Xoj^/cte^-^- ^' VIjcxJC "•-jC-it^, MAYORS OF BOSTON ILLUSTRATED EPITOME OF WHO THE MAYORS HAVE BEEN AND WHAT THEY HAVE DONE PRINTED FOR THE STATE STREET TRUST COMPANY BOSTON, MASS. F73 f A' Copyrighted 1914 BY THE State Street Trust Company Compiled, Arranged and Printed i'nder the direction ok the Walton Advertising and Printing Company' Boston, Mass. fit 7 1914 / 0;CI.a'h;i>O3 5 INTRODUCTION HE State Street Trust Company takes pleasure in presenting to you the eighth of the historic brochures that it issues annually. The Com- pany has chosen as its subject this year "The Mayors of Boston." And the purport of this pamphlet has been to present, in a brief but interesting manner, sketches and portraits of those who have been at the helm of Boston's affairs since the beginning of the city. It has not been possible to give equal space to all of the mayors, because of lack of space and because some of them have been so much more active in public affairs than others. The aim, however, has been to gi\'e each mayor the perspective that he deserves, so that those who have been most potent in the direction of city affairs naturally receive fuller treatment than those who have been less potent as mayors. Every effort has been made to make this brochure accurate, and, wherever it has been possible, the compiler has gone to the original source of information. The compiler desires to acknowledge here the courtesy of ex-Mayors Samuel A. Green of the Massachusetts His- torical Society, Nathan Matthews, Esq., Edwin Upton Curtis, Esq., Thomas Norton Hart, Esq., Mayor John Francis Fitzgerald, Colonel William A. Gaston of the National Shaw- mut Bank, Professor Theodore Lyman, and others who have kindly aided in the preparation of the work. It is hoped that this book will be found a fitting companion to the historic brochures already issued by this company. Josiah Quincy MAYORS OF BOSTON HE handful of men that came over from Charlestown hi 1630, to avail themselves of the spring which William Blackstone had found so copious on Shavvmut peninsula, probably had no idea that the little settlement which they then and there began would ever reach the size and dignity of the Metropolis of New England. In fact, for many years after the beginning of the settlement and even after it had grown to the size of a large town, the realization that it would ever become a city had dawned upon few, if any, of the town's inhabitants. The form of government from the beginning was that of the old-fashioned town meeting, in which each freeman had a voice and in which the town affairs were regulated by the whole body of free- men. And this continued to be the form of administration until the town affairs became so unwieldy that certain persons were delegated to order them. At first these were chosen for six months, and then for a year, and finally they came to be called the Board of Selectmen. A later step was the selection of town officials to look after special departments of public service, such as constables, surveyors of highway, clerks of market, sealers of leather, packers of fish and meat, and hog reeves. By 1708 the town-meeting form of government had become so inefficient that attempts were made to pass a draft of incorporation for the better government of the town; but it came to naught. And again in 1784 a petition of influential citizens secured the appointment of a com- mittee which reported two plans for the better government of Boston: one making the body politic a mayor, aldermen, and common council of the city of Boston, and the other making the town a body politic, the president and selectmen of the city of Boston. But, when this plan was put up to the town voters, it was decided inexpedient to make the al- teration suggested. Ineffectual efforts were made in 1791 and 1804 to convert the town into a full-fledged city. Then it was discovered that there was no provision in the State Constitution giving authority to the General Court to erect a city government, and a movement was speedily begun which resulted in the passage April 29, 1821, of such an amendment to the Constitution. Although the population of the town in the previous year was 43,298, and the town meeting had become a farce, as it was frequented largely by public officials and less than fifty disinterested voters, save when questions of great interest came up, still the conservative element, desiring no change, opposed every step in the direction of a city. So influential a man as Josiah Quincy, who later became the second mayor of the city, was one of the most strenuous opponents of the movement to make Boston a city. In January, 1822, the question was again brought before the inhabi- tants at a special meeting in Faneuil Hall, and there a committee reported in favor of a chief executive to be called the Intendant, who should be MAYORS OF BOSTON elected by the selectmen; an executive board of seven persons called Selectmen, to be elected by the inhabitants on a general ticket; and a body with mixed legislative and executive powers, called the Board of Assist- ants, to be composed of four persons chosen from each of the twelve wards. This report was amended by changing the name of the Intendant, taken from the French, to the name mayor, selectmen to aldermen, and Board of Assistants to Common Council. This form of government was submitted to the people of Boston, together with a query as to whether the name "the Town of Boston" should be changed to "the City of Boston." The vote on the chang- ing of the name to the City of Boston was carried by 2,727 affirmative votes and 2,087 nays. The governor approved the act establishing the city of Boston, February 23, 1822. The new charter was drafted by Mr. Lemuel Shaw, later justice of the Supreme Court, the principal head was named "Mayor," the "Board of Aldermen" was fixed at eight members, and a "Common Council" of forty-eight persons created, four from each of the twelve wards into which the city was divided. The charter incorporating the city was accepted by the town March 4, 1822, by a vote of 2,797 to 1,881. The city government was thereupon organized, and on May I, 1822, John Phillips was chosen mayor. The mayors were elected annually until the Statute of 1895 made the term two years, which began with the election of Josiah Quincy in 1896. The four-year term began with the election of John F. Fitzgerald in 1910, the statute changing the term from two to four years having been passed in 1909. JOHN PHILLIPS First Mayor, 1S22 John Phillips was one of the committee of twelve which reported favor- ably upon a charter to make the town of Boston a city. After its adop- tion, January i, 1822, an attempt was unsuccessfully made to elect a mayor; but the factions could not choose between Josiah Quincy and Harrison Gray Otis. As it was felt that Phillips could unite the fac- tions, he was asked to run, and his almost unanimous election showed the wisdom of the nomination. He was inaugurated A4ay i, 1822, running the government along the lines of the new charter. Mr. Phillips was conservative, kind, and conciliatory, and his administration, which was marked by republican simplicity, enjoyed the confidence of all parties. He was the son of William and Margaret Phillips, and was born November 