of a few remarkable occurrences prior to the commencement of this
journal. The army were never so universally deceived in regard to the
operations of the campaign as at this time. New York was thought to
be the object, and no maneuver left untried to confirm this opinion,
when all on a sudden, the army decamped from W. Plains, crossed the
North river, and proceeded by a circuitous route to Springfield, in
New Jersey, where, after a halt of a few days (in order the better to
deceive the enemy), they took their route for Trenton, at which place
the artillery stores with our regiment and some other troops embarked.
We were now no longer at a loss to know our place of destination. We
arrived at Christiana Bridge and thence marched by land to the head
of Elk, where the French troops with the rest of our army joined us
in a very short time. Here we were delayed for 6 or 7 days, being
busily employed in embarking ordnance stores of all kinds on board the
vessels. In the meantime the French troops with some other corps of
our army proceeded by land for Baltimore. The bay not being able to
furnish a sufficient number of vessels, the Rhode Island regiment with
ours was obliged to embark on board a number of flat-bottomed boats,
which had been constructed at Albany and brought to this place. We set
out on this arduous and very hazardous undertaking about Sept. 15 and
arrived at Williamsburg the 26th. On our passage, we hugged close the
Western shore, but the many bays and mouths of rivers we were obliged
to cross rendered it exceedingly dangerous. I think the rivers in
their order were as follows, viz: Elk, Susquehannah, Petapsco, Severn,
Patuxent, Potomac, Rappahannock, Pequankitank, York and James. The
bays were numerous. Among the largest is Mock Jack,[6] better than 20
miles across.
The weather in general was very favorable excepting at the time of
our crossing the mouth of Rappahannock, when on a sudden, a furious
wind arose, which occasioned a very rough sea. A number of boats were
dismasted, sails torn to pieces, and the whole in the utmost distress.
We, however, all made round the point into a safe harbor, excepting
Colonel Antill[7] who, missing the point, was obliged to stretch for
Given’s island. After repairing our rigging it was determined to
proceed a safer course than that which Colonel Antill took, by sailing
across Pequankitank bay into the mouth of a river which forms Given’s
island. In this attempt I shipped water several times and had all my
sail torn to pieces. Some of the boats were more prudent and did not
cross that day. However, we all arrived safe, and were detained there
two days by the storm. Three vessels sailing in the bay were the same
day foundered. A miraculous escape! I cannot but mention the very
polite treatment we received from the inhabitants of Given’s island.
I have said we arrived at Williamsburg the 26th; the 27th and 28th
were detained at this place in making preparations for the siege,
and on the 29th the allied army moved down toward York (distant from
Williamsburg about 12 miles), and made a short halt about two miles
distant from the enemy’s outworks when a few shots were fired from the
French pieces at some of Tarleton’s horse, who immediately dispersed.
In the course of the night three deserters came in with little or no
intelligence that could be depended on. On the morning of the 30th
we had orders to approach the enemy’s works. After marching a short
distance we were ordered to load, and proceed within half a mile of
the enemy’s works on the left. One brigade of infantry was halted,
while the First brigade, commanded by Gen. Muhlenburg, crossed a small
morass and paraded in order of battle, marched a small distance in
front; but the enemy not firing, they wheeled to the right and took
their post in the line; a picket was now turned out (the better to
favor reconnoitering parties) which advanced in front nearly half
way to the enemy, until they were obliged to retreat by the fire of
a field piece from the enemy’s works. (It was said his excellency,
the commander-in-chief, was in front of this picket the whole time
reconnoitering.) The sentries were, however, continued at their posts
and regularly relieved the whole day. One of the sentries was so
unfortunate as to receive a wound on his foot from a cannon ball,
which obliged the surgeons to make an immediate amputation of his
leg. We sustained no other harm from their firing, although they
frequently overshot us. The remainder of the day was employed in
reconnoitering the enemy; and toward evening the whole army encamped
nearly on the ground they had before occupied. Before we proceed it
may be proper now to take some notice of the different corps and
the arrangement of the army. The Marquis de Lafayette’s division of
L. infantry, composed of Muhlenburg’s and Hazen’s brigades on the
right of the front line, and nearest the enemy; the Baron Steuben’s
division, composed of the Marylanders, Pennsylvanians and Virginians
on the left of the front line. The Jersey troops in the rear of the
infantry, & the York in rear of Steuben’s division, with the park of
artillery and sappers and miners in the center, forming the second
line; the militia forms the corps de reserve, and the French troops,
commanded by Count Rochambeau, on the left of the whole. We passed
this night with little or no disturbance from the enemy, but guess our
agreeable surprise when on the morning of the ensuing day (Oct. 1) we
found the enemy had evacuated all their front works, and retreated
about half a mile. We knew of no other way to account for this than
that their works being too extensive and weak, they were afraid of a
storm.
This morning Col. Scammel[8] was unfortunately wounded and taken by
the enemy, as he was too closely reconnoitering, and sent on parole
to Williamsburg. No sooner were the enemy’s works evacuated than
they were taken possession of by our pickets, supported by the whole
army, who marched up for that purpose, and continued on the lines a
great part of the day, although the enemy at certain times fired very
briskly from their pieces. About 8 o’clock this morning the French
grenadiers attacked and carried a small battery, with the loss of
four killed and six wounded. Ten companies were ordered out early
this morning for fatigue, of which I had the honor to command one.
Until 11 A. M. we were employed in cutting and stripping branches for
gabions. On being furnished with shovels, spades, pickaxes, etc., we
were ordered up to the lines, where we continued inactive until about
an hour before sunset. In the meantime, the engineers were employed in
reconnoitering the enemy’s works, and fixing on proper places to break
the first ground. Let me here observe that the enemy by evacuating
their works had given us an amazing advantage, as the ground they left
commanded the whole town, and nothing but the reasons before alleged
could have justified them in so doing, as by contrary conduct they
must have very much retarded the operations of the siege.
The engineers having fixed on and chained off the ground in two
different places to erect their works within point blank shot of the
enemy, the parties were called on. Five companies were ordered to an
eminence on the right and five to another on the left. It happened to
be my fate to be stationed on the left, a place the most dangerous
of the two, as it was nearest to the enemy, and more exposed to the
fire from the enemy’s batteries [enemies batteries--copy]. We were now
conducted to a small hollow near the ground. Five men were ordered by
the engineer to assist him in clearing away the rubbish, staking out
and drawing the lines of the work. This was in the face of open day,
and the men went with some reluctance; a little before this we had a
shot from the enemy which increased their fears. At dusk of evening
we all marched up, and never did I see men exert themselves half so
much or work with more eagerness. Indeed, it was their interest, for
they could expect nothing else but an incessant roar of cannon the
whole night. I must confess I too had my fears, but fortunately for us
they did not fire a shot that whole night. I am at a loss to account
for it, for the moon shone bright, and by the help of their night
glasses they must certainly have discovered us. We were relieved about
daybreak, and scarcely had we left the trenches when the enemy began
their fire on both works from three pieces.
_Oct. 2._--The works were so far finished in the course of the
preceding night that the men worked in them this day with very little
danger, although the enemy kept up an almost incessant fire from two
pieces of artillery. A drummer, rather too curious in his observation,
was this day killed with a cannon ball.
