The Charlestown convent : its destruction by a mob, on the night of August 11, 1834 ... : also, the trials of the rioters ...

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Chapter I. Assumed Causes Of The Outbreak. — Rumors And Prejudices

The burning of the Ursuline Convent and School, upon Mount Benedict, in that part of Charlestown .which is now Sotnerville, on the night of August 11, 1834, has recentlybeen alluded to in a public political meeting, and discussion has been created in relation to circumstances connected with that unfortunate and disgraceful event, and to some of the persons who were supposed to have been associated with this dire transaction. As the revival of the subject has produced some discussion, and the whole facts relating to this by-gone affair are entirely unknown to a large portion of our people of the present day, a brief story of the stirring events of the time, gathered principally from the publications then drawn forth, will not be unacceptable. % There were, as those know who then lived among us, many concomitant circumstances which fed the fire of prejudice, and assisted the lack of knowledge, which finally led to the catastrophe ; and there were also hundreds of excitable and ridiculous rumors, calculated to stir up the passions of the mob, which, ignorantly, maliciously, or in a spirit of reckless and unthinking boisterousness or sporV, joined in the exciting proceedings of that memorable night.

The Ursuline Convent was situated on Mount Benedict, about three miles from Boston, and its ruins are to be seen at this day. The principal building was an edifice of brick, about eighty feet in length, and four stories high. Among the other buildings was a farm-house and cottage. The grounds were laid out beautifully, and the whole appearance was quiet and lovely.

Although the name of the institution was the Ursuline Convent, "Nunnery" was its popular designation. It was principally devoted to the education of young ladies, and was, in reality, a female seminary of the higher order, though it was also a "religious house." At the time of the burning, there were within its walls, as stated from authority, twelve nuns and fifty-seven female scholars, many of them of a very tender age, placed there by their friends, principally Protestants, for purposes of instruction only : there were also three female attendants.

There had been some ill feeling between the officials and servants of the Convent and some outsiders, of an indefinite character. It was stated that the Lady Superior was not upon good terms with the Selectmen of Charlestown ; and there were in the neighborhood a large number of laborers engaged in brick-making, who were principally from New Hampshire, and who probably were possessed of some indefinite prejudices against "Papists and Convents." One of these men, who was a principal at the burning, had a personal fight with the porter of the institution, who was reported to have set his dog upon a young lady who was passing the grounds, and stopped to look at them.

There were a plenty of stories in circulation at the time, most of them made up from surmises, or for the sake of idle talk, which only went to fan the flame which burst out on the 11th of August. Some of these were derived from Miss Rebecca Theresa Reed, who had been an inmate of the Convent, for several months, in the years 1831-32. The reports of Miss Reed and her friends led to great prejudices against the institution, including the school, among those who knew nothing in relation to them. She published a book in 1835, entitled "Six Months in a Convent," to which came a reply, or "Answer to Six Months in a Convent," by the Lady Superior.

All these reports, rumors, and transactions, were, however, only preliminaries, or auxiliaries, to the catastrophe and conflagration. A rumor had been put in circulation, and, of course, obtained full credence among the enemies of the Convent, that a nun had been made way with in some mysterious manner, or was held in imprisonment in the " Convent dungeon ; " and the excitement which followed these reports was intense, and exceedingly magnified by circulation. At any rate the reports were noticed in many of the Boston papers, and were brought to the attention of the Charlestown authorities. On the Friday preceding the Monday night of the conflagration, it was stated in one paper that great excitement prevailed at Charlestown in consequence of the mysterious disappearance of a young lady at the Convent, and the following was given as an accurate account of the circumstances, as far as the editor could ascertain them : —

" The young lady had been sent to the Nunnery to complete her education, and became so pleased with the place and its inmates as to be induced to take the black veil." Then it was added, "that she subsequently became dissatisfied, and made her escape from the institution ; but was afterwards persuaded to return, being told that if she would continue but three weeks longer she would be honorably discharged." Further, it was stated "that, at the expiration of this renewed period, her friends called for her, but she was not to be found."

It may naturally be supposed that such a statement would create a sensation, and it certainly had that effect; and, like everything of the kind, had its own good share of believers and disbelievers. The statement was made in the Mercantile Journal of the afternoon of August 8, and copied into the Morning Post the next day.

