GIFT OF
Irene Hudson
H. Hudson,
Benscn. "Minnesota.
BV
FRANK D. ROGERS.
J897
THOUSAND ISLANDS PUBLISHING CO.,
CLAYTON, N. Y.
70 the memory of
EDWARD C. ROGERS,
Whose untimely taking off by the very elements
he so much loved removes a brother and a
critic upon whose practical knowl
edge of practical subjects the
author was wont to draw,
This work is affectionately dedicated.
CONTENTS.
Autobiography, - 11
Preface, - 14
Burial of Harry Millikin, - 17
Perry s Victory, (Old Song) - 23
The Dance at Johnny Beaver s, 25
A Cannon Shotted With Gold Coin, - - 31
The Legend of Calumet Island, - 42
Daniel Millikin, American, - 54
Wind and Weather Permitting, - 63
Wars and Humors of Wars, 71
Up the St. Lawrence, 1706, - 132
Down the St. Lawrence, 1818, - 138
Captivity of Mrs. Howe, - 143
A Pioneer s Hardships, - 154
Folk-Stories, 1G5
Three links, 203
A Bit of Topography, - - 216
The French Settlers, - . 218
Two Old-Fashioncd Boys, . - 229
The Last Haul, .... . 269
999966
COPYRIGHT,
BY
FRANK D.ROCERS.
>^,
^x
A UTOBIOGRAPHY.
The sponsor for this little volume has long been a con
tributor to the leading periodicals along the lines of romance
as well as deep thought. But his contributions have been al
most invariably returned, when the return postage was pre
paid, accompanied by a printed note indicative of a wholesale
business in declinations, "on the grounds that our columns
are not adapted to its publication, but as early as a meeting
of the directors can be held the policy of our magazine will be
changed to meet the requirements of your production. "
Clever, but positively deceitful managing editors ! Thus
ever has budding genius been stifled by sordid directors whose
interest in the uplifting of humanity is confined to the office
elevator.
The author was born on the North Prairie in the city of
Chicago. True, he first opened his eyes a hundred miles
westward from Lincoln Park, but the corporation lines have
been so often extended that it is believed the place of his birth
is at present within the city limits. He had barely attained
the age of five years than immediately the civil war broke out
with all its attendant carnage. Even at that tender age he
12 AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
was determined to enlist in his country s cause, and in fact
Avas enrolled by a recruiting officer, but was recalled by paren
tal restrictions. At six he was a successful pilot of runaway
slaves on the Underground Railway, much to the discomfiture
of the largest slave-holders, who had put a price on his head.
At the age of ten years he removed to New York state bring
ing with him his parents, whom he succeeded in giving a
good common school education the following summer. At
fourteen he was yet undecided whether to practice medicine,
l>e a blacksmith, join a circus, or run for congress. Haply the
last rash choice was averted by his choosing a mercantile ca
reer, which he abandoned after breaking the firm by which he
was employed in a little less than six months. He then
adopted journalism, bought a newspaper which, however, an
other sold, but not until he had outdone Dr. Tanner s fast by
eleven days, not exactly as an experiment but rather as a mat
ter of necessity to which many editors uncomplainingly sub
mit, the while writing menus for each day of the week. Later
he went on the road, but finding expenses greater than the com
bined sales and collections, he concluded to develop new fields,
and so took up life insurance. With his usual aptness for
the new and novel, he succeeded in writing one risk, extra
hazardous, upon himself and never caught another. Then he
started a magazine which a subscriber stopped because he was
appointed receiver. Then and not till then did this great
government of politicians, by the lawyers, and for the spoils,
demand of our hero his immediate and undivided attention at
Washington. Thither he went to bolster up a frail and totter
ing dynasty. He had no sooner thrown himself into the
breach than congress convened and laid out work for a suc
ceeding congress by enacting new laws to be unmade at the
next session. After deciphering the hieroglyphics which con-
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 13
gressmen are pleased to call " writin , " correcting their bad
spelling and worse grammar, he paralyzed the whole govern
mental fabric by resigning. " Not dead, but resigned, " they
said of him, and he was sought by many and pointed out as
one who had the nerve to cut loose from governmental dugs
and face a blank and uncertain future upon his own resources.
After having been connected with so many defunct enter
prises it was but natural that he should give his attention to
an apprenticeship with an undertaker, one who laughs when
others arc in dead earnest, and straightens out a patient after
the doctors give him up.
PREFACE.
The making of a book is accomplished in many ways.
In this particular instance the last chapter was written first.
Then at odd times other chapters were written, and as the
work progressed it received something like systematic atten
tion. The subject- matter is one in which the writer has ever
taken a delightful intesest. It is a pleasure to write of the
triumphs and record the trials constantly recurring in the sim
ple affairs of our forefathers whose heroic endurance made and
saved our nation. They it was who made possible the as
tounding progress of this nineteenth century.
The foundation of these stories of every day heroism is
mainly from the lips of a paternal grand-mother whose simple
though impressive language kindled an admiration for a peo
ple whose oftimes most heroic acts the. historian has passed as
unworthy of record in the face of warlike deeds. That the
privation and suffering, toil and combat patiently borne by
the struggling pioneers, who in their unpretentious ways si
lently, and yet with irresistible energy, paved the way to pros
perity for successive generations, shall be the more keenly
realized may be after all the purpose of putting a dress on these
unpublished Folk-Stories of the Northern Border.
To make the stories appear continuous the same charac
ters have been employed, and that with a care to their indi
viduality in the incidents narrated. Inconsistencies of time
will be discovered by keen readers who, noting the customs
portrayed, may discover the generation in which the material
facts sprang into existence.
The world is slow to recognize the uvcry-day huroistii on
PR EPA CK. 1;1
the farm, in the kitchen or at the desk. Nevertheless it is
there, and often the sacrifices made in the daily discharge of
simple duty amounts to a heroism worthy the pen of a Ban
croft.
Burns sa\v poetry in a frightened mouse and a broken
daisy. A limping hare attracted his sympathetic pen. Shak-
speare writes of sheep-shearing and greenwood shades. Scott,
Byron and Pope turn the brilliancy of their genius upon the
daily affairs of men and there is a revelation as of the electric
search-light. The Bible itself abounds in the daily heroism of
peoples of humble calling. Longfellow, Bryant, Whittier,
Emerson, Lowell, and the whole galaxy of American stars are
not above the heroism of the humble walks of lite. Ian Mac-
biren has immortalized Logiealmond, the Drumtochy " of
his sketches, by his depictions of the homely Scotch life that
existed in that community years ago, and our own New Eng
land life has latterly received some attention on that line. Not
an old town in existence but would furnish abundant material
for the story writer after the historian, scorning the precious
dust and ore rich with pleasing memories, has departed with
the nuggets.
Pictures of home life ! Paintings of the true-In arted, hon
est poor ! Go read " Beside the Bonny Brier Bush :" go see
and hear Penman Thompson in "The Old Homestead, " and
say whether it is author and actor, or the portrayal of the un
sullied lives of a true people, unknown to deceit and guile,
that reaches the heart and starts the tear unbidden.
Folk-Stories had their existence in fact. They are not
imagination or romance, but have a real existence in the un
recorded annals of the American settlers of the St. Lawrence
River and Lake Ontario regions, once popularly known as the
Black River countrv.
Burial of Harry Millikin.
When the appointed hour for the funeral arrived the
neighbors and friends had gathered from the North and South
shores, from the islands and points, and from the settlement
recently founded at the head of the creek. The men were
grouped about the little clearing in front of the cabin, and in
side the womenfolk busied themselves at nothing, or sat list
lessly holding their hands in their laps. In subdued tones
they discussed the incidents of the very few funerals they had
attended "back east," and many an eye moistened and many
a breath shortened as the thought of friends and associations
S3vered by death and separation was brought the more vividly
to mind by the mournful surroundings. The minister, a good
old Presbyterian man, arrived on horseback a full hour late,
but the delay caused neither surprise nor vexatious comment,
for funerals were not conducted in a hurry nor with military
precision in those days. The cabin was about 12 feet by 16
inside, with front and rear doors opening into the principal
room on opposite sides. To the right of the front entrance
stood abed in a recess, its white valance of bleached cotton at
tracting much attention for the richness of the decoration. Blue
IS BURIAL OF HARRY MILLTKIK.
cambric curtains, parted in the center and tied back with red
braid completed the arrangement, except a linen coverlid, out
of which the bedposts grew to the ceiling, and ending in a
cherry knob. Next beyond the recess was a narrow stairway,
and beyond that and taking up the corner was the thorn in
the side of less favored housewives, a regular pantry with
shelves. The remainder of the house below was at once kitchen,
di iing room and parlor, the fireplace and oven forming a re
spectable annex, and opening conveniently into the side to the
left.
On a pine table covered with an unfinished piece of linen
lay the coffin, a crude affair made by old Hank Tubbs, the
cooper. It was fashioned out of pine boards, with but one an
gle in the sides, and stained a dirty black. The lid was cham
fered with a plane so as to leave a streak of natural wood
around its edge. The handles once were black, but having
seen long service on a tool chest they could lay no claim to
the merit of newness. A few shavings had been strewn on the
bottom, by request, as even that show of comfort was not cus
tomary. The rough interior was not relieved by so much as
a bit of lace for it was believed that such "fixin s" were not
only a waste of material but a downright sin as well. The
emaciated form of Harry lay flat upon his back, mouth open,
eyes staring at the bare joist overhead, and his arms and hands
laid straight down his sides with the fingers spread in a con
vulsive grasp. That the sight was one that would terrify the
most strong can not be denied, but it must be remembered
that the undertaker s art had not reached the ideal at that day.
The minister took a position at the head of the coffin
whence he issued orders earnestly and with the sternness of a
newly appointed brigadier-general. The few relatives, besides
the parents, filed down from the garret and were seated about
IJI KIAL OF HARRY MILIJKIN. 19
the coffin on planks supported by blocks of wood. A rigid ob
servance of the order of relationship was maintained, the
cousins coining in last. Indeed no little commotion and a
slight delay was caused by a third cousin who unwittingly
seated herself in front of a second cousin of her father.
The good man read the most of Deuteronomy, then turned
back to Genesis and read and expounded for a good half hour.
Then he started ofF on a long prayer which was of the most
liberal character, geographically speaking. He had passed
Europe, Asia, and the other continents, the government offi
cials, who were not nearly so much in need of it as in later
years, and was excusing the failures of the Whigs, when a
clock, half as tall as a man, set ui> a most frightful striking
I r"* } i
At first it started oil soberly to do business in the regulation
manner, but no sooner had it discharged that duty than it was
sei/A d with a fren/y for striking. It pounded off fifty and was
merrily hurrying along toward the hundred mark when the
good dominie, who had gradually raised his voice so as to be
heard above the whir and clatter of the presumptuous, not to
say irreligious timepiece, peremptorily shouted in sheer des
peration :
"Stop the clock !
And then appealingly
k - Will some one stop the clock, please?"
For a moment no movement was made in compliance.
Then Tim Fagan sprang up, overturning a stool in his haste,
and seizing the clock by weights, hands and pendulum, as if
to choke it to death, restored quiet and the good man resumed.
After the man at the clock had kept his grip on the offender
for what seemed to him almost an entire day, lie gradually re
leased his hold, backed carefully away and sat down on the
floor where his stool had been. The fall startled everybody,
20 BTKIAL OF IIAKRY MIU/IKIX.
{Hid all but stopped the preacher. The shock was transmitted
to the wall, thence to the clock, which, with an ominous growl
began to announce the flight of time on the twenty-four hour
.system, and finished the hundredth stroke just as the exasper
ated Tim wrenched it from its moorings and flung it high out
on the wood pile.
The prayer was followed by some remarks, after which
the march to the log schoolhouse was taken up. The coffin lid
which had been standing against the wall, a horrid silhouette
against the whitewashed sheathing, was now fastened to its
place by nails driven part way down so as to afford easy with
drawal. Then the burden was raised to the shoulders of four
as badly frightened boys as ever saw a corpse for the first time,
and borne to a cart to which was attached a pair of oxen. Slow
ly the procession wound over the irregular course to the log-
building where the master held school in winter. There the
coffin was deposited upon a table in the center of the room, the
men taking one side and the women the other. For two mor
tal hours the preacher dwelt upon the moral impossibility of
young Harry s attaining a home with the blest, and empha
sized the discourse with such lurid word-pictures of his satanic
majesty s domain that the two Collins boys ran out screaming
when a dog crawled from an obscure corner. They believed
the evil one himself had come to verify the awful utterances
which had wrought up the entire congregation. Women sobbed,
children cried aloud, and men controlled their feelings by grim
efforts that were more painful than outright expression.
" You will never see your little Harry again," consolingly
shouted the divine, " You will put away his boots, his cap, his
skates and his sled "
The father groaned aloud.
" You will have a vacant place at the table, and you will
BURIAL OF HARRY MILLIKIX. 21
ever think of the one that is gone when yon assemble for each
meal as the cold wind and snow
The mother shrieked.
" His young companions will miss him from the boyish
games, from skating, swimming, fishing, hunting "
The dog howled.
u I say again you will never see him in your midst for he
will soon be laid away, food for worms and eventuate in dust. "
A shudder passed over his hearers, but emboldened by
his success the heartless man sought to bind up their aching-
wounds by a peroration on the doctrine of election.
" If poor little Harry is among the elect let us rejoice; but
if he is not then are we again admonished of the awful fate in
store for most all of us. "
" Let the chorister line the hymn while 1 rest my throat
before proceeding to that 4 narrow house, a house of clay to
hold the final of these, to me, impressive services. "
A choir of six voices with flute and bass viol accompania-
ment rendered Duke Street from music printed with buck
wheat notes." The congregation was commanded to view
the corpse. " This done, each one felt in duty bound to re
mark, " How natteral he looks ! " The procession was re-formed
and slowly wound its way back to the Millikin clearing where
a grave had been made. The coffin was lowered with ropes
which sawed and rasped painfully as they were withdrawn, all
but overturning it, so tenacious was the clay into which they
were imbedded. There was no outside box, but in this in
stance a board was laid on the coffin to afford a slight protec
tion from animals of the burrowing kind. Then each of the
bearers in turn seized a spade and threw in a clod of earth
which fell upon the coffin with an echoing thump that nearly
broke the remaining heartstrings of the now thoroughly pros-
22 IJUKIAL OF nARRY MI
trate parents. The mourners and friends shook hands with
the preacher, and as they turned away remarked in a distinct
ly audible aside, " How well the elder done !"
That worthy was heard to remark, after the ordeal, that
he felt that he had "been of great comfort to thorn, because they
wept copiously throughout the whole discourse. "
* # # * * :|: :-.
Green grows the turf above Harry s grave, with not so
much as a sod to mark his resting place. The field has been
alternated with the crops of the farm, lo, these many years,
and my informant, an old man, bent and gray, took me as
near the spot as a memory faded by the cares of sixty and
more years would direct.
" It was about here, or mayhap a leetle furder down, but
the woods are gone and the fields so big I may be far astray
from the spot. I was the next youngest of the bearers, and so
long was I afeered to come anigh the spot I may have mis
calculated. "
Miscalculated ! Header it may not be so long until one 4
may search in vain for your resting place and mine.
Perry s Victory.
Ye sons of Columbia give car to mv storv
Who fought with brave Perry where cannons did roar
His valor has gained you an immortal glory.
Which will last till Father Time shall be no more
The tenth of September, L pray let s remember,
As long as the globe on it s axis rolls round,
Our tars and marine upon Lake Erie were seen
To make the proud flag of Great Britain comedown
The van of our fleet the bold British did meet-
Commanded by Perry the Lawrence bore down.
Our guns they did roar with such terrific power
The savage Britons did tremble at the great sound.
The Lawrence sustained a most terrible fire;
She fought three to one for two glasses or more.
Gallant Perry, undaunted, firmly stood by her
While the proud foe heavy broadsides did pour.
Her masts are all shattered, her rigging all tattered,
Her yards and her booms being all shot away ;
But few left on the deck to manage the wreck,
Our hero 011 board her 110 longer could stay.
24 PERRY S VICTORY.
Says Perry, " Those villains, they mean for to drown us,
Push on my brave boys, you need never have fear. "
Then he off with his coat and plugged up the boat
And away through tire and smoke he did steer.
The famous Niagara, now proud of her Perry,
Displayed all her banners in gallant array.
Twenty-five guns on her decks she did carry
Which soon put an end to this bloody affray.
Brave Elliott, whose valor must now be recounted,
On board the Niagara he well played hispait.
His gallant assistance to Perry afforded
Well placed him the second on Lake Erie s chart.
Hurrah for our flag ! (General Harrison, too !
For Perry s bold fleet loud praised by all powers.
Hurrah for his message, may it ever prove true :
" We have met the enemv and thev are ours. "
The Dance at Johnny Beaver s.
My name, hits .John Baptiste Bivver. Ahm cum off
Montrahall on raff, me. Ahni cum hire for fcesh wid yous.
( Jot for me one job ? "
Yes, Collins would give him a hand-share.
11 What dat you call handsheer?
It was explained.
" Well, I get mehhe nothing, mehhe four tousand, me.
Ahm lucky Bivver. Cum on go pullem seine rat off for make
good cotch quite plain. " (Easy.)
lie was told it was too windy to cast out the nets.
11 Yaas?. Bimeby she blow some more. \Vhat-a-matter
now ? Me no fraid watter, Ahm cum off Montrahall, me.
Ahm no peesoup Frencher. Ahm trappe vurrv gross feesh bv
Montrahall. "
" My fambly on dock. You got some shanty I live in
for while?"
One end of the cooper shop was provided for him, and in
the foregoing scraps of conversation he was formally installed
factotum on the Collins fishing grounds.
Beaver was short, broad-shouldered and heavy-chested,
active, and had a happy temperament. His cheek bones were
high, eyes black, beard thin and in patches, arms short. Cor-
26 DANCE AT JOHNNY BKAVKR s.
duroys, moccasins , a pea jacket, a velvet toque on one side
of his head, and a sash that once was red, gave him a rather
jaunty appearance. His wife was a full-blooded white girl,
superior to the life she must lead with him. She had mar
ried for better but could hardly have done worse had she
looked beyond a bare living and the rearing of a large family.
La Famine made much of Johnny Beaver, while in turn
he found much to almost reach the superlative in Montreal,
the city to which he likened all events, all nature and all su
perstitions in the comparative degree.
Beaver dearly loved music and dancing. Hearing a lid-
die in the hands of a fisherman he was seized with a desire to
give a ball, and forthwith set about inviting all whom he met
to come to his dance. A pack-peddler, a fish -peddler, who
counted out fish as " forty-six, fifty-seven, " thus gaining ten,
and the new handsharers were alike bidden to come in his
quaint vocabulary :
" Ahm goin mek one donee on my house. Yous all
cum. Twon t be le grande bal masque like I mek on Mon-
trahall, but all mans and womans round cum on. I tek de
bed down, turn stove roun ! Den yampytanipy, yampy-
tampy, " and Johnny, a full grown man, bursting with exuber
ance, improvises a partner out of a broomstick, and executes
the French four with more vigor than grace.
The stove, one of the elevated oven pattern, had been
u turned around, " and heated red. At the farther end of the
shop a potash kettle was filled with live coals and set upon
bricks. The remainder of the scant furniture was tossed out
doors to make more room.
Johnny s guests began to arrive early, but many that
were invited remained away. The host was in no wise grieved
at the apparent slight for the reason that the absentees were
THE FIDDLER WAS SEATED ON A SHAVING HORSE. "
DANCK AT .JOHNNY BEAVER ? S. 27
fully replaced by the arrival of an equal number who came
without invitation. Among the latter we re some young men
who came just to see the fun, but forgot their purpose and
joined merrily in the festive dance.
The fiddler was seated upon a shaving-horse, and that in
turn was raised upon a couple of fish barrels. Three sets
formed on" and after alternately sawing the strings and
twisting the pegs, the fiddler settled back and poured bodv,
soul and arms into "The Lancers," the while thumping with
the sole of his right boot to the time of his music.
" Jine hands and circle ! "
Men in heavy boots, red shirts, and coatless, made the
plank floor tremble at the word, and the human ring made a
complete turn three bars ahead of the music, and had time to
breathe before the next move was prompted.
"First four for ard and back alamand de-left ! "
Kight hands elevated and with left arm akimbo, palm out
ward, the figure is cut in a lively dance no walking allowed
and the couples return to place once more to catch breath
as the tardy music vigorously brings up the real 1 .
" Balance pard-ners grand right and left !"
A general grabbing of hands, right hand, left hand, any
body s hand, and return to place with ample time for those
who have lost partners to make the proper exchange of posi
tions. Two changes and a " breakdown " is the rule of the floor,
and panting, laughing, chattering, the three sets vacate the
floor which is quickly taken by those who did not "get into"
the first sets.
Johnny is called " Mr. Beaver " so frequently as to cause
him to imagine himself a member of parliament. He beams
right and left upon his guests, and after much coaxing con
sents to do a clog which makes him indeed a hero. This done
28 DANCE AT .JOHNNY JJKAYKR s.
he announces supper in the following speech delivered from
the shaving-horse temporarily vacated for the purpose by the
string orchestra of one piece :
" Now, you ll inek ver small racket while Ahmgoiii hax
yous for supper. Tain ver nice but hits de bes what we
didn t get and de smoke sturgeon is de bess meat dat swims
except the crane I never tass it. Ahm smoke it myself where
I learn donn Montrahall Heat em all up and I ver mooch
tank yous for ten cent quite plain. Pats hall. "
" Bung jour, " he added by way of a polite finish to his
remarks, and jumping to the floor he walked on his hands to
the end of the room and came to his feet by turning a hand
spring. The clapping of hands and remarks of approval
filled the simple-minded half-breed with joy unspeakable, and
while preparations were made for lunch he gave an exhibition
successively of the snake, green corn and canoe dances much
to the disgust of his white wife who had never seen him make
such an exhibition of savage customs. Her protests made
him the merrier, and the encouragement given him by his
guests led him to another prank. Seizing a hatchet he per
formed the scalp dance over the fiddler and raised that wor
thy s scalp a dozen times, ending the performance with a
whoop and throwing the hatchet with such skill that it stuck
fast in a pine post forming a part of the frame. Some of his
guests were slightly alarmed at this feature of the entertain
ment, but it was forgotten when the music again started.
After lunch the dancing began in earnest. " Opera Heel, "
"Moneymusk, " and " McDonald s Heel, " were followed by
an eight-hand reel.
Truthful compliments were exchanged, the music pro
nounced the best, and the lunch a feast, on this felicitous occa
sion, The only waltzers in the party were Nancy Marceau
DAXCK AT JOHNNY JJEAVKR S. 2U
and Joby Collins who had been sweethearts since infancy, it
was declared. They hud the floor to themselves for the third
time when a gruff voice called from outside the partly open
door :
" Xan ! "
Xuncy turned about and faced her father wlio had hurried
across lots when his daughter was missed. Choking witli
ruge he hoarsely growled :
"Xan, you drop that cur and come straight home!"
The excitement was evident, but surpressed. The fiddler
rested, and Xancy plead :
" Oh, now, pa ! Tome in and wait/ just once witli me.
Do come ! Just once!" And the saucy girl waltzed alone to
the door and held out a hand invitingly to the man whom no
other, man or woman, dared cross when he was in anger.
" Don t be a fool, Xan, " he said, half pleadingly, " come
away and don t have 1 nothink to say to a relative of old Hank
Collins. You know who cut my seine, Xanny, twere old
Hunk and I never forgets. "
" Oh ! dam the seine, pa, if I must say it. You will hold a
grudge the longest of any man ! Come in now, daddy, and
teach the hoys to waltz. Come !
The old lion was tamed as usual when he shook his mane
at his favorite child, and Xancy led him to the middle of
the floor where they elicited general admiration in the grace
ful waltz to an old tune which the fiddler had amended by
forgetting the last strain and improvising one of his own
creation.
Xancy with her usual tact proposed to her father to go
home and the old soldier and sailor, now fisherman, departed
30 DAXCK AT JOHNNY JJKAVKR s.
with his hands free from the blood of Joby Collins, contrary
to liis threat made at the outset.
Just at daylight the candles were snuffed out and a live
ly breakdown was danced as a finishing touch to the night s
enjoyment. As they departed, one after another in the dawn,
.Johnny shook liands heartily and wr,s heard to exclaim more
than once :
"Ahm ver mooch tanks for yous ! Cum on my beeg
house down Montrahall nex summer, we donee tree day, tree
night and have mans to blow de horn and mek de big fid go
bum, bum, > an Ahm make yous acquaint de mayor, and de
counsel, and de halderman, and all de reeches mans in de
worl . Yaas, on Montrahall. Don you forget. Ahm no
peesoup, me ! "
There be those living who swear by Heaven, after having
been entertained by princes and potentates, they never realized
so much unsullied joy at a ball, though led by the queen, as
they did at Johnny Beaver s dance, " years ago. "
A Cannon Shotted With Gold Coin.
At some period during the French and English war a de
tachment of the former in hateanx propelled hy oar and sail,
ran into La Famine, partly for shelter and partly to lose itself
from an unrelenting enemy. So closely were they pursued by
the English in Durham boats that capture seemed inevitable,
and a nag of truce was run up. While negotiations were pend
ing the commander of the French fleet bethought himself of
the numerous hags of gold coin stowed away in the flagship,
and which would all too soon fall into the possession of the
victors unless secreted immediately.
He counseled with his officers with the result that a can
non was unlimbered and the coin poured into its rapacious
mouth. After the precious charge had been rammed home
the mouth of the cannon was securely plugged and it was then
thrown overboard.
In the excitement of the moment no ranges were taken,
and nothing hut the depth of the water was known for a cer
tainty. Eight fathoms dee]), tradition hath it. and somewhere
between the Basswood tree and Squaw Island, somewhere be
tween the Gap and AYhitefish, and, it might be well said,
32 A CANNON SHOTTED WITH GOLD COIN.
somewhere between earth and sky, so indefinite were the tra
ditional conjectures.
At any rate the elements interfered in the Frenchman s
behalf and aftcrloosing his anchors the Englishman was blown
beyond the possibility of victory just as terms had been nego
tiated. \Yitli the first shift of wind the French fleet sailed
leading their late adversaries by a full day with a fair wind.
Long years after, a piratical appearing craft cruised the
land-locked shores of La Famine for some weeks. Not one of
the crew could speak English, but enough of their language
was understood to convey the idea with certainty that they
were searching for treasure.
Immediately the tradition related above was revived and
many speculations were had concerning it. Hank Collins and
Jim Lane old Jim, thought, talked and dreamed of the old
smooth bore and its precious charge.
" Spose they drew the charge before ramming the coin
down, " queried Lane.
"Probably they did and probably they didn t. They
mount as well a fired her after she was loaded, considerin
how scatterin the article is nowadays, " philosophically an
swered Collins.
Lane had the best head, and he had studied the probabil
ities and the possibilities attendant upon these incidents, and
finally persuaded Collins to go out upon the water and guess
at the probable course a storm-driven fleet with no knowledge
of the waters they were sailing would naturally take in the
search for anchorage and shelter.
"The wind mostly blows sou west in these parts, and that
is most likely the way it was blowin when the Frenchman
was scuddin for easier weather, " reasoned Lane with his
partner. " Now obsarve the range of the Basswocd agin the
A CANNON SHOTTED WITH GOLD COIN. oo
Pint swing her off a couple yerks now keep the Pint clear
of the tree about the width of ver hand steady and mind
that tall tamarack plumb ahead. Now we re dead in the wake 1
of the fleet adrivin -
" Which boat had the coin, " broke in Collins.
"Dang it, enny on Vm, no matter which. Just supposin 1
your tree has slid into the Pint agin open out and gin yer
attention to the ranges. Just supposin the hull fleet was
bowlin along, wind blowiif a gagger, where now would any
sane skipper pint fur? Fell me that Hank Collins. "
" Well, if he ware natterally a sailor man he d hug the
shore same s we re adoin , and when the soundin s showed fa
vorable I low he d jam her nose well up toward the long bay
aport. "
" Eggsakly ! " shouted Lane with as much emphasis as
though he had found the precise resting place of the .French
treasure.
The wind was increasing and Lane shipped a pair of
mismated oars, and after wetting the thole pins, caught stroke
and kept his eyes steadily on the Basswood tree and the
" Pint, "
The men labored at the oars in silence for some time, and
as the wind was with them they did not much mind the in
creasing waves as they threw the heavy old seine boat right
and left. It was not long before the men realized that they
were in a gale, and one had to bail a share of the time to keep
the boat manageable.
" I say, Hank, " suggested Lane, " lets make up into Long
Bay and wait for this squall to blow over. Besides, we will
see about where the Frenchman dropped his mud-hooks in
seventeen hundred and what-was-it ? "
" Gad, zounds ! Man, but you re long headed ! The very
34 A CANNON SHOTTED WITH (JOLT) COIN.
left hand best the very thing Frenchy must have
done left hand if he knew much about that kind of sailor-
ing left hand which was mostly like Scotch navigation
main strength and ignorance, Jim, main strength and ignoi-
ance. "
"Say, Mister Collins, it strikes me there is a deal of main
strength in this here navigation. See ! We re drifthv out of
the mouth of the bay and will do some tall pullin if we don t
make leeway that will blow us clean by the Pint to say no-
think of getting up into the bay. "
Collins made no reply. lie pulled at the heavy oars
with his eyes shut, and opened them when swinging back for
a new hold. The wind had been steadily drawing to west
ward, thus fairly disputing the right of way with the treasure
hunters. The two men saw the point slip past them and real-
i/ed that it was useless to attempt to get under the lee of the
friendly shore not a half mile distant.
Lane was a reasoner and so far had led the " expedition "
as he facetiously termed it. Collins was an imitator and not
so thoughtful. An idea occurred to him and he called to
Lane, pouring the words into his broad back and far too lee
ward :
"The Frenchman anchored, you say? 1
" So I ve been told. "
" In course he had to. Let s heave old .Ben (a pet name
for his anchor) over and see if he ll hold us, and if he does we
can take obsarvations, pick up the lost ranges and mebbe fish
up the old cannon fools for luck, they say. "
"All right," heartily responded Lane, " but first bend
on that warping line. "
"Show! Ther s fifty feet of line without it. and four
fathom s all you ll get here. "
" THE OABSMAN WAS HEADLESS "
A CANNON SHOTTED WITH GOLD COIN. 3")
" Better bend on the other, Hank, yon will want lots of
hemp to jump at in this sea, let me tell yon. "
The ropes were united with a "fisherman s bend," and
the anchor was poised on the gunwale, flukes pointing upward
and downward, and after a second look to see that the rope
was all clear, it was dropped over, the boat lifting on being re
lieved of the weight.
" There, " said ( 1 ollins, paying out the rope, "1 calculate
thet thar s about the way them runaways did it bottom fell
out? when they tried to dodge the English bottom and
lost their
Both men stared, each at the other.
The knot just appeared above the water and showed
" Eight fathom !
" Henry, " said Lane solemnly, " we re within a hundred
feet of the cannon! (Jet ranges, quick, we re dragging old
Ben home It s providence, I lank, nothing short of provi
dence, and I promise now I m goin to lead a better life. "
"Me, too, Jim. I feel mighty trembly about this spot.
Let s give it up. Xo use anyway, a hundred feet or a hundred
rnild s all the same to me and yon. ( ome !
"Tell the truth and shame the devil, Hank. I don t feel
that the water hereabout is just as solid and sure to float us as
it might be. 80 gin us a hand and we ll get the lines in. But
this much I m willin to chanst. We ll leave a buoy to mark
the ranges and try it a couple of months later in cam weather. "
Getting the anchor in, the men headed their boat toward
La Famine and as they pulled away before the wind each
watched the speck of a buoy, which seemed, like the rainbow,
to have a pot of gold at its end. Little was said between them
except 011 landing to exact a promise from each to make no
revelations, though all they had to reveal was that an eight-
of) A CANNON SHOTTED WITH GOLD COIN.
fathom sounding h a d been made at a spot where they would
stake everything they had never found to exceed four. That
night two fishermen dreamed of fabulous wealth which, fast
as recovered from a rusty old cannon, would fly back to its
former resting place.
Early next morning the misty figures of two men could
have been dimly seen in a heavy fog approaching each other
on a well worn path. They were the treasure hunters of yes
terday, and were met by chance. Morning salutations were
not in order in this New England descended, cold neighbor
hood. That formality was a deference strictly reserved for
strangers who happened in their midst. Both men looked a
little surprised, however, and Collins broke the silence of the
wood by asking :
11 AVlier ye goin ? "
" T your house. AVher you headin for? "
" T see you, " frankly answered Collins.
k I dreamed They began in one voice.
" Well, tell yours, 71 suggested Lane.
" I dreamed your blamed old cannon, " he was getting
interested, now, but he did not wish to show too much excite
ment over a dream, " 1 dreamed your blamed old cannon lay
eight fathom dee]) in a sink-hole eight fathom across, and on
the other side of the hole from our buoy, eight fathom
" My dream exactly !" interrupted Lane, who had been
paling as Collins progressed.
kt We better not wait till the summer cams come on, had
we Jimmy ? "
" No, sir-re ! Lets be off now ! The fog ll lift before we
can get over there, and besides, if it don t none will suspect
what we are dragging for, " and as Lane finished he cut a
small fork from a plum tree and taking the extremities in
A CANNON SHOTTED WITH (U)LI) COIN. 3/
either hand, the point of union upward, lie proposed to take it
along as lie had loeated hundreds of wells l>v dowsing, besides
making wonderful use of the same as a divining rod when
prospecting for buried .treasure at French Creek a story that
may he narrated sometime in " LEGENDARY STOKIKS OF TIIK
TiiorsAND ISLANDS. J<
The two men st<>le silently down-shore to their boat, and
a moment later were lost in the dense loo- of a cold spring s
morning. An hour s labor at the oars bringing them near the
spot of yesterday s find, they began to penetrate the fog in
search of the buoy.
" I caught a glimpse of the Basswood and I dnnno but
we re too fur to luard, " suggested Lane.
41 Lor amighty ! Hack her ! Backer ! A sloop to star
board ! roared Collins. Then Lane took command.
" Pull ! Right hand, right he ll run us down shor as
preachin ! The 1 loonatick s a follerin us at every move!
Steady, now plant your oars ready to pull or push for life the
minit he gets nigh to us. "
The men sat rigid as statues, their oars pointing straight
out from the boat, ready to back water or pull awav as the
exigencies of the approaching crisis might decree. The fog
lifted a little and both men dropped their oars in astonishment
as the big, looming sloop suddenly collapsed into the buoy
they luid put out with their own hands to mark the anchor
age.
"What in natur ! " began Collins, " was that are phantom
some o your spookery with the water witch of a plum sprout. "
" It s a good omen, Henry. I mind some such experience
before. Xow, say ! Not a word of talk after we get within
eight fathom of the buoy. Mind, now. So much as a word
would spoil all. Why, 1 helped dig up Captain Kidd s treas-
38 A CANNON SHOTTED WITH GOLD COIN.
ure chest on Pig s Foot Island, and stood with one foot on the
chest and a lubber said, Gimme the spade. That chest shot
out from under me and I dropped down three feet into a hole
where it laid. Gimme the spade, said he, and a million in
gold coin went into the bowels of the earth with a flash and
there ware a smell of brimstone to choke ye. Now we ll take
soundin s. "
Four fathoms ! Five, six eight ! Seven, five, four, and
Lane motioned to Collins to fall away. More soundings were
rapidly taken, and in a short time the hounds of the pot-hole
were fairly located. They discovered that it dropped off pre
cipitously four fathoms, was eight fathoms wide, as many in
depth, and the lead showed hard bottom. They then set about
a systematic dragging of anchor and grapnel in the hope, if
possible, of getting foul of the French gun and bringing it,
charge and all, to the surface. Time and again they rowed
over the charmed spot only to find their labor vain.
( ollins pointed significantly to the plum sprout. Lane
nervously grasped it by the ends, held it out from his body,
palms upward, and gripped the branches which converged in
an ugly knot at a level with his eyes. Perspiration fell from
his face as the witch pointed astern.
Collins backed water.
Down, down turned the plum sprout, wringing the bark
as the boat moved slowly over the " hole." Then it turned up
ward as they passed beyond its rim. The experiment was
tried by approaching the point of strongest attraction from
different directions until it was well located. Then the an
chor and grapnel were again brought into service and the
course dragged over and again.
Collins line brought up solid and he opened his lips to
speak, but a warning look from Lane reminded him of the
A CANNON SHOTTKI) WITH GOLD COIN". 39
consequence. Just then Lane s line fouled on something
equally solid. The lines were strained taut and the boat
brought to a position directly over the object. Again the plum
sprout was tried, and they were not surprised when it turned
straight downward and stopped at a perpendicular.
Collins drew breath as if about to speak, but Lane was
watching him and cut off the words fatal to success before
they were uttered.
The treasure-seekers were by this time nearly beside them
selves with excitement in which fear played not a small part.
They hove the side of the boat Mown until the water almost
came in, and then by stepping over to the opposite side rocked
it, the while taking in the slack of the ropes as they gave to
the strain. After repeated efforts the object upon which the
anchors had fouled yielded, and was brought slowly and la
boriously to the surface, its advance heralded by bubbles of
gas.
Covered with rust, mud and black oo/e the Frenchman s
gun lay at the surface. The pri/e was at their fingers ends.
Tremblingly they pulled on the ropes which had fallen into
notches already worn in the wale. So interested were they
that they did not hear the approach of another boatman.
Clank, clank !
The clatter and squeak of a pair of heavy oars caught
their attention, and they faced about as one man.
A large boat, propelled by oars, was approaching, the sin
gle occupant pulling a long, steady stroke in time with the
long, lazy swells that seemed at each rise ready to give up the
effort to go farther. Yet they ceased not, but ran ahead of
the long sweep of the oars as if teasing the occupant to race.
Clank, clank !
40 A CANNON SILOTTKI) WITH GOLD COIN.
Shade of Charon ! The blood of the fishermen stood still,
and their amazement was unbounded.
The oarsman was headless !
