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Title: Historic Shrines of America
       Being the Story of One Hundred and Twenty Historic Buildings and the Pioneers Who Made Them Notable


Author: John T. (John Thomson) Faris



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HISTORIC SHRINES OF AMERICA

by

JOHN T. FARIS


  [Illustration: INDEPENDENCE HALL, REAR VIEW, PHILADELPHIA
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_]




HISTORIC SHRINES OF AMERICA

Being the Story of One Hundred and Twenty Historic Buildings
and the Pioneers Who Made Them Notable

by

JOHN T. FARIS

Member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and Fellow of the
American Geographical Society
Author of "Real Stories from Our History," "Old Roads
Out of Philadelphia," etc.

Illustrated







New York
George H. Doran Company

Copyright, 1918,
By George H. Doran Company

Printed in the United States of America




FOREWORD


Circular tours have long been popular in England. There was a time--as
there will be a time again--when American visitors felt that to make
the rounds of the cathedral towns or the historic castles or the homes
and haunts of great men and women, was a necessary part of seeing the
tight little island.

"What a pity it is that we in America have no such wealth of historic
places," one returning tourist was heard to remark. "Oh, of course,
there are a few spots like Independence Hall and Concord and
Lexington," he went on, "but there are not enough of them to make it
worth while to plan a tour such as those in which we have taken
delight in England."

It was easy to point out to the traveler his mistake; most Americans
know that the country is rich in places of historic interest. Just how
rich it is they may not realize until they make a serious study of the
landmarks of their own land, as does the European tourist of the
centers noted in his guidebook.

In fact, there are in America so many houses, churches, and other
buildings having a vital connection with our history that volumes
would be required to tell of them all. Even a brief record of the
buildings whose owners or occupants played a conspicuous part in the
early history of the country would fill a large book.

It is fascinating to learn of these houses and public buildings and to
delve into the biographies which tell what happened to the people who
lived in them. Fiction seems tame after connecting, for instance, the
story of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler with the Ford
Mansion and the Campfield House at Morristown, New Jersey, then with
the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, New York, and The Grange in New York
City. The heart of the patriot burns with new love for his country as
he reads of Faneuil Hall and the Old South Church and Carpenters'
Hall. The story of the Revolution is clothed with living interest when
Washington and his generals are followed to Valley Forge and Newburgh
and Cambridge and Morristown and Princeton. Fresh appreciation of the
sacrifice of the pioneers comes from going with them into the garrison
houses of New England, along the Wilderness Road in Kentucky, to the
settlements on the Ohio, or to the banks of the Wabash where more than
one Indian treaty was made.

Next comes the keen pleasure of visiting the houses and churches
which, through the piecing together of these facts, have become like
familiar friends. The vacation journey that includes a careful study
of a few of these buildings becomes a fascinating course in
patriotism.

It is the purpose of the author of "Historic Shrines of America" to
tell just enough about each of one hundred and twenty of these
buildings of historic interest to create a hunger for more; to present
pictures sufficiently attractive to make those who turn the pages of
the book determine to visit the places described; to arrange the brief
chapters in such sequence that it will be possible for the reader to
plan for successive vacations a series of journeys through the centers
where historic buildings may be found, and, in doing this, to pass by
so many structures of interest that the reader and the tourist will
have abundant opportunity to discover houses and churches of which he
will say, "I wonder why this was not included."




CONTENTS


     CHAPTER                                                   PAGE


     ONE: IN THE LAND OF THE PILGRIMS

        I THE OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS             19

       II PAUL REVERE'S HOUSE, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS             23

      III FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS                    28

       IV THREE HISTORIC CHURCHES OF BOSTON                      32

        V ELMWOOD, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS                      36

       VI THE CRAIGIE HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS            40

      VII THE ADAMS HOUSES, QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS                44

     VIII THE QUINCY MANSION, QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS              49

       IX FERNSIDE FARM, HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS                54

        X THE DUSTON GARRISON HOUSE, HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS    56

       XI THE OLD MANSE AND THE WAYSIDE, CONCORD,
          MASSACHUSETTS                                          61

      XII THE ROYALL HOUSE, MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS               66

     XIII BROADHEARTH AND THE BENNET-BOARDMAN HOUSE,
          SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS                                  69

      XIV THE COLONEL JEREMIAH LEE HOUSE, MARBLEHEAD,
          MASSACHUSETTS                                          72

       XV THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH, NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS       75

      XVI THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, PROVIDENCE, RHODE
          ISLAND                                                 80


     TWO: WHERE PATROONS AND KNICKERBOCKERS
           FLOURISHED

     XVII THE MORRIS-JUMEL MANSION, NEW YORK CITY                87

    XVIII THE PHILIPSE MANOR HOUSE, YONKERS, NEW YORK            91

     XIX  ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, NEW YORK CITY                       95

      XX  FRAUNCES' TAVERN, NEW YORK CITY                        97

     XXI  THE GRANGE, NEW YORK CITY                             100

    XXII  THE VAN CORTLANDT HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY                104

   XXIII  THE HASBROUCK HOUSE, NEWBURGH, NEW YORK               106


     THREE: ACROSS THE JERSEYS WITH THE PATRIOTS

     XXIV THE FRANKLIN PALACE, PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY          115

      XXV THE CHURCH AT CALDWELL, NEW JERSEY                    119

     XXVI OLD TENNENT CHURCH, FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY              122

    XXVII THE FORD MANSION, MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY              126

   XXVIII NASSAU HALL, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY                    130

     XXIX THREE HISTORIC HOUSES AT PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY        134

      XXX THE SPRINGFIELD MEETING HOUSE, NEW JERSEY             138


     FOUR: RAMBLES ABOUT THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE

     XXXI THE LETITIA PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA                  145

    XXXII CARPENTERS' HALL, PHILADELPHIA                        149

   XXXIII ST. PETER'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA                      153

    XXXIV CLIVEDEN, GERMANTOWN, PHILADELPHIA                    156

     XXXV OLD PINE STREET CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA                  159

    XXXVI INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA                       162

   XXXVII THE DAVID RITTENHOUSE HOME, NEAR PHILADELPHIA         170

  XXXVIII THE HEADQUARTERS AT VALLEY FORGE, PENNSYLVANIA        174

    XXXIX THREE HEADQUARTERS OF WASHINGTON                      178

       XL SWEETBRIER-ON-THE-SCHUYLKILL, PHILADELPHIA            183

      XLI MILL GROVE AND FATLANDS, NEAR PHILADELPHIA            187

     XLII WAYNESBOROUGH, NEAR PAOLI, PENNSYLVANIA               192

    XLIII THE MORAVIAN CHURCH, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA          196


     FIVE: OVER THE MASON AND DIXON LINE

     XLIV HISTORIC LANDMARKS AT NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE            203

      XLV THE RIDGELY HOUSE, DOVER, DELAWARE                    208

     XLVI REHOBOTH CHURCH ON THE POCOMOKE, MARYLAND             211

    XLVII DOUGHOREGAN MANOR, NEAR ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND       216

   XLVIII THE UPTON SCOTT HOUSE, ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND            220

     XLIX THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON                             225

        L THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON                           230

       LI THE OCTAGON HOUSE, WASHINGTON                         234


     SIX: HOMES AND HAUNTS OF THE CAVALIERS

      LII MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA                                241

     LIII ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA                                   246

      LIV CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA                   249

       LV THE MARY WASHINGTON HOUSE, FREDERICKSBURG,
          VIRGINIA                                              251

      LVI GREENWAY AND SHERWOOD FOREST, VIRGINIA                257

     LVII TWO HISTORIC COURTHOUSES OF VIRGINIA                  262

    LVIII ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, RICHMOND                           266

      LIX THE NELSON HOUSE AND THE MOORE HOUSE, YORKTOWN,
      VIRGINIA                                                  270

       LX THE JOHN MARSHALL HOUSE, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA           274

      LXI FIVE OLD HOUSES OF TIDEWATER, VIRGINIA                278

     LXII GUNSTON HALL, VIRGINIA                                281

    LXIII THE WASHINGTON COLLEGE BUILDING, LEXINGTON,
          VIRGINIA                                              285

     LXIV BRUTON PARISH CHURCH, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA          288

      LXV WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE, WILLIAMSBURG,
      VIRGINIA                                                  291

     LXVI THE MONUMENTAL CHURCH, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA             294

    LXVII MONTPELIER, ORANGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA                   296

   LXVIII OAK HILL, LOUDOUN COUNTY, VIRGINIA                    301

     LXIX RED HILL, CHARLOTTE COUNTY, VIRGINIA                  305

      LXX POHICK CHURCH, TRURO PARISH, VIRGINIA                 311

     LXXI MOUNT AIRY, RICHMOND COUNTY, VIRGINIA                 314

    LXXII TWO OF VIRGINIA'S OLDEST CHURCH BUILDINGS             318

   LXXIII MONTICELLO, NEAR CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA            322

    LXXIV THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA AT CHARLOTTESVILLE,
          VIRGINIA                                              326


     SEVEN: THROUGH THE SUNNY SOUTH

     LXXV THREE OLD CHURCHES IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH
          CAROLINA                                             333

    LXXVI THE HOUSE OF REBECCA MOTTE, CHARLESTON, SOUTH
          CAROLINA                                             336

   LXXVII THE INDEPENDENT CHURCH, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA            340

  LXXVIII THE CABILDO OF NEW ORLEANS                           343

    LXXIX THE ALAMO, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS                        347

     LXXX THE HERMITAGE, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE                  351

    LXXXI ASHLAND, LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY                         355

   LXXXII SPORTSMAN'S HALL, WHITLEY'S STATION, KENTUCKY        359

  LXXXIII WHITE HAVEN, NEAR ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI                362


     EIGHT: ALL THE WAY BACK TO NEW ENGLAND

   LXXXIV THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN HOUSE, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS     369

    LXXXV THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE AT VINCENNES, INDIANA          374

   LXXXVI THE HOUSE OF GENERAL RUFUS PUTNAM, MARIETTA,
          OHIO                                                 377

  LXXXVII MONUMENT PLACE, ELM GROVE, WEST VIRGINIA             381

 LXXXVIII THE CASTLE AT FORT NIAGARA, NEW YORK                 386

   LXXXIX THE SCHUYLER MANSION, ALBANY, NEW YORK               391

       XC THE WENTWORTH HOUSE, PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE       395

      XCI THE WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW HOUSE, PORTLAND, MAINE      400

          BIBLIOGRAPHY                                         407

          INDEX                                                411




ILLUSTRATIONS


     INDEPENDENCE HALL, REAR VIEW, PHILADELPHIA,
       PENNSYLVANIA                                 _Frontispiece_

                                                              PAGE

     OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS                     25

     PAUL REVERE HOUSE, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS                   26

     HANCOCK-CLARKE HOUSE, LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS             26

     OLD NORTH CHURCH, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS                    34

     OLD SOUTH CHURCH, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS                    35

     CRAIGIE HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS                    48

     FERNSIDE FARM, HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS                    48

     DUSTON GARRISON HOUSE, HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS            49

     ROYALL HOUSE, MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS                       49

     BROADHEARTH, SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS                         70

     BENNET-BOARDMAN HOUSE, SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS               70

     OLD SOUTH CHURCH, NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS               71

     MORRIS-JUMEL HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY                          97

     PHILIPSE MANOR HOUSE, YONKERS, NEW YORK                    97

     FRAUNCES' TAVERN, NEW YORK CITY                            98

     VAN CORTLANDT HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY                         98

     THE FRANKLIN PALACE, PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY              121

     OLD TENNENT CHURCH, FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY                  121

     NASSAU HALL AND THE FIRST PRESIDENT'S HOUSE, PRINCETON,
       NEW JERSEY                                              122

     MORVEN, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY                             122

     LETITIA PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA            146

     ST. PETER'S PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA,
       PENNSYLVANIA                                            147

     CLIVEDEN, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA                      160

     THIRD (OLD PINE STREET) PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
       PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA                              160

     DAVID RITTENHOUSE'S HOUSE, NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA       161

     DAWESFIELD, NEAR PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA               161

     EMLEN HOUSE, NEAR PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA              179

     FATLANDS, NEAR PHOENIXVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA                 179

     WAYNESBOROUGH, PAOLI, PENNSYLVANIA                        180

     MORAVIAN CHURCH, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA                  180

     AMSTEL HOUSE, NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE                        205

     DOORWAY OF AMSTEL HOUSE, NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE             205

     HALL OF READ HOUSE, NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE                  205

     DOORWAY OF RODNEY HOUSE, NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE             206

     DOORWAY OF STEWART HOUSE, NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE            206

     DOORWAY OF READ HOUSE, NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE               206

     DOORWAY OF PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE      206

     IMMANUEL CHURCH, NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE                     217

     RIDGELY HOUSE, DOVER, DELAWARE                            218

     DOUGHOREGAN MANOR, NEAR ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND           218

     UPTON SCOTT HOUSE, ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND                    233

     OCTAGON HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D. C.                          233

     THE STAIRWAY, OCTAGON HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D. C.            234

     MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA, REAR VIEW                         244

     ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA                                       244

     CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA                       245

     MARY WASHINGTON'S HOUSE, FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA         262

     HANOVER COURT HOUSE, VIRGINIA                             262

     ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA                     263

     NELSON HOUSE, YORKTOWN, VIRGINIA                          263

     WESTOVER ON THE JAMES, VIRGINIA                           282

     GUNSTON HALL ON THE POTOMAC, VIRGINIA                     282

     WASHINGTON COLLEGE BUILDING, LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA          283

     BRUTON PARISH CHURCH, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA              283

     MONUMENTAL CHURCH, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA                     314

     POHICK CHURCH, VIRGINIA                                   314

     MOUNT AIRY, RICHMOND COUNTY, VIRGINIA                     315

     UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA         315

     INDEPENDENT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA        336

     PRINGLE HOUSE, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA                 337

     THE CABILDO, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA                       337

     THE HERMITAGE, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE                       352

     ASHLAND, LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY                              352

     SPORTSMAN'S HALL, WHITLEY'S STATION, KENTUCKY             353

     WHITE HAVEN, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI                          353

     ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S HOUSE, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS            370

     WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON'S HOUSE, VINCENNES, INDIANA        370

     RUFUS PUTNAM'S HOUSE, MARIETTA, OHIO                      371

     THE SCHUYLER MANSION, ALBANY, NEW YORK                    371

     WENTWORTH HOUSE, PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE                394

     WARNER HOUSE, PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE                   394

     WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW HOUSE, PORTLAND, MAINE               395




ONE: IN THE LAND OF THE PILGRIMS

     The riches of the Commonwealth
     Are free, strong minds, and hearts of health;
     And more to her than gold or grain,
     The cunning hand and cultured brain.

     For well she keeps her ancient stock,
     The stubborn strength of Pilgrim Rock;
     And still maintains, with milder laws,
     And clearer light, the Good Old Cause!

     Nor heeds the skeptic's puny hands,
     While near her school the church-spire stands;
     Nor fears the blinded bigot's rule,
     While near her church-spire stands the school.

       --JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.




ONE: IN THE LAND OF THE PILGRIMS

  [Illustration: OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON
   _Photo by Halliday Historic Photograph Company, Boston_
   See Page 19]


I

THE OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

FROM WHOSE BALCONY THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WAS PROCLAIMED

Thirty-three years after Captain John Smith sailed into Boston Harbor,
the first Town House was built. This was in 1657. The second Town
House, which was built on the same site, was erected in 1712. In 1748
the third Town House, later the Old State House, followed the
structure of 1712, the outer walls of the old building being used in
the new.

Since 1689, when Governor Andros' tyranny was overthrown, the old
building has been in the thick of historic events. How it figured in
the Boston Massacre was shown by John Tudor in his diary. He wrote:

      "March, 1770. On Monday evening the 5th current, a few
      Minutes after 9 o'clock a most horrid murder was committed in
      King Street before the custom house Door by 8 or 9 Soldiers
      under the Command of Capt. Thos Preston of the Main Guard on
      the South side of the Town House. This unhappy affair began
      by Some Boys & young fellows throwing Snow Balls at the
      sentry placed at the Custom house Door. On which 8 or 9
      Soldiers Came to his Assistance. Soon after a Number of
      people collected, when the Capt commanded the Soldiers to
      fire, which they did and 3 Men were Kil'd on the Spot &
      several Mortaly Wounded, one of which died next Morning....
      Leut Governor Hutchinson, who was Commander in Chiefe, was
      sent for & Came to the Council Chamber, where some of the
      Magustrates attended. The Governor desired the Multitude
      about 10 O'Clock to sepperat & to go home peaceable & he
      would do all in his power that Justice should be done &c. The
      29 Regiment being then under Arms on the south side of the
      Townhouse, but the people insisted that the Soldiers should
      be ordered to their Barracks first before they would
      sepperat. Which being done the people sepperated aboute 1
      O'Clock."

Next day the people met in Faneuil Hall, and demanded the immediate
removal of the troops. The demand being refused, they met again at
Faneuil Hall, but adjourned to Old South Church, since the larger hall
was required to accommodate the aroused citizens. A new committee,
headed by Samuel Adams, sought Hutchinson in the Council Chamber of
the Town House, and secured his permission to remove the troops
without delay.

The next event of note in the history of the old building was the
public reading there of the Declaration of Independence on July 18,
1776, in accordance with the message of John Hancock, President of the
Continental Congress, who asked that it be proclaimed "in such a mode
that the people may be impressed by it."

Abigail Adams told in a letter to her husband, John Adams, of the
reading:

      "I went with the multitude to King street to hear the
      Declaration Proclamation for Independence read and
      proclaimed.... Great attention was given to every word....
      Thus ends royal Authority in the state."

A British prisoner on parole, who was an invited guest at the reading
of the Declaration, wrote a detailed narrative of the events of the
day, in the Town Hall, in which he said:

      "Exactly as the clock struck one, Colonel Crafts, who
      occupied the chair, rose and, silence being obtained, read
      aloud the declaration, which announced to the world that the
      tie of allegiance and protection, which had so long held
      Britain and her North American colonies together, was forever
      separated. This being finished, the gentlemen stood up, and
      each, repeating the words as they were spoken by an officer,
      swore to uphold, at the sacrifice of life, the rights of his
      country. Meanwhile the town clerk read from the balcony the
      Declaration of Independence to the crowd; at the close of
      which, a Shout began in the hall, passed like an electric
      spark to the streets, which rang with loud huzzas, the slow
      and measured boom of Cannon, and the rattle of musketry."

Thirteen years later, when Washington visited Boston, he passed
through a triumphal arch to the State House. In his diary he told of
what followed his entrance to the historic building:

      "Three cheers was given by a vast concourse of people, Who,
      by this time, had assembled at the Arch--then followed an ode
      composed in honor of the President; and well sung by a band
      of select singers--After this three cheers--followed by the
      different Professions and Mechanics in the order they were
      drawn up, with their colors, through a lane of the people
      which had thronged about the arch under which they passed."

The ode sung that day was as follows:

     "General Washington, the hero's come,
       Each heart exulting hears the sound;
     See, thousands their deliverer throng,
       And shout his welcome all around.
         Now in full chorus bursts the song,
         And shout the deeds of Washington."

The Old State House was near destruction in 1835, as a result of the
uproar that followed the attempt of William Lloyd Garrison to make an
abolition address in the hall next door to the office of the
_Liberator_, whose editor he was. A furious crowd demanded his blood,
and he was persuaded to retire. Later the doors of the _Liberator_
office where he had taken refuge were broken down, and, after a chase,
the hunted man was seized and dragged to the rear of the Old State
House, then used as the City Hall and Post-office. The mayor rescued
him from the mob, which was talking of hanging him, and carried him
into the State House. The threats of the outwitted people became so
loud that it was feared the building would be destroyed and that
Garrison would be killed. As soon as possible, therefore, he was
spirited away to the Leverett Street jail.

For many years, until 1882, the Old State House was used for business
purposes, after previous service as Town House, City Hall, Court
House, and State House. It is now used as a historical museum by the
Bostonian Society.

The historic halls within the building have the same walls and
ceilings as when the old house was erected in 1748. For many years the
exterior was covered with unsightly paint, but this has been scraped
off, and the brick walls gleam red as in former days.


  [Illustration: PAUL REVERE HOUSE, BOSTON
   _Photo by Halliday Historic Photograph Company_
   See Page 23]

II

PAUL REVERE'S HOUSE, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

WHERE THE MERCURY OF THE REVOLUTION LIVED AND TOILED

     "_Take three fourths of a Paine that makes Traitors Confess_  (RAC)
     _With three parts of a place which the Wicked don't Bless_    (HEL)
     _Joyne four sevenths of an Exercise which shop-keepers use_   (WALK)
     _Add what Bad Men do, when they good actions refuse_          (ER)
     _These four added together with great care and Art
     Will point out the Fair One that is nearest my Heart._"

Thus wrote Paul Revere, the Boston goldsmith, on the back of a bill to
Mr. Benjamin Greene for "Gold buttons," "Mending a Spoon," and "Two
pr. of Silver Shoe Buckles," which was made out one day in 1773 in the
old house in North Square, built in 1676. To this house he planned to
lead as his second wife Rachel Walker; his eight children needed a
mother's care, and he wanted some one to share the joys and the
burdens of his life.

Before his first marriage, in 1757, he had served as a second
lieutenant in a company of artillery, in the expedition against Crown
Point. Soldiering was succeeded by work at his trade of goldsmith and
silversmith, learned from his father. He was a skilled engraver; most
of the silverware made in Boston at this period testified to his
ability. Later, when the rising patriotic tide seemed to call for
lithographs and broadsides, he engraved these on copper with eager
brain and active hand.

He began his patriotic work as a member of the secret order The Sons
of Liberty, which had organizations in nearly all the colonies, held
frequent meetings, and laid plans for resisting the encroachments of
Great Britain. Once, when some three hundred of these Sons dined at
Dorchester, Paul Revere was present, as well as Samuel Adams, John
Adams, and John Hancock.

It was necessary to have a trusted messenger to carry tidings of
moment from place to place, and Paul Revere was one of those chosen
for the purpose. His first important ride was at the time of the
destruction of the tea in Boston harbor. He had a leading part in
bringing together the patriots who gathered on November 29, 1773,
first at Faneuil Hall, then at Old South Meeting House, to protest
against the landing of the tea from the ship _Dartmouth_, and he was
one of the men who, on December 16, in Indian disguise, threw L18,000
worth of tea into the harbor. In preparation for the rallying of the
men of the tea party at the "Green Dragon," the following ditty was
composed:

     "Rally Mohawks! bring out your axes,
     And tell King George we'll pay no taxes
         On his foreign tea.
     His threats are vain, and vain to think
     To force our girls and wives to drink
         His vile Bohea!
     Then rally boys, and hasten on
     To meet our chief at the Green Dragon.

     "Old Warren's there, and bold Revere,
     With hands to do, and words to cheer,
         For liberty and laws;
     Our country's brave and free defenders
     Shall ne'er be left by true North-Enders
         Fighting Freedoms cause!
     Then rally boys, and hasten on
     To meet our chiefs at the Green Dragon."

Of the work done by the Mohawks on that December night John Adams
wrote on December 17, 1773, "This Destruction of the Tea is so bold,
so daring, so firm, intrepid, and inflexible, and it must have so
important Consequences, and so lasting, that I can't but consider it
as an Epoch in History."

The enactment of the Boston Port Bill was the cause of Revere's next
ride. A meeting of citizens in Boston decided to ask the other
colonies "to come into a joint resolution to stop all importation
from, and exportation to, Great Britain and every part of the West
Indies till the act be repealed," in the thought that this would
"prove the salvation of North America and her liberties."

These resolutions were given to Paul Revere by the selectmen of
Boston, and he was urged to ride with all speed to New York and
Philadelphia. On May 30, 1774, the Essex _Gazette_ told of the return
of the messenger, and announced, "Nothing can exceed the indignation
with which our brethren of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and
Philadelphia have received this proof of Ministerial madness. They
universally declare their resolution to stand by us to the last
extremity."

Four months later another ride to Philadelphia was taken, to carry to
the Continental Congress the Suffolk Resolves. Six days only were
taken for the journey. When Congress learned of the protest in New
England against the principle "that Parliament had the right to
legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever," there was no
question that a new nation was ready for birth. "I think I may assure
you, that America will make a point of supporting Boston to the
utmost," Samuel Adams wrote, the day after Revere's message was read.

Once more during the historic year 1774 the Boston silversmith turned
aside from his shop long enough to ride to Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
to give information of the prohibition by Great Britain of further
importations of gunpowder, and to tell of the coming of a large
garrison to Fort William and Mary at Portsmouth. The immediate result
of the ride was the sending of a party of four hundred patriots
against the fort, which surrendered at once. Little attention has been
paid to this event by historians, yet it was one of the most potent of
the events preceding the Revolution. One hundred barrels of gunpowder
were seized at the fort, and this was a large part of the ammunition
used later at Bunker Hill.

Then came April 18, 1775, the date of "that memorable ride, not only
the most brilliant, but the most important single exploit in our
national annals." The Provincial Congress and the Committee of Safety
were in session at Concord. General Warren had remained in Boston to
watch the movements of the British, and Revere had been holding
himself in readiness to carry tidings as soon as there was anything of
importance to be told. Now word was to be sent to John Hancock and
Samuel Adams, who were at the residence of Rev. Mr. Clarke at
Lexington, "that a number of soldiers were marching towards the bottom
of the Common, ... and that it was thought they were the objects of
the movement." Revere had foreseen the necessity for the ride, and,
fearing that he might not be able to cross the Charles River, or get
over Boston Neck, had arranged with patriots in Charleston that two
"lanthorns" would be shown in the North Church steeple if the British
went out by water, and one if they went by land.

On the night of April 18 Revere was rowed by two friends across
Charles River, passing almost under the guns of the _Somerset_. After
conferring with the Charleston patriots, who had seen the signals, he
secured a horse, and started toward Lexington, proceeding with extreme
care, because he had been told that ten mounted British officers had
been seen going up the road. Once he was chased by two British
officers. At Medford he awakened the captain of the minute men. "After
that I alarmed almost every house till I got to Lexington," the
patriot rider later told the story. Messrs. Hancock and Adams were
aroused. Then Revere went on to Concord, accompanied by two others,
that the stores might be secured. Once more residents by the roadside
were awakened. He himself was soon surrounded by four mounted British
soldiers, but his companions were able to proceed. After a time he was
released by his captors, and he made his way to the Clarke house,
where Hancock and Adams still were.

  [Illustration: HANCOCK-CLARKE HOUSE, LEXINGTON, MASS.
   _Photo by Halliday Historic Photograph Company_
   See Page 23]

Thus the way was prepared for Concord and Lexington. That the patriots
were not taken by surprise, and the stores at Concord taken, as the
British had hoped, was due to the courage and resourcefulness of Paul
Revere.

Revere's rides as messenger did not end his services to the colonists.
In 1775 he engraved the plates and printed the bills of the paper
money of Massachusetts, and later he built and operated a powder
mill. He was made lieutenant-colonel of State artillery, and took part
in the unfortunate Penobscot expedition out of which grew the charges
of which he was triumphantly acquitted by the court-martial held at
his own request.

The old house in North Square was the home of the Revere family until
about 1795.


III

FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON

"THE CRADLE OF AMERICAN LIBERTY"

Andrew Faneuil was one of the Huguenots who fled from France as a
result of the Edict of Nantes. By way of Holland he came to Boston. It
is a matter of official record that on February 1, 1691, he was
admitted by the Governor and Council of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Within a few years the refugee was looked upon as a leader both in the
French church and in business. Copies of invoices of merchandise
consigned to him show that he was a dealer in all kinds of supplies of
food, household furnishings, and dress goods.

When he died, in 1738, the Boston _News Letter_ said that "1,100
persons of all Ranks, beside the Mourners," followed the body to the
grave. "And 'tis supposed that as the Gentleman's fortune was the
greatest of any among us, so his funeral was the most generous and
expensive of any that has been known here."

Peter Faneuil, the heir and successor to the fortune and business of
his uncle, was a shrewd business man who knew how to make the most of
his opportunities. But he took time to think and plan for his
fellow-townsmen. He was disturbed because there was no adequate public
market in Boston, and he was not discouraged by the fact that numerous
attempts to establish such a convenience had been received with
hostility by the people, especially the farmers, who felt that they
would have a better chance to sell from house to house on any day than
in a fixed place on a set day.

His proposition to provide the market by gift to the town stirred up a
spirited controversy. At a town meeting called to consider the
proposition, held on July 14, 1740, the attendance was so large that
the company adjourned to the Brattle Street Meeting House.

There the people set themselves to consider the proposition of Peter
Faneuil, who "hath been generously pleased to offer at his own cost
and charge to erect and build a noble and complete structure or
edifice to be improved for a market, for the sole use, benefit and
advantage of the town, provided that the town of Boston would pass a
vote for the purpose, and lay the same under such proper regulation as
shall be thought necessary, and constantly support it for the said
use."

The gift had a narrow escape from the 727 voters who cast the ballots.
The majority in favor of accepting the market was only seven!

The average giver would have been discouraged by such a reception; but
Peter Faneuil, on the contrary, did more than he had proposed. When
the selectmen were told in August, 1742--seven months before Faneuil's
death--that the building was ready, there was not only a market
house, but above it a hall for town meetings and other gatherings. By
action of the meeting called to accept the building the hall over the
market was named Faneuil Hall.

"I hope that what I have done will be of service to the whole
country," was the donor's response to this graceful act.

At once the Hall became a Boston institution. The town offices were
removed to the building, town meetings were held there, and a series
of public concerts was given in it. The market, however, was not
popular.

The fire of January 13, 1761, destroyed the interior of the building.
The money for rebuilding was raised by a lottery.

Faneuil Hall began its career as a national institution on August 27,
1765, when the voters, in mass meeting, denounced the lawless acts of
"Persons unknown" by which they had shown their hatred of the
iniquitous Stamp Act. At a second meeting, held on September 12, the
voters instructed their Representatives "as to their conduct at this
very alarming crisis."

"The genuine Sons of Liberty" gathered in the Hall March 18, 1767,
that they might rejoice together because of the repeal of the Stamp
Act. The Boston _Gazette_ reported that "a large company of the
principal inhabitants crowded that spacious apartment, and with loud
huzzas, and repeated acclamations at each of the twenty-five toasts,
saluted the glorious and memorable heroes of America, particularly
those who distinguished themselves in the cause of Liberty, which was
ever growing under the iron hand of oppression."

What has been called "perhaps the most dramatic scene in all history"
was staged in this Cradle of Liberty on the day after the Boston
Massacre, March 6, 1770. The crowd was so large that it was necessary
to adjourn to Old South before action could be taken requesting the
governor to withdraw the troops whose presence had led to the
massacre.

Then came the tea meetings. The first of these was held in the Hall on
November 5, 1773. At this meeting committees were appointed to wait on
the several persons to whom tea had been consigned by the East India
Company, "and in the name of the town to request them from a regard to
their character, and to the peace and good order of the town,
immediately to resign their trust." The response made to these
committees and to subsequent tea meetings was unsatisfactory, and on
December 16 a number of disguised citizens gathered at the waterfront
and held the "Boston Tea Party."

The occupation of Boston by the British interrupted the Faneuil Hall
town meetings, but soon after the evacuation of the city the people
turned their steps thither for public gatherings of many sorts.
Fortunately the building had not been seriously injured. When
Washington entered the city he spoke with feeling of the safety of the
structure that had meant so much to the people.

It was fitting that, in the stirring days that preceded the War of
1812, meetings to protest against the acts of Great Britain should be
held here. Historic gatherings followed during this war, as also
during the War of 1861-65.

Three times Faneuil Hall has been rebuilt since its donor turned it
over to his fellow-citizens. The first reconstruction came after the
fire. In 1806 the building was enlarged and improved. Again in 1898 it
was completely rebuilt and made fireproof, though, wherever possible,
original materials were used. While it is much larger than in the
early days, the general appearance is so similar that the structure
would be recognized by such an ardent lover of the early structure as
Lafayette, who, when he was in Boston in 1824, said:

      "May Faneuil Hall ever stand, a monument to teach the world
      that resistance to oppression is a duty, and will under true
      republican institutions become a blessing."


  [Illustration: OLD NORTH CHURCH, BOSTON
   _Photo by Halliday Historic Photograph Company_
   See page 32]

IV

THREE HISTORIC CHURCHES OF BOSTON

THE STORY OF OLD NORTH, OLD SOUTH, AND KING'S CHAPEL

The First Church of Boston would have been large enough for all its
members for many years longer than they worshipped together, if they
had been of one mind politically. But the differences that separated
people in England in the troublous days of Charles I were repeated in
Boston. For this reason some of the members of the First Church
thought they would be better off by themselves, and in 1650 they
organized the Second Church. Later the church became known as North
Church, by reason of its location. As it grew older the name Old North
was applied to it.

From its organization Old North became known as the church of spirited
reformers, a real school for patriots. Increase Mather, one of its
early pastors, was responsible for developing and directing the
peculiar genius of its organization. At the time of the Revolution
the British officers spoke of the church as "a nest of traitors."

Many mass meetings to protest against the acts of Great Britain were
held in this church. The corporation used it for a time as a fire
house and a public arsenal, and when signals were given by the
direction of Paul Revere on the night of his famous ride the lanterns
were hung in the steeple of Old North.

The original building of 1652 was burned in 1673. The second building
was also burned, but by the British, who tore it down and used it for
firewood during the cold winter of the occupation of the city.

After the destruction of the building the members of New Brick Church,
an offshoot of Old North, invited the congregation to worship with
them. The invitation was accepted, and soon the congregations came
together, under the name Old North. The building occupied ever since
by the reunited congregation was erected in 1723. Ralph Waldo Emerson
served as pastor and conducted services in this structure.

In 1669 there were many earnest people who felt that the teachings of
the older church were not liberal enough for them, and they decided to
have a church after their own heart. They felt that all who had been
baptized might be citizens of the town; they were unwilling to be
associated longer with those who insisted, as the General Synod of
Massachusetts recommended, that all citizens must be church members,
as formerly. So permission to organize was asked of the other
churches. On their refusal appeal was taken to the Governor. The next
appeal, to the selectmen of Boston, was successful.

  [Illustration: OLD SOUTH CHURCH, BOSTON
   _Photo by Halliday Historic Photograph Company_
   See page 34]

The new church, which was called the South Meeting House, was built on
the site of Governor Winthrop's house. In 1717 the people began to
call the church "The Old South," to distinguish it from another church
which was still further south.

In 1685 Governor Andros insisted that the Old South building should
be used for the Church of England service, as well as for the
services of the owners of the building. For two years Churchmen and
Congregationalists occupied it harmoniously at different hours on
Sunday.

On a Fast Day in 1696 Judge Sewall stood up before the congregation
while they heard him read his prayer for the forgiveness of God and
his fellow-citizens for any possible guilt he had incurred in the
witchcraft trials.

Ten years later, on the day he was born, January 17, 1706, Benjamin
Franklin was baptized in the church, though not in the present
building.

The building made famous by the series of town meetings before and
during the Revolution was erected in 1730. When Faneuil Hall was too
small to hold the crowds that clamored for entrance, Old South was
pressed into use. On June 14, 1768, at one of these meetings, a
petition was sent to the Governor asking that the British frigate be
removed from the harbor. John Hancock was chairman of this committee.
The Boston Tea Party followed a mass meeting held here.

Burgoyne's cavalry used Old South Church as a riding school. Pigs were
kept in one of the pews, while many of the furnishings were burned.

Since March, 1776, when the church was repaired, it has been little
changed. Services were discontinued in 1872. After the great fire
the building was used as a post-office.

Five years later there was talk of destroying the historic structure
that the valuable lot might be used for business purposes, but the
efforts of patriotic women were successful in preserving the relic.
Since that time it has been kept open as a museum.

While Old North and Old South were organizations expressing the will
of the people, the third of the famous churches of Boston was the
expression of the will of King James II of England. During more than
sixty years of the city's history there had been no congregation of
the Church of England; members of that body were required to attend
service in the existing parishes. A minister and a commission sent
from England to arrange for the new church were received with scant
courtesy by the churches when request was made that opportunity be
given to hold Church of England services in the building of one of
them.

Not satisfied with the offer of a room in the Town House, Governor
Andros demanded that Old South make arrangements to accommodate the
new body. On the refusal of the trustees to do as the Governor wished,
the sexton of the church was one day ordered to ring the bell and open
the doors for the Governor and his staff, and those who might wish to
attend with them. Then the trustees submitted to the inevitable.

This was in 1687. The first chapel was built for the new congregation
in 1689, on land appropriated for the purpose, since no one would
convey a site willingly. This building was enlarged in 1710. The
present striking structure dates from 1749-53. Peter Faneuil was
treasurer of the committee that raised the necessary funds. The
expense was but L2,500, though granite from the new Quincy quarry was
used. The colonnade surrounding the tower was not built until 1790.

King's Chapel, as the new church building came to be called, was known
as the abode of loyalists, just as Old North and Old South were famous
as the haunts of patriotic worshippers. The presence on the walls of
the insignia of royalty and varied heraldic devices seriously
disturbed the minds of those who felt that a house of worship should
have no such furnishings.

During the Revolution the building was respected by the British as
well as by the citizens of the town. When the war was over, the
congregation of Old South was invited to use the chapel because their
own church needed extensive repairs in consequence of the use the
British had made of it.

Since 1787 King's Chapel has been a Unitarian church. The change was
made under the leadership of Rev. James Freeman.


V

ELMWOOD, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

WHERE JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL WAS BORN, AND WHERE HE DIED

When Thomas Oliver, Lieutenant Governor and president of George III's
provincial council, built his house in Cambridge about 1767, he did
not dream that within nine years he would have to abandon it because
of his allegiance to the same George III. But so it proved. He was a
Tory, and his neighbors would not suffer him to remain among them. On
September 2, 1774, he wrote his resignation of the offices he held,
adding the statement, "My house at Cambridge being surrounded by five
thousand people, in compliance with their command, I sign my name." At
his request, made to General Gage and the admiral of the English
fleet, troops were not sent to Cambridge, according to plan. "But for
Thomas Oliver's intercession," Edward Everett Hale says, "Elmwood
would have been the battle-ground of the First Encounters."

After his summary departure the house was used as a hospital by the
Continental Army. When the government sold it at auction it became the
property first of Arthur Cabot, then of Elbridge Gerry, a Signer of
the Declaration of Independence, Governor of Massachusetts from 1810
to 1812, and Vice-President under Madison.

The next occupant was Rev. Charles Lowell, pastor of the West Church
of Boston. He bought the property just in time to make it ready for
his son, James Russell Lowell, who was born February 22, 1819.

As a boy James never wearied of rambling over the old house and the
ten acres of ground, all that was left of the original ninety-five
acres. Many of his poems contain references to the memories of these
early years. "The First Snowfall," "Music," and "A Year's Life" are,
in part, autobiographical. Lines on "The Power of Music" told of the
days when he was his father's companion in the chaise, on the way to
make a Sunday exchange of pulpits with a neighboring minister:

     "When, with feuds like Ghibelline and Guelf,
     Each parish did its music for itself,
     A parson's son, through tree-arched country ways,
     I rode exchange oft in dear old days,
     Ere yet the boys forgot, with reverent eye,
     To doff their hats as the black coat went by,
     Ere skirts expanding in their apogee
     Turned girls to bells without the second e;
     Still in my teens, I felt the varied woes
     Of volunteers, each singing as he chose,
     Till much experience left me no desire
     To learn new species of the village choir."

Life at Elmwood was interrupted by college days, but he returned to
the Cambridge house with his wife, Maria Lowell. The oldest children
were born here. Here, too, came the first great sorrow of the parents,
the death of their first born. At that time Mrs. Lowell found comfort
in writing "The Alpine Sheep," a poem that has helped many parents in
a like time of bereavement.

The next great sorrow came during the Civil War, when the death from
wounds was announced first of General Charles Russell Lowell, then of
James Jackson Lowell, and finally of William Lowell Putnam, all
beloved nephews. In the Biglow Papers, Second Series, the poet
referred to these three soldiers. Leslie Stephen called the lines "the
most pathetic that he ever wrote" in which he spoke of the three
likely lads,

     "Whose comin' step ther' 's ears thet won't,
     No, not lifelong, leave off awaitin'."

During the closing year of the war, one of the students who attended
his lectures on Dante at Harvard College wrote of a visit to his
preceptor:

      "I found the serene possessor of Elmwood in good spirits,
      ate a Graham biscuit and drank some delicious milk with him
      and his wife, then enjoyed a very pleasant conversation. He
      read some of Shakspeare's sonnets, to make me think better of
      them, and succeeded.... He gave me a very welcome copy of
      Macaulay's essays and poems, and the little visit was another
      oasis in school life's dearth of home sociability. Mabel, his
      only child, was not there at supper, but came home some time
      after: 'salute your progenitor!' and the answer was a
      daughter's kiss."

After spending years abroad, part of the time as Minister to Spain,
then as Minister to England, Lowell returned to Elmwood. To a friend
who congratulated him on being at home again, he said, "Yes, it is
very nice here; but the old house is full of ghosts." His cousin, as
quoted by Dr. Hale, says of these closing six years of the poet's
life:

      "The house was haunted by sad memories, but at least he was
      once more among his books. The library, which filled the two
      rooms on the ground floor to the left of the front door, had
      been constantly growing, and during his stay in Europe he had
      bought rare works with the intention of leaving them to
      Harvard College. Here he would sit when sad or unwell and
      read Calderon, the 'Nightingale in the Study,' whom he always
      found a solace. Except for occasional attacks of the gout,
      his life had been singularly free from sickness, but he had
      been at home only a few months when he was taken ill, and,
      after the struggle of a strong man to keep up as long as
      possible, he was forced to go to bed. In a few days his
      condition became so serious that the physician feared he
      would not live; but he rallied, and, although too weak to go
      to England, as he had planned, he appeared to be
      comparatively well. When taken sick, he had been preparing a
      new edition of his works, the only full collection that had
      ever been made, and he had the satisfaction of publishing it
      soon after his recovery. This was the last literary work he
      was destined to do, and it rounded off fittingly his career
      as a man of letters."

He died in August, 1891, when he was seventy-two years old.

Elmwood remains in the possession of the Lowell heirs. The ten acres
of the poet's boyhood days have been reduced to two or three, but the
house is much the same as when the poet lived in it.


  [Illustration: CRAIGIE HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace, Philadelphia_
   See page 40]

VI

THE CRAIGIE HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

MADE FAMOUS BY GEORGE WASHINGTON AND HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

     "_Somewhat back from the village street
     Stands the old-fashioned country seat.
     Across its antique portico
     Tall poplar-trees their shadows throw;
     And from its station in the hall
     An ancient timepiece says to all,--
         'Forever, never!
         Never--forever.'_"

The clock of which Longfellow wrote stood on the stair-landing of the
old Craigie House, Cambridge, Massachusetts, which he bought in 1843,
after having occupied it a number of years. Here he wrote the majority
of his poems. Here, one June day, Nathaniel Hawthorne dined with the
poet. In the course of conversation, the author of "The House of
Seven Gables" told Longfellow the heart-moving story of the Acadian
maiden who was separated from her lover by the cruel mandate of the
conquerors of Acadia, and here the poem was written that told the
story. Here were spent days of gladness with friends who delighted to
enter the hospitable door. Here the poet rejoiced in his home with the
children of whom he wrote in "The Children's Hour":

     "Between the dark and the daylight,
     When the night is beginning to lower,
     Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
     That is known as the Children's Hour."

And here, one sad day in July, 1861, Mrs. Longfellow was so severely
burned that she died the next day. This great sorrow bore rich fruit
for those who loved the poet. "Above the grave the strong man sowed
his thoughts, and they ripened like the corn in autumn," one of his
biographers has said.

The house was named for Andrew Craigie, who became the owner of the
property in 1793. He had given valuable service during the
Revolutionary War, acting as an "apothecary-general" in the
Continental Army. He was a man of wealth, and his home was the popular
resort for people of note from all parts of the country. During his
later years he lost all his money, and his widow was compelled to rent
rooms to Harvard students. In this way Edward Everett became a
resident of the house.

The builder of the mansion was John Vassall. In 1760, when he occupied
the house, it was surrounded by a park of one hundred and fifty acres.
Soon after the beginning of the war he went to Boston, and later he
removed to England, for his sympathies were with the Crown.
Accordingly, in 1778, the property was declared forfeited to the
State.

But the estate really became public property three years before this,
when a regiment, under the command of Colonel Glover, pitched its
tents in the park. In July, 1775, Washington made the house his
headquarters, remaining until April 4, 1776.

During these months the house was a busy place. Officers gathered here
both for business and for pleasure. Military conferences and
court-martials were held in the large room in the second story which
was later used by Longfellow as a study. Dinners and entertainments
were frequent; these provided a needed safety valve during the weeks
of anxious waiting near the British line. Mrs. Washington was a
visitor here, thus giving to her husband the taste of home life which
he was unwilling to take during the Revolution by making a visit to
his estate at Mt. Vernon.

On one of the early days of the Commander-in-Chief's occupancy of the
house, he wrote this entry in his carefully-kept account book:

      "July 15, 1775, Paid for cleaning the House which was
      provided for my Quarters, and which had been occupied by the
      Marblehead regiment, L2 10s. 9d."

The day before this entry was made General Green wrote to Samuel Ward:

      "His Excellency, General Washington, has arrived amongst us,
      universally admired. Joy was visible in every countenance,
      and it seemed as if the spirit of conquest breathed through
      the whole army. I hope I shall be taught, to copy his
      example, and to prefer the love of liberty, in this time of
      public danger to all the soft pleasures of domestic life, and
      support ourselves with manly fortitude amidst all the dangers
      and hardships that attend a state of war. And I doubt not,
      under the General's wise direction, we shall establish such
      excellent order and strictness of discipline as to invite
      victory to attend him wherever he goes."

A council of war was held in the upstairs room on August 3, 1775.
After this council General Sullivan wrote to the New Hampshire
Committee of Safety:

      "To our great surprise, discovered that we had not powder
      enough to furnish half a pound a man, exclusive of what the
      people have in their homes and cartridge boxes. The General
      was so struck that he did not utter a word for half an hour."

Further hints of the serious straits caused by the lack of ammunition
were contained in a letter of Elias Boudinot. He said that at the time
there were fourteen miles of line to guard, so that Washington did not
dare fire an Evening or Morning Gun. "In this situation one of the
Committee of Safety for Massachusetts ... deserted and went over to
General Gage, and discovered our poverty to him. The fact was so
incredible, that General Gage treated it as a stratagem of war, and
the informant as a Spy, or coming with the express purpose of
deceiving him & drawing his Army into a Snare, by which means we were
saved from having our Quarters beaten up...."

The strange inactivity of the British in the face of the
unpreparedness of the Continental troops was remarked in a letter
written to Congress on January 4, from Headquarters:

      "It is not in the pages of history, perhaps, to furnish a
      case like ours. To maintain a post within musket shot of the
      enemy, for six months together, without [powder], and at the
      same time to disband one army, and recruit another, within
      that distance of twenty odd British regiments, is more,
      probably, than was ever attempted."

To-day visitors are free to roam through the rooms that echoed to the
tread of Washington and his generals, in which the children played in
Longfellow's day, and where the poet wrote so many of his messages
that have gone straight to the hearts of millions.


VII

THE ADAMS HOUSES, QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS

WHERE TWO PRESIDENTS WERE BORN

John Adams was born and spent his boyhood in a simple farmhouse near
Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts. It has been described as a
"plain, square, honest block of a house, widened by a lean-to, and
scarcely two stories high." This house, built in 1681, Daniel Munro
Wilson says was "the veritable roof-tree, under which was ushered into
being the earliest and strongest advocate of independence, the leader
whose clear intelligence was paramount in shaping our free
institutions, the founder of a line of statesmen, legislators,
diplomats, historians, whose patriotism is a passion, and whose
integrity is like the granite of their native hills."

It is a remarkable fact that John Adams and John Hancock, who stood
shoulder to shoulder in the fight for American independence, were born
within a mile of each other, on days only a little more than a year
apart. The baptismal records show that October 19, 1735, was the
birthday of John Adams, while John Hancock was born on January 12,
1737.

From the modest home in Braintree John Adams went to college. Later he
taught school and studied law. Soon after he returned home in 1758 he
wrote in his diary:

      "Rose at sunrise, unpitched a load of hay, and translated two
      more leaves of Justinian."

After the death of his father, in 1761, the burden of the home fell on
his shoulders, and in the same year he was called to serve the
country. His diary tells of the call:

      "In March, when I had no suspicion, I heard my name
      pronounced (at town meeting) in a nomination of surveyor of
      highways. I was very wroth, because I knew better, but said
      nothing. My friend, Dr. Savil, came to me and told me that he
      had nominated me to prevent me from being nominated as a
      constable. 'For,' said the doctor, 'they make it a rule to
      compel every man to serve either as constable or surveyor, or
      to pay a fine.' Accordingly, I went to ploughing and
      ditching."

Thus John Adams showed the spirit of service that later animated his
son, John Quincy Adams, who, after he had been President, became a
representative in Congress, and made answer to those who thought such
an office beneath his dignity, "An ex-President would not be degraded
by serving as a selectman in his town if elected thereto by the
people."

During those early years the young lawyer had other occupations than
ditch-digging. The records of the family show that he was assiduously
courting Abigail Smith, daughter of Rev. William Smith, minister in
Weymouth, near by. Probably he first met her in the historic house,
for she was a frequent visitor there.

The marriage of the young people on October 25, 1764, excited much
comment. In Puritan New England the profession of the law was not a
popular calling, and many of the people thought Abigail Smith was
"throwing herself away." Parson Smith was equal to the occasion; as he
had helped his eldest daughter out of a similar difficulty by
preaching on the text, "And Mary hath chosen that good part, which
shall not be taken away from her," so, on the Sunday after Abigail's
marriage, he announced the text, "For John ... came neither eating
bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil."

The year of the marriage witnessed the beginning of John Adams' fight
for independence. For it was the year of the iniquitous Stamp Act. In
his diary he wrote:

      "I drew up a petition to the selectmen of Braintree, and
      procured it to be signed by a number of the respectable
      inhabitants, to call a meeting of the town to instruct their
      representatives in relation to the stamps."

The following year, when a meeting was held in Braintree to take
action in consequence of the failure of Great Britain to heed the
protest against the Stamp Act, he wrote:

      "I prepared a draught of instruction at home, and carried
      them with me. The cause of the meeting was explained at some
      length, and the state and danger of the country pointed out.
      A committee was appointed to prepare instructions, of which I
      was nominated as one. My draught was unanimously adopted
      without amendment, reported to the town, and accepted without
      a dissenting voice.... They rang through the state and were
      adopted in so many words ... by forty towns, as instructions
      to their representatives."

Less than two years later, on July 11, 1767, in the town close by his
own birthplace, to which John Adams had taken his bride, John Quincy
Adams was born. The delights of the new home have been pictured in a
pleasing manner by Daniel Munro Wilson:

      "Elevated was life in this 'little hut,' but it was real,
      genuine, beautifully domestic. The scene of it, visible there
      now to any pious pilgrim, and reverently preserved in many of
      its antique appointments by the Quincy Historical Society,
      assists the imagination to realize its noble simplicity. The
      dining-room or general living room, with its wide open
      fireplace, is where the young couple would most often pass
      their evenings, and in winter would very likely occupy in
      measureless content a single settle, roasting on one side and
      freezing on the other. The kitchen, full of cheerful bustle,
      and fragrant as the spice isles, how it would draw the
      children as they grew up, the little John Quincy among them!
      Here they could be near mother, and watch her with absorbing
      attention as she superintended the cooking, now hanging pots
      of savory meats on the crane, and now drawing from the
      cavernous depths of the brick oven the pies and baked beans
      and Indian puddings and other delicacies of those days. We
      can more easily imagine the home scene when we read these
      words written by Mrs. Adams to her husband: 'Our son is much
      better than when you left home, and our daughter rocks him to
      sleep with the song of "Come papa, come home to brother
      Johnnie."' 'Johnnie' is the dignified President and 'old man
      eloquent' that is to be."

When it became evident that there must be Revolution, the patriot
Adams was compelled to leave his family and go into the thick of the
fight. He did not want to go. "I should have thought myself the
happiest man in the world if I could have returned to my little hut
and forty acres, which my father left me in Braintree, and lived on
potatoes and sea-weed the rest of my life. But I had taken a part, I
had adopted a system, I had encouraged my fellow citizens, and I could
not abandon them in conscience and in honor."

From the old home Abigail Adams wrote him letters that moved him to
renewed efforts for his struggling countrymen. In one of them she
said, "You cannot be, I know, nor do I wish to see you, an inactive
spectator; but if the sword be drawn, I bid adieu to all domestic
felicity, and look forward to that country where there are neither
wars nor rumors of war, in a firm belief, that through the mercy of
its King we shall both rejoice there together."

The wife rejoiced when her husband's ringing words helped to carry the
Declaration of Independence; she urged him to make the trips to France
which Congress asked him to undertake; she encouraged him when he was
Vice-President and, later, President, and she made home more than ever
an abode of peace when, in 1801, he returned to Braintree, to a house
of Leonard Vassall, built in 1731, which he bought in 1785.

In this house husband and wife celebrated their golden wedding, as
John Quincy Adams was to celebrate his golden wedding many years
later. Here, for many years, the son enjoyed being with the mother of
whom he once wrote:

      "My mother was an angel upon earth. She was a minister of
      blessings to all human beings within her sphere of action....
      She has been to me more than a mother. She has been a spirit
      from above watching over me for good, and contributing by my
      mere consciousness of her existence to the comfort of my
      life.... There is not a virtue that can abide in the female
      heart but it was the ornament of hers."

And in this house the mother died, on October 28, 1818. John Quincy
Adams lived there until his death, on July 4, 1826.


VIII

THE QUINCY MANSION, QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS

THE HOME OF THREE DOROTHY QUINCYS

Among the settlers to whom Boston granted large allotments of outlying
lands were William Coddington and Edmund Quincy. In 1635 they went, in
company with their associate settlers, to "the mount," which became
Braintree, now Quincy.

By the side of a pleasant brook, under the shade of spreading trees,
Coddington built in 1636 his house of four rooms. Downstairs was the
kitchen and the living room, while upstairs were two bedrooms. The
upper story overhung the lower in the old manner, and a generous
chimney, which afforded room for a large open fireplace, dominated the
whole.

This house became the meeting place for a group of seekers after
religious liberty who were looked upon with suspicion in Boston--Rev.
John Wheelwright, Sir Harry Vane, Atherton Hough, Ann Hutchinson, and
others. In consequence of their views the company was soon broken up.
Ann Hutchinson and Wheelwright were banished, while Coddington would
have been banished if he had not gone hastily to Rhode Island.

Edmund Quincy, who succeeded to Coddington's house, probably would
have been banished if he had not died before the decree could be
pronounced. For a season his widow, Judith, lived in the house, which,
from that time, became known as the Quincy Mansion. With her were the
children, Edmund and Judith. Judith, who married at twenty, and became
the mother of Hannah (Betsy) Hull, whose dowry, when she became the
bride of Judge Samuel Sewell, was her weight in pine-tree shillings,
the gift of her father, the master of the colony's mint. Florence
Royce Davis has written of the wedding:

     "Then the great scales were brought, amid laughter and jest,
       And Betsy was called to step in and be weighed;
     But a silence fell over each wondering guest
     When the mint-master opened a ponderous chest
       And a fortune of shillings displayed.

     "By handfuls the silver was poured in one side
     Till it weighed from the floor blushing Betsy, the bride;
     And the mint-master called: 'Prithee, Sewell, my son,
     The horses are saddled, the wedding is done;
     Behold the bride's portion; and know all your days
     Your wife is well worth every shilling she weighs.'"

Edmund Quincy married at twenty-one, and became the next occupant of
the mansion. During his long life there were welcomed to the
hospitable roof many of those whose words and deeds prepared the way
for the liberty that was to come to the country within a century.

The second of the Quincy line was a leader in the town. At one time he
was its representative in the General Court, and as colonel of the
Suffolk Regiment, he was the first of a long list of colonels in the
family. But the day came when it was written of him, "Unkel Quincy
grows exceeding crazy," and in 1698 the second Edmund yielded the
house to Edmund the third.

This Edmund also became a colonel and a representative and, later, a
judge of the Supreme Court. His pastor said of him, "This great man
was of a manly Stature and Aspect, of a Strong Constitution and of
Good Courage, fitted for any Business of Life, to serve God, his King
and Country." Not only did he enlarge the glory of the family, but, in
1706, he enlarged the house, yet in such a way that the original
Coddington house could be clearly traced after the improvements were
finished. Judge Sewell, the cousin of the builder, was one of the
welcome occupants of the improved house. On his way to Plymouth he
stopped at "Braintry." "I turned in to Cousin Quinsey," he said,
"where I had the pleasure to see God in his Providence shining again
upon the Persons and Affairs of the Family after long distressing
Sickness and Losses. Lodged in the chamber next the Brooke." Later on
another chamber near the brook was provided for Mrs. Quincy's brother,
Tutor Flynt of Harvard, when he came that way for rest and change.

The oldest child of this generation was Edmund, whose daughter,
Dorothy Quincy, married John Hancock, while the fourth child was
Dorothy Quincy, the great-grandmother of Oliver Wendell Holmes.

The continuity of life at the mansion was sadly broken when, within a
year, the grandmother, the mother, and the father died. The death of
the latter occurred in England, where he had gone on business for the
colony. When news came of the ending of his life, the General Court of
Massachusetts declared that "he departed the delight of his own
people, but of none more than the Senate, who, as a testimony of their
love and gratitude, have ordered this epitaph to be inscribed on his
tomb in Bunhill Fields, London."

For a year Dorothy Quincy remained in the house; but on her marriage
the place ceased for a time to be the chief residence of a Quincy.
Edmund was in business in Boston. He resorted to the house for a
season now and then, but his Boston home remained his permanent
abiding place until after the birth of his daughter Dorothy. Then
failing fortune sent him back to the ancestral home.

During the next few years John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John
Hancock were favored visitors at the mansion. John Hancock won Dorothy
Quincy for his bride, and family tradition says that preparations were
made for the wedding in the old home. "The large north parlor was
adorned with a new wall paper, express from Paris, and appropriately
figured with the forms of Venus and Cupid in blue, and pendant wreaths
of flowers in red," writes the author of "Where American Independence
Began." But the approaching Revolution interfered. The bridegroom
hurried away to Boston and then to Lexington. Dorothy, under the care
of Mrs. Hancock, the mother of John Hancock, also went to Lexington on
April 18, 1775, the very day when Paul Revere aroused the patriots,
and Hancock was once more compelled to flee for his life. Four months
later, at Fairfield, Connecticut, the lovers were married.

The old mansion was never again the home of the Quincys. Josiah,
brother of Edmund the fourth, built for himself in 1770 a beautiful
home not far from the family headquarters. Here he lived through the
war. Visitors to the house are shown on one of the windows the record
he made of the departure of the British from Boston Harbor, scratched
there when he saw the welcome sight, on October 17, 1775.

For much more than a century the house was in the hands of other
families, but, fortunately, it has come under the control of the
Colonial Dames of Massachusetts. They have made it the historic
monument it deserves to be. The visitors who are privileged to wander
through the rooms hallowed by the presence of men and women who helped
to pave the way for American independence read with hearty
appreciation the lines which Holmes addressed to the portrait of his
ancestress, "My Dorothy Q," as he called her:

     "Grandmother's mother: her age, I guess
     Thirteen summers, or something less;
     Girlish bust, but womanly air;
     Smooth, square forehead, with uprolled hair;
     Lips that lover has never kissed,
     Taper fingers and slender wrist;
     Hanging sleeves of stiff brocade;
     So they painted the little maid."


  [Illustration: FERNSIDE FARM, HAVERHILL, MASS.
   _Photo by Halliday Historic Photograph Company_
   See page 54]

IX

FERNSIDE FARM, HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS

THE BIRTHPLACE AND BOYHOOD HOME OF JOHN G. WHITTIER

The first house built by Thomas Whittier, the three-hundred-pound
ancestor of the poet Whittier, and first representative of the family
in America, was a little log cabin. There he took his wife, Ruth
Flint, and there ten children were born. Five of them were boys, and
each of them was more than six feet tall.

No wonder the log house grew too small for the family. So, probably in
1688, he built a house whose massive hewn beams were fifteen inches
square, whose kitchen was thirty feet long, with a fireplace eight
feet wide. The rooms clustered about a central chimney.

In this house the poet was born December 17, 1807, and here he spent
the formative years of his life. When he was twenty-seven years old he
wrote for _The Little Pilgrim_ of Philadelphia a paper on "The Fish I
Didn't Catch." In this he described the home of his boyhood:

      "Our old homestead nestled under a long range of hills which
      stretched off to the west. It was surrounded by woods in all
      directions save to the southeast, where a break in the leafy
      wall revealed a vista of low, green meadows, picturesque with
      wooded islands and jutting capes of upland. Through these, a
      small brook, noisy enough as it foamed, rippled and laughed
      down its rocky falls by our garden-side, wound, silently and
      scarcely visible, to a still larger stream, known as the
      Country Brook. This brook in its time, after doing duty at
      two or three saw and grist mills, the clack of which we
      could hear across the intervening woodlands, found its way to
      the great river, and the river took it up and bore it down to
      the great sea."

Whittier's poems are full of references to the life on the farm; many
of his best verses had their inspiration in memories of the past. For
instance, the description of the building of the fire in "Snow-Bound,"
a poem which describes the life at the farm when he was twelve years
old, is a faithful picture of what took place in the old kitchen every
night of the long New England winter, when

     "We piled, with care, our nightly stack
     Of wood against the chimney back--
     The oaken log, green, huge and thick,
     And on its top the thick back-stick;
     The knotty fore-stick laid apart,
     And filled between with curious art.
     The ragged brush; then, hovering near,
     We watched the first red blaze appear,
     Heard the sharp crackle, caught the gleam
     On whitewashed wall and sagging beam,
     Until the old, rude-fashioned room
     Burst, flower-like, into rosy bloom."

Young Whittier was a faithful worker on the farm. One day, when he was
nineteen years old, William Lloyd Garrison, the young editor of a
Newburyport newspaper, to which Whittier had contributed a poem, found
him assisting in repairing a stone wall. The visitor urged the father
of the young poet to send him to school. As a result of this visit
Whittier entered the Academy in Haverhill, with the understanding that
he was to earn his way.

At intervals during the succeeding ten years the poet returned to the
old farm, but when he was thirty years old the place was sold, the
family went to Amesbury, and he left soon afterward for Philadelphia,
where he was to edit an anti-slavery paper.

All through life Whittier dreamed of buying back the homestead. When
he received a check for $1,000 as the first proceeds from
"Snow-Bound," he set the sum aside as the beginning of a redemption
fund.

But the citizens of Haverhill, led by Alfred A. Ordway, asked the
privilege of buying the property themselves, and making it a memorial
to the poet. Whittier died before the purchase was completed, but soon
afterward Fernside Farm, as the poet called it, was taken over by Mr.
Ordway. It is now in the hands of an association that has restored it
and keeps it open to visitors whose hearts have been stirred by the
work of the Quaker poet.


  [Illustration: DUSTON GARRISON HOUSE, HAVERHILL, MASS.
   _Photo by W. R. Merryman, Haverhill_
   See page 57]

X

THE DUSTON GARRISON HOUSE, HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS

FROM WHICH HANNAH DUSTON WAS CARRIED AWAY BY THE INDIANS

The attention of visitors to Haverhill, Massachusetts, is attracted to
a great granite boulder set in a place of honor in the old town. When
they ask about it they are told the story of Hannah Duston, heroine.

Thomas and Hannah Duston were married in 1677, and at once built a
humble house of imported brick on the spot where the boulder now
stands. Frequently one of the bricks is uncovered on the site; those
who examine it marvel at the thought of the building material brought
across the sea.

Later Thomas Duston uncovered deposits of clay near his home which led
him to make experiments in brick making. He was so successful that his
product was in demand; villagers said that the Haverhill bricks were
fully as good as those brought from England.

Strong building material was needed, for hostile Indians were all
about. In order to afford protection against them, Mr. Duston
determined to build a new house, which should serve as a garrison in
time of danger. By the village authorities he was appointed keeper of
the garrison, as this commission shows:

      "To Thomas Duston, upon the settlement of garrisons. You
      being appointed master of the garrison at your house, you are
      hereby in his Maj's name, required to see that a good watch
      is kept at your garrison both by night and by day by those
      persons hereafter named who are to be under your command and
      inspection in building or repairing your garrison, and if any
      person refuse or neglect their duty, you are accordingly
      required to make return of the same, under your hand to the
      Committee of militia in Haverhill."

The new house was well under way when this command was given. As it is
still standing, it is possible to tell of its construction. A
Haverhill writer says that "white oak, which is to-day well preserved,
was used in its massive framework, and the floor and roof timbers are
put together with great wooden pins. In early days the windows swung
outward, and the glass was very thick, and set into the frames with
lead."

On March 15, 1697, the watching Indians decided that their opportunity
had come to attack the village. They knew that if they waited for the
completion of the new garrison, there would be little chance of
success. So they struck at once.

