July 22, 1742- Jonathan Sherman, son of William Sherman & Dorothy Russell, marries Susanna Gifford in
Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
(Jonathan Sherman is my third cousin 8 times removed. Our common ancestors are Thomas Lawton & Elizabeth Salisbury.)
Faneuil Hall, located near the waterfront and today's
Government Center, in
Boston,
Massachusetts, has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. The edifice was home to merchants, fishermen, and meat and produce sellers, and provided a platform for the country's most famous orators. It is where colonists first protested the
Sugar Act in 1764 and established the doctrine of "no taxation without representation." It was the site of several speeches by
Samuel Adams,
James Otis, and others encouraging independence from
Great Britain. Now it is part of
Boston National Historical Park and a well-known stop on the
Freedom Trail.
After the project of erecting a public market house in Boston had been discussed for some years, merchant
Peter Faneuil offered, at a public meeting in 1740, to build a suitable edifice at his own cost as a gift to the town. There was a strong opposition to market houses, and although a vote of thanks was passed unanimously, his offer was accepted by a majority of only seven. Funded in part by profits from slave trading, the building was begun in
Dock Square in September of the same year. It was built by artist
John Smibert in 1740–1742 in the style of an English country market, with an open ground floor serving as the market house, and an assembly room above. According to Sean Hennessey, a National Park Service spokesman, some of Boston's early slave auctions were located near Faneuil Hall.
The grasshopper
weather vane on top of the hall is a well known symbol of Boston; see the section "
Grasshopper weather vane," below. Knowledge of the grasshopper was used as a
shibboleth during the Revolution period. The people would ask suspected spies to identity the object on the top of Faneuil Hall; if they answered correctly, then they were free; if not, they were convicted as British spies.
In 1761 the hall was destroyed by fire, nothing but the brick walls remaining. It was rebuilt by the town in 1762. In 1775, during the British occupation of Boston, it was used for a theatre.
Through the years, Faneuil Hall has played host to many impassioned speakers, from Oliver Wendall Holmes and Susan B. Anthony to Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy, always living up to its nickname, "The Cradle of Liberty."
