Your letter with the disgreeable Titings of that unhappy day I
have Before me and any delay of not answering you sooner was in an
exspatation of sending you the Grat & Gloriss news of peace. But out of
my power as yet, But momently exspected, when I shall loss no time of
sending that Longwished pease of newes. NO MEN Felt moor unhappy Then I
hearing the Miscariges of the Expedition & that through the conduct of
the dam Savage(s). I cannot but condol on the ocasion & that Sincerely.
However as its the change of war for Fourthen (fortune), & Miss
Fourthen to authir (other) Generals, dukes Lords & the first Generals
of the Earth Let’s Go back to Jullis Cisier’s time Al’xd the Grat,
Malberg (Marlborough) Charles the 12 of Sweden, Prince Ugen (Eugene),
Cumberland & the King of prusia, what has befallen them in a moment, a
woeful amangumercy (emergency) who both fell in Pursuitt of that thing
called Glory & Honour which promised the fairest of every thing in the
world, for you to be crowned with, for I blieve by your own acc’t Major
(Van Courtland?) & several other Gentlemen who was with you that not
a soul of the garrison new ware you came from--you might as well been
Tropt (dropped) out of the moon--for what they new--the only way is to
make your self happy, its well known your activity Bravery & Courage in
the case, that you are not Blamed--a few of your Enemies may say the
men had no business there, But what for....
I am last Evening from Albany--saw all the Polititians not a word
of newes but you had in the last papers. Major Hale Just from
head-Quarters, no aRivals momently Exspected--the Assembly ware to
Brack (break) up on Saturday next, Mr Morris[38] whants to resign--he
has some Enemies in Philadelphia who Excuse him for making Parde (part)
payment--Congress won’t Suffer him to Resign, wether they have it in
their power to prevent him I am not able to Judge, I am sorrow for it.
The Shrief (sheriff) has a letter for Publican (publication?) the
day of aLection for a Governer, Lieut Governer, one Senator for the
northen district in the Room of Genl Tenbroeck & the Reprecentatives,
which is to be on the 3rd Thursday in April next--no talk of any body
for to apose Governor Clinton--the Barroom talk is Judge R. Yates (a
pair?)--and Thomas Pallmer--neither of the three will answer, tho the
one has abbility enough but their is something wanting Palame (Palmer?)
I thing had the better ... various are the Congecturs who are the
persons for Rang of Goverment.
My opinion, George Clinton, Esq, Governer, for thre years moor,
Pier(re) V(an) Cortland Lieut Gov’r some Considerable Alteration in the
Lower House....
Civil List either John M. Scott,[39] or James Duane for Mayir for the
city of N. York. Recorder, I am at the last I believe, Marrinus Willet,
High Shreff, tho you have been misforthen’d you have still friends at
Court. So much for a little Pollitics. Calling yesterday at the post
office I found a letter to you from His Excellency, which accompanies
mine & Rest assured in a few days you will have one wether the war is
to continue or pease to take place--there is no telling till a packet
which had not come in within these fiew days
I am & Remain with Sentiments of Regard, &c.,
H. GLEN.
Addressed on back, “Col^o Marinus Willett, Commanding the Troops
westward, Tryon County.”
LETTER OF WASHINGTON PARTLY IN REFERENCE TO UNIFORMS
[A valuable historical letter in reference to the uniform of the Army.]
HEAD QUARTERS, NEAR NEW WINDSOR, (N. Y.,) _29th May, 1781_.
_To the Board of War_:
GENTLEMEN.--I have been honored with your favors of the 13th 14th and
17th instants. My late absence from the Army prevented my acknowledging
them sooner.
If the Uniforms which were fixed upon for the Troops of North and South
Carolina have not been ordered from Europe, I do not see that any
inconvenience can attend the proposed alteration. I think, however,
the Lace ought to be dispensed with as altogether superfluous and very
expensive.
It seems reasonable that a due proportion should be observed between
the pay of the Deputies and the principal in any department, and as
Congress were pleased to augment the Salary of Mr Laurance the Judge
Advocate General very considerably by the Resolve of the 10th of
November there can I think be no impropriety in augmenting the Salaries
of the Deputies also to 60 dolls p. month, which is what they request.
