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That delightful suburban district of Boston,familiarly known as the “Highlands,”’ (née Hoxbury) is one of
the brilliant examples in this region, of the principle of “natural selection.” The old town of Roxbnry has a history
vying in age and interest with that of the most famous cities and towns in the State, to which history we shall
have frequent occasion to refer. Incorporated as a town but a few days after the same sponsorial act had been performed
in Boston herself, the two towns grew up alongside each other for many years like twin sisters, until the overwhelming
fame of the only “Hub” hid its more retiring companion from view and finally threw the veil of her name over the
other’s distinct personality. In those days, hardly to be imagined now, when the old Puritan settlers were first
laying out their stakes along the shore of the “Bay,” nothing, probably, seemed more remote or impossible to them
than that “Trimountain,” the little village down there on the point, should throw out her all-embracing arms and
unite in indissoluble wedlock with the similar little’ villages scattered around within some half dozen miles.
They burned and trimmed their clearings, with more difficulty than we now erect immense buildings, constructed
those primitive cradles of liberty, the log-cabins, went on and raised their log meet ing house, met and counseled
in most solemn seriousness, until that unique and admirable institution—New England town government, was evolved,
without a thought that they were building for others, perhaps, better than they knew, and that other men should
reap a harvest unexpected. But it was not long after the first quarter of the present century before the “growing
pains” of Boston began to cry out for more room, and though they created vast tracts of land where before the sea
and mud had had their own sweet way, it did not take many more decades for thoughtful observers to see that the
extinction of the individual existence of the towm of Roxbury was only a question of time, that it was destined
inevitably to succumb to the insatiable appetite of the expanding young giant of a city. And so, foreshadowed by
many long and not untroubled years in advance, its appointed destiny came to pass in 1868, January 6th, when it
was incorporated with Boston. Not easily,. however, do long cherished names and traditions yield up the ghost.
The old name of Roxbury, which old acquaintanee and usage had long made so dear, still lingers lovingly about its
ancient haunts, and to the stranger in Boston this conflict of names has sometimes caused more or less confusion.
The two cities had so long crowded into one another, that sentiment could never have kept asunder what everything
else in the universe had joined. Complications innumerable, amusing and distressing, were removed by the union.
Houses, part in Roxbury and the rest in Boston, had led the boundary line an extremely tiresome hunt to find itself
throughout its whole course, and it had about given the chase up, when the change put an end to it forever. The
separation of families that had ensued when many a husband sat down to dinner in Boston, while his wife, on the
other side of the table, was in Roxbury, was happily alleviated and became merely an amusing tradition of the neighborhood.
The large valuation of the city of Roxbury at the time of union, $26,551,700, went, in truth, to swell the “general
coffers” of the Hub’s resources; but, on the other hand, Boston assumed the debt of Roxbury, which was, however,
very light, about $180,000. The two decades that have passed since the union, have welded the two cities so closely,
and every sign of division has been so thoroughly obliterated, that the “Highlands” now seem to have always been
an integral part of Boston. Thus London and Paris have rolled their vast waves of population in ever widening circles,
until it is often impossible to tell where the engulfing process, which has been so frequent, took place, and the
various towns have merged their individuality in the great whole. These last twenty years have been by far the
most progressive in the history of the “Highlands.” An immense amount of building has been going steadily on, and
a large part of it has now come to assume the compact arrangement of a large city. Some old landmarks have had
to go, but. the old Roxburians have been most tenacious in defending these, to their honor be it said. They have,
in fact, throughout their whole history ,shown a marked trait of hero worship, as many streets and monuments in
honor of distinguished citizens can abundantly testify. If the advancing growth of Boston goes on proportionally
for another century, the Highlands will long ere that have become the very heart of the city, and those relics
of the past will have to endure the same unwearied assaults which the “old South” and other memorable landmarks
are now undergoing. The intellectual cast, however, which has ever distinguished the Bostonian mind, offers far
more hopes of immortality to these memorials of a noble history, than most communities would afford. May their
idealism never wax old or cold.
The name of Warren is one of the most honored in all Roxbury’s history, and on the house now standing where his
residence formerly stood, is a tablet to his honored memory. When he left Roxbury, on that fatal morning, June
17, 1775, many patriotic citizens of Roxbury followed and supported him in the great struggle, and his glorious
fall on the field of Bunker Hill will ever hallow and ennoble the scenes of his life and work in the “Highlands.”
Beside the commemorating tablet on the “Warren House,” one of the largest and most beautiful avenues is named in
his honor. Many other of the honored sons of the town are commemorated in a similar way, as. Dudley, Eustis and
other streets show. In this connection it is but just to say that the avenues in the Highland district constitute
one of the most beautiful and attractive features of Boston. For great and uniform breadth, for picturesqueness
of scenery noble shade trees and handsome residences with generous and entrancing environment of lawn and flwers,
for all the qualities which go to make a quiet drive or stroll delightful, these avenues are not excelled by any
in the vicinity of Boston, or what is about the same thing, in a general character, anywhere in the country.
Warren street, referred to above, and Walnut avenue are generilly regarded as the most beautiful, and correspondingly
popular, while there are others possessing their own peculiar charms. The residences on Elm hill are especially
famed for their elaborate and distinguished adornments in the way of floriculture and architecture, in which fame
other parts of the Highlands deservedly share.
The parks in the Highlands also claim attention. Washington park, on Dale and Bainhridge streets, is the largest
and best known of these. Its nine acres of cultivated grounds are replete with shrubbery and all natural beauties,
and it is very popular in this section. Other parks, also noted for their general beauty and attractiveness are
Madison Square, between Marble, Warwick, Westminster and Sterling streets, covering three fine acres; Fountain
square, corner of Walnut avenue and Munroe street, with a recreation square of two and a half acres; Walnut park,
the favored resort of residents between Walnut avenue and Washington street; Linwooci park, corner of Center and
Linwood. streets, a charming bit of green; Lewis park, corner Highland and New streets; Lougwood park, corner Park
and Austin streets, a beautiful half acre plot of breathing space for many frequenters; and Orchard park, between
Chadwick and Yeomans streets, two acres in extent, and most carefully cultivated and preserved. The aesthetic common
sense of Boston is most undeniably exemplified in her numerous and delightful parks. One of the most celebrated
and valued relics of old. Roxbury is the ancient burying ground on the corner of Eustis an.d Washington streets,
where lie interred the bones of the good John Eliot, the first missionary to the Indians, translator of the Bible
into the Indian language, and one of the great religious leaders of New England, besides those of many other great
and noble sons of the old town of Roxbury. Forest Hills cemetery, though not included in the present limits of
the Highlands, is yet peculiarly connected with this region, and with the local history of Roxbury, of which it
was a part when it was originally established by that town before the middle of the present century, being consecrated
in 1848. It is now one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the country, being adorned and preserved with remarkable
care. The gateway at the entrance is an elaborate and costly piece of work, constructed Of Roxbury stone and Caledonian
freestone, with the following inscription beautifully inscribed on the outer side:
“I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.”
