Cambridge City (part 4 of 12)

The original college building having fallen to pieces, a new Harvard Hall was built in 1682 on the site which is now occupied by the bmlding of the same name. That was the first year of the brief presidency of John Rogers. The experience of Mr. Rogers is a good illustration of the necessary frugality of the teachers and students of Harvard in the seventeenth century. It appears that young Rogers, remaining at the College as a resident graduate, had driven from the farm of his father - the minister of Ipswich - a cow, to serve by barter for the payment of his charges. The bursar's record debits him with two shillings for the pasturage of this cow before her appraisal for sale. It must have been a question whether the young man or the College should be at the expense of getting the animal into condition for the hungry students. Those years of severe training and meager nourishment must have been alike for mind and body of a highly educational character. It is no wonder that such of the Indian pupils as did not take to the woods died of consumption, or that the New England boys who weathered these experiences left their mark as men.

The record of a visit made to the College in July, 1680, by two wandering Dutchmen from Friesland gives another curious sidelight upon conditions. Jasper Dankers and Peter Sluyter, who were making a tour of the American colonies, made the following record in their diary for the date

"July 9th (1680), Tuesday. - We started out to go to Cambridge, lying to the N.E. of Boston, in order to see their college and printing-office. We left abt. six o'k in the morning, and were set across the river at Charlestown. . . . We reached Cambridge abt. 8 o'k. It is not a large village, and the houses stand very much apart. The college building is the most conspicuous among them. We went to it expecting to see something curious, as it is the only college or would-be academy of the Protestants in all America; but we found ourselves mistaken. In approaching the house, we neither heard nor saw anything mentionable ; but going to the other side of the building we heard noise enough in an upper room to lead my comrade to suppose they were engaged in disputation. We entered and went upstairs, where a person met us and requested us to walk in, which we did. We found there eight or ten young fellows sitting around smoking tobacco, with the smoke of which the room was so full that you could hardly see; and the whole house smelt so strong of it, that when I was going upstairs I said, 'This is certainly a tavern.' We excused ourselves that we could speak English only a little, but understood Dutch or French, which they did not. However, we spake as well as we could. We inquired how many professors there were, and they replied, not one; that there was no money to support one. We asked how many students there were. They said at first thirty, and then came down to twenty. I afterwards understood there are probably not ten. They could hardly speak a word of Latin, so that my comrade could not converse with them. They took us to the library, where there was nothing particular. We looked it over a little. They presented us with a glass of wine. This is all we ascertained there. The minister of the place goes there morning and evening to make prayer, and has charge over them. The students have tutors or masters. Our visit was soon over."

A new era for the College began in 1685 with the presidency of Increase Mather, a leader of very definite convictions and remarkable personal influence. He was the first of the presidents of the College who was born in America, and he was a striking illustration of the peculiar characteristics of the New England Puritans. He combined uprightness with shrewdness, wide learning with practical administrative ability, and spiritual intensity with business sense. For a generation his was the leading influence in church and state, and his biography is the history of the province during his time. He did not come to live in Cambridge, but continued as minister of the North Church in Boston. In 1688 he accepted a mission to England as one of the agents of Massachusetts which took him away from both church and college for several years. His masterful leadership was felt, however, in all the concerns of the College, while the specific work of instruction and government was carried on by the two tutors, John Leverett and William Brattle. The former of these later became president of the College and the latter was for twenty years minister of the Cambridge church. Mather was a student whose habit it was to spend sixteen hours a day in his library. As a preacher he was clear, attractive, practical and forcible, - sometimes rising to "such a Tonitruous Cogency that the Heavens would be struck with an Awe, like what would be produced on the Fall of Thunderbolts;" as an administrator so popular, that even in his old age "the Churches would not permit an Ordination to be carried on without him, so long as he was able to Travel in a Coach unto them." With all his multifarious labors as pastor, president and agent of the Province, he found time to publish books and pamphlets to the nimiber of one hundred and sixty; and, at the end of all, he was honored "with a greater Funeral than had ever been seen for any Divine

New buildings began to appear. In 1700 Governor William Stoughton built a residence for students. This stood at right angles with Harvard Hall at its eastern end, and a small regular quadrangle was formed when the Province in 1720 built Massachusetts Hall facing Harvard. Of these three buildings Massachusetts still stands, the oldest building in the College Yard. Harvard Hall was burnt in 1764, and its successor is the present building which bears the founder's name. The first Stoughton Hall was taken down in 1780, and later the present Stoughton Hall was built and preserves the name and memory of the original donor. A house for the occupancy of the President, the present Wadsworth House, was built at the rear of the meeting-house in 1726, and the gift of Madame Holden of London, and her children provided in 1744 for the chapel which now bears her name.

While the resources of the College were thus slowly upbuilt by the liberality of friends both in America and in England, yet the narrowness of its concerns may be illustrated by the following extract from the Records of the Corporation: "April 8, 1695. Voted, that six leather chairs be provided for the use of the Hbrary and six more before the Commencement, in case the treasury will allow of it." Another extract from the Records gives a curious sidelight upon college manners; "June 22, 1693. The Corporation having been informed that the custom taken up in the college, not used in any other universities, for the commencers to have plum cake is dishonorable to the college, not grateful to wise men, and chargeable to the parents of the commencers, do therefore put an end to that custom, and do hereby order that no commencer or other scholar shall have any such cakes in their studies or chambers and that if any scholar, shall offend therein the cake shall be taken from him and he shall, moreover, pay to the College twenty shillings for each such offense." It is hard to see why plum cake was so dangerous and disreputable, but the Records show that Commencement Day was increasingly becoming a time of public disorder. By the middle of the eighteenth century it had become neces- sary for the Corporation at Commencement time to procure the attendance of justices of the peace, a poHce guard by day and a watch by night for several days together.

The usefulness of the College in Mather's presidency is indicated by the record of the graduates of that period. One hundred and thirteen young men left the College to become the ministers of the New- England churches. Seven became judges of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts; three, judges of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, and two, of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire. Two governors and two lieutenantgovernors of provinces, one president of Yale and one president of Harvard arc also among the graduates of this time.

In 1701 the College came under the charge of Rev. Samuel Willard, who exercised the function of president under the title of vice-president. This was another way of getting around the requirement that the president should live in Cambridge. Dr. Willard was minister of the Old South Church in Boston and continued in his pastorate while in charge of the College. He was succeeded in 1707 by John Leverett, who had been connected with the College as student.

Harvard

"Midweek, Jany. 14, 170>^. Went to Cambridge in Mr. Brigg's Coach, with Col. Townsend, Mr. Bromfield, and Mr. Stoddard. Mr. Em. Hutchinson went in his own Charet, taking Mr. Wadsworth with him. Capt. Belcher carried Mr. Secretary in his Calash. Mr. Pemberton carried his Bror in his Slay over the Ice; Mr. Mico carried Mr. Treasurer Brattle. Mr. Colman there: Majr Genl Winthrop, Col. EHsha Hutchinson, Mr. Foster, Mr. Sergeant, Dr. Mather, Mr. Cotton Mather, Mr. Bridge, Mr. Allen not there. The d ay was \' c r y pleasant; Col. Philips, Mr. Russcl in his black cap, Col. Lynde met us fro m Charlestown; Mr. Bradstrect, Angler, there, Mr. Woodbridgc of Meadford, Mr. Neh. Hobart. In the Library the Go\-cnour found a Meeting of the Overseers of the College according to the old Charter of 1650, and reduced the Number [of the Corporation] to seven; viz. Mr. Leverett, President, Mr. Neh. Hobart, Mr. Wm. Brattle, Mr. Ebenczcr Pemberton, Mr. Henry Flint, ]\Ir. Jonathan Remington,

Fellows; Mr. Tho. Brattle, Treasurer. The Govr prepar'd a Latin Speech for Installment of the President. Then took the President by the hand and led him down into the Hall; The Books of the College Records, Charter Seal and Keys were laid upon a Table running parallel with that next the Entry. The Govr sat with his back against a Noble Fire; Mr. Russel on his Left Hand inermost, I on his Right Hand; President sat on the other side of the Table over against him. Mr. Neh. Hobart was called, and made an excellent Prayer; Then Joseph Sewall made a Latin Oration. Then the Govr read his Speech, and (as he told me) mov'd the Books in token of their delivery. Then President made a short Latin Speech, imparting the difficulties discouraging, and yet that he did Accept; Govr spake further, assuring him of the Assistance of the Overseers. Then Mr. jgdward Holyoke made a Latin Oration, standing where Joseph did at a Desk on the Table next th c- Entry at the inside of it, facing the Govr. Mr. Danforth of Dorchester pray'd. Mr. Paul Dudley read part of the 132 ps. in Tate and Bradey's version, Windsor Tune, clos'd with the Hymn to the Trinity. Had a very good Diner upon 3 or 4 Tables: Mr. Wadsworth crav'd a Blessing, Mr. Angier return'd Thanks. Got home very well. Laus Deo."

