The Loyalists of Massachusetts Part 52

AGNES, LADY FRANKLAND.

Sir Harry Frankland, as he was familiarly called here, was heir to an ample fortune, and what added to his interest in this puritanical colony was that he was a descendant in the fourth generation from Oliver Cromwell, he came here in 1741 as Collector of the Port of Boston, preferring that office to the Governorship of Ma.s.sachusetts, the alternative offered him by George II. The story of his marriage is romantic enough. Upon an official visit to Marblehead, he was struck by the radiant beauty of a young girl of sixteen, maid-of-all-work at the village inn, bare-legged, scrubbing the floor; inquired her name, and, upon a subsequent visit, with the consent of her parents, conveyed her to Boston and placed her at the best school. The attachment he conceived for her appears to have been returned, though Sir Charles did not offer her marriage. The connection between this high official and his fair protege causing scandal, Frankland purchased some 500 acres of land in Hopkinton, which he laid out and cultivated with taste, built a stately country-house and extensive farm buildings, and there entertained all the gay companions he could collect with deer and fox hunts without, with music and feasting within doors, duly attending the church of his neighbor, the Rev. Roger Price, late of King's Chapel, Boston, of which Frankland had been, from his arrival, a member. Called to England by the death of his uncle, whose t.i.tle he inherited as fourth baronet, he journeyed to Lisbon, and there, upon All Saints Day, 1755, on his way to high ma.s.s, he was engulfed by the earthquake, his horses killed, and he would have perished miserably but for his discovery and rescue by the devoted Agnes. Grateful and penitent, he led her to the altar, and poor Agnes Surriage, the barefooted maid-of-all-work of the inn at Marblehead, was translated into Agnes, Lady Frankland.

It was upon Sir Harry Frankland's return from Europe in 1756 that he became the owner of the Clark House, lived in it one short year, entertaining continually, with the a.s.sistance of his French cook, Thomas, as appears by frequent entries in his journal; was then transferred to Lisbon as Consul General, and so, with the exception of brief visits to this country in 1759 and 1763, disappearing from our horizon.

After his death at Bath, England, in 1768, his widow returned here with her son, but not until she had recorded her husband's virtues upon a monument "erected by his affectionate widow, Agnes, Lady Frankland,"--dividing her year between Boston and Hopkinton, exchanging civilities with those who had once rejected her, till the contest with England rendered all loyalists and officials unpopular.

At Hopkinton, May, 1775, she was alarmed at the movement of the revolutionists, her Ladyship asked leave to remove to Boston. The Committee of Safety gave her liberty to pa.s.s to the capital with her personal effects, and gave her a written permit, signed by Benjamin Church. Jr., chairman. Thus protected, she set out on her journey with her attendants; but was arrested by a party of armed men, who detained her person, and effects, until an order for the release of both was obtained. To prevent further annoyance, the Provincial Congress furnished her with an escort, and required all persons who had any of her property in their possession to place the same at her disposal.

Defended by a guard of six soldiers, Lady Frankland entered Boston about the first of June, 1775; witnessed from her window in Garden Court street the battle of Bunker Hill, took her part in relieving the sufferings of the wounded officers, and then in her turn disappeared, leaving her estates in the hands of members of her family, thereby saving them from confiscation, which was the fate of her neighbor Hutchinson. Upon her death in England in 1782 the town mansion pa.s.sed by her will to her family, and was sold by Isaac Surriage in 1811 for $8000 to Mr. Joshua Ellis, a retired North End merchant, who resided there till his death. Upon the widening of Bell Alley, in 1832, these two proud mansions, the Frankland and Hutchinson houses long since deserted by the families whose importance they were erected to ill.u.s.trate and perpetuate, objects of interest to the poet, the artist, and the historian, alike for their a.s.sociations with a seemingly remote past, their antique splendor, and for the series of strange romantic incidents in the lives of their successive occupants, were ruthlessly swept away.

COLONEL DAVID PHIPS.

The most picturesque and remarkable in character and personal fortune of all the royal governors, was the first of them, Sir William Phips. He was a characteristic product of the New England soil, times and ways.