The story of what followed was told by Cotton Mather, in his "Magnalia
Christi Americana," published in London in 1702:

      "On March 15, 1697, the Salvages made a Descent upon the
      Skirts of Haverhil, Murdering and Captiving about Thirty-nine
      Persons, and Burning about half a Dozen Houses. In the Broil,
      one Hannah Dustan having lain-in about a Week, attended with
      her Nurse, Mary Neffe a Widow, a Body of terrible Indians
      drew near unto the House where she lay, with Design to carry
      on their Bloody Devastations. Her Husband hastened from his
      Employment abroad unto the relief of his Distressed Family;
      and first bidding Seven of his Eight Children (which were
      from Two to Seventeen Years of Age) to get away as fast as
      they could into some Garrison in the Town, he went in to
      inform his Wife of the horrible Distress come upon them. E'er
      he could get up, the fierce Indians were got so near, that
      utterly despairing to do her any Service, he ran out after
      his Children.... He overtook his children about Forty Rod
      from his Door, ... a party of Indians came up with him; and
      now though they Fired at him, and he Fired at them, yet he
      Manfully kept at the Reer of his Little Army of Unarmed
      Children, while they Marched off with the Pace of a Child of
      Five Years Old; until, by the Singular Providence of God, he
      arrived safe with them all unto a Place of Safety about a
      Mile or two from his House....

      "The Nurse, trying to escape with the New-born Infant, fell
      into the Hands of the Formidable Salvages; and those furious
      Tawnies coming into the House, bid poor Dustan to rise
      immediately....

      "Dustan (with her Nurse) ... travelled that Night about a
      Dozen Miles, and then kept up with their New Masters in a
      long Travel of an Hundred and Fifty Miles....

      "The poor Women had nothing but Fervent Prayers to make their
      Lives Comfortable or Tolerable, and by being daily sent out
      upon Business, they had Opportunities together and asunder to
      do like another Hannah, in pouring out their Souls before the
      Lord."

      The Indians were "now Travelling with these Two Captive
      Women, (and an English Youth taken from Worcester a Year and
      half before,) unto a Rendezvous of Salvages which they call a
      Town somewhere beyond Penacook; and they still told, these
      poor Women, that when they came to this Town they must be
      Stript, and Scourg'd, and Run the Gantlet through the whole
      Army of Indians. They said this was the Fashion when the
      Captives first came to a Town;...

      "But on April 30, while they were yet, it may be, about an
      Hundred and Fifty Miles from the Indian Town, a little before
      break of Day, when the whole Crew was in a Dead Sleep ... one
      of these Women took up a Resolution to imitate the Action of
      Jael upon Sisera; and being where she had not her own Life
      secured by any Law unto her, she thought she was not
      forbidden by any Law to take away the Life of the
      Murderers.... She heartened the Nurse and the Youth to assist
      her in this Enterprize; and all furnishing themselves with
      Hatchets for the purpose, they struck such home Blows upon
      the Heads of their Sleeping Oppressors, that e'er they could
      any of them struggle into any effectual resistance, at the
      Feet of those poor Prisoners, they bow'd, they fell, they lay
      down; at their Feet they bowed, they fell; where they bowed,
      there they fell down Dead."

One old squaw and a boy of eleven escaped to the forest. The scalps
were not taken at first, but soon Hannah Duston returned to the camp
and gathered the trophies, in order that she might claim the bounty
offered by the colony for the scalps of hostile Indians. Then all the
Indians' canoes were scuttled, their arms were taken, and the party of
three embarked.

Day after day they paddled down the Merrimac, the three taking turns
in the unaccustomed labour. At night they paused to rest. Cautiously a
fire was kindled, and food was cooked. Always they feared discovery by
the bands of Indians. Two slept, while a third stood guard. But no
Indians appeared.

At last the home village was in sight. The wondering villagers came
out to see who the visitors could be. Their astonishment and delight
can be imagined.

The General Assembly of Massachusetts voted Mrs. Duston twenty-five
pounds' reward, while a similar amount was divided between Mrs. Neff
and the boy Samuel Lennardson. Later the governor of Maryland sent
Mrs. Duston a silver tankard.

The Duston descendants, who hold a reunion every year, prize these
souvenirs. But most of all they prize a letter (the original of which
is in the possession of the Haverhill Historical Society) written by
Mrs. Duston in 1723, in which she gave a wonderful testimony to God's
goodness to her and hers. This is the message she gave to children and
grandchildren:

      "I Desire to be thankful that I was born in a Land of Light &
      Baptized when I was young and had a good education by my
      Father, tho' I took but little notice of it in the time of
      it--I am Thankful for my Captivity, 'twas the Comfortablest
      time that ever I had. In my Affliction God made his Word
      Comfortable to me. I remember ye 43 ps. ult. [probably
      meaning last part] and those words came to my mind--ps.
      118:17--I have had a great Desire to Come to the Ordinance of
      the Lord's Supper a Great while, but fearing I should give
      offense and fearing my own Unworthiness has kept me back.
      Reading a Book concerning X's Sufferings Did much awaken me.
      In the 55th of Isa. beg [beginning] We are invited to come:
      Hearing Mr. Moody preach out of ye 3rd of Mal. 3 last verses
      it put me upon Consideration. Ye 11th of Matt., ending, has
      been encouraging to me--I have been resolving to offer my
      Self from time to time ever since the Settlement of the
      present Ministry. I was awakened by the first Sacraml Sermon
      [Luke 14:17]. But Delays and fears prevailed upon me: But I
      desire to Delay no longer, being Sensible it is my Duty--I
      desire the Church to receive me tho' it be the Eleventh hour;
      and pray for me that I may honer God and receive the
      Salvation of My Soul.

        "Hannah Duston, wife of Thomas. Aetat 67."

Mrs. Duston lived in the old house at Haverhill for many years after
her remarkable escape.


XI

THE OLD MANSE AND THE WAYSIDE, CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS

TWO HOUSES MADE FAMOUS BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

Nathaniel Hawthorne was thirty-eight years old before he was able to
begin the ideal life of Adam with his Eve, to which he had looked
forward for many years.

"I want a little piece of land that I can call my own, big enough to
stand upon, big enough to be buried in," he said to a friend when he
was thirty-four years old. Lack of money delayed the realization, but
it is a curious fact that the marriage to Sophia Peabody took place
just after he had made up his mind that the thousand dollars he had
invested in the Emerson Brook Farm experiment was gone forever.

The marriage took place July 9, 1842, and housekeeping was at once
begun in the Old Manse at Concord, which was built in 1765 by
Emerson's grandfather. But he was merely a renter; his dream of
ownership was to be delayed ten years longer. The great rooms of the
curious gambrel-roofed house were rather bare, and there was a
scarcity of everything except love, yet the author and his bride found
nothing but joy in the retired garden and the dormer-windowed house.

Hawthorne's own charming description of the house and grounds is so
attractive that the reader wishes to visit them:

      "Between two tall gateposts of rough-hewn stone (the gate
      itself having fallen from its hinges at some unknown epoch),
      we beheld the grey front of the old parsonage terminating the
      vista of an avenue of black ash trees. It was now a
      twelvemonth since the funeral procession of the venerable
      clergyman, the last inhabitant, had turned from that gateway
      toward the village burying ground....

      "Nor, in truth, had the old manse ever been profaned by a lay
      occupant until that memorable summer afternoon when I entered
      it as my home. A priest had built it; a priest had succeeded
      to it; other priestly owners from time to time had dwelt in
      it; and children born in the chambers had grown up to assume
      the priestly character. It was awful to recollect how many
      sermons must have been written there. The latest inhabitant
      there--he by whose translation to paradise the dwelling was
      left vacant--had penned nearly three thousand discourses....
      How often, no doubt, had he paced along the avenue, attuning
      his meditations to sighs and gentle murmurs, and deep and
      solemn peals of the wind among the leafy tops of the
      trees!... I took shame to myself for having been so long a
      writer of idle stories, and ventured to hope that wisdom
      would descend upon me with the falling leaves of the autumn,
      and that I should light upon an intellectual treasure in the
      Old Manse well worth those hoards of long-hidden gold which
      people seek for in moss-grown houses."

Two years after their marriage, Mrs. Hawthorne wrote to her mother:

      "I have no time, as you may imagine. I am baby's tire-woman,
      hand-maiden, and tender, as well as nursing mother. My
      husband relieves me with her constantly, and gets her to
      sleep beautifully.... The other day, when my husband saw me
      contemplating an appalling vacuum in his dressing-gown, he
      said he was a man of the largest rents in the country, and it
      was strange he had not more ready money.... But, somehow or
      other, I do not care much, because we are so happy."

Hawthorne did much of his work in the rear room where Emerson wrote.
In the introduction to "Mosses from an Old Manse" he said of this
apartment:

      "When I first saw the room, the walls were blackened with the
      smoke of unnumbered years, and made still blacker by the grim
      prints of Puritan ministers, that hung around.... The rain
      pattered upon the roof and the sky gloomed through the dirty
      garret windows while I burrowed among the venerable books in
      search of any living thought."

From his writing Hawthorne turned easily to wandering in the garden or
rowing on the river or helping his wife about the house. "We had a
most enchanting time during Mary the cook's holiday sojourn in
Boston," Mrs. Hawthorne wrote at one time. "We remained in our bower
undisturbed by mortal creature. Mr. Hawthorne took the new phases of
housekeeper, and, with that marvellous power of adaptation to
circumstances that he possesses, made everything go easily and well.
He rose betimes in the mornings and kindled fires in the kitchen and
breakfast room, and by the time I came down the tea-kettle boiled and
potatoes were baked and rice cooked, and my lord sat with a book
superintending."

Poverty put an untimely end to life at the Old Manse. The years from
1846 to 1852 were spent in Boston and Salem. In 1852 Hawthorne was
able to buy a dilapidated old house at Concord, which he called The
Wayside. Here he remained until his appointment in 1853 as American
Consul at Liverpool, and to it he returned after long wandering.

The Wayside had been the home of Bronson Alcott. Here Mr. and Mrs.
Hawthorne made their second real home. They rejoiced as, a little at a
time, they were able to improve the property, and they showed always
that they knew the secret of finding happiness in the midst of
privations.

Hawthorne described his new abode for his friend, George William
Curtis:

      "As for my old house, you will understand it better after
      spending a day or two in it. Before Mr. Alcott took it in
      hand, it was a mean-looking affair, with two peaked gables;
      no suggestion about it and no venerableness, although from
      the style of its architecture it seems to have survived
      beyond its first century. He added a porch in front, and a
      central peak, and a piazza at each end, and painted it a
      rusty olive hue, and invested the whole with a modest
      picturesqueness; all which improvements, together with the
      situation at the foot of a wooded hill, make it a place that
      one notices and remembers for a few minutes after passing
      it....

      "The house stands within ten or fifteen feet of the old
      Boston road (along which the British marched and retreated),
      divided from it by a fence, and some trees and shrubbery of
      Mr. Alcott's setting out. Wherefore I have called it 'The
      Wayside,' which I think a better name and more morally
      suggestive than that which, as Mr. Alcott has since told me,
      he bestowed on it, 'The Hillside.' In front of the house, on
      the opposite side of the road, I have eight acres of
      land,--the only valuable portion of the place in a farmer's
      eye, and which are capable of being made very fertile. On the
      hither side, my territory extends some little distance over
      the brow of the hill, and is absolutely good for nothing, in
      a productive point of view, though very good for many other
      purposes.

      "I know nothing of the history of the house, except Thoreau's
      telling me that it was inhabited a generation or two ago by a
      man who believed he should never die. I believe, however, he
      is dead; at least, I hope so; else he may probably appear and
      dispute my title to his residence."

In furnishing the house Mrs. Hawthorne took keen pleasure in putting
the best of everything in her husband's study. She called it "the best
room, the temple of the Muses and the Delphic shrine."

In these surroundings, supported by a wife who worshipped him,
Hawthorne wrote until the call came to go to England. It was 1860
before he returned to The Wayside. There he hoped to end his life,
but death overtook him at Plymouth, New Hampshire, while he was making
a tour of New England with Franklin Pierce. Mrs. Hawthorne survived
him seven years.


  [Illustration: ROYALL HOUSE, MEDFORD, MASS.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 66]

XII

THE ROYALL HOUSE, MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS

FROM WHOSE ROOF MOLLY STARK SIGNALLED TO HER HUSBAND

One who is familiar with the old plantation houses of Virginia is
tempted to rub his eyes when he first sees the Royall House at
Medford, Massachusetts, for this relic of Colonial days has the
outbuildings, the slave-quarters, and other characteristics of so many
Virginia houses. True, it has not the low wings and the stately
columns at the entrance, but the doorway is so chaste and dignified
that this is not felt to be a lack. Those who enter the doorway and
walk reverently through the rooms of what has been called the finest
specimen of colonial architecture in the vicinity of Boston, are
filled anew with admiration for the builders of another day who chose
the finest white pine for their work, and would not dream of scamping
anywhere. Evidently there was little need in those days of the
services of an inspector to see that the terms of a contract were
carried out.

The history of the property goes back to 1631, when Governor John
Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who
served for nineteen years, secured a grant to the farm on which,
within six or seven years, the original dormer-windowed Royall House
was built. This was smaller than the present house, but it was later
incorporated in the present stately mansion; one story was added, and
the outer wall was moved a few feet. Thus it is really a house within
a house.

At the time of Governor Winthrop's ownership it was called the
Ten-Hill Farmhouse, because ten hills could be seen from its windows.
John Winthrop, Jr., sold the place to Mrs. Elizabeth Lidgett.
Lieutenant Governor Usher married a Lidgett, and owned the estate
until he lost it through business reverses. The name was not changed
until 1732, when the house was bought by Isaac Royall, a planter from
Antigua, in the Leeward Islands, a descendant of William Royall of
Salem. He paid L10,350 for the estate, which then consisted of five
hundred and four acres. It was he who enlarged the house. For five
years the neighbors watched the transformation of the comfortable
Ten-Hill Farmhouse to the great Royall House, with its enclosing wall,
elm-bordered driveway, pleasing garden, summerhouse, great barn, and
rambling slave-quarters.

Two generations of Royalls entertained lavishly here. Among the guests
were the most celebrated men of the time, as well as many who were not
so well known, for all were welcome there. Many of these guests drove
up the driveway to the paved courtyard in their own grand equipages.
Some were brought in the four-horse Royall chariot. But those who came
on foot were welcomed as heartily.

Isaac Royall, II, was a Tory, and in 1775 he was compelled to abandon
the property. Thereupon Colonel, later General, John Stark made it
his headquarters. The regiment which he had himself raised, and whose
wages he paid for a time from his own pocket, was encamped near by.
From the Royall house these men and their intrepid leader went out to
the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Under the direction of Molly Stark the house maintained its reputation
for hospitality, and she did her best to make the place the abode of
patriotism. On the day when the British evacuated Boston she promised
her husband to signal to him from the roof the movements of the enemy.
Passing on with his soldiers to Dorchester Heights, he anxiously
awaited the news sent to him by his faithful Molly.

The Royall family regained possession of the property in 1805. To-day
it is owned by the Royall House Association, which keeps it open to
the visitors. These come in large numbers to see relics of former
days, including what is said to be the only chest that survived the
Boston Tea Party, the sign of the Royall Oak Tavern in Medford, which
bears the marks of the bullets of the soldiers who were on their way
to the Battle of Bunker Hill, the old furniture, the first fork used
in the Colony, and the furnishings of the quaint kitchen fireplace,
which dates from 1732.


  [Illustration: BROADHEARTH, SAUGUS, MASS.
   _Photo by Wallace Nutting, Inc., Framingham Center, Mass_
   See page 69]

XIII

BROADHEARTH AND THE BENNET-BOARDMAN HOUSE, SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS

TWO REMARKABLE SPECIMENS OF THE OVERHANG HOUSE

"Thomas Dexter of Lyn, yeoman," was the first owner of much of the
land on which Lynn, Massachusetts, is built. Evidently he was land
poor, for on October 22, 1639, he "mortgaged his fearme in Lyn ... for
two oxen & 2 bulls upon condition of payment to Simon Broadstreet of
Ipswich L90 the first day of August, the next following with a
reservation upon the sale of the said fearme to give the said Dexter
the overflow above the debt and damages of the said L90."

Six years later the Registry of Deeds at Salem told of the sale, to
Richard Leader, Gent, of England, of a bit of the farm on which
Governor Broadstreet held a mortgage. Mr. Leader was the agent of "ye
Company of undertakers of ye Iron Works," and he thought that Dexter
had the best location for the purposes of the company that proposed to
start what proved to be the first successful iron works in the
Colonies. The quaint story of the transaction was entered thus:

      "Thomas Dexter of Lyn in the County of Essex ye[oman] for the
      sum of 40 L st[erling] hath sowld unto Richard Leder for ye
      use of ye Iron works all that land, wch by reason of [a]
      damme now agreed to be made, shall overflow and all
      sufficient ground for a water course from the damme, to the
      works to be erected, and alsoe all [the] land betwene the
      an[cient] water course and the new extended flume or water
      course togeather with five acres and an halfe of land lying
      in the corn field most convenient for the Iron Works and also
      tooe convenient cartwayes that is to one on each side of the
      premises as by a deed indented bearing date the twentie
      seaventh of January, 1645, more at lardge apth."

On the ground thus bought a sturdy house, Broadhearth, was built in
1646. The second story overhung the first story, after the manner of
many English houses of the period. The overhang is still in evidence,
though a veranda has hidden it except to the careful observer.

The first product of the iron works, a kettle, was made in 1642. This
is still in existence. During more than one hundred years neighboring
colonists looked to the foundry for their supplies of house hardware,
furnishings, and implements of iron. The site of the foundry was
opposite the house, while traces of the pits from which the bog ore
was dug are easily found in the field at the rear. Remains of scoria
and slag are also pointed out to the visitor by employees of the
Wallace Nutting Corporation, which has restored the house as nearly as
possible to its original condition and has placed in it furniture of
the period. A caretaker has been placed in charge who will copy for
applicants iron work in the house, or other old examples. Thus, in a
modest way, the Saugus Iron Works has been reestablished.

  [Illustration: BENNET-BOARDMAN HOUSE, SAUGUS, MASS.
   _Photo by Halliday Historic Photograph Company_
   See page 69]

Another specimen of the overhang house is not far away. This is the
house built some time between 1649 and 1656 by Samuel Bennet,
carpenter. It is famous as the house that has been in two counties,
Suffolk and Essex, and in four towns, Boston, Lynn, Chelsea, and
Saugus.

That it was once in Boston was due to the narrow strip of the
territory of the city that stretched far out in the country, somewhat
after the manner of a portion of a modern gerrymandered legislative
district. When the district was set off as Chelsea and Lynn, in
response to a petition of citizens who were inconvenienced by their
distance from town meetings, the boundaries between Chelsea and Lynn
were carelessly marked; one line ran directly through the front door
and the chimney of the Bennet house. This mistake, which caused
annoyance and expense to those who occupied the house, was not
corrected for more than one hundred years. Finally Abijah Boardman
asked that he be relieved of his double liability to Lynn and Chelsea,
and in 1803, by Act of the General Court, the petition was granted.

Bennet, the builder of the house, figured more than once in the
courts. In 1644 the Grand Jury indicted him as "a Common sleeper in
time of exercise," and he was fined 2s. 6d. In 1671 he brought suit
against the Iron Works Company for L400 for labor. In connection with
this suit John Paule, whose "constant employment was to repair carts,
coale carts, mine carts, and other working materials" for the "tiemes"
at the iron works, testified that "my master Bennet did yearly yearme
a vast sum from said Iron Works, for he commonly yearmed forty or
fifty shillings a daye, for he had five or six teemes goeing generally
every faire day."

Bennets and Boardmans have held the house from the beginning. The
Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities has
interested itself in the protection of the property.


XIV

THE COLONEL JEREMIAH LEE HOUSE, MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS

THE HOME OF ONE OF THE EARLIEST MARTYRS TO THE CAUSE OF THE COLONIES

Marblehead was a comparatively insignificant port when Jeremiah Lee
came to town. At once he made a place for himself among the humble
fishermen and other seafaring men of the place. He was a member of the
Board of Firewards in the town's first fire department, and he served
on important committees.

When, in 1768, he built a wonderful mansion that cost more than ten
thousand pounds, the most wonderful house in Massachusetts at the
time, his townsmen knew him well enough to understand that he was
their good friend, even if he did have much more money than any of
them.

The Lee Mansion was a hospitable home. The Colonel and his wife Martha
entertained lavishly, not only the people of the town but famous men
from abroad. In 1789 Washington was entertained in the house. But it
was one of the glories of the mansion that the humblest mariner in the
place was not slow to go there if he wished to have a chat with the
bluff owner or if he desired to go to the quaint cupola from which it
is possible to look far out to sea. To this outlook Colonel Lee
himself often went, for his ships were sailing to Marblehead from all
parts of the world, and he was as eager as any one to turn his eyes
seaward.

The house is sixty-four feet by forty-six feet, and the walls are of
brick, though they are covered with wooden clapboards two feet by one
and a half feet. There are fifteen rooms, in addition to the great
halls that make the house seem like a palace.

In these rooms the Colonel conferred with other patriots as to the
welfare of Massachusetts and all the colonies. From the house he went
out to the town meetings where the men gathered to talk over the
Boston Port Bill and the Boston Tea Party and questions of Taxation
without Representation.

He rejoiced to serve as a representative in the General Court and on
the Committee of Safety and Supplies of the Province. He was chosen to
represent the town in the Continental Congress, and when he was unable
to go, Elbridge Gerry, who later became Vice-President of the United
States, was sent in his place at the expense of the town.

On the night of April 18, 1775, in company with Elbridge Gerry and
Azor Orin, who were members with him of the Committee of Safety and
Supplies, he was attending a meeting at Weatherby's Black Horse Tavern
just outside of Cambridge. The meeting adjourned so late that the
three men decided to spend the night at the tavern. The eight hundred
British soldiers who were on their way that night to Lexington learned
of the presence in Cambridge of the patriots. Some one rushed to the
tavern and roused them from slumber. They did not even have time to
put on their clothes, but ran at once from the house and hid
themselves at some distance from the tavern. When the disappointed
troops had gone on, the hunted men returned to their room.

Three weeks later Lee died as the result of the exposure. He has been
called one of the earliest martyrs to the cause of the Colonies.
Before he died he left directions that five thousand pounds should be
given to the treasury of the provinces.

Mrs. Lee, who was Martha Swett of Marblehead, lived on in the mansion
with those of her eight children who had not gone already to homes of
their own. Under her guidance the hospitality for which the house had
become noted was maintained.

Those who pass between the beautiful porch pillars and enter the
chaste colonial doorway are amazed at the remarkable hallway and the
stairs. The hall is fifteen feet wide and extends the length of the
house. It is heavily wainscoted with mahogany. On the walls hangs
remarkable panelled paper whose designs, depicting ancient
architecture, are in keeping with the majestic proportions of the
place. The stairway is so wide that four or five people can climb it
abreast and the balustrade and the spindles are of exquisite
workmanship.

The rear stairway is far more ornate than the best stairway in most
houses, and the rooms are in keeping with the hall and the stairways.

The cupola is one of the most striking features of the house. Here six
windows give a view that is worth going far to see.

When Mrs. Lee died, the property descended to her son. Judge Samuel
Sewell was a later owner. But the day came when it was to be sold at
auction. All Marblehead feared that the historic place would be
destroyed. Fortunately the Marblehead Historical Society was able to
raise the fifty-five hundred dollars needed to secure it.

Since July 9, 1909, the Society has owned the mansion. For six months
of every year it is open to visitors who throng to see the choice
collection of china, portraits, embroidery, and furniture that has
been gathered together by the Society.


  [Illustration: OLD SOUTH CHURCH, NEWBURYPORT, MASS.
   _Photo Furnished by Rev. A. McDonald, Newburyport, Mass._
   See page 75]

XV

THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH, NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS

WHERE GEORGE WHITEFIELD, THE GREAT EVANGELIST, IS BURIED

More than one hundred years after the organization of the First Church
of Newburyport, Rev. George Whitefield, then a young man of
twenty-six, preached in the community. "The Great Awakening," which
followed, spread all over New England, and more than thirty thousand
were converted. Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, the Tennents, and others
led in the work that had such wonderful results.

Five years after Whitefield's visit to Newburyport the Old South
Church was organized, most of those who became members having been
converted under Whitefield's preaching. The new church was actually a
Presbyterian church from the beginning, though it did not finally
adopt the Presbyterian form of government until 1802.

The members of the new church were called "a misguided band," and "new
schemers." Their first pastor was called a dissenting minister. Their
protest against these aspersions took the form of a petition to "The
King's Most Excellent Majesty," which was a prayer for that "equal
liberty of conscience in worshipping God" that had already been
granted to others. The petition recited the desire of the people to be
relieved of taxation "for the support of ministers on whose ministry
they cannot in conscience attend," and stated that, because of their
refusal to pay what they felt were unjust taxes, "honest and peaceable
men have been hauled away to prison to their great hurt and damage."

When the petition was presented to the king by Mr. Partridge, their
agent, he declared that they were not "a wild, friekish people," and
cited as an argument for relief from double taxation that, while they
had some wealthy members, there were among them "more poor widows than
all the other congregations in town put together." He said those who
protested against double taxation had been "dragged about upon the
ground," dressed up in bear skins and worried, and imprisoned.

The protest did not bring relief at once; it was 1773 before the
General Court granted the plea of the members. For more than twenty
years more the town tried to collect double taxes, but in 1795 the
rights of the members of Old South were conceded.

The first building, erected in 1743, gave way in 1756 to the structure
still in use. Alterations made since that time have not made any great
change in its appearance, except in the tower, which was repaired in
1848, because it was thought that the timber must be decaying.
However, to the surprise of the carpenters who undertook the repairs,
they were found as sound as ever. A half-hour was required to saw
through one of them!

The bell in the new tower was cast by Paul Revere. Surmounting the
spire is a cock which was perched on the original tower. When this
tower, after the carpenters had done all they could with their saws,
was pulled over by horses and oxen, the cock broke loose and fell at
some distance. The man who picked up the figure was surprised to find
that it was of solid copper, instead of wood, as had been thought, and
that it weighed more than fifty pounds.

In the original pews there was a central chair, surrounded by seats
hung on hinges. Over the pulpit was a sounding board. At the head of
the pulpit stair a seat was provided for the sexton, that he might be
on hand to trim the candles during the evening service.

The official history of the church, written by Dr. H. C. Hovey, gives
interesting facts concerning the heating of the old building:

      "For seventy years those who crowded this church depended on
      footstoves altogether for warmth in winter; while the
      minister preached in his ample cloak, and wore gloves with a
      finger and thumb cut off to enable him the better to turn the
      leaves. A law was made allowing the sexton twenty cents for
      each footstove that he had to fill before service and remove
      afterward. A great sensation was made in 1819 by the
      introduction of wood stoves at an outlay of $100. The first
      day they were in place the people were so overcome that some
      of them fainted away and were carried out of the house; but
      they revived on learning that as yet no fire had been
      kindled in the new stoves. The doors of the stoves opened
      into the ample vestibule, where the custom continued of
      ranging the many footstoves in a wide circle to be filled
      with live coals from the stove."

On the Sunday after the battle of Lexington Dr. Jonathan Parsons made
an appeal in the name of liberty. After this Captain Ezra Lunt stepped
into the aisle and formed a company of sixty men, which is said to
have been the first company of volunteers to join the Continental
Army.

Later Newburyport supplied a number of companies. But the call came
for still another company. "Day after day the recruiting officers
toiled in vain," Dr. Hovey writes, "Finally the regiment was invited
to the Presbyterian church, where they were addressed in such spirited
and stirring words that once again a number of this church stepped
forth to take the covenant, and in two hours after the benediction had
been spoken the entire company was raised."

During the war twenty-two vessels and one thousand men, from the towns
of Newbury and Newburyport, were lost at sea. The first American flag
seen in British waters, after the cessation of hostilities, was
displayed in the Thames by Nicholas Johnson of Newburyport, captain of
the _Compte de Grasse_.

Among the treasures of the church is the Bible which Whitefield used.
The evangelist, who died Sunday, September 30, 1770, is buried in the
crypt under the pulpit where he had planned to preach on the very day
of his death, as he had preached many times during the years since the
building of the church. To this dark crypt thousands of reverent
visitors have groped their way. One, less reverent, removed an arm of
the skeleton and carried it to England as a relic. No one knew what
had become of it until, after the death of the thief, it was returned
to Newburyport, together with a bust of Whitefield. This bust is also
one of the treasures of Old South.

Those who love this old church at Newburyport delight in the lines of
John Greenleaf Whittier:

     "Under the church of Federal Street,
     Under the tread of its Sabbath feet,
     Walled about by its basement stones,
     Lie the marvellous preacher's bones.
     No saintly honors to them are shown,
     No sign nor miracle have they known;
     But he who passes the ancient church
     Stops in the shade of its belfry-porch,
     And ponders the wonderful life of him
     Who lies at rest in that charnel dim.
     Long shall the traveller strain his eye
     From the railroad car, as it plunges by,
     And the vanishing town behind him search
     For the slender spire of the Whitefield Church;
     And feel for one moment the ghosts of trade
     And fashion and folly and pleasure laid,
     By the thought of that life of pure intent,
     That voice of warning, yet eloquent,
     Of one on the errands of angels sent.
     And if where he labored the flood of sin
     Like the tide from the harbor-bar sets in.
     And over a life of time and sense
     The church-spires lift their vain defence,
     As if to scatter the bolts of God
     With the points of Calvin's thunder-rod,--
     Still, as the gem of its civic crown,
     Precious beyond the world's renown,
     His memory hallows the ancient town!"


XVI

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

THE OLDEST BAPTIST CHURCH IN AMERICA

When Roger Williams, Welshman, left England for America because he
could not find in the Church of England freedom to worship God
according to his conscience, he came to Salem, in the Massachusetts
Bay Colony. There he joined others who had sought America for the same
purpose, but to his disappointment he found that his ideas of liberty
of worship did not agree with theirs, and he was once more adrift. On
October 9, 1635, the authorities of the Colony ordered that he "shall
depart out of this jurisdiction." He was later given permission to
remain until spring, on condition that he make no attempt "to draw
others to his opinions."

On the ground that he had broken the implied agreement, the Governor,
on January 11, 1636, sent for him to go to Boston, from whence he was
to be banished to England. Williams sent word that he was ill and
could not come at the time. A force of men was sent to seize him, but
when they reached his house he had departed already, turning his face
toward the southern wilderness. He was "sorely tossed for fourteen
weeks in a bitter winter season, not knowing what bread or bed did
mean."

On April 30, 1636, he came to the country of the Wampanoags, where the
sachem Massasoit made him a grant of land. Within a short time some
of his friends joined him, and primitive houses were built. Then came
word from the Governor of Massachusetts Bay that he must go beyond the
bounds of the Plymouth Colony. Accordingly, with six others, he
embarked in canoes and sought for a location. When this was found
Canonicus and Mantonomi agreed to let the company have lands, and soon
the new settlement was made and named Providence, in recognition of
God's care of him during his journey. Then others joined him and his
companions.

Two years after the settlement of Providence twelve of the citizens
decided that they must have a church. One of the company, Ezekiel
Hollyman, baptized Roger Williams and Williams baptized Hollyman and
ten others. The twelve then baptized were the original members of the
first church of Providence, Rhode Island, the first Baptist church in
America, and the second in the world. Roger Williams was the first
pastor, but he withdrew before the close of the year in which the
church was organised. During the remaining forty-five years of his
life he remained in Providence as a missionary among the Indians,
whose friendship he had won by his scrupulously careful and honorable
method of dealing with them.

The church met in private houses or under the trees, for more than
sixty years. The first meeting house was not erected until 1700. The
builder was Pardon Tillinghast, the sixth pastor of the church, who,
like his predecessors, served without salary. However, he urged that
the church should begin to pay its way, and that his successor should
receive a stipulated salary. The Tillinghast building was in use for
fifteen years after it was deeded to the congregation, in 1711. The
deed, which is on record at the Providence City Hall, calls the church
a "Six-Principle church."

The growth of the congregation called for a larger building. This was
erected in 1726 and was used until 1774. An old document gives an
interesting side light on the building of the meeting house. This is
an account of Richard Brown, dated May 30, 1726, which reads:

      The account of what charge I have been at this day as to the
      providing a dinner for the people that raised the Baptist
      meeting-house at Providence (it being raised this day,) is as
      followeth:

     One fat sheep, which weighed forty-three lbs.     L0,14,04

     For roasting the said sheep, etc.                     8

     For one lb. butter                                    1

     For two loaves of bread which weighed fifteen lbs.    2

     For half a peck of peas                               1,03

When the building was planned the Charitable Baptist Society was
incorporated, that it might hold title to "a meeting-house for the
public worship of Almighty God, and to hold Commencement in." Nearly a
third of the L7,000 required for the new building was raised by a
lottery, authorized by the State. The architects modelled the church
after the popular St. Martins-in-the-Fields in London, whose designer
was James Gibbs, a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren.

In the two-hundred-foot spire was hung the bell made in London, on
which were inscribed the strange words:

     "For freedom of conscience this town was first planted;
     Persuasion, not force was used by the people:
     This Church is the eldest, and has not recanted,
     Enjoying and granting bell, temple, and steeple."

The pastor at the time the new church was first occupied, on May 28,
1775, was president of Rhode Island College, an institution which had
been located in Providence in 1773, in consequence of the generosity
and activity of the members of the church. The institution later
became Brown University. Every one of the presidents of the college
has been a member of the First Church.

A church whose building was dedicated "midway between the battles of
Lexington and Bunker Hill" should have a patriotic history. The story
of Providence during the Revolution shows that the members were keenly
alive to their opportunities. The first suggestion for the Continental
Congress came from Providence. Rhode Island was the first State to
declare for independence. Pastor and people were ardent supporters of
these movements. Many soldiers were furnished to the army by the
congregation.

Naturally, then, people would be interested in a man like Stephen
Gano, who became pastor in 1792. He had been a surgeon in the
Revolutionary Army, and had been taken prisoner, put on board a
prison-ship, and bound in chains, which made scars that lasted for
life. His pastorate of thirty-six years was the longest in the history
of the church.

The stately building erected in 1774 is still in use. The gallery long
set apart for the use of slaves has given way to a square loft, the
old pews have been displaced by modern seats, and the lofty pulpit and
sounding-board have disappeared. Otherwise the church is much as it
was when the first congregation entered its doors in 1775.




TWO: WHERE PATROONS AND KNICKERBOCKERS FLOURISHED

     _Where nowadays the Battery lies,
       New York had just begun,
     A new-born babe, to rub its eyes,
       In Sixteen Sixty-One.
     They christened it Nieuw Amsterdam,
       Those burghers grave and stately,
     And so, with schnapps and smoke and psalm,
       Lived out their lives sedately._

     _Two windmills topped their wooden wall,
       On stadthuys gazing down,
     On fort, and cabbage-plots, and all
       The quaintly gabled town;
     These flapped their wings and shifted backs,
       As ancient scrolls determine,
     To scare the savage Hackensacks,
       Paumanks, and other vermin_.

     _At night the loyal settlers lay
       Betwixt their feather-beds;
     In hose and breeches walked by day,
       And smoked, and wagged their heads.
     No changeful fashions came from France,
       The vrouwleins to bewilder;
     No broad-brimmed burgher spent for pants
       His every other guilder._

     _In petticoats of linsey red,
       And jackets neatly kept,
     The vrouws their knitting-needles sped
       And deftly spun and swept.
     Few modern-school flirtations there
       Set wheels of scandal trundling,
     But youths and maidens did their share
       Of staid, old-fashioned bundling._

       EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN.




TWO: WHERE PATROONS AND KNICKERBOCKERS FLOURISHED


  [Illustration: MORRIS-JUMEL HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY.
   _Photo by Frank Cousins Art Company_
   See page 87]

XVII

THE MORRIS-JUMEL MANSION, NEW YORK CITY

WHERE WASHINGTON ESCAPED FROM THE BRITISH BY A FIFTEEN MINUTE MARGIN

      "A Pleasant situated Farm, on the Road leading to King's
      Bridge, in the Township of Harlem, on York-Island, containing
      about 100 acres, near 30 acres of which is Wood-land, a fine
      piece of Meadow Ground, and more easily be made: and commands
      the finest Prospect in the whole Country: the Land runs from
      River to River: there is Fishing, Oystering, and Claming at
      either end...."

When, in 1765, Roger Morris, whose city house was at the corner of
Whitehall and Stone streets, saw this advertisement in the New York
_Mercury_, he hungered for the country. So he bought the offered land,
and by the summer of 1766 he had completed the sturdy Georgian house
that, after a century and a half, looks down on the city that has
grown to it and beyond it.

In an advertisement published in 1792, in the New York _Daily
Advertiser_, a pleasing description of the mansion of Roger Morris was
given:

      "On the premises is a large dwelling-house, built in modern
      style and taste and elegance. It has ... a large hall
      through the centre; a spacious dining room on the right....
      On the left is a handsome parlor and a large back room.... On
      the second floor are seven bedchambers ... On the upper floor
      are five lodging rooms ... and at the top of the house is
      affixed an electric conducter. Underneath the building are a
      large, commodious kitchen and laundry and wine cellar,
      storeroom, kitchen pantry, sleeping apartments for servants,
      and a most complete dairy room...."

For nine years Roger Morris and his family lived in the mansion on the
Heights. As a member of the Legislative Council much of his time was
given to the interests of his fellow-citizens. But as time passed he
found himself out of sympathy with his neighbors. They demanded war
with Great Britain, and he felt that he could not join the revolt.
Accordingly, in 1775, he sailed for England, leaving his large
property in the care of Mrs. Morris.

Mrs. Morris kept the house open for a time, but finally, taking her
children with her, she went to her sister-in-law at the Philipse Manor
House at Yonkers.

On September 14, 1776, General Washington decided to abandon the city
to the British. He planned to go to Harlem, to the fortification
prepared in anticipation of just such an emergency. On September 15 he
took possession of the Roger Morris house as headquarters. Two days
later his Orderly Book shows the following message, referring to the
battle of Harlem Heights:

      "The General most heartily thanks the troops commanded
      yesterday by Major Leitch, who first advanced upon the enemy,
      and the others who so resolutely supported them. The behavior
      of yesterday was such a contrast to that of some troops the
      day before [at Kip's Bay] as must show what may be done when
      Officers and Soldiers exert themselves."

During the weeks when the mansion remained Washington's headquarters
the curious early flag of the colonists waved above it. In the space
now given to the stars was the British Union Jack, while the thirteen
red and white stripes that were to become so familiar completed the
design. This flag the English called "the Rebellious Stripes."

On November 16, 1776, Washington was at Fort Lee, on the New Jersey
shore, opposite the present 160th Street. Desiring to view from the
Heights the British operations in their attack on Fort Washington, he
crossed over to the Morris house. Fifteen minutes after he left the
Heights to return to New Jersey, fourteen thousand British and Hessian
troops took possession of the Heights, the Morris Mansion, and Fort
Washington.

The period of British occupation continued, at intervals, until near
the close of the war. Since the owner was a Loyalist, the British
Government paid rent for it.

After the Revolution the property was confiscated, as appears from an
entry in Washington's diary, dated July 10, 1790:

      "Having formed a Party consisting of the Vice-President, his
      lady, Son & Miss Smith; the Secretaries of State, Treasury, &
      War, and the ladies of the two latter; with all the Gentlemen
      of my family, Mrs. Lear & the two Children, we visited the
      old position of Fort Washington, and afterwards dined on a
      dinner provided by a Mr. Mariner at the House lately Colo.
      Roger Morris, but confiscated and in the occupation of a
      common Farmer."

For nearly thirty years after the Revolution the stately old house was
occupied as a farmhouse or as a tavern. In 1810 it became the home of
Stephen Jumel, a wealthy New York merchant, whose widow, Madam Jumel,
later gave such wonderful entertainments in the house that the whole
city talked about her. After many years of life alone in the mansion,
in July, 1833, she married Aaron Burr. He was then seventy-two years
old, while she was fifty-nine.

Madam Jumel-Burr lived until July 16, 1865. During her last years she
was demented and did many strange things. For a time she maintained an
armed garrison in the house, and she rode daily about the grounds at
the head of fifteen or twenty men.

The mansion passed through a number of hands until, in 1903, title to
it was taken by the City of New York, on payment of $235,000.

For three years the vacant house was at the mercy of souvenir hunters,
but when, in 1906, it was turned over to the Daughters of the American
Revolution, to be used as a Revolutionary Museum, twelve thousand
dollars were appropriated for repairs and restoration. This amount was
woefully inadequate, but it is hoped that further appropriation will
make complete restoration possible.

The spacious grounds that once belonged to the mansion have been sold
for building lots, but the house looks down proudly as ever from its
lofty site almost opposite the intersection of Tenth Avenue and One
Hundred and Sixty-first Street with St. Nicholas Avenue. The corner
of its original dooryard is now Roger Morris Park.


  [Illustration: PHILIPSE MANOR HOUSE, YONKERS, N. Y.
   _Photo by A. V. Card, Yonkers_
   See page 91]

XVIII

THE PHILIPSE MANOR HOUSE, YONKERS, NEW YORK

THE HOME OF MARY PHILIPSE, IN WHOM GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS INTERESTED

At first glance one would not think that the name Yonkers was derived
very directly from the name of the first settlers of the region, de
Jonkheer Adriaen Van der Donck. When, in 1646, he secured a large
tract of land bounded by the Hudson, the Bronx, and Spuyten Duyvil
Creek, this was called "Colen Donck" (Donck's Colony) or "De
Jonkheer's" (the Young Lord's). As the Dutch "j" is pronounced "y,"
the transition from Jonkheers to Yonkers was easy.

On September 29, 1672, after the death of the original owner, 7,708
acres of the princely estate were sold to three men, of whom Frederick
Philipse (originally Ffreric Vlypse) was one. A few years later
Philipse bought out the heirs of the other two purchasers, and added
to his holdings by further purchases from his countrymen and from the
Indians. On June 12, 1693, he was permitted to call himself lord of
the Manor of Philipsburgh. From that day the carpenter from Friesland,
who had grown so rich that he was called "the Dutch millionaire,"
lived in state in the house he had begun in 1682.

This lord of the manor became still more important in consequence of
the acceptance of his offer to build a bridge over Spuyt-den-duyvil,
or "Spiting Devil" Creek, when the city declined to do so for lack of
funds. The deed given to him stated that he had "power and authority
to erect a bridge over the water or river commonly called Spiten devil
ferry or Paparimeno, and to receive toll from all passengers and
drovers of cattle that shall pass thereon, according to rates
hereinafter mentioned." This bridge, which was called Kingsbridge, was
a great source of revenue until 1713, when it was removed to the
present site. Then tolls were charged until 1759, or, nominally, until
1779.

Part of the Manor House was used as a trading post. Everything
Philipse handled seemed to turn into gold. All his ventures prospered.
It was whispered that some of these ventures were more than a little
shady, that he had dealings with pirates and shared in their
ill-gotten gains, and that he even went into partnership with Captain
Kidd when that once honest man became the prince of the very pirates
whom the Government had commissioned him to apprehend. And Philipse,
as a member of the Governor's Council, had recommended this Kidd as
the best man for the job! It is not strange that the lord of the manor
felt constrained to resign his seat in the council because of the
popular belief in the statement made by the Governor, that "Kidd's
missing treasures could be readily found if the coffers of Frederick
Philipse were searched."

Colonel Frederick Philipse, the great-grandson of Captain Kidd's
partner, enlarged the Manor House to its present proportions and
appearance. He also was prominent in the affairs of the Colony. He was
a member of the Provincial Assembly, and was chairman of a meeting
called on August 20, 1774, to select delegates to the county
convention which was to select a representative to the First
Continental Congress. Thus, ostensibly, he was taking his place with
those who were crying out for the redress of grievances suffered at
the hands of Great Britain. Yet it was not long until it was evident
that he was openly arrayed with those who declined to turn from their
allegiance to the king.

The most famous event that took place in the Philipse Manor was the
marriage, on January 28, 1758, of the celebrated beauty, Mary
Philipse, to Colonel Roger Morris. A letter from Joseph Chew to George
Washington, dated July 13, 1757, shows that--in the opinion of the
writer, at least--the young Virginian soldier was especially
interested in Mary Philipse. In this letter, which he wrote after his
return from a visit to Mrs. Beverly Robinson in New York, the sister
of Mary Philipse, he said:

      "I often had the Pleasure of Breakfasting with the Charming
      Polly, Roger Morris was there (Don't be startled) but not
      always, you know him he is a Lady's man, always something to
      say, the Town talk't of it as a sure & settled Affair. I
      can't say I think so and that I much doubt it, but assure you
      had Little Acquaintance with Mr. Morris and only slightly
      hinted it to Miss Polly, but how can you be Excused to
      Continue so long in Phila. I think I should have made a kind
      of Flying March of it if it had been only to have seen
      whether the Works were sufficient to withstand a Vigorous
      Attack, you a soldier and a Lover, mind I have been arguing
      for my own Interest now for had you taken this method then I
      should have had the Pleasure of seeing you--my Paper is
      almost full and I am Convinced you will be heartily tyred in
      Reading it--however will just add that I intend to set out
      to-morrow for New York where I will not be wanting to let
      Miss Polly know the Sincere Regard a Friend of mine has for
      her--and I am sure if she had my Eyes to see thro would
      Prefer him to all others."

While it is true that George Washington went to New York to see the
charming Polly, there is no evidence that he was especially interested
in her.

Colonel Morris later built for his bride the Morris-Jumel Mansion,
which is still standing near 160th Street. Mrs. Morris frequently
visited at the home of her girlhood. The last visit was paid there
during Christmas week of 1776. Her father, who had been taken to
Middletown, Connecticut, because of his activities on the side of the
king, was allowed to go to his home on parole.

In 1779 the Manor House and lands were declared forfeited because the
owner refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Colonies, and
Frederick Philipse, III, went to England.

The property was sold in 1785. Until 1868 it was in the hands of
various purchasers. To-day the Manor House is preserved as a relic of
the days when Washington visited the house, when loyalists were driven
from the doors, and when it was the centre of some of the important
movements against the British troops.


XIX

ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, NEW YORK CITY

WHERE WASHINGTON ATTENDED SERVICE ON HIS FIRST INAUGURATION DAY

In the New York _Gazette_ of May 14, 1764, appeared this notice
concerning St. Paul's Chapel:

      "We are told that the Foundation Stone of the third English
      Church which is about erecting in this City, is to be laid
      this day. The church is to be 112 by 72 feet."

For two years those who passed the corner of Broadway and Partition
(Fulton) Street watched the progress of the building. On October 30,
1766, it was ready for the first service.

On the opening day there was no steeple, no organ, and no stove. But
those who entered the doors were abundantly satisfied with the work of
the architect, who is said to have been a Scotchman named McBean, a
pupil of Gibbs, the designer of St. Martins-in-the-Fields, London, to
which church the interior of St. Paul's Chapel bears a marked
resemblance. In the account of the opening the New York _Journal and
General Advertiser_ said that the new church was "one of the most
elegant edifices on the Continent."

Between April 13, 1776, when Washington arrived in New York, and
September 15, 1776, when Lord Howe occupied the city, the church was
closed, since the rector did not see his way to omit from the service
the prayers for the king. But when the British took possession of New
York the doors were opened once more. Until the city was evacuated,
November 25, 1783, Lord Howe and many of his officers were regular
attendants at St. Paul's.

Six days after the beginning of the British occupation the church had
a narrow escape from destruction. A fire, which Howe declared was of
incendiary origin, burned four hundred of the four thousand homes in
New York. St. Paul's Chapel was in the centre of the burnt district.
Trinity Church was destroyed, and St. Paul's was saved by the efforts
of its rector, Dr. Inglis. This was the first of five such narrow
escapes. The steeple was actually aflame during the conflagration of
1797, but the building was saved. Three times during the nineteenth
century, in 1820, 1848, and 1865, fire approached or passed by the
chapel.

Immediately after the first inauguration of Washington, at the City
Hall, he walked to St. Paul's to ask God's blessing on the country and
his administration. During his residence in New York, until Trinity
Church was rebuilt, he was a regular attendant at the services. From
1789 to 1791 his diary records the fact many times, "Went to St.
Paul's Chappel in the forenoon." At first he used the pew built for
the Governor of New York, but later, when a President's pew was built,
he moved to this. Canopies covered both pews, while they were further
marked by the arms of the United States and of New York.

Dr. Morgan Dix, in his address at the Centennial anniversary of the
completion of the building, told of an old man who had said to him
that when he was a boy he used to sit with other school-boys in the
north gallery, and from there he would watch the arrival of the
General and "Lady Washington" as they came up Fair Street to the
church, in a coach and four.

In the same address Dr. Dix said: "The church remains, substantially,
such as it was in the first days; alterations have been made in it,
but they have not changed its general appearance. For justness of
proportion and elegance of style, it still holds a leading place among
our city churches, and must be regarded as a fine specimen of its
particular school of architecture. When it was built, the western end
commanded an uninterrupted view of the river and the Jersey shore, for
the waters of the Hudson then flowed up to the line of Greenwich
Street, all beyond is made land."

In the portico of the old church is a monument to General Montgomery,
a member of St. Paul's parish, who fell at Quebec, and is buried in
the chapel. This monument, which was sent from France by Benjamin
Franklin, had an adventurous career. The vessel in which it was
shipped was captured by the British, and some time elapsed before it
reached its destined place.


  [Illustration: FRAUNCES' TAVERN, NEW YORK CITY
   _Photo by Frank Cousins Art Company_
   See page 97]

XX

FRAUNCES' TAVERN, NEW YORK CITY

WHERE WASHINGTON TOOK LEAVE OF HIS SOLDIERS

The subscribers of the _Pennsylvania Packet_, on the morning of
December 2, 1783, read the following pleasing despatch from New York
City, which was dated November 26, 1783:

      "Yesterday in the morning the American troops marched from
      Haerlem, to the Bowery lanes. They remained there until about
      one o'clock, when the British troops left the fort in the
      Bowery, and the American troops marched in and took
      possession of the city.--After the troops had taken
      possession of the city, the GENERAL and GOVERNOR made their
      public entry in the following manner:--Their excellencies the
      general and governor with their suites on horseback. The
      lieutenant governor, and the members of the council for the
      temporary government of the southern district, four
      a-breast.--Major-general Knox, and the officers of the army,
      eight a-breast.--Citizens on horseback, eight a-breast.--The
      speaker of the assembly and citizens, on foot, eight
      a-breast.

      "Their excellencies the governor and commander-in-chief were
      escorted by a body of West Chester light horse, under the
      command of Captain Delavan. The procession proceeded down
      Queen [now Pearl] Street, and through the Broad-way to Cape's
      Tavern. The governor gave a public dinner at Fraunces'
      tavern; and which the commander-in-chief, and other general
      officers were present."

The building which Washington made famous that day was erected by
Etienne de Lancey, probably in 1700. Samuel Fraunces purchased the
place in 1762. Soon it became one of the most popular taverns in New
York. Among its patrons were some of the leaders in the Revolution, as
well as many who were loyal to King George. But Fraunces himself never
wavered in his allegiance to the Colonies.

One of the clubs that met regularly at Fraunces' was the Social Club,
of which John Jay, Gouverneur Morris, and Robert R. Livingston were
members.

During the occupation of New York by the British the tavern did not
have an opportunity to play a part in the history of the country,
though the daughter of the proprietor, who was a tavern keeper at
Washington's Richmond Hill headquarters, made ineffective a plot to
poison the Commander-in-Chief.

Ten days after Washington's triumphal entry into the city, and the
dinner at the tavern, one of the rooms was the scene of a historic
event of which Rivington's _New York Gazette_ told in these words:

      "Last Thursday noon (December 4) the principal officers of
      the army in town assembled at Fraunces' tavern to take a
      final leave of their illustrious, gracious and much loved
      comrade, General Washington. The passions of human nature
      were never more tenderly agitated than in this interesting
      and distressful scene. His excellency, having filled a glass
      of wine, thus addressed his brave fellow-soldiers:

      "'With an heart full of love and gratitude I now take leave
      of you: I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as
      prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious
      and honorable.'

      "These words produced extreme sensibility on both sides; they
      were answered by warm expressions, and fervent wishes, from
      the gentlemen of the army, whose truly pathetic feelings it
      is not in our power to convey to the reader. Soon after this
      scene was closed, his excellency the Governor, the honorable
      the Council and Citizens of the first distinction waited on
      the general and in terms the most affectionate took their
      leave."

Two years later Fraunces sold the tavern, but it retains his name to
this day. It is still at the corner of Broad and Pearl streets. Many
changes have been made in the building, under the direction of the
Sons of the Revolution, and it will continue to attract visitors as
long as it stands.


XXI

THE GRANGE, NEW YORK CITY

WHERE ALEXANDER HAMILTON SPENT HIS LAST YEARS

After nineteen years of moving from house to house and from city to
city, Alexander Hamilton made up his mind to have a home of his own.
In 1780 he had taken Elizabeth Schuyler from a mansion in Albany that
was, in its day, almost a palace; and in 1799 he felt that the time
had come to give her a home of corresponding comfort.

At this time he was commander-in-chief of the army of the United
States, a service that was made notable, among other things, by his
suggestion and preparation of plans for the West Point Military
Academy.

The chosen site for the house, nine miles from Bowling Green, was
bounded by the present St. Nicholas and Tenth Avenues and 141st and
145th streets. The coach from New York to Albany afforded regular
transportation to the spot, though, of course, Hamilton had his own
equipage. When he planned the house he thought his income of $12,000
would be ample to care for the property. Accordingly he felt justified
in offering L800 for sixteen acres, one-half of which was to be paid
in cash, the balance within a year.

The architect chosen was John McComb, the designer of New York's old
City Hall. Hamilton and his father-in-law, General Schuyler, had a
hand in the development of the plans. In a letter to Hamilton, written
August 25, 1800, General Schuyler said:

      "If the house is boarded on the outside, and the clapboards
      put on, and filled on the inside with brick, I am persuaded
      no water will pass to the brick. If the clapboards are well
      painted, and filling in with brick will be little if any more
      expensive than lath and plaister, the former will prevent the
      nuisance occasioned by rats and mice, to which you will be
      eternally exposed if lath and plaister is made use of instead
      of brick."

The mason's specifications, quoted by Allan MacLane Hamilton, were as
follows:

      "Proposal for finishing General Hamilton's Country
      House--Viz.

      To build two Stacks of Chimneys to contain eight fire-places,
      exclusive of those in Cellar Story.

      To fill in with brick all the outside walls of the 1st and
      2nd stories, also all the interior walls that Separate the
      two Octagon Rooms--and the two rooms over them--from the Hall
      and other Rooms in both Stories.

      To lath and plaster the side walls of 1st and 2nd stories
      with two coats & set in white.

      To plaster the interior walls which separate the Octagon Room
      in both Stories, to be finished white, or as General Hamilton
      may chose.

      To lath and plaster all the other partitions in both stories.

      To lath and plaster the Ceiling of the Cellar Story
      throughout.

      To plaster the Sidewalls of Kitchen, Drawing Room, Hall &
      passage, & to point & whitewash the Stone and brick walls of
      the other part of Cellar Story. To Point outside walls of
      Cellar Story and to fill in under the Sills.

      To lay both Kitchen hearths with brick, placed edge ways.

      To put a Strong Iron back in the Kitchen fire-place, five
      feet long by 2-1/2 9" high.

      To Put another Iron back in the Drawing Room 3'--6" by
      2'--9".

      To place two Iron Cranes in the Kitchen fire Place--& an Iron
      door for the oven mouth.

      The Rooms, Hall and Passage of the first Story to have neat
      Stocco Cornices--Those of Octagon Rooms of Best Kind (but not
      inriched).

      To put up the two setts of Italian Marble in the Octagon
      Room, such as General Hamilton may choose--and six setts of
      Stone Chimney pieces for the other Rooms.

      The Four fireplaces in the two Octagon rooms & the two rooms
      over them, to have Iron Backs and jambs, and four fire places
      to have backs only.

      To lay the foundations for eight piers for the Piazza.

      Mr. McComb to find at his own expense all the Material
      requisite for the afore described work and execute it in a
      good & workmenlike manner for one thousand Eight Hundred and
      Seventy five Dollars.

      General Hamilton to have all the Materials carted and to have
      all the Carpenter work done at his expense--

      General Hamilton is to find the workmen their board or to
      allow ---- shillings per day for each days work in thereof."

One of the workmen on the house was paid $424.50 for three and
one-half years' work. Another laborer was given $152.18 for sixteen
months and twenty-seven days, or ninepence per day. The cost of the
house, complete, was L1,550.

The country place was a joy, both indoors and out. The garden was
especially attractive to Hamilton. In a letter written from The Grange
to a friend in South Carolina, he said:

      "A garden, you know, is a very usual refuge of a disappointed
      politician. The melons in your country are very fine. Will
      you have the goodness to send me some seed, both of the water
      and musk melons?"

Guests were numerous. Gouverneur Morris and General Schuyler were
often at The Grange. Chancellor Kent, after a visit paid in April,
1804, wrote to his wife:

      "I went with General Hamilton on Saturday, the 21st, and
      stayed till Sunday evening. There was a furious and dreadful
      storm on Saturday night. It blew almost a hurricane. His
      house stands high, and was much exposed, and I am certain
      that in the second story, where I slept, it rocked like a
      cradle. He never appeared before so friendly and amiable. I
      was alone, and he treated me with a minute attention that I
      did not suppose he knew how to bestow. His manners were also
      very delicate and chaste. His daughter, who is nineteen years
      old, has a very uncommon simplicity and modesty of
      deportment, and he appeared in his domestic state the plain,
      modest, and affectionate father and husband."

The ideal life at The Grange continued only until July 13, 1804. That
morning Hamilton set out as if for the office in the city as usual,
without informing Mrs. Hamilton of the impending duel with Aaron Burr.
At noon the wife was at the side of her husband, who died next day.

After his death there were put in her hands two letters. In these he
told of his purpose to permit his antagonist to shoot him:

      "The scruples of a Christian have determined me to expose my
      own life to any extent rather than subject myself to the
      guilt of taking the life of another. This much increases my
      hazards, and redoubles my pangs for you....

      "If it had been possible for me to have avoided the
      interview, my love for you and my precious children would
      have been alone a decisive motive. But it was not possible,
      without sacrifices which would have rendered me unworthy of
      your esteem."

Mrs. Hamilton remained at The Grange as long as possible, directing
the men in the care of the estate and caring for her children. But she
could not afford to keep a carriage, and the inaccessibleness of the
estate and the drain it made on her limited purse soon made it
necessary for her to rent a house in the city.

Though friends proposed the raising of a fund that would care for Mrs.
Hamilton and the children, it does not seem that there was any relief
until 1816, when Congress gave to Mrs. Hamilton back pay amounting to
ten thousand dollars.

After The Grange was sold to pay debts, its career was checkered. Some
years ago it was moved to the east side of Convent Avenue, and it then
became the schoolhouse of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.


  [Illustration: VAN CORTLANDT HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 104]

XXII

THE VAN CORTLANDT HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY

AT THE EDGE OF THE MANHATTAN "NEUTRAL GROUND"

In 1699 Jacobus Van Cortlandt bought the first fifty acres of the
ground now included in Van Cortlandt Park, New York City, and for one
hundred and ninety years the property remained in the Van Cortlandt
family. Until fifty-three years before the first of the Van
Cortlandts acquired it, the Indians were the undisputed possessors of
the plot.

Adriaen Van der Donck, the first settler to acquire title, lived until
his death in the _bouwerie_ or farmhouse, which he built on the shore
of a brook. When Jacobus Van Cortlandt built his _bouwerie_ by the
side of the same brook, he dammed the water to make a mill-pond, which
is to-day the beautiful Van Cortlandt lake. There he built a grist
mill which remained in use until 1889. Early visitors to the lake
delighted to study the ancient structure to which, during the
Revolution, both British and patriot soldiers resorted with their
grain. The mill was struck by lightning and destroyed in 1901.

The third house on the estate was built in 1748 by Frederick the son
of Jacobus, who acquired by the will of his father the "farm, situate,
lying, and being in a place commonly called and known by the name of
Little or Lower Yonkers." This house, which was modelled after the
Philipse Manor House at Yonkers, is still in a fine state of
preservation. Since 1897, it has been used as a public museum, in
charge of the Colonial Dames of the State of New York.

The room fitted up as a museum was occupied by General Washington on
the occasion of his visit to the house in 1783. This room is also
pointed out as the scene of the death of Captain Rowe of the Hessian
jaegers, who was severely wounded near the house. When he realised
that he could not recover, he sent in haste for the young woman who
had promised to marry him, and he died in her arms.

Other famous visitors were Rochambeau, Admiral Digby, and William
Henry, Duke of Clarence, who became King William IV of England.
Admiral Digby, after his departure, sent to Augustus Van Cortlandt,
the owner of the house, two wooden vultures, which he had captured
from a Spanish privateer. These vultures are now in the museum.

The old house was the centre of important military operations during
the Revolution. Washington fortified eight strategic spots in the
vicinity of Kingsbridge, and when he withdrew before the British
occupied the fortification, a number of Hessian jaegers were quartered
in the Van Cortlandt House. To the north of the house was the neutral
ground for which the two armies continually struggled for possession.
In 1781, when Washington was about to withdraw his army to Yorktown,
he directed that camp-fires be lit on Vault Hill, the site of the Van
Cortlandt family vault. By this stratagem he succeeded for a time in
deceiving the enemy as to his movements.

Since the building of the Broadway subway Van Cortlandt Park has been
so easy of access that the number of visitors to the historic spot has
rapidly increased.


XXIII

THE HASBROUCK HOUSE, NEWBURGH, NEW YORK

WHERE THE CLOSING DRAMA OF THE REVOLUTION WAS STAGED

During the entire period of the Revolution the country about Newburgh
was an important centre of military operations. West Point was
fortified in 1776, that the British might not be able to carry out
their design of separating New England from the middle colonies. Many
officers had their headquarters within a few miles of these
fortifications. Lafayette was at the Williams House, three miles north
of Newburgh, while Generals Green, Gates, and Knox were at Vail's
Gate, four miles south of the town. General George Clinton was at
Little Britain, and General Anthony Wayne was in Newburgh.

Washington's first stay in the vicinity was at Vail's Gate, New
Windsor, in the winter of 1779-80. His longest sojourn, however, was
in the house which Jonathan Hasbrouck built in 1750 and enlarged in
1770. The best description of this substantial one-story stone house
at the time of Washington's residence there is contained in the
"Memoirs" of Marquis de Chastellux, who was the guest of the
Commander-in-chief on December 6, 1872:

      "The largest room in it, (which was the proprietor's parlor
      for his family, and which General Washington has converted
      into his dining-room) is in truth tolerably spacious, but it
      has seven doors and only one window. The chimney, or rather
      the chimney back, is against the wall; so that there is in
      fact but one vent for the smoke, and the fire is in the room
      itself. I found the company assembled in a small room, which
      served by way of parlor. At nine supper was served, and when
      the hour of bed-time came, I found that the chamber, to which
      the General conducted me, was the very parlor I speak of,
      wherein he had made them place a camp bed...."

The records of the months when Washington was an occupant of the old
Dutch house are among the most interesting of the war. For instance,
on May 10, 1782, there came tidings of the arrival in New York of Sir
Guy Carleton, the new British commander, who wrote that he desired to
tell of the king's idea of a possible peace, and of the attitude of
the House of Commons. He closed his letter by saying, "If war must
prevail, I shall endeavor to render its miseries as light to the
people of this continent as the circumstances of such a condition will
possibly permit."

Two days earlier Washington wrote a letter to Meschech Weare in which
he seems to have anticipated and discredited Carleton's word of
appeal:

      "They are meant to amuse this country with a false idea of
      peace, to draw us off from our connection with France, and to
      lull us into a state of security and inactivity, which having
      taken place, the ministry will be left to prosecute the war
      in other parts of the world with greater vigor and effect."

In less than two weeks a tempter of an entirely different sort
approached Washington. Lewis Nicola, colonel of the corps of invalids,
wrote to tell of the fact that the officers and soldiers were
discontented because they had not received their pay. Then he
intimated that he had no hope of the success of republican
institutions, but thought this country needed a ruler like a king,
though he might not be called king, owing to the objection to that
word. Yet he added, "I believe strong arguments might be produced for
admitting the title of KING, which I conceive would be attended with
some material advantages."

To this letter Washington sent prompt reply, on May 22, 1782:

      "SIR: With a mixture of great surprise and astonishment, I
      have read with attention the sentiments you have submitted
      to my perusal. Be assured, Sir, no occurrence in the course
      of the war has given me more painful sensations, than your
      information of there being such ideas existing in the army,
      as you have expressed, and I must view with abhorrence and
      reprehend with severity. For the present the Communication of
      this will rest in my own bosom, unless some further agitation
      of the matter shall make a disclosure necessary.

      "I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct
      could have given encouragement to an address, which to me
      seems big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my
      country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you
      could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more
      disagreeable. At the same time, in justice to my own
      feelings, I must add that no man possesses a more sincere
      wish to see ample justice done to the Army than I do, and so
      far as my power and influence, in a constitutional way,
      extend, they shall be employed to the utmost of my abilities
      to effect it, should there be any occasion. Let me conjure
      you then, if you have any regard for your country, concern
      for yourself or respect for me, to banish these thoughts from
      your mind, and never communicate, as from yourself or any one
      else, a sentiment of the like nature.

      "With esteem I am, sir, Your most obedient servant,

        "GEORGE WASHINGTON."

That Washington desired to be a simple resident on his own estate at
Mount Vernon instead of king of the new country, was emphasized by a
letter written on June 15 to Archibald Cary:

      "I can truly say, that the first wish of my soul is to return
      speedily into the bosom of that country which gave me birth,
      and, in the sweet enjoyment of domestic happiness and the
      company of a few friends, to end my days in quiet, when I
      shall be called from this stage."

There was joy in the village on the banks of the Hudson when, late in
1782, a letter came from Sir Guy Carleton announcing that negotiations
for a general peace had already begun in Paris, and that the king had
decided to propose the independence of the thirteen Provinces "in the
first instance, instead of granting it as a condition of a general
treaty."

In the long interval before the receipt of decisive word concerning
peace, the sagacity of Washington was once more tested severely. There
was still disaffection among the officers and the men because they had
not been paid, and because Congress seemed to pay no attention to
their protests. Washington learned that a call had been issued for a
meeting of officers to be held in New Windsor to consider taking
matters into their own hands and forcing Congress to act.

Washington did not hesitate. He asked the officers to meet him in the
very building in which they had planned to make their plans for
revolt. Then he appealed to their patriotism, urging them not to put a
stain on their noble service by hasty action. When he had gone, the
officers acted in a way that justified the General's confidence.
Unanimously they promised all that had been asked of them, and voted
to thank Washington for his method of dealing with them.

On March 19, 1783, four days after this action, Washington
acknowledged to Congress receipt of word that the preliminary articles
of peace had been signed on November 30, and on April 18 he ordered
the cessation of hostilities, in accordance with the proclamation of
Congress.

The Hasbrouck house was sold by the family to New York State in 1849.
For twenty-four years, by act of Assembly, the historic quarters were
cared for by the trustees of the village, and later by the city
authorities. In May, 1874, trustees appointed by the legislature took
over the property and have held it ever since, for the benefit of the
people.




THREE: ACROSS THE JERSEYS WITH THE PATRIOTS

     _See the ancient manse
       Meet its fate at last!
     Time, in his advance,
       Age nor honor knows;
     Axe and broadaxe fall,
       Lopping off the Past:
     Hit with bar and maul,
       Down the old house goes!_

     _Sevenscore years it stood;
       Yes, they built it well,
     Though they built of wood,
       When that house arose.
     For its cross-beams square
       Oak and walnut fell;
     Little worse for wear,
       Down the old house goes!_

     _On these oaken floors
       High-shoed ladies trod;
     Through those panelled doors
       Trailed their furbelows;
     Long their day has ceased;
       Now, beneath the sod,
     With the worms they feast,--
       Down the old house goes!_

     _Many a bride has stood
       In yon spacious room;
     Here her hand was wooed
       Underneath the rose;
     O'er that sill the dead
       Reached the family tomb;
     All that were have fled,--
       Down the old house goes!_

     _Once, in yonder hall,
       Washington, they say,
     Led the New Year's ball,
       Stateliest of beaux;
     O that minuet,
       Maids and matrons gay!
     Are there such sights yet?
       Down the old house goes!_

     _Doorway high the box
       In the grass-plot spreads;
     It has borne its locks
       Through a thousand snows;
     In an evil day,
       From those garden beds
     Now 'tis hacked away,--
       Down the old house goes!_

       EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN.




THREE: ACROSS THE JERSEYS WITH THE PATRIOTS


  [Illustration: THE FRANKLIN PALACE, PERTH AMBOY, N. J.
   _Photo furnished by W. A. Little, D.D., Perth Amboy_
   See page 115]

XXIV

THE FRANKLIN PALACE, PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY

THE HOME OF THE SON OF WHOM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN VAINLY TRIED TO MAKE A
PATRIOT

There was a time when Benjamin Franklin was proud of his son William,
and was glad to have his name coupled with that of the young man.

The first year of the father's service in the Pennsylvania Assembly
William was appointed clerk of that body; this fact is mentioned with
pride in the Autobiography.

When General Braddock was sent from England to America to oppose the
union of the Colonies for defence, "lest they should thereby grow too
military and feel their own strength," Franklin was sent by the
Assembly to Fredericktown, Maryland, to confer with the General. "My
son accompanied me on the journey," the Autobiography says.

At Braddock's request Franklin advertised at Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
for one hundred and fifty wagons for the proposed expedition into the
interior, and at the close of the advertisement was the note, "My son,
William Franklin, is empowered to enter into like contracts with any
person in Cumberland County."

Later, when the father was asked to secure financial assistance for
certain subalterns in Braddock's company, he wrote to the Assembly,
recommending that a present of necessaries and refreshments be sent to
those officers. "My son, who had some experience of camp life and of
its wants, drew up a list for me which I enclos'd in my letter," the
father wrote.

When, during the French and Indian War, the Governor of Pennsylvania
asked Franklin to take charge of "our Northwestern frontier which was
infested by the enemy, and provide for the defence of the inhabitants
by raising troops and building a line of forts," he went to the front
with five hundred and sixty men. In the Autobiography he wrote, "My
son, who had in the preceding war, been an officer in the army rais'd
against Canada, was my aid-de-camp, and of great use to me."

And in 1771, when beginning his Autobiography, Franklin addressed it
"Dear Son," and spoke of the trip the two had taken together to
England, to make "enquiries among the remains of my relations." Then
he added:

      "Imagining it may be equally agreeable to you to know the
      circumstances of my life, many of which you are yet
      unacquainted with, and expecting the enjoyment of a week's
      uninterrupted leisure in my present country retirement, I sit
      down to write them for you."

Six years before the beginning of the Autobiography, Franklin, in
company with six other Philadelphians, entered on a land speculation
in Nova Scotia. Together they bought two hundred thousand acres of
land. There they intended to found a colony. Two shiploads of
emigrants were taken to Monkton, the site of the proposed colony, but
most of the men settled on other land, finding that this could be had
practically for nothing. Franklin's will later provided that William
be given an interest in the Nova Scotia property, and he explained the
gift by saying that this was "the only part of his estate remaining
under the sovereignty of the king of Great Britain."

What was the explanation of the father's changed attitude to his son
that led him to make his bequest in such unpleasant terms?

After William Franklin's return from the frontier, he was appointed
governor-in-chief of the Province of New Jersey. A mansion was built
for him in Perth Amboy by the Lord Proprietor. Its construction
required a somewhat extended time, for it was a grand place; no wonder
it was called "The Palace." But in 1774 the Governor took possession.

Of course this was not the reason for the breach with his father.
Again Benjamin Franklin was proud of his son, and of the lavish
entertainments he made for his associates.

But the father began to shake his head when his son became a favorite
of the Tories in Perth Amboy who had looked askance on his
appointment, the year before. He was told that William would himself
remain a loyalist when the break came with Great Britain, and he was
compelled to believe that there was serious ground for the charge. He
decided, however, to make a supreme effort to rouse the Governor to
the call of patriotism. Accordingly, in 1775, he sought the Palace and
pleaded with William to forsake his Tory associates, turn his back on
the king who had turned his back on the Colonies, and become a
steadfast defender of his country's rights.

What a subject that interview would make for an artist! Opposed to the
luxury-loving governor, in the house furnished for his satisfaction by
the Tories with whom he had chosen to ally himself, was the sturdy
figure of the sage of Pennsylvania, who was ready to lay down his life
in the defence of his country.

It must have been a stirring interview. But it was fruitless. Benjamin
Franklin went back to Philadelphia a disappointed man. His feelings
were expressed in the letter in which he said, "I am deserted by my
only son."

Within a year Governor Franklin was practically a prisoner in the
Palace, in consequence of the discovery that he was plotting against
the Colonies. When he persisted in courses that troubled Congress, he
was arrested and taken to Burlington. Mrs. Franklin fled to New York,
and the Palace was at the mercy of the British. On several occasions
the house was used as headquarters by British generals, and soldiers
made their encampment on the grounds.

Though the interior of the Palace was destroyed by fire soon after the
war, the house was restored, and it still looks much as it did when
Franklin, the patriot, stood within its walls. For years it was used
as a hotel, and later as a private residence. In 1883 it was made a
Home for aged ministers of the Presbyterian Church. To-day it is again
used as a hotel.


XXV

THE CHURCH AT CALDWELL, NEW JERSEY

WITH GLIMPSES OF THE FIGHTING CHAPLAIN CALDWELL

The trying days of the Revolution would not seem to be a favorable
time for the beginning of a church, especially in the section of New
Jersey which was so often overrun by the soldiers of both armies. Yet
it was at this critical time that many of the people of Horseneck (now
Caldwell), New Jersey, near Montclair, were looking forward to the
organization of a church and the building of a house of worship.
Timbers were in fact drawn and framed for church purposes, but the war
interfered with the completion of the project.

The donation, in 1779, of ninety acres of wild land in the centre of
the settlement gave the prospective congregation new heart. On this
land a parsonage was begun in 1782. The upper portion of this house,
unplastered and unceiled, was used for church purposes until 1796.

The final organization of the church dates from December 3, 1784, when
forty persons signed their names to the following curious agreement:

      "We Whose Names are Under writen Living at the Place called
      Horse Neck, Being this Day to be Formed or Embodied as a
      Church of _Jesus Christ_, Do Solemnly Declare that as we do
      desire to be founded Only on the Rock Christ Jesus, So we
      would not wish to Build on this foundation, Wood Hay and
      Stubble, but Gold and Silver and Precious Stones; and as it
      is our profested Sentiments that a Visible Church of Christ,
      Consists of Visible Believers with their Children, so no
      Adult Persons ought to be Admitted as members but such as
      Credibly profess True Faith in Jesus Christ, Love, Obedience,
      and Subjection to Him, Holding the Fundamental Doctrines of
      the Gospel, and who will Solemnly Enter into Covenant to Walk
      Worthy such an Holy Profession as we do this Day."

The last survivor of those who signed this document was General
William Gould, who died February 12, 1847, in his ninetieth year.
During the Revolution he saw much active service, especially at the
battles of Springfield and Monmouth and the campaigns that preceded
and followed these conflicts.

But the connection of the church with the Revolution came rather
through Rev. James Caldwell, who was pastor of the First Presbyterian
Church of Elizabeth Town. During the early years of the struggling
congregation he was their adviser and helper, and after his death the
name of the church was changed to Caldwell, in his honor.

Mr. Caldwell--who had among his parishioners in Elizabeth Town William
Livingston, the Governor of the State, Elias Boudinot, Commissary
General of Prisons and President of Congress, Abraham Clark, one of
the signers of the Declaration of Independence, as well as more than
forty commissioned officers of the Continental Army--was one of the
famous chaplains of the war, having been chosen in 1776 chaplain of
the regiment largely made up of his own members. Later he was
Assistant Commissary General.

The British called him the "Fighting Chaplain," and he was cordially
hated because of his zeal for the cause of the patriots. His life was
always in danger, and when he was able to spend a Sunday with his
congregation he would preach with his cavalry pistols on the pulpit,
while sentinels were stationed at the doors to give warning.

The enmity of the British led to the burning of the chaplain's church,
and the murder, a few months later, of Mrs. Caldwell. While she was
sitting in a rear room at the house at Connecticutt Farms, where she
had been sent for safety, surrounded by her children, a soldier thrust
his musket through the window and fired at her.

Mr. Caldwell survived the war, in spite of the efforts of the British
to capture him, only to be murdered on November 24, 1781, by a
Continental soldier who was thought to have been bribed by those whose
enmity the chaplain had earned during the conflict.

The Elizabeth Town congregation succeeded in rebuilding their church
five years after it was destroyed, but the delayed Caldwell church
building was not ready for its occupants until 1795. The timbers for
the church were hewed in the forest where the trees were felled and
were drawn by oxen to the site selected. Forty men worked several days
to raise the frame. Lime was made from sea shells, which were hauled
from Bergen, and then burned in a kiln erected near the church lot.

The interior of the building was plain. The pulpit, "about the size of
a hogshead," was built on a single pillar, against the wall; above
this was a sounding board. The windows had neither blinds nor
curtains, and nothing was painted but the pulpit. The backs of the
pews were exactly perpendicular. Provision was made regularly for the
purchase of sand to freshen the floors. This building was burned in
1872.

The first pastor, Rev. Stephen Grover, received as salary one hundred
and fifty dollars a year, though this sum was to be increased ten
dollars a year until the total was two hundred and fifty dollars. Of
course the use of the parsonage and land was given in addition.

Mr. Grover was pastor for forty-six years, and his successor was Rev.
Richard F. Cleveland, to whose son, born in the old manse at
Caldwell,--which was purchased in 1912 by the Grover Cleveland
Birthplace Memorial Association,--was given the name Stephen Grover,
in memory of the first pastor of the church. Forty-seven years later
Stephen Grover Cleveland became President of the United States.

For the first ten months of its history the Caldwell church was
Presbyterian, then it became Congregational, but since 1831 it has
been a Presbyterian body.


  [Illustration: OLD TENNENT CHURCH, FREEHOLD, N. J.
   _Photo by Hall's Studio, Freehold_
   See page 122]

XXVI

OLD TENNENT CHURCH, FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY

ON THE BATTLE FIELD OF MONMOUTH

One of the bas-reliefs on the monument commemorating the decisive
Battle of Monmouth, which has been called the turning-point of the War
for Independence, represents the famous Molly Pitcher as she took the
place at the gun of her disabled husband. In the background of the
relief is the roof and steeple of Old Tennent, the church near which
the battle raged all day long.

Tennent Presbyterian Church was organized about 1692. The first
building was probably built of logs. The second structure, more
ambitious, was planned in 1730. Twenty years later a third structure
was demanded by the growing congregation. This building, which was
twenty-seven years old at the time of the battle of Monmouth, is still
standing.

The plan called for a building sixty feet long and forty feet wide.
The present pastor of the church, Rev. Frank R. Symmes, in his story
of the church, says of the building:

      "The sides were sheathed with long cedar shingles, and
      fastened with nails patiently wrought out on an anvil, and
      the interior was finished with beaded and panelled Jersey
      pine.... The pulpit ... is placed on the north side of the
      room, against the wall, with narrow stairs leading up to it,
      closed in with a door. The Bible desk is nine feet above the
      audience floor, with a great sounding board overhanging the
      whole.... Below the main pulpit a second desk or sub-pulpit
      is built, where the precentor used to stand.... The galleries
      extend along three sides of the room."

Among the early pastors of the church were Rev. John Tennent and his
brother, Rev. William Tennent, members of a family famous in the early
history of the Presbyterian Church in New Jersey. In consequence of
their forty-seven years of service the church became known as "Old
Tennent."

The story of the marriage of Rev. William Tennent is a tradition in
the congregation. In spite of his salary of about one hundred pounds,
and the use of the parsonage farm, he became financially embarrassed.
A friend from New York who visited him when he was thirty-three years
old told him he ought to marry and suggested a widow of his
acquaintance. Mr. Tennent agreed to the proposition that he go to New
York in company with his friend, and see if matters could not be
arranged. So, before noon next day, he was introduced to Mrs. Noble.
"He was much pleased with her appearance," the story goes on, "and
when left alone with her, abruptly told her that he supposed her
brother had informed her of his errand; that neither his time nor his
inclination would suffer him to use much ceremony, but that if she
approved ... he would return on Monday, be married, and immediately
take her home." Thus in one week she found herself mistress of his
house. She proved a most invaluable treasure to him.

The year after the death of Mr. Tennent, on Sunday, June 28, 1778,
General Washington, at the head of about six thousand men, hurried by
Old Tennent. That morning he had been at Englishtown where the sound of
cannon told him his advance forces under General Lee were battling with
the British. Washington was about one hundred yards beyond the church
door when he met the first straggler who told him that Lee had
retreated before the British. A little further on the Commander-in-chief
met Lee. After rebuking him sharply he hastened forward, and rallied
the retreating Continentals. The renewed battle continued until
evening when the British were driven back to a defensive position.
During the night they retired, to the surprise of Washington, who
hoped to renew the battle in the morning. The victory snatched from
defeat in this, one of the most stubbornly contested and longest
battles of the war, gave new courage to the Colonies.

During the battle wounded soldiers were carried to the church, where
members of the congregation tended them, in what could not have been a
very secure refuge, since musket balls pierced the walls. An exhausted
American soldier, while trying to make his way to the building, sat
for rest on the grave of Sarah Mattison. While he was there a cannon
ball wounded him and broke off a piece of the headstone. Watchers
carried him into the church where he was laid on one of the pews. The
stains of blood are still to be seen on the board seat, while the
marks of his hands were visible on the book-rest of the pew until the
wood was grained.

A tablet has been placed on the front wall of the church with this
message:

                        1778-1901
                In Grateful Remembrance
       of Patriots Who, on Sabbath June 28, 1778,
     Gained the Victory Which Was the Turning Point
               Of the War for Independence,
              And to Mark a Memorable Spot on
                The Battlefield of Monmouth,
         This Tablet is placed by Monmouth Chapter
           Daughters of the American Revolution
                    September 26, 1901.

Not far from the church is the monument commemorating the battle
itself. Spirited bronze reliefs on this tell the story of some of the
picturesque incidents of the memorable struggle.


XXVII

THE FORD MANSION, MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY

FROM WHICH ALEXANDER HAMILTON WENT COURTING

New Jersey, which was the scene of so many battles during the
Revolution, was also the scene of what was perhaps Washington's
pleasantest winter during the war. From December, 1799, to June, 1780,
the Commander-in-chief lived at the Ford Mansion with his "family," as
he was fond of calling Mrs. Washington and his aides.

During these months he was busily engaged in making plans for the
later successful conduct of the war, yet he took time for those social
relaxations which were a needed relief from the anxious strain of the
long conflict.

Among those who helped to make that winter memorable were Surgeon
General John Cochrane and Mrs. Cochrane, who occupied the Campfield
House close by, and General and Mrs. Philip Schuyler, who had come
down from Albany for a season at headquarters. Mrs. Schuyler and Mrs.
Cochrane were sisters. Elizabeth Schuyler had come in advance of her
parents, and for a time was a guest at the Campfield House.

Visitors from France were arriving from time to time, bringing word of
the alliance that was to mean so much to the Colonies, and conferring
as to methods of cooperation.

In one wing of the Ford Mansion lived Mrs. Ford and her son Timothy.
In the rooms set apart for the use of Washington's family eighteen
people were crowded. Two of these were Alexander Hamilton and Tench
Tilghman, both members of the General's staff.

Though Mrs. Washington delighted to put on style, on occasion, she
could also be plain and simple. There had been times during the war
when she was not ashamed to drive to headquarters in a coach and four.
But sometimes at Morristown she was in a different mood--as, for
instance, one day when a number of the ladies of the neighborhood,
dressed in their best, called to pay their respects to her. To their
surprise they found her sitting in a speckled apron, knitting
stockings. If they were ill at ease at first, their state of mind can
be imagined when their hostess began to talk to them of the need of
care in their expenditures for their country's sake. After telling
them of a dress she had made out of the carefully unravelled
upholstery of a set of chairs, she completed their consternation by
saying:

      "American ladies should be patterns of industry to their
      countrywomen, because the separation from the mother-country
      will dry up the source whence many of our comforts have been
      derived. We must become independent by our determination to
      do without what we cannot make ourselves. While our husbands
      and brothers are examples of patriotism, we must be examples
      of thrift and economy."

The coming of Elizabeth Schuyler to the Campfield House was the signal
for a spirited contest for her favor between two of Washington's
aides. Both Hamilton and Tilghman had met her at her father's house in
Albany, and both called on her. But Hamilton soon distanced his
comrade in the race for her favor. It was not long until everybody was
watching developments. Both of the young people were favorites. It is
related that even a young soldier on sentry duty late one night was
persuaded to a breach of military rules by his interest in Hamilton's
courtship. That night the lover was on his way home after spending an
evening with his Betsey. Evidently the young man had been thinking of
anything but the countersign, for when he was halted and asked to give
the countersign words he cudgelled his brain in vain. Then he
whispered to the sentry, "Tell me!" And the sentry did tell. Whereupon
Hamilton drew himself up before the soldier, gravely gave the
countersign, and passed on to his quarters.

There was no time for long courtship in those days of quick movements
in military circles. So, before long, Hamilton was writing to
Elizabeth Schuyler such cheering letters as the following:

      "I would not have you imagine, Miss, that I write you so
      often to gratify your wishes or please your vanity, but
      merely to indulge myself, and to comply with that restless
      property of my mind which will not be happy unless I am doing
      something, in which you are concerned. This may seem a very
      idle disposition in a philosopher and a soldier; but I can
      plead illustrious examples in my justification. Achilles
      liked to have sacrificed Greece and his glory for a female
      captive; and Anthony lost the world for a woman. I am very
      sorry times are so changed as to oblige me to go to antiquity
      for my apology, but I confess to the disgrace of the present
      that I have not been able to find as many who are as far gone
      as myself in their laudable zeal of the fair sex. I suspect,
      however, that if others knew the charms of my sweetheart as
      well as I do, I should have a great number of competitors. I
      wish I could give you an idea of her. You have no conception
      of how sweet a girl she is. It is only in my heart that her
      image is truly drawn. She has a comely form, and a mind still
      more lovely; she is all goodness, the gentlest, the dearest,
      the tenderest of her sex. Oh, Betsey, how I love her!"

Who could withstand such a lover? Elizabeth Schuyler did not, and her
father commended her judgment. For he wrote to Hamilton:

      "You cannot, my dear sir, be more happy at the connexion you
      have made with my family than I am. Until the child of a
      parent has made a judicious choice, his heart is in critical
      anxiety; but this anxiety was removed the moment I discovered
      on whom she had placed her affection. I am pleased with every
      instance of delicacy in those who are dear to me; and I think
      I read your soul on that occasion you mention. I shall
      therefore only entreat you to consider me as one who wishes
      in every way to promote your happiness, and I shall."

The young people were married at the Schuyler homestead in Albany on
December 14, 1780.

To-day the Ford Mansion where Hamilton dreamed of a conquest in which
the British had no part is owned by the Washington Association of New
Jersey, and is open to visitors. The Campfield House is to be found on
a side street; it has been moved from its original site.


  [Illustration: NASSAU HALL AND THE FIRST PRESIDENT'S HOUSE,
   _Photo by R. H. Rose and Son, Princeton_ PRINCETON, N. J.
   See page 130]

XXVIII

NASSAU HALL, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

WHERE THE CONGRESS OF 1783 MET FOR FIVE MONTHS

Where the College of New Jersey, as Princeton University was
officially known until 1896, erected its first building at Princeton,
the far-sighted trustees arranged what was long ago the largest stone
structure in the Colonies. The records of early travellers on the road
between Philadelphia and New York tell of their amazement at the
wonderful building.

In 1756 the college abandoned its rooms in the First Presbyterian
Church of Newark, New Jersey, and occupied the ambitious quarters in
Princeton, which had cost about L2,900.

Originally the halls extended from end to end of Nassau Hall, a
distance of one hundred and seventy-five feet. These long, brick-paved
halls afforded students inclined to mischief wonderful opportunity to
make life miserable for the tutors who were charged with their
oversight. "Rolling heated cannon balls, to tempt zealous but unwary
tutors, was a perennial joy," writes Varnum Lansing Collins, in his
book, "Princeton." Then he adds the statement that at a later epoch
there were wild scenes, "when a jackass or a calf was dragged
rebelliously up the narrow iron staircase, to be pitted in frenzied
races with the model locomotive purloined from the college museum."

There was no provision for lighting the long halls, so the rollicking
students were accustomed to fix candles to the walls with handfuls of
mud. When a tutor was heard approaching, the candles would be blown
out and he would be foiled in his attempt to identify the offenders.
Sometimes barricades of cordwood were built hastily on the stairs or
across the entrance to one of the halls.

In vain the authorities tried to correct these abuses by the passage
of strict regulations. "No jumping or hollowing or any boisterous
Noise shall be suffered, nor walking in the gallery in the time of
Study," was a regulation which could be made known far more easily
than it could be enforced. Lest there be breaches of decorum inside
the rooms, tutors were directed to make at least three trips a day to
the quarters of the students, to see that they were "diligent at the
proper Business." They were to announce their coming to a room "by a
stamp, which signal no scholar shall imitate on penalty of five
shillings." Should the occupant of the room refuse to open the door,
the tutor had authority to break in. At a later date, students in
Nassau Hall liked to have double doors to their rooms, so that the
obnoxious tutor might be hindered in his efforts to force an entrance,
long enough to give them opportunity to hide all evidence of
wrongdoing.

In 1760 a code of "orders and customs" was issued by the authority of
President Aaron Burr. One of the most astounding directions in this
code was that "Every Freshman sent on an errand shall go and do it
faithfully and make quick return." Other rules, as indicated in Mr.
Collins' book, concerned deportment, and demanded constant deference
to superiors. "Students are to keep their hats off 'about ten rods to
the President and about five to the tutors;' they must 'rise up and
make obeisance' when the President enters or leaves the prayer hall,
and when he mounts into the pulpit on Sundays. When walking with a
superior, an inferior 'shall give him the highest place.' When first
coming into the presence of a superior, or speaking to him, inferiors
'shall respect by pulling their Hats;' if overtaking or meeting a
superior on the stairs, he 'shall stop, giving him the banister side;'
when entering a superior's, 'or even an equal's' room, they must
knock; if called or spoken to by a superior, they must 'give a direct,
pertinent answer concluding with sir;' they are to treat strangers and
townspeople 'with all proper complaisance and good manners;' and they
are forbidden to address any one by a nickname."

Evidently rules like these helped to make good patriots, for Princeton
students were among the most sturdy adherents of the Colonists' cause.
In September, 1770, the entire graduating class wore American cloth,
as a protest against Great Britain's unjust taxation measures.

In January, 1774, the students broke into the college storeroom and
carried the winter's supply of tea to a bonfire in front of Nassau
Hall. While the tea burned the college bell tolled and the
students--in the words written home to a parent by one of them--made
"many spirited resolves."

The spirited students were jubilant on the evening of July 9, 1776,
when the news of the Declaration of Independence was read in
Princeton. Nassau Hall was illuminated and the whole town rejoiced
that President Witherspoon, as a member of the Continental Congress,
had been a signer of the document.

In November, 1776, the students who had not enlisted in the army were
sent from the town just in time to escape the British, who took
possession of the building and used it as barracks and hospital. Early
in the morning of January 3, 1777, the British held the building.
After the battle Washington's troops took possession, but abandoned it
almost at once. At evening the British were once more in control. Soon
they hurried on to New Brunswick. The next occupants were the soldiers
of General Putnam, who found room here for a hospital, a barracks, and
a military prison. They found that during the battle of Princeton a
round shot had struck the portrait of George II in the prayer hall.

After the British left Princeton College classes were continued in the
President's house, and it was 1782 before a serious attempt was made
to reoccupy Nassau Hall, which was found to be "mostly bare partition
walls and heaps of fallen plaster."

A year later, when temporary repairs had been made, the Continental
Congress, which had been besieged by a company of troops who were
insistent in their demands for overdue pay, made its way to Princeton.
From June to November the sessions were held in Nassau Hall.
Commencement day came during the sessions and Congress sat, with
Washington, on the platform. On that occasion Washington gave fifty
pounds to the college. This sum was paid to Charles Wilson Peale for a
portrait of the donor, which was placed in the frame from which the
portrait of George II had been shot more than seven years before.

Congress was still in session at Nassau Hall when, in October, the
first authentic news came of the signing of the Definitive Treaty of
Peace with Great Britain.

A few weeks later the college was left to its sedate ways. Never
since then has it witnessed such stirring events. But the experiences
of the years from 1776 to 1784 had made Nassau Hall one of the
nation's picturesque monuments.


  [Illustration: MORVEN, PRINCETON, N. J.
   _Photo by R. H. Rose and Son, Princeton_
   See page 134]

XXIX

THREE HISTORIC HOUSES AT PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

MORVEN, THE MERCER HOUSE, AND WASHINGTON'S ROCKY HILL HEADQUARTERS

      "Sollemnity & Distress appeared almost on every countenance,
      several students that had come 5 & 600 miles & just got
      letters in college were now obliged under every disadvantage
      to retire with their effects, or leave them behind, which
      several through the impossibility of getting a carriage at so
      Confused a time were glad to do, & lose them all, as all
      hopes of continuing longer in peace at Nassau were now taken
      away I began to look out for some place where I might pursue
      my studies & as Mr. G. Johnson had spoke to me to teach his
      son I accordingly went there & agreed to stay with him till
      spring."

So wrote John Clark, one of the students at the College of New Jersey,
who, in 1776, was dismayed by the threatened approach of Cornwallis
and his army. He was able to remove his effects in ample time, for he
had only a "Trunk & Desk." But there were others in the peaceful
village who were not so fortunate. One of them was Mrs. Richard
Stockton of Morven, a beautiful home still standing not far from the
college campus. The activity of her husband in the interests of the
Colonies had angered the British, and they were not slow to take
advantage of the absence of the family by pillaging the mansion and
destroying many things it contained. Fortunately Mrs. Stockton, before
leaving hurriedly for Freehold, had buried the family silver, and this
was not discovered, though Cornwallis and his officers occupied the
house as headquarters.

Probably, while they were here, they talked gleefully of what they
called the collapse of the war. They felt so sure that the war was
over that Cornwallis was already planning to return to England.

Then came the surprise at Trenton, when nearly a thousand Hessians of
a total force of twelve hundred were captured.

Immediately Cornwallis, who had returned to New York, hastened back to
Princeton, where he left three regiments and a company of cavalry.
Then he hurried on to Trenton. On the way he was harassed by
Washington's outposts, and the main force of the General delayed his
entrance into the town until nightfall. He expected to renew the
attack next morning, but during the night Washington stole away toward
Princeton. Within two miles of Princeton the force of General Mercer
encountered the reserve troops of Cornwallis, which were on their way
to their commander's assistance. Washington, hearing the sound of the
conflict that followed, hastened to the field in time to rally the
forces of Mercer, who had been wounded. The day was saved, but General
Mercer was lost; he died in the farmhouse on the battle field to which
he was carried. To this day visitors are shown the stain made on the
floor by the blood of the dying man. Those who express doubt as to
the stain are not welcomed.

Alfred Noyes has written of this conflict which meant more to the
struggling Colonies than some historians have indicated. The reference
in the first line of the second stanza is to the tigers that crouch at
the entrance of Nassau Hall in Princeton:

     _"Here Freedom stood by slaughtered friend and foe,
         And, ere the wrath paled or that sunset died,
       Looked through the ages; then, with eyes aglow,
         Laid them to wait that future, side by side._

            *       *       *       *       *

     "The dark bronze tigers crouch on either side
       Where redcoats used to pass;
     And round the bird-loved house where Mercer died,
       And violets dusk the grass,
     By Stony Brook that ran so red of old,
       But sings of friendship now,
     To feed the old enemy's harvest fifty-fold
       The green earth takes the plow.

     "Through this May night, if one great ghost should stray
       With deep remembering eyes,
     Where that old meadow of battle smiles away
       Its blood-stained memories,
     If Washington should walk, where friend and foe
       Sleep and forget the past,
     Be sure his unquenched heart would leap to know
       Their souls are linked at last."

After the battle came happier days for Princeton. Morven was restored,
and Washington was frequently an honored guest within the walls, as
have been many of his successors in the White House.

More than six years after the memorable battle of Princeton, another
house in the neighborhood received him. When Congress convened in
Nassau Hall, it rented for Washington the Rocky Hill House, five miles
from the village, which was occupied by John Berrian, Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. This house, which was
suitably furnished for the General, was the last headquarters of the
Revolution.

While at the Berrian house, Washington sat to William Dunlap for his
portrait. In his "Arts of Design" the artist, who at the time of which
he wrote was eighteen years old, said:

      "My visits are now frequent to headquarters. The only
      military in the neighborhood were the general's suite and a
      corporal's guard whose tents were on the green before the
      Berrian House, and the captain's marquee nearly in front. The
      soldiers were New England yeomen's sons, none older than
      twenty.... I was quite at home in every respect at
      headquarters; to breakfast and dine day after day with the
      general and Mrs. Washington and members of Congress."

It was Washington's custom to ride to Princeton, mounted on a small
roan horse. The saddle was "old and crooked, with a short deep blue
saddle cloth flowered, with buff cloth at the edge, buckskin seat, the
cloth most below the skirt of the saddle at the side, double skirts,
crupper, surcingle, and breast straps, double belted steel bridle and
plated stirrup."

The real closing scene in the Revolution was Washington's farewell
address to the army, which he wrote in the southwest room of the
second story. On Sunday, November 2, from the second-story balcony, he
read this to the soldiers. Two days later orders of discharge were
issued to most of them.

Fortunately the Berrian House has become the property of "The
Washington Headquarters Association of Rocky Hill," and is open to the
patriotic pilgrim.


XXX

THE SPRINGFIELD MEETING HOUSE, NEW JERSEY

WHOSE PSALM BOOKS FURNISHED WADDING FOR THE CONTINENTAL GUNS

"One pint of spring water when demanded on the premises" was the
strange payment stipulated by the donor of one hundred acres of land
given in 1751 to the trustees of the First Presbyterian Church in
Springfield, New Jersey, to be for the use of the minister of the
parish. The church records do not state that the rent has been paid
regularly, but they do state that the woodland enabled them for many
years to furnish the free firewood that was a part of the support
promised to every one of the early pastors.

The first building occupied by the church was completed in 1746.
Fifteen years later the second building was first occupied, and it
continued to be the centre of the community's religious life until
November, 1778, when it was needed for military stores. The church was
gladly given up to the army, and services were held in the garret of
the parsonage.

The British under General Knyphausen, determined to drive Washington
and his men from the New Jersey hills and to destroy his supplies,
marched from Elizabeth Town on June 23, 1780. There were five thousand
men, with fifteen or twenty pieces of artillery, in the expedition. A
few miles away, near Springfield, was a small company of patriots,
poorly equipped but ready to die in the defence of their country.

Warning of the approach of the enemy was given to the Continentals by
the firing of the eighteen-pounder signal gun on Prospect Hill; twelve
Continentals stationed at the Cross Roads, after firing on the enemy,
had hurried to the hill. After firing the gun they lighted the tar
barrel on the signal pole.

Instantly the members of the militia dropped their scythes, seized
their muskets, and hurried to quarters. "There were no feathers in
their caps, no gilt buttons on their home-spun coats, nor flashing
bayonets on their old fowling pieces," the pastor of Springfield
church said in 1880, on the one hundredth anniversary of the skirmish
that followed, "but there was in their hearts the resolute purpose to
defend their homes and their liberty at the price of their lives."

The sturdy farmers joined forces with the regular soldiers. For a time
the battle was fierce. The enemy were soon compelled to retreat, but
not before they had burned the village, including the church. Chaplain
James Caldwell was in the hottest of the fight. "Seeing the fire of
one of the companies slacking for want of wadding, he galloped to the
Presbyterian meeting house nearby, and rushing in, ran from pew to
pew, filling his arms with hymn books," wrote Headley, in "Chaplains
and Clergy of the Revolution." "Hastening back with them into the
battle, he scattered them about in every direction, saying as he
pitched one here and another there, 'Now put Watts into them, boys.'
With a laugh and a cheer they pulled out the leaves, and ramming home
the charge did give the British Watts with a will."

The story has been attractively told by Bret Harte:

     "... Stay one moment; you've heard
     Of Caldwell, the parson, who once preached the Word
     Down at Springfield? What, no? Come--that's bad; why, he had
     All the Jerseys aflame! And they gave him the name
     Of the 'rebel high priest.' He stuck in their gorge,
     For he loved the Lord God--and he hated King George!

     "He had cause, you might say! When the Hessians that day
     Marched up with Knyphausen, they stopped on their way
     At the 'farm,' where his wife, with a child in her arms,
     Sat alone in the house. How it happened none knew
     But God--and that one of the hireling crew
     Who fired the shot! Enough!--there she lay,
     And Caldwell, the chaplain, her husband, away!

     "Did he preach--did he pray? Think of him as you stand
     By the old church to-day--think of him and his band
     Of military ploughboys! See the smoke and the heat
     Of that reckless advance, of that straggling retreat!
     Keep the ghost of that wife, foully slain, in your view--
     And what could you, what should you, what would you do?

     "Why, just what he did! They were left in the lurch
     For the want of more wadding. He ran to the church,
     Broke down the door, stripped the pews, and dashed out in the road
     With his arms full of hymn-books, and threw down his load
     At their feet! Then above all the shouting and shots
     Rang his voice, 'Put Watts into 'em! Boys, give 'em
     Watts.'

     "And they did. That is all. Grasses spring, flowers blow
      Pretty much as they did ninety-three years ago.
      You may dig anywhere and you'll turn up a ball--
      But not always a hero like this--and that's all."

The battle of Springfield is not named among the important battles of
the Revolution, but it had a special meaning to the people of all that
region, for it taught them that the enemy, who had been harassing them
for months, was not invulnerable. From that day they took fresh
courage, and their courage increased when they realized that the
British would not come again to trouble them.

After the burning of the Springfield church, the pastor, Rev. Jacob
Vanarsdal, gathered his people in the barn of the parsonage. Later the
building was ceiled and galleries were built.

For ten years the barn was the home of the congregation, but in 1791
the building was erected which is in use to-day.




FOUR: RAMBLES ABOUT THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE

     _In that delightful land which is washed by the Delaware's waters,
     Guarding in sylvan shades the name of Penn the apostle,
     Stands on the banks of its beautiful stream the city he founded.
     There all the air is balm, and the peach is the emblem of beauty,
     And the streets still re-echo the names of the trees of the forest,
     As if they fain would appease the Dryads whose haunts they molested.
     There from the troubled sea had Evangeline landed, an exile,
     Finding among the children of Penn a home and a country.
     There old Rene Leblanc had died; and when he departed,
     Saw at his side only one of all his hundred descendants.
     Something at least there was in the friendly streets of the city,
     Something that spake to her heart, and made her no longer a stranger;
     And her ear was pleased with the Thee and Thou of the Quakers,
     For it recalled the past, the old Acadian country,
     Where all men were equal, and all were brothers and sisters._

       HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW.




FOUR: RAMBLES ABOUT THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE


  [Illustration: LETITIA PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 145]

XXXI

THE LETITIA PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA

WILLIAM PENN'S FIRST AMERICAN HOME

When William Penn, English Quaker, met Guli Springett, he fell in love
with her at once. In 1672 they were married.

Ten years later when, as Proprietor of Pennsylvania, Penn was about to
sail in the _Welcome_ for America, he wrote a letter of which the
following is a portion:

      "My dear wife and children, my love, which neither sea, nor
      land, nor death itself, can extinguish or lessen toward you,
      most tenderly visits you with eternal embraces and will abide
      with you for ever.... My dear wife, remember thou wast the
      love of my youth and the joy of my life, the most beloved as
      well as the most worthy of all my earthly comfort, and the
      reason of that love were more thy inward than thy outward
      excellencies, which were yet many. God knows, and thou
      knowest it, that it was a match of Providence's making, and
      God's image in us both was the first thing and the most
      amiable and engaging ornament in our eyes. Now I am to leave
      thee, and that without knowing whether I shall ever see thee
      more in this world."

Penn landed at New Castle, Delaware, in October, 1682. He had already
sent forward the plot of his new country village; his cousin,
Lieutenant Governor Markham, had come to America in 1681, bringing
with him instructions for the beginning of the settlement. On this
plot there was evidence of his thought for his wife and his daughter
Letitia; two lots were set apart for the family, on one of which he
planned to build, while the other he designed for Letitia.

When he reached America, he found that, by some mistake, Letitia's lot
had been given to the Friends for a meeting house. He was vexed, but
nothing could be done. So he decided that the lot reserved for his own
use should be made over to her. He did not carry out his purpose for
some time, however.

For a time Penn remained at Upland (now Chester), but in 1684, he went
to Philadelphia to oversee the erection of the houses for the
settlers. His own house he built on a large plot facing the Delaware
River and south of what is now Market Street. The house was of brick,
which was probably made nearby, though many of the interior fittings
had been brought from England in the _John and Sarah_ in 1681. It was
the first brick house in the new settlement, the first house which had
a cellar, and was built in accordance with the request the Proprietor
had made:

      "Let every house be placed, if the person pleases, in the
      middle of the plat, as to breadth way of it, that so there
      may be ground on each side for garden or orchard, or fields,
      that it may be a green country town, which will never be
      burnt and always wholesome."

For a few months the Quaker kept bachelor's hall in his new house.
Then he went to England, intending to return before long. Before his
departure he arranged that the house should be used in the public
service. Probably it was the gathering place for the Provincial
Council for many years. Thus it was the first state house of
Pennsylvania.

During the fourteen years' stay in England many misfortunes came to
Penn. He was accused of treason, and his title to the American lands
was taken away from him. Later he was acquitted, and his lands were
returned.

In 1692 Guli Penn died, and in 1696 Penn married Hannah Callowhill. In
1699, when he returned to America, he brought with him his wife and
Letitia, who was then about twenty-five years old.

Evidently the old house was not good enough for the ladies of the
family. At any rate they occupied for a time the "slate-roof house,"
one of the most pretentious buildings in the Colony. When the manor,
Pennsbury, twenty miles up the Delaware, was completed, the family was
taken there. Great style was maintained at the country estate in the
woods. The house had cost L5,000, and was "the most imposing house
between the Hudson and Potomac rivers."

The Philadelphia house was transferred to Letitia on "the 29th of the
1st month 1701." At once extravagant Letitia tried to dispose of it.
She succeeded in selling a portion of the generous lot, but it was
some years before she was able to sell the whole.

In the meantime the Proprietor felt that he must return to England
because of the threat of Parliament to change the government of the
American Colonies. Mrs. Penn and Letitia, who did not like America,
pleaded to go with him. He thought he would be returning soon, and he
urged them to remain. They insisted. In a letter to James Logan he
wrote: "I cannot prevail on my wife to stay, and still less with
_Tish_. I know not what to do." Later he wrote: "The going of my wife
and Tish will add greatly to the expense.... But they will not be
denied."

In 1702 Letitia married William Aubrey, who had all of Penn's keenness
and none of his genial qualities. Almost from the day of the marriage
both husband and wife pestered Penn for money. Aubrey insisted on a
prompt payment of his wife's marriage portion. His father-in-law was
already beginning to feel the grip of financial embarrassment that
later brought him to the verge of bankruptcy, but, on this occasion as
well as later, he felt compelled to yield to the insistent demands of
the grasping Aubrey.

The only members of the Penn family who ever returned to America were
the children of the second wife, to whom most of the property
descended.

The Letitia Penn House, as it came to be known, fell on evil days. It
was an eating house in 1800, and in 1824 it was the Rising Sun Inn.
Later it was called the Woolpack Hotel.

In 1882 funds were raised by public subscription, and the venerable
house was taken down and rebuilt in Fairmount Park. Visitors who enter
the city by the Pennsylvania Railroad from New York City may easily
see it from a right-hand car window, for it is the only house in the
corner of the park on the west side of the river.


XXXII

CARPENTERS' HALL, PHILADELPHIA

CALLED BY BENSON J. LOSSING "THE TEMPLE OF FREEDOM"

Philadelphia was but forty-two years old when a number of builders in
the growing town decided to have a guild like the journeymen's guilds
of London. Accordingly they formed, in 1724, "The Carpenters' Company
of the City and County of Philadelphia," whose object should be "to
obtain instruction in the science of architecture; to assist such of
the members, or the widows and children of members, as should be by
accident in need of support," as well as "the adoption of such a
system of measurements and prices that every one concerned in a
building may have the value of his money, and every workman the worth
of his labor."

At first the meetings were held here and there, probably in taverns.
In 1768 the Company decided to build a home. A lot was secured on
Chestnut Street, between Third and Fourth streets, for which an annual
ground rent of "176 Spanish milled pieces of eight" was to be paid.
The sum of three hundred pounds necessary to begin operations was
subscribed in about a week.

The Company's annual meeting of January 21, 1771, was held within the
walls, though the building was not entirely completed until 1792.

Three years after the opening of the hall came the first event that
linked the building with the history of America. A general meeting of
the people of Philadelphia was held here to protest against the
failure of Governor Penn to convene the Assembly of the Colony. A
committee of three was appointed to wait on the Speaker and ask him
for "a positive answer as to whether he would call the Assembly
together or not."

The Assembly was then called to meet on the "18th day of the 6th
month." Three days before the time fixed, another meeting was held in
Carpenters' Hall to consider what measures for the welfare of the
Colony should be proposed to the Assembly. At this meeting the
necessity of holding "a general Congress of delegates from all the
Colonies" was voiced. Later the Assembly approved of the idea of such
a conference, and a call was issued.

On September 5, 1774, the delegates from eleven provinces met in the
City Tavern. Learning that the Carpenters' Company had offered the
hall for the use of the Continental Congress, the delegates voted to
inspect the accommodations. John Adams, one of their number, said
after the visit: "They took a view of the room and of the chamber,
where there is an excellent library. There is also a long entry, where
gentlemen may walk, and also a convenient chamber opposite to the
library. The general cry was that this was a good room."

When this First Continental Congress met, it was decided that the
session of the second day should be opened with prayer. Rev. Jacob
Duche of Christ Church and St. Peter's was asked to be present and
conduct an opening service. This historic account of the service was
written by John Adams:

      "Next morning he appeared with his clerk and having on his
      pontificals, and read several prayers in the established
      form, and then read the Psalter for the seventh day of
      September, which was the thirty-fifth Psalm. You must
      remember that this was the next morning after we had heard of
      the horrible cannonade of Boston (the account proved to be an
      error). It seemed as if heaven had ordered that Psalm to be
      read on that morning. After this, Mr. Duche, unexpectedly to
      everybody, struck out into extemporary prayer, which filled
      the bosom of every man present. I must confess, I never heard
      a better prayer, or one so well pronounced."

In part, this prayer was as follows:

      "Be thou present, O God of wisdom! And direct the councils of
      this honorable assembly, enable them to settle things on the
      best and surest foundation, that the scene of blood may be
      speedily closed, that order, harmony, and peace may be
      effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and
      piety, prevail and flourish amongst Thy people."

On October 26 the Congress was dissolved. The second Congress was
called to meet on May 10, 1775, at the State House, later known as
Independence Hall.

When the British took possession of the city in 1777, a portion of the
army was quartered in the building. Officers and men alike borrowed
books from the Library Company of Philadelphia, which had quarters
here, invariably making deposits and paying for the use of volumes
taken in strict accordance with the rules.

In 1778 the United States Commissary of Military Stores began to
occupy the lower story and cellar of the building. From 1791 to 1821
various public organizations sought quarters here, including the Bank
of the United States, the Bank of Pennsylvania, the United States Land
Office, and the United States Custom House. The Carpenters' Company
therefore, in 1791, erected a second building on this lot, which they
occupied until 1857.

When Benson J. Lossing visited the historic hall, on November 27,
1848, he wrote of his great disappointment because the banner of an
auctioneer was on the front of the building. He said:

      "I tried hard to perceive the apparition ... to be a classic
      frieze, with rich historic trigliphs, but it would not do....
      What a desecration! Covering the facade of the very Temple of
      Freedom with the placards of grovelling Mammon! If
      sensibility is shocked with this outward pollution, it is
      overwhelmed with indignant shame on entering the hall where
      that august Assembly of men--the godfathers of our
      Republic--convened to stand as sponsors at the baptism of
      infant American liberty--to find it filled with every species
      of merchandise, and the walls which once echoed the eloquent
      words of Henry, Lee, and the Adamses, reverberating with the
      clatter of the auctioneer's voice and hammer. Is there not
      patriotism strong enough in Philadelphia to enter the temple,
      and 'cast out all them that buy and sell, and overthrow the
      tables of the money-changers?'"

At length the Carpenters' Company decided that the time had come to do
what the historian pleaded for. In 1857 they returned to the building,
and since then they have held their meetings within the walls
consecrated by the heroes of Revolutionary days. The rooms were
restored to their original condition, and relics and mementoes of
early days were put in place. The Hall has ever since been open to
visitors "who may wish to visit the spot where Henry, Hancock, and
Adams inspired the delegates of the Colonies with nerve and the sinew
for the toils of war."


  [Illustration: ST. PETER'S PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 153]

XXXIII

ST. PETER'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA

WHOSE BUILDING IS PRACTICALLY UNCHANGED AFTER MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED
AND FIFTY YEARS

There were but fifteen thousand people in Philadelphia when, on March
19, 1753, the suggestion was made to the vestry of Christ Church that
a new church or Chapel of Ease of Christ Church be built for the
accommodation of the people in the southern part of the city. Thomas
and Richard Penn gave a site for the building of the new church, and
on September 21, 1758, the corner stone was laid. In 1761 the church
was opened, though it was not completed until March, 1763. To the new
organization was given the name St. Peter's, and it was ordered by the
vestry of Christ Church, "that the said church ... in every respect
whatever shall be upon an equal footing with Christ Church, and be
under the same government with it."

At the same time, in view of the gift of the site, it was ordered that
"the first and best pew in the said Church shall be set apart forever
for the accommodation of the Honorable Proprietary's family."

When the building was completed the building committee reported that
the cost was L4,765, 19 s. 6-1/2 d. Added to this report were statements
that sound quite modern. "The sudden rise in the prices of materials
and labor," and "the inability of some subscribers to meet their
engagements," had added to the burdens of the committee.

From the beginning prayers were read in the church for the king and
all the royal family, but on July 4, 1776, the vestry ordered that
patriotic prayers be substituted. While the British were in
Philadelphia the prayers for the king were renewed by order of Dr.
Duche, rector of Christ Church and St. Peter's. The official history
of St. Peter's refers to Dr. Duche, who ordered this, in the following
sentences:

      "From an advocate of the Colonies, he became an advocate of
      the King, and on the Sunday following the occupation of
      Philadelphia by the British, he restored the prayers for the
      King to the Liturgy. This compromise with conditions availed
      him nothing, and he was arrested for serving as chaplain to
      Congress after the adoption of the Declaration of
      Independence. The influence of his loyalist friends secured
      his speedy release.... Not long afterward he went to England,
      where he remained practically an exile for twelve years,
      returning to Philadelphia several years before his death,
      when, it is said, no truer American could have been found in
      the City. He ... was buried in St. Peter's Churchyard."

During the occupation of the church by British troops in 1777 the pews
were burned for fuel, but the building was never closed for lack of
fuel or for any other reason, until the late winter of 1917-18, when
coal could not be secured.

The wooden fence that surrounded the property originally was burned by
the British for fuel, and the brick wall that is now in place was
built in 1784.

Washington frequently occupied a pew in St. Peter's, and many other
men who were prominent in the early history of the country worshipped
here. The building is practically as it was when they lived. "It is
the same church to which the colonists in their knee-breeches and rich
coats came to attend the first service in 1761," a member of the
vestry said in 1891. "The pulpit, reading desk, and chancel rails were
built in 1764, and the present organ loft was put up over the chancel
in 1789. In all other respects the plain, austere interior of this old
church ... remains unchanged, the only relic in Pennsylvania, and one
of the very few in the country at large, of the church in colonial
days. Bishop De Lancey, in his centennial sermon, preached September
4, 1861, said: 'We enter by the same doors--we tread the same
aisles--we kneel where they knelt--we sit where they sat; the voice of
prayer, instruction, and praise ascends from the same desk from which
it reached their ears, in the privacy and seclusion of the same high,
strait unostentatious pews.'"

In the crowded churchyard are the graves of many colonial worthies as
well as many leaders in the early history of America. Stephen Decatur
is buried here, and Charles Wilson Peale, who painted a famous
portrait of Washington.

The _Pennsylvania Evening Post_ of January 18, 1777, told of the
burial of one of the patriots whose bodies were laid here:

      "Yesterday the remains of Captain William Shippen, who was
      killed at Princeton the third instant, gloriously fighting
      for the liberty of his country, were interred in St. Peter's
      Churchyard. His funeral was attended by the Council of
      Safety, the members of Assembly, officers of the army, a
      troop of Virginia light horse, and a great number of
      inhabitants. This brave and unfortunate man was in his
      twenty-seventh year, and has left a widow and three children
      to lament the death of an affectionate husband and a tender
      parent, his servants a kind master, and his neighbors a
      sincere and obliging friend."

Captain Shippen, before joining Washington's army, was captain of the
privateer _Hancock_, which, between July 1 and November 1, 1776, sent
to American ports ten prizes captured at sea.


  [Illustration: CLIVEDEN, PHILADELPHIA
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 156]

XXXIV

CLIVEDEN, GERMANTOWN, PHILADELPHIA

ON THE FIELD OF THE BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN

In the days before the Revolution there were many residents of
Philadelphia who had, in addition to a sumptuous town house, a country
house, to which they could resort in the summer or at other times when
they wished relief from the cares of daily life. Germantown, the
straggling village five miles from the town of William Penn, was one
of the popular places for such establishments.

Samuel Chew's town house was at Front and Dock streets when he built
Cliveden at Germantown in 1761. At that time he was Attorney-General
of Pennsylvania, though in 1774 he became Chief-Justice of the Supreme
Court of Pennsylvania.

Both in Philadelphia and in Germantown he maintained the hospitable
traditions he had learned at Maidstone, near Annapolis, where he was
born, in 1722, of a family whose first American ancestor, John Chew,
came to Virginia a century earlier.

During the days of the Continental Congress Judge Chew seemed to
sympathize with the colonists in their protests against the aggression
of Great Britain, but when independence was proposed, he let it be
known that he was unwilling to act with the patriots. Accordingly he
was arrested by order of Congress, together with John Penn, and when
he refused to sign a parole, he was banished from the State.

During his absence the battle of Germantown was fought. On October 3,
1777, the British forces were disposed on nearly all sides of the Chew
mansion. Washington planned to attack these scattered forces by four
columns, which were to advance from as many directions. General
Wayne's column successfully opened the attack at daybreak October 4,
driving before him the enemy encountered at Mount Airy. Colonel
Musgrave checked the retreat of the soldiers at Cliveden. With six
companies he took possession of the mansion, prepared to defend
themselves behind hastily barricaded doors and windows. Wayne and the
leaders who were with him pushed on past the house, continuing the
pursuit of that portion of the enemy which had continued its retreat;
he did not know that he was leaving an enemy in his rear. When
Washington came to Cliveden, he was surprised by the fire of the
entrenched enemy. After a hasty conference with others, it was decided
not to pass on, leaving a fortress behind. Cannon were planted so as
to command the door, but they were fired without much effect.

The next attempt was made by a young Frenchman who asked others to
carry hay from the barn and set fire to the front door. Thinking they
were doing as he asked, he forced open a window and climbed on the
sill. From this position he was driven back, and he found that he had
not been supported by those on whom he had counted.

In the meantime the artillery fire continued, but with little effect.
General Wilkinson, who was present, afterward wrote:

      "The doors and shutters of the lower windows of the mansion
      were shut and fastened, the fire of the enemy being delivered
      from the iron gratings of the cellars and the windows above,
      and it was closely beset on all sides with small-arms and
      artillery, as is manifest from the multiplicity of traces
      still visible from musket-ball and grape-shot on the interior
      walls and ceilings which appear to have entered through the
      doors and windows in every direction; marks of cannon-ball
      are also visible, in several places on the exterior of the
      wall and through the roof, though one ball only appears to
      have penetrated below the roof, and that by a window in the
      passage of the second story. The artillery seem to have made
      no impression on the walls of the house, a few slight
      indentures only being observable, except from one stroke in
      the rear, which started the wall."

In a few minutes Washington, realizing that precious time was being
lost in the attack on the thick walls of the house, ordered a regiment
to remain behind to watch Cliveden, while his main force hastened on.

It has been claimed that this brief delay was responsible for the
defeat at Germantown. Wilkinson, on the contrary, insists that this
delay saved Washington's army from annihilation, since he would
otherwise have hurried on in the thick fog until he was in contact
with the main body of the British army. The result, he thinks, would
have been a far greater disaster than actually overtook the American
arms that day.

The damage done to the house was so great that five carpenters were
busy for months making repairs. Evidently Judge Chew was not satisfied
with the result, for in 1779 he sold Cliveden for $9,000, only to buy
it back again in 1787 for $25,000.

The property descended to Benjamin Chew, Jr., on the death of his
father. During his occupancy of Cliveden, Lafayette was a guest there
in 1825.


  [Illustration: THIRD (OLD PINE STREET) PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
   PHILADELPHIA
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 159]

XXXV

OLD PINE STREET CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA

WHOSE PASTOR INSPIRED JOHN ADAMS TO PLEAD FOR INDEPENDENCE

There were four thousand, seven hundred and seventy-four houses in
Philadelphia in 1767 when the Pine Street Presbyterian Church, the
third church of this denomination in the city, was built. The
subscription paper, still in existence, shows that L1,078 "in money or
otherwise" was subscribed for the purpose. The sum needed to complete
the building was raised by a lottery, which yielded L2,500. In the
proceeds of the lottery the Market Street Church and the Second Church
shared, L1,035 going to the Pine Street building.

The original building was of but one story, with gable ends. When
alterations were made in 1837 the top of the church was raised bodily,
while a larger roof was built over the old roof. The visitor who
climbs to the loft is able to see the old walls and windows. The
floor was raised one step above the street level, and was paved with
brick.

Rev. George Duffield, D.D., who was pastor from 1772 to 1790, was a
prominent figure during the Revolution. He was chaplain of the
Continental Congress and of the Pennsylvania militia during the period
of the war, and he delivered fiery messages that stirred patriots to
action. John Adams, who was a member of the church, called him a man
of genius and eloquence. On May 17, 1776, after listening to a sermon
in which Dr. Duffield likened the conduct of George III to the
Americans to that of Pharaoh to the Israelites, and concluded that God
intended the liberation of the Americans, as He had intended that of
the Israelites, he wrote to his wife:

      "Is it not a saying of Moses, Who am I that I should go in
      and out before this great people? When I consider the great
      events which are passed, and those greater which are rapidly
      advancing, and that I may have been instrumental in touching
      some springs, and turning some small wheels, which have had
      and will have such effects, I feel an awe upon my mind, which
      is not easily described. Great Britain has at last driven
      America to the last step, complete separation from her; a
      total, absolute independence...."

Headley, in "Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution," says:

      "The patriots of the first Congress flocked to his church,
      and John Adams and his compeers were often his hearers.... In
      a discourse delivered before several companies of the
      Pennsylvania militia and members of Congress, four months
      before the Declaration of Independence, he took bold and
      decided ground in favor of that step, and pleaded his
      cause with sublime eloquence, which afterwards made him so
      obnoxious to the British that they placed a reward of fifty
      pounds for his capture."

Later on in the same sermon he prophesied:

      "Whilst sun and moon endure, America shall remain a city of
      refuge for the whole earth, until she herself shall play the
      tyrant, forget her destiny, disgrace her freedom, and provoke
      her God."

As chaplain of the Pennsylvania militia, Dr. Duffield was frequently
in camp, where "his visits were always welcome, for the soldiers loved
the eloquent, earnest, fearless patriot."

Headley gives this incident of the courageous chaplain's work:

      "When the enemy occupied Staten Island, and the American
      forces were across the river on the Jersey shore, he repaired
      to camp to spend the Sabbath. Assembling a portion of the
      troops in an orchard, he climbed into the forks of a tree and
      commenced religious exercises. He gave out a hymn.... The
      British on the island heard the sound of the singing, and
      immediately directed some cannon to play on the orchard, from
      whence it proceeded. Soon the heavy shot came crashing
      through the branches, and went singing overhead, arresting
      for a moment the voices that were lifted in worship. Mr.
      Duffield ... proposed that they should adjourn behind an
      adjacent hillock. They did so, and continued their worship,
      while the iron storm hurled harmlessly overhead."

In spite of his almost constant service in the field, Dr. Duffield was
in Philadelphia among his people every little while. The church
records show that he baptized children every month during the
Revolution, except for the period of the British occupation of
Philadelphia, when the church was occupied as a hospital, and more
than one hundred Hessian soldiers were buried in the churchyard.

Another remarkable fact is that of the one hundred and ten men who had
signed the call to George Duffield in 1771, sixty-seven served in the
army during the war. Colonel Thomas Robinson, whose portrait is in
Independence Hall, was a member of the church; Captain John Steele,
who was field officer on the day of the surrender of Cornwallis, and
Colonel William Linnard, whose company attempted to keep the British
from crossing the Brandywine, were also members. Many other officers
and private soldiers were on the rolls; the stones and vaults in the
cemetery tell of many of them.

One of the original trustees of Pine Street was Dr. William Shippen,
Jr., first Professor of Medicine in America and Director General of
all the hospitals during the war. Benjamin Rush, Signer of the
Declaration, was an attendant at the services, and his mother was a
member.


XXXVI

INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA

WHERE AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE WAS BORN

William Penn was a man of vision. When, in 1682, Thomas Holme surveyed
for him the site of Philadelphia, the Quaker pioneer gave instruction
that "the Centre Square," one mile from the Delaware, be set apart
for the public buildings of the city and colony.

But for many years after the founding of the city, Centre Square was
far out in the country. During these years temporary public buildings
were provided for official meetings, including the Assembly, but in
1728 steps were taken to erect a suitable public building within reach
of the people of the young city. Ground was bought on Chestnut Street,
between Fifth and Sixth streets, and the State House was begun in
1730. The total cost of the building was $16,250. Two wings were added
in 1739 and 1740; these cost some $12,000 more.

Two years after the completion of the main building the Pennsylvania
Assembly passed an act in which this statement was made:

      "It is the true intent and meaning of these Presents, that no
      part of the said ground lying to the southward of the State
      House, as it is now built, be converted into or made use of
      for erecting any sort of Building thereupon, but that the
      said ground shall be enclosed and remain a public open Green
      and Walks forever."

Eighty years after the passage of the act an attempt was made to
divert the State House yard to other purposes. In a curious old
document, dated February 6, 1816, W. Rawle and Peter S. Duponceau made
an argument against this diversion, showing conclusively that the
State House Square had been "irrevocably devoted to the purpose of an
open and public walk." Thanks to their efforts and the efforts of
others who have labored to the same end, the grounds are to-day, and
must forever remain, open to the use of the people.

The first public function held in the new State House was a banquet,
given in the "long room," in the second story. Of this Franklin's
_Pennsylvania Gazette_ of September 30, 1736, said:

      "Thursday last William Allen, Esq., Mayor of this city for
      the past year, made a feast for his citizens at the State
      House, to which all the strangers in town of note were also
      invited. Those who are judges of such things say that
      considering the delicacy of the viands, the variety and
      excellency of the wines, the great number of guests, and yet
      the easiness and order with which the whole was conducted, it
      was the most grand, the most elegant entertainment that has
      been made in these parts of America."

The builders were dilatory. It was 1736 before the Assembly was able
to hold its first session in the chamber provided for it, and not
until 1745 was the room completed. Three years more passed before the
apartment intended for the Governor's Council was ready for its
occupants.

In 1741 the tower was built, and on November 4 Edmund Wooley sent to
the Province of Pennsylvania an interesting bill, "for expenses in
raising the Tower of the State House":

     95 loaves of Bread                         L0 19 9
     61-3/3 lb. Bacon, at 7d                     1 14 1
     148-1/2 lb. Beef at 3-1/2d                  2  8 1
     Potatoes and Greens                         0  7 1
     800 Limes at 4s                             1 12 0
     1-1/2 Barrels of Beer at 18s                1  7 0
     44 lb. Mutton at 3-1/2d                     0 12 8
     37-3/4 lb. Veal at 3-1/2d                   0 11 0
     30 lb. Venison at 2d                        0  5 0
     Turnips                                     0  1 6
     Pepper and Mustard                          0  1 5
     2 Jugs and Candles, Pipes and Tobacco       0  6 0
     Butter 9s. 8d. Turkey 4s. 4 pair Fowls 9s   1  2 8
     -1/4 of a hundred of Flour                  0  3 6
     Two former Hookings at getting on two
      Floors, and now for raising the Tower,     3  0 0
      Fire Wood, etc.

Provision was made in 1750 for the extension of the tower for the
accommodation of a bell, and on October 16, 1751, the Superintendent
of the State House sent a letter to the colonial agent in London. In
this letter he said:

      "We take the liberty to apply ourselves to thee to get us a
      good bell, of about two thousand pounds weight, the cost of
      which we presume may amount to about one hundred pounds
      sterling, or, perhaps, with the charges, something more....
      Let the bell be cast by the best workmen, and examined
      carefully before it is shipped, with the following words
      well-shaped in large letters round it, viz:--

      "'By order of the Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania,
      for the State House in the city of Philadelphia, 1752,'

      "And underneath,

      "'Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land to all the
      inhabitants thereof--Levit. XXV. 10.'"

When the new bell was hung it was cracked by a stroke of the clapper.
Isaac Norris wrote:

      "We concluded to send it back by Captain Budden, but he could
      not take it on board, upon which two ingenious workmen
      undertook to cast it here, and I am just now informed they
      have this day opened the Mould and have got a good bell,
      which, I confess, pleases me very much, that we should first
      venture upon and succeed in the greatest bell cast, for aught
      I know, in English America. The mould was finished in a very
      masterly manner, and the letters, I am told, are better than
      [on] the old one. When we broke up the metal, our judges here
      generally agreed it was too high and brittle, and cast
      several little bells out of it to try the sound and strength,
      and fixed upon a mixture of an ounce and a half of copper to
      one pound of the old bell, and in this proportion we now have
      it."

But when the bell was in place it was found to contain too much
copper, and Pass & Stow, the founders, "were so teazed with the
witticisms of the town," that they begged to be allowed to recast it.
In June, 1753, this third bell was hung, and in the following
September the founders were paid L60 13s. 5d.

In 1752 arrangements were made for a clock. The works were placed in
the middle of the main building, immediately under the roof. These
were connected by rods, enclosed in pipes, with the hands on the dial
plates at either gable. Early views of the State House show these
dials. The cost of the clock, which included care for six years, was
L494 5s. 5-1/2 d.

During the twenty years that followed the installation of the clock
and the bell the State House became a civic centre of note; but not
until the stirring events that led up to the Revolution did it become
of special interest to other colonies than Pennsylvania. On April 25,
1775, the day after news came to Philadelphia of the battles of
Lexington and Concord, the great bell sounded a call to arms that was
the real beginning of making the building a national shrine. In
response to the call eight thousand people gathered in the Yard to
consider measures of defence. On April 26 the newspapers reported that
"the company unanimously agreed to associate for the purpose of
defending with arms their lives, liberty, and property, against all
attempts to deprive them of them." This determination of the people
was soon sanctioned by the Assembly, and Pennsylvania prepared to
raise its quota towards the Army of the Revolution.

On May 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress met in the Assembly
Chamber, and took action that made inevitable the adoption of the
Declaration of Independence the next year. On Friday, June 7, 1776, in
the Eastern Room on the first floor of the State House, Richard Henry
Lee of Virginia introduced the following:

      "Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought
      to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved
      from all allegiance to the British Crown and that all
      political connection between them and the State of Great
      Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

At the same time the Pennsylvania Assembly was considering, in the
chamber upstairs, what instruction to give to its delegates. When the
Assembly adjourned the Continental Congress removed to the upper room.
There, on July 2, the Virginian's motion was carried. Later the
Declaration itself was adopted, and on July 4, it was

      "Resolved, that Copies of the Declaration be sent to the
      several assemblies, conventions, and committees or councils
      of safety, and to the several commanding officers of the
      Continental troops; that it be proclaimed in each of the
      United States and at the head of the army."

It was ordered that the Declaration be proclaimed from the State House
on Monday, July 8, 1776. On that day the State House bell sounded its
glad call; for the first time did it indeed "proclaim liberty
throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." And in the
hearing of those who gathered in response to its call the Declaration
was read.

From that day the State House has been known as Independence Hall,
while the State House Yard has become Independence Square.

The sittings of Congress in Independence Hall were interrupted by the
approach of the British. For five months the building was used as a
British prison and hospital. But on July 2, 1778, Congress returned;
the building once more belonged to the nation.

The building became more than ever a national shrine when, in 1787,
the Constitutional Convention met there. On September 17, 1787, the
votes of eleven States were recorded in favor of the Constitution, and
Benjamin Franklin, looking toward a sun which was blazoned on the
President's chair, said of it to those near him, "In the vicissitudes
of hope and fear I was not able to tell whether it was rising or
setting; now I know that it is the rising sun."

In 1790, the Congress of the United States met in the western portion
of the buildings on the Square, erected in 1785 for the Pennsylvania
Assembly.[1] This building was, by that body, offered to Congress and
accepted for the term of ten years, until the Capital should be
removed to the shore of the Potomac.

During these ten years, and for thirty-five years more, the Liberty
Bell continued to sound notes of joy and of sorrow. On July 8, 1835,
it was tolling for Chief Justice Marshall. When the funeral procession
was on Chestnut Street, not far from Independence Hall, the bell
cracked. Since that day it has been mute.

The passing years have brought many changes to Independence Hall, as
well as to the Liberty Bell. The bell cannot be renewed, but the
historic building and the Square have been restored until they present
essentially the appearance of the days of 1776. The chief difference
is in the steeple. The present steeple was built in 1828. It is much
like the old steeple, but a story higher.

As the visitor passes from room to room of the venerable building, and
examines the relics and studies the portraits of the great men who
gathered there so long ago, his heart is stirred to thankfulness to
those who dared to call a nation into being, and he cannot but think
that it is good to live for one's country.


  [Illustration: DAVID RITTENHOUSE'S HOUSE, NORRITON, PENNA.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 170]

XXXVII

THE DAVID RITTENHOUSE HOME, NEAR PHILADELPHIA

THE HEADQUARTERS OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S FRIEND AND CO-LABORER

     _"See the sage Rittenhouse with ardent eye
     Lift the long tube and pierce the starry sky!
     He marks what laws the eccentric wanderers bind,
     Copies creation in his forming mind,
     And bids beneath his hand in semblance rise
     With mimic orbs the labors of the skies."_

This was Barlow's way of telling of the achievement of David
Rittenhouse, the colonial astronomer, in fashioning the marvellous
orrery, the mechanical representation of the movements of the
planetary system. Thomas Jefferson's prose description was a little
more readable:

      "A machine far surpassing in ingenuity of contrivance,
      accuracy and utility anything of the kind ever before
      constructed.... He has not indeed made a world, but he has by
      imitation approached more its Maker than any man who has
      lived from the creation to this day."

The father of the maker of the orrery was a paper manufacturer near
Germantown, but when David was three years old he moved to a little
farm in Norriton, nineteen miles from Philadelphia, where, in 1749, he
built the stone house in which his son spent the rest of his life.

It was his purpose to make a farmer of David, and he might have
succeeded if he had not invested in a few mathematical books. The
twelve-year-old boy was fascinated by these volumes. Samuel W.
Pennypacker has told the result:

      "The handles of his plough, and even the fences around the
      fields, he covered with mathematical calculations.... At
      seventeen he made a wooden clock, and afterward one in metal.
      Having thus tested his ability in an art in which he had
      never received any instruction, he secured from his somewhat
      reluctant father money enough to buy in Philadelphia the
      necessary tools, and after holding a shop by the roadside,
      set up in business as a clock and mathematical instrument
      maker."

Dr. Benjamin Rush once said that "without library, friends, or
society, and with but two or three books, he became, before he had
reached his four-and-twentieth year, the rival of two of the greatest
mathematicians of Europe."

The skilled astronomer was soon called upon to render a service to
several of the Colonies. By means of astronomical instruments he did
such accurate work in marking out the boundary between Delaware and
Pennsylvania that Mason and Dixon later accepted his results, and he
settled the dispute between New Jersey and New York as to the point
where the forty-first degree of latitude touches the Hudson River.
Perhaps, however, the achievement that won for him greatest fame was
the observation, made in 1769, of the transit of Venus. The importance
of the observation is evident from the facts that it provides the best
means for calculating the distance between the heavenly bodies, which
had never been satisfactorily made, and that the opportunity would
not occur again for one hundred and five years. After months of
preparation, which included the making of delicate instruments,
Rittenhouse, one of a committee of three appointed by the American
Philosophical Society, succeeded. In the words of Pennypacker, "The
first approximately accurate results in the measurement of the spheres
were given to the world, not by the schooled and salaried astronomers
who watched from the magnificent royal observatories of Europe, but by
unpaid amateurs and devotees to science in the youthful province of
Pennsylvania."

Benjamin Franklin found in him a kindred spirit, and the Philadelphian
was frequently a visitor at the Norriton farmhouse. On Sunday the two
friends often went to the old Norriton Presbyterian Church, which had
been built on the corner of the Rittenhouse farm, within sight of the
house. This church, which probably dates from 1698, is still standing
in good repair.

Some years after the successful observation of the transit of Venus
brought fame to the American astronomer, he moved to Philadelphia.
There, among other duties, he had charge of the State House clock.

At the beginning of the Revolution the Council of Safety asked that he
should "prepare moulds for the casting of clock weights, and send them
to some iron furnace, and order a sufficient number to be immediately
made for the purpose of exchanging them with the inhabitants of this
city for their leaden clock weights." The leaden weights were needed
for bullets. Later he was sent to survey the shores of the Delaware,
to choose the best points for fortifications.

When he became Engineer of the Council of Safety "he was called upon
to arrange for casting cannon of iron and brass, to view the site for
the erection of a Continental powder mill, to conduct experiments for
rifling cannon and muskets, to fix upon a method of fastening a chain
for the protection of the river, to superintend the manufacture of
saltpeter, and to locate a magazine for military stores on the
Wissahickon."

This was but the beginning of service to Pennsylvania during the
Revolution. His activities were so valuable to the Colonies that a
Tory poet published in the _Pennsylvania Evening Post_ of December 2,
1777, a verse addressed "To David Rittenhouse," of which the first
stanza read:

     "Meddle not with state affairs,
     Keep acquaintance with the stars;
     Science, David, is thy line;
     Warp not Nature's great design.
     If thou to fame would'st rise."

The following year Thomas Jefferson wrote to him:

      "You should consider that the world has but one Rittenhouse,
      and never had one before.... Are those powers, then, which,
      being intended for the erudition of the world, are, like
      light and air, the world's common property, to be taken from
      their proper pursuit to do the commonplace drudgery of
      governing a single State?"

To the call of the nation Rittenhouse responded in April, 1792, when
President Washington appointed him the first Director of the Mint.

His closing years were full of honors, but his strength was declining
rapidly; he had spent himself so fully for his country that his power
of resistance was small. Just before he died, on June 26, 1796, he
said to a friend who had been writing to him, "You make the way to God
easier."


XXXVIII

THE HEADQUARTERS AT VALLEY FORGE, PENNSYLVANIA

WHERE WASHINGTON LIVED DURING THE WINTER OF 1777-78

A few rods from the beautiful Schuylkill River, at Valley Forge,
Pennsylvania, twenty-four miles from Philadelphia, is the quaint stone
house where Washington spent nearly six months of the most trying year
of the Revolution.

While the British troops were occupying Philadelphia Congress was in
session at York, Pennsylvania. Valley Forge was accordingly a
strategic location, for from here it was comparatively simple to guard
the roads leading out of Philadelphia, and to prevent both the exit of
the British and the entrance of supplies designed for the enemy.

The eleven thousand men who marched to the site selected for the camp
were miserably equipped for a winter in the open. Provisions were
scarce, and clothing and shoes were even more scarce. But the men
looked forward bravely to the months of exposure before them.

Washington did everything possible to provide for their comfort.
Realizing that the soldiers needed something more than the tents in
which they were living at first, he gave orders that huts should be
built for them. The commanding officers of the regiments were
instructed to divide their soldiers into parties of twelve, to see
that each party had the necessary tools, and to superintend the
building of a hut for each group of twelve soldiers, according to
carefully stated dimensions. A reward was offered to the party in each
regiment which should complete its hut in the quickest and best
manner. Since valuable time would be lost in preparing boards for the
roofs, he promised a second sword to the officer or soldier who should
devise a material for this purpose cheaper and more quickly made than
boards.

Some of the first huts were covered with leaves, but it was necessary
to provide a more lasting covering. After a few weeks fairly
acceptable quarters were provided for the men, in spite of the
scarcity of tools. Colonel Pickering, on January 5, wrote to Mrs.
Pickering, "The huts are very warm and comfortable, being very good
log huts, pointed with clay, and the roof made tight with the same."

At first, Washington sought to encourage his soldiers by assuring them
that he would accept no better quarters than could be given them; he
would set the example by passing the winter in a hut. But officers and
men alike urged that it would be unwise to risk his health in this
way, and he consented to seek quarters in a near-by house. However, he
refused to make himself comfortable until the men were provided for.

His headquarters were finally fixed in the two-story stone house of
Isaac Potts. There he met his officers, received visitors, planned for
the welfare of the army, and parried the attacks of those who could
not understand the difficulties of the situation. Once he wrote to
Congress: "Three days successively we have been destitute of bread.
Two days we have been entirely without meat. The men must be supplied,
or they cannot be commanded."

To the objections of those who thought that the army should not be
inactive during the winter weather, he wrote:

      "I can assure these gentlemen, that it is a much easier and
      less distressing thing to draw remonstrances in a comfortable
      room by a good fireside, than to occupy a cold, bleak hill,
      and sleep under frost and snow, without clothes or blankets.
      However, although they seem to have little pity for the naked
      and distressed soldiers, I feel superabundantly for them,
      and, from my soul, I pity those miseries which it is neither
      in my power to relieve or prevent."

The heavy hearts of Washington and his officers rejoiced when, on
February 23, 1778, Baron Steuben and Peter S. Du Ponceau called at
headquarters. Du Ponceau wrote later:

      "I cannot describe the impression that the first sight of
      that great man made upon me. I could not keep my eyes from
      that imposing countenance--grave, yet not severe; affable,
      without familiarity.... I have never seen a picture that
      represents him to me as I saw him at Valley Forge.... I had
      frequent opportunities of seeing him, as it was my duty to
      accompany the Baron when he dined with him, which was
      sometimes twice or thrice in the same week. We visited him
      also in the evening, when Mrs. Washington was at
      head-quarters. We were in a manner domesticated in the
      family."

An order was sent from headquarters, dated March 28, that Baron
Steuben be respected and obeyed as Inspector General. The need of his
services is revealed by his description of the condition of the army
when he arrived in camp:

      "The arms at Valley Forge were in a horrible condition,
      covered with rust, half of them without bayonets, many from
      which a single shot could not be fired. The pouches were
      quite as bad as the arms. A great many of the men had tin
      boxes instead of pouches, others had cow-horns; and muskets,
      carbines, fowling-pieces, and rifles were to be seen in the
      same company.... The men were literally naked.... The
      officers who had coats, had them of every color and make. I
      saw officers, at a grand parade in Valley Forge, mounting
      guard in a sort of dressing-gown, made of an old blanket or
      woolen bed-cover...."

Mrs. Washington joined the circle at headquarters on February 10. She
was not favorably impressed. "The General's apartment is very small,"
she wrote. "He has had a log cabin built to dine in, which has made
our quarters much more tolerable than they were at first."

The most joyful day at Valley Forge was May 7, 1778, when a fete was
held to celebrate the conclusion of the treaty of alliance between
France and the United States. After religious service, the army was
reviewed, and Washington dined in public with his officers. "When the
General took his leave, there was a universal clap, with loud huzzas,
which continued till he had proceeded a quarter of a mile."

On June 18 the glad tidings came to headquarters that the British were
evacuating Philadelphia. Next day the camp was left behind.
Washington did not see it again for nine years.

In 1879 the Isaac Potts house was bought by the Continental Memorial
Association of Valley Forge. And in 1893 the Pennsylvania Legislature
created the Valley Forge Park Commission, which has since acquired the
entire encampment, has laid it out as a park, and has arranged for the
erection of many monuments and markers and a number of memorial
structures. But the house in which Washington lived must always be the
central feature of the grounds.


  [Illustration: DAWESFIELD, NEAR PHILADELPHIA, PENNA.
   _Photo by H. C. Howland, Philadelphia_
   See page 178]

XXXIX

THREE HEADQUARTERS OF WASHINGTON

PENNYPACKER'S MILLS, DAWESFIELD, AND EMLEN HOUSE, NEAR PHILADELPHIA

During the closing months of 1777, one of the darkest times of the
Revolution, Washington made famous by his occupancy three houses, all
located within a few miles of Philadelphia. The first of these,
Pennypacker's Mills, is the only building used by the Commander-in-Chief
during the war that is still in the hands of the family that owned it
when he was there.

Pennypacker's Mills is delightfully situated in the angle formed by
the union of the two forks of the Perkiomen, the largest tributary of
the Schuylkill. Hans Joest Heijt, who built the grist mill and house
on the land in 1720, sold the property in 1730 to John Pauling. He was
succeeded in 1757 by Peter Pannebecker. His son Samuel was the
owner of the house by the creek when, on September 26, 1777,
Washington reached the Mills.

The orderly book of the following days and letters written from the
house shed light on the events of the stay here.

On the day he reached the Mills, Washington wrote to William Henry at
Lancaster:

      "You are hereby authorized to impress all the Blankets,
      Shoes, Stockings, and other Articles of Clothing that can be
      spared by the Inhabitants of the County of Lancaster, for the
      Use of the Continental Army, paying for the same at
      reasonable Rates or giving Certificates."

The entry in the orderly book on September 28 read:

      "The Commander-in-Chief has the happiness again to
      congratulate the army on the success of the Americans to the
      Northward. On the 19th inst. an engagement took place between
      General Burgoyne's army and the left wing of ours, under
      General Gates. The battle began at 10 o'clock, and lasted
      till night--our troops fighting with the greatest bravery,
      not giving an inch of ground.... To celebrate this success
      the General orders that at 4 o'clock this afternoon all the
      troops be paraded and served with a gill of rum per man, and
      that at the same time there be discharges of 13 pieces of
      artillery from the park."

On the same day there was a council of war. It was found that there
were in camp, fit for duty, 5,472 men. The whole army in all the camps
then contained about eight thousand Continental troops and three
thousand militia.

Next day Washington wrote:

      "I shall move the Army four or five miles lower down to-day
      from whence we may reconnoitre and fix upon a proper
      situation, at such distance from the Enemy, as will entitle
      us to make an attack, should we see a proper opening, or
      stand upon the defensive till we obtain further
      reinforcements...."

Later in the day the army marched to Skippack, within about
twenty-five miles of Philadelphia. The next stage in the advance was
Methacton Hill, and from there the army began to move, on October 3,
at seven o'clock in the evening, to the attack on the British at
Germantown.

After the battle of Germantown Washington wrote to the President of
Congress:

      "In the midst of the most promising appearances, when
      everything gave the most flattering hopes of victory, the
      troops began suddenly to retreat, and entirely left the
      field, in spite of every effort that could be made to rally
      them."

The Commander's marvellous ability to handle men was shown by the
entry made in his orderly book the next day, when he was back at
Pennypacker's Mills. Instead of reprimanding the soldiers for their
strange retreat, he "returned thanks to the generals and other
officers and men concerned in the attack on the enemy's left wing, for
their spirit and bravery, shown in drawing the enemy from field to
field, and although ... they finally retreated, they nevertheless see
that the enemy is not proof against a vigorous attack, and may be put
to flight when boldly pursued."

The good results of this message were evident from the letter of a
soldier written from the Mills on October 6. He said:

      "Our excellent General Washington ... intends soon to try
      another bout with them. All our men are in good spirits and I
      think grow fonder of fighting the more they have of it."

To the joy of the soldiers the word was given on October 8 to march
toward Philadelphia. In three short stages the army arrived, on
October 21, at Whitpain, where Washington took up his headquarters in
the house of James Morris, Dawesfield. From here messages were sent
that tied his men still closer to him. On October 24 he issued a
proclamation of full pardon to deserters who should return before a
specified date, and next day he congratulated the troops on the
victory at Red Bank.

The chief event of the stay at Dawesfield was the court-martial
convened October 30, to try Brigadier-General Wayne, at his own
request, on the charge that his negligence was responsible for the
defeat at Paoli, September 20. The verdict was that "he did everything
that could be expected from an active, brave, and vigilant officer,
under the orders he then had."

  [Illustration: EMLEN HOUSE, NEAR PHILADELPHIA, PENNA.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 178]

Three days after the trial the army moved to Whitemarsh, near the
junction of the Skippack and Bethlehem roads. There Washington lived
at Emlen House, of which Lossing says, "At the time of the Revolution
it was a sort of baronial hall in size and character, where its
wealthy owner dispensed hospitality to all who came under its roof."

The house was modernized in 1854, but it still retains many of the
original features. Among these is the moat at the side of the house.

Washington followed the example of the owner of the house by welcoming
guests, in spite of the handicaps mentioned in the orderly book on
November 7:

      "Since ... the middle of September last, he [the General] has
      been without his baggage, and on that account is unable to
      receive company in the manner he could wish. He nevertheless
      desires the Generals, Field Officers and Brigadier-Major of
      the day, to dine with him in the future, at three o'clock in
      the afternoon."

It was from Emlen House that Washington gave the first intimation that
he knew of the infamous attempts to discredit and displace him which
later became known as the "Conway Cabal." To General Conway himself he
wrote saying that he had heard of Conway's letter to General Gates in
which he had said, "Heaven has been determined to save your country,
or a weak General and bad counsellors would have ruined it."

A few glimpses of the awful condition of privation that were to
prevail that winter at Valley Forge were given on November 22:

      "The Commander-in-Chief offers a reward of ten dollars to any
      person, who shall, by nine o'clock on Monday morning, produce
      the best substitute for shoes, made of raw hide."

The movement to Valley Forge was begun on December 1. The army went by
way of "Sweeds" Ford (Norristown), where, as the quaint diary of
Albigence Waldo says:

      "A Bridge of Waggons made across the Schuylkill last night
      consisted of 36 waggons, with a bridge of Rails between each.
      Sun Set--We are order'd to march over the River. The Army
      were 'till Sun Rise crossing the River--some at the Waggon
      Bridge, & some at the Raft Bridge below. Cold and
      Uncomfortable."


XL

SWEETBRIER-ON-THE-SCHUYLKILL, PHILADELPHIA

THE HOME OF THE FATHER OF THE FREE SCHOOLS OF PENNSYLVANIA

When Samuel Breck was fifty-eight years and six months old--on January
17, 1830--he wrote:

      "My residence has been ... for more than thirty years ... on
      an estate belonging to me, situated on the right bank of the
      Schuylkill, in the township of Blockley, county of
      Philadelphia, and two miles from the western part of the
      city. The mansion on this estate I built in 1797. It is a
      fine stone house, rough cast, fifty-three feet long,
      thirty-eight broad, and three stories high, having
      out-buildings of every kind suitable for elegance and
      comfort. The prospect consists of the river, animated by its
      great trade, carried on in boats of about thirty tons, drawn
      by horses; of a beautiful sloping lawn, terminating at that
      river, now nearly four hundred yards wide opposite the
      portico; of side-screen woods; of gardens, green-house, etc.
      Sweetbrier is the name of my villa."

Mr. Breck spent his boyhood in Boston, but his parents removed to
Philadelphia in 1792 to escape what they felt was an unjust system of
taxation. During the first years of their residence in the city of
William Penn it had "a large society of elegant and fashionable and
stylish people," Mr. Breck said in his diary. "Congress held its
sessions in Philadelphia until the year 1800, and gave to the city the
style and tone of a capital. All the distinguished emigrants from
France took up their abode there."

Among the associates of the Brecks were some of the leaders of the new
nation. Samuel Breck was frequently at the Robert Morris house, and
later, during the four years' imprisonment of Mr. Morris, he "visited
that great man in the Prune Street debtors' apartment, and saw him in
his ugly whitewashed vault."

The diarist's comment was bitter: "In Rome or Greece a thousand
statesmen would have honored his mighty services. In a monarchy ... he
would have been appropriately pensioned; in America, Republican
America, not a single voice was raised in Congress or elsewhere in aid
of him or his family."

There is not a more striking passage in the diaries than that written
on August 27, 1814, during the second war with England:

      "I was in town to-day ... at half past twelve o'clock I went
      with an immense crowd to the post-office to hear the news
      from the South. The postmaster read it to us from a chamber
      window. It imported that the navy-yard had been burnt (valued
      at from six to eight millions of dollars) including the new
      frigate _Essex_, sloop-of-war _Argus_, some old frigates, a
      vast quantity of timber, from five to eight hundred large
      guns, and many manufactories of cordage, etc., by our people;
      that the President's House, Capitol, and other important
      buildings had been destroyed, and all this by a handful of
      men, say, six thousand!"

The diary told also of some interesting experiences at the mansion on
the Schuylkill. In 1807 "a newly invented iron grate calculated for
coal" was installed at Sweetbrier. After less than three weeks' trial
Mr. Breck wrote, "By my experiment in coal fuel I find that one
fireplace will burn from three to three and a half bushels per week in
hard weather and about two and a half in moderate weather. This
averages three bushels for twenty-five weeks, the period of burning
fire in parlors." The coal cost forty-five cents a bushel, and Mr.
Breck decided that wood was a cheaper fuel.

Even in those early days city families had their troubles with
servants. "This is a crying evil, which most families feel very
sensibly at present," was Mr. Breck's sorrowful statement. Fifteen
years after this entry was written, a bitter complaint was made:

      "In my family, consisting of nine or ten persons, the
      greatest abundance is provided; commonly seventy pounds of
      fresh butcher's meat, poultry and fish a week, and when I
      have company nearly twice as much; the best and kindest
      treatment is given to the servants; they are seldom visited
      by Mrs. Breck, and then always in a spirit of courtesy; their
      wages are the highest going, and uniformly paid to them when
      asked for; yet during the last twelve months we have had
      seven different cooks and five different waiters.... I pay,
      for instance, to my cook one dollar and fifty cents, and
      chambermaid one dollar and twenty-five cents per week; to my
      gardener eleven dollars per month; to the waiter ten dollars;
      to the farm servant ten dollars, etc., etc. Now, if they
      remain steady (with meat three times a day) for three or four
      years, they can lay by enough to purchase two or three
      hundred acres of new land."

On one occasion, learning that the ship _John_ had arrived from
Amsterdam, Mr. Breck visited it in search of men and women. He wrote:

      "I saw the remains of a very fine cargo, consisting of
      healthy, good-looking men, women and children, and I
      purchased one German Swiss for Mrs. Ross and two French Swiss
      for myself.... I gave for the woman seventy-six dollars,
      which is her passage money, with a promise of twenty dollars
      at the end of three years, if she serves me faithfully,
      clothing and maintenance of course. The boy had paid
      twenty-six guilders towards his passage money, which I have
      agreed to give him at the end of three years; in addition to
      which I paid fifty-three dollars and sixty cents for his
      passage, and for two years he is to have six weeks' schooling
      each year."

It was like Mr. Breck to make the provision for schooling. He was an
ardent friend of education in an age when too many were indifferent.
In 1834, when the fortunes of a proposal for free schools in
Pennsylvania were in doubt, he consented to become a member of the
State Senate. There he bent every effort to secure the passage of a
generous provision for common schools. On the first day of the session
he moved successfully for the appointment of a Joint Committee on
Education of the two Houses, "for the purpose of digesting a general
system of education." Of this committee he was made chairman.

After seven weeks of unremitting labor the bill incorporating the
committee's report, a bill drafted by Mr. Breck, was introduced. In
six weeks more it became a law, four votes only having been cast
against it. Wickersham, in his "History of Education in Pennsylvania,"
says that the passage of the bill was "the most important event
connected with education in Pennsylvania--the first great victory for
free schools."

At the close of the session the author of the bill retired to
Sweetbrier, in accordance with his intention to decline any further
public honors. He felt that his work for the State and the Nation was
done.


  [Illustration: FATLANDS, NEAR PHOENIXVILLE, PENNA.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 187]

XLI

MILL GROVE AND FATLANDS, NEAR PHILADELPHIA

THE HOMES OF JOHN J. AUDUBON AND OF HIS BRIDE, MARY BAKEWELL

About two hundred years ago, there lived in France a poor fisherman
named Audubon, who had nineteen daughters and two sons. One of the
sons was sent away to make his fortune when he was twelve years of
age. His entire patrimony was a shirt, a suit of clothes, a cane, and
a blessing. For five years he was a sailor before the mast. Then he
bought a boat. He prospered and bought other vessels. After many years
he had large wealth, and was trading to the distant quarters of the
earth.

When he was an old man he paid a visit to America. In two widely
separated places, attracted by the country, he bought land. One estate
was on Perkiomen Creek, near Philadelphia; the other was in Louisiana.
In Louisiana he spent much of his time; and there, on May 4, 1780,[2]
his son, John James Audubon, was born.

Commodore Audubon wanted his son to be a seaman, and he took him to
France that he might be educated for the navy. But the boy's tastes
were in another direction altogether. One of the teachers provided for
him was an artist, who gave him lessons in drawing that were intended
as a part of his training for the profession the father had chosen for
him. But the boy put it to a use of his own. On his holidays he used
to take a lunch into the country, and would return loaded down with
all kinds of natural history specimens. These he would preserve in a
cabinet of his own devising, and drawings of many of them would be
made and treasured.

Commodore Audubon was not pleased with his son's habits, and he
thought he would give him something to do that would distract his
mind. The estate in Pennsylvania needed a superintendent. So he sent
the would-be naturalist to America, with instructions to look after
the estate.

But the wild woods about Philadelphia offered so many opportunities
for tramping and nature investigation that the estate was neglected.
The house on the estate, Mill Grove, which is still standing, is near
the mouth of the Perkiomen. Along this pleasing stream he could
ramble for hours, with his gun or his fishing rod or his collecting
instruments. Before long the attic room which he occupied was a
treasure house of birds and animals and natural-history specimens. He
was his own taxidermist. He would do his work seated at a window that
looks toward the Valley Forge country, where Washington spent the
winter of 1777-78 with his faithful soldiers. The marks of his work
are still to be seen on the old boards beneath the window. These
boards came from the sawmill on the estate which gave the house its
name.

Here in this attic room the young naturalist dreamed of making
careful, accurate drawings of all the birds of America. He knew that
this would be a difficult matter, but he was not deterred by thought
of hardship and poverty.

While he was dreaming of what he would do for the world, something was
happening in London that was to have an effect on his life. An
official named Bakewell refused to be silent about a matter that the
king felt should be forgotten. Bakewell was a conscientious man, and
he did not feel that silence would be proper. The king rebuked him,
and he resigned his office. At once he made up his mind to leave
England and make a home in America, taking with him his wife and
daughter.

After many investigations, he found an estate near Philadelphia that
pleased him--Fatlands, on the Schuylkill, near the Perkiomen, so named
because every year the latter stream overflows and deposits rich
sediment on the surrounding lands. The mansion house at Fatlands was
built in 1774, and there Washington as well as the British commander
had been entertained by the Quaker owner who felt that he could not
show partiality. Here the English immigrant made his home.

Of course Audubon heard of the coming of the strangers to the house
across the road, not half a mile from his own quarters. But he did not
go to call on them. He was French and they were English; he felt sure
they would be undesirable acquaintances, and that he had better keep
to the woods and follow his own pursuits, without reference to others.

Then came a day when he was having a delightful stroll through the
woods. He was carrying specimens of many kinds. A stranger, also a
hunter, encountered him and made a remark about his burden that
touched a responsive chord. Soon the two were on good terms. "You must
come and see me," the stranger said. The invitation was accepted with
alacrity. Then came the question, "Where do you live?" To his
surprise, Audubon heard that this pleasing man was his new neighbor at
Fatlands.

Deciding that an Englishman was not so bad, after all, he made it
convenient to call very soon. Then when he saw Mary Bakewell, the
daughter of the house, he was sure he liked the English. She showed
great sympathy for his pursuits, and he liked to talk with her about
them. Before long she decided to help him in his great life work, the
American ornithology.

The marriage was postponed because of the death of Mrs. Bakewell, who
pined away, homesick for her native England. But the time came when,
on April 8, 1808, the two nature lovers became husband and wife. Then
they began the long wanderings in the West and the South, the fruit
of which was what has been called one of the most wonderful
ornithological treatises ever made, Audubon's "Birds of America."

Mr. and Mrs. Audubon floated down the Ohio River, spent a season in
Kentucky and Missouri, had narrow escapes from the Indians, and
finally found their way to Louisiana. There for a time the wife
supported herself by teaching at the home of a planter. Friends and
acquaintances thought the husband was a madman to continue his quest
of birds when his family was in straitened circumstances. But Mrs.
Audubon believed in him, urged him to go to Europe and study painting
in oils, that he might be better equipped for the preparation of his
bird plates. She secured a good situation as teacher at Bayou Sara,
and was soon enjoying an income of three thousand dollars a year.

Finally, with some of his own savings, as well as some of his wife's
funds, he went to England, where he was well received. Plans were made
to publish the bird plates, with descriptive matter, at one thousand
dollars per set. He had to have one hundred advance subscribers. These
he secured by personal solicitation.

At last the work was issued. Cuvier called it "the most magnificent
work that art ever raised to ornithology."

Many years later, Audubon, after the death of his wife, returned to
the scenes of his early life as a naturalist. "Here is where I met my
dear Mary," he said, with glistening eyes, as he looked into one of
the rooms of the old mansion.

Mill Grove was built in 1762. Five years after Audubon's marriage the
estate was bought by Samuel Wetherill, the grandfather of the present
owner, W. H. Wetherill.

Fatlands, which is one of the most beautiful old houses in the
vicinity of Philadelphia, was built in 1774. During the Revolution it
was occupied by a Quaker named Vaux, who entertained many officers of
both armies. It is related that one day General Howe, the British
commander, was entertained at breakfast, while Washington was in the
house for tea the same evening.

The house was rebuilt in 1843, on the old foundations, according to
the original plan.


  [Illustration: WAYNESBOROUGH, NEAR PAOLI, PENNA.
   _Photo by H. C. Howland_
   See page 192]

XLII

WAYNESBOROUGH, NEAR PAOLI, PENNSYLVANIA

THE HOME OF "MAD ANTHONY" WAYNE

Captain Isaac Wayne, who commanded a company at the Battle of the
Boyne, came from Ireland to Pennsylvania in 1722. Two years later he
bought sixteen acres of land in Chester County and built
Waynesborough.

His son Isaac, who was a captain in the French and Indian War,
enlarged the mansion in 1765. While a wing was added in 1812, it
presents much the same appearance to-day as it did at the time Anthony
Wayne left it to go to war with General Washington, even to the
crooked hood above the entrance door. The present owner, William
Wayne, is as unwilling as were his ancestors to have this hood
straightened.

On the front of the house is a tablet which reads:

           The Home of General Anthony Wayne,
          Born in this House, January 1, 1745.
     Died at Erie, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1796.
         A Leader of the American Revolution in
        Pennsylvania and a soldier distinguished
                        for his
           Services at Brandywine, Germantown,
                      Valley Forge,
          Monmouth, Stony Point, and Yorktown.
           Subdued the Indians of Ohio, 1794.
               Commander-in-Chief of the
             United States Army 1792-1796.
        Marked by the Chester County Historical
                        Society.

To this record the statement might have been added that General
Lafayette visited the home of his old commander when he was in the
United States in 1824. Reverently the General bowed his head in
Wayne's favorite sitting-room, to the right of the entrance hall,
where nothing had been disturbed since the death of the patriot. The
furnishings and ornaments of the room are the same to-day as then.

Anthony Wayne was a delegate to several of the conventions which took
the preliminary steps leading to the Revolutionary War. In 1775 he was
a member of the Committee of Safety, and in the same year he organized
a regiment of "minute men" in Chester County.

His first active service was as colonel with troops sent to Canada in
January, 1776, and from November, 1776, to April, 1777, as commander
of twenty-five hundred men at Ticonderoga. "It was my business to
prevent a junction of the enemy's armies and ... to keep at bay their
whole Canadian force," he wrote in a private letter.

Here, in the midst of difficulties with soldiers who wanted to desert,
he heard that the British were threatening Waynesborough. But, like a
true soldier, he stuck to his work, and urged his wife to be brave.
"Should you be necessitated to leave East-town, I doubt not but you'll
meet with hospitality in the back parts of the Province," he wrote to
her.

His fidelity and resourcefulness were recognized in February, 1777, by
a commission as brigadier general. Washington, who was then in New
Jersey, wrote to him a little later, saying that his presence with him
was "materially needed," to guard the country between West Point and
Philadelphia. And when the British fleet sailed out of New York
Harbor, Washington sent him to Chester, to organize the militia of
Pennsylvania. A few weeks later he was in charge of a division at
Brandywine. Historians say that his steadfastness on the left
prevented the advance of Knyphausen, and saved the right from entire
destruction.

Less than a week later, within a mile of his own house, he was
surprised by the enemy near Paoli, in consequence, it is said, of the
act of an inn-keeper who betrayed Wayne's presence to the British. The
result was the only defeat of his brilliant career. Eighty of his men
were killed. The engagement has been called "the Paoli Massacre,"
because of the conduct of the victors. Wayne escaped. A squad of
soldiers searched for him at Waynesborough. When they could not find
him in the house, they thrust their bayonets into the great boxwood
bush that is still to be seen in the rear of the mansion.

Because some said that the General was responsible for the defeat, he
demanded a court-martial. The court-martial was held soon after, and
he was acquitted with the highest honor, and was declared to be "an
active, brave, and vigilant officer."

Washington's letters and orderly book are full of references to Wayne.
He was a trusted commander, and his advice was followed many times. He
it was who first proposed that the army should "hut" during the winter
of 1776-77, some twenty miles from Philadelphia. He was always eager
to do his Commander's bidding. On one occasion, when he was in
Philadelphia, on his way to greet his family, he was met by a fast
rider who handed him a despatch in which Washington said, "I request
that you join the army as soon as you can."

During his long absence from Waynesborough his wife Polly and his
children were continually in his thoughts. Once he wrote:

      "I am not a little anxious about the education of our girl
      and boy. It is full time that Peggy should be put to dancing
      school. How does she improve in her writing and reading? Does
      Isaac take learning freely? Has he become fond of school?"

Just before the storming of Stony Point, he prepared for death,
sending to a friend a letter which was not to be opened until the
author was dead. The letter said:

      "I know that your friendship will induce you to attend to the
      education of my little son and daughter. I fear that their
      mother will not survive this stroke. Do go to her."

On the way up the mount he was grievously wounded and fell senseless.
Soon he roused himself and cried, "Lead me forward.... Let me die in
the fort." Several hours later he was able to send word to Washington,
"The fort and garrison are ours."

In this spirit he served through the war. And when the action was won
he continued to fight for his country. On February 6, 1796, Claypool's
_Daily American Advertiser_ told of his return from his successful
campaign against the Indians of Ohio:

      "Four miles from the city, he was met by the entire Troop of
      Philadelphia Light Horse, and escorted by them to town. On
      his crossing the Schuylkill, a salute of fifteen guns was
      fired from the Centre-square, by a party of Artillery. He was
      ushered into the city by the ringing of bells and other
      demonstrations of joy."


  [Illustration: MORAVIAN CHURCH, BETHLEHEM, PENNA.
   _Photo by Rev. A. D. Therelar, Bethlehem_
   See page 196]

XLIII

THE MORAVIAN CHURCH, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA

A RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY WHOSE FOUNDERS WERE TRUE PATRIOTS

The Unitas Fratrum or Church of the Brethren arose in the fifteenth
century in Bohemia and Moravia. In 1727 intolerance led its leaders to
begin to plan an emigration to America. A colony was sent to
Pennsylvania in 1734, while a second colony went to Georgia in 1735.
Late in the year 1740 the remnant of the emigrants to Georgia joined
forces with the Pennsylvania contingent, and settled on five thousand
acres of land in the "Forks of the Delaware," as the locality just
within the confluence of the Delaware River and the Lehigh or "West
Fork of the Delaware" was called. The object of the settlers was to
preach to the Indians, and they began at once to win the confidence of
the Delawares.

The first house was built in 1741. This was twenty by forty feet, one
story high, with sleeping quarters for a number of persons in the
attic under the steep pitched roof. The cattle were kept in a portion
of the house partitioned off for them. The common room in which they
lived was also the place of worship for more than a year. The site of
this house is marked by a memorial stone, which was put in place in
1892.

The foundation for the Gemeinhaus, or Community House, was laid in
September. For many years this was to serve as home and hospice, manse
and church, administration office, academy, dispensary, and town-hall.
As "The House on the Lehigh," it became known through all the
countryside.

The event of the year 1741 was the coming of Count Zinzendorf. The
Community House was not yet finished, but two rooms in the second
story were hurriedly prepared for the guest.

No name had yet been given to the settlement, but on Christmas Eve,
after Zinzendorf had celebrated the Holy Communion in the building,
the only fitting name suggested itself. Bishop Levering of the
Moravian Church tells the story:

      "This humble sanctuary, with beasts of the stall sharing its
      roof, brought the circumstances of the Saviour's birth
      vividly before their imagination.... Acting upon an impulse,
      the Count rose and led the way into the part of the building
      in which the cattle were kept, while he began to sing the
      quaintly pretty words of a German Epiphany hymn which
      combined Christmas thoughts and missionary thoughts.... Its
      language expressed well the feeling of the hour.... The
      little town of Bethlehem was hailed, its boon to mankind was
      lauded.... With this episode a thought came to one and
      another which gave rise to a perpetual memorial of the
      occasion.... By general consent the name of the ancient town
      of David was adopted and the place was called Bethlehem."

The chapel of the Gemeinhaus was used by the congregation for nine
years. During this period many of the Indians were baptised there. In
1752 and again in 1753 councils were held here with the
representatives of the Nanticoke and Shawnee Indians from the Wyoming
Valley.

The second place of worship was an extension of the Gemeinhaus,
completed in 1751. Here congregations gathered for fifty-five years.
Here the gospel was preached by some of the most eminent ministers of
colonial days, while the records show that famous visitors sat in the
pews. Among them were Governor John Penn; Generals Washington,
Amherst, Gage, Gates, and Lafayette; John Hancock, Henry Laurence,
Samuel and John Adams, Richard Henry Lee, and many other delegates to
the Continental Congress.

During the Revolution there were no more earnest patriots than the
members of the Moravian Community at Bethlehem. At one time the Single
Brethren's House was used for eight months as a hospital, and no
charge was made, though in 1779 a bill for repairs was sent which
amounted to $358.

A letter from David Rittenhouse, received on September 16, 1778,
caused great excitement, for he told of the despatch to Bethlehem of
all the military stores of Washington's army, carried in seven hundred
wagons. This was done because Washington's army had been compelled to
fall back on Philadelphia. It was also thought wise to send the bells
of Christ Church and of Independence Hall to Allentown, by way of
Bethlehem. The wagon on which Independence Bell was loaded broke down
on descending the hill in front of the hospital, and had to be
unloaded while repairs were being made.

The most distinguished patient cared for in Bethlehem was the Marquis
de Lafayette, who was brought from Brandywine, and was nursed by
Sister Liesel Beckel.

Twenty years after the close of the war it was decided that the time
had come for the building of a permanent church. The first estimate
was made in 1802. At that time it was thought that the total cost
would be $11,000. "It is interesting to note how very modern they were
in underestimating the probable cost of a church," Bishop Levering
says. The actual cost, including the organ, was more than five times
the estimate.

The excavation for the building was made in March, 1803, by volunteer
laborers, to whom the residents of the Sisters' House furnished lunch.
The work was completed in two weeks. Then the great foundation walls
were laid, six feet thick.

For the services of consecration, held from May 18 to May 26, 1806,
six thousand people gathered in the village of five hundred
inhabitants. On the first day, "at five o'clock in the morning the
jubilant note of trombones, trumpets, and other wind instruments from
the belfry of the church broke the stillness of the awaking village
with a musical announcement of the festival day."

The Moravian Community at Bethlehem has grown. But those who worship
in the old church are animated by the same missionary enthusiasm that
characterized those who founded the institution so long ago.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] A building to the east of Independence Hall was completed in 1791.
In this building, which was the Philadelphia City Hall until 1854, the
Supreme Court of the United States held its first session, February 7,
1791.

In 1813 the arcades connecting the main building with the wings were
removed, and new buildings were erected which connected Independence
Hall with the corner buildings.

In 1816 the city of Philadelphia became the owner of the whole
property.

[2] This date and place were generally accepted until 1917, when
Francis Hobart Herrick published proof that Audubon was born in Santo
Domingo in 1785.




FIVE: OVER THE MASON AND DIXON LINE

     _Afar, through the mellow hazes
     Where the dreams of June are stayed,
     The hills, in their vanishing mazes,
     Carry the flush, and fade!
     Southward they fall, and reach
     To the bay and the ocean beach,
     Where the soft, half-Syrian air
     Blows from the Chesapeake's
     Inlets, coves, and creeks
     On the fields of Delaware!
     And the rosy lakes of flowers,
     That here alone are ours,
     Spread into seas that pour
     Billow and spray of pink,
     Even to the blue wave's brink,
     All down the Eastern Shore!_

       BAYARD TAYLOR.




FIVE: OVER THE MASON AND DIXON LINE


XLIV

HISTORIC LANDMARKS AT NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE

THE FIRST LANDING PLACE OF WILLIAM PENN

How many students of United States history would be able to answer the
question, "What town has had at least seven different names and has
been under the flags of four different countries?"

There is such a town, and but one--New Castle, Delaware. The Swedes
laid it out in 1631, and called it New Stockholm. In 1651 the Dutch
built a fort there, and called it Fort Kasimir. Sandhoec was a second
Dutch name. When the Dutch West India Company ceded it to the city of
Amsterdam it was named New Amstel. After 1675 the English took a hand
in naming the village. Grape Wine Point, Delaware Town, and, at
length, New Castle were the last names assigned to the seaport that,
within a generation, boasted twenty-five hundred inhabitants.

The site of Fort Kasimir was long ago covered by the Delaware. A
quaint house, still occupied, is the only survival from the Dutch
period. But it would be difficult to find a town of four thousand
inhabitants which is so rich in buildings and traditions that go back
to the earliest English occupation.

Many of the buildings and traditions centre about the old Market
Square, in the centre of the town, only a few hundred feet from the
Delaware. This square dates from the days of Petrus Stuyvesant, in
1658. At one end of the square is the old stone-paved courthouse,
which has been in use since 1672. To this building William Penn was
welcomed, as a tablet on the outer wall relates:

      "On the 28th Day of October, 1682, William Penn, the Great
      Proprietor, on His First Landing in America, Here Proclaimed
      His Government and Received from the Commissioner of the Duke
      of York the Key of the Fort, the Turf, Twig, and Water, as
      Symbols of His Possession."

From the steps of the courthouse, as a centre, was surveyed the
twelve-mile circle whose arc was to be the northern line of Delaware,
according to the royal grant made to Penn. This arc forms the curious
circular boundary, unlike any other boundary in the United States.

  [Illustration: IMMANUEL CHURCH, NEWCASTLE, DEL.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 204]

In the rear of the courthouse, though still on the green Market
Square, is old Emmanuel Protestant Episcopal Church, which was
organized in 1689, though the building now occupied was begun in 1703.
This cruciform structure is the oldest church of English building on
the Delaware, and services have been held here continuously since
1706, when it was completed. Queen Anne gave to the church a "Pulpit
and Altar Cloath, with a Box of Glass." A memorial tablet on the wall
tells of the first rector, Rev. George Ross, who came as a missionary
from England in 1703, and served for fifty years. His son, also George
Ross, was one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.
His daughter Gertrude married George Read, another of the Signers. The
tomb of George Read is in the rear of the church.

  [Illustration: DOORWAY OF PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW CASTLE, DEL.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 205]

Across the street from the Market Square is the Presbyterian church,
whose first building, erected in 1707, is still in use as a part of
its ecclesiastical plant. The pastor and many of the members of this
church had a prominent part in the War of the Revolution.

The visitor who crosses from one of these churches to the other is
attracted by a stone pyramid, on the edge of the Market Square, whose
story is told by a tablet:

      "These stones were sleepers in the New Castle and Frenchtown
      Railroad, completed in 1831, the first railroad in Delaware,
      and one of the first in the United States."

  [Illustration: DOORWAY OF RODNEY HOUSE, NEW CASTLE, DEL.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_]

  [Illustration: DOORWAY OF STEWART HOUSE, NEW CASTLE, DEL.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_]

The fire of 1824 which burned a large part of New Castle destroyed
many of the old houses, but there remain enough to make the town a
Mecca for those who delight in studying things that are old. Most of
these houses are on the square, or are within a short distance of it.
All are remarkable for the beautiful entrance doorways and wonderfully
carved interior woodwork. Artists from all parts of the country turn
to these houses for inspiration in their work.

  [Illustration: AMSTEL HOUSE, NEWCASTLE, DEL.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 205]

The Amstel House, the home of Henry Hanby Hay, is the oldest of these;
it was probably built about 1730. One of its earliest owners was
Nicholas Van Dyke, who was a major of militia during the Revolution,
and later served six years in the Continental Congress. For three
years he was Governor of Delaware. During his residence in this house
it was called "The Corner." So, at least, it was referred to by
Kensey Johns in a love-letter to comely Anne Van Dyke, written during
the cold winter of 1784:

      "This evening I visited 'the Corner.' Soon after I went in
      Mrs. V. says, 'Well, Mr. Johns, what say you to a ride below
      with me, and bringing Miss Nancy up?' After an hour passed, I
      recovered myself and answered in the negative, that my
      business would not permit of it--Your papa discovered by his
      countenance the lightest satisfaction at my refusal; this
      approbation of his afforded me great pleasure. The more I
      regard your happiness, the more desirous I am by assiduity
      and attention to business to establish a character which will
      give me consequence and importance in life. I wish to see you
      more than words express.

      "Mrs. B. says she wants you to come up very much; she asked
      me to use my influence to persuade you. All I can say is,
      that if your Grand Mama's indisposition will admit of it, and
      your inclination prompts you to come, it will much contribute
      to my happiness, even if I should only see you now and then
      for a few moments. My fingers are so cold I can scarce hold
      my pen, therefore adieu. Be assured that I never cease to be,

       "Yours most affectionately,

         "KENSEY JOHNS."

  [Illustration: DOORWAY OF AMSTEL HOUSE, NEWCASTLE, DEL.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 205]

On a pane of glass in the guest chamber of the old house some one long
ago scratched with a diamond a message that sounds as if it came from
the heart of the lover:

     "Around her head ye angels constant Vigil keep,
     And guard fair innocence her balmy sleep."

Three months after Kensey Johns wrote the ardent letter to Anne Van
Dyke, the day after the wedding, April 30, 1784, George Washington
came to the Corner, and there was a reception in his honor and that
of the bride and groom. The Father of his Country received the guests
standing before an old fireplace whose hearthstone has been lettered
in memory of the event.

A few years later Kensey Johns, then Chief Justice of Maryland, built
near by a beautiful colonial mansion where he entertained many of the
leading men of the nation.

Kensey Johns' predecessor as Chief Justice was George Read, the
Signer. His house, an old record says, stood so near the Delaware,
which is here two and a half miles wide, that when the tide was high
one wheel of a carriage passing in the street in front of it was in
the water, and in violent storms the waves were dashed against the
building. The house was in the midst of a wonderfully beautiful
garden. This garden is still one of the sights of the town, though the
house was destroyed in the fire of 1824.

  [Illustration: DOORWAY OF READ HOUSE, NEW CASTLE, DEL.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 207]

George Read, the Signer's son, in 1801, built a house in the corner of
the garden, which was saved from the fire by a carpet laid on the roof
and kept thoroughly wet until the danger was past. This Georgian house
is a marvel of beauty, both inside and out. The hand-carved moldings,
mantels, and arches bring to the house visitors from far and near.
Miss Hatty Smith, the present owner, delights to show the place to all
who are interested.

  [Illustration: HALL OF READ HOUSE, NEWCASTLE, DEL.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 207]

In the early days New Castle was on the King's Road from Philadelphia
to Baltimore. Washington passed this way when on his journeys.
Lafayette visited the town in 1824. The house built by Nicholas Van
Dyke, son of the owner of the Corner, received him for the marriage
of Charles I. Du Pont and Dorcas M. Van Dyke. It is recorded that on
this occasion he gave the bride away.

Caesar Rodney, too, passed through the town frequently, notably when he
made the famous ride in July, 1776, that helped to save the
Declaration of Independence; here he rested after the first stage of
his historic journey.

The name of George Thomson, secretary of Congress during the
Revolution, is also enrolled in the list of the worthies who visited
the town. In 1740 his father, when on his way from Ireland to America
with his three sons, died on shipboard. The captain appropriated the
meagre possessions of the family and set the boys ashore at New
Castle, penniless. George was sheltered by a butcher who was so
delighted with him that he decided to bring him up to the trade.
George was terrified when he overheard the man's plan; he did not
intend to be a butcher. So he stole out of the town between dark and
daylight and made his way to surroundings where the way was opened
that led him to usefulness and fame.


  [Illustration: RIDGELY HOUSE, DOVER, DEL.
   _Photo by R. C. Holmes_
   See page 208]

XLV

THE RIDGELY HOUSE, DOVER, DELAWARE

A BOYHOOD HAUNT OF CAESAR RODNEY, THE SIGNER

On the Green in Dover, Delaware, is one of the most striking houses of
the quaint old town--the Ridgely house. The date of its erection is
not certain, but it is an interesting fact that on one of the bricks
is the date 1728. Originally there were but two rooms in the house;
subsequent enlargements have been so harmonious that one who sees the
place from the Green must pause to admire. Admiration turns to delight
when the interior of the house is examined. The old-fashioned garden
at the rear intensifies delight.

Dr. Charles Greenburg Ridgely became owner of the property in 1769.
The house was a gift from his father, Nicholas Ridgely. The second of
the wives who lived here with Dr. Ridgely was Ann, the daughter of
Squire William Moore of Moore Hall, near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania,
whose determined advocacy of armed preparation for defence against a
threatened Indian attack once aroused the indignation of the
Pennsylvania Assembly, most of whose members were Friends.

The Ridgely house was famous throughout Delaware as the resort of
patriots. Dr. Ridgely was six times a member of the Provincial
Assembly, and was also an active member of the Constitutional
Convention of Delaware in 1776.

During the days when patriotic feelings were beginning to run high,
Caesar Rodney, the ward of Dr. Ridgely's father, was often an inmate of
the Ridgely house. Caesar was born near Dover in 1728. At Dover he
received most of his education. Some twenty years after the little
town saw so much of him he became famous because of his vital service
to the Colonies, as a member of the Continental Congress in
Philadelphia. "He was the most active, and was by odds the leading man
in the State in espousing the American cause," Henry C. Conrad once
said to the Sons of Delaware. In the course of his address Mr. Conrad
told the thrilling story of Caesar Rodney's most spectacular service.

On July 1, 1776, when the vote was taken in the Committee of the Whole
of the Continental Congress as to the framing and proclaiming of the
Declaration of Independence, ten of the thirteen Colonies voted yes.
"Pennsylvania had seven delegates, four of whom were opposed to it,
and three in favor of it. Delaware had two members present, McKean and
Read. Rodney was absent. McKean was in favor of, and Read against the
Declaration. McKean, appreciating that it was most important, for the
sentiment it would create, that the Declaration of Independence should
be proclaimed by the unanimous vote of the thirteen Colonies, sent for
Rodney, who was at that time at one of his farms near Dover. Rodney
came post-haste, and he arrived just in time to save the day, and cast
the vote of Delaware in favor of the Declaration.

McKean, writing of the event years afterward to Caesar A. Rodney, a
nephew of Caesar Rodney, said:

      "I sent an express, at my own private expense, for your
      honored uncle, the remaining member from Delaware, whom I met
      at the State House door, in his boots and spurs, as the
      members were assembling. After a friendly salutation, without
      a word in the business, we went into the hall of Congress
      together, and found we were among the latest. Proceedings
      immediately commenced, and after a few minutes the great
      question was put. When the vote of Delaware was called, your
      uncle arose and said: 'As I believe the voice of my
      constituents and of all sensible and honest men is in favor
      of independence, and my own judgment coincides with theirs, I
      vote for independence.'"

Since Pennsylvania also voted in favor of the Declaration, it was
adopted unanimously.

Caesar Rodney was Governor of Delaware from 1778 to 1781. On April 8,
1784, the State Council, of which he was presiding officer, met at his
house near Dover, because he was too ill to go to Dover. Less than
three months later he died.

A monument marks his last resting-place in Christ Episcopal churchyard
in Dover.


XLVI

REHOBOTH CHURCH ON THE POCOMOKE, MARYLAND

THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA

The Pocomoke River rises in southern Delaware, forms a part of the
eastern boundary of Somerset County, Maryland, and empties into
Pocomoke Sound, an inlet of Chesapeake Bay. On the banks of this
stream, not far from the mouth, Colonel William Stevens, a native of
Buckinghamshire, England, located in 1665, taking out a patent on what
he called the Rehoboth plantation, the name being chosen from Genesis
26:22. "And he called the name of it Rehoboth. And he said, For now
the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in this
land." When Somerset County was organized he was made Judge of the
County Court. He also became a member of "His Lordship's Councill,"
and was one of the Deputy Lieutenants of the Province.

As the years passed many followed Colonel Stevens to Somerset County,
in search of religious freedom. Scotch, Scotch-Irish, French, and
Quakers were represented in the village that was known at first as
Pocomoke Town, though later it was called Rehoboth. Many of these
settlers were Presbyterians, who had lost their property through
persecution.

In 1672 the Grand Jury, encouraged by Judge Stevens, asked Rev. Robert
Maddux to preach at four points in the county. One of these points was
the plantation house at Rehoboth. The next year George Fox, the
Quaker, was in the community. He also preached in his famous "leather
breeches" at Colonel Stevens' plantation, to a great congregation of
several thousand whites and Indians. A Quaker monthly meeting
followed.

The number of Presbyterians increased to such an extent that in 1680
Colonel Stevens asked the Presbytery of Laggan in Ireland for a godly
minister to gather the band of exiles into a church. Francis Makemie
was sent as a result. Soon Rehoboth Church was organized by him, as
well as a number of other churches in the neighborhood. The exact date
of the beginning of Rehoboth Church is uncertain, but it is probable
that the first building was erected about 1683.

For some years Makemie travelled from place to place, preaching and
organizing churches as he went, but from 1699 to 1708, except in 1704
and 1705, when he visited Europe, he lived in the neighborhood and
preached at Rehoboth whenever he was at home.

When it became necessary to erect a new church building, he decided to
have this on his own land, because of Maryland's intolerant laws. This
building, which is still in use, dates from 1706, the year when its
builder assisted in organizing the first Presbytery of the
Presbyterian Church at Philadelphia.

Makemie's name will ever be connected with the struggle for religious
liberty. He had a certificate from the court that permitted him to
preach in the Province of Maryland, but he had many trying experiences
in spite of this fact. His congregation groaned under the necessity of
paying taxes to support the rectors of three neighboring parishes.

The greatest trial was not in Maryland, but in New York, where he
spent a portion of 1706 and 1707. His experiences there should be
familiar to all who are interested in the struggle for religious
liberty in America.

The story is told in a curious document written by Makemie himself,
which was printed in New York in 1707, under the title "A Particular
Narrative of the Imprisonment of two Non-Conformist Ministers; and
Prosecution & Tryal of one of them, for Preaching one Sermon in the
city of New-York. By a Learner of Law and Lover of Liberty."

The warrant for the arrest of the "criminal" was addressed to Thomas
Cordale, Esqr., High-Sheriff of Queens County on Long-Island, or his
Deputy, and was signed by Lord Cornbury. It read:

      "Whereas I am informed, that one Mackennan, and one Hampton,
      two Presbyterian Preachers, who lately came to this City,
      have taken upon them to Preach in a Private House, without
      having obtained My Licence for so doing, which is directly
      contrary to the known Laws of England, and being likewise
      informed, that they are gone into Long-Island, with intent
      there to spread their Pernicious Doctrines and Principles, to
      the great disturbance of the Order by Law established by the
      Government of this province. You are therefore hereby
      Required and Commanded, to take into your Custody the Bodies
      of the said Mackennan and Hampton, and then to bring them
      with all convenient speed before me, at Fort-Anne, in
      New-York."

When brought before Lord Cornbury, Makemie said: "We have Liberty from
an Act of Parliament, made the first year of the Reign of King William
and Queen Mary, which gave us Liberty, with which Law we have
complied."

But Lord Cornbury replied: "No one shall Preach in my Government
without my Licence.... That Law does not extend to the American
Plantations, but only to England.... I know, for I was at Making
thereof.... That Act of Parliament was made against Strowling
Preachers, and you are such, and shall not Preach in my Government."

Makemie again challenged Lord Cornbury to show "any Pernicious
Doctrine in the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church." Later
he refused to give "Bail and Security to Preach no more."

"Then you must go to Gaol," his Lordship said.

On January 23 another warrant was given to the High Sheriff of New
York. He was told "to safely keep till further orders" the prisoners
committed to him.

From the prison Makemie sent a petition asking to know the charge, and
demanding a speedy trial. Later the prisoner was released on habeas
corpus proceedings.

At the trial, where Makemie conducted his own defence, he read Chapter
23 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, as a complete reply to the
charge that he believed what incited the people to disregard the
authority of the king.

The jury brought in a verdict of "not guilty," but Makemie was obliged
to pay the costs, including the fees of the Court Prosecutor, which
amounted to twelve pounds. The total cost of the trial, including the
expense of a trip from his home in Maryland, made necessary by a
recess in the trial, was more than eighty pounds.

A few months later Makemie died. It was felt by those who knew him
that the trying experiences at New York hastened his end.

He had not lived in vain. His struggles for religious liberty were to
bear rich fruit before many years.

Henry van Dyke wrote a sonnet to the memory of Francis Makemie, which
was read on May 14, 1908, when the monument to the memory of the
pioneer was unveiled:

     "To thee, plain hero of a rugged race,
       We bring a meed of praise too long delayed!
       Thy fearless word and faithful work have made
     Of God's Republic a firmer resting-place
     In this New World: for thou hast preached the grace
       And power of Christ in many a forest glade,
       Teaching the truth that leaves men unafraid
     Of frowning tyranny or death's dark face.

     "Oh, who can tell how much we owe to thee,
       Makemie, and to labor such as thine,
       For all that makes America the shrine
     Of faith untrammelled and of conscience free?
     Stand here, grey stone, and consecrate the sod
     Where rests this brave Scotch-Irish man of God."


  [Illustration: DOUGHOREGAN MANOR, NEAR ELLICOTT CITY, MD.
   _Photo by James F. Hughes Company, Baltimore_
   See page 216]

XLVII

DOUGHOREGAN MANOR, NEAR ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND

WHOSE OWNER WAS THE LAST SURVIVING SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE

It is true that when Charles Carroll was about to sign his name to the
Declaration of Independence he added the words, "of Carrollton," but
the story that he added the words there that he might be distinguished
from a second Charles Carroll is an error; he had been writing his
name thus since 1765. It would have been just as true a description if
he had used the name of another of the numerous Carroll estates,
Doughoregan Manor, but the designation he chose was simpler. At any
rate he could not spell it in so many ways as the name of the family
estate where he lived and died. Letters written by him at different
periods show such diverse spellings as "Doeheragen," "Doohoragen,"
"Dooheragon," and "Dougheragen," before he settled down to
"Doughoregan."

Doughoregan Manor, which was named for one of the O'Carroll estates in
Ireland, is one of the most ancient family seats in Maryland. In 1688
Charles Carroll, I, came over from England. He became a large landed
proprietor, in part as a result of his appeal to the king of England
for a part in the estate of the O'Carrolls of King's County, Ireland.
The king satisfied the claim by offering him 60,000 acres of land in
the Colonies. His heir was Charles Carroll, II, who was born in 1702.
Fifteen years later Doughoregan Manor was built, and twenty-seven
years later Charles Carroll, II, and his brother Daniel sold sixty
acres of land which became the site of old Baltimore.

Charles Carroll, II, divided his time between Doughoregan Manor and
the Carroll Mansion in Annapolis, his town house. Here was born, in
1737, Charles Carroll, III, the Signer. Most of the education of this
heir to the vast estate of Charles Carroll, II, was secured in France.
He was in Paris when his father wrote to him, in 1764, telling him of
the large property that was to come to him. After speaking of this in
detail, he concluded:

      "On my death I am willing to add my Manor of Doughoregan,
      10,000 acres, and also 1,425 Acres called Chance adjacent
      thereto, on the bulk of which my negroes are settled. As you
      are my only child, you will, of course, have all the residue
      of my estate at my death."

When the estate of his father finally came into his hands, Charles
Carroll, III, was the richest man in Maryland. That he knew how to
handle such a large property he showed by a letter which he wrote to
his son, Charles Carroll, IV, on July 10, 1801:

      "He who postpones till to-morrow what can and ought to be
      done to-day, will never thrive in this world. It was not by
      procrastination this estate was acquired, but by activity,
      thought, perseverance, and economy, and by the same means it
      must be preserved and prevented from melting away."

But while the owner of Doughoregan Manor was careful, he was not
penurious. He kept open house to his numerous friends, of whom George
Washington was one. In one of the rooms of the Manor Washington sat
to Gilbert Stuart for his portrait.

Both Mr. Carroll's property and his services were at his country's
call. From the days of the Stamp Act to the close of the Revolution
there was no more ardent patriot than he. He served as a member of the
Continental Congress, was for three months with Washington at Valley
Forge, by appointment of Congress, was later United States Senator,
and was a leader in business as well as in political affairs. With
Washington he was a member from the beginning of the Potomac Canal
Company, which later was merged into the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Company.

After the Revolution he spent most of his time at Doughoregan Manor,
where he completed the remarkable three-hundred-foot facade by the
addition of the chapel which has been used by the family for more than
a century.

One by one the sons and daughters went out from the house, carrying
the Carroll name or the Carroll training into many sections of
Maryland and Virginia. Perhaps the most interesting marriage was that
of Charles Carroll, IV, who was mentioned by Washington in his diary
for 1798:

      "March 27--Mr. Charles Carroll, Jr. ... came to dinner.

      "March 28--Mr. Carroll went away after breakfast."

William Spohn Baker, in "Washington after the Revolution," after
quoting these extracts from the diary, says:

      "The visit of young Mr. Carroll having given rise at
      Annapolis to a rumor that it was made with the intention
      of paying his addresses to Nelly Custis, her brother wrote
      to the General in allusion to it, saying, 'I think it a most
      desirable match, and wish that it may take place with all my
      heart.' In reply, under date of April 15, Washington wrote,
      'Young Mr. Carroll came here about a fortnight ago to dinner,
      and left on next morning after breakfast. If his object was
      such as you say has been reported, it was not declared here;
      and therefore, the less is said upon the subject,
      particularly by your sister's friends, the more prudent it
      will be, until the subject develops itself more.'

      "But youthful alliances are not always made at the nod of
      Dame Rumor, nor are they always controlled by the wishes of
      relatives. Nelly Custis married, February 22, 1799, at Mount
      Vernon, Laurence Lewis, a nephew of Washington; and Charles
      Carroll, Junior, found, in the following year, a bride at
      Philadelphia, Harriet, a daughter of Benjamin Chew" [of
      Cliveden].

A delightful picture of life at the Manor was given by Adam Hodgson,
an English visitor, who wrote from Baltimore on July 13, 1820:

      "I have lately been paying some very agreeable visits at the
      country seats of some of my acquaintances in the
      neighborhood.... The other morning I set out, at four
      o'clock, with General H, on a visit to a most agreeable
      family, who reside at a large Manor, about seventeen miles
      distant. We arrived about seven o'clock, and the family soon
      afterward assembled to breakfast. It consisted of several
      friends from France, Canada, and Washington, and the children
      and grandchildren of my host, a venerable patriarch, nearly
      eighty-five (83) years of age, and one of the four survivors
      of those who signed the Declaration of Independence.... After
      breakfasting the following morning, the ladies played for us
      on the harp; and in the evening, I set out on horseback, to
      return hither, not without a feeling of regret, that I had
      probably taken a final leave of my hospitable friend, who,
      although still an expert horseman, seldom goes beyond the
      limits of his manor...."

The other three surviving Signers died first, so that when Charles
Carroll of Carrollton followed on November 14, 1832, the last Signer
was gone. Among his last words were these:

      "I have lived to my ninety-sixth year; I have enjoyed
      continued health, I have been blessed with great wealth,
      prosperity, and most of the good things which this world can
      bestow--public approbation, esteem, applause; but what I now
      look back on with the greatest satisfaction to myself is,
      that I have practiced the duties of my religion."

He was buried under the pavement of the chapel at the Manor.

The present occupants of Doughoregan are Mr. and Mrs. Charles Carroll,
who followed Governor John Lee Carroll, after his death in 1911.


  [Illustration: UPTON SCOTT HOUSE, ANNAPOLIS, MD.
   _Photo by M. M. Carter, Annapolis_
   See page 220]

XLVIII

THE UPTON SCOTT HOUSE, ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND

WHERE, AS A BOY, THE AUTHOR OF "THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER" WAS A
FREQUENT VISITOR

When Colonel James Wolfe was campaigning in Scotland in 1748 to 1753,
one of the surgeons in his command was Upton Scott, a young Irishman
from County Antrim. At that time began a friendship between the two
men that continued through life.

Another friend made at this time by the young surgeon was Horatio
Sharpe. In 1753, when Sharpe planned to go to America, Dr. Scott
decided to go with him, though it was not easy to think of resigning
his commission, for this would mean the severance of pleasant
relations with his colonel. When Wolfe said good-bye to his comrade he
gave him a pair of pistols as a remembrance. These are still treasured
by descendants of the surgeon.

From 1754 to 1769 Horatio Sharpe was Proprietary Governor of Maryland,
and Dr. Scott was his companion and physician. The young surgeon was
popular among the young people whom he met at Annapolis, the colonial
capital.

In 1760, when he persuaded Elizabeth Ross, the daughter of John Ross,
the Register of the Land Office of Maryland, to become his bride, he
built for her the stately house in Annapolis, Maryland, which is now
occupied by the Sisters of Notre Dame. The new house, with its
charming doorway and wonderful hall carvings, was well worth the
attention even of one who had spent her girlhood at Belvoir, a quaint
mansion of great beauty, six miles from Annapolis.

Governor Sharpe was a welcome visitor at the Scott house until the
time of his death in 1789, when he appointed his friend, the owner,
one of his executors. Governor Robert Eden, the last of the
Proprietary Governors, who served from 1769 to 1774, was at times
almost a member of the Scott household.

Governor Eden was looked upon with favor by the patriots in Maryland
because he was always moderate and advised the repeal of the tax on
tea. In 1776 he went to England, but in 1784 he returned to Maryland
to look after the estate of Mrs. Eden, who was Caroline Calvert,
sister of Lord Baltimore; by the terms of the treaty of 1783 he was
entitled to this property. While in Annapolis he was the guest of Dr.
Scott. There, in the room now used by the Sisters of Notre Dame as a
chapel, he died.

But probably the most famous visitor to the Scott mansion was Francis
Scott Key, who was the grandson of Mrs. Scott's sister, Ann Arnold
Ross Key of Belvoir. When he was a boy he was often in Annapolis. His
college training was received at St. John's in the old town, and in
later life he frequently turned his steps to the house of his
great-aunt and listened to the stories of Dr. Scott that helped to
train him in the patriotism that was responsible, a few years later,
for the composition of the "Star-Spangled Banner."

Many garbled stories have been told of the circumstances that led to
the writing of this song that has stirred the hearts of millions. The
true story, and in many respects the simplest, was told by Key himself
to his brother-in-law, R. R. Taney, who was later Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court. In 1865, when the "Poems of the Late Francis Scott Key,
Esq.," were published, the volume contained the story as related by
Judge Taney.

In 1814, the main body of the British invaders passed through Upper
Marlboro, Maryland. Many of the officers made their headquarters at
the home of Dr. William Beanes, a physician whom the whole town loved.
When some of the stragglers from the army began to plunder the house,
Dr. Beanes put himself at the head of a small body of citizens and
pursued these stragglers. When the British officers heard of this, Dr.
Beanes was seized and treated, not with kindness as a prisoner of
war, but with great indignity. Key, as an intimate friend of the
doctor, and a lawyer, was asked by the townsmen to intercede for the
prisoner. When application was made to President Madison for help, he
arranged to send Key to the British fleet, under a flag of truce, on a
government vessel, in company with John S. Skinner, a government
agent.

For a week or ten days no word came from the expedition. The people
were alarmed for the safety of Key and his companion.

The bearers of the flag of truce found the fleet at the mouth of the
Potomac. They were received courteously until they told their
business. The British commander spoke harshly of Dr. Beanes, but
fortunately Mr. Skinner had letters from the British officers who had
received kindness at the doctor's hands. General Ross finally agreed
that, solely as a recognition of this kindness, the prisoner would be
released. But he told the Americans that they could not leave the
fleet for some days. They were therefore taken to the frigate
_Surprise_, where they were under guard. They understood that an
immediate attack on Baltimore was contemplated, and that they were
being restrained that they might not warn the city of the plans of the
enemy.

That night Fort McHenry was attacked. The Admiral had boasted that the
works would be carried in a few hours, and that the city would then
fall. So, from the deck of the _Surprise_, Key and his companion
watched and listened anxiously all night. Every time a shell was
fired, they waited breathlessly for the explosion they feared might
follow. "While the bombardment continued, it was sufficient proof that
the fort had not surrendered. But it suddenly ceased some time before
day.... They paced the deck for the remainder of the night in fearful
suspense.... As soon as it dawned, and before it was light enough to
see objects at a distance, their glances were turned to the fort,
uncertain what they should see there, the Stars and Stripes, or the
flag of the enemy. At length the light came, and they saw that 'our
flag was still there.'"

A little later they saw the approach of boats loaded with wounded
British soldiers. Then Key took an envelope and wrote many of the
lines of the song, and while he was on the boat that carried him to
shore he completed the first rough draft. That night, at the hotel, he
rewrote the poem. Next day he showed it to Judge Nicholson, who was so
delighted with it that the author was encouraged to send it to a
printer, by the hand of Captain Benjamin Eades. Captain Eades took the
first handbill that came from the press and carried it to the old
tavern next the Holliday Street Theatre. There the words were sung for
the first time, to the tune "Anacreon in Heaven," the tune Key had
indicated on his copy.

Long before the author's death in 1843 the song had won its place in
the affections of the people. He wrote many other poems, and some of
them have become popular hymns. At the memorial service conducted for
him in Christ Church, Cincinnati, by his friend and former pastor,
Rev. J. T. Brooke, the congregation was asked to sing Key's own hymn,
beginning:

     "Lord, with glowing heart I'd praise thee,
       For the bliss thy love bestows;
     For the pardoning grace that saves me,
       And the peace that from it flows.

     Help, O Lord, my weak endeavor;
       This dull soul to rapture raise;
     Thou must light the flame, or never
       Can my love be warmed to praise."

Dr. Scott, in whose Annapolis home Key had spent so many happy days,
died in 1814, the year of the composition of "The Star-Spangled
Banner." Mrs. Scott lived until 1819.


XLIX

THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON

THE BEGINNINGS OF WASHINGTON CITY, AND THE STORY OF THE HOME OF
CONGRESS

The selection of parts of Virginia and Maryland as the site of the
Federal District in which the National Capital was to be located was
made only after many years of discussion.

In 1779 some of the members of Congress talked of buying a few square
miles near Princeton, New Jersey, as a site for the government's
permanent home. Four years later, the trustees of Kingston, New York,
sought to interest Congress in that location. In 1783 Annapolis,
Maryland, offered the State House and public circle to "the Honorable
Congress" for their use. Burlington, New Jersey, also entered the
lists, while in June, 1783, Virginia offered the town of Williamsburg
to Congress and proposed to "present the palace, the capitol, and all
the public buildings and 300 acres of land adjoining the said city,
together with a sum of money not exceeding 100,000 pounds, this state
currency to be expended in erecting thirteen hotels for the use of
the delegates in Congress."

In October, 1784, Congress decided to place the capital near Trenton,
New Jersey. Later it was decided to have a second capital on the
Potomac, Congress to alternate between the two locations.

Neither Congress nor the country was satisfied with this solution of
the difficulty. After years of discussion, in September, 1789, one
house of Congress fixed on the Falls of the Susquehanna in
Pennsylvania as the permanent site. The Senate amended their proposal
by suggesting Germantown, Pennsylvania.

This action was reconsidered and a long dispute followed. Finally, in
1790, the site on the Potomac was selected, and Congress was ready to
provide for the building of "a palace in the woods."

President Washington and Vice-President Adams disagreed as to the
location of the Capitol building. John Adams wished to see it the
centre of a quadrangle of other public buildings, but Washington urged
that Congress should meet in a building at a distance from the
President's house and all other public buildings, that the lawmakers
might not be annoyed by the executive officers.

The invitation to architects to present plans for the Capitol was made
in March, 1792, five hundred dollars being promised for the best plan.
None of the sixteen designs submitted were approved. Later two men,
Stephen L. Hallet and Dr. William Thornton, offered such good plans
that it was not easy to decide between them. The difficulty was solved
by acceptance of Thornton's design and the engagement of Hallet as
supervising architect at a salary of two thousand dollars a year.
This arrangement was not satisfactory; it became necessary to replace
Hallet first by George Hadfield, then by James Hoban, the architect of
the White House. Under his charge the north wing was completed in
1800.

The proceeds from the sale of lots in the new city proved woefully
inadequate for the expenses of the building. Congress authorized a
loan of eight hundred thousand dollars, but this loan could not be
disposed of until Maryland agreed to take two-thirds of the amount, on
condition that the commissioners in charge of the work add their
personal guarantee to the government's promise to pay.

Congress was called to hold its first meeting in the Capitol north
wing on November 17, 1800. A few months earlier the government
archives had been moved from New York. These were packed in ten or
twelve boxes, and were shipped on a packet boat, by sea. The arrival
of the vessel was greeted by the three thousand citizens of
Washington, who rang bells, cheered, and fired an old cannon in
celebration of the event.

At that time the foundation for the dome had been laid, and the walls
of the south wing had been begun. Later a temporary brick building was
erected for the House, on a portion of the site of the south wing. The
legislators called the building "The Oven."

The south wing was completed under the guidance of Benjamin Henry
Latrobe, who also reconstructed the north wing and connected the two
wings by a wooden bridge. That the building was far from satisfactory
is evident from an article in the _National Intelligencer_ of December
2, 1813, which spoke with disgust of the wooden passageway as well as
of the piles of debris on every hand.

In less than a year after the printing of the criticism, conditions
were far worse, for the British troops came to Washington on August
24, 1814. They piled furniture in the hall of the House, and set fire
to it. The wooden bridge that connected the wings burned like tinder.
In a little while nothing was left but the walls. "The appearance of
the ruins was perfectly terrifying," Architect Latrobe wrote.

Thus was fulfilled in a striking way the prophecy made by John
Randolph when he pleaded with Congress not to make war on Great
Britain, "All the causes urged for this war will be forgotten in your
treaty of peace, and possibly this Capitol may be reduced to ashes."

The next session of Congress was held in the Union Pacific Hotel, but
by December, 1815, there was ready a three-story building, erected by
popular subscription, which Congress used for three years, paying for
it an annual rental of $1,650. This was called "The Brick Capitol."

Of course efforts were made to remove the Capital to another location,
but Congress made appropriation for the reconstruction of the Capitol
on the old site. Work was begun almost at once, and was continued
until 1830, when the wings had been rebuilt as well as the rotunda and
centre structure. In general appearance the building was the same as
before the fire, but marble instead of sandstone was used for
colonnades and staircases and floors. The beautiful capitals of the
marble pillars were carved in Italy or prepared by workmen brought
from Italy.

During the latter part of this period the rotunda was used for all
sorts of exhibitions. Once a panorama of Paris was shown there, an
admission fee of fifty cents being charged. Exhibits of manufactured
goods were made in this "no man's land," over which nobody seemed to
have jurisdiction. In 1827 a congressman spoke in the House of the
fact that "triangles of steel to take the place of bells, stoves, stew
pans, pianos, mouse traps, and watch ribbons were marked with prices
and sundry good bargains were driven." The general public felt that
they had a right even to the hall of the House; frequently popular
meetings were held there.

The present dome surmounting the rotunda is not the dome first
planned. For Latrobe's dome, which he did not build, a higher dome was
substituted by Bulfinch. The present dome is the work of Thomas U.
Walter, the designer of Girard College, Philadelphia, whose plans for
the completion of the Capitol were approved in 1851. The burning of
the western front of the centre building in December, 1851, proved a
blessing in disguise, for Walter was able to rebuild the section in
perfect harmony with the other portions. The House first occupied its
present quarters on December 16, 1857, but the Senate was not able to
take possession of its new hall until January 4, 1859.

The great structure was finished in 1865, work having been carried on
throughout the Civil War. Though they knew that there would be delay
in receiving payment for their work, the contractors insisted on
continuing and completing what is one of the most harmonious public
buildings in the world.

The patriotic contractors had their reward, for the building was
ready to receive the body of President Lincoln when, on April 19,
1865, after the services in the White House, the casket was placed on
a catafalque under the dome of the rotunda, that the people of the
country whose destinies he had guided through four years of civil war
might gather there to do him honor.


L

THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON

THE HOME OF EVERY PRESIDENT SINCE WASHINGTON

When, in 1792, James Hoban suggested to the commission appointed to
supervise the erection of public buildings at Washington that the
Executive Mansion be modelled after the palace of the Duke of Leinster
in Dublin, his proposition was accepted, and he was given a premium of
five hundred dollars for the plan. More, he was engaged, at the same
amount per year, to take charge of the builders.

No time was lost in laying the corner stone. The ceremony was
performed on October 13, 1792, and operations were pushed with such
speed that the building was completed ten years later!

In November, 1800, six months after the transfer of the government
offices from Philadelphia to Washington, Mrs. Adams joined President
Adams at the White House. She had a hard time getting there. A few
days after her arrival she wrote to her daughter:

      "I arrived here on Sunday last, and without meeting any
      accident worth noticing, except losing ourselves when we
      left Baltimore, and going eight or nine miles on the
      Frederick road, by which means we were obliged to go the
      other eight miles through woods, where we wandered for two
      hours, without finding a guide, or the path. Fortunately, a
      straggling black came up with us, and we engaged him as a
      guide to extricate us out of our difficulty; but woods are
      all you see, from Baltimore until you reach the city, which
      is only so in name. Here and there is a small cot, without a
      glass window, interspersed amongst the forests, through which
      you travel miles without seeing any human being. In the city
      there are buildings enough, if they were compact and
      furnished, to accommodate Congress and those attached to it;
      but as they are, and scattered as they are, I see no great
      comfort for them."

Mrs. Adams found no great comfort in the White House, either. "To
assist us in this great castle," she wrote, "and render less
attendance necessary, bells are wholly wanting, not one single one
being hung through the whole house, and promises are all you can
obtain.... If they will put me up some bells, and let me have wood
enough to keep fires, I design to be pleased.... But, surrounded with
forests, can you believe that wood is not to be had, because people
cannot be found to cut and cart it.... The house is made habitable,
but there is not a single apartment finished.... We have not the least
fence, yard, or other convenience, without, and the great, unfinished
audience-room I make a drying room of, to hang up the clothes in. The
principal stairs are not up, and will not be this winter."

The building itself was in good condition, though the surroundings
were far from prepossessing, when it was burned by the British in
1814. President and Mrs. Madison moved to the Octagon House, and spent
more than a year in this comfortable winter home of Colonel John
Tayloe.

The cost of rebuilding and refurnishing the Executive Mansion was
about three hundred thousand dollars. The work was begun in 1814, and
in September, 1817, the building was so far completed that President
Monroe was able to take up his quarters there in some degree of
comfort, though the floor in the East Room had not yet been laid and
some of the walls were still without plastering. On January 1, 1818,
the first New Year's reception was held there. "It was gratifying to
be able to salute the President of the United States with the
compliments of the season in his appropriate residence," the _National
Intelligencer_ said. It may be added that the editor called the
building "the President's House." The title, "the White House," was
not yet in common use.

For many years the successive occupants of the building were subject
to all sorts of criticism. Mrs. Monroe refused both to make first
calls and to return calls. President Monroe bought foreign-made
furnishings! John Quincy Adams actually introduced a billiard table,
and the use of public money to buy "a gaming table" was bitterly
attacked! (Of course the purchase was made with personal funds.) Mrs.
Adams was cold and haughty! When President Van Buren left Washington
he took with him the gold spoons and the gilt dessert service that had
attracted attention! But these were private property.

However, most criticisms like these have been inspired by pride in the
President and his household, and a pardonable feeling of possession in
them and the White House.

Until within recent years the President's offices were in the east end
of the White House. A pleasing description of these offices has come
down from Isaac N. Arnold, who thus spoke of the quarters of President
Lincoln:

      "The furniture of the room consisted of a large oak table,
      covered with cloth extending north and south, and it was
      round this table that the Cabinet sat when it held its
      meetings. Near the end of the table and between the windows
      was another table, on the west side of which the President
      sat, in a large arm-chair, and at this table he wrote. A tall
      desk, with pigeon holes for paper, stood against the south
      wall. The only books usually found in this room were the
      Bible, the United States Statutes, and a copy of Shakespeare.
      There were a few chairs and two plain hair-covered sofas.
      There were two or three map frames, from which hung military
      maps, on which the positions and movements of the armies were
      traced. There was an old and discolored engraving of General
      Jackson over the mantel and a later photograph of John
      Bright. Doors open into this room from the room of the
      secretary and from the outside hall, running east and west
      across the house. A bell-cord within reach of his hand
      extended to the secretary's office. A messenger sat at the
      door opening from the hall, and took in the cards and names
      of visitors."

During the time of President Roosevelt, outside Executive offices were
built, and rooms that had long been needed for the personal uses of
the President's household were released. The change has increased
patriotic pride in the White House, one of the simplest mansions
provided for the rulers of the nations.


  [Illustration: THE STAIRWAY, OCTAGON HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D. C.
   _From the Monograph on the Octagon House,
   Issued by the American Institute of Architects_]

LI

THE OCTAGON HOUSE, WASHINGTON

IN WHICH DOLLY MADISON LAVISHED HOSPITALITY IN 1814

John Tayloe, the wealthiest man in the Virginia of the late eighteenth
century, had his summer home at Mt. Airy. His plantation, the largest
in the State, was worked by more than five hundred slaves.

When he wanted a winter home, he thought of building at Philadelphia.
But George Washington, eager to secure him as a resident of the young
Federal City on the Potomac, asked him to consider the erection of a
house there. So Mr. Tayloe made an investigation of Washington as a
site for a residence, bought a lot for one thousand dollars, and in
1798 commissioned Dr. William Thornton to make the plans for a
palatial house. During the construction of the building Washington
several times rode by and from the saddle inspected the progress of
the work.

Thornton was at the time a well-known man, though he had been born in
the West Indies and was for many years a resident there. After
receiving his education in Europe, he lived for several years in the
United States. During this period he was a partner of John Fitch in
the building and trial of the steamboat that for a time ran
successfully on the Delaware River, more than twenty years before
Fulton built the _Clermont_. He was himself something of an inventor;
he secured a number of patents for a device to move a vessel by
applying steam to a wheel at the side of the hull.

He had returned to the West Indies when he read that a prize was to be
given for the best plan submitted for the Capitol to be built at
Washington. At once he wrote for particulars, and in due time he
presented his plans. He was then living in the United States. The
plans were considered the best that had been offered. Jefferson said
that they "captivated the eyes and judgment of all," while Washington
spoke of their "grandeur, simplicity, and convenience." While these
plans were later modified by others, certain features of the Capitol
as it appears to-day are to be traced directly to Dr. Thornton's
plans.

At the time of the award he was but thirty-one years old, and had
already won a place as a physician, an inventor, and a man of science.
He was a friend of Benjamin Franklin, and had received the prize
offered for the design for the new building of the Library Company of
Philadelphia, in which Franklin was especially interested. Later he
was awarded a gold medal by the American Philosophical Society for a
paper in which he outlined the method of the oral teaching of deaf and
dumb children which is still in use in many institutions.

  [Illustration: OCTAGON HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D. C.
   _Photo by Frank Cousins Art Company
   from the Monograph on the Octagon House
   by the American Institute of Architects_
   See page 234]

The building planned by Dr. Thornton for Mr. Tayloe, at the northeast
corner of New York Avenue and Eighteenth Street, was completed in
1801. At the time it was the best house in Washington. At once, as the
Octagon House, it became famous for the lavish hospitality of its
owner.

The next stirring period in the history of the Octagon House was the
later years of the second war with Great Britain. On the night of
August 24, 1814, when the British Army entered the city, the French
minister, M. Serurier, looked from his window and saw soldiers
bearing torches going toward the White House. Quickly he sent a
messenger to General Ross and asked that his residence be spared. The
messenger found General Ross in the Blue Room, where he was collecting
furniture for a bonfire. Assured that "the king's house" would be
respected, he returned to the minister.

Dr. Thornton, who was at the time superintendent of the patent office,
succeeded in persuading Colonel Jones to spare that building, on the
ground that it was a museum of the Arts, and that its destruction
would be a loss to all the world.

Among the public buildings destroyed was the White House. Mr. Tayloe
at once offered the Octagon House to President Madison. On September
9, 1814, the _National Intelligencer_ announced, "The President will
occupy Colonel Tayloe's large house, which was lately occupied by the
French minister." For more than a year the house was known as the
Executive Annex.

Rufus Rockwell Wilson, in "Washington, the Capital City," tells how
the mansion looked at this time:

      "Its circular entrance hall, marble tiled, was heated by two
      picturesque stoves placed in small recesses in the wall.
      Another hall beyond opened into a spacious and lovely garden
      surrounded by a high brick wall after the English fashion. To
      the right was a handsome drawing room with a fine mantel,
      before which Mrs. Madison was accustomed to stand to receive
      her guests. To the left was a dining-room of equal size and
      beauty. A circular room over the hall, with windows to the
      floor and a handsome fireplace, was President Madison's
      office. Here he received his Cabinet officers and other men
      of note, listening to their opinions and reports on the
      progress of the war; and here, also, on a quaintly carved
      table, he signed, February 18, 1815, the proclamation of the
      Treaty of Ghent, which ended the contest with England."

The story of this table's history is interesting. From the Octagon
House it went to John Ogle Ferneaux, of King George County, Virginia.
He kept it until October 30, 1897, when it was sold to Mrs. A. H.
Voorhies, of 2011 California Street, San Francisco. When the fire that
succeeded the earthquake of 1906 approached the house, the table was
taken away hurriedly. Mrs. Voorhies says, "We wrapped sheets around
the circular part of the table, and in part of the journey, it went
turning round as a wheel to a place of safety." The San Francisco
chapter of the Institute of Architects purchased it for $1,000, and
sent it to Washington, December 1, 1911.

It is said that on the day the message came to the Octagon House that
peace had been declared, Miss Sally Coles, who was Mrs. Madison's
cousin, called from the head of the stairs, "Peace! Peace!" One who
was a guest at the time gave a lively account of the scene in the
house:

      "Late in the afternoon came thundering down Pennsylvania
      Avenue a coach and four foaming steeds, in which was the
      bearer of the good news. Cheers followed the carriage as it
      sped on its way to the residence of the President. Soon after
      nightfall, members of Congress and others deeply interested
      in the event presented themselves at the President's House,
      the doors of which stood open. When the writer of this
      entered the drawing room at about eight o'clock, it was
      crowded to its full capacity. Mrs. Madison--(the President
      being with the Cabinet)--doing the honors of the occasion;
      and what a happy scene it was!"

Mr. Tayloe occupied the Octagon at intervals until his death in 1828.
Mrs. Tayloe lived until 1855. By this time the neighborhood had
changed, and the property deteriorated. In 1865 it was occupied as a
girls' school. From 1866 to 1879 it was the hydrographic office of the
Navy Department. Later it became a dwelling and studio. From 1885 to
1889 it was in the hands of a caretaker, and deteriorated rapidly. At
the last eight or ten families of colored people lived within the
storied walls.

The Institute of American Architects leased the property in 1899 and
later purchased the house for $30,000. It is now one of the sights of
Washington. A tablet fixed to the wall relates the main facts of its
history.




SIX: HOMES AND HAUNTS OF THE CAVALIERS

     _I love the stately southern mansions with their tall white
       columns,
     They look through avenues of trees, over fields where the cotton
       is growing;
     I can see the flutter of white frocks along their shady porches,
     Music and laughter float from the windows, the yards are full of
       hounds and horses.
     Long since the riders have ridden away, yet the houses have not
       forgotten,
     They are proud of their name and place, and their doors are always
         open,
     For the thing they remember best is the pride of their ancient
         hospitality._

       HENRY VAN DYKE.




SIX: HOMES AND HAUNTS OF THE CAVALIERS


  [Illustration: MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA, REAR VIEW
   _Photo by E. C. Hall_
   See page 241]

LII

MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

George Washington was twenty years old when he became the owner of the
Mount Vernon estate on the Potomac, in accordance with the provisions
of the will of Laurence Washington, his half-brother. At that time the
house contained but eight rooms and an attic, four rooms on each
floor. There were twenty-five hundred acres in the farm.

As a boy Washington had tramped over every acre of the estate. When he
was sixteen he made a plot of the region around Mt. Vernon. The
original of the survey made at that time may be seen in the Library of
Congress at Washington.

The young owner looked forward to years of quiet on his estate, but he
was frequently called away from home for service in the militia of
Virginia. In spite of these absences, however, he managed to make the
acres surrounding the mansion give a good account of themselves.

When he responded to the call of the Colonies and became
Commander-in-Chief of the army, he turned his back on Mt. Vernon with
great reluctance, and for six years hardly saw the place he loved.
But when the independence of the Colonies had been won he returned
home, in the hope that he might be permitted to remain there in
obscurity, farming his land and entertaining his friends in the house
on the Potomac.

That he might have more room for his friends, he enlarged the house.
On July 5, 1784, he wrote to his friend, William Rumney of Alexandria,
asking him to inquire into the terms on which "a House Joiner and
Bricklayer" might be engaged for two or three years. To the house,
which dated from 1744, he made additions until it was three times as
large as when he inherited the property. The alterations were
completed in 1785. The completed house was ninety-six feet long, and
thirty feet deep, with a piazza fifteen feet wide. The building
material was wood, cut in imitation of stone.

While these alterations were in progress a visitor to Mt. Vernon was
Charles Vardo, an Englishman. When he returned home he wrote an
account of his visit, in which said:

      "I crossed the river from Maryland into Virginia, near to the
      renowned General Washington's, where I had the honor to spend
      some time, and was kindly entertained with that worthy
      family. As to the General, if we may judge by the
      countenance, he is what the world says of him, a shrewd,
      good-natured, plain, humane man, about fifty-five years of
      age, and seems to wear well, being healthful and active,
      straight, well made, and about six feet high. He keeps a good
      table, which is always open to those of a genteel
      appearance....

      "The General's house is rather warm, snug, convenient and
      useful, than ornamental. The size is what ought to suit a man
      of about two or three thousand a year in England. The
      out-offices are good and seem to be not long built; and he
      was making more offices at each wing to the front of the
      house, which added more to ornament than to real use. The
      situation is high, and commands a beautiful prospect of the
      river which parts Virginia and Maryland, but in other
      respects the situation seems to be out of the world, being
      chiefly surrounded by woods, and far from any great road or
      thoroughfare.... The General's lady is a hearty, comely,
      discreet, affable woman, some few years older than
      himself.... The General's house is open to poor travellers as
      well as rich, he gives diet and lodging to all that come that
      way, which indeed cannot be many, without they go out of
      their way on purpose...."

A visitor of January 19, 1785, was Elkanah Watson. In his diary
Washington wrote simply that Mr. Watson came in and stayed all night;
and that he went away after breakfast next morning. But Mr. Watson had
a fuller account to give:

      "I found him at table with Mrs. Washington and his private
      family, and was received in the native dignity and with that
      urbanity so peculiarly combined in the character of a soldier
      and eminent private gentleman. He soon put me at ease.... The
      first evening I spent under the wing of his hospitality, we
      sat a full hour at table by ourselves, without the least
      interruption, after the family had retired. I was extremely
      oppressed by a severe cold and excessive coughing, contracted
      by the exposure of a harsh winter journey. He pressed me to
      use some remedies, but I declined doing so. As usual after
      retiring, my coughing increased. When some time had elapsed,
      the door of my room was gently opened, and on drawing my
      bed-curtains, to my utter astonishment, I beheld Washington
      himself, standing at my bedside, with a bowl of hot tea in
      his hand."

The following May Rev. Thomas Coke and Bishop Francis Asbury were
welcomed to Mt. Vernon. "The General's seat is very elegant," Mr. Coke
wrote. "He is quite the plain, country-Gentleman." After dinner the
visitors presented to their host a petition for the emancipation of
the Negroes, "entreating his signature, if the eminence of his station
did not render it inexpedient for him to sign any petition."
Washington told his guests that he was "of their sentiments, and had
signified his thoughts on the subject to most of the great men of the
State; that he did not see it proper to sign the petition, but if the
Assembly took it into consideration, would signify his sentiments to
the Assembly by a letter."

An attractive picture of the General was given by Richard Henry Lee
after a visit to Mt. Vernon in November, 1785:

      "When I was first introduced to him he was neatly dressed in
      a plain blue coat, white Casimer waistcoat, and black
      breeches and Boots, as he came from his farm. After having
      sat with us some time he retired.... Later he came in again,
      with his hair neatly powdered, a clean shirt on, a new plain
      drab Coat, white waistcoat and white silk stockings."

John Hunter, who was with Colonel Lee, added his impression:

      "The style of his house is very elegant, something like the
      Prince de Conde's at Chantilly, near Paris, only not quite so
      large; but it's a pity he did not build a new one at once, as
      it has cost him nearly as much as repairing his old one....
      It's astonishing what a number of small houses the General
      has upon his Estate for his different Workmen and Negroes
      to live in. He has everything within himself--Carpenters,
      Bricklayers, Brewers, Blacksmiths, Bakers, etc., etc., and
      even has a well assorted store for the use of his family and
      servants."

While the repairs were still in progress, the ship _Mary_ arrived at
Alexandria, having a consignment for Washington from Samuel Vaughan, a
great admirer in London. This was a chimney-piece, wrought in Italy
from pure white and sienite marble, for the use of Mr. Vaughan. When
the mantel reached England the owner learned of the improvements then
in progress at Mt. Vernon. Without unpacking the mantel he sent it on
to America. When Washington received word of the arrival of the gift,
he wrote, "By the number of cases, however, I greatly fear it is too
elegant and costly for my room and republican style of living."
Nevertheless the mantel was installed in the mansion and became a
great delight to the household.

Washington's days at Mt. Vernon were interrupted by the renewed call
of his country. For much of the time for eight years he was compelled
to be absent, and when, at length, the opportunity came to resume the
free life on his estate, he had less than three years left. But these
years were crowded full of hospitality in the mansion and of joyous
work on the estate, and when, on December 14, 1799, he died as a
result of a cold caught while riding on the estate, he left it to his
"dearly beloved wife, Martha Washington."

For many years Mt. Vernon continued its hospitable career. Then came
years of neglect, when the mansion was falling into ruins. But in
1853-56 Miss Ann Pamela Cunningham of South Carolina appealed to the
women of the nation, and succeeded in organizing an association that
took over the estate, restored it to its original condition, furnished
it with Washington relics gathered from far and near, and opened it
for the visits of the reverent visitors to the city of Washington, who
continue their journey sixteen miles down the Potomac that they may
look on the scene that brought joy to the heart of the Father of his
Country.


  [Illustration: ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA
   _Photo by H. P. Cook_
   See page 246]

LIII

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

FROM WHICH ROBERT E. LEE WENT TO BATTLE FOR THE SOUTH

After the death of George Washington the Mt. Vernon family was
gradually broken up, one after another going elsewhere for a home.
George Washington Parke Custis, Washington's adopted son, and grandson
of Martha Washington, decided to build a home on a hill overlooking
the Potomac, opposite Washington City. There were eleven hundred acres
in the estate of which Arlington, the mansion he built in 1802, was
the central feature.

It has been said that the stately house is an adaptation of the Doric
temple at Paestum, near Naples. The roof of the great portico rests on
eight massive columns. The rooms within are of a size in keeping with
the magnificent portal.

Perhaps the plan was too ambitious for the Custis fortune. At any rate
the rooms on the south side of the hall were not completed. But it
was a famous house, nevertheless. Guests were many. They delighted to
look from the portico across the Potomac to Washington, where they
could see the government buildings slowly taking shape.

One of the favored guests was Robert E. Lee. His frequent visits led
to his marriage, in 1831, to Mr. Custis' daughter. At this time Lee
was a lieutenant in the United States Army. Mrs. Lee remained at
Arlington, waiting for the husband whose military duties enabled him
to spend only brief seasons with her and the growing family there.

During the years before the war visitors to the Capital City thronged
to Arlington. Some of them were interested in the many Washington
relics in the house. Chief among these was the bed on which Washington
died. Others came to the picnic grounds at Arlington Spring, which Mr.
Custis had opened for the pleasure of the people, building for the use
of all comers a great dining-hall, a dancing pavilion, and a kitchen.

One of these visitors told his impressions of Arlington:

      "In front of the mansion, sloping toward the Potomac, is a
      fine park of two hundred acres, dotted with groves of oak and
      chestnut and clumps of evergreens; and behind it is a dark
      old forest, with patriarchal trees bearing many centennial
      honors, and covering six hundred acres of hill and dale.
      Through a portion of this is a sinuous avenue leading up to
      the mansion."

At the time of the secession of Virginia, Robert E. Lee was a colonel.
Duty seemed clear to him. It was not easy for him to take up arms
against the United States Government, but he considered himself first
of all a citizen of his native State. To respond to the call of the
Confederacy meant ruin. His beautiful home, he feared, would be
destroyed. But he did not hesitate. A desire to retain possession of
his slaves had nothing to do with his decision. His own slaves had
already been freed, and provision had been made in the will of Mrs.
Lee's father that all his slaves should be freed in 1862.

When, in 1865, General Lee was urged to prolong the conflict by
guerilla warfare, he said: "No, that would not do. It must be
remembered that we are Christian people. We have fought the fight as
long and as well as we know how. We have been defeated. For us as a
Christian people there is but one course to pursue. We must accept the
situation. These men must go home and plant a crop, and we must
proceed to build up our country on a new basis."

But he could not return to Arlington. The government had taken
possession of the estate for a National Cemetery. For a time he lived
in obscurity on a little farm. Then he became President of Washington
College, later Washington and Lee University. With his family he lived
on the campus at Lexington, Virginia, and there he died, October 12,
1870.

In the meantime the National Cemetery at Arlington was becoming a
pilgrimage point for patriotic Americans. The slopes of the beautiful
lawn were covered with graves. The stately white mansion, with its
eight great pillars and its walls of stucco seemed a fitting
background for the ranks of little white tombstones.

For years the title to the property was in dispute. In 1864 the United
States bought it for $26,800, when it was sold at auction for
delinquent taxes. In 1882 the Supreme Court decided that G. W. C. Lee,
son of General Lee, was entitled to the property, and the following
year the government paid him $150,000 for eleven hundred acres,
including the mansion.


  [Illustration: CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA, VA.
   Photo by H. P. Cook
   See page 249]

LIV

CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA

WHERE WASHINGTON HAD A PEW "AT THE UPPER PART OF THE CHURCH"

George Washington was chosen one of the vestrymen of Fairfax parish in
1764, when this was formed by the division of Truro parish, although
he was already a vestryman in Pohick Church at Truro.

The records of the new parish show that in 1766 it was decided to
build Christ Church at Alexandria, and a second church at the Falls of
the Potomac instead of the old church there. The members of the parish
were asked to pay thirty-one thousand pounds of tobacco for the
purpose of construction.

James Wren, the architect of Christ Church, is said to have been a
descendant of Sir Christopher Wren. While the building was well
designed, no one ever thought of it as a masterpiece. But it has
answered the purposes of the worshipper for more than a century and a
half, and it promises to last at least a hundred and fifty years more.

The original contract called for the expenditure of L600. Colonel John
Carlisle, who was bondsman for the contractor, James Parsons, in
1772, agreed to complete the building on payment of L220 additional,
since Parsons failed to fulfil his agreement.

The church was built of brick, and was sixty by fifty feet long. The
work was carefully done, but the structure was ready for the vestry to
take possession early in 1773.

At the first sale of pews, of which there were fifty in all,
Washington paid L36 10 s. for pew number five. He had already made a
generous gift toward the building fund, but asked the privilege of
giving the brass chandelier which still hangs from the ceiling.

When the Church and State were separated in Virginia, after the
Revolution, Washington subscribed five pounds a year to the rector's
salary. By act of the legislature the glebe lands of churches in the
State were confiscated, but, through the influence of Washington and
Charles Lee, Christ Church "and one other" (probably Falls Church)
were allowed to retain their lands.

Many changes have been made in the building. The gallery was added in
1787, that twenty-five pews might be provided for the growing
congregation. The west aisle was built in 1811, and the next year the
chimneys were built, for stoves were placed in the church at that
time. The bell was hung in 1816. The pews were later divided,
including that which Washington occupied, but this pew has since been
restored to its original condition. Since 1891 the high pulpit and
sounding board have been replaced as they were at first.

Washington's diary tells of his attendance at service on Sunday, June
2, 1799. Perhaps it was of this Sunday a visitor to Alexandria wrote
in a letter to a friend, which was quoted in "The Religious Opinions
and Character of George Washington," published in 1836. The writer
said:

      "In the summer of 1799 I was in Alexandria on a visit to the
      family of Mr. H.... Whilst there, I expressed a wish to see
      General Washington, as I had never enjoyed that pleasure. My
      friend ... observed: 'You will certainly see him on Sunday,
      as he is never absent from church when he can get there; and
      as he often dines with us, we will ask him on that day, when
      you will have a better opportunity of seeing him.'
      Accordingly, we all repaired to church on Sunday.... General
      Washington ... walked to his pew, at the upper part of the
      church, and demeaned himself throughout the service of the
      day with that gravity and propriety becoming the place and
      his own high character. After the services were concluded, we
      waited for him at the door, for his pew being near the pulpit
      he was among the last that came out--when Mrs. H. invited him
      to dine with us. He declined, however, the invitation,
      observing, as he looked at the sky, that he thought there
      were appearances of a thunderstorm in the afternoon, and he
      believed he would return home to dinner."


  [Illustration: MARY WASHINGTON'S HOUSE, FREDERICKSBURG, VA.
   _Photo by H. P. Cook_
   See page 251]

LV

THE MARY WASHINGTON HOUSE, FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA

WHERE WASHINGTON'S MOTHER SPENT HER LAST YEARS

The first property mentioned in connection with the name of Mary Ball,
who became the mother of George Washington, was on the tract of four
hundred acres "in ye freshes of Rappa-h-n River," bequeathed to her in
her father's will before she was six years old. Her father, Colonel
Joseph Ball of Epping Forest, Lancaster County, thought he was about
to die, but he lived some years longer.

Ten years later an unknown writer spoke of Mary Ball in pleasing
terms:

        "WmsBurg, ye 7th of Octr, 1722.

      "Dear Sukey, Madam Ball of Lancaster and her sweet Molly have
      gone Hom. Mama thinks Molly the Comliest Maiden She Knows.
      She is about 16 yrs old, is taller than Me, is verry
      Sensable, Modest and Loving. Her Hair is like unto Flax, Her
      Eyes are the color of Yours, and her Chekes are like May
      blossoms. I wish You could see Her."

This "Belle of the Northern Neck," as she came to be called, continued
her conquests of young and old until, at twenty-two, an orphan, she
left Epping Forest to live with her brother, Joseph Ball, at
"Stratford-by-bow, Nigh London." There, on March 6, 1730, she became
the second wife of Augustine Washington, the second son of Laurence
Washington, who was visiting England at the time.

Less than two years later, at Wakefield, on the Potomac, in
Westmoreland County, Virginia, George Washington was born. He was not
three years old when the mansion was burned.

The new home was at Pine Grove, in Stafford County, on the
Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg. For eight years the
family circle was unbroken, but on April 12, 1743, Augustine
Washington died. Laurence Washington, Mary Washington's stepson, then
became the owner of Mt. Vernon, while to George Washington was
bequeathed Pine Grove, though the estate was to be managed by Mrs.
Washington until the son became twenty-one.

With wonderful skill Mrs. Washington directed the plantation and with
firm purpose she devoted herself to the care of her five fatherless
children.

A picture of this capable woman at this period was recorded by
Laurence Washington, a nephew of George Washington's father. He wrote:

      "I was often there [at Pine Grove] with George, his playmate,
      schoolmate, and young man's companion. Of the mother, I was
      more afraid than of my own parents; she awed me in the midst
      of her kindness; and even now, when time has whitened my
      locks and I am the grandfather of a second generation, I
      could not behold that majestic woman without feelings it is
      impossible to describe."

The death, in 1752, of Laurence Washington of Mt. Vernon made George
Washington the owner of that property. Thereafter the twenty-five
hundred acre estate became known as the home of the eldest son, while
Mrs. Washington remained at Pine Grove with her younger children.

Only a few months later he stopped to see his mother, as he was on his
way to the West to carry out a commission laid upon him by Governor
Dinwiddie. As Mrs. Washington bade her son good-bye, she urged him to
"remember that God only is our sure trust." Then she added, "To Him I
commend you."

Her words were remembered. In 1755, when General Braddock asked
Colonel Washington to accompany him to Fort Pitt, Mrs. Washington
hurried to Mt. Vernon and urged him not to go. He considered her
objections, but said:

      "The God to whom you commended me, madam, when I set out on a
      more perilous errand, defended me from all harm, and I trust
      He will do so now; do you?"

One by one the children left Pine Grove. In 1750 Betty Washington was
married to Colonel Fielding Lewis, who built for her the stately house
Kenmore, not far from her mother's home, but across the river, on the
edge of Fredericksburg. This house is still among the show places of
the old town.

In the early days of the Revolution Colonel and Mrs. Lewis tried to
persuade Mrs. Washington that she was getting too old to live alone at
Pine Grove, and urged her to make her home at Kenmore. At the same
time Colonel Lewis offered to take over the management of the
plantation. To both entreaties she turned a deaf ear; she said she
felt entirely competent to take care of herself, and she would manage
her own farm.

However, she consented to make her home in a house purchased for her
in Fredericksburg, because "George thought it best." The dutiful son
had time to help in the flitting to the new home before he hurried to
the North. He was not to see her again for seven long years.

A member of the family described later the days of waiting when Mary
Washington directed her household in the preparation of clothes,
provisions, and other comforts for the General and his associates:
"During the trying years when her son was leading the Continental
forces, the mother was watching and praying, following him with
anxious eyes," the story is told. "But to the messenger who brought
tidings, whether of victory or defeat, she turned a calm face,
whatever tremor of feeling it might mask, and to her daughter she
said, chiding her for undue excitement, 'The sister of the commanding
general should be an example of fortitude and faith.'"

It was November 11, 1781, when the victorious commander next saw
Fredericksburg, on his way to Philadelphia from Yorktown. George
Washington Parke Custis has described the meeting with his mother:

      "She was alone, her aged hands employed in the works of
      domestic industry, when the good news was announced, and it
      was told that the victor was awaiting at the threshold. She
      bade him welcome by a warm embrace, and by the
      well-remembered and endearing name of George.... She inquired
      as to his health, for she marked the lines which mighty cares
      and toils had made in his manly countenance, and she spoke
      much of old times and old friends, but of his glory not one
      word."

When the Peace Ball was given in Fredericksburg she was an honored
guest. Her son walked with her into the gaily decorated ballroom. She
remained for a time, but after a while, from the seat where she had
watched the dance, she called him to her side. When she was near she
said, "Come, George, it is time for old folks to be at home."

Lafayette visited Fredericksburg in 1784, that he might pay his
respects to Mrs. Washington. He found her in her garden, dressed in a
short linsey skirt, working among her flowers. After his visit he
declared, "I have seen the only Roman matron living at this day."

She still went frequently to her plantation across the river, but as
she became more feeble her son gave her a phaeton in which she could
cross the ferry in comfort. Her great-granddaughter has written of her
appearance when she rolled in the phaeton down the village street:

      "In summer she wore a dark straw hat with broad brim and low
      crown, tied under her chin with black ribbon strings; but in
      winter a warm hood was substituted, and she was wrapped in
      the purple cloth cloak lined with silk shang (a present from
      her son George) that is described in the bequests of her
      will. In her hand she carried her gold-headed cane, which
      feeble health now rendered necessary as a support."

One of the last visits paid by George Washington to his mother was on
March 7, 1789. A Fredericksburg paper of March 12 said, "The object of
his Excellency's visit was probably to take leave of his aged mother,
sister, and friends, previous to his departure for the new Congress,
over the councils of which, the united voice of America has called him
to preside." On March 11 Washington's account book shows that the
expenses of the trip were L1.8.0. He also noted that he advanced to
his mother at the time "6 Guineas."

At New York, on September 1, 1789, President Washington was dining
with friends when a messenger brought word of the death of Mrs.
Washington. The notice of her death, as given in the _Gazette of the
United States_, on September 9, read:

      "Fredericksburg, Virginia, August 27, 1789--On Tuesday, the
      25th inst. died at her home in this town, Mrs. Mary
      Washington, aged 83 years, the venerable mother of the
      illustrious President of the United States, after a long and
      painful indisposition, which she bore with uncommon
      patience. Though a pious tear of duty, affection, and esteem
      is due to the memory of so revered a character, yet our grief
      must be greatly alleviated from the consideration that she is
      relieved from the pitiable infirmities attendant on an
      extreme old age.--It is usual when virtuous and conspicuous
      persons quit this terrestrial abode, to publish an elaborate
      panegyric on their characters--suffice it to say, she
      conducted herself through this transitory life with virtue,
      prudence, and Christianity, worthy the mother of the grandest
      Hero that ever adorned the annals of history."

     "O may kind heaven, propitious to our fate,
     Extend THAT HERO'S to her lengthen'd date;
     Through the long period, healthy, active, sage;
     Nor know the sad infirmities of age."

The house in Fredericksburg which was occupied after 1775 by Mrs.
Washington, is now the property of the Association for the
Preservation of Virginian Antiquities.


LVI

GREENWAY AND SHERWOOD FOREST, VIRGINIA

TWO OF THE HOMES OF JOHN TYLER

A little girl was responsible for the fact that John Tyler, who became
the tenth president of the United States, was born, not at Marlie, but
at Greenway. Marlie was the name chosen by Judge John Tyler for his
James River estate, but his young daughter, Anne Contesse, as soon as
she began to talk, insisted on calling it "Greenway," "because the
grass grows so green there."

The fact that Anne's name displaced that chosen by her father is an
indication of his great love for children. Greenway was "a bird's nest
full of young," but at various times he added to his own flock one or
another of twenty-one children, of whom he was made guardian, all of
whom he guided through childhood to earnest manhood and womanhood.

These children must have enjoyed roaming about the estate, for,
according to Judge Tyler's description, it was a delightful place. He
said of it:

      "Greenway contains five hundred acres, well improved. On it
      is a genteel, well-furnished dwelling-house, containing six
      rooms, all wainscoted, chair-board high, with fine dry
      cellars the full length of the house, which is 56 feet; also
      every other building which a reasonable person could wish or
      desire, to wit: a handsome study, storehouse, kitchen,
      laundry, dairy, meat-house, spring-house, and an ice-house
      within the curtelage; a barn 40 by 34 feet, two granaries,
      two carriage houses, 20 stalls for horses, a quarter for
      house servants; a handsome pigeon-house, well stocked; and
      several other houses for slaves; a well of water (so
      excellent that I can drink with delight after returning from
      a mountain circuit), a large, fertile garden, abounding with
      a great variety of shrubs, herbs, and beautiful flowers, well
      enclosed. The buildings new and well covered with shingles."

On this attractive estate John Tyler was born on March 29, 1790. He
was a slender, delicate-looking lad, but he was not afraid to stand up
for himself when he felt he was being abused. His first schoolmaster,
a Mr. McMurdo, who taught across the road from Greenway, thought that
it was impossible to teach well unless the rod was in daily use. "It
was a wonder that he did not whip all the sense out of his scholars,"
John said once, years later. But one day the boys rebelled. "John and
some of the larger boys tripped him up, and began to tie his hands and
feet," the Tyler family biographer tells the story. "McMurdo scuffled
bravely, but upon little William Tyler, the smallest boy in school,
throwing himself upon him, he exclaimed, in imitation of the great
Roman, '_Et tu, Brute!_' and ceased to resist. The boys firmly secured
him, locked him up in the schoolhouse, and left with cheers of triumph
and derision."

Hours later the schoolmaster was released by a passing traveller, who
heard his cries. At once the enraged man hastened to Judge Tyler and
told his story. "But the Judge, born and bred in the Revolutionary
school, hated tyranny in any shape, and as he drew himself up to his
full stature, he ... replied, in the language of Virginia's motto,
_'Sic Semper Tyrannis_.'"

At the age of twelve John entered the grammar school of William and
Mary College at Williamsburg. There he had a good time, and he made a
creditable showing in his classes. Yet that he did not advance in at
least one study is evident from a letter written by his father in
1807. He said:

      "I can't help telling you how much I am mortified to find no
      improvement in your handwriting; neither do you construct
      your lines straight, which makes your letters look too
      abominable. It is an easy thing to correct this fault, and
      unless you do so, how can you be fit for law business?"

Some years later, when Judge Tyler was Governor of Virginia, he
announced impressively to John that Thomas Jefferson would be among
the dinner guests on a certain day. "Be sure you have a good dinner,"
the Governor added; for John was at the time in charge of the
establishment. The future President asked himself, "What is the best
thing for dinner?" "Plum pudding!" was the answer.

The appointed time came. The company was seated at table. The first
course was served. Then came a long wait.

      "Suddenly a door flew open, and a negro servant appeared,
      bearing, with both hands raised high above his head, a
      smoking dish of plum pudding. Making a grand flourish, the
      servant deposited it before Governor Tyler. Scarcely had he
      withdrawn before another door flew open, and an attendant,
      dressed exactly like the first, was seen bringing another
      plum pudding, equally hot, which at a grave nod from John, he
      placed before Mr. Jefferson. The Governor, who expected a
      little more variety, turned to his son, who sat surveying the
      puddings with tender interest, and exclaimed, in accents of
      astonishment, 'Two plum puddings, John, two plum puddings!
      Why, this is rather extraordinary!' 'Yes, sir,' said the
      enterprising major domo, 'it is extraordinary; but' (and here
      he rose and bowed deferentially to Mr. Jefferson) 'it is an
      extraordinary occasion.'"

In 1813, John Tyler married Letitia Christian. They did not make their
home at Greenway, however. On the death of Judge Tyler the old house
was sold, but it became the property of John Tyler in 1821. There he
retired for the season of rest which he sorely needed after his
strenuous years as a member of the House of Delegates, and
Representative in Congress. During the intervals of his service as
Governor and United States Senator he resided at the old home, but in
1829 he sold the property, and removed to Gloucester County, to an
estate which he took for debt. Eighteen years later, at the close of
his presidential term, he returned, with his bride, the second Mrs.
Tyler, to the county where he was born, having bought an estate of
twelve hundred acres, three miles from Greenway, on the north side of
the James, opposite Brandon. He tore down the old house on the estate,
and built a house on the same plan, which, with its connected
out-buildings, was more than two hundred feet long. He called his
place "Sherwood Forest," with grim humor; for was he not an outlaw, in
the opinion of the Whigs, just as really as was Robin Hood?

Not long after the beginning of life at Sherwood Forest he was
appointed overseer of the road on which his estate was located. Some
claimed that this appointment was secured by the Whigs to humiliate
him. But he refused to be humiliated. Instead he determined to be a
good overseer and make the road the best in the State. All the men in
the township were called, and they were kept at work day after day,
as, according to law, he had a right to keep them. But it was harvest
time, and the wheat was dead ripe. "The smiles that lately illuminated
the countenances of the Whigs turned to dismay. The august justice who
had made the appointment repaired to Mr. Tyler's house, and
represented to him the state of things. Mr. Tyler replied that the law
made it his duty to put the road in good order, and to keep it so. The
Whigs expostulated. Mr. Tyler was firm. Then the justice begged him to
resign, and let the hands go home. The ex-President said, 'Offices
are hard to obtain in these times, and having no assurance that I can
ever get another, I cannot think, under the circumstances, of
resigning.'"

One of the statesman's valued companions during these early years at
Sherwood Forest was "General," the old horse which he had owned for
many years. At length the horse died, and was buried in the grave at
Sherwood Forest. On a wooden slab at the head of the grave the owner
wrote:

      "Here lieth the bones of my old horse, General, who served
      his master faithfully for twenty-seven years, and never
      blundered but once--would that his master could say the
      same!"

The last years of John Tyler's life witnessed the return of his
popularity. Enemies became friends, and all rejoiced to do him honor.
He was called to a number of honorable posts, and he was about to take
his seat as a member of the House of Representatives of the
Confederate Congress when he died, in Richmond, on January 18, 1862.


  [Illustration: HANOVER COURT HOUSE, VIRGINIA
   _Photo by H. P. Cook_
   See page 262]

LVII

TWO HISTORIC COURTHOUSES OF VIRGINIA

OLD DOMINION COUNTY BUILDINGS AT HANOVER AND WILLIAMSBURG

A momentous announcement appeared in the Williamsburg, Virginia,
_Gazette_ on March 16, 1769:

      "The Common Hall having this day determined to build a
      commodious brick court-house in this city and having
      appointed us to agree with and undertake to build the same,
      we do hereby give notice that we shall meet at Mr. Hay's (the
      Raleigh Tavern) on Tuesday, the 4th of April, to let the
      building thereof; we are also appointed to dispose of the
      present court-house, and the ground on which the same stands.
      James Cock, John Carter, James Carter, John Tazewell."

The building displaced by the new structure was erected in 1716 by
William Levington, and was given to the city in 1745 by "the Gentlemen
subscribers for the Play House."

The stone steps on the new building, which are still in use, were
brought from England in 1772. A copy of the letter in which William
Wilson acknowledged their receipt is in a letter book preserved in the
library of the Episcopal Seminary, near Alexandria.

During the Revolution, the patriots were called together, from time to
time, by the bell in the picturesque tower. It was fitting, then, that
when American independence was celebrated at Williamsburg, on May 1,
1783, the Courthouse was made the rallying place for the people. On
receipt of official notice from Governor Benjamin Harrison that the
treaty of peace had been signed, the mayor of Williamsburg prepared an
"Order of the Procession on the Great Day," which closed with the
following direction:

      "The Citizens to be Conveyed on Thursday, at 1 o'clock at the
      Court-House by a Bellman.

      "After the convention of citizens they are to make
      proclamation at the C: House, after which the Bells at the
      Church, College, & Capitol are to ring in peal.

      "From the Ct House the Citizens are to proceed to the
      College, and make proclamation at that place, from whence
      they are to proceed to the Capitol and make proclamation
      there and from thence Proceed to the Raleigh (Tavern) & pass
      the rest of the day."

A frequent visitor to the Williamsburg Courthouse was the brilliant
lawyer Patrick Henry, whose reputation as an orator was made long
before he delivered his "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" speech at
St. John's Church, Richmond.

Some years before the Williamsburg Courthouse was erected, this orator
made his first public speech, at Hanover Courthouse, a building that
dates from 1735, in the celebrated suit of the clergy demanding the
payment of their stipends in tobacco, according to law. In consequence
of a short crop the price had increased, and they insisted that it was
their right to have the advantage of the increase. Their case had been
tried once and won. The attorney of the people thereupon withdrew, and
Henry was engaged to appear for them in court.

When the case was called, Rev. Patrick Henry was present, to the
regret of his nephew. The lawyer sought his uncle and said that he
feared he would be too much overawed by his presence to do his duty to
his clients, and added that he would be compelled to say some "very
hard things of the clergy." The minister thereupon entered his
carriage, and drove away.

William Wirt describes the scene at the opening of the case:

      "On the bench sat more than twenty clergymen, the most
      learned men in the Colony, and the most capable, as well as
      the severest critics before whom it was possible for him to
      have made his debut. The Court House was crowded with an
      overwhelming multitude, and surrounded with an immense and
      anxious throng, who, not finding room to enter, were
      endeavoring to listen without, in the deepest attention. But
      there was something still more awfully disconcerting than all
      this; for in the chair of the presiding magistrate, sat no
      other person than his own father....

      "And now came on the first trial of Patrick Henry's strength.
      No one had ever heard him speak, and curiosity was on tiptoe.
      He rose very awkwardly, and faltered much in his exordium.
      The people hung their heads at so unpromising a commencement;
      the clergy were observed to exchange sly looks with each
      other, and the father is described as having almost sunk with
      confusion, from his seat. But these feelings were of short
      duration, and soon gave place to others, of a very different
      character.... The spirit of his genius awakened all his
      features.... His action became graceful, bold, and
      commanding; and in the tones of his voice, but more
      especially in his emphasis, there was a peculiar charm, a
      magic, of which any one who ever heard him will speak as soon
      as he is named, but of which no one can give any adequate
      description....

      "The people, whose countenances had fallen as he arose, had
      heard but very few sentences before they began to look up;
      then to look at each other with surprise, as if doubting the
      evidence of their own senses.... In less than twenty minutes,
      they might be seen in every part of the house, on every
      bench, in every window, stooping forward from their stands,
      in deathlike silence.... The mockery of the clergy was soon
      turned into alarm; their triumph into confusion and despair;
      and at one burst of his rapid and overwhelming invective,
      they fled from the bench in precipitation and terror. As for
      the father, such was his surprise, such his amazement, such
      his rapture, that, forgetting where he was, and the character
      which he was filling, tears of ecstasy streamed down his
      cheeks without the power or inclination to restrain them."

The case was won. As soon as the verdict was announced the people
seized the orator at the bar and bore him out of the courthouse. Then,
raising him on their shoulders, they carried him about the yard.


  [Illustration: ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, RICHMOND, VA.
   _Photo by H. P. Cook_
   See page 266]

LVIII

ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, RICHMOND

WHERE PATRICK HENRY SAID, "GIVE ME LIBERTY, OR GIVE ME DEATH"

In 1611 Sir Thomas Dale founded his town of Henricopolis, the second
established settlement in Virginia. It was named in honor of Prince
Henry, the eldest son of James I. A church was soon after built. The
bounds of Henrico parish, to which it belonged, were quite large until
1634, when the parish was made to include the present Chesterfield,
Powhatan, and Goochland counties.

Soon after the marriage of Pocahontas she moved to the plantation of
her husband, John Rolfe, near Henricopolis, and they were both members
of Henrico parish until they left Virginia.

The written records of Henrico parish begin with 1730. At that time
the principal church of the parish was on Curle's plantation, on the
north side of the James, some miles below the present city of
Richmond. Curle's church disappeared during the Civil War. The bowl of
the baptismal font in St. John's Church, Richmond, is a relic of the
old church. This was removed from the cellar of a house where it had
been in use for beating hominy.

Steps were taken in 1737 to build the present St. John's Church,
because of the increase of population in Richmond. The first action
was recorded as follows:

      "At a Vestry held at Curls Church for Henrico parish ye 8th
      day of October Anno Dom. 1737 for laying ye parish Levey--

      "The Vestry do agree to build a Church on the most convenient
      place at or near Thomas Williamsons in this parish to be
      Sixty feet in Length and Twenty-five in Breadth and fourteen
      feet pitch to be finished in a plain Manner After the Moddle
      of Curls Church. And it is ordered that the Clerk do Set up
      Advertisements of the particular parts of the Said Building
      and of the time and place of undertaking the Same.... It is
      ordered that the Collector do receive of every Tithable
      person in this parish five pounds of Tobacco after the Usual
      deduction to be apply'd towards building the New Church at
      Williamsons."

At a later meeting the location and the dimensions of the church were
changed. Richmond was decided on, and it was stated that "Richard
Randolph Gent undertakes the Said Building and engages to finish the
Same by the Tenth day of June, which Shall be in the year of our Lord
1741; for which the Vestry agrees to pay him the Sum of L317 10s.
Current Money to be paid by the amount of the Sale of Twenty thousand
pounds of Tob'o Annually to be Levyd on the parish and Sold here for
Money till the whole payment be compleat."

There is no record of the completion of the building, but probably it
was finished at the appointed time. Since that date various additions
have been made, yet it is possible to trace the lines of the original
structure. The original pews are still in use, though they have been
lowered. The hinges of the pew doors are handwrought. The wainscoting
and the window sashes are those first put in. The original
weather-boarding is still in place. It is fastened by nails whose
heads are half an inch broad.

For the new church there were imported from England:

      "One Parsons Surples, a Pulpit Cushen and Cloth, two cloths
      for Reading Desks, a Communion Table Cloth, and a Dozen of
      Cushens--to be of good Purple Cloth, and the Surples good
      Hollond, also Large Bible and four large Prayer Books."

An entry in the vestry book on December 17, 1773, shows that the
rector, Mr. Selden, received as salary 17,150 pounds of tobacco, worth
L125. The clerk of the parish received 1,789 pounds of tobacco, or L13
10s., the sexton had 536 pounds, or L3.10s.7d.

Selden was chaplain of the Virginia Convention which met in the church
March 20, 1775. At the closing session of this convention Patrick
Henry "flashed the electric spark, which exploded the country in
revolution," as Burton says in his history of Henrico Parish. This was
the speech that closed:

      "Gentlemen may cry peace, peace, but there is no peace. The
      war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the
      north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!
      Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand here idle?
      What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life
      so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price
      of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not
      what course others may take, but as for me, Give me liberty,
      or give me death."

Dr. Burton says that the orator "stood, according to tradition, near
the present corner of the east transept and the nave, or more exactly,
in pew 47, in the east aisle of the nave.... He faced the eastern wall
of the transept, where were the two windows. In the more northern of
these stood Colonel Edward Carrington. He broke the silence that
followed the orator's burning words with the exclamation, 'Right here
I wish to be buried!'"

When the British took possession of Richmond in 1781, St. John's
Church became a barracks for Arnold's men. And some of them stood on
the spot where Patrick Henry spoke the words that had such large part
in stirring up the people to drive all British soldiers from the
Colonies.

After the close of the war the diocese of Virginia was reorganized in
the building, and plans were laid to overcome the difficulties that
would soon come through the loss of the property of the Protestant
Episcopal Church, which led Edmund Randolph, later Governor of
Virginia and Secretary of State in Washington's Cabinet, to speak the
famous words:

      "Of what is the Church now possessed? Nothing but the glebes
      and your affections."

That the affections of the people are a better dependence than rich
endowments in money has been shown by the later history of the church,
the parish, and the diocese.


  [Illustration: NELSON HOUSE, YORKTOWN, VA.
   _Photo by H. P. Cook_
   See page 270]

LIX

THE NELSON HOUSE AND THE MOORE HOUSE, YORKTOWN, VIRGINIA

MADE MEMORABLE BY THE BATTLE OF YORKTOWN AND THE SURRENDER OF
CORNWALLIS

One day in 1740 a baby a little more than one year old, whose name was
Thomas Nelson, stood by the side of his father, William Nelson, as the
father was about to lay the foundation of his new home in York,
Virginia. The babe had been stationed there that the brick for the
corner might be placed in the little hands; then it could be said in
later years that the babe had helped in the exercises of the day. The
little fellow became a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, a
General in the Revolutionary War, and Governor of Virginia.

William Nelson was a merchant, who had invested his savings in land
and had become quite wealthy. When his son was fourteen years old he
was able to send him to Cambridge, England, to be educated. Nine years
later the young man married Lucy Grymes of Brandon, and took up his
residence in the house whose foundation he had helped to lay.

For many years the home of the young people was noted for the
hospitality shown there. Whenever the owner could leave his guests, he
rode to his plantation near town. He kept a pack of hounds, which were
frequently employed in fox hunting.

When discontent against England became pronounced, he was a leader of
the patriots. He was a member of the House of Burgesses of 1774 which
was dissolved by Lord Dunmore because of the passage of a resolution
against the Boston Port Bill, and he was one of the eighty-nine men
who met next day at a tavern and took action that led to the first
Continental Congress.

On July 17, when the Convention of Virginia delegates gathered in
Richmond decided to raise three regiments for home defence, Patrick
Henry was named as commander of the first while Nelson was put in
charge of the second.

He was among the patriots who sat in the Continental Congress of 1775,
1776, and 1777, and his name was signed to the Declaration of
Independence. On August 16, 1777, he retired from public service
because of failing health, but when, a little later, the Governor of
Virginia, fearing the approach of the British fleet, asked him to
serve as brigadier general and commander-in-chief of the forces of the
State, he agreed, on condition that he be excused from accepting
payment for his services.

During the siege of Yorktown he was at the head of the militia. The
sketch of his life as given by Sanderson in the "Biography of the
Signers," says: "During the siege, observing his own house uninjured
by the artillery of the American batteries he inquired the cause. A
respect for his property, was assigned. Nelson ... requested that the
artillerists would not spare his house more than any other, especially
as he knew it to be occupied by the principal officers of the British
Army. Two pieces were accordingly pointed against it. The first shot
went through the house and killed two ... officers.... Other balls
soon dislodged the hostile tenants." It is said that Nelson gave ten
guineas reward to the man who fired the first shot.

Again Thomas Nelson responded to the call of his State when in June,
1781, he became Governor, succeeding Thomas Jefferson. Four months
after the beginning of his term as chief executive of the State,
George Washington, in general orders, said:

      "The General would be guilty of the highest ingratitude, a
      crime of which he hopes he shall never be accused, if he
      forgot to return his sincere acknowledgments to his
      excellency governor Nelson, for the succours which he
      received from him and the militia under his command, to whose
      activity, emulation, and bravery, the highest praises are
      due. The magnitude of the acquisition will be ample
      compensation for the difficulties and dangers which they met
      with so much firmness and patriotism."

Nelson's term as Governor was shortened by ill health. In November,
1781, he was compelled to resign.

But he was not permitted to rest. Attacks were made on him for certain
courses taken during his term as Governor. When he asked and was given
permission to defend himself before the State delegates, he was
triumphantly acquitted of all blame. On December 31, 1781, this action
was recorded:

      "An act to indemnify THOMAS NELSON, JUNIOR, Esquire, late
      governor of this commonwealth, and to legalize certain acts
      of his administration. Whereas, upon examination, it appears
      that previous to and during the siege of York, Thomas Nelson,
      Esquire, late governor of this commonwealth, was compelled by
      the peculiar circumstances of the state and army, to perform
      many acts of government without the advice of the council of
      state, for the purpose of procuring subsistence for the
      allied army under the command of his excellency general
      Washington; be it enacted that all such acts of government,
      evidently productive of general good, and warranted by
      necessity, be judged and held of the same validity, and the
      like proceedings be had on them as if they had been executed
      by and with the advice of the council, and with all the
      formality prescribed by law. And be it enacted that the said
      Thomas Nelson, jr., Esquire, be and he hereby is in the
      fullest manner indemnified and exonerated from all penalties
      and dangers which might have accrued to him from the same."

Nelson lived more than seven years after this act approving his
emergency actions. But three years were spent in comparative poverty.
Most of his property was sold to satisfy the debts incurred by paying
two regiments out of his own pocket, and by going security, with the
State, for two million dollars needed to carry on the war. Sanderson
says of these acts of generosity:

      "He had spent a princely fortune in his country's service;
      his horses had been taken from the plough, and sent to drag
      the munitions of war; his granaries had been thrown open to a
      starving soldiery, and his ample purse had been drained to
      its last dollar, when the credit of Virginia could not bring
      a sixpence into her treasury. Yet it was the widow of this
      man who, beyond eighty years of age, blind, infirm, and poor,
      had yet to learn whether republics can be grateful."

On the simple gravestone in Yorktown, erected to the memory of the
patriot, is this eloquent inscription:

     Thomas Nelson,
     Governor of Virginia.
     He Gave All for Liberty.

Not far from the grave is another historic house that should be named
with the Nelson house. This is the Moore house, on Temple farm, then
less than a mile from Yorktown. In this house, which was built in
1713, the terms of the surrender of Cornwallis were drawn up. It was
once the summer home of the colonial governor, Alexander Spottswood.


LX

THE JOHN MARSHALL HOUSE, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

WHERE THE CHIEF JUSTICE CARED FOR HIS WIFE AND ENTERTAINED HIS FRIENDS

An old book, "Richmond in By Gone Days," says that John Marshall was
noted in Richmond for his unpretending manner. "His dress was plain
even to negligence. He marketed for himself and might be seen at an
early hour returning home with a pair of fowls, or a basket of eggs in
his hand, not with ostentatious humility, but for mere convenience."

It is related by Flanders that Marshall "was one morning strolling
through the streets of Richmond, attired in a plain linen roundabout
and shorts, with his hat under his arm, from which he was eating
cherries, when he stopped in the porch of the Eagle Hotel, indulged in
some little pleasantry with the landlord, and then passed on." Just
then a man from the country, who wished a lawyer to appear for him in
court, was referred by the landlord to Marshall, as the best advocate
he could have, but the countryman declined to have anything to do with
the careless young man. In court he asked the clerk for a lawyer, and
was once more recommended to take John Marshall. Again he refused.
Just then a dignified old man in powdered wig and black coat entered.
He was at once engaged, on his appearance. After a time the
inferiority of the black-coated lawyer was so apparent that the
countryman sought Marshall, told him of the mistake he had made, said
that he had left but five dollars of the one hundred dollars he had
set aside for lawyers' fees, and asked Marshall if he would assist on
the case. The lawyer laughingly agreed.

In 1781, when Marshall was twenty-five years old, he walked from
Virginia to Philadelphia, to be inoculated for smallpox. "He walked at
the rate of thirty-five miles a day. On his arrival, such was his
shabby appearance, that he was refused admission into one of the
hotels; his long beard, and worn-out garments, probably suggesting the
idea that his purse was not adequate to his entertainment. And this in
the city which had seen much of the young man's heroic services during
the Revolution!"

Before the close of the war, while visiting his father, Colonel
Marshall, who was the commanding officer at Yorktown, Virginia, he met
Mary Willis Ambler, a daughter of Jacqueline Ambler, the treasurer of
Virginia. "She was just fourteen years of age at the time, and it is
stated to have been a case of love at first sight." Even when Marshall
called to see her he was not prepossessing in appearance, yet he was
well received, "notwithstanding his slouched hat, and negligent and
awkward dress," for his amiable manners, fine talents, and especially
his love for poetry, which he read to them with deep pathos, led them
to forget his dress.

The young people were married on January 3, 1783. After paying the fee
of the minister, the groom's sole remaining fortune was a guinea!

Mrs. Marshall was for many years a nervous invalid. Bishop Meade says,
"The least noise was sometimes agony to her whole frame, and his
perpetual endeavor was to keep the house and yard and out-houses from
the slightest cause of distressing her; walking himself at times about
the house and yard without shoes." The attitude of the people of
Richmond to the husband and wife is shown by the fact that "on one
occasion, when she was in her most distressing state, the town
authorities manifested their great respect for him and sympathy for
her, by having either the town clock or town bell muffled."

On his marriage John Marshall took his wife to one of the best houses
then available in the village of Richmond, a two-room frame building.
In 1789 he bought two acres of ground on Shockoe Hill, and here, in
1793, he built a nine-room brick house. One of the rooms was a large
apartment, in which he gave his famous "lawyer dinners."

When Marshall was not in Washington, he lived in this comfortable
house, which was near the home of his father-in-law. He had also a
farm a few miles from Richmond. Bishop Meade says that one morning,
between daybreak and sunrise, he met Marshall on horseback. He had a
bag of clover seed lying before him, which he was carrying to his
farm.

An English traveller who spent a week in Richmond in 1835 gave his
impression of the Richmond home:

      "The house is small, and more humble in appearance than those
      of the average of successful lawyers and merchants. I called
      there three times upon him; there is no bell to the door.
      Once I turned the handle of it and walked in unannounced; on
      the other two occasions he had seen me coming, and had lifted
      the latch and received me at the door, although he was at the
      time suffering from severe contusions received in the stage
      while travelling on the road from Fredericksburg to
      Richmond."

Chief Justice Marshall frequently attended the Monumental Church. The
narrow pews troubled him, for he was quite tall. "Not finding room
enough for his whole body within the pew, he used to take his seat
nearest the door of his pew, and, throwing it open, let his legs
stretch a little into the aisle."

The death of his wife was a great grief to him. "Never can I cease to
feel the loss and to deplore it," he wrote on December 25, 1832, the
anniversary of her death. "Grief for her is too sacred ever to be
profaned on this day, which shall be, during my existence, marked by a
recollection of her virtues."

He survived Mrs. Marshall less than five years. In June, 1835, he went
to Dr. Physic in Philadelphia, seeking relief for a disability that
had been aggravated by the road accident of which the English visitor
wrote, as already quoted. There he died, July 6, 1835. On July 4 he
wrote the inscription which he wished placed above his grave:

      "John Marshall, son of Thomas and Mary Marshall, was born on
      the 24th of September, 1755, intermarried with Mary Willis
      Ambler the 3rd of January, 1783, departed this life the ----
      day of ---- 18 ---- ."

The Marshall house is now in possession of the Society for the
Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, having been purchased a few
years ago from the Misses Harvie, the granddaughters of Chief Justice
Marshall. They had lived in the house until they sold it to the city
of Richmond.


  [Illustration: WESTOVER ON THE JAMES, VIRGINIA
   _Photo by H. P. Cook_
   See page 278]

LXI

FIVE OLD HOUSES OF TIDEWATER, VIRGINIA

SABINE HALL, WESTOVER, SHIRLEY, BRANDON, AND CARTER'S GROVE

The five houses mentioned briefly in this chapter are noteworthy, not
only because of their beauty, but because the stories of those who
lived in them show how the leading families of old Virginia
intermarried until the various relationships became a puzzle that
delights the genealogist.

On the Rappahannock, in Richmond County, Virginia, Landon Carter, son
of Robert ("King") Carter, the ancestor of the Carter family of
Virginia, built Sabine Hall in 1730. He was a great lover of the works
of Horace, and it was quite natural that he should adopt for his
mansion the name of the Roman poet's Sabine Farm.

Until his death in 1778 he was a recognized leader in both Church and
State. Robert A. Lancaster quotes an unnamed writer who says that he
was "a high-minded public servant and a finished scholar, indulging a
taste for science and a love for letters," and was considered "one of
the most notable of the pre-Revolutionary statesmen of the Colony,"
and was "looked up to by the younger generation as a Nestor among his
compatriots." He was a friend of Washington, and received many letters
from him, some of which have been preserved.

Landon Carter's second wife was Maria Byrd, of Westover. Her portrait,
as well as those of the other two wives, the husband and "King"
Carter, are hanging to-day on the walls of Sabine Hall. The estate of
four thousand acres descended to his son by his third marriage with
Elizabeth Beale, Robert Wormeley Carter, who was a member of the
Virginia Assembly. The property is still in the possession of the
descendants of the original owner.

Westover, where Landon Carter courted Maria Byrd, is on the James in
Charles City County, not far south of Sabine Hall. The mansion was
built in the same year as Sabine Hall, 1730, by William Byrd, II,
whose father came from England about 1674.

William Byrd, of Westover, was famous as a literary man and as a
statesman. At one time he was President of His Majesty's Council. But
perhaps his greatest fame came to him because he was the father of
Evelyn Byrd, who was a reigning belle. When, at the age of eighteen,
she was presented at Court, it was reported that the king of England
complimented her by saying he was glad Virginia could produce such
"beautiful Byrds."

Evelyn's brother, William Byrd, III, was the heir of the estate. He
married Elizabeth Hill Carter, of Shirley, a neighboring estate. He
was a member of the Virginia Council and attained distinction by his
service as a colonel in the French and Indian War.

During the siege of Yorktown some of the French officers made frequent
visits to Westover. One of them, Marquis de Chastellux, said that
this was the most beautiful place in America.

Two armies have halted at Westover. In April, 1781, Cornwallis passed
that way, and, during the Civil War McClellan's army camped on the
grounds. A war-time picture shows something of the havoc wrought by
the soldiers.

When Elizabeth Hill Carter, of Shirley, came to Westover, she gave up
one beautiful home for another. Her father's Charles City County
mansion was probably built late in the seventeenth century, though the
exact date is not known. One of the estate's claims to distinction is
that it has never been offered for sale. Colonel Edward Hill, the
builder, Colonel Edward Hill, II, his son, and Colonel Edward Hill,
III, his grandson, were leaders in the life of the county. At the
death of Colonel Hill, III, his sister, Elizabeth Hill, became heir to
the estate. She married John Carter, of Corotoman, son of Robert
("King") Carter, who was Secretary of the Colony. It was his daughter
who married William Byrd, III, of Westover. Her brother, Charles
Carter, who was a patriot of prominence, was the father-in-law of
Light Horse Harry Lee, and the grandfather of General Robert E. Lee.

Carter's Grove, another seat of the Carter family, is also on the
James, in Charles City County, not far from Shirley. The builder was
Carter Burwell, and the house dates from 1751. The work was done by
slaves, under the direction of a foreman who received L140 for his
work. In the construction of the house 25,000 feet of lumber, 40,000
shingles, 15,000 laths, and 460,000 bricks were used. The total cost
was only L500.

Carter Burwell was the son of Elizabeth, daughter of Robert ("King")
Carter, who married Colonel Nathaniel Burwell.

Across the James, in Prince George County, is Brandon, whose builder
was Nathaniel Harrison. The house dates from early in the eighteenth
century. His son, also Nathaniel Harrison, married, as his second
wife, Lucy the daughter of Robert ("King") Carter of Corotoman.
Benjamin Harrison, the son by the first wife, Mary Digges, married
Evelyn Taylor Byrd, of Westover. When she went to Brandon she took
with her the Byrd portraits, which are to-day one of the attractions
of the mansion.

Brandon has always been in the possession of descendants of the
original owner.


  [Illustration: GUNSTON HALL ON THE POTOMAC, VIRGINIA
   _Photo by H. P. Cook_
   See page 281]

LXII

GUNSTON HALL, VIRGINIA

THE HOME OF GEORGE MASON, "THE PEN OF THE REVOLUTION IN VIRGINIA"

Four miles from Mt. Vernon, on the Potomac, is the well-preserved
mansion, Gunston Hall, built in 1758 by George Mason, the
great-grandson of George Mason, who fled to America after the Battle
of Worcester, where he was in arms against the king of England. The
first mention of the name of this George Mason occurs in the Virginia
patent of land which he secured in March, 1655.

George Washington and George Mason were not only near neighbors, but
they were warm friends. Frequently Washington drove to Gunston Hall
for a talk with Mason; or sometimes he floated down the stream in his
four-oared gig, manned by his own slaves. Sometimes the men roamed
together through the woods or the fields; on one of these walks they
sought to define the boundaries between their estates.

Gifts of various kinds passed back and forth between the two manors;
one day in 1785, when Mason was driven from Mt. Vernon in Washington's
carriage, he sent back by the driver some young shoots of the Persian
jessamine and Guelder rose.

A few days later a hogshead of cider was broached at Gunston Hall, and
a liberal sample was sent to Washington. A note dated "9th November,
1785," addressed to Washington, begins, "The bearer waits on you with
a side of venison (the first we have killed this season), which I beg
your acceptance of."

At one time both Washington and Mason were members of the vestry of
Truro parish. Washington's list of the vestrymen shows that his friend
was elected by two hundred and eighty-two votes, while he himself
received but fifty-one votes.

Mason was as often at Mt. Vernon as Washington was at Gunston Hall.
After a visit made on Christmas Day, 1783, one of the other guests,
Miss Lewis, of Fredericksburg, wrote:

      "Among the most notable of the callers was Mr. George Mason,
      of Gunston Hall, who was on his way home from Alexandria, and
      who brought a charming granddaughter with him.... He is said
      to be one of the greatest statesmen and wisest men in
      Virginia. We had heard much of him and were delighted to look
      in his face, hear him speak, and take his hand, which he
      offered in a courtly manner. He is slight in figure, but
      not tall, and has a grand head and clear gray eyes."

To the home of George Mason other men of note delighted to come. In
the guest room Jefferson and Richard Henry Lee, as well as Washington,
slept more than once. Patrick Henry, too, was a welcome visitor at
Gunston Hall. George Mason had as high an opinion of the orator as
Patrick Henry had of the statesman. "He is by far the most powerful
speaker I ever heard," Mason once said of Henry; "every word he says
not only engages but commands the attention; and your passions are no
longer your own when he addresses them. But his eloquence is the
smallest part of his merit. He is in my opinion the first man upon
this continent, as well in abilities as public virtues, and had he
lived in Rome about the time of the first Punic War, when the Roman
people had arrived at their meridian glory and their virtue not
tarnished, Mr. Henry's talents must have put him at the head of that
glorious commonwealth."

The orator returned the compliment by calling Mason one of the two
greatest statesmen he ever knew.

George Mason's statesmanlike vision was seen in 1766, when he warned
the British public of the results that would follow coercion. "Three
millions of people driven to desperation are not an object of
contempt," he wrote. Again he proved a good prophet when he wrote to
George Washington, on April 2, 1776, after the General took possession
of Boston:

      "I congratulate you most heartily upon this glorious and
      important event--an event which will render George
      Washington's name immortal in the annals of America, endear
      his memory to the latest posterity, and entitle him to those
      thanks which heaven appointed as the reward of public
      virtue."

Mason was of a retiring disposition, and he would have preferred to
remain at home. But he was forced into the councils of the Virginia
Convention, and during his service there he prepared the marvellous
Bill of Rights which was later made a part of the Constitution of that
State and was the model for similar documents in many other States. He
was also the author of the Constitution of Virginia, and the designer
of the State seal. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention in
Philadelphia, where he proved himself "the champion of the State and
the author of the doctrine of State Rights." Because the Constitution
as finally drafted by the convention contained so many provisions that
he felt were dangerous, he refused to sign the document, "declaring
that he would sooner chop off his right hand than put it to the
Constitution" whose provisions he could not approve.

After the Constitutional Convention for more than four years the
statesman lived quietly at Gunston Hall. When he died in October,
1792, he asked to be buried by the side of his first wife, whose death
in 1773 had been a grievous blow to him. Over her tomb he had
inscribed:

     "Once She was all that cheers and sweetens Life;
     The tender Mother, Daughter, Friend and Wife:
     Once She was all that makes Mankind adore;
     Now view the Marble, and be vain no more."

No monument was ever raised over his own grave. A grandson planned to
set a stone inscribed to "The Author of the Bill of Rights and the
Constitution of Virginia," but he was unable to do as he wished.

Gunston Hall still stands, though it has passed through many hands
since the death of him whom George Esten Cooke called "one of the most
remarkable men, not only of his Country, and of his epoch, but of all
Countries and all time."


  [Illustration: WASHINGTON COLLEGE BUILDING, LEXINGTON, VA.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 285]

LXIII

THE WASHINGTON COLLEGE BUILDING, LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA

HOW GEORGE WASHINGTON SOLVED A DELICATE PROBLEM

Even before the treaty of peace with Great Britain was signed, George
Washington was making plans for the development of the West. He was
especially impressed with the possibilities of the Potomac and James
rivers, if improved by canals, as a means of communication with the
Ohio. Companies were organized to the work. In both enterprises he was
a stockholder. On August 13, 1785, he wrote to Edmund Randolph:

      "The great object for the accomplishment of which I wish to
      see the inland navigation of the River Potomack and James
      improved and extended is to connect the western territory
      with the Atlantic states.... I have already subscribed five
      shares to the Potomack navigation; and enclosed I give you a
      power to put my name down for five shares to that of James
      River."

In 1785 Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia, wrote to Washington that
the General Assembly of the State had voted to give him one hundred
shares in the James River Company, "it being their wish, in
particular, that those great works of improvement, which, both as
springing from the liberty which he has been so instrumental in
establishing, and as encouraged by his patronage, will be durable
monuments of his glory, may be made monuments also of the gratitude of
his country."

Washington replied that he could not accept money for his services to
his country. Then he added: "But if it should please the General
Assembly to permit me to turn the destination of the fund vested in
me, from my private emolument, to objects of a public nature, it will
be my study in selecting these to prove the sincerity of my gratitude
for the honor conferred on me, by preferring such as may appear most
subservient to the enlightened and patriotic views of the
legislature."

Of course the legislature granted the desired permission, indicating
that the gifts might be made either during Washington's life, or by
bequest.

Some years passed before Washington fixed on a proper recipient for
the canal shares. In 1798, however, he gave them to the trustees of
Liberty Academy, at Lexington, Virginia, which had been incorporated
in 1782. In recognition of the gift the trustees asked the legislature
to change the name of the school to Washington Academy. In 1813 the
name was once more changed to Washington College.

This, the first large gift received by the institution, is still
yielding an income of three thousand dollars. During many times of
crisis the income provided in this way has been of signal use to the
institution, notably in 1824, when the Washington College building was
begun. This structure is two hundred and fifty feet long, is built of
brick, and each of its three porticoes is supported by white colonial
columns.

For more than seventy-five years after Washington turned over the
canal shares, the institution's sole endowment amounted to only about
one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. The seventy thousand dollars
added to the canal shares came from sources that were influenced by
Washington's confidence in the institution.

The beginning of the larger life of the college was the election of
General Robert E. Lee as president. The keynote of his five years of
service was sounded in the letter which he wrote to the trustees on
receiving notification of his election. He feared that, in view of his
military history, he might cause harm to the college. He was never
greater than when he said:

      "I think it is the duty of every citizen, in the present
      condition of the country, to do all in his power to aid in
      the restoration of peace and harmony, and in no way to oppose
      the policy of the State or General Government directed to
      that object. It is particularly incumbent upon those charged
      with the instruction of the young to set them an example of
      submission to authority, and I would not consent to be the
      cause of animadversion on the College."

Following the death of General Lee, which came after five years of
remarkable development under his leadership, the name of Washington
College was changed to Washington and Lee University, that it might
continue forever a memorial to its two greatest benefactors.


  [Illustration: BRUTON PARISH CHURCH, WILLIAMSBURG, VA.
   _Photo by H. P. Cook_
   See page 288]

LXIV

BRUTON PARISH CHURCH, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA

"THE COURT CHURCH OF COLONIAL VIRGINIA"

Jamestown was the capital of Virginia until 1699. Then Williamsburg
became the seat of government. Six years earlier the latter town had
taken on some importance because of the founding there of William and
Mary College, and for more than sixty years efforts had been made to
persuade the people to make their homes in the place. The records of
the Colony show that in 1632 rewards were offered to those who would
locate in what seemed a promising situation for a town.

The date of the building of the first church in Williamsburg is not
known. The first entry in the vestry book of Bruton parish was made in
April, 1674, but the parish dates from 1658. In that year Harrop and
Middle Plantation parishes were united, though the new parish was not
called Bruton for some time. The name was given because Sir James
Ludwell, who afterward left a legacy of twenty pounds to the parish,
was born in Bruton, England.

A building (that it was not the first is shown by the mention in the
records of the Old Church) was completed in 1683, and the first
service was held on January 6, 1684. The cost was "L150 sterling and
sixty thousand pounds of good sound, marketable sweet, scented
Tobacco." The minister, "Mr. Rowland Jones," was "paid annually ye
sum of sixteen thousand, six hundred and sixty pounds of Tobacco and
Caske."

The removal of the capital to Williamsburg brought so many new people
to town that the church became too small for the congregation. In 1701
the parish records show that there was talk of a new building.

On October 1, 1706, the vestry decided to levy a tax of twenty
thousand pounds of Tobacco as a beginning of the building fund. Four
years later the members of the vestry made known their hope that the
House of Burgesses would assist in the expense, which, they thought,
would be about five hundred pounds. To the Burgesses a message was
sent indicating that the vestry "do not doubt in the least but the
House of Burgesses would show their Pious and Generous Spirits by
their Liberall Donation towards soe Necessary and good a worke and
that they would assure them to the best of their Judgment they would
appropriate the same according to the true Intent thereof."

The Burgesses offered "to take Care of the wings and intervening
parts," if the vestry would build the ends of the church. They also
agreed to build the pews for the Governor, the Council, and
themselves. With their help, the building was completed and occupied
in 1715. The tower was added in 1769.

Rev. James Blair, who was minister of Bruton parish at the time of the
erection of the new building, had been instrumental in organizing
William and Mary College. The early history of that institution is
bound up with that of the church. Some of the most notable conflicts
between Church and State in the old Colony took place during the years
of Mr. Blair's activity. He died in 1743, after serving the church as
minister for thirty-three years, William and Mary College as
President for fifty years, and the Colony as Commissioner for
fifty-three years.

Among the famous names on the vestry rolls are those of Henry Tyler,
great-great-grandfather of President Tyler, who was first mentioned on
"The Seaventh day of April, 1694," and George Wythe, one of the
Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Patrick Henry, and George
Washington later worshipped with the congregation.

When Virginia was about to go to war with Great Britain, the House of
Burgesses, on May 24, 1774, ordered that "the members of the House do
attend in their places, at the hour of ten in the morning, on the
first day of June next, in order to proceed with the Speaker and the
mace, to the church," for fasting, humiliation, and prayer. During the
Revolution the members of the church were noted for their loyalty to
the Colonies.

To-day the building is about as it was during the troubled days of the
war. No change has been made in the exterior, but in 1839 the interior
was changed in many important particulars. In 1905, however, it was
restored as before. The pulpit was put in the old place. The canopy
and curtain which had long stood above the pew of Governor Spotswood,
were found and again put in position. King Edward VII gave the new
pulpit Bible, and President Roosevelt provided the lectern.


LXV

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA

THE ALMA MATER OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, JAMES MONROE, AND JOHN TYLER

Three years before John Harvard left a legacy for the founding of the
college that bears his name, the first bequest for public education
made by a resident of Virginia was recorded, though this was used for
a secondary school, rather than for a college.

The project of a college, proposed in 1617 and 1618 by the London
Company, and in 1619 at the first session of the General Assembly,
languished until 1685, when Rev. James Blair came to the Colony as a
missionary and settled in Henrico County, where it had been proposed
to found the college sixty-eight years earlier. For five years he
brooded over the need of a college and in 1690 he made to a convention
at Jamestown "Severall Propositions for a free school and college, to
be humbly presented to the consideration of the next general
assembly." Later, by authority of the Assembly, Dr. Blair appealed to
the Merchants of London, "especially such as traffick with Virginia,"
and three thousand pounds were pledged.

On the occasion of Dr. Blair's visit to England in 1691, he had an
audience with King William, at which he presented the petition for "a
charter to erect a free school and college." The king replied, "Sir, I
am glad that the Colony is upon so good a design, and will promote it
to the best of my power." Queen Mary also showed her interest in the
college.

To the endowment in lands and taxes provided by royal order, Dr. Blair
secured an appreciable addition in an ingenious manner. Learning that,
some time before his arrival, the authorities had promised forgiveness
to pirates who, before a set day, should confess their crimes and give
up a portion of their booty, and that three famous pirates had come in
after the appointed day, so that they were arrested, he visited them
in jail and offered to use his influence in their behalf, if they
would consent to give to the college a portion of their booty. They
gladly agreed; Dr. Blair's efforts were successful, and they were
given their liberty together with their treasure, minus the promised
gift to the Virginia College. Another much larger gift was secured
from the executor of an estate which held money devised indefinitely
for "pious and charitable uses." The income from this portion of the
endowment was to be used "to keep as many Indian children in meat,
drink, washing, clothes, medicine, books and education, from the first
beginning of letters till they should be ready to receive orders and
be sent abroad to convert the Indians."

In connection with the charter for "the College of William and Mary,"
which was dated February 8, 1693, authority was given to use the seal
described as follows: "On a green field a college building of silver,
with a golden sun, showing half its orb, rising above it." This is
said to be the sole instance of a college, either English or American,
which has a seal of such high origin.

Sir Christopher Wren, the designer of St. Paul's Cathedral, made the
plan for the original building, which was to be two stories and a half
high, one hundred and thirty-six feet long, and forty feet wide, and
with two wings sixty feet long and twenty-five feet wide. In 1697 it
was reported to the governor of the province that the front and north
side of the proposed rectangle had been completed at Williamsburg, and
that funds were exhausted. The walls were more than three feet thick
at the base, and contained 840,000 bricks, the product of a brickyard
nearby.

For some years subscriptions were paid slowly, and interest in the
college languished, but conditions improved when King William sent to
Governor Nicholson a proclamation urging him "Yt you call upon ye
persons yt have promised to contribute towards ye maintenance of ye
sd college, to pay in full the severall Contributions."

The first of the disasters that have visited the main building came in
1705, when the interior was burned. The college was rebuilt on the old
walls, as was the case after the fire of 1859. Thus, after much more
than two hundred years, the venerable building looks almost as it did
when the first students entered its doors. A number of other
structures have been erected since, including the Brafferton building
in 1723, the house now occupied by the president, which dates from
1732, and the chapel, begun in 1729. Interest must always centre about
the central structure, however.

During the Revolution the president was James Madison, second cousin
of the future President of the United States. The president's house
was occupied by Cornwallis in 1781. After his surrender French
officers lived there. During their occupancy the house was badly
damaged by fire, but it was repaired at the expense of the French
Army.

Three events of the years of the war are of special moment in the
history of higher education in America. On December 5, 1776, the Phi
Beta Kappa Society, the first intercollegiate fraternity in the United
States, was organized. On December 4, 1779, the college was made a
university, the first in the country, and the same year marked the
beginning of the Honor System of college government which worked such
a revolution in other colleges more than a century later. When Thomas
Jefferson, who was a student at William and Mary in 1760-62, founded
the University of Virginia, the Honor System was successfully
inaugurated in the new institution.

Other famous men who have been connected with William and Mary
included George Washington, who was chancellor in 1794; Chief Justice
John Marshall, student in 1779; Secretary of State Edmund Randolph,
student in 1766; James Monroe, student in 1775. John Tyler was also
educated there. It is a remarkable fact that the presidents who are
responsible for adding to the original territory of the country
Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and most of the western territory, were
products of William and Mary.


  [Illustration: MONUMENTAL CHURCH, RICHMOND, VA.
   _Photo by H. P. Cook_
   See page 294]

LXVI

THE MONUMENTAL CHURCH, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

ON THE SITE OF A THEATRE WHOSE BURNING MOVED THE ENTIRE COUNTRY

      "Last night the playhouse in this city was crowded with an
      unusual audience. There could not have been less than 600
      persons in the house. Just before the conclusion of the
      play, the scenery caught fire, and in a few minutes the whole
      building was wrapt in flames. It is already ascertained that
      61 persons were devoured by that most terrific element. The
      Editor of this paper was in the house when the
      ever-to-be-remembered, deplorable accident occurred. He is
      informed that the scenery took fire in the back part of the
      house, by raising of a chandelier; that the boy, who was
      ordered by some of the players to raise it, stated, that if
      he did so, the scenery would take fire, when he was commanded
      in a peremptory manner, to hoist it. The boy obeyed, and the
      fire was instantly communicated to the scenery."

This story the editor of the Richmond (Virginia) _American Standard_
told in the columns of his paper on Friday, December 27, 1811. He
added the fact that among those who perished were the Governor of the
State, as well as many of the leaders in the business and social life
of the city.

By order of the city council the remains of the victims were buried on
the site of the burned building, which was bought for the purpose. At
the same time it was ordered that "no person or persons should be
permitted for and during the time of four months ... to exhibit any
public show or spectacle ... within the city."

By ordinance it was also decreed that a monument should be erected on
the site. Later it was suggested that there should be built there, by
public subscription, "an edifice to be set apart and consecrated for
the worship of God," and that this should be the monument.

Accordingly, on August 1, 1812, the corner stone of the Monumental
Church was laid, the lot having been purchased by the city for $5,000.
The building was consecrated as a Protestant Episcopal church in May,
1814. In April, 1815, the subscribers to the fund for the building,
who had organized under the title, "The Association for building a
Church on Shockoe Hill," were notified that one-half of their
subscription money would be returned to them on application at the
Bank of Virginia.

In the middle of the front or main porch of the church a white marble
monument was erected to the memory of the victims of the fire.

To the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal church, which
assembled in Philadelphia on May 18, 1814, report was made that "a
magnificent church has sprung up in Richmond from the ashes of the
Theatre; it has the patronage and support of men of the greatest
talents and highest rank in Virginia."

Among the communicants of the Monumental Church have been numbered
many of the most prominent men in the Virginia capital, and men famous
in the early history of the country were attendants from time to time.
In February, 1824, General Lafayette worshipped in the building.


LXVII

MONTPELIER, ORANGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA

THE LIFELONG HOME OF JAMES MADISON

James Madison was born at the residence of his mother's parents, at
Port Conway, Prince George County, Virginia, but before long he was
taken to his father's house, Montpelier, which was the first brick
house built in Orange County. And Montpelier continued to be his home
to the day of his death. Much of his life was spent in Washington, but
his heart was always turning to the old Virginia plantation where he
had spent his boyhood, and he took advantage of every possible
opportunity to go there for a longer or shorter visit.

The distance to Shadwell, where Thomas Jefferson lived as a boy, was
only thirty miles, but these two who were to have such a large place
in the early history of America, did not meet until Madison was
seventeen years old. Then lost time was made up. For many years the
road between Montpelier and the home of Jefferson became quite
familiar to the friends.

In the years before he went to college Madison roamed at will over the
twenty-five hundred acres of the Montpelier estate. He walked and
rode, he hunted and fished, he learned to take delight in the quiet
scenery of that beautiful Blue Ridge country. His tutor, who lived on
the estate, was his companion on his expeditions.

It was probably due to this outdoor life that his health was so much
better in Virginia than it was at the College of New Jersey (Princeton
College). Soon after he graduated in 1771 he returned to Montpelier,
somewhat broken by reason of overwork and lack of exercise. To a
college friend in Philadelphia he wrote rather pessimistically:

      "I am too tired and infirm now to look for extraordinary
      things in this world, for I think my sensations for many
      months have intimated to me not to expect a long or a healthy
      life, though it may be better for me after some time; but I
      hardly dare expect it, and therefore have little spirit or
      elasticity to set about anything that is difficult in
      acquiring and useless in possessing after one has exchanged
      time for eternity."

He was right in thinking that he was not to have a healthy life, but
he was wrong in thinking it was to be neither long nor eventful. For
more than sixty years after he wrote the letter from which quotation
has been made, he was energetic and devoted in the service of his
country. In May, 1776, he entered the Virginia Convention, thus
beginning the career that led him to eight years in the White House.
And after he retired from the Presidency much of his time and thought
was given to the affairs of the nation. During all these years the
thought of his Virginia home gave him new strength in the midst of his
tasks.

That home meant more to him than ever when, in September, 1794, he
entered the doors of Montpelier with his bride, Dorothy Todd, the
young Philadelphia widow whom he had married at Harewood, Virginia.

The estate was still the property of Mr. Madison's father, and both
his father and mother continued to live there. Before long the house
was enlarged. The rooms so long occupied by the old people were made a
part of the new mansion.

The two families lived together in perfect harmony. The father lived
to see his son President of the United States, and the mother was
ninety-eight when she died. William O. Stoddard, in his "Life of James
Madison," says that "she kept up the old-fashioned ways of
housekeeping; waited upon by her servants who grew old and faded away
with her. She divided her time between her Bible and her knitting, all
undisturbed by the modern hours, the changed customs, or the elegant
hospitality of the mansion house itself. She was a central point in
the life of her distinguished son, and the object of his most devoted
care to the end of her days."

For Mr. and Mrs. Madison, real life at Montpelier began in 1817, after
the close of the stirring period in the White House. They did not have
much opportunity to be alone, for guests delighted to come to them,
and they liked to have others with them, yet they managed to secure a
wonderful amount of joy out of the years spent "within a squirrel's
jump of heaven," to use Dolly Madison's expressive phrase.

Among the guests were intimate friends like Jefferson, who was almost
a member of the family. Lafayette, too, found his way to the estate,
while Harriet Martineau told in her "Recollections" of her pleasant
sojourn there. Frequently strangers who were on the way to the
Virginia Hot Springs took the five-mile detour merely to reach
Montpelier, and they were always made welcome.

The dining-room was large, but there were sometimes so many guests
that the table had to be set out of doors. Mr. Madison wrote in 1820
of one such occasion: "Yesterday we had ninety persons to dine with us
at our table, fixed on the lawn, under a large arbor.... Half a dozen
only staid all night."

After a visit to her parents that was broken into by the presence of
guests, a daughter of the house complained to her husband that she had
not been able to pass one sociable moment with her father. His reply
was sympathetic: "Nobody can ever have felt so severely as myself the
prostration of family society from the circumstances you mention....
But there is no remedy. The present manners and ways of our country
are laws we cannot repeal. They are altering by degrees, and you will
live to see the hospitality of the country reduced to the visiting
hours of the day, and the family left to tranquillity in the evening."

When the steward saw that Madison would not curb these guests, he
began to cut down on the fodder for the horses, but when the
hospitable host learned of this he gave orders that there should be no
further attempts of this sort. He realized that he was living beyond
his income, but he saw no help for it. He longed for more time in his
library or for riding or walking about the estate.

The time came when walks had to be taken on the veranda; health was
failing rapidly. He was not able to oversee the farm as he had long
been accustomed to do, but depended on others. In 1835 Mrs. Madison
wrote to her daughter: "My days are devoted to nursing and comforting
my sick patient, who walks only from the bed in which he breakfasts to
another." Still later she wrote: "I never leave my husband more than a
few minutes at a time, and have not left the enclosure around our
house for the last eight months."

When the owner of Montpelier died, on June 28, 1836, he was buried in
the cemetery on the estate. Mrs. Madison spent a few lonely years in
the old home, but the property was finally sold to satisfy the debts
of her wayward son, Payne Todd. She was sometimes in actual want
before she died, but Congress provided for her relief by buying for
twenty-five thousand dollars the Madison letters and other papers.

She lived until July 12, 1849, and her body was finally laid by the
side of that of her husband.

William Dupont, the present owner of Montpelier, has enlarged the
house by the addition of a second story to the wings. So the house
that was built in 1760 by James Madison, Sr., and was enlarged by
James Madison, Jr., has entered on a new era of hospitality.


LXVIII

OAK HILL, LOUDOUN COUNTY, VIRGINIA

THE HOME OF JAMES MONROE'S OLD AGE

James Monroe, at twenty-eight, wrote from New York to Thomas
Jefferson, with whom he had studied law:

      "I shall leave this about the 1st of October for
      Virginia--Fredericksburg. Believe me, I have not relinquished
      the prospect of being your neighbor. The house for which I
      have requested a plan may possibly be erected near
      Monticello; to fix there, and to have yourself in particular,
      with what friends we may collect around, for society is my
      chief object; or rather, the only one which promises to me,
      with the connection I have formed, real and substantial
      pleasure; if, indeed, by the name of pleasure it may be
      called."

The "connection" of which the future President wrote was his marriage
to Miss Eliza Kortwright of New York. Of this he had spoken in an
earlier letter to Jefferson:

      "You will be surprised to hear that I have formed the most
      interesting connection in human life with a young lady in
      this town, as you know my plan was to visit you before I
      settled myself, but having formed an attachment to this
      young lady ... I have found that I must relinquish all other
      objects not connected with her."

Monroe was not permitted to practice law long. As United States
Senator, diplomat, Governor, Cabinet officer, and President, his time
was so fully occupied that no one but a man of his fine physique and
endurance could have stood the strain. Once, during the War of 1812,
according to his friend, Judge E. R. Watson, when the burden of three
of the departments of the government rested on him--State, Treasury,
and War--he did not undress himself for ten days and nights, and was
in the saddle the greater part of the time.

After some years he bought an estate in Loudoun County, Virginia, to
which he retired for a brief rest whenever this was possible. For a
time the old dormer-windowed house on the property satisfied him, but
during his presidential term he built Oak Hill, the house for which
Jefferson had prepared the plans. It is said that the nails used in
its construction were manufactured on the Jefferson estate.

The house--which was named Oak Hill because of the oaks on the lawn,
planted by the owner himself, one for each State of the Union--has
been described by Major R. W. N. Noland as follows:

      "The building was superintended by Mr. William Benton, an
      Englishman, who occupied the mixed relation to Mr. Monroe of
      steward, counsellor and friend. The house is built of brick
      in a most substantial manner, and handsomely finished; it is,
      perhaps, about 90 x 50 feet, three stories (including
      basement), and has a wide portico, fronting south, with
      massive Doric columns thirty feet high, and is surrounded by
      a grove of magnificent oaks covering several acres. While the
      location is not as commanding as many others in that section,
      being in lower Loudoun where the rolling character of the
      Piedmont region begins to lose itself in the flat lands of
      tide water, the house in two directions commands an
      attractive and somewhat extensive view, but on the other side
      it is hemmed in by mountains, for the local names of which,
      'Bull Run' and 'Nigger Mountain,' it is to be hoped the late
      President is in no wise responsible.... The little stream
      that washes the confines of the Oak Hill estate once bore the
      Indian name Gohongarestaw (the River of Swans), and is now
      called Goose Creek."

After the expiration of his second term as President Monroe made Oak
Hill his permanent home, though sometimes he was with his daughter,
Mrs. Gouverneur, in New York.

One who was a member of the household during a part of the six years
of the life in Virginia said that he "looked perhaps older than he
was, his face being strongly marked with the lines of anxiety and
care."

There were many guests at Oak Hill, among these being Madison and
Jefferson. Monroe, in turn, was frequently at Monticello and
Montpelier. His office as Regent of the University of Virginia also
brought him into frequent touch with his two predecessors in the
presidency, for they were fellow-members on the Board.

Whenever weather and guests permitted he was accustomed to ride about
the estate and through the countryside both morning and evening. One
day, when he was seventy-two, his horse fell on him, and his right
wrist was sprained so badly that for a time he could not write to his
friends, as he had delighted to do. Thus he was able to sympathize
with Madison when a letter came from Montpelier a few months later:

      "In explanation of my microscopic writing, I must remark that
      the older I grow the more my stiffening fingers make smaller
      letters, as my feet take shorter steps, the progress in both
      cases being, at the same time, more fatiguing as well as more
      slow."

Monroe's last years of life were saddened by financial difficulties,
though even these brought gleams of joy, because of the fidelity of
his friends. Lafayette, who visited Oak Hill in 1825, wrote later to
his friend a most delicately worded offer of assistance, indicating
that he felt it was his right to offer this, since Monroe, when
minister to France, had exerted himself to bring about the release of
Lafayette, then a prisoner at Olmuetz, and had ministered to the wants
of Madame Lafayette.

A measure of relief came when Congress voted to repay, in part, the
extraordinary expense incurred by the statesman during his diplomatic
career, but not before he had advertised Oak Hill for sale and had
planned to go to New York to live near his daughter. The estate was
later withdrawn from the market, but the plan to go to New York was
carried out: he did not see how he could remain after the death of
Mrs. Monroe, which took place in 1830.

He did not stay long in New York. On July 4, 1831, he died.
Twenty-seven years later, on the one hundredth anniversary of his
birth, his body was taken to Richmond for burial. There, in his native
State, rest the remains of him of whom Thomas Jefferson said, "He is
a man whose soul might be turned inside out without discovering a
blemish to the world."


LXIX

RED HILL, CHARLOTTE COUNTY, VIRGINIA

WHERE PATRICK HENRY SPENT HIS LAST YEARS

Patrick Henry was only fifty-eight years old when he retired for rest
and the enjoyment of family life to his 2,920-acre estate, Red Hill,
in the Staunton Valley, thirty-eight miles southeast of Lynchburg.
Just before he made this move he wrote to his daughter Betsy, "I must
give out the law, and plague myself no more with business, sitting
down with what I have. For it will be sufficient employment to see
after my little flock."

He had served his country well for thirty years, as member of the
House of Burgesses, as Speaker of the first Continental Congress in
Philadelphia in 1774, in the Virginia Convention of 1775 where he made
his most famous speech, and as Governor of Virginia from 1776 to 1779
and again from 1784 to 1786. He had well earned the rest he hoped to
find. Washington asked him to become Secretary of State and, later,
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. John Adams nominated him as
minister to France. But he resisted all these efforts to draw him from
his retirement.

The house at Red Hill was a simple story and a half structure, to
which the owner soon added a shed kitchen, solely because he "wished
to hear the patter of the rain on the roof." This original portion of
the house has been retained intact by later occupants, who have made
additions with rare appreciation of what is fitting. The central
portion was built by the son of the orator, John Henry. The box hedges
in which the sage of Red Hill took such delight have been retained and
extended.

George Morgan, in "The True Patrick Henry," says that this life in
retirement "might be designated as a patriarchal life, if it were not
for the fact that the cradle was still rocking at Red Hill." Henry's
letters were full of references to his children. Once he wrote to his
daughter Betsy, "I have the satisfaction to inform you that we are
well, except Johnny, Christian, and Patrick, and they are recovering
fast now." And again, "I have great cause of thankfulness for the
health I enjoy, and for that of your mamma and all the children.... We
have another son, named Winston."

William Wirt, in his "Life of Patrick Henry," written in 1817, said,
"His visitors have not infrequently caught him lying on the floor,
with a group of these little ones, climbing over him in every
direction, or dancing around him with obstreperous mirth to the tune
of his violin, while the only contest seemed to be who should make the
most noise."

That there were many visitors who had the opportunity to see such
contests as these is evident from a paragraph in "Homes of American
Statesmen":

      "His home was usually filled with friends, its dependences
      with their retinue and horses. But crowds, besides, came and
      went; all were received with cordiality.... Those who lived
      near always came to breakfast, when all were welcomed and
      made full. The larder never seemed to get lean. Breakfast
      over, creature comforts, such as might console the belated
      for the loss, were promptly set forth on side-tables in the
      wide entrance-hall.... Meanwhile, the master saw and welcomed
      all with the kindliest attention, asked of their household,
      listened to their affairs, gave them his view, contented all.
      These audiences seldom ceased before noon, or the early
      dinner. To this a remaining party of twenty or thirty often
      sat down.... The dinner ended, he betook himself to his
      studies until supper, after which he again gave himself up to
      enjoyment."

Not only was he a total abstainer, but as he grew older he came to
detest the odor of tobacco; so there were certain refreshments that
were never offered to the guests at Red Hill.

During the closing years of his life he spent hours over the Bible.
Every morning he would take his seat in the dining-room, with the big
family Bible open before him. Once he said to a visitor, "This book is
worth all the books that ever were printed, and it has been my
misfortune that I never found time to read it with the proper
attention and feeling till lately. I trust in the mercy of heaven that
it is not too late."

To Betsy, a daughter by his first marriage, he wrote in 1796:

      "Some good people think I am no Christian. This thought gives
      me much more pain than the appellation of tory; because I
      think religion of infinitely higher importance than politics,
      and I find much cause to reproach myself that I have lived so
      long and have given no decided and public proof of my being a
      Christian. But, indeed, my dear child, there is a character
      which I prize far above all this world has or can boast. And
      amongst all the handsome things I hear said of you, what
      gives me the greatest pleasure is, to be told of your piety
      and steady virtue."

As, one by one, the older children grew up and went out from Red Hill
to homes of their own, they were urged to read the Bible. Dorothea was
the first to be married. Then came Martha Catherine, who, at
seventeen, fell in love with the hero who rescued her when she fell
from a boat into the water. Sarah married Robert, the brother of the
poet Thomas Campbell. It is said that at one time the poet was engaged
to come to Red Hill as tutor for the younger children of the family,
but was unable to keep his promise.

Because of the constant pleas that were made that he give up his quiet
life and reenter politics, Henry Clay wrote, in 1796:

      "I shall never more appear in a public character, unless some
      unlooked-for circumstance shall demand from me a transient
      effort.... I see with concern our old Commander-in-chief most
      abusively treated--nor are his long and great services
      remembered, as any apology for his mistakes in an office to
      which he was totally unaccustomed. If he, whose character as
      our leader during the whole war was above all praise, is so
      roughly treated in his old age, what may be expected by men
      of the common standard of character?"

He kept his resolution. A few months after writing this message, when
notified that he had been elected Governor of Virginia, for a third
term, he wrote, "My declining years warn me of my inability."

But in January, 1799, came an appeal from Washington himself that he
would present himself as a candidate "if not for Congress, which you
may think would take you too long from home, as a candidate for
Representative in the General Assembly of the Commonwealth." The
reasons were given: "Your insight of character and influence in the
House of Representatives would be a bulwark against such dangerous
sentiments as are delivered there at present. It would be a rallying
point for the timid, and an attraction of the wavering. In a word, I
conceive it to be of immense importance at this crisis that you should
be there, and I would fain hope that all minor considerations will be
made to yield to the measure."

Though Henry knew that he had little strength left, he responded to
the appeal. On County Court day, the first Monday in March, he
presented himself before the people at Charlotte as a candidate for
Representative. How they flocked about him!

A Hampdon-Sidney student, Henry Miller, who heard him that day, said
afterward:

      "He was very infirm, and seated in a chair conversing with
      some friends who were pouring in from all the surrounding
      country to hear him. At length he rose with difficulty, and
      stood, somewhat bowed with age and weakness. His face was
      almost colorless. His countenance was careworn, and when he
      commenced his exordium, his voice was slightly cracked and
      tremulous. But in a few minutes a wonderful transformation of
      the whole man occurred, as he warmed with his theme. He stood
      erect; his eyes beamed with a light that was almost
      supernatural, his features glowed with the hues and fires of
      youth; and his voice rang clear and melodious, with the
      intonations of some great musical instrument whose notes
      filled the area, and fell distinctly and delightfully upon
      the ears of the most distant of the thousands gathered before
      him."

Near the close of this effective address he said:

      "You can never exchange the present government, but for a
      monarchy. If the administration have done wrong, let us all
      go wrong together, rather than split into factions, which
      must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs. Let
      us preserve our strength for the French, the English, the
      German, or whoever else shall dare to invade our territory,
      and not exhaust it in civil commotion and intestine wars."

After the conclusion of the oration, Henry went back to Red Hill, and
never left it again. In April he was triumphantly elected, but he was
unable to take his seat.

On June 6, 1799, he was near death. When the physician offered him a
vial of mercury, at the same time telling him that the remedy might
prolong his life a little while, or it might be fatal, he drew over
his eyes a silken cap which he usually wore, and, holding the vial in
his hands, made "a simple childlike prayer for his family, for his
country, and for his own soul. Afterwards in perfect calm he swallowed
the medicine."

His last word was to his physician, commending the Christian religion,
which was so real a benefit to a man about to die.

Patrick Henry and his wife lie side by side in the rear garden of Red
Hill. "His fame his best epitaph" is the simple inscription on the
stone above the patriot.


  [Illustration: POHICK CHURCH, VIRGINIA
   _Photo furnished by Aymar Embury, II_
   See page 311]

LXX

POHICK CHURCH, TRURO PARISH, VIRGINIA

THE HOME CHURCH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

Both Truro parish and George Washington were born in 1732, and
Washington's connection with Truro Church began in 1735, when his
father, Augustine Washington, became a vestryman, and it continued
throughout his life, though during his later years, when services were
seldom held there, he went to Christ Church at Alexandria.

When Washington was a boy he had to make a round trip of eighteen
miles, frequently over extremely rough roads, when he wished to attend
services. Yet he was a faithful attendant, at all seasons.

A number of the early rectors of Truro were welcome guests at Mt.
Vernon. One of these, Charles Green, was a physician as well as a
minister, as appears from the record that he was called to prescribe
for Washington in 1757, when the young campaigner was so seriously
ill, in consequence of hardships suffered on his western trip, that he
said he had "too much reason to apprehend an approaching decay."

Five years after this illness Washington was elected a member of the
vestry of the parish, and he was re-elected many times. His record for
attendance was unusual, in spite of his many outside engagements.
During the years from 1763 to 1774 thirty-one vestry meetings were
held. He was absent from eight of these, once on account of sickness,
twice because he was attending the House of Burgesses, and at least
three times because he was out of the county. For a few months, in
1765, he did not serve, because, on the division of Truro parish, Mt.
Vernon was thrown over the line into the new Fairfax parish. At once
the new parish made him a member of its vestry, but when, in response
to a petition which Washington helped to present, the House of
Burgesses changed the parish line so that Mt. Vernon was once more in
Truro parish, he resumed his service in the old church. There he
maintained his connection with an official body noted for the fact
that, at one time or another, it had eleven members in the House of
Burgesses, two members in His Majesty's Council for Virginia, as well
as the author of the Virginia Bill of Rights and the Constitution of
the State of Virginia, George Mason.

When it was decided that a new church building was needed, Washington
was instrumental in settling the inevitable discussion as to site that
followed. He made a map of the parish, showing where each communicant
lived, and recommended that the building be placed at the centre of
the parish, as shown by the map. His suggestion was adopted, and a
site two miles nearer Mt. Vernon was chosen.

For the new church Washington himself drew the plan. He was also
active in letting the plan and overseeing the building operation. At
an auction of pews, held in 1772, when the church was ready for use,
he bought Number 28, next the communion table, for L10, while he paid
L13 10s. for pew 30. Evidently he was thoughtful for the guests who
frequently rode with him to service, either in the coach, or in the
chaise that followed, or on horseback. When the Mt. Vernon contingent
came to church there was usually quite a procession.

Under date October 2, 1785, the diary of Washington tells of one of
these processions, as well as of an interesting event that followed:

      "Went with Fanny Bassett, Burwell, Bassett, Doctr Stuart, G.
      A. Washington, Mr. Shaw and Nellie Custis to Pohick Church to
      hear a Mr. Thompson preach, who returned with me to
      Dinner.... After we were in Bed (about Eleven o'clock in the
      Evening) Mr Houdon, sent from Paris by Doctr Franklin and
      Mr Jefferson to take my Bust, in behalf of the State of
      Virginia ... arrived."

For many years Pohick Church was practically deserted, but there is
evidence that services were held here in 1802. Davies, an Englishman,
in his "Four Years in America," wrote:

      "About four miles from Occoquon is Pohick. Thither I rode on
      Sunday and joined the Congregation of Parson Weims, who was
      cheerful in his mien that he might win me to religion. A
      Virginia churchyard on Sunday is more like a race-course than
      a cemetery; the women come in carriages and the men on horses
      which they tie to the trees. The church bell was suspended
      from a tree. I was confounded to hear 'steed threaten steed
      with dreadful neigh,' nor was I less astounded at the
      rattling of carriage-wheels, the cracking of whips, and the
      vociferation of the gentlemen to the negroes who attended
      them; but the discourse of Parson Weims calmed every
      perturbation, for he preached the great doctrines of
      Salvation as one who has experienced their power; about half
      the congregation were negroes."

This Parson Weems was no other than the author of Weems' "Life of
Washington," a readable but inaccurate biography that had a great
vogue seventy-five years ago.

For many years Truro Church was desolate, and relic hunters made spoil
of the furnishings. But since 1876 it has been open for services once
more.


  [Illustration: MOUNT AIRY, RICHMOND COUNTY, VA.
   _Photo by H. P. Cook_
   See page 314]

LXXI

MOUNT AIRY, RICHMOND COUNTY, VIRGINIA

THE PLANTATION HOME OF COLONEL JOHN TAYLOE

The purchase for L500 of three thousand acres of productive land in
Charles County, on the Potomac, gave a big boost to the fortunes of
the Tayloe family of Virginia. This shrewd purchase was made by
Colonel John Tayloe, the son of William Tayloe (or Taylor) who came
from England in the seventeenth century. William Tayloe was a member
of the House of Burgesses in 1710. His son John became a member of the
Colonial Council in 1732, while his son John, who was born in 1721,
also had the honor of serving in the Council under Lord Dunmore, as
well as in the first Republican Council, during the administration of
Patrick Henry. He married the sister of Governor George Plater of
Maryland. Of his eight daughters one married Richard Lightfoot Lee, a
Signer of the Declaration of Independence, while another married
Colonel William Augustine Washington, a nephew of George Washington,
by whom he was educated.

Colonel John Tayloe, the father of three daughters, was the builder
of Mount Airy, which was for many years the most superb mansion in
Virginia, and was so different from all other mansions that it
attracted many visitors, even in the days when transit was difficult.
Its twenty-five spacious rooms afforded generous accommodation for the
guests who were eager to accept the invitations of Colonel and Mrs.
Tayloe. Among the entertainments provided for these guests by the
thoughtful hosts were concerts by a band made up entirely of slaves
who had been instructed by their master. On occasion this band was
taken to the town house at Williamsburg, the capital of the State.

The letters of Washington show that the builder of Mount Airy was an
ardent patriot, and his friend and associate. These two men were joint
executors of the estate of one of the Lees. From his headquarters in
the Craigie House at Cambridge the General wrote to Mount Airy a
letter about the estate, asking Tayloe to become sole executor.

The varied interests of Colonel Tayloe were indicated by his
remarkable will, which asked, among other things, that one part of his
estate in Prince William County, Virginia, and Baltimore County,
Maryland, be kept intact and worked for the making of pig iron. Not
only did he own a number of other plantations, but he was a large
shipowner, and reaped unusual profits from trade.

Perhaps the best known owner of Mount Airy was John Tayloe, III, who
was born in 1771, and was the only son in a family of twelve. He was
educated at Eton and Cambridge, England. Before going abroad he had
learned patriotism from his father, and on his return he was ready to
administer his estate for the benefit of the country as well as his
own family. When his inheritance was turned over to him the income was
sixty thousand dollars. Within a few years he increased this to
seventy-five thousand dollars. His father's iron- and ship-building
interests were conserved and enlarged. His master ship-builder at
Occoquon was his slave Reuben.

During his residence at Mount Airy the splendor of the mansion was
increased. Among his guests were men who had stood shoulder to
shoulder with Washington during the Revolution, and those who later
became prominent as associates of Hamilton, Jay, Marshall, and
Pinckney. He married the daughter of Governor Ogle of Maryland, and
had fifteen children.

The memorial by one of his sons, Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, says that "his
manners were refined and elegant. He was distinguished for his nice
sense of honor, and a scrupulous regard to his word at all times. His
wife was esteemed for sincerity and kindness of heart, graceful and
dignified manners, and true and unaffected piety."

He took time for the services of his country. As Captain of Dragoons
he went to Western Pennsylvania, to help put down the whiskey
insurrection. When President Adams made him a Major of Dragoons,
General Washington wrote to him a warm letter of congratulation, but
Tayloe hesitated to accept the commission. He had just been elected as
a Federalist to the Virginia Senate, and he feared, as he wrote to
Washington, that if he resigned his seat the place would be filled by
an opponent of the administration. On February 12, 1799, Washington
replied that he was inclined to believe his civil service would be
more important than military service, but he asked that decision be
delayed until they could have a personal interview. Later, on the
breaking out of the War of 1812, he was made commander of the cavalry
of the District of Columbia, and saw active service.

Washington's friendship led him to make his winter home in the
District of Columbia. In 1801 he occupied the Octagon House, then the
finest private residence in the city. When the British burned the
White House he was at Mount Airy. At once he sent a mounted messenger
to President Madison, offering the use of the Octagon as the temporary
Executive Mansion.

His establishment at Mount Airy was maintained in remarkable splendor.
His household and equipages were the talk of the neighborhood. A lover
of fine horseflesh, he was the owner of some of the swiftest animals
of his day.

The eldest son, John Tayloe, inherited his father's ardor for public
service. He was engaged brilliantly in the battles of the
_Constitution_ with the _Guerriere_, and with the _Cyano_ and the
_Levant_. After the action his native State gave him a sword, and he
was promoted to a lieutenancy. Though he was captured by the British,
he lived to return to Mount Airy, where he died in 1824. His father
died four years later, while his mother lived until 1855.

Mount Airy has always been in the hands of a Tayloe. It is now in
possession of the family of the late Henry Tayloe.


LXXII

TWO OF VIRGINIA'S OLDEST CHURCH BUILDINGS

ST. LUKE'S, IN SMITHFIELD, AND ST. PETER'S, IN NEW KENT COUNTY

Captain Smith in 1607 wrote of his discovery of the Indian kingdom of
Warrosquoyacke. Soon settlers were attracted to its fertile lands.
Twenty-seven years later the more than five hundred residents were
organized into Isle of Wight County.

In 1632, the ancient brick church near Smithfield was built. The
tradition fixing this date was established in 1887, when the date 1632
was read in some bricks that fell from the walls.

The builder of the staunch church was Joseph Bridger, who was
Counsellor of State to Charles II. He is buried not far from the
church, and on his tomb is the inscription: "He dyed April 15 Anno
Domini 1688 Aged 58 years. Mournfully leaving his wife, three sons and
four daughters."

The oldest vestry book dates from 1727, for the first book was
destroyed at the time of General Arnold's expedition made to Isle of
Wight County, in the effort to capture General Parker, of the
Continental Army. Fortunately, however, a few other records were
saved. An entry in 1727 spoke of "The Old Brick Church"; evidently the
name St. Luke's was of later origin.

The architectural beauty of the old building is described in a
pleasing manner by Aymar Embury, II, the well-known New York
architect, in his "Early American Churches":

      "The building is an extremely picturesque brick church,
      reminiscent not of the Renaissance work then becoming
      dominant in England, but of the older Gothic; it is not at
      all unlike many of the small English parish churches of the
      sixteenth century, when the Gothic style was really extinct,
      although its superficial characteristics, the buttresses and
      the pointed arch, still obtained. The stepped gable at the
      chancel end of the church is an unusual feature in English
      architecture.... The tower is the only part of the building
      which shows the Renaissance influence."

When the building was some two hundred years old it began to fall into
disrepair; the people preferred to attend the church in Smithfield.
Bishop Meade wrote his "Old Churches and Families of Virginia" at the
time when the old church was most dilapidated. He said:

      "Its thick walls and high tower, like that of some English
      castle, are still firm, and promise to be for a long time to
      come. The windows, doors, and all the interior, are gone. It
      is said that the eastern window--twenty-five feet high--was
      of stained glass. This venerable building stands not far from
      the main road leading from Smithfield to Suffolk, in an open
      tract of woodland. The trees for some distance round it are
      large and tall and the foliage dense, so that but little of
      the light of the sun is thrown upon it. The pillars which
      strengthen the walls, and which are wide at the base,
      tapering toward the eaves of the house by stair-steps, have
      somewhat mouldered, so as to allow various shrubs and small
      trees to root themselves therein."

For nearly fifty years the church was closed. But in 1884 Rev. David
Barr, who was in charge of a church nearby, began to raise funds for
the reconstruction of the building. He persisted in spite of many
discouragements. When matters looked darkest a man who signed himself
"A Virginian" made the following appeal:

      "There is still some plastering to be done in the tower, and
      the pews are to be made or bought. The church cannot be
      completed until the money is raised. Can no generous giver be
      found who will contribute the money necessary to bring the
      east window from London?... For sixty odd years the church
      has stood there silent, without a service, facing and defying
      storms and decay, appealing in its desolation to every
      sentiment of the State, of the Church and of the Nation
      against abandonment and desertion, and now in its half
      completed condition, feeling the touch of revival and
      restoration, it pleads more imploringly still for just enough
      money to complete the repairs and to enable it once more to
      enter upon its life of activity, and to utter again with
      renewed joyousness the ancient but long suppressed voice of
      prayer and of thanksgiving. Shall it appeal in vain?"

The appeal was not in vain. The church was completed. Twelve beautiful
memorial windows were put in place. These bore the names of George
Washington, Joseph Bridger, the architect of the church, Robert E.
Lee, Rev. William Hubbard, the first rector, Sir Walter Raleigh, John
Rolfe, Captain John Smith, Bishops Madison, Moore, Meade, and Johns,
and Dr. Blair, whose connection with Bruton Church and William and
Mary College is told in another chapter of this volume.

A building that is similar and yet in many respects quite different is
in New Kent County, about as far above Williamsburg as Smithfield is
below that university town. This is St. Peter's Church. It is thought
that the parish dates from 1654, though the present building was not
begun until 1701. The minute which tells of the first plan for the
structure is dated August 13, 1700:

      "Whereas, the Lower Church of this Parish is very much out of
      Repair and Standeth very inconvenient for most of the
      inhabitants of the said parish; Therefore ordered that as
      soon as conveniently may be a new Church of Brick Sixty feet
      long and twenty fower feet wide in the clear and fourteen
      feet pitch with a Gallery Sixteen feet long be built and
      Erected upon the Main Roade, by the School House near Thomas
      Jackson's; and the Clerk is ordered to give a copy of this
      order to Capt. Nich. Merewether who is Requested to show the
      same to Will Hughes and desire him to draw a Draft of said
      Church and to bee at the next vestry."

The cost of the new church was one hundred and forty-six thousand
pounds of tobacco. This included the main building only, for the
belfry was not built until 1722.

Rev. David Mossom, who was rector of the church from 1727 to 1767, was
the minister who married General Washington, at the White House, as
the home of his bride was called, a few miles from St. Peter's Church.
The story is told of this eccentric minister that on one occasion,
having quarrelled with his clerk, he rebuked him from the pulpit. The
latter avenged himself by giving out to the congregation the psalm in
which were these lines:

     "With restless and ungovern'd rage
     Why do the heathen storm?
     Why in such rash attempts engage
     As they can ne'er perform?"

The epitaph on the tomb of Mr. Mossom in St. Peter's churchyard states
that he was the first native American admitted to the office of
Presbyter in the Church of England.


LXXIII

MONTICELLO, NEAR CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA

THE HOME OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

"Oh, my young master, they were all burnt, but ah! we saved your
fiddle!"

So the negro servant replied to Thomas Jefferson who, on returning
from a trip, learning that his home at Shadwell had been burned, asked
after his books. To the negro's mind the fiddle was the most important
thing in the house.

Fortunately the new mansion, Monticello, near Charlotte, which he had
designed, was so nearly completed that he was able to take up his
residence there. Two years later he led into the new house his bride,
Martha Skelton, a widow of twenty-three.

Before the marriage Jefferson, in accordance with the Virginia law, in
company with Francis Eppes, entered into a license bond, of which the
following is a copy:

      "Know all men by these presents that we Thomas Jefferson and
      Francis Eppes are held and firmly bound to the sovereign lord
      the king his heirs and successors in the sum of fifty pounds
      current money of Virginia, to the paiment of which well and
      truly to be made we bind ourselves jointly and severally, our
      joint and several heirs, executors and administrators, in
      witness whereof we have hereto set our hands and seals this
      twenty-third day of December in the year of our Lord one
      thousand seven hundred and seventy one. The condition of the
      above obligation is such that if there be no lawful cause to
      obstruct a marriage intended to be had and solemnized between
      the above bound Thomas Jefferson and Martha Skelton of the
      County of Charles County, widow, for which a license is
      desired, then this obligation is to be null and void,
      otherwise the same is in full force."

Edward Bacon, who was overseer at Monticello for twenty years,
described the estate in vivid words:

      "Monticello is quite a high mountain, in the shape of a
      sugar-loaf. A winding road led up to the mansion. On the very
      top of the mountain the forest trees were cut down, and ten
      acres were cleared and levelled.... I know every room in that
      house. Under the house and the terrace that surrounded it,
      were the cisterns, ice-house, cellar, kitchen, and rooms for
      all sorts of purposes. His servants' rooms were on one
      side.... There were no negro and other out-houses around the
      mansion, as you generally see on plantations. The grounds
      around the house were beautifully ornamented with flowers and
      shrubbery.... Back of the house was a beautiful lawn of two
      or three acres, where his grandchildren used to play.

      "His garden was on the side of the mountain. I had it built
      while he was President. It took a great deal of labor. We had
      to blow out the rocks for the walls for the different
      terraces, and then make the soil.... I used to send a servant
      to Washington with a great many fine things for his table,
      and he would send back the cart loaded with shrubbery."

Jefferson spent most of his time on his estate until his death in
1826, except when he was called away for the service of his country.

Nine years after the beginning of the happy married life in Monticello
there was a panic among the servants because of the approach of the
British. Because Jefferson was Governor of Virginia, it was thought
that of course the mansion would be pillaged. Mrs. Jefferson was put
in the carriage and sent to a place of safety, while Mr. Jefferson
remained at home, collecting his most valuable papers. Later he
followed his family. But when the soldiers reached the estate, the
first inquiry of the leader of the party was for the master of the
house. When he learned that Jefferson had escaped, he asked for the
owner's private rooms, and, on being shown the door which led to them,
he turned the key in the lock and ordered that nothing in the house
should be touched. This, it was explained, was in strict accordance
with the orders that had been given by General Tarleton; their sole
duty was to seize the Governor.

A year later, when the Marquis de Chastellux, a nobleman from France,
visited Monticello, he was charmed with the house of which Mr.
Jefferson was the architect, and often one of the workmen. He said it
was "rather elegant, and in the Italian taste, though not without
fault; it consists of one large square pavilion, the entrance of which
is by two porticoes, ornamented with pillars. The ground floor
consists of a very large lofty saloon, which is to be decorated
entirely in the antique style; above it is a library of the same
size; two small wings, with only a ground floor and attic story, are
joined to this pavilion, and communicate with the kitchen, offices,
etc., which will form a kind of basement story, over which runs a
terrace."

Another attractive picture was given by the Duc de la
Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, after his visit to Monticello in 1796. He
noted the fact that Jefferson owned five thousand acres, of which but
eleven hundred were cultivated.

"I found him in the midst of the harvest," he wrote, "from which the
scorching heat of the sun does not prevent his attendance.... Every
article is made on his farm: his negroes are cabinet makers,
carpenters, masons, bricklayers, smiths, etc. The children he employs
in a nail factory, which yields already a considerable profit.... His
superior mind directs the management of his domestic concerns with the
same abilities, activity and regularity which he evinced in the
conduct of public affairs."

Long absence from home and lavish hospitality wrecked the Jefferson
fortune, and when the owner of Monticello finally returned home after
his eight years as President, he was compelled to curtail his
expenses. But still he made guests welcome. It is said that at times
there were as many as fifty guests in the house at one time. One of
those who sought the Sage of Monticello in 1817 was Lieutenant Francis
Hall, who wrote of his veneration as he looked on "the man who drew up
the Declaration of American Independence, who shared in the Councils
by which her freedom was established, when the unbought voices of his
fellow-citizens called to the exercise of a dignity from which his
own moderation impelled him, when such an example was most salutary,
to withdraw; and who, while he dedicates the evening of his glorious
days to the pursuits of science and literature, shuns none of the
humble duties of private life; but, having filled a seat higher than
that of kings, succeeds with graceful dignity to that of the good
neighbor, and becomes the friendly adviser, lawyer, physician, and
even gardener of his vicinity."

July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence, was the day of Jefferson's death. The sale of his estate
was sufficient to pay all his debts. To his daughter who was thus made
homeless, the legislatures of South Carolina and Virginia each voted
as a gift $10,000.

On the stone placed over the grave of the Sage of Monticello was
carved the inscription which he himself had asked for: "Here was
buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American
Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and
Father of the University of Virginia."


  [Illustration: UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.
   _Photo by H. P. Cook_
   See page 326]

LXXIV

THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA AT CHARLOTTESVILLE

THE CHILD OF THOMAS JEFFERSON'S OLD AGE

When Thomas Jefferson retired from the Presidency he was surrounded at
Monticello by his daughter, her husband, and eleven grandchildren.
Daily association with the young people made him more anxious than
ever to carry out a plan that was the growth of years. He wanted to
see other children as happy as were those in his own home, and he felt
that the one thing he could do to increase their happiness would be to
see that the State made provision for their education.

During the remainder of his life he never lost sight of his project.
While he did not live to see his system of common schools established
in Virginia, it was his joy to see the University of Virginia grow
under his hands from an academy to a college and then to a university.
From 1817 he labored for State appropriations for the school. A friend
in the State Senate assisted him nobly. The reader of the published
volume of the correspondence between the two men, a volume of 528
pages, will see how untiring was the labor that had its reward when
the appropriation of funds made sure the founding of the university.
Three hundred thousand dollars were provided for construction, as well
as $15,000 a year for maintenance.

Jefferson himself drew the plans for the buildings and superintended
the construction. Sarah N. Randolph, in "The Domestic Life of Thomas
Jefferson," says that "the architectural plan and form of government
and instruction for this institution afforded congenial occupation for
his declining years.... While the buildings were being erected, his
visits to them were daily; and from the northeast corner of the
terrace at Monticello he frequently watched the workmen engaged on
them, through a telescope which is still [1871] preserved in the
library of the University."

Edmund Bacon, the overseer at Monticello, gave to Hamilton W. Pierson,
the author of "Jefferson at Monticello," a humorous account of the
early days of the project:

      "The act of the Legislature made it the duty of the
      Commissioners to establish the University within one mile of
      the Court House at Charlottesville. They advertised for
      proposals for a site. Three men offered sites. The
      Commissioners had a meeting at Monticello, and then went and
      looked at all these sites. After they had made their
      examination, Mr. Jefferson sent me to each of them, to
      request them to send by me their price, which was to be
      sealed up. Lewis and Craven each asked $17 per acre, and
      Perry, $12. That was a mighty big price in those days....
      They took Perry's forty acres, at $12 per acre. It was a poor
      old turned-out field, though it was finely situated. Mr.
      Jefferson wrote the deed himself. Afterwards Mr. Jefferson
      bought a large tract near it. It had a great deal of timber
      and rock on it, which was used in building the University.

      "My next instruction was to get ten able-bodied hands to
      commence the work.... Mr. Jefferson started from Monticello
      to lay off the foundation, and see the work commenced. An
      Irishman named Dinsmore, and I, went along with him. As we
      passed through Charlottesville, I ... got a ball of twine,
      and Dinsmore found some shingles and made some pegs.... Mr.
      Jefferson looked over the ground some time, and then stuck
      down a peg.... He carried one end of the line, and I the
      other, in laying off the foundation of the University. He had
      a little ruler in his pocket that he always carried with him,
      and with this he measured off the ground, and laid off the
      entire foundation, and then set the men at work."

This foot-rule was shown to Dr. Pierson by Mr. Bacon, who explained
how he secured it:

      "Mr. Jefferson and I were once going along the bank of the
      canal, and in crawling through some bushes and vines, it
      [the ruler] fell out of his pocket and slid down the bank
      into the river. Some time after that, when the water had
      fallen, I went and found it, and carried it to Mr. Jefferson.
      He told me I ... could keep it.... When I die, that rule can
      be found locked up in that drawer.

      "After the foundations were nearly completed, they had a
      great time laying the corner-stone. The old field was covered
      with carriages and people. There was an immense crowd there.
      Mr. Monroe laid the corner-stone. He was President at that
      time.... He held the instruments, and pronounced it square. I
      can see Mr. Jefferson's white head just as he stood there and
      looked on.

      "After this he rode there from Monticello every day while the
      University was building, unless the weather was very
      stormy.... He looked after all the materials, and would not
      allow any poor materials to go into the building if he could
      help it."

A letter from Jefferson to John Adams, written on October 12, 1823,
spoke of the "hoary winter of age." "Against this _tedium vitae_," he
said, "I am fortunately mounted on a hobby, which, indeed, I should
have better managed some thirty or forty years ago; but whose easy
amble is still sufficient to give exercise and amusement to an
octogenary rider. This is the establishment of a University, on a
scale more comprehensive, and in a country more healthy and central
than our old William and Mary, which these obstacles have long kept in
a state of languor and inefficiency."

In designing the buildings Jefferson acknowledged his indebtedness to
Palladio, who guided him in his adaptation of Roman forms. The visitor
who is familiar with Rome is reminded of the baths of Diocletian, the
baths of Caracalla, and the temple of Fortuna Virilis, while a
reduction of the Pantheon, with a rotunda, is the central feature of
the group.

The University was opened in March, 1825. Forty students were in
attendance, though at the beginning of the second year the number was
increased to one hundred and seventy-seven.

The central feature of the collection of buildings, the wonderful
Rotunda, was badly injured in the fire of 1895 which destroyed the
Annex. The Rotunda was soon rebuilt according to Jefferson's original
plan, and the group of buildings is more beautiful than ever.




SEVEN: THROUGH THE SUNNY SOUTH

     _The long, grey moss that softly swings
         In solemn grandeur from the trees,
         Like mournful funeral draperies,--
     A brown-winged bird that never sings._

       ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE.

     _O Magnet-South! O glistening perfumed South! my South!
     O quick mettle, rich blood, impulse and love! good and evil! O all
       dear to me!
     O dear to me my birth-things--all moving things and the trees
       where I was born--the grains, plants, rivers,
     Dear to me my own slow sluggish rivers where they flow, distant,
       over flats of silvery sands or through swamps._

     _O the cotton plant! the growing fields of rice, sugar, hemp!
     The cactus guarded with thorns, the laurel-tree with large white
       flowers,
     The range afar, the richness and barrenness, the old woods charged
       with mistletoe and trailing moss,
     The piney odor and the gloom, the awful natural stillness (here in
       these dense swamps the freebooter carries his gun, and the
       fugitive has his conceal'd hut;)_

     The mocking bird, the American mimic, singing all the forenoon,
       singing through the moonlit night,
     The humming bird, the wild turkey, the raccoon, the opossum;
     A Kentucky corn-field, the tall, graceful, long-leav'd corn,
       slender, flapping, bright green, with tassels, with beautiful
       ears each well-sheath'd in its husk;
     O my heart! O tender and fierce pangs, I can stand them not, I
       will depart;
     O to be a Virginian where I grew up! O to be a Carolinian!
     O longings irrepressible! O I will go back to old Tennessee and
       never wander more.

       WALT WHITMAN.




SEVEN: THROUGH THE SUNNY SOUTH


LXXV

THREE OLD CHURCHES IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

ST. MICHAEL'S, ST. PHILIP'S, AND THE HUGUENOT CHURCH, RELICS OF
COLONIAL DAYS

The oldest church building in Charleston, South Carolina, St.
Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church, is a relic of three wars. At
the beginning of the Revolution the rector and the vestry disagreed;
the rector was a loyalist and most of the members were patriots.
Accordingly the rector resigned. Later the beautiful tower, which is
unlike any other church tower in America, was painted black, lest it
become a guiding beacon to the British fleet. Unfortunately the black
tower against the blue sky proved a better guide than a white tower
would have been.

The clear-toned bells, which were cast in London in 1757, were taken
from the tower when the British evacuated the city in 1782, and were
sold in London as spoils of war. Fortunately a Mr. Ryhiner, once a
merchant in Charleston, learned of this, bought them, and sent them to
Charleston as a business venture.

When the bells were landed on the wharf from the brig _Lightning_, on
November 20, 1783--according to Johnson's "Traditions of
Charleston"--"the overjoyed citizens took possession, and hurried them
up to the church and into the steeple, without thinking that they
might be violating a private right." In June, 1785, Mr. Ryhiner asked
for payment for the bells. Later a subscription was ordered to pay the
merchant.

During the British occupation of the city horses were stabled in the
church, and the lead roof was removed, for use in bullet making.

In 1811 and 1812 the church figured in the second war with Great
Britain. The vestry, whose patriotism was as great as ever, opened the
building more than once for meetings of the citizens who wished to
consider what they could do to help their country in the impending
conflict.

During the Civil War the bells were taken to Columbia, to be cast into
cannon. Fortunately they were not used for this purpose, but during
Sherman's march to the sea they were burned and broken into small
pieces. A friend of the church in London, on learning of the disaster,
searched records of the bell-founders till he learned who had cast the
bells. These records told the proportions of metal used and the sizes
of the bells. Then the Londoner wrote to Charleston and asked that the
fragments be sent to him. When these were received in London they were
recast in the original moulds, which were discovered by an old
employee. The cost of recasting the bells and restoring them to their
places in the steeple was $7,723, of which sum the City Council
contributed $3,000; $2,200, the charge made for import duty, was later
returned to the church by special Act of Congress.

For nearly twenty years after the receipt of these new-old bells,
they were used to sound fire-alarms, as well as for calling to the
services of the church.

The venerable building has suffered from fire, wind, and earthquake,
as well as from war. In 1825 a cyclone damaged the spire and the roof,
and in 1886 earthquake cracked the walls, destroyed a portion of the
tower, and did so much further damage that a Charleston paper spoke of
it as the "saddest wreck of all." At first it was feared that the
building would have to be demolished, but repairs were found to be
possible at a cost of $15,000.

The structure dates from 1752, when Governor Glenn of South Carolina
laid the corner stone. The cost was $32,775.87.

St. Michael's parish was set off in 1751 from St. Philip's parish. The
first St. Philip's Church was burned in 1681 or 1682. A second church
was opened in 1723. This famous building survived until 1835, in spite
of wars and fires. The building was saved during the fire of 1796 by a
slave who climbed to the tower and threw to the ground a burning
brand. As a reward the vestry purchased his freedom. But during the
great fire of February 15, 1835, the edifice was destroyed.

The old church had been so much a part of the life of the city and was
so thoroughly identified with the history of the country, that the
citizens rejoiced when the decision was reached to rebuild it in
practically every detail like the original, with the addition of a
chancel and spire.

Older than either St. Philip's or St. Michael's, as an organization,
is the Huguenot Church of Charleston. The early records of the
congregation were destroyed in the fire of 1740, though the building
was saved. This first building was blown up during the fire of 1796,
in a vain effort to stay the progress of the conflagration. A second
building followed in 1800, and the present building was erected in
1828, when English displaced the French language in the services.

Many of the early members became famous in history. The tablets
erected to their memory are so numerous that the Huguenot Church might
well dispute with St. Philip's Church the title, "The Westminster of
South Carolina."


  [Illustration: PRINGLE HOUSE, CHARLESTON, S. C.
   _Photo by H. P. Cook_
   See page 336]

LXXVI

THE HOUSE OF REBECCA MOTTE, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

THE SPARTAN MATRON WHO HELPED BURN HER OWN PROPERTY

Charleston, South Carolina, was only about thirty years old when the
Englishman, Robert Brewton, and the Huguenot exile, John de la Motte,
took up their residence there. In 1758 Robert Brewton's daughter
Rebecca married Jacob Motte, grandson of the Huguenot.

Three daughters came to the Motte home, and the family lived quietly
until the outbreak of the Revolution. In 1775 Mrs. Motte's brother,
Miles Brewton, sailed for England with his family, intending to leave
them with relatives there while he returned to Charleston for the
service of his country. But the vessel was lost, and was never
heard from again. His Charleston house on King Street, which was built
about 1765, became the property of his sister.

When the war broke out, Mrs. Motte, knowing that it was impossible for
her husband to become a soldier because of his failing health, decided
to do her part for her country. Fortifications were to be built, and
many laborers were needed, so she sent to her plantation for all the
able-bodied men; these she placed at the disposal of those in charge
of the work of defence.

She had her reward when, first in 1776, and again in 1779, the British
forces were unable to secure possession of the town. The third
attempt, made by Sir Henry Clinton in 1780, was successful. For nearly
three years the town was in the enemy's control. The Motte house was
made headquarters by Clinton and his staff. The Mottes were crowded
into a small room, while the British lived in comfort in the large
apartments. Mrs. Motte divided her time between her invalid husband,
her timid daughters, and the invaders. It was her custom to preside at
the long dinner table, but the young ladies were never allowed to
appear in the presence of the officers.

A reminder of the presence of the unwelcome guests is still to be seen on
the marble mantel in one of the rooms--a caricature of Clinton scratched
on the polished surface, evidently with a diamond point. In the same
room the women of Charleston--who were accustomed to go about the
streets in mourning, during the period of the occupation--presented a
petition to Lord Rawdon, asking for the pardon of Isaac Hayne, a
patriot who had been condemned for some infraction of the regulations
of the invaders. Their petition for clemency was in vain, though it
was emphasized by the presence of Hayne's two little children.

After the death of Mr. Motte, in January, 1781, Mrs. Motte and her
daughters secured permission to leave Charleston that they might
return to the family plantation on the Congaree, thirty or forty miles
from Columbia. They were disappointed in their desire to be alone, for
it was not long till the English decided to build on the estate one of
their long line of military stations. Earthworks were thrown up around
the house, which became known as Fort Motte. Again the family were
crowded into a few rooms, while officers occupied the remainder.

After a time Mrs. Motte was asked to retire to a small house on the
plantation, a rough structure, covered with weather-boards,
unplastered and only partially lined. At first it seemed that there
was no place here to conceal the silverware brought from Fort Motte.
How the difficulty was solved has been told in "Worthy Women of Our
First Century":

      "Some one suggested that the unfinished state of the walls of
      their sitting-room afforded a convenient hiding place; and
      they set to work to avail themselves of it. Nailing tacks in
      the vacancy between the outer and inner boarding, and tying
      strings around the various pieces of silver, they hung them
      along the inner wall. Shortly afterwards a band of marauders
      did actually invade the premises; and one more audacious than
      the others jumped on a chair and thrust his bayonet into the
      hollow wall, saying he would soon find what they had come in
      search of; but, rapping all along on the floor within the
      wall, he did not once strike against anything to reward bad
      perseverance."

After a time General Marion and Colonel Lee led up troops for the
siege of Fort Motte. Fearing that British reinforcements were on the
way, they decided they must make an attack at once. The best way
seemed to be to set fire to the main building. The American leaders,
knowing that this was the home of Mrs. Motte, took counsel with her.
"Do not hesitate a moment," was the prompt reply of the patriotic
woman. Then she added, "I will give you something to facilitate the
destruction." So saying, she handed to General Lee a quiver of arrows
from the East Indies which, so she had been told by the ship captain
who brought them to Charleston, would set on fire any wood against
which they were thrown.

Two of the arrows were fired from a gun without result, but the third
set fire to the shingles of the house. The efforts of the garrison to
extinguish the flames were in vain, and before long the fortress was
surrendered to the patriots. In later years, when Mrs. Motte was
praised for her part in the siege, she was accustomed to say, "Too
much has been made of a thing that any American woman would have
done."

After the war Mrs. Motte returned to the house in Charleston. The
daughters married, and numerous grandchildren played in the rooms
where the British officers lived during the occupation of Charleston.
The youngest of these granddaughters lived in the house in 1876, when
the story of Rebecca Motte was written for the Women's Centennial
Executive Committee.

During her last years in the old mansion, Mrs. Motte was proudly
pointed out to visitors to the city. One of her great-grandchildren
said that at the time "she was rather under-sized and slender, with a
pale face, blue eyes, and grey hair that curled slightly under a
high-crowned ruffled mob-cap. She always wore a square white
neckerchief pinned down in front, tight sleeves reaching only to the
elbow, with black silk mittens on her hands and arms; a full skirt
with huge pockets, and at her waist a silver chain, from which hung
her pin-cushion and scissors and a peculiarly bright bunch of keys."

The body of this gracious patriot was buried in old St. Philip's
Church, another of the Revolutionary landmarks of the Palmetto City.

The mansion which she made famous should be called the Brewton House,
or the Motte House. But a Motte married an Alston, and an Alston
married a Pringle, and so many families of the latter name have been
associated with the place that their name is popularly given to it.


  [Illustration: INDEPENDENT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, SAVANNAH, GA.
   _Photo furnished by Rev. Rockwell S. Brank, Savannah_
   See page 340]

LXXVII

THE INDEPENDENT CHURCH, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA

FOR WHICH KING GEORGE II MADE A LAND GRANT

When George II, of his "special Grace, certain knowledge and meer
motion," gave a deed for a lot in Savannah, "in our province of
Georgia," he declared that it was "for the use and benefit of such of
our loving subjects ... as are or shall be professors of the Doctrines
of the Church of Scotland, agreeable to the Westminster Confession of
Faith." The further stipulation was made that the annual rent, if
demanded, should be "one pepper corn."

The date of the grant was January 16, 1756, and within the three years
allowed for the erection of the building a brick structure was ready
for the use of the Independent Presbyterian Church. The church was
independent in fact as well as in name. There was at first no
presbytery in Georgia with which it could unite, and when a presbytery
was organized, this independent relation continued.

The first pastor was Rev. John Joachim Zubly, who came to the Colonies
from Switzerland. He remained with the church until 1778, and became a
prominent figure among the patriots of the early years of the
Revolution. When the first Provincial Congress of Georgia met in
Savannah, July 4, 1775, it adjourned, immediately after organization,
to the Independent Church, where Dr. Zubly preached a sermon for which
he received the public thanks of Congress.

_The London Magazine_ for January, 1776, contained an impassioned
appeal for the Colonies, which was signed by Dr. Zubly. The editor
stated that the communication was printed at the request of "an old
correspondent," who signed himself "O." It is supposed that this
correspondent was General James E. Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia.
A few months later Dr. Zubly went to Philadelphia, as a member of the
second Continental Congress. He had also been a member of the first
Congress in 1774.

During the siege of Savannah by the British the church building was
badly injured by British cannon, in spite of the fact that it was used
as a hospital. Later the British used the church as barracks. A
visitor who entered the city in 1784 said that he found the church in
a ruinous condition. It was promptly repaired, however, and services
were resumed.

But there was another pastor in the pulpit. In 1778 Dr. Zubly
resigned, probably because, for some strange reason, he deserted the
Colonies and made known his allegiance to Great Britain.

Fire destroyed the original building in 1796, and a fine new church
was built. Twenty-one years later the rapidly increasing congregation
made necessary a much larger structure. The new church was modelled
after St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, London, and more than two years were
required for its construction. The cost was $96,108.67-1/2, a large sum
for that day in a town of ten thousand people. Although the middle
aisle was eleven feet wide and each of the side aisles four and a half
feet wide, there were seatings for 1,350 people. The beautifully
proportioned steeple was 223 feet high. The day after the dedication a
local paper said that "for grandeur of design and nature of execution,
we presume this church is not surpassed by any in the United States."
Many architectural writers have told rapturously of the wonders of
this building.

President James Monroe and his suite, as well as many other
distinguished visitors, were reverent worshippers in the church on the
day of dedication.

Lowell Mason, who was organist of the church from 1815 to 1827,
composed the popular melody to which Bishop Heber's missionary hymn,
"From Greenland's Icy Mountains," is usually sung. This melody was
first played by him for the Sunday school of the church, whose
organization dates from 1804.

Dr. S. K. Axson, the grandfather of Ellen Axson, the first wife of
President Woodrow Wilson, was pastor of the church from 1857 to 1889.
The Wilson marriage ceremony was performed by Dr. Axson in the manse
of the church.

All Savannah mourned when, on April 6, 1889, firebrands tossed by the
wind lodged on a cornice of the graceful steeple, too high to be
reached. Soon the old church was in ruins. But the city resolved that
the historic church must be restored. A new building was erected which
is an exact reproduction of the former church. To it, as to its
predecessors, ecclesiastical architects go on pilgrimage as a part of
their education.

One of the old customs still continued in the church is the assembling
of the communicants at a table which is laid the entire length of the
broad aisle, as well as in the transept aisle.


  [Illustration: THE CABILDO, NEW ORLEANS, LA.
   _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
   See page 343]

LXXVIII

THE CABILDO OF NEW ORLEANS

WHICH SAW THE TRANSFER OF LOUISIANA TO THE UNITED STATES

When Count Alejandro O'Reilly, Irish Lieutenant-General of Spain,
entered New Orleans on July 24, 1769, he came as the avenger of the
disorders that followed the transfer of Louisiana to Spain by the
Treaty of Paris. After putting to death some of the leaders in the
revolt, he reorganized the civil government. Among other innovations
he instituted the Cabildo as the law-making body for the province, to
take the place of the French superior council. The meeting place was
a building on the Place d'Armes. In this square, on the coming of
O'Reilly, the flag of France had been displaced by that of Spain as
Aubrey said, "Gentlemen, by order of the King, my master, I absolve
you from your oath of fidelity and obedience to his most Christian
majesty." The Spanish and French officers then had gone together to
the cathedral, next door to the meeting place of the Cabildo.

The original building occupied by the Cabildo was destroyed in the
fire of 1788, when, in less than five hours, eight hundred and sixteen
buildings were burned. The loss, amounting to three million dollars,
was a blessing in disguise, for it cleared the ground for the
reconstruction of the city under the leadership of Don Andres
Almonaster y Roxas, who was a member of the Cabildo. He had become
rich since his arrival with the Spaniards, and he had a vision of a
city glorified through his wealth.

First he built a schoolhouse, a church, and a hospital. On one side of
the church he built a convent; on the other side he erected a new town
hall, the Cabildo. The walls--which are as sturdy to-day as in
1795--are of brick, half the thickness of the ordinary brick. Shell
lime was used for the mortar. Originally the Cabildo was two stories
in height, with a flat roof; the mansard roof was added in 1851. At
the same time the open arches of the second story loggia that
corresponded to the arcade on the ground floor were closed, that there
might be more room for offices.

For eight years more the Cabildo continued its sessions under Spanish
rule. Then came the news that Louisiana had been transferred by Spain
to France. Great preparations were made for the ceremonies that were
to accompany the lowering of the Spanish flag and the raising of the
French colors in the square before the Cabildo. Then the prefect
Laussat was thunderstruck by the coming of word that Napoleon had
appointed a Commission not only to receive the colony from Spain but
also to give it into the hands of the United States, to whom the vast
territory had been sold.

The first transfer took place on November 30, 1803. The official
document was signed in the Sala Capitular, the hall where the Cabildo
met, and was read from the centre gallery. Then the tricolor of France
replaced the flag of Spain.

December 20, 1803, was the date of the transfer to the United States.
The American Commission met the French Commission in the Sala
Capitular of the Hotel de Ville, or City Hall, as the French called
the Cabildo. Governor Claiborne received the keys of the city, and the
tricolor on the flagstaff gave way to the Stars and Stripes. A vast
company of citizens watched the ceremonies, listened to the addresses,
and looked at the American troops in the square, as well as at the
French soldiers who were to have no further power in the province.

Grace King, in "New Orleans, the Place and the People," tells what
followed:

      "When, twenty-one days before, the French flag was flung to
      the breeze, for its last brief reign in Louisiana, a band of
      fifty old soldiers formed themselves into a guard of honor,
      which was to act as a kind of death watch to their national
      colors. They stood now at the foot of the staff and received
      in their arms the Tricolor as it descended, and while the
      Americans were rending the air with their shouts, they
      marched silently away, their sergeant bearing it at their
      head. All uncovered before it; the American troops, as they
      passed, presented arms to it. It was carried to the
      government house, and left in the hands of Laussat."

During the years since that momentous transfer the Cabildo has
continued to be the centre of historical interest in New Orleans. In
1825 Lafayette was quartered here. In 1901 President McKinley was
received in the building. In 1903 the Centennial of the Louisiana
Purchase was observed in the Sala Capitular, which had been for many
years the meeting place of the State Supreme Court. The great hall is
almost as it was when the Cabildo of Don Almonaster met there.

Since 1910 the Cabildo, in common with the Presbytere, the old Civil
District Court, a building of nearly the same age and appearance,
located on the other side of the Cathedral, has been the Louisiana
State Museum. The curios are shown in a large hall on the ground
floor. Among these is the flag used by General Jackson at the battle
of New Orleans.

From this hall of relics a door leads to a courtyard, which is lined
by tiers of gloomy cells. Stocks and other reminders of the old
Spanish days are in evidence.

The old Place d'Armes is now called Jackson Square. On either side are
the Pontalba buildings, which were erected by the daughter of Don
Andres Almonaster y Roxas, who inherited millions from her generous
father. On the spot where the Stars and Stripes were raised in 1803 is
the statue to General Jackson, the victor of the battle of New
Orleans, to which the same public-spirited woman was a large
contributor.

The tomb of Don Andres is shown in the Cathedral he gave to the
people, by the side of the Cabildo which he built for the city he
loved.


LXXIX

THE ALAMO, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

"THERMOPYLAE HAD HER MESSENGER OF DEFEAT: THE ALAMO HAD NONE"

Early in the eighteenth century the Spaniards built in Texas, then a
part of Mexico, a number of staunch structures that were designed to
serve not only as chapels but also as fortresses. The mission that at
length became known as the Alamo was first built on the Rio Grande in
1710, and during the next forty-seven years was rebuilt four times in
a new location, before it was given a final resting-place at San
Antonio, on the banks of the Alazan River. There it was called Alamo,
or Poplar Church. Though the Alamo was begun in 1744, it was not
completed until 1757.

For nearly eighty years there was nothing specially notable about the
building. Then came the events that made the name famous.

In 1832 Sam Houston was sent to Texas by President Jackson to arrange
treaties with the Indians for the protection of settlers on the
border. Just at this time settlers in Texas, which was then a part of
the state of Coahuila, were seeking equal privileges with the other
Mexican states. Most of the settlers had come from the United States,
and they hoped that in time Texas might become a part of that
country.

On February 13, 1833, Houston wrote to President Jackson that the time
was ripe for getting hold of the country. Less than three months later
he was asked to serve as a delegate to a constitutional convention,
which demanded from Mexico the organization of the territory into
states, and was made the chairman of the committee which drew up for
the proposed states a constitution based on that of the United States.
Stephen F. Austin, who has been called "The Father of Texas," went to
Mexico City with the petition. But he was imprisoned, and the request
of Texas was denied by Santa Anna, president of Mexico.

Later, when the colonists attempted to defend themselves against the
Indians and other lawbreakers, the demand was made that they give up
their arms.

The organization of a provincial government followed in 1834, and
Houston was chosen commander-in-chief of the army. The brief war with
Mexico was marked by a number of heroic events, chief of which was the
defence of the Alamo, where a small force of Texans resisted more than
ten times the number of Mexicans.

When the army of Santa Anna approached San Antonio, on February 22,
1836, one hundred and forty-five men, under the leadership of Colonel
James Bowie and Lieutenant-Colonel William B. Travis, retired within
the church fortress. For nearly two weeks these heroic men defended
themselves, and the enemy did not gain entrance until every one of
them was killed.

The details of the heroic struggle were not known until 1860, when
Captain R. M. Potter printed an account in the San Antonio _Herald_,
in which he had patiently pieced together the reports that came to him
through those whom he regarded most dependable among the besiegers,
and from one who was an officer in the garrison until within a few
days of the assault.

Within the walls a well had been dug on the very day the Mexican Army
entered the town. Thus a plentiful supply of water supplemented the
store of meat and corn for the defenders.

A message sent out by Colonel Travis on the night of March 3 told of
the events of the first days of the siege:

      "With a hundred and forty-five men I have held this place ten
      days against a force variously estimated from 1,500 to 6,000,
      and I shall continue to hold it till I get relief from my
      countrymen, or I will perish in the attempt. We have had a
      shower of bombs and cannon-balls continually falling among us
      the whole time, yet none of us have fallen."

Santa Anna led a final assault on March 6. Scaling ladders, axes, and
fascines were to be in the hands of designated men. Five columns were
to approach the wall just at daybreak.

At the first onset Colonel Travis was killed and breaches were made in
the walls. The outer walls and batteries were abandoned, and the
defenders retired to the different rooms within.

      "From the doors, windows, and loopholes of the several rooms
      around the area the crack of the rifle and the hiss of the
      bullet came fierce and fast; as fast the enemy fell and
      recoiled in his first efforts to charge. The gun beside which
      Travis fell was now turned against the buildings, as were
      also some others, and shot after shot was sent crashing
      through the doors and barricades of the several rooms. Each
      ball was followed by a storm of musketry and a charge; and
      thus room after room was carried at the point of the bayonet,
      when all within them had died fighting to the last. The
      struggle was made up of a number of separate and desperate
      combats, often hand to hand, between squads of the garrison
      and bodies of the enemy. The bloodiest spot about the fort
      was the long barrack and the ground in front of it, where the
      enemy fell in heaps."

David Crockett was among those who were killed in one of the rooms. He
had joined the defenders a few days before the beginning of the siege.

The chapel was the last point taken. "Once the enemy in possession of
the large area, the guns could be turned to fire into the door of the
church, only from fifty to a hundred yards off. The inmates of the
last stronghold fought to the last, and continued to fire down from
the upper works after the enemy occupied the floor. Towards the close
of the struggle Lieutenant Dickenson, with his child in his arms, or,
as some accounts say, tied to his back, leaped from the east embrasure
of the chapel, and both were shot in the act. Of those he left behind
him the bayonet soon gleaned what the bullet had left; and in the
upper part of that edifice the last defender must have fallen."

This final assault lasted only thirty minutes. In that time the
defenders of Texas won immortal fame. Four days before, the Republic
of Texas had been proclaimed. Those who fell in the Alamo were hailed
the heroes of the struggle. "Remember the Alamo!" was the battle cry
of the war for independence that was waged until the Mexican Army was
routed at San Jacinto, April 21, 1836.

On the capitol grounds at Austin, Texas, stands a monument to the
heroes of the Alamo, with the inscription: "Thermopylae had her
messenger of defeat; the Alamo had none."


  [Illustration: THE HERMITAGE, NASHVILLE, TENN.
   _Photo by Wiles, Nashville_
   See page 351]

LXXX

THE HERMITAGE, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

ANDREW JACKSON'S RETREAT IN THE INTERVALS OF HIS PUBLIC SERVICE

Andrew Jackson was a pioneer. From North Carolina he crossed the
mountains to what was then the Western District. He was a lawyer, but
he wanted to be a farmer also. His first land purchase was made in
1791. This land was lost in the effort to pay the debts of another.

The second effort at farming was more successful. This was begun in
1804, when he bought a tract of some twenty-eight thousand acres, six
thousand acres of which he retained permanently as the Hermitage
plantation. From the beginning he showed that he had a genius for
farming. Crops were large, and his wealth grew rapidly, until he
became the wealthiest man in all that country. After a few years he
became famous as a breeder of race horses. He owned a track of his own
not far from the mansion.

For fifteen years Mr. and Mrs. Jackson lived in a log cabin. But they
maintained a large establishment. They had their slaves, and they
drove in a carriage drawn by four horses. And they entertained
royally. Jackson's biographer, James Parton, tells of a Nashville lady
who said that she had often been at the Hermitage "when there were in
each of the four available rooms not a guest merely, but a family,
while the young men and solitary travellers who chanced to drop in
disposed themselves on the piazza, or any other shelter about the
house."

The log house was still the plantation-house when General Jackson's
neighbors gathered to welcome him home as the victor of New Orleans.
In the response he gave to their greeting he made a prophecy:

      "Years will continue to develop our inherent qualities,
      until, from being the youngest and the weakest, we shall
      become the most powerful nation in the universe."

General Jackson was popular with all in the neighborhood of the
plantation. To his slaves he was a hero. To his wife he was devoted.
Parton says that he always treated her as if she was his pride and
glory. And words can faintly describe her devotion to him. She also
was popular among the servants; her treatment of them was courteous in
the extreme. A visitor to the Hermitage told of being present at the
hour of evening devotions. Just before these began the wife of the
overseer came into the room. Mrs. Jackson rose and made room for her
on the sofa. One of the guests expressed her surprise to a lady
sitting next her. "That is the way here," the lady whispered, "and if
she had not done it, the General would."

Peter Cartwright, the famous pioneer preacher, told in his
Autobiography an incident that revealed the General's nature.
Cartwright was preaching, when the pastor of a church, who was with
him in the pulpit, leaned forward and whispered, "General Jackson has
just come in." The outspoken preacher replied, so that every one could
hear: "What is that if General Jackson has come in? In the eyes of God
he is no bigger than any other man!" After the service Jackson told
Mr. Cartwright of his hearty approval of the sentiment.

That there might be more room for entertaining passing strangers like
Mr. Cartwright, as well as hosts of friends, Jackson began to build
The Hermitage in 1819, of brick made on the plantation. When this
house was burned in 1836, a new house was built on the old foundation,
and with the same general plan. The building has the rather unusual
length of 104 feet. Six pillars support the roof in front and in rear.

Between the building of the first house and its successor came most of
Jackson's political career. During this period also was the visit of
General Lafayette. On this occasion the Frenchman, recognizing the
pair of pistols which he had given to Washington in 1778, said that he
had a real satisfaction in finding them in the hands of one so worthy
of possessing them. "Yes, I believe myself to be worthy of them,"
Jackson began his reply, in words that seemed far less modest than the
conclusion proved them; for he added: "if not for what I have done, at
least for what I wished to do, for my country."

The Hermitage never seemed the same place to Jackson after the death
of his wife, on December 22, 1828, only a few days after his first
election to the presidency.

Two years after his final return from Washington, after attending
service at the little Presbyterian church on the estate, he begged the
pastor, Dr. Edgar, to return home with him. The pastor was unable to
accept, but promised to be on hand early in the morning. All night the
General read and prayed. Next morning, when Dr. Edgar came, he asked
to be admitted to the Church.

Parton says that from this time to the end of his life "General
Jackson spent most of his leisure hours in reading the Bible,
Biblical commentaries, and the hymn-book, which last he always
pronounced in the old-fashioned way, _hime_-book. The work known as
'Scott's Bible' was his chief delight; he read it through twice before
he died. Nightly he read prayers in the presence of his family and
household servants."

Soon after he united with the Church, the congregation wished to
choose him to the office of elder. "No," he said, "I am too young in
the Church for such an office. My countrymen have given me high
honors, but I should esteem the office of ruling elder in the Church
of Christ a far higher honor than any I have ever received."

For six years he continued to be an unofficial member of the church.
Then, on June 8, 1845, he said to those who had gathered about his
death-bed: "I am my God's. I belong to Him. I go but a short time
before you, and I want to meet you all, white and black, in heaven."

Less than two months before his death, when the President and
Directors of the National Institute proposed that an imported
sarcophagus in their possession be set apart for his last
resting-place, he declined, because he wished to lie by the side of
his wife, in the garden of The Hermitage.

Until 1888 Andrew Jackson, Jr., and after his death, his widow
occupied the house, during the last thirty-two years of this period as
caretakers for the State, which had bought the property for $48,000.
Since 1889 the mansion and twenty-five acres of ground have been cared
for by the Ladies' Hermitage Association.


  [Illustration: ASHLAND, LEXINGTON, KY.
   _Photo by E. C. Hall_
   See page 355]

LXXXI

ASHLAND, LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY

THE HOME OF HENRY CLAY FOR FORTY-SIX YEARS

Henry Clay's mother, having married Captain Henry Watkins, moved from
Hanover, Virginia, to Woodford County, Kentucky, in 1792. As soon as
the future statesman was admitted to practice in the Virginia Court of
Appeals, he decided to follow her. Accordingly, in November, 1797, he
became a resident of Lexington. Three years later the _Kentucke
Gazette_, the first paper published west of the mountains, told of "an
eloquent oration" that was "delivered by Henry Clay, Esquire."

The year before the young lawyer received this flattering notice he
married Lavinia Hart, of Lexington. Seven years were spent in rented
quarters, but in 1806 he purchased an estate about a mile and a half
from town.

Clay took the keenest pleasure in the estate. Once he wrote to a
friend:

      "I am in one respect better off than Moses. He died in sight
      of and without reaching the Promised Land. I occupy as good a
      farm as any he would have found had he reached it, and
      'Ashland' has been acquired not by hereditary descent but by
      my own labor."

However, it was only at intervals that the proud owner was able to
enjoy Ashland. After 1803 the longest period of residence was six
years, and this was toward the close of his life.

The management of the property was largely in the hands of Mrs. Clay,
and the prosperity of the plantation was proof of her capability. From
Washington he wrote frequently of things he would like to see done. He
was especially interested in blooded stock which he secured in the
East and abroad. Once he wrote proudly of the fact that there were on
the estate specimens of "the Maltese ass, the Arabian horse, the
Merino and Saxe Merino sheep, the English Hereford and Durham cattle,
the goat, the mule and the hog." His race horses were famous, and he
delighted to handle them himself. He also liked to feed the pigs, even
when he was an old man.

There were many slaves at Ashland, and they were all attached to their
master. His will provided for their emancipation, under wise
conditions. Once, when a friend bequeathed him twenty-five slaves, he
sent them to Liberia, by way of New Orleans.

Harriet Martineau, who visited Ashland in 1835, told of her pleasant
impression of the place and its owner:

      "I stayed some weeks in the house of a wealthy landowner in
      Kentucky. Our days were passed in great luxury, and the
      hottest of them very idly. The house was in the midst of
      grounds gay with verdure and flowers, in the opening month of
      June, and our favorite seats were the steps of the hall, and
      chairs under the trees. From there we could watch the play of
      the children on the grass plot, and some of the drolleries of
      the little negroes.... There were thirty-three horses in the
      stables, and we roved about the neighboring country
      accordingly...."

As the years passed visitors flocked to Ashland in ever-increasing
numbers. Many of them were politicians, but more were plain people
who were devoted to Clay and could not understand why the country
refused to elect him President. In 1844, during his longest period of
continuous residence at Ashland, he received word of the disappointing
result of the election. After a few days, when he was walking on the
turnpike near the house, he was startled by a woman who, on passing
him, burst into tears. When he asked her why she wept, she said:

      "I have lost my father, my husband, and my children, and
      passed through other painful trials; but all of them together
      have not given me so much sorrow as the late disappointment
      of your friends."

A story is also told of a bride and groom who visited Ashland on the
day the news of defeat was received. The journey was continued down
the Mississippi River. On the boat the groom was taken seriously ill.
The physician who was called to attend him was puzzled to define the
ailment until the bride said that the cause was the defeat of Henry
Clay. The old doctor threw his arms about the patient's neck and
cried, "There is no cure for a complaint like that."

The sting of defeat was forgotten one day in 1845. Mr. Clay was in his
bank in Lexington, prepared to pay a part of the indebtedness that had
all but swamped him, so that he felt he might have to sacrifice
Ashland. The bank told him that about $50,000 had been deposited in
the bank by his friends from all parts of the country, enough to pay
all his debts. He never knew the names of the generous friends who had
made possible the retention of the property.

He thought he was to spend the remainder of his days at home, and
that he would die there in peace. One day he said, in an address in
Lexington, "I felt like an old stag which has been long coursed by the
hunters and the hounds, through brakes and briars, and over distant
plains, and has at last returned to his ancient lair to lay himself
down and die."

Again in 1848 he tasted defeat, though on this occasion it was in the
nominating convention, not in the election. In the trying days that
followed he was sustained by his Christian faith. He had been baptized
in the parlor at Ashland on June 22, 1847. The reality of his
religious convictions was seen one day by what he said to a company of
friends who had been talking in a despairing manner of the future of
the country. Pointing to the Bible on the table, he said, "Gentlemen,
I do not know anything but that Book which can reconcile us to such
events."

In 1849 Clay was sent to the United States Senate because the
legislature of Kentucky felt that he was needed to help in the
solution of questions raised by the Mexican War. He spent three years
in Washington, then died in the midst of his work. After a journey
that showed what a place he had won in the hearts of the people, his
body was taken to Lexington. The catafalque lay in state in Ashland
over one night. Next day the body was buried near Lexington.

His son, James B. Clay, who purchased the estate at auction, tore down
the house because of its weakened foundations, but rebuilt it of the
same materials, on the old site, and on almost the identical plans.
Both outside and inside the mansion has practically the appearance of
the original.

Before the Civil War Ashland was purchased by the State College, but
in 1882 it became the property of Major Henry Clay McDowell, whose
widow lived there for many years. She was the daughter of Henry Clay,
Jr., whose death at the Battle of Buena Vista was a sore blow to one
who was always a fond father.


  [Illustration: SPORTSMAN'S HALL, WHITLEY'S STATION, KY
   _Photo by Miss M. E. Sacre, Stanford, Ky._
   See page 359]

LXXXII

SPORTSMAN'S HALL, WHITLEY'S STATION, KENTUCKY

THE HOME OF THE MAN WHO KILLED TECUMSEH

"Then, Billy, if I was you, I would go and see!"

Thus replied Esther Whitley of Augusta, Virginia, to her husband
William Whitley, when, early in 1775, he had told her that he had a
fine report of Kentucky, and that he thought they could get their
living in the frontier settlements with less hard work than was
required in Virginia.

Whitley took his wife at her word. Two days later, with axe and plow
and gun and kettle, he was on his way over the mountains. Daniel Boone
had not yet marked out the Wilderness Road that was to become the
great highway of emigration from Virginia to Kentucky. At first his
only companion was his brother-in-law, George Clark, but on the way
seven others joined the party.

During the next six years he was one of the trusted pioneers at
Boonesborough and Harrod's Fort, two stations on the Wilderness Road.
When he had a house ready for his wife, he returned to Virginia, and
brought her to Kentucky. It is said that she was the third white woman
to cross the Cumberland Mountains, Mrs. Daniel Boone and her daughter
being the first and second. The claim has been made that their
daughter, Louisa, who was born in Boonesborough, was the first white
child born in the present limits of Kentucky.

Louisa was perhaps four years old when Whitley removed to the vicinity
of Crab Orchard, the famous assembling place for parties about to take
the dangerous journey back to Virginia. Two miles from the settlement
he built Whitley's Fort. In 1788 he felt able to build for his growing
family the first brick house in Kentucky. The brick were brought from
Virginia, and the man who laid the brick was given a farm of five
hundred acres for his services. The windows were placed high above the
ground to prevent the Indians from shooting in at the occupants. The
window-glass was carried across the mountains in pack-saddles. The
stairway had twenty-one steps, and on these steps were carved the
heads of thirteen eagles to represent the original thirteen Colonies.
The doors were made of wood, elaborately carved, and were in two
layers, a heavy sheet of iron being placed between these. The old-time
leather hinges are still in use.

The owner laid out on his property the first race track in Kentucky,
and he called his house Sportsman's Hall. In its walls scores of
settlers found refuge in time of danger. Famous men sat with Mr. and
Mrs. Whitley at their hospitable table, among these being Daniel
Boone, George Rogers Clark, and General Harrison.

Until his death at the battle of the Thames in 1813 Whitley was one of
the chief defenders of the settlers against the Indians. On his
powder horn he cut the lines:

     William Whitley, I am your horne,
     The truth I love, a lie I scorne,
     Fill me with the best of powder,
     I'll make your rifle crack the louder.

     See how the dread, terrifick ball
     Makes Indians blench at Toreys fall,
     You with powder I'll supply
     For to defend your liberty.

One day in 1785 a messenger came to Whitley's Fort with the tidings
that Indians had captured a mother and her babe, after killing three
older children. Mr. Whitley was not at home, but Mrs. Whitley sent for
him. In the meantime she collected a company of twenty rescuers. On
his return Whitley placed himself at their head, pursued the Indians,
and rescued the prisoners.

The title Colonel was given to Whitley in 1794, when he commanded the
Nickerjack expedition against the Tennessee Indians, who had been
conducting foraging expeditions into Kentucky. The march was conducted
with such secrecy and despatch that the enemy were taken by surprise,
and were completely routed.

The last of his campaigns took place in Canada against the British,
French, and Indians in 1813. Many claim that before he received his
mortal wound in the battle of the Thames, he fired the shot that
killed Tecumseh, the chief who had given so much trouble to the
settlers of Kentucky and Indiana. Others say that the shot was fired
by a Colonel Johnson.

The body of the Indian fighter rests in an unknown grave hundreds of
miles from the territory he helped to wrest from the Indians, but the
brick house he built near Crab Orchard is still one of the historic
buildings of Kentucky.


  [Illustration: WHITE HAVEN, ST. LOUIS
   _Photo furnished by Albert Wenzlick_
   See page 362]

LXXXIII

WHITE HAVEN, NEAR ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

WHERE ULYSSES S. GRANT COURTED JULIA DENT

Immediately after Ulysses Simpson Grant graduated from West Point, he
was sent to Jefferson Barracks, at St. Louis. His military duties were
not so arduous that he was unable to accept the invitation of Fred
Dent, a former roommate at West Point, to go with him to the Dent
homestead on the Gravois Road, four miles from the Barracks.

The young second lieutenant did not have to be urged to repeat his
visit. In fact he went so often that the road between the Barracks and
the Dent farm became as familiar to him as his old haunts on the banks
of the Hudson. He did not meet Julia Dent at first, for she was absent
at school, but he found enough attraction in a sister to make him a
frequent visitor.

Then came the eventful day when he met seventeen-year-old Julia. The
courtship was by no means a long-drawn-out affair; the young people
were engaged before Grant was ordered to the Mexican border, though
the fact was not announced until his return to St. Louis in May, 1845.
The marriage took place in August, 1848, after the close of the
Mexican War.

For some years Mrs. Grant was a soldier's wife. Grant took her with
him to Detroit, but he left her at her old home in St. Louis when he
was transferred to the Pacific Coast. In 1853 he accepted a commission
as captain, which he soon resigned, determining to return to the East.
Several unfortunate speculations had left him without funds, and he
was indebted to a friend in San Francisco for transportation.

"I rejoined my family to find in it a son whom I had never seen, born
while I was on the Isthmus of Panama," Grant said in his "Personal
Memoirs." "I was now to commence, at the age of thirty-two, a new
struggle for our support. My wife had a farm near St. Louis, to which
we went, but I had no means to stock it. A house had to be built also.
I worked very hard, never losing a day because of bad weather, and
accomplished the object in a moderate way."

After working as a farm laborer for a time, he built a cabin on sixty
acres given to Mrs. Grant by her father. "Hardscrabble," as he called
the four-room log house, was the home of the Grant family for several
years. This cabin, which was on the grounds of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition at St. Louis, and White Haven, must both be counted homes
of the family at this period. Fred, Nellie, and Jesse Grant were all
born in White Haven.

Ready money was scarce, but the father of a growing family felt the
necessity of providing for their wants. "If nothing else could be done
I would load a cord of wood on a wagon and take it to the city for
sale," he wrote in his Memoirs. "I managed to keep along very well
until 1858, when I was attacked by fever and ague. I had suffered very
severely and for a long time from the disease while a boy in Ohio. It
lasted now over a year, and, while it did not keep me in the house,
it did interfere greatly with the amount of work I was able to
perform. In the fall of 1858 I sold out my stock, crops and farming
utensils at auction, and gave up farming."

The family remained at White Haven for a time, and Grant tried to make
a living in the real estate business. His partner was a cousin of Mrs.
Grant. The income of the business was not sufficient for two families,
so he soon gave up the attempt. "He doesn't seem to be just calculated
for business, but an honester, more generous man never lived," was the
remark of one who knew him at this time.

In the meantime he had taken his family to St. Louis. He made one
further attempt to support them there. Learning that there was a
vacancy in the office of county engineer, he applied for the position,
but the appointment was to be made by the members of the county court,
and he did not have sufficient influence to secure it. So the move to
Galena, Illinois, in May, 1860, became necessary. There, in the
leather business, he earned but eight hundred dollars a year. And he
had a family of six to feed.

A year later he responded to the call of President Lincoln, and began
the army service that made him famous.

White Haven was built in 1808 by Captain John Long, who had won his
title during the Revolution. Later the house and three hundred acres
of the original farm were sold to Frederick Dent, who, at one period,
had ninety slaves in the slave quarters still to be seen at the rear
of the house.

Through Mrs. Grant the entire property came into the possession of
General Grant. At the time of the failure of Grant & Ward, the farm
was pledged to William H. Vanderbilt, who sold it to Captain Fuller H.
Conn of St. Louis. Captain Conn disposed of it in a number of parcels.
One of these, containing fifteen acres and the old homestead, was
purchased by Albert Wenzlick, who makes his summer home in the house
where Ulysses S. Grant met Julia Dent.




EIGHT: ALL THE WAY BACK TO NEW ENGLAND

     _In verdurous tumult far away
       The prairie billows gleam,
     Upon their crests in blessing rests
       The noontide's gracious beam.
     Low quivering vapors steaming dim
       The level splendors break
     Where languid lilies deck the rim
       Of some land-circled lake._

     _Far in the east like low-hung clouds
       The waving woodlands lie;
     Far in the west the glowing plain
       Melts warmly in the sky.
     No accent wounds the reverent air,
       No footprint dints the sod,--
     Lone in the light the prairie lies,
       Wrapt in a dream of God._

       JOHN HAY.




EIGHT: ALL THE WAY BACK TO NEW ENGLAND


  [Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S HOUSE, SPRINGFIELD, ILL.
   _Photo by E. C. Hall_
   See page 369]

LXXXIV

THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN HOUSE, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS

FROM WHICH PRESIDENT-ELECT LINCOLN WENT TO WASHINGTON IN 1861

When Abraham Lincoln entered Springfield, in 1837, he did not own a
house; in fact he did not own much of anything. Joshua Speed is quoted
by Ida Tarbell thus:

      "He had ridden into town on a borrowed horse, with no earthly
      property save a pair of saddle-bags containing a few
      clothes.... Lincoln came into the store with his saddle-bags
      on his arm. He said he wanted to buy the furniture for a
      single bed. The mattress, blankets, sheets, coverlid, and
      pillow ... would cost seventeen dollars. He said that perhaps
      was cheap enough; but small as the price was, he was unable
      to pay it. But if I would credit him till Christmas, and his
      experiment as a lawyer was a success, he would pay then,
      saying in the saddest tone, 'If I fail in this I do not know
      that I can ever pay you.'"

The storekeeper thereupon proposed that the young lawyer should share
his own room above the store. Lincoln promptly accepted, went
upstairs, and in a moment was down again. With dry humor he said:
"Well, Speed, I am moved."

Lincoln longed for better quarters, however, because he wanted to be
married. He watched with interest the new buildings that were going
up, probably reflecting sadly that none of them were for him. In his
discouragement he wrote to Miss Mary Owen of New Salem, to whom he had
said something about coming to live with him in Springfield:

      "You would have to be poor, without the means of hiding your
      poverty. Do you believe you could bear that patiently?
      Whatever woman may cast her lot with mine, should any ever do
      so, it is my intention to do all in my power to make her
      happy and contented. And there is nothing I can imagine that
      would make me more unhappy than to fail in the effort. I know
      I should be much happier with you than the way I am, provided
      I saw no sign of discontent in you."

Miss Owen declined to go to Springfield, because she felt that Lincoln
was "deficient in those little links which make up the chain of a
woman's happiness."

Five years later, on November 4, 1842, Lincoln married Miss Mary Todd,
a member of a prominent Kentucky family, who had come to Springfield
in 1839 to live with her sister, Mrs. Ninian W. Edwards. The house in
which she spent the three years before her marriage was one of the
handsomest in the town, and was a centre of social gayety. Mr. and
Mrs. Edwards opposed the marriage to the poor and plebeian lawyer;
they urged the folly of exchanging a cultured home for the
surroundings to which Lincoln would take her. But she knew her own
mind, and she went with Lincoln to the home he provided for her.

The character of the accommodations to which he took his bride is
revealed by a letter written in May, 1843: "We are not keeping house,
but boarding at the Globe Tavern.... Boarding only costs four dollars
a week."

But the day came when the young statesman was able to open for Mrs.
Lincoln the door of their own modest one-story house. Later a second
story was added under the direction of his wife, most of the work
being done while he was away from home, riding the circuit.

J. G. Holland's pleasing picture of life in the home during the years
from 1850 to 1860 should be remembered:

      "It was to him a time of rest, of reading, of social
      happiness, and of professional prosperity. He was already a
      father, and took an almost unbounded delight in his children.
      The most that he could say to any rebel in his household was,
      'You break my heart, when you act like this.' A young man
      bred in Springfield speaks of a vision that has clung to his
      memory very vividly.... His way to school led by the lawyer's
      door. On almost any fair summer morning he could find Mr.
      Lincoln on the sidewalk in front of his house, drawing a
      child backward and forward, in a child's gig. Without hat or
      coat, and wearing a pair of rough shoes, his hands behind him
      holding on to the tongue of the gig, and his tall form bent
      forward to accommodate himself to the service, he paced up
      and down the walk forgetful of everything around him. The
      young man says he remembers wondering how so rough and plain
      a man should live in so respectable a house."

Once Lincoln was sitting on the porch when three-year-old Willie
escaped from the bathtub, ran out cf the house and the gate, up the
street, and into a field. There his father caught him, and carried
him home on his shoulder.

The children liked to ride on his shoulder, and they clambered for the
position. If they could not get there, they contented themselves with
hanging to his coat tails. One day a neighbor heard the boys crying,
and asked what was the matter. "Just what's the matter with the whole
world," was Lincoln's reply. "I've got three walnuts, and each wants
two."

During the last day of the Republican Convention of 1860, which was in
session in Chicago, Lincoln was in the office of the Springfield
_Journal_, receiving word of the progress of events. A messenger came
in and said to him, "The Convention has made a nomination, and Mr.
Seward is--the second man on the list!" After reading the telegram,
and receiving the congratulations of all in the office, Lincoln spoke
of the little woman on Eighth Street who had some interest in the
matter, and said he would go home and tell her the news.

When the news became generally known, the citizens followed him to the
house on Eighth Street. In the evening, after a meeting in the State
House, the Republicans present marched to the Lincoln home. The
nominee made a speech, and invited as many as could get in to enter
the house. "After the fourth of March we will give you a larger
house," came the laughing response.

Next day Lincoln was in a quandary. Some of his friends had sent him a
present of wines and other liquors, that he might be able to give what
they thought would be appropriate refreshment to the Committee sent
from Chicago to notify the nominee. Before the formal notification,
Lincoln asked the members what he should do with the wine. J. G.
Holland says that "the chairman at once advised him to return the
gift, and to offer no stimulants to his guests."

A few years later, when he had closed the house which he was never to
enter again, he said to his friends, who had gathered at the train to
say good-bye:

      "My friends: no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my
      feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the
      kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived
      a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an
      old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried.
      I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return,
      with a task before me greater than that which rested upon
      Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who
      ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I
      cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain
      with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope
      that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I
      hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an
      affectionate farewell."

When the body of the martyred President was brought back to
Springfield on May 3, 1865, it was not taken to the old home on Eighth
Street, but to the State Capitol, and from there to Oak Ridge
Cemetery.

The house is now the property of the State of Illinois, the gift of
Robert T. Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's son.


  [Illustration: WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON'S HOUSE, VINCENNES, IND.
   _Photo furnished by Frank H. Curtis, Vincennes_
   See page 376]

LXXXV

THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE AT VINCENNES, INDIANA

WHERE "OLD TIPPECANOE" WELCOMED HIS GUESTS

William Henry Harrison, son of Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers
of the Declaration of Independence, was a ward of Robert Morris. The
great financier opposed the young man's purpose to enlist in the Ohio
campaign against the Indians that followed the war of the Revolution,
but when young Harrison applied directly to Washington he was
appointed ensign and sent to the front. This was in 1791, and the new
ensign was but nineteen years old.

Gallant conduct during a campaign of four years under General Anthony
Wayne brought to him promotion to a captaincy, the favor of his
general, and the command of Fort Washington, at what is now
Cincinnati, Ohio.

This post was resigned in 1798, when there seemed no further prospect of
active service. Thereupon Washington appointed the twenty-four-year-old
captain Secretary of the Northwestern Territory and _ex officio_
Lieutenant Governor. When, in 1800, the Northwestern Territory was
divided, he was nominated by Thomas Jefferson Governor of Indiana
Territory, including what is now Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
Wisconsin, and Iowa.

Vincennes, one of the three white settlements in all this vast
territory, became the seat of government. As Fort Sackville Vincennes
had been made famous during the Revolution by the brilliant exploit
of George Rogers Clarke, who took it from the British after an
approach across Illinois and through the flooded valley of the Wabash,
for which he will ever be remembered by a grateful country.

For thirteen years he was the autocrat in his remote outpost. To him
were committed, in company with the Judge, all legislative powers; he
was commander-in-chief of the militia, and he had the power of
treaty-making with the Indians. His signature became a valid title to
lands in the Indian country. His care of the interests committed to
him was so satisfactory that the legislature of Indiana asked for his
reappointment. He was especially successful in dealing with the
Indians. The victory at Tippecanoe became a rallying cry when, in
1839, he was nominated for the Presidency.

One of the most notable events of his career as Governor took place
before his house at Vincennes. The Indian warrior Tecumseh, claiming
that lands ceded by other tribes belonged to his own tribe, threatened
vengeance on any who should attempt to settle on these lands. General
Harrison sent for him, promising to give him a careful hearing and
full justice. Accordingly, in August, 1810, Tecumseh came to
Vincennes, accompanied by several hundred warriors. The meeting of the
Governor and the Indians took place in front of the official
residence. At one point in the conference, Tecumseh, being angry, gave
a signal to his warriors, who seized their knives, tomahawks, and war
clubs and sprang to their feet.

The Governor rose calmly from his armchair, drew his sword, and faced
the savage. His bearing overawed the Indians, and when he told
Tecumseh that he could have no further conference with such a bad
man, the chief and his supporters returned to their camp.

The house that looked down on this scene was probably the first house
of burned brick built west of the Alleghenies. It was erected in 1804,
at a cost of about twenty thousand dollars.

The walls of the basement are twenty-four inches thick; the upper
walls are eighteen inches thick. The outer walls are of hard red
brick. The doors, sash, mantels, and stairs are of black walnut, and
are said to have been made in Pittsburgh.

The basement contains the dining-room, the kitchen, in which hangs the
old-fashioned crane, a storeroom in which the supplies of powder and
arms were kept, and four servants' bedrooms. At one side of the large
cellar is the entrance to a tunnel which led to the banks of the
Wabash, some six hundred feet distant. This was built, so tradition
says, that the Governor and his family, if too closely pressed by
Indians, might escape to the river and continue their flight in
canoes. This would be useful also for the carrying in of water and
food during a siege.

On the first floor a commodious hallway communicates on the left with
the Council Chamber, where notable visitors were received. This was
also the chamber of early territorial lawmakers. Here, in 1805, by
Rev. Thomas Clelland, was preached the first Presbyterian sermon in
what is now the State of Indiana.

In the shutter of a room facing the rear is the mark of a bullet
which, it is said, was fired by an Indian who was attempting the life
of the Governor, while that official was walking the floor with his
little son in his arms.

To-day the house is cut off from the city by railroad tracks and is
surrounded by factories. Until 1916 it was owned by the Vincennes
Water Company, which proposed to raze it to the ground, that they
might have room for extension. Learning of this purpose, six members
of the Francis Vigo Chapter of the Daughters of the American
Revolution begged the City Council to buy the house and preserve it.
When the Council announced that the way was not open to do this, a
number of patriotic women, led by Mrs. Frank W. Curtis, raised the sum
necessary for the purchase of the property.

Under the direction of the Francis Vigo Chapter, the house has been
restored, and opened for visitors. It is the intention to maintain it
for the inspiration of those who visit Vincennes to look on the scene
of the wise labors of the first Governor of the Indian Territory.


  [Illustration: RUFUS PUTNAM'S HOUSE, MARIETTA, O.
   _Photo furnished by Miss Willia D. Cotton, Marietta_
   See page 377]

LXXXVI

THE HOUSE OF GENERAL RUFUS PUTNAM, MARIETTA, OHIO

THE MAN WHO LED THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS TO OHIO

In 1775 General Washington decided that he must fortify Dorchester
Heights, Boston, if he was to force the British to leave the country.
But how was he to do this? The ground was frozen to a depth of
eighteen inches, and the enemy's cannon commanded the coveted
position. Lieutenant Colonel Putnam told the General that the
seemingly impossible task could be performed. Washington was dubious,
but he had learned that Colonel Putnam was to be counted on. One
night, after dark, the work was begun, and before daylight it was so
far completed that the surprised enemy were compelled to retire.

In recognition of services like this, Colonel Putnam was made a
brigadier general. A reward even greater was his; he won the lasting
friendship of Washington.

Eight years after the fortification of Dorchester Heights, two hundred
and eighty-three officers asked Congress for a grant of land in the
western country. General Putnam forwarded the petition to Washington,
and urged that it be granted, in order that "the country between Lake
Erie and the Ohio might be filled with inhabitants, and the faithful
subjects of the United States so established on the waters of the Ohio
and on the lakes as to banish forever the idea of our western
territory falling under the dominion of any European power."

Action by Congress was delayed. On June 2, 1784, Washington wrote to
Putnam:

      "I wish it was in my power to give you a more favorable
      account of the officers' petition for lands on the Ohio and
      its water, than I am about to do.... For surely if justice
      and gratitude to the army, and general policy of the Union
      were to govern in the case, there would not be the smallest
      interruption in granting the request."

Putnam did not lose heart. His next step, taken in January, 1786, was
to call a meeting of officers and soldiers and others to form an Ohio
Company. The meeting was held at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern, in
Boston, March 1, 1786, and the Ohio Company of Associates was duly
formed. It was agreed to raise a fund to purchase from Congress, for
purposes of settlement, the western lands which Congress had been
asked to give them.

On July 27, 1787, a tract of 1,500,000 acres on the Ohio River,
between the Scioto and the Muskingum rivers, was sold to the Company
at sixty-six and two-thirds cents per acre. Half the amount was paid
down. When, later, it became impossible to pay the remainder, Congress
gave a measure of relief.

The first emigrants to go to the new lands set out from Danvers,
Massachusetts, December 1, 1787, under the guidance of General Rufus
Putnam, while a second party started from Hartford, Connecticut,
January 1, 1788. The first party of twenty-two men followed the Indian
trail over the Allegheny Mountains and reached the Youghiogheny River,
on January 23, 1788, while the second party of twenty-eight men,
making better time, joined them on February 14. Then a barge, called
the _Mayflower_, was built, forty-six feet long and twelve feet wide.
A cabin was provided for the women of the party, and an awning was
stretched. The men propelled the boat with ten oars.

On April 1 the voyage to the Ohio was begun, and on April 7 the party
reached the mouth of the Muskingum. The barge was moored to the bank,
opposite Fort Harmar. Thus came the Massachusetts pioneers to the town
of which Washington wrote later: "No colony in America was ever
settled under such favorable auspices as that which has just commenced
at Muskingum. Information, property, and strength will be its
characteristics. I know many of the settlers personally, and there
never were men better calculated to promote the welfare of such a
community."

Here the pioneers laid out the town of Marietta among the famous
Indian mounds, naming it in honor of Marie Antoinette of France. The
greatest mound of all was made the central feature of Marie Antoinette
Square. This mound is thirty feet high, while the circular base is 375
feet in circumference. It is surrounded by a moat fifteen feet wide
and five feet deep. Beyond the moat is a parapet twenty feet thick and
385 feet in circumference. This square was leased to General Putnam
for twelve years, on condition that he "surround the whole square with
mulberry trees with an elm at each corner." The base of the mound was
to be encircled with weeping willows, and evergreens were to be placed
on the mound. The parapet was to be surrounded with trees, the square
was to be seeded down to grass, and the whole was to be enclosed with
a post and rail fence. This effort to create a park at the very
beginning was an unusual feature of this pioneer experience.

An enclosure of logs, with a log fort at each corner, was built for
protection against the Indians. Between the corner forts were the
cabins occupied by the various families. The forts and the enclosure
were named the Campus Martius. One of the early houses built within
this stockade became the home of General Putnam.

Marie Antoinette Square soon became known as Mound Square. General
Putnam turned over his lease to the town, which set the property aside
as a cemetery. Many of the settlers had died during two epidemics of
smallpox, and there was need of a cemetery nearer the town than the
ground set aside at the beginning.

It is claimed that more officers of the Revolution have been buried in
the Mound Cemetery than in any other cemetery in the country. There
were twelve colonels, twelve majors, and twenty-two captains among
the Marietta pioneers. When General Lafayette was in Marietta in
1825, the list was read to him, and he said: "I knew them all. I saw
them at Brandywine, Yorktown, and Rhode Island. They were the bravest
of the brave."

Over Putnam's grave is the following inscription:

          Gen. Rufus Putnam
       A Revolutionary Officer
        And the leader of the
        Colony which made the
       First settlement in the
     Territory of the Northwest.
          Born April 9, 1738
          Died May 4, 1824.

The house occupied by "the Father of Ohio," as he has been called, is
preserved as a historical monument. In 1917 the Daughters of the
American Revolution and Marietta succeeded in persuading the Ohio
Legislature to pass a bill making provision for its repair and care.


LXXXVII

MONUMENT PLACE, ELM GROVE, WEST VIRGINIA

THE PLANTATION HOME OF TWO MAKERS OF HISTORY

At Shepherdstown, the oldest town in what is now West Virginia, Moses
Shepherd was born on November 11, 1763. His grandfather had founded
the town.

When Moses was about seven years old his father, Colonel Shepherd,
removed his large family to his plantation between Big Wheeling and
Little Creek, which is now included within the limits of Elm Grove. On
the banks of the creek he built Fort Shepherd, that the settlers for
miles around might have a place of refuge from the Indians. Of this
fort Colonel Shepherd was in command till it was destroyed by the
Indians in 1777. The family was hastily removed to Fort Henry, nearer
the present site of Wheeling. There they were hard pressed by the
Indians. Moses, along with other children, assisted in the defence by
moulding bullets and carrying ammunition.

Word went out to the neighboring strongholds of the endangered
settlers at Fort Henry. Captain John Boggs, then at Catfish Camp (now
Washington, Pennsylvania), hurried to the assistance of Colonel
Shepherd with forty armed men. With him was his daughter, Lydia, who
took her place with Moses and the other young people as an assistant
to the defenders.

She was there when Molly Scott made her sally from the fort in search
of shot, and she saw the heroine bring it in in her apron. She
witnessed also the attempt of Major Samuel McColloch to enter the fort
at the head of a squad of men which he had brought from Fort Van
Meter, a few miles away. With joy she saw the men enter the gate of
the fort, and her heart was in her mouth when she saw that McColloch,
who was her cousin, was unable to follow because the Indians had
managed to get between him and the gate. At last the gate was closed,
lest the Indians gain entrance, and the gallant Major was left to his
fate.

The Indians thought they could capture him easily. They hemmed him on
Wheeling Hill, on three sides. On the fourth side was a rocky
precipice almost sheer, covered with growth of trees and bushes. But
the savages were not to have such an easy victory after all, for Major
McColloch urged his horse over the brow of the steep hill, and, to the
astonishment of all, slipped, slid, and fell to the bottom, where the
way across the creek and to safety was comparatively easy.

The Indians were finally driven away, but not until Moses Shepherd had
made the acquaintance of Lydia Boggs, his companion in service at the
fort. They were married later. In 1798, after the death of Colonel
David Shepherd, Colonel Moses Shepherd took her to the palatial new
home built on the site of the second Fort Shepherd, near the banks of
Wheeling Creek. This house, which was called at first the Shepherd
Mansion or the Stone House, later became known as the Monument Place.

The story of the third name, which still persists, is interesting.
When, during Jefferson's administration, certain farsighted statesmen
advocated the building of a National Highway which should connect
Washington with Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, Colonel Shepherd became
one of the earnest and influential advocates of the road. He was a
friend of Henry Clay, to whose indefatigable advocacy of the road was
due much of the success of the venture. Clay was frequently a guest of
the Shepherds, and in the stately stone house he talked with them
about the difficulties, progress, and final triumph.

When the road was an accomplished fact Colonel and Mrs. Shepherd
caused to be built on the lawn a stone monument dedicated to their
friend, in appreciation of his service. The monument, whose
inscriptions have become illegible, is in plain sight from the
Cumberland Road, or, as it came to be called, the National Road, just
before it makes a sharp turn to cross the sturdy stone bridge over
Little Wheeling Creek. Possibly this was one of the bridges Colonel
Shepherd constructed. At any rate he was a contractor for a section of
the road, and several bridges were erected by him.

Along the Cumberland Road, which was the great highway between the
East and the West, travelled home-seekers outward bound and business
men and politicians to whom Washington beckoned irresistibly. Among
the regular travellers at this and later periods were Andrew Jackson,
William Henry Harrison, General Houston, James K. Polk, and others who
made it a point never to pass the Shepherd Mansion without stopping.
One of the early politicians who frequented the house, attracted there
by Mrs. Shepherd, said: "She had a powerful intellect in her younger
days. Many of our caucuses were held in her drawing-room. She could
keep a secret better than most women, but her love of sarcasm and
intrigue kept her from being very effective."

Mrs. Shepherd, in fun, had criticisms to offer of some of her
visitors. Once she spoke of Burton, Clay, and Webster as "those young
men, promising, but crude, crude."

She was accustomed to go every winter with her husband to Washington,
where she would spend a few months during the season. They always
travelled in a coach and four and they lived in great style at the
Capital. There she was sought for her beauty, for her eccentricities,
and her familiarity with private political life.

Colonel Shepherd died in 1832. In 1833 Mrs. Shepherd married General
Daniel Cruger, a New York Congressman, who spent the last years of
his life in West Virginia.

After the General's death in 1843 Mrs. Cruger lived at Monument Place,
receiving visitors as of old, and increasing in the eccentricities
that kept any one from being her warm admirer. Always she proved
herself an unusual woman. "If fate had placed her in the compressed
centre of a court, instead of in the inconsequent hurly-burly of a
republic, she would have made for herself a great place in history,"
Mrs. Rebecca Harding Davis once wrote of her.

She was still managing a large plantation during the Civil War, when a
visitor dropped in to see her who has left the following picture of
what she saw:

      "We saw a well-built house of dressed stone, very large and
      solid, with the usual detached kitchen and long row of 'negro
      quarters.' ...

      "Mrs. Cruger's age was told by the skin of face and hands,
      which were like crumpled parchment, but the lips were firm
      and the eyes, deep set in wrinkled lids, were still dark and
      keen. She was then one hundred years old.

      "We went up to see the ball-room, which was across the whole
      front of the house, with many windows and a handsome carved
      marble mantel at each end, and deep closets on both sides of
      these fire-places.

      "Like Queen Elizabeth, Mrs. Cruger would seem to have kept
      all her fine clothes. The whole walls were hung thick with
      dresses of silk and satin and velvet pelisses trimmed with
      fur; braided riding-habits; mantles of damasked black silk;
      band-boxes piled from floor to ceiling full of wonderful
      bonnets, some of tremendous size, fine large leghorn straw,
      costing from fifty to one hundred dollars; also veils that
      would reach to the knee of fine old English lace; gold and
      silver ruching; and fine embroidered cashmere turbans, a
      perfect museum of fashion from 1800 to 1840."

To another visitor Mrs. Cruger explained that it had long been her
custom to put aside each year two gowns made in the fashion of that
year.

In her old age she liked to be alone. Frequently she would send every
one from the house that she might bathe at night. Once her physician
urged her to keep her maid near her. "Why?" she asked; "because I am
afraid? afraid of what? of death? Death will not come to me for twenty
years yet." She was then ninety years old, and she lived to be nearly
one hundred and two. She is buried, by the side of her two husbands,
in Old Stone Church Cemetery on the hill above Elm Grove. A rough
monument carries inscriptions to the memory of the three pioneers
whose lives, as has been pointed out by a local historian, "covered
the Indian War, the Colonial Period, the War of the American
Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Civil War."


LXXXVIII

THE CASTLE AT FORT NIAGARA, NEW YORK

THE OLDEST BUILDING IN THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES, WEST OF THE MOHAWK

"The story of Fort Niagara is peculiarly the story of the fur trade
and the strife for commercial monopoly," Frank H. Severance of the
Buffalo Historical Society said in an address delivered at the fort in
1896; "and it is, too, in considerable measure, the story of our
neighbor, the magnificent colony of Canada.... It is a story replete
with incidents of battle and siege, of Indian cruelty, of patriot
captivity, of white men's duplicity, of famine, disease, and
death,--of all the varied forms of misery and wretchedness of a
frontier post, which we in days of ease are wont to call picturesque
and romantic. It is a story without a dull page, and it is two and a
half centuries long.... I cannot better tell the story ... then to
symbolize Fort Niagara as a beaver skin, held by an Indian, a
Frenchman, an Englishman, and a Dutchman, each of the last three
trying to pull it away from the others (the poor Dutchman early bowled
over in the scuffle), and each European equally eager to placate the
Indian with fine words, with prayers, or with brandy, or to stick a
knife into his white brother's back."

The story begins in 1669, with the first efforts of the French to
secure possession of the Niagara country. It includes also the romance
of the building of the _Griffon_, the first vessel on the Great Lakes,
and the episode of the early fortification of the late seventeenth
century. But it was not until 1726, the year of the building of the
stone castle near the mouth of the Niagara River, that the fort had
its real beginning. The French felt compelled to build the fort
because the activity of the English was interfering with their own fur
trade with the Indians, and their plan to build Fort Oswego would
increase the difficulty. No time was to be lost; Governor Joncaire
felt that he could not wait for the approval of the authorities at
home. To these latter he sent word that he must build a fortress, and
he asked for an appropriation; to the Indians he declared that he
wished to have a mere trading station. His real purpose was indicated
when he wrote to France that the building "will not have the
appearance of a fort, so that no offence will be given to the
Iroquois, who have been unwilling to allow any there, but it will
answer the purpose of a fort just as well."

The first step was the construction of two barques for use on Lake
Ontario, to carry stone and timber for the building, and later, to
cruise on the lake and intercept traders bound for Oswego.

After the construction of the barques had been begun, the consent of
the five Iroquois nations was secured. Longueuil promised them that it
would be to them "a House of Peace" down to the third generation and
farther. To Gaspard Chaussegros de Lery, engineer, was committed the
building of the structure. He determined to make it fireproof.
"Instead of wooden partitions I have built heavy walls, and paved all
the floors with flat stone," he wrote in a report sent to France. The
loft was paved with flat stones "on a floor full of good oak joists,
upon which cannon may be placed above the structure."

The trade with the Indians at the completed stone house on the Niagara
increased. So did the activities of the English. Governor Burnet of
New York craftily persuaded the Onondaga Indians that their interests
had been endangered by the building of the French fort, since it
penned them up from their chief hunting-place, and was therefore
contrary to the Treaty of Utrecht; they agreed with him that the
Iroquois had no right to the territory, which was really the property
of the Senecas, and they asked the Governor to appeal to King George
to protect them in their right.

Therefore the suggestion was made that they "submit and give up all
their hunting country to the King," and sign a deed for it.
Accordingly Seneca, Cayuga, and Onondaga sachems deeded to the English
a sixty-mile strip along the south shore of Lake Ontario, which
included the Niagara frontier, the Niagara River being the western
boundary.

"From this time on the 'stone house' was on British soil; but it was
yet to take the new owner a generation to dispossess the obnoxious
tenant," Frank H. Severance writes in "An Old Frontier of France."

The story of the next thirty years is a story of plots and
counter-plots, of expeditions threatened and actual, of disappointing
campaigns, of imprisonment and cruelty and death. More than once
Indians promised the English that the house at Niagara should be
razed. Spies reported that the defences at the castle were in bad
shape; "'tis certain that, should the English once attack it, 'tis
theirs," one report ran. "I am informed that the fort is so
dilapidated that 'tis impossible to put a pin in it without causing it
to crumble; stanchions have been obliged to be set up against it to
support it." Another report disclosed that if the cannon were fired
the walls would crumble.

But the French were not ready to give up. They felt that Fort Niagara
was the key to the Ohio Valley, which they wished to control. They
strengthened the defences of the fort. The defeat of Braddock at Fort
Du Quesne and the strange decision of General Shirley to stop at
Oswego instead of continuing with his force to Niagara, gave the
French a new lease of life.

In 1759 came the end of French rule. General Prideaux's expedition
from New York began the siege of the fort early in July, and after
several weeks it capitulated. Until 1796 the English flag floated
above the "castle." The commander of this post, like the commanders of
six other forts, refused on various pretexts to surrender to America,
in spite of the terms of the treaty of 1783. Attempts were made to
secure possession, but none of them were successful, and it was not
until 1794 that Great Britain agreed to evacuate Niagara and the other
forts still held, "on or before the 1st of June, 1796."

Seventeen years later, in 1813, the British flag again replaced the
Stars and Stripes over the historic building, but the fort was
restored to the United States in 1815. Since that time it has been a
part of the army post that has been more important because of its
history than for any other reason.

The Daughters of the War of 1812 have placed a suitable tablet on the
Old Castle, and are interested in the proposition that has been made
to turn the venerable edifice into an international museum, which
shall commemorate the one hundred years of peace between Great Britain
and America.

In 1917 the eyes of the nation were once more turned on the fort by
Lake Ontario, for it was made a training ground for officers who were
to be sent to the battle front in France and Belgium. The castle,
nearly two hundred years old, and strong as ever, again witnessed the
gathering of patriots, and the spot that had echoed to the tread of
French who had yielded to the English, of English who had driven out
the French, and of Americans who had driven out the English, became
the parade ground of Americans who were making ready to stand side by
side with French and English for the freedom of the world.


  [Illustration: THE SCHUYLER MANSION, ALBANY, N. Y.
   _Photo furnished by Hon. Martin H. Glynn, Albany_
   See page 391]

LXXXIX

THE SCHUYLER MANSION, ALBANY, NEW YORK

THE RALLYING PLACE OF THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS

When Catherine Van Rensselaer married Philip Schuyler, on September
17, 1755, he was a soldier who had been engaged in the campaign
against the French at Crown Point. She was glad when he resigned, in
1756, but he returned to army life in 1758 and at intervals for more
than twenty years he continued his military service. Two days after
the Battle of Bunker Hill Congress made him a major-general. During
his three years in the army of the Colonies, he was the subject of
continual abuse on the part of those who felt that he had conducted
carelessly his expedition to Canada and the campaign against Burgoyne.
He was able to stand up against the public clamor because Washington
had confidence in him and because he was twice given a clean bill of
health by a court of inquiry.

During this season of misunderstanding he was sustained by his wife,
who was a remarkable assistant both in his home and in public affairs.
During the years when he was frequently incapacitated by gout she
carried on much of his work for him, and so enabled him to maintain
his place in the councils of the nation.

It was in 1760 that Mrs. Schuyler first showed her great executive
ability. While her husband was absent in England, where he had been
sent by General Bradstreet, she superintended the erection of a new
house, a spacious mansion of yellow brick that is to-day as staunch
as when it was built.

From the beginning the Schuyler mansion, the home of the first citizen
of Albany, was noted because of the boundless hospitality of its
mistress. All were welcomed who sought its doors. One notable company
was made up of nine Catawba warriors from South Carolina, who were on
their way to ratify a covenant with the Six Nations at the close of
the Cherokee War. They were met at the wharf by Major Schuyler and
taken directly to the house.

Among the visitors to Albany in 1776 were three Commissioners
appointed by Congress to visit the Army of the North, one of whom,
Benjamin Franklin, was so wearied by the journey from Philadelphia
that he was sincerely grateful for Mrs. Schuyler's care. One of the
Commissioners said later of General Schuyler, "He lives in pretty
style, and has two daughters, Betsey and Peggy, lively, agreeable
gals." He was delighted to learn that the motto of Philip Schuyler and
his household was, "As for me and my house, we will serve our
country."

Another of the fortunate men who were privileged to be in the house
for a season was Tench Tilghman, an aide-de-camp of General
Washington. He wrote in his journal of "Miss Ann Schuyler, a very
Pretty Young Lady. A brunette with dark eyes, and a countenance
animated and sparkling, as I am told she is." Later he met "Miss
Betsey, the General's 2nd Daughter." "I was prepossessed in favor of
the Young Lady the moment I saw her," he said. "A Brunette with the
most good natured dark lovely eyes I ever saw, which threw a beam of
good temper and Benevolence over her entire countenance. Mr.
Livingstone informed me that I was not mistaken in my Conjecture for
she was the finest tempered Girl in the World."

Tench Tilghman was to renew the acquaintance in 1779, when Betsey and
her parents spent a few months in Morristown, New Jersey. Alexander
Hamilton also was there, and he secured Betsey's promise to be his
bride.

The marriage took place at the Albany homestead on December 14, 1780.
A few months later the young husband, having resigned from the army,
was studying law in Albany and was a welcome addition to the Schuyler
household.

Two years after the wedding came one of the incidents that has made
the mansion famous. Because of the General's influence with the Indian
allies of the British, a number of attempts were made to capture him;
the British wished to put him where he could not interfere with their
plans. One summer day, when Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Hamilton's sister
Margaret, was in the house with her baby Philip, a party of Tories,
Canadians, and Indians surrounded the house and forced an entrance.
Mary Gay Humphreys, in "Catherine Schuyler," tells what followed:

      "The house was guarded by six men. Their guns were in the
      hall, the guards being outside and the relief asleep. Lest
      the small Philip be tempted to play with the guns his mother
      had them removed. The alarm was given by a servant. The
      guards rushed for their guns, but they were gone. The family
      fled upstairs, but Margaret, remembering the baby in the
      cradle below, ran back, seized the baby, and when she was
      halfway up the flight, an Indian flung his tomahawk at her
      head, which, missing her, buried itself in the wood, and
      left its historic mark to the present time."

After the attack on the mansion Washington wrote to General Schuyler,
begging him to strengthen his guard. The following year the
Commander-in-chief was a guest at the mansion, while in 1784 he spent
the night there, after an evening consultation with Schuyler, while
Mrs. Washington visited with her friend Mrs. Schuyler.

Lafayette, Count de Rochambeau, Baron Steuben, Charles Carroll of
Carrollton, John Jay, and Aaron Burr had a taste of the delights of
life at the mansion. The latter was destined to defeat General
Schuyler for reelection to the Senate, as he was to be in turn
defeated by the General. The British General Burgoyne and his staff
also were entertained in the mansion, after General Schuyler's victory
at Saratoga, and this in spite of the fact that much of the General's
property had been destroyed by Burgoyne's order.

For many years the house was famous as the meeting place of the
friends of the young nation. Frequent conferences were held in the
library on the proposed constitution. It is said that many sections of
the document were written there by Hamilton, and the steps of the
campaign for the ratification of the document were outlined within the
historic walls. When, at last, the victory was complete, General
Schuyler and Alexander Hamilton walked at the head of the gay
procession that hailed the news with joy. The whole town was
illuminated, but the most brilliantly lighted building was the old
mansion.

During the years that followed General Schuyler's health failed
gradually, and he became more than ever dependent on his wife. When
she died, in 1803, he did not know what to do without her. To
Hamilton he wrote:

      "My trial has been severe. I shall attempt to sustain it with
      fortitude. I hope I have succeeded in a degree, but after
      giving and receiving for nearly a half a century, a series of
      mutual evidences of affection and friendship which increased
      as we advanced in life, the shock was great and sensibly
      felt, to be thus suddenly deprived of a beloved wife, the
      Mother of my children, and the soothing companion of my
      declining years. But I kiss the rod with humility. The Being
      that inflicted the stroke will enable me to sustain the
      smart, and progressively restore peace to my wounded heart,
      and will make you and Eliza and my other children the
      instruments of my Consolation...."

General Schuyler died in November, 1804, four months after the duel
with Burr in which Hamilton was slain.

The mansion in which he spent so many happy years was long an orphan
asylum, but in 1911 it was purchased by the State. On October 17,
1917, it was dedicated as a State Monument.


  [Illustration: WENTWORTH HOUSE, PORTSMOUTH, N. H.
   _Photo by Halliday Historic Photograph Company_
   See page 395]

XC

THE WENTWORTH HOUSE, PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE

THE SCENE OF THE ROMANCE OF LADY WENTWORTH

When, in 1750, Governor Benning Wentworth began to rebuild for his
mansion at Little Harbor, two miles from the business centre of
Portsmouth a farm-house which dated from the latter part of the
sixteenth century, he thought more of comfort than of architecture.
Evidently those who later added to the house thought as little of
architecture as the original builder; the product became such a
strange conglomeration of wings and "L's" that it is difficult to see
which is the original portion. Once the house contained fifty-two
rooms, but a portion has been torn away, and the structure as it
stands is not quite so spacious, though still large enough for a
hotel. Even the cellar is tremendous, for Governor Wentworth provided
there a place for his horses, to be used in time of danger. Thirty
animals could be accommodated there.

Many of the rooms are small, but some are of impressive size, notably
the Council Chamber, where meetings that helped to make history were
held, and the billiard room, where the owner and his associates were
accustomed to go when the strain of business became too great.

Longfellow thus describes the house:

  "It was a pleasant mansion, an abode
     Near and yet hidden from the great high-road,
     Sequestered among trees, a noble pile,
     Baronial and colonial in its style;
     Gables and dormer-windows everywhere,
     And stacks of chimneys rising high in air--
     Pandaean pipes, on which all winds that blew
     Made mournful music the whole winter through.
     Within, unwonted splendors met the eye,
     Panels, and floors of oak, and tapestry;
     Carved chimney-pieces, where on brazen dogs
     Revelled and roared the Christmas fire of logs;
     Doors opening into darkness unawares,
     Mysterious passages, and flights of stairs,
     And on the walls, in heavy gilded frames,
     The ancestral Wentworths with Old-Scripture names."

While Governor Wentworth was an important figure during the days
preceding the Revolution, the mansion is celebrated not so much
because of his political service as because of the romance of his
second marriage.

Martha Hilton, the heroine of the romance, was "a careless, laughing,
bare-footed girl." One day a neighbor saw her, in a short dress,
carrying a pail of water in the street. "You, Pat! You, Pat! Why do
you go looking so? You should be ashamed to be seen in the street!"
was the shocked comment. But the answer was not what the neighbor
expected. "No matter how I look, I shall ride in my chariot yet,
Marm."

The story of what followed is told by Charles W. Brewster, a historian
of old Portsmouth:

      "Martha Hilton afterwards left home, and went to live in the
      Governor's mansion at Little Harbor, doing the work of the
      kitchen, and keeping the house in order, much to the
      Governor's satisfaction.... The Governor has invited a dinner
      party, and with many other guests, in his cocked hat comes
      the beloved Rev. Arthur Brown, of the Episcopal church. The
      dinner is served up in a style becoming the Governor's
      table.... There is a whisper from the Governor to a
      messenger, and at his summons Martha Hilton comes in from
      that door on the west of the parlor, and, with blushing
      countenance, stands in front of the fireplace. She seems
      heedless of the fire--she does not appear to have brought
      anything in, nor does she seem to be looking for anything to
      carry out--there she stands! a damsel of twenty summers--for
      what, no visitor can tell.

      "The Governor, bleached by the frosts of sixty winters,
      rises. 'Mr. Brown, I wish you to marry me.' 'To whom?' asks
      his pastor, in wondering surprise. 'To this lady,' was the
      reply. The rector stood confounded. The Governor became
      imperative. 'As the Governor of New Hampshire I command you
      to marry me!' The ceremony was then duly performed, and from
      that time Martha Hilton became Lady Wentworth."

Longfellow's record of the incident is given in the poem, "Lady
Wentworth":

  "The years came and ... the years went, seven in all,
     And all these years had Martha Hilton served
     In the Great House, not wholly unobserved:
     By day, by night, the silver crescent grew,
     Though hidden by clouds, the light still shining through;
     A maid of all work, whether coarse or fine,
     A servant who made service seem divine!
     Through her each room was fair to look upon;
     The mirrors glistened, and the brasses shone,
     The very knocker at the outer door,
     If she but passed, was brighter than before."

Then came the strange marriage scene:

     "Can this be Martha Hilton? It must be!
     Yes, Martha Hilton, and no other she!
     Dowered with the beauty of her twenty years,
     How ladylike, how queenlike she appears;
     The pale, thin crescent of the days gone by
     Is Dian now in all her majesty!
     Yet scarce a guest perceived that she was there
     Until the Governor, rising from his chair,
     Played slightly with his ruffles, then looked down
     And said unto the Reverend Arthur Brown:
     'This is my birthday: it shall likewise be
     My wedding-day, and you shall marry me!'"

Governor Wentworth died in 1770, three years after the coming to
America of Michael Wentworth, a retired colonel in the British Army.
Mrs. Wentworth married him, and he became the second lord of the
mansion. During his residence there Washington was welcomed to the
house, one day in 1789.

Martha Wentworth, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Wentworth,
married Sir John Wentworth, an Englishman, and they lived in the old
house until 1816, when the property passed to a family of another
name.

  [Illustration: WARNER HOUSE, PORTSMOUTH, N. H.
   _Photo by Frank Cousins Art Company_
   See page 395]

There are a number of houses in Portsmouth which tell of the ancient
glories of different branches of the Wentworth family. Perhaps the
most famous is the Warner house, which was begun in 1718 by Captain
Archibald Macpheadris, and was finished in 1723, at a cost of L6,000.
Mrs. Macpheadris was Sarah Wentworth, one of the sixteen children of
Lieutenant Governor John Wentworth, and sister of Governor Benning
Wentworth. Their daughter, Mary, married Hon. Jonathan Warner, who was
the next occupant of the house. The property is known by his name,
rather than that of the builder--perhaps because it is so much easier
to pronounce! The house is now occupied by Miss Eva Sherburne, a
descendant of the original owner.

The Warner house has a lightning rod, which was put up in 1762, under
the personal supervision of Benjamin Franklin. It is said that this
was the first lightning rod erected in New Hampshire.


  [Illustration: _Photo Copyright by Detroit Photographic Company_
   WADSWORTH-LONGFELLOW HOUSE, PORTLAND, ME.
   See page 400]

XCI

THE WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW HOUSE, PORTLAND, MAINE

WHERE HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW SPENT HIS BOYHOOD

     _The old house by the linden
       Stood silent in the shade,
     And on the gravelled pathway
       The light and shadow played._

     _I saw the nursery windows
       Wide open to the air;
     But the faces of the children,
       They were no longer there._

     _The large Newfoundland house-dog
       Was standing by the door;
     He looked for his little playmates
       Who would return no more._

     _They walked not under the linden,
       They played not in the hall;
     But shadow and silence, and sadness
       Were hanging over all._

     _The birds sang in the branches,
       With sweet familiar tone;
     But the voices of the children
       Will be heard in dreams alone!_

     _And the boy that walked beside me,
       He could not understand
     Why close in mine, ah! closer,
       I pressed his little hand!_

When Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote these lines perhaps he was
thinking of the home of his boyhood in Portland, which his
grandfather, General Peleg Wadsworth, built in 1785.

The house was the wonder of the town, for it was the first brick
building erected there. The brick had been brought from Virginia.
Originally there were but two stories; the third story was added when
the future poet was eight years old.

Longfellow was born in the house at the corner of Fourth and Hancock
streets, but he was only eight months old when he was carried within
the inviting front doors of the Wadsworth house, and the mansion was
home to him for at least thirty-five years.

He was only five years old when he declared that he wanted to be a
soldier and fight for his country. The War of 1812 was then in
progress. His aunt wrote one day, "Our little Henry is ready to march;
he had his gun prepared and his head powdered a week ago."

But, agreeing with his parents that school was a better place for him
than the army, he began his studies when he was five years old. A year
later his teacher gave him a certificate which read:

      "Master Henry Longfellow is one of the best boys we have in
      school. He spells and reads very well. He also can add and
      multiply numbers. His conduct last quarter was very correct
      and amiable."

Life in the Longfellow home was delightful. Samuel Longfellow, the
poet's brother, has given a pleasing picture:

      "In the evenings the children gathered with their books and
      slates round the table in the family sitting room. The
      silence would be broken for a minute by the long, mysterious
      blast of a horn announcing the arrival in town of the evening
      mail, then the rattle of its passing wheels, then silence
      again, save the singing of the wood fire. Studies over, there
      would be games till bedtime. If these became too noisy, or
      the father had brought home his law papers from the office,
      enjoining strictest quiet, then there was flight to another
      room--perhaps, in winter, to the kitchen, where hung the
      crane over the coals in the broad old fireplace, upon whose
      iron back a fish forever baked in effigy.

      "When bedtime came, it was hard to leave the warm fire to go
      up into the unwarmed bedrooms; still harder next morning to
      get up out of the comfortable feather beds and break the ice
      in the pitchers for washing. But hardship made hardihood. In
      summer it was pleasant enough to look out from the upper
      windows; those of the boys' room looked out over the Cove and
      the farms and woodlands toward Mount Washington, full in view
      on the western horizon; while the eastern chambers commanded
      a then unobstructed view of the bay, White Head, Port
      Prebble, and the lighthouse on Cape Elizabeth."

One day in 1820, when the family was gathered about the fire, Henry
was on tiptoe with eager excitement. He had written a poem and had
sent it to The Portland _Gazette_. Would it be in the paper which his
father had in his hand as he seated himself before the fire?
Robertson, in his life of the poet, has described those anxious
moments:

      "How carefully his father unfolded the damp sheet, and how
      carefully he dried it at the fire ere beginning to read it!
      And how much foreign news there seemed to be in it! At last
      Henry and a sympathetic sister who shared his secret,
      obtained a peep over their parent's shoulder--and the poem
      was there!"

There are sixteen rooms in the old house. In Henry's day these rooms
were heated by eight fireplaces, which consumed thirty cords of wood
during the long winter. On the first floor are the great living-room,
the kitchen with its old fireplace, and the den, once the dining-room.
On the desk still shown in this room Longfellow wrote, in 1841, "The
Rainy Day," whose opening lines are:

     "The day is cold, and dark, and dreary,
     It rains, and the wind is never weary;
     The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
     But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
         And the day is dark and dreary."

Into the ground floor rooms have been gathered many relics of the days
when the poet was a boy. The four rooms of the second floor are also
full of mementoes. But the most interesting part of the house is the
third story, where there are seven rooms. To this floor the four
children made their way on summer nights when the long hours of
daylight invited them to stay up longer, and on winter evenings, when
the fire downstairs seemed far more inviting than the cold floors and
the colder sheets.

One of these rooms is pointed out as the poet's chamber. Here he wrote
many of his earlier poems. Among these was "The Lighthouse." In this
he described sights in which he delighted, sights the lighthouse daily
witnessed:

     "And the great ships sail outward and return
       Bending and bowing o'er the billowing swell,
     And ever joyful as they see it burn,
       They wave their silent welcome and farewell.

     "'Sail on,' it says, 'sail on, ye stately ships!
       And with your floating bridge the ocean span;
     Be mine to guard the light from all eclipse,
       Be yours to bring man nearer unto man.'"

During the years after 1843, when Longfellow bought the Craigie House
at Cambridge, his thoughts turned back with longing to the old home
and the old town, and he wrote:

     "Often I think of the beautiful town
       That is seated by the sea;
     Often in thought go up and down
       The pleasant streets of the dear old town,
     And my youth comes back to me."

For nineteen years after the poet's death his sister Ann, Mrs. Pierce,
lived in the old home. When she died, in 1901, she deeded it to the
Maine Historical Society, that the place might be made a permanent
memorial of the life of The Children's Poet.




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INDEX


     Abraham Lincoln House, Springfield, Illinois, 369

     Acrostic, 23

     Adams House, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 44

     Adams, Abigail, 20, 48, 230

     Adams, John, 20, 24, 25, 44, 45, 47, 52, 150, 160, 226, 230, 305,
       329

     Adams, John Quincy, 45, 47, 48, 232

     Adams, Samuel, 20, 26, 27

     Alamo, the, San Antonio, Texas, 347

     Alamo, battle of the, 348

     Alcott, Bronson, 64

     American Revolution, Daughters of the, 125, 377, 381

     _American Standard_, Richmond, Virginia, 295

     Amesbury, Massachusetts, 56

     Amstel House, New Castle, Delaware, 205

     Andros, Governor, 19, 34, 35

     Annapolis, Maryland, 226

     Arlington, Virginia, 246

     Asbury, Bishop Francis, 244

     Ashland, Lexington, Kentucky, 355

     Aubrey, William, 148

     Audubon, John James, 187


     Bakewell, Mary, 190

     Bell, Mary, mother of George Washington, 251

     Bells of St. Philip's, romance of the, 334

     Bennet-Boardman House, Saugus, Massachusetts, 69

     Bennet, Samuel, 70

     Berrian, John, 137

     Biglow Papers, 38

     Bill of Rights, Virginia's, 284

     "Birds of America," Audubon's preparation for, 190

     Blair, Rev. James, 289, 291

     Boardman, Abijah, 71

     Boone, Daniel, 360

     Boonesborough, Kentucky, 360

     Boston, Brattle Street meeting, 29
       fire of 1761, 30
       _Gazette_, 30
       Massacre, 19, 31
       _News Letter_, 28
       North Church, 27
       North Square, 28
       Old South Church, 31
       Port Bill, 25, 73, 271
       Tea Party, 24, 31, 34, 37, 68, 73

     Boudinot, Elias, 43, 120

     Braddock, General, 115, 253

     Braintree, Massachusetts, 46

     Brandon, Virginia, 281

     Breck, Samuel, 183

     Brewton, Miles, 336

     Brick Capitol, the, 228

     British at Monticello, 324

     Broadhearth, Saugus, Massachusetts, 69

     Broadstreet, Simon, 69

     Brown, Richard, 82

     Brown University, 83

     Bruton Parish, Virginia, 288

     Budden, Captain, 165

     Bunker Hill, 26, 68

     Burgoyne, General, 34, 179, 391

     Burlington, New Jersey, 226

     Burr, Aaron, 90, 131, 394

     Byrd, Evelyn, 279


     Cabildo, New Orleans, Louisiana, 343

     Cabot, Arthur, 37

     Caldwell, New Jersey, church at, 119

     Caldwell, Rev. James, 119

     Cambridge, Massachusetts, 36, 73

     Campfield House, Morristown, New Jersey, 126

     Canonicus, 81

     Capitol at Washington, 225

     Carleton, Sir Guy, 108, 110

     Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia, 149

     Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia,  149

     Carroll, Charles, 216

     Carter, Elizabeth Hill, 279

     Carter, Landon, 278

     Carter's Grove, Virginia, 280

     Cartwright, Peter, 352

     Castle at Fort Niagara, New York, 386

     Chaplains: James Caldwell, 139
               George Duffield, 160

     Charles River, 27

     Charleston, Massachusetts, 27

     Chastellux, Marquis de, 107, 279, 324

     Chew, Benjamin, Jr., 159

     Chew, Joseph, 93

     Chew, Samuel, 156

     Christ Church, Alexandria, Virginia, 249

     Christ Church, Philadelphia, 153, 199

     Christmas, the first, at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 197

     Church furnishings, primitive, 95, 121

     Churches: Old North, Boston, 27, 32;
       Old South, Boston, 20, 24, 32;
       King's Chapel, Boston, 32;
       West, Boston, 37
       Old South, Newburyport, Massachusetts, 75
       First Baptist, Providence, Rhode Island, 80
       St. Paul's Chapel, New York, 95
       St. Martins-in-the-Fields, London, 95
       Trinity Church, New York, 96
       Caldwell, New Jersey, 119
       Old Tennent, Freehold, New Jersey, 122
       Springfield Meeting House, New Jersey, 138
       St. Peter's, Philadelphia, 153
       Christ Church Philadelphia, 153
       Old Pine Street, Philadelphia, 159
       Norriton Presbyterian, 172
       Moravian at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 196
       Emmanuel, New Castle, Delaware, 204
       Presbyterian, New Castle, Delaware, 205
       Rehoboth, Delaware, 211
       Christ Church, Alexandria, Virginia, 277, 294
       Pohick, Virginia, 249, 311
       St. John's, Richmond, 264
       Bruton Parish, Virginia, 288
       Monumental, Richmond, Virginia, 277, 294
       Pohick Church, Virginia, 311
       St. Luke's, Smithfield, Virginia, 318
       St. Peter's, New Kent County, Virginia, 318
       St. Michael's, Charleston, S. C., 333
       Huguenot, Charleston, South Carolina, 333
       St. Philip's, Charleston, South Carolina, 333, 340
       Independent, Savannah, Georgia, 340
       Old Stone Church, Elm Grove, West Virginia, 386

     Clark, George Rogers, 360

     Clay, Henry, 308, 355, 383

     _Clermont_, the, 234

     Cleveland, Stephen Grover, 122

     Clinton, General George, 107

     Clinton, Sir Henry, 337

     Cliveden, Germantown, Philadelphia, 156

     Clock on Independence Hall, Philadelphia, 166

     Coddington, William, 49

     College of New Jersey, 130, 297

     College Customs at Nassau Hall, 130

     Collins, Varnum Lansing, 130

     Colonial Dames of Massachusetts, 53

     Concord, Massachusetts, 26, 27

     Congress at Princeton, New Jersey, 133

     Constitutional Convention of 1787, 168

     Continental Congress, 83, 93, 150

     Conway Cabal, 182

     Cordale, Thomas, 213

     Cornwallis, Lord, 134, 293

     Council of Safety, Philadelphia, 172, 193

     Courtship of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler, 128

     Crab Orchard, Kentucky, 360

     Craigie, Andrew, 41

     Craigie House, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 40, 403

     Crockett, David, 350

     Crown Point, 23

     Cumberland Road, 384

     Cunningham, Ann Pamela, 245

     Curtis, George William, 64

     Custis, George Washington Parke, 246, 255

     Custis, Nelly, 219


     _Daily Advertiser_, New York, 87

     _Daily American Advertiser_, Philadelphia, 196

     _Dartmouth_, ship, 24

     Daughters of the American Revolution, 90, 377, 381

     Daughters of the War of 1812, 390

     Decatur, Stephen, 154

     Declaration of Independence, 37, 48, 132, 167, 216, 325

     Dent, Fred, 362

     Desecration of Carpenters' Hall, 152

     Desecration of the Capitol, 229

     Dexter, Thomas, 69

     Diaries:
       of John Tudor, 19
       of Albigence Waldo, 182
       of George Washington, 21, 89, 218, 313
       of John Adams, 45
       of Robert Breck, 184
       of Tench Tilghman, 392

     Dix, Dr. Morgan, 96

     Dorchester Heights, Massachusetts, 68

     Doughoregan Manor, Maryland, 216

     Dowry of pine-tree shillings, 50

     Duche, Rev. Jacob, 150, 154

     Duffield, Rev. George, 160

     Dunlap, William, 137

     Du Ponceau, Peter S., 176

     Duston Garrison House, Haverhill, Massachusetts, 56

     Duston, Hannah, 56

     Duston, Thomas, 56


     East India Company, 31

     Eden, Governor Robert, 221

     Edwards, Jonathan, 75

     Elizabeth Town, New Jersey, 120, 139

     Elmwood, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 36

     Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 33

     Emlen House, Pennsylvania, 178

     Emmanuel Church, Newcastle, Delaware, 204

     Everett, Edward, 41

     Expenses in raising the Tower of the State House, Philadelphia,
       164


     Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, 148

     Faneuil, Andrew, 28

     Faneuil, Peter, 28, 35

     Faneuil Hall, Boston, 20, 28, 30, 31, 34

     Fatlands, near Philadelphia, 187

     Federal District, location of the, 226

     Fernside Farm, Haverhill, Massachusetts, 54

     First Baptist Church, Providence, Rhode Island, 80

     Fitch, John, 234

     Flag, American, 89

     Flag, first American in British waters, 78

     Flint, Ruth, 54

     Flynt, Tutor, 51

     Ford Mansion, Morristown, New Jersey, 126

     Forks of the Delaware, 196

     Fort Washington, New York City, 89

     Fort William and Mary, 26

     Fox, George, 212

     Franklin, Benjamin, 34, 52, 97, 115, 172, 235, 392, 399

     Fraunces, Samuel, 98

     Fraunces' Tavern, New York, 97

     Freeman, Rev. James, 36

     "From Greenland's Icy Mountains," 342


     Gage, General, 37, 43

     Gano, Rev. Stephen, 83

     Garrison, William Lloyd, 22, 55

     _Gazette_, Boston, 30

     _Gazette_, Essex, 25

     _Gazette_, New York, 95, 99

     _Gazette of the United States_, 256

     _Gazette_, Portland, Maine, 402

     _Gazette_, Williamsburg, Virginia, 262

     Germantown, battle of, 157, 180

     Germantown, Pennsylvania, 226

     Gerry, Elbridge, 37, 73

     Girard College, Philadelphia, 229

     Glover, Colonel, 42

     Grant, Ulysses S., 362

     Green, General, 42

     Greenway, Virginia, 257

     _Griffon_, building of the, 387

     Gunston Hall, Virginia, 281


     Hale, Edward Everett, 37

     Hallet, Stephen L., 226

     Hamilton, Alexander, 100, 127, 393

     Hamilton, Allan MacLane, 101

     Hancock, John, 20, 24, 26, 27, 34, 45, 52, 53

     Hanover Court House, Virginia, 262

     "Hardscrabble," St. Louis, Missouri, 363

     Harlem Heights, battle of, 88

     Harmar, Fort, 379

     Harrison, Benjamin, 263, 281

     Harrison Mansion, the, Vincennes, Indiana, 374

     Harrison, William Henry, 360, 374

     Harte, Bret, 140

     Harvard College, 38

     Hasbrouck, Jonathan, 107

     Haverhill Historical Society, 60

     Haverhill, Massachusetts, 56

     Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 40, 61

     Hay, Henry Hanby, 205

     Headquarters: Washington's at Roger Morris House, New York, 88
       Washington's at Richmond Hill, New York, 99
       Washington's at Van Cortlandt House, New York, 105
       Washington's at Newburgh, New York, 107.
       Washington's at Morristown, New Jersey, 126
       Washington's at Rocky Hill, New Jersey, 134
       Washington's at Rocky Hill, New Jersey, 137
       Washington's at Valley Forge, 174
       Washington's at Pennypacker's Mills, Dawesfield, and Emlen
         House, 178

     Heijt, Hans Joest, 178

     Henricopolis, Virginia, 266

     Henry, Patrick, 264, 266, 268, 271, 283, 285, 290, 305, 309, 314

     Henry, William, 179

     _Herald_, the San Antonio, Texas, 348

     Hermitage, The, Nashville, Tennessee, 351

     Hoban, James, architect of White House, 227, 230

     Hodgson, Adam, 219.

     Hollyman, Ezekiel, 81

     Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 52, 53

     Honor System, the, in William and Mary College, 294

     Hospitality: at Montpelier, Virginia, 299
       at Oak Hill, Virginia, 303
       at Red Hill, Virginia, 306
       at Mount Airy, Virginia, 315
       at Monticello, 325
       at The Hermitage, 353
       at Ashland, Kentucky, 357
       at the Schuyler Mansion, Albany, New York, 394

     Hough, Atherton, 50

     House of Seven Gables, 41

     Houses: Paul Revere's, Boston, Massachusetts, 23
       Elmwood, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 36
       Craigie House, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 40, 403
       Adams House, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 44
       Quincy Mansion, Quincy, Massachusetts, 49
       Fernside Farm, Haverhill, Massachusetts, 54
       Duston Garrison House, Haverhill, Massachusetts, 56
       The Old Manse, Concord, Massachusetts, 61
       The Wayside, Concord, Massachusetts, 61
       Royall House, Medford, Massachusetts, 66
       Bennet-Boardman, Saugus, Massachusetts, 69
       Broadhearth, Saugus, Massachusetts, 69
       Jeremiah Lee House, Marblehead, Massachusetts, 72
       Morris-Jumel House, New York City, 87
       Philipse Manor, Yonkers, New York, 91, 105
       The Grange, New York City, 100
       Van Cortlandt, New York City, 105
       Hasbrouck, Newburgh, New York, 106
       Franklin Palace, Perth Amboy, New Jersey, 115
       Ford Mansion, Morristown, New Jersey, 126
       Campfield, Morristown, New Jersey, 126
       Morven, the Mercer House and Washington's Headquarters at Rocky
         Hill, New Jersey, 134
       Letitia Penn, Philadelphia, 145
       Pennsbury Manor, Pennsylvania, 147
       Cliveden, Germantown, Pennsylvania, 156
       David Rittenhouse, Philadelphia, 170
       Isaac Potts, at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 175
       Pennypacker's Mills, Pennsylvania, 178
       Dawesfield, Pennsylvania, 178
       Sweetbrier, Philadelphia, 183
       Mill Grove, Pennsylvania, 187
       Fatlands, Pennsylvania, 187
       Waynesborough, Paoli, Pennsylvania, 192
       Amstel, New Castle, Delaware, 205
       George Read's, New Castle, Delaware, 207
       Ridgely, Dover, Delaware, 208
       Doughoregan Manor, Maryland, 216
       Upton Scott, Annapolis, Maryland, 220
       White House, Washington, 230, 236
       Octagon, Washington, 231, 234, 236, 317
       Mt. Airy, Virginia, 234, 314
       Mt. Vernon, Virginia, 241
       Arlington, Virginia, 246
       Mary Washington's, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 251
       Pine Grove, Virginia, 253
       Kenmore, Virginia, 253
       Greenway, Virginia, 257
       Sherwood Forest, Virginia, 257
       Nelson, Yorktown, Virginia, 270
       Moore House, Yorktown, Virginia, 270
       John Marshall's, Richmond, Virginia, 274
       Sabine Hall, Virginia, 278
       Westover, Virginia, 278
       Shirley, Virginia, 280
       Carter's Grove, Virginia, 280
       Brandon, Virginia, 281
       Gunston Hall, Virginia, 281
       Montpelier, Virginia, 296
       Shadwell, Virginia, 297, 322
       Oak Hill, Virginia, 301
       Red Hill, Virginia, 305
       Monticello, Virginia, 322
       Rebecca Motte's, Charleston, South Carolina, 336
       Pringle House, Charleston, 336
       Hermitage, Nashville, Tennessee, 351
       Ashland, Lexington, Kentucky, 355
       Whitley's Station, Kentucky, 359
       White Haven, St. Louis, Missouri, 362
       "Hardscrabble," St. Louis, Missouri, 363
       Abraham Lincoln's, Springfield, Illinois, 369
       Harrison Mansion, Vincennes, Indiana, 374
       Rufus Putnam's House, Marietta, Ohio, 377
       Monument Place, Elm Grove, West Virginia, 381
       Schuyler Mansion, Albany, New York, 391
       Wentworth House, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 395
       Warner House, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 399
       Longfellow House, Portland, Maine, 400

     Houston, Sam, 347

     Hovey, Dr. H. C., 77

     Howe, Lord, 95, 192

     Huguenot Church, Charleston, South Carolina, 335

     Hull, Hannah, 50

     Hutchinson, Ann, 50


     Independence Bell, 169, 199

     Independence, The Declaration of, 20

     Independence Hall, Philadelphia, 151, 162

     Independent Church, Savannah, Georgia, 340

     Indians, attacked by the, 58, 361, 382

     Institute of American Architects, 238


     Jackson, Andrew, 233, 347, 351

     James River Canal Company, 285

     Jamestown, Virginia, 288

     Jay, John, 98

     Jefferson, Thomas, 170, 173, 260, 272, 294, 297, 299, 301, 322,
       326

     Jeremiah Lee House, Marblehead, Massachusetts, 72

     John Marshall's House, Richmond, Virginia, 274

     Johns, Kensey, 206

     Johnson, Nicholas, 78

     _Journal and General Advertiser_, New York, 95

     _Journal_, Springfield, Illinois, 372

     Jumel-Burr, Madam, 90

     Jumel, Stephen, 90


     Kasimir, Fort, Delaware, 203

     Kenmore, Virginia, 253

     Kent, Chancellor, 103

     _Kentucke Gazette_, 355

     Key, Francis Scott, 222

     Kidd, Captain, 92

     King, Washington asked to become, 108

     King's Chapel, Boston, 32

     Kingston, New York, 226

     Knyphausen, General, 138, 194


     Lafayette, Marquis de, 107, 193, 199, 256, 296, 299, 304, 346,
       353, 381

     Latrobe, Benjamin Henry, 227

     Leader, Richard, 69

     Lee, Jeremiah, 72

     Lee, Richard Henry, 124, 244

     Lee, Robert E., 246, 280, 287

     "Lehigh, House on the," 197

     Letitia Penn House, Philadelphia, 145

     Lexington, battle of, 78, 166

     Lexington, Massachusetts, 26, 27, 73

     _Liberator, The_, 22

     Liberty Bell, 169, 199

     Lidgett, Mrs. Elizabeth, 67

     _Lightning_, ship, 333

     Lincoln, Abraham, 230, 233, 369, 371, 372

     _Little Pilgrim, The_ newspaper, 54

     Livingston, Robert R., 98

     Logan, James, 148

     Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 40, 396, 400

     Longfellow, Mrs. Henry Wadsworth, 41

     Lossing, Benson J., 152

     Lottery for church building purposes, 159

     Louisiana, 191

     Louisiana Purchase, 294

     Louisiana transferred to the United States, 344

     Lowell, General Charles Russell, 38

     Lowell, James Jackson, 38

     Lowell, James Russell, 36, 37

     Lowell, Maria, 38

     Lowell, Rev. Charles, 37

     Lowly office after the Presidency, 261

     Loyalists' houses confiscated, 89

     Lunt, Ezra, 78


     Maddox, Rev. Robert, 212

     Madison, James, 37, 223, 236, 296

     Makemie, Frances, 212

     Mantonomi, 81

     Marblehead, Massachusetts, 72

     Marietta, Ohio, 377

     Marion, General, 337

     Marriages: Mary Philipse and Roger Morris, 93
       Rev. William Tennent and Mrs. Noble, 123
       Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler, 129
       William Penn and Guli Springett, 145
       William Penn and Hannah Callowhill, 147
       William Aubrey and Letitia Penn, 148
       John James Audubon and Mary Bakewell, 190
       Kensey Johns and Anne Van Dyke, 206
       Charles J. Du Pont and Dorcas M. Van Dyke, 208
       Upton Scott and Elizabeth Ross, 221
       Robert E. Lee and Miss Custis, 247
       Augustine Washington and Mary Ball, 252
       John Rolfe and Pocahontas, 266
       John Tyler and Letitia Christian, 260
       Thomas Nelson and Lucy Grymes, 270
       James Madison and Dorothy Todd, 298
       James Madison and Eliza Kortwright, 301
       George Washington and Martha Custis, 321
       Thomas Jefferson and Martha Skelton, 322
       Jacob Motte and Rebecca Brewton, 336
       Woodrow Wilson and Ellen Axson, 343
       Henry Clay and Lavinia Hart, 355
       Ulysses S. Grant and Julia Dent, 362
       Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd, 370
       Moses Shepherd and Lydia Boggs, 383
       Philip Schuyler and Catherine Van Rensselaer, 393
       Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler, 393
       Governor Wentworth and Martha Hilton, 397
       Michael Wentworth and Mrs. Martha Wentworth, 399

     Marshall, Chief Justice, 169, 274, 294

     Martineau, Harriet, 299, 356

     _Mary_, ship, 245

     Mary Washington House, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 251

     Mason and Dixon line, 171

     Mason, George, 281, 312

     Mason, Lowell, 342

     Massachusetts Bay Colony, 28

     Massacre, Boston, 19, 31

     Massasoit, 80

     Mather, Cotton, 58

     Mather, Increase, 32

     _Mayflower_, Putnam's barge on the Ohio, 379

     McColloch's leap, 382

     McKinley, William, 346

     Meade, Bishop, 276, 319

     Medford, Massachusetts, 27, 66

     Mercer, General, 135

     Mercer House, Princeton, New Jersey, 134

     _Mercury_, New York, 87

     Mill Grove, near Philadelphia, 187

     Monmouth, battle of, 123

     Monroe, James, 232, 294, 301, 342

     Montgomery, General, 97

     Monticello, Virginia, 322

     Montpelier, Virginia, 296

     Monument Place, Elm Grove, West Virginia, 381

     Monumental Church, Richmond, Virginia, 277, 294

     Moore House, Yorktown, Virginia, 270, 274

     Moravian Church, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 196

     Morris, Gouverneur, 98, 103

     Morris-Jumel House, New York City, 87, 94

     Morris, Robert, 184

     Morris, Roger, 87, 93

     Morven, Princeton, New Jersey, 134

     "Mosses from an Old Manse," 63

     Mount Airy, Virginia, 234, 314

     Mount Vernon, Virginia, 109, 241

     Munitions, Revolutionary, 173


     Nantes, Edict of, 28

     Nassau Hall, Princeton, New Jersey, 130

     _National Intelligencer_, Washington, 236

     National Pike, 384

     Nelson House, Yorktown, Virginia, 270

     Nelson, Thomas, 270

     Newark, New Jersey, 130

     Newburyport, Massachusetts, 55, 75

     New Castle, Delaware, 145, 203

     New England Antiquities, Society for the Preservation of, 71

     New Orleans, battle of, 346

     Newspapers: _Liberator_, 22
       Essex _Gazette_, 25
       Boston _News Letter_, 28
       Boston _Gazette_, 30
       _Little Pilgrim, The_, 54
       New York _Mercury_, 87
       New York _Daily Advertiser_, 87
       New York _Gazette_, 95, 99
       New York _Journal and General Advertiser_, 95
       Philadelphia _Pennsylvania Packet_, 97
       _Pennsylvania Evening Post_, 155, 173
       _Pennsylvania Gazette_, 164
       _Daily American Advertiser_, Philadelphia, 196
       _National Intelligencer_, Washington, 227, 236
       _Gazette of the United States_, 256
       Williamsburg _Gazette_, 262
       _American Standard_, Richmond, Virginia, 295
       San Antonio _Herald_, 348
       _Kentucke Gazette_, 355
       Springfield _Journal_, 372
       Portland _Gazette_, 402

     Nicola, Lewis, tries to tempt Washington, 108

     Norriton, Pennsylvania, 170

     Norriton Presbyterian Church, 172

     North Church, Boston, 27

     Northwestern Territory, 274

     Nova Scotia, Franklin's land speculation in, 117

     Noyes, Alfred, 136


     Oak Hill, Virginia, 301

     Octagon House, Washington, 231, 234, 236, 317

     Oglethorpe, General James E., 341

     Ohio Company, the, 378

     Ohio River, floating down the, 190

     Old Manse, the, Concord, Massachusetts, 61

     Old Pine Street Church, Philadelphia, 159

     Old North Church, Boston, 32

     Old South Church, 20, 24, 31, 32

     Old South Church, Newburyport, Massachusetts, 75

     Old State House, Boston, 19

     Old Tennent Church, Freehold, New Jersey, 122

     Oliver, Thomas, 36

     Ordway, Alfred A., 56

     O'Reilly, Count Alejandro, 343

     Orin, Azor, 73

     "Oven, The," temporary Capitol, 227


     Paoli Massacre, 181, 194

     Parsons, Dr. Jonathan, 78

     Patriot who destroyed their own houses: Thomas Nelson, 271;
       Rebecca Motte, 339

     Pauling, John, 178

     Paul Revere's House, Boston, Massachusetts, 23

     Peabody, Sophia, 62

     Peace, signing of, in 1783, 110

     Peale, Charles Wilson, 133, 154

     Penn, Letitia, 146

     Penn, Thomas and Richard, 153

     Penn, William, 145, 162, 204

     Pennsbury Manor, Pennsylvania, 147

     _Pennsylvania Evening Post_, 155, 173

     _Pennsylvania Gazette_, 164

     _Pennsylvania Packet_, Philadelphia, 97

     Pennypacker, Samuel W., 171

     Penobscot expedition, 28

     Persecution, religious, in New York, 213

     Phi Beta Kappa Society, 294

     Philadelphia, evacuation of, 177

     Philadelphia, Paul Revere rides to, 25

     Philipsburgh, Manor of, 92

     Philipse, Colonel Frederick, 92

     Philipse, Frederick, 91

     Philipse Manor House, Yonkers, New York, 91

     Philipse, Mary, 93

     Pine Grove, Virginia, 253

     Pine-tree shillings, dowry of, 50

     Plum pudding, the best dinner, 260

     Plymouth, New Hampshire, 66

     Pohick Church, Virginia, 249, 311

     Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 26, 395

     Potomac Canal, 218, 285

     Prayer at opening of First Continental Congress, 151

     Prayer for the King, omitted, 154

     President's pew: in St. Paul's Chapel, New York, 96
       in St. Peter's, Philadelphia, 154
       in Pohick Church, Virginia, 312

     Princeton, battle of, 133, 135

     Princeton University, 130

     Pringle House, Charleston, South Carolina, 336

     Providence, Rhode Island, 82

     Putnam, William Lowell, 38

     "Put Watts into them, boys," 140


     Quincy, Dorothy, 52

     Quincy, Edmund, 49, 51

     Quincy, Edmund, III, 51

     Quincy, Josiah, 53

     Quincy, Judith, 50

     Quincy Mansion, Quincy, Massachusetts, 49

     Quincy, Massachusetts, 44

     Quincy, Massachusetts Historical Society, 47


     Randolph, Edmund, 269, 294

     Randolph, John, 228

     Read, George, 205

     Red Bank, New Jersey, victory at, 181

     Redemptioners, purchase of, 186

     Red Hill, Virginia, 305

     Revere, Paul, 23, 33, 53, 77

     Rhode Island, 83

     Ridgely, Dr. Charles Greenburg, 209

     Rittenhouse, David, 198

     Rittenhouse House, Philadelphia, 170

     Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Duc de la, 325

     Rodney, Caesar, 208, 209

     Roosevelt, Theodore, 233, 290

     Ross, George, 204

     Royall House, Medford, Massachusetts, 66

     Royall, Isaac, 67

     Royall, William, 67

     Rufus Putnam's House, Marietta, Ohio, 377

     Rush, Dr. Benjamin, 163, 171


     St. John's Church, Richmond, Virginia, 264, 266

     St. Luke's Church, Smithfield, Virginia, 318

     St. Martins-in-the-Fields, London, 82

     St. Michael's Church, Charleston, South Carolina, 333

     St. Peter's Church, New Kent County, Virginia, 318

     St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, 153

     St. Philip's Church, Charleston, South Carolina, 335, 340

     Salem, Massachusetts, 80

     Savannah, Georgia, Siege of, 341

     Schools, free, beginnings of, in Pennsylvania, 186

     Schuyler, Catherine, 393

     Schuyler, Elizabeth, 100, 127

     Schuyler, General Philip, 100, 126

     Schuyler Mansion, Albany, New York, 391

     Scott House, Annapolis, Maryland, 220

     Scott, Molly, 382

     Scott, Upton, 220

     Servants, problem of, in early days, 185

     Severance, Frank H., 386

     Sewell, Judge Samuel, 50, 74

     Shadwell, Virginia, 297, 322

     Sharpe, Horatio, 221

     Shepherd, Moses, 381

     Sherwood Forest, Virginia, 257, 261

     Shippen, Dr. William, Jr., 162

     Ships: _Dartmouth_, 24
       _Somerset_, 27
       _Welcome_, 145
       _John and Sarah_, 146
       _Surprise_, 223
       _Mary_, 245
       _Constitution_ and _Guerriere_, _Cyano_ and _Levant_, 317
       _Lightning_, 333

     Shirley, Virginia, 280

     Signers of the Declaration of Independence: John Witherspoon, 132
       Benjamin Rush, 162
       George Ross, 204
       George Read, 205
       Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 216
       Thomas Nelson, 270
       George Wythe, 290
       Richard Lightfoot Lee, 314

     Skippack, Pennsylvania, 180

     Smith, Abigail, 46

     Smith, Rev. William, 46

     "Snow-Bound," 55

     Society for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, 277

     _Somerset_, ship, 27

     Sons of the Revolution, 99

     Springett, Guli, 145

     Springfield, battle of, 141

     Springfield Meeting House, New Jersey, 138

     Stamp Act, 30, 46, 218

     Star-Spangled Banner, story of the, 222

     Stark, General John, 68

     Stark, Molly, 68

     State House Clock, Philadelphia, 172

     State House Yard, Philadelphia, 163

     Steuben, Baron, 176

     Stevens, Colonel William, 211

     Stockton, Mrs. Richard, 134

     Stone Church, Elm Grove, West Virginia, 386

     Stony Point, New York, 195

     Stuart, Gilbert, 218

     Stuyvesant, Petrus, 204

     Sullivan, General, 43

     Susquehanna, Falls of the, 226

     Sweetbrier, Philadelphia, 183

     Swett, Martha, 74

     Symmes, Rev. Frank R., 123


     Taney, Chief Justice R. R., 222

     Tayloe, John, 232, 234, 314

     Tea meetings, 31

     Tecumseh, Indian chief, 375

     Tennent, Rev. John, 123
       Rev. William, 123

     Texas, Republic of, 350

     Thames, battle of the, 360

     Theatre fire in Richmond, Virginia, 294

     Thomson, George, 208

     Thornton, Dr. William, 226, 234

     Ticonderoga, 193

     Tilghman, Tench, 127, 392

     Tillinghast, Pardon, 81

     Treaty of 1783, 133

     Trenton, battle of, 135

     Tudor, John, 19

     Tyler, Henry, 290

     Tyler, Judge John, 257, 258, 294


     United States archives, removed to new Capitol at Washington, 227

     University of Virginia, the, 326


     Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 174, 182, 189, 195, 218

     Vanarsdal, Rev. Jacob, 141

     Van Buren, Martin, 232

     Van Cortlandt, Jacobus, 105

     Van Cortlandt Park, 104

     Van der Donck, Jonkheer Adriaen, 91, 105

     Van Dyke, Henry, 215

     Van Dyke, Nicholas, 205

     Vane, Sir Harry, 50

     Vassall, John, 41

     Vassall, Leonard, 48

     Venus, transit of, 171

     Vincennes, Indiana, 374


     Waldo, Albigence, 182

     Walker, Rachel, 23

     Wallace Nutting Corporation, 70

     Walter, Thomas U., 229

     Ward, Samuel, 42

     Warner House, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 399

     Warren, General, 26

     Washington and Lee University, 248

     Washington, burning of, in 1814, 184, 228, 231, 235, 317

     Washington College, Lexington, Virginia, 285

     Washington, George, 21, 31, 40, 72, 88, 93, 95, 96, 98, 99, 105,
       108, 110, 124, 133, 137, 139, 157, 173, 174, 178, 189, 192, 194,
       206, 218, 226, 234, 241, 246, 252, 256, 272, 281, 283, 285, 290,
       294, 305, 308, 311, 315, 316, 321, 374, 377, 378

     Washington, Laurence, 241, 253

     Washington, Mrs. George, 42, 127, 177, 245

     Wayne, Captain Isaac, 192

     Wayne, General Anthony, 107, 157, 192

     Waynesborough, near Philadelphia, 192

     Wayside, The, Concord, Massachusetts, 61

     Weare, Meschech, 108

     Webster, Daniel, 384

     Weems, Parson, 313

     Wentworth, Governor Benning, 395

     Wentworth House, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 395

     West Church, Boston, 37

     Westover, Virginia, 278

     West Point Military Academy, 100, 106, 362

     Wheelwright, Rev. John, 50

     Whitefield, Rev. George, 75

     White Haven, St. Louis, Missouri, 362

     White House, Washington, 230, 236

     Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania, 181

     Whitley's Station, Kentucky, 359

     Whittier, John G., 54, 79

     Whittier, Thomas, 54

     Wilkinson, General, 158

     William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia, 259, 289, 291

     Williamsburg Court House, Virginia, 262

     Williamsburg, Virginia, 289

     Williams, Roger, 80

     Wilson, Daniel Munro, 44, 47

     Winthrop, Governor, 34, 66

     Wirt, William, describes Patrick Henry's first public speech, 264

     Witherspoon, John, 132

     Wolfe, Colonel James, 220

     Women's Centennial Executive Committee, 339

     Wren, James, 249

     Wren, Sir Christopher, 82, 292

     Wythe, George, 290


     Yonkers, New York, 88, 91

     York, Pennsylvania, 174

     Yorktown, Siege of, 271, 279


     Zinzendorf, Count, 197




            *       *       *       *       *




Transcriber's note:

  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
  been preserved.  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

  Page 107:  "1872" possibly should be 1782.
  Page 309:  "Hampdon Sidney" possibly should be "Hampden Sydney."

  Various references to Newcastle or New Castle, Delaware have been
  left as printed.

  All illustrations except the frontispiece have been moved to their
  references in the text.

  Unmatched quotation marks were left as printed.




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