Eagle Feathers #221 – Voyage to China

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

Joseph Barrell was born in 1739 and died in 1804. He was a Boston ship owner, a fishery merchant, a former member of the patriotic organization, Sons of Liberty, and was an exceedingly wealthy trader. Ten years after the American Revolution in 1793, he purchased Cobble Hill in Charlestown, which is now Somerville, and the over 211 acres of land surrounding it.

During the first year of the war, this site was an American fortress built by Generals Henry Knox and Israel Putnam. It had provided protection to the Charles River, and its soldiers participated in the bombardment of Boston which kept the British at bay until their withdrawal to Canada.

Sparing no expense, Barrell hired America’s first-born architect, the acclaimed Charles Bullfinch, to design what was christened Pleasant Hill at that time. Bullfinch had worked for Barrell earlier and became a family friend. The Barrell mansion and its grounds were one of his first creations. At that time, the design, with its surrounding grounds, was said to be the most beautiful country home in New England.

In 1787 Barrell organized an association of merchants to support a bold voyage to the Northwest coast of America. If successful, it would profit immensely. One of the members was Charles Bullfinch and another was John Derby, brother of Somerville resident Elias Hasket Derby, America’s first millionaire.

The two-ship enterprise commanded by Captain John Kendrick of the ship Columbia and a veteran of the Boston Tea Party didn’t fulfill the expected financial profit. However, the trip brought immense gratitude from our country and

• cemented claims to the Pacific Coast for America
• discovered and named the Columbia River
• introduced the American Flag to Japan for the first time
• opened the China trade to America
• was the first American ship to circumnavigation the globe.

Today, West coast citizens can enjoy a scenic cruise aboard its replica on Disneyland’s Sailing Ship Columbia.

When you pass to or from Boston on Washington Street, please take a moment to glance past the Holiday Inn. Imagine the industrial site behind it was once the fifty-foot high Pleasant Hill surrounded with the most stunning grounds and crowned with the most beautiful country home. That was Barrell’s house. Before It was razed in 1896, the mansion’s staircase was privately sold. In 1942, Somerville’s bicentennial year, the staircase and mantels were presented to The Somerville Historical Society. Today, the famous “Bullfinch Staircase” can be seen and appreciated at the Somerville Museum.