Contents:

• President's Address
• Report of the Treasurer
• Report of the Nominating Committee
• Four Mounted Messengers of the Revolution
• Officers and Committees
• List of Members
• By-Laws

The twelfth annual meeting of the Brookline Historical Society was held in the Edward Devotion House, Brookline, on Thursday, January 23, 1913, at 8 p.m., in accordance with a notice mailed to every member. President Charles H. Stearns was in the chair.

The record of the last monthly meeting was read and the President then delivered his annual address.


Members of the Brookline Historical Society and Friends: -
In beginning this, the twelfth annual report, I desire to give my cordial thanks to those of our members, who, in season and out of season, have aided me so much in conducting the affairs and the meetings of our Society. We have had a prosperous year, as indicated by the numbers on our membership rolls, and we have had occasion to mourn the loss of several of our most valuable and valued ones, chief among whom is our former beloved president, and at the time of his death holding the office of president emeritus.

The number of members reported at our meeting in January, 1912, was 196; the number on our list today is 228, a gain of 32.

The following is a list of deaths of members: -

May 18, Lawrence Whitcomb.
Mr. Whitcomb who lived in a rather remote section of the town, was a comparatively young man and his death seemed premature. He was of the real estate firm of Whitcomb & Co., and was most highly spoken of by his associates.

June 5, Thomas Doliber.
Mr. Doliber was the head of the Mellin's Food Co., and came to reside in Brookline about 1889. He had a beautiful home on Goddard Avenue, which before his occupancy was known as the "Raymond Place." Mr. Doliber married a daughter of Charles Henry Heath, whose father and grandfather had lived in the old house, on Heath street, now occupied by the Misses Dana. His wife wrote a most entertaining paper on the Heath family which was read before our Society.

Mr. Doliber was a most kindly man, and his beaming face suggested a resemblance to one of the Cheeryble brothers of Dickens' creation.

June 19, Rufus George Frederick Candage.
Captain Candage was so well known here that it is not necessary for me to make an extended eulogy, but as I have said before, we must remember that we are indebted to him for the very formation of this Society; and we know with what fidelity and zeal he presided over our meetings. He was born July 8, 1826, in the town of Blue Hill, Me., on the shores of Penobscot Bay. As was natural for a boy living so near the salt water, he early went to sea, and beginning in an humble position before the mast, he was before his majority in command of one of the splendid clipper ships which before the war were the glory of New England. About the year 1868, after retiring from his sea life, he came to live in Brookline, the home of his first wife, who belonged to the Corey family; and he at once took an active part as a citizen. He had held nearly every elective office in the town, Selectman, member of the School Committee, Assessor, member of the legislature, trustee of the Public Library, and Moderator of town meetings.

Though he had but a limited school education, he was a great reader, and had written many articles for the newspapers. He was a member of the Thursday Club, and had prepared and read a number of papers there; and we know of the frequency of his articles read before this Society.

He was of a genial, hearty nature, and though sometimes accused of being rather domineering and hasty in his judgments, it is but fair to refer this in a large measure to his long position as a sea captain, when he had to assume a dignified and determined attitude. To those who knew him best, he was of a lovable and kindly nature, and we have with us a most affectionate remembrance of him. Although he retained his residence in Brookline, he died in the town of Stow.

July 24, Roswell E. Douglass.
Mr. Douglass moved to Brookline in 1907. He was a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was much beloved. He died at his summer home in Plymouth.

September 13, Louise Howe.
In the death of Miss Howe the whole town, as well as our Society, has lost a valued member. She was born in Brookline and had always lived here, except the time spent in the summer home in Little Nahant. She was a daughter of Thomas Howe, who came to live at his home on Linden place about 1850. This house and the Fay place adjoining have for more than sixty years been occupied by the same families. Miss Howe was of a most kindly nature, of great executive abilities, and charitably disposed. For twenty-seven years she had been a director of the South End Industrial School, located in Roxbury, and for twelve years its president. She attended our meetings when able so to do, and wrote an interesting paper on Rebecca Nourse and the Salem Witchcraft. She died at Nahant.

In addition to the above, it is but fitting to make mention of the death of Mrs. William H. White, who though not immediately connected with our Society, used frequently to accompany her husband, who is a member, to our meetings. Mrs. White was a sister of Luther M. Merrill, and in her younger days lived in her father's house on the corner of Longwood avenue and Kent street. She was always much interested in the papers read here, and in the Edward Devotion House. She died October 22, at her home on Dean road.

The following papers have been read during the year:

January 17, 1912. The president's annual address. After giving a report of the Society and its statistics, a short account of the Hinkley-Ayer house on Harvard street was given.

February 21. "Washington as Seen Through the Vision of the Poet," by Rev. Lewis Wilder Hicks of Wellesley. This was an interesting paper, it being the bringing together of the various poems and verses concerning the Father of his Country, which appeared from time to time during the public life of Washington, mostly of a highly complimentary nature, but some denunciatory, especially those written at the time when he was so severely criticised during the dark days of the Revolution. Some of the poems quoted were of considerable literary merit.

March 21. "Farm Life One Hundred Years Ago," by Mrs. Charles K. Bolton.

Your president was confined to his home at this time, and cannot speak of this paper from actual knowledge. It was spoken of very highly. Our vice-president presided at the meeting.

April 18. "Original Manuscripts and Documents Preserved in the Clerk's Office of the Town of Brookline." This was an exceedingly interesting meeting, and the papers and extracts from the old documents, discriminately selected and read, interspersed by original explanations and remarks by the reader, were highly appreciated by his hearers. The Society and the town are greatly indebted to Mr. Baker for the care with which these old and quaint papers are preserved.

May 23. "War Reminiscences," by Capt. John E. Gilman of Roxbury, Past Commander-in-Chief, Grand Army of the Republic. This meeting was held in the Grand Army room in the Town Hall, and the members of the Post were invited. Many of them were present, and we had a very

pleasant and entertaining talk by the speaker of the evening, which was supplemented by remarks by several of the old soldiers and others.

Summer Recess.