Hutchinson thus briefly and fitly designates him: "He was an honest man, but by a series of fortunate incidents, rather than by any uncommon talents, he rose from the lowest condition in life to be the first man in the country."

Cotton Mather informs us that William Phips was one of twenty-one _sons_ and of _twenty-six_ children, of the same mother, born to James Phips of Bristol, England, a blacksmith, and gunsmith, who was an early settler in the woods of Maine, at the mouth of the Kennebec River. But records and history are dumb as to facts about the most of these scions of a fruitful parentage, other than that of their having been born. William was born Feb. 2, 1651; was left in early childhood without a father.

What the mother's task was, in poverty, with hard wilderness surroundings, of bears, wolves, and savages, we may well imagine. Her famous son, untaught and ignorant, tended sheep, till he was eighteen years of age. Then he helped to build coasters, and sailed in them. This was at that time, and afterwards a most thriving business, the foundation of fortunes to rugged and enterprising men, born in indigence.

He went to Boston in 1673, at the age of twenty-two, worked at his trade, he had early visions of success and greatness, for the first time he learned to read, and also to do something that pa.s.sed for writing. He married the widow of John Hull, the mint master, they suffered straits together, but he used to comfort her with the a.s.surance that they would yet have "a fair brick house in the Green Lane of North Boston." And so they did. That "Greene Lane" became Charter street, when in 1692, he came back as Sir William Phips, from the Court of London, bringing the Province Charter as the first Governor under it. The "fair brick house"

long served as an Asylum for boys, at the corner of Salem and Charles streets.

But a strange wild daring, and romantic interval of adventure preceded his honors, and wealth. He wrought at intervals in Maine, and here, as a ship carpenter, sailed coasters, and engaged in expeditions against the Indians. In 1684 he went in a search in the waters of the Spanish Main for a treasure ship known to be sunk there. Going to London, the Admiralty, and James II. gave him the command of an eighteen-gun ship and ninety-five men. A two years' cruise in the West Indies, in which he showed a most signal intrepidity, heroism and ingenuity of resource, in suppressing a mutinous crew, was unsuccessful, except in acquainting him, through an old Spaniard, of the precise spot where a treasure-laden galleon had foundered fifty years before. He returned to England for a new outfit. The king favored him, but not with another war ship. The Duke of Albemarle and others, as a.s.sociates, provided him with a vessel on shares. The hero had heroic success. Cotton Mather informs us that "Captain Phips arrived at _Port de la Plata_, made a stout _canoo_ of a stately cotton-tree, employing his own _hands_ and _adse_ in constructing it, lying abroad in the woods many nights together. The piriaga, as they called it, discovered a reef of rising shoals called "_The Boilers_", here an Indian diver dove down and perceived a number of _great-guns_, and upon further diving the Indian fetched up a _sow_, or lump of silver, worth two or three hundred pounds. In all, thirty-two tons of silver, gold, pearls and jewels were recovered from the wreck.

Besides which, one Adderly of Providence, one of the Bahama Islands, took up about six tons of silver, which he took to the Bermudas. Captain Phips returned to London in 1687 with more than a million and a half of dollars, in gold and silver, diamonds, precious stones, and other treasures. His own share in the proceeds was about a hundred thousand dollars. To this was added the honors of knighthood, and a gold cup for Lady Phips, of the value of five thousand dollars."

He returned home in the capacity of high-sheriff, under Andros, who did not want him, for he was utterly ignorant of law, and could not write legibly. He soon made another voyage to England, and returned to Boston, built the "fair brick house," of his vision, engaged in a successful military expedition against Acadia, in which he took and plundered Port Royal, and other French settlements. He then instigated and conducted as commander, a naval expedition against Quebec, which proved a failure.