This report was also copied into the Boston C^mercial Gazette, of August 9, accompanied by a declaration, given on the authority of Rev. Mr; Fenwick, then Bishop of the Diocese, that it was unfounded. It was added, that the Bishop would probably lay before the public the facts of the case on Monday, the 11th; in the mean time the editor stated, that the excitement was occasioned by the language of a Sister of the Convent, who was an invalid, and had been for some time deprived of her reason by brain fever. The same paper of Monday observed, that considerable excitement continued to exist notwithstanding what had been stated on the authority of Bishop Fenwick on Saturday ; that the editor expected to be able to lay before the public the facts in the case, on the authority of the Bishop, but had since learned that he, understanding that a gentleman of Charlestown, residing near the Convent, and who was not a Catholic, having interested himself in the matter, and being satisfied that none of the remarks which occasioned the excitement were true, proposed to make a public statement. The Bishop had preferred to let the facts be given to the public by one who could not be accused of partiality, and had accordingly waited for that gentleman's statement.

But all the explanations were made too late ; had they been prepared and published a day before, they might have averted the catastrophe. Perhaps they were in the operation of being put into type at the very time when the mob was surrounding the institution. Had they made their appearance twenty-four hours earlier, there probably would have never been any such regretful episode in the history of Massachusetts as " the burning of the Convent."

The first explanation was that of the Selectmen of Charlestown, and was as follows : — ■

To the Public : "Whereas, erroneous statements have appeared in the public papers, intimating that the liberty of a young lady was improperly and unlawfully restrained at the Convent in this town, and believing that said publications were intended to excite the public mind against that institution, and might result in unpleasant or serious consequences, the Selectmen, considering it their duty to endeavor to allay any such excitement, have, at the request of the government of the institution, fully examined into the circumstances of the case, and were conducted by the lady in question throughout the premises, and into every apartment of the place, the whole of which is in good order, and nothing appearing to them to be in the least objectionable ; and they have the satisfaction to assure the public that there exists no cause of complaint on the part of said female, as she expresses herself to be entirely satisfied with her present situation, it being that of her own choice, and that she has no desire or wish to alter it.

Thomas Hoopek, Samuel Poob, "1

John Runey, ] Charlestown, August 11, 1834.

I

This note, it will be perceived, was not written in a style eloquent or perspicuous, but it conveyed information to the community, which should have been sought, ascertained, and set forth before.

The other statement, which appeared in the Morning Post, was that which was referred to by Bishop Fenwick as being about to be made by an impartial Protestant gentleman. It was furnished by Mr. Edward Cutter, a large brick manufacturer, and a man of much respectability, whose residence was not far from the Convent, and was in these terms : —

To the Editor op the Boston Morning Post : Some excitement having been created in this vicinity, by misrepresentations that have come before the public, in relation to the disappearance of a young lady from the Nunnery in this place, I deem it proper for me to state certain facts that are in my possession respecting the affair.

On the afternoon of Monday, the 28th ult., the lady in question came to my house, appeared to be considerably agitated, and expressed her wish to be conveyed to the residence of an acquaintance in West Cambridge. I lent her my assistance ; and on the succeeding day I called with the purpose of inquiring for the causes which induced her to leave the institution. I was informed that she had returned to the Nunnery in company with the Bishop, with a promise that she should be permitted to leave in two or three weeks, if it was her wish. Since that time various rumors have been in circulation calculated to excite the public mind, and to such an extent, as induced me to attempt to ascertain their foundation ; accordingly, on Saturday, the 9th inst., I called at the Nunnery, and requested of the Superior an interview with the lady referred to. I obtained it ; and was informed by her that she was at liberty to leave the institution at any time she chose. The same statement was also made by the Superior, who further remarked that, in the present state of public feeling, she would prefer to have her leave.

As it has been currently reported that the lady was not to be found, to allay the excitement in consequence of it, I have thought the above statement due to the public. Edward Cutter.

Chaklestown, August 11, 1834.

The Mob and Conflagkation.

We have given above a notice of the principal moving causes which led to the destruction of the Convent. The rumors relating to them had increased, like the rolling snowball, until the day of the catastrophe. At that time it was observed that some of the reports of coercion and of violent management in the affairs of the institution had created among the people of the vicinity much irritation and excitement ; but *<jt was not believed that mob violence would be resorted to. 'hey had increased, from day to day, however, until they ireatened to burst forth in acts of outrage. It was understood that the publication of handbills, and .c move-

ment among a certain class of the comr ng the day

which preceded the conflagration, pr jng some ob-

servers a forcible impression that so atrage would be

perpetrated. Of this forewarn-' <jr, no notice was

taken by the civil authorities

On the evening of the ,d of half a dozen or a

dozen men were seen, a^ ~ist eight o'clock, gathering

in the neighborhood ^ery. Soon after this a cart

laden with tar bar ,aer combustibles passed to the

spot. This she arning was premeditated, and soon

the work ber doors and windows of the Nunnery

were soon I y stones and other missiles, and a beacon

fire was xjparently as a signal to other rioters, upon

the hi! owd quickly increased to a multitude. It was

ce: «iis was a preconcerted movement ; for the burn-

car barrels was a signal for assembling;, among the citizens which would be collected, a large number who „ntered into a combination for the destruction of the

avent.

