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[Illustration: cover]
JULIA WARD HOWE
1819-1910
VOLUME I
[Illustration: JULIA WARD HOWE
_From a photograph by J. J. Hawes, about 1861_]
JULIA WARD HOWE
1819-1910
BY
LAURA E. RICHARDS
AND MAUD HOWE ELLIOTT
ASSISTED BY
FLORENCE HOWE HALL
[Illustration: Publisher's Mark]
TWO VOLUMES IN ONE
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge
COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY LAURA E. RICHARDS AND MAUD HOWE ELLIOTT
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCE
THIS BOOK OR PARTS THEREOF IN ANY FORM
The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE-MASSACHUSETTS
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
TO
HENRY MARION HOWE
CONTENTS
I. ANCESTRAL. 3
II. LITTLE JULIA WARD. 1819-1835 15
III. "THE CORNER." 1835-1839 41
IV. GIRLHOOD. 1839-1843 56
V. TRAVEL. 1843-1844 79
VI. SOUTH BOSTON. 1844-1851 101
VII. "PASSION FLOWERS." 1852-1858 136
VIII. LITTLE SAMMY: THE CIVIL WAR. 1859-1863 173
IX. NO. 13 CHESTNUT STREET, BOSTON. 1864 194
X. THE WIDER OUTLOOK. 1865 213
XI. NO. 19 BOYLSTON PLACE: "LATER LYRICS." 1866 235
XII. GREECE AND OTHER LANDS. 1867 260
XIII. CONCERNING CLUBS. 1867-1871 283
XIV. THE PEACE CRUSADE. 1870-1872 299
XV. SANTO DOMINGO. 1872-1874 320
XVI. THE LAST OF GREEN PEACE. 1872-1876 339
XVII. THE WOMAN'S CAUSE. 1868-1910 358
JULIA WARD HOWE
CHAPTER I
ANCESTRAL
These are my people, quaint and ancient,
Gentlefolks with their prim old ways;
This, their leader come from England,
Governed a State in early days.
* * * * *
I must vanish with my ancients,
But a golden web of love
Is around us and beneath us,
Binds us to our home above.
JULIA WARD HOWE.
Our mother was once present at a meeting where there was talk of
ancestry and heredity. One of the speakers dwelt largely upon the sins
of the fathers. He drew stern pictures of the vice, the barbarism, the
heathenism of the "good old times," and ended by saying with emphasis
that he felt himself "_bowed down beneath the burden of the sins of his
ancestors_."
Our mother was on her feet in a flash.
"Mr. So-and-So," she said, "is bowed down by the sins of his ancestors.
I wish to say that all my life I have been buoyed up and lifted on by
the remembrance of the virtues of mine!"
These words are so characteristic of her, that in beginning the story of
her life it seems proper to dwell at some length on the ancestors whose
memory she cherished with such reverence.
The name of Ward occurs first on the roll of Battle Abbey: "Seven
hundred and ten distinguished persons" accompanied William of Normandy
to England, among them "Ward, one of the noble captains."
Her first known ancestor, John Ward, of Gloucester, England, sometime
cavalry officer in Cromwell's army, came to this country after the
Restoration and settled at Newport in Rhode Island. His son Thomas
married Amy Smith, a granddaughter of Roger Williams. Thomas's son
Richard became Governor of Rhode Island and had fourteen children, among
them Samuel, who in turn became Governor of the Colony, and a member of
the Continental Congress. He was the only Colonial governor who refused
to take the oath to enforce the Stamp Act. In 1775, in the Continental
Congress, he was made Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, which from
1774 to 1776 sat daily, working without intermission in the cause of
independence. But though one of the framers of the "Declaration," he was
not destined to be a "signer." John Adams says of him, "When he was
seized with the smallpox he said that if his vote and voice were
necessary to support the cause of his country, he should live; if not,
he should die. He died, and the cause of his country was supported, but
it lost one of its most sincere and punctual advocates."
The correspondence between Governor Ward and General Washington has been
preserved. In one letter the latter says: "I think, should occasion
offer, I shall be able to give you a good account of your son, as he
seems a sensible, well-informed young man."
This young man was Samuel Ward, Lieutenant-Colonel of the First Rhode
Island Regiment, and our mother's grandfather.[1]
[1] Born 1756, died 1832. He graduated in 1771 from Rhode Island
College (now Brown University) with distinguished honors.