He again went to England, and returned as the first Governor under the new Charter, May 14, 1692. The appointment was made to conciliate the people of the province, and it was supposed would be gratifying to them, it was however a risky experiment, this attempt to initiate a new order of things, under the lead of an illiterate mechanic, utterly unskilled, in legal, and administrative affairs, a rough seaman, and a man of hot temper. Yet after he arose to these high offices, he showed no false pride, and often alluded to his lowly origin. He gave his fellow ship carpenters a dinner in Boston, and when borne down with public distraction, would wish himself back to his broad-axe again. He was pure in morals, upright in his dealings, and owed his success in life to his own energy and prowess. All incompetent as he was for the stern exigency, he had to meet the appalling outburst of the Witchcraft delusion with its spell of horrors. During the greater part of the proceedings of the courts, he was absent at the eastward, in an expedition against the Indians, and engaged in building a fort at Pemaquid. When he returned to Boston he found that even his own wife had been "cried out upon" as a witch, and he at once put a stay upon the fatuous proceedings. His weak and troubled administration lasted two and one-half years. He then went to England to answer to complaints made against his administration, when he died suddenly Feb. 18, 1695, aged forty-five years. He was buried in the church of St. Mary Woolnoth, London, where his widow caused a monument to be erected to his memory.

He died childless.

Governor Phips' widow married the rich merchant, Peter Sergent, who built and occupied the stately mansion, afterwards purchased by the Province, as a residence for the Governor, and known as the Province House.

SPENCER PHIPS was a nephew of Governor Phips' wife. The governor having no children, adopted as his heir, Spencer Bennett, he was Lieu. Governor between 1733 and 1757, and married Elizabeth Hutchinson. He resided mainly at Cambridge. His farm consisted of that part of Cambridge afterwards known as Lechmere Point, now East Cambridge, his daughters married Andrew Boardman, John Va.s.sall, Richard Lechmere and Joseph Lee.

Lieu. Governor Phips died in March, 1757.

DAVID PHIPS, only son of Lieutenant Governor Spencer Phips, graduated at Harvard College in 1741. He was Colonel of a troop of guards in Boston, and Sheriff of Middles.e.x County. He was an Addresser on three occasions, as his name is found among the one hundred and twenty-four merchants, and others, of Boston, who addressed Governor Hutchinson in 1774, among the ninety-seven gentlemen and princ.i.p.al inhabitants of that town, and among the eighteen country gentlemen who were driven from their homes, and who addressed General Gage in October, 1775. He went to Halifax at the evacuation of Boston in 1776, and was proscribed and banished under the Act of 1778. His home at Cambridge was confiscated. He died at Bath, England in 1811, aged eighty-seven.

THE DUNBAR FAMILY OF HINGHAM.

Robert Dunbar, a Scotchman, became a resident of Hingham shortly after 1650, and probably was the ancestor of all the families who have borne this surname in Plymouth county. The Christian name of his wife was Rose. She survived him and died 10 Nov. 1700. Robert died, 19 Sept., 1693. He had eight sons and three daughters, and died possessed of considerable property. His grandson Joseph removed to Halifax, Plymouth County, in 1736.[246]

[246] Hist. of Hingham. Vol. 11. P. 195-7-9.

DANIEL DUNBAR, son of the aforesaid Joseph was born in Hingham, March 8, 1733. He was an ensign of Militia at Halifax, Ma.s.s., and in 1774 had his colors demanded of him by the mob, some of the selectmen being the chief actors. He refused and they broke into his house, took him out, forced him upon a rail, where for three hours, he was held, and tossed, up and down, until he was exhausted. He was then dragged and beaten, and gave up the standard to save his life. In 1776 he went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the Royal Army. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished.

JESSIE DUNBAR, of the fourth generation, was born in Hingham, June 26, 1744. He removed to Bridgewater, Plymouth County.[247]

[247] Dunbar Genealogy. P. 19.

He bought some fat cattle of Nathaniel Ray Thomas, a Mandamus Councillor, in 1774, and drove them to Plymouth for sale; one of the oxen being skinned and hung up, the "Sons of Liberty" came to him and finding where he bought it, commenced punishing him for the offence. His tormentors put the ox in a cart, and fixing Dunbar in his belly, carted him four miles and required him to pay one dollar for the ride. They then delivered him to a Kingston mob, which carted him four miles further, and forced from him another dollar, then delivered him to a Duxbury mob, who abused him by beating him in the face with the creature's tripe, and endeavored to cover his person with it, to the endangering his life. They then threw dirt at him, and after other abuses, carried him to Councillor Thomas's house, and made him pay another sum of money, and he, not taking the beef, they flung it in the road and quitted him. Jesse Dunbar died at n.o.bleboro, Maine, in 1806, leaving many descendants.