On the inner side, inscribed in golden letters, are these words:
“HE THAT KEEPETH THEE WILL NOT SLUMBER.”
The grounds are highly renowned for their exquisite and immense display of floral decoration, in extent and beauty
vieing even with “Greenwood.” in Brooklyn, and is one of the most entrancingly delicate and grand sights in the
way of horticultural triumphs, in the world. Yet, even more highly valued than the outward beauty of the place
are the noble memories and traditions of the past which cluster about it. Sons of the greatest and noblest men
of the state and nation here lie at rest, “after life’s fitful fever.” Hither were removed and placed in the Warren
family lot on the summit of Mount Warren, the treasured remains of Roxbury’s greatest son, General Joseph Warren,
whose early death at Bunker Hill, after strenuous efforts in behalf of liberty, has enrolled him among the immortal
heroes of America. A handsome monument on Dearborn hill commemorates Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn, the original projector
of the cemetery. Admiral Winslow, who maintained the honor of the townon-the-sea, is commemorated by a huge block
of rough granite, reminding one of Emerson’s noble tombstone in its simplicity and strength. Also worthy of highest
regard, is the beautiful soldiet’s monument, affectionately erected here by the citizens of Roxbury, in memory
of her martyr sons. It was designed by Martin Milmore, and was erected in 1867. The statue is of bronze, representing
a soldier of heroic size, and rests upon a granite pedestal six feet in height. About the monument and within the
granite railing surrounding the lot, rest the bones of a score of Roxbury’s soldier sons, many of whom fell at
Antietarn, within two months after they left the state, being members of the gallant thirty-fifth Massachusetts,
which bore such terrible losses on that day. The monument is under the watchful care of Thomas G. Stevemison Post
26, G. A. R., of the Highlands. The following inscriptions are engraved upon the pedestal of the monument:
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ERECTED
BY
THE CITY OF ROXBURY
IN HONOR OF
HER SOLDIERS,
WHO DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY
IN THE REBELLION OF
1861—1865
1867
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"FROM THE HONORED DEAD
WE TAKE INCREASED DEVOTION
TO THAT CAUSE FOR WHICH
THEY GAVE THE LAT DEVOTION."
President Abraham Lincoln,
at Gettysburg.
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The innumerable objects of beauty and interest to be seeti within the two hundred
and twenty-five acres of Forest Hills cemetery, can be but very partially described here. Situated only five miles
from the center of the city, it is easily accessible and affords one of the most beautiful trips in the vicinity.
To have passed through its floral avenues, over the picturesque hills, and by the little lakes nestling in the
valleys all adorned in the height of their summer glory, is a life long memory, but not to be experienced in any
measure, save by personal visiting and enjoyment. The main entrance to Forest Hills is situated on Scarborough
street, and there are side entrances on Canterbury and Walk-Hill streets. The carriage drives are exceedingly delightful
and very much frequented. The rustic observatory on Consecration hill, a unique and attractive structure about
twenty-five feet in height, is well worthy of a visit and inspection. The four Eliot hills, named after Roxbury’s
ancient missionary, and Chapel hill, also possess many beautiful features. It is said that the finest receiving
tomb in the country is situated here. Its portico is a magnificent piece of architecture in Concord granite, and
is thirty feet square. Within are contained two hundred and eighty-six catacombs, each having space for a single
coffin, and all being most carefully arranged. Forest Hills is not so old as Mount Auburn, which has peculiar beauties
of its own, but it is larger, and it can safely be said that a visitor has not seen one of the most important sights
in Boston, and certainly not in the High lands district, without having seen Forest Hills.
Among the other notable and prominent features of the Highlands is the great stand-pipe of the Cochituate water-works,
erected here in 1869. It is situated on the “Old Fort” lot, between Beach street, Glen and Fort avenues, being
raised one hundred and fifty-eight feet above tide level. The pipe itself is of large cylindrical shape, eighty
feet long, and is surrounded by a thick wall of brick, between which and the pipe itself, and winding around the
latter, is a staircase which leads to the lookout tower on the top. The exterior is artistically conceived and
produces a striking and pleasant effect. The value of this pipe to the water service and the city has been tested
by many years of successful operating, and is admired no less for its simplicity than its perfection. The entire
cost of the structure and the attendant pumping works was not more than $100,000, and its successful results obviated
the former necessity of maintaining the reservoir on Beacon Hill. The grounds around the stand-pipe are tastefully
laid out, and form another small park in this much and pleasantly be-parked city.
The center of the old town is Eliot square, and here are several points of interest. The old First Unitarian church
is the oldest in the Highlands, and in all Boston, excepting the First church of old B)ston town. It was settled
soon after the latter, in the early history of Massachusetts Bay colony, and has for centuries exercised an important
part in the religious thought and life of New England. Among the many well known clergymen who have presided over
its interests, the Rev. Dr. Geo. Putnam, for half a century was a prominent leader in all the highest interests
of this community. The church edifice is of the substantial and quiet type of architecture which marked the churches
built in the first half of the present century, and about it are gathered many of old Roxbury’s dearest traditions.
The whole square has the refined and retired aspect which are associated with honored longevity, and is one of
the strongholds in this section of the old New England aristocracy, which Dr. Holmes has called the “Brohmin” race,
tracing their ancestry back to the Puritan fathers. The residences have spacious and beautiful grounds, and these
less pretentious structures of an earlier time, form a quiet and pleasing contrast with the more stylish modern
villas which are scattered all around on the heights of the Highlands. The square has retained its earlier aspect,
though city influences have been folding in about it more and more, and will probably do so for many generations
to come. The Norfolk House adds a touch of brightness and stately elegance, by its fine building, to the square,
which is one of the most attractive in the vicinity.
The Roxbury Charitable Society is one of the oldest and most efficient hciievolent associations in New England.
It was founded nearly a century ago, in 1794, and ever since has earnestly and thoroughly carried out its purpose
then stated, “the relief of the poor and the prevention of pauperism.” It is noteworthy as being among the earliest
societies in this country or the world, which in addition to donating and aiding, give to charitable benevolence
a systematic and scientific character. Among ether useful articles distributed through a skilled and trained agent,
are clothing, food, fuel and also carefully regulated supplies of money, the aim being to encourage and foster
self-help, rather than support idleness. The work is exclusively in the High‘ands district, and is one of the best
applied charities in the country, the society haying a large income from legacies and subscriptions. Under the
care of this society, the Roxbury Dispensary, which was founded in 1841, is conducted and maintained. The office
of the agent is at 118 Roxbury street.
