long known, and whose business connections have been
very extensive, it is proper that some thing more
than a mere passing notice should be taken of his
death, as well as a just allusions [_sic_] to some of
the principal acts of his life. The subject of this
brief notice was an early pioneer in the settlement of
this place, commencing in 1793, and he took an active
part in the extension of all the business facilities
adopted by himself and his associates, and was himself
engaged in, and prosecuted successfully, at least
four distinct kinds of business, employing about
200 hands constantly, while he took the over-sight
of each particular branch, in connection with his
brother Eben.--He prosecuted the mercantile business
in connection with slooping; the brick-making business
very extensively; the distillery business; farming, on
a pretty large scale, and the slaughtering business on
an extensive plan. During the war of 1812 he supplied
the army very generally, especially at the north, from
his extensive yards. His tact for managing laborers
was very peculiar; he would always say 'Come boys,'
instead of 'go,' and thereby secured a greater amount
of labor than ordinary men.--His success in business he
mainly attributed to a strict _system_ in his plans,
and the constant habit of _early rising_, and to this
habit he undoubtedly owed his uniform good health,
and his useful life. He had eight brothers and two
sisters all of whom were tenacious of this habit, and
all but two are now dead, but their ages averaged full
80 years each. In his political creed he was strictly
_Republican_ and was warmly attached to the Democratic
party, and in the election of General Jackson to the
Presidency, he took a very active part, serving as a
_standing chairman_ of the party both at his first and
second election. In his religious creed he was tolerant
to all. He was united to no church, but at the age of
three score years his mind became deeply imbued with
religion, and feeling his responsibility to his Maker,
he solemnly dedicated himself to God and united with
the Presbyterian Church in this city.--His walk and
conversation since the solemn transition, evinced the
sincerity of his profession, and he has left a pleasing
assurance both to the church and his friends that
he now 'Rests from his labors and his works follow
him.'"[104]
Before returning to the story related by Frost, there is one further
piece of evidence to be presented. Under date of Albany September 17,
1812, was printed in the _Albany Gazette_ in September and October of
that year an advertisement which was in part as follows:
"SLAUGHTERING & INSPECTION.
WILSON and KINNICUT, take this method to inform their
friends and the public in general, that they have made
considerable improvements in their Slaughter House in
Albany, where they will put up Beef and Pork on as
reasonable terms as any body in the state."[105]
While I have been unable to identify the members of this firm of Wilson
and Kinnicut, the advertisement is of interest; and it is certain that
there was a Wilson family in Albany and that one or more members of it
were named Samuel.[106]
If we compare the facts as brought out in these extracts with the story
as related by Frost, it must be acknowledged that in many respects the
latter is not inconsistent with the former. It has been proved that
Anderson was a contractor; that Ebenezer and Samuel Wilson owned a
slaughtering establishment; and that Ebenezer Wilson at least was an
inspector.[107] If absolute proof is lacking that the Wilsons received
contracts for the supply of beef, that Samuel Wilson was an inspector,
and that Samuel Wilson was commonly called "Uncle Sam" Wilson, yet
these statements are so extremely probable that their truth may well
be conceded.[108] Moreover, the story is plausible and there is no _a
priori_ objection to be raised against it.
On the other hand, certain facts militate strongly against the story.
First, the nickname Uncle Sam, so far from springing into existence
at the outbreak of the war, did not make its appearance until the
war was half over. Secondly, the absence of any trace of the story
until 1842--or a generation after the event--is ominous. Thirdly, a
remarkable feature of the obituary notices of Samuel Wilson which
were written for the Troy newspapers deserves to be dwelt upon. Not
one of them connected Samuel Wilson with Uncle Sam. It is true that
the Uncle Sam story is found in two Troy papers, but in each case it
was copied from an Albany paper.[109] This fact, coupled with the
further fact that no book about Troy contained the story until 1876,
seems to indicate that the popular story is not native to Troy.[110]
Fourthly, the statement that "the letters U. S., for United States,
were then almost entirely new," is not only so preposterous as to be
beyond belief, but can be proved to be untrue. As a matter of fact,
the abbreviations U. S. or U. States, as also G. B. or G. Britain,
were common early in the nineteenth century;[111] and it would no more
have been possible for men in 1813 to ask the meaning of the letters
U. S. than would such an inquiry be possible now. Fifthly, the early
evidence, while it may not be absolutely conclusive, not only fails to
corroborate the Wilson story but strongly points to another conclusion;
while the earliest known example of Uncle Sam is from a Troy paper, but
_without_ reference to Samuel Wilson. Sixthly, the apparent fact that
the nickname was at first used somewhat derisively does not tend to
confirm the popular yarn.