October 30. "The Purposes of History Study," by David Snedden, Ph.D., Massachusetts Commission of Education. Your president was away from home on his golden honeymoon trip on this occasion, and again Mr. Comstock presided. The paper is described as a most scholarly address, and was listened to by several of the school teachers, who were specially invited. The meeting was one of the largest gatherings of the year.

November 21. "The Bellingham-Cary House and its Restoration," by Mr. Vernon A. Field of Chelsea. This was an exceedingly interesting talk, descriptive of this ancient house, which stands in what is now the city of Chelsea, and its former distinguished occupants and the efforts that have been and are being made for its preservation. Leaflets giving a picture of the house and a short description of the same were distributed at the meeting.

December 19. "The Development of Our Commonwealth," by Mr. Charles G. Chick, president of the Bay State Historical League, and also of the Hyde Park Historical Society. Mr. Chick gave us a carefully prepared and interestingly delivered paper on the influences which prompted the settlement of the Plymouth Colony and that of the Massachusetts Bay, and expressed himself most decidedly that Religion was the prominent influence, stronger even than that of Commerce and the hope of gain; and also that the fear of having the English Church established here by the Crown, was the most urgent cause of the Revolutionary war.

Six of the above eight papers and talks have been given by persons outside of our own Society, and while they have been of a high order of merit, and attentively listened to, it would seem as if our own members should be more frequently heard here.

During the past year, among the many deaths of prominent men in our town, should be mentioned that of Willard Y. Gross, who was probably the best known man in the community, and one most highly respected. Mr. Gross was a native of Duxbury, though his life since early manhood had been spent in Brookline. He was a carpenter by trade, and early in the War of the Rebellion he enlisted and served to the end in the army. Soon after his return, he was appointed janitor of the Town Hall, and as such was best known to the present generation. He was always present at our town meetings and elections, though at the last he had to be carried to and from his home. Mr. Gross was a man of the highest character, and a champion of every good cause, especially that of caring for the old soldier. He was a former member of this Society.

Conspicuous among the many changes of this rapidly changing town, during the past year, has been the passing of the Whitney estate at Coolidge Corner. Within less than a twelve-month this home, for nearly fifty years that of the Whitney family, has been taken down. A pleasant green spot, on a wide, dusty thoroughfare, and a beautiful garden, have been eliminated, and a block of stores and offices has been erected, most of which are already occupied. As this family has been prominent in the town, the state and the nation, a few words about the place may be of interest. The house was built in 1857, on land which belonged to the Stearns family. It was first occupied in 1858 by Charles W. Wilder, a dealer in cigars and tobacco. He had quite a large family, two members of which, the wife of Mr. Edgar W. Anthony, and Warren P. Wilder, still live in Brookline. Mr. Wilder was a democrat, and early in the discussions following the election of Lincoln in 1860, was quite pronounced against the Republican government, but after the bombardment of Fort Sumter and when the avowed determination of the Southern Confederacy to destroy the Union was so evident, he became one of the most active citizens in urging the carrying on of the war.

Mr. Wilder sold the house in 1863 to Gen. James S. Whitney, another prominent democrat, who had been superintendent of the Springfield Armory under President Buchanan. Mr. Whitney also had a large family, and from his prominence In affairs his home became a center of attraction. He took an active part in our town meetings, and was frequently chosen to serve on important committees. He was a good citizen and a kind neighbor, as your president can testify. General Whitney died in 1879, but the mantle of the father descended to the elder son, and we of this present age know of the accomplishments of Henry M. Whitney. The building of the present boulevard known as Beacon street, in 1887, which before had been a narrow country road, and the establishment of the electric road through its reservation, will always associate his name with the enormous growth of this part of the town since that time. Another distinguished son was William C. Whitney, who was in the Cabinet of President Cleveland. General Whitney's widow lived to be upwards of ninety years of age, dying in 1909.

Another home of the past is the house that stood on the corner of Pleasant and Dwight streets. This has been demolished and a block of apartment houses has sprung up from its ruins. This house was built some time in the fifties, and for many years was occupied by William C. Tyler, who was a brother of Gen. John Tyler. One of Mr. Tyler's sons was a teacher in the Adams Academy of Quincy, under the brilliant but rather erratic William Everett.

Another familiar landmark, the old brick blacksmith shop on Washington street near Pearl, has been taken down, and a fine block of stores erected by Mr. Harry E. Chase. The thanks of the town should be awarded to Messrs. Chase and Fleming for the great improvements they have made in the village, and which, let us trust, will be an incentive to the owners of the old long house, which in its present condition is a disgrace to the entrance of our town.

[contributed By The Clerk.]

"The Old Punch Bowl Tavern, which was built previous to 1740 and was demolished about 1839, occupied the northerly side of the street along where the Brookline Village transfer station is now located. All of that part of the town east of the present corner of Pearl street belonged to the town of Roxbury and the district as a whole was distinguished by the name of 'Punch Bowl Village.' In 1844, by Act of the General Court, this part of Roxbury was annexed to Brookline and the name changed to Brookline Village. When the 'Mill Dam' was built and opened in 1821, the dam proper extended from the foot of Beacon Hill, at Charles street, Boston, and extended to the uplands at Sewall's point. There were two wing dams, one northerly, now the present Commonwealth avenue and Brighton avenue, and one southerly, then called the 'Punch Bowl Road,' now the present Brookline avenue. These dams were constructed so that they provided roadways and were maintained as toll roads until 1868.

"Previous to the Revolution the brick blacksmith shop was erected by a Mr. Thomas Brewer, who occupied the old Devotion House which stood next easterly, on the site where now stands Fleming's garage.

"In 1819 Lemuel Foster became the owner of this property, and when the recent change in ownership occurred, very interesting original documents were brought to light by his descendants who were the owners by inheritance.

"A deed dated April 23, 1788, conveys from Edward Brewer to William Brewer. In 1811 there is a deed to Stephen Sharp, Town Treasurer. In 1818 another deed conveying 'a certain parcel of land with a dwelling house and a blacksmith shop standing on the same, one-quarter acre more or less." This deed not only describes the land by bounds and measurements but has on it a pen and ink sketch of the buildings mentioned. In 1819 Joseph Davenport, administrator estate of William Brewer, by order of the Probate Court, sold a certain parcel of land, with buildings, to Lemuel Foster; and in 1828, Ebenezer Heath, in his capacity as Town Treasurer, sold to Lemuel Foster the property sold in 1811 to his predecessor in office.

