John Hancock & the June 6th Insurrection

After almost nine hours of sleep on Sunday night, both Kathy and I agree, vacation is wonderful. We're staying for three days at the Holiday Inn in Quincy, just south of Boston. We chose this location because I'd heard horror stories about driving in Boston, and most of the downtown hotels charged $50 a night for parking. The hotel is right across the street from the subway (MTBA), so after a good breakfast at our hotel we purchased a one-day pass and headed downtown for Boston Commons and the Freedom Trail.

The reloadable subway pass is called a Charlie Card, named after the fictional character in Jacqueline Steiner's song "MTA", about a man who is forever trapped on the Boston subway system because he can't pay the five-cent surcharge required to leave the train. Our one-day pass was $12.50 which doesn't sound all that bad, actually. The version of the song that I remember is this one, which was sung by the Kingston Trio in the 1960s. 

Our hotel is right on the Red Line, so it only took us about a half hour to get to the Park Street station, right on Boston Commons. In the 1990s, Kathy had an opportunity to stay with Elisabeth Elliot at her home in Massachusetts. While Kathy was there, Elisabeth had a speaking engagement at the Park Street Church and Kathy got to accompany her. 

Founded in 1809, the church acquired the name Brimstone Corner, not necessarily for the fiery sermons that were preached there, but because the crypt was filled with gunpowder during the War of 1812. On July 4, 1829, William Loyd Garrison preached his first anti-slavery sermon from the pulpit, and on July 4, 1832 the song America (My Country 'tis of Thee) was sung for the first time on the church steps.

We had a map of the freedom trail, as well as the excellent audio guide from the National Parks Service app. However, when we got to the Visitor's Center, a Freedom Trail Foundation tour was just leaving, and so we decided to take that instead. These tours are each let by an 18th century costumed actor, one of the Freedom Trail Players. Our tour guide was John Hancock.

One of our first stops was the Granary Burying Ground, right next to Park Street Church. Sam Adams, Paul Revere, Ben Franklin's parents and possibly Mother Goose are all buried here. There is also a tomb for John Hancock, but he took pains to tell us that his body had been stolen and no one now knows where it lies. 

About a half block down we saw King's Chapel, the first Anglican church in Boston. (Remember, the original settlers were Puritans, and so their churches were Congregational). In 1785, King's Chapel became the first Unitarian Church in America. Right next to it is Boston's first cemetery. John Winthrop and Mary Chilton, the first woman to step off of the Mayflower, are buried here. (I didn't take this picture. It's from Wikipedia.)

The Old South Meeting House is the second oldest church in Boston. Built in 1729 it was the largest building in Boston during Colonial times. As a result, it was often used for public meetings, the most famous of which occurred on December 16th, 1773 when 5,000 gathered to protest the tax on tea.

You all know what happened next. Then, John took us to the Old State House, where he served three terms as Governor, a fact of which he seemed inordinately proud. The Declaration of Independence was first read to the people of Boston from the east balcony in July of 1776. John, however, wanted to make sure we visited the museum to see the exhibition of his own suits of clothes. (He did seem a little vain.)

In front of the Old State House a ring of cobblestones commemorates the Boston Massacre. Five men were killed in a clash between the Red Coats and the Colonists. Among the dead was Crispus Attucks, the first African American to die in the Revolution. The soldiers were put on trial, and, defended by Sam Adams and Josiah Quincy, were all but two found innocent.

As Kathy and I posed for a selfie in front of Faneuil Hall, we heard a tremendous commotion around the corner. We saw, coming down the center of the street a rag-tag mob, carrying all kinds of weapons, headed for the Old State House. Kathy just completed the Citizen's Police Academy and has had all kinds of CERT training, so I wasn't surprised to see her running towards the danger, instead of away.

Just then, even though there were women and children in the crowd, some in the mob started firing.

This lead a better-dressed, obviously military group, to reply with their weapons, and soon the square in front of the Old State House was awash in gun smoke. After things quieted down, Kathy spoke to one of the soldiers who told her this wasn't a follow-on to the January 6th protest, but just the annual D-Day celebration here in Boston.

After taking leave of John Hancock, Kathy and I determined to finish the last few Freedom Trail sites this side of the Charles River by ourselves. We didn't need Google Maps; you could follow the red brick line in the sidewalk to visit the eighteen sights on the trail. 

Our next stop was the North End. We walked by Quincy Market, which reminded me that I was hungry. Our guidebook recommended lunch at Monica's Mercato, but when we arrived there, we found it was take-out only. I didn't want to find a park for a picnic, so we just went across the street to Dino's Cafe, where we had a lunch of Italian sandwiches, with cannoli for dessert. 

Refreshed, we walked a few blocks to Paul Revere's 1680 house, with his silver-smith's shop and part-time dentist's office on the ground floor, and his 16 children living in the rooms above.

A few blocks away is the Paul Revere Mall anchored at one end by a statute of Paul Revere on his midnight ride, and, on the other, by the Old North Church, where the signal lanterns were hung on that night.

Old North is Boston's oldest church with a historic interior that we couldn't visit because it was closed. I did get a picture with Kathy in front of the church.

Just down the street is Copp's Hill Burying Ground, Colonial Boston's largest cemetery. Robert Newman, who hung the lanterns on the night of Paul Revere's ride is buried here as are Increase and Cotton Mather. Notice the Old North Church in the background.

Kathy and I felt like we might soon join them, unless we got off of our feet. We hoofed it down the hill to the Haymarket station on the Blue Line, changed to the Red Line and made it home in time to watch GI-Jane on the hotel's movie channel.