The Green Dragon Tavern Sign’s Winding Legacy

Green Dragon Tavern Sign, 1875-1940. Loaned by the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, GL2004.7293a. Photograph by David Bohl.

 

As we look forward to Patriots’ Day here at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, our minds turn to objects in our collection related to the American Revolution. Among these is the dramatic sculpture pictured here. This sculpture is a reproduction of a tavern sign that once hung over Boston’s fabled (and no longer surviving) Green Dragon Tavern and connects viewers to the remembrance of important events relating to our nation’s origins.

This sculptural dragon’s story is as winding as its tail. The original Green Dragon Tavern, in operation as early as 1712 and located on Union Street in Boston’s North End, attracted customers with a metal (possibly copper) sign in the shape of a dragon over its door. The Lodge of St. Andrew met at the tavern and purchased the building in 1764. The tavern continued to operate in the basement while the Lodge used the upper floors for its meetings. This structure burned down in 1832, and the original dragon sign was lost.

The Lodge rebuilt the building after the fire. For its centennial in 1856, a new sign in the shape of a dragon was commissioned. It was modeled after its predecessor as closely as could be determined but was made of sandstone instead of metal. This 1855 dragon sign was also lost sometime after it was created.

The sign shown here, sculpted in bronze, has more mysterious origins. It was discovered in 1947 by clothing store proprietor Samuel Lebow, who had purchased the Lodge of St. Andrew’s building to use as his shop. Lebow, himself a Freemason, gave the dragon to the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts the same year he found it.

The original Green Dragon Tavern—referred to as the “Headquarters of the Revolution” by Daniel Webster and a “nest of sedition” by Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson—was the location at which the Sons of Liberty met to plan out the Boston Tea Party. An 1898 artist’s rendering of that storied night, with the tavern and its sign in the shape of a dragon in the background, can be seen below. Lodge of St. Andrew members Paul Revere (1734-1818), John Hancock (1736/7-1793), and Joseph Warren (1741-1775) were also members of the Sons of Liberty and deeply involved in the group’s activities.

Green Dragon Tavern, Boston, Massachusetts, 1898. Lee Woodward Zeigler (1868-1952); The Masonic History Company, New York, NY. Loaned by the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, GL2004.0763.

 

Today, this dragon sign, part of the collection of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, is cared for by the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library. If you would like to see it in person, it is currently on view in our exhibition, “The Masonic Hall of Fame: Extraordinary Freemasons in American History.”

 

References:

Newell, Aimee E., et al. Curiosities of the Craft: Treasures from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Collection. Boston: Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts and Lexington, Massachusetts: Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, 2013, pp. 54-55.

Gimber, Karl and Mary Jo. “Hook a Tavern Sign.” Early American Life, Feb. 2012, pp. 72-73.

The Lodge of Saint Andrew, and the Massachusetts Grand Lodge. Boston: Lodge of St. Andrew, 1870, pp. 184-185.

The Warren Family of Doctors, Freemasonry, and Bunker Hill

On Wednesday, June 17, 1857, the Bunker Hill Memorial Association unveiled a statue of Joseph Warren (1741-1775), who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill exactly 82 years earlier. To commemorate the occasion, the Bunker Hill Memorial Association printed Celebrations by the Bunker Hill Monument Association, of the Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, in 1850 and 1857 (below, right). Our copy of these proceedings is particularly special because it was a presentation copy given to Dr. J. Mason Warren (1811-1867), who was Joseph Warren's grand-nephew, and served on the Bunker Hill Memorial Association's board of directors.

Joseph Warren is often remembered for his pivotal role in two aspects of the American Revolution: as the man who sent Paul Revere and William Dawes on their midnight ride on the night before the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and as a General who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill. By profession, however, Joseph Warren was a doctor, and this played no small role in his life, or in the lives of many others in the Warren family.

In fact, Dr. Joseph Warren stands at the head of a long line of the Warren family of doctors. His brother John Warren (1753-1815) was the principal founder of Harvard Medical School, and, in turn, John Warren's son - John Collins Warren (1778-1856) - was a leading figure in establishing Massachusetts General Hospital and was the first to perform surgery using ether (see this painting and this daguerreotype). The Warren that we are concerned with here today - J. Mason Warren - was a leading surgeon and, while at Massachusetts General Hospital, performed pioneering work in plastic surgery. J. Mason Warren performed the first rhinoplasty procedure in America in 1837. But this line of doctors didn't end there - J. Mason Warren's son, J. Collins Warren (1842-1927) also went on to become a doctor.

