Online Tools to Investigate the Myths of American History

Today I’m speaking at History Camp Boston, the gathering of history researchers, writers, and buffs organized by the Pursuit of History.

I’ve spoken at each annual History Camp Boston, and it will be good to return after two years in which the pandemic made such a congregation too risky.

Back in late 2019 or early 2020 the founder of the Pursuit of History, Lee Wright, suggested I speak at the next History Camp about debunking myths of Revolutionary history. I decided it would be better to focus on tools for people doing their own research. And then I had other, heavier things on my mind for more than two years.

But at last History Camp Boston is taking place, and my talk is:

Digging and Debunking: Using Online Tools to Investigate the Myths of American History

From Founders’ quotes to inspirational legends to details that historians have repeated for so long that nobody considers where they came from, our history abounds with assertions that we should be skeptical about. This workshop discusses how to assess such historical tales and tidbits. It will share tactics for using Google Books and other free resources to pinpoint when and where stories arose, and lay out the dynamic of “grandmother’s tales,” “memory creep,” and other ways legends spread. And every so often these techniques reveal that a story almost too good to be true is supported by solid evidence.

I expect to touch on the following websites since I use them regularly when I research new topics and details about individuals.

Google, especially Google Books, sometimes augmented with Google Ngram Viewer
HathiTrust Digital Library
Internet Archive

Founders Online
Colonial Society of Massachusetts publications
Massachusetts Historical Society Coming of the Revolution and other resources

Sites on false quotations from famous Founders
Monticello’s spurious quotes page
Mount Vernon’s spurious quotes page
Wikiquote

Language sites
Etymonline
Merriam-Webster
Johnson’s Dictionary Online

JSTOR (I can access through the Newton Free Library; a card from the Boston Public Library, which any Massachusetts resident can apply for, also offers access to electronic resources)

American Archives

Newspapers
GenealogyBank (paid subscription)
Harbottle Dorr collection of Boston newspapers at the Massachsuetts Historical Society
Virginia Gazettes at Colonial Williamsburg

Genealogy sites (for vital records)
Early Vital Records of Massachusetts
FamilySearch
Geni
American Ancestors (N.E.H.G.S.) for local probate files, real estate, &c. (paid membership)

Fold3’s Revolutionary War Pensions (paid membership)

Sources on the naval war
American War of Independence at Sea
Three Decks
Naval Documents of the American Revolution

Town, state, and federal government records
Massachusetts House Journals
Massachusetts census of 1765
Boston town records
Boston tax records for 1780
A Century of Lawmaking on the Continental Congresses

History Camp 2022 (and a History Slam)

History Camp Boston is coming back to Suffolk University after two pandemic years of online substitutes!

The 2022 gathering is scheduled for Saturday, 13 August, starting with a light breakfast before 9:00 A.M. and ending with a trivia competition in the evening. Here’s the growing lineup of presentations planned for the full hours in between.

Note that there are separate registrations for the event, for the T-shirt, for the lunch, for a fund-raising reception on Friday, for the trivia, and for tours on Sunday.

I’m prepping for two Saturday sessions this year: a workshop about online tools and resources useful for digging into historical stories and, if necessary, debunking them; and a panel discussion on presenting history beyond the printed page.

I’ve participated in every History Camp Boston and am even on the board of the non-profit that sponsors the event, The Pursuit of History. So obviously I’m a fan. But I can heartily recommend this event to other fans of history.

Though academic and professional public historians do participate in History Camps, the core of the presenters and attendees are amateurs, drawn by their pure interest in learning and in sharing what they’ve learned. The result is like a fan convention for historical research. It’s not only a fun way to learn, but also a fun way to connect with like-minded people.

If that’s too long to wait for an unconventional history convention, Revolutionary Spaces has announced its “first-ever History Slam” on Sunday, 12 June. The organization promises “a night full of raucous history presentations (we dare you!), music, drinks, and snacks… and a little friendly competition!” And it asks:

Are you a historian or student of history (or just like talking about history, ‘cause that is totally cool, too)? Sign up to rock it out onstage! (Plus a small stipend for slammers!)

We challenge our historians to up their game for the prize of an adoring crowd and bottle of a fine, fine nightcap. The gauntlet: a bombastic, five minute talk with ten slides, showcasing an American Changemaker under the age of 30. The audience will exercise their civic responsibility and vote for their favorite historian or hero.

Of course, it’s not a real party without somebody playing a guitar (“Anyway, here’s ‘The Liberty Song'”), so come for the history and stay for the music. Beer (provided by Dorchester Brewing Company), soda, and excellent snacks will also be available. When else do you get to party in an 18th century meeting house?

That meeting house is Old South, where the action will begin at 7:00 P.M.

Two Online Talks about The Road to Concord

I’m doing a couple of online author talks about the start of the Revolutionary War this month.

