Wife of Walter Bowne of New York,
Daughter of Robert Southgate Esqr.,
of Scarborough, District of Maine,
who departed this life on the 19th
day of February, 1809, aged 25 years.
-----
Footnote 1:
Mrs. Rowson’s story is well known. She was an Englishwoman, Susanna
Haswell, the daughter of an officer in the navy, and was brought to
America by her father in 1767, when she was only five years old.
Their ship was wrecked on Lovell’s Island, in Boston Harbor, and
they lived at Nantasket for nearly ten years, when they went back to
England. There she married William Rowson, a musician, and went upon
the stage. In 1795–96 we find her acting in Baltimore and Boston.
She published several comedies and a number of novels; one of these,
“Charlotte Temple,” gained great popularity. She died at Boston in
1824. She taught school in several places—at Medford, at Newton, and
at Boston, and was very successful.
Footnote 2:
Joseph Coffin Boyd, of Portland, Maine. Married Isabella, oldest
daughter of Dr. Southgate.
Footnote 3:
Horatio Southgate, Dr. Southgate’s oldest son, followed the
profession of the law in the town of Portland, Maine, and was for
twenty-one years Register of Probate for Cumberland County, Maine.
Mr. Southgate married three times. His first wife was a friend of
his sisters and was Abigail McLellan, the daughter of Hugh McLellan,
a well-known East Indian merchant. Mary Webster was Mr. Southgate’s
second wife; she was the daughter of Noah Webster, whose name is
well known in connection with the dictionary that he wrote. Mr.
Southgate’s third wife was Eliza Neal of Portland. By his three
wives Mr. Southgate had a large family of children, among them being
the Rt. Rev’d Horatio Southgate and the Rev’d William Scott
Southgate.
Footnote 4:
Isabella Southgate had married to Joseph Coffin Boyd. She was Dr.
Southgate’s oldest child.
Footnote 5:
Mary Black, the second wife of Richard King, Mrs. Southgate’s
stepmother. She had married Mr. King soon after the death of his
first wife, who was her cousin, and had been a kind and devoted
mother to his three children.
Footnote 6:
Octavia Southgate, Dr. Southgate’s third daughter. She married, in
1805, William Browne.
Footnote 7:
Sarah Leland was the daughter of Mrs. Southgate’s half-sister Dorcas
King, Mrs. Joseph Leland.
Footnote 8:
Arixene and Robert Southgate, Eliza’s younger sister and brother.
Arixene married Henry Smith, of Sacarappa, Maine.
Footnote 9:
William King, the son of Richard King by his second wife Mary Black,
was a large land-owner near the town of Bath. Mr. King was elected
the first Governor when the District of Maine was changed into a
State with a government of its own.
Footnote 10:
Eleanor Coffin, afterwards Mrs. John Derby, was the daughter of Dr.
Coffin, a neighbor of Dr. Southgate’s. Martha Coffin, another
daughter, had lately married Mr. Richard Derby. The Mrs. Codman
mentioned in the previous letter was a sister of Dr. Coffin’s.
Footnote 11:
Peony (vulgarly called Piny). Note by M. B. L.
Footnote 12:
Ann, daughter of Cyrus King (Mrs. Southgate’s half-brother) and his
wife Hannah Stone. She was named after her aunt, Mrs. William King,
Ann Frazier. She afterwards married Mr. Bridge.
Footnote 13:
Mr. Jewett married Sally Weeks, a friend and neighbor of the Misses
Southgate. He was a grandson of Aaron Jewett, who built the first
sawmill on Algers Falls, Dunstan, in 1727, and carried on what was
then considered an extensive lumber business.
Footnote 14:
Moses Porter was Eliza’s cousin. He was the oldest son of Mrs. Aaron
Porter (Paulina King).
Footnote 15:
Miranda and Arixene Southgate were at this time aged respectively
twelve and eight years. Their cousin Sally Leland was about the same
age. Frederic Southgate, born in 1791, became a tutor in Bowdoin
College, and died unmarried in 1820.
