Unique Private Tours of Historic Boston for Groups

March 16, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

Is your group, organization or family planning a trip to Boston in the near future?

Are you looking for a memorable way to see the historic sites at your own pace with a knowledgeable guide?

If the answer to these questions is “Yes” then the six-minute video below on my private tours of Historic Boston will be of great interest to you. As a children’s book author, Boston historian and tour guide, I’ve had the opportunity to introduce thousands of individuals from all over the country and all over the world to Boston’s remarkable history since 2004. Families, civic and corporate groups, and school groups have participated in my Walking Tours of Historic Boston. Read some of their testimonials.

What makes the private tours I offer the obvious choice for your group or family?

This is not your “typical” walking tour. You’ll walk from Boston Common to the North End and see 14 historic sites plus 4 hidden/secret spots as I share photographs, engravings, maps, artifacts, and original colonial newspapers from my personal collection.

Your private tour is truly “private”. Only your group or family will participate and the tour will go at a pace that’s comfortable for you. This personalized approach ensures that you get the most out of your tour experience – plenty of time for questions and the flexibility to stay longer at many of the sites.

Tours are customized to meet your specific needs. Additional tour options are available (see details and pricing below) that allow time for a lunch break at Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market; a visit inside the Paul Revere House; and a trip to Charlestown to tour USS Constitution and see the Bunker Hill Monument and Museum.

Private tour participants receive a free copy of the audio version of my children’s book One April in Boston on 3 CDs. One CD set is given per group while individuals receive free access to download the MP3 audio version. The book tells the tale of my early Boston ancestors and their connection to the Sons of Liberty and Paul Revere.

Along the tour route, you’ll appreciate my genuine passion and enthusiasm for Boston history. This stems in part from the fact that four generations of my Edwards ancestors lived in Boston from 1700 to 1852 and during the tour I truly walk in their footsteps. I also reveal fascinating, little-known stories about early Boston life passed down in my family for over 200 years.

Children in particular enjoy learning about my family’s connection to Paul Revere. My fourth great grandfather Benjamin Edwards was a 10-year-old orphan in April 1775 living right down the street from the Old North Church when the signal lanterns were shown from its steeple and Paul Revere made his Midnight Ride. Ben lived with his uncle, a member of the Sons of Liberty, and toward the end of the American Revolution his older sister Sally Edwards married silversmith Paul Revere Jr., firstborn son of the famous patriot.

Private Tour Options and Pricing

Regular Tour

  • Includes: 14 historic sites; the 3 CD set of One April in Boston plus unlimited downloads of the MP3 audio version. The tour lasts 2.5 hours.
  • Pricing: 10 people or less for a total fee of $160 – additional adults are $15 each and additional children (12 & under) are $12 each.
  • Book your tour today by calling 617-670-1888 or use this form.
  • Tours begin at 10 am on Boston Common – corner of Park and Tremont streets.
  • View a map of the tour route as it appeared in 1775.

Extended Tour Option 1

  • Includes: 14 historic sites; the 3 CD set of One April in Boston plus unlimited downloads of the MP3 audio version; time for a lunch break at Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market; time to tour inside the Paul Revere House (a small admission fee); and a wonderful audio download of Longfellow’s famous poem “Paul Revere’s Ride”. The tour lasts 3.5 hours including lunch.
  • Pricing: 10 people or less for a total fee of $200 – additional adults are $16 each and additional children (12 & under) are $13 each.
  • Tours begin at 10 am on Boston Common – corner of Park and Tremont streets.
  • Book your tour today by calling 617-670-1888 or use this form.

Extended Tour Option 2

  • Includes: 16 historic sites; all of the items listed in Option 1 plus a visit to Charlestown to tour the USS Constitution and see the Bunker Hill Monument and Museum. The tour lasts 5 hours including lunch.
  • Pricing: 10 people or less for a total fee of $260 – additional adults are $18 each and additional children (12 & under) are $15 each.
  • Tours begin at 10 am on Boston Common – corner of Park and Tremont streets.
  • Book your tour today by calling 617-670-1888 or use this form.

Tours/Field Trips and Pricing for School Groups – See the Innovative School Programs post below.

Learn more about your tour guide Ben Edwards.

Email your family and friends this link to my business card.

The video for private tours will be added soon. For now, you can get an excellent sense of what it’s like to work with me by viewing the six-minute video embedded below in the Innovative School Programs post.

Innovative School Programs Your Students will Love

March 16, 2010 by Ben Edwards

Are you a grade school social studies teacher looking for programs and tools that can help you move far beyond traditional textbooks to truly excite, motivate and inspire your Colonial American history students?

Are you interested in accomplishing this even if you have little or no budget?