Another well known charity in the Highlands is the Home for the Aged Poor, which was founded in 1870 and incorporated
in 1872, by a Catholic associated sisterhood, the “Little Sisters of the Poor,” and has since been doing a most
estimable work. This sisterhood was instituted in St. Servan, France, by a poor priest and two working girls. It
now has a membership of two thousand sisters, and has twenty thousand old people under its support. So long as
the applicants are sixty years old or over, of good character and destitute, they are received here and tenderly
cared for, irrespective of religious belief or nationality. It is maintained by the collections of the sisters
and the gifts of generous friends, among the most helpful of whom has been Mrs. Andrew Carney, whose husband established
Carney Hospital, beside being well known for many other charitable deeds. The new building of the society, which
was completed in 1880, has accommodations for two hundred persons, and eligibly situated on the corner of Woodward
avenue and Dudley street. The management and work of the institution are all carried on by the voluntary efforts
of the sisters, and many an aged person has had good reason to bless their thoughtful minds and kindly hearts.
Yet another widely famed and important charitable institution in the Highlands, is the “House of the Angel Guardian,”
at 85 Vernon street. It was planned and founded by the Rev. George F. Haskins, who graduated at Harvard University,
and from its establishment in 1851 until his death in 1872, he served it with greatest fidelity and exertion, as
rector and treasurer, devoting from his own property $20,000 to its founding and maintenance. It is now under the
charge of a Catholic order, the Brothers of Charity, whose supervisor is W. J. Becker. It occupies a large and
handsome building on commodious grounds, and is both richly endowed and possesses property of more than $87,000
in value. Its main object is to rescue and educate orphan and destitute children, of whom there are about two hundred
here annually. A carefully graded educational systetn is maintained, there being many scholars from outside the
regular inmates, and thorough instruction is given in English branches, mathematics and commercial studies. The
institution is among the most famous in the state for its efficient management and system, and its widely beneficent
results. These representative institutions can convey the just impression that the people of the Highlands are
not behind the well known character for generosity and kindliness for all, especially the unfortunate, for which
Boston is so widely famed throughout the United States.
The Roxbary Latin School is one of the oldest and most famous in the country. It was established in 1645, only
nine years after Harvard College, and has proved a powerful force in the intellectual development of this region.
John Eliot and Governor Thomas Dudley were among its founders, and among its early teachers are the honored names
of Judge William Cushing, Gen. Joseph Warren, Gov. Increase Sumner, and the Rev. Bishop Samuel Parker. Under the
direction of such men, it has steadily risen to a commanding position of influence and character. It was incorporated
in 1789, and throughout its history has been marked by liberality and thorough scholarship. The only school of
its class older than it is the Boston Latin School, founded in 1635, and the two schools have grown up together
like honored cotemporaries, each forming an important preparatory school to Harvard University. It is managed by
a board of trustees, incorporated as a close corporation, but the school is free to residents of Boston. The support
is partly obtained from the voluntary subscription of some leading citizens of Roxbury, partly from the income
of past bequests, and partly from the support of the city of Roxbury itself. In the present century it has numbered
among its teachers and pupils some of the most honored literary and scholarly men of New England. There are two
distinct courses, the English, including all common and higher school studies, and the college preparatory, fitting
for any, but especially for the comprehensive and thorough entrance examinations of Harvard. Each course is six
years in length. The original name of the school was “The Grammar School in the easterly part of the town of Roxbury.”
The present school building, situated on Kearsarge avenue, is of large dimensions, plain and substantial in appearance.
The Roxbury Latin School, though free to the public, is not under the government of the city, and is in reality
a private institution• The public schools of the Highlands are maintained at the highest standard known in this
educational center at Boston, and. every department of this most important work is cared for most thoroughly and
scientifically. The private schools in the Highlands are also famed for their high character and efficiency. Among
the best known of these is the boarding and day school conducted by the Sisters of Notre Dame, a Catholic institution.
It is a large four story brick structure with fine granite trimmings, situated on Washington street, in one of
the most beautiful parts of the Highlands, and in large and delightful grounds of six acres in extent, with many
adornments and fine facilities for exercise. The school was founded in 1854, and has been conducted on a self-supporting
basis ever since. The instruction and discipline is of a very high character, and the number of pupils is limited
to one hundred. Part of the building is devoted to the training of novitiates in the Sisterhood. The whole annual
charge is $200, including both board and tuition.
Among other educational and charitable institutions which are doing a grand work for good in this part of Boston,
the Marcella Street Home for Neglected and Pauper Boys, should not pass unnoticed or without high praise.
The branch of the Boston Public Library in the Highlands is one of the largest of the eight, and since its union
with the Fellowes Athenaeum, has been especially powerful and widely utilized by the reading public of this region.
The New England hospital for women and children is an unique and well known institution, situated in the Highlands,
on Codman avenue. It was established in 1863 with a three-fold purpose: “To provide for women medical aid of competent
physicians of their own sex; to assist educated women in the practice and study of medicine, and to train nurses
for the care of the sick.” In all of these lines and in others it has accomplished a wide and beneficient work.
It grew out of a movement instituted by Dr. Marie E. Takrzewska for the establishment of a clinical department
of the Female Medical College of Boston. Its building and real estate cost $100,000, and is admirably adapted for
its work. The annual number of patients treated in its hospital wards exceeds 200, and in the dispensary from 3000
to 4000 receive advice, medicine and surgical treatment. There are a number of free beds in the hospital, but most
of the patients are received at light charges, requisite to cover expenses. The medical, surgical and maternity
wards are all conducted with the thorough care and good results, which, despite the predictions of the old school,
have attended the entrance of women into the realm of practical medicine. Yet another example of the generosity
and kindly sentiment manifested in the Highlands is St. Luke’s Home, which is situated on Roxbury street, and furnishes
gratuitously to all women convalescing from sickness the best of medical treatment. It has accommodations for forty
patients, and in connection with it there has been established in the town of Falmouth, a country sanitarium, where
thirty-five patients can enjoy all of nature’s invigorating resources at first hand. The Home was founded in 1870,
and incorporated two years later.
To turn from these kindly yet sad themes to those of a lighter character, we find that the Highlands are not without
many popular forms of amusement. There are several large halls, where first class entertainments are given. Highland
hail, Bacon’s hail, Orienta, Palladio hail, and Dudley Street Opera House, are well known places of high class
entertainment.
Washington market is situated near the indefinite, almost imaginary, boundary line between the South End and the
Highlands, and is patronized largely by citizens of the latter place, being the only large market so far up town.
It is at 1883 Washington street, and was erected in 1870. It is a large handsome building, two hundred and fifty
feet long and one hundred and twenty feet wide, and is a model in every respect.
