James Healy, one of the founders of Boston Duck Tours, presented “Massachusetts Firsts” during the Winthrop Improvement & Historical Association’s (WIHA) April 2 dinner meeting in the Deane Winthrop House barn. Healy is a retired history officer for Boston Duck Tours and lives on a floating house in East Boston.
“Boston was founded in 1630. We’re one of the oldest cities in the United States. A lot of things happened here first in our nation’s history,” said Healy. “Many of the first settlers in Winthrop settled here in 1630. They were part of that group of Puritans that came over from Boston, England.”
Boston implemented the first fire ordinance in 1631 after the house of Thomas Sharp burned down. He had built his home with a wooden chimney. The building code outlawed wooden chimneys and thatched roofs on homes.
The first public school in the country was Boston Latin School, established in Boston in 1635. Students attended the headmaster’s home for lessons until 1645, when a school house was built on School Street. Five signers of the Declaration of Independence were students of Boston Latin: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Treat Paine, and William Hooper.
Harvard University was the first college in America, founded in 1636 by Puritans, who were strong supporters of education. The first graduating class was in 1642, with nine students.
After Thomas Lechford was seen speaking to members of the jury outside of the courtroom, he became the first disbarred lawyer in the country in 1639.
“The Puritans passed some of the first laws in the country. When they first came here, they assumed everyone – being as religious as they were – would get along just fine and behave, but that wasn’t the case,” revealed Healy. “Boston had the first law in the country prohibiting gambling, the first law prohibiting smoking tobacco in public, and they had the first law prohibiting public intoxication.”
Forty-four years before the Salem witch trials, Charlestown woman, Margaret Jones, became the first person in Boston to be convicted of witchcraft and hanged in 1648.
The Massachusetts Bay Colony established a mint enterprise in 1652. The silver “pine tree shillings” were the first minted coins in the country.
“At that time, only the king of England could mint coins. It was illegal for anyone else; but here in Massachusetts, we had a shortage of coins,” noted Healy. “Back in those days, the colonists didn’t pay much attention to what the king said.”
Boston had the first fire engine in the country in 1654, as well as the first fire department. Members – who could have been shipwrights, carpenters, tailors, and businessmen — were on-call and only paid when actively extinguishing flames.
Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestic was the first newspaper in the country, publishing one edition in 1619.
“The local authorities, all appointed by the king, did not like what the editor was printing, so they shut the paper down,” explained Healy. “Boston didn’t get another newspaper until 1704. Back then, we did not have freedom of the press.”
In addition to the first minted coins, the thirteen colonies also had the first paper money, produced to pay militiamen during the King William’s War.
Boston had the first road map in the country. In 1698 John Tully printed an almanac that included a chart of the Boston area. It indicated towns, roads, and distances from Boston. The map was so popular that later editions incorporated the locations of taverns.
Doctor Zabdiel Boylston introduced the smallpox inoculation to Boston in 1721. About once every decade, there was a smallpox epidemic in Boston; and even if someone survived, he or she could have been blinded or scarred for the remainder of their lives.
“This was something that had been done in China for centuries. The inoculation eventually made its way to Europe, and Boylston learned about it. It was very successful,” said Healy. “They next year, it saved thousands of lives; but many refused to be inoculated. They believed to be inoculated to prevent smallpox defied the will of God.”
James Baker, a medical doctor, started the first chocolate factory in the country in 1765 because he felt that it would be delightful to have a chocolate factory in the Massachusetts Bay Colonies. Baker hired Irish immigrant, John Hannon, to produce the chocolate for the Baker Chocolate Company in Boston.
Phillis Weatley was the first published black poet in the country in 1773. Born in Africa, she arrived to America on a slave ship in 1761. She was purchased by Boston woman, Susanna Weatley, whose daughter taught Phillis how to speak English.
“Some of her poems were published in Boston newspapers, and a collection of her poems were published in England,” noted Healy. “Publishers in England doubted that a slave could have written these poems, but John Hancock testified that she had written them.”
Slavery was legal in all thirteen colonies before the American Revolution. In 1783, courts ruled that slavery was illegal in Massachusetts. When the first federal census was taken in 1790, Massachusetts was the only state that had no slaves.
Massachusetts had the first state college in the United States, established in Lexington in 1839.
“Prior to that time, anyone who could read, write, or do simple arithmetic could get a job as a teacher; but Massachusetts decided they wanted to improve the quality of education,” said Healy.
The first use of ether in surgery was at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1846.
“Prior to that time, doctors were reluctant to perform surgery because it was extremely painful, and it was not unusual for the patient to die of shock before the surgical procedure was completed,” described Healy. “The anesthetic revolutionized medicine.”
Boston had the first sewing machine in the country. It was demonstrated by its inventor, Elias Howe, an unfortunate salesman who eventually sold his patent to Isaac Singer, who paid Howe a portion of the profits from every sewing machine he sold.
Boston had the first candy factory in 1847. Oliver Chase — inventor of the first candy-manufacturing machine, which cut lozenges – started Chase and Company, which eventually became NECCO (New England Confectionary Company).
Boston Female Medical College was the first medical school for women in the world, launched in 1848. In 1847 it merged with the Boston University School of Medicine, becoming the first co-educational medical school.
The Boston Public Library, established in 1848, was the first, public, lending library in the country. Today, readers can borrow up to 75 books at a time.
Boston had the first jelly bean factory, started during the Civil War in 1861 by William Schrafft.
“At that time, the Schrafft Candy Company had the largest candy factory in the world,” emphasized Healy.
The invention of roller skates by doctor, James Leonard Plimpton, in Boston in 1863, made Plimpton a millionaire.
Sylvester Roper built the first, practical, steamed automobile in the United States in Boston, in 1863. It can be viewed in the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, in Michigan. Roper also invented the steam-powered motorcycle, which he enjoyed racing against bicyclists.
The first lightbulb was invented in 1868 by Moses Farmer, a Salem electrical engineer. Famer’s lightbulb, with its platinum filament, was too expensive and time consuming to construct; especially during a time when homes were not yet wired with electricity. Famer also invented the first fire alarm boxes that are still maintained on light poles in Boston.
“Almost everyone believes that Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb,” Healy clarified. “Thomas Edison comes along and is making power plants. He wants to build a power system in cities across the country; but the one thing he didn’t have was a lightbulb. He bought the patent from Moses Farmer. Edison spent several weeks trying to perfect an inexpensive lightbulb that could be mass produced, and that’s what he did.”
Basketball was invented by James Naismith at the Springfield, Massachusetts YMCA in 1891, to create an athletic, indoor game that could be played in the winter. Volleyball was also invented by YMCA physical education instructor, William Morgan in 1895.
The “Pledge of Allegiance” was written in Boston in 1892 by Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy.
In 1895, Hood became the first dairy company in the United States to start delivering milk in glass bottles.
“Prior to that time, you could go to the dairy with a pale and buy milk,” noted Healy. “In some places, a milk man would come to your house with a large container of milk, and you’d come out and he’d pour the milk in a pitcher for you.”
In 1903 the Boston Police Department switched from horse-drawn carriages to automobiles. The first police car was manufactured by the Stanley Steamer company in Newton, Massachusetts.
“The police officer road on a bench seat. A civilian chauffeur drove it,” described Healy. “They patrolled Beacon Hill.”
Massachusetts was the first state to issue license plates. Henry Lee Higginson, founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, advocated for automobiles to have individual identification numbers after he became annoyed by the dust and noise they created when driving past his home. The first license plate number was issued in 1903 to Frederick Tudor, and the plate has been passed down through the family.
In 1903, Massachusetts also became the first state to require a driver’s license; although it was not necessary to pass a road test.
“Anyone could get a driver’s license by answering 12 questions on an exam. Back in 1903, there were no traffic signs, lights, or lanes in the road. It was a free-for-all, and you were sharing the road with horses,” described Healy. “Boston’s youngest, licensed driver was 11-years-old, and he was employed as a chauffeur.”