusations. He resolved, however, that he would not

plead except against explicit charges, nor invite indignity by

self-humiliation. Major Thompson was summoned before a Committee of the

people of Rumford (Concord), in the summer of 1774 to answer to the

suspicion of "being unfriendly to the cause of Liberty." He positively

denied the charge and boldly challenged proof. The evidence, if any such

was offered, was not a sort to warrant any proceedings against him, and

he was discharged. This discharge, however, though nominally an

acquittal, was not effectual in relieving him from popular distrust and

in assuring for him confidence. Probably his own reluctance to avow

sympathy with the disloyal cause, and make professions in accordance

with the wishes of his enemies, left him still under a cloud. A measure

less formal and more threatening than the examination before a self

constituted tribunal, was secretly planned by the "Sons of Despotism."

This was a visit to his comfortable home, the most conspicuous

residence in the village. It was carried into effect in November, 1774.

A mob gathered at the time agreed on, around his dwelling, and after a

serenade of hisses, hootings and groans, demanded that Major Thompson

should come out before them. The feeling must have been intense and was

of a nature to feed its own flames. Had Thompson been within, he would

inevitably have met with foul handling. The suspicion that he was hiding

there would have led to the sacking of his dwelling, and the destruction

of his goods, though the daughter of their venerated minister was its

mistress, and she was the mother, not only of Thompson's infant, but of

the only child of their former distinguished townsman, Colonel Benjamin

Rolfe. Mrs. Thompson and her brother, Colonel Walker, came forth and

with their assurance that her husband was not in town, the mob

dispersed.

Having received a friendly warning that this assault was to be made upon

him, his brother-in-law and other friends advised him to quit the place,

for although his family connections, beginning with the minister, and

the squire of the town, were, the most powerful set among the

inhabitants, yet they were unable to vindicate him and protect him from

outrage, and we may infer that his apprehensions were not in vain,

notwithstanding his own consciousness of rectitude.

Mr. Thompson therefore had secretly left Rumford just before the mob

came to his home. He thought it was to be only a temporary separation

from the place, for all his friends were there, and his wife and infant

child; but he was never to see that pleasant home again, nor anyone of

those whom he left there, except that he had a brief and troubled visit

from his wife and infant, and met the latter again only after an

interval of twenty-two years. He made a hasty effort to collect some

dues which belonged strictly to himself, but he scrupulously avoided

taking with him anything that belonged to others, or even to his wife.

What of his own he left there was soon subjected to the process of

confiscation.

Thompson sought refuge in his former home at Woburn with his mother.

Here for a short time, he sought to occupy himself in quiet retirement

with his favorite pursuits of philosophical study and experiment. But

popular suspicion found means to visit its odium upon him there, and

seeking a new refuge, he found temporary shelter in Charlestown, with a

friend, nine miles from Woburn and one from Boston. In compliance with

an earnest appeal, his wife with her infant joined him at his mother's

home in Woburn, though it required of them a ride of more than fifty

miles in winter. They remained with him till the end of May, 1775, after

which he never saw his wife again. Thompson offered his services to the

patriot army but his enemies interposed their veto. Ellis says, "There

is no record, or even tradition of unwise or unfriendly expressions

dropped by Mr. Thompson which could be used against him even when he

challenged proof of his alleged disaffection to the cause of his

country. However he was young and he had an independent spirit. His

military promotion by pure favoritism, and, what he insisted was simply

an act of humanity, his seeking immunity for two returning deserters,

were enough in themselves to assure him zealous enemies."

Through all this trouble Thompson had a staunch and loyal friend.

Colonel L. Baldwin was an ardent patriot, but stood faithfully by his

old friend and fellow-student, believed in him and protected him from

violence. At last Thompson's pride was so wounded and he felt the

humiliation so keenly that in the hot impulse of youth and a naturally

proud spirit, he embraced an opportunity to leave a land which he

honestly thought to be ungrateful and cruel. It is not true as has often

been said that Benjamin Thompson lost his interest in his family and

country. Some of the most tender and most touching letters were written

by him to his mother and his family still in Concord who believed in his

integrity. Some of these letters have never been published, others after

the lapse of nearly a century appeared in the "life of Count Rumford" by

Dr. Ellis. These errors as to matters of fact may persuade us that the

early predilection of Thompson for the loyalist cause, and the opening

of opportunities, more than any settled purpose, decided the course of

this forlorn and ill-treated young husband and father, adrift on the

world, when he found himself loosed from all home ties and that there

was nothing secret or disguised in the plans he formed for seeking in a

foreign land and among strangers at the risk of homelessness and

poverty, the peace and protection which he could not find in his own

dwelling. He did not privately steal away; he remained in and about

Woburn two months after writing his last letter to his friend, Mr.

Walker, in which he so deliberately avowed his intentions. He settled

his affairs with his neighbors, collecting dues and paying debts, well

assured that his wife and child would lack none of the means of a

comfortable support. Having made all his preparations he started from

Woburn October 13, 1775, in a country vehicle, accompanied by his

step-brother, Josiah Pierce, who drove him to the shores of Narragansett

Bay where he was taken aboard of the British frigate Scarborough, in the

harbor of Newport. The vessel very soon came round to Boston and

remained till the evacuation, of which event he was undoubtedly the

bearer of the tidings to England in despatches from General Howe. From

henceforth we are to know Benjamin Thompson till the close of the war as

an ardent loyalist, and in council and in arms an opponent to the

revolutionary cause. He must have done appreciable service in the four

or five months he was in Boston, in order to have won so soon the place

of an official in the British government. Thenceforward the rustic youth

became the companion of gentlemen of wealth, and culture, of scientific

philosophers, of the nobility and of princes. The kind of influences

which he at once began to exert, and the promotion which he so soon

received in England, answers to a class of services rendered by him of a

nature not to be misconceived. They had not in England at that time much

exact information about the state of the country. Thompson thoroughly

understood the matter. He could give trustworthy information about the

topography, and about the events of the war in which he had played a

part. He was not slow in winning the confidence of Lord George Germaine,

Secretary of State for the Colonies, who was sadly deficient in his

knowledge of the American Colonies. Major Thompson was immediately

admitted to a desk in the Colonial office. He of course proffered and

showed he could impart "information." The young man became such a

favorite with Lord George that he was daily in the habit of

breakfasting, dining and supping with him at his lodgings and at his

country seat, Stoneland. Apart from the discharge of his duties as a

private secretary, he made the most and the best use of his

opportunities in acquainting himself with London and seeking

introductions alike to men in public station and to those engaged in

scientific pursuits; nothing of interest would escape his keen

observation, and no means of personal improvement or acquisition through

men or things, would fail to yield him advancement.

[Illustration: SIR BENJAMIN THOMPSON.

Born in North Woburn, March 26, 1753. In the uniform of a British

Officer. Known as Count Rumford. Died at Paris Aug. 21, 1814.]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and became one of the most

active and honored members of the Society. In 1780 he was made "Under

Secretary of State for the Northern Department." The oversight of all

the practical details for recruiting, equipping, transporting, and

victualling the British forces, and of many other incidental

arrangements was then committed to him. Major Thompson, who had always

clung to that title, though its provisional commission gave him no rank

in the regular army, was now honored with the commission in the regular

army of a Lieutenant Colonel; though now at the age of only

twenty-eight, not yet a veteran, he wished for, and meant to do, full

military duty. He needed a command. Where should he find a regiment. He

provided for himself, and resolved to secure a following from those in

his native land, who had been loyal to the government. They were known

as the "Loyal American Regiments" and for the most part, they were the

most desperate, and hated of any of the combatants, they had suffered

the loss of their homes, and endured the most cruel treatment from their

neighbors, and countrymen, and when the opportunity occurred they often

retaliated. In this partisan warfare quarter was neither given or taken.

In the early part of January, 1782, Lieutenant Colonel Thompson arrived

at Charleston, South Carolina, General Green's army at that time

invested the city. Becoming desperate in their need of supplies, a

sortie was made under Thompson's command, an attack was made by him on

the partisan forces under the command of Marion, the famous partisan

leader, near the Santee. When the brigade was first attacked it was

under the command of Colonel Horrey, and though Marion came in season to

take part in the action, he had the mortification of witnessing the

discomfiture of his band with the loss of many men and munition.[187]

[187] Memoir of the war in the Southern Department of the United States.

By Henry Lee, p. 397.

Rivington's New York Gazette, under date of Feb. 18th, 1782, says "A

detachment of the Royal Americans went on service against Greene," March

27th. A person who left the Southern Army Feb. 13th, says Lieutenant

Colonel Thompson has taken command of the British cavalry under Colonel

Leslie. "A considerable force of cavalry and infantry commanded by

Colonel Thompson sallied out from Charleston on the side opposite the

American camp and surprised and dispersed a party of militia. The

British retreated before Greene could send reinforcements."

Charleston, March 2. Lieutenant Colonel Thompson moved Sunday, Feb. 24

from Daniel's Island, with the cavalry, Cunningham's and Young's troops

of mounted militia, Yagers, and Volunteers of Ireland, with one three

pounder, and a detachment of the Thirtieth Regiment. By the spirited

exertion of his troops, and by the Colonel's mounting the infantry

occasionally on the dragoon horses, he carried his corps thirty-six

miles without halting. Having secured the American scouts to prevent

information being given he drove in Horrey's regiment. They were pursued

by Major Doyle with mounted militia. On seeing the enemy, Colonel

Thompson sounded a charge and dashed forwards. Marion's marque and men

refreshed our soldiers. Colonel Thompson marched back driving the

cattle, etc. The admirable conduct of the officer who commanded can be

equalled by the spirit with which his orders were executed. (Rivington,

April 17). In the war of posts, of desultory skirmishes, and of raids

into the farming country, to which the struggle at the South was

reduced, there was indeed little opportunity for Thompson to win

laurels. He made use of his energetic and methodical skill in doing what

he could to organize and discipline such materials as he had before him.

Towards the end of the war he was sent to New York to organize a

regiment out of the broken and scattered bands of Loyalists on Long

Island. "Recruits for the King's American Dragoons, likely and spirited

young lads who were desirous of serving their King and country, and who

prefer riding to going on foot, were offered ten guineas each, if

volunteers." Such was the advertisement. His ability in organizing this

regiment was a great achievement. He commanded at Huntington, Long

Island in 1782-3 where he caused a fort to be built. In August, 1782,

near Flushing, standards were presented to his corps, with imposing

ceremonies. Prince William came forward to the center of the regiment,

received the colors from Admiral Digby, and presented them with his own

hand to Lieutenant Colonel Thompson. On a given signal the whole

regiment gave three shouts, the music played "God save the King", the

artillery fired a royal salute and the ceremony ended.

An ox was roasted whole, to grace this occasion. He was spitted on a

hickory sapling, twelve feet long, supported on crutches, and turned by

handspikes. An attendant dipped a swab in a tub of salt and water to

baste the ox, and moderate the fire. Each soldier then sliced off for

himself a piece of juicy beef.[188]

[188] The barbecue is still in vogue in the Southern States at all large

social gatherings.

The Prince who officiated on this occasion was the King's third son,

afterwards William IV. He had sailed on board the Prince George under

Admiral Digby, to qualify himself for rank in the Royal Navy.

Returning to England Thompson, as a commissioned officer of high rank

now on half pay, obtained leave to travel on the Continent. He left

England in September, 1783, with no anticipation of the ultimate result

of what was to him in intent mainly a trial of fortune. On his arrival

at Strasburg, Prince Maximilian, who became Elector of Bavaria in 1799

and King in 1805, was attracted by the young man's appearance. On

acquaintance he soon realized that the Englishman was a man of

remarkable intelligence and later Thompson received an earnest

invitation to enter into the service of the elector. Thompson therefore

returned to England to receive the necessary permission from the king.

The king not only granted the permission but also conferred on him the

honor of Knighthood on February 23, 1784.

Returning to the continent Thompson became a fast friend of the Elector

of Bavaria. His great mind was put to useful service in a country that

needed his wisdom, philanthropy and personal help. Many honors were

conferred upon him and he was admitted to several academies. In 1788 the

Elector made him Major-General of Cavalry and Privy Councillor of State.

He was also put at the head of the War Department. His constant study in

science and philosophy, and the great problems of the day, made him an

invaluable help to the people, besides his ability as a statesman. In

Munich, where beggary had been reduced to a system and had become an

intolerable curse, he received from all classes multiplied tokens of

most grateful regard for his acts of disinterested benevolence. Both in

England and on the continent he was held in the highest esteem for the

broad and wise plans for the amelioration of the condition of the poor

which he devised and executed. He dealt with those who lived in the

filthiest order and it was his aim to show them that virtue came from

cleanliness, and he worked unceasingly that their surroundings might

first be clean.

Honors of all kinds were heaped upon this worker for mankind, but

nothing so deeply moved him or was so tenderly cherished in his memory,

as that scene, when once he was dangerously ill, the poor of Munich went

publicly in a body, in processions, to the cathedral, and offered public

prayers for his recovery. And on another occasion four years later, when

he was again dangerously ill at Naples, these people of their own

accord, set apart an hour each evening, after they had finished their

work in the Military Work-house, to pray for him. On his return, after

an absence of fifteen months, the subjects of his benevolence gave him a

most affecting reception. He in response, provided for them a festival

in the English Gardens which his own skill and taste had laid out where

before was an unhealthy marsh. Here eighteen hundred poor people of all

ages enjoyed themselves, in presence of above eighty thousand visitors.

Thompson says, "Let him imagine, I say, my feelings, upon hearing the

confused noise of the prayers of a multitude of people who were passing

by in the streets, upon being told that it was the poor of Munich, many

hundreds in number, who were going in procession to the church to put up

public prayers for me;--public prayers for me!--for a private person!--a

stranger!--a Protestant!"

"Such testimonies as these were more valuable than all his military

honors, all his scientific reputation, his diplomas of Knighthood in

England, and in Poland, and his decoration as a count of the Holy Roman

Empire and there is reason to believe that he so regarded them

himself."[189]

[189] Memorial of James Thompson of Charlestown, Mass., and Woburn,

Mass., by Leander Thompson, A. M.