Finally, in connection with the Wilson story, we must consider a stanza
in a song said to have been sung about 1789. Much has been written
about "the original Yankee Doodle song." The song thus generally spoken
of begins with the line "Father and I went down to camp." In Act I,
Scene III, of Andrew Barton's "The Disappointment: Or, The Force of
Credulity: A New American Comic Opera," printed in 1767, the air of
Yankee Doodle made its first known appearance under that name.[112]
When the British troops arrived at Boston in 1768 it was stated, under
date of September 29 of that year, that "the Yankey Doodle Song was the
Capital Piece in their Band of Music;"[113] and, much to the annoyance
of the good people of Boston, the British persisted in playing the
air at intervals for another seven years. As the "Father and I" song
was written not earlier than 1775, obviously it could not have been
"the original" Yankee Doodle song. In 1824, J. Farmer and J. B. Moore,
believing that "the burlesque song ... is passing into oblivion," gave
"a copy of the song as it was printed thirty-five years since, and as
it was troll'd in our Yankee circles of that day."[114] As printed
by Farmer and Moore, the song had eleven stanzas, the tenth being as
follows:
"Old uncle Sam. _come_ there to change
Some pancakes and some onions,
For _lasses cakes_, to carry home
To give his wife and young ones."
That this version was actually printed in 1789 rests upon the assertion
of Farmer and Moore. This Society owns a copy of "The Yankey's Return
from Camp" which was probably printed in 1813.[115] The Boston Public
Library owns a copy, entitled "The Farmer and his Son's return from a
visit to the Camp,"[116] which I believe to be earlier[117] than the
version in the library of this Society. In 1857 it was stated that
"the verses commencing 'Father and I went down to camp,' were written
by a gentleman of Connecticut, a short time after Gen. Washington's
last visit to New England."[118] Now this visit was made in 1789, and,
curiously enough, it was in that very year that Royall Tyler's play
of "The Contrast" was acted; and in that play, published in 1790, the
words made their earliest known appearance in print.[119] The stanza
quoted above is first found in the version of 1824 and is not in either
of the three versions certainly printed in or before 1813. Hence we
cannot, without better evidence, accept the Farmer and Moore stanza
as antedating 1824. Yet it is perfectly possible that the stanza was
written before the war of 1812,[120] and if it was, the fact would seem
to be all but fatal to the Wilson story.
The third explanation of the origin of Uncle Sam is that the sobriquet
was merely a jocular extension of the letters U. S. This explanation,
like the Wilson story, rests purely on assumption. There is nothing in
the least either unusual or remarkable in the process of abbreviating
a term and then expanding it. In the amenities of political warfare
in this country in 1855, it was considered the height of wit to dub
a politician "D. D." and then expand the initials into something
derogatory. In this way John Petitt became "Dirty Dog," Stephen A.