"The blacksmith shop was continuously used for its original purpose by successive occupants until the property was acquired by Mr. Harry E. Chase.

"The corner, where now is the grocery store, was occupied and used as a paint shop for nearly a century. Silas Snow was the occupant and owner in 1813, if not previously. In 1816, the Brookline records show he was paid £12.36 for painting new horse sheds at the meeting house. In 1841, Silas Snow employed a young man who later became the owner of the property and the business. This was the late Benjamin F. Baker, who carried on business in his own name from about 1856 until his death in 1898. The corner property was purchased and developed by its present owners in 1904."

During the past year, Boylston street has been widened to a width of eighty feet, necessitating the moving of a number of houses and the taking down of three. As this so-called improvement has not been fully furnished, it is too soon to comment on the need of this great expense. This street was originally laid out as the Worcester turnpike, at a width of four rods, 66 2/3 feet.

Another house, which in years gone by occupied a prominent position and was the home of wealth and culture, and which last winter was destroyed by fire, was the Denny house on the top of the hill, (formerly known as Walnut Hill), and which was built and occupied by Francis C. Denny in 1871-72. This house was magnificently located, commanding a most extensive view, with the large farm of 137 acres immediately surrounding the mansion. Mr. Denny came to Brookline from Dorchester in the year 1859 and occupied the house on Newton street at the foot of the hill, known as the Crafts place, now the property of Harry Burley. Mr. Denny moved to the new house in 1872, but lived but a short time after, as he died the same or following year. Mrs. Denny was a daughter of Thomas Groom, the well-known stationer, and she and her family continued to live there a few years, and then the place was sold to Mr. George F. Bouvé, and for a time it was known as the Bouvé farm. Mr. Bouve, who lived on the corner of Kent street and Longwood avenue, owned the farm for a number of years, and it was then sold to a syndicate that built streets and several houses with the hope of attracting buyers of house lots; but largely from its lack of accommodations of transit, a small number of lots were sold, and the place for several past years has been neglected.

Indeed the growth of the southerly section of the town has been very small. Much of the land is held in large tracts by families who use the land for their own, and do not care to sell. But in the northerly section, and especially about Coolidge Corner, Pleasant and St. Paul streets, the growth, chiefly of apartment houses, has been phenomenal.

At the town meeting held December 30, an appropriation was made, authorizing the trustees of the Public Library to establish a branch station and reading room at or near Coolidge Corner; and within a few days after, a vacant store in the new Coolidge Corner block, on the former Whitney place, was opened, with chairs and tables provided with magazines and newspapers, besides being a delivery station from the central library. This fills a much desired want in that growing community.

As regards our own Edward Devotion House, the home of our Society, we do not know what changes the coming year may bring forth. At the last town meeting, held just at the end of the present year, an appropriation was made looking to the building of another schoolhouse on the town's lot, probably to be located immediately in the rear of this building. What disposition may be made of the old house, we cannot say; but from the money that the town has already put into it for its restoration, and from the large majority, as shown at a former town meeting, against its destruction, it would seem that it should be preserved, if not in its present location, at least on some spot on the large lot in the rear.

Our meetings have been well attended and the practice of serving simple refreshments has been continued, which we feel has been conducive to more sociability among those present.

Your president would conclude with a hearty "Happy New Year," and with the best wishes for a prosperous one.










At the meeting of the Brookline Historical Society held in the Edward Devotion House in Brookline on Wednesday evening, April 19, 1911, Mr. William Ogilvie Comstock, Vice President of the Society, read the following paper: -

One hundred and thirty-six years ago today, along this then quiet road through Brookline were passing soldiers, mostly on foot, with muskets, going to attack the British, and most of them returning following the British as they retreated back to Boston. Much of the fighting of the Battle of Lexington and Concord took place that 19th of April outside of those two villages, and nearer here, and men from all the surrounding country took part, many, as you know, from this town.

Tonight I wish particularly to speak of four of the messengers of the Revolution, who rode long distances, taking great risks, and carrying warnings, orders, or calls for help. The first two were in this battle, the 136th anniversary of which we celebrate tonight. The first was Paul Revere. He rode the night before the battle especially to warn Hancock and Adams at Lexington, but also to spread the alarm through the country through which he went. He had been over the route several times before this ride, so many were prepared for the warning he brought.

as the poem says, were the words he left in Charlestown, and by his diary we learn that he soon had a horse from Deacon Larkin's in Charlestown and started on the road to Lexington, where he found Hancock and Adams. I speak of Revere as the first messenger, not only because of his greatness, and his greatness given by the poet Longfellow, but because of those other rides he took, days before the battle.

The first messenger to take the news out of Boston on the eve of the battle to the surrounding country and to Lexington was Major William Dawes, who went under orders from Warren some time before Paul Revere started, but who went by land over Boston Neck, probably on foot, until beyond the British lines. He then had a longer horseback ride than Revere, over other roads, but finally into Lexington, where Revere, though starting later, had arrived a half hour earlier. After the warning had been given to these two important men of the colony, Hancock and Adams, whom the British were particularly anxious to capture, the messengers went on together, with a Mr. Prescott, who was of Concord, and had been spending the evening with his sweetheart, Miss Milliken, in Lexington.

Paul Revere was captured by the British before getting to Concord and brought back toward Boston, though he finally made an escape unharmed. Dawes, with Prescott, probably reached Concord, and so the townspeople were prepared for the fight at Concord Bridge. The following letter written by Paul Revere in 1798 to Jeremy Belknap, Secretary of the Massachusetts Historical Society, will be of interest. It reads as follows: -

"The Sunday before, I had been to Lexington, to Messrs. Hancock and Adams, who were at the Rev. Mr. Clarke's. I returned by night through Charlestown; there I agreed with a Col. Conant and some other gentlemen that if the British went out by water we would show two lanterns in the North Church steeple, and if by land, one as a signal. For we were apprehensive it would be difficult to cross the Charles River or get over Boston Neck. I left Dr. Warren, called upon a friend, and desired him to make the signals. I then went home, took my boots and surtout, and went to the north part of the town, where I kept a boat; two friends rowed me across Charles River a little to the eastward of where the Somerset, man-of-war, laid. It was then young flood, and the ship was winding and the tide rising. They landed me on the Charlestown side. When I got into town I met Col. Conant and several others; they said they had seen our signals. I told them what was acting and they went with me to get a horse at the barn of Dea. Larkin."

