Historic Shrines of America Part 1

Historic Shrines of America.

by John T. (John Thomson) Faris.

FOREWORD

Circular tours have long been popular in England. There was a time--as there will be a time again--when American visitors felt that to make the rounds of the cathedral towns or the historic castles or the homes and haunts of great men and women, was a necessary part of seeing the tight little island.

"What a pity it is that we in America have no such wealth of historic places," one returning tourist was heard to remark. "Oh, of course, there are a few spots like Independence Hall and Concord and Lexington," he went on, "but there are not enough of them to make it worth while to plan a tour such as those in which we have taken delight in England."

It was easy to point out to the traveler his mistake; most Americans know that the country is rich in places of historic interest. Just how rich it is they may not realize until they make a serious study of the landmarks of their own land, as does the European tourist of the centers noted in his guidebook.

In fact, there are in America so many houses, churches, and other buildings having a vital connection with our history that volumes would be required to tell of them all. Even a brief record of the buildings whose owners or occupants played a conspicuous part in the early history of the country would fill a large book.

It is fascinating to learn of these houses and public buildings and to delve into the biographies which tell what happened to the people who lived in them. Fiction seems tame after connecting, for instance, the story of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler with the Ford Mansion and the Campfield House at Morristown, New Jersey, then with the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, New York, and The Grange in New York City. The heart of the patriot burns with new love for his country as he reads of Faneuil Hall and the Old South Church and Carpenters'

Hall. The story of the Revolution is clothed with living interest when Washington and his generals are followed to Valley Forge and Newburgh and Cambridge and Morristown and Princeton. Fresh appreciation of the sacrifice of the pioneers comes from going with them into the garrison houses of New England, along the Wilderness Road in Kentucky, to the settlements on the Ohio, or to the banks of the Wabash where more than one Indian treaty was made.

Next comes the keen pleasure of visiting the houses and churches which, through the piecing together of these facts, have become like familiar friends. The vacation journey that includes a careful study of a few of these buildings becomes a fascinating course in patriotism.

It is the purpose of the author of "Historic Shrines of America" to tell just enough about each of one hundred and twenty of these buildings of historic interest to create a hunger for more; to present pictures sufficiently attractive to make those who turn the pages of the book determine to visit the places described; to arrange the brief chapters in such sequence that it will be possible for the reader to plan for successive vacations a series of journeys through the centers where historic buildings may be found, and, in doing this, to pa.s.s by so many structures of interest that the reader and the tourist will have abundant opportunity to discover houses and churches of which he will say, "I wonder why this was not included."

CHAPTER ONE: IN THE LAND OF THE PILGRIMS

The riches of the Commonwealth Are free, strong minds, and hearts of health; And more to her than gold or grain, The cunning hand and cultured brain.

For well she keeps her ancient stock, The stubborn strength of Pilgrim Rock; And still maintains, with milder laws, And clearer light, the Good Old Cause!

Nor heeds the skeptic's puny hands, While near her school the church-spire stands; Nor fears the blinded bigot's rule, While near her church-spire stands the school.

--JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.

CHAPTER ONE: IN THE LAND OF THE PILGRIMS

[Ill.u.s.tration: OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON _Photo by Halliday Historic Photograph Company, Boston_ See Page 19]

I

THE OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, Ma.s.sACHUSETTS

FROM WHOSE BALCONY THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WAS PROCLAIMED

Thirty-three years after Captain John Smith sailed into Boston Harbor, the first Town House was built. This was in 1657. The second Town House, which was built on the same site, was erected in 1712. In 1748 the third Town House, later the Old State House, followed the structure of 1712, the outer walls of the old building being used in the new.

Since 1689, when Governor Andros' tyranny was overthrown, the old building has been in the thick of historic events. How it figured in the Boston Ma.s.sacre was shown by John Tudor in his diary. He wrote:

"March, 1770. On Monday evening the 5th current, a few Minutes after 9 o'clock a most horrid murder was committed in King Street before the custom house Door by 8 or 9 Soldiers under the Command of Capt. Thos Preston of the Main Guard on the South side of the Town House. This unhappy affair began by Some Boys & young fellows throwing Snow b.a.l.l.s at the sentry placed at the Custom house Door. On which 8 or 9 Soldiers Came to his a.s.sistance. Soon after a Number of people collected, when the Capt commanded the Soldiers to fire, which they did and 3 Men were Kil'd on the Spot & several Mortaly Wounded, one of which died next Morning....

