pined away, homesick for her native England. But the time came when,
on April 8, 1808, the two nature lovers became husband and wife. Then
they began the long wanderings in the West and the South, the fruit
of which was what has been called one of the most wonderful
ornithological treatises ever made, Audubon's "Birds of America."
Mr. and Mrs. Audubon floated down the Ohio River, spent a season in
Kentucky and Missouri, had narrow escapes from the Indians, and
finally found their way to Louisiana. There for a time the wife
supported herself by teaching at the home of a planter. Friends and
acquaintances thought the husband was a madman to continue his quest
of birds when his family was in straitened circumstances. But Mrs.
Audubon believed in him, urged him to go to Europe and study painting
in oils, that he might be better equipped for the preparation of his
bird plates. She secured a good situation as teacher at Bayou Sara,
and was soon enjoying an income of three thousand dollars a year.
Finally, with some of his own savings, as well as some of his wife's
funds, he went to England, where he was well received. Plans were made
to publish the bird plates, with descriptive matter, at one thousand
dollars per set. He had to have one hundred advance subscribers. These
he secured by personal solicitation.
At last the work was issued. Cuvier called it "the most magnificent
work that art ever raised to ornithology."
Many years later, Audubon, after the death of his wife, returned to
the scenes of his early life as a naturalist. "Here is where I met my
dear Mary," he said, with glistening eyes, as he looked into one of
the rooms of the old mansion.
Mill Grove was built in 1762. Five years after Audubon's marriage the
estate was bought by Samuel Wetherill, the grandfather of the present
owner, W. H. Wetherill.
Fatlands, which is one of the most beautiful old houses in the
vicinity of Philadelphia, was built in 1774. During the Revolution it
was occupied by a Quaker named Vaux, who entertained many officers of
both armies. It is related that one day General Howe, the British
commander, was entertained at breakfast, while Washington was in the
house for tea the same evening.
The house was rebuilt in 1843, on the old foundations, according to
the original plan.
[Illustration: WAYNESBOROUGH, NEAR PAOLI, PENNA.
_Photo by H. C. Howland_
See page 192]
XLII
WAYNESBOROUGH, NEAR PAOLI, PENNSYLVANIA
THE HOME OF "MAD ANTHONY" WAYNE
Captain Isaac Wayne, who commanded a company at the Battle of the
Boyne, came from Ireland to Pennsylvania in 1722. Two years later he
bought sixteen acres of land in Chester County and built
Waynesborough.
His son Isaac, who was a captain in the French and Indian War,
enlarged the mansion in 1765. While a wing was added in 1812, it
presents much the same appearance to-day as it did at the time Anthony
Wayne left it to go to war with General Washington, even to the
crooked hood above the entrance door. The present owner, William
Wayne, is as unwilling as were his ancestors to have this hood
straightened.
On the front of the house is a tablet which reads:
The Home of General Anthony Wayne,
Born in this House, January 1, 1745.
Died at Erie, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1796.
A Leader of the American Revolution in
Pennsylvania and a soldier distinguished
for his
Services at Brandywine, Germantown,
Valley Forge,
Monmouth, Stony Point, and Yorktown.
Subdued the Indians of Ohio, 1794.
Commander-in-Chief of the
United States Army 1792-1796.
Marked by the Chester County Historical
Society.
To this record the statement might have been added that General
Lafayette visited the home of his old commander when he was in the
United States in 1824. Reverently the General bowed his head in
Wayne's favorite sitting-room, to the right of the entrance hall,
where nothing had been disturbed since the death of the patriot. The
furnishings and ornaments of the room are the same to-day as then.
Anthony Wayne was a delegate to several of the conventions which took
the preliminary steps leading to the Revolutionary War. In 1775 he was
a member of the Committee of Safety, and in the same year he organized
a regiment of "minute men" in Chester County.
His first active service was as colonel with troops sent to Canada in
January, 1776, and from November, 1776, to April, 1777, as commander
of twenty-five hundred men at Ticonderoga. "It was my business to
prevent a junction of the enemy's armies and ... to keep at bay their
whole Canadian force," he wrote in a private letter.
Here, in the midst of difficulties with soldiers who wanted to desert,
he heard that the British were threatening Waynesborough. But, like a
true soldier, he stuck to his work, and urged his wife to be brave.