On Tuesday, 19 April, the exact anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, I’ll speak with Roger S. Williams at History Author Talks.

While the anchor of that discussion will be The Road to Concord, I expect we’ll also cover what happened after the British army set out along that road, myths and misconceptions about that day, and the uses of Revolutionary heritage in modern culture and politics.

Use this page to register for this free event. We’ll start at 7:00 P.M. There’s a chance to send questions to Roger during the session, and he makes the videos available online afterward.

On Monday, 25 April, I’ll do an online presentation about The Road to Concord and answer questions for the American Revolution Round Table of Philadelphia.

That event is for members only, and it won’t be recorded, but there’s still time to join that organization and gain access to upcoming author talks. The list of past speakers shows that the group brings in some excellent authors, as well as myself.

Finally, if you want a signed copy of The Road to Concord for yourself or a valued friend, you can order one or more through this page at the History List.

Revolutionary Lectures from Five Different Years

This has been a busy week in video events for me. I delivered two live talks, video-chatted with the Mount Vernon Book Group, and recorded a story for an upcoming National Park Service project.

Meanwhile, videos of several older events got posted. So if you have nothing else to watch on this weekend—after all, it’s just the basketball and the movie awards—here are some video links.

The Dedham Museum & Archive recorded the talks that Katie Turner Getty, Christian Di Spigna, and I delivered earlier this month on 6 March. Katie spoke about women at the Boston Massacre, Christian about Dr. Joseph Warren’s career, and I about the evidence and unanswered questions about Crispus Attucks. We also fielded audience questions. So be aware, the video of this “Revolutionary Martyrs” program runs about an hour and forty-five minutes.

The Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site has posted the videos of four lectures I delivered around Evacuation Day in recent years. The National Park Service works to ensure all its videos are accessible to people with limited sight or hearing, so these include captions and descriptions.

I started delivering Evacuation Day lectures at Washington’s Headquarters several years ago when I was working on a historic resource study for the agency. At first I drew on chapters from that study. Later I started to pull out stories spread out over several chapters, or topics on which I’d found new material. Looking back, I’m surprised I’ve found so much to say.

• 2017: “Washington’s Riflemen: Heroes or Headaches?”
• 2018: “Myths and Realities of Col. Henry Knox’s First Mission”
• 2019: “When John & Abigail Met George: The Adamses’ Encounters with Washington”
• 2020: “Native Americans at the Siege of Boston”

Each of these presentations was about an hour long, with questions at the end. They were made possible by the Friends of Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters and the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati. Enjoy.

“Revolutionary War Refugees on Tory Row,” 20 Mar.

This is Evacuation Day in Suffolk County, celebrating when the British military left Boston in 1776.

In commemoration of the Continental Army’s first successful campaign under Gen. George Washington, I’ll deliver an online lecture for the Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site and the Friends of Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters.

Sunday, 20 March, 2:00 P.M.
Revolutionary War Refugees on Tory Row
register through this page

Our description:

Like all armed conflicts, the start of the Revolutionary War produced a flood of refugees seeking safety. Loyalist families moved into Boston for the protection of the redcoats. Patriot families fled the besieged capital. The Battle of Bunker Hill destroyed most of Charlestown, leaving more people desperate for homes and livelihoods. Tracking the changes in one wealthy Cambridge neighborhood away from the battles shows the impact of war on ordinary women, children, and men.

As I’ve developed this talk, I realized that I should move beyond the 1774–1776 years I usually cover to discuss when thousands of homeless men, women, and children streamed slowly along the road from Watertown into Cambridge.

Hannah Winthrop, wife of a Harvard College professor, described those people rather uncharitably:

To be sure the sight was truly Astonishing, I never had the least Idea, that the Creation producd such a Sordid Set of Creatures in human Figure—poor dirty emaciated men, great numbers of women, who seemd to be the beasts of burthen, having a bushel basket on their back, by which they were bent double, the contents seemd to be Pots & kettles, various sorts of Furniture, children peeping thro gridirons & other utensils. Some very young Infants who were born on the road, the women barefoot, cloathd in dirty raggs

Such Effluvia filld the air while they were passing, had they not been smoaking all the time, I should have been apprehensive of being Contaminated by them.

Winthrop was so hostile because those refugees were the British and German-speaking soldiers captured at Saratoga, along with their families. They were to be housed around Boston before being sent back to Europe. At least that was the initial plan for what became known as the Convention Army.

When I alighted on the topic of war refugees for this year’s Evacuation Day lecture, I had no idea how loudly it would resonate with current events. Or to be more exact, since war has never stopped sending families fleeing somewhere in the world, how loudly this topic resonates with the current news.

We plan to record this talk and make it available through the sponsoring organizations later this spring.

Massacre Commemorations in Dedham and New Bedford, 6 Mar.