He was accused of being selfish and devoid of all honor, coarse and

cruel. That he married another woman while his wife was alive and was

always a tyrant! The records of Concord give the date of his wife's

death as January 19, 1792, while the register of Paris gives the date of

his second marriage as October 24, 1805.

Sarah, the only child of Count Rumford, who was born in the Rolfe

Mansion in Concord, Oct. 18, 1774, remained in the care of her mother

until the latter's death. Her father had taken great interest in her and

never forgot his family, and he made provision also for his mother.

After his wife's death, Sarah accepted her father's invitation to rejoin

him in Europe where she shared his honors both in London and on the

Continent. She received her title as countess and her pension both of

which she enjoyed to the close of her life.

While the countess was on a return visit to her old home she gained the

first news of her father's coming marriage through his letters to her.

Father and daughter kept up a continual correspondence, and from these

letters which have since been published much of their private life is

revealed.[190] Count Rumford married the widow of General Anthony

Laurence Lavosier at Paris in 1805, but the marriage soon proved unhappy

and he retired to the Villa Auteuil, within the walls, but removed from

the noise of the great city. Count Rumford never returned to his old

home in Massachusetts though it was his wish to do so. The United States

government through its ambassador, Hon. Rufus King, then resident of

London, formally invited him to return, assured of his loyalty and great

ability, and offered him the responsible position of superintendent of

the proposed American Military Academy and of inspector-general of

artillery. Though to the mutual regret of both parties concerned, the

count was not able to accept the invitation of the American government,

he gave in order to assist in the equipment of the Military Academy,

some of his very valuable models and drawings and offered to give his

whole rich collection of military books, plans, drawings, and models,

provided they would be acceptable.

[190] See "Life of Count Rumford," by George Ellis.

The Count's last days were spent near Paris, as that climate was best

suited to him. He lived a very retired life spending most of his days in

philosophical pursuits and experiments, almost secluded from the world.

Constant friendship between Colonel Baldwin and Benjamin Thompson

remained until the end, and the latter was always grateful for the

interest and care his old friend had bestowed upon his daughter during

their separation.

Thompson published essays and papers on his work and that he could have

been great in theoretical science is shown by his experiment at Munich

in 1798, and his clear reasoning upon it which was in advance of the

prevailing scientific opinion by half a century. When he was in London

in 1800 he projected the Royal Institute of Great Britain.

Besides a great number of communications to scientific journals, he

published four volumes of essays, political, economical, experimental,

and philosophical. He was ever a great friend to Harvard College. When

the Colleges were converted into barracks, during the siege of Boston,

he was instrumental in preserving the library and philosophical

apparatus from destruction by the revolutionists who regarded the

College as a hotbed of toryism. By his will he laid the foundation of

that professorship to Harvard University, which has rendered his name

justly esteemed with his friends. He bequeathed an annuity of one

thousand dollars and the reversion of another of four hundred dollars,

also the reversion of his whole estate, which amounted to twenty-six

thousand dollars, "for the purpose of founding a new institution and

professorship, in order to teach by regular courses of academical and

public lectures accompanied with proper experiments, the utility of the

physical and mathematical science for the improvement of the useful

arts, and for the extension of the industry, prosperity, happiness and

well being of society." In 1796 he remitted five thousand dollars in

three per cent. stocks, to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,

the income to be appropriated as a premium to the author of the most

important discovery on light and heat.

This great, useful and influential life came to a close on August 21,

1814. He was just about to depart for England to which country, as long

as he lived, he retained the most devoted attachment. His death resulted

from a nervous fever at Auteuil, about four miles from Paris and he is

buried within the limits of that city. In the Monthly Magazine or

British Register (London) for September, 1814, appeared the following:

"At his seat near Paris, 60, died, August 21, that illustrious

philosopher, Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, F. R. S., Member of the

Institute, &c., an American by birth, but the friend of man, and an

honor to the whole human race."

Many testimonies were given in remembrance of Benjamin Thompson

throughout the civilized world. In Munich the king erected at his own

cost a bronze statue of Count Rumford, and it stands in the Maximillian

Strasse, the finest street of Munich, perhaps of any city of Europe. The

new and beautiful library which was erected in Woburn, Massachusetts,

has paid tribute also to this man's memory. A bronze monument of heroic

size stands boldly out upon the library lawn, and the inscription was

written by President Eliot of Harvard College. The Rumford Historical

Association was organized in 1877 with the simple desire to do justice

to Count Rumford's transcendent abilities as a great scientist and to

his marked usefulness as one of the greatest philanthropists of his age.

A portrait of Count Rumford by Page after one Kellerhofer hangs in

Memorial Hall, Cambridge.

Sarah, the Countess of Rumford, after living in Paris and London several

years, returned to her old home in Concord, where she spent her last

years. She possessed many memorials and pictures which she was fond of

exhibiting to visitors. She was eccentric but had a quick and vigorous

mind and idolized America. She was never married and her death occurred

December 2, 1852, at the age of seventy. In her will she left $15,000

and her homestead, worth $5,000, for the endowment of an institution for

widows and orphans of Concord, the homestead to be the site of the

institution, to the New Hampshire Asylum for Insane in Concord she left

$15,000, to the Concord Female Charitable Society who have under their

care a school for poor children, called the Rumford School, she left

$2,000, and the rest of her property, estimated at from $75,000 to

$100,000, to distant relatives.

COLONEL RICHARD SALTONSTALL.

The ancestors of Sir Richard Saltonstall resided for centuries in the

parish of Halifax, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, and the

earliest date at which we find this name recorded is in 1276. Thomas de

Saltonstall of the West Riding of Yorkshire is the first name of whom

any record is preserved. Sir Richard Saltonstall, born in 1521 was

knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1598. After holding several prominent

offices under the crown he became Lord Mayor of London in 1597-8. He was

the uncle of Sir Richard Saltonstall who was born in 1586 at Halifax and

was one of the patentees of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay and was

appointed First Assistant. He came over with the Winthrop fleet, and

arrived in Salem aboard of the Arabella, June 12, 1630, "bringing out

the charter with them." He returned to England, and at his death, left a

legacy to Harvard College. He dissented from the action of the

tyrannical rulers who were his associates, who inflicted punishment on

such as differed from them, but slightly in their notion of policy, and

requested that his dissent should be entered upon the records, which

stand much to his honor and credit. After his return to England he wrote

to Mr. Cotton and Mr. Wilson, the ministers in Boston "that it did not a

little grieve his spirit to hear what sad things were reported daily of

the tyranny and persecution in New England, as that they fined, whipped

and imprisoned men for their consciences." His son Richard, born in

1610, settled at Ipswich, Massachusetts, returned to England, and died

there in 1694. His son Nathaniel, born about 1639 and died in 1707,

settled at Haverhill, Mass., of which he is called the father. He

married Elizabeth, the daughter of the first minister, Rev. John Ward,

who gave the young couple the land for their home, on which was erected

the Saltonstall mansion which remained in the possession of the

Saltonstall family for several generations. In the early part of the

last century it was purchased by Major James Duncan, who erected the

present mansion which is now owned and occupied by the Haverhill

Historical Society. Nathaniel had a son Richard, who also had a son

Richard born June 24, 1703. He graduated from Harvard College in 1722

and became Colonel in 1726. In 1736 he became judge of the Superior

Court and died in 1756. His eldest son, Richard Saltonstall, the subject

of this notice, was the sixth generation from Sir Richard the First

Assistant, and the fourth of the family in succession who held the

office of Colonel. He graduated from Harvard College with high honors

and delivered the Latin Oration at Commencement.

His acceptance from Governor Shirley of the commission of Colonel, so

soon after leaving college, evinced a spirit which was not long after to

be tried in arduous service for his country. During the French war he

was Major in the army and was one of the unfortunate prisoners at the

capitulation of Fort William Henry. He escaped being massacred by the

Indians by concealing himself in the woods where he lay for many hours,

and when at last he reached Fort Edward was nearly exhausted with

fatigue and hunger. He remained in active service until the close of the

war, and later was appointed Sheriff to the County of Essex.

Colonel Saltonstall was always a steady loyalist in principle and never

for a moment wavered in his devotion to the flag which he had so bravely

fought under and which he had so often sworn to support. "The

proceedings (of the Government) were in his opinion extremely

inexpedient, but he never doubted their right to tax the Colonies."

"He was much beloved by the people of Haverhill, and its vicinity. He

resided on the beautiful family estate in Haverhill known as 'the

Saltonstall Place,' where he lived in a liberal style of hospitality,

sustaining the character of a truly upright man, and an accomplished

gentleman. It was long before he lost his popularity, but in 1774 a mob

assembled from the West Parish of Haverhill and Salem, N. H., for the

purpose of proving themselves _Sons of Liberty_ by attacking him. By a

word he could have collected a great part of the inhabitants of the

village to his defence, but he would not, though urged by some of his

friends. The rioters marched to his home and paraded before it, armed

with clubs and other offensive instruments, when he came to the door and

addressed them with great firmness and dignity. He told them he was

under the oath of allegiance to the king, that he was bound to discharge

the duties of the office he held under him, that he did not think the

people were pursuing a wise or prudent course but that he was as great a

friend to the country as any of them, and had exposed his life in its

cause, etc. He then ordered some refreshment for the _gentlemen_, who

soon began to relent, when he requested them to go to the tavern and

call for entertainment at his expense. They then huzzard to the praise

of Colonel Saltonstall, and never attempted to mob him again."

Colonel Saltonstall left Haverhill in the fall of 1774 and embarked for

England. He did not enter the British service, saying, if he could not

conscientiously engage on the side of his native country he never would

take up arms against her. If he had joined the continental army he

undoubtedly would have held an office of high command. The king granted

him a pension and he passed the remainder of his life in England, where

he died. In one of his last letters in which he expressed great

affection for the "_delightful place of his nativity_," he wrote, "I

have no remorse of conscience for my past conduct. I have had more

satisfaction in a private life here than I should have had in being next

in command to General Washington, where I must have acted in conformity

to the dictates of others, regardless of my own feelings."

In Haverhill Colonel Saltonstall was much beloved and had a great

influence from his integrity, benevolence of disposition and his

superior understanding and knowledge of the world. In England he was

hospitably received by his remote family connections, who paid him every

kind and generous attention while living, and erected a monument to his

memory in Kensington church, on which is the following inscription:

"Near this place are interred the remains of Richard Saltonstall, Esq.,

who died October, 1785, aged fifty-two. He was an _American loyalist_,

from Haverhill in Massachusetts, where he was descended from a first

family, both for the principal share it had in the early erecting as

well as in rank and authority in governing that province, and wherein he

himself sustained, with unshaken loyalty and universal applause, various

important trusts and commands under the Crown both civil and military,

from his youth till its revolt; and throughout life maintained such an

amiable private character, as engaged him the esteem and regard of many

friends. As a memorial of his merits this stone is erected."

Colonel Saltonstall was not married. He was Proscribed and Banished by

the law of 1778. His mansion home at Haverhill passed into the hands of

his brother, Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall who joined the Disunionists, at a

time when his brothers remained true to those principals of loyalty in

which they had been educated. He however did not take up arms against

the government. At his death he left three sons and four daughters, the

only family of that name in Massachusetts.

LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, youngest son of Judge Saltonstall was born in 1754

and at the commencement of the war had nearly completed his term of

service with a merchant of Boston, when Col. Saltonstall came to that

place for protection from mob violence. Being in the habit of looking

up to him for advice and direction, he embraced the same political

opinion, and becoming acquainted with the British officers he was

fascinated with their profession. After the passing of the Act of

Disunion July 4, 1776 he unlike his brothers decided to enter the

British service and fight for his government. He was in many battles,

and commanded a company in the army of Lord Cornwallis. He died at the

close of the war at New York, 1782. His brother-in-law, the Rev. Moses

Badger, who was also a loyalist, in a letter to Dr. Nathaniel

Saltonstall concerning his sickness (consumption), says, "It may be some

consolation to you and his mother to hear, that his behaviour in the

regiment endeared him to every officer, and the soldiers who had so

frequent opportunities to see his intrepidity, coolness and gallantry in

action, absolutely revered him. He was agreeable to people of all ranks.

He was exceedingly cautious in speaking, seldom uttering a word without

reflection and was never heard to speak ill of any one and reprobated

the man or woman who indulged themselves in this infirmity. He never

fell into the scandalous and fashionable vice of profaneness. In short,

I looked upon him to be as innocent a young man as any I have known

since I have been capable of making observations on mankind."[191]

[191] Mass. His. Coll. 2, series Vol. IV, pp. 167, 168.

REV. MATHER BYLES.

Josiah Byles, a saddler by trade, came from Winchester, Hants county. He

was in Boston in 1695 and joined the church October 11, 1696; seven

years later he married the pastor's daughter.

He had four children by his wife Sarah. His second wife, Elizabeth, he

married October 6, 1703; she was the widow of William Greenough and the

daughter of Increase Mather.

Mather Byles, D. D., son of Josiah and Elizabeth, was born in Boston in

1706. He graduated from Harvard University in 1725 and was ordained

first pastor of the Hollis street church in 1733. This church was built

on land given by Governor Belcher in 1733, the site is now occupied by

the Hollis street Theatre. He married, February 14, 1733, Mrs. Anna

Gale; the ceremony took place in the state room of the Province House,

Rev. Thomas Prince of the Old South officiating. By this marriage he had

six children born, all of whom died young except Elizabeth. His second

wife was Rebecca, daughter of Lieutenant Governor Hon. William Tailor;

the ceremony was performed by Rev. Joseph Sewell, D. D. By his second

wife he had four children. He was created Doctor of Divinity at Aberdeen

in 1765. He lived happily with his parish until 1776 when the connection

was dissolved and never renewed. Of the Congregational clergy he stood

alone against the revolution.