Straight toward the treasure he pointed his boat, sightless
as he was, and his severed neck showing a ghastly wound as
lie bent to his oars. Steadily he forged ahead so close now
that the ripple around the stem came to their ears. The boat
was battered and scarred, built upon strange lines, and a hole
had been broken into her bow as though she had been raked
by a six-pounder. Long weeds trailed in her wake which ap
peared as a stream of fire, and mosses flourished on her run-
boards.
All this and more the treasure-seekers saw in less time
than is required to relate it. Nearer and plainer, now, sounded
the chilling
Clank, clank !
And the men were aroused by the instinct of self-preser
vation. Each seized an oar in one hand, with the other
holding to the rope by which the cannon was suspended. They
were now thoroughly alarmed at this uncanny visitor who oc
casionally turned to right and left in his seat as if looking over
his headless shoulders to take his bearings, or perhaps more
properly, dead reckonings.
" Now ! " shouted Lane.
" Strike ! " echoed Collins.
Fatal words ! The charm was broken, for no sooner had
the men spoken, as with one voice than
.Boom ! Ba-r-r-gn !
The cannon was fired at the first vocal sound and burst
into a thousand fragments while its precious charge was scat
tered over the waste of waters toward the rising sun. Both
A CANNON SIIOTTKI) WITH GOLD COIX. 41
men dropped in the boat and for a minute neither could
speak.
A\ hen they had sufficiently recovered their senses to rise,
the apparatioii had gone apparently as swiftly as the treasure
which they had just as good as secured. The ropes burned off
the moment the discharge occurred and down went the anchors
if indeed they were not blown to atoms.
Silently, ruefully, sadly the fishermen shipped their oars
and pulled away for home as stoutly as their shattered nerves
and disappointed hopes would permit. Kach desired to put
the hlanu of failure upon the other, and an argument [is to
who spoke first and thus dispelled the charm, ended in a sol
emn agreement never to reveal a word. Hut each told his
wife, " she " told her sister, and so the community was soon
reveling in the doubtful story. Year after year the exact spot
is shown the summer guest, and to the incredulous proof is
forthcoming when with lead and line the outlines of the rim
to the pot-hole are located by taking soundings, and then there
is the Basswood tree, the Point and the Hay to confirm the
rest of the storv.
The Legend of Calumet Island.
There is abundance of evidence which goes to prove that
had the scene of events in Longfellow s immortal Hiawatha
been located at the Thousand Islands, the Manatoana, or " Gar
den of the Great Spirit," of the Iroqnois and Algonquins, the
poem would have been true to the legendary origin of Hiawa
tha. Read with that idea in mind, one will be surprised at
the many striking passages which apply to the St. Lawrence
with more force than to the Lake Superior region in which
the poet has depicted the principal events of the legend.
In 1843, Ossahinta and Dehatkatons, two Onondaga
chiefs related the legend of the god of fishing and rivers to Mr.
Clark who carefully wrote out the story and tiled it in the
archives of the New York Historical Society. He thus trans
lates the narration of the two chiefs :
Hundreds of years ago, Ta-oun-ya-wat-ha, the Deity who
presides over fisheries and streams, came down from his dwell
ing place in the clouds to visit the inhabitants of the earth.
He had been deputed by the Great and Good Spirit, Ha-wa-
ne-u, to visit the streams and clear the channels from all ob
structions, to seek out the good things of the country through
which he intended to pass, that they might be more generally
disseminated among all the good people of the earth espe-
A LKCJKXD OF CAU MET ISLAND. 43
cially to point out to them the most excellent fishing grounds,
and to bestow upon them other acceptable gifts. About this
time, two young men of the Onondaga Nation were listlessly
gazing over the calm blue waters of the Lake of a Thousand
Isles. During their reverie they espied, as they thought, far
in the distance, a single white speck, beautifully dancing over
the bright blue waters, and while they watched the object
with the most intense anxiety, it seemed to increase in magni
tude, and moved as if approaching the place where they were
concealed, most anxiously awaiting the event of the visitation
of so singular an object for at this time no canoes had ever
made their appearance in the direction from whence this was
approaching. As the object neared the shore, it proved in
semblance to be a venerable looking man, calmly seated in a
canoe of pure white, very curiously constructed, and much
more ingeniously wrought than those in use among the tribes
of the country. Like a cygnet upon the wide blue sea, so sat
the canoe of To-oun-ya-wat-ha, upon the Lake of a Thousand
Isles.
As a fraii branch drifts towards the rushing cataract, so
coursed the white canoe over the rippling waters, propelled by
the strong arm of the god of the river. Deep thought sat on
the brow of the gray headed mariner ; penetration marked his
eye, and deep dark mystery pervaded his countenance. With
a single oar he silently paddled his light trimmed bark along
the shore, as if seeking a commodious haven of rest. He soon
turned the prow of his fragile vessel into the estuary of the
"double river, " and made fast to the western shore. He ma
jestically ascended the steep bank, nor stopped till he had
gained the loftiest summit of the western hill. Then silently
gazing around as if to examine the country, he became en
chanted with the view, and drawing his stately form to its
44 A LK<;KXI> OF CAU MKT ISLAND.
utmost height, he exclaimed in accents of the wildest enthu
siasm, Osh-wah-kee, Osh-wah-kee.
He approached the two young hunters, recounts Dr.
Hough, gained their confidence, and having drawn from them
a knowledge of the difficulties under which they labored, dis
closed to them the spirituality of his character, and the object
of his mission. He invited them to attend him in his passage
up the river, and they witnessed many things which could
only be accounted for as miracles, or be described but in the
wonders of Indian mythology. He ascended to the lesser
lakes, placed all things in proper order for the comfort and
sustenance of man, taught them how to cultivate corn and
beans, which had not before been grown by them, made the
fishing ground free, and opened to all the uninterrupted pur
suit of game. He distributed among mankind the fruits of
the earth, and removed all obstructions from the navigable
streams. Being pleased with his success, he assumed the
character and habits of a man, and received the name Hi-a-
wat-ha, (signifying " very wise man, " ) and fixed his residence
on the beautiful shores of Cross Lake. After a time, the coun
try became alarmed by a hostile invasion, when he called a
council of all the tribes from the east and the west, and in a
long harangue urged upon them the importance of uniting
themselves in a league for their common defense and mutual
happiness. They deliberated upon his advice, and the next
day adopted and ratified the league of union which he recom
mended. Hi-a-wat-ha, having brought this council to a
close, and as the assembled tribes were about to separate, on
their return home, arose in a dignified manner, and thus ad
dressed them :
" Friends and Brothers : I have now fulfilled my mission
upon earth ; I have done everything which can be done at
A LK(iKXI) OF CALUMKT ISLAND. 45
present for the good of this great people. Age, infirmity and
distress, sit heavily upon me. During my sojourn among you
I have removed all obstructions from your streams. Canoes
can now pass everywhere. I have given you good fishing-
waters and good hunting grounds, I have taught you how to
cultivate corn and beans, and have learned you the art of
making cabins. Many blessings I have liberally bestowed
upon you.
Lastly, 1 have now assisted you to form an everlasting-
league and covenant of strength and friendship, for your fu
ture safety and protection. If you preserve it without the
admission of other people, you will always be free, numerous
and mighty. If other nations are admitted to your councils,
they will sow jealousies among you, and you will become en
slaved, few and feeble. Remember these words: they are the
last you will hear from the lips of Ili-a-wat-ha. Listen, my
friends, the Great- Master-of-Breath calls me to go. I have
patiently waited his summons. I am ready : Farewell. "
As the wise man closed his speech, there burst upon the
ears of the assembled multitude, the cheerful sounds of the
most delightful singing voices. The whole sky seemed filled
with the sweetest melody of celestial music- ; and Heaven s
high arch echoed and re-echoed the touching strains, till the
whole vast assembly was completely absorbed in rapturous
ecstasy. Amidst the general confusion which now prevailed,
and while all eyes were turned towards the etherial regions,
Hi-a-wat-ha was seen majestically seated in his canoe, gracer
fully rising higher and higher above their heads through the
air, until he became entirely lost from the view of the assem
bled throng, who witnessed his wonderful ascent in mute and
admiring astonishment while the fascinating music gracU
ually became more plaintive and low, and finally sweetly ex*
46 A LEGEND OF CALUMET ISLAXI).
pired in the softest tones upon their ears, as the wise mail
Hi-a-wat-ha, the god-like Ta-oun-ya-wat-ha, retired from their
sight, as mysteriously as he first appeared from The Lake of a
Thousand Isles, and, concludes Dr. Hough, quietly entered
the regions inhabited only by the favorites of the great and
good spirit Ha-wah-ne-u.
That the reader may the better understand the legend of
which these pages treat, a portion of Longfellow s " Song of
Hiawatha " is here reproduced :
THE PEACE PIPE.
On the Mountains of the Prairie,
On the great Red Pipe-stone Quarry,
Gitche Manito, the mighty,
He the Master of Life, descending,
On the red crags of the quarry,
Stood erect, and called the nations,
( ailed the tribes of men together.
From his footprints* flowed a river, f
Leaped into the light of morning,
O er the precipice plunging downward
Gleamed like Ishhoodah, the comet.
And the spirit, stooping earthward,
With his finger on the meadow
Traced a winding pathway for it,
Saying to it, " Hun in this way ! "
From the red stone of the quarry
With his hand he broke a fragment,
Moulded it into a pipe-head,
Shaped and fashioned it with figures;
From the margin of the river
Took a long reed for a pipe-stem,
* The Great Lakes. + The St. Lawrence.
A LK(JKXI) OF CALl MKT ISLAND. 47
With its dark green leaves upon it ;
Filled the pipe with bark of willow,
With the bark of the red willow ;
Breathed upon the neighboring forest,
Made its great boughs chafe together,
Till in flame they burst and kindled ;
And erect upon the mountains,
Gitche Manito, the mighty,
Smoked the ( I ALTMKT, TIIK PKACK-Pii K,
As a signal to the nations.
And the smoke rose slowly, slowly,
Through the tranquil air of morning,
First a single line of darkness,
Then a denser, bluer vapor,
Then a snow-white cloud unfolding,
Like the tree-tops of the forest,
Ever rising, rising, rising,
Till it touched the top of heaven,
Till it broke against the heaven,
And rolled outward all around it.
From the Yale of Tawasentha,
From the Valley of Wyoming,
From the Groves of Tuscaloosa,
From the far-off Rocky Mountains,
From the Northern lakes and rivers
All the tribes beheld the signal,
Haw the distant smoke ascending,
The Pukwana of the Peace-Pipe.
And the Prophets of the nations
Said : " Behold it, the Pukwana !
By this signal from afar off,
Bending like a wand qf willow.
48 A LKGEXI) OF CALVMKT ISLAND.
Waving like a hand that beckons,
Gitche Manito, tlie mighty,
Calls the tribes of men together,
Tails the warriors to his council ! "
Down the rivers, o er the prairies,
Came the warriors of the nations,
Came the Del a wares and Mohawks,
Came the Choctaws and Canianches,
Came the Shoshones and Blackfeet,
Came the Pawnees and Omahas,
Came the Mandans and Dacotahs,
Came the Hurons and Ojibways,
All the warriors drawn together
By the signal of the Peace-Pipe,
To the Mountains of the Prairie,
To the great Red Pipe-stone Quarry.
And they stood there on the meadow,
With their weapons and their war-gear,
Painted like the leaves of Autumn,
Painted like the sky of morning,
Wildly glaring at each other ;
In their faces stern defiance,
In their hearts the feuds of ages,
The hereditary hatred,
The ancestral thirst of vengeance.
Gitche Manito, the mighty,
The creator of the nations,
Looked upon them with compassion,
With paternal love and pity ;
Looked upon their wrath and wrangling
But as quarrels among children,
But as feuds and fights of children !
A LK(JKXl) OF CALUMET ISLAND. 49
Over them he stretched his right hand,
To subdue their stubborn natures,
To allay their thirst and fever,
By the shadow of his right hand ;
Spake to them with voice majestic
As the sound of far-off waters,
Falling into deep abysses,
Warning, chiding, spake in this wise:
11 O my children ! my poor children !
Listen to the words of wisdom,
Listen to the words of warning.
From the lips of the Great Spirit,
From the Master of Life, who made you :
" 1 have given you lands to hunt in,
I have given you streams to fish in,
have given you bear and bison,
have given you roe and reindeer,
have given you brant and beaver,
"illed the marshes full of wild-fowl,
Billed the rivers full of fishes ;
Why then are you not contented?
Why then will you hunt each other?
11 I am weary of your quarrels,
Weary of your wars and bloodshed,
Weary of your prayers for vengeance,
Of your wranglings and dissensions ;
All your strength is in your union.
All your danger is in discord ;
Therefore be at peace henceforward,
And as brothers live together.
11 I will send a prophet to yon,
A Deliverer of the nations,
50 A LEGEND OF CALUMET ISLAND.
Who shall guide you and shall teach you.
Who shall toil and suffer with you.
If you listen to his counsels,
You will multiply and prosper ;
If his warnings pass unheeded,
You will fade away and perish !
" Bathe now in the stream before you,
Wash the war-paint from your faces,
Wash the blood-stains from your fingers,
Bury your war-clubs and your weapons,
Break the red stone from this quarry,
Mould and make it into Peace-Pipes,
Take the reeds that grow beside you,
Deck them with your brightest feathers,
Smoke the calumet together,
And as brothers live henceforward ! "
Then upon the ground the warriors
Threw r their cloaks and shirts of deerskin,
Threw their weapons and their war-gear,
Leaped into the rushing river,
Washed the war-paint from their faces.
Clear above them flowed the water,
Clear and limpid from the footprints
Of the Master of Life descending ;
Dark below them flowed the water,
Soiled and stained with streaks of crimson,
As if blood were mingled with it !
From the river came the warriors,
Clean and washed from all their war-paint ;
On the banks their clubs they buried,
Buried all their warlike weapons.
Gitche Manito, the mighty,
)F CALTMKT ISLAM). 51
The Great Spirit, the creator,
Smiled upon his helpless children !
And in silence all the warriors
Broke the red stone of the quarry,
Smoothed and formed it into Peace-Pipes,
Broke the long reeds by the river,
Decked them with their brightest feathers,
And departed each one homeward,
While the Master of Life, ascending,
Through the opening of cloud-curtains,
Through the doorways of the heaven,
Vanished from before their faces,
In the smoke that rolled around him,
The Pukwana of the Peace-Pipe.
The Indian name for French creek, in the village of
Clayton, was Weteringhra-Guentere, the "Fallen Fort, " or
perhaps more literally, "the place where the hills fell down. "
An ancient and rude fortification at the mouth of French
Creek was the traditional boundary line between the Iroquois
and Algonquin nations whom the first white navigator of the
St. Lawrence found engaged in a war which began before
time was fixed even by uncertain tradition.
The war was said to have originated with a hunting par
ty composed of a half dozen young men of each nation. One
party followed an elk many leagues and returned without
game whatsoever. The other party then set out and meeting
with immediate success the lately vanquished party was com
pelled to do squaw work skinning, dressing and cooking.
The jealousy of the latter was now aggravated by humiliation,
and a feud was engendered which their few living descendants
secretly cherish to this day.
This feud was precipitated long after the advent of Ilia-
,V2 A LE(iEXI) OF CALUMET ISLANLX
w.itlia, the river god, and in violation of his admonitions. Af
ter this murderous war had been carried on many years the
land was taken from the Mississaguas by the Great Spirit who
was more than ever displeased with his chosen whom he had
placed in the Manatoana, this Garden of Eden, only to have
the compact of peace rudely violated.
An island in the St. Lawrence, opposite Clayton, presents
in the contour of its shores, and general topography, a won
derful resemblance to an Indian pipe, and for this reason long-
ago it was called CALUMET. This island it is claimed is no
other than the Calumet, the gigantic Peace-Pipe, smoked by
Gitche Manito, the mighty, "as a signal to the nations, " the
ascending smoke from which attracted the attention of the
Prophets of the nations upon whose interpretation the tribes
of men were immediately called together at Manatoana, the
Garden of the Great Spirit, the Mille lies of the French voy-
ageurs, the Thousand Islands of today.
Gitche Manito sent messengers to bear away the country
of the Mississaguas and they came with a great skin blanket
which was let down by the four corners. Into this blanket
Mnnatoana. the Garden of the Great Spirit, witli its rivers,
lakes and mountains, was carefully placed, the great Calumet
in the center. The blanket with its burden was borne away
skyward, but as the wondering Mississaguas ga/ed upward
they were terrified at discovering that the messengers had
broken their hold. The garden and the great blanket came
tumbling down and was broken into a thousand fragments
and thus originated the Thousand Islands. The Calumet was
fairly pulvemed, a token that the covenant between the Great
Spirit and the nations was no more. The Mississaguas were
no longer the chosen people. They had broken the pledge to
keep peace among, themselves and Gitche Manito had made
A LEGEND OF CALUMET ISLAND. 53
his anger manifest by the significant breaking of the Calumet,
the pipe of peace.
Hence, Weteringhra-Guentere, "tlie place where the hills
fell down.
Daniel flillikin, American.
Your grandfather and I settled in this neighborhood in
1806, making the long journey from Connecticut with one
horse and a pair of oxen, camping by the way wherever night
overtook us. We were married but a few days before setting
out, and you may be sure it was not a luxurious wedding
journey, but stout hearts and bright hopes kept us good com
pany.
Our new home overlooked Lake Ontario, which seemed
to me broad as the ocean, for no trace of the farther shore
could be seen. Full five years Ave worked from daylight to
dark, and then had really less than we brought with us. Your
father, no, grandfather, was a tanner and currier and had
often talked of returning to his trade, but he could not read
ily get such employment even in this new country. One day
he came from La Famine, and turning the horse loose at
the door, came in and sat by the fireplace in silence a long
time. My heart sank when he did speak. We were to leave
our home and my parents, who had followed us, and go to
Canada, where he had contracted to work as foreman in a
DANIEL MlLLlKlX, AMERICA X. f)f>
tannery, and was to receive eight dollars in gold every week
for his services. It was a bold stroke which to our minds
foretold great wealth, and yet we were reluctant to leave our
little clearing and go among a strange people in a foreign land.
Besides, the thought of living within the king s domains was
not pleasant.
Rumors of trouble between the young republic and Great
Britain had reached us from time to time, but the single news
paper that came fortnightly said England dare not fight again,
besides should there be war, ( 1 anada would side with us and
it, too, become free. At length our fears were put aside and
we left by sail, there were no steamers then, and two days
later landed far up the Canadian shore at a little village con
taining a church, a few log houses and the tannery store.
For a while we saved money, but with the ugly war news
the times grew harder and harder until we were compelled to
take store pay entirely. When war was actually declared your
grandfather, and the four Americans lie had brought with
him, decided to return home since in the heat of argument
they had already gotten into trouble with the tannery hands.
They were good workmen and had obtained such favor with
the contractors that, to induce them to stay, the pay in gold
was resumed and they were assured that should they remain
they would be exempt from military duty. Then came the
report that the British had burned Boston. That decided our
people that they must go back and defend their homes, but
they tarried a few days in the hope that it was a false report
made to encourage loyalty in the Canadas.
One morning we heard the booming of cannon at York,
now Toronto, and our men made no effort to conceal their joy
at General Pike s bold attack and subsequent capture of the
city. All Canada was in high dudgeon, and our little colony
)(> DANIEL MILLIKIX, AMERICAN.
suffered its share of abuse, and we were given to understand
that we must repress our feelings or suffer the consequences.
Although the season was advancing and lake navigation dan
gerous, the Americans began at once the secret construction of
a large bateau in which we were all to return. Every man in
the village was ordered to arm and report at the church whence
they were to march to the recapture of York You may be
sure haste was made in the construction of the boat, the build
ers paying no heed to the warning to equip for war. It was
completed two days after the militia had departed, and our
hopes ran high while loading it with stores for the return to
home, friends and country.
While thus engaged six mounted redcoats appeared upon
the rise above us and demanded a surrender. Our men were
armed and had agreed to fight if the officers came to press
them into the service, but your grandfather was the only one
to stand his ground and fire. His shot was returned with a
volley, and he fell with a bullet in his arm. Springing to his
feet be began to reload, and as the soldiers were preparing to
fire another volley I ran in front of him and dared them to
shoot a woman. Blood trickled from his hand, and as I tried
to bandage his wound the brutal soldiers closed about us and
your grandfather was bound to a saddle before I could dress
his arm which hung limp at his side. They started away and
T attempted to follow, but the soldiers threatened to shoot me
also if I made further ado. My husband bade me return to
the house and mind the children, and as they galloped away
I saw a pistol held to his head for shouting to me that he
would be back that very night.
I watched them out of sight, and then with a breaking-
heart entered the cabin. There I found Ruth Sophronia and
Thankful Amanda armed with table knives in emulation, of
DAXIKL MILUKJN, AMJvKICAX. ,")7
the spirit of America, while little Asa Kbenczer was pouring-
powder from the horn into his milk.
The vision of their poor wounded father, borne away to
an unknown fate was before me day and night, and I nearly
worried myself into insanity. Week after week wore away
and yet no word came to relieve my distress or confirm my
fears. Frequent stories of butcheries by Indians employed in
the British service kept me in constant alarm lest such a fate
overtake me and my helpless children. Often I took them
into tho Avoods when Indians were in the neighborhood, and
came back only wh-n compelled by cold and hunger. There
were few neighbors left, and th oye I dare not trust for there
were among them those whom I believed had informed the
officers of our intended departure. As the winter came on a
sense of my utter loneliness bore me down, and to return to
my parents became the whole subject of my thought. It
would soon be a physical necessity since the provisions were
low and the money reduced to a single gold coin. In the fear
of being massacred the few people in the village were pre
paring to leave, and at this I was determined to face any dan
ger than remain entirely alone.
To recross the lake at this season was next to impossible,
even for experienced sailors. I knew the St. Lawrence river
must be frozen over at Kingston which was strongly garri
soned by the British. A wounded soldier brought me word
that your grandfather had been taken to that post for trial,
and that settled a purpose to return that way in the hope of
seeing my husband, if but for a moment. A farmer was en
gaged to carry us to Kingston, and after nearly a week s trav
el in deep snow we reached the barracks. The farmer made
inquiry for my husband and was told that he had been taken
to Montreal and shot for treason.
5<S DAXlEL MILIYJKIN, AMERICAS*.
I did not faint women did not have the habit then
neither was I greatly surprised, for I had already learned
something of the severity of martial law. There was no time
to shed bitter tears over our utterly forlorn condition, and to
make the situation completely dismal, the river at this point,
where I had hoped to cross, was a sea of floating ice. Home
seemed as far away as at the outset.
We were kindly cared for at a log tavern by the landlady,
herself American born, until the first fair day, when I reso
lutely set out with my three children to find a crossing farther
down the River. It was said there was firm ice from shore to
shore at Brockville, fifty miles distant, but the task did not
appall me for the hope of getting my children to their grand
parents gave me courage. Bravely, then, we traveled a coun
try filled with hostile Indians and soldiers, to my mind one
fully as wicked as the other, remaining over night with the
settlers except once when the distance between neighbors was
too far to be covered in a day. We passed that night by
the remains of a fire not three hours deserted, and ate a little
dried venison which a farmer s wife had put in the hand of
one of the children as we left. One morning a great hullaba
loo was raised about the house of some kind people who cared
for us by making a bed on the floor in front of the fireplace.
A loud raj) at the door, then a gruff voice shouted :
" Open and surrender or we will fire the bouse ! "
In alarm the door was thrown open and twenty dragoons
were discovered about the little hut. An officer looked about
the house sharply and said information had reached him that
a female spy was harbored within and must go with him to
the barracks, as well as the farmer whose loyalty he said they
now had reason to suspect. I presented myself and children
and told the story of my travels. Our pitiful condition must
SIX MOUNTED REDCOATS APPEAEED.
have shamed him. lor after consulting with another officer
and asking me a great many questions, he threw a silver piece
into the door and they rode away.
The dear Lord only knows what we suffered the next day,
lacing a stinging norther which came up after the rain of the
night hefore. On, on, 1 went, carrying first one child and
then the other, and sometimes two. An occasional glimpse of
the American shore had kept up my coin-age all along the
weary miles, hut fields of moving ice prevented my crossing.
Home almost in sight, yet far. far away, and I was so weary.
The trial was telling upon the children too, and 1 prayed that
they might he given strength from above until we crossed the
lines and came among my own countrymen.
I cut the village of Brockville short, fearing another or
deal of heing mistaken for a spy. Another hour s travel
hrought us to a point where the ice seemed firm all the way
across to Morristown, where were stationed American troops.
As we struck out on the ice the children were knee deep
in the water, and about us were whirlpools caused by the wa
ter drawing down through airhole s in the ice. I shuddered
at these dark vortexes, in si/e sufficient to swallow us at a
gulp, and it was onlv by winding and turning that we avoided
these new dangers. Would either of my three babes survive
such unnatural exposure ? Would the frail bridge support
us? We would face still greater dangers rather than turn
back. The water fro/e to our skirts, the weary little feet
dragged heavily at my side, and I felt the hold on my dress
weakening as the frost-bitten fingers became numb, and
heavens, was mv baby boy freezing in my arms. 1 strove
blindly on willing to die if I could but get my perishing chil
dren to friends.
A loud shout startled my heart into feverish action at the
GO DANIEL MTLLIKIX, AMERICAN .
thought of help, only to all but stop at the fear of another en
counter with the redcoats. But the Lord is good. 1 recogni/ed
the uniform of the American militia, and the next moment
strong arms bore us all across the treacherous channel to firmer
ice where the dragoons were waiting to make a speedy flight
with us to the barracks at Morristown. The children, scarce
ly able to speak, were rolled in blankets by the surgeon s wife
who dared not bring them to the tire, and in a few days
recovered their wonted activity. When my story was told I
heard many tin-eats among the rough troopers, one actually
proposing to cross and burn Brockville that very night.
After remaining a few days we were sufficiently recovered
to resume our journey, but we did no more walking. Our
new friends provided a way for us nearly half the distance,
and the remainder we covered by short rides with neighbors.
It was with a heavy heart that I approached the scene of our
iirst housekeeping, besides the time had now come when my
children must learn the truth of their father s absence. My
parents were overjoyed at our return and received us as
from the dead. I bought eight yards of black calico and made
it into a dress for Sundays. The winter passed slowly enough
and when the birds came with spring I was more than ever
disheartened as each note seemed to recall the happy plans
AVC had made for converting our forest home into a blooming
Held.
One Sunday I had a call from Neighbor Rasbach, whose
poor, weak wife had died of the fever
" AVell, you needn t a thought 1 was dead, " broke in
grandfather a little snappishly, and to our surprise he told
the remainder of the story himself in these words :
When the dragoons captured me I was in great pain from
mv wound, but the officers made no orfer to bandage my arm.
DAXTKL MILIJKIX, A>fEKI( AN. fit
not oven after reaching York. In the garrison the only at
tention I had was to be chained to a post like a slave, and
have a eold meal brought once a day. For a week this neglect
continued, and then twenty of us were fastened in the hold of
a schooner and taken to Kingston.
After a few days miserable treatment there we were
started for Montreal in bateaux, the officer compelling me to
labor at the oars although all but dead with pain from my
wounds. At the rapids so closely did we pass to the islands
that at times the branches of trees brushed the boat as we
passed, but escape was impossible in my disabled condition,
although I was sorely tempted to jump over and swim, trust
ing that their slow Hint-locks would give me time to reach the
shore. At Montreal we we re penned in a guard house and
not only suffered neglect but were tortured with false reports
of British success. A formal charge of treason was read to
me, and what I suppose was the death penalty was delivered in
French. I was still in total darkness as to my fate.
One afternoon the American prisoners were roughly or
dered out of the log prison, and nndera strong guard marched
out of the garrison as we verily believed to our death. For
two days we were 4 marched westward in ignorance of our des
tination, or the purpose in removing us. Then from a hill we
saw a flag of truce and soldiers in the American uniform.
There we were told they had brought us out to light our coun
trymen, but before we were armed our enemies surrendered
and we were free.
After the first excitement was over I determined to go to
my family, if indeed they had not met the fate of a hundred
deaths which I fancied they had met at the hands of the
Indians, or from starvation, exposure or wolves. Back we
62
marched as rapidly as possible to Fort Ticonderoga, whence I,
not being in the regular service, was permitted to depart.
I chose tbe Canadian thoroughfare and traveled mostly
at night fearing to meet the British soldiery. I crossed the
St. Lawrence to Morristown for the purpose of going to my
old home and crossing the lake in search of wife and children.
At the barracks the account of my capture recalled the rescue
of the mother and children from their perilous trip across the
ice, and I knew from that moment they were sate. I came
away at once and a week later found your grandmother in
widow s weeds planting some hollyhocks in the yard.
"Let me help you, mother, " I said. She just turned
around, fell into my arms, and had a good cry. Her parents
gave me a wonderful welcome and got up a great dinner in
honor of my return, but somehow no one had much of an
appetite.
The companions who tied at my capture joined General
Pike s forces and with them retreated when York was letaken,
and afterward engaged in the battle at Sackets Harbor, and,
Eben, if ever I hear you say another word about joining Can
ada to the states, you will not get the bay colt, Remember !
Wind and Weather Permitting.
The La Famine fishermen arranged a boat race that is
Well remembered by the older settlers, leastwise those who saw
it with the feverish imagination of youth. Far and wide the
event was heralded on quarter-sheet posters in this style :
(IRANI) RKdATTA.
A (irand Sailing Regatta will be
holden at La Famine, wind ami
weather permitting, on
FRIDAY, JTLY, 4 r m, IS
( )pen to all American fishing boats
under 24 feet keel,
(The "Sophia" barred,)
Owned on this end of the Lake.
Purse, $50.00, CYC.
Spring fishing, attended by good luck, was over, so
(34 WIND AND WEATHER PERMITTING;.
now resting from their labors made general preparations for
the race. July Fourth there were 22 entries of fishing craft,
many of them fitted with suspiciously new sails, others with a
" cloth " recently added to the leech, and at least two with ill-
fitting borrowed sails of larger dimensions than the ordinary
business rig. Off the shore came a smart breeze which had
freshened not a little when the contestants anchored in line
across a narrow reach from the lake, jibs furled, booms aswing,
mainsail filling and backing at the caprice of the wind, and
picked crews all alert. On the shore a crowd is waiting for a
signal for the start, the while somewhat jealously discussing
the rig of a yacht with flying jib and a string of nags, manned
by a crew of boys in duck pants, and steered with a wheel.
Bang ! A pistol shot from the hands of the referee, a jus
tice of the peace so everlastingly dignified as to compel his
own boys and girls to call him " Squire. "
Bang ! Twenty-two jibs shoot up the forestay, twenty-two
cables are slipped, twenty-two tillers hard up, twenty-two prows
fall away, and twenty-two fishing boats, clean as a cabined
steam yacht, cleave the blue waters and chum up a wave of
foam in a grand charge for the lee shore not thirty rods dis
tant.
Hard alee !
The sailing master of the boat having the favored position
comes into the wind and then with his starboard tacks aboard
claims the right of way, compelling the first comer to go in
stays so quickly that the gravel bags fall overboard, others to
ware and some to gybe. He takes the bowsprit from one too
venturesome, and runs his horn through the leech of another
who had gone about in the vain hope of laying to windward
of the fleet, Another boat with broken rudder is run out high
and dry on the beach ; another is turned completely over, the
crew perching along the keel unheeded hy the more fortunate
" dei enders. "
\Vhile the hoats are dodging each other in a confusion of
flapping sails, loud orders, and cheers from the shore, a big
fellow is setting a gaff-topsail, "just fer to put on style, " as
Bone Mareean expressed it. But pride goeth before a fall, Mr.
Big One, and ore the extra sail is fairly set the halyards foul
and the sail flaps away with tack adrift and clewline spinning
out until it mil-lies a kink, when the topsail suddenly fills, bel
lies away to loesvard, and the boat within an inch of capsiz
ing, ships so much water as to make her all but unmanageable,
and she is withdrawn from the race 1 . Seventeen boats over
strained with a crowd of canvas thrash the narrow waters into
a choppy sea. The Bluebird breaks her mast off close 1 to the
jaws, and is towed into a friendly cove.
Interest in the contest narrows down to the three or four
in the lead. Nancy Marceau has already observed in the 1 con
fusion of sails what others have not. She has seen the Fancy,
with the F changed by some miscreant with a little coal tar
into an apology for an X, stand straight through the reach
without once tacking.
" Is Job sailing the Naney-cr-Fancy ? " asked young Lane,
looking at Nancy as though she ought to know.
" Duimo, " she curtly replied with flushing cheek and a
look that gave the lie to the words. " It s none of my busi
ness and less of yours, Jim Lane. "
" That might bo and then agin it mightn t, " and Jim
made a telescope of his hands to cut off the subject.
Out of the reach into the broad bay sped the boats urged
by a stiffening breeze, their k wind ward runboards lined with
bags of gravel which quickly shifted for the other tack, keeps
them right side up and in sailing trim. The Fancy rounds
the outer mark followed l>y the Saucy .lane and Crazy Jack
close upon her. No sooner is each boat fairly around the buoy
and before the wind on the return than a big lugsail is run up
the mast, a boom shot out and as the sails iill the boats fairly
fly over the course, each carrying a bone in her teeth which is
plainly discerned by the participants, in spirit, at least, on the
shore.
"Job is ragging it to her for first pri/e, sure, " remarked
a young neighbor lad who had made one trip on the upper
lakes and returned with a lot of knowledge, and a blue flannel
shirt ornamented with crossed anchors in white braid.
" He can t steer a raft across the canawl and fetch the
furder side, " sneering! y remarked old Marceau.
" He ll rag the stick outen her if he don t take in his
washing afore ten minute s, " he continued, and even as lie
spoke the spectators discovered the whitecaps chasing each
other in the wake of the flying racers. The Cra/y Jack was
farthest astern and caught the squall almost unawares. She
lifted and plunged, then an ominous cracking forward proved
trouble from an unlooked-for source. The forefoot twisted out
of the step and the mast already bending forward, pitched into
the boiling waters under her bows, tearing out the deck and
snapping backstays like threads. The hardy crew, wet to the
skin, verv quickly cleared up the wreck and with the jihhoom
lashed to the splintered deck and a bit of sail bagging from it,
they scudded past the inner buoy, and by dint of vigorous
bailing succeeded in making a landing without further dam
age. Of the fleet which started in the race one after another
had dropped out until only the Fancy and the Saucy Jane re
mained. After the disaster to the ( ra/y Jack, which was high,
ly appreciated by the crowd on shore, the two remaining ap
proached the inner buov which they were to turn and then
again cover the course. The Fancy came on and just when
ahreast the mark furled her lug sail and as the sheet was
hauled in by a run forward she swung around to the wind
and heeled over until her keel showed clear of the waves,
and she seemed drifting to windward from the momentum ac
crued in circling the mark.
Crack !
The onlookers arc treated to another long-hoped-for hit of
excitement. The Fancy s topmast had broken oft at the truck
and her peak was dangling in the lifts. A figure is going
aloft, hand over hand, on the 1 windward stays. I he wind
strengthens and the figure shrinks closer to the stump of the
mast.
" Hard luck : I m sorry, " said -Jim Lane, and he caught
Nancv Marceau watching the figure with an intensity that al
most betrayed her recognition of the nimble sailor.
" .Jim, do you think he will fall ?" spoke Nancy boldly
and yet almost tearfully.
" It s none <> my business, much less yourn, " mockingly
replied the ungallant .Jim. smiling ;it his own cleverness.
Old Marceau watched the repairs with a sailor s admira
tion for a display of skill in close (jiiarters. but his shaded
eyes failed to recogni/,, 1 young Collins els, 1 he would not have
complimented the good seamanship which quickly resulted in
securing a block to the stump of the mast, and alter reeving
a halyard into it the peak was set up, a single reef having been
put in the mainsail and jib in the 1 meantime. Then the Fan
cy, far in the rear, began the battle afresh amid the cheers of
the sailors and fishermen who had gathered down the shore
the better to see the contest for the supremacy of the fishing
tleet.
" Now, " said J<,by as he resumed a position on the quar-
f> WIND AND WKATHKR PKRMITTIXG.
ter and steadied the tiller by the round turn of a rope belayed
to windward, "we shall overhaul the Saucy if that stick
holds. "
" les, " said the man tending jib sheet, " she is carrying
too much sail now. See her heel down and luff. I tell you
these seas deaden the headway and throw her too much to lee
ward when her luff is slapping like that. "
Tacking to the outer mark was not making rapid head
way, and the gain counted upon for the Fancy s getting down
to steady work was not so much as her gallant crew had hoped.
A plank was run out to windward and a man, Johnny Bea
ver, clambered out toward the end as the boat careened, and
quickly slid down again as she straightened up. It was truly
a comical sight, this man dangling in mid-air at an elevation
of nearly forty-five degrees as the boat yielded to a puff and
lay down. Successively rising and falling he more than once
took a ducking from a big comber that reached up and hit
him all over when he was a trifle slow about sliding back,
laughingly remarking : " Never tooch me. "
The Saucy Jane a mile to windward was nearing the
mark, every joint squeaking with the strain of canvas. She was
shipping water like a canal boat crossing the lake when
Zip!
The clewline tackle stranded, then broke, and her sail
slid down the boom almost to the mast. The next instant she
bore away before the wind and was running like a wildcat
away from the coveted mark with her helpless crew, the
helm hard down and the rudder square across her stern, plow
ing up the water like an exposed propeller blade. Only the
most skillful seamanship such as is developed in the fishing
craft of the Great Lakes, prevented a disaster before she could
be brought to the wind and her sails reefed. This last acci-
WIND AND WKATHKH PERMITTING. ()0
dent brought the boats very close together ar.d as they stood
out for the mark all eyes were centered upon the scene and
many were the speculations as to the outcome.
There she goes, " a dozen voices shouted as one boat,
not half the crowd knew which, rounded the mark and squared
away for the home buoy. The next instant the other maneu
vered in the same manner and the two boats threaten to cap
size, first on one side and then on the other, so heavy is the
roll. A bright, new lugsail is sent up, and a cheer goes up as
the home boat is recognized in the rear but now fast overhaul
ing her competitor with the crew in white duck. The Fancy,
startled at the strain of another rail, leaped forward like a
deer, and the rolling subsiding in a measure by the balancing
of the new sail, she steadied down for the six-mile run with
less foam and froth in a very business-like way.
