Blog Profile / Boston 1775
| URL : | http://boston1775.blogspot.com/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | History / US History | |
| Posts on Regator: | 1987 | |
| Posts / Week: | 7.3 | |
| Archived Since: | March 3, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
Richard Palmes Gives More Testimony—and This Time It’s Personal
After providing testimony for an inquest on 6 Mar 1770, apothecary Richard Palmes testified four more times about the Boston Massacre: He provided a deposition for Boston’s official report on the event, titled A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre. Show More Summary
Richard Palmes’s Inquest Testimony
Richard Palmes had a front-row view of the Boston Massacre. He was close enough to Capt. Thomas Preston that, as he later said, “my left hand was on his right shoulder.” At Preston’s trial Palmes said, “The Gun which went off first had...Show More Summary
The 2013 Boston Massacre, 2 March
The Boston Massacre will come early this year!The Bostonian Society’s annual reenactment is scheduled for Saturday, 2 March, starting at 7:00 P.M. That’s the Saturday nearest the actual anniversary on the 5th. Unless the weather is rainy...Show More Summary
Visiting the Durant-Kenrick House on Film, 28 Feb.
On Thursday, 28 February, at 7:00 P.M., Historic Newton and the Newton Free Library are sponsoring a free showing of the documentary “The Durant-Kenrick Homestead: A House of Many Stories.” The event description says:Built in 1734 and...Show More Summary
Seeing the Death of Christopher Seider
If I ever get the chance to curate an exhibit about Ebenezer Richardson’s killing of Christopher Seider in 1770 (with, of course, no limit on space or money), the portrait of Madam Grizzell Apthorp that I showed yesterday is one item...Show More Summary
Grizzell Apthorp: Widow, Employer, Property Owner
This is an image of Robert Feke’s portrait of Grizzell Apthorp (1709-1796), made in the late 1740s. The original now belongs to the De Young Museum in San Francisco.The sitter was born Grizzell Eastwick in Jamaica. Her maternal grandfather was Sir John Lloyd, a baronet. Show More Summary
The First News of Christopher Seider’s Death
On Thursday, 22 Feb 1770, the Boston News-Letter contained this item in italics at the bottom of its local news: This Instant we hear that one Richardson having attempted to destroy some Effigies in the North End, the Lads beat him off...Show More Summary
Washington’s Birthday at Washington’s Headquarters
Tomorrow, 22 February, is the date America finally settled on as the anniversary of George Washington’s birth. And shortly before the Bicentennial the federal government established its Washington’s Birthday (Presidents’ Day) holiday...Show More Summary
Monarchism in Mid-1780s Massachusetts?
As I noted a couple of days ago, in 1779 a group of gentlemen began meeting annually in Milton to celebrate the birthday of George Washington. On 10 Feb 1784, the day before the “birth of the illustrious General WASHINGTON, is to beShow More Summary
Washington’s Birthday Shifts
When George Washington was born, the British Empire was still using the Julian Calendar and refusing to abide by the more accurate, but papist, Gregorian Calendar. His birth was recorded as coming on 11 Feb 1731/2. The format of that...Show More Summary
Washington’s Birthday Observed in Milton
Over a century ago, Albert Matthews of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts was keeping his eye open for newsaper reports of Americans celebrating George Washington’s birthday. His earliest find appears to be in John Gill’s Continental...Show More Summary
The Real Lessons of the Three-Fifths Compromise
American historians’ Twitter feeds lit up yesterday with links and responses to an essay from James Wagner, the president of Emory University, extolling the value of compromise. Though the essay started talking about national politics, by the end it was clear that Wagner was also addressing the opposition to his program to change the university. Show More Summary
“I have myself a large share of malicious Slander”
When James Warren wrote to Elbridge Gerry on 20 July 1788, the two political allies were digesting the legal ratification of the new U.S. Constitution, which they had opposed.Warren and his wife Mercy had just moved out of the mansion in Milton where Gov. Show More Summary
Gerry and Warren, Anti-Federalist Allies
The Massachusetts Historical Society recently bought a 1788 letter from James Warren to Elbridge Gerry (shown here) that hasn’t appeared in any published correspondence of the two politicians. It does appear online at the Wisconsin Historical...Show More Summary
American Revolution Conference in Williamsburg, 22-24 Mar.
America’s History, L.L.C., is sponsoring its second annual Conference on the American Revolution in Williamsburg, Virginia, on 22-24 March. Although there are academics on the list of speakers, this conference is not designed for academic scholars and job-seekers but for independent researchers and history buffs. Show More Summary
Predictions for America
In his column in yesterday’s New York Times, David Brooks wrote: In 1800, Noah Webster projected that the U.S. would someday have 300 million citizens, and that a country that big should have its own dictionary. Actually, the passage Brooks alluded to came from a preface Webster wrote for a reissue of that dictionary in 1828. Show More Summary
Peirce Family Anecdotes about Henry Knox
In 1849 Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review published an obituary of a descendant of Joseph and Ann Peirce, apparently based on information from the family or even written by a member of the family. That article turns out...Show More Summary
Henry Knox and the Boston Tea Party
An email from a Boston 1775 reader after yesterday’s posting made me look into Henry Knox’s actions during the tea crisis of 1773. That political event occurred between when Knox badly injured his hand in a shooting accident and when he paid his doctors, both attached to the royal military. Show More Summary
Henry Knox’s Thank-You Letter
On 10 Feb 1774, a young Boston bookseller wrote this florid thank-you letter:Sir: The mariner, when the danger is past, looks back with pleasure and surprize on the quicksands and rocks he has escaped, and if perchance it was owing to...Show More Summary
Update #3: Mysteries of the Elizabeth Bull Wedding Gown
Last November I attended an event at the Bostonian Society about one of its prize artifacts, the Elizabeth Bull wedding dress, which was about to be sent off for study and conservation. I’m no expert in fashion, either eighteenth-century...Show More Summary