| Show 1 I in quaint old dorchester special correspondence it is anuw nearly bears since that company of strong hearted men and a together at old Plyn routh in england to fare across the seas in the good ship mary and john they knew not what the fu ture bad in store for them in the land to which they a go ing but their hearts were full of hope and they had the unfailing courage of the pilgrims who had preceded them across the water ten years before they were among many most godly and religious people that D scented from ve way of worship ikhel b law in ye realm of ena land in ve reign of king charles yet first being denied free exercise of re laiglon after ye manner according to ye light of god s word and their own consciences it was in this spirit that the foun ders of the old town of dorchester left the r homes in england in the vear 1630 to to ind the first settlement in what Is now the great conaty of suffolk in massachusetts it was on the day of march when the mary and john a ship at tons burden set sail from plymouth in command of capt squab it was on the of may when the ship with her pas fengers reached what is now the site of the town of hull and set toot for the first time on the soil of america it was through some misunderstand ing that the passengers on the mary and john were not landed at some point on the charles r ver for that was their destination however soon after landing ten of the men took small boat and rowed to the charles river in search of some favorable place of settlement the result of chii little expedition was the founding of dorchester some time about the 1st of june and in the vicinity of what is now known as savin hill but it was not until four months later that the town was given the name of dorches ter up to that time lt had retained the indian name of cattapan mattapan Mat tapan tor the land had belonged to the anbe of in deans known as the massachusetts whose chief was favor ably disposed toward the settlers one of the most notable of the pas on the mary and john was roger clap whose grave may be seen in the burying ground adjoining king s chapel he died on the second day of february hi the year 1690 91 when he was 82 years of age and the governor and the entire general court followed his remains to the grave we are also told of him that he was of a cheerful pleasant disposition and kind in his behavior free and familiar in bis conversation yet attended with proper roger clap was 21 when he came to dorchester and three years later he toot to wife pretty johanna ford a damsel of sweet 16 who bore him fourteen children to whom were given such names at preserved walt hope still unite supply thanks and de fire roger clap took his young bride to the home he had built tor her and here they lived natii the year 1665 when he removed to the castle of which was commander tor the next twenty one ears at the time of the war of the revolution the house was owned and occupied by capt lemuel clapp a relative of roger and for a time soldiers were quartered in the house and marks made by the bayo nets of the soldiers were to be seen in some of the rooms of the house roger clap kept a diary and to it we are in debated tor much valuable information regarding the hardships of the early bettler cettl er dorchester he it was who wrote ana it was not accounted a strange thing in those days to drink if water and to eat samp or without tatter or milk indeed it would have been a strange thing to see a piece of roast beef mutton or veal tho it was not long before there was roast goat another passenger on the mary and john was robert pierce and the house he built Is almost as ancient as the clap house for it was built about 1638 or 1640 and its owner was known as robert pierce of ye greater lotts william dana orcutt has given us this description of the pierce house in his good old dorchester great beams 12 by 14 inches thick are pinned together like the ribs of a ship giving a heavy appearance to the low bains cited rooms the deep windows with window seats are closed with the same wooden shutters which were house of roger clap put up to defend the early occupants from the attacks of the indians be tween the outer wall Is the identical seaweed gathered when the house was first built to serve the double purpose of protecting the inmates from the severe cold of the winter and also to serve as a safeguard against the sharp arrows of the savages As a further protection from indian attacks etere was a trap door in the garret which led to a secret chamber so in constructed that now the flooring has been laid solidly above it one examines the lower story la vain for a trace of the room which Is at least six feet square the blake house is supposed to have been built about the year 1650 by elder james blake who left it by will to his son john blake in the year 1700 the house is in the rear of fast cottage street elder blake as a man of prominence in the dorches ter of his day he held publow offices for twenty seven years and was a ruling elder of the charch at the time of his death the dolbear house was built by isaac royal in the ear 1720 his daughter zebiah married john dol bear and lived n the house which has since that time been known as the dolbear house mr dolbear was one of the odd sticks for which new england has been famous ever since the landing of the P one of his fads was ens of which he had more than any man in dorchester set ting lyens made themselves coltor abie under the chairs and sofas in his parlor and they had the free ran of the house u pigeons would perch upon bis shoulders when he wall ed about the yard and h s hens would gather around him by scores when be walked among them on the corner of school and wash ington streets is the old house n which lived tl e famous sculptor ball robert P erce house hughes from the year 1851 to the time of his death in in this house the ictor enteria ned charles dickens and jane stuart the artist and many other distinguished men and women across the street is an old house in which ed vin booth lived for a time and here his daughter was born one of the fine old mansions of other das in dorchester is the walter baker house standing far back from washington street at the corner of the park it was built about the ear 1750 by some of whom there does not seem to be any record the first pant of whom we have information was GOT oliver who lived in the house at the lime of the revolution then col hitchborn purchased the house and used it chiefly as a sum mer residence 1 the year 1817 col hichborn was a man of distinction who entertained a great deal among his guests in the fine old mansion were such notables as presidents jef ferson and monroe and in 1783 la fayette was a guest in the house when col hichborn was on his death bed president monroe came to see him and kissed him farewell it is a pity that the old everett house was razed for it was one ot dorchester s most interesting old man alons it was built in the year 1770 by col oliver a west indian planter and the rev oliver everett came here to live in here edward everett was born in the year 1794 and here the mother of edward everett hale was born and here she lived until her fifteenth year many other old houses are still standing in dorchester but they are fast passing out of existence |