Sir Henry Clinton has informed me that it is not in his power to permit
the transportation of Tobacco from Virginia to Charlestown. I imagine
there are some commercial Regulations in the way. But he says that he
mentioned certain Articles to Colo Magaw and Colo Ely which might be
sent in and sold for the benefit of our prisoners. What they were I do
not exactly recollect, but I think Lumber and Iron.
I have the Honor to be
with great Respect
Gentlemen
Your most obt. Servt.
GO WASHINGTON.
Honble Board of War.
LETTER OF JOHN DICKINSON TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS
[Letter of John Dickinson, member of the Continental Congress, to the
President of Congress, in reference to the mutiny of the army, when
the soldiers had surrounded and threatened Congress. It was written
under the influence of strong excitement, as is evinced by the many
erasures and additions in the original. The troops had surrounded
the Congress building, demanding their arrears of pay, and honorable
discharge from service, under dire threats of violence. It relates
to one of the most trying periods of the Revolution, and one which
threatened the country with internal troubles.]
PHILADELPHIA, _July 27, 1783_.
SIR:
Yesterday evening the Soldiers from Lancaster began their March for
that Place Under the Command of their officers.--Those in the barracks
behave very quietly, & are desirous of being dismist.--Colonel
Hampton informs me that Letters were sent by the principal Authors
of the late Disturbance, to excite General Armand’s Legion & Colonel
Moylan’s Regiment, to join in the Mutiny. The general Disposition of
those Troops I know not; But I expect to receive immediate Advice of
any Movements of Importance among them, which I shall communicate to
Congress.
I am, Sir
Your very obt. Serv’t.
JOHN DICKINSON.
Mr. Thomson[40] who does me the Honor of charging himself with this
Letter, will deliver to Congress a copy of the last proposals of the
Soldiers to Councils, & the Act of Council thereon.
His Excellency
The President of Congress.
[Congress had adjourned from Philadelphia to Princeton, N. J.--ED.]
FOOTNOTES:
[38] Robert Morris, the great financier.
[39] Gen. John Morin Scott
[40] Probably Charles Thomson, the Secretary of Congress.
MINOR TOPICS
THE FIRST U. S. FLAG
The first Stars and Stripes were displayed at Fort Schuyler (the
present Rome, N. Y.), August 5, 1777. This much every schoolboy is
supposed [it is very much of a supposition, however, how many in the
average High School could tell the story off-hand--ED.] to know.
What is not generally known is that this historic flag is still in
existence; being in the possession of Mrs. Abram Lansing, of Albany, N.
Y., a grand-daughter of Colonel Gansevoort, and who possesses also the
original of the following letter:
Poughkeepsie, 29th August, 1778.
COL. PETER GANSEVOORT,
Fort Schuyler.
Dear Sir:
The great distance which your duty calls us apart obliges me at this
time to give you this trouble which otherwise I would not. You may
remember I was to have an order for eight yards of broadcloth on the
commissary for clothing of this State, in lieu of my blue cloak _which
was used for colours at Fort Schuyler_. An opportunity now presenting
itself, I beg (you) to send me an order enclosed to Jeremiah Van
Rensselaer, paymaster at Albany, or to Henry Van Vaughter, Albany,
where I will receive it, and you will oblige one who will always
acknowledge the same with true gratitude
Please to make my compliments to the other officers of the regiment
I am, dear Sir, your humble servant,
Abraham Swartwout, Captain.
GENEALOGICAL
[All communications for this department (including genealogical
publications for review) should be sent to William Prescott Greenlaw,
Commonwealth Hotel, Boston.]
QUERIES
27 _a._ ALLEN--In 1808, William B. Allen began to publish in Haverhill,
Mass., _The Merrimack Intelligencer_. In February, 1812, he took his
brother, H. G. Allen (Horatio Gates Allen?) into partnership. January
1, 1814, H. G. Allen, who had bought the interest of William B. in
1813, “sold out his paper, printing office and book store to William
Greenough and Nathan Burrill.” [Chase’s History of Haverhill.] Wanted,
the names of parents and birthplace of Wm. B. and H. G. Allen.
* * * * *
_b._ HOWARD--Benjamin Howard, born in 1691, resided in Chelmsford,
Mass. Whose daughter was his wife, Mary?
