GENEAl. .L.HCTION 



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JULY, 191?. 

AMERICANA 



CONTENTS 

Page 
Some of the Women who Skilfully Planned and Hero- 
ically Suffered in the Revolution for the Cause of 
American Independence. 

By J. C. Pumpelly, A. M., LL. B 647 

Introduction. 

I. Hannah Arnett of Elizabethtown. 

II. The Tragic Fate of Jane McCrea. 

The Story of Old Fort Edward, and the Marking of 
the Site Where it Once Stood. 
The Hamlet at the Bouwerij. Part I. 

By Hopper Striker Mott 660 

Journal of George Croghan, January-February, 1753-4. 

Contributed by John W. Jordan, LL. D. . . . 677 

The Rouse Family 684 

Historic Views and Reviews 713 

Paper read by Hon. John S. Applegate, President of 
the Monmouth Historical Association at a Joint 
Meeting of that Association and the Navesink Li- 
brary Association held June 24, 1915, in Library 
Hall, Navesink, New Jersey. 
An Appreciation. By R. A. Douglas-Lithgow, M. D., LL.D. 

I. M. Greene, Editor. 
Josiah Collins Pumpelly, A. M., LL.B., Member Publication 
Committee New York Genealogical and Biographical So- 
ciety, Associate Editor. 
Victor Hugo Duras, D. C. L., M. Diplomacy, Historian of the 
American Group of the Interparliamentary Union of the 
Congress of the United States, Contributing Editor. 
Published by the National Americana Society, 
David I. Nelke, President and Treasurer, 
131 East 23rd Street, 
New York, N. Y. 






AUGUST, 1915 

AMERICANA 



CONTENTS 

Page 
Recollections of a Half a Century and More. 

By Andrew M. Sherman 723 

I. My Paternal Ancestry. 

II. My Boyhood in New England. 
The Hamlet at the Bouwerij. Part II. 

By Hopper Striker Mott 743 

Chapters in the History of Halifax, Nova Scotia, No. II. 

By Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton, M. A., D. 

C. L. 764 

The Coming of the Boston Tories. 
Some of the Women who Skilfully Planned and Hero'cially 
Suffered in the Revolution for the Cause of American 
Independence. 
By J. C. Pumpelly, A. M., LL. B. . . . . 791 

III. Mrs. Robert Murray. 
IV. Emily Geiger. 

V. Lydia Darrah. 

I. M. Greene, Editor. 

Josiah Collins Pumpelly, A. M., LL.B., Member Publication 
Committee New York Genealogical and Biographical So- 
ciety, Associate Editor. 

Victor Hugo Duras, D. C. L., M. Diplomacy, Historian of the 
American Group of the Interparliamentary Union of the 
Congress of the United States, Contributing Editor. 

Published by the National Americana Society, 

David I. Nelke, President and Treasurer, 

131 East 23rd Street, 

New York, N. Y. 



SEPTEMBER, 191$ 

AMERICANA 



CONTENTS 



Recollections of a Half a Century and More. 

By Andrew M. Sherman . . . . . . 79,'J 

III. My Boyhood in New England (Continued). 
Some of the Women who Skilfully Planned and Heroically 

Suffered in the Revolution for the Cause of American 

Independence. 

By J. C. Pumpelly, A. M., LL. B 818 

VI. Molly Pitcher. 
VII. Margaret Corbin. 
VEIL Anna Warner Bailey. 

Chapter in the History of Halifax, Nova Scotia. No. Ill . 828 
Social Life of Halifax after the Revolution. 



L. Greeneway Greene, Editor. 

Josiah Collins Pumpelly, A. M., LL.B., Member Publication 
Committee New York Genealogical and Biographical So- 
ciety, Associate Editor. 

Victor Hugo Duras, D. C. L., M. Diplomacy, Historian of the 
American Group of the Interparliamentary Union of the 
Congress of the United States, Contributing Editor. 

Published by the National Americana Society, 

David I. Nelke, President and Treasurer, 

131 East 23rd Street, 

New York, N. Y. 



OCTOBER, 1915 

AMERICANA 



CONTENTS 

Recollections of a Half a Century and More. 

By Andrew M. Sherman 863 

IV. My Boyhood in New England (Continued). 
Thomas Paine. 

By George R. Boynton 881 

Some of the Women who Skilfully Planned and Heroically 
Suffered in the Revolution for the Cause of Ameri- 
can Independence. 

By J. C. Pumpelly, A. M., LL. B 894 

IX. Nancy Hart of the Georgia "Hornets Nest." 

X. Susanna Keith. 
XL Cornelia Beekman of New York. 
Cushing Memorial Monument. 

By S. G. Lapham .901 

Commander Cushing and the Virginius. 

By S. G. Lapham ....... 903 

Historic Views and Reviews ...... 906 

Avery Family Association Meeting. 
Ex-Senator Doolittle of Wisconsin to President-Elect 
Clevland of New York: interesting confidential let- 
ter from the Wisconsin statesman. -Contributed by 
Duane Mowry. 

L. Greeneway Greene, Editor. 
Josiah Collins Pumpelly, A. M., LL.B., Member Publication 
Committee New York Genealogical and Biographical So- 
ciety, Associate Editor. 
Victor Hugo Duras, D. C. L., M. Diplomacy, Historian of the 
American Group of the Interparliamentary Union of the 
Congress of the United States, Contributing Editor. 
Published by the National Americana Society, 
David I. Nelke, President and Treasurer, 
131 East 23rd Street, 
New York, N. Y. 
i 



NOVEMBER, 1915 

AMERICANA 



CONTENTS 



Recollections of a Half a Century and More. 

By Andrew M. Sherman 915 

V. My Boyhood in New England (Continued). 
Boots, A Bucolic. 

By Rev. Charles Caverno, A. M., LL.D. . . .942 
Some of the Women who Skilfully Planned and Heroically 
Suffered in the Revolution for the Cause of American 
Independence. 

By J. C. Pumpelly, A. M., LL. B 954 

XII. Dicey Langston of South Carolina. 

XIII. Elizabeth Zane. 

XIV. Lucretia Shaw. 

The Historic Billopp House, on Staten Island, now to be in- 
cluded in a New Park. . 961 

The Peace Conference at the Billopp House, Staten Island, 

September 11, 1776 968 

Biographical Sketch of Capt. Samuel Chester of Boston, 
Mass., and New London, Conn., and some of His De- 
scendants. 
By Herbert Merritt-Chester of New York City . 975 

Historic Views and Reviews. 

Contributed by Duane Mowry, Milwaukee, "Wis. . 978 

Book Reviews . . 982 

Early History of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph. 
Matthew's American Armoury and Blue Book. 
L. Greeneway Greene, Editor. 
Josiah Collins Pumpelly, A. M., LL.B., Member Publication 
Committee New York Genealogical and Biographical So- 
ciety, Associate Editor. 

Published by the National Americans Society, 

David I. Nelke, President and Treasurer, 

131 East 23rd Street, 

New York, N. Y. 



DECEMBER, 191 5 

AMERICANA 



CONTENTS 



The Winthrop Family ....... 985 

Chapters in the History of Halifax, Nova Scotia. 

By Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton, M. A., 

D. C. L. . 1002 

No. IV. Sir John Wentworth and the Duke of Kent. 

Kecollections of a Half a Century and More. 

By Andrew M. Sherman . . . . . . 1029 

VI. My Boyhood in New England (Continued). 

Some of the Women "Who Skilfully Planned and Heroically 
Suffered in the Eevolution for the Cause of American 
Independence. 

By J. C. Pumpelly, A. M., LL.B 1045 

XV. Martha Bratton of South Carolina. 
XVI. Catherine Schuyler. 
XVII. Mercy Warren. 

Honors a Distinguished Scientist— The Father of the 
Weather Bureau. 

Contributed by S. G. Lapham, Oconomowoc, Wis- 
consin 1050 

Historic Views and Eeviews 1053 

L. Gbeeneway Gbeene, Editor. 

Josiah Collins Pumpelly, A. M., LL.B., Member Publication 
Committee New York Genealogical and Biographical So- 
ciety, Associate Editor. 

Published by the National Americana Society, 
David L Nelkb, President and Treasurer, 

131 East 23rd Street, 
New York, N. Y. 






AMERICANA 



(Formerly THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL MAGAZINE) 



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THE NATIONAL AMERICANA SOCIETY 
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AMERICANA 

July, 1915 

Some of the Women who Skillfully Planned 

and Heroically Suffered in the Revolu= 

tion for the Cause of American 

Independence 

By J. C. Pumpelly, A. M., LL. B. 

Introduction 

f"~": ff^l HE writer of these sketches desires to here express 
his regard for the memory and his indebtedness to 
that true friend of his young manhood, Elizabeth F. 
Ellet, the poetess, and author of " Women of the 
American Revolution." To her and to the memory of the de- 
lightful conversations he had when a half century ago he drove 
with her through the lovely scenery of the Susquehanna Valley, 
he owes it that in his life 's late afternoon he finds the inspiration 
within him to offer this respectful tribute to the memory of some 
of America's most self-sacrificing and heroic women. 

In that great crisis of our Country's history there was a sen- 
timent pervading the people, which, as Mrs. Ellet has well said, 
4 * gave statesmen their influence and armed heroes for victory. 
What could they have done but for the home sentiment to which 
they appealed and which sustained them in the hour of trial and 
success, and the feeling which wrought thus powerfully in the 
community depended in great part upon the women. Patriotic 
mothers nursed the infancy of freedom. They animated the 
courage and confirmed the self devotion of those who ventured 
all for the common cause. ■ ' 

I quote the following lines by Sarah M. Davy, the great-grand- 
daughter of Ann Halsted, one of New Jersey's Revolutionary 
heroes, as they seem to be a fitting introduction to my subject : 

(647) 



648 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

"Not all the noble men went forth upon the battle field ; 
Some must remain the lands to till, the firesides to shield; 

But when the Short Hills cannon resounds in thunderous tones, 

The fires are Lit from hill to hill; then from their various homes, 
The "Minute Men'" like swarms of bees assemble at their posts, 
And in a trice the Morris hills are safe from hostile hosts. 

Another silent army gave their husbands, brothers, sons, 

To the service of their country, when they went to man the guns. 
Were there no heroines in their ranks — no glorious martyrdom? 
Did they not suffer oftentimes a thousand deaths in one? 

Brave Molly Pitcher faltered not before the cannon's roar; 

Ann Hoisted donned coat, hat and gun and saved her father's stores; 
Gay Baltimore still celebrates brave Peggy Stewart's day ; 
The matron of Elisabethtown unbidden went her way 

To the Council Chamber where was broached the question of the hour — 

Submission to oppression and to a hostile power ; 
Standing before her husband, with firm, unflinching heart, 
She said: "If you submit, henceforth our ways do part." 

In Morristown, the women through the country far and wide, 

Ceased not to knit and spin from early morn till eventide, 
And many a weary soldier, when he felt the hand of death. • 
Murmured blessings on their efforts with his last sad parting breath." 

i 

Hannah Arnett of Elizabethtown 

It was in the dark days of 1777, in Jersey when many 
were half-hearted and discouragements was paralyzing ef- 
fort, and many thought it best to make their peace with 
the mother country. Indeed as an old inhabitant de- 
clared: "In the closing part of the year 1776 the whole 
population could have been bought for eighteen pence a 
head. ' ' The great flood of panic which overspread the land had 
seemed to sweep away all hope, honor, faith and patriotic senti- 
ment. In Elizabeth where Lord Cornwallis was encamped, lead- 
ing citizens actually thought of foreswearing the cause of their 
countrymen. Right there and in a certain town in Elizabeth 
several of the irresolute sort met and were agreeing among 
themselves how to accept the conditions offered by the enemy, 
when the wife of one of these men, Hannah Arnett by name, 
learning of their intention, made her way into the room, where 
they were assembled and demanded they should recall their deci- 
sion and stand for their country. And appealing to her own 
husband she declared with the look and inspiration of a prophet- 
ess: "England will never conquer; I stay with my country. 
I married a good man and time and it needs no divorce to sever 
me from a traitor and a coward. If you take your protection 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 649 

from General Howe, you lose your wife; and I, I lose my hus- 
band and my hoine." 

That night in that house the solemn oath was sworn to stand 
by the cause. The heads that were drooping were now erect, 
and the eyes were bright with manly resolve. Hannah Arnett 
is not forgotten, mother of heroes that she was : and the man 
who caught hre and resolution from her inspired words are 
honored among New Jersey's noblest and best. 

Upon the soil of New Jersey occurred the events which really 
decided the American Revolution. When Congress was resolv- 
ing whether to declare independence, a Presbyterian Divine 
from Princeton invoked the guidance and blessing of God upon 
their decision. When disheartenment everywhere prevailed, 
and men were ready to yield all for life, the hattles of Trenton, 
Princeton and Monmouth renewed hope everywhere. The 
blood by which the soldiers of Washington might have been 
traced on their memorable retreat had baptized the soil of Jer- 
sey, and her soil remained thenceforth sacred to freedom. 

AN ORIGINAL POEM. 

Written by a great grand-daughter of Ann Halsted, a Revolutionary heroine, and 
dedicated to the New Jersey Society, Sons of the American Revolution, December 
26, 1892. 

A century and more sheds its dim and mellow rays 
Over Revolution scenes and the deeds of other days ; 
But let us part the drapery, enter into memory's halls ; 
And gaze with reverent spirit at the pictures on her wails. 
There's the North Church steeple with the lantern swinging to and fro, 
And the rider urging on his steed upon the road below ; 

The hopes and fears that filled the soul of loyal Paul Revere 
As he sped upon his errand, were not voiced to mortal ear, 
But as he passed the word to each terror-stricken band. 
We can almost hear him saying: "God and my native land!*' 
There's the Hessian camp at Trenton. December 26th. 
The soldiers idling listlessly — their arms in stacks are fixed; 
Still lingering o'er their Christmas feast, without a single fear, 
They little dream of anything but comfort and good cheer. 
But the brave and gallant leader of the now disheartened band 
Is already on the Delaware and so the time has planned 
That the mercenary Hessians are surprised and put to rout : — 
Then throughout the little army, courage takes the place of doubt; 
One thousand of the enemy yield, with cannon and with shot, 
And the nation's fate is settled upon that very spot. 
Another land and other scenes now come at Memory's call ; — 
Nobles and lords — a regal court ; and grand among them all, 
Plain Benjamin Franklin tells the heirs of luxury and ease 
The story of his country's needs — the land across the seas. 
They bend a listenting ear to his projects and his plans 



650 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

And the struggling little colony clasps the helping hand of France. 

The suffering at Valley Forge, of the Camp at Morristown; 

The traitor's deed; the dark, dark days before the victor's crown; — 
All come before our vision as we linger in the past, 
And the names of martyred heroes crowd upon us thick and fast. 

Sarah M. Davey. 



II 

The Tragic Fate of Jane McCrea 

There are several versions of the story of how Jane McCrea 
came to her death, but the true account, is no doubt, that lately 
given me by Mrs. George Underwood, a loyal member of the 
McCrea Chapter, D. A. R. This statement was made by the 
soldier, Samuel Standish, in his application for pension, file No, 
28889, and the same he made to Sparks, the historian, and given 
in his life of Arnold, and which Mrs. Elizabeth Ellet also re- 
lates in her u Women of the American Revolution.' 7 

Standish while on guard duty near Fort Edward in July, 
1777, was captured by the Indians, and while their prisoner he 
saw a party of Indians coming with two women up by the hill to 
a spring and there they seemed to be in a quarrel, and then he 
saw one of the Indians shoot and scalp Miss McCrea. This is 
confirmed, says Mrs. Ellet, by General Morgan Lewis, one of 
the party who found the body of this lovely lady and superin- 
tended her funeral. 

The headquarters of the division of the American Army com- 
manded by Arnold were at the time between Moses Creek and 
Fort Edward, and Jane McCrea was residing with her brother, 
one of the pioneer settlers, about four miles from Fort Edward. 

On that fatal day she was on a visit to Mrs. McNiel, a widow 
lady, whose house stood near the foot of the hill about one-third 
of a mile northward from the fort. Fort Edward then in pos- 
session of a guard of one hundred Americans was situated on 
the eastern margin of the river very near the water, and sur- 
rounded by a cleared and cultivated plain of considerable ex- 
tent. 

Mrs. Ellet, who was a much esteemed writer and friend of my 
family, speaks of this young woman as nineteen years of age, 



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SOME HEROIC WOMEN OE THE REVOLUTION 651 

"beautiful, with auburn hair, blue eyes, a fresh complexion and 
endowed with accomplishments, virtues not less attractive than 
her personal charms." 

It appears that unfortunately two parties of Indians had start- 
ed out to attack the picket guard, commanded by Lieutenant Van 
Vecliten stationed on a hill not far from Mrs. McNiel's house. 

And all this was unknown to Captain Jones of the British 
forces, who had sent out some Indians to convey his affianced 
bride to meet him. This party presented a letter to Miss McCrea 
from Jones telling her she should come with them and the two 
women did so. 

Thereafter the two parties of savages met and had a dispute 
over the division of the reward they were to receive for their 
services, the savages Jones sent, not knowing at the time the 
relation in which the girl stood to their employer, and so looked 
upon her only as a prisoner decoyed by a stratagem. 

A furious quarrel ensued and in the midst of the fray one of 
the chiefs fired and killed Miss McCrea and then scalped her. 
This finished the quarrel and the Indians hurried away with 
their two prisoners, Standish and Mrs. McNiel toward Fort 
Anne. 

The brother soon after arrived and took charge of his sister 's 
corpse which was afterwards buried three miles below the Fort. 

The anguish of the unfortunate Captain Jones when the 
bloody scalp was presented to him was increased by the reflec- 
tion that his innocent bride elect had fallen a victim to her con- 
fidence in him. His grief was so severe, he lived but a few years 
and went down heartbroken to the grave. 

General Gates reproached Burgoyne for this uncalled for 
murder and the description of it given by Burke in his cele- 
brated speeches made it familiar throughout Europe and upon 
our own people it acted as a mighty stimulant to greater exertions 
for the cause of American Independence. 

As the history of Fort Edward is closely related to the above 
it is deemed best that it should follow and make a part of the 
sa me. 



652 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

The Story of Old Fort Edward, axd the Marking of the Site 
Where it Once Stood 

On September 16, 1914, a boulder with tablet, appropriately 
marking the site of old Fort Edward, New York, was unveiled 
and dedicated by the Jane McCrea Chapter, Daughters of the 
American Revolution. Mrs. Charles Henry Wilson, Regent of 
the Chapter, Mrs. Willard S. Augsbury, State Regent and Mrs. 
Joseph E. King, founder and First Regent of Jane McCrea 
Chapter, were present and spoke, so also did Dr. Sherman Wil- 
liams of the University of the State of New York, and Hon. 
John Alden Dix. From the walls of this fort was witnessed the 
revolting murder by the Indian Chief LeLoup of Jane McCrea, 
when on her way to be married to Lieutenant David Jones, an 
English officer. 

The marker consists of two huge boulders of granite, mounted 
on a concrete foundation, and is located on land recently pur- 
chased and owned by the Chapter. On the upper stone, on a 
smooth surface fortunately left by nature of the exact size de- 
sired, a bronze tablet has been placed bearing this inscription: 

This Boulder 

marks the site of 

Old Fort Edward 

1755—- 1780 

Erected by the 

Jane McCrea Chapter 

Daughters of 

The American Revolution 

1914 

This having been one of the most important rallying points 
and centers of defence in the state and associated intimately with 
many of the most prominent officers of America in both Colonial 
and K evolutionary times, .this fort deserves our most consid- 
erate attention. 

To Dr. Sherman Williams I am indebted for the following 
facts : 

In 1709 Colonel Francis Nicholson led a force of about two 
thousand men on an expedition against Canada. Colonel Peter 
Schuyler, with a special force of about three hundred men, ac- 
companied the expedition for the purpose of erecting forts, and 



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SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 653 

stockades were built at Stillwater and Fort Miller, and forts at 
Fort Edward and Fort Ann. The latter was named Fort Schuy- 
ler in honor of the builder, and the former Fort Nicholson in 
honor of the leader of the expedition. Fort Nicholson was gar- 
risoned by 450 men. A British fleet was to co-operate with Ni- 
cholson by an attack on Quebec, but it failed to appear and Ni- 
cholson returned to Albany, first destroying Forts Nicholson and 
Schuyler. Fort Nicholson was the first military structure of any 
kind erected on the Hudson at this point and it was on the site 
afterward occupied by Fort Edward, but was a much smaller 
and weaker work. 

Nicholson made a second attempt against Canada in 1711 and 
rebuilt Fort Schuyler but not Fort Nicholson. He called the 
work at Fort Ann the "Queen's Fort," but later it was given 
the name of Fort Ann. 

In 1755 four great expeditions were organized in this country 
against the French. The one intended for the capture of Ticon- 
deroga and Crown Point was commanded by "William Johnson, 
after known as Sir William. Colonel Phineas Lyman, of Mas- 
sachusetts, was the second in command. The force intended for 
this expedition gathered on the site of Old Fort Nicholson. John- 
son went to Lake George, so named by him in honor of a stupid 
and selfish king, with no title to the honor. It might far better 
have been named in honor of Father Jogues or kept the name 
that he gave it. 

About 4,000 men gathered at the junction of Fort Edward 
Creek and the Hudson river. Captain Eyre, an engineer, under 
the direction of Colonel Lyman, erected a fort which was named 
Fort Lyman, in honor of the man under whose direction it was 
built A year later Sir William Johnson changed the name to 
Fort Edward, in honor of Edward, Duke of York, a grandson 
of George II and a brother of George HI. 

The fort was an irregular four sided structure with bastions 
at three angles, the fourth being protected by the river. The 
fort was constructed of earth and timber, had walls 16 feet high 
and 22 feet thick. It mounted six cannon. It was surrounded 
W a deep moat on three sides, the river serving the same pur- 
pose on the fourth. The perimeter of the fort was about 1,600 






654 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

feet. It enclosed several large buildings. On an island in the 
river opposite the fort were the barracks and storehouses. They 
were reached by means of a bridge. 

The route from Foil Edward to Whitehall was known as the 
" Great' Carrying Place," probably because of the unusual 
length of the carry, but possibly because of the amount of traf- 
fic over it. The trail followed substantially the same route that 
the D. & H. railroad does now. It is a noteworthy fact that the 
railroads of the State very generally follow old Indian trails pret- 
ty closely. Modern engineers with all their skill and knowledge 
have not been able to improve very much over the untrained sav- 
ages in the matter of ease of grades or the saving of distance. 

The importance of Fort Edward was mainly a matter of phy- 
sical geography. Neither Lakes George or Champlain, the gate- 
way to Canada, could be readily reached from the south with- 
out passing through or near Fort Edward. It was here that the 
trail branched, leading to Whitehall, South Bay or Lake George, 
as might be desired. The importance of Fort Edward as a strat- 
egic point may perhaps be best illustrated by giving a brief ac- 
count of some expeditions that either gathered here or passed 
through this place. The expeditions of Colonel Nicholson have 
already been referred to. Although the place was then a wilder- 
ness the location made it important. 

In 1690, LeMoyne, with a party of French attacked and burned 
Schenectady. They went by the way of Lake Champlain, Wood 
Creek, and passed down the valley formed by Fort Edward 
Creek. The same year General John Winthrop, of Connecticut, 
with a force of five hundred men from Connecticut and New 
York set out on an expedition to Canada in retaliation for the 
destruction of Schenectady. They passed through Fort Ed- 
ward. On account of sickness, lack of provisions, and canoes, 
the greater number did not go beyond Whitehall, but Captain 
John Schuyler, the grandfather of Philip Schuyler, with 150 
men went on to La Prarie, south of Montreal, and took some 
prisoners and destroyed considerable property. 

In 1756 Lord Loudon gathered a large force at Fort Edward, 
but no fighting took place here or anywhere in this locality. 

In 1757 Montcalm attacked and captured the garrison at Fort 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 655 

William Henry. At this time General Daniel Webb was at Fort 
Edward with 1,600 men, with a thousand more available, and 
soon received a reinforcement of 2,000 militia, yet in the most 
cowardly manner "Webb refused to allow anyone to go to the re- 
lief of Munro. Sir William Johnson, who soon came to Fort Ed- 
ward and begged to be allowed to lead a force against Montcalm, 
says of Webb, "He is the only British general— in fact I may 
say the only British officer of any rank — I ever knew or heard of 
who was personally a coward. " Webb sent out piteous appeals 
for aid and soon 20,000 men were gathered here at Fort Edward 
but too late to save Munro or punish Montcalm. 

During the winter after the massacre at Fort William Henry, 
Colonel Haviland of the regular army was in command at Fort 
Edward, and Putnam with his rangers was on the island oppo- 
site the fort. 

In 1758 General Abercrombie gathered a great army to attack 
the French at Ticonderoga. Early in July he had gathered a 
great force and a great amount of supplies at Fort Edward. Fif- 
teen thousand men took part in the campaign, all of whom passed 
through this place. You know the story of the humiliating de- 
feat. Amherst, learning of the reverse, hastened to Fort Edward 
with four regiments of regulars. He remained there till Janu- 
ary, 1759. ^ 

The fort was repaired and strengthened in 1757 under the di- 
rection of Colonel Lyman. During the time this work was being 
done an interesting incident took place. About 150 laborers were 
employed cutting timber on the low land to the east of the fort. 
Captain Little with 100 men was sent out to act as a guard. They 
were surprised by a party of Indians. The laborers reached the 
fort but Captain Little and his men moved more slowly and Ly- 
man shut the gate of the fort, fearing that the Indians might 
force an entrance. This left Captain Little and his men on the 
outside, and in a perilous position. Major Putnam, who was 
stationed on the island with a force of men, heard the firing and 
forded the river with his men and ran to the relief of Little. Ly- 
man, fearing that both Little and Putnam might be drawn into 
an Indian ambuscade, ordered the latter to stop, but Putnam re- 
membered the massacre at Fort William Henry and he also re- 



656 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

membered the cowardice of Webb, and if he heard Lyman he 
gave no indication of having done so, but hastened to the relief 
of his companions and was successful, the Indians retiring be- 
fore the combined forces. 

In the spring of 1759 another great army under the command 
of Amherst gathered at Fort Edward, not as large as that of 
the preceding year, but still a great force. This time success 
crowned the efforts of the British, and Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point were captured. 

From this time till the beginning of the Eevolution, but little 
of importance happened on the northern frontier and Fort Ed- 
ward was allowed to become much out of repair. In fact it was 
almost forgotten. With the expedition of Burgoyne it once more 
became a place of consequence. 

At the time of the invasion of Burgoyne there were not more 
than three or four houses in what is now the village of Fort Ed- 
ward. The fort was in a dilapidated condition and practically 
worthless as a defence. In fact its position made it worthless at 
that time. Earlier when cannons were rarely used and those of 
comparatively short range and little power the fort at the river 
side was of much account, but at this time with the heavier 
cannon at greater range this fort on a level with the river, sur- 
rounded by higher land on nearly everv side could not be prop- 
erly defended unless aided by an army of considerable strength, 
so it did not play an important part in the Burgoyne campaign 
though the position at the " Great Carrying Place' ' was import- 
ant. Fort Edward was occupied by Burgoyne on the 6th of 
July, 1777. It was retaken by the Americans on the 10th of Oc- 
tober of the same year and the occupation of this position aided 
in making the retreat of Burgoyne to Canada more difficult and 
so to a minor extent contributed to the surrender of the British. 
With this event Fort Edward ceased to be of importance. 

The water gate mentioned above was located about two hun- 
dred feet south of the old cottonwood tree so often mentioned by 
historians, and near a butternut tree which stands on the dwell- 
ing lot of Mrs. Ehodes, where the underground passage from the 
fort to the river emerged. The west and the south ramparts of 
the fort still exist. The unfilled hollow of the east moat, extend- 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 657 

ing from Moon street south to the old channel of the Creek, still 
exists, and traces of the north rampart can still be seen. 

There was elevated land along the bank of the river, over 
which a footpath ran north from the fort to the block house on 
the hill. There was elevated land also along- the route of the old 
military road, although a corduroy road was built at the point 
where it crossed Notre Dame street. The Fort Edward swamp 
lay between the footpath and the military road, which was con- 
structed to avoid the swamp. 

Frequent mention has been made of the Island, and it figured 
in a very important manner in all the old wars. Capt. Israel 
Putnam and his Rangers were stationed there during parts of 
two years, and Lieut. Noah Grant, ancestor of our own General 
Grant, was also stationed there. There were a dozen or more 
large barrack and hospital buildings located on this Island, and 
innumerable relics have been unearthed by those who have tilled 
the ground. 

A bridge crossed the river from this Island leading to the gar- 
den cultivated by the garrisons of the fort, which garden was lo- 
cated along the bank of the river south of the Creek. The Island 
during the wars was protected by the cannon mounted on the 
fort, and by blockhouses located on each side of the river at the 
river crossing at the south end, and by the Royal Block House, 
located on the high land on the north side of the present Moreau 
river bridge. 

Systematic excavations were made years ago in the vicinity 
of the fort ? s mess room, and unearthed old kettles, cups, bottles, 
andirons, etc. There were spades, some with wooden center and 
iron rims, and shovels, both square and round-pointed. These 
useful implements did not differ much from those of the present 
day, except that they were larger and heavier, and coarsely 
wrought. There was a great variety of axes and tomahawks, 
both iron and stone, and flint arrowheads, skilfully wrought; 
fcuere, long spikes for fastening the heavy timbers of the fort, and 
<unnon balls, grape shot, and ordinary shot. One of the cannon 
mite weighed forty pounds. These balls and iron implements 
were in a wonderfully good state of preservation, considering 
Ike fact that they had lain in the earth over 100 years. There 



658 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

were several bayonets, some badly eaten with rust, but several 
that were more perfect. All these were much larger and heavier 
than those used at the present day. Among the collection were a 
few knives and forks, some with the bone handles partly pre- 
served, and others with the handles consumed with rust. There 
was found, too, a pair or two of huge handcuffs, that doubtless 
had graced the sturdy limbs of some prisoner, or, possibly, a re- 
calcitrant soldier. 

These relics have been preserved, and some have lately been 
given a receptacle in the High School building near the historic 
spot where they so long reposed in their tawny sepulchre. 

What is known as the Roque map shows fourteen structures 
located on the Island opposite the fort, which military records 
show to have been barracks and hospital buildings. But the most 
important fact of all shown by this map is that the mouth of the 
Creek then existed at the base of the south rampart of the fort, 
300 or more feet north of the present mouth, thus contradicting 
the common belief relative to it. The Champlain Canal, built in 
1818, crossed the Creek and diverted its waters to their present 
mouth. The remains of its embankment still prove this fact, as 
likewise do some of the dressed stone of its lock still lying in 
place. The Canal connected with the river at this point until 
1832, when it was abandoned and the present Canal to Fort Mil- 
ler constructed. 

All authorities agree, among them Prof. Silliman of Yale 
University, who saw the fort in 1796, that the south side of the 
fort fronted upon the bank of a deep sunk rivulet which protect- 
ed it from sudden attack. The authority quoted shows that the 
rampart, 17 feet high and 22 feet thick, sloped not only to the 
water 's edge of the Creek but to the river. The elevated land 
on the south side of Old Fort street is what remains of the slope 
of the rampart, and at its base extending east the channel of 
the Creek ran to the rear of Henry Pike's house lot on Old Fort 
street, and from thence southerly to near Cortland street, and 
from thence northeasterly on its route to the summit. Had the 
mouth of the channel of the Creek existed during the old wars 
in its present location, no protection whatever would have been 
given the fort. 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 659 

The line of the east barracks was discovered by the late AVil- 
liain McDougall, who, near a large tree standing east of his 
house on Edward street, excavated seven or eight feet in depth 
to the floor of the fort, and found a large brick fireplace, perfect- 
ly preserved, and a pair of andirons and about four quarts of un- 
used gun flints, some bullets, etc. A living witness of this fact 
is Seth Allen, who saw the fireplace, andiron and gun flints. The 
fireplace remains there in place at this moment, and was proba- 
bly located in one of the eight rooms of the east barracks, below 
one of the chimneys. 

The east moat of the fort intersected the Creek on the east side 
of the dock and on the rear of Mahon Brodie's lot on Old Fort 
street. It was originally, as the records state, 14 feet high and 
8 feet deep. It forms a part of the cellar of Mr. Brodie's house, 
the wall being built on each side of it without excavation. Go 
stand to-day in the cellar of Mr. Brodie 's house and you will be 
in the moat of Old Fort Edward. It crossed Fort street, and 
when the elder Bibbins built the Bhodes house, the younger Mr. 
Bibbins stated that the ditch was impassable on Old Fort street 
with teams. - The moat also still exists on the lots of Seth Allen 
and Ernest H. Smith, north of Old Fort street, to the depth of 
five or six feet, and shows itself all the way to the blacksmith 
shop on Moon street. 

A living witness says that the walls of the well in the old fort 
were built of large stone boulders, and that there was a passage 
way three or four feet wide near it, likewise constructed of 
boulders. 






The Hamlet at the Bouwerij 



By Hopper Striker Mott 

Trustee and Treasurer of the New York Genealogical and 
Biographical Society and Editor of The New York Genea- 
logical and Biographical Record. 

[To be Completed in Two Parts.] 
PAETI 

THE earliest purchase in the Madison Square neigh- 
borhood was made by Jan Jansen Damen. The tract 
which he acquired has a most interesting history. It 
is remarkable among city farms, because of the num- 
ber of noted families which have been connected with it. Damen 
was a trader who settled at Fort Orange (Albany) circa 1631 
but subsequently removed to New Amsterdam where he took a 
prominent part in the public affairs of his time. For the of- 
fices he filled vide Register of New Netherland. He was the 
original grantee (1644) of a large farm, extending from the 
Hudson to the East River, and bounded partly on Maiden Lane. 
The city wall cut through a part of this property when erected 
in 1653 and laid the green fields open; it then belonged to his 
heirs, for having visited the fatherland, on public business in 
1651, Damen died on his return. This trip to Patria was occa- 
sioned by the controversy over Stuyvesant's alleged violent be- 
havior to the inhabitants of the colony, against which the so- 
called " Great Remonstrance ' ' was made by Van der Donck and 
his associates in 1649 and which led to the sending of Cornells 
van Tiehoven, Stuyvesant's secretary and the latter 's father- 
in-law, Jan Jansen Damen, his private agent, to bolster up the 
cause of the Director-General. In 1685 Damen 's heirs conveyed 

(66o) 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 661 

one thousand feet of land fronting on the present north side of 
Wall street. Measures were then taken by the provincial au- 
thorities to demolish the old fortifications and a survey of the 
line proposed to be established as the north side of said street 
was ordered this year, the thoroughfare to be of a width of 36 
feet. (Valentine's History, etc.; Minutes Court Burgomasters 
& Schepens.) 

It was as agent of Petrus Stuyvesant that Damen, while yet 
in Holland, acquired March 12, 1615, "for a valuable considera- 
tion'' certain lands "upon the Island Manhattan, then common- 
ly known by the name of the West Inaya Compagnes Bouwerij " 
containing about six score acres, and with said deed sailed for 
New Amsterdam the same month.* 

This was one of those laid out at an early date and rented to 
fanners. Designated as Bouwerij No. 1 its tenant in June, 1650, 
was Thomas Hall. (Laws & Ords. N. N., 118). While the title 
was in Damen he rented it to Cornells Aertsen. Bancroft, Vol. 
11:53, states that the land was of so little value that Stuyvesant 
thought it no wrong to his employers to purchase of them at a 
small price this extensive bouwerij "just beyond the coppices" 
among which browsed the goats and the kine from the village. 

On his surrender of the Dutch possessions in 1664 this dough- 
ty warrior was called to Holland to confer with his superiors 
and there he was taken severely to task for the seemingly hurried 
way in which he yielded up his authority and possession. That 
he could have done aught else, under the circumstances, is con- 
firmed by the perusal of the letter he submitted in 1666 in de- 
fence of his action. (N. Y. Hist, Coll., Holland Docs., Vol. H, 
4-10-1). During his absence Richard Nicolls, Governor, etc., of 
the Province of New York, issued to him a patent of the above 
land, dated Nov. 6, 1667, which recited that Damen acted in the 
capacity of trustee for the grantee "who made payment for the 
same." The Nicolls map (1664-8) shows the location of the 
Governor's bouwerij and its buildings and its relative position 



March 12, 165 1. Deed. Directors of the West India Company at Amsterdam 
to Petrus Stuyvesant, per Jan Jansen Damen, his attorney, of the Company's 
bouwerij in New Netherland with the house, barn, stock and two young negroes, 
lately leased to said Stuyvesant. Consideration 6400 guilders. (Calendar Dutch 
*.«., Register of Provincial Secretary, Vol. 111:87). 



662 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

and distance from the city with the lane leading to it. He re- 
turned from Holland in 1667* and retired to his mansion on the 
property, which stood on the north side of present 10th street, 
immediately west of St. Mark's church. 

"What was later the Bowery village came about because of an 
order in council, which, on May 3, 1660, permitted the houses of 
Wolfert Webber and Thomas Hall to remain and a village or 
hamlet to be formed near the bouwerij of Augustyn Heermans 
and that of the Director-General. (Gal. D. Mss., 196). Webber 
and Hall owned a tract in common near the Fresh Water. The 
state of affairs which determined the establishment of outlying- 
places into which the inhabitants might gather for defence in 
time of danger, is shown by this quotation: 

"On the Island of the Manachatas from the north even unto 
the Fresh Water there are no more than five or six spots inhab- 
ited at this date (1643). These are threatened by the Indians 
every night with fire and by day with the slaughter of both peo- 
ple and cattle. There was no shelter but the Fort." (N. Y. His. 
Coll. Holland Docs., Vol. 1, 190). This condition continued for 
years and at the request of the scattered residents who lived 
north of the Fresh Water the hamlet was formed at present 
Cooper Square .where the inevitable tavern, a blacksmith shop, 
a school house which was near present 8th street and 3rd ave- 
nue, and a few rude dwellings commenced the settlement. To 
aid the enterprise the Governor erected the school house and 
also a chapel in which Domine Selyns preached Sunday after- 
noons in Dutch. In what year it was built we cannot ascertain. 
It was standing, however, when the Domine arrived in New 
Netherland in 1660. Just after this event he indited a letter to 
the Classis of Amsterdam,* wherein he mentioned that he was 



*October 23,. 1667. It is this day ordered by his Ma tie in Councill That his 
Royall H ss the Duke of Yorke Lord High Adm 11 of England be and hereby he is 
authorized to graunt his Passe and Lycence unto Heere Peter Stuyuesant, late 
Generall of the New Netherlands to returne to the place formerly called the New 
Netherlands and now called New York, pursuant to the Passport he had and re- 
ceived from Colonel Nicolls for his safe goeing for Holland and return into these 
parts. (N. Y. Col Hist. London Docs. Vol III. 167). 

*"I serve on Sundays, in the evenings only, at the General's Bouwery, at his ex- 
pense. Catechizing will not be held here [Breuckelen] before the winter; but we 
will begin it at the Bouwery at once, either on week days or when there is no 
preaching service there. The bouwery is a place of relaxation and pleasure whither 
people go from the Manhattans for the evening service. There are there forty 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 663 

engaged to divide his services between Brooklyn and the Gov- 
ernor's bouwerij, the Governor rendering himself personally re- 
sponsible for the proportion of the salary corresponding to the 
share of service rendered on his farm.* Here the Domine contin- 
ued to officiate until his return to Holland in 1664. When he ar- 
rived he states there was no church organization having a dis- 
tinct consistory but it must have been considered as under the 
jurisdiction of the church in New Amsterdam. A church organ- 
ization was, however, effected by him as the following entry in 
the records of the Church in the City proves: "Oct. 12, 1664. In 
consequence of the removal of Henricus Selyns, minister on the 
General's bouwerij the following persons were accredited as 
members of this church." Among the names received from the 
church on the Bouwerij were Peter Stoutenburg, Elder; Jan 
de la Montague, Deacon ; Harmanus van Hoboken, schoolmaster 
and voorleeser, who had charge of the school in the hamlet in his 
first capacity, and visited the sick in his second.* Other com- 
municants are to be found among the parents of those baptized 
there. This list was copied into the Baptism Book of the Church 
in the Fort, on the departure of Henry Selyns, preacher at the 
General's Bouwerij: 

Apr. 24, 1661. Jilles, son Martin Abrahamszen & Marritie Si- 
mons. 

July 31, Elias, son Jelis Janszen & Christina Laurens. 

Pieter, son Eomeyn Servyn & Xeeltie Pieters. 

Aug. 14, Hillegond, dau. D. Michiel Superiur & Anne- 

ken Duurkoop. 

Apr. 11, 1662. Margariet, dau. Hendrick Loef & Gerritie Hen- 
dricks. 



negroes, from the region of the negro coast, besides the household families. There 
w here as yet no consistory but the Deacons from New Amsterdam provisionally 
receive the alms." Letters to Cassis, Oct. 4. 1660. (Ecclesiastical Records, Vol. 
I. 4*7). 

•Pctrus Stuyvesant having been informed of the inability of the inhabitants of 
Hrcuckclen to pay Do. Selyns' salary, offers, provisionally and until their situation 
•^ improved, to pay to the Company 250 guilders yearly towards the salary of the 
w,< * Do. Selyns, on condition that the Domine shall preach at his Honor's bouwery 
on ...anhattan Island on Sunday evenings. The Council after considering the offer 
Kcepted it and with his Honor resolved to inform Do. Selyns of it. — July 5, 1660. 
ilei Doc. XIV. 477-9, Council minutes). 

u 1& 1 ! ^° r - Appointment Harman van Hoboken to be cadet and schoolmaster 
*« ihc Bouwerij. (Cal. D. Mss., 231). 



664 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

Sep. 10, Sara, dau. Philip Claeszen & Maria Tine. 

Anna, dau. Nicolaes Matthijsz & Barentie 
Dircks. 
Oct. 15, Wyntie, dau. Pieter Stoutenburgh & Aefje van 

Tienhoven. 
Maijken, dau. Marten Claeszen & Jannetje 
Martens. 
June 17, 1663. Abraham, son Hendrick Gerritszen & Marritje 

Lamberts. 
Oct. 1, Tryntje, dau. Jan van Langestraeten & Maria 

Arents. 
Beletje, dau. Arie Corneliszen & Rebecca Yrens. 
Jan. 27, 1664. Maria, dau. Soert Olfertszen & Ytie Roelofs. 
Mch. 16, Abraham, son Jan de la Montagnie & Maria 

Vernelje. 
June 2, Marie, dau. Jelis Janszen & Christina Laurens. 

July 13, Paulus, son Paulus Turck & Aletje Barents. 

(N. Y. G. and B. Record, Jan., 1876, 22-23.) 
There are no entries among marriages at the Bowery church. 
but in Do. Selyns' list of 1686, appear these names, which because 
they lived ' ' Beyond the Fresh Water, J J were probably commun- 
icants : 

Wolfert Webbers. His wife Geertruyd Hassing is not listed. 
Neeltje Cornells, wife of Dirck Cornelissen. 
Arie Cornelissen, and wife Eebecca Idens. 
Franciscus Bastiaense and wife Barbara Emanuel, negroes. 
Solomon Pieter s and wife Marritje Anthony. 
Daniel de Clercq and wife Grietje Cozyns. 
Cozyn Gerritsen and wife Vroutje Gerritse. 
Jan Thomassen, of the Manhattans, and wife Apollonia Cor- 
nelis, m. 1665. 

Pieter Jansen, of Amsterdam and wife Marritje Jacobs, of 
Hoorn, m. Feb. 2, 1663. 

Jacob Hendrickszen Kip and wife, Maria de la Montague of 
Amsterdam, m. March 8, 1654. 

Nicholaes Willem Stuyvesant and wife, Elizabeth Slechten- 
horst. 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 665 

Egbert Fockensen, of Drenthe and wife Elsje Lucas of New 
York, m. March 26, 1678. 

Johannes van Couwenhoven, of Amersfoort and wife Sara 
Frans of Haarlem, m. April 11, 1664. 

(A\ Y. Hist. Soc. Colls., 2nd Series, 1:398; N. Y. G. & B. Soc. 
Colls., Vol. I, Marriages.) 

After the removal of Do. Selyns it was deemed expedient to 
rely upon the services of the minister of the Church in the Fort, 
especially as in the preceding year, Samuel Megapolensis, M. D., 
the son of the aged senior pastor, had arrived from Holland and 
took part in the ministry. Doubtless the minister of the church 
of New Amsterdam continued frequent supplies at the Bou- 
werij, certainly during the lifetime of Stuyvesant. (Christian 
Intelligencer, Oct. 29, 1842.) 

Perhaps the earliest inhabitant of the hamlet was Cornelis 
Aertszen who in 1665 was dwelling on the bouwerij. He 
settled in New Amsterdam prior to 1641, and was the pro- 
genitor of the Van Schaick family, his sons about 1680 having 
assumed that surname. One of them, Arie (Adriaen) Oorneli- 
sen van Schaick held land in 1696 lying in Bloomingdale above 
the Great Kill. He married probably at Stuyvesant \s bouwerij 
in 1662 Eebecca Idens. His daughter Elizabeth married Gerrit 
Oncklebaeh, son of Adam. Another daughter Belitje Adriaen- 
ens van Schaick was baptized Oct. 1, 1662, at the General's bou- 
werij. His son Hendrick Cornelisen van Schaick, bap. Sept, 23, 
164(5, lived and probably died on that portion of the old Stille 
fa nn which he purchased with Wplfert Webber on Jan. 10, 1685. 

By 1660 the settlement at the Bouweij was beginning to be of 
some consequence. We are granted a few glimpses of the ear- 
lier inhabitants in the records, three of whom were Focke Jans,* 
Kier "Walters and Jan Jansen van de Langestraet who denomi- 
nated themselves "husbandmen dwelling on the bouwerij of Mr. 
Petrus Stuyvesant." At a court held at the City Hall, June 
15, 1665, it was resolved that the former, "living at the Bou- 
* , erij l M be allowed to lay in every week half a barrel of strong 
beer, free of excise, in consideration of the great expense he had 

.. * U K- 5. 1671. Severijn Lourens, widower of Trijntje Reynders m. Grietje 
* , t nd J»cx, widow of Focke Janzen, both residing at the Bouwerij. (Recs. N. A., 



666 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

to incur before he could get the beer to his house, inasmuch as 
he had "to convey it in his own wagon with his own men, also 
the leakage of the beer in the road." (Ct, Mins. A 7 . A., Vol. 
5:253). This same Jans joined the other two individuals in an 
affidavit, dated Aug. 4-14, 1666, in aid of the defense of the Gov- 
ernor. They certified that they had been earnestly requested by 
His Honor to thresh, in a hurry, "as much grain as possible and 
carry it to the Fort and that as their hands were full of work 
because of the harvest, the Governor himself had as much grain 
threshed by his own negroes and servants and brought into the 
Fort every day whilst the English frigates remained in the Bay. ' ' 
(Col. Mss., Vol. 11:474.) 

Wdlters, the ancestor of the Kiersen family, was superin- 
tendent of the Bouwerij. He had lived, says Biker, at Gees and 
at Aernhout, two obscure villages in the desert-like fens of 
Drenthe and came here via Amsterdam. He settled at New Am- 
stel on the South (Delaware) Eiver where he was reported to be 
one of the ablest and best farmers. Flattering offers, in conse- 
quence, were made to him to come to New Amsterdam. On ar- 
rival he went into the Governor's employ. He was elected Over- 
seer of Fences, April 16, 1667, (Ct, Mins., Vol. 6, 69), but in the 
fall of that year removed to Haarlem where he leased de Meyer's 
farm at 500 guilders per annum. (Biker, 263). On Oct. 2, 1668, 
he was re-elected overseer {Ct. Mins., Vol. 6:150) and again on 
Dec. 7, 1669, although at that latter date he had become a resi- 
dent of Fordham where he took up the lease of a farm for seven 
years from Sept. 29, 1668 (Eiker, 249). Having "gone away 
since the last election' ' another was chosen in his stead as Over- 
seer Jan. 25, 1669-70. Cornells Steenwyck, Mayor, authorized, 
May 16, 1670, the W. Court of the Towne of Niew Haarlem to 
appoint curators of his estate. (Ct. Mins., Vol. 6: 213). His 
son Jan Kiersen became one of the patentees of Haarlem. 

There are a number of entries about van de Langestraet. He 
was a farmer. (Cal. D., Mss., 228). "The Mayor's meeting" 
held Jan. 25, 1669-70 appointed him overseer of the branding of 
horses and cattle and on March 1, of the same year he was made 
overseer of Eoads and Fences "on this as on the other side of 
the Fresh Water," to which position he was re-elected April 18, 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 667 

1671. (Ct Mins. N. A., Vol. VI:215, 222, 296; Biker's Harlem, 
273.) In 1690 he was aged about 61. (.V. Y. Col. Mss., London 
Docs., iii:741.) 

The Ct. Mins., Vol. 5 :287, reveal another feature of life in the 
new settlement. Abel Hardenbroeek testified Aug. 22, 1665, 
that he met Denys Isaacksen on the Bouwerij road yesterday 
where the latter drew a knife and said— " Draw, van Leer, or I 
shall stab and cut you, etc., that he used such threats and abusive 
words that the plaintiff was obliged to save his life by seeking 
shelter in the house of Cosyn Gerretsen, he was so hard pressed. 
Whereupon the defendant answered and said that the plaintiff 
had challenged him the same morning in the house of Luycas 
Dircks, the tapster, to fight in the neighborhood of the Fresh 
Water and as he did not find plaintiff there at the appointed 
time he went further towards the bouwerij where he found him 
on the road and asked him : Is this the appointed place, etc." He 
admitted he drew a knife and told plaintiff to draw also. Plain- 
tiff in his defense, denied the challenge and demanded proof as 
there were many people at Dirck's who without doubt had heard 
him. Not so, said the defendant, as plaintiff whispered it to 
him so that none of the bystanders could hear him. Tomas 
Lodowyck, a witness for the plaintiff, testified that as he was 
proceeding with Hardenbroeek and some women folks towards 
the Bouwerij he saw the defendant draw the knife on the plain- 
tiff whom he pursued with many abusive and threatening words. 
The Mayor's Court referred the matter to the Court of Assizes 
and meanwhile held defendant in the sum of fl. 500 Hollands to 
keep the peace. The scene of the above encounter was at the 
junction of 4th Avenue and Astor Place where nearby Gerrit- 
sen's farm was located. It had a frontage on the Bowery, just 
north of Art Street, of 16 rods and a depth of 100 rods, and 
contained about 5 acres, or two morgen and four hundred. To- 
gether with a house and garden. Grant dated May 26th, 1668. 
(Hoffman, 11:193.) 

Peter Stoutenburgh's plantation (acquired in 1664) "near 
the Governor's bouwerij" was just north of Cosyne Gerritse's. 
His house and garden, however, were in the city lying " under 
the fortifications and bulwarks. ' ' Having just been recaptured 



668 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

and renamed (New Orange) the municipal authorities in 1673 
decided that buildings so located should be "instantly demol- 
ished" for defensive reasons. (Hoi. Docs., Vol. 11:634.) Stout- 
enbnrgh's lot was valued by appraisers, together with the cost 

£*-<££ removal, at fl. 880 wampum and the lot assigned to him in the 
Company's Garden No. 3, to which the house was to be removed, 
'at ti 460, thus making a balance of fl. 420 due him. (Ibid., 636.) 

-y. He was nominated as Schepen, August 16th, of this year (Ct. 
~Mins., Vol. VI :397) and took the oath of allegiance after the sur- 
render. (Hoi. Docs., Vol. 111:76.) 

Gerrit Hendricksen, a farmer, owned a plantation nearby. He 
was condemned to pay the cost of the repair of the common fence 
in 1656, but on his statement that he had no money Burgomas- 
ter van Cortlandt paid his fine. (Ct. Mins., Vol. 11:92). By his 
will, dated Nov. 8th, 1683, he stated his wife was Margaret Moll, 
deceased. His children by her were Henry, Huybert, Johanes, 
, Abraham, Isaac, Margaret and Maria Gerrits. The second 
; mMe, Josyntie Thomas, had two children, viz: Elizabeth and 
Peter. It was provided that, in case the bouwerij was sold the 
children should be put in trade. They all took the name of Ger- 
rittsen. Margaret married Lambert Hessen(!). Witnesses: 
John Pieterse Herring, John Tiebout and William Bogardus, 
notary. (N. Y. His. Soc. Coll., 1892:471.) 

The names of some of the later inhabitants are derived from 
the records of the Dutch Church, dating from nearly the original 
settlement. (New York Gen, & B. Society Colls., I.) 

1672, Jan. 21. Anthony Backers, Neger, m. Mayken Arta, 
negine, of Stuyvesant's bouwerij. (p. 35.) 

: March 10. Geertje Couzyns. of Beyond the Fresh Water, m. 
Andries Jeurians of Bergen, (p. 35.) 

Nov. 17. Will em Anthonissen, Neger, m. Margaret Pieters of 
Stuyvesant's bouwerij. (p. 36.) 

1673, July 2. Hendrick Bastiaenszen, j. m. of Cuylenburg, m. 
Marritje Hendricks, j. d. of Brevoort in the Province of Uij- 
trecht, now of Stuyvesant's bouwerij. (p. 37.) 

Sept. 25. Gerrit Cosynszen, j. m. of New Nederland, m. Bel- 
itje Jacobs, j. d. of Fort Orange, living at Stuyvesant's bou- 
werij. (p. 37.) 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 669 

1677, June 18. Jan Davidszen, j. m. from Sweden and Deutal- 
i.aij (Turtle bay) m. Jannetje Jans, j. d. of Leyden and the bou- 
werij. (p. 42.) 

1678, March 26. Egbert Fockenszen, j. m. from Drenthe, m. 
Elsje Lucas, j. d. of New York both living at the Bouwerij. 
(p. 44.) 

1(179, April 15. Huijbert Gerritszen, j. m. of New York, m. 
Willemtje Ariaens, j. d. from Gelderlandt, both living at the 
Bouwerij. (p. 45.) 

1680, Feb. 25. Michiel Manuels, j. m., m. Marie Bruijn, j. m. 
from London, both living at Stuyvesant's bouwerij. (p. 46.) 

March 31. Claes Manuels, neger, m. Lucretia Lovijse, ne- 
gress, both living at Stuyvesant's bouwerij. (p. 47.) 

August 8. Cornelis Adriaenszen, j. m. from Thuijl in Gelder- 
landt, m. Anna Frans, j. d. of New Albany, both living at Stuy- 
vesant's bouwerij. "On account of the bridegroom's sickness 
marriage in front of the bed." (p. 47.) 

Nov. 3. Frans Abrahamszen, j. m. from Bedfort, m. Lucretia 
Hendricks, j. d. of the bouwerij. (p. 48.) 

1681, Dec. 10. Pieter Janszen, j. m. of Amersfoort, m. Belitje 
Adriaens, j. d. of New York, both living Beyond the Fresh "Wat- 
er, (p. 49.) 

1682, Feb. 4. Willem Anthony, widower of Margaret Pieters, 
in. Maria Claerce, j. d. from England, living Beyond Fresh Wat- 
er, (p. 50.) 

April 9. Lambert Aertzen from Thuijl in Gelderlandt, m. 
Margretje Gerrits, j. d. of the Bouwerij. (p. 50). 

July 26. Pieter van Kampen, widower of Susanna Hillarie 
— — , m. widow Lovys Angola, both living at Stuyvesant's bou- 
*>rij. (p. 51.) 

1683, May 9. James Babbage, j. m. of England, m. Bersheba 
Torner, j. d. of Westchester, living at the Fresh Water. Mar- 
ried by the English minister, (p. 52.) 

1684, June 12. Jan Willemszen Eomen, j. m. from Cuylen- 
t'urtf, the man living here, the woman at the Bouwery. (p. 55.) 

1685, June 24. Johanes Andrieszen, j. m. from Spangien, m. 
A^neitje Abrahams, widow of Jan Tobiaszen, both living at 
Stuyvesant's bouwerij. (p. 57.) 






670 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

Nov. 25. Gerrit Bastiaenszen, j. m. from Cuylenburg, in. 
Tryntze Thijs, j. d. of New Albany, both living at Stuyvesant's 
bouwerij. (p. 58.) 

1686, Sept. 29. Pieter Janszen Bogart, j. m. from Leerdam, 
m. Fijtje Thyssen j. d. of New Albany, the man living at Nieuw 
Haarlem, the woman at Stuyvesant's bouwerij. (p. 61.) 

1688, June 9. Nathaniel Southfield, j. m. Barbados, m. Stijn- 
tje Jans, j. d. from Zuijtrivier, living next to Stuyvesant's bou- 
werij. (p. 64.) 

1689, May 20. Jacques Fonteijn, j. m. from Boswijck, m. An- 
na Webbers, j. d. of New York, both living Beyond the Fresh 
Water, (p. 66.) 

1689, Sept. 8. Nathaniel Pittman, j. m. from Bristol, Eng- 
land, m. Mary Merrit, widow of Walter Dop, both living Beyond 
the Fresh Water, (p. 67.) 

Nov. 22. (lic d ) Manuel Pieters, widower of Dorothea d' An- 
gola, m. Marij Ken d 'Angola, widow of Domingo d 1 Angola, both 
negroes and living at Stuyvesant's bouwerij. (p. 68.) 

December 1. Theunis Quick, j. m. of New Albany, m. 
Vrouwtje Jans, j. d. of Stuyvesant's bouwerij, the man living 
here, the woman at Tappan. (p. 68.) 

1691, Nov. 18. Pieter Lucaszen, free negro, j. m. from Crome- 
skij, m. Marij ken Jans, free negress, j. d. of Stuyvesant's bou- 
werij. (p. 71.) 

Dec. 9. Dirck Zlijck, widower of Anna Jans, m. Hendrickje 
Hendricks, j. d. of Stuwesant's bouwerij, both living here. (p. 
71.) 

1696, Jan. 8. Abraham Janszen, j. m. from Maspot Kill, m. 
Sara Etkins, j. d. from the Bouwery, both living here. (p. 82.) 

1699, April 30. Cozyn Gerritszen, j. m. of Stuyvesant 's bou- 
werij, m. Catalina van Gunst, j. d. of New York, both living 
here. (p. 89.) 

April 30. Samuel's Jakaen, j. m. of New York, m. Neeltje 
Gerrits, of Stuyvesant's bouwerij, both living here. (p. 89). 

1700, July 14. Benjamin Quackenbosch, j. m. of New Albany, 
m. Claesje Webbers j. d. of the Poor bouwerij, both living al- 
most at Stuyvesant's bouwerij. (p. 93.) 

1704. April 17. Hendrich de Kamp, j. m. from N. Uijtrecht, 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 671 

living on Staten Island, m. Maria de Lamars, j. d. of the Bou- 
werij^ (p. 101.)* 

1709, June 10. Fredrik Jacobse Woertenijke, j. m. of the 
Bowery, m. Divert je Quakkenbos, j. d. of Albany, living at the 
bouwerij. (p. 110.) 

June 10. David Mandeviel, j. m. from Hempstead, m. Jan- 
net je Jacobs Woertendijk, j. d. of the bouwerij. (p. 110.) 

1710, Feb. 14. Thomas Grikson, widower of Elizabeth Wijn- 
ruit, m. Janneake Andries, j. d. both living at the Bouwerij. 

(P. HI.) 

xVprii 13. Cornelisz Jacobse Woertendijk, j. m. of the Bou- 
werij, m. Janneke Paers, j. d. of New York. (p. 111.) 

June 1. Benjamin van Vegten, j. m. of New Albany, m. Jen- 
neke Eckkisse, j. d. of the Bouwerij. (p. 112.) 

Dec. 20. Bernardus Jansse, j. m. of Flatlands, m. Jannetje 
Salomons, j. d. of the Bouwerij. (p. 113.) 

1711, Aug. 25. Jacob Koning, widower, of New York, m. 
Claasje Cornelis, widow of Reinier Quakkenbos, of the Bouwerij. 
(p. 116.) 

1712, Mch. 24. Casparus Fransee, j. m. of the Bouwerij, m. 
Elizabeth Pietersse, j. d. of the Bouwerij. (p. 117.) 

Mch. 8. (lic d ) Salomon Jacobsz, j. m. of Amsterdam, m. Eva 
Woertendijk, widow of Thomas Sjerman of the Bouwerij. (p 
117.) 

1718, Nov. 25. Thomas de la Montagne, j. m. Rebecca Bruijn, 
j. d. living at the bouwerij. (p. 129.) 

1719, Dec. 1. Adam Arre, j. m. of Raretans, m. Susanna Sal- 
omons, j. d. of the bouwerij. (p. 131.) 

1722, Feb. 20. Caleb Miller, j. m., m. Apollonia Barres, j. d. 
Both from England living at the bouwerij. (p. 135.) 

April 14. Nicolaes Thomasz, m. Jannetje janssen, widow of 
Thomas Gerritsson of New York, living at the bouwerij. (p. 136.) 

1736, Sept. 19. Benjamin Waldron, j. m. of New Haarlem, m. 
Elizabeth Samman, j. d. of the Bouwerij. (p. 159). 

1740, July 18. Walther Edwards, j. m. of Old England, liv- 
ing here, m. Marijtje Dok. j. d. of the Bouwerij. (p. 165.) 

lh iose who lived at the Bowery at a later period, taken from the same records, 
i{ > *ow. Without doubt some of these were from other bouwerijs (farms). 



672 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

Dec. 7. Abraham Pit, j. m. of New York, m. Susanna Wood, 
j. d. of the bouwerij. (p. 166.) 

1746, July 25. Cornells Dykman, j. m., m. Elizabeth Gerdin, 
j. d., both of the bouwerij. (p. 175.) 

August 30. Richard Hoppe, j. in., m. Maria Orseltouwn, j. d., 
both of the bouwerij. (p. 175.) 

1747, Jan. 11. Cornells Webbers, j. m., m. Anna Sighels, j. d. 
both of the bouwerij. (p. 176.) 

1766, Dec. 22. Abraham Rithan, j. m. from Paramus, m. Sara 
Webbers, j. d. of the bouwerij. (p. 225.) 

1774, June 11. Herry Crun, free negro, m. Jain, negress of 
John Dykman. (p. 241.) 

The Governor and later his widow and sons offered induce- 
ments to tenants who would settle near the Bouwerij and by 
1702 about 400 people lived in that vicinity, mostly within a 
short distance of the ancestral home. 

The Governor's portrait which is in the Historical Society's 
Building displays a strongly marked noble countenance and 
would at any time arrest attention even if the subject were un- 
known. An interesting query has arisen in reference to which leg 
he sacrificed to the god of war before he landed at New Nether- 
land. There continues to be a shadow of doubt notwithstanding 
that the preponderance of opinion, as shown in early woodcuts, 
makes the right leg the wooden one. Washington Irving also 
seems to have taken this for granted, but this facetious native 
New Yorker, in his history of New York disclaims being taken 
seriously. 

The famous pear tree* planted by the Governor grew from a 
slip which he brought with him on his return in 1667. How this 
tree could have been planted in 1647 as some historians assert 
passes comprehension. A mere review of the facts is sufficient 
to shelve such a statement. Would the Governor, just arrived, 
take the slip up to the site of a farm he did not own at the time, 
and of which presumably he had no knowledge ? The tree bore 
fruit until November, 1867, when in crippled stateliness, it was 



♦The Stuyvesant Pear Tree. This venerable Tree, the object of regard to all 
knickerbockers, is once more in bloom. It is, if our memory serves us, about 230 
years old. (N. Y. Times, May 2, 1853). An example of a very faulty memory in- 
deed. 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 673 

knocked over by a careless truck driver. An effort was made 
to preserve the shoots which put forth from the roots with no 
success. Forty odd years ago, however, Jesse Ryder of Ossin- 
ing secured two grafts and planted them on his farm. One of 
them grew to be a thrifty tree and was in 1902 in good condition. 
So a lineal descendant of the original tree was in existence on 
the farm of Jesse's son, Malcolm, some three miles from that 
village. (F. W. Crane in N. Y. Times May 4, 1902.) Now and 
again the location of the old tree has been the cause of discus- 
sion. It is undoubtedly true that it stood on the northeast corn- 
er of 13th Street and 3rd Avenue. Numerous pictures of it have 
appeared in the histories of the city. The map of the village 
fixes its position correctly. On the house at the location above 
has been erected a tablet with this inscription : 

On this corner grew 
Petrus Stuyvesant's pear tree. 

Recalled to Holland in 1664, 
on his return 

he brought the pear tree 
and planted it 

as his memorial. 
"By which," said he, "my name 

may be remembered." 
The pear tree flourished 

and bore fruit for over 
two hundred years. 

This tablet is placed here by 
the Holland Society 

of New York, 
September, 1890. 

It would be an instance of supererogation to recite here the 
particulars of Stuyvesant's administration. Sufficient is it to 
observe that he was fortunate to hold office during the golden age 
of the Colony's history and was supported by his employers in 
granting autonomy to the inhabitants such as was but vaguely 
anticipated as a hoped for happy reality. It was at his bou- 
werij, says the Book of General Entries, 33, that the parties ap- 
pointed to agree on terms of surrender met September 6th, 1664. 
The Hon. Jan de Decker, Capt. Nicholas Varleth and Dr. Sam- 
uel Megapolensis, nominated by the council ; Burgomasters Cor- 
nelis Steenwyck, Oloff Stevenson van Cortlandt and Schepen 
Jacques Cousseau, by the city were those who represented New 
Amsterdam and were appointed the previous day. Says Dr. 



6>'4 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

O'Callaghan: ''Thus was fitly consummated an act of spoliation 
Which, in a period of profound peace, wrested this Province 
from its rightful owners by means of violating all public justice 
and infringing ail public law. The only additional outrage that 
remained was to impose on the country the name of one un- 
known in history, save as a bigot and tyrant— the enemy of re- 
ligious and political freedom wherever he ruled. New Nether- 
land was accordingly called New York." 

The governor's after life was uneventful. He devoted him- 
self to his farm and cattle and died at his country seat, having 
lived only eight years after his retirement from office. Had he 
been spared a little longer he would have had the satisfaction of 
seeing the flag of Patria again raised over the Fort he had been 
so loath to surrender. The walls of this commodious house rose 
among the trees of the wilderness in 1653, it is related, the same 
year, by the way, when the hamlet at the south end of the island 
became the city of New Amsterdam. Authorities differ as to 
the materials of its construction. Some say it was built of brick 
from Holland and others of wood with brick foundation. From 
the appearance of the view it might be either. Two stories in 
height, with a small attic under the curved Dutch eaves, its sec- 
ond story projected over the first, thus making a porch or cov- 
ering for the doorway. Altogether an admirable specimen of 
the typical house inhabited by a well-to-do landowner, it re- 
mained standing until 1777 when it caught fire and was totally 
destroyed. The Memorial History fixes the date of this catas- 
trophe as October 24th, 1778.* All authorities agree that it was 
during the British occupation at any rate. The grounds in front 
were laid out in stiff garden style arranged in geometrical fig- 
ures—squares, circles and crescents— after the mode in vogue 
in the fatherland. Parts of the walls of this bouwerij house re- 
mained as late as 1851. One brick thereof is preserved at the 
rooms of the New York Historical Society. 

Stuyvesant's remains were deposited in the vault which he 



*The Editor of the Memorial History, Gen. James Grant Wilson, wrote me under 
date of September 17th, 1907, in answer to an enquiry', as f ollows : "There is no 
doubt that the Stuyvesant Mansion was destroyed Oct. 24th, 1778, as stated in my 
history of New York. In the Centennial sermon delivered in St. Mark's Church 
by its rector, the Rev. Dr. Rylance, a few years ago, that date is confirmed." An 
examination of the pamphlet in question fails to confirm the month and day. 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 675 

himself had had constructed under the chapel. Many of his 
descendants have been interred near him beside that little 
church, and there also reposes the body of the English Governor 
Col. Henry Sloughter who died in 1691, (Mem. History, 1:488) 
and that of Peter Vallet, Esq., who was designated, with Peter 
van Brugh Livingston, by an act of the N. Y. Assembly in 1746, 
a manager of a lottery to raise funds to establish a college, 
which is now Columbia.* 

The stone which designated the location of the tomb became 
ho weather worn that its inscription for years was almost unin- 
telligible and in September, 1902, his descendant, Robert Reade 
Stuyvesant, of the line of Nicholas William II, who married 
Catherine Livingston, daughter of John and Catherine (Living- 
ston) Pteade, caused to be inserted in the wall on the east side 
of St. Mark's Church, looking towards 2nd Avenue, a new stone 
commemorating the burial of his ancestor which was inscribed 
in these words : 

In this vault lies buried 

PETRUS STUYVESANT 

late Captain General & Governor in Chief of Amsterdam 

In New Netherlands, now called New York, 

And the Dutch West India Islands. Died A. D., i6»4 

Aged 80 years. 

There is a slight change from the former inscription, the orig- 
inal epitaph reading: "Died A. D. 167y 2 , aged eighty years." 
The old stone was not placed in the wall until long after Stuy- 
vesant's decease and it is thought by some antiquarians that it 
may be only somewhat over a century old. The date of the death 
seems to have escaped the memory and the month was not even 
known until the late William Kelby, the librarian of the New 

^ •Mr. Peter Vallet, an eminent Merchant of this City, departed this Life on Sun- 
cay last and two days after his corpse was carried out of Town on a black Hearse 
*r.d cnterred in the Stuyvesant vault: — This gentleman was born in France but 
V*i erring a foreign Country to his own, for a Liberty of Conscience which at 
Home he could not enjoy; he fled that Kingdom (as did many others) in the 
y •* n °^ Q ueen Ann. It is said he is survived but by one of all these Gentlemen 
kstugces who supported the French Church of New York in the Figure it made 
v > >rars ago. Mr. Vallet affected no Noise nor Bustle but lived retired from both 
«* lh« calm Exercise of all the Virtues of a Christian and Gentleman. He was 
sssiversaHy respected while he lived and died at an advanced Age, and to adopt 
V. c *°*P«atic Language of Scripture, the Remembrance of him is sweet. (New 
?.*T* Ga=ctte ' revived in the Weekly Post Boy, December 18th, 1752). Peter 
Met, of a later generation, advertised good Jamaica Rum to be sold at his home in 
a*mh street, "by the Hogshead or Smaller "Quantity," (Ibid., Dec. 25, 1849)- 



676 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

York Historical Society, discovered that it was in February of 
the year 1672, under present notation. The exact day is lost. 
A quotation from a paper read before said Society by Benjamin 
Kobert Winthrop, one of the Governor's descendants, is perti- 
nent: "From the construction of the vault and the position of 
the entrance I have come to the conclusion that the western ga- 
ble of the old church must have stood about ten or twelve feet 
from the eastern gable of the present edifice. [St. Mark's.] My 
reason for this conclusion is that what appears to have been an 
entrance has been closed up by brick work while the rest of the 
vault is of solid masonry. ' ' 

Domine Selyns wrote an epitaph in the Governor's memory 
containing a play on the name which Henry C. Murphy (Anthol- 
ogy of New Netherlands) has translated in this way: 

Stir not the sand too much, for there lies Stuyvesant 
Who erst commander was of all New Netherland, 
Freely or no, unto the foe, the land did he give over. 
If grief and sorrow any hearts do smite, his heart 
Did die a thousand deaths and undergo a smart 
InsufFrable. At first, too rich; at last too pauvre. 

An intimation that he died of a broken heart because of the sur- 
render. 



Journal of George Croghan, January — 
February, 1753=4 

Contributed By John W. Jordan, LL.D. 
Librarian Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 

"^ HE threatening movements of the French west of the 
Allegheny mountains, gave so much concern to Gov- 
ernor James Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, that he se- 
lected George Croghan, Andrew Montour and John 
Patten, who had large experience in Indian affairs, to rendez- 
vous at Logs town, an Indian village on the right bank of the 
Ohio river, 14 miles below Pittsburgh, and gather what infor- 
mation they could, and to ascertain the status of the Indians in 
that locality. Col. George Washington had been previously 
sent on a similar mission by the Governor of Virginia. 

Croghan, in forwarding his journal to Governor Hamilton of 
what transpired at the Logstown conference, wrote : 

"By Mr. Andrew Montour and Mr. John Patten I have sent 
your Honor a copy of all our proceedings at Logstown, and all 
the news I heard worth mentioning. Your Honor will see by the 
Indians' speeches that they are in high spirits and very willing 
to defend themselves from the enemy, provided the English Gov- 
ernment, on whom they depend, will assist them. They expect 
your Honor will immediately order a house to be built to keep 
necessaries in to enable them to carry on a war against their 
enemy, who has already invaded their country. Your Honor 
^*ili also see by ye Indian's speech that a part of that speech sent 
you by Louis Montour, must have been forged by those that 
wrote the speech Mr. Montour and myself brought. Joseph 

Campbell, who was ye interpreter of that speech, and the In- 
dians face to face, when ye Half King proved that there was not 
ft word of giving up their lands to pay ye Traders debts men- 
tioned. . . ." 

(677) 



678 JOURNAL OF GEORGE CROGHAN 

George Croghan was a native of Ireland, and when he came to 
Pennsylvania settled near Harris' Ferry, and was an Indian 
trader as early as 1746. Having secured the confidence of the 
Indians and acquired their languages, he became agent of the 
Province among them and served on many important missions. 
He was a captain in Braddock's expedition of 1755, and the year 
following was appointed Deputy Indian agent for the Pennsyl- 
vania and Ohio Indians by Sir William Johnson. In 1765, when 
on a mission to pacify the Indians in Illinois, he was attacked, 
wounded and taken prisoner to Vincennes, but soon released 
and accomplished his mission. For over thirty years he ren- 
dered valuable services in pacifying the Indians and concilia- 
ting them to the British interests until the breaking out of the 
Revolution. He died near Philadelphia in the Summer of 1782. 

The Half King, spokesman for the Indians at the conference, 
was a Seneca chief then residing at Logstown, and his name is 
a familiar one in the Indian history of the Province, prior to his 
death at Harris ' Ferry in October of 1754. The brothers An- 
drew and Louis Montour, were the sons of the equally well known 
Madam Montour. 

George Croghan's Journal 

J any. 12th, 1753-4.— I arrived at Turtle Creek, about 8 miles 
from y e forks of Monongahela, where I was informed by John 
Fresar, an Indian Trader, that Mr. [George] Washington who 
was sent by y e Governor of Virginia to y e French Camp was re- 
turned. Mr. Washington told Mr. Fresar, that he had been very 
well used by y e French General, that after he had delivered his 
message, the General told him his orders were to take all Eng- 
)ish he found on Ohio, which orders he was determined to obey, 
and further told him, that y e English had no business to trade on 
Ohio, for that all y e Lands of Ohio belonged to his Master, the 
King of France, all to the Allegheny Mountain. Mr. Washington 
told Mr. F. y e Fort where he was, is very strong, and that they 
had abundance of Provisions, but they would not let him see 
their Magazine. There is about 100 soldiers and 50 workmen at 
that Fort and as many more at y e upper Fort and about 50 men 



JOURNAL OF GEORGE CROGHAN 679 

at Venango ; y e rest of their Army went home last Fall, but is to 
return as soon as possible this Spring. When they return, they 
are to come down to Logstown in order to build a Fort some- 
where thereabouts. This is all I heard of Mr. Washington's 
journey worth relating to y r Honour. 

On y e ,13th. I arrived at Shanopen's town where Mr. [An- 
drew] Montour and Mr. [John] Patten overtook me. 

On y € 14th. We set off to Logstown where we found y e In- 
dians all drunk. Y e first salutation we got was from one of the 
Shawnese who told Mr. Montour and myself, we were prisoners, 
before we had time to tell them that their men that was in prison 
in Carolina were released, and that we had two of them in our 
company. The Shawnese have been very uneasy about those 
men that was in prison, and had not those men been released, it 
might have been of very ill consequence at this time, but so soon 
as they found their men were released, they seemed ail over- 
joyed and I believe will prove true to their alliance. 

On \f 15th. Five canoes of French came down to Logstown in 
company with y e Half King and some more of y e Six Nations, 
in number a Sergeant and 15 soldiers. 

On y e 1 6th. In the morning Mr. Patten took a walk to where 
y e French had pitched their tents, and on his returning back by 
y e officers * tent, he ordered Mr. Patten to be brought into him, 
on which word came to y e Town that Mr. Patten had been taken 
- prisoner. Mr. Montour and myself immediately went to where 
y e French were encamped, where we found y e French officer and 
y* Half King in a high dispute ; y e officer told Mr. Montour and 
me, that he meant no hurt to Mr. Patten, but wondered he should 
pass backward and forward without calling in. Y e Indians were 
all drunk and seemed very uneasy about y e French for stopping 
Mr. Patten, on which y e officer ordered his men on board their 
canoes and set off to a small town of y* Six Nations about two 
miles below y e Logstown, where he intended to stay till y e rest 
of their Army comes down. As to any particulars that passed 
between y e Officer and Mr. Patten, I refer y r Honour to Mr. 
Patten. 

By a Chickasaw man who has lived among the Shawnese since 
he was a lad and is just returned from y e Chickasaw country, 



680 JOURNAL OF GEORGE CROGHAN 

where he has been making a visit to his friends, we hear that 
there is a large body of French at y e Falls of Ohio, not less he 
says than 1000 men, that they have abundance of provisions and 
powder and lead with them, and that they are coming up y° 
River to meet y e Army from Canada coming down. He says, a 
canoe with 10 Frenchmen in her came to y e lower Shawnese 
town witli him, but on some of y e English traders threatening 
to take them, they set back that night without telling their bus- 
iness. 

By a message sent here from Fort Detroit by the Wayondotts 
to y e Six Nations, Delaware and Shawnese, we hear that the 
Ottawas are getting together on this side of Lake Erie, several 
hundreds of them, in order to cut off y e Shawnese at y e lower 
Shawnese town; y e French and Ottawas offered the hatchet to 
y e Wayondotts, but they refused to assist them. 

"We hear that y e Tweetwees, that went last Spring to Canada 
to council with the French, returned last Fall, that they had 
taken hold of y e French hatchet, and had gone back to their 
old towns among y e French. 

From y e 16th till if 26th. We could do nothing, the Indians 
being constantly drunk. 

On y e 26th. The French called y e Indians to Council and made 
them a present of goods. On the Indians return y e Half King 
told Mr. Montour and me, he would take an opportunity to re- 
peat over to us what y e French said to them. 

On y e 27th. We called y e Indians to Council and clothed 
y e two Shawnese according to the Indian custom, and delivered 
them up in Council, with your Honor's speeches sent by Mr. 
Patten, which Mr. Montour adapted to Indian form, as much as 
was in his power and mine. 

On y e 28th. We called y e Indians to Council again and deliv- 
ered to them a large belt of Black and White Wampum, in y r 
Honor's and the Governor of Virginia's name, by which we de- 
sired they might open their minds to your Honor and speak from 
their Hearts and not from their Lips, and that they might now 
inform your Honor by Mr. Andrew Montour whom he had chos- 
en to transact business, you and y r Brethren at Ohio, whether 
that speech which they sent your Honor by Mr. Louis Montour 



JOURNAL OF GEORGE CROGHAN 681 

was agreed on in Council or not, and assured them they might 
freely open their minds to their Brethren, y r Honor and the 
Governor of Virginia, as y e only friends and brethren they had 
to depend on. 

Gave y e Belt, 

After delivering y e Belt, Mr. Montour gave them the goods 
left in my care by y r Honor's Commissioners at Carlisle, and 
at the same time made a speech to them to let them know that 
these goods vras for y e use of their Warriors and defence of 
their Country. 

As soon as the goods were delivered the Half King made a 
speech to y e Shawnese and Delawares, and told them as their 
Brother Onas had sent them a large supply of necessaries for y e 
defence of their Country, that he would put it in their care un- 
til all their Warriors would have occasion to call for it, as their 
Brethren, y e English, had not yet got a strong house to keep 
such things safe in. 

The 31st. A speech delivered by y e Half King, in answer to y r 
Honor's speeches on delivering y e Shawnese. 

Brother Onas, we return you our hearty thanks for y 6 trouble 
you have taken in sending for our poor relations y e Shawnese, 
and with these four strings of Wampum we clear our eyes and 
hearts that you may see y e Brothers y e Shawnese as you best 
wish to do, and not think that any small disturbance shall obstruct 
y* friendship so long subsisting between you and us y r Brethren 
the Six Nations, Delawares and Shawnese, we will make all Na- 
tions that are in alliance with us acquainted with y e care you 
have had of our people at such a great distance from both you 
and us. 

Gave 4 strings of Wampum. 

A speech delivered by y e Half King. 

Brethren, y e Governors of Pennsylvania and Virginia, you 
desire us to open our mind to you and to speak from our hearts, 
which we assure you Brethren we do : you desire we may inform 
you whether that speech sent by Lewis Montour, was agreed on 
in Council or not, which we now assure you it was in part, but 
that part giving y e Lands to pay y e Traders debts, we know 
nulling of, it must have been added by y* Traders that wrote y e 



682 JOURNAL OF GEORGE CROGHAN 

letter ; but we earnestly requested by that Belt and likewise we 
now request, that our Brother y e Governor of Virginia may build 
a strong house at y e Forks of the Monongahela, and send some 
of our young brethren, their warriors, to live in it, and we ex- 
pect our Brothers of Pennsylvania will build another house 
somewhere on y e river, where he shall think proper, where what- 
ever assistance he will think proper to send us may be kept safe 
for us, as our enemies are just at hand and we don't know what 
day they may come upon us. We now acquaint our Brethren 
that we have our hatchet in our hands to stick y e enemy as soon 
as our Brethren comes to our assistance. 

Gave a belt and eight strings of Wampum. 

Tonelagnesona, Half King, 

Shingas, Skasuntia, 

Delaware George, Coswentaunea. 

Newcommer, 

After y e Chiefs had signed y e last speech the Half King re- 
peated over y e French Council which was as follows : 

Children, I am come here to tell you that your Father is com- 
ing to visit you and to take you under his care, and I desire you 
may not listen to any ill news you hear, for I assure you, he will 
not hurt you. 'Tis true he has something to say to y r Brethren 
y e English, but do you sit still and don't mind what y e Father 
does to y e Brothers, for he will not suffer y e English to live or 
trade on this river Ohio, on which he made them a present of 
goods. 

Feby. ist. By a cousin of Mr. Montour's that came to Logs- 
town in company with a Frenchman from Venango by land, we 
hear that y e French expect four hundred men every day to y e 
Fort above Venango and as soon as they come they are to come 
down the river to Logstown to take possession from the English 
till y e rest of y e Army comes in the Spring. The Frenchman 
who came here in company with Mr. Montour's cousin is Keep- 
er of y e King's Stores and I believe y e Chief of his business is 
to take a view of y* country and to see what number of English 
there are here and to find out how y e Indians are affected to y e 
French. 



JOURNAL OF GEORGE CROGHAN 683 

Feby. 2d. Just as we were leaving Logstown y e Indiaus made 
the following speech: 

Brethren, y e Governor of Pennsylvania and Virginia : We 
have opened our hearts to you and let you know our minds. We 
now by these two strings of Black Wampum desire you may 
directly send to our assistance, that you and us may secure 
y* Lands of Ohio, for there is nobody but you, our Brethren, and 
ourselves have any right to y e land, but if you don't send imme- 
diately we shall surely be cut off by our enemy y e French. 

Gave two strings Black Wampum. 

Fehy. 2d. A speech made to us by Shingas, King of the Dela- 
wares. 

Brother Onas, I am glad to hear all our people here are of 
one mind. 'Tis true I live here on y e river side which is y e 
French road, and I assure you by these three strings of AYam- 
pum, that I will neither go down nor up, but will move nearer 
to my brethren y e English where I can keep our women and chil- 
dren safe from y e enemy. 

Gave three strings of Wampum. 



The Rouse Family 



UDGED by the fundamental test of perpetuation in an un- 
broken lineage from a historical period anterior to the ex- 
istence of precise records, the family of Rouse (le Roux, 
Rufus, Rous, Rowse, etc.) is one of the most ancient in 
Europe. "It reaches back," says a writer on the origin of sur- 
names, "to the Norman invasion of England, back to the Norse 
invasion of Normandy, and still farther back to the old Danish 
and Norse histories." All the principal authorities on the an- 
cestry of the gentle families of England are agreed respecting 
the Norman derivation of the Rouses, the transplantation of the 
family to Britain in 1066 by a noble knight in the army of Wil- 
liam the Conqueror, and its uninterrupted repute and promi- 
nence from that remote period. 

Says the author of "The Norman People," quoted by the 
duchess of Cleveland in "The Battle Abbey Roll": "The Eng- 
lish line descends from Turchil Rufus or le Rous, who came to 
England in 1066 and held lands in Norfolk from Alan Fitz-Flaad, 
ancestor of the Fitz-Alans. Alexander Rous appears in the Lib- 
er Niger; also Richard Rous, who held from de Albini in the 
eastern counties. Hugo Rufus was viscount of Norfolk in 1225. 
Richard le Rous of Norfolk died 1277, and had Alan, who in 1366 
was lord of Durham and East Lexham, Norfolk, and had Peter 
le Rous of Dennington, ancestor of the Rouses of that place, 
from whence descend the Rouses of Henham, earls of Strad- 
broke." 

The same author, referring to aspects of the Rouse family his- 
tory subsequently to the conquest, remarks: "This family is 
Norman, and in 1165 held lands near Rouen from the county of 
Breteuil. Ralph le Roux was sent in 1119 by Henry I. to the 
aid of Ralph de Guader, and in 1120 was one of the nobles who 
perished with Prince Henry in the 'Blanche Nef\" 

(684) 



THE ROUSE FAMILY 685 

Among other citations made by the duchess of Cleveland, 
which bear upon the early history of the Rouses, are the fol- 
lowing: . 

"In Gloucestershire the manor of Dunstbourne-Rous, soon af- 
ter the conquest, belonged to John le Rous, and continued long 
in the family. Roger le Rous held there in the twenty-second 
year of Edward I., and John le Rous temp. Edward II. He was 
in rebellion against that king, and was attainted and his lands 
forfeited, but restored in the first year of Edward III."— Atkyns. 

" In Wiltshire Richard Ruffus or le Rous had a grant of Im- 
ber from Henry II. for his services as chamberlain. Sir Roger 
and Sir John attended Edward I. in his wars. After the time of 
Henry VI. I can find no descendants of le Rous of Imber."— 
Hoare. 

" Little Mitton in Blackburnshire was granted by Robert de 
Lacy, third of Henry I., to Ralph le Roux, whose posterity were 
named for that place."— Whit-taker's Whalley. 

Thomas le Rous was high sheriff of Leicestershire in the four- 
teenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth years of Edward II. John Ru- 
fus in time of Henry II. was seated at Ragley in Warwickshire 
and Lench-Randolph in Worcestershire; his last heir male, Sir 
Thomas, died in 1721. Another John Rouse, who died in 1491 
and lies buried in the nave of Warwick Church, was, says Le- 
land, 'of the Howse of Ragley by Alcester. He beareth three 
Crounes in his Armes.' The Augustinian priory of Woodbridge 
sn SuiTolk was founded by Hugh le Rous, but at what date is un- 
certain. The prior and convent were bound to pray and say 
mass for the souls of Sir Hugh, the founder, and six other 
knights of the same surname, registered on a table in this mon- 
astery »~Z)a vis's Suffolk Collections. 

From those invaluable genealogical records, the Heralds' 
*** imitations," by which, in early times, the arms and pedigrees 
°f English families were officially authenticated and registered, 
several of the principal branches of Rouse descent may readily 
be traced by any one who will take the trouble to refer to the 
published works. 



686 THE ROUSE FAMILY 

Rous of Dennington and Hexham Hall 

Foremost of these lines, on account of its subsequent distinc- 
tion, is that of Eons of Dennington and later of Henham Hall, 
in the county of Suffolk. From it is descended, in the direct 
or eldest line of succession to estates, title, and arms, the most 
distinguished English family of the name at the present day, 
represented by George Edward John Mowbray Rous, whose ti- 
tles in the peerage are earl of Stratbroke, Viscount Dunwich, 
and Baron Rous of Dennington. 1 

Through a younger branch of the same original stock comes 
the American family of Rouse to which this memoir is devoted 
—established in Massachusetts toward the middle of the eigh- 
teenth century by I. Benjamin Roiise, from Essex, England, and 
since represented, successively, in a continuous made descent, 



I. As the representative English branch of the family, and for the purpose of 
comparison, we give below the lineage of the earls of Stratbroke, condensed from a 
late edition of Burke's "Peerage": 

Sir Anthony Rouse, knight, of Dennington, purchased Henham Hall, Suffolk, 
from Sir Arthur Hopton, and from him lineally descended (several connecting gen- 
erations being here omitted) : 

Sir John Rous of Henham Hall, M. P., who was created a baronet, May VJ, 
1660, m. (2d) Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Knyvett, Esq., of Ashwell-Thorp, 
County Norfolk, and was succeeded by his only son, 

Sir John Rous, high sheriff of Suffolk in 1661 ; m., 1st, Philippa, daughter of 
Thomas Bedingfeld, Esq. ; 2d, Anne, daughter of Robert Wood, Esq. ; succeeded 
by his eldest son, 

Sir John Rous, M. P., at whose decease, unmarried, the title devolved upon 
his half-brother, 

Sir Robert Rous, who m. Lydia, daughter of John Smith, Esq., of Holton, 
County Suffolk, and was succeeded by his only surviving son. 

Sir John Rous, member of parliament for County Suffolk in 1768; m., in 1749, 
Judith, daughter and heiress of John Bedingfeld, Esq., of Beeston, County Nor- 
folk; d. October 31, 1771. and was succeeded by his only son, 

Sir John Rous, b. May 30, 1750; member of parliament for County Suffolk from 
1789 to 1796; elevated to the peerage, May 28, 1796, as Baron Rous of Denning- 
ton; created, July 18, 1821, Viscount Dunwich and earl of Stradbroke; m„ 1st 
Frances Juliana Waiter, only daughter and heiress of Edward Warter-Wilson, 
Esq., of Bilboa, County Limerick; 2d, Charlotte Maria, daughter of Abraham Whit- 
taker, Esq.; d. August 27, 1827; his second son was the noted Henry John Rous 
(l795"I^77)» admiral of the royal navy, member of parliament, etc.. of whom a 
brief notice will be found in the text. The first earl was succeeded by his eldest 
son, 

John Edward Cornwailis Rous, second earl of Stradbroke, b. February 13, 1794; 
was lord lieutenant and vice-admiral of Suffolk; m. Augusta, widow of Colonel 
Bonham and daughter of Rev. Sir Christopher J. Musgrave, baronet of Edenhall ; 
d. February 27, 1886 ; succeeded by his eldest son, 

George Edward John Mowbray Rous, third earl of Stratbroke, b. November 19, 
1862 ; vice-admiral of Suffolk, lieutenant-colonel of the First Volunteer Brigade, 
East Division royal artillery. Seats : Henham Hall, Wangford, Suffolk, and 33 
Belgrave Square, S. W., London. 



THE ROUSE FAMILY 687 

bv II. Joseph Rouse of Boston, Mass.; III. Benjamin Rouse of 
Cleveland, 0.; IV. Edwin Coolidge Rouse of Cleveland, and V. 
the late Henry Clark Rouse of Cleveland and New York. 

The Rouse pedigree in this American line is as follows : 

Turchil Rufus or le Rous, a knight in the army of William 
the Conqueror, came to England from Normandy in 1066 and 
held lands in Norfolk County from Aian Fitz-Flaad, ancestor of 
the Fitz- Alans. From him was descended. 

Richard le Rous, viscount of Norfolk, died in 1277, and had 1. 
Alan le Rous, who in 1316 was lord of Dunham and East Lex- 
ham, Norfolk, and 2. Peter le Rous of Bennington, ancestor of 
the Rouses of that place, from whom are lineally descended the 
Rouses of the Ajnerican family here considered and also the 
Houses of Dennington and Henham, Suffolk, England, earls of 
St radbroke.— This Peter le Rous of Dennington, county of Suf- 
folk, gentleman (grandson of Peter le Rous of Dennington and 
tfreat-grandson of Richard le Rous of Norfolk), married Maude, 
daughter and heiress of Ralph de Hobart of Dennington, time 
of Edward III. (1327-77). 

[Hobart. — Coat armor (as borne by Hobart-Hanipden, earl 
of Buckinghamshire) : Arms— quarterly, 1st and 4th, argent, a 
*altire gules between four eagles displayed azure, for Hampden; 
2d and 3d, sable, an estoile of eight rays or, between two 
planches ermine, for Hobart. Cr est— 1st, a talbot statant erm- 
ine, collared, ringed, and lined gules, the end of the line tied in 
a knot over the back, for Hampden ; 2d, a bull passant per pale, 
*able and gules bezantee, in the nose a ring or, for Hobart. Sup- 
porters— dexter, a stag; sinister, a talbot; both proper and re- 
garded, each gorged with a radiant collar and lined or. Motto 
— Auctor pretiosa facit.] 

Succeeded by William Rous of Dennington, who by wife Kath- 
arine, daughter of Walter de Watre of Dennington, had 

H illiam Rous of Dennington, who by wife, daughter of John 
Clouting, gentleman, had 

Robert Rous of Dennington; married Margaret, daughter of 
Richard Boys. 

[Roys, Boies, Boyse, Boise.— This family was early settled at 
Bamiow, County Wexford, Ireland. Several of its members rep- 



688 THE ROUSE FAMILY 

resented Bannow in the Irish parliament. A rms— argent, on a 
chief three escallops proper, and two bars gules, below. Crest 
—two snakes intertwined erect.] 

Succeeded by 

Reynold Rous of Dennington, who by wife Joane Denarston of 
Dennington had 

Sir Henry Rous; married Agnes, daughter of Mr. Denton of 
Oxfordshire. 

[Denton.— Arms— quarterly of six: 1. argent, two bars gules, 
in chief three cinquefoils sable, for Denton; 2. argent, a fesse 
dancettee between three billets gules for De la Launde ; 3. or, a 
lion rampant sable; 4. gules, a fesse dancettee between six cross 
crosslets or; 5. ermine, on a fesse (untinctured) three cross 
crosslets or; 6. argent, three goats' heads erased gules pale- 
wise between two pales sable, each charged with three cross 
crosslets of the field. Crest— & lion couchant or.] 

Succeeded by 

Sir William Rous, " Sonne and Heir"; married Alice, daugh- 
ter of Sir John Sulyard of County Suffolk, chief -justice of Eng- 
land. 

[Sulyard.— A rms— azure, a chief merine. Harleian Society 
publications, vol. xiii., p. 494; Metcalf 's " Visitation of Suffolk," 
pp. 69, 168; Berry's "Kent Genealogies," p. 87; Paige's "His- 
tory of Suffolk," p. 556.] 

Succeeded by 

Sir Anthony Rous, who bought Henham Hall in 1545; mar- 
ried Agnes, daughter of Sir Thomas Blennerhassett of Prense 
Hall, County Norfolk, knight. 

[Blennerhassett.— This family originated in England, and eith- 
er received its name from, or conferred it upon Blennerhassett 
in the county of Cumberland, where it appears to have been lo- 
cated for several centuries. The Blennerhassetts settled in Ire- 
land in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and have since maintained 
the highest rank among the gentry of the county of Kerry, where 
the first progenitors, Themar Blennerhassett and his son, Rob- 
ert, obtained a part of the earl of Desmond's large possessions. 
Arms— gules, a chevron ermine between three dolphins embowed 
argent. Crest— a wolf sejant proper. Motto— Fortes fortuna 
juvat. Seat— Ballyseedy, Ireland.] 



THE ROUSE FAMILY 689 

Succeeded by 

John Rous, second son, of Cratfield, County Suffolk, born 
15(30; married Margery, daughter of Thomas Ward. 

[Ward.— The name is variously written Ward, Warde, de 
Warde, and de la Warde, and is of great antiquity in the county 
of Northumberland. As far back as the reign of Edward HE. 
Simon de Warde sat in parliament for that shire, and Richard 
Ward was elected for the borough of Northampton in the ninth 
year of Henry VI. Arms— quarterly, 1st and 4th, azure, a cross 
dory or, in dexter chief a mullet for difference ; 2d and 3d, a fesse 
tx-tween three mullets. Crest— & wolf 's head charged in the neck 
with a mullet for difference.] 

Succeeded by 

Lany Rous of Brieklinsea, County Essex; married Eunice, 
daughter of Robert Wright of Dennington 

[Wright.— Arms— or, on a chevron azure between three grey- 
hounds courant sable, as many trefoils argent. Crest— & stag's 
head erased or, charged with three guttees in cross, gules.] 

Succeeded by 

Benjamin Rous of Clacton Magna in County Essex, gentle- 
man, born 1634 ; married Mary, daughter of Robert Mott of Col- 
chester, County Essex. 

[Mott.— The surname Mott or de la Motte is of French origin. 
De la Motte Fenelon was the great archbishop of Cambria. Orig- 
inally from France, and probably with William the Conqueror, 
the Motts have been prominent for several centuries in Essex, 
England. After a time the French prefix was dropped, although 
the forms De Motte and De la Motte are still retained by some 
branches in America and England. The Motts of Essex owned 
many manors, and the main line can be traced for five hundred 
years. Arms— sable, a crescent argent. Crest— an estoile of 
<^k'ht points argent. Motto— Spectemur agendo. (See the New 
1 ork Genealogical and Biographical Record, vol. xxv.).] 

The preceding had issue: 1. Robert Rous, " Sonne and Heir," 
aged nine years in 1664, and 2. 

Benjamin Rons, born 1670 ; married, November 18, 1705, Cath- 
*r>*n Julyan. 

[Julien, Julian, Julyan.— Arms— azure, a lion rampant ar- 






690 THE ROUSE FAMILY 

gent, wielding a sword of the last. Crest— a bear's paw erased 
holding the hilt of a broken sword proper.] 

Succeeded by 

Benjamin Rous; married, January 17, 1734, at South Church, 
County Essex, Rachel Sully. 

[Sully.— Arms— or, two bends gules; a label azure. Crest 
—a goat passant argent.] 

Succeeded by 

Benjamin Rous or Rouse, born June 25, 1736, in the county 
of Essex, England, who came to Massachusetts and had for his 
second son 

Joseph Rouse, born June 22, 1773; married in Boston, Mass., 
July 29, 1793, Mehitable Corbet, and had 

Benjamin Rouse, born in Boston, March 23, 1795, removed to 
New York and finally to Cleveland, 0., and died July 5, 1871; 
married Rebecca Elliott Cromwell, daughter of John Cromwell 
of Salem, Mass. 

[Cromivell.— The Cromwell Family in America has been rep- 
resented by a number of important branches from an early per- 
iod of the settlement of the country. The New England branch, 
from which the above-named John Cromwell of Salem descend- 
ed, was settled in Massachusetts before the middle of the seven- 
teenth century ; according to Savage there was a Philip Cromwell 
in Salem in 1647, who was b. in England about 1614, and the 
same authority mentions several other Cromwells of the sev- 
enteenth century residing in the colony of Massachusetts. An 
important and interesting family of Cromwells appeared in 
Westchester County, N. Y r ., during the same century, which, ac- 
cording to Bolton in his ' - History of Westchester County, ' ' was 
descended from Colonel John Cromwell, an uncle of the illus- 
trious lord protector, Oliver Cromwell. There was also at an 
early period a Cromwell Family of much consideration in Mary- 
land, which likewise traced its ancestry to the protectorial stock. 

Indeed, it is probable that all the Cromwells of America have 
an origin identical with that of the family from which the great 
Oliver sprang. Especially at the time of the English Restora- 
tion and subsequently, when everything was done by the court 
and its sycophants to cast odium upon the name of Cromwell, 









' 





















THE ROUSE FAMILY 691 

there were frequent emigrations of persons connected with the 
protector's family to Puritan New England. 