" A starn chase is a long chase, " commented old Mar-
ceau, as he recognized the advantage to the boat of the son of
his dead enemy.
"Why don t them dandy marines stick out a lugger, the
lubbers, " he continued.
A voice cried "Shame." but it was drowned in the loud
huzzas as the Fancy passed the other, one of the crew holding
out a rope as if offering a tow.
The already vanquished foreigner ran up his lugsail, peak
down, not daring to set the whole sail, but he was yet slow
and the Fancy had already near a minute the lead. In a few
minutes the contest was over and a hundred hands met the
Fancy and lifted her clear of the water high and dry on the
beach the moment she reached the shore. The stranger picked
up his anchor, dipped his ensign, fired a brass gun and ac
knowledged defeat in a very naval-like manner which quickly
70 \VL\I) AXI) WKATiIKU PKKM ITTI X< !.
created a foolin" 1 of admiration for the crew drcssod in white
duck.
Old Marcoau went homo.
Ho would havo quickly returned had he ohsorved a drip-
pin- sailor, who had considerable resemblance to the trim
looking chap who wont out as the skipper of the Fancy, watch
him well away and then stroll over to a youni> lady in white,
under a wide hat.
" .Joby, I m iL>-lad, " said the white figure.
" I m olad you r ^lad. "
11 You won t race a^ain, will you ? "
Onloss I seethe skipper in white duck talkin soft to
voti.
" I didn t. "
" Ho did. "
" Oh you old Jealous ; that was pa s plasterer, Tim Ka-
JL>-MII. Now ! "
" By mio-hty, I dunno but you r ri^ht. " And they
strolled down the street to sec the wheelbarrow races, greasy
pi i>- and wluit the pesters denominated smaller sports. But
.Joby turned his face and softly whispered to himself:
" By the horn spoon ! If IM a known th;;t was Tim in
his plaster overhalls, IM a lost the race sun 1 as <n;:is.
Wars and Rumors of Wars.
Napoleon Bonaparte Marceau came into the 1 log cabin
just before the shadow fell upon the noon-mark on the window
sill. He set a pot of beans on the hearth from the hook in
the fireplace, and hung in its stead an empty rye-and-Indian
kettle, threw in some sera]) lead, oiled the bullet molds and
began cleaning a rather bright-looking Hint-lock made in part
by his own hands.
His wife protested against such rude interference with
dinner :
" Bone Marccau I am sick of the smell of venison. So
you needn t go. I ll cook no more of it in this house. "
" Cook it outdoor then, " responded Marceau.
Soon he had run a pouch full of bullets, which he hur
riedly trimmed, and then ran a pocket half full to make sure
of a good supply. Seizing a piece of smoked venison and the
half of a corn meal cake which he wrapped in a piece of linen
and shoved into a pocket, he picked up the musket, slinging
powder horn and shot bag over his neck, and with gun at
" shoulder arms 1 lie strode out the door giving the wife this
admonition which contained the first intimation of his inten
tions ;
" lie keerful of the fires and milk the cow reg lar. The
- WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
British is goin fer to try to take the Harbor and we arc goin
to show em once more how we ben fitten at gineral trainin , "
and lie was off to the war without romance, or goodby formal
ities, except a dignified military salute to his wife at a point
where the path disappeared in the woods.
The wife called to him to " take no risks and watch out for
them pesky Hessians and hired Ingens."
" Lord ! " she exclaimed, " war and blood at our very
doors. Then she sat down and cried over her loneliness
and the distress of the country.
The next day in the midst of her spinning she was star
tled by the distant boom of a cannon, then another and an
other.
" The alarm guns ! " she exclaimed.
Mrs. Marceau had not seen the maneuverings of the Brit
ish fleet on the lake as her husband had, and the report of the
alarm guns was the first intimation she had had of real war.
Slipping on a woolen shawl she ran a mile to the nearest
neighbor, Mrs. Lane. That good woman was mounted on a
wagon looking southward as if sight would pierce the hills
and woods and reveal the scene of the battle. Pier husband,
too, had gone at his country s call, but less informally than
had Marceau. The two women whispered and watched* in the
direction of the battle. A dense cloud of smoke lifted itself
slowly above the hills and treetops on the opposite shore, and
more certainly located the struggle in human blood. The
cannonading ceased as suddenly as it began and the two wo-
m-n clutche;! each other s clothing as each looked inquiringly
at the other. There was a faint rattle of the discharge of
small arms and for a moment silence. Then the louder report
of a musket reached their ears.
" Bar-r-ng ! " it said, if translated into talk.
WARS AXD RUMORS OF WARS. To
" I fear their powder is gone, " said the elder of the wo
men, "that was neither a musket nor a cannon, unless it he
the last bit of powder tired from a cannon.
"That was my husband s musket, " replied Mrs. Mar-
ceau positively. "That was my husband s -Old Utica, as he
calls it, and he says it takes a ball a third heavier than any
gun west of Albany, she added with a show of pride.
No sleep came to their eyes that night as they revolved
over and over the probability of success or defeat. Hoping
and praying, over and again they imagined the experiences of
widowhood, and trembled at the least noise lest it were the ap
proach of the British. Morning came and with it the duties
of the day, but work was out of the question. The children
were kept indoors. The clank of oars caught their attention
and to the shore they cautiously made their way.
"Thank God ! we are not widows. " fervently spoke Mrs.
Lane.
A boat was approaching and instead of Hessians the hus
bands of the frightened women landed.
Ma recall s hand was wrapped in the 1 linen that had served
the purpose of a napkin when he had hastily sei/ed his lunch.
" Got a ball through my hand, " he half apologized, " but
if twan t pizened I shan t be bothered long. It came after the
bugle sounded to cease firing, but 1 gin em one salute Irom
Old Utica, as they pulled out to the ship in their boats, just
to make em bail as they bed t:> for 1 seen a splinter leave her
starn. "
" Yes. " said the neighbor, " you made a bigger hole in
the boat than they did in your hand. I ll warn you. {Show
em your venison, Sargeant, " and he saluted his superior offi
cer, who had received a promotion without having been en
rolled in the service. The venison was produced and a hole
t [ WARS AND RTMORS OK WARS.
almost closed was first exhibited and then turned to the opposite
side, where a little of the substance had been cut away show
ing the end of a pointed ball which had lodged there while the
piee? was still in his pocket.
" Tough meat that, or I wouldn t be here, " coldly re
marked Marceau, and the women shuddered at a realizing
sense of the horrors of war not yet revealed to them by the in
jured hand which had not been uncovered.
In the excitement of the return, a young man dressed in
a semi-military uniform was nearly forgotten.
" Here Bill, " suddenly called Lane, " come up and get
acquainted with the women. This is my woman, and this
Bone s wife Leftenant Yaughan, who has come hum with us
to larn what the Britishers 11 do next. "
The young man bowed low, saluted, and the ladies conrt-
esied.
" Ye don t look real pert and well, stranger, " remarked
Mrs. Lane. " Come in and sit by. I ve some wheat flour and
I will have some white biscuits and honey. Don t pear to me
as you are any great eater, anyway. "
The young boatswain said he " didn t mind, " if the men
were going in. u Lieutenant " was a title 1 facetiously applied
by Lane to make his introduction more impressive.
" You see, " began Lane as they entered the house, " mo
and Marceau got to the barracks just afore the Britishers made
Horse Island, and the leftenant here wants to get the lay ot
the land hereabouts. Bein s Bone and me see the redcoats pint-
ill that way when we ware scoutin on our own hook"-
"Avast, there!" growled Marceau, " you r losin yer
beai in s agin, neighbor. The leftenant is a great angler and
bein a little off en his feed he s about to take pot luck with us
and recoopcrate by way of huntin n fishiiv.
AVARS AND RfMORS OK WAUS. <>
" And if tliat don t help you jest try bleedin , " added
Lane with a wink that ran from the cords of his neck np into
his seal}). It was a sly dig at Marceau who needlessly suffered
shame at receiving a wound.
" Better try a stecpin of plantain leaves and snake-root
fust," timidly put in Mrs. Marceau at a pause.
Lords of creation ! In the interest of truth it must he
stated that the two settlers had heen smuggling .pot and pearl
ashes into Canada when they learned of the approach of the
Hritish fleet, long hefore the alarm guns were sounded.
And the sickly lieutenant! He was sound as a bullet,
and had been sent out as a scout to reconnoiter the lake shore
and find the enemy s vantage points on the St. Lawrence Riv
er. He was an acknowledged marksman with the fowling
piece, or a 24-pounder from the deck of the 1 flagship. He was
a studious sailor, too, not content with steering his trick, he
passed his watch below studying some old prints on the science
of navigation.
Yaughan passed many days coasting the shores between
Gravelly Point and Stony Point, searching out harbors and
shoals, watching for the enemy, and reporting his occasional
presence at the River into which he ventured a. few times, al r
ways in company with his new-found friends. Lane and Mar
ceau.
AVhen he returned to the post at Sackets Harbor, General
Wilkinson had superceded General Brown and was formula
ting a plan to descend the River with an overwhelming force
and capture Montreal. To this plan Yaughan, who had been
promoted to sailing-master, made strenuous objections when
]AC was called into the conference.
The officers studied a rude map which Yaughan had
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
tily drawn from a knowledge gained while scouting on the
lake shore.
" What yon have been accustomed to call an island,
here," explained the scout, " is really a peninsula connected
with the main shore by a strip of land about ten yards wide.
I pulled my boat across it often and found a most excellent
harbor inside. Outside in the lake lies an island well toward
(Gravelly Point, which contains a fine harbor almost land
locked. Its form is that of a basin, and we have named it
Basin Harbor. That point would make a very desirable ren
dezvous for the expedition to Montreal, if that is the campaign
upon which you are determined. The harbor can be reached
from the east side in small boats, but not by those of deep
draft. The approach from the lake side is dangerous for those
unacquainted with these waters. One must hug the north
shore close to find a deep channel leading right into the har
bor. Not far out lie treacherous rocky ledges, but once clear
of these shoals the harbor will protect the whole fleet, "
Our fleet was assembled at Grenadier Island on the 27th,
at least such of our boats as survived a gale which set in dur
ing the night Of this expedition Dr. Hough wrote:
At this late season of the year, when with no other enemy
but the weather, it would seem the extremity of folly to at
tempt the navigation of the lake in open boats, from the peril
arising from sudden tempests, it was decided to pass the ene
my s fleet and army, and descend upon Montreal, allowing the
enemy the privilege of attacking on his own territory in both
front and rear, with an intimate knowledge of the country
and its resources, and every advantage that a skillful com
mander could have desired, had the selection of circumstances
been left to him. Viewed in its proper light, the expedition
jnay be justly considered an outrage upon reason and conji
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. //
moil sense, and justly entitled to the odium which has been
attached to it.
On the 2(>th of October, at noon, orders were issued for
the heavy, light and flying artillery, commanded by Colonels
Porter, Eustis and Macomb, and the fourth brigade, com
manded by Brigadier-General Svvartwout, of the infantry, to
embark, and proceed immediately to Basin Harbor, in (Jrena-
dior Island. At six p. m. tlie whole embarked, and put off with
a favorable wind, the transports mostly consisting of scows,
Durham boats, common lake sail boats, and bateaux, contain
ing besides officers and soldiers, ordnance, ammunition, hospi
tal stores, baggage, and two months provisions for the troops.
An unpardonable negligence was evinced during these and the
following movements, in the custody and safe keeping of the
supplies, immense quantities of which were ultimately lost.
There was a deficiency of experienced pilots, and the men
in the boats were mostlv unaccustomed to their management,
either in good or bad weather, and particularly in a dark
night, and, in passing points of land where they were unac
quainted with the soundings and currents, and at a season
when sudden and violent tempests are liable to arise without
warning.
The wind and weather favored until one o clock a. m.,
when the boats appeared to be much scattered ; some had
landed on Pillar Point, and Point Peninsula ; some had en.-
tered Chaumont Bav, and other inlets; others had landed on
Cherry, Stony and Horse islands, and others stood off for
Kingston, where one boat, with an officer and ten men, is said
to have arrived in safetv. Several boats landed on Long
Island, in British territory, and some safely reached their
destination at Basin Harbor. At half past two the wind
BJufted nearly ahead j and blc\y fre,sh from the lake, by whicfy
78 WARS AND Kl MORS OK WARS.
many boats got in the reai, and discovering lights on the
shore, attempted to reach them, in which some succeeded. It
soon began to rain, and the wind increased to a gale, in which
the boats and scows which had landed, were drifted and beaten
on the shore, which in some places was rough and rocky,
while others, still on the lake, made the first point of land
they could discover to save themselves. The morning dis
closed a scene of desolation truly distressing. The shores of
the islands and main land were strewn with broken and
sunken boats, and the day was spent in unloading such as
could be reached, and in endeavoring to save such perishable
articles as could be found, the gale continuing through that
day and the following night. On the ISth, the wind having
abated, several boats were got off from the rocks, and arrived
at Basin Harbor, but on the next day the storm increased, and
several boats that had attempted to gain their rendezvous,
were driven back upon the shores. On the 20th the day was
favorable, and many of the sound boats reached Basin Harbor.
The brigades of Generals Brown, Boyd and (V)vington
which had encamped at Henderson Harbor, arrived at Grena
dier Island on the 20th. Of the flotilla that had left Sackets
Harbor, fifteen large boats were entirely lost, many others,
with several scows were much damaged, and a large quantity
of bread was destroyed. The troops remained encamped on
the island until the first of November, engaged in repairing
the boats and making preparations t<> descend the St. Law
rence, The weather meanwhile continued stormy, and snow
fell to the depth of ten inches. .Many of the regulars were
from the southern states, and unaccustomed to the severity of
a northern winter, and in this expedition, especially at a later
period, suffered extremely from the rigor of the climate, which
produced! a frightful mortality among them,
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. 79
On the 28th, U)(> of the sick were put on board of a
schooner and sent to Sackets Harbor. Wilkinson arrived on
the 27th, and finding a large body still in the rear, wrecked
or stranded, returned to Sackets Harbor to order a supply of
winter clothing and shoes, for the troops on the island, some
of whom were nearly destitute. lie observed many iires of
troops along the shore, but the wind was so violent that lie
could not communicate with them. On the 2od, Colonel Cole
arrived with -200 men. of the l 2th regiment, and sailed for the
rendezvous, and the Growler was sent to Oswego for Colonels
Randolph and Scott, who were expected there, and as many
men as the vessel could carry. The general returned the same
day to Grenadier Island and arrived off the island at eight in
the evening, the weather continuing boisterous during this
night and the day following, with frequent rains and heavy
gales, so that a landing could not be effected until the 2f>th.
In the intervals of the gal 1 , opportunities were watched
to slip detachments of boats into the St. Lawrence, hut so
treacherous were the lulls of the tempest, that great peril was
encountered in passing from Grenadier Island to Cape Vin
cent, a distance of nine 1 miles. .Many boats were driven
ashore and much provisions and clothing were lost. General
Brown was ordered to take command of the advance and post
himself at French Creek, where the detachments were ordered
to rendezvous. The Growler arrived at Grenadier Island on
the 81st, with 20 men of the 1 20th regiment, and on the 2d of
November, Chauncey took a position to protect the south chan
nel, where it was apprehended the enemy would enter and oc
cupy Fort Carleton, which, with some repairs, would have
effectually commanded that channel, and compelled the
American army to winter on Lake Ontario, or run the gaunt
let under the batteries of Kingston. Perhaps no point on the
(SO WARS AND HUMORS OF WARS.
river is so admirably adapted for a military post, as the head
of Oarleton Island, and it has been justly called the (Jibralter
of this passage.
So much for prosy history. General Brown s fleet \vas
piloted from Grenadier Island to French Creek by Lane, Mar-
ceau and (now) Captain Vaughan, though the latter had been
so far in the Kiver on but one occasion, and that in the night.
As they passed Bartlett s Point the general saw in that prom
ontory the advantage of position, and a battery of three eigh-
teen-pounders was landed, drawn up the hill, and left in com
mand of Captain McPherson. Captain Vaughan was detailed
as expert gunner, and the compliment to his marksmanship
pleased him more than would a promotion to commodore of
the fleet. His old friends, the smugglers, piloted the fleet into
the bay at the mouth of French Creek, past Indian Point,
where the west end of the bridge rests today, and up the stream
to a point suitable for a camp of seven thousand men. The
place once called Wilkinson s Point, is better known as the
llubbard House farm.
A sharp lookout was kept night and day at Hartlett Point,
now Prospect Park, inasmuch as it was known that the enemy
was lurking among these Thousand Islands, and his presence
might not be discovered until he had reached an uncomforta
ble proximity. The two pilots coasted about in canoes ac
quainting themselves the better with the intricacies of the
channels, big and little, deep and shallow, narrow and wide.
From the battery a wide sweep of vision was had up and
down the River. The view directly across was limited by the
dense growth of firs, balsams, pines and hemlocks which in
places appeared rooted in the very granite foundations. Cap
tain Yaughan, seated upon his gun, drank in the beauties of
the scene with more than the appreciation cf an ordinary sol-
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. SI
clier. Early frosts had tinted the leaves, and the tire red maple
backed by the varied shades of green and gray gave back a
sharp reflection in the still autumn day. From his elevated
position the observer fell to noting the apparent regularity
with which the dead pines were stationed like so many silent
sentinels, an effect the more striking, the greater the distance.
Was that the wing of a huge bird in a dead tamarack ?
Captain Vaughan, standing up, brought a long spyglass
into range and ga/ed intently at a tall tree which had been
blasted by lightning. The air was not in motion, yet he dis_
tinctly saw the fluttering as of a flag in the brcc/e, a full league
down stream. Hastily dispatching a messenger for the pilots
he noted the appearance and disappearance of the phenomenal
signal which Nature 1 in her freakiest mood could not simu
late.
The pilots arrived from the cam]) at Wilkinson s Point
and were sainted in an unconcerned manner, and then drawn
back upon a knoll a little apart from the gun crews.
The captain pointed northerly toward the dead tree which
towered above the oaks and maples.
" Now, watch. "
A white flag was waved from hori/on to hori/on, and in
the blaze of sunlight its outline became very distinct.
" One, two, three, " counted the captain, and after a pause
the signalling was resumed. This time the observers counted
two, then, after another pause, one.
The gaxe of the pilots met in a half-quizzical expression.
" Cap n. we ve seen that kind of flutterin before, eh !
Marceau, when we crossed with the last load of potash "
" Shet up, Lane ! Do you want the hull revenue ossifers
arter yer onworthy skin ? The feller up a tree s got a pard-
ner, C ap n. Want to see him? Then promise me and Lane
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
a promotion to admirals of this fleet and I ll show you tothei 1
one, besides"
" Nonsense, men, " interrupted the captain, " if you know
anything more of this fluttering business than 1 can guess,
out with it for this is no time for sport. "
" Right you are, " said Lane, and he swept the upstream
shore with his hand as Marceau brought his ga/e to a stand
still.
" There s his pardner, " sai<l the pilot as a signal was
waved from another tree top on the Canadian shore.
" Bout six mild apart in these ratholes, Cap n. Lots on
em between Kingston and Windmill Pint. ;
" Yes, "offered Lane, " the smugglers used to think the
customs house officers climbed trees to warn the approach of
Yankee potash peddlers. "
-Well?"
" Well, it means ther s a gunboat or two, or maybe a brio-,
or two or three schooners betwixt them air treetops, sir, and
if you want the feller in the tree just give the order. Me an
Lane ll bring him ! "
" Yes no, " responded the captain, still watching for the
reappearance of the signals. ; It may be we can re-ad as well
as they, after we learn. "
The pilots disagreed as to the exact location of the tree
first observed by Captain Vaughan, and after obtaining per
mission, paddled off with the current to make a closer inspec
tion of the locality. After going a mile or more- tliev located
the tree more accurately, and then remembered that near it a
palisade opened into a large bay of shallow water. These
palisades would screen a tall mast from any but an open view
at each end of the channel.
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. So
Suddenly Marceau touched Lane on the shoulder and
pointed significantly to the main channel to the northward.
Both paddles rested in the water.
A brig Hying the British jack lay moored to a precipitous
cliff whither she had been helplessly carried by the current
when the wind gave out. Towering above a low island could
be seen some masts. A small boat, approaching the brig,
seemed filled with soldiers.
The pilots were for the moment seized with the "fever. "
Their first move was to turn about and paddle back under the
friendly shadow of an island, and then exchanging ideas bv a
mere glance, they set their paddles deep and shot the canoe
back toward the reiide/vous with long, rapid stroke*. At the
shore they parted, Lane to report to (ieneral Wilkinson, the
other to Captain Yaughan.
The latter met Marceau in the brush for lie had seen the
pilots returning and suspected the enemy s presence. After
receiving the news he walked back to his gun. which he patted
affectionately after carefully noting that everything was in
readiness.
"This expedition is a fool job, Marceau. " he half mused
"for here are we with the enemy in front, in the rear and on
the Hank. This is defending our country but not saving it as
I look at it, "
"Be that as it may, " replied the other, " ther Il be busi
ness on this hill before another sun sets if the wind blowsanv-
think short of a hurricane. "
A sighing in the .pines suggested wind, but as yet the
water had not been disturbed. The glassy surface gave back
a smiling reflection of Nature s face, and birds in their flight
shot downward at their own shadows expecting to make the
acquaintance of another of their kind.
84
WAfeS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
" Anotlier night-breeze from tlie north, " suggested Mar 1 -
eoau, who liad been watching the moving brandies. " The
brig will make our ae<|iiaintanee before many hours, eh ! cap
tain?"
The captain did not heed, lie was sweeping the bay, the
shore and the islands with his glass and making mental cal
culations. The battery was masked behind some fallen trees
and a gjod breastwork of logs. The enemy undoubtedly had
information of the concentration of the troops in French Crook,
but they would seek in vain for the battery, even if they sus
pected its presence on the promontory.
The northerly breeze stiffened and one after another of
the beautiful reflections were erased from the face of the waters
as a frown swept over them with the increasing ripple. Fled
like a smile from a happy face was the enchanted isles which
a moment before had been suspended trees downward in a
beautiful mirror set in a frame of gneiss, or forming a rich
fringe as from a beautiful garment. The horror of war was
spreading over all the landscape as occasional clouds obscured
the sun.
Was yonder ship growing out of the rocks, coming up out
of the deep, or gracefully alighting from an aerial flight? An
other and yet another seemed to launch from the mass of
green and gold leaves into which the descending sun shot his
brightest rays as a beacon light reveals an otherwise hidden
danger.
Yaughan warned the sentinel, he gave the alarm, messen
gers were dispatched to General Wilkinson s camp, and then
the drums sounded the long roll. Seemingly out of the rocky
walls the fleet of the enemy came in a light breeze. Two brigs,
two schooners, and several smaller boats loaded with infantry,
lie numbered. The pilots were evidently unacquainted with
WAKS AXD RUMOKS OF WARS. 8*
the waters they were navigating. A brig led the fleet and it
was evident that it was tlie purpose to go into the mouth of
the creek and give the Americans battle on shore, and under
the protection of the naval guns.
Charcoal fires were lighted at the battery, and wires were
kept hot for tiring the powder which was put into the inuz/le
of the guns in bags. Captain Yaughan had made his reputa
tion at Sackets Harbor when he effectually captained a thirty-
two pounder loaded with twenty-fours, the deficiency made up
by wrapping carpets around the balls. He was determined
that the set of sun should not see the luster of his prowess
dimmed on this occasion. The fleet approached Bartlett Point
and as the 1 largest brig began to ware off Captain McPherson
gave the order to give battle Captain Yaughan to fire first.
He waited until the masts appeared as one and gave the word
to his mate to fire. Marceau already had the red hot wire in
hand and at the word ran it down the vent.
The gun spoke.
The commander, watching through the glass, saw all
three shots fall short of the mark.
The invaders were evidently surprised at a salute from
that quarter, for the brig luffed as if her master wished to
make a closer acquaintance, and then poured out a broadside
at the hill. Their aim was bad and the balls whistled high
over the battery, while the otherwise silent woods mockingly
echoed and re-echoed the roar. By this time Captain Yaughan
was again ready for another shot. As before, lie took careful
aim and when the smoke cleared away he had the poor conso
lation of seeing the brig s sails torn and the rigging evidently
cut. The other gunners now paid their respects to the second
brig and the schooners. They shot nwa} some of the rigging,
but no serious damage was done until the brig which gave the
^> WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
invitation to battle was nearly hove to the third time to pre
sent a broadside.
1 Now, " said Yaughan f () j,j s lllattlj "^everything ready
for a quick fire and I will do some damage if powder will
carry a ball. "
The brio- 1> 01V in) t() tl)e win(] an( ] j ust as t j, e yards swung
around and the masts had barely passed out of range, the cap
tain sighted his pieee. lUarceau already stood by him with
the red hot wires and at the word pushed one down the vent
and pierced the bag of powder which had been rammed down
behind two balls. The single bag of powder had been re-in-
forced by near half a bag which Marceau had quietly poured
in, contrary to orders.
The gun roared, the promontory trembled, the smoke hid
the enemy.
" Well done, " shouted ( Y)inmander McPherson, as the
black veil lifted. " Yanghaii you have brought down the
foremast. "
This called out a cheer from the entire battery, as well as
a broadside from the second brig. The fleet had been describ
ing a circle in the maneuver, as they wore around and stood
away from the creek, when saluted from the masked battery
The small boats of infantry were ineffectual at that range, and
made but one move to land. That was effectually checked by
the battery s concentrating its fire upon the schooner that at
tempted to protect them in landing. The fleet was now close
together and afforded an excellent mark, but as the balls tore
their sails and rigging they realized the superiority of the po
sition of the Americans and with the small boats towed the
disabled brig out, and soon the whole fleet dropped down
stream with the current, the wind having died away.
During this half-hour s engagement the troops in the
WARS AND Kl MOHS OF WAIIS. 87
cam]) liad been drawn up in dress parade and stood at rest as
idle spectators. Most of them had heen under fire, but not a,
few of them wineed as the balls from the port side of the brio-
whistled over their heads and fell harmless into the marsh or
woods beyond. Only a few of them were favored with a view
of the battle. The enemy was less fortunate for it is evident
that they did not know the exaet location of the rendezvous us
their aim was much too high. Two men at the battery were
wounded and one was killed outright. The British loss was
not ascertained, and great or small the world loses nothing by
lack of information regarding the numerical slaughter in hu
man blood on this or anv oth; r occasion.
Night came.
The pickets were redoubled about the rendezvous, and
every preparation was made to guard against a surprise by
land and water. The exultant Americans knew full well the
temper of the race with which they had to deal, and past ex
periences had taught them that this foe, though defeated,
was not vanquished. The night was cool, with just wind
enough moving to tumble against the shores a slight swell
which falling with a regular cadence lulled the soldier into
sleep, or set him tumbling on his hemlock couch as the
nervous system was tuned to harmony or otherwise. Often in
the darkness the sentinels were startled by the mournful cry
of the loon, or the sharp beating of his wings and feet upon
the water in his clumsy attempts at flight.
The morning came.
Sunrise at the Thousand Islands ! The first faint glow of
light in the east foreshadowed the glories of the dawn of a
beautiful day. Not so much as a breath of air moved, for the
very wind was awed into silence as the mellow light turned to
ft soft pink and then to a glowing red wliich sprea4 qy^r fa$
WARS AM) HUMORS OF WARS.
portion of the horizon. In the water the changing tints were
copied as upon the painter s canvas. Long shadows crept
away from the trees crowning the rocky bluffs whose sides the
water lazily lapped, just as a fond mother awakens a child with
a caress lest it he startled at a too sudden awakening. The air,
laden with the resinous odors of cone-hearing trees, seemed to
have gained volume during the night, and the soldiers from
the far south declared they could fairly taste it. Here and
there a shining maskalonge, the Frenchman s " long-face, "
shot out of his native element and fell back with a resounding
splash upon the still surface. A A T -shaped flock of geese, led
by the regular " quonk, quonk, " of a sober old pilot gander,
roused company after company of the sleeping troopers who
contentedly fell back again at the responsive " la-la-lunk, " of
the mother goose as they pressed their flight southward. The
sentries forgot their beats, and looking over the rude ramparts
become lost in admiration of the miraculous birth of another
day. The morning star faded.. The halo of morn was rein
forced with bright rays shooting upward and outward by com
panies like glistening spears behind a golden battlement which
a fleecy cloud caught up in bold reflection as if to mirror the
splendors of a glorious sunrise for Nature s own admiration.
Higher and yet higher shot the pinnacles of light, Shorter
and shorter drew the shadows. Fainter and fainter became
the red glow, and lighter and lighter became the leafy caverns
that a moment ago seemed dark and impenetrable. The glis
tening channels, which lay scattered about like silver threads,
shot away into the more intricate and all but inaccessible
labyrinths of this mighty cathedral not of man s construction,
A flock of whistle-wings tacked upstream, and a sober
crane slowly beat the air as with legs stretched back like a
pair of pm1d]es ? i\v\<] neck closely coiled, he sought his ff\Y9Fit Q
"VVAHS AM) Rl MOKS OF WAKS. 80
wading place where frogs were greenest, and little fish most
venturesome. Upward and upward climbed the streaks of red
and white and yellow, until as with a myriad of golded wires
the sun s disk was slowly lifted into the horizon whence he
was to cut his way across the heavens in the ceaseless pursuit
of ever-fleeting dawn.
The reveille !
Bugle sound and beat of drum recalls the stern fact that
in the midst of these peaceful solitudes War, red-handed,
blood-thirsty War, stalks abroad in a reign of terror.
When the dis-blcd fleet drifted out of range of the bat
tery, Commander McPherson was anxious to follow and over
taking them complete the victory. Not for a moment did he
think that the policy of General AVilkinson would be other
wise. His anxiety was the possibility that his command would
be ordered to remain, and others be sent out in their stead.
No orders were issued and the attacking party departed as un
molested as though going for an outing.
:i Yaughan, " suggested the commander, when it was cer
tain no orders for the pursuit were to issue, " what do you say
to following the fleet and bringing them back as prizes? "
16 Get thee behind me, Satan," quoted Yaughan. " It s a
shame to let them slip away just when we had them fairly
caught. But its a sample of what the reglars are made of.
Marceau and Lane would capture the hull bilin on em with
a canoe ! T tell you its a fool expedition, this. "
The men parted and did not meet until the next forenoon.
Vaughan and the two pilots stood upon the crude breastworks
and passed a spyglass from eye to eye.
Marceau spoke first : " Thet thare s no dead pine. Dead
pines don t travel fur, and that one s opened a hand s width
(ind whats onusual its got a jjwto follying a-t prcza^kty
WARS AND KTMORS OF WA1IS.
same gait ! Its a couple of topmasts a-loomin aloft the island,
and we ll hev more celebratin afore long. sir. "
Vaughan motioned to McPherson, who took the glass but
failed to verity the pilot s discovery, which in no wise discon
certed that worthy, who rather felt his superiority over the
officer.
Lane took a long look and without removing the glass
announced that there were " four dead pines walkin up^the
crick, now.
Just then the bowsprit of the first schooner, for there was
no doubt about it now, pushed out of a rocky cleft, and in a
few moments the lately uesd up ileet was seen advancing to
renew the combat. McPherson gave his men a few words of
encouragement and then instructed the gunners to hold their
fire until the enemy attacked. The fleet was short one brig
on this occasion, a fact which Yaughan noted with some in
ward self-praise. The schooners led the brig by gunshot dis
tance, and approaching boldly to the steep bluffs set a couple
of twelve-pounders to sounding taps at the clear sky above.
The battery returned with a concerted volcano of hell-fire and
shot which cut some of the running rigging, and some of the
sails drooped. This evidently disconcerted the schooners for
they immediately fell back to the protection of the larger guns
of the brig. The slight breeze was dying out and after tiring
a few random shots the fleet retreated as it had on the night
previous.
No attempt was made to follow the enemy down the Kiv-
er, and camp at Wilkinson s Point was not broken until three
days later, The soldiers suffered from want of shoes and
and besides oveiy infill of tjiem. had
WA&S A^T) RUMORS or WARS . 91
enee to foresee the disaster which subsequently befell the ex
pedition at Chrysler s Field.
At the battle of Bartlett Point two Americans were killed
and four were wounded. McPherson was promoted to a cap
taincy, which office he had held by brevet, and Captain
Vaughan was given command of the schooner Julia, whose
successful cruising forms the subject of another chapter.
TJIK STORY OF TOM (JAKXKT.
Ever since that period when man reared on his hind legs
and walked, romance has been signally united with war. One
of the most touching anecdotes of the second war with England
is related of a hero of the Army of the North, as that ami on
Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence border was designated.
Tom Garnet was the son of an English farmer, living
about forty miles from Liverpool. He chose a partner for life
and was sent not long after marriage with an ox cart laden
with wheat to Liverpool, to exchange for furniture and an out
fit, but was seized on the streets by a press gangyand despite
his entreaties and resistance, was taken on board a frigate
about to sail for the East Indies, his cart and oxen remaining
in the street, and himself unable to relieve anxieties at home
by a single word of explanation.
During seven long weary years, he was detained abroad ,
without an opportunity of exchanging letters with his family,
or of knowing whether those most dear were dead or alive. At
length, he was paid off and set on shore at Liverpool. Sun
burnt by tropical heat, and haggard from hard service, he was
02 WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
so changed that his best friends would hardly have known
him. He had carefully saved his earnings, and having
shunned the vices that sailors too often acquire, he had with
him a considerable sum, for a man of his station, with which
he was fondly hoping to gladden the hearts of loved ones at
home if perchance they were still living. As night ap
proached, fearing to call at an inn, lest his dress and appear
ance should excite suspicion that lie might he a deserter from
the fleet, he crept into a nook under a stack of straw, and
spent the night. In the morning, there was a dense fog, and
not knowing the course he should take, he foil in with another
press gang, and was again carried on board a vessel about to
sail for the South American Coast, After some years, finding
an opportunity, he escaped, crossed the Andes, and at length,
reaching an Atlantic port, he enlisted for a few months in an
American ship, which soon brought him to the United States.
His crew was detailed for service on Lake Ontario, and he
arrived at Saekets Harbor in the fall of 1812, and joined the
crew of the brig Oneida under Lieutenant Woolsev. Durino-
. <"^
twenty years he had been unable to gain the first word from
home. He was of a kind, cheerful and obliging disposition,
was strictly temperate, used no profane language, and was
made captain of the forecastle, from the entire confidence that
was placed in his capacity and fidelity. In short, Tom (Jar-
net was the universal favorite of the brig, and both officers
and men became strongly attached to him for his kindness of
heart, intelligence and moral worth.
On the morning before the fleet of ( ommodoiv rhaiincey
sailed to meet the enemy near Kingston, Tom related to his
comrades a dream he had the night before, in which his wife
appeared to him as a disembodied spirit in .Heaven, with a
son, whom he hnd never seen, and old him he would sooi
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. 93
join them. His story was treated with levity ; hut the calm
and serious earned ness with which he related it, and the evi
dent conviction he had as to (he premonition, checked hilarity.
He proceeded to divide his wardrobe among his companions,
and gave instructions about the disposal of the little property
he possessed, as one about to die ; yet his cheerfulness and
alacrity were unabated ; although he evidently believed in the
presentiment he had expressed, he seemed exhilarated in the
welcome prospect of meeting the long-lost and dear partner of
early hopes.
The fleet sailed and engaged the enemy s batteries in the
harbor of Kingston, the first shot from which was a nine-
pound ball, which crossed the deck of the Oneida, and passed
through the body of Tom Gurnet at his post. lie fell instant
ly dead, with the same Miiile upcn his countenance 1 which
habit had impressed.
KAKLY SMI T G(!LIX(J.
A company of infantry, under Captain Hennet, and of
twenty- three artillerymen, under Lieutenant Cross, were sta
tioned at Sackets Harbor in 18CKS, and early in March. ISOi),
two detachments of militia (forty-live men), from Colonel Paul
Stickney s regiment, were drawn out, twenty of whom were
stationed on the St. Lawrence at Gravelly Point, now Cape
Vincent, opposite Kingston, and the remainder at Antwerp on
the Oswegatchie road, where several routes united. The em-
bargo had the effe.ct of lowering the price of grain, by inter,
FUpting the commerce ty which it Wtu> exported, while from
94 WARS AND Rl MOKS Cl- \\ARS.
the same cause it enormously increased the price of potash,
which all new woody countries produce, and which the em
bargo prevented from reaching England, except indirectly by
way of Canada. This afforded a temptation too strong for the
honesty of great numbers, who, notwithstanding the vigilance
of the revenue officers were very successful. This article rose
to $300 to $320 per ton in Montreal, from whence it could be
exported without obstruction to England ; and as there then
existed in Canada, no law against its importation into the
country, the only difficulty to meet was an evasion or open
defiance of our own laws. Potash was brought from the inte
rior counties, and even from New York to this frontier, and
temporary roads were beaten through the forest in the winter
time, by those engaged in this illegal traffic. Among these
was the u embargo road, " from the Black River, near Brown-
ville, to near French Creek, which for a season became a great
thoroughfare for smugglers.
Previous to the calling out of the militia detachments
above mentioned, Mr. Hart Massey had seized fifty-four bar
rels of pot and pearl ashes, and twenty barrels of pork near
Cape Vincent, which property was openly rescued and carried
off by a force of fifty or sixty armed men, with many sleighs
from Kingston.
Under date of March 14, 1809, the collector at Sackets
Harbor made the following complaint to the Treasury Depart
ment :
Nature has furnished the smugglers with the linncht ice
that was ever known on this frontier. There is scarcely a
place from the Oswegatchie to Sandy Creek, a distance of 110
miles, but that the ice is good. Sleighs pass at Sackets Har
bor ten miles from shore, and all the force I can raise is not
sufficient to stop them. They appear determined to evade the
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. 95
laws at the risk of their lives. More particularly at Oswe-
gatchie, I am informed, they have entered into a combination
not to entertain, nor even suffer any other force to be stationed
in that vicinity, and their threats are handed out, that if I, or
any other officer should come there again, they will take a raw
hide to them, which they declare they have prepared for that
purpose. These threats don t terrify me. T only mention
them to let you know their unprincipled determination. The
regular troops, and the inhabitants at that station, have a mu
tual understanding. If the troops that are there, are not
called away, it will be in vain to send anv more, without
sending enough to overpower them and the inhabitants.