* * * * *
_c._ SNOW--Samuel Howard, b. 1731, son of Benjamin and Mary, married
(Int. pub. Sept., 1758), Mary Snow. Who was she?
* * * * *
_d._ WRIGHT--Mary, wife of Timothy Wright of Stoneham, Mass., died Oct.
27, 1755, aged 45 years (gravestone). Who was she? Timothy Wright’s
second wife whom he married in 1756 was Mary Green, the widow of Thomas
Green.
* * * * *
_e._ PERRY--Who was Deborah Perry of Lynnfield, who married, Feb. 14,
1796, Wright Newhall? She died in August, 1855, aged 80. G2.
ANSWERS
19 _a._ CHAMBERLAIN--James Savage derived his information relative to
Rebecca Chamberlain from Farmer’s and Moore’s “Historical Collections”
(vol. II, p. 70), published at Concord, New Hampshire, in 1823, and
republished in Smith’s “Boston News-Letter” (vol. I, p. 232), in 1826.
The article on the “Early History of Billerica, Mass.,” in the
“Historical Collections,” although unsigned was doubtless prepared by
John Farmer himself, as he had published in 1816 his “Historical Memoir
of Billerica.”
In the article in the “Historical Collections” here referred to we
read: “Though there is no positive evidence that any of the inhabitants
of Billerica were put upon trial for the supposed crime of witchcraft
in the time of this delusion, yet it may be safely inferred that
several were suspected and one or two apprehended. Besides the
authority of Hutchinson, the town records inform us that during the
height of the delusion, two persons were in the prison at Cambridge,
and that they both died there. Rebecca, wife of William Chamberlain,
died there Sept. 26, 1692, and John Durant, Oct. 27, 1692. They were
probably both victims of the infatuation which prevailed at that time.”
The writer has made a careful examination of the original court files
of Middlesex County for 1691 and 1692 and finds nothing for or against
Farmer’s statements. However, John Farmer, a native of the town of
Chelmsford, adjoining Billerica, does not write as though this phase of
his subject were traditional with him, but rather conjectural.
GEO. W. CHAMBERLAIN,
Weymouth, Mass.
* * * * *
20 _d._ GRIDLEY--On Dec 19, 1717, John Gridley, then of Beverly, Mass.,
married Joanna, daughter of Josiah^8 Dodge, of Wenham, Mass. [Genealogy
of the Dodge Family of Essex County, page 35.]
* * * * *
_g._ PARROTT--Mrs. Martha Parrott of Greenland, N. H., in 1805 was
the widow of John Parrott, whom she had married after the death of
his first wife, and by whom she had one son, Enoch Greenleaf Parrott,
named for a friend of the family, Enoch Greenleaf, of Weston, Mass.
Mrs. Parrott’s maiden name was Brackett; she was probably a daughter of
James and Martha (Cate) Brackett, of Greenland, N. H. X.
BOOK NOTICES
WEYMOUTH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. WESSAGUSSET AND WEYMOUTH, an historical
address by Charles Francis Adams, Jr., delivered at Weymouth, July
4, 1874, on the occasion of the celebration of the Two Hundred and
Fiftieth Anniversary of the Permanent Settlement of the Town. WEYMOUTH
IN ITS FIRST TWENTY YEARS, a paper read before the Society by Gilbert
Nash, November 1, 1882. WEYMOUTH THIRTY YEARS LATER, a paper read
by Charles Francis Adams, before the Weymouth Historical Society,
September 23, 1904. Published by the WEYMOUTH HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 1905.
8vo, pp. 164.
In the beginning of his second paper in this volume, Mr. Adams tells
how it came about that he delivered his first address at Weymouth
thirty years before, never having given thought to independent
historical investigations before he was invited by the town to deliver
the historical address on the occasion of the 250th anniversary. He
confesses that at that time he hardly knew where the town was, much
less anything of its history. The acceptance of that invitation, he
states, marked a turning point in his life which had previously been
devoted to civil and military affairs, and he expresses gratitude to
Weymouth because the path into historical research, thus unexpectedly
opened to him, has led him for thirty years through pastures green
and pleasant places. Besides affording him pleasure, it has brought
him honors in new fields of usefulness, and his labors have been
profitable to students of Massachusetts history. The mature outcome
of the earlier address was presented in print a dozen years ago in a
two-volume work called, “Three Episodes of Massachusetts History.”