This was Revere's letter. We hear, well given by the historian of the Boston Herald in 1907, that his friend, Capt. John Pulling, who had hung the lanterns, only escaped from an immediate search by Gen. Gage by hiding for two days in an old wine butt, owned by his grandmother. After that he escaped to Nantucket and his property was confiscated by Gen. Gage and his house torn down.

Revere went at full speed toward Lexington, but was turned back by a British patrol, and only escaped by pushing for the Medford road, his pursuer getting stuck in a clay pond. At Medford he called out the minute men, and from there on awakened nearly every house. He got to Parson Clarke's about midnight, where he found Hancock and Adams. The guard placed about the house would not admit him, but said, "No noise." "Noise," said he, "you'll have noise enough before long - the regulars are coming out."

Hancock hearing him, called out: "Come in, Revere! We're not afraid of you," and he went in. In half an hour Dawes arrived and met Revere on the green. Dawes, my second rider, had started at once, without going home, and had eluded the guard at the Neck with difficulty, coming by the longer route of Brighton Bridge and the Cambridge road, and alarming all the houses on his way. With young Dr. Prescott these two, when half way from Lexington to Concord, met British officers, Revere being ahead and Dawes and Prescott a hundred rods behind alarming a house. Prescott, having a Lexington horse that was not tired, jumped a stone wall and escaped. Dawes rode up to an empty farm house, slapping his leather breeches and shouting: "Halloo, boys. I got two of "em!" and his pursuers were fortunately frightened and rode off. By the sudden stop Dawes lost his watch, and some days later returned to the place and found it.

Either Dawes or Prescott got to Concord about two o'clock that morning, and both did fighting that day. Revere rode off one side to some woods and met another party of British, to whom he had to surrender. He told them the country was already alarmed, and they retreated with him to Lexington, where he escaped and rejoined the party at Clarke's about three in the morning. Then they hid in the woods and the events of the Lexington fight were soon before them, as given in all histories.

Miss Ellen Chase of Brookline has particularly well described these stirring days in her important new book, "The Beginnings of the Revolution," in two handsome volumes. In connection with the fight and its results, all should give especial credit to these two messengers, who gave the alarm, also to Ebenezer Dorr of Roxbury, who took the alarm from Boston as far at least as Roxbury and probably beyond, at about the same time Dawes went out. There has been considerable confusion of these two names, but most of the historians have concluded the messengers were as I have stated.

The third long journey, directly after the battle, was to take the news of it to New York City. How this was done is not, I believe, exactly known, but a messenger arrived there with the news on Sunday morning, the 23d of April, as told by Mrs. Martha J. Lamb in her admirable history of the City of New York. The 19th of April had been Wednesday. He may have ridden all the way or transferred the message. She does not give his name. In Amelia E. Barr's romance, "A Bow of Orange Ribbon," the messenger is given as Colonel Marinus Willett, whom I will speak of as the third messenger, but especially for two other rides he certainly took later in the war.

Massachusetts was very near to New York in those days, and although there were many tories in the city, there were eight times as many patriots. The New Yorkers who were in sympathy with the British system of ministerial oppression were much fewer than has been generally supposed. On that Sunday morning, when the messenger rode down the Bowery road to Broadway, alarm and indignation filled the public mind. Although it was Sunday, men took possession of the City Hall and armed themselves with the arms there stored. Two vessels loaded for Boston, with supplies for the British troops there, were boarded, and their cargoes, worth eighty thousand pounds, unloaded. All vessels for British possessions were detained. The Royal Government was powerless. On Monday volunteer companies paraded Broadway and the committee of sixty met in consultation.

So things went there till June 6th, when an order came for the British troops barracked in Chamber street, New York, to join the army in Boston. The committee had said they could go, but with no extra arms. Marinus Willett chanced to come in front of the party on Broad street, corner of Beaver street, and caught the horse of the foremost cart of arms by the bridle, bringing the whole procession to a stand; after much talking he was upheld by others, and these extra arms were retained in the city by the patriots, and used by them soon after. The Sons of the Revolution have placed a bronze tablet to Willett's memory on Broad street which has on it a medallion scene of this brave act. When it is remembered that Willett had many relatives and friends on the tory side, and was a member of Old Trinity, the Church of England nearby, his act will be more lauded. He died August 22, 1830, aged ninety years, and his gravestone is in Trinity Church graveyard on Broadway, at the head of Wall street. He had fought as an officer in the French and Indian War under Gen. Abercrombie, in Col. DeLancey's regiment in 1758, and accompanied Bradstreet against Fort Frontenac. He was an early Son of Liberty in New York, and often called the hero of Fort Stanwix (where Rome, N. Y., now stands). I have a picture of him here tonight as a soldier, etched by Hall, and another portrait when he was an older man, probably taken about 1807, when he became Mayor of New York. It is in the rare book called Willett's Narrative, published in 1831 by his son, mainly from his father's papers. At the siege of Fort Stanwix, where Colonel Willett was second in command and where a red, white and blue flag flew, made of what could be put together in the fort, and said to be the first United States flag ever used in battle, the garrison was hard pressed by Colonel St. Leger and Sir John Johnson.General Herkimer made an ineffectual attempt to relieve the fort. Colonel Willett succeeded in a sortie from the fort, and returned unharmed, but decided to go personally to help General Herkimer. On August 10th, at ten at night, he went alone with Major Stockwell on the long trip down the Mohawk River. As the British Annual Register of 1777 says:-

"Col. Willett (after the sally) undertook, in company with another officer, a much more perilous expedition. They passed by night through the besiegers' works, and in contempt of danger and cruelty of the savages, made their way for fifty miles through pathless woods and unexplored morasses in order to raise the country and bring relief to the fort. Such an action demands the praise even of an enemy."