26, 1770, on the family estate about where 39 Washington Street was in 1852. For many years his widowed mother kept at the place of his birth a dry-goods store. At the age of seven he entered Phillips Academy, Andover, founded by a relative, and went to Harvard in 1784, graduating as salutatory orator. After reading law with Judge Thomas Dawes, he was admitted to the bar. Upon the establishment of the Municipal Court, John Phillips was made prosecutor, and in 1809 he became judge of the Court of Common Pleas. MAYORS OF BOSTON As one of the delegates in 1820 to revise the Constitution of the state, he exhibited much wisdom and rare humor. He became in 1812 a member of the corporation of Harvard College, and as such served until his death, Aiay 29, 1823. "His administration laid the foundation of the prosperity of our city deep and on right principles," his successor. Mayor Quincy, said; while Mayor Otis could say of him, "His aim was to allure, not to repel, to reconcile by gentle reforms, not to revolt by startling innovations." As a speaker, he was clear, forcible, conciliatory, and convincing. He left at his death eight children, one of whom was Wendell Phillips, the great abolitionist orator. JOSIAH QUINCY Second Mayor, 182^-24-2^-26-27-28 Josiah Quincy has been called the "Great Mayor." To him the city is indebted for Quincy Market and many of the early improvements. He was the son of Josiah Quincy, Jr., and Abigail Phillips, and was born February 4, 1772, in a house on Washington Street — then called Marl- borough^not far from Milk Street. It is said that his mother, a woman of great strength of character and original hygienic and social ideas, was wont to have her son, when he was but three years old, taken from bed every morning, winter and summer, into a cellar kitchen, where he was dipped three times in a tub of water as cold as it came from the pump. He entered Phillips Academy at Andover when he was six, and went to Harvard when he was but fifteen. Upon graduating, the English oration, the highest honor, was given to him. He was admitted to the bar in 1793, and early became interested in public affairs, joining the Federalist party, to which he clung as long as it existed. So brilliantly did Quincy deliver a Fourth of July oration in 1798 that he attracted much favorable attention, and, though he was but twenty- eight, he was selected in 1800 by the Federalists as their candidate for Congress. Although defeated, he was in the spring of 1804 elected to the State Senate and to Congress in the following November, serving three terms before he voluntarily retired. While in Congress there was scarcely a question upon which he did not speak brilliantly and exhaustively. His attacks upon Jefferson and his administration were most bitter and sarcastic. After his withdrawal from Congress in 181 3, he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate, and served there until 1820, when he was elected to the House and became its speaker. He was made in 1822 a judge of the Municipal Court, and in the same year when the city government was formed he was asked to become a candidate for mayor, running against Harrison Gray Otis. The first ballot resulted in no choice, and the two candidates withdrew and John Phillips was elected mayor. The next year Mr. Quincy was chosen mayor, and he at once laid a masterful hand on the tiller of affairs. He made himself chairman of all committees, improved the sanitary conditions of MAYORS OF BOSTON Harrison Gray Otis MAYORS OF BOSTON the city, and organized a system of street cleaning and collection of garbage. In spite of determined opposition he personally secured the options, bought the lands, and built Quincy Market. The corner-stone was laid by him, April 22, 1825, and he opened the market in 1827. The site was made by the filling in of the land about the town dock in the neighbor- hood of Faneuil Hall and the reclamation of about 125,000 square feet of land and flats. On the made land was erected the granite market house now known as Quincy Market. The total cost of the land and the market house was i$i, 100,000. The increased real estate values, as well as the additional property secured by the city, more than paid for the whole improvement. The Fire Department was reorganized by him, and he caused the erection in South Boston of the House of Industry and the House of Correction. During his second administration Mayor Quincy had the honor of entertaining General Lafayette, who was then a guest of the city. After being five times re-elected, he was finally defeated, and retired from local politics. In 1829 he became president of Harvard, and re- signed in 1845, at the age of seventy-three. He was a prolific writer upon historical subjects. Among his works are "History of Harvard University," "A History of the Boston Athenaeum," a "Municipal His- tory of the Town and City of Boston," and numerous historical mono- graphs and biographies. Despite his great age he threw himself ardently into the anti-slavery controversy and the campaign to elect Lincoln. He died July i, 1864, at the age of ninety-two. HARRISON GRAY OTIS Third Mayor, iSjg-ja-^i The father of Harrison Gray Otis was Samuel AUyne Otis, and his mother was Elizabeth Gray, daughter of Harrison Gray, a Loyalist. Otis, who was born October 8, 1765. could remember standing at the window of his birthplace, which stood on the estate that adjoined the Revere House, and watching the British regulars march to Lexington. In 1783, when but eighteen, he was a first-honor man at Harvard, and had already given evidence of brilliant oratory that was to give him such a prominent place in New England. He studied law with Judge Lowell, and was admitted to the bar. Each morning at a very early hour Ben- jamin Bussy, a merchant, on his way to open his store, noticed a pair of shoes posted at the window of Judge Lowell's ofiice, and, led by his curi- osity to learn who could be there, discovered young Otis at study. More curious to know if young Otis studied all night, Bussy went by one morn- ing before daylight, and there were the shoes. He went in, and again found young Otis with his feet on the sill, who told him that the early morning was his favorite time for study. So impressed was the merchant that he straightway made young Otis his attorney. In 1796 Otis succeeded Fisher Ames as Congressional representative from Suflfolk County. He became one of the leaders of the Federalist party, and upon his retirement from Congress was active in local political afi^airs, serving as speaker of the Massachusetts House and also as pres- 10 MAYORS OF BOSTON Theodore Lyman MAYORS OF BOSTON 11 ident of the Senate. In December, 1814, he was one of the delegates to the much-maligned "Hartford Convention," which met for the purpose of asking the Federal Government to allow Massachusetts and the neigh- boring states to assume their own defence and raise taxes for this purpose. He was appointed in 181 4 judge of the newlv establislied Boston Court of Common Pleas, and served until he resigned in 18 1 8, having been elected in 181 7 to the United States Senate. He was one of the great orators of his state. His wife, Sarah, was the daughter of William Foster. His speech in reply to Pinckney on the