Video Walking Tour

Greetings, all --

Well, these are weird, uncertain times.  Not dark times ... not yet.  But right now, we all just have to calmly wait and see.  Wash your hands, stay home as much as you can, and above all Take Care Of Each Other.

I will still be updating the blog with photos and musings from/about the Charter Street Cemetery and anywhere else that appeals to me.  

Nobody knows what this all means for the tour industry here in town, probably nothing good; when I am not writing or performing, I am a tour guide here in town.  Because you aren't coming to Salem anytime soon, I have begun posting videos to bring the walking tour to you.  The first one is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzpvCtpWPIQ&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0zOF5mkiuVfED7xoqwxTCSdWitSa9YoVD-9FSlxhBm3WaIFH2RXD2UJbk

And more will follow.  

Do you enjoy what I do?  Want to help out?  There are a few ways you can show some support, any and all of which would be hugely appreciated!.

The easiest way is to share the love -- tell a friend!  Tell an enemy!  Tell a random passer-by about this guy and his blog and his walking tours and his books in Salem! 

You can also buy a book!  Check with your local brick-and-mortar shop first, but failing that, hit up Amazon:    

https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3ARory+O%27Brien&s=relevancerank&text=Rory+O%27Brien&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1

Last but not least, there are a few tipjar-style options available: people don't generally tip novelists, but maybe we can start a trend ....

Venmo: https://venmo.com/Rory-OBrien-18 Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/roryobrien Paypal: theroryobrien@juno.com
Until we meet again ... and we WILL ... just be excellent to each other.



      

The Lynde Family Tomb

You might walk around the Lynde family tomb in the Charter Street Cemetery without giving it a second glance; many people seem to.  It is big, but plain, and there is no inscription anywhere, so you would have no way of knowing that there are, somehow, the remains of *eight* people, spanning three generations, entombed there.  And that one of them is connected to an important event in American history.   

The family patriarch, Benjamin Lynde, Sr., was a prominent lawyer and magistrate, born in Salem in 1666 and dying here in 1749.  He became Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (as would his son, Benjamin Junior, who is the real reason for our visit, and about whom more in a minute).

Benjamin Senior married Mary Browne (d. 1753, age 74); in addition to Benjamin Jr., the couple had another son, William.  William would die young at age 37 in 1752.      

Benjamin Junior married Mary Goodridge.  Their daughter, Hannah (1735-1792), was named after her great-grandmother on the maternal side.    

All of these folks are laid to rest in this tomb, and records indicate there are two more – a William Brown, with no “e,” who may be a relative of Mary, and a Primus Lynde, who died in 1787, with no age.  Primus was a “man” belonging to Benjamin Junior.  In other words, a slave.

Frank Cousins of course took a photograph pf the tomb:

Prof. Donna Seger of SSU has researched the women in the Lynde family, and her work is well worth your time.  I will refer you to her Streets of Salem blog, rather than just plagiarize her findings:

https://streetsofsalem.com/2019/03/03/the-lynde-ladies-of-salem/

The 250^th anniversary of the Boston Massacre was just last week, and Chief Justice Benjamin Lynde, Jr. presided over the trial of Capt. Preston and the redcoats accused of firing on civilians.  Three colonists were killed, and two more would later die of their wounds.  John Adams acted for the defense, winning acquittal for six of them; two others were convicted of manslaughter.  Those two claimed “benefit of clergy,” and were branded on the thumb. 

Lynde was described as “nervous,” and took extensive notes during the trial. 

Adams must have known that Salem was the Chief Justice’s hometown, as he would later remark:

”The Part I took in Defence of Cptn. Preston and the Soldiers, procured me Anxiety, and Obloquy enough. It was, however, one of the most gallant, generous, manly and disinterested Actions of my whole Life, and one of the best Pieces of Service I ever rendered my Country. Judgment of Death against those Soldiers would have been as foul a Stain upon this Country as the Executions of the Quakers or Witches, anciently.”         
      

Lynde Street in downtown Salem is named after Benjamin Senior.  When you pass by, follow the sign down to the Gallows Hill Theater and take in the show.