Footnote 16:
_Isabella Boyd_, second child of Isabella Southgate and Joseph
Coffin Boyd. She died of consumption, the fatal disease which
carried off so many of her aunts, sisters, and cousins.
Footnote 17:
_Rufus King_, oldest son of Richard King and Isabella Bragdon, and
brother of Mrs. Southgate. He was born in 1755 and married Mary
Alsop. He was delegated by the State of Massachusetts to the
Convention for framing the Constitution of the United States, was a
member of Congress from Massachusetts, Senator of the United States
from New York, and at this time Minister to the Court of St. James.
Footnote 18:
_Mary Alsop_ was born in 1786. She was the daughter of John Alsop
and Mary Frogat.
Footnote 19:
Mr. and Mrs. Southgate’s “profiles” hung in Mr. King’s house at
Jamaica until about 1875, when they were given by his granddaughter
to Mrs. Southgate’s grandson, Mr. Lawrence, of Flushing, L. I.
Footnote 20:
_Broads_, a tavern near Portland, to which gay parties of young
people went on frolics.
Footnote 21:
The manuscript which was under the seal was so torn as to make this
sentence illegible.
Footnote 22:
_Paulina Porter_, daughter of Dr. Aaron Porter of Portland. She
married, first Enoch Jones, and then Edward Beecher. Her sister
Harriet married Lyman Beecher.
Footnote 23:
_Miss Rice’s_ father was Joseph Rice; he raised a company of fifty
men and, after the receipt of the news of the skirmish at Lexington,
set out as soon as possible for Cambridge and joined Colonel
Phinney’s regiment. It was the first regiment that marched into
Boston after its evacuation by the British on the 17th of March,
1776. In a letter from Rufus King to Dr. Southgate, dated August 6,
1776, he says: “Phinney’s regiment is ordered from Boston to
Ticonderoga. I guess the pious Elder would as lieve tarry where he
is, but he was formerly fond of action—hope now he will be
satisfied.... Gen. Gates will doubtless make a stand at
Ticonderoga.”
Footnote 24:
Phippsburg.
Footnote 25:
This letter was never finished.
Footnote 26:
Mary King Porter (at this time twenty years of age) married Nathan
Coffin.
Footnote 27:
E. Hasket Derby, Jr., was born in Salem in 1766, and died in
Londonderry, H. N., in 1826. Mr. Derby married, in 1797, Miss Lucy
Brown. He was the son of E. Hasket Derby, who married Elizabeth
Crowninshield, a leading merchant of Salem, and founder of the East
India trade; known in the annals of Salem as “King Derby.” Mr.
Derby, the father, had four sons, who married and had families. They
were E. Hasket, Jr., just mentioned; John, who married Miss Barton
and secondly Miss Eleanor Coffin; E. Hersey, who married Miss Hannah
Brown Fitch; and Richard C., who married Miss Martha Coffin. The
father of E. Hasket Derby, Sen., was Richard Derby, merchant, a
delegate to the Provincial Congress in 1774–5.
Footnote 28:
The Rumford kitchen or Roaster was invented by Benjamin Thompson
(Count Rumford), a native of Salem. Mr. Thompson, after passing
through various phases of existence, went to Bavaria, where by his
powers of pleasing and wonderful inventive faculties he attracted
the attention of the king, and by him was created Count Rumford. One
of Count Rumford’s particular studies was the laws which govern heat
and cold, and to him we are indebted for great improvement in our
chimneys, fireplaces, and kitchen ranges. Before his time all
cooking was done over an open wood fire. In the “Life of Count
Rumford,” by Ellis, page 240, we find the following: “The Roaster,
if not the first, was the most simple, ingenious, and effective
apparatus of the kind which, by its arrangement of flues for
conveying hot air around the food in the oven as well as by
economizing fuel, allowed of the preparation of many articles by one
fire, and greatly facilitated the labors and added to the comfort of
the cook. They were especially popular in Salem, where many of the
flourishing citizens had occasion to recall over their dinners the
‘apprentice boy in Mr. Appleton’s shop.’”
