In October, 1660, the County Court ordered, that the House of Correction, or Bridewell, should be used as a prison for the County, until further provision be made. Such provision was made by the erection of a jail before Aug. 26, 1692, when it was ordered by the Court, "that the County Treasurer take care that their majesties Goal at Cambridge be repaired, for the comfortable being of what persons may be committed forthwith." 2 It was also ordered, Dec. 14, 1703, "that an addition be made to the prison at the west end thereof, of eighteen foot square, with studs conformable to the old house." A dozen years later, the old part of the prison became so unsatisfactory, that the Court appointed "a committee to agree with carpenters and other workmen to erect and build a good well-timbered house in Cambridge for a Prison, for the accommodation of a keeper, to be thirty-six foot long, and for width agreeable to the foundation of the old Goal or Prison, two storeys high, fifteen foot stud, with a stack of chymneys in the middle, to be done and finished workmanlike, as soon as may be conveniently effected. . . . . Further ordered, that Coll. Edmund Goffe, the present Sheriff, repaire Bridewell was erected in 1656. Andrew Stevenson was the prison keeper from 1656 to 1672; William Healy, from 1672 to 1682, when he was removed from of fice; Daniel Cheever, from 1682 until he was succeeded in office by his son Israel Cheever about 1693. In 1691, the prisonkeeper presented a petition for relief, which is inserted, as characteristic of that period : "To the honored Court for the County of Middlesex, holden in Cambridge by adjournment this 11th day of May 1691, the petition of Daniel Cheever, keeper of the Prison in Cambridge humbly sheweth, That your poor petitioner is in great straits and want at present, by reason that his salary hath not been paid him for some considerable time past, and having a considerable family depending on him for maintenance, he is compelled to make his complaint to this honored Court, hoping to find relief, begging some order may be taken speedily for his supply, which otherwise cannot be done without great loss and damage to your petitioner; and he would further inform this Court, that George Newbe, who is under bond to pay a fine imposed on him by this Court, hath a pair of young oxen which he would part with, in order to said payment; which oxen your petitioner desires he may have, and then would put off his old oxen to help supply him with neces saries for his family. Also he further desires to add that Sylvester Hayes hath lain upon him this many months, without any consideration from Charlestown, which your petitioner is not able to bear, therefore desires redress of this honored Court in this particular also. But not further to be troublesome, your petitioner earnestly requests your serious consideration of what is premised, and remains your Honors' most humble servant." Court Files. 1 The jail stood on the northerly side of Winthrop Street, between Winthrop Square and Eliot Street; and this continued to be the place for imprisonment until the new county buildings were erected at East Cambridge. 2 This was when the witchcraft excitement was at its extreme height, and the prisons in several counties were put in requisition to confine the unhappy victims who were accused in Essex. the chymneys in the new Goal, and what also may be needfull for the reception of and securing of criminals." Until 1720, the "Common" extended to Linnæan Street, and included also a few acres, lying in a nearly square form, at the northwesterly corner of Linnæan Street and North Avenue.1 This extreme point of the Common was set apart as a "Place of Execution," or "Gallows Lot," as it was more familiarly called. And after the Common was reduced to its present size, and the lots in this square fronting on the streets, had been granted to individuals, about one acre in its extreme northwesterly corner was reserved for its former use, until trials, and imprisonments, and executions were transferred to East Cambridge.2 It was entered from North Avenue through a bridleway or passage, between Lancaster Place and Arlington Street, now called Stone Court. The names and the number of the wretched convicts who suffered the extreme penalty of the law at this "Place of Execution," are unknown to me. One horrible example, however, was recorded by Professor Winthrop, in his interleaved Almanac, under date of Sept. 18, 1755: "A terrible spectacle in Cambridge: two negroes belonging to Capt. Codman of Charlestown, executed for petit treason, for murdering their said master by poison. They were drawn upon a sled to the place of execution; and Mark, a fellow about 30, was hanged; and Phillis, an old creature, was burnt to death." The" Boston Evening Post," of Sept. 22, states more particularly, that "the fellow was hanged, and the woman burned at a stake about ten yards distant from the gallows. They both confessed themselves guilty of the crime for which they suffered, acknowledged the justice of their sentence, and died very penitent. After execution, the body of Mark was brought down to Charlestown Common, and hanged in chains on a gibbet erected there for that purpose." Dr. Increase Mather, in his diary, printed in the first volume of the "Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society," page 320, says that on the 22d of September, 1681, "there were three persons executed in Boston,- an Englishman for a rape; a negro 1 Delineated on an old plan in the City land," etc. It was sold on the 24th of the Hall. 2 This lot was described in the Proprietors' Records, April 3, 1826, as “about one acre of land, called the Gallows Lot, in front of the house of James Rule, and separated from his real estate by a bridleway leading from the county road to said the same month to William Frost, and described as bounded "easterly, southerly, and westerly, by his own land, northerly and northeasterly by a bridle-way, leading from the county road to land belonging to Mary Stone and Susanna Jarvis," etc. man for burning a house at Northampton; and a negro woman who burnt two houses at Roxbury, July 12, in one of which a child was burnt to death. The negro woman was burnt to death, the first that has suffered such a death in New England." It is devoutly to be hoped that the woman who thus expiated her crime at Cambridge, in 1755, was the last "that has suffered such a death in New England." "Ye have the poor with you always;" and the judicious relief of their wants is an important but often a very perplexing duty. For several years, as will be related in chapter xv., the church assumed this duty, and made suitable provision for the destitute and distressed. It does not distinctly appear at what time the management of this charity passed into the hands of the town. The earliest reference to