In Trumbull's painting of the Attack on Quebec in 1776, there is a
portrait of Lieutenant-Colonel Ward, a young, active figure with sword
uplifted. His life was full of stirring incident. In 1775 he received
his commission as Captain, and was one of two hundred and fifty of the
Rhode Island troops who volunteered to join Benedict Arnold's command of
eleven hundred men, ordered to advance by way of the Kennebec River to
reinforce General Montgomery at Quebec. In a letter to his family, dated
Point-aux-Trembles, November 26, 1775, Captain Ward says: "We were
thirty days in the wilderness, that none but savages ever attempted to
pass. We marched a hundred miles upon shore with only three days'
provisions, waded over three rapid rivers, marched through snow and ice
barefoot, passed over the St. Lawrence where it was guarded by the
enemy's frigates, and are now resting about twenty-four miles from the
city to recruit our worn-out natures. General Montgomery intends to join
us immediately, so that we have a winter's campaign before us. But I
trust we shall have the glory of taking Quebec!"
The young soldier's hopes were vain. He was taken prisoner with many of
his men while gallantly defending a difficult position, and spent a year
in prison. On his release he rejoined the army of Washington and fought
through the greater part of the Revolution, rising to the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel. He was at Peekskill, Valley Forge, and Red Bank, and
wrote the official account of the last-named battle, which may be found
in Washington's correspondence.
During the terrible winter at Valley Forge, Lieutenant-Colonel Ward
obtained a month's furlough, wooed and married his cousin, Phoebe
Greene (daughter of Governor William Greene, of Rhode Island, and of the
beautiful Catherine Ray,[2] of Block Island), and returned to the snows
and starvation of the winter camp. Our mother was very proud of her
great-grandmother Catherine's memory, treasured her rat-tail spoons and
her wedding stockings of orange silk, and was fond of telling how
Benjamin Franklin admired and corresponded with her. Some of Franklin's
letters have been preserved. He speaks of his wife as the "old lady,"
but says he has got so used to her faults that they are like his own--he
does not recognize them any more. In one letter he gives the following
advice to the lovely Catherine: "Kill no more Pigeons than you can eat.
Go constantly to meeting or to church--till you get a good husband; then
stay at home and nurse the children and live like a Christian."
[2] Granddaughter of Simon Ray, one of the original owners of the
island. He was "pressed in a cheese-press" on account of his
religious opinions.
Some years after the Revolution, Colonel Ward was in Paris on a business
errand. He kept a record of his stay there in a parchment pocket-book,
where among technical entries are found brief comments on matters of
general interest. One day the Colonel tells of a dinner party where he
met Vergniaud and other prominent revolutionists. He was surprised to
find them such plain men; "yet were they exceeding warm." On December
29,1792, he notes: "Dined with Gouverneur Morris. Served upon
plate--good wines--his Kitchen neither french or English, but between
both. Servants french, apartments good.... I have visited the halls of
painting and sculpture at the Louvre. The peices [sic] are all called
_chef d'oeuvres_ by connoisseurs. The oldest are thought the best, I
cannot tell why, though some of the old peices are very good. Milo
riving the oak is good...."
He went to the theatre, and observed that the features which appeared to
him most objectionable were specially applauded by the audience.
Briefly, amid items of the sale of land, he thus notes the execution of
Louis XVI:--
"January 15th. The convention has this day decided upon two questions on
the King; one that he was guilty, another that the question should not
be sent to the people.
"January 17th. The convention up all night upon the question of the
King's sentence. At eleven this night the question was determined--the
sentence of death was pronounced. 366 death--319 seclusion or
banishment--36 various--majority of 5 absolute--the King caused an
appeal to be made to the people, which was not allowed; thus the
convention have been the accusers, the judges, and will be the executors
of their own sentence--this will cause a great degree of astonishment in
America....
"January 21st. Went to the Pont Royal to pass it at nine o'clock. Guards
prevented me from going over. I had engaged to pass this day, which is
one of horror, at Versailles, with Mr. Morris. The King was beheaded at
eleven o'clock. Guards, at an early hour, took possession of the _Place
Louis XV_, and were posted in each avenue. The most profound peace
prevailed. Those who had feeling lamented in secret in their houses, or
had left town. Others showed the same levity or barbarous indifference
as on former occasions. Hichborn, Henderson, and Johnson went to see the
execution, for which, as an American, I was sorry. The King desired to
speak. He had only time to say he was innocent, and forgave his enemies.
