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ON THIS SPOT STOOD THE

GREEN DRAGON TAVERN.

THE SECRET MEETING PLACE OF THE

SONS OF LIBERTY

AND IN THE WORDS OF WEBSTER THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE REVOLUTION

TO MARK A SITE FOREVER MEMORABLE AS THE BIRTHPLACE OF AMERICAN FREEDOM THIS TABLET IS PLACED BY THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF SONS OF THE REVOLUTION AUGUST 19 1892

Everett Hale. Every public school Every public school building in the city received a copy of this portrait; and the society continues the work from time to time, as new buildings are completed and occupied. Over eleven hundred dollars was spent in this way; and the hearty appreciation on the part of teachers, pupils and public of a fine example thus set for all our cities made it one of the most popular acts in the history of the society. To assist in the making of patriotic citizens is one of the most pleasing of all the obligations incumbent upon a public-spirited organization.

On March 15, 1895, the society held a public meeting in the Old South Meeting-house, on which occasion Mr. Edward W. McGlenen delivered his lecture on "Paul Revere and the Nineteenth of April," illustrated by numerous stereopticon views. On March 28, 1895, the city government petitioned to pass an ordinance that the flags belonging to the city of Boston should be displayed upon

was

the public buildings and grounds annually on the fourteenth day of June, this being the anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the national ensign of the United States. This ordinance was passed and approved by Mayor Curtis, December 30, 1895; but an order was passed by the city government at its meeting in March, pending a report from the committee on ordinances, that the flag should be displayed June 14, 1895, which was done, this being the first official recognition in Boston of the birthday of our national emblem. Special exercises were also held in all the schools of the city, while the press gave its enthusiastic support by calling public attention to the anniversary. On January 20, 1896, the board of managers in behalf of the society sent a petition to the representatives of Massachusetts in Congress, to use their efforts to adopt a bill preventing the use of the national ensign as an advertising medium.

April 2, 1898, a tablet was placed on the façade of the American House, on Hanover Street, Boston, to mark

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LOVING CUP PRESENTED TO THE SOCIETY BY

COLONEL WILLIAM L. CHASE.

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the site of the home of General Joseph Warren. The tablet measures twentyfour by thirty-six inches, and the inscription for it was written by Dr. Samuel A. Green, secretary of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Warren lived here from 1770 up to the time of his death at Bunker Hill.

On the one hundred and twentythird anniversary of the battle of Lexington, that "glorious morning for America," the Sons of the Revolution gathered about the tomb of Samuel Adams in the old Granary Burying Ground. For ninety-five years the spot where the mortal remains of Samuel Adams were laid away had been unmarked, and almost unknown, at least to a large proportion of the citizens of Boston. On March 26, 1898, by order of the trustees of the cemetery department of the city, the tomb was opened for purposes of identification, though it was well known that Samuel Adams was buried in the Checkley tomb, the property of his wife. It was necessary to remove the earth to about the depth of three feet before the two stone slabs which lay across the short flight of steps leading down into the mouth of the tomb could be reached. The tomb was found to be in excellent condition, perfectly intact, constructed solidly of

brick throughout, the roof being slightly curved. Every indication furnished satisfactory evidence, and left no doubts, if any existed, that the great organizer of the Revolution was laid to rest in the Checkley tomb. Samuel Adams Wells, grandson of Samuel Adams, made the following memorandum, which appears in the appendix of a

volume of poems by John Witt Randall, great-grandson of Adams:

"Samuel Adams was buried in the Checkley tomb, which adjoins the westerly sidewalk of Tremont Street in Boston. His bones were gathered into a box by his grandson and deposited in a corner of the vault. "Teste, S. A. WELLS."

The rugged granite boulder with its tablet of bronze is in perfect keeping with the ancient character of the old burying ground, in which it has found a permanent abiding place. No other form of memorial would have been so appropriate, and the selection was a happy one, typifying as it so well does the bold and firm nature of the man whose illustrious memory it guards. Placed at the head of the flight of steps leading down to the entrance of the tomb, it was unveiled with simple but impressive speech, and presented to the city which Samuel Adams loved so well.