"Should you be necessitated to leave East-town, I doubt not but you'll
meet with hospitality in the back parts of the Province," he wrote to
her.
His fidelity and resourcefulness were recognized in February, 1777, by
a commission as brigadier general. Washington, who was then in New
Jersey, wrote to him a little later, saying that his presence with him
was "materially needed," to guard the country between West Point and
Philadelphia. And when the British fleet sailed out of New York
Harbor, Washington sent him to Chester, to organize the militia of
Pennsylvania. A few weeks later he was in charge of a division at
Brandywine. Historians say that his steadfastness on the left
prevented the advance of Knyphausen, and saved the right from entire
destruction.
Less than a week later, within a mile of his own house, he was
surprised by the enemy near Paoli, in consequence, it is said, of the
act of an inn-keeper who betrayed Wayne's presence to the British. The
result was the only defeat of his brilliant career. Eighty of his men
were killed. The engagement has been called "the Paoli Massacre,"
because of the conduct of the victors. Wayne escaped. A squad of
soldiers searched for him at Waynesborough. When they could not find
him in the house, they thrust their bayonets into the great boxwood
bush that is still to be seen in the rear of the mansion.
Because some said that the General was responsible for the defeat, he
demanded a court-martial. The court-martial was held soon after, and
he was acquitted with the highest honor, and was declared to be "an
active, brave, and vigilant officer."
Washington's letters and orderly book are full of references to Wayne.
He was a trusted commander, and his advice was followed many times. He
it was who first proposed that the army should "hut" during the winter
of 1776-77, some twenty miles from Philadelphia. He was always eager
to do his Commander's bidding. On one occasion, when he was in
Philadelphia, on his way to greet his family, he was met by a fast
rider who handed him a despatch in which Washington said, "I request
that you join the army as soon as you can."
During his long absence from Waynesborough his wife Polly and his
children were continually in his thoughts. Once he wrote:
"I am not a little anxious about the education of our girl
and boy. It is full time that Peggy should be put to dancing
school. How does she improve in her writing and reading? Does
Isaac take learning freely? Has he become fond of school?"
Just before the storming of Stony Point, he prepared for death,
sending to a friend a letter which was not to be opened until the
author was dead. The letter said:
"I know that your friendship will induce you to attend to the
education of my little son and daughter. I fear that their
mother will not survive this stroke. Do go to her."
On the way up the mount he was grievously wounded and fell senseless.
Soon he roused himself and cried, "Lead me forward.... Let me die in
the fort." Several hours later he was able to send word to Washington,
"The fort and garrison are ours."
In this spirit he served through the war. And when the action was won
he continued to fight for his country. On February 6, 1796, Claypool's
_Daily American Advertiser_ told of his return from his successful
campaign against the Indians of Ohio:
"Four miles from the city, he was met by the entire Troop of
Philadelphia Light Horse, and escorted by them to town. On
his crossing the Schuylkill, a salute of fifteen guns was
fired from the Centre-square, by a party of Artillery. He was
ushered into the city by the ringing of bells and other
demonstrations of joy."
[Illustration: MORAVIAN CHURCH, BETHLEHEM, PENNA.
_Photo by Rev. A. D. Therelar, Bethlehem_
See page 196]
XLIII
THE MORAVIAN CHURCH, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA
A RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY WHOSE FOUNDERS WERE TRUE PATRIOTS
The Unitas Fratrum or Church of the Brethren arose in the fifteenth
century in Bohemia and Moravia. In 1727 intolerance led its leaders to
begin to plan an emigration to America. A colony was sent to
Pennsylvania in 1734, while a second colony went to Georgia in 1735.
Late in the year 1740 the remnant of the emigrants to Georgia joined
forces with the Pennsylvania contingent, and settled on five thousand
acres of land in the "Forks of the Delaware," as the locality just
within the confluence of the Delaware River and the Lehigh or "West
Fork of the Delaware" was called. The object of the settlers was to
preach to the Indians, and they began at once to win the confidence of
the Delawares.
The first house was built in 1741. This was twenty by forty feet, one
story high, with sleeping quarters for a number of persons in the
attic under the steep pitched roof. The cattle were kept in a portion
of the house partitioned off for them. The common room in which they
lived was also the place of worship for more than a year. The site of
this house is marked by a memorial stone, which was put in place in
1892.