_Oct. 3._--Last night four men of our regiment, detached with the
first brigade, were unfortunately killed (on covering party) by one
cannon ball; one of the men belonged to my own company (Smith), a loss
I shall ever regret as he was, without exception, one of the finest
men in the army. A militia man this day, possessed of more bravery
than prudence, stood constantly on the parapet and d-- his soul if he
would dodge for the balls. He had escaped longer than could have been
expected, and, growing foolhardy, brandished his spade at every ball
that was fired till, unfortunately, a ball came that put an end to his
capers. This evening our brigade was ordered for an evening party, and
in the course of the night a deserter went to the enemy, informing
them of our situation, in consequence of which they directed a few
shots our way, but did no harm.
_Oct. 4._--This morning, on leaving the ground, the enemy were
complaisant enough to favor us with a shot, but did no execution.
Fatigues were continued in the works as usual, and suffered little or
no harm. This day’s orders give us an account of Tarleton’s defeat on
the Gloucester side on the 3d. He was attacked by Duke Leziome’s[9]
legion and the militia grenadiers, commanded by Mercer. Tarleton lost
50 men, killed and wounded, the officer who commanded his infantry
killed, and himself badly wounded, with very little loss on our side.
_Oct. 5._--We had more firing from the enemy last night than any night
since the commencement of the siege, but don’t learn that they did
any other harm than delay the operation of the works. This day the
regiment was employed in cutting and making fasseines, and a regiment
from every brigade in the army ordered out for some extra fatigue duty
this evening.
_Oct. 6._--The parties did not go out, and nothing extraordinary
happened this day.
_Oct. 7._--The regiments ordered for the extra duty were last night
employed in drawing the line of circumvallation. This line extends
itself to the river on each side the town, and at all places nearly
equally distant and better than 200 yards in front of the former
works. The enemy discovered us, although the night was pretty
favorable, but the chief of their fire was directed against the
French. They were, no doubt, much astonished in the morning to find
themselves so completely hemmed in on all sides, and trenches so deep
that we could sustain little or no harm from their fire. The trenches
were this day to be enlivened with drums beating and colors flying,
and this honor was conferred on our division of light infantry. And
now I must confess, although I was fond of the honor, I had some fear,
as I had no notion of a covered way, and more especially as I was
posted in the center with the colors. We, however, did not lose a man
in relieving, although the enemy fired much. The covered way was of
infinite service. Immediately upon our arrival the colors were planted
on the parapet with this motto: _Manus Haec inimica tyrannis_. Our
next maneuver was rather extraordinary. We were ordered to mount the
bank, front the enemy, and there by word of command go through all the
ceremony of soldiery, ordering and grounding our arms; and although
the enemy had been firing a little before, they did not now give us
a single shot. I suppose their astonishment at our conduct must have
prevented them, for I can assign no other reason. Col. Hamilton gave
these orders, and although I esteem him one of the first officers
in the American army, must beg leave in this instance to think he
wantonly exposed the lives of his men. Our orders were this night that
if the enemy made a sortie and attempted to storm the trenches we were
to give them one fire from the barquet, rush over the parapet and meet
them with the bayonet.
_Oct. 8._--Some time before daylight this morning we were very much
surprized at the conduct of a picket that had been posted some little
distance in front of our works. They were fired upon by the enemy,
never returned a single shot and retreated into our works in the
utmost disorder. Captain Weed, who commanded the picket, was again
ordered out, but the enemy had retired. How he will be answerable for
his conduct time will discover as I dare say he will soon be obliged
to give an account. One man of our picket was killed, though some
think it was by our men, as there had been other parties ordered out.
The fire of the enemy was this day chiefly directed against the
parties employed in erecting batteries. We were relieved about 12
o’clock and sustained no harm during our tour excepting two men badly
wounded; but we had scarcely left the trenches when a man working
on the parapet had his arm shot off. As soon as we arrived in camp
we changed our ground further to the right. Nothing extraordinary
happened the remainder of the day.
_Oct. 9._--Last night the troops in the trenches, as well as a great
part of this day, were busily employed in finishing the batteries,
and about 4 o’clock this afternoon an American battery was opened,
consisting of three 24-pounders, three 12’s and four 10-inch mortars.
The enemy’s fire was chiefly directed against this battery, and the
others that were nearly finished.
_Oct. 10._--Last night the men were busily employed in finishing the
batteries, and early this morning four more were opened against the
enemy, viz.: One American battery on our left, consisting of four
18-pounders; the grand French battery, consisting of 11 24-pounders,
two 13-inch mortars, two howitzers, and six 10-inch mortars; and
another French battery of four 18-pounders and two howitzers. The
fourth is on the left of the French, but am not able as yet to
ascertain the number of guns. About 12 o’clock this day our division
relieved the trenches, and from that time the enemy fired but very
little until the evening. This afternoon our American bomb battery was
opened of four 10-inch mortars. A flag came out with Secretary Nelson.
He informs us our fire did great execution last night; that we had
killed 11 or 12 of their officers, that his black servant was killed
by his bedside, and that the first gun fired killed two commissarys as
they were sitting at their wine.
_Oct. 11._--Last night commenced a very heavy cannonade, and the
enemy returned the fire with no less spirit. Being apprehensive of a
storm, they often fired in every direction. The largest of the enemy’s
vessels was set on fire by the bursting of a shell or a red hot ball
from some of our batteries, and communicated it to another, both of
which were burnt down. They must have lost a considerable quantity
of powder in the last, as there was an explosion which made a heavy
report. The whole night was nothing but one continual roar of cannon,
mixed with the bursting of shells and rumbling of houses torn to
pieces. As soon as the day approached the enemy withdrew their pieces
from their embrazures and retired under cover of their works, and
now commenced a still more dreadful cannonade from all our batteries
without scarcely any intermission for the whole day. We were relieved
about noon this day, and went home very much fatigued.
_Oct. 12._--Last night we began the second parallel and extended it
better than half round the enemy. This parallel is better than three
hundred yards in front of the other, and close upon the enemy’s
right works. No sooner had the morning made its appearance and the
enemy discovered our very near approach, than they commenced a very
heavy fire from the batteries and in the course of the day no little
surprised us by opening five royals, as we were in hopes they had no
shells, by their not giving them on the first parallel.
_Oct. 13._--Last night we were employed in strengthening the line, and
began a French battery and a redoubt. We lost several men this night,
as the enemy by practice were enabled to throw their shells with great
certainty. About noon this day our division relieved the trenches, and
about 2 o’clock advanced to the second parallel. Capt. White and one
private of Col. Wee’s regiment were this day killed by a horizontal
shell. The militia suffered much this afternoon.
_Oct. 14._--The enemy last night kept up a continual blaze from
several pieces of cannon of nine royals and some howitzers. Early in
the night the fire was chiefly directed against the French, who were
just on our left, but about 10 o’clock our people [began] to erect a
battery. They soon discovered us, and changed the direction of their
fire. It happened to be our lot to lie in the trenches just in the
rear of the battery exposed to all their fire; and now were I to
recount all the narrow escapes I made that night it would almost be
incredible. I cannot, however, but take notice of a remarkable and
miraculous one indeed. About midnight the sentry called “A shell!” I
jumped up immediately to watch the direction, but had no suspicion of
its coming so near until it fell in the center of the trench, within
less than two feet of me. I immediately flung myself on the banques
among some arms, and although the explosion was very sudden and the
trench as full of men as it could possibly contain, yet not a single
man was killed and only two of my own company slightly wounded.