If the answer to these questions is “Yes” then the six-minute video below will be of great interest to you. It introduces some of the innovative school programs and tools for teachers I’ve developed over the past six years including Boston field trips, school author visits and a blog dedicated to educators of Colonial American history. As a children’s book author, Boston historian and tour guide, I’ve had the opportunity to work with thousands of students and hundreds of teachers in Grades 3-6 throughout New England since 2004. During Boston field trips, I walk in the footsteps of my early Boston ancestors and introduce students to Revolutionary Boston with the aid of photographs, engravings, maps and original colonial newspapers from my personal collection. During school author visits, I discuss my book One April in Boston; teach students about the events that led up to the American Revolution; and discuss the book’s underlying theme of goal setting for children. Every student participating in these programs receives the MP3 audio version of my book for free. Those taking the Combination Tour or attending a school author visit also get a bonus audio download of Longfellow’s poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” – both mentioned in the video.

Perhaps the greatest tool I’ve created for teachers is one that’s absolutely Free – the Teach History blog. This resource, which has proven tremendously popular with technology loving students, contains interactive articles, audio podcasts, and YouTube videos that focus on Colonial American history and Boston history. Many of the articles contain links to rare primary source materials I’ve collected over the past 15 years.

Tours/Field Trips and Pricing for School Groups

Sons of Liberty Tour

On this tour you will be introduced to early Boston and walk in the footsteps of some of its most distinguished citizens including Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. You’ll learn more about the patriot cause, the story of their secret organization, and the events that led up to the American Revolution.

Along the route, you will see the Massachusetts State House, Boston Common, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, King’s Chapel Burying Ground, King’s Chapel, Old Corner Bookstore Building, Old South Meeting House, Old State House, Site of the Boston Massacre, Faneuil Hall and 3 hidden/secret spots. Learn more about these sites.

Tour length: 90 minutes (10 am-11:30 am)

Pricing:

Children (12 & under) $9
Adults $11
(One free chaperone for every 10 students)

Book your tour today by calling 617-670-1888 or use this form.

Paul Revere’s North End Tour

On this tour you will retrace the footsteps of 10-year-old Ben Edwards, my direct ancestor, and many of the other people in One April in Boston. Young Ben lived right down the street from the Old North Church in April 1775. You will learn more about the events of April 18-19, 1775 including the lantern signal from the steeple of Old North and Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride. Longfellow’s poem that made Revere famous will also be discussed.

You will see the Old State House, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground and 2 hidden/secret spots. Learn more about these sites.

Tour length: 90 minutes (10 am-11:30 am or 12:30 pm-2 pm)

Pricing:

Children (12 & under) $9
Adults $11
(One free chaperone for every 10 students)

Book your tour today by calling 617-670-1888 or use this form.

The Combination Tour

This economical tour is our most popular. It combines the Sons of Liberty Tour and Paul Revere’s North End Tour with a lunch break in between at historic Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market.

Tour length: 3 hours with a break for lunch (10 am-2 pm)

View a map of the tour route as it appeared in 1775.

Pricing:

Children (12 & under) $11
Adults $13
(One free chaperone for every 10 students)

Book your tour today by calling 617-670-1888 or use this form.

School Author Visits

My classroom presentations, highly praised by teachers, are interactive, educational, inspirational and fun! I discuss my book One April in Boston and share a copy of the print version with every student. Students meet the characters in the story including 10-year-old Ben Edwards, my direct ancestor, learn about their lives and the events that led up to the American Revolution. Special focus is given to the Sons of Liberty and their fight against British taxation, and Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride.

One April in Boston is the story of an American family and a very special gift that was passed down from generation to generation. This “gift of the spyglass” is given to each child who reads the book and listens to the presentation. Through the story, children learn the value of setting a goal for the future, developing a plan, working hard and never giving up on their dreams. Just like the main character in the book, each child realizes that by utilizing this strategy they can truly be “anything they set their minds to be.”

Students learn about the goals I had when I was their age and read the first book I wrote about Boston history at age 10. They see how taking small steps, even at a young age, can move them closer to their own goals.

Pricing:

$175 for a one-hour classroom presentation
Minimum of 4 classroom presentations per school visit
Travel fees (40 cents per mile) apply to schools outside a 30-mile radius of Boston

Video link: Innovative School Programs on History (embedded above)

Filed under: Audio, Colonial Newspapers, Primary Sources, Technology In The Classroom, Tours, Video
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Colonel Shaw, Sergeant Carney and the 54th Massachusetts

February 28, 2010 by · 4 Comments 

On Boston Common, at the corner of Beacon and Park streets, stands what many consider to be the greatest public sculpture in the United States – The Shaw Memorial. The picture in this post is a shot I took of two of the twenty-three marching African American soldiers featured in the memorial. An excellent video on the sculpture is embedded below. The high-relief bronze memorial created by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens honors Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the African American soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. It took Saint-Gaudens almost 14 years to complete his tribute and the unveiling occurred on Memorial Day in 1897. Thirty four years earlier in January 1863, the same month that President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew sought to create an all-black regiment as part of his quota of troops from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This unit, known as the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, would become the first all-black military unit raised in the North during the Civil War. Governor Andrew elected to commission white officers with military experience and firm anti-slavery principles to lead the unit. He wrote a letter to Francis Shaw, an abolitionist with Boston ties, about his plans and outlined his reasons for offering the command of the 54th to his son Robert Gould Shaw. Governor Andrew enclosed a letter to Robert Gould Shaw and asked his father to be sure he received it as quickly as possible. At this time, Robert was a Captain with the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry and in winter camp in Stafford Courthouse, Virginia. Robert Gould Shaw had enlisted when the war began in 1861 and taken part in several battles including Cedar Mountain and Antietam. Francis George Shaw chose to hand deliver Governor Andrew’s letter to his only son Robert and visited him in Virginia.