The foundation for the Gemeinhaus, or Community House, was laid in
September. For many years this was to serve as home and hospice, manse
and church, administration office, academy, dispensary, and town-hall.
As "The House on the Lehigh," it became known through all the
countryside.
The event of the year 1741 was the coming of Count Zinzendorf. The
Community House was not yet finished, but two rooms in the second
story were hurriedly prepared for the guest.
No name had yet been given to the settlement, but on Christmas Eve,
after Zinzendorf had celebrated the Holy Communion in the building,
the only fitting name suggested itself. Bishop Levering of the
Moravian Church tells the story:
"This humble sanctuary, with beasts of the stall sharing its
roof, brought the circumstances of the Saviour's birth
vividly before their imagination.... Acting upon an impulse,
the Count rose and led the way into the part of the building
in which the cattle were kept, while he began to sing the
quaintly pretty words of a German Epiphany hymn which
combined Christmas thoughts and missionary thoughts.... Its
language expressed well the feeling of the hour.... The
little town of Bethlehem was hailed, its boon to mankind was
lauded.... With this episode a thought came to one and
another which gave rise to a perpetual memorial of the
occasion.... By general consent the name of the ancient town
of David was adopted and the place was called Bethlehem."
The chapel of the Gemeinhaus was used by the congregation for nine
years. During this period many of the Indians were baptised there. In
1752 and again in 1753 councils were held here with the
representatives of the Nanticoke and Shawnee Indians from the Wyoming
Valley.
The second place of worship was an extension of the Gemeinhaus,
completed in 1751. Here congregations gathered for fifty-five years.
Here the gospel was preached by some of the most eminent ministers of
colonial days, while the records show that famous visitors sat in the
pews. Among them were Governor John Penn; Generals Washington,
Amherst, Gage, Gates, and Lafayette; John Hancock, Henry Laurence,
Samuel and John Adams, Richard Henry Lee, and many other delegates to
the Continental Congress.
During the Revolution there were no more earnest patriots than the
members of the Moravian Community at Bethlehem. At one time the Single
Brethren's House was used for eight months as a hospital, and no
charge was made, though in 1779 a bill for repairs was sent which
amounted to $358.
A letter from David Rittenhouse, received on September 16, 1778,
caused great excitement, for he told of the despatch to Bethlehem of
all the military stores of Washington's army, carried in seven hundred
wagons. This was done because Washington's army had been compelled to
fall back on Philadelphia. It was also thought wise to send the bells
of Christ Church and of Independence Hall to Allentown, by way of
Bethlehem. The wagon on which Independence Bell was loaded broke down
on descending the hill in front of the hospital, and had to be
unloaded while repairs were being made.
The most distinguished patient cared for in Bethlehem was the Marquis
de Lafayette, who was brought from Brandywine, and was nursed by
Sister Liesel Beckel.
Twenty years after the close of the war it was decided that the time
had come for the building of a permanent church. The first estimate
was made in 1802. At that time it was thought that the total cost
would be $11,000. "It is interesting to note how very modern they were
in underestimating the probable cost of a church," Bishop Levering
says. The actual cost, including the organ, was more than five times
the estimate.
The excavation for the building was made in March, 1803, by volunteer
laborers, to whom the residents of the Sisters' House furnished lunch.
The work was completed in two weeks. Then the great foundation walls
were laid, six feet thick.
For the services of consecration, held from May 18 to May 26, 1806,
six thousand people gathered in the village of five hundred
inhabitants. On the first day, "at five o'clock in the morning the
jubilant note of trombones, trumpets, and other wind instruments from
the belfry of the church broke the stillness of the awaking village
with a musical announcement of the festival day."
The Moravian Community at Bethlehem has grown. But those who worship
in the old church are animated by the same missionary enthusiasm that
characterized those who founded the institution so long ago.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] A building to the east of Independence Hall was completed in 1791.
In this building, which was the Philadelphia City Hall until 1854, the
Supreme Court of the United States held its first session, February 7,
1791.
In 1813 the arcades connecting the main building with the wings were
removed, and new buildings were erected which connected Independence
Hall with the corner buildings.