Douglas became "Debauched Douglas," and David R. Atchison became
"Drunken Davy."[121] During the same period in England, we find the
same manifestation. The London Transport Corps Regiment, which was
formed in 1854 and 1855 for service in the Crimea, went by the nickname
of the "London Thieving Company." When its name was changed in 1857 to
Military Train, it was dubbed "Murdering Thieves," "Muck Tumblers,"
"Muck Train," and "Moke Train,"--the third a corruption of the last,
said to have been due to the employment of Spanish mules instead of
horses.[122] I can well remember how, as a boy, I used to wonder
whether General Grant had actually been christened U. S. and whether
those letters stood for the United States. 'I have since learned that
Grant was called not only "United States" Grant, but also "Uncle
Sam" Grant, "Unconditional Surrender" Grant, and "United we Stand"
Grant.[123] During the past decade the South African War has enabled us
to observe these nicknames in the very making. A London newspaper of
January 14, 1900, asserted that "by a facetious adaptation of initials
as Roman numerals [C.I.V.], the City of London Imperial Volunteers,
now on their way to the front, achieve the title of the 104th, an
appellation likely to commend itself to the regiment."[124] Nicknames
have a way of disappearing rapidly, but this particular one seems to
have stuck.[125] But it was by no means the only one in which the C.
I. V. rejoiced. Those who opposed the war invented "Chamberlain's
Innocent Victims," while Tommy Atkins converted the initials into "Can
I Venture?" A more unpleasant nickname was "Covered In Vermin."[126]
The Imperial Yeomanry were collectively called "Innocent Youths."[127]
Does the history of the term Uncle Sam, now given for the first time,
tend to support or to overthrow this explanation of the origin of the
sobriquet? While the initials U. S. were well known in 1812 and 1813,
yet no doubt the war made them still more common. "The letters U. S.,"
explained the _Troy Post_ of September 7, 1813, "on the government
waggons, &c. are supposed to have given rise to it."[128] On October
1, 1813, a writer spoke of "Uncle Sam, the now popular explication of
the U. S."[129] By implication it may be inferred that this was the
view of Paulding in 1831,[130] of Abdy in 1835,[131] and of an unknown
Englishman in 1838.[132] It was stated at the beginning of this paper
that the history of nicknames usually follows one general course,--that
those who, at the time of origin, perhaps know the real explanation
do not record it, and that later people begin guessing. Must it not
be admitted that Uncle Sam is an exception to the rule? that those
who first used the sobriquet did record its origin? and that the
explanation they gave is the true explanation?
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See Brother Jonathan, Publications of the Colonial Society of
Massachusetts, VII, 94-122.
[2] "She was called Catalina, and, like all other vessels in that
trade, except the Ayacucho, her papers and colors were from Uncle Sam"
(Two Years before the Mast, 1841, p. 168). This extract is quoted in
Farmer and Henley's Slang and its Analogues (1904), where it is dated
1835. The preface to Dana's book is dated July, 1840. Uncle Sam was
first recognized in 1848 in Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms,
whence it found its way into the 1860 edition of Worcester and into
subsequent dictionaries.
[3] The term does not appear in the following books, where, if known
at all or in general use, it would be certain to turn up: J. K.
Paulding, The Diverting History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan, by
Hector Bull-us, 1812; The Beauties of Brother Bull-us, by his loving
Sister Bull-a, 1812 (a reply to Paulding's book); W. Dunlap, Yankee
Chronology, 1812; The Wars of the Gulls, 1812; Paulding, The United
States and England, 1814; The Reviewers Reviewed, 1815; D. Humphrey,
The Yankey in England, 1815. The first appearance of the term in a book
was in The Adventures of Uncle Sam, 1816. See p. 40, below. Besides
these books, political skits (written largely in Biblical language)
were not uncommon in the newspapers. See _Columbian Centinel_ (Boston),
November 7, 1812, p. 1-3; _The Yankee_ (Boston), August 13, 1813,
p. 2-2; _Portsmouth Oracle_, February 26, 1814, p. 3-1; _Columbian
Centinel_, March 2, 1814, p. 1-2. While John Bull, Brother Jonathan,
and John Codline (that is, New Englanders) figure in these skits, there
is no allusion to Uncle Sam. It may be added that in his Jonathan Bull
and Mary Bull, written in 1821, Madison makes no mention of Uncle Sam.
[4] View of the State of Parties in the United States (second edition,
1812), p. 159. The author of this work gives January 21, as the date of
Williams's speech. The true date is January 24. See the _Connecticut
Courant_ of February 5, 1812, p. 2-3.
