General Court, stating in a petition that she was the niece and adopted
heir of Barnes; that she had resided with him about seventeen years,
that at his departure from town, she was left with a part of his family
in possession, and that the committee of Marlborough had entered upon
his estate, sold a part, and proposed to dispossess her entirely. No
redress could be obtained.
Through the violence of the mob Henry Barnes was forced to seek shelter
in Boston early in 1775. From there he went to England. In 1777 he was
at Bristol with his wife and niece, and in September thirteen of his
fellow Loyalists were his guests, and later still in the same year he
dined with several of the Massachusetts exiles at Mr. Lechmere's, when
the conversation was much about the political condition of their native
land.
Mr. Barnes was proscribed and banished, and his estate confiscated. He
died at London in 1808, at the age of eighty-four.
THOMAS FLUCKER.
Secretary of Massachusetts Bay.
The Fluckers were descended from a French Huguenot family who settled in
England. Captain James Flucker, mariner, came to America and married
Elizabeth Luist at Charlestown, Mass., May 30, 1717. He was taxed there
from 1727 to 1756 and died 3 Nov. 1756. She died Sept. 1770. They had
eight children.[239]
[239] See Life of Henry Knox by F. G. Drake, P. 125.
THOMAS FLUCKER, son of the aforesaid, was born at Charlestown, 9 Oct.
1719. He was a merchant in Boston and owned an estate on Summer street.
He was commissioned a Justice of the Peace 14 Sept. 1756, was a member
of the Council in 1761-68. A Selectman of Boston in 1766, succeeded
Andrew Oliver as Secretary, 12 Nov. 1770, was made a Mandamus Councillor
9 Aug. 1774. He married 1st, 12 June 1744, Judith, daughter of Hon.
James Bowdoin, a Boston Huguenot family, and as a testimony to the
public spirit of this famous family, Bowdoin College remains. 2nd, 14
Jan. 1751, he married Hannah, daughter of General Samuel Waldo,
proprietor of the Waldo Patent Main, to whose heirs the great domain
descended. The portion belonging to Mrs. Flucker and her brother, were
confiscated.
Thomas Flucker was a staunch Loyalist. He was banished and his estates
confiscated. He left Boston at the evacuation, March 17, 1776, for
Halifax. He afterwards went to London, where he was a member of the
Brompton Row Association of Loyalists, who met weekly for conversation
and a dinner. An extract from Hutchinson's Diary, July 13, 1776, says:
"Flucker dined with us; depends on the truth of the report of his
family's being arrived in Ireland; has 300L allowed by treasury; last
(?) of the Council 200L." Thomas Flucker died in England suddenly on
Feb. 16, 1783. His wife remained in England, but survived him only three
years.
THOMAS FLUCKER, of Massachusetts, son of the former, graduated at
Harvard University in 1773. During the Revolution he was a Lieutenant in
the 60th British regiment at St. Augustine, Fla., in 1777. By the
University catalogue, it appears that he and his father died the same
year, 1783.
LUCY FLUCKER, another child, born 2 August 1756, married General Henry
Knox of the revolutionary army, and afterwards Secretary at War. The
young rebel had at the time a flourishing bookstore opposite Williams
Court in Cornhill, a fashionable morning resort at that time for the
British officers and their ladies. Harrison Gray Otis says that Miss
Lucy "was distinguished as a young lady of high intellectual endowments,
very fond of books, especially of the books sold by Knox, at whose
premises was kindled as the story went, 'the guiltless flame' which was
destined to burn on the hymeneal altar." Henry Knox became Chief of
Artillery in the Revolution, and in Washington's Administration,
Secretary of War. He acquired on easy terms, a very large share of Mrs.
Flucker's property, which had been confiscated, and settled on it at
Thomaston, Maine, building a fine mansion in which he himself died in
1806, and his wife in 1824.
Sally Flucker, another daughter of Thomas Flucker, Jr., who performed
in Burgoyne's "Maid of the Oaks" in private theatricals given by British
officers in Boston, accompanied the family to England and married Mr.
Jephson, a member of the Irish Parliament. Copley painted her portrait.
Hannah Flucker, daughter of Thomas, married 2 Nov. 1774, James Urquhart,
captain in the 14th regiment, which was engaged in the battle of Bunker
Hill.
MARGARET DRAPER.
Richard Draper and his brother William emigrated to the Colonies and
settled at Boston about 1680. He was a merchant in that city. The Boston
Records state that Richard Draper and John Wentworth furnished the
lumber from which Faneuil Hall was built. In his will he says that he is
the son of Edward and Ann Draper, of Branbury, in the County of Oxford,
Great Britain, deceased, and only brother to William Draper Senr. of
Boston. This will was probated Jan. 25th, 1728.
About the year 1700 the Postmaster of Boston was one John Campbell, a
Scotchman, and son of Duncan Campbell, the organizer of the postal
system of America. He was also a bookseller. In those early days the
dissemination of news was in the hands of the postmasters of each town,
and John Campbell on Monday, April 24, 1704, improved the present system
by _printing the news_. He issued the first number of the Boston "News
Letter," the first newspaper issued in America. The first sheet of the
first number was taken damp from the press by Chief Justice Sewell, to
show to President Willard, of Harvard College, as a wonderful curiosity.
Bartholomew Green, eldest son of Thomas Green, printer to Cambridge
University, was the printer. He obtained possession of the newspaper in
1721, shortly after Campbell was removed from the post-office in Boston.
On his death in 1733, it passed into the hands of his son-in-law, John
Draper, son of Richard Draper, who continued to publish it until his
death in 1762, when he was succeeded by his son Richard Draper, who
changed the title to the "Massachusetts Gazette and Boston News Letter."
He was brought up a printer by his father, and continued with him after
he became of age, and was for some years before his father's death a
silent partner with him. He was early appointed printer to the Council
and Government, which he retained during life. Under his successful
editorship, the paper was devoted to the Government, and in the
controversy with Great Britain, he strongly supported the Loyalists
cause, and illustrated the head of his paper with the King's Arms. Many
able advocates of the Government filled the columns of the "News-Letter"
but the opposition papers were supported by writers at least equally
powerful and numerous.
The Drapers were considered the most eminent and successful printers in
America. A list of works containing their imprints would fill pages.
Richard Draper was a man of feeble health, and was remarkable for the
delicacy of his mind and gentleness of his manner. No stain rests on his
character. He was attentive to his affairs, and was esteemed as the best
compiler of news of his day. Having been successful in his business and
acquired a competency, he erected a handsome brick home on a convenient
spot in front of the old printing home in Newbury, now Washington
street, where he resided, and which was afterwards confiscated. He died
June 6th, 1774, aged 47, without children, and was succeeded by his
widow, Margaret, who was a granddaughter of Bartholomew Green.
A month before his death, he had taken John Boyle into partnership, but
at the outbreak of hostilities, his sympathies being strong for the
Revolutionary cause, he was not agreeable to Widow Margaret, and was
succeeded in the partnership by John Howe, who was a devoted loyalist,
and continued with her until the final suspension of the paper, which
occurred on the evacuation of Boston, by the British troops, when
Margaret departed with the soldiers, going first to Halifax and thence
to England, where she enjoyed a pension from the British Government for
the remainder of her life, in return for her loyalty and devotion to the
Government.
Margaret Draper's paper was the only one published in Boston during the
siege. It had been published without intermission for 72 years. She died
in London in 1807, and was included in the confiscation and banishment
Act.
LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO MARGARET DRAPER IN SUFFOLK
COUNTY AND TO WHOM SOLD.
To Richard Devens, Feb. 7, 1783; Lib. 137, fol. 48; Land and
buildings in Boston, Newbury St. W.; heirs of Benjamin Church S.
and E., Josiah Waters, Jr. N.
RICHARD CLARKE.
Richard Clarke was the son of Francis Clarke, merchant, a descendant of
an old Boston family. Richard graduated at Harvard College in 1729. He
and his sons were the consignees of a part of the tea destroyed in
Boston by the celebrated "Tea Party" December 1773. In a letter from
Messrs. Clarke & Sons to Mr. Abram Dupuis they say: "On the morning of
the 2nd inst. about one o'clock, we were roused out of our sleep by a
violent knocking at the door of our house, and on looking out of the
window we saw (for the moon shone very bright) two men in the courtyard.
One of them said he brought us a letter from the country. A servant took
the letter from him at the door, the contents of which was as follows:
Boston, 1st Nov., 1773.
Richard Clarke & Son:
The Freemen of this Province understand from good authority, that
there is a quantity of tea consigned to your house by the East
India Company, which is destructive to the happiness of every well
wisher to the country. It is therefore expected that you personally
appear at Liberty Tree, on Wednesday next, at twelve o'clock at
noon day, to make a public resignation of your commission,
agreeable to a notification of this day for that purpose.
Fail not upon your peril.
O. C.
"In this you may observe a design to create a public belief that the
factors had consented to resign their trust on Wednesday, the 3d inst.,
on which day we were summoned by the above-mentioned letter, to appear
at Liberty Tree at 12 o'clock noon. All the bells of the meeting houses
for public worship were set a-ringing at 11 o'clock, and continued
ringing till twelve; the town cryer went thro' the town summoning the
people to assemble at 'Liberty Tree.' By these methods, and some more
secret ones, made use of by the authors of this design, a number of
people supposed by some to be about 500, and by others more, were
collected by the time and place mentioned in the printed notification.
"They consisted mostly of people of the lowest rank, very few reputable
tradesmen, as we are informed, appeared amongst them. The gentlemen who
are supposed the designed factors for the East India Company, viz: Mr.
Thos. Hutchinson, Mr. Faneuil, Mr. Winslow and Messrs. Clarke, met in
the forenoon of the 3rd inst., at the latter's warehouse, the lower end
of King street. You may well judge that none of us entertained the least
thought of obeying the summons sent us to attend at Liberty Tree. After
a consultation amongst ourselves and friends, we judged it best to
continue together, and to endeavour, with the assistance of a few
friends, to oppose the designs of the mob, if they should come to offer
us any insult or injury. And on this occasion we were so happy as to be
supported by a number of gentlemen of the first rank. About one o'clock,
a large body of people appeared at the head of King Street, and came
down to the end, and halted opposite to our warehouse. Nine persons came
from them up into our counting room, viz., Mr. Molineux, Mr. Wm. Dennie,
Doctor Warren, Dr. Church, Major Barber, Mr. Henderson, Mr. Gabriel
Johonnot, Mr. Proctor and Mr. Ezekiel Cheever. Mr. Molineux as speaker
of the above Committee, addressed himself to us, and the other gentlemen
present, and told us that we had committed an high insult on the people,
in refusing to give them that most reasonable satisfaction which had
been demanded in the summons which had been sent us, then read a paper
proposed by him, to be subscribed by the factors importing, that they
solemnly promise that they would not land or pay duty on any tea that
should be sent by the East India Company, but they would send back the
tea to England in the same bottom, which extravagent demand being firmly
refused, and treated with proper contempt by all of us. Mr. Molineux
then said that since we had refused their most reasonable demands, we
must expect to feel, on our first appearance, the utmost weight of the
people's resentment, upon which he and the rest of the committee left
our counting room and warehouse, and went to, and mixed, with the
multitude that continued before our warehouse. Soon after this the mob
having made one or two reverse motions to some distance, we perceived
them hastening their pace towards the store, on which we ordered our
servant to shut the outward door; but this he could not effect, although
assisted by some other persons amongst whom were Nathaniel Hatch, Esq.,
one of the Justices of the inferior Court for this country, and a
Justice of the Peace for the county. This gentleman made all possible
exertions to stem the current of the mob, not only by declaring
repeatedly, and with a loud voice, that he was a magistrate, and
commanded the people, by virtue of his office, and in his Majesty's
name, to desist from all riotous proceedings, and to disperse, but also
by assisting in person; but the people not only made him a return, of
insulting and reproachful words, but prevented his endeavors by force
and blows, to get our doors shut, upon which Mr. Hatch, with some other
of our friends, retreated to our counting room. Soon after this, the
outward doors of the store were taken off their hinges by the mob, and
carried to some distance; immediately a number of the mob rushed into
the warehouse, and endeavoured to force into the counting room, but as
this was in another story, and the staircase leading to it narrow, we,
with our friends,--about twenty in number--by some vigorous efforts,
prevented their accomplishing their design. The mob appeared in a short
time to be dispersed, and after a few more faint attacks, they contented
themselves with blocking us up in the store for the space of about an
hour and a half, at which time, perceiving that much the greatest part
of them were drawn off, and those that remained not formidable, we, with
our friends, left the warehouse, walked up the length of King Street
together, and then went to our respective homes without any molestation,
saving some insulting behavior from a few dispicable persons.
"The night following, a menacing letter was thrust under Mr. Faneuil's
door, to be communicated to the other consignees, with a design to
intimidate them from executing their trust, and other methods have since
been made use of in the public papers and otherwise, for the same
purpose."[240]
[240] "Tea Leaves," pp. 282, 3, 4, 5, 6.
On the morning of November 17, 1773, a little party of family friends
had assembled at the home of Richard Clarke, Esq., near the King's
Chapel on School Street, to welcome young Jonathan Clarke, who had just
arrived from London. All at once the inmates of the dwelling were
startled by a violent beating at the door, accompanied with shouts and
the blowing of horns, creating considerable alarm. The ladies were
hastily bestowed in places of safety, while the gentlemen secured the
avenues of the lower story, as well as they were able. The yard and
vicinity were soon filled with people. One of the inmates warned them
from an upper window, to disperse, but getting no other reply, than a
shower of stones, he discharged a pistol. Then came a shower of
misseles, which broke in the lower windows and damaged some of the
furniture. Some influential Revolutionists had by this time arrived, and
put a stop to the proceedings of the mob, which then dispersed. The
consignees then called upon the governor and council for protection.
The eventful Thursday, December 16, 1773, a day ever memorable in the
annals of Boston, witnessed the largest mob yet assembled in Boston.
Nearly seven thousand persons collected at the Old South Meeting House.
The tea ships had not taken out clearance papers, the twenty days
allowed by law terminated that night. Then the revenue officers could
take possession, and under cover of the naval force, land the tea, and
opposition to this would have caused bloody work. The Revolutionists
desired to avoid this issue, so it was decided to destroy the tea.
Rotch, the owner of the "Dartmouth," applied to Governor Hutchinson, at
his residence in Milton, for a pass to proceed with his vessel to
London, for the governor had ordered Colonel Leslie, commander of the
castle, and Admiral Montagu, to guard the passages to the sea, and
permit no unauthorized vessels to pass. The governor offered Rotch a
letter to Admiral Montagu, commending ship and goods to his protection,
if Rotch would agree to have his ship haul out into the stream, but he
replied that none were willing to assist him in doing this, and the
attempt would subject him to the ill will of the people. The governor
then sternly refused a pass, as it would have been "a direct
countenancing and encouraging the violation of the acts of trade."