Mather Byles is one of the most interesting men of this period. He was a

scholar and a great wit. Pope, Lansdowne and Watts were among his

correspondents. In his pulpit he avoided politics and on being asked the

reason, replied: "I have thrown up four breastworks, behind which I have

entrenched myself, neither of which can be enforced. In the first place

I do not understand politics; in the second place, you all do, every man

and mother's son of you; in the third place you have politics all the

week, pray let one day in seven be devoted to religion; in the fourth

place, I am engaged in work of infinitely greater importance; give me

any subject to preach on of more consequence than the truth I bring you,

and I will preach on it the next Sabbath."

The preacher became known as the "celebrated Dr. Byles." He wrote in

poetry and prose very well, and some of his sermons are still extant.

Also several of his essays, in the New England Weekly Journal, a poem on

the death of George I; and the accession of George II, in 1727. A sort

of memorial address to Governor Belcher, on the death of his wife, and a

poem called the conflagration, and a volume of metrical matters

published in 1744.

The serious writings of Dr. Byles are singularly free from everything

suggestive of frivolous association. In his pulpit there was none of it,

while out of it, unless on solemn occasions, there was very little else.

One of that day said his wit at times was quite as clever as Jonathan

Swift or Sydney Smith.

Mather Byles and his family were staunch loyalists. News of the repeal

of the stamp act arrived in Boston May 16, 1766. The nineteenth of May

was appointed for merry-making. "At one in the morning the bell of the

Hollis street church began to ring," says a zealous writer of that day.

"The slumbers of the pastor, Dr. Byles, were disturbed of course, for he

was a tory, though a very pleasant tory, after all." In 1777 he was

denounced in town meeting, and having been by a subsequent trial

pronounced guilty of attachment to the Royal cause, was sentenced to

confinement, and to be sent to England with his family. This Byles

steadfastly refused to do and the doom of the banishment was never

enforced, and he was permitted to remain in Boston. The substances of

the charges against him were that he continued in Boston during the

siege; and that he prayed for the king and the safety of the town.

For a time he was kept a prisoner in his own house. On one occasion

while under guard he persuaded the sentinel to go on an errand for him,

promising to perform sentinel's duty himself; and to the great amusement

of all gravely marched before his own door with a musket on his

shoulder, until his keeper returned. This was after his trial; and

alluding to the circumstances that he had been kept prisoner, that his

guard had been removed and replaced again, he said, that "he had been

guarded, re-guarded, and disregarded."

[Illustration: REV. MATHER BYLES, D. D.

Born in Boston in 1706. "A man of infinite wit." Died in Boston July 5,

1788.]

Near his house, in wet weather, was a very bad slough. It happened that

two of the selectmen who had the care of the streets, passed that way

driving in a chaise, stuck fast in this hole, and were obliged to get

out in the mud to extricate their vehicle. Dr. Byles came out, and

making them a respectful bow, said: "Gentlemen, I have often

complained to you of this nuisance, without any attention being paid to

it, and I am very glad to see you 'stirring' in this matter now."

Dr. Byles' wit created many a laugh and many an enemy. In person he was

tall and commanding. His voice was strong and harmonious and his

delivery graceful. He was intimate with General Knox, who was a

bookseller before the war. When the American troops took possession of

the town after the evacuation, Knox, who had become quite corpulent,

marched in at the head of his artillery. As he passed on Byles thought

himself privileged, on old scores, exclaimed, loud enough to be heard,

"I never saw an ox fatter in my life." When confined in his own house

and quite poor and had no money to waste on follies, he caused the

little room in which he read and wrote to be painted brown, that he

might say to every visitor, "You see, I am in a brown study."

From the time of the stamp act in 1765 to the period of the revolution

the cry had been repeated in every form of phraseology, "that our

grievances should be redressed." One fine morning the multitude had

gathered on the common to see a regiment of redcoats parade there, who

had recently arrived. "Well," said the doctor, gazing at the spectacle,

"I think we can no longer complain that our grievances are not

red-dressed." "True," said one of his neighbors who were standing near,

"but you have two d's, Dr. Byles." "To be sure, sir, I have," the doctor

instantly replied, "I had them from Aberdeen in 1765."

Some visitors called one morning, and Mrs. Byles unwilling to be found

at her ironing board, and desiring to hide herself, as she would not be

so caught by those ladies, the doctor put her in a closet, and buttoned

her in. After a few remarks the ladies expressed a wish to see the

doctor's curiosities, which he proceeded to exhibit; and after

entertaining them very agreeably for some time, he told them he had kept

the greatest curiosity to the last; and proceeding to the closet,

unbuttoned the door and exhibited Mrs. Byles.

He had at one time a remarkably stupid and literal Irish girl as a

domestic. With a look and voice of terror he said to her in haste, "Go

and say to your mistress, Dr. Byles has put an end to himself." The girl

ran upstairs and with a face of horror, screamed, "Dr. Byles has put an

end to himself." The astonished wife and daughter ran into the

parlor--and there was the doctor, calmly waltzing about with a part of a

cow's tail, that he had picked up in the street, tied to his coat or

cassock behind.

On the celebrated Dark-day in 1780 a lady who lived near the doctor,

sent her young son with her compliments, to know if he could account for

the uncommon appearance. His answer was, "My dear, you will give my

compliments to your mamma, and tell her that I am as much in the _dark_

as she is." He paid his addresses unsuccessfully to a lady who

afterwards married a gentleman of the name of Quincy; the doctor on

meeting her said: "So madam, it appears that you prefer a Quincy to

Byles." "Yes, for if there had been anything worse than _biles_ God

would have afflicted Job with them."

Mather Byles had two daughters by his second wife, Mary born in 1750 and

Katherine born in 1753. They were famous for their hospitality and their

stout, unflinching loyalty to the throne, to the last hours of their

existence. This thread of life was spun out more than half a century

after the Royal government had ceased in these States; yet they retained

their love of, and strict adherence to monarch and monarchies, and

refused to acknowledge that the Revolution had transferred their

allegiance to new rulers. One of these ladies of a by-gone age, wrote to

William the Fourth, on his accession to the throne. They had known the

"sailor-king" during the Revolution and now assured him that the family

of Doctor Byles always had been, and would continue to be, loyal to the

rightful sovereign of England.

Dr. Byles continued to live in Boston after the Revolution, the last

twelve years of his life being spent in retirement. He died of paralysis

July 5th, 1788 at the age of 82. As Dr. Byles refused to be driven out

and made a refugee, or absentee, he therefore saved his property from

confiscation, and his two daughters, maiden ladies, lived and died in

the old family house at the corner of Tremont and Nassau street, now

Common street. They were repeatedly offered a great price for their

dwelling, but would not sell it, nor would they permit improvements or

alterations. In the course of improvements in Boston a part of the

building had to be removed in widening the street. This had a fatal

influence upon the elder sister; she mourned over the sacrilege, and, it

is thought, died its victim. "That," said the survivor, "is one of the

consequences of living in a Republic. Had we been living under a king,

he would have cared nothing about our little property, and we could have

enjoyed it in our own way as long as we lived. But," continued she,

"there is one comfort, that not a creature in the States will be any

better for what we shall leave behind us." She was true to her promise,

for the Byles estate passed to relatives in Halifax at their decease.

One of them died in 1835, the other in 1837. They worshipped in Trinity

church under which their bodies were buried, and on Sundays wore dresses

almost as old as themselves. Among their furniture, was a pair of

bellows two centuries old, a table on which Franklin drank tea on his

last visit to Boston, a chair which more than a hundred years before the

Government of England had sent as a present to their grandfather,

Lieutenant-Governor Tailer. They showed to visitors commissions to their

grandfather, signed by Queen Anne, and three of the Georges. They talked

of their walks arm-in-arm, on Boston Common, with General Howe, and Lord

Percy, while the British Army occupied Boston. They told of his

Lordship's ordering his band to play under their window for their

gratification. They took pleasure in exhibiting the many heirlooms which

were in the possession of the family and enjoyed hearing a recitation of

the bright stories of the day. The works of Watts were sent to Byles by

the author from time to time and among the treasures highly prized by

the family was a presentation copy, in quarto from Pope, of his

translation of the Odyssey. At the sale of the library of Dr. Byles a

large folio Bible in French, was purchased by a private individual. This

Bible had been presented to the French-Protestant church in Boston, by

Queen Anne, and at the time when it came into the hands of Dr. Byles was

the last relic of that church, whose visible temple had been erected in

School Street about 1716.[192]

[192] For further information about these French Protestants see the

"Memoir" by Dr. Holmes, or to Vol. XXII. p. 62. of Massachusetts

Historical Collections.

The bible is now preserved in the library of the Divinity School at

Cambridge and was presented in 1831 by the widow of the late Samuel Cobb

of Boston, who had bought it at the sale of Mather Byle's library.

MATHER BYLES, JR., D. D., a son of Rev. Mather Byles by his second wife,

was born in 1734, and married Rebecca, daughter of Rev. N. Walter of

Roxbury in 1761. He graduated in 1751 at Harvard University. In 1757 at

the age of twenty-three he was ordained at New London; his father

preached the sermon. Eleven years after, his ministry came to an abrupt

termination. Without previous intimation, he called a meeting of his

church and requested dismission, that he might accept an invitation to

become Rector of the North Episcopal, or Christ Church, Salem street,

Boston. His change to Episcopacy was soon a matter of discussion all

over New England. Among the reasons he gave in the course of the

discussion that ensued, were, that "another minister would do much

better for them than he had done or could do, for his health was infirm,

and the position of the church very bleak, the hill wearisome, he was

not a country minister, and his home and friends were all in Boston."

The debate was long and warm, and produced total alienation. April 12,

1768, the record is "The Rev. Byles dismissed _himself_ from the church

and congregation." Before the close of 1768, he was inducted into the

desired rectorship; and of Christ Church, was the third in succession.

He continued to discharge his ministerial duties until 1775, when the

force of events compelled him to abandon his flock. He was a staunch

loyalist, and resigned the rectorship of Christ Church on Easter

Tuesday, 1775, meaning to go to Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, but

political tumults there, making that impossible, he remained in Boston,

and performed the duty of chaplain to some of the regiments, until the

evacuation in 1776, when he left Boston. Accompanied by his family of

four persons, he went to Halifax. In 1778 he was proscribed and

banished. He settled at St. John, New Brunswick, after the war, and was

Rector of the city, and Chaplain of the Province. He died at St. John in

1814.

His daughter Rebecca, born in 1762, married W. J. Almon, M. D., Surgeon

to the Ordnance and Artillery, and died at Halifax in 1853.

MATHER BYLES (3) born in 1764, went to the British West Indies, was

Commissary General at Grenada. He married June, 1799, Mary, eldest

daughter of Chief Justice Bridgewater of Grenada. The writer was at St.

George, Grenada, in 1907, and saw there in the Episcopal Church a

marble tablet erected to the memory of Mather Byles of Boston, by his

Brother Belcher. He died Dec. 17, 1802.

ELIZABETH, born in 1767, married William Scoville, Esq., of St. John,

and died in 1808.

ANNA, born at Boston, married General Thomas DesBrisay, Lieut. General

in the Army, Commandant at Halifax in 1799.

BELCHER was born in 1780 at Halifax, and died in England in 1815.

MATHER BROWN, was a grandson of Rev. Mather Byles (1). His mother was

Elizabeth, born in 1737, who married in 1760 Gawler Brown and died in

1763.

Mather Brown went to Europe in 1780, with a letter of introduction from

his grandfather to Harrison Gray, Esq., London, a firm friend of the

family. Mr. Copley had likewise been intimate with Dr. Byles before he

left Boston. He also gave him a letter addressed by the old patriarch

"To Mr. Copley in the Solar system." In a letter dated Paris 23, 1781,

he writes: "Dr. Franklin has given me a pass, and recommendatory letter

to the famous Mr. West. He treats me with the utmost politeness; has

given me an invitation to his home. I delivered him my grandfather's

message, he expressed himself with the greatest esteem and affection for

him, and has since introduced me at Versailles, as being grandson to one

of his most particular friends in America."

In his first letter from London, 1781, he writes: "In consequence of the

recommendation of Dr. Franklin, who gave me letters to his fellow

townsman, the famous Mr. West of Philadelphia, I practice gratis with

this gentleman, who affords me every encouragement, as well as Mr.

Copley, who is particularly kind to me, welcomed me to his home, and

lent me his pictures, etc. At my arrival Mr. Treasurer Gray carried me

and introduced me to Lord George Germaine." In a letter in 1783 he

wrote: "I have exhibited four pictures in the exhibition; the king and

queen were there yesterday." In 1784: "I have painted several Americans.

Yesterday I had two pictures shown his royal highness, the Prince of

Wales. They were carried to the palace by his page. He criticised them,

and thought them strong likenesses. I believe I never told you that the

king knew a picture of mine in the last exhibition, of the keeper of

Windsor Castle, and took particular notice of Mr. Gray's picture; asked

him who it was, and who did it, and what book he had in his hand. Mr.

West told him it was the treasurer of Boston painted by his pupil, a

young man, Mr. Brown of America. The king asked him what part. He told

him Massachusetts." In 1785 he writes: "Among other great people I have

painted, Sir William Pepperell and family, and Hon. John Adams,

ambassador to His Britannic Majesty. On the 20th of June, I had the

honor to be introduced to the Duke of Northumberland at his palace; his

Grace received me with the utmost politeness."

Mather Brown became afterwards artist to the king, a worthy successor to

Copley. And thus two Boston-born boys filled this honorable position.

THE HALLOWELL FAMILY OF BOSTON.

Robert Hallowell arrived in Boston from London, in 1764 and entered upon

his duties as Comptroller of the Customs. He was Collector of the

Customs at Portsmouth, New Hampshire before the age of twenty-five. In

1765, Sabine says, "A mob surrounded his elegant house in Hanover

Street, tore down his fences, broke his windows, and forcing the doors

at last destroyed furniture, stole money, scattered books and papers,

and drank of the wines in the cellar to drunkenness."

In 1768 Hallowell ordered Hancock's vessel, the _Liberty_, seized for

smuggling wine, to be removed from the wharf to a place covered by the

guns of the _Romney_ frigate; and in the affray which occurred, received

wounds and bruises that at the time seemed fatal.

He removed his office to Plymouth, June 1, 1774, when the port of Boston

was closed. In 1775, he was an Addresser of Gage; and the year following

with his family of five persons, he accompanied the British Army to

Halifax. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. He went to England and

resided at Bristol. Hallowell came to the United States in 1788 and in

1790--as the executor of his own father and of his wife's father. In

1792 he removed to Boston with his family, and lived in the homestead on

Batterymarch Street, which because of his mother's life interest, had

not been confiscated. He was kindly received and became intimate with

some distinguished citizens.

In 1816, when failing in health, he went to Gardiner, Maine to reside

with his son, and died there April, 1818, in his seventy-ninth year. His

wife was Hannah, daughter of Doctor Sylvester Gardiner. His two

daughters, Hannah and Anne, died unmarried. His son, the Hon. Robert

Hallowell, became a gentleman of great wealth and a highly respected

citizen. Two of Mr. Hallowell's sisters died in England; Sarah, wife of

Samuel Vaughan, in 1809; and Anne, widow of General Gould, in 1812.

The towns of Hallowell and Gardiner on the Kennebec River are named

after their families.

BENJAMIN HALLOWELL of Boston, brother of Robert Hallowell, was

Commissioner of the Customs. In early life he commanded a small armed

vessel, and during the war ending in the conquest of Canada, commanded

the province twenty-gun ship, "King George," rendering essential service

notably at the retaking of Newfoundland.

Captain Hallowell's acceptance of the office of Mandamus Councillor made

him a special object of public detestation.

On September 2, 1774, while the mob were assembled on Cambridge Common

to receive the resignations of Danforth, Lee, and Oliver as Mandamus

Councillors, Hallowell passed on his way to Roxbury. About one hundred

and sixty horsemen pursued him at full gallop. Some of the leaders

however, prudently dissuaded them from proceeding and they returned and

dismounted, except for one man who followed Hallowell to Roxbury and

caused him much annoyance. Through the action of the mob he was obliged

to seek protection in Boston and leave his mansion which was built in

1738. It was used afterwards by the disunion forces as a hospital for

the camp at Roxbury and his pleasure grounds were converted into a place

of burial for the soldiers who died there.

In March, 1776, Captain Hallowell accompanied the British army to

Halifax with his family of six persons. In July, 1776, he sailed for

England in the ship Aston Hall. While at Halifax he wrote: "If I can be

of the least service to either army or navy I will stay in America until

the Rebellion is subdued."

The British Government granted him lands in Manchester, and two other

towns in Nova Scotia, and a township in Upper Canada, which bears his

name. He was a large proprietor of lands on the Kennebec, Maine, prior

to the Revolution, but in 1778, he was proscribed and banished and

included in the Conspiracy Act a year later, and his entire estate

confiscated. His mansion house in Roxbury was seized and sold by the

State, but as the fee was in Mrs. Hallowell, her heirs sued to recover

of the person who held under the deed of the Commission of Confiscation

and obtained judgement in 1803 in the United States Circuit Court, by

which she recovered the property.

In 1784, when Mrs. Adams, the wife of the first minister from the United

States was in England, she relates that both Mr. Hallowell and his wife

treated her with respect and kindness. They also urged her to take

lodgings with them, but this she declined. She records, too, that they

lived in handsome style but not as splendidly as when in Boston. She

accepted an invitation to "an unceremonious family dinner" as Mrs.

Hallowell called it and met the Rev. Dr. Walter, Rector of Trinity

Church, and two other gentlemen who belonged to Massachusetts.

On visiting Boston in 1796, Captain Hallowell was accompanied by his

daughter, Mrs. Emsley, whose husband had just been appointed Chief

Justice of Upper Canada. During his stay the odium which attached to his

official relations to the Crown seemed to have been forgotten, since he

was received by his former associates with the greatest kindness and

hospitality. He died at York (Toronto) Upper Canada, in 1799, aged

seventy-five, and was the last survivor of the Board of Commissioners.

Captain Hallowell had two sons, both of whom changed their names. WARD

NICHOLAS HALLOWELL'S name was changed to Boylston. He was born in Boston

in 1749. Sabine says: "I have before me the original license bearing the

signature of George III by which he was authorized to change his name;"

it recites--"That Nicholas Boylston, his uncle by his mother's side has

conceived a very great affection for him, the petitioner, and has

promised to leave him at his death, certain estates which are very

considerable, etc." In early life he made a tour of Europe, visiting

Italy, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and along the coast of Barbary;

and arrived in England in 1775 through France, and Flanders. He dined

at Governor Hutchinson's, London, with some fellow Loyalists, July 29,

1775, and entertained the company with an account of his travels, and,

at subsequent periods, exhibited the curiosities which he brought from

the Holy Land, Egypt, and other countries to the unhappy exiles from his

native state.

In the Autumn of the next year, he was in lodgings at Shepton Mallet. He

became a member of the Loyalist Association, formed in London in 1799.

In 1800 he returned to Boston and laid claim to his father's estate that

had been confiscated and sold, as being the property of his mother in

her own right. Having assumed her name of Boylston, he obtained the

estate by due process of law, as previously stated. In 1810 he presented

Harvard College with a valuable collection of medical and anatomical

works and engravings. He took his mother's name of Boylston, and thus

claimed the family estate. He died at his seat in Roxbury, January 7,

1828.

He was a gentleman of education and took an active interest in the

Roxbury schools. His liberality is commemorated by a school, and a

street named after him, Boylston street being one of the principal

streets in Boston.

SIR BENJAMIN HALLOWELL (Carew), another son of Captain Hallowell, who,

succeeding to the estates of the Carews of Beddington, assumed the name

and arms of that family. He was one of the eight Boston boys who

subsequently attained high rank in the British service. Admiral Sir

Isaac Coffin, Sir Benjamin Hallowell (Carew), John Singleton Copley, the

younger, who became Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Chancellor of England, General

Sir John Coffin, Hugh Mackay Gordon, Sir David Ochterlony, Sir Roger

Hale Sheaff, Sir Aston Coffin.

Entering the royal navy during the American war he was at the time of

his death in 1834, an admiral of the Blue in the British Navy, G. C. B.,

K. St. F. M. His commission as Lieutenant, bears date August, 1781; as

Captain, in 1793; as Rear-Admiral, in 1811; as Vice-Admiral, in 1819. He

was made a Knight Commander of the Bath in 1819, and was promoted to the

rank of Grand Cross in 1831.

His employments at sea were various and arduous. He was with Rodney in

the memorable battle with De Grasse; also at the siege of Bastia; and in

command of a ship-of-the-line under Hotham, in the encounter with the

French off the Hieres Islands. He served as a volunteer on board the

_Victory_, in the battle of Cape St. Vincent. In the battle, Admiral

Jarvis took his official post on the quarter deck of the Victory.

Calder, the captain of the fleet kept bringing reports of the increasing

numbers, observed till he reached twenty-seven, and said something of

the disparity. Enough of that, said Jarvis, the die is cast and if there

are fifty sail, I will go through them. Hallowell could not contain

himself. He slapped the great admiral on the back, crying "That's right,

Sir John, and by God, we'll give them a damned good licking." He was in

command of the _Swiftsure_ of seventy-four guns, and contributed

essentially to Nelson's victory in the battle of the Nile. From a part

of the mainmast of L'Orient, which was picked up by the _Swiftsure_,

Hallowell directed his carpenter to make a coffin, which was sent to

Nelson with the following letter:

"Sir, I have taken the liberty of presenting you a coffin made from

the mainmast of L'Orient, that when you have finished your military

career in this world, you may be buried in one of your trophies. But

that that period may be far distant is the earnest wish of your

sincere friend,

BENJAMIN HALLOWELL."

Southey, in his "Life of Nelson," remarks: "An offering so strange and

yet so suited to the occasion, was received in the spirit in which it

was sent. And, as if he felt it good for him, now that he was at the

summit of his wishes, to have death before his eyes, he ordered the

coffin to be placed upright in his cabin. An old favorite servant

entreated him so earnestly to let it be removed, that at length he

consented to have the coffin carried below; but he gave strict orders

that it should be safely stowed, and reserved for the purpose for which

its brave and worthy donor had designed it."

In 1799, Sir Benjamin was engaged in the attacks on the castles of St.

Elmo and Capua, and was honored with the Neapolitan Order of St.

Ferdinand and Merit. Two years later he fell in with the French

squadron, and surrendered his ship--the Swiftsure--after a sharp

contest. During the peace of Amiens, he was stationed on the coast of

Africa. He was with Hood in the reduction of St. Lucia and Tobago; with

Nelson in the West Indies; in command of the convoy of the second

expedition to Egypt; with Martin, off the mouth of the Rhone, where he

assisted in driving on shore several French ships-of-war; and in the

Mediterranean. His last duty seems to have been performed on the Irish

station. He died at Beddington Park, in 1834, at the age of

seventy-three. His wife was a daughter of Commissioner Inglefield, of

Gibraltar Dock-yard. His son and heir, Charles Hallowell Carew who at

the time of his decease, had attained the rank of Captain in the Royal

Navy, and who married Mary, the daughter of Sir Murray Maxwell, C. B.,

died at the Park, in 1848. In 1851 his fifth son, Robert Hallowell

Carew, late captain in the 36th Regiment, married Ann Roycroft, widow of

Walter Tyson Smythes.

LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO BENJAMIN HALLOWELL IN SUFFOLK

COUNTY, AND TO WHOM SOLD.

To Samuel Gardner Jarvis, July 24, 1780: Lib. 131, fol. 230 Farm, 7

1-2 A., and dwelling-house in Roxbury, Jamaica Plain N.W.; road by

widow Parker's N.E.; Joseph Williams S.E.; heirs of Capt. Newell,

deceased, S.W.

To John Coffin Jones, Mar. 15, 1782; Lib. 134, fol. 60; Land and

brick dwelling-house in Boston, Hanover St. N.; heirs of Alexander

Chamberlain, deceased, and heirs of Miles Whitworth, deceased, W.;

land in occupation of Samuel Sumner S. and W.; said Sumner and

Joseph Scott, an absentee, S.; said Scott and heirs of Benjamin

Andrews, deceased, E.

To John Coffin Jones, Mar. 15, 1782; Lib. 134, fol. 62; Land and

dwelling-house in Boston, land purchased by said Jones N.; Joseph

Scott E.; S. and E.; said Scott and Sampson Mason S. and E.; Masons

Court S.; heirs of Miles Whitworth, deceased, W.

[Illustration: THE OLD VASSALL HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE.

Occupied during the siege of Boston by Dr. Benjamin Church,

Surgeon-General, who was arrested and confined here until his trial.]

THE VASSALLS.

John Vassall, the first member of this illustrious family of which

anything is definitely known, was an alderman of London, and in 1588

fitted out and commanded two ships of war to oppose the Spanish Armada.

He was descended from an ancient French family traced back to about the

eleventh century of the house of Du Vassall, Barons de guerdon, in

Querci, Perigord.

John Vassall had two sons, Samuel and William. Samuel was one of the

original patentees of lands in Massachusetts in 1628. His monument in

King's Chapel, Boston, erected by Florentinus Vassall, his great

grandson, in 1766, sets forth that he was "a steady and undaunted

asserter of the liberties of England in 1628, he was the first who

boldly refused to submit to the tax of tonnage and poundage, an

unconstitutional claim of the crown arbitrarily imposed for which to the

ruin of his family, his goods were seized and his person imprisoned by

the star chamber court, the Parliament in July, 1641, voted him

L10,445:12:2 for his damages, and resolved that he should be further

considered for his personal sufferings."

His name headed the subscription list to raise money against the rebels

in Ireland, and his whole life was indicative of the energy and

liberality which characterized many of his descendants.

His son, WILLIAM VASSALL, born about 1590, was the first of his name who

came to America. He was an assistant in the Massachusetts Bay Company

and one of the original patentees of New England. In June, 1635, he

embarked with his wife and six children on board the Blessing, for New

England. He undoubtedly settled at first in Roxbury, for in the church

record of that town is the following entry: "Mrs. Anna Vassaile, the

wife of Mr. William Vassaile. Her husband brought five children to this

land, Judith, Frances, John, Margaret, Mary." Also one other, Anne, who

afterwards married Nicolas Ware.

William Vassall removed later to Scituate, where he proved himself to be

an ever staunch Episcopalian. The Puritans had strong suspicion of him

always as "inclining to the Bishops." While he lived in Scituate he was

regarded as a highly respectable citizen and of "a busy and factious

spirit." He was proprietor of a large estate, which bore the name of

Newland. In 1646 he sailed to England for the redress of wrongs in the

government and never returned, but in 1648 removed to Barbados and

resided in the parish of St. Michael, where he died in 1655, aged 65

years. He bequeathed to his son John one-third of his real estate and

the remainder to his five daughters. His Scituate estate consisted of

about 120 acres, with house, barns, and the privilege of "making an

oyster bed in North River," before his house. The estate was conveyed by

Joshua Hubbard to John Cushen and Mathyas Briggs for L120.

His daughter Judith married Resolved White, the eldest brother of

Peregrine White, at Scituate, 1640. Frances married James Adams at

Marshfield 1646. Ann married Nicholas Ware of Virginia. Margaret married

Joshua Hubbard of Scituate. Mary was unmarried and alive at Barbados in

1655.

JOHN VASSALL, only son of William Vassall, born about 1625. In 1643 his

name is on the militia roll of Scituate, and later bore the rank of

captain. In 1652 he sold his house in Boston for L59. In 1661 he sold

his Scituate estates and removed, it is supposed, to Cape Fear, N. C,

and later to the West Indies.

JOHN VASSALL, the only son of Samuel, whose monument is in King's

Chapel, married Ann, the daughter of John Lewis, an English resident of

Geno. He went to Jamaica shortly after it was taken in 1655, and laid

the foundation of the great estate which his posterity enjoyed until the

emancipation in 1834. He had two sons, William and Leonard, from whom

descended all of the name of which there is any subsequent record.