Leut Governor Hutchinson, who was Commander in Chiefe, was sent for & Came to the Council Chamber, where some of the Magustrates attended. The Governor desired the Mult.i.tude about 10 O'Clock to sepperat & to go home peaceable & he would do all in his power that Justice should be done &c. The 29 Regiment being then under Arms on the south side of the Townhouse, but the people insisted that the Soldiers should be ordered to their Barracks first before they would sepperat. Which being done the people sepperated aboute 1 O'Clock."

Next day the people met in Faneuil Hall, and demanded the immediate removal of the troops. The demand being refused, they met again at Faneuil Hall, but adjourned to Old South Church, since the larger hall was required to accommodate the aroused citizens. A new committee, headed by Samuel Adams, sought Hutchinson in the Council Chamber of the Town House, and secured his permission to remove the troops without delay.

The next event of note in the history of the old building was the public reading there of the Declaration of Independence on July 18, 1776, in accordance with the message of John Hanc.o.c.k, President of the Continental Congress, who asked that it be proclaimed "in such a mode that the people may be impressed by it."

Abigail Adams told in a letter to her husband, John Adams, of the reading:

"I went with the mult.i.tude to King street to hear the Declaration Proclamation for Independence read and proclaimed.... Great attention was given to every word....

Thus ends royal Authority in the state."

A British prisoner on parole, who was an invited guest at the reading of the Declaration, wrote a detailed narrative of the events of the day, in the Town Hall, in which he said:

"Exactly as the clock struck one, Colonel Crafts, who occupied the chair, rose and, silence being obtained, read aloud the declaration, which announced to the world that the tie of allegiance and protection, which had so long held Britain and her North American colonies together, was forever separated. This being finished, the gentlemen stood up, and each, repeating the words as they were spoken by an officer, swore to uphold, at the sacrifice of life, the rights of his country. Meanwhile the town clerk read from the balcony the Declaration of Independence to the crowd; at the close of which, a Shout began in the hall, pa.s.sed like an electric spark to the streets, which rang with loud huzzas, the slow and measured boom of Cannon, and the rattle of musketry."

Thirteen years later, when Washington visited Boston, he pa.s.sed through a triumphal arch to the State House. In his diary he told of what followed his entrance to the historic building:

"Three cheers was given by a vast concourse of people, Who, by this time, had a.s.sembled at the Arch--then followed an ode composed in honor of the President; and well sung by a band of select singers--After this three cheers--followed by the different Professions and Mechanics in the order they were drawn up, with their colors, through a lane of the people which had thronged about the arch under which they pa.s.sed."

The ode sung that day was as follows:

"General Washington, the hero's come, Each heart exulting hears the sound; See, thousands their deliverer throng, And shout his welcome all around.

Now in full chorus bursts the song, And shout the deeds of Washington."

The Old State House was near destruction in 1835, as a result of the uproar that followed the attempt of William Lloyd Garrison to make an abolition address in the hall next door to the office of the _Liberator_, whose editor he was. A furious crowd demanded his blood, and he was persuaded to retire. Later the doors of the _Liberator_ office where he had taken refuge were broken down, and, after a chase, the hunted man was seized and dragged to the rear of the Old State House, then used as the City Hall and Post-office. The mayor rescued him from the mob, which was talking of hanging him, and carried him into the State House. The threats of the outwitted people became so loud that it was feared the building would be destroyed and that Garrison would be killed. As soon as possible, therefore, he was spirited away to the Leverett Street jail.

For many years, until 1882, the Old State House was used for business purposes, after previous service as Town House, City Hall, Court House, and State House. It is now used as a historical museum by the Bostonian Society.

The historic halls within the building have the same walls and ceilings as when the old house was erected in 1748. For many years the exterior was covered with unsightly paint, but this has been sc.r.a.ped off, and the brick walls gleam red as in former days.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PAUL REVERE HOUSE, BOSTON _Photo by Halliday Historic Photograph Company_ See Page 23]

II

PAUL REVERE'S HOUSE, BOSTON, Ma.s.sACHUSETTS

WHERE THE MERCURY OF THE REVOLUTION LIVED AND TOILED

"_Take three fourths of a Paine that makes Traitors Confess_ (RAC) _With three parts of a place which the Wicked don't Bless_ (HEL) _Joyne four sevenths of an Exercise which shop-keepers use_ (WALK) _Add what Bad Men do, when they good actions refuse_ (ER) _These four added together with great care and Art Will point out the Fair One that is nearest my Heart._"

Thus wrote Paul Revere, the Boston goldsmith, on the back of a bill to Mr. Benjamin Greene for "Gold b.u.t.tons," "Mending a Spoon," and "Two pr. of Silver Shoe Buckles," which was made out one day in 1773 in the old house in North Square, built in 1676. To this house he planned to lead as his second wife Rachel Walker; his eight children needed a mother's care, and he wanted some one to share the joys and the burdens of his life.