Saturday Evening Gazette/June 7, 1856/The Way Our Fathers Did
The Way Our Fathers Did.
An Interesting Historical Document.
For the protection of their property against fire the excellent Boston forefathers of a hundred years ago associated themselves together, in the absence of tubs and hose, before Mose and Sikesy were born, and a kind friend has furnished us with an old document, which we publish, giving the constitution of an association of this sort, which is unique in view of modern usage. Appended to the constitution are the members’ names, which include among its members those of the Governor, Lieut. Governor, Judges of the Supreme Court, mechanics, barristers, and gentlemen—their vocations as described in the records of that time. The aristocratic governor, Hancock, and the brass founder, Cutler, there met “for the encouragement of good fellowship,” and each bore his proportion of the reckoning.” The paper is a very curious one:
These Present witness,
I.—That this Society shall consist of a Number not exceeding Thirty, and that no Person shall be admitted a Member, but by a written unanimous Vote of the Members present, after having been proposed at least one Meeting.
II.—That each of us will keep constantly in good Order, hanging up in some convenient Place in our respective Dwellings, Two Leathern Buckets, in which shall be two Bags, and Iron Screw Key, each Bag measuring one Yard and three Quarters in Length, and three Quarters of a Yard in Breadth, being hemmed at the Mouths, and having strong Strings to draw them close: The Buckets and Bags shall be mark’d with the first Letter of the Owner’s Christian Name, and with his Sirname at Length, under Penalty of One Shilling and Four Pence.
III.—At Noticeof Fire, we will immediately repair with our Buckets, Bags, &c. to the Dwelling-House, Warehouse or Shop of any Member of this Society, which we apprehend most in Danger, and use our best Endeavours (by his Direction if present) to remove and secure all his Goods and Effects, and will see them returned to him again after the Fire is over; under Penalty of what the Society shall think fit to determine.
IV.—For the better regulating the Affairs of the Society, and for the Encouragement of good Fellowship, we will constantly meet at Seven o’Clock in the Evening of the first Thursday in June and September; and at Six o’Clock in the Evening of the first Thursday in March and December, at such Place, as shall be agreed on by the Society; under Penalty of Eight Pence.
V.—That the Debates and Business of the Society may be carried on with Decency and Order, we will have a Clerk, whose Duty shall be to moderate at the meeting of the Society, to keep a fair Record of their Transactions, to visit the Dwelling and Store of each Member, at least every Quarter, and observe whether his Buckets, Bags, &c., are in good Order or not, and shall make Report of the same; to demand and receive the Fines that may arise from the Breach of any Articles agreed to by the Society, and to account with them for the same, to settle, collect and pay the Reckoning at Ten o’Clock each Meeting, and to take Care that every Member be notified of each quarterly Meeting a Day or Two before the Time: The Clerk to be excused paying his Club.
VI.—That the Members may be well acquainted with each other’s Dwellings, Stores, and the Passages thereto, the Clerk shall taken with him on each Visitation seven or eight of the Society in their Turn, as they stand on the List; and Member neglecting to attend the Clerk (on seasonable Notice) shall pay a Fine of Two Shillings.
VII.—When any Member shall remove to another Dwelling, Store or Shop, he shall inform the Clerk thereof within a Week after, under Penalty of One Shilling; and the Clerk shall insert the same in the next Notification, and the Member shall conform his Articles thereto, before the next Meeting, under Penalty of One Shilling.
VIII.—To prevent any Disputes which may arise in the Choice of a Clerk, and that each Member may sustain that Office in his Turn, we will at every March Meeting, have Tickets numbered from One onwards to the Number of Persons that have not served, which shall be rolled up and mingled together, and each Member who hath not served, shall draw one of said Tickets, and he that draws the No. 1, shall serve the Society in the Office of Clerk for the Year ensuing, or pay the Fine of Eight Shillings; if No. 1 is drawn by any Person acting for an absent Member, the said absent Member shall pay the Fine aforesaid, except the Person who draws for him will engage that he shall serve; otherwise the Lot shall be continued until one shall be found to serve, to whom all the Books, Papers & Stock belonging to the Society shall be delivered.
IX.—We will have a Watch-word, whereby to know each other, which shall continue until the Society see cause to change it; and every Member shall whisper the same to the Clerk, upon his first Entrance at every Meeting, and to any other Member at any Time when challenged, under Penalty of Four Pence; and if he divulges to any Person not a Member, he shall be fined Two Shillings.
X.—If any Member shall be absent after the List is called, which shall be by half an Hour after the Time of Meeting, he shall pay a Fine of Four Pence; and if absent the whole Evening, shall bear the Proportion of the Reckoning.
XI.—If any Member of the Society should lost his Buckets, Bags or Screw-Key in Time of Fire, his Loss shall be repaired by the Society, provided he shall make Report of it to the Clerk within a Week after it may happen.
XII.—Every Member shall keep by him a printed Copy of these Articles (for which he shall Pay Four Pence) with the Names of all the Subscribers, and the Places of their Dwellings and Stores, and shall produce them at every quarterly Meeting, under Penalty of One Shilling.
XIII.—Any Member who shall neglect to observe these or any other Articles agreed on by the Society, and shall refuse to pay the Penalty annexed when demanded by the Clerk, or who shall absent himself four Meetings successively, ceaseth to be a Member of this Society, and shall not be admitted again without the usual ceremonies of Election.
| Members’s Names. | Places they inhabit. | Stores. |
| Joshua Blanchard, | Brattle street, | Dock Square |
| Thomas Cushing, | Rawson lane, | Ann street |
| Isaac Smith, | Queen street, | King street |
| William Greenleaf, | Hanover street, | Cornhill |
| William Cooper, | Hanover street, | Probate Office |
| John Cutler, | Marlborough street, | |
| Ebenezer Storer, | Sudbury street, | Union street |
| John Coburn, | King street | |
| Edward Green, | School street | |
| Moses Gill, | School street, | Dock Square |
| John Hancock, | Beacon street, | Hancock’s wharfe |
| John Bradford, | Hanover st., Hancock’s whf. & Mill Creek | |
| Tuthil Hubbard, | Cornhill | |
| John Pitts, | Southack’s court, | King street |
| Thomas Russell, | Summer street, | King street |
| Christopher Clark, | Cornhill | |
| John Lowell, | Tremount street, | Office New Court House |
| Stephen Gorham, | Sudbury street | |
| Jonathan Hastings, | Queen street | |
| John Brown, | School street | |