Missouri Compromise was one of the great speeches of the debate. Upon his retirement from the Senate in 1823 he ran for the governorship, for which he had in 1816 de- clined a nomination, but was defeated. In 1829 he was elected mayor, and held office until 1 83 I. He died October 28, 1848. CHARLES WELLS Fourth Mayor, lSj2-jj Charles Wells, the fourth mayor, who was born December 30, 1786, was elected as a protest of the middle classes against what they thought was the high-handed and extravagant way in which Quincy and Otis had managed the city's affairs. He was a master builder, and was by training little fitted for public office. In the election held December 12, 1831, the three candidates, Charles W'ells, Theodore Lyman, and W'illiam Sullivan, received respectively 1,800, 1,800, and 1,100 votes. At the second election, December 22, Air. Wells was elected. Mr. Wells, who had previously been a member of the Common Council and Board of Aldermen, was a man of simple character, not much versed in public affairs. His two terms were uneventful excepting for the erection of the Court-house in Court Square, the extension of Broad, Commercial, and Tremont Streets, and the establishment of quarantine regulations, by which Boston was protected in 1832 from the cholera, then prevalent in the British Provinces. He died June 23, 1866. THEODORE LYMAN Fifth Mayor, 1S34-3S Theodore Lyman, the son of a successful merchant, was born I'ebru- ary 20, 1792, and was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and at Harvard, graduating in the class of 1 810. After leaving college, he went abroad, where he spent four years, a part of the time travelling with Edward Everett. He was in Paris when the allied armies entered the city, and has given a vivid account of the scenes in his book, "Three Weeks in Paris." He also wrote a book on "The Political State of Italy" and one on "Diplomacy of the United States with Foreign Nations." He was fond of military science, and served for a time as a general of the Boston Brigade of Militia. His predilection, however, was for liter- ary pursuits, although he gave some attention to politics. He became a member of the legislature, and in December, 1833, was chosen mayor, serving during 1834 and 1835. As only a small part of the city received 12 MAYORS OF BOSTON Samuel A. Eliot MAYORS OF BOSTON 13 water from Jamaica Pond through four main pipes of pitch-pine logs, one of his first acts was to call the attention of the Common Council to the need of bringing a steady supply of pure water to Boston. Colonel Loammi Baldwin, the distinguished civil engineer who had built the Milldam Driveway, reported that Farm Pond in Framingham and Long Pond in Natick were the most available sources, but nothing was done except to discuss the project until the administration of Josiah Quincy, Jr., in 1846. During Lyman's administration the Ursuline Convent on Mount Benedict in Charlestown (now Somerville) was attacked and burned on the night of August II, 1834, by a mob which had become incited by stories that nuns were locked in underground cells and that Protestant pupils were forced to become Catholics. The next day the mob which had collected was sent scurrying by the rumor that a horseman was gal- loping off to call the militia. Mayor Lyman established the State Reform School at Wcstboro, and gave it ^22,500 during his lifetime and ^50,000 more in his will. At his suggestion a similar school for girls was begun at Lancaster. It was during Mr. Lyman's mayoralty that the Garrison mob gathered. A meeting of the female anti-slavery society was held on the afternoon of October 21, 1835, at the oificc of William Lloyd Garrison's Liberator at 46 Washington Street. As there was much feeling against abolition, a mob gathered, which the few constables were unable to handle, and Alayor Lyman went with more men. Garrison attempted to escape from the mob by a back window into Wilson's Lane, now Devonshire Street, but was seized by the mob and dragged as far as the old State House, a part of which was then used as a City Hall, where he was rescued by the police and taken into the building; Mayor Lyman shielding him with his own body from the mob. To save Garrison from the mob. Mayor Lyman placed him in the carriage and drove him to the jail, where he was locked up, ostensibly as a disturber of the peace, but he was released the next day. The mayor was subsequently much criticised for not providing proper police protection for Garrison in the beginning and for not calling out the militia instead of treating Garrison as a criminal. It is but fair to Mayor Lyman to say that Garrison consented to Major Lyman's action, and was very glad to escape the mob by going to jail. Lyman's public life ended in 1836 with the election of Samuel T. Arm- strong, and he spent the last of his life helping the criminal classes. He died July 18, 1849, a few days after he returned from Europe, where he had been travelling with his son. His wife had died some years before. SAMUEL TURELL ARMSTRONG Sixth Mayor, jSj6 Samuel Turell Armstrong was born in Dorchester, April 29, 1784, his father being Captain John Armstrong. He learned the trade of a printer, and began business as printer and publisher with Joshua Belcher. One of their earliest productions was a literary work called "The P^merald." After the dissolution of his partnership with Belcher he set up a shop in 14 MAYORS OF BOSTON Charlestown, and there published the first number of the PanopHst, a monthly magazine relating to religious topics and missionary work. In 1811 he moved to Boston, and opened at 50 Cornhill a store and publishing house, which became the mart of the religious literature for the orthodox churches. He took into the firm Uriel Crocker and Osmyn Brewster, his apprentices, and, though the general partnership was later dissolved, Armstrong was connected with the firm till his death. One of his publications in 1820 was Scott's Family Bible in six royal octavo volumes, one of the earliest instances of stereotyping on a large scale in America. He was captain of the "Warren Phalanx" in Charlestown during the War of 1812, twice a representative of Boston in the legislature, once senator from Suffolk, lieutenant governor of Massachusetts for two terms under Governor Levi Lincoln and Governor John Davis, and in 1835 he was acting governor. Governor Davis having gone to the Senate. The principal events in Mayor Armstrong's administration were the erection of the gloomy iron fence that originally enclosed four sides of the Common, the extension of the Mall through the burial-ground on Boylston Street, and the completion of the Court-house in Court Square. He was a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, and president in 1828 and 1829; and in 1845 he became a member of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, and contributed generously to its foundation. His wife was Abigail Walker, the daughter of the Hon. Timothy Walker of Charlestown. He died March 26, 1850. SAMUEL ATKINS ELIOT Seventh Mayor, iS^J-jS-^Q Samuel Atkins Eliot, who was the father of Charles W. Eliot, president emeritus of Harvard, came of a long line of distinguished ancestors, the first of whom to come to this country arrived in 1668. He was the