“Rip Van Winkle” lies in another Sandwich grave. Joe Jefferson
had a strong desire to live in Sandwich. Both he and his friend,
President Grover Cleveland, negotiated to buy houses there, but were
unsuccessful. Historians drop the hint that this might have been
because the righteous Puritans of the community did not want an actor
in their midst. At any rate it is recorded on good authority that
Jefferson remarked to a friend: “They wouldn’t let me live in Sandwich,
but they can’t prevent my burial there.”
Daniel Webster, great statesman, spent some of his pleasantest hours
on annual fishing and hunting excursions to the streams and marshes of
Sandwich. Daniel Webster Inn, the first stagecoach stop for Cape Cod
travellers of yore, and still providing food and good cheer, was named
for him. Webster put up there. He drank his rum straight and when he
was not engaged in camaraderie with the townsmen in the inn’s quaint
little taproom, the jug was delivered by a lift direct to his room.
Millions of American kiddies of this and past generations can feel
indebted to Sandwich, for here, also, is the birthplace of one of their
favorite authors. Thornton W. Burgess was born in Sandwich in 1874
and here he discovered the beloved little characters of his animal
kingdom, whose adventures he put into print and which have lulled many
a child into slumberland. Thornton Burgess had to put a little boy of
his own to bed after his wife’s death, and that’s how he first began
discovering his delightful little characters of the woods and fields.
The great meat packing industry, Swift and Company of Chicago, stemmed
from the brain and tireless toil of Gustavus Franklin Swift, who was
born in Sandwich in 1839. Gustavus’ ambitions came to light in early
boyhood when he bought hens from his grandfather at 40 cents each, then
sold each hen at a profit. At 16 he bought a heifer, slaughtered it
and peddled the meat. At his death Swift and Company was capitalized
at $25,000,000. Building the foundation for the business on Cape Cod,
Gustavus would drive pigs through the streets of Hyannis, aided by a
well-trained Collie dog. A housewife would come to the door, single
out the porker she wanted, and the dog and master would then thread
through the procession and work together to corner the pig until
the transaction was completed. The Swift family moved to Barnstable
in 1861. Tools used on Cape Cod in the beginning of the great meat
business were collected in Barnstable some years ago and now form a
prized collection at the Swift plant in Chicago.