The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-04-20
NO SUBWAY UNDER BOSTON CON-
MON.

NaOS1> OAAS can HreVent
it-For the Second Time they will Stand
for the Rights of all the People to have
the Commons kept for Park Purposes
Only.
Portland parties may have something
to say in regard to the subway under
Boston commons, and to that the follow
ing letter from the private secretary OF
the governor OF Massachusetts refers:
ERoston, April 18th, 1895
Mr.. Henry Dennis, 40 Fore street,
Portland, Maine.
Dear Sir. Il he governor is in receipt
OF your letter of the 6th. inst in regard
to deed of some portion of the COM
lency directs me to state that your COM
munication has cen referred to the
rapid transit commission.
Yours truly,
III. A. THOMAS,
Private Secretary.
The letter from Mr. Dennis to which
the above referred, was sent for the
purpose of calling the attention OF the
governor 60 the fact that the com mon
belongs not to the commonwealth of
massachusetts,, or to the city of Boston
to be used for any purpose to which it
may please the authorities to devote
it, but to the people to be used for
park purposes only. Mr.. Dennis called
the original grantor will insist that a
subway under the park which will kill
the trees, and effectually destroy the
common, or at least that section of it
for park purposes, will be just as much
an infringement of the deed as the pass
ing of horse or electric road over it. In
other words that a subway under the
common will be regarded by the heirs
as legal lapse of title TO them, and that
legal proceedings will follow.
This is not the first time that the
Paddock heirs have stood between the
people and some corporation and have
insisted that the common be kept for
par purposes only. Some years ago an
attempt was made to take some portion
of the common for the use of horse
railroad company. This was opposed by
ex-Mayor Cobb, and others, and the ex-
mayor thought of the original grant and
of the Paddock heirs, and found the
direct heir in Mrs. Fanny Paddock
Wash burn, the grandmother of Mr..
Henry Dennis of this city. She lived at
Taunton, Massachusetts, and was even
then nearly 80, but still remarkably Wig
orous. He asked her to go before the
mayor OF Boston and committee of the
common coun Gil and to present the case
for herself and heirs, and she consented
to do SO.
Paddock blood in the veins of the an
cient woman, and shaking her walking
stick at the committee she said that she |
did not desire to claim lapse of the |
of the deed, hut at the same
time she gave them warning in advance
that she should do SO if The common
should be taken for other than park pur-
poses. Her vigorous protest was received
by the committee in good part, nothing
further was done about the matter, and
when the famous Paddock elms were
cut down on fremont street, a walking
stick, made from choice bit of one of
them was presented to Mrs. Washburn by
the city of Boston, and that walking
stick is now the property of Mr.. Den
mis-.
The most direct heir of Major Paddock,
the original grantor of the property fo7
pu bile purposes, is Mrs. John Dennis, of
24S umberland street, Portland. She is
now over so, but is just as resolutely
that the common shall be
preserved for park purposes as all the
m lem bers of her family have been before
her. The subway will not pass under
the common, and the valuable and beau
tiful trees be destroyed without legal
proceedings promptly following. The
original family divided into three
branches at the time of the revolutionary
Gen. Henry Knox, was pupil in artillery
practice of Major Paddock, one section
went to st. John, New Brunswick, and
still another to England, where the
of that branch of the
family was commissioned colonel of the
life guard of George III.
I'VE feel great interest in Boston
common" said Mr.. Dennis yesterday
morning. "The original grantor and the
man who set out the original Paddock
elms on the common and on fremont
street was deeply interested in the park,
and took good care of the trees. When
he went to England he told his son that
on his return ii he found any of 1.-THE
young trees dead lie would give him
thrashing for every tree. The boy was
careless, and number of the trees died
before the father returned from England,
but when he did return his promise was
most religiously kept and the boy was
thrashed for every dead tree. 1t seems
to be a sort of family duty tor us to look
out for the trees there, and that duty
will be performed. l find that there is
a strong party in Boston who are in favor
of retaining the common for the orig
inal purpose for which the grant was
made, and the descendants of Major