Between six and seven o'clock in the evening three different mobs
disguised as Indians proceeded from different parts of the town, arrived
with axes and hatchets, and hurried to Griffin's (now Liverpool wharf),
boarded the three tea ships, and, warning their crews and the custom
house officers, to keep out of the way, in less than three hours time
had broken and emptied into the dock three hundred and forty-two chests
of tea, valued at L18,000. A Loyalist writer of the time says: "Now this
crime of the Bostonians, was a compound of the grossest injury and
insult. It was an act of the highest insolence towards government, such
a mildness itself cannot overlook or forgive. The injustice of the deed
was also most atrocious, as it was the destruction of property to a vast
amount, when it was known that the nation was obliged in honor to
protect it." This memorable occurrence was undoubtedly in the immediate
sequence of the events which it produced, the proximate cause of the
American Revolution.[241]
[241] See Page 48 for further particulars concerning the Tea Party Mob.
Richard Clarke was treated with much severity by the Revolutionists. His
name is found with the Addressers of General Gage. He arrived in London
December 24, 1775, after a passage of "only" twenty-one days from
Boston. He was one of the original members of the Loyalist Club, for a
weekly dinner, and discourses. He lived with his son-in-law, Copley the
painter, Leicester Square. Lord Lyndhurst was his grandson. He died in
England in 1795.
JONATHAN CLARKE, son of Richard Clarke, accompanied his father to
England. He was his father's partner in business. He was a member in
1776 of the Loyalists Club, in London, and had lodgings in Brompton Row
the next year. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. After the
Revolution he went to Canada.
ISAAC WINSLOW CLARKE, son of Richard Clarke, was born in Boston, 27
October, 1746. He was sent by his father to Plymouth to collect debts,
but in the night was assaulted by a mob and obliged to flee from the
town, to escape from personal injuries. He became Commissary-General of
Lower Canada, and died in that Colony in 1822, after he had embarked for
England. His daughter Susan married Charles Richard Ogden, Esq.,
Solicitor-General of Lower Canada, in 1829.
PETER JOHONNOT.
The Johonnots in America are of French Huguenot origin. Daniel Johonnot,
who was born in France about 1668, was one of the first parties of
thirty families that arrived in Boston in 1686. He was in company with
his uncle Andrae Sigournie, Distiller, from Rochelle, and went with him
to Oxford in New England, remaining there until the settlement was
broken up by the incursion of Indians August 25, 1696. Jean Jeanson
(John Johnson) and his three children were killed during the massacre.
Mrs. Johnson was Andrew Sigourney's daughter, and tradition in the
Johonnot family relates that she was rescued at that time from the
Indians by her cousin, Daniel Johonnot, to whom she was subsequently
married.[242]
[242] New England Hist. and Genealogical Register. Vol. 6. P. 357.
The first record we have of Daniel Johonnot in Boston was at the time of
his marriage "on the 18th of April, by the Rev. Samuel Willard of the
Old South Church, to Susan Johnson." This was in the year 1700. In 1714
it appears by the Suffolk Records he purchased for L300 "current money,"
of John Borland and Sarah his wife, an estate near the Mill Creek and
bounded by Mill Pond, and the street leading to said pond (Union Street)
etc. His last purchase of real estate was near the Old South Church and
this land was afterwards occupied by one of the descendants of his
daughter Mary, Mary Anne (Boyer), number 156 Washington street, opposite
the Province House. At the time of Daniel Johonnot's death it was
occupied by his grandson, and must have been Mr. Johonnot's last
residence, as in an inventory it is described as being in the possession
of Mr. Daniel Boyer. In Mr. Johonnot's French Bible, Amsterdam Edition
of 1700, are recorded the births of his six children in French, all
children of Daniel and Serzane Johonnot. This Bible later came into the
possession of one of his descendants. Daniel Johonnot died in Boston in
June, 1748 at the age of eighty years. His wife died some time after
1731, and before the death of her husband. He was remembered as being a
friend to the poor, always industrious and frugal.
Zacherie (Zachariah) Johonnot, the eldest son of the preceding was born
in Boston January 20, 1700-1. His first wife was Elizabeth Quincy, who
died during the revolution, and he married again, April 24, 1777,
Margaret Le Mercier, daughter of Andrew Le Mercier, Minister of the
French Protestant church in Boston.
Like his father he was a Distiller and engaged in mercantile pursuits.
His dwelling house and store was on Orange street at the South part of
the town, and his distillery was on Harvard street directly opposite his
dwelling. At the end of the same street was his wharf, and wooden
distil-house, storehouses, etc. His house and store were burnt at the
time of the great fire, April 20, 1787. The spacious gardens filled with
rare fruit trees, beautiful flowers and shrubs from his father's land
were mostly destroyed.
Mr. Johonnot died in Boston in 1784 at the age of eighty-three. To his
son Peter (then in England) he bequeathed "his mansion house, store
adjoining, yard and garden, as the same is now fenced in, etc." He had
ten children, all by his first wife.
PETER JOHONNOT, the fourth child of the preceding, was born in Boston
September 23, 1729. He was married January 10, 1750 to Katherine Dudley
by the Rev. Mather Byles. She was the daughter of the Honorable William
Dudley (son of Governor Joseph Dudley). Peter Johonnot was a Distiller,
and lived in Boston. In 1775 he was an Addresser of Gage. The next year
he was one of the committee with Thomas and Jonathan Amory, chosen by
the citizens of Boston March 8, 1776, to communicate with General Howe
and take measures to avert the impending destruction, threatened by him,
in case his army should be molested while evacuating the town.
In 1776 Peter Johonnot went to Halifax and thence to England. In 1778 he
was proscribed and banished, and in 1779 he was a loyal Addresser to the
King. Mrs. Johonnot's death occurred in Boston in 1769. Mr. Johonnot
died in London August 8, 1809, at the age of eighty, and left no
issue.[243] The following occurs in the Diary of Dr. P. Oliver:--"1809,
Aug.--Peter Johonnot died this month in London, aged 79."
[243] New England Hist. and Gen. Reg. Vol. 7. P. 142.
FRANCIS JOHONNOT, son of Daniel, was born November 30, 1709. He married
Mary Johnson of Boston, widow, 1752. He was a distiller and engaged in
mercantile pursuits. His distillery was near Essex street on the margin
of the South Cove. His "Mansion house" was on Newbury, now Washington
street, the same was owned and occupied for many years by his
son-in-law Eben Oliver, Esq. He was a loyalist, and at the beginning of
the revolution went to England. He died March 8, 1775. Mary, his widow,
who died in Boston March 17, 1797, in her seventy-third year,
administered upon his estate in Massachusetts. They had seven children.
MARY JOHONNOT, daughter of Andrew Johonnot, and cousin to Peter the
Loyalist, was born in 1730. She married Thomas Edwards of Boston, June
13, 1758, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. Henry Caner of King's
Chapel. Mr. Edwards for a while was engaged in mercantile business in
Middletown, Connecticut, but later returned to Boston, and was employed
by the government. He was a loyalist and went to Halifax in 1776 and
thence to England. He died in London at an advanced age. Mary Johonnot,
his wife, died in Boston, February 14, 1792. They had five children.
LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO PETER JOHONNOT IN SUFFOLK
COUNTY AND TO WHOM SOLD.
To Ebenezer Seaver, Sept. 4, 1782; Lib. 135, fol. 190; Land and
buildings in Boston, Orange St. E.; Samuel Pope and Hopestill
Foster S.; Joseph Lovell and heirs of William Ettridge W.;
Zachariah Johonnot N.
JOHN JOY.
The name of Joy was probably derived from Jouy in Normandy and may have
reached England in the form of "de Jouy." William Joy was a Vicar in
England in 1395. The name was borne with distinction in England and
Ireland for at least five centuries.
Thomas Joy, of Boston, Massachusetts, was born about 1610 in the county
of Norfolk, England. The first time he appears in Boston records is "on
the 20th of 12th Month, called February, 1636." By trade he was a
builder and probably continued that occupation in Massachusetts. He
married in 1637 Joan Gallop, the daughter of a well-known townsman, and
she became mother of the American Joys. Her father's land included
several of the harbor islands, one of which still bears his name.
Thomas Joy built in 1657-8, the house in the Market Place, which was at
once the armory, court house, and town hall of Boston, and the first
seat of government in Massachusetts. On account of political troubles,
Thomas Joy exchanged part of his possessions in Boston for property in
Hingham. In 1648 he removed to that town, but his Boston connections
were still maintained. He had interests in mills at Hingham, and died in
that town, October 21, 1678. His widow survived him more than twelve
years, dying in Hingham, March 20, 1690-1. Both are buried in the hill,
back of most ancient Protestant church in the United States, where they
worshipped. They had ten children.
Joseph, the fourth child, was born in Boston, April 1, 1645. He lived on
Bacheler (Main Street,) Hingham, nearly opposite the meeting house, of
which he is thought to have been the builder. He married August 29,
1667, Mary, daughter of John and Margaret Prince, of Hingham, and by her
had fifteen children. He died in that town, May 31, 1697.
Joseph Joy, his eldest son was born in Hingham July 30, 1688. He was
constable in 1697-1711. He married May 22, 1690 Elizabeth, daughter of
Captain Thomas Andrews. He died in Hingham, April 29, 1716. His
gravestone with inscription still legible in the Hingham churchyard is
the most ancient Joy grave mark in America.[244] He had nine children.
[244] Thomas Joy and His Descendants by James R. Joy.
John, the fourth child, was born in Hingham February 7, 1695-6. He lived
on Main street at Hingham Centre. December 7, 1724, he married Lydia,
daughter of Samuel Lincoln, and by her had seven children. His death is
not recorded.
JOHN JOY, the second child of the preceding, was born in Hingham June 4,
1727. He lived in Boston, and by trade was merchant and housewright. He
married Sarah, daughter of Michael and Sarah (Kneeland) Homer, of
Boston. In 1767 and 1773 he was one of the "principal citizens" to visit
the schools with the Governor. In 1774 Mr. Joy was an addresser of
Hutchinson, and in 1775 of Gage. In 1776 he went to Halifax with his
family and in 1778 he was proscribed and banished. In 1779 he was in
England, where he remained, though several of his sons afterwards
returned to America. Hutchinson in his diary, June 7, 1776, speaks of a
number of Loyalists who had recently arrived at Dover. Mr. Joy's name
was among those mentioned. The Loyalist died in London, December, 1804.
His portrait by Copley, is an heirloom in the family of the late Charles
Joy of Boston. Mrs. Joy died in England in 1805.
A letter of John Wendell (1806) mentions among his early friends in
Boston, "Mr. John Joy, who served his time with our respected neighbor,
Captain Benjamin Russell, and who afterwards married Mr. Homer's
daughter." Mr. Joy had seven children.
DR. JOHN JOY, the eldest son, was an apothecary, and returned to America
in 1783, and lived in Boston. His estate on Beacon Hill, once the "elm
pasture" of Judge Samuel Sewell, the diarist, was bounded by Beacon,
Walnut, Mt. Vernon and Joy street, and included about 100,000 sq. ft. of
land. Bowditch says Dr. Joy was desirous of getting a house _in the
country_, and selected this locality as "being country enough for him,"
"the barberry bushes were flourishing over this whole area." His land
cost about $2000, and in 1833 his heirs sold this lot for $98,000. On
the southeastern part of this estate he built a modest and graceful
wooden building, which was eventually moved to South Boston Point. He
married Abigail Green of Boston, and died in 1813.
MICHAEL JOY, another son, was born at Boston in 1754, went to England
with his father and died at Hartham Park, England July 10, 1825.
Graduated B. A., Harvard College, 1771, and admitted to the same degree
at Princeton College, N. J., 1771. He married a lady named Hall in
England. His son Henry Hall Joy, of Hartham Park, was a lawyer and
Queen's Counsel, was buried in the Temple Church, London.
BENJAMIN JOY, the third son of the Loyalist, was born in Boston, Dec.
27th, 1757, and died at Boston, April 14, 1829. He returned to Boston,
was a merchant and was the first Consul General of the United States at
Calcutta, holding his commission from President Washington. In 1808 he
bought of the trustees of the First Church their property on Cornhill
Square, on which he erected Joy's Building, which for three-fourths of a
century was a landmark of Boston, people came from miles around to view
the stately edifice, and were greatly astonished at its magnificence.
The Rogers Building, in front of Young's Hotel, now occupies its site.
He was one of the Mt. Vernon proprietors that acquired the valuable
lands of John Singleton Copley on Beacon Hill, and a spring in one of
his houses on the east side of Charles street, is the famous spring of
water which William Blackstone, the first white settler of Boston,
mentioned as one of the chief attractions of the Shawmut peninsula.
RICHARD LECHMERE.
Hon. Thomas Lechmere was for many years Surveyor General of His
Majesty's Customs for the Northern District of America. His brother was
Lord Lechmere of Evesham, who married the daughter of the Earl of
Carlisle.
Thomas Lechmere married Ann Winthrop, a descendant of Governor Winthrop,
the ceremony was performed by Rev. Eben Pemberton, Nov. 17, 1709. He
died at an advanced age, June 4th, 1765, having been born in June, 1683.
His wife died in 1746.
RICHARD LECHMERE, son of the above, married Mary Phips, of Cambridge in
1753. She was the daughter of Spencer Phips, who was Lieut. Governor for
many years; his farm was what is now known as East Cambridge, and the
house stood near where the modern Court House, afterwards was built;
General Gage landed his detachment here, which marched to Lexington.
About one hundred yards from the West Boston Bridge, a fort was erected
on December 11th, 1775, during its erection several soldiers of the
revolutionary army were killed at this redoubt. It was considered the
strongest battery erected during the siege of Boston, and was known as
"Lechmere Point Redoubt," having acquired this property from his wife.
It was known for many years as Lechmere's Point. The farm was
confiscated, and during the siege of Boston was occupied by Washington's
army.
Richard Lechmere was an Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774; was appointed
Mandamus Councillor, but did not accept. In 1776 he went to Halifax,
with his family of eleven persons, and thence to England. In 1778 he was
proscribed and banished, and his estate confiscated; the next year he
was included in the Conspiracy Act. His home was at Bristol in 1780. He
died in England in 1814, aged eighty-seven.
Richard Lechmere left no male representatives, his daughters, are
represented by Coores of Scrunten Hall, Yorkshire. Sir Edward Russell of
Ashford Hall, Ludlow and Worralls, whose representatives now are Sir H.
Lechmere Stuart, Bart., and Eyre Coote of West Park Eyre. In Colonel
Lechmere Russell's possession is Ann Winthrop's bible, with, in her son
Richard Lechmere's writing, the statement it was his mother's bible. A
piece of land at Hanley, in Worcestershire, the residence of the
Lechmere's, is called New England, and is planted with oaks, the seed of
which were sent from America by Thomas Lechmere, the settler here.