son of Samuel and Catherine Atkins Eliot, and inherited from them a moder- ate fortune, which was increased by the estate brought him by his wife, who was a sister of Mayor Lyman. He was born March 5, 1798, and graduated from Harv^ard in 1817 and from the Divinity School in 1820. Instead of entering the ministry, he spent three years studying languages and literature in Europe, and then devoted much of his time gratuitously to public service and charitable work. He was much interested in the Prison Discipline Society, was first president of the Boston Academy of Music, under whose auspices Beet- hoven's Symphonies were first given in Boston. As a member of the School Committee, he introduced music into the public-school curriculum of Boston, which thus became the first American city to make music a part of the public instruction. He served on the Board of Aldermen and in the state legislature. Eliot was mayor at a time when Boston needed a strong hand to save the city from the worst element, which was getting control. His eff"orts to organize both the Police and Fire Departments were successful only so far as the Fire Department was concerned. This MAYOR S OF BOSTON 15 department, having become a nuisance and a menace, as firemen received no compensation, but were allowed a certain amount for "refreshments," a hoodlum element was attracted which soon filled the fire companies and made them as prone to riot as to put out fires. A crisis was finally reached on June II, 1837, when an Irish funeral "collided" with an engine com- pany coming from a fire. A fire alarm brought out another company, and soon 15,000 people were engaged in the riot, houses were barricaded, blood was spilled, and finally peace was restored by the mayor's arrival at the head of 800 Lancers and Infantry. This resulted in the establish- ment of a paid force. He also created the first organized day police. Previous to this there was no day police, but a night watch only, con- sisting of 1 10 watchmen and 10 constables, who were on duty from 7 p.m. in the summer and 6 p.m. in the winter until sunrise. During his term of office a hospital for the insane was erected and opened in South Boston. He was elected to Congress in 1850 to fill out the unexpired term of Robert C. Winthrop. Although a friend of the negro, he voted for the fugitive slave law, believing that the only way to preserve the Union, prevent war, and help the negro, was to support the actual Constitution. Near the end of his life a firm in which he was a silent partner failed, and he gave up all his property to meet the debt. Returning to Cambridge in "honorable poverty," he spent his time writing and editing books. He died January 29, 1862, one of the most respected citizens of his day. JONATHAN CHAPMAN Eighth Mayor, 1S40-41-42 Jonathan Chapman was born January 23, 1807, and was the son of Jonathan Chapman, who had been a selectman of Boston. Preparing for college at Phillips Academy, he was graduated at Harvard and studied law under Judge Lemuel Shaw, then went into politics, and was elected mayor in December, 1839, and held office for three years. As the city debt had nearly doubled in eighteen years, though there had been a proportionate increase in the value of the property owned by the city, Mayor Chapman recommended a reduction of the city debt as the chief aim of his admin- istration. In his inaugural speech in 1841 Chapman spoke of the great com- mercial importance to Boston of the establishment in 1840 of the Cunard Line between Boston and Liverpool, and the opening of the new Western Railroad to the Hudson River. The old County Court-house was made over for the City Hall, and was occupied March 18, 1841. During his term of office he employed an extra police force to prosecute violations of the laws regarding liquor licenses. He was a brilliant speaker, and had considerable literary ability, contributing to the North Ameri- can Reviezv and other periodicals. He died ALiy 25, 1848. 16 MAYORS OF BOSTON Jonathan Chapman Manin Brimmer MAYORS OF BOSTON 17 MARTIN BRIMMER Ninth Mayor, 1S4J-44 Mayor Brimmer was described as "a most amiable and upright char- acter, a gentleman without reproach and a most useful citizen." He was born in Roxbury, June 8, 1793, the son of Martin and Sarah Brimmer; graduated from Harvard in 1814, where he was captain of the University Corps; and began business in the store of Theodore Lyman, Jr., but later went with Isaac Winslow S: Co. on Long Wharf. He was alderman in 1838, and mayor two years. He was interested in education, and at his own expense printed and dis- tributed to every school in Massachusetts "The School and the School- master." Militia aiTairs also attracted his attention. He was ensign in the Third Regiment, Third Brigade, First Division, in 181 5, 1816, and 1817, and lieutenant of the same in 1818. From 1819 to 1822, inclusive, he was captain of the Rangers, and brigade major under General Lyman from 1823 to 1826, inclusive. He became captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1826, and in 1845 commander of the reorganized Independent Corps of Cadets. Brimmer was elected mayor as the Whig candidate. He had made a study of the disciplining and construction of prisons, and made suggestions that were carried out when the new prison was erected on Charles Street. He believed in extending and beautifying the streets and public places, in giving careful attention to health and police matters, and in a liberal encouragement of charitable and literary insti- tutions. His death occurred on April 25, 1847. THOMAS ASPINWALL DAVIS Tenth Mayor, iS^j Thomas Aspinwall Davis's ancestors were among the earliest settlers of Brookline, where he was born, December 11, 1798. He was educated in the public schools, learned the trade of a jeweller, and later became interested in politics, becoming the candidate for ma^or of a new party called the "Native American Party" against Josiah Quincy, Jr., and Adam W. Thaxter, Jr. Quincy withdrew, and finally Davis was elected on the eighth ballot. The only project of importance during his admin- istration was an effort to get a supply of city water from Long Pond, but it was defeated. Davis's health became so poor that he offered his resig- nation, which was not accepted and he continued to be the nominal mayor until he died, November 22, 1845. He bore an excellent char- acter, but lacked the qualifications to make a successful administrator. JOSIAH QUINCY, Jr. Eleventh Mayor, 1S46-4J-4S Josiah Quincy, Jr., was another of Boston's great mayors. During his administration the city secured the Long Pond, or Cochituate, water supply. His father, Boston's second mayor, had urged the securing of city water for Boston from the Charles or Neponset Rivers. Josiah, 18 MAYORS OF BOSTON Josiah Quincy, Jr. MAYORS OF BOSTON 19 Jr., took up the project, and Loammi Baldwin, the eminent engineer, planned and constructed the Cochituate supply system, which cost ^5,000,000, but brought water to every street in Boston. It was laugh- ingly said of Quincy, the junior: "He has written his name in water, yet it will last forever. The people of Boston have never found him dry, and he has taken care that they never shall be so." The mayor, aided by his father and the venerable John Quincy Adams, broke ground for the work at Long Pond, August 20, 1846. A banquet followed, at which the mayor suggested that, as the name Long Pond was without distinction, it should be changed to Cochituate, the Indian name. The suggestion was adopted, and so this source of supply has since been known as Cochituate. The tumult of one hundred guns and the ringing of all the church bells greeted the rising of the sun on the day of the opening of the supply, Octoljer 25, 1848. A procession marched to the Common, where children sang an ode written by James Russell Lovvell. Mayor Quincy and Nathan Hale, chairman of the Water Commission, made speeches, and the citizens were asked if it was their pleasure that water should be introduced. After a great roar of affirmation a gate was thrown open, and a column of water six inches through leaped 80 feet into the air. Bells again rang, cannons were fired, and in the even- ing a display of fireworks occurred. Quincy was born January 17, 1802, in Boston on Pearl Street, fitted for Harvard at Phillips Academy, Andover, and graduated from college in 1821. He read law with William Sullivan, and was admitted to the bar, and married Jane, the daughter of Samuel R. Miller. Military affairs early attracted his attention. In 1833 he was a member of the City Council, and from 1834 to 1837 its president. He became president of the Senate in 1842, and mayor of Boston in 184.6. His veto, while chairman of the Board of Aldermen, of the liquor license showed great courage and elicited the admiration of his fellow-citizens. Great financial ability was shown by him in handling the Western Railroad, and he also displayed much ability as treasurer of the Central Vermont. He was treasurer of the Boston Athenaeum in 1837, and con- tinued such for fifteen years. As chairman of the Building Committee of the Athena;um, he personally indorsed loans to a large amount to help in erecting the building on Beacon Street. Mr. Quincy presided February 2, 1842, at the public festival in honor of Charles Dickens. "The mayor of the city of Salem sends his compliments to the mayor of the city of Boston, congratulating him on the new bond of union between the two cities," came over the telegraph wire when it was first stretched in December, 1847, between the two cities. Quincy replied, "The mayor of Boston reciprocates the compliment of the mayor of Salem, and rejoices that letters of light connect the metropolis with the birthplace of Bowditch." Mayor Quincy about this time remarked "that rum mixed with gunpowder was not the only means of inspiring courage," and "that men who stand alone are best fitted to stand together." During his administration the police were reorganized, and just before he retired from office he signed the contract for the erec- tion of the new jail at the corner of Charles and Cambridge Streets. He died November 2, 1882. 20 MAYORS OF BOSTON Benjamin Seaver MAYORS OF BOSTON 21 JOHN PRESCOTT BIGELOW Tzvelfth Mayor, 1S4Q-50-51 John Prescott Bigelow was the son of Timothy Bigelow, who for eleven years was speaker of the House of Representatives and was a grandson of Colonel Timothy Bigelow, the Revolutionary hero of Worcester. His birthplace was Groton, Mass., where he was born August 25, 1797. Bigelow entered Harvard, and graduated in 181 5. He was admitted to the bar in 1818. In 1824 he went abroad, where he spent some years. His wife died in 1847, and his son also was taken from him, and he turned to politics, in which he had early taken an interest. He became a member of the Common Council for Ward 9, where he served nine years, being in 1832 and 1833 president of the council. He was one of those who worked the hardest to stay the cholera scourge which afflicted Boston. In 1828 the Whigs elected liim to the House of Repre- sentatives of Massachusetts, to which he was re-elected with the excep- tion of one year until 1836. He was prominent in the movement to reduce the number of membership (which was then over 700), was active on many committees, and took a leading part in railroad legislation. From 1836 to 1843 he served as Secretary of State with marked ability, and then became a member of the Executive Council under Governor Briggs, serving four years. He was elected mayor in 1848. During his tenure of office the jail at Charles and Cambridge Streets was com- pleted at a cost of ^450,000. In the summer of 1849 Asiatic cholera caused the death of no less than 5,080 people out of a population of 130,00c. An event that was fraught with much trouble for Mayor Bigelow was a meeting in 1850 at Faneuil Hall to congratulate George Thompson, the abolitionist, upon his arrival in this country. Cheers for Daniel Webster, Jenny Lind, and the Union, which the police, acting under instructions from Mayor Bigelow, did nothing to stop, broke up the meeting. The next year the Board of Aldermen declined to allow the use of Faneuil Hall for a reception to Daniel Webster, because of the fear of a disturbance. Webster and his friends were furious, and when the Common Council, with the concurrence of the mayor, later sent a committee to wait upon Webster at the Revere House and "tender him in the name of the City Council an invitation to meet and address his fellow-citizens in Faneuil Hall," Webster curtly replied it was not con- venient for him to accept. At the next election the mayor and council were all retired to private life. In 1851, the last term of Bigelow, every section of Boston was supplied with pure water at a cost of $4,321,000, the new almshouse was built on Deer Island, a system of telegraphic fire alarms invented by Dr. William F. Channing was installed, and the great pageant was held to celebrate the completion of the railroads between Boston and Canada and the Great Lakes. On Mayor Bigelow's retirement a number of friends wished to show him their appreciation by presenting him with a silver vase. He asked that the money be given to the Public Library, and this was the first gift the library received. Mr. Bigelow became one of its Board of Trustees. He died July 4, 1872. 22 MAYORS OF BOSTON Alexander II. Rice MAYORS OF BOSTON 23 BENJAMIN SEAVER Thirteenth Mayor, 1852-53 Benjamin Seaver was born April 12, 1795, was educated in the Roxbury Grammar School, and at the time of his election was an auctioneer. He was supported by Marshal Francis Tukey, who directed his men to work for him, but this did not prevent Seaver from removing Tukey from office, when Tukey criticised changes Seaver made. Seaver ran for mayor a third time, but was defeated by Mayor Smith. He died February 14, 1856. During Seaver's administration it was voted to erect a building for the Boston Public Library, and in December, 1853, a revision of the city charter was proposed. An act was also passed prohibiting the burial, except in certain cases, of people within the city limits. The adminis- tration was marked by efficiency and economy, as it was felt that the previous administration had put the city to great expense. JEROME VAN CROWNINSHIELD SMITH Fourteenth Mayor, iS 54-55 Mayor Smith was an eminent practitioner of medicine as well as a litterateur of considerable ability. He was born July 20, 1800, at Conway, N.H., where his father practised medicine. After an