Web
and Book design, |
Click
Here to return to |
|
THE LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE OF THE STATE HOUSE
IN 1795
the Hancock pasture became the property of the Town; and on May 2d of that year
it was formally transferred to the Commonwealth “for the purpose of erecting
thereon a State House for the accommodation of all the legislative and
executive branches of the Government.” The corner-stone of the new building was
laid with impressive ceremonies by the Governor, Samuel Adams, on Saturday,
July 4, 1795, being the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence. Preliminary exercises were held in the Old South Church, where an
oration was delivered by George Blake, Esq., and was received with great
enthusiasm. In the large assemblage, which included many distinguished
officials and other prominent citizens, “every countenance (some few excepted)
smiled with joy and satisfaction. The whole audience listened with profound
admiration to the end; when, as if by some impulse of sentiment and soul, the
citizens filled the House of God with Praise and Joy.”
At the
conclusion of these exercises a Procession was formed, as follows:
The Independent Fusileers
Martial
Music
Two
Toilers
THE
CORNER-STONE
on a
truck decorated with ribbons, and drawn by
fifteen
white horses, with a leader.
Operative
Masons
Grand
Marshal
Stewards
with Staves
Entered
Apprentices and Fellow Crafts
Three
Master Masons
bearing
the Square, Level, and Plumb-Rule
Three
Stewards
bearing
Corn, Wine, and Oil
Master
Masons
Officers
of Lodges in their respective Jewels
Past
Masters, Royal Arch, etc.
Grand
Toiler
Band of
Music, decorated
Grand
Stewards
Grand
Deacons with Wands
Grand
Treasurer and Grand Secretary
Past
Grand Wardens
Grand
Senior and Junior Wardens
Past
Deputy Grand Masters
Past
Grand Masters
Reverend
Clergy
Grand
Master attended by the
Deputy
Grand Master and Stewards
Deputy
Grand Marshal
Sheriff
of Suffolk
The
Agents of the Commonwealth
His
Excellency the Governor
His Honor
the Lieutenant-Governor
The
Adjutant-General
The
Quartermaster-General
The
Honorable Council
Members
of the Legislature
Clergy and Strangers of Distinction
In this
order they marched to the State-House site, where the Corner-Stone was laid by
Governor Adams, assisted by officials of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of
Massachusetts.1
It appears that at that time certain elements among
the citizens of the Commonwealth were jealous of Boston’s supremacy as the
Metropolis of New England. For to what other motive can be attributed the
following extract from a Salem newspaper of September 15, 1795?
“Notwithstanding that the cornerstone of a new State House has been laid with
so much pomp in Boston, it is doubted whether a superstructure will ever rest
upon it; as the factious attempts of the Bostonians to govern the State render
that town a very improper place for legislative deliberations!”
On
Thursday, January 11, 1798, the “Supreme Executive” met the members of the
Legislature in the Senate Chamber of the Old State House; this being their last
meeting in that historic building. And at noon of the same day the State
officials, including the Senators and Representatives, with other dignitaries,
proceeded to the new “Commonwealth House,” where the Reverend Doctor Thatcher,
Chaplain of the General Court, in an eloquent address, “dedicated the building
to the most honorable of human pursuits; the honor of God, and the people’s
good.”2 Governor Increase Sumner also made an address, wherein he dwelt upon the advantages of
the new edifice; commenting upon its convenient apartments, suitable
retirement, wholesome surroundings, and delightful prospect. He remarked,
moreover, that perhaps no more useful or magnificent public building was to be
found in the United States at that time.
The
distinguished editor, Richard Grant White, described the State-House Dome as a
protension heavenward of the Hub of the Universe; the globed and gilded tip of
that axis around which all that is best in western civilization revolves, ever
has revolved, and as it seems, ever will revolve.
In the
opinion of the same writer, the edifice, while not a very wonderful or
beautiful structure, compels admiration on account of its expression of
dignity, decorum, and eminent respectability.
The Dome,
originally built of wood, was sheathed with copper in 1802. The red bricks of
the main building were painted white in 1825. Many years later the lead color
of the Dome was changed to yellow; and in 1874 a covering of gold leaf was
applied. The present cupola dates from 1897, and is a reproduction of the
original one.3
1 The
Columbian Centinel, July 8, 1795.
2 The
Centinel, January 13, 1798, 22.
3 The
State House Guide. 1917.
Click the book image to turn
to the next Chapter.