The Cromwell line, says a learned writer, dates from Alden 
de Cromwell, who lived in the times of William the Conqueror, 
and his son Hugh de Cromwell, from whom descended ten Ralphs 
de Cromwell in as many successive generations. In the branch 
of the protector the Cromwell name became suspended by the 
marriage of his great-great-grandmother, Katherine Cromwell 
(1494), with Morgan Williams, of Welsh stock. This Katherine 
Cromwell was a sister of the renowned Thomas Cromwell, earl 
of Essex (the Cromwell of Shakespeare's play), who was the 
chief adviser and minister of King Henry VIII. The son and 
heir of Morgan Williams and Katherine Cromwell was Sir Rich- 
ard Williams, who took the name of Sir Richard Cromwell. Sir 
Richard, in a memorable tournament, enjoyed the distinction of 
defeating two of the bravest foreign champions, whereupon the 
delighted king presented him with a ring from his own finger. In 
memory of the event Sir Richard Cromwell and his descendants 
bore ever afterward, as their crest, a lion rampant holding up a 
ring in its right paw. (See "The House of Cromwell, by James 
Waylen, Sometime Secretary to Thomas Carlye." London, 
1897). Arms — a lion rampant argent. Crest— a demi-lion ram- 
pant argent, in his dexter gamb a gem ring or. Motto— Pax 
quaeritur billo.] 

Benjamin and Rebecca Elliott (Cromwell) Rouse had 

Edwin Coolidge Rouse, born in New York City, August 12, 
1S27, died in Cleveland, 0., February 1, 1877; married Mary 
Miller, daughter of Joseph K. Miller, and had 

Henry Clark Rouse, bora in Cleveland, 0., March 15, 1853; 
residence in New York City, Cleveland, 0., and "The Ram- 
parts," Cape Ann, Mass. 

It will be seen that, dating from William Rouse of Denning- 
ton, who married Katherine de Watre, eighteen generations are 
comprehended in this pedigree. 

Arms— sable, a fesse dancettee or, between three crescents ar- 
gent. 

Crest — a pyramid of bay leaves in the form of a cone vert. 
Supporters— dexter, a lion argent, maned and tufted or; sin- 



692 THE ROUSE FAMILY 

ister, a sea-horse argent, mailed and finned or, the tail round an 
anchor azure; each supporter gorged with a wreath of bay vert. 

Motto— Jevive en espoir. 

Dennington and Henham Hall, both in the county of Suffolk, 
are the two ancestral seats identified with the history of the 
Rouses of this line. 

Dennington was brought into the family in the time of Edward 
III. by the marriage of Peter le Rous with a Hobart heiress, and 
the estates were subsequently increased by alliances with the 
De Watre and other families. Long before the acquisition of 
Henham Hall, the Rouses of Dennington were among the princi- 
pal gentry of Suffolk. "Al the Rousis that be in Southfolk," 
quaintly writes Leland, "cum, as I can learne, out of the House 
of Rouse of Dinnington. Diverse of the Rouses of this Eldest 
House ly in Dinnington Paroche Chiorche buried under flat 
stones." 

Henham Hall, a property which to-day, after nearly four cen- 
turies, is still the seat of the eldest branch of the Rouse Family 
in England, was anciently the residence of the De la Poles. 
It was built by Edward De la Pole, duke, marquis, and earl of 
Suffolk, who was beheaded in 1513. Later it was the home of 
Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk, upon whose decease it was 
granted by Henry VIII. to Sir Arthur Hopton, knight. From 
him it was purchased in 1545 by Sir Anthony Rous, who enjoyed 
the dignity of comptroller of Calais, and under whom the im- 
portance of the family seems to have been greatly increased. ' l It 
was," says Suckling in his work on the county of Suffolk, "a 
very fine house, but was burnt down in 1773 through the care- 
lessness of a drunken butler, who, while robbing the cellar during 
his master's absence in Italy, set fire to the sawdust in one of 
the wine-bins." Near the site of the original mansion another 
hall was built, which, with modern improvements, is the present 
residence of the earl of Stradbroke. 

The Rouses of Henham Hall, unlike those of Halton in Corn- 
wall (from which branch came the celebrated Francis Rous the 
Speaker) were staunch partisans of the king in the Civil AVar. 
The head of the house in those distressing times, Sir John Rouse, 



THE ROUSE FAMILY 693 

was, says Suckling, so eminent for his loyalty that Charles II. 
wrote him a letter of thanks with his own hand. " There is 
[was] a venerable oak beneath the windows of the Hall which, 
according to tradition, saved his [Sir John's] life when a party 
of rebels arrived at Henham with a warrant for his arrest. It 
was even then hollow, and having been nsed as a summer house 
was fitted with a door so curiously contrived that no one sus- 
pected the cavity thus concealed. Into this hiding-place his wife 
conveyed him, and night after night stole out to bring him food, 
eluding the strict watch kept over her by the Roundheads. ' ' 

Rous of Rous-Lench 

While the line of Dennington and Henham is one of immedi- 
ate interest in connection with the present memoir, other 
branches of the Rouse or Rous Family in England, descending 
from the same original ancestors, are of much genealogical and 
historical importance. 

Distinguished among these is the family of Rous of Rous- 
Lench, Worcestershire, referred to as the "clarissimae de Rous" 
(illustrious family of Rous), w r hose heads were from a very 
early period lords of Rous-Lench parish. Their pedigree, taken 
by Clarenceaux about the year 1562, derives them from Sir 
Baldwin Rous, knight, of the early fourteenth century, time of 
Edward II. Previously to their appearance in Worcestershire 
they were seated at Ragley in Warwickshire, as appears by ser- 
eral inquisitions, thirty-seventh year of Edward III. (1364). 
They had half of the manor of Alecester, with lands in Kingsley, 
Aversley, etc. John Rous of *Ragiey possessed lands at Ambres- 
tey in the forty-third of Edward III. (1370). It was his son John 
who acquired the manor of Rous-Lench in Worcestershire, which 
he transmitted to his son Henricus or Henry at his death in the 
twentieth of Richard II. (1397). 

Rous-Lench Manor continued in the possession of the family 
for nearly five hundred years, or from 1397 until 1876, when it 
passed to the Chafy Family, the Rev. W. H. K. Chafy becoming 
ice thirtieth rector of the parish in 1881. The affix "Lench" 
means ridge, afterward being adopted as the name of a family. 



694 THE ROUSE FAMILY 

Many monuments of the Rouses are to be seen in the parish 
church. One of the conspicuous characters of this branch was 
Sir Thomas Rous, who lived in Shakespeare's time. 4 'Yew Ave- 
nue/ ' planted in 1480, still survives as a memorial of the early 
Rouses. The history of Rous-Lench is an exceptional instance 
in the record of a family— a single manorial residence being re- 
tained and occupied for five centuries, throughout all the vicissi- 
tudes of domestic and national life. The arms of the Rouses of 
Rous-Lench are Sable, two bars engrailed argent. Their pedi- 
gree, dating from the period of Henry III. to the end of the eigh- 
teenth century, is as follows : 

John Rous, temp. Henry III., had 

Thomas le Rous, fifteenth Edward II. (1322), who had 

Sir Baldwin Rous of Ragley (Warwickshire), who had 

John Rous of Ragley, married Christian, thirty-seventh Ed- 
ward III. (1364), and had 

Henry Rous of Ragley and of Rous-Lench, married Maud or 
Margaret, daughter of John Throckmorton, and had 

Thomas Rous, married Anne, daughter of Sir John Cheney, 
and had 

William Rous of Rous-Lench, married Anne, daughter of Sir 
Humphrey Stafford, and had 

John Rous of E>/erston, County Northampton, married Eliza- 
beth Vavasor, and had 

John Rous of Rous-Lench, married Anne, daughter of Sir Ed- 
ward Montague, chief -justice, and had 

Edward Rous of Rous-Lench, married Mary, daughter of Mr. 
Haselrigg of Noseley, County Leicester, died 1611, and had 

Sir John Rous, knight, married Esther, daughter of Sir Thom- 
as Temple of Warwickshire, died 1645, and had 

Sir Thomas Rous baronet, married (1st) Jane, daughter of 
John Ferrers, Esq., of Tamworth Castle, died May 27, 1676, 
and had 

Sir Edward Rous, baronet, died November 5, 1677 ; married, 
1st, Elizabeth, daughter of John Lisle of Moxhull ; 2d, Frances, 
daughter of David Murray. Issue: L Elizabeth Rous, died 
1729. 2. Sir Francis Rous, baronet, married Frances, daugh- 
ter of Thomas Archer of Umberslade, and died 1687. 3. 



THE ROUSE FAMILY 695 

Sir Thomas Rous, died 1721, aged fifty-seven; married Anne, 
and by her had two sons who died in infancy. He left his estate 
to Thomas Philips, who took the name of Rous and died 1786 
without issue, transmitting the Rous estate to Charles Bough- 
ton, who in his turn assumed the Rous name. 

Of this branch of the family, while still having its principal 
?eat at Ragley in Warwickshire, was the renowned John Rous 
the antiquarian, born in Warwickshire in 1411, son of Geoffrey 
Rous, who was a descendant of the Rowses or Rouses of Brinke- 
Jow in that county. He was educated at Oxford, and about 1445 
was appointed a priest or chaplain of the chantry or chapel at 
liuy's Cliff (formerly called GibclifT), near Warwick, which was 
built by Richard Beauchampt, earl of Warwick, in 1423. Here 
be resided until his death, engaged in profound and exhaustive 
scholastic labors. 

One of his most important compilations was a record of the 
^arls of Warwick, his patron's ancestors, written in English and 
Latin versions on rolls of parchment, both elaborately illus- 
trated with portraits and heraldic devices, not only of the heads 
«>f the house of Warwick, but of many British kings anterior to 
Henry VII. Another book, in continuation of the same sub- 
ject, was a Life of Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick (now 
preserved in the Cotton MSS.), which was adorned with fifty- 
three drawings representing the earl's adventures, and other il- 
lustrations. 

His most ambitious general historical work was " Historia Re- 
gum Angliae," written at the solicitation of his college friend 
•John Seymour, who, being in charge of the erection of St. 
tieorge's Chapel, Windsor, was anxious to be informed about 
the exploits of kings and princes, to guide him in his selections 
01 subjects for statues to fill the niches in that sanctuary. 

Other writings from Rous's pen which have been preserved, 
»r which, though not now extant, are ascribed to him by indubit- 
able authority, were: " De Episcopis Wigorniae" ; accounts of 
Ik* antiquities of the town of Warwick and of Guy's Cliff; a 
refutation of a false history of the University of Cambridge; 
an unfinished treatise on the English universities ; a chronicle 
entitled "Vevoriciim," and a tract on giants. 



696 THE ROUSE FAMILY 

He died January 24, 1491, and was buried in St. Mary's 
Church, Warwick, to which he left his library and other literary 
effects. 

Rous of Edmerston, Halton, and Courtyrala 

Collaterally related to the two branches already considered 
was that of the family of Francis Rous the Speaker (1579-1659), 
which bore coat armor described as follows : Arms — or, an eagle 
displayed azure, pruning its wings, with feet and bill gules. 
Crest— a, dove argent. Motto— Vescitur Christo. This is the 
line known as Rous of Courtyrala (formerly of Halton), within 
recent times represented by George Grey Rous, Esq., of Courty- 
rala , County Glamorgan (born 1818). (See Burke's "History of 
the Landed Gentry 7 ' and "Dictionary of the Landed Gentry. ,, ) 
Omitting nine antecedent generations (given by Burke), the 
pedigree starts from 

Sir Robert le Rous, knight banneret, who distinguished him- 
self under Edward the Black Prince in the wars with France 
and Spain, was governor of Cherbourg in the reign of Richard 
II., and was succeeded by his son, 

William le Rous, married Alice, daughter and heiress of 
Thomas Edmerston of Edmerston, and had 

William le Rous, who inherited his mother's lands of Edmer- 
ston, married Margaret, daughter of William Lower of the 
county of Cornwall, and had 

John Rous, married Isabel, daughter of Henry Drewe of Mod- 
bury, and had 

William Rous of Edmerston, married Sibyll, daughter of Wil- 
liam Fowell of Fowelscombe, Devon, and had 

Roger Rous of Edmerston, married Juliana, daughter of Wil- 
liam Hill of Penquite and Fleet in Cornwall, and eventually co- 
heiress of her brother, John Hill, and had 1. Richard Rous, his 
successor. 2. John Rous, who inherited from his mother Hal- 
ton and other lands in Cornwall, but dying without issue be- 
queathed those estates to his nephew, Sir Anthony Rous of Ed- 
merston. 

Richard Rous of Edmerston, elder son of the preceding, mar- 



THE ROUSE FAMILY 697 

lied Eleanor, daughter of Sir Richard Mervyn of Fonthill, 
Wilts, one of the judges of the common pleas, and had 

Sir Anthony Rous, who succeeded to the original estates in 
Devonshire, as well as Cornwall and other landed possessions ; 
was twice sheriff of Cornwall, and "a man of great parts and 
virtues"; married, 1st, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas South- 
eote and co-heiress of her mother (who was Grace, daughter of 
John Barnhouse and great-granddaughter of Edward Barn- 
house of Kingston in the parish of Staverton) ; 2d, Philippa, 
daughter of Humphrey Coles, Esq. ; 3d, Susan, daughter of Sir 
Lewis Pollard. His fourth son (by his first wife) was Francis 
the Speaker. Sir Anthony died in 1622, and was succeeded by 
kis grandson, 

William Rous, Esq., of Halton, member of parliament for 
Truro, who married Mary, eldest daughter of Richard, Lord 
Eobartes of Truro. From them the elder branches of this fam- 
ily have descended to the present time. 

Francis Rous, fourth son of Sir Anthony Rous (above), 
was born at Dittisham in Devonshire in 1579, was matriculated 
lit Broadgate's Hall, afterward Pembroke College, Oxford, in 
1593, and was graduated as bachelor of arts in 1597. Whilst 
fct Oxford he contributed a prefatory sonnet to a eulogistic 
work on Sir Francis Drake, and wrote an ambitious poetical 
composition, "Thule, or Vertue's Historie," an imitation of 
Spenser in two books (orginally published in 1596 and recently 
reprinted in the publications of the Spenser Society). 

He entered the Middle Temple in 1601, but, abandoning his 
$>uqx>se of engaging in the legal profession, retired to Land- 
rake in Cornwall, and for many years was occupied with theo- 
logical studies and writings, publishing a number of works, 
which gave him the reputation of a sound Puritan controversi- 
es t 

In 1625 he became a member of parliament for Truro, and in 
1 628-9 sat for Tregony. He distinguished himself in the latter 
£*>dy by the violence of his attacks on Arminianism and pop- 
ery. From 1640 until a short time before his death he was con- 
tinuously in public life, figuring as one of the most important 



698 THE ROUSE FAMILY 

men in the various parliaments of that memorable era. He was 
speaker of the Little or Barebones parliament from July 5 to 
December 12, 1653, was subsequently sworn of the protector 's 
council of state, and was one of the committee appointed (April 
9, 1656) to discuss the question of the kingship with Crom- 
well, by whom he was created lord of parliament in December. 
1657. He died at Acton in January, 1659, and on the 24th of 
that month was buried with great state in Eton College Chapel. 
Portraits of him are preserved in that institution and in Pem- 
broke College, Oxford. By his will he founded three scholar- 
ships in Pembroke College. 

Francis Eous was one the most voluminous writers of his 
times, his works being almost exclusively devoted to subjects 
of religious and political disputation. The following is a par- 
tial list: 

"Meditations of Instruction, of Exhortation, of Eeprofe: in- 
deavouring the Edification and Reparation of the House of 
God." "The Arte of Happinesse, consisting of three Parts, 
whereof the first searcheth out the Happinesse of Man, the sec- 
ond particularly discovers and approves it, the third sheweth 
the Meanes to attayne and increase it." "Diseases of the Time 
attended by their Remedies." "Oyl of Scorpions." "Testis 
Veritatis," a reply to Richard Montagu's " Appello Ceasarum." 
"The Only Remedy that can Cure a People when all Other Rem- 
edies Faile." "The Mystical Marriage, or Experimental Dis- 
courses of the Heavenly Marriage between a Soule and her 
Saviour." "Catholicke Charity: complaining and maintaining 
that Rome is uncharitable to sundry eminent Parts of the Cath- 
olicke Church." "The Psalms of David in English Meeter" 
(a version approved by the Westminster Assembly and author- 
ized by the committee of estates in Scotland, where it still retains 
its popularity) . ' ' The Balme of Love to heal Divisions. " " The 
Lawfulness of obeying the Present Goverment." "The Bounds 
and Bonds of Publick Obedience." "Mella Patrum," a compil- 
ation from the fathers. 

By his wife Philippa (born 1575, died 1657), Rouse had a son 
Francis who was born at Saltash in 1615, educated at Eton and 



THE ROUSE FAMILY 699 

Oxford, and became a medical practitioner in London. He was 
the author of learned works, dying about 1643. 

We append brief notices of other celebrated characters of the 
name Rous or Rouse, without especial reference to their ances- 
tral connections. 

John Rouse or Russe, one of the noted librarians of the Bod- 
leian Library, was born in the county of Northampton, Eng- 
land, in 1574. He was matriculated at Oxford in 1591, gradu- 
ated as bachelor of arts from Baliol College on the 31st of Janu- 
ary, 1599, elected fellow of Oriel College in 1600, and became 
master of arts March 27, 1604. 

On the 9th of May, 1620, he was chosen librarian of the Bod- 
leian Library, and in that capacity he continued until his death, 
April 3, 1652, making a record for great faithfulness and effi- 
ciency. 

The name of John Rouse the librarian is associated in an 
agreeable way with that of John Milton. Rouse and Milton were 
warm friends, and the former, having a profound appreciation 
of the poet's genius, applied to him on several occasions for 
complete copies of his works for the library. Milton, finally ac- 
ceding to these solicitations, sent him, in 1647, two volumes, one 
comprising his prose pamphlets, carefully inscribed in his own 
hand "to the most excellent judge of books,' ' and the other be- 
ing a collection of poems. The volume of poems was, however, 
lost or stolen on the way, and "to this circumstance we owe Mil- 
ton's mock-heroic lines to Rouse (dated January 23, 1646-7) in- 
serted in a second copy still preserved at the Bodleian." 

Rouse's life was devoted exclusively to his books, and his 
name is one of the best remembered of those of the scholarly men 
identified with the Bodleian Library. 

John Rous, known as "the diarist," younger son of Anthony 
Rous, rector of Hessett, Suffolk, by his first wife Margery (who 
died 1588), was baptized at Hessett on the 20th of April, 1584. 
He was admitted a pensioner of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 
m 1598, and graduated as master of arts in 1607. For many 
years he was associated with his father, who was a rector of the 
Established Church, also having pastoral charge of the small 
living of Stanton-Downham, Suffolk. 



Too THE ROUSE FAMILY 

Throughout his life he kept a complete diary, replete with 
1 * news," both foreign and domestic, and interspersed with com- 
ments on the weather, the crops, and the affairs of the petty ses- 
sions, where he sat as a magistrate. He copied into it numerous 
popular skits and satirical verses of the times, many of which 
have survived only through him. A minute record of ordinary 
happenings and conditions for the period in which he lived, 
Rous's Diary is one of the highly esteemed historical authori- 
ties of its class. 

He died at Downham, April 4, 1644, leaving daughters. 

Coming down to recent times, the most conspicuous member 
of the Rouse Family in England was Admiral Henry John 
Rouse, a younger son of the first earl of Stradbroke, by his sec- 
ond wife, Catharine Maria, daughter and heiress of Abraham 
Whittaker, Esq. He was born January 23, 1795, and was edu- 
cated at Westminster School, but discontinued his studies when 
thirteen years old to enter the royal navy. During the Napo- 
leonic wars his name was associated with several gallant ex- 
ploits, and he enjoyed rapid promotion. He continued in the 
navy until October, 1835, when he retired. Subsequently he was 
successively promoted to rear-admiral and full admiral. He 
represented Westminster in parliament. For the last thirty 
years of his life he was enthusiastically devoted to racing sports, 
being "universally regarded as the dictator of the English turf." 

Admiral Rouse died January 19, 1877. Though married, he 
left no issue. 

The Rouse Family of the United States comprises a number of 
lines from early colonial ancestors, which, considered separately 
have no very close relation one to the other, but which neverthe- 
less all spring from the immemorial British stock. 

Savage, in his "Genealogical Dictionary of the Early Settlers 
of New England, " mentions a number of persons of the name of 
Rous, Rouse, or Rowse who were resident during the seven- 
teenth century in various localities of Massachusetts, including 
Cambridge, Groton, Gloucester, Marshfield, Little Compton, and 
Boston. One of the most prominent of these was Captain Wil- 
liam Rouse of Boston, a mariner. Probably belonging to the 
same family was the celebrated Captain, afterward Commodore, 



THE ROUSE FAMILY 701 

John Rous. Born in or near Boston in the early part of the 
fifteenth century, he became noted as an intrepid commander 
of vessels, and attracted the attention of the colonial authorities 
as one peculiarly fitted for the naval service in the wars with the 
French. In 1745 he was appointed second in command of the 
naval force in the expedition against Louisburg. In this enter- 
prise he highly distinguished himself, capturing, with a twenty- 
pun vessel, a French frigate of sixty guns— one of the most bril- 
liant feats in the history of the colonial wars. Continuing in 
the same career he entered the British navy, in which he at- 
tained the rank of commodore. He died at Portsmouth, Eng- 
land, April 3, 1758. 

Another Rouse who acquired prominence in colonial times was 
John Rouse "the Quaker," son and heir of Lieutenant-Colonel 
Thomas Rous, a wealthy West Indian planter of the parish of 
St. Philip, Barbadoes, and one of the principal landholders of 
that island. Father and son became converts to the doctrines of 
George Fox, and the son, as early as 1656, published a "Warn- 
ing to the Inhabitants of Barbadoes/' In the following year, 
notwithstanding the cruel laws then prevalent in New England 
against all professing his religious creed, he came to Rhode Isl- 
and, and began to preach and proselytize. Later he went to Bos- 
ton, where he was arrested, publicly whipped, and by sentence of 
the court had his right ear cut off. After his recovery he went 
to England, and, by developing his large wealth to the promo- 
tion of the cause of the Friends in America and elsewhere, was 
instrumental in procuring toleration for them. 

He was extensively engaged in mercantile pursuits in Lon- 
don. In March, 1661, he married Margaret, eldest daughter of 
Margaret Fell, one of the prominent promoters of the interests 
of the Friends. In 1695, returning to England from a visit to 
Barbadoes, the vessel which bore him was lost and all on board 
perished. He left an only son, Nathaniel (1671-1717), who mar- 
ried Hannah, daughter of Caleb Woody of Guildford, England. 



7 02 THE ROUSE FAMILY 

American Descent of Henry Clark Rouse 



The American progenitor of the Rouse Family in the line 
treated in this memoir was 

BENJAMIN ROUSE, known as "the elder/ ' son of Benja- 
min and Rachel (Sully) Rouse. He was born in the county of 
Essex. England, June 25, 1736, removing to Massachusetts. 

n 

JOSEPH ROUSE, second son of the preceding, was born 
June 22, 1773. He was married in Boston, July 29, 1793, by Rev. 
Samuel West, to Mehitable Corbet. 

Ill 

BENJAMIN ROUSE, son of the preceding, was born in Bos- 
ton on the 23d of March, 1795. Deprived of both his parents at 
the age of six, he was for some time cared for by an aunt, and 
later found a home with his maternal grandmother. ' ' While his 
early opportunities for acquiring an education were limited, he 
nevertheless, owing to his possession of great natural ability, 
gained an extensive knowledge of subjects of general interest.' ' 
Throughout his life he was noted as a man of wide information 
and sound accomplishments. 

When only seventeen years old he entered the military ser- 
vice of the United States as a volunteer in the War of 1812. At 
the close of that struggle he became associated with Peter Os- 
good of Boston as a building contractor, and in this department 
of enterprise he was subsequently (1821 to 1830) engaged with 
substantial success in New York City. Five years previously to 
his removal to New York he was married to Miss Rebecca Elliott 
Cromwell of Salem, Mass. This proved to be a union of truest 
mutual sympathy, devotion, and helpfulness, each sharing at all 
times, and earnestly cooperating, in the interests, plans, and co- 
ble and beneficent works of the other. 



THE ROUSE FAMILY 703 

In his enterprises in New York City Mr. Rouse, as a man of 
niarked capacity for business affairs, soon established himself 
on a prosperous footing. But from an early period of his career 
his aims in life had been by no means confined to the mere ac- 
cumulation of wealth, and, imbued with a deep religious and 
philanthropic spirit, he sought to make his life conform to the 
purposes of usefulness to his fellow-men which he had at heart. 
Becoming much interested in the cause of Sunday-School and 
similar reformatory and educational work among certain neg- 
lected classes in the metropolis, he applied himself so actively to 
labors in this connection that he was urged by the American 
Sunday-School Union to accept a special commission in its be- 
half to a new field in the west. He was appointed agent of this 
union in the Western Reserve of Ohio, and, accepting the offer, 
removed with his family to Cleveland (at that time a commun- 
ity of only a thousand souls), where he arrived on the 17th of 
October, 1830. Here he resided for the remainder of his life, 
occupying a position of prominence, influence, and widely-recog- 
nized usefulness as a citizen. Upon the site of the modest dwel- 
ling where he established his home upon first coming to Cleve- 
land, he erected, in 1852, the Rouse Block, which today is a sub- 
stantial reminder of the early development of the city. 

Conscientiously devoting himself from the day of his arrival 
in Cleveland to the interests of the mission with which he was 
charged, Mr. Rouse's efforts were rewarded with abundant suc- 
cess. "He opened a Sunday-School book depository, and for 
many years travelled through northern Ohio, holding religious 
meetings and accomplishing a vast amount of good. From the 
fir<t he threw his whole soul into the work he had come to do, 
and his devoted labors resulted in the organization of a Tract 
Society, the Seamen's Friends' Society, and over two hundred 
Sunday-Schools. He was also one of the constitutent members 
of the First Baptist Church, organized in the city of Cleveland 
*» the year 1833, and for forty years thereafter was one of the 
nsost zealous workers in that church, in which during all that 
Period he was deacon. His religious faith and the force of his 
*«i power were remarkable for their strength and firmness. He 
never shirked any task that devolved upon him, and never lost 



7<H THE ROUSE FAMILY 

courage. He was a man of sterling qualities, strong against 
temptation, and zealous in whatsoever lie engaged in. . . . 
While very practical, he was full of sympathy, generosity, and 
enthusiasm. He was quick to act and certain in his course, and 
had the power of infusing zeal in others, his greatest joy being 
in doing good to his fellow man." 

He died at his residence in Cleveland, July 5, 1871. 

Rebecca Elliott Cromwell, the beloved and noble wife of 
Benjamin Eouse (to whom he was married in Boston on the 
12th of August, 1819), was the daughter of John Cromwell of 
Salem, Mass., where she was born October 30, 1799. The fol- 
lowing highly appreciative biographical notice of Mrs. Rebecca 
Elliott (Cromwell) Rouse is from a work published several 
years after her death. 1 

"Her childhood was spent in affluence, and to a liberal educa- 
tion were added the refining influences of extensive foreign trav- 
el. .. . Always of a benevolent and deeply Christian char- 
acter, it was a pleasure and a privilege to Mrs. Rouse to devote 
herself to missionary labors in a field where the work was urgent 
and the laborers few. Upon coming to Cleveland her first work 
was to make a personal visitation into every house in the village, 
and her success was such that a church was soon organized, she 
and her husband being of the original seventeen members of the 
first Baptist society. With anxious solicitude she watched the 
growth of the infant society, and it was her great joy to see it 
develop and become strong. 

"In the wider realm of philanthropy her influence as a leading 
spirit was everywhere felt. She was the organizer and presi- 
dent of the Martha Washington Society of 1842, one of the earli- 
est of Cleveland's benevolent associations, out of which grew 
the Protestant Orphan Asylum, of which she was the managing 
director for years. She was also a leading spirit in many other 
benevolent organizations of Cleveland during her active life, 
giving freely of her time, talents, and means towards the fur- 
therance of all works of a philanthropic character. 

"During the great Rebellion she was indeed a ministering an- 
gel. For five years she labored incessantly, earnestly, and zeal- 



I. "Illustrated American Biography," by the Lewis Publishing Company. 



THE ROUSE FAMILY 705 

ously, and was instrumental in collecting and distributing mil- 
lions of dollars , worth of supplies for the gallant sick and 
wounded lying in the military hospitals. Five days after Presi- 
dent Lincoln's call to arms (April 15, 1S61), the Soldiers' Aid 
Society of Cleveland was organized— the first society of women 
that met and organized for the noble work of bearing a nation's 
love to a nation's army. Mrs. Rouse was the president of this 
society, and as such became widely known and much beloved. 
The enterprise achieved a national reputation, and it is but due 
to Mrs. Kouse to say that its success was largely owing to her 
wise administration of its affairs. In connection with this relief 
movement she made a number of highly effective and patriotic 
addresses, which aroused the sympathies of the women of north- 
ern Ohio, and revived the fires of patriotism in the bosoms of 
those who heard her. Upon several occasions she went to the 
front on business pertaining to the supplies sent, and visited the 
soldiers in the hospitals. At one time, when more buildings and 
supplies were needed to shelter and relieve the troops passing 
through Cleveland, so heavy had been the tax upon the resources 
of the citizens that some of the business men said that the money 
could not be raised. Her quiet and characteristic reply was, * It 
must be raised,' and it was raised. She possessed in a very large 
measure that genius of common sense, that breadth and boldness 
of conception and wonderful executive ability, which met and 
mastered difficulties as they arose, and which were adequate to 
each emergency. In honor of her great work in behalf of the 
soldiers, and in grateful memory of her name, a bronze figure of 
Mrs. Rouse was placed upon the south side of the magnificent 
soldiers ' monument in Cleveland, and upon an entablature with- 
in her name is inscribed. . . . 

"Mrs. Rouse was eminently a religious woman, governing her- 
**'Sf by religious principles in the discipline of her family, over 
^hom she exercised a winning and persuasive influence. Her 
-uth, which had ever adorned her life and character, which 
made her actions open, honorable, and useful, shed a halo of 
mora] beauty and glory around her declining years. Serenely 
cheerful, still young in her affections and sympathies and de- 
voutly submissive, she presented a most attractive picture of 



706 THE ROUSE FAMILY 

loving and venerable old age. She survived her husband six- 
teen years, and died December 23, 1887, at the age of eighty- 
eight." 

IV 

EDWIN COOLIDGE ROUSE, second son of Benjamin and 
and Rebecca Elliott (Cromwell) Rouse, was born in New York 
City, August 12, 1S27. The removal of his parents to Cleveland 
occurred when he was only three years old, and in that city he 
was reared, educated, and always resided. In early life he was 
a member of the wholesale drygoods house of Clark, Morgan and 
Company, subsequently becoming the head of the firm of Rouse, 
Post, and Company. The latter partnership was dissolved in 
1856, and during the remainder of his business career Mr. 
Rouse devoted his attention almost exclusively to fire insurance, 
ranking as one of the foremost men of the United States identi- 
fied with that important interest. He was one of the organizers 
of the Sun Fire Insurance Company (1865), serving at first as 
its secretary and treasurer, and afterward (from 1875 until his 
death) as its president. He was for several years manager of 
the Ohio business of the Continental Fire Insurance Company of 
New York; was for five years president of the Cleveland Board 
of Underwriters, and was a member, and one of the executive 
committee, of the National Board of Fire Underwriters from 
the time of its organization until his death. He was also the 
first president of the American District Telegraph Company. 

For several months during the Civil "War he was in active ser- 
vice as capitan of Company F., One Hundred and Fiftieth 
Volunteer Infantry, commanding Fort Totten, one of the defen- 
ses of Washington. 

He died at his residence in Cleveland, February 1, 1877, in 
the fiftieth year of his age. 

Mr. Rouse married, at Cleveland, August 12, 1850, Miss Mary 
Miller, daughter of Joseph K. and Margaret (Spangler) Miller. 

[Joseph K. Miller, son of William and Hannah Miller, was de- 
cended from a Maryland family, having been b. in that state on 
the 17th of January, 1802. In his childhood he was brought by 
his parents to Ohio. He d. at the age of thirty-six. M., Febru- 



THE ROUSE FAMILY 707 

ary U, 1826, Margaret Spangler (b. June 18, 1809, d. September 
'26 1S91), who was the daughter of Michael and Elizabeth 
Spangler of Canton, Ohio. Mrs. Miller has been described as 
"a woman of many noble qualities of mind and heart, her life 
being replete with acts of benevolence and charity."] 

Mrs. Mary (Miller) Rouse was born May 25, 1832, and died 
January 13, 1884. Uniting mental and artistic accomplishments 
with an earnest religious nature and great amiability of dis- 
position, her life was one of refined and useful influence. With 
her husband, who was highly endowed with musical gifts, she 
was a member of the First Baptist Church of Cleveland, and 
for twenty-nine years both husband and wife gave their gratuit- 
ous sendees to the conduct of the choir of that church. 



HENRY CLARK ROUSE, only son of Edwin Coolidge and 
Mary (Miller) Rouse, was born in Cleveland, 0., March 15, 1853. 
He received an academic education, supplemented by instruction 
under private tutors, and also enjoyed the advantage of exten- 
sive travel abroad before engaging in the active affairs of life. 
At the age of twenty-one he entered the office of his father, 
where he received a thorough business training, so that, upon the 
latter's death, when only twenty-three years old, he assumed the 
conduct of his father's large interests, being the youngest man 
in the country occupying so responsible a position in insurance 
management He continued for a period of five years to devote 
himself to the insurance business, but at the end of that time, 
becoming interested in other pursuits, abandoned underwriting 
and began the career of organization and administration in 
iho corporate and financial world in which he was afterward 
*o strikingly successful. 

He was the first man in Cleveland to conceive the idea of 
Greeting large apartment houses adapted to the needs of the bet- 
ter classes, and as managing director of the Lincoln Apartment 
House Company (1882) carried the plans thus originated to 
■necessful execution. In the following year he became identi- 
Bed with the brass manufacturing industry as president of 
ilie Harden Company a corporation operating extensive brass 



708 THE ROUSE FAMILY 

works in Massachusetts and in Ohio; later he was made presi- 
dent of the United Brass Company of New York (then the lead- 
ing concern in that industry), and also held official positions 
in the Britton Iron and Steel Company, the Lorain Manufactur- 
ing Company, and other industrial corporations. 

This period of Mr. Rouse's business career was brought to an 
end by his entering the broader field of railway management; 
and during his last fifteen years his energies were entirely 
directed to the administration of railway properties. " Previ- 
ously to engaging in this work," says a biographical writer, 
"he had devoted considerable attention to the study of rail- 
road interests, in pursuit of which he travelled extensively over 
a greater portion of the continent, visiting every state and ter- 
ritory in this country and all the provinces included within 
the British possessions in America. The fund of general infor- 
mation thus obtained pertaining to the vast material resources 
of the country and their relation to trade centers and the aven- 
ues of commerce, admirably adapted him for entering upon the 
broad field of practical railroad administration." 

In 1885 he became interested in the Chicago, Wisconsin, and 
Minnesota Railroad, ultimately the extension of the Wisconsin 
Central system from Milwaukee to Chicago, and soon after 
became identified with the development of the extensive railway 
terminals in Chicago, now known as the Chicago Terminal 
Transfer Railroad. In 1891, upon the reorganization of the Mis- 
souri, Kansas, and Texas Railway Company (which four years 
previously had defaulted the interest on its bonds, and in conse- 
quence had passed into the hands of receivers), he was offered 
the position of chairman of the board of directors of that com- 
pany, and, accepting this responsible trust, the entire property 
was turned over to him by the receivers on the 1st of July of the 
same year. Later, he was also elected president of the company, 
being then but thirty-eight years of age, the youngest railroad 
president of that day in the United States. He was afterward 
annually re-elected, his entire administration having been char- 
acterized by the most brilliant abilities, resulting not only in the 
thorough rehabilitation of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas prop- 
erty, but also in developing sixteen hundred miles of dismem- 



THE ROUSE FAMILY 709 

bered railway, earning barely nine millions a year, into a system 
of over three thousand miles, which now earns more than twenty 
millions per annum and affords the best service of any road in 
the territory that it traverses. In addition to his connection with 
tliLs great corporation, he served, from August, 1893, to Febru- 
ary, 1896, by appointment of the United States court as receiver 
of the Northern Pacific Kailway Company. In the latter year he 
aNo took a prominent part in the successful reorganization of 
the Louisville, New Albany, and Chicago Railway. Later he 
wa> made a member of the reorganization committee of the Tex- 
a* Southern Railway. Indeed, Mr. Rouse's activities in connec- 
tion with the vital interests of American railways, in addition to 
the particular position which principally engaged his attention, 
were most varied. Besides being president and chairman of the 
board of directors of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas, and re- 
reiver of a great transcontinental line, he served as president of 
the following railway companies: The Northern Pacific and 
Manitoba Railway Company; Winnipeg Transfer Railway Com- 
|»any, Limited; Cceur d'Alene Railway and Navigation Com- 
pany; Helena and Jefferson County Railroad Company; Fargo 
and Southwestern Railroad Company; Southeastern Dakota 
liailroad Company; Northern Pacific and Cascade Railroad 
Company; Central Washington Railroad Company; Washing- 
ton Short Line Railroad Company ; Rocky Ford and Cooke City 
Itailway Company; Sanborn, Cooperstown, and Turtle Moun- 
tain Railway Company; Tacoma, Orting, and Southeastern 
Railroad Company, and Boonville Railroad Bridge Company. 
He was also a member of the directorates of some twenty-nine 
oilier railroads, as well as a director in various mining, indus- 
trial and financial corporations. 

Mr. Rouse was a charter member and for several years an offi- 
^*r of the First Cleveland Troop of Horse, organized in 1878. 
Accomplished as a horseman, he spent several summers (1878- 
*~) campaigning for recreation with the regular government 
troops on the Indian frontiers in the Rockies, resulting in a wide 
acquaintance in military circles. 

Besides visiting every portion of the United States and Cana- 
*K he travelled most extensively abroad. In 1886 lie spent the 



710 THE ROUSE FAMILY 

winter in Mexico; that of 1890 was passed in Cuba; in 1897 he 
went to the Mediterranean and visited Egypt, and in 1899 he 
made a tour of the West Indies, including Martinique and Trin- 
idad. In 1902 he accompanied General Miles, commander-in- 
chief of the United States army, to the Philippine Islands, ex- 
tending the trip to Japan and China and thus enjoying excep- 
tional opportunities for seeing America's insular possessions 
and the Pacific littoral. "While in Pekin he had the honor of an 
audience with the emperor and dowager empress of China. He 
returned home by way of the Trans-Siberian Eailway in the 
midwinter of 1903, having travelled thirty thousand miies in a 
journey occupying one hundred and thirty-six days outside the 
United States. He spent the winter of 1905 in India, experienc- 
ing special facilities for travel through the courtesy of the rail- 
way officials of that country, where the ; 'dead past of the wes- 
tern world is still a living reality." Continuing east, he stayed 
a fortnight in Ceylon, and, passing through the Straits of Ma- 
lacca, the return voyage presented renewed opportunities for 
visiting points of interest in China and Japan, when completing 
his second trip around the world at a time when universal inter- 
est centered on the struggle for supremacy in the Pacific. He 
also made several European tours, beginning as a student in 
1872. It may be observed that few men, even of the largest af- 
fairs, acquired so extensive an acquaintanceship with persons of 
note, both at home and abroad, as that enjoyed by Mr. Kouse. 

In 1896 Mr. Bouse improved part of his property in Cleveland 
inherited from his mother, by erecting a handsome new fire- 
proof building, which he named the "Century," in honor of 
Cleveland's centennial year, on the site of the Miller block built 
by his maternal grandfather forty years earlier. The following 
year he located the "Y Banch" in Estes Park, Col., embracing 
a thousand acres of meadow and stream under the shadow of 
Long's Peak, a delightful resort at a high altitude, where moun- 
tain trout and game abound. In 1898 he purchased a tract of 
land at the termination of the Eastern Point of Cape Ann, Mass., 
near Gloucester Harbor and not far from Salem, the historic 
home of the Cromwell Family, from which he was descended 
through his paternal grandmother. This estate of one hundred 



THE ROUSE FAMILY 711 

acres, with a handsome residence built by Mr. Rouse upon the 
site of an old fortification occupied by a garrison in 1812 and 
again in 1863, is known as "The Ramparts"— one of the most 
interesting seaside properties in the country, and here he spent 
the summer months, with friends to whom he took pleasure in 
extending a liberal hospitality. 

Mr. Rouse was an enthusiastic and accomplished yachtsman, 
ranking among the best-known men of the country in this gentle- 
manly sport. He owned, successively, ten yachts, all character- 
ized by important special features or qualities: — the "Mystic" 
(1875), a thirty-five foot centre-board sloop; the * ' Naiad " (1881), 
a twenty- four centre-board sloop; the "Iseult" (1885), a thirty- 
foot centre-board sloop; the "Ola" (1891), a twenty-two foot 
cabin cat; the "Iroquois" (1894), an eighty foot schooner; the 
"Olita" (1895), a half-rater; the "Shark" (1897), a one-rater; 
the "Mistral" (1898), a twenty-one foot knockabout; the "Ed- 
jako" (1899) a twenty-five foot knockabout, and "Olita 2d" 
(1903), a half -rater. Several of his boats, constructed after his 
own ideas and under his personal supervision, were built spec- 
ially for racing qualities, and won many prizes. The "Iro- 
quois," a hundred ton schooner, he acquired for her excellence 
as a cruiser, and during the seven years that Mr. Rouse owned 
this vessel he sailed her an aggregate distance far exceeding the 
circumference of the globe. He became a member of the Sea- 
wanhaka-Corinthian Yacht Club in 1886, was elected its commo- 
dore in 1895, and continued to hold this office till 1900. He was 
also a member of the New York Yacht Club and the Eastern 
Yacht Club. His boat-house, with its adjunct of yacht float and 
other waterside facilities, was made, by the courtesy of the com- 
modore, the designated "Eastern Station" of the Seawanhaka 
Yacht Club. 

Mr. Rouse's club memberships, in addition to those already 
mentioned, comprehended the Metropolitan, Racquet and Ten- 
nis, Arts, Midday, and Riding clubs, and the Down Town Asso- 
ciation of New York ; the Union, Roadside, and Tavern clubs of 
Cleveland, and the Essex County and Myopia Hunt clubs of 
Massachusetts. He was a member of the Geographical Society 
and a companion of the Order of the Loyal Legion. 



7 i2 THE ROUSE FAMILY 

The record of the Rouse Family, as traced from remote times 
in England, is noteworthy for those solid and substantial traits 
equally of character and ability, which afford the most reliable 
basis and the chief sustaining power for a reputable lineage. 
This record presents few "sensational" aspects, but is distin- 
guished, with remarkable uniformity, by the vital and enduring 
qualities of an inherent strength, vigor, cultivation, and capac- 
ity. In the American line the characteristics of the English an- 
cestry are well preserved in each succeeding generation. Prom- 
inent in New England in the early period of its American resi- 
dence, the family, with the larger development of our country, 
has followed the lines of that national progress, and has been 
conspicuously associated with the growth of the west and the 
inception, organization, and administration of interests of com- 
prehensive importance ; while in the persons of its representative 
members it has been noted for civic usefulness and devotion to 
the best interests of society. 



Historic Views and Reviews 

The Following Paper was Read by Hon. John S. Applegate, 
President of the Monmouth Historical Association at a 
Joint Meeting of That Association and the Navesink 
Lebrary Association Held June 24, 1915, in Library Hall, 
Navesink, New Jersey. 

The Monmouth County Historical Association and the Nave- 
sink Library Association meet in this hall today as affiliated cor- 
porations, i hope they may always maintain the present friend- 
ly relation. Our aims are not so widely different that we can- 
not do it. The quest of the Navesink Association is literary at- 
tainment; that of the Monmouth County Historical Association 
is historical acquisition. We travel different roads but lead to 
the same goal, which is culture. Thus do these two corporations 
become co-workers for the benefit of the community at large, 
and I take pleasure in extending mutual congratulations to both. 

T am glad to know that the inhabitants of this portion of the 
Highlands are partial to Navesink. I am glad to know that the 
nomenclature of the lands and rivers and bays along the sea- 
coast has become settled and adjusted. In the beginning of Eu- 
ropean settlements in Shrewsbury and Middletown Townships 
there arose a diversity of geographical names occasioned by the 
failure of European settlers to write or pronounce Indian names 
as the Indians pronounced them. Thus it is we find in Colonial 
writings of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a superflu- 
ity of such names, as for instance the following : Naversink, Nar- 
rumsing, Newasunk, Newasing, Naverumsunk, Navesink. It 
took one hundred years to clarify this nomenclature so that of 
the above names only Navesink now remains. 

As to the Navesink Highlands the world recognizes them to- 
day as an uncommon spot on the earth's surface. From their 

(7i3) 



7 i4 HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 

summits we look down upon beautiful rivers and bays. We see 
to north Sandy Hook, Staten Island, LoBg Island, Manhattan, 
and many other beautiful objects in nature; to the east we con- 
front the "deep and dark blue ocean;" to the south a chain of 
Municipal Boroughs that stretch from Raritan Bay to Manas- 
quan River. 

The Navesink Highlands were unknown to history until 1609, 
three hundred and six years ago. It was then, the distinguished 
navigator, Henry Hudson, entered Sandy Hook Bay in his lit- 
tle vessel "The Half Moon" and cast anchor. The Captain 
and his crew went ashore and made the acquaintance of the In- 
dians who were of the Lenni Lenape tribe, which once inhabited 
a large portion of our United States. Capt. Hudson and his 
crew explored the hills and valleys of the Highlands and were 
the first white men to plant foot on the soil of New Jersey. In 
1663, which was fifty- four years after Hudson's visit to the 
Navesinks, the first permanent settlement began, when twenty 
Englishmen hailed from Gravesend, Long Island, crossed the 
bay in a sloop and landed on the shore of the Navesink River. 
They hunted up Indian Sachems and made bargains with them 
to purchase their lands, for which later on they received a valu- 
able consideration and delivered deeds, with their names and 
mark attached. They conveyed a large portion of the counties 
of Monmouth and Ocean. A few months afterward came Gov- 
ernor Richard Nicoll from England. He was an agent of the 
Duke of York, who was the brother of King Charles II. Gover- 
nor Nicoll brought with him a patent called the NicoH's Patent, 
covering a tract of land including New Jersey and part of Con- 
necticut and the State of New York. He made a deed covering 
that portion of the lands of Monmouth and Ocean counties which 
they had purchased of the Indians. That deed is now known as 
the Monmouth Patent and the grantees were the Monmouth 
Patentees. Among them were John Bowne, sometimes called a 
"Nation Builder," being the leader of the Monmouth Paten- 
tees ; Richard Gibbons, called Sergeant Gibbons ; James Grover, 
the first land surveyor of Monmouth County; Richard Stout* 
who is acknowledged to be one of the very first settlers of Mid- 



HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 715 

dletown, in Monmouth County; and eight other men of promi- 
nence in that day and generation. 

These were great historical events happening on the shores 
of the Highlands of Navesink. Another event occurred on these 
shores of great importance. That was the wreck of a vessel 
compelled to land at Sandy Hook. Among the passengers 
was one Penelope Van Princes and her husband, who was an in- 
valid and unable to complete the journey. They were left alone 
on the shore. In a short time they were discovered by Indians 
who slew the husband and wounded the wife, leaving both for 
dead. She survived and hid herself in a hollow log. A few days 
afterward she was discovered by some friendly Indians who 
bore her to their abode. She was nursed and provided for un- 
til she finally recovered. A long time afterward the white set- 
tlers on the Island, having heard of a white woman in the cus- 
tody of the Indians at the Navesinks, communicated with the 
Navesink Indians and obtained their consent to take her away 
to Gravesend, Long Island. That place then became her abode 
for a time and her name frequently appears in the Gravesend 
records. Later on she married Richard Stout, one of the above 
named patentees. They then moved to Middletown where they 
spent the remainder of their lives, leaving a large family of chil- 
dren at their death. 

In this general resume of early important events connected 
with the Navesink Highlands, the murder of that sterling pa- 
triot and brave soldier, Captain Joshua Huddy, should be 
specially noted. He was hung during the Revolutionary War on 
the shore of the Highlands by a party of Loyalists and Tories 
for no other cause than his ardent attachment to the cause of 
American liberty. 

Many skirmishes and battles occurred in the Navesinks dur- 
ing the period of the Revolution; one was the Battle of Nave- 
sink, fought over a considerable area of the Navesink High- 
lands, possibly right here where this hamlet is located. The bat- 
tle was between the New Jersey Militia and the Loyalists. There 
vere as many as 80 men killed and wounded. An account of this 
battle was written up several years ago by our compatriot, Mrs. 



716 HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 

M. C. Murray Hyde, and published in the New York Times, 
which was very interesting. Very little mention of the battle 
has been made in history, but the records on file in the Mon- 
mouth Court House and contemporary newspapers give an ac- 
count of it. / 

A week seldom passed in the Highlands during the Revolution 
without a marauding party being sent out at night or day by 
the authorities commanding headquarters at Sandy Hook Bay 
and the Highlands. Their business was to plunder, capture and 
destroy the homes and property of the American patriots. Fre- 
quently the marauders were attacked by American militia and 
sometimes the marauders attacked the militia, with varying suc- 
cesses and defeats. Several skirmishes occurred at Black Point, 
just across the Navesink River, where the Shrewsbury and 
Navesink Rivers come together. At that point a brave New 
Jersey commander, Col. Nathaniel Scudder, was killed in the 
skirmish. At Jumping Point, opposite what is now Sea Bright, a 
marauding party consisting of British Refugees, Tories, com- 
mon thieves and pine robbers, and murderers of the worst type 
to the number of seventy men, were intercepted after they had 
succeeded in capturing Captain Joshua Huddy at Colt's Neck, 
by surrounding his house and setting fire to it in the night, at a 
time when he and his daughter were its only occupants. Alarms 
were quickly given by Americans who kindled fires on the hill- 
tops, which brought out the militia reserves to the number of 
nine, who followed the mob all the way back to Jumping Point. 
At that place about daybreak, as the mob was crossing the river 
in boats, driving before them herds of cattle, sheep and swine 
which they had stolen, the nine militiamen, coming up with their 
guns, opened fire upon the robbers. The result was a panic and 
several of the boats capsized; on one of these Captain Huddy 
was a prisoner. He had been shot in the thigh by a bullet fired 
by an American. As he swam to the shore he called to the Amer- 
icans, shouting, u Iam Huddy, I am Huddy!" One John Eld- 
ridge, a militiaman only twenty-one years of age, recognizing 
Huddy 's voice, ran down into the water and grasping his arm 
helped him ashore where he joined his friends. He lived two 
years after that event serving his country, when he was captured 



HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 717 

again, in the Tory attack on the Blockhouse at Toms River by 
overpowering numbers. 

There are many other tragic events that occurred during the 
Eevolutionary War in the Highlands of Navesink and the im- 
mediate vicinity. You will find them described in New Jersey 
histories. 

A beautiful and popular story entitled "The Water Witch/ ' 
is founded and laid in the Navesink Highlands by the famous 
novelist, James Fennimore Cooper. 

There is a vast amount of legendary lore connected with the 
Navesinks. Perhaps more in past generations than in the pres- 
ent. A large part of it has been relegated to oblivion. There 
is a place in these Highlands known as "Witch Hollow," and 
there lived in the vicinity one Samuel Bowne, who bore a nick- 
name which was "Sam, the Witch." He was born and died in 
Middletown township. My father, who was born in 1789 and 
died in 1881, has told me that when a boy he lived at Apple- 
gate's Landing, not very far from Atlantic Highlands— perhaps 
a half mile west of the steamboat dock. My father's father kept 
a general store there. At night neighbors gathered in the store 
and told stories. Many of them have come down to me as told 
by my father. Witch Hollow was said to have acquired its name 
from Samuel Bowne, who told many adventures he had in Witch 
Hollow. He was troubled very much by witches. One time he 
said they rode him to "Capertoon" and carried a bushel of 
clams on his back, and when they got there they tied him to a 
hickory tree while they had a dance. Whether Sam helped to 
eat the clams or not has not been told, so far as I have heard 
the story, but certain it is that ' ' Sam, the Witch, ' ' was entitled 
to some sort of refreshments after bearing so heavy a burden. 
A record of the above story will be found in Dr. John E. Still- 
well's "Historical Miscellany," volume HI, page 64, recently 
published. 



7 i8 HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 

The Following Sketch of How the State of New Jersey and 
Residents of Toms RrvER Honored the Memory of Capt. 
Joshua Huddy and his Fight With the British in March, 
1782, is .Given Here as it Helps to Explain the Reference 
to This Famous Jersey Patriot in the Above Paper by 
John S. Applegate. 

On the Water Witch Monument is a tablet inscribed as fol- 
lows: 

"Huddy, with his company of twenty-five artillerymen, was 
detailed to occupy a blockhouse at Toms River, N. J. The post 
was one of some importance, and the people of Monmouth by 
special petition had requested the Legislature to give Huddy its 
charge. Not only did it protect valuable salt works established 
in that vicinity by the Council of Safety at the outbreak of the 
war, but it also furnished a necessary base to the privateers en- 
gaged in intercepting* traffic between the loyalist Jerseymen and 
the British army in New York. 

"At that time a deep inlet opened to the sea opposite the 
mouth of Toms River. The sand bar fronting the shore now 
covers the spot, and as the harbor thus made had but one equal 
along the coast it was imperative that it should be held for the 
coast service and for the safe-keeping of such prizes as the pri- 
vateersmen brought in from time to time. 

"Huddy, with his little force, had been so established in the 
blockhouse nearly three months, when, about March 20, 1732, 
news reached him of a formidable attack designed by the enemy. 
He immediately made all possible preparations for resistance, 
and four days later the blow fell. 

"The British account of the affair as printed in Riverton's 
paper, 'The Royal Gazette,' ran as follows: 

" 'On Wednesday, the 20th inst., Lieut. Blanchard of the 
armed Whale Boats and about 80 men belonging to them, with 
Capt. Thomas and Lieut. Roberts, both of the late Bucks County 
Volunteers, and between thirty and forty of the other refugee 
Loyalists, and the whole under the command of Lieut. Blanch- 
ard, proceeded to Toms River from Sandy Hook, under the con- 



HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 719 

voy of Capt. Stewart Ross, in the Armed Brig Arrogant, where 
they were detained by unfavorable winds until the 23rd inst. 

" 'At about 12 o'clock on that night the party landed near the 
mouth of Toms River and, reinforced by the River Robber Dav- 
enport and his men, marched to the Block House opposite Toms 
River village and reached it at daylight. On the way they were 
challenged and fired upon, and when they came to the works 
they found the rebels consisted of 25 three-months men and the 
militia, apprised of their coming and prepared for a defence. 
The Post onto which they had thrown themselves was six or sev- 
en feet high and made of large logs with loop holes between them 
and a number of brass swivels on top, which was entirely open, 
nor was there any way of climbing over this. They had, besides 
the swivels, some muskets with bayonets and long pikes for their 
defence. Lieut. Blanchard summoned them to surrender and 
they not only refused but bid the party defiance, on which he 
immediately ordered the place to be stormed, which was done, 
and, though defending with obstinacy, was soon carried. 

" 'The rebels had nine men carried in the assault and twelve 
under prisoners, two of whom were wounded. The rest made 
their escape in the confusion. Huddy surrendered because his 
ammunition gave out. Five of the men carried were wounded 
after laying down their arms.' " 

4, 4, 4, 4. 4. 

An Appreciation 

My attention has been recently directed to ' ' Americana ' ' an 
American Magazine, published monthly by the National Amer- 
icana Society of Neiv York, and, deeply interested in its varied 
manifold excellencies, I venture to express my estimate of its 
attractive and unique character as a circulatory medium among 
persons whose tastes demand unequivocal superiority, and who 
appreciate the higher forms of literary expression. 

First, as to the formatio of the Magazine; it is convenient in 
size and shape, light and easily handled, while the neutral color 
of its cover is pleasing and the cover design simple but elegant ; 
*fl paper, margin and type it is all that could be desired. 



?2b HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 

A special feature of this Magazine is the vividity of its por- 
traiture which is indeed of striking excellence in every detail of 
tone and finish, while as artist-proofs, copies can be supplied by 
the publishers either for framing or for use in extra illustra- 
tion. 

The field chosen for its activities is a large one and of surpass- 
ing interest, inasmuch as it represents History, Biography, Gen- 
eral Literature and Genealogy, four attractive departments of 
intellectual literary endeavor and daily becoming more and more 
engrossing with the progressive evolution of education. 

If American history does not extend backward coevally with 
that of European countries, it is equally interesting, and has 
contributed its full quota to the records of human effort,— the 
progress of civilization. Much of it remains unrecorded, not 
only with regard to our early settlers, but, from that time on- 
wards, students are throwing light upon its forgotten pages 
£very day, searching records in every direction as to the growth 
of politics and government, naval and military history, the de- 
velopment of law and order, traditions, folk-lore, everything in 
fact of historic interest, thus showing how American character 
and American ideals have been evolved, and how her national 
greatness has been achieved and established. 

History may be roughly defined as a systematic written chron- 
icle concerning the development of a nation or a community, 
combined with a record of events associated with human ex- 
perience; what an ample field is thus afforded, and how appro- 
priately this attractive magazine provides for every fresh dis- 
covery, and the registration of every forgotten fact! 

How interesting is thus dealing with the life histories of men 
in their differentiated individuality,— their physical and psychi- 
cal peculiarities, inherited and acquired, analytical and synthet- 
ical, in all that concerns their temperaments, dispositions and 
habits, and the reactions between their relative environments 
and their personalities ! 

The writers of biography are artists in words instead of col- 
ors, and in the production of word-pictures the subjects should 
manifest every element of a man 's individuality from his cradle 
to his grave: of course biography is more complete when illus- 



HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 721 

trated by artistic portraiture as is evidenced between the pages 
of " Americana.' ' Those devoted to Genealogy should be per- 
haps, as interesting as popular, and as eagerly sought as any 
of the other departments which come within the magazine's 
scope and influence. It is a comparatively new study in Amer- 
ica, but an earnest desire for its cultivation is being generally 
expressed. There are many evidences of its spreading in many 
directions. A short time ago the writer was told bv one of the 
heads of a department in the Boston Public Library that he was 
kept busy answering inquiries as to heraldic information, and 
that such demands were steadily increasing. Within a recent 
period the writer was also told that a strong effort was being 
made to have a Heraldic College founded in Boston! 

The articles I have read in " Americana } 9 are well-written, 
very interesting and appropriate, and ably edited, while the mag- 
azine is excellent in every particular, and should be successful 
if merit has any claims to success. 

R. A. DOUGLAS-LITHGOW, M. D., LL.D. 
6 Brimmer Street, Boston, Mass. 



















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REV. ANDREW M. SHERMAN. 




Morristown, N. J. 






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AMERICANA 

August 1915 
Recollections of a Half Centnry and More 

By Andrew M. Sherman, Morristown, N. J. 

Author of Life of Captain Jeremiah 'Brien, Machias, Me. ; 
Phil Carver : A Romance of the War of 1812 ; Historic Mor- 
ristown, New Jersey: The Story of its First Century 
The O'Briens of Machias, Me. ; Memorials of the 
Hon. Joshua S. Salmon; Historic New Eng- 
land Towns Revisited, Or Back on my Na- 
tive Heath, etc. 



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My Paternal Ancestry 

Y paternal ancestors have been traced by genealo- 
gists to Germany, from whence they emigrated to 
England. Not all the Shermans, however, left Ger- 
many, for as late as the nineteenth century the name 
was to be found along the river Rhine and it is probable the 
name is still to be found in the same region of the fatherland. 
The names Shuman, Schuman, Schurman and Schureman now 
somewhat common in Germany and in this country seem to be 
different forms merely of the name Sherman. 

It seems to have been sometime during the ninth century that 
the Shermans found their way to England ; and from the famous 
Domesday Book, or Doomsday Book, "the name of one of the 
oldest and most valuable records of England, containing the re- 
sults of a statistical survey of that country made by William the 
Conqueror, and completed in the year 1086," it is gleaned that 

(723) 



724 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND .MORE 

as early, at least, as the eleventh century there was a section of 
England known as i l Shermanbury* ' ' 

If the readers of Americana were as deeply interested in the 
history of the family of which I am a representative as the au- 
thor of these articles I would give a verbatim transcript of a will 
executed by one of my old country ancestors in the fifteenth 
century, but as this deep interest is scarcely to be expected in 
the direction suggested I will simply say that the transcript of 
such a will, duly attested, is in our possession, thanks to the en- 
deavors of an older brother, George W., of Lynbrook, N. Y., who 
has expended no small amount of money in gathering from reli- 
able sources in this and in the old country data concerning our 
German and English forbears. 

As near as can at present be ascertained it was about the year 
1630 that our first paternal American ancestor, William Sher- 
man, emigrated from England to these wild western shores ^ 
and there is some satisfactory evidence that he came from the 
old country across the sea with his "kine" in the same vessel 
with the Rev. Francis Higginson, the original American ances- 
tor of the late Colonel Thomas W. Higginson, noted author as 
well as capable soldier, of Boston. 

Several plots of land were duly granted to my ancestor by 
the colonial authorities in what was then Duxburrow township. 
It must have been about the year 1631 that the first of these 
X>lots of land was granted to "the emigrant" William Sherman, 
for in the earliest records of the Plymouth Colony he is men- 
tioned as having paid taxes in 1632. i l He was granted, ' ' I now 
quote from the Plymouth County records, "a Garden place on 
the Duxburrow side; five acres of land at Powder Point and a 
meadstead about Stony Brooke, in Duxburrow, and land towards 
Green Harbor in 1640." In 1641 he was chosen Surveyor of 
Highways of Duxburrow township. 

In 1642 Marshfield (spelled, also, Marehfeeld and Marshfeeld) 
was incorporated, and the land owned by William Sherman was 
included in the territory composing the newly incorporated 
township set off from Duxburrow; and thereafter my ancestor 
was a resident of Marshfield. On the 13th of November, 1644, 
he was admitted an "Inhabitant of Marshfield." And it is a 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 725 

fact of 110 small interest to lovers of our national history that 
from, but exclusive of William Sherman, all my paternal ances- 
tors have been born in this old New England town; and, with the 
exception of one of the six generations of those ancestors, there 
they married, there they lived and died and were interred, and 
the locations of their graves are with but two exceptions cer- 
tainly known to the present generation. Only my immediate 
family ties deter me from arranging for my own interment in 
this old New England town in which I began my terrestrial ex- 
istence. 

According to the Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Vital Rec- 
ords, from which I quote, "William Sherman and Prudence 
Hill marryed the XXIIIth January, 1638. " 

Prudence Hill, the bride of William Sherman, as seems prac- 
tically certain, was the daughter of the Rev. William Hill, rec- 
tor of an Episcopal Church in Mell, Somerset County, England. 

Sarah Hill and Hester Hill, sisters of Prudence Hill, the wife 
of William Sherman, Sr., married, in old England, John Wash- 
er and Robert Marks, respectively; and that these marriages 
were worthy of the brides will appear from the following ex- 
tracts from "Weaver's Somerset Inductions, " an English au- 
thority : 

"John Washer and Robert Marks, both designated 'Mr.' ex- 
cept in one instance, when Marks was styled 'Doctor,' were par- 
sons, and parsons moreover of parishes not very far removed 
from Mells." 

"Merriot-1626, Oct. 12, Robert Marks, A. M., inducted Vi- 
car of South Petherton, 21 May, 1671. S. T. P. and Preben- 
dary of Bristol Cathedral, went from South Petherton to Mer- 
riot, 1626, where he was incumbent until about 1660." 

From the above quotations it seems that both of Prudence 
HilPs sisters married clergymen of the Established Church, of 
England. 

Certain old English records which have been consulted seem 
to say that the Rev. Philip Bisse, D. D., of Magdalen College, 
Oxford, was the maternal grandfather of Prudence Hill, the 
bride of William Sherman, Sr. 

It is probable that in Old England William Sherman and 



726 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AXD MORE 

Prudence Hill were lovers ; and, on her arrival in Plymouth 
Colony sometime between 1G30 and 1638, the ;i twain were made 
one," as is learned from the colonial records at Plymouth, 
Massachusetts. 

L'pon the plots of land which had been assigned at different 
times to William Sherman in what is now Marskfield he and 
his young bride established their home ; and there several chil- 
dren were born to them, among the number being William Sher- 
man, Jr., my second paternal American ancestor. 

A part of the land assigned to my first paternal American an- 
cestor was near that of Peregrine White, with whom he was 
more or less associated ; and it is a great pleasure to the de- 
scendants of William Sherman to be able to locate, approxi- 
mately, at least, the land once owned and tilled by this " emi- 
grant " from across the sea before the beginning of the eigh- 
teenth century. 

Among the special pleasures of my life is that of having per- 
sonally examined the pages of the Plymouth Colony records. 
That things valuable, interesting and even curious are to be 
found in the well-worn pages of these ancient records is to be 
presumed by those, even, who have never looked upon them. 
As illustrations, merely, of the truly rare character of these 
records I will say that while scanning their pages I came across 
several entries of great personal interest to me. For example, 
I learned that in the early part of the seventeenth century there 
arose a disagreement between my paternal ancestor, William 
Sherman, and the owner of an adjacent farm in Marshfield, over 
boundary lines ; and in consequence, the two near neighbors 
were for some time at loggerheads with each other. It seem- 
ing to be impossible for the two neighbors to settle the difficulty 
between themselves, the court at Plymouth at length authorized 
Captain Miles Standish to go to Marshfield and arbitrate be- 
tween the two hard-headed farmers; and, proceeding to the 
scene of the disagreement, about eight miles from Plymouth, 
the doughty captain soon adjusted the long standing difficulty 
to the mutual satisfaction of all parties concerned. 

The following occurrence recorded in the Plymouth court 
proceedings, and which I came across during my researches of 












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RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 727 

the records, may well, I think, be classed among the curious 
things of those early days: The use of tobacco was forbidden 
in the P-lyniouth Colony, and the penalty for the violation of 
the enactment was the imposition of a fine. My ancestor, Wil- 
Jiam. Sherman, St., chewed tobacco; and he was, therefore, cited 
into court to answer the charge of having violated the enact- 
ment against its use. To this citation he promptly responded. 
He admitted using the "vile weed;" paid the fine imposed; re- 
turned to his home at Marshfield; continued the use of tobacco, 
and there is neither record nor tradition of his ever again be- 
ing molested for his indulgence. From this and other incidents 
in his career one would naturally infer that the Marshfield farm- 
er was well endowed with independence of character ; and I can- 
not deny that some of his descendants of the present generation 
have irherited the same trait of character. 

^i> one of the glass show cases arranged about the rooms in 
"Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, Massachusetts, may be seen numerous 
articles of great interest. I was somewhat startled while examin- 
ing the contents of one of these eases to see the original deed of 
a piece of land given by William Sherman, Sr., to his son Samuel, 
dated June 6, 1673. Of this deed I have a copy, furnished by 
the officials of the Pilgrim Society, of Plymouth, Massachusetts. 
This deed was "Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of 
Peregrine THrite (who, it will be remembered, was the first child 
born to the Pilgrims after their arrival in Plymouth, in the win- 
ter of 1620) and Francis Crocker," and was acknowledged be- 
fore Governor Josiah AYinslow. The phraseology of the deed is 
decidedly quaint and interesting. 

I beg to assure the readers of these articles that it is not 
"pride of ancestry" that moves me to mention what is to follow, 
but rather the thought that its mention may be a matter of inter- 
est, and perhaps, of pleasure, to them ; and with these words of 
introduction I proceed to say, that I have the duly attested cre- 
dentials to show that through my paternal grandmother, a na- 
tive and lifelong resident of Marshfield, whose maiden name 
was Mitchell, I am descended from Edward Doty, John Alden 
and Priscilla Mullen; and through my great grandfather, Eben- 
ezer Sherman, who married a Simmons, I am also descended 



728 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

from Captain Miles Standish. Doty, Alden, Mullins and Stand- 
ish were among the ''emigrants" from Old England in the 
year 1620. 

For reasons which I will not now mention I have never, how- 
ever, joined any of the societies, such as the Mayflower Descend- 
ants. I cannot and will not deny that the thought of having the 
ancestry above mentioned is a pleasing one; but I am "fully 
persuaded" that "every tub should stand on its own bottom," 
and I am trying to cultivate that species of manly independence 
instead of attempting to "cling to the skirts" of my ancestors. 
It sometimes occurs to me that perhaps a measure af William 
Sherman's independence of character has come down to the 
author of these articles. 

In Marshfield, William Sherman, Sr., and his wife. Prudence, 
lived until their decease. The date of the decease of the latter 
is not, at present, known to the descendants ; but it is known 
that the former was buried Saturday, October 25, 1697. After 
prolonged endeavor to ascertain the burial places of these an- 
cestors the descendants have settled down to the conclusion that 
they were both interred in the Winslow burial grounds near the 
Webster place, but that all traces of their graves have disap- 
peared. The Winslow burial grounds, it should be said, are the 
next oldest in New England, the oldest being those on Burial 
Hill, Plymouth. 

In the Winslow Burial grounds there stands a plain, square 
granite monument about eight feet in height, two and a half feet 
in diameter at its base and proijortionately smaller at its sum- 
mit. The central portion of the monument, bearing the inscrip- 
tion and names has a highly polished surface, which adds dis- 
dinctness to the lettering. On one side of this monument is the 
following inscription: "In Memory of the Early Settlers of 
Green Harbor, Marshfield." Just below the inscription are the 
names of thirteen of said settlers ; and on another side of the 
substantial testimonial are the names of twenty other settlers. 
At the head of the names last mentioned are those of: "William 
Sherman and wife, Prudence." 

The circumstances under which this monument was erected 
are as follows : At her decease, Miss Marcia Thomas, a resident 




ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, NORTH MAIN ST., PROVIDENCE, R. I. 

Which the author attended when about six years of age. He lived directly 

opposite the church 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 729 

of Marshfield, left a sum of money, by will, to pay for erecting 
a monument to the memory of the early settlers of Green Har- 
bor, Marslifield, in the Winslow burial grounds; and her sister, 
Miss Sarah Thomas, was instructed to see that the provisions 
of said will were carried out; and the monument was therefore 
erected several years ago. 

The Thomases were men of note in early colonial days ; and 
from them the Misses Thomas above mentioned were descended. 

Miss Marcia Thomas, it is due her to say, was deeply inter- 
ested in the early history of Marshfield, and, at her decease, left 
in printed form, for future generations, data concerning her na- 
tive township which is invaluable, and which, but for her pains- 
taking efforts, would doubtless have been lost. 

I will not conclude this brief and fragmentary genealogical 
introduction without saying that representatives of four gen- 
erations of the Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Shermans of 
my own immediate line have participated in the different wars 
in which this country has engaged during its highly eventful 
history, as follows : In one of the Indian wars in which the Ply- 
mouth colonists were engaged William Sherman, Jr., son of Wil- 
liam Sherman the " emigrant,'' served as a soldier; and, as a 
result of witnessing the fiendish tortures, by the Indians, of 
some of the colonists, his health was seriously affected. In the 
year 1675, as is learned from the Plymouth Country Records, 
he was allowed twenty pounds by the colony because of injuries 
received by him in ' ' the service of his country. ' ' 

My great-grandfather, Ebenezer Sherman, served in the Rev- 
olution in the year 1777 in Captain John Byington's company 
of Colonel Xathan Sparhawk's regiment; and also in the regi- 
ment commanded by Colonel Job Cushing in an expedition to 
Bennington, Vermont. During a visit to Marshfield a few years 
since I was shown the musket carried by Ebenezer Sherman in 
the Revolution; it had, however, been changed from a flint-lock 
to a percussion-cap gun, and was used for hunting game. It 
was very gratifying to me to hold in my hands this musket car- 
ried by a paternal ancestor in the seven years war for national 
independence. 

During the War of 1812 my paternal grandfather, A^ron 



730 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AXD MORE 

Sherman, commanded a company of Massachusetts militia, and 
my father, Aaron Simmons Sherman, a lad of about fifteen years 
of age, was the drummer boy for the company. When it was re- 
ported that the British purposed landing a force of redcoats at 
Scituate Harbor, a few miles nearer Boston than Marshfield, 
grandfather's company marched to the first mentioned place 
with a view to assisting in repelling the anticipated attack up- 
on the excited village. 

Upon reaching Scituate Harbor, however, it was learned that 
the British had been frightened away by two brave and re- 
sourceful Yankee girls, Rebecca Bates and Sarah Winsor, who, 
secreted behind a building near the shore of the harbor so suc- 
cessfully displayed their skill in blowing the fife and beating 
the drum that the British officers in command of the troops 
ready to land from vessels jumping to the conclusion that a large 
force of "rebels" had arrived for the defence of the place has- 
tily left for Boston. 

For many years my paternal grandfather was one of the dea- 
cons of the Baptist Church, of North Marshfield, now known 
for miles around as "The old skunk," from the duly authenti- 
cated fact that one of the deacons, whether my grandfather or 
not I have never been informed, on taking the large, old style 
contribution box on a Sunday morning to pass it for the usual 
collection, found a skunk cuddled up in said box, where the ani- 
mal had evidently spent the night in undisturbed slumbers. 
There is, however, another version of this skunk story, and as I 
am disposed to do full justice to all parties concerned, I will 
give it; it is, in brief, to the effect that on the arrival of the 
faithful sexton at the place of worship one Sunday morning he 
discovered a skunk seated on the pulpit desk. Of the sexton's 
emotions on witnessing this unfamiliar scene no report has come 
down to the present generation. 

It is a pleasure to his descendants to recall, that my father. 
Aaron Simmons Sherman, when a young man, made the altera- 
tions and improvements in the house in Marshfield, Massachu- 
setts, purchased by Webster of Captain John Thomas ; this was 
in the year 1827, and he had just returned from Machias, Maine, 
where he had begun his career as a "boss carpenter." Later 





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RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AXD MORE 731 

in life my father became a pattern maker and achieved a na- 
tional reputation as a master workman at his trade. 

In the Civil War five sons of my parents served, two in the 
infantry, one in the calvary, one in the navy and a fourth in the 
hospital department; aud our mother, when commiserated by a 
sympathetic friend on having so many boys in the Union army, 
remarked: "If I had fifty sons I would give them all to my 
country!" 

My paternal American line of ancestors, which may be of in- 
terest to some, at least, of Americana 9 s readers, is as follows: 
1. William .Sherman, "the emigrant;" 2. William Sherman, 
Jr.; 3. Ebenezer Sherman; 4. Elisha Sherman; 5. Ebenezer 
Sherman; 6. Aaron Sherman; 7. Aaron Simmons Sherman, the 
author's father. 

II 

My Boyhood in New England 

Of the date and place of my birth I confess, without the shad- 
ow of a blush, that I haven't the faintest recollection. If, how- 
ever, I have been informed once, I have a thousand times, more 
or less, by those best qualified to impart a knowledge of the facts, 
tliat I made my advent into this beautiful world on the 5th of 
May, 1844, and in the ancient town of Marshfield, Plymouth 
County, "situate" in the easterly part of the Old Bay State; 
which town with its eight separate villages and hamlets and as 
many small postoffices, lies along the rugged shores of Massa- 
chusetts Bay about thirty miles south of Boston, " as the crow 
flies.'? I speak of Marshfield as being an ancient town; but it 
is of course, ancient from an American point of view, only. I 
will, however, say that in 1942, only twenty-seven years hence, 
the town will be sufficiently ancient to celebrate, as it doubtless 
will, the three hundredth anniversary of its incorporation. 

The precise place of my birth, I take no small pride in saying 
was not many miles from the rock, or more properly speaking, 
the large boulder, on which the Pilgrim Fathers landed on the 
bleak day in the month of December, 1620; indeed, (and I am 
about to speak in hyperbole, that figure of speech which "lies 



732 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

without deceiving") if, at the moment of my entrance into this 
fair world I had stretched out my arm to its full length, my tiny, 
soft fingers would have touched the smoothly worn side of the 
now world-famous boulder whose surface, according to some 
historians, was first pressed by the dainty feet of Mary Chil- 
ton, the brave English maiden who afterward became the happy 
bride of one of the highly esteemed pilgrims from across the sea. 

It was while my parents were visiting, for the first time in 
several years, with my paternal grandparents at the Sherman 
homestead, in Marshfield, on their way from Bridgewater, Mas- 
sachusetts, to Providence, Ehode Island, there to establish a 
new home for themselves, that I made my initial appearance in 
this wonder-teeming world. 

The house in which I first saw the light of this world, built as 
early, at least, as 1810, is still standing in a good state of pres- 
ervation, having been constructed "on honor." It is a source 
of pleasure to have had pointed out to me, by an older brother 
who for many years has been the family historian and genealo- 
gist, to whom I am indebted for no little data given in this initial 
article of the present series, the identical room in which I was 
born. 

The Sherman homestead has been removed from its original 
site to a point about fifty rods distant, approximately. 

The Aaron Sherman homestead referred to is a one story and 
a-half structure of the style of architecture common in the Old 
Bay State and is shingled on roof and sides and ends. I do not 
believe the house was ever painted ; but if so, the paint has been 
completely worn by the i ' play of the elements, ' ' leaving not the 
slightest traces of its former presence. 

I confess that as I think of the house whose walls heard my 
first infant cry, which is now occupied by strangers, I share 
somewhat the sentiments of the poet, Byron, when he penned 
the following lines : 

"He enter 'd his home— his home no more, 
For without hearts there is no home— and felt 
The solitude of passing his own door 
Without a welcome. 



'. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 733 

While an infant I was taken by my parents from Marshfield 
to Providence, Rhode Island, where ray father had been engaged 
to work at his trade, that of a pattern maker, in a large concern 
which, as I recall, was situated near the present railroad station 
in the city above mentioned. The entire plant, I think, has long 
since disappeared. 

Of the first years of my residence in Providence, a city then, 
as I have been informed, of about thirty thousand inhabitants, 
I have, of course, no recollection. My recollection, however, ex- 
tends back to my fourth year; indeed, I can recall some things 
which occurred during my third year, but these are of a hazy 
and uncertain character. Of my fourth year I have a most dis- 
tinct recollection. At that period I was residing on Ann street, 
near the Tockwatten House, a large hotel in the basement of 
which Toot beer and other soft drinks were manufactured, and dis- 
pensed to stores in the city and vicinity. I have a most vivid recol- 
lection of the fact that my frequent visits, as a "little fellow/ ' to 
the aforesaid basement, were rewarded by the privilege of par- 
taking freely of the root beer, of which I was especially fond. I 
have no recollection of ever having been limited by the proprie- 
tors in my consumption of that delicious root beer, presumably 
because of my limited stomachic capacity; and although I may 
be charged with again resorting to the use of hyperbole, I am 
constrained to say that I can, at this late day, taste the delicious 
beverage of which I was permitted to partake so frequently and 
freely in the basement of the Tockwatten House, torn down, as 
I am informed by a twentieth century resident of Providence, 
about thirty years ago. 

Another incident in connection with my residence on Ann 
street, which is fresh in my memory, was a "big fire," which at 
one stage was likely to reach and set fire to the house occupied 
by my parents. Indeed, so rapidly did the fire spread toward 
our home that many of our household goods were hastily car- 
ried out on to the sidewalk preparatory to removing them to a 
place of safety. The roof of our house was set on fire by flying 
embers from other burning buildings, but we were spared the 
misfortune of being "burned out." When it became known that 
the roof of our house was on fire one of my older brothers was 



734 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

hastily notified to arise and get dressed as soon as possible ; and, 
acting upon the notification, he arose and began to dress, and 
finding he had the night before on retiring turned his shirt in- 
side out he deliberately turned it right side out before donning 
it. Not a few times since has this brother been "jollied" over 
the coolness exhibited by him when the roof of our house was 
on fire. 

There must have been coasting in Providence for I recall that 
on a Christmas Eve during our residence on Ann Street I re- 
ceived from my father what then seemed to me a beautifully 
painted sled; and a brightly colored worsted comforter such as 
were worn in those days but which were long ago discarded as a 
prolific cause of throat and lung complaints. 

At the period of my life just referred to my light auburn hair 
hung in long curls down over my shoulders. This was the work 
chiefly, of my sister Helen, then living at home, who derived 
great pleasure from seeing her "little brother" thus adorned, 
and in exhibiting him to her young friends as they called. Na- 
ture had given me the hair and the curl in it, and sister Helen 
did the rest. The curling business, as I recall, became at length 
a bore to me ; and I longed for the time when I should have "just 
hair on my head, without any curls." 

From Ann Street we moved to North Main Street into a house 
directly opposite St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, a 
stone structure, which I am informed is still standing and pre- 
sumably used for divine worship. For this church edifice I 
cherish fond recollections and tender sentiments, for in this 
church I attended Sunday School ; and in the cramped burial 
grounds in the rear of the edifice lie the remains of a sister who 
died in infancy, and a leaf of ivy plucked from a vine growing 
in this burial place during a visit a few years ago is now among 
the things the sight of which revive precious memories of years 
long past. 

As an illustration of the tenacity with which trifling events 
cling to one's memory I will say that while I lived on North 
Main Street one of my older sisters, Amelia, who had married 
and was residing in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, from which we 
had moved to Providence, paid her parents a visit ; and on her re- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 735 

turn home she took me with her for a visit. I distinctly recall that 
while visiting with my married sister she was very fond of keep- 
ing my hair curled and exhibiting me to her friends as they 
called. Of her attachment for her husband I have vivid recollec- 
tions which it is a pleasure to recall as ''the evening shadows 
lengthen.' \ 

My sister's husband's father, a kind hearted man, ''Grand- 
pa," I called him, had in some way (I think by a spark from red 
hot liquid iron used in "pouring" in iron foundries) lost 
the sight of one of his eyes ; and for some reason he wore a 
green covering or "patch" over that eye, and this "patch" was 
quite a wonder to my childish imagination. But in spite of the 
"patch" on "Grandpa's" eye I was very fond of him. 

When I was between five and six years of age I used occasion- 
ally to be taken to school by a teacher of the primary depart- 
ment in the Grammar School on the corner of Benefit and Hal- 
sey Streets. When the school session opened this beloved 
teacher would carefully place me in a chair on the platform 
where I could watch the various classes as they came up one af- 
ter another for recitation in "readin', writin' and 'rithmatic." 
I will not deny that while seated on that platform in the primary 
department of the Benefit Street Grammar School I "magni- 
fied," to employ a Pauline term, my elevated position as I looked 
with childish hauteur down upon the regular pupils seated on 
the hard wooden benches before me. 

When I was about six years of age I began attending the Ben- 
efit Street School as a "regular pupil" and I was assigned to 
the room presided over by the teacher who had so frequently 
taken me to school, as a visitor, during the previous summer. 

As dearly as I loved that teacher as a boy I regret to say I am 
unable to recall her name, which must, of course, have been 
known to me at the time of our association as teacher and pupil. 
I have many times wished I might learn of her residence and 
either visit her or correspond with her if she is still living; but 
of her present whereabouts, if now living on this "mundane 
sphere," I am as ignorant "as a bat." For aught I know she 
may have years ago gone as a missionary to the jungles of Afri- 
ca or to " Greenland 's icy mountains ; ' ' and she may have laid 



736 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

down her life for ''the heathen." Or, she may have married 
and had a small primary school in her own home— who knows 1 
If she is living, which is possible, and these articles should come 
to her attention it would be one of the rare pleasures of my life 
to receive a letter from her, which I should most assuredly an- 
swer with more than ordinary promptness. 

Scarcely less vivid in my memory than the teacher's fondness 
for the little curly-headed boy on North Main Street is the rec- 
ollection of a woman well advanced in years who lived in a small, 
old, unpainted house, so dilapidated that to my boyish imagina- 
tion it seemed likely at any time to tumble down over her head, 
on the opposite side of Benefit Street from the Grammar School 
building. This house stood at the corner of a lane or narrow 
street, down which some of the pupils were accustomed to go as 
a short cut to their homes. The fact in conection with that old 
house and its occupant which especially lingers in my memory is 
this : that the woman kept homemade molasses candy on sale in 
her humble home on the corner. The children of the primary 
and intermediate departments, especially, of the public school 
nearby were her principal customers. For a big copper cent, 
such as we had in those early days, we used to get a generous 
stick of unadulterated molasses candy the thought of which even 
now makes my ' ' mouth water. ' ' The dear old woman must have 
done quite a business in the confectionery line in the days when 
candy manufactories were probably unknown in this country. 

On the opposite side of the street from our house on North 
Main Street was a narrow street leading up a steep hill to Ben- 
efit Street, the latter of which ran parallel to the street on which 
I lived. On the lower side of North Main Street and opposite 
the street running up the steep hill above mentioned was a lane 
which ran between our house and the one next south. This nar- 
row lane ran a long distance down toward a canal. It was a 
favorite sport of the boys especially of the neighborhood to coast 
down the steep hill beginning at Benefit Street, into the lane, 
and thence on toward the canal. The great speed with which the 
boys would come down this steep hill, shoot like an arrow from 
an Indian's bow across North Main Street and enter the lane 
leading toward the canal was enough to frighten those unaccus- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 737 

tomed to such sights. I used sometimes to borrow a small, low- 
built, but swift-going sled from a boy friend, and, going to the 
extreme summit of the steep hill come down with such force that 
it was with great difficulty I avoided going into the canal at the 
terminus of the lane. My parents soon forbade my sliding more 
on that hill because of its positively dangerous character. 

Providence was noted for its steep and dangerous hills ; and 
numerous stories were related of hair-breadth escapes from 
death, of residents and others driving down them, especially in 
winter. One of my mother's friends in the city was riding down 
one of those steep hills when the horse became frightened, ran 
away, and before he could be stopped the lady was thrown vio- 
lently from the carriage to the frozen ground and instantly 
killed. A babe well wrapped in winter clothing escaped unhurt. 

Another horse and carriage were coming down one of those 
steep hills leading into North Main Street, and, becoming fright- 
ened ran away He dashed down the hill, shot across the street 
at its base, up on to the pavement on the further side of the 
street, and before the horse could be checked he plunged head- 
long through one of the large front show windows of a store, 
breaking it into many pieces. The poor animal was so nearly 
killed by the numerous and severe cuts about the face and breast 
that he had to be shot. 

Most every boy, I suppose, has to have one or more narrow 
escapes from death; and I am no exception to this rule, as the 
following incident will show : I had gone across the canal already 
mentioned, on a rude, narrow foot-bridge, on to the railroad 
tracks, where a large number of passenger and freight cars usu- 
ally stood, and where every day, many trains of both kinds of 
cars were made up for outgoing traffic. It was summer time. I 
was standing on one of the tracks wholly oblivious of the ap- 
proach of a freight train making up, which was coming toward 
me at a considerable rate of speed. In some way my attention 
had been attracted in another direction ; and just as the moving 
train was about striking me and reducing the number of the 
Sherman family in Providence by one an employee of the rail- 
road company hastily snatched me from the track. It was a 
narrow escape, for in another moment the oncoming train would 



738 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

have struck me and that would probably have meant death by 
mangling underneath the heavy wheels of the cars. 

My timely rescuer gave me a good talking to on the folly of 
standing on the railroad track when trains were making up and 
sent me home with a "bee in my ear." My most serious trou- 
ble, however, was the fear that in some way or other my parents 
would hear of my having been over on the railroad tracks and 
punish me for disobeying them ; for I had again and again been 
instructed and warned to keep off the tracks. 

If my parents ever heard of my narrow escape from death on 
the occasion mentioned it must have been so long after the oc- 
curence that they considered it too late in the day to punish me 
for my disobedience. Or perhaps they considered my fright a 
sufficient punishment. Certain it is that I never afterward ven- 
tured on to the railroad tracks where trains were making up. 

One of my older brothers, of whom there were two at home at 
the time, concluded he would like to earn some pin money; so, 
with the consent of our parents, he bought a good sized handle 
basket, filled it with candy and nuts and fruit which he purchased 
of a friend at the wholesale prices, and on each Saturday morn- 
ing went out to offer them for sale. 

Sometimes I was permitted to go with my brother; and at 
such times he found me one of his best customers, so far at least, 
as the reduction of his modest stock was concerned. So far, 
however, as the profits were concerned he could not have made a 
very favorable report. The number of my sweet teeth increased 
so rapidly that he deemed it desirable to leave his curly-headed 
brother at home whenever he could do so without "raising a 
rumpus' ' with him. y 

Only two or three blocks from our house on North Main 
Street, as I recall, was a factory where drinking cups were made 
from cocoanut shells. Perhaps few or none of the readers of 
Americana have ever seen a drinking cup made from a cocoanut 
shell; so I will try to give them some idea as to how they were 
made, but before doing so I will say that the cocoanuts were 
purchased in large quantities, probably by the ship-load. 

The cocoanuts were first sawed in two pieces and the meat 
taken from the shell. This meat was sold to confectioners and 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 739 

others who appreciated its commercial value for cooking pur- 
poses. The delicious cocoanut cakes we used to buy for a big 
copper cent when I was a boy were made from this cocoanut 
meat purchased by the confectioners who made them without 
adulteration. 

The half of the cocoanut shell having no holes, or eyes, in it. 
was put into a lathe and with sharp tools turned somewhat 
smooth on the outside. The edges of the shell were also straight- 
ened and rounded so as not to hurt the mouth in drinking. A 
long wooden handle was then fastened to the side of the cup and 
this made one of the nicest vessels in the world to drink from. I 
used to think the water drank from a cocoanut shell cup was 
cooler and tasted far sweeter than that drank from other cups, 
not excepting a silver cup. 

The shop where those cocoanut shell drinking cups were made 
was a favorite resort of the boys from all over our part of the 
city, for this was the only shop of the kind in the entire city, so 
far as I recollect. The boys who visited this shop were given 
their fill of the small pieces of cocoanut meat taken from the 
shells; I mean the pieces that were too small to sell to confec- 
tioners and others. There were large quantities of these small 
pieces so that no boy who visited the factory had reason to say: 
"I never yet had enough cocoanut meat to eat." But many a 
boy, who was piggish, had abundant reason for saying he had 
had too much cocoanut meat, and had found it very desirable to 
sometimes get rid of it in great haste while mother held his head. 

During our residence in Providence, especially on North Main 
Street, fires were of frequent occurrence. How well do I recol- 
lect being awakened in the middle of the night when I was about 
seven years of age by the fire alarm, which then consisted of the 
ringing of the church bells and the hideous cries of: "fire! fire!" 
on the street. All were promptly up and dressed. The fire about 
to be described had commenced in the cocoanut-cup factory, 
which, to the deep sorrow of every boy in our part of the city, 
who had ever been a visitor to that earthly paradise, was totally 
destroyed— "burned clean to the ground" as we learned in due 
course. 

Onward the terrible fire swept toward our house. As it crept 









' 












74Q RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

closer and closer toward us preparations were hastily made to 
carry our household goods out on the street to some place of 
safety. ' Small articles were tied up in bed sheets and the other 
bedding was tied up in quilts and carpets. When it seemed al- 
most certain .that the flames would reach our house the house- 
hold goods were expeditiously carried out, the neighbors whose 
houses were not threatened, in the kindness of their hearts, lend- 
ing a hand in the work of removal. 

After a season of great suspense, during which the women and 
children stood shivering in the open air, not by reason of the 
cold, however, but from fright and intense anxiety, it became 
evident that, the fire had been checked; and then the household 
goods on the street were leisurely taken back into the house. 
But there was no more sleep that night, I assure you. The peo- 
ple all along the street sat up and over and over recalled the 
stirring incidents and occurrences of the fire which had de- 
stroyed an entire block, and even more. 

The property owners, especially, did not forget to shower 
their compliments upon the volunteer fire department for their 
excellent work in checking the awful conflagration before its 
ravages had extended further; the wonder, as not a few ex- 
pressed it, being that it did not " destroy the entire block in 
which we live ! 9 ' 

During our residence on Xorth Main Street we used what was 
known as camphene for fuel in the house lamps. Camphene 
was highly explosive, and many a fire more or less serious in 
its consequences originated from the explosion of camphene 
lamps. In some way one of our camphene lamps took fire ; that 
is to say, suddenly, and without any warning whatever, fire 
was discovered on the outside of the lamp as it sat on the sitting 
room table. An explosion, with its terrible consequences seemed 
imminent. At the critical moment, however, one of my older 
brothers seized the flaming lamp, and, at the risk of his life, 
threw it out of an open window— it was summer time— into the 
lane at the side of the house. This was the lane leading down to 
thfc canal. The burning lamp had scarcely touched the ground 
when it exploded with quite a noise. The sight of the burning 
camphene as it spread in almost every direction on the ground 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 741 

from the shattered lamp was a very pretty one. My brother 
who threw the burning lamp out of the window was from that 
day considered a boy-hero. 

"Come, children," mother would say, when a thunder storm 
was gathering, "let's get on the feather-bed. and we shall be safe 
from the lightning ; ' ' and then my younger brother and I would 
scamper for the old-fashioned cord bedstead in the sleeping 
room just off the sitting room. We would hastily clamber up its 
side, and wait for mother to come, which would be in a minute or 
two after we had fixed ourselves in the deep geese feather bed, 
with the feathers gathered about us. Mother would sit on the 
side of the high bedstead, with her feet just off the floor. If the 
storm was a long or particularly severe one mother would tell 
us stories to divert our attention from its terrors. It was a great 
relief to both mother and children when the storm abated. 

One of the happiest experiences of my life as a boy while re- 
siding in Providence was an excursion, by steamboat, on a de- 
lightful summer day, down the bay to a United States fort. Our 
mother, as I distinctly recall, went with us— I mean my younger 
brother and perhaps an older brother— as father was engaged 
at his business and could not well get away to go with us. We 
had a fine sail clown the bay; and were greatly pleased with the 
fort— Fort Adams— its big cannon, and its gaily dressed sol- 
diers with their bright muskets, which fairly shone in the blaz- 
ing sun of a summer day. 

We were some little distance from the steamboat wharf when 
the whistle blew for the boat to leave on its return to Providence 
with the satisfied excursionists ; and the way we all scampered 
for the steamboat landing must have been amusing to spectators 
who watched us in our precipitate haste. On reaching the 
steamboat landing, all out of breath from our long run, we as- 
certained, to our chagrin, that the bell we had heard was only 
the first bell ; and that the steamboat would not start for several 
minutes. 

What remains very distinctly in my memory, after the lapse 
of the many intervening years with their absorbing events and 
occurrences, is the fact that our dear mother was greatly fright- 
ened, as she thought we were going to be left by the steamboat. 



742 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

Another thing that has to this day remained fresh in my mem- 
ory in connection with our hasty run for the steamboat landing, 
is the fact that our mother hustled the children along at such a 
rapid rate of speed that "we got there/' even though we were 
a little ahead of starting time; and I have often said to myself, 
while recalling the occurrence, "better a little ahead than ever 
so little behind I" and, acting upon that motto has many times in 
my life time prevented my being left by the steam cars. 

If I should neglect to relate the following incident in connec- 
tion with our residence in Providence my younger brother, now 
a resident of the Quaker City, ' ' might consider himself slighted, 
so here goes : During our residence in Providence small-pox 
broke out in the city. There were, as I recall, many cases of the 
then dreaded disease ; and not a few of the cases died. All chil- 
dren who had not been vaccinated were required by the city au- 
thorities to undergo the operation. My younger brother and I 
were required to go to a small school building some distance 
from our home to be vaccinated, one of our older brothers going 
with us to see that no harm befell us. I remember, as if it was 
only yesterday, that my "little brother" made a great fuss 
about being vaccinated; the physician had to hold him by "main 
force." The patient kicked and struggled to get free in his 
evident determination not to submit to the operation. But the 
faithful physician "carried the day" and my "little brother" 
thereby became immune, as was supposed, from small-pox. 




The Hamlet at the Bouwerij 

By Hopper Striker Mott 

Trustee and Treasurer of the New York Genealogical and Bio- 
graphical Society and Editor of The New York Genealogi- 
cal and Biographical Record. 

[To be Completed in Two Parts.] 

PART II 

TUYVES ANT'S will is not of record. From a recital in 
a deed from his widow Judith to Garret Lydecker it ap- 
pears that he devised all his realty to her. She was the 
daughter of a distinguished Huguenot divine and reached 
New Netherland with her husband, the newly appointed Direc- 
tor-General, May 11th, 1647, accompanied by his sister, Anna, 
the widow of Samuel Bayard, his wife's elder brother and her 
three infant sons, Peter, Balthazar and Nicholas. This group, 
the origin of two families, may be regarded as a genealogical 
unit, from which double connection sprang a relationship which 
continued for the following century. The Bayard farm is as well 
known to conveyancers as is that here exploited. By the term of 
Mrs. Stuyvesant 's will, dated January 29th, 1679 (L. 3 of wills, 
67) one-half of her estate vested in her son, Nicholas Willein, 
born 1648, and the remaining half in the children of her eldest 
son, Balthazar, born 1647, deceased. 

The latter, named for his grandfather, Rev. Balthazar Stuy- 
vesant, was a staunch Dutch patriot and after New Netherland 
became English moved to the West Indies.* His children, who 



*Nov. 15th, 1664. Letter from Vice Director Beck of Curacoa to Stuyvesant 
in which he promised Balthazar Stuyvesant a good tract of land. 

Dec 11, Ditto. Balthazar had arrived with letters of 12/22 October. 

April 16th, 1665. Ditto describing Balthazar's plantation. 

April 17th, Ditto. Account with Balthazar for his passage to Curacoa. (CaJ 
Dutch Mss., 334.) 

(743) 



744 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

were born there and were in consequence aliens, preferred a 
claim for part of the real estate of which their grandmother 
died seized, which is said to have been rejected by the judicial 
tribunals of the Colony of New York and Nicholas Willem and 
those claiming under him have been in undisturbed possession of 
the whole premises since the death of the testatrix in 1686. 
(Original Abstract). 

The following is an extract from her will referring to the 
church her husband had erected: 

"And I doe by these presents farther, by form of Legasie, 
Give and Grant to the Eef. nether dutch Church or Congregation 
of the City of New Yorke, My Testacries Church or chappell 
seituated on my bo wry or farmes, Together with all the Reve- 
nues, proffitts and Immunityes As alsoe with all the Incum- 
brances to the said chappell belonging or appertaininge To have 
and to hold the said chappell and appurtenance, after the time 
of My decease, Unto the Overseers of the said congregacon, to 
the use aforesayd for Ever, with further power, iff they see 
cause to demolish or displace the same and to Employ the Ma- 
terials thereof to such Uses as they shall think ffitt and expedi- 
ent, Provided that in such case of the sayd materialls bee made 
and built all and whatsoever In the Inclosed Testament Is Ex- 
presst and Required, for the preservation of the tombe or 
vaught, which was built by my deceased husband in said 
Church." The "enclosed testament" was another will, of a 
previous date and contained the following bequest to Col. Nicho- 
las Bayard: "I doe further bequeath to my said cousin, Nicho 
laes Bayard, and to his wife and child or children, (if desired), 
a bureing place In the tombe or vaught of my Late deceased 
husband In the chappell or Church att my Bowry; and in case 
it should happen that my sayd church or chappell did Come to 
decay or for any other Reason be demolished, I doe hereby de- 
clare and publish it to be my Last w T ill and Testament, that of 
the materialls and Rubbage of sayd chappell be made a build- 
ing Sufficient ffor a cover upon the sayd Vaught." (Feb. 15th, 
1678-9. L. 3-4 wills, 44.) 

This will intimates the desire that the Consistory of the 
Church of New York should take charge of the chapel and ap- 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 745 

propriate it to the uses for which it was originally built; or if 
deemed more expedient that the materials not needed for the 
preservation of the vault might be appropriated for similar 
uses. Just when services were discontinued is not in evidence; 
but the Consistory failed to carry out the terms of the devise 
for the reason, it is said, that testatrix had only a life interest 
in the property and suffered it to pass by default and the chapel 
gradually and surely fell into a delapidated condition, until lit- 
tle remained but the foundation. 