I should not forget here that Capt. Hughes and Dr. Anderson, two
intimate friends and very worthy officers, were sitting close by me at
this time. We all counted it a most miraculous escape. Fatigue parties
were still continued at work in the open face of day at the battery,
although they suffered much. Ten men of Col. Barber’s regiment were
killed and wounded in a very few minutes, five of whom belonged to
Capt. Pry’s camp. Our division was relieved about 12 o’clock, and on
our march home two of our men were wounded by the bursting of a shell.
About 5 o’clock this day we were again ordered for the trenches.
_Oct. 15._--I have just said we were ordered yesterday to the
trenches. The French grenadiers were ordered out the same time, and
all for the purpose of storming two redoubts on the enemy’s left. Our
division arrived at the deposite of the [copy defective.--J.] a little
before dark where every man was ordered to disencumber himself of his
pack. The evening was pretty dark and favored the attack. The column
advanced, Col. Guinot’s[10] regiment in front and ours in the rear. We
had not got far before we were discovered, and now the enemy opened
a fire of cannon, grape shot, shell and musketry upon us, but all to
no effect. The column moved on undisturbed and took the redoubt by
the bayonet without firing a single gun. The enemy made an obstinate
defense (but what cannot brave men do when determined?). We had 7 men
killed and 30 wounded. Among the latter were Col. Guinot, Maj. Barber
and Capt. Olney. Fifteen men of the enemy were killed and wounded
in the work, 20 were taken prisoners besides Maj. Campbell, who
commanded, a captain and one ensign. The chief of the garrison made
their escape during the storm by a covered way.
Captain Duncan’s diary, it will be observed, closes with the record
of October 15. The failure to complete it for the remaining days of
the siege is to be accounted for by the fact that he and his command
were so actively employed in military operations that neither time nor
opportunity to write was afforded him.
Fortunately, we are enabled to complete the record by referring
to the “Military Journal of the Revolution,” written by Dr. James
Thacher (born in Barnstable, Mass., Feb. 14, 1754, died in Plymouth,
Mass., May 24, 1844), who as Surgeon’s Mate and Surgeon served in
the Revolutionary War. As Surgeon of a Massachusetts regiment he
was present at the siege of Yorktown. His diary very appropriately
supplements Captain Duncan’s record. What follows is a condensation:
_Oct. 16._--Early in the morning, Col. Abercrombie with about four
hundred men, made an attack on two unfinished French redoubts, and
succeeded in spiking seven or eight pieces of cannon. The French
advanced and recaptured the redoubts.
_Oct. 17._--From the American line of works at least a hundred pieces
of heavy ordnance were playing upon the British lines, and doing
great destruction. The whole peninsula trembled under the incessant
thunderings of the immense field pieces. Great destruction was the
result. The great havoc upon Cornwallis’s position was apparent to his
besiegers, compelling him to ask for suspension of hostilities with a
view to capitulation.
_Oct. 18._--It was ascertained that Cornwallis attempted, on the night
of the 16th, to escape by crossing to Gloucester Point with a portion
of his command. A heavy storm prevented his execution of the plot,
and with difficulty his men returned to their positions. On this day
Washington communicated the terms of capitulation, and allowed two
hours for their acceptance.
_Oct. 19._--The surrender actually occurs. Gen. O’Hara, as the
representative of Cornwallis, who seems to have recoiled from
the humiliation of surrender, apologized to Washington for the
non-appearance of his chief, and conducted the further operations of
the capitulation. General Lincoln on the American side accepted the
tokens of surrender.
_Oct. 20._--In general orders Washington thanks officers and men, both
French and American, for their services in the campaign.
_Oct. 21._--This being Sunday, some of the troops participated in
divine service. Mr. Evans preaching an appropriate discourse, which
was listened to by Generals Lincoln and Clinton.
Yorktown was the site of the closing battle of the American Revolution.
The surrender included 7,247 regular troops, 840 sailors, and 225 guns.
The British loss in killed, wounded, and missing was 550; that of the
Americans and French some 300.
W. F. BOOGHER.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[6] (Now Mobjack).
[7] Edward Antill, who was with Arnold at Quebec. This is the
first mention of him in active service that I have seen after that
time.--(ED.)
[8] Alexander Scammell was born in Mendon (now Milford), Mass., in
1746; died in Williamsburg, Va., Oct. 6, 1781. Having graduated at
Harvard in 1769, he taught for a year or two. In 1772 he was employed
at Portsmouth, N. H., in surveying and exploring operations. Having
studied law with General Sullivan, he assisted him in his legal
business for a time.
Dec. 10, 1776, he became Colonel of 3rd N. H. regiment, but was soon
transferred to the 1st regiment. Was wounded at Saratoga, Jan. 5, 1778,
while serving under General Gates. In 1780 he was appointed Adjutant
General of the army, and became a member of Washington’s staff.
Preferring active field work, he was assigned again to the command of
his regiment. As officer of the day, Sept. 30th, he was employed in
reconnoitering the enemy’s position at Yorktown. He was captured by
Hessian dragoons and was treacherously and mortally wounded by them
after his surrender. He was the highest American officer killed during
the siege. His loss was universally felt and expressed.
[9] Duc de Lauzun.
[10] Gimat, aid to La Fayette.
A PORT OF THE LAST CENTURY
When white frosts and keen, starry nights have turned the foliage of
the Niagara gorge into a riotous color scheme is the best time to
visit Queenston Heights, and walk the grass-grown thoroughfares of the
forgotten hamlet at their base.
It is the best time, because the picnic and tourist season is over, and
one’s contemplation of the beautiful view which every point affords is
not disturbed; and as for the cluster of roof-trees lying below, it is
more picturesque in its autumnal nakedness.
Three-score years ago this village was the second town of importance
in the province of Upper Canada. Named for Queen Charlotte, Queenston
began life auspiciously in 1787 with a dock, a distillery, and a
tavern; and so rapidly did it grow that the opening century found the
dock transformed into a wharf flanked with store-houses, the population
doubled, and those infallible signs of prosperity in a new country--a
grist- and a saw-mill--running on full time.
Situated at the head of the St. Lawrence route, and at the foot of
the Chippewa portage, Queenston had every advantage at the start. It
was the natural _dépôt_ and point of departure for the western trade,
now growing rapidly with the opening of new territory. Across its
narrow wharf, and up the Chippewa road, flowed for over a quarter of a
century, a continuous tide of traffic, which eddying here, débouched on
the near shore of the upper lakes, or spent itself in the wilderness of
the far west.
Hither swarmed the motley crowd that follows the hunter’s trail and the
pioneer’s axe--fur-traders, settlers, speculators, Indians, emigrants,
and adventurers.
Government land in Canada was very cheap as compared with the price of
land in the “States,” and this fact alone accounts for the great influx
into Canada of Americans, immediately after the close of the War.
This land boom, so wisely fostered, was too soon paralyzed by the War
of 1812, and nowhere did the hardships of that war fall more heavily
than upon the new port of the lower Niagara. When the hastily-planned
and ill-executed assault upon Queenston Heights was made, it was only
defended by a small battery upon which a solitary field-piece was
mounted. Those extensive earthworks west of the monument were an
afterthought. They were not built until 1814.
General Brock was killed below this redan; and the heaviest fighting
must have been along the foot of the ledge. A small cenotaph marks the
spot where Brock fell. This little monument is more interesting from
the fact that King Edward himself, as Prince of Wales, placed the block
in position in 1860.
But for situation, no monument in the country can compare with that
which marks the place of General Brock’s sepulchre. Standing on the
very crown of the Heights, this shaft dominates a wonderful picture.