In the later address Mr. Adams is merciless in his destruction of the
myth known as “The March of Miles Standish.” The familiar poem is
shown to be without any historical support, the “march” having taken
place by boat!
Speaking of this incident in Weymouth history, he says, “It smacks of
the savage; it is racy of the soil; it smells of the sea. It begins
with the flight of Phineas Pratt from Wessagusset to Plymouth, his
loss of the way, his fear lest his foot-prints in the late-lingering
snow banks should betray him, his nights in the woods, his pursuit
by the Indians, his guidance by the stars and sky, his fording the
icy river, and his arrival in Plymouth just as Miles Standish was
embarking for Wessagusset. Nothing then can be more picturesque, more
epic in outline, than Standish’s voyage, with his little company of
grim, silent men in that open boat. Sternly bent on action, they
skirted, under a gloomy eastern sky, along the surf-beaten shore, the
mist driving in their faces as the swelling seas broke roughly in
white surge over the rocks and ledges which still obstruct the course
they took. From the distance came the dull, monotonous roar of the
breakers, indicating the line of the coast. At last they cast anchor
before the desolate and apparently deserted block-house here in your
Fore river, and presently some woe-begone stragglers answered their
call. Next came the meeting with the savages, the fencing talk, and
the episode of what Holmes, in still another poem, refers to as
‘Wituwamet’s pictured knife
And Pecksuot’s whooping shout;’
all closing with the fierce hand-to-hand death grapple on the
blood-soaked, slippery floor of the rude stockade. Last of all the
return to Plymouth, with the gory head of Wattawamat, ‘that bloody
and bold villain,’ a ghastly freight, stowed in the rummage of their
boat.... That Longfellow wrote very sweet verse none will deny; but,
assuredly, he was not Homeric. At his hands your Weymouth history
failed to have justice done it. The case is, I fear, irremediable.”
Notwithstanding its many variations from the historical facts, the
poet’s version of this affair, because of its poetical setting, is
probably destined to be the only version to be widely known outside of
the limited circle of historical students.
Mr. Adams endeavors to establish as a fixed fact in Massachusetts
history that Weymouth as a permanent European settlement antedated
Boston by at least six years; and, moreover, that this fact has
singular historical interest. That it was a struggle for possession
between two forms of civilization and of religious faith; one being
ecclesiastical and feudal, the other theological and democratic;
the fate of the two settlements during the earlier and crucial
period depending not on events in Massachusetts, but upon a struggle
for supremacy going on in England. “Gorges represented Charles I;
Winthrop, the Parliament. If the fortune of war had turned otherwise
than it did turn, and Charles I. had emerged from the conflict
victorious, there can be little question Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and
not John Winthrop, would have shaped the destiny of Massachusetts. Its
history would then have been wholly other than New England will find
much of interest in it was.”
Students will find much of interest in the three papers printed in
this volume.
THE FRANKLIN BOOK SHOP
S. N. RHOADS, Proprietor. 1105 Walnut Street. Philadelphia, Pa.
Old and Rare items in Nature Study and Americana.
Publisher of Rhoads’ Reprint of Ord’s North American Zoology and the
Mammals of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In preparation, illustrated
work on Peale’s MSS. Journals of the Long’s and Wilkes’ Exploring
Expeditions, 1819, 1841. Send for Prospectus. Special discounts on last
catalogue Geology, Ethnology, Etc. Send for it.
* * * * *
Transcriber’s note
Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. Spelling has
been retained as published except in the printer errors listed below.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized where the words
exist in the same article.
The following printer errors have been changed.
=CHANGED FROM TO=
Table of
Contents: “FANCIES OF NAVESINK” “FANCIES AT NAVESINK”
Page 228: “of self-givernment” “of self-government”
Page 247: “it its stead some” “in its stead some”
Page 257: “they had interferred with” “they had interfered with”
Page 268: “loss of time detatched” “loss of time detached”
Page 269: “Aubrey and two campanies” “Aubrey and two companies”
Page 272: “explusion of the American” “expulsion of the American”
Page 276: “WOMAN IN THE POSTOFFICE” “WOMAN IN THE POST OFFICE”
Page 290: “additions in the orginal” “additions in the original”