From a list of church members in 1686, kept by Do. Selyns, we 
find that said Nicholaes "Willeni en zyn huysvrou (and his house- 
wife) lived over liet Versch Water, (beyond the Fresh Water). 
On the same record his mother is entered as "Juffrou Judith 
Isendoorn.* weduwe van do Herr Petrus Stuyvesant" After 
the death of his father, the son resided in the paternal mansion. 
A prominent citizen of the infant city he took a lively interest 
in the growth of his inheritance and in church work and philan- 
thropy. He represented his ward in 1687 as AJderman and was 
in other respects engaged in public life. The Bouwerij Church 
was yet standing in 1694 in which year Gov. Fletcher wrote 
(Nov. 28) to Capt. Stuyvesant requesting the loan of the bell 
therein for the use of the garrison, the bell in the fort being 
cracked. (Cal. Hist. Mss. Eng. at Albany, 243). By his first 
wife, Maria, only daughter of Wilhelmus Beekman, the founder 
of the family in the new world, and Vice-Director on the Dela- 
ware, whom he m. May 5th, 1672, Nicholaes "Willeni had no issue. 
His second wife was Lysbett, daughter of Brandt Arent van 
Slechtenhorst, first Director of Kennselaerwyck, he who had so 
grievously antagonized the Dutch Governor, the father-in-law 

*Isendoorn was a village in Guilderland. Judith Isendoorn was a different 
person from Judith Bayard wife of Gov. Stuyvesant. Judith van Isendoorn mar- 
ried Domine Eagidius Luyck. The good Domine (Selyns) has certainly con- 
fused these names. "We find in an entry of the baptism of Catharine, daughter 
01 Nicholas William Stuyvesant, son of the Governor, in 1673, when Madame 
Luyck had left the country and gone back to Holland with her husband, that at 
t.iis baptism Judith van Isendoorn was a witness; thus showing that there was 
another person of the name residing in New Amsterdam, neither the wife of 
Qr. Luyck nor the widow of Gov. Stuyvesant." {Anthology of New Nethcrland, 
K-) Luyck was rector of the Latin School in New Amsterdam. He married 
Iu&3, Domine Selyns composed a nuptial song for the bride and groom who 
were married the "second day of Christmas'' and another verse called the "Bridal 
*orch »n their honor. (Ibid., 133, 137) • For sketches of their lives vide p. 171 
01 that book. In 1673 Luyck held the office of Burgomaster. 



746 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

of whose son lie was fated to become. License was dated Sept. 
15th, 1681, and they were married in the Esopus. Two sons and 
one daughter resulted from this union. One son Peter died in 
1705 unmarried. The son Gerardus and a daughter Anna sur- 
vived their father. (L. 7 Letters Testamentary, 306; also L. 
8:171). Gerardus by his wife Judith Bayard, his second cousin, 
had two sons Nicholas William II who died unmarried at the 
age of 58 and Peter III. Their father's will is not of record. 
Upon the death of Nicholas William II, without issue, his share 
fell to his brother. Born in 1727 this Peter III. married Mar- 
garet, daughter of Gilbert Livingston. The latter was the fourth 
son of the first Lord of the Manor of Livingston and devoted 
himself to his estate, to reading and to social duties, says Fa- 
mous Neiv York Families. He married Cornelia Beekman and 
was the founder of the Poughkeepsie branch of the family. His 
most distinguishde descendant was the Rev. John Henry Liv- 
ingston, D. D., LL.D., who, in his latter years, was recognized 
as the father of the Dutch Reformed Church in America. His 
memoirs were written by the Rev. xUexander Gunn, D. D., the 
first pastor of the Church at Harsenville, otherwise the Bloom- 
ingdale Reformed Church. 

Peter Stuyvesant III died in 1805.* His will is of record in 
L. 46:107. He had six children, two sons and four daughters. 
Of the latter Judith married Benjamin Winthrop, Cornelia 
Dirck Ten Broeck and Elizabeth Col. Nicholas Fish and became 
the mother of the Hon. Hamilton Fish of national reputation, 
while Margaret died unmarried. The sons were Nicholas Wil- 
liam III and Peter Gerard. The former's residence, known as 
the " Bowery House," devised under his father's will and situ- 
ated on the block between 8th and 9th Streets, 1st and 2nd Ave- 
nues, was approached by a private way from Bowery Lane. By 
his wife Catherine Livingston Reade, daughter of John and 
Catherine (Livingston) Reade, he had six sons and three daugh- 



*The tablet to his memory at St. Mark's reads as follows : 
"To the memory of Peter Stuyvesant at a testimony of filial love and grati- 
tude. He was born 13 Oct., 1727 O. S., died 7 Oct., 1805, and his remains are de- 
posited in the vault of his ancestors within the walls of this church. The kind 
father, the faithful friend, the honest citizen and the sincere Christian rests 
from his labours and his works do follow him. (Amer. Epitaphs, Alden, 1814, 
1:270.) 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 747 

ters, viz: Peter, the oldest, m. Julia Martin; Nicholas William 
IV. m. Catherine A. Oheeseborough ; John Read m. (1) Cath- 
arine Ackerley, (2) Mary A. Yates; Gerard m. Susan Riving- 
ton van Home; Robert Reade itl Margaret A. Mildeberger; Jo- 
seph Reade m. Jane Ann Browning; Catharine Ann, eldest 
daughter, m. John Mortimer Catlin; Helen C. m. (1) Henry 
Dudley, (2) Francis Olmsted, (3) William S. Mayo and Mar- 
garet Livingston m. Robert van Rensselaer. This was a gen- 
eration of scholarly well-to-do people who devoted themselves 
to their estates, to study and to social affairs. The " Bowery 
House" was later and until 1825 occupied by Peter Gerard 
Stuyvesant. 

Peter Gerard, born 1778, was graduated from King's (Co- 
lumbia) College in 1794, was admited to the bar and practiced 
law for a time. This he abandoned to devote himself to the 
management of his large estate. He lived on a part of the 
family inheritance which his father had devised to him under 
the name of "Petersfield" and which mansion was located be- 
tween present 15th and 16th streets, east of 1st Avenue. Peters- 
field Lane led to it from Bowery Lane at a point just south of 12th 
Street. Because of the swamp lands which covered a portion of 
the tract the lane swung to the north in crossing 2nd Avenue and 
again to the south after the swamp was passed. Both of these 
two comparatively modern dwellings were erected before 1765. 

Peter Gerard was a founder of the New York Historical So- 
ciety in 1804, serving as its President from 1836 to 1840, and an 
incorporator of the Erie Railroad in 1832. He partially en- 
dowed the professorship of Ecclesiastical History at the Gen- 
eral Theological Seminary and was Vice-President of the Amer- 
ican Bible Society. Although twice married, (1) to Susan, 
daughter of Col. Thomas Barclay and (2) to Helen Sarah, 
daughter of the Hon. John Rutherfurd of New Jersey, he had 
no issue. He met a lamentable death at Niagara on Aug. 16, 
1847, aged 70. As a visitor to the Falls with his wife and while 
the weather was warm and oppressive, he repaired to the wat- 
er to enjoy the luxury of a cooling bath. Plunging beneath the 
surface he sank to rise no more. His large estate was left to 
his nephews and nieces and $5,000 to the Bible Society. An ac- 



748 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

tive business man he was possessed of great energy. (Obituary 
notice. ) 

In his will dated Feb. 21st, 1846, (L. 94 Wills, 742) he devised 
his residuary estate to Gerard Stuyvesant, Hamilton Fish and 
Stuyvesant Rutherfurd, the latter on condition he caused him- 
self to be called by the surname of Stuyvesant. Chap. 342 
passed October 28th, 1847, allowed the change of name. The 
residuary estate was partitioned in the action of Gerard Stuy- 
vesant vs. Hamilton Fish & Rutherfurd Stuyvesant began Feb- 
ruary 11th, 1848. Decree was entered confirming the report of 
Commissioners October 24th. Map No. 163 in Register's office. 
The chief portion of this extensive property came into the pos- 
session of Benjamin Robert Winthrop, the Hon. Hamilton Fish 
and the noted astronomer Lewis Morris Rutherfurd. (Original 
Abstract). Peter III. Stuyvesant, the father of said Nicholas 
William III. and Peter Gerard, advertised his "Petersfield" 
mansion in 1706, to wit: 

Peter Stuyvesant oilers for rent that pleasant seat 2 
miles from New York called Petersfield, lately occupied by 
Baron de Pollnitz and now in possession of Mr. Robert B. 
Winthrop. Also a small house and garden near the house 
where he lives on the Bowery road. 

Feb. 13. 

At the time of the adoption of the Constitution of the United 
States the Baron owned and had his residence on the notable 
estate of Andrew Elliott, son of Sir Gilbert Elliott, Lord Chief 
Justice Clerk of Scotland, who was Receiver-General of the 
Province of New York under the Crown. In 1790 Elliott sold it 
to Robert Richard Randall and through his munificence it be- 
came the property of the Sailor's Snug Harbor. 

It was Peter Stuyvesant III, who, after the marriage of his 
daughters, laid out streets over the Bouwerij, which were named 
for the members of his family. His attention was largely con- 
centrated on the building up of his patrimony. The lanes on 
the map were wiped out by the plan of the Commissioners of 
1807 who laid down streets without the slightest regard for 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 749 

those already in existence. Only one of the original ways was 
preserved, the present Stuyvesant Street, which starting at 
the Bowery ends at 2nd Avenue, before the grounds of St. 
Mark's. 

It is interesting to follow the course of events through which 
this street was saved. On January 12th, 1807, Peter G. Stuy- 
vesant petitioned for its regulation and on March 30th, the Com- 
mon Council referred the matter to Richard Harison, its Coun- 
sel, for his opinion as to whether the ground included therein 
had been accepted as one of the public streets. (Ms. Mins. C. C, 
Vol. 16:360). So much history is contained in his statement, 
submitted April 13th, and incidentally concerning the first offi- 
cial map of the city, that much of the recitation is here append- 
ed. This map was used as the basis on which the Commission- 
ers laid out the northern part of the city. From Harison 's "an- 
swer" we learn that 

On November 30th, 1787, Evert Bancker, Jr., had surveyed 
and laid out at the request of Peter Stuyvesant on his farm a 
piece of groand intended for a street then and since known as 
Stuyvesant street, that 

On March 30th, 1789, the said Peter had conveyed by inden- 
ture of lease lots of ground bounded by said street to John Cou- 
tant and Gilbert Coutant, that 

On the day of the ground on which St. Mark's in 

the Bowery was erected, also bounded by said street, was con- 
veyed in fee to the Corporation of Trinity, that 

St. Mark's was built in 1795, before which time and since the 
said piece of ground had remained laid open and had ever since 
been used by the public for their enjoyment and accommodation 
as a highway, that 

The Act of the Legislature, passed May 7th, 1793, vested all 
the right, title, &c, of the People of the State of, in and to all 
lands at any time theretofore left for streets or highways in the 
City of New York by any person or persons whomsoever, in the 
Mayor, &c, and their successors for the use of streets and high- 
ways, that 

The Act passed March 30th, 1799, declared that no street should 
thereafter be laid out except with the approbation of the Mayor, 



750 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

&c., in Common Council convened and if any such street should 
be laid out without such permission it should be lawful for the 
Mayor, &c, by By-laws or Ordinances to direct the same to be 
stopped up and all buildings adjoining thereto be removed by 
the proprietors or occupants within such times and under such 
penalties as they should think proper and that all streets not 
already named and approved of by the Mayor, &c, should be 
considered as new streets within the meaning of that act, which 
had expired on March 30th, 1S02, that 

The Act passed April 2nd, 1803, made similar provisions to 
those contained in the above act of 1799 with the variation that 
all streets not already opened and named should be considered 
new streets that 

On December 11th, 1797, the Corporation contracted with 
G-oerck and Mangin to make a new map of the city from the Bat- 
tery to the Sandy Hill Road at the Two Mile Stone and easterly, 
including the streets on which St. Mark's stands, to the East 
River and westerly to the North River, so as to include the Sandy 
Hill road and the State Prison. By the contract the map was to 
contain certain specific descriptions and a Field Book to accom- 
pany the same and the contractors were to deliver another map 
upon a smaller scale which was intended for sale to indemnify 
the Common Council, that 

On April 10th, 1799, the Mayor laid before the Board the new 
map, which was referred to a Committee to examine and correct 
as to the names of streets and also to report a mode of obtain- 
ing subscribers to the work, that 

On July 13th, 1799, it was ordered that the Committee, to- 
gether with Mr. Mangin, obtain the engraving of the new map 
by Mr. Mavrick or other competent persons, on the best terms 
they could, that 

On March 30th, 1801, it appearing that great inconvenience 
was sustained in consequence of having several streets desig- 
nated by the same names, it was ordered that the Street Com- 
missioner be directed to attend to the completion of the new 
map and that he be authorized to employ Richard Furman to 
assist him in the execution of that duty, that 

On February 14th, 1804, Aldermen Joshua Barker, Philip 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 751 

Brasher and John Oothout were appointed, in conjunction with 
the Comptroller and Street Commissioner to examine the new 
map then nearly ready to be published and to take such meas- 
ures as would be most proper to indemnify the Board and the 
arsons who had executed the same for the expense that had 
lH. j en incurred, that 

A number of these maps were sold by the Corporation with 
the Title of a plan and regulations of the city made from actual 
>urvey by Goerck & Mangin by order of the Common Council 
and protracted by J. Fr. Mangin, 1800. Some alterations were 
also made on the map and instead of the above Title a label 
was substituted in these words, ''Plan of the City of New York" 
drawn from an actual survey by Casimer Th. Goerck and J. Fr. 
Mangin, C. S. This plan showed the Wards as lately altered by 
the Legislature and designated with accuracy most of the streets 
and wharves and slips, &c, lying to the southward of a line be- 
irinning at the North Eiver at Watts street, thence extending 
through said Street to Hudson Street, thence to Leonard Street, 
thence to the Broadway, from thence in a line to Bayard Street, 
through this street to the Bowery Roaji, thence to Bullock Street 
and through that street to the East Eiver. Except Brannon and 
Spring Streets none of the streets to the northward of the above 
line had been ceded to the Corporation or had been approved 
and opened under their authority. They were therefore to be 
considered subject to such future arrangements as the Corpor- 
ation might deem best calculated to promote health, introduce 
regularity and conduce to the conveniency of the city. Novem- 
ber, 1803, that 

By an act passed March 8th, 1803, entitled an act to increase 
the number of Wards and to equalize the same, the boundaries 
of the 7th were described in these words : The 7th. Ward shall 
Wgin at the southeasterly corner of the 4th. Ward * * * 
making the middle of Stuyvesant Street to the East River the 
northern boundary, that 

By three acts enabling the city to raise money, passed April 
Sth, 1804, March 28th, 1805, and February 17th, 1806, respec- 
tively the lamp and watch district was described to be to the 
southwest of a line beginning at the North Eiver at a place 



752 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

called De Kleyn's ferry, a little to the northward of the State 
Prison, thence easterly in front of the new Banking houses to a 
road commonly called the Sandy Hill Road, thence along that 
road to the northward of Potter's Field and the house of Wil- 
liam Neilson to the Bowery road, thence across that road to a 
street commonly called Stuyvesant Street and through the mid- 
dle thereof to the East River, and that 

The said piece of ground or street had never been actually 
ceded from the said Peter Stuyvesant or any other person to 
the Corporation. The Counsel thereupon concludes his state- 
ment by this quotation : 4 * The following answer to return to the 
question as to whether this is a public street. Though there 
are several circumstances in this case which might lead to the 
idea that the ground was considered as a public street, yet I 
am of the opinion that they are not binding on the Corporation. 
The charter gives the Corporation full power and authority to 
establish and appoint the laying out of all streets and the alter- 
ing, mending and repairing of them. This grant would be nuga- 
tory if every individual had a right to lay out streets over his 
grounds according to his fancy. The several acts of the Legis- 
lature do not in my opinion destroy the original power, they 
only restrain the Corporation from removing the buildings un- 
less they are valued and paid for in the manner prescribed by 
law. I think therefore that the Corporation may if they deem 
it proper order this street to be shut up, provided that no act 
was passed at the late session of the Legislature which may de- 
prive them of that right. The expediency of such a measure 
they alone are competent to decide." 

Chapter 59, passed March 9th, 1831, declared Stuyvesant 
Street, as now laid out of the breadth of 66 feet from the Bowery 
Road to Second Avenue, to be a public street, and Chapter 252, 
passed April 23rd, of that year applied all laws relative to the 
opening of streets to said street in the manner as if it had been 
laid out under the act of 1807. 

The map showing the original layout of the Bowery village, 
on which the streets are superimposed, was drawn by Benjamin 
Robert Winthrop in 1862, from recollection. Thereon is placed 
the governor's mansion on the north side of present Stuyvesant 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 753 

street. This error was corrected by William Kelby, former Li- 
brarian of the X. Y. Historical Society, who in his researches 
located the house as standing approximately on 12th street, 
just east of Third xAvenue and adjacent to the Pear Tree. The 
site of the- ancient church is also shown on this map. 

The upper story of the school-house on Nicholas William 
street was later used by what was known as the Bowery Village 
church. It was then called the Academy and there Bishop As- 
bury preached. A Methodist organization, it was launched in 
1786 by the Rev. Wiliam Valleau, a zealous local preacher from 
the John Street Church. This part of his circuit was known at 
first as the " Two-mile-stone Appointment." The earlier meet- 
ings were held in the two story frame residence of Gilbert Cou- 
tant, on Third Avenue, between 7th Street and St. Mark's 
Place. The second place of worship was in the Academy. 

In 1817 the first church edifice was erected on the lot adjoin- 
ing the Academy and it was at this time it became known distinc- 
tively as the Bowery Village Church. It was a plain wooded 
structure with brick basement, having two doors opening on a 
porch that was reached by a flight of steps. Here the Eev. Henry 
J. Feltus, D. D., who later obtained great eminence as an elo- 
quent divine of the Episcopal Church (St. Stephen's) frequently 
officiated, as did also the popular young preacher, Eev. John 
Summerfield. It was not an unusual practice of the latter clergy- 
man to hold services in the private houses of citizens of the 
neighborhood. Born in Preston, England, Jan. 31, 1798, he 
commenced his ministerial labors in the Connection of the Wes- 
leyan Methodists in Ireland, but employed the last four years of 
his life in the itinerant ministry of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in the U. S. He died in this city June 13, 1825. (Earli- 
est Churches in N. Y ., Disosway, 236). 

Some few years afterward, when the reconstruction of the 
streets occurred, the edifice was left in the middle of the block, 
and was then moved to the north side of 7th Street, near Second 
Avenue. Later the church was moved to two lots near Third 
Avenue and as the city grew up about it the old name was 
dropped and the Bowery Village church is known to the present 
generation as the Seventh Street Church— a decided loss in 



754 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

picturesqueness. The venerable John Stephenson, famous the 
world over as a builder of cars, was one of the members of some 
eighty years ago and at the centenary of the organization told 
of the green fields he crossed on his way to service and of happy 
experiences and reminiscences during his connection with the 
church. For a history of this church and names of its early 
members, vide Annals of N. Y. Methodism, Seaman, pp. 153, 
291.) The congregation consolidated in 1911 on the Hedding M. 
E. Church in E. 17th Street and sold its edifice on March 25, 
of that year. 

The site of the tavern, although not shown on the village map, 
was near the " Two-mile-stone. " It was renowned in its con- 
vivial way. The Dutch settlers were a comfortable sort of folk 
and the City of New Amsterdam encouraged the building of 
taverns in order that a considerable excise tax might be col- 
lected. The law not only regulated the price of the tankard of 
beer and the mutchkin of rum but the cost of beds with sheets 
and beds without. Early in its existence the Arie Cornelissen, 
above mentioned who had come from the Corlear's Hoek region, 
was its landlord. His house became a favorite place of re- 
sort for city people and fate made it historic. When Leisler 
was acting Governor of the Colony, the French and Indians 
raided the valley of the Mohawk, burned Schenectady and 
threatened Albany and the New England settlements. The 
whole Atlantic border was aroused, and Liesler, who was sa- 
gacious beyond his time, saw his opportunity for union and sum- 
moned delegates from the Colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode 
Island, Plymouth and Connecticut to meet his own representa- 
tives in New York. The avowed object was the invasion of 
Canada. Small-pox was prevalent in this city at the time the 
delegates were to assemble, in 1690, and the Governor fixed up- 
on the Bowery Village as the place of meeting, the Tavern in 
which he described as "a good neat house kept by Capt. Arien 
Cornelis" (Letter from Fort William dated, March 26th, 1690. 
Cal. Eng. Mss., 183). 

In this humble tavern met the first American Colonial Con- 
gress, predecessor and pattern of all that came after and showed 
its successors how the people of the New World might unite for 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 755 

a common object and against a common enemy. New York 
promised to furnish 400 men for the Colonial Army; Connecti- 
cut, 135; Massachusetts, 160; Plymouth, 60, and Maryland, 100. 
Rhode Island had no soldiers to spare but agreed to raise her 
proportion of money. The troops were raised. Boston and New 
York sent out fleets, the enemy were checked and the Colonies 
saved. 

A curious sort of character became the proprietor of the 
tavern a few years later. A mathematician, wit and speculator, 
he set up the first hackney coach that had ever been provided 
for the public accommodation. A year later he published the 
first almanac that had ever been printed in New York and he 
was smart enough to make abundant use of it as an advertising 
medium. Thus under the head of June, he gave notice that "the 
24th of this month, is celebrated the feast of St. John the Bap- 
tist, in commemoration of which, and to keep up a happy union 
and lasting friendship by the sweet harmony of good society, a 
feast is held by the Johns of this city at John Clapp's, in the 
Bowery, where any gentleman whose name is John may find a 
hearty welcome to join in concert with his namesakes. " In a 
table of distances he puts his tavern down as being two miles 
from the city Post-Office, adding that his is generally the bait- 
ing-place where gentlemen take leave of their friends and where 
a parting glass of generous wine, 

"If well applied, makes the dull horse feel 
One spur in the head is worth two in the heel." 

The location of the Bowery House and Petersfield are desig- 
nated on the village map as is also the cemetery. 

Verily not only did the Governor fall before the English pow- 
er but his great grandsons capitulated to the attractions of the 
English Church. Nicholas William Stuyvesant II was a ves- 
tryman of Trinity from 1760 to 1773 and his brother Petrus 
held the same office from 1793 to 1799. When the former died in 
1780 Petrus III became the last patroon of the name. So it 
was, a natural sequence that actuated, doubtless, by the same 
motives as his great grandfather, more than a century before, 



756 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

he should propose, in 1793, to the vestry of which he had just 
become a member, the conveyance of the land on which the 
old chapel stood for the erection of a church of his faith. He 
offered a plot 150x190 feet, some twelve city lots and £800 N. Y. 
currency ($2,000). This generous offer was taken into consid- 
eration on July 8th, of that year, when it was resolved to accept 
it and to "take measures for building a church accordingly as 
soon as the situation of the corporation will admit thereof and 
that Messrs. Stuyvesant, [Hugh] Gaine and [John] Jones be a 
committee to enquire what aid can be obtained from well dis- 
posed persons toward the same." 

From St. Mark's Memorial we learn that Stuyvesant declined 
to serve and that Augustus Van Home was appointed in his 
place. It does not appear that they succeeded in raising any 
immediate funds, for two years elapsed and then on January 19, 
1795, the vestry of Trinity resolved to "raise the sum of £5000 
($12,500) for building a church on the land of Peter Stuyvesant 
Esq. in conformity with his proposal," and Messrs. Nicholas 
Carmer, Gaine, Van Home, and Stuyvesant were appointed a 
building committee. On St. Mark's Day, Saturday, April 25th, 
1795, the corner stone was laid by Bishop Provoost. The work 
progressed very slowly, a delay having occurred, apparently in 
1798, for in that year the building committee was authorized to 
enter into contracts for the work of construction. On Thursday, 
May 9, 1799, the edifice was reported finished and was conse- 
crated the same day by the Bishop with a sermon by the Eev. 
Dr. Benj. Moore and the administration of the Holy Communion. 

A meeting of the male adult members of the congregation was 
held October ISth, of that year immediately after divine ser- 
vice at which they incorporated themselves. By vote Peter 
Stuyvesant and Francis Bayard Winthrop were elected church 
wardens and Gilbert Colden Willett, Mangle Minthone, Martin 
Hoffman, William Ogden, William A. Hardenbrook, George 
Turnbull, Nicholas William Stuyvesant and James Cummings 
vestrymen. The meeting then resolved that the church should 
be known as St. Mark's in the Bowery. 

Although the body of the church has remained intact to the 
present day the appearance thereof in 1799 was very different 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 757 

as there was neither steeple, porch nor fence and the stone walls 
had not yet been covered with plaster. Inside, the pews in the 
gallery were unfinished, there was no organ and much painting 
remained to be done. The light streamed freely in through the 
plain glazed windows and on the short winter afternoons can- 
dles furnished the illumination when daylight faded. 

The building actually stood, as its name implied, on a farm- 
in the midst of green fields and trees. The built-up portion of 
the city was still far away. Maps of the period do not even indi- 
cate any streets on the east side above Houston Street and in 
fact no plan had yet been adopted for the region above that line. 
while below only straggling houses approached it. The upper 
part of the Island was generally in its original state of hill, 
morass and forest with farm houses and country residences 
scattered along the Albany post road and at the most pictur- 
esque points on the East River. This section was a charming 
rural region where people went to spend the summer. As late 
as 1807 Dr. Harris reported to the Diocesan Convention that 
the number of communicants was 60 to 70 in winter and 120 to 
200 in summer. Besides the Stuyvesant farm there were sev- 
eral large estates so that the regular congregations consisted of 
a few rich families and their servants and dependents. 

The first rector was the Rev. John Callahan and he has been 
succeeded by the Revs. William Harris, William Creighton, 
Henry Anthon, Alexander H. Vinton and Joseph H. Rylanee, 
biographies and portraits of whom appear in the above men- 
tioned volume to which attention is called. Many noticeable tab- 
lets and windows are to be seen in the church. 

Land was given by Stuyvesant — a plot 56-95 — lying on the 
south side of Stuyvesant Street, east of Second Avenue or what 
is now 11th Street and thereon was erected in 1801-2 the par- 
sonage (L. 71:358). On August, 26th, 1803, he made another 
munificent donation of land for a cemetery— a plot 242x190 feet 
opposite the rectory lots and extending eastward. (L. 71:362). 
In the following spring it was resolved to fence it with "neat 
palings in front and boards in their original state on the sides 
and rear." In 1806 the movement began for the erection of the 
steeple which was not fully realized until 20 years later. In 



758 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

the meantime Trinity donated $500 towards it and the small 
bell of St. Paul's. This was hung in the low tower with which 
the vestry were forced to content themselves. The little bell 
continued to ring out over the fields until they were swallowed 
up by houses and the struggling country church had become a 
wealthy city parish. In 1837 a new bell was provided and the 
old donated to St. Clement's. 

In 1807 the first vaults were built in the grounds adjoining 
the church. It was the custom in the early days for every 
church to have a burying ground but this remains today one of 
the few city churches which still preserve adjacent cemeteries. 
In 1811 an organ was rented, and not until 1823 was one pur- 
chased and installed. Oil lamps were substituted for candles in 
1825 and a Sunday School organized the following year. When 
Stuyvesant Street was established up to 2nd Avenue, the stee- 
ple, the construction of which had been delayed pending the 
decision, was constructed. Twelfth Street was opened in 1829 
and Eleventh Street afterwards. Both of these cut off corners 
of the cemetery and made a readjustment of the boundaries 
necessary which was effected by exchanges with adjoining own- 
ers. An act of the Legislature, passed February 4th, 1814, per- 
mitted such a settlement with the consent of the Chancellor. (L. 
130:519; 213:159). A two story building was erected in the 
rear of the church for Sunday school and vestry purposes 
which was finished in 1835. The next year saw a vane placed on 
the steeple and subscriptions opened for a clock to ornament 
the latter. Gas was introduced in 1836 and a stone portico 
added as there was no longer any doubt about the closing of 
Stuyvesant Street and the approach to the church. 

The opening of 2nd Avenue left an irregular plot of ground 
between the church yard and the avenue which Peter G. Stuy- 
vesant offered to sell to the Corporation ; this transfer was made 
May 28th, 1838. The price paid was $10,000 and the land af- 
forded space for 43 vaults. An iron railing was erected this 
year which replaced the picket fence of 1800. In 1851 it was 
decided to buy a plot out of town for a burial place and one was 
selected in the Cemetery of the Evergreens. Quit claims were 
obtained from 61 persons scattered through the country from 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 759 

Maine to California who had interests in the old plot in order 
that it might be sold. The rectory which had stood for 50 years 
was torn down in 1891 and replaced by an apartment house. Al- 
though it was not a "stately mansion" yet, with its old fash- 
ioned gabled roof and dormer windows, it was a quaint reminder 
of the substantial dwellings of olden time. 

On Saturday, November 1st, 1903, a window showing a full 
sized [likeness of Governor Stuyvesant, was unveiled in the 
church, as an additional memorial, by the Daughters of Hol- 
land Dames. Hamilton Fish made the presentation address on 
behalf of the Society. 

Instead of the four hundred residents of the village, who, in 
1702, congregated near the Governor's mansion the city had en- 
compassed it about during the following hundred years and the 
Commissioners ' map fills the section with numerous habitations. 
New streets in the neighborhood were being opened and St. 
Mark's, which, in 1830, had stood for three decades, was becom- 
ing the nucleus of a rapidly built up community of substantial 
people. As early as 1832 schools for young ladies opened. One 
of the most important was that carried on by Mrs. Saffery who 
had a day school in St. Mark's place, with a preparatory annex 
under the direction of Miss SafTery. The terms per quarter for 
English, with its appropriate routine of Study, Needle-work, 
writing and Arithmetic were $10. Special attention, at an ex- 
tra individual charge, was given to "Piano-Forte Playing and 
Theory of Music, the Harp, Drawing, Dancing, Italian, Spanish 
and Latin and Geography and Theory of the Globes," ranging 
from $25 for the Harp to $4 for Latin Grammar. (Courier and 
Enquirer, Dec. 13.) 

The attractions of the neighborhood soon drew a class of 
people for whose accommodation boarding facilities were re- 
quired. The "spacious Mansion House and Grounds," in xAl- 
bion place, at 385 Fourth Street, next door to the corner of the 
Bowery, was announced in the same medium, May 20, 1836, as 
being open for their reception. Some of the allurements men- 
tioned were the large and commodious house, containing forty 
rooms, the dining hall, 65x21 feet, the "truly delightful location 
which was in the most fashionable and healthy part of the city." 



760 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

Mrs. Warren, the landlady, stated that her establishment was 
"a delightful summer residence, fully equal to that of the coun- 
try,' ' and that "gentlemen will be taken to breakfast and tea 
if required." Access was convenient by the Bowery stage 
which passed every five minutes during the day. In 1837 Brow- 
er's "line of Broadway omnibuses " extended its itinerary from 
in front of St. Mark's church, through Eighth Street, to 
Broadway, leaving its terminus at half-past 8, 9, and half- 
past 9 for Wall Street and on the return trips every afternoon 
at half-past 2, 3 and half past 3 o'clock. (C. & Enq., Jan. 28). 

It was during the Mayoralty of Cornelius W. Lawrence. (1836- 
7) that Thomas E. Davis purchased some vacant lots in St. 
Mark's Place and vicinity in an effort to build up the locality. 
(Haswell 321). On July 30, 1836, Alex. J. Davis, Architect, 
with offices at 14 Wall Street and in the X. Y. University Build- 
ing, advertised in the Evening Star, for proposals for furnish- 
ing marble, granite or light free stone for the construction of 
the portico of St. Mark's Church, to be 70 feet front and 25 
feet deep, with six Corinthian columns 4 feet in diameter. The 
plans, elevations and sections were to be viewed at his uptown 
office. 

' 'Splendid Private Residences" began to be constructed. The 
line of Second Avenue was an especial favorite because of its 
width. Advertisements appeared in the press calling attention 
to certain houses under construction. Glowing accounts of their 
attractiveness were narrated. They read very much as present 
builders advertise their wares. That some of the interior im- 
provements may be noted, these special features are mentioned : 
"sliding doors of the richest polished mahogany, silver furni- 
ture intaglio, marble columns by the sliding doors, grates of the 
newest and most splendid pattern in the parlors, silver grates 
and looking glass, summer blowers, made by Ward & Goodby 
and elegant marble mantles by R. J. Brown." The above is 
part of the description of three residences just completed on 
the east side of Second Avenue between Sixth and Seventh 
Streets, each in size 26x56, on lots 125 feet deep, which had been 
eighteen months in building and embraced all recent improve- 
ments. (Coar. & Enq., Nov. 28, 1838). It is difficult to imagine 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 761 

that families could be found who would invest in such expensive 
habitations when the only water to be had was supplied by wells 
located in the kitchen. 

St. Mark's place promised at one time to become one of the 
most fashionable residence streets and Second Avenue was a 
favorite locality. Rich and conservative families colonized the 
surrounding streets. And what aided largely in fixing and re- 
taining for a season fashionable attention to this location was 
the setting apart of pieces of land on each side of that ave- 
nue for a public park. To Peter Gerard Stuyvesant, a great- 
great-grandson of the Governor are the city and especially the 
inhabitants of the east side indebted for this establishment and 
breathing resort. 

In May, 1836, he proposed to the city authorities to convey 
land to them for the purpose, upon condition that it be improved 
and named Holland Square. At their instigation a bill was in- 
troduced at Albany setting apart the land designated. The Act 
passed May 18, 1836, to become effective on the cession of the 
property. By its terms all that part of 16th Street between the 
southeasterly line of Second Avenue and a line drawn parallel 
to and 190 feet distant southeasterly therefrom and all that 
part of 16th Street lying between the northwesterly line of Sec- 
ond Avenue and a line drawn parallel thereto and 190 feet dis- 
tant northwesterly therefrom was discontinued on the map or 
plan of the city. (Sec. 1.) 

By the second section all the land in the 16th Ward, bounded 
northeasterly by 17th Street, northeasterly by Second Avenue, 
southwesterly by 15th Street and southeasterly by a line drawn 
parallel to and distant 190 feet southeasterly from the south- 
easterly line of Second Avenue; also bounded northeasterly by 
17th Street, southeasterly by Second Avenue, southwesterly by 
15th Street and northwesterly by a line parallel to and dis- 
tant 190 feet northwesterly from the northwesterly line of Sec- 
ond Avenue, was declared to be a public square, to be called 
Stuyvesant Square and the same was to be thereafter known as 
such public square on the map or plan of the city. 

Spaces of thirty feet in width were to be laid out on such map 
and opened for public use as ways, from 15th to 16th Streets and 



762 THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 

from 16th to 17th Streets, along the southeasterly and the north- 
westerly sides of such public square. (Sess. Laws, 1836, Chap. 
361.) 

The conveyance from Peter Gerard Stuyvesant and Helen, his 
wife, is on file in the Register's office in Liber 360:550, the date 
of record being Sept. 22, 1836, and the consideration five dollars. 
The conditions attached to the transfer are that an Act closing 
16th Street, 190 feet on each side of Second Avenue must be 
procured, that a parallelogram of 190x450 feet on each side of 
that Avenue must be at once enclosed with a railing similar to 
the one to be placed around Union Place, that said enclosures 
must be planted and improved similar to the improvements in 
Washington Square and that the lands conveyed should at all 
times thereafter be applied to and used exclusively for the pur- 
poses of a public square. The grantor's modest request that the 
park should be known as Holland Square was over-ruled by the 
city authorities. A further deed to the City for land on Ruth- 
erfurd Place, in order to carry out his intentions, was executed 
by said Stuyvesant on April 1, 1846. (L. 476:71.) 

After the grantor's death his executors brought action in 
chancery against the City. The purpose, it is to be presumed, 
was to compel the carrying out of the clauses in the deed and 
for other relief as indicated below. The papers have not been 
found in the office of the Corporation Council or that of the 
County Clerk. The Minutes of the Common Council, however, 
supply the details of the settlement made. On May 14, 1849, 
certain resolutions became valid without the Mayor's sanction 
which provided that, whenever said suit should be discontinued 
and a release or relinquishment executed of all claim for dam- 
age on account thereof, in such manner and form as should be 
approved by the Corporation Counsel, the Corporation of the 
City agreed to pay the cost of the suit and on the appeal to be 
taxed, together with $2,500 for lawyers' fees paid by the execu- 
tors. 

By the second resolution the City bound itself on compliance 
with the above requirements to reduce the carriage way on Sec- 
ond Avenue from 60 to 40 feet, to reset the curb and gutter on 
said Avenue from 11th to 20th Streets ; also to permit the own- 



THE HAMLET AT THE BOUWERIJ 763 

ers of lands thereon from 11th Street southwardly to 4th Street 
and from 20th Street northwardly to 23rd Street to reset (at 
their own expense) the curb and gutter so as to reduce the car- 
riage way to the same width of 40 feet and to grant permission 
to such owners, between 4th and 23rd Streets to enclose 15 feet 
of the sidewalks within court yards, as had been permitted in 
the case of Fifth Avenue, of 23rd Street, etc., etc., and if neces- 
sary to obtain from the Legislature an Act authorizing such 
enclosures. The Corporation further agreed to place a foun- 
tain, equal to that in Union Square, in each of the enclosures 
aforesaid, the same to be under the control of the City officials. 
{Mins. C. G\, Vol. XVII :3). The release is not of record. 

On August 4, 1849, the "widening [sic] of the sidewalks in 
Second Avenue, from 60 to 45 feet" and the resetting of the 
curb and gutter in the Avenue from 11th to 20th Streets were au- 
thorized and the question of building fountains was referred to 
the Croton Aqueduct Board with instructions to procure plans 
and estimates and submit them to the Common Council. Said 
Department was directed on October 11 to erect the fountains 
and $7,500 was appropriated to cover the expense. 

Considering the above action it is rather disconcerting that 
the Mayor should have approved resolutions, Jan. 5, 1850, open- 
ing as a public square the triangular piece of ground lying be- 
tween and contained by the Bowery, Third Avenue and 7th 
Street, (Vol. XVII :566) and that the Legislature should have 
passed a law, March 16 of that year laying out a public place 
on the above plot to be known as Stuyvesant Square, (Chap. 65.) 
This has now become Cooper Square and lies just south of 
Cooper Union. 

Many people of note settled around the original square. Those 
families which inherited parts of the Stuyvesant farm were 
anxious to live thereon and built substantial brick mansions 
along the broad stretch of Second Avenue. Their following went 
with them and a great deal of the social gaiety of the City was 
transferred away over to the East Side. There still remain 
niany of these fine old houses where people live in comfort and 
it is yet a highly respectable place of residence which, although 
fashion has passed by, clings tenaciously to its old home charms. 






Chapters in the History of Halifax, 
Nova Scotia 

No. II— The Coming of the Boston Tories 

By Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton, M. A., D. C. L. 

"Time was when America hallowed the morn 
On which the lov'd monarch of Britain was born, 
Hallowed the day, and joyfully chanted 
God save the King! 
Then flourish 'd the blessings of freedom and peace, 
And plenty flow'd in with a yearly increase, 
Proud of our lot we chanted merrily 
Glory and joy crown the King! 



i 



"But see! how rebellion has lifted her head! 
How honour and truth are with loyalty fled ! 
Few are there now to join us in chanting 
God save the King! 
And see! how deluded the multitude fly 
To arm in a cause that is built on a lye ! 
Yet are we proud to chant thus merrily 
Glory and joy crown the King!" 

Loyalist Poem by the Rev. Jonathan Odell, M. D., on the 
King's birthday, June 4, 1777. Printed in the Gentleman's 
Magazine. 

OF THE several provinces that constitute the Domin- 
ion of Canada, Quebec and Nova Scotia were the only 
ones at the time of American Revolution that could 
be considered settled. The nearest of the provinces 
to the colonies engaged in revolt was Nova Scotia, and the fact 
that her population had in great part only recently been drawn 
from New England, and that her trade was still most largely 
with Boston, gives this province a significance in the great strug- 

(764) 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 765 

gle for independence that is second only to that of the revolt- 
ing colonies themselves. Political sympathies are usually most 
strongly determined by racial connection and commercial inter- 
est, and with a large proportion of the people of Nova Scotia 
at the period of the Revolution, near ties of blood and the neces- 
sities of trade naturally combined to produce a feeling of sym- 
pathy with the revolt, that showed itself strongly throughout 
the province, particularly in the two important but widely sepa- 
rated counties of Yarmouth and Cumberland. That in the Rev- 
olution the political fate of Nova Scotia "hung upon a very 
slender thread" is a statement that has recently been boldly 
made in Nova Scotia itself, and strong as the statement to many 
people may seem, the facts in the case we believe fully warrant 
the historian in making the charge that his statement implies. 1 
Geographically, Nova Scotia and the adjoining province of 
New Brunswick, which until 1783 was reckoned as part of 
Nova Scotia, belong with New England, and in the commissions 
of several of the governors sent out as the chief executives of 
Massachusetts, Nova Scotia was included as part of the terri- 
tory over which these officials were empowered to exercise con- 
trol. 2 For two-thirds of a century before the Revolution, ever 
since England had gained the final undisputed right to rule Aca- 
dia, intercourse, political and social, between the two provinces 
had been of the closest kind. Massachusetts, indeed, for much of 
this time had been in a military way much more than a friendly 



1. Edmund Duval Poole in "Annals of Yarmouth and Barrington," page 1. 

2. Sir William Phips's commission, in 1692, gave this governor control of 
"the Old Colony, the Colony of New Plymouth, the Province of Maine, of Nova 
Scotia, and all the country between the last two mentioned places.'' See Sparks's 
American Biography, Vol. 7, p. 77. William Shirley's commission, in 1741, reads : 
"Whereas by a Royal Charter under the Great Seal of England, bearing date the 
Seventh day of October in the 3rd year of the Reign of King William the Third, 
the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, the Colony of New Plymouth, the Province of 
Main in New England, the Territory of Acadie or Nova Scotia, and the Lands 
lying between the said Territory of Nova Scotia and the Province of Main afore- 
said were United, Erected, and incorporated into one real Province, by the name 
of Our Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England. . . . W r e repos- 
ing Especial Trust and Confidence in the Prudence, Courage, and Loyalty of you 
the said William Shirley. ... do Constitute and Appoint You the said Wil- 
liam Shirley to be Our Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over Our 
said Province of the Massachusetts Bay." "The Correspondence of William Shir- 
ley," edited by Charles Henry Lincoln, Ph.D., Vol. 1, pp. 2^-36. The "seventh day 
pf October in the third year of the Reign of King William the Third" was Octo- 
ber 7, 1691. 



766 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

neighbor to the more easterly province, she had, primarily of 
course for her own protection, used her forces unsparingly in 
guarding the interests of Nova Scotia against the machinations 
of the common foe of all the eastern American colonies, the 
papistical French. 3 In the matter of trade the two provinces 
had been extremely valuable to each other, important commer- 
cial intercourse between them having begun even earlier than the 
time that De Razilly's warring lieutenants, D'Aulnay Charni- 
say and Charles La Tour, were waging their petty wars for su- 
premacy in the Acadian woods. 

As we have seen, there was no attempt at British settlement 
of Nova Scotia until 1749, and thereafter no further attempt un- 
til 1758, so that the political grievances of which long settled 
Massachusetts had come to complain had had no chance to de- 
velop in the former province. But the population of Nova Sco- 
tia, wherever population existed in the districts outside of Hali- 
fax, had been largely drawn from New England, and as has 
been said, and as we should expect, these Nova Scotian New 
Englanders soon after the outbreak of the Revolution showed 
unmistakable signs of close sympathy with the cause to which 
their relatives and friends in the colonies they had left behind 
had given their passionate support. At Halifax, however, mat- 
ters were different, many of the most influential inhabitants of 
the town, it is true, were New Englanders, but society there had 
begun on a distinctly aristocratic plan, the governor was an 
Englishman, the council, into which several New England men 
had already been admitted, was a body which stimulated and 
gave exercise for the love of power which most men possess, 
and already a considerable number of the Boston Congregation- 



3. In 1747, Governor Shirley wrote the Duke of Newcastle that "New Eng- 
land had furnished for years the only succour and support the Garrison at An- 
napolis Royal had received, and that the General Assembly of Massachusetts were 
growing tired of having the burden of defence thrown upon them, and desired 
his Majesty's more immediate interposition for the protection of Nova Scotia." 
Archdeacon Raymond, LL.D., in "Nova Scotia under English Rule; from the 
Capture of Port Royal to the Conquest of Canada, A. D. 1710-1760." published in 
the "Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada," Third Series 1910, p. 68. 

March 28, 1750, Shirley writes the Duke of Newcastle that Nova Scotia hav- 
ing long been the object of his attention, appears to him "immediately to affect 
the safety of all his [Majesty's] other Northern Colonies, particularly those of 
New England, and in its consequences the interests of Great Britain itself in a 
very high degree." "The Correspondence of William Shirley." 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 767 

aiists settled in the town had conceived an attachment, stronger 
or weaker, for the Anglican Church. When the Revolution 
began, therefore, self interest for most of the Halifax men 
seemed to demand that whatever might come they should keep 
Joyal to England, hence the strong censure with which any disaf- 
fection towards British control was visited at Halifax from first 
*.o last through the whole continuance of the war. 

The Revolutionary conflict started in Massachusetts on the 
nineteenth of April, 1775, by the march of some eight or nine 
hundred royal troops from Boston towards Concord to seize 
stores of ammunition and food the provincials had collected there 
for use in the impending certain strife. The attempt was un- 
successful, and before long Boston, where the British forces 
were gathered, was completely surrounded by provincial troops 
and all supplies for the King's army were cut ©fY. As soon as 
this fact became known in Nova Scotia, Governor Legge of this 
province ordered shipments of provisions from the Bay of Fnn- 
dy, and likewise dispatched four companies of the 65th regi- 
ment, then stationed at Halifax, to assist the royal troops in the 
beleaguered town. In the Massachusetts Archives is a mass of 
documents which reveal with great clearness the unhappy con- 
ditions which existed both in Nova Scotia and in Massachusetts, 
from the prohibition of all intercourse between the two prov- 
inces by the patriot authorities of Massachusetts, throughout 
the progress of the strife, until the enactment of the resolve of 
July fifth, 1792, by the Massachusetts Great and General Court 
abolished privateering and put trade relations once more on a 
friendly basis. 

Fear that the interruption of trade relations, and more es- 
pecially that the close relationship that existed between a 
gTeat part of the inhabitants of Nova Scotia and the people of 
Xew England, might produce a feeling of sympathy in Nova 
Scotia with the revolting colonies, caused the government at 
Halifax to bestir themselves vigorously almost as soon as the 
Revolution began to check any outward demonstration of dis- 
loyalty the Nova Scotians might be disposed to make. At the 
I opening of the Legislature in June, 1775, Governor Legge in 
his speech said diplomatically : * ' On so critical a conjuncture of 



768 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

affairs in America I cannot forbear expressing the great pleas- 
ure and satisfaction I receive from your steady and uniform be- 
haviour in your duty and allegiance to the King, and in your 
due observance of the laws of Great Britain. Nothing can more 
advance the good and welfare of this people, nor render us more 
respectable to Great Britain, nor be more subservient to procure 
the favour and protection of our Royal and most gracious sov- 
ereign; as on the continuance of his protection our safety, our 
prosperity, and the very existence of this colony depends." The 
replies of the Council and the Assembly to this speech were as 
loyal in tone as could be asked, but the Governor soon began in 
letters to the Home Government to charge disloyalty to England 
on most of the people under his rule, clearly insinuating that 
even members of the Council itself were tainted with treasonable 
feeling. 4 Positive orders issued both by the revolted colonies 
and the Governor and Council of this province prohibiting in- 
tercourse between Nova Scotia and the other colonies soon pro- 



4. At Halifax the restraint of trade was of course severely felt, and a few 
persons there were charged by name with unfriendliness towards the English 
cause. A quantity of hay had been bought from Mr. Joseph Fairbanks for the 
King's troops at Boston, but by some means it was burned before it could be got 
away. Responsibility for destroying it was publicly laid on two Massachusetts 
residents of the town, John Fillis. formerly of Boston, and William Smith. They 
stoutly denied the charge, however, and the council exonerated them. In Octo- 
ber, 1777, an order was passed in council for the arrest of Mr. Malachy Salter, 
one of the most prominent merchants of the town, also a native Bostonian, 
on a charge of correspondence of a dangerous tendency with parties in Boston, 
and a prosecution was ordered against him for unlawful correspondence with 
the rebels. In the next session of the Supreme Court Mr. Salter was tried but 
he too was honourably acquitted. 

The Eddy rebellion in Cumberland county in 1776, led by Jonathan Eddy, John 
Allan, and Samuel Rogers, all of whom had been members of the Nova Scotia 
Legislature, is a conspicuous matter of Revolutionary history. How the news of 
this rebellion affected the government at Halifax a minute of the council books 
shows. This notable entry is as follows : 

"At a council holden at Halifax, on the 17th Nov., 1776, Present the Honoura- 
ble the Lieut. Governor, the Hon. Charles Morris. Richard Bulkeley, Henry New- 
ton, Jonathan Binney, Arthur Goold. John Butler. 

"On certain intelligence having been received that Jonathan Eddy, William 
Howe, and Samuel Rogers have been to the utmost of their power exciting and 
stirring up disaffection and rebellion among the people of the county of Cumber- 
land, and are actually before the fort at Cumberland with a considerable number 
of rebels from New England, together with some Acadians and Indians. It was 
therefore resolved to offer £200 Reward for apprehending Jonathan Eddy and 
iioo for apprehending John Allan, who has been deeply concerned in exciting said 
rebellion. : ' 

A fact never entirely lost sight of by historians of Halifax is that in this 
Eddy rebellion in Cumberland a young Irishman, Richard John Uniacke. who in 
later life was to hold high positions in the local government and to found in 
Halifax a family of the first importance, took part against the British authorities. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 769 

dueed a most unhappy state of feeling all over the province; 
Nova Scotia had lost her markets, privateering on both sides was 
rampant on the seas, so large a number of prisoners were being 
brought into Halifax that the prison ship in the harbour and 
the jail in the town were full to overflowing, and to crown all an 
order had gone out from Governor Legge for the enrollment of 
a large body of militia in various parts of the province for im- 
mediate service, if necessary in the field. Legge, who was a rel- 
ative of the Earl of Dartmouth, was the most unpopular gover- 
nor Nova Scotia has ever had, he was autocratic and suspicious, 
and in the three years that he spent as head of the government, 
he managed hopelessly to antagonize not only the lieutenant- 
governor, Mr. Michael Francklin, and the members of the Coun- 
cil, but the people at large of perhaps every settled township in 
the province under his rule. His order to the militia was re- 
ceived throughout the province with marked disapprobation; 
i i Those of us who belong to New England being invited into this 
province by Governor Lawrence's proclamation,' ' say the peo- 
ple of Cumberland, "it must be the greatest piece of cruelty 
and imposition for them to be subjected to march into different 
parts in arms against their friends and relations." Protests 
from Onslow and Truro speak of the hardships of the militia 
law, since it takes men from their avocations, and also leaves the 
parts of the country from which they come exposed to attack. 

The movement of Loyalists from Massachusetts to Nova Sco- 
tia began very soon after the skirmish at Lexington. Many per- 
sons of comfortable fortune, in and near Boston, foresaw that if 
the provincials triumphed their own fortunes must lie elsewhere 
than in their native province, and cast their eyes on Nova Scotia 
as a place of refuge. Early in May, 1775, therefore, several 
vessels arrived in Halifax harbour with families that were glad 
to escape thus early from the scene of what clearly threatened 
to be a miserable and protracted civil war. 

The first Massachusetts Loyalists that we know to have ar- 
rived in Halifax were a group who embarked at Salem on the 
twenty-ninth of April, 1775, in the brig Minerva. This group 
comprised Mr. George DeBlois, a local Salem merchant, a first 
cousin of Gilbert and Lewis DeBlois, the well known Boston 



770 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

Tories who died in England, — Dr. John Prince, a Salem physi- 
cian, Mr. James Grant, and a Mrs. Cottnam and her family. 5 
A little over a month later, on the eighth of June, 1775, Edward 
Lyde and his family of Boston left their native city, in some 
syessel, and sought refuge in Halifax. Edward Lyde was a 

-prosperous iron merchant, a man of the first social position, who 
had managed to make himself highly offensive to the patriots, 
;m<\ his flight from his native town at this early period seems 
to have been necessary for his safety. Precisely where in Hali- 
fax he lived during the year he spent there we do not know, but 
when his friends from Boston arrived with General Howe, as 
we shall presently see, he met Chief Justice Peter Oliver, and 
at once took him to his house, where he kept him during his stay. 
Some time in 1776, Mr. Lyde embarked for London, though he 
did not long stay abroad. In 1779 he came to New York, where 
he had important business interests, and in that city he spent 

^most of the remainder of his life. 6 When Howe's fleet reached 
Halifax, among the Eefugees that came with it were Mr. By- 

^ field Lyde of Boston, Edward Lyde's father, and two or three 
sisters of Edward Lyde. Of these sisters, Sarah, became in 
3777, in Halifax, the second wife of Dr. Mather Byles. 

Very soon after the battle of Lexington, Major John Vassall 
of Cambridge and Boston, and his family, and Colonel Isaac 
Eoyall of Medford, sailed for Halifax, and with the latter prob- 
ably went also Sir William Pepperrell, 2nd, Colonel Eoyall 's son- 
in-law, and Lady Pepperrell. In Halifax Lady Pepperrell died, 
her funeral taking place there October eighth, 1775. Late in 
1775, or early in 1776, Rev. John Troutbeck, who had been for 
about twenty-one years assistant minister of King's Chapel, 
also took refuge in Halifax, and with the exception of the Pep- 



5. See the writer's "Old Boston Families, No. I, the DeBlois Family," in the 
■■33. E. Hist, and Gen. Register for January, 1913. Mrs. Cottnam afterward kept 

a school for girls, first in Halifax, then in St. John. She and her daughter are 
..occasionally referred to in the Byles correspondence. 

6. Edward Lyde's movements are clearly learned from the deposition he 
-made before the commissioners appointed to receive petitions from Loyalists for 
compensation for their losses in the Revolution. See "Ontario Sessional Papers,* 
Vol. 37, Parts 11 and 12 (2 Vols., 1905). 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 771 

perrells these persons -were all in Nova Scotia when Howe's 
lieet arrived in March and April, 17 76. 7 

Almost immediately after the battle of Lexington, as we have 
said, Boston came into a state of siege, General Gage promptly 
ordering the inhabitants of the town to have no communication 
whatever with the country around. Just before the battle of 
Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775), General Howe said to his troops: 
"Remember, gentlemen, we have no recourse if we lose Boston, 
but to go on board our ships, which will be very disagreeable to 
us all." On the seventh of March. 1776, Howe's situation "was 
perplexing and critical. The fleet was unable to ride in safety 
in the harbour. The army, exposed to the mercy of the American 
batteries and not strong enough to force the lines, was humiliat- 
ed and discontented. The Loyalists were expecting and claim- 
ing the protection that had so often been guaranteed to them. 8 In 



7. Rev. John Troutbeck was in Boston as late as October, 1775. when he 
signed the address from the gentlemen and principal inhabitants of Boston to 
Governor Gage. When Dr. William Walter, Rector of Trinity Church, Boston, 
arrived in Halifax we do not know, but it was probably earlier than the coming 
there of Howe's fleet. 

Colonel Isaac Royall left his beautiful mansion in Medford (which is stand- 
ing still) with great sorrow, three days before the battle of Lexington. He ex- 
pected to go to Antigua, but he soon decided to go to Halifax, and in that town 
he remained until the Spring of 1776. Probably in May, 1776, he embarked for 
iingland, and there without ever revisiting his native country, he died in 1781. 
One of his daughters was the wife of Col. George Erving, another the wife of 
Sir Wiiliam Pepperrell, 2nd. 

Of Colonel Royall's house at Medford, Mr. Stark writes : 'The mansion it- 
self was inded one of the finest of colonial residences, standing as it did in the 
midst of elegant surroundings. In the front, or what is now the west side, was 
the paved court. Reaching farther west were the extensive gardens, opening from 
the courtyard, a broad path leading to the summer house. The slave quarters 
were at the south. . . . The interior woodwork of the house is beautifully 
carved, especially the drawing room, guest chamber, and staircase. The walls are 
pannelled, and the carving on each side of the windows is very -fine/' 

This notable mansion was the scene of great hospitality. "No home in the 
colony," continues Mr. Stark, "was more open to friends, no gentleman gave bet- 
ter dinners, or drank costlier wines." Colonel Royal was a kind master to his 
slaves, a charitable man to the poor, and a friend to everybody. From Halifax, 
March twelfth. 1776, he wrote from Halifax to Dr. Simon Tufts of Medford, 
directing Tufts to sell some of his slaves. See Stark's "The Loyalists of Massa- 
chusetts," pp. 293, 294; and Brooks's "History of Medford," p. 173. 

8. Public acts of the Massachusetts Loyalists that were particularly offensive 
to the patriot party were, a respectful address of the merchants and others of 
Boston to Governor Hutchinson, May 30, 1774, before Hutchinson's departure for 
England; an address of the barristers and attorneys of Massachusetts to Gover- 
nor Hutchinson on the same day; an address of the inhabitants of Marblehead 
to Governor Hutchinson, May 25, 1774; an address to Governor Hutchinson from 
his fellow townsmen in the town of Milton shortly before the Governor sailed; 
an address presented to his Excellency Governor Gage, July 11, 1774, on his ar- 
rival at Salem; a loyal address from the gentlemen and principal inhabitants of 



772 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

addition, the belief was general that no despatches had been re- 
ceived from the government since October." Accordingly, on 
the 7th of March, 1776, Howe convened his officers in Council, 
and in a speech, impassioned and forceful, told them that in 
spite of the humiliation which the action would involve, and 
of the losses that the Loyalists under his protection must inevi- 
tably suffer, in order to save the army he must evacuate the town. 
Ten days later the formal evacuation came. On Sunday the 
17th, very early in the morning, the troops began to embark. 
" About nine o'clock," says Frothingham, "the garrison left 
Bunker Hill, and a large number of boats, rilled with troops and 
inhabitants, put off from the wharves of Boston." How soon 
after his final decision was made to leave Boston Howe notified 
the majority of the Loyalists under his protection, we do not 
know, but the Eev. Henry Caner, Eector of King's Chapel, tells 
us that he himself had only a few hours given him to prepare for 
his flight. 

Although the formal evacuation occurred on the seventeenth 
of March, the whole fleet did not leave Boston harbour for sev- 
eral days, and Frothingham says that during that time the 
British officers wrote many letters to their friends. On the day 
of the evacuation, one wrote from "Nantasket Road": "The 
dragoons are under orders to sail tomorrow for Halifax,— a 



Boston to Governor Gage, October 6, 1775, shortly before he sailed for England; 
and a "loyal address to Governor Gage on his departure. October 14, 1775, of 
those gentlemen who were driven from their habitations in the country to the 
town of Boston." 

In September, 1778, was passed by the General Court of Massachusetts the 
Banishment Act of the State, '"an Act to prevent the return to this state of cer- 
tain persons therein named, and others who have left this state or either of the 
United States, and joined the enemies thereof." In this were included many gen- 
tlemen in various professions and businesses prominent in several towns of the 
State. The second section of the act reads: "And be it further enacted by the 
authority- aforesaid, that if any person or persons, who shall be transported as 
aforesaid, shall voluntarily return into this state, without liberty first had and ob- 
tained from the general court, he shall on conviction thereof before the superior 
court of judicature, court of assize and general gaol delivery, suffer the pains of 
death without benefit of clergy." On the 30th of April, 1779, was passed the "Con- 
spiracy Act," or Act of Confiscation, "an Act to confiscate the estates of certain 
notorious conspirators against the government and liberties of the inhabitants of 
the late province, now state, of Massachusetts Bay." (The term "notorious con- 
spirators" was highly insulting to men who were honestly convinced that what- 
ever the mistakes the British Government was then making, it was wrong to 
throw off allegiance to the mother land. Private letters of Harrison Gray in the 
writer's custody show how indignantly they resented it, and how inappropriate it 
really was). 



. 






THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 773 

cursed, cold, wintry place, even yet ; nothing to eat, less to 
drink. Bad times, my dear friend." On the twenty-fifth of 
March, another wrote: "We do not know where we are going, 
but are in great distress." On the twenty-sixth, still another 
wrote: "Expect no more letters from Boston. We have quitted 
that place. Washington played on the town for several days. 
A shell, which burst while we were preparing to embark did very 
great damage. Our men have suffered. We have one consola- 
tion left. You know the proverbial expression, 'neither Hell, 
Hull, nor Halifax,' can afford worse shelter than Boston. 9 To 
fresh provision I have for many months been an utter stranger. 
An egg was a rarity. Yet I submit. A soldier may mention 
grievances, though he should scorn to repine when he suffers 
them. The next letter from Halifax." 

The whole effective besieging force that withdrew with Howe, 
says Lossing, including seamen, was about eleven thousand, and 
the number of Eefugees about eleven hundred, but a list of the 
latter in the handwriting of one of them, Mr. Walter Barrell, 
Inspector General of Customs, which was long ago printed in the 
"Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society," gives 
the number as nine hundred and twenty-seven. 10 In Barrell *s 



9. "There is a proverb, and a prayer withal, 

That we may not to three strange places fall: 
From Hull, from Halifax, from Hell, 'tis thus, 
From all these three, good Lord, deliver us!" 
John Taylor (the "Water Poet"), 1 580-1654; in "News from Hell, Hull, and 
Halifax." 

The siege of Boston had been in progress for ten months when Howe evac- 
uated the town. 

10. ''Proceedings of the Mass. Hist. Soc," Vol. 18, p. 266. Also Stark's 
"Loyalists of Massachusetts," pp. 133-136. In his "Siege of Boston," Richard 
Frothingham, Jr., gives the number of Refugees with Howe as "more than a thou- 
sand." Of members of Council, commissioners, custom-house officers, and others 
who had occupied official positions, he says, there were a hundred and two; of 
merchants and other inhabitants of Boston two hundred and thirteen; of persons 
from the country a hundred and five; of farmers, traders, and mechanics three 
hundred and eighty-two. and of clergymen eighteen, all of whom "returned their 
names on their arrival at Halifax." About two hundred others, he adds, did not 
return their names. Where the "return" made at Halifax, that Frothingham 
speaks of, was ever deposited we do not know. Nor can we feel at all certain 
that Frothingham's summary is correct. It is impossible, for instance, that there 
can have been eighteen clergymen among the Refugees. The only Massachusetts 
clergymen that the fleet can possibly have carried were Rev. Dr. Henry Caner, 
Rector of King's Chapel, Rev. Dr. Mather Byles. who had been Rector of Christ 
Church, Rev. Moses Badger, whose home was in Haverhill, and possiblv though 
not at all likely, Rev. Dr. William Walter, Rector of Trinity Church. When Dr. 



774 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

list we find besides Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Oliver and his 
servants, six persons in all, eleven members of council, and a 
clerk of the courts, they and their households numbering in all 
seventy-three, — a group of custom house officials numbering no 
less than thirty-seven, they and their families aggregating a 
hundred and thirty-two, and two hundred and twenty-eight other 
men, with their families, these comprising the greater number 
of the Bostonians in private life who were regarded as occupy- 
ing the most prominent positions in the town. Among the Refu- 
gees were Hon. Harrison Gray, Eeceiver General of the prov- 
ince and member of council, Brigadier-General Timothy Rug- 
gles, Hon. Foster Hutchinson, Col. John Murray, Col. Josiah 
Edson, Mr. Richard Lechmere, Col. John Erving, Mr. Nathaniel 
Ray Thomas, Messrs. Abijah Willard, Daniel Leonard, Nathan- 
iel Hatch, George Erving,— and leading representatives of the 
families of Atkinson, Brattle, Brinley, Cazneau, Chandler, Cof- 
fin, Cutler, DeBlois, Dumaresq, Faneuil, Gardener, Gay, Gore, 
Gray, Green, Greenwood, Holmes, Hutchinson, Inman, Jefferies, 
Johannot, Joy, Loring, Lyde, Oliver, Paddock, Perkins, Phips, 
Putnam, Rogers, Saltonstall, Savage, Sergeant, Snelling, 
Sterns or Stearns, and Winslow. That several other important 
Boston men like Thomas Apthorp, and Major John and Wil- 
liam Vassall, are not found in this list of Refugees with the fleet 
is to be accounted for by the fact that they had left, either for 
Halifax or directly for England, some time before. 12 



Walter went to Halifax, we have nowhere found recorded, it may have been 
with the fleet, or it may have been, as was the case with Rev. John Troutbeck, a 
little earlier. There may have been several army or navy chaplains on Howe's 
ships, there were no Massachusetts clergymen except those we have mentioned. 

ii. On page 136 of his "Loyalists of Massachusetts" Mr. Stark gives the names 
of thirty-six mandamus councillors appointed August 9, 1774. Of these, several, 
like Foster Hutchinson, Timothy Ruggles, and Nathaniel Ray Thomas, going with 
the fleet, settled permanently in Nova Scotia. 

12. Judge Curwen. of Salem, one of the most important Massachusetts Loy- 
alists, landed at Dover, England, July 3, 1775, and after visiting the castle there, 
at once took coach for London. The next evening, at seven o'clock, he arrived at 
the New England Coffee-House, on Threadneedle Street. He remained in Eng- 
land until 1784, when at the urgent solicitation of his old friends, "the principal 
merchants and citizens of Salem," he returned to New England. At Salem he 
says, "not a man, woman, or child but expressed a satisfaction at seeing me, and 
welcomed me back." His affairs were in so bad a condition, however, that he 
thought he might have to "retreat to Nova Scotia," but he staid in Salem, and 
died there in 1802. April 24, 1780, he writes : 

"This day, five years are completed since I abandoned my house, estate, and 
effects and friends. God only knows whether I shall ever be restored to them, 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 775 

On the thirtieth of March. 1776, so tradition has it, the Hali- 
fax people, who had had no previous notice of the action of 
Howe, were startled to see a fleet sailing into their harbour. 13 
Their first thought was that another French fleet bent on re-con- 
quest of Nova Scotia had suddenly surprised the town, but the 
truth was soon learned, and then the greatest perplexity arose 
to know how to house the thousand civilians who wished to dis- 
embark from the ships, and to provide food for the more than 
eleven thousand soldiers and sailors that General Howe's forces 
comprised. To supply shelter every available spare room in the 
town was quickly secured and tents were thrown up on the 
Parade, and for food, cattle were rapidly driven in from the 
suburbs and slaughtered, and all shops and storehouses were 
taxed to the limit of their supplies. So great was the demand 
for food that as in all such crises the price of provisions rose to 
what was then an exorbitant figure, and this went on until the 
Governor was obliged to issue a proclamation fixing the price of 
meat at a shilling a pound, milk at sixpence a quart, and butter 
at one and six-pence a pound. 

At this time, it will be remembered, Halifax was only twenty- 
seven years old, and its regular inhabitants numbered not more 
than between three and four thousand, and we can well imagine 
the excitement that must have prevailed in all ranks of society 
at the sudden descent of such a force on the town, and at the 
prospect of such a permanent increase to the population as the 
remaining there of a large number of the Bostonians would 
make. Towards the troops and the people who accompanied 
them, however, there seems to have been generally the kindest 
feeling shown, and however limited the hospitality the Hali- 
gionians were able to offer, the Boston people were no doubt 
thankful to their hearts' core to receive it, for they had been 
living for months previous to their enforced embarkation in a 



or they to me. Party rage, like jealousy and superstition is cruel as the grave; — 
that moderation is a crime, and in time of civil confusions, many good, virtuous, 
and peaceable persons now suffering banishment from America are the wretched 
proofs and instances." See Curwen's "Journal and Letters," and Stark's "Loy- 
alists of Massachusetts," pp. 246-254. 

13- This is the tradition, but it is also said somewhere in print that when 
General Howe found that he must leave Boston he dispatched Brigadier-General 
Robertson to Halifax to make ready for the troops. 


















I 






77 y 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 



state of apprehension and in some cases of real physical discom- 
fort. The distress of the troops and inhabitants of Boston dur- 
ing the siege, some one wrote at the time, "is great beyond all 
possible description. Neither vegetables, flour, nor pulse for the 
inhabitants; the King's stores are so very short none can be 
spared for them; no fuel, and the winter set in remarkably se- 
vere. The troops and inhabitants absolutely and literally starv- 
ing for want of provisions and fire." 14 

Details of the voyage of these Boston Tories to Halifax are 
not entirely wanting. In the Journal of Chief-Justice Peter Oli- 
ver, as quoted in Thomas Hutchinson's "Diary and Letters," 15 
we have one prominent Bostonian's account of it. On the sev- 
enteenth of March, the day of the embarkation, Judge Oliver 
writes: "The troops at Boston embarked, and about 20 sail fell 
down into King's Road by 11 o'clock this morning." On the 
twenty-seventh, then well at sea, he writes : "I sailed from Nan- 
tasket, at 3 o'clock, afternoon, in the 2nd and last Division of 
the fleet, about 70 sail, for Haliifax, under convoy of the Chat- 
ham, Admiral Shuldham, and of the Centurion, Capt n Braith- 
waite— 28th, A good wind. 29th, Ditto. Were on Cape Sable 
Bank. 30th, Wind about X. E. A tumbling sea, supposed to be 
occasioned by the indraught of the Bay of Fundy. 31st, Ditto. 
April 1st, A tumbling sea : wind at N. E. 2nd, A southerly wind 
and smooth sea. Made land, on a north course, about 3 o'clock 
afternoon, and came to anchor before Haliifax at half an hour 
past 7 at night. 3d, Landed at Haliifax. Edward Lyde, Esq. in- 
vited me to his house, where I tarried till I embarqued for Eng- 
land. I was very happy in being at Mr. Lyde's, as there was so 
great an addition to the inhabitants from the navy and army, 
and Refugees from Boston, which made the lodgings for them 
very scarce to be had, and many of them, when procured, quite 
intolerable. Provisions were here as dear as in London. The 
rents of houses were extravagant and the owners of them took all 
advantages of the necessity of the times, so that I knew of three 
rooms in one house w ch house could not cost 500£ Sterl g , let for 
£250 Sterl g p year. Thus mankind prey upon each other. . . . 



14. We can understand from this account how it was that the Old North 
Church, the Church of the Mathers (Dr. Increase and Dr. Cotton Mather), with 
about twenty other buildings, was torn down for fuel during the siege. 

15. "Diary and Letters of Thomas Hutchinson,'' Vol. 2, pp. 46-54. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 777 

I pitied the misfortunes of others, but I could only pity them : for 
myself, I was happily provided for, and was the more happy, as 
1 had been very sea-sick during my 6 1-2 days voyage, so that I 
could not enjoy to my wishes, the grand prospect of the ocean 
covered with ships in view, and some of them so near as to con- 
verse with our friends on board them. " 

How Halifax appeared to the Refugees we also learn from 
Judge Oliver's journal. " Halifax, " Oliver writes, "is a very 
agreeable situation for prospects, and for trade: it is situated 
on a rising ground fronting the Harbour and ocean. There are 
6 or 7 streets parallel to each other on the side of the hill, of 
about 1 1-2 or 2 miles in length, very strait, and of good width. 
There are many others which ascend the hill, and intersect the 
long streets. On the top of the hill there is now a most delight- 
ful prospect of the harbour, Islands near the entrance of the 
harbor, and of the ocean, so that you may see vessells at a very 
great distance at sea : and when the woods are cleared off, there 
will be a most delightfull landscape, but at present there is not 
a great deal of cleared land. 

"The harbor of Hallifax is a most excellent one, capable of 
containing the whole English navy, where they may ride land- 
locked against any storms ; at this time there are 200 sail before 
the town ; and when L d Lodoun was here in the year 1757, there 
were above 300 sail of vessells in the harbor. It is above a mile 
wide for 3 or 4 miles, and it is deep with good anchorage, and a 
bold shore. Above the harbor there is a Basin which empties 
into it; it is 5 or 6 miles broad, and 7 or 8 miles long; a good 
shore, and in some places 50 fathom deep. In this Basin Duke 
D'Anville retired out of observation in y e year 1745 [sic], and 
here he left one of his 70 gun ships, which is now at the bottom 
of this Basin. 

"The houses of Hallifax seem to have been sowed like mush- 
rooms in an hot-bed, and to have decayed as fast; for although 
they have been built but a few years, yet there are scarce any of 
them habitable, and perhaps a conflagration might occasion a 
Phoenix to rise out of its ashes." 16 



16. Chief Justice Oliver further says : "During my stay at Hallifax, as well 
as during my residence in Boston, I was treated with y e utmost politeness, not to 



778 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

Until early in June Howe's fleet lay at Halifax, the general 
up to this time having undoubtedly been waiting for the arrival 
of his brother, Admiral Lord Richard Howe, with instructions 
for his further movements. In June the fleet sailed for New 
York, and there in July the general was joined by his brother, 
who brought with him a large force, and came armed with the 
King's authority to the general and himself to treat with the 
rebels, who it was fondly believed could yet be cajoled into more 
complaisancy towards the mother country. 17 

Of the high standing in Boston of these Refugees with Howe's 
fleet, a writer in the "Memorial History of Boston," giving the 
names of a hundred and forty of the Loyalists proscribed in 
1778 as inveterate enemies to the State, says: "When it is con- 
sidered that forty-five of the above were termed esquires, nine 
were ministers and doctors, and thirty-six were merchants, we 
can form some idea of the great social changes produced by the 
Revolution. ... It can easily be seen that this forced emi- 
gration must have had the effect to destroy the continuity of the 
social history of the town. The persons who adhered to the 
Crown were naturally the wealthy and conservative classes. They 
composed the families which had prospered during the preceding 
century and which had been gradually forming a local aristoc- 



say friendship, by General Howe, who offered and urged me to every assistance 
1 might wish for, and assured me, now at Hallifax, of being provided with a good 
ship for my passage to England ; but the Harriot Pacquet, Cap n Lee, being sent 
to carry home Gov r Legge cf Hallifax, Mr. Legge invited rrv niece Jenny Clarke 
and myself to take passage with him ; not suffering us to uy in any stores for 
ourselves, but to partake in his, of which he had made ample provision." 

Judge Oliver then proceeds : "We accordingly embarked in the s d Packet on 
y 6 I2th May, having as passengers in the cabin Gov r Legge. James Monk, Esq., 
Solicitor General of Hallifax, and his lady, Mr. Birch, Chaplain of a Regiment, 
and Miss Clarke and myself. We embarked at 8 o'clock in the morning, and came 
to sail at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. There were six sail more in company, con- 
voyed by the Glasgow Man-of-War, Cap n How.'' the voyage to England was made 
in three weeks, the ship reaching Falmouth harbour about midnight of the first 
of June. 

It is probable that in the "six sail" Judge Oliver mentions went to England 
most of the Tories who did not wish to remain in Halifax, or that did not a few 
weeks later continue with Howe to New York. 

17. In Dr. Ezra Stiles's Diary (Vol. 2, p. 168) we find recorded a dispatch 
from Halifax of June 13, 1776. The dispatch reads : "The British Fleet is gone 
from this place for New York; great Dissention prevailed on their Departure, 
among officers and soldiers. This morning about 2 o'clock two Transports found- 
ered in a gale of wind near this place and about 300 troops perished." 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 779 

racy. The history of the times which should omit these families 
would be fatally defective." 18 

A considerable group of Boston Loyalists, among these some 
who sailed with the fleet to Halifax, for a longer or shorter time 
afterwards, settled in Bristol, England. In a letter to William 
Pynchon, Esq., of Salem, written April 19, 1780, Judge Cur- 
wen enumerates these as follows : Miss Arbuthnot, Mr. Barnes, 
wife and niece, Mrs. Borland, a son and three daughters, Na- 
thaniel Coffin, wife and family, Miss Davis, Mr. Faneuil and 
wife, Robert Hallowell, wife and children, Nicholas Lechmere, 
wife and two daughters, E. Lechmere, brother of Nicholas, Colo- 
nel Oliver and six daughters, Judge Sewall, wife, sister, and two 
sons, Samuel Sewall, ;t kinsman to Mr. Faneuil, " Mr. Simp- 
son, John Vassall, wife and niece, and Mr. Francis Waldo. 19 
Some of the Boston Loyalists also seem to have located for a 
time, at least, in Birmingham, England, but the majority settled 
in London, where many of them spent the rest of their days. In 
London in 1776, they formed a club for a weekly dinner at the 
Adelphi, Strand, the members being Messrs. Eichard Clark, Jo- 
seph Green, Jonathan Bliss, Jonathan SewaE, Joseph Waldo, 
Samson Salter Blowers, Elisha and William Hutchinson, Sam- 
uel Sewall, Samuel Quincy, Isaac Smith, Harrison Gray, David 
Greene, Jonathan Clark, Thomas Flucker, Joseph Taylor, Dan- 
iel Silsbee, Thomas Brinley, William Cabot, John Singleton 
Copley, and Nathaniel Coffin. To these names also must be add- 
ed, Thomas Hutchinson, previously governor of Massachusetts, 
Samuel Porter, Edward Oxnard, Benjamin Pickman, John 
Amory, Judge Eobert Auchmuty, and Major Urquhart. 20 In 
May, 1779, the Loyalists in London formed an association, evi- 



18. William H. Whitmore in the "Memorial History of Boston," Vol. I, pp. 
563, 564. 

19. "Jownal and Letters of the Late Samuel Curwen, Judge of Admiralty, 
etc.," pp. 237, 238. 

20. "Journal and Letters of the Late Samuel Curwen, Judge of Admiralty, 
etc. (1842), p. 45. Later the members of this club must have met regularly for 
their weekly dinner at the New England Coffee House. On the 4th of July, 1782, 
Judge Curwen writes in his journal: "Went to London to the Thursday dinner at 
£ew England Coffee-House." July nth he writes: "Dined as usual at New 
fc-ngland fish-club dinner." July 27th : "Dined at New England Coffee-House on 
hsh, in company with Mr. Flucker, Francis Waldo, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Gold- 
tnwait, etc." 



780 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

dently for united political action, or for the improvement of 
their own condition, composed of representatives from all the 
New England colonies, and made Sir William Pepperrell. sec- 
ond baronet of the name, who was a leading one of their number, 
president. 21 

The unhappy condition of probably a good many of the Boston 
Refugees when they reached Halifax, is reflected in a letter of 
Eev. Dr. Henry Caner, of King's Chapel, written to the Society 
for the Propagation of the Gospel, shortly after the Loyalists 
arrived. Under date of May tenth, 1776, Dr. Caner says: "I am 
now at Halifax, but without any means of support except what 
I receive from the benevolence of the worthy Dr. Breynton. Sev- 
eral other clergymen, Dr. Byles, Mr. "Walter, Mr. Badger, etc., 
are likewise driven from Boston to this place; but [all] of them 
have some comfortable provision in the Army or Navy as Chap- 
lains, a service which my age 22 and infirmities will not well ad- 
mit of. I have indeed greatly suffered in my health by the cold 
weather and other uncomfortable circumstances of a passage to 
this place ; but having by the good providence of God survived 



21. The Loyalists who went to England did not lose sight of Nova Scotia. 
On the 18th of January, 1784, Chief-Justice Oliver writes from Birmingham: 
"Nova Scotia populates fast — 60.000 already." February 9th he writes: '"Parson 
Walter is arrived from Nova Scotia; many other Refugees are come. America is in 
a bad plight — they will lose their whale and cod fishery, and Nova Scotia will 
ruin the four New England governments." March £th he writes from London: 
"Mr. Winslow and family are there [Halifax]. Mr. Walter is here, having left 
his family at Port Roseway. Col. Ruggles hath built him a large house near to 
Annapolis : they settle there very fast. The whalemen are leaving Nantucket for 
Nova Scotia, and the New Englanders will suffer extremely by overacting their 
importations, and English merchants will suffer by tr.em." Again he writes: "A 
new Province is made on St. John's river, and called New Brunswick. Gen 1 Carle- 
ton's brother, Col. Carleton, is the Governor, and the General to be Gov r Gen- 
eral of Canada and all. Col. Willard with a thousand Refugees, I hear, is em- 
barking for Nova Scotia, so that that they will encrease rapidly, and I suppose that 
our Province will sink as they rise, for none can return to it without the expense 
of Naturalization." "Diary and Letters of Thomas Hutchinson." 

22. Dr. Caner was then seventy-six. He too went to England in the Spring 
of 1776, and when he reached there, the S. P. G. appointed him at his own re- 
quest, to the mission at Bristol, Rhode Island. Whether he ever came to Bristol 
or not we do not know. At some time after he left Boston he married a young 
wife, and at one time lived with her in Wales. He died in England in 1792. In 
one of the record books of King's Chapel which he took with him from Boston, 
he wrote: "An unnatural rebellion of the colonies against His Majesty's govern 
ment obliged the loyal part of his subjects to evacuate their dwellings and sub- 
stance, and take refuge in Halifax, London, and elsewhere ; by which means the 
public worship of King's Chapel became suspended, and is likely to remain so 
until it shall please God, in the course of his providence, to change the hearts of 
the rebels, or give success to his Majesty's arms for suppressing the rebellion." 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 781 

the past distress, I am in hopes some charitable hand will assist 
nie in my purpose of proceeding to England, where the com- 
passion of the well-disposed will I hope preserve me from per- 
ishing thro' the want of the necessaries of life. If otherwise, 
God's will be done." A letter has reached the Society from the 
Rev. Dr. Byles, writes the Secretary of the S. P. G. in the So- 
ciety's report for 1776, who is "now at Halifax with five moth- 
erless children, for a time deprived of all the means of support." 
But towards these clergymen, as indeed towards all the Refu- 
gees that needed help, not only by Dr. Breynton, but by all the 
leading secular officials and private gentlemen of Halifax, un- 
remitting and thoroughly appreciated kindness seems to have 
been shown. "Two letters have been received in the course of 
the year from the Society's very worthy missionary, the Rev. 
Dr. Breynton," writes the secretary of the S. P. G. in the report 
mentioned above, ' ' lamenting the unhappy situation of affairs in 
America ; in consequence of which many wealthy and loyal fam- 
ilies have quitted New England, and in hopes of a safe retreat 
have taken up their residence at Halifax, thereby becoming a 
great acquisition to the province, and a considerable addition to 
his congregation. For many of them, tho' Dissenters in New 
England, have constantly attended the service of the church 
since their arrival in Halifax." 

Of the social life of Boston, from which these Halifax Tories 
were so unwillingly obliged to flee, we get glimpses in the "An- 
nals of King's Chapel," that admirable history of the mother 
Episcopal parish of New England, of which so many of the Tor- 
ies were members. King's Chapel, says the annalist, "saw all 
the rich costumes and striking groupings of that picturesque age 
gathered in that ancient day, within its walls. Chariots with 
liveried black footmen brought thither titled gentlemen and fine 
ladies ; and the square pews were gay with modes of dress which 
must have brightened the sober New England life— as the ruf- 
fled sleeves and powdered wigs, and swords ; the judges, whose 
robes were thought to give, dignity and reverence to their high 
office as they set upon the bench; the scarlet uniforms of the 
British officers in army and navy,— all mingling with the beauty 
and fashion which still look down from old family portraits the 



782 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

special flavour of an age very different from our own." 23 At the 
chapel, says the historian, writing of two decades before the Rev- 
olution, " worshipped not a few of the first gentlemen of the 
Province, now at the meridian of success and distinction, who 
in twenty years were to be swept away in the vortex of the 
Revolution." 24 "We see again the Royal Governor in his pew 
of state. ... we recall the British officers of the army and 
navy crowding here as honoured guests ; we hear the familiar 
prayers for King and Queen and royal family repeated by loyal 
lips. The Church as it was, seemed to be in some sense a part of 
the majesty of England. Then the sky lowers, as the blind and 
senseless oppressions of the British ministry change a loyal 
colony to a people in rebellion. For a time the church brightens 
more and more with the uniforms of the King's troops, as the 
church is changed into a garrison; till, on a March Sunday in 
1776, they hurriedly depart, never to return, and the dutiful 
prayers vanish, to become a dim vision of the ancient world, so 
different from ours. A large part of the congregation went 
also; and at their head went their aged rector, whose pride and 
life-work had been with unwearied pains to ensure the erection 
of the noble structure to which he bade farewell as he followed 
his convictions of duty to his King." 25 

Nor was the noble gravity and dignity of King's chapel as a 
building at all out of harmony with the character of the houses in 
which these Loyalists of Boston lived. On King Street, and 
Queen Street, and Beacon Street, and Tremont Street, as on 
Milk and Marlborough and Summer streets, stood fine colonial 
houses, that had rivals, indeed, in Roxbury, and Cambridge, and 
Medford, and Milton, in all which there was architectural beauty 



23. "Annals of King's Chapel," by Rev. Henry Wilder Foote, Vol. 1, p. 549. 

24. On the registers of King's Chapel most of the names prominent in Bos- 
ton before the Revolution are sooner or later to be found. Many strictly Congre- 
gational families as they rose to wealth and influence gave the Chapel more or 
less support. Some families of importance, however, were from the first Episco- 
palians, not Congregationalists. Among the King's Chapel worshippers were fam- 
ilies of Auchmuty, Brattle, Brinley, Coffin, Cradock, DeBlois, Gardiner, Green- 
leaf, Hallowell, Hutchinson, Lechmere, Lyde, Minot, Oliver, Royall, Sewall, Shir- 
ley, Snelling, Vassall, and Winslow. A notable family was the large family of 
Mr. Samuel Wentworth, originally a Portsmouth, New Hampshire, man, but 
long one of the most prominent merchants of Boston. He died before the Revo- 
lution, but his wife lived, we believe, with her son, Benning in Halifax, near her 
daughter Lady Frances Wentworth, wife of Governor Sir John. 

25. Annals of King's Chapel, Vol. II, p. 336. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 783 

and stately elegance. Some of these houses were large, two or 
three story mansions, with handsome approaches, dignified hall 
ways, wainscotted drawing-rooms, fine stair-cases with carved 
balusters, ample tiled fireplaces, classic mantlepieces, and walls 
hung with portraits and landscapes by the best American paint- 
ters before the Revolution. Lady Agnes Frankland, as is well 
known, up to the time of the siege lived chiefly at Hopkinton, but 
her house in the North End of Boston, to which she came early 
in the siege, is minutely described by James Fenimore Cooper. 
The Frankland house was of brick, heavily trimmed with wood, 
and had a spacious hall, off which led the drawing-room, the 
panels of whose walls were painted with imaginary landscapes 
and ruins. The walls were also " burdened with armorial bear- 
ings," indicating the noble alliances of the Frankland family. 
"Beneath the surbase were smaller divisions of panels, painted 
with various architectural devices ; and above it rose, between 
the compartments, fluted pilasters of wood, with gilded capitals. 
A heavy wooden and highly ornamental cornice stretched above 
the whole, furnishing an appropriate outline for the walls. . . . 
The floor, which shone equally with the furniture, was tessellated 
with small alternate squares of red cedar and pine. . . . On 
either side of the ponderous and laboured mantel were arched 
compartments, of plainer work, denoting use, the sliding panels 
of which, being raised, displayed a buffet groaning with massive 
plate." 

In 1766, John Adams wrote in his diary: "Dined at Mr. Nick 
Boylston's— an elegant dinner indeed. Went over the house to 
view the furniture, which alone cost a thousand pounds sterling. 
A seat it is for a nobleman, a prince. The Turkey carpets, the 
painted hangings, the marble tables, the rich beds with crimson 
damask curtains and counterpanes, the beautiful chimney clock, 
the spacious garden, are the most magnificent of anything I 
have ever seen. 26 

As early as 1708 John Oldmixon, an English author, after 
visiting Boston wrote: "A gentleman from London would al- 
most think himself at home at Boston, when he observes the 
number of people, their houses, their furniture, their tables, 

•26- "Memorial History of Boston," Vol. 2, p. 452. 



784 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

their dress and conversation, which perhaps is as showy as that 
of the most considerable tradesmen in London." Thirty- two 
years later, in 1740, Mr. Joseph Bennett, another Englishman, 
writes: "There are several families in Boston that keep a coach 
and pair of horses and some few drive with four horses, but for 
chaises and saddlehorses considering the bulk of the place they 
outdo London. . . . When the ladies ride out to take the 
air, it is generally in a chaise or chair, and then but a single 
horse ; and they have a negro servant to drive them. The gentle- 
men ride out here as in England, some in chairs, and others on 
horseback, with their negroes to attend them. They travel in 
much the same manner on business as for pleasure, and are at- 
tended in both by their black equipages. . . . For their do- 
mestic amusements, every afternoon, after drinking tea, the 
gentlemen and ladies walk the Mall, and from thence adjourn 
to one another's houses to spend the evening,— those that are 
not disposed to attend the evening lecture; which they may do, 
if they please, six nights in seven the year round. . . . The 
government being in the hands of dissenters, they don't admit 
of plays or music houses, but of late they have set up an assem- 
bly, to which some of the ladies resort. . . . But notwith- 
standing plays and such like diversions do not obtain here, they 
don't seem to be dispirited nor moped for want of them, for both 
the ladies and gentlemen dress and appear as gay, in common, 
as courtiers in England on a coronation or birthday. And the 
ladies here visit, drink tea, and indulge every little piece of gen- 
tility to the height of the mode, and neglect the affairs of their 
families with as good grace as the finest ladies in London." 
"I remember," says Miss Dorothy Dudley of Cambridge, writ- 
ing after the Revolution of her beloved Christ Church, in the 
university town, "the families as they used to sit in church. 
First, in front of the chancel, the Temples, who every Sabbath 
drove from Ten Hills Farm ; Mr. Robert Temple and his accom- 
plished wife and lovely daughters. . . . Behind the Tem- 
ples sat the Royalls, relatives of Mrs. Henry Vassall, the In- 
mans, the Borlands, who owned and occupied the Bishop's Pal- 
ace, as the magnificent mansion built by Rev. Mr. Ap thorp, op- 
posite the President's house, is called. The house is grand in 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 785 

proportions and architecture, and is fitted in every respect to 
bear the name which clings to it. It was thought that Mr. Ap- 
thorp had an eye to the bishopric when he came to take charge 
of Christ Church, and put up this house of stately elegance. . . . 
Among his congregation were the Faneuils, the Lechmeres, the 
Lees, the Olivers, the Kuggleses, the Phipses, and the Vassalls. 
Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Lechmere, and Mrs. Vassall the elder, are sisters 
of Colonel David Phips, and daughters of Lieutenant-Governor 
Spencer Phips. The 'pretty little, dapper man, Colonel Oliv- 
er/ as Reverend Mr. Sergeant used to call in sport our some- 
time lieutenant-governor, married a sister of Colonel John Vas- 
sall the younger, and Colonel Vassall married his. Mrs. Ruggles 
and Mrs. Borland are aunts of John Vassall 's. These families 
were on intimate terms with one another, and scarcely a day 
passed that did not bring them together for social pleasures. 
. . . I well remember the train of carriages that rolled up to 
the church door, bearing the worshippers to the Sabbath service. 
The inevitable red cloak of Judge Joseph Lee, his badge of of- 
fice in the King's service, hung in graceful folds around his 
stately form; the beauty and elegance of the ladies were con- 
spicuous, as silks and brocades rustled at every motion, and In- 
dia shawls told of wealth and luxury." 

From Copley's portraits, painted in Boston during the ten or 
fifteen years preceding the year 1774, when the painter finally 
left for Europe, we can see how richly the Boston people 
dressed. One of Copley's woman sitters is in brown satin, the 
sleeves ruffled at the elbows, a lace shawl and a small lace cap, 
and is adorned with a necklace of pearls. Another has a bodice 
of blue satin, and an overdress of pink silk, trimmed with 
ermine. One is in olive-brown brocaded damask, one in white 
satin, with a purple velvet train edged with gold, one in blue sat- 
in, a Marie Stuart cap, and a sapphire necklace, one in pink da- 
mask, open in front to show a petticoat of white satin trimmed 
with silver lace, and one in yellow satin, also with silver lace, 
and with a necklace and earrings of pearls. Hardly less richly 
dressed, also, are Copleys men. One full-wigged gentlemen 
wears a brown broadcloth coat and a richly embroidered satin 
waistcoat, one a gold-laced brown velvet coat and small clothes, 



786 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

one a blue velvet doublet with slashed sleeves and a large collar 
trimmed with white lace (evidently a fancy costume), one a 
brown dinner coat, a blue satin waistcoat with silver buttons, 
and ruffles at the neck and wrists, and one a crimson velvet 
morning .gown, with white small-clothes, and a rich dark velvet 
cap. 27 

Before the Revolution, as we have seen, a very considerable 
group of New England families were permanently settled in 
Halifax, the Brentons, Fairbankses,Fillises,Gerrishes,G-orhams, 
Greens, Lawlors, Lawsons, Monks, Morrises, Newtons, Pres- 
cotts, Salters and others ; when the Revolution was at its height, 
or had passed, we find the New England element permanently 
increased by such important families as the Blowerses, Brattles, 
Brinleys, Byleses, Gays, Halliburtons, Howes, Hutchinsons, 
Lovells, Lydes, Minots, Robies, Rogerses, Snellings, Sternses, 
Thomases, "VVentworths, 2S and Winslows, with others besides. 29 
Among well known Boston Loyalists who died at Halifax were 
William Brattle, Theophilus Lillie and Byfield Lyde, who died 
in 1776, John Lovell, the Tory schoolmaster, in 1778, Jonathan 
Snelling, in 1782, Christopher Minot, in 1783, Jeremiah Dum- 
mer Rogers and Edward Winslow, Sr., 30 in 1784, Jonathan 



27. See Mr. Frank W. Bayley's "The Life and Works of John Singleton 
Copley," Boston, 191 5. 

28. Sir John Wentworth. Bart., who was governor of Nova Scotia from 1792 
until 1808, was from New Hampshire, but his wife, who was his first cousin, was 
a daughter of Mr. Samuel Wentworth of Boston. Lady Wentworth's brother 
Benning was also one of the Refugees in Halifax and for some years was secretary 
of the province. To this position Sir. John's only son, Charles Mary, was like- 
wise appointed, but he probably never assumed the office. 

29. In a letter to his aunts in Boston, written from Halifax December 24, 
1783, Mather Byles, 3d, eldest son of Rev. Dr. Mather Byles. 2d. writes: "The 
final evacuation of New York has taken place and many New England gentry 
arrived here from that place are appointed to the first offices in the Garrison. 
Messrs. Brinley, Townsend, Coffin, Winslow, and Taylor are among the number, 
so that our Refugee party will be very strong this winter." From other records 
we know that some of the Loyalists who settled permanently in Halifax went on 
to New York with General Howe, but several years later returned to Halifax. 
This was true of Edward Winslow, Sr. 

30. Mr. Edward Winslow's funeral at Halifax in June, 1784 (he died June 
8) was conducted with great ceremony. The pall-bearers were Mr. John (after- 
wards Sir John) Wentworth, General Edmund Fanning, then lieutenant-governor 
(under Governor Parr), Hon. Arthur Goold, Brigadier-General John Small, Hon. 
Judge Foster Hutchinson, and Henry Lloyd, Esq. The chief mourner was Colo- 
nel Edward Winslow, Jr., who was followed by the family servants in deep 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 787 

Sterns or Stearns in 1798, Judge Foster Hutchinson in 1799, 
George Brinley in 1809, Archibald Cunningham in 1820, and 
Chief-Justice Sampson Salter Blowers in 1842. Of Sir John 
Wentworth, Baronet, the ninth governor of Nova Scotia from 
Colonel Cornwallis, a New Hampshire man but with a Boston 
wife, we shall have much to say in a later chapter of this series. 
Brigadier-General Timothy Ruggles, previously of Hardwick, 
Massachusetts, one of Gage's mandamus councillors, died in 
Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, in 1795, and Hon. Nathaniel 
Bay Thomas of Marshfield, Massachusetts, another mandamus 
councillor, died at Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1791. 

When we come to follow the fortunes of Halifax in detail af- 
ter the arrival of the Boston Loyalists, we shall see how greatly 
the large, energetic group of these people that settled perma- 
nently there stimulated the town's activities and gave fresh col- 
our to its social life. But the prominence in the Nova Scotia 
capital of these new comers was not by any means viewed with 
entire complaisance by the earlier settlers. There had been at 
the very first beginning of the settlement of Halifax, ' ' says Mur- 
doch in his History of Nova Scotia, "something like a division 
between the settlers from England and those who joined them 
from New England, but this difference died out shortly after, 
without occasioning much mischief, the people being united to 
defend themselves against the French and their Indian allies. 
Now, however, circumstances had brought into the country a 
new and numerous population from New England, New York, 
etc., and a rivalry of interests sprang up between their promi- 
nent men and the older inhabitants. . . . The party division 



mourning. After this walked in pairs, Sampson Salter Blowers and William 
Taylor, Esq'rs. their excellencies the Governor and the General of the forces, 
Gregory Townsend, Esq., and Lieutenant Hailes of the 38th Grenadiers, William 
Coffin, Esq., Captain Morrice Robinson, Rev. Dr. Mather Byles, Captain Adden- 
brooke, the Governor's aid-de-camp, and Lieutenant Gordon, major of brigade. 
Next came the members of his Majesty's Council, "a number of the respectable 
inhabitants," and many gentlemen of the army and navy. The funeral service was 
rendered in St. Paul's Church by the Rev. Dr. Breynton and the Rev. Joshua Win- 
gate Weeks, and the burial was in the town burying-ground in Pleasant street, 
which bears the name "St. Paul's. " In this cemetery a stone was erected to Mr. 
Winslow, which bears a lengthy inscription. See Proceedings of the Mass. Hist 
Soc., 2nd Series, Vol. 3. 



788 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

thus originated extended for some years to the house of assem- 
bly, and it was long before it was quite allayed. An anonymous 
correspondent of the Nova Scotia Gazette at this time alludes to 
it as a division into 'old comers and new comers/ or 'loyalists 
and ancient inhabitants. ' ' ' 

One of the most serious local issues of this strife was a severe 
charge of maladministration of justice, brought by two attor- 
neys, Messrs. Jonathan Sterns or Stearns and William Taylor, 
refugees from Massachusetts with Howe's fleet, against the 
Nova Scotia chief-justice, Isaac Deschamps, and an assistant 
judge of the supreme court, Judge James Brenton. Deschamps 
was of Swiss extraction and had long been in the province, Bren- 
ton was from Newport, Rhode Island, and he too had early set- 
tled in Halifax. The attorneys publicly charged that cases 
brought by Loyalist settlers could not get fair trial at the hands 
of these judges, and so strongly did they press their charges 
that the judges were finally impeached. For a time the lawyers 
bringing the charges were disbarred, but the Chief Justice re- 
signed his office, and Judge Brenton like him for some time 
remained under a cloud. At last, however, in 1792, when the 
case had dragged along for between four and five years, the 
Privy Council in England, to whom it had been appealed, ac- 
quitted the judges and the matter was finally set at rest. In a 
letter to his sisters in Boston, in May, 1788, the Rev. Dr. Mather 
Byles writes: "From this day [April 2nd] to the 21st, my time 
was entirely engrossed by the dispute between the old inhabi- 
tants of this Province and the American Loyalists. The flame, 
which has been so long kindling, now blazes with the utmost vio- 
lence. I first joined in a remonstrance to the Governor signed 
by more than two hundred inhabitants of Halifax, and when this 
was not properly attended to, I wrote several letters to my Eng- 
lish correspondents recommending Sterns and Taylor, who on 
the 21st sailed for England as our agents, to seek that redress 
at White-Hall which it was impossible to obtain from a corrupt 
junto. They are both gentlemen of the law, my particular 
friends, and men of the most unblemished character ; they have 
been grossly injured, and I hope God will graciously succeed 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 789 

them. The case was so perfectly plain that I thought myself 
obliged to be open, active, and fearless ; and I have the pleasure 
to learn that remonstrances similar to ours signed by many hun- 
dreds, are constantly arriving from all parts of the country." 