The monument itself is of the usual British type, and the figure
surmounting it might be Nelson, so very like is it to that hero’s
attitude in stone.
The house into which General Brock was carried dying stands, a
grey-stone ruin by the untraveled way. Other wounded soldiers besides
Brock were carried into that low-roofed house to die. Diagonally across
from this place is the house in which Laura Secord was living when she
saved the British stores at De Cew’s.
It is not generally known that this famous Canadian heroine was born
and lived in Massachusetts, until her twentieth year. In 1795 her
father, Thomas Ingersoll, a Revolutionary soldier, came to Canada
to buy land; and shortly after the family arrived at Niagara, Laura
married James Secord of Queenston.
During the second year of the War of 1812, the Niagara frontier of
Canada was in possession of the American forces, and American soldiers
were billeted upon every family on the border.
Hearing some officers, whom she was thus forced to entertain,
discussing a plan for seizing the stores at the De Cew house, some
eighteen miles away, she determined to inform the officer in command
at that place. It meant a long, dangerous journey on foot, over hill
and bog land and through a densely wooded country swarming with hideous
savages from the Grand River, the allies of the British. But Laura
Secord was equal to the occasion. Though she had started from home
before daylight, night overtook her on the journey. Her courage and
promptness saved the stores, and the officer in command sent her home
under the protection of a guard.
When the Prince of Wales visited Canada he sent her one hundred
dollars, the first recognition made of her services to her adopted
country.
As we stroll farther along the King’s highway we come to the Wadsworth
cottage, a rough-cast dwelling with sills much below the level of the
street. This was a tavern at the time of the battle, and in the front
room to the left, General Scott was detained as a prisoner. It was
here, while waiting for his captors to complete arrangements for his
removal to Fort George, that an Indian in the barroom deliberately took
aim at the General through the open door, and would have shot him but
for the presence of mind of Captain Thaddeus Davis, a British officer,
who promptly knocked the gun from the Indian’s hands.
Screened by a clump of maples and rank shrubbery that speaks of an
old-time garden, is a ruined stone house, rather more pretentious than
those that date back to the period of the War. It is spoken of by the
townspeople as the “blue-stone house.” In this house in 1824 William
Lyon Mackenzie printed the first numbers of the _Colonial Advocate_,
the first paper printed in Upper Canada.
“We are not in want, neither are we rich,” he says candidly in his
prospectus. O, golden age! Our strenuous present admits of no such
happy medium! Mackenzie is remembered no more as an agitator. The
measures of justice for which he contended in the bitterness of poverty
and exile, have long since been granted and enjoyed.
If plenty of relics of historic Queenston abound, no trace of its
one-time prosperity remains. Gone the shipping and trade along with the
store-houses bursting with pelts, and rum, and merchandise. Gone that
horse railway to Chippewa, built to relieve congested traffic. Gone the
bank, with its funds, and the unlucky thirteen taverns that tradition
says lined the principal street. Gone, too, that first bridge that
spanned the river, built in 1851, just too late to divert from newer
channels the ebbing current of commerce.
The great cataract being more accessible by the Queenston route, all
the distinguished visitors to our shores in former years came to this
port. Chateaubriand was here as early as 1790. Lafayette, Thomas Moore,
the Bourbon princes, and Louis Napoleon saw the town enjoying the
top-most wave of prosperity. It is said that Moore’s poem beginning,
“I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled,” was inspired by the
breakfast fire of one of Queenston’s houselets.
But if these later annals are more brilliant, they seem to belong less
to the Queenston of to-day than that earlier history which gives the
delightful old place a notable part in the making of a Great Dominion.
N. R. BENEDICT.
BUFFALO, N. Y.
INDIANA COUNTY NAMES
The influence of the strong men of any time upon their time and
community is strikingly illustrated by a study of the origin of the
names of the counties of Indiana, which has just been completed by an
old resident of the State after the work of collecting the scattered
material in odd moments during the last twenty years. The result as
completed shows that seventy-eight of the ninety-two counties were
named after men prominent nationally or locally, in war and in peace;
men of foreign birth and foreign training, of foreign birth and
native training, and native birth and native training. And the strong
influence of men whose personality so dominated small communities, men
whose names have not been handed down as taking part in the affairs of
the nation, is shown by the fact that of the seventy-eight men whose
names have been given to counties of the State, forty-one were men
whose life and work, influential as it must have been in the particular
communities wherein they lived, were not of sufficient prominence to
save them from almost utter oblivion in State or National history.
Of the thirty-eight counties that have been named from what might be
called well-known men, men of more than local prominence, seven were
named for Presidents of the United States: Madison, Monroe, Washington,
Jefferson, Jackson, Harrison (William Henry Harrison), and Adams
(John Quincy Adams); sixteen were named for men prominent in military
history--Clark, for George Rogers Clark; Decatur, for the commodore;
De Kalb, for the famous German of Revolutionary days; Fayette, for La
Fayette; Marion, for General Francis Marion; Morgan, for General Daniel
Morgan; Perry and Porter, for Commodores Perry and Porter; Pulaski,
for the Polish soldier; Putnam, for General Israel Putnam; Steuben,
for Baron Steuben; Wayne, for “Mad Anthony”; Kosciusko, for the Polish
soldier; Knox, for General Knox, one of the first secretaries of war;
Greene, for General Nathaniel Greene; Warren, for General Joseph
Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill, and Stark, for Captain John Stark,
victor at the battle of Bennington.
Six signers of the Declaration of Independence were honored in the
naming of counties--Huntington, Carroll, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock,
and Jay. De Witt Clinton is honored in the naming of Clinton County.
The eight other counties named for men of more than local prominence
are Benton, after Thomas H. Benton; Boone, after the frontiersman;
Clay, after Henry Clay; Fulton, after the inventor of the steamboat;
Marshall, after the great Chief Justice; Henry, after Patrick Henry;
Jennings, after Jonathan Jennings, Indiana’s first governor, and Posey,
another governor, appointed to succeed Harrison.
Howard County is the only Indiana county that has changed its name. Its
first name was Francisville, the name of a famous Indian chief, but
on account of the universal esteem in which Colonel T. A. Howard, a
prominent citizen of the community, was held, the name was changed.
Grant County was named for two Grant brothers, Samuel and Moses, early
settlers in this region. Parke, for Benjamin Parke, one of the earliest
of the educators in the State. He founded the State Law Library, was
the first president of the Indiana Historical Society, and coöperated
in the founding of the Vincennes Library and University.
Vigo County was named for Colonel Francis Vigo, a Sardinian, whose
services were invaluable to General Clark in the capture of Vincennes.
The bell now hanging in the court house at Terre Haute was bought with
the $500 set apart in his will to show his appreciation of the people
giving his name to the county.
Four counties--Delaware, Miami, Tippecanoe, and Wabash--received Indian
names. St. Joseph County was named after the river running through it,
named by the early French settlers. Switzerland was so named because
most of the early settlers were Swiss, coming to grow grapes on the
plan followed in the old country. The scheme failed. Ohio County was
named for the river; Lake, for Lake Michigan; Elkhart, for a small
island in the river that flows through the county. Laporte was named
by the French. Three counties--Orange, Vermilion, and Randolph--were
named after counties in other States--Vermilion for an Illinois county
directly over the line, Orange and Randolph for North Carolina counties.