Perhaps there is no city in New England which received a more appropriate name than the old town of Roxbury, which
is said to have been so called on account of its large rock quarries. These have been largely developed since the
settlement of the town until now the “Roxbury” stone ranks among the most popular in the state, and thus through
the durable monument of granite fame, thename of the old town will be preserved for many generations after it has
long vanished as a living fact. A few reminiscences of the old town can hardly fail to be of interest to those
who have loved it in the past, and to whom, probably, it will always seem like a separate town. Roxbury was settled
among the earliest towns in America, and in the same year with Boston proper, 1630, which seems to have been a
year of marked prominence in the emigration of the Puritans to this country. The first settlers were mostly from
London, and all of the respectable, middle class which formed, and forms to-day, the backbone of old England as
well as of New. Consequently the settlement was begun under the most favorable moral influences and so continued
for many years. According to the report of a visitor in its early history: “One might dwell there from year to
year, and not see a drunkard, hear an oath or meet a beggar.” Like many another New England settlement, the first
few years were spent in mingled and bitter privation and fear. The year 1633 marked a great accession to their
numbers, and after that time growth was steady and increasing.
The first church of Roxbury, which we have already mentioned, was founded in 1632, having but few converts in the
state. In this we see the independence and energy of the inhabitants in their earliest history. Thomas Welde was
the first pastor of the church, and in November, 1632, the honored apostle to the Indians, John Eliot, who had
already come to the front as a man of great intellect and deep sympathies, was appointed teacher in the church.
The first building had no shingles to adorn its exterior, or pews to render it comfortable within, being a plain
log building. The people of the town were distinguished from the beginning by the deep interest which they took
in the subject of education, of which the “Roxbury Latin School” is now one of the shining examples. In fact owing
to their universal intelligence and the leading of Eliot, Stone and others they early took a leading part in the
development of these interests, among others the establishment of Harvard University. For the “Fiee School in Roxbury,”
the far-seeing colonists spent large amounts, as those times went, and sacrificed many things. Mr. Samuel Hayburne
led in the good work, and sixty of the people promised to give certain sums for the school every year, pledging
even their barns, houses, orchards and stock. The influence of these measures was felt powerfully both without
and within the town itself. After long and steady development, the town in 1790, possessed five schools, with an
aggregate of 225 pupils, and throughout the history of this region the progress in this department has been great
and beneficent.
The Second Parish Church which was built in 1773 is famous for having been the first settlement of the great preacher
Theodore Parker. The earliest interment in the old burying ground of Roxbury was in 1633. It is an interesting
comparison, and shows the growth of the Highlands, in that instead of the two churches, which for many generations
were sufficient for its religious work, now there are over forty churches here, making the region one of the most
favored with churches in proportion to its population in the world.
The history of the Highlands during the Revolution vies in interest and glory with the other famous sections of
this historic region. In all these exciting incidents, the rejection of the stamp-act, the destruction of the tea
in Boston harbor, the skirmishes in Boston with the first British troops and the gallant resistance which the detachment
sent to Lexington and Concord met, the citizens of Roxbury were actively and earnestly engaged. After the disdainful
redcoats had been driven back into Boston like whipped curs by the enraged farmers, all the heights about Boston,
except Dorchester were immediately seized by the rebels and Roxbury became one of the most important centers and
rallying points of all the whole series of fortifications which now penned the British up in the town of Boston,
as if in a rat-trap. The Americans did not know where the impatient and hitherto invincible soldiery of old England
would attempt to break through, so they had to keep watch all around the line. Gage, Howe and Clinton, the British
generals, at first planned to seize Dorchester, but the Americans hearing of the attempt, poured large reinforcements
into the camp at Roxbury, and the plan was likewise counter-checked by the fortifications thrown up by the alert
and intrepid freemen on Bunker and Breed hills. During this memorable conflict, which in all future time will rank
among the great and decisive battles of the world, both from the spirit shown by the defenders of liberty, and
great issues which turned upon it, the men of Roxbury fought with distinguished gallantry, And here General Joseph
Warren, fighting in the ranks, though he might have commanded the whole force, and nobly seeking the most dangerous
position, reveals to the world what heroic men the old Puritan blood and discipline have produced in the new land,
and how much a single hero can accomplish among his fellows. Throughout this short but sanguinary conflict, the
British artillery in the South End had been shelling the Americans entrenched in the Highlands at Roxbury. At this
time the Roxbury heights were occupied by Rhode Island troops, under the command of Gen. Nathaniel Green, and so
thoroughly did they fortify their position, that Gen. Washington on his arrival praised the works as the best on
the line. After the division of the army by Washington, General Artemas Ward was commander of the right wing, and
occupied a palatial residence known as the Brierly mansion on Parker hill. On this hill the immense and precipitous
rocks formed a great natural fortification behind which the American line ran, and the region roundabout was covered
with tents. The works which flanked these rocks were known as High Fort from their commanding situation, and most
telling use was made of the position in cannonading and harassing the usurping inhabitants of Boston. The main
encatnpment in Roxbury was on MeetingHouse bill, and was noted as being the cleanest and most orderly in the Continental
army.
An amusing anecdote is related of this corps and its commander, Brig. Gen. John Thomas, who was expecting an attack
from the British, and by marching his seven hundred men round and round Meeting-House hill, whose front was in
plain sight of the British camp in Boston, for several hours, until he had made them think there were several thousand
of the fiery rebels. Thus the war scenes of the time were not unrelieved by lighter touches of grim humor.
Behind Meeting-House hill was the highest fortification known as the “Upper Fort,” or "Roxbury High Fort,”
and this was the spot which received the brunt of the cannonading, both during the battle of Bunker Hill on the
17th of June, 1775, and at other times. The night after the battle, the newly arrived troops lay awake under arms
all night during a tremendous artillery engagement, hourly expecting an at.. tack. Both the upper and lower forts
were strongly and carefully constructed, despite the fact that the British cannonaded the soldiers here a large
part of the time they were building them. A reward was offered for those who should bring in a cannon ball to headquarters,
and the soldiers would chase them after they had fallen and pluck out the fuse, though several made unfortunate
mistakes in trying to stop them too soon, and losing a foot or a hand.
Among other buildings which were torn clown to build into the two forts, was the old dwelling house of the Dudley
family, whose founder was so prominent in early Bostonian history, and which stood where now the Universalist church
is. The old Warren homestead, since torn down and replaced by a more modern structure, was then used as a barracks
by the troops. The line of circumvallation is carried completely across the Highlands, not even the old burying
grounds being spared, but suf fering all the indignities which follow in war’s train. The roads are all obstructed
by this blockade of trees, etc., and all outlying houses are used for skirmishing. On the stage of the Highlands,
thus arranged for the bloody play, many exciting scenes of strategy and danger take place between June, 1775, and
March, 1776. A large part of the Highlands during this time was debatable ground, given over to skirmishes and
parties of ravaging soldiers. The outpost of the American forces was at George’s tavern, and the British picket
came up to what was known as Brown’s chimneys about a mile away. The British seized on Enoch Brown’s house at this
point near the rock early in the seige, but did not hold it long, as the American cannon soon battered it nearly
out of shape. Several volunteers attempted to burn down the remains, but all were slain, until on the 8th of July,
1775, a detachment of two hundred men under Captains Tupper and Crane, surrounded the mass, drove out the garrison,
and burned. it to the ground. The British, however, succeeded in keeping their picket post at the chimneys that
were left for several months longer, and moreover by a counter-rally soon after burned down the George’s tavern,
and scattered its gallant defenders. Thus for some nine months the Highlands were one constant scene of rallying
and counterrallying. The skirmishers of each army picked off each others’ sentinels, and occasionally an encounter
of some magnitude would end in a great deal of spilt blood. The whole region was devastated and burnt, neither
public nor private property, buildings, trees or crops were spared, and when the storm of war had passed, the place
looked like a desert. There is no country so unhappy and desolate as that lying between two hostile armies and
fought for by each. Many an unburied victim in scarlet coat or homespun lay uncared for in this sad sepulchre,
whose modern beauty and shining front hides many an unwritten tragedy. In this desultory warfare neither side gained
permanent advantage, though the Americans were practically victorious so long as the British could not drive them
away. The final move in this game of war had the Highlands as its basis. During the 2d, 3d and 4th of March, 1776,
the flower of the army, amounting to some five thousand men were massed here, unknown to the enemy. Washington
was planning his masterly seizure and fortifying of Dorchester heights.
The night of the 4th of March, 1776, was probably the most exciting and critical the Highlands had or have ever
seen. The battalions were forming for a dangerous march across the neck to the heights of Dorchester, two thousand
four hundred men being in line. Great trains of wagons carrying tools, fascines, hay and other material for a hasty
fortification were drawn up in waiting. As soon as darkness had settled, the word was given and the long line of
march started through the streets of Roxbury, down to the Neck. Here a halt was made as the Neck was swept by the
enemy’s cannon, and discovery meant defeat and destruction by an enfilading cannonading. The side of the road toward
Boston is protected by a bulwark of hay, and under a protecting artillery fire from R.oxbury, Cambridge and Charlestown
Neck the long column passes over without detection, and mounts the heights in safety. All night they work with
unceasing vigor, and just before morning, having thrown up a strong fort, they are relieved by three thousand fresh
troops from Roxbury. This move was the checkmate of the baffled Britons. Gen. Howe at first planned a similar attack
to that at Bunker Hill, but was unable to carry it through, and thoroughly beaten set sail on the 17th of March,
‘76, leaving Boston and the Highlands to a well. earned peace, since undisturbed. The ravages which it had suffered
did not disappear from the Highlands for many years, however, and today in some parts can be found traces fast
disappearing of this sanguinary and troubled time.
After the Revolution the town progressed steadily, depending chiefly upon manufacturing, and so escaping many of
the fluctuations and panics which beset the seagoing towns of the state in the early part of the century. If the
statement of a visitor named Wood, in 1634, “it is a fair and handsome country town, the inhabitants of it being
all very rich,” did not continue to be exactly true, it is still certain that its growth has been one of the most
healthy, evenly prosperous of any town in the state, and that it has had a very small share of earth’s poverty
and misery. By the time it received the city charter in 1846, a very extensive and valuable manufacturing interest,
including foundries, tanneries, machines, soap, watches, breweries, candIes, phosphate, etc., had been built up,
which has since largely increased. The Highlands is also the place where one of the most famous picture and lithographic
establishments in the world is situated, the beauty and purity of whose work is international, and whose buildings
are among the most interesting to visit in the neighborhood of Boston.
The population of Roxbury at various periods has been as follows
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1790 - 2,226
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1850 - 18,373
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1810 - 3,669
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1860 - 25,173
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1830 - 5,247
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1870 - 34,772
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1840 - 9,089
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At the time of the civil war the city had taken a prominent place in the Commonwealth,
and throughout that struggle exerted the most strenuous and honorable efforts. A large and full quota of men were
sent to the field, and many of her noblest sons offered up their lives in behalf of liberty and justice. Gen. T.
J. C. Amory, and Col. Lucius M. Sargent, were among the number of distinguished patriot martyrs.
A few biographical references to prominent citizens of Roxbury from its foundation until the present, seems pertinent.
The most influential man in the settlement of the place was Williamn Pynchon, from Chehusforci, Essex, England.
He came to America as a• companion of John Winthrop of Boston fame, and was esteemed “a gentleman of learning and
religion.” According to the early chronicler, he was “the principal founder of the town of Rocksbury, and the first
member who joined in forming the Congregational church there.” Up to 1636 he was the leading man of the new town,
but in that year he led to Connecticut a company of colonists, and founded the town of Springfield in that state.
His mind seems to have been of a broader, more liberal cast than his fellow Puritans, for he published a book opposing
the cold Calvinism of the age, which was deemed heretical at the time, but has been accepted and surpassed by the
orthodoxy of today. The book was burned, and its author suffered much persecution for his honesty and faith, until,
wearied of the narrowness of the religious spirit, he returned to England, where he died in 1661. A street in the
Highlands is named in his honor, and he was certainly one of the most remarkab]e and worthy men of his generation
in New England, although the early records say of his book, that it was “full of errors and weakness and some heresies,"
which from the standpoint of the present seem its highest characteristics.
John Eliot’s history is so interwoven with that of Roxbury, and in fact with all early colonial history, tl1at
references to him have already been necessitated. A few further facts are valuable in connection with this eminent
and kind-hearted man. He was born in Nazing, Essex, England, and was a graduate of Jesus college, Cambridge. He
arrived in Boston, Nov. 2, 1631, and though the people of that town wanted him to stay with them he decided to
accept the call given to him by the people of Roxbury. Here he labored as teacher and pastor for fifty-eight years,
from 1631 to 1688, and exerted an incalculable influence for good in all departments of the town’s growth The title
by which he is known in history, “the Apostle to the Indians,” was attained. by his efforts as the first and most
laborious of all the American colonists to convert the Indians to christianity. His great task, the translation
of the Bible into the Indian tongue, required a vast outlay of time and labor, forming a colossal monument to Eliot’s
untiring devotion, and one of the most interesting memorials of early Arnerican literature. In the matter of literature,
Rorbury was an early and influential leader, no less than three of her sons, Pynchon. Calef and Eliot writing works
so abounding in truth and liberality, in other words, heresy, that the ecclesiastical council thought they must
be burned to prevent them from exerting a great influence. Eliot, in his loving zeal for the Indians, used to undertake
long missionary tours into the interior, and gained a great influence over the savage, though his efforts were
neutralized by the cruel treatment of some of the English. Eliot’s translation of the Bible consumed twelve years
of hard, steady working, the language having no alphabet when he began, so that this had also to be created. The
New Testament was published at Cambridge In 1661, and the whole Bible two years later. Two editions were published,
the last of two thousand copies in 1686, and copies are so highly valued now that a thousand dollars have been
given for one. Eliot was the founder of the Rorbury Latin School, and his influence in educational matters was
felt throughout New England. lie was the author of several notable books, beside the translation of the Bible,
and his great intellectual powers were attended by a disposition of selfsacrifice and charity, which made him universally
beloved. Many anecdotes are related of his unfailing and wide benevolence. Unceasing in his toil for others, his
own habits of life were always temperate and frugal. His saying about wine has become famous: “It is a noble, generous
liquor, and we should be humbly thankful for it, but, as I remember, water was made before it.” Both as a man,
and as an intellectual and spiritual leader, the memory of John Eliot will be cherished among the most revered
of this country’s early patriots. His death which occurred May 20, 1690, was universally and deeply mourned.