President Leverett was a man of science and a man of affairs. He had studied both law and theology. He had been Speaker of the House of Representatives, a member of the Council, a judge of probate, and finally a justice of the Supreme Court. He was one of the first persons in America to be chosen a member of the Royal Society in England. We have no means of judging directly of his attainments for he left no written works behind him, but we may justly estimate by the respect and affection which he inspired among his contemporaries. Mr. Pierce said of him; " He had a great and generous soul. His attainments were profound and extensive. He was well acquainted with the learned languages, with the arts and sciences, with history, philosophy, law, divinity and politics. He possessed all the attractions which are conferred by the Graces, being from the sphere in which he always moved a gentlemen as well as a scholar and a man of business." Under President Leverett the number of undergraduates rapidly increased, and in the twenty-two years of his presidency more young men were graduated at the College than in all the years before. Not quite half of these graduates became ministers.

The chief event of this period was the establishment of two professorships, one in divinity and the other in mathematics. These were the gift of Thomas HoUis, a London merchant who partly for the love of civil and religious liberty and partly through his acquaintance in London with Increase Mather, made the College the chief recipient of his bounty. Hollis's gifts began in 1719. His children inherited his interest and continued his benefactions. It is a curious fact that HoUis was a Baptist, yet he was of so liberal a spirit as to found a theological professorship without any sectarian bias. Besides his own large donations HoUis frequently obtained for the College the assistance of his friends and family. In May, 1724, President Leverett suddenly died. It was an important and difficult matter to find a successor. It is not strange that Cotton Mather desired and expected the office and it is not surprising that he was passedover in the choice. Rev. Joseph Sewall was elected; chosen for his piety, Mr. Mather wrote. The Old South Church was unwilling to give him up, and he declined the office. The Rev. Benjamin Colman, of the Brattle Street Church, was then chosen, and the friends of the College sought to secure from the General Court a fitting salary for the president, and one which could be depended upon. The effort failed, and Mr. Colman declined the office. Several months passed before another election was made, when the Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth, of the First Church, was chosen. He declared his reluctance to accept the office, and his preference to remain with his church. His church finally consented that he should accept the call to the new position, if he judged it to be his duty. He consented to be made the president of the College, and the General Court granted him one hundred and fifty pounds "to enable him to enter upon and manage the great affair of that presidency, and a committee was appointed to look out a suitable house for the reception of the President," and to inquire into the financial condition of the College.

Wadsworth in his diary describes his inauguration, which occurred on Commencement Day morning (July 7, 1725) in the meeting-house, as follows :

"The Walk or Procession from ye college to ye meeting House was as had been usual, viz. The Bachelours of Art went first, two in a rank; and then ye Masters, all bare-headed; then I followed, walking single as President; next the Corporation and Tutors two in a rank, then the Honble Lieutenant Govemour Dummer & Council, next to them ye rest of ye Gentlemen. When in ye meeting House, I entered a Pew with ye Lieutenant Govemour and several of ye Council. The Revnd Mr. Benja. Colman went into ye Pulpit and began with prayer. Then ye Lieutenant Govemour Installed me in ye Presidents office (ye college Keys, Seal, Records lying on a Table in ye Pew) He said to me:

" 'You being duly elected & approved to be ye President of Harvard College, I do accordingly in ye name of ye overseers, invest you with ye Government thereof, in ye same extent as any [of] your Precessors Presidents of Harvard College have been heretofore vested ; and delivered to you ye Keys, with these Books & Papers as Badges of your Authority, confiding that you will govern the Societies with Loyalty to our Sovereign Lord King George and obedient to his laws, and according to ye Statutes & Rules of ye said College.'

" Hereupon, before I left the Pew I answered memoriter in English. I then entered the pulpit and having pronounced (without any Reading, or notes) my oration in Latin; I then called for ye Salutatory oration. Sir Brown made it. That being ended ye Batchelours disputed on one question, and I then gave them their degrees at ye end of ye forenoon, exercises: wch being finished, we returned to College as was usual."

Dr. Wadswort hserved for twelve years, and then came Edward Holyoke, the minister of Marblehead. Dr. Holyoke had graduated in 1705, and had been tutor, librarian, and fellow in the college. His theological convictions were apparently more tolerant or at least less aggressive than those of some of his predecessors. To the inquiry' of Governor Belcher, Mr. Holj'oke's neighbor, the Rev. John Barnard, answered: "I think Mr. Holyoke as orthodox a Calvinist as any man; though I look upon him as too much of a gentleman, and of too catholic a temper, to cram his principles down another man's throat." "Then I believe he must be the man," repUed the Governor. He was inaugurated September 28, 1737. The General Court agreed to pay to the Society which had thus given up its pastor one hundred and forty pounds, "to encourage and facilitate the settlement of a minister there." With Holyoke served a group of remarkable men. His own term of service covered thirty-two years. Edward Wigglesworth, the first HoUis professor of divinity, served for forty-four 3-ears, a learned, sagacious and gentle scholar, whose literary taste was of the highest order and whose theolog}' was for his day extraordinarily liberal. John Winthrop was for forty-one years the Hollis professor of mathematics, and sustained the highest reputation for scientific attainment. He was also distinguished as a faithful public servant and maintained his family tradition of leadership in the com- munity. With these gentlemen, as tutor, Henry Flynt served for fifty-five years. It is noticeable that all four of these teachers acted together for seventeen years, and three of them for twenty-seven years. It was during this period that the men who afterwards reflected the greatest distinction upon the College were educated there. Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Jonathan Trumbull, Timothy Pickering, Joseph Warren, Artemas Ward, James Otis, Josiah Quincy and William Eustis were not inconspicuous in the patriot councils of their generation, and all of them were graduates of the institution which General Gage afterwards denounced as "the nest of sedition." Here the patriot leaders were nurtured; here they read of freedom and chivalry; here, in their impressible youth, they breathed together the spirit of liberty which characterized the place and the time.

The burning of Harvard Hall in the winter of 1764, with the consequent loss of the library and all the scientific apparatus, was an event of signal importance alike for the College and the community. We are fortunate in having a graphic contemporaneous account of this event. The following letter, referring to the completion and dedication of Hollis Hall and to the disastrous fire, was written by Margaret Holyoke, the daughter of President Holyoke. She was the wife of John Mascarene who had been for some time in England on business.

"Cambridge, Jan. 30th, 1764. "To Mr. John Mascarene, London: "My Dearest, No. 74, my last to you, was by Bioll, and Keating, the latter of which I can't yet learn whether it sailed or not, in those letters I answered all yours by Hatch, Hooper, Jarvis, and Dixey, and enclosed agreeable to your Desire Arms, Invoice, Inventory, memorandums, Patterns, measures, &c. &c., all of which I hope will get safe to hand, for I think I would not have the pester of such another collection for a good deal. . . .

"And now my Dear I shall begin with your matter of fact writing. First then our Friends ate all well, our new College is Finished, and a Beautiful Btiilding. The thirteenth of this month the General Court were invited to dine at College, at which time it was called Hollis Hall, in gratitude to the late and present worthy gentleman of that name. Since that time the Small Pox has been in Boston in 20 familys which has drove a third almost of the people out of Boston, and the General Court adjourned to the College, the Council to the Library, and the house to the Hall where they have met for the dispatch of Public Business till last Wednesday, for on Tuesday night about 12 o'clock, in the severest snow storm I ever remember I heard the cry of Fire, one moment brought me to the window, when (I) saw the old Harvard College on fire, and it was with the utmost difficulty they savd the other Buildings. Stoughton was on fire an Hour, Massachusetts catchd in three places, and Hollis Hall is burnt much, at the Southwest comer. There was nothing savd in old College, except a bed or two. The whole Library, except some Books lent out and Mr. Hollis's last donation, were demolished, the whole apparatus. Mr. Hancock who lodged out, on account of the storm lost everything except the cloths he had on, this is a most terrible accident, this Library in which were so many valuable Books, ancient manuscripts, the Labour of the Learned, and the work of ages, in a few hours turned to ashes. Our College is now poorer than any on the Continent - we are all real mourners on this occasion and I doubt not your attachment to alma mater, will make you feel sorrowful upon this conflagration. As to Father he had very near lost his life on the occasion, the snow was in drifts in many places four and five feet high, papa went thro it all with nothing more upon him than he sits in the house, the President's house was in great danger the wind was strong at N west the latter part of the time, and in short if Stoughton had gone all the houses in town to the Eastward of the College would have gone. I think I never saw so great a strife of elements before, it is supposed the Fire began in the Beam under the hearth of the Library, the Gov'r & a great number of the court assisted in extinguishing the Fire, it being vacation and no person in the college, the Fire was past stopping in Harvard before it was perceived. I hope the K - g will give something to repair the loss as he has never done anything for this College yet, and my Dear (tho I wotild not dictate to you) I believe if you was to try among your acquaintances for some donations by way of Books, or mathematical instruments, it will be very acceptable. Mr. Winthrop thinks that 3 Hd pd sterl'g would buy a compleat apparatus, and there are Books which are of no great act in a private gentleman's Library-, which are ornamental and useful to an ancient and Public one. Cahill is generous, and loves show. Suppose you was to ask him - if he gives anything worth while, he will have the Public thanks of the College, and his name will be enrolled among the worthy Benefactors to this Seminary, and will live when the Buildings themselves are crumbled into Dust, but I need say no more, I know you will want no stimulus in this affair, our Country men at the Coffee house I doubt not if properly applied to, would subscribe something Hansome. Any wealthy lady that is minded to make her Fame immortal cant have a more favorable opportunity, thus my Dear, I have given you as good an account as I can of this terrible afair which would have been nothing hardly if the Library and apparatus had been saved. If I can get a paper wherein the account is ile sent it to you - and now partly to soften your grief and alleviate your sorrow, lie tell you the proceeding of our worthy Court the next Day. The First vote that past was for rebuilding the College at the expence of the province Imediately, and two thousand lawful voted to begin with, and a sum to Mr. Hancock to repair his loss which with what of money Plate &c they have fotmd in the Ruins, I hope will make his loss light, £10 lawful apiece to those scholars who lost their Furniture, and £40 lawful to the Buttler, all which is thot very handsome. 2 days after this they chose the Lieut Govr agent for this province to the Court of Great Britain, and it is said that he and his son Tom, and Couz Rogers, embarks in the spring, and I prophesy Forster will be made Judge Probate, if so Libera nos Domine. I had forgot when I told of the chrisning Hollis Hall that young Joe Taylor, the Capt Stone, a junior sophister, delivered a very handsome English oration before the whole Legislative Body, in Holden Chappel. Now to come home again my

Brother lost their little Polly the eldest child about three weeks ago, and good Deacon Whipple departed this life last week, - and Johnny Appleton has got the Small Pox at Salem. But we hear he has it very lightly, it is not yet determined whether the Small Pox will spread, they take the utmost care to prevent it - Mr. Flucker and wife are at papas till it is over and there is a number of others in town on the same account so that our little Cambridge looks quite alive, tho at this dead season of the year, and vacation into the Bargain. . . .