Of the remaining counties three were named after men of only local
prominence: Allen, for Colonel John Allen, a Kentuckian who fell at the
battle of River Raisin; Bartholomew, for General Joseph Bartholomew,
State Senator, and identified with the early Indian wars; Blackford,
for a judge of that name; Brown, for General Jacob Brown, one of the
heroes of the War of 1812; Cass, for General Lewis Cass.
Crawford County was named for Colonel William Crawford, Washington’s
land agent in the West, who was finally taken prisoner by the Indians
and burned at the stake; Daviess, for Joseph H. Daviess, distinguished
lawyer; Dearborn, for General Henry Dearborn, once secretary of war.
Toussaint Dubois, a Frenchman who had charge of the spies under General
William Henry Harrison, has the name of Dubois County as a memorial.
Floyd County was named after Colonel John Floyd, an old Indian fighter;
Fountain, for Major Fountaine of Boone County, Kentucky, who was killed
in the battle of Maumee, October 22, 1790.
General John Gibson, after whom the county of that name was called, was
secretary of war, who repeatedly acted as territorial governor of the
State in the absence of General Harrison. He was taken captive by the
Indians, made himself one of them for a long time, finally going blind.
Hendricks County was named after William Hendricks, the State’s first
representative in Congress, and governor from 1822 to 1824.
Jasper County was named after Sergeant Jasper, the Revolutionary hero;
Johnson, for John Johnson, one of the early judges of the Supreme
Court; Lawrence, for Captain James Lawrence, an esteemed citizen of
the community; Martin, after Major Martin, a citizen of Newport, Ky.;
Montgomery, for General Richard Montgomery.
There is some question as to the origin of the name of Newton County.
Some investigators contend that it was named after a sergeant in the
Revolutionary war, while others give the more poetic explanation that
at the time of the organization of the county one of the commissioners,
who was somewhat of an astronomer, was an ardent admirer of Sir Isaac
Newton, and saw that the county was named after him.
Noble County was named after Governor Noble; Owen, after Colonel Owen
of Kentucky, who was killed in the battle of Tippecanoe; Pike, after
Zebulon M. Pike, killed at the capture of York; Ripley, for General E.
W. Ripley, an officer of 1812; Rush, for Dr. Benjamin Rush, a prominent
citizen; Scott, for General Charles Scott, the Revolutionary soldier
and later governor of Kentucky; Spencer, for Captain Spier Spencer,
who fell at the battle of Tippecanoe; Sullivan, for Daniel Sullivan,
who was killed by the Indians on the road from Vincennes to Louisville
while carrying public papers; Tipton, for General John Tipton, who
served in Congress; Vanderburg, for Henry Vanderburg, captain in the
Revolution, member of the Legislative Council of the Northwest, and
presiding judge of the first court organized in the Territory; Warrick,
for Colonel Jacob Warrick, who fell at Tippecanoe; Wells, for Captain
W. H. Wells, killed by the Indians while carrying papers from Fort
Wayne to Fort Dearborn, now Chicago; White, for Captain Isaac White,
killed at Tippecanoe; and Whitley, for Colonel William Whitley, who was
killed in the battle of the Thames.--_Indianapolis News._
[Illustration]
INDIAN LEGENDS
_IV._
THE DANCING GHOSTS
That beautiful phenomenon known to the white man as the Aurora
Borealis, or Northern Lights, is called by the Chippewa Indians
_Je-bi-ne-me-id-de-wand_, or the Dancing Ghosts. The legends accounting
for it are numerous, and the following, which was related to the
translator by a Chippewa hunter, named _Kehes-Chock_, or Precipice
Leaper, is quite as fantastic as the phenomenon itself. That it is a
very ancient tradition is evident from the fact that the sacrifice to
which it alludes has not been practiced by the Chippewas for at least a
century (1850).
There was a time when all the inhabitants of the far North were
afflicted by a famine. It was in the depth of winter, and the weather
had for a long time been so cold that even the white bear was afraid
to leave his hiding place. The prairies were so deeply covered with
snow that the deer and the buffalo were compelled to wander to a warmer
climate, and the lakes and rivers were so closely packed with ice that
it was only once in a while that even a fish could be obtained. Such
sorrow as reigned throughout the land had never before been known. The
magicians and wise men kept themselves hidden in their cabins. The
warriors and hunters, instead of boasting of their exploits, crowded
around their camp-fires, and in silence meditated upon their unhappy
doom. Mothers abandoned their children to seek for berries in the
desolate forests, and the fingers of the young women had become stiff
from idleness, for they had not any skins out of which to make the
comfortable moccasin. From one end of the Chippewa country to the other
was heard the cry of hunger and distress. That the Great Spirit was
angry with his people was universally believed, but for what reason
none of the magicians could tell. The chief of the Chippewas was
the oldest man in the nation, and he was consulted in regard to the
impending calamity. He could give no reason for the famine, but stated
that he had been informed in a dream that the anger of the Great Spirit
could be appeased by a human sacrifice. How this should come to pass,
however, he could not tell, and therefore concluded to summon to his
lodge all the medicine-men who lived within a day’s journey, for the
purpose of consulting with them. He did so, and when the council was
ended it was proclaimed that three Chippewas should be immediately
bound to the stake and consumed. They were to be selected by lot from
among the warriors of the tribe; and, when this sad intelligence was
promulgated, a national assembly was ordered to convene.
The appointed time arrived, and, in the presence of a large multitude,
the fatal lots were cast, and three of the bravest men of the tribe
were thus appointed to the sacrifice. They submitted to their fate
without a murmur. Whilst their friends gathered around them with wild
lamentations, and decked them with the costliest robes and ornaments
to be found in all the tribe, the youthful warriors uttered not a word
about their untimely departure, but only spoke in the most poetical
language of the happy hunting grounds upon which they were about
to enter. The spot selected for the sacrifice was the summit of a
neighboring hill which was covered with woods. Upon this spot had three
stakes been closely erected, around which there had been collected a
large pile of dry branches and other combustible materials. To the
stakes, at the hour of midnight, and by the hands of the magicians,
unattended by spectators, were the three warriors securely fastened.
They performed their cruel duty in silence, and the only sounds that
broke the stillness of that winter night were the songs and the
shoutings of the multitude assembled in the neighboring village. The
incantations of the priests being ended, they applied a torch to the
faggots, and, returning to their village, spent the remainder of the
night in performing a variety of strange and heart-sickening ceremonies.
Morning dawned, and upon the hill of sacrifice was to be seen only a
pile of smouldering ashes. On that day the weather moderated, and an
unusual number of hunters went forth in pursuit of game. They were all
more successful than they had been for many seasons, and there was an
abundance of sweet game, such as the buffalo, the bear, and the deer in
every wigwam. A council was called, and the patriarch chief proclaimed
the glad tidings that the Great Spirit had accepted their sacrifice,
and that it was now the duty of his children to express their gratitude
by a feast--the fast of _bitter roots_.
The appointed night arrived, and the bitterest roots which could be
found in the lodges of the magicians were collected together and made
into soup. The company assembled to partake of this feast, was the
largest that had ever been known, and, as they were to conclude their
ceremony of thankfulness by dancing, they had cleared the snow from the
center of their village, and on this spot were they duly congregated.