Nicholas Lechmere, son of Thomas Lechmere, and brother of Richard, was
born at Boston, July 29, 1772. He was appointed an Officer of the
Customs of Newport, Rhode Island. In 1765, fearing the loss of life in
the tumult of that year, he fled to the Cygnet, sloop-of-war, and
refused to return to his duties without assurance of protection. From
1767 to the commencement of the Revolution, the disagreements between
him and the revolutionists were frequent. In December, 1775, he refused
to take the oath tendered by General Lee, and was conveyed under guard
to Providence. He went to England, and in 1770, was with his brother at
Bristol in 1780. He was banished and his estate confiscated.
LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO RICHARD LECHMERE IN SUFFOLK
COUNTY AND TO WHOM SOLD.
To Mungo Mackey, June 11, 1783; Lib. 139, fol. 14; Land and
dwelling-house in Boston, Cambridge St. S.; Staniford St. W.;
passageway N.; Timothy Newell E. and N.; Jeremiah Allen E.----One
undivided half of land, brick distill house and other buildings,
Cambridge St. N.; George St. E.; heirs of John Guttridge deceased
S.; Belknap St. W.
EZEKIEL LEWIS.
William Lewis belonged to the Braintree Company, which in 1632 removed
from Braintree to Cambridge, thence about 1636 to Hartford, about 1659
to Hadley, which town he represented in the General Court 1662, from
thence to Farmington, where he died Aug., 1683. Captain William Lewis,
son of the above, married May Cheever, daughter of the famous
schoolmaster. He died 18 Aug., 1690. Ezekiel Lewis, son of Captain
William, was born at Farmington, Conn., Nov. 7, 1674. Graduated at
Harvard College in 1695. In 1699 it was decided that the town of Boston
required an assistant in the Latin School for Mr. Ezekiel Cheever. It
being committed to the Selectmen, Mr. Ezekiel Lewis, his grandson, was
selected to fill the position, and to have a salary of not exceeding
forty pounds a year. He entered upon his duties the following August. He
afterwards became a great merchant in Boston, was Representative 1723 to
1727.
A document dated March 8th, 1707-8 contains the signatures of the
Overseers of the Poor for the town of Boston at that period. Ezekiel
Lewis' name appears among the seven mentioned. The men who held the
position of Overseers were of high standing in the community, and were
usually distinguished for their business talents, wealth and
charities.[245]
[245] Memorial Hist. of Boston. Vol. IV. P. 646-647.
In 1742, when Faneuil Hall was opened, Ezekiel Lewis was among the
Selectmen and representatives of the town of those who were "to wait
upon Peter Faneuil, Esq., and in the name of the town to render him
their most hearty thanks for so beautiful a gift," etc.
EZEKIEL LEWIS, the Loyalist, was born at Boston, 15 April, 1717, and
graduated at Harvard College, 1735. Under the Act of 1777-8, by which
the Judge of Probate was authorized to appoint agents for the estates of
absentees in each county, the name of Ezekiel Lewis appears in Suffolk
County Probate Records, 1779. Docket 16800.
BENJAMIN CLARK.
Dr. John Clark was the first of a prominent Boston family of that name.
He was a gentleman of college education, and a leading physician of that
day. He died in 1680, aged 85. Their only son, Hon. Dr. John Clark, of
Boston, died in 1690, leaving three sons, John, born 1667, William 1670,
Samuel 1677.
HON. WILLIAM CLARK, ESQ. became a wealthy merchant and member of the
Governor's Council. His residence was situated in North Square, on the
corner of Garden Court and Prince street. This mansion was a monument of
human pride, in all colonial Boston there was not its peer, and it was
without doubt built to outvie that of Hutchinson's, Clark's wealthy
next-door neighbor, whose home was demolished by the mob. The principal
feature which distinguished this house, was the rich, elaborate and
peculiar decoration of the north parlor, on the right of the entrance
hall, which was a rich example of the prevalent style, found in the
mansions of wealthy citizens of the colonial period, in and around
Boston.
The peculiar decoration consisted of a series of raised panels filling
these compartments, reaching from the surbase to the frieze, eleven in
all, each embellished with a romantic landscape painted in oil colors,
the four panels opposite the windows being further enriched by the
emblazoned escutcheons of the Clarks, the Saltonstalls, and other allied
families. Beneath the surbase, the panels, as also those of the door,
were covered with arabesques. The twelfth painting was a view of the
house upon a horizontal panel over the mantel, from which this engraving
was made, and beneath this panel inscribed in an oval, was the monogram
of the builder, W. C. At the base of the gilded and fluted vault of the
buffet was a painted dove. The floor was inlaid with divers woods in
multiform patterns. In the center, surrounded by a border, emblazoned in
proper colors, was the escutcheon of the Clarks, with its three white
swans.
The mere enumeration of the details fails to give an idea of the
impression made by this painted and gilded parlor, not an inch of whose
surface but had been elaborated by painter, gilder, carver or artist, to
which the blazoner had added heraldic emblems; so that, as you looked
round these walls, the romantic ruins and castles seemed placed there to
suggest, if not to portray, the old homes of a long line of ancestors,
and the escutcheons above to confirm the suggestion, thereby enhancing
the splendor of the present by the feudal dignity of an august past.
The house is supposed to have been built about 1712-1715, for the land
was purchased of Ann Hobby, widow, and several other heirs, December 10,
1711, for L725 current money. If so, Councillor Clark lived many years
to enjoy the sumptuousness of his new house and the envy of his
neighbors. His death, in 1742, was attributed by some to the loss of
forty sail of vessels in the French war. After his death the estate was
conveyed to his son-in-law, Deacon Thomas Greenough, for L1,400, old
tenor, and was by him sold to Sir Charles Henry Frankland, Bart., for
L1,200 sterling. The mansion, afterwards was known as the Frankland
House.
There were numerous places in Boston named after Clark. There was
Clark's Wharf, afterwards changed to Hancock's, and now known as Lewis;
Clark street from Hanover to Commercial, still named, in 1788; Clark
Square, now North Square, where the Clark mansion was built, was named
in 1708, "The Square living on ye Southly side of the North Meeting
House including ye wayes on each side of ye watch-house"; Clark's
Corner, 1708, corner of Middle, now Hanover street and Bennet street,
Dr. Clark's Corner, 1732; corner of Fish, now North street, and Gallops
alley, now Board alley and Clark's Shipyard.
[Illustration: CLARK-FRANKLAND HOUSE.]
AGNES, LADY FRANKLAND.
Sir Harry Frankland, as he was familiarly called here, was heir to an
ample fortune, and what added to his interest in this puritanical colony
was that he was a descendant in the fourth generation from Oliver
Cromwell, he came here in 1741 as Collector of the Port of Boston,
preferring that office to the Governorship of Massachusetts, the
alternative offered him by George II. The story of his marriage is
romantic enough. Upon an official visit to Marblehead, he was struck by
the radiant beauty of a young girl of sixteen, maid-of-all-work at the
village inn, bare-legged, scrubbing the floor; inquired her name, and,
upon a subsequent visit, with the consent of her parents, conveyed her
to Boston and placed her at the best school. The attachment he conceived
for her appears to have been returned, though Sir Charles did not offer
her marriage. The connection between this high official and his fair
protege causing scandal, Frankland purchased some 500 acres of land in
Hopkinton, which he laid out and cultivated with taste, built a stately
country-house and extensive farm buildings, and there entertained all
the gay companions he could collect with deer and fox hunts without,
with music and feasting within doors, duly attending the church of his
neighbor, the Rev. Roger Price, late of King's Chapel, Boston, of which
Frankland had been, from his arrival, a member. Called to England by the
death of his uncle, whose title he inherited as fourth baronet, he
journeyed to Lisbon, and there, upon All Saints Day, 1755, on his way to
high mass, he was engulfed by the earthquake, his horses killed, and he
would have perished miserably but for his discovery and rescue by the
devoted Agnes. Grateful and penitent, he led her to the altar, and poor
Agnes Surriage, the barefooted maid-of-all-work of the inn at
Marblehead, was translated into Agnes, Lady Frankland.
It was upon Sir Harry Frankland's return from Europe in 1756 that he
became the owner of the Clark House, lived in it one short year,
entertaining continually, with the assistance of his French cook,
Thomas, as appears by frequent entries in his journal; was then
transferred to Lisbon as Consul General, and so, with the exception of
brief visits to this country in 1759 and 1763, disappearing from our
horizon.
After his death at Bath, England, in 1768, his widow returned here with
her son, but not until she had recorded her husband's virtues upon a
monument "erected by his affectionate widow, Agnes, Lady
Frankland,"--dividing her year between Boston and Hopkinton, exchanging
civilities with those who had once rejected her, till the contest with
England rendered all loyalists and officials unpopular.
At Hopkinton, May, 1775, she was alarmed at the movement of the
revolutionists, her Ladyship asked leave to remove to Boston. The
Committee of Safety gave her liberty to pass to the capital with her
personal effects, and gave her a written permit, signed by Benjamin
Church. Jr., chairman. Thus protected, she set out on her journey with
her attendants; but was arrested by a party of armed men, who detained
her person, and effects, until an order for the release of both was
obtained. To prevent further annoyance, the Provincial Congress
furnished her with an escort, and required all persons who had any of
her property in their possession to place the same at her disposal.
Defended by a guard of six soldiers, Lady Frankland entered Boston about
the first of June, 1775; witnessed from her window in Garden Court
street the battle of Bunker Hill, took her part in relieving the
sufferings of the wounded officers, and then in her turn disappeared,
leaving her estates in the hands of members of her family, thereby
saving them from confiscation, which was the fate of her neighbor
Hutchinson. Upon her death in England in 1782 the town mansion passed by
her will to her family, and was sold by Isaac Surriage in 1811 for $8000
to Mr. Joshua Ellis, a retired North End merchant, who resided there
till his death. Upon the widening of Bell Alley, in 1832, these two
proud mansions, the Frankland and Hutchinson houses long since deserted
by the families whose importance they were erected to illustrate and
perpetuate, objects of interest to the poet, the artist, and the
historian, alike for their associations with a seemingly remote past,
their antique splendor, and for the series of strange romantic incidents
in the lives of their successive occupants, were ruthlessly swept away.
COLONEL DAVID PHIPS.
The most picturesque and remarkable in character and personal fortune of
all the royal governors, was the first of them, Sir William Phips. He
was a characteristic product of the New England soil, times and ways.
Hutchinson thus briefly and fitly designates him: "He was an honest man,
but by a series of fortunate incidents, rather than by any uncommon
talents, he rose from the lowest condition in life to be the first man
in the country."
Cotton Mather informs us that William Phips was one of twenty-one _sons_
and of _twenty-six_ children, of the same mother, born to James Phips of
Bristol, England, a blacksmith, and gunsmith, who was an early settler
in the woods of Maine, at the mouth of the Kennebec River. But records
and history are dumb as to facts about the most of these scions of a
fruitful parentage, other than that of their having been born. William
was born Feb. 2, 1651; was left in early childhood without a father.
What the mother's task was, in poverty, with hard wilderness
surroundings, of bears, wolves, and savages, we may well imagine. Her
famous son, untaught and ignorant, tended sheep, till he was eighteen
years of age. Then he helped to build coasters, and sailed in them. This
was at that time, and afterwards a most thriving business, the
foundation of fortunes to rugged and enterprising men, born in
indigence.
He went to Boston in 1673, at the age of twenty-two, worked at his
trade, he had early visions of success and greatness, for the first time
he learned to read, and also to do something that passed for writing. He
married the widow of John Hull, the mint master, they suffered straits
together, but he used to comfort her with the assurance that they would
yet have "a fair brick house in the Green Lane of North Boston." And so
they did. That "Greene Lane" became Charter street, when in 1692, he
came back as Sir William Phips, from the Court of London, bringing the
Province Charter as the first Governor under it. The "fair brick house"
long served as an Asylum for boys, at the corner of Salem and Charles
streets.
But a strange wild daring, and romantic interval of adventure preceded
his honors, and wealth. He wrought at intervals in Maine, and here, as a
ship carpenter, sailed coasters, and engaged in expeditions against the
Indians. In 1684 he went in a search in the waters of the Spanish Main
for a treasure ship known to be sunk there. Going to London, the
Admiralty, and James II. gave him the command of an eighteen-gun ship
and ninety-five men. A two years' cruise in the West Indies, in which he
showed a most signal intrepidity, heroism and ingenuity of resource, in
suppressing a mutinous crew, was unsuccessful, except in acquainting
him, through an old Spaniard, of the precise spot where a treasure-laden
galleon had foundered fifty years before. He returned to England for a
new outfit. The king favored him, but not with another war ship. The
Duke of Albemarle and others, as associates, provided him with a vessel
on shares. The hero had heroic success. Cotton Mather informs us that
"Captain Phips arrived at _Port de la Plata_, made a stout _canoo_ of a
stately cotton-tree, employing his own _hands_ and _adse_ in
constructing it, lying abroad in the woods many nights together. The
piriaga, as they called it, discovered a reef of rising shoals called
"_The Boilers_", here an Indian diver dove down and perceived a number
of _great-guns_, and upon further diving the Indian fetched up a _sow_,
or lump of silver, worth two or three hundred pounds. In all, thirty-two
tons of silver, gold, pearls and jewels were recovered from the wreck.
Besides which, one Adderly of Providence, one of the Bahama Islands,
took up about six tons of silver, which he took to the Bermudas. Captain
Phips returned to London in 1687 with more than a million and a half of
dollars, in gold and silver, diamonds, precious stones, and other
treasures. His own share in the proceeds was about a hundred thousand
dollars. To this was added the honors of knighthood, and a gold cup for
Lady Phips, of the value of five thousand dollars."
He returned home in the capacity of high-sheriff, under Andros, who did
not want him, for he was utterly ignorant of law, and could not write
legibly. He soon made another voyage to England, and returned to Boston,
built the "fair brick house," of his vision, engaged in a successful
military expedition against Acadia, in which he took and plundered Port
Royal, and other French settlements. He then instigated and conducted
as commander, a naval expedition against Quebec, which proved a failure.
He again went to England, and returned as the first Governor under the
new Charter, May 14, 1692. The appointment was made to conciliate the
people of the province, and it was supposed would be gratifying to them,
it was however a risky experiment, this attempt to initiate a new order
of things, under the lead of an illiterate mechanic, utterly unskilled,
in legal, and administrative affairs, a rough seaman, and a man of hot
temper. Yet after he arose to these high offices, he showed no false
pride, and often alluded to his lowly origin. He gave his fellow ship
carpenters a dinner in Boston, and when borne down with public
distraction, would wish himself back to his broad-axe again. He was pure
in morals, upright in his dealings, and owed his success in life to his
own energy and prowess. All incompetent as he was for the stern
exigency, he had to meet the appalling outburst of the Witchcraft
delusion with its spell of horrors. During the greater part of the
proceedings of the courts, he was absent at the eastward, in an
expedition against the Indians, and engaged in building a fort at
Pemaquid. When he returned to Boston he found that even his own wife had
been "cried out upon" as a witch, and he at once put a stay upon the
fatuous proceedings. His weak and troubled administration lasted two and
one-half years. He then went to England to answer to complaints made
against his administration, when he died suddenly Feb. 18, 1695, aged
forty-five years. He was buried in the church of St. Mary Woolnoth,
London, where his widow caused a monument to be erected to his memory.