The final events of the Dr. Joseph Warren Foundation’s commemoration of the Boston Massacre will be on Sunday, anniversary of the doctor’s second memorial oration.

Sunday, 6 March, 1:00–3:00 P.M.
Boston’s Revolutionary Martyrs: Those Involved & Those Forgotten
Dedham Historical Society and Museum
612 High Street, Dedham

On March 5, 1770, British troops fired on protestors in a skirmish that became known as the Boston Massacre. In this in-person program a panel of scholars will discuss one of the most recognized events in American history and some of the pivotal individuals involved—Who died? Who witnessed the violence? Who shaped the memory?

J. L. Bell will discuss Crispus Attucks, a man of mixed race killed at the riot, and how he has been remembered at different points in history. Katie Turner Getty will share her research into women and children who witnessed the deadly interactions between colonists and British soldiers. Christian Di Spigna will reveal new discoveries about Dr. Joseph Warren and his pivotal role in the Massacre's aftermath and its enduring legacy. Finally, there will be an opportunity for discussion and book sales.

A fifer and drummer will perform outside the museum’s entrance, welcoming guests in celebration of the museum’s first in-person event since March 2020. Inside the hall attendees can view some relics of Dr. Warren’s life and Dedham’s history.

Admission will be $15 to benefit the Dedham Historical Society. Reserve seats through this page.

Sunday, 6 March, 7:00–9:00 P.M.
Boston’s Revolutionary Martyrs
Masonic Hall
435 County Street, New Bedford

The Massachusetts Freemasons host this final event, which will feature two presentations followed by a question-and-answer session.

“Boston Massacre and Its Place on the Road to American Independence”: What was it about that “Horrid Affair in King Street” that led to the Boston Massacre having an enduring place in American memory and historical thought? Jonathan Lane will discuss how a violent affray in the streets of Boston led to a propaganda coup on behalf of the Sons of Liberty; the unlikely defense of the British soldiers by John Adams and Josiah Quincy; and how their successful legal defense led to the foundational American principle of the rule of law.

Lane is currently coordinator of Revolution 250, a consortium of more than 70 organizations across the commonwealth, working together on the commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution. He is the author of numerous small monographs and editor of From the Potomac to the Etowah, the Civil War Correspondence of Alonzo Hall Quint.

“The Martyr & the Massacre: The Story of Dr. Joseph Warren”: The Boston Massacre stands as one of the most memorable events in American History. Yet often overlooked is the man who helped immortalize the event—Dr. Joseph Warren. Discover Warren's pivotal role in the Massacre's aftermath as we highlight new discoveries and deconstruct why he remains a forgotten figure even though his fingerprints left an indelible mark on the Massacre's enduring legacy.

Christian Di Spigna is the author of Founding Martyr: The Life and Death of Dr. Joseph Warren, the American Revolution’s Lost Hero. He graduated summa cum laude with a degree in History from Columbia University and is currently the Executive Director of the Dr. Joseph Warren Foundation.

This event is free, but the host asks attendees to register in advance here.

Co-sponsors of this series of events including the hosting organizations, Revolution 250, the Massachusetts Freemasons, the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Henry Knox Color Guard.

“Boston’s Revolutionary Martyrs” Panel in the Back Bay, 5 Mar.

Here’s the second panel discussion about the Boston Massacre that I’ll participate in this week, on the exact anniversary of the event (and of most of the memorial orations that followed).

Saturday, 5 March, 2:00–3:30 P.M.
Boston’s Revolutionary Martyrs
American Ancestors Research Center, 99-101 Newbury Street, Boston

The lineup of topics:

“Young Martyr: The Short Life of Christopher Seider” presented by J. L. Bell — On February 22, 1770, a protest by Boston boys spiraled into a violent confrontation that ended with a customs officer killing a child named Christopher Seider. This young son of immigrants from Germany was thus the first person killed in Boston’s confrontation with the Crown. The town’s political organizers organized a grand funeral for the boy, raising public passions that fed into the Boston Massacre one week later. What does genealogical research reveal about the Seider family, their young son, and the man who killed him?

“Women Witnessing a Massacre” presented by Katie Turner Getty — On the night of March 5, 1770, a crowd, variously described as “a motley rabble of saucy boys,” “mostly boys and youngsters,” “near 200 boys and men,” and “a parcel of Rude boys,” gathered in King Street and famously hurled oyster shells and chunks of snow and ice at British troops. When the soldiers fired on the crowd, five of these boys and men were shot and killed. In the aftermath of the shooting, dozens of male eyewitnesses gave depositions and testified at the ensuing trials. But did any women or girls witness the Boston Massacre? If so, what did they see and how have their voices reached us today?

“The Martyr & the Massacre: The Story of Dr. Joseph Warren” presented by Christian Di Spigna — The Boston Massacre stands as one of the most memorable events in American History. Yet often overlooked is the man who helped immortalize the event—Dr. Joseph Warren. Discover Warren's pivotal role in the Massacre's aftermath as we highlight new discoveries and deconstruct why he remains a forgotten figure even though his fingerprints left an indelible mark on the Massacre’s enduring legacy.

The presentations will be followed by questions from the audience.

This event at the New England Historic Genealogical Society was organized by the Dr. Joseph Warren Foundation in partnership with Massachusetts Freemasons, Revolution 250, and the Massachusetts Society Sons of the American Revolution.

Artifacts from the life of Dr. Joseph Warren will be on display as part of a discussion of what martyrdom means in political organizing and historical memory. We’ll have books available for sale and signing as well.

Admission to this event is $15 to benefit the N.E.H.G.S. Register through this site.

“Revolutionary Martyrs” Panel in Framingham, 4 Mar.

There won’t be a reenactment of the Boston Massacre outside the Old State House this year, but there will be other, mostly indoor events commemorating that 1770 milestone. And I’m involved in some of them, including this one.

Friday, 4 March, 7:00 P.M.
Boston’s Revolutionary Martyrs
Framingham History Center

The Boston Massacre is one of the most famous events in American history, but many details about the episode remain mysterious. Was it really the first fatal violence of the Revolution? What do we know about the most famous victim, Crispus Attucks? How many victims ultimately died from the shooting? Was the famous Massacre engraving really designed by Paul Revere? How did Revolutionary leaders like Dr. Joseph Warren keep the memory of the Massacre alive? And how did the idea of martyrdom shape the cause of American liberty?

This event will consist of three presentations followed by a question-and-answer period. The panelists will be:

• Katie Turner Getty, speaking on women at the Massacre. All the soldiers and all the people shot were male, but women were also on the scene and testified about what they experienced. 
• me, J. L Bell, talking about Crispus Attucks, a native of Framingham. What clues can we glean about his life from the record of 1770, and what additional sources and theories have surfaced in recent years? 
• Christian Di Spigna, author of a biography of Dr. Joseph Warren, speaking on the annual orations in Boston that honored the Massacre’s martyrs and how the only two-time orator became a martyr himself.

Also on hand will be the Henry Knox Color Guard, who will demonstrate musket firing on the town common. Inside the Framingham History Center will be a one-night display including a full-scale replica of John Singleton Copley’s portrait of Warren, a portion of the doctor’s missing medical ledger, and the doctor’s Bible, now owned by the Massachusetts Freemasons.

This panel discussion was organized by the Dr. Joseph Warren Foundation to observe the anniversary of Warren’s first oration about the˜ Massacre in 1772. Other sponsoring organizations include the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Massachusetts Freemasons, and Revolution 250.

Tickets for this event are $15 to benefit the Framingham History Center. There are no plans to put the presentations online live. To register, follow the instructions on the Framingham History Center webpage.

(The photo above shows Framingham’s Crispus Attucks Bridge, courtesy of David Strauss.)

The Road to Concord through the Other Quincy

The latest episode of the History Ago Go podcast features host Rob Mellon and me talking about The Road to Concord and the Battle of Lexington and Concord that followed.

Here are links to this episode through various platforms:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts
• Google Podcasts
• I Heart

Rob Mellon is the executive director of the Historical Society of Quincy & Adams County, Illinois. This Quincy has the last syllable pronounced “see” and not “zee,” as we do here in Massachusetts.

After we finished recording, I told Rob about how I’d tried to visit Quincy during one of my first vacations as a working adult, when I attended Tom Sawyer Days in Hannibal, Missouri. Quincy is just across the river. But in that year of 1993, the river was in flood, and the bridges were all closed. So it’s still on my list.

Rob informed me that Quincy was named after John Quincy Adams. In fact, when the settlement originally called Bluffs took that new name in 1825, the people honored the incoming President in three ways. They named their county Adams, their town Quincy, and their central intersection John Square.

Since then, though, they renamed the town square after Washington. The Adams family would no doubt say that was typical.

“Stamp Act Memes” Online Talk on 9 Sept.

On Thursday, 9 September, I’ll deliver the latest version of my online talk “How Americans Fought the Stamp Act with Memes” via the American Revolution Round Table of New Jersey.

For details about that event and how to cadge an invitation, see this description.

This event feels bittersweet because I had the pleasure of speaking to this group in Morristown once and had planned to be there again. I was even building a longer trip around the event with archive and family visits. But “community spread” of the Covid-19 virus has risen again, and we decided that it’s safer to avoid large gatherings.

Speaking of large gatherings, my talk will explore how crowds, with the help of newspaper printers, defined the details of an anti-Stamp Act protest in August 1765, and then repeated that action with variations for months until they made the law a dead letter.

We can see that effect in this 6 September letter from the Philadelphia printer David Hall to his mentor and business partner in London, Benjamin Franklin:

We are all in a Ferment here, as well, as in the other Governments, about the Stamp Law taking, or not taking place.