A party of fifty to a hundred persons, or perhaps more, disguised by fantastic dresses and painted faces, after warning the inmates, who had all retired to rest, by wild noises and threats of violence, to make their escape, proceeded to make an active assault upon the house. The ladies of the institution, alarmed by these threats of violence, immediately took the children under their charge, and with them retired from the rear of the house to the garden, and made their escape to some of the neighboring dwellings. The assailants pressed the evacuation of the house with such haste, that it is said they laid violent hands upon the Lady Superior to hasten her movements. The distress and terror of the scene were heightened by the solicitude of the nuns for one of their number, who was confined to her bed of a disease which she was not expected to recover from. The assailants forced open the doors and windows of the Convent, carried most of the furniture, among which were three piano-fortes , a: harp, and other musical instruments, into the yard, and there destroyed it. As they applied the torch, the fragments, as the flames spread through the building, were again thrown on to feed the fire. At about half past twelve o'clock they set fire to the building in the second story, and in a short time it was entirely destroyed.

A great number of persons were assembled at the spot, and were witnesses of the proceedings ; and it was impossible to tell then, as it is now, why no measures were taken to repress them. It could not be learned, that any magistrate or police officer came upon the ground. Several fire companies from Boston, Charlestown, and Cambridge repaired to the scene on the first alarm, and, when they ascertained the cause of it, a part of them returned home. A number of the fire companies, however, were present during the conflagration ; and the effectual measures which were taken to suppress it appear to have been overcome by the great number of persons assembled, many of them evidently from a distance, for the apparent purpose of encouraging and aiding in the work of destruction.

Besides the Nunnery, several other buildings belonging to the establishment were also burned. The fire was deliberately communicated to the chapel, to the bishop's lodge, the stables, and the old nunnery — a large wooden building situated at a short distance from the others. The work of destruction was continued until daylight, when the mob dispersed. The pecuniary value of the property destroyed was not estimated at the time. It was from fifty to a hundred thousand dollars, and was insured, on building and furniture, for about sixteen thousand dollars.

The accounts further stated that the firemen of Charlestown looked on in silence, without attempting to extinguish the flames, and the Boston department were compelled by violence to abstain from all efforts to put out the fire or save the property. Every thing was burned with the utmost deliberation, and without the slightest sentiment in opposition to the insanity of the mob. To crown the proceedings with an appropriate conclusion, the tomb at the foot of the gardens was entered, the coffins robbed of the plates bearing the names of the persons who lie buried there, and one of the coffins broken open, and its relics exposed. Even up to the next day there was not a single officer upon the spot to protect the remains of the dead from violation and insult.

It should be understood that all this is condensed from the newspapers which gave the first accounts of the rioting ; and it is quite possible that some of the reports were exaggerated, though conversation with some of those who were present through curiosity, and endeavored to be witnesses of what was going on, gives proof that the Lord Abbott of Misrule himself presided over the frenzied proceedings.

A very large number of young fellows, less than twenty-one years of age, were mixed in with the mob, and joined in the proceedings, with all the recklessness of unrestrained youth when engaged in a " row " where there were none to withhold them. The religious character of the place was a special mark for their profane irreverence and ribald jests, and all sought to outdo each other in mad pranks and prurient specimens of blackguardism.

' The Bishop had a library of religious books in one of the outbuildings ; and Marvin Marcy, a young lad, son of the then keeper of a hotel, who was the very personification of fun and mischief, though juvenile in his appearance, with his sandy hair and almost girlish face, was a leader of a special mob of his own kind in their destruction. He took up the books, read their titles, or gave mock titles to them, and, acting as auctioneer, with all the readiness of an old hand at the business, made jeering remarks upon them and their contents, knocked them off, and tossed them into the flames. A stranger combination of materials was never gathered in a mob collection.