this subject which I find on the Town Records is under date of June 29, 1663: "Jane Bourne [or Bowen] making her complaint to the selectmen, that she can find none in the town that is willing to entertain her to their service, and craving their favor that she may have liberty to provide for herself in some other town, with security to such as shall so entertain her, the Townsmen do grant her request in manner following, viz., so as that she place herself in some honest family; and in case she stand in need of supply, or the town whither she shall resort do see reason to return her again upon the town, she shall be still accepted as one of the poor of this place; and this is to be understood and taken as binding to the town for one year next after the date hereof, any law, usage, or custom, to the contrary, notwithstanding." Again, under date of April 8, 1672: "The terms of agreement of the selectmen with Thomas Longhorne for the keeping of William Healyes child, as followeth: That the said Thomas Longhorne is to bring up Hanna Hely, daughter of William Healy, born in the year 1671, providing all necessaries for her of food and clothing in the time of her minority and suitable education meet for one of her sex and degree; and for his satisfaction, he is to be allowed out of the Town Rate five pounds a year for five years; and if she should die before those five years be expired, or it should be provided for by any of its friends before that time, then he is to have no more than for the time he keep it, after five pounds per annum; only forty shillings of said pay is to be made in cash, or, if not, then so much in other pay at money price." In like manner, for more than a hundred years after this date, provision appears to have been made for the poor, in private families, under the supervision of the selectmen. At length it was determined, March 15, 1779, to purchase a house in which they might be gathered together, and their wants be more systematically supplied. Accordingly, "the committee who were chosen at the last Town Meeting, March 1, 1779, to purchase a workhouse for the poor of the town, reported that they could purchase of Deac. Samuel Whittemore a suitable house for that purpose. Voted, That said Committee purchase the house and land belonging to said Whittemore, take a deed for the same for the town, and that the Treasurer be directed to give security for the same, or hire the money to pay for it. Voted, that the Selectmen take care of the said house, and appoint some discreet person as Overseer." The estate consisted of a dwelling house and twenty-five square rods of land on the northeasterly corner of Brighton and South streets, and was conveyed to the town by deed dated March 29, 1779. For some reason this estate proved unsatisfactory; and the town voted, March 1, 1785, "that Mr. Caleb Gannett, Stephen Dana, Esq., Capt. John Walton, Deac. Aaron Hill, and William Winthrop, Esq., be a committee to inquire whether there is any person who is desirous to purchase the house and land belonging to the town, situate near the causeway, which was bought for a workhouse and almshouse, and what price it will fetch; and they are also to inquire whether another place can be purchased in the town that will answer for said purposes, and upon what terms it can be had." The committee having been authorized so to do, reported, March 6, 1786, that "they sold the house at public auction for £19, 108.; they afterwards sold the land for £37, 108., both amounting to £57." They had also received an offer from the heirs of Abraham Watson of a house and about five acres of land for the sum of £60. This estate was on the southwesterly corner of North Avenue and Cedar Street, and was conveyed to the town by deed dated March 9, 1786. The committee reported, June 12, 1786, "that an house is nearly finished and will be ready within a few days for the reception of the poor," and recommended that it "be called the Poor's House; " also that there "be chosen and appointed, as soon as may be, five persons, distinct from the Selectmen, to be Overseers of the Poor," who should have the general charge of the house, and provide all necessary" food, fuel, clothing, and medicine, proper for" the occupants, and tools and materials necessary to their proper em 1 Formerly owned by Matthew Cox. ployment; that the Overseers should "appoint a suitable person to be Warden of the Poor's House," who should "cause his family to lead their lives and behave at all times soberly, quietly, decently, orderly, and regularly; particularly he shall cause them to attend the public worship on Sundays as often and generally as conveniently may be;" and he "shall endeavor to form the paupers under his care to habits of economy, frugality, temperance, sobriety, and industry; particularly he shall keep them employed in such useful and profitable labors as they may be respectively able to perform, within doors or without doors, having regard to their different sexes, ages, bodily strength, former habits of life, and all other circumstances, with the approbation of the Overseers;" and that they should also appoint a suitable physician, and employ all necessary servants. The Warden should be required to pay all the earnings of the paupers, monthly, to the Overseers, who should pay the same, half yearly, to the Treasurer, drawing on him for the funds necessary to defray all charges; and the Treasurer should keep a separate account of all such receipts and payments. Finally, "the Overseers of the Poor shall from time to time make such regulations, not inconsistent with these general regulations, the laws of the Commonwealth, or the principles of humanity and benevolence, as they may judge fit for the better ordering of the Poor's House and the affairs of it; which regulations so by them made shall be binding until the expiration of the year for which such Overseers shall be chosen, or until they shall be by them revoked." This report was accepted; and Dr. William Kneeland, Mr. Jeduthun Wellington, Deac. Aaron Hill, Mr. Ebenezer Stedman, and Mr. Edward Jackson, were thereupon elected as the first "Overseers of the Poor, distinct from the Selectmen." In this house, and under such regulations, the pauper establishment was admininistered until 1818, when a new Almshouse was erected in Cambridgeport. By deed dated April 2, 1818, Jonathan L. Austin and Benjamin Austin conveyed to the town. about eleven acres of land, being the whole square bounded by Harvard, Norfolk, Austin, and Prospect streets, except one house lot, previously sold, at the corner of Norfolk and Austin streets, "measuring 100 feet on each of said streets, 100 feet on the westerly side, and 78 feet on the northerly side." The Overseers reported to the town, Nov. 2, 1818, that they had sold the old Almshouse to Jonathan Fowle, for $454.50, and had erected |