[MassHistPres] Tory chimneys

[Cwkmail at aol.com]

At the risk of upsetting everyone on this list server, allow me a  few 
final comments on “Tory chimneys” (i.e., chimneys that were painted  white with 
a black band around the top).
 
Tory chimneys were probably not used to signify a Loyalist household during 
 the American War of Independence.  Suppose, however, that they had  been.  
It would not be very long before colonists noticed that people who  had 
expressed Loyalist sentiments before the war were painting their  chimneys.  It 
would then not be long before the Loyalists’ neighbors  “urged” them to 
leave town.  After the war, having a Tory chimney would be  tantamount to 
having a large sign on one’s roof reading, “I was a traitor during  the war.”  
Therefore, shortly after the war, most people would probably  have hidden 
the black bands on their chimneys with a coat of fresh paint.  
 
Mr. James Garvin, New Hampshire’s State Architectural Historian, argued  
that similar reasoning applied to Tory chimneys’ signifying that a household 
was  a member of the Underground Railroad.  It would not be very long before  
neighbors noticed that people who had expressed abolitionist sentiments 
were  painting their chimneys.  The Underground Railroad was “underground”  
(covert) because smuggling fugitive slaves out of the country was illegal  
according to state and federal laws.  To publicize that a household was  
defying the law would be to invite the attentions of the very officials that the  
railroad was trying to avoid.
 
In conclusion, if you’re going to engage in an illegal activity -- whether  
it’s siding with the enemy in wartime or smuggling fugitive slaves out of 
the  country -- you probably shouldn’t publicize it.
 
Christopher Kirk
Shrewsbury Historical Commission
Shrewsbury,  Mass.
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