The militia, stationed on the Oswegatchie, are thirty miles
this way from the post, at the place where the roads branch
off to various parts of St. Lawrence County. [Antwerp.] The
people in the vicinity of their station are hostile and refuse to
accommodate them with anything, even to admit them into
their houses. They are in a suffering condition, and the snow
is three feet deep. I shall go to their assistance soon, and fur
nish them with such things as they are in want of, to keep
them from suffering. They are poorly armed, without blan
kets or cooking utensils, or even without shelter, except hem
lock boughs, but, notwithstanding their distressed situation,
they stop the illicit trade on that road. It is with difficulty
that I get any assistance for the conveyance of property to the
public store. If I have not armed men with me, the inhabi
tants will assemble in the night and take the property from
me. There are some who wish to support the laws, but they
are so unpopular that they shrink from their duty. My life
and the lives of my deputies are threatened daily ; what will
be the fate of us, (Jod only knows.
This open and bold defiance of laws, was not entirely dug
90 WAKS A>s + D HUMOUS OF WAftg.
to a mercenary spirit, but to political rancor and a practical
opposition to a law which they declared unconstitutional and
void. An open defiance to the law was attempted at Oswego,
in the summer of 1808, it is said, in part, by citizens of Jeffer
son County, which was boldly planned but poorly executed.
One morning about ten boats with sixty armed men, en
tered that harbor, and from an intimation that was given by
one of their number, it was learned that they designed to for
cibly seize a quantity of flour that had been detained by the
collector, Mr. Burt, or to use their own language, " to clear out
the place or burn it, " A message was at once sent to hasten
on a company of dragoons at Onondaga, who arrived within
half a dozen miles and encamped. Learning that the hour of
11 p. m. was agreed upon for a " scrape, " the detachment was
hastened forward, and arrived a few minutes before the signal
was given. Hearing the music of the approaching company,
the insolent marauders instantly fled to the woods, leaving
their boats in charge of the collector. The great price to which
ashes arose led for a short time to extensive clearings for this
object as labor was far better rewarded in this, than in the or
dinary pursuits of husbandry. On the first of March, ISO!),
the embargo gave place to a non-intercourse law, which ex
pired in May, 1810. On the fourth of April, 1812, an embar
go was again laid, which rendered renewed vigilance neces
sary ; but tli is time a more efficient system of means was at
hand.
In May, 1812, the Lord Nelson, a British schooner, bound
for Niagara, and laden with flour and merchandise from
Kingston, being found in American waters in the lake, was
captured by Woolsey, brought into Sackets Harbor and con
demned as a lawful prize. Among the goods taken and offered
at auction was a quantity of plate, jewelry, wearing apparel
WARS AND RUMORS or WARS. i)f
and household articles of rich materials, belonging to a lady
of Queenstown, newly married, but not on board ; and these
articles of great intrinsic value, were inestimably precious to
the owner, as family relics and keepsakes. These, Commodore
AVoolsey, with true courtesy, proposed to restore, and the sug
gestion was seconded by the hearty acclamation of his gallant
sailors, who offered to relinquish their claim ; but others, from
sordid and illiberal motives, insisted that the sale should go
on, and undertook to compete in the bids, which gradually
arose to three, four and live hundred dollars. At this moment,
the gallant Woolsey, determined not to be baffled in his de
sign, suddenly raised his bid to five thousand, which at once
ended the contest, amid the cheers of his men, and to the dis-
discomfit of his opponents. The property, he promptly for
warded to the owner, and the government sanctioned his
course by discharging him from the obligation.
THE WAR SCARE.
War having been for years anticipated, was declared June
18, 1812, by a vote of 79 to 49 in the house, and of 19 to 15 in
the senate ; Silas Stow then represented this district and voted
in the negative. The event was first announced in a letter
from Governor Tornpkins to Brigadier-General Jacob Brown,
of the militia, dated June 23, in which he was empowered to
re-inforce Colonel Bellinger, with the militia of Lewis, Jeffer
son and St. Lawrence counties, and to arm and equip them at
the state arsenals at Russell and AVatertown, if occasion re
quired. Colonel Benedict, of DeKalb, St. Lawrence County,
98 WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
was ordered to. turn out immediately to guard the frontiers
from Ogdensburg to St. Regis. In reply, General Brown urged
the speedy forwarding of arms and munitions, and that a force
should be posted at Cape Vincent and Ogdensburg, which
could be concentrated at a few hours notice, should decisive
measures be necessary. This letter contained the following
sentiments :
" Your Excellency will bear in mind, that this is a very
new country ; that the population is light, and generally poor,
though very respectable for so new a country, and that, if any
more men are called from their homes, the crops which now
promise a very abundant harvest must perish on the ground.
I mention this to your Excellency, as the county expects it at
my hands, and much more than my feeble abilities can ac
complish ; but no considerations of this nature shall deter me
for a moment from calling out every man in the county, if its
defense requires it, though, for the present, I must hope that
the force coming on, will render such a measures unnecessary.
I pray God that our government will act with decision and
energy which becomes a gallant people. "
On the first announcement of war, some families hastily
prepared to leave the country, to which they were impelled in
part by fugitives of the same class from St. Lawrence County,
and so terror stricken were some, that they hastily fled into
the back settlements, spreading consternation on their way,
and leaving their houses open to any who might choose to
enter. But to the credit of the county the number of these
timid ones was comparatively small, and several who had re
moved returned. The fear of Indian massacre, which the
memories of the revolution suggested, was in general the im
pelling cause, although they could scarcely define the source
from whence tlr^e dreaded maiMiidors would come, or
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. 99
a consistent argument to justify their apprehension. After a
time, confidence began to return, until at length some settler
ventured to cross the river by night, to call u;>on an old ac
quaintance. These visits gradually became more common,
and by the time the war ended, old acquaintances had already
been renewed ; the river was crossed by daylight, and as often
as there was occasion and, in short, they found that although
legally enemies, they were still friends.
The news of the war had scarcely reached this frontier,
when hostilities were begun in a small way, by Abner llub-
bard, a revolutionary soldier, who, without authority, and
with only the aid of a man and a b >y, made a descent upon
Fort Carleton, near Cape Vincent, and, without firing a gun,
took the garrison, consisting of three invalid men and two wo
men, prisoners. The next day a boat was sent to the island
for the stores, and the buildings were afterwards burned. This
proceeding being known at Kingston, an attempt was made to
detain a citizen from Brownville, who was in town on com
mercial business, but being forewarned by a friend he escaped.
On the 21)th of April, a fleet of trading vessels, that had been
caught at Ogdensburg, and were attempting to ascend the
river to the lake, were pursued by a party of provincial mili
tia. T\vo of the vessels, the Sophia and Island Packet, were
burned near Morristown, and the remainder returned in great
confusion to Ogdensburg, where they created the greatest
alarm. On the second of July, the scouts of General Brown
brought in a man, found between Indian Kiver and the St.
Lawrence, who was taken for a spy, but proved to be an Amer
ican and confirmed the account of the burning of the vessels,
stating that there were about thirty persons aboard, mostly
families moving; and that the most of their effects were;
It wa.s apprehended that Ihe enemy were about to
lOO WARS AXD RUMORS OF WARS.
fortify the islands, and thus command the river. A few days
before the news of war was received, a large quantity of small
arms was forwarded by the governor to this frontier, consisting
of two thousand muskets, and a corresponding quantity of
munitions, which were mostly sent on to the Russell Arsenal,
in St. Lawrence county, escorted by the detachment from
Lewis County. A considerable body of militia from Jefferson
County, was assembled at Cape Vincent, together with a por
tion of the force of Colonel Bellinger, as it was considered ad
visable to keep Kingston in as great a state of alarm as possi
ble. At this point was the great naval station of the enemy,
where for one or two years armed vessels had been building,
and from whence alone an attack could be reasonably ex
pected. It was apprehended that an attempt would be made
by the British, to destroy or take our vessels at Ogdensburg,
and the Oneida, Lord Nelson, and other vessels at Sackets Har
bor. To be in readiness for any attack, the governor was im
portuned to forward cannon from the state arsenals, and the
assurance was given that a good account would be rendered
of the enemy, should they attempt any expedition to our
shores. Oh the llth of July a rumor was spread that Lieu
tenant Woolsey, with the brig Oneida, had been taken by the
enemy, which brought General Brown to the Harbor, but the
report proved groundless. There had arrived two brass nine-
pounders, but no nine-pound shot.
KIHST BATTLE AT SACKKTS JlARIiOft.
On Sunday, the 10th of July, 1.S12, Captain Woolsey, of
the Oneida, discovered from the mast head of his brig, five
sail of the enemy beating up the luirbor, viz: the Royal
George, 24 guns ; the Seneca, 18 ; Prince Regent, 22 : Karl of
Moira, 20 ; and Simcoe. The Oneida attempted to gain the
lake, but failing, returned, and was moored outside of the
point, where the ship house stood, with one broadside of
nine guns to the enemy, while 1 the others were taken out and
hastily placed on a breastwork on the shore, near which, on
the day previous, a o2-pounder (intended for the Oneida, but
found too heavy) had been mounted on a pivot, upon a mound
about six feet high. Alarm guns were fired, and expresses
sent to call in the neighboring militia, who did not, however,
arrive in time to render assistance, but who, in the course of
the day, came in to the number of 0,000. The British had,
early in the morning, captured a boat laden with flour from
Cape Vincent, and the crew was set on shore, and sent with
the message " that , all they wanted was the brig Oneida, and
the Lord Nelson (a vessel taken a little before for a violation
of the revenue), and that they would bum the village if there
was a single shot fired at them. "
The enemy had beon misinformed about the defenses of
the place, and especially of the 32-pounder, and supposed there
was nothing to be feared in the way of ordnance. The force
at that time in town was, besides the crew of the Oneida, the
regiment of Colonel Bellinger, a volunteer company of artil
lery under Captain Camp, and a few militia. Captain Wool-
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
SOT, Wring- his brig in charge of a lieutenant, took the general
command on shore, the 32-ponnder being in charge of Mr.
William Vanghan, sailing master, and the other guns under
that of Captain Camp. There were no shot in town larger
than "24-pound balls, which were used (with the aid of patches
formed of carpets), in the 32-pounder.
By the time these arrangements were made, the enemy
had arrived within gun shot, nearly in front of the battery,
when the action was begun, the first shot being from the 82-
pounder on the mound ; upon which a shout of laughter was
heard from the fleet, at the supposed imbecile attempt at re
sistance. The fire was returned briskly, and continued for
two hours, all of the enemy s balls but one or two, falling
against the rocks at the foot of the bluff, where our force was
stationed. One ball fell near by, and plowed up the ground
for some distance. It was caught up just when it had spent
its force, by a man who came running in and shouting that lie
had caught them out ; " and so it proved, for from its com
manding position, it was seen that our big L-un had every
advantage, and that several of its shots told with effect.
Towards the close of the action, as the Royal George, the
flagship, was wearing to give another broadside, a 24-pound
shot struck her stern, ;:nd raked her whole length, killing-
eight men, and doing much damage. Upon this the signal ot
retreat was given, and the whole fleet bore away for Kingston
without ceremony. At this, the band on shore struck up the
national tune of Yankee Doodle, and the troops, who had
through the whole affair behaved like veterans, sent up three
cheers of victory. The shots from our battery had broken
their chests of medicines, their fore top-gallant mast, and their
vessels in a dox/jn places, while the enemy broke nothing but
the Sabbath. In a letter to Ihe governor of July 24 lh. Gen-
\VAllS AXD RUMORS OP WARS. lOo
era! Brown attributed the success of the day to the gallant
spirit of AVoolsey, Bellinger and Camp, in their respective
capacities, and especially to the nice shots of the 32-pounder.
Mr. Yaughan, Avho pointed and tired this piece, claimed
the honor of having fired the first hostile gun in the war.
One of the men at this gun, named Julius lorry, a negro,
better kno.vn as Black Julius, and a great favorite in the
camp, served at his post with remarkable activity and cour
age. As there was no opportunity for the use of small arms,
the greater part of the troops who were drawn up, were passive
spectators of the engagement.
CAPTURE OF
On the night of the 20th of September, an expedition
was dispatched from Sackets Harbor, which is thus described
by General Brown, in his report to the governor:
At a time when my force was the lightest, and a very
considerable alarm prevailed for the safety of that port, I fitted
out a secret expedition under the command of that excellent
officer, Captain Forsyth, against Gananoqui, a small British
post, twenty miles below Kingston, with the view of capturing
some of the enemy s ammunition, of which we were and are
greatly in want, and of alarming them as much as possible
for their own safety. My order was executed by Captain
Forsyth, as became an officer and a soldier, and Captain Mc-
Nitt and Lieutenant Brown and Ensigns Hawkins and John
son, of the militia, who volunteered on the expedition, are re
ported to me by Captain Forsyth as deserving the highest
104 WARS ANT) RUMORS OF WARS.
praise for their cool, intrepid valor and good conduct. There
was not a man but did his duty. Captain Forsyth lauded in
open day, two miles above the village ; his whole force
amounting to ninety-five. At three-quarters of a mile lie met
two horsemen, one of whom was probably shot, the other fled
to the village, where Captain Forsyth found on his arrival the
enemy drawn up in order of battle, 110 strong, and upon his
approach they commenced a heavy fire upon him, but over. He
rushed immediately on, without firing, until within 100 yards,
when his party made a few deliberate shots, then rushed on,
and broke the enemy, drove them across a bridge, which, for
his better security, Captain Forsyth broke up. He had one
man killed and one wounded. The loss of the enemy, in
killed, Captain Forsyth has declined stating, but from the best
information I can collect from the party, it was from ten to
fifteen. Twelve prisoners were taken, 3,000 ball cartridges
and 41 muskets. There were in the king s store about 150
barrels of provisions, and as there were no boats to bring it
away it was consumed by lire, together with the store. Private
property was held sacred. To the soldiers on this expedition,
I have presented the public property taken, as a reward for
their valor and good conduct. I wish your excellency to ap
probate or disapprobate this my donation to these brave men.
Your excellency must bear in mind, that with my very little
brigade, or at best a part of that at Oswego, I have been put
upon the defense of this northern frontier, from St.. Regis to
near Oswego. The men that 1 have the honor to command,
have done and suffered much for the militia ; their clothes
generally were in tatters and thev are poor men. They can
not clothe themselves in this region for $(>.6G per month, and
it is not in human nature that these men can endure a winter
in in tlijs climate thus clad, I can not believe |li;i(
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
these men would leave me ; it would grieve me if they should :
but it is a stain upon our national character, that the citizen
soldier of this country should he worse paid and provided for,
than any other class among us.
RKDOUHTAIJLK KINGSTON.
Commodore Chauncey having taken a station near the
False Ducks fell in with the Royal (Jeorge, 2(> guns and
chased her into the hay of Quinte, where she was lost in the
night. On the morning of the 10th, he took a small schooner,
which he burned, having got sight of the Royal George which
he followed into Kingston harbor and engaged her and the
batteries an hour and forty-five minutes, but finding these
stronger than anticipated, night coming on and a gale of wind
blowing in, he stood off and anchored. In the morning the
wind continued so strong in shore that he thought it i mpm .
dent to hazard an attack, and beat out and soon fell in with
the Simcoe, and chased her over a reef of rocks, but so dis
abled her with shot, that she sank before getting alongside of
the dock.
On the morning of the 10th, he took a large schooner
from Niagara bound in, and the next morning sent down the
pn/c under convoy of the Growler, past Kingston, to induce
the ship to follow, but without success. The night of the 1 1th
was boisterous ; on the 13th was a severe snow storm, and on
the 14th it continued to snow fast, but little wind. The re
mainder of this cruise wo give in the language of Commodore
Chauncey, in a letter to the governor :
"Til? Growler sent the prize in, mid stood in for tho
loft WAhs AND HUMOUS oi
Ducks, where he had orders to join me. Near the Ducks, Ii6
foil in with the Earl of Moira, convoying the sloop Elizabeth
from York to Kingston. Sailing Master Mix, who commanded
the Growler, run down in a very gallant manner and took
possession of the Elizabeth within two miles of the ship, and
brought her in. I immediately weighed and stood for Kings
ton in hopes to cut her off, but the elements were against me
again, for I scarcely had left the harbor before it blew a gale
of wind, and snowed so thick that we frequently could not see
a mile. We, however, persevered to the great danger of the
vessels and lives of the crews. On the 1.4th we got sight of
the Earl of Moira entering Kingston harbor, but it blowing a
gale of wind, we concluded not to follow, and after beating
about almost all that day, I made the signal for all the squad
ron to bear for this place, where we arrived on the same even
ing. During these two short cruises we captured three vessels,
two have arrived, one we burned, a fourth was so injured that
she sunk, and we learn from one who came in the flags yes-
torday, that the Royal George was so much injured that she
had to haul on shore to keep from sinking, having received
several shots between wind and weather, several guns disabled,
and a number of persons killed or wounded, besides consider
able injury (though not intentional) to the town. Amongst
the prisoners is Captain Brock of the 29th regiment, and a
relative of the late General Brock, who was returning from
York with part of the baggage of his deceased friend. Our
loss was trifling ; one man killed and four wounded, two of the
latter by the bursting of a gun on board of the Pert, the com
mander of which vessel, Mr. Arundell, was knocked overboard
and drowned. The damage done to the rigging and sails not
much, and a few shots in the hulls of one of the vessels, but
the injury from which was soon repaired. The Gov. Tomp-
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. 107
kins, Hamilton, Conquest and Growler are now blockading
the vessels in Kingston. I am now taking on board guns and
stores for Niagara, for which place I shall sail the first wind,
in company with the Julia, Pert, Fair American, Ontario and
Scourge, and I am in great hopes that I shall fall in with the
Prince Regent, or some of the royal family which are cruising
about York. Had we been one month sooner we could have
taken every town on this lake in three weeks, but the season
is now so tempestuous that I am apprehensive we can not do
much more this winter. I am however, ready to co-operate
with the army, and our officers and men are anxious to be
engaged. "
This brilliant maneuver conferred great credit upon those
engaged, and called public attention to the operations on this
frontier, as likely to afford a theater for deeds of valor, that
would confer honor upon the American name. The spirited
engagement in Kingston harbor has been compared, by
Cooper, to the assault upon Tripoli, in our previous war with
the Barbary States, to which it was not in the least inferior,
due allowance being made for the comparative force employed.
The fact of the Royal George, which was by much the largest
vessel that had then been built on our inland waters, retiring
before the Oneida, has been ascribed, by Cooper, to her not
being properly officered. The British had not then made
their drafts upon the royal navy for the service of the lakes.
The bones of the Oneida lie in the French Creek Bay in
sight of one of her conquests. The people of Clayton should
be patriotic enough to see that what is left of her should be
suitably preserved just as the government has already taken
steps to preserve the Constitution immortalized in the poem as
" Old Ironsides. "
SECOND BATTLE AT SACKETS HARBOR.
The descent upon York provoked the resentment of the
enemy, who, knowing that Sackets Harbor had been weak
ened by the withdrawal of troops to the Niagara, planned an
attack upon the former, well knowing that the capture or
destruction of the vessels there building, and the stores col
lected, would at once give them the supremacy in the cam
paign, and effectually suppress any further offensive operations
of the Americans for some time.
Sackets Harbor was at this time but poorly prepared for
defense. Fort Tompkins, occupying the site of the present
residence of the com man ding officer of the station, was manned
by about two hundred dismounted dragoons, under Colonel
Backus, a detachment of forty or fifty artillerists, under Lieu
tenant Ketchum, and seventy or eighty infantry invalids, re
cruits and parts of companies. A little east of the village was
Fort Volunteer, a slight work that had been chiefly erected by
a company of exempts. General Dearborn had written to
Brigadier-General Brown, to assume the command and make
provisions for a defense, which letter was not answered from
motives of delicacy toward Colonel Backus, but preparations
were made for resistence, if required.
Between the village and Horse Island, a mile distant, was
a thin wood that had been partly cut over, and was filled with
brush, logs and stumps. Opposite the island was a clearing
of about four acres, and the island itself, which embraces
twenty-nine acres, and lies at the entrance of the bay, was
covered with a growth of timber, and at that time connected
WARS AXD RUMORS OF WARS. 109
with the nmin land by a bar tliat afforded a crossing, nearly
or quite dry. The beach opposite was composed, then as now,
of a ridge of gravel, which at that time made a natural breast
work, four or five feet high. A short distance back and fur
ther south on the shore, a strip of woods extended, which had
been obstructed as much as possible several days previous, by
felling trees in every direction.
The enemy having made preparations at Kingston for an
attack, embarked 1,200 men, under Sir George Prevost, on the
evening of May 27th, on board the ships Wolfe, a new vessel
of 24 guns ; the Royal George, 24 guns; the brig Earl of
Moira, IS guns ; and the schooners Prince Regent, Simcoe
and Seneca, mounting each several guns; two gun boats, and
about forty barges under Sir James L. Yeo ; and on the fol
lowing morning (Friday, May 28th) appeared in the offing,
having ben discovered by the schooner Lady of the Lake,
that had been cruising on the lake to watch the motions of
the enemy.
As this vessel came in, signal guns were fired, and upon
her arrival Colonel Backus dispatched an express to General
Brown, who, since the expiration of his six months term, had
been residing on his farm in Brownville, eight miles from the
harbor. He immediately repaired to that place, and issued
summary orders for rallying the neighboring militia, and pre
paring the place for defense. Alarm guns were fired and
dragoons dispatched in every direction to hasten the arrival of
succor, and especially that of Colonel Tuttle, who was known
to be advancing with several hundred regulars. No landing
was attempted by the enemy on the 28th, their attention being
drawn off by a fleet of American barges from Oswego, of
which twelve were taken, their crews having lied to the woods,
and seven, by outsailing the enemy got safely into port, thus
110 WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
increasing the disposable force of General Brown. These re
cruits proved to be a part of a regiment of infantry under
Colonel Aspinwall, on his way by water from Oswego to Sack-
ets Harbor, who did not discover the enemy until he was
doubling Six Town Point. As the route of those that landed
o
was very circuitous, they did not arrive until nine o clock in
the evening.
The militia soon began to assemble, and as fast as they
arrived they were armed and sent to Horse Island, which was
the point at which the enemy was expected to land. The num
ber that came in during the day was about GOO, fresh from
their homes, and without discipline, experience or organiza
tion, and although not wanting in patriotism or courage, yet
lacked that assurance which an acquaintance with military
affairs can alone confer. These, with about 300 regulars and
100 of Aspinwall s party fatigued with their day s march,
comprised the force by which the enemy were to be opposed.
The night was spent by General Brown in making dipo-
sitions for the attack which circumstances rendered highly
probable would be made where the militia had been posted.
The shore for most of the way between this place and the vil
lage is an abrupt precipice, fifteen or twenty feet high ; and
the fleet to land above the village, must have to pass the bat
teries on shore and would require a favorable wind. Luring
the night the enemy landed about forty Indians under Lieu
tenant Anderson on the main land in Henderson bay with the
view of attacking the rear of the militia, and towards morning
the militia were withdrawn from the island to the shore oppo
site. Camp fires had been built along the shore early in the
evening, but these were ordered to be put out.
About 400 militia with a six-pounder, ur.der Colonel
Mills, of the Albany volunteers, were stationed near the shore
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. Ill
opposite the island with orders to reserve their fire until the
enemy should approach within pistol shot. The remainder
of the militia under Colonel Gershom Tuttlo, were posted in
the edge of the woods back of the clearing, and Colonel Back
us with his dismounted dragoons was stationed in the skirt of
the woods near the village with orders to advance through the
woods towards Horse sland the moment it was known that
the enemy had landed. Colonel Aspinwall with his men was
posted to the left of Backus, and the artillerists under Lieuten
ant Ketchum were stationed in Fort Tompkins, with no other
than a 32-pounder mounted on a pivot. The militia on the
shore were directed that, in case of being driven from their
position, they should fall back into the woods and annoy the
right flank of the enemy as he advanced towards the town.
Colonel Tuttle was directed in the same event to attack their
rear and destroy their boats. The night was spent in making
these arrangements and all parties anxiously awaited the ap
proach of day.
The morning of the 2Uth dawned beautifully clear and
calm. Not a breath of air ruffled the placid surface of the
lake, and there existed that peculiar state of density and uni
formity in the atmosphere, in which sounds are propagated to
a great distance, as is sometimes noticed before a. storm ; and
the report of small arms in the action which followed, was
heard with remarkable distinctness on the hills in Rutland;
while the discharge of cannon echoed clear and far over the
country, to distances since unparalleled, and was heard
through Lewis and even in Oneida County. This very natu
rally excited throughout the country the greatest anxiety and
alarm and the solicitude of families for the fate of fathers, hus
bands and sons, who had been hastily summoned from home.
112 WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
was such as could scarcely endure the suspense which it occa
sioned.
The calm prevented the enemy from bringing their ves
sels to co-operate in the attack, and was one of the causes that
influenced their subsequent retreat. As soon as it was light,
the enemy was seen approaching in thirty-three large boats
under cover of gunboats, directing their course to the outside
of the island, where they landed and formed without opposi
tion ; but in crossing the bar that connected it with the main
land they encountered a galling fire and lost several in killed
and wounded, which they subsequently carried off . As the
landing was being effected, the heavy gun in Fort Tompkins
was brought to bear with considerable effect upon the enemy s
column.
The fire of the militia was at first well directed and dead
ly and was answered by discharges of musketry and by two
small cannon loaded with grape shot; but Colonel Mills, who
was stationed a short distance towards the village with his can
non fell early in the engagement, and his death, with the un
accustomed whistling of balls that cut down the branches of
the trees around them, struck with terror the inexperienced
militia and without waiting to return the fire or recover from
the panic, they turned and fled towards the town in the great
est confusion. This retreat was not entirely general. Captain
Samuel McNitt, who had been stationed with his company on
the extreme left of the flanking party of the militia, not notic
ing the movements of his comrades, continued his firing after
some moments longer, and before he was aware he found him
self and his party alone and in danger of being cut off by the
enemy. General Brown finding himself nearly alone with no
support but this company, retired towards the village, directing
those that could be rallied to annoy the advancing column of
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. 113
the enemy as much as possible. The enemy, having gained
the beach and dispersed the militia, formed in good order and
marched towards the town.
They were soon met by the troops of Colonel Backus, who
had advanced to dispute their progress and who gallantly en
countered and returned their lire, retiring slowly before them
through the half cleared woods. (Jeneral Brown had succeeded
in rallying about a hundred militia with the aid of Caleb
Westcott, a citizen, and others, and had joined the detachment
of Backus ; but at this juncture, happening to look towards the
shipyard, he was surprised to see huge volumes of smoke issu
ing from the storehouses that contained the spoils of York.
Not knowing but that the enemy might have gained his rear,
he hastened to the spot and ascertained that the disastrous
panic of the militia had been communicated to those in charge
and a, report had reached Lieutenant Chauncey of the navy
that all was lost, and upon the faith of this rumor he had given
orders to tire the buildings, an act which the most extreme
and desperate issue of affairs could alone justify. Learning
the cause of the conflagration and somewhat relieved by the
knowledge that the enemy were still but on one side, lie re
turned, giving directions to Lieutenant Ketchum in Fort Tomp-
kins to hold that post as long as the flames would permit.
The regulars of Colonel Backus felt their courage renewed
upon learning the nature of the accident that had given a
natural alarm, and continued steadily to oppose the advance
of the enemy who had now gained the clearing next the vil
lage. Very soon after Colonel Backus fell mortally wounded
and was borne off the field ; his troops taking possession ol
some log barracks and continuing their resistance.
The enemy had throughout evinced great courage and
coolness and were under the immediate command of Captain
114 WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
Gray, of the quartermaster-general s department, who was ad
vancing in front of the ranks and walking backwards waving
his sword for his troops to follow, and shouting, " Come on,
boys ; the day is ours ! Remember York ! " when he sudden
ly fell wounded and immediately expired.
At this moment the signal for retreat was given from the
fleet and the enemy hastily retreated to their boats. This re
treat is said to have been in part caused by hearing a report
of small arms on the right from the rallied militia, but which
the enemy mistook for a reinforcement of 450 regulars which
they had learned was advancing under Colonel Tuttle, and
was then within a mile of the place. Their arrival would at
once put an end to the contest by giving us the advantage of
numbers. The enemy on their retreat removed a part of their
wounded, and having re-embarked, they at about 10 o clock
sent a flag demanding a surrender of the place which they had
been unable to capture and were of course refused. They,
however, were promised that decent attention should be paid
to the dead and humane treatment to the wounded. They
shortly after sent another flag requesting to send surgeons to
their wounded, which was denied, as they still seemed not to
have abandoned the attack and were laying by in their barges,
but shortly after they put off to the fleet which lay about five
miles from the town, and made sail for Kingston. Both Sir
George Prevost and Sir James Yeo are said to have landed
during the engagement.
The loss of the British was 150 in killed and wounded ;
25 of their privates were found dend, 2 captains and 20 pri
vates were wounded and including the wounded, 2 captains, 1
ensign and 32 privates were taken prisoners. Our loss w r as
150 killed, wounded and missing, The enemy took a few
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. 115
prisoners and one man was found killed and scalped in the
woods by the Indians.
The flames of the burning stores were subdued us quickly
as possible, but not till they had consumed half a million of
dollars worth of property. The ship Pike, then on the stocks,
was saved. The prize schooner, the Duke of ( Jloucester, was
saved by Lieutenant Talman, of the army, who boarded it, ex
tinguishing the fire and brought her from under the flames of
the store houses. This heroic conduct will be appreciated
when it is known that a large quantity of gunpowder was on
board. Tiie schooners Fair American and Pert, cut their
cables and retreated up the river and several of the guns on
Navy Point were spiked. Had it not been for this disastrous
mistake our success would have been complete. Colonel Back
us survived eight days and hopes of his recovery were enter
tained, but blood-poison supervened.
PRIVATEERING.
On the 14th of July, 1813, the Neptune and Fox, the for
mer a private armed boat under Captain Samuel Dixon,
mounted with one six-pounder and one swivel, and manned
by twenty -four volunteers, and the latter a public armed boat
under Captain Dimock, with a detachment of twenty-one men
from the 21st regiment of infantry under Lieutenants P>urbank
and Perry, sailed from Sackets Harbor with Letters of Marque,
from the deputy collector of the district for a cruise on the St.
Lawrence. This privateering expedition was fitted out by
M. W. Gilbert and others and had for its object the cutting off
116 WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
of a detachment of the enemy s boats that were expected np
the river laden with stores. After touching at Cape Vincent
and French Creek, they selected on the morning of the 17th-a
quiet nook in a creek among the Thousand Islands, where
they landed for muster and review ; and the morning being
particularly pleasant, they employed themselves in drying and
putting in complete order their arms and ammunition and
cleaning out their boats, while a small boat of each was sent
out for intelligence, which returned without gaining any
news. At 9 p. in. they hauled from the shore, manned a
guard boat to prevent surprise, and sent Lieutenant Hawkins
to Ogdensburg for intelligence : and at 5 p. m. Messrs. Baldwin
and Campbell arrived with news. At 9 they left Cranberry
Creek and at 4 a. in. of the 18th saw a brigade of British
bateaux convoyed by his majesty s gunboat, the Spitfire, lying
at Simmond s Landing, preparing to sail for Kingston. Upon
this, they pushed in for shore and so completely surprised
them that very few of the enemy escaped. The fifteen bateaux
and the gunboat were at once seized without a shot being
fired on either side. Previous to the attack Lieutenant Perry,
of the 9th, and Sergeant James, of Forsyth s company, with
27 volunteers were landed in Cranberry Creek in Alexandria,
and at 11 sixty-nine prisoners were sent off to the harbor
under guard of 15 men of the 21st in charge of Lieutenant
Burbank. The Spitfire was armed with a 12-pound carronade
and 14 men with a large quantity of military stores. The
bateaux had 270 barrels of pork and 270 bags of pilot bread
which was landed on the 20th to prevent spoiling, and a re
quest to the neighboring inhabitants for assistance was sent
out, which brought in a few militia, who, however, mostly
left the same night. At sunrise on the 21st the enemy to the
number of 250, with four gunboats and one or two transports,
WARS AND HUMORS OF WARS. 117
were discovered in the creek ; these were met by thirty men
and attacked while landing, twenty more being stationed in
different places to prevent their approach. A cannonade com
menced and was kept up some time; two of the enemy s boats
were so injured from our fire that most of their crews were
compelled to leave them and to cut flags from the shore to
stop the holes. At (> a. in. the enemy retired to their bo:its
and sent a flag with the demand of surrender to save the effu
sion of blood, which was instantly rejected and the firing re
commenced. It appeared that this was but an expedient to
gain time, as the enemy hastily retreated carrying their dead
and wounded. Their loss must have been considerable from
the quantity of blood seen where they embarked. Our loss
was three killed and wounded. After the action trees were
felled across the road and creek to prevent a new attack, and
on the afternoon of the next day reinforcements arrived, the
boats which had been scuttled were repaired and on the "2&1
they left for Sackets Harbor, where they arrived on the 27th.
While passing Tibbet s Point they encountered the Karl of
Moira, were pursued and hit several times by her shot, but
not captured. The gunboat and several bateaux were sunk
without consulting Captains Dimick or Pixon and the owners
ultimately lost most that was gained by the expedition.
The armaments of the small vessels were abandoned early
in the season and they were used mostly as transports. On the
first of May the frigate Superior (06 guns), built in eighty
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
days, was launched, and the day after there occurred an inci
dent which well nigh led to serious consequences. The ship
carpenters and sailors having no interests in common with the
soldiers had acquired a feeling of mutual hostility, and on this
occasion there had been an unusual degree of convivial excess
in celebrating the launch. A dragoon, being assaulted by two
or three carpenters, fled for protection to a sentinel placed
over a storehouse, and with the obstinacy and insolence of
half drunken men, they were persisting in the pursuit in
which one of their number was shot and the remainder fled.
This at once led to the most intense excitement. The ship
carpenters with axes and adzes hastily rallied with the sailors
armed with boarding pikes and cutlasses, who, forming in a
solid body, marched in pursuit of the sentinel. The troops
were hastily formed in a hollow square around him and drawn
up in the street, where they stood prepared to repel any at
tack, and the former had advanced to within a few yards and
were yelling and brandishing their weapons in the wildest
frenzy of rage, when Eckford, Chauncey and Brown hastened
to the spot, threw themselves between the parties, and by a
well-timed and judicious appeal checked the advance and soon
persuaded the carpenters to desist on the assurance that the
sentinel should be impartially tried and suitably punished if
convicted, lie was taken to Watertown, an examination held
and he was sent to a distant station to be out of their reach.
The Mohawk and Jones were still on the stocks, the arma
ment of which, as well as that of the Superior, must be trans
ported through \Yood Creek and Oswego river, as the roads
through the Black River valley were nearly impassable with
mud. This the enemy well knew and were also informed that
the rigging and armament of these vessels was on its way to
Oswego. To possess these supplies would be equivalent to the
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. 119
destruction of our squadron, as without them the new ships
could not appear on the lake, nor could the fleet of the pre
vious year venture out in the presence of the greatly increased
naval armament of the enemy with the slightest hopes of suc
cess. This descent upon Oswego was therefore planned with
great foresight and had its execution been as successful as its
conception was bold and masterly, the beam of fortune must
have preponderated with the British and the results of this
campaign might have been as disastrous as those of the pre
vious year had been disgraceful to the American arms. r lhis
fact being remembered will enable us to duly estimate the
value of the services which rescued this property from the
grasp of the enemy, and secured the defeat of the detachment
that was sent in quest of it, as completely as could have been
possible.
TRANSPORTING NAVAL STORKS.
Oswego had not been occupied by regular troops since
the revolution, and Colonel Mitchel had arrived at Sackets
Harbor April 3()th, with four companies of heavy and one of
light artillery served as infantry. Of cannon the fort had but
five old guns, three of which had lost their trunions. Plat
forms and pickets were repaired and the place was hastily put
in as good a state of defense as possible, when the enemy ap
peared on the 5th of May with a force of four ships, three
brigs and a number of gunboats. A cannonade was begun
and returned with much spirit and a landing attempted,
but not accomplished, when the enemy stood off from the
120 WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
shore for better anchorage. One or two of the enemy s boats
were picked up and guards were stationed at various points
along the shore. At daybreak on the 6th the fleet again ap
proached the village and after a fire of three hours landed six
hundred of DeWaterville s regiment, six hundred marines, two
companies of the Glengary corps and three hundred and fifty
seamen, who took possession of the public stores, burned the
old barracks and returned on board their fleet on the morning
of the seventh. The land forces were under General Drum-
mond, and the fleet under Commodore Yeo.
The naval stores were then at Oswego Falls (now Fulton),
but Colonel Mitchel having retired in that direction destroying
the bridges and filling the roads with timber after him, the
enemy thought it inexpedient to follow and soon after the
fleet returned to its station near the Gallon Islands to blockade
the passage of the stores, which it was known must pass in
that vicinity. These stores, under the charge of Lieutenant
Woolsey and escorted by Major D. Appling, of first rifle regi
ment, with a company of one hundred and fifty men, left Os
wego on the evening of the 28th of May in nineteen boats in
the hope of gaining Stony Creek unmolested, from whence
there would be but three miles of land carriage for the heavy
ordnance and stores to Henderson Harbor, twelve miles from
Sackets Harbor. The evening being dark and rainy, the bri
gade of boats rowed all night and at dawn on Sunday morn
ing met a party of Oneida Indians under command of Lieu
tenant Hill, of the rifle regiment at Salmon River, and at
noon, May 29th, entered Sandy Creek, except one boat which
from the misfortune or treachery of its pilot fell into the hands
of the enemy. This boat contained one cable and two twenty-
four pounders, and from those on board the enemy learned
the particulars of the expedition and of the force by which it
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. 121
was escorted. Upon entering Sandy Creek Lieutenant Wool
sey sent an express to notify Commodore Chauncey of his ar
rival and couriers were dispatched in various directions to
rally teams to get the stores removed by land to their destina
tion. The boats were run up the south branch of the creek,
till they grounded a distance of two miles from its mouth. The
lake is here for a great distance bordered by a low ridge of
sand hills, slightly wooded, behind which is a marsh with
open ponds. Through this marsh, which is destitute of trees
or bushes and at that time was partly flowed from high water,
the two branches of Sandy Creek meander and unite but a
few yards from their mouth, where then, as now, [lsr>:-5] a
solitary family dwelt.