LEONARD VASSALL, son of said William, was born in Jamaica, 1678, and was

twice married. His first wife was Ruth Gale, of Jamaica by whom he had

seventeen children. She died in Boston in 1733. His second wife was

widow Phebe Goss, by whom he had one daughter. He removed to Boston

previous to 1723. He was early connected with Christ Church. In 1730 he

was instrumental in founding Trinity church. The original building was

built on land which he had purchased of William Speakman, baker, 1728,

for L450. The lot covered by the church was bounded by Seven-starr Lane

(Summer street), 86 feet and 169 feet on Bishop's Lane (Hawley street),

and is nearly opposite the estate which he purchased in 1727 of Simeon

Stoddard, and where he resided until his death. He had large and

valuable estates in Braintree and Jamaica.

John and William Vassall, two of Major Leonard's sons, were important

men in Boston, and added much to the prosperity of the town.

JOHN VASSALL, the elder brother of William, was born in the West Indies

Sept. 7, 1713, and graduated from Harvard college in 1732. In 1734 he

married Elizabeth, the daughter of Lieut. Gov. Spencer Phips by whom he

had four children, and later he married Lucy, the daughter of Jonathan

Barren of Chelmsford by whom he had one child. He resided in Cambridge

most of his life and died there November 27, 1747. December 30, 1741,

John Vassall conveyed to his brother Henry (a planter who had married

Penelope the daughter of Isaac Royal of Antigua), in consideration of

L9050 over seven acres of land in Cambridge, with dwelling house, barn

and outhouses. During the Revolution, no doubt, this house was the

headquarters of the Surgeon-General and perhaps a hospital. Dr. Benjamin

Church, after he was detected in correspondence with the enemy, was

arrested here and confined to his quarters until trial, and left a

record of his occupation of the house by his name, cut with a penknife

on one of the doors of his chamber, which is still legible though since

covered with several coats of paint.

After the death of John Vassall, his son, who was also known by the

name of John, erected the house in Cambridge, which has since become

famous through Washington's connection with it, as during the Revolution

it was used as his headquarters, and afterwards it was the home of Prof.

Henry W. Longfellow.

MAJOR JOHN VASSALL, the grandson of Leonard Vassall, was born in

Cambridge, June 12, 1738, and graduated from Harvard College in 1757. He

erected a beautiful edifice on the estate inherited from his father and

occupied it until driven from it by the rage of the mob. The estate was

confiscated in 1774 and he removed to Boston for protection, and in that

city continued to dwell upon the estate adjoining that of his uncle,

William Vassall, on Pemberton Hill, until 1776.

At the commencement of the Revolution he was obliged to flee with his

family to England. He had large possessions in Cambridge, Boston and

Dorchester,[193] all of which were confiscated and himself exiled, soon

after he departed from home. He joined the British army in Halifax, and

from there sailed to England. He died there suddenly, October 2, 1796.

An obituary published in the "Gentleman's Magazine" said of him, "he had

a very considerable property in America where he lived in princely

style." Sometime after the disturbances took place, having taken a very

active part and spared no expense to support the royal cause, he left

his possessions there to the ravagers, and having fortunately very large

estates in Jamaica, he came with his family to England. He carried his

loyalty so far as not to use the family motto, "Soepe pro rege, semper

pro republica."

[193] See p. 184 concerning his mansion in Dorchester.

In 1774 he had been addresser of Hutchinson and for this great offence

to the mobs, he was driven from his home, his property was confiscated

and he was exiled. During his residence in England, he seems to have

lived near Bristol and died at Clifton. A part of the Jamaica grant was

still in the family, and his several children inherited a competence.

His wife Elizabeth, sister of Lieut.-Gov. Thomas Oliver, died at

Clifton, in 1807. His children were John, who died at Lyndhurst, in the

year 1800; Thomas Oliver, who died in England in 1807; Elizabeth; Robert

Oliver, who became a member of the Council of Jamaica, and died at

Abington Hall, in that island in 1827; a second Elizabeth, who married a

Mr. Lemaistre and died at Cheltenham, in 1856; Leonard and Mary, who

alone was born in England, who married Mr. Archer, and who with her only

child, deceased, at Clifton, in 1806.

SPENCER THOMAS VASSALL, son of the aforesaid John Vassall, born at

Cambridge, Mass., 1764. Entered the British Army as Ensign at the age of

twelve years. He rose to the command of the 38th regiment, and was

regarded as one of the bravest officers in the service. He was mortally

wounded at the storming of Monte Video, in 1807. His remains were taken

to England and buried in St. Paul's church, Bristol, where there is a

monument to his memory. His son, Spencer Lambert Hunter, who died in

1846, was a Knight and a captain in the Royal Navy. His other son,

Rawdon John Popham, was a colonel in the Royal Artillery. His youngest

daughter Catherine married Thomas L. Marchant Saumerez, son of the

admiral.

WILLIAM VASSALL, brother of Major John Vassall, was born in Jamaica,

November 23, 1715, and graduated at Harvard College in 1733. In 1774 he

was appointed Mandamus Councillor, but was not sworn. He was also

sheriff of Middlesex County. He owned considerable property, and was the

possessor of a fine estate near Bristol, R. I. He was prominent among

the Loyalists of Boston, and was singled out early as an enemy to the

Revolutionary cause. He was proscribed and banished and obliged to flee

with his family to England. Mr. Vassall was for many years connected

with King's Chapel, Boston, and in 1785 protested by proxy against the

change in the Liturgy and the unauthorized ordination of James Freeman.

The confiscation of his estate gave rise to a singular suit. As the

Federal Constitution was adopted, a State could be sued; and, at Mr.

Vassall's instance, proceedings against Massachusetts were commenced in

the court of the United States; and Hancock, who was governor, was

summoned as defendant in the case; he however declined to appear, and

soon after the eleventh amendment to the Constitution put an end to the

right of Loyalists to test the validity of the Confiscation Acts of the

Revolution. Mr. Vassall died at Battersea Rise, England, in 1800, aged

eighty-five. He was upright, generous, and loving. Church and society

lost in him an eager, zealous advocate, an upright Christian, of an

honorable and unblemished reputation. His first wife, Ann Davis, bore

him Sarah, four named William, two named Fanny, Francis, Lucretia, Henry

and Catherine. His second wife, Margaret Hubbard, was the mother of

Margaret, Ann, Charlotte, Leonard and Nathaniel. Each wife had twins.

Nathaniel, the youngest son, a captain in the Royal Navy, died in London

in 1832.

WILLIAM VASSALL, son of the preceding William Vassall, was born in

Boston in 1753, and graduated at Harvard College in 1771. He was a

Loyalist and went to England. He inherited the bulk of his father's

property in the West Indies, which descended to his nephew, Rev. William

Vassall, rector of Hardington, England, "but so burdened and

deteriorated in consequence of emancipation of the slaves that it was

not worth anything," and that gentleman declined to administer upon it.

He died at the Weston House, near Totness, December 2, 1843. Ann, his

widow, died at the same place October 1846, aged seventy-five years.

FLORENTINUS VASSALL was the son of William Vassall and a

great-grandson of Samuel, to whose memory he erected the beautiful

marble monument in King's Chapel, when he was in Boston in 1766. He was

here again in 1775 and in that year went to England. He was born in

Jamaica, and lived there the greater part of his life. He died in London

in 1778.

[Illustration: COLONEL JOHN VASSELL'S MANSION, CAMBRIDGE.

Washington's headquarters during the siege of Boston afterwards known as

the Craigle and Longfellow House.]

Of the immense domain fifteen miles wide on both sides of the Kennebec

River, extending from the vicinity of Merry Meeting Bay to the

southerly line of the town of Norridgwock, he was the owner of one

twenty-fourth part. In his will, executed in 1776, he gave to his son

Richard and to Richard's daughter, Elizabeth, life estate in these

lands, and then devised them in entail to his male children. The bequest

proved of little value to either. After the lapse of years the rights of

Elizabeth and her son Henry were transferred separately to parties in

Boston, to test the title which was claimed by squatters. Three of them

were sued in the name of the son. The cases were carried up to the

United States Supreme Court, where it was decided that during his

mother's life, he could not maintain an action. After her decease, suit

against one settler was renewed, but on intimation by the court that

fifty years' possession was sufficient to presume a grant, or title

without consideration, another point, namely, whether the right of the

plaintiff to recover was barred by the statute of limitation. The

defendant paid a small sum for the land he occupied, and each party his

own costs. Thus in 1851 terminated litigation, which for a long time was

the subject of great interest on the Kennebec, and elsewhere in Maine.

This granddaughter Elizabeth was a remarkable woman. Those who knew her

speak of her as brilliant and witty, as possessed of queenly grace of

manner, as well informed, of wonderful tact, and of excellent sense. Her

first husband was Sir Godfrey Webster, Bart. By this marriage she was

the mother of Sir Godfrey Vassall Webster, Bart., who died in 1836, of

Lieut-Col. Sir Henry Vassall Webster, K. T. S., of the British Army, who

died in London in 1847, aged 54, and of Harriet, who married Admiral Sir

Fleetwood B. Reynolds C. B. K. C. H., who died at Florence in 1849,

leaving an only child, the wife of the son and heir of the Earl of

Oxford. Another son, Charles Richard Fox, whose father was Lord Holland,

married Mary Fitzclarence, second daughter of King William IV., and who,

in 1845 was a colonel in the army, and aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria.

In 1797 Lady Webster married Lord Holland, who took by sign-manual the

surname of Vassal which, however, was not assumed by his children. As

Lady Holland, she was the mother of three children, who died young, of

Henry Holland, who became at the death of his father, Lord Holland, of

Mary Elizabeth, wife of Lord Lilford, and of Georgianna Anne who died in

1819.

The friendly feelings of Bonaparte towards Lady Holland, especially

after the peace of Amiens, is well known, and that in return "for the

many acts of kindness, which she had bestowed upon him" he left her a

gold snuff box which had been presented to him by Pope Pius VI.,

containing a card with these words: "L'Empereur to Lady Holland,

temoigne de satisfaction et d'estime." She died at London, in 1845, aged

75. Among her bequests were the income of an estate, about L1500 per

annum, to Lord John Russell, for his life, and a legacy of L100 to

Macaulay the historian.

"The Vassall family has ever been distinguished for enterprise,

magnanimity, and noble bearing. If some of this name were not only

often, but always, for their king it must be admitted that they made as

great sacrifices to loyalty as did their forefathers to liberty."

The Vassals were connected by marriage and business dealings with the

Olivers and Royalls. All three families had acquired great wealth in the

West Indies, and although they lost their great possessions in New

England, by the Confiscation Act, yet they were much better situated

than their fellow sufferers as they retained their West Indian estates

till they, too, became worthless, after the emancipation of the slaves.

LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO JOHN VASSAL IN SUFFOLK COUNTY

AND TO WHOM SOLD.

To John Williams, Sept. 25. 1781; Lib. 133, fol. 110; Land 3 1-2

A., and buildings in Dorchester, the high road S. and W.; Ebenezer

and Lemuel Clap N.; Zebadiah Williams E.----1-2 A South of the

above, Mr. Jeffries E.; the high road on the other side.

To Isaiah Doane, Jan. 8, 1784; Lib. 141, fol. 2; Land and buildings

in Boston. Tremont St. E; heirs of John Jefferies deceased S.;

heirs of Jeremiah Allen deceased, William Vassall and heirs of

Joseph Sherburne W.; William Vassall and land of the old brick

church N.

GENERAL ISAAC ROYALL.

William Royall, the first member of this family of which there is

anything definitely known, emigrated to Salem probably during the year

of 1629. He had a grant of land there known as "Royall's side" or

"Ryall's Neck." He married, at Boston or Malden, Phoebe Green. He was in

Casco Bay as early as 1635. His house was built on the south side of

what was afterwards known as Royall's River, near its mouth, in North

Yarmouth. Here he lived until the troubles with the neighboring Indians,

which induced him to remove to Dorchester in 1675, accompanied by his

son William, who was born probably at the Casco settlement in 1640. He

was a carpenter by occupation, and died in 1724, in the 85th year of his

age, and is buried in the tomb built by his son Isaac in the Dorchester

burying ground.

Isaac Royall, son of the aforesaid William, born probably at the

settlement in Casco Bay about 1672. He early settled at Boston, and

engaged in trade, making frequent voyages to Antigua and other West

India islands. He married, according to Boston records, on July 1, 1697,

Elizabeth, daughter of Asaph Eliot and grandniece of the apostle to the

Indians of that name. His wife was the widow of one Oliver, probably of

Dorchester.

For a period of forty years Isaac Royall was a resident of Antigua,

although his frequent presence in Boston during that time is evinced by

his signature to conveyances. His name first appears on the Suffolk

records in a mortgage deed given by himself and wife on the 24th August,

1697, he then being styled a "merchant of Boston." His trading

operations between 1704 and 1710 with the West Indies, proved the

foundation of his fortune.

On December 26, 1732, he purchased of the heirs of Lieutenant Governor

Usher the estate in Charlestown (Medford) containing about five hundred

acres. The large Mansion house was built by Usher, but has since become

widely known as the Royall Mansion. It was one of the finest and most

pretentious residences of the time within the suburbs of Boston. It is

described by a visitor at that time as "A fine Country Seat belonging to

Mr. Isaac Royall, being one of the grandest in N. America." This mansion

was greatly added to, and almost rebuilt by the wealthy West Indian

planter. He petitioned the General Court in December, 1737, that he

might not be taxed on the twenty-seven slaves which he brought with him

from Antigua. "That he removed from Antigua with his family, and brought

with him among other things, and chattels, a parcel of negroes, designed

for his own use, and not any of them for merchandise."

Isaac Royall, the builder of this mansion, did not live long to enjoy

his princely estate, dying in 1739, not long after its completion. His

widow, who survived him eight years, died in this house, and was

interred from Colonel Oliver's in Dorchester April 25, 1747. The pair

share the same tomb in the old Dorchester burying place. His daughter

Penelope married Colonel Henry Vassall of Cambridge in 1742. He died in

1769, and she died in Boston in 1800, aged 76.