Robert Gould Shaw initially chose to decline Governor Andrew’s offer but after more consideration and a desire to please his mother, Sarah Blake (Sturgis) Shaw, he agreed to accept the command and serve as colonel of the 54th Regiment. A few days later, Robert announced his engagement to Annie Haggerty. The two had met just before the war when Susanna, one of Robert’s sisters, invited Annie to a small gathering of family/friends attending the opera. They had kept up a steady correspondence when Robert was away fighting for the Union. Robert returned to Boston on February 15 when effort began in earnest to both recruit and train men for the 54th. Robert did take a short break for his wedding and honeymoon. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and Anna Kneeland Haggerty were married on May 2, 1863 in The Church of the Ascension on Fifth Avenue and Tenth Street in New York City. They spent four relaxing days in the Berkshires of Massachusetts before Shaw learned that he’d have to return before the week was out as the Governor had ordered his regiment to leave for the south in less than three weeks. Departure day was eventually set for May 28, 1863. On that day, at 9 am, 1,007 black soldiers and 37 white officers of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment began a parade march through the streets of Boston in full dress uniform. Twenty-five-year-old Colonel Robert Gould Shaw rode at the head of the column. Twenty thousand people turned out to see the regiment off. In the reviewing stands and peering from balconies along the parade route were such dignitaries as Governor John A. Andrew, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips and Frederick Douglass whose sons Charles and Lewis Douglass were members of the 54th. Robert Gould Shaw’s family, including his mother, two of his four sisters and his wife, stood on the second floor balcony of the Sturgis home located at 44 Beacon Street.  When Colonel Shaw arrived at their location, he looked up and raised his sword to his lips. His seventeen-year-old sister Ellen, recalling how she felt about her brother Rob at that very moment, later wrote, “his face was as the face of an angel and I felt perfectly sure he would never come back.”

After the parade, the men said goodbye to their families, boarded their transport ship and headed for South Carolina. On June 3, the transport arrived at the port of Hilton Head. A week later, the 54th took part in a raid that involved burning the town of Darien, Georgia – something that upset Colonel Shaw greatly. When Shaw learned in late June that his black troops would receive pay of only $10 per month instead of the $13 per month they had been promised (the same as white troops), he protested personally. The men vowed to accept no pay at all until the issue was resolved – and it eventually was, but not until nearly 18 months passed. Concerned that his men might not see any real action and have the chance to prove themselves, Colonel Shaw wrote to General George Strong on July 6 and asked that the 54th Massachusetts be placed under his command. This occurred a few days later and the regiment performed very honorably in its first major engagement at James Island, South Carolina on July 16. Shortly after the battle, the 54th began a two day excursion with only the hardtack they carried in their packs for food. Marching through mud flats and marsh, through thunderstorms and in the blazing sun, with the aid of two transports they made it to Morris Island on the afternoon of Saturday, July 18, 1863. Here, the heavily fortified Confederate Fort Wagner was located. The fort had been under Union bombardment for more than a day. Colonel Shaw met with General Strong and learned that there would be a frontal assault on Wagner that night. The General asked Shaw if the 54th would like to lead the attack. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw replied, “Yes”. Before joining his men, Colonel Shaw located Edward L. Pierce, a correspondent for the New York Daily Tribune and gave him some letters and personal items to pass on to Shaw’s family if he was killed.

The assault on Fort Wagner would begin at dusk. Six Hundred soldiers from the 54th Regiment gathered less than 1,000 yards from the fort and waited. The 54th would lead the first wave of the assault while white troops from Connecticut, New York and New Hampshire regiments would follow in a second wave. What none of the men could have known at that time is the Union bombardment of the fort had been ineffective and its garrison of 1,700 Confederate soldiers would still be fighting at full strength. Both General Strong and Colonel Shaw addressed the men. Shaw encouraged the 54th saying, “I want you to prove yourselves. The eyes of thousands will look on what you do tonight.” At about 7:45 pm, Colonel Shaw stood at the front of his regiment and gave the command to advance at the quick-step. The men had their bayonets fixed and they knew the fort must be taken in hand-to-hand combat. With the Atlantic Ocean to the right and a creek on the left, the 54th moved along a narrow strip of beach and Shaw ordered the pace to double-quick while still some distance away. When they were about 100 yards out, the Confederate soldiers from Fort Wagner began firing with such ferocity that the 54th started to hesitate. But Colonel Shaw rallied the men and led a group of them through a ditch and to the top of the parapet. He was one of the first to climb the walls of the fort. Here, as he waved his sword and urged his men forward, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was shot in the chest and fell into the fort. When the flag bearer for the regiment was killed, Sergeant William Carney of New Bedford, Massachusetts grasped the flag and soon planted it on top of the parapet and held it there as the troops scaled the walls. In this detailed account, Carney mentions that he was shot several times during his attempt to prevent the flag from being captured by the enemy. When he reached the Union lines, Carney staggered into a hospital and amidst the cheers of his fellow soldiers – both black and white – told them, “Boys, I but did my duty; the dear old flag never touched the ground.” He then collapsed from his wounds.