"I was much disappointed of making a visit to Boston. I intended to have spent a fortnight of this vacation with Mrs. Newall, who is continually urging me to come there. I thot to go to Capt. Handfields, and enquire about Adlam, who I think has not behavd like a man of Honor, tho he wers a Sword - Mr. Whitefield is on his journey here, from whom some Persons expect much - I have begd last Monday's paper of Mr. Flucker, which I shall enclose as this ship goes directly for London. You will find an inventory as near as they could remember, of the library and apparatus, to the end that those who are minded to give may know what - the College Bell is also gone. The vacation is lengthened out to I don't know what time. I am surprized you mention nothing of the national Ferment, which by an article in this paper, seems to be very great. I hope my Dear by this time your afTair is Finished, and to your satisfaction, if not, I firmly believe it never will, without you give up part to get the rest. Procrastination if the thief of time, year after year it steals, and leaves of life but little to enjoy. Alas how great a part of our short span since love and honor joined our Souls and Hands have wee been separated. Time, and distance, those foes to love upon earth, still keep between us and prevent our meetting, make haste old time and shake your heavy sands and bring the happy hour that makes us truly blest. Thou Ocean gently waft him over in safety to his native land and after all the toil and vexation of attending the great may he sit down in quiet and enjoy his Family and Friends. Here rest his little bark nor e'er by Poverty or dire Misfortune be thrown out to sea again may he exhibit a bright example of every virtue, and be a pleasure to his Fri ends, and diffuse happiness as far as his Influence extends. . . .

"I believe you are tired so I shall conclude, with love from all friends, and my regards to Mr. James Fireside, and am with the truest afTection and esteem ever yours,

As this letter shows, the disaster proved a blessing in disguise. The loss roused the generous zeal of the friends of the College. The General Court restored the building - erecting the present Harvard Hall on the old site, and numerous benefactors endeavored to make good the loss of books and instruments. After Dr. Holyoke's death Rev. Samuel Locke of Sherbom had a brief and troubled presidency, and was succeeded in 1744 by Dr. Samuel Langdon of Portsmouth, N.H., who had been but six months in office when the storm of revolutionary war broke upon the community.

The story of the Cambridge Church runs parallel to that of the College, and the threads are often interwoven. The fifth minister of the Church was William Brattle, who was born in Boston in 1662, and graduated at Harvard in 1680. He served as tutor and Fellow of the College for many years and supplied the pulpit of the church occasionally after Mr. Gookin's death. From the time of his pastorate a regular church record was made, whic h has been preserved in good condition. At the beginning of this record, Mr. Brattle says he "succeeded the Rev. Nathaniel Gookin, and was ordained a minister of Jesus Christ and a pastor to the flock at Cambridge, Nov. 25, 1696, per the Rev. Mr. Inc. Mather. The Rev. Mr. Morton, Mr. Allin, and Mr. Willard laid on hands. The Rev. Mr. Sam. Willard gave the right hand of fellowship. . . . Deo sit ghria. Amen."

The connection of Mr. Brattle with the church for more than twenty years was peaceful and prosperous. He continued to teach in the College. After the death of his brother, Thomas Brattle, he acted as Treasurer of the College for about two years. His scholarship was recognized by his election to the Roj^al

Society, - an honor conferred on very few Americans. After "a languishing distemper which he bore with great patience and resignation," he "died with peace and an extraordinary serenity of mind," Febuary 15, 1716- 17, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. Mr. Brattle's son, William Brattle, Jr., was a conspicuous leader in Cambridge for fifty years. He graduated at the College in 1722 and, married the daughter of Governor Gordon Saltonstall. He built the house at the eastern end of Brattle Street which, with its gardens running down to the river at the back, made the handsomest estate in the town. General Brattle was selectman for twenty-one years, representative for ten years, councillor for seventeen years, and major-general of the Provincial militia. In his old age he adhered to the Tory party, and died in exile in 1776.

It was during Mr. Brattle's pastorate that the meeting-house which had stood somewhat more than fifty years, became dilapidated and the town voted on July 12, 1703, that it was " necessary at this time to proceed to the building of a new meeting-house, and in order thereunto, there was then chosen Capt. Andrew Belcher, Esq., Thomas Brattle, Esq., John Leverett, Esq., Col. Francis Foxcroft, Esq., Deacon Walter Hastings, Capt. Thomas Oliver, and Mr. William Russell, a committee to advise and consider of the model and charge of building said meeting-house, and to make report of the same to said inhabitants." On December 6, 1705, it was further "voted that the sum of two hundred and eighty pounds be levied on said inhabitants, toward the building of a new meeting-house amongst them." On the 28th of September, 1703, the College granted sixty pounds "out of the College Treasury towards the building a new meeting-house;" and, August 6, 1706, "voted that Mr. Leverett with the Treasurer take care for the building of a pew for the President's family in the meeting-house now a building, and about the students' seats in the said meeting-house; the charge of the pew to be defrayed out of the College Treasury." This third house stood on or very near the spot occupied by the second, and seems to have been opened for public worship on October 13, 1706.

expect to find a graveyard situated near the meeting-house; but in Cambridge there was no such connection. The enclosure at the comer of Massachusetts Avenue and Garden Street, if not the first burial ground, was certainly used very nearly for that purpose. In the Town Records of January 4, 1635-6, we read that it was "ordered that the buryingplace shall be paled in." This continued to be the only public place of burial in Cambridge for many years; and in spite of the fence it seems not to have been very carefully guarded. As late as the year 1702 the graveyard was leased as a pasture for sheep, as appears from the following record;

"At a meeting of the selectmen, 10th March, 1700-1, Lieut. Aaron Boardman requesting that he might have the improvement of the Burying-yard (to keep sheep in), the selectmen did consent that he should have the improvement of said yard (for the use above mentioned) for one year next ensuing, provided he would cut the gate of said yard asunder, and hang the same with suitable hooks and hinges, also fix a stub-post in the ground, and a rail from post to post cross the gates, for them to shut against ; all to be done in good workmanlike order; which the said Boardman promised to do."

The funeral customs were as simple as the graveyard. When a Cambridge man came to be buried he went to his grave with the same simple solemnity which had marked his life. He had sought in his thought and habit an uncompromising reality and he wanted nothing else at death. Lechford's account of the funeral customs fits in brevity and dignity the occasion which it describes: "At burials nothing is read, nor any funeral sermon made; but all the neighborhood, or a good company of them, come together by tolling of the bell, and carry the dead solemnly to his grave and there stand by him while he is buried."

One hundred years after the burial-place was ordered to be " paled in," the town directed it to be enclosed by a substantial stone wall in place of the pales and wooden fence; and it will be seen that the College, having a common interest in the spot, contributed one sixth part of the expense of the work. This is shown from their record of the President and Fellows, under the date of October 20, 1735:

"Whereas, there is a good stone wall erected and erecting round the burj'ing-place in Cambridge, which will come to about £150; and whereas, there has been a considerable regard had to the College in building so good and handsome a wall in the front; and the College has used, and expects to make use of the burying-place as Providence gives occasion it; therefore, voted, that as soon as the said stone wall shall be completed, the treasurer pay the sum of twenty-five pounds to Samuel Danforth, William Brattle, and Andrew Boardman, Esq., a committee for the town to take care of the said fence."

In this graveyard lie the early presidents of the College, Dunster, Chauncy, Oakes, Leverett, Wadsworth, Holyoke, Willard and Webber; the ministers, Shepard, Mitchell, Gookin, Brattle and Appleton; the early settlers, Roger Harlakenden, Stephen Day, Elijah Corlett; and the later generations, Danforths, Gookins, Boardmans, Belchers, Lees, Danas and many more.