The outrageous and brutal treatment he received from the "Sons of Despotism" are among the worst on record.

EBENEZER RICHARDSON.

The Richardson family were the earliest settlers of Woburn, Ma.s.sachusetts. Ezekiel, Samuel and Thomas Richardson, three brothers, with four other persons, laid the foundations of the town, in 1641. In 1642 it was incorporated under the name of Woburn, the name of a town in Herefordshire.

Samuel Richardson, the ancestor of Ebenezer Richardson, came to Charlestown, about 1636, as his name appears on the records of July 1 of that date as one of a committee to "lay out lots of land for hay." When the three brothers settled at Woburn, they lived near each other on the same street, which was laid out in 1647, as Richardson's Row, by which name it has ever since been known. It runs almost due north and south, in the N. E. part of the present town of Winchester.

Lieut. John Richardson, eldest son of Samuel, was born Nov. 12, 1639, was a yeoman, and soldier in King Philip's war, and pa.s.sed his life in Woburn, and died there in 1696. John Richardson, son of Lieut. John was a carpenter, and lived in Woburn. He died March 18, 1715.

Timothy Richardson, son of John, was born in Woburn, 1687, was badly wounded in Lovewell's Indian fight at Pigwacket. The colony having offered one hundred pounds for Indian scalps, Captain Lovewell went with forty-six men on a scalp hunt into Maine. Captain Lovewell was the first one killed. The fight lasted ten hours, those who left the fatal battle ground, were twenty in number, of whom eleven were badly wounded, among whom was Timothy Richardson, who lived for ten years afterwards, but in great suffering he died in Woburn in 1735.

EBENEZER RICHARDSON, eldest son of Timothy, and Abigail Johnson, was born in Woburn, March 31, 1718, and married Rebecca (Fowle) Richardson, daughter of Captain John and Elizabeth (Prescott) Fowle, of Woburn, and widow of Phineas Richardson. His father's farm was bounded easterly by the Woburn and Stoneham line, it was here probably that Ebenezer was born.[248]

[248] Richardson Memorial by Vinton. P. 34, 199, 242.

Ebenezer Richardson was an officer of the Customs in Boston. On the 22 Feb., 1770, he was a.s.sailed by a mob who chased him to his home, bricks and stones were thrown at the windows. Richardson, provoked, fired at random into the mob, dangerously wounding one of them, Samuel Gore, and mortally wounding another, Christopher Snider, a poor German boy, who died the next morning.

The excitement was intense, the funeral of the boy was attended by the revolutionists, and the event taken advantage of to fire the pa.s.sions of the people. On the 20th of April, Richardson was tried for his life and brought in guilty of murder. Chief Justice Hutchinson viewed the guilt of Richardson, as everybody would now, a clear case of justifiable homicide, and consequently refused to sign a warrant for his execution, and after lying in prison two years, was, on application to the King, pardoned and set at liberty.[249] To reward Richardson for what he had suffered, he was appointed in 1773 as an officer of the Customs of Philadelphia.

[249] For further particulars see pages 310, 311.

Historians have treated Richardson very unfairly, and caused his memory to be execrated. He was a Custom House officer, and the duties of his office caused him to seize smuggled goods, as any custom house officer would at the present time, previous to that he belonged to the secret service division for the detection of illicit traders, on this account he has always been contemptuously called an "informer". He was not any worse than hundreds of secret service agents employed at the present time by the United States Government, to detect law-breakers. They are of course detested by the criminal cla.s.ses, and the mountaineer moonshiners of Kentucky consider it no crime to kill them, when the opportunity offers. After Richardson's release, he went to Philadelphia to reside, so as to escape mob violence; the malignity of the revolutionists, however, followed him, and a scurrilous effusion was published there ent.i.tled "The Life and Humble Confession of Richardson the Informer."

The broadside was embellished with a rude wood cut of Richardson firing into the mob, and the killing of the boy Snider. The same has been recently republished, and the author states "Whatever facts it may contain, are doubtless expanded beyond the limits of the actual truth."[250]

[250] William R. Cutter, Librarian of the Woburn Public Library.

COMMODORE JOSHUA LORING.[251]