You, very probably before this can reach, may have heard of Mr. [Andrew] Oliver, the Stamp officier being hanged in Effigy in Boston; a House pulled down, which was supposed to have been erected for the Business of the Stamp Office, and other Damage done him; upon which he resigned and, it is said, wrote home to the Commissioners of the Stamp-Office, letting them know that he could not put the Law in Execution; and that he believed it impracticable for any One else to do it.

Soon after this Mr. [Augustus] Johnston, appointed for Rhode Island; Mr. [James] McEvers for New York, and Mr. [William] Coxe for New Jersey, all gave up their Commissions.

At New-London the Stamp Officer has likewise been hanged in Effigy. And at New-Haven the House of the Officer there, has been beset by a Number of People, who desired to know whether he intended to act in that office, or resign? His Answer, it is said, was, that having accepted the Office in Person he did not think he had Power to resign. They then demanded whether he would deliver the Stamp Materials, as soon as they arrived, to them, in Order to make a Bonfire, or to have his House pulled down? Upon which he promised, that when they Arrived, he would either reship them to be sent back, or that when they were in his House, his Doors should be open, and they might then act as they thought proper, on which they despersed.

Mr. [Jared] Ingersoll has likewise been hanged in Effigy [actually, all those preceding Connecticut events were aimed at Ingersoll], as has Mr. [Zachariah] Hood, the officer for Maryland.

Mr. [George] Mercer, the Officer for Virginia, is not yet Arrived, but the People of that Colony, are much enraged.

Mr. [John] Hughes [of Pennsylvania] has not yet resigned; whether he will, or not, I cannot say, but I understand his Friends are all endeavouring to get him to resign.

In short, there seems to be a general Discontent all over the Continent, with that Law, and many thinking their Liberties and Privileges, as English Men lost, or at least in great Danger, seem Desperate. What the Consequences may be, God only knows; but, from the Temper of the People, at Present, there is the greatest Reason to fear, that the Passing of that Law will be the Occasion of a great Deal of Mischief.

The most awkward part of the news for Franklin was that he had used his influence as a lobbyist to get Coxe, Hughes, and Hood appointed as stamp agents in their respective colonies. The patronage job was supposed to be a pleasant surprise. Instead, those men came under threat, and Hood actually had to decamp for New York.

“How Americans Fought the Stamp Act with Memes,” 9 Aug.

On Monday, 9 August, I’ll deliver an online talk to the Paoli Battlefield Preservation Fund on “How Americans Fought the Stamp Act with Memes.”

Here’s our event description:

The word “meme” is a modern coinage expressing how ideas replicate, spread, and mutate like genes, and the conflict over the Stamp Act shows memes at work in the Revolutionary era.

When news of the new tax arrived in North America in the spring of 1765, it produced an unprecedented wave of protests. Colonial politicians and printers promoted that opposition with slogans like “Sons of Liberty,” repurposed images like the “Join, Or Die” snake, and a radical new form of outdoor political protest that edged into riots. As those activities spread from colony to colony, they created the first continental resistance to imperial policy.

How effective was the anti-Stamp campaign, what problems did it cause colonial leaders, and what new ideas did it establish for the next imperial dispute?

I’m still honing my talk, but it could take in fake news about Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin’s bad timing, and Richard Henry Lee leading a procession of his slaves while dressed as a clergyman.

Sign up for this event here, and learn more about the Paoli Battlefield while you’re at it.

A Preview of History Camp America 2021

Via Vimeo, here’s a preview of my video presentation “Washington in Cambridge and the Siege of Boston” prepared for History Camp America 2021, an online event coming up on 10 July.

I’ve presented at History Camp Boston since its beginning and at a couple of Pioneer Valley History Camps as well. They’re fun events that bring together academic historians, public historians, living historians, independent historians, and unabashed history buffs (often overlapping categories) to learn about all sorts of topics and research.

Unfortunately, for the last two years the Covid-19 pandemic has made large public get-togethers risky. In 2020 the History Camp organizing team produced America’s Summer Road Trip instead.

This year, the team invites people to register for History Camp America, gaining access to over two dozen video presentations covering a wide range of subjects (listed here). Registration costs $94.95, and for another $30 folks can receive a box of goodies from History Camp sponsors and participating historical sites. Households who register can watch videos and participate in scheduled live online discussions on 10 July, and they’ll have access to the entire video library for a year.

When I first thought about presenting at History Camp America, I pictured another live Zoom talk. But we’ve seen a lot of those, right? Then Lee Wright of History Camp and I developed a way to take better advantage of the video format by recording segments at more than half a dozen historical sites linked to Gen. George Washington’s mission in Massachusetts in 1775 and 1776.

We still have stuff to learn about making such videos, from wardrobe choice and collecting good sound next to traffic to remembering which of the four lessons I talk about is number two. But overall I’m pleased with the way this video turned out. I’ll tune in on 10 July to offer commentary and answer questions in the session chat room. I hope you folks will join me!

History Camp America 2021 and Other Conferences to Enjoy

I’ve been presenting at and enjoying History Camp Boston since 2014 (as shown here). Last year the pandemic stopped this conference from happening. This year, the prospect of traveling and gathering is still uncertain, though the situation is looking better and better rather than worse and worse.

History Camp is therefore going online live and national on 10 July, with presentations from 8:45 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Eastern time.

The organization has just issued an invitation to people interested in presenting live talks about historical topics to propose sessions. There’s no limitation by theme, geography, period, or methodology. Talks in the past have covered historical people and events, research methods, challenges in managing historic sites, and more.

The organizing schedule is:

• Presenter applications due by Tuesday, 1 June
• All presenters informed of status by Thursday, 10 June
• All presenters must register for the conference by Tuesday, 15 June
• Speakers supply final titles, descriptions, bios, and headshots by Thursday, 17 June
• Training and testing of people’s connections and graphics begin Thursday, 1 July
• History Camp America 2021 on Saturday, 10 July!

As at the Boston and other regional History Camps, anyone with knowledge about a historical topic is welcome to propose a presentation. Because of the limited number of slots, however, I expect the choice of sessions will be strict and narrow. The organization offers detailed guidance about presenting for people not used to the format.

Meanwhile, History Camp is still producing its weekly online discussions with historical authors and experts every Thursday at 8:00 P.M. Eastern. All those videos are available for viewing.

In other news about non-academic history conferences, the Fort Plain Museum has announced new, later dates for two of its events in central New York:

• Annual American Revolution Mohawk Valley Conference, 6-8 August
• First Annual Sir William Johnson and the Wars for Empire Conference, 15-17 October

Regrettably but understandably, the American Revolution Conference organized by America’s History, L.L.C., at Colonial Williamsburg in recent years has been cancelled for 2021. All of us who enjoyed that gathering hope to see it return in some way in a healthy new year.

Evacuation Day Lecture Now Online

I’ve put “The End of Tory Row,” my Evacuation Day talk for Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters, online at YouTube.

Because this was an online talk, I loaded my PowerPoint up with more graphics. I hope those survive my clicking while speaking, the Zoom recording, and finally the compression for YouTube.

One thing I said in the talk is that no one could figure out why the Crown chose Thomas Oliver to be Massachusetts’s new lieutenant governor in 1774. At forty years old, he was hardly a senior figure among supporters of the royal government, and he hadn’t been active in politics. The best explanation seemed to be, I said, that bureaucrats in London got him mixed up somehow with the family of his predecessor, Andrew Oliver.

After the talk, John W. Tyler, currently editing The Correspondence of Thomas Hutchinson for the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, sent me the text of Gov. Hutchinson’s letter to the Earl of Dartmouth on 29 Mar 1774. That document shows that I wronged Thomas Oliver—at least one person in Massachusetts thought he could be a capable lieutenant governor.

This letter shows that after Andrew Oliver’s death Hutchinson sent four names of possible stand-ins to the Secretary of State’s office. The governor wanted someone who could back him up, not knowing that he would soon be superseded by Gen. Thomas Gage.

The four names Hutchinson proposed were:

• William Browne of Salem. As of 29 March, he asked to be considered for a seat on the Massachusetts Superior Court instead, and was indeed appointed to that bench just in time for the courts to be shut down.
• William Burch, a Customs Commissioner born in England and based in Massachusetts since 1767—Hutchinson’s top choice.
• Thomas Flucker, the provincial secretary.
• Thomas Oliver.

About the last, Hutchinson wrote:

There is a gentleman of the same name with the late Lieut. Governor but of another family Thomas Oliver Esq. of Cambridge, now Judge of the Provincial Court of Admiralty which he must quit in case of his appointment. He has a handsome Estate, is a very sensible man & very generally esteemed. He is Cousin German to Mr. [Richard] Oliver the Alderman and City Member. I know not how the Alderman stands affected to Government but this Gentleman has been steady in his opposition to all the late measures and I think the Administration in case of the absence of the Governor may be safely trusted with him.

Lord Dartmouth’s office thus had a little information about Thomas Oliver and knew that he wasn’t from the same family as Andrew and Peter Oliver. His distant cousin Richard Oliver was about to speak out against the Boston Port Bill in Parliament, but the government didn’t hold that against Thomas.

Hutchinson was anxious to have a lieutenant governor in place because if he died, became ill, or left the province without one, the power of acting governor would fall to the Council, led by its senior member, and the Council was more and more ranged against him. Again, Hutchinson didn’t know that in August that elected Council would be replaced with one appointed from London.