This from the British record. At the German Flats, Willett learned that General Learned had been ordered by General Schuyler to march with his brigade of Massachusetts troops from Van Schaick's Island, ten miles above Albany, to relieve Fort Stanwix, up the Mohawk River.

The next long journey Colonel Willett took was as mounted messenger from General Gates at Peekskill to General Washington at Monmouth, and so took part in the Battle of Monmouth. On the 21st of June, 1778, General Gates heard from General Washington of the evacuation of Philadelphia, and Washington asked for an immediate report of General Gates' forces. Colonel Willett crossed the Hudson from Peekskill on the morning of June 22d, and with a fresh horse, reached Washington's headquarters that evening, carrying to the commander-in-chief a detailed account of the force that General Gates commanded. Colonel Willett's account of Washington, as he then saw him, is interesting. He wrote in the third person as follows: -

"General Washington, who never to Col. Willett appeared so great as he did on that day" (the day of the Battle of Monmouth) "(though to him he always appeared greater than anybody else) was mounted on a fine large sorrel horse; he had a spy glass in his hand, and from a commanding situation, within the line of the enemy's fire, he seemed to observe and know everything. Firmness, composure and dignity sat on his brow. His presence inspired universal ardour along the line; and, in the poetical description of Mr. Addison, 'He taught the doubtful battle where to rage.'

"General Washington's situation within the line of fire, with a number of officers about him, appeared to attract the attention of the enemy, so as to induce them to direct their fire on that, more than any other part of the line. Colonel . Willett happened to be near him, when this was evidently the case, and directed one of his (Washington's) aides to ride around among the officers and request them to withdraw, as they offered a mark for the enemy's fire. Upon this intimation a number of them withdrew; and Colonel Willett then retired to that part of the line where the light infantry was formed."

And so he goes on with his narrative, dedicated by his son to General LaFayette in 1831. By his action in warning those officers to thin the group, Willett may have saved the life of General Washington.

The fourth mounted messenger I will speak of tonight was Lieut. Thomas Lamb of Boston, one of Col. Henry Jackson's Massachusetts Regiment of Cadets at Valley Forge, with Washington. This rider went the longest distance, and like the other three, with success. He answered a call by General Washington for a volunteer to ride to Boston for supplies for the army, saying to the General that he could start at once but he had no spurs. Washington took the pair of silver spurs from his own heels and gave them to the young rider. How he went is not known, but when he arrived at Boston Neck his horse shied at the rope that was stretched across the road to prevent unknown people from passing. He was thrown and his arm broken, so that although he delivered his message and the stores were sent by the Boston merchants to the army, Thomas Lamb was not able to return to his regiment, though he recovered and lived for many years. At this time Lieutenant Lamb was twenty-four years old, having had his commission as first lieutenant on February 1,1777, when twenty-three. He was the eighth of the many children of James and Desire Lamb, and several of his brothers took part in the Revolution. He was born in Boston November 20, 1753, and died January 13, 1813, aged fifty-nine years. He became an active shipping merchant of Boston, with his brother, as the finn of James and Thomas Lamb. A call from Valley Forge to Boston for help in this the darkest period of the Revolution has, I believe, never been printed, and I tell it to you as his daughter, Miss Jane Lamb, then of Temple place, Boston, told it to me over forty years ago. No portrait of Lieutenant Lamb has come down to his family, but I have here a photograph of a life-sized painting, by Thomas Sully, of his son, Thomas Lamb, born September 2, 1796, in Boston, that no doubt looks about as his father did when he took this long ride. The spurs Washington gave him and the commission, and his oath of allegiance dated June 10, 1778, at Valley Forge, are in possession of his grandson, the Treasurer of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Society of the Cincinnati.

All four of these messengers, Revere, Dawes, Willett and Lamb, lived long after the war, married and had large families. Revere, as you know, married twice and had sixteen children; Dawes married twice and had seven children; Willett married and had five children; and Lamb married and had ten children. In the old days the single deeds of daring were not written 80 much of as they are now, the great battles being new subjects for the pens of historians, but in families these traditions were held most dear.

A granddaughter of William Dawes, Mrs. Hannah Newcomb Holland, wrote over thirty-five years ago in describing the ride of her ancestor: -


For this account I am indebted to a book by her son, Henry Ware Holland, printed in Boston in 1878, entitled, "William Dawes and His Ride with Paul Revere." Major Dawes was buried in King's Chapel Burying Ground, and a bronze tablet with the following inscription marks the tomb: -

Close beside him is buried his first cousin, Col. Thomas Dawes. He also was a high patriot, and the caucuses were sometimes held in his garret on Purchase street, next door to Samuel Adams. He drew on himself the anger of the Royalists, and his house was sacked by the British troops before they left Boston. A gravestone in Mt. Auburn now marks the remains of Lieut. Thomas Lamb, and Paul Revere is buried in Boston. The Perry picture I have here of Revere represents him as an elderly gentleman and is copied, I think, from the miniature lately shown by the Copley Society at their loan exhibition in Boston, owned by a descendant of his.

His commission is now loaned to the Washington headquarters at Morristown, New Jersey, where his descendants, Paul Revere and Augustus L. Revere, sons of the late Gen. Joseph Warren Revere, died with their mother lately - the last of that branch of the Revere family. Mrs. Revere was Miss Rosanna Duncan Lamb, a granddaughter of the patriot Lieut. Thomas Lamb, and her son, Augustus, was a member of the New York Chapter of Sons of the Revolution, as great grandson of both Lieut. Col. Paul Revere and Lieut. Thomas Lamb. His name stands on the same page of the Society Year Book of 1891 I have before me, with James Ray, grandson of Lieut. Col. Marinus Willett.