Immediately after the death of Mr. Brattle a meeting of the church was held to consider the calling of a new minister, and its proceedings were minutely recorded by President Leverett, in his Diary, which is in the College Library. As this meeting resulted in the settlement of a pastor who served the church for nearly sixtyseven years, almost as long as the combined ministry of his five predecessors, this record is worthy of preservation; "Friday, April the 19th, 1717. At a meeting of the Church of Christ in Cambridge. 1. The President being desired by the deacons and brethren opened the meeting with prayer. 2. The deacons proposed that a moderator might be chosen for the ordering and directing the meeting. 3. Voted, that the President be moderator of this meeting. He submitted to the vote of the brethren of the Church, and, opening the design and intention of the meeting, earnestly desired that every body would freely discover their minds and declare what measures they thought proper, and what steps they would take in order to a settlement of the ministry in this place. After a due time of silence Mr. Justice Remington expressed himself, that the nomination of some suitable persons seemed to be the first step to be taken. Some others spake to the same effect. No opposition being expressed, a vote was called and it was voted. 4. Voted, that the brethren express their minds as to nomination in writing, and the three persons that shall have the most votes shall be the persons nominated, out of which an election shall be made of one, in order to be settled in the pastoral office in this church. Pursuant to this vote, the brethren were desired by the moderators to write and bring in their votes, which they did; and upon the view, numbering and declaring the vote, Mr. Henry Flint, Mr. Jabez Fitch, and Mr. Nathaniel Appleton were the three persons agreed to be nominated, out of which the brethren should proceed to an election. Accordingly the moderator desired the brethren of the Church to bring in their votes for the choice of a person to settle in the ministry in this place, viz. one of three before nominated persons. Pursuant hereto the church brought in their votes in writing. 5. Upon sorting and numbering the votes, Mr. Nathaniel Appleton was by the church elected to the work of the ministrj^, in order to the taking upon him the pastoral office as God shall open the way thereunto. This was by a great majority; the votes for Mr. Appleton being ;38, and the votes for Mr. Flint but 8. The moderator declared to the church their election of Mr. Appleton as aforesaid. 6. It was proposed that those that had not voted for Mr. Appleton in writing might have the opportunity to manifest their satisfaction with the vote that had passed, that the brethren would manifest that they chose him as aforesaid by lifting up their hands, which was complied with, and it is said that there were but two that had acted in the foregoing votes that did not hold up their hands."

After appointing a committee to ask the concurrence of the town with the church in their choice, "the moderator concluded the meeting with returning thanks to God for the peaceable and comfortable management of the affairs of the church. Laus Deo." The town concurred, and Mr. Appleton was ordained October 9, 1717. Dr. Increase Mather preached and gave the charge; Dr. Cotton Mather gave the right hand of Fellowship ; and they, together with Rev. Messrs. John Rogers,

The Parsonage built in 1(170 had now become dilapidated, and the town voted, August 1, , 1718, "that the sum of two hundred and fifty i pounds be granted for the building a new i Parsonage-house, provided the sum of one ] hundred and thirty pounds of the said money | be procured by the sale of town, propriety', or ministry lands in said town, as may be thought most proper to be disposed of for said use." The records do not distinctly indicate whether the Parsonage was wholly or only partly rebuilt, but apparently only the front was changed, for Dr. Holmes, writing in 1800, says, "All the ministers, since Mr. Mitchell, have resided at the Parsonage. The front part of the present house was built in 1720."

The chief event of Dr. Appleton's long pastorate before the stirring days of the Revolution was the excitement caused by the religious revival which followed the coming of the Rev. George Whitefield. The extraordinary preaching gifts of this young exhorter produced a remarkable effect upon the minds and hearts of the outwardly decorous but inwardly emotional New Englanders. At the beginning the excitement was deemed inspiration; and it was not until the first fever had passed off, that it was discovered that the revival was not always followed by hallowing influences. There was no suspicion, however, in the beginning, of the want of genuineness in any of the numerous conversions; and the Overseers of the College even passed a vote, "earnestly recommending it to the President, Tutors, Professors, and Instructors, by personal application to the students under impressions of a religious nature, and by all other means, to encourage and promote this good work." No wonder that Whitefield, who was only twenty-six years old at the time of his first visit, should have come to think himself a divine instrument, and should have sincerely believed that he spake as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. His denunciations of the colleges and the churches were altogether more violent than the facts warranted. "As to the Universities," he said, " I believe it may be said that their light has become darkness - darkness that may be felt, and is complained of by the most godly ministers." "Tutors neglect to pray with and examine the hearts of their pupils. DiscipHne IS at too low an ebb." "Tillotson and Clarke are read, instead of Shepard and Stoddard, and such like evangelical writers."

The faculty of the College joined in a protest against Whitefield's reckless statements, denying their truth, and exposing their want of evidence, and their "uncharitable," "censorious," and "slanderous" character. Whitefield replied, and Dr. Wigglesworth, the Hollis Professor of Divinity, responded to his pamphlet by another, in which he wrote with a degree of severity to which his gentle nature could have been roused only by extreme provocation.

President Holyoke also entered the lists in defence of the College, and added an appendix to Dr. Wigglesworth' s pamphlet, which closed a controversy that exhibited the ability with which the affairs of the College were managed. If there were really any design of " discouraging benefactors, injuring the seminary in estate as well as name, and preventing pious parents from sending their children to us for education, ' ' the attempt failed in the most satisfactory manner.

Dr. Appleton and the people of the Cambridge Church shared the feelings of their neighbors. In the Boston Evening Post, of January 7, 1745, we read the following record of a gathering held at "Cambridge, Jan. 1, 1744-5. At a meeting of the Association of this and the neighboring towns, present, the Reverend Messieurs John Hancock of Lexington, WilHam Williams of Weston, John Cotton of Newton, Nath. Appleton of Cambridge, Warham Williams of Waltham, Seth Storer of Watertown, Eben. Turell of Medford, Nicholas Bowes of Bedford, Samuel Cook of Cambridge. The Rev. Mr. Appleton having applied to his brethren of said association for our advice, relating to a request which hath been made to him by a number of his church and congregation, that he would invite the Rev. Mr. George White field to preach in Cambridge; after supplications to God and mature consideration of the case proposed, and the several pleas made in favor of said request, and the state of the town, as also the many weighty objections which lie against the said Mr. Whitefield, with respect to his principles, expressions, and conduct, which are not yet answered, nor has any Christian satisfaction been given by him for them; considering also how much the order, peace and edification of the churches of this land are endangered, together with the unhappy, divided state of many of them; It was unanimously voted, that it was not advisable, under the present situation of things, that the Rev. Mr. Appleton should invite the Rev. Mr. Whitefield to preach in Cambridge. And they accordingly declared, each of them for themselves respectively, that they would not invite the said gentleman into their pulpits. The above advice was signed by each member of the association."

Another article relative to the same subject appeared in the Boston Weekly News Letter, of June 27, 1745: "Whereas it is reported in the Gazette or Journal of this week, that the Rev. Mr. Whitefield preached last Saturday at Cambridge, to prevent misapprehension and some ill consequences which may arise from thence, you are desired to give your readers notice that he preached on the Common and not in the Pulpit; and that he did it, not only without the consent, but contrary to the mind, of the Rev. Mr. Appleton the minister of the place."

It should be added that Whitefield himself came to a better understanding as he grew older. At the time of his later visit he said ; "I certainly did drop some unguarded expressions in the heat of less experienced youth, and was too precipitate in hearkening to and pubUshing private information." He assured the faculty of the College of his "sorrow that he had published private informations ... to the world." Twenty years later, after the College library had been burned, he gave to the College his "Journal and a collection of books; and also by his influence he procured a large number of valuable books from several parts of Great Britain."

In 1753 the Parish resolved to again build a new meeting-house, and this purpose was encouraged by the President and Fellows of the College who voted to pay "one seventh part of the charge of said house," provided the students should have the use of the whole front gallery, and "at least the third or fourth pew as to the choice" be set apart for "the President for the time being and his family." The erection of the house was delayed about three years. It was raised on November 17, 1756, and public worship was first held in it on July 24, 1757. In this building all the College commencements and inaugurations, during more than seventy years, were celebrated; and no building in Massachusetts could compare with it in the number of distinguished men who at different times were assembled within its walls. The first and second Provincial Congresses, under the presidencies of Joseph Warren and John Hancock, met there. Washington worshiped there during the siege of Boston. In 1779, the delegates from the towns of Massachusetts there met and framed the Constitution of the Commonwealth, which the people of that state ratified in 1780. There Lafayette, on his triumphal visit to the United States, in 1824, was eloquently welcomed.

This fourth meeting-house, which housed the congregation until 1833, was the center of the village. It stood on the site of the two former houses, very nearly where Dane Hall now stands, opposite the head of Dunster Street. At the western end a substantial tower, springing from the ground and projecting from the main building, was surmounted by a belfry and a graceful spire capped with the customary gilt weathercock. The principal entrance was on the south, facing the pulpit. The house was nearly square and galleries ran around three sides. The eastern gallery was allotted to the students and teachers of the College; the west gallery was free; that on the south was occupied by the choir. The ground floor was divided into square pews, having seats which could be raised on hinges to afTord standing-room dtiring prayer. When the prayer ended they were let down with a slam which marked with portentous emphasis that stage in the services. Organ there was none ; the music was supplied by a redoubtable bass-viol, supplemented by some wind instruments and a volunteer choir.

all the chief inhabitants of Cambridge in 1755. The largest subscriber was Lieutenant-Governor Phips who gave 40 pds. President Holyoke, Professor John Winthrop, General William Brattle, Judge Edmund Trowbridge, Colonel Henry Vassall, and Deacon Jonathan Hastings gave 20 pds. or more. Andrew Boardman, Francis Foxcroft, Ebenezer Bradish, Samuel Danforth, Richard Gardner, Ebenezer Stedman, Professor Edward Wigglesworth, Dr. Appleton, and Richard Dana were among the larger givers; and there also appear on the list the representatives of such reliable Cambridge family stocks as Wyeth, Warland, Hicks, Whittemore, Read, Prentice, Tufts, Thatcher, Angler, Kidder, Morse, Richardson and Sparhawk.

The seating plan of the meeting-house still exists. It was the custom to assign the seats in order of dignity. The best pews were those at the right and left of the door against the wall facing the pulpit. These were assigned to Lieutenant-Governor Phips, General Brattle, President Holyoke, Colonel Vassall, Professor Winthrop, Deacon Sparhawk and the minister's family. The other wall pews were occupied by the Wigglesworths, Boardmans, Danas, Hastings, Trowbridges, Gardners, Bradishes and Foxcrofts.

Some of the names connected with the building of this meeting-house indicate that a new element had come into the Hfe of Cambridge with the advent of a number of families of wealth and social standing who elected to make their homes in the village. The first of these was the family of Spencer Phips, who was colonel of the militia, a councillor, and from 1732 to 1757 Lieutenant-Governor. He was the son of Dr. David Bennett of Rowley, and was at an early age adopted by Sir William Phips, the bluff, illiterate Governor of the Province, whose wife was the sister of Mrs. Bennett. Young Bennett took the name of Phips, graduated at Harvard in 1703, and inherited the Governor's ample estate. In 170(3 he bought a tract of three hundred acres covering almost all of what is now East Cambridge and developed there a large farm. In 1714 he bought the fine place at the eastern end of Cambridge village which had been General Gookin's homestead and more lately had been the residence of Dr. James Oliver. The house is still standing at Arrow and Bow Streets, names which not only describe the position of the streets toward each other, but also recall the fact that the gate to Governor Phips's estate was guarded by the wooden figures of two Indians which were a source of wonder and sometimes of terror to the village children. Spencer Phips died in 1757, and the estate came to his son, David Phips, who was colonel of the militia and for ten years High Sheriff of Middlesex. The four daughters of Spencer properties on Brattle Street which continue to be'known by the Vassall name, but which are more closely identified with the brother and the son, Henry Vassall and John Vassall the younger, than with the original purchaser who died in 1747. Mary Phips in 175-1 married Richard Lechmere, and the next year the youngest daughter, Rebecca Phips, married Joseph Lee. The Lechmeres acquired the estate which is now the Brewster place at the comer of Brattle and Sparks Streets, and the Lees established themselves just beyond

Meeting-House In College Yard Harvard Square In 1830

Phips married men of high standing and abtmdant means, and all of them continued to live in Cambridge. Sarah, the eldest, married, in 1731, Andrew Boardman, who was, as we have seen, for twenty-two years the representative of the town in the General Court, and for seventeen years a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. They lived in the B_oardman homestead on the south side of Harvard Square. Elizabeth married Colonel John Vassall, in 1734, and they bought the in the fine old mansion which is still standing. Henry Vassall was the brother of the elder John Vassall and bought of him the mansion still standing on the south side of Brattle Street near Ash Street. He married the daughter of Colonel Isaac Royall, who, like the father of the two Vassalls, made a fortune in the West Indies, and then came to live in New England, and to educate his children there. John Vassall, the younger, built the stately house on the north side of Brattle Street, which.

A History Of Cambridge, Massachusetts

with the exception of Mount Vernon, is the most famous dwelUng house in America, for it was Washington's headquarters and afterwards the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

These families were, for the most part, members of the Church of England, and to provide for them a spiritual home, an Episcopal church was organized in 1759, and Christ Church built. The plans were furnished by Peter Harrison of Newport, R.I., the architect of the Redwood Library of that city, and of King's Chapel in Boston; and, despite the material used, it was deemed "a model of beauty of proportion." It was opened for worship on October 15th, 1761, and for thirteen or fourteen years its straight-back, square pews were occupied by the loyal wealth and aristocracy of Cambridge. The rector expounded the doctrines of Church and State to his flock from a cumbrous wineglass pulpit, which then stood in front of the chancel and at the head of the middle aisle; and the wardens sat at the other end of the church, their rods of office warning unruly attendants to beware of constituted authority; while an excellent London organ, built by Snetzler, gave forth chant and anthem from the loft overhead.

The first rector of Christ Church was the Rev. East Apthorp, a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, an earnest and scholarly man, who came to Cambridge in 1761, with an evident purpose of making it his permanent home, for he built himself the large mansion which is still standing between Linden and Plympton Streets. The good rector was suspected of aspiring to be the Bishop of New England, and his mansion was called in derision the Bishop's Palace. In 1764, he gave up his post and returned to England, where he had a prosperous career- He was succeeded by the Rev. Winwood Serjeant.

Among the Cambridge families of the Christ Church congregation were the Lechmeres, the Lees, the Olivers, the Ruggleses, the Phipses, the Sewalls, the Borlands, the Inmans and the Vassalls. Mr. Robert Temple and his accomplished wife and lovely daughters drove over every Sunday from Ten Hills Farm in Medford.

From Medford also came Colonel Isaac Royall, whose daughter had married Henry Vassall. Many of these families, as has been seen, were connected by relationship and marriage. Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Lechmere and Mrs. John Vassall the elder, were sisters of Colonel David Phips, and daughters of Lieutenant-Governor Spencer Phips. The "pretty, little, dapper man. Colonel Oliver," as Reverend Mr. Serjeant used to call in sport the sometime lieutenantgovernor, married a sister of Colonel John Vassall the younger, and Colonel Vassall married the sister of Colonel Oliver. Mrs. Ruggles and Mrs. Borland were the sisters of Henry and John Vassall. These families were on very intimate terms with one another and scarcely a day passed that did not bring them together for social pleasures. All of them were loyalists and the sad fate that overtook them in the Revolutionary upheaval must be described later.

Another new element came into Cambridge with the advent of several distinguished lawyers. The first generation had got along without lawyers, and the local courts held by the magistrates had sufficed for the ends of justice. In the more complicated life of the seventeenth century the provincial and county courts became more important, and a generation of distinguished lawyers laid the foundations of the pre-eminence of the Massachusetts bar. Three of these men were the sons of old Cambridge families.

In the latter part of the seventeenth century Jonathan Remington kept the Blue Anchor Tavern, and served as selectman of Cambridge, and as town clerk. He was a man of property and much engaged in public affairs, and his son, Jonathan Remington, Jr., became the first legal authority of his time. He graduated at Harvard in 1696 and then served as a tutor. He began the practice of law in Cambridge in 1710, was a selectman for several years, for twelve years a representative in the General Court, for eleven years a counsellor, and then until his death a judge of the Supreme Court. His daughter, Martha Remington, in 1737 married Edmund Trowbridge, a Cambridge boy and the grandson of Colonel Edward Goffe. Judge Trowbridge in turn became attorney- general of the Province and a justice of the Supreme Court. His sister, Lydia Trowbridge, married in 1737 Richard Dana, who was also a counsellor and barrister at law, and the father of Francis Dana, the most distinguished citizen of Cambridge in the period just after the Revolution. The Danas established themselves on what is now known as Dana Hill and built a homestead on the northwest corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Dana Street. Francis Dana was a delegate to the Continental Congress, a presidential elector in 1789, Ambassador to Russia, and finally Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts.

A brief description of the village as it appeared just before the Revolution will serve to show how its boundaries had been enlarged. The center was at Harvard Square, which was really the southern end of the Common which stretched, a dusty, treeless waste, to the north, and was crossed by the Menotomy Road (now Massachusetts Avenue) and by other cart tracks, which ultimately became Garden, Mason and Waterhouse Streets and Concord Avenue. On the east side of the Square stood the meeting-house, on the south side were the Boardman house and various smaller houses, on the west was the little court house which had been built out of the timbers taken out of the old meeting-house destroyed in 1756, and northward, where the Common began to widen, were the graveyard and Christ Church. South of the Square the original village retained its rectangular plan and was the most thickly settled part of the town. The highway to Boston (now Boylston Street) ran down to the causeway and the Great Bridge, and Ebenezer Bradish's Tavern stood by the old market-place ready to entertain the wayfarer. Across the market-place (now Winthrop Square) was the jail, which was cared for by Ebenezer Bradish's brother, Isaac Bradish, who was also the blacksmith with a smithy next the jail on Winthrop Street. Just to the east of the Boston Road, on what is now Mt. Auburn Street, was the tavern of Captain Ebenezer Stedman, and to the west, across what is now Brattle Square, were the house and the extensive grounds of General Brattle.

Going eastward from the meeting-house along what is now Massachusetts Avenue, one came first, on the left, to the President's house, which is still standing and known as Wadsworth House. Next to it stood Professor Wiggles worth's house, which was the old original Hooker-Shepard house made over at the time of President Leverett's inauguration in 1707. The Wigglesworths were successively the Hollis Professors of Divinity, and the proof of their scholarship could be seen in a hole worn through the floor by their feet under the desk of the room used, by father and son, as a study. Next to this interesting house stood the old parsonage, the residence successively of Dr. Urian Oakes, of Rev. Nathaniel Gookin, Rev. William Brattle and Dr. Nathaniel Appleton. This venerable house underwent occasional repairs which materially altered its appearance and freshened its life. It was finally removed in 1843 and the Wigglesworth house was taken down a year later. On the right-hand side of the road opposite the parsonage stood the "Bishop's Palace," which faced south. After Mr. Apthorp's departure it had been bought by Mr. John Borland, who had married a sister of Henry Vassall. The Borlands had added a third story to the mansion, it is said, for the accommodation of their slaves, but as they had twelve children it is more probable that they needed the extra rooms for their large family. Beyond was the estate of Colonel David Phips, where he and his wife and seven children entertained with princely hospitality.

