Boston, USA, Saturday morning, October 29/98.

Parker’s Hotel[1]. In the Catholic church at Montreal that I wrote so much about (Bonsecours church) I noticed in every seat were spittoons [sic], saw dust in each, the exact shape of pig troughs but diminutive, & stood on floor against the partition. You can judge the necessity of providing for the tobacco chewers. Mostly all men you look at are moving their jaws. Smoking in the streets is not common. In cars, notices are posted requesting that smoking is not allowed & spitting on the floor of cars forbidden. This spitting is a very nasty habit of the Yankees. Chew gum is in great favour & men, & women too, chew it freely – sold in all railway trains – say it aids digestion?

I posted a souvenir & plan, both in one envelope, from Montreal. The weather did not improve & it was too disagreeable to view. I took a car & went to Verdun Place, & found Mr. Hadley at home. He had called at the Queen’s Hotel at 9 o’clock for me, but the boat only arrived at 8:20 & I took the opportunity when in that vicinity, over a mile from hotel, to see what was attractive, & did not hurry to hotel, & as it began to rain about 9:30 then I hastened to hotel. I explained to him the reason I had not visited him sooner, which was the undesirable condition of the weather for viewing, & he quite assented. I stayed till a while after 6, had tea with them & enjoyed the while with them. The night was no better & it rained very heavily, so my last day in Montreal was spoiled for viewing. Luckily I had made the most of the visit before going to Quebec & satisfied myself with Montreal then. My impressions are very favourable of this city & there’s an air of commercial life about it [8:35] resembling our big cities. They have a splendid tram service, not longer than 5 minutes anywhere, & the streets are in many respects fairly good. On Thursday morning, Oct 27th, I was up in good time & all in order for journeying to Boston, a long journey, 9 till 8:30 (you’ll note I’ve got some new black paper, a great improvement & very desirable). The morning was cold & a trifle bleak. I had to enquire about my 4 pkgs. which I sent on from Vancouver. I found they had gone on to N. York to the White Star shed, so there I shall find them. The checking system is admirable: you get duplicates, & the baggage cannot be obtained till you deliver these up, meantime it is safe in the baggage department of their depots. As we journey away from Montreal we crossed the bridge over the Ottawa & St. Lawrence rivers close to Lachine, & I saw the jetty where I joined this boat on the Monday morning to run the rapids. All the way throughout the journey was very pleasant & some remarkable fine scenery, many parts reminding me of Scottish scenery, & the autumn tints are prominent every where now. Some places – exposed – the trees were bare. I saw the rail coys. were preparing for winter: a long line of snow ploughs were standing on a siding in readiness. I might have before noted that the Ottawa & St. Lawrence rivers join above Lachine, & the Ottawa runs on the Lachine side distinguished by its muddy colour, while here the St. Lawrence is clear. As we approached the States, the USA Customs officer comes through the cars & examines all baggage. I had the hand bag & holdall examined at Montreal station before I left & checked to Boston. The big Gladstone I took in car with me. He observed that my bag indicated [8:36] long travel, by some lables [sic] yet on. He passed mine with only a formal glance. So far I’ve found them reasonable & had not an instance of search or trouble. One or two kind words of explanation cleared the way. Sutton is the frontier town on Quebec Province, Canada, & Richford, Vermont State, begins United States. At Richford it was a shade wintry & sleet was falling. New passengers spoke of having had snow some days ago, & the day previous heavy rains just here. The river looked in “spate”.[2] Several large fine lakes we pass every now & again, & makes the scenery very attractive. There’s not much monotony of scenery here away & I was pleased with the view from the car. I lunched on board at 1 o’clock. The afternoon grew finer & as we journeyed we had the sun till it set, making the latter part of the route quite cheery so far. “Wells River”, on the Vermont State side of river, is the frontier town, & across the river is Woodsville, & here New Hampshire state begins. I much admired the very fine scenery here & on crossing the river & looking beyond, a fairy scene was presented to my view. Only 2 minutes’ distance is “Wells River town” from Woodsville town. Many fine waterfalls, too, I saw from the car during the journey. At Plymouth 4:40 p.m. A fine river here, too, & train stops 10 minutes for refreshment. Station rooms here, not a frequent occurrence on American railways, but on long journeys a dining car is attached, & on shorter journeys, such as the one I now speak of, a small cooking compartment occupies part of one of the cars, & a nice lunch or refreshment is prepared & served en route. A temporary table arrangement is made & you sit comfortable & enjoy it. I had tea at 6 o’clock this fashion. Manchester a place of apparent importance. We passed close to a very big cotton mill – a canal runs alongside the building.