He died childless.
Governor Phips' widow married the rich merchant, Peter Sergent, who
built and occupied the stately mansion, afterwards purchased by the
Province, as a residence for the Governor, and known as the Province
House.
SPENCER PHIPS was a nephew of Governor Phips' wife. The governor having
no children, adopted as his heir, Spencer Bennett, he was Lieu. Governor
between 1733 and 1757, and married Elizabeth Hutchinson. He resided
mainly at Cambridge. His farm consisted of that part of Cambridge
afterwards known as Lechmere Point, now East Cambridge, his daughters
married Andrew Boardman, John Vassall, Richard Lechmere and Joseph Lee.
Lieu. Governor Phips died in March, 1757.
DAVID PHIPS, only son of Lieutenant Governor Spencer Phips, graduated at
Harvard College in 1741. He was Colonel of a troop of guards in Boston,
and Sheriff of Middlesex County. He was an Addresser on three occasions,
as his name is found among the one hundred and twenty-four merchants,
and others, of Boston, who addressed Governor Hutchinson in 1774, among
the ninety-seven gentlemen and principal inhabitants of that town, and
among the eighteen country gentlemen who were driven from their homes,
and who addressed General Gage in October, 1775. He went to Halifax at
the evacuation of Boston in 1776, and was proscribed and banished under
the Act of 1778. His home at Cambridge was confiscated. He died at Bath,
England in 1811, aged eighty-seven.
THE DUNBAR FAMILY OF HINGHAM.
Robert Dunbar, a Scotchman, became a resident of Hingham shortly after
1650, and probably was the ancestor of all the families who have borne
this surname in Plymouth county. The Christian name of his wife was
Rose. She survived him and died 10 Nov. 1700. Robert died, 19 Sept.,
1693. He had eight sons and three daughters, and died possessed of
considerable property. His grandson Joseph removed to Halifax, Plymouth
County, in 1736.[246]
[246] Hist. of Hingham. Vol. 11. P. 195-7-9.
DANIEL DUNBAR, son of the aforesaid Joseph was born in Hingham, March 8,
1733. He was an ensign of Militia at Halifax, Mass., and in 1774 had his
colors demanded of him by the mob, some of the selectmen being the chief
actors. He refused and they broke into his house, took him out, forced
him upon a rail, where for three hours, he was held, and tossed, up and
down, until he was exhausted. He was then dragged and beaten, and gave
up the standard to save his life. In 1776 he went to Halifax, Nova
Scotia, with the Royal Army. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished.
JESSIE DUNBAR, of the fourth generation, was born in Hingham, June 26,
1744. He removed to Bridgewater, Plymouth County.[247]
[247] Dunbar Genealogy. P. 19.
He bought some fat cattle of Nathaniel Ray Thomas, a Mandamus
Councillor, in 1774, and drove them to Plymouth for sale; one of the
oxen being skinned and hung up, the "Sons of Liberty" came to him and
finding where he bought it, commenced punishing him for the offence. His
tormentors put the ox in a cart, and fixing Dunbar in his belly, carted
him four miles and required him to pay one dollar for the ride. They
then delivered him to a Kingston mob, which carted him four miles
further, and forced from him another dollar, then delivered him to a
Duxbury mob, who abused him by beating him in the face with the
creature's tripe, and endeavored to cover his person with it, to the
endangering his life. They then threw dirt at him, and after other
abuses, carried him to Councillor Thomas's house, and made him pay
another sum of money, and he, not taking the beef, they flung it in the
road and quitted him. Jesse Dunbar died at Nobleboro, Maine, in 1806,
leaving many descendants.
The outrageous and brutal treatment he received from the "Sons of
Despotism" are among the worst on record.
EBENEZER RICHARDSON.
The Richardson family were the earliest settlers of Woburn,
Massachusetts. Ezekiel, Samuel and Thomas Richardson, three brothers,
with four other persons, laid the foundations of the town, in 1641. In
1642 it was incorporated under the name of Woburn, the name of a town in
Herefordshire.
Samuel Richardson, the ancestor of Ebenezer Richardson, came to
Charlestown, about 1636, as his name appears on the records of July 1 of
that date as one of a committee to "lay out lots of land for hay." When
the three brothers settled at Woburn, they lived near each other on the
same street, which was laid out in 1647, as Richardson's Row, by which
name it has ever since been known. It runs almost due north and south,
in the N. E. part of the present town of Winchester.
Lieut. John Richardson, eldest son of Samuel, was born Nov. 12, 1639,
was a yeoman, and soldier in King Philip's war, and passed his life in
Woburn, and died there in 1696. John Richardson, son of Lieut. John was
a carpenter, and lived in Woburn. He died March 18, 1715.
Timothy Richardson, son of John, was born in Woburn, 1687, was badly
wounded in Lovewell's Indian fight at Pigwacket. The colony having
offered one hundred pounds for Indian scalps, Captain Lovewell went with
forty-six men on a scalp hunt into Maine. Captain Lovewell was the first
one killed. The fight lasted ten hours, those who left the fatal battle
ground, were twenty in number, of whom eleven were badly wounded, among
whom was Timothy Richardson, who lived for ten years afterwards, but in
great suffering he died in Woburn in 1735.
EBENEZER RICHARDSON, eldest son of Timothy, and Abigail Johnson, was
born in Woburn, March 31, 1718, and married Rebecca (Fowle) Richardson,
daughter of Captain John and Elizabeth (Prescott) Fowle, of Woburn, and
widow of Phineas Richardson. His father's farm was bounded easterly by
the Woburn and Stoneham line, it was here probably that Ebenezer was
born.[248]
[248] Richardson Memorial by Vinton. P. 34, 199, 242.
Ebenezer Richardson was an officer of the Customs in Boston. On the 22
Feb., 1770, he was assailed by a mob who chased him to his home, bricks
and stones were thrown at the windows. Richardson, provoked, fired at
random into the mob, dangerously wounding one of them, Samuel Gore, and
mortally wounding another, Christopher Snider, a poor German boy, who
died the next morning.
The excitement was intense, the funeral of the boy was attended by the
revolutionists, and the event taken advantage of to fire the passions of
the people. On the 20th of April, Richardson was tried for his life and
brought in guilty of murder. Chief Justice Hutchinson viewed the guilt
of Richardson, as everybody would now, a clear case of justifiable
homicide, and consequently refused to sign a warrant for his execution,
and after lying in prison two years, was, on application to the King,
pardoned and set at liberty.[249] To reward Richardson for what he had
suffered, he was appointed in 1773 as an officer of the Customs of
Philadelphia.
[249] For further particulars see pages 310, 311.
Historians have treated Richardson very unfairly, and caused his memory
to be execrated. He was a Custom House officer, and the duties of his
office caused him to seize smuggled goods, as any custom house officer
would at the present time, previous to that he belonged to the secret
service division for the detection of illicit traders, on this account
he has always been contemptuously called an "informer". He was not any
worse than hundreds of secret service agents employed at the present
time by the United States Government, to detect law-breakers. They are
of course detested by the criminal classes, and the mountaineer
moonshiners of Kentucky consider it no crime to kill them, when the
opportunity offers. After Richardson's release, he went to Philadelphia
to reside, so as to escape mob violence; the malignity of the
revolutionists, however, followed him, and a scurrilous effusion was
published there entitled "The Life and Humble Confession of Richardson
the Informer."
The broadside was embellished with a rude wood cut of Richardson firing
into the mob, and the killing of the boy Snider. The same has been
recently republished, and the author states "Whatever facts it may
contain, are doubtless expanded beyond the limits of the actual
truth."[250]
[250] William R. Cutter, Librarian of the Woburn Public Library.
COMMODORE JOSHUA LORING.[251]
Thomas Loring came from Axminster in Devonshire, England, to Dorchester
with his wife, Jane, whose maiden name was Newton, in the year 1634,
they removed to Hingham, and finally settled and died at Hull in 1661,
leaving many descendants, who still reside in Hull, and Hingham.
[251] Ancestral Records of the Loring family. Type Written Copy in the
New England Historic Genealogical Society. Pp. 129 to 182.
COMMODORE JOSHUA LORING was descended from Thomas Loring. He was born at
Boston, Aug. 3, 1716. He was apprenticed to Mr. Mears, a tanner of
Roxbury. When he was of age he went to sea. About 1740 he married Mary,
daughter of Samuel Curtice, of Roxbury. In 1744 he was master of a
Brigantine Privateer of Boston, and while cruising near Louisburg, was
taken by two French Men of War.
He purchased an estate in 1752, on Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, of Joshua
Cheever, on which he erected what has since been known as the Greenough
mansion. It is said to have been framed in England and was one of the
finest residences in Roxbury. It was situated opposite the intersection
of Center and South streets, opposite the soldiers' monument.
On December 19, 1757, He was commissioned captain in the British Navy,
was Commodore of the naval forces on Lakes Champlain and Ontario, and
participated in the capture of Quebec under Wolfe, and in the conquest
of Canada in the succeeding campaign of Amherst. He was severely wounded
in the leg while in command on Lake Ontario, and at the close of the war
he retired on half pay, at which time he settled down at Jamaica Plain,
Roxbury. He was one of the five Commissioners of the revenue, and
General Gage by writ of mandamus appointed him a member of his Council,
and he was sworn in Aug. 17, 1774. This immediately subjected him to the
strictest surveillance by the revolutionists, and the greatest pressure
was brought to bear upon him to throw up the obnoxious office. A
diarist, under date of Aug. 29, speaking of a Roxbury town meeting
recently held says, "Late in the evening a member visited Commodore
Loring, and in a friendly way advised him to follow the example of his
townman Isaac Winslow, (who had already resigned). He desired time to
consider it. They granted it, but acquainted him if he did not comply he
must expect to be waited on by a large number, actuated by a different
spirit. (Tarred and feathered and rode on a rail). On the morning of the
Lexington battle, after passing most of the previous night in
consultation with Deacon Joseph Brewer, his neighbor and intimate
friend, upon the step he was about to take, he mounted his horse, left
his home and everything belonging to it, never to return again, and
pistol in hand, rode at full speed to Boston, stopping on the way only
to answer an old friend, who asked 'Are you going, Commodore?' 'Yes,' he
replied. 'I have always eaten the king's bread, and always intend to.'"
The sacrifice must have been especially painful to him, for he was held
in high esteem by his friends and neighbors, but he could not spurn the
hand that had fed him, and rather than do a dishonorable act, he would
sacrifice all he possessed, even the land of his birth. At the
evacuation he went to England. He received a pension from the crown
until his decease at Highgate, in October, 1781, at the age of
sixty-five. Joshua Loring was proscribed, banished and his large estate
confiscated. His mansion house was in May, 1775, headquarters of General
Nathaniel Greene, and afterwards for a brief period, a hospital for
American soldiers, many of whom were buried on the adjacent grounds.
Later Captain Isaac Sears bought the property of the State, and lived
there for several years.
Mary, his widow, was through the influence of Lord North, pensioned for
life; she settled at Englesfield, Berkshire County, England, where she
died in 1789 at the age of eighty.
JOSHUA LORING, JR. was a twin brother of Benjamin Loring, sons of
Commodore Loring. He was born Nov., 1744. He was an Addresser of
Governor Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gen. Gage in 1775. One of the last
official acts of the latter in Boston was his proclamation of June 7,
1775, appointing Mr. Loring "sole vendue-master and auctioneer." He was
High Sheriff and a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery
Company in 1769. In 1776 he went to Halifax with the Royal Army, and,
early the next year, he was appointed Commissary of Prisoners by Sir
William Howe. He was severely criticized at the time by the
Revolutionists, for cruelties to his unfortunate countrymen who were
prisoners, but as Sabine truly says, "it is not easy to ascertain the
truth or to determine his personal responsibility in the treatment of
prisoners."[252] He was proscribed and banished, and died in England in
1789, aged forty-five. His wife was a Miss Lloyd, to whom he was married
at the house of Colonel Hatch in Dorchester in 1769. His son,
SIR JOHN WENTWORTH LORING was born in Roxbury, Oct., 1773; was baptized
in Trinity church by Rev. D. Walters, Nov. 29; was a midshipman in the
British navy, and from 1819 to 1837 was Lieut. Governor of the Royal
Naval College. In 1841 was advanced to the rank of Rear Admiral of the
Red and in 1847 was promoted Vice Admiral of the White. His son,
William, was Captain of the "Scout" in the Royal Navy.
[252] A similar case occurred during the Civil War, there was probably
no man whose memory was more execrated, and who was regarded as a
monster than Wirz, the Commander at Andersonville, who was hanged by the
U. S. Government, and yet forty-five years afterwards the Daughters of
the Confederacy have erected a beautiful monument to his memory at
Andersonville.
DR. BENJAMIN LORING, twin brother of Joshua Loring, Jr., born in 1744,
graduated at Harvard College in 1772. He was a Surgeon in a Regiment in
the King's service in South Carolina. At the peace, accompanied by his
family of five persons, and by one servant, he went from New York to
Shelburne, Nova Scotia. His losses in consequences of his loyalty were
estimated at $15,000. He was an absentee but not proscribed. He returned
to Boston and died there in 1798, aged sixty-five.
COMMODORE JOHN LORING, son of Commodore Joshua, was a midshipman in the
Royal Navy, at fourteen years of age. In 1776 he was one of four
prisoners taken in the schooner Valent, and sent into Boston, as there
was no place provided for prisoners he was sent to Concord Jail by the
Council, who ordered "that Edward Marsh, and John Loring should not use
pen or paper, nor any one allowed to speak to them, but in the presence
of the jailor". His uncle Obediah Curtis being a very influential man,
interceded for him so strenuously, he being but quite a youth, that he
was released and sent to the care of Col. Buckminster of Framingham, his
wife's father. His kind host was in danger of having his home demolished
for harboring a "young Tory", on account of the young man calling his
neighbors "rascally rebels." In 1776 he was exchanged and returned to
England. He was early a Post Captain. In 1793 he had command of the
British Squadron in the Camatic. In 1803 he had command of the Frigate
Bellerophon (which in 1813 conveyed Napoleon to St. Helena) and captured
the French Frigate Duquesne, 74 guns, and a national schooner. In the
same year he was Commodore of the British Fleet off Cape Francoix,
which blockaded and defeated the French squadron, and the troops under
Rochambeau, Nov. 30, 1803. Commodore John Loring died at his seat in
Farehan, Nov. 9, 1808, leaving a widow and children. The Naval service
lost in him "one of its most brave, zealous and humane officers." He
married Miss Macneal of Campleton Argyleshire, a lady of great beauty.
His son Hector, became captain of the Howe, 120 guns, of the Royal Navy.
He married Miss Charlotte Jessy, daughter of James Jamison of the Royal
Bengal Medical Service. His eldest son John, a midshipman on board of
the Eurylas, in 1820, died of the yellow fever at Bermuda.
JOSEPH ROYAL LORING, son of Commodore Joshua, probably never married. He
was captain of the Brigantine "William," owned by Richard Clarke and
Sons, of Boston, engaged in bringing tea from London to Boston. It was
the fourth and last vessel on the East India Company's account to sail
there. She was cast ashore at Provincetown on Cape Cod. The tea was
saved and conveyed to the Castle in Boston Harbor. Very little is known
afterwards of Captain Royal Loring.
LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO JOSHUA LORING IN SUFFOLK COUNTY
AND TO WHOM SOLD.
To John Keyes, Aug. 31, 1779; Lib. 130, fol. 191; Land 19 A.,
mansion house and barn in Roxbury, Joshua Loring N. and N.E.;
Lemuel May E.; Ebenezer Weld S.; road leading to Dedham W.; then
running S.; E. and N. on land of John Keyes.
To Isaac Sears, Oct. 28, 1779; Lib. 130, fol. 237; Farm, 54 A. 3
qr. 9 r., and mansion house in Roxbury, road leading by Jamaica
meeting-house to Boston W.; heirs of Mr. Burroughs deceased N. and
N.W.; lane N.E.; lane and Capt. May E.; land of Joshua Loring,
absentee, now of John Keyes S.----5 1-2 A. salt marsh, creek W.;
Mr. Bowdoin S.; heirs of Joseph Weld deceased E.; heirs of John
Williams deceased N.
To James Swan, Feb. 1, 1782; Lib. 134, fol. 6; Wood or pasture
land, 8 A. 31 r., in Brookline, road W.; Mr. Crafts N.W. and N.E.;
Capt. Baker S.E.
To John Tufts, Apr. 28. 1783; Lib. 138, fol. 101; Land and
dwelling-house in Boston, common or training-field N.W.; West St. N
E.; David Colson S.E.; heirs or assigns of Dr. George Stewart S.W.
To Ellis Gray, Nov 23, 1795; Lib. 181, fol. 275; Wood and pasture
land, 24 1-2 A. 7 r., in Roxbury, near Henry Williams; Caleb
Williams and Mr. Morries S.E.; Ebenezer Chanies S.W.; Mr. Bourn
N.W. and N.E.
ROBERT WINTHROP.
The most prominent name in Massachusetts History is that of Winthrop.
Governor John Winthrop has been called the "Father of Boston." From the
date of the first settlement of Massachusetts to the present time, the
name of Winthrop has been prominent in each generation.
The family of Winthrops of Groton Manor, Suffolk County, England, took
its name by tradition, from the village of Winthrope, near Newark, in
Nottinghamshire. The earliest ancestor of whom anything is known with
certainty is
I. Adam Winthrop, known to have been living at Lavenham, in Suffolk in
1498, who had, by his wife Jane Burton, a son--
II. Adam Winthrop second of that name, born in Lavenham, Oct. 9, 1498,
died in Groton, Nov. 9, 1562, who became a wealthy London merchant,
acquired the manor of Groton, near Lavenham, in 1544; was inscribed
Armiger by Edward VI. in 1548, and in 1551 was Master of the influential
Company of Clothworkers. He had thirteen children, several of whom
became distinguished. His third son was--
III. Adam Winthrop, third of that name, who came into possession of
Groton Manor. He was born in London, Aug. 10th, 1548, died at Groton
March 28, 1623. He was a lawyer and county magistrate, and married
Alice, sister of Dr. John Still, Bishop of Bath and Wells. His only son
was--
IV. John Winthrop, born Jan. 12, and died in Boston, March 26, 1649. He
was a lawyer and magistrate, and became a great Puritan leader, and led
the greatest emigration that had ever gone forth from England up to this
time. In February, 1630, preparations began to be made with vigor for
the embarkation of a great colony, by the end of the month a fleet of
fourteen vessels was ready with men, women and children, and all
necessary men of handicrafts, and others of good condition, wealth, and
quality, to make a firm plantation. In this fleet were congregated the
forefathers of Massachusetts, with their wives and little ones, about to
quit forever their native country, kindred, friends, and acquaintances.
They were to leave the land of their fathers, perhaps forever, to break
assunder those chords of affection, which so powerfully bind a good man
to his native soil, and to dissolve those tender associations which
constitute the bliss of civil society, and to seek in an unknown
wilderness, a new home, which in time would become a great nation. On
the 8th of June, 1630, the fleet sighted land, Mt. Desert, and regaled
themselves with fish of their own catching. "So pleasant a scene here
they had, as did much refresh them, and there came a smell off the
shore, like the smell of a garden." On the 12th, they came to anchor in
Salem harbor, and by 14th of July, thirteen out of the fourteen ships
had arrived safely, the other vessel, the Mary & John, was the first to
arrive, and had landed their passengers at Dorchester. Governor
Winthrop, after his arrival at Salem, determined to remove to a point of
land between two rivers flowing into Boston Harbor, and named the town
Charlestown, in honor of Charles I. The next year the Governor caused
the settlement to remove across the Charles river to another point of
land called by the Indians "Shawmut," signifying the place of living
waters, which caused the removal there. The Governor settled alongside
of the "Great Spring" on the present site of the Old South church, next
to Spring Lane, which runs into Water street, hence the name. The place
was called Boston, named after Boston, Lincolnshire, England, from which
place some of the settlers came, and the County was named Suffolk. Thus
Boston was settled by the English Puritans under the leadership of
Governor Winthrop.[253]
[253] For a detailed account of the career and writings of this
illustrious man, see two volumes of his "Life And Letters," by his
descendant, Hon. Robert C. Winthrop.
Governor Winthrop had five daughters and two sons, the elder resided
chiefly in Connecticut and the younger in Massachusetts, generally known
as, VI, Wait Still Winthrop or Wait Winthrop, born in Boston, Feb. 27,
1642, died Nov. 7, 1717. A soldier of the Indian wars, for more than
thirty years Major General commanding the Provincial Forces of Mass.,
Judge of the Superior Court, Judge of Admiralty and some time Chief
Justice of Mass. He married Mary, daughter of Hon. William Brown, of
Salem, by whom he had one daughter, Ann, wife of Thomas Lechmere,
brother of Lord Lechmere, and an only son, VII, John Winthrop, born in
Boston, Aug. 26, 1681, died at Sydenham Aug. 1, 1742, graduated at
Harvard College in 1700. Failing to receive the political preferment to
which claim he conceived a sort of hereditary claim, he went to England
to reside in 1727. He became an active member of Royal Society, of whose
transactions one volume is dedicated to him, he resided there until his
death. He had five daughters and two sons, the eldest, VIII, John Still
Winthrop, born in Boston, Jan. 15, 1720, died June 6, 1776. Graduated at
Yale College in 1737. In early life he resided with his father in
England, and occasionally in Boston, but after his marriage, chiefly in
New London, Conn., where he built a large house, still standing at the
head of Winthrop's Cove, described in 1787 as the best house in the
Province. He had fourteen children, five daughters and nine sons. Of his
sons, two died in childhood. John and William died unmarried. Francis
Bayard Winthrop went to New York, also Benjamin Winthrop. Joseph
Winthrop went to Charleston, S. C.
THOMAS LINDALL WINTHROP. Born March 6, 1760, died in Boston, Feb. 21,
1841. Graduated at Harvard College 1780, was Lieutenant Governor of
Massachusetts from 1826 to 1833. He married in 1786, Elizabeth, daughter
of Sir John Temple, Bart., and granddaughter of James Bowdoin of Boston,
Governor of Massachusetts. Their son, the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, was
the most conspicuous member of the family in America for a long period.
In his memoir of the Winthrop family he says "From the above five
brothers descend the numerous branches of the Winthrop family, now
widely scattered in different parts of the United States and
Europe."[254] It does not appear that either of them joined the
revolutionists or took any part in the war, except the youngest son, who
was a staunch loyalist, and was of great service to his country.
[254] A Short Account of the Winthrop family by Robert C. Winthrop.
The youngest son of John Still Winthrop, was, IX, Robert Winthrop, the
subject of this sketch, born in New London, Dec. 7, 1764, died at Dover,
England, May 10, 1832. During the Revolution he was appointed a
Midshipman in the Royal Navy. In 1790 he was a Lieutenant; and six
years later a Post Captain. He attained the rank of Rear Admiral in
1809, and of Vice Admiral in 1830. He served on board of the flagship of
Sir George B. Rodney in the memorable victory over the French April 12,
1782. The French Admiral, Count de Grasse, fresh from his victory at
Yorktown, had refitted at Martinique's dock yards, and with the
assistance of the Spaniards, who had fitted out a fleet at Havana,
intended to capture Jamaica, and drive the English out of the West
Indies. All the Lesser Antilles were his own, except St. Lucia. There
alone the English flag still flew as Rodney lay in the harbor of
Castries, and saw the French fleet becalmed under the high lands of
Dominica. All day long the cannon roared, and one by one the French
ships struck their flags or fought on till they sank. Rodney's flagship
came alongside of the Ville de Paris, the pride of France and the
largest ship in the world, on which De Grasse commanded in person. He
fought after all hope had gone, with her masts shattered, her decks
littered with mangled limbs and bodies. He gave up his sword to Rodney.
The French fleet was destroyed, fourteen thousand were killed, besides
the prisoners. On that memorable day the British Empire was saved and
Yorktown was avenged. He was at the conquest of Martinique and St. Lucia
in 1794, also captured a French corvette. He was wrecked in the frigate
Undaunted. He was on duty in the North Sea. He superintended the landing
of troops in the expedition against Ostend. Entrusted with a small
squadron to cruise off Holland, his boats burned a store-ship, made
prize of fifteen merchant vessels, a sloop-of-war, and an armed
schooner. He assisted in the capture of the Helder. Stranded in the
frigate Stag, he was compelled, after saving her stores, to burn her.
Stationed on the coast of Spain, in the Ardent of sixty-four guns, he
drove on shore a French frigate, which was set on fire and burned by her
own crew. Such is the bare outline of the great services he rendered on
the ocean.
In 1807 the Sea Fencibles of the Dover district was placed under his
orders. He married Miss Farbrace. He died at Dover in 1832. Two sons and
four daughters survived him.
NATHANIEL HATCH.
Colonel Estes Hatch was one of the most prominent and wealthy men of
Dorchester. He owned many negro slaves who worked on his extensive
estate, comprising sixty acres of land on the southerly side of Dudley
street, lying part in Roxbury and a part in Dorchester. It included
Little Woods, afterward known as Swan's woods.
Col. Hatch commanded the Troop of Horse, in Boston, led a company at the
capture of Louisberg and died in 1759. He was prominent in town affairs,
and held the principal military offices, and at the time of his death
was Brigadier General of Horse. His wife was Mary, daughter of Rev.
Benjamin Rolfe, her father and mother and their youngest child were
killed by the Indians in their home at Haverhill in 1708. Col. Hatch and
Mary Rolfe were married Nov. 9th, 1716.
NATHANIEL HATCH, son of Col. Hatch, graduated at Harvard College in
1742, and subsequently held the office of Clerk of the Courts. He was a
firm loyalist, and at the evacuation of Boston in 1776, he went to
Halifax with the British troops. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished,
and in 1779 was included in the Conspiracy Act, by which his large and
valuable estate was confiscated, it was bought afterwards by Captain
James Swan, who paid L18,000 for it, and who soon afterwards offered it
to Gov. Hancock for L45,000. Writing to Hancock, Swan say: "The mansion
house can be refitted in as elegant a manner as it once was for about
L4,000." During Swan's residence here he made the house a seat of
hospitality, entertaining among others persons of distinction. The
Marquis de Viomel, second in command of Rochambeau's army, Admiral
d'Estaing, the Marquis de Lafayette and General Knox.[255]
[255] Town of Roxbury by F. S. Drake. P. 134, 135.
Nathaniel Hatch married July 7, 1755, Elizabeth Lloyd. They had several
children. Paxton, born Oct. 9, 1758; Mary, born Jan. 14, 1760;
Addington, born Sept. 22, 1761; Jane, born March 10, 1767; Susannah
Paxton, born March 13, 1770. Nathaniel Hatch died in 1780.
LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO NATHANIEL HATCH IN SUFFOLK
COUNTY AND TO WHOM SOLD.
To Samuel Dunn, Jr., July 11, 1781; Lib. 132, fol. 263; Land, 60
A.; and mansion house in Dorchester, road to Dorchester meeting
house N.; Jonas Humphrey, Thomas Wiswall and James Bird E. and S.;
John Holbrook S.; John Williams, Samuel Humphrey and brook between
Dorchester and Roxbury W. and N.
CHRISTOPHER HATCH.
Of Boston. When the Royal Army evacuated that town, March 17, 1776,
cannon, shot, and shells were left on his wharf, and in the dock. In
1778 he was proscribed and banished. He accepted a commission under the
crown, and was a Captain in the Loyal American regiment. He was wounded
and commended for his gallantry. At the peace he retired on half pay,
about L80 per annum. He was a grantee of the city of St. John, N. B.,
soon after going there established himself as a merchant near the
frontier, and finally at St. Andrews. He was a magistrate, and colonel,
in the militia. He died at St. Andrews, 1819, aged seventy. Elizabeth,
his widow, died at the same place, 1830, at the age of seventy-five.
HARRIS HATCH, son of Christopher, was a gentleman of consideration in
New Brunswick, where he held the office of Member of her Majesty's
Council Commission of Bankruptcies, Surrogate, Registrar of Deeds,
member of the Board of Education, Lieut. Colonel in the Militia, and
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.
HAWES HATCH, of Boston, brother of Christopher Hatch. He went to Halifax
with the Royal Army in 1776. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. He
entered the service, and in 1782 was a captain in De Lancey's Second
Battalion. He retired on half pay at the close of the war, and was a
grantee of the city of St. John. For some years after the Revolution, he
lived at and near Eastport, Maine, on the frontier. He died at Lebanon,
N. H., in 1807.[256]
[256] Sabine's Loyalists.
WARD CHIPMAN.
John Chipman was born in Whitechurch, near Dorchester, England, about
1614, and died April 7, 1708. He sailed from Barnstable, Devon County in
May, 1631, in the ship Friendship, arriving in Boston July 14th, 1631.
John Chipman was the first and only one of the name to seek a home in
America, and up to 1850 there was no Chipman in this country who was not
descended from him. He was for many years a selectman, then in Plymouth
County invested with the authority of a magistrate, and was often a
"Deputy to Court" and he, with three assistants, was designated to
frequent the early Quaker meetings and "endeavor to reduce them from the
errors of their wayes". In 1646 he married Hope, second daughter of John
and Elizabeth Howland, born in Plymouth, Mass., 1629, died 1683.
John Chipman had eleven children, and except a son and daughter who died
in infancy, all survived him. His eldest son Samuel Chipman, was born in
Barnstable, Mass., 1661, and died in 1723. He built on the paternal
homestead near the Custom House the "Chipman Tavern," which continued in
the line of his posterity until 1830. He was by record a yeoman, and an
inn-holder. He too had eleven children.
