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:

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

*

"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 Placed at the memory it guards. 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 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.

in which were interred the remains of 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

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 was split and the nails torn out. Mr. 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 brought his remains to Boston.

and

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

Cunningham, Sr., and a number of others of this family are buried in this tomb. The slate slab on the tomb bears the inscription only of George Longley, 1809. The absence of the names of Cunningham and Otis from the tomb slab, together with the early death of Mr. Otis's family, caused the identification of this tomb with the name of Otis to be obscured. The tomb, after the death of Nathaniel Cunningham, Sr., was held by Ruth, Sarah and Nathaniel Cunningham, Jr. Nathaniel Cunningham, Jr., dying soon after his father, left the two daughters, his sisters, Ruth and Sarah, heirs of the tomb. Ruth married James Otis, and, as her husband never owned a tomb, caused his remains to be placed in this tomb, of which she was part owner and which contained the remains of her ancestors.

Besides the heirship to the Cunningham tomb by the James Otis family, traditions have been handed down by well-known families that James Otis's remains were buried in the Cunningham tomb. In the items. of expense in settling the estate of James Otis appears a charge made by

his brother, Samuel Allyne Otis: expenses to Andover, £5.8; also the bill for the coffin, £ 12.6.

On July 15, 1898, the anniversary of the storming of Stony Point by Anthony Wayne, a boulder and tablet in memory of Otis, similar to the memorial already dedicated to the memory of Samuel Adams, was unveiled in the presence of a large gathering and presented by the Sons of the Revolution. to Mayor Quincy, who accepted the gift in behalf of the city. These two simple monuments shall bear witness to generations yet unborn, that the descendants of the men who stood behind Adams and Otis, perhaps tardily, yet worthily honored their memories. The inscriptions for the Adams and Otis tablets were written by Dr. Samuel A. Green.

September 17, 1898, was a perfect day; and on the morning of that day the members of the society with invited guests took the train for Rutland, Massachusetts, the home of General Rufus Putnam, the founder of Ohio.

It was

in every sense a "field day," made memorable by the brilliant oration of Senator Hoar on the life and services