The Warren family was one of the oldest and most honored in Roxbury. The Warren estate was bought in 1687 by the
grandfather of the great general, and it remained in the family for many generations. Here Joseph Warren was born,
June 11, 1741. He graduated at Harvard college, practiced as a successful physician, and was an influential teacher
of the Roxbury Latin School. His parents had been among the leading people of the town, and he admirably maintained
the prestige of the family His brilliant genius as an orator and writer in the struggle for liberty, was matched
by a noble, generous disposition which endeared him to all who knew him. He was a hero in private as well as public
life. His character and powers placed him naturally in the van of the great movement preceding the Revolution.
His great oration on the “Boston Massacre,” March 5, 1775, was a performance of great danger, as well as genius,
and his eloquence awoke and inspired the people as if by fire. He seemed to be omnipresent during the early days
of the Revolution, being the leading spirit in the battle of Lexington, and the beginning of the seige up to the
battle of Bunker Hill. At this time he was president of the Congress of Massachusetts, and chairman of the Committee
of Safety, practically occupying the chief position in the new common wealth. Three days before the battle of Bunker
Hill, he was appointed a major general. Although he thought the Charlestown movement unwise on account of scarcity
of ammunition, his clearer judgment being afterward manifest, he joined in the movement with a devotion which cost
him and the country an invaluable life. His heroism on that occasion is too well known to be recounted. A monument
to his honor stands on Bunker Hill, but it is one of the strange things about Roxbury, that she has never eieeted
a monument to Warren, whom the whole country has and will delight to honor as her greatest son. His fame will be
tenderly kept as long as the sentiment of veneration remains in the human heart. The “Joseph Warren Association,”
organized in 1860, has long been endeavoring to obtain a fitting statue for cornmemoratiiig Warren. The stone cottage
upon the Warren estate today was erected by Dr. John C. Warren in 1846, superseding the original homestead erected
in 1720. Several brothers of General Warren were prominent in the Revolution and in the affairs of Massachusetts
since that time.
The Dudley family, also of Roxbury, has been among the most famous of Massachusetts. The founder was Thomas Dudley,
who achieved fame in England before coming to America in 1630. His father, of cavalier blood, was slain in the
civil war of England, 1842—8, and he received his education in the family of the Earl of Northampton. He received
a full legal education, and served with distinction in the French wars of the 17th century, under Henry of Navarre,
where he won a captaincy. He was one of the four most prominent men in the settlement of the Massachusetts Bay
colony in 1630, locating first at Newton and afterward at Roxbury, to be near John Eliot, whom he much admired.
He was appointed Sergeant Major, the highest military office in the colony in 1644. In 1634, 1640, 1645, and 1650,
he was elected governor, and served as deputy-governor in the intermediate years, up to the time of his death,
July 31, 1653. He was widely honored for his remarkabte power of judgment, his untouched honor and fidelity, and
his devotion to the upbuilding of the colony. His strong convictions placed him among the most intolerant of the
persecutors of Quakers, Anabaptists, and other so-called heretics. Some harshness characterized his treatment of
his opponents, and his quarrel with Gov. Winthrop is one of the great topics of early history. Arising from a hot
dispute on some purchases of Dudley’s, not without some blame on both sides, it continued several years and was
finally ended in 1638, when these two most prominent men in the colony were reconciled in the new settlement fittingly
called Concord. The family of Dudley has been one of the most celebrated in the literary annals of New England.
Among other descendants, have been Oliver Wendell Holmes and Richard H. Dana. His daughter, Annie, afterward married
to Gov. Bradstreet, produced the first volume of poems (1612) in America, and though not of the highest value,
they are still important as the first fruits of the New England mind. Thomas Dudley contributed to a degree hardly
equaled by few others, to the foundation and upbuilding of New England, and through his descendants he strongly
affected the growth of the state. His son Joseph was born July 23, 1643, in the town of Roibury, when his aged
fLther was already seventy years old. Though educated for the ministry, Joseph turned early and naturally to public
life and served as a member of the general court from 1673 to 1675. He was a commissioner to the Narragansett Indians
in 1775, being present at the last desper. ate battle fought by King Philip, and arranging the terms of the treaty.
He was a commissioner of the United. Colonies from 1677 to 1681; deputy governor from 1676 to 1685; and president
of New England from 1685 to 1686, receiving his commission from James the Second. He made a voyage to England in
1682, being one of the commissioners appointed to endeavor to save the old charter of Massachusetts, but not being
successful, and being considered as wanting in firmness and patriotism at that time, he gained a bad reputation
among his fellow citizens in Massachusetts, which was not changed for many years. He made many friends in England,
among others the celebrated essayist of the Spectator, Sir Richard Steele, who said that “he owed an abundance
of those fine thoughts and the manner of expressing them, which he since presented to the world (Spectator and
Tattler), to his happy acquaintance with Colonel Dudley.” He returned to New England as a member of Governor Andros’
government council, of which he served as president, and chief justice of the supreme
court from 1687 to 1689, which added to his unpopularity, and when the Andros government was overthrown in 1689
by the liberty-loving spirit of the people, he suffered with it, being arrested at Providence, R. I., and thrown
into prison along with the governor at Boston. After nine months of distressing imprisonment he was released, and
appointed by the English government as chief justice of New York, where he served 1690—1692. He returned to England
in 1693, where he remained until 1701, when he received the appointment of governor of Massachusetts, and came
back with honors to his native colony, which shortly before had thrust him out. He was unpopular yet for six or
seven years even in his native Roxbury, but finally by judicious administration and. high character, he conquered
their prejudices and was honored thereafter to the end of his life in 1720. His term of governorship ended in 1715,
on the accession of a new sovereign, George I, to the throne, the chief feature of his term being the able manner
in which he conducted the French and Indian wars ending in 1713 with the treaty of Utreclit. He lived a retired
life on his farm at Roxbury from 1715 to 1720, and his funeral was celebrated with great honors. So completely
had the people changed their minds that the chief paper, the Boston News Letter, speaks of him as “a singular honor
to his country, early its darling, always its ornament, and in age its crown.” He was a man of distinguished abilities
as a statesman and lawyer, but of rather unsteady will, and none too scrupulous in his choice of methods in obtaining
the ambition of his life. He was the first American who sat in the English parliament, representing Newton, England,
in 1701, and was very much esteemed at the English court, which was not a high recommendation at home. He was one
of the most influential in advancing the interests of Harvard College, helping to give its charter a permanent
character. He left £50 in his will to the Roxbury Latin School, and contributed much to the upbuilding of
educational interests in this region. He was one of the most gifted sons that Roxbury ever proluced, and equaled
by but few.