Following the battle, the Confederate commander of Fort Wagner buried Colonel Shaw in a pit with some of his black soldiers in an attempt to dishonor him. When Shaw’s parents learned this, it had the opposite effect. They said there could be no holier place than where he lies surrounded by his brave soldiers and requested that no attempts be made to recover his body. Of the 600 members of The 54th Massachusetts that led the first wave of the assault on Fort Wagner, nearly half made their way into the fort. Two hundred seventy two were either killed, wounded or captured. The charge had certainly proven the courage of black troops under fire and the bravery of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and his fellow officers. Of the assault, even a Confederate officer named Iredell Jones could not help but proclaim, “The Negroes fought gallantly, and were headed by as brave a colonel as ever lived.” The story of Colonel Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts is told in the must-see 1989 movie Glory. In the film, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw is played by actor Matthew Broderick. Below you can read original press coverage of the 54th Massachusetts including articles on recruiting and fundraising, their march through Boston on May 28, 1863 and the attack on Fort Wagner. Transcriptions are also provided.

On Memorial Day in 1897, during the ceremonies unveiling Saint-Gaudens magnificent memorial to Shaw and the 54th, sixty-five veterans of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment marched at the head of the parade. Among those veterans, carrying the American flag, was Sergeant William Carney. Three years later in 1900 his heroic efforts under fire to save the flag would finally be recognized when, nearly 37 years after the assault on Fort Wagner, Carney became the first African American to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor. That Memorial Day in 1897, Sergeant Carney and his fellow veterans marched along the same route they had taken when they left Boston on May 28, 1863. This time, however, they traveled in the opposite direction, symbolically meeting and honoring their fellow soldiers and their leader Colonel Shaw – men who had not lived to see the lasting impact they had made.

Video link: PBS Documentary – Augustus Saint-Gaudens – The Shaw Memorial (embedded above)

Purchase the above video from PBS

A Rare Civil War Camp Pass With the Signature of Robert Gould Shaw

The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment Today — Company A, Boston, MA

“I know not, Mr. Commander, when, in all human history, to any given thousand men in arms there has been committed a work at once so proud, so precious, so full of hope and glory as the work committed to you.”

- Governor John A. Andrew presenting the regimental colors to Colonel Robert Gould Shaw at Camp Meigs in Readville on May 18, 1863.

Original Press Coverage — Recruiting and Fundraising for the 54th

The Liberator (Boston) February 20, 1863 — Meeting at the Joy Street Church

Masthead | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Transcript

The Liberator (Boston) March 13, 1863 — Aid Meeting/Frederick Douglass’s Call to Arms

Masthead | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Transcript 1 | Transcript 2

The Liberator (Boston) March 27, 1863 — Wendell Phillips Speaks at Fundraiser

Masthead | Part 1 | Transcript

“The very flower of grace and chivalry, he seemed to me beautiful and awful, as an angel of God come down to lead the host of freedom to victory.”

- Poet John Greenleaf Whittier’s description of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw leading the 54th Massachusetts Regiment down Beacon Street and off to war.

Original Press Coverage — the 54th Marches Through Boston

The New York Times May 30, 1863

Masthead | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Transcript

The Liberator (Boston) June 5, 1863

Masthead | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Transcript

The Liberator (Boston) June 26, 1863

Masthead | Part 1 | Part 2 | Transcript

“We’re in General Strong’s brigade. We came up here last night, and were out again all night in a very heavy rain. Fort Wagner is being very heavily bombarded. We are not far from it. We hear nothing but praise of the Fifty-fourth on all hands.”

- From Colonel Robert Gould Shaw’s final letter written from Morris Island on July 18, 1863.

Original Press Coverage — the Attack on Fort Wagner

The Liberator (Boston) July 31, 1863

Masthead | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Transcript

New York Daily Tribune August 3, 1863

Masthead | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Transcript

Harper’s Weekly August 15, 1863

Masthead | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Transcript

“I saw them march along to the assault as steadily and sternly as the most veteran of the batallion. I saw them plunge bravely into the terrible abyss of death, which the darkness of night was rapidly concealing from view. As to how they fought, there is the long list of the fallen. As to how far they went, there is the fact of sixty being captured within the fort, and so admitted to me by the rebels under the flag of truce. I can testify that they bore their wounds with the heroic fortitude of the most determined veterans, and they died as nobly.”

-From U.S. Army Medical Inspector A.C. Hamlin’s letter to Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson on the courage of the 54th at Fort Wagner.

