[16] A merchant and a former selectman of Boston, member of the Provincial Congress, President of the Massachusetts Board of War during the Revolution, and from Nov. 2, 1775, till his death, a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Middlesex County. He died at Weston in December, 1797; aged 79. [17] Quincy visited England in 1774, and died on the passage home, in sight of his native land, April 26, 1775. He was a lawyer, and in conjunction with John Adams, defended the perpetrators of the "Boston Massacre." [18] Lord Mahon, a candid British historian, thinks this concession unwisely denied. [19] John Rowe, a prominent merchant and patriotic citizen of Boston, died February 17, 1787; aged 72 years. He was many years a Selectman, Overseer of the Poor, and representative to the General Court, and was chairman of the committee chosen June 16, 1779, to fix the prices of merchandise, and to bring to punishment all offenders against the act against monopoly and forestalling. He was a member of the First Lodge of Freemasons, Boston, in 1740; master of the same Lodge in 1749, and fifth Provincial Grand Master in 1768. When, in 1766, Rowe was proposed for representative, Samuel Adams artfully suggested another, by asking--with his eyes on Mr. Hancock's house--"Is there not another John that may do better?" The hint took, and the wealth and influence of Hancock were secured on the side of liberty. Rowe's mansion,--subsequently that of Judge Prescott, father of the historian,--stood on the spot lately occupied by Dr. Robbins' church, in Bedford Street. A wharf and street once bore the name of this true friend of his country, but the wharf alone retains the title. Since 1856, Rowe Street has been absorbed in Chauncy Street. [20] This punch bowl is now in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society. [21] Alexander Hodgdon, mate of the "Dartmouth," was subsequently (1787-92) Treasurer of the State of Massachusetts. Stevens was at that time courting his sister (they were afterwards married), and was naturally desirous not to compromise himself or his friend. [22] The proclamation of the "King of the Mohawks," which accompanies this notice, appears to be in Proctor's handwriting. The original is in the possession of Mr. Jeremiah Colburn, of Boston. [23] See ante pp. XLIX., CVI.