The coming of thousands of New York Loyalists to Nova Sco- 
tia in 1783 furnishes material for a highly interesting chapter of 
Loyalist history, which, since the facts all have a close bearing 
on Halifax history, we shall feel it necessary to give in some de- 
tail as this narration proceeds. Among the vast number of New 
York Tories, who finally settled in New Brunswick a consider- 
able number of Massachusetts Tories also settled, and some of 
the historic families of New Brunswick, like the Blisses, Chal- 
cners, Chipmans, Coffins, Paddocks, Sewalls, TJphams, and Win- 
slows, have been of this stock. The most influential New York 
Loyalist that settled in Halifax was the Right Reverend Charles 
Inglis, D. D., previously Rector of Trinity Church, New York 
City, who in 1787 came to Halifax as the first incumbent of the 
newly erected Nova Scotia Anglican See. Until 1816, when he 
died, Bishop Inglis continued to exert an influence in Nova Sco- 
tia and New Brunswick in religious and educational matters, 
that has not ceased to be felt to the present day. 31 



31. "An Occasional," writing in the Halifax Acadian Recorder newspaper for 
March 21, 1914, says: 

"Let me remind you that Charles Inglis, the first Episcopal bishop of Nova 
Scotia; Sir John Wentworth, governor of this province at the beginning of this 
century; Edward Winslow, a member of a distinguished Massachusetts family. 
whose death at Halifax, in 1784, was followed by funeral ceremonies of unusual 
distinction; Sampson Salter Blowers and Ward Chipman, chief justices, the first 
of "Nova Scotia, and the second of New Brunswick; Judge Sewall, of New 
Brunswick, an early and intimate friend of John Adams; Foster Hutchinson, 
judge of the supreme court of Nova Scotia; Jonathan Bliss, attorney-general of 
New Brunswick, and Benning Wentworth. provincial secretary of Nova Scotia, 
were all Loyalists, and all, with two exceptions, graduated at Harvard; that Sir 
Brenton Halliburton, whose life story has been well told by the Rev. Dr. Hill; 
Egerton Ryerson, founder of the well-known school system of Ontario ; Joseph 
Howe, of whom no Nova Scotian can be ignorant; and Judge Stewart, of the 
Supreme Court of this province, were sons of Loyalists ; that Sir John Inglis, the 
brave defender of Lucknow; Sir Frederick P. Robinson and Sir W. H. Robinson, 
both knighted on account of their military services; Lemuel Allan Wilmot like 
Joseph Howe, a leader in the struggle for responsible government, and, like him, 
at one time a governor of his native province; Sir George Cathcart and Major 
Welsford, who fell in the Crimea . . . were grandsons of Loyalists. The late 
Sir Robert Hodgson, lieutenant-governor of Prince Edward Island, was also of 
Loyalist descent. Let me remind you of these and of many others living or dead, 
whose names may occur to you, with the suggestion that a study of the history of 
the Loyalists at large would swell the brief list given to an almost indefinite ex- 



790 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

In the next chapter of this history we shall discuss the social 
life of Halifax after the war of the Revolution, giving also some 
account of the striking physical features of the town. 



tent, and you may form some idea of the value of the men and of the descendants 
of the men who were driven abroad by the bitterness of the revolutionary victors." 
In this enumeration the writer makes the mistake of supposing that it was 
Judge Foster Hutchinson of Massachusetts who became a judge in Nova Scotia. 
The Nova Scotia Judge Foster Hutchinson was son of the Massachusetts judge. 






Some of the Women who Skillfully Planned 

and Heroically Suffered in the Revolu= 

tion for the Cause of American 

Independence 

By J. C. Pumpelly, A. M., LL. B. 

ni 

MKS. ROBERT MURRAY. 

Mrs. Robert Murray, wife of a Quaker, by her diplomacy and 
hospitality, saved a part of the American Army from probable 
capture on the retreat from Long Island. General Putnam lin- 
gered in the lower part of the city and then chose the road on 
the west side by the Hudson, to join the rest of the army at 160th 
Street. A party of British twice as large as his own, was also 
advancing in that direction, but were in ignorance of any enemy 
in their front, and on reaching what is now called Murray Hill, 
stopped at the house of Robert Murray, where the gracious lady 
of the house, treated General Tryon and his officers with cake 
and wine, and by her courteous hospitality and bright conversa- 
tion, beguiled them to stay a couple of hours, in which time the 
British might have easily secured at a certain turn, and cut off 
Putnam's retreat. The opportunity was lost and it became a 
common saying, among the officers, that Mrs. Murray had saved 
this part of the American Army from capture. 

IV. 

EMILY GEIGER. 

Emily Geiger, a young woman of South Carolina, when acting 
as messenger between General Greene, near Broad River, to 
General Sumter, and passing on horse-back through a country 

(79i) 



792 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

full of fierce tories, was intercepted by Lord Readon's scouts 
and imprisoned, and when a tory woman was sent to search her, 
she ate up the message. Nothing being found on her person of a 
suspicious nature, Emily was allowed to depart and in due time 
reached General Sumter and delivered the message verbally, 
and he was thus provided with important information and acted 
successfully upon the same. 



LYDIA DARRAH. 

Lydia Darrah, a Quakeress and her husband, Robert, were 
living in a house opposite General Howe's headquarters in Phil- 
adelphia in 1776, and this house was selected by the General 
and his officers for a conference, and she and her family were 
ordered to be all in bed at the time of the conference. Lydia, 
however, listened at the door of the conference room, and heard 
that the British were to quit the city on December 4th and march 
out and attack secretly the American Army at White Marsh. 
After the officers had all departed she extinguished the lights 
and at dawn waked her husband and told him she must go to 
Frankfort for flour for use in the household. 

She obtained a pass from the British to go through the lines, 
and soon reaching the grist mill at Frankfort five miles away, 
she left her bag and pressed forward to the American outposts, 
and being met on her way by an American officer gave him the 
important information and thus Washington was enabled to 
make all needful preparation, and afterwards General Howe in 
asking her who had been spying upon their conference, told her 
that "when his force arrived at the American camp he found 
the cannon mounted, troops under arms, and so prepared to re- 
ceive us that they had been compelled to march back like a par- 
cel of fools without injuring the enemy in any way." 

Thus this grave, demure, yet courageous Quakeress snatched 
from the British what would have been an important victory at 
a very crucial time. 



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AMERICANA 

September, 1915 
Recollections of a Half Century and More 

By Andrew M. Sherman, Morristown, N. J. 

Ill 

My Boyhood in New England 

(Continued). 

HEN I was between seven and eight years of age 
we removed from Providence, Rhode Island, to 
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, one of the old towns 
of Plymouth County, about twenty seven miles south 
of Boston. Our parents had formerly lived in Bridgewater and 
they were glad to get back among old and tried friends and 
acquaintances. My father's business had made a change of 
residence desirable. We moved into the same house our par- 
ents had occupied before their removal to Providence. To me 
it was an interesting fact that some of my brothers and sisters 
had been born in that house during the previous residence of 
our parents there. In that house one of my older brothers sub- 
sequently died in the same room and the same bed where he was 
born. While serving as a volunteer fireman in Providence dur- 
ing our residence there he contracted a cold which terminated 
in consumption. This brother, a few moments before passing 
away, remarked to his mother who stood beside his bed : ' ' Moth- 
er, I see Annie; she has come for me." Annie was the name 
of a young sister who had previously passed away. Whether 
the experience of my dying brother was subjective or objective 
is a question each one will answer according to the philosophy 
of life he may entertain; but our dear mother believed it to have 

(793) 



794 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

been objective, and from this conception derived great comfort 
in after years. 

The house into which we moved on our return from Provi- 
dence was a large, two-story and a half structure, painted white, 
and was always kept in excellent condition, the owner being a 
person of means. One end of the house faced the road on which 
it stood, with a small yard in front. In this front yard there 
grew the usual shrubbery of the time ; and on either side of the 
walk leading up from the gate to the house was a row of flowers, 
in the season of flowers, which were the delight of my boyish 
eyes. 

Connected with the house was a series of sheds and other out- 
buildings, at the extreme end of which was a large barn. All 
of these out-buildings were kept in excellent condition by the 
frequent paintings and repairs they received. A part of the 
out-buildings ran directly back from the house; and the others 
ran at a right angle with the house. 

The extensive square yard connected with the place was un- 
feneed and hence lay open to the road passing the house. It was 
a fine old New England residence. The house may have been 
built as early as the year 1750, hence its style of architecture 
can be inferred by those acquainted with the prevailing New 
England style of house architecture of the period in question. 
We occupied a part of the house, and the owner, an aged woman, 
lived in the other part. 

Extending back from our house a long distance— it seemed to 
me, as a boy, to be a quarter of a mile, at least— were broad, 
beautiful meadows, which in the spring and early summer were 
covered with a luxuriant growth of the greenest grass I have 
ever seen, anywhere. 

Whether the peculiar hue of this meadow grass was a mere 
fancy on my part, a fancy born of my fondness of Nature, and 
of these meadows in particular; or, whether, because of their 
having been well watered, these meadows were really greener 
and of more luxuriant growth than meadows in general, I will 
not stop to discuss— indeed, on whichever side the preponder- 
ance of evidence might seem to be, my imagination would still 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 795 

clothe those meadows with a beauty and a luxuriance possessed 
by no other meadows in the wide, wide world ! 

Separating these meadows from the adjoining property in the 
rear of our house was a stream of water. This river, for such 
I will call it, was deep enough in its narrow channel for the use 
of flat bottom boats, of which there were not a few moored at 
different points along its grassy banks ; and it was an exquisite 
pleasure for my younger brother and I to clamber over the side 
of these boats and seat ourselves, even though we did not move 
the boat from the river's bank. So active, however, was our 
imagination, we did, in thought, frequently row up and down 
the placid stream on which we had been forbidden by our par- 
ents to embark. 

Water lilies were plentiful along the banks of this enchanted 
stream, and not a few bunches of these fragrant lilies did my 
brother and I take to our mother, sometimes as a peace offering 
when we returned from our imaginary river navigations with 
clothes wet and soiled. 

My father had the use of the spacious barn on the place rented 
by him; and during the winter season, particularly, it was 
usually filled with hay from the extensive meadows in the rear 
of the house. On Saturdays, and on rainy and otherwise un- 
pleasant days, my younger brother and I and our neighborhood 
chums used often to have right jolly good times playing on the 
immense stack of fragrant hay, sometimes with, but I fear 
oftener without, our father's consent. These were regular gala 



days with the boys ! 

Climbing to a high beam over the big hay-loft and then jump- 
ing off on to the soft, springy mow was a favorite sport for us ; 
and often did one or another of the jolly jumpers bite his tongue 
by reason of the chin suddenly, and with great force, coming 
in contact with one of the knees, as we landed on the hay. It 
hurt, you may depend upon it, for a few minutes, atjeast; but 
we were soon up and at the fine sport again. 

Digging a deep hole into the hay-mow with our hands, and 
then hiding ourselves from the other boys, was another kind of 
fun we used to have on those none-too-long gala days in father's 
big barn. Sometimes we would keep the boys looking for us a 



796 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND .MORE 

long time; so long, indeed, without discovering our snug hiding- 
place, that they would threaten to go home if we did not come 
forth, and then we would begin to call to them in an unnatural 
tone of voice or in some bungling foreign language so as to 
conceal our whereabouts. Another threat, sometimes accom- 
panied with: "honest! we'll go home, if you don't come out!" 
was usually sufficient to bring us forth from the deep hole we 
had burrowed into the hay-mow. And, then in turn, the other 
boys would pay us in our own coin, by hiding from us, and put- 
ting us to the trouble of conducting a hunt, more or less pro- 
longed, for them ; but as my brother and I were well acquainted 
with every nook and corner of the barn our hunt for the visiting 
boys was not of long duration. 

When the spirit of mutual friendship was burning brightly 
in our young hearts the entire group of boys would burrow deep 
into the hay-mow and there fashion a large room, where we 
would lie, sometimes for an hour or more, building "castles in 
the air." Ah! the brilliant plans and schemes we then and there 
formulated for the time when we would "be men." And so, 
one after another of the boys would select the profession or busi- 
ness we would follow, when "I'm a man." The memory of 
those superlatively happy hours spent on the big hay-mow in 
father's barn is among the most delightful of my early boyhood. 
How often have I wished for their return, even for a single 
month ! But alas ! that cannot be ! I can only recall those happy 
hours in memory! 

In father's barn he kept a cow and some fowls. I had seen 
my father milk the cow so often that I supposed I could do so, 
too. When alone in the barn with the cow I several times tried 
my hand at milking "bossie, " and succeeded in getting enough 
of the lacteal fluid to justify the boyish boast that "I can milk 
a cow." But the boast did not satisfy me; so, on a Saturday 
afternoon, after the cow had been brought from the pasture in 
a part of the meadow back of our house, and while there were 
several boys and girls in the barn with me, I resolved to give 
them an exhibition of my superior skill as a milker. I stepped 
up to "bossie" with the confident exclamation: "I know how 
to milk a cow;" and, stooping down I grasped the cow's teats, 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 797 

one in each band, and began tugging away at them, boy-fashion. 
The presence of tbe strange boys and girls in the barn, and per- 
haps the extreme vigor with which I tugged at "bossie's" teats, 
irritated the usually docile animal. 

I had made but a few tugs at the cow's teats when she quietly 
lifted the hind leg nearest me and sent it backward so as to hit 
my nose sidewise. The blow, which seemed to have been tem- 
pered to my youth, was of just sufficient force to knock me over 
sprawling on the barn floor. While the boys and girls were 
laughing heartily over my mishap, I picked myself up, at the 
same time grasping my sore nose with my right hand to ascer- 
tain if it had been broken. 

Though my nose was not broken, as I soon discovered, it 
began to bleed profusely. The sight of the blood frightened the 
children in the barn with me and they soon started for their 
homes. I remained in the barn until my nose stopped bleeding 
and then I went into the house, a wiser boy, for I never again, 
while a small boy, attempted to milk a cow. 

It was a long time before I heard the last from my playmates, 
who knew of the episode just related, of my being "knocked 
over by a cow on to the barn floor." The favorite means of 
reminding me of my mishap was for some one to innocently in- 
quire: "Say, Andy, can you milk a cow?" and the only way I 
could turn off the matter was to reply: "I'm learning." 

My father also kept a few fowls on the place, and he allowed 
my younger brother and I to keep a pair of Bantams, of which 
we were very fond. On an extremely cold day in winter, just 
before sundown we fed our pet Bantams a liberal quantity of hot 
meal mush, thinking it would help to keep them warm during 
the night. 

The night was a bitter cold one ; the thermometer must have 
gone considerably below zero, which was no unusual thing in 
the eastern part of the Old Bay State, when I was a small boy. 
On going out into the barn next morning to feed our pets we 
were both overwhelmed with grief to find the Bantams frozen to 
death and lying on the barn floor under the ladder on which 
they had roosted, as stiff as a hickory stick. Upon making the 
discovery we ran into the house and almost simultaneously ex- 



798 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

claimed to mother: "Mother, our Bantams are frozen to death! 
"We found them on the barn floor under the ladder where they 
roosted!'' and then we both burst into tears over the great 
calamity that had befallen our pet Bantams. It was only the 
ready expression of motherly sympathy that in large measure 
compensated us for our great loss. 

My father's business— he was a pattern maker, by trade, and 
an expert workman— necessitated his keeping a sharp pocket 
knife. This knife was made of the best quality of steel, was 
well tempered, and was tapered off to a narrow point at the 
end. It was almost as sharp as a razor ; indeed, it was fully as 
sharp as some razors I have attempted to shave with when visit- 
ing, not only on its edge, but at its point, 

It was seldom that our father would allow the boys, even the 
older ones, to use this sharp knife; and then only as the result 
of importunity. His reluctance to allow the boys to use his knife 
was partly because they were likely to more or less dull it, which 
would require considerable time on his part to re-sharpen it, 
and partly because he was afraid they would cut themselves 
with it. 

One day, it was spring time, after father's arrival home from 
business, I persuaded him to let me take his knife to use in mak- 
ing some willow whistles. 

My younger brother and I then went down in the meadow 
back of the house, cut some choice willow sticks, and, sitting on 
a rock I began making a whistle. I had loosened and removed 
the tender bark from the stick, and had the stick on my left 
knee, cutting the notch near the whistle end, when, in an un- 
guarded moment the knife, by reason of its keen edge, cut clear 
through the willow stick and my trousers leg into my knee. 
The point of the knife must have touched the bone just above the 
knee-cap, for I received, as I distinctly recollect, quite a shock 
as the point of the knife went into my leg; indeed, I thought I 
felt the knife-point strike the bone. 

The leg began at once to bleed. I immediately roiled up my 
trousers leg, and, applying my handerchief to the wound tried 
to stay the flow of blood; but the handkerchief was soon thor- 
oughly saturated. I confess I began to get frightened ; not 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 799 

so much for the cut I had received, nor at the sight of the b'ood- 
soaked handkerchief, as for what my father might say on as- 
certaining that I had not been as careful, in the use of the knife, 
as I should have been. I feared he would never again lend it 
to me, and I should keenly feel such a deprivation. 

With my knee still bandaged and bleeding freely my brother 
and I started for home. I was obliged to limp most of the way 
home, because my knee was getting stiffer and stiffer with every 
step I took. 

On reaching home I was glad enough to learn that our mother 
was at one of the neighbor's, for I thought she would chide me 
for my carelessness in the use of father's knife, against which 
she had again and again warned me. Going at once to my room 
I undressed as expeditiously as possible and got into bed, in the 
hope of keeping the knowledge of my mishap down in the 
meadow from mother. I had procured a clean handkerchief, 
and, removing the saturated one I had tied it about the wound 
in my knee, which, by this time had nearly stopped bleeding. 

Soon after mother's return home she came to my room to kiss 
her two "little boys" good-night. As the result of her inquiry 
why I had gone to bed earlier than usual I told her the whole 
story about cutting my knee with father's knife. After express- 
ing her motherly sympathy over my mishap she properly band- 
aged my knee, and with a extra kiss she left us. In a few 
minutes my brother and I were asleep. 

On the next morning after my mishap the knee was somewhat 
sore; but the faithful application of healing salve for a few 
days enabled me to move about as usual, with the exception of 
a slight limp. Fortunately, my father did not notice my limp; 
or if he did, he may have attributed it to some other cause than 
the actual one. I do not believe mother ever told father about 
my mishap for he never once referred to the matter. Mother 
may have reasoned that I had been sufficiently punished for my 
carelessness in the use of the sharp knife to make me more care- 
ful in future. 

Not far from our house was a large field of corn belonging 
to one of the neighbors; the field must have contained many 
acres, indeed, to my boyish eyes this cornfield seemed like a 



8oo RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

small world. The cornstalks were much higher than my head. 
I could only, when in the field, see the sky and the floating clouds 
above me. On a warm Saturday afternoon in July my younger 
brother and I wont over into the cornfield to "have some fun." 
After running about between the corn rows half an hour or so 
with our clothes on, playing tag and other boy's games, we con- 
cluded to take off our clothes so as to "get cooled off," for our 
running in the cornfield had overheated us. We ran about in 
the cornfield stark naked for at least an hour, which we con- 
sidered great sport. When we had run to our hearts content- 
it was then almost supper time at home— we went for our 
clothes, to dress ; but to our amazement we could not find them. 

We hunted here and there and everywhere but could not find 
our clothes. We began to think we would have to go home 
naked, in which case we would, of course, have to wait until after 
dark; but we kept up the search. It seemed to us that we had 
gone over every square foot of that big cornfield several times 
in the search for our clothes; but we did not find them, and 
seemed just as far from it as when we began. We were becom- 
ing frightened. My "little brother" began crying; but I com- 
forted him as best I could. It was then almost dark, and we 
were still stark naked in that great field of corn. Enjoining 
my brother not to move from the spot where I left him seated 
on a large stone I set out alone in the final and desperate effort 
to find our clothes. 

Over and over the great cornfield I ran, row by row, for I 
knew it would soon be dark, and then it would be much more 
difficult, if not impossible, to find our clothes. My heart was all 
the time "beating like a trip hammer," such was my anxiety. 
Keep up the search, I must, and would ; and I did. Several times 
I called to my brother in order to keep in close touch with him 
and to encourage him. 

When the hope of finding the lost clothes was almost gone out 
of my heart, and I was disposed to give up the search as useless, 
I espied them a short distance ahead of me, lying in a pile, just 
where we had left them when, nearly three hours before, we 
had undressed for our run in the cornfield to "get cooled off." 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 801 

I lost no time in calling- to my brother that I had found our 
clothes. 

My brother and I never again undressed in a cornfield ! 

Just to the rear of the cornfield of which I have spoken was 
a piece of woods which had not been cut for many years— a 
quarter of a century, perhaps. Nearly every tree was full 
grown. All! the happy hours my younger brother and I spent 
in those woods ! It seemed as if the world could not be much 
larger than that piece of woods ; indeed, to us it was a world, by 
itself ! In the autumn my brother and I set our traps for rabbits, 
and during the same season we gathered nuts for the winter's 
store. In the spring, as soon as the snow was gone, we roamed 
these woods in search of wintergreen berries, which were plen- 
tiful. In the summer we would wander about the woods hunting 
for the shady spots, often sitting on the moss covered rocks and 
letting imagination have free play. Woods and cornfield be- 
longed to a Mr. Baker, one of our near neighbors. 

Some of the great fun we had, as boys, was breaking up 
hornet's nests in stone walls that in my boyhood were common 
in New England. We first provided ourselves with a small 
green switch for each hand. Then one of us poked a long pole 
or stick into the hornet's nest in the wall. This would bring 
the hornets out in force, and they immediately swarmed about 
lis, bent on wreaking vengeance upon the ruthless invaders of 
their cozy home in the stone wall. But for the switches with 
which we were armed we would doubtless have been stung to 
death; for the hornets were furious in their attacks upon ns. 
It was only by the constant and rapid swinging of the switches 
in both hands about our heads, while we slowly retreated back- 
ward from the stone wall, that the hostile hornets were beaten 
off from us ; and when they had thus been beaten off they would 
slowly return to their home, only to find it either partially or 
wholly destroyed. It was not a nice thing to do, to destroy the 
home of even hornets, and I have often regretted doing such a 
thing; but, somehow, boys will do things that in after years they 
are sorry for. But all boys hav'nt learned that hornets have 
as good a right to live and enjoy a nice, snug home in a stone wall 
or elsewhere as we to live and enjoy our home. To any boys 



8o2 RECOLLECTIONS OE A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

who may read these articles I would say: "Be kind to the whole 
creation. Do not tread unnecessarily upon a worm, even; and 
in every way discourage unkindness to the animal creation on 
the purt of others. Remember, that all life is but a manifesta- 
tion of the Universal Life, and should, therefore, be considered 
sacred ! ' ' 

The nearest church to our house in Bridgewater was one of 
the Protestant Episcopal order; and here my younger brother 
and I attended Sunday School. For a time I also attended the 
Sunday morning service. I well remember how difficult it was 
for me to keep awake during the long, tedious service, conducted 
by the dry-as-dust rector, who had long since out-lived his use- 
fulness in that parish, but who yet clung with the tenacity of a 
drowning man to the none-too-remunerative rectorship. 

With his snow-white hair and shabby black clergyman's garb 
he presented a most venerable, and I may say, quaint appearance 
as he passed now and then through the streets of the village. 
While some of the boys feared the rector of the village church 
and some respected him on account of his advanced age and the 
good work he may have done in his more palmy days, it must be 
confessed that few loved him, because of his extreme austerity 
and pronounced bigotry, for he thought there was no church on 
earth worth attending except his own. 

Adjacent to the church edifice above mentioned was an old 
burial ground surrounded on three sides by a substantial stone 
wall; the church edifice enclosing the burial ground on the fourth 
side. This old burial ground was so well filled with graves that 
it seemed impossible to find room for another; and yet, strange 
to say, there was always room for "one more" interment. The 
sexton received a small sum of money for digging the graves ; 
whether that was the reason why he could always find "one 
more" spot in the ancient burial ground in which to inter those 
who preferred to have their remains lie in the village burial 
ground "at the works," I will not venture to say. 

The stone wall enclosing that old burial ground on the front 
and side opposite the church edifice was cemented, that is to 
say, the openings between the stones were filled with cement; 
and the wall was of sufficient thickness to allow the boys to run 



THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND BURIAL 
GROUND AT 'THE WORKS," BRIDGEWATER MASS., 

Around which the author played in his early boyhood, and whose 
Sunday School and morning service he attended. For this build- 
ing and its surroundings the author still cherishes a fond affection. 
A few years ago this church was taken down and a portion of 
the material was used in the construction of Trinity Episcopal 
Church which is now situated near Bridgewater village. 



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Trinity Church, Bridge water, Mass., constructed in 
part of material taken from the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, which, in the author's early boyhood, was 
at "The Works" 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 803 

about on the top while playing "tag" and other games which 
called for running. Many a happy hour did I spend, chasing 
and being chased around on the broad top of that wall and often 
through the burial ground, and sometimes over and between the 
graves of the village ancestors, some of whose remains had lain 
there for at least three quarters of a century. In our effort to 
get away from our pursuers we paid little heed to the sexton's 
kindly warnings to "keep off the graves, boys." But, alas! 
what heedless boys some of us were ! 

My! but wasn't I afraid to pass that old burial ground, alone, 
after dark! I'd rather take an ordinary whipping than do so; 
and whenever I was obliged to pass it in the night time I almost 
invariably had some one to accompany me. It almost makes 
my teeth chatter now to think of my fear in passing that old 
burial place of the village dead, when I was a boy of eight or 
ten years of age. 

The church edifice of which I have spoken was in a somewhat 
dilapidated condition when I was a boy at "the works" in 
Bridgewater. The dark brown paint which was once in evidence 
was nearly worn off by long exposure to the elements ; and 
if my memory is not at fault, some of the smaller window panes 
on the back side of the edifice had been accidentally broken out 
by the boys and in a few instances those broken window panes 
had been rudely repaired by placing a thin board over the open- 
ing. 

In a big field in the rear of the old church edifice at "the 
works ' ' we boys used to play what in my boyhood was known as 
"old cat," a game of ball similar to our present base ball. There 
was "one old cat," "two old cat," three old cat" and some- 
times "four old cat," according the number of boys who could 
be got together for a game. "Old cat" was preceded by the 
choosing of "sides," which consisted of two boys placing their 
closed hands, one above the other, around a bat, until the ex- 
treme top of the bat was reached; and then, if the boy whose 
hand was nearest the top of the bat could, with the hold he had, 
swing it around his head three times without losing his hold 
on it, he had the first choice of a player for his side of the 
pending game. Of course, the best player was chosen; and 



804 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

afterward, each chooser of sides tried to select the best players 
to support him in the game to follow. In those early days most 
anything answered for a bat, from a round stick of suitable size 
to a narrow piece of inch board with one end smaller than the 
other for a handle. 

Ah! the happy, happy hours I spent in the rear of that old 
church edifice playing "old cat" and other out-door games! 
What cared we for the barked shins and bumped heads and 
gravel-scratched hands and wrists and sometimes swollen eyes 
received in the course of our games engaged in with the abandon 
of youth, if only we had ' ' fun. ' ' Did we ever have scraps over 
our games ? What live boys do not ! But the scrappings were 
soon forgotten, thanks to the magnanimity of youth. 

I must relate a very interesting little experience I had in con- 
nection with the field in the rear of the old church edifice in 
Bridgewater. We were having a lawn party; it was under the 
auspices of the Sunday School of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church. The day was a most charming one. We had played 
our games ; we had eaten our refreshments, and many of the 
boys and girls were walking about over the green fields. 

Among the girls of the party was one with long, dark curls — 
one of the prettiest girls in the village— to whom I took a great 
fancy; not altogether because of her beautiful curls, but chiefly 
because she was as "pretty as a picture." Arm in arm we 
promenaded around the green fields like two genuine lovers ; 
and lovers we were, for the time, at least. I distinctly recollect 
the goodnatured remarks jjassed by the older people present, 
over the youthful lovemaking, as they considered our intimacy. 
I have still a very tender feeling for that sweet-faced, curly- 
headed girl, who was my partner on that beautiful summer day 
so long ago. Is she still living ? If she is, I often wonder where 
she is. And does she recall the little episode of our youthful 
days in Bridgewater? 

One of our near neighbors at "the works" was Mr. Shubell 
Lovell, one of most kindly men I ever knew. In the rear of his 
house was an apple and peach orchard. His peaches were 
among the finest in the village and in those days no better 
peaches could any where be found than in New England. Mr. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 805 

Lovell was very good to the boys in the neighborhood in shar- 
ing with them the luscious fruit of his orchard. But that did 
not satisfy them, judging from their conduct; so, at recess, for 
the district school building was only a short distance from the 
peach orchard, the boys would now and then steal around the 
back way to Mr. Lovell's orchard, and, after eating to their 
stomach's content they would fill their pockets? oh, no, their 
shirts with the luscious peaches, and then return to school eating 
the stolen fruit on the way thither. Usually we boys would 
make our exit from the orchard between two buildings belonging 
to Mr. Lovell, a narrow passage way allowing us to get into 
the street. On one occasion, which I can never forget, good Mr. 
Lovell, having in some way ascertained that the school boys 
were in his peach orchard "bent on mischief, " stood just out- 
side the narrow passage way through which they would make 
their exit, waiting for them to emerge; and, as the boys, one 
by one, emerged from the passage way our benefactor would 
say to us, in the kindest tone of voice : i i Boys, haven't I always 
given you peaches when you asked me for them?" "Yes, sir," 
was the only reply we could truthfully make. "Then why do 
you steal into my orchard by the back way and take my peaches 
without leave? Do you think it is right for you to do so?" to 
which we slowly replied: "No, sir, we do not." 

I cannot speak for all the other boys implicated in those raids 
upon our good neighbor's peach orchard, but I know of one boy 
in the party whom Mr. Lovell's fatherly way of addressing us 
hurt more than a thrashing would have done; and never again 
after the occasion mentioned did I steal peaches from his 
orchard. 

Mr. Lovell used to hire my younger brother and I in the 
autumn to cut the tops off of his turnips, of which he usually 
raised a large crop, for which he paid us two cents per bushel ; 
and we thought we were making "lots" of money. 

Mr. Lovell carried on the shoe business ; that is to say, he had 
a shop and hired several men to make shoes for him which he 
sold to wholesale dealers in the larger commercial centers. 

Among the workmen employed by Mr. Lovell in the shop near 
his house was a man by the name of Lapham. Mr. Lapham was 



806 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

what is popularly termed " eccentric," and the boys of the 
neighborhood were not slow in discovering this fact and making 
the most of it in the way of getting amusement out of it. The 
eccentric shoemaker's bench was on the back side of the shop 
and near a window. This window, in the summer time, was 
usually open as a means of comfort to the men employed in the 
rather small shop. 

Stealing quietly up under this open window the mischievous 
boys would call out at the top of their voices: "Hello, Lap- 
ham!" and then scramper to a place of safety and watch de- 
velopments. When the boys felt satisfied that Mr. Lapham had 
forgotten or perhaps overlooked their former raillery they 
would again steal up under his window and repeat, with such 
additions as occurred to them, their raillery. When Mr. Lap- 
ham could stand our raillery no longer he would seize a leather 
strap, and hastening out of the shop would endeavor to catch 
the boys who had been annoying him at his work. It was seldom, 
however, that he succeeded in catching his annoyers; for the 
inactive life he led made a poor runner of him. 

Mr. Lapham did now and then get near enough to the boys 
who had annoyed him to hit them with his strap; and this is 
the way he did it: He would stand at the narrow opening be- 
tween the shoe shop and an adjoining building, keeping well out 
of sight, and when the unwary offenders emerged, one by one, 
from the narrow passage way, he would deal them a quick blow 
with the leather strap. When he succeeded in hitting a boy the 
effect was not soon forgotten by the unfortunate victim. The 
suppressed anger of many days and perhaps weeks and of nu- 
merous offences seemed to be concentrated in the one blow of the 
leather strap. 

The worst punishment inflicted upon the boys by the eccentric 
shoemaker— the worst because it was considered humiliating 
by their outraged pride— was being saturated with water 
thrown by him from the open window near his work bench when 
the boys were off their guard. But this was a game at which 
more than one could play ; and consequently Mr. Lapham did not 
go home dry every day during the summer. Water was easily 
procured by the boys, and more than once during the summer 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 807 

months the shoemaker was paid in his own coin, which was "a 
cup of cold water" externally applied. I hope the shoemaker 
long since forgave me for the not unimportant part I played in 
our boyish annoyances of him so many years ago. 

About a mile down across the fields from our house "at the 
works" was the "very best" swimming place for the boys of 
the village ; it was the canal or raceway which conveyed the 
water to the large mills for power to run them. This canal at 
the widest point was about fifteen feet across, and about eight 
feet in depth. On either side of this canal was a rudely con- 
structed stone wall. At the lower end of the canal, however, 
there were no walls, the gravel sides of the canal running grad- 
ually down toward the center of "the basin," as this portion 
of the canal was called. This basin was fully eight feet deep 
in the center. Before I learned to swim I had quite an ex- 
perience in this basin ; it was on this wise : For some time I had 
been accustomed to rolling up my trousers legs to the knees and 
paddling about the basin on a long, two inch plank. I considered 
it great fun to paddle by means of a stick up and down and 
from side to side of this basin. To me it was a feat to be proud 
of; and I sometimes boasted of it to the other boys. 

One day I undressed and went out into the basin on a plank, 
my favorite, which I kept secreted for my exclusive use. I got 
along very well for a time as a nude paddler ; but when in the 
center of the basin I somehow lost my balance and fell into the 
water. As I fell, the plank was pushed from me and I was left 
struggling in the water. After struggling awhile I went to che 
bottom. Rising to the surface in a few moments, for up to this 
time I had not experienced any fear, I resumed my struggling ; 
only, however, to go down again in a few moments. This time 
I remained under water a little longer than before. YVhen I 
began to realize that my strength was giving out I began to be 
afraid I might drown. Again I rose to the surface ; and there 
followed another and a desperate struggle, and soon, for the 
third time I went down, probably never to rise again, had not 
help come to me just ' ' in the nick of time. ' ' 

A young man, a son of Erin, was at that moment coming from 
one of the mills, having finished his day's work. He quickly saw 



8o8 RECOLLECTIONS OE A HALE A CENTURY AND MORE 

the agitation of the water in the basin above my head, and 
probably surmising that some one was in the water he hastily 
procured a pole, and, running it down under the water where he 
saw the commotion, he awaited developments. He did not have 
long to wait ; for I soon caught sight of the pole and grasped it 
with the desperation of a drowning person, which I then realized 
myself to be. Perceiving that I had grasped the end of the pole 
he had thrust down for me the young man began pulling, with 
the result that in a few moments he saw me emerging from the 
water, walking on the ascending bottom of the basin from whose 
waters I had been opportunely rescued. 

On reaching the shore of the basin the young man discovered 
whom he had rescued from a watery grave. After giving me 
some good advice he started for home. I sat on the shore of the 
basin until I had regained my breath and my self-composure, 
when I arose, dressed myself and started for my home up across 
the fields. 

It was several days before my parents learned of my narrow 
escape from drowning. 

It was not long after my rescue from drowning by the young 
Irishman, whom I still gratefully remember, that I learned to 
swim, and in the following manner : Just above the basin where 
I had come so near drowning, the canal was only about eight 
or ten feet in width, and on either side was a stone wall so im- 
perfectly constructed that there were numerous openings all 
along its sides, large enough to furnish a footing for a per- 
son in the water. These walls rose about a foot above the sur- 
face of the canal. Undressing, the boys who could not swim 
would get a footing in the wall on one side of the canal, and 
then, with their feet they would shove themselves across the 
canal, taking two or three strokes with the hands and feet, and 
thus reach the opposite side. The water was fully eight feet in 
depth at this point of the canal, so it was literally "sink or 
swim," with the boys. 

Going back and forth a few times in the manner described a 
boy would soon gain sufficient confidence in his ability to keep 
above water so that he would a little later strike out and swim off 
into the wider part of the canal. In this manner I learned to 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 809 

swim; so that never afterward had I any difficulty in the water. 
It was a proud moment for me when I realized for the first time 
that I could swim; and I did not miss an opportunity of ac- 
quainting my youthful friends of the fact. The boasting, how- 
ever, was mutual. 

Up from the canal just mentioned was an apple orchard be- 
longing to one of the stockholders of the immense iron works 
in the vicinity. In this orchard were several trees bearing 
eweet apples— "July Sweets," they were called. Those "July 
Sweets" were a special temptation to the boys and our power of 
resistance was by no means strong. The end of the high board 
fence enclosing the lower side of this apple orchard ran clear 
down to the canal on one side of it. When undressed and in 
swimming the boys would enter the orchard from the water, go 
up naked into the orchard and help themselves to the luscious 
"July Sweets," carrying away as many as possible for future 
consumption. Not a few times did the owner of the orchard, Mr. 
Jacob Robinson, a powerfully built man, chase us from his 
grounds, with vows of vengeance against the boys who had pre- 
sumed to invade his domains. But we knew our man and were 
very careful to keep out of his clutches. Jumping into the water 
we would swim away beyond his reach, and then from the dis- 
tance watch his manifestations of anger at the young fruit 
thieves he could not get hold of. The fact of our nudeness made 
it impossible for the owner of the apple orchard to recognize us, 
else we would have been reported to our parents, and then . 

Only a few rods back from the basin where I came so near 
being a dead boy was a high bank composed of a clay soil which 
seemed to be entirely free from stones. This bank was fully 
twenty-five feet in height and sloped back from the base at such 
an angle as to permit us boys to climb up its side. In this clay 
bank were scores of small, round holes which were the entrances 
to the nests of a bird of the swallow species. The sight of these 
birds flying about the entrance of their nests, some entering 
and others making their exit, presented a very pretty sight, 
These birds would lay their tiny eggs so far in from the mouth 
of the entrance to their nests that they could not be reached by 
human hands— boys 7 hands, I mean— and, undisturbed, they 



810 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

would hatch their young. The busy mothers would then go out 
in search for food for their young ones. The mother birds 
seemed to know their bird babies were safe, for they would often 
go a long distance from their nests in search of worms and other 
kind of bird food, and return leisurely to their young with what 
tilings they may have gathered for them. 

We boys were very fond of climbing up the side of the clay 
bank and with our hands dig holes, sometimes as far in as our 
arms would reach, into the clay. To us this was great sport. 
Meanwhile, the birds would fly about our heads as if they en- 
joyed our presence. They would twitter, and circle gracefully 
around us, and seemed almost to be saying: "Its a fine time 
we're all having, isn't it!" Many a happy hour did I and my 
youthful playmates, including, often ? my younger brother, spend 
about that high clay bank in our care-free boyhood. 

Among the pleasures of my boyhood in Bridgewater was to 
be at the little village railroad station when the Boston evening 
express train would pass on its way to meet the steamboat at 
Fall River running between that place and New York. This 
express train was due in Bridgewater at "the works" station 
at about five o'clock in the evening, and it seldom varied more 
than a minute or two from its schedule time. On this train 
which, as its name indicates, ran with great speed, without 
stopping or even slowing up at Bridgewater, the Boston evening 
newspapers were brought to the village ; and, as the train rushed 
past the station a well wrapped bundle in strong brown paper 
would be thrown out, coming from the car with such force that 
if it had come in contact with a person near the train it would 
have knocked him violently to the ground. I recollect that those 
who gathered at the station to watch the express from Boston 
to Fall Eiver were very careful to keep at a suitable distance 
from the bundle as it came flying from the swiftly moving train. 

The rapidly passing Boston express, the crowd that daily 
gathered at the diminutive rail road station, and the bundle of 
newspapers fiying through the air and some times landing a 
long distance from where it should, were sufficient to attract the 
boys, especially, and furnish for them the excitement which their 
nature craved. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 811 

Living only a short distance from the railroad station above 
mentioned was a man— an Englishman, as I remember, ruddy- 
faced and good-natured— who spent much of his time when not 
at his work in hunting and fishing; and at these out-door sports 
he was a recognized expert. One of the strange things about 
this man was the fact that he trapped many skunks. But this 
was not, by any means, the strangest thing about our English 
townsman; he ate skunks. The shock that my boy-fancy re- 
ceived on first hearing that this man actually and habitually ate 
skunks is an experience never to be forgotten. I could at first 
scarcely believe it; but I was forced to believe it at last. The 
only thing that at all reconciled me to the idea of his eating 
skunks was the information given me by one of his acquaintances 
that in dressing the little animals he was very careful to give the 
odor bag a wide berth. Such was his great care in this respect 
that the dressed animal when prepared for the table, as I was 
informed, did not have the slightest trace of the odor which 
makes the animal, while alive, the dread of most hunters. Even 
the fact, as I was also informed, that the meat of the skunk was 
not only as tender but as delicious as spring chicken could wholly 
reconcile me to the idea of a human being eating skunks ; and 
I always, on meeting the skunk eater on the street, avoided him, 
somewhat as I avoided, and still avoid, the little animal whose 
rear is considered far more formidable than his front. 

Like most boys I was very fond of playing marbles ; and usu- 
ally I had a. well-fiAtei-bag. For a few days, at least, after the 
beginning of the marble season, the boys carried their marbles 
to school with them, but we were very careful to keep them out 
of sight during school hours, else they would be taken away from 
us by the teacher and placed in the desk drawer for future con- 
sideration as to their disposal. Before the ringing of the school 
bell for school to begin and during recess we did little else than 
play marbles ; the ring-game being the favorite game in Bridge- 
water il when I was a boy." Some of the boys managed to get to 
school half an hour or more before it opened so as to play 
marbles. 

One noon after the bell for school had rung, my younger 
brother and I continued to play. It was a sultry day and we 



812 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

were disinclined to going in to school ; so we kept on playing, 
intending to go in to school at the close of the afternoon recess. 
We were just across the street from the school house. On the 
front end of the school building, the end facing the street, was 
a hall for the storage of wood for the stove; here, also, the 
school children hung their clothing and hats and caps. This hall 
between the schoolroom and the street prevented the teacher 
from seeing any children who might be on the street in front of 
the school house; so my younger brother and I played marbles 
wholly unobserved by the teacher. But we were, however, seen 
by one who seemed bent on making trouble for us. 

"We had played for some time, and were sitting on the ground, 
leaning against the stone wall on the inside of the gravel walk, 
when we looked down the street and saw two men coming. As 
they drew nearer to us we discovered that they were two broth- 
ers of our acquaintance who lived in the neighborhood of our 
home. As soon as we learned who they were we clambered over 
the stone wall and both crouched down on the ground to keep out 
of sight if possible; we were afraid the approaching brothers 
would report us to our parents. My brother and I kept as quiet 
as possible, waiting for the two men to pass, when we would 
resume our marble playing. These men had, however, caught 
sight of my brother and I as we clambered over the stone wall ; 
and when they arrived opposite us one of them leaned over the 
wall and exclaimed : ' ' Oho ! playing truant, hey I I '11 tell your 
mother about it, you little scamps ! ' ' 

"Don't you do it," said the other brother. "Was you never 
a boy? Did you never play hooky? What do you want to 
squeal on these boys fori" 

"I'll tell on them ail right. They ought to be in school, the 
little scally-wags ! ' ' 

When the two brothers had gone we climbed back over the 
stone wall. For a few moments my brothers and I stood in 
silence. We knew that one of the brothers who had seen us 
would do as he had threatened, and we were contemplating the 
consequences when we reached home after school was closed. 

While we stood in deep thought the school was let out for 
recess. We joined the boys and girls in their playing, all the 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 813 

time thinking of our home-going and what our mother would 
say and do becau.se of our truancy. 

When the bell rang for the children to return to school my 
brother and I went in with them. We gave the teacher an 
explanation of our absence during the early part of the school 
session which seemed to be satisfactory; but if ever two boys 
"sat on pins" during the remainder of the afternoon school ses- 
sion it was my brother Charles L. and I. 

When the school was dismissed my brother and I accompanied 
the other children home, as usual; but our hearts "were heavy" 
from apprehension of "coming events." 

Of course our mother called her two boys to an account for 
playing truant, and when informed that we were only absent 
from school a part of the afternoon she graduated the punish- 
ment accordingly. 

About half a mile from our house was a large iron-foundry 
connected with the extensive iron mills of old Bridgewater. Each 
day after the hot liquid iron used in making moulds had been 
"poured" the surplus iron was turned into a shallow depression 
made in the ground floor of the foundry. The liquid iron was 
then sprinkled over with a thin covering of fine sand as a pre- 
caution against fire. When thus covered the liquid fire was in- 
visible. I had been playing in the vicinity of the foundry— it 
was Saturday— and while one or more of the boys were chasing 
me in a game of "tag" I ran at full speed through the foundry; 
and, not seeing the liquid fire on the ground floor I ran through 
it with my bare feet, for I had on neither shoes or stockings. 
As soon as I ascertained what I had done— and I was not long- 
in discovering it, J assure you— I ran immediately for the canal, 
and, sitting on the ground, thrust both of my burned feet into 
the cool water. So long as I kept my feet in the water they were 
comfortable, but if I removed them, even for a moment, they 
smarted very badly. I must have sat on the side of the canal 
with my feet in the cool water for nearly half an hour when my 
brother Nathan L. who was coming from his day's work in one 
of the shops on the premises saw me. It did not take him long 
to learn the situation. He took me on his back and carried me 
home, a distance of about half a mile, a part of the distance up 
hill, at that. 



814 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

On reaching home mother put me to bed, which, to an active 
boy, was a great trial ; but I could not stand on my feet and 
that was, of course, the only thing that could be done under the 
circumstances. 

Mother did everything she could think of to heal up the burns, 
which she soon discovered were between each toe of both feet, 
as well as on the bottoms of the feet; but nothing mother could 
do healed the smarting burns. At last an aged lady across the 
street, Mrs. Cole, a friend of mother, brought over some black 
salve ; I remember distinctly it was a black salve, and the faith- 
ful application of this salve in due course healed up the burns 
which had confined me to bed for about two months. That was 
the first and last time I ever ran through liquid fire ! 

I think I was never more elated, when a boy, than one day on 
catching a red perch in the raceway near the iron foundry just 
mentioned. I was fishing off a rude stone bridge with a rough 
railing that crossed the raceway. With the other boys of the 
neighborhood I had often fished off that old bridge, but I had 
never caught anything but small fish, such as sun fish. I had 
been fishing a long time on the day in question and had given up 
all expectation of catching anything worth carrying home, when 
suddenly I had "splendid bite;' 7 my cork went under the water 
clear out of sight. At the proper moment I pulled the line and 
hook in, and behold! I found on the hook a big red perch! 
I was satisfied from his appearance that he would weigh at least 
three-quarters of a pound. The boys crowded around the ' ' lucky 
fisherman, 7 7 giving frequent expression to their surprise and 
pleasure over my having hauled in so big a fish. Then followed 
a series of guesses as to the weight of the fish, guesses varying 
from a half a pound to a pound. I took the fish home and weigh- 
ed it, and it weighed a plump pound. I felt that I was a great 
fisherman, and I pictured to myself the other big red perch I 
would in future haul out of the raceway from which this one 
came. But I never caught another fish as big as that in that 
raceway. My experience in fishing off that stone bridge and at 
length hauling in that one pound red perch isn't a bad illustra- 
tion of the saying that: "All things come to them that wait.' 7 

I think some of the greatest fun of my boyhood was ex- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 815 

perienced in connection with the hanging of May baskets and 
June boxes, a custom I have never known elsewhere than in dear 
old New England. For several days before the beginning of May 
the boys and girls were busy making May baskets. They were 
made somewhat as follows : The body of the baskets was usually 
made of the sheets of our old copy books, the writing of which 
was entirely covered in the process of making. The basket was 
then covered with tissue paper of different colors and shades 
with hanging fringe of the same materials. In the trimming 
of these baskets there was opportunity for the display of much 
artistic taste, which not a few of the youth improved. 

The May baskets were of various shapes and sizes, a favorite 
being three-cornered in shape with the point hanging downward, 
and an opening at the top. To this a narrow handle— usually 
a strip of tissue paper— was added. Sometimes the baskets 
were square in shape with a cover to open at the top. These 
May baskets were intended, chiefly, for the boys and girls best, 
liked by the hangers ; some of the boys had their girl-sweethearts 
and some of the girls had their boy-sweethearts. The name of 
the person for whom the May basket was intended was some- 
times attached, written on a slip of paper, and sometimes the 
person receiving the basket was left to infer the name of the 
giver by the handwriting designating the intended recipient. 

May baskets were usually hung after dark, and therein lay 
much of the sport of this New England custom in my boyhood. 
All through the month of May this custom was kept up and the 
boys and girls were constantly on the lookout for baskets. Those 
hanging the baskets would stealthily approach the house where 
his or her best girl or boy lived and when they saw the coast 
clear would go up to the door; hang the basket on the knob or 
latch, ring the bell and then run as if "old Nick" was after them. 
If the person hanging the basket was caught by the recipient 
of the basket, he or she, as the case might be, must pay a forfeit 
of some kind; sometimes it was to receive or bestow a kiss. It 
has to be confessed that some of the boys were more than will- 
ing to be caught by the girl he liked best ; and the same was also 
true of some of the girls who were caught by their boy-sweet 
hearts. And strange to say! Some of the girls were glad 



816 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

enough to be caught by their boy-sweethearts; indeed, they con- 
tributed to being caught by slackening their speed in the pursuit. 
Did any of the boys ever slacken their speed while being pur- 
sued by their girl-sweethearts? I know of one boy who was 
perfectly willing to be overtaken by "the girl he liked best;" 
and I do not believe he was the only one who was sometimes 
willing to be caught and receive or pay "the forfeit." 

When the novelty of the May basket sport began to wear off 
somewhat the boys resorted to various ways of manifesting 
their dislike to those who had in any way offended them. For 
example: There was a certain man at "the works" whom the 
boys did not like, and they would find an old basket, fill it with 
cobble stones, hang it on to his front door, attach a long piece of 
twine to the bell knob, and, getting behind a stone wall across 
the road, pull the string. This, of course, would bring some 
one to the door, where they would find the basket, upon looking 
into which the stone contents would be seen. Woe to the boys 
who were caught after such a frolic as that described ! 

What was still more indignantly resented than a basket of 
stones was the following: Procuring an old chestnut fence rail 
the boys would stand one end of it up against the front door of a 
disliked neighbor, attach the long piece of twine to the bell knob, 
as before mentioned, and then from across the road or from 
some other hiding place pull the string. This brought some 
member of the family to the door, whereupon the rail would fall 
in upon them. This was a thing the boys seldom did, and the 
dislike of the victim of this species of boyish sport had to be 
very strong to induce the boys to engage in it. 

At some distance from our home was a family containing 
three daughters, the liveliest trio in the village. These girls 
were very popular with the boys and we were always certain of 
"lots of fun" in hanging May baskets on the door of their house. 
Of course we hung them May baskets in their season; and we 
also hung them June boxes in their season. In the month of 
June, the season for June boxes, much more liberty was al- 
lowed the boys and girls than in May; and they made use of 
their extra liberty. I distinctly recollect one experience we boys 
had with the three girls mentioned; and this concrete illustra- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 817 

tion of June box hanging may convey a better idea of the custom 
than any explanation of the custom. We had hung the three 
girls several nice May baskets and June boxes, and now thought 
we boys, "we will have some rare sport!" So we caught about 
fifty June bugs, put them in a package of inviting exterior ap- 
pearance, hung it on their front door, either rang the bell or 
made some noise to attract their attention to the door, and then 
we ran for "dear life," for we knew that to be caught by these 
Thomas girls, who were noted for their running capabilities, 
meant, under the circumstances, a good drubbing. 

As we boys afterward learned, when these girls came to their 
front door they took the package found on the door knob into 
the house ; and when the package was opened, the June bugs, as 
we had anticipated, flew all about their faces, giving them quite 
a fright. The girls at once rushed to their front door and out 
into their front yard, and, surmising the direction in which the 
boys implicated had taken in their flight, started on a brisk run 
down the side street on which they lived toward the main street 
of the village. On seeing the girls rush out into their front yard, 
knowing that my running capabilities were not equal to theirs, 
I quickly dodged down behind a huge stone in an opposite direc- 
tion from that I felt they were almost certain to take as they 
emerged from their house and front yard. 

Down the side street the girls sped like deer. They caught 
one or two of the fleeing boys and their ears, I assure you, were 
not in as comfortable a condition next day as on the evening of 
our frolic. 

When I ascertained that the girls were some distance from 
their house in pursuit of the other boys I crawled cautiously 
from my hiding place, jumped over a stone wall into Mr. Ansell 
Robinson's apple orchard, ran at the top of my speed through 
the orchard, from thence out on to the main street and for- 
tunately reached my home without encountering the girls. The 
way those girls ran on that evening was ' ' a caution ! ' ' 



Some of the Women who Skilfully Planned 

and Heroically Suffered in the Revolu= 

tion for the Cause of American 

Independence 

By J. C. Pumpelly, A. M. LL. B. 

VI 

Molly Pitcher 

ON June 28, 1778, a hundred and twenty-nine years 
ago, a British army under Sir Henry Clinton was 
moving across New Jersey from Philadelphia to New 
York, closely followed in its retreat by the Americans 
under Washington. The two forces were equal in number, each 
consisting of about fifteen thousand troops ; and they were prac- 
tically equal in discipline, equipment, and fighting qualities, for 
the American soldiers had now been seasoned by three years of 
warfare and had been properly armed by the aid of French gold. 
Washington was eager for a decisive battle, and had assigned 
the immediate command to Lafayette; but at the last moment 
he put in his place General Charles Lee, an English soldier of 
fortune, who ranked the young French officer. Lee had been 
Washington's rival for the chief command, and was intensely 
jealous of his chief. He was a man of violent temper and in- 
tense self-conceit, and there is grave reason to question his loy- 
alty to the cause that he was serving. 

The armies came in touch at Monmouth Court-House, near 
the town of Freehold. The Americans attacked the British 
rearguard, and were conducting a successful flanking movement, 
when Lee ordered a retreat, to the astonishment of Lafayette 
and "Mad Anthony' ' Wayne, who. were compelled, however, to 
obey. The American lines fell back, and disorder was fast 
spreading, when Washington suddenly appeared, riding his 

(818) 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 819 

great charger into the midst of the troops. For once, at least, 
his habitual austerity and calmness gave way before a wrath 
that was sublime. With a terriffic oath he turned on Lee and 
demanded what this movement meant. Lee cowered before the 
fury of his commander, and slunk to the rear. The Americans 
rallied and moved once more to the attack, under the inspira- 
tion of Washington himself. All day the battle raged under a 
burning sun ; and when night came, the Americans camped upon 
the field, while Sir Henry Clinton drew off his troops, having 
yielded the ground which he had gained through the misconduct, 
if not the actual treachery, of Lee. 

One picturesque incident of the battle has been commemorated 
in the poem here reprinted. An American gunner, while serving 
his cannon, was shot down by a British bullet. His wife, who 
had followed him through the campaign, immediately took his 
place, and discharged his duty through the whole bloody day. 
After the battle, Washington directed that she should receive 
henceforth a sergeant's pay, and she became known throughout 
the army as "Sergeant Molly." 

BY KATE BROWNLEE SHERWOOD. 

'Twas hurry and scurry at Monmouth town, 

For Lee was beating a wild retreat ; 
The British were riding the Yankees down, 

And panic was pressing on flying feet. 
Galloping down like a hurricane, 

Washington rode with his sword swung high, 
Mighty as he of the Trojan plain, 

Fired by a courage from the sky. 

"Halt, and stand to your guns !" he cried, 

And a bombardier made swift reply; 
Wheeling his cannon into the tide, 

He fell 'neath the shot of a foeman nigh. 

Molly Pitcher sprang to his side, 

Fired, as she saw her husband do ; 
Telling the king, in his stubborn pride, 

Women, like men, to their homes are true. 

Washington rode from the bloody fray 

Up to the gun that a woman manned. 
"Molly Pitcher, you saved the day," 

He said, as he gave her a hero's hand. 

He named her sergeant with manly praise, 
While her war-brown face was wet with tears — 

A woman has ever a woman's ways, 
And the army was wild with cheers ! 



820 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

The monument commemorating this important battle is located 
in a beautiful triangular park of a little over three acres at the 
junction of Court and Monument streets, about three minutes' 
walk from the Court House. Its base corresponds in form to the 
Park, being an equilateral triangle composed of three massive 
spurs of granite, surmounted at the point of contact by a large 
drum-shaped block on which are five bronze tablets five feet high 
and six feet wide, illustrative of scenes of the battle. Above these 
is a smaller drum sloping to contact with the shaft and sur- 
mounted at the intersection with a ring of bronze shields bearing 
the arms of the thirteejr original States. Springing from these 
comes the shaft proper, consisting of three sections of eleven 
feet each, joined together by rings of bay leaves cut in the gran- 
ite. Surmounting the shaft is a composite capital, with flying 
eagles springing from its interstices. Upon the capital stands a 
colossal granite statue, "Columbia Triumphant." The height 
to the top of the statue is within a fraction of one hundred feet. 

The design is a simple one and yet it has a distinct character 
in its details and general appearance, that distinguishes it from 
any other monument. The shaft is of Concord granite and the 
base of Quincy granite both fine-axed. 

The Bas-Reliefs 

The bronze tablets were designed by Mr. J. E. Kelly, and were 
cast at the National Fine Art Foundry in New York City. They 
represent, with graphic exactness, five scenes in the battle. In 
the delineation of the minor accessories of these pictures in 
hronze Mr. Kelly spared no labor or expense to obtain originals 
->f the arms, accountrements, furniture, uniforms, etc., of the 
oeriod, many of his models having been actually used on the 
*ield, and are now cherished heir-looms in the families of the 
officers who wore or carried them. And so with the human fig- 
ures, most of them being copied from portraits of the persons 
represented, the likeness being reproduced in the bronzes. As 
^orks of art these tablets are said to be unsurpassed by any- 
thing of the kind in this country. The following is a brief de- 
scription of them : 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 821 
Ramsey Defending His Guns 

This represents Lieutenant-Colonel Nathaniel Ramsey, of 
Maryland, in the closing effort to hold his position until the 
main army could be rallied. General Washington had told him 
he depended on his exertions, and he had promised to check the 
enemy. He tried with his gallant regiment to defend the guns 
of Lieutenant-Colonel Oswald, until, having been dismounted, 
he was overwhelmed by the superior numbers of the British 
Dragoons. In the foreground he is represented with historical 
accuracy in a hand-to-hand conflict with a detachment of the 
Seventeenth British Regiment, Light Dragoons. Colonel Ram- 
sey's portrait is from a miniature and silhouette, both taken 
from life and furnished by his family. His sword is modeled 
from the short-bladed weapon which he actually carried and 
used with great effect that day, and which is still preserved. 
The uniform, horse furniture and all the equipments of the 
Dragoons are taken from the official record of the regiment. So 
particular has the artist been that the " death head" may be 
seen on the hat of the trooper of the Seventeenth Dragoons— 
the organization allowed to wear the same by the order of the 
King— with the motto " Glory or Death." In the background 
Oswald is directing his men in their attempt to carry off his 
guns. 

Washington Rallying the Troops 

The Commander-in-Chief is here depicted riding down the 
American lines on the splendid horse which had just been pre- 
sented to him by New Jersey's War Governor, William Living- 
ston, and rallying the troops after General Lee's unaccountable 
retreat. He is placing the regiments of Stewart and Ramsey 
and Livingston in position to check the advance party of the 
British. General Washington's head and figure are modeled 
from Houdin's life-cast, now in possession of Mr. Power's heirs. 
The model is worked on a scale, and is entirely accurate in all 
its proportions, from Houdin's measurements. The style of the 



822 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

uniform and horse equipments of the chieftain are all from 
authentic sources. 

Molly Pitcher 

The head and figure of the heroine of Monmouth is an ideal 
woman of great muscular power. Her dead hushand is at her 
feet, and General Knox is seen at the background directing his 
artillery line. A wounded soldier uses his right hand instead 
of left in thumbing the vent. This, it is readily seen, improves 
the composition of the picture. The old Tennent Church, still 
standing as a memorial of the battle, is seen on the extreme left 
of the relief. 

Council of War at Hopewell 

This tablet represents Generals Washington, Lee, Greene, 
Stirling, Lafayette, Steuben, Knox, Poor, Wayne, Woodford, 
Patterson, Scott and Duportail as they appeared in the import- 
ant council of war held at Hopewell, old Hunterdon county, New 
Jersey, June 24, 1778. General Washington is listening atten- 
tively as General Lafayette, standing by the table, is urging 
upon the council to decide on making a strong demonstration 
against the British column, even if it brought on a battle. The 
position and general expression of other officers clearly indicate 
their opinion of Lafayette's appeal. General Lee, who prefer- 
red to let the British force parade unmolested across the State, 
looks anxious and indignant that his military experience and 
judgment do not entirely control the board. It is also easy to 
see that the foreign officers, Steuben and Duportail, want to 
make a strong attack, and not simply to feel the enemy. Gen- 
eral Patterson agrees with them, and so does the true-hearted 
Greene. General Wayne, always ready for fight, can hardly 
wait until Lafayette has finished that he may speak a few words 
of ardent patriotism. Colonel Scammell, Washington's Ad- 
jutant-General, who afterward gave his life for liberty on York- 
town's ramparts, is here engaged in noting the opinions of the 
general officers for the guidance of his chief. 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 823 
Wayne's Charge 

This relief depicts Mad Anthony Wayne leading his troops 
in the final charge of the day through a trampled corn-field, and 
the battalions of British grenadiers falling back and trying in 
vain to carry away the body of their dead commander, Lieut- 
Colonel Henry Monckton. The parsonage of Tennent Church is 
seen in the background. 

When as president of the New Jersey State Society Sons of 
the American Revolution I visited Freehold and made an ad- 
dress. I viewed this Monmouth Battle Monument with the 
greatest admiration and my memory to that day is one of the 
most interesting of my whole life in Jersey. The "Council of 
War at Hopewell" tablet had formed special value as General 
Patterson was the Colonel of the regiment in which my ancestors 
David Pixby was a Lieutenant. (See picture and full account in 
the Americana Magazine for July, 1912.) 

The maiden name of the "heroine of Monmouth" was Mary 
Ludwig, and she was of German descent, born 1754 in New Jer- 
sey on a farm situated between Princeton and Trenton, and 
married John Hays, of Carlisle, Pa., and when he joined the 
Continental army, Mary went back home to live with her father. 
As the army came across New Jersey she visited her husband 
and was with him on the Sunday of the Battle of Monmouth. 
During which she aided her husband and the gunners in Gen. 
Knox's artillery by carrying water in the cannon's bucket for 
her husband's cannon and for the thirsty men, who in pleas- 
antry called her "Molly Pitcher." Her husband, overcome with 
fatigue and heat dropped down by the cannon, when his wife 
jumped forward and helped to "work the gun." A bas-relief 
on the monument gives this scene showing her as "an ideal 
woman of great muscular power. Her (exhausted) husband is 
at her feet, and Gen. Knox is seen in the background directing 
his artillery line. A wounded soldier uses his right hand in- 
stead of left in thumbing the vent. The Old Tennent Church, 
still standing as a memorial of the battle, is seen on the extreme 
left of the relief." Molly after the battle nursed her husband 
back to his usual strength and she was complimented by Gens. 



824 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OE THE REVOLUTION 

Washington, Greene, and Lafayette. Also Congress bestowed 
on her an annuity of $40. After the death of her first husband 
she married a man by the name of McCauley. She died Janu- 
ary, 1833, and was buried at Carlisle, Pa. Years afterwards on 
July 4,' 1876, the citizens of Cumberland County, Pa., placed a 
handsome Italian marble stone over her grave. She was not a 
coarse camp-follower, as has sometimes been said, but a robust, 
industrious, kind-hearted woman, faithful as a wife and mother. 
Mrs. Isabella (Crater) McGeorge has written a fine sketch of 
Molly in the American Monthly Magazine of November, 1900. 

VII 

Margaret Corbin 

Margaret Corbin like Molly Pitcher of Monmouth was an 
Irish woman and was the first woman pensioned by our govern- 
ment for heroic deeds. In relation to this interesting character 
I quote the following from an article by Arthur P. Abbott : 

"Margaret Corbin was born in Franklin County, Pennsyl- 
vania, November 12, 1751. She was the only daughter of Robert 
Cochran, who was killed by the Indians in 1756, his wife, Mar- 
garet's mother, being taken into captivity by the Indians at the 
same time, Margaret being at the time only five years of age. 
The reason she escaped was that she and her brother were visit- 
ing an uncle, brother of her mother. This uncle raised Mar- 
garet, who in 1772 married a Virginian by the name of John 
Corbin. John Corb'n enlisted in the 1st Company, Pennsylvania 
Artillery, under Captain Francis Proctor. His wife, Margaret, 
having no children or other home ties, did what many other 
noble women of that day did, followed her husband to war and 
offered her services as a nurse and aid in camp life. 

John Corbin was killed at the battle of Fort Washington No- 
vember 16, 1776, and when he fell Margaret took his place at his 
gun and served it with great credit till struck down with three 
grapeshot, which nearly severed her arm and a part of her 
breast. At the surrender she was paroled to General Greene, 
across the river at Fort Lee, and was carried, with other sick 
and wounded, to Philadelphia. Here later she was formally 



' 






1 






1 V v I - J 






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: 




ANNA WARNER BAILEY 





SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 825 

enrolled as a member of the "Invalid Regiment,' ' the history 
of which is most interesting, but which space will not permit 
giving here. An interesting item in this connection is that Mary 
Ludwig, the real "Molly Pitcher," married Hayes, who was a 
gunner in the same regiment as John Corbin, which no doubt 
made her acquainted with Margaret Corbin. And it no doubt 
was Margaret Corbin 's deed at Fort Washington that inspired 
the act of Mary Ludwig, or "Molly Pitcher/ ' at the battle of 
Monmouth, and which placed her name in the book of immor- 
tality. 

So grievous were the wounds received by Margaret Corbin at 
Fort Washington that they were ultimately the cause of her 
death, and not, as Lossing would have us believe, by a loathe- 
some and dishonorable disease. On account of these wounds, 
the Supreme Council of Philadelphia, on June 29, 1779, granted 
her $30 and recommended her to the Board of War for a regular 
pension which that body granted her, July 6, 1779. 

When the Invalid Regiment was mustered out in April, 1783, 
Margaret, having no home to go to or hospital to receive her, 
turned her thoughts to the Hudson River, where her husband 
had laid down his life, and where, owing to the disbanding of the 
greatest number of soldiers, she could find the largest number 
of sympathetic friends. Here she found a quiet refuge, aided 
by the poor but grateful country on whose altar she had laid 
her all. She died about 1800, and, as we have already shown, 
was laid to rest among the hills she loved and graves of those 
who loved and honored her. In the Holyground Protestant 
Episcopal Church at 179th Street, New York, is a tablet erected 
in 1902 by the Mary Washington Colonial Chapter of the Daugh- 
ters of the American Revolution in memory of the exploit of 
Margaret Corbin. 

vm 

Anna Warner Bailey 

A heroine, of Groton, Connecticut : 

Anna or Nancy Warner, daughter of Philip Warner and Han- 
nah Mills, born at Groton, October 11, 1758. When about ten 



Szv SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

years of age, she and her brother Jebez, two years older lost 
iheir parents. Anna was taken to live with an uncle Edward 
. i ills, who lived at Centre Groton. There were no boys in the 
family so Anna helped care for the stock and dairy, she helped 
at sheep shearing and did out-door labor, in those days expected 
of a farmer's daughter. Thus she grew to womanhood. When 
the Massacre at Fort Griswold took place in 1781, she was about 
twenty- three years of age. Previous to this she was bethothed 
to Elijah Bailey. At first alarm on September 6, 1781, her uncle 
Edward Mills hastened to join the patriots at Groton 's heights. 
At sunset of that day when Mills did not return Anna having 
performed the duties connected with the farm and home, went 
to the fort in search of her uncle. Anna's words "If the earth 
had opened and poured forth blood, instead of drinking it in, 
it could not have been more plentiful." After searching long 
she found Edward Mills, shot and faint from loss of blood, and 
left for dead. He escaped the torture of the ride down the hill 
in the wagon packed with dying patriots. In an empty cartridge 
box she brought water to her uncle who revived. He expressed 
the wish to see him wife "Oh, if I could see Hannah and the 
baby before I go I should die content." Anna hurried home, 
saddled and bridled a horse, hasteneel back to her uncle with the 
child who received the father's blessing. During these incidents 
Anna had obtained no trace of her lover. 

Anna made bandages, brought food and water and did every- 
thing she could to relieve the sufferings of the wounded. At 
dawn Anna turned her weary steps towards home. She had no 
rest till duties of farm and home were performed. At her 
uncle's funeral she made a solemn vow "to hate England and 
the English forever." A vow she kept. Hannah Mills was left 
a widow with five children and Anna showed her love for her 
aunt by assuming charge of business affairs, gathered crops, 
etc. Not until her aunt was able to provide for herself was 
Anna married to Elijah Bailey. Colonel Ledyard, September 6, 
1781, ordered Bailey to man a gun at a redoubt, a little southeast 
of the fort. Mrs. Bailey, years after said: "he was courting 
me then, boy though he was," (she twenty-three, he seventeen). 
A happy married life was theirs. 






• 




U.^-.--^- Aa'. 



& 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OE THE REVOLUTION 827 

Housekeeping was conducted on unalterable rules, and no 
work that could be avoided was done on Sunday. All meals 
were served cold. A member of Groton Church. Every 
year for fifty-six years she read the Bible through. In 
1813, Commodore Decatur was blockaded in New London 
Harbor by an English fleet. Inhabitants feared battle. Women 
fled into the country taking their children and valuables. 
"Mother Bailey" sent her effects, but remained to face 
the danger. Supply of flannel being short for wadding, a 
search was made in the village for some but not half enough was 
obtained. After a moment's hesitation, "Mother Bailey" seized 
her scissors, which every matron of that day carried at her side, 
quickly clipped the strings of her flannel skirt and stripping the 
garment from her person handed it to the messenger saying: 
"It is a good heavy one, but I do not care for that." The mar- 
tial petticoat and its patriotic donor have ever since been re- 
nowned in our local annals. 

She was honored with visits from distinguished soldiers and 
statesmen. Lafayette and suite called upon her in 1824. Presi- 
dents Monroe, Jackson and Van Buren, Colonel E. M. Johnson 
and General Cass. She was noted for her qualities as a nurse. 

Mr. Bailey died in August, 1848, it is said he was the last sur- 
vivor of the Fort Griswold massacre, first postmaster of Groton 
office held till his death and thereafter Mrs. Bailey held the office 
till her death three years later, January 10, 1851, aged ninety- 
two years. 

The foregoing is a copy of some of the facts contained in an 
article written for the Anna W 7 arner Bailey Chapter by Mrs. 
H. T. Palmer and Miss M. E. Benjamin, and published by Con- 
necticut Chapters D. A. R. and sent to the magazine by A. A. 
Thomas. 



Chapters in the History of Halifax, 
Nova Scotia 

NO. Ill 

Social Life of Halifax After the Revolution 
By Arthur Wentwobth Hamilton Eaton, M. A., D. C. L. 

"All hail to the day when the Britons came over 

And planted their standard, with sea foam still wet, 
Around and above us their spirits will hover, 

Rejoicing to mark how we honour it yet. 
Beneath it the emblems they cherished are waving, 

The Rose of Old England the roadside perfumes, 
The Shamrock and Thistle the north winds are braving, 

Securely the Mayflower blushes and blooms/' 

— Hon. Joseph Howe. 
(On the hundredth anniversary of Cornwallis's landing at Chebucto.) 

"Be aristocracy the only joy: 
Let commerce perish, let the world expire !" 

— Anonymous Satircal Poem. 

IN the landscape of Nova Scotia at large, to the cultivated 
traveller as to any impressionable native of the province, 
there is a strongly compelling if never wholly definable 
charm, that stirs deeply the romantic and poetic elements 
in the mind. If the romance of the early settlement of the coun- 
try, which was one of the most conspicuous and treasured of the 
colonies of ancient Bourbon France, is ever exaggerated in the 
mind of the historian or the poet,— the romance of Port Royal, 
Pisiquid, Beausejour, and Grand Pre,— there is yet in the varied 
natural charm of the landscape enough to cast an unusual spell 
over the imagination and quicken the soul to poetic fervor. The 
Nova Scotia landscape has great variety, we find in it the verd- 
ant luxuriance and apparently exhaustless fertility of the broad 
dyke-lands about the Bay of Fundy, the deep Italian blue of 
Minas Basin, the sweet, sheltered grace of the Valley of the 

(828) 




■ 



f$f.'7#.*. 



4 





§w 



THOMAS CHANDLER HALI BURTON 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 829 

Gaspereau, the gray lights and purple shades and wraith-like 
mists that pass over the steep slopes of the North Mountain, the 
stern aspect of Blomidon, as it looks out coldly on the restless 
tide, the marvellous orchard-bloom that rolls, pink and per- 
fumed, in great waves across the landscape in early June, the 
red glow of the laden apple trees in October, the wide-spreading 
fields of red clover, the ridges of flaming goldenrod, the splen- 
did patches of purple wild asters,— with on the Atlantic sea- 
board and along the rivers that flow thither, in contrast to the 
drowsy islands that dot the bays where these rivers empty, a 
tumbled wealth of rugged scenery that gives virility and strength 
to the whole. 

Of the situation and natural setting of the capital of Xova 
Scotia, the city of Halifax, a graceful Canadian writer, Dr. 
Archibald MacMechan, has recently written: "One feature 
must be plain even to the least observant, the unmatched mag- 
nificence of the setting. ' Beautiful for situation/ the phrase of 
the Psalmist for his sacred city, fits the capital of the Mayflower 
Province. Before her feet lies the great land-locked harbour, 
where the old three-deckers used to swing at their anchors ; on 
her right hand extends the long picturesque fiord we call the 
'Arm;' 1 on her left is a second inner haven, twenty miles in cir- 
cuit, called Bedford Basin. In the very centre is the hill crowned 
with a citadel. From this point of vantage you can see how the 
peaceful roofs huddle close around the base of the projecting 
stronghold, and how the dark blue water washes all sides of the 
triangular peninsula on which the city stands. ' * 

In general aspect Halifax is a gray, smoke-coloured town, 
largely built with wooden houses, but containing likewise a good 
many substantial buildings of brick and stone, the most historic 



1. The "Northwest Arm" extends inward from the sea perhaps more than 
a mile, and is lined on both sides with comfortable cottages, occasional club- 
houses, and tiny bungalows for summer use. Near the head of the Arm is an 
islet known as Melville Island, which one reaches by a road called the "Dingle 
drive." On this island stands the little naval prison, where after the war with 
France, numbers of French sailors who had been captured on ships-of-war, pri- 
vateers, and merchant vessels were for months confined. These sailors were 
cheerful, industrious fellows, who employed themselves by making bone boxes, 
dominoes, and other small articles, and it became the fashion to row over to 
the island in summer, or skate across in the winter, to purchase trinkets from the 
men. The war with the United States, of 1812, brought crowds of American 
prisoners also here. 



830 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

of which are the Province Building and Government House. 
The first of these buildings Frederic Cozzeus, an American 
author of the last generation, in his book "A Month with the 
Bluenoses, " describes as a structure of great solidity and re- 
spectability, and this emphatically the building is. There can be 
few more solid or better proportioned buildings on the continent. 
It is constructed of rich brown freestone, its corner-stone was 
laid August 12, 1811, and the structure was completed in 1819, at 
a cost of $209,400. For two or three decades after it was built it 
was often said to be the finest building, architecturally, in North 
America. Within its walls are the House of Assembly, the Leg- 
islative and Executive Council Chambers, and the combined 
Provincial and Nova Scotia Historical Society's libraries, which 
contain not only many valuable books, but a great wealth of 
manuscript records of priceless value for purposes of history. 
On the walls of the Legislative Council Chamber hang portraits 
of King George II, King George III, and King William IV; 
Queen Charlotte and Queen Caroline ; Sir John Eardley Wilinot 
Inglis, the "Hero of Lucknow;" Sir Fenwick Williams, the 
"Hero of Kars ;" Sir Charles Hastings Doyle, Sir Brenton Hal- 
liburton, Judge Thomas Chandler Haliburton, the author of 
"Sam Slick,' ' and a portrait by Benjamin West of Sir Thomas 
Andrew Strange, in scarlet gown, and wig. 2 This Province 
Building is distinguished not only as the home of the Pro- 
vincial Legislature, but as having been the scene of several his- 
toric balls, one as early as 1826, in honour of Sir James 
Kempt, an English governor of the province, one in 1841, in 



2. There are other portraits in this building besides the ones we have men- 
tioned, notably a recently acquired one of the late King Edward. In private 
houses in Halifax there are also a few notable portraits, the finest being a Cop- 
ley of the elder Dr. Mather Byles, of Boston, painted in 1774, it is believed, the 
year Copley finally left Boston for England. This distinguished Copley belongs 
to W. Bruce Almon, Esq., M. D., and has been reproduced, by its owner's kind 
permission, in the writer's latest book, "The Famous Mather Byles." In Hali- 
fax also, in the possession of Major William B. Almon, is an interesting por- 
trait of Miss Catherine Byles. daughter of Dr. Byles, senior, which was painted 
by Henry Pelham, Copley's half-brother. This also, by the owner's kind per- 
mission has been reproduced in the writer's book. 

A highly important and very complete resume of paintings and engravings 
done in Halifax by Robert Field, William Valentine, and others, who worked in 
this province, has lately been published by Mr. Harry Piers, the able archivist 
and local historian of Nova Scotia, in the eighteenth volume of the Collections 
of the Nova Scotia Historical Society. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 831 

honour of Prince de Joinville, and one, the best remembered of 
all, in 1860, in honour of his late Majesty, King Edward Seventh, 
then Prince of Wales. 

The first Governor's House in Halifax was a small wooden 
building, the frame of which, as we have seen, was ordered from 
Boston, which stood on the site of the present Province Build- 
ing, its primitive defences being cannon mounted on casks or 
hogsheads filled with gravel. Whether this house was com- 
pleted as early as October, 1749, we do not know, but by the 
fourteenth of that month Governor Cornwallis had removed 
from his ship to the shore, and the Council was meeting in his 
"apartment." In 1758 Governor Lawrence built a new resi- 
dence on the same spot, to which Lord William Campbell added 
a ball-room, later governors still further enlarging and beauti- 
fying the house. In 1800, on the site of an old wooden building 
on Pleasant Street long used to shelter field officers and for other 
military purposes, the corner-stone of the present Government 
House was laid, and here ever since it was finished successive 
governors have kept their little courts, holding state levees, giv- 
ing state dinners and balls, and more quietly entertaining hos- 
pitably not only native Nova Scotians but many distinguished 
foreign guests as well. This Government House is an exact copy 
of the famous London Lansdowne House, and for many decades 
it was naturally the chief centre of Nova Scotia's smartest social 
life. 3 



3. The governors of Nova Scotia in succession, from 1749 to 1800, all of 
course during their terms of office residing at Government House, were : Col. 
the Hon. Edward Cornwallis ; Col. Peregrine Thomas Hopson : Col. Charles Law- 
rence ; Henry Ellis, Esq. ; Col. the Hon. Montagu Wilmot ; Rt. Hon. Lord Wil- 
liam Campbell, fourth son of the fourth Duke of Argyle; Major Francis Legge ; 
John Parr, Esq.; Sir John Wentworth, Bart. From 1800 to 1900 they were: Sir 
John Wentworth ; Lt. Gen. Sir. George Prevost, Bart ; Gen. Sir John Coape Sher- 
brook, K. B. ; Lt. Gen. George Ramsay, ninth Earl of Dalhousie ; Lt. Gen. Sir 
James Kempt, G. C. B. ; Gen. Sir Peregrine Maitland, K. C. B. ; Major Gen. Sir Colin 
Campbell; Viscount Falkland; Sir John Harvey, K. C. B. ; Hon. Augustus Con- 
stantine Phipps, 2nd Marquis of Normanbv and Earl Mulgrave ; Sir Richard 
Graves Macdonnell. K. C. M. G. ; Sir William Fenwick Williams, Bart, K. C. B. 
a native Nova Scotian, hero of Kars ; Sir Charles Hastings Doyle, K. C. M. G. ; 
Hon. Joseph Howe, a native Nova Scotian, whose father was John Howe, the 
Boston Loyalist; Hon. Sir Adams George Archibald, K. C. M. G.. a native Nova 
Scotian; Matthew Henry Richey, Esq.; Archibald Woodbury McLelan. Esq.; 
Hon. Sir Malachy Bowes Daly, K. C. M. G. ; and Hon. Alfred Gilpin Jones, a 
Nova Scotian of New England descent, who was appointed August 7, 1900, and 
died in office March 14, 1906. 



832 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

In a later chapter of this history detailed account may be 
given of the defences of Halifax, the great Citadel, surrounded 
with its moat, the various shore batteries along the harbour, 
the forts on McNab's and George's islands and at Point Pleas- 
ant, Fort Clarence, on the Dartmouth side of the harbour, and 
York Redoubt, far out in the bay. Until about 1870 two regi- 
ments of the line were always stationed here, but Egypt and 
Ireland needing more troops, one was finally withdrawn, and 
for perhaps thirty years before the Imperial troops were re- 
moved there was but one Line Regiment, with the force of Artil- 
lery and Engineers about equal in number to a full regiment. 
There has always been, likewise, in Halifax, a corps of Sub- 
marine Engineers specially trained by Imperial officers for man- 
ning the harbour defences. As a matter of course there are in 
the vicinity of the Citadel extensive barracks for the accom- 
modation of soldiers and their families, and quarters for those of- 
ficers who, unmarried, are not living in rented houses in the town. 
Not far from the centre of the city, towards the South, is Belle- 
vue, now an officers' mess, a large wooden house which was long 
the residence of the General in command, and in the far northern 
part of the town, overlooking the Dockyard, stands what was 
"Admiralty House," where until the Dockyard was closed, from 
May to December of every year the Admiral of the Fleet on the 
North American station gave a succession of agreeable dinners 
and balls. The beginning of the Citadel was a block-house with 
a parapet, built in 1753, on the summit of the hill, then eighty 
feet higher than now, that overlooks the town. This block-house 
has port-holes in its sides for cannon, and all around it a ditch 
and ramparts of earth and wood, strengthened by palisades or 
pickets driven close together. In 1795 his Royal Highness the 
Duke of Kent caused the old fortifications to be removed and 
began the erection of the present Citadel, which has accommo- 
dation within for a regiment, and has always had ready signal 
communication with the harbour forts. For many decades in 
the past, with measured march, from the eastern entrance of 
the fortification little companies of soldiers would often be 
seen issuing, while on extraordinary occasions, as for church 
parades, the greater part of the regiment, with its band playing, 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 833 

would magnificently march down the side slope of the hill. Be- 
low the glacis, directly facing the middle of the town, is still the 
old square clock-tower, another conspicuous memorial of the 
residence in Halifax of the Duke of Kent. 

The Dockyard, which was begun in 1758, nine years after Hali- 
fax was founded, occupies half a mile of the harbour front, and 
within its guarded walls anciently stood the Commissioner's res- 
idence and other houses for the several employees whose official 
duties included the landing and shipping of naval stores. The 
final inclosure was made, as the figures over the central gate an- 
nounce, on the line of the present wall, in the year 1770. In 
1815, one of the historic loyal celebrations of Halifax took place 
here, after the victory of Waterloo, and many a time the Dock- 
yard has been the scene of brilliant aquatic contests, of which 
many have been held in Halifax harbour, in earlier or later times, 
Until late in the nineteenth century, throughout the summers 
there was hardly a week that several war-ships of the British 
fleet were not flying their flags in the harbour, hardly an evening 
when the music of magnificently trained ships ' bands did not float 
from mid-stream across the water to the Halifax or Dartmouth 
shores. Halifax, as we have intimated, was the headquarters of 
the Commander-in-Chief of the North American Naval Station, 
from the middle of May till the latter part of October ; then the 
war-ships took their departure for Bermuda, Nassau, or Ja- 
maica. During their stay society was always in a whirl of din- 
ner giving and dancing, and this gayety was often still further 
increased by the visit, for longer or shorter time, of some Ger- 
man, French, or American man-of-war. 

The closing of the Garrison Chapel in the north end of Hali- 
fax made one of the greatest losses the town suffered by the re- 
moval of the Imperial troops. From the time when it was 
opened, the year 1846, until 1905, it was the authorized place 
of worship for the British soldiers who were not Roman Cath- 
olics or Presbyterians, and nothing could exceed the heartiness 
of the service performed there. 4 From the Wellington Bar- 



4. The corner-stone of the Garrison Chapel was laid in October, 1844, the 
Rev. Dr. John Thomas Twining then being chaplain. The chapel was closed in 
1905, and the next year was purchased by the congregation of Trinity Church, 
which until 1907 worshipped in a church in Jacob Street. This congregation 



834 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

racks, from Artillery Park, and from the Citadel, on Sunday 
mornings, the troops, with bands playing, would march to the 
church for a crisp military service, for when the twelve o'clock 
gun fired the prayers and the short sermon must promptly be 
done. To civilian worshippers it was always an inspiration to 
hear the soldiers' firm responses, and their hearty singing, as 
accompanied by the organ and several instruments of the band 
they rendered the familiar chants of the Prayer-Book and the 
"Ancient and Modern" hymns. Soldiers who were Presby- 
terians as a rule went to St. Matthew's Church, and Roman 
Catholics to St. Mary's Cathedral, on Spring Garden Road. Not 
infrequently in the quiet Halifax streets would be heard the dull 
beating of the muffled drum which headed the sad funeral pro- 
cession of some private soldier or soldier's wife or child, who 
as the waning sun threw purple shadows round the Citadel, in 
barracks or hospital had breathed his last on earth and gone into 
the unseen. On a low gun-carriage the still form would now 
be passing to Camp Hill Cemetery, or the Military Burying 
ground at Fort Massey, or to the Cemetery of the Holy Cross, 
there to be laid away to moulder slowly to dust. From the 
burial, the band, according to custom, would always return, play- 
ing no longer the "Dead March in Saul," but the liveliest pop- 
ular airs the bandsmen knew. In these Halifax burying grounds 
where soldiers and soldiers' families lie are touching inscrip- 
tions to the memory of men of all ranks in the service, lieuten- 
ant-colonels, captains, ensigns, colour-sergeants, stafT-sergeants, 
and corporals, and to many a hard-working soldier's wife or 
sweet little one, who in the long, cold Halifax winter, perhaps 
rendered more susceptible to the climate by previous residence in 
Bermuda or India, had sadly drooped and died. 



has occupied the Garrison Chapel since 1907. A newspaper notice at the time 
of the laying of the corner-stone of the chapel reads: "Yesterday afternoon, Oc- 
tober 23d, 1844, at three o'clock, the corner-stone of the new Military Chapel 
was laid. The troops were in attendance, accompanied by the band of the Royals. 
Sir Jeremiah Dickson, Colonel Calder, Colonel Bazelgatte, and Major Tryon, and 
other officers belonging to the military department were in attendance. 

"A part of the 90th Psalm was sung, and the Reverend Doctor Twining offered 
prayer. Sir Jeremiah Dickson performed the ceremony of laying the stone, on 
which was a suitable Latin inscription. Reverend Doctor Twining remarked in 
the course of his address that he had held services in no less than eleven different 
buildings." For a brief sketch of Dr. Twining, see Eaton's "History of King's 
County, Nova Scotia," p. 851. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 835 

A highly picturesque feature of Halifax has always been the 
" Green Market,' ' held on Wednesday and Saturday mornings 
on the sidewalks, near the Post Office and the Market Slip. All 
summer through, as regularly as these mornings came, a mixed 
company of 4 i Chezzetcookers ' ' and negroes, the former some of 
the dark-skinned descendants of the old Acadians, have been 
accustomed to troop into town, across the Dartmouth Ferry* 
their rude wagons laden with farm produce, poultry, flowers, and 
domestic small wares of various sorts, and ranging themselves 
along the side-walks unobtrusively offer their goods for sale. 
The negroes, descended from slaves who at the time of the Rev- 
olution or in the war of 1812 escaped from the Southern States, 
are so like those one may see still in Portsmouth, Virginia, or 
Charleston, South Carolina, that watching them squatted on the 
pavement in motley garments and gay head coverings, and lis- 
tening to their thick negro dialect, one might easily imagine 
one's self in far more southern climes. Describing the buyers 
at this open-air market, some writer of early in the nineteenth 
century whose name is unknown to us said : ' ' Here we can see 
the regimental mess man, the smart gun-steward from the Dock- 
yard, the caterer for the ships, and the natty private soldier 
who has just set up housekeeping with a newly made wife from 
the servant class of the town, jostling gentlemen's servants in 
livery and eager-eyed boarding house keepers, or even the mis- 
tress of some aristocratic mansion, who in fresh morning gown 
has thriftily risen early to do her own marketing for the day. ' ' 

The Halifax fish market, too, has always been liberally sup- 
plied and well patronized,— salmon, cusk, halibut, pollock, mack- 
erel, lobsters, herring, gaspereaux, and trout being abundant 
and cheap. A story is told of a certain naval captain of old 
days, new to the station, who, probably better accustomed to the 
prices which ruled at Billingsgate than at Halifax, once gave his 
steward a sovereign to buy lobsters for the cabin dinner. The 
man returned with a small boat load of the crustaceans in two 
or three wheelbarrows and presented them to the captain, whose 
surprise can be easily imagined. 

The residences of the wealthier Haligonians have in large 
part been built on the sloping wooded shores of the beautiful 



836 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

"Arm," but they have not by any means been confined to these 
charming outskirts of the town, they have been scattered through 
the city, some even daring to show themselves far in the mostly 
unfashionable extreme "north end." 

Another interesting feature, added to Halifax in the nine- 
teenth century, is the large park, at Point Pleasant, in the south 
part of the city, the point where the Arm opens in from the 
Atlantic below the steep, heavily wooded shore. The Park com- 
prises several hundred acres in an almost natural state, but with 
nature's primeval ruggedness judiciously softened and refined. 
The Halifax Public Garden, too, has been for years a spot of 
unusual beauty, in artistic arrangement and marvellous wealth 
of shrubbery and floral bloom easily rivalling the finest public 
gardens of the old or the new world. 5 

These were some of the attractive physical features of the 
Halifax of the nineteenth century, as they are of the Halifax of 
to-day,— who, it will be asked, were the people who actually 
created and gave character to the finished town? The negative 
answer to that question is that they were not, save in a few 
cases, the original British settlers that came with Colonel Corn- 
wallis in 1749. 6 To no small extent they were native-born Bos- 
tonians, or other New Englanders, who almost immediately after 
Halifax was founded, drawn thither through previous knowl- 
edge of the province, or by the fresh fame of the Cornwallis en- 
terprise, brought their families here, and in official positions, or 
in trade, 7 or both, soon rose to influence, and in some cases to a 



5. The able director of the Halifax Public Garden for many years has been 
Mr. Powers. One often wishes that the Boston Public Garden could have had 
the benefit of his artistic skill. 

6. The character of many of the settlers of Halifax Governor Cornwallis 
brought with him from England was not by any means pleasing to this eminent 
leader in the British colonization of Nova Scotia. On the 24th of July, 1749, he 
writes the Lords of Trade that the number of men among the colonists fitted to 
carry on the settlement creditably is very small. Some were "idle and worthless 
persons who had embraced the opportunity to get provisions for a year without 
labour, or sailors who only wanted a passage to New England" and had embraced 
the opportunity afforded by the expedition to obtain passage free to American 
shores. 

7. Almost immediately after his arrival at Halifax, though the precise date 
we do not know, Governor Cornwallis entered into an agreement with Messrs. 
Charles Apthorp and Thomas Hancock, influential merchants of Boston, to fur- 
nish the new colony with supplies, and this contract evidently lasted for years. 
At some early period, Messrs. De Lancey and Watts, of New York seem to have 
snared in furnishing Halifax with supplies. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 837 

much wider prosperity than had found opportunity to gain in 
their native provinces. The great migration of Bostonians to 
Halifax, as we have seen in an earlier chapter of this history, 
came when Boston was evacuated by the British in March, 1776, 
but from 1740 to that period probably not a year had passed in 
which some native of Massachusetts, usually of Boston, had not 
transferred himself, and his family if he had one, permanently 
to the new Nova Scotia capital. Among very early influential 
families in Halifax, it is true, were such families of immediately 
British origin as Best, Bulkeley, Collier, Nesbitt, Piers, Pyke, 
"Wenman, etc., but from Massachusetts, chiefly from Boston, much 
before the Revolution came the Belchers, Binneys, Blagdons 
("Blackden"), Clevelands, Fairbankses, Fillises, Gorhams, 
Grays, Greens, Howes, Lawlors, Monks, Morrises, Newtons, 
Prescotts, Salters, Sandersons, Shaws, Tidmarshes, and others, 
almost all which families had been people of excellent standing 
among the New England commercial gentry to which they be- 
longed. At, or following in the wake of, the Revolution came 
another for the most part highly connected group of permanent 
settlers from New England, families named Blowers, Brinley, 
Brown, Byfield, Byles, Clarke, De Blois, Gay, Greenwood, 
Halliburton, Hart, Howe, Lawson, Minns, Nutting, Robie, Saw- 
yer, Snelling, Stayner, Wentworth, Winslow, and Wylde; while 
in the same movement came from New York the Inglis family, 
and the Lynch, Pryor, Thorne, Tremaine, and Wilkins families ; 
from New Jersey the Boggs, Cunard, and Odell families ; from 
Maryland the Stewarts ; from Virginia the Wallaces ; and from 
Georgia, through the island of Jamaica, the Johnstons. A large 
number of Halifax families of note in the nineteenth century 
did not trace to the United States, but came independently and 
singly at intervals, before the end of the eighteenth century or in 
the early part of the nineteenth, directly, or in some few instances 
through other British colonies, from Great Britain or Ireland. 
Such were the Allans, Allisons, Andersons, Archibalds, Beck- 
withs, Blacks, Bowies, Bremners, Breyntons, Brymers, Bullocks, 
Butlers, Campbells, Cochrans, Crawleys, Creightons, Crichtons, 
Cunninghams, Dalys, Donaldsons, Doulls, DufYuses, Fancklins, 
Francklyns, Frasers, Georges, Grahams, Grassies, a second 



838 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

family of Grays, the founder of the Hare family, the Henrys, 
two families of Hills, the Hostermans, Kennys, Macleans, Mc- 
Donalds, McNabs, Mitchells, Morrows, Murdochs, Oxleys, Park- 
ers, Richardsons, Richeys, Ritchies, Slayters, Stairses, Sterlings, 
Thomsons, Tobins, Twiiiings, Uniackes, Woodgates, and Youngs, 
some of whom, however, like the Archibalds, Macleans, and Ritch- 
ies had settled first in other counties of the province. Of import- 
ant American names that came into Halifax through the migra- 
tion from New England to other parts of Nova Scotia in 1760, 
we have Albro, Chipman, Cogswell, Collins, De Wolfe, Harring- 
ton, Hunt, Longley, Starr, Troop, Whidden, and Wier. The 
Almon family, always of high social standing in Halifax, was 
founded here by Dr. James William Almon, a physician, born 
probably in Newport, Rhode Island, though on his father's side 
of Italian origin, who married after the Revolution the eldest 
daughter of the noted Tory clergyman, who fled here from Bos- 
ton, the younger Dr. Mather Byles. 

The character of the social life of Halifax throughout the 
town's whole history, has depended of course very largely on the 
town's commercial prosperity, and for a small, remotely situ- 
ated eastern American town the prosperity of Halifax for many 
decades was rather unusually great. Along the water front of 
the city stand many staunch granite warehouses, where before 
the days of steamships not a few considerable fortunes were 
made in the United- States or the British- West-Indian trade. 
In Halifax, as is well known, the Cunards early established a 
business that laid the foundation of their world-renowned en- 
terprise, the great steamship line that bears their name. 8 In 



8. Mr. Frederick P. Fairbanks, a native Haligonian, from whom this chapter 
will hereafter quote liberally, writes : 

"In 1838 Samuel Cunard was a prominent merchant in Halifax and agent for 
the East India Company. In response to certain circulars sent out by the British 
government he went to England and became associated with George Burns and 
David Maclver; and together they raised money and started the Cunard Service. 
Then they made a contract with the government to carry the mails for seven 
years between Liverpool and Boston, and Halifax and Boston ; and they got a 
subsidy of $80,000 per annum for this service. They were to employ four steamers ; 
these were at first the Britannia, Acadia. Calendonia. and Columbia. The Britannia 
sailed from Liverpool on Friday, July fourth, 1840 and inaugurated the serivce. The 
facts connected with this service are very interesting; the above ships were fol- 
lowed by the Hibernia, Cambria, America, Niagara. Europa, Asia, Arabia, Persia, 
and Scotia. These ended the paddle wheelers. The Britannia took 14 days and 
eight hours to cross. 






























... . 






THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 839 

1825 a group of merchants of local note, of whom Samuel 
Cunard (afterward Sir Samuel Cunard, Bart.) was one, found- 
ed here the first joint-stock banking house in the province, and 
one of the founders of this bank, the Honorable Enos Collins, of 
a Cape Cod, Massachusetts, family, son-in-law of Sir Brenton 
Halliburton, finally died in the town worth six and a half millions 
of dollars, a very great fortune for the days in which it was 
acquired. 9 Nor did the town's commercial prosperity cease 
when sailing ships gave place to steamships on the busy seas. 
after that period, as is true of it to-day, Halifax became a chief 
distributing port for almost the whole of British America. 

Given a certain amount of commercial prosperity, the over- 
shadowing and largely controlling influence in the social life of 
Halifax in the nineteenth century was undoubtedly exerted by 
the presence of the army and navy. But even this influence, 
strong, and foreign to practical American social ideals, as it was, 
could not change the fact that fundamentally Halifax was, as it 
had been from the beginning, essentially an American town. Up 
to the Revolution, Boston had been virtually an English 
provincial community, but with an independence of spirit and 
a power of creating fresh ideals that belonged strictly to the 
new world rather than the old. From the start, Halifax drew 
much of its best life directly from Boston ; its earliest trade was 
with the Massachusetts capital, and the frames of its first public 
buildings came from there, from Boston shops the necessary 
household stores of its people were replenished, and almost im- 
mediately after its founding, as we have seen, Boston people of 



"In my younger days the arrival of what was then generally designated 'the 
English steamer' was a matter of public importance. All vessels were signalled 
from the citadel. The first signal was by balls signifying a large or small steamer, 
then would come the Cunard private signal showing that it was coming to the 
Cunard firm, then the distinctive flag denoting the 'English Mail' ; so the people 
would breathe sighs of relief. This experience would be repeated every fort- 
night right along through the year." 

9. The other founders of the bank besides Cunard and Collins were John 
Clarke, Joseph Allison, William Pryor, James Tobin. Henry Hezekiah Cogswell, 
and Martin Gay Black. (Eaton's "History of King's County, Nova Scotia, p. 
481). Sir Samuel Cunard died worth five millions of dollars. Mr. William Mur- 
doch worth over a million and a half, and Mr. Charles Murdoch worth a mil- 
lion. Many persons in Halifax in the 19th century accumulated from seven or 
eight hundred thousand down to a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Chief Justice 
Sampson Salter Blowers (a Boston born man) died worth four hundred thousand, 
and Chief Justice Sir William Young worth three hundred and fifty thousand. 



840 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

influence poured into the town. When a judiciary needed to be 
established for the province, as of course was quickly the case, 
an able Boston born lawyer of eminent family, Mr. Jonathan 
Belcher, was called to be the chief justice, and in the determined 
movement of the Halifax people soon alter for representative 
government, Mr. Belcher, in opposition to the governor, as be- 
came a man reared in a province where representative institu- 
tions largely prevailed, was the chief mover. When the first 
Assembly was actually created, an overwhelming number of the 
members elected were, like Mr. Belcher, Boston born men. 10 

In structure and general tone, Boston before the Revolution 
was much more aristocratic than it was after the struggle. And 
it is a great question whether with the passing of the town's 
control into the hands of men steeped in the democratic spirit, 
Boston did not suffer forever the loss of some of her very finest 
ideals. In Halifax there was no Revolution, and here we may 
say emphatically, the best social ideals and most hospitable 
customs of pre-Revolutionary Boston, for many decades after 
the Revolution continued to prevail. It is quite true that the 
general intellectuality, that increased rather than diminished 
in Boston after the Revolution, was always sadly lacking in 
Halifax, and that the people, divorced from libraries and having 
little to stimulate them to think world-problems out, absorbed 
themselves largely in business and pleasure and petty politics, and 
that in religion, when they felt the power of religion, they accept- 
ed without question common traditional orthodox views. For a 
long time, both before and after the Revolution, we know, strict 
moralists deplored the frivolity of Halifax, and censured in 
scathing terms the low moral standards of its smart social life. 

Of the controlling power of the army and navy in Halifax, no 
visitor to the town in the whole of the nineteenth century could 
fail to be aware. About the time of the Crimean war, probably 



10. The strength of the New England element in Halifax in 1758, is shown 
by the fact that probably no less than twelve of the nineteen members elected in that 
year to the first House of Assembly were from either Massachusetts or Con- 
necticut. These were : Jonathan Binney, Robert Campbell, Joseph Fairbanks, 
Henry Ferguson, John Fillis, William Foye, Joseph Gerrish, Philip Hammond, 
Henry Newton, William Pantree, Joseph Rundle (probably Randall), and Robert 
Sanderson. The last of these, Sanderson, was elected Speaker. From the first 
appointment of members to the Council, Boston men figured largely in that body 
also. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 841 

very soon after the fall of Sebastopol, when Nova Scotia, al- 
ways, to the present moment, staunchly loyal to England, was 
more than usually aglow with military ardor, Frederic Cozzens 
of New York, visiting Halifax, wrote of the town: "Every- 
thing here is suggestive of impending hostilities, war in bur- 
nished trappings meets you at the street corners, and the air 
vibrates from time to time with bugles, fifes, and drums. ' ' " But 
0," he adds, "what a slow place it is. Even two Crimean regi- 
ments, with medals and decorations, could not wake it up." 11 
Though Cozzens speaks strongly in praise of the hospitality 
of Halifax, the morals of the place, so far as we remember, 
he does not criticize. It is a matter of common knowledge, how- 
ever, that popular British military and naval stations, for ob- 
vious reasons, are universally places where superficial love of 
pleasure and often easy virtue in social relations, among the 
commoner classes at least, are apt to prevail. Of the com- 
parative slowness of Halifax in anything besides pleasure, Judge 
Thomas Chandler Haliburton, a quarter of a century earlier 
than Cozzens, had made his Yankee " Clockmaker ' ' in answer 
to the question "What do you think of the present state and 
future prospects of Halifax? ■" Say: "If you will tell me when 
the folks there will wake up, then I can answer you; but they 
are fast asleep." 12 

The only important connected study of Halifax social life in 
the first half century of the town 's history that to our knowledge 



11. Frederic Swartout Cozzens, "Acadia, or a Month with the Bluenojes." 
New York, Derby and Jackson, 1859. "That the Haligonians are a kind and good 
people, abundant in hospitality," Cozzens says, "let me attest. One can scarcely 
visit a city occupied by those whose grandsires would have hung your rebel 
grandsires (if they had caught them) without some misgivings. But I found 
the old Tory blood of three Halifax generations yet warm and vital, happy to 
accept again a rebellious kinsman, in spite of Sam Slick and the Revolution." 
(Cozzens does not remember that some of the Massachusetts patriots would 
have hanged the Tories with right good will ; it is not at all clear that the reverse 
was the case). 

12. "The Clockmaker: Sayings and Doings of Samuel Slick of Slickville," 
first printed as a series of sketches in the Nova Scotian newspaper in 1835, soon 
afterward published in book form. Judge Haliburton, whose books are many, 
was of New England descent, but was born at Windsor, Nova Scotia. His fam- 
ily in Nova Scotia belong to the New England migration to that province in 
1760- A United States author who has mentioned the external features of Hal- 
ifax is Charles Dudley Warner, in his "Baddeck and That Sort of Thing." This 
book "a narrative of a journey to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton," 
was published in Boston by James R. Osgood and Co. in 1874. 



842 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

has come into print was made about 1860 by the Rev. Dr. 
George William Hill, then and for long after, Hector of St. 
Paul's Church in Halifax, in his memoir of Sir Brenton Halli- 
burton, Kt, the seventh chief justice of Nova Scotia. 13 After 
describing the public buildings and the external features in gen- 
eral of Halifax, and giving some important facts of the town's 



13. Sir Brenton Halliburton (who was knighted when he was very old) was 
born in Newport, Rhode Island, and came to Halifax with his parents at the 
Revolution. His father, John Halliburton, was born in Scotland, but married in 
Newport Susannah Brenton, whose brother (Judge) James Brenton settled early 
in Halifax, as did also did her sister Mary, wife of Hon. Joseph Gerrish. The 
importance of Hon. Jahleel Brenton and his family in Newport has often been 
mentioned in print. Air. George Champlin Mason in his "Reminiscences of New- 
port (1884)" says: "Jahleel Brenton was fond of society and kept an open house, 
both at the homestead [on Thames Street], and at Hammersmith [near Fort 
iQams], where he was always prepared to entertain a large number of guests. 
He was public-spirited, gave the clock that hangs in Trinity Church steeple, was 
one of the original members of the Artillery Company, and one of the committee 
to build the State House. But however well off in landed property, he was at 
times crowded for ready money, and when he died, in 1767, his estate was en- 
cumbered" (p. 369). 

Of Dr. Halliburton, Mr. Brenton's son-in-law, Mr. Mason writes: "At the 
foot of the Parade, where there is now a modern brick building, there stood until 
within a few years a large gambrel-roof house that dated far back in the last 
century. When the ground on which it stood was wanted for other purposes it 
was removed to Bridge Street, where it still does service for shops and tenements. 
On its old site it was occupied in succession by a number of physicians, all of 
whom doubtless found it a good location. The first was Dr. Thomas Rodman, 
who came from Barbadoes in 1680, and here resided up to the time of his death in 
1827. His son Thomas, also a physician, was his successor. After him came Dr. 
William Hunter, a Scotch physician, who was eminent in his day, and whose 
worth has been frequently dwelt upon. Dr. John Halliburton was the next phy- 
sician to occupy the house. He was residing here when the war broke out, took 
sides with the Crown, and in 1781 was suspected of keeping up a secret commun- 
ication with the enemy. So strong was the evidence against him that he left 
hastily in a boat and made his way to New York early in 1782; for in one of his 
letters now before me, dated New York, March 17, 1782, he speaks of his sudden 
departure and expresses regret at having to leave one of his very sick patients, 
Mr. William Tweedy. In this letter he urges his friends in Newport to see that 
his wife and children were sent to him by the first flag. When his family joined 
him, he removed to Nova Scotia and settled there; but for a time at least his 
position in his new home was not a comfortable one, for in a letter dated at Hal- 
ifax, September 8, 1782, he writes: A few casual acts of civility I have now and 
then experienced, but that sincere and generous hospitality that was formerly 
practised in Rhode Island is seldom to be met with in any country. . . . There 
are a few agreeable and courteous people here, from whom we have received 
some civilities, but whether for want of a proper knowledge of us, or from what- 
ever cause, they want that cordial and generous confidence, that smiling ease 
and cheerful communication which alone make civilities palatable.' In time this 
feeling was changed ; there was a better understanding between the doctor and 
the people of Halifax, who had learned to know and esteem him highly. He 
died in 1807. Mrs. Halliburton, who was a daughter of Jahleel Brenton, died 
in 1818. Their son Brenton Halliburton, chief justice of the province, was hon- 
ored with Knighthood." (pp. 28, 29). 

Rev. Dr. George Hill's "Memoir of Sir Brenton Halliburton" (207 pp.) was 
printed in Halifax by James Bowes and Sons in 1864. It may be found in Boston 
libraries. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 843 

history, Dr. Hill says: "The private dwellings were usually 
small, covering a very limited area, and seldom more than one 
story in height, finished above with an attic. Although the town 
was laid out in squares, each containing sixteen lots, of forty 
feet in width and sixty feet in depth, each individual obtained, 
if he could, except in the central part, more lots than one. Thus 
the residences of many were quite detached, and ample scope 
afforded for gardens, which were assiduously cultivated by the 
proprietors. . . . Not a few planted trees before their 
doors, under the shade of which the dairy cow loved to ruminate 
during the hot days of summer, and to lie down at night, to the 
inconvenience and danger of the pedestrian. 

"The furniture in the dwellings of those who possessed means 
was of a far more substantial character than that now used by 
persons of the same class, and was considerably more expensive. 
. . . It was usually made of a mahogany wood, of a rich, 
dark color; the dining-room table was plain, but massive, sup- 
ported by heavy legs, often ornamented with the carved re- 
semblance of a lion ? s claw ; the side-board was high, rather nar- 
row and inelegant; the secretary, or covered writing desk, was 
bound with numberless brass plates at the edges, corners, and 
sides ; the cellaret, standing in the corner, which held the w T ines 
and liquors brought up from the cellar for the day's consump- 
tion, was also bound elaborately with plates of burnished brass ; 
the chairs, cumbrous, straight-backed, with their cushions cov- 
ered with black horse-hair cloth, were as uncomfortable as they 
were heavy; the sofa, though not common, was unadorned but 
roomy; the great arm-chair deserved its title, for it was wide 
enough and deep enough to contain not only the master of the 
household, but, if he pleased, several of his children beside. 
These for the most part comprised the furniture of the dining- 
rooms of the upper classes. That contained in the bed-room 
was built of the same wood, and of a corresponding style. The 
bedsteads were those still known as four-posted, invariably cur- 
tained, and with a canopy overhead. . . . The chests of 
drawers and the ladies ' wardrobes were covered with the ubiqui- 
tous brazen plates, and being kept bright, gave the room an air 










- 









844 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

of comfort and cleanliness. In almost every hall stood a clock, 
encased by a frame of great size. . . . 

"The kitchen department in those early times was of the 
greatest importance. The day's labor began at early morning 
with the often unsuccessful attempt to produce fire from flint 
and steel ; baking and brewing, as well as ordinary cooking, were 
for the most part attended to at home, and all was done for 
many years at the open hearth, on which hard wood was burned 
for fuel. . . . 

"It was the habit to dine at an early hour, and take supper 
between eight and nine o'clock. The fashionable dinner hour 
was three o'clock, and on some state occasions it was made as 
late as four. 14 As a consequence of this custom, business ceased 
to be transacted, at least by the public offices, soon after mid- 
day. It was too late to return when the somewhat lengthened 
meal was over. In the ordinary course, a custom prevailed of 
walking on a fine day, after dinner, sometimes towards the 
Point, sometimes to the North, and in less favorable weather to 
the Market, for a promenade beneath the balcony. On return- 
ing home, those whose resources in themselves were small, usu- 
ally played cards until supper was laid; while among the more 
intellectual it was the admirable custom that the gentlemen 
should read aloud while the ladies worked at embroidery. The 
standard English authors were their text books on these oc- 
casions ; they had but few, but these were the works of the ablest 
historians and the more distinguished poets. Few are aware 
how well informed, in spite of many disadvantages, were the 
upper classes of society in those early times. . . . The full 
and accurate acquaintance of many ladies with History, ancient 
and modern, with Milton and Shakespeare, with Pope and Dry- 
den, and with others of equal fame, may yet be traced through 
a few of their daughters who survive— themselves old ladies 
now— to adorn their native land. Many of them learned the 
French language, and both wrote and spoke it fluently. ' ' 

Later in his description Dr. Hill says : * * It is quite indicative 
of the general ease and lack of urgent business in the community 



14. Speaking of food, Dr. Hill tells us that porcupines were much used as 
game. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 845 

that even as late as 1796, . . . there were no less than 
twenty-four holidays, during which the public offices were clos- 
ed." Levees at Government House, he adds, were very fre- 
quent, on which occasions the streets leading to the executive 
mansion were filled with gentlemen in powdered hair, and silk 
stockings, and with silver-hilted swords. 

Full dress for the women of the period was commonly a stiff 
brocaded silk or heavy satin gown, with a long prim waist, from 
which the ample hooped skirt spread off like a balloon, the 
sleeves being tight to the arm. Over the neck and bosom a lace 
handkerchief was likely to be spread, fastened by a heavy 
jewelled pin. For church a richly wrought apron, and spangled 
white kid shoes, with peaked toes and high heels were worn. The 
hair, dressed with pomatum, was drawn over a cushion perhaps 
twelve inches in height and sprinkled thickly with powder, a 
white rosebud or other natural flower crowning this extraor- 
dinary dome. In these days there -were few hair dressers in 
Halifax, so people were obliged to begin very early in the day 
to prepare for afternoon or evening entertainments, and very 
clever must the fashionable hair-dresser have been who man- 
aged to keep all his patrons in good humour as he went his slow 
rounds from house to house. Full dress for men consisted of 
knee-breeches, silk stockings, shoes with silver buckles, a white 
neckerchief of great thickness, a straight-collared coat with 
large buttons, a brilliantly coloured waistcoat, and the silver- 
hilted sword or rapier we have spoken of. 

Many of the large dinners of early Halifax were given at a 
three-story wooden hotel at the corner of Duke and Water 
streets, known as the " Great Pontac," a house built before 1757. 
For dinners the cooks of the war-ships were often called into 
requisition, and when naval officers themselves were the hosts 
the dishes would be brought up to the windows of the hotel by 
ships' stewards, rowed by sailors in spotless white, and handed 
in for the several courses. In 1757, before the second taking of 
Louisburg, Generals Wolfe and Amherst were entertained at 
the Great Pontac, and for many years thereafter few distin- 
guished men visited Halifax who did not find accommodation 
within its hospitable walls. 















. 















846 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

About 1790 there was but one closed carriage in Halifax, and 
the owner of this vehicle was so gallant that on the evening of 
grand balls he was accustomed to send his servant round for 
many of the ladies of the smart set, in turn. For a long time 
sedan chairs were commonly used in the town. An advertise- 
ment in a newspaper in 1794 announces that sedan chairs may 
be ordered in Barrington Street at one shilling, one and three- 
pence, and sixpence a ride. For church on Sundays the price 
was an eighth of a dollar ; to Dutchtown, near the Arm, the price 
was a shilling. 15 

In a former chapter we have described in some detail the re- 
markable accession to the population of Halifax that came with 
the exodus from Boston in 1775 and 1776 of almost the whole of 
that town's acknowledged aristocracy. As the Revolutionary 
spirit in Massachusetts grew, the position of those who felt com- 
pelled to take strongly the British side became more and more 
intolerable, and as early as the spring of 1775, singly or in 
small groups, Boston and Salem families of importance began 
to seek shelter in the Nova Scotia capital. When the formal 
withdrawal from Boston of General Howe's troops was posi- 
tively determined on, the British sympathizers who had always 
lived in the town, and those who from other places had recently 
sought refuge there, also hastily prepared to leave, and on the 
seventeenth of March, 1776, families and single men to the num- 
ber of between nine and eleven hundred persons embarked with 



15. As we have shown in the first chapter of this history, a considerable 
number of Germans came to Halifax in the wake of the Cornwallis English 
settlers. Many of these removed to Lunenburg, but a considerable group remain- 
ed in the north end of Halifax. Among these Germans some picturesque social 
customs prevailed. At their weddings the bridal party walked to church in pro- 
cession, led by the bride and groom eiect, the women dressed in white with white 
caps and ribbons, the men wearing white trousers and round blue jackets. At 
the conclusion of the ceremony all went to a tavern, and partook of refreshments, 
after which they went home for two or three days' feasting and dancing. For 
one German wedding, in Halifax, the good things provided, included several 
sheep, eighteen geese, soups, hams, puddings, pies, cakes, and wines in abundance. 
The best fiddler that could be found was secured and the people danced all night 
and perhaps all the next day. It is said that the host and hostess generally in- 
sisted on the guests staying until all the food was eaten up. One quaint custom 
observed at these weddings was for some guest at the wedding supper, on the 
first day of feasting, to ask the bride to take off one of her shoes, which he then 
passed round to each of the party for a coin as a gift to the lady. Usually guests 
gave a dollar apiece, and sometimes the shoe was sold at auction to the highest 
bidder, who returned it to the bride, together with the purchase money. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 847 

the fleet. The arrival in Halifax of this bruised and heart-sick 
multitude, the straits to which they were put to find even tem- 
porary comfortable lodgment on shore, the departure of many 
of them in a few weeks for England, and of some of them later 
with the fleet for New York, their reinforcement before long by 
others of their sort from the middle and southern colonies, the 
introduction of many of those who settled permanently in the 
town into the highest public positions, and the natural jealousy 
felt towards such by the older inhabitants— these are incidents 
in the progress of the history of Halifax that we have already 
tried to describe. The establishment of an Episcopate in Nova 
Scotia, and the consequent founding there of a college in which 
Anglican principles should be taught, were two of the results of 
the coming of the Loyalists, and the appointment in 1787 of 
Rev. Dr. Charles Inglis as bishop, and in 1792 of Mr. John 
Wentworth as governor, tended soon to make these later comers 
to Nova Scotia well nigh supreme in the councils of church and 
state. 

What gave especial brilliancy to the social life of Halifax in 
the last decade of the eighteenth century was the presence there 
for part of this time of His Royal Highness Prince Edward, 
Duke of Kent, later Queen Victoria's father, who was then in 
chief command of the King's forces in British North America. 
To this residence of Prince Edward in Halifax we shall devote 
an independent chapter as this history goes on. Giving, as it 
did, a great and lasting stimulus to the loyalty of Nova Scotians 
to the British Crown, it likewise tended strongly to stimulate 
gayety in Halifax, and the accounts of social entertainments, 
in the town while it continued are highly interesting to read. 
John Wentworth was governor from 1792 until 1808, and for 
much of that period of sixteen years he made Government House 
the scene of great festivity. Early in 1795 he was created a 
baronet, and after that notable event in his career, as before, 
he, and his wife Lady Frances, a woman of unusual charm and 
accomplishment, devoted themselves with energy to making 
Halifax social life as hospitable and gay as they could. " There 
have dined at Government House between 12 December, 1794, 
and 29 October, 1795," writes young Nathaniel Thomas, a cousin 












• ■'•••■■■'■ 






848 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

of Lady Wentworth (son of Nathaniel Ray Thomas, the well 
known Massachusetts Loyalist, who spent the rest of his life 
after 1776, and died, in Windsor, Nova Scotia), "two thousand, 
four hundred and thirty-seven persons." On the evening of 
Thursday, December twentieth, 17V2, says a newspaper of the 
day, "the Lieutenant-Governor and Mrs. Wentworth gave a ball 
and supper to the ladies and gentlemen of the town and the 
officers of the army and navy, which was altogether the most 
brilliant and sumptuous entertainment ever given in tins coun- 
try/ ' Describing in detail the features of the entertainment, 
the newspaper pays a highly enthusiastic tribute to the "ele- 
gance and superiority of manners" of Mrs. Wentworth, and the 
"hospitality, perfect good breeding, and infinite liberality, which 
so distinguish the character of our beloved and adored gov- 
ernor." On this magnificent occasion, says the article, "every- 
thing tended to promote one sympathizing joy, and never was 
there a night passed with more perfect harmony and luxurious 
festivity. ' ' 

From year to year, as the history of Halifax in the time of 
the Wentworths goes on, we read of social events that surprise 
us with their luxury and brilliancy, for the town was then, we re- 
member, less than fifty years old. The visits of royal person- 
ages were always the signal for elaborate functions and great 
display. On the fourth of October, 1786, Prince William Henry, 
afterwards King William the Fourth, arrived in H. M. ship 
Pegasus, and his visit was twice afterward repeated in 1787, 
Magnificent, indeed, were the doings on these occasions, the 
presence of a son of the Sovereign making the people almost 
wild with joy. Notable also were the celebrations of the birth- 
days of royalties, especially of that of King George's rather 
staid and exceedingly proper queen. On the eighteenth of Janu- 
ary Queen Charlotte was born, and every year as the day came 
round, Halifax echoed with the thunders of cannon, while levees 
and balls, with brilliant illuminations of the houses, enlivened 
the cold and somewhat dreary town. In 1794, the birthday of 
Prince Edward, the exact date of which was November second, 
came on Sunday, and the popular customs precluded any gayety 
on that sacred day. Accordingly there was only a salute from 









. 



■ 









THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 849 

the citadel and a quiet levee at Government House. Monday 
night, however, there was a magnificent ball and supper at the 
Governor's, for which three hundred invitations were issued. 
On Tuesday night the town was illuminated, and over the gate 
of Government House appeared a crown and the initials P. E., 
"enclosed by a blaze of lights.' ' On the twelfth of August, 1796, 
the Prince of Wales's birthday was celebrated, with parades, 
salutes, and all the military pomp possible. A banquet at Gov- 
ernment House, "at which Prince Edward, the army and navy 
officers, and chief gentlemen of the town were guests of Sir 
John Wentworth, concluded the festival." 

On Tuesday, the thirteenth of September, 1796, Lady Went- 
worth gave a ball and supper at Government House to Captain 
Beresford, of one of his Majesty's war ships, who had "success- 
fully beaten off a superior French ship, supposed to be a vessel 
of the line. " " Most of the ladies and gentlemen of the town, ' ' 
Murdoch says, "were invited, and the officers of the army and 
navy. As a compliment to the captain, all the ladies wore navy 
blue cockades, and many had on bandeaux and ornaments of 
blue, on which his name was inscribed in gold letters. Splendor 
and taste were predominant, and gayety reigned supreme. 
The merry dance was not deserted till the small hours of the 
morning came on. ' ' 

Nor did the loyal celebrations of Haligonians lose any of their 
fervor after the nineteenth century opened. On Friday, April 
seventh, 1820, George the Fourth, who had been nine years 
regent, was proclaimed King at Halifax. "At half past ten, 
A. M., the governor went in state to the council chamber. The 
members of His Majesty's council, the speaker and several mem- 
bers of the assembly then residing or remaining in town, the 
justices of the peace in Halifax, grand jurors, and many of the 
inhabitants, and the officers of the army and navy, had pre- 
viously assembled there. The governor having taken his chair, 
the provincial secretary read the official despatches notifying 
the demise of the late king and the accession of his eldest son and 
heir. A proclamation of the new king's reign was signed by the 
governor, councillors, and other chief persons present. His 
Excellency having appointed David Shaw Clarke, Esquire, to 












•»W 









850 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

be herald at arms, that gentleman read the proclamation aloud 
in a distinct and clear voice. At this time the Royal standard 
was hoisted upon citadel hill. The herald proceeded from the 
council chamber in a carriage, accompanied by the sheriff, to 
the front of the Province House, to the market square, to the 
door of St. Paul's Church, and to the new parade on Brunswick 
Street, near the North Barracks, escorted by troops and at- 
tended by the populace, and at every place repeated the procla- 
mation. At the North Parade the garrison were drawn up under 
arms, and a salute of twenty-one guns fired from six field 
pieces. The procession then returned to the Province House, 
and the proclamation was again read in the Supreme Court 
room, now the Legislative Library. At one P. M. the Royal 
standard was lowered to half mast, and minute guns were fired 
from the fort on George's Island, which was continued the re- 
mainder of the day, in memorial of the deceased sovereign. On 
Sunday, sermons suited to the occasion were delivered in the 
different places of public worship." 

In 1830 was published by Henry Colburn and Richard Bent- 
ley, in New Burlington Street, London, an interesting volume, 
called "Letters from Nova Scotia, Comprising Sketches of a 
Young Country," by Captain William Moorsom, of the Fifty-sec- 
ond Light Infantry, which was written in Halifax in 1829, while 
the author was officially engaged "in various tours undertaken 
for the purpose of gaining some military information relating to 
the province." 16 In describing Halifax the author says: "The 
garrison forms about one-eighth of the population, and of course 
materially influences the tone of society. A young officer in 
whose head conceit has not previously effected a lodgment stands 
every chance of undergoing a regular investment, siege, and 
assault from this insidious enemy on joining his corps in Hali- 
fax. He finds himself raised at once to a level above that ac- 
corded to the scarlet cloth at home— his society generally sought, 
frequently courted, and himself esteemed as a personage whose 
opinions are regarded with no little degree of attention. 
It is not the fault of the inhabitants if Halifax be not a 
pleasant quarter for a stranger, and particularly for a military 



16. The book has nineteen chapters. It also may be found in Boston libraries. 





























































: 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 851 

stranger. Hospitality, unbounded in comparison with that 
which such a person will experience in England, is offered to 
his acceptance. . . . The general tone of intercourse is 
somewhat analogous to that we meet with in Ireland ; it is in fact 
such as naturally prevails where the circle is not very extended, 
where the individual members have been long acquainted, and 
where military have long been stationed with few internal 
changes. . . . There are no regular public assemblies in 
Halifax. A theatre, conducted by amateurs, is opened five 
or six times during the season, but a dearth of female perfor- 
mers renders it not particularly attractive. Quadrille cards have 
lately been issued every fortnight by one of the regiments in 
garrison, and have been received in the light they were intended, 
as an earnest of social harmony and amusement. Picnic parties 
in summer and sleighing excursions in winter complete the scale 
of divertis semens. . . . Whenever a fine day and a well- 
formed road combine their attractions, from a dozen to twenty 
of the members of the sleigh club may be seen with tandem, pair, 
four-in-hand, or postillions a I Anglais e, first making the tour 
of the streets, to the open-mouthed admiration of ail the little 
truant ragamuffins, and the dashing out of town along the fine 
1 Bason road' to partake of a dejeuner a la fourchette at some 
country inn a few miles off. Each preux chevalier is accom- 
panied by the lady of his choice, while some in double sleighs 
are so unconscionable as to monopolize three or four. The only 
sine qua non of propriety seems to be that the signorine shall 
be matronized by some one. Strange as it may appear, while 
hosts of the unqualified are ready to the moment, matronly 
volunteers are rarely to be found ; and the one who is eventually 
pressed into the service usually finds her numerous charge as 
perfectly beyond all control, as the necessity for which control 
is perfectly trivial." 

Elsewhere Moorsom says: Were an Englishman "placed in 
the midst of the party at the Governor 's weekly soiree, he would 
not conceive himself to be elsewhere than in some English 
provincial town with a large garrison. In fact there cannot 
be any town out of Great Britain where this similarity is so 
complete as at Halifax.' ' "The winter is here," he continues, 















. 



852 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

"as in other places, the season for gaiety similar to that we find 
prevalent elsewhere, in the shape of dinner and evening parties, 
rational and irrational, festive, sober, and joyous, insipid, dull, 
and stupid. How far individual gout, or rather degout, may 
act to give a ' jaundiced eye' I know not, but it seems to me the 
general tone of these social meetings indicates a stage of luxury 
rather than of refinement, of gaiety rather than its com- 
bination with that intellectual foundation which renders such 
gaiety truly delightful." 

In 1842 and '43, an educated Italian named Gallenga, who af- 
terward wrote many books under the pseudonym of L. Mariotti, 
spent some time in Nova Scotia and saw much of Halifax society. 
In a very entertaining book he wrote called "Episodes of my 
Second Life," 17 he says, evidently with great pleasure in the 
recollection: "Picnics at the Duke of Kent's Lodge, reunions 
at Government House, balls given in turn by the officers of the 
garrison at the Assembly rooms or by the naval officers on board 
the Admiral's frigate, were almost daily occurrences— balls with 
such a show of beauty as hardly any other town of the same size 
and pretension could exhibit, and to the charms of which, I, 



17. In 1842, "Luigi Mariotti" came out from England, where he had just 
declined the position of private secretary to Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, to be 
professor of modern languages in King's College, at Windsor. Lord Falkland 
was then governor of the province, and Dr. John Inglis, bishop of the diocese, and 
Mariotti gives very graphic pictures of these dignitaries and of the other chief per- 
sonages of the Province at that time. The Bishop, he says, was a dapper little man 
with a lively face on which the sense of what was due to his prelatic dignity was 
perpetually struggling to check the impulse of his bustling activity. There was in him 
something of the look and manner of Dean Stanley. The Bishop's wife and "four 
thin, and not very young daughters," he describes as having stateliness enough for 
the whole Episcopal bench in the House of Lords. The new professor seems not 
to have been the most contented person in the world, and he was very much dis- 
appointed in King's College, his position for one thing proving far more of a 
sinecure than he either expected or desired, but he soon set up a modest establish- 
ment, bought a horse, engaged a black groom, and embarked on the sea of Windsor 
and Halifax society. With Dr. McCawley, the president of the college, and his 
wife, he was at once on good terms, and speaking of some of the girls he met at 
Windsor, he says that the Miss Haliburtons, the Miss Heads, and the Miss Uni- 
ackes "wanted neither prettiness nor animation and showed no invincible objection 
to a little flirting." He does not deign to tell us to whom it was, but he confesses 
that he lost his heart in Windsor, and when later he settled in Halifax, and was 
a frequent guest at Government House (although the beautiful Lady Falkland was 
then "in deep mourning for her brother, the Earl of Munster"), at the officers' 
mess, and at assembly balls, and hops on the Admiral's frigate, he used regularly 
on Saturday to saddle his horse and ride forty miles over a rough road to spend 
Sunday in the college town with the fair captor of his affections. 

An edition of "Episodes of my Second Life," was published in London by 
Chapman and Hall, in 1884. The book may be found at the Boston Public Library. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 853 

though I never danced, could not be blind— the charms of the 
acres of dazzling-white bare necks and shoulders of the Arch- 
deacon's strapping daughters, of the bright eyes and elegant 
figures of the four Miss Cunards, of the fair complexions and 
sweet expression of the four Miss Uniackes, two of them stars 
of the first magnitude— all of whom whirled before me as crea- 
tures of another orbit, happy in the arms of the red-coated or 
blue-jacketed gallants encircling their waists.' ' 

In recollection of his boyhood and young manhood in Halifax, 
Mr. Frederick P. Fairbanks, 18 a bachelor of arts of King's Col- 
lege, Windsor, much of whose later life has been spent in the 
neighborhood of New York City, has written the following pleas- 
ant description of the social life, as he remembers it, of his native 
town. "Halifax," he says, "had exceptional advantages for 
6ocial recreation. Being the summer headquarters of the 
fleet of the British and North American squadron and 
being garrisoned by two regiments of infantry, several batteries 
of artillery and a corps of engineers, the military and naval ele- 
ment were largely in the ascendant, and aided to a considerable 
degree in the entertainment of the citizens. This element 
broughtwith it as residents the Commander-in-Chief of the forces 
in America, and the Admiral of the fleet, with their respective 
staffs, and Halifax being the place of residence of the Governor 
of the Province, the Judges of the Supreme Court, and all the 
executive officers of the government, as well as the Bishop of the 
Diocese, naturally furnished excellent material for tea parties 
and other social events. The respective regiments and ships of 
war offered a lavish hospitality to the townspeople, to which 
the latter did not fail to make satisfactory response, and hardly 
a week passed that cards were not out for a General's, Ad- 
miral's, or Governor's ball, or a dance on board ship, or by in- 
vitation of the military officers or some one of the prominent 
citizens. 

* ' Then to fill in, there was a constant round of driving parties, 



18. Mr. Frederick Prescott Fairbanks, Barrister, of Passaic, New Jersey, a 
warm friend of the writer, is one of the few Haligonians who have ever taken the 
trouble to describe the social life of their native town as it was about the middle of 
the nineteenth century. His manuscript is a notable one and we are glad to re- 
produce so much of it here. 






854 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

yachting, garden, skating parties, or picnics, the participants in 
which generally returned to the house of the patron for an im- 
provised dance. Military reviews and parades, and sham fights, 
too, were very frequent, concerts by the military bands were 
given twice a week at the public gardens during the summer, 
and all kinds of out door sports were in vogue, which were 
largely attended by spectators. For example, it was not un- 
common on a fine winter day, when the ice was good on the North 
West Arm, to find assembled there on skates the best representa- 
tives of all classes of society. High officials of the government, 
judges, lawyers, rectors, and curates, and even the dignified 
Bishop joined hands with the crowd ; colonels, majors, captains, 
and middies were all on skates, and naturally the fair sex of the 
city were out in force to greet them. When the sun shone 
and the ice was smooth, there was good fellowship and enjoy- 
ment which could hardly be excelled. 

"In all social festivities, the heads of the house of Fairbanks 
indulged and encouraged their children to indulge. They ac- 
cepted invitations and made bounteous return. For many years 
at Briar Cottage they kept open house and entertained freely, 
until all the daughters but one were married and that one had 
retired from society. Briar Cottage was seldom quiet in the 
evening. Both parents and children were fond of company and 
liked it best at home. Large and small dances, family dinners, 
dinners to politicians, high teas to clerical friends and the peo- 
ple of the church, card, charade, round game, and children's 
parties were interspersed with an occasional ball, when every- 
body in the Army, Navy, or Citizen force considered properly 
entitled to an invitation would get one. A feature of these re- 
ceptions was the absence of formality. Our parents made no 
pretension to style, the ladies wore no dazzling jewels or costly 
attire, and a man's income was never regarded as the measure 
of his eligibility. Everything, however, was comfortable and 
pleasing. The girls looked well, the military came in full dress 
uniform with plenty of scarlet and blue and gold-lace, so at- 
tractive to the feminine fancy, and the young men of the city 
were so well looked after that they could not feel otherwise than 
at home during the whole of the event. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 855 

"On such occasions the two back parlours were opened for 
dancing, the drawing room was reserved for tete-a-tetes and 
conversation, and the supper was served in the front sitting 
room, where it was laid early in the day, the room not being 
opened till midnight or thereabout. During the evening, re- 
freshments were served from the pantry or the sideboard in the 
dining room. Wine and ale were always provided, and the sup- 
per was of a substantial character, generally comprising boned 
turkey, chickens, salads, and sweets of various kinds. 

"The greater part of the time the daughters had friends visit- 
ing them, and as men callers were always welcome in the even- 
ings, many improvised dances were often got up. Every night 
before retiring we had supper, even when the family were alone, 
and a good bottle of ale was considered, both at supper and din- 
ner a sine qua non. In these days a guest was never allowed 
to depart without partaking of some refreshment— a very good 
custom, and one which our children would do well to observe. 

"At Christmas there was always a family gathering at Briar 
Cottage. On such occasions the little front sitting room was 
made to do duty for the children, and the recollection of that 
room can never fade from their minds. While the children 
were allowed their stockings in bed in the morning, they had 
to wait until after breakfast for any further inspection of their 
Christmas gifts. Then the family adjourned to the sitting room, 
where on a round table (trees were not in vogue with us in those 
days) the presents were displayed. This little front sitting room 
could tell many a tale, if it had a voice, for it was the room re- 
served, as well, for the daughters of the house when they were 
about to be married. Often at such momentous times the boys 
would receive the strict injunction: ' Don't come in without 
whistling.' " 

In a later manuscript Mr. Fairbanks writes : 

"The principal public functions of Halifax were held at Gov- 
ernment House, Admiralty House, the Commandant's residence, 
the Provincial Building, and Masonic Hall. The balls on shore 
had no distinctive feature, but were like all balls ; it may be noted, 
however, that by whomsoever the entertainment was given one 
was sure to be treated most lavishly as far as the inner man was 



. 
























856 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

concerned. The hospitality of Halifax is proverbial, and one's 
host was never lacking in his desire to regale one with the very 
best that the market afforded or that the most pronounced epi- 
cure could desire. 

"The most popular of all the social events that took place in 
those days, were, I think, the hops on board the ships of war. 
This was possibly owing to some extent to the fact that they 
possessed certain novel features not met with on shore. The 
ships lay out in the stream some distance off the dockyard, and 
a constant stream of boats manned by the sailors in holiday 
dress, and commanded by midshipmen, moved back and forth 
taking the guests from the dockyard to the ship. Once on board, 
the most diffident could not but feel at home; he was free to 
dance, smoke, sleep, eat or drink, or amuse himself by doing 
nothing ; there was simply no restraint, and abundant opportun- 
ity was furnished for having a good time in the way one wished. 
There was a beautiful deck in the finest condition for the dance ; 
there were the ward room and gun room below for those who 
desired to indulge in mild dissipation; and there were numerous 
nooks all over the vessel to be used as desired. There was most 
deferential attendance, there were eatables and drinkables in 
profusion ; and you were away from the hum of the city, floating 
serenely on the placid waters of the great harbour, with some 
of the finest ships of the British navy in close proximity, and 
your surroundings in all ways pleasing. The water of the 
harbour was often an intense blue which enhanced the beauty 
of the vista from the shore, and there was plenty to look at in 
the stream from the deck of the man-of-war. 

Of certain popular regiments, Mr. Fairbanks says : 
"I remember the arrival of the 62nd and 63rd regiments 
which came directly to Halifax after the Crimean war. They 
presented a very ragged appearance as they disembarked from 
the troop ships and marched to their barracks. The 62nd was 
very popular in Halifax and a number of its officers married 
Halifax girls. Another very popular regiment was the 78th, 
which took part in the relief of Lucknow. It was customary 
at that time, and I believe still is, to have concerts by a military 
band in the Public Garden (then the 'Horticultural Garden,' 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 857 

once or twice a week). There was a musical composition en- 
titled 'The Relief of Lucknow' if I remember rightly, which the 
78th 's band used sometimes to perform. One part of the band 
occupying the stand was supposed to be in the fort, and while 
it was playing, another portion of the band was heard 
a long distance off in a remote part of the garden playing ' The 
Campbells are Coming. ' As soon as this became distinct, the 
band on the stand took up the air and the two divisions played 
if. in unison till the relief party marched into the 'fort, ' when 
there was tremendous enthusiasm among the spectators. The 
Fourth (King's Own) was also a very popular regiment in Hali- 
fax. 

"A feature of the arrival of troops in the city was that the 
town crier turned out, ringing his bell and 'crying down credit' — 
that is crying to the effect that all persons were prohibited from 
giving credit to the members of her majesty's — th regiment, 
and that the government would not be responsible if they did. 
I remember one of the town criers very well, I often heard him 
cry 'Lost; Strayed; or Stolen!' etc., etc. 

"An extremely popular social organization in my day," this 
writer adds, "was the Halifax Archery and Croquet Club, a 
large and interesting club to which many of the army and navy 
men as well as civilians belonged. A portion of the Horticultural 
Garden was set apart for its use, and on field days the gathering 
was most animated and gay. At that period tennis had not 
come into vogue. A few years ago when in Halifax I saw an 
aquatic carnival on the Arm. It was said that there were about 
a thousand boats on the water. It was one of the prettiest 
sights I ever saw. The Governor General of Canada, Earl Grey, 
was then on a visit to Halifax, and this and many other interest- 
ing social events were arranged in his honour." 

In another manuscript by a native Nova Scotian we read: 
"When an old regiment was ordered off the station there was 
always sorrow in the drawing rooms and deep regret in the 
Halifax Club, while on the part of the private soldiers and their 
sweethearts there were presumably many tender farewells in- 
dulged in and many bitter tears shed. Wlien the last echoes of 
' The Girl I Left Behind Me, ' however, had died on the air, and 



858 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

the new regiment, after disembarking from the ships, with flying 
colours had marched into the town, a fresh round of acquaint- 
anceships, usually equally pleasant with the old, began to be 
made, fresh dinners and dances loomed on the near social 
horizon, and the feminine heart, in high circles and low, was 
athrob with the anticipation of new triumphs in the matrimonial 
line. While imperial troops continued to visit Halifax, the 
general ambition of girls in the smart set was to marry officers, 
and few families of fashion in the town but succeeded, sooner 
or later, in allying themselves with families of greater or less 
note in England by marrying their daughters to young officers 
of the army or navy. Of these two sets of officers, the latter, on 
the whole, had more popularity than the former, for th^re is 
usually a more open confidingness in sailors than in soldiers, 
and it used to be felt that naval officers at large had the higher 
breeding of the two departments of the British service of public 
defence. 

"The entertainments common in Halifax in the nineteenth 
century were tennis, badminton, polo, lobster-spearing, tobog- 
ganing, skating, dinners, luncheons, hops, kettledrums, balls, 
picnics, and fairs. The balls given by the naval or military 
officers were often especially brilliant affairs, the uniforms in 
evidence including those of the line regiments, the artillery, the 
engineers, and the various war-ships then on the station.' ' 

In one of his essays, Charles Dudley Warner says of the 
dramatic social plantation life of the southern States before 
the abolition of slavery: "Already, as we regard it, it assumes 
an air of unreality, and vanishes in its strong lights and heavy 
shades like a dream of the chivalric age. ' ' The old picturesque 
eighteenth and nineteenth century life of Halifax has largely 
disappeared too. For better or for worse, probably much for 
the better industrially, certainly much for the worse in point of 
dramatic interest, under the influence of insistent modern prac- 
tical demands, it has utterly changed. One of the things that 
helped give it and that helps it still retain a certain flavor of 
the old England which it loves to copy, and in whose traditions 
it has a persistent feeling of somehow having a right to share, 
was and is the bestowal of occasional knighthoods on Halifax 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 859 

men. For special service to the Empire, Britain has always thus 
rewarded her sons, and thus she will probably long continue to 
reward them. Of such easily given honours, that very likely 
tend to keep dignity in the popular life, and that even in a 
thoroughly democratic province such as Nova Scotia now is, 
cannot at least do much if any harm, Halifax will always, prob- 
ably, as long as Britain remains in name a monarchical country, 
receive and welcome from the sovereign a modest share. 

APPENDIX 

Nova Scotians, many of them Haligonians, who have received titles. Several 
of these names appear in the Dictionary of National Biography. 

1 
Sir Adams George Archibald, K. C. M. G., June 6, 1885 (C. M. G., 1872, Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of Manitoba and the North West Territory, 1870-1873; of 
Nova Scotia, 1873-1883). 

Sir Edward Mortimer Archibald, K. C M. G., Aug. 26, 1882, British Consul for 
some years at New York. 

Sir Thomas Dickson Archibald, Kt. Bachelor, Feb. 5, 1873, Judge of the Queen's 
Bench, London and Baron of the Exchequer, brother of Sir Edward Mor- 
timer Archibald. 

General John Charles Beckwith, C. B., Italian Knighthood (order of Sts. 
Maurice and Lazarus, received from King Charles Albert, of Italy, Dec. 
15, 1848. He was born at Halifax, Oct. 2, 1789, a nephew of Sir Brenton 
Halliburton, Kt. Bach. 

Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Belcher, R. N., K. C. B., March 13, 1867 (Kt. Bach., 
1843). He was born at Halifax, in 1799, son of Hon. Andrew Belcher, 
M. E. C, and his wife, Marianne Geyer (of Boston), his grandfather being 
Chief-Justice Jonathan Belcher, of Nova Scotia, and his great-grandfather 
Governor Jonathan Belcher, of Massachusetts and New Jersey. 

Sir Frederick William Borden, K. C. M. G., 1902, born in King's County, Nova 
Scotia, May 14, 1847. He was for some years Minister of Militia in the 
Dominion Parliament. 

Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Laird Borden, K. C. M. G., 1914, born in King's County, 
Nova Scotia, June 26, 1854. Premier of Canada at the present time. 

Sir John George Bourinot, K C. M. G., May 21, 1898, born Oct. 24, 1857, died 
Oct. 13, 1902. He was Clerk of the Dominion House of Commons, and 
a literary man of distinction. 

Sir James Cochran or Cochrane, Kt. Bachelor, March 12, 1845. He was born at 
Halifax, June 2, 1794, and was Chief-Justice of Gibraltar from 1840 to 
1877. He was an uncle of Sir John Inglis, K. C. B. He died at Gibraltar 
June 24, 1883. 

Lieutenant-General William George Cochran or Cochrane, C. B., brother of 
Sir James Cochran, was born in Halifax April 19, 1790. He was a dis- 
tinguished military man, serving in the Peninsular War. 



860 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

Sir Samuel Cunard, Baronet, March o, 1859, was born in November, 1787. In 
1840 he successfully inaugurated ocean travel by establishing the Cunard 
Steamship Line. His son Sir Edward Cunard, born January 1, 1816, suc- 
ceeded to his title April 28. 1805 and died in i860. Sir Bache Edward 
Cunard, born May 15, 1851, succeeded as third baronet in 1869. 

:Sir Malachy Bowes Daly, K. C. M. G., was Governor of Nova Scotia from 
1890 to 1895, and again from 1895 to 1900. 

Sir John William Dawson, K. C. M. G. September 11, 1884 (C. M. G., 1881), 
was an eminent geologist and President of McGill University. He was 
born at Pictou, Nova Scotia, Oct. 13, 1820. 

Colonel Sir William F. De Lancey, K. C. B., a native of New York (son of 
Stephen De Lancey) came with his father to Nova Scotia about 1783. He 
entered the army, died at Waterloo, and was buried at Brussels. His father 
became Chief-Justice of the Bahamas, and later Governor of Tobago. Sir 
William's daughter, Susan, was the wife of Sir Hudson Lowe, Governor 
of St. Helena when Napoleon was captive there. 

Sir Sanford Fleming, K. C. M. G., 1897 (C. M. G., 1877) was born in Scotland, 
but was for many years a summer resident of Halifax, where he owned 
valuable property. Sir Sanford was long one of Canada's most useful 
public men. He died at Halifax in July, 1915. 

Baron Haliburton, 1898, (Sir Arthur Lawrence Haliburton), youngest son of 
Judge Thomas Chandler Haliburton. was C. B., 1880, K. C. B., 1885, and G. 
C. B., 1887, and was raised to the peerage in 189S. He died childless and the 
peerage is extinct. Lord Haliburton was born at Windsor, Nova Scotia, 
Sept. 26, 1832. 

Sir Brenton Halliburton, Kt. Bachelor. April 13, 1859, was a son of Hon. 
John Halliburton, M. D., and his wife, Susannah Brenton (of Newport, 
R. I.). He was Chief -Justice of Nova Scotia from 1833 to i860, when he 
died. 

Sir John Eardley Wilmot Inglis, K. C. B. January 21, 1858, was a son of 
Bishop John Inglis and grandson of Bishop Charles Inglis. He was born 
November 15, 1814, and was knighted for successfully defending the Pres- 
idency of Lucknow in the Crimean War, in 1857. He is popularly known 
in Nova Scotia as the "hero of Lucknow." 

Sir Edward Kenny, Kt. Bachelor. Nov. 3, 1870, was born in Ireland in 1800, 
but was long a resident of Halifax. He was successively President of the 
Legislative Council of Nova Scotia, Receiver General of the Province, 
President of the Privy Council of Canada, and a member of the Dominion 
Senate. 

Sir James Monk, Kt. Bachelor, born in Boston in 1746, removed with his parents 
to Halifax early in the history of the town, and by 1774 became Solicitor 
General of Nova Scotia. After 1777 he removed to Montreal and there 
became Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench. He was knighted late 
in life. 

Sir William Johnstone Ritchie, Kt. Bachelor, May 24, 1881, Chief-Justice of 
the Dominion of Canada, was born at Halifax Oct. 28, 1813. 

Sir Thomas Andrew Strange, Kt. Bachelor, March 14, 1798, was Chief -Justice 
of Nova Scotia, June 6, 1791, to Sept. 9, 1797. He was afterward Chief- 
Justice of Madras, India. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 86 1 

Sir John Sparrow David Thompson, K. C. M. G., Sept. 10, 1888, was Minister of 
Justice for the Dominion of Canada, and later Premier. 

Sir Charles James Townshend, Kt. Bachelor, was eleventh Chief-Justice of 
Nova Scotia, from Nov. 2, 1907 until some time in 1915. 

Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Tupper, Baronet, 1888 (C. B.. 1867. K. C. M. G., 1870, G. 
C M. G., 1S86). Sir Charles was the most distinguished statesman Nova 
Scotia has produced. Like several others in this list he was of New Eng- 
land origin. He died in England, October 30, 1915. 

Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper, K. C. M. G., 1893, son of Sir Charles Tupper, Bart., 
was born August 3, 1855, and became Minister of Justice for the Dominion 
of Canada. 

Rf.ar-Abmiral Sir Provo William "Parry Wallis. G. C. B., May 24, 1873 (K. C. 
B., i860), was born at Halifax, April 12, 1791, and died February, 1892. He 
had a distinguished career in the Navy, and was long known as the "Father 
of the Fleet." It was he who conducted the Chesapeake into Halifax in 1813. 

Sir Robert Linton Weatherbe, Kt. Bachelor, 1006, tenth Chief-Justice of Nova 
Scotia, from 1905 to 1907, was born in Prince Edward Island, April 7, 1836, 
and died at Halifax in 1915. 

Sir John Wentworth, Baronet, 1795. was Governor of Nova Scotia from 1792 to 
1808. He died at Halifax April 8, 1820, when his son, Charles Mary suc- 
ceeded to the baronetcy. The latter died childless in England, April 10, 
1844, when the title became extinct. 

Vice-Admiral Sir George Augustus Westphal, K. C. B. (?), April 7, 1824. He 
was born July 26, 1785, and died January 11, 1875. He was wounded at 
the battle of Trafalgar. 

Major-General Sir William Fenwick Williams, R. A., G. C. B., May 20, 1871 (C. 

B., 1852, K. C. B., 1856), was distinguished in the Crimea. He is known as the 

"hero of Kars. ,? He was born at Annapolis Royal, probably in 1799, and died 

unmarried in London, England, July 26, 1883. 
Sir William Robert Wolsey Winniett, R. N., K. C. B., June 29, 1849, was born 

at Annapolis Royal, in 1794. 

Sir William Young, Kt. Bachelor, 1868 or 1869, was Chief-Justice of Nova 
Scotia from i860 to 1881. He died at Halifax May 8, 1887. 

[Since this list was compiled, another Haligonian, Dr. Charles Frederick Fraser, 
has been knighted for conspicuous public service. He was made Kt. 
Bachelor, June 3, 1915. 

Our list does not include either New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island men 
who have received titles]. 



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PUBLIC LIBRARY, BRIDGEWATER, MASS. 



AMERICANA 

October, 1915 
Recollections of a Half Century and More 

BY ANDEEW M. SHERMAN, MORRISTOWN, N. J. 

IV 

My Boyhood in New England 

(Continued) 

USED, when a boy, to be very fond of ripe tomatoes, or 
"loveapples" as they are sometimes called by the senti- 
mental ; and many mornings I would go out into the garden 
and while the dew was still on the vines pick and eat 
the bright red or delicate yellow tomatoes with as keen 
a relish as ever I ate the most luscious peach or pear in their 
season. 

One morning during the season for tomatoes one of my school- 
mates and playfellows, John Lambert was his name, but the boys 
called him just "Johnnie" for short, was taking a small cart 
load of tomatoes from a neighbor's garden to his own home for 
his mother to make into catsup, as I now recall. As we were 
warm friends and as I had frequently shared with him apples 
and peaches and other fruit in their season I took one of the 
tomatoes from the top of the load he was hauling and began to 
eat it. For some reason "Johnnie" was not in the best of humor 
on that morning, and he flew into a perfect rage over the lo^s 
of a single tomato from his load and threatened to chastise me, 
or to repeat his exact words, he exclaimed : "Hey ! Put that toma- 
to back, or I'll lick you!" And I think he would have licked me, 
for he was older and stronger than I; and beside, I knew T had 

(863) 









" 



864 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

no right to take the tomato, hence I could hardly have mustered 
pluck to defend myself as I could and would have done had I 
been conscious of being in the right. So I at once put the tomato 
back on the load with the prints of my teeth in its shining side, 
and, as best I could I attempted to smooth over the matter. It 
was several days before "Johnnie" resumed his friendly rela- 
tions with me. 

The little episode just related occurred in front of what used 
to be called the ' * old church, ' ' a building once used for religious 
gatherings before the Protestant Episcopal Church was erected ; 
this "old church" may be seen in the illustration of the Protes- 
tant Episcopal Church at "the works" appearing in connec- 
tion with the article just preceding this, at the left of said church. 
The "old church" had been made into a dwelling house and 
"Johnnie" Lambert's parents occupied a portion of it at the 
time of the tomato episode. 

"Johnnie" and I in due course resumed our friendly relations 
and subsequently had many a fine time together, swimming and 
skating and romping the fields and woods and in playing on 
the big haymow in father's barn. 

My friend and playmate, I must not omit saying, nobly died 
in defense of "Old Glory" in the immortal sixties of the century 
just past ; and his remains now lie in an unknown and hence un- 
marked grave in southern soil. In the early part of the Civil 
War "Johnnie" enlisted in a Massachusetts infantry regiment 
which served under Grant in Virginia. In one of the series of 
bloody battles fought in the wilderness during the spring of 1864 
my old playmate was severely wounded and with many others was 
left helpless on the field where he had fallen. The woods in 
which the Union wounded lay took fire from the incessant dis- 
charge of cannon and musketry and the flames were soon sweep- 
ing mercilessly over the grounds where the brave boys in blue 
lay, and my old playmate and schoolfellow of many years ago 
was burned to death ; and the remains of his charred body still 
rest in Old Virginia. 

I cannot on Memorial Day drop a spring flower upon the grave 
of my old playmate in dear New England, whose remains quietly 
sleep in the sunny South, but I can and do recall his ardent devo- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 865 

tion to the country which gave him birth and for which he sacri- 
ficed his young and promising life in the War for the Union— 
a war which immeasurably transcended in importance the war 
now being waged in Europe, where millions of the flower of the 
countries involved are being sacrificed! 

Before I was twelve years of age I had two narrow escapes 
from untimely death ; one of these I have already mentioned, and 
the second was as follows : It was winter time. The stream, or 
river, as the boys called it, that fed the raceway that furnished 
water power for the mills "at the works" had been frozen over 
for several weeks and the boys and girls had greatly enjoyed the 
fine skating. But at length there came a thaw and the ice became 
very tender; so tender, indeed, that some of the older boys quit 
skating until there should be "another freeze,' ' and the ice 
should again become safe for skating. One day, before the 
"freeze" came, some of the younger boys and girls were on the 
stream skating near the shore; and getting bolder, several of 
them ventured out into the middle of the stream. Not satisfied 
with skating, the boys started a game of "tiddly-bender," which, 
as most boys know is running, and jumping up and down on the 
tender ice until it fairly bends beneath their feet ; and the girls 
are sometimes persuaded to join in the dangerous sport. The 
girls had joined the boys on the occasion I am now describing. 
We ran back and forth on the ice, becoming bolder and bolder 
with each successful crossing, until it seemed as if the ice would 
collapse beneath our feet; and still we continued our running 
and jumping. Suddenly, when we were near the center of the 
stream, and over the deep channel, the ice began to crack and snap 
"at a great rate" and the boys and girls began at once to scatter 
in various directions to points of safety. For some reason, which 
I do not exactly recall, I did not get away as quickly as the rest, 
and the ice gave way under me. Gradually the ice sank beneath 
me, and, opening, let me into the cold water below. I scrambled 
for a spell to get back on the ice but the more I scrambled the 
more the surrounding ice gave way. Exhausted from my des- 
perate struggles to get back on to the ice I finally gave up the 
struggle. My clothes by this time were thoroughly soaked and 
with shoes and skates on my feet I felt my body being dragged 



866 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

down, down into the channel, which was running with consider- 
able velocity. Meanwhile the boys and girls who had escaped 
were standing on the banks of the stream looking helplessly on. 
Once I went to the bottom of the stream, but I rose to the surface 
and made a desperate effort to grasp the ice. Again the crumb- 
ling ice mocked my endeavor to use it as a means of rescue, 
and for the second time I was going down, having given up all 
hope of escaping from a watery grave. 

Just as I began to go down for the second time one of the boys 
on the shore shoved out a big plank to me ; the plank was nearly 
twelve feet in length and it was long enough to reach from one 
side of the opening in the ice to the other, and to lap over one 
or two feet on each side. I first caught sight of the plank as my 
head was about going under the water, and reaching up my hands 
I grasped it. Hope began to revive, and the sudden revival of 
hope gave me new strength in my entire body. I was able to pull 
my body up on the plank although it took me some time to do so ; 
but at length I was flat on the top of the plank. The boys and 
girls had meanwhile been cheering at the prospect of my being 
rescued; and I cannot describe how the cheering helped me to 
get up on the plank above my head. But for the cheering I 
might not have been able to lift myself and my water soaked 
clothing on to the plank. As I lay on the top of the plank long 
enough to "get my breath" I felt the plank moving; and it did 
not take me long to ascertain that the resourceful boy who had 
so opportunely shoved the plank out on to the ice for me had 
fastened a rope to one end of it, and with the aid of other boys 
present I soon found myself on ' ' dry land. ' ' 

Many a time since my narrow escape have I played " tiddly- 
bender," but I never again broke through the ice into the cold 
water. 

Until I was quite a good sized boy the immediate neighborhood 
of our home seemed, to my boyish imagination, to comprise the 
whole world. I can distinctly recollect when I first began to ' ' get 
my eyes open" to the fact that the world was larger than the 
neighborhood in which I lived. By permission of my mother I 
went one beautiful spring morning for a ride with the butcher 
with whom we traded over a part of his weekly route. As I 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 867 

passed out of the sight of my home and the new houses began one 
after another to appear ; and as the new scenes along the route 
greeted my wide-open eyes it seemed as if I was passing through 
some enchanted region. This fresh dawning upon my mind of 
the fact that the world was a much larger place than our immedi- 
ate neighborhood was an important revelation to me, for it was 
enlarging my mental no less than my physical vision. Up to that 
spring morning of my early boyhood the experience I am relat- 
ing was the most delightful of my life. 

And then, such an indescribable sense of freedom as came over 
me after I had lost sight, for the time, of my home ! The thought 
of being, even for a few hours, released from my "mother's 
apron strings, ' ' good and indulgent as was that dear mother, is 
still vivid in my memory. 

I returned from that ride fully resolved that as soon as possi- 
ble I would see more of the world whose greatness was beginning 
to dawn upon my young mind. 

Attending the same district school "at the works' ' with my 
younger brother, Charles L., now of Philadelphia, Pa., and I, 
was a big, overgrown boy who was a bully, and like most bullies 
he was a generally conceded coward. 

For some reason he had gotten in the way of abusing my 
younger brother when I was not about. At length this bully 
kicked my brother in the abdomen. This was of so serious a 
character that my brother told me about it. The next time I met 
this bully I called him to account for his abuse of ' l Charlie, ' ' and 
he at once struck an attitude of defiance, which meant: "Well, 
what are you going to do about it ? ' ' Notwithstanding this bully 
was older and much larger than I, I resolved then and there to let 
him know what I would ' ' do about it. " I therefore ' ' went for 
him." I threw him on the ground, after striking him several 
blows, and getting astride of his prostrate body I gave him the 
soundest pummeling with my clenched fists he ever received be- 
fore or afterward. He never again abused my ' ' little brother ;' ' 
and he took special pains to cultivate my acquaintance after the 
episode just related. 

The most interesting phase of this occurrence, however, is the 
fact that about twenty-five years ago, while visiting in Bridge- 



868 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

water, I had occasion to go to that portion of the Bridgewater 
iron works known as * ' the forge. ' ' In this department of the iron 
works the former bnlly was employed; and after ascertaining 
where he could be found I made myself known to him. We had a 
pleasant chat, for I perceived the change that had taken place in 
his character. Before parting with my old schoolmate I asked 
him if he remembered the thrashing I gave him when ' ' we were 
boys," to which he pleasantly replied. "Yes, Andrew, and I 
deserved it!" It is perhaps needless for me to say that we 
parted with the most kindly feelings each toward the other. He 
has since passed over the narrow stream "twix't the two words." 

It was while attending the district school at "the works" 
taught for several terms by a Mr. Caldwell from an adjoining 
town, whom I remember as a most excellent teacher, that I first 
participated in what were termed ' ' spelling matches, ' ' which were 
usually conducted on Friday afternoon. The larger scholars, 
boys and girls, having been chosen, one by one, by the "leader" 
on either side of the school room for their proficiency in spelling, 
the two rows of scholars engaged in the spelling match faced 
each other ready for the friendly contest. Words were then 
given out alternately by the teacher to the two rows of con- 
testants. When a scholar missed correctly spelling a word given 
to him or her he was required to take his place at the foot of the 
row in which he stood; and when a scholar correctly spelled a 
worji given him or her he was permitted to take his place at the 
head of the row in which he stood. It was an interesting and 
often an exciting exercise, and many of the scholars anticipated 
with much pleasure those weekly spelling matches. The author 
of these articles was not far behind the most proficient spellers 
in Mr. Caldwell 's school at "the works" in old Bridgewater. 

In Mr. Caldwell's school was a girl about my own age— she 
lived next the district school— to whom, as a boy, I took a partic- 
ular fancy. She may have taken a fancy to me, also, for when 
I was about eight years of age she gave me a pretty book mark 
made of perforated cardboard and bright colored worsteds with 
a piece of colored silk ribbon as a background. It was doubtless 
highly prized by the donee. 

A few years before my mother passed away, and during a visit 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 869 

to her home in Lynbrook, N. Y., she brought out her "treasure 
box" containing- various souvenirs, and, taking therefrom the 
book mark above mentioned, about which I had entirely forgot- 
ten, she said : "There is a book mark given to you, when a boy, 
by Carrie Guild; I wish you to have it." I took the book mark 
and it is now among my souvenirs. 

The school girl who made and gave me the book mark long 
since "crost the bar," having, while crossing, I trust, seen her 
"Pilot face to face." 

I must tell my readers about a strange character I knew in my 
boyhood in New England. He lived in an old, unpainted house 
near the railroad running from Boston to Fall River. This man 
kept fowls, and also bought and sold them as a speculation. It 
was common talk that he once stole from one of his neighbors a 
fine rooster. He kept the fowl for a while ; and when this neigh- 
bor, wishing to replace the missing rooster, went to Mr. Jones, 
as I will call him— for I do not wish to mention his actual name 
—to purchase another rooster, Jones, having previously painted 
the feathers of the stolen rooster, sold him to his customer. It 
did not require more than one or two rains to wash off the paint 
from the rooster's feathers; upon which the purchaser discov- 
ered to his amazement that he had bought and paid for his own 
missing fowl. Of course there was "bad blood" between the 
two townsmen ever afterward. 

Mt. Jones daily walked the railroad tracks for several miles 
out and back and with a long straight stick with a sharp pike at 
one end he would pry off all the loose pieces of iron from the 
rails on either side. The rails were then made of soft iron, and 
in consequence of the constant running of trains over them they 
wore away quite rapidly. This old iron thus collected Jones 
would deposit in a bag which he carried with him on his daily 
trips, and when a sufficient quantity was procured he would sell 
it for old iron ; and at that time old iron brought something like 
five cents per pound. Mr. Jones' income from the sale of old 
iron, therefore, was not to be despised. 

He was one day walking on the some tracks where for several 
years he had faithfully plied his peculiar business, when, by rea- 
son of his age and deafness, he did not discover the approach 



870 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

of an express train from Boston until it struck him, threw him 
down the high embankment, instantly killing the eccentric old 
man. The worst feature of the case was that his body was so 
fearfully mangled that he was scarcely recognizable when picked 
up. In these catastrophic days the incident just related seems 
insignificant, but in "the good old days" of my boyhood and to 
my boyish thought the death of Mr. Jones seemed horrible and 
made an impression on my mind from which I did not recover 
for several years afterward. 

I must not forget to speak of the first silver quarter of a dol- 
lar I ever earned ; it was when I was a small boy in old Bridge- 
water. Like many boys of our age my younger brother, Charles 
L., and I were fond of talking, and I suppose we may sometimes 
have taken up more of the time than belonged to us as "little 
fellows. " At any rate, one day, after our tongues had wagged 
more than usual, John C, son of Mr. Shubell Lovell, of whom 
I have already spoken, more for a little fun than for anything 
else, offered to give twenty-five cents to the boy— there were 
only my brother Charles and I present— who would keep quiet 
the longest ; the time fixed was five minutes. So my brother and 
I each seated himself in a chair, and, at a signal from Mr. 
Lovell, began the contest. 

Scarcely three minutes had elapsed before Charles inquired: 
"Is the time up, John?" Charles did not, of course, win the 
twenty-five cents ; and it was therefore awarded to me, for by a 
truly strenuous effort I had succeeded in keeping quiet the pre- 
scribed length of time. That silver quarter, when it came into 
my possession, seemed "bigger than a cart wheel." 

What boy does not like to ride horseback? I did, that is cer- 
tain. I had quite a unique experience riding a horse when about 
eight years of age, it was as follows : One of the neighbors, a 
Mr. Leonard, had built a new house. In the front yard, or rather 
in the place where he wished to have a front yard, there was a 
deep hole which, during a portion of the year had considerable 
water in it. Indeed, I used to kill frogs in the water which 
accumulated there, and this mud-puddle, for that was about all 
it really was, although to me, a small boy, it seemed to be quite 
a pond, had, of course, to be filled ; and it was done with the aid 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 871 

of a scoop-plough. Mr. Leonard held the two strong handles of 
the scoop-plough and a small boy rode the horse that drew the 
scoop-plough. It fell to me on a certain day to ride the horse 
and I was as proud a boy as ever wore a jacket or walked in 
shoes, although on the occasion referred to I was barefoot. "While 
the horse was driven round and round the mudhole to be filled 
Mr. Leonard would turn the scoop-plough inward, and thus, lit- 
tle by little, throw the surrounding earth into the hole. It seemed 
to me a slow, tedious process. I got along very well for some 
time, but becoming a little careless about guiding the horse she 
got too near the center of the remaining hole, the result of which 
was that she suddenly sank nearly to her belly in the soft soil. 
If I wasn't frightened no boy ever was! It was with consider- 
able difficulty that the horse was gotten out of the soft soil into 
which she had sunken. Mr. Leonard scolded me some and I 
afterward paid stricter attention to the business in hand. Be- 
fore noon of the day there was no hole to be seen in front of 
neighbor Leonard's new house; and before the close of summer 
no one would have dreamed on looking into his front yard that 
the frogs ever peeped where flowers and shrubbery were then 
growing in rich profusion. 

In Bridgewater, when I was a small boy, was a young man who 
had for several years followed the sea, part of the time, at least, 
on "a whaler," which as every " Yankee" knows, is a vessel en- 
gaged in capturing whales, usually off New Foundland, and ex- 
tracting oil from their carcasses and preserving such of their 
bones as are suitable for " whalebones, and other uses." This 
young man had followed the sea long enough to have acquired 
all the ways of a sea-faring man, even to the swagger of the 
typica 1 sailor ; and I will also add that he had not forgotten the 
grog-drinking habits acquired on the "briny deep." Neverthe- 
less, he was well liked by people in general, and carried around 
with him a warm heart that moved him to not a few good deeds, 
especially on behalf of those who were in trouble. 

At the time of which I am about speaking this young sailor was 
i \ on shore ; ' ' that is to say, he had recently returned from a sea- 
voyage and was at home on a visit. Because of this sailor's 
acquaintance with one of my older brothers he invited me, on a 
























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872 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

fine day in the summer time, to accompany him in a boat row 
down the river which ran sleepily through Bridgewater south- 
ward. This river, "Town River/ ' by name, was and is one of 
the crookedest streams I ever saw ; indeed, it might very properly 
be called "Serpentine River," so far as its decidedly winding 
course is concerned. The scenery along the banks of this crooked 
river, however, are beautiful and varied. In some places, for 
example, the trees form an almost complete arch across the 
stream, thus affording a most delightful and refreshing shade on 
a hot, sultry day. Sometimes the stream runs through broad 
meadows covered with rich green. For a considerable distance 
the river's bank is high and almost perpendicular and covered 
with dense woods. The numerous curves in the river form pretty 
little bays, into which, every now and then, the boatman is 
tempted to turn his boat and sit and dream, and dream. "While 
tarrying in these tiny bays the boatman has to cling to the over- 
hanging tree-boughs to prevent his craft from swinging out 
again into the stream. As one tarries in these shady nooks and 
enjoys their peculiar quiet he will lazily watch the fish dart about 
in the deep waters of the temporary miniature harbors in which 
he moors. Meanwhile, the birds, seated on the overhanging tree- 
boughs sing their sweet songs, apparently oblivious to the pres- 
ence of the boatman so thoroughly absorbed and delighted with 
the enchanted place in wt ich he fain would dwell forever. 

The sailor's invitation to accompany him in a trip down 
"Town River" was gladly accepted by the author, who, at the 
time, had never seen but a small section of the stream. 

As we moved down that crooked river, which seemed like a 
fairy land to my boyish imagination, our trip appeared like a 
journey out into the wide, wide world ; indeed, it opened up to me 
a new and hitherto unexplored country ! Our summer trip, which 
was really only two or three miles, seemed to me to be ten times 
that distance. 

Not the least interesting feature of our trip down "Town 
River" on that delightful summer day, was the sight of the sailor 
in his dark blue, low-neck shirt, and long, flowing black neck- 
tie, the ends of which were blown hither and thither by the cool 
breeze that swept up the river. The perfect ease with which 



















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RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 873 

the apparently happy sailor rowed the boat, while I sat in the 
stern taking in, like one in a dream, the passing scenes along the 
route, was to me quite a wonder ; and I then and there resolved 
that I too, would at no distant day become as expert an oarsman 
as the sailor in the bow. The thought that again and again came 
to me that I was taking a trip with a "real" sailor, in a "rear' 
sailor suit, was a most delightful experience to me ; and I had 
the feeling that I would like to spend my whole time on the water. 

Several times the sailor and I went ashore, sometimes to gather 
wild flowers ; again to cut some sweet birch to eat, and again to 
cut some cat-o-nine tails to carry home. Ah! that was a great 
day for me, the boy of about eight years of age ; and the only 
regret I experienced was, that the day did not last an entire week ! 

When I was between ten and eleven years of age we moved into 
another school district. Our removal was made necessary by 
the decease of the aged woman who owned the house we had been 
occupying, and the inheritance of the property by an only child, 
a son, who wished to spend the remaining years of his life on 
"the old homestead" where he was born and where he had spent 
his happy childhood. 

The house we moved into was an old-fashioned one, which had 
once, in the distant past, been painted a pretty shade of yellow ; 
but long exposure to the elements had so far worn the body of 
the paint from the house that the color had become a faded yel- 
low. This gave to the house a decidedly shabby appearance. The 
owner of the place was apparently contented with the neglected 
appearance of the house ; but be that as it may, nothing was done 
to improve it. 

In the back yard and only a short distance from the rear of the 
house was a well with a long well-sweep for drawing the cool 
water from its depths. My younger brother and I were very 
fond of riding up and down on the well-sweep ; and we usually 
took advantage of the landlord's absence from home by indulging 
in this sport. If our landlord was about home and discovered us 
riding on the well-sweep, which he once in a while did, the sur- 
rounding atmosphere was anything but red or white. 

The district school my younger brother and I attended while 
living in the "Willis Place," so named from the fact that the 



874 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

house was once owned and occupied by a family of that name— 
indeed, the maiden name of the landlord's wife was Willis— 
was about two miles distant on the main road leading to the next 
large village; and we had to walk it during the regular school 
terms. 

Soon after my brother " Charlie " and I began attending "The 
Alden School/' so called because there were several families of 
the name of Alden living in the district, the school committee 
for that district made their annual visit to the Alden School for 
the purpose of ascertaining what progress, if any, the pupils 
were making. The teacher, as usual, upon such occasions, brought 
up several classes for recitation, among them the first class 
in reading to which I belonged. The text book used by this class 
was "The American Common-School Eeader and Speaker," ded- 
icated to John Quincy Adams. The reader I then used is now 
(1915) in my possession with my name scrawled on one of the fly 
leaves. To say that I prize this old reader would be almost su- 
perfluous. 

On the occasion just referred to, we were required by the com- 
mittee to read, one after another, a few paragraphs from Bry- 
ant's poem entitled "Thanatopsis." At the conclusion of the af- 
ternoon's exercises I was publicly, and by name, declared by the 
school committee to be the best reader in the class, and that was 
equivalent to declaring me the best reader in the school. 

From that hour my troubles began ; and in those troubles my 
"little" brother "Charlie" shared. That a new pupil, a boy 
neither born nor reared within the precincts of the Alden School 
District should have been publicly declared by the august school 
committee to be the best reader in ' l The Alden School, ' ' was more 
than some of the boys— and girls, for that matter— who were "to 
the manor born" and who had always attended that school could 
stand ; and several of the boys— acting, I presume, by proxy for 
some of the girls— whose envy had been aroused, almost imme- 
diately began a systematic persecution of my brother and F 
which for several weeks made existence anything but happy for 
us. At every opportunity and in various ways these boys an- 
noyed "Charlie" and I; and one boy in particular, by the i\**vn** 
o f * Churchill, did his best to provoke me to a quarrel with Irm 









1 






RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 875 

Foreseeing, however, the consequence of an encounter with half a 
dozen or more boys— for that was what a quarrel with Churchill 
meant— I avoided being drawn into such an encounter. Still, I 
confess, I was fully resolved to "get even" with Churchill at the 
first opportunity. 

The boys of the Alden School made it so disagreeable for my 
brother and I that we both lost our interest in school; about 
the only pleasure we had was in going off together into the woods 
near by during the noon-hour and there partaking of our lunch, 
which, owing to the distance to and from school we brought with 
us in a tin pail each day. Several times my brother and I laid 
our troubles before the teacher of the Alden School; but either 
because she could not or would not she did nothing to make our 
attendance at her school more agreeable. At length " Charlie " 
and I concluded we would not try to go to school ; in other words 
we resolved between us to "run away from school." So day 
after day for a period of several weeks we would start from 
home in the morning with our dinner pails as if to go to school ; 
but instead of attending school we would play "hookie." On 
some days we would spend the whole time in the woods making 
beautiful bowers by bending down and fastening together at the 
tops with strong cords, the small trees. Inside these bowers we 
made rude seats and there in the quiet of the woods with only 
the sweet songs of the birds to break the silence my brother and 
I would sit and talk over the fine times we used to have in the 
school district from which we had removed. 

When we had talked ourselves out we would leave the bower 
and run hither and thither through the woods. Playing Indian 
was a favorite sport that furnished the excitement a boy's na- 
ture craved. More than once I as a "big Indian" captured 
"Charlie" whom I imagined was a white boy and carried him 
off to my wigwam— the bower we had constructed in the woods, 
and confined him until, while "big Injun" was off on a hunting 
expedition, he escaped. 

Then we would go in bathing, sometimes in the swiftly-flowing 
river near by, and sometimes in a mudhole close to the bower 
where the bloodsuckers would fasten themselves on the bottom of 
our feet and put us to no little trouble in extracting them. 



876 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

As the hour for the afternoon session of school to close drew 
near we would go off to the fields and fill our tin pails with ber- 
ries to take home as a sort of peace offering to our mother; 
or rather, as a peace offering to our own consciences for the 
wrong we were doing in running away from school. And still, 
under the circumstances, we felt that we were more than half 
justified in doing so. When we caught sight of the school chil- 
dren going home from school my brother and I would join them 
and, together we would proceed toward our home. Of course 
mother was very glad to get the berries. 

It was a month or more before our mother discovered that her 
two boys were running away from school ; and it was because of 
a visit of the school teacher to our home to ascertain the reason 
of our absence from school. When our mother was informed of 
our repeated absence from school and learned of our truancy she 
was very much displeased ; and although my brother and I tried 
to explain the cause of our truancy our mother punished us se- 
verely. I thought at the time and still think that if our mother 
had known all the facts in the case her punishment would have 
been less severe, at least. 

The teacher of the AJden School was requested by our mother 
to inform her at once if we were again absent from school with- 
out written permission; and with that understanding between 
the two, " Charlie' ' and I were sent off "bright and early' ' to 
school on the following day. 

Our persecutions at school again began ; if anything, Churchill 
was worse than ever before. I did not mind so much his annoy- 
ing me, but he could not let my brother alone; he hadn't a 
minute's peace when Churchill was around. I stood it as long as 
I could and then I made up my mind that whatever the conse- 
quences I would give Churchill a good thrashing. I resolved, 
however, to wait until he should again annoy ' ' Charlie ; ' ' and I 
hadn't long to wait. 

The scholars were coming out of the schoolhouse for their 
nooning. As my brother stepped on the ground just outside the 
door Churchill put out his foot quickly in front of my brother and 
tripped him so he fell sprawling on the gravel walk leading from 
the schoolhouse. As "Charlie" fell his dinner pail flew from 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 877 

his hand, the lid came off and his dinner was spilled on the 
ground. He began crying ; not altogether because of the loss of 
his dinner but because of the bruises his hands had received from 
violent contact with the gravel walk. 

Without speaking a word I rushed up to Churchill and with 
the flat of my right hand gave him a smart slap in the face. By 
this time the teacher was standing in the doorway of the school- 
house. "Andrew, what are you doing to Churchill 1" she in- 
quired. 

I should not have known the teacher was in the doorway had 
she not sang out, as I gave Churchill another slap on the other 
side of his face: "Andrew Sherman, stop fighting, or I will re- 
port you to your mother ! ' ' 

My attack upon Churchill had been so sudden, and to him, un- 
expected, that he was at a loss to know just what to do ; but the 
presence of the teacher in the doorway and her sharp reprimand 
of me seemed to brace him for a resentment of the blows I had 
given him. 

With clenched fists he rushed at me and was in the act of send- 
ing his first into my face when I stepped quickly to the right, 
at the same moment grappling with him.I knew he was stronger 
than I, but I also knew he was in the wrong, and that I was in the 
right, and that double knowledge added to my strength. As I 
bore Churchill to the ground the teacher again sang out, or 
rather screamed: "Andrew Sherman, you naughty boy, don't 
you hurt Churchill !" When, a few moments later, the teacher 
saw me astride of one of her pet pupils and witnessed the blows 
I began to shower upon his head and face, she rushed out of the 
doorway, ran up to where he was helpless on the ground, and 
again screamed: "Andrew Sherman, you ought to be ashamed 
of yourself to be pounding a schoolmate in that way! Stop! 
Stop ! I say, or I'll report you to the school committee!" 

Churchill seemed to take fresh courage from the continued in- 
terference of the teacher; for with a desperate movement he 
came very near getting me off his prostrate body. But I was not 
to be prevented from punishing him until he would promise to 
let my younger brother and I alone in future; and, with a well 
directed blow of my right hand in his face I had the satisfaction 



878 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

of seeing him give up any further attempt to release himself 
from me. 

As I still sat upon his body I inquired of him: "Will you 
promise to let * Charlie' and I alone if I will let you up?" 

I think Churchill was about ready to make that promise, but 
just at that moment one of the larger girls of the school, Mary 
Ryder, was her name, as near as I am able to recall, a big, strong 
girl, came up to where he lay on the ground underneath me, and, 
seizing me by the jacket collar, exclaimed in her almost masculine 
voice : "Andrew Sherman, you let him up ! Let him up, I say ! 
You'll kill him, and then you'll be arrested!" 

Mary Ryder's special interest in Churchill is explained by the 
fact that he, a relation, and an orphan, was a member of the fam- 
ily to which she belonged, and they seemed almost like brother 
and sister. 

Mary Ryder grabbed me with both her hands and made a great 
effort to pull me off of Churchill, but I clung to him like a bull 
dog. 

By this time most of the pupils of the school were gathered 
about Churchill and I. Again Mary Ryder attempted to pull me 
off of Churchill, but without succeeding. When she became con- 
vinced she could not get me off of Churchill by the use of force 
she began to coax me to let him up ; but I was determined not to 
let him up until he had promised to quit his persecutions of 
"Charlie" and I. After waiting a few minutes for Churchill to 
say something I again inquired of him : ' ' Churchill, will you let 
my brother and I alone if I get off of you ? ' ' He may have begun 
to realize that he had been in the wrong, for he said between his 
sobbing: "Yes, Andrew, I promise; now let me up." Being 
certain that I could depend upon him to keep his promise I sprang 
to my feet. Slowly Churchill arose to his feet, and, accompanied 
by the Ryder girl he went into the schoolhouse. 

While my brother and I were sitting under a big elm tree in the 
schoolyard eating our dinner, Churchill came out where we were, 
and, putting out his right hand, said: "Andrew I'm very sorry 
I annoyed you and ' Charlie,' and I ask your forgiveness. I will 
try to make you both feel at home in the Alden School while you 
are here." 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 879 

Of course, I forgave him, and so informed him. And, sitting 
down under the same big elm tree just north of the schoolhouse 
we ate our dinners together ' 4 in peace. ' ' 

When the school bell rang for the afternoon session we went 
into school together. 

From that day Churchill was one of my best friends ; and 
among the rare pleasures of my boyhood life afterward were my 
occasional visits, on Saturdays and during vacations, to his home, 
where I was made welcome, even Mary Eyder warming to me. 

It was during one of my visits to Churchill's home that I 
learned that he was a descendant of John Aiden, of Plymouth. 

Our scrap in the schoolyard was, therefore, Pilgrim against 
Pilgrim, for I, too, am descended from John Alden, and from 
Priscilla Mullin, also. 

Down in the fields back of the Alden School, at the terminus of 
a narrow roadway lined on either side with splendid shade trees, 
was an old, abandoned house, which in its day had been a very 
comfortable home for its occupants. If the house had ever been 
painted the paint had entirely disappeared; and no one would 
have thought, to look at it, that a paint brush had ever passed 
over its exterior. 

It had for some time been a favorite sport with the school chil- 
dren to go down to this old house and play about it at recess and 
at noon; our special delight being to throw stones at the win- 
dows, and so complete the destruction of the few remaining panes 
in the dilapidated sash. In consequence of our sport the ground 
about the house was littered with pieces of glass of various sizes 
and shapes. 

While in the act of throwing a stone at one of the windows I 
accidentally stepped on a piece of glass. At the moment I sup- 
posed I had simply cut my foot slightly; so I paid very little 
attention to the cut, my mind being so completely absorbed in the 
sport in which we boys were engaged that it seemed but a mere 
trifle. 

By the time the school bell rang for the afternoon session my 
wounded foot began to be quite sore; and so on my arrival at 
the schoolhouse I informed the teacher of my mishap down in the 
fields by the old house. After looking at my wounded foot she 



880 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

advised me to go straight home and have it attended to. With 
my younger brother, who was permitted to go with me, I started 
for home. My foot, the right one, hurt me more and more at 
every step I took ; indeed, it was difficult for me to walk. Most 
of the distance home I walked on the heel of my right foot, the 
one that had been cut. 

After reaching home the wound was dressed. I was obliged 
to remain at home several days. 

The sequal to this little episode will appear at a later stage of 
my story. 















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Thomas Paine 

by george r. boynton 
Introduction 

H[ W T* SEN Count Joseph de Maistre said, 'For three 
centuries history has been an uninterrupted con- 
spiracy against the truth/ he might have im- 
proved the sentence by leaving out the time lim- 
itation." I am indebted to the New York Times editorial page, Au- 
gust 12th, 1915, for the foregoing. The title of the article is 
"History, Lies and Guesses," and has for a motive in part a 
"protest by Mr. J. L. Graham over the utter misapprehension of 
the place ancient Ireland occupied in civilization." The edi- 
torial is most interesting and quotes in verification Fronde, Gib- 
bon, Dr. Nordeau and Mathew Arnold. Those who are inter- 
ested in history should by all means read it. 

My subject does not relate to Ireland, ancient or modern, or to 
any one of its many distinguished men, but to a certain solitary 
Englishman, and his unselfish and untiring efforts for the cause 
of American Independence. 

Several years ago I came across a quotation from him which 
made a deep impression. It was forceful, humanitarian in sense, 
and a religious fervor pervaded it. The discovery was a revela- 
tion. As a result I have devoted a liberal part of my spare time 
to research and study of the doings and writings of this remarka- 
ble man, and in my humble opinion, he must have been one of the 
most unique characters ever connected with American history, 
and especially the Revolutionary period. 

Probably no man was ever more misunderstood, misrepre- 
sented, vilified, hated and abhored than he. In the British Mu- 
seum are more than three hundred entries of books on his life, 

(88*) 



882 THOMAS PAINE 

and in not a few he is represented with horns and a tail. The 
man was Thomas Paine. 

Paine came to America less than two years before the revolu- 
tion, and it was due to the influence of his pen and personality 
as much if not more thau to any other that the Revolution was 
precipitated and a demand was made for separation and inde- 
pendence. 

Was it not most natural that the Mother Country should have 
had a feeling for her erring son scarcely akin to love? I shall 
explain a little later why he was a thorn in the side of his own 
sect, the Quakers ; and why the politicians and the slave holders 
of the South detested him. 

Paine, doubtless, was the greatest political pamphleteer of his 
day. Though his enemies said that he was * 'nothing but a shallow, 
if not illiterate scribbler, " yet so powerful was the impression 
made by his first pamphlet, ' i Common Sense, ' ' that the author- 
ship was attributed to Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, John 
Adams and others of eminence. An eminent English historian 
wrote: "He (Paine) saw beyond precedents and statutes and 
constitutional facts or fictions into the depths of human nature. ' ' 

. . . Andrew Jackson said, "Paine needs no monument 
erected by human hands. His monument is in the hearts of all 
true lovers of liberty. ' ' 

Following the American Kevolution Paine returned to Eng- 
land. His theories on monarchy and republicanism soon made 
him most popular with the masses ; but the publication of his 
"Rights of Man, " a political controversy with Burke, soon caused 
such grave apprehension to the government that he was prose- 
cuted, convicted and adjudged an outlaw. His effigy was hanged 
and burned and he was declared a dangerous man. 

Most opportunely a committee arrived from France to request 
his presence and counsel in framing a constitution for the new 
republic. For a time he was influential and popular, but later in a 
vain endeavor to save the life of Louis he very nearly lost his own. 
He was in prison for nearly a year, where he wrote the first half 
of ' i The Age of Reason. ' ' The publication of this work gave his 
many enemies their opportunity. He had taken issue with the 



THOMAS PAINE 883 

Church of England on certain of its dogmas, among other things, 
and he was a doomed man. 

He returned to America a disappointed, broken hearted man. 

He died in New York City, and on June 8, 1809, his remains 
were given a temporary resting place at New Rochelle, N. Y., 
where a monument has since been erected to his memory. 

G. R. B. 

As an introduction to my subject "What Thomas Paine did 
for American Independence, ' ' I shall give you two quotations ; 
the first is from Ealph Waldo Emerson : 

"Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet. 
Then all things are at risk." 

The second is from Paine himself : 

*"The world is my country, to do good is my religion." 

Thomas Paine a man of about thirty-eight years of age arrived 
from England towards the close of the year 1774, and, with a 
letter from Benjamin Franklin, presented himself at the office 
of one of our publishing houses in Philadelphia. A few months 
before, Paine had met Franklin in London, and a brief acquaint- 
ance had soon ripened into a warm friendship. Franklin, recog- 
nizing the natural abilities of the younger man, and believing that 
he had a future, urged him to come to America. 

The early youth and manhood of this unique character, who 
was so soon to become one of our foremost and ablest advocates 
of the cause of American independence, demand more than a 
passing allusion; but lack of time, and matters of greater im- 
portance prevent my giving you more than a glimpse— a bare 
outline. 

Thomas Paine was born at Thetford, England, in 1736. His 
parents were Quakers and very poor. Up to the age of thirteen 
years he was under the tutelage of a Rev. William Knowler, when 
he was taken out of school and taught the art and mystery of 



^Quotation referred to in introduction. 









. 



884 THOMAS PAINE 

making stays. In after years, speaking of his boyhood days, he 
says: "My parents were not able to give me a shilling beyond 
what they gave me in education ; and to do this they distressed 
themselves. My father, being of the Quaker profession, it was 
my good fortune to have an exceedingly good moral education, 
and a tolerable stock of useful learning. The natural bent of 
my mind, however, was to science. ' ' 

Paine soon tired of his father's trade, and drifted from one 
place to another ; but his love for books aad study soon brought 
him to London, where for many days and weeks he was in ac- 
tual want. During one of these periods of depression, he very 
fortunately met Franklin, who was engaged in some electrical ex- 
periments, and, I imagine, Paine may have been of service to him. 
At any rate, as a result of the acquaintance, we find him a little 
later as assistant editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine at Phila- 
delphia, now the Saturday Evening Post. For eighteen months 
he edited this paper, and probably there never was an equal 
amount of good literary work done on a salary of fifty pounds 
a year ! 

One of his first articles was a protest against dueling. In a 
short time there appeared another against the slavery of Afri- 
cans. A little later appeared a poetic protest against cruelty to 
animals. In his August number, 1775, is found the earliest 
American plea for woman. 

But Paine 's pen was soon to be engaged on lines of thought 
and action which as yet he little dreamed of. There had been 
angry mutterings and bitter controversies between the mother 
country and her colonies ; but few, if any, had thought of war, or 
of separation and independence. The idea that America was, 
or could be, a host unto herself lay dormant. In Paine 's mind, 
however, we see the first awakening. In the opening essay of his 
magazine, written a month after his arrival, he speaks of Amer- 
ica as a u nation, ' ' and says : ' ' America has now outgrown the 
state of infancy. Her strength and commerce make large ad- 
vances to manhood; and while proud antiquity, like a skeleton 
in rags, parades the streets of other nations, their genius, sick- 
ened and disgusted with the phantom, comes here for recovery. ' * 

Paine was a unique character. Born and brought up a Quak- 









. . 





















THOMAS PAINE 885 

er, it would seem perfectly natural that he should have more than 
an aversion to war. Besides, at this time, it apparently was 
contrary to all his worldly interests. He was thirty-nine years 
of age ; his prospects were growing brighter. Does it not seem 
natural that he might have thought of possible future literary 
fame, or of achievements in science, of which there is abundant 
evidence of his aptitude and love? In July, 1775, he says: "I 
am thus far a Quaker, that I would gladly agree with all the 
world to lay aside the use of arms, and settle matters by negotia- 
tions; but unless the whole world wills, the matter ends, and I 
shall take up my musket, and thank Heaven it is in my power. ' ' 

Paine 's service for the cause of independence may now be 
more clearly defined. After the Lexington massacre, separation 
was talked of by many. Had it then occurred, America might 
have become another kingdom. The members of Congress were 
of the rich, conservative "gentry," or royalists. Had he not 
been a patriot, Peyton Randolph, our first president, would prob- 
ably have borne a title, as his father did, and "Washington might 
have been knighted. The war having begun, and separation be- 
come probable, Paine hastened to connect it with humanity and 
republicanism. As the abolitionists resolved that the Civil War 
should sweep slavery out of the country, Paine made a brave 
effort that the Revolution should clear away both slavery and 
monarchy. 

During the autumn of 1775, Paine wrote his pamphlet ' ' Com- 
mon sense. ' ' Judged by the results, this pamphlet was the most 
powerful and effective piece of literature written during the Rev- 
olutionary period. Its praises have been sung by the intellects 
of every nation. It appeals to the reason. It quickens patriot- 
ism; It points out the line of duty. It impels action. It in- 
spires a religious fervor. 

"We may as well assert," he says, "that because a child hath 
thrived on milk, it is never to have meat" . . . "or that the 
first twenty years of our lives is to become a precedent for the 
following twenty." Among other things, he says: "But Eng- 
land has protected us, say some. That she hath engrossed us is 
true, and defended the continent at our expense, as well as her 
own. But she would have defended Turkey for the same motive, 



886 THOMAS PAINE 

viz: for the sake of trade and dominion. ' ' "But Britain is the 
parent country, say some. Then the more shame on her conduct. 
Even beasts do not devour their young, nor savages make war on 
their own families. But Britain is not the parent country, or 
only partly so; Europe, and not England, is the parent country 
of America." . . . "This new world hath been the asylum 
for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every 
part of Europe Hither hath they fled, not from the tender em- 
braces of the mother, but from the cruelty of the monster. It is 
so far true of England, that the same tyranny that drove the emi- 
grants from home, pursues their descendants still." 

"By procrastination, we leave the sword to our children. We 
lose the opportunity of making this continent the glory of the 
earth. England consults the good of this country no further 
than it answers her own purposes. But some say, where is the 
king of America? Ill tell you, friend, He reigns above! The 
Almighty hath implanted in us these unextinguishable feelings 
for good and wise purposes. They are the Guardians of His 
Image in our hearts." 

A thousand copies of this famous pamphlet were ordered at 
once from Virginia, and many more followed. In the short space 
of three months nearly half a million copies were sold. At that 
time it was not generally known that Paine had donated the copy- 
right to the Colonies for the cause of Independence. The author 
thus gave away a fortune, for those days, in the pamphlet alone. 
Nor was that all, for there is a bill extant showing that he was in 
debt to the publisher on account of this transaction to an amount 
of nearly thirty pounds, a sum equal to three-fifths of his pre- 
vious year's salary. Washington said : ' ' Without this pamphlet 
of Thomas Paine 's, the hearts and minds of the people would 
never have been prepared to respond to our call for troops.' ' 
Paine also gave to the Colonies the copyright of his "Crises," 
(thirteen numbers), for which he never asked or received a 
penny. 

While most of our colonies had instructed their delegates in 
Congress to vote for Independence, the powerful ones, New York 
and Pennsylvania, hesitated. News had come of the approach of 
Lord Howe, bearing from England the "olive branch." Con- 



THOMAS PAINE 887 

gress, in consequence of this and other considerations, adjourned, 
thus postponing decisive action until July 1st. It has been said 
that this delay was decidedly perilous to independence. At this 
juncture Paine issued one of his most effective pamphlets. He 
points out that France only awaits our declaration of indepen- 
dence to come to our aid, and that America teems with patriots, 
heroes, and legislators who are impatient to burst forth into light 
and importance. He also points out that the commercial appre- 
hension of New York and Pennsylvania are groundless. He 
says: "Your dependence upon the crown is of no advantage, 
but rather an injury to the people of Great Britain as well, as it 
increases the power and influence of the King. The people are 
only benefitted by your trade, and this they may have after you 
are independent of the Crown.' ' 

I shall diverge from the chronological path, for a moment, and 
introduce a very small part of one of Paine 's papers, found in 
the Pennsylvania Historical Society. This paper was probably 
not published during the Revolutionary period. Paine had an- 
ticipated the Declaration of Independence by more than eight 
months with one of his own. Nearly every salient point in the 
historic Declaration is found in this paper. The portion I pro- 
pose to call to your attention relates only to the abolition of sla- 
very, one of Paine 's chief objects, first and last. It so clearly 
reflects the humanitarian and religious side of the man's nature 
it will be of interest. He says: "And when I reflect on the 
use England hath made of the new world, that the paltry dignity 
of earthly kings hath been set up in preference to the great cause 
of the King of kings . . . that instead of Christian examples, 
she hath employed herself in the most horrid of all traffics, that 
of human flesh, hath ravaged the hapless shores of Africa— 
When I reflect on these, I hesitate, not for a moment to believe 
that the Almighty will finally separate America from Great 
Britain. Call it Independency, or what you will, if it is the cause 
of God and humanity, it will go on. And when the Almighty shall 
have blessed us, and made us a people dependent only on Him, 
then may our first gratitude be shown by an act of continental 
legislation, which shall put a stop to the importation of Negros 



888 THOMAS PAINE 

for sale, soften the hard fate of those already here, and in time 
procure their freedom. " 

Eight months later our Legislators had completed the Declara- 
tion of Independence, and while they were affixing their signa- 
tures, a procedure which reached from August 2nd to November, 
Paine had resigned his position on the magazine, taken a musket 
on his Quaker shoulders, and gone to the front. 

A little later we find him at Fort Lee, under General Greene, 
who very soon recognized his abilities, and promoted him to Vol- 
unteer Aid-de-Camp. 

Every one is familiar with the vicissitudes of the patriots at 
that time. By November 22nd the whole army had retreated to 
Newark, where Paine began writing his first "Crisis." Wash- 
ington was in desperate straits, as his private correspondence of 
that period clearly shows. In a letter to his brother, he writes : 

"I am worried almost to death with the retrograde motion of 
things.' ' In another: 

"Your imagination can scarce extend to a situation more dis- 
tressing than mine. ' ' And yet in another : 

"You can form no idea of the perplexity of my situation.' ' 
Many of his soldiers were nearly naked, and most of them so 
thinly clad as to be unfit for service. The inhabitants of New 
Jersey by hundreds were offering submission, and taking pro- 
tection from Lord Howe. Just a few days before, one of Wash- 
ington's Generals, Lee, had been taken prisoner. Washington, 
as a forlorn hope, had now planned to attack Trenton. Paine 's 
first "Crisis" with the familiar and often quoted head line: 
"These are times that try men's souls," was being printed in 
Philadelphia, and evidently was looked for with some concern, 
for, though it did not arrive until after dark, on the night of the 
proposed attack, a copy was given to every corporal's guard, for 
the purpose of stimulating the half-starved, half-frozen patriots. 
"Not a cord of faith or love or hope was left untouched. With 
skillful illustration of lofty principles, three of the most misera- 
ble weeks ever endured by men were raised to epical dignity. ' ' 

Following the victory at Trenton, Paine was, for a short time, 
a resident of Philadelphia. He probably knew that his own sect, 
the Quakers, were sympathizers with the British. But when he 



THOMAS PAINE 889 

discovered that whenever opportunity offered, they were giving 
surreptitious aid, he devoted a portion of his time to a treatment 
of this problem. The Quakers must be practically dealt with. 
He proposed an "oath of affirmation,' ' renouncing allegiance to 
the King, arid pledging support to the "United States/' and, at 
the same time he adroitly suggests a tax of ten, fifteen or even 
twenty per cent, to be levied on all property. But all persons 
who would take the oath, and pledge themselves to render ser- 
vice to the cause, might be exempt ! 

About this time Paine was invited to procure regular and con- 
stant intelligence of the proceedings of Washington's army. The 
succession of mistakes, surprises and panics which occasioned 
the defeat before Philadelphia, and ended in the occupation of 
that City by the British General, seriously affected, for a time, 
the reputation of Washington. Never was aid more tactful 
than that Paine 's pen now gave our commander. The allusions 
to him are incidental; there is no account of advocacy. While 
mentioning the unabated fortitude of Washington, Paine lays a 
laurel on the brow of Gates, on that of Herkimer, and even on the 
defeated, while belittling all that Howe had gained. . . . He 
reunites Washington and Gates in the public mind, by showing 
the manouvers of the one near Philadelphia, a part of the oth- 
er's victory at Saratoga. "It is easy for modern eulogists of 
Washington to see this, but when Paine said it, the sentence was 
a sunbeam parting a black cloud. ' ' 

Coming from an author of reputation and a member of Gen- 
eral Greene's staff, from the military correspondent of the Penn- 
sylvania Council, and the Secretary of the Congressional Com- 
mittee of Foreign Affairs, for Paine was now all of these, his 
optimistic view of the situation had an excellent effect. 

I have now arrived at what is called the "Paine-Deane Con- 
troversy. ' ' I will but briefly touch upon this subject. Paine hav- 
ing discovered such unmistakable evidence of fraud connected 
with the finances of the Government, he very promptly and posi- 
tively called attention to it. His bold, if not politic utterances re- 
sulted in his being censured by Congress, and losing his secre- 
taryship. Too many men, high in position, might be somewhat 
embarrassed. It would never do to pry too closely into their 



890 THOMAS PAINE 

private affairs and motives. It might affect their honor. (?) 
Paine was dismissed, but his loyalty saved to the American cause 
a quarter of a million of dollars. 

Would it not be remarkable if this courageous man of stern 
patriotic principles, this enthusiast, this idealist, this seer, this 
dreamer of dreams had not been hated by the politicians, the 
slave holders of the South, the hypocritical sanctimonious ele- 
ment in the north interested in supplying the demand and his 
own sect, the Quakers, during the remainder of his life? After 
more than a century we have scarcely recovered from the mis- 
representations and prejudices of that day. The counterfeits 
and biographies of . his contemporaries are in our text books, our 
histories and encyclopedia; but seldom this man's; and gen- 
erally not at all. The information is limited and frequently un- 
reliable and sometimes false. 

As far as I have been able to discover, Paine had received for 
his services up to this time not a penny. For want of the bare 
necessities of everyday life he was now obliged to take a subor- 
dinate position in a law office. His enemies certainly had tri- 
umphed, and he was temporarily disgraced. But shortly after, 
the Council of Pennsylvania, recognizing the services Paine had 
rendered the cause and missing the influence of his pen, elected 
him its clerk. This incident, though seemingly trivial at the time 
was most fortunate for the cause as we shall see later on. 

"The times that try men's souls" had come again. Facing us 
was an impoverished treasury, an incompetent, intriguing Con- 
gress, a mutinous, half-fed, half-clad army, and commanded by 
officers devoured by petty jealousies. More than ample cause 
for grave apprehension to our great commander and to every 
thoughtful patriot. 

The New Year, 1780, found Washington amid much distress 
at Morristown. The enemy, having discovered the sufferings 
of our soldiers, circulated leaflets, inviting them to share the 
pleasures of New York. Nor were they entirely unsuccessful. 
On May 28th was penned the gloomiest letter Washington ever 
wrote. It was addressed to Peade, President of Pennsylvania, 
and Paine read it to the Assembly. 

"I assure you," said the Commander's letter, "every idea you 












* 












THOMAS PAINE 891 

form of our distress, will fall short of the reality.' ' And further 
on he says: "And we see in every line of the army the most 
serious features of mutiny and sedition." There was through- 
out the letter a tone of desperation that moved the Assembly pro- 
foundly. At the close there was a dispairing silence, amid which 
a member arose and said: "We may as well give up first as 
last." Doubtless there were others in that assembly and many 
throughout the country and in the army who for a long time had 
thought "We may as well give up first as last." But England 
would be no lenient enemy to rebels. They might be recipients 
of indulgences not altogether to their liking. Is it any wonder 
that thoughtful men's faces blanched at the prospect? 