Continuing eastward, over what was then known as Butler's Hill, one passed Mr. Dana's house, set in the midst of orchards and cultivated grounds, and then came to Mr. Ralph Inman's estate, which was the last house in the direction of Boston and stood just back of where the City Hall now is. Mr. Inman was another of the Tory aristocrats of the town, and a member of Christ Church. Mrs. Inman was a remarkable woman. She was a staunch Scotch woman, and had the energy of character common to that people. She had crossed the ocean many times in company with her brother, Mr. James Murray, and she had been three times married. When she was Elizabeth Murray she carried on a business in a shop at the comer of Queen Street and Comhill in Boston, and made for herself a comfortable fortune. Her first husband, Mr. Smith, also left her his whole estate, so that she had all the luxuries of wealth. Her education and social advantages united to make her a most delightful companion, and one whose presence was eagerly sought. In spite of her Tory connections she remained in Cambridge during the Revolutionary troubles, and owing to her acquaintance with General Putnam, Major Mifflin and other American officers, was secured from molestation. On the day of the battle of Bunker Hill, General Putnam deputed his son to remain in Cambridge to guard Mrs. Imnan - a proof of the high regard he entertained for her.

Hollis Hall, and then, across the Charlestown road, which is now Kirkland Street, came to a gambrel-roofed house which shielded itself behind a row of Lombardy poplars. This was the house of Jonathan Hastings, the college steward, and was famous later as the headquarters of the Committee of Safety, and of General Ward, and still later, as the birthplace of Oliver Wendell Holmes. Northeast of the Hastings house lived Mr. Moses Richardson, one of the Cambridge men who were killed in the Lexington battle, and northeastward stretched the acres of the Foxcroft estate. Along the Menotomy road were several houses, from that of Captain Walton of the militia company, to the Frost house on what is now Linnaean Street, which practically marked the northern end of the village.

into being. Beyond the Brattle estate, on either side of the road to Watertown, now Brattle Street, were the estates of Mrs. Henry Vassal on the left and John Vassal on the right. Next, was the residence which Richard Lechmere had just sold to Judge Jonathan Sewall, the Attorney-General of the Province. The Phips farm, which is now East Cambridge, had passed into the hands of Mr. Lechmere on his marriage with Miss Phips, and later became known as Lechmere 's Point. The boundaries of the Lechmere-Sewall estate extended to Judge Joseph Lee's, a house still standing almost unchanged. Judge Lee had bought it in 1758 of the widow of Cornelius Waldo. The frame of the house was brought from England, not because Massachusetts had no trees, but because it was feared that capable w o r k m e n could not be found to put together a house that ^" H'J^'SE would suit the fastidious taste of its owner. Next above was the Fayerweather house, which was built in 1745 by Captain George Ruggles, another wealthy West Indian planter, who had married another of the sisters of Henry Vassall. Later he became embarrassed, and in 1774 the property came to Thomas Fayerweather, whose wife was the daughter of the College treasurer, Thomas Hubbard. The last house was the mansion of Thomas Oliver, who built it about 1760, and which is famous as Elmwood, the residence later of Elbridge Gerry, vice-president of the United States; of Rev. Charles Lowell of the West Church in Boston; and the birthplace and home of James Russell Lowell. All of these seven houses of the "Tory Row," with the exception of the Lechmere-Sewall house, are still standing along Brattle Street, and make it not only one of the most beautiful, but also one of the most historic streets in America.

THE time had now come when Massachusetts was to cease to be either colony or province and to become a sovereign commonwealth. It was not a sudden change. The traditions and training of the New England people had long been preparing them for selfgoverning independency. They were of the same stock as the Englishmen who defied the royal power at Naseby and Marston Moor, who sent Charles Stuart to the block and drove his son James across the narrow seas. They were the sons of men and women who had bought at a great price the right to be free, and they were ready to complete the purchase. In their churches these descendants of the Puritans had been taught the' authority of conscience, the sovereignty of dutj^ the demands of justice and right. They had been trained to choose their own rulers in church and state, and the spirit of liberty had become a force which could not be resisted.

Long before the outbreak of the Revolution there was great and widespread discontent in America over the ways in which American affairs were managed by the British government and its representatives. From his succession, in 1760, King George the Third, with all the intensity of a narrow mind, had striven to impose his personal will upon his ministers. The emphasis upon the prerogative of a dull and arbitrary king was reflected in all the departments of the government, but it particularly influenced the colonial policies. When America began to resist, the king's temperamental obstinacy was aroused and the stmggle with the colonies thus became a part of the struggle between popular and autocratic principles of government in England itself. Three lines of policy were adopted by the Grenville ministry which grew to be the direct causes of the American Revolution. The first was the rigid execution of that system of mediaeval monopolies known as the Acts of Trade; the second was the taxation of the colonies for

There is scarcely a proceeding in the preliminary struggles of the Revolution which is not illustrated by the votes of the Cambridge town meeting. It is true that the life of the town was not especially disturbed by the acts of the British Parliament however arbitrary, and that the local interests of Cambridge were not seriousl}- impaired by the enforcement of the navigation acts; but the attitude of the citizens of the town in opposition to the royal measures for raising revenue by taxing the colonies was bold and unyielding. In town meeting in October, 1765, they declared the Stamp Act to be an infraction of their rights, demanded its immediate repeal and instructed their representatives to do nothing which should aid its operation.

The riotous outbreak in Boston, which resulted in the destruction of Lieutenant- Governor Hutchinson's house, did not, however, meet with an}- approval. The Cambridge people voted that they "abhorred and detested" such proceedings, and would use their utmost endeavors to protect the property of residents of Cambridge from such outrages. While the}- were thus outspoken in condemnation of the violence of the mob, it appears that they were not ready to have the loss charged to the province, and thriftily recommended that their representatives should vote against any such proceeding. From this opinion, after the repeal of the Stamp Act, they receded, and, at a town meeting a year later, instructed their representatives to favor compensation to those who had suffered at the hand of the mob.

The change in the British government by which the Rockingham ministry had succeeded the Grenville ministry and the consequent repeal of the Stamp Act removed the immediate difficulty, but the principle of taxing the colonies was bv no means abandoned. When

Charles Townshend became the leading spirit of the ministry he declared in the House of Commons - " I know a mode in which a revenue may be drawn from America without offence . . . England is undone if this taxation of America is given up." Accordingly in June, 1767, a new Taxation Act was introduced, and rapidly passed through Parliament. In order to avoid the objections to "internal taxes," it laid import duties on various articles and especially on tea. The proceeds of the act were to be used to pay the salaries of the royal governors and judges in America. A few months afterwards, - December, 1767, - a colonial department was created, headed by a secretary of state. The machinery of what might prove to be an exasperating control was thus provided for, and the principle of taxation, once admitted, might, of course, be carried farther. The actual amount of money involved was not a heavy biirden on the colonies, but it was to be used in such a way as to make the governors and judges independent of the local assemblies.

Public feeling in America ran high. At the Cambridge town meeting of November 26, 1767, the opposition of the town to the collection of the duty on tea was set forth as forcibly as possible. The claim of Parliament to tax the colonists was firmly denied. The sending of the tea, subject to the payment of duties, was a violent attack on the liberties of America. Every person who should aid, directly or indirectly, in unloading, receiving, or vending any tea subject to these duties, was declared to be an enemy of America. The factors appointed to receive the tea in Boston, who had been requested to resign this appointment, but who had refused to do so, had by this conduct forfeited all right to the respect of their fellow-countrymen. Finally, it was resolved "That the people of this town can no longer stand idle spectators, but are ready, on the shortest notice, to join with the town of Boston, and other towns, in any measures that may be thought proper, to deliver ourselves and posterity from slavery."

The protest of the other towns and of the va'rious colonial and provincial assemblies was equally positive, but the ministry proceeded to new repressive measures. It was proposed that American agitators be sent to England for trial and troops were sent to Boston. The regiments arrived in September, 1768, and for nearly eight years Boston was a garrisoned town. There was constant friction between the troops and the people, which broke into riot on March 5, 1770, in the affray known as the Boston Massacre.

In November, 1772, Committees of Correspondence were formed throughout Massachusetts, and later in the other colonies. The circular letter issued by the Boston Committee was duly read at a town meeting held in Cambridge, December 14th, and a committee was appointed on the part of Cambridge, which was instructed to acquaint the Boston committee that Cambridge would "heartily concur in all salutary, proper and constitutional measures for the redress of the intolerable grievances which threatened, and which, if continued, would overthrow the happy civil constitution of the province." The committee was also instructed to take under consideration the infringements upon the rights of the people which were complained of, and to report at an adjournment of the meeting. After a recess of a few minutes this committee submitted a report, in which a long and carefully prepared review of the situation prefaced instructions to the Cambridge representative. Captain Thomas Gardner, to use his greatest influence at the next session of the General Court for a speedy redress of all grievances. A year later, December 16, 1773, came the Boston Tea Party - the violent expression of the sentiments of the people against the tax. It made further conciliation practically impossible.