Thus, I was mistaken in saying no one in Massachusetts considered Thomas Oliver to be lieutenant governor material. He was at the bottom of Hutchinson’s short list, but he was on the list.

Three New Interviews

A couple of weeks ago I wore collared shirts and shaved almost every day of the week.

That’s because I was scheduled to participate a series of online conversations that were recorded for viewing.

First, I spoke with Bob Allison and Jonathan Lane of the Revolution 250 coalition about young Christopher Seider, his killer Ebenezer Richardson, and what date was really George Washington’s birthday. Here’s the link to the video and the audio.

The next day I connected with Christian Di Spigna of the Dr. Joseph Warren Historical Society to interview Mitch Kachun about the place of Crispus Attucks in American history and culture. Kachun’s book is First Martyr of Liberty. Here’s the video.

Finally, on Friday Christian and I linked up again to talk with Nina Sankovitch about her story of three intertwined families from north Braintree (now Quincy), Amerian Rebels: How the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy Families Fanned the Flames of Revolution. Here’s that video link.

Behind me in the videos are the shelves I set up last month in an attempt to get my books more organized. I’ve already assembled three more bookcases, with another two to follow. And I’m not close to caught up yet.

“The End of Tory Row” Online, 11 March

On the evening of Thursday, 11 March, I’ll offer an online presentation for the Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site about “The End of Tory Row.”

For the past several years, I’ve spoken about that mansion’s Revolutionary history each March around Evacuation Day.

Usually those talks have focused on Gen. George Washington, who used the house as his headquarters from July 1775 to April 1776, and challenges he faced. Last year, for example, I shared information about Native American visitors to Cambridge during Washington’s time and his efforts at diplomacy on the continent.

That was the last public event I attended for many months. The audience was small and the chairs distanced, according to the protocols of the time. Soon most local institutions shut down completely for visitors. Historical talks moved online, which has brought both technical difficulties and benefits in wider access.

This year’s talk will look at how what’s now Brattle Street in Cambridge became a neighborhood of wealthy households, all related to John Vassall, the man who in 1759 commissioned and moved into that mansion. And how in September 1774 that enclave dissolved under political and militia pressure. I’ll also discuss how that neighborhood’s lifestyle depended both economically and in daily life on the exploitation of slavery.

I’ve discussed the Vassall family and the events of September 1774 before, but this year I’m trying to make more of the online format by incorporating more visuals and perhaps even moving footage. There will be a live question-and-answer session after the presentation.

This online event is free to all through support from the Friends of Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters, the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati, and the National Park Service. To register in order to receive the viewing link, please start at this page. The event will start at 7:00 P.M. on Thursday.

Losing Sight of William Molineux—Live Chat

From the Transactions of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts:

A Stated Meeting of the Society was held at the house of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, No. 28 Newbury Street, Boston, on Thursday, January 28, 1926, at three o’clock in the afternoon, the President, Samuel Eliot Morison, Ph.D., in the chair.

The Records of the last Stated Meeting were read and approved.

Mr. George P. Anderson spoke on William Molineux (1717–1774), a militant Boston Patriot, giving a biographical account of him and pointing out his connection with the political activities of the time.

[FOOTNOTE: Mr. Anderson’s paper will be printed in the Transactions of a future meeting.]

Alas, no such paper was ever published by the Colonial Society or elsewhere.

According to this finding aid from the University of Vermont, Anderson also “collected transcripts, chronology, notes, photocopies, articles, and other research on Thomas Young, an important figure in the American Revolution and the early history of Vermont, for a biography that was never published.” Again, alas.

Other scholars have studied Young, but Molineux has kept out of focus, in large part because he didn’t leave a body of written work. Indeed, when his public-works spinning venture prompted one of those long, drawn-out newspaper arguments in the early 1770s, someone else (maybe Young) wrote the articles on Molineux’s side. 

But we can’t understand Boston politics between 1767 and the end of 1774 without factoring in Molineux. I had a very long chapter about him and his untimely death in The Road to Concord, but it overloaded the book, so I took it out. Hopefully, it will evade the curse of Anderson’s paper and pop up somewhere else.

Tonight I’m scheduled to chat about Molineux with Jason on the Founder of the Day livestream, going live on Youtube at 8:15 Eastern time. We’ll see if I can control myself. Molineux couldn’t always do that.

A Chat with D. Brenton Simons

Last month I had the pleasure of chatting on video with D. Brenton Simons, president of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society, and Christian Di Spigna, author of Founding Martyr.

The conversation, set up by the Dr. Joseph Warren Historical Society, focused on Simons’s work as a genealogist and head of the nation’s oldest genealogical research library. We used connections to Joseph Warren to illuminate those topics.

For instance, I asked Simons to talk about one of the episodes from his well researched and entertaining book Witches, Rakes, and Rogues that led up to the 1765 bankruptcy of merchant Nathaniel Wheelwright. That failure influenced Warren in two ways: his mother was one of the many other people who also had to declare bankruptcy, and Warren himself ended up administering the Wheelwright estate for the probate court.