Several days had elapsed since the reading of Washington's 
letter to the Council, but that body had done nothing definitely 
to relieve the situation or, so far as is known, even formed a plan. 
But on a certain morning Blair McClenahan, a Philadelphia mer- 
chant, received a vigorous letter from Paine enclosing five hun- 
dred dollars ($500), a large part of his salary as clerk, to head 
a subscription for a relief fund. 

I have not been able to trace this most important paper out- 
side the Sate of Pennsylvania. If it came to New York, or not, I 
cannot say. But certain it is that within an incredibly short 
period of time there were raised three hundred thousand 'pounds. 
The Bank of Pennsylvania, later known as the Bank of North 
America, was started with these funds, and Washington's army 
received assistance from this source, during the remainder of 
the campaign. The Secretary certainly demonstrated beyond a 
doubt that he could meet a crisis as well as write one. In after 
years, speaking of this subscription, Paine called it his "mite." 

For some time before, and especially during this memorable 
year of 1780, Paine urged the necessity of asking France for 
loans to assist us in our struggle for Independence. Much cor- 
respondence between him and various leading men of that day 
is extant on this subject. Finally, Colonel John Laurens, a mem- 
ber of Washington's staff, was appointed to visit France and ex- 
plain the military situation. Laurens demurred at first, but 
finally accepted on condition that Paine shoud accompany him. 
According to Lamartine, Laurens so far made a failure of the 



8g2 THOMAS PAINE 

mission, that Franklin and Paine interferred, and finally a loan 
of six million livres was confided to them. We are all familiar 
with the happy ending of the enterprise. The re-equipment of 
Washington's army, and, later, the surrender of Cornwallis. 

Paine 's work for the cause is nearly done. He is now to touch 
on a very delicate and sensitive subject with the colonies. They 
were jealous of their "sovereignty!" but he must intimate the 
necessity of surrendering it. He manages to say that "each 
state (with a small 's') is to the 'United States,' what each 
individual is to the state he lives in. And it is on this great 
point, this one center, that our existence as a nation, our happi- 
ness as a people, and our safety as individuals depend. ' ' 

Before the Declaration, Paine minted the phrases "Free and 
Independent States of America," and "The Glorious Union." 
He says to Lord Howe: " 'The United States of America' will 
sound as pompously in the world of history, as the Kingdom of 
Great Britain." 

I have given you barely an outline, a little more than a sugges- 
tion of what this remarkable, indefatigable, noble man did for the 
cause of American Independence. Nearly every line of his life 
was given to the uplift and the betterment of humanity. ' ' Free 
and Independent States of Ajnerica," "The Glorious Union," 
"International Arbitration," the rights of woman before the law 
and in the home. Freedom for the slave, and the loving care and 
protection of our dumb friends.* 

"What brilliants would our modern reformers have con- 
tributed to a coronet for that man's brow, had he not presently 
worshipped the God of his fathers after the way theologians of 
that day called heresy! "Be not righteous over much," saith 
cynical Solomon, "Neither make thyself overwise; why shouldest 
thou destroy thyself?" 

Following the American Revolution, Paine made a brief so- 
journ in England. In answer to a letter from America, an- 
nouncing the marriage of a yonug lady whom he had known as 
a little girl at Bordentown, N. J., he wrote : "I have lost my 
tide. It passed by while every thought of my heart was on the 



* Paine must have lived a century in advance of his time ! 



THOMAS PAINE 893 

wing for the salvation of my dear America. To Captain Nichol- 
son and Mrs. Nicholson, and to you, my dear Kittie, and your 
partner for life, God bless you all, and bring me safely back to 
my much loved America. " 



*For much of the data I have accumulated, from which I have formed my con- 
clusions, I am especially indebted to the late Rev. Monsieur Daniel Conway's "Life 
of Thomas Paine," and to Paine's "Rights of Man" and his "Age of Reason." 



Some of the Women who Skilfully Planned 

and Heroically Suffered in the Revolu= 

tion for the Cause of American 

Independence 

By J. C. Pumpelly, A. M. LL. B. 
IX 

Nancy Hart of the Georgia "Hornets Nest" 

Nancy Hart lived near a stream called "War Woman's 
Creek, " and so named on account of Nancy's hatred of the Tories 
and vigorous devotion to the "Liberty Boys" as she called the 
Whigs. Her husband she called a "poor stick" because he re- 
fused to take a decided stand for his country. 

When a detachment of five Britishers unceremoniously en- 
tered her cabin, and demanded to know whether it was true she 
had helped a certain noted rebel to escape, she said, yes, she 
had let the fugitive pass right through her cabin and so on to 
safety in a nearby swamp, and when his pursuers came to hand, 
she muffled up her head and face, and opening the door, inquired 
"why they disturbed a sick lone woman," and then told them she 
saw some one, on a sorrel horse, turn out of the path three hun- 
dred yards back; and so "they went off well fooled" she said. 

The Tories liked not the story and ordered her to cook them 
a dinner. She replied : * ' She never fed traitors and kings if she 
could help it— the villains having taken it out of her power to 
feed her own family, by stealing all her poultry and pigs, except 
that one old gobbler you see in the yard." "And that you shall 
cook for us" said the leader, as he raised his musket and shot 
the turkey. 

(894) 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 895 

Nancy stormed and swore, yet nevertheless she went to work 
assisted by her daughter, a girl of twelve years, and even par- 
took of the liquor the soldiers offered her.- At the edge of the 
swamp was a spring and on a stump was a eonch shell, used to 
call the men to meals or let them know when Tories were about, 
and they were to keep close or "make tracks " for another swamp. 

While cooking the turkey she sent Sukey to the spring for 
water and to give the warning on the conch to her father to 
"Keep Close" with his three neighbors who were with him, until 
he should again get a signal. 

The Britishers got merry over their jug and dinner on the 
slaughtered gobbler. Their guns were stacked in view and within 
reach, and yet nevertheless Nancy had managed, by slipping out 
a part of the ''chinking'' between the logs of the cabin, to pass 
to the outside two of the five muskets. Also she had a second 
time dispatched Sukey to the spring for more water, and to blow 
the signal on the conch for Hart and his men to "come imme- 
diately. ' ' 

At this time Nancy was detected by the soldiers while trying to 
put outside the third musket, and the whole party started to their 
feet, but Nancy, quick as thought, brought the piece she held 
to her shoulder with a threat to kill the first man who approached 
her. All were terror struck especially as Nancy, being cross- 
eyed, seemed to be aiming at each soldier separately. 

One made a dash at the woman and she shot him dead, and 
seizing another musket she levelled it directly at the others, thus 
keeping them at bay. 

At this moment Sukey arrived and taking up the other musket 
she carried it out of the house saying to her mother, ' ' Daddy and 
them will soon be here. ' ' 

This excited the soldiers and they proposed a general rush, so 
Nancy fired and killed another of the enemy, and then taking the 
other musket Sukey held, she stood in the doorway and called 
upon the party to surrender "their damned Tory carcasses, to a 
Whig woman," to which they agreed, but the brave woman 
trusted them not and kept them where they were, until her hus- 
band and neighbors arrived and proposed to shoot all of them. 

"No," said the woman, "they have surrendered to me and 



896 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

shooting is too good for them," and she had the men bound and 
taken out beyond the bars and hung. The tree from which they 
were suspended was shown in 1828 by an old woman residenter, 
also the site of the famous cabin, she at the time declaring that 
"poor Nancy was a honey of a patriot, but the devil of a wife." 



X 



Susanna Keith 

The picture of this courageous woman though inanimate, seems 
in the strength and beauty of the features to tell the story of 
a useful life more perfectly than can any written words. 

The picture has an especial interest for the writer because it 
was loaned to him by his much esteemed friend and compatriot, 
Mary Vanderpoel, the granddaughter of Susanna Keith and the 
regent of the Mary Washington Colonial Chapter of the Daugh- 
ters of the American Bevolution. 

Susanna Keith was the daughter of Captain Joseph Keith of 
Taunton, Massachusetts, and she came honestly by her fighting 
blood, for her grandfather on her mother's side was Captain Ben- 
jamin "Williams, who commanded a company in Colonel Thomas 's 
regiment and took part in the bloody battles of Lake George and 
Crown Point. 

It was destined that little Susanna Keith should save old Taun- 
ton town by her quick wit, from the savages of the British when 
in 1776, they were marching down from Concord to forage in the 
name of the crown. The story of this episode has been so well 
told by Mrs. Julia Hubbell Treat, historian of the chapter of 
which Miss Vanderpoel is regent, in a poem called "A Tale of 
Taunton Town, ' ' that I give it here in full. 

A Tale of Taunton Town. 

The news was flying through Taunton town, 
1 1 To-morrow, the British are marching down 
To Concord, for forage in name of the Crown. 



f* ■■-■ 
■■■•■•- 



■ 



- 



■• ' 






" • ' > " - " ■ 1 

-- ' * * -.- - 



' 



^birUHMMrt... iu -— ■ 



SUSANNA KEITH 
By courtesy of Miss Mary Vanderpoel 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 897 

Lexington first may be their goal, 

Up, up ! ye captains, and call the roll 

Aid gather the men from meadow and knoll." 

Now who is this who hither runs? 

'Tis Captain Keith, and his stalwart sons 

Are just behind, with their swords and guns. 

"Muster the men," the Captain cries, 
As the summons about the village flies, 
"Or the English will take us by surprise !" 

They left the mill, the loom, the plough, 
They heeded not the lowing cow, 
The only thought for them, was how 

By road and forest, hill and dale, 
They'd soonest reach the peaceful vale, 
Ere long to echo with the wail 

Of wife bereft, of sonless sire, 

Of tramp of redcoats coming nigher, 

And call of ' ' Steady men, now fire ! ' ' 

To the powder-house with one accord 
They rushed to view their cherished hoard 
Of shot and powder, gun and sword. 

But oh, alas, for their hope and fear ! 
Three charges only, for each appear ! 
"What news, for valorous men to hear ! 

The women had followed with faces pale ; 
Though brave as the men they did not quail ; 
And the children's courage, too, did not fail ; 

For out stepped little Susanna Keith 
With kerchief and cap, and eyes beneath 
Swimming with tears, but not of grief. 

"I know a way, my father," she said, 
Drooping a little her dainty head ; 
"Come all with me;" and away she sped. 



898 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

To her father's house upon the green- 
As fine a house as e'er was seen— 
With leaded window, and pillars between. 

To the dresser she led the gaping crowd: 
4 'There are your bullets !" she cried so proud 
That her childish voice rang clear and loud. 

Upon the shelves stood the pewter plates 
With coats-of-arms, and early dates 
Of sixteen twenty and thirty, mates 

Of teapot, and creamer, pitcher, and bowl. 
All were perfect, and bright, and whole, 
Stamped with a unicorn, "cheek by jowl.'* 

The pride of the house, the dower which came 
To Captain Keith's fair stately dame, 
Descended from fam'ly of noble name. 

All turned to the mistress in great surprise— 
"Take them!" she said, with bright, flashing eyes, 
"Thank God for a child so brave and wise!" 

The cheers went up from the men until 
The rafters rung, and then with a will 
They melted the pewter, the moulds to fill. 

All through the night, till the glimmering day 
They worked, and the child worked hard as they, 
Till their pouches were full, and they marched away. 

So this is the tale of Susanna Keith, 
In honor of whom I lay this wreath 
Of humble verse, on her grave beneath 

The Taunton skies, by the river fair, 
Near the ancient house still standing there, 
To tell what a child may do and dare ! 

For she lived, and wedded in Taunton town, 
And sent her brave blood coursing down 
Through the veins of many of fair renown, 















. 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 899 

Till her grand daughter's child, with eyes as blue, 

And spirit as earnest, and purpose as true. 

Is, my friends, your Regent, now looking at you ! 

XI 

Cornelia Beekman of New York 

This heroic lady took an active and important part in the Revo- 
lution and her example was of great service in strengthening the 
courage of others. She was the daughter of Pierre Van Cort- 
landt and Joanna Livingston and was born in 1752. Her father 
was Lieutenant-Governor of the State. 

At the age of seventeen she married Gerard C. Beekman. 

During the Revolution she resided in a large brick building two 
miles north of Peekskill at the foot of Regular Hill, where the 
American army encamped for some time. 

The place was marked out as an object of aggression and insult 
by the royalists on account of the part taken by her relatives and 
friends and her own loyalty to the cause of American Independ- 
ence. 

'Twas her high spirit and strong will that supported her 
through many scenes of trial and bloodshed. 

Once she removed for safety some miles back only for a day 
and night, and on her return she found the manor house a scene 
of dire desolation. Not an article of furniture was left but one 
bedstead and of provisions but one ham. She bore all with such 
equanimity that on a visit by General Putnam he immediately 
sent her woodenware and several other most necessary articles 
and with these she recommenced housekeeping. 

General Patterson was at one time quartered in her house and 
Washington visited her frequently and made her house his head- 
quarters ; the chairs used by his aides as beds are, it is believed 
still in the possession of her descendants. 

She was noted for her acts of benevolence and humanity and in 
many cases to persons in the enemy's ranks. The most daring 
robberies, including that of her own favorite saddle horse, as well 
as her poultry and provisions were committed before her very 
eyes. But her courage won out and her resolution in many an 



900 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

encounter with the insolent soldiery was the saving of her life and 
family. 

Her courage and good judgment, were clearly shown when 
" Lieutenant Jack Webb " acting aid to Washington left with her a 
valise containing a new uniform and some gold saying: "Do not 
deliver it without a written order from me or brother Sam." 
When a fortnight after an acquaintance Smith by name, rode up 
in haste and asked for "Lieutenant Jack's" valise; he having no 
written order was refused the valise and it was well she did re- 
fuse, although her husband doubted her wisdom, for soon after it 
came out Smith had no authority to get the valise, and at the time 
Major Andre was in Smith's house, for he and Lieutenant Webb 
were of the same stature and form, and had Smith gotten the 
valise and the uniform Andre would have used it and have made 
his escape through the American lines. 

Thus is shown what important events depend upon things ap- 
parently trivial. 

She was a remarkable and much beloved woman and died in 
serenity and confidence. 



• 












- ..ffip*' 



Pri 



"*m- 



CUSHING MONUMENT AT DELAFIELD, WISCONSIN 
By courtesy of The Waukesha Freeman, Waukesha, Wis. 










Cushing Memorial Monument 

By S. G. Lapham. 

beautiful monument in memory of the Three Wiscon- 
sin Cushings was dedicated at Delafield, Wisconsin, 
the birthplace, on May 31st, 1915. 
The monument was erected by the State of Wisconsin, 
under the auspices of the Waukesha County Historical Society. 

At a meeting held in May, 1911, the late Hon. Theron W. 
Haight called attention to the fact that the Hero of the Albemarle 
and two of his brothers were born in Wisconsin, and that it would 
be fitting for the Society to undertake the work of providing a 
suitable monument to mark the birthplace of the Cushing broth- 
ers at Delafield. 

From this remark the movement started. At the solicitation of 
the Society, the State legislature of that year appropriated 
$5,000 for the erection of the monument. 

A little over seven acres of land, including the site of the birth- 
place was donated by three Milwaukee gentlemen, Judge Geo. H. 
Noyes, Mr. Richard W. Houghton and Dr. Charles H. Lemon, 
members of the Society, and by the heirs of the Estate of Albert 
Alden, of Delafield. 

The land was deeded to the State of Wisconsin, and will be 
known as the Cushing Memorial Park. 

The monument was furnished by the Barre Monument Co., of 
Barre, Vermont. 

The total height is fifty feet. It is of white Barre marble and 
consists of a large square base, surmounted by a shaft forty feet 
in height. 

On one face of the square is a bronze medallion showing the 
heads and shoulders of the three Cushings, in bas relief and in- 
scriptions under each name, as follows : 

(901) 



902 



CUSHING MEMORIAL MONUMENT 



Bronze Medallion. 

Head and shoulders of the Three Brothers. 

Alonzo IL, William B., Howard B., 

Bom 1841, died 1863 Born 1842, died 1874 Born 1838, died 1871 
Brevet Lt. Col. Commander 3d U. S. Cavalry 

4th U. S. Artillery. U. S. Navy. 

" Perhaps the most conspicuously daring trio of sons of one 
mother, whose exploits have been noted in the pages of history/ ' 

Haight. 



Alonzo H. 
Killed while repell- 
ing Pickets charge at 
Gettysburg, having 
been wounded the 
third time within a 
few minutes. 

Probably no other 
man of his rank did 
as much to save the 
day. 



William B. 
Prominent among 
his many brave 
deeds was the blow- 
ing up of the Albe- 
marle. 

His perfection of 
action in the midst 
of death dealing 
missiles was an ex- 
hibition of coolness 
absolutely unparal- 
leled. 
"So long as such men can be produced in 
little danger of its decline and fall. ' ' 



Howard B. 
His courage and de- 
termination made 
him famous all over 
the southwestern 
borders. A terror to 
the marauding 

Apaches, at whose 
hands, he fell in am- 
bush bravely leading 
his men to safety. 



the Republic there is 
Haight. 



Commander Cushing and the Virginius 

By S. G. Lapham. 

IN President Grant's message to Congress December 1, 1873, 
he says that: "The capture of the Virginius by a Spanish 
naval vessel had for a time threatened serious consequences, 
but that the affair was then in course of adjustment honora- 
ble to both nations concerned. ' ' 

The steamer Virginius was used as a blockade runner during 
the civil war and in 1870 was sold in Washington to an agent of 
the Cuban junta. The steamer cleared from the Port of New 
York in October, 1870, bearing the American flag and carrying 
American papers. She cruised about for three years, mainly 
in West Indian waters, and during that time did not call at 
any home port. 

On October 23rd, 1873, the Virginius cleared from the United 
States consulate at Kingston, Jamaica, as a XL S. vessel bound 
for Port Limon, Costa Rica, bearing an American flag and still 
carrying American papers. 

The captain, Joseph Fry, was a well known southern man, a 
native of Florida and had been a distinguished officer in the Con- 
federate Navy commanding the gunboat, "Maurepas" at Island 
Number Ten and during the Vicksburg campaign. 

While the Virginius was on the way to Cuba, the Spanish gun- 
boat i \ Tornado ' ' came in sight and after a long chase overhauled 
and captured her and took her to Santiago de Cuba. 

There was no doubt of the character of the expedition for the 
cargo of the Virginius contained 500 Remington rifles, 600 sabres 
and 400 revolvers, destined for the Cuban Army. 

Four days after the capture a summary court-martial was held 
and four of the prisoners, including "General" Washington 
Ryan, a southern soldier of fortune, were sentenced to death and 

(903) 



























. 



904 COMMANDER CUSHING AND THE VIRGINIUS 

were shot at sunrise by order of Gen. Burriel, the Spanish Com- 
mandant. 

On November 7th, Captain Fry and thirty-six others were shot 
in pursuance of the order of the conrt-martial. This execution 
caused great excitement in the United States and was nearly the 
cause of war. Lieut. Com. Wm. B. Cushing was in command of 
the U. S. S. Wyoming at Aspinwall when he received a dispatch 
on November 8th from the U. S. Consul at Kingston, that some 
Americans were in need of protection at Santiago. Cushing ca- 
bled on November 10th, l i Am now coaling. Will leave tonight or 
early tomorrow morning for Santiago. ' ' The Wyoming came to 
anchor in the bay off that port at 11 A. M. on the 16th. 

Cushing immediately sent a letter to the Spanish General in 
which he protested against the execution of the Virginius prison- 
ers and insisted that the Virginius was not a pirate ship. General 
Burriel returned a very evasive answer and finally Cushing in- 
sisted upon an interview. 

He came to the General 's room, but refused to notice the hand 
which the General extended to him. In this interview Cushing 
said to Burriel : "If you intend to shoot any more of the Virginius 
prisoners, you would better first have the women and children 
removed from Santiago as I shall bombard the town. ' ' 

In consequence of Cushing 's bold stand and determined action 
there were no more executions and eventually, after some diplo- 
matic correspondence between the two governments, the Virgin- 
ins was surrendered to a United States warship, and the surviv- 
ors returned to the United States. 

The Virginius was convoyed to the Tortugas and an attempt 
was made to take her to the North, but unfortunately, as she was 
in an unseaworthy condition she foundered in a storm off Cape 
Hatter as. 

The Committee on Foreign Affairs in a Eeport to the House of 
Representatives June 22nd, 1874. quote the letter of Cushing to 
Gen. Burriel with approval and say: "From which it appears 
that Captain Cushing did his duty completely and gallantly in 
asserting the rights of the American Government and its citizens 
and in upholding the honor of the American flag." 

The United States Government was embarrassed in its endeav- 



COMMANDER CUSHING AND THE VIRGINIUS 905 

or to obtain redress by fact that the Virginius was undoubtedly 
engaged in a filibustering expedition. The fact that she had 
cruised about so many years without returning to any home port 
gave Spain at least good technical grounds for maintaining that 
the vessel was not lawfully entitled to claim the protection of our 

flag. 

After some diplomatic correspondence the matter was settled 
and an indemnity of $80,000 was paid by Spain for the benefit of 
the heirs of the victims of this affair. 













Historic Views and Reviews 

Avery Family Association Meeting 

E are glad to note that the Avery Family Association 
had a successful annual meeting on July 16th, the 
anniversary of the burning, in 1894, of the home of 
the founder Captain James Avery, and the site of 
which is now marked by the Avery Memorial Park wherein 
stands a granite shaft surmounted by a bronze bust representing 
the builder of the "Old Hive of the Averys." 

Capt. James Avery, the Colonial warrior, who commanded val- 
iantly in the Narragansett Swamp tight during King Phillip's 
war, 1675, and many of his gallant revolutionary descendants 
slain at the battle of Groton Heights, 1781, by Benedict Arnold's 
murdering corps are interred in this Colonial burying ground, as 
well as Susannah Palmes Avery, wife of Samuel Avery, of royal 
lineage, who died in 1747, as stated on the brownstone which 
marks the grave. 

The line of descents embraces the first 16 kings of England 
in the 34 generations, or from King Egbert to the present cen- 
tury. 

It is a record of historic facts verified by proof, for so much 
thereof as comprises the interval of time between the reign of 
King Egbert and the arrival of Lady Susan Clinton and her hus- 
band, Gen. John Humphrey, in Massachusetts bay. No more than 
a casual glance along the line of the ten centuries is necessary to 
discover the notable array of soverigns, soldiers and statesmen 
famous in British and European history. 

The following officers were elected for the ensuing year : 

President— Hon. Elroy M. Avery, L. L. D., Ph. D., D. C. L., 
Cleveland, Ohio. 

(906) 



HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 907 

Vice Presidents— Hon. Frank M. Avery, Brooklyn, N. Y., 
Cyrus Avery, Poquonoc Bridge, Capt. John O. Spicer, Groton; 
Col. Christopher L. Avery, Groton ; William L. Thomas, Groton ; 
Mrs. Elisha L. Thomas and Mrs. John 0. Spicer, Groton. 

Secretary— Miss Helen Morgan Avery, New London. 

Treasurer— Miss Addie Avery Thomas Groton. 

Executive Committee— Hon. Elroy M. Avery, Helen Morgan 
Avery, Addie Avery Thomas, William L. Thomas, Cyrus Avery, 
Mrs. Prentice P. Avery, New Haven, Mrs. Susan S. Meech, Gro- 
ton, Capt. John 0. Spicer, Mrs. Deborah H. Keene, Glastonbury, 
Mrs. Adelaide Avery Cavalry, New London, Miss Mabel Holman, 
Saybrook, Miss Eliza Warren Avery, Norwich, Walter Clifford 
Morgan, Mystic Latham Avery, Groton. 

To make further improvements in the park and to provide for 
its maintenance as well as of the Old Avery and Morgan bury- 
ing ground at Poguonock Bridge, one-half mile from the park, 
a fund of ten thousand to twenty thousand dollars is needed. 

Our Associate Editor is a descendant through his grand- 
mother, Frances Avery Pumpelly, of Susann Palmes Avery, 
and he will be glad to transmit any contribution small or large 
for this fund to the Treasurer of the Association, Miss Addie 
Avery Thomas, Groton, Mass. 

*.■•♦••■;+■■•♦'♦ 

Ex-Senator Doolittle op Wisconsin to President-Elect Cleve- 
land of New York 

interesting confidential letter from the wisconsin statesman 

Contributed by Duane Mowry, of Milwaukee, Wis. 

The following letter is interesting because it is believed that 
it was offensive to the then president-elect. There is no posi- 
tive evidence that Mr. Cleveland took umbrage because of it ; but 
the immediate relatives and friends of Judge Doolittle have 
informed the contributor that the president-elect gave no heed 
to the letter or its recommendations. 



908 HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 

It is also an open secret that when Judge Doolittle was an ac- 
tive and aggressive candidate for both the Russian and Austrian 
missions, his applications were treated with silent contempt and 
indifference. Letters from members of President Cleveland's 
cabinet, including Messrs. Daniel Manning, William F. Vilas and 
Walter Q. Gresham, to Judge Doolittle and now in the possession 
of the contributor, amply confirm this view. 

Although Judge Doolittle was a strong and influential support- 
er of Mr. Cleveland's candidacy before the people, his influence 
with his administration was mainly negligible. This has been 
characterized in some quarters as most unjust and inexcusable 
ingratitude. 
Confidential. 

Pawtuxett, R. L, Feb. 6, 1885. 
Hon. Grover Cleveland, 
President-Elect ; 

Dear Sir : I saw Mr. Hewitt, at Washington. He said, that 
in a general way, he was authorized to say : that you desired to 
meet men of experience in public affairs, who are friendly to a 
democratic administration, and learn their views of men and af- 
fairs, before you finally determined upon your Cabinet; and, as 
I was on my way to see my daughter, who resides here, in Rhode 
Island, he thought it was due to you, and due to myself, that I 
should stop over a day or two, in New York, and see you, and 
have free talk, and without reserve. 

But I found the pressure around you, yesterday, was such, 
that such a conference was hardly possible. Therefore, as" sug- 
gested in the brief interview, at Buffalo, (where, at the invitation 
of Gen'l Thayer, I went purposely to see you,) and as suggested 
by Col. Lamont, yesterday, that the better way would be to com- 
municate my views in writing, I now take the liberty, in a strictly 
confidential way, to submit a suggestion or two, in few words, in 
relation to your proposed CABINET. 

For the State Department, I would suggest Mr. Thurman. He 
is able to discuss the great questions, as to the Isthmus Routes, 
(our Bosphorus,) with the ablest men of England, France, or 
Germany. 

Mr. Bayard is an able man in the Senate, and a power there, on 



HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 909 

which the Administration may lean for support. It would be 
difficult to fill his place in that body, where we have so few from 
the Northern or Middle States to speak for us. He would bring 
to the State Department no more strength than would Thurman; 
and his leaving the Senate would weaken us where we are weakest 
now. 

I know it is said Thurman is past seventy. So is Bismark, and 
Gladstone. And the State Department is not like the other De- 
partments. It is one where there is plenty of time to think, and to 
write. And where there are no such detailed duties, and respon- 
sibilities, as rest upon all other Departments. 

The question I have heard raised as to Air. Thurman 's personal 
habits, could be solved, it would seem to me, with absolute certain- 
ty. I am slow to believe that he has become disabled by his habits. 

Mr. Pendleton, too, could be placed in position to bring strong 
support to your administration, at a point where he could render 
the vesy best service by sending him to represent you to France, 
for which place, for many reasons, he is peculiarly fit. 

As to the Treasury. It is to be regretted that this Department 
is not divided into Two, One of Revenue and One of Expenditure, 
with two separate heads, with two sets of Books, to be checks 
upon each other, one keeping account of Receipts— the other of 
Expenditure. 

It is too enormous for one man, or for one head of Department. 
But there is a general talk or understanding, that a man from 
New York will take that place. Your personal knowledge of the 
men of New York is so much greater than mine, that I will make 
but one or two suggestions. 

Prom Mr. Hewitt's long service in Congress, the mass of the 
people have come to regard him as one of the ablest in the coun- 
try; but a fear is expressed that his health might not be such as 
to bear the strain. 

Others have been named, Mr. Kernan among them, with favor. 

But there is one man of large capacity, a good organizer and 
leader of men, who, if his business experience and training has 
fitted him for the place, impresses me very strongly, as a large 
brained man, who would bring a real power to your administra- 
tion. I refer to Mr. Manning. 



910 HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 

You must know him, and know if he has the executive, financial, 
and business capacity to fit him for that great and trying posi- 
tion. 

If you should go outside of New York, and go West for a Sec- 
retary, Mr. Alexander Mitchell of Wisconsin, is one of the ablest, 
if not the ablest man west of the Allegheny Mountains for such a 
position. But I have serious doubts, whether he could be induced 
to take the place, which would compel him to change his present 
relations to some of the great business affairs in which he is now 
engaged. 

As to the Interior. Our friends in Wisconsin, the democratic 
members of the Legislature and of Congress, and our people gen- 
erally, concur in presenting the name of Col. Vilas. He is an able 
and rising lawyer, of popular address, of most industrious hab- 
its, whose integrity cannot be questioned, and he would fill the of- 
fice of Secretary of the Interior or of the War Department, with 
honor to himself and to the country. 

As he is from my state, and my name has been occasionally 
mentioned, it is due to you, and to myself to say, twice in my 
time I have been as near the great responsibilities of the Presi- 
dential office as I ever desire to go; and, I am in no sense any 
aspirant for a position in the Cabinet. On the other hand, I join 
with our friends in Wisconsin in favoring Col. Vilas for such a 
position. 

As to the War Department. The name of McDonald of Indiana 
would be received with general satisfaction. Indeed, his name 
and Col. Vilas is thought of alternately for the War and Interior 
Departments. 

As to the Navy. General McClellan and Mr. Stockton of New 
Jersey are favorably spoken of. 

As to Attorney General. Mr. Garland; and, Samuel Wilson of 
California I have heard discussed. He is the ablest lawyer of 
the Pacific Coast. 

Justice Field is quite sanguine that a strong man in your Cabi- 
net could probably make California and Oregon Democratic 
states, and the new State of Tacomah, to be soon formed of Wash- 
ington Territory, would also be a Democratic state. 

The general opinion, however, has been that Mr. Garland would 



HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 911 

be the man. He is a very able lawyer, and, though his leaving the 
Senate would be seriously felt, yet it is probable that Arkansas 
could find an able man to fill his place. It has just chosen Mr. 
Jones, who is a very able man, as colleague of Mr. Garland. 

As to the Postmaster General. If that office is to go to South, 
I have heard Mr. Jones, Mr. Barbour, and Mr. Money all spoken 
of with favor. 

I would much prefer to discuss such matters in a private inter- 
view, for there are many considerations which cannot be said in 
writing, without making this communication too long. 

I fear it is too long already. But I could hardly say less. When 
you shall have disposed of the question please return this paper 
to me at Racine, Wisconsin, as there is no necessity of its preser- 
vation, as it is only intended as a suggestion, which will cease to 
be of any value when the result is reached ; which we shall all, 
with one heart and voice, cheerfully accept "un fait accompli," 
and as the best thing attainable. 

I now hope that I may stop at Albany, on my way home, and 
seek a third opportunity for a private interview, where we may 
talk over the suggestions in this paper, or such other matters as 
you may desire. I now think I will here on Monday for Albany by 
Worcester, and stop over in Albany Tuesday next. 
With great respect, Truly yours, 

J. R. Doolittle. 

Note, This letter is entirely in the handwriting of Judge Doo- 
little. The sentiments are those of a sincere and honest mam 
one who had the good of his party and of the country at heart. I 
cannot be absolutely certain that the letter ever reached Mr. 
Cleveland. But I believe it did and was afterwards returned to 
the writer as requested. Judge Doolittle 's daughter, the late Mrs. 
Burge, of Providence, assures me that Mr. Cleveland well knew 
that her father favored Mr. Thurman for Secretary of State. 
And this fact, both her father and herself believed induced the 
indifference of President Cleveland to the political ambitions of 
Mr. Doolittle. Mr. Bayard is also thought to have taken umbrage 
at Judge Doolittle *s recommendation. D. M. 



912 HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 

George R. Boynton 

It is with a good deal of satisfaction that we present to our 
readers this month the paper upon "What Thomas Faine did for 
American Independence, ' ' because in its composition the writer 
who is also an artist, has shown clearly the value of an artistic 
temperament and a firm believer in the power of patriotic ideals, 
and then too, this artist has shown almost as much facility in the 
use of the pen as in that of the brush. 

Mr. Boynton is chiefly known by his portraits of distinguished 
men. He is well represented in our leading clubs, colleges and 
universities, and he has portrayed many of our most beloved and 
famous clergymen, as well as our most prominent physicians and 
surgeons ; also he will be long remembered for his excellent and 
faithful representations on canvas of our best known officers of 
the Army and Navy. 

An interesting fact about Mr. Boynton is that his knowledge of 
the principles and technique of his art have been of American 
origin and development only, which is clear proof that to the 
painter of portraits at least this country affords adequate oppor- 
tunity for the expression of marked individuality in the handling 
of form and color. 

"In my many talks with this gifted artist," says our Associ- 
ate Editor, "I have found him not only a good judge of differ- 
ent schools of art, but of men not only in their outward appear- 
ance, but of their psychological and ethical qualities and ways 
of expression and thought, and this I believe has been of great 
aid to him in his work. His ability as a conversationalist and a 
teller of good stories has brought to him many valued and 
pleasant friendships. ' ' 

Mr. Boynton so far as his family is concerned can trace back 
his ancestry as is shown in Burke's Peerage to this well-known 
family in Yorkshire, England. 

On the 30th of April, 1637, Sir Matthew Boynton with an im- 
portant company including Sir William Constable, Sir Arthur 
Hazlerig, Mr. John Hampden and Oliver Cromwell were about 
to set sail in eight ships for New England when they were ordered 







GEORGE R. BOYNTON 



HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 913 

to disembark with all their stock and merchandise by a pre- 
emptory order from the council. 

This movement on the part of the government was far reaching 
in its consequences, for if Sir Matthew Boynton and his friend 
Oliver Cromwell had been allowed to voyage to America, 
Charles I would probably have not lost his head. 

Now having said this much as to the writer of the paper 
"What Thomas Paino did for American Independence," I need 
say little as to the paper itself, as I feel that all serious readers 
will not fail to find in it that same simplicity and directness of 
expression that is to be seen in all Mr. Boynton's work as an 
artist. 












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AMERICANA 

November, 1915 
Recollections of a Half Century and More 

By Andeew M. Sherman, Morristown, N. J. 

V 
My Boyhood in New England 
(Continued) 

LATE in the summer or early in the autumn of 1855 my 
eldest brother, Horatio Nelson, of Birmingham— 
now Derby— Connecticut, visited his parents in Bridge- 
water, Massachusetts. The presents he brought to my 
younger brother and me made his visit one of rare pleasure for 
us, especially. 

Before my brother's return to Connecticut it was arranged 
that I should accompany him and henceforth make my home in 
his family. 

On the night before our departure from Bridgewater we slept 
at the home of my sister, Mrs. Henry Perkins, that being nearer 
the railroad station than the home of our parents. 

As we had to take an early train in order to reach my broth- 
er's home on the same day of our departure it was necessary for 
us to be up betimes next morning; and the promptness with 
which I responded to the call of my brother-in-law to rise was so 
pleasing to him that he afterward frequently spoke of it as a 
very creditable thing on my part. Perhaps my kindhearted 
brother-in-law did not take into account the fact of my joyous 
anticipation of a long ride • ■ on the cars ' ' that day. To this fact, 

(9i5) 



916 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

I confide to the reader, more than to any particular fondness for 
leaving a comfortable bed in the early morning hours should be 
attributed the unusual alacrity with which I responded to my 
brother-in-law's summons on the day of my departure for the 
"Nutmeg State/ ? 

It was on a mild day in September, 1855, that I bade adieu 
to old Bridgewater never to return except for visits. 

The journey from my Massachusetts home to my prospective 
home in Connecticut was inexpressibly pleasing to one who had 
seen so little of the world. The numerous and strange villages 
and cities through which we passed and the throngs of people I 
saw along the route were a novel and exceedingly interesting 
experience to a boy not quite twelve years of age; and to say 
that I keenly enjoyed the ride is but a feeble way of describing 
my pleasure. 

We reached Birmingham in the early evening and were con- 
veyed by carriage from the somewhat distant railroad station 
to my brother's home. 

My brother, in whose family I was thereafter to have a home, 
had for several years been the superintendent of a large tack 
and nail factory connected with the Shelton Manufacturing 
Company, of Birmingham, which was known far and wide to 
merchants engaged in the wholesale and retail hardware busi- 
ness. 

My brother, it is only just to him to remark, was an expert ar- 
tisan at tackmaking and used to have the choicest work in the 
factory; indeed, his reputation as a tackmaker was national, and 
there was not a tack manufactory in this country but would have 
been glad to employ him and thus have the benefit of his super- 
ior mechanical skill. As to the compensation received by him it 
may be said that it was no uncommon thing for him before the 
opening of the Civil War to have a monthly income of $250.00 ; 
and in "war times" his monthly income was sometimes double 
the sum above mentioned. 

I should not omit saving in this connection that this brother 
was the inventor and patentee of two highly valuable pieces of 
machinery, one for making the bedscrew bolts once used in cord 
bedsteads, which had previously been made by hand; and the 



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This picture of the author is from a tintype which 
was copied from an ambrotype, the latter of which 
w r as taken in Birmingham mow Derby), Conn., 
when he was about 14 years of age, 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 917 

other, the first of its land, for cutting out and placing the round 
leather heads on tacks for use in fastening down carpets. By 
way of contrast it may be remarked that the machine for mak- 
ing bedscrew bolts was about five feet square, three feet in 
height and weighed fully fifteen hundred pounds ; while the 
machine for cutting and placing the round leather heads on 
tacks was about twelve inches square, five inches in height and 
weighed scarcely more than ten pounds. The larger machine 
my brother sold outright to the Shelton Manufacturing Com- 
pany for use in their busy bolt shop, and on the smaller ma- 
chine he received a royalty from the same company for its use. 

During almost the entire autumn and winter following my re- 
moval to Birmingham I had intermittent fever, induced in part, 
at least, by homesickness ; for this was the first time I had ever 
been away from my parents and brothers and sisters. My 
younger brother, Charles L., and I were especially fond of each 
other. For several years we had occupied the same bed, and 
like many other boys of our age we frequently engaged in "pil- 
low-fights" in the morning before getting ourselves in presenta- 
ble form. In outdoor games and sports incident to boyhood we 
were almost invariably associated; and as companions we were 
inseparable. 

It is a wise provision of the infinite Creator that childhood has 
the power of readily adjusting itself to its environment, and 
consequently I soon began to be contented and happy in my new 
home in the "Nutmeg State." This was due in part to the 
pleasant friendships I soon formed among the children of my 
own age in the neighborhood, among whom was the son of Mr. 
Charles Jackson— Fred. Jackson, by name— who was employed 
in the tack factory of which my brother was the superintendent. 
The intimacy of the two families is, indeed, pleasant for me even 
now to recall. 

My brother, at the time of which I am writing, resided on 
Catherine Street, next door to the residence of Mr. John I. 
Howe, the principal owner of a prosperous pin factory in Birm- 
ingham. 

It was commonly reported that Mr. Howe, in order to qualify 
himself to construct a pin machine, used to sit or lounge for 



918 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

hours at a time on an elevation overlooking a pin manufactory 
in England which he was not, for prudential reasons, permitted 
to enter, and through open windows carefully watch and study 
the mechanism of the machines in operation, until, at length, 
such was his mechanical ingenuity, he was able to construct a 
machine for making pins. I remember with what interest and 
almost wonder I used to look upon a man who could, with such 
meagre aid, accomplish so difficult a feat. 

In due course Mr. Howe— he was an Englishman by birth- 
came to this country; and after having a sufficient number of 
machines built under his personal superintendency, having pre- 
viously taken out a patent, he engaged in the business of manu- 
facturing pins, and his business became the famous Howe Pin 
Manufacturing Company, of Birmingham, Connecticut, known, 
at one time, the country over. 

As a reward of his inventive skill and untiring industry Mr. 
Howe became a wealthy man, wealthy, I mean, for those early 
days ; and it is worthy of remark that notwithstanding his wealth 
he was a modest and unassuming man and noticeably free from 
the vulgar display made by many men of wealth in the present 
century, not a few of whom deserve no credit whatever for the 
accumulation of their wealth, having in many instances inher- 
ited it from parents or others, and some of whom have scooped 
it in by "ways that are past finding out." 

I well remember how zealously the operation of the pin ma- 
chines in the Howe Pin Manufactory was guarded for fear that 
others might construct a similar machine and engage in the man- 
ufacture of this almost indispensable household necessity. 
Through the influence, however, of a friend whose father was 
a trusted employe in the Howe pin shop I was now and then 
permitted to enter said shop; and the somewhat complicated 
machine was a sort of seven years' wonder to me. I will not 
attempt to describe the process of pin making except to say that 
a reel of fine brass wire was fed into the machine, and, after- 
ward came out with amazing rapidity in the form of pins which 
were afterward given a coating of tin and then stuck in long 
colored papers for the trade. I remember when the Howe pins 
were the only American pins used in this country. 







St. James Protestant Episcopal Church, Birmingham 
(now Derby), Connecticut, where I attended 
church and Sunday school and in which I was 
baptized when a small boy. It is a substantial 
stone structure. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 919 

My brother and his wife attended the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, and as might be expected I soon began attending the 
same place of worship; and the recollection of the beautiful and 
impressive form of divine worship of that church is still vivid 
in my mind and I am still fond of recalling the memories of the 
happy hours spent in the Episcopal Church of Birmingham, 
Connecticut. 

It is no wonder to me, as it is to some, that the classical ritual 
and the beautiful church architecture of the Protestant Episco- 
pal Church gain so strong a hold upon those who for any con- 
siderable length of time have attended its services. And after 
the lapse of nearly sixty years the Episcopal form of worship 
has still a fascination for me. I never attend an Episcopal 
Church but my mind is crowded with pleasant recollections of 
my early boyhood. 

In the Sunday school of the St. James Episcopal Church, for 
such was the name of this church, I was a member of the class 
taught by Mr. Thomas Elms, an excellent teacher and an exem- 
plary Christian. The Rector of this church at the beginning of 
my attendance there was the Rev. Jared Flagg, D. D., who soon 
resigned the rectorship and engaged in the work of painting por- 
traits in oil for which he had received special training. He 
opened a studio in New Haven, Connecticut and acquired no 
mean reputation as a portrait painter. It will doubtless be re- 
membered by some of the older residents of Morristown, New 
Jersey, that Dr. Flagg subsequently opened a studio in the 
county seat of Morris where he continued the work of painting 
portraits. During his residence in Morristown he lived in a 
house on High street which is still standing with the studio used 
by Dr. Flagg at the extreme top of the house. This studio, so 
the author has been informed, was constructed expressly for 
Dr. Flagg. 

Only a short distance from my new home in Birmingham was 
a private school taught, as I remember, by Miss Carrie Shelton ; 
and it is a fact of no ordinary interest to me that the young girl 
who subsequently became my wife attended this private school 
and it is probable that I frequently saw her, as a small girl, as 
she trudged day after day to school and as she engaged in out- 



92G RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

door games with her schoolmates. She has since informed me 
that among the pupils of that private school during her attend- 
ance was a little bare-footed girl— it was common in those days 
for small children to go barefoot during the warm season— 
who afterwards became the famous American Prima Donna, 
Clara Louise Kellogg; and in commemoration of her mother's 
association, as a child, with Miss Kellogg, our youngest daugh- 
ter was named Clara Louise, which name she now bears. 

Living but a short distance from us on Catherine Street was 
a family consisting of a widow, Mrs. Banks, her young son, Burr 
Banks and one or two maiden sisters of Mrs. Banks. From my 
first acquaintance with the family I was very fond of Bun- 
Banks, and we frequently exchanged visits. One of the aunts, 
whose name as I now recall, was Margaret, or "Aunt Mag- 
gie/' as her nephew called her, after a lingering illness with con- 
sumption passed away. As she lay in the casket awaiting bur- 
ial I called at the modest home of Mrs. Banks and my friend 
Burr Banks invited me to go into the room where her remains 
lay and look at her. Almost trembling with fear I reluctantly 
accompanied him and slowly approaching the casket I looked at 
her face. I mention this little episode chiefly because this was 
the first time I had seen a deceased person, and the recollection 
of my emotions as I entered the room where her remains lay is 
as fresh as if it had occurred only a few days ago. The room 
in which that woman lay in her casket is to this day a sacred 
place to me. 

During the first years of my residence in Birmingham month- 
ly meetings of the different Sunday Schools of the place were 
held under the auspices of what was known as the Sunday 
School Union. These meetings were held alternately in the dif- 
ferent churches, with the exception of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, at which the pastors and others made appropriate ad- 
dresses. Among the speakers at one of these meetings I was 
permitted to attend was the Bev. George A. Hubbell, pastor of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church; and in the course of his ad- 
dress he related what to me was a very touching story of the 
death of a little boy which made a strong impression upon my 
plastic mind. Previous to this evening I had been accustomed 



RECOLLECTIONS OE A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 921 

to having a lamp to take to my room on going to bed which I 
placed on a stand at my bedside ; and when I had fallen asleep 
my sister-in-law would come to my room and remove the lamp. 

When I returned from the meeting of the Sunday School Un- 
ion on the evening in question I was in such a happy frame of 
mind that all fear of the dark had vanished ; indeed, I was so full 
of courage that when my sister-in-law spoke of having a lamp 
to go to bed with I said: "I don't care for a light." So I went 
to my sleeping room in the dark, undressed and got into my bed. 
In my room were two windows both of which were open, for it 
was a warm evening, I had lain in bed but a few minutes when 
suddenly I heard what to my awakened imagination seemed the 
most exquisite music to which I had ever listened. This music 
seemed to be out under the eaves of the house. Still in the al- 
most ecstatic frame of mind in which I had returned from the 
meeting of the Sunday School Union on that evening I imagined, 
as the various strains of the music came floating on the summer 
air into my room, that it was a band of angels who were singing. 
For a few minutes I listened with rapt attention ; but at length 
I began to be frightened. The fright so conrpletely overcame me 
that I called for my sister-in-law to bring me a lamp, which she 
did, placing it on the stand at my bedside, as usual. It was some 
time, however, before I was able to get to sleep. 

Not until some time afterward did it begin to dawn upon my 
mind that the music I had heard on that evening was of purely 
human origin, and proceeded from some house in the neighbor- 
hood where the inmates were singing religious hymns with or- 
gan accompaniment at the close of the Sabbath. 

Every now and then for several weeks I had felt a sharp pain 
in the ball of my right foot, and some times I was scarcely able 
to walk for the pain experienced. The attention of my sister- 
in-law having several times been called to the matter she said to 
me one morning before starting for school: " Andrew, let me 
look at your foot." Glad of even the possibility of being re- 
lieved from the frequent pains I had suffered I willingly com- 
plied with the request. Taking off my shoe and stocking I al- 
lowed my sister-in-law to take my foot in her lap. She then 
carefully examined the bottom of my foot, and as a result she 



922 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

remarked: "Why, Andrew, there is a piece of glass in your 
foot. Sit here until I get something with which to remove it." 
Returning soon with a case knife she again took my foot in her 
lap and with the sharp edge of the knife she removed from the 
ball of my foot a triangular piece of window glass which meas- 
ured about a quarter of an inch along each side. This she held 
up for me to see. It was then that for the first time I related 
to my "good physician' ' that it was while playing around the 
old, abandoned house up in the "Old Bay State" nearly eigh- 
teen months before that I had, as I then supposed, simply cut 
my foot. That piece of glass had therefore been in my foot all 
those months. 

Birmingham was situated on an elevated plateau between two 
rivers, with the lower or southerly part of the village sloping 
gradually down toward one of these rivers. On the easterly side 
of Birmingham was the Naugatuck River and on the westerly 
side the Housatonic River. Just below Birmingham these two 
rivers formed a junction and from thence onward to Long Island 
Sound there was but one river. 

At the junction of the two rivers mentioned, and on both sides 
of the narrow outlet, were ledges of rocks reaching on one side 
to the height of at least twenty-five feet and on the other to a 
height but little less. 

In the spring of the year severe freshets occurred in both 
rivers mentioned. The snow, melted by the copious spring 
rains, came rushing down from the hills on each side of the riv- 
ers for several miles above us, in consequence of which both riv- 
ers would rise and break up the thick ice of the previous win- 
ter. The huge cakes of ice would then be carried by the power- 
ful current down both rivers and at their junction would become 
wedged between the high rocks on either side, and the huge 
cakes of ice following, forced by the increasing velocity of the 
river current, would sometimes shoot up into the air many feet, 
presenting a sight well worth beholding. 

As the ice became wedged between the rocks at the narrow 
junction of the two rivers the water of both would rise, and rise 
and rise until it reached a height sometimes of twelve or fifteen 
feet above its usual level. I have seen fully twelve feet of water on 






. 






RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 923 

the road, familiarly known as "the causeway/ ' between the 
contiguous villages of Birmingham and Derby. Of course all 
travel was for several days stopped and business of all kinds, in 
the lower parts of Birmingham, especially, was at stand still. 
Even the mills, of which there were many, were unable to run, 
as they were without power, the surplus of water being no less 
disadvantageous than a scarcity. It became necessary to go 
about some portions of Birmingham in row boats, and this was 
great fun for the boys who enjoyed the unusual. 

I recall not a few incidents and episodes of the freshets in 
Birmingham, for example: During a great freshet which oc- 
curred a few years before my removal to Birmingham a young 
man and his prospective bride— or fiancee, in the language of 
the present day— were standing on the wooden bridge spanning 
the Naugatuck Eiver between Birmingham and Derby, when the 
water rose so suddenly and to such great height that before the 
young people were able to leave the bridge for a place of safety 
the bridge was lifted from its abutments and carried down the 
river, and they were both drowned. This peculiarly sad event 
created much excitement. 

The young people were buried in the village cemetery, and a 
picture of each was inserted in the front of their respective 
headstones. 

Over the Housatonic Eiver between Birmingham and Hunt- 
ington— now Shelton— was a covered wooden bridge about six 
hundred feet in length. For many years this bridge had been a 
toll bridge ; and not a few times did ' i we boys ' ' run the toll, not 
always, however, because we hadn't the money to pay the small 
fee— two cents, as I remember — but because of the "fun of it," 
and because of the excitement of running to get away from the 
keeper, who, I am glad of the opportunity of saying, was a very 
krndhearted man. "We boys' ' would cross the bridge from 
the end at which the keeper did not live, that is to say, from the 
Birmingham end, stealthily approach the toll house where the 
keeper and his family lived— his name was Yale— and when the 
keeper was not in sight, or in the house where he could not 
see us, we would scud at the top of our speed through the gate 
for foot travelers and into the road beyond where for the time 



924 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

we were safe. It was an imprudent thing for boys to do for we 
were liable to be arrested, and only the kindness of the keeper 
gave us immunity from arrest. In returning- to the Birmingham 
side of the river we had sometimes to get across in a row boat. 

During one of the freshets in Birmingham the rivers as usual 
rose to a great height, the ice came slowly up under this long 
covered bridge, lifted it in the air as if it had been a small build- 
ing, carried it down the river a short distance where it broke 
in two pieces of about equal length— the one piece being 
carried down stream by the strong current and the other piece 
going ashore a short distance below the Birmingham end of the 
bridge. This toll bridge was owned by a stock company and had 
been paying a fair rate of interest in the way of tolls for foot 
travelers and vehicles of various kinds, hence it was concluded 
to make an effort to save the portion of the bridge that had 
gone ashore. A sailor — I think his name was Dorman— was 
home on a visit, "on shore/' is the nautical term commonly em- 
ployed by the i t Jack-tars, ' ' and Dorman was engaged to go out 
in the swiftly running river filled with immense cakes of ice and 
fasten a strong rope or hawser to the bridge with a view to pre- 
venting it from being carried further down the river. At the 
risk of his life, as it seemed to the throng of anxious spectators 
on shore, who watched him with bated breath, the brave sailor 
fastened the hawser to the bridge, brought the other end to 
shore where he securely fastened it, thus saving that portion of 
the broken bridge. For his perilous service— so it was generally 
reported among the throngs of spectators at the time— Dorman 
was paid the paltry sum of $25. 

The other end of the bridge was carried down stream and 
was gradually broken to pieces by the ice. 

The catastrophe above described occurred at about midnight, 
and the destruction of the bridge and the attendant circum- 
stances produced great excitement. Although I was only about 
fourteen years of age I was a deeply interested witness of the 
exciting scenes enacted. 

Among the interesting incidents of the floods we used to have 
in Birmingham in my boyhood was the following: As the waters 
of the river rose in Lower Derby and set back into that portion 




[1 














.- . - , . ■•-.- 



School Building, Birmingham (now Derby), Connecticut, where I attended 
school in my boyhood. This building has been superseded by a fine 
brick structure. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 925 

of the township, a huge cake of ice, driven by the powerful cur- 
rent, broke clean through one side of a dwelling house and 
landed on the top of a square piano, and it was some time before 
it could be removed. The effect upon the case of the instrument 
must have 'been anything but favorable, and I question whether 
the tone was any the better for the water that must have per- 
colated down through the case into the interior of the piano. 

It was during a winter of my boyhood in Birmingham that 
the weather was so extremely cold as to freeze the river nearly 
up to the newly constructed "Huntington bridge" solid to the 
bottom in some places. Before the snow came and covered the 
ice the men and boys skated down the river a distance of about 
ten miles and back, furnishing the finest sport of several years. 
Think of skating a distance of twenty miles on a stretch ! 

After the snow had covered the ice, to the keen regret of men 
and boys, horses and sleighs drove up on the almost solid ice 
from many miles below to Birmingham and Huntington. It was at 
this time that General Tom Thumb, in his tiny turnout drawn by 
two small horses, was driven up the river from his home in 
Bridgeport, about sixteen miles distant. He was afterward 
driven about on the ice to the great amusement of the boys in 
particular. To them it was an important event, and was a sub- 
ject of conversation for many a day afterward. 

In the spring of 1856 I began attending the grammar school 
in Birmingham. The principal of the school was a Mr. Stevens 
from the west whose first name has escaped my memory. He was 
a large, powerfully built man, of great strength. As an illustra- 
tion of his strength it may be said that stooping down on his 
hands and knees under one end of the rear axle of the heavy 
fire engines of those days he would with apparent ease lift upon 
his shoulders that part of the engine. I do not believe there 
was another man connected with the local fire company who 
could perform the feat. 

Mr. Stevens was exceedingly popular with the pupils of the 
school of which he was the principal, especially with the boys, 
and the reasons are far from difficult to find. Besides being an 
excellent teacher and efficient principal he introduced and en- 
couraged games of different kinds among the boys of his school, 



926 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

such as dumb bells, swings, foot ball, boxing, base ball, etc. In 
these games he personally and enthusiastically joined with the 
pupils. If, in boxing with the pupils, the principal now and then 
gave some of them a knock-over punch it was only to train them 
efficiently in the ''manly art of self defence, " so that if necessity 
required they would be able to l * look out for number one. ' ' 

In skating in winter and in swimming in summer Mr. Stev- 
ens also joined with his pupils, and many of them could thank 
him for having taught them to skate and swim. Some of the 
more confiding boys acquired the art of swimming after a few 
days faithful coaching by the "big schoolmaster.' ' If he thought 
it necessary to now and then give some of the less venturesome 
boys "a ducking" to inure them to the water he did so; and 
while for the time it seemed like harsh treatment the boys thus 
treated afterward acknowledged the benefit derived from it in 
the way of deliverance from fear of the water. 

In the school room, however, Mr. Stevens was a strict dis- 
ciplinarian. 

One of the peculiar methods of this teacher when he perceived 
that a boy was not giving proper attention in his seat to his 
studies was to make a circuit, on tiptoe, of the school room, com- 
ing down behind the lazy pupil from the rear and treating him 
as I shall describe. The boys sat on the right of the school room 
as the principal faced the school and the girls on the left. The 
principal would go stealthily up the aisle at the left of the girls, 
then go from the girls' side to the boys' side, then across the back 
of the school room to the head of the boys' aisle. There he would 
stand for a few moments in full sight of the pupils in the front 
part of the room rubbing his loosely clenched fists together as 
if getting them in good condition for what was soon to take 
place. All this time the lazy pupil was in ignorance of what 
awaited him. Coming down the aisle behind the pupil like a 
cat approaching a bird or mouse the principal would suddenly 
rub with both closed fists each of the boys' ears enough to set 
them on fire from the friction, and conclude with lifting the boy 
nearly out of his seat. This was all done in the best good nature 
without even the trace of anger; but "the treatment" accom- 
plished the purpose for which it was intended, which was to 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 927 

make this pupil more studious in future and serve, also, as a 
warning to other pupils disposed to be lazy about studying. 
One's ears would smart and burn for some time after receiving 
such a brisk and rapid rubbing. If you inquire whether the 
author's ears ever smarted after such a unique ''treatment" he 
will have to take refuge in the principle of law that no criminal 
is obliged, on the witness stand, to make statements that will in- 
criminate him. 

Among the especially interesting incidents of my school life 
under the aforesaid principal was the following: Upon discov- 
ering that some trees recently planted in the large front yard of 
the school had apparently been mutilated with a knife or some 
other sharp instrument he kept every boy after school of the 
afternoon session. When the girl pupils had been dismissed 
these boys were requested to occupy the front seats, where they 
were required to remain for a time in perfect silence. The prin- 
cipal then endeavored in the following manner to ascertain, if 
possible, which of the detained boys had cut the young trees:— 
He went from one boy to another, closely questioning each one; 
while talking to one boy he would with great force slap the boy 
next to him on the leg near the knee. Thus he went from one 
end to the other of the row of boys ; but he did not succeed in 
ascertaining who mutilated the young trees. He then dismissed 
the boys with a smile indicative of his good nature. 

I thought at the time I knew and I think now that I know the 
boy who cut those trees, but the principal was none the wiser 
for what I thought I knew. 

Only a few years ago while visiting in Birmingham I called 
upon one of my old schoolmates in Mr. Stevens ' school and our 
conversation very naturally drifted to the subject of our early 
school days; and I called his attention to the tree-cutting inci- 
dent. I said to him, with a significant smile playing over my 

face: " I have always thought you knew who cut those 

young trees. ' ' To my remark he made no oral reply ; but the pecu- 
liar twinkle of his eyes impressed me that my opinion was well 
grounded. He was, however, the same reticent, close-mouthed 
individual as in his boyhood. My old schoolmate, a successful 
manufacturer, has recently passed away. 















. 















928 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

Mr. Stevens was very fond of having declamations in school, 
usually on Friday afternoons after the studies of the week were 
"out of the way." There were some clever declaimers in this 
school, among them Wells Piper, William C. Atwater, Andrew 
Neweonib, and others whose names I do not now recall. One 
declamation which was a great favorite with the pupils was 
"Three Black Crows," which was recited by Wells Piper in a 
manner exceedingly pleasing to the school; hence he was fre- 
quently requested to recite this poem. Piper enjoyed reciting 
the poem fully as much as the school did in listening to the reci- 
tation. 

"The American Eagle," by C. W. Thomson, as recited by 
William C. Atwater, was another favorite, more especially be- 
cause of Atwater 's fine elocutionary powers. 

But the poem that the principal was especially fond of having 
recited was "Old Ironsides," by Oliver Wendell Holmes, com- 
mencing as not all my readers may be aware : 

"Ay, tear her tatter 'd ensign down! 
Long has it waved on high ! 
And many an eye has danced to see 
That banner in the sky; 

and closing with the following inspiring lines : 

"Nail to the mast her holy flag, 
Set every threadbare sail; 
And give her to the god of storms, 
The lightning and the gale." 

Mr. Stevens had trained Wells Piper to recite "Three Black 
Crows" with such excellent effect that at every opportunity, 
both for his own personal gratification and for the edification 
of visitors to the school, he frequently called upon Piper to ex- 
hibit his elocutionary proficiency. 

One of the great events in connection with our school life un- 
der the principalship of Mr. Stevens was an exhibition given in 
the town hall— "Nathan's Hall"— which consisted of the en- 
acting of a dramatization of Sir Walter Scott's thrilling poem 
of "The Lady of the Lake," with Scottish costumes and appro- 



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RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 929 

priate scenery. The different parts of the play were taken by 
"Wells Piper, Andrew Newcomb, Bliss French, Charles Hub- 
bard and other pupils whose names have escaped my memory; 
it would be a pleasure to mo to recall them all. The large au- 
dience which listened to the presentation of Scott's "Lady of 
the Lake'* was enthusiastic in its praises of the excellent man- 
ner in which, under the supervision of our principal, the play 
was enacted. Nearly if not quite all the participants in the pre- 
sentation of that play have passed on into "the great beyond ;" 
and included in the list is our beloved principal. When the Civil 
War broke out, so I have been informed, Mr. Stevens, who had 
some time previous returned to the west, entered the Union 
army in which he became quartermaster of one of the western 
regiments. He came out of the war alive and uninjured. He 
accumulated considerable property, but in consequence of poor 
investments he lost most of his savings and died a poor man- 
such, at least, was the report that came to Birmingham concern- 
ing him. To say that the report of our beloved principal's mis- 
fortune was painful to his former pupils in Birmingham would 
be superfluous. 

On my right wrist is a scar about half an inch in diameter 
which ever reminds me of the following incident in connection 
with my attendance upon the grammar school of Birmingham : I 
was standing one recess leaning against the side of the school 
building with both my hands behind me. The outside of the 
building was not only painted but over the paint fine sand had 
been sprinkled. While my hands were pressed against the 
the sanded surface, one of the pupils— I wonder if he is living 
and remembers the little episode?— as he passed me on his way 
up into the school room, gave me a vigorous push sidewise— 
"just for fun"— as usual, with the result that the skin was torn 
from the back of my right wrist. The wounded wrist bled pro- 
fusely and was a long time healing. 

That was about fifty-six years ago, and the scar is plainly to 
be seen to this day. But I do not regret the lingering scar, for 
besides reminding me of the little school incident mentioned, it re- 
calls many, many pleasant recollections of those happy days 
long since gone, never to return. 



930 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

When I was about fifteen years of age a new schoolmaster 
took charge of the Birmingham grammar school. He was an 
excellent teacher with a better preparation so far as book learn- 
ing was concerned than the principal of whom I have been speak- 
ing; but he did not mingle so freely with the boys in outdoor 
games and in other respects as our former principal, hence he 
was not so popular, personally. The girls liked him, because, 
as a rule, they were at school to learn. Mr. Smith, for this was 
the name of the new principal, did not interest me as the form- 
er one had ; and for this and other reasons I therefore gradually 
lost my interest in school. I had reached that age when many 
boys become discontented, and I wearied of the restraints of not 
only school but of home ; I was itching to get out into the world 
to see more of life. As I now understand, it is a dangerous 
period in a boy's life, and needs a firm but kind hand to guide 
one over the period to the one where the boy begins to see he is 
better off where he is. 

For some violation of the rules of the school my particular 
chum and I were kept after school. We were both called down 
to the principal 's desk and there he gave us a faithful talking to, 
the justice of which I readily perceived. I can almost recall the 
kindly tones of the principal's voice as he endeavored to im- 
press upon our minds the unwisdom of the course we were tak- 
ing. After receiving this talk we were both required to retire 
to one of the recitation rooms situated on the back side of the 
school building, as the principal had other disobedient pupils to 
deal with. Seeing one of the windows of the recitation room 
into which we had gone open we concluded we would dismiss 
ourselves instead of waiting for Mr. Smith to do so; so, one 
after the other, we got out of the open window on to the roof of 
an L and from thence we let ourselves down to the ground. 
"Walking stealthily out of the front school yard we proceeded 
on our way home, inwardly congratulating ourselves over our 
slick escapade. 

As we were crossing the village green about a hundred rods 
distant, the principal for the first time discovered we had left 
the school building. Upon seeing us he called to us by name, 
first to one and then to the other ; but pretending we did not hear 
him we kept on our way and soon reached our homes. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 931 

Next morning we were in school at the usual time. In due 
course we were called up to the principal's desk. There we were 
reminded of the escapade of the previous day, and were asked 
to give an explanation of our conduct. After making our state- 
ment Mr. Smith reminded us of the consequences of such con- 
duet upon our future lives, and we were then sent to our seats. 

I have always regretted the course taken with that principal ; 
and have since seen very clearly that he had our best interests 
at heart in dealing with us. 

I have not mentioned the last episode of my life with any 
pride but to say that it was very unwise on my part and as a 
warning also to other boys who get discontented and long to 
leave school. 

One of the great events of my boyhood in Birmingham was 
the coming of Barnum T s one ring circus to town each year. With 
this circus were a number of elephants, one of which was named 
" Columbus, ' ' said to be the largest elephant in the country, and 
I think it was true. In reaching Birmingham the circus came 
through Huntington : Bridgeport, about sixteen miles below, be- 
ing the winter quarters of the circus. To reach Birmingham the 
circus had to cross the covered bridge between Huntington and 
the former place. As "Columbus" approached the Huntington 
end of the bridge he would cautiously place first one foot and 
then the other on the bridge, evidently to convince himself it 
was safe to cross ; and only when satisfied it was safe could the 
great animal be persuaded to cross to the Birmingham side. 
Once, at least, "Columbus" was for some reason so mistrustful 
of the safety of the bridge that neither by coaxing nor threaten- 
ing could he be induced to cross the bridge, and his keeper had 
to allow him to swim the river, except where it was shallow 
enough for him to wade. 

In the year 1858, as near as I am now able to recall, my broth- 
er with whom I lived purchased what was known as the Hinman 
Place on Minerva Street, which place was situated at the lower 
southwestern corner of the large village green. 

In the rear of the house and facing the street running across 
the village— it may have been Second Street— was a two story 
shop belonging to my brother's place, and on the second floor of 



932 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

this shop was a good sized room ; indeed, it occupied the entire 
second floor and may have been about twenty by thirty feet in 
dimension. In this large room, or hall as it might properly be 
called, "we boys," with my brother's consent, used to give ama- 
teur theatrical performances. We had self-made curtains, scen- 
ery and side wings, which, in the evening presented a pretty ap- 
pearance to the audience. To our performances a small admis- 
sion was charged— two cents, if I remember correctly— and it 
was not long before some of the adults in the neighborhood be- 
gan to attend our "shows." This, of course, was very gratify- 
ing to the performers, who naturally thought they were furn- 
ishing high class entertainments to their audiences. 

The theatrical performances given in my brother's shop, in 
which the author took prominent parts, was the beginning of 
his fondness for amateur theatricals ; and as will be seen at a 
later stage of my story it was not, by any means, the end of his 
interest in such entertainments. 

As vividly as if it were only last month is the recollection of 
my great fondness for two of my girl schoolmates, each of 
whom used frequently to accompany me home from school at 
the close of the day. Although the names and faces and general 
appearance of those girls are inefxaceably engraven on the tab- 
lets of my memory I must refrain from giving their names. 

One of these girls, grown to womanhood and married, I am 
certain is now residing at the west end of Long Island, N. Y. 
As a girl she was "as pretty as a picture," having long, dark 
curls, and in her girlhood and young womanhood was decidedly 
sentimental. How well do I remember that frequently, on her 
way home from school, she would come into our yard at the foot 
of the village green and swing, and swing and swing under the 
grape arbor at the side and rear of the house, until occasionally, 
at least, it seemed necessary for my sister-in-law to remind the 
lingering caller that the time had arrived for her to bid adieu 
to the boy in whose company she was experiencing pleasure. I 
have no doubt she still remembers those happy school days in 
the "Nutmeg State." The engagement and subsequent mar- 
riage of this girl was of a peculiarly romantic character, as I 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 933 

learned during one of my visits to Birmingham, the circum- 
stances of which it would be almost sacrilegious to repeat. 

The other girl sweetheart of whom I have spoken was rather 
plain in appearance, but with a buoyant, happy disposition. She 
was plump of form and face and the mere touch of her fingers 
as we walked, hand in hand, from the afternoon session of the 
grammar school, sent a magnetic thrill through my entire body. 
This girl married, and at last accounts was residing in the cen- 
tral part of Connecticut. It would be a superlative pleasure to 
meet both of these youthful "sparks" and together recall the 
happy days of "long ago." 

I must not omit mentioning that with the only brother of the 
first mentioned girl I was very intimate, and as we were both 
interested in books and spent many hours together in the effort 
to add to our stock of useful knowledge we were very fond of 
each other. In the early years of his young manhood he went to 
Chicago, and while in a fair way of making for himself a worthy 
name in that great city he died a premature death. The recol- 
lection of his noble character and of our pleasant association 
is still delightful to recall. 

It must have been some time during the year 1858 that I was 
baptized in the St. James Protestant Episcopal Church, of 
Birmingham, by the Rector, the Rev. John Brainerd. He was 
an excellent man, a good rector, and was very acceptable to his 
large parish until his marriage to a widow, who, for just cause 
had been divorced from her husband. Soon after his marriage 
he found it desirable to resign the rectorship of the church in 
Birmingham, and he removed to Auburn, N. Y., where he became 
the rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church of which the Hon. 
William H. Seward, Secretary of State under Lincoln, was a 
member. Dr. Brainerd was the rector of the Auburn church for 
many years. 

It was while I resided on Minerva Street that I was instru- 
mental in saving the life of a boy about four years of age; it 
was as follows : This boy while playing had fallen down between 
a building near his home and a stone wall, the space between the 
stone wall and the building being only about fifteen inches. As 
the boy fell he became wedged in between the wall and the build- 



934 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

ing so that he could scarcely move in any direction. Fortunately 
he fell so his head was up. Some one who saw me passing the 
scene of the accident, where the boy's parents were very excited 
over the affair and over what means to employ to rescue the boy, 
suggested that I be let down by the feet and that I get hold of 
the boy's body and then be drawn up again. Upon being asked 
if I would allow myself to be let down as above mentioned I 
readily consented, and I was therefore let down a distance of 
about ten feet where I grasped the boy by his arms and was 
promptly drawn up by the father who had hold of my feet. The 
work of rescue had to be expeditious because it would not have 
been safe for me to be held head down except for a brief time. 
The father, realizing the seriousness of the situation worked 
expeditiously and it was only a minute or so before I was drawn 
up with the boy who had, in falling, receiving only a few slight 
scratches. For the part I performed in the work of rescue I 
was given by the father a silver quarter dollar. To say that I 
was delighted with the reward received would be superfluous. 
Indeed that silver quarter seemed to me "as large as a cart 
wheel. ' ' 

My first observation of "table tipping " was during my resi- 
dence on Minerva Street. In my brother's family was a nurse, 
whose name, as I remember, was Mrs. Oooley, a widow. When 
it became known that this nurse was a medium she was request- 
ed by some of the neighbors to give an exhibition of her medium- 
istic powers, which she was willing to do. On one evening in 
particular a company of invited neighbors were gathered in 
the two front rooms of my brother's house when the following 
phenomena were witnessed: The medium had a small painted 
pine stand brought to her and after she had placed her hands 
upon it for a few moments the stand began, first to move up and 
down, and afterward to move slowly across the rooms and stop 
in front of one of the company who, it was supposed, had men- 
tally wished it. This was done several times, the stand going 
first to one and then to another of the company. I am of the 
opinion that the entire company gathered on this and other 
occasions at my brother's house thought the apparently myster- 
ious movements of the stand were due to the presence and in- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 935 

fluence of departed spirits ; for that was the belief quite gen- 
erally entertained by people in those days. I distinctly remem- 
ber that I then entertained that belief. I have since learned that 
the phenomena above mentioned were of purely natural origin ; 
that is to say, they were the result of the operation of a purely 
natural law now known to the New Psychology as Telekinesis, 
defined in Webster's New International Dictionary as the " Pro- 
duction of motion in a body apparently apart from the action of 
any physical cause ;" and defined by Professor Thomas Jay 
Hudson, in his remarkable book entitled "The Law of Psychic 
Phenomena' ' as "The power of moving ponderable bodies with- 
out physical contact.' ' The reader is respectfully referred to 
Professor Hudson's valuable work above mentioned for an ex- 
planation and elucidation of Telekinesis and other occult phe- 
nomena. If it were within the scope of this article to do so the 
writer could and would enter more thoroughly into an elucidation 
of the law of Telekinesis and its interesting phenomena. 

The hill between the Protestant Episcopal Church and the 
east side of the village green in Birmingham while neither steep 
nor long was nevertheless, owing to the little travel on it, an 
excellent place for sliding in winter ; and both the girls and the 
boys in the neighborhood frequently improved the opportunity 
which it offered them. Getting possession of an open sleigh, not 
always in a legitimate manner, by any means, and filling it with 
straw, we would draw it to the summit of the hill, pack in the 
boys and girls, and then with one or two boys seated on a strong 
sled between the thills of the sleigh we would, after receiving a 
vigorous push, start down the hill and run a long distance. One 
evening while going at a good rate of speed the boys between 
the thills lost control of the sleigh and we ran with great force 
against the house of one of our near neighbors— Mr. John W. 
Storrs, who, by the way was the village poet and local historian. 
The collision of the heavily loaded sleigh with the unyielding 
house threw some of the coasters out into the snow, which was 
considered a part of "the fun." The sleigh thills struck the 
house at only a slight angle, otherwise the boys who were guid- 
ing the sleigh wouldn't have been able to attend school next day. 
As it was they barely escaped serious injury. 






- 






• 






936 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

At the lower corner of the village green I once had a tussle 
with a schoolmate, the memory of which is still fresh, the cir- 
cumstances of which are as follows : This schoolmate, an other- 
wise "tip-top" fellow, had for some time been deliberately hec- 
toring me and the patience with which I had borne his hectoring 
perhaps encouraged him to keep it up. But as "there is a turn 
to the longest road" so was there a limit to my forbearance. 
One afternoon as we came down through the green on our way 
home from school and had reached the corner exit from the green 
near my home— he had just been annoying me— I resented his 
annoyance and then and there "I went for him" and we had a 
"rough and tumble" scrap. Before the scrap terminated this 
schoolmate became fully persuaded that in future it would be 
better for him to let me severely alone ; and he did so, and from 
that time on he studiously avoided annoying me. I mention this 
little episode of my boyhood, not in a spirit of boasting, but to 
show that it is sometimes justifiable to thrash a boy as a " means 
of grace"— to the boy. 

"We boys" used frequently to play foot ball on the village 
green at recess and also between school sessions. Among the 
players was a son of a wealthy man in Birmingham who seemed 
to think he was privileged, on that account, to abuse the smaller 
boys in particular whenever and howsoever he pleased. Often 
when one of the smaller boys was about getting fair possession 
of the foot ball this rich man's son would deliberately kick him 
in the shins, causing, for the time, acute pain and sometimes 
temporary lameness. Protests against this brutal treatment were 
useless with this boy who was much larger than those whom he 
abused ; so we had to ■ ' grin and bear it. ' ' 

On reaching young manhood this schoolmate enlisted in the 
First Regiment of Connecticut Cavalry and went to the front. 
At the close of the Civil War he returned to Birmingham; and 
I have been informed that his subsequent career was anything 
but a credit to himself or to the community. Some fifteen or 
twenty years ago during a visit to my boyhood home in Con- 
necticut this man was a barkeeper in one of the local hotels. 
Only a few years ago while riding a horse in Chicago he was 
thrown from the horse and instantly killed. The case of this 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 937 

former schoolmate of mine in Birmingham is a striking illustra- 
tion of the familiar saying that "the boy is father to the man." 

When a boy I was exceedingly fond of the water and I would 
go without a good dinner any day rather than miss the oppor- 
tunity of having a sail or row on the river. Once, when about 
fifteen years of age, I was taking a sail with a young man who 
pretended to be able to navigate a sail boat. We started to sail 
down the river in the direction of Lower Derby. We had 
gone but a short distance when there sprang up a stiff breeze. 
At a moment when the amateur sailor was not "attending to 
business " the breeze struck the sail and before the "man at the 
helin" could bring the boat to it capsized and out we both went 
into the water. As I could swim I did not mind the upsetting 
much but inasmuch as my companion had never learned the art 
of swimming I was somewhat anxious about him, and I should 
have been still more anxious if the river where we had been cap- 
sized had been of any considerable depth; on the contrary it 
was shallow and we could both stand on the river bottom and 
with much effort we dragged the boat to shore, where we emp- 
tied her of water. Of course I was wet to the skin and the 
problem that confronted me was how to dry my clothing before 
going home; for to go home with wet clothing meant a severe 
reprimand from my sister-in-law. I therefore found a sheltered 
place, removed my clothing, wrung out as best I could the differ- 
ent garments, one by one, and exposed them to the sun and air 
until they were sufficiently dried to put on again. No one at 
home was the wiser for the complete ducking I received that 
forenoon. But I never took another sail with this novice at 
boat sailing. That young man was none other than Wells Piper, 
of < < Three. Black Crows ' ' fame. 

I think the best coasting I have ever known "we boys" en- 
joyed in Birmingham and vicinity. Hills suitable for sliding 
were numerous and we didn't have to hunt for them. In Hunt- 
ington, now the flourishing manufacturing place known as Shel- 
ton, was one hill on which we could slide about two miles. It 
was a small journey to the summit of the hill, 'tis true, but once 
there we could have a splendid ride of about two miles without 
interference from horses and carriages and sleighs. To say it 



- 












938 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

was " great fun" to take that long sled ride but feebly expresses 
our experience. It should be remarked, however, that at the 
time referred to there were but few houses and other buildings 
in Huntington; but today Shelton— formerly Huntington— is 
almost solid with buildings, including many large and flourish- 
ing manufactories of different kinds. Of one of these manufac- 
tories, the Star Pin Manufactory, employing about four hun- 
dred men and women, my oldtime friend, Mr. J. Clarence Hub- 
bard— " Clare, " was the name by which he was familiarly known 
in our boyhood— is, and has for several years been, the efficient 
superintendent. Indeed, Mr. Hubbard was one of the pioneers of 
the company, which for a few years was located at what is still 
known to older residents of Shelton as Wells Hollow, situated a 
few miles below Shelton on the way to Bridgeport. 

But the "bulliest" coasting the boys of Birmingham had was 
in the village, sometimes on the main street— this was usually 
in the evening when few vehicles were on the street— and some- 
times on a shorter but much steeper hill which crossed the main 
street at a right angle. This was at the lower end of Catherine 
Street. Crossing the main street we would shoot down a wide 
lane leading to several mills and on toward the Housatonic riv- 
er. Just at the entrance to the lane the boys had constructed a 
i 'thankyemam ' ' which must have been fully fifteen inches high 
and about six feet long. Going to the top of the Catherine Street 
hill we would come down the steep hill at a furious rate of speed, 
shoot like an arrow across the main street— where we usually 
had one or more boys posted to warn the coasters of approach- 
ing vehicles— then into the lane we would scud at lightning 
speed, and then over the ' ' thankyemam, " going up into the air 
sometimes ten or twelve feet, then down on the ice-like snow 
and on down the lane almost to the river 's bank. 

One of the narrowest escapes of my life occurred in this lane, 
from the consequences of which I am not certain I have ever 
fully recovered. I came down the Catherine Street hill at a 
break-neck speed, shot swiftly across the main street, thence into 
the lane and over the " thankyemam, ' ' in descending from which 
instead of striking flat on the sled runners as usual, I turned a 
complete forward somersault. I struck on the top of my head in 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 939 

front, on which I slid, as it seemed to me at the time, about 
twenty-five feet. For a few moments I was stunned. As other 
speeding sleds were immediately behind me I came to sufficiently 
to realize the necessity of getting out of their way as quickly as 
possible; so with considerable difficulty I dragged myself enough 
to one side of the sled path to avoid being run over and seriously 
injured and perhaps killed by the oncoming sleds. But the 
strangest thing about the episode is that in a few minutes I re- 
sumed my sliding down the Catherine Street hill and over the 
same i ' thankyemam. ' ' 

It was in the spring following the incident above described 
that there occurred an episode of more than ordinary interest, 
to those directly concerned, at least. For a long time two or 
three of my boy friends had talked about taking a trip by row 
boat down to the mouth of the Housatonic River and spending a 
few days in fishing, rowing and other sports. So two chums 
and I procured a good row boat, in which we placed provisions 
and cooking utensils, for we expected to catch and cook our own 
fish. As a means, also, of self-protection we took with us one 
or two cavalry swords —we were in a romantic frame of mind— 
and one or more horse pistols, revolvers being scarce in those 
days. We left the wharf at Lower Derby, about a quarter of a 
mile below Birmingham, early in the forenoon, with an ebb tide, 
on which we counted to prove auxiliary to our rowing. 

The row down the river was "great fun" especially as the tide 
was "with us." The distance to the point on the river we had 
selected for our rendezvous— the Stratford Lighthouse, kept by 
Captain Albee, with whom one of the party was somewhat ac- 
quainted—was about twelve miles from Lower Derby, and we 
reached it sometime in the afternoon, from which it may be in- 
ferred that we loitered considerably along the route. 

We rowed into a creek which emptied into the river and made 
a landing on ground that was high and dry, for we expected to 
sleep on the ground during our outing and had therefore taken 
with us some old bedding and coverings. After securely fasten- 
ing our boat we wandered aimlessly about "everywhere in gen- 
eral but nowhere in particular" until time for supper, when we 



940 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 

returned to our boat, and, sitting on the ground ate with a keen 
relish the food we had brought with us. 

When it came time to go to bed we turned the boat upside 
down and propped it up with sticks and stones so we could 
crawl under it, where we made our beds and ' ' turned in. ' ' We 
were too tired after our long row down the river to engage in 
any lengthy conversation so we were soon " locked in the arms 
of Morpheus.' ' 

Next day we fished and caught crabs and cooked and ate to 
our stomach 's satisfaction. 

Weary with our days work and play— mostly the latter, how- 
ever—we went to bed "with the chickens.' ' 

In the middle of the night it began to rain, and we soon found 
the upturned boat so incomplete a covering that we were forced 
to vacate our quarters and seek shelter in a shed adjoining the 
house occupied by Captain Albee, where we ' ' slept a little. ' ' 

All the following day it rained, and the kindhearted lighthouse 
keeper invited us into his house, where we could be dry and 
warm ; which invitation we gladly accepted. 

Before night came the rain poured down in torrents. The ro- 
mance of a trip by row boat down to the Stratford Lighthouse 
began to subside; and as the "evening shadows" began to ap- 
pear—the rain increasing rather than otherwise— it was entire- 
ly quenched, and I confess we wished we were back in our snug 
beds at home. But we for the most part "kept mum" and made 
the best of the situation. 

Let us return for a few moments to Lower Derby from whence 
we had embarked two days before. 

On the evening of the day we "set sail" a young man of our 
acquaintance was found drowned in the river near the wharf 
at Lower Derby. In endeavoring to account for the drowning of 
this young man some hot heads intimated that he had started 
with our party to go down the river to the Stratford Lighthouse 
and that objecting to his company, and wishing to rid ourselves 
of him, we had pushed him overboard, and being unable to swim 
he had drowned. This wild rumor passed from mouth to mouth 
until at length it reached the ears of our parents who naturally 
became anxious ; not that they believed the rumor, but thinking 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF A CENTURY AND MORE 941 

that perhaps the boat in which we started down the river had 
been capsized and we had all been drowned. The finding of a 
capsized boat in the vicinity of the Lower Derby wharf lent 
credence to this latter theory. 

Who, therefore, should make their appearance at Captain Al- 
bee's on the third day of our sojourn there but my brother and 
the father of one of our fishing party. Learning that we were all 
three ' i in the land of the living, ' ' the conversation turned to the 
drowning of the young man. It needed but our disavowal of 
complicity in the drowning of the young man whose lifeless 
body had been found, and of any knowledge whatever of his 
untimely death, to set the mind of brother and father at ease in 
the matter; and satisfied concerning our own safety they soon 
started for home. 

Next day we rowed up the river on a flood tide and were wel- 
comed home by our friends. 

Concerning the drowning of the young man there were two 
explanations, one of which was that he committed suicide by 
jumping overboard from a rowboat in which he had left the 
wharf-; and the other that having gone out for a row the boat in 
some way was upset and being unable to swim he was drowned. 

""■■ 







Boots 

A Bucolic 
By Rev. Chahles Caverno, A. M., LL. D. 

E must look after the honor of all the gods in our 
industrial pantheon. We worship iron and stone 
and electricity. We consume iron as an ox does hay. 
We call this the iron age and are never tired of 
singing peans to the steam engine. We reverence stone when we 
see it in monuments and huge buildings. We pay divine honors 
to electricity because it can talk, run errands and work like 
steam. But there is another god whom these divinities must al- 
low to take rank with themselves. He is a god whom we have 
not worshipped at all, or if we have, at least we have worshipped 
ignorantly. This divinity is leather. Iron is not sole lord para- 
mount over the industries of this age. Leather will claim a seat 
on a throne near him. 

In 1873 the Hon. Geo. W. Allen, of Milwaukee, Wis., whose 
firm was then one of the foremost in the world in the manufa- 
ture of leather, in a speech in honor of the Hon. Jackson S. 
Schultz, U. S. Commissioner to the Vienna Exposition, said — 
" Leather and its products are today the largest manufacturing 
interest on this continent. It employs more labor and more 
capital than any other interest in the United States except Agri- 
culture. The value of its products is double tliat of the entire 
iron interest." 

Since that date iron and steel have shot far ahead of leather 
in our industry. The census for the year 1900 gave value of 

Iron and Steel products as , $1,793,000,000 

Value of Leather and products 583,000,000 

Statistics compiled for 1905 give value of products 

of Iron 2,176,374,000 

Value of products of Leather 705,447,000 

(942) 



BOOTS 943 

A god who presides over an industry of such immensity as is in- 
dicated by these last figures must have a seat among the thrones 
on the huge Olympus of labor. We must have some symbol of 
this deity to put in a shrine where we may pay our devotions. 
To hang up a side of sole leather to worship seems too crude. 
We must seize upon the most significant thing we can find about 
the leather industry and make that symbolize the whole scope of 
the industry itself —make it as a representative stand for it. 

Those who extol this as the iron age, and put the significance 
of our times, industrially speaking, in iron, put forward the 
steam-engine as the type best representative of the iron interest. 
A noble instrument and a noble symbol. But the iron interest is 
not "sole sovereign of the ascendant." Leather too holds a 
sceptre. Let the Boot go up to a shrine. 

To see how much the boot means in our industrial civilization, 
imagine us a barefoot nation. What would become of this great 
iron age? How long would a barefoot nation run a steam en- 
gine? How long would we mine ores and smelt iron? How long 
chop down forests, and turn over the stubborn glebe either 
primitive or otherwise? If it is a little uncomfortable to be 
thinking about being barefoot suppose we give the order to re- 
clothe the feet, but suppose, in rehabilitation, we first try mocca- 
sins or wooden clogs. Would trains be on time tomorrow with 
everybody in those kinds of foot rig? Would ax or plough be 
up to their usual rate of execution? 

In the moccasin one is substantially barefoot as against all 
things hard or sharp. In the wooden clog he is condemned to a 
snail's pace. But industrial civilization depends full as much on 
swiftness and certainty of foot as on quickness of thought or 
sleight of hand. In the boot we have the happy adjustment of 
the flexible and the firm. The foot is, physically speaking, the 
pioneer of all our enterprise, and upon the absolute confidence 
with which this pioneering is done depends all our success. 
Hence we ought to have pedal, as well as manual, training in- 
troduced into the schools, to secure cunning of foot as well as 
deftness of hand. 

Sure footing is absolutely indispensable in labor. If a man 



944 BOOTS 

knows and feels that lie can stand and move with full protection 
to the foot he will attack anything and go anywhere. 

It is in pioneer life that the story is told which shows how 
much our civilization depends upon the boot. 

The difference between an Indian and a white man is best ex- 
pressed by the difference between a moccasin and a boot. An 
Indian wears a moccasin not simply because he is an Indian but 
the moccasin makes him in great measure the Indian that he is. 
The reason why the Indian on the frontier does not adopt the 
white man's civilization is because he is in no condition to assert 
himself against nature as the white man does. The moccasin is 
a confession. The boot is an assertion. An Indian glides 
through the forest, picks his way through bush and brier be- 
cause he has to. A white man stalks along and stamps over and 
through every thing because he can. An Indian in his moccasins 
works his way through hazel brush in a light careful way which 
says as plain as words can frame the idea: "0 Nature, you are 
too much for me. ' ' But a white man in his good cowhide boots 
stamps straight along as if to say, "Z am here, Dame Nature, 
how are you going to forbid me!" If you have never seen an 
Indian in the hazel brush and doubt this analysis you can try 
a patch barefooted, some day, or in your stockings, for they 
would be about equivalent to the moccasin. You want to select 
a patch which the fire has run through and left, here and there, 
the stubs standing an inch or so high. In default of hazel brush, 
you can take a cactus patch. It is not necessary to condemn you 
to actual pedal trial of the matter. A good vigorous imagina- 
tion will present the points sufficiently. Any hundred and sixty 
acres of hazel brush land which to a white man's eye, looking 
for a homestead, has the possibilities of a paradise in it, in the 
near distance, is as closed as Eden by the flaming sword, to a 
man who cannot walk w T here he will upon it in utter unconscious 
recklessness of his feet. No man would attempt to put a plough- 
share in it if he could not kick over the turf. The earth tri- 
umphed over the Indian and would have triumphed to the end 
of time. The white man comes and in a generation millions of 
acres come under his domination and yield him their immeasur- 
able harvests. The secret of the white man's success lay first 



BOOTS 945 

not in the iron of his plough-share but in the leather of his boot. 

There is a point however where even the boot has to make its 
confession. From 20 degrees below zero and downward, the 
boot is a failure in the snow. Then the reign of the moccasin 
begins. But then only because man's whole attitude toward na- 
ture becomes a confession. A moccasin or shoe-pack is the only 
thing in which a man can live at twenty below and downward. 
At that temperature in a well padded moccasin a man can travel 
like a deer. 

You cannot see an Indian in the forest. But the difficulty 
arises not so much from your lack of keenness of vision as from 
his powerlessness of self-assertion. He is alive at all not so 
much because of his power over the nature as of his adaptation 
to it. He has worked into the principle of protective adaptation 
and that has saved him. He can neither be seen or heard. So he 
both escapes and picks up his living. Bare headed, standing 
still, he looks just like a broken pine stump, and if he moves he 
adapts himself to the sinuosities of nature about him just as the 
branches of the trees sway in the wind. 

But a white man with a stove pipe hat and cowhide boots, he 
can be seen and heard? He asks no favors of the principle of 
protective adaptation. An Indian disturbs nothing. The ani- 
mals pay no heed to him. A white man makes a commotion with 
everything. He leaves a wake of disturbance a mile wide on 
either side of him. At the craunching of his mailed feet beast 
and birds are smitten with terror. The deer, wolf, fox, wood- 
chuck, skunk, snake, take one hurried glance and then turn tail 
and flee from the horrid apparition. The Indian's most human 
sound— his warwhoop— is on the same key with the howl of the 
wolf or the shriek of the loon. A modification in one part en- 
tails the most surprising correlated modifications in other parts 
of our nature. The ability to stamp imperatively on nature with 
his foot has modified the white man's utterance so that he whis- 
tles, sings, or swears not in tune with nature, but in high com- 
manding discord over it. 

The cowhide boot is the best symbol of the rough, stern pio- 
neer work that has been done and is doing on this continent. It 
is because cowhide boots have gone before that railroads fol- 



946 BOOTS 

low after, and towns spring up and become marts of trade of- 
fering facilities for the introduction of the refinements and ele- 
gancies of life. A log cabin is a whole civilization above and be- 
yond a bark or skin covered wigwam. I speak in the praise of 
the cowhide boot not only because it is one of the best symbols 
of man's power over nature, and also one of the best tools in 
helping him to assert his power ; but because in certain circum- 
stances a cowhide boot is a real luxury. From what has been 
said it can be seen how a man may rejoice in what gives him 
consciousness of mastery over nature. When nature stands in 
the solemnity of her untamed might about you, it is a joy to be 
able to put your foot down feeling that you are in some respects 
master. Then again it is a real luxury in a well broken boot to 
strike a lope. 

"Over hill over dale, 
Through bush, through brier, 
Over park over pale, 
Through flood through fire." 

It does not take a great deal of frontier experience to make a 
man pet his cowhide boots as friends and companions. 

Here is an experience that has been known from Maine to 
Oregon in a wooded or brush country. The frontier settler has 
been at work all day on the crops on his clearing. His cattle 
were turned out into the unlimited wild in the morning. There 
is not a moment of the day when his ear is not alert to catch the 
sound of the bell on the leader of his herd. "Faint and more 
faint" its tinkle grows till in mid-afternoon it dies out of hear- 
ing in the woods beyond the hill. Still the work must go on till 
the sun has gone down beyond the tops of the trees. Then as 
the gloaming comes on and the dews are falling, cudgel in hand 
the settler starts out in the direction in which the sound of the 
bell died out in the distance. Through brush, over logs that the 
forest fires have felled in every direction, he must make his 
way— and that swiftly; for in the darkness of a moonless night 
the woods and brush are an almost impenetrable jungle. There 
can be no stopping here to pick his way, he must go over and 



BOOTS 947 

through or not go at all. Every faculty is alert to catch the sound 
of the bell. The cattle may have lain down, and he must learn 
how to jerk himself to instantaneous quiet to locate the sound of 
the bell that comes from a mere flirt of the head. So progress 
is made by rashes and abrupt stops. He spins along with mouth, 
and every avenue of sense open to catch the sought for sound. 
Hark! what is that!! Only the hum of a mosquito at the ear! 
Deeper you plunge into the wood. A Whippoorwill breaks out 
with his plaintive note so near that you hear the cluck with 
which his every measure terminates and a medley of other 
sounds which you never before knew accompanied the brief dis- 
course of his song. See there ! ! What is that waving line of 
white so rapidly cleaving the thickening darkness away from 
you. It is a deer's tail and haunch as he bounds over log and 
hummock in that regular rythmic movement in which he seems 
to delight to express his sense of mastery of the situation. Not- 
withstanding your anxiety about your cattle you will rejoice in 
the sight of that springy yet regularly measured movement. 
Hark ! that is the bell surely ! ! How suddenly you stop ! No it is 
no bell— it is only the ringing in your ears— the result of the 
pressure of blood to your head from your day's work and from 
the intense stretch of the hearing faculty. A little sobered but 
resolute still you plunge on. And here if you never have learned 
it before the conviction will dawn upon you that a cow bell must 
be chosen not for its resonance but for its harshness and coarse- 
ness of tone. Farewell to the prospect of finding your stock if 
you have chosen a bell from any esthetic taste and got one that 
will blend with any other sound in nature. If you chose the bell 
to please your own ear you will be sure to hear that bell in any 
quarter of the compass to which your ear is turned. After 
standing and turning round in your tracks and hearing the bell 
in every direction, when you know you don't hear it at all, you 
will make up your mind that you will never again buy a bell 
that could correspond with any subjective impression and you 
will learn as you never did before to prize a sound that strikes 
dissonantly on the ear. "Where are those cattle? What sweep 
did they take after you lost the sound of the bell in the mid- 
afternoon? Did they go to the right? Did they go to the left? 



948 BOOTS 

They may be miles from you, for they had hours the start. 
Which way shall a man go? For go he must till they are found. 
The last glimmer of red has died out in the west. It is of no 
use for the psychologists to say that a man cannot make a deci- 
sion on things indifferent; for right and left here are indiffer- 
ent; nevertheless you do choose, and plunge on in your circuit at 
your utmost speed. Headlong you go at full length over a log 
that you took for a hollow and were going to leap it, and now 
down you go in a hole that you took for a hummock, with a jar 
that makes you sure you have certainly snapped off the top of 
your head. Ha ! there is the bell right down there in the valley, 
and you strike Hail Columbia or Old Hundred in spite of 
scratches, bumps and bruises! And the beasts know that they 
have been bothering you, for as you utter a yell that partly ex- 
presses your exuberance of spirits over your good luck, and 
partly authority over them, they break into a run for your cab- 
in at a pace that may take the bell again out of your hearing 
before you pass over the miles that lie between you and it. 
When you get home, wet does not begin to express your condi- 
tion. The dew a man can shake on himself in hunting cattle 
after nightfall in a hazel brush country can wet through his body 
as well as his clothes. You are drenched, soaked, parboiled to 
the eyebrows. 

We get the boot from the hides of the genius boss. Think along 
the line of the connection of the various kinds of animals with 
each other. That line is fearfully, wildly tragic. It is true that 
"Nature, red in tooth and claw, with raven shrieks.' ' Man is no 
exception to the principle of ferocity in nature. Lions and tigers 
may now and then tear a victim. But go and look at stock trains 
and stock yards and confess that man is the greatest carniver 
of all beasts, the grand master in biologic tragedy. 

But it is not so much to the great tragedy of the stock yards 
and packing houses that I call attention, as it is to tragedies of 
a finer and subtler kind that lie in the background. In the sun- 
nier climes and more sparsely occupied regions, cattle are reared 
in droves and are never individualized enough to call forth from 
man any special affection. But in the colder latitude it is differ- 
ent. The cattle that come from farms in these regions have 



BOOTS 949 

been cared for individually. They have heen reared as parts of 
the farmer's family rather than as things foreign to it. Every 
horned head that stands in the stock yards, which has been picked 
up from the -smaller farms represents not only so much com- 
mercial value but so much heart ache. There is in the stock 
yards a cow, little, flat-bellied, with thirteen wrinkles on her 
horns. She is a ridiculous object to the eye of the stock-fancier 
and the derision of the beef-packers. But there is pathos about 
her. She has been a staff of life to some home for all the long 
years represented by the wrinkles on her horns— a staff that 
failed not. She has been half mother to half a dozen children, 
every one of whom has fed to her dainties from his own hands, 
has hung on her neck while she was milked and may have slept 
on her side as she lay chewing her cud behind the cabin. It is 
felt to be high tragedy in that home when she starts on her way 
to the drove which is ultimately to bring up in the stock yards. 
There is many an old farmer— to the credit of human and of 
bovine nature, too, be it said — who has never seen the final driv- 
ing of a yoke of oxen from his premises. How could he ? They 
have been his personal companion for years. He has spent 
more hours in their society than in that of any other being. They 
have come to him to lick his hand in the pasture— they have hum- 
med him a welcome every morning as he has opened the barn 
door, and he has leaned up against their great broad sides to find 
warmth and a wind-break in bitter weather. Longfellow has a 
good eye for an ox. Somehow he picked up a great deal of ox- 
inspired wisdom in his youth. He makes Giles Corey say to 
Martha his wife:— 

"All my dear oxen dead. I loved them Martha 
Next to yourself. I liked to look at them, 
And watch the breath come out of their wide nostrils, 
And see their patient eyes. Somehow I thought 
It gave me strength only to look at them. 
And how they strained their necks against the yoke 
If I but speak or touched them with the goad ! 
They were my friends." 

So it is that when the great rounded beef oxen are to start for 



950 BOOTS 

the last time from the barn in one direction the old farmer, an 
hour before they leave, starts in another with a big lump in his 
throat, and when he is out of sight of the boys the tears fall like 
rain. Each animal excites in us a class of feelings peculiar to 
itself. I believe an ox or a cow capable of exciting in us more 
tender feelings than any other animal can arouse. You sport 
with your pet horse. But the great sad eye of an ox suggests 
no sport. It calms into tenderness— sets one to some pathetic 
dreaming. Its great black depths look as though they had long 
been conscious that the end was tragedy and had quietly adjusted 
themselves to it. 

Longfellow has seen a sight that is as full of poetry as any 
ever gazed on by the eye of man. "Whoever has actually seen 
it thenceforth blesses his stars forever: 

"In the furrowed land 

The toilsome and patient oxen stand; 

Lifting the yoke encumbered head, 
•'With their dilated nostrils spread. 

They silently inhale 

The clover-scented gale 

And the vapors that arise 

From the well watered and smoking soil. 

For this rest in the furrow after toil 

Their large and lustrous eyes 

Seem to thank the Lord 

More than man's spoken word." 

To lean on your plow-handles and see that, after a flirt of a 
warm spring shower, is to have lived. It is a phenomenon as 
rare as an eclipse of the sun. 

It has been a long friendship— this between the man and the 
ox — it is among the oldest between man and any of the animals. 
The assistance of the ox was called in early and still he stays 
in the hard places. Livingstone's best assistant in opening 
up the heart of Africa— better than man— was an ox. This ox 
carried his master and his baggage from the centre of the con- 
tinent to the western sea and then back again to the borders of 



BOOTS 951 

that great lake region around which so much of interest centres. 

In this country the ox paced out, with the first overland pio- 
neers, that weary two or three thousand miles between the Mis- 
sissippi and the Pacific ocean. Up that long easterly inclined 
plane to the summit of the Rocky Mountains— down the Rocky 
Mountains— across the alkali plains — up the sharp acclivities of 
the Sierra Nevada— down through the sunny vales of California 
to the Golden Gate toiled that slow, patient, sure step making the 
path of empire possible. The remains of multitudes of these 
old bovine pioneers who fell by the way, preserved in the alkali 
dust with the perfection of the embalming of the bull Apis of the 
Egyptians, still mark the old trails across the deserts which 
would otherwise be obliterated— melancholy monuments of the 
desperate struggle of man and beast with inhospitable nature. I 
met a man a few years ago who had heard the guns of Perry 's 
victory on Lake Erie in the war of 1812. In '49 he went through 
overland to California. Of 3,000 teams registered at Ft. Kearny 
he passed all but six. The leading team of the six was an ox 
team. 

In some respects culture upon the animals has produced its 
finest effects in the ox. There is no other animal that shows so 
much quiet dignity of bearing— the thorough, imperturbable self- 
possession which is the best evidence of culture. There is not a 
horse on earth that can put in motion the lordly grace some of 
us have seen some well-bred classically-educated ox of seven 
feet girth exhibit when he comes forward, at a breath from his 
owner from the thither side of the yard to take his place under 
the yoke. He is consciously equal to the situation— but there is 
no fuss, no parade, no brag about him. It is ludicrous to see 
those great 2000 and 2500 pound horses amble. So much weight 
ought to have more gravity. 

"Fletcher/' said Mr. Webster as he broke up some ears of 
corn and gave to his oxen as they came around him on the right 
and the left— "Fletcher, I like this— I'd rather be here than in 
the Senate— I think it is better company." And when the old 
statesman came to die he did not call for the representatives 
of the governments of the earth to stand at his beside, as he 
might, but he asked that the curtains might be parted and his 












, 



952 BOOTS 

oxen driven to the window, that he might carry with him a last 
fresh look from their rugged honesty. Ah ! there was a man for 
you, deep set in nature, mighty of soul, inevitable in speech, as 
Mathew' Arnold would say, inevitable as Pike and Long! 

The following story illustrates much psychology that was 
wrought into American history in the War of '61-5 : 

Back in 1830 a Massachusetts farmer lay sick in bed. Some 
one brought him a newspaper report of "The Eeply to Hayne. ,, 
He read it, and cried in full voice, "Bring me my Boots !" When 
men in the North heard, on that historic Sabbath morning, the 
sound of the cannon fired on Sumter, they remembered the tone 
of "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and Inseparable," 
and in common chorus cried: 

' ' Bring me my Boots ! ' ' 

What more can I say for boots, and especially for my beloved 
cowhides? What a joy they are as you stand in them in perfect 
security w T hile you cut rails in the depths of a tamarack swamp? 
The winter is wearing away. The sun comes up high and looks 
down lovingly warm on your back. The snow settles down and 
the slush appears inches deep over your ice foundation. But 
what care you, your feet are free and dry and warm in those 
great, wide, generous, protecting, tallowed cowhides. True, you 
are alone, but the chick-a-dee comes down and hops socially 
about on the rails you have cut, and away a little distance th.3 
jay not only screams you encouragement, but now and then gives 
you that clear-ringing, mellifluous Kar-link, Kar-link, Kar-link, 
which in the depths of the wildwood is one of the most agreeable 
sounds which fall on the ear; and right above, surviving over 
from last year's foliage on some oak or beech is that— 

"One pale leaf, the last of its clan, 

That dances, as often as dance it can, 
Hanging so light, and hanging so high, 

On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky," 

and away above all in the clear blue sky are great white, fleecy 



BOOTS 953 

clouds sailing lazily. Master of the situation here, what care 
you for the soft delights of urban life. 

Into such thought has our subject led. When we glorify our 
civilization we put forward the steam engine, the electric tele- 
graph and the printing press, and then we think we have given 
full summation. But civilization is a very complex affair and 
uses a great many agencies. As you look over the materials for 
a bridge you may not pay much attention to a little stone of no 
particular beauty of outline that lies among the monster masses 
that are to build up the buttresses. But that stone may be the 
key of the arch. There are a great many little keys to the arch 
of civilization. There are no trifles, no little things. Says De- 
Quincy, "High above all ascends solemnly the philosophic truth 
that the least things and the greatest are bound together as 
parts equally essential of the mysterious universe.' ' 










Some of the Women who Skilfully Planned 

and Heroically Suffered in the Revolu= 

tion for the Cause of American 

Independence 

By J. C. Pumpelly, A. M., LL. B. 

xn 

Dicey Langston of South Carolina 

partanburg, South Carolina, witnessed many deeds 
of violence and blood as well as of loyal assistance given 
by women to the cause of independence and under great 
difficulties. 

The tories boasted often and too freely before the so-called 
weaker sex and thereafter they had to execrate their folly, for 
the listening and attentive women made the best of scouts and 
rendered priceless aid to the continental forces. 

One of these was Dicey, the daughter of Solomon Langston of 
Laurens District. He was a cripple but the son was a continental 
soldier and ever on the alert to benefit by the information received 
from his devoted sister. 

Hearing one day of a contemplated raid by the British com- 
pany called the "Bloody Scouts," she left her home at midnight 
and traversed miles of marsh and woodland and at the risk of 
her life waded the rushing tide of the Tyger river and reached 
her brother just in time to warn and save the little company and 
the neighbors, for the next day when the British came they found 
no one on whom to wreak their hatred. 

At one time these desperadoes were about to kill her old father 
in revenge for the active hostility of his sons, but when the pistol 
was pointed his brave daughter stood up resolutely between the 

(954) 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 955 

aged parent and the Britisher, and in spite of threats she clung 
to him until her fearless action touched even the heart of the 
"Bloody Scout " and Langston's life was spared. And this 
heroic maiden whenever any wrong was meditated by her own 
people, as when the seizing of a tory neighbor's horses was plan- 
ned, warned her tory neighbor, and on her return, finding this 
same tory was about to betray her friends the "liberty men' 7 
into the hands of the enemy she even more quickly warned the 
latter and thus saved them all. 

Patriotism and service and that at any and all risks formed an 
integral part of her life and character. When ordered to be- 
tray her people's plans or to "die in her tracks" she replied: 
"I will not tell you," and removing her neck handkerchief she 
said "Shoot me if you dare." And it was this reckless defiance 
that saved her life. 

At another time, when her brother James had left a rifle in her 
care which was not to be given up until he sent for it, one of a 
party called and asked for the rifle and she brought it out, but 
insisted upon the man giving the countersign. He replied by say- 
ing that it was too late for conditions for the gun was in their 
grasp and its holder also. "Do you think so" cried she, cocking 
the rifle and pointing it at the speaker, 6 ' if the gun is in your pos- 
session take charge of her." 

The countersign was quickly given and the "libertyman" 
laughing heartily pronounced the girl worthy of being the sister 
of brave James Langston, and declared that the threat was used 
only as a test of her loyalty to the cause. Of Dicey 's descendants 
living twenty-five years ago, thirty-two were sons and grandsons 
capable of bearing arms and ready at any time to do so in 
defence of their country's honor. 

xm. 

ELIZABETH ZANE 

This woman was an actor in some of the most tragic and mem- 
orable incidents in the annals of border warfare in 1777 at and 
about Fort Henry on the Ohio near the mouth of Wheeling Creek. 

In an attack by over three hundred Indian warriors on the 



956 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

fort then defended by only twelve persons including boys, Girty, 
a white renegade and tory, led the Indians and appearing with 
a white flag demanded their surrender in the name of His Brit- 
tanic Majesty. Colonel Shepherd refused to surrender as he 
had a sacred charge to protect the mothers and children who had 
come fleeing to him for protection. 

The defence was successful until the gunpowder gave out and 
it was determined that a certain keg of gunpowder then in the 
house of Ebenezer Zane, one hundred and eighty feet distant, 
must be obtained at all hazards. Several young men volun- 
teered on the desperate enterprise, only one man could be spared, 
and while the matter was being discussed, Elizabeth, the sister 
of Ebenezer and Silas Zane, asked to be permitted to go for the 
powder and in spite of much opposition persisted in the offer as 
her loss would not be felt while not a single soldier could be 
spared. Her request was granted. The Indians saw her depart, 
but for some reason unknown did not molest her, but when she 
reappeared from her brother's house carrying the powder in a 
table cloth fastened around her waist, the Indians fired on her 
as she fled onward but she reached the fort unharmed and the 
fort was saved. 

This event is considered one of the most important in the his- 
tory of Wheeling, Virginia, as the noble act of Elizabeth con- 
tributed so much to sustain the courage of the defenders of the 
fort until relief arrived. 

XIV. 

ltjcretia shaw. 
Extract from "Patron Saints" New London, Connecticut. 

Lucretia Shaiv, whose name the New London Chapter would 
perpetuate in recognition of her loyal life and early death in the 
cause of American Independence, still looks down from her place 
in the picture gallery of the Shaw Mansion after more than a 
century since her death. 

Mrs. Shaw was the devoted and beloved wife of Nathaniel 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 957 

Shaw, Esq., an eminent merchant and a most efficient represent- 
ative of the Continental Congress in naval affairs during the 
war of Independence. One of the earliest acts of Congress, af- 
ter the battle of Bunker Hill, was the authorization, under the 
hand of John Hancock, for the issue, to Nathaniel Shaw, Esq., 
of a commission as Naval Agent for the Continent. Long before 
this appointment, Mr. Shaw had been conspicuously associated 
with the patriotic movements of the "Sons of Freedom"— (a 
long article about his life is in this book "Patron Saints.") 

At the opening of the Revolution Nathaniel Shaw and his wife 
Lucretia Shaw, were in the very prime of life. Mr. Shaw being 
forty years old and his wife a little more than two years his 
junior. The relations of Mr. Shaw and his wife were most ten- 
der, and there existed between them not only affectionate con- 
jugality but also an earnest, patriotic co-operation. 

One of the fragrant traditions of their descendants is the ro- 
mantic attachment of this distinguished couple. Letters which 
passed between them when Mr. Shaw was absent at the legisla- 
ture or on business with Gov. Trumbull at Lebanon (Connecti- 
cut) have all the warmth of youthful lovers. Mrs. Shaw lived 
at the very focus of Revolutionary affairs, while the majority of 
the women of those times participated only through the services 
of brothers or husbands or sons. In a few instances only were 
women able to perform some heroic act of daring, or to make 
direct personal sacrifice. Moreover, to most the events of the 
war came as tidings and not the result of their own undertak- 
ings. But Lucretia Shaw lived in the presence of statesmen 
whose deep-laid plans were known to her from their very incep- 
tion, and carefully watched by her through their development to 
their very fulfilment, not unrarely the plan itself having been 
conceived and its execution aided by her woman's wit. Such was 
Lucretia Shaw, living in the midst of the great war 
movement, was also the mistress of a mansion always famous 
for its hospitality and the center at that time of a wide field of 
action. In colonial days distinguished strangers and official 
guests, visiting New London were entertained at the Shaw Man- 
sion. Before the outbreak of the war, New London being the 
center of local authority, the eminent Friends of Freedom were 
























, 



958 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

cordially received here and after the war began its welcome was 
no less catholic. 

Gov. Trumbull was not only a fellow patriot, he was an inti- 
mate personal friend. His duties often called him from his 
war office at Lebanon to New London, and, attended by his coun- 
cil he was always received at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Shaw. 

Their table was rarely without guests connected with the army 
or navy or council chamber. General Washington, General 
Greene, Governor Griswold, a Connecticut celebrity, all the men 
of note in the state were frequent visitors. At the Shaw home in 
the course of a day one might have met all the patriots of local 
reputation; Huntington of Norwich, when home from Congress; 
Dyer and Elderkin of Windham; Johnson, the famous clergy- 
man, and in the early days before Bunker Hill, Nathan Hale, 
was a constant visitor at the house of his genial and trusted 
friend. New London was on the great turnpike from Boston via 
Providence and Newport to New York and Philadelphia, and the 
constant expresses, from high quarters to high quarters always 
stopped at the Naval Office in New London to receive and give 
the latest news, hence with the frequent arrival and departure of 
war vessels and privateers, the incoming of cartels with ex- 
changed prisoners, New London was both a naval center and an 
important post town; thus Mrs. Shaw's home became a well 
known gathering place. Every day registered an important event, 
or its promise or portent. 

In the midst of these activities Mrs. Shaw lived the earnest 
and close friend of her husband; ready to give with an open 
hand to want, and with even a pitying eye for suffering. Her 
unfailing kindness and christian charity found abundant field 
for action. She manifested in her ministrations and in her sym- 
pathy a perfect impartiality; distinguished patriots and suffer- 
ing wounded soldiers and sailors were regarded by her as of the 
same household, and received in unstinted measure of her bounty. 
The more especial objects of her compassion were the prisoners 
returning from the floating gaols, mere physical wrecks, victims 
of every imaginable deprivation, who had to be carried in litters 
by the pitying townsmen from the vessels to the lodging places 
whither they had been assigned; there to be cared for and, if 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 959 

possible, restored to vitality before seeking their homes, but who 
too often passed from this kindly haven to the "bourne from 
whence no traveller e'er returns.' ' 

"The New London Gazette" in an issue late in 1781, the year 
of the burning of New London, gives the following picture of the 
devotion of the townspeople to the unfortunate victims of the 
cruelties of war. 

"It has been the more than hellish practice of these enemies to 
God and man, during this barbarous war to stab promiscuously 
in the dark, to murder by secret ways those they cannot kill 
openly, and for this purpose, our friends who have the misfor- 
tune to fall into their hands are immediately crowded into prison- 
ships and there confined till 2/3d perish with gaol fever and the 
surviving being affected (sic) there with the fever, are sent out to 
spread death and desolation through our borders. 130 were 
landed here the 3d ult. (Dec, 1781) from New York in a most 
deplorable condition, a great part of them have since died and 
those of them that have survived are in such a debilitated state, 
that they will have to drag out a miserable existence. Numbers 
in this unhappy town, and in Groton, have lost their lives by tak- 
ing them in and great numbers of others have been brought to 
the very gates of death and still lie in a languished condition. It 
is enough to melt the most obdurate heart (except a Brition's) to 
see these miserable objects continually landing here from every 
flag (of truce) that comes; to see them poured out upon our 
desolated wharfes, sick and dying and the few rags they have 
on covered with vermine— their friends (if they have any) at 
a distance, and no public hospital or provision made to receive 
them ! 

Thus it is that the compassion among us are compelled by 
their dying groans to take them into their families at the ex- 
pense of their lives, until their friends can come to their relief, 
and they are for the most part, burdened with them for a long 
time, without the least recompense in this world, notwithstanding 
whole families have been ruined by this means. The little part 
of this town that was preserved from fire, by bribing the firing 
parties on the 6th of September, 1781, is so crowded by those 
who have been burned out of house and home, that it is dreadful 









. 



960 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

indeed, to take these poor infectious dying creatures in. In short 
if there is no redress of this intolerable evil this town and Gro- 
ton must be depopulated." 

The devotion of Mrs. Shaw to the cause of independence and 
her ministrations to the sick prisoners place her on the list of 
.Revolutionary heroines, though she would have shrunk from 
receiving such an acolade; not counting herself worthy of the 
honor. 

The last act of her life, one that occasioned her death, was her 
personal attendance upon a number of sick prisoners, infected 
with contagious disease, whom, in the warmth of her pity, she 
had had transferred into the family residence. From them she 
took the gaol fever and, after a short illness, her beautiful life 
was ended, her husband surviving her but two or three months. 

" Death ere thou slayest another, 
Good and wise and fair as she, 
Old time shall throw a dart at thee. ' ' 

Nathaniel Shaw died in 1782, aged forty-seven years. 

His wife, Lucretia Shaw, died in 1781, aged forty- four years. 






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The Historic Billopp House on Staten Island, 
Now to be Included in a New Park 

From ''News Letter," Mar. 14, 1903. 

bill has recently been introduced in the Legisla- 
ture providing for an appropriation of $10,000 to be 
used for the purchase of the old Billopp house, which 
stands within the manor of Bentley, at Tottenville, 
Staten Island. Erected in 1668, says the Times, this building is 
rich in historical associations, and it is proposed to make of it 
a historical museum. 

In turn the house was the homestead of the Billopp family, an 
English military barrack, the headquarters of General Howe, 
and the scene of a famous peace conference between that general 
and three representatives of the Continental Congress. 

In 1667 Captain Christopher Billopp arrived in New York from 
England on his own vessel, the Bentley, mounting two guns. 

At that time it was a disputed question whether Staten Island 
belonged to New York or New Jersey, and to end the discussion 
the Duke of York decided that all islands lying in the Harbor of 
New York that could be circumnavigated within twenty-four 
hours should remain within the jurisdiction of New York, other- 
wise they would be given to New Jersey. 

Captain Billopp succeeded in sailing around Staten Island 
within this time, and in consideration the Duke presented him 
with 1,163 acres of land. This land was given the name of the 
Manor of Bentley, and Billopp house was built thereon. 

Captain Billopp gathered material on the plantation and im- 
ported cement from England and bricks from Belgium. 

Billopp house stands on a slight elevation facing Raritan 
Bay. A lawn covered with fine old willows slopes down to the 
water's edge, while at the back of the house are elms, cedars, 
and more willows. 

(961) 



962 THE HISTORIC BILLOPP HOUSE 

The ravages of time have made little impression on the rough 
exterior of the old house. It is an unpretentious two-storied lit- 
tle structure, almost square in shape, and built of irregular 
stones of all sizes, cemented together. 

A brick chimney stands at either end of the gable roof, on 
which old fashioned, board shingles, though worn green with 
age, still hold a semblance of order. A veranda, was added to 
the building in 1844, and is now dropping to pieces, although ce- 
dar window frames in the original structure bleached white by 
the sun and rain, show no signs of decay. 

There have been few alterations within the house. The slaves ' 
quarters in the garret have been torn away, but beyond this the 
changes have been few, and the massive white oak beams which 
hold each floor are still as solid as ever. 

Propped against the veranda are two tombstones which came 
from the family burying plot on a knoll not far from the house. 
On one of these stones the inscription reads: "Here Lyes ye 
Body of Thomas Billopp, Esqr., Son of Thomas Farmer, Esq., 
Deceased, August ye 2d, 1750, In ye 39th Year of his Age." 

The other stone is broken in two, but the inscription, with the 
exception of the year, is perfect. It reads: "Here Lyes ye 
Body of Eujenea ye Wife of Thomas Billopp, aged 23 years. 
Deceased March 3." 

The burial ground was desecrated long ago, and only a lonely 
cedar marks the situation. Beyond the two stones and the mem- 
ories that cling to Billopp House there is nothing tangible left of 
a family that controlled Staten Island for more than a century. 

From "New York Times," Sept. 7, 1913. 

One of the interesting features of the park plan is the propo- 
sition to buy the historic Christopher Billopp house, at the ex- 
treme southern end of Staten Island, along with fifteen or twenty 
acres of ground surrounding it, and convert it into a public park. 
The old house is near the water's edge, and still is in a good state 
of preservation. It was for several weeks the headquarters of 
General Howe, the British commander, when General Washing- 
ton's army was near Morristown, and it was here that Benjamin 
Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge, a committee of 
Congress, with an expectation of removing obstacles in the way of 



THE HISTORIC BILLOPP HOUSE 963 

a return of the colonies to their allegiance, met General Howe, 
commander of the British forces at New York. Christopher Bil- 
lopp was a Tory. His name originally was Farmer, but he mar- 
ried the daughter of Captain Christopher Billopp, of the British 
Navy, who had obtained a patent for a large tract of land on 
Staten Island, and when his wife inherited this estate he adopted 
her father's name. He commanded a corps of loyalist militia 
recruited in the vicinity of this city during the Revolution, and 
having been taken prisoner was confined in a jail at Burlington, 
N. J. In 1782 he was Superintendent of Police of Staten Island. 
His large property was confiscated. He went to Nova Scotia in 
1783 and became prominent there. 

The cellar of the old Billopp house was fitted up as a dungeon, 
and American soldiers were confined there during the British 
occupation of this city. 

With one exception, it is of exactly the same appearance as 
it has been for years and years. The one change consists in the 
removal of the porch which used to run across the front of the 
building, with colonial pillars and a slant roof. This porch rotted 
until it had to be torn down, but the splendid stonework of early 
days, when building was done for the future instead of the shoddy 
present, is in excellent condition even now. 

The Billopp house is considered by many to be the most inter- 
esting house from a historical standpoint on Staten Island, and 
it is a melancholy sight to see it sinking toward decay. Built 
in 1668, it was from the first connected with some of the most 
interesting passages in the island's history. 

The situation, back in the sixteen hundreds, was like this : 
Staten Island was first discovered in 1609 by Hendrick Hudson 
and named Staaten Eylandt, out of respect for the States General 
of Holland. There followed years of Dutch colonial government, 
during which this fine tidbit of land belonged to Nova Caesarea, 
the then name for New Jersey. 

Now James, the Duke of York, and brother to Charles II., got 
a sort of rulership over all the King's possessions in America. 
Provinces which had been under Dutch control passed into Eng- 
lish hands. Staten Island became a scene of discord; to the 
English and Dutch dissensions the French added their quarrels, 



964 THE HISTORIC BILLOPP HOUSE 

and matters began to look somewhat like a Kilkenny-cat contro- 
versy. 

To settle affairs, the Duke finally came to a decidedly original 
decision. . He ordained that all the islands in the harbor of New 
York which could be circumnavigated in twenty-four hours 
should belong to the colony of New York ; otherwise, Nova Caes- 
area, or New Jersey, was to possess them. The next point was 
to find the right man to attend to the circumnavigation. 

It happened at the right time that Capt. Christopher Billopp 
was stopping at Perth Amboy. His vessel, called The Bentley, 
was a little affair, probably belonging to the English Navy, al- 
though there seems to be a question as to whether it was of the 
merchant service. 

Billopp was chosen to perform the Duke's task. He was an 
excellent seaman, but, for all that, the feat was not going to be 
an easy one. He did not start out until he had racked his brains 
a bit to determine how he would be best able to include this large 
island in his trip. 

It was during this racking that he hit upon the idea— say 
rather inspiration— of the empty barrels. If he covered his deck 
with these, would he not gain much sailing power? Thus laden 
lie set out, and we can imagine the excitement that held New 
Yorkers and New Jerseyites in suspense at this critical moment. 

The upshot was that Capt. Billopp performed his feat Nay, he 
more than performed it ; a trifle over twenty-three llours sufficed 
him, and Staten Island was New York's. 

The Duke had a reward ready. So much pleased was he with 
Billopp 's success that, instead of letting him return to England to 
make his home, he presented the Captain with 1,163 acres of 
Staten Island land and invited him to remain thereon. 

This land was out at the corner of the island where you are 
now— the Tottenville corner. So fine a plum had fallen into the 
worthy seaman's hand that he determined to make the most of 
it, and he set himself at once to building this house. He named 
it for the vessel which had won him his laurels, the Manor of 
Bentley. The stout stones of which it is built were found there- 
about and were suitable for the best of walls ; but Billopp sent 
to Belgium for the bricks needed, and to England for the cement. 



THE HISTORIC BILLOPP HOUSE 965 

The next thing for a wise and thrifty sea captain to do, having 
settled down into a home on dry land, was to take unto himself 
a wife — which he did. The daughter of Thomas Farmer, a judge 
who lived in Richmond county, looked comely to him, and her he 
chose. 

So was established the Billopp household, to play so important 
a part in local history. The Captain himself disappeared in the 
early seventeen hundreds, before the revolution came on; it is 
believed that his vessel, the Bentley, went down with him when 
he was making a little trip to England to see his old home. He 
left a widow and one charming daughter, Miss Eugenia Billopp, 
who had received a fashionable education at the Perth Amboy 
Academy across the kill. Miss Eugenia conceived an affection 
for her cousin, another Thomas Farmar, and the mother gave 
permission for the marriage to take place on the proviso that 
the happy bridegroom should adopt the name of Billopp and 
make his home, in the Manor of Bentlev. 

This perpetuated the family name. Still further to perpetu- 
ate it a family burial ground was established, and until recently 
some of the headstones were to be seen ; both the Billopps them- 
selves and their Indian friends were laid at rest there. At last 
only two stones remained in fair condition, and these were being 
so much damaged by the ubiquitous souvenir fiend who chipped 
off bits to carry away that they have been removed to the cellar 
of the house and can be seen there any day. 

One of them reads: 

—Lyes ye Body of Thomas Billopp. Esq., son of Thomas 
Farmar Esq., Deed August ye 2d 1750 In ye 39th year of his 
age. 

And the other: 

Here lyes ye Body of Evjenea ye wife of Thomas Billopp. 
Aged 23 years * * * March * * * 

Imperfect, both the inscriptions, yet sufficient to tell their 
story. 

But there is more than this of interest in the old cellar. That 
black, mysterious doorway, which looks like a gulping mouth 
awaiting you in the darkness, leads not only to the tombstones, 
but to the dungeon beyond. Yes, a veritable dungeon, probably 



966 THE HISTORIC BILLOPP HOUSE 

as mysterious a corner as any cellar in an American citizen's 
dwelling ever contained. You will grope your way from the 
dim light that surrounds the entrance on into the growing dusk, 
until you.reach a far corner where total blackness reigns. Stoop- 
ing, trying to follow your guide, feeling your way, you enter a 
room like a cave, solidly walled, ugly and ominous. 

Here during that period of the Revolution when the house 
was held as a British outpost this dungeon was put to stern use. 
Our own American patriots were held captive here. Many a 
hardship did they suffer in this black cell. It is believed that an 
underground passage was made at that time leading down to 
the river, a distance of 200 yards, but to-day this cannot be 
traced. However, there has been considerable foundation for 
the theory. 

But these gloomy tales of the dungeon, the suffering prisoners, 
and the underground passage are only one side of the old house's 
history. Perhaps they are the more interesting side to romance. 
When Cooper wrote "The Water Witch" he laid one of its 
scenes in this mysterious cellar. But gay and sparkling scenes 
took place above stairs. Many a banquet did the old manor see; 
many a daintily brocaded lady, many a gallant ruffled and pow- 
dered gentleman tripped to light measure at the Billopp balls. 
Col. Billopp became famous for his magnificent entertainments. 
Such Generals as Howe, Cornwallis. Clinton, Burgoyne, Cleve- 
land, and Knyphausen were among his guests. 

It was after the Battle of Long Island in 1776 that Lord Howe 
went to the Billopp house to meet Benjamin Franklin, John 
Adams, and Edward Eutledge, who were chosen to confer on 
the issues of the war. They hoped for peace, but when they 
found that Howe's offer was merely to resume old conditions, 
as before the war, the conference came to an end without results. 
Nevertheless, it had added much to the history of the place. 

As you stroll back through Tottenville toward the ferry you 
can realize the importance of the Billopp family thereabouts by 
pausing to recollect that this entire village was once known as 
the Manor of Bentley, and that the peninsula at the furthest 
point, later called Ward's Point, was originally Billopp 's Point. 
Later on the village's name was contracted to just Bentley. Then 



THE HISTORIC BILLOPP HOUSE 



967 



along came the Totten family, and the town became divided 
against itself, for the lower section, hailing a new hero, wanted 
it called after this household. With the upper section fighting 
for Bentley, the lower for Tottenville, the poor village did not 
know its own name until the lower side of town came out vic- 
torious. The name of Totten stands in the records of old St. 
Andrew's Church, and is known for its "respectability and in- 
fluence. ' ' 













The Peace Conference at the Billopp House, 
Staten Island, September 11, 1776 

Paper Bead by Mrs. Ralph McKee Before the Richmond Coun- 
ty Chapter Society, Daughters of the American 
Revolution, December 22, 1914. 

TATEN ISLANDERS are perhaps especially glad just 
now that they can claim for the island the first Peace 
Conference ever held in America, always excepting the 
many peace pipes smoked in Council by the really native 
Americans, the red men. 

The Daughters have always stood for accuracy, and our Chap- 
ter is proud to remember that when we were placing a tablet on 
the historic St. Andrew's Church, at Richmond, Staten Island, 
commemorating an engagement in the Revolution, our Regent 
was not contented merely with the local histories, but after a 
long and fatiguing search found, in the American Archives, the 
documentary evidence she was seeking in the report of General 
Hugh Mercer (who was in command) to General Washington, 
giving full details. For our subject today we have no lack of 
documentary evidence. I have used John Adams' letters to his 
wife, the Account of Henry Strachey, secretary to Lord Howe, 
published in the ''Atlantic" June, 1896, and the reports in the 
Congressional Records,— several Encyclopedias and John 
Fiske's History of the American Revolution. 

As early as January, 1775, the English ministry had been 
planning to send a mediator to the American colonies to settle 
the differences between them and the Mother Country. They 
had won the King's consent "to holding out the olive branch" 
altho he later wrote Lord Worth, "I have always feared a 
commission not likely to meet with success, yet I think it right to 
be attempted, whilst every act of vigor is unremittedly carried 

(968) 



- 



1i**^^.^±^.j*^^iJ$' -..&■[< 






■ 



II ^1 



I 



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THE PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE BILLOPP HOUSE 969 

on." The difficulty had been to find a mediator who would carry 
out the King's wishes and yet be acceptable to the Americans. 
Lord Howe's eldest brother, Richard, had fallen at Ticonderoga, 
fighting for an American cause, and in gratitude Massachusetts 
had erected -a monument to him in Westminster Abbey. Lord 
Howe had spoken for America in Parliament; so thoroughly had 
he shown himself the friend of the colonies that the King was 
unwilling for a long time to appoint him.. When Lord Howe 
heard he was likely to be appointed he sought Benjamin Frank- 
lin who was then in London and who played chess with his sis- 
ter. The two men became intimate friends in the winter of 1775 
and held earnest consultations over possible mutual concessions 
that might lead to peace being unbroken. Franklin says: "At 
one time I wept tears of joy when the hope of reconciliation 
seemed possible." But, as John Fiske says: "How to conciliate 
the Americans without giving up a single one of the fake posi- 
tions which the King had taken was the problem, and Franklin 
soon perceived it to be unsolvable and made up his mind to go 
home." On the contrary Lord Howe was quite sanguine that he 
would be successful in restoring harmony, saying that peace 
would be made in America within ten days of his arrival. It is 
to be noted that he had only a few months before, refused a 
command in the American station, because he believed the con- 
duct of Great Britain to her colonies, unjust. His failure to fol- 
low up his brother, General Howe's victory at the battle of Long 
Island with decisive aggressive action would seem to indicate that 
he regarded himself as a commissioner of Peace first, and sec- 
ond, commander-in-chief. 

He arrived in Staten Island on July 12, 1776, after a three 
months' voyage. His first practical difficulty was in getting into 
official communication with the Americans. He could not write 
to Congress because the King regarded it as an illegal body. First 
he sent the royal declaration of pardon to all who would desist 
from rebellion and send aid in restoring tranquillity. In a letter 
addressed to "George Washington, Esq.," by a British officer 
under a flag of truce, Washington refused to receive it because 
as a plain esquire— a Virginian land owner, merely — he had no 
authority for dealing with a royal commissioner. A week later 






97o THE PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE BILLOPP HOUSE 

Lord Howe sent Colonel Patterson, the British Adjutant Gen- 
eral, with a document addressed to "George Washington, Esq.," 
etc., etc. He asked for an interview and described Washington 
as a gentleman of magnificent presence, and very handsomely 
dressed, ^somewhat overawed," says Fiske, and beginning his 
remarks with "May it please your Excellency. ' ' Patterson ex- 
plained that the etceteras on the letter meant everything. " In- 
deed/ ' said Washington, with a pleasant smile, "they might 
mean anything. " He declined to take the letter and said that 
his lordship seemed empowered only to grant pardons, whereas 
those who had committed no fault needed no pardons. As Pat- 
terson got up to go, he asked if his Excellency had no message 
to send to Lord Howe. ' ' Nothing, ' ' answered Washington, ' ' but 
my particular compliment s." 

After the British victory on Long Island, Lord Howe again 
tried the "olive branch.' ' This time he sent on parole General 
Sullivan, a prisoner and an American officer, to Congress to state 
that Lord Howe would use his influence to get all the obnoxious 
acts of Parliament repealed and to ask for an informal confer- 
ence with some of the members of Congress as were private gen- 
tlemen. A lively debate lasting over three days in Congress fol- 
lowed the receiving of this message, some seeing it as an insult 
to Congress, most, suspecting treachery. John Adams, who, as 
usual, had violent opinions expressed with equal explosiveness, 
remarked quite unjustly that "General Sullivan was a ' decoy 
duck' who had better been shot in the battle in which he had 
been taken prisoner than to be employed in such a business. ' ' 

It was finally voted that no peace proposals from Great 
Britain "should receive notice, unless in writing, and recogniz- 
ing Congress as the legal representative of the American States. 
For this once, however, out of personal regard for Lord Howe, 
and that nothing should be disdained which might lead to a 
peaceful settlement, they would send a committee to confer with 
his lordship, who might regard this committee in whatever light 
he pleased." 

The Committee was chosen by ballot. Colonel R. H. Lee of 
Virginia and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina tied on the 
first ballot, but Rutledge was elected on the second. He seems 



THE PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE BILLOPP HOUSE 971 

to have been a cautious, conservative Southern gentleman ; a 
member of Congress from the beginning, when the Declaration 
of Independence was first introduced, and in June, 1776, he 
moved that action on it be postponed for three weeks to avoid all 
appearance of undue haste and to invite the judgment of those 
colonies which had not yet declared themselves. Dr. Benjamin 
Franklin and John Adams were unanimously elected members 
of this committee. So on a pleasant September morning, the 
eleventh, these three gentlemen, members of Continental Con- 
gress, arrived at Amboy. They had left Philadelphia, about 
ninety miles away, two days before in a stage-coach. At the boat 
landing they found Lord Howe's own barge awaiting them, to 
row them the half mile across the Kill von Kull. On the Staten 
Island side they found. Lord Howe himself at the water's edge 
to meet them and they walked the few hundred feet to the old 
stone house of Christopher Billopp, built about 1650. John 
Adams writes: "We walked up to the house between lines of 
grenadiers, looking fierce as the furies and making all the grim- 
aces and gestures and motions of their muskets which (I sup- 
pose) military etiquette requires, but which we neither under- 
stood nor regarded.' ' 

The house had been used as a barracks by British soldiers, 
and was in an unsavory condition, but Lord Howe, who was a 
very grand person, indeed, being the King's first cousin, and a 
grandson of George I., had arrived in the battleship " Eagle' ' 
with his own butler, likewise a very grand and imposing person- 
age, and had made preparations to receive his guests, fittingly— 
a room was cleaned, aired and spread with green moss and dec- 
orated with boughs. A cold luncheon of ham, mutton, tongue, 
bread and claret was served. We hope for the sake of our good 
Dr. Franklin, who was a vegetarian, that the menu included 
other items not considered worth mentioning. 

Perhaps, however, being, as an English authority assures us, 
the greatest of American diplomats, he gave up his prejudices 
against meat on this occasion. After dinner was ended Lord 
Howe made a long discourse, afterwards Dr. Franklin, John 
Adams, and Edward Rutledge spoke. That the conference came 
to nothing was a bitter grief to Lord Howe, who was a warm 



972 THE PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE BILLOPP HOUSE 

friend of America and a fearless and energetic opponent of the 
King's policy. 

The conference ended, the committee returned at once to Phil- 
adelphia, having been gnne four days, of which three hours were 
spent with Lord Howe on Staten Island. 

[This account concludes with the report submitted to Con- 
gress by the Committee] : 

From Congressional Records 

"In Congress, September 13th, the committee appointed with 
Lord Howe, having returned, made a verbal report. 

"Ordered that they make a report in writing as soon as they 
conveniently can." 

September 17th. The committee appointed to confer with 
Lord Howe, agreeable to the order of Congress, brought in a re- 
port in writing, which was read as follows:— 

In obedience to the orders of Congress we have had a meeting 
with Lord Howe. It was on Wednesday last, upon Staten Is- 
land, opposite Amboy, where his Lordship received and enter- 
tained us with the most politeness. 

His Lordship opened the conversation by requesting us, that 
though he could not treat with us a committee of Congress, yet, 
as his powers enabled him to confer and consult with any private 
gentlemen of influence in the colonies, on the means of restoring 
peace between the two countries, he was glad of this opportunity 
of conferring with us on that subject, if we thought ourselves 
at liberty to enter into a conference with him in that character. 

We observed to his Lordship that, as our business was to hear, 
he might consider us in what light he pleased, and communicate 
to us any proposition he might be authorized to make for the pur- 
pose mentioned; but that we could consider ourselves in no 
other character than that in which we were placed by order of 
Congress. 

His Lordship then entered into a discourse of considerable 
length, which contained no explicit proposition of peace except 
one, namely that the Colonies should return to their allegiance 
and obedience to the Government of Great Britain. The rest 


















- 





















THE PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE BILLOPP HOUSE 973 

consisted principally of assurances that there was an exceeding 
good disposition in the King and his ministers to make that 
government easy to us, with intimations that in case of our sub- 
mission, they would cause the offensive acts of Parliament to be 
revised, arid the instructions to governors to be reconsidered; 
that so, if any just causes of complaint were found in the acts, 
or any errors in Government were perceived to have crept into 
the instructions, they might be amended and withdrawn. 

We gave it as our opinion to his Lordship, that a return to the 
domination of Great Britain was not now to be expected. We 
mentioned the repeated humble petitions of the colonies to the 
King and Parliament, which had been treated with contempt, and 
answered only by additional injuries; the unexampled patience 
we had shown under their tyrannical government, and that it was 
not till the last act of Parliament which denounced us and put us 
out of the King's protection, that we declared our independence; 
that this declaration had been called for by the people of the col- 
onies in general; that every colony had approved of it, when 
made, and all now considered themselves as independent States, 
and were settling or had settled their Governments according ; so 
that it was not in the power of Congress to agree for them that 
they should return to their former dependent state; that there 
was no doubt of their inclination to peace, and their willingness 
to enter into a treaty with Britain, that might be advantageous to 
both countries ; that though his Lordship had at present no power 
to treat with them as independent states, he might, if there was 
the same good disposition in Britain, much sooner obtain fresh 
powers from thence, than powers could be obtained by Congress 
from several colonies to consent to a submission. 

His Lordship then saying that he was sorry to find that no 
accommodation was likely to take place, put an end to the con- 
ference. 

Upon the whole, it did not appear to your committee, that his 
Lordship's commission contained any other authority of import- 
ance than what is expressed in the act of Parliament, namely that 
of granting pardons, with such exceptions as the commissioners 
shall think proper to make, and of declaring America, or any 
part of it, to be in the King's peace, upon submission, for, as to 



974 THE PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE BILLOPP HOUSE 

the power of inquiring into the state of America, which his Lord- 
ship mentioned to us, and of conferring and consulting with any 
persons the Commissioners might think proper, and representing 
the result of such conversation to the ministry, who, provided 
the colonies would subject themselves might, after all, or might 
not, at their pleasure, make any alteration in the former instruc- 
tions to Governors, or propose in Parliament any amendment of 
the acts complained of, we apprehended an expectation from the 
effect of such a power would have been too uncertain and pre- 
carious to be relied on by America, had she still continued in her 
state of dependence. 

Order, that the foregoing report, and also the message from 
Lord Howe, as delivered to General Sullivan, and the resolution 
of Congress in consequence thereof be published by the Com- 
mittee who brought in the foregoing report. 

John Hancock, 

President. 

Attest : 

Chas. Thomson, 

Secretary. 















Biographical Sketch of Captain Samuel 

Chester of Boston, Mass,, and New 

London, Conn M and Some of His 

Descendants 

By Herbekt Merritt- Chester of New York City 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL CHESTER was born in England 
and came to Boston as master of his own Brigantine. 
He removed to New London, Conn., in 1663, and was 
made a Freeman the same year. In connection with 
William Condy, he was engaged in the West Indian trade as 
commander, owner and factor. Their warehouse and landing 
place was in Close Cove. After a few years William Condy 
returned to Boston. 

Captain Chester made several voyages to the West Indies as 
the commander of the Barque " Endeavor.' ' He was part owner 
of the New London ' ' TrualP ' which was the first actual merchant 
vessel owned in New London. The following news item was 
taken from the Boston News Letter which was first issued in 
April, 1704, and was the first newspaper published in North 
America. In the issue of May 18, 1704, was the following item : 
" Captain Parry of the Brigantine Adventure being dead the 
owner has appointed Captain Samuel Chester Master who is to 
sail with the Virginia fleet.' ' 
From the issue of June 1, 1704 : 

"Captain Chester from New London will sail in ten days for 
London with the Virginia convoy." 
■ He commenced his voyage on June 12th and on account of the 
I delay in taking on cargo, he missed the convoy and he, with his 
vessel, was captured by the French. 

Captain Chester was educated as a Civil-engineer and Naviga- 

(975) 



976 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF CAPT. SAMUEL CHESTER 

tor. He surveyed grants of land for the settlers and was one 
of the founders of Groton, Conn., in 1704. 

He bought a large tract of land in the North Parish of New 
London, now Montville, from the Indian Sachems Owaneco and 
Josiah of the Mohegan tribe. The latest signature of the Sachem 
Uncas was to a deed to Samuel Chester, dated June 13, 1683. 
He also was among the earliest grantees under the Indian deeds. 

Captain Chester was a member of the General Assembly from 
New London held at Hartford, October 14, 1669, and he was ap- 
pointed one of the commissioners by the Court of Election held 
at Hartford, May 11, 1693, to fix the boundary line between the 
Colony of Mass. and Conn. In 1694 he was appointed a com- 
missioner to settle the disputed line between the towns of Ston- 
ington and Preston, Conn. 

He also had a large landed estate in the East Parish of New 
London, which is now Groton, covering the ground where Fort 
Griswold and the Groton Monuments now stand, and which 
ground was conveyed to the Government by his son Jonathan in 
1777. 

On September 6, 1781, four of the descendants of Captain 
Chester: Sergeant Eldredge Chester, Daniel Chester, Jede- 
diah Chester and Frederick Chester, gave up their lives in de- 
fence of Fort Griswold during the massacre by the British and 
Tories under the command of the Traitor Benedict Arnold. 

Captain Chester was twice married ; his first wife was Mary, 
by whom he had three sons and two daughters,— Abraham, John, 
Samuel, Mercy and Susanna. By second wife Hannah, he had 
Hannah and Jonathan. He died in Groton, March, 1709-10. 

Among the descendants of Captain Chester may be men- 
tioned Joseph Lemuel Chester, the noted Genealogist and Anti- 
quary, who died in London, England, in 1882, and a tablet has 
been erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey. 

Judge Alden Chester of Albany, New York, is also a descen- 
dant and is one of the Vice-presidents of the Chester Associa- 
tion; Rear- Admiral Colby Mitchell Chester of Washington, D. 

C, being President. 

The well known Attorney Augustine Chester of Washington, 

D. C, was a descendant of Captain Samuel. 















' 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF CAPT. SAMUEL CHESTER 977 

Among the descendants of Captain Samuel Chester who lived to 
a good old age may be mentioned Christopher Chester who was 
a Revolutionary soldier. His son, the Rev. Christopher Chester 
of Hopkinton, R. L, and the writer's father, John Hicks Ches- 
ter (son of the Rev. Christopher Chester) who died in Westerly, 
R. L, in 1913 in his ninety-fifth year. 

It is said the Chester family in America were noted for the 
three "P's": Piety, Poetry and Productiveness. 

Simeon Chester, one of the descendants of Captain Samuel, 
was presented by his wife with three boys at one birth. He 
named them Elias, Elijah and Elisha and he wrote the following 
in the register of the Family Bible : 

"Send then no more by two's and three's, but one good Lord 
as often as you please." 









' 






Historic Views and Reviews 

Contributed by Duane Mo wry, Milwaukee, Wis. 

U. S. Can Make Fine Porcelain 

PROBABILITIES are that the United States will not be 
compelled to look to Europe in the future for its chemical 
porcelain. Experiments by the bureau of standards dis- 
close that it is possible to manufacture sucTi articles from 
American materials. Heretofore practically all chemical porce- 
lain came from Germany. 

The experiments developed that porcelain wares could be 
made from American clay, which were the equal of the foreign 
product, except as to color. This difficulty, however, recently has 
been overcome. One concern has begun the manufacture of 
chemical porcelain, and while the process is yet somewhat in the 
experimental stage, the bureau says it is probable that all varie- 
ties of such ware soon will be made in the United States.— Ex- 
change, Feb., 1915. 

The Christ of the Andes 

On the boundary line between Argentina and Chili, 12,000 feet 
above sea level, there has been erected the Christ of the Andes, 
a huge monument in commemoration of the peace treaty between 
the two countries, which was signed under the arbitration of KiDg 
Edward of Great Britain. The statue, which was built through 
the co-operation of the two countries, and was unveiled in 1904, 
has for a base a huge block of marble, on the sides of which are 
inscriptions pledging perpetual peace between the two countries. 
The base is surmounted by a large bronze figure of Christ, one 
hand holding the cross and the other raised as if to give a bless- 
ing.— Exchange, February, 1915. 

(978) 



HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 979 

China's Indestructible Wall 

Few people realize what an almost perfect condition prevails 
along a large part of the Great Wall of China. The bricks of 
the parapet are as firm as ever, and their edges have stood the 
severe climatic conditions of north China with scarcely a break. 
The paving along the top of the wall is so smooth that one may 
ride over it with a bicycle, and the great granite blocks with which 
it is faced are smooth and as closely fitted as when put in place 
more than 2,000 years ago. The entire length of this wall is 1,400 
miles ; it is 22 feet high and 200 feet in thickness. At intervals 
of 100 yards or so there are flowers some forty feet in height.— 
Tit-Bits. 

e&* ejjl* e& e&s> e&* 

Germany's Dyestuffs Industry 

An authority on the manufacture of dyestuffs in Germany calls 
attention to the fact that export chemists are at the head of all 
the great establishments in that country. He says that one of the 
largest, if not the largest, of the German color works was founded 
by two chemists, and the works are still mainly controlled by men 
of science. The amazing extent to which this concern has grown 
suffices to dispose of the belief which is fostered by some in this 
country that scientific and commercial ability cannot be com- 
bined in one personality and that a business controlled by chem- 
ists could not possibly succeed. The works in question cover a 
ground area, including workmen's dwellings, of nearly 500 acres. 
The daily consumption of coal at normal times is 750 tons and 
of water 20,000,000 gallons. The output of goods annually is 
something like 400,000 tons. 

Other works almost as gigantic are controlled by directorates 
composed mainly of chemists. In fact, it is not a common thing 
to find purely financial and commercial men taking the principal 
share in the management of these concerns. One of the beneficial 
results of this scientific control is that the directors are capable 



980 HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 

of understanding the full importance of new inventions and of 
exercising patience in waiting for the outcome of experiments. 

Another extremely important point which must not be over- 
looked is the fact that success depends not only in supplying a 
demand for estabiisned colors but in inventing new colors and 
shades. A factory which produces nothing but the colors in de- 
mand would soon be outclassed by the factory which as a result 
of laboratory achievements turned out a new series of colors. 
For this reason it is the chemist who directs the course of the 
business, and not the business manager. For instance, it is of 
little use for the commercial man to instruct the expert— as is 
done in other businesses — to produce a certain article. The po- 
sition is reversed. 

The chemist looking for one color finds another, and says to 
the businessman : * ' You must make a market for this. ' ' People 
began to wear mauve colored garments not because the produc- 
ers of cloth had asked for that color, but because the late Sir 
William Perkin, while trying in his laboratory to synthesize qui- 
nine accidentally produced a compound with a mauve color.— 
Exchange. 

•fr ♦ ■ *£ + + 

Women Hymn Writers 

Fanny Crosby, blind since she was six weeks old, when hot 
poultices applied to her eyes destroyed the optic nerve, has lived 
a long and useful and happy life, and now lies dead within little 
more than a month of her ninety-fifth year. She was the author 
of two of the best-known popular songs of a generation which 
she survived— "There's Music in the Air" and "Hazel Dell," 
and also of upward of six thousand religious hymns, of which 
several, including the well-known "Safe in the Arms of Jesus/ ' 
are widely used at the present time. 

It is interesting to recall the prominence of woman authors as 
contributors to modern hymnology. "Nearer My God to Thee" 
was written by Sarah Flower Adams. Mrs. Cecil Frances Alex- 
ander wrote "There is a Green Hill Far Away" and "Once in 
David 's Koyal City. ' ' " Just as I Am, Without One Plea, ' '■ came 












. 












HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 



981 



from Charlotte Elliott, and "Our Blest Redeemer Ere He 
Breather' ' was by Harriet Auber. Frances Ridley Havegral 
began her studies with the idea of making music the aim of her 
life, but became famous as a hymn writer. 

Mrs. Crosby was a teacher in an institution for the blind when 
she began to write. Her hymns were prominent in the repertory 
of Moody and Sankey. Despite her affliction, she was noted for 
her cheerful disposition. She not only poured sunshine into the 
lives of those about her, but communicated hope and joy to thou- 
sands at a distance through the medium of her gift of verse. — 
Editorial in Milwaukee Evening Wisconsin, February, 1915. 






. 



Book Reviews 

"Early History of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph." (Hines 
Bros., New York. Price 50 Cents) 

We have received an interesting pamphlet treating of the early 
history of the American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, taken from 
the letters and journals of Alfred Vail by his son, J. Cummings 
Vail. The pamphlet, comprising some thirty-six printed pages 
of a most convenient size, is profusely illustrated; it ably sets 
forth in convenient and comprehensive form the part which Al- 
fred Vail played in the establishment of the telegraph and throws 
an interesting light upon the difficulties overcome and obstacles 
surmounted by Vail, Morse and their associates before final suc- 
cess. 

The first page of the pamphlet contains a chronology of the his- 
tory of the telegraph, which, as Mr. Vail informs us "had prop- 
erly speaking, no inventor. It grew little by little, each inventor 
adding his little to advance it towards perfection. " Mr. J. Cum- 
mings Vail, to whom we are indebted for this compilation, is 
expertly familiar with the subject treated of. 

c&9 e$9 e&» e&» e& 

Matthew's American Armoury and Blue Book 

We are glad to acknowledge the receipt of Parts I and II 
of "Matthews' American Armoury and Blue Book," edited and 
published by John Matthews, 93 Chancery Lane, London, Eng- 
land, and we do not hesitate to commend a work that has been 
known to all our lovers of genealogy for so many years as an 
authority and a book of special reference on the history and 
lineage of those families in this country who have the right to 
use a crest and coat of arms. We await the coming of Part III 

(982) 



BOOK REVIEWS 983 

with especial interest, as it will complete the volume and contain 
what is indispensable in such a work, a full and complete alpha- 
betical index. We wish Mr. Matthews increasing success each 
year and hope that his work may find a ready sale in every part 
of this country. We are glad to know that the "New York 
Genealogical and Biographical Record, ' ' an undisputed authority 
on matters of genealogy, has also given this work its hearty com- 
mendation. 


















- 



S. 



/ 



, ty.S 






^ 




EDWARD, DUKE OF KENT AND STRATHEARN, K. G., 
K. T., K. St. P., Etc. 




AMERICANA 

December, 1915 



The Winthrop Family 

"^HE name of Winthrop may be traced back, in various 
spellings, for at least seven centuries. On the Rolls of 
Court of the county of York, in England, for the year 
of our Lord 1200, there is a record which begins with 
the name of Robert de Winethorp. There is a similar record 
for the county of Lincoln, seven years later, in which the name 
of J. Winthorp is found. Thorp is the Saxon word for " vil- 
lage,' ' corresponding to the Dutch word Dorp. Win, or wine, 
has more than one significance: sometimes meaning " pleasant,' ' 
sometimes "the beloved,' ' and sometimes standing for that juice 
of the grape to which both the epithets are not infrequently 
applied. 

Dr. Johnson, quoting from Gibson, says that "Win, whether 
initial or final, in the names of men, may either denote a mascu- 
line temper from pin, which signifies, in Saxon, 'war strength,' 
etc., or else the general love and esteem he hath among the peo- 
ple, from the Saxon pine, i. e., 'dear,' 'beloved.' In the names of 
places, it implies a battle fought there." 

An old pedigree of the Winthrop family, of uncertain date, 
and of still more uncertain detail, commences by stating that 
"they came anciently from Northumberland;" that "they after- 
wards settled in a village not far from Newark, which was called 
'Winthrop;' " that "from thence they came up to London, and 
owned Marribone (Marylebone) Park:" that "from thence they 
went to Groton, in Suffolk, where they lived many years. ' ' 

The branch of the Winthrop family that, in the person of Gov- 
ernor John Winthrop, was conspicuously identified with the set- 
tlement of the Massachusetts Colony, and that in the descendants 

(985) 



986 THE WINTHROP FAMILY 

of the first Governor Winthrop was not less distinguished in the 
colonial and provincial periods in Connecticut and Massachu- 
setts, was of Groton Manor, county Suffolk, and its representa- 
tives were prominent and active as far back as the fifteenth cen- 
tury. 

I. ADAM WINTHEOP, the ancestor of Governor Winthrop, 
of the Groton Manor family, and with whom the authentic his- 
tory of the family begins, was located in Lavenham, county Suf- 
folk, England, in 1498, with his wife, Joane Burton, or Burnell. 
After his death his widow married John Pouder, of Lavenham. 
In the visitation and pedigrees of the Harleian manuscripts, 
Adam Winthrop is described as of Groton. 

• H. ADAM WINTHEOP, son of Adam Winthrop and Joane 
(Burton, or Burnell) Winthrop, was of Groton Manor, County 
Suffolk, and St. Michaels, Cornhill, London. He was born 
in Lavenham, October 9, 1498. He was a prominent and 
wealthy merchant and an active citizen and cloth mak- 
er in London and afterward in Groton. The freedom of 
London was granted to him in 1526. Upon the dis- 
solution of the monasteries, he was granted the Manor 
of Groton in 1544 by Henry VIII. , and became Lord and Patron 
of the Manor. He was a man of culture, energy, and great 
strength of character. Arms were granted to him in 1548. His 
prominence and the esteem in which he was held by his fellow 
citizens are shown by the fact that in 1551 he was the master of 
the influential London Company of Cloth Workers. Craft guilds 
were co mm on in London at an early date. These guilds were 
voluntary associations governed by ordinances of their own 
framing, which regulated, and to some extent controlled, the 
trades carried on in the city. They appointed overseers to in- 
spect the wares produced and sold, and umpires to adjudicate 
the cases of dispute between masters and workmen. In the reign 
of Edward HI. (1312-77), charters were granted to these volun- 
tary associations and their ordinances formally recognized and 
enrolled in the court of the Lord Mayor as livery companies. The 
Clothworkers ' Company promoted the establishment of York- 



THE WINTHROP FAMILY 987 

shire College, Leeds. Into these guilds royalty itself, a half 
century after, thought it no scorn to seek an entrance. King 
James I. (16S5-88) went himself into the Hall of the Clothwork- 
ers, without being known, and asked: "Who is the master of 
the company?" The Lord Mayor answered, "Sir William 
Stone." The King addressed himself to Sir William: "Wilt 
thou make me one of the clothworkers ? " "Yea," quoth the 
master, "and think myself a happy man to think that I live to 
see this day." "Thanks," said the King, "give me thy hand— 
and now I am a clothworker. " 

Died November 9, 1562. 

Married, 1st, November 16, 1527, Alice Henny, or Henry, who 
died June 25, 1533. 

Married, 2d, July 2, 1534, Agnes Sharpe, daughter of Robert 
Sharpe, of Islington, county Middlesex. She was born in 1516 ; 
died May 13, 1565, having married, 2d, William Mildmay, of 
Springfield Barns. 

Issue (by first wife) : 

1. Thomas Winthrop, b. November 8, 1528; d. in April, 1529. 

2. William Winthrop, b. November 12, 1529; d. March 1, 
1581, at London, and buried at St. Michael's Church, Cornhill, 
Ver sine fraude bonus et pietatis amans, m. Elizabeth Norwood, 
of Kent. She died in Kent, June 2, 1578, having had children : 
Jonathan, Adam, William, Joshua, Elizabeth, and Sarah. Son 
Adam Winthrop, b. about 1570, d. in 1634, m. Joane, daughter of 
William Hilles, of Holton Hall, Suffolk, early in 1600, and had a 
son, Adam, b. in April, 1691. 

3. Bridget Winthrop, b. January 1, 1531; d. January, 1536. 

4. Christopher Winthrop, b. January 4, 1532; d. aged nine 
month. 

5. Thomas Winthrop, 2d, b. in June, 1533 ; d. in 1537. 

Issue (by second wife) : 

6. Alice Winthrop, b. November 15, 1539; d. November 8, 
1607; m. Sir Thomas Mildmay, son of William Mildmay of 
Springfield Barns, her stepfather, leaving issue, six sons. 

7. Bridget Winthrop, b. May 3, 1543 ; d. in Thorfield, Hert- 



988 THE WINTHROP FAMILY 

fordshire, November 4, 1614. M. Roger Alabaster, of a dis- 
tinguished Hadley family, and had William, George, John, 
Thomas and Sarah Alabaster, William Alabaster was preben- 
dary of St. Paul's and rector of "ye rich parsonage of Thorfield 
in Hertfordshire." During a visit to Rome he turned " Papist' ' 
and upon his return to London was for this offense imprisoned 
in the Tower, but was released on renouncing the Pope, and 
thereupon received the parsonage. He died in 1640. 

8. Mary Winthrop, b. March 1, 1544; m., 1st, William Celie; 
m., 2d, Abraham Veysie. 

9. Tiuin— John W T inthrop, b. January 20, 1546; d. in Ireland, 
July 26, 1613. He purchased Irish lands and acquired a consid- 
erable estate in county Cork. He is supposed to have left a 
son, from whom came Stephen W'inthrop of Bandon (1658) ; 
among whose numerous descendants may be named Benjamin 
Winthrop, Esq., of London, governor of the Bank of England 
(1804-5), and his son, Benjamin Winthrop, Jr., Esq., of Univer- 
sity College, Oxford, and of Lincoln's Inn, London, whose 
nephews were the Rev. Benjamin Winthrop, M. A., of Wolver- 
ton, Warwick, and Winthrop Mackworth Praed, M. P., the 
lamented poet and statesman. The family records leave the first 
link of this connection in some doubt; but a letter in the posses- 
sion of Robert C. Winthrop, dated "Bandon Bridge in Ireland 
the 5th day of March, 1637, " addressed "To her loving & aproved 
good f rend and Kinsman, Mr. John Winthrop in New England, ' ' 
and signed, "Your lovinge Cosen, Joane Winthrop, daughter of 
Willyam Hilles," settles the question that the Winthrops of 
Bandon were of the same family with those of Groton. Joane 
Hilles, daughter of William Hilles, of Holton Hall, Suffolk, m. 
Adam Winthrop, cousin of our Massachusetts governor, John 
Winthrop, early in 1600, and had a son named Adam, in April, 
1691. Joane writes that her husband had been dead three years 
in 1637. He was undoubtedly the son of William Winthrop of 
St. Michael 's, Cornhill, London, and thus the Bandon family may 
have been descended from W T illiam (born November 12, 1529), 
and not from John (b. January 20, 1546). (See note 2, p. 16, 
"Life and Letters of John Winthrop"). 

M., 1st, Elizabeth Risby, daughter of Robert Risby, of Thorpe 



THE WINTHROP FAMILY 989 

Morieux, county Suffolk, by whom he had one son, who died 
young; in., 2d, Elizabeth Po widen, daughter of Thomas Po wi- 
den, of Rathgogan, county Cork, Ireland. Issue : i. John Win- 
throp, of Rathgogan, who died unmarried in 1634. ii. Elizabeth 
Winthrop, m. Peregrine Bannister, iii. Anne Winthrop, m. Hen- 
ry Hoskins. 

10. Tivin— Adam Winthrop, b. January 20, 1546; d. aged six 
months. 

11. Adam Winthrop, of whom below. 

12. Catherine "Winthrop, b. May 17, 1550 ; she is not named in 
her father's will of 1562, when, if living, she would have been 
only twelve years of age. Robert C. Winthrop says, in note on 
page 16 of "Life and Letters of John Winthrop," that the old 
pedigree which states that she "married and had children" can 
hardly be correct. 

13. Susanna Winthrop, b. December 10, 1552 ; d. in Coventry, 
August 9, 1604, m. D. Cottie, leaving issue. 

in. ADAM WINTHROP, son of Adam Winthrop and Ag- 
nes (Sharpe) Winthrop, was born in London, August 10, 1548. 
He resided in Edwardston in the early part of his life, and after- 
ward at Groton Manor. He was a graduate of Magdalen Col- 
lege, a lawyer, a county magistrate and auditor of Trinity and 
St. John's colleges, Cambridge. 

Died in March, 1623, and was buried in the Groton church- 
yard, March 28. 

Married, 1st, December 16, 1574, Alice Still, daughter of Wil- 
liam Still, of Grantham, county Lincoln, and sister of Doctor 
John Still, bishop of Bath and Wells. She died December 24, 
1579, leaving no issue. 

Married, 2d, February 20, 1580, Anne Browne, daughter of 
Henry Browne, of Edwardston, near Groton. She survived her 
husband, and died April 19, 1629. 

Issue (by second wife) : 

1. Anne Winthrop, b. January 5, 1581 ; d. in the same month. 

2. Anne Winthrop, b. January 16, 1586 ; d. May 16, 1618 ; 
m., February 25, 1605, Thomas Fones. 



990 THE WINTHROP FAMILY 

3. John Winthrop, founder of the family in America, of whom 
below. 

4. Jane Winthrop, baptized June 17, 1592; m., January 5, 
1612, Thomas Gostling. 

5. Lucy Winthrop, b. January 9, 1601; in., April 10, 1622, 
Emanuel Downing. Issue: i. George Downing (afterward Sir 
George Downing), ambassador to the States-General, 1659. 
Downing street, London, was named for him. ii. Annie Down- 
ing. 

The arms of the Winthrop family, which were granted to 
Adam Winthrop in 1548, are : 

A rms.— Argent, three chevrons, gules, crenele, over all a lion 
rampant, sable, armed and langued azure. 

Crest. — A hare proper running on a mount vert. 

Motto.— Spes vincit thronum [Hope wins a throne]. 

The Family in America. 

In America the history of the Winthrop family began with 
John Winthrop, the leader of the great Puritan immigration 
th atcame to Massachusetts Bay in 1630. His descendants in 
the generations since his time have worthily borne the name of 
the family to which they belong. His son, John Winthrop, the 
younger, was scarcely less distinguished than his father, and to 
him more than to any other single individual was due the firm 
establishment of the new Connecticut colony. In later years the 
descendants of these two great colonial pioneers have been prom- 
inent in public affairs, distinguished in letters, and prominent in 
social and business pursuits. 



JOHN WINTHEOP, only son of Adam Winthrop and Anne 
(Browne) Winthrop, was born in Edwardston (near the family 
seat at Groton), England, January 12, 1587. He studied two 
years at Cambridge University (1602-4). He married early and 
immediately began to interest himself in public affairs. He be- 
came a magistrate when only eighteen years of age, and his 



THE WINTHROP FAMILY 991 

virtues became conspicuous. He was exemplary in his profes- 
sion, as an upright and impartial magistrate, and in his private 
character as a Christian. He had a pious mind, and early do- 
mestic bereavements inclined him towards the ministerial pro- 
fession. That pious disposition characterized him throughout 
his entire life. He did not, however, take religious orders, but 
after a time devoted himself to the study and practice of the law 
and to the exercise of his duties as a magistrate. His profession 
was largely in the courts of wards and liveries. He was highly 
esteemed in his professional relations and enjoyed the confidence 
of all with whom he was associated. He continued to exercise 
the authorities of his office until 1629, when his position was tak- 
en from him, probably, it is said, on account of his outspoken op- 
position to unjust exactions of the Crown. 

About this time he became actively interested in the Great 
Massachusetts Enterprise, and believed that the finger of God 
pointed to the serene establishment of the Reformed faith in the 
New World by colony of pious self-denying men, willing to give 
up their lives and fortunes to the undertaking. Liberty of con- 
science could not be enjoyed in England. Many were so harassed 
for their nonconformity that they determined rather to make 
settlements in a dreary wilderness, at the distance of three thou- 
sand miles from their native country, than endure the persecu- 
tions to which they were constantly exposed. They emigrated 
not for the advantages of trade, but for religion, and the enjoy- 
ment of liberty of conscience. They wished to transmit the 
blessings of civil and religious liberty to their posterity. 

In 1629, with Sir Richard Saltonstall and others, he signed the 
Agreement to Emigrate ; on the twentieth of October of the same 
year he was chosen Governor of Massachusetts Bay Company, 
and in the following April, carrying with him the charter that 
had been granted the spring before, he embarked with a fleet of 
eleven vessels, containing about one thousand persons. On the 
twenty-second of June, 1630, he landed at Salem, where already 
the Company had established a colony of two or three hundred 
persons under John Endicott. 

This was the " Great Suffolk Emigration, ' ' as it has been 
called, and is not to be confounded with the Pilgrim Colony at 



992 THE WINTHROP FAMILY 

Plymouth in 1620 (which at the time of Winthrop 's arrival num- 
bered some three hundred and was not united to the Massachu- 
setts colony until 1692), nor with the scattering settlements else- 
where, some of which had died out, and others were in a weak 
and precarious condition. In the following autumn he moved 
the seat of government from Charlestown to the' neck of land 
since known as Boston, where he resided eighteen years, during 
twelve of which he was Governor, at other times serving as Dep- 
uty-Governor, or as a member of the Court of Assistants, and 
always the guiding spirit of New England, until he died at the 
age of sixty -two, worn out by the incessant labors, and having 
spent his substance in the cause he had at heart. 

He endured all the hardships of colonization with noble equan- 
imity and never for a moment lost his confidence in the future of 
Massachusetts. When the settlement was subjected to succes- 
sive privations that drove some of the colonists back to England, 
while a large number of them succumbed to disease, he wrote, "I 
do not repent my coming. I would not have altered my course 
. though I had forseen all these afflictions." He lived to see the 
confederation of the Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and 
New Haven colonies, under the name of the United Colonies of 
New England, and was the first president of this confederation. 
The appellation of the "Father of Massachusetts" has been apt- 
ly applied to him. Historians have delighted to dwell upon his 
character and upon the efficient service that he rendered to the 
colonies by his able administration of affairs. George Bancroft 
said of him, "It was principally the calm decision of Winthrop 
which sustained the courage of his companions. ' ' The historian, 
John G. Palfrey, wrote of him: "Among the millions of living 
men descended from men whom he ruled, there is not. . . . 
one who does not owe much to what is best in him to the benevo- 
lent and courageous wisdom of John Winthrop." Winthrop 
kept a journal of his life in the new world, and this has been pub- 
lished as "The History of New England from 1630 to 1649." 

Died in Boston, March 26, 1649. 

Married, 1st, April 16, 1605, at Great Stambridge, England, 
Mary Forth daughter and sole heiress of John Forth, Esq., of 
Great Stambridge, county Essex. She brought a considerable 



THE WINTHROP FAMILY 993 

estate to her husband. She was born January 1, 1584, and died 
after ten years of married life, being buried January 26, 1615, 
and leaving six children. 

Married, 2d, December 6, 1615, Thorn a sine Clopton, daughter 
of William Clopton, Esq., of Castleins, near Groton. She died 
December 8, 1616. 

Married, 3d, April 29, 1618, Margaret Tyndal daughter of Sir 
John Tyndal, of Great Maplested, county Essex. She died June 
14, 1647. 

Married, 4th, December 4, 1647, Martha N. (Eainsborough) 
Coytemore, daughter of Captain William Eainsborough, of the 
royal navy, and widow of Thomas Coytemore, of Boston. She 
survived her husband, and married, 3d, March 10, 1652, John 
Coggan. 

[Fourth.— The very ancient family to which Mary Forth, the 
first wife of Governor John W T inthrop, belonged, was of county 
Suffolk, England. 

William Forth, of Hadleigh, county Suffolk, d. in 1505. Issue 
Robert and Alice. 

Robert Forth, son of W 7 illiam Forth, d. in 1541. He married a 
daughter of the Odurn family. Issue, William, Anne, and Dor- 
othy. 

William Forth, of Hadleigh, son of Kobert Forth, had a grant 
of Butley Abbey, or Priory, in Suffolk, in 1544. He married 
Elizabeth Powell, of Wales. Issue : Eobert, Philologus, Edward, 
Israel, William, John, Mary, Catherine, Elizabeth, and Anne. 

John Forth, sixth and youngest son of William and Elizabeth 
(Powell) Forth, was of Great Stambridge. He married Thom- 
asine Hilles of the county of Essex, an only child. 

Mary Forth, only child of John Forth, m. John Winthrop. Her 
uncle, Eobert Forth, was high sheriff of Suffolk in 1569, and his 
second son, William Forth, was knighted at Greenwich, July 3, 
1604]. 

Issue of John Winthrop and Mary (Forth) Winthrop: 

1. John Winthrop, of whom below. 

2. Henry Winthrop, baptized January 20, 1607. He went to 
Barbadoes in 1627. Ee turning to England in 1629, he married 






994 THE WINTHROP FAMILY 

his cousin, Elizabeth Fones, daughter of Thomas Fones, of Lon- 
don. He came to New England soon after his father, but was 
drowned the day after his arrival. Issue: i. Martha Johanna 
Winthrop, b. May 9, 1630. 

3. Forth Winthrop, b. December 30, 1609; died unmarried, 
and was buried in Groton, England, November 23, 1630. He 
was graduated from Emanuel College, Cambridge. 

4. Mary Winthrop, m. the Reverend Samuel Dudley, b. in 
England, 1610; d. February 10, 1683, son of Governor Thomas 
and Dorothy Dudley. She died in Salisbury, Massachusetts, 
April 2, 1643, leaving issue. 

5. Anne Winthrop, b. August 8, 1614 ; buried August 26, 1614. 

6. Anne Winthrop, b. June 26, 1615 ; buried June 29, 1615. 

Issue (by second wife) : 

7. An infant child, b. and d. December 8, 1616. 

Issue (by third wife) : 

8. Stephen Winthrop, b. in Groton, March 24, 1619. He came 
to New England with his father in 1630 and was subsequently 
recorder of Boston and a representative to the general court. 
He returned to the mother country and had command in the 
parliamentary army about 1646, rising to the rank of colonel. He 
was a representative for Banff and Aberdeen in one of Crom- 
well's parliaments. D. in London in 1659. M., before 1645, 
Judith Bainsborough, daughter of Captain William Bains- 
borough, of the parliamentary army. He had two daughters, 
who married in England, and four sons and two daughters who 
died in early childhood. 

9. Adam Winthrop, b. April 7, 1620 ; d. in Boston, August 24, 
1652; m., in February, 1642, Elizabeth, daughter of Beverend 
Jose Glover, and sister of the wife of Deane Winthrop. She 
died in 1648. Issue: I. Adam Winthrop, b. October 15, 1647; 
d. August 3, 1700; m., Mary, daughter of Colonel Lutrell, of 
Bristol, England ; she m., 2d, Colonel Joseph Lynde, of Charles- 
town, Massachusetts. Issue: i. Adam Winthrop, b. March 3, 
1676. He was graduated at Harvard College, 1694. He was 
chief justice of the court of common pleas and colonel of the Bos- 



THE WINTHROP FAMILY 995 

ton regiment. D. in Boston, October 2, 1743; m. Anne, daugh- 
ter of Colonel John Wainwright, of Ipswich, Massachusetts. 
Issue. 

10. Deane "Winthrop, b. March 16, 1623, in Groton. He came 
to New England in 1635, and war one of the founders of the town 
of Groton, in Massachusetts. Subsequently he located in the 
vicinity of Boston in what has since been known as the town of 
Winthrop. There he resided for more than forty years. D. 
March 16, 1704. M., 1st., before 1648, Sarah Glover, daughter of 
the Reverend Jose Glover. M., 2d., prior to 1684, Martha Mel- 
lowes, widow of Captain John Mellowes, of Boston. Issue: i. 
Margaret Winthrop, b. in 1660 ; m. Jonathan Glover, ii. Eliza- 
beth Winthrop, b. in 1663 ; m. Samuel Kent. iii. Jose Winthrop, 
b. May 3, 1666; died unmarried, November 13, 1702. iv. Pris- 
cilla Winthrop, b. in 1669 ; m. Eliab Adams. 

11. Nathaniel Winthrop, baptized February 20, 1625; died 
young. 

12. Samuel Winthrop, baptized August 29, 1627. He studied 
in Harvard College and returned to England at an early age. 
He permanently established himself as a planter in the West 
Indies, and in 1668 was deputy governor of Antigua. M., in 
Holland, in 1648. D. in 1677, but his male line became extinct 
in the second generation following him. From him is descended 
the Duke of Norfolk. 

13. Annie Winthrop, batpized April 29, 1630 ; d. on the voy- 
age to New England. 

14. William Winthrop, b. August 14, 1632 ; died young. 

15. Sarah Winthrop, batpized June 29, 1634 ; died young. 

Notes.— From the report of the commissioners (dated Feb- 
ruary 16, 1866), appointed by Governor Andrew— the commis- 
sioners were Hon. John G. Pelf rey ; Hon. Solomon Lincoln, and 
Hon. Richard Frothingham— for the erecting a statue of John 
Winthrop in the Capitol of Washington, D. C. : 

"In one of the early emigrants to Massachusetts, their ac- 
knowledged chief, all their virtues were impersonated. We do 
not hesitate to advise, that one of the statues to be set up in the 
national hall shall commemorate the period and services of the 
















































. 



996 THE WINTHROP FAMILY 

first John Winthrop. All nations have reserved peculiar hon- 
ors for their founders : John Winthrop, rather than any other 
man, represents the founders of Massachusetts. It is impossi- 
ble to estimate the lasting influence of a human life ; but nothing 
can be more certain than that the beneticent consequences of 
Winthrop 's life have been vast. His mind more than any other 
aranged the social state of Massachusetts; Massachusetts 
moulded the society of New England. "The principles of New 
England/ wrote the philosophical French observer, ' spread at 
first to the neighboring states; then they passed successively to 
the more distant ones, and at length they imbued the whole con- 
federation. ' By virtue of recent events, this process is now go- 
ing on with a new activity, which is destined still to grow, and 
this nation as long as it continues to hold up a guiding and 
cheering light to the friends of liberty and law, in all parts of 
the earth, will be carrying out the work of John Winthrop and of 
his associate colonists of Massachusetts Bay." 

From one of the speeches of the late Josiah Quincy: 
' l For years, Winthrop, the leader of the first great enterprise, 
was the chief magistrate of the infant metropolis. His prudence 
guided its councils. His valor dictated its strength. His life 
and fortunes were spent in fixing its character or improving its 
destinies. A bolder spirit never dwelt, a truer heart never beat 
in any bosom. Had Boston, like Eome, a consecrated calendar, 
there is no name better entitled than that of Winthrop to be reg- 
istered as its ' patron saint.' " 

From the "Pilgrim Fathers of New England and their Pur- 
itan Successors, ' ' by John Brown, B.A., D. D., 1896, page 296 : 

"Governor Winthrop is one of the great names in American 
history, taking its place in the Temple of Fame side by side with 
that of Washington himself. Descended from an ancient and 
honorable family in Suffolk, he was born at Groton Manor-house 
near Sudbury, in 1588. Trained to the law, a member of the In- 
ner Temple, and subsequently one of the attorneys of the Court 
of Wards Liveries, he was at the same time a typical example of 
the grave and earnest country gentleman of Puritan times.' ' 
From Young's "Chronicles of Massachusetts," page 105: 
"In his magnanimity, disinterestedness, and moderation; in 



THE WINTHROP FAMILY 997 

his mingled firmness of principle and mildness of temper; in his 
harmonious character, consistent life, and well-balanced mind— 
the Father of Massachusetts reminds us of the great ' Father of 
his Country,' and is the only name in our history worthy to 
stand as a parallel to Washington." 

"History of New England," by John G. Palfrey, 1858, vol- 
ume 2, page 266 : 
John Winthrop : 

"The influence of his genius and character has been felt 
through seven generations of a rapidly multiplying people, and 
of those not of their number whom their proceedings have in any 
way affected. 

"The importance which history should ascribe to his life must 
be proportionate to the importance attributed to the subsequent 
agency of that commonwealth of which he was the most eminent 
founder. 

"It would be erroneous to pretend that the principles upon 
which it was established were an original conception of his mind, 
but undoubtedly it was his policy, more than any other man's, 
that organized into shape, animated with practical vigor, and 
prepared for permanency those primeval sentiments and in- 
stitutions that have dictated the course of thought and action in 
New England in later times. And equally certain it is that 
among the millions of living men descended from those whom 
he ruled, there is not one who does not — through efficient influ- 
ences, transmitted in society and in thought along the interven- 
ing generations— owe much of what is best within him, and in 
the circumstances about him, to the benevolent and courageous 
wisdom of John Winthrop. 

"They who to make up their idea of consummate excellence in 
a statement require the presence of a religious sense prompting 
and controlling all public conduct will recognize with admiration 
the prominence of that attribute in the character of this brave, 
wise, unselfish, righteous ruler. His sense of his religious obli- 
gation was the spirit of his politics, as well as the spirit of his 
daily life. It had pleased God to place him where he might so 
act, so that the virtue and well-being of large numbers of men, 
living and to be born, might be the fruit of his courage, diligence, 



998 THE WINTHROP FAMILY 

steadiness, and foresight. With clear intelligence he discerned 
the responsibilities of that position, and accepted them with a 
cordiality which made it easy to subordinate every less worthy 
object, and control every meaner motive that might interfere 
with the generous task he had assumed. To the public service 
he lavishly gave his fortune. As freely he devoted to it the best 
laber of his mind, and sacrificed every personal ambition. No 
obstinacy, or petulance, or pride hindered the upright applica- 
tion of his serene and solid judgment. Not only did he not suffer 
injustice to irritate him ; he would not be disabled, discouraged, 
nor depressed by it. Immovably patient of opposition, he 
scanned its reason in reconsideration of his own plans, or 
watched its course to learn how it could be conciliated, or to note 
the time when its relaxation, or its errors, should invite a repeti- 
tion of the efforts which it had embarrassed. He was too right- 
minded and too kind-hearted to despise any man's good will or 
good opinion ; but he sought public favor by no arts but honest 
labors for the public welfare, as he was far above regarding 
public favor as the price that was to stimulate or to requite those 
labors. When, from time to time, the place of highest dignity 
was assigned to others, he addressed himself, wdth no sense of 
mortification and with unabated zeal, to the tasks of humbler 
station. He knew how with dignity to meet injustice and slights, 
as well as how to hold power and receive applause with sober- 
ness and modesty. Vindictiveness was an emotion unknown to 
him, resentments had no resting place in his bosom. He judged 
candidly ; he forgave without an effort ; he loved to win back the 
offended by graceful overtures and prompt amends; and per- 
sonal discontents could not withdraw him from alliance that 
would help him to promote the public good. So gentle was his 
nature that no bitterness mingled with, or was excited by, the 
severest exercise of his official authority ; men who had suffered 
severely from his action as magistrate— Coddington, Wheel- 
wright, Williams, Vane, Clark —were afterward in friendly cor- 
respondence with him. In private relations and intercourse, the 
qualities that superficially denote the gentleman were eminently 
his. His genuine sense of honor suspected no intention of of- 
fence. Just, frank, cordial, and ready to every expression of 



THE WINTHROP FAMILY 999 

respect and courtesy, he gave to all their due, whether in great 
or in little things. Gracious and humane, he never, by rudeness 
or self-assertion, gave pain to an inferior. A tender husband 
and father, his public cares never made him forgetful of the ob- 
ligation of domestic ties. "What remains of his private corres- 
pondence is an affecting record of that union of excellence which 
attracts love as much as it commands veneration. His ability 
ought to be estimated by the amount of what it projected and 
what it achieved. His scheme of public action had been so well 
considered that no complication of affairs found him unpre- 
pared with principles which were to solve it; and, in the quaint 
phraseology of his age and sect, he used to express as occasion 
prompted the profoundest doctrines of social science. His com- 
prehensive system of politics embraces a long range of the fu- 
ture. Not magnificence, nor inordinate power, was what he de- 
sired for the community which he was establishing, but freedom, 
security, competence, virtue, and content. The founders of 
dynasties have hitherto commanded the world's most noisy plau- 
dits. But the time will come when the men who have created 
happy republics will be thought worthy of higher praise." 

"All effects have remote and slowly operating causes. I do 
not forget that various agencies must be combined to produce an 
important political result; but to my view the New England 
campaign of 1775-1776, the movement of John Adams and his 
compeers for independence eighty-four years ago, and— conse- 
quent upon those transactions— the latter product of self-gov- 
ernment in America, are, to Winthrop's administration, some- 
thing like what the fruit is to the blossom." 

"The Beginnings of New England," by John Fiske, 1892, 
page 102 : 

' ' For governor the choice fell upon John Winthrop, a wealthy 
gentleman from Groton, in Suffolk, who was henceforth to occu- 
py the foremost place among the founders of New England. 
Winthrop was at this time forty-one years of age, having been 
born in the memorable year of the Armada. He was a man of 
remarkable strength and beauty of character, grave and modest 
intelligent and scholar-like, intensely religious and endowed with 
a moral sensitiveness that was almost morbid, yet liberal withal 



1000 THE WINTHROP FAMILY 

in his opinions and charitable in disposition. When his life shall 
have been adequately written, as it never has been, he will be 
recognized as one of the very noblest figures in American his- 
tory. From early youth he had the same power of winning con- 
fidence and commanding respect for which Washington was so 
remarkable; and when he was selected as the Moses of the Puri- 
tan Exodus, there was a wide-spread feeling that extraordinary 
results were likely to come of such an enterprise." 

Bancroft's "History of the United States": 

"It was principally the calm decision of Winthrop which sus- 
tained the courage of his companions. In him, a yielding gen- 
tleness of temper and a never-failing desire for unity and har- 
mony were secured against weakness by deep but tranquil en- 
thusiasm. His nature was touched by the sweetest sympathies 
of affection for wife, children, and associates. Cheerful in serv- 
ing others and suffering with them, liberal without repining, 
helpful without reproaching, in him God so exercised His grace 
that he discerned his own image and resemblance in his fellow 
men and cared for his neighbor like himself. He was of a socia- 
ble nature, so that 'to love and be beloved was his soul's para- 
dise'; and works of mercy were the habit of his life. 

"Parting from affluence in England, he unrepiningly went to 
meet impoverishedment and premature old age for the welfare 
of Massachusetts. His lenient benevolence tempered the bigotry 
of his companions without impairing their resoluteness. An 
honest royalist, averse to pure democracy, yet firm in his regard 
for existing popular liberties ; in his native parish a conformist, 
yet wishing for 'gospel purity'; in America, mildly aristocratic, 
advocating a government of 'the least part,' yet desiring that 
part to be 'the wiser of the best'; disinterested, brave, and con- 
scientious,— his character marks the transitive of the reforma- 
tion into virtual republicanism, when the sentiment of loyalty, 
which it was still intended to cherish, gradually yielded to the 
irresistible spirit of civic freedom." 

Cotton Mather's "Magnalia": 

"Let Greece boast of her patient Lycurgus, the law-giver, by 
whom diligence, temperance, fortitude, and wit were made the 
fashions of a therefore long-lasting and renowned common- 












. 









THE WINTHROP FAMILY 1001 

wealth; let Rome tell of her devout Numa, the law-giver by 
whom the most famous commonwealth saw peace traimphing 
over extinguished war and cruel plunders, and murders giving 
place to the more mollifying exercises of his religion. Our New 
England shall boast and tell of her Winthrop, a law-giver as 
patient as Lycurgus, but not admitting any of his criminal dis- 
orders; as devout as Numa, but not liable to any of the heathen- 
ish madness; a governor in whom the excellence of Christianity 
made a most improving addition into the virtues wherein even 
without those he would have made a parallel for the great men 
of Greece or of Eome which the pen of Plutarch has eternized. " 

(To be continued) 









Chapters in the History of Halifax, 
Nova Scotia 

Sir John Wentworth and the Duke of Kent 

By Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton, M. A., D. C. L. 

No. IV 

Here "Wentworth and his Tory compeers eame 
When fierce rebellion rent the neighboring land, 
Foes to the foes of England and her King. 

Acadian Ballads. 

A woman of fashion and wit and grace, 
The Governor's wife, of Portsmouth town, 
From Copley's canvas still looks down 
Beautiful Lady Wentworth 's face. 

Acadian Ballads. 

IN September, 1775, after proroguing the New Hampshire As- 
sembly at the Isles of Shoals, Mr. John Wentworth, last roy- 
al governor of this New England province, found it neces- 
sary to flee in haste from his home in Portsmouth to the shel- 
ter of the King's troops in Boston. Among the notable fam- 
ilies of New England before the Revolution not a single one 
stands out more conspicuously than the New Hampshire Went- 
worths. Descended from the finest English stock they early 
planted themselves in America, and here brought into exercise 
the high qualities of intelligence, energy, dignity, and courtesy 
that by nature, the heritage of generations of high-bred ances- 
tors, were theirs. Both Longfellow and Whittier have celebrated 
the family in charming verse, Whittier, especially, in his " Amy 
Wentworth, ' ' of whom he says : 

(1002) 












,*..."'": . • ;' : :. 



• 












THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 1003 

"Her home was brave on Jaffrey Street, 
With stately stairways worn 
By feet of old Colonial knights, 
And ladies gently born. 

"Still green about its ample porch 
The English ivy twines, 
Trained back to show in English oak 
The herald's carven signs. 

"And on her from the wainscot old 
Ancestral faces frown,— 
And this has worn the soldier's sword, 
And that the judge's gown." 

The romantic second marriage of Benning Wentworth, first 
Royal Governor of New Hampshire as a separate colony, furnish- 
ed the subject, also, for Longfellow's poem, "Lady Wentworth," 
the poet's tale in "Tales of a Wayside Inn." In this poem Long- 
fellow followed closely the account given by Brewster, which 
runs thus : "The Governor invited a dinner party, and with many 
other guests, in his cocked hat comes the beloved Rev. Arthur 
Browne [Rector of Queen's Chapel, Portsmouth]. The dinner 
is served up in a style becoming the Governor's table, the wine is 
of good quality, etc. In due time, as previously arranged, Mar- 
tha Hilton, the Governor's maid servant, a damsel of twenty 
summers, appears before the company. The Governor, bleached 
by the frosts of sixty winters, rises : 'Mr. Browne, I wish you to 
marry me. ' * To whom % ' asked the Rector in wondering surprise. 
'To this lady,' was the reply. The Rector stood confounded. The 
Governor became imperative: 'As the Governor of New Hamp- 
shire I command you to marry me. ' The ceremony was performed 
and Martha Hilton became Lady Wentworth." 1 

With a poet's license, Longfellow has given Martha Hilton 
Wentworth a title that was never hers, Lady Frances Went- 
worth was the only "Lady Wentworth" this continent has ever 
known. Moreover, the Wentworth family history says that Mar- 



I. This second marriage of Governor Benning Wentworth took place 
March 15, 1760. On the 19th of December, 1770, two months after her elderly 
first husband's death, Martha Wentworth became the wife of a retired English 
army officer, Col. Michael Wentworth, one of the English Wentworths, who 
settled in New Hampshire and the rest of his life shared the comfortable for- 
tune his distant relative, the Governor, had left. 



1004 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

tha was not servant but young housekeeper to the Governor, she 
being only twenty-three while her elderly lord was sixty-four. 

John Wentworth 's grandfather, John, was Lieutenant Gover- 
nor of New Hampshire before that Colony became separated from 
Massachusetts. Among his sons were Governor Benning Went- 
worth, born July twenty-fourth, 1696, graduated at Harvard Col- 
lege in 1715, who became as we have said the first royal governor 
of New Hampshire as an independent colony; Mark Hunking 
Wentworth, an eminent merchant in Portsmouth and a represent- 
ative to the legislature, whose son was Governor John Wentworth 
of Portsmouth and Halifax; and Samuel Wentworth, father of 
Governor John's wife, Lady Frances. 

Governor John Wentworth was born at Portsmouth, August 
ninth, 1737, graduated at Harvard College, in the class with 
President John Adams, in 1755, took his master's degree in 1758, 
and in a short time became, like his father and his uncle Benning, 
a leading merchant in Portsmouth. From the standing of his 
family in New England and with the administration in England, 
and through strong qualities in himself, having already acquired 
political influence, when in 1767, on account of age and infirmities 
his uncle Benning resigned the governorship, he was at once ap- 
pointed in his place ; to the governorship being added the office of 
Surveyor of the King's Woods for all North America. On the 
11th of November, 1769, at Queen's Chapel, Portsmouth, the Rev. 
Arthur Browne united in marriage Governor John and his first 
cousin, Frances, the remarkable fact being that exactly a fort- 
night before the lady had become the widow of another first cou- 
sin of both her and John, young Theodore Atkinson, to whom she 
had been married less than eight years. 2 

For nine years John Wentworth administered the government 
of New Hampshire, entertaining lavishly in his comfortable town 
house on Pleasant street, Portsmouth, and his roomy cottage at 
Wolfeborough, and until his Tory sympathies showed themselves 
was generally liked by the New Hampshire people. At last, how- 



2. It is said that on the day he married Frances (Wentworth) Atkinson 
to her cousin, John Wentworth, Rev. Arthur Browne fell down some stone 
steps and broke his arm. Until the appointment of his son, Marmaduke 
Browne, as assistant missionary he was the only Anglican clergyman in New 
Hampshire. Rev. Arthur Browne was an Englishman. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 1005 

ever, his quick response to Gage's appeal for workmen from his 
province to help build barracks at Boston for the British troops, 
which appeal had become necessary by the refusal of the Boston 
carpenters to assist in the work, sealed his own fate and that of 
his government, and he had to leave Portsmouth by the back en- 
trance and through the garden of his house. "With his wife and 
infant son, on the frigate Scarborough he fled to Boston, 3 and 
from Boston, in 1776, sailed with Howe's fleet for Halifax, his 
wife and child having previously left on the ship Julius Caesar 
for England. 

In April, 1776, Mr. Wentworth was at Halifax, in November he 
was at Long Island; in January, 1777, he was in New York City, 
and in May of the same year he was at Newport, R.I. In February, 
1778, he went to England, and there he remained until August, 
1783, 4 when as Surveyor General of all the woods in North Amer- 
ica that remained to the King, with a salary of seven hundred 
pounds a year, he sailed for Halifax, which he reached on the 
20th of September. On the 25th of November, 1791, Governor 
Parr died at Halifax, and late in April or early in May, 1792, Mr. 
Wentworth was appointed Governor of Nova Scotia. At this 
time he was in England, and Saturday, May 20th, he reached 
Halifax in his Majesty's frigate Hussar, commanded by Rupert 
George. 5 On Sunday he disembarked and was received by a de- 



3. "His Excellency John Wentworth, Esq., Governor of the Province of 
New Hampshire, with his Lady and son, is arrived here in his Majesty's ship, 
Scarborough, Captain Berkley." Massachusetts Gazette, and Boston Post Boy 
and Advertiser, for September 7, 1775. 

"Governor Wentworth has left his retreat at the mouth of the Piscataqua 
river, and taken refuge at Boston, with the rest of the Tories.*' Boston-Gazette 
and Country Journal, September 11, 1775. 

In a letter from Halifax, dated September 23, 1783, Dr. Mather Byles says 
that Governor Wentworth and Lt. -Governor Edmund Fanning arrived at Hali- 
fax from England, September 20, three days before. December 30th, of the same 
year, Dr. Byles dined with Governor Wentworth. 

4. It is said that in 1778 Mr. Wentworth was also in Paris, and that one 
night on leaving the theatre he encountered President Adams. The latter soon 
recognized his Harvard classmate, but it is prettj' clear, as. we may well believe, 
that he did not give him a very cordial greeting. Friendship, however, proved 
stronger than political rancour, and the two men, in spite of the antagonism in 
their political views, whenever they met afterwards met as friends. On this par- 
ticular occasion, ''not an indelicate expression." writes President Adams, ''to us 
or to our country or our ally escaped him. His whole behaviour was that of an 
accomplished gentleman." 

5- It seems impossible that his commission as Governor could have been 
issued May 14th, since he reached Halifax May 20th, "after a voyage of five 
weeks from Falmouth," but so a printed record reads. 



1006 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

tachment of the 21st Regiment, and by the Royal Artillery, who 
saluted him with field pieces on the Grand Parade. To Govern- 
ment House he was escorted by the acting secretary of the Prov- 
ince, Mr. J. M. Freke Bulkeley, and on Monday at one o'clock was 
sworn into.oi^ce, a salute of fifteen guns being fired by a party of 
Royal Artillery drawn up on the Parade. Addresses of congratu- 
lation and welcome were then presented him by the magistrates, 
the bishop and his clergy, and many societies and individuals. 

In May, 1795, Governor Wentworth was created a baronet, 6 
and on Sunday, the 31st of that month, the Duke of Kent with all 
the officers of the garrison attended a levee at Government House, 
where congratulations were showered upon Sir John first, and 
then on Lady Wentworth in her drawing room. Sir John's ad- 
ministration, of the Nova Scotia Government lasted until 1808, 
when he resigned, and was succeeded by Sir George Prevost, 
Bart. From the time of his retirement until his death, April 
eighth, 1820, at the age of eighty-three, he enjoyed a pension of 
five hundred pounds a year. Although Sir John was a native of 
Portsmouth his wife, Lady Frances, was not. Her parents, Sam- 
uel and Elizabeth (Deering) Wentworth, were important mem- 
bers of the aristocratic society that on occasion ' ' trooped in full 
tide through the wainscotted and tapestried rooms, and up the 
grand old winding staircase with its carved balustrades and its 
square landing places" of the famous Province House, of Boston, 
"to do honor to the hospitality of the martial Shute, the courtly 
Burnet, the gallant Pownall, or the haughty Bernard, ' ' and that 
knelt with proper reverence on Sundays in the high-walled square 
pews of King's Chapel, where the Rev. Henry Caner, D. D., or 
his assistants the Rev. Charles Brockwell, or the Rev. John 
Troutbeck, said Morning or Evening Prayer. Samuel Went- 
worth, who was a merchant of prominence, died in 1766, but in 
the Revolution his whole family were Royalists, and their lives 
generally after the evacuation of Boston may be learned from 
the Wentworth family history. 

During most of Sir John's governorship of ]STova Scotia Lady 



6. The Wentworth family history says that at this time he was "further 
honoured with the privilege of wearing in the chevron of his arms, two keys, as 
the emblem of his fidelity." 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 1007 

Wentworth was with him in Halifax, her charms leading not a 
little colour to the somewhat sombre social life of this cold pro- 
vincial capital. In England, however, both she and Sir John had 
attached themselves to the well known titled English Wentworth 
families, the Rockinghams, Straffords, and Fitzwilliams, and with 
the last of these, the Earl and Countess Fitzwilliam, Lady Fran- 
ces, and her son Charles Mary, had a long and intimate friend- 
ship. In England, in close intercourse with these noble kinsmen 
of hers, much of Lady Wentworth 's later life was spent, and it is 
said that Sir Charles Mary in his last years lived with the Fitz- 
williams. 

In July, 1798, Lady Frances Wentworth was presented at 
court by Countess Fitzwilliam, and Queen Charlotte was so 
charmed with the handsome Colonial that she had her appointed 
lady-in-waiting, at a salary of five hundred pounds a year, with 
the privilege of residing abroad if she wished. 

Sir Charles Mary Wentworth, Sir John's only legitimate child, 
named for his God-parents, the Marquis and Marchioness of 
Rockingham, 7 spent very little of his life in Halifax. He was 
graduated at Oxford, acted as private secretary to Lord Fitzwil- 
liam when the latter was Lord of the Treasury, and at his fath- 
er's death succeeded to the baronetcy. He died unmarried, at 
Kingsland, Devon, April tenth, 1844, and the baronetcy granted 



7. Sir Charles Mary Wentworth, Bart., was born at Portsmouth, January 
20. 1775- On that event, his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Samuel Wentworth, 
wrote her sister, Mrs. Nathaniel Ray Thomas, then in Boston, the following 
letter. 

"Portsmouth, February 2, 1775. 
"My Dear Sister, 

"I had the pleasure to receive your favour of the 10th December, in which 
you make no mention of any from me. I wrote some time past and trust it met 
your hand. Mrs. Wentworth is safe in bed with a fine, hearty boy, with another 
blessing added, in being able to nurse him herself. I need not attempt to tell 
you the pleasure this child has brought with it to all its connections. The Gov- 
ernor's happiness seems to be complete ; and had a young prince been born there 
could not have been more rejoicing. The ships fired their guns. All the gentle- 
men of the town and from the King's ship came the next day to pay their com- 
pliments. The ladies followed, and for one week there were cake and caudle 
wine, etc., passing. I forgot to mention that this young gentleman made his ap- 
pearance on the 20th January, and this house has been full ever since. Adieu, 
my dear sister, and be assured you have not a more affectionate one than 

"ELIZABETH WENTWORTH. 

"To Mrs. Nathaniel Ray Thomas, Boston." 
Mrs. Nathaniel Ray Thomas, it will be remembered, with her husband and 
family, came at the Revolution to Windsor, Nova Scotia, and there spent the rest 
of her life and died. 















>i 






























1008 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

his father then became extinct. Sir John had ambitions for his 
son in Nova Scotia and June sixteenth, 1801, had the latter, then 
in his twenty-sixth year, sworn as a member of the council. In 
this dignified body the young man sat in 1801, 1S02, and 1803, but 
in March, 1805, bis father reported his seat vacant, and it is 
doubtful if he was ever in Nova Scotia after that. When his un- 
cle Benning died in Halifax in 180S, Charles Mary was appointed 
to the vacant Provincial Secretaryship and the Registry of Pat- 
ents and Deeds, Mr. Michael Wallace being appointed Deputy 
Provincial Secretary. Three months after his appointment Sir 
John retired from the government and the son never personally 
assumed the office. 8 When Sir Charles Mary died he left his cou- 
sin, Mrs. Catherine Gore, the authoress, twenty-three thousand 
acres of land in Nova Scotia, including the famous "Prince's 
Lodge," and also the papers, plate, and pictures he had inherited 
from his father. 

Sir John Wentworth's town house in Portsmouth, as we have 
said, was on Pleasant Street. It is yet standing, a comfortable 
old Colonial house, still pointed out with pride by the Ports- 
mouth people. His house at Wolfeborough, burned the year of 
his death, was a hundred feet long, and forty-five feet wide, with 
five barns near it, and a large farm about it in which Sir John 
took great pride. In Portsmouth Sir John lived in much state, 
his stable containing the very considerable number of sixteen 
horses. In Halifax he and Lady Wentworth made Government 
House the centre of a social life on the whole more brilliant than 
Halifax has probably ever had since. As we have said in a pre- 



8. In place of Charles Mary Wentworth, Mr. Samuel Hood George was 
made Provincial Secretary in 1808. Mr. George held the office until 1813, when 
he died. See the writer's monograph on the Cochran family, p. 8. Admiral Sir 
Rupert George, then a junior officer in the navy, a young Irishman, married in 
Halifax, in 1782, Margaret, eldest daughter (by his first wife) of Hon. Thomas 
Cochran of Halifax. The Georges had eight children, of whom Samuel Hood, 
born in 1789, was the eldest, and Rupert Dennis, born October 9, 1796, was the 
third. 

As has been mentioned above, Sir John Wentworth was graduated at Har- 
vard in 1755, and took his Master's degree there in 1758. He was also made a 
Master of Arts by Princeton College in 1763; an LL.D. by the University of 
Aberdeen in 1764, and by Dartmouth College in 1773; and a D. C. L. by Oxford 
University in 1766. Sir Charles Mary Wentworth, received his A. B. from Ox- 
ford in 1796, and his A. M. from the same university later. An honorary A. M. 
was also given him by Harvard in 1801. He was further created a D. C. L. 
by Oxford in 1806. 





