Paul Dudley, son of the preceding, was born at Roxbury in 1675, graduated at Harvard in 1690, and afterward at
the law school in the Temple, London. He returned to New England with his father in 1702, and was appointed in
that year attorney general of the colony. He was elected a member of the legislature, of the executive council,
and speaker of the house; a justice of the supreme court in 1718, and from 1745 until his death in 1751, was chief
justice of Massachusetts. The great. work of his life was in the legal profession and he was a born leader. As
a lawyer and a judge he was among the most talented and preeminent that the state has had, and left a fame which
has not yet died away. Many of the great reforms and improvements in the state courts of la w were due to his efforts.
He was deeply interested, like his father, in the educational affairs of the colony, founding a lectureship, among
other things, at Harvard. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of London, a rare distinction for an American.
He did much for his native town of Roxbury, where he was always highly honored. He was also, together with his
brother, chief-original proprietor of the town of Dudley, Mass.
Among other honored members of the family were Colonels William and. Joseph Dudley. The former was the youngest
son of Gen. Joseph Dudley, born in 1686, graduated at Harvard in 1704, and occupied a commanding position in the
civil and military affairs of the state. He served with honor as a colonel in the expedition against Port Royal
in 1710, as a member and speaker of the house of representatives, and as a member of the governor’s council. He
was one of the greatest orators of his time, and a man of great powers and noble character. His son, Col. Joseph
Dudley, served with honor during the Revolutionary war, and afterward in civil life. He was the last great man
of this distinguished family, who, taken as a whole, have produced more men of genius and power than any other
of Roxbury’s great families, though their glory has now passed away. The Universalist church in the Highlands is
now situated on the site of Governor Dudley’s old mansion, which in its time was-one of the most elaborate and
beautiful in the colony. It was razed to the ground soon after the battle of Bunker Hill, and its brick foundation
walls formed the corner of the fort already mentioned as having been erected on Meeting-House bill. It was occupied
at the time by a tory, named Isaac Winslow.
Among other great governors which Roxbury has given the state, the name of Increase Sumner deserves an honored
place. He was born Nov. 9, 1746, in an oldfashioned house, back of where Hall’s block on Roxbury street now stands.
He at. tended the Roxbury Latin School, of which he was later a master, after his gradua tion from Harvard in 1767.
He was a prominent lawyer of the town during the Revolutionary period, and was elected a member of the state convention
to ratify the Federal Constitution in 1789. Here he took a leading part and gained a great reputation for ability
and judgment. lie was elected governor in 1797, and was the first governor to occupy the new state-house which
was opened in the following year with appropriate ceremonies. He was re-elected in 1798 and 1799, but did not live
to administer the duties of the office a third time. The oath was administered to him on his death bed, a;id his
funeral was said to have been the most solemn and grand the state had ever seen up to that time. Business all through
the state was suspended and signs of mourning were universally displayed for one of Massachusetts’ greatest and
most beloved sons. In personal character and powers of mind, and in every grace of social intercourse with men
he was one of those rare men who seem born to be admired and followed by their fellows. He came of an old and honored
family, active in the affairs of the eighteenth century, and the revolutionary war, and his son, Gen. Wm. H. Sumner,
was a prominent header in the military affairs of the state. The Sumner house is yet in existence, having been
moved back from the street early in the century and is one of the antiquities of the town.
Gen. William Heath was another military hero from Roxbury. He was descended from one of the oldest families in
the town, which was founded by William Heath of Nazing, England, who settled here in 1632. He was early enamoured
of military life, and was appointed captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston, in 1770.
One of the moving spirits in the agitation and movements leading upto the Revolution, it was chiefly due to his
efforts that the minute men service which proved So important at the outbreak of war, was put upon a good working
basis. He was unanimously chosen captain of the first company of Roxbury, in 1774, and in the same year made a
colonel of a Suffolk county regiment. He served as a leading member in the provincial Congress of 1774 and 1775,
and on the committees of correspondence and safety. One of his most important services was rendered at Lexington
and Concord on the famous 19th of April, 1775, where he was the only general officer, and contributed a large share
toward the final repulsion of the British soldiers. He led the pursuit of the baffled brigands, and began the seige
of Boston by posting guards at Charlestown neck that same night. For these and other notable services he received
the commission of major-general in June, 1775, which was confirmed by Congress in the following August. During
the war he rendered Washington constant and valuable aid, and was appointed by him to command West Point, after
the treason of Benedict Arnold. After the war he served the state as member of the convention to ratify the constitution
in 1789; as state senator from 1791 to 1792; as judge of probate in Norfolk county from 1793 until his death in
1814. He refused the office of lieutenant-general of the state to which he was elected in 1806. He was one of Washington’s
most trusted generals, and held as his highest honor a letter of high praise given him by the commander-in-chief,
at West Point, when he was the last general in the army to disband his troops. The ashes of this staunch patriot
and noble man now rest in Forest Hills cemetery; though no memorial has ever been raised to his memory, he will
ever remain among the most honored sons of Roxbury.
Gen. John Greatoti was another prominent Roxburian in the revolution. He was a companion and adviser of Warren
and Heath through the preliminary struggle of the war, and performed very valuable services at Lexington. Rising
rapidly through the grades of major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel of Gen. Heath's regiment, his gallant services
during the seige of Boston attracted wide attention. He engaged in the fateful expedition to Canada in 1776 where
he barely escaped death, lie performed important services in the Jersey campaigns, at Princeton and Trenton in
1777, and the campaign against Burgoyrie in 1779. Though his gallantry and great services were equalled by few
other officers, Congress was ungratefully slow in recognizing them, and did not best)w the honor of brigalier-general
upon him until thu close of the war in 1783. He spared himself in no way throughout the war, and came home at its
close so utterly exhausted that lie died soon after, Dec. 16, 17S3. He sleeps the last, long sleep from which no
reveille awakes him, in the old burying-grounds of Roxbury, his grave unmarked by any stone. Roxbury would seem
ungrateful in the matter of honoring her gallant sons. but it is not perhaps so much that, as that she honors them
more in a quiet way, and has so mtny of high rank and fame there is no special endeavor to honor the memory of
one, but they all rest untouched by the lapse of time, forever safe in the loving regard of her citizens.