[5] See _Connecticut Courant_, January 12, 1813, p. 3-4; _Portsmouth
Oracle_, June 26, 1813, p. 2-5; _Columbian Centinel_, August 7, 1813,
p. 2-4; _New York Herald_, August 31, 1814, p. 1-5; The Yankee in
London, 1826, p. 96. "General David R. Williams," said the _Portsmouth
Oracle_ of January 8, 1814, "commonly called thunder and lightning
David, has resigned his command, without sinking the fast anchored
island" (p. 4-1). In the _Lansingburgh Gazette_ of December 27, 1814,
appeared the following: "'Thunder & lightning' Williams, formerly a
member of Congress, and lately for about a month a brigadier-general,
is elected Governor of South Carolina" (p. 3-3).
[6] _New England Palladium_, June 30, 1812, p. 1.
[7] Even as late as March 15, 1823, the expression was still
remembered. See _Niles' Register_ of that date, XXIV, 32.
[8] _Columbian Centinel_, February 3, 1813, p. 2-1. See also Quincy's
Speeches delivered in the Congress of the United States (1874), pp.
389, 390. In Harper's Encyclopædia of United States History (1902) will
be found reproduced a caricature of Quincy, described as follows:
"In one caricature he was called 'Josiah the First,' and had upon his
breast, as the decoration of an order, crossed codfishes, in allusion
to his persistent defence of the New England fisheries. He was also
called 'King' because of his political domination in New England. In
the caricature his coat was scarlet, his waistcoat brown, his breeches
light green, and his stockings white. In a space near the head, in
the original, were the words, 'I, Josiah the First, do, by this royal
proclamation, announce myself King of New England, Nova Scotia, and
Passamaquoddy, Grand Master of the noble order of the Two Codfishes'"
(VII, 358).
[9] _Military Monitor_ (New York), July 12, 1813, I, 363.
[10] _Aurora_ (Philadelphia), October 25, 1813, p. 2-3. The following
toast was given at Passyunk in 1813: "Governor Strong and Orator
Fum--two peas of a pod. 3 Groans!" (_Aurora_, July 12, 1813, p. 2-5).
[11] _Independent Chronicle_ (Boston), September 30, 1813, p. 2-3.
In connection with Quincy, it is perhaps worth while to quote the
following, for the sake of what is apparently an unrecorded use of
the term hand organ: "THE _Virginia Argus_--one of Mr. MADISON'S hand
organs--calls upon the Federalists of the North to abandon QUINCY"
(_Columbian Centinel_, August 29, 1812, p. 1-5).
[12] _Columbian Centinel_, November 4, 1812, p. 2-4.
[13] _Columbian Centinel_, October 28, 1812, p. 1-4.
[14] The two anonymous Addresses or Letters, as they are sometimes
called, written in March, 1783, will be found in A Collection of
Papers, relative to Half-Pay and Commutation of Half-Pay, Granted by
Congress to the Officers of the Army, Fish-Kill, 1783, pp. 16-21.
In the _Columbian Centinel_ of July 22, 1812, "Brutus" asked: "As a
friend to liberty and republicanism, I wish to inquire whether Mr.
_Armstrong_ lately made a Brigadier General in our army by President
_Madison_, is the same man, who has been supposed to have written the
letters to the army in 1783, advising them to retain their arms, till
they had forced the civil authorities to comply with their demands,
and compensated themselves by plundering the innocent and defenceless
citizens?" (p. 2-3). In the _New York Herald_ of January 20, 1813, is
the following: "_New Secretary at War._--Gen. Armstrong's appointment
has passed the Senate by a majority of three. Yesterday we mentioned
that a Captain Jones of Philadelphia, was appointed _Secretary of the
Navy_. So that we have for a Secretary of the Navy a man who headed a
Philadelphia mob, to encourage the administration to pursue the war,
and a Secretary of the Army, a man who exerted his best abilities to
induce the heroes of the revolution to turn their arms against their
own country. Nothing was wanting to compleat the administration but
a man for Secretary of the Treasury who once headed a rebellion, and
they have him in Albert Gallatin" (p. 1-2). William Jones was the new
Secretary of the Navy. In the _New York Herald_ of September 3, 1813,
is an extract taken from the _Federal Republican_ (of Washington):
"_Appointments-in-petto_--BOMBASTICO INCHIQUIN to be Attorney General,
vice MARQUIS OF WHITEWASH, so long inimical in the cabinet to secretary
Mars.--_Note_: this nomination can only be read, at present, by a
_Rush-light_. Brigadier-General BOANERGES to be Secretary of War,
vice DUKE OF NEWBURGH, to be removed under the standing rescript of
the Virginia dynasty" (p. 4-2). "Bombastico Inchiquin" was Charles
J. Ingersoll, author of Inchiquin, the Jesuit's Letters (1810); the
"Marquis of Whitewash" was apparently William Pinckney; "Rush-light" is
an allusion to Richard Rush; while the identity of "Brigadier General
Boanerges" escapes me.
Satirical allusions to the "Virginia dynasty" were long common in the
Northern newspapers. In the _Columbian Centinel_ of February 6, 1813,
a correspondent said: "I WAS one of those who predicted in the year
1801, that the _Virginia_ dynasty, which was at that time coming into
power therein ever after to remain, would violate the Public Faith then
pledged to the public creditors" (p. 2-1). See also _New York Evening
Post_, November, 1812, p. 2-5; _Columbian Centinel_, November 7, 1812,
2-3; _Columbian Centinel_, June 4, 1814, p. 2-3.
[15] A satirical poem called "An Intercepted Letter, from Tall Tommy to
Little Jemmy" appeared in the _Salem Gazette_ of November 3, 1814, p.
4-1.
[16] "And it came to pass ... that there arose a mighty man in the
land, called Thomas, the Magician, on account of his great skill and
cunning in dark and mysterious projects" (Adventures of Uncle Sam,
1812, p. 10).
[17] The Yankee in London, 1826, p. 9.
[18] See note 15, above.
[19] _New York Herald_, April 16, 1814, p. 4-1.
[20] _Connecticut Courant_, January 19, 1813, p. 3-1.
[21] "The reins of government were now held by Mundungus, the great
tetrarch of the nation, the apostle and successor of the great
Conundrum" (The Yankee in London, 1826, p. 93).
[22] _Portsmouth Oracle_, August 27, 1814, p. 2-2. In the _Columbian
Centinel_ of January 26, 1814, appeared these lines (p. 4-1):
"Then, soon will the Country submit to the thing
Which we wanted--_to make_ MADISON _King_!"
[23] A poetical skit entitled "All Tories Together," which appeared in
the _Aurora_ of October 7, 1813, began thus (p. 2-5):
"Oh! come in true jacobin trim,
With birds of the same color'd feather,
Bring your plots and intrigues, uncle TIM,
And let's all be tories together."
In the _Northern Centinel_ (Burlington, Vermont) of December 3, 1813,
appeared the following: "But, the bold _benevolents_ of Vermont have
lately smuggled from the enemy a Governor of the true British stamp,
and have placed him upon the throne of State. This must eclipse the
boasted feats of _Bulwark Strong_, _Uncle Tim_, and _Fi-fo-fum_, these
three champions, will need something more than their own sagacity, to
place them again in the front rank of toryism, nothing short of their
smuggling out the duke of York and Mrs. Clark can raise these eastern
heroes to a level with his Majesty's brave subjects in Vermont" (p.
3-3). The allusion is to the recent election by the Legislature, there
having been no election by the people, of Martin Chittenden as Governor
of Vermont. By "benevolents" are meant members of the Washington
Benevolent Societies, then common.
[24] "The proclamation, dated "Camp near Buffalo," is printed in the
_Columbian Centinel_ of November 25, 1812, p. 2-4. A parody on the
proclamation, ending as follows, was printed in the _Albany Gazette_ of
December 3, 1812 (p. 3-4):
"And thus I close my _message_ with
The NAME of ALEXANDER SMYTH!
A GEN'RAL, _Brigadier_, _Inspector_,
Commander, Conq'ror, and Protector--
Whose 'Brock's _black reg'ment_' ne'er did fear yet,
In _camp_ at Buffalo, or _near_ it."