Footnote 29:
Mme. Milliken, probably the daughter of John Ayer. She was the wife
of John Milliken of Boston.
Footnote 30:
Dr. Southgate’s family resided at Leicester.
Footnote 31:
Woburn.
Footnote 32:
Billerica.
Footnote 33:
Dracut.
Footnote 34:
_Francestown_, named so after Gov. Wentworth’s wife.
Footnote 35:
Lady Nesbert, wife of Sir John Nesbert, celebrated for a race ridden
against John Randolph in 1719.
Footnote 36:
Joseph Allston, of South Carolina, had married, February 2, 1801,
Theodosia Burr, only daughter of Aaron Burr.
Footnote 37:
This was Mr. William Constable, who married, February 26, 1810, Miss
Mary Elizabeth McVickar, daughter of John McVickar, Esq.
Footnote 38:
The Patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer had lately married his second
wife, Cornelia Patterson. Miss Southgate spelt the name as it was
then usually pronounced.
Footnote 39:
Rensselaer Westerlo and his sister Catherine Westerlo, who
afterwards married Mr. Woodworth. Their mother was Catherine
Livingston, oldest daughter of Philip, commonly known as the
“Signer,” he having been one of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence. Miss Livingston had first married Stephen Van
Rensselaer, Patroon of the Manor, and by him had had three children:
Stephen, who succeeded his father; Philip, mayor of the city of
Albany; and a daughter. Mrs. Van Rensselaer remarried Dominie
Westerlo.
Footnote 40:
Walsh (?).
Footnote 41:
Oliver Kane, a merchant of New York. He married, at Providence,
Rhode Island, May 22, 1803, Miss Ann Eliza Clarke, daughter of John
Innes Clarke.
Footnote 42:
James G. King.
Footnote 43:
General Henry Knox was a general in the American army during the
Revolution. He entered it at the beginning of the war as a captain
of the Boston Grenadiers. He was the first Secretary of War of the
United States. He married the daughter of Secretary Flucker. General
and Mrs. Knox grew to be enormously stout and were perhaps the
largest couple in the city of New York at the time when Washington
was inaugurated as first President of the United States. General
Knox’s home was at Thomaston, Maine.
Footnote 44:
General Pinckney of South Carolina had served in the American army.
He had two daughters, one of whom married Col. Francis K. Huger.
Footnote 45:
Hodgkinson made his first appearance in New York as _Vapid_. He was
born in Manchester, England, 1767; his father was an innkeeper named
Meadowcraft. Young Meadowcraft ran away from home, took the name of
Hodgkinson, and joined the stage. His wife, to whom he was married
on his arrival in America, by Bishop Moore, was Miss Brett of the
Bath Theatre. She died in New York of consumption, September, 1803.
Mr. and Mrs. Hodgkinson received $100 a week for their services,
which was the highest amount yet paid to any two performers in
America.
Footnote 46:
This Joseph Jefferson was the grandfather of the present Joseph
Jefferson.
Footnote 47:
Mr. and Mrs. William Codman. Mrs. Codman was a Miss Coffin. William
Codman had at that time an insurance office at No. 28 South Street,
New York.
Footnote 48:
Mrs. Henderson and Miss Denning were daughters of William Denning, a
well-known New York merchant.
Footnote 49:
_Columbia Gardens_ were on the corner of Broadway and Prince Street.
Footnote 50:
_Mt. Vernon_ Gardens, afterwards called Contois’s Gardens, were on
the northwest corner of Broadway and Leonard Street.
Footnote 51:
Mrs. Delafield was a Miss Hallett. She married, December 11th, 1784,
Mr. John Delafield, an Englishman, who had arrived in New York in
1783. They had twelve children. Among them were Major Joseph
Delafield, who married Miss Livingston; Mr. Rufus Delafield married
Miss Bard; Dr. Edward Delafield married Miss Floyd; Henry Delafield
married Miss Munson.
Footnote 52:
_Malbone_, a celebrated miniature painter. He was born at Newport,
Rhode Island, and when very young showed great taste for painting.
