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Edmund Fowle, cordwainer, was born in 1719, and was married in 1745 to Abigail Whitney. His leather shop was on the South side of the Charles River near the bridge, close to the road (Galen Street). He died in 1771, leaving one-third of the house to his widow and the remainder to his several children. The second Edmund Fowle, who bought his brothers’ and sisters’ shares in the house, was born in 1747, the year his father acquired the house. He married in 1772 and had one child, Edmund, born in 1774. He became a widower at this time, or after. Children born of a second wife are recorded after 1785. The house derives its principal interest from the early Revolutionary period when, for more than a year, it housed the Executive Authority of the emerging Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Provincial Congresses

The second of the Provincial Congresses, convened following the dismissal of the old Provincial Assembly by General Gage, had adjourned its meeting from Concord to Watertown on April 22, 1775, three days after the firing of “the shot heard round the world.” In Watertown, it met in the Meeting House then situated on Common Street, near Mill Street (now Mt. Auburn Street). Corners of the spot the Meeting House occupied in what is now the Common Street Cemetery have been marked by the Historical Society. The Second Provincial Congress declared that the Royal Governor, General Gage, had disqualified himself, and proclaimed that no obedience was owed to him. A Third Provincial Congress met on May 5, 1775. It expressed a wish to regularize the goverment of the Province and to conform to the provisions of the Charter “as near as may be.” To this end, the Congress issued a call for the election of a Provincial Assembly as provided in the Charter. Having declared the office of Governor vacant, it was necessary to provide for the Executive function in the government. It was decided that the Assembly, when it convened, should elect a Council of 28 members who “or a majority of them” were to exercise the functions of the Royal Governor “until a Governor of His Majesty’s appointment will consent to govern the colony according to its charter.” Thus it was hoped to preserve the Charter of Charles II, which was greatly valued, and to preserve the forms of loyalty to George III while pursueing the quarrel with the Governor whom he had appointed, meanwhile clinging to the old form of government “as near as may be.” There was yet no public talk of throwing off the royal authority, and the eventual appointment of a Royal Governor who would be acceptable was still anticipated. At this period, the health and welfare of the King, and the confusion of his enemies, was regularly prayed for in churches, and even at the camps of the army that was beseiging the King’s soldiers in Boston. Before adjourning, the Third Provincial Congress referred to the succeeding Assembly the matter of payment to Mr. Fowle for the use of his house by the several committees of the Congress.

The Executive Council

The new Assembly met in the Watertown Meeting House on July 19, 1775, and immediately elected the Council. A committee appointed to locate a place for the Council to meet reported that a large unfinished chamber might be made available in Mr. Fowle’s house, but that a floor would have to be laid and chairs procured. It was agreed to proceed with this arrangement. The Fowle House, as then located, was the nearest house to the Meeting House. Mr. Fowle who, as already noted, was a widower with a child about a year old, may possibly have moved in with his mother in her portion of the house. The house is next mentioned as the residence of the President of the Assembly, James Warren of Plymouth. James Warren had succeeded General Joseph Warren as President of the Second Provincial Congress following the death of General Warren at Bunker Hill. President James Warren later joined the Continental Army, serving as Paymaster General.

Mercy Otis Warren

Mercy Otis Warren, who resided as hostess here, was well known as a personage in her own right. An early blue-stocking, she was a feminist, a poet and dramatist, and wrote a notable history of the Revolution. Also living in the house at this time was the famous James Otis, brother of Mrs. Warren. An early leaded in the Boston group of “radicals,” he was no longer in the active leadedship, and it is generally believed that his mind had been seriously affected as the result of a head injury. In fact, some writers hold that he was hopelessly mad at this time. Never-

theless, he was elected to the Council, and is regularly recorded as present at meetings. Thw Council continued to meet in the Fowle House until the seat of government was returned to Boston, late in 1776. King George never did appoint a Governor who would consent to govern the colony according to its charter in the view of its citizens. The Council continued to exercise the Executive function until the Colony of Massachusetts Bay became The Commonwealth of Massachusetts under a new Constitution; and under that Constitution, the Executive Council still share some executive powers with the Governor…..more to come. in the meantime, visit http://HistoricWatertown.org