A.M. degree. Smith secured also an M.D. from Williams College. He studied surgery under Dr. William Ingalls, an eminent surgeon of Boston, and as a pastime took up sculpture, executing the busts of Bishop Fitzpatrick, Hon. Mar- shall P. Wilder, Bishop Eastburn, and others. He became editor of the Boston Medical Intelligencer, later known as Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, editing more than forty volumes thereof, and also made authoritative notes to an edition of Cooper's "Surgery." He edited the Boston IVeekly News Letter, and was the author of a treatise on the culture of the honey-bee and a history of the American Indian. His first public office was in 1826, when he became port physician. In 1837 he was elected to the state legislature, and put through a capita- tion tax on foreigners arriving at any port in Massachusetts, the money being used to care for poor and sick immigrants. The law was finally declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court. Dr. Smith served on the School Committee and also as a justice of the peace. In 1848 he was re-elected to the legislature, and was a candidate for mayor in 1852, and was finally elected in 1854. While in office, he advo- cated the introduction of pure water at city expense. Dr. Smith made many suggestions for the improvement of the city's government, though, fortunately for the city's credit, few of them were carried out. He recommended the sale of Quincy Market to private individuals; the erection of an insane asylum on Deer Island; the erection of a tall tower on Beacon Hill for the use of the Fire Telegraph and Fire Department offices; a forced sale of city land in order to promote the erection of build- 24 MAYORS OF BOSTON Joseph M. Wightman MAYORS OF BOSTON 25 ings. He also advocated the appointment of a physician in each ward to serve the poor and to be paid by tlie city. His administration was not marked by anv great achievement. His death occurred August 21, 1879. ALEXANDER HAMILTON RICE Fifteenth Mayor, 18^6-57 Alexander Hamilton Rice was born August 30, 1818, at Newton Lower Falls, where his father was a paper manufacturer. He was educated in the Newton public schools, and entered the paper and publishing busi- ness. Acquiring a taste for literature, he went to Union College at Schenectady, and then went into business again, becoming a prominent paper manufacturer and dealer. Public affairs early attracted his at- tention. He held many offices, serving as a member of the Boston School Committee, Board of Public Institutions, Common Council, president of the Board of Trade, and as first Republican mayor of Boston. During his term as mayor the Back Bay was developed, the City Hos- pital started, and the Boston Public Library dedicated on Boylston Street. His speeches were brilliant efforts, particularly the ones at the unveiling of Washington's statue in the Boston Public Garden, of the Sumner and Farragut statues, and at the opening of the Marine Park in South Boston. During his second term Devonshire Street was laid out from Milk to Franklin, and Winthrop Square was opened. Although he gave the preference to members of his own party in his appointments as mayor, he acted quite independently of party lines in retaining every faithful and competent official he found in office. He reorganized the police system and consolidated the boards of govern- ment of public institutions. He went to Congress in 1859, serving in the 36th, 37th, 38th, and 39th Congresses, and in 1867 declined a renomination. He took an active part in the reconstruction of the Union, served on the Committees on the District of Columbia, the Pacific Railroad, and Naval Affairs, one of his duties at the beginning of the Civil War being to collect the widely scattered navy. He made an elaborate report on the use of steam machinery in the navy, and carried its adoption in the face of much opposition. From 1876 to 1878 Rice was governor of Massachusetts. He inter- ested himself in education and in the state institutions for correction, reform, lunacy, and charity. He received while governor the degree of LL.D. from Harvard. He was a trustee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and of the Museum of Fine Arts. He died July 22, 1895. FREDERICK WALKER LINCOLN, Jr. Sixteenth Mayor, 1S58-59-60, 186^-64-65-66 Frederick Walker Lincoln, Jr., was born in Boston, February 27, 1817, and was educated at public and private schools, learned the trade of a maker of mathematical instruments, and soon rose to be a prominent business man. He was a member of the lower house of the legislature in 1847-48, and was a delegate in 1853 to the Constitutional Convention. 26 MAYORS OF BOSTON When he attempted, during his first term as mayor, to uniform the police, the violent opposition which it engendered charged that he was copying the "liveried servants" of the Old World. On the other hand, his supporters said they had difficulty in finding a policeman in citizen's clothes, and welcomed the change which would make the policemen more conspicuous. It was Lincoln's practice to go about the city at night, often disguised, visiting saloons and gambling houses to learn if the laws were enforced. He was one of the first to perceive the need of the gov- ernment taking steps to preserve Boston Harbor, and his efforts in this direction bore fruit in 1859 in obtaining the co-operation of the United States government. In the same year plans for the improvement of the Public Garden were completed, but Lincoln's project of preserving the Back Bay as an open space was defeated. The slavery question was the most troublesome one during his admin- istration. On December 3, i860, occurred a collision between the aboli- tionists and the supporters of slavery. At a meeting held in Tremont Temple for the commemoration of the execution of John Brown and to consider the question of how American slavery could be abolished, pro- slavery men seized the hall, which was not protected by the authorities, and after filling it passed resolutions denouncing John Brown. The mayor had the hall cleared, and later an anti-slavery meeting was held in a colored church. Incipient riots followed, which the police, with a reserve of cavalry, speedily quelled. The conscript riots against drafting followed. Some women attacked a draft officer near the Boston Gas Light Company, and a mob collected, which surrounded the police station and the Armory. Firearms were stolen from a shop, and for a time there was a riot at Dock Square. Lincoln called out all the soldiers, and the trouble was stopped. During his administration the City Council gained the right to widen, lay out, and grade streets, and to assess abutters for the improvements. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the Common was erected, free public baths were started. Fort Hill was removed and the material used in filling the Back Bay, the new City Hall was first occupied, and steps were taken to construct the Chestnut Hill Reservoir during Mayor Lincoln's administration. As too much money had been spent by the city on junkets, street widening, new buildings, for the strait- ened war times, Lincoln was re-elected in 1863 to cut down expenses. After his retirement he continued to serve the city on such boards as Overseers of the Poor and Harbor Commissioners, and was one of the Relief Committee after the Boston Fire. He died September 13, 1898. JOSEPH MILNER WIGHTMAN Sevt-ntt-enth Mayor, 1S61-63 Joseph Milner Wightman, who was born in Boston, October 19, 1812, of English parents, was apprenticed to a machinist, took up mathematics, physics, and engineering in his spare time, and finally became a manu- facturer of surgical instruments. The discussion about a city water supply enlisted his service, and led him to enter politics. He was on the School Committee for ten years, 1845-49 and from 1856-59 on the Board of Aldermen. The refusal of Moses Kimball to give the old line MAYORS OF BOSTON 27 and Webster Whigs the use of Fancviil Hall for a Webster meeting re- sulted in his defeat for the mayoralty and the election of Wightman. Wightman showed no judgment in declining to allow anti-slavery agi- tators to hold a meeting in Tremont Hall. As the anti-slavery agitators feared that under Wightman, a Democrat, they would be deprived of free speech, they introduced a measure into the State Senate to give the state control of the police, which was eventually defeated. While action was pending on the measure, a meeting of anti-slavery advocates was held in Faneuil Hall, but the thirty police present made no effort to maintain order, and the meeting was soon interrupted by groans and hisses. At the request of the trustees of the building, who feared it would be injured, the mayor had the galleries cleared, but the trouble broke out again, and the meeting decided to adjourn until evening, when admission would be by ticket. When some of the disturbers said they would remain until evening, the mayor had the building cleared and refused to allow the even- ing meeting. He was very successful in supplying money for the expenses of fitting out soldiers and in providing for their subsistence. He also arranged so that the soldiers' pay could be remitted through him to their families. He laid the corner-stone of the new City Hall, December 23, 1862. En- thusiasm and energy were his in abundance, but he was a man of poor judgment. His death occurred January 28, 1885. OTIS NORCROSS Eighteenth Mayor, iS6j Otis Norcross was one of the few mayors who could truthfully say that during his connection with city affairs he never used a dollar of city money for his own use, never sold the city a dollar's worth of merchandise, never made a contract with the city directly or indirectly, and never put a friend or relative into office of any kind. He was born in the North End, November 2, 181 1, studied at Miss Davenport's School and then at Abel Whitney's School. He later went to the English High School, and at fourteen became an apprentice in his father's firm, Otis Norcross & Co., crockery dealers. His father died in 1827, and the son became a partner, retiring from business in 1867. In 1 87 1 he was one of the Boston Committee to relieve the Chicago fire sufferers; and in 1872, while the Boston Fire was raging, he was made treasurer of the Relief Committee. While a member of the Water Board in 1865, he helped in promoting the construction of the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. During his term as mayor, Roxbury was annexed. He welcomed President Johnson and General Sheridan as guests of the city, vetoed an order of the City Council for building an insane hospital at Winthrop, and was a member of a commission which selected a site for the new post-office. His failure to receive the customary second term was due to the stiffness of his \irtue, for he was not pliable enough to suit the politicians. He was one of the commission in 1873 for a new charter, which was not adopted. He was one of the original members of the Union Club, life member of the Boston 28 MAYORS OF BOSTON Nathaniel B. Shurtkff MAYORS OF BOSTON 29 Natural History Society, on the Board of Trustees of the Institute of Technology, member of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, and a member of many other organizations. His death occurred on September 5, 1882. NATHANIEL BRADSTREET SHURTLEFF Ninetrenth Mayor, iS6S-(ig-jo ShurtleflF is more known for his antic]uarian labors than for his worl; as mayor, although during his mayoralty many new streets and much territory were added to Boston. He was born in Boston, June 29, 1810, his father, Benjamin Shurtlcff, being a physician. He was educated in the Boston public schools, the Round Hill School, and at Harvard and the Harvard Medical School, where he became a medical demonstrator, and later succeeded to his father's large practice. He was elected ma\()r, December 9, 1867, on the Democratic ticket. He was not a good judge of human nature, knew little of the proper method of government, and, therefore, was not much of a success as a mayor. While he was in office, Atlantic Avenue was laid out along the line of the old Barricado, which connected the North Battery with the South, or Sconce, Broadway in South Boston was extended, Federal Street was widened, the East Boston ferries were taken over by the city, and Dorchester was added to Boston. During his term the power to lay out streets was taken from the Board of Aldermen and given to the Street Commissioners. He died October 17, 1874. He was the author of "A Topographical and Historical Description of Boston," and he edited the Massachusetts Colony Records and the New Plymouth Colony Records. He held many degrees, was a member of many historical societies, and was a member and secretary of the Board of Overseers of Harvard. WILLIAM GASTON Tuwntii-th Mayor, iSji-j3 William Gaston was one of Boston's potent forces at a time when strong men were needed at the helm of administration; nor can we wonder he was of a forceful character, when we learn that in his veins ffowed the blood of the French Huguenots, a strain of the "Mayflower" Pilgrims, and also the blood of one of the followers of Roger Williams. One of his ancestors was Jean Gaston, a French Huguenot who. banished from France in the seventeenth century, sought refuge in Scotland, whence his sons in turn were driven by religious persecution, and found refuge in the north of Ireland. John Gaston, one of their descendants and the great- grandfather of Mayor Gaston, joined the Separatist colony in America, and was a freeman of Voluntown when the town was organized in 1736- 37. It is said that he originally landed at Marblehead, Alass. Alexander Gaston, the mayor's father (whose brother, William Gaston, was after- ward United States Senator from North Carolina), had as second wife Kezia Arnold, of Brownville, R.I., and lived at Killingl}-, Conn., where their child, William Gaston, was born, October 3, 1820. William, whose 30 MAYORS OF BOSTON llenrv L. Pierce MAYORS OF BOSTON 31 family crest was an owl, the bird of wisdom, studied at Plainfield Academy, and entered Brown University when he was but fifteen. As a boy, lie was active in all outdoor sports, yet eager and persistent in the pursuit of knowledge. He graduated with honors in 1840, and went to Boston, where he entered the law office of Judge Francis Hillard,of Roxbuiy. Completing his law course under Benjamin R. Curtis, later the justice of the United States Supreme Court who dissented from the Dred