Rev. John Chipman, of the third generation, was the third son of Samuel
aforesaid, was born in Barnstable 1691, died March 23, 1775. He
graduated from Harvard College in 1711, and was ordained 1715 as pastor
of the first church in the precinct of Salem and Beverly, now North
Beverly. He married, first, Rebecca Hale, and, second, Hannah, daughter
of Joseph Warren, of Roxbury. He had fifteen children, all by the first
marriage.
John Chipman of the fourth generation, eldest son of Rev. John Chipman,
was born in Beverly 1722, died 1768. Graduated from Harvard College in
1738, admitted to the practice of law, which at the time of his death
embraced only twenty-five barristers in Massachusetts, which also
included then the district of Maine. He had abilities of a rare order,
his services were appreciated and sought in distant localities. While
arguing a case before the Superior Court at Falmouth (Portland), Maine,
he was suddenly seized with apoplexy, from which he died. He had twelve
children.
WARD CHIPMAN, the subject of this biography, was of the fifth
generation, and the fourth son of the aforesaid John Chipman. He was
born in Marblehead, Mass., July 30, 1754, and died at Fredericton, N.
B., Feb. 9, 1824. He graduated from Harvard College in 1770. His
graduation oration being the first delivered there in the vernacular
language. He studied law in Boston under the direction of Hon. Daniel
Leonard, and Hon. Jonathan Sewell, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of
Massachusetts. Ward Chipman and Daniel Leonard, with fifteen other
names, appear upon "The Loyal Address" to Gov. Gage on his departure
from Boston in 1775 as "of those gentlemen who were driven from their
Habitations in the country to Boston."[257] He left Boston at the
evacuation and went with the army to Halifax, "being obliged to abandon
his native land." He then went to England, where he was allowed a
pension in common with a long list of his suffering fellow-countrymen,
but a state of inaction being ill-suited to his ardent mind, in less
than a year he relinquished his pension and rejoined the King's troops
at New York, where he was employed in the Military Department and in the
practice of the Court of Admiralty. In 1782 he held the office of Deputy
Mustermaster-General, of the Loyalist forces.
[257] Chipmans of America.
In 1783 he was one of the fifty-five who petitioned for extensive grants
of lands in Nova Scotia, out of which was erected the province of New
Brunswick, of which province he was appointed Solicitor-General and
continually afterwards bore a conspicuous part, and attained the highest
honors. He was a member of the House of Assembly and Advocate at the
Bar, a Member of his Majesty's Council, a Judge of the Supreme Court,
Agent for the settling of disputed points of boundary with the United
States until he closed his mortal career while administering the
Government of the Colony as President, and Commander in Chief, during a
vacancy in the office of Lieut. Governor. His remains were conveyed from
Fredericton to St. John where a tablet, adds to above quoted statement,
the following: "Distinguished during the whole of his varied and active
life, for his superior abilities and unweariable zeal, for genuine
integrity and singular humanity and benevolence, his loss was
universally deplored; and this frail tribute from his nearest connection
affords but a feeble expression of the affectionate respect with which
they cherished the memory of his virtues."
Hon. Ward Chipman married Elizabeth, daughter of Hon. William Hazen of
Haverhill, Mass., and his wife, the only daughter of Dr. Joseph LeBaron
of Plymouth, Mass. She died at St. John in 1852 in her eighty-sixth
year. The wife of Hon. William Gray of Boston was his sister. Ward, his
only child, was born July 21, 1787, graduated at Harvard College in
1805, where so many of his ancestors had before him. He held many places
of honor and trust; was finally chief justice of New Brunswick, and died
at St. John in 1851 in his sixty-fifth year. While the Prince of Wales,
now King Edward VII., was in that city in August, 1860, he occupied the
Chipman mansion.
GOVERNOR EDWARD WINSLOW.
Edward Winslow was born at Droitwich, Worcestershire, England, 19
October, 1595. He appears to have been a well educated and accomplished
man. In the course of his travels on the continent of Europe he went to
Leyden and there became acquainted with Mr. John Robinson, and the
church under his pastoral charge, which he joined in 1617. He married
the 16th of May, 1618, and settled in that city till the church removed
to America in 1620. In his "Brief Narration" he says: And when the ship
was ready to carry us away the bretheren that stayed feasted us that
were to go at our pastor's home. After tears and singing of psalms they
accompanied us to Delph's Haven, where we were to embark, and there
feasted us again. But we, going aboard ship lying at the quay ready to
sail, the wind fair, we gave them a volley of small shot and three
pieces of ordnance, and so lifting up our hands to each other and our
hearts to the Lord we departed, etc.
Winslow's name is third on the list of those who subscribed to the
Covenant, or compact, before the disembarkation at Cape Cod. He was one
of the first who came on shore to seek out the most eligible place for
founding a settlement in this wild and unknown land. He was a gentleman
of the best family of any of the Pilgrims, his father, Edward Winslow,
Esq., being a person of importance in Droitwich. In all the initiatory
labor for establishing this little colony, the nucleus of a great
nation, he was ever active and influential in promoting the welfare of
the Pilgrims, who on account of the respectability of his family, and
the excellent qualities of his mind and heart appear to have regarded
him with more than ordinary respect and confidence, which was never
misplaced.
At the annual election in 1624 Mr. Winslow was elected Assistant and in
1644 Governor of Plymouth Colony.
In 1655 Oliver Cromwell appointed three commissioners, of which number
Winslow was the chief, to go with an expedition against the Spaniards in
the West Indies under Admiral Penn and General Venables. The three
commissioners to direct their operations. After an unsuccessful attack
on St. Domingo, the fleet sailed for Jamaica, which surrendered without
any resistance. But Mr. Winslow, who partook of the chagrin of defeat,
did not live to enjoy the pleasure of victory. In the passage between
Hispaniola and Jamaica the heat of the climate threw him into a fever,
which put an end to his life on May 8, 1655, in the sixty-first year of
his age. His body was committed to the deep, with the honors of war,
forty-two guns being fired by the fleet on that occasion.
After Bradford, Plymouth Colony owed to no man so much as to Edward
Winslow. Always intelligent, generous, confident, and indefatigable, he
was undoubtingly trusted for any service at home or abroad which the
infant settlement required.
JOSIAH WINSLOW, the only surviving son of Governor Edward Winslow, was
born at Plymouth in 1629 and died on the family estate, Careswell,
Marshfield, Dec. 18, 1680, in the 52nd year of his age. He was buried at
the expense of the colony "in testimony of the colony's endeared love
and affection for him." He married Penelope, daughter of Herbert Pelham,
Esq., who came to Boston in 1645.
He stood upon the uppermost heights of society, he reached every
elevation that could be obtained, and there was nothing left for
ambition to covet, because all had been gained. He was the first
native-born general and the first native-born governor. The governor
acquired the highest military rank and had engaged in active and
successful warfare with the highest command in New England. He presided
over the legislative, executive and judicial departments of the
government. In addition to his military and civil distinction he
acquired that of being the most delightful companion in the colony. He
lived on his ample paternal domain and his hospitality was magnificent
and the attractions of the festive board at Careswell were heightened by
the charm of his beautiful wife. He was elected governor in 1673, which
office he held until his death. He was succeeded by his only surviving
son.
ISAAC WINSLOW, born in 1670 and died Dec. 6, 1738. This eminently
distinguished man sustained the chief places of power and honor in the
colony, and was a worthy successor to his father in being its chief
military commander, a member of the Council for more than 20 years and
for some time its president, and for several years Chief Justice of the
Court of Common Pleas, and Judge of Probate; the last office he held at
his death. His eldest son, Josiah, graduated at Harvard College in 1721,
was killed in battle with the French and Indians at Georges Island, May
1st, 1724. His second son, great grandson of the first governor of
Plymouth, was the celebrated
JOHN WINSLOW, born in Marshfield, May 27, 1702, and died in Hingham,
1774, in his 73rd year. No native of New England, probably, except Sir
William Pepperell, was more distinguished as a military leader. In
1740-1 he was a captain in the unfortunate expedition to Cartagena under
the command of Admiral Vernon, and subsequently endured much hard
service in the several enterprises against Crown Point and Nova Scotia.
He will be remembered in our annals principally in removing the
Arcadians from Nova Scotia. The forces employed by the Colony at this
period was composed almost entirely of Massachusetts troops, specially
enlisted for the service to act as a distinct body. They formed into a
regiment of two battalions, of which Governor Shirley was the Colonel,
and of which Winslow, then a half-pay Captain in the British army and a
Major-General in the Militia, was Lieutenant-Colonel. As Shirley could
not leave his government to take command in person, Monckton, a
Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army, was appointed to conduct the first
battalion and Winslow the second. The plan for abducting the Arcadians
was kept a profound secret, both by those who formed it and by those who
were sent to execute, the home government knew nothing about it and it
appears to have been done solely by the Colonial government; Colonel
Winslow was but the instrument and acted under the Governor's written
and positive instructions.
In 1756 Major-General Winslow took the field with eight thousand men
raised in New England and New York to repel the French invasion and
marched against Montcalm, who to save Crown Point and Ticonderoga made a
movement from Oswego by the St. Lawrence River. As soon as the French
General returned to Canada, Winslow and his army returned to
Massachusetts.
In 1762 he was appointed with William Brattle and James Otis to act as
Commissioner "to repair to the river St. Croix, determine where the
easterly line of Maine is to begin and extend the said line as far as
should be thought necessary." In compliment to General Winslow, "the
fourth of a family more eminent for their talents, learning and honors
than any other in New England," one of the towns on the Kennebec River
in 1771 was called by his name. Of this town he was one of the original
grantees. He died at Hingham in 1774, aged seventy-one, leaving two sons
and a widow, who embarked with the Royal Army from Boston in 1776. She
was in England in 1783, and enjoyed a pension from the government.
Pelham Winslow, eldest son of General John, was born June 8th, 1737,
graduated at Harvard College in 1753, and entered the office of James
Otis to fit himself for the bar, was a staunch loyalist. In 1774 he
abandoned his home to escape mob violence and took refuge in Boston. At
the evacuation in 1776 he accompanied the Royal Army to Halifax, and
thence went to New York, where he entered the military service of the
Crown, and was Major. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. He died at
Brooklyn, New York, in 1783, leaving a wife and an infant daughter.
Dr. Isaac Winslow, second son of General John, born April 7, 1739,
graduated at Harvard College in 1762, died in 1819. He commenced the
practice of physic, and though of the same principles as other members
of his family, remained upon his estate during the war, and his life,
thereby saving it from confiscation, for although he was a strong
loyalist his medical services were of such great value to the
revolutionists that they did not drive him forth and deprive him of his
property. Sabine says: I find it said, and the authority good, that in
1778 he treated about three hundred patients inoculated with smallpox,
and such was his remarkable success not one of them died. His son John,
an eminent lawyer, deceased at Natchez in 1820. His widow, Frances, died
at Hingham in 1846, aged eighty-four. The family tomb of the Winslows is
at Marshfield, on the Careswell estate, of which Governor Winslow was
the first owner. It was afterwards purchased by Daniel Webster, on which
he resided until his death.
EDWARD WINSLOW, only brother of General John, born June 7, 1714, died at
Halifax in 1784, aged seventy-two years. He graduated at Harvard College
in 1765, resided at Plymouth, was Clerk of the Courts, Register of
Probate, Collector of the Port. He was obliged to seek shelter in Boston
from mob violence, at the evacuation in 1776 went with the Army to
Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he died. The ceremonies at his funeral were
of a style to confer the highest honors to himself, and his illustrious
family. His estates in Massachusetts were confiscated, but every branch
of his family was amply provided for by the generosity of the British
Government.
EDWARD WINSLOW, JR., only son of the aforesaid Edward. He was born in
1745, died at Fredericton, N. B., 1815, aged seventy years, graduated at
Harvard College in 1765. In 1774, the Plymouth County Convention
"Resolved, That Edward Winslow, Jr., one of the two clerks of the Court
of General Sessions of the Peace and Court of Common Pleas for this
County, has, by refusing this body a copy of an Address made at the last
term in this County, to Thomas Hutchinson, Esq., betrayed the trust
reposed in him, by refusing his attendance when requested, treated the
body of this county with insult and contempt, and by that means rendered
himself unworthy to serve the county in said office."
In 1775 he joined the Royal Army at Boston, and entering the service
became a Colonel. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. In 1782 he was
Muster-Master-General of the Loyalist forces employed under the Crown.
After the war he settled in New Brunswick, and was a member of the first
Council formed in that Colony, Surrogate-General, Judge of the Supreme
Court, and finally Administrator of the Government. The Royal Arms which
for many years were displayed in the Council Chamber in the Old State
House in Boston, still exist, and are carefully preserved in Trinity
church, St. John, N. B. The story of their exit from Boston, and by what
means they came to find a permanent home at St. John, were not known
till recently, when documents were found, which leave no question or
room for doubt.
In the winter of 1785 Edward Winslow was at Halifax and Ward Chipman, a
fellow refugee from Boston, had taken up his residence at St. John. In a
letter of Mr. Winslow to Mr. Chipman on the 16th January, 1785, he says,
"Give my old Custom House seal to Mr. Leonard, and tell him I'll forward
_the famous carv'd Coat of Arms_ by the first conveyance from Halifax."
A subsequent letter to Mr. Chipman, refers more fully to the subject
which is in part as follows:
Halifax, 25 March, 1785.
My Dear Fellow:
By the schooner Halifax I send a small assortment of stationery as
per invoice.... In the box with your stationery is a venerable Coat
of Arms, which I authorize you to present to the Council Chamber,
or any other respectable public Room, which you shall think best
entitled to it. They (Lyon & Unicorn) were constant members of the
Council at Boston (by mandamus) ran away when the others did--have
suffered--are of course Refugees and have a claim for residence at
New Brunswick.
Cordially yours
ED. WINSLOW.[258]
Ward Chipman, Esq.
[258] See Royal Memorials by Rev. Edmund F. Shafter. Also cut of Coat of
Arms on outside cover of this work.
Judge Winslow was one of the founders of the Old Colony Club, at
Plymouth, and was one of its most active members. He delivered the first
anniversary address of that association on the 22 of December or
Forefathers' Day, in 1770.
ISAAC WINSLOW was a Boston merchant, son of Col. Edward Winslow, born
May 2, 1709. He was the third in descent from John Winslow who came from
Droitwich to Boston in 1655, and died in 1674. He was a brother of
Governor Edward of the Plymouth Colony. He was a gentleman highly
esteemed for his benevolence and other virtues. He graduated at Harvard
College in 1727, then entered the counting room of James Bowdoin, and
subsequently with his brother Joshua carried on an extensive and
profitable business in Boston. They also became considerable ship
owners, and had one ship constantly in the London trade. Joshua was one
of the consignees of the tea destroyed by the mob. Isaac retired from
business in 1753, and became a resident of Roxbury. He was the last
occupant of the Dudley mansion, which was razed to the ground a few days
after the battle of Bunker Hill, to make way for the works erected here
by the Americans. The Universalist church was built upon its site. In
making the necessary excavation for the church, the wine cellar of the
mansion was unearthed and strange to say, as it may seem, the liquors
were, after a lapse of forty-five years, found intact.[259]
[259] The Town of Roxbury. Francis S. Drake, pp. 355-6.
