The “Incident on King Street” happened on 5 March
1770. Due to some unpopular legislation
from England, Boston residents became unruly so soldiers were stationed in
Boston to maintain order. Relations were
tense between civilians and representatives of the British crown. On this day the British soldiers killed five
civilian Boston residents.
The “incident” now known as the Boston Massacre
started when a mob began to harass a British sentry. Snowballs and objects were thrown, and the
soldiers fired into the crowd. Eight
soldiers, one British officer and four civilians were arrested. Tensions heightened when Paul Revere (and
others) published propaganda that spread throughout the colonies. In the court case that followed, six of the
soldiers defended by John Adams were acquitted.
The American Revolution broke out
five years later, after further tensions between the colonies and the Crown broke
down diplomatic relations, and the Intolerable Acts led to the Boston Tea Party
and the eventual showdown at Lexington and Concord.
Since my family tree included many Boston families,
I took a closer look to see if anyone witnessed or participated in any of the
events around the Boston Massacre. I was
happy to find quite a few connections!
Thomas Wilkinson was married to Rebecca Cocks in
Boston on 2 December 1756. In attempting
to connect this Thomas Wilkinson to my 6x great grandfather Thomas Wilkinson
(abt 1690 – about 1740) who lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, I found that
this Boston Thomas was the great grandfather of my 1st cousin
several generations removed. I have
traced the Boston Wilkinsons and found much good information, but no Wilkinson
connection. This Thomas died in 1809 in
Boston, and was a member of the New North Church. He testified at the court case where John
Adams represented the British soldiers.
His testimony:
"Thomas
Wilkinson, sworn. Do you know either of
the prisoners? Yes, I know Montgomery,
he used to live close by my house; I
know none of the rest. I was a thome the
whole evening, the Old South bell rung for nine as usual; about a quarter
after, I heard Mr. Cooper's bell ring. I
went out and swa the Old South engine hauled out. I ran down as far as the town pump, there
seemed to be a considerable body of people and some with buckts. The people out of the champber windows, said,
do not go down there, you will be killed.
I saw ten or twelve of the soldiers with naked cutlasses by Boylston's
alley. I saw them with their cutlasses
and bayonets drawing up towards the people.
I went back and stopped at the main-guard. Were there a number of the town's people
there at that time? Yes, and many with
buckets in their hands. Were they
contending with any body? No, they wee
standing in the street. What were the
soldiers doing? They were brandishing
their swords and sallying up to the people, but I did not tarry there one
minute. What number of people were
there? Thirty or forty. Had the persons the soldiers came up to, anything
in their hands? No, they had nothing but
buckets. I took it they were brandishing
their swords at the people, but I saw them strike nobody. I went to the main-guard, I saw the sentries
before the guard-house, walking as usual.
I stayed on purpose to see somebody come back from Boylston's alley, to
know if any were wounded. People were
coming down from the south end, crying where is the fire? where is the fire? I said there is no fire but the soldiers were
fighting. At that time, in King Street,
I do not think you could see a man, chid, or boy passing. I stood there at the main-guard for about
four minutes. The Old Brick Bell began
to ring, and the people seemed to come along fast, with buckets and bags. Did Mr. Cooper's bell ring before? Yes, a good while. Could you see the sentry at the Custom house
where you stood. No, I stayed there
about five minutes, and in a very short time I looked down King street, and saw
thirty or forty people in King street; Capt. Preston came down to the
main-guard, as it were from behind the Brick meeting, and said turn out, damn
your bloods, turn out. A party of
soldiers turned out, Montgomery amongst them;
I was going to Montgomery to ask what they were going to do? They drew up in two files, I think there were
eight men, Capt. Preston drew his sword and marched down with them, and I went
down as far as Mr. Waldo's shop with them, I thought they were going to relieve
the guard. After that, I went up by the
main guard again, having left the soldiers on their march down from Waldo's
shop, and passed round the Town-house, came down the north side of it, and went
down King street, and got within two yards of the right of them; I saw Capt.
Preston standing at the right of the circle; I stayed there about four minutes
when I heard the word given, fire! There
was none fired then. Then I heard, damn
your bloods fire! Instantly one gun went
off; I saw the flash of every gun as they went off, one after another, like the
clock striking. Where did the firing
begin? I began at the right. Did you see Montgomery after he got down
there? No. Where did you stand when the guns were
fired? I stood about two yards to the
right, in Royal Exchange lane, and towards the back of the soldiers; I am positive the firing began a the right
and went on to the left. I counted the
guns. How many were fired? Seven fired and one flashed. Was there a longer distance betwixt the first
and second gun, than betwixt the rest?