GENERAL ISAAC ROYALL, a son, who was born in Antigua, probably in 1719,

married Elizabeth McIntosh in 1738, but lived mostly in Boston. He

became an extensive purchaser of lands in various parts of the State,

and was one of the original proprietors of the township of Royalston in

Worcester County. He was a member of the Artillery Company of Boston in

1750, was made a brigadier general in 1761, the first of that title

among Americans. He was elected by the House a Councillor of the

Province, and served in that office until 1774, completing twenty-three

years of consecutive service.

Much has been written of this man's position at the time of the colonial

disturbances in 1774. Possessed of large wealth, and the influence that

riches and education carried with them, his course was watched by the

people with intense anxiety. He was known to have much in common with

the faithful band of Loyalists, who were gathered about Cambridge and

Boston, yet he was still faithful to the people's church, and most of

his family ties held him to the popular cause. A long letter, written by

him to Lord Dartmouth, dated in January of 1774, exists in the archives

of the Massachusetts Historical Society's Proceedings, 1873-1875, page

179. Harris says, "there can be no good reason for doubting the

sincerity of his sympathy with the people, and although, when the time

came to make a choice, he was prevailed upon to adhere to the side of

the government, there is abundant evidence of his continued love towards

New England and his desire to return and end his days here." How much

harder was it then for a man in his position to make the great

sacrifices he did, to give up his loved home and his property, all for

the cause of his King.

He wrote to Lord Dartmouth, "I am conscious that in all public affairs I

have made the honor of my king and the real Interests and Peace of my

country the ultimate end of all my transactions. I am so to live in this

world as that I may be happy in another, and no man more ardently wishes

and earnestly prays to the God of Peace for the Restoration of those

happy days, which formerly subsisted between us and our mother country

than I do."

Three days before the battle of Lexington, Colonel Royall took his

departure from Medford. He drove in his chariot, which was one of the

few in this vicinity, to Boston, and never again returned.

The mansion itself was indeed one of the finest of colonial residences,

standing, as it did, in the midst of elegant surroundings. In the front,

or what is now the west side, was the paved court. Reaching farther west

were the extensive gardens, opening from the courtyard, a broad path

leading to the summer house. The slave quarters were at the south. The

brick slave quarters have remained unchanged, and are the last visible

relics of slavery in New England. The deep fireplace where the slaves

prepared their food is still in place, and the roll of slaves has

certainly been called in sight of Bunker Hill, though never upon its

summit.

The interior woodwork of the house is beautifully carved, especially the

drawing room, guest chamber, and staircase. The walls are panelled, and

the carving on either side of the windows is very fine, that in the

guest chamber being the most elaborate.

One interested in colonial architecture may wander for hours through

this noble house, and yet feel that there is more to learn. The dark

cellar, full of passages, the garret with its corners, and the secret

staircase so often searched for, yet undiscovered, all furnish good

material for imaginary pictures of the Revolutionary days of our

ancestors.

The Royall mansion is now owned and occupied by "The Royall House

Association" and is open for the public.

When Colonel Royall left his mansion he had prepared to take passage

from Salem to Antigua, but, having gone into Boston, the Sunday previous

to the battle of Lexington, and remained there until that affair

occurred, he was, by the course of events, shut up in the town. He

sailed for Halifax very soon, still intending, as he says, for Antigua,

but on the arrival of his son-in-law. George Erving, and his daughter,

with the troops from Boston, he was by them persuaded to sail for

England, whither his other son-in-law, Sir William Pepperell, had

preceded.

[Illustration: GENERAL ISAAC ROYALL'S MANSION, MEDFORD.

He was kind to his slaves, charitable to the poor and friendly to

everybody.]

Upon his arrival in England, he exchanged visits with Governors Pownall,

Bernard, and Hutchinson. Colonel Royall after the loss of some of his

nearest relatives and of his own health, requested that he be allowed to

return "home" to Medford and to be buried by the side of his wife, his

father and mother, and the rest of his friends. He would fain have

lived in amity with all men and with his king too, but the Revolution

engulfed him. But he is not forgotten. He died in England 1781, his

large hearted benevolence showed itself in many bequests to that country

that had driven him forth and to which he was an alien. He bequeathed

upwards of two thousand acres of land in Worcester County to found the

first Law Professorship of Harvard University and his other bequests

were numerous and liberal. He has a town (Royalston) in Massachusetts

named for him, and is remembered with affection in the place of his

former abode. His virtues and popularity at first saved his estate, as

his name was not included with those of his sons-in-law, Sir William

Pepperell and George Erving, in the "conspirators act," but on the

representation of the selectmen of Medford "_that he went voluntarily to

our enemies_" his property was taken under the confiscation act and

forfeited. It was held by the State until 1805, when it was released by

the Commonwealth, owing to the large bequests that Colonel Royall made

to the public. It was then purchased by Robert Fletcher, who divided the

estate up into house lots and sold them to various persons.

General Royall's mansion was the centre of great festivities, and the

most noted families of Boston and vicinity were entertained there. He

was noted for his hospitality and was always generous and charitable to

the poor, and an excellent citizen. Brooks in his "History of Medford"

says hospitality was almost a passion with him. No home in the Colony

was more open to friends, no gentleman gave better dinners, or drank

costlier wines. As a master he was kind to his slaves, charitable to the

poor, and friendly to everybody.

He was a most accurate man and in his daily journal minutely described

every visitor, topic, and incident and even descended to recording what

slippers he wore and when he went to bed. Some one said in speaking of

Colonel Isaac Royall, "it is not that he loved the colonies less but

England more." Among his bequests was a legacy of plate to the first

church of Medford, and legacies to the clergymen, and while a member of

the House of Representatives, he presented the chandelier which adorned

its hall.

After the departure of General Royall from his beautiful home, it was

taken possession of by the rebels who came pouring into the environs of

Boston and laid siege to same. Colonel, afterwards General, John

Stark,[194] made the mansion his headquarters, and his New Hampshire

troops pitched their camp in the adjacent grounds. It was afterwards

occupied by General Lee, who took up his quarters in the mansion, whose

echoing corridors suggested to his fancy the name of Hobgoblin Hall.

[194] General John Stark's brother Colonel William Stark, was a man of

great bravery and hardihood. Before the Revolution he was a much greater

man than his brother John. He commanded New England troops in the

capture of Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Louisburg and Quebec. In West's

picture, "The Death of Gen. Wolf," he is shown as holding Wolf in his

arms. William Stark remained loyal and became a colonel in the Royal

Army. He was killed from a fall from his horse at the battle of Long

Island.

Elizabeth, the wife of Isaac Royall, died at Medford, July, 1770, and

was buried in the marble tomb in Dorchester. Their daughter Elizabeth,

the wife of Sir William Pepperell, died at sea upon the voyage to

England in 1775.[195]

[195] For an account of the Pepperell family see New Eng. Gen. Reg., xx.

4. Those descended from him comprise probably a hundred families holding

the highest social positions including dignitaries in church and state,

baronets, presidents of colleges, D. D's., and bishops, and others of

exalted rank, perhaps more numerous than can be found in any one family

in the British realms.

It is said that the male line of the Royalls has ceased to exist in

Maine and Massachusetts. The writer knows not of a single living

individual bearing the surname who has descended from the stock that in

the beginning of the settlement was so vigorous, and promised to be so

prolific. This statement will also apply to many other Loyalists'

families that were driven from their homes at the commencement of the

Revolution.

GENERAL WILLIAM BRATTLE.

Thomas Brattle, the forefather of the Brattle family that settled in

Boston, was at his death accounted the wealthiest man in the Colony.

Though we have no information concerning the family prior to the coming

of Thomas Brattle to New England, it is only reasonable to believe that

he was descended from an educated and intelligent line. Only four

generations bearing the name existed here, and it is a notable

circumstance that all the male representatives of those four generations

were men of remarkable powers and distinguished abilities.

THOMAS BRATTLE was born about 1624, and was a merchant of Boston. He was

a member of the Artillery Company and captain in the militia, and the

commander of several expeditions against hostile Indians. He was one of

the founders of the Old South Church. He married Elizabeth, the daughter

of Captain William Tyng, by whom he had seven children. His death

occurred in 1683.

THOMAS BRATTLE, the son of the former, was born in 1658, and was a

graduate of Harvard College. He was a very intelligent man, and was

treasurer of Harvard College for twenty-five years. He was one of the

founders of the Brattle Street church, and gave an organ to the King's

Chapel when it was rebuilt in 1710, the first organ used in Boston in a

church. He was a steadfast opposer of the proceedings of the courts

during the witchcraft delusion in 1692. He was a Fellow of the Royal

Society, and died in 1713. President Ouincy says of him: "He was

distinguished for his private benevolences and public usefulness."

WILLIAM BRATTLE graduated from Harvard college, and for over twenty

years was pastor of the Cambridge church. He was also a member of the

Royal Society of London.

WILLIAM BRATTLE, son of the former, was baptized by his father in 1706.

He graduated from Harvard College in 1722, and was a member of the

Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. He was a theologian, and as a

physician he was widely known, and no higher tribute to his eminence as

a barrister need be sought than in the years 1736-7, when, only thirty

years of age, he was elected by the House and Council to the office of

Attorney General.

He possessed strong peculiarities, and Sabine says of him that "A man of

most eminent talents and of greater eccentricities has seldom lived." He

inherited a large and well invested property, and had ample means to

cultivate those tastes to which, by his nature and education, he was

inclined. He was for many years Major General of the Province, and

afterwards Brigadier General. His large and beautifully situated house,

which now exists in Cambridge, though greatly transformed, known as the

"Old Brattle House" was the resort of the fashion and style of this

section of the country. At the age of twenty-one he married Katherine,

the daughter of Governor Gurdon Saltonstall. She died at Cambridge in

1752, and he married again in 1755, Mrs. Martha, widow of James Allen,

and daughter of Thomas Fitch. General Brattle seems to have inherited

from his father the same love for and interest in the welfare of his

Alma Mater, which so characterized the beloved minister of the church in

Cambridge. He was long one of her overseers, and in 1762 was appointed

by the Council one of a committee for the erection of Hollis Hall, a

task which was satisfactorily completed.

When the Revolution broke out in 1775, he was holding a very honorable

office under the crown. Harris says he was "on terms of friendship with

many of the regular army officers quartered in Boston and vicinity. His

cultivated and refined tastes tending always to draw him to court,

rather than plebeian society, were, no doubt, inducements for him to

remain loyal. Certain it was, while studiously endeavoring to preserve

friendly and peaceful relations with his townsmen and neighbors, he was

openly opposed to their principles. He was an Addresser of Gen. Gage and

approved of his plans, but at last public excitement reached such a

height that he deemed it wise to withdraw from Cambridge, and leaving

his house and property in the hands of his only daughter, Madame

Wendell, at that time a widow, he quietly joined the Royal army in

Boston, and at the evacuation in 1776, sailed with the forces to

Halifax, where he died in October of the same year. It is said that his

gravestone is still to be seen in the churchyard in that city." There is

a portrait of William Brattle in the possession of his descendants,

which was painted by Copley, being one of the first productions of that

eminent artist. Of his nine children, only two lived to maturity,

Katherine in whom the line but not the name was perpetuated, and Thomas.

Katherine was married to John Mico Wendell, a merchant of Boston, in

1752, who was of Dutch origin. After the death of her husband, Katherine

removed to Cambridge and resided there until her death in 1821, at the

age of nearly ninety-one years. The house was situated near the corner

of what afterwards became Wendell street, and North ave. The Centinel

of February 10, 1821, contained a memoir from which we gain some

knowledge of her character.

"Descended from honorable families, she possessed the virtues and and

maintained the honors of her ancestors.... During the war of the

Revolution, both her talents and virtues were put to severe tests, and

by her wisdom and discretion, her energy, and integrity, her

benevolence, and charity, she conciliated the favor of men in power,

civil and military; secured to herself personal respect, and rescued the

paternal inheritance from the hazard of confiscation. It was by her

means that the portion of the estate that fell to her brother Thomas,

then in England, was in a like manner preserved.... Her contributions

aided in the translation of the Bible into the languages of the East,

and in the diffusion of Christian knowledge among the poor and destitute

of our own country."

She had five children, but three of them died before reaching maturity.

Governor James Sullivan, who knew Thomas Brattle well, wrote of him:

"Major Brattle exercised a deep reverence for the principles of

government, and was a cheerful subject of the laws. He respected men of

science, as the richest ornament of their country. If he had ambition,

it was to excel in acts of hospitality, benevolence, and charity. The

dazzling splendor of heroes, and the achievements of political

intrigues, passed unnoticed before him, but the character of the man of

benevolence filled his heart with emotions of sympathy."... "In his

death, the sick, the poor and the distressed have lost a liberal

benefactor, politeness an ornament, and philanthropy one of its most

discreet and generous supporters."

THOMAS BRATTLE, the youngest and only surviving son of General William

and Katherine Saltonstall Brattle, was born at Cambridge in 1742. He

graduated from Harvard College in 1760, and not long afterwards visited

England and the Continent, for the double purpose of study and travel.

When the war broke out, he was still abroad, and being informed of the

position taken by his father, he conceived to be the most prudent course

to remain in England. While abroad he traveled over various parts of

Great Britain, and made a tour through Holland and France, and was

noticed by persons of distinction. Returning to London, he zealously and

successfully labored to ameliorate the condition of his countrymen, who

had been captured and were in prison. This restored to him his estates,

for he was included in the Confiscation, Proscription and Banishment Act

of 1778. He returned to America in 1779, and 1784 the enactments against

him in Massachusetts were repealed, and he took possession of his

patrimony. He found his mansion home at Cambridge had been thoroughly

ransacked and damaged by the Continental troops, who had occupied it

during the war. The neglected estate was restored to its former beauty,

and improved by the erection of a green-house, probably one of the

earliest known in this part of the country. He lived here for many

years, and became well known for his charities. He died, universally

lamented and beloved, on the seventh of February, 1801, and was laid to

rest in the family tomb, the last of his name. He was never married.