In June 1760 he received the thanks of the town for a gift of land near
Meeting House Hill. His first wife, Lucy, daughter of Gen. Samuel Waldo,
died in Roxbury in 1763, at the age of forty-three.
In 1774 he was an Addresser of Gov. Hutchinson, and 1775 of Gen. Gage.
He was appointed Mandamus Councillor, and was qualified. This was an
offence that could not be forgiven by the disunionists.
Though a loyalist, his moderation and his character made him less
obnoxious to the revolutionists than his neighbors, Auchmuty, Hallowell,
and Loring. His virtues, however, could not save him from the fury of
the mob. Immediately after the Lexington affair, he took refuge in
Boston.
In 1776, with his family of ten persons, he accompanied the Royal Army
to Halifax, and in 1778 was proscribed and banished, and his estates
confiscated. In his religious belief he was a Sandemanian. Jemima, his
widow, died at London in 1790.
REV. EDWARD WINSLOW was an Episcopal minister of Braintree, now Quincy,
Mass. He was born in Boston in 1722. Graduated at Harvard College in
1741. His father Joshua was a brother of the aforesaid Isaac Winslow,
and son of Colonel Edward Winslow.
The North Precinct of Braintree, now Quincy, had the reputation of being
a "nest of Tories," owing to the presence of the Church of England
people, connected with Christ Church. The mother English society was
most liberal in dealing with its offshoot and until the Revolution, it
annually sent over sixty pounds sterling for the support of the
minister. In all, it is said to have spent over thirteen thousand
dollars in building up this church. Naturally the society was inclined
to a friendly feeling toward the hand which fed it. To it the
Apthorpe's, the Vassall's, the Borland's, the Cleverly's and the
Millers, indeed all the gentry of the neighborhood with the exception of
the Quincy's, belonged, the Adam's not being in this class at that time.
It was here the same as elsewhere throughout the colonies, the ministers
of the Established Church of England stood condemned in the eyes of
revolutionists, neither seclusion, insignificance nor high character was
able to save the clergy from the fury of the mobs.
In June, 1777, a town meeting was called for the purpose of agreeing
upon a list of those persons who were "esteemed inimical" to the popular
cause. This was in the nature of a formal indictment of the whole
society, for among the names of those recorded as "inimical" were its
rector, its wardens, and all its leading members.
The Rev. Edward Winslow, the rector of Christ Church, found his
situation uncomfortable in the extreme, nor was it any longer safe for
him to read the prayer for the King. Yet he seems to have struggled on
vainly hoping for better days, until his salary was stopped, and many of
his people had moved away. Then in 1777, taking very properly the ground
that his ordination oath compelled him to conform literally to the
Prayer Book he "with sad and silent musings" resigned his charge. Going
to New York, which was then in British occupation, Mr. Winslow died
there in 1780 before the close of the war. He lies buried under the
altar of St. George's Church in that city. Jane Isabella, his widow,
died at Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1793, aged sixty-six.
Joseph Winslow of Boston was a merchant, he was born in 1724, and died
in 1777, was the son of Kenelm, the great grandson of Kenelm of
Droitwich, the brother of Governor Winslow, who died at Salem in 1672.
[Illustration: SIR ROGER HALE SHEAFFE, BARONET.
Born in Boston in 1763. Though reluctant to serve against his
countrymen, yet at Queenstown's Heights he drove the American army over
the heights into the Niagra river, for which he received the title of
Baronet. Died at Edinburgh in 1851.]
He was possibly the Joseph Winslow who took part at the Siege of
Louisberg, and was amongst the number to volunteer under the command of
Bacon to attack the island Battery, and was the Joseph Winslow referred
to by the Committee of Newport, R. I., of which Jonathan Otis was
chairman, who wrote to the Committee of Easthampton, New York, in June,
1775, that he was "an inveterate enemy of our country" and that "it was
generally thought he had gone to a hospital to take the small pox for
the purpose of spreading the disease in the Whig Camp at Cambridge."
Sabine says the truth of this averment may be doubted.
LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO ISAAC WINSLOW IN SUFFOLK COUNTY
AND TO WHOM SOLD.
To Ebenezer Crosbey, June 15, 1782; Lib. 135, fol. 20; Assignment
of mortgage Joseph Crosby to Isaac Winslow, dated Aug. 5, 1768.
SIR ROGER HALE SHEAFFE, BARONET.
WILLIAM S. SHEAFFE, of Charlestown, was born in 1649, and married in
1672 Ruth Woods. He was a mariner, and they had three sons and three
daughters. His son William, born 1683, married Mary Longfellow, a widow,
in 1704. He died in 1718, and his widow in 1720. They had five sons and
two daughters. His eldest son William Sheaffe, Jr., was born 13 Jan.,
1705. He graduated at Harvard College in 1723, and married Susanna
Child, Oct. 1st, 1752.[260]
[260] There was a family of Sheaffe's in Boston much earlier than 1672,
when William Sheaffe's name first appears on the records, but I do not
find any connection between the two families, except that James Sheaffe
of Portsmouth, N. H., of the Boston family, was a loyalist. He was
allowed to remain, although much persecuted. (See Heraldic Journal, Vol.
IX. p. 85, also Wyman's Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, and
History of Portsmouth, N. H.)
WILLIAM SHEAFFE was Deputy Collector of Customs of Boston. He frequently
acted as Collector in the absence of Sir Henry Frankland, who held that
office in 1759, and when the Baronet was removed for inattention to his
duties, he was appointed to fill the vacant place, and issued the
celebrated "Writs of Assistance," giving the Revenue officers the right
to search for smuggled goods. Roger Hale succeeded as Collector in 1672,
when Sheaffe was again Deputy. He continued in that office under Joseph
Harrison, who was the last Royal Collector of the port. Mr. Sheaffe died
in 1771, leaving a large family in poverty. There is ample evidence that
Mrs. Sheaffe was an intelligent, excellent woman, and bore many trials
with pious resignation, and that the Sheaffe's were a loving and happy
family. Mrs. Sheaffe died in 1811.
SUSANNA, Mr. Sheaffe's eldest daughter, who died in 1834, married
Captain Ponsonby Molesworth, a nephew of Lord Ponsonby. The family
account is that on the day of the landing of the British troops in
Boston, a regiment halted in Queen (Court) street, opposite Mr.
Sheaffe's house, that, Susanna attracted by the music, accompanied by
her younger sisters, went upon the balcony, that Captain Molesworth saw
her, was struck with her great beauty, gazed upon her intently, and at
last, said to a brother officer, who like himself was leaning against a
fence, "That girl seals my fate." An introduction, and a visit followed,
and the maiden's heart rapidly won, but then came sorrow, for Susanna
was barely fifteen, and parental consent to her marriage was refused.
Her governess, to whom she entrusted her grief, espoused her cause, and
favored immediate union, and the result accordingly was, the flight of
the three to Rhode Island, where the loving pair were married.
Molesworth sold his commission in 1776, and in December of that year was
in England with his wife. Their married life proved uncommonly happy;
and they lived to see their children's children.
Another daughter, Helen, of remarkable beauty, married a revolutionist,
James Lovell, who became Naval Officer of Boston. Their grandson,
Mansfield Lovell, was a General in the Confederate service, and was in
command at New Orleans, when it was captured by the Union forces. The
General was true to the disunion instincts of his grandfather.
SIR ROGER HALE SHEAFFE, BARONET, the subject of this sketch, was son of
William Sheaffe. Born in Boston in 1763. His mother, after the death of
his father, removed to a wooden house which was standing till recently
on the corner of Essex and Columbia (formerly Auchmuty street) which was
owned by her father. Lord Percy, afterward, Duke of Northumberland hired
quarters there, soon became attached to Roger, and assumed the care of
him. It would seem that the original intention of his Lordship was to
provide for the boy in the Navy, for Mrs. Sheaffe wrote, in December
1776, she was told "Earl Percy had taken my son Roger from the Admiral's
ship, given him a commission in the Army (which I must not say that I am
sorry for), and sent him to England to an academy for education under
his patronage." In 1778 Roger was dangerously ill, and on becoming
convalescent, passed two months in Devonshire, with his sister, Mrs.
Molesworth. In a letter dated at the Academy, Little Chelsea, early in
1779, he said, Lord Percy is as good as ever. He has given me a
commission in his own regiment, the Fifth, now in the West Indies. I
shall not join it for a year.
My love to my dear sister and brother. Remember me kindly to all my
friends in Boston. You may be sure that I shall follow your advice
strictly, that I may be all that you wish, shall be the endeavor of your
most dutiful and affectionate son.
In 1786 Captain Molesworth said in a letter to his mother-in-law, Mrs.
Sheaffe, The Duke of Northumberland has lodged money to buy Roger a
Company, which, when he is in possession of, he will have it in his
power more fully to manifest his affection for so good a mother. Roger's
sister, Mrs. Molesworth, at the same period wrote her mother, "He is as
good a young man as ever lived. Lord Percy continues his kindness to
him. He improves very much, and is a great favorite with all his
masters." Again, "Roger behaves remarkably well, is much liked in the
Regiment; he is tall, well made, and reckoned handsome, very lively, yet
prudent and steady in matters of consequence. He wishes, as much as we
do, to go to Boston."
In 1791 Lieutenant Sheaffe was at Detroit, which post was still held by
England, on account of the non-fulfillment of some of the terms of the
treaty of peace. In 1794, before the surrender of the "Western Posts" as
they were called, Lieutenant Sheaffe delivered a letter to Capt.
Williamson, which was unequivocally of a military and hostile nature.
"I am commanded to declare that during the inexecution of the treaty of
peace between Great Britain and the United States, and until the
existing differences respecting it, shall be mutually and finally
adjusted, the taking possession of any part of the Indian territory,
either for purposes of war or sovereignty, is held to be a direct
violation of his Britannic Majesty's rights, as they unquestionably
existed before the treaty, and has an immediate tendency to interrupt,
and in its progress destroy, that good understanding which has hitherto
subsisted between his Britannic Majesty and the United States of
America. I, therefore require you to desist from any such aggression. R.
H. Sheaffe, Lieut. 5th Reg't. and Qr. M'r. Gen. Dept. of his Britannic
Majesty's service."
In 1801 he was in service in the attack on Copenhagen under Lord Nelson;
and though poor, just one-half of his prize money was sent to his mother
in Boston.
At the battle of Queenstown Heights, he was a Colonel in General Brocks
army; that gallant officer was slain at 7 o'clock in the morning. At
noon, Colonel Sheaffe moved up from Niagara, took command of the forces
and drove the Americans over the rocky heights into the river. For this
victory he was made a Major General, and created a Baronet. At this
period General Scott (who was the conqueror of Mexico, and Commander in
Chief of the United States forces at the outbreak of the Civil War,) was
a Colonel, and was taken prisoner by General Sheaffe, who related to him
some of the circumstances of his military career, in substance, that in
1775, he was living in Boston with his widowed mother with whom Earl
Percy had his quarters, that his Lordship was very fond of him, and took
him away with him in view of providing for him, which he did, by giving
him a military education, and by purchasing a commission and promotion
to as high rank as is allowed by the rules of the service, and that the
war then existing found him stationed in Canada. He stated moreover,
that, reluctant to serve gainst his own countrymen, he solicited to be
employed elsewhere, but at that time his request had not been granted.
Major General Sheaffe, commanded the British Army in person, and after
the battle of Queenstown Heights, he moved upon Little York, now
Toronto, and captured it. During these operations he lost his baggage
and papers, which General Dearborn informed the Secretary of War "were a
valuable acquisition."
In April, 1813, within a week of the fall of Little York, in a letter
from his wife's mother to her niece, Miss Child, dated at Quebec, she
says, "It is possible that you may not have heard that your cousin, Sir
Roger Sheaffe has had the title of Baronet of Great Britain conferred on
him, by our Prince Regent, a handsome compliment, which I trust will be
followed by something substantial to support it. Sir Roger is so pressed
with public business as to allow him scarcely time to attend to his
private concerns. My dear Margaret is still in Quebec, with her lovely
little Julia, as Upper Canada is still the seat of war. Her elevation to
rank, has not in the least deprived her of her native humility and
meekness. The manner it was announced to her was rather singular. She
was met by a gentleman in the street, as she was going to church, who
accosted her by the title of 'Lady Sheaffe', and put a letter in her
hand from the Duke of Northumberland, addressed to 'Lady Sheaffe' which
she received with her usual equanimity."
In 1841 he writes to his cousin, Miss Susan Child of Boston, "The year
1834 was indeed a sad one, in it we lost the last of our children, and
in the same year died my sister Molesworth, a brother of Lady Sheaffe,
my late brother William's eldest son, named after me, a Captain in the
Army, and also Lord Cragie, the brother of your cousin, Mrs. Cragie's
husband. I retain a good share of activity, as well as of erect military
carriage, my sight is good, my teeth in a state to create envy in a
majority of American misses, my appetite never fails and I sleep well."
In January, 1842, he spoke of William, eldest surviving son of his
brother William thus: "He is my natural heir, and having adopted him when
he was ten years of age; and it having pleased God to take all my
children from me. I regard him as a son."
Sir Roger H. Sheaffe died at Edinburgh in 1851, aged eighty-eight. He
visited Boston, his native town, four times, namely, in 1788, in 1792-3,
in 1803 and in 1806. He was respected and loved by his kinsmen to a
remarkable degree. He was of medium stature, his person was well formed,
his face was fine, his eyes of the deepest blue, full and prominent; and
his teeth were of the purest white, regular and even, and were retained
to the close of his life. Lady Sheaffe was Margrate, daughter of John
Coffin and a cousin of Lieutenant-General John and of Admiral Sir Isaac
Coffin. She was the mother of four children, who, as we have seen, died
before her husband. The remains of Sir Roger's father and mother, of his
brother Thomas Child, of his sisters Helen, Salley, Nancy, and Margaret,
and of others of his lineage, were deposited in the Child Tomb, Trinity
Church, Summer street, Boston.[261]
[261] Most of the information contained in this article was obtained by
L. Sabine, from Miss Isabella Child, Thomas Hale Child and Miss Mary P.
Hale, relatives of Sir Roger H. Sheaffe.
Nathaniel Sheaffe, oldest brother of Sir Roger, was a clerk in the
Custom House, but at the death of his father in 1771, he left, in order
to better provide for his mother and sisters, of whom he had the care.
At the outbreak of the Revolution, he went to Jamaica, "where he
intended to stay till the times will permit him to come home." He died
January 29, 1777, and was buried in the churchyard at Morant Bay,
Jamaica.
THOMAS CHILD SHEAFFE, brother of Sir Roger, went to New York after the
evacuation of Boston. He was engaged in trade with the West Indies and
Souther Ports. He died in Boston previous to 1793.
JONATHAN SAYWARD.
The name Saward or Sayward is an ancient Teutonic personal name, sae,
the sea and weard, a keeper--the Guardian of the Sea, and was applied to
the high admiral in Saxon times.