In the same line of tombs, but on the opposite side of the entrance to the old Granary and equally distant from it, interred in the Longley tomb, repose the remains of the fiery orator and ardent patriot, James Otis. The proofs of this fact are so interesting in themselves that perhaps no

"Consolations of Solitude," by John Witt Randall, Boston, 1856, page 253.

apology is needed for recording them in which were interred the remains of

in this connection at some length. That the location of the burial place of James Otis, one of the great leaders in the Revolution, should have been forgotten for over half a century, seems almost incredible; but many circumstances tended to veil it from public knowledge. For many years queries have appeared in the daily press and historical publications asking for information on the subject. Conjectures were made that he was buried at West Barnstable, where he was born, while many have believed that he was buried at Andover, where he was killed by lightning; and this latter supposition was strengthened by the fact of his request shortly before his death to be buried on a knoll directly in the rear of Mr. Osgood's house at Andover. Local historians had looked in vain for any clew that would lead to solution of the mystery. But by collating probate records, family history gathered from various sources, and the traditions of one family connected with the Cunningham family, of the generation contemporary with James Otis, the tomb.

the Hon. James Otis, the distinguished patriot of the Revolution, was finally discovered. Thomas Bridgman, who wrote a book of epitaphs of the Granary Burying Ground, does not mention the name of Otis. The bronze tablets on the iron gates do not record the fact that James Otis is buried within the grounds. But our records are conclusive that James Otis was buried in that burying ground after his remains were brought from Andover to his dwelling in Boston, and the funeral cortège that marched from the house to the ground was one of the largest ever beheld in Boston. In the records of St. John's Masonic Lodge of Boston is recorded the fact that James Otis was made a Mason in the year 1752, and was a member of that lodge. This lodge escorted his remains to the tomb. The newspapers published at the time of Mr. Otis's death and funeral furnish but meagre accounts. The Boston Gazette or Country Journal under date of Boston, May 26, 1783, says:

"We hear from Andover that last Friday Evening the House of Mr. Isaac Osgood

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MEMORIAL TO SAMUEL ADAMS, GRANARY BURYING GROUND, BOSTON.

was set on fire and much shattered by Lightning, by which the Hon. James Otis, Esq., of this Town, leaning upon his Cane at the front Door, was instantly killed. Several Persons were in the House at the Time, some of whom were violently affected by the shock, but, immediately recovering, ran to Mr. Otis' Support; but he had expired without a groan. The Friends and Acquaintances of the Deceased are informed his Funeral is to be To-Morrow

from his House near the County Court House. Freemasons are to precede the Corps."

The Massachusetts Spy, under date of May 29, 1783, contains almost exactly the same account as above, with the following addition:

"His remains were honourably interred last Tuesday afternoon, preceded by the honourable fraternity of free and accepted masons, and followed by a long train of respectable friends."

Mr. Otis's room in the Osgood

house at Andover was on the left side of the front door; and at his death he was standing in the doorway of the room to the right. The lightning struck the chimney and followed a

rafter of the roof, which rested on one of the timbers to which the doorpost was attached. The casing of the door Mr. was split and the nails torn out. Otis's family were notified as soon as possible of the sudden death of Mr. Otis, and Samuel Allyne Otis, the youngest brother of Mr. Otis, proceeded at once to Andover and brought his remains to Boston.

Colonel Joseph May, a prominent citizen of Boston, for many years a member of the King's Chapel congregation, who died in Boston in 1841, and to whose memory a marble tablet was placed on the wall of King's Chapel, was well versed in the history of Boston. He came to breakfast after his usual morning walk, and said to the family: "I have seen something wonderfully interesting this morning. As I passed the old Granary Burying Ground, I saw that the tomb was open in which I knew were the remains of James Otis, and with the help of the sexton I opened the lid of Otis's coffin,-and behold! the coffin was full of the fibrous roots of the

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HOME OF GENERAL JOSEPH WARREN.
Formerly standing on Hanover Street, Boston.

elm, especially thick and matted about
the skull; and, going out, I looked up
at the noble elm,-and there, in trans-
figured glory, was all that was mate-
rial of James Otis." The elm re-
ferred to was undoubtedly one of the
gigantic Paddock elms, which for-
merly stood on the Tremont Street
sidewalk in front of the burying
ground. It is known that the roots of
these trees were cut away from under
the row of tombs on the front of the
burying ground, having penetrated the
flooring of the tombs. This work was
done in order to lay the large granite
wall, in front of
the tombs, on
which the iron
fence was placed.
It may be stated
that Colonel
Joseph May was
the only person
living in 1835 who
was able to iden-
tify the spot
where the victims
of the massacre on
State Street were
buried in the
Granary Burying
Ground. He stood

on the tomb with his father in the year 1770, being but ten years old, and witnessed the interment. He noted that the tomb was but a few feet from a larch tree. In 1835, when the city government proposed to erect a monument to their memory, Mr. May guided the committee to this tomb, and the remains were identified as the victims of the conflict on State St.

The remains of James Otis were interred in the Nathaniel Cunningham, Sr., tomb, numbered 40 on the Tremont Street front of the Granary Burying Ground, between the Park Street Church front and the gate of the burying ground. This tomb was built by Nathaniel Cunningham, Sr., a wealthy merchant of Boston, in 1726 (Boston records). Nathaniel Cunningham, Sr., his mother, Ruth Cunningham, his son, Nathaniel Cunningham, Jr., the Hon. James Otis, Ruth (Cunningham) Otis, wife of James Otis and daughter of Nathaniel

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