Freemasonry, naturally, played a large role in the celebrations surrounding the unveiling of the Warren statue on June 17, 1857. General Joseph Warren was a Mason himself, having been raised in the Lodge of St. Andrew and was Grand Master of the Massachusetts Provincial Grand Lodge from 1769 until his death in 1775. It was Massachusetts Freemasons who gave Joseph Warren a proper and honorable burial a year after the Battle of Bunker Hill. Warren had been buried on the battlefield and his remains were dug up a year later; he was identified by the dental work Paul Revere had done on him. Masons also played a large role in the ceremony surrounding the laying of the cornerstone of the Bunker Hill Memorial. The proceedings of the 1857 unveiling of the statue of Warren enumerate the many dignitaries who processed to Breed's Hill. It was stated that "the Masonic display was large and brilliant; the grand lodges of Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, twenty-four subordinate lodges, and members of two or three encampments taking part in the procession." You can read more about the Masonic ceremonies surrounding the 1857 dedication of the Warren statue here.

You can read a biography of J. Mason Warren, the grand-nephew of Dr. Joseph Warren here.

Images above are from:

Celebrations by the Bunker Hill Monument Association, of the Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, in 1850 and 1857. [Boston: Bunker Hill Monument Association, 1858]
Gift of Wilbur Devens Raymond
Call number: RARE E241 .B9 1858

"Don't Fire Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes!": Remembering Bunker Hill

In 1876, the United States celebrated its centennial anniversary with great fanfare.  As part of the celebration, souvenirs of all types were available for purchase – including this glass platter that was recently donated to the National Heritage Museum.  At the center is a depiction of the Bunker Hill Monument, which is actually located on Breed’s Hill, in Charlestown, Massachusetts.  The cornerstone for the monument was laid in a Masonic ceremony on June 17, 1825, the 50th anniversary of the famous battle.  Taking part in the festivities was the Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834), who was making a tour through the United States at the time.  The monument was completed in 1843.

The famous battle, fought against the British on June 17, 1775, was one of the earliest of the Revolutionary War.  Although it was a British victory, the American forces killed or wounded almost half of the 2,200 British soldiers fighting that day.  The platter memorializes the names of four of the American military leaders: Israel Putnam, John Stark, William Prescott and Joseph Warren.  How many of these names do you know?  Here’s a short guide:

Israel Putnam (1718-1790) was born in Massachusetts, but spent his adult life in Connecticut where he was a farmer.  After military service during the French and Indian Wars, Putnam helped organize the Sons of Liberty in eastern Connecticut.  In 1775, he was appointed a brigadier general and eventually became second in rank to George Washington.  As field commander of the troops at Bunker Hill, Putnam reportedly gave one of the most famous orders in military history, “Don’t one of you fire until you see the white of their eyes” (although some accounts attribute this to William Prescott, also named on the platter).

John Stark (1728-1822) was a native of New Hampshire, where he made his living as a farmer and a miller.  Like Putnam, he also served in the French and Indian Wars.  After the fighting at Lexington and Concord, Stark traveled to Cambridge and was appointed colonel.  At Bunker Hill, he deployed his men between Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill to defend the army’s left flank.  He was able to encourage his inexperienced soldiers to cover weak spots in the American defense that day.

Like Putnam and Stark, William Prescott (1726-1795) was also a farmer, tending the land left to him by his father in Groton, Massachusetts.  Also like Putnam and Stark, Prescott gained military experience in the French and Indian Wars.  The night before the Battle of Bunker Hill, Prescott, a commissioned colonel, was ordered to command the expedition to fortify Bunker Hill.  With 1,200 men, he instead entrenched Breed’s Hill.  He was able to defend against British General Sir William Howe’s advances twice.  Although the British broke through on their third advance, Prescott achieved a symbolic victory, suffering only 441 dead and wounded compared to the over 1,000 casualties on the British side.

Perhaps the best-known name on the platter belongs to Joseph Warren (1741-1775).  Warren, a Boston physician, had been elected President Pro Tempore of the Provincial Congress on April 23, 1775.  Just three days before the Battle of Bunker Hill, on June 14, Warren was elected a major general of the provincial army.  Sadly, he died at the end of the battle when Howe’s forces finally broke through.  At the time, Warren was also Grand Master of Massachusetts Provincial Grand Lodge. After recovering Warren’s body from the battlefield, members of both active Massachusetts Grand Lodges honored him with a Masonic funeral service.

Bunker Hill Platter, 1876, collection of the National Heritage Museum, gift of Robert and Edith Zucker, 2008.021.6.  Photograph by David Bohl.