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Downtown in Boston in Suffolk County, Massachusetts — The American Northeast (New England)
 

Huguenots, Women, and Tories

 
 
Huguenots, Women, and Tories Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, April 14, 2009
1. Huguenots, Women, and Tories Marker
Inscription.

In the 17th century, religious persecution led to the immigration of large numbers of French Protestants (known as Huguenots) to Massachusetts. Gravestones of the Cazneau, Johonnat, Revere, and Sigourney families can be found throughout Granary. Today, Paul Revere and Peter Faneuil are the most well known Huguenot descendants. Peter Faneuil (Funnel) (1700-1743), West Indies merchant and slave trader, inherited his Uncle Andrew Faneuil’s (d. 1738) fortune after agreeing that he would never marry. The Jolly Bachelor, as he called one of his ships, built Faneuil Hall for Boston and was known for his charitable deeds.

Colonial Women
Granary’s gravestones chronicle thousands of individual lives. Sarah (Savage) Wells (d. 1730) was the daughter of merchant Ephraim Savage and wife of tailor Joshua Wells. After her husband’s death she maintained the property purchased for her father and chose not to remarry.

The Gutteridge-Ezekial Lewis-Abigail Gay tomb holds the remains of Mary (Buttolph) Thaxter Gutteridge (1665-1732), keeper of Boston’s Gutteridge Coffee House, her children, their spouses, and at least 20 others. Having outlived two husbands Mrs. Gutteridge chose to keep her second husband’s business rather than remarry. The first wife of merchant
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Ezekiel Lewis, Jane Clark (1722-ca. 1755), was painted by John Smibert in 1732.

One of Boston’s most famous Africans was Phillis (Wheatley) Peters (ca. 1753-1784), the poetess. Wheatley was named after the slave ship, Phillis, that brought her to Boston. She was taught to read and write by her owners and she became an internationally recognized poet. Freed at the time of her master’s death, she bore and lost two children before dying with her third in 1784. The man who bought her at a Boston slave auction, John Wheatley (d. 1778), is buried at Granary. The location of Phillis Wheatley’s burial is unknown.

Politicians
James Bowdoin (Baudouin) (1726-1790)
, Tomb 6, was from another prominent Huguenot family and served as governor from 1785-1787. Bowdoin College in Maine is named for him and he was the first president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Bowdoin coat of arms marks his tomb.

John Hancock (1737-1793), Tomb 16, merchant, patriot, president of the Massachusetts Provisional Congress (1774-1775), president of the First and Second Continental Congresses (1775-1777), Massachusetts governor (1780-1785, 1787-1793), and member of the Constitutional Convention (1788). Hancock was an early leader of Boston’s patriots with Samuel Adams and it is fitting that his bold signature was the first on
Huguenots, Women, and Tories Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. Makali Bruton, June 17, 2021
2. Huguenots, Women, and Tories Marker
the Declaration of Independence. When he died, a state funeral procession wound through Boston to his tomb. His wife, Dorothy (Quincy) (1747-1830), married Captain James Scott in 1796, but is buried with John in the Hancock Tomb. The obelisk was added in 1895 by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The modest gravestone of his African American servant, Frank (d.1771), is next to Hancock’s towering monument.

Jeremiah Gridley (1701-1767) is buried in the Gooch Tomb. An attorney, he served as Massachusetts attorney general in 1767 and argued for the Crown in support of the Writs of Assistance, dying soon after. He was the Grand Master of Masons for all North America from 1755-1767.

A Defiant Tory and a Rash Patriot
Mather Byles (1706-1788)
, Tomb 2, minister, poet, and humorist was a descendant of the Puritan Divines, John Cotton and Increase Mather. He graduated from Harvard College and for more than 40 years was the beloved minister of Hollis Street Church. He was summarily dismissed once the Revolution began because he was a Tory. He died under house arrest in 1788, humorously referring to his guard as an “observe-a-Tory.” His daughters, Kitty (1753-1837) and Polly (1750-1832), lived in the house another 50 years, firmly maintaining they were subjects of the English King.

William Molineaux (1748-1774), Tomb 19,
Marker in Granary Burying Ground image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, April 14, 2009
3. Marker in Granary Burying Ground
was a participant in the Boston Tea Party and a rabid patriot. At his death a Bostonian wrote, “After surviving a fit of apoplexy two days, this morning died, the zealous advocate for American liberties, William Molineaux. If he was too rash it was owing to his natural temper, as when he was in business. He pursued it with the same impetuous zeal. His loss is not much regretted by the more prudent and judicious part of the community.”
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial SitesColonial EraWomen. A significant historical year for this entry is 1732.
 
Location. Marker has been reported missing. It was located near 42° 21.44′ N, 71° 3.735′ W. Marker was in Boston, Massachusetts, in Suffolk County. It was in Downtown. Marker could be reached from Tremont Street, on the left when traveling north. The marker is along the walking trail in Granary Burying Ground. . Touch for map. Marker was in this post office area: Boston MA 02108, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location. Josiah and Abiah Franklin (within shouting distance of this marker); John Foster Williams (within shouting distance of this marker); James Otis (within shouting distance of this marker); Chester Harding House (within shouting distance of this marker);
Grave of John Hancock image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, April 14, 2009
4. Grave of John Hancock
This memorial is erected A.D. MDCCCXCV by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to mark the grave of John Hancock.
Congregational House (within shouting distance of this marker); Park Street Congregational Church (within shouting distance of this marker); Paul Revere Buried in this Ground (within shouting distance of this marker); Granary Burial Ground (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Boston.
 
More about this marker. The middle of the marker contains a map of the Granary Burying Ground showing the location of the marker. Also featured are a picture of Faneuil Hall; paintings of Jane Clark and Phillis Wheatley, courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society; and a picture of John Hancock.
 
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Take a tour of the markers found along the walking trail in Boston’s Granary Burying Ground.
 
Also see . . .  Granary Burying Ground. Details of the Freedom Trail from the City of Boston website. (Submitted on May 9, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.) 
 
Frank's Grave image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, April 14, 2009
5. Frank's Grave
FRANK
Servant to
John Hancock Esq.
lies interred here
who died 23 Jan.
1771

Frank's grave is in the center of the photo.
Grave of Paul Revere image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, April 14, 2009
6. Grave of Paul Revere
The grave of Huguenot descendant Paul Revere is located within sight of the marker.
Faneuil Hall image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, April 14, 2009
7. Faneuil Hall
A statue of Samuel Adams stands in front of Faneuil Hall, Peter Faneuil's gift to the people of Boston. It is located further along on the Freedom Trail.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on August 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on May 9, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 2,082 times since then and 22 times this year. Last updated on August 31, 2023, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos:   1. submitted on May 9, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.   2. submitted on July 11, 2021, by J. Makali Bruton of Accra, Ghana.   3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on May 9, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024