Scott decision, Gaston was admitted to the bar in 1844, began practice at Roxbury, and soon rose to be a leader of the Suffolk bar, where he was long noted as one of the ablest cross-examiners and jury lawyers. He had tact, talent, magnetism, earnestness, integrity, and tireless energy. His first public office was city solicitor of Roxbury, and he had served five years when he was elected by the Whigs to the legislature, and was re-elected in 1854 and in 1856. In 1861-62, after a brief retire- ment to private life, he was elected mayor of Roxbury. At the outbreak of the war he was most active in raising volunteers for the Union armies, and in 1862, after his election as mayor of Roxbury, he made a speech before the City Council in which he said: — "The duties of every citizen are now a hundred-fold greater than in times of peace. Patriotism can now find no excuse in lethargy or in inaction. A man, to be worth anything, must be awake, decided, and energetic. He who slumbers had better be dead. He who doubts had better be a traitor, for open treason is better than dead patriotism. The courage which rises with every obstacle is the courage which prevails." Often during the war he was at the front, visiting hospitals in search of Roxbury soldiers and bringing home news and messages to their friends. In 1868 he was elected to the State Senate, and was a con- spicuous leader of the Democracy. He served as one of the commissioners for the union of Roxbury and Boston, and in 1871 was elected mayor of Boston, and served during 1871 and 1872. At the time of the Great Fire he ordered a number of buildings in the path of the fire blown up, in order to save the city, and was urged by the citizens to blow up more. Later he was glad that he did not accede to their requests, for he was sued personally by some of the citizens whose buildings he had demolished. In 1875 he was chosen governor of the Commonwealth, and was the first Democrat to hold the office after the formation of the Republican part\'. Upon becoming governor, he gave up entirely his legal practice, so that, when he again retired to private life, he had to build up his practice again, but he soon became one of the leaders of the bar, and was always a figure of state-wide prominence. Both Harvard and Brown gave him the degree of LL.D., which is said to have gi\'en him greater gratification than all his political honors. He died on January 19, 1894. HENRY LILLIE PIERCE Tzventy-first Mayor, iS^j and iSjS To Henry Lillie Pierce belongs the distinction of building up a small chocolate mill into the largest of its kind in America and having made the name Walter Baker known all over the world. The original choco- late mill was on the Dorchester side of the Neponset River, on the site 32 MAYORS OF BOSTON of what was called the Lower Mills. Here, according to the best informa- tion, the manufacture of chocolate was begun in America in 1765 by an Irish emigrant, "John Hannan." He wandered one day into the little saw-mill which stood on the Neponset, and asserted that he had learned in London a way to make a new kind of chocolate, and, if he could use a corner of the mill and a little water power, he could build up a good business. A part of the mill was set aside for his use, and he started the business, which later came into the possession of Dr. James Baker, then went to his son Edmund Baker, his grandson Walter Baker, and finally was acquired by his grandson's half-nephew, Henry L. Pierce. At the time that Pierce assumed control the business was profitable, but very small. At the end of forty-two years (1854-96) it had grown under Pierce's wise management to be the largest manufactory of its kind on the continent. As he always paid his employees well and treated them kindly, no labor troubles ever disturbed his work. Pierce was born August 23, 1825, at Stoughton. His father was an austere New England Methodist, and his mother was a strong-minded, out-spoken woman of pronounced prejudices. The son went to the various town schools and later to the Normal School. Pierce later went to work at ^3 a week in the mill of his mother's half- brother, Walter Baker. He and his half-uncle did not agree politically, and the friction became such that in a year Baker left and went West, where he vainly tried to get employment. He finally went back to his uncle's chocolate mill, and was put in charge of the Boston counting- room, just opened. Mr. Baker died in 1852, and his partner, Sidney B. Williams, in 1854. After prolonged negotiations the trustees of the Baker estate leased the chocolate plant to Mr. Pierce, and he was so successful that in 1884 the trustees conveyed the property to him. Mr. Pierce early became interested in political subjects, upon which he spoke and wrote. He was an ardent supporter of the Free Soil party, from which sprang Republicanism. Pierce helped to organize the straight Republican party as a protest against those Republicans who had coa- lesced with the "Know-nothing" party, which swept the state in 1854. In 1857 he was nominated treasurer and receiver-general of the party. He was sent in 1859 from Dorchester to the General Court, and served in 1860-61-62, becoming the leader of the Radical Republicans who opposed any concessions to the slaveholders. In 1869 he became a member of the Boston Board of Aldermen, as the first representative from the Dorchester section. The failure of the city authorities to check the small-pox epidemic, as well as their want of executive ability at the time of the Great Fire in 1872, led the business men to ask Mr. Pierce to run for mayor as non-partisan candidate, and he was elected by a close vote. He established a small-pox hospital, and effected the reorganization of the Health and Fire Departments. Air. Pierce successfully urged a commission to revise the city charter, and the opening of the Public Library Reading-room on Sunday. He was elected to Congress in November, 1873, and on the ist of December resigned as mayor. In response to a petition he again ran for mayor, and was elected. One of his principal acts was to reorganize the Police Department on an efficient basis. MAYORS OF BOSTON 33 He was active in 1881 in the formation of tlie Massachusetts Tariff Reform League, of which Charles Francis Adams, Jr., became president. His eyes began to fail him during his last years, and he was advised by his physicians to be outdoors as much as possible. As he was very fond of the water, he spent much time on his yacht, cruising along the coast and crossing the Atlantic no less than thirty-five times, visiting every place worth while in Europe. He finally caught cold on a trip to Chicago, was stricken with paralysis, and died September 17, 1896. SAMUEL CROCKER COBB Twenty-second Mayor, 1SJ4-75-J6 Samuel Crocker Cobb was long one of the merchants who carried on a foreign trade with Europe and South America. He was born at Taun- ton, May 22, 1826, and prepared for Harvard at Bristol Academy, Taunton, a school founded by his grandfather. But he was obliged to go to work when about sixteen as a clerk with A. &: C. Cunningham, foreign shipping merchants at 15 Rowe's Wharf. In 1847 he went into business with J. Henry Cunningham, his friend and fellow-clerk, under the name of Cunningham