No more than the rest I think.
Did you see any man fall? I did
not. There was a large opening at the
centre, but on the right and left wings the crowd was close and thick. Could you see all the soldiers? No, I could not, there were many people
between me and the soldiers. Did you see
the person who held the gun that flashed?
Yes, but did not know him.
Whereabouts was he standing? I
believe by the flash, he was the third or fourth man from the right. Did you see any thing thrown at any of them
before the firing? No, I stood all the
time they were there, and saw nothing thrown at all. Did you see any body knocked down? No.
You saw no ice nor snow balls?
No, I did not. Did the people
round you seem to be pressing on as to injure the soldiers? No; had I seen anything being thrown, I would
have gone away. Did you see any blows
given by any body, before or after the firing?
No, I did not. Do you know Mr.
Palmes? No; I saw a man talking wiht the
officer. Do you know Mr. Bliss? No Did
you hear any huzzaing? Yes, before the
party marched down, there were were two or three huzza, but afterwards none at
all. How many people do you imagine were
there? Sixty or seventy. From the time they went from the main-guard,
till the firing, how long was it? It was
not more than ten or twelve minutes."
[History of the Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770: Consisting of the
Narrative by Frederick Kidder, Albany, NY: Joel Munsell, 1870, pages
144-146]
My second cousin 9 generations removed is Isaac
Greenwood. He is listed among the
witnesses, but I haven’t found his testimony.
Richard Dana (1700 – 1772) is a 2nd cousin 9 generations, removed.
He was a lawyer in Marblehead and Boston. He was a member of the committee that
investigated the Boston Massacre, and died before the Revolution started. When John Adams became president he stated “had
his life been preserved he would have furnished one of the immortal names of
the Revolution” [American Historical
Magazine, by the publishing society of New York, Americana Society, Volume
1, November 1906, No. 6, page 465].
Jane (Franklin) Mecom (1712-
1794) is a 1st cousin 8x removed.
As a woman, her most of her papers were not saved and any diary did not
survive. She lived in Boston, and was
the youngest of seventeen children. She
cared for my great aunt, Abiah, in her old age, and witnessed an extraordinary
time period in Boston. But her brother
was famous, and her letters to him were saved. She said of the mobs "what
a wretched world would [this] be if the vile of mankind had no Laws to
[re]strain them!" Yes, her brother
was Benjamin Franklin. According to Jane Franklin Mecom: A Boston Woman in Revolutionary
Times, by Neremy A. Stern, Princeton University, The McNeil Center for
Early American Studies, 2006 “A copy of
the long section dealing with Benjamin's attitude to his office was made by
Jane, and ended up in the British Library. It clearly came there from Cooper's
papers, seized by British forces in 1775. Unfortunately, Jane’s letters to her
brother for the next several years do not survive and once again she must be
seen mainly in her brother’s replies.” Benjamin Franklin did not return to Boston
during the years Massacre, Tea Party and of the Revolution, but we can catch a
glimpse of the family life from these bits by Jane.
My 6x great uncle, General John
Glover (1732 – 1797), married Frances Hitchborn as his second wife, and she was
the 1st cousin to Paul Revere!
This is my closest connection to the famous Paul Revere who is most
known for his “Midnight Ride” to warn the countryside that the British Regulars
were marching to Concord. However, his
propaganda posters and cartoons like the one he produced about the Boston
Massacre were probably his biggest political move of the era. Many, many men were out riding to warn the
countryside about the British soldiers marching to Lexington and Concord, but
this one cartoon roused the thirteen colonies to action in the first place!
UPDATE! A loyal reader sent me this link to the story of his ancestor, Dr. Elisha Story, who treated Robert Patterson after the Boston Massacre (he was wounded in the arm with gunshots). This link is to a post at J.L. Bell's blog "Boston 1775" http://boston1775.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr.%20Elisha%20Story
UPDATE! A loyal reader sent me this link to the story of his ancestor, Dr. Elisha Story, who treated Robert Patterson after the Boston Massacre (he was wounded in the arm with gunshots). This link is to a post at J.L. Bell's blog "Boston 1775" http://boston1775.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr.%20Elisha%20Story
To Cite/Link to this post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Boston Massacre, 5 March 1770", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 5, 2012, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/03/boston-massacre-5-march-1770.html: accessed [access date]).
No comments:
Post a Comment