It was not in the temper of Englishmen and still less of their King, to withdraw or to change front in the face of such daring resistance. Five new bills were introduced and hastily pushed through Parliament. The first enacted that no further commerce was to be permitted with the port of Boston till that town should make its submission. The second act abolished certain provisions of the charter granted by William III in 1692. Under the old charter, the members of the Governor's Council were chosen in a convention consisting of the Council of the preceding year and the

Assembly. Each councillor held office for a year, and was paid out of an appropriation made by the Assembly. Under the new act the members of the Council were to be appointed by the governor on a royal writ of mandamus, and their salaries were to be paid by the Crown. The governor and his dependent Council could appoint sheriffs and all the judges and court officers, and they too were to be paid from the royal treasury and removed at the king's pleasvire. Worse than all, the town-meeting system of local self-government was practically destroyed. Town meetings could indeed be held twice a year for the election of town officers, but no other business could be transacted in them. "The effect of all these changes would, of course, be to concentrate all power in the hands of the governor, leaving no check whatever upon his arbitrary will. It would, in short, transform Massachusetts into an absolute despotism, such as no Englishman had ever lived under in any age." The third act directed that "persons questioned for any Acts in Execution of the Law" should be sent to England for trial. The fourth act provided for the quartering of soldiers upon the inhabitants, and was intended to establish a military government in Massachusetts. The fifth act provided for the goverriment of the region ceded by France in 1763, and among other things it annexed to Canada the whole territory between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and the Great Lakes. The pmpose was undoubtedly to remove the danger of disaffection or insurrection in Canada, but at the same time the act extinguished all the title of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Virginia to the region west of Pennsylvania.

The news of these coercive measures was received in Massachusetts on May 10th. Soon after the new military governor, General Gage, appeared, and in a few weeks the Boston Port Bill and the modifications of the charter began to be ruthlessly enforced. The committees of the Massachusetts towns promptly met, and adopted a circular letter, prepared by Samuel Adams, to be sent to all the other colonies, asking for their sympathy and co-operation. The response was prompt and emphatic. In the course of the summer, conventions were held in nearly all the colonies, declaring that

Boston should be regarded as "suffering in the common cause." The obnoxious acts of Parliament were printed on paper with deep black borders, and in some towns were publicly burned by the common hangman. Droves of cattle and flocks of sheep, cartloads of wheat and maize, vegetables and fruit, barrels of sugar, quintals of dried fish, provisions of every sort, were sent overland as free gifts to the Boston people, even the distant rice-swamps of South Carolina contributing their share. The 1st of June was kept in Virginia as a day of fasting and prayer. In Philadelphia bells were muffled and tolled in the principal churches; and ships put their flags at halfmast. Marblehead, which was appointed to supersede Boston as the port of entr}-, immediately invited the merchants of Boston to use its wharves and warehouses free of charge in shipping and unshipping their goods.

The time was at hand when men would be wanted more than money or provisions or votes of sympathy. This had become plain to at least one American. People were telling of the excellence of the oratory in the Virginia Convention, and enthusiastic Virginians had assured John Adams that Richard Henry Lee and Patrick Henry would respectively bear comparison with Cicero and with Demosthenes. But a delegate from South Carolina, who on his way to the meeting of the Continental Congress had stopped to see what they were doing in the Old Dominion, gave it as his opinion that the most eloquent speech had been made by a certain Colonel Washington. "I will raise," that officer had said, "one thousand men towards the rehef of Boston, and subsist them at my own expense."

Another violent outbreak could not be long postponed, and this time Cambridge was the scene of action. The powder belonging to the Province had been stored in the magazine which is still standing in the Powder House Park in Somerville. This stock General Gage determined to secure. On the morning of the first of September, in the early dajdight, detachments of troops in boats rowed up the Mystic, landed at the Temple's Farm, seized the powder, and also secured two cannon belonging to General Brattle's regiment, and carried them off down the harbor to the Castle. Rumors of

The companies converged upon Cambridge, whence the Lieutenant-Governor, Thomas Oliver, rode hastily to Boston, to implore Gage to send out no more troops. The militia paraded upon Cambridge Common and called for the newly appointed mandamus councillors. The two Cambridge members of the Council, Judge Danforth and Judge Lee, promised to resign at once and to be in no way concerned in the acts of the government. Each submitted a written promise attested by the clerk of the court. Then the high-sheriff of Middlesex, Colonel David Phips, was forced to promise to do nothing toward executing the new laws.

Benjamin Hallowell, the Commissioner of Customs, had a narrow escape. Passing in his chaise by the crowds on the Common, he "spoke somewhat contemptuously of them." Some mounted men promptly rode after him. On seeing them coming he stopped his chaise, unhitched his horse and mounted, and galloped to Boston Neck, where he found safety.

After securing the withdrawal of Lee and Danforth, the people flocked up Brattle Street to the house of Lieutenant-Governor Oliver, who had returned from Boston, and demanded his resignation from the Council. This, after demurring, Oliver gave, "My house at Cambridge," he wrote, "being surrounded by about four thousand people, in compliance with their command I sign my name, - Thomas Oliver." General Brattle, the colonel of the Middlesex regiment, was then sought for but had gone to Boston. Thence he wrote an explanatory and apologetic letter, in which he denounced the threatenings he had received and his practical banishment from his home.

This was obviously one of the most exciting days in the history of Cambridge. The temper of the people was incapable of being misunderstood. There was no reasonable ground for objecting to the removal of the powder and guns which really belonged to the Province and there was no collision with the troops, but it is obvious that the 2d of September, 1774, just escaped the historic importance of the 19th of April of the succeeding year.

on October 11, 1774. The Cambridge delegates were Thomas Gardner and John Winthrop. After waiting two days for the Governor who never came, the members constituted themselves into a Congress, and adjourned first to Concord and later to the Cambridge Meeting-house. The Assembly first took pains to define their constitutional position, and to defend it by adducing precedents and quoting charters, and then they went on to the more pressing business of the hour. They began by ordering "that all the matters that come before the Congress be kept secret, and be not disclosed to any but the members thereof until further order of this body." Then, on the 24th of October, they appointed a committee to consider the proper time for laying in warlike stores; and on the same day the committee reported that the proper time was now. Without delay they voted the purchase of twenty field pieces and four mortars; twenty tons of grape and round shot; five thousand muskets and bayonets, and seventyfive thousand flints. They made an agreement to pay no more taxes into the royal Treasury, and arranged a system of assessment for the purpose of provincial defence. They then proceeded to elect by ballot three generals, Jedediah Preble, Artemas Ward and Seth Pomeroy. They appointed a Committee of Public Safety, of which John Hancock was the most notable and Joseph Warren the most active member. They invested that Committee with authority to call out the militia, every fourth man of whom was expected to hold himself ready to march at a minute's notice; - a condition of service that suggested the name of Minutemen. Then they adjourned until the fourth Wednesday in November; by which time the Committee of PubHc Safety, disbursing their funds thriftily, had bought in addition to the prescribed amount of ordnance three hundred and fifty spades and pick-axes, a thousand wooden messbowls, and some pease and flour. " That," said Sir George Trevelyan, "was their stock of material wherewith to fight the empire which recently, with hardly any sense of distress, had maintained a long war against France and Spain, and had left them humbled and half ruined at the end of it."

The irrevocable step was thus taken in the Cambridge meeting-house. That which for months, and perhaps years, had been a fact became now a visible and palpable finality. The action of the Assembly at Cambridge gave aim and purpose to the seething excitement of the Province. "Appointing a receiver-general," wrote Dr. Reynolds, "it took possession of the pttrse; organizing a committee of safety, it seized the sword; through its committee of supplies it gathered the munitions of war; by its minute inquiries it may almost be said to have counted up every musket and fowlingpiece, and weighed every ounce of powder, in the Province. It appointed commanders and one foot beyond the girdle of the bayonets of his soldiers. " No visible lines of intrenchment rose on the hills which surrounded Boston, but all the same the beleaguerment was there, ready at the first hostile movement to become manifest and impregnable. Like the fabled net of the magician, its meshes were so fine that the keenest eye could not see them; so strong that a giant's struggles could not break them."

The tumultuous events of the 19th of April, 1775, lie somewhat outside of the scope of this narrative, but both of the British columns that marched to Lexington on that momentous commissaries; it established military laws and regulations; it collected in depots provisions, clothing, tents, and military supplies of all sorts; and it purchased powder, muskets and cannon." It is obvious that the siege of Boston was really a much longer affair than the eleven months of actual investment. It began long before those April days when the farmers from all the New England states came hurrying to Cambridge, and with little or no plan of action, encamped upon the encircling hills, and with military instinct began to intrench themselves. It would be nearer the truth to say that the siege began on the day that General Gage landed, for never was he governor in Massachusetts day trod our Cambridge soil. The first expedition was ferried over the river in the boats of the fleet, landed at Phips' Farm or Lechmere's Point, filed in the darkness along the causeway which crossed the marshes and so went on its way to destroy the stores at Concord. The supporting column under Lord Percy left Boston about nine in the morning and marched by the way of the highway over the neck. Before noon Lord Percy came to the " Great Bridge, " at the foot of what is now Boylston Street. The Cambridge folk had been warned of his coming. Hastily they tore up the planking of the Bridge, but frugally piled the planks on the Cambridge side of the river. The delay was therefore but slight for Percy's vanguard crossed on the string pieces of the bridge and quickly put the planks again in place so that the infantry could march over them. The wagon train was delayed until the planks could be more firmly secured. The many tracks crossing Cambridge Common are said to have confused Lord Percy, and he was at no small trouble before he could find anyone to tell him which road would lead him to Menotomy and Lexington. His column finally met the troops, returning from Concord, just east of Lexington, and history records that the relief came "just in time."