A Poem honoring Colonel Robert Gould Shaw

Bibliography and Resources on the 54th Massachusetts

To learn more about the 54th Massachusetts visit Boston’s Museum of African American History

Audio link: Glory Soundtrack – Closing Credits

Shortcut to this post: 54thMass.com

Promoting this post: Teach History presents

Filed under: Colonial Newspapers, Primary Sources, Video
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Black History Month: A Tribute to Phillis Wheatley

February 9, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

In honor of Black History Month this month, Newsweek magazine ran a web exclusive featuring an interview with Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., that I thought was excellent. In the interview, with regard to the month-long celebration, Professor Gates stated “I love Black History Month. But for me, every day is Black History Month, and I would like one day to see the need for Black History Month to disappear because the contributions of our ancestors have become a fundamental part of the American-history curriculum.” When Newsweek asked “What do you think of people who call for an end to Black History Month?”, Professor Gates replied “It depends on who is doing the asking. Their concerns are understandable if they feel Black History Month is ghettoizing. But these sorts of gestures are necessary to reclaim the past. Black History Month has been very effective in resurrecting the stories of our ancestors and in integrating those stories into our history. But we’re not even on the horizon of the time to end Black History Month. When as many Americans are as familiar with Harriet Tubman as they are with Paul Revere, then we can talk about ending Black History Month.” I couldn’t agree with Professor Gates more – and that’s coming from someone with a family connection to
Paul Revere!

The person I’d like to honor today for Black History Month is a little girl who at about the age of 7 was kidnapped from Africa by slave traders, along with about 80 other Africans, and put aboard the schooner Phillis. The ship landed at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston on July 11, 1761 and the girl was sold into slavery for a low price because of her frail condition. She was purchased by John Wheatley, a tailor and merchant, and his wife Susanna of Boston. Her original African name, unknown to historians today, was changed to “Phillis” when the Wheatley’s named her after the ship that had carried her to Boston. Phillis also took the last name of her new owners and lived with the Wheatley family in their home located on the corner of King Street and Mackerel Lane. From this location, Phillis Wheatley could clearly see the Town House (Old State House) which was just two blocks away. John and Susanna Wheatley had two children, 18-year-old twins Mary and Nathaniel, and with Susanna’s approval Mary began to teach Phillis to read and write. When Phillis wasn’t working as a servant, she continued her studies and proved to be a fast learner. In addition to English, Mary also tutored Phillis in Latin and the scriptures. Sixteen months after her arrival in Boston, Phillis Wheatley could read and write the English language and read even the most difficult Bible passages so well that those who witnessed it stood in disbelief. People thought that simply because Phillis was an African slave she could not accomplish this. How wrong they were – and this was just the beginning of young Phillis Wheatley’s achievements.

Phillis showed an interest in writing poetry and produced her first poem at the age of eleven. As she was very religious, “many of her poems were about God or about the various ministers she heard on Sundays. She liked to write ‘elegies’ – poems that praised people who had died. This kind of poem was very popular during the Colonial era.” I learned this from an excellent new product for schools called “Phillis Wheatley – A Guide for Teachers” produced by the Old South Meeting House and available at their Museum Shop. (Phillis attended church at Old South Meeting House and became a full member when she was 17.) Susanna Wheatley, impressed by Phillis’s poetry, made an effort to get her work published in book form in Boston and when she found no success in this endeavor, sought out and obtained a publisher in England. The printer was concerned that people would not believe that Phillis had actually written the poems unless there was something attesting to that fact. A group of eighteen prominent Boston leaders were chosen to quiz Phillis on her knowledge and she passed this challenging test with flying colors. The men signed a document that would appear at the front of Phillis Wheatley’s book stating that they believed she was qualified to write it.

The May 1773 issue of London’s Gentleman’s Magazine contained an article about Phillis Wheatley mentioning that proposals have just been published for printing, by subscription, some of her poems. This original article is part of my collection of early colonial newspapers. For a closer view of this primary source document: View Phillis Wheatley Article Part I and Phillis Wheatley Article Part 2. The poor health Phillis experienced as a child followed her into adulthood. The Wheatley family sent her on a trip to London in May 1773 with their son Nathaniel to oversee the publication of her book and in hopes that the voyage might improve Phillis’s health. Newspapers in Massachusetts and many of the other colonies mentioned their trip. The May 17, 1773 issue of the Pennsylvania Chronicle noted “The Ship London, Capt. Calef, sails on Saturday for London, in whom goes passengers Mr. Nathaniel Wheatley, Merchant; also, Phillis, Servant to Mr. Wheatley, the extraordinary Negro Poetress, at the invitation of the Countess of Huntington.” Phillis was treated like a celebrity in London and she had the opportunity to meet the Earl of Dartmouth and Benjamin Franklin. Plans to meet other dignitaries were cancelled when news arrived that Susanna Wheatley was seriously ill and Nathaniel and Phillis quickly sailed for Boston. After her departure, Phillis Wheatley’s book Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was printed in London.

When Phillis returned from her trip, John and Susanna Wheatley freed her and she continued to live with them. Susanna Wheatley died in March of 1774 and Phillis, wrote about their relationship noting how close they had become and that Mrs.Wheatley had treated her more like her own child than her servant. The vast majority of slaves were not nearly as fortunate. Earlier that year, no doubt thinking of them, Phillis spoke out against slavery in a letter to Reverend Samson Occum. She penned “… in every human Breast God has implanted a Principle, which we call Love of Freedom; it is impatient of Oppression, and pants for Deliverance… the same principle lives in us.” In 1776, at the beginning of the American Revolution, Phillis wrote a poem about General George Washington who she greatly admired and sent the poem and a letter to General Washington at his headquarters in Cambridge. Washington recognized Phillis’s great talent and responded favorably to her poem and letter, even inviting her to visit him in Cambridge – a trip she is believed to have made.

In 1778, Phillis’s childhood tutor Mary Wheatley and her father John Wheatley died and Mary’s twin Nathaniel was living overseas in England. That same year Phillis married a free black Bostonian named John Peters. Work was tough to find for freed blacks and they lived in poor conditions. Phillis wrote a second book of poetry but was unable to find a publisher. She wished to dedicate the volume to Benjamin Franklin. Her last published poem called “Liberty and Peace” was produced in 1784. By that time two of her infant children had died and Phillis was sick and doing her best to care for a young baby. Phillis died on December 5, 1784 at about the age of 30 and her baby passed away a short time later. They are buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Boston. Although we cannot pay tribute to Phillis Wheatley at a gravesite, there is another place where we can honor her memory. The next time you visit the famous Old South Meeting House, the place where Phillis Wheatley worshipped, instead of thinking of only Samuel Adams, the Sons of Liberty and the Boston Tea Party, take a seat, close your eyes and feel the presence of a truly remarkable African American woman. Listen closely and in your unbounded imagination you might even hear a verse or two from one of her masterful poems like my favorite “On Imagination“.

Imagination! who can sing thy force?
Or who describe the swiftness of thy course?
Soaring through air to find the bright abode,
Th’ empyreal palace of the thund’ring God,
We on thy pinions can surpass the wind,
And leave the rolling universe behind:
From star to star the mental optics rove,
Measure the skies, and range the realms above.
There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,
Or with new worlds amaze th’ unbounded soul.

The photograph of the Phillis Wheatley statue in this post is from the website Discover Black Heritage. The statue is part of the Boston Women’s Memorial featuring sculpture by Meredith Bergmann.

Filed under: Colonial Newspapers, Primary Sources
Tagged: , ,

Young Ben Franklin and the Silence Dogood Letters

January 13, 2010 by · 1 Comment 

I’ve always thought Benjamin Franklin was cool even back when I was in the sixth grade and chose to write a diary about his life for a school assignment. Thanks to my Mom for saving that little book (thirty-nine pages) and to my brother for rediscovering it recently. Brought back a lot of grade school memories – how I loved history and hated math! I didn’t know it back then but young Ben Franklin didn’t do real well in math either – more on that soon. The 10th son of a tallow chandler (candle and soap maker) Benjamin Franklin was born on Milk Street in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17, 1706. His parents were Josiah Franklin and Abiah Folger. Josiah thought Ben was well suited to be a member of the clergy so he sent his youngest son to Boston Latin School, a grammar school, at the age of eight. Here, Ben rose from the middle of his class to the head of that same class in less than a year. Josiah began to have second thoughts though about the ministry as a profession for his son, fearing he would not be able to afford a college education for Ben at Harvard, which would be his eventual destination on that path. Josiah Franklin decided to remove Ben from Boston Latin and send him to a writing school operated by George Brownell. Here he could learn the writing and arithmetic skills required to prepare him for work in a colonial trade. Benjamin Franklin wrote the following words decades later in his autobiography about Mr. Brownell and that school experience: “Under him I acquired fair writing pretty soon, but I failed in the arithmetic, and made no progress in it.” The great inventor Benjamin Franklin didn’t like math as a kid either! At least I was in good company.

At the age of ten, Ben began working for his father at the candle-making shop known as the Sign of the Blue Ball located at the southeast corner of Hanover and Union streets. Here he cut wicks for candles, filled the molds, attended the shop and went on errands. Again from his autobiography, Franklin states “I disliked the trade, and had a strong inclination for the sea, but my father declared against it.” Young Ben worked in his father’s shop for two years. Seeing that his son was still not happy as a tallow chandler and concerned that Ben might run off to sea, Josiah took him for a walk around Boston one day so he could see other craftsmen at work hoping that another trade might catch Ben’s interest. Ben loved to read books and Josiah knew this so eventually he decided that working as a printer, apprenticed to his brother James, might be the best trade for Ben. In 1718, at the age of twelve, Ben signed papers stating that he would be bound to James Franklin as an apprentice until the age of twenty-one. Ben learned to set type, operate the press and sold printing in the streets of Boston. In August of 1721, James Franklin started printing a new weekly newspaper called the New-England Courant at his shop located off Queen Street in Dorset Alley. It was only the third newspaper in Boston at the time. By now Ben had become an excellent apprentice but he wanted to do more than set type, print the newspaper and deliver it to customers – he longed to write for it too. Feeling his brother would never let that happen, one day Ben came up with an idea and decided to act on it. He would write for the newspaper – but secretly.