In 1816 the city of Philadelphia became the owner of the whole
property.
[2] This date and place were generally accepted until 1917, when
Francis Hobart Herrick published proof that Audubon was born in Santo
Domingo in 1785.
FIVE: OVER THE MASON AND DIXON LINE
_Afar, through the mellow hazes
Where the dreams of June are stayed,
The hills, in their vanishing mazes,
Carry the flush, and fade!
Southward they fall, and reach
To the bay and the ocean beach,
Where the soft, half-Syrian air
Blows from the Chesapeake's
Inlets, coves, and creeks
On the fields of Delaware!
And the rosy lakes of flowers,
That here alone are ours,
Spread into seas that pour
Billow and spray of pink,
Even to the blue wave's brink,
All down the Eastern Shore!_
BAYARD TAYLOR.
FIVE: OVER THE MASON AND DIXON LINE
XLIV
HISTORIC LANDMARKS AT NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE
THE FIRST LANDING PLACE OF WILLIAM PENN
How many students of United States history would be able to answer the
question, "What town has had at least seven different names and has
been under the flags of four different countries?"
There is such a town, and but one--New Castle, Delaware. The Swedes
laid it out in 1631, and called it New Stockholm. In 1651 the Dutch
built a fort there, and called it Fort Kasimir. Sandhoec was a second
Dutch name. When the Dutch West India Company ceded it to the city of
Amsterdam it was named New Amstel. After 1675 the English took a hand
in naming the village. Grape Wine Point, Delaware Town, and, at
length, New Castle were the last names assigned to the seaport that,
within a generation, boasted twenty-five hundred inhabitants.
The site of Fort Kasimir was long ago covered by the Delaware. A
quaint house, still occupied, is the only survival from the Dutch
period. But it would be difficult to find a town of four thousand
inhabitants which is so rich in buildings and traditions that go back
to the earliest English occupation.
Many of the buildings and traditions centre about the old Market
Square, in the centre of the town, only a few hundred feet from the
Delaware. This square dates from the days of Petrus Stuyvesant, in
1658. At one end of the square is the old stone-paved courthouse,
which has been in use since 1672. To this building William Penn was
welcomed, as a tablet on the outer wall relates:
"On the 28th Day of October, 1682, William Penn, the Great
Proprietor, on His First Landing in America, Here Proclaimed
His Government and Received from the Commissioner of the Duke
of York the Key of the Fort, the Turf, Twig, and Water, as
Symbols of His Possession."
From the steps of the courthouse, as a centre, was surveyed the
twelve-mile circle whose arc was to be the northern line of Delaware,
according to the royal grant made to Penn. This arc forms the curious
circular boundary, unlike any other boundary in the United States.
[Illustration: IMMANUEL CHURCH, NEWCASTLE, DEL.
_Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
See page 204]
In the rear of the courthouse, though still on the green Market
Square, is old Emmanuel Protestant Episcopal Church, which was
organized in 1689, though the building now occupied was begun in 1703.
This cruciform structure is the oldest church of English building on
the Delaware, and services have been held here continuously since
1706, when it was completed. Queen Anne gave to the church a "Pulpit
and Altar Cloath, with a Box of Glass." A memorial tablet on the wall
tells of the first rector, Rev. George Ross, who came as a missionary
from England in 1703, and served for fifty years. His son, also George
Ross, was one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.
His daughter Gertrude married George Read, another of the Signers. The
tomb of George Read is in the rear of the church.
[Illustration: DOORWAY OF PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW CASTLE, DEL.
_Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
See page 205]
Across the street from the Market Square is the Presbyterian church,
whose first building, erected in 1707, is still in use as a part of
its ecclesiastical plant. The pastor and many of the members of this
church had a prominent part in the War of the Revolution.
The visitor who crosses from one of these churches to the other is
attracted by a stone pyramid, on the edge of the Market Square, whose
story is told by a tablet:
"These stones were sleepers in the New Castle and Frenchtown
Railroad, completed in 1831, the first railroad in Delaware,
and one of the first in the United States."
[Illustration: DOORWAY OF RODNEY HOUSE, NEW CASTLE, DEL.
_Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_]
[Illustration: DOORWAY OF STEWART HOUSE, NEW CASTLE, DEL.
_Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_]
The fire of 1824 which burned a large part of New Castle destroyed
many of the old houses, but there remain enough to make the town a
Mecca for those who delight in studying things that are old. Most of
these houses are on the square, or are within a short distance of it.
All are remarkable for the beautiful entrance doorways and wonderfully
carved interior woodwork. Artists from all parts of the country turn
to these houses for inspiration in their work.
[Illustration: AMSTEL HOUSE, NEWCASTLE, DEL.
_Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
See page 205]
The Amstel House, the home of Henry Hanby Hay, is the oldest of these;
it was probably built about 1730. One of its earliest owners was
Nicholas Van Dyke, who was a major of militia during the Revolution,
and later served six years in the Continental Congress. For three
years he was Governor of Delaware. During his residence in this house
it was called "The Corner." So, at least, it was referred to by
Kensey Johns in a love-letter to comely Anne Van Dyke, written during
the cold winter of 1784:
"This evening I visited 'the Corner.' Soon after I went in
Mrs. V. says, 'Well, Mr. Johns, what say you to a ride below
with me, and bringing Miss Nancy up?' After an hour passed, I
recovered myself and answered in the negative, that my
business would not permit of it--Your papa discovered by his
countenance the lightest satisfaction at my refusal; this
approbation of his afforded me great pleasure. The more I
regard your happiness, the more desirous I am by assiduity
and attention to business to establish a character which will
give me consequence and importance in life. I wish to see you
more than words express.
"Mrs. B. says she wants you to come up very much; she asked
me to use my influence to persuade you. All I can say is,
that if your Grand Mama's indisposition will admit of it, and
your inclination prompts you to come, it will much contribute
to my happiness, even if I should only see you now and then
for a few moments. My fingers are so cold I can scarce hold
my pen, therefore adieu. Be assured that I never cease to be,
"Yours most affectionately,
"KENSEY JOHNS."
[Illustration: DOORWAY OF AMSTEL HOUSE, NEWCASTLE, DEL.
_Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
See page 205]
On a pane of glass in the guest chamber of the old house some one long
ago scratched with a diamond a message that sounds as if it came from
the heart of the lover:
"Around her head ye angels constant Vigil keep,
And guard fair innocence her balmy sleep."
Three months after Kensey Johns wrote the ardent letter to Anne Van
Dyke, the day after the wedding, April 30, 1784, George Washington
came to the Corner, and there was a reception in his honor and that
of the bride and groom. The Father of his Country received the guests
standing before an old fireplace whose hearthstone has been lettered
in memory of the event.
A few years later Kensey Johns, then Chief Justice of Maryland, built
near by a beautiful colonial mansion where he entertained many of the
leading men of the nation.
Kensey Johns' predecessor as Chief Justice was George Read, the
Signer. His house, an old record says, stood so near the Delaware,
which is here two and a half miles wide, that when the tide was high
one wheel of a carriage passing in the street in front of it was in
the water, and in violent storms the waves were dashed against the
building. The house was in the midst of a wonderfully beautiful
garden. This garden is still one of the sights of the town, though the
house was destroyed in the fire of 1824.
[Illustration: DOORWAY OF READ HOUSE, NEW CASTLE, DEL.
_Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
See page 207]
George Read, the Signer's son, in 1801, built a house in the corner of
the garden, which was saved from the fire by a carpet laid on the roof
and kept thoroughly wet until the danger was past. This Georgian house
is a marvel of beauty, both inside and out. The hand-carved moldings,
mantels, and arches bring to the house visitors from far and near.
Miss Hatty Smith, the present owner, delights to show the place to all
who are interested.
[Illustration: HALL OF READ HOUSE, NEWCASTLE, DEL.
_Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
See page 207]
In the early days New Castle was on the King's Road from Philadelphia
to Baltimore. Washington passed this way when on his journeys.
Lafayette visited the town in 1824. The house built by Nicholas Van
Dyke, son of the owner of the Corner, received him for the marriage
of Charles I. Du Pont and Dorcas M. Van Dyke. It is recorded that on
this occasion he gave the bride away.
Caesar Rodney, too, passed through the town frequently, notably when he
made the famous ride in July, 1776, that helped to save the
Declaration of Independence; here he rested after the first stage of
his historic journey.