On his retreat from Lexington Lord Percy did not pass through Harvard Square, for he realized that this time the "Great Bridge" would undoubtedly be so dismantled as to be impassable. He therefore directed his march to Charlestown Neck, and the running battle ebbed and .flowed through Menotomy, which was still a part of Cambridge, and along the base of the. SiDmerville hills to Charlestown. Percy was right, for the planking of the bridge had again been torn up and this time built into a strong redoubt on the Cambridge side, which was held by the militia arriving from the towns to the south and which would have completely blocked the progress of the British column.

The Cambridge Trainband had been mustered before daybreak on that fateful day and apparently followed the first of the British detachments nearly all the way to Concord and then joined in the running battle home again. Thomas Gardner had succeeded General Brattle as the Colonel of the First Middlesex Regiment, and Samuel Thatcher had succeeded Gardner as the Captain of the Cambridge Company, with John and Jotham Walton as his lieutenants. Seventy-seven men were enrolled in the company, Wyeths, Warlands, Reeds, Frosts, Prentices, Coxes, Hastings, Goddards, Boardmans, Bradishes, Moores and Hancocks. There was another company in that part of the town which is now Arlington commanded by Captain Benjamin Locke, and it, too, was actively engaged all day. It was in Menotomy that Percy's wagon train, which had been detained at the Great Bridge, and which was hurrying to overtake the marching column, was set upon by the older men who remained in the village and captured with its guard. It was in Menotomy and North Cambridge that the hottest fighting of that sultrj' April day took place. More than half of those on both sides who fell in the fighting were killed within what were then the boundaries of Cambridge. All of the Cambridge men who fell were killed near Menotomy. Jason Winship and Jabez Wyman were two of the band of veterans who at midday had waylaid and captured the British wagon train. They were caught by the returning British in Cooper's Tavern at Menotomy Centre and killed. Benjamin and Rachel Cooper escaped into the cellar and hid till the troops had passed. Jason Russell, another old man and substantial farmer, lived just to the west of Menotomy village. The Danvers company came up just as the British approached and took post in Mr. Russell's house. There a number of them were caught between the main column marching down the road and a flanking party that came across the fields. Nine of the Danvers company were killed in the house and Mr. Russell was shot as he stood in his own doorway. Three of the men from Cambridge village were killed on Massachusetts Avenue just north of Spruce Street. John Hicks was one of an old Cambridge family and lived at the comer of Dunster and Winthrop Streets. He had been an active patriot, and tradition says that he was one of the Boston Tea Party. Moses Richardson was a carpenter who lived where the Law School (Austin Hall) now stands. His military spirit was reborn in his great grandson, James P. Richardson, who organized and led the first company that enlisted for the Civil War. Both Hicks and Richardson were beyond the age of military service, so they had not marched with the j^ounger men of the trainband, but they had taken their guns and followed. The third victim, William Marcy, was killed at the same time and place. He was apparently sitting on the fence looking on when he was shot. Hicks' son, a boy of fourteen, found the three bodies in the evening, and, procuring a wagon, brought them to the village graveyard for burial at the place where the monument to their honor now stands.

There was no sleep in Cambridge or anywhere else in Massachusetts that night. North, west and south the messengers rode furiously spreading the news. Every village green saw the muster of the trainbands. Seizing their muskets and their powder horns the minutemen, without waiting for anything else, started for Cambridge. When the alarm reached Connecticut old Israel Putnam left his plow in the furrow and rode on one horse one hundred miles in eighteen hours. The New Hampshire companies were crossing the Merrimac on the evening of the twentieth, having run rather than marched for twenty-seven miles. They halted at Andover only long enough for a bit of bread and cheese, and, having traversed fifty-seven miles in less than twenty hours, at sunrise on the twenty -first they paraded o n Cambridge Common. Within two days ten thousand men came pouring into Cambridge, and for weeks afterwards the numbers were augmented. General Heath, who had been conspicuous among the leaders on the 19th, directed them where to go, and made a general disposition of this loosely organized and primitive army. On the morning after the battle it was his foresight that provided for the needs of the men who came rushing in from every Massachusetts town and hamlet. Later he wrote in his Memoirs, "All the eatables in the town of Cambridge which could be spared, were collected for breakfast and the college kitchen and utensils procured for cooking. Some carcasses of beef, and pork, prepared for the Boston market, were obtained and a large quantity of ship bread, said to belong to the British navy, was taken." The college buildings were at once occupied as barracks, and the college kitchen continued to be the center of the rude commissariat. The towns hastened to send ample supplies after their men, and there was never a time when this hastily improvised New England army was not abundantly fed. The flight of the Cambridge Tories made their houses and estates available for quarters. General Putnam got as near to the enemies' lines as he could by living at the Inman house. John Stark made a headquarters for the New Hampshire men at the Royall house in Medford. John Glover and his Essex Regiment occupied the Vassall house and grounds. The Committee of Safety and the Senior of the Massachusetts Major- Generals, Artemas Ward, accepted the hospitality of the Hastings house. With extraordinary rapidity the beleaguering lines were drawn about Boston. 1 1 was fifteen months after Concord and Lexington before a British army again took the open field.

Sad was the fate that thus overtook with appalling suddenness the loyalist families of Cambridge. The booming of the guns at Lexington meant for them the signal to fly from their pleasant homes and seek safety behind the Boston lines. Practically the entire congregation of Christ Church departed, and, save for a few lay services held while Mrs. Washington was in Cambridge, the sound of prayer and praise was unheard within its walls for fifteen years. For a time it served as- a barracks and then for years it stood deserted, its doors shattered and its windows broken, exposed to wind and rain and every sort of depredation. Most of the Tory magnates never saw their homes again. The Brattle house became the quarters of Major Thomas Mifflin, afterwards the President of Congress, while General Brattle accompanied the British army when they sailed away and died a broken-hearted old man at Halifax in the fall of 1776. His son, Thomas Brattle, was in Europe when the war broke out and was proscribed as an absentee. Later he returned to America, and in 1784 was finally permitted to come back to Cambridge and rehabilitate the old estate. He made the place the most beautiful for miles around and lived a quiet life among his flowers and his friends. .He died unmarried in 1801, and with him ended the Brattle line. Thomas Oliver, the one-time Lieutenant-Governor, left Cambridge immediatel)^ after the uprising which had forced his resignation on September 2d, 1774, and never returned. H e h a d never, indeed, been an active opponent of the patriotic sentiment, for he was of mild and inoffensive temperament, but all his social connections were with the Tories. He went to England and died there in 1815. His beautiful house at Elmwood was first occupied by Benedict Arnold and a Connecticut company, and later became a hospital for the besieging army, and the wounded were brought there from Bunker Hill. Those who died were buried across the road opposite the house. Colonel David Phips also went to England and died there in 1811. His estate was confiscated and his house later became the residence of Professor John Winthrop. John Borland went into Boston as soon as the troubles began and was killed by accident there on the 5th of June,

1775. One of his sons entered the British army. His house, the "Bishop's Palace," was later used as a residence for General Burgoyne when he came as a prisoner to Cambridge, and was then for many years the homestead of Dr. Plympton.

Judge Danforth and Judge Lee, the two Mandamus Councillors who resigned at the behest of the people on September 2, 1774, were, like Oliver, Tories by social connection rather than by conviction. Judge Danforth was an old and respected citizen who had been a member of the Council by the choice of the Provincial Assembly for thirty-six }'ears, and who made no greater mistake than to continue in his office when appointed by the King mstead of elected by the representatives of the people. He stayed m his house on the eastern side of Dunster Street, and, though understood to have royalist sympathies, was undisturbed. Judge Lee went with his neighbors to Boston during the siege, but afterwards returned and took up his residence again in the old house on Brattle Street o\ ELM which is still known by his name. Ralph Inman also came back to his place after the evacuation of Boston and was unmolested, though both of his sons went to England and his daughter married Captain Linzee, who had commanded the frigate Falcon on the day of Bunker Hill. The Lechmere-Sewall estate and both the Vassall estates were confiscated after the hurried flight of their owners. Colonel John Vassall had no choice but to cross the seas with his friends, and his mansion-house became the headquarters of the American army. Mrs. Henry Vassall went to Antigua, where the family still possessed considerable property, but returned to die in Boston in ISOO. Even her father, Isaac Royall, to whom hospitality was a passion, and who had won the affection of all around him, did not escape banishment and proscription. The Committee of Safety provided for the care and occupation of the confiscated estates, though not always without difficulty, for "the honest man's scythe refused to cut Tory grass, and his oxen to turn a Tory furrow." Isaac Royall's cherished wish was to be buried in Massachusetts; but even that boon was denied him. He died in England before the war was over, bequeathing two thousand acres of his neglected soil to endow a Chair of Law at Harvard.