On Monday morning a lookout boat in charge of Lieuten
ant Pierce discovered the enemy making for the creek and
communicated the news to Lieutenant Woolsey who, at dawn
dispatched messengers to call in the neighboring militia, and
made hasty arrangements to meet the enemy who were seen
soon after sunrise to enter the creek with three gunboats, three
cutters and one gig and commenced a cannonade with a sixty-
eight pounder in the direction of the flotilla of Lieutenant
Woolsey, the masts of which were visible in the distance across
a bend in the creek. These shots were directed in part against
a thick wood that extended on the north side of the south
branch to nearly half a mile below the boats in the edge of
which, fronting the open marsh, the rifle company of Major
Appling was concealed behind a brush and log fence entirely
unobserved by the enemy. At nine o clock Captain Harris,
with a squadron of dragoons, and Captain Melvin, with a com
pany of light artillery and two six-pounders, arrived. This
reinforcement was directed to halt a short distance in rear of
the boats as the force best calculated for a bush fight was al-
122 WARS AXD RUMORS OF WARS.
ready on the ground they could occupy with the best advan
tage. Meanwhile the cannon were posted in a position where
they could be used with effect if necessary, and the fences
thrown down that the dragoons might maneuver without ob
struction. The enemy slowly advanced up the creek and
landed on the south side, but finding it impossible to proceed,
on account of the slimy condition of the marsh, they re-em
barked and proceeded on to within about twenty rods of the
woods, where they landed and formed on the north bank at a
place now occupied by a storehouse and which afforded the
first solid ground for marching. The advancing column,
headed by Mr. Hoare, a midshipman of the British navy, had
approached to within ten rods of the ambush, when, on a sig
nal, the riflemen of Major Appling arose from their conceal
ment and fired. Several fell dead and their leader fell pierced
with eleven balls. So sudden and effectual was this move
ment that it threw the enemy into confusion, and after a fire
of a few minutes, the order was given to charge, upon which
the rifie men rushed forward with loud cheers, holding their
rifies in the the position of charged bayonets. The result was
the surrender of the enemy at discretion.
This was scarcely done, when the Indians, true to their
character as savages, came furiously on, yelling and brandish
ing their weapons and were with the greatest difficulty pre
vented from murdering the disarmed prisoners, and, indeed,
it has been generally believed that one or two British officers
were mortally wounded after they had yielded. The enemy
were commanded by Captains Popham and Spilsbuiy and
their loss was nineteen killed, fifty wounded and 133 taken
prisoners. A few landed on the south bank and fled, but
were pursued, and not one escaped to report their defeat.
Among the prisoners were 27 marines, 106 sailors, with two
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. 123
post captains, four lieutenants of the navy, one captain of ma
rines, two lieutenants and two midshipmen. The captain of
marines and one midshipman died of their wounds. Popham
is said to have been an old acquaintance of Woolsey s and as
he came forward to surrender his sword, the latter exclaimed :
" Why, Popham ! what are you doing in this creek ?"
After some indifferent reply and a survey of our force, he
replied :
" Well, Woolsey, this is the first time T ever heard of
riflemen charging bayonets !
At the moment after the first fire the enemy had at
tempted to retreat, but the recoil of their heavy ordnance had
forced the stern of their larger boats into the mud and they
found it impossible. Upon this they attempted to throw over
board their armament and succeeded in getting out one brass
piece, but we re prevented from further mischief by our men.
Cur loss was one Indian killed and one rifl* man wounded.
On the morning of the battle Captain Smith was ordered on
with 1*20 marines, and Colonel Mitchell, with :><><> artillery
and int .mtrv, who elid not arrive in time to participate in the
engagement. The same 1 was the 1 case of the neighboring mi
litia, who soon after arrived in great numbers.
The conduct of Lieutenants Mclntosh, Calhoun. Me Far-
land, Armstong and Smith, and of Knsign Austin, who we re
under Major Appling, was especially commended in his offi
cial reports of the 1 engagement. The 1 dead were buried, the
prisoners marched to Sackets Harbor, measures were taken
to erect shears for unloading the heavy freight, and, at "> p. in.
Woolsey was relieved by Captain Kidgeley, whom Chauncey
had sent for the purpose . The official report of Lieutenant
Woolsey acknowledges the uiiremitted exertions of Lieutenant
Pierce, Sailingmaster Vaughan and Midshipmen Hart, Mackey
124 WARS AND RUMORS OP WARS.
and Canton in the affair. The roads were then new and al
most impassable and the labor of removing the guns, cables
and rigging was one of 110 ordinary magnitude. There were,
when the flotilla left Oswego, twenty-one long 32-pounders, ten
24-pounders, three 42-pounder carronades, ten cables and a
quantity of shot and other articles. A cable and two guns
had been lost in the boat that fell in with the enemy and the
prizes taken in the creek were one 24-pounder, a 68-pound
carronade, with several smaller cannon and a considerable
amount of small arms and ammunition. Such was the indus
try displayed in this labor that on Thursday there remained
nothing but one long cable, which it was found extremely
difficult to load on any vehicle, as it could not be divided, and
a sufficient number of teams could not be advantageously at
tached to it. In this dilemma the idea was suggested of bear
ing it upon the shoulders of men, and the proposal was cheer
fully adopted by the citizens who had assembled to assist in
these operations. They were accordingly arranged in the
order of their stature and at the word of comr and shouldered
the ponderous cable and took up their line of march for Sack-
ets Harbor, about twenty miles distant, being as near together
as they could conveniently walk. This novel procession passed
by way of Ellis Village and Smith vi lie and on the second day
reached the Harbor. As they approached the town the sail
ors came out to meet them and with loud cheers relieved them
of their burden and marched triumphantly into the village.
THE BLACK SNAKE.
The British fleet received large accessions to its naval
force. The care that they evinced in the selection of officers
for this lake indicates the importance they attached to its con
trol, and the industry that both nations displayed in the
fitting out of large vessels, seemed to portend a mighty strug
gle for its supremacy. There occurred, meanwhile, some
operations on a minor scale that demand our notice. With
the view of cutting off some of the detachments of boats that
were ascending the St. Lawrence with supplies, Chauncey
about the middle of June directed Lieutenant Francis If.
Gregory to take three gigs with their crews and secrete him
self among the Thousand Islands to watch for some opportu
nity to surprise and bring off or destroy some of these brigades
of loaded boats.
This expedition consisted of Lieutenant Gregory, William
Vauglian and Samuel Dixon, sailingmasters, and eighteen
men, armed with rifles, pistols and cutlasses. They saw two
brigades of boats passing up full of troops and too strong to
attack, and another passing down and not worth taking. Gun
boats were found stationed about once in six miles and a sys
tem of telegraphs erected on the heights, so that intelligence
could be conveyed with great dispatch. On the 19th the par
ty were laying close under the Canada shore, four miles below
Alexandria Bay, and near Bald Island, when a gunboat was
coming down under easy sail, but nearer the middle of the
channel. Upon seeing the boats an officer with one or two
men was sent in a skiff that was in tow to make inquiries of
them, supposing them to be Canadians. Upon approaching,
126 WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
Gregory hailed the strangers, demanding their surrender,
which from necessity was obeyed ; but those on board seeing
the movement opened a fire, which was returned. The vessel
was soon taken and found to be the Black Snake, or No. 9,
Captain Land on, with one 1 8-pound er and 18 men, chiefly
royal marines. The prize was taken in tow and when a mile
and a half below French Creek was met by a British gunboat.
Finding escape impossible the prisoners and small arms were
taken out and their prize scuttled at the foot of Round Is
land. The enemy arrived soon after, but not being able to
save it from sinking pursued Gregory s party several miles.
Night coming on, he escaped, reached Grenadier Island late
in the evening and the next day arrived safe at Sackets Har
bor with his prisoners. The commodore in his official report
warmly recommended Gregory, Vaughan and Dixon to the
notice of the department for their activity, zeal and success in
the cruise. Congress, by an act passed May 4, 1834, awarded
Gregory and his men $3,000 for this service.
MINOR EVENTS.
On the 17th of September, 1812, General Brown, who had
his confidence, addressed the following letter to the governor :
The first and only official notice that I have received
from my government of the renewal of offensive operations
against Great Britain came to hand yesterday by the wny of
Ogdensburg. Would it not be advisable to establish a line of
post horses by the way of Johnstown to Lowville and from
thence to this place and Ogdensburg ? Were I permitted it
WARS AND HUMORS OF WARS. 127
should be done forthwith. General Dodge advised me last
week that he counted upon having 900 men embodied at
Utica last Saturday and that these men would move to the
frontiers with as little delay as possible ; but I am yet to
learn that they have inarched or moved. I humbly trust that
what it was in my power to do with the means at my com
mand has been done, and that I am disposed to do what in me
lies to prosecute this just and honorable war.
The inferiority of our fleet is thus related in Cooper s Naval
History : "In the course of the autumn the Americans had in
creased their force to eleven sail, ten of which were the small
schooners bought from the merchants and fitted with gunboat
armaments, without quarters. In addition to the vessels al
ready named, were the Ontario, Scourge, Fair American and
Asp. Neither of the ten were fit to cruise, and an ordinary
eighteen-gun brig ought to have been able to cope with them
all in a good working breeze in close quarters. At long shot,
however, and in smooth waters, they were not without a certain
efficiency. As was proved in the end, in attacking batteries
and in covering descents they were even found to be exceed
ingly serviceable. "
At Sackets Harbor it was feared the British would cross
on the ice. On the 9th of March, 1813, General Dearborn, who
greatly feared a surprise, thus wrote to the secretary of war :
I have not yet had the honor of a visit from Sir G. Pre-
vost. His whole force is concentrated at Kingston, probably
amounting to six or seven thousand, about three thousand of
whom are regular troops. The ice is good and we expect him
every day and every measure for preventing a surprise is in
constant activity. The troops from Greenbush (upwards of
400) have arrived. I have heard nothing from Pike; he
128 WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
should have been here yesterday. I have sent three expresses
to meet him ; neither has returned. I have suspicions of the
express employed by the quartermaster-general to convey the
orders to Pike. The earliest measures were taken to convey a
duplicate of his orders. By the loth, the apprehensions of at
tack had nearly subsided, and General Dearborn again wrote :
From the most recent and probable information I have
obtained, I am induced to believe that Sir George Prevost
thinks it is too late to attack this place. He undoubtedly
meditated a coup-de-main against the shipping here. All the
apprehension is now at Kingston. Sir George has visited
York and Niagara and returned to Montreal. Several bodies
of troops have passed up from Montreal ; but such precautions
have been taken to prevent their number being ascertained, as
to render it impossible to form any accurate opinion of their
forces, or even to imagine very nearly what they amount to.
From various sources I am perfectly satisfied that they are not
in sufficient force to attack this place knowing, as they do,
that we have collected a fine body of troops from Greenbush
and Plattsburg and that the militia have been called in. We
are probably just strong enough on each side to defend, but
not in sufficient force to hazard an offensive movement. The
difference of attacking and being attacked, as it regards the
contiguous posts of Kingston and Sackets Harbor, can not be
estimated at less than three or four thousand men, arising
from the circumstance of militia acting only on the defensive.
Brigade orders : The unoffending citizens of Canada
are many of them our own countrymen, and the poor Cana
dians have been forced into the war. Their property, there
fore, must be held sacred ; and any soldier who shall so far
neglect the honor of his profession as be to guilty of plundering
the inhabitants, shall, if convicted, be punished with death.
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. 129
But the commanding general assures the troops that should
they capture a large quantity of public stores he will use his
best endeavors to procure thorn a reward from his govern
ment.
On the 14th of June, 1813, Lieutenant Wolcott Chauncey
received orders from Commodore Chauncey to proceed on a
cruise, and having reached the vicinity of Presque Isle, in the
schooner Lady of the Lake, on the morning of the 10th fell in
with and captured the English schooner Lady Murray from
Kingston bound for York, and laden with provisions, powder,
shot and fixed ammunitions. One ensign and fifteen privates,
belonging to the 41st and 104th regiments, were taken. The
prize was taken into Sackets Harbor.
On the 2d of July a secret expedition was fitted out from
Kingston, with the design of firing the Pike and the naval
stores at Sackets Harbor in the night. On arriving at the
isthmus of Point Peninsula they drew their boats out and con
cealed them in the bushes till circumstances might favor them,
but a deserter from their number having escaped to Sackets
Harbor, they returned back. Upon receiving intelligence of
this, a force was sent to intercept the detachment, but without
success.
The Sylph, pierced for 24 guns but carrying 20, and
schooner-rigged, was built and ready for service in thirty-
three days from the time her timber was growing.
On the night of May 2."), 1814, Lieutenant Dudley with
two mianl boats fell in with three of the enemy s in the bay,
who were hailed, but not being properly answered, were fired
upon when the latter fled. A reinforcement was hastily ob
tained but nothing was seen or found of the enemy except six
130 WARS AND RUMORS OP WARS.
barrels of powder, slung in pairs to be carried on tbe shoulders
of men, and doubtless intended to fire our vessels stealthily.
This accounted for their hasty retreat when fired upon, for
fear of accidental explosion. This insidious plan of the enemy
could scarcely have succeeded, as, besides two lines of guard
boats, all the approaches were secured by booms, and a marine
guard boat and numerous sentinels were posted near. The
guns of the Madison that was close to the stern of the Superior
were kept loaded with canister and bags of musket balls, to
rake under if necessary.
The Mohawk, a frigate of 44 guns, was launched at Sack-
ets Harbor, having been but 34 days in building. The indomit
able Mr. Henry Eckford, the energetic shipbuilder, who directed
this department, acquired a large fortune in the war, but was
subsequently reduced by some stock operations. He died at
Constantinople, November 12, 1831, whore for several years,
he had been chief director of the dock yards in the Turkish
Empire. No higher compliments to his talents could be paid
than that of the sultan, who, in speaking of him said that
America must be great, if it could spare such men as Eck
ford.
On the 9th of August, Abram Shoemaker, with his brother
and a Mr. Sergeant, in a boat, bound from Oswego to Sackets
Harbor, was attacked off Stony Point by a British barge, un
der a lieutenant of marines, and after a valiant resistance was
captured. After securing the prize, the lieutenant sent all his
men to join another boat s crew, except four, which number
he deemed sufficient to secure her. Seizing a proper moment,
and without waiting for a concerted signal, Shoemaker pushed
the lieutenant overboard, knocked down a sailor, and, calling
upon his comrades to help, soon found himself the master of
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. 131
the boat, but severely wounded by a cutlass. The movement
being seen by the other boat, they were obliged to abandon
their prize, but succeeded in reaching Sackets Harbor in a
small boat.
Great apprehensions were felt for the safety of the Harbor,
which led to an application to the executive for aid. Colonel
Washington Irving, aid-de-camp to the governor, arrived at
this station October 5, 1S14, with orders to the commanding
officer to make? such requisitions on the militia as he might
deem necessary. After consultation with Colonel Mitchell,
General Collins called the militia, en masse, from the counties
of Herkimer, On eida, Lewis and Jefferson. The two former
produced about 2, ;">()() men, the latter not more than 400,
which made the force at the harbor between five and six thou
sand men. Great difficulty was experienced from the want
of suitable quarters for so great a bodv. Manv were quar
tered in dwellings and barns, and from twenty to thirty were
often assigned to a single room. The discomforts attending
these accommodations very naturally excited uneasiness, and
at the expiration of the draft, it was apprehended that the mi
litia would be with difficulty prevented from going home, and
that it would become necessary to supply their places with
regulars. The apprehensions were not justified by the events
that followed, and the militia were allowed to return home.
Two frigates of the largest class, one on Navy Point,
in Sackets Harbor, to be called the New Orleans, and
another of the same class at Starr s Harbor, farther up the
bay, to be called the Chippewa, were begun and their hulls
partly completed, when the news of peace put a stop to the
war.
Up the St. Lawrence, 1796.
Mr. Isaac Weld, an Irish refugee, as he was leaving Mon
treal in September, 1796, for a journey up the St. Lawrence,
had as his first concern to provide a large tent and some camp
equipage, buffalo skins, a store of dried provisions, kegs of
brandy and wine, and, in short, to make every usual and nec
essary preparation for the journey. Except for about fifty
miles, there were roads and scattered settlements at no great
distance from each other all the way up to Kingston ; but no
one ever thought of going by land, as there would be great
difficulty in hiring horses and in crossing streams without
bridges, says Dr. Hough.
The bateaux were never laden until the boats had been
got up the Lachine Rapids. Three men could take an empty
boat of two tons up these first rapids, keeping as close as pos
sible to the shore and using poles, oars and sails, as found
most advantageous. Tt was a very laborious task ; but from
long observation they had been able to find places some times
half a mile or in others two or three miles apart, where they
could take breath. Each of these places the boatmen called
" une pipe, " because they were there allowed to fill their pipes,
and this term had come to be a sort of itinerary measure, as,
UP THE ST. LAWRENCE, 1796. 133
such a place is "three pipes off," The -pipe" was about
equal on an average to three-quarters of an English mile.
The passage up the rapids was so tedious that travelers
often proceeded on foot, by the roads along the north shore.
Coming up from Lower Canada in midsummer, by the
tedious water passage, which had then been somewhat re
lieved by canals and locks for bateaux, he noticed, as he
reached the level of lake navigation, enormous flocks of pig
eons, "which during particular years come down from the
northern regions in flights that it is marvellous to tell of. "
Weld s description of the voyage to Kingston is as fol
lows : The current of the St. Lawrence from Oswegatchie up
wards is much more gentle than in other parts between Mon
treal and Lake Ontario, except only where the river is consid
erably dilated as at Lakes St. Louis and St. Frances : however,
notwithstanding its being so gentle we did not advance more
than twenty-five miles in the course of the day, owing to the
numerous stops that we made, more from motives of pleasure
than necessity. The evening was uncommonly fine and tow
ards sunset a brisk gale sprang up, the conductor judged it
advisable to take advantage of it and to continue the voyage
all night, in order to make up for the time we had lost during
the day.
We accordingly proceeded, but towards midnight the wind
died away. This circumstance, however, did not alter the de
termination of the conductor. The men were ordered to the
oars and notwithstanding they had labored hard during
the preceding day and had no rest, yet they were kept closely
at work until daybreak, except for one hour, during which
they were allowed to stop to cook their provisions.
Where there is a gentle current as in this part of the river
the Canadians will work at the oars many hours without in-
134 UP THE ST. LAWRENCE, 1796.
termission ; they seem to think it no hardship to be employed
in this instance the whole night ; on the contrary, they plied
as vigorously as if they had but just set out, singing merrily
the whole time. The French Canadians have in general a
good ear for music and sing duets with tolerable accuracy.
They have one very favorite duet amongst them called the
11 rowing duet, " which as they sing they mark time to with
each stroke of the oar; indeed, when rowing in smooth water
they mark the time of most of the airs they sing in the same
manner.
About eight o clock the next and eighth morning of our
voyage, we entered the last before you come to that of On
tario, called The Lake of a Thousand Islands, on account of
the multiplicity of them, which it contains.
Many of these islands are scarcely larger than a bateaux,
and none of them, except such as are situated at the upper and
lower extremities of the lake, appearing to me to contain more
than fifteen English acres each. They are all covered with
wood even to the smallest. The trees on these last are smaller
in their growth, but the larger islands produce as fine timber
as will be found on the main shores of the lake. Many of
these islands are situated so closely together that it would be
easy to throw a pebble from one to the other. Notwithstand
ing which circumstance, the passage between them is perfectly
safe and commodious for bateaux and between some of them
that are even thus close to each other is w T ater sufficient for a
frigate. The water is uncommonly clear as it is in every part
of the river from Lake (St. Francis upwards. Between that lake
and the Utawas River downwards it is discolored, as I have
before observed, by passing over beds of marl.
The shores of all these islands under our notice are rocky,
most of them rise very boldly and some exhibit perpendicular
UP THE ST. LAWRENCE, 1796. 135
masses of rock towards the water, upwards of twenty feet high.
The scenery presented to view in passing between these islands
is beautiful in the highest degree. Sometimes in passing
through a narrow strait you find yourself in a basin, land
locked on every side, that appears to have no communication
with the lake,except by the passage through which you have
entered. You are looking about, perhaps, for an outlet to en
able you to proceed, thinking at last to see some little channel
which will just admit your bateaux when suddenly an ex
panded sheet of water opens upon you, whose boundary is the
horizon alone. Again in a few minutes, you find yourself
land-locked, and again a spacious passage as suddenly pre
sents itself; at other times, when in the middle of one of these
basins, between a cluster of islands, a do/en different channels,
like so many noble rivers, meet the eye, perhaps equally un
expectedly, and on each side the islands appear regularly re
tiring till they sink from the sight in the distance.
Every minute during the passage of this lake, the pros
pect varies. The numerous Indian hunting encampments on
the different islands, with the smoke of their fires rising up
between the trees, added considerably to the beauty of the
scenery as we passed through it. The Lake of the Thousand
Islands is twenty-five miles in length and about six in breadth.
From its upper end to Kingston, at which we arrived early in
the evening, the distance is fifteen miles.
The, length of time requited to ascend the River St. Law
rence, from Montreal to Kingston, is commonly found to be
about seven days. If the wind snonld be strong and very
favorable the passage may be performed in a less time ; but
should it, on the contrary, be adverse, and blow very strong,
the passage will be protracted somewhat longer. An adverse,
or favorable wind, however, seldom makes a difference of more
136 UP THE ST. LAWRENCE, 1796.
than three days in the length of the passage upwards, or in
each case it is necessary to work the bateaux along by means of
poles, for the greater part of the way. The passage downward
is performed in two or three days, according to the wind. The
current is so strong, that a contrary wind seldom lengthens
the passage in that direction more than a day.
Kingston, as seen by Mr. Weld, just before the beginning
of the present century, contained a fort, barracks for troops,
an Episcopal church, and about a hundred houses, mostly in
habited by persons who had emigrated from the United States
at the close of the Revolutionary war. Some of the houses
were of stone or brick, but for the most part they were oi
wood .
From sixty to one hundred soldiers were usually quar
tered in the garrison. The town had a considerable amount
of trade, and was growing rapidly in size, the goods and
peltries of traders being here transferred from bateaux to
vessels. The principal merchants were mostly partners of
old-established houses in Montreal and Quebec, and the
stranger, especially if a British subject, was sure to meet a
most hospitable and friendly reception among them.
Kingston was then the principal station for shipbuilding
on the Lakes, and at that period, several decked merchant
vessels, schooners, and sloops, of from 50 to 200 tons each, and
numberless large sailing bateaux, were kept employed on Lake
Ontario. There were then no vessels larger than bateaux owned
on the south side of the Lake, and the British vessels that plied
between Kingston and Niagara, rarely touched at any other
place.
The heaviest item of ship-building at that period was iron,
which came from England, but great hopes were founded upon
UP THE ST. LAWRENCE, 1796. 137
the copper of the Lake Superior country, which was then
known to exist, but had not yet been worked to much extent.
The established rate of passage across the Lake was then
two guineas in the cabin, and one guinea in the steerage, in
cluding board. Freight was 36 shillings Sterling per ton, or
nearly as much as then charged across the Atlantic.
Down the St. Lawrence, 1818.
John M. Duncan in 1818 descended the St. Lawrence,
and recorded his observations. Another day or two might
have been agreeably spent here, [at Kingston,] but October
was closing upon me, and I feared that frost might set in,
which would make traveling both difficult and disagreeable.
It was, therefore, with pleasure that I learned that some
bateaux were to go down the river the following morning,
and I did not fail to be at the water side in time to secure a
passage by them. * * * The Durham boats of the St.
Lawrence are similar to those on the Mohawk. In smooth
water they use a sail or oars, but are forced up the rapids by
incessant and laborious exertions with the pole. They are
generally navigated by natives of the United States. The one
in which I sailed in May, was according to the information of
the Captain, 02 feet in keel, and 11 feet 4 inches in beam. She
carried about 20 tons, and drew only 28 inches of water. She
had on board about 270 barrels of flour, which sunk her gun
wale within a few inches of the water; and to defend us in
passing through the rapids, a couple of stout planks, about a
foot in breadth, were nailed along the sides ; a precaution
DOWN THE ST. LAWRENCE, 1818. 139
which, as we afterwards experienced, was no more than
needful.
Bateaux are flat-bottomed boats, about half the size of the
others, tapering to a point at each end, and so substantially
constructed that they will endure a great deal of hard knocking
on the channel without danger to the passengers. They do
not sink so low in the water as the boats navigated by Canadian
voyagers, veterans who have been trained from their youth
to the use of the paddle and the setting pole, and who know
every channel, rock, and breaker, in the rapids, from the
Long Sault to Montreal. If a traveler going down the River
has his choice, let him by all means prefer the bateaux ; it
does not sail as fast as a Durham boat, and he may be a day
longer in making the passage, but in ordinary cases he is far
safer.
Passengers by either of these vessels must take with them
a moderate supply of provisions, for it is not customary to go
on shore except to sleep ; and if the wind is ahead, four or five
days may be spent between Kingston and Montreal. Going
up the river is a far more tedious process. They should also be
well provided, even in summer, with cloaks or other coverings,
for the night dews 011 the rivers are excessively cold.
The bateaux sailed from Kingston with a favorable
breeze, between ten and eleven in the forenoon, and while the
wind lasted got 011 gallantly ; but towards the afternoon we
were almost becalmed in the Lake of a Thousand Isles, and
our voyagers were compelled to tug away at the oar. We had
four rowers, besides the conductor, who steered with a small
paddle. The scenery of this Lake, as it is called, is very
picturesque, but the succession of islands becomes at last tire
some, the more so that you find them take the wind out of the
uail, and wofully retard your progress. I had made allowance
140 DOWN THE ST. LA WHENCE, 1818.
for a reasonable proportion of exaggeration in its poetical
name, but the Islands crowded upon each other in such
numerous groups, and we were so long in getting clear of
them, that I began at last to doubt whether there might be two
thousand of them instead of one.
They are of all sizes ; some of them bare rocks, a few
feet square, others two or three miles long, and thickly
wooded. Loch Lomond, with her two dozen islets, has long
sheltered the manufacturers of the genuine peat reek from the
scent of the Revenue officers ; but this must be the very para
dise of smugglers, should such a trade ever become profitable
in Upper Canada and a hopeless business it will be for excise
men who are sent to ferret them out.
Towards evening it began to rain ; but some of the com
pany on board were more disagreeable than the weather.
* * * * But for their presence, I could have endured the
rain for an hour or two, to listen to the boat songs of the
Canadian voyagers, which in the stillness of the night had a
peculiar pleasing effect. They kept time to these songs as
they rowed ; and the splashing of the oars in the water,
combined with the wildness of their cadence, gave a romantic
character to our darksome voyage.
In most of the songs, two of the boatmen began the air,
the other two sang a response, and then all united in the
chorus. Their music might not have been thought extremely
fine, by those whose skill in concords and chromatics forbids
them to be gratified but on scientific principles. My conven
ient ignorance of those rules allowed me to reap undisturbed
enjoyment from the voyagers melodies, which like many upon
Scotch airs, were singularly plaintive and pleasing.
Our conductor expected to have reached Brockville that
evening, a small town about 50 miles below Kingston, but we
DOWN THE ST. LAWRENCE, 1818. 141
began to be somewhat impatient to get on shore. The evening
was so dark, that we could with difficulty distinguish even the
shadowy outline of the river ; not a sound was heard around
us but the echo of the voices of those on board, or the splash
of the oars ; and we were gliding along with no other convic
tions of safety than what arose in firm confidence in our
boatmen. About eight o clock a twinkling light by the river s
side broke upon our view ; we hailed the cheering spark, and
urged the conductor to haul in to the bank, in the hope of
obtaining lodgings. It was a farmer s house ; a crackling fire
of pine logs blazed on the ample hearth, festoons of sliced
apples for winter pies, hung around it to dry, and the com
fortable kitchen contrasted most agreeably with our situation
in the bateau in darkness and rain. The inmates made us
welcome to their fireside, and although not much used to
entertain strangers, very soon provided for us a most comfor
table supper. Hot steaks, fried bacon and potatoes for those
who preferred it, tea and toast, were served up with an alacrity
that would have done credit to a regular inn. It scarcely needs
to be added, that we enacted wonders with the knife and fork.
When the time of retiring came, every bed in the house was
surrendered for our use ; but finding that I could not
participate in one, unless I accepted a bed-fellow, I preferred
my box-coat and the floor.
About two o clock next morning, we were aroused to
resume our voyage. The boatmen before starting swallowed
a plentiful allowance of soup thickened with meat arid bread,
very similar to what sailors call lobscoss ; the players fortified
themselves for the water by an antiphogmatic of rum.
The wind had shifted during the night, and was now
right ahead. It was a genuine American North-wester, and
blew as if it were resolved to take the skin off our cheeks, The
142 DOWN THE ST. LAWRENCE, 1818.
water froze upon the oars, as they rose above the surface ; and
I never appreciated better the comforts of a thick traveling
coat, and a fur cap. Our boatmen had to row without inter
mission ; and although they did not always pull very hard,
they tugged away with amazing constancy. About nine
o clock in the morning, we reached Prescott, sixty-seven miles
from Kingston.
Jbr
Captivity of firs Howe, 1755.
The narrative of Mrs. Jemima Howe s captivity was first
published in a booklet, and later was popularized in the school
readers of 80 years ago. The copy from which this is repro
duced is characterized by the modified f for s in all instances
except at the end of a word, as " fons."
As Messrs. Caleb Howe, Hilkiah Grout, and Benjamin
Gaffield, who had been hoeing corn in the meadow, west of the
river, were returning home a little before sunset to a place
called Bridgmaii s Fort, they were fired upon by twelve
Indians, who had ambushed their path. Howe was on horse
back, with two young lads, his children, behind him. A ball,
which broke through his thigh, brought him to the ground.
His horse ran a few rods and fell likewise, and both the lads
were taken. The Indians in their savage manner, coming up
to Howe, pierced his body with a spear, tore off his scalp, stuck
a hatchet in his head, and left him in this forlorn condition.
He was found alive the next morning after by a party of
men from Fort Hinsdale ; and being asked by one of the party
whether he knew him, he answered, Yes, I know you all.
These were his last words, though he did not expire until
after his friends hud arrived with him at Fort Kinsdale.
144 CAPTIVITY OF MRS. HOWE, 1755.
Grout was so fortunate as to escape unhurt, but Gaffield in the
attempt to wade through the river which was indeed ford able
at that time, was unfortunately drowned. Flushed with the
success they had met here, the savages went directly to Bridg-
man s Fort. There was no man in it, and only three women
and some children, Mrs. Jemima Howe, Mrs. Submit Grout,
and Mrs. Eunice Gaffield.
Their husbands I need not mention again, and their
feelings at this junction T w r ill not attempt to describe. They
had heard the enemies guns, but knew not what had happened
to their friends. Extremely anxious for their safety, they
stood longing to embrace them, until at length, concluding
from the noise thay heard without that some of them were
come, they unbarred the gate in a hurry to receive them ;
when lo ! to their inexpressible disappointment and surprise,
instead of their husbands, in rushed a number of hideous
Indians, to whom they and their tender offspring became an
easy pray ; and from whom they had nothing to expect but
either an immediate death, or a long captivity. The latter of
these, by favor of Providence, turned out to be the lot of these
unhappy women, and their still more unhappy, because more
helpless, children Mrs. Gaffield had but one, Mrs. Grout had
three, and Mrs. Howe seven. The eldest of Mrs. Howe s was
eleven years old, and the youngest but six months.
The two eldest were daughters, which she had by her fi"st
husband, Mr. William Phipps, who was also slain by the
Indians, of which T doubt not but you have see an account in
Mr. Doolittle s history. It was from the mouth of this woman
that I lately received the foregoing account. She also gave
me, I doubt not, a true, though, to be sure, a very brief and
imperfect history of her captivity, which I here insert for your
perusal. The Indians, (she says) having plundered and p:it
V or Miis. HOWE, I7f>f>. 14f>
fire to the fort, we marched, as near as I could judge, a mile
and a half into the woods, where we encamped that night.
When the morning came, and we had advanced as much
farther, six Indians were sent back to the place of our late
abode, who collected a little more plunder, and destroyed some
other effects that had been left behind ; but they did not return
until the day was so far spent, that it was judged best to con
tinue where we were through the night. Early the next
morning we set off for Canada, and continued our march eight
days successfully, until we had reached the place where the In
dians had left their canoes,about fifteen miles from Crown Point.
This was a long and tedious march ; but the captives, by
divine assistance, were enabled to endure it with less trouble
and difficulty than they had reason to expect.
From such savage masters, in such indignant circum
stances, we could not rationally hope for kinder treatment than
we received. Some of us it is true, had a harder lot than
others ; and among the children, I thought my son Squire
had the hardest of any. He was then only four years old, and
when we stopped to rest our weary limbs, and he sat down on
his master s pack, the savage monster would often knock him
off; and sometimes too with the handle of his hatchet.
Several ugly marks, indented in his head by the cruel Indians,
at that tender age, are still plainly to be seen. At length we
arrived at Crown Point, and took up our quarters there, for the
space of near a week. In the meantime, some of the Indians
went to Montreal, and took several of the weary captives along
with them, with a view of soiling them to the French. They
did not succeed however, in finding a market for any of them.
They gave my youngest daughter to the governor, de Vau-
dreuil, had a drunken frolic, and returned again to Crown
Point, with the rest of their prisoners. From hence we set off
146 CAPTIVITY OF MRS. HOWE, 1755.
for St. John s, in four or five canoes, just as night was coming
on, and were soon surrounded with darkness. A heavy storm
hung over us. The sound of the rolling thunder was very
terrible upon the waters, which at every flash of expansive
lightning seemed to be all in a blaze. Yet to this we were
indebted for all the light we enjoyed. No object could we
discern any longer than the flashes lasted.
In this posture we sailed in our open tottering canoes,
almost the whole of that dreary night. The morning indeed
had not yet begun to dawn, when we all went ashore ; and
having collected a heap of sand gravel for a pillow, I laid
myself down, with my tender infant by my side not knowing
where any of my other children were or what a miserable
condition they might be in. The next day, however, under
the wdng of that ever present and all powerful Providence,
which had preserved us through the darkness and imminent
dangers of the preceding night, we all arrived in safety at
St. John s. Our next movement was to St. Francois, the
metropolis, if I may call it, to which the Indians, who led
us captive, belonged. Soon after our arrival at that wretched
capital, a council, consisting of the chief Sachem, and some
principal warriors of the St. Francois tribe, was convened ;
and after the ceremonies usua 1 on such occasions were over, I
was conducted and delivered to an old squaw 7 , who the Indians
told me I must call my mother. My infant still continued to
be the property of its original Indian owners. I was never
theless permitted to keep it with me a while longer, for the
sake of saving them the trouble of looking after it. When the
weather began to grow cold, shuddering at the prospect of
approaching winter, I acquainted my new mother, that I did
not think it would be possible for me to endure it, if I
must spend it with her, and share as the Indians did.
CAPTIVITY OF MRS. HOWE, I75o. 147
Listening to my repeated and earnest solicitations that I
might be disposed of among some of the French inhabitants of
Canada, she at length set off with me and my infant, attended
by some male Indians, upon a journey to Montreal, in hopes
of finding a market for me there. But the attempt proved
unsuccessful, and the journey tedious indeed.
Our provision was so scanty as well as insipid and
unsavory; the weather was so cold, and the traveling so very
bad, that it often seemed as if 1 must have perished on the
way. While we were at Montreal, we went into the house of
a certain French gentleman, whose lady being sent for, and
coming into the room where I was, to examine me, seeing I
had an infant, exclaimed with an oath, " I will not buy a
woman who has a child to look after." There was a swill pail
standing near me, in which L observed some crusts of bread
swimming on the surface of the greasy liquor it contained.
Sorely pinched with hunger, 1 skimmed them off with my
hands, and ate them ; imd this was all the refreshment which
the house afforded r .e. Somewhere in the course of this visit
to Montreal, my Indian mother was so unfortunate 1 as to catch
the smallpox, of which distemper she died, soon after our
return, which was by water, to St. Francois. And now came
on the season when the Indians began to prepare for a win
ter s hunt.
I was ordered to return my poor child to those of them
who still claimed it as their property. This was a severe trial.
The babe clung to my bosom with all its might ; but I was
obliged to pluck it thence, and deliver it, shrieking and
screaming enough to penetrate a heart of stone, into the hands
of those unfeeling wretches, whose tender mercies may be
termed cruel. It was soon carried off by a hunting party of
thos^ Indians, to a place called Meffiskow, at the lower end of
CAPTIVITY OF MRS HOWE, 1
Lake Champlain, whither, in about a month after it was my
fortune to follow them. And here I found it, it is true, but in
a condition that afforded me no great satisfaction ; it being
greatly emaciated and almost starved. I took it in my arms,
put its face to mine, and it instantly bit me with such violence,
that it seemed as if I must have parted with a piece of my
cheek. I was permitted to lodge with it that, and the two
following nights ; but every morning that intervened, the
Indians, I suppose on purpose to torment me, sent me away
to another wigwam, which stood at a little distance, though
not so far from the one in which my distressed infant was
confined, but that I could plainly hear its incessant cries, and
heartrending lamentations. In this deplorable condition, I
was obliged to take my leave of it, on the morning of the third
day after my arrival at the place. We moved down the lake
several miles the same day ; and the night following was
remarkable on account of the great earthquake which terribly
shook that howling wilderness.
Among the islands hereabouts, we spent the winter season,
often shifting our quarters, and roving about from one place
to another ; our family consisting of three persons only, beside
myself, viz.: my late mother s daughter, whom therefore I
called my sister, her sanhop, and a pappoose. They once left
me alone two dismal nights ; and when they returned to me
again, perceiving them smile at each other, I asked what is the
matter? They replied, that two of my children were no more.
