The Romance of Old New England RooftreesCrawford, Mary Caroline
History
The Romance of Old New England Rooftrees
Crawford, Mary Caroline
Historic buildings -- New England; New England -- Biography
There the marks still remain, their significance having after a half
century been interpreted by a lady of the house to whom they had long
been familiar, but who had lacked any clue to their origin until, in the
course of a private investigation, she determined beyond a doubt their
relation to Church. The chamber has two windows in the north front, and
two overlooking the area on the south.
Church's fall was the more terrible because from a height. He was a
member of a very distinguished family, and he had been afforded in his
youth all the best opportunities of the day. In 1754 he was graduated at
Harvard, and after studying with Doctor Pynchon rose to considerable
eminence as a physician and particularly as a surgeon. Besides talents
and genius of a sort, he was endowed with a rare poetic fancy, many of
his verses being full of daintiness as well as of a very pretty wit. He
was, however, somewhat extravagant in his habits, and about 1768 had
built himself an elegant country house near Boston. It was to sustain
this, it is believed, that he sold himself to the king's cause.
To all appearance, however, Church was up to the very hour of his
detection one of the leading patriots of the time. He had been chosen to
deliver the oration in the Old South Meeting-House on March 5, 1773, and
he there pronounced a stirring discourse, which has still power to
thrill the reader, upon the massacre the day celebrates, and the love of
liberty which inspired the patriots' revolt on that memorable occasion.
Yet two years earlier, as we have since discovered from a letter of
Governor Hutchinson, he had been anonymously employing his venal pen in
the service of the government!
In 1774, when he was a member of the Provincial Congress, he was first
suspected of communication with Gage, and of receiving a reward for his
treachery. Paul Revere has written concerning this: "In the fall of '74
and the winter of '75 I was one of upwards of thirty, chiefly mechanics,
who formed themselves into a committee for the purpose of watching the
movements of the British soldiers and gaining every intelligence of the
Tories. We held our meetings at the Green Dragon Tavern. This committee
were astonished to find all their secrets known to General Gage,
although every time they met every member swore not to reveal any of
their transactions except to Hancock, Adams, Warren, Otis, Church, and
one or two others."
The traitor, of course, proved to be Doctor Church. One of his students
who kept his books and knew of his money embarrassment first mistrusted
him. Only treachery, he felt, could account for his master's sudden
acquisition of some hundreds of new British guineas.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account