He travelled about the then known portions of the United States,
painting portraits of people in Charleston, Boston, Philadelphia,
New York, etc., many of which are now in existence. His price for
painting a head was $50. He died of consumption in Savannah, May 7,
1807, in the thirty-second year of his age.
Footnote 53:
Lucia, Zilpah, and John were the children of Genl. Peleg Wadsworth.
Zilpah afterwards married Stephen Longfellow, and was the mother of
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Genl. Wadsworth lived at Hiram, on the
Saco River.
Footnote 54:
Dr. William Moore was a celebrated physician of New York. He married
Miss Sarah Fish and had by her a numerous family. Among them being
Nathaniel Moore, President of Columbia College, and Dr. Samuel
Moore, also a favorite physician.
Footnote 55:
He was returning from his mission in London, where he had been
Minister to the Court of St. James from the United States.
Footnote 56:
Nicholas Low, a merchant in New York. Among his descendants are Mrs.
Eugene Schuyler and the wife of M. Waddington, at present ambassador
to the Court of St. James from France.
Footnote 57:
Mr. Watson was at this time a widower with one son, James Watson.
This son became a great beau in New York society, but died unmarried
and insane.
Footnote 58:
William Henderson, who had married Sarah Denning.
Footnote 59:
George III of England.
Footnote 60:
Bethlehem. This is a place originally settled by a religious sect
called Moravians. They were famous for their schools,—one for boys
kept by the Brothers, and a girls’ school kept by the Sisters. Young
ladies were sent to Bethlehem from New York, Philadelphia, and
distant parts of the country, to receive their education at this
place. In a letter from John Adams to his daughter, dated Monday,
Feb. 10th, 1823, he speaks of it: “I have seen a remarkable
institution for the education of young ladies at Bethlehem. About
120 of them live under the same roof. They sleep all together in the
same garret. I saw 120 beds in two long rows in the same room. The
beds and bedclothes were all of excellent quality and extraordinary
neat. How should you like to live in such a nunnery?”
Footnote 61:
The yellow fever having broken out in New York, the city was
deserted by all who could leave it. Even the business was transacted
in the neighboring village of Greenwich, which is now incorporated
in the city itself and its boundaries lost in the surrounding
streets. The following advertisements have been copied from the
“Evening Post,” Thursday, Aug. 25, 1803, as being of interest, as
the advertisers were not only well-known New Yorkers, but personal
friends of Mrs. Bowne:—
Woolsey & Rogers’ Counting House is removed to No. 28 Courtlandt
Street.
REMOVAL. William Codman has removed his Counting House to the N. E.
corner room in the 2nd Story of the City Hotel, Broadway.
John G. Bogart, Attorney at law & Notary Public, has Removed his
office to the House of Judge Livingston, No. 37 Broadway, near the
Custom House.
John Murray & Sons have removed their Counting House to Mr. Murray’s
country seat on the Harlem Road, 3 1–2 miles from town.
[This was at Murray Hill, about the corner of 37th Street and Fifth
Avenue.]
The Editor being obliged to be absent from town a few days, the
discussions respecting _yellow fever_ will, of course, be suspended
for a little time.
Footnote 62:
Mr. Boyd, Mrs. Bowne’s brother-in-law, had been in England for some
months and was now expected to return to his home.
Footnote 63:
Mrs. Boyd, Isabella Southgate.
Footnote 64:
Beau Dawson, Mr. J. Dawson of Virginia. He had been sent out by
President Jefferson in April, 1801, as bearer of the Treaty or
Convention between France and the United States as ratified by the
latter. The ship in which he sailed was wrecked and the Treaty lost,
although the envoy was saved. Another treaty was drawn up and
dispatched as soon as possible, but there was great annoyance at the
delay.
Footnote 65:
Highlands. The hills about West Point on the Hudson are so called.
The road from Peekskill to Garrison’s over the hill called
“Anthony’s Nose” is particularly steep and stony. The Beverly Farm,
which was owned by Mr. William Denning, lay in the midst of these
hills. The house is still standing and is almost unaltered.
Footnote 66: