The streets were crowded with finely dressed ladies and gentlemen and many of the townspeople peered out doors, through casement windows, and from the tops of buildings along the parade route to catch a glimpse of the legendary General Washington. The nation’s first president rode along Orange, Newbury, Marlborough, and Cornhill streets (all later named Washington Street in honor of his visit). On this path, President Washington went by the Old South Meeting House – a spot he had visited in 1776 to see the destruction done to the building by the British troops when they occupied Boston. Reaching the State House (today’s Old State House), the President passed through a richly decorated Triumphal Arch, designed by architect Charles Bulfinch, which spanned from the west end of the building to the stores on the opposite side of the street. This arch had a canopy above it over 20 feet high with an eagle perched on top. The President then entered the State House, went upstairs, strode through the Representatives’ Chamber, walked out the center window and took four steps down to the gallery of the Colonnade – a colonial reviewing stand of sorts erected for the occasion at the west end of the State House. This reviewing stand stood atop six large columns, fifteen feet high, and the floor of its gallery was furnished with armed chairs and spread with rich carpets. When President Washington entered the Colonnade, he was saluted by three huzzas from the citizens, and an Ode was sung. The Procession passed him, proceeded into Court Street and was dismissed. Military companies then escorted the President to his residence in Court Street, Ingersoll’s Inn, where he would stay during his five day visit. That evening, fireworks were exhibited in several parts of the town – in State Street, the Bunch of Grapes Tavern, Eastern Coffee House, the Castle and from the French Ships, which were beautifully illuminated.

On Sunday the 25th, the President attended services in the morning at Trinity Church and in the afternoon at Brattle Street Church. In between, he was called on at his residence by Governor Hancock. The Governor, who overnight had come to realize the incorrectness of his views and that it was in fact his responsibility to call on the President first, arrived by coach and was carried in by his coachmen and footman apologizing that gout had prevented him from seeing the President any earlier. Washington seemed to accept the excuse and apology in stride and the two had a cordial meeting.  Monday the 26th was rainy and stormy and the President, who had begun to show signs of a cold, (no doubt the effect of being out in the frigid temperatures and wind the day he entered the town) cancelled a planned trip to Lexington. In fact, a large number of the inhabitants of Boston had also taken ill with what everyone would come to call the Washington Influenza. Washington received many visitors this day and in the evening called on the Governor and had tea with him and Mrs. Hancock. On Tuesday the 27th he went to an Oratorio at the Stone Chapel (King’s Chapel) and attended a large and elegant dinner in his honor that afternoon at Faneuil Hall. On Wednesday the 28th President Washington visited a Duck (sailcloth) Manufactory where he saw 28 looms at work with 14 girls spinning. He also toured a Card Manufactory. He visited ships in Boston Harbor and attended a grand ball in the evening at Concert Hall. The President departed the town the next morning, Thursday October 29th at 8 o’clock.

Any stories about President Washington’s visit to Boston that may have been passed down by my ancestors did not survive. In an effort to better appreciate what they might have experienced, I decided to seek out eyewitness accounts of this historic event. One of the best accounts I was able to find is that of William H. Sumner (1780-1861) the son of Increase Sumner, fifth governor of Massachusetts. William H.Sumner, who served as a General in the Massachusetts Militia, was nearly 80 when his childhood recollections appeared in the April 1860 issue of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. This is a publication of Boston’s New England Historic Genealogical Society – a wonderful resource I used to research my own family history and can highly recommend to others. In the article, William H. Sumner notes that he is one of the very few now living who can say, “I have seen the great Washington.” Sumner was a boy between the ages of 9 and 10 years old, and a student at Master Lane’s West Boston Writing School when President Washington entered Boston on Saturday, October 24, 1789. Recalling that day, Sumner writes:

The children of the schools were all paraded in the main street, and stood in the gutters in front of the long rows of men whose strength was required and exerted to protect them from the crowd on the sidewalks as the procession passed along the street. The General rode on a noble white charger with characteristic erectness and dignity. Colonel Lear and Major Jackson accompanied him as his aids. Washington was in uniform, and as he rode, his head uncovered, he inclined his body first on one side and then on the other, without distinctly bowing, but so as to observe the multitude in the streets, and the ladies in the windows and on the tops of houses, who saluted him as he passed.

Master Lane’s boys were placed in front of Mr. Jonathan Mason’s hardware store, near the bend in Washington Street (then Cornhill) opposite Williams Court. I will remember the laugh which our salute created, when, as the General passed us, we rolled in our hands our quills with the longest feathers we could get. Mr. N.R. Sturgis, who was at school with me at that time, remembers this circumstance. From our position at the angle of the street, we had a fair view of the procession as it approached and after it passed us. A select choir of singers, led by Rhea, the chorister of Brattle Street Church, was placed on the triumphal arch under which the procession was to pass, and which extended from the Old State House to the stores of Joseph Pierce and others on the opposite side of Cornhill. The arch was decorated with flags, flowers and evergreen, so that the musicians were not seen until they rose up and sang the loud paean, commencing as Washington first came in sight at the angle where we stood, swelling in heavy chorus until he passed from our sight under the triumphal arch and took his station upon it. Here the Selectmen of Boston gave him a formal reception.

William H. Sumner also mentioned something else that moved him during the President’s visit. He recalled how his mother was dressed to attend the Washington Ball at Concert Hall on the evening of Wednesday, October 28, 1789. He remembers her wearing a black velvet belt with the large gold letters “G. W.” on it. There were over 100 ladies at this event all dressed very fashionably. The November 11, 1789 issue of The Pennsylvania Journal mentions another item that the women of Boston wore during Washington’s visit. “The ladies, in honor of the President, have agreed to wear the following device is a sash: A broad white ribbon with G.W. in gold letters (or spangles) encircled with a laurel wreath in front; on one end of the sash to be painted and American eagle, and the other a fleur-de-lis.” These painted sashes also appeared for sale in an advertisement placed in The Massachusetts Centinel on the day of the Washington Ball.

Another eyewitness account of Washington’s visit by a schoolboy appears in the book John Tileston’s School by D.C. Colesworthy. The author’s father Daniel P. Colesworthy was a pupil of the legendary Boston schoolmaster John Tileston and he recalls how Master Tileston instructed the boys to come to school that day with clean faces and dressed in their best clothes. He also remembers rolling his quill pen in an effort to get General Washington’s attention. I continue to search for more eyewitness accounts, especially those by children/schoolboys, and will add them to this post if and when they are located.

Original Press Coverage of President Washington’s Visit to Boston

The Massachusetts Centinel – October 28, 1789

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

Great for classroom use:

Complete Transcript of Press Coverage from The Massachusetts Centinel – October 28, 1789.

Historic Items from the Procession

Broadsides – Collection of The Massachusetts Historical Society

• Procession Broadside

Banners – Collection of The Bostonian Society

• Mastmakers Banner
• Cordwainers Banner
• Journeyman Tailors Banner

The letter was written by an unnamed Boston merchant and Loyalist and addressed to a friend in Scotland. On June 24, 1775 the merchant wrote a detailed account of the engagements at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill that also included news of how the citizens of Boston reacted.

For teachers, a convenient transcript of this letter (ideal for classroom use) is provided at the bottom of the post, as well as links to sources offering the Patriot perspective of the same events so your students can compare. Images of the original newspaper article also appear below. The letter reads as follows:

Boston, June 24.

Dear brother,

I Received yours, by Capt. Porterfield, and I am exceeding (sp) glad to hear of your welfare. The last time I wrote, I gave you some account of the deplorable state of this province: no doubt you will expect that I should give you a very particular state of matters here since that time.

To paint the scenes of distraction, violence, mobs, riots, and insurrections that have taken place throughout this country for the last twelve months is altogether beyond my ability; how much less then shall I be able to describe the horrors of war, that have reigned here since the 19th of April. The people have been arming themselves, learning the military exercise, and forming magazines for war during the course of last year, and have always been publishing to the world, that they would fight and die for their liberties (as they express themselves): but few people believed they would fight, notwithstanding of their declarations, and I believe the General himself never thought they would carry it so far.

But on the 18th of April, the General having previous information that they had formed their grand magazine at a place called Concord, about twenty miles from Boston, dispatched 500 troops with the greatest secrecy, at ten o’clock at night, to go and destroy that magazine.

The troops no sooner got over the ferry, which was about one mile over, than alarms were spread throughout the country, by firing of cannon, ringing of bells, and post riders; all this was planned before that time. – The troops proceeded on their march, and when daylight appeared, they saw numbers of armed men traveling towards them from all quarters. In a short time after this, they found about 100 of them on a green by the wayside: the commanding officer ordered them to dismiss; they accordingly began to retire; and after going to a small distance in a straggling manner, and getting behind some fences, some of them turned about and fired, which wounded several men, upon which the troops fired on the others as they ran, and killed eight, and proceeded on their march, which was four miles further. After arriving, they sent three companies two miles beyond the place, to defend a bridge, that the rebels might not come upon them from that quarter, while they were executing their orders at this place, a large body came upon the three companies, and obliged them to return to the main body, with some loss of men. By this time the magazine was destroyed, which proved to be very inconsiderable.

They instantly proceeded on their march for Boston, but as soon as they got out of town, they received a heavy fire from all quarters, but never could see above six people together at a time, for they hid themselves behind rocks, trees, fences, bushes, and in every house, barn, stable, &c.

An Aid de Camp arrived in town from the commander of the party, to let the General know that an alarm was spread through the country: on receiving this advice, four regiments and two field pieces, were immediately ordered to march under the command of Lord Percy, to reinforce the other troops. They accordingly marched at nine o’clock, and arrived at the place of battle at two, which was 16 miles from Boston, and found the others in a most miserable situation, hemmed in on all sides, and their ammunition almost spent, with numbers killed and wounded. This party then refreshed themselves, while the fresh troops began upon them with cannon and small arms. In a short time they began their march home, and fought their way through innumerable multitudes, hid in the manner before said, during the course of 16 miles. When the troops arrived, their ammunition was all gone, and all the men in the most fatigued condition imaginable, having received no kind of sustenance during the day. Two carts with provisions were sent off some time after the reinforcement, guarded by 24 men, some of whom were killed, and the rest taken prisoners, and never got up to the troops.

A list of the killed and wounded has never been published here, but by the best account, about 70 were killed, and about 200 wounded, and 30 missing. How many of the rebels were killed and wounded is impossible to say: they published a list, but this and all other publications respecting their cause, are the most gross falsehoods; their leaders always take care to suppress the truth.

But, dear brother, it is impossible to describe the surprise, amazement, and consternation that prevailed in town that day, word was brought every half hour that the troops would be all cut off; and almost every inhabitant was wishing and praying that it might be so; and it was expected that the whole country would rise and make an attempt to enter the town, which was not very strongly fortified at that time, and but few troops to defend it; and it was likewise supposed the inhabitants within, who all had arms in their possession, would rise and attempt to kill the soldiers and the few friends to good government that were in it.

However, the night passed away, and no attempt was made from without, nor insurrection within. This place is surrounded with water all but one neck of land: the passage this way was stopped next day, and all boats forbid to go; so that no person was suffered to go out, and fortifications were begun and carried on with the greatest expedition day and night till they were made, and now are exceeding (sp) strong for defence (sp). The rebels to the amount of 20,000 assembled in a few days, and stopped all the passages and communications from the country to Boston, by this intending to starve us.

The inhabitants in general became very uneasy for fear of the famine, and applied to the General to permit them to go out with all their effects: the answer was, if they would deliver up all the arms and ammunition that were in their possession, they might go with their furniture, but no merchandize (sp) nor provisions would be suffered to go. To this they agreed, and I suppose there is not one in 15 but what is now gone. Notwithstanding we have no supplies from the country, we are far from being in a state of famine; we live all on salt meat, except a few fish that comes in the harbour now and then, and the prices are not so much raised as might be expected. The army have some hay, cattle, and other articles from Quebec and Nova Scotia, which are the only governments that are not joined in the rebellion.

From the 19th of April to the 17th of June, nothing very material has happened. On the 12th of June, the General issued a proclamation, offering his Majesty’s most gracious pardon to all who would lay down arms and return to their duty, except two of the ring-leaders; and likewise establishing the martial law in this province while this unnatural rebellion subsists; but no regard was paid to this.

On the 17th instant at daylight, it was observed by some of the ships of war, that the rebels had thrown up an entrenchment on a hill on the other side of the river, about one mile from this town: the alarm about this new movement of theirs was general; for from this, if they were suffered to go on, they could beat down or burn the town. At nine o’clock, a battery on an eminence in this town directly opposite to their works, began to play upon them, but found they could not dislodge them.

The rebels fired a few shot into this town, and then desisted, for their shot did no execution: 1800 of the rest of the troops were immediately ordered to embark on board of boats, and go and engage them, under the command of General Howe. About 3 o’clock they landed on the other side about half a mile from the rebels, under cover of 5 or 6 ships of war, who kept a continual fire on the ground betwixt the place of landing and the enemy, who chose to lie close in their breast works all this time. As soon as the troops had got themselves in order, they began to advance, canonading (sp) all the way till they came within gun-shot. Charles Town on the foot of the hill, consisting of about 200 houses, was set on fire by the fort on this side at the instant the engagement began, whose flames raged in the most rapid manner, being chiefly of wood: sure I am, nothing ever has or can be more dreadfully terrible, than what was to be seen and heard at this time! The most incessant discharge of guns that ever was heard with mortal ears, continued for three quarters of an hour, and then the troops forced their trenches, and the rebels fled.

The place where the battle was fought, is a peninsula of a mile long and a half broad, and the troops drove them over the Neck and kept the island. All this was seen from this town.

A very small part of the enemies entrenchments was seen on this side, it being only thought to be the work of a night, but their chief breast works were on the other side of the hill; it was found to be the strongest post that was ever occupied by any set of men, and the prisoners that were taken say they were 9000 strong, and had a good artillery; five cannons were taken. The spirit and bravery that the British troops exhibited on this occasion, I suppose is not to be surpassed in any history. But oh! The melancholy sight of killed and wounded that was seen on that day! In four hours after their landing not less than 500 wounded were relanded here, and 140 were left dead on the field, amongst which was a large proportion of brave officers, viz. 36 killed, and 44 wounded; 300 of the rebels were killed, and 36 wounded left on the field, but they carried off great numbers of their wounded in their retreat. To the great satisfaction of all good men, Dr. Warren was slain, who was one of their first and greatest leaders.

Early next morning I went over and saw the field of battle, before any of the dead were buried, which was the first thing of the sort that ever I saw, and I pray God I may never have the opportunity of seeing the like again. The rebels are employed since that day, fortifying all the hills and passes within four miles, to prevent the troops from advancing into the country. We hourly expect the troops to make a movement against them, but they are too few number, not less than 20,000 being equal to the task. I cannot help mentioning one thing, which serves to shew (sp) the hellish disposition of the accursed rebels, by parcels of ammunition that were left on the field; their balls were all found to be poisoned.

Thus, brother, I have endeavoured (sp) to give you a short account of the desperate state of matters here since my last, and shall sum up the whole with one single observation, viz. the delusion that reigns here is as universal and as deeply rooted as ever was found among the race of mankind, and of all other rebellions that ever subsisted in the world, it is the most unprovoked. I am, &c.

Transcript of the Boston Loyalist’s Letter of June 24, 1775

Original Newspaper Images of the Boston Loyalist’s Letter

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

Classroom exercise:

1) Have your students compare the Loyalist view of the death of Doctor Joseph Warren at Bunker Hill, contained in the above letter, to the Patriot view detailed here.

2) Have your students compare the Loyalist view of the Battle of Lexington outlined in the above letter
to the Patriot view detailed here.

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 $140 – additional adults are $14 each and additional children (12 & under) are $11 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 $180 – additional adults are $15 each and additional children (12 & under) are $12 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 $240 – additional adults are $17 each and additional children (12 & under) are $14 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

School Programs Brochure

Click on the links below to view our 2010-2011 School Programs brochure outlining field trip options for school groups.

• School Programs Brochure Side 1
• School Programs Brochure Side 2
• Field Trip Options & Pricing

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

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. Large crowds 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, 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)

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

The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment Today

Original Press Coverage — Recruiting and Fundraising for the 54th

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

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Transcript

The Liberator (Boston) March 13, 1863 — Aid Meeting/Frederick Douglass

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

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

Part 1 | Transcript

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

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

Audio link: Glory Soundtrack – Closing Credits

Alex Haley flew to Kansas City, Kansas for a reunion with Cousin Georgia. She relayed some of the same stories he had heard as a child including how the African named “Kintay” was a short distance from his village chopping wood to make a drum when he was surprised by slave catchers. She mentioned that he was taken from his homeland and put aboard a slave ship which landed in “Napolis”. Here he was sold and his name changed to Toby. The African, never accepted that name, and always took pride in his real family name “Kintay” and instilled in his daughter Kizzy a sense of who they really were. At the end of their conversation, Alex Haley recalls Cousin Georgia saying “Boy, your sweet Grandma ‘an all the rest of ‘em, they settin’ up there and watchin’ you. Now you git on outa here and do what you got to do.” Those words inspired Alex Haley to begin his 12-year search for his ancestors – a search that involved extensive travel and countless hours of research in numerous libraries and archives. During that genealogical journey, Alex Haley discovered the name of his first ancestor in America and in 1976 the story of Kunta Kinte and his descendants came to life in a book called Roots. Adapted into a television miniseries, Roots was originally broadcast in one and two-hour segments over an eight-day period in January 1977 and was seen by 130 million viewers. The sequel Roots: the Next Generations, also tremendously popular, aired in 1979. I was one of the millions of viewers who watched both programs and, as it did for countless others, Alex Haley’s work motivated me to learn more about my own family. Many years later I wrote a book that tells the tale of my Edwards ancestors – a children’s story called One April in Boston. A copy of it sits on the bookshelf in my office, side by side with a far larger book that will always mean a great deal to me – a copy of Roots signed by Alex Haley.

Since receiving the Pulitzer Prize in 1977, Roots has been published in 37 languages! Author Alex Haley died in 1992 but his legacy is quite visible today, in two spots in particular – The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial, located in Annapolis, Maryland and at his boyhood home in Henning, Tennessee. The Memorial is located at the head of the Annapolis City Harbor and marks the location where Kunta Kinte arrived. It is the only memorial in the United States to commemorate the actual name and place of arrival of an enslaved African. The beautiful memorial includes a Compass Rose, a Sculpture Group of Alex Haley reading to three children of different ethnic backgrounds as well as a Story Wall with ten bronze plaques. These plaques “share messages designed to encourage reconciliation and healing from a legacy of slavery, ethnic hatred, and oppression. They include commentary and original art about translated epigraphs from Alex Haley’s messages in Roots. The messages are universal in significance.” A few of the messages on the Story Wall plaques appear below:

When you clench your fist, no one can put anything in your hand, nor can your hand pick up anything.
Omoro Kinte, Roots

Knowledge of history can be the first step away from anger and bitterness. Truth leads to understanding. Understanding and forgiveness lead to reconciliation and healing.
• FORGIVENESS •

Your sweet grandma and all of them – they’re up there watching you.
Cousin Georgia, Roots

Knowing our family is knowing ourselves. Our values and traditions are forged through the struggle, heartache, pain, hopes and dreams of our ancestors.
• FAMILY •

The farthest-back person they ever talked about was a man they called the “African.”
Alex Haley, Roots

Alex Haley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book Roots inspires all peoples to embrace their heritage. As we discover our personal history, we realize that all members of the human family share a universal bond.
• HERITAGE •

You must hear me now with more than your ears!
Omoro Kinte, Roots

This Story Wall is dedicated to those nameless Africans, brought to the New World against their will, who struggled against terrible odds to maintain family, culture, identity and above all, hope.
• DEDICATION •

Alex Haley’s boyhood home in Henning, Tennessee is now a historical site and museum. It is located at 200 South Church Street and the hours are 10 am to 5 pm, Tuesday-Saturday; 1 pm to 5 pm, Sunday; and the museum is closed on Monday. For more information, call (731) 738-2240. West Tennessee Journal recently did an incredible segment on The Alex Haley Home and Museum and that video appears below.

Listen to excerpts from the album Alex Haley Tells the Story of His Search for Roots

View Four Treasured Video Clips featuring Author Alex Haley

Purchase Roots Today!

The Alex Haley Home and Museum (embedded below)

Video link: Alex Haley Home and Museum

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.

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)

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

In the article Mr. Lehmann gives examples of real-world learning projects his students have been involved in as well as how they have used Twitter to connect with the wider world and stay in touch with educators who have visited the school. He notes that social networking has “changed the landscape of society” and that educators must not only be aware of and embrace social networking tools but also teach students how they can utilize them for academic networking as well. The article concludes by recognizing the challenges that teachers, students and administrators face as schools race to keep up with the changes in society. The author notes that although these changes are difficult, they provide an opportunity for schools to rethink what they can truly be. “In the end,” he states “it is time to stop thinking of school as preparation for real life and instead show students that the time they spend in school can be a vital and enriching part of their very real and very important lives.” To learn more about the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and how you can receive copies of their publication Principal Leadership as a benefit of membership, visit their website: principals.org.

The insightful video below entitled “Learning to Change – Changing to Learn” features numerous educators who have reached the same conclusion about the future of 21st century education as the author featured in this blog post . The video was produced by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), the premier professional association for school district technology leaders. To learn more about this organization, as well as the benefits of membership, visit their website: cosn.org.

Video link: Learning to Change-Changing to Learn (embedded above)

Everyone on the staff at Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers is a true pleasure to work with. Founder Tim Hughes tells the story of how it all started in the Rare Newspapers Blog. He collected things as a child – coins, old books, old bottles and even old radios. One day at a local flea market he spotted a Philadelphia newspaper from 1846 for just $3. Realizing that a coin from 1846 in nice condition would cost ten times that much, he became intrigued. After leafing through the great content of the paper, he was hooked – having not only found a new collectible but the seed for a new business venture. Today Tim is still active in the business, networking and purchasing inventory across the country. President and General Manager Guy Heilenman, a former teacher himself, views early newspapers as very valuable in a classroom setting noting that they provide a glimpse at authentic history – events exactly as they were perceived by people at that time. Guy spends a good portion of his day researching inventory to fill requests from clients, managing his great staff and focusing on marketing efforts for the business. Even when things are extremely busy, Guy’s strong focus on customer service ensures that he or a member of his staff replies to emails or returns phone calls promptly. For teachers, home school parents and history buffs, Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers gets my highest recommendation.

For new customers, save 10% on your first order by using the special Teach History discount, Code # RN12X9TH when ordering either by phone or online at rarenewspapers.com. This offer may be withdrawn at any time so don’t delay – visit the website or call Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers today at 570-326-1045.

To learn more about these original, authentic and fascinating primary sources, view the following videos on collecting 18th Century (and earlier), 19th Century, and 20th Century newspapers.

Video link: Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers – 18th Century (embedded above)

Video link: Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers – 19th Century

Video link: Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers – 20th Century