Revolutionary Summer

Revolution 250, the initiative to commemorate the 25oth anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolution in our region, has been gearing up for some time, and now we’ve come to Salem’s time to shine: when General Thomas Gage arrived in Boston on May 13, 1774 he brought with him his credentials as the newly-appointed royal governor, and instructions to displace the city as both the chief port of New England and capital of colonial Massachusetts. Everyone knew about the Boston Port Act, a retaliatory measure in response to the Tea Party which mandated that “Marblehead in Salem Harbor” should become the official port of entry, but the Massachusetts Government Act was a more recent Parliamentary passage. These “Intolerable” acts (not a word that was really in use at the time) had the cumulative effect of uniting most of the colonies against Great Britain: donations pored into Boston from far and near, including Salem. While there were those in Salem who expressed some measure of cheer at the city’s elevated status, most (or at least most of the expressions) voiced displeasure: I am particularly interested in the change of tone from May 17 onwards regarding General (Governor) Gage’s residence. At first there is reference to a house in the “upper part of town” (I think this was William Browne’s stately house) and then he is banished to the “King” Hooper mansion in Danvers, presumably by the declaration of certain inhabitants of Salem “that they will not sell, or let an house or lodgings, to any person that will remove (t)hither, in consequence of the passing of the Boston Port Act, they being determined to show their distressed brethren in the capital city, every possible mark of their sincere sympathy.”

Can you imagine the charged atmosphere of those days, 250 years ago? Timothy Pickering was charged by his fellow patriots to relay the sentiments above to Governor Gage, while the town Tories gave him a welcoming address in which they expressed their regard for “his Majesty’s paternal Care and affection for this Province, in the appointment of a person of your Excellency’s Experience, Wisdom and Moderation in these troublesome and difficult times.” They rejoiced that Salem had been “distinguished for that Spirit, Loyalty and Reverence for the laws, which is equally our Glory and Happiness.” Following this warm welcome on June 2, a grand ball was organized for the King’s birthday, two days later! (King George was big on birthday celebrations for both himself and his Queen, Charlotte). I’m trying to imagine the revolutionary spaces, but the problem is that all of the buildings in which these “negotiations” played out are no longer there. Some deliberations were held at the Court/Schoolhouse at the head of Washington (then School) Street (demolished for Salem’s first train tunnel in the 1830s) and others at the royal Town House just down the street, which was summarily destroyed at the end of the Revolution. Gage’s House in Danvers, then called the Hooper Mansion and later the Lindens, was moved to Washington DC in the 1930s, and its interiors ended up at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City. But everything was in relatively close proximity and it must have been one hot summer: Governor Gage set the first meeting of the General Court for June 7, and then they were off!

The Salem Courthouse from Massachusetts Magazine, 1790 and Smithsonian Library Collections; I dropped “General Gage” into his drawing room at the Hooper Mansion, photograph from the Nelson-Atkins Museum.

More on Revolutionary Salem all summer long! And next weekend, the British are coming to Salem (again) with an “Encampment Weekend” on June 15 at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. More information here.