This interview was recorded on video (though I think the audio is all one really needs), and posted both in the Dr. Joseph Warren Historical Society’s series of interviews and in the N.E.H.G.S.’s new “Antiquarto” conversations with Simons.

Atlas of Boston History Wins Historic New England Book Prize

Historic New England (formerly the Society for the Protection of New England Antiquities) has awarded its 2020 Book Prize to The Atlas of Boston History, edited by Nancy S. Seasholes and written by her and a bevy of contributors, including me.

The society honors “a book that advances the understanding of life in New England from the past to today by examining its architecture, landscape, and material culture.”

About this year’s winner it says:

The book traces the city’s history and geography from the last ice age to the present with fifty-seven beautifully rendered maps. Thirty-five experts in a variety of fields contributed to the publication. From ancient glaciers to landmaking schemes and modern infrastructure projects, the city has been transformed almost constantly over the centuries. The Atlas of Boston History explores the history of the city through its physical, economic, and demographic changes, and social and cultural developments.

Historic New England also named two titles as Honor Books for the year:

• Connecticut Architecture: Stories of 100 Places by Christopher Wigren of Preservation Connecticut.
• The Paintings of J.O.J. Frost: An American Story by Bethe Lee Moulton.

All three could of course make good holiday gifts for the right people.

In other present-day news, last week I spoke to Bradley Jay and Prof. Robert Allison for the Revolution 250 podcast. I was prepared to speak about the Boston Massacre trials and other Sestercentennial events. But Bob and Bradley wanted to talk mostly about my projects, so you’ll learn more about the background to this blog. Find the episode here or wherever you download podcasts.

Peeking in on Pope Night in 1770

Earlier this fall, Boston 1775 reader David Churchill Barrow asked me what Pope Night was like in Boston in 1770, 250 years ago today.

After all, that loud, political, and occasionally violent 5th of November holiday fell in between the first two trials for the Boston Massacre. The Whigs were offering people plenty of reasons to be angry at Lt. Gov. Thomas Hutchinson and the Customs Commissioners. There were no soldiers stationed in town to stamp out disorder (not that they’d stopped riots the previous fall).

Hutchinson himself acknowledged the likelihood of unrest when he wrote to his boss in the Colonial Office, the Earl of Hillsborough, on 26 October. Commenting on how Massachusetts had mostly calmed down, he said:

Even in Boston there is a more favorable appearance & I shall advise the Commissioners of the Customs to leave the Castle after the 5th of November when we must expect some degree of Riot and to hold their Board in Town or if they prefer it near the Town.

So what actually happened on Pope Night in 1770? Which hated figures were hanged in effigy? Who was the target of nasty slogans on the giant lanterns?

To judge by surviving sources, the 1770 holiday was mostly staid, and no one bothered to record details about the youths’ processions. Richard Draper’s 8 November Boston News-Letter reported:

Monday last being the Anniversary of the happy Deliverance of the English Nation from the Popish Plot,—Divine Service was performed at King’s Chappel, and a Semon on the Occasion was preached by the Rev’d Dr. [Henry] Caner.

At twelve o’clock the Guns were fired at the Batteries in this Town:—At one o’ clock those at Castle William were fired, and on board his Majesty’s Ships, Frigates, &c. in this Harbour.

Just as the Guns were firing at one o’clock a Ship newly built, belonging to John Hancock, Esq; was launched at Mr. [Moses] Tyler’s Yard at the North-End.

A Number of Pageants customary on the 5th of November, was carried through the principal Streets, by some of the young People of the Town, and in the Evening Bonfires were made of the Pageantry.

The Boston Gazette and Boston Evening-Post reprinted those remarks. The Massachusetts Spy said nothing.

Merchant John Rowe usually mentioned Pope Night in his diary, but not in 1770. Young printer John Boyle noted the death of Gov. Sir Francis Bernard’s son but not the holiday. Other diarists likewise wrote nothing of the celebrations that year.

All that suggests that Pope Night 1770 was peaceful. How did a date that had been raucous only a few years earlier appear so tame in a year with so many enemies to resent?

The explanation, I think, is precisely because those Massacre trials were still going on. They put the town on its best behavior. Politicians probably spread the word that inhabitants had to show the rest of the British Empire how they were patriotic and peaceful, not riotous zealots. Mobs could not be seen as undercutting the local court system, prejudicing jurymen, or threatening officials with violence.

Therefore, the processions were probably tame. There was no fight between the North End and South End gangs before the bonfires. The newspapers emphasized Boston’s patriotism and commerce, treating the customary “Pageants” as an afterthought.

For more about the roots of Pope Night and its role in Boston’s Revolution, especially in more interesting years, check out my online talk to Boston by Foot tonight.