One of which, they said, died a natural death, and the other
was knocked on the head. I did not utter many words, but
my heart was sorely pained within me, and my mind exceed
ingly troubled with strange and awful ideas. I often
imagined, for instance, that I plainly saw the naked carcasses
of my deceased children hanging upon the limbs of the trees,
CAPTIVITY OF MRS. HOWE, 17")"). [49
as the Indians are wont to hang the raw hides of those beasts
which they take in hunting. It was not long, however, before
it was ordered by kind Providence, that I should be relieved
in a good measure from those horrid imaginations; for as I
was walking one day upon the ice, observing a smoke at some
distance upon the land, it must proceed, thought I, from the
fire of some Indian hut ; and who knows but some one of my
poor children may be there. My curiosity, thus excited, led
me to the place, and there I found my son Caleb, a little boy
between two and three years old, whom 1 had lately buried,
in sentiment at least ; or rather imagined to have been deprived
of life, and perhaps also denied a decent grave.
I found him likewise in tolerable health and circumstances,
under the protection of a fond Indian mother ; and moreover
had the happiness of lodging with him in my arms one joyful
night. Again we shifted our quarters, when we had traveled
eight or ten miles upon the snow and ice, came to a place
where the Indians manufactured sugar which they extracted
from maple trees. Here an Indian came to visit us, whom I
knew, and who could speak English. He asked me why I did
not go to see my son Squire. I replied that I had lately be< n
informed that he was dead. He assured me that he was yet
alive, and but two or three miles off, on the opposite side of
the Lake. At my request, he gave me the best directions he
could to the place of his abode. I resolved to embrace the first
opportunity that offered of endeavoring to search it out. While
I was busy in contemplating this affair, the Indians obtained
a little bread, of which they gave me a small share. I did not
taste a morsal of it myself, but saved it all for my poor child,
if I should be so lucky as to find him. At length, having
obtained of my keepers leave to be absent for one day, 1 set off
early in the morning, and steering, as well as I could, accord-
ITiO CAPTIVITY OF MRS. TTOWE, 1755.
ing to the directions which the friendly Indian had given me ,
1 quickly found the place, which he had so accurately
marked out.
I beheld, as I drew nigh, my little son without the camp ;
but he looked, thought I, like a starved and mangy puppy,
that had been wallowing in the ashes. I took him in my
arms, and he spoke to me these words, in the Indian tongue :
" Mother, are you come ? " I took him into the wigwam with
me, and observing a number of Indian children in it, I dis
tributed all the bread which I had reserved for my own child,
among them all ; otherwise I should have given great offence.
My little boy appeared to be very fond of his new mother, kept
as near me as possible while I stayed ; and when I told him
1 must go, he fell as though he had been knocked down with
a club. But having recommended him to the care of Him who
made him, when the day was far spent, and the time would
permit me to stay no longer, I departed, you may well suppose,
with a heavy load at my heart. The tidings I had received of
the death of my youngest child had, a little before, been con
firmed to me beyond a doubt ; but I could not mourn so
heartily for the deceased, as for the living child.
When the winter broke up, we removed to St. John s ;
and through the ensuing summer, our principal residence wa s
at no great distance from the fort at that place. In the mean
time, however, my sister s husband having been out with a
scouting party to some of the English settlements, had a
drunken frolic at the fort, when he returned. His wife, who
never got drunk, but had often experienced the ill effects of
her husband s intemperance, fearing what the consequence
might prove, if he should come home in a morose and turbu
lent humor, to avoid his insolence, proposed that we should
both retire, and keep out of the reach of it, until the storm
CAPTIVITY OF MRS. HOWE, 1755. 151
abated. We absconded accordingly ; but so it happened, that
I returned, and ventured into his presence, before his wife had
presumed to come nigh him. 1 found him in his wigwam,
and in a surly mood ; and not being able to revenge upon his
wife, because she was not at home, he laid hold of me, and
hurried me to the fort ; and for a trifling consideration, sold
me to a French gentleman, whose name was Saccapee.
It is ail ill wind certainly that blows nobody any good. I
had been with the Indians a year lacking fourteen days ; and,
if not for my sister, yet for me, it was a lucky circumstance
indeed, which thus at last, in an unexpected moment, snatched
me out of their cruel hands, and placed me beyond the reach
of their insolent power. After my Indian master had disposed
of me in the manner related above, and the moment of sober
reflection had arrived, perceiving that the man who had
bought me had taken the advantage of him in an unguarded
hour, his resentment began to kindle, and his indignation rose
so high, that he threatened to kill me if he should meet me
alone; or if he could not revenge himself thus, that he would
set fire to the fort. I was therefore secreted in an upper
chamber, and the fort carefully guarded, until his wrath had
time to cool. My service in the family to which I was advan
ced, was perfect freedom, in comparison with what it had been
among the barbarous Indians.
My new master and mistress were both as kind and gen
erous towards me as I could reasonably expect. ! seldom
asked a favor of either of them, but it was readily granted. In
consequence of which I had it in my power, in many instances,
to administer aid and refreshment to the poor prisoners of my
nation, who were brought into St. John s during my abode in
the family of the above mentioned benevolent and hospitable
Saccapee. Yet even in this family, such trials awaited me as
152 CAPTIVITY OF MRS. HOWE, 1755.
I had little reason to expect ; but stood in need of a large stock
of prudence, to enable me to encounter them. In this I was
greatly assisted by the governor, and Colonel Schuyler, who was
then a prisoner. I was moreover under unspeakable obligations
to the governor on another account. I had received intelligence
from my daughter Mary, the purport of which was, that there
was a prospect of her being shortly married to a young Indian
of the tribe of St. Francois, with which tribe she had continued
from the beginning of her captivity. These were heavy
tidings, and added greatly to the poignancy of my other
afflictions.
However, not long after I had heard this melancholy
news, an opportunity presented of acquainting that humane
and generous gentleman, the commander-in-chief, and my
illustrious benefactor, with this affair also, who, in compassion
for my sufferings, and to mitigate my sorrows, issued his
orders in good time and had my daughter taken away from
the Indians, and conveyed to the same nunnery where her
sister was then lodged, with his express injunction, that they
should both of them together be well looked after, and care
fully educated, as his adopted children. In this school
* they continued while the war in those
days between France and Great Britain lasted. At the con
clusion of which war, the governor went went home to France,
took my oldest daughter along with him, and married her
there to a French gentleman, whose name is Cron Lewis.
He was at Boston with the fleet under Count de Estaing,
(1778) and one of his clerks. My other daughter still con
tinuing in the nunnery, a considerable time had elapsed after
my return from captivity, when I made a journey to Canada,
resolving to use my best endeavors not to return without her.
I arrived just in time to prevent her being sent to France, She
CAPTIVITY OF MRS. HOWE, 1755, 153
was to have gone in the next vessel that sailed for that place.
And 1 found it extremely difficult to prevail with her to quit
the nunnery and go home with me. Yea, she absolutely
refused ; and all the persuasions and arguments I could use
with her were to no effect, until after I had been to the
governor, and obtained a letter from him to the superintendent
of the nuns, in which lie threatened, if my daughter should
not be delivered immediately into my hands, or could not be
prevailed with to submit to my parential authority, that he
would send a band of soldiers to assist me in bringing her
away.
But so extremely bigoted was she to the customs and
religion of the place, that after all, she left it with the greatest
reluctance, and the most bitter lamentations, which she con
tinued as we passed the streets, and wholly refused to be
comforted. My good friend, Major Small, whom we met on
the way, tried all he could to console her ; and was so very
kind and obliging as to bear us company, and carry mv
daughter behind him on horseback. But I have run on a
little before my story ; for I have not yet informed you of the
means and manner of my own redemption ; to the accom
plishment of which, the recovery of my daughter, just
mentioned, and the ransoming of some of my children, several
gentlemen of note contributed not a little ; to whose goodness,
therefore I am greatly indebted, and sincerely hope I shall
never be so ungrateful as to forget it.
Colonel Schuyler, in particular, was so very kind and
generous as to advance 2700 livres to procure a ransom for
myself and three children. He accompanied and conducted
us from Montreal to Albany, and entertained us in the most
friendly and hospitable manner a considerable time at his
own house, and I believe entirely at his own expense.
A Pioneer s Hardships.
Perhaps no better example of the hardships suffered by
the early pioneers can be obtained than the recital of the ex
periences of Noadiah Hubbard, a man of rare individuality,
pluck and natural ability. In 1853 he thus wrote of his early
experiences :
I first came to this town, Champion, in the year 1797,
with Lemuel Storrs, a large landholder, when he came on for
the first time to view his purchase. I was then residing in
Steuben, in what is now Oneida County, but then, or shortly
before, Herkimer. Mr. Storrs then hired several pack men,
whose business it was to carry the necessary provisions for the
expedition on their backs. This was late in the autumn. We
traveled on foot by what was called the French Road to the
High Falls on the Black River. This road had been cut for
the accommodation of the French refugees who had made a
settlement at High Falls, and had then a log city. Many of
these French belonged to the nobility of France, who were
obliged to abandon their country during the revolution in
1793, but who were afterwards permitted to return when the
star of empire rose upon the Bonapartes. Their settlement
A PIONP:ER S HARDSHIPS. 155
was made upon what was called the French Tract, on the
north and east side of the Black River, and extending a great
distance. From the High Falls we descended the river in a
boat to the rapids, called Long Falls, now known as Carthage.
Here we landed, and in two days explored the township, then
an unbroken wilderness. On our way down, Silas Stow, then
a young man, and afterward known as Judge Stow, of Low-
ville, joined us. On the third day we re-embarked and
proceeded up the river, and it was two days hard rowing to
get back again to High Falls. As I believe I before mentioned,
it was late in November, and the night we were obliged to be
out, we encountered a severe snow storm. To protect ourselves
from it in some measure, we made a shanty by setting up
some crotches, and laying on poles, and covering them with
hemlock boughs. We also scattered branches upon the ground
upon which to lie. and by making a rousing fire in front of
our shelter, we contrived to be very comfortable. By this time
our provisions were nearly exhausted, and we had before us
the prospect of a hungry day. But in ascending the river we
fortunately killed a duck and a partridge ; these being stripped
of their feathers in the evening, I cooked them for our break
fast the next morning. I prepared them as nicely as we could
with our scanty means ; salt we had none. I had a little pork
left ; this I cut in small bits and inserted into the flesh of the
fowls, when it served the double purpose of salt, and butter for
basting. To cook them I set up a couple of crotched sticks,
laid another across, and from it by strips of bark suspended
my fowls before the tire, where they cooked most beautifully,
and were all in good time partaken of by the company with
rare relish. Indeed, Messrs. Storrs and Stow declared they had
never eaten so good. Hunger and a limited supply gave a
keenness of relish not often experienced.
156 A PIONEER S HARDSHIPS.
In due time we arrived safe and well in Steuben, from
whence we had started, where I passed the winter. Mr. Storrs
offered me very liberal inducements to come on here and ac
cept them, though I may say in passing and then dismiss the
subject forever, that he failed to fulfill his liberal offers. But in
consideration of those offers, I left my home in Steuben the 1st
of June, 1798, and started for this place, accompanied by
Salmon Ward and David Starr, with fifteen head of cattle.
We traveled again upon the French road, as far as it availed
us. This township had been surveyed by Benjamin and
Moses Wright, the year before, and this year Mr. Storrs had
engaged B. W. to survey Hounsfield, and on his way there he
was to mark a road to this place, and to precede me. I met
the surveyors agreeably to appointment at a Mr. Hoadley s,
and from there we came on to what is called Turin Four
Corners. There was only one log house there then. From
there we went west about thirty or forty rods to Zaccheus
Higby s. There we laid down our maps and consulted them,
and came to the conclusion to take from thence a north course.
This led us upon to the top of a hill, now known as the Tug
Hill. We were entirely ignorant of the face of the country,
and of the most eligible route to pursue, and therefore took the
one which seemed the most direct, not knowing the obstacles
to be encountered. We had before come down by water, and
on this route there was not even a marked tree. It was the
duty of the surveyors to precede us, mark a road and chain it.
Mr. W. started in advance of us for this purpose. It was a
beautiful, clear morning and we followed on, progressing
finely until the middle of the afternoon, when we came to a
gulf, and an abundance of marked trees. We went over the
gulf but could find no more trees marked. We then made 1 a
fire and took out the stoppings from our bells, and suffered
157
our cattle to feed around the fire, while we set ourselves to
search for marked trees, over the gulfs and up and down, but
could find no place to cross, or marks by which to determine
what course the surveyors had taken. In this predicament
we prepared to construct a shelter for the night of hemlock
boughs.
The next morning the sun came up clear and bright, and
I called a council. I told the men how much damage it would
be to me to return, how great a loss not to proceed, and asked
them if they were willing to come on. David Starr replied
that he would go to h 1, if I would. Though noway desirous
of going to the latter place, even in good company, I deter
mined to come on, if such a thing were possible, without a
compass or guide. We then set ourselves to work, and felled
trees, with which we made an enclosure, into which we drove
our cattle, and then shoved them down the precipice, one after
another ; they went up slantingly on the other side, and much
better than we got them down, so that finally they were all
safely over, after much toil and trouble. I then agreed to
pilot the company down, took off the ox bell; and carried it in
my hand, leading the way, and steered a north course by the
sun and watch. We had the advantage of a bright sunshine.
We had to cross a number of gulfs, and one windfall, which
was the worst of all. We continued to travel upon the sum
mit of the hill, where we found much fine table land. The
cattle would travel as fast as I could lead the way. One man
drove them, and another followed, axe in hand, to mark the
trees, and leave traces behind us, so that if we could not ad
vance, we could trace our steps.
We descended the hill before reaching Deer River. The
latter we struck and crossed above the falls not far from
where the village of Copenhagen now stands and coming on,
158 A PIONEER S HARDSHIPS.
we succeeded in finding the town line, which was identified by
marked trees, not far from where the toll-gate now is, on the
Champion and Copenhagen Plank Road. We then changed
our course, following the line to the Black River, at Long
Falls, where we arrived before night. We there found Mr. W.
and men. They had not arrived more than an hour before
us. When seeing us, Mr. W. exclaimed :
"How, in the name of God, have you got here? " I re
plied :
"You scoundrel! you ought to be burnt for leaving
us so !"
It was a most rascally piece of business, their leaving us
as they did. But I suppose the truth was, they thought it
impossible for us ever to get through with our cattle ; but this
does not excuse them for not having marked the road ; twas
for that they were sent and if others could not follow, they
were not answerable ; but their duty was plain before them.
My boat, which I had dispatched from the High Falls,
soon after arrived, with my provisions, yokes, chains, and
cooking utensils. The next day we left one to watch our
effects, while the others were searching for a desirable location.
In a few days I selected the farm upon which I now live,
principally for the reason that it was the centre of the town
ship, rather than for any peculiar advantages it possessed over
other portions of the town. Yet the soil has proved good, and
sufficiently luxuriant with proper cultivation. This was what
I sought, a good agricultural location, rather than one possess
ing hydraulic privileges.
Not one tree had been cut here for the purpose of making
a settlement, nor was there a white man settled in what is now
the county of Jefferson, when I came here. I was the first
white settler in the county. I remained here through the
A PIONEER S HARDSHIPS. 159
summer, and until October, engaged in making a clearing.
We then returned to Steuben, where my family was, to spend
the winter.
During the summer, some families had come into Low-
ville, and Mr. Storrs hud caused a road to be marked from
there to the Long Falls, and by that we returned, driving our
cattle home again. These had become fat, by running in the
woods, during the summer, and I sold them for beef. I would
mention here, though rather out of place, that I found a living-
spring of pure water, a few rods before where the public house,
in Champion, now stands, which had its influence in deciding
my location. Near it I built my first house, and there I kept
" bachelor s hall " two summers, being myself " chief cook."
My first habitation was a cabin, erected in a few hours time,
with the aid of my men. It was a rude structure, but served
our purpose. We first set some posts, and then, having felled
great trees, stripped them of the bark, and, with this, covered
the roof and three sides of our dwelling, the front was left
opened, so that it may truly be said, we kept open house. The
covering was kept firmly in its place by withes of bark. After
the completion of our house, the next most necessary thing,
was an oven, in which to bake our bread, for bread we must
have, it being the staff of life. This was soon made, with two
logs for a foundation, and a fiat stone thereon, the super
structure was soon reared with smaller stones, cemented
together by a mortar of muck, from the side of the spring, and
crowned by a fiat stone. This answered my purpose as well as
one of more elaborate construction. For a door, we split out a
plank of basswood ; and for a kneading-trough, we again had
recourse to the basswood, from whence we cut a log of the
required length and dimensions, split it, and from one half,
dug out, with an axe, and an instrument named a howell,
160 A PlO:N f EER s HARDSHIPS.
which we had brought for such 1 purposes, in a short time, a
trough, which answered our purpose very well. I brought
some yeast with me, to make my first batch of bread ; after
that, I used leaven, kept and prepared after directions given
me by my wife, before leaving home. Whatever may be said
of our cooking, in general, I am sure none ever seemed sweeter
to me, or was eaten with a better relish by others ; labor
sweetened every mouthful. We had cows and plenty of milk.
We sometimes washed dishes, when we could not remember
what we last ate upon them, but oftener turned them the
bottom side up, there to remain until wanted again. Some
even pretend to say, that when our table needed scouring, we
sprinkled salt upon it, and put it out for the old cow to operate
upon. However that may be, I am sure, if we ever did do it,
it must have come from under her scouring apparatus exceed
ingly white. But the whole story is rather aprocryphal.
Early in the spring, 1799, I sent 011 two men, to make
sugar, before I came 011 myself. They commenced making-
sugar, and one day went out hunting, leaving their sugar
boiling. The consequence was, the house took fire and burned
down, with all of the little it contained. During the winter,
the Indians had stolen all the cooking utensils I had left, and
the potatoes which I had raised, and buried the autumn before.
Thus my riches were taking to themselves wings, and flying
away. I came on soon after. This spring, Esquire Mix and
family came on ; John and Thomas Ward, Ephraim Cham
berlain, Samuel and David Starr, Jotham Mitchell, Salmon
Ward and Bela Hubbard, David Miller, and Boutin, a
Frenchman, came to Carthage. The above were all young,
unmarried men, save Mix. We continued our labors through
the summer of 1799. but not with that spirit which we should
have done, had not a rumor reached us of the failure of Mr.
A PIONEER S HARDSHIPS. 161
Storrs, and the probability that we should lose, not only all
our labor, but the money which I had advanced for my land.
But I will not enter into particulars here let it suffice that I
could not afford to lose all I had done and paid, and conse
quently entered into a compromise with him, to save a moiety
of what was justly mine of not only what I had actually paid
for, but of what T was to have had, for leading the way in this
first settlement of a new country, and subjecting myself again
to all its discomforts and inconveniences. Consequently, in
view of making this my permanent home, I moved my family
here in the autumn of 1700. We had a very unfavorable
time, to come. There had been a snow storm, in which about
six inches of snow had fallen. We were obliged to travel on
horseback, the horses feet balled badly ; we had sloughs to go
through, and altogether, it was very uncomfortable traveling
in that manner, with children. We arrived at .Mr. Hoadley s
the first night, and our ox-teams and goods the next d:iy.
From there, we came to the High Falls, where 1 had a bJit
awaiting us, which 1 had caused to be built for my own use.
Here we embarked with all our goods and chattels, of all
kinds, loading the boat to its utmost capacity, so that when all
were in, it was only about four indies out of water.
We spent one night at the Lowville landing, where a
family were living. During the evening, there came in a
number of men, wet, cold and hungry. Among them, was
one named Smith. He went to pull off the boots of one of his
companions, which was very wet and clinging close. He
pulled with all his might the other bracing himself against
him as firmly as possible. All at once, and with unexpected
suddeness, the boot came off, and poor Smith was sent with his
bare feet, into a bed of live coals. There was both music and
dancing for one while.
162
We arrived at the Long Falls, about noon, the second
day from our embarkation. The weather had by this time
become warm and pleasant. Our oxen arrived soon after by
land, we unloaded our boat, put our wagon together, loaded it
with some of our effects, set off, and, before night, reached our
" wilderness home. My wife said in view of the difficulties
in getting here, that if she had anything as good as a cave to
live in, she would not return in one year at least. She, of
choice, walked from the Falls here, a distance of four miles
through the forest. We arrived on the 17th of Nov., 1799.
The weather continued pleasant until the 27th, when it com
menced snowing, the river soon froze over, the snow, of which
a great quantity fell, and continuing to fall, lasted all winter,
and we were entirely cut off from all intercourse with the
world. 1 kept fifteen head of cattle through the winter, by
browsing them, and they wintered well. Isolated though we
were, yet I never passed a more comfortable winter. We had
a plenty of provisions ; my wheat, I had raised here, a very
tine crop from seed sown in the autumn of 1798, and my pork,
etc., was fattened in On eida County, and brought here by boat.
And take it altogether, I perhaps settled this country as easy
as any one ever -settled a new country, as completely isolated
as this was at that time, and easier than I settled in Steuben,
l.S miles from Utica. At that time we had to go to Utica or
Whitesborough for provisions, and it always took one day to
go out, and another to return, incredible as it may now seem.
In the spring of 1800, people began to flock into the country
by hundreds, and, as my log house afforded the only accom
modation for wayfaring men, we were obliged to keep them,
whether we would or no ; sometimes, and that very often, my
floors were strewn with human beings as thick as they could
lie, some so near the huge fire place as not to pass unscorched ;
A PIONEER S HARDSHIPS. 163
one man in particular, it was said by his companions, had his
head baked, by too close a proximity to the oven. This rush
continued two or three years, and was full ot incident and
interest, but at this distance of time _ T can not recall these in
cidents with sufficient accuracy to detail them here. The
town settled rapidly with an intelligent and energetic class of
people. The society was good ; it might be called good any
where. Perhaps there was never a more intelligent and
interesting people congregated together in an obscure little
inland town, than in this, within a few years from its first
settlement. I can not state the order of time in which they
came, but the names of a few of them I will record,
that in future time, when this place shall have sunk into
insignificance, as it too probably will, before the greater lights
arising around it, it may be known that we were once honored
by having in our midst such men as Egbert Ten Eyck, after
wards first judge of the court, who was then a young lawyer,
and married here, to one of our beautiful maidens; Olney
Pearce and wife, Hubbel and wife, Judge Moss Kent, brother
of the late chancellor, Henry R. Storrs, who opened an office
here, and afterwards became one of the most distinguished
lawyers of the state. Dr. Baudry, a Frenchman, Drs. Durkee
and Farley, and many others, too numerous to mention, as
well as many ladies of grace and beauty, whom it would be
invidious now to particularize. Common schools were soon
established. Religious meetings were held on the Sabbath,
after old Deacon Carter came into the town, and in a very few
years, I think as early as 1805, the Rev. Nathaniel Dutton
came. He was sent out by some missionary society at the
east, to form churches in this western world, and coming to
this place, was invited to remain, which he did, and continued
here until the close of his valuable life, in Sept. 1852, and for
164 A PIONEER S HARDSHIPS.
the greater part of that time was the pastor of the Congrega
tional church, which flourished under his ministrations, and
enjoyed many powerful revivals of religion.
Folk=Stories.
The following stories, some of them worn threadbare in a
past generation will come back to older readers like the sweet
voice of a bird in the desert. What memories the almost-for
gotten anecdote revives! (iolde.ii vision of days when the
heart was young, and sympathy, pure, deep and tearful ruled
the soul. A sympathy that wept with the new homesick
puppy ; released the imprisoned mother hen fussing in her
coop, or removed the pebble from a struggling shoot. The
simple, unselfish mind of a child that makes a confident of
the domestic animals, and gives the creeping vine a helping
hand to a new or firmer hold. A sympathy alas ! all too soon
hardened by experience and self interests.
Every person had, as a child, his or her favorite story
told over and again, and at each repetition a new scene was
mirrored upon the curtain of childish imagination. The good
old story of how a chief tested the confidence of a leading col
onist has gotten into print and is thus delightfully related in
Pansy, though differing slightly in detail.
HAN YERRY.
Old Han Yerry, was an Indian chief of the Oneida tribe,
who lived in the northern part of New York State a hundred
166 FOLK-STORIES.
years ago. He had fought with the king s party against the
colonists ; but, after the war, when Judge White came to found
the town of Whitesborough, he sought to make friends with
them. The judge was the first white man to form a settle
ment there. He was surrounded by Indians, but was kind
and good, and soon won their love. He lived in a small log
house, with his married daughter and a little grandchild, who
was about two or three years old.
One day, old Han Yerry, with his squaw and a mulatto
servant, came from Oriskany, three miles away, to pay the
judge a visit and renew their friendship. Before going, the
chief said :
" I like you and have confidence in you. Do you like
me and have you confidence in me ? " To which the judge
replied warmly that he liked him and had confidence in him.
" Then prove it to me, " said the old chief, " My squaw
loves your papoose. Let us take her back to remain all night.
I will return with her in the morning. "
The baby s poor mother sat speechless with terror at the
thought of trusting her darling to these savages, and, as she
saw signs of yielding in her father s face, threw herself dis
tractedly at his feet. Without looking at her distress, he gen
tly took the child from her close embrace, and told her she
had nothing to fear from their good friends, who would surely
bring her back safely and well. Then, placing the child in
the squaw s arms, he said : " I trust to my friends all that I
hold most dear. "
Though he looked calm and smiling, he deeply felt the
sacrifice he was called upon to make in order to save the col
onists, who would have perished had the request been re
fused.
All night they kept vigil, and in the first gray light of
FOLK-STORIES. 167
dawn strained their eyes up the road for sign of any human
being ; but there was none. The hours came and went noon,
afternoon. Still no sign. In silence and prayer, with dark
foreboding, they kept watch. Sometimes the poor mother,
through grief and fear, would try to rush up the road in
search of her darling, but was restrained by her father, who
knew that such a breach of confidence would cause 1 its death
and that of the defenseless settlers, while reliance on their
word w r ould increase friendliness. So, hand in hand, they
waited.
At last, as the sun sank behind the hills, some figures ap
peared in the distance. Almost breathlessly they observed
them approach. As they drew nearer, with a cry of delight,
the keen eyes of the mother saw Blossom perched on the
shoulders of the old chief, dressed out in all the gorgeonsness
of an Indian princess, instead of her own little clothes, smiling
and happy, as if she had had the best of times, as indeed was
the case ; for the Indians had been very kind and tender in
their efforts to amuse the little " Pale Flower. "
Judge White was wise to show the Indians this great
trust, for they never forgot it. From that time they did all
they could to aid the white settlers at Sedaghquate, afterward
called Whitesborough, and to show their love and respect for
them.
A COURT OF RECORD.
An act was passed, April, 1800, directing three terms of
the court of common pleas to be held in Jefferson and Lewis
counties. Tradition says, that, after formal adjournment, the
168 FOLK-STORIES.
first court, which was held in the school house, on the ground
now covered by the Universalist Church, became a scene of
tun and frolic, which has since been seldom equaled. The
greater part of the settlers were young or middle aged men,
some indulged in habits of intemperance ; the custom of the
day did not discountenance practical joking, and athletic
games were invariably the accompaniment of all gatherings.
Moreover they had been just organized, and must have
business for their courts, else what the need of having courts?
Should any one evince a disinclination to join in these pro
ceedings, they were accused of " sneakism, " and arraigned be
fore a mock tribunal, where, guilty or not guilty, the penalty
of a " quarter, " was sure to be imposed for the benefit of the
crowd. Among other charges was one against Esq. H., of
Rutland, a man of very sober and candid character, who was
charged with stealing. Conscious of innocence, he offered to
be searched, when a quantity of dough was found in both
pockets of his coat. Thus implicated by circumstances which
he could not explain, he was fined. Another was accused of
falling asleep, and fined a shilling, and another was fined a
like sum for smoking in the court room. After paying the
penalty, he resumed his pipe, and was again arraigned, when
he entered his plea that the fine was for a pipe full, which he
had not finished, and this afforded a subject of legal argument
for discussion, that elicited the research and ability of the
lawyers present. As the avowed intention was to make busi
ness for all the new officers, one was stripped and laid out on
a board, loosely covered with a cloth, and a coroner sent for,
who commenced a bona fide examination, that was interrupted
by some one tipping over the board, when the "subject" of
the hoax jumped up and fled. There had not thus far been
any business for the sheriff, but this was at length made, by
FOLK-STORIES. 169
their finding one who had crept into the garret for conceal
ment. He was dragged before their tribunal, where it was
decided that his failing was a disease, rather than a crime, and
required a specific. This carnival was continued the second
day, and although the officers of the court affected to abstain
from these frolics, yet judicial dignity offered no exemption
from them, and all parties, whether willing or unwilling, were
compelled to join. Companies, distinguished by personal pe
culiarities, were paraded under officers selected for the promi
nence of these traits, as "long noses," etc., while the little
short men were organized into a party and charged with the
duty of " keeping the cats off. " These follies may be con
sidered puerile, but not more so than the annual carnival in
some European countries, and their record is interesting from
illustrating the custom of the times, when athletic games were
fashionable, and men seldom met in numbers without having
" a regular train. "
A MIGHTY NIMROD.
The following encounter with a panther, in 1811), was
related by Jairus Rich, the hunter: It occurred near Hyde
Lake, about three miles from the village of Plessis. He had
sethis traps for wolves, and had arrived within a few rods of
one of them, when he observed a panther spring up and run
with a trap to one of his hind legs. He fired, but missed the
mark, and his game made off into the thicket, when he
returned to a house nearly a mile distant, procured a small
dog, and having again repaired to the place, and stationed
1-70 FOLK-STORIES.
himself where he could start the entrapped animal, he ob
served the head of a panther emerge from the hushes about
five rods distant, upon which he fired and killed him instantly.
He soon found that this was not the one in the trap, and a
heavy shower of rain coming on, he found it difficult to load
his rifle again, which he at length did. The dog, meanwhile,
had engaged the other panther, upon which he fired and
wounded him, and finding he could not reload, on account of
the rain, he threw down his piece, and seizing his hatchet,
sprung upon him, when there ensued a fearful struggle, in
which, finally, the beast got under, with one of the man s
hands in his mouth ; the hatchet was lost, but with the other
hand he drew from his pocket a knife, opened it with his
teeth, and finally succeeded in cutting the throat of the
ferocious animal. The hunter was badly torn, but made
out to crawl to the nearest house, where, after many weeks, he
recovered, but carried the scars of the conflict with him to the
grave. The bounties for the destruction of wild animals were
tli en so great, that the inducements for gain led to ingenious
measures for securing the rewards, and it is related of the same
person, that having trailed a she wolf to her den, and killed
her, he found in the cave ten young whelps, but too small to
be entitled to the bounty. He accordingly built a pen in the
forest, and fed them daily upon wild meats which he obtained
in hunting, until they were grown. He became strongly at
tached to one of them, who would follow T him like a dog, but
the temptation of $50 was too strong to resist, and he slew his
favorite pet to gain the premium. This breeding wolves for
the market,had its parallel in an instance in this town, in which
a hunter, to gain the reward that might be offered for the
secret, professed to know of a salt spring, to which he was in
duced to conduct a certain person, and in which he had a little
FOLK-STORIES. 171
previous buried a bag of salt. The water being duly
" analyzed," by measuring, evaporating, and weighing, a
purchase of nearly 800 acres was made, without a knowledge
of the spring by the landholder, nor was the trick discovered
before the bargain had been sealed and the sale perfected.
A SURVEYING INCIDENT.
Charles C. Brodhead, a native of Pennsylvania, had held
the rank of captain in the Revolution, and while performing
a survey, encountered many hardships. An obituary notice
published soon after his death, which occurred in 1(853, at
Utica, contained the following :
" In running the great lines of division his party had
crossed the Black River several times, the men and instru
ments being ferried across. On one occasion when they had
approached the river, having journeyed through the woods
without noting their route by the compass, they arrived at a
part of the bank which they recognized, and knew to be a safe
place of passing, Making a raft of logs, they started from the
bank, and began to pole across. When in the midst of the
current their poles failed to reach the bottom, and simultaneous
with this discovery, the noise of the waters below them revealed
the horrid fact that they had mistaken their ferrying place,
and were at the head and rapidly approaching the Great Falls
of the river, the passage of which threatened all but certain
death. Instantly Mr. B. ordered every man who could swim
to make for the shore, and he prepared to swim for his own
life. But the piteous appeals of Mr. Pharoux, a young French-
172 FOLK-STORIES.
man of the party, who could not swim, arrested him, and he
determined to remain with him to assist him, if possible, in
the awful passage of the falls. Plastily directing his men to
grasp firmly to the logs of the raft, giving similar directions
to Mr. Pharoux, he then laid himself down by the side of his
friend. The raft passed the dreadful falls and was dashed to
pieces, Mr. Pharoux with several of the whites and Indians
was drowned, and Mr. Brodhead himself thrown into an eddy
near the shore, whence he was drawn almost senseless by an
Indian of the party." The body of Pharoux afterwards was
found on a small island at the mouth of the river to which his
name was given. Mr. LeRay caused to be prepared a marble
tablet to be inserted in the rocks here, with the following
inscription :
" To the memory of Peter Pharoux, this Island is con
secrated."
A MAN-TRAP SMUGGLING.
In 1S08, a party of militia, under Captain Timothy
Tarnblin, was stationed near the intersection of the two great
roads leading into St. Lawrence County, a mile north of the
village of Antwerp, to prevent smuggling under the embargo
law. There was much opposition both in theory and practice
to this law. An instance is related in which a practical joke
of a somewhat serious nature, was played off upon one of these
guardians of the national wellfare. A person to whom the law
was odious, having set a trap in his sleigh, and placed around
it a loading calculated to convey the impression that they
FOLK-STORIES. 173
were smuggled goods approached the guard, but warned those
on duty to keep away from his load, or they would get into
trouble. Not deterred by this threat, one of the guard pro
ceeded rudely to overhaul the sleigh, to ascertain its contents,
and was soon convinced that it at least concealed a trap, for it
sprung upon his hand, at which the driver gave reins to his
team and drove off exclaiming:
" I ve caught a Democrat ! "
During the war, a company of regular troops was stationed
a little north of Antwerp village, to prevent smuggling into
the country from Canada. The inducements which led to this
were so strong, that much ingenuity was exercised in evading
the vigilance of sentinels, and sometimes with great success.
Five or six sleigh loads of tea had on a certain occasion been
got to within three or four miles of Antwerp, having passed
thus far without suspicion as the tea was packed in bags,
like grain on its way to market. To evade the military guard
that obstructed the road, the following stratagem was adopted:
Captain B. who had charge of the company, was invited to a
whist party at Cook s tavern, three miles north of Antwerp,
at which place, during the evening, a large party of boys and
young men assembled, with no apparent object but to spend
the evening in carousing, drinking and card playing. Brandy
circulated freely, and the revels continued till a late hour in
the night, when the captain and his party set out to return in
a sleigh closely followed by the loads of tea, thickly covered
by a disorderly crowd, who by singing, shouting quarreling,
and fighting, made the night hideous with unearthly discords,
and would readily pass as a half drunken rabble returning
from a midnight revel. The captain, who was himself rather
more than half intoxicated, entered with spirit into the merri-
174 FOLK-STORIES.
ment of the others, and as the train approached the sentinels,
he shouted :
" It s Captain B., let my company pass."
The order was obeyed, and the disorderly mob passed on,
and having got beyond reach of danger, they left the teams to
pursue their course in quiet, and in due time boasted of the
success of their stratagem.
CORRUPT POLITICIANS.
At the annual town meeting in 1820, which was held at
Perch River, after electing a portion of the officers, the meeting-
adjourned to the house of Edward Arnold, on Penet Square,
until the next day. This measure created much excitement,
and those living in the southern and eastern portions of the
town, rallied with all their forces, attended promptly at the
earliest moment of the adjourned meeting, organized, and im
mediately voted another adjournment to the house of Elias
Bennet at Brownville village, on the afternoon of the same
day, where the vote for town clerk was reconsidered, and the
remaining officers elected, Being thus robbed of their town
meeting, the settlers on Penet s Square and in distant locali
ties, demanded a separate organization, which was readily
consented to, and all parties having met at an informal meet
ing, or convention, at the village, agreed upon a petition to
the legislature, which was acted upon, before another town
meeting. The foregoing is a concise statement of the act of
" stealing a town meeting," which gave rise to much talk at
the time, and about which many fabulous stories have been
FOLK-STORIES. 175
related. It is said that this heinous crime of robbery was
made the subject of a painting, that formed a part of a travel
ing exhibition.
GENERAL JACOB BROWN.
Brownville was first explored, with a view of settlement,
by General Jacob Hro\vn, who while teaching school in New
York, had met with Rodolph Tillier, the general agent for the
Chassanis lands, and was induced to purchase a large tract,
and become the agent for commencing a settlement, at a time
when the difficulties attending such an enterprise were very
great, Having engaged in this business, he repaired in Feb
ruary, 1799, to the location of the French company, at the
High Falls, and made several journeys to Utica, when, having
completed his arrangements, and collected provisions at the
Long Falls, he in March, 1799, passed down the old French
road, in company with three or four hired men, and happening
to reach the river at the mouth of Philomel Creek, he was
charmed with the prospect of a water power, apparently
perennial, and at once decided upon stopping here. He com
menced clearing land, having sent for his father s family, who
started on the 22d of April, from Bucks County, Pa., and after
stopping a few days at New York and Schenectady, and hiring
at Utica an extra boat, at length arrived at the location on the
17th of May, 1799, having been nearly three weeks on the
road. George Brown, a relative, came on in the same com
pany, with a part of his family, making, with the boatman, a
party of nearly twenty. The boatman soon returned, leaving
176 FOLK-STORIES.
one boat that served the means for communication with Kings
ton, from whence they derived most of their provisions, the
stock left at the Long Falls having been sold. When this
company had arrived, the first had cleared a small piece, and
got up the body of a log house, twenty feet square, which
occupied the site of the hay scales on the edge of the bank, in
the village, and the same season they put up the body of a
two-story log house, 25 by 30, on the ground covered by
the store of Wm. Lord. This was not, however, completed for
occupation till the spring of 1801. In the fall of 1800 a saw
mill was built at the mouth oi Philomel Creek, the millwrights
being Noah Durrin and Ebenezer Hills, and late in the fall of
1801 a grist mill was built for Mr. Brown, by Ethni Evans,
afterwards the pioneer of Evans Mills. A few goods were
brought on with the first family, but in the fall of the same
year, Jacob Brown went to New York, on other business, and
selected a small stock better adapted to the market. In 1799,
a great number came in to look for lands, many of whom
selected farms on Perch river, and between that place and
Brownville, where they commenced small clearings, and made
arrangements for removal with their families in the spring.
In 1804, the question of forming one or more new co un-
ties from Oneida, became the absorbing theme,and a convention
was held at Denmark, Nov. 20, 1804, to decide upon the
application, at which most of the delegates are said to have
gone prepared to vote for one county, but from the influence
of Mr. Brown, and Gen. Martin, of Martinsburg, were induced
to apply for the erection of two new counties. In locating the
county seat, the most active efforts were made in each county,
Martinsburgh and Lowville being the rivals in Lewis, and
Watertown and Brownville in Jefferson. Mr. Brown was the
principal advocate of the latter, but the mass of settlement was
FOLK-STORIES. 177
then in the southern towns, and the portion north of Black
River was known to be low, level, and (in a state of nature)
much of it swampy. The settlements that had been begun at
that early day, at Perch River, Chaumont, and on the St.
Lawrence, were visited by severe sickness, and the idea was
entertained, or at least held forth to the commissioners who
located the site, that it could never be inhabited. Mr. Brown
next endeavored to procure the location on the north bank of
the river, near Watertown, and made liberal offers of land,
for the public use, but the perseverance and intrigues of Mr.
Coffeen and others, succeeded in fixing the site at its present
location.
After the opening of the land office at Le Raysville, Mr.
Brown continued for two or three years devoted to his private
affairs, and meanwhile received unsolicited, commissions of
captain, and of colonel of the 108th regiment of militia. His
promotion in the line of military life, is said to have arisen
from his avowed aversion to frequent and expensive military
parades in time of peace, calling off the inhabitants from their
labors in the fields, and encouraging habits of intemperance
which in those days were too frequently the accompaniment of
such gatherings. His views of the subject of militia organiza
tions, approached more nearly to our present system ; and in
selecting him for office, the people were convinced, that while
he omitted nothing conducive to the public safety, he would
cause them no needless expense of time and money for parades.
In his public and private conduct, and daily life, they saw him
in possession of sagacity and intelligence, that led them to
place confidence in his resources, should emergencies call for
their exercise, and the integrity of his private life convinced
them that the public trusts with which he might be honored,
would be faithfully preserved.
178 FOLK-STORIES.
In the discharge of his official duties, General Brown re
moved to Washington in 1821, where he continued to reside
until his death, which occurred February 24, 1828, from the
effect of a disease contracted at Fort Erie. For some time
previous, his physical powers had been impaired by a paralytic
stroke. His death was announced to the army by an order of
the secretary of war ; and the funeral ceremonies were per
formed with all the formality and dignity that his exalted
rank required.
A BLOCKHOUSE GRANARY.
The inhabitants living on Perch River, on receiving the
news of the war, were greatly alarmed from their supposed ex
posure on the frontier, and some of the timid ones resolved to
leave the country. To dissuade them from this, it was pro
posed to build a blockhouse, which was forthwith done by
voluntary labor, but when completed, only served as a store
house for the wheat of a neighbor. Some, ridiculing the idea
of danger, humorously proposed to post themselves on the
brow of some of the limestone ledges towards Catfish Creek, in
the direction of Canada, which would give them the double
advantages of a commanding position, and an abundance of
material for missiles, in case of attack. This had its effect, and
after a few weeks reflection the idea of Indian massacre was
forgotten. It will be remembered that many of the older in
habitants had realized in their youth the horrors of Indian
warfare and the tales of midnight massacre which they re
lated as they assembled on evenings for mutual safety, en-
FOLK-STORIES. 179
hanced, in no small degree, this timidity. Still the alarms
which prevailed in this county were far less than those that
spread through the St. Lawrence settlements, and as after
wards appeared in Canada itself, where nearly every family
along the river had been fugitives from the desolating hand
of war, from their adherence to the royal cause in the revolu
tion. The apprehensions of both parties soon subside:!, and
men resumed their customary pursuits, except when occa
sional drafts or general alarms, called out the militia, or the
emergencies of the service required the assembling of teams
for the transportationjof munitions of war. Prices of produce
were, of course, extremely high, and from the large amount
of government money expended here, the basis of many for
tunes in the county were laid at that period.
BURIED TREASURE.
The aboriginal remains of Ellisburgh, have given occa
sion for the weak minded to believe that they were in some
way concerned with buried treasures, and this being confirmed
by the supposed indications of the divining rod, led in early
times to explorations for them, despite of the guardianship of
the spirits of the murdered, who according to the most ap
proved demonologists of these speculations were in some in
stances charged with making money out of the credulous
victims of superstition, by selling provisions, and in several
instances, the diggers were almost frightened out of their
senses by ghosts and demons ; some got fleeced of substantial
property in pursuit of imaginary wealth, and others lost the
180 FOLK-STORIES.
r
espect of sensible men by the favor with which they regarded
these follies. On a certain occasion in preparing the enchanted
circle for digging, a lamb was sacrificed to appease the guar
dian demons of the supposed treasure, but this act was gener
ally regarded as a sacrilege and did much towards bringing
discredit upon these heathenish orgies.
CUSTOMS TROUBLES.
In September, 1808, an event occurred in Ellisburgh
that created great excitement at the time. A party from Os-
wego, under Lieut. Asa Wells, entered Sandy Creek, and after
seizing a quantity of potash under the embargo laws, pro
ceeded to the house of Capt. F airfield, surrounded it, and
seized and carried away a swivel. Mr. F. being absent, his
wife made complaint to a justice, who issued a warrant. The
constable was intimidated and called upon his fellow citizens
to aid him, when about thirty men took arms and went with
him, but Wells men presented bayonets, when they desisted,
and twenty of the men went off. Lieut. Wells ordered the re
mainder to be disarmed and bound, when they were taken
with the swivel to Oswego. On the evening of the 25th of
September, the same party returned, as reported, for the pur
pose of taking the magistrate and constable who had issued
the papers. A warrant against Wells and two others for lelo-
ny, in breaking open a house was issued at Sackets Harbor
and given to Andrew Pease, a constable, to execute, who, af
ter examining the law, raised a hue and cry and assembled
about 200 persons in Ellisburgh, where a consultation of sev-
FOLK-STORIES. 181
eral magistrates was held, and the next day at sunrise about
seventy or eighty men, armed and equipped, volunteered to
aid in the arrest, but the magistrates durst not issue the order
for their march, being apprehensive that some excess or in
jury might be done, and the question having been raised
whether a constable had a right to demand aid, before be had
been resisted, the armed men were advised to disperse, and
the civil officer requested to proceed to apprehend AY el Is and
the others, without the force of the county. This proceeding
was charged by one of the political parties as an attempt of
the other to resist by force of arms the execution of the laws,
and mutual criminations were exchanged with much bitter
ness.
PETER PENET.
A tract of land, square in form, with the sides r
coincident with the principal cardinal points, and its north
west corner resting upon the St. Lawrence at the mouth of
French Cyeek, is " Penet s Square. "
The revolution attracted to America many French ad
venturers, says Hough, some of whom had much more to gain
than to lose, and among these was one Peter Penet, of Nantes,
France. He arrived at Providence, R. I., by way of Cape
Francois, (W. I.,) in December, 1775, having letters and cre
dentials which at first secured him some attentions, and he ob
tained from a committee of congress a contract in the name of
De Plaine, Penet & Co., for supplying a large amount of arms
from France. He also made separate propositions to several
182 FOLK-STORIES.
of the colonies for powder, arms and ordnance, in the execu
tion of which he proposed to ship a large amount of tobacco
and other produce directly to France. He had various other
speculations, all of which proved visionary, and it soon ap
peared that he was only a needy adventurer without capital
or character. He succeeded in procuring advances, which
were not accounted for, and he may be justly called " The
Confidence Man " of the revolution. After the war he became
an Indian trader and acquired a great ascendency among the
Oneidas. When these people were holding a treaty with the
state in 1788 for the cession of their lands, it was found expe
dient to consult with him and to ask his aid in promoting
these measures ; and as they were stipulating the reservations
to be made for themselves and friends, he " dreamed " that
they would give him a tract of land that he should locate some
where north of Oneida Lake. His dream was fulfilled in the
gift of ten miles square, which bears his name, but before the
grant was perfected he fled from the country and the title
passed to a creditor for a consideration of five shillings.
While operating upon the credulity of these simple
people, he devised a plan of government for the Oneidas, that
was to lead them to that perfection to which few civilized
communities attain. The national affairs were to be managed
by a Grand Council ; all differences were to be settled by
persons eminently wise and just; a tract of land was to be
rented, and the revenues were to pay all public charges, of
whatever amount ; no lands were ever to be alienated, and no
cause of complaint was ever to arise. Tt was resolved, as the
highest incentive to virtue, " that as soon as convenient
material can be procured, eighteen proper marks of distinction
shall be given ; three representing the tribe of the Bear ; three
the tribe of the Wolf; and three the tribe of the Tortoise.
FOLK-STORIES. 183
The marks of the chiefs of war was a green ribbon striped on the
side with red, to be worn on the left side Nine marks of dis
tinction for the chiefs of the coucillors, with the mark of an
Eagle on a red ribbon, to go round the neck and hang be
tween the breasts. Be it remembered that those chiefs, whether
warriors or councillors, who wear this badge, must be men of
truth, honor and wisdom to discharge the great trust of na
tional business now put in their hands, and whether at home
or abroad, when these marks are seen, it will be remembered
that they are this great council and great respect will at all
times be shown them. "
This scheme of government, comprising twenty articles,
contemplated the appointment of Peter Penet, their " true and
trusted friend, adopted and chosen agent forever, " as their
principal executive agent, and being duly signed by marks
(not one being able to read,) this state paper was published
with great formality in the Albany newspapers. It is needless
to add that it had not so much as a beginning of actual real
ization.
Some time after Penet had absconded, he made his
appearance in San Domingo ; at the time of the negro insur
rection there, he invited his countrymen to buy lands on his
estates in Northern New York. He exhibited a map with
fortified cities, on the north shore of Oneida Lake, and by
false representations, induced some to purchase lands. One of
these unfortunates, upon arriving in New York, and learning
how cruelly he had been deceived, was unable to bear up under
the affliction, and died by his own hand. It is from Penet
that this place on the St. Lawrence derived the name of
French Creek."
The successors to his title selected the mile-square nearest
the river, as the site for a town, and caused it to be surveyed
184 FOLK STORIES.
into ten-acre squares, except the quarter of a mile directly upon
the river, in which each of these lots were further sub-divided
into four. It was afterwards laid out as the village of " Cor
nelia," (named from Madame Juhel,) but since the organization
of the town of Clayton, in 1833, it has borne this name.
In early times " French Creek " was a noted point for
smuggling ; and especially in the embargo of 1807-8, when
almost all of the region north of Black River was a forest, it
became a principal point for importing goods, and for sending
potash out of the country. It was found impossible to guard
this frontier so as to prevent crossing with teams on the ice in
winter, or by boats in summer, and the most that the author
ities attempted, was to guard the roads in the interior, and
intercept such contraband goods as they could discover.
A STEAMER BURNED.
The most disastrous accident that ever occurred on Lake
Ontario happened near the Ducks, small islands near the
Canadian shore, about forty miles from Kingston, on the
morning of April 30, 1853. The upper cabin steamer Ocean
Wave, built in Montreal, in 1851, and owned by the Northern
Railroad, being then on her way down from Hamilton to
Ogdensburgh, took fire between one and two o clock in the
morning, and was burned. The fire took near the engine,
and appeared to have been occasioned by the faulty construc
tion of the boat, which had been on fire on one or two previous
occasions. When the flames were discoved they were making
such rapid progress, from the boat being newly painted, that
FOLK-STORIES. 185
the small boats could not be got out, and in less than five
minutes it was enveloped in flames. The terrific scene that
ensued defies description, the miserable victims having but a
moment s time for deciding by which mode of death thev
should perish. The light attracted the schooners Georgiana
and Emblem, who, with some fishing boats from the shore,
saved twenty-one persons out of forty-four, the number of the
crew and passengers. The steamer Scotland came up near the
wreck about sunrise, and passed without rendering assistance.
According to the affidavit of the captain and crew, there \vas
no one floating around the place at this time.
THE FIRST EXECUTION.
On the 16th of April, 1828, the public was aroused by the
report of a murder committed in the Perch River settlement
by Henry Evans, upon Joshua Rogers and Henry Diamond,
in an affair growing out of an attempt to forcibly eject Evans
without legal formality from premises leased by a brother of
Rogers. A family quarrel had for some days existed in the
Rogers family, in which Evans had taken a part, and at the
time of the murder th<. parties had been drinking and were
unusually quarrelsome. Evans had shut himself up in the
house, which was forcibly entered, with threats and abusive
language, upon which he seized an ax and mortally wounded
two, and badly wounded a third, who recovered. He was im
mediately arrested and at the June term of the court of oyer
and terminer in 1828, was tried, the court consisting of Nathan
Williams, circuit judge, Egbert Ten Eyck, first judge, Joseph
186 FOLK-STORIES.
Hawkins, judge, Robert Lansing, district attorney, H. H.
Sherwood, clerk, H. H. Coffeen, sheriff. The district attor
ney was assisted by Mr. Clarke, and the prisoner was defended
by Messrs. Sterling, Bronson and Rathbone. The vicious
temper and abandoned character of the prisoner, who, whether
drunk or sober, had been the terror of his neighborhood, out
weighed the extenuating circumstances of the case, and the
jury, after half an hour s deliberation, returned a verdict of
guilty. He was sentenced to be hung August 22d, and he
was executed in the presence of an immense crowd who had
assembled to witness the barbarous spectacle from this and
adjoining counties. The gallows was placed on the north
bank of the river nearly opposite the court house, and thither
he was escorted by a fife and drum corps. The body was
taken by his friends to Brownville and a grave dug in the
cemetery, when objections were raised and one person swore
that he should not be buried there. Another place was then
got, but the rock was reached in two feet. A grave was next
dug just outside of the corporate limits, when as he was about
to be lowered, objections were again raised and one or two
women were seized with hysteric fits because the locality was
in sight. The corpse was finally taken back three or four
miles from the village and buried by night. The lamentable
prevalence of superstition thus evinced, has its equal only in
the popular belief in vampires, which on more than one occa
sion, has disgraced the annals of this and neighboring coun
ties.
FRENCH BON VIVANTS.
Until about 1816, the settlements along the river were
limited to a few points, but about this time the country around
FOLK-STORIES. 187
began to be taken up ; new roads were opened in every
direction, and for a short time, the country advanced rapidly
in population and improvements, \vhich continued till the
completion of the Erie Canal. At (/ape Vincent, several
educated and accomplished French families located ; among
whom, in 1818, was Peter Francis Real, known in European
history as Count Real, the chief of police under Napo
leon. The change of political prospects in France,
in a few years, recalled many celebrated exiles who
had adhered to the fortunes of Napoleon, and fled from
the disasters which overtook that dynasty, among whom were
Count Real, and others who had made this country their
home. At about the same time, Mr. F. R. Hasler, the eminent
philosopher and engineer, having become interested in real
estate in the place, went there to reside with his family, and
planned the establishment of a normal school, which he never
perfected. The village was a favorite resort with Mr. Le Ray,
and he was often accompanied by eminent foreigners, who
never visited the country without becoming his guests, and
sharing that refined hospitality which he knew so well how to
bestow. The first visit of Le Ray to this place was in 1803,
and was attended with the following incident:
He was accompanied by Gouverneur Morris, and after
visiting Brownville, they took an open boat to continue their
journey, as Mr. Morris had a wooden leg, and could not con
veniently travel in the woods by the rude means of communi
cation which the country then afforded, and he was moreover
very partial to sailing, and claimed to be especially skillful in
managing water craft. On passing Cherry Island, Mr. Morris
observed that there must be fine fishing there, and as he had
with him his French cook, and culinary apparatus, he
declared he would serve his friend a better fish dinner than he
188 FOLK STORIES.
had ever tasted. Mr. Le Ray objected that it was getting late
and cloudy, and they had a great ways to run before reaching
Putnam s, the first settlement on the shore. Nothing would
do; Mr. Morris was as fond of good cheer as of sailing, and
they stopped. They had good fishing, and a capital dinner ;
but it was late before they set sail again, and dark before they
reached the St. Lawrence, and they were obliged to stop at
Gravelly Point, two miles above Putnam s, where they pitched
their tent and went to bed, for they had all the necessary
implements. In the middle of the night, a fire built before
the tent set it in flames ; Mr. Morris, thus unseasonably dis
turbed, felt all around for his wooden leg, but was obliged to
flee without it. The exposure to wind and rain produced in
Mr. Le Ray a very violent illness and he with difficulty
returned to Brownville. Dr. Klrkpatrick was procured from
Rome, and he was long confined with a dangerous fever.
BURIED THEIR RATIONS.
There were not wanting incidents of a ludicrous kind,
which enlivened the monotony of the camp, and showed the
lights, as well as the shades of the soldier s life; Abuses will
sometimes work their own reform, as was illustrated in an
amusing instance at Sackets Harbor during the war. A mess
of militia soldiers had received, for their rations, a hog s head,
an article of diet not altogether available, or susceptible of fair
and equal division among them. They accordingly, upon
representation of the facts, procured at other messes in the
cantonment, a contribution in kind, to supply their wants for
FOLK-STORIES. 189
the coming week, and after the morning review, having
placed upon a bier, borne on the shoulders of four men, their
ration of pork, they marched through the village with muffled
drum, and notes of the death march, to the cemetery, where
it was solemnly buried with military honors. On the next
occasion, they received from the commissary store a supply of
edible meat, and the occasion for a similar parade did not
afterwards occur.
SEIZURE OF A CANNON.
The irritation which the events of the " Patriot War" oc-
cassioned, did not at once subside, and several of the American
Steamers, especially the United States, were regarded with
aversion on the Canada side for some time. As this Steamer
was leaving Ogdensburg on the evening of April 14, 1839,
with a large number of passengers on board, from six to ten
rounds of musket shot were fired from the wharf at Prescott,
upon which an angry crowd had assembled, and the same
evening she was fired upon from the wharf at Brockville. A
subsequent inquiry failed to fix upon any particular one as
the culprits. On the 17th of May, 1839, the Schooner G. S.
Weeks, stopped at Brockville to discharge some merchandise,
and the usual papers were sent to the Custom House. Per
mission to unload was granted, wh j n it was noticed that an
iron six-pounder was lying upon deck, belonging to the State
of New York, and consigned to Captain A. B. James, at Og
densburg, being sent to replace one that had been seized by the
190 FOLK-STORIES.
" Patriots " in the affair at the Windmill in the preceding
year.
An attempt was made to seize this gun, which was resisted
by the crew, when the Collector came up and took possession
of the vessel, under the pretext of some irregularity in her
papers. The gun was taken out, paraded through the streets,
and fired several times by the mob in triumph. Word was sent
to Colonel Worth at Sackets Harbor, who at once repaired to
the scene of disturbance, and a few hours after, a steamer with
British Regulars arrived from Kingston. By the united efforts
of the military officers and of the civil magistrates, the gun
was finally surrendered by the mob without a collision, which
for a time seemed imminent and inevitable, and some of the
ring-leaders were arrested and lodged in the guard-house.
These disturbances brought Governor Arthur to Brockville,
and an effort was made to justify these proceedings, by those
who had participated in them. It is due to the Canadian Press
and to the more considerate portion of the inhabitants to
notice, that they very generally denounced this seizure as un
justified. The Collector was removed from office, and the
irritation gradually wore away.
CHILD LOST IN THE WOODS.
The following sketch was written by Mr. David Merritt,
one of the English families, who located at Sackets Harbor in
February, 180"); the occasion was the loss of a child in the
woods.
The parents of the child had recently settled in the woods.
191
Haifa mile from any other dwelling. It was of a Lord s day
evening, about sunset ; the father set out to visit his nearest
neighbor, and, unobserved by him, his son, a child of four
years, followed him.
The father tarried an hour or two, and returned, not hav
ing seen the little wanderer. The mother anxiously enquired
for her child, supposing her husband had taken him with
him ; their anxiety was great, and immediate though fruitless
search was made for the fugitive. Several of the nearest
neighbors were alarmed, and the night was spent to no pur
pose in searching for the child. On Monday a more extensive
search was made by increased numbers, but in vain ; and the
distressed parents were almost frantic with grief and fearful
apprehensions for the child s safety.
Another afflictive and sleepless night passed away, and
the second morning beamed upon the disconsolate family, the
child not found, and by this time (Tuesday,) reports were in
circulation of a panther s having been seen recently in the
woods by some one. This circumstance gave a pungency to
the grief and feelings of every sympathetic heart unknown
before ; and the timid and credulous were ready to abandon
any further efforts to recover the child, and give the distressed
parents up to dispair.
It was however concluded to alarm a still more extensive
circle, and engage fresh volunteers in a work that must inter
est and arouse even the unfeeling on common occasions. A
messenger was dispatched to Sackets Harbor, a distance of six
miles ; it was in itself an irresistible appeal to every feeling
heart. To feel, was to act.
Messrs. Luff, Ashby, Merritt, and others immediately
mounted their horses, and repaired to the scene of painful
anxiety ; this was about eleven o clock in the forenoon of
192 FOLK-STORIES.
Tuesday. When they arrived at the spot, the number present,
that had collected from all quarters, was about five hundred
men. A small number was immediately chosen as a commit
tee to direct the best method of search, and they were formed
in a line, extending to the right and left of the house, a mile
each way. They were placed so far a part as to bring every foot
of ground they passed in their search under their ob
servation ; and when they had marched such a given distance
from the house, the left or right wing were to wheel in such a
way, as would, by pursuing the .same plan, have effectually
searched every spot within several miles of the house before
evening. The order of the day was that no person should
fire a gun, sound a horn, halloo, or make any needless noise,
whatever ; but with vigilance, and a sense of duty to the dis
tressed parents, use every effort to recover the child. If the
child was found alive, every person, that had a gun, was to
fire, and every one that had a horn to sound it ; on the con
trary, if the child was found dead, one gun only should be
fired, as a signal to the remote line to cease searching.
In this way, in silence, they had marched about two
miles, when a distant gun sounded ; it was an anxious
moment. "Is the child alive?" was a thought that ran
through every mind ; a moment more and the hope was con
firmed, for the air and forests rang with guns and horns of
every description.
The lines were immediately broken up, and each ran,
anxious to see the little lost sheep. The dear little fellow was
presented to his now overjoyed parents ; a scene that overcame
all present.
When the little boy was found, he was sitting on a small
mossy hillock, in the middle of a swamp, surrounded by
shallow water. When the man, who first approached him,
FOLK-STORIES.
extended his arms and stopped to take him up, he shrank
from him, appeared frightened, and showed a disposition co
get from him. But he was much exhausted, and seized eagerly
an apple that was held to him. Had he not been rescued
from his situation, he probably would have died at that spot.
FIRST LIFE SAVING STATION.
The lake shore in Ellisburgh has been the scene of many
wrecks since the country was settled, the first within the mem
ory of those living forty years ago having occurred in the fall
of 1800, when a small schooner from Mexico to Gananoque,
Captain Gammon, master, was lost off Little Stony Creek, and
all on board perished. A boat of eight men sent in search of
the vessel was also swamped and all hands were drowned.
About 1807 a family was located by Mr. Benjamin
Wright at the mouth of Sandy Creek to afford aid to the ship
wrecked, and for nearly fifty years this lonely dwelling had
sheltered many a suffering sailor who might otherwise have
perished.
A RARE BOUNTY.
The anecdote is related that a magistrate in Champion,
having had an altercation with a leading citizen in Lowville,
heard that his opponent had offered a bounty of $5 for his
194 FOLK-STORIES.
head. Feeling somewhat uneasy under this, he resolved to
ascertain its truth, and made the journey on foot on purpose
to demand satisfaction or a withdrawal of the offensive reward.
Upon reaching the place he found the person of whom he was
in search in company with several others, and not wishing to
make their quarrels a subject of publicity, he requested a pri
vate interview. This was promptly refused, on the ground
that there was nothing between them that required secresy,
and he was told that if he had anything to say he might say
it where he was. He then commenced by repeating the story
he had heard and demanded whether it was true. His enemy
denied at once the charge, calling his neighbors to witness
whether they had ever known him guilty of the folly as the
offering of such a sum, but admitted that he might have bid
twenty shillings and was very sure he had never gone higher.
Finding that it was impossible to get this bounty taken off he
returned home. We are not informed of the result or whether
the reward was sufficient to tempt the cupidity of his neigh
bors.
MILITARY EXECUTIONS.
At Sackets Harbor about a dozen military executions
were performed during the war, for repeated desertion, with
the view of striking terror into the minds of the disaffected,
but with the effect of increasing the evil. These cases were
many of them young men from New England, of respectable
families, who in the heat of political excitement had enlisted
in the army, and who found themselves the victims ol the
FOLK-STORIES. 195
wanton barbary of officers, exposed to the severest hardships
of the camp, and often illy clad, and Averse fed, sometimes
without shelter, and always without sympathy. Was it un
natural that under these circumstances the memories of home,
with all its comforts, and the thoughts of mothers, sisters,
wives, and children, and the thousand associations that
cluster around the domestic fireside, should come freshly to
mind with a force that was irresistible? Several of these cases
excited much sympathy, among which was that of a boy ot
sixteen years of age, who had been bribed with a gold watch,
to open a prison door at (Jreenbush, and who was here arrested
and convicted. Many officers and citizens made strenuous
efforts to obtain reprieve, which were enforced by the appeals
of a mother, but without effect ; the agonized parent followed
her child to the gallows, and the sympathizing tears of the
spectators bespoke the feeling which this rigid exercise of the
iron rule of war had occasioned.
To the condemned opportunity was always given to
make remarks, in which some admitted the justice of their
fate, others plead the entreaties of their comrades, or the urgent
necessities of home ; and others, while they acknowledged
their crime, supplicated mercy with all the eloquence which
the occasion could command. Others treated their fate with
indifference, or openly preferred it to a life under the circum
stances. On one occasion, the convict on approaching the
scaffold, scrutinized its construction with the eye of a carpen
ter, leaped upon the platform, pushed off the hangman, and
jumped off himself ; but a reprieve arrived the instant after,
and he was restored. The place of execution was generally in
the rear of the village, where the graves were dug, and the
convicts were marched to the spot, surrounded by a guard, and
after kneeling by their coffins, were dispatched by the shots of
196 FOLK-STORIES.
of several muskets, a part of which only were loaded with ball.
There were commonly eight men detailed for this purpose.
The brutality of officers was in some instances excessive ; the
most extreme corporal punishment being inflicted from the
slightest causes, or from mere caprice ; and such was some
times the bitterness of men towards officers, that in one case it
is said a captain durst not lead his company in an action, for
fear of being shot by his own men.
THEY CELEBRATED.
The first celebration of our national independence, in all
this region of country, was held at Chaumont in 1802. The
number in attendance was certainly more than a hundred
persons. From Champion and Hounsfield, Watertown and
Brownville, Sackets Harbor and Cape Vincent, and other
points of settlement, the forefathers and foremothers came to
do homage to the old flag and the land of the brave. Several
were Revolutionary soldiers. Food and drink were plenty.
Indians and squaws must also have joined the festivities.
Rum and maple sugar, shooting at a mark and wrestling,
stories and songs, and fife and drum, could hardly have been
wanting 011 this occasion, although there is no published re
port of the proceedings to guide in making out the history of
that Fourth of July.
BLOCKHOUSE SCHOOLHOUSE.
Considerable alarm was felt at Chaumont in 1812 lest the
British should come, pillage their homes and burn them ;
FOLK-STORIES. 197
nor did they know but hostile Indians might take advantage
of the war to pounce upon them and carry off their scalps.
General Brown therefore advised the building of a block
house for defense, and this was erected the same year, on the
north shore of the bay. Not long after, a squad" of English
soldiers visited the place, and promised not to destroy any
property if the inhabitants would take down the blockhouse.
This was done, and the material afterwards rafted to Point
Salubrious and used in the erection of a building for school
and religious purposes, but long since demolished. The
artillery of this " fort " consisted of an iron gun which
Jonas Smith had purchased some time before for two
gallons of rum. It was found on the isthmus of Point Pen
insula. Afterwards this gun was taken to Sackets Harbor
and form thence to Ogdensburg, where it was captured by the
enemy.
A Past Industry,
The fisheries of Chaumont Bay afforded from an early
period a leading pursuit for many persons living in the vicin
ity and have been productive of much benefit to the locality
and the public generally. The earliest enactment relating to
this branch of industry commences with the century. It having
been represented that people from Canada and other places
were doing injustice to the fisheries at the east end of Lake
Ontario by obstructing the rivers and streams by seines, a law
was passed March 28th, 1800, prohibiting the placing of ob
structions to the passage of fish under a penalty of $25. This
was probably from representations of citizens in Ellisburgh as
Lyme was then without inhabitants.
In 1808 fishing with scoop nets, called here scafY nets be
gun, wrote Dr. Hough in 1853, and has been more or less
constantly practiced since. This net is about 12 feet square,
stretched by two long bows crossing each other and let down
horizontally into the water, being balanced on a long pole
poised on a post on the banks. When fish pass over it the
net is suddenly raised and swung round on the bank. Some
times 300 fish or more are thus caught in a night. [White-
A PAST INDUSTRY. 1<)9
fish and salmon trout were taken in great quantities by this
crude method on Point Salubrious.] Seines were soon after
introduced, the first one being brought from the Hudson by
Daniel Tremper. These seines are from 10 to 100 rods long,
from 20 to 100 feet broad, wider in the middle and narrower
at the ends, where they are attached to rods called jack stakes.
To the cords along one side are attached floats and to the
other leaden sinkers and to each staff is fixed a long rope.
When used the seine is taken out in a boat one rope being-
left on shore, and when a few rods out it is allowed to run off
in a wide circuit until it is all off. when the other line is taken
ashore and both ends are drawn in by windlasses erected for
the purpose and turned bv hand, or more recently sometimes
by horse power. The meshes of the net which are from one
to one and one-half inches square, allow the smaller fish to
escape, while the larger ones are scooped out when the seine
is drawn into shallow water. From one to three hours are oc
cupied in drawing the seine and the product of a haul varies
from nothing to 75 barrels, the average being six or seven.
These seine fisheries are mostly around Point Salubrious
but other places inside of the bay are found eligible to a less
extent. They are considered the property of those who own
the adjacent lands and the seines are owned and labor done
by the resident farmers assisted by laborers who come in from
adjacent towns for the purpose. The principal fish caught for
market are lake herring, locally known as ciscoes, and white-
fish, and the season for taking them usually begins about the
first of November and continued three or four weeks. This is
the spawning season for these fish and the shores are then
lined with immense quantities of their ova. Seines are drawn
by preference in the evening or night.
No positive data can be obtained showing the average or
200 A PAST INDUSTRY.
aggregate quantity taken, but the opinion of those most ac
quainted with the business is that since 1816 about 10,000
barrels of herring and white fish have been caught annually.
Seasons vary in the abundance offish ; it is observed that the
best yields occur in high water. Of late years the yield is
less than formerly, which is attributed to the use of gill nets
and the mixture of saw dust and other matters in the water.
drill nets have been introduced since 1845, are from five
to eight feet, (about fifty meshes) wide, from ten to fifteen rods
long, uniform in width and furnished with staves at the ends.
These are provided with sinkers on the lower and floats on the
upper side and connected together form lines several hundred
rods long. When in use they lay near the bottom and their
places are indicated by buoys. Once daily they are drawn up
and the fish removed, which sometimes amount to a barrel in
ten rods. As the fish become entangled by their gills, respi
ration ceases, and they are almost invariably found drowned,
for which reason they are justly considered inferior for food
and more liable to spoil when put up for sale. These nets are
generally set in November.
A small business was done early in spring, in fishing for
pike in seines, gill nets and by spearing, and the shores and
coves of Chaumont Bay have long been the favorite resort for
the disciples of Izaak Walton, who at most seasons find an
ample and inviting field for the use of the trolling line and
spear ; or a romantic cruise by torchlight and inducements to
lounge away the lazy hours of daylight with reasonable hopes
of a nibble. Pike, pickerel, muscallonge, perch, bass and sun-
fish, are caught readily by the hook and the former in all sea
sons. The seines used here are generally made on the spot of
linen or cotton twine and cost from $100 to $300.
In 1817, April 10, a law was passed requiring all fish bar-
A PAST INDUSTRY. 201
reled for sale in the county to be inspected and branded and
the size of barrels and quantity of salt to be used were pre
scribed. In 1823, April 13, another law relating to this sub
ject was passed; March 8, 1830, an additional inspector was
appointed, and April lo, 1835, the inspection of fish was dis
continued. Calvin Lincoln was appointed inspector June 11,
1817, M. Evans, March 11), 1818, and Benjamin T. Bliss on
Point Salubrious afterwards. The early laws were disregarded,
but the latter strictly enforced, yet the restriction was always
considered odious by the fishermen who sought many ways of
evasion and finally procured their removal.
By far the most successful fishing in Chaumont bay has
been with the pound-net. This method of fishing was intro
duced in the spring of 1S5<) by Ralph H. Rogers, the son of a
Revolutionary soldier who was one of three brothers in the
Bunker Hill engagement, and himself a veteran of the war of
1812. He set a pound-net off the shore of Point Peninsula,
and about the middle of October another was set by (). II.
Kirtland, Lucius P. Inghram, and I). W. Clark, who came on
from Saybrook, Connecticut, for the purpose. The yields were
enormous for the next two or three years, and it was sometimes
impossible to care for the fish which were caught.
The average size of the pound-net is 30 feet square, and it
is usually set in about 30 feet of water, although nets to fish in
40 feet were not unusual. This is securely fastened to four
stakes driven firmly into the bottom, with the upper ends two
or three feet out of water. From this pound or receiver,
towards the shore, is a large heart-shaped net, with the apex
terminating in the pound. From the base of the heart a
leader is run back to the shore, and fastened to stakes a hun
dred feet apart; the average length of the leader is thirteen
hundred feet, and the stakes, as in the other instance, are firmly
9()2 A PAST INDUSTRY.
driven into the bottom of the bay. The fish meet this long line
of netting, follow it down into the heart, and work towards the
apex, because of its peculiar shape. At the apex is a large fun
nel, with a large passage out of the heart, and a smaller one at
the outer end, which terminates in the pound or receiver. After
the fish have once passed through the funnel into the large
square pound reaching from the surface of the water to the
bottom of the bay, the chances of escape are very small.
From a net of this kind a hundred barrels of fish have been
taken at one time. They are now little used except for taking
spawn for the state hatcheries*
Three Links.
Over the signature of " A Link in the Chain," Mr. Solon
Massey of Water-town, contributed many entertaining anec
dotes of the earlier settlers which were published in the
Jeffersonian, 1851-52. The three following are selected for
this volume :
LOST IX THE WOODS.
To any person who realizes what a dense howling wilder
ness this country was at the time of its first occupation by our
fathers, it will not be surprising that there were instances
rather frequent, of persons being lost in the woods.
The natural divisions of hill and dale, or upland and low
land, in this comparative level country, afforded but few
landmarks to the unlucky wight who happened to get at fault
in his reckonings, and even those who were best acquainted
with the natural scenery of the trackless forest, immediately
surrounding our settlement, were sometimes compelled to ex
perience the startling reality of being lost in the woods ; which
was indicated by finding themselves following a circle coming
round and round and round again, to the same starting point,
in spite of all their efforts to follow out a continuous straight
course.
This liability to be lost was so well understood, that
204 THREE LINKS.
whenever any member of the family was longer away in the
forest than was expected, the alarm was given, and a rally
made of all the men and boys in the different settlements in
the vicinity, and a general and systematic search instituted
with preconcerted signals.
And yet even the liability to get lost did not deter or pre
vent frequent intercourse with the woods. The forest was the
11 long pasture" where the cows lived in summer, and where
they had to be hunted over long ranges of upland, or of swale
and beaver meadow, as their fancy or necessity led them to
forage for themselves. It was the botanic garden where a long
list of medicinal plants were found, which were relied upon as
preventives of the diseases that were incident to our new
country, or as a sovereign balm for every wound with which
we might be afflicted for the time being. It was the place for
berrying for a great variety of fruits and berries in their season
the great range from which we hunted out our natural-crook
scythe snaths, our crotched trees for harrows and cart tongues,
our ax halves, ox yoke and ox-bow timber, broom sticks,
etc.; and finally, it was the great hunting ground for a variety
of wild game, with which to supply our tables with meat, in
the absence of domestic animals for food. Woods was the rule,
clearings the exception.
One incident among a great many others, connected with
being lost in the woods, may be transcribed from the earliest
traditional history of Watertown, and which is something as
follows :
Capt. James Parker owned and occupied a large body of
land (now a farm) on the Brown ville road, at present occupied
in part by his son James. He had a large family of sturdy
boys, the oldest of whom, at the time our tradition dates, was
fourteen to sixteen, years of age. The old gentleman,, like
THREE LINKS. 205
many others of our enterprising settlers, was clearing up a
large farm, and, for the purpose of making the most out of his
ashes, had a small potash works, where he worked them into
potash or black salts.
In the process of manufacture, it seems he wanted some
hemlock gum, and at the same time wanted some groceries
from the little place yclepted a store here in the village. So
handing the hero of our story a silver dollar, he bid him take
his ax and a bag, and on his way to or from the store to pro
cure some gum. With this errand and equipment he started,
after dinner, on his way to the place ; he proceeded as far as
the foot of the Folts Hill (H. H. Coffeen s late residence,)
where, stretching away to the south was an abundance of
hemlock timber, and intent on performing the hardest and
most difficult part of his task first, and not wishing to risk
losing his, dollar, he struck his ax into a large tree and loosen
ing a chip he carefully deposited the coin in the cavity
between the loosened chip and the body of the tree for safe
keeping, intending to come back to that starting point with
his ax and bag, and leave them there in their turn, while he
ran up to the store and back.