I have here several original Marinus Willett letters and documents, only one of which was published in his narrative, that show the care used in writing in those days; and their length will explain why I do not read them. A word explaining them will perhaps be interesting, as they are unpublished. The first document, dated October 19, 1781, certifies to the transporting of some wheat to mill thirteen miles and is countersigned M. Willett, Col. Commander. The next is an order for forage for his two horses for February, 1782, signed Albany, February 19, M. Willett, Lt. Col., Commandant of the New York State Troops. The long letter from him to Gov. George Clinton is dated at Albany, May 21, 1781, and is in regard to troops, ending: "I am, your Excellency's most obedient and very humble servant, Marinus Willett"; signing his name in full. From this signature the copy on the etching here is taken. Of the two letters to him by General Henry Knox, the first, dated April 18, 1792, was published in Willett's Narrative, and the second is from Philadelphia, November 22, 1792. The next is an order by the State of New York, signed and sealed by Gov. Gen. Clinton, July 8, 1801, for Marinus Willett "to superintend the erecting, enlarging and completing fortifications, in this State, for the defense of the United States, agreeably to the directions of the Act of Congress therein referred to, and to purchase requisite materials; he, the said Mariaus Willett, to be accountable to the United States (if required) as well as to this State, for the expenditure of all money received by him, and to hold his appointment during the pleasure of the person administering the government of this State." The last is an appointment when he was eighty-four years old, by the legislature of New York, as one of the presidential electors, dated at Albany, November 16, 1824, signed by Gov. Joseph C. Yates.

In the "Old New York Frontier," by F. W. Halsey, published in 1901, he says: -

"Many of the pioneers from New England had served in the Revolution; some had gone up the Mohawk with Benedict Arnold to Fort Schuyler in 1777; others were at Cherry Valley with Colonel Alden; others went down the Susquehanna with General Clinton, and thence to the fertile lands of the Genesee. Most notable of all the impressions they had carried home were impressions of the fertility of this New York soil and the sparsity of its population. Accordingly the history of the re-peopling of this frontier is mainly a history of the immigration pouring into it from Massachusetts and Connecticut by a people whom Professor Lounsbury has eulogized as 'born levellers of the forest, the greatest wielders of the axe the world has ever known.' They brought not only skill with the axe, but certain arts and refinements in domestic life, before unknown to the frontier; and with those arts a spirit of enterprise and invention, with an initiatory energy which carried their own fortunes far, and which, more perhaps than all other human forces, have made the central and western parts of New York State what they now are."

This from a New York man; and Massachusetts and Connecticut have extended far beyond that state.

We look back tonight with pride upon our patriots and those of New York, four of whom I have spoken of, and we honor these and the many others who took their lives in their hands, and helped in the great cause of freedom.

The portrait of William Dawes, that is copied onto the program tonight and of which I have a copy here, hangs in Brookline at the residence of Miss Julia Goddard, a granddaughter of the patriot, and her house is one of the finest of the old Brookline mansions. It was built in 1730, and is near the old village green on Warren street, where Brookline's honored band of minute men collected, and started for Lexington on that morning of the 19th of April in 1775. In front of this Edward Devotion house we are now in, no doubt William Dawes stopped and alarmed its sleeping inmates, as he sped on toward Cambridge and Lexington; giving, like Paul Revere,




Sir: -

Inclos'd are returns of the troops under my Command which are raised for the immediate defence of the frontiers. I have likewise to acquaint your Excellency that I have had a meeting with some of the Field Officers of the County of Tryon to consult the best way to avail ourselves of the aid of the Militia, And notwithstanding that by the Classes of that County, there appears to be upwards of Eleven hundred Militia in the County, It is the oppinion of the officers with whom I confered that 500 will be the extent of what we may expect to turn out to fight the Enemy in case of a General alarm, from whence you may proceive that their must be a Majority which will require a pecular kind of treatment. To attempt to describe the distressed situation of the Inhabitants from the German flatts almost down to Schenectady is unescessary, it is enough to know that such are their fears that they are continually upon the wing, ready to fly at every fain of an Alarm; It appears to me that nothing less can aliviate the present dread of the Inhabitants than a sickening reception of the Enemy should they again (which most probably will be the case) Visit those parts, to effect this the greatest Exertions to procure a Sufficient force are necessary. The Militia of the County ought undoubtedly to Contribute their share in this business. I shall leave nothing within my reach to gain every possible advantage from this Quarter. To find out the best way to accomplish this was my business with the officers of their Militia, among other things I purposed to them to appoint Certain times for the Exercise of their regiments. They appear ready to Comply in the way and manner that was then mentioned. But think more energy is wanting than any of their Officers at present have to make a Scheme of that nature General. I could wish that this particular point might be taken up seriously by the Legislator much very much, depends upon it I conceive some kind of discressionary power truly necessary for their Criticle case; Such a Strip of Country so thinly Inhabited so exposed, and so continually harrased by such a barbarous Enemy can hardly hope for safty from the ordinary, or Indeed any denned means. You are so well acquainted with every part of this affair that I need not tresspass upon your time by any enlargment; I shall however just mention (that) it appears to me proper to have two or three pieces of Cannon distributed at the different posts to be made use of as Signals in Case of a General Alarm, upon which Signals the Militia should repair Instantly to Certain places of rendevous, appointed for that purpose properly Equip'd and furnished with a few days prvosions. If they were obliged to do this on Horse back for the sake of Expedition, it would add much to the security of the Country, But Delinquency should by no means pass with Impunity. If one or two Small Field pieces and a Small detachment of Artilery could be procur'd considerable advantage might be expected from them.

The forming Magizines of Provision is of s(uch) importance and attended with such difficulties (that) it cannot Escape notice. With proper attention I think the Country itself might do something Clever in this way.

By the return of the regiment you'll see that two of the Soldiers are in Goal for Debt. I think it worth the attention of the Legislator to prevent Soldiers from being confined in Goal for debt unless the debt should be considerable, and there was a prospect of the Creditors getting his money by the prosecution but to have a Soldiers liable to be taken from their regiments and Confined in Goal at a time when their Services are greatly wanted, without the Creditor having the least prospect of geting his money, is leaving it with power of disaffected persons materially to Injure the Service.