It was a cold and remarkably clear night, and their watchfires burnt
with uncommon brilliancy. It was now the hour of midnight, and the
bitter soup was all gone. The flutes and the drums had just been
brought out, and the dancers, decked in their most uncouth dresses,
were about to enter the charmed ring, when a series of loud shoutings
were heard, and the eyes of the entire multitude were intently fixed
upon the northern sky, which was illuminated by a most brilliant and
unearthly light. It was a light of many colors, and as changeable as
the reflections upon a summer sea at the sunset hour. Across this light
were constantly dancing three huge figures of a crimson hue, and these
did the magicians proclaim to be the ghosts of the three warriors who
had given up their bodies for the benefit of their people, and who had
thus become great chiefs in the spirit-land. The fire by which their
bodies had been consumed had also consumed every feeling of revenge;
and ever since that remote period it has been their greatest pleasure
to illume by their appearance on winter nights the pathway of the
hunters over the snowy plains of the north.
CHARLES LANMAN.
[Illustration]
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS
LETTER OF WASHINGTON TO DR. STUART
(An important autograph letter of Washington, addressed to Dr. David
Stuart, of Fairfax, Va., who was the husband of Mrs. Washington’s
niece. He gives his views on Government salaries, and mentions
Jefferson, and others).
PHILADELPHIA, _March_ 3rd., 1793.
Dear Sir;
The official letter from the Commissioners to me--dated the 8th of last
month--promising their sentiments on the subject of compensation, so
soon as a meeting was had with Mr Johnson, prevented my acknowledging
the receipt of your private letter of the same date and on the same
subject, until now; nor shall I do more than slightly touch on it until
I receive the further sentiments of the board thereupon. It may not
be amiss, however, in this friendly & confidential manner, previously
to regret that the expectations of the Commissioners and the opinions
of those who were consulted on the compensation proper to be made
them for past and future services, should accord so little. It is to
observed (as was mentioned in my last) that the law authorizing the
appointment contemplates no pay. Justice however, requires it--and
therefore such as it was conceived would meet the concurrence of the
public was allotted. In similar cases it rarely happens that high,
if any salleries are allowed. Instance the Directors of the Potomac
Company--of the Canal Navigation of this State--the Banks, &c &c--I do
not quote these cases, however, to prove that Salleries ought not to be
allowed in the case of the Commissioners of the federal district for
the past, and compensation for their future services; but only to shew
the necessity of their being as low as could comport with Justice--With
respect to your ideas of a future allowance I am bold in assuring you
as my opinion that, no fixed Sallery in the United States (however
they have been reprobated for their extravagance), from the Chief
Magistrate to the door-keeper of the House of Representatives, is equal
to one thousand Dollars clear of expences. The reasons are too obvious
to stand in need of enumeration--and I must candidly declare that I
see little use for a Superintendant if more will be required of the
Commissioners than either to form or to adopt plans;--give the great
outlines thereof in Instruction;--and leave the details and execution
to the Superintendant, who ought, as I have declared in a letter to you
dated the 30th of November last, to be always on the Spot--(unless the
duties of the trust should take him away, to facilitate the objects of
it)--Under this idea, could it suit any person better than yourself to
visit the federal City once every three or four months--suppose every
two months--when you have an Estate opposite to it that has a claim to
a share of your attention,--as to the suspicion which may arise--if
you serve for daily pay--that your sessions will be prolonged by it,
they are not worth regarding--The malevolence of man is not to be
avoided.--But instead of _touching_ the subject only, in the manner I
proposed, I find I am enlarging upon it, and therefore will change it.
Mr Jefferson is at a loss to discover what could have proceeded from
him to Mr Ellicott that should have occasioned any discontent in the
mind of the latter with the Commissioners;--and having shewn me the
_only_ letter which (he says) he has written to him for many months I
see nothing there on which to found the conjecture contained in the
latter part of your letter of the 8th of February.
As I do not take the George Town paper, and have seen no extracts
from it in any others, I do not know to what it is you allude--in
your letter of the 8 & 18 inst which came to hand a few days ago.--Mr
Ellicot has never come near me since his return to the City:--no
explanation therefore on this--the case of Mr Young, or any other
subject has taken place between us. With respect to Mr Young’s renewed
application for a change towards the point, &c. I scarcely know what
answer to make at this time.--A change in one instance will, I am
certain, open a wide door which could not easily be shut. Therefore
before I could consent even to take the matter into consideration it
would be necessary to have an accurate plan of the parts, delineated
upon paper, with the alterations he proposes; and to have the
Commissioners’ opinion of the consequences result’g from the adoption
of it, in writing; for unless there are some powerful reasons for
discrimination, it would be bad policy to comply with the request of
one of the Proprietors, and reject the application of another. It is
possible, & not improbable that I may be at George Town on my way
to Mount Vernon, about the first of April; when, if every thing was
prepared for it, I might on the spot be better able to give an opinion.
But, as Mr Young is in the occupancy of the whole, I see no cause for
hasty decision which may create (if an alteration should take place)
discontents in other quarters.--No letter to me, has been received from
him yet.
With very great esteem & regard
I am, Dear Sir
Your most obed’t & affec’t Serv’t
Gᵒ WASHINGTON.
LETTER OF JOSEPH TRUMBULL (SON OF “BROTHER JONATHAN”) TO CHRISTOPHER
VARICK, DEPUTY MUSTER-MASTER GEN’L FOR NORTHERN DEP’T., AT ALBANY, N. Y.
(Joseph Trumbull, 1737-1778, was Commissary General, 1775-1777, when
he resigned and died in the following year, worn out by his labors in
the public service).
TY (TICONDEROGA) 3rd _November_, 1776
Dear Sir,
I Received your polite favour of the middle of last month, amid such
a hurry of business & Expectation that I omitted answering it--this
Day I am Honor’d with your’s of the 29th by Major Stewart. Nothing
mentional has happen’d till this Day we are informed that the Enemy
have abandoned Crown Point, Chimney Point, &c., entirely, Determined
on Winter Quarters in Canada. Its a prudent Choice I fancy, as we
should not have parted with ours to them at a low Price & a high one
they could not afford. I wish to have it confirm’d--Delay to us is
Victory--& Victory procured without loss of Blood is more Glorious than
any other. You must excuse my being so concise, my Best Compliments
attend the Ladies & Poor Wilkinson, Jr.
I am Dr Sir
Your very Sincere & most obedient
Servant
J. TRUMBULL
PART OF A LETTER OF WASHINGTON TO BENJAMIN HARRISON, SIGNER OF THE
DECLARATION AND MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF WAR
_Dated at_ MIDDLEBROOK, N. J., _May 5, 1779_.
(As the letter covers ten folio pages, we give only the salient points
of it. It was sold in the Bishop Hurst collection, last Spring, for
$1065, the largest price ever paid for a Washington letter).
The letter commences by referring to some statements in a previous
letter recommending certain measures, and reiterates their necessity,
and that if longer delayed “_I shall not scruple to add that our
affairs are irretrievably lost_.” He also predicts that the result will
be “_the fate of our paper money and with it a general crash of all
things_.” Washington then proceeds:
“The measures of Ministry are taken, and the whole strength and
resources of the Kingdom will be exerted against it in this campaign;
while we have been slumbering and sleeping, or disputing upon
trifles, contenting ourselves with laughing at the impotence of Great
Britain.... Accts. from London to the 9th. of March, have fixed me in
the opinion that G. Britain will strain every nerve to distress us
this campaign, but where or in what manner her principal forces will
be employed I cannot determine.... My own opinion of the matter is
that, they will keep a respectable force at (New York), and push their
operations vigorously to the Southward, where we are most vulnerable,
and least able to afford succour.... She may, cercumstanced as we
are, give a very unfavourable turn to that pleasing slumber, we have
been in for the last eight months.... From present appearances I have
not the smallest doubt but that we shall be hard pushed in every
quarter. This campaign will be the grand, and if unsuccessful, more
than probable the last struggle of Great Britain.... They are raising
all the Indians from North to South which their arts and money can
procure, and a powerful diversion they will make in this quarter with
the aid they expect from Canada.”