Prominent among the names of the families that have exercised a great influence in various periods of the town’s
history, are those of Alcoek, Allen, Amory. Auchmuty, Baker, Bartlett, Bowen, Brewer, Bonman, Crafts, Curtis, Davis,
Dearborn, Denison, Daggett, Dorr, Draper, Eustis, Felton, G:trdiner, Gore, Griggs, Hatch, Hawes, Howe, Johnson,
Lamb, Lewis, Lyrn, May, Mayo, Mears, Munroe, Newell, Parker, Payson, Perrin, Pierpont, Porter, Reed, Richardson,
Ruggles, Seaver, Smith, Stevens, Thompson, Walter, Weld, Whiting, Whitney, White, Willard. Williams and Young.
By comparing these names with the map one can see how Roxbtiry streets were named after her best people, and had
in their time some living significance.
The Williams family was noted for its military character, having for four officers in it Captains Nathaniel, John,
Eleazar, and Col. Joseph, the chiefest of whom was Joseph, as usual, for who dare say there is nothing in a name.
Col. Joseph Williams was one of the old standbys of the town. He was born here in 1708, and died in 1798 at the
age of ninety. He cared not much for public office or he could have had more, indeed all he wanted of it. As it
is, his name appears in the town records more often than any other. For a great many years successively he was
a leading selectman and moderator of town meetings; also a member of the general court. He gained his colonelcy
in the French wars, winning bright laurels at Fort George on the Mohawk river. His influence told greatly in the
preparatory struggles of the Revolution, as he was a staunch and most out spoken patriot. He was very remarkable
for his physical strength, as well as his intellectual powers, both of which he transmitted to his fifteen children
in an extraordinary degree.
Gen. Joseph Palmer was another military man, to which class, indeed, Roxbury seemed to offer special attractions,
who came there during the eighteenth century. He was a native of England and arrived in the town in 1746. His first
work was to establish extensive salt works on Boston neck, where he was the constructor of a great dam, long known
by his name. He was very prominent as a patriot, statesman and general during the revolutionary war. His chief
services were rendered in the provincial congress, of which he was a member in 1774 aud 1775, and as a brigadier-general
of the state militia in the campaign in iThode Island, 1778. He died by a sudden stroke of palsy, contracted through
his exertions in completing his dam for time saltworks, December 25, 1788. It perhaps worthy of note, that if they
had celebrated Christmas day in his tinie, old Gen. Palmer might have lived many another long year in peace and
happiness. “ Thus even the whirligig of time bring in its revenges.”
Governor William Eustis of Roxbury, was one of the most powerful public men the state has had since its beginning.
He was born here and graduated at Harvard College, being a favorite pupil in the Latin School of Gen. Warren. He
was present as surgeon at the battle of Lexington, and at many other important battles during the war. After it
was over he practiced his profession with great success for a time, but was soon drawn irresistibly into public
life. He was elected a member of time legislature in 1788, and passed soon, his abilities being immediately recognized,
into the national congress. He served as secretary of war in President Madison’s cabinet up to 1812, when not agreeing
with the war policy, he received a transfer to the place of minister to Holland, which lie occupied from 1815 to
1818. In 1823, 1824 and 1825, he was elected to the gubernatorial chair of the state, giving very l)0PUlar administrations,
and (lying in office during his third term, exactly like Governor Sumner before him. This is one of the remarkable
instances of history’s repeating itself. His death occurred February 6, 1825, and was universally mourned. During
Lafayette’s visit to New England and Boston in 1824, he was the especial guest of Gov. Eustis at Roxbury, who exerted
himself strenuously to provide the most elaborate entertainments, and in them he was heartily and actively supported
by the people of Roxbury. An amusing anecdote is related of the French general’s tour through the country:
Having occasion at one time to ask a social acquaintance the question, “Are you married ?“ he replied to an affirmative
answer with an emphatic “Happy man !“ At another time when the same question elicited a self-congratulatory “No,”
lie whispered in his friend’s ear, “You’re a lucky dog.” Who but a brilliant Frenchman could have differentiated
the two conditions with more witty epigrams and salient truth.
Governor William Shirley was another leader who hailed from Roxbury. He was born in London, England, and educated
there at Cambridge University. His successful law practice in England made him the confidant and friend of Sir
Robert Walpole and the Duke of Newcastle. After coming to Boston in 1731, he practised here with much honor and
renown, and ten years later, in 1741, he was raised to the governorship by the hearty and combined efforts of his
powerful friends at home and the people here. He was the organizer and chief director of the great military movement
in Canada, in 1745, which ended in the capture of Louisburg, and a vital wound being inflicted on the French power
in America. Other strong and popular measures marked his administration which ended in 1749. He then went to England,
and was appoinL ed one of the commissioners to arrange the American boundary line. Gov. Shirley was appointed a
major-general in 1755, and governor of the Bahamas in 1758. He returned to his great Roxbury mansion in 1769, where
he died two years later, widely mourned in this country and England. His mansion, one of the most elegant in the
American colonies, did not descend to his posterity, but was afterward occupied by Gov. Eustis, and is now one
of the most stately of the old New England mansions.
A reference to Caleb Fellowes, who founded the Fellowes Atheneum, is necessary in any account of the honored men
of Roxbury. He was a native of Gloucester, Mass, but settled in Roxbury in 1816, where he made a large fortune,
most of which he left to found the library which bears his name, and will ever render it honored in the Highlands.
This account of the honored men of the Highlands is necessarily incomplete from the very large number of great
men which this region has produced; indeed, in examining the records, we are convinced that no other place in the
state, outside of Boston, can show a longer list of more eminent names, and the memory of their services are recorded
for all time in the progress and glory of the old Bay State, both in military, civil and literary domains. A list
of the mayors of Roxbury from the time of incorporation in 1846, until united with Boston in 1867, is as follows:
John James Clarke, .............................. 1846-47.
H. A. S. Dearborn, ............................... 1847-51.
Samuel Walker, .................................... 1851-53
Louis Bacon Comins, ............................. 1854-55.
James Ritchie, ...................................... 1855-56.
John Sherburne Sleeper, ................... 1856-58
Theodore Otis, ..................................... 1859-60.
William Gaston, .................................... 1861-62
George Lewis, ....................................... 1863-67.
As we remarked at the beginning of our sketch, there can be no doubt that, mate. rially speaking, Roxbury has made
vast and unprecedented progress since she was married to Boston and christened the Highlands. There seems to he
no use whatever in lamenting this union as it was plainly in the inevitable tendency of things and the survival
of the fittest is the law of civilization. That she will continue to advance, and in time in all lines, under her
new name and auspices is not only time deep desire, but the not unreasonable assurance of her friends.
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