It was now a fine moon light night 7:30. At 7:48 we were at Lowell, a junction, & at 8:30 arrived at Union Station, Causeway Street Boston.

[8:37] I soon made my way to Adams House Hotel[3] on Washington St., had supper, after which a short walk. The streets beautifully lighted by electricity & the shop windows lighted for exhibition, some closed, many open, none with either shutters or blinds, & this effect brightened the streets. Crowds of pedestrians & the continuous passing of the cars made it quite a pandemonium. The streets too are narrow & the causeway congested, people get along with difficulty. I soon retired to rest, & after a good refreshing sleep, awoke a little after 6 on Friday morning, Oct. 28th, Albion‘s birthday, & his 21st. I got up at ¼ to 8. Before I went out, I wrote to Albion congratulating him & enclosed a dollar note to sweeten the day. It was a very cold, dull morning. I went to the hair dressers & got trimmed, a rather risky operation on so cold a morning. So far I’ve not felt any ill effects. I viewed about, & during the forenoon found myself in the vicinity of Water St., & where Furness Withy have an office. Mr. Booth, once of West H’pool, is their representative here, & I called upon him & found him in. He leads a very busy life. We had a pleasant chat for a while & I feared to take up his time. He invited me to call in on Monday on my return from Salem & go & have lunch with him, but I won’t have time to do so. He married Miss Owen of the Grange House. Harry Owen, her brother, & who lives in the States, had left only a few days before, & sailed in the “Teutonic” on 26th. I next took ferry steamer to cross to South Boston so that I might get a view of the harbour, & I enjoyed it, tho’ rather cold, & I had not donned my overcoat & did not trouble to return to hotel to get it. On this ferry steamer, besides lots of passengers, were 8 waggons horsed, one a 4 horse waggon, & this goes on continuously. I took elec. car on getting to South Boston & had a ride to view, & returned to North Ferry & crossed to Boston by another route. I viewed about Boston harbour & tried to ascertain where Indian cargoes were discharged so that I might see where Andorinha had lain but I found it difficult to get the information & gave it up.

[8:38]

I next made my we [sic] to Charlestown to find out Mr. & Mrs. Frost, to whom Albion desired I should call upon. They had been very kind to the apprentices during their stay in Boston. I soon found out No. 3 Prospect Avenue, but Mr. Frost was at business, Mrs. Frost was out visiting. Her sister, whose name I did not get, invited me in, feeling sure her sister would soon return. Mean time, & after explaining my visit, she soon produced one of our family group, the standing position, taken ‘93, & wasn’t I delighted to see it. Albion had left it with them. She remembered all the boys very well. Her sister visits all the big ships as soon after arrival as possible & gets the lads into her care, & the many photos & letters they have received from one & another testifies to the kindness she extends to them. Sturdy had sent them his photo from home taken by Charles Todd. Thomas knows who I mean. So does Willie. He was champion skater & is a great photographer. I had to leave before Mrs. Frost returned but promised I should return, possibly same night, if I could manage. I had to meet Mr. Lincoln, a friend of Matt‘s, and if I should not fall in with him, then I would return as I was desirous to see her & express my gratitude for her kindness to the boys. Well, I did not meet Mr. Lincoln, so fearing I might not get a better chance, I went back about 8 & found Mr.  & Mrs. Frost, who received me very hospitably & expressed the delight it was to them, & how remarkable that I should be in Boston & then to be mindful enough to come & thank them, seemed to make them feel warm to me. I explained that Albion, who was now in New York, had written (I read them part of the letter) me & desiring that I should call & see them. I spent a very happy hour & half with them. The sister had gone out to spend a while with some friends, but I was on my feet to leave when she returned. They begged me to call again, & if I only would take tea with them before I left Boston, it would give them all much pleasure. Mrs. Frost had been in England for the first time this summer & had been away about 6 months, only returned 3 weeks ago, took ill there but is better again, had visited many boys friends & I expressed my regret she had not gone to West H’pool [8:39] & expressed the hope that we might be favoured with a visit on some future occasion. Mr. Frost manages the Home Library & Supply Association, 364 Washington St. They are very nice people, & evidently greatly interested in good work. Mrs. Frost remembered Albion well, & they used to get him to play the piano, which he did, but only from ear. I told them he wasn’t a studious pupil when taking lessons & that he regrets it now. I made my way to hotel, reaching there about 10 o’clock & was soon at rest. I should have recorded “Bunker Hill”. Not very far from Mr. Frost’s, Prospect Avenue, is a huge obelisk, called the Bunker Hill Monument. It resembles the Wellington monument in Wynyard Park, but many times bigger than it. There is a spiral stair to the top inside but I did not venture up, fearing effects. The next day, I lingered about & viewed spots recorded all around points on the redoubts or earth works. Its history we will look up in Chambers by & bye [sic].

I had changed from Adams House, Washington St., to Parker House before I went the 2nd time to Frosts’, & that for convenience. Both are very grand hotels, & for comfort no choice, & these are well known houses, as hotels are called in America.

On Saturday morning, the 29th, I got up at ¼ to 8. Very nasty morning & miserable outside. Viewed about where I had not previously been, & gradually wended my way to Causeway St., where Cobb, Bates, & Yerxa have a very fine grocery & provision store, & here Mr. Tom Sinclair, our Reverend’s brother, was for some years, & foreman before going to Salem, where the firm opened out a branch. I went in & introduced myself, conjuring with the name of Sinclair, & from then I was taken in hands & Mr. Holt (who esteems Mr. Sinclair much), the manager, sent an assistant to shew me around. They were busy, it being Saturday. A very big business is carried on here, both wholesale & retail, but [8:40] chiefly retail & a most beautiful store. It is from here I opened telephonic communication with Salem store, but Mr. Sinclair had just gone to his dinner, 12:15. I had seen all that I desired but Mr. Holt suggested I should see their chief store on Washington St., & I gradually got there & was soon in & felt my way to the manager, who was very kind. They were very busy. These style of stores are huge concerns & teeming with people who don’t always buy. They are simply markets. I got into telephonic touch here, however, & arranged with Mr. Sinclair to go on to Salem by the 4 p.m., arriving there at 4:30, & to go home with him at 5 to “supper”. Saturdays too is a busy day there & he had no leisure other than for meals. This firm has much machinery in their stores at Boston, make their own electricity for lighting & elevators, & in every way up to the mark [7?]. On my arrival in Boston, on the Thursday night, I left at the depot my hold all & hand bag, not needing the contents. I use the big Gladstone for itinerent [sic] journeys. So, as the station which I leave for New York was a distance from this Union Station, I took the opportunity to go & get these two pkgs. & remove them to Park Square Station, & there booked them till I take ticket for N. York. Time was getting on now to 3 p.m. & I went to hotel & prepared for Salem. I left my Gladstone at the hotel, taking in a parcel just what I should need for 2 nights, & also Kodak, “that instrument of care all my travels”, arranged with hotel & set off for Union Station, just near Cobb Bates’s store, Causeway St., & started in a crowded train at 4 for Salem. It was a good service & was at Salem at 4:30. Went to the store in Essex St. as advised, & there met Mr. Sinclair who welcomed me warmly. They were not too busy, the day being detrimental to business, & it rained all through the night, & they had not been so busy as usual.

[8:41]

5 o’clock soon drew nigh, & we set out for his home, only 10 minutes’ distance on Brigg St., corner of Webb, No. 72, & was soon introduced to Mrs. Sinclair & Jasper (a fine little fellow of 5), & not long in feeling at home. Mr. Sinclair had soon to return, & I stayed in till about 8, then went out to look about the city on its busiest night, but it was a wretched night. Still many people were about, but it was dirty moving on the streets. We ought to be proud of our streets & roads in England. Every where I’ve been, the streets are ill kept & muddy when wet. I returned to 72, & Mr. Sinclair did not get home till 10:30, when we had some light refreshment, chatted & off to rest. On Sunday morning, we did not stir too early, breakfast at 9. The weather was still miserable, tho’ not raining then, but as we went to church, it broke a little. We went to a Baptist Church, no Presbyterian in Salem, & they go to the Congregational, but Mr. S. thought I would hear a better preacher. The congregation was small, doubtless owing to the bad weather. The service was very cheerful, good singing, fine organ, young lady played, an elderly gent played a cornet, & the choir master stood[4] on the platform beside the pastor, & during the singing led the choir, who sat in front seat gallery facing, & with the baton kept time. Organ is near the platform. Service at 10:30 open’d with “Prais[e] God from whom &c”, prayer, read portion of Psalms, hymn 14, “To thee My God & Saviour”, reading Luke 10th from v. 7. Choir sung “Holy Father hear my cry”. Intimation, collection, short prayer, both before & after, during which the 4 collectors stood in front of the desk, then turned round in order & marched down the aisle, very methodical. Hy. 278, “To Call My Lord in Spirit Now”, sermon, Luke 10 part of v. 29, “who is my neighbour”, very intelligently & attractively delivered & appreciated, hy. 425, “Beneath the Cross of Jesus”. Benediction 5 to 12.

[8:42]

We called at the store & there I wrote 2 p. cards, 1 to Mr. Sinclair, Tweedmouth, & 1 to Mary, & same time prepared souvenir & guide (which I had got while out on Saturday night) for posting on Monday. After dinner, we rested a bit, & as it was fair he & I set out to view some historic places & otherwise saw the old house wherein Nathaniel Hawthorne was born & the Custom House wherein he wrote “Scarlet Letter” (by the way, Nathaniel Hawthorne was born July 4, 1804). We also saw a fine building, now a cadets armoury, & bequeathed to them by one of the Peabodys. Also an institute for old men, Bertram Institute. In many places I’ve been there are endowed institutes for charity by wealthy donors.

We then took an elec. car for Marblehead, one of the beautiful coast resorts, & a very picturesque place it is with its rocky shore, & here I got the first glance of the Atlantic since leaving it at Gibraltar in January & entering the straits, & I felt quite nigh home. The little bay or cove has lots of pretty rocky islands which quite breaks the entrance, but there’s a big stretch of water, & Mr. S. said that in summer, swarms of people from Boston take quarters & stay the season. We saw several yachts being built, the racing kind, in a yard at Marblehead. Also one of the US forts, only recently was it fortified for the Spanish War, but now again dismantled & poor specimen for a fort it is. We returned again by car, frequent service, about 5 miles each way. All rides, long or short in America & Canada, are 5 cents (2 ½d.), that is in cities. Where Mr. S. lives is close on the shore, in fact, from their back you could, without an effort, pop a stone into the water. It is tidal & the head of a cove, very prettily situated, & in summer must be charming. Salem was once, like Berwick, an important shipping port, but now it is out of date, tho’ there’s much water in this cove. They had a population in Salem in 1895 of 32,000. So you see it is not a little place.

[8:43]

After getting home, we had supper & did not stir out any more, but enjoyed chatting about the Old Country, & contrasting the new with it. Mr. Sinclair is very loyal to Britain still, tho’ he has been 9 years here. Mrs. Sinclair lived 4 years in N. York before they were married & the first of their married life was spent in Boston. They were a nice couple & very comfortably housed & happy they seem. This Monday morning I did not get up to breakfast with Mr. Sinclair. He leaves home before 7 & they begin business at 7. 42 hands they keep, some girls, & they have 6 bakers who make confectionery, that is, pastry & bakery, bread, fancy & domestic. Fine bake house they have on the 2nd floor & this department has proved a great success. Mr. Sinclair has a responsible position, foreman over all, & seems engrossed in his work & very anxious to make all work successfully. A rare servant, I’ll be bound, just the very kind, & a valuable man to possess. After breakfast, 8:30, I bade good bye to Mrs. S. & Jasper, went to the store & left my package, then took car for Peabody, a town about 2 miles off, & where George Peabody[5] was born & is now buried in the family ground. He founded a fine institute in Danvers, that was the original name, but to his honor the inhabitants changed it to Peabody. I saw through the institute, a fine library, “public loan” to Peabody citizens, & a grand reference library, & I also saw the beautiful painted portrait of Her Majesty, which with an autograph letter, she presented to him as a mark of her appreciation &c. of his magnanimity to the poor of London (I read fac simile of letter). Also some gold medals & casket containing Freedom of London City &c. &c. All these, with portrait, are kept in a safe inserted in wall but wheels out to edge & electric light [8:44] is then thrown upon them & are to be seen to perfection. I was too early. It does not open till 12, but as I had gone especially to view, I saw the janitor & he kindly let me see through, which I considered kind. I then went to the Harmony Grove burial ground & saw the spot where he was interred, & tried to snap, short exposure rather, it was so dull, but I thought I should like to risk it. I also did ditto in front of the institute. I’ve seen the great Peabody buildings in London. He died in London, & I think interred for a while in Westminster, then disinterred & brought here to rest. Died Nov. 4th, 1869.

The town is over 10,000 pop., & a pretty little place it is. I returned to Salem by car & another route, & there visited the first church built in Salem, 1634, an old wood building, anything but churchy, several curios it contains, never used, of course, as a place of worship now, but very historical & all the names of its pastors are recorded from 1629 to 1889. An old pew door on view, 1681. Desk used by Nathaniel Hawthorne at the Custom House during his official life in Salem. Copy of original Covenant, 1629.[6] I’ve got a book giving its history, so won’t dwell more upon it. It was not ¼ to 12, & I made for the store, not 3 minutes off, but Mr. S. goes at ¼ to 12, & returns at one. I had not bid him goodbye & I had planned to leave with the 12:10 for Boston, but he left word with the manager I was to go & have some dinner. I went & spent the hour, & came off with him, & I left by the 1:20 for Boston. After a very happy & nice little visit to Salem, a pretty quaint interesting old town, I felt doubly pleased I had fulfilled a request of our mutual friend, the Reverend Jasper Sinclair. It is nearly “The morn’s morning”, so I will close. Good night!!

[8:45]

Tell Charlie such lots of grey squirrels were playing, both amongst the grass & on the branches of the trees in the burying ground at Salem, & I watched them & was amused at the antics they indulged in, & thought of him & would have liked him to have seen the pretty creatures scamper & jump from tree to tree. I didn’t think I mentioned that a very fine YMCA building is in course of completion on Essex St., Salem, & in the town of Peabody, there is a fine soldiers’ monument in the square & another not far from the Peabody Institute, commemorating the battle of Lexington. On my arrival in Boston on Monday afternoon at 2 o’clock, I took car at the station for the public library, which stands in a fine open position on Huntington Avenue & Dartmouth Street. It faces a pretty ornamental little park & on the other side a very magnificient [sic] Episcopalian church, & on the corner of Dartmouth & Boylston Streets is a grand Congregational church, a splendid piece of architecture, & the interiors were in keeping with magnificience [sic], most beautiful indeed. Dr. Gordon is the pastor of the Cong. church & is an Aberdonian. The Free Library & Reading Room &c. within the public building are very grand, & enormous cost must have been expended on the elaborations alone, not to speak of the beautiful coloured marble stair case. Splendid paintings painted on some of the walls & roofs were being admired by many people, & the arrangements for the public on a style our folks in W. H’pool, & connected with the affairs of our institution, I venture to say, have no conception of. Near this locality, & all in view, is going up an enormous structure, brick but faced with very beautiful Terra Cotta figures & scroll work. It is to be styled the Westminster Hotel, & it stands on Huntington Ave. & Clarendon St., & opposite one side of the Episcopal church I referred to. Scores of cars pass here every few minutes, & here [8:46] a coffee advertisement passed me in the shape of a very gorgeous gilt chariot drawn by 3 prancing grey horses, & the driver in magnificient [sic] oriental costume, very attractive. What various street perambulating advertisem’ts I’ve seen in America. In Chicago, Detroit, & Boston, a firm, the Glasgow Woolen Manfg. Coy. have kilties full flig, driven on an Irish jaunting car,[7] one on each side, & a stylish driver handling tandem, & men with great coats covers all but the face, just one mass of letters, & last Saturday morning, & raining too, were 5 darkies in full evening dress, silk hats too, each on a fine horse, & on the back of each, a white horse sheet, usual pattern, covered with a men’s mercery[8] adv’t just opening that day, & they paraded the streets. What schemes are used for attraction. I will note here that I saw in a window in Washington St., “Stavanger” goods. In the evening I went to visit Matthew‘s friend, Mr. Lincoln – Mrs. Lincoln is Rachel’s cousin – & found them with very little trouble, tho’ a long car ride, & slow as traffic was congested. As many as 18 cars all at center, very crowded the streets & repairs going on, as is the case in every city, so upsets the order & how they crowd the cars, over 70 was in the car I travelled, not standing room for another, & on both ends too, no restrictions here, & they travel a great pace when room permits. They live at 25 High St., Everett, beyond Charlestown, where Frosts live. I spent about 2 hours. I was delayed looking over a very fine old book which belonged Mr. Lincoln‘s father, an Englishman. It is Finder’s view of ports, harbours, & watering places of G. Britain: Berwick, 2 views, one of which I had not before seen, 2 of Hartlepool, Whitby, Tynemouth, N’castle, Eyemouth, Dunbar, Blyth &c. &c., published by Geo. Virtue, 26 Ivy Lane, EC, 1804 by Bartlett. [8:47] I assured him he had a rare prize in it. Also he would have me hear his son, a fine young man, play the banjo & I appreciated it. I returned to hotel, wrote up portion of diary & retired. Before I was tucked in, it struck midnight. Too bad!!

[1] Founded in 1855, the Parker House Hotel is the longest continuously operating hotel in the U.S.

[2] A great rise or overflowing of a stream caused by heavy rains or melted snow.

[3] In 1889, King’s Handbook of Boston noted that the Adams House was “…one of the finest and best equipped hotels in the city.” Demolished in 1931.

[4] “stood” may have been deleted, but the sentence doesn’t seem to make sense without it.

[5] George Peabody was born in Danvers, Massachusetts, in 1795.  With only four years of formal education and no family connections, he achieved enormous international success as an investment banker in London. He is considered by many to be the founder of modern philanthropy. Peabody was honored on both sides of the Atlantic for his generosity. He was one of only two Americans ever to have been honored with the “Freedom of the City of London” (the other was General Dwight D. Eisenhower.) A statue to him still stands in the heart of London’s financial district. In the United States, he was awarded the Congressional Medal in 1867.

[6] The Salem Covenant of 1629:  “We Covenant with the Lord and one with another; and doe bynd our selves in the presence of God, to walke together in all his waies, according as he is pleased to reveale himselfe unto us in his Blessed word of truth.”

[7] The Irish form of the sprung cart, called a jaunting car or outside car was a popular mode of transportation in 19th Century Dublin. The jaunting car was peculiar in that its seats ran longitudinally and the passengers’ feet were placed on a footboard outboard of the wheels.

[8] Mercer: a dealer in usually expensive fabrics.