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colonies and of the Continental Congress, by their acts or counsel achieved the independence of the country; to inspire the members of the society with the patriotic spirit of their forefathers; and to promote the feeling of friendship among them."

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A committee of three was appointed as the "tablet committee,' whose duty should be to select sites of important events connected with our Revolutionary history, and to commemorate them with tablets descriptive of these events. The committee proceeded immediately to act in accordance with the vote of the board; and the first site selected for commemoration was the Green Dragon Tavern, which stood on Union Street, not far from Hanover. Through the courtesy of the Lodge of St. Andrew, the present owners of the property, a suitable place for the reception of the tablet was provided in the front wall of a building then in process of erection upon the site, as nearly as this can be determined, of the Green Dragon Tavern. The tab

let was unveiled without formality on August 19, and placed in the keeping of St. Andrew's Lodge.

Towering lone and grim at the summit of a solitary hill, its peculiar shape and time-worn walls making it a conspicuous feature in the landscape, the Old Powder House at Somerville has always been an object of curiosity to the visiting stranger; but while its form was so familiar to the public, its true history was not as well known. The Powder House, or old mill, has few rivals in the country in historical interest. The exact date when it was built is not known. It was originally a gristmill and was undoubtedly built several years previous to 1720, and for some time after that it continued to grind the corn for the neighboring farmers. After varied experience as a powder house, it came in 1836 into the possession of Nathan Tufts, in whose family it remained until turned over to the city of Somerville in 1892. This old relic of bygone days is about thirty feet high, with a diameter of fifteen feet at

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the base. Its walls, which are of bluestone, probably quarried on the hillside, are two feet thick. Within, the structure formerly had three lofts, supported by heavy beams. These have been removed, and the interior is entirely empty. Originally it had but one entrance, that on the southwest side. A narrow porch of brick stood over the door at one time, but this has fallen down, and most of the bricks have been removed. It now bears upon its northerly side a bronze tablet, measuring thirty by forty-two inches, presented to the city of Somerville on November 21, 1892, and accepted by the city government, December 14, 1892, by the passage of the following order:

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"Ordered, that the bronze memorial tablet recently placed upon the Old Powder House, and presented to the city by the Massachusetts Society of Sons of the Revolution, by its letter of presentation received this day, be and hereby is accepted by the City Council for and in behalf of the city, with a hearty concurrence in the sentiment expressed by the society in its letter of presentation, that 'the tablet may serve to remind the present generation, and the generations which shall follow, of the patriotic deeds of our heroic forefathers.'"

The society observed the one hundred and sixty-first anniversary of the birth of Washington by holding a commemorative service in King's Chapel, February 22, 1893.

The scholarly oration by Francis Ellingwood Abbot, historian of the society, had for its theme "The Boston Tea Party." *

records in the office of the secretary of state engaged the active interest of a committee appointed by the board. of managers.

On Tuesday, April 4, 1893, a public meeting was held at Chickering Hall, called by a committee of the Sons of the Revolution, to take action regarding the protection of all public parks in Massachusetts, including Boston Common in particular, against attack by interested parties representing syndicates This or corporations. meeting, over which the late Colonel Henry Lee presided, was composed of many of Boston's distinguished citizens, and made a spirited and effective protest, which, for that time at least, preserved the integrity of the Common for the use and benefit of the

The printing of the Revolutionary people.

*This address, fully illustrated, was published in the NEW ENGLAND MAGAZINE for June, 1893.

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The same year the society placed two bronze tablets, one to mark the

site of the home of Samuel Adams, on the corner of Winter Street and Winter Place, and the other, the finest tablet yet placed in Boston, to commemorate the destruction of the tea, December 16, 1773.

The home of Samuel Adams was a three-story wooden house fronting on the street, with an L, and in the rear a garden. A substantial looking building, built early in the eighteenth century and originally painted yellow, in its later days it had taken on a dingy and weather-beaten appearance. Its front door, ornamented with a

Street had formerly been known as Blott's Lane and Bannister's Lane; and in the early part of the century the houses on the same side of the street were of a similar style to that of Mr. Adams, with the exception of a few small shops, one of which, a barber's, stood next to Mr. Adams's residence and between it and Tremont Street. On pleasant days, in his declining years, Mr. Adams's erect figure, a little above the medium height, in tie wig, cocked hat, buckled shoes, knee breeches and red cloak, would be seen in front of his domicile.

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brass knocker, was surmounted over its arched entrance by a bow window. A single step admitted to the broad entry, from which heavily capped banisters led to the upper stories. On the ground floor, with their windows descending to within two feet of the ground, were parlors, one of which was used as a library by Mr. Adams. The parlor was spacious, having a large fireplace, with its huge brass andirons and its surrounding of blue tiles. On the walls were paintings of Mr. and Mrs. Adams and pictures of prominent Americans. The thoroughfare which is now known as Winter

The Tea Party tablet was unveiled on the one hundred and twentieth anniversary of the deed of which it marks the site, at the corner of Pearl Street and Atlantic Avenue. The inscriptions for tablets placed up to this time were written by Francis Ellingwood Abbot, Ph. D., historian of the society.

On February 22, 1894, in the Old South Meeting-house, fine framed photogravures of Gilbert Stuart's portrait of Washington, known as the Athenæum portrait, were presented to the school children of Boston, in behalf of the society, by Rev. Edward

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 NARK 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 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

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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.

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.

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