This may sertify that Conelius Putmon has transported, one wagon Lode of wheat for the Public from warins Bush to John Vaders mill which Being 13 milds
To Henra Glan Esq
D. Q. M. G.
Jonathan Douglas
Forrage Master
(Countersigned:) I certify the within to be true. M. Willett Colo. Command'r
(Filed:) Ret of Cornelus Putman

Please to deliver the bearer the allowance of Forage for my two horses from the fourth to the last of this month Inclusive
Albany
19th Feb'y 1782
M. Willett L't Colo
Com'dt of the N. York State Troops

To the Contractor
(on reverse:) Sir. Col Willet has Drawn forage up to the 3d Instant inclusive, you will therefore give to him from the 4 bls
Jonathan Laurence & Co
Jacob A Wendell
(Filed:) Col's Willetts order order to furnish forage

(private and confidential)
Sir:

It was with regret I read your Letter of ... declining the acceptance of the Commission of a Brigadier General. But you have the right to be perfectly master of your own conduct.

The President of the United States has shewed me your Letter of the 14th instant, wherein you express your ideas of an Indian war. Be assured that nothing can be more disagreeable to him and the Government. That the present hostilities originated in the war with Great Britain, and that they continued without intermission, and increasing from time to time until they became too enormous to be longer over looked by Government, cannot be doubted by any honest and impartial men who will attent to the evidence.

But notwithstanding the past, it is the desire of the President of the United States to terminate it without the further effusion of blood. Preparatory overtures have been made to the Indians who are to have a Great Council at the Miami village the next month. But a person of character intelligence and address, is required to be present at that Council in behalf of the United States to unfold in terms which the Indians will comprehend -

1st. That we require no lands, but those which we conceive to have been fairly purchased of those tribes who had a right to sell.

2dly. That if any of the tribes can show just right to any lands they claim by virtue of the said treaties, they shall be liberally compensated for such right.

3dly. That we are not only willing to be at peace with all the nations, but to impart to them such of the blessings of civilization as will suit their condition.

4thly. It is conceived, were they convinced of the truth of those sentiments then peace must be the consequence. But the difficulty is to find a suitable character. You have been applied to and declined. It would appear however from your Letter to the President, that you would seem still to be desirous of being of service to your country at this time.

I am authorized to assure you that if you will still undertake the business, in which from the preparatory measures I can assure you there will be but little personal hazard (although that would not be a consideration with you), that you would render your country a most acceptable service. That if you succeed, of which I should flatter myself you will have the glory thereof, besides being most liberally compensated in a pecuniary way, which shall be stipulated to your satisfaction. If you should incline to undertake this affair, not a moment's time should be lost in reparing here. The way would be by Pittsburg down to Fort Washington, every facility of Guards would be afforded you. Captain Hendricks, and perhaps others of the Indians here present might accompany you. Besides, there are women prisoners at Fort Washington, and probably friendly Wabash Indians who would accompany you. Permit me to urge you compliance with this invitation to perform the mission, and that you would immediately and explicitly inform me of your determination.

I am, Sir,
With great Respect
Your most Obed't hum' serv't
Colonel Marinus Willet.
H Knox
(Filed:) Letter from Gen'll Knox reg(a)rding my refusal of the Brig.Gen'll appointment and an application to go on a Mission to the Wabaush & Shawney Indians.

(private and confidential)
Dear Sir: -

Having studied fully the subject of our conversation lately, to the President of the United States, he is exceedingly desirous of your being employed on the line contemplated; And I am therefore desired to request of you the terms you would expect in either of the following cases.

To wit First A temporary mission which perhaps might require Six, nine, or even twelve months?

Second An establishment of a permanent nature embracing the four southern nations and including the idea of a general residence among them?

Every part seems well understood but the compensation you may require, which the President is desirous of knowing explicitly. Will you therefore be pleased to name the sum for which you would perform the first, and the rate (per) annum for which you would undertake the second service, herein before mentioned.

Its the United States desire general tranquillity with all the Indian tribes, on the purest principles of justice and humanity, the happy accomplishment of your mission, would at once be grateful to your feelings, and honorable to your public character.

Supposing the terms accommodated at what period could you get out upon the business?

Please to let me have an immediate and precise answer to this letter.

I am Dear Sir
with great and sincere Esteem
Your friend and humble Servant
Colonel Marinus Willet
H Knox
(Filed:) Gen Knox Letter
22d Nov'r 1792
with proposition for my Indian Mission


George Clinton Esquire
Governor of the State of New York
General & commander in Chief of all the
Militia & Admiral of the Navy of the same,

To all to whom the presents shall come or may concern.

Pursuant to the power vested in the person administrating the Government of this State by the statute entitled "An Act complying with the Act of Congress respecting Balances reported, against certain States by the Commissioners appointed to settle the accounts between the United States and the several States," Marinus Willet of the City of New York Esquire is hereby appointed and employed to superintend the work of erecting enlarging and completing fortifications in this State for the defence of the United States agreeably to the directions of the Act of Congress therein referred to, and to purchase the requisite materials; He the said Marinus Willet to be accountable to the United States (if required) as well as to this State for the expedniture of all money received by him, and to hold his appointment during the pleasure of the person administering the Government of this State.

(Filed:) Military Agent appointment, July 8th, 1801


Sir,

You are appointed by the Legislature of the State of New York, one of the Electors of President and Vice-President of the United States, to assemble with your Colleagues at the Capitol, in the city of Albany, on the day next preceeding the first Wednesday in the ensuing month of December, of which appointment you are hereby notified, conformably to the act directing the Executive to cause such notice to be given.

I have the honor to be
Your Ob't Serv't.
Joseph C. Yates.
The Hon'ble Marinus Willett
(Addressed) The Hon'ble Marinus Willett
New York

An eighth Marinus Willett paper has since come to me, relating to the attempt of Aaron Burr to become Governor of New York. It will be remembered that Burr's defeat in this campaign led to the duel on July llth, 1804, in which Alexander Hamilton was killed.




Sir

In discharge of the duty imposed on us by the inclosed resolution, we take the liberty of soliciting your support of Aaron Burr as Governor at the coming election, upon the result of which we believe the welfare of the state especially depends. A dangerous aristocracy has arisen and by means of wealth, of family connections, and of offices, has acquired a power and influence, which ought to alarm every friend of Republican principles, this combination if not now resisted may rise above controul. Our motives are more particularly detailed in the address which accompanies this, and which we recommend to your serious attention. If you concur with us in opinion we request your zealous cooperation, and any information which may be useful

We are with Respect
Your Obd't Ser'ts

[wax seal] (Signed)
Anth'y Lispenard
Marinus Willett
John Rathbone



A poem read before the Brookline Historical Society at the meeting of April 19, 1911 by Miss Florence Eisenhardt, a pupil of the Brookline High School; and printed now by permission of the author, Miss Julia Goddard, an honored member of the Society.