He behaved with the fortitude of a martyr. Santerre ordered the
[executioner] to dispatch him. At twelve the streets were again all
open."
There is a tradition that when Colonel Ward quitted Paris, with a party
of friends, the carriage was driven by a disguised nobleman, who thus
escaped the guillotine.
Our mother remembered him as a "gentleman advanced in years, with
courtly manner and mild blue eyes, which were, in spite of their
mildness, very observing."
She inherited many traits from the Wards, among them a force and
integrity of purpose, a strength of character, and a certain business
instinct which sometimes cropped up when least expected, and which
caused some of her family to call her the "banker's daughter."
Those were also solid qualities which she inherited from the Rhode
Island Greenes. Greenes of Warwick, Greenes of East Greenwich; all
through Colonial and Revolutionary history we find their names. Sturdy,
active, patriotic men: Generals, Colonels, and Governors of "Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations," chief among them Governor William
Greene, the "War Governor," and General Nathanael Greene of glorious
memory.
Our liveliest association with the name of Greene is the memory of Mrs.
Nancy Greene, first cousin of our grandfather Ward and daughter-in-law
of the General who died in Middletown, Rhode Island, in 1886, at the age
of one hundred and two. This lady was dear to our mother as the one
remaining link with her father's generation. A visit to "Cousin Nancy"
was one of her great pleasures, and we children were happy if we were
allowed to accompany her. The old lady sat erect and dignified in her
straight-backed chair, and the two discoursed at length of days gone by.
To Cousin Nancy "Julia" was always young, though the "Battle Hymn of the
Republic" was already written when the old lady charged her to
"cultivate a literary taste." On another occasion--it was one of the
later visits--she said with emphasis, "Julia, do not allow yourself to
grow old! When you feel that you _cannot_ do a thing, _get up and do
it!_" Julia never forgot this advice.
Cousin Nancy never read a novel in her life, as she announced with
pride. She wished to read the "Annals of the Schönberg-Cotta Family,"
but, finding it to be a work of fiction, decided not to break her rule.
She was a fond and pious mother; when her son needed chastisement, she
would pray over him so long that he would cry out, "Mother, it is time
to begin whipping!"
If Julia Ward was part Ward and Greene, she was quite as much Cutler and
Marion; it is to this descent that we must turn for the best explanation
of her many-sided character.
When she said of any relation, however distant, "He is a Cutler!" it
meant that she recognized in that person certain qualities--a warmth of
temperament, a personality glowing, sparkling, effervescent--akin to her
own. If in addition to these qualities the person had red hair, she took
him to her heart, and he could do no wrong. All this, and a host of
tender associations beside, the name of Cutler meant to her; yet it may
be questioned whether any of these characteristics would have appeared
in the descendants of Johannes Demesmaker, worthy citizen of Holland,
who, coming to this country in 1674, changed his name to Cutler for
convenience' sake, had not one of these descendants, Benjamin Clarke
Cutler, married Sarah (Mitchell) Hyrne, daughter of Thomas Mitchell and
Esther (or Hester) Marion.
To most people, the name of Marion suggests one person only,--General
Francis Marion of Revolutionary fame; yet it was the grandfather of the
General, Benjamin Marion, of La Rochelle, who was the first of the name
to settle in this country, coming hither when the Revocation of the
Edict of Nantes drove the Huguenots into exile. Brigadier-General Peter
Horry,[3] friend and biographer of General Marion, quotes the letter
which told Benjamin of his banishment:--
Your damnable heresy well deserves, even in this life, that purgation by
fire which awfully awaits it in the next. But in consideration of your
youth and worthy connections, our mercy has condescended to commute your
punishment to perpetual exile. You will, therefore, instantly prepare to
quit your country forever, for, if after ten days from the date hereof,
you should be found in any part of the kingdom, your miserable body
shall be consumed by fire and your impious ashes scattered on the winds
of heaven.
(Signed)
PÈRE ROCHELLE.
[3] See Horry and Weems, _Life of Marion_. General Horry was a most
zealous and devoted friend; as a biographer his accuracy is
questionable, his picturesqueness never.
Within the ten days Benjamin Marion had wound up his affairs, married
his betrothed, Judith Baluet, and was on his way to America to seek his
fortune. He bought a plantation on Goose Creek, near Charleston, South
Carolina, and here he and his Judith lived for many peaceful years in
content and prosperity, seeing their children grow up around them.[4]
[4] We have not found the date of his death, but Horry gives the
principal features of his will as he got them from the family. He calls
Judith Marion "Louisa," but that is his picturesque way. She may have
been "Judith Louisa"! Women's names were not of much consequence in
those days.
"After having, in the good old way, bequeathed 'his soul to God who gave
it,' and 'his body to the earth out of which it was taken,' he
proceeds:--
"'In the first place, as to debts, thank God, I owe none, and therefore
shall give my executors but little trouble on that score.
"'Secondly,--As to the poor, I have always treated them as my brethren.
My dear family will, I know, follow my example.
"'Thirdly,--As to the wealth with which God has been pleased to bless me
and my dear Louisa and children, lovingly have we labored together for
it--lovingly we have enjoyed it--and now, with a glad and grateful heart
do I leave it among them.
"'I give my beloved Louisa all my ready money--that she may never be
alarmed at a sudden call.
"'I give her all my fat calves and lambs, my pigs and poultry--that she
may always keep a good table.
"'I give her my new carriage and horses--that she may visit her friends
in comfort.
"'I give her my family Bible--that she may live above the ill-tempers
and sorrows of life.
"'I give my son Peter a hornbook--for I am afraid he will always be a
dunce.'"
General Horry goes on to say that Peter was so stunned by this squib
that he "instantly quit his raccoon hunting by night and betook himself
to reading, and soon became a very sensible and charming young man."
Gabriel Marion, the eldest son of Benjamin, married a young woman, also
of Huguenot blood, Charlotte Cordés or Corday, said to have been a
relative of the other Charlotte Corday, the heroine of the French
Revolution. To this couple were born six children, the eldest being
Esther, our mother's great-grandmother, the youngest, Francis, who was
to become the "Swamp Fox" of Revolutionary days.
Esther Marion has been called the "Queen Bee" of the Marion hive; she
had fifteen children, and her descendants have multiplied and spread in
every direction. She was twice married, first to John Allston, of
Georgetown, or Waccamaw, secondly to Thomas Mitchell, of Georgetown. The
only one of the fifteen children with whom we have concern is Sarah
Mitchell, the "Grandma Cutler" of Julia Ward's childhood. This lady was
married at fourteen to Dr. Hyrne, an officer of Washington's army. Julia
well remembered her saying that after her engagement, she wept on being
told that she must give up her dolls.
Dr. Hyrne lived but a short time, and four years after his death the
twenty-year-old widow married Benjamin Clarke Cutler, then a widower,
Sheriff of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, and third in descent from John
Demesmaker,[5] before mentioned, sometime physician and surgeon.
[5] On first coming to this country, Johannes Demesmaker settled in
Hingham, Massachusetts. Later he moved to Boston, where he became known
as Dr. John Cutler; married Mary Cowell, of Boston, and served as
surgeon in King Philip's War.
Our mother was much attached to "Grandma Cutler," and speaks thus of her
in a sketch entitled "The Elegant Literature of Sixty Years Ago":
"Grandma will read Owen Feltham's 'Resolves,' albeit the print is too
small for her eyes. She knows Pope and Crabbe by heart, admires
Shenstone, and tells me which scenes are considered finest in this or
that of Scott's novels. Calling one day upon a compeer of her own age,
she was scandalized to find her occupied with a silly story called
'Jimmy Jessamy.'"
Mrs. Cutler had known General Washington, and was fond of telling how at
a ball the Commander-in-Chief crossed the room to speak to her. Many of
her letters have been preserved, and show a sprightliness which is well
borne out by her portrait, that of a charming old lady in a turban, with
bright eyes and a humorous mouth.
A word remains to be said about General Francis Marion himself. This
hero of history, song, and romance was childless; our mother could claim
as near relationship to him as could any of her generation. She was
extremely proud of this kinship, and no one who knew her could doubt
that from the Marions she inherited many vital qualities. One winter,
toward the end of her life, there was a meeting at the Old South Church
at which--as at the gathering described at the beginning of this
chapter--there was talk of ancestry and kindred topics. The weather was
stormy, our mother well on in the eighties, but she was there. Being
called on to speak, she made a brief address in the course of which she
alluded to her Southern descent, and to General Francis Marion, her
great-great-uncle. As she spoke her eyes lightened with mirth, in the
way we all remember: "General Marion," she said, "was known in his
generation as the 'Swamp Fox'; and when I succeed in eluding the care of
my guardians, children and grandchildren, and coming to a meeting like
this, I think I may be said to have inherited some of his
characteristics!"