In late March of 1722, sixteen-year-old Ben disguised his handwriting and crafted a letter using the pen name Silence Dogood, a middle-aged widow, and slid it under the print shop door. His brother James was so impressed with the content of the letter that he decided to publish it in that week’s issue of the Courant. On April 2, 1722, the people of Boston first began to read the words of a woman who promised “once a Fortnight to present them with a short Epistle to add somewhat to their Entertainment”. Between April and October of 1722 Ben, as the charming and witty Silence Dogood, wrote a total of 14 letters to “the Author of the New-England Courant” on a variety of topics from love to manners to education. Picture what it must have been like for Ben, while working at the print shop, to overhear his brother James and others praising these letters! Imagine how Ben felt setting the type for something he wrote himself and printing it. In one of the letters Silence Dogood mentioned that as a widow, she would be open to suitors. Men actually wrote to the paper with offers of marriage! When Ben stopped writing his letters after six months, people missed them. At the end of the year James placed an ad in his paper asking if anyone could “give a true account of Mrs. Silence Dogood, whether dead or alive, married or unmarried”. After that, Ben told his brother that he had written the letters and, although people in town thought it was humorous, James was upset. Bad feelings between the two caused Ben to break his apprenticeship and sail to Philadelphia where he continued in the printing trade.

I began today’s post by mentioning my sixth grade school project and my admiration for Ben Franklin. There’s a bit more to the story. Many years after writing that diary of Franklin’s life, my college roommate and I, both of us with degrees in marketing, did something that Franklin himself would have appreciated – we became apprentice printers. Both of us learned the trade from the ground up and operated our own printing shop for twenty years. Although I started on the press, much like Franklin himself I gravitated toward the writing and marketing end of the business. We had a great staff, some outstanding equipment and a well established base of national clients before electing to sell the business in 2004. Today, when I work with students in the classroom and on Boston field trips, they enjoy hearing about the printing connection. They are also fascinated to learn that one of my ancestors, 36-year-old Captain Benjamin Edwards, walked the streets of Boston in 1722 during the time the Silence Dogood letters were published in the New-England Courant. I wonder if he ever bumped into sixteen-year-old Benjamin Franklin? Most of the students are familiar with the Silence Dogood letters thanks to their inclusion in the very popular movie National Treasure. In the film, clues hidden in the letters help lead Benjamin Franklin Gates closer to the most spectacular treasure in history. As a tribute to Mr. Franklin and Mrs. Dogood, the trailer for National Treasure appears below.

Video link: National Treasure Trailer (embedded above)

Filed under: Books, Colonial Newspapers, Primary Sources, Video
Tagged: , ,

Pirates of the Caribbean – Featuring my Sixth Great Grandfather

December 30, 2009 by · 1 Comment 

When I was growing up, a family vacation to California enabled me to experience what to this day remains my favorite amusement park ride – Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean. I could have waited in line all day with my E ticket (anyone else remember those?) in hand just for the opportunity to go over those two waterfalls in a boat and be transported back to another time. My favorite part was always when we entered what felt like the open ocean and a battle raged between a pirate ship and a fort. The sights and sounds of Disney’s audio-animatronics characters and even the smells are fixed in my memory. When it was over, the first thing I wanted to do is get back in line and do it all over again! The original Pirates of the Caribbean ride was truly a multisensory adventure – well before high tech special effects and the days of Captain Jack Sparrow and the three (soon to be four) blockbuster Disney films. The one thing I could never have imagined back then is that there was a logical reason for me to be drawn to this ride – my first ancestor in America, a Boston sea captain named Benjamin Edwards had experienced it in real life in a fashion that was, unfortunately for he and his crew, anything but enjoyable. This I would discover quite by accident many years later, even after I had written the children’s book One April in Boston which tells the tale of my early Boston ancestors including my sixth great grandfather Captain Benjamin Edwards. One day, while working, I decided to type the name “Benjamin Edwards” and the word “Greyhound” (one of his vessels) into Yahoo search. Much to my amazement, the results included numerous links to information on a battle in the Caribbean between Captain Benjamin Edwards aboard the Greyhound and pirate George Lowther aboard the Happy Delivery on January 10, 1722.

I began to research this incident and found it mentioned in a newspaper called the Boston News-Letter on May 7, 1722 and in Captain Charles Johnson’s book A General History of Pyrates first published in 1724 and still available today. It also appears in the book Pirates of the New England Coast 1630-1730 by George Francis Dow and John Henry Edmonds published in 1923. It seems that the battle occurred off the coast of Honduras – Captain Edwards had a crew of 14 aboard a ship protected by 6 guns; while the pirate George Lowther had a crew of 90 aboard a ship protected by 16 guns. What became of Captain Benjamin Edwards? The wikipedia entry on pirate George Lowther (as of today’s date) tells us that Captain Edwards and his entire crew were “possibly killed”. To learn what really happened, read on.

Here are accounts of the battle from both of the books mentioned above, containing the original spelling and punctuation:

The following is taken from A General History of Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson, 1724:

The 10th of January, the pyrates came into the Bay (Bay of Honduras) and fell upon a ship of 200 Tuns, called the Greyhound, Benjamin Edwards Commander, belonging to Boston. Lowther hoisted his pyratical Colours and fired a Gun for the Greyhound to bring to, which she refusing, the Happy Delivery (the name of the Pyrate, Lowther’s ship) edg’d down, and gave her a Broadside (the firing of all guns on one side of a ship at the same time), which was returned by Captain Edwards very bravely, and the Engagement held for an hour; but Captain Edwards, finding the Pyrate too strong for him, and fearing the Consequence of too obstinate a Resistance against those lawless Fellows, order’d his Ensign to be struck. The Pyrates’ Boat came aboard, and not only rifled the Ship, but whipp’d, beat, and cut the Men in a cruel Manner, turned them aboard their own Ship, and then set Fire to theirs. (i.e. the crew were brought aboard the Delivery and the Greyhound burnt)

The following is taken from The Pirates of the New England Coast 1630-1730 by George Francis Dow and John Henry Edmonds, 1923:

On the 10th of January 1722, the good ship “Greyhound” of Boston in the Massachusetts Bay, Benjamin Edwards, Commander, was homeward bound. She was loaded with logwood and only one day out from the coast of Honduras where the crew had been worked hard for several weeks loading the many boatloads of heavy, thorny-growthed, blood-red wood. Early in the morning the lookout had sighted a ship headed toward them and while not plantation built she attracted no particular attention until it was seen that her course was slightly changed to conform to that of the “Greyhound,” or rather, it would seem, to intersect the course on which the “Greyhound” was sailing. As the ship drew nearer, a long look through the perspective revealed a heavily-manned vessel of English build and Captain Edwards thought it best to order all hands on deck. Soon the stranger ran up a black flag with a skeleton on it and fired a gun for the “Greyhound” to bring to.

West India waters had been plagued for many years by piratical gentry and the Boston captain had heard many terrifying tales of their barbarous cruelties to masters and seamen but he was a dogged type of man and so at once prepared to defend his ship. The pirate edged down a bit and shortly gave the “Greyhound” a broadside of eight guns which Captain Edwards bravely returned and for nearly an hour the give and take continued at long gunshot without much damage to either vessel. Finding the pirate was more heavily armed than the “Greyhound,” and her decks showing many men, Captain Edwards began to reckon the consequences of too stubborn a resistance, for it seemed likely that eventually he must surrender, barring, of course, lucky chance shot from his guns that might cut down a mast on the pirate ship. At last he ordered his ensign to be struck and hove to. Two boatloads of armed men soon came aboard and searched the ship for anything of value. The loot was not great for the New England logwood ships had little opportunity for trade or barter and the disappointment of the pirate crews was soon spit out on the men. Whenever one came within reach of the cutlass of a pirate he would receive a swinging slash across shoulders or arms, or perhaps, a blow on the head with the flat of the blade that would fell him half-senseless to the deck. By way of diversion two of the unoffending sailors were triced up at the foot of the mainmast and lashed until the blood ran from their backs. Captain Edwards and his men were then ordered into the boats and sent on board the pirate ship and the “Greyhound” was set on fire.

The rogue proved to be the “Happy Delivery,” commanded by Capt. George Lowther and manned by a strange assortment of English sailors and soldiers with a sprinkling of New England men. As soon as the men from the “Greyhound” reached her deck they were given a mug of rum and invited to join the crew. This was habitually done at that time by these outlaws and frequently a nimble sailor would be forced and compelled to serve with the pirates against his will. The first mate of the “Greyhound” was Charles Harris, born in London, England, then about twenty-four years old, and a man who understood navigation. He, with four others, Christopher Atwell, Henry Smith, Joseph Willis and David Lindsay, was forced and Captain Edwards and the rest of his crew, with other captured men, were put on board another logwood vessel and permitted to make the best of their way home.

My ancestor Captain Benjamin Edwards survived his run in with pirates in the Caribbean in 1722 – lucky for me, because if he hadn’t I would never have been born! I mention that when I tell this story to students at the conclusion of my Walking Tours of Historic Boston. Captain Edwards had three children prior to 1722 that all died in infancy. He later went on to father seven more including my fifth great grandfather Dolling Edwards a mastmaker in Boston who was born in 1737. Captain Edwards outlived two of his 3 wives and died in 1751. What became of pirate George Lowther? The answer to that is something straight out of a Disney movie. I’ll let you discover it as Captain Edwards might have himself, by reading this original article from a copy of the June 13, 1724 issue of the London newspaper called the Post Boy.

Today’s post wraps up by returning to my childhood experience at Disneyland. I haven’t had the opportunity to visit Disney in either California or Florida since discovering the information about Captain Edwards but I’m sure that when I do, my favorite ride will take on a whole new meaning! The original ride was modified in 2006 to add elements from the recent Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

To view the trailer from the first of those films, click on the pirate flag at the top of this post!

Below is a bit of Disney nostalgia: two videos on the creation of the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland that truly show the genius of Walt Disney.

Video link: Pirates of the Caribbean The Ride Part 1 (embedded above)

Video link: Pirates of the Caribbean The Ride Part 2

Filed under: Books, Colonial Newspapers, Primary Sources, Tours, Video
Tagged: ,

« Previous Page — Next Page »