Not available



The name of this corporation shall be Brookline Historical Society.

The objects of this Society shall be the study of the history of the town of Brookline, Massachusetts, its societies, organizations, families, individuals, events; the collection and preservation of its antiquities, the establishment and maintenance of an historical library, and the publication from time to time of such information relating to the same as shall be deemed expedient.

Any person of moral character who shall be nominated and approved by the Board of Trustees may be elected to membership by ballot of two-thirds of the members present and voting thereon at any regular meeting of the Society. Each person so elected shall pay an admission fee of three dollars, and an annual assessment of two dollars; and any member who shall fail for two consecutive years to pay the annual assessment shall cease to be a member of this Society; provided, however, that any member who shall pay twenty-five dollars in anyone year may thereby become a Life member; and any member who shall pay fifty dollars in any one year may thereby become a Benefactor of the Society, and thereafter shall be free from all dues and assessments. The money received from Life members and Benefactors shall constitute a fund, of which not more than twenty per cent, together with the annual income there from, shall be spent in anyone year.

The Society may elect Honorary and Corresponding members in the manner in which annual members are elected, but they shall have no voice in the management of the Society, and shall not be subject to fee or assessment.

Certificates signed by the President and the Clerk may be issued to all persons who become Life members, and to Benefactors.


The officers of this Society shall be seven Trustees, a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary (who shall be Clerk of the Society and may also be elected to fill the office of Treasurer), and a Treasurer, who, together, shall constitute the Board of Trustees. The Trustees, Clerk, and Treasurer shall be chosen by ballot at the annual meeting in January, and shall hold office for one year, and until others are chosen and qualified in their stead. The President and Vice-President shall be chosen by the Board of Trustees from their number at their first meeting after their election, or at an adjournment thereof.

The annual meeting of this Society shall be held on the fourth Wednesday of January. Regular stated meetings shall be held on the fourth Wednesday of February, March, April, May, October, November, and December.

Special meetings may be called by order of the Board of Trustees. The Clerk shall notify each member by a written or printed notice sent through the mail postpaid at least three days before the time of meeting, or by publishing such notice in one or more newspapers published in Brookline.

At all meetings of the Society ten (10) members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

The meetings of the Board of Trustees shall be called by the Clerk at the request of the President, by giving each member personal or written notice, or by sending such notice by mail, postpaid, at least twenty-four hours before the time of such meeting; but meetings where all the Trustees are present may be held without' such notice. The President shall call meetings of the Board of Trustees at the request of any three members thereof. A majority of its members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Vacancies in the offices of Trustees, Clerk, or Treasurer may be filled for the remainder of the term at any regular meeting of the Society by the vote of two-thirds of the members present and voting. In the absence of the Clerk at a meeting of the Society, a Clerk pro tempore shall be chosen.

At the monthly meeting in December, a Nominating Committee of three members shall be appointed by the presiding officer, who shall report at the annual meeting a list of candidates for the places to be filled.

The President, or in his absence the Vice-President, shall preside at all meetings of the Society. In the absence of those officers a President pro tempore shall be chosen.

The Clerk shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of his duties. He shall notify members of all meetings of the Society, and shall keep an exact record of all the proceedings of the Society at its meetings.

He shall conduct the general correspondence of the Society and place on file all letters received. He shall enter the names of members in order in books or cards kept for that purpose, and issue certificates to Life members and to Benefactors. He shall have charge of such property in possession of the Society as may from time to time be delegated to him by the Board of Trustees. He shall acknowledge all loans or gifts made to the Society.

The Treasurer shall collect all moneys due the Society, and pay all bills against the Society when approved by the Board of Trustees. He shall keep a full account of receipts and expenditures in a book belonging to the Society, which shall always be open to the inspection of the Trustees; and at the annual meeting in January he shall make a written report of all his doings for the year preceding. The Treasurer shall give bonds in such sum, with surety, as the Trustees may fix, for the faithful discharge of his duties.

The Board of Trustees shall superintend the prudential and executive business of the Society, authorize all expenditures of money, fix all salaries, provide a common seal, receive and act upon all resignations and forfeitures of membership, and see that the by-laws are duly complied with. The Board of Trustees shall have full powers to hire, lease, or arrange for a suitable home for the Society, and to make all necessary rules and regulations required in the premises.

They shall make a report of their doings at the annual meeting of the Society.

They may from time to time appoint such sub-committees from their own number as they deem expedient. In case of a vacancy in the office of Clerk or Treasurer they shall have power to choose the same pro tempore till the next meeting of the Society.


The President shall annually, in the month of January, appoint four standing committees, as follows:

A committee of three members, to be styled the "Committee on Rooms," to which shall be added the President and Clerk of the Society ex-officio, who shall have charge of all arrangements of the rooms (except books, manuscripts, and other objects appropriate to the library offered as gifts or loans), the hanging of pictures, and the general arrangements of the Society's collection in their department.

A committee of three members, to be styled the" Committee on Papers," who shall have charge of the subjects of papers to be read, or other exercises of a profitable nature, at the monthly meetings of the Society.

A committee of three or more members, to be styled the "Committee on Membership," whose duty it shall be to give information in regard to the purposes of the Society, and increase its membership.

A committee of three or more members, to be styled the" Committee on Library," who shall have charge of the arrangements of the library, including acceptance and rejection of books, manuscripts, and other objects tendered to the library, and the general arrangement of the Society's collections in that department.

These four committees shall perform their duties as above set forth under the general direction and supervision of the Board of Trustees. Vacancies that occur in any of these committees during their term of service shall be filled by the President.

The President shall annually, in the month of January, appoint two members, who, with the President, shall constitute the Committee on Finance, to examine from time to time the books and accounts of the Treasurer, to audit his accounts at the close of the
year, and to report upon the expediency of proposed expenditures of money.

These by-laws may be altered or amended at any regular meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members present, notice of the subject matter of the proposed alterations or amendments having been given at a previous meeting.