Washington then criticises the method of calling out the Militia,
condemning it, and proposes another scheme. He also writes about the
treatment of the British prisoners, and then returns again to the
operations and conduct of the war.
“I view General Philips in the light of a dangerous man--in his march
to Charlotteville he was guilty of a very grave breach of military
judgment and of a procedure highly criminal; for instead of pursuing
the route pointed out to him he went”--(Washington then describes the
route).
The General then gives warning that deserters or prisoners must not
be trusted, giving some interesting facts, and proceeds to relate the
latest news of the operations against the Indians on the frontier.
The letter is signed G. Washington in full, and a postscript is added
giving some news of the sailing of a British expedition, presumably to
Georgia, and stating what he has ordered in consequence, signed G. W.
MINOR TOPICS
A WARD ELECTION IN NEW YORK IN 1739
[_Contributed by Mr. William Nelson, Paterson, N. J._]
[In view of the recent election in New York city, this record of the
simple methods of the forefathers will possess an obvious interest for
the modern Knickerbocker. The license fee would interest the modern
saloonkeeper--but he does not read the MAGAZINE.--ED.]
NORTH WARD
CITY OF NEW YORK. } _ss._:
I Christopher Bancker Esqʳ Alderman of the North Ward of the City of
New York Do hereby Certifie (Pursuant to a Warrant unto me Directed by
the Mayor of the said City) that this Day between the Hours of Nine and
Twelve in the fforenoon the ffreemen of the said Ward being Inhabitants
and the ffreeholders of the said Ward Did assemble and meet together
within the said Ward at the time & place by me appointed, and then and
there by the plurality of Voices or Votes Did Elect and Choose the
persons hereafter mentioned (being ffreemen or ffreeholders Inhabiting
within the said Ward) to serve in the Respective Offices hereafter
mentioned for the said Ward for the Year Ensuing or untill other fit
persons are Elected and Sworn in their Rooms or places, as by his
Majesty’s Royall Charter Granted to the Mayor Aldermen and Commonalty
of the City of New York is appointed Directed & Required (vizt)
Christopher Bancker Alderman
Wᵐ Vreedenburgh Assistant
Isaac Stoutenburgh }
Jan Van Arenham } Assessors
Stephen Bourdet Collector
Peter Hendrickse } Constables
Arent Van Hoek }
Witness my hand in New York the twenty ninth day of September in the
thirteenth year of his Majestys Reign Anno Dom 1739
CHRIS: BANCKER.
A N. Y. LIQUOR LICENSE IN 1739
[Printed form; the names and words in italics are inserted with pen and
ink.]
CITY OF NEW YORK. } _ss._: _West Ward Nᵒ_ _Murry Street_
I Certify that _Mary Clarck_ hath agreed for the Excise as a
Tavern-Keeper; and hath paid for Excise, £. 2. 6ˢ.0 And for License,
0 16 0
---------
[Given under my Hand, the 1ᵗʰ Day of _March_--1785.]
_Abᵐ. P. Lotts_
[Endorsed:] _Mary Clark_ £3. 2..
4/..
----------
NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The annual meeting of The New Jersey Historical Society was held
in the beautiful and spacious building of the Society on West Park
Street, Newark, on October 25, 1905. A business meeting was held at
noon, at which the annual reports of officers were read, showing the
very prosperous condition of the Society. The Corresponding Secretary,
William Nelson, in his report alluded to the fact that the present
completed his twenty-fifth year of continuous service as an officer of
the Society, and so was a sort of silver jubilee of his. He was elected
Recording Secretary in 1880, holding that office for ten years, when
he was elected Corresponding Secretary, which office he has held for
fifteen years. The correspondence during the year had embraced between
400 and 500 letters of all sorts and covering a great variety of
topics.
Francis M. Tichenor, Librarian, reported that during the year there had
been 2400 visitors at the Library.
Ernest E. Coe, for the Committee on Membership, reported that the
Society now had 784 members.
A very important adjunct of the Society for several years past has been
the Woman’s Branch, presided over by Miss M. Antoinette Quinby, who
read the report of the work of that body. The women have been devoting
themselves specially during the past year to the compilation of
tombstone inscriptions throughout the State, and Miss Quinby presented
to the Society two large, handsome volumes of such inscriptions.
Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, Judge Amzi Dodd, Robert F. Ballantine, Wallace
M. Scudder and George R. Howe were elected Trustees for the term of
three years, and Jonathan W. Roberts for the term of one year to fill
a vacancy.
The address of the day was delivered by the Rev. William Y. Chapman,
pastor of the Roseville (Newark) Presbyterian Church, his subject
being “Acadia.” He was himself a native of Nova Scotia, and from his
earliest boyhood had been familiar with the scenes so beautifully
and pathetically described by Longfellow in his exquisite poem
“Evangeline.” In the interest of truth, however, he was constrained
to say that the cold facts of history differed very widely from
the narrative of the romantic poem, and he described clearly and
graphically the events which constrained the English commander to
deport the recalcitrant French settlers.
At a subsequent meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Society, the
following officers were elected for the ensuing year:
President, Jonathan W. Roberts; Vice-Presidents, Wallace M. Scudder,
Francis M. Tichenor and George R. Howe; Corresponding Secretary,
William Nelson; Recording Secretary, Joseph F. Folsom; Treasurer,
William C. Morton; Librarian, Francis M. Tichenor; Trustees to fill
vacancies, Dr. W. S. Disbrow, of Newark, and W. Elwood Speakman, of
Woodbury.
BOOK NOTICES
The Records of the Town of Hanover, New Hampshire, 1761-1818. The
records of the town meetings, and of the selectmen, comprising all of
the first volume of records and being Volume I of the printed records
of the town. Printed by vote of the town under the direction of Herbert
Darling Foster, George Mendal Bridgman, Sidney Bradshaw Fay. Hanover,
New Hampshire, 1905. Octavo, pp. VI+336.
The committee of learned men appointed by the selectmen of Hanover
to print the early records of that town apparently have endeavored
to reproduce faithfully the original spelling, capitalization and
punctuation. Both copy and proofs have been compared with the records
word for word, and when necessary letter by letter. The moderate sum
of money used in preserving and making easily accessible to students
these early annals has been well spent. The committee having this
volume in charge suggests that the proprietors’ records (covering the
years 1761 to 1807 inclusive) and the first volume of vital statistics
(covering the years 1762 to 1846) ought also to be printed. All persons
interested in the history of Hanover ought to use their influence
towards carrying out this wise suggestion at once and having it done
under the direction of the same committee.
The contents of the book and the space of time covered are accurately
indicated by the title, but one very important feature of the work, not
there mentioned, is the town clerk’s affidavit that the printed book is
a true and correct copy of the original. The original paging is marked
in brackets. The book is well indexed and substantially bound.
INDEX VOL. II.