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DUCHESS OF KENT 


• 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 1009 

vious chapter, Lady Wentworth 's cousin, young Nathaniel Ray 
Thomas, Jr., once wrote: " There have dined at Government 
House between December 12, 1794, and October 29, 1795, two 
thousand, four hundred, and thirty-seven persons.' ' There is a 
story told of Governor John in Portsmouth, that one day a coun- 
tryman met him among his horses. "They say," said the rustic, 
"that Johnny is short and thick and fond of wine, but on the 
whole a pretty clever sort of fellow. How I should like to see 
him!" The Governor soon asked him to step into the house, 
where the man to his great confusion learned who his companion 
was. Among the early entertainments given by the Wentworths 
at Government House, in Halifax, was one on Sunday, August 
12th, of the year of Sir John's appointment. On that day, the 
birthday of the Prince of Wales (afterward King George the 
Fourth) Governor Wentworth gave a grand dinner to the officers 
of the army and navy and many gentlemen of the town. During 
the evening, Government House was brilliantly illuminated. 

December 20th of the same year, from the Gazette newspaper 
we learn that, i ' On Thursday evening, the Lieutenant Governor 
and Mrs. Wentworth gave a ball and supper to the ladies and 
gentlemen of the town and the officers of the army and navy, 
which was altogether the most brilliant and sumptuous entertain- 
ment given by the Wentworths. The company being assembled 
in the levee room at eight o 'clock, the bands which were very num- 
erous and excellent, played 'God save the King' three times over, 
after which the country dances co mm enced, two sets dancing at 
the same time. The whole house was open— every room illumi- 
nated and elegantly decorated. There was a room set apart for 
cotillions, above stairs, for those who chose to dance them, and a 
band provided on purpose for it. During the dancing there were 
refreshments of ice, orgeat, capillaire, and a variety of other 
things. At twelve the supper room was opened, and too much 
cannot be said of the splendor and magnificence of it; the ladies 
sat down at table and the gentlemen waited upon them. Among 
other ornaments, which were altogether superb, there were exact 
representations of Hartshorne and Tremain's new flour-mill, and 
of the windmill on the Common. The model of the new lighthouse 
at Shelburne was incomparable, and the tract of the new road 



1010 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

from Pictou was delineated in the most ingenious and surprising 
manner, as was the representation of our fisheries, that great 
source of the wealth of this country. To all these inimitable orn- 
aments corresponding mottoes were attached, so that not only- 
taste and .elegance were conspicuous, but encouragement and gen- 
ius were displayed. The viands and wines were delectable, and 
mirth, grace, and good humor seemed to have joined hands to cel- 
ebrate some glorious festival ; but this was only for the friends of 
the Governor and Mrs. Wentworth. When the ladies left the sup- 
per-room the gentlemen sat down to table, when the governor 
gave the several loyal toasts, with three times three, and an ap- 
plicable tune was played after each bumper, which had an ad- 
mirable effect. At two o 'clock the dancing recommenced, and at 
four the company retired. That ease, elegance, and superiority 
of manners, which must ever gain Mrs. "Wentworth the admira- 
tion of the whole community; and that hospitality, perfect good 
breeding and infinite liberality which so distinguish the charac- 
ter and conduct of our beloved and adored Governor never shone 
with more lustre than on this occasion, when every care of his and 
Mrs. Wentworth's mind seemed to be to give one universal satis- 
faction. Everything tended to promote one sympathizing joy, 
and never was there a night passed with more perfect harmony 
and luxurious festivity. ' ' 

At some time early in his official career in Halifax Governor 
Wentworth purchased land and erected a small villa a few miles 
north of the town. To the villa he gave the name, suggested by 
Komeo and Juliet, "Friar Laurence's Cell," and there, until the 
Duke of Kent came, he probably in summer lived. This place 
was leased by his Royal Highness on his arrival, and the house 
greatly enlarged, and in it in considerable state, with Madame de 
St. Laurent, during his stay the Duke for the most part lived. Of 
the Prince 's Lodge, as the place came to be called after the Duke 
left, the late Dr. Thomas B. Akins has given the following graphic 
account: "This beautiful little retreat/ ' he says, "had been 
erected by Prince Edward on the land of the Governor, Sir John 
Wentworth. The grounds were laid out and improved at con- 
siderable expense under his direction. The Rotunda, or music 
room, on the opposite side of the road, next the water, surrounded 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 1011 

by the rich foliage of the beech groves, and surmounted by a 
large gilded ball flashing in the sunlight, presented a beautiful 
and picturesque appearance on the approach to the Lodge. The 
villa was built altogether of wood, consisting of a centre of two 
stories containing the hall and staircase, with a flat roof. There 
were two wings containing the Duke's apartments. In the rear was 
a narrow wooden building with pointed gothic windows, resem- 
bling a chapel, containing the kitchen and offices, which extended 
some distance southward beyond the main building. The group- 
ing of the beech and birch trees around the house was well ar- 
ranged. They were the original forest trees, selected and per- 
mitted to stand in clearing away the space for the buildings. The 
rooms were not spacious and the ceilings were low, as appears to 
have been the fashion of building in Halifax at the time. 

"The woods around were very beautiful. They were tra- 
versed by walks, and in several places by a carriage road with 
vistas and resting places where little wooden seats and several 
imitation Chinese temples were erected. Several of these small 
summer houses were in existence in 1828 and probably later, and 
portions of them could be seen through the openings in the trees 
on passing the main road. The Duke erected a range of low build- 
ings on the edge of the Basin, a little to the north of the Rotunda, 
which were occupied by two companies of his regiment, and con- 
tained the guard-room and a mess-room for the officers. This 
building was afterwards known as the Rockingham Inn, a favor- 
ite resort in Summer, when tea and ginger beer were to be had 
under the piazza which ran along the edge of the water. * ' 9 

In September, 1795, Sir John and Lady Wentworth made a 
tour of the western part of Nova Scotia and on this occasion some 
now forgotten poet of Granville, Annapolis County, composed 
and printed the following poem. 



9. The Rockingham Club was established either while the Duke of Kent 
was resident in Halifax or very soon after his leaving for Canada. Its members 
were Sir John Wentworth, the whole of his Majesty's Council, the Admiral on 
the station, several of the principal military officers, and a number of leading 
civilians. One of these latter was the Rev. Dr. Stanser, Rector of St. Paul's, 
another the Hon. Andrew Belcher, both of whom had villas on the Basin. The 
club was partly literary and party social. The members dined together at the 
hotel, about this time named the "Rockingham House," a building erected near 
the Prince's Lodge for the accommodation of the two companies of his regi- 
ment that the Duke of Kent had stationed near him. The name "Rockingham" 
was in compliment to Sir John's English connexions. 


















1 






1012 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

"On Seeing His Excellency Sir John Wentworth Passing 
Through Granville on his Way to Annapolis. 

"When Tyrants travel, though in pompons state, 

Each eye beholds them with indignant hate; 

Destroying angels thus are said to move, 

The objects more of terror than of love ; 

For grandeur can't, unless with goodness joined, 

Afford true pleasure to the virtuous mind. 

But when our loyal Wentworth deigns to ride 

(The Sovereign's fav'rite and the subjects ' pride) 

Around his chariot crowding numbers throng, 

And hail his virtues as he moves along. 

Such high respect shall be conferred on him 

The King delights to honor and esteem, 

Whose loyalty unshaken, spotless fame, 

And social virtues shall endear his name 

In every loyal bosom long to live, 

As our lov'd Monarch's representative." 

The last years of her life Lady Wentworth spent in England, 
and from the spring of 1810 to at least the summer of 1812 Sir 
John was with her there. She died at Sunning Hill, Berks, twen- 
ty-four miles out of London, on the fourteenth of February, 1813, 
but Sir John was then in Halifax. His own last days Sir John 
spent in lodgings at Mrs. Wentworth Fleiger's, on the east side 
of Hollis Street. 10 He died April eighth, 1820, aged eighty-three 
and his remains were deposited in a vault under St. Paul's 
Church. In the church was erected a mural tablet to his memory, 
bearing the following inscription: "In memory of Sir John 
Wentworth, Baronet, who administered the Government of this 
Province for nearly sixteen years, from May, 1792, to April, 
1808. With what success, the public records of that period, and 
His Majesty's gracious approbation will best testify. His un- 
shaken attachment to his Sovereign and the British Constitution 
was conspicuous throughout his long life. ' ' Governor Wentworth 



ia From a letter of Lady Wentworth's written from Morin's Hotel, Lon- 
don, to her nephew, Samuel Henry Wentworth, and dated March I, 1810. we 
learn that she and Sir John had recently crossed the Atlantic and had had a 
hard voyage. On their arrival they had been met by their son. Other letters 
prove that up to July 24, 1812, at least, Sir John was with his wife in England, 
but on her death at Sunning Hill, Berks, February 14, 1813, if not earlier, he 
returned to Halifax and took lodgings at Mrs. Wentworth Fleiger's. 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 1013 

left nine manuscript volumes of copies of his correspondence, ex- 
tending from 1767 to 1808, a period of forty-one years, which are 
now in the Provincial Archives at Halifax. Like many of the 
most prominent Loyalists of the American Revolution, a complete 
history of his life has never yet been written, but it is to be hoped 
that at least his correspondence may some day come into print. 

Of Sir John's character, the Nova Scotia historian, Mr. Beam- 
ish Murdoch in a private letter once wrote: "One thing has im- 
pressed me distinctly in my examinations, viz., that although Sir 
John was ardently attached to the Royal Government, he had a 
great and sincere love for his native land, and disapproved of 
most of the measures that incensed the people and produced re- 
volt. At every step I have been more and more impressed with 
his candor, hospitality, urbanity, constancy, and the affectionate 
nature of the man, evinced toward his kinsfolk, friends, neigh- 
bors, and his country (America), of whose future he was ever 
sanguine. I found the task of following his career as Governor 
of New Hampshire a very pleasing one. The confiscation of his 
estate must have been very painful to him, as he had taken great 
interest in its improvement. ' ' 

There are Copley portraits in existence of both Sir John and 
Lady Frances Wentworth. That of Sir John is a fine crayon, 22 
by 18 inches in size, made in 1769. In it Sir John wears a white 
wig and a light coat and waistcoat. Lady Wentworth 's portrait 
was painted in 1765, when she was nineteen years old. It is a 
three-quarters length portrait and an excellent specimen of Cop- 
ley's work. In it Miss Wentworth sits by a small table holding 
a delicate chain, to which is attached a flying squirrel. This por- 
trait is in the gallery of the New York public library. 11 

The youngest brother of Lady Frances Wentworth was Ben- 
ning Wentworth, and he too, and his family were long distin- 
guished residents of Halifax. Benning Wentworth was born 
March sixteenth, 1757, and baptized at King's Chapel the first of 
the following May, Governor Benning Wentworth, Charles Pax- 



il. Mrs. Archibald McPhedris (Sarah Wentworth), an aunt of Lady 
Frances, was also painted by Copley. Mrs. Theodore Atkinson, another aunt of 
Lady Frances, and Mr. Atkinson (second husband of this aunt), with their son, 
Theodore, cousin and first husband of Lady Frances, were painted by Blackburn- 



1014 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

ton, Esq., and Mrs. Penelope Vassall, being sureties. He was 
graduated at Oxford, married at All Saints Church, Hereford, to 
Anne, daughter of William Bird, of Drysbridge House, and after 
1788, like. his sister, Prances, removed to Halifax. In the north 
part of this city he owned a small place known as "Poplar 
Grove/ ' the place becoming later the property of Col. John Starr, 
M. P. P., 12 and finally having a street cut through it, which was 
named "Starr Street." Before coming to Nova Scotia, Benning 
Wentworth must have lived in New Hampshire, for by an Act of 
Attainder, in 1778, he was proscribed and banished and his estate 
confiscated in that Province. In Nova Scotia, November 12, 179G, 
he was made a member of H. M. Council, thereafter becoming 
Treasurer of the Province. In 1800 he was appointed Master of 
the Polls, Registrar in Chancery, Captain and Paymaster in the 
King's Nova Scotia Regiment, and Provincial Secretary, in 
which last important office he died, February 18, 1808. Benning 
Wentworth and his wife had eleven children, all of whom sur- 
vived their father aud went to England with their mother. One 
of these was Benning William Bentinck Wentworth, R. N., who 
died in England in 1810, aged twenty-one. Mrs. Benning Went- 
worth died at Hereford in 1812. About the Wentworths in Hali- 
fax clustered a group of their distinguished Boston connexions, 
families of Brinleys, Goulds, Monks, and Thomases, some of 
whom came before the Revolution, some about the time that the 
Wentworths themselves came. 

The extraordinary social brilliancy of Sir John Wentworth's 
administration of the Nova Scotia government was enhanced in 
no slight degree by the residence in Halifax during part of the 
period that it covered of His Royal Highness Prince Edward, 
fourth son of King George Third, who while he was stationed in 
Nova Scotia was created Duke of Kent. 13 In 1790, at Gilbraltar, 
the Prince was given command of the 7th regiment of foot (Royal 



12. Colonel John Starr was the writer's great-great uncle. He was father 
of Hon. John Leander Starr, M. L. C. who married for his second wife a Miss 
Throckmorton of New Jersey. A granddaughter of Mr. Starr by this second 
marriage is Mrs. John DuFais, of Newport, Rhode Island, and a grandson, Mr. 
John Starr Hunt, a lawyer in Mexico City. 

13. Prince Edward was born November 2, 1767, he was therefore less than 
twenty-seven years old when he took up his residence in Halifax. When he mar- 
ried he was between fifty and fifty-one. 









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THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 1015 

Fusiliers). In 1793 he was at Quebec, the next year, February 
sixth, he arrived at Boston 14 on his way to the West Indies^ where 
he had been ordered to assume chief command of the troops. In 
the West Indies he remained but a short time, for on Saturday, 
May tenth, 1794, after a voyage of eleven days from St. Kitts, he 
landed at Halifax to take command of the troops on the North 
American station. The afternoon of his arrival, at six o'clock, 
his Excellencv Governor Wentworth waited on His Eoval High- 
ness on his ship and congratulated him on his safe arrival, then 
the Prince and the Governor landed under royal salutes from the 
Blanche and the Earl of Moira, warships, and the great fortress 
above the town. The next Monday a salute was fired from the 
Grand Parade, which was answered by the garrison batteries, and 
on Wednesday there was a crowded levee at Government House, 
and in the evening a brilliant illumination of the town. At the lev- 
ee flattering addresses were presented to the Prince, in which he is 
described as the "heroic offspring of highly revered parents, of a 
king the undoubted father of his people, of a queen the unriv- 
alled pattern of her sex," and as himself having "noble and en- 
gaging qualities of active valour and condescending courteous- 
ness" — with much else of a like extravagant eulogistic sort. On 
Saturday His Eoval Highness, attended by General Ogilvie, mili- 
tary commander, Commodore George of the Eoval Navy, and 
other officers, reviewed the troops stationed in Halifax, behind 
the citadel Hill. On Monday the 26th, Bishop Charles Inglis pre- 
sented the Prince with an address on behalf of himself and his 
clergy, by which we see how completely the Bishop also had lost 
his head in the presence of royalty, and how far gone he had got 



14. A fact of sufficient local interest to be remembered is that on the thir- 
teenth of February, 1794, Miss Nancy Geyer's marriage in Boston to Mr. Rufus 
Amory was graced by the presence of Prince Edward, who on his way from 
Canada to the West Indies was detained in Boston for a few days. Miss Gey- 
er's father, Frederick William Geyer, who lived in Summer street, was a mer- 
chant of much social prominence in the New England metropolis, and his 
daughter's wedding was no doubt a brilliant affair. How the Geyers knew the 
Prince sufficiently well to invite him to the wedding we do not know, but it is 
recorded that they did invite him and that he came with his aides. It is also re- 
corded that he claimed the privilege of kissing the bride and bridesmaids. An- 
other daughter of Mr. Geyer, Mary Anne or Marianne, was married in 1792 to 
Hon. Andrew Belcher, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, son of Chief Justice Jonathan 
Belcher, and became the mother of Rear Admiral Sir Edward Belcher, K. C. B., 
and of Catherine, wife of Charles Maryatt, M. P., and mother of Captain Frederick 
Marryatt, the English novelist 



1016 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

from the possibilityof expressing himself in unexaggerated prose. 
"Your progress Sir," he says "to this part of His Majesty's 
American dominions, has been marked by a variety of hazards. 
Whilst we admired that heroic ardor and intrepidity, which at the 
call of duty and honour led you to spurn every danger from fa- 
tigue through inhospitable wilds, from the extremes of climate, 
from armed enemies, and from others who were secretly hostile, 
we were greatly agitated, and felt the utmost anxiety for your 
safety. Like the celebrated Roman, who is equally memorable 
for the number of his victories and for the celerity of his military 
movements, you flew to the embattled hosts of your enemies ; like 
him, you came, you saw them, you conquered/ ' 

Prince Edward was, as we have said, the fourth son of King 
George the Third and Queen Charlotte, this royal family compris- 
ing no less than seven sons,— George the Fourth, Frederick Duke 
of York, William the Fourth (Duke of Clarence), Edward Duke 
of Kent, Ernest Duke of Cumberland, Augustus Duke of Sussex, 
Adolphus Duke of Cambridge; and besides the King's favorite 
daughter, the Princess Amelia, 15 and we believe four other 
daughters who died young, Charlotte, wife of Frederick, King of 
Wurtemberg, Elizabeth, wife of Frederick, Prince of Hesse Hom- 
burg, and Mary, wife of William Duke of Gloucester. 16 Of the 
coming to Halifax of Prince Edward, the historian Murdoch says : 
"As our colonists were gratified and felt deeply honored by the 
repeated visits of Prince William Henry (afterwards King Wil- 
liam the Fourth, who came here first as a young naval officer, and 
after that in command of a frigate, and were charmed with his 
frank, genial, and simple manners 17 [so] they were dazzled and 



15. Miss Frances Burney speaks affectionately of this child as "that en- 
dearing child . . . the lovely little Princess Amelia." 

16. In all, this prolific royal pair brought into the world fifteen children. 
"Farmer George" may therefore be pardoned, perhaps, for the rigid economies 
with which he is commonly credited. 

17. On Wednesday, October fourth, 1786, Prince William Henry arrived at 
Halifax from St. John's, Newfoundland, in the war-ship Pegasus. On Thurs- 
day morning he landed at the King's Slip, "where the people thronged joyfully 
to see him." He was welcomed on shore by Major-General Campbell and Gov- 
ernor Parr, who conducted him to Government House. On Thursday. June 
twenty-eighth, 1787, he came again, this time from Jamaica, in the Andromeda, 
and was received with great applause. On Wednesday, October twenty- fourth, 
1787, he came the third time, now from Quebec. Beamish Murdoch's "History 
of Nova Scotia," Vol. 3, pp. 50-53, 55, 61. 

On one of Prince William Henry's visits he rode through Windsor and 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 1017 

impressed greatly by the residence of the young prince, Edward, 
who brought with him the personal reputation he had earned for 
great activity and zeal in his military profession. Independently 
of the eclat which his rank gave him, he gained the hearts of the 
civilians by his affability, benevolence, and liberality. His gen- 
erosity was displayed in many ways. He gave employment to 
workmen of every kind— laborers, painters, carpenters, etr\ He 
interested himself sincerely in the welfare of families and indi- 
viduals, and this feeling continued during his life ; for long after 
he bade a final adieu to Halifax, his exertions and influence were 
often used to procure commissions, pensions, or employment for 
persons whose parents he had known while here. He remained, 
in fact, the ready patron of Nova Scotians until his death." 

Soon after the Prince came to Halifax he leased from Sir John 
Wentworth the property out of town we have referred to, 
which ever since the Duke's stay in Nova Scotia has been called 
the "Prince's Lodge." 18 The house in town in which he 
first placed his establishment, and to which he probably 
from time to time returned, was a dwelling in the North 
End that chroniclers describe as a handsome structure, with 
a portico on the front resting on Corinthian pillars. After 
he went away this house became an army hospital, the stables 
in connection with it, which were roomy and large, being used as 
a barracks storehouse and for a garrison library. The villa, sev- 
en miles north of the town, which His Royal Highness rented 
from Sir John Wentworth, originally comparatively small, the 



Kentville to Annapolis Royal, accepting hospitality from several private citizens 
along the way. He left a quieter record in Nova Scotia than in Barbadoes, for 
Leigh Hunt tells us of a certain landlady in Barhadoes who became famous ''in 
Barbadian and nautical annals" for having successfully drawn up a bill of dam- 
ages against His Royal Highness to the amount of seven hundred pounds. The 
Prince, then a wild young naval officer, in a fit of ultra joviality begun at the 
mess of the 49th Regiment had demolished all the good woman's furniture, "even 
to the very beds," and as a concluding act of good nature had upset the staid 
woman herself as he left the house. 

18. In a private letter to John King, Esq., under secretary of state, written 
September 27, 1709, Sir John Wentworth says : The Prince "has entered upon 
his command with infinite activity, and ideas extremely enlarged, since his de- 
parture from here. The arrangement in contemplation promises a plenteous cir- 
culation of money, and improvement in this province. He is now residing chiefly 
at my house near town, which he requested to reoccupy, and I have accordingly 
lent it to him during his stay in Nova Scotia, though I have not another place 
to go to for a day's retirement. However, it must be so! for he wrote to me, 
and now says he has more pleasure in that villa than in any other place out of 
England." Quoted by Murdoch in his "History of Nova Scotia," Vol. 3, p. 181. 



1018 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

Prince enlarged until it became, as we see by engravings of it 
that have come to us, and the description we have already given, 
a spacious residence, somewhat in the Italian style, with exten- 
sive wings at the north and south, and drawing-rooms in the cen- 
tre. The Lodge stood in the middle of a fine open lawn, about 
two hundred yards from the post road which winds around Bed- 
ford Basin, and was flanked by large and well appointed stables. 
Dr. Akins's pleasant picture of it and its surroundings which 
we have reproduced is added to or given a little differently by 
other historians. The Lodge grounds, they say, though rustic and 
retaining a great deal of their primitive wildness, had many 
charming surprises, among these an artificial lake, and several 
little pagoda-like summer houses and " Greek and Italian' ' imita- 
tion temples which stood on elevated mounds among the thick- 
growing trees. In the neighborhood of the Lodge were dwellings 
for mechanics and workmen of various sorts employed on the 
estate and in directly military service, so that the place was like a 
small feudal town. The little Rotunda, containing a single room, 
which was richly frescoed and hung with paintings by the Prince 
himself, was built especially for dancing, and under the narrow 
portico which surrounds this building the Prince's regimental 
band used to play in the afternoons. Prom the house, gravelled 
walks used to stretch in all directions, and there the household 
and their guests used to stroll at leisure on every fine day. On an 
adjoining hill the Prince had a signal station erected, by means of 
which he could send his orders into town, a responsive signal hav- 
ing been erected by his orders on Citadel Hill. 19 



19. Writing of Halifax about 1828, Judge Thomas Chandler Haliburton 
says: "At a distance of seven miles from the town is a ruined Lodge, built by 
H. R. H. the late Duke of Kent, when Commander in Chief of the forces of this 
Colony, once his favorite summer residence and the scene of his munifiicent 
hospitalities. It is impossible to visit this spot without the most melancholy feel- 
ings. The tottering fence, the prostrate gates, the ruined grottoes, the long and 
winding avenues cut out of the forest, overgrown by rank grass and occasional 
shrubs, and the silence and desolation that reign around, all bespeaking a rapid 
and premature decay, recall to mind the untimely fate of its noble and lamented 
owner, and tell of affecting pleasures and the transitory nature of all earthly 
things. It is but a short time since this mansion was tenanted by its Royal Mas- 
ter; and in that brief space how great has been the devastation of the elements. A 
few years more and all trace of it will have disappeared forever. The forest is fast 
reclaiming its own, and the lawns and ornamental gardens, annually sown with seeds 
scattered by the winds from the surrounding woods, are relapsing into a state of 
nature, and exhibiting in detached patches a young growth of such trees as are 
common in the country/' 






THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 1019 



When Prince Edward came to Halifax he was unmarried but 
he brought with him from the West Indies a lady who as much as 
she was permitted by society shared his social responsibilities, 
and who, sincerely attached to his interests and to his person, as- 
siduously ministered to his wants. In Martinique, it is said, the 
Prince found Madame Alphonsine Therese Bernadine Julie de 
Montgenet de St. Laurent, Baronne de Fortisson, and this noble 
Frenchwoman was his companion during his stay in Halifax, and 
afterwards until nearly the time of his marriage to the widow 
who was to become through her alliance with Prince Edward the 
mother of Victoria, England's illustrious and greatly beloved 
queen. In Quebec the Prince had formed the acquaintance of a 
French family named De Salaberry, and this acquaintance rip- 
ened into a very close intimacy, cemented by Edward's patron- 
age of and continued regard for two of the De Salaberry boys, 
Maurice and Chevalier. As a result of this friendship we have 
a small volume of the letters of the Prince to Monsieur de Sala- 
berry, which contain as frequent and familiar references to Ma- 
dame de St. Laurent as if the lady had been the Prince's legal 
wife. When Prince Edward first landed in Halifax he wrote De 
Salaberry regretting that his friend Madame de St. Laurent had 
not yet come, and in almost every succeeding letter "written dur- 
ing his stay he freely couples her name with his own. How the 
Wentworths, at Government House, treated the Prince's mis- 
tress we have never been informed, but there are still historic 
echoes heard in Halifax of the disapproval with which Mrs. Mi- 
chael Francklin, and other conventional ladies (probably like 
Mrs. Francklin of Boston antecedents) regarded the lady who 
presided over the household and assisted in dispensing the hos- 
pitalities of the royal establishment. 

In 1818 the Duke of Kent married, and in that rarely interest- 
ing gossippy narration entitled the i i Creevey Papers ' ' we find a 
conversation recorded between him and Mr. Creevey which took 
place at Brussels the year before, from which we get a glare of 
light on His Royal Highness' state of mind towards matrimony 
and towards the lady who had so long and affectionately shared 
his varied fortunes. Apropos of the future succession to the 
British throne, Prince Edward says: "As for the Duke of York, 

































... 



























1020 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

at his time of life and that of the Duchess, all issue of course is 
out of the question. The Duke of Clarence, I have no doubt, will 
marry if he can, but the terms he asks from the ministers are 
such as they can never comply with. Besides a settlement such 
as is proper for a Prince who marries expressly for a succession 
to the Throne, the Duke of Clarence demands the payment of all 
his debts, which are very great, and a handsome provision for 
each of his ten natural children. These are terms that no Minis- 
ters can accede to. Should the Duke of Clarence not marry, the 
next prince in succession is myself, and although I trust I shall 
be at all times ready to obey any call my country may make on 
me, God only knows the sacrifice it will be to make, whenever I 
shall think it my duty to become a married man. It is now seven 
and twenty years that Madame St. Laurent and I have lived to- 
gether; we are of the same age, and have been in all climates and 
in all difficulties together, and you may well imagine, Mr. Cree- 
vey, the pang it will occasion me to part with her. I put it to 
your own feeling— in the event of any separation between you 
and Mrs. Creevey. ... As for Madame St. Laurent herself, 
I protest I don't know what is to become of her if a marriage is 
to be forced upon me, her feelings are already so agitated upon 
the subject. You saw, no doubt, that unfortunate paragraph in 
the Morning Chronicle, which appeared within a day or two 
after the Princess Charlotte's death, and in which my marrying 
was alluded to. L T pon receiving the paper containing that article 
at the same time with my private letters, I did as is my constant 
practice, I threw the newspaper across the table to Madame St. 
Laurent and began to open and read my letters. I had not done 
so but a very short time when my attention was called to an extra- 
ordinary noise and a strong convulsive movement in Madarne St. 
Laurent's throat. For a short time I entertained serious appre- 
hensions for her safety ; and when upon her recovery I enquired 
into the occasion of this attack she pointed to the article in the 
Morning Chronicle relating to my marriage. 

" From that day to this I am compelled to be in the practice of 
daily dissimulation with Madam St. Laurent to keep this subject 
from her thoughts. I am fortunately acquainted with the gentle- 
men in Bruxelles who conduct the Liberal and Oracle newspa- 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 1021 

pers; they have promised me to keep all articles upon the subject 
of my marriage out of their papers, and F hope my friends in 
England will be equally prudent. My brother the Duke of Clar- 
ence is the elder brother, and has certainly the right to marry if 
he chooses, and I would not interfere with him on any account. If 
he wishes to be King— to be married and have children, poor man 
—God help him! let him do so. For myself, I am a man of no 
ambition and wish only to remain as I am. . . . Easter, you 
know, falls very early this year, the 22d of March. If the Duke of 
Clarence does not take any step before that time I must find some 
pretext to reconcile Madame St. Laurent to my going to England 
for a short time. St. George's day is the day now fixed for keep- 
ing the birthday, and my paying my respects to the Regent on 
that day will be a sufficient excuse for my reappearance in Eng- 
land. "When once there it will be easy for me to consult with my 
friends as to the proper steps to be taken. Should the Duke of 
Clarence do nothing before that time as to marrying, it will be- 
come my duty, no doubt, to take some measures upon the subject 
myself. 

"You have heard the names of the Princess of Baden and the 
Princess of Saxe-Coburg mentioned. The latter connection would 
perhaps be the better of the two, from the circumstance of Prince 
Leopold being so popular with the nation ; but before anything is 
proceeded with in this matter I shall hope and expect to see jus- 
tice done by the Nation and the Ministers to Madame St. Laurent 
She is of very good family and has never been an actress, and I 
am the first and onlypersonwho ever lived with her. Her disinter- 
estedness, too, has been equal to her fidelity. When she first came 
to me it was upon a hundred pounds a year. That sum was after- 
wards raised to four hundred pounds, and finally to a thousand 
pounds, but when my debts made it necessary for me to sacrifice 
a great part of my income, Madame St. Laurent insisted upon 
again returning to her income of four hundred pounds a year. 
If Madame St. L. is to live amongst her friends, it must be in such 
a state of independence as to command their respect. I shall not 
require very much, but a certain number of servants and a ca- 
riage are essentials. Whatever the Ministers agree to give for 
such purpose must be put out of all doubt as to its continuance. I 



1022 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

shall name Mr. Brougham, yourself, and two other people, on he- 
half of Madame St. Laurent for this object. 

"As to iny own settlement, as I shall marry (if I marry at all) 
for the succession, I shall expect the Duke of York's marriage to 
be considered the precedent. That was a marriage for the suc- 
cession, and twenty-five thousand pounds for income was settled, 
in addition to all his other income, purely on that account. I shall 
be contented with the same arrangement, without making any de- 
mands grounded upon the difference of the value of money in 
1792 and at present. As for the payment of my debts, I don't call 
them great. The Nation, on the contrary, is greatly my debtor.'' 

Mr. Creevey's reporting this remarkable declaration of the 
Duke's which was clearly not intended for other ears than the 
first hearer's, causes the editor of his memoirs to say: "It must 
be confessed that his Royal Highness was not very discreet in 
chosing Mr. Creevey as the repository of his confidence in such a 
delicate matter. Creevey seems to have had no scruple in com- 
municating the tenour of the conversation to some of his friends. 
He certainly told the Duke of Wellington. ' ' Mr. Creevey himself 
says somewhat later than the conversation : ' * The Duke of Well- 
ington 's constant joking with me about the Duke of Kent was ow- 
ing to the curious conversation I had with the latter at Brussels 
in the autumn of 1817, the particulars of which had always 
amused the Duke of Wellington very much. ' ' 

It would be interesting to know the details of the tragical part- 
ing between the Duke and Madame de St. Laurent when at last 
Prince Edward determined fully for state reasons to sacrifice in- 
clination to duty and give up his mistress for a wife, but no such 
details have been vouchsafed to the world. The last notice we 
have of Madame de St. Laurent is in 1819. Sometime in that 
year Major-General de Rothenburg writes Lieutenant-Colonel de 
Salaberry sententiously : "Madame de St. Laurent has retired to 
a convent." 

In 1798 the Duke of Kent had a troublesome accident in Hali- 
fax. On the eighth of August of that year he was riding fast 
across a little wooden bridge somewhere in the town, when a 
plank gave way and his horse fell, coming with all his weight on 
the rider's leg and thigh. Prince Edward suffered much from 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 1023 

the fall, but continued to perform his military duties until Octo- 
ber, when on the urgent advice of Dr. John Halliburton, the phy- 
sician of the naval hospital, and Dr. William James Almon, the 
leading civil doctor, in concurrence with a Dr. Nooth of Quebec, 
he decided to go to England for treatment. On the thirtieth of 
November he reached Portsmouth, and in England he remained 
until August, 1799. On Friday the sixth of September of this 
year he once more reached Halifax, and here he stayed until early 
in August, 1800, when with many expressions of good-will 
towards the people, and attended by sorrowful regrets on their 
part, he finally sailed away. On Sunday, August third, he em- 
barked in the warship Assistance, the garrison forming a double 
line through which, attended by the Governor, the members of the 
Council, and the naval, military, and civil officials, he passed to 
the King's wharf. As he went through the town salutes echoed 
and people crowded to the tops of the houses to cheer the depart- 
ing royalty on his way. On the thirty-first of August he landed 
at Portsmouth, England, again. On the 29th of May, 1818, he 
married at Coburg her Serene Highness Victoria Mary Louisa, 
widow of Emich Charles, Prince of Leiningen, the ceremony be- 
ing repeated on Monday, the thirteenth of the following July, in 
the Queen's drawing room in England, in presence of many mem- 
bers of the Eoyal family. On the same occasion the Duke of Clar- 
ence married the Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Coburg Meiningen. 
In Prince Edward's life at Halifax there is much to remind one 
of the simple homeliness of the life at Windsor of his father, 
plain "Farmer George." The King used to get up at unseason- 
able hours and march round in his shovel hat to poor people's 
cottages, he played backgammon every evening regularly with the 
dull people of his dull court, while the equerries "yawned them- 
selves to death in the ante-room"— Prince Edward, we are told, 
used often in Halifax to put his own hand to the jack-plane and 
drive the cross-cut saw, and there was little in the doings either 
of his troops or his ordinary workmen that he did not personally 
oversee. If he was deficient in the strict virtue of his mother, 
who Thackeray tells us regarded all deviation from the strict path 
of conventional morality with absolute disfavor and "hated poor 
sinners with a rancour such as virtue sometimes has," he at least 



t 

























































1024 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

had a large share of his father's energy and his father's simple, 
homely tastes. 

The great and lasting service the Duke of Kent did for Halifax 
was to put its defences on a solid foundation. He had not been a 
great while in Halifax when through the governor he called for 
help from the militia in constructing the great citadel and 
strengthening and rendering more impregnable the various har- 
bour forts, and these works, with other industries which he stimu- 
lated, soon told greatly on the prosperity of the town. Mingling 
freely and affably with the citizens, at the entertainments at Gov- 
ernment House and probably in other social ways, he gained the 
thorough good-will of the Halifax people, and when he finally left 
the Province his going was attended with much more than per- 
functory regret on the part of all classes in the maritime town. 
Whether he did anything in Halifax for the education of the chil- 
dren of the soldiers there we do not know, but he is said to have 
been the first commander of a regiment in the whole British army 
to establish a regimental school. So highly were his efforts for 
the education of soldiers' children appreciated, that in 1811, at 
the Free Masons' Tavern in London, the following resolution, 
moved by Lord Lansdowne and seconded by Lord Keith, was 
unanimously adopted : ' ' That the respectful thanks of this meet- 
ing be presented to H. R. Highness the Duke of Kent, whose 
friendship to soldiers ' children has been shown in that princely 
liberality with which H. R. H. has established a school in the 
Royals, as Colonel of that Regiment, and set an example which it 
is hoped will be universally followed by military commanders, 
and thereby promote the welfare of and do honour to the charac- 
ter of the British army. ' ' 

In spite of the general amiability which won Prince Edward 
an enduring place in the affections of the Halifax people, and has 
done much to keep his memory fragrant in Nova Scotia even to 
the present time, 20 in his military discipline the Duke of Kent 



20. Prince Edward is said to have had the faculty, (as had also his daughter, 
Queen Victoria) of never forgetting a face. He was always ready to return, with 
apparent friendship, the greetings of any persons he met. At his dinners, though 
of course much of the recognized royal etiquette was observed, every one felt 
comfortable and at home. In Halifax he encouraged dramatic performances, and 
Murdoch says that during the winters of his stay in the town plays seem to have 
been given about once a fortnight. As an evidence of his amiability, DeGaspe tells 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 1025 

was a martinet, and sometimes, one cannot help believing, in his 
punishments almost criminally severe. In the journal of Dr. Al- 
non, who was the leading medical practitioner of Halifax at the 
time of the Prince's stay, we find mentions of an appalling num- 
ber of case? -of illness and death among the soldiers of the Sev- 
enth Eoyal Fusiliers, the direct result of the severe punishments 
inflicted by his orders, and at the Lodge is still shown a burrow or 
cave in which tradition says he kept a soldier confined for two or 
three years until he died. It is recorded that he ordered for one 
poor fellow a thousand lashes on his bare back, and that once or 
twice in Halifax a soldier committed suicide from fear of the ter- 
rible punishment he had sentenced him to undergo. In the use of 
cards and drink in the army the Duke was very strict, in order 
to discourage gambling he never touched cards himself, and to 
promote temperance both in the army and in civil society he used 
great moderation in wine. To prevent drunkenness in his regi- 
ment he used to make his men get up at five o'clock in the morn- 
ing for drill, which regulation of course precluded their being 
away from barracks in Halifax bar-rooms late at night. At this 
early morning drill he used to be present regularly himself. 

The severity of the Duke of Kent's discipline we may attribute 
partly to inherited traits, partly to the inflexible training he had 
received in Hanover, and partly to the almost utter lack of sym- 
pathy he seems to have found in his royal father and his 
carousing brothers. The Dukes of Clarence, Cumberland, and 
Cambridge, all appear to have received from Farmer George 
some proper share of consideration, but poor Prince Edward was 
early sent away from home, and during his fourteen successive 
years of foreign service, in the Mediterranean, Canada, the West 
Indies, and Nova Scotia, was kept on a starvation income, and 
allowed to contract debts which for many years made life for him 
a burden. He was, we believe, one of the best of George the 
Third's sons, and why the old King or indeed Parliament, should 



us that once, when His Royal Highness was in Quebec he went to the Isle of Or- 
leans to see an old woman, a centenarian. Having talked to her for some time he 
asked her if he could confer any pleasure on her. "Yes," said the old lady, "I 
should like to have you dance a minuet with me, that I may be able to say before 
I die that I have danced with the son of my Sovereign." The Prince at once com- 
plied with her wish and after the dance, conducted her to her seat and bowed gal- 
lantly, the old lady curtseying low in return. 



1026 THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 

have permitted him to live most of his life under a heavy burden 
of debt it is quite impossible to tell. It is stated in a pamphlet 
published sometime after 1815, called "A detailed statement of 
the case of His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent," that Mr. Pitt 
shortly before his death became thoroughly aroused to Prince 
Edward's necessities and took great blame to himself for not hav- 
ing considered his case earlier. Mr. Pitt's death, however, put an 
end to any hope the Prince may have had from that quarter, and 
so, appeals to his spendthrift brother the Prince of Wales being 
met with prompt refusal, at last in 1815 he tried to get permis- 
sion to sell by lottery Castle Hill, the only piece of property he 
owned, in order to raise sorely needed ready cash. From first to 
last he seems to have had a hard time. His earliest military 
training was received in Hanover under an execrable man, Baron 
Wagenheim, whom his father persisted in keeping as his tutor, 
but whom the Prince himself, no doubt quite properly, once char- 
acterized as a " mercenary tyrant. ' ' "When he was twenty, he was 
removed from Hanover to Geneva, a better place, but one he 
found so utterly uncongenial that as soon as he came of age he 
resolved to go to England (without leave) and try by personal 
remonstrance to get that consideration which his father had hith- 
erto wholly denied him. Accordingly, he went to London and 
took up his quarters at an hotel, where he was at once visited by 
his brother the Prince of Wales. Together the two went to Carl- 
ton House, and were there joined by another brother, the Duke 
of York, who undertook to communicate Prince Edward's arrival 
to the King. The King's anger was terrible. He refused to see 
the Prince, and in a few days sent him written orders to proceed 
within twenty-four hours to Gibraltar. On the night before he 
left, his royal father deigned to see him for a few minutes, and 
this was the first time the King and his son had met for six 
years. 21 



21. Of George the Third himself, Leigh Hunt says: "He was a very brave and 
honest man. He feared nothing on earth, and he acted according to his convictions. 
But, unfortunately, his convictions were at the mercy of a will far greater than his 
understanding; and hence his courage became obstinacy, and his honesty the dupe 
of his inclinations." He possessed "an extraordinary mixture of domestic virtue 
with official duplicity; of rustical, mechanical tastes and popular manners, with the 
most exalted ideas of authority; of a childish and self-betraying cunning, with the 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 1027 

In spite of the Duke's extreme severity with his soldiers and 
his strictness regarding their conduct, the following amusing 
story is told of him. One evening in one of the Halifax streets he 
suddenly came upon one of his men who was much under the in- 
fluence of drink. Staggering towards his colonel, the soldier joc- 
osely said : ' i Aha Neddy, you Ve caught me at last ! ' ' The Duke 
was amused at hearing once more his old nursery name, and 
laughing a little to himself passed on without even reprimanding 
the man. Prince Edward had a special fondness for young men, 
and many a youth who afterward rose to high rank in the army 
owed his earliest promotion to the good offices of the Duke. 22 It 
is said that the 7th Royal Fusiliers needed severer regulations 
than other regiments, for the Duke had filled it with good look- 
ing fellows, many of whom had little but their fine physical ap- 
pearance to recommend them. 

The friendship of Prince Edward for Sir John and Lady Went- 
worth was of a very intimate and enduring character. When 
Mr. Wentworth received his baronetcy in 1795 the Prince, as 
we have seen, with all the officers of the garrison, went to 
Government House in due form to offer his congratulations, 
and it is evident that no important function given by Sir 
John while the Duke was in Halifax was neglected by this 
royal soldier. When the ocean came to divide the Went- 
worths and him the correspondence between the friends 



most stubborn reserves; of fearlessness with sordidness ; good nature with unfor- 
givingness; and of the health and strength of temperance and self-denial, with the 
last weaknesses of understanding, and passions that exasperated it out of its reason/' 

22. One of Prince Edward's proteges and warmest admirers in Halifax, among 
the young men of the period, was Brenton Halliburton, who began life as a lieu- 
tenant in the Duke's regiment, the 7th Fusiliers. In later life, as Chief-Justice of 
Nova Scotia, Sir Brenton wrote of the Prince: "A tale of woe always interested 
him deeply, and nothing but gross misconduct could ever induce him to abandon any 
one whom he had once befriended." Another Nova Scotian who was taken into the 
7th Fusiliers was young Charles Thomas, son of Hon. Nathaniel Ray Thomas, one 
of the Boston refugees in Halifax (who finally settled in Windsor, Nova Scotia). 
Charles Thomas was accidentally shot by a brother officer in a road-house near Hal- 
ifax, in August, 1797, and the Prince mourned him as a personal friend. At Lieu- 
tenant Thomas's funeral his commander is said to have shown much feeling, and a 
little later he had a tombstone erected in St. Paul's burying-ground, bearing the fol- 
lowing inscription: 

This Stone | sacred to the memory of | Lieut. Charles Thomas I of f His 
Majesty's | Royal Fusilier Regiment I who departed this Life | on the 16th of Au- 
gust, 1797 I aged 24 years I is placed as a Testimony of | His Friendship and Es- 
teem I by j Lieut. General His Royal Highness | Prince Edward | his Colonel. 



1028 



THE HISTORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA 



did not cease, and when at last the Prince had married 
and his illustrious daughter was born, Sir John sent his own and 
Lady Wentworth's congratulations in due form. To Sir John's 
letter the Duke replied : "I have received your kind congratula- 
tions on' the birth of our little girl, which you may be sure I highly 
appreciate, as coming from the heart of one of my best and old- 
est friends. You will, I am sure, be pleased to hear that the 
Duchess has been able to suckle her child from the first to the 
present moment, and that both are doing wonderfully well." 
When Lady Wentworth died, the Duke wrote Sir John express- 
ing his sorrow, and ending with: "I look forward anxiously to 
the time when I shall receive you again at Castle Hill, and retain 
you there as a guest.' ' 




This picture of the author is from a 
carte -de-v'isitc photo taken in Birm- 
ingham (now Derby), Conn., early in 
1861. 




Recollections of a Mali Century and More 

BY ANDREW M. SHERMAN, MOBRISTOWN, N. J. 

VI 

My Boyhood in New England 

(Continued) 

"^ HE coming of Barnum's Circus to Birmingham was 
considered an extraordinary event, by the boys es- 
pecially ; and not the least pleasure experienced by us 
was that of rising early in the morning so as to welcome 
the grand parade as it emerged from the long covered "Hunt- 
ington bridge" into Birmingham, and afterward following the 
parade through some of the principal streets to the circus 
grounds on the broad meadows between Birmingham and Derby 
on the left hand side of "the causeway " going toward the latter 
place. It was a one ring circus, it is true, but the performance 
"the great showman' ' gave each year was sufficient to draw large 
numbers of the town's people ; and from the surrounding country 
for a distance of ten miles the people nocked to attend "the 
greatest show on earth.' 9 . 

Among the people drawn from the country in every direction 
was a man who was annually the center of attraction outside the 
tents before the circus opened. This man not only carried hay- 
seed in his uncombed hair but he shed the unmistakable odor of 
hayseed about him. He couldn't have been more than five feet 
and four inches in height and to add to his otherwise peculiar ap- 
pearance he was unfortunately decidedly bowlegged in both legs ; 
so bowlegged, indeed, that a good sized fox— I repeat the remark 
of a witty observer —could have run between his legs without 

(1029) 





















. 












1030 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

touching on either side. He was truly "a sight to behold" be- 
cause of his deformity. 

But this deformity was not, by any means, the most conspicu- 
ous characteristic of this countryman from ''away back." He 
was also what is by some termed a "skycraper" and by others 
"a skygazer;" that is to say, instead of looking straight ahead 
like people in general he looked, or seemed to be looking, sky- 
ward, the explanation of which is that his eyelids fell down so as 
to nearly half cover the balls of his eyes, and he was therefore 
obliged to look upward in order, so to speak, to look straight 
ahead as others do. 

As if the peculiarities already mentioned were not sufficient to 
make this countryman a conspicuous mark for the crowds attend- 
ing Barnum's circus he was "everlastingly" eating peanuts. 
With his chin held high in the air and with his eyes apparently 
pointed skyward he would perambulate the circus grounds in 
every direction— evidently determined to get his money's worth 
by "taking in" everything to be seen— before the circus opened, 
meanwhile chomping peanuts as if that was the only season of 
the year he was permitted to indulge in this luxury ; and an in- 
expensive luxury it was in those days, for if my memory is not at 
fault, peanuts were only five cents a quart at the time. This coun- 
tryman was everywhere visible— although apparently oblivious 
to the attention he was attracting— and wherever he was seen he 
was gazing skyward and chomping peanuts. I do not believe he 
ever missed attending Barnum's circus, and he had come to be 
regarded by the boys, at least, as a part of "the show." 

I must not omit mentioning an experience a small boy once had 
with Columbus, the giant elephant of which I spoke in a former 
article. 

During one of the annual visits of Barnum's circus to Birm- 
ingham, this boy, thinking to have "some fun," approached the 
big elephant, who was chained to the trunk of a tree on the 
grounds, and for a few minutes opened and fed peanuts to the 
animal, which was something Columbus was very fond of. At a 
moment when the attention of the elephant was fixed upon the 
peanuts, the boy slyly gave the animal a piece of plug tobacco, 
and hastily retreated backward as if anticipating some retaliation 



. 









RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 1031 

on the part of Columbus. As soon as the elephant discovered 
what the boy had given him he spit it out, at the same time exhib- 
iting his disapproval of having been fed ' ' the vile weed. ' ' 

The keeper of Columbus having in some way learned what the 
boy had fed -to the elephant, walked up to him, and said: "My 
boy, you must never go near Columbus again ; if you do, he will 
punish you in some way, for he will never forget that you fed 
him tobacco. ' ' 

The following year Barnum's circus came to town again and 
again pitched its tents on the same grounds as previously. The 
giant elephant was, as usual, chained to the trunk of a tree, near 
the river's bank. At this point the river was only about a foot in 
depth and the bottom of the river was stony. The boy who the 
year before had fed Columbus the plug tobacco was on hand for 
the circus and evidently for some "more fun," and, as we shall 
see, he had the ' ' fun, ' ' but not in exactly the same form he had 
anticipated. 

The keeper of Columbus seeing and remembering the boy and 
his experience with the elephant the year before again warned him 
to keep away from the animal; but the boy "on mischief bent" 
couldn't quite understand how a dumb beast of the elephant tribe 
could remember anything that occurred twelve months before; 
so, after a while the boy cautiously approached Columbus, and 
perceiving no signs of recollection or of anger on the part of the 
animal, began to open and feed him peanuts again. The shrewd 
animal accepted enough of the peanuts from the boy to allay any 
latent fears the latter might have, and when the unsuspecting boy 
was within reaching distance of the animal he quietly, and with 
great care, wound his long trunk about the boy's body, turned 
toward the river, only a few feet away, held the frightened boy 
for a few moments over the water as if to give him time to pre- 
pare himself for the fall, and then dropped him into the river. 
The fall, was so slight— the elephant evidently not wishing to 
seriously injure his last year's tormentor— that the boy received 
no injury save a thorough wetting. As soon as the boy recovered 
his self possession he scrambled to his feet and hurried out of 
reach of the animal who had so judiciously punished him. The 
lesson had never again to be learned by this boy. He had had all 



1032 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

"the fun" he wished with an elephant; and he was once for all 
convinced that an elephant, as Columbus ' keeper had told him, 
never forgot an injury done him. And it might well be added, 
that this animal never forgets a kindness done him, neither. 

Phineas T. Barnum wns not only the prince of showmen in his 
day but he was a man of great natural ability, and had he been 
educated in statecraft he would probably have ranked with the 
most eminent statesmen in American history. Not the least in- 
teresting feature of "the greatest show on earth" was the ap- 
pearance of Barnum in the ring before the beginning of the per- 
formance, when and where he. made a brief address worthy of a 
trained public speaker. Strange as it may seem to not a few 
who may read these lines he was also a man of most excellent 
character and hence commanded the respect of all who were ac- 
quainted with the showman. 

Barnum 's small beginnings as a showman may not be known 
to all of Americanos readers, so I may be pardoned if the follow- 
ing incidents are here related : He began his remarkable career 
as a showman in Bethel, Connecticut, where he was born of hum- 
ble parents, by giving shows in a stable, for which he charged a 
small admission. It is related that the young showman once ad- 
vertised among the attractions to be exhibited "a cherry colored 
cat;" and on entering the stable the highly expectant patrons 
saw a black cat, such as most of them had frequently seen ; and 
the joke of the thing, as Barnum explained it, was, that the cat 
on exhibition was a black cherry colored cat. 

On another occasion the young showman advertised to exhibit 
"a horse whose tail was where his head ought to be;" and on en- 
tering the stable the people saw a horse tied in a stall with his 
tail inward next to the manger and his head pointed outward into 
the stable; and the people had a hearty laugh over the "curi- 
osity." 

From such small beginnings Barnum became the prince of 
showmen, and a showman, as all his patrons conceded, who al- 
ways gave them more than they paid for. 

While the following episode in the career of the great show- 
man may be considered out of chronological order this seems to 
me to be an appropriate place to relate it: Barnum, as some, at 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 1033 

least, of the older readers of Americana may recall, was three 
times burned out in New York City, and all within a few years. 
His losses must have been very great, enough, indeed, to crush 
the spirit of most men. After the third fire he gathered a new 
circus and •menagerie with new and beautiful accessories and 
many fine horses. I chanced to be in New York one day soon 
afterward and had the pleasure of witnessing his show parading 
Broadway. On one of the largest and handsomest wagons in the 
parade were the words, painted in conspicuous and artistic fash- 
ion: "MyAmbition Survives the Fire!" The effect of these 
words, in view of his repeated losses and his heroic recovery 
therefrom, was. truly thrilling; and now, after the lapse of the 
intervening years, the effect of those brave words furnish an 
inspiration to perseverance amid the embarrassments and losses 
which, in one form and another, come to us all- 
Sheldon Lake was the name of one of the eccentric characters 
living in the vicinity of Birmingham when I was a boy; but I'll 
venture to express the opinion that his most intimate acquaint- 
ances would have been under the necessity of thinking more than 
twice before recognizing the man by that cognomen. If, however, 
he was spoken of as "Shel Lake" everybody within a radius of 
twenty miles or more of Birmingham knew, in the twinkling of 
an eye, who was meant. 

"Shel Lake" was about six feet in height and being "long, 
lean and lank" resembled a bean pole in appearance. His cloth- 
ing, which hung like a bag on a broomstick, looked as if it had 
been worn since the year Columbus didn't make a landing on the 
main land of North America ; and if I was requested to describe 
"Shel's" toggery as to its neatness I should ask to be excused. 

Well, "Shel Lake" almost invariably appeared on the streets 
of Birmingham with a worse-for-the-wear violin and bow under 
his arm— he called the thing he lugged around with him a "fee- 
die"— and everybody who spoke of the thing he carried about 
with him also referred to it as a "feedle." "Shel" was usually 
willing to play most anywhere for the few cents he gathered from 
his charitable listeners ; but his favorite place for sawing on his 
"feedle" was in barrooms, where he usually received as compen- 
sation a few drinks of something that limbered up his elbows and 



1034 RECOLLECTIONS OE A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

added vehemence to the manipulations of his "feedle." " Hello, 
here comes 'Shel Lake' and his ' feedle' " was a frequent and fa- 
miliar remark elicited by his approach. He was as good natured 
as the day is long, hence the oft repeated efforts of the small boys 
to tease him by inquiring, as they met him on the streets : "How's 
your ' feedle' this morning, 'Shel' "; or " 'Shel,' where 'd you get 
that coat?" the tail of which, by the way, was approximately 
where the waist ought to have been. But this boyish raillery only 
elicited a broad smile, and some humorous reply that threw the 
questioner off his guard; for "Shel" was well endowed with 
Yankee wit. 

"Shel Lake" had two sisters, the name of one of which, abbre- 
viated, was "Sal." "Sal" was ailing one day, and on the arrival 
home of her brother— they lived up the "river road" about two 
miles from Birmingham— she was reclining on a lounge. It was 
nearly dinner time, but no dinner was on the table awaiting, as 
usual, "Shel's" hunger. Seeing his sister on the lounge exhibit- 
ing signs of pain, and glancing at the table, minus the expected 
dinner, and then glancing again at "Sal" he exclaimed: "Git up 
an' peel the taters, 'Sal,' 'an' don't be layin' there gaspin' for 
breath.' " Not that "Shel" was hardhearted, not at all; but he 
did not realize the seriousness of his sister's illness. But "Sal" 
didn't get up and "peel the taters" that day, and a physician was 
soon called to treat her. Who peeled the * ' taters ' ' during the sis- 
ter's illness I was never informed; perhaps "Shel" took a hand 
in the peeling rather than go without his regular meals. 

In Birmingham, when I was a boy, was a son of Erin named 
John Collins— "Johnnie Collins" he was popularly called. He 
was as goodnatured as could be and bubbling over with genuine 
Irish wit. The boys were very fond of ' ' Johnnie Collins. ' ' I must 
say, however, that he was decidedly superstitious, as the follow- 
ing incident will illustrate : In one of the large mills in the lower 
part of the village was a wide, swiftly running leather belt used 
in propelling some of the machinery. It was favorite sport of 
some of the boys, including the writer, to fill an empty soda water 
bottle with fine steel filings from one of the machine shops in the 
village; place a small steel rod in the bottle of filings, join hands 
in a circle and hold it up close to the running belt. The electric- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 1035 

ity drawn from the swiftly running belt would pass through the 
entire circle of boys, causing no little amusement because of the 
shock received from the current. 

Thinking to have a little extra "fun" the boys once invited 
our friend, "Johnnie Collins' ' to join them "at the belt," which 
invitation he innocently accepted. Having all joined hands as 
usual, with Collins included, one of the boys held the steel rod of 
the bottle up close to the belt, and the entire circle, of course, 
received a smart electric shock. The instant Collins felt the shock 
he suddenly and with considerable effort unloosed his hands from 
the circle and, with an exclamation indicative of his fright, rushed 
away from the scene of his mysterious experience ; and nothing 
could thereafter induce "Johnnie Collins" to come within several 
feet of the revolving belt. Indeed, I do not believe a yoke of oxen 
could have drawn him near enough to that mysterious leather 
belt to reach out and touch it. Even now, as I recall the rapid 
flight of our friend from the Emerald Isle from that belt I in- 
wardly laugh. No doubt my old time friend, J. Clarence Hub- 
bard, of Shelton, Connecticut, remembers the incident related 
above and I '11 venture to say that as he recalls it his face is con- 
siderable elongated, sidewise. 

If "Johnnie Collins" was afraid of the electricity drawn from 
the leather belt in the woolen mill in Birmingham he was not 
afraid of powder and minnie balls, for on the outbreak of the 
Civil War he enlisted in one of the regiments furnished by ' \ The 
Nutmeg State" and served his adopted country faithfully. 

During a visit to the scenes of my boyhood in Birmingham a 
few years after the close of the war for the Union I called upon 
Mr. Collins at his home, and we laughed over the amusing episode 
at the leather belt in the woolen mill ' ' Bef o ' de wah. ' ' I presume 
my old friend Collins has found rest and peace in paradise ere 
this. 

When I was about fifteen years of age one of my boy friends 
and I concluded, after due consultation, to embark in a little 
business for ourselves in the hope that it might eventually assume 
such large proportions as to yield a generous income for each of 
us and in due course make us wealthy. So we procured a dozen 
small, round wooden boxes, more or less ; mixed a recipe for gold 



" 












1036 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

and silver polishing powder we had found perhaps in an almanac ; 
filled the boxes, pasting a handwritten label on each box, and in 
due course started out one day early in the morning to sell our 
wares. We chose the outlying country for our field of operations. 
Full of bright expectations we left our homes on that beautiful 
Saturday morning; but after travelling several miles and calling 
at a score of houses on the way we disposed, as near as I am 
able to recall, of one box of our superior gold and silver polishing 
poivder. The remainder of our stock in trade we brought back 
to our homes and never again attempted to offer it for sale to an 
unappreciative public. 

My partner in the business venture above mentioned was 

, but perhaps I had better not give his name for fear his 

relation, after his decease, may scramble for a portion of the 
wealth he accumulated from the sale of superior gold and silver 
polishing poivder in the days of his youth in the "Nutmeg State. " 

My partner in the business venture above described doubtless 
remembers our experience in the polishing powder business, and 
when he reads these lines, as he almost certainly will, for Ameri- 
cana goes to his address each month, I'll wager half a pint of 
peanuts he '11 not be able to keep a long face as he is reminded of 
our little business scheme that " flashed in the pan." 

While a boy in Connecticut, my father, then a resident of 
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, visited Birmingham. During his 
visit he and I went through an old, abandoned copper mill in the 
lower part of the village which had in former years done a flour- 
ishing business. The reader will doubtless remember that I have 
previously remarked that my father in the latter part of his life 
was a skillful pattern maker with a national reputation. Unknown 
to me he had, many years before his visit to the "Nutmeg State," 
made the patterns for some of the machinery in the old copper 
mill in Birmingham; and as we passed from one portion of the 
large mill to another, examining the dust covered machinery, his 
eye rested upon an immense cog wheel once used in the manufac- 
ture of copper for the trade. This cog wheel must have been 
fully ten feet in diameter. My father almost instantly exclaimed : 
"Andrew, I made the pattern for that cog wheel!" Amazed that 
he should be able to say this, I at once inquired: "Why, father, 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 1037 

how do you know you made the pattern for that cog wheel!" To 
my inquiry he replied: "My son, I should know a piece of ma- 
chinery made from one of my patterns if I saw it in Japan." It 
is needlesa for me to add that the remainder of our visit to this 
old copper mill was rendered still more interesting as the result 
of our little conversation about the big cog wheel ; and it is still 
a pleasure to recall our stroll through the old copper mill so many 
years ago. 

Methodism, when I was a boy in Birmingham, was a radically 
different thing, so far, I mean, as its outward manifestations 
were concerned, from what it is now. As examples of the mani- 
festations of Methodism during my boyhood in New England I 
will mention the following : 

Among the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 
Birmingham was Jesse Beecher, a local preacher. I remember 
him as a sincere follower of Jesus Christ; indeed, no one who 
knew brother Beecher doubted his sincerity. During revival 
meetings in the church with which he was connected he became 
very much exercised over what he considered the lost condition of 
those in the meetings who had not united with the church ; and in 
praying for those in the meeting who were along in years he made 
use of substantially the language following: "0 Lord! convict 
and convert the aged persons for whom we pray ; they have one 
foot in the grav— er and the other all but— ter." I need not say 
that the young people in the meeting were greatly amused, and 
the unique phraseology of brother Beecher 's prayer on the occa- 
sion referred to was not soon forgotten by those who listened 
to it. 

In the same church was a member named George W. Cheese- 
man, a prosperous business man of Birmingham. Aside from his 
occasional Methodistic manifestations— "antics," some staid 
Congregationalists called them— brother Cheeseman was a man 
of more than ordinary intelligence ; indeed, I am of the opinion 
that he had received at least a fair education. 

During a revival meeting, when the fervor of the brethren was 
at white heat, and while brother Cheeseman was engaged in 
prayer, he made use of substantially the following language : "0 
Lord, come down! come down in great power! come down, if it 






' 






1038 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

takes the shingles off the roof of the church! I'll pay for them! 
I'll pay for them!" And he was able to pay for them, and would 
have done it had it been necessary. But the revival meetings in 
progress were successful, as success was then conceived, and 
brother Cheeseman was not called upon to replenish the shingles 
on the roof of the church in which he worshipped. 

I have no doubt that if brothers Beecher and Cheeseman were 
living in the Twentieth Century they would both have a good 
hearty laugh over the manifestations of old-fashioned Metho- 
dism, and over their own unique manifestations in the days long 
since gone. 

It may have been when I was about sixteen years of age that I 
began to be active in amateur theatricals in Birmingham. A dra- 
matic club composed of boys of about my own age was organized, 
which, after no little discussion, was named "The Thespian 
Club." This club was organized for the purpose of presenting 
plays in our public hall, known as "Nathan's Hall," because of 
the name of the sole owner, a shrewd Welshman, who for many 
years had been employed in a copper mill in Ansonia, a thriving 
manufacturing village about two miles to the northward of Birm- 
ingham, at which latter place Mr. Nathans resided. I cannot 
make mention of all the plays our dramatic club brought out, but 
I can mention two or three of the most interesting ones. 

One of the most popular of the plays our dramatic club pre- 
sented was ' ' Paddy Miles ' Boy, ' ' an exceedingly funny farce. In 
the production of this farce we had the assistance of an English- 
man named "Tom" Gardner, who, in his native country, had 
been identified with theatrical companies as a comedian, but who 
was, at period suggested, a resident of Birmingham. It was 
"Tom" Gardner to whom the part of Paddy Miles' Boy was as- 
signed, because of his familiarity with "the lines." Owing to a 
scarcity of young ladies to take women's parts in our plays we 
were sometimes under the necessity of utilizing one or more of 
the boys of the dramatic club to personate the part of women. 
In presenting the farce of "Paddy Miles' Boy," for example : J. 
Clarence Hubbard, or * * Clare, " as he was popularly called, was 
assigned the part of a woman. With the aid of a lady friend 
"Clare" was properly dressed for the part he was to enact. His 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 1039 

costume included, in accordance with the prevailing custom of 
the day, a large hoop skirt. ' ' Clare ' ! managed quite well with his 
feminine attire with the sole exception of the hoop skirt; and 
among the amusing incidents in connection with the presentation 
of the farce in public was the fact that while attempting during 
the performance to cross from one side of the stage to the other 
he caught one of his shoes in the wires of the hoop skirt, and be- 
fore he could extricate the toe of his shoe from the skirt he had 
made quite a scene before the alert audience— a scene, by the 
way, that was not laid down in the text of the play. The amuse- 
ment caused by this special scene was not confined to the audience 
for the performers behind the scenery were all thrown entirely 
off their equilibrium in hearty laughter. In spite of the strenu- 
ous efforts of the stage manager to compose " the players" a per- 
ceptible " hitch" in the performance occurred. But the sympa- 
thetic audience accepted the "hitch" as a part of the farce and 
refrained from any overt act of disapproval. The farce caused 
great amusement for the audience, due, chiefly, it is only just to 
remark, to the excellent manner in which our English friend por- 
trayed the leading character of Paddy Miles ' Boy. 

In one of the scenes of the farce above mentioned Paddy Miles ' 
Boy, when very hungry, ate, or "gobbled it down," as he ex- 
pressed it, a bowl of starch which had been prepared for starch- 
ing the week's washing; and in subsequently relating, in the 
course of the play, the occurrence, he declared that by reason of 
the starch hardening in his stomach he became "as stiff as a 
stake!" It was a long time before "Tom" Gardner heard the 
last, on the streets and elsewhere, of his having become i ' as stiff 
as a stake, ' ' after ' ' gobbling down ' ' a bowl of starch, when hun- 
gry. 

As for my old time friend, "Clare" Hubbard, I'll venture the 
remark that the first, last and only time he ever enacted the part 
of a woman "in a play" was the occasion on which he got the toe 
of one of his shoes tangled in a hoopskirt on the stage in ' * Nath- 
an *s Hall," in old Birmingham. 

Another play brought out by "The Thespian Club" of Birm- 
ingham was entitled "The Wreckers," an English production. 
I recall that in presenting this play we had on the stage an excel- 
























i 



1040 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

lent representation of the hull of a sailing vessel, including a por- 
tion of the rigging, which added greatly to the realism of the 
play. To assist us in the presentation of "The Wreckers" we 
had the efficient services of another Englishman named Jackson, 
who had been but a short time in this country. Mr. Jackson not 
only coached us in our rehearsals but he furnished music for our 
public performances. He was an entire orchestra in himself ; by 
which I mean, that because of his proficiency as a violinist and 
because also of his having, in the old country, played in a theatre 
orchestra, he was qualified to furnish music for ' L The Wreckers ' ' 
with such fine effect as to add very greatly to its acceptance by 
the audience. 

Before coming to this country Mr. Jackson had in some way 
lost every finger on his left hand up to, but fortunately not includ- 
ing, the third joint, the thumb only of that hand remaining unin- 
jured. The left hand, as the reader will please be reminded, is 
the hand used by the violinst in "fingering" the strings and mak- 
ing the various tones required in playing the "king of instru- 
ments." And yet, with only those stubs of fingers remaining Mr. 
Jackson was a splendid performer on the violin. 

At our public performances, Mr. Jackson, instead of sitting 
in front of the stage in sight of the audience, as an orchestra us- 
ually does, took a position behind the curtains— for we had all 
the necessary accessories of the theatre— where he could watch 
the progress of the play being enacted, and as was needed would 
introduce appropriate music. The excellent music thus furnished 
by Mr. Jackson beside effectually supplementing the play was 
also an inspiration to the performers, and thus greatly assisted in 
making our plays acceptable to the audience. Our English friend 
was as deeply interested in our performances as the members 
of the club, entering enthusiastically into the details of the play, 
and thus, in a sense, becoming "one of us;" for this and other 
reasons we became very much attached to him. 

I must not forget to mention that Mr. Jackson was an excellent 
machinist, and in Birmingham he was employed in the large roll- 
ing mill, most of the time, in turning down, in a great lathe con- 
structed for the purpose immense steel rollers used in rolling out 
red hot iron into plates of varying width and thickness. This 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 1041 

was work that required an expert machinist. I used now and 
then to go to the department of the rolling mill where our Eng- 
lish friend was employed and chat with him, which I could prop- 
erly do, for the rollers he turned down revolved so slowly that our 
conversation did not interfere with the performance of his duty. 
I can see him now, standing in front of his great lathe, looking 
now and then, as was necessary, at the slowly revolving roller, 
and occasionally, as was needed, readjusting the finely tempered 
steel chisels used in turning down the rollers. 

Mr. Jackson's end was a most unfortunate one, however, the 
circumstances of which, concisely related, were as follows : The 
wife of his youth and the mother of several grown up children was 
called from her earthly home. After a suitable length of time he 
married a widow. The only daughter of this widow by a former 
husband had previously married a young man in town, and a son 
was duly born to them. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson made their home 
with the young couple. Of the grandson, by marriage, Mr. Jack- 
son was exceedingly fond. When his grandson was four or five 
years of age Mr. Jackson became insane ; and, calling the boy to 
him one day he took him on his knee, as had been his custom, 
drew a knife from his pocket and cut the boy's throat. Mr. Jack- 
son then cut his own throat with the same knife. Both died. This 
sad incident is a most striking illustration of the saying, that an 
insane person who does violence to another almost invariably se- 
lects as a victim one for whom he has cherished a special fond- 
ness. 

I still remember with affectionate regard our English friend! 

Among the violin specialties of Mr. Jackson was the following : 
He would take the ring end of a brass or composition key between 
his front teeth, place the other end lightly against the bridge of 
the violin, and while executing some pathetic piece of music he 
would speak through the key the words "Mama, Mama," in 
well nigh perfect imitation of a small child uttering this endear- 
ing word. The effect of this performance was tear-impelling, 
and he was frequently requested by his numerous appreciators to 
repeat "the Mama" selection, which he usually did, for he was 
a most kind-hearted man. 

With what great pleasure do I remember the coming of 


















' 









1042 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

"Wyatt's Theatrical Company" to Birmingham, and their pre- 
sentation of the dramatization of Harriet Beecher Stowe's won- 
derful story of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which, as the readers of 
Americana' ar e aware, is considered by millions to have done 
more to bring slavery in this country into disrepute and to hasten 
its passing away than any other single agency. The characters 
of Uncle Tom; Little Eva; Topsy, who "jest growed up;" Le- 
gree, the brutal slave driver, and others introduced in the thrill- 
ing drama, stand out before my "mind's eye" as distinctly, al- 
most, as if I had witnessed the presentation of the play only last 
week. How, as a boy, did I loathe Legree ; with what deeply sym- 
pathetic interest did I follow "poor Uncle Tom" as the object of 
the cruel lash, in his devotion to the members of the southern 
family by whom he was owned and his final deliverance from the 
"ills his flesh was heir to" as a chattel slave; how I wept over 
Eva in her affection for Uncle Tom and as she passed upward 
where there are no black and white— the recollection of the thril- 
ling, softening and uplifting effects of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" as 
presented by "Wyatt's" itinerating theatrical company lingers 
with me after the lapse of many years ! 

George Wyatt, the proprietor of the theatrical company men- 
tioned, was an excessively fleshy man. After his decease and bur- 
ial, his remains, for some reason, were disinterred ; and it was dis- 
covered—so came the report to Birmingham— that he was turned 
on one side in the casket, and his arms showed signs of having 
been gnawed. The explanation given was that he was buried be- 
fore he was dead, and that on discovering this fact he had turned 
in his casket and had gnawed his arms as a means of physical 
sustentation. This and other similar cases have made many peo- 
ple careful about burying their dead until they are certain that 
life has become extinct. 

Another theatrical company that occasionally visited Birming- 
ham in the days of my hopeful boyhood was that known as 
" 'Tom' Hampton's Company;" and among the favorite dramas 
presented by this company during one of its visits was "The 
Poachers," a three act play, as I remember, of the melo-dramatic 
style. Because of my frequent participation in the local amateur 
theatrical performances I had acquired something of a reputation 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 1043 

as a disciple of Thespis. Mr. Hampton having been informed of 
my experience as an amateur Thespian engaged me to take the 
leading character in * ' The Poachers, ' ' and I did so, after careful 
study of ' ' the lines. ' ' While my performance was far from satis- 
factory to me my friends who attended the play predicted a 
bright future for me if I should adopt the stage as a profession. 

Taking the readers of Americana into my confidence for a few 
minutes I will say, that for a few years in my early life I seriously 
contemplated adopting the stage as a profession. As to whether 
I should have succeeded in this profession I will permit another 
to give his opinion. While on a trip to New York City I visited 
the office of Fowler and Wells, the expert phrenologists, then on 
Broadway, for an examination of my head. The examiner, the 
then aged Nelson Sizer, after a thorough examination, said, in 
substance as follows : ' * There are three professions to which you 
are, by nature, adapted. If you wish to make money, enter the 
legal professional; if you wish to make 'a decided hit/ enter 
the theatrical profession, but in view of your temperament I 
would not advise you to engage in this profession, since a large 
proportion of those who follow the theatrical profession are mor- 
ally injured thereby; you are adapted to the ministry, but you 
would not attain to eminence in this profession ; if you should de- 
vote yourself to medical lecturing you would attain to eminence.' ' 

But I didn't adopt the stage as a profession and so very likely 
escaped not a few dangerous pitfalls ; I didn't enter the legal pro- 
fession and haven't made money; I didn't, in accordance with the 
advice of my venerable phrenological examiner, Nelson Sizer, de- 
vote myself to medical lecturing and thereby attain to eminence 
in that important field— although I have always been, as I am 
now, deeply interested in the various lines of thought I should 
naturally have treated had I taken the advice of Mr. Sizer— 
hence I have not attained to eminence as a medical lecturer. I 
have, however, devoted no little time to a study of the various 
lines of thought familiarity with which would have prepared me 
for lecturing upon medical themes ; and, as a result, I will mod- 
estly venture to express the opinion that there are some things 
that some physicians know that I don't know and there are some 
things concerning the general principles of medical practice that 



1044 RECOLLECTIONS OF A HALF CENTURY AND MORE 

some physicians don't know that I might be able to tell them. 

After due meditation, observation and actual experience I am 
of the opinion that Nelson Sizer wasn't far from right when he 
advised me to engage in medical lecturing. Modesty forbids me 
to say more along this line. 

I did enter the ministry, and while I have not attained to emi- 
nence in this profession I have, as my ministerial record will 
show, accomplished practical results, of which, to say the least, I 
am far from ashamed. Further reference to the practical results 
of my ministry will appear at a later stage of my "Recollec- 
tions. ' ' 

But I have been wandering, and must at once return to the 
main path from which I departed. 

It was soon after my appearance in the leading character of 
the play of i ' The Poachers, ' ' in Birmingham, that, through the 
influence of a friend in Paterson, New Jersey, who had formerly 
resided in Birmingham, that I went to Paterson and supervised 
the arrangements for a theatrical performance to be given by lo- 
cal talent. In this entertainment I took, by request, the principal 
characters. 

I have a distinct recollection of having met during my several 
days stay in Paterson a number of young men and women, none 
of whose names, however, I regret to say, do I remember. If 
these articles should come to the attention of any or all of those 
young people it would be a pleasure to hear from them. 

If the friend and former resident of Birmingham is still "in 
the land of the living' ' I should be more than pleased to get in 
touch with him again. 

Paterson, as I recall, was a comparatively small town of a few 
thousand inhabitants when I visited there just before the open- 
ing of the Civil War— or it may have been in 1861, before I be- 
came one of Lincoln's Boys in Blue. 

I was entertained in Paterson at the same boarding house with 
a minister who has since had a long pastorate over one of the 
Presbyterian Churches of that city. I think it was the Rev. 
Charles D. Shaw, D. D., deceased, if my memory serves me. 






I 



Some of the Women who Skilfully Planned 

and Heroically Suffered in the Revolu= 

tion for the Cause of American 

Independence 

BY J. C. PUMPELLY, A. M., L.L. B. 

XV 

Martha BRATTOisr of South Carolina 

At a celebration of Huck's defeat given on July 12, 1839, at 
Braltonsville, York District, South Carolina, the following toast 
was proposed and drank. 

' ' The memory of Mrs. Martha Bratton. In the hands of an infu- 
riated monster with the instrument of death around her neck she 
nobly refused to betray her husband ; and in the hour of victory 
she remembered mercy and as a guardian angel Interposed in 
behalf of her inhuman enemies. Throughout the Eevolution she 
encouraged the Whigs to fight on to the last; to hope on to the 
end. Honor and gratitude to the woman and heroine who proved 
herself so faithful a wife, so firm a friend to liberty. ' ' 

The battle took place fifty-nine years before, on ground within 
a few hundred yards of the residence of Dr. Bratton, whose fath- 
er was one of the victors, and it was here the celebration was 
held. 

This was the first victory of our troops after the fall of 
Charleston, and had a most encouraging effect upon the then de- 
pressed spirit of the people, and thereafter the Whigs took new 
courage and in the end gained the victory. 

It was the wife of Colonel Bratton that showed her hero- 
ism, for when the British officer, Captain Huck, arrived at her 

(1045) 



1046 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

house the night before the battle and rudely demanded that she 
induce her husband to join the royalists, she replied she would 
rather see him remain true to his duty even if he perished in 
Sumter 's army. 

It was then the soldiers seized a reaping hook and threat- 
ened to murder her if she did not give the information they de- 
manded. It was the second officer in command who interposed 
and compelled the soldiers to release her. She then had to min- 
ister to the wants of her enemies who occupied the place. 

After they had eaten Huck and his officers went to another 
house one-half mile away to pass the night, his troops encamping 
around it. Not keeping a sufficient watch Colonel Bratton and 
Captain McClure attacked the enemy at midnight and thoroughly 
routed them. The conflict raged around Bratton 's house and 
Mrs. Bratton made her little son sit within the chimney and while 
there a ball struck the opposite jam and was preserved by him as 
a trophy. The conflict was bloody, but brief for a battle. None 
of the Brattons fell, for as soon as Captain Huck and another 
officer fell his men threw down their arms and fled, and the route 
was completed. 

Grateful that none of her loved ones had fallen and being of a 
most noble spirit, Mrs. Bratton opened her house alike to the 
wounded of either friend or foe and she supplied their wants 
with every attention. 

The "Whigs had made the officer second in command to Huck a 
prisoner, and they were determined to put him to death. As a last 
favor he entreated to be conducted into the presence of Mrs. Brat- 
ton and this was done. Our heroine instantly recognized him as 
the officer who the day before had saved her life, and she pleaded 
so eloquently for his life, that her plea was granted, and she 
thereafter entertained him till he was exchanged. 

Another anecdote is told of Mrs. Bratton. Before the fall of 
Charleston when the want of ammunition was greatest, a supply 
of powder was sent by General Eutledge to Colonel Bratton to be 
secreted and carefully guarded. 

The colonel being away, the wife had the care of the powder. 
Some loyalists informed the nearest British officer of this fact 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 1047 

and lie immediately sent a detachment after the much coveted 
prize. 

As they approached, Mrs. Bratton seeing no chance of saving 
her charge, immediately laid a train of powder from its hiding 
place to where she stood and as the troops came in sight, she set 
fire to the train and thus destroyed the prize they so much co- 
veted. Being threatened with severe punishment by the officer in 
command, if she were the culprit, she replied: "It was I who 
did it, let the consequences be what it will. I glory in having pre- 
vented the mischief contemplated by the cruel enemies of my 
country. ' ' 

Colonel Bratton was prominent in the battles of Rocky Mount, 
Hanging Rock, Guilford, etc., and in most of the skirmishes inci- 
dent to the partisan warfare under General Sumter. 

XVI 

Catherine Schuyler 

Catherine Schuyler, wife of Philip Schuyler, was the daughter 
of John Van Rensselaer " Patroon of Greenbush" a patriot noted 
for his hospitality. He had a residence in Albany and one in Sar- 
atoga, the latter Burgoyne destroyed. 

One of the most remarkable instances of American generosity 
in the War of the Revolution was shown when this captive, Brit- 
ish General with his suit, was received and entertained after his 
surrender at Saratoga by the Schuylers ' whose property he had 
wantonly laid waste. In the words of Madame de Rudesel ' ' all 
these actions proved that at the sight of the misfortunes of others 
we quickly forgot our own. ' ' 

Burgoyne said to General Schuyler: "You are too kind to me, 
one who has done so much injury to you. "Such is the fate of 
war ' ' said the noble-hearted victor, i l let us not dwell on the sub- 
ject/ ' 

Mrs. Schuyler's graceful hospitality so affected the British 
General that with a deep sigh he said : ' ' Indeed Madame this is 
doing too much for the man who has ravaged your lands and 
burned your dwellings. ' ' 

When the continental army was retreating from Fort Edward 



1048 SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 

before General Burgoyne, Mrs. Schuyler went up herself in her 
chariot to Saratoga to see to the removal of her furniture and by 
orders of her husband to set fire to his extensive fields of wheat 
rather than to suffer them to be reaped by the enemy, and to re- 
quest others to do the same, all of which she did. She died in 
1813 regretted by a host of cherished friends. 



XVII 

Mercy Warren 

Mercy Warren, third child of Colonel James Otis of Barnsta- 
ble, in old Plymouth Colony, wife of James "Warren, merchant 
of Plymouth and friend of Abigail Adams, was a true patriot and 
brave as she was wise. Thus she spoke to John Adams in 1774, 
"I have my fears, yet notwithstanding the complicated difficul- 
ties that rise before us there is no receding ; and I should blush if 
in any instance the weak passions of my sex should damp the 
fortitude, the patriotism and the manly resolution of yours. May 
nothing ever check that glorious spirit of freedom which inspires 
the patriot in the cabinet and the hero in the field, with courage 
to maintain this righteous cause and to endeavor to transmit the 
claims to posterity even if they must seal the rich conveyance to 
their children with their own blood." Thus although not a par- 
ticipant in the war she inspired her men friends to do brave 
deeds. 

She refers to the altered services while General Burgoyne 's 
Lighthorse used the Old South Church for a barracks while "the 
infamous Dr. Morrison reads prayers in the Brattle Street 
Church to a set of banditti who after the rapines robberies and 
devastations of the week dare to lift up their sacrilegious hands 
and bow before the altar of mercy. I cannot wish to see the 
sword up in the scabbard until justice is done to America." She 
says "Generals Washington, Lee and Gates dined with us at 
Watertown. The first I think one of the most amiable and ac- 
complished gentlemen both in person, mind and manners that I 
have ever met with. The second I think plain in his person to a 
degree of ugliness, careless even to impoliteness and his garb or- 



SOME HEROIC WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 1049 

dinary, his voice rough, his manners rather morose ; yet sensible 
learned, judicious and penetrating, a considerable traveller, 
agreeable in his narrations and a zealous indefatigable friend to 
the American cause. The last is a brave soldier, a high republi- 
can, a sensible companion, an honest man of unaffected manners 
and easy deportment. ' ' 

She described Lafayette as: "Penetrating, active, sensible and 
judicious, he acquits himself with the highest applause in the 
public eye, while the politeness of his manners and the sociability 
of his temper insure him welcome at every hospitable board." 

Mrs. Warren was a poetess as well as a beautiful writer of 
prose. She died October 19, 1814, in the eighty-seventh year of her 
age. 







Honors a Distinguished Scientist 

The Father of the Weather Bureau 

contributed by s. g. lapham, oconomonoc, wisconsin 

N June 18th, the Old Settlers' Club of Milwaukee ded- 
icated in Lapham Park, a very unique memorial to the 
memory of Dr. Increase A. Lapham, for whom the park 
was named, and who is credited with having secured 
the passage of the bill which resulted in the establishment of the 
U. S. Weather Bureau. 

The memorial consists of a natural boulder, six to eight feet in 
diameter and weighing eighteen tons. On the face of the boulder 
is placed a bronze tablet showing the face and bust of Dr. Lap- 
ham in bas-relief. The finely modeled portrait shows a face 
breathing life and expression and is exceedingly life like. 

The sculptor Mr. Albert H. Atkins is a native of Milwaukee. 
He is now a member of the faculty of the Rhode Island School of 
Design, Department of Sculpture. 

The inscription on the tablet is as follows : 

In Memory of 

Increase Allen Lapham 

Naturalist. 

MDCCCXI-MDCCCLXXV 

Erected by his friends in 

commemoration of his services 

to the cause of human knowledge 

and his unselfish devotion to 

the welfare of the people. 

Under the auspices of the 

Old Settler's Club of Milwaukee 

County. 

(1050) 



HONORS A DISTINGUISHED SCIENTIST 1051 

In the presence of a gathering of the members of the Old Set- 
tlers Club; friends and acquaintances of Dr. Laphani, Mr. Wm. 
W. Wight, President of the Trustees of the Milwaukee-Downer 
College in a brief address touching upon the life and work of the 
distinguished scientist presented the memorial to the city. The 
boulder was then unveiled by Mrs. Guy 0. Lindow, a grand- 
daughter of Dr. Lapham. 

Percy Braman, Deputy Commissioner of Public Works, as the 
personal representative of Mayor Bading, accepted the gift on 
behalf of the city. 

The ceremony was concluded by the remarks of several mem- 
bers of the Club, who related brief reminiscences of Dr. Lapham. 

The park in which this memorial is placed was purchased by 
the city about eight years ago, and was then named Lapham Park. 

Increase Allen Lapham 

1811-1875 

LL. D. Amherst 1860. 

Distinguished Botanist, Geologist and Scientist 

Dr. Lapham is, perhaps, best known by his work on the Anti- 
quities of Wisconsin, published by the Smithsonian Institution 
in 1855. He was one of the first to point out the value of storm 
indications, especially on the great lakes. In 1869 Dr. Lapham 
prepared a memorial to Congress, containing a long list of dis- 
asters caused by storms on the lakes which resulted in great 
loss of life and property. The memorial showed, by instances 
cited, that by use of telegraphic messages announcing the actual 
state of the weather at various places, and at stated intervals, no- 
tice of the coming of these storms could have been given several 
hours before they arrived, and many of these disasters would 
have been prevented. 

This memorial was presented to Congress by Halbert E. Paine, 
of Wisconsin. It was very largely through the efforts of Mr. 
Paine that a bill, prepared by Dr. Lapham, became House Bill 
No. 602, the passing of which resulted in the establishment of the 
Division of telegrams and reports for the benefit of Commerce. 

When the work was organized under Gen. Albert J. Myer, 
Chief Signal officer of the Army, the position of meteorologist 






- 






1052 HONORS A DISTINGUISHED SCIENTIST 

was offered to Dr. Lapham who declined to accept it, principally 
because to do so he would have been obliged to enter the military 
service, a thing which his quaker principles prevented him from 
doing". However, in November, 1870, he was appointed assistant 
to the Chief Signal officer with headquarters at Chicago. Dr. 
Lapham personally prepared the first storm warning. It was tel- 
egraphed and bulletined along the lakes on November 8, 1870. 

In January, 1871, Gen. Myer appointed Prof. Cleveland Abbe 
meteorologist of the weather bureau. Prof. Abbe soon became 
popularly known as "Old Probabilities." "While Dr. Lapham 
was engaged on a plan for the protection of mariners on the great 
lakes, he and Prof. Abbe of Cincinnati, Ohio, exchanged data, 
compared notes, and in various ways endeavored to advance the 
cause of science. 

Dr. Lapham is often spoken of as the ' ' Father of the Weather 
Bureau. ' ' It is not claimed by the friends of Dr. Lapham that he 
was the only man who worked in this field. There were others 
working along other lines, and the theory of the progress of 
storms was well known. 

Prof. Abbe had, in connection with the Chamber of Commerce, 
of Cincinnati, Ohio, an arrangement ' i for collecting and compar- 
ing telegraphic weather reports from all parts of the land and 
making deductions therefrom." 

When the question is asked to whom the credit for any work 
belongs, the answer is : "In the realm of science as well as in all 
lines of human endeavor, to the one who accomplishes actual re- 
sults." 

Prof. Abbe's work was in the line of scientific research of 
storm effects. 

Dr. Lapham 's work was to find a practical way to prevent the 
loss of life and property in storms. His work, resulting in the 
Memorial to Congress, was the direct means of establishing the 
"Division of telegrams and reports," of the War Department, 
which afterwards became the Weather Bureau, and the credit for 
so doing is honestly due to Dr. Increase A. Lapham of Milwau- 
kee, "Wisconsin. 







Historic Views and Reviews 

An Appropriate Christmas Gift 

HE following is a reprint from our issue of March, 
1915, and appears here with several indorsements of 
Mrs. Van Loan's book because she has arranged for 
the proceeds of the sale of the book to go to the cause 

of the better education of the children of the Mountain Whites 

of the South. 

"The Power to Right Our Wrongs' ' 
by anna fitzgerald van loan 

We acknowledge the receipt of a copy of ' ' The Power to Right 
Our Wrongs, ' ' written by Anna Fitzgerald Van Loan, and after 
a careful perusal of the same, we take pleasure in commending 
it to the attention of all who desire to keep up with the trend of 
all those influences which tend toward social uplift, a truer 
democracy, more justice in industrial affairs and a more prac- 
tical method for the establishing of international peace by a 
"Peace Force' ' to enforce peace compacts and an accepted 
Board of Arbitration. 

Mrs. Van Loan has done her work well, and throughout each 
chapter of this excellent book has shown a perspicacity and com- 
prehension of American social and economic conditions both bad 
and good, as well too of International affairs that will, we are 
assured, meet with the confidence and commendation of every 
one of her readers. 

We cannot refrain, at this time of war and devastation in 
Europe, from referring particularly to the chapter "An Inter- 
national Peace Force,' ' because it has in it so much that is 
worthy of careful consideration. 

(1053) 



1054 HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 

America's opportunity to use her influence for peace will not 
come until some one of the giant war lords, now engaged in such 
cruel public murder, shall have become exhausted and shall be 
willing to join with the countries with which the United States 
has already treaties of peace and arbitration, and, so combining, 
aid in establishing an ''International Peace Force," which, says 
the authoress, "shall enforce peace compacts and insist that all 
disputes arising between these nations shall be settled at their 
accepted Court of Arbitration, and in case of any one of them 
refusing to do this, then such power should be confronted by the 
united forces of all the nations of the globe, both small and great, 
acting in the capacity of a police force, until the refractory na- 
tion should consent to settle the quarrel at the stated Court of 
Arbitration. ' • 

"Had Austria been given the alternative of settling her dis- 
pute with Servia at the Hague or of confronting the forces of the 
nations there represented, her attitude in all probability would 
have been different." 

And the authoress goes on to make an interesting argument in 
behalf of the "principle that national peace must be maintained 
by force," as was "demonstrated during the Boxer rebellion" 
when certain nations united "their armaments to enforce pea^ 
in China." 

"What was accomplished," says the authoress, "in one in- 
stance might also be effected again in behalf of international 
peace," and in answer to the contention "that the interests of dif- 
ferent nations are too varied for them to unite for the formation 
of international force for the prevention of warfare, ' ' she replies 
that they did unite to protect interests in China ; " it is obvious 
that it would be wiser still for them to unite to protect interests" 
of far greater value to all concerned. 

In referring to the "Twenty-six nations (I think the number is 
Twenty-eight) who have recently signed ' Peace Treaties' with 
the United States," she says, "it is stipulated in these compacts 
that in case of disagreement between the parties to these treaties 
there is to be no war until one year is passed in efforts to suc- 
cessfully arbitrate the questions involved/' 

The book has a hopeful, well-balanced Christian spirit through- 



HISTORIC VIEWS AND REVIEWS 1055 

out, and in this sense recommends itself strongly to readers of 
Christian literature. J. C. Pumpelly. 

44 This is a book that should command the attention of all seri- 
ous students- of the causes that tend to the uplift of humanity." 

Rev. Charles S. Burch, 
Suffragan Bishop Diocese of Neiv York. 

"This is one of the most forceful and characteristic books of 
the year." Floyd S. Leach, 

Secretary Social Service Commission of the Episcopal Church. 

"The most excellent book I have read in years." 

Helen S. Woodruff, 
Author of "The Lady of the Lighthouse." 

"I deem this one of the few volumes written upon political, 
economic and sociological problems which is so judicious, com- 
prehensive and practical as to be really helpful to a wise solu- 
tion." Junius B. Remensnyder, 

Chairman of Commission on Peace and Federation. 






INDEX 

VOL. X. 
January, 1915 — December, 1915 



Billopp House, on Staten Island, now to be included in a new park, 

The Historic , ,. . 961 

Book Reviews , 982 

Boots, A Bucolic. Rev. Charles Caverno, A. M., LL. D ,. . 942 

Chapters in the History of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Arthur Went- 
worth Hamilton Eaton, M. A., D. C. L. 

No. I. The Founding of Halifax in 1749 269 

No. II. The Coming of the Boston Tories 764 

No. III. Social Life of Halifax after the Revolution 828 

No. IV. Sir John Wentworth and the Duke of Kent 1002 

Chester, Capt. Samuel, of Boston, Mass., and New London, Conn., 
and Some of His Descendants, Biographical Sketch of. 

Herbert Merritt-Chester of New York City ,. . 975 

Commander Cushing and the Virginius. S. G. Lapham 903 

Commemorative Tablets of Historic Sites of the Revolution and 

Some Revolutionary Relics. Edward Hale Brush.. . 79 

Cushing Memorial Monument. S. G. Lapham . 901 

For Conscience Sake. Cornelia Mitchell Parsons. 

Chap. 8 and 9, 44; Chap. 10 and 11, 105; Chap. 12, 198; 
Chap. 13 and 14, 289; Chap. 15 and 16, 351 ; Chap. 17, 18 
and 19, 461. 
Hamlet at the Bouwerij, The. Hopper Striker Mott. 
Part I. 660; Part II. 743. 

Historic Views and Reviews ,. . ., 265 

Historic Views and Reviews , 713 

Historic Views and Reviews. . . ., 906 

Historic Views and Reviews , 978 

Historic Views and Reviews 1053 

Honors a Distinguished Scientist — The Father of the Weather 

Bureau. Contributed by S. G. Lapham...., 1050 

Journal of George Croghan, January-February, 1753-4. Contrib- 
uted by John W. Jordan, LL. D.. 677 

(Hi) 



iv INDEX 

Mormon Church, History of the. Brigham H. Roberts. 

CXIV, 52; CXV and CXVI, 116; CXVII, 204; CXVIII, 
299; CXIX and CXX, 363; CXXI, CXXII, CXXIII, 480. 

Paine, Thomas. George R. Boynton 881 

Peace Conference at the Billopp House, Staten Island, September 

II. 1776, The 968 

Recollections of a Half a Century and More. Andrew M. Sherman. 

I. My Paternal Ancestry , 723 

II. My Boyhood in New England 731 

III. My Boyhood in New England (continued) 793 

IV. 'My Boyhood in New England (continued) 863 

V. My Boyhood in New England (continued) 915 

VI. My Boyhood in New England (continued) 1029 

Rhode Island Settlers on the French Lands in Nova Scotia in 1760 
and 1761. Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton, M. A., 
D. C. L. Part I, 1 ; Part II, 83 ; Part III, 179. 

Rouse Family, The 684 

Some of the Women who Skilfully Planned and Heroically Suf- 
fered in the Revolution for the Cause of American Inde- 
pendence. J. C. Pumpelly, A. M., LL.B. 

Introduction 647 

I. Hannah Arnett of Elizabethtown 648 

II. The Tragic Fate of Jane McCrea * 650 

The Story of Old Fort Edward, and the marking of 

the Site where it once stood , 652 

III. Mrs. Robert Murray >..'.'• 791 

IV. Emily Geiger ., 791 

V. Lydia Darrah 792 

VI. Molly Pitcher. . .. 818 

VII. Margaret Corbin 824 

VIII. Anna Warner Bailey 825 

IX. Nancy Hart of the Georgia "Hornets Nest." 894 

X. Susanna Keith . .. 896 

XL Cornelia Beekman of New York. . 899 

XII. Dicey Langtson of South Carolina 954 

XIII. Elizabeth Zane 955 

XIV. Lucretia Shaw , 956 

XV. Martha Bratton of South Carolina , 1045 

XVI. Catherine Schuyler — 1047 

XVII. Mercy Warren. 1048 

Winthrop Family, The 985 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Opposite Page 

Bailey, Anna Warner. 825 

Boynton, George R 912 

Cushing Monument at Delafield, Wisconsin, (By Courtesy of The 

Waukesha Freeman, Waukesha, Wis. 901 

Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, K. G., K. T., K. St. P., Etc. 1002 

Fort Edward, N. Y., Jane McCrea Monument .. . 652 

Haliburton, Thomas Chandler 39 

Haliburton, Thomas Chandler 828 

Her Royal Highness, Victoria-Mary-Louisa, Duchess of Kent 1008 

Keith, Susanna (By courtesy of Miss Mary Vanderpoel) 896 

Longfellow, Henry W. 1 

Massacre of Jane McCrea, July, 1777 650 

Mercer, Hugh, Tablet of 968 

Mother Bailey House, The, Groton, Conn . 826 

Old Billopp House, Staten Island 961 

Original Peregrine White House, Marshfield, Mass., as it appeared 
in the days of William Sherman, Sr., a near neighbor of Mr. 

White, The 726 

Paine, Thomas 881 

Perkins, MrsrKmelia Bartlett, Residence of, widow of Mr. Henry 
Perkins, Bridgewater, Mass. In this house the author slept 
on the night before his departure for Birmingham, Conn., 

in the autumn of 1855 915 

Protestant Episcopal Church and Burial Grounds at "The Works," 

Bridgewater, Mass., The . 802 

Public Library, Bridgewater, Mass 863 

Relics from the Old Tavern at Hollis, L. 1 135 

School Building, Birmingham (now Derby), Conn., where I attend- 
ed school in my boyhood. This building has been superseded 

by a fine brick structure 925 

Shaw Mansion (rear view) 957 

(v) . 



vi INDEX 

Opposite Page 
Sherman, Rev. Andrew M. This picture of the author is from a 
tintype which was copied from an ambrotype, the latter of 
which was taken in Birmingham (now Derby), Conn., when 

about 14 years of age 917 

Sherman, Rev. Andrew M. This picture of the author is from a 
carte-de-visite photo taken in Birmingham (now Derby), 

Conn., early in 1861 1029 

Sherman, Rev. Andrew M., Morristown, N. J 723 

Shirley, His Excellency William, Esq r . Captain General and Gov- 
ernor in Chief, etc., of the Province of the Massachusetts 
Bay in New England and Colonel of one of His Majesty's 

Regiments of Foot — 269 

State Normal School, Bridgewater, Mass 863 

St. James Protestant Episcopal Church, Birmingham, (now Derby), 
Conn., where I attended church and Sunday school and in 
which I was baptized when a small boy. It is a substantial 

stone_ structure 919 

St John's Episcopal Church, North Main St., Providence, R. L, 
which the author attended when about six years of age. He 

lived directly opposite the church . . 728 

Stuart, Gilbert Charles 41 

Tablet, College of the City of New York. (By Albert Weinert) . . 124 

Tablet, Fraunces's Tavern. (By Albert Weinert) 81 

Tablet, New York University. (By Albert Weinert) 137 

Tablet in St. Paul's Church, New York. (This tablet is by Albert 

Weinert) 79 

Tablet, Washington Heights, New York City. (By Albert Weinert) 80 

Tablet, Nathaniel Woodhull. (By Albert Weinert) 121 

This covered bridge connects Birmingham (now Derby), Connect- 
icut, and Shelton (formerly Huntington), Conn. It replaced 
the covered bridge carried away by a freshet when I was 
a boy. The upper part of Shelton is shown in this picture 

and a portion also of the Housatonic River 929 

Town River, Bridgewater, Mass 872 

Trinity Church, Bridgewater, Mass., constructed in part of mater- 
ial taken from the Protestant Episcopal Church, which, in 
the author's early boyhood, was at "The Works" 803 



INDEX vii 

Opposite Page 
Webster House, The, Marshfield, Mass., in 1829, showing the 
enlargement and improvements made by Aaron Simmons 
Sherman in 1827, the year of its purchase by Webster from 

Capt. John Thomas 730 

Wentworth, Sir John, Bart., Governor of Nova Scotia, 1792- 1808. 83 

Wentworth, Lady Frances, Wife of Sir John Wentworth 83 

Witherell Place at "The Works," The, Bridgewater, Mass., as it 
now appears. In this house the author lived as a boy 
between the ages of eight and ten years 793 






*MV 






j