Henry Sayward came over to this country from England in 1637. He resided
a few years at Hampton and Portsmouth, and then came to York. He was by
occupation a millwright and carpenter, a man much needed, as mills were
the principal sources of income to the new settlers. The town of York
granted him three hundred acres of upland on the west side of the York
river, and the selectmen laid the same out to him June 20th, 1667. Here
he settled, and built a saw mill, and carried on a large business. He
also at this time built the meeting house at York. He was constable of
York in 1664, Selectman in 1667, Grand Juryman in 1668-9. His wife's
name was Mary, and it has been claimed she was the daughter of John
Cousins, of Casco Bay. He died in 1679. There is no record of the birth
of their children, as the records of the Town of York were destroyed by
the Indians on Feb. 5, 1692, but there is a deposition and deeds, which
prove they had three sons and three daughters.
JONATHAN SAYWARD, the second son of Henry and Mary Sayward, resided in
York. Very little is known concerning him. In 1687 there was a grant of
land made to him by the town, on Little River, near Wells. He died
previous to 1699.
JOSEPH SAYWARD, son of the aforesaid, was born at York, March 17, 1702.
He was constable in 1716. Moderator and Selectman in 1721. At this date
the meeting voted "that Mr. Joseph Sayward shall have the full
management to build a sufficient fortification about our Parsonage home,
of ten foot high, and fifty foot square, with two good buskins, or
flancers, of ten foot square, all to be built of square hard timber, of
ten inches thick, to be built forthwith, and said Sayward to keep a just
and full account of ye cost and charge thereof." In 1723 the Indians
were troublesome. A company under Captain Bragdon was sent in pursuit of
them, a journal of their proceedings was kept by Joseph Sayward, which
is in the Mass. Archives.
He married Mary, daughter of Samuel and Deborah Webber, of York, and had
five sons and four daughters.
JONATHAN SAYWARD, eldest son of the aforesaid Joseph, and of the fourth
generation in this country, and the subject of this sketch, was born at
York, November 9, 1713. He began to take an interest in public affairs
early in life. He was chosen town clerk in 1736, and constable in 1741.
He was commissioned by Governor Shirley to command the sloop "Sea
Flower" in the expedition against Louisburg in 1744, in which he took an
important part.
He was chosen Representative to the General Court of Massachusetts for
the years 1766, 7, 8.
In 1772 he was appointed by Governor Hutchinson as Special Justice of
the Court of Common Pleas, and Judge of Probate for York County.
He was for many years extensively engaged in shipping, and at one time
owned about twenty vessels, which were employed in the Southern and West
India trade. He was one of the most extensive land owners in York, and
was one of the proprietors of the town of Shapleigh.
When the Revolution broke out he was living in affluence in the
beautiful mansion which he had built on the York river, near the mill
site granted to his ancestors. At this time he had several vessels with
valuable cargoes in the West Indies, and large sums of money invested in
personal securities, on the income of which he enjoyed a satisfactory
and honorable independence, but all was swept away in the Revolution.
Judge Sayward was one of the seventeen "Rescinders." He was not only
decided in his attachment to the Crown, but was of the opinion that the
Revolution would cause the decline of national virtue and prosperity in
America. He fared hard at the hands of the "Sons of Liberty," and by
remaining was obliged to bear contempt and insult, and by his own
account never went out without L100 in his pocket, so as to be ever
ready to escape from his persecutors. But, however bad he was treated in
the early days of the great struggle, he seems to have regained the
confidence of his townsmen, for in 1780 he was elected Moderator of the
town meeting, and auditor of selectmen accounts in 1782.
His mansion home previously referred to is among the most interesting of
the many historic homes in the ancient town of York, and what makes it
doubly so is the fact that it contains all the original furniture,
books, painting, silver plate, and the "loote" he obtained at the
capture of Louisburg and brought home with him, consisting of rare
chinaware, two very large candlesticks, a pair of andirons, a warming
pan and brass tongs, all of which are now in a good state of
preservation. There is also a full length portrait of Judge Sayward and
another of his wife, with costumes of their times, and one of his
daughter Sarah, at the age of twenty-three, painted by Blackburn at
Charleston in 1761, a pupil of Copley. As works of art these paintings
are pronounced by connoisseurs as exceedingly fine. The family coat of
arms of the Saywards, in color, occupies a conspicuous place over the
mantel piece, on the back of which is the following memorandum, which
proves conclusively that it was legally granted:
London, July 1st, 1762.
The arms of Jonathan Sayward, Esqr., of Old York, in the Province
of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, Merchant, Rec'd this 1st
of July, 1762, from the College of Arms, Herald's Office. The
painting, Vellum, Frame and Glass as it now stands cost 32-6
Sterling Rec'd by his most dutifull Humble Servt.
Nath. Barrell.
There is also a commission from Governor Shirley to Jonathan Sayward, to
command the sloop "Sea Flower" in the Louisburg expedition. The mansion
is full of articles worth the attention of those of historical,
antiquarian taste. Judge Sayward died May 8, 1797, and is buried in the
old burying ground in York Village.
He married in 1736 Sarah Mitchell, who died in 1775. They had only one
child, Sarah, born 1738, who married Nathaniel Barrell of Portsmouth,
merchant. They were married at the judge's mansion in 1758. She was a
great belle in her time, and was the general favorite of the village.
She died in 1808, and her husband in 1831, aged 99 years. They had
eleven children.
The mansion was for many years owned and occupied by Elizabeth and Mary
Barrell, daughters of Jonathan Sayward Barrell, granddaughters of the
Judge. They took great pleasure in exhibiting the house and the many
interesting relics and heirlooms of their grandfather, and it is largely
due to them that the same was kept intact, and not distributed at their
death, as many members of the family desired. Elizabeth died in the old
mansion November 12, 1883, aged 84 years, and her sister Mary died at
the same place, June 6, 1889, aged 85 years.[262]
[262] The Sayward Family, 1890.
DEBLOIS FAMILY.
ETIENNE DEBLOIS was born in France, and for a time lived in Belgium. He
was a French Huguenot, and the family name was DeChatillon. He was
descended from the last counts of Blois and was banished from France at
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. After living in the Low
Countries, he removed to England and was present at the battle of the
Boyne. His sister was burnt at the stake in Ireland by the Papists, and
he died in England.
Stephen Deblois, son of Etienne, was born in Oxford, England, in 1699.
He came to New York in the Frigate Sea Horse, commanded by Captain
Dumaresq. In 1720 he removed to Boston. He married February 6, 1721, Ann
Farley, of English parentage. His death occurred in Boston in 1785, and
his large estate was settled in 1790. In his will he says: "My two sons
has been obliged to leave and I do not expect to see them again."
GILBERT DEBLOIS, son of the latter was born in New York city, March 17,
1725. He became a prosperous Merchant in Boston. In 1749 he married Ann,
daughter of William and Ann Holmes Coffin, and granddaughter of
Nathaniel Coffin. In 1774 Gilbert Deblois was an Addresser of
Hutchinson, and in 1775 an Addresser of Gage. In 1776 he went to Halifax
with his younger brother Lewis, and then must have returned to New York
before his departure for England, according to an account in
Hutchinson's Diary.
Dec. 23, 1776--Gilbert Deblois arrived in one of the transports from New
York.
While residing in Boston, Mr. Deblois planted some elms in front of the
Granary, just opposite his house on Tremont Street. These famous trees
afterwards became known as the Paddock elms. Mr. Deblois had asked
Paddock to keep an eye to their safety, and Adino Paddock performed this
duty faithfully.
In a letter written by James Murray to a friend in New York, dated
September 30, 1769, he speaks of Mr. Deblois' assistance to him when he
was attacked by a mob. "Mr. Deblois threw himself in my rear, and
suffered not a little in my defence."
In 1778 Gilbert Deblois was proscribed and banished, and his estate
confiscated. The year following he was in London and addressed the king.
His death occurred in that city in 1792, aged sixty-seven.
LEWIS DEBLOIS, brother to Gilbert, married Elizabeth Jenkins of Boston,
in 1748. He was a prominent merchant in Boston, was an Addresser of
General Gage in 1775. He went to Halifax on the evacuation of Boston in
1776.
He was proscribed and banished. He died very suddenly in England, (after
being out all day) in 1779, aged seventy-one.
George Deblois, son of the aforesaid was born in Boston in 1753. He was
a merchant in Salem. He was an Addresser of General Gage in 1774. He
went to England. In 1784, there was a George Deblois, a merchant at
Halifax, N. S., probably his son. The widow of a George Deblois died in
the same city in 1827, aged seventy-four.
LEWIS DEBLOIS, brother of the aforesaid, was born in Boston in 1762. He
went to New Brunswick and was a prominent merchant in St. John, and in
1795 a member of the company of Loyal Artillery. He died in that city in
1802. His daughter Elizabeth Cranston married James White, Esq., Sheriff
of the County of St. John.
LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO GILBERT DEBLOIS IN SUFFOLK
COUNTY AND TO WHOM SOLD.
To Gilbert Deblois, Jr., Feb. 3, 1783; Lib. 137 fol. 28; Two thirds
of land and brick warehouse in Boston, Cornhlll W., Spring Lane N.;
Stephen Minot E.; land of Old South Church S.
To Ann Deblois, wife of Gilbert Deblois, Oct. 17, 1783; Lib. 151
fol. 217; Two thirds of land and house in Boston, Common St. W.;
Martha Symmes N.; E.; N. and E.; Moses Gill N.; William Dana E.;
Rawsons Lane S.
LYDE FAMILY.
Edward Lyde married in 1660 Mary, daughter of Rev. John Wheelwright, and
died before 1663. He had an only son Edward, who married Susanna Curwin,
daughter of Captain George Curwin. His second wife was Deborah, daughter
of Hon. Nathaniel Byfield, 1696. In 1685 Edward Lyde and William
Williams witnessed a deed that the Indian Chief Wamatuck and his
Counsellors signed by making their marks. It was concerning land in
Boston Harbor. In 1702-3 he was a warden of Kings Chapel.
Byfield Lyde, eldest son of the preceding, was born in Boston in 1704.
Graduated at Harvard College in 1723. He was an Addresser of Governor
Hutchinson in 1774, and a Protester against the disunionists the same
year, and in 1775 he was an Addresser of General Gage. His wife, Sarah,
the only daughter of Governor Belcher, died in Boston, October 10, 1768,
aged sixty-one. In 1776 he accompanied the Royal Army to Halifax and
died there the same year.
EDWARD LYDE, second son of Edward Lyde, was born in Boston in 1725. He
was a merchant, and was proscribed, banished, and his property
confiscated. It was bought in by his brother Nathaniel (born in 1735)
who was allowed to remain.
Hutchinson, in his diary May 3rd, 1770, says: "Landed at Halifax. Edward
Lyde, Esq., invited me to his house, where I tarried till I embarqued
for England. I was very happy in being at Mr. Lyde's as there was so
great an addition to the inhabitants from the navy and army and Refugees
from Boston which made the lodgings for them very scarce to be had, and
many of them when procured, quite intolerable." Again in his diary June
7, 1776, Hutchinson says: "Ned Lyde had arrived with others at Dover."
Edward Lyde died in New York in 1812, aged eighty-seven.
GEORGE LYDE, of Boston, in 1770, was appointed Collector of the Port of
Falmouth, (Portland) Maine, and continued there until the beginning of
the Revolution. He was an Addresser of Governor Hutchinson in 1774, and
in 1778 was proscribed and banished. He was in England in 1780.
LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO EDWARD LYDE IN SUFFOLK COUNTY
AND TO WHOM SOLD.
To Nathaniel Byfield Lyde, Feb. 21, 1785; Land and buildings in
Boston, Summer St. S., Bishop's Alley W.; heirs of Andrew
Cunningham deceased N.; land formerly of John Simpson deceased E.
JAMES BOUTINEAU.
STEPHEN BOUTINEAU was one of the French Protestants, or Huguenots who
came to Falmouth (Portland), Maine, in 1687, in company with Peter
Bowdoin, Philip LeBretton, Philip Barger and others. He married Mary,
daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Bowdoin in 1708. He was in 1748 the only
surviving elder of the French Church on School street, Boston, of which
Andrew Le Mercier was minister.[263] His son James Boutineau was born 27
January, 1710, he was an Attorney-at-law. In 1774 he was appointed
Mandamus-Counsellor, and was one of the ten who took the oath of office.
His daughter Nancy was married on Oct. 5, 1769, to John Robinson, a
commissioner of the customs, but previous to this marriage Robinson was
accused of assault upon James Otis, the latter, one of the most
formidable of the "Patriots" met Commissioner Robinson at the
Coffee-house and trouble ensued. As usual in all such cases, the friends
of each party made out a good case for their respective sides, the
matter was carried into court, where it was kept for about four years
and the jury finally brought in damages in favor of Otis. In the
meantime Robinson and his wife had gone to England, and as Mr. Boutineau
was a lawyer, he managed the case for his son-in-law, who apologized for
injuring Otis. Mr. Otis refused the fine of 2,000 pounds sterling, and
nothing was demanded of Robinson but the costs of court and the amount
of Mr. Otis' surgeon's bill, altogether amounting to about 112 pounds,
lawful money. The affair ended in the Courts about 1772.
[263] New Eng. His. Gen. Vol. 8, p. 247.
James Boutineau was included in the Conspiracy Act of 1779, and his
estate was confiscated under its provisions. He went to England, and his
death occurred in that country. Mrs. Boutineau was a sister of Peter
Faneuil, and another sister married Edward Jones, a merchant in Boston.
Mrs. Jones went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and while there received a
letter from the Boutineaus in England, in which she was informed that,
"Mr. and Mrs. Faneuil, who lodge in the same house with us, make it
agreeable;" and that "there are one or two other genteel gentlemen and
ladies, so that during the winter we drank tea with each other four days
in the week." Of other fellow Loyalists, Mrs. Boutineau writes, that
"Lodgings have been taken for Mr. Sewell, of Cambridge, and
family,--they are expected here this day. Colonel Murray's family are
gone to Wales, as well as Judge Browne and Apthorp's. All the New
England people here, are Barnes and family, Captain Fenton and daughter,
besides those in the house." In a postscript, she adds: "I desire you to
inform me (if you can) who lives in my house in Boston." In a letter to
her sister, dated April 1, 1785, Mrs. Boutineau tells Mrs. Mary Ann
Jones who was residing in Boston at that time that her health is "very
indifferent," and that "Mr. Faneuil had a letter lately from Mr. Jones,
who is going soon to be very well married," etc.
LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO JAMES BOUTINEAU, 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 Samuel Broome, July 24, 1780; Lib. 131 fol. 327; Land and
dwelling-house in Boston, Milk St. S.; land of old South Church W.;
Stephen Minot N.; widow Jones E.; N. and E.--Pasture land, 1 A. 10
r. opposite said dwelling-house, Milk St. N.; Cole, Decoster et al.
E.; heirs of Barnabas Binney et al. S.; heirs of John Greenleaf
deceased W.
COLONEL WILLIAM BROWNE.