Sir Isaac Brock, to whom Hull had capitulated, was killed at Queenston
on October 13, 1812.
The boasting proclamations issued by the American generals were a
constant source of ridicule in the peace papers. In his proclamation of
July 12, 1812, General Hull said: "Had I any doubt of eventual success,
I might ask your assistance, but I do not. I come prepared for any
contingency--I have a force that will look down all opposition, and
that force is but a vanguard of a much greater" (_Columbian Centinel_,
August 5, 1812, p. 1-4). The _Portsmouth Oracle_ of September 8, 1812,
spoke of Hull's proclamation "to look down opposition" in Canada (p.
3-4). The _Connecticut Courant_ of December 22, 1812, said that Hull
"issued a look down proclamation to the affrighted Canadians" (p. 1-4).
The _Manlius Times_, quoted in the _New England Palladium_ of October
22, 1813, stated that "The _Proclamation campaign_ has again commenced
upon the Niagara frontiers" (p. 2-1). In the _Salem Gazette_ of
December 3, 1813, appeared the following: "The same Collectors will be
employed next winter to execute the same duties _in the Moon_, which,
it is expected, will be 'looked down' during the next campaign!" (p.
3-2).
On August 16, 1812, Hull ignominiously gave up himself, his army, and
Detroit, and incidentally enriched the language with a new verb. The
surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, of Lincoln at Charleston, and of
Cornwall's at Yorktown, had given rise to the words "Burgoynade," "to
Burgoyne," "Lincolnade," and "Cornwallisade." The _Connecticut Courant_
of September 22, 1812, said: "Should Gen. Dearborn enter the territory,
he ought, if he means not to be Hull'd, or defeated, to have 25 or
30,000 men" (p. 3-4). The _Military Monitor_ of October 5, 1812, quoted
the following from the _Aurora_: "These facts show the absurdity of
the idea of a force of 4,000 men marching to be Hull-ed, in a country
where 19,000 of their countrymen were once before BURGOYNED" (I,
59). The _New Hampshire Gazette_ of April 20, 1813, remarked: "From
every section of the union, we hear of the march of troops and active
preparations to open the campaign on the northern frontier with vigor
and unless our gallant army is again _Hulled_, the British flag will
soon disappear from Canada" (p. 3-2). The _New York Herald_ of March
30, 1814, quoted the following from a Herkimer (New York) paper: "The
prevailing opinion now is, that the campaign will be opened at Niagara;
some suppose Detroit. If at the latter place, with the paltry force now
marching in that direction, we shall most certainly get _Hull'd_" (p.
3-5).
[25] _Columbian Centinel_, December 16, 1812 (p. 2-2). The following is
taken from the _Yankee_ (Boston) of December 18, 1812 (p. 3-2):
"_General Smyth_--again.
"How many Militia and Volunteers, with such Generals as _Hull_,
_Smyth_, et cetera, will conquer Canada?
"A Yankee answer by another question--How many snow balls will heat an
oven?"
In the _Columbian Centinel_ of December 23, 1812, appeared the
following (p. 2-3):
"A letter from _Albany_, says, 'All the _Generals_ from _Canada_ are
extremely mortified and crest-fallen. The boys at _Buffalo_ form
themselves into groups, and sing the following altered stanza of
_Yankee Doodle_:'--
"'_When_ SMYTHE _a_ Brag_adier had got,
He prov'd a darned coward--
He durst not go to_ Canada
_For fear of being devoured.
_Yankee doodle, doodle do--
Yankee doodle dandy--
Mind the_ back _step of the march--
And with your_ legs _be handy_.'"
[26] _Salem Gazette_, May 3, 1814 (p. 2-4). In the _Salem Gazette_
of November 25, 1813, appeared a paragraph headed "Braggardism!
_Wilkinson's Glorious Expedition to Canada!_" (p. 2-2). The
unsuccessful expedition into Canada gave rise to an epigram printed in
the _Columbian Centinel_ of December 11, 1813: