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Sir William Phips 1651 - 1695
First Royal Governor of Massachusetts under the Charter of 1691. One of twenty-six brothers and sisters. A poor boy apprenticed to a ship's carpenter in the North End. In 1687 he recovered from a Spanish galleon sunken off the coast of Haiti, a treasure of bullion, coin and plate which he turned over to the principals in England, to their great enrichment. For this service, the King honored him with knighthood, upon which followed his appointment as Governor. He lived at the corner of Charter and Salem Streets in a mansion he had dreamed of as a boy.
Joseph Warren 1741 - 1775
Teacher, physician, patriot, leader of the North End Caucus, author of the Suffolk Resolves which foreshadowed the Declaration of Independence and President of the Provincial Congress. He lived on Hanover Street. His heroic death at the Battle of Bunker Hill was counted by the British General Howe equal to the loss of five hundred men to the patriot cause.
"When Liberty is the prize, who would shun the warfare? Who would stoop to waste a coward thought on life?"
John Manley 1733 - 1793
One of the most distinguished naval officers of the Revolution. Commissioned by General Washington to intercept British supplies for the army occupying Boston, he captured the transport Nancy and thus made inevitable the evacuation of Boston by General Howe. For his skill and daring he received the written commendation of Washington; "Your behavior since you first engaged in the service merits mine and your country's thanks." In 1776, a resolution of Congress appointed him second on the list of captains in the newly established Navy. He lived on Webster Avenue, the site of this mall and died on Charter Street.
Edmund Hartt 1744 - 1824
Builder of the frigate Constitution which brought undying glory to the American Flag. "And many an eye has danced to see that banner in the sky"
He lived and died on Charter Street, and lies buried in Copp's Hill Burying Ground. His "Naval Yard" stood on the site now covered by Constitution Wharf, at the foot of Hanover Street. |