Happy St. Patricks Day!

St. Patrick

Today is St. Patrick's Day, not only a state holiday in Ireland but also a popular holiday in the U.S. and Great Britain due to the diaspora of the Irish from Ireland in the 19th century. St. Patrick's Day is also the anniversary of the British Army and Navy beginning the evacuation of occupied Boston in 1776 during the American Revolution. This is celebrated as Evacuation Day in Massachusetts and is considered a state holiday in Suffolk County and for many state employees.

The importance of St. Patrick's Day and the juxtaposition of Evacuation Day in the city of Boston and its environs today is somewhat ironic in that during the time of the Revolution, Catholicism was very unpopular. There were many reasons for this, to include King Henry VIII's bitter break with the Roman Catholic Church, the constant threat of attack from the French-Catholic settlements in Canada (a threat which ended at the conclusion of the French and Indian War) and most importantly the founding of Boston by the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

For many years Bostonians celebrated Popes Day on November 5 (Guy Fawkes Day in England). The day was marked by bonfires and the dragging around of a stuffed dummy that represented the Catholic Pope. Anti-Catholic feeling was to continue for many years in Boston and even led to street riots and attacks upon our French allies during America's War for Independence on the occasion of military set-backs during the war.

The old ways changed along with the demographics of Boston and many of America's city's when the Irish began to emigrate to the New World in large numbers. This was to have a great affect on America and especially its politics. The effects were most pronounced in the nations big city's and eventually led to the election of two Presidents of Irish-American descent. The influx of Irish immigrants also was to greatly aid the Union Army during America's Civil War.

Harvard College Founded

Massachusetts Hall
Harvard Yard
Cambridge, Mass.

On October 28, 1636 the Great and General Court of the Masachusetts Bay Colony voted to establish a "New College" to train the next generation of scholars. It was decided to locate the new college in New Towne or Newetowne, a village on the banks of the Charles River. In 1638 minister John Harvard of nearby Charlestown died leaving his library of 400 books and a sum of money to the new school. The college was then named Harvard in his honor. Also in 1638 the village was renamed Cambridge after the famous university in England.

Today Harvard College is just one of the schools that make up
Harvard University. Considered one of the most prestigious universities in the world, having started with humble beginnings, it is also the wealthiest. Harvard University is still managed under its original charter by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, making it the oldest corporation in the New World.

It must be Witchcraft ...

Witchcraft was blamed when a riot broke out on Sunday during a football (soccer) match in the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the BBC a keeper (goalie) was caught throwing something into the net of the opposing team. He was accused of engaging in witchcraft and a fight broke out. When police tired to separate the combatants the fighting escalated into a riot. The violence and the use of tear gas is blamed for causing a panic which resulted in the deaths of thirteen people.

What is meant by the term witchcraft has changed over the years, varying from country to country and over time. Its basic meaning today is simply the practice of performing ritual magic to gain power over people, affect events or to attain unusual personal powers - all by some extraordinary, supernatural means.

Some have tied witchcraft to paganism, an ancient religion practiced world-wide that placed an emphasis on the worship of multiple gods, most especially the gods and goddesses having influence over nature and fertility. The Celtic people of Western Europe practiced an elaborate form of paganism that included Druid priests and sacred forests and isles. When the Roman Empire made Christianity its official religion, the Druids came to be viewed as enemies of the state and were all but obliterated.

Beginning as early as the late-Crusades in Europe, Christianity again took a violent and intolerant path when it began prosecuting those who were thought to be different or even heretics. Witchcraft came to be viewed as literally doing the Devil's work. Those who were accused of witchcraft were believed to be in league with the Devil and were treated as heretics. As heretics they were subjected to trial and/or torture to determine their guilt. Those who were found guilty were often sentenced to death, usually by being burnt at the stake.

These "Witch Hunts" continued until well in the 17th century and engulfed thousands of people all over Europe. Kings and Pontiffs made use of the hysteria to rid themselves of their enemies or those they feared were too powerful. The leaders of the Order of the Knights Templar, who had become rich and powerful as the bankers of Europe, were accused of horrible crimes to include witchcraft and some were brutally tortured and killed. The religious Order was subsequently dissolved. Many other groups were persecuted in the same manner.

In 1692 the Witchcraft hysteria reached the British colonies in America. It was in that year that throughout Essex county, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, witch trials were conducted. The most famous of these trials were held in Salem. The hysteria began when local children began having fits and behaving like they were mad or maybe even possessed. Upon questioning the children claimed to be the victims of witchcraft. They were also more than willing to accuse some of their neighbors as being witches.

From such a small beginning events took on a life of their own. Prominent members of the colony including the well-known Boston Puritan minister, Cotton Mather, took up the cause and actual trials by jury were conducted. Most of the victims of what came to be know as the Salem Witch trials were not surprisingly elderly women. One of the victims was Rebecca Nurse who lived in what is now Danvers. She was found guilty of being a witch by a jury and sentenced to hang. Her home still exists and is owned and managed by a non-profit organization. A monument was dedicated in 1885 to her memory and can be found on the property.

All together some 150 people were put on trial. Nineteen women and men were found guilty of practising witchcraft and were hanged. One man was pressed to death by stones as he was being questioned. At least four people accused of witchcraft died while in jail. Eventually the hysteria died down, the remaining prisoners were freed and the trials came to an end. But many years were to pass before any apology or admissions of guilt were made by those who were responsible for this great miscarriage of justice.

Mass. Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission signs

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Tercentenary Commission

(1630-1930)

In 1930 during the 300th anniversary of the establishment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the New World a special commission was established to mark the occasion. As part of its work the commission located historic sites in the Commonwealth and marked them with large black and white cast iron signs. Dozens of the signs were cast and then mounted or supported with poles and placed throughout the state. Some 78 years have passed and many of the signs are gone, but there are still some of them out there to be found. Here are just a few I have run across.

William Blaxton

William Blaxton Plaque
Beacon St.
Boston, Mass.

The Reverend William Blaxton (1595-1675) was the first European settler on the Shawmut peninsula - the future site of the Town of Boston. The peninsula was dominated by three large hills overlooking forested land, a protected harbor and a river (the Charles) that emptied into a marshy estuary. Connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land, Shawmut was quite secluded and private - which, according to old accounts, was just how Rev. Blaxton liked it.

An Anglican Minister, educated at Cambridge in England, Blaxton arrived in the New World in 1623 with a group of settlers. When his fellow travelers moved back to England in 1625, Blaxton stayed on and settled onto Shawmut, living by himself. In 1629 Puritan settlers, seeking to establish a Massachusetts Bay Colony, arrived in what is now Charlestown - just across the harbor from Shawmut. Founding a viable community in that location proved to be difficult due to a lack of drinking water.

The official version of what happened next is that in 1630 Reverend Blaxton invited his new neighbors to come share the peninsula with him. At this time Shawmut consisted of some 487 acres of land, so there was plenty of room. John Winthrop, the governor of the colony, then made a deal with Blaxton buying the rights to the land, but leaving him with some 45 acres. This acreage encompassed a portion of Beacon Hill and the Boston Common.

In 1634, finding the Puritans difficult to live with - they were fervent believers in religious intolerance - Blaxton ended up selling his land back to them. The Boston Common (land) was thereby established and used for the training of militia and the grazing of cattle. After the sale Rev. Blaxton headed south and built a home in what is now part of Rhode Island.

Roger Williams was yet another refugee from Governor Winthrop's "city on a hill" who headed for Rhode Island. The two men became friendly and the Reverend Blaxton often gave sermons to Williams flock. Blaxton lived in a solitary house on a hill overlooking a river and filled the home with books. He married late in life and had one child. Blackstone Massachusetts, the Blackstone River and its valley are all named after him.