Merrymount is a primarily residential neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts, USA, located between the neighborhoods of Quincy Center and Adams Shore. [1] Although it was the site of Quincy's initial settlement, Merrymount was not substantially developed for residential use until the first half of the 20th century, and most of the neighborhood's houses date from that period. [1] [2]
Merrymount takes its name from the colony of Mare Mount, also known as Merry Mount or Merrymount. Colonist Thomas Morton wrote that the natives called the area "Passonagessit" and that the inhabitants translated this to "ma-re mount". [3] The colony, established in 1625, was officially named Mount Wollaston by the Puritan separatists, but as Morton and other non-Puritans gained influence in the area, the name Merry Mount gained common use. In 1627, Morton and others erected a maypole and conducted a May Day Revel, inviting both colonists and natives. William Bradford indicated that Morton and other English men at Merrymount had been "inviting the Indian [people] (both men and women), for their consorts, dancing and frisking together, (like so many fairies, or furies rather,) and worse practices." [4] This was the inspiration for the Nathaniel Hawthorne short story "The May-Pole of Merry Mount." The Puritan Separatists at Plymouth were scandalized and made concerted efforts to repress Morton and what they considered to be his pagan leanings. Finally, in 1630, with the arrival of Governor Winthrop and 900 more Puritans to what would become Boston, the combined Puritans were able to arrest and deport Morton, and the colony of Mount Wollaston/Merrymount was officially dissolved. In 1637 Morton published a book about his experience at Merrymount where he indicated that English colonists may have had relationships with Indian women who bore children whose eyes "were gray." [5]
The land of the former colony was absorbed by Boston in 1634, then six years later made part of Braintree. The land was eventually sold to an ancestor of Abigail Adams and came to be owned by the Adams family. [6] Prior to this point, the Merrymount area had been home to a substantial Native American population. [2] In 1792, Braintree was divided into several smaller towns, and much of what was once Mount Wollaston was incorporated as the new town of Quincy.
The area that is now Merrymount remained in the Adams' possession until the early 20th century, at which point it was sold off as housing lots. Development consisted mainly of single-family houses and was largely completed by the post-World War II era. [2] A contemporary account from that period describes Merrymount as "the nicest section of Quincy." [7]
Merrymount, as it is currently recognized, is bordered to the north by Quincy Bay, to the west by Black's Creek, to the south by Quincy Center, and to the east by Adams Shore. Landmarks include the Mount Wollaston Cemetery, Maypole Hill and Merrymount Elementary School. Recently, the city placed a stone monument to the first settlement in the neighborhood.
The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who traveled to America on the Mayflower and established the Plymouth Colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Pilgrims' leadership came from the religious congregations of Brownists, or Separatists, who had fled religious persecution in England for the tolerance of 17th-century Holland in the Netherlands.
Myles Standish was an English military officer and colonist. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States by the Pilgrims. Standish accompanied the Pilgrims on the ship Mayflower and played a leading role in the administration and defense of Plymouth Colony from its foundation in 1620. On February 17, 1621, the Plymouth Colony militia elected him as its first commander and continued to re-elect him to that position for the remainder of his life. Standish served at various times as an agent of Plymouth Colony on a return trip to England, as assistant governor of the colony, and as its treasurer.
Quincy is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 101,636, making it the seventh-largest city in the state. Known as the "City of Presidents", Quincy is the birthplace of two U.S. presidents—John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams—as well as John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence and the first and third governor of Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The lands of the settlement were in southern New England, with initial settlements on two natural harbors and surrounding land about 15.4 miles (24.8 km) apart—the areas around Salem and Boston, north of the previously established Plymouth Colony. The territory nominally administered by the Massachusetts Bay Colony covered much of central New England, including portions of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut.
Quincy Adams station is a rapid transit station in Quincy, Massachusetts. It serves the Braintree Branch of the MBTA's Red Line. Located in southern Quincy on Burgin Parkway near the Braintree Split, the station features a large park and ride garage, with space for 2,538 automobiles, built over the station tracks and platforms. It is fully accessible.
Quincy Center station is an intermodal transit station in Quincy, Massachusetts. It is a transfer station between the MBTA Red Line subway, MBTA Commuter Rail's Old Colony Lines and Greenbush Line, and a number of MBTA bus routes. It is located between Hancock Street and Burgin Parkway in the Quincy Center district. Opened in 1971, the station was covered by a large parking garage which was closed in 2012 due to structural problems and removed several years later. The station is accessible on all modes.
Thomas Morton was an early colonist in North America from Devon, England. He was a lawyer, writer, and social reformer known for studying American Indian culture, and he founded the colony of Merrymount, located in Quincy, Massachusetts.
Wollaston station is a rapid transit station in Quincy, Massachusetts. Located in the Wollaston neighborhood, it serves the MBTA's Red Line. It was opened in September 1971 as the second of three stations in the original South Shore Extension, replacing a mainline rail station which had been located there from 1845 to 1959. Wollaston station was closed from January 8, 2018, to August 16, 2019, for renovations to the station, including flood mitigation and accessibility improvements.
The Puritan migration to New England was marked in its effects from 1620 to 1640, declining sharply afterwards. The term Great Migration can refer to the migration in the period of English Puritans to the New England Colonies, starting with Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony. They came in family groups rather than as isolated individuals and were mainly motivated by freedom to practice their beliefs.
"The May-Pole of Merry Mount" is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It first appeared in The Token and Atlantic Souvenir in 1836. It was later included in Twice-Told Tales, a collection of Hawthorne's short stories, in 1837. It tells the story of the colony of Merry Mount, a 17th-century British colony located in what is now Quincy, Massachusetts.
Mount Wollaston Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery at 20 Sea Street in the Merrymount neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1855 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Quincy family was a prominent political family in Massachusetts from the mid-17th century through to the early 20th century. It is connected to the Adams political family through Abigail Adams.
Edmund Quincy I (1602–1636), known as "the Puritan", was an English settler, soldier, colonist, planter, landowner, merchant, and politician of Massachusetts Bay Colony in what later became the United States. He is notable as the progenitor of the Quincy family.
Colonel John Quincy was an American soldier, politician and member of the Quincy political family. His granddaughter Abigail Adams named her son, the future president John Quincy Adams, after him. Two days after his great-grandson's birth, Quincy died. The city of Quincy, Massachusetts, is named after him.
Chickatawbut was the sachem, or leader, of a large group of indigenous people known as the Massachusett tribe in what is now eastern Massachusetts, United States, during the initial period of English settlement in the region in the early seventeenth century.
Quincy Shore Reservation is a public recreation area and protected shoreline on Quincy Bay, Boston Harbor, in Quincy, Massachusetts. Its primary attraction is a 2.3-mile-long (3.7 km) beach, accessible along its entire length by Quincy Shore Drive. The largest beach on Boston Harbor, it is known locally as Wollaston Beach, named for the adjacent Wollaston neighborhood.
Henry Adams (1583–1646) was an English colonial farmer. Also known as Henry Adams of Braintree, he was a patrilineal emigrant ancestor of U.S. Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, 2nd great grandfather of U.S. Founding Father Samuel Adams, and 9th great grandfather of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge.
Richard Wollaston was an English sea captain and pirate who was one of the first colonists in New England and the namesake of Wollaston and Mount Wollaston. Some historians believe that Wollaston was first mentioned in 1615 by Capt. John Smith who recorded a confrontation with an English pirate, Captain Barra and his lieutenant "Capt. Wollistone." In 1617 Sir Walter Raleigh mentioned an encounter Captain Wollaston during his second trip to Guiana. In 1624-25 Captain Wollaston brought a group of approximately thirty indentured servants led by Thomas Morton to Massachusetts, where they founded Merrymount. Wollaston also was known for transporting workers to Cape Ann, Monhegan Island, and Virginia. On March 18, 1626, Captain John Bennington reported to the Duke of Buckingham that Captain Wollaston had been buried the day before.
Woodbury, C. L. Genealogical Sketches ... (1904) J. B. Clarke Company, "The Maypole in New England", (pg 50 via archive.org)