The only descendants of General William and Katharine Saltonstall

Brattle, are through their daughter Katherine, who married John Mico

Wendell.

CONFISCATED ESTATE OF WILLIAM BRATTLE IN BOSTON, AND TO WHOM SOLD.

To James Allen, May 12, 1781; Lib. 132, fol. 202: Land and

buildings in Boston. Tremont St W.; John Rowe and Henry Caner, an

absentee, S.; Nathaniel Holmes E.; George Bethune N. and E.; John

Andrew and heirs of Samuel Pemberton deceased N.; Robert McElroy W.

and N.; passageway W. and W. [N.]

JOSEPH THOMPSON.

Joseph Thompson was the son of Joseph and Sarah (Bradshaw) Thompson, who

were located in Medford as early as 1772, coming from Woburn, and

descended from the same family as Sir Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford).

They lie buried side by side in the little burial ground on Salem

street, Medford. Joseph, the subject of this sketch, was born May 16,

1734. He was married in Boston, 1759, to Rebecca Gallup, whom Isaac

Royall refers to in his will as a kinswoman of his wife.

In addition to the double portion assigned to him out of his father's

estate, he added to it from time to time by the purchase of several

estates. His occupation is mentioned in the deeds as that of merchant.

In June, 1775, news reached the Provincial Congress that the Ervings of

Boston, had fitted out, under color of chartering to Thompson, a

schooner of their own, to make a voyage to New Providence (Nassau,

Bahama Islands), to procure "fruit, turtle and provisions of other kinds

for the sustenance and feasting of those troops who are, as pirates and

robbers, committing daily hostilities and depredations on the good

people of this colony and all America." Congress therefore resolved that

Captain Samuel McCobb, a member, "be immediately dispatched to Salem and

Marblehead, to secure said Thompson, and prevent said vessel from going

said voyage, and cause the said Thompson to be brought before this

Congress." Thompson, however, escaped, and afterwards went to England.

On June 3, 1780, on the petition of Rebecca Thompson, asking leave be

granted her to rejoin her husband in England on the first convenient

opportunity, and to also return again to this state, the General Court,

and the committee of Inspection for Medford, were directed to see that

she carried no letters nor papers that might be detrimental to this, or

any of the United States of America.[196]

[196] Medford Historical Register, Vol. viii, p. 59.

James Prescott, Joseph Hosmer and Samuel Thatcher, Esq., were ordered

to make sales of certain estates situated in the county of Middlesex,

confiscated to the use of the government, belonging to Joseph Thompson,

merchant. Six acres of salt marsh on Medford river were sold to Ebenezer

Hall, Jr., for L70; a dwelling house and yard bounded south on the great

road, to Thomas Patten for L295; 11/2 rods of land (part of the dower

estate of his mother), with 3-16 of the dwelling house, 1-4 of an acre

of mowing land, 20 rods of plow land, to Samuel Kidder for L24.15; a pew

in the meeting house to Susanna Brooks, widow, for L10; 8 acres of land

bounded south on the great road and west on Proprietor's Way, and

situated near the Hay Market, to Jonathan Foster for L252. 10, and about

10 poles of land with a joiner's shop thereon, bounded north on the road

to Malden, to Ebenezer Hall for L40.5, making a total of L692.5.

A Mr. Thompson died in England during the war, probably the same.

COLONEL JOHN ERVING.

The Erving family was one of the oldest and most respected families in

Boston. Hon. John Erving, the father of the colonel, was one of the most

eminent merchants in America, and was a member of the Council of

Massachusetts for twenty years. The Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, his

great-grandson, in a public address in 1845, thus refers to him: "A few

dollars earned on a commencement day, by ferrying passengers over

Charles River, when there was no bridge--shipped to Lisbon in the shape

of fish, and from thence to London in the shape of fruit, and from

thence brought home to be reinvested in fish, and to be re-entered upon

the same triangular circuit of trade--laid the foundations of the

largest fortunes of the day, a hundred years ago." Mr. Erving, by his

wife Abigail, had a large family. He died in Boston in 1786, aged

ninety-three.

COLONEL JOHN ERVING, eldest son of the preceding, was born in Boston,

June 26, 1727, was a colonel of the Boston regiment of militia, a warden

of Trinity church. He graduated at Harvard University in 1747. In 1760

he signed the Boston Memorial, and was thus one of the fifty-eight who

were the first men in America to array themselves against the officers

of the Crown, but like many others that did not favor many acts of the

government, he could not tolerate mob rule, and therefore threw his lot

in on the side that represented law and authority.

When Hancock's sloop Liberty was seized for smuggling in 1768, by the

commissioners, the fury of the mob became great. They fell upon the

officers, several of whom barely escaped with their lives. Mr. Erving,

besides having his sword broken, was beaten with clubs and sticks, and

considerably wounded. He was not concerned with the seizure of the

sloop.

[Illustration: MAJOR GENERAL SIR DAVID OCHTERLONY.

Born in Boston Feb. 12, 1758. There is erected in Calcutta a monument to

him, which is one of the notable sights of that city. Died at Meerut,

India in 1825.]

In 1774 he was an addresser of Hutchinson, and the same year appointed

mandamus councillor. On the evacuation of Boston, he and his family

of nine persons accompanied the army to Halifax, and from there he went

to England. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. He died at Bath,

England, June 17, 1816, aged eighty-nine. His wife, Maria Catherina

(youngest daughter of Governor Shirley), with whom he lived sixty years,

died a few months before him. A daughter of Mr. Erving married Governor

Scott of the island of Dominica and died at that island February 13,

1768. His son, Dr. Shirley Erving, entered Harvard College in 1773, but

his education was cut short by the Revolution. He became a prominent

physician at Portland, Maine, and died at Boston in 1813, aged

fifty-five. His widow survived him for many years. They left two sons

and one daughter. The Erving mansion house was on Milk street, and was

confiscated.

GEORGE ERVING was a prominent merchant of Boston. He was one of the

fifty-eight memorialists who were the first men in America to array

themselves against the officers of the Crown, but he could not take part

with the mobs in their lawless and brutal actions. He was an Addresser

of Hutchinson in 1774, was proscribed under the Act of 1778, and his

estate was confiscated under the Conspiracy Act of 1779. He went to

Halifax with his family of five persons, and thence to England. He died

in London in 1806 at the age of seventy. His wife was a daughter of

General Isaac Royall of Medford.

CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO COLONEL JOHN ERVING AND TO

WHOM SOLD.

To James Lloyd, May 4. 1787; Lib. 160, fol. 105; Land and buildings

in Boston. Kilby St., formerly Mackerel Lane, E; heirs of John

Erving deceased N; heirs of Samuel Hughes W.; Joseph Winthrop S.

To John Codman, Jr., July 2. 1787. Lib. 160, fol. 201; Land and

messuage in Boston. Newbury St., W.; John Crosby N.; E. and N.,

John Soley E. and S., passage or alley S.----Land 14 A., in

Walpole, road from Walpole to the sign of the Black Lamb in

Stoughton N.; Nathaniel Preble S.E.; Philip Bardin S.W. and N.W.

To Nathaniel Appleton. Feb. 13, 1789; Lib. 164, fol. 149; Land, 14

A, in Walpole, road from Walpole to the sign of the Black Lamb in

Stoughton N.; Nathaniel Preble S.E.; Philip Bardin S.W. and N.W.

To John Deming. May 6, 1789; Lib. 166, fol. 11; Land and messuage

in Boston. Newbury St. W.; John Crosby N.; E. and N.; John Soley E.

and S.; passage or alley S.

MAJOR GENERAL SIR DAVID OCHTERLONY.

Captain David Ochterlony, the father of the subject of this memoir, was

born in Forfarshire, Scotland, and was descended from one of the most

ancient families in that country. In 1226 the land of "Othirlony" was

exchanged by his ancestors for those of Kenney in Forfarshire possessed

by the Abbey of Aberbrothock. Kenney had been bestowed on the Abbey by

its founder, King William, the Lion King of Scotland.

David, was a captain in the merchant service, and resided for a while

at Montrose. Boston was one of the many ports visited by him in his

voyages. Five years after his first appearance in Boston, June 4, 1757,

intention of marriage was published, to Katherine, daughter of Andrew

Tyler of Boston, by his wife Miriam, a sister of Sir William Pepperell.

On 27th of June, 1762, he purchased a brick house with about 1500 square

feet of land on Back street, which at that time was that part of Salem

street from Hanover to Prince street. Meanwhile three sons and daughter

were born. The eldest of these, MAJOR GENERAL SIR DAVID OCHTERLONY born

12 Feb. 1758, who was to revive the name in a new locality. Captain

Ochterlony, the father, continued his career as a mariner but a few

years after locating in Boston, he died in 1765, at St. Vincent W. I.

His widow went to England, where she married Sir Isaac Heard of London,

Norroy and Garter King of Arms, and gentleman of the Red Rod, to the

order of the Bath.

The son David was a scholar at the Latin School in Boston, when his

father died. At the age of eighteen he entered the army and went to

India, as a cadet, and in 1778 received an appointment as Ensign. In

1781 he was Quartermaster to the 71st Regiment of Foot. During the

twenty years that succeeded, he was exposed to all the danger and

fatigue of incessant service in the East. He attained the rank of Major

in 1800 and of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1803, and Colonel in 1812. His

commission of Major General bears date June 1, 1814. In 1817 he received

the thanks of both Houses of Parliament. His health, after nearly fifty

years of uninterrupted military duty in a tropical climate, became

impaired and he resigned a political office in India with the intention

of proceeding to Calcutta, and thence to England. This plan he did not

live to execute. He died at Meerut in 1825, while there for a change of

air. He was Deputy-Adjutant-General at the Battle of Delhi, after which

he was sent as envoy to the Court of Sha Alum. For his conduct in the

Nepaulese war, he was created a Knight Commander of the Bath and May 7,

1816, was made a baronet. After his death there was erected in Calcutta

a monument to him, which is one of the notable signs of the city. Sir

David never married. His title descended to Charles Metcalf Ochterlony,

and was succeeded in it by his son, the present baronet, Sir David

Ferguson Ochterlony. Gilbert Ochterlony, the second son of Captain

David, died Jan. 16, 1780, aged 16, at the home of his step-father Isaac

Heard, Esq., at the college of arms.[197] Alexander, the third son died

in 1803, and Catherine in 1792.

[197] It was Sir Isaac Heard that took such pains in searching out the

pedigree of the Washington family.

Captain David's will, made at the time of his marriage, was probate

March 7, 1766, and left everything to his wife Katrin, but his estate

was not settled till after the peace. 1791, and then it was insolvent,

the sum then obtained to close up the estate paid a dividend of only six

and a half pence on the pound. The name of Ochterlony in New England

became extinct.

JUDGE AUCHMUTY'S FAMILY.

Robert Auchmuty first of the American family of that name was descended

from an ancient Scottish family, holding a barony in the north of that

country. His father settled in England early in the eighteenth century,

and Robert studied law at the Temple, London, and came to America and

settled in Boston about the year 1700. He was a profound lawyer and

possessed remarkable talents and wit, but when he was admitted to

practice does not appear. He was in practice soon after 1719 and the

profession owed much to his character and system and order which now

began to distinguish its forms of practice. His talents were

extraordinary, "Old Mr. Auchmuty says a contemporary would sit up all

night at his bottle, yet argue to admiration next day, and was an

admirable speaker." He was sent to England to settle a boundary dispute

between Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. His services

were so valuable, that on December 1738, he received from the former a

grant of two hundred acres of land. He was judge of the Court of

Admiralty for New England from 1733 until 1747. While he was in England

he advocated the expedition to Cape Breton in an ably written pamphlet

published in 1744. This tract probably gave to the historian Smollett

the erroneous impression that Auchmuty was the originator of that

brilliant enterprise, the credit of which belongs to Governor Shirley.

Judge Auchmuty held his office until 1747 when he was superseded by

Chambers Russell. His home was in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and many

anecdotes of him have been handed down from generation to generation. He

was "greatly respected and beloved in public and private life." His

memory is held in high veneration by the bar in Massachusetts and his

opinions are still respected.

Judge Auchmuty died in April, 1750, leaving several children. His

daughter married Judge Pratt of New York and his son, Judge Robert

Auchmuty, followed in his father's footstep, and became a noted lawyer

in Massachusetts. Although he had not the advantage of a collegiate

education he became an able lawyer. As an advocate he was eloquent and

successful. "Among his contemporaries were Otis, Quincy, Hawley, and

judges Paine, Sargent, Bradbury, R. Sewall, W. Cushing and Sullivan and

though less learned than some of these he was employed in most of the

important jury trials."

"It was when together with that class of lawyers above named that the

profession owed the respectability which since his day has characterized

the bar of Massachusetts."[198] He held the office of Advocate of the

Court of Admiralty from August 2, 1762, until his appointment as judge,

having been originally appointed in the place of Mr. Bollan, to hold

the office during his absence. Chambers Russell was appointed in the

place of the elder Auchmuty as judge of the Admiralty for Massachusetts,

New Hampshire and Rhode Island in 1747. He held the office until his

death in 1767, and Robert Auchmuty, the younger, was appointed by the

governor to fill his place. This was in April, but on the sixth of July

he was duly commissioned as Judge of the Admiralty for all New England

with a salary of L300 a year. His commission was received in March,

1760, when his salary was increased to L600 per annum. Judge Auchmuty

continued to hold this office as long as the authority of the British

was recognized, as he was a zealous Loyalist.

[198] Updike History of Narrangansett church.

Robert Auchmuty was one of the commissioners with Governor Wanton of

Rhode Island, Samuel Horsemanden, Chief Justice of New York, Frederic

Smythe, Chief Justice of New Jersey, and Peter Oliver, Chief Justice of

Massachusetts, to inquire into the destruction of the Gaspee, in

1772.[199] He was a colleague of Adams and Quincy in defence of the

British soldiers tried for participation in the "Boston Massacre."[200]

He appeared once after his appointment in defence of Captain Preston and

his soldiers, and his argument was described as so memorable and

persuasive, "as almost to bear down the tide of prejudice against him,

though it never swelled to a higher flood."

[199] See page 52 for description of same.

[200] Ibid. 45.

The Auchmuty house in Roxbury stands at the corner of Cliff and

Washington Streets. It was build about 1761 by the younger Judge

Auchmuty, who resided there until the outbreak of the revolution. Here

as a convenient halting place between the Province House and the

Governor's country seat at Jamaica Plain, and the Lieutenant Governor

residence at Milton, met the crown officers to make plans to stem the

rising tide of disloyalty and lawlessness of the mobs, and their secret

leaders. Here Bernard Hutchinson Auchmuty, Hallowell, and Paxton

discussed the proposed alterations in the charter, and the bringing over

of British troops to preserve the peace. Letters of Judge Auchmuty to

persons in England were sent to America with those of Governor

Hutchinson by Franklin in 1773 and created much commotion.[201]

[201] See page 162.

At the Declaration of Independence in 1776 he left his native country

and settled in England. At one period he was in very distressed

circumstances. He never returned to the United States and his estate was

confiscated. His mansion in Roxbury became the property of Governor

Increase Sunmer and was occupied by him at the time of his decease.

Auchmuty Lane was that part of Essex Street between Short and South

Street in Boston. Robert Auchmuty died in London an exile from his

native land in November, 1778.

[Illustration: BRITISH TROOPS PREVENTING THE DESTRUCTION OF NEW YORK.

On its evacuation by Washington; it was set on fire, it was saved by the

summary execution of all incendaries by the British.]

HONORABLE JAMES AUCHMUTY, son of the elder Robert, was a storekeeper in

the Engineer Department. At the peace he removed to Nova Scotia where he

became an eminent lawyer, and was appointed judge. He had a son, a

very gallant officer in the British Army, who was killed in the West

Indies.

REVEREND SAMUEL AUCHMUTY, another son of the elder Judge Auchmuty who

settled in New York, was born in Boston in 1725. He graduated from

Harvard college in 1742 and was taken by his father to England, where he

was ordained a minister in the Episcopal church. The degree of D. D. was

conferred on him by Oxford. He was appointed by the Society for the

Propagation of the gospel, an assistant minister of Trinity church in

New York. He married in 1749 a daughter of Richard Nichols, governor of

that province. In 1764 at the death of the Rector of Trinity church he

was appointed to succeed him and took charge of all the churches in the

city, performing his arduous duties with faithfulness until the

revolution. In 1766 he received the degree of S. T. D. at Oxford. Dr.

Auchmuty opposed the revolution and when the Americans took possession

of New York City in 1777, it is said a message was sent him from Lord

Sterling by one of his sons, "that if he read a prayer for the King the

following Sunday, he would send a band of soldiers and take him out of

the desk." His son, knowing his father's indomitable spirit did not

deliver the message, but with some of his classmates from Columbia

college attended the church with arms concealed under their gowns and

sat near the pulpit for his protection. His conscience would not allow

him to omit these prayers without violating his ordination vows. As soon

as he commenced reading, Lord Sterling marched into the church with a

band of soldiers and music playing Yankee Doodle. The Doctor's voice

never faltered and he finished his prayer and the soldiers marched up

one aisle and down another, and went out again without violence. After

the service Dr. Auchmuty sent for the keys of Trinity and its chapels,

and ordered that they should not be opened again until the liturgy could

be performed without interruption, and took them to New Jersey. When the

British took possession of New York he resolved at once to return to his

loved flock and applied for leave to pass the American lines. This was

denied him. With the unfailing energy which marked his character he

determined to return on foot through circuitous paths to avoid the

American lines. After undergoing great hardships, sleeping in the woods

and great exposure, he reached the city. On its evacuation by

Washington's Army it had been set on fire, and it was only by using the

most drastic means,--the summary execution of all incendaries by the

British--that the city was saved from total destruction. Nearly one

thousand buildings were burned in the western part of the city and among

them Trinity church, the Rector's home, and the Charity School. Through

the exertions of the British troops, St. Paul's and King's College

barely escaped. The Vestry of Trinity reported their loss at L22,000,

besides the annual rent of 246 lots of ground on which the buildings had

been destroyed. After the fire, Dr. Auchmuty searched the ruins of his

church and of his large and elegant mansion; all of his papers and

records had been destroyed; he found no articles of value except the

church plate and his own. His personal loss he estimated at upwards of

$12,000.

The Sunday following Dr. Auchmuty preached in St. Paul's church for the

last time. The hardships which he had undergone terminated in an illness

which resulted in his death after a few days. This venerable and

constant worker for mankind died March 4, 1777 in his fifty-second year,

and was buried under the altar of St Paul's. Interesting notices of his

labors and sufferings and death may be found in Hawkins' "Historical

Notices of the Missions of the Church of England, in the North American

Colonies," London, 1845. By the old inhabitants of the city Dr. Auchmuty

was much respected and beloved and was spoken of as Bishop Auchmuty. He

had seven children. Jane, one of his daughters, married Richard Tylden

of Milstead, of county Kent in England. One of her sons was Sir John

Maxwell Tylden, who was in the army for twenty years in which he greatly

distinguished himself. Another, William Burton Tylden was a major in the

Royal Engineers. Dr. Auchmuty had two other daughters of which there is

no account, save that they were married.

SIR SAMUEL AUCHMUTY, the eldest son of the Rev. Dr. Auchmuty, was a

Lieutenant General in the British Army. At the beginning of the

Revolution he was a student at Kings College and was intended by his

father for the ministry. His own inclinations were military from his

boyhood and soon after he graduated he joined the Royal army under Sir

William Howe as an ensign in the 45th regiment and was present at most

of the actions in that and the following year. In 1783 he commanded a

company in the 75th Regiment, in the East Indies, and was with Lord

Cornwallis in the first siege of Seringaptarn. In 1801 he joined the

expedition to Egypt, and held the post of adjutant-general. He returned

to England in 1803 and three years after was ordered to South America,

where as brigadier-general, he assumed the command of the troops; and in

1807 assaulted and reduced--after a most determined resistance--the city

and fortress of Montevideo. In 1809 he was transferred to India.

Subsequently he succeeded Sir D. Baird as chief of staff in Ireland. He

was knighted in 1812, his nephew, Sir John Maxwell Tylden,

lieutenant-colonel of the 52 regiment being his proxy. He twice received

the thanks of Parliament, and was presented with a service of plate by

that body and by the East India Company. His seat was Syndale House, in

Kent, near Feversham. He died in Ireland suddenly in 1822 at the age of

64.

ROBERT NICHOLAS AUCHMUTY, another son of the Rev. Dr. Auchmuty,

graduated at Kings College, New York and in the revolution served as a

volunteer in the British army. His wife was Henrietta, daughter of Henry

John Overing and he died at Newport, Rhode Island in 1813. His daughter

Maria M., widow of Colonel E. D. Wainwright of the United States

Marines, died at Washington, D. C., Jan. 1861, aged 71.

RICHARD HARRISON AUCHMUTY, brother of the above, was a surgeon in the

British Army. Taken prisoner in the storming of Stony Point. With

Cornwallis at Yorktown, and died soon after the surrender, while on

parole.

"It is regretted that men as distinguished in their day as were the

Auchmuty's, father and sons, so few memorials new remain." They were men

who adorned their profession and "left a distinct and honorable

impression upon their age."

LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO ROBERT AUCHMUTY ET AL. IN

SUFFOLK COUNTY, AND TO WHOM SOLD.

To Samuel Clark, Feb. 26, 1780; Lib. 131, fol. 58; Land and

dwelling-house in Boston, School St. S.; the town's land W.; John

Rowe N; Joseph Green E----Garden land near the above. Cook's Alley

W.; Leverett Saltonstall N.; William Powell E. S. and E.; Leverett

Saltonstall S. [Description corrected in margin of record.]

To Josiah Waters, Jr., April 13, 1782; Lib. 134, fol. 164.

Discharge of mortgage Fillebrown et al to Auchmuty dated Feb. 10.

1766.

To Increase Sumner, July 31, 1783; Lib. 139, fol. 122; 6 A. 3 qr.

10 r. land and dwelling-house near the meeting-house in Roxbury,

the road N.; Jonathan Davis E., S. E; and S.; the lane and Increase

Sumner W.

COLONEL ADINO PADDOCK.

Robert Paddock was one of the Pilgrim Fathers, he was one of the early

settlers of Plymouth, and was a smith by trade. He had a son, Zachariah,

born in 1636, who was the ancestor of the subject of this sketch. Robert

Paddock was probably a relative of Captain Leonard Peddock who was

master of one of the ships that came to Plymouth in 1622, it being

frequently the case in those times that names were mis-spelled. This is

the origin of the name of Peddock's Island at the entrance of Boston

Harbor. Branches of this family at the Revolutionary period were to be

found in various parts of New England, New Jersey, and South Carolina.

Adino Paddock was the son of John and Rebecca (Thatcher) Paddock; was

born March 14, 1727, and was baptized in the First Church, Harwich,

March 31, 1728.

His father died in 1732 and his mother removed soon after to Boston,

where her name appears as a communicant in Brattle Square church "from

Church East Yarmouth" December 5, 1736. Adino Paddock was married in

Boston, June 22, 1749, to Lydia Snelling, daughter of Robert and Lydia

(Dexter). He settled in Boston, where he manufactured chaises and

transacted his business near the head of Bumstead Place. He lived

opposite the burying ground, on the east side of Long-Acre Street. Adino

Paddock was the first coach-maker of the town, and was a man of

substance and character. His name is best known in connection with the

famous Paddock elms. Mr. James Smith, a prosperous sugar baker, whose

house was on Queen Street,--now Court Street,--when in London, was

struck by the beauty of the elms in Brompton Park. The story goes that

Mr. Smith procured young trees of the same kind, and had them planted in

his nursery, on his beautiful farm, Brush Hill, in Milton. The fame of

these trees spreading, one of his friends, Mr. Gilbert Deblois, asked

for some, saying that he would in return name his newborn son for Mr.

Smith. The bargain was struck, and James Smith Deblois, baptized May 16,

1769, bore witness to its fulfilment. Other elms of this stock were also

planted, but those received by Mr. Gilbert Deblois became the most

celebrated. These were set out in front of the granary, just opposite

Mr. Deblois' house in Tremont Street. As Adino Paddock's shop window

looked out upon them, Mr. Deblois enjoined Mr. Paddock to have an eye to

their safety.

It is related that on one occasion, Paddock offered the reward of a

guinea, for the detection of the person who "hacked" one or more of the

trees. He guarded the infant elms very carefully and the "Gleaner" tells

of his darting across the street upon one occasion and vigorously

shaking an idle boy who was making free with one of the sacred saplings.

The elms were thought to have been planted in 1762. They grew to

magnificent proportions, and withstood the axe for more than a century.

They escaped in 1860, but were cut down a few years later. The largest

was one that stood near the Tremont House. Its circumference near the

sidewalk was nearly seventeen feet. This was the largest of all the

trees belonging to the public walks of the city, excepting the great

American elm on Boston Common that was destroyed by the tornado of 1869.

Adino Paddock was in 1774 captain of the train of artillery belonging in

Boston of which John Erving was colonel. This company was particularly

distinguished for its superior discipline and the excellence of its

material. The gun house stood at the corner of West and Tremont Streets,

separated by a yard from the school house. In this gun house was kept

two brass three-pounders, which had been recast from two old guns sent

by the town to London for that purpose, and had the arms of the province

engraved upon them. They arrived in Boston in 1768, and were first used

at the celebration of the King's birthday, June 4th, when a salute was

fired in King Street.

When the mobs began to be in evidence Captain Paddock expressed an

intention to turn them over to General Gage, for safe keeping, some of

the men that composed the company, resolved, that it should not be so,

they met in the school-room, and watching their opportunity they crossed

the yard, entered the building and, removing the guns from their

carriages, carried them to the school room where they were concealed in

a box in which fuel was kept. They were finally taken to the American

lines, in a boat, and were in actual service during the whole war. The

two guns were called the "Hancock" and "Adams," and were in charge of

the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, until presented in 1825 by

the State to the Bunker Hill Monument Association. They are now

suspended in the chamber at the top of Bunker Hill Monument, with a

suitable inscription on each.

Before Mr. Paddock's departure from Boston he was entitled to the higher

military appellation of Colonel. As an active officer, and for a time

commander of the Boston train of artillery, he felt himself particularly

honored, as he was then in a position of great usefulness, for, in fact

his lessons in military matters while in the Train, were productive of

much good, as laying the foundation of good soldiership, in the

Province, by giving thorough instruction to many who afterwards became

distinguished officers in the revolutionary war.

Ardently attached to the interests of the government he was one of the

foremost of the loyalist party. He left Boston at the evacuation, March

17, 1776. There were nine in his family. They went to Halifax and in the

following June he embarked with his wife and children for England.

In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. From 1781 until his death he

resided on the Isle of Jersey and for several years held the office of

Inspector of Artillery Stores with rank of Captain. Colonel Paddock

received a partial compensation for his losses as a Loyalist, and died

March 25, 1804, aged seventy-six years. Lydia, his wife died at the Isle

of Jersey, in 1781, aged fifty-one.

Colonel Paddock's house was situated on the south corner of Bromfield

and Tremont Streets, formerly Common Street and Ransom Lane. Thomas

Bumstead, a coach-maker, purchased the estate when it was confiscated

and carried on the coach-making business there. Bumstead Place was laid

out in 1807 on the site of the home, and was closed in 1868. Gilbert

Deblois occupied the opposite corner, on which was built Horticultural

Hall, the trustees of the new office building recently erected there, at

the suggestion of Alex S. Porter, named the new building the "Paddock

Building" who said "I think that we ought to do all we can to preserve

the memory of those good old citizens who by their influence and hard

labor did so much in laying the foundation of our beloved city."

Adino Paddock and Lydia Snelling had thirteen children, nine of them

died in infancy, and John a student at Harvard College was drowned while

bathing in Charles River in 1773.