JULY-DECEMBER, 1905
PAGE
American History, Footlights of, 199
American History, Miscellanea of, 346
American Independence, Ode to, 30
Andre Country, In the, 75
Andre Prison (Illustration), 151
Army of the Potomac--A Page of History Corrected, 127, 171, 249
Arpe, R. N., articles by, 127, 171, 249
Baltimore’s Old Stepping-Stones, 282
Barry, Commodore John, Relics of, 386
Benedict, N. R., article by, 417
Bolton, Reginald Pelham, article by, 223, 311
Boogher, W. F., article by, 407
Book Notices, 222, 433
Bridgham, Eliza W., journal of, 14, 90
British Navy in the Revolution, 223, 311
Buffalo, Lone, 356
Burr and Hamilton, 70
Bushnell’s _Turtle_, 389
Calhoun, J. B., article by, 326
Catlin, Louise E., article by, 346
Civil War Sketches, 34
Dakota Militia (poem), 116
De Costa, Rev. B. F., article by, 265
Diamond Island, The Fight at, 265
Diary of a Poet’s Mother, 206
Duncan, Capt. James, Diary of, at Yorktown, 407
Duryee, Rev. J. R., article by, 330
Early Days in Luzerne County, Pa., 239
Editor, articles by, 75, 352
Errata, 281
Evangeline and Gabriel, Where Buried, 403
Fancies at Navesink (poem), 264
Fate of the Pigeons, 353
First United States Flag, 291
First Dutch Church, Schenectady, 173
First Woman in the Post-Office Department, 276
Fleming, W. L., article by, 34
Folsom, A. A., communication from, 285
Froeligh, Reverend Solomon, and His Great Schism, 330
Fulton, Robert, Reminiscences of, 326
GENEALOGICAL:
Adams, 71
Allen, 292
Bartlett, 70
Burt, 221
Chamberlain, 71, 151, 292
Cushman, 220
Elliot, 151
Emmons, 71
Estabrook, 71, 72
French, 151, 220
Gridley, 71, 293
Hale, 152
Hardin, 152
Hasey, 151
Horne, 71
How, 71
Howard, 292
Huggins, 71
Ingalls, 151
Lamb, 220
McNey, 151
Parker, J., 71
Parrott, 72, 293
Pease, 71
Perkins, 71, 151
Perry, 292
Poole, 220
Pottle, 151
Rand, 151
Roberts, 151
Snow, 292
Thayer, 220
Turner, 71
Webb, 152
Wood, 70
Wright, 292
Gloucester, Linzee’s Attack on, 85
Griffis, Rev. W. E., articles by, 295, 365
Guernsey, R. S., article by, 44
Graham, Alex. S., article by, 394
Grave of Leather Stocking, 283
Great Dismal Swamp, A Day in the, 339
Green, Samuel A., article by, 185
Greenwood, Isaac J., article by, 181
Groton, The Old Town of, 185
Hall, Edward H., article by, 202
Hammond, Otis G., article by, 48
Hand-Loom Weaving Revived, 271
Hanson, Joseph M., poem by, 116
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES:
Montgomery Co., N. Y., 221
New Jersey, 432
New York, 221
N. Y. State Hist Ass’n., 69
Hogg, Ebenezer, _vs._ John Paul Jones, 48
ILLUSTRATIONS:
André Prison, Tappan, August
Gen. Clinton’s Dam, Cooperstown, November
Landais, Capt. Pierre, portrait of, September
Odell, Rev. Jonathan, portrait of, July
INDIAN LEGENDS:
The Dancing Ghosts, 424
The Lone Buffalo, 356
The Shooting Meteors, 210
Indiana County Names, 420
Jones, John Paul, 48, 285
Journey through New England and New York in 1818, 14, 90
Landais, Captain Pierre, 181
Lanman, Charles, articles by, 210, 273, 356, 424
Last Century, A Port of the, 417
Leather Stocking, Grave of, 283
Liberty of the Press, 55, 118, 160, 228, 315, 379
Lincoln, Abraham, speech of, 362
Luzerne County, Pa., Early Days in, 239
LETTERS:
British Officer, 144
John Dickinson, 290
Capt. Jas. Duncan, 67
William Lloyd Garrison, 150
Col. Henry Glen, 287
Capt. John Gooch, 216
Andrew Jackson, 68
Major James McHenry, 362
Edmund Munro, 360
Gen. John Pope, 217
John Sellon, 359
Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., 429
Washington, 66, 146, 215, 289, 364, 427, 429
Martha Washington, 364
Maine, Henry C., article by, 206
Martin, I. J., article by, 403
Matthews, Amanda, article by, 206
McHenry, James, letter of, 362
McPike, Eugene F., article by, 346
Memorial Trees, 281
Miscellanea of American History, 346
MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS:
André Prison, efforts to preserve, 151
Burr and Hamilton, 70
Fate of the Pigeons, 353
First Dutch Church, Schenectady, 173
N. Y. Liquor License, 1739, 432
Thomaston Ter-Centenary, 150
Ward Election in New York, 1739, 431
Mississippi River, Progress of Discovery of, 1
Munro, Edmund, letters of, 359, 360
Navesink, Fancies at (poem), 264
New England, Journey through, in 1818, 14, 90
Northern Neck of Virginia, 259
NOTES AND QUERIES:
Replies, Revolutionary Flags, 219
Odell, Rev. Jonathan, 28
Portrait of, July
Old Town of Groton, The, 185
Origin of Name of Washington, 202
Original Documents, 66, 67, 68, 144, 146, 150, 215, 216, 217, 287,
289, 290, 359, 360, 362, 364, 427, 429
Parker, Mrs. Jane Marsh, article by, 153
Pigeons, Fate of the, 363
POEMS:
Dakota Militia, 116
Fancies at Navesink, 264
Ode to American Independence, 30
Poet’s Mother, Diary of a, 417
Port of the Last Century, 417
Post Office Department, First Woman in the, 276
Potomac, Army of the, 127, 171, 249
Press, Liberty of the, 55, 118, 160, 228, 315
Ryman, Wm. P., article by, 239
Saratoga, Battle of, 284
Schuyler, Rev. L. R., articles by, 55, 118, 160, 228, 379
Sellon, John, 359
Siege of Yorktown, Capt. Duncan’s Diary of the, 407
Somes, John J., article by, 85
Sullivan’s Great March in the Indian Country, 295, 365
Stepping-Stones, Baltimore’s Old, 282
Stone, William L., article by, 284
Thomaston, Me., Ter-Centenary of, 150
Turtle, Bushnell’s, 389
Unknown Exile, was he Charles X?, 96
“Unknown Exile,” not Charles X., 153
Upham, Warren, article by, 1
Vancil, Frank M., article by, 199
Vallandigham, E. N., article by, 259
Washington Name, Origin of the, 202
Washington, Letters of--_See_ Original Documents
Weaving, Handloom, Revived, 278
Wendover and the Flag, 44
White, Anthony Walton, 394
Whitman, Walt., poem by, 264
Yorktown, Capt. Duncan’s Diary at Siege of, 407
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation errors have been silently corrected.
Page 372: “Second New Hampsire” changed to “Second New Hampshire”
Page 376: “They next day” changed to “The next day”
Page 379: “3000 capies” changed to “3000 copies”
Page 394: “Cavalary Officers” changed to “Cavalry Officers”
Page 397: “polite and afecttionate” changed to “polite and affectionate”
Page 404: “has been dsicussion” changed to “has been discussion”
Page 415: “upon Corwallis’s” changed to “upon Cornwallis’s”
Page 429: “as as we should” changed to “as we should”
Page 433: “Truestees of the Society” changed to “Trustees of the
Society” “fill vacanies” changed to “fill vacancies”
The index has been corrected to fix items that were out of alphabetical
order.