Most singular of all it was that this outrage was carried on so many hours of the evening and night, within so short a distance from Boston, and yet very little was known about ft in the city. , The firemen belonging to the few engines which went over the bridges did not return till late at night. The newspaper men appear to have learned nothing at all about the occurrence in their neighboring town ; but there was not then the omniscient band of reporters in existence which is attached to the daily journals of the present day. There were more morning papers in Boston then than there are now, but not one of the conductors appears to have known of the proceedings. The Daily Advertiser had a postscript of five lines, in a portion of its edition of the next day, merely stating that the Charlestown Convent was burned the night before by a mob ; and this casual and brief notice was all that the public gained the ensuing morning from the newspapers. It was before the days of ef newspaper enterprise." At the same time there have been very few events in our city and neighborhood which have had such immediate and lasting effects.

The commotion among the Roman Catholics was immense. Proclamations were issued by the Governor of Massachusetts and the Mayor of Boston in regard to keeping the peace ; the Charlestown Selectmen offered a large reward for the apprehension of the leaders of the riot, and the military was kept in arms in Boston, for some time, through fear of an outbreak. This was more than thirty-five years ago ; and nothing similar to this sensation, either in character or dimensions, has since occurred among us.

The following account of the events is from The Jesuit, the organ of the Catholics of Boston at that time : —

Destruction or the Charlestown Convent.

It is our painful duty to record one of the most atrocious and disgraceful acts of violence ever perpetrated in any clime or civilized country. We allude to the destruction, by a lawless and fanatical mob, on last Monday night, of the magnificent Convent erected a few years since in Charlestown, by Bishop Fenwick of this city. This splendid institution had for its object the education of young ladies in all the branches of polite learning, and at the time of the woful disaster in question, had actually under the government of the Ursuline Ladies between fifty and sixty young ladies, chiefly of the best families of Massachusetts.

A report had been industriously circulated, for several -weeks previous, that a young lady was detained in this Convent against her will ; that she was immured in a dungeon, and there -cruelly treated. However absurd the report, the fanatical preachers in Boston and the adjacent towns seemed glad of so favorable an opportunity to excite the public, and manifested every disposition to take all the advantage of it they could to asperse the Catholic religion, and decry its institutions. Inflammatory sermons were preached in the neighboring towns, and in one or two churches in Boston, particularly in the Baptist Church in Hanover Street, as we have been given to understand, with a view to rouse the people against Catholicity. Even Dr. Beecher could not forbear assailing it last Sunday, in three sermons, which he delivered in three different churches, availing himself of the opportunity which his return to this city afforded him of warning the public of the dangers of Popery, as evidenced by its general prosperity. Such violent fanatics are evidently the most dangerous of the enemies to good order, and to the peace and harmony of society.

However this may be, a small body of men were seen hovering about the Convent between eight and nine o'clock on Monday night. Shortly after, a car laden with tar barrels and combustibles passed on to the spot. These were soon set on fire as signals. The crowd then began to increase ; shouts were uttered, accompanied with blasphemous speeches, and the most horrid yells and vilest imprecations. The doors and windows of the Convent were speedily broken in by stones and other missiles, when the mob rushed in, and in an instant began the work of destruction. The children were hastily taken out of bed and hurried out of the house ; who all happily effected their escape, though half naked, to the neighboring houses. The nuns and Superior were the last to leave the dwelling. In a moment after, the entire building was in a blaze ; but not before the most valuable articles in it, and which could be conveniently removed, were seized upon by the hand of ruffians that had entered it. The nuns saved nothing, not even a change of clothes. The tabernacle itself, with the holy altar, was rifled, the sacrament taken out of the blessed ciborium and thrown into the fields. A few pieces only of it were afterwards picked up and restored. From the house they proceeded to the sanctuary of the dead. At the bottom of the garden a beautiful tomb had been constructed, which contained the dead bodies of five or six nuns. These were torn out of their coffins and exposed. We shall make no comment on these proceedings ; they speak sufficiently for themselves.

Early the following morning (the 12th inst.) the Bishop sent three carriages in quest of the nuns. They were found in different houses in the neighborhood. One of them was in a dying condition, being under a deep consumption at the time ; another, in a state of mental derangement, reproduced by the noise and tumult attending on the dreadful occasion ; all of them, in short, in a state of great debility, in consequence of the continual watching for several days previous. It was surprising to see, after so gross an outrage and so much suffering, the calm, the tranquillity which beamed upon their countenances, and their perfect resignation under the grievous calamity. Not a word of reproach, not a complaint was suffered to escape their lips. They undoubtedly felt (and who could not but feel!), for the act was base, was cowardly and cruel. From the houses in which they had taken shelter during the night, they were conducted to the house of the Sisters of Charity in Hamilton Street, in Boston, where they now are in a state of absolute destitution, subsisting solely on alms and the charity of their friends.

The amount of property lost by this execrable deed is exceedingly great. Twenty thousand dollars will scarcely restore even the building alone, which they have lost ; and we may venture to assert, that the half of that sum will not replace the valuable furniture and costly instruments of music belonging to the Convent, and with which it was usefully adorned ; for it is well known (and who knew it better than the intelligent and discerning citizens of Boston?), that no expense had been spared to render it one of the most splendid establishments of female education in this or any other country. The- devotion of parents to it could not be excelled ; their confidence in those to whom they had intrusted their children could nowhere he equalled. Notwithstanding all the alarms which fanaticism had excited during several weeks previous, and the menaces which had been continually uttered against the institution, not a single parent would withdraw his child from it. No ; all of them, on the contrary, preferred to continue their children in it to the very last, at every hazard. They, too, have been great sufferers by this horrid act. Pianos of great value, belonging to several of the children, harps, guitars, gold watches, silver goblets and spoons, with all their clothing; these are among the losses which they have experienced. Some of them had been there for several years, and during this time had laid up a large provision of painting, of ornamental needlework, and of other beautiful specimens of their industry, with which they had hoped to charm and delight the eyes of their beloved parents, on their return home in a few months more ; these also have been all destroyed, to the exceedingly great regret of these little ones, and to the no small disappointment of their friends.

Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon the excellent Mayor of Boston, and upon the city authorities generally, for their prompt, manly, and judicious arrangements in protecting Catholic property in this city, when menaced by the same infernal mob of incarnate devils, as soon as they began to manifest a disposition to renew in Boston the scenes which they had perpetrated in Chaiiestown. For, while they were suffered by the authorities in Charlestown (who assuredly should have lost no time in protecting, at least, what remained of the property of the unfortunate Convent) to continue, during the entire of the following day and night their depredations upon the fences, the fruit trees, the vines, even upon the dead in the tomb, and remaining walls of the once splendid building, without having taken a single precaution, or stationed a single municipal officer to interrupt such wanton destruction, the magistrates of Boston, to their honor be it spoken, were constantly upon the alert; and by the wise, prudent, and judicious measures which they at once adopted and vigorously acted upon, have gained the esteem and confidence of all their fellow-men, and elicited the loud approbation of every good and virtuous citizen.

We are happy to have it in our power to state, in conclusion, that there is but One opinion pervading the community at large in relation to this atrocious, diabolical deed, and in hurling upon it the detestation it deserves.

The Boston Evening Transcript, conducted by the late Lynde M. Walter, Esq., expressed the sentiments of the Protestant Church upon the outage in the following terms : —

The general excitement, occasioned by the proceedings of night before last at Charlestown, and which yesterday, for the honor of the city be it said, raged among us with an earnestness corresponding to the atrocious character of that affair, has to-day, in a good degree, subsided. To the active exertions of the mayor, and other municipal authorities, the spirit and unanimity with which these were seconded by the whole community, and especially the great meeting called at Faneuil Hall, and finally, to the very commendable course pursued, as will be seen, by the Rev. Bishop Fenwick, must it be attributed, that after so stormy a day, the night passed off without disturbance in any direction. At Charlestown, also, the proceedings of the public meeting undoubtedly had a similar effect. ' ™

Among all the comment excited by this unprecedented enormity, we have noticed none which more justly describes the nature of the case than that of the Atlas, a portion of which is copied herewith.

" What a scene must this midnight conflagration Jiave exhibited — lighting up the inflamed countenances of an infuriated mob of demons, attacking a Convent of women, a seminary for the instruction of young females, and turning them out of their beds, half naked in the hurry of their flight, and half <$ead with confusion and terror. And this drama, too, to be enacted on the very soil that afforded one of the earliest places of refuge to the Puritan fathers of New England, themselves flying from religious persecution in the Old World, that their descendants may wax strong and mighty, and in their turn be guilty of the same persecution in the New !

" We remember no parallel to this outrage in the whole course of history. Turn to the bloodiest incidents of the French Revolution, roll up the curtain that hangs before its most sanguinary scenes, and point us to its equal in unprovoked violence, in brutal outrage, in unthwarted iniquity. It is in vain that we search for it. In times of civil commotion and general excitement, of confusion, and cruelty, and blood ; when the edifice of civil society was shaken to its base, and crumbling into ruin ; when the foundations of the great deep were broken up, and rapine, and fire, and murder were sweeping like a torrent over the land ; in times like these there was some palliation for violence and outrage, in the tremendously excited state of the public mind.