Well, after a while he found himself sufficiently provided
with gum, and started off a kind of Indian lope for the place
where he had left the dollar, passing in his way a spring of
water, upon the surface of which was a thick yellow scum, re
sembling iron rust. On, on, on he traveled, sweating under
his load, and with the lurking suspicion that something was
wrong, he didn t know what, After a good while, however,
and when he knew he must have traveled more than any
distance that could possibly have been between the last gum
tree and the one containing his dollar, he made a full halt for
the purpose of a reckoning. One thing was very certain that
206 THREE LINKS.
he had traveled faster coming back than when going, and had
been longer about it. That had a bad look ! then he thought
it curious there should have been three of those iron ore
springs, looking so nearly alike ! And finally, the more he
soliloquized the more he satisfied himself that he was lost.
What added not a little to his perplexity was, that twilight
was already spreading her mantle upon the forest, It would
therefore be necessary for him to select where he would spend
the night, so far as there was any choice of a sheltered place in
the woods. He was not long in finding a large standing tree
that afforded just the nook he wanted, between two roots that
stood well out on either side, and having ensconced himself in
a sitting posture, with his back against the tree, and the ax
between his knees, he prepared to face any danger that might
offer, and to sleep away the long hours of the night. He
would have telegraphed the folks at home that he was safe, if
he could. He hoped they would not be much alarmed. But
they were though, and after sunset the old gentleman got un
easy and started out the way that he should come, just to meet
him if he was safe but with a kind of presentment, to succor
him if in trouble. He kept on, occasionally stopping to listen,
and sweating with his apprehension, and imagining a whole
catalogue of mishaps that might have befallen him whether
he had lost his way or had maimed himself with the ax
or a tree had fallen upon him or, what was certainly possible,
some ravenous wild beast had devoured him all was a matter
of painful doubt, fear, an uncertainty.
Tt was not, however, until after he had reached the vil
lage, and found by enquiry that his boy had not been there,
that his fearful forebodings of some horrible evil were con
firmed.
Giving the alarm here, and begging of the good people to
THREE LINKS. 207
rally quickly and meet such persons as he should succeed in
obtaining from Hrownville, he hastened home in such a state
of mind as can be better imagined than described.
I ntil his arrival home, the family had not partaken very
much of his own alarm, but now, what a sad and sorrowful
company are they, as hurriedly they make the necessary
preparation, with pine knots and biich bark for torches, horns
and guns for signals, and refreshments for the missing boy if
he should be found, and for the kind neighbors who were in
all probability to be in the woods all ni^ht.
In due tim<\ a large company of men and boys were as
sembled, and having organized into bands, with preconcerted
signals, they struck oil into the forest, while the mother and
sisters of the missing boy sat in the open door of their lonelv
tenement to await the slow and tedious result, and so as to be
in a situation to catch the first sound of any signal guns an
nouncing the fate of him they loved.
Thus passed the first half of the night. The hunt pro
ceeded with great fidelity, so that every rod of the ground
was inspected, the horns sounding at regular intervals of time,
so as to preserve the line of march, or to catch the ear of the
boy if preadventure he was alive.
The party had proceeded on carefully, until within a few
rods of where the hero of the play kept his ni^ht vigil, before
his dreams were disturbed and he sufficiently awake to know
that it was for his benefit that the horns were sounded ; but
when fairly awake, he was not long in vacating his quiet re
treat, and arresting the further progress of the search, by
presenting himself in propria persome, with his ax on his
shoulder an:l gum bag under his arm, before the satisfied
cavalcade.
Hang! bang! bang! rang out in quick succession upon
208 THREE LINKS.
the night air, reverberating to each extremity of the long line
of weary hunters, the preconcerted /signal which notified the
quick ear of the listening mother and sisters that Ellick was
safe. There was more joy manifested that night over the
boy that was found than over all them that went not astray.
A MAN SHOT BY HIS FRIEND.
In the fall of 1801, there was a man, whose name was
Dayton, who obtained a contract for a piece of land lying
south of the road to Brownville, as you climb the Folts Hill.
He built a small log house in the woods, near the present road,
and was keeping bachelor s hall, through the months of Sep
tember and October of that year, with no other companion
than a young man who was a brother to his wife. He was
intending to remove his family here in the spring, but, as it
turned out, he lacked the fortitude and courage which were
requisite for pioneer life.
While thus living, an event occurred, which, for the time
being, quickened the pulses of the entire community, and
which seemed more like tragedy than any previous occurrence
in our brief history.
There was a project for a squirrel hunt, among the scat
tered inhabitants of the several neighborhoods, and Dayton
and his brother-in-law were expecting to participate in the
general war against the squirrels and other vermin, who were
likely to get more than a fair proportion of the first corn crop
ever cultivated in these wilds though they themselves had no
cornfields. And here we remark by the way, how unselfish
THREE LINKS. 209
men become, as soon as they get beyond the old settlements.
Mutual dependence soon exerts a softening influence upon the
human heart, and the sympathies flow out without stint as
often as the sufferings present themselves for aid or sympathy.
This, probably, is the clue to that proverbial happiness, which
in all ages and in all countries, dates back to the pioneer set
tlements in a new country.
With the purpose of having his gun in readiness for the
approaching hunt, Mr. Dayton took it down one evening, from
its place over-head, and sitting down before the blazing fire,
laid it across his knees, preparatory to taking off the lock and
oiling its pinions, so as to insure a smart motion of the hammer
spring. He was not aware that it contained a full charge of
powder and shot, or that it was loaded at all ; but carelessly
held the muzzle towards his friend, who was sitting in the
other corner of the fire-place, keeping up a cheerful light, by
timely contributions of light, dry combustibles, to tne open
fire. It is probable that he pulled the trigger without thought
or motive ; but what was his horror and amazement when his
piece discharged with a report that was almost deafening,
filling the room with smoke, and then he heard his companion
fall to the floor, exclaiming " I am shot ! I am shot ! "
They had no light but the open fire, and the smoke was
so thick and suffocating that no examination could be made.
It was all uncertain, what the extent of the injury might be ;
but knowing that Doctor Isaiah Massey had recently arrived
from Vermont to share our fortunes with us, and that he was
boarding at our village tavern, it was agreed that Dayton
should find his way through the dark pine woods which in
tervened, and bring the doctor.
My father had some corn collected from his field, and with
the male members of his family kind men and boarders
210
THREE LINKS.
doctor included, was in the house (log barn,) husking ; and
my mother was keeping her night vigils alone in the house,
when her ear- detected the quick, hurried step of Mr. Dayton,
as he rushed into the door, exclaiming, " I have killed my
brother, and want the doctor ! " As soon as he was sufficiently
composed to state his case understanding!} , he was directed to
the husking party, for the doctor, while my mother, as if by
instinct, set herself about preparing some clean linen rags,
for bandages and lint, and some tallow candles for lights, with
which our young Esculapius was soon on his way, on horse
back and alone, to answer to the first case of surgery and
gun shot wounds which had presented itself in his pioneer
practice.
He was evidently a good deal flurried, as he struck into
the woods in advance of his guide, to endeavor to thread his
dubious way ; and he was frequently heard to say, after
wards, that it was the greatest trial his nerves had ever
endured.
For aught he knew (and in the circumstances of the
case, as narrated by the affrighted Dayton, a thing quite
probable), his patient was already dead, and stiffened in
his gore, an object frightful enough, to be visited alone, by
broad daylight; how much more, in the dim light of any
embers which might be left in that lonely house in the woods.
His near approach to the house, which he after awhile
succeeded in finding, did not alleviate his feelings much ; for
now, the case must be met, whatever maybe its developments.
The idea of stumbling over a dead man, in his efforts to strike
a light, or of groping about the room in search of a mutilated
human being, was all his nerves would bear, and he trembled
in his stirrups.
He however grew ashamed of his fear, and after listening
THREE LINKS. 21 1
a moment at the door, tapped gently for admission; there was
no answer. He lifted the latch and pressed his weight
against the door, but it was fastened on the inside, lie
knocked again. "AVho is there?" said the young man. "The
doctor." "Wait a minute and I will open the door," said he,
as he crawled off his couch and proceeded to take away the
barricade with which he had fastened the door. He apologi/ed
for the delay by saying that he had heard that wolves were
attracted by the smell of blood, and that (hiding himself
bleeding pretty profusely, lie had thought it prudent to fasten
himself in.
It proved to be a case of no imminent danger, after all.
The charge of shot from the gun had penetrated the fleshy
part of the thigh of the young man, and after a proper dress
ing, for which the forethought of my mother had amply
provided them, the young doctor mounted his horse and re
turned to the village, where lie soon succeeded in allaying the
fears of the community, by his professional opinion that he
would recover, with proper care.
A WOLF STORY OF EARLY TIMES.
In the brief history that I wrote out for your paper two
or three weeks ago, from the early traditions of our town,
describing a scene, which was almost a tragedy, between Mr.
Dayton and his brother-in-law, at the foot of the Folts Hill,
on the Brownville road, I stated, that the wounded man had
taken the precaution to fasten his door 011 the inside, so as to
212 THRKK LINKS.
prevent the ingress of wolves that might be attracted by the
smell of blood, while Mr. Dayton was after the doctor.
I know it is somewhat difficult for the present generation
to comprehend the situation of peril in which scattering
families were placed at that early day, or that there was any
real and positive danger of molestation by the wolves ; and
therefore, I shall transcribe another incident, in the tra
ditions of early man and early times, which will tend to
correct any doubts upon that subject.
The late Hon. Jotham Ives was among the early
emigrants into this town. He arrived here in 1801, and
located his home, where he lived to amass a large landed
property, and where he died, recently, near the place called
Field Settlement.
In the fall of 1802, he had a number of hogs fattened,
and at killing time he employed a Mr. Knowlton, an old,
white-haired man of sixty years or more, who was somewhat
skilled in butchering, to assist him. Knowlton lived about
three-fourths of a mile from Mr. Ives, in the near neighbor
hood of the present residence of Mr. James Brintnall, where
he had a little clearing, or what was perhaps more ap
propriately called, in backwoods phrase, a chopping, and
which was surrounded by a temporary brush fence. Between
himself and Mr. Ives there was no road ; and nothing but a
line of marked trees to designate the little footpath which
meandered through the deep, dark, and in many places
tangled forest, which stretched off almost interminably on
either hand.
The butchering over, and supper disposed of, it was
agreed that there was time to cut up the pork, and Mr.
Knowlton consented to stay and assist in doing so. At a late
hour, the whole work was finally completed, and Mr.
THREE LINKS. 213
Knowlton was generously compensated for his valued services
in addition to which he was made welcome to a couple of
hogs plucks to carry home to his family.
But as he was about to leave for home, Mrs. Ives sug
gested the hazard of passing through the woods at that late
hour, with the smell of blood upon his clothes, and invited
him to stay all night ; to which Knowlton answered that he
could not think of being away from his family all night as
they would be alarmed for his safety, being unable to account
for his absence ; that, as for the wolves, though they might
prowl around his path they would not dare to molest him.
Now Mr. Ives was a man of great muscular power and
would not fear a regiment of wolves himself, and though he
assured Mr. Knowlton that he might stay in welcome, yet he
scouted the idea of danger from the sneaking cowardly wolves,
and advised him, however, that in case he should be followed
by them to leave the plucks for them to quarrel over while he
should hurry on home.
The colloquy being ended, Knowlton finally took his
leave with a pluck in each hand and struck into the woods to
endeavor to follow out his little foot path, lie had not pro
ceeded, far, however, before a sharp and startling sound, a fear
ful howl, rang out upon the night air evidently betokening the
near neighborhood of a prowling wolf on his right, which was
answered from another quarter, and then another in quick
succession, until the path, that he had traveled but a moment
before seemed to be alive with hungry seekers after blood.
He had yet no fears for his personal safety and had no
thought of cowardice, but yet he confessed that there was
something dismal in the thought of being alone and entirely
unarmed at such a time in such a place groping and feeling
his dubious way in such close proximity to a pack of ravenous
- T1IKKK LINKS.
wild beasts, and he soon found himself quickening his pace,
while ever and anon lie instinctively cast a wistful eye over
his shoulder and into the recesses of the thick woods on either
hand.
It was not long, however, that any doubt remained about
his being the object of their pursuit, as his quick ear detected
the galloping movement of a troop of pattering feet on his
track, and it was becoming more arid more a question of in
terest with him how the chase would terminate.
He hoped when he reflected that he was Hearing his own
habitation every moment and his path was becoming plainer,
and he was able to make better progress. But the odds was
with them for they were lighter of foot and could see a great
deal better than he could in the gloom of the forest, but, more
than all, they were so many and were mad with hunger and
were becoming more and more desperate every moment. On,
on, on, the old man strode resolutely and with a strength and
speed which would have surprised him at any other time,
even by daylight, but which seemed slow enough now in the
time of his extremity.
If he could but keep them at bay a little longer and until
he could clear the dark woods and get the benefit of the com
paratively open light of his chopping, or lay his hand upon a
strong hand spike, sled stake or billet of wood, he might still
hope to defend himself successfully or escape from their hun
gry jaws. Straining every nerve he bounded onward with
such agility as only desperation and love of life afforded ; but
the distance between him and his pursuers was not lessened
by all his efforts, and before he reached the brush fence that
surrounded his peaceful home he felt that his time had nearly
come, when he bethought himself of the parting advice of his
friend Ives,
THREE LINKS. 215
Ho acted upon the suggestion and immediately hurled one
of the plucks into their midst ; in the next moment he was on
the home side of his brush fence and they were fighting over
the paltry price with which he had purchased his own safety.
It may be safely assumed that he did not wait to witness the
result of the civil war which he had occasioned, but that as
soon as possible he found himself on the inside of his rude
domicile, with the door fastened on the inside.
Mr. Knowlton lived many years after the event which I
have narrated and died a natural death, and the woods which
were the scene of our story have long since been cleared away
and the wolves are only known as figuring in the history of
the olden time.
A Bit of Topography.
The foregoing ingenious chart was prepared by Mr.
Frederick Campbell of Lowville, and was accompanied by the
following interesting data :
The topography of the country traversed between Utica
and the Thousand Islands is to most people entirely unknown.
The grades are so met that most tourists would be quite un
conscious that there were any marked grades at all ; and many
would exhibit no surprise if they should be told that no higher
elevations above sea level are met between Utica and the
Thousand Islands than between New York and Utica. The
accompanying cut, which I have carefully prepared from
official reports will reveal the facts.
In the chart each space represents 100 feet above sea
level ; the irregular line thus makes graphic the elevations of
the entire route. At the left are given the elevations of a
number of places in the United States with which the eleva
tions of places on the Thousand Island route may be compared.
It will here be seen that the climb from New York to Utica
is insignificant : there is a rise of only 32 feet in passing from
New York to Albany, though the distance is nearly 150 miles.
A BIT OF TOPOGRAPHY. 217
And at 238 miles from Xew York, Utica is found at an eleva
tion of only 410 feet above the sea. But one has proceeded
only 16 miles on the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg rail
road (Black River division) when he has doubled his elevation,
(Trenton,) and with thirteen miles more (Alder Creek) has
multiplied it by three. While the summit level of the Black
River canal is at Boonville, at an elevation of 1,119 feet, the
summit of the Black River route is found a little to the south
of Alder Creek, the latter place itself being 1,245 feet above
the sea. From that point it is a steady decline to Martinsburg
station, the descent being particularly swift between Boonville
and Port Leyden, the passenger being able to note it by
watching the locks of the parallel canal. In seven miles there
is a drop of 235 feet, the first three miles of the distance taking
145 feet of the drop. From Martinsburg it will be seen that
there is another climb to Lowville, 845 feet elevation, whence
there is a practically continuous down grade to Clayton, which,
at 232 feet elevation is but little more than half that of Utica.
Referring to the comparative figures on the left, it will be
observed that the elevation of Utica is midway between that
of Harrisburg, Pa., and Rochester, 310 and 510 respectively.
Holland Patent stands 30 feet higher than Chicago. Trenton
is much higher than either St. Paul or Kansas City, and but
little less than Topeka, Kans. Trenton Falls is 45 feet higher
than Fargo, N. D., Remsen exceeds the celebrated Altoona on
the Pennsylvania railroad by 24 feet, and Alder Creek is within
35 feet of being as high as Chautauqua lake, which boasts the
highest navigated water east of the Rocky mountains. Boon
ville is 100 feet higher than Omaha, Lowville is nearly even
with Topeka, Carthage with Kansas City, and Clayton with
Schenectady.
The French Settlers.
The following paper is from the pen of Mrs. M. L.
Whitcher of Whitesboro, N. Y.:
Those who like to wander in the by-paths of our nation s
history will remember that at a very early period of the revolu
tion Dr. Franklin being sent in 1777 as ambassador to the
French court to gain the assistance of that government in
carrying on our war with England, was tendered and accepted
the use of a villa at Passy, rent free, by its owner a wealthy
banker. Dr. Franklin occupied the villa nine years.
This act of generous hospitality was done by Monsieur M.
Le Ray de Chaumont, who was a student of the affairs of
the struggling colonies and deeply interested in the cause of
liberty. He gave Dr. Franklin a warm reception and, as the
American commissioners could not be openly received by the
French court, he gave up his seat in the ministry that he
might act as intermediary between the Americans and his own
government.
He became the friend and patron of the colonists and sent
them a whole cargo of powder with instructions that it need
not be paid for unless their cause was won. We recently
THE FRENCH SETTLERS. 219
learned from the agent of the Le Ray estate that the powder so
generously furnished had not been paid for. The cargo con-
isted of two thousand barrels. From his own purse M Le
Ray also fitted a ship to join the Bon Homme Richard and
was chosen to superintend the equipment of the entire squad
ron which was destined to cast lustre on the name of John
laul Jones.
M. James Donatius Le Ray, the banker s eldest son, was
at tins time completing his education, studying English with
. father s venerable friend, Dr. Franklin. He, too, became
interested ,n American affairs and visited this country soon
the revolution, bearing letters of introduction from Dr
franklin to Gouverneur Morris, DeWitt Clinton and other
prominent men During a second visit he bought large tracts
f and, one in New Jersey and another in Otsego county, this
state, for which Judge Cooper, father of the novelist J Fenni-
more Cooper was his agent. But the largest of his purchases
was a tract of two hundred and twenty thousand acres of land
in Jefferson county, the most of which was bought on Jan. 3,
03 from Wilham Constable, the grandfather of the late
Hon. William C. Pierrepontof Pierrepont Manor. It was on
this property that he built his home. A hamlet sprung up
around his grand mansion, named Le Raysville, as the town
sh.p was very properly called Le Ray. The homestead site
and hamlet are near the line of the Utica and Black River
railroad, the- nearest station, Felts Mills, being only three
miles distant. Its sole claim to public notice, aside from the
air o historical romance still clinging to it, is the picturesque
beauty of its scenery. The original dwelling built in 1810
was burned in ,822. This was replaced by a mansion which
was completed in ,827, and stands on the original site, a pla
teau of ten acres, from which the ground falls away on ev^ry
220 THE FRENCH SETTLERS.
side. Its walls of massive stone are covered with stucco
similar to that which adorns the White House at Washington.
The house is two stories high, with wings at either side and a
large basement. Four large rooms occupy each floor, the front
parlors and corresponding rooms above being octagon in form.
One of the wings was used as a chapel and the other for a
library. In the basement were the storerooms, pantries,
kitchen and wine cellar. The floor of the last mentioned is of
stone, while all around the sides were shelves so arranged with
holes that the wines, always the choicest variety, were kept
on their corks. A number of wine casks are still standing in
the old cellar and the aroma, which is even at this time plainly
perceptible, is a vivid reminder of the times when the mansion
was widely famous for its frequent and generous hospitality.
Among the many distinguished guests entertained at the
mansion were Gouverneur Morris, Governor Clinton and
President Monroe, who, shortly after his inauguration, made a
tour of the northern frontier to inspect the military fortifica
tions and learn their strength in case of need. The president
arrived in August, 1817, and remained for several days, the
guest of M. Le Ray. The president wore the undress uniform
of an officer of the revolution a military coat, light colored
breeches and a cocked hat.
In the grand octagon parlors there are still some of the
massive elegant pier tables, with their plate glass backs and
carved lions feet, while above the marble mantels are the
grand old mirrors extending to the ceiling, and at either side
are elegant bronze chandeliers, which supported large clusters
of wax candles. The walls of these rooms are still without
spot or blemish although they were finished in 1827. To one
visitor, at least, who would tell the story of their hey-dey and
their desolation there is an indescribable charm in these
THE FRENCH SETTLERS. 221
" Rooms of luxury and state,
That old magnificence so richly furnished,
With cabinet of ancient date
And carvings gilt and burnished."
The mansion faces the forest. On its left was the deer
park, where tame fawns might be seen quietly grazing, while
to the right were the ample gardens, winch were famous for
rare fruits and choice flowers and vegetables, imported from
France or furnished from the gardens at the White House in
Washington, their only superior in this country.
A neat bridge with white latticed railing still spans the
stream that runs in front of the mansion and forms an attrac
tive feature of the landscape from the piazza, where the massive
Doric columns extend to the roof. - Where once the garden
smiled is now a field of wheat. The old garden walks can
now only be traced by some lilac or sturdy rose. The beautiful
grave beside the garden is still standing and throuo-h it the
old path leads to the waterfall and the ruins of what was once
a pretty alcove. Of the many arbors, rustic bowers and sum
mer houses which were arranged so invitingly about the
grounds, only one remains, the spy-house, an octagon structure
neatly plastered and painted. This cozy retreat was furnished
with books, papers and a spy-glass, with which the members
of the household could amuse themselves with watchin- the
movements of the villagers. Between the spy-house and the
village was an artificial pond formed by damming the stream
which murmured through the ground at the waterfall only to
appear again near the mansion. The sheet of water is called
St. James lake. It was stocked with speckled trout and pro
vided with pleasure boats. It still furnishes the young villagers
a fine boating place.
The waterfall is a place of wild, romantic beauty. The
222 THE FRENCH SETTLERS.
waters of the stream which murmurs through the grove here
plunge down a deep, rocky chasm and disappear from sight.
At the foot of the chasm is a small cave where the sunshine
never enters, but above and around it wild flowers bloom
profusely. The air seems always filled with the music of song
birds, odors of wild flowers and the soft splashing of the falling
water. It seems like enchanted ground.
In the grove near the fall is the tomb of a little child. It
is covered by a slab of gray marble and upon an upright
stone one may read : " Here lies Clotilde de Gouvello, died
Sept. 20, 1818. She was endeared to her parents and tenderly
loved by all who watched her thirteen months of patient suf
fering life. Strew flowers upon her grave, but weep not, for
she numbers with angels in Heaven." This little one was
the grandchild of M. LeRay and was the only one of the
family who was buried in America. She was baptized in the
grove not far from her last quiet resting place. A huge
boulder, which presented a large flat surface about four feet
from the ground, was, with candles, crucifix and fair linen,
transformed into an altar. A large branch of a tall oak spread
out protectingly as a canopy over it, and near the end of the
limb two of its smaller branches suggested the antlers of a
deer. Artistic carving of the end of the limb completed a
close resemblance to a deer s head. At its neck was hung a
bell which could be rung from the ground by means of a
nicely adjusted rope and pulley. On a pleasant afternoon in
August, 1817, at a given hour, the bell was rung, and the
family, accompanied by servants, sponsors and priest,
marched in quiet procession to the appointed place. When
the solemn sacrament of baptism had been administered to
the child the party returned to the mansion where a baptismal
feast had been prepared, and gifts, to commemorate the event,
THE FllENCH SETTLEKS. 223
were distributed to all the retainers of the household. The
mother of this child was Therese, only daughter of M. LeRay.
She had remained in France, where she became engaged in
marriage to the Marquis De Gouvello. Her father had been
sent for to assist in drawing up the marriage settlements and
when that important document was read the daughter
demanded a change, providing that, in case of divorce, her
portion of her husband s estate should be doubled. Her father
remonstrated, declaring that God, who ordained marriage,
designed the union to be perpetual, and would not bless a
bond accepted by the lips when the heart harbored thoughts
of its severance. The marriage was therefore postponed until
the judgment of the daughter harmonized with that of her
father. It was in honor of this daughter that the town of
Theresa was named, as Cape Vincent was named for his son
Vincent, Alexandria Bay for his son Alexander, Juhelville
( now a part of Watertown ) for his mother-in-law, and Plessis
was named for his dog.
In his religion, M. Le Ray was a devout Catholic, yet
liberal in his spiritual as he was generous in his material
tilings. This was shown in his gifts of land and building
materials for the building of churches of any denomination.
He also contributed freely for the establishment of schools.
In fact in all of his affairs he used very liberal measures.
He sent agents to France and other countries, circulated
pamphlets and sought to induce those who had been neigh
bors in the old world to unite in settling the new. He
brought gentlemen of education and ability to superintend
the establishing of mills and factories which he provided as
the wants of the settlers required. These gentlemen brought
with them not only the arts and industries of the higher
civilization of their old home, but somewhat more of the idea
224 THE FRENCH SETTLERS.
of social rank and dignity of position that was used in new
American settlements, in the northern states at least. For,
although the family and all their household were courteous
and conciliatory, this did not bridge over the great social gulf
between them and their neighbors, and when the great family
carriage bowled through the village the housekeepers left
their baking and churning to catch a glimpse of the passing
grandeur. There s such divinity doth hedge a king."
These people furnished a denial to that popular fallacy " that
all men are created equal."
Prominent among the distinguished French gentlemen
who purchased land of M. Le Ray was Joseph Bonaparte, ex-
king of Spain. After the defeat at Waterloo in 1815, Joseph,
realizing that " riches have wings," offered M, Le Ray, who
was then in France ( where he had been sent to settle some
accounts between that government and the United States,)
several wagon loads of silver for an uncertain amount of his
American territory. There were no surveys or title deeds
agreed upon, as the Bonapartes were in great haste to get out
of France and there was little time for details. Napoleon
promised to meet his brother in this country and there is no
doubt, that had the emperor been allowed to select his own
line of travel, he would have preferred to live with his
marshals and generals on our northern frontier to the lonely
isle of St. Helena.
Joseph Bonaparte made a purchase of one hundred and
twenty thousand acres in Jefferson and Lewis counties. A
beautiful lake on the edge of the North Woods is still called
Bonaparte Lake. In extent it is more than a thousand acres ;
it is dotted with picturesque islands, and being fed wholly by
subterranean streams its waters have a wonderful clearness,
THE FRENCH SETTLERS. 225
such as has made Loohes Lomond and Katrine famous in
Scottish history.
At a place on Indian river about nine miles from the
village of Carthage, the waters now under a rock of white
limestone, and at this point, called Natural Bridge, Joseph
Bonaparte built a house in 1829, which is still standing. The
bridge on the upper side is nearly as smooth as masonry,
while beneath, the waters have worn deep grottoes where one
may walk upright into the rocky recesses until he finds him
self groping into darkness. This locality rewards the seeker
of specimens of rocks and minerals. The near-by Bonaparte
house might easily be mistaken for an old-fashioned meeting
house without belfry or steeple. It is now a tenement, but
its occupants still take pride in showing its oddities to the
curious visitors and in furnishing their own admiring com
mentary upon the former owner, the count, as they call the
ex-king of Spain. His green velvet hunting suits, free ex
penditure of money, conciliating manner and his bullet-proof
sleeping chamber are fruitful topics for conversation. The
Count de Surveillers spent four summers on his American
estate. He w T as accompanied by a retinue of followers and
had as his guests many distinguished French generals, exiles
like himself. Their banquets served 011 golden dishes, were
characterized by all the pomp and precision of court etiquette.
Some of these noble guests became colonists for a time.
Among them were Count Real, who was Napoleon s chief
prefect of police, the Due de Viiicennes, a philosopher of
eminence ; M. Pigeon, an astronomer who brought some of
the finest instruments known to the age, to Cape Vincent ;
Marshal Grouchy, to whose too implicit obedience of orders
historians attribute the defeat at Waterloo, and other Napole
onic adherents who joined in building a house for the
226 THE FRENCH SETTLERS.
emperor s occupation when he should escape from St. Helena.
Another member of the Bonaparte family, Napoleon Louis
Lucien Murat, likewise became a resident of Jefferson county.
He was a son of the brilliant General Murat, Napoleon s great
est cavalry officer (whom he made king of the two Sicilies) and
of Caroline, sister of the first consul. The son remained, for a
while after Waterloo, with his mother in Spain, until the
Bourbons made his residence there too uncomfortable.
He then joined the contingent of refugees and bought a tract
of land on Indian river near Theresa, where he opened a store,
built saw mills and grist mills, and fancied he had founded a
city, which he called Joachim in honor of his father. He was
a gay and volatile young fellow, and though the fortunes of
his family and of his country were, at that time, grave enough
to fill a thoughtful mind with apprehensions, beseemed intent
upon making life a holiday. His store, instead of being
stocked with corduroy and jeans, which were needed by the
settlers, was decked out with artificial flowers and French
millinery, and at his fantastic entertainments metamorphosed
the farmers daughters, the only young women in the neigh
borhood, into Cinderellas clothed with delicate silks which he
imported and distributed freely among the maids of the Dutch
settlement. Among the luxuries which the young prince
brought from France was a grand piano, which was preserved
only to be burned in the very disastrous fire which visited the
village of Carthage in 1881. Its antique pattern showed the legs
connected at either end by an elaborately carved harp and
braced by a long bar of solid mahogany, also carved, which
united the ends as old fashioned chairs were strengthened by
a rung extending across the middle. The piano rested upon
carved lions feet while at each end were drawers for music.
Nothing now remains of Joachim, a city " whose glory
THE FRENCH SETTLERS. 227
passed away while yet it never was." The name, however,
still clings to a bridge and dam which were built when the
city was planned.
The prince married an American woman who, when
their last shred of fortune had vanished, opened a boarding
school under the untitled name of Madam Murat. The writer
of a sensational article which appeared in Putnam s Magazine
in 1853 under the caption " Have We a Bourbon Among us? "
attempted to foist upon the world a marvelous tale stating
that the well beloved preacher to the Indians, the Rev. Eleazur
Williams, was, in reality, the young dauphin son of Louis XVI
and Marie Antoinette and that M. Le Ray de Chaumont was
the agent of his rescue, escape and preservation in the safe
solitudes of Northern New York. M. Vincent Le Rny indig
nantly denied the charge and gave the denial all the publicity
that print and painstaking distribution could provide.
Lamartine states that the miracle of silence over his escape
would be greater than his miraculous escape itself.
It is to be regretted that a name so worthy of remem
brance as is that of Le Ray should be omitted from the pages
of history. In a life of Dr. Franklin, which has been recently
published, the story of M. Le Ray s hospitality to him is
pleasantly told ; there also appears a picture of the senior Le
Ray and a picture of the house occupied by Dr. Franklin
during his nine years residence in France. The building
is still pointed out to tourists as the Franklin house.
M. Le Ray and his family left America and returned to
France in June, 1836. He died in December, 1840, aged 80
years, leaving three children and two sisters. Alexander, his
youngest son, fell in a duel in Texas in 1844. Theresa,
Countess de Gouvello, died in 1853, leaving one son who came
to this country in 1881, having been invited by this govern-
228 THE I KENCl-I SKTTLEllb .
inent to represent the Le Ray family at the centennial
celebration of the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Before
returning he visited the old home in Jefferson county. Yin-
cent Le Ray, who succeeded to his father s estate in 1825, was
a methodical business man, and though strictly honorable, he
possessed none of the liberal qualities of his father. He died
in 1880, leaving one son, Charles, Marques de St. Paul, a
childless man with whose death the historic name will prob
ably cease.
Two Old=Fashioned Boys.
Ben and Joby Collins were coasting one Saturday half-
holiday on a sled with bent runners. Ben was the elder and
the more serious. Joby was more athletic, quicker of percep
tion, and slow to believe what he could not see with his own
eyes and instantly comprehend. What Ben lacked in the
perceptive organs he fully made up in the reflective. Conse
quently he was slow, in fact, clumsy, and Joby was constant
ly getting the " start " of him in their boyish divertisements.
Ben s easy temperament was the means of avoiding friction
over Joby s little victories. They usually agreed except upon
scientific matters in which Ben, having a thirst for knowledge,
was greatly interested. His rehash of natural philosophy was
wholly lost upon Joby who was skeptical and at times bored
by his brother s discussion of theoretical and applied science
which he found in an old volume borrowed from a neighbor
who once lived in Boston.
"Let s take one more slide and then go home, do the
chores and get ready for the show, " suggested Ben, who,
though slow, was really the leading spirit in the enterprises of
the Boy s Own Kingdom.
" What is the show, Ben, " inquired the other.
230 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
" Why, the tallygraph ! The thing that talks over twen
ty miles of wire. The showmen come to paw for to get the
schoolhouse to give the show in. "
That s navvthin, " answered Joby, its just as easy to
talk over a coil of wire as over a handsled. Get on its my
steer. "
" But the wire is stretched away miles and miles on poles
and they talk to another feller at the other "
Further explanation was precluded by the speed of the
sled down the long slope which dropped them gently on the
ice which covered La Famine and the lake as far as the eye
could reach.
" Now, once more and I ll steer, " urged Ben when they
had shot far out on the ice.
They returned to the top of the hill and made a fresh
start, Ben lying down and making a rudder of a new copper-
toed boot, The course made a sharp turn through an open
gate flanked by a rail fence.
Ben steered too much and the sled began to waver in its
course.
Look out ! " warned Job, and then flung himself off into
the snow whither he emerged half suffocated to find the sled
high and dry in the rail fence and poor Ben screeching with
pain. It was characteristic of Ben s lack of skill that he
should slam into the fence.
" Oh ! my leg, my leg ! It s broke, Joby. Draw me
home on the sled. I feel so sick. "
Joby was frightened, but as he did things without ever
thinking he very quickly mended the wrecked sled with cord
and then all but finished Ben in rolling him onto it. He drew
his injured brother to the house and made such a hullabaloo
for help that his affrighted parents ran to meet him and as-
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 231
sist the suffering boy to a trundle bed which was hauled from
under the bed in the recess.
A neighbor was sent on horseback for a doctor, sixteen
miles distant, and grandmother put a bunch of pennyroyal
steeping because as she said " if a sweat did him no good it
would do no harm, " albeit the victim of the accident was in
such pain as to cause the perspiration to moisten his whole
body.
The doctor arrived the next day and found the limb al
ready set and bound in splints of bark, a very creditable job,
he called it, and left instructions for poor Ben to keep the bed
for three weeks, when he would return and examine the limb
to determine the success of the process of healing.
Now, be it remembered that the Collins-es were a social
people and their home was the resort of neighbors for miles
around. Hank Collins was a popular man, though not
strong-minded, and while he entertained some political pres
tige he was not a leader, but a man whose good graces were
sought by would-be leaders. Hence his sayings were quoted
as from an authority, and he was brought into intercourse
with the scattering neighbors more frequently than any other
one of them. Moreover he was a subscriber to a weekly paper
published in Utica.
Ben always heard what was said by elders in his presence,
and pondered much over their discussions which he insisted
upon retailing to young Job who did not always exhibit the
characteristic of his more patient namesake.
Job went to the schoolhouse in the evening, and for a
sixpence saw the new telegraph exhibited. He explained the
instrument to Ben in the following not very lucid terms :
" The show didn t mount to nawthink ! The feller set up
a jigger-jabber on tho girls side and another on our side, and
232 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
run out some wire along a fence and the trees and brung it
back into another winder and hitched it to another jigger.
Then he stuck a wire down a knot-hole in the floor, and some
more wires into some dishes he called a batter. Then he jig
gered one machine and the other jiggered just like it and the
two just jigger-jabbered and there wan t nobody anigh to it.
He had a paper ribband wound on a wheel and a clock thing
run down and made some marks on the ribband just like the
marks he made on the blackboard. Then he read the pin
scratches on the ribband out loud and said it said In God we
trust. I hearn Mr. Marceau say it was all a humbug and we
was all fooled. Paw, he says there is somethink in it, but
he don t know what. Some say there is and some say he s a
vanphilist and made the click-clack on tother jigger with his
mouth. You ain t mist anythink and I haint seen anythink.
Wusht Ide a saved my sixpence for a hunk of ginger bread
next Fourth July." After the recital Job was plied with so
many questions that the last were vaguely answered in his
sleep. His ideas of the machine were perhaps as clear as
those of most of the adults who had been attracted to the ex
hibition.
Poor Ben ! All his life he had wanted to see something
and now his pain must be borne with additional grief because
deprived of seeing an exhibition of electric science. His feel
ings upon this subject were not relieved on hearing the
discussions of the exhibit which occurred almost daily among
the neighbors who called to sympathize with Ben and borrow
the newspaper.
During his imprisonment he heard much talk of the
election of governor, and Hunkers, Barn Burners, Free Soilers
and Mudsills, as well as Anti-Masons. He was well awjjro
that his father was not in sympathy witli the latter as he had
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
heard a heated debate between him and Bone Marceau, the
latter alleging that he did not want to belong to a party of
murderers or have them get into power to secretly kill off their
enemies at will and leave the world to wonder who did it.
" But Free Masonry does not encourage that sort of thing
any more than does the Church of England," protested Mr.
Collins.
" You tell me that ! You know as well as I they killed
Morgan, threw him into Niagara river and then one night
buried him in three graves. You know that hundreds of
other unaccountable murders have been committed in the
same mysterious way. Do you want a government of mur
derers ?"
" No, I do not. But I do not like to see my a party
called murderers without the proof. A man is innocent until
he is proven guilty."
Marceau was a pronounced Anti and no amount oi argu
ment would convince him that a Free Mason was not a dis
guised murderer. So it was agreed that the matter should
not be further discussed.
About ten days after this discussion Ben sat upon his
trundle-bed, which was far too small, in the house alone. Job,
who had become more and more of a companion during Ben s
stay in doors, ran in all out of breath.
" Say, Ben, its too durn bad ! Can t you walk ? Try it.
I ve just found some of the queerest things in the straw stack.
Silver 11 gold things ! "
Ben s curiosity was fully aroused, besides he had been
shut up ten days and was like a caged bird once free.
" I bleeve I can hobble out there and back before any
body comes. I just hopped to the door and back just to see
if I could move. "
234 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
" In course you can, " vouched the excited Job. " Ten
days is time enough to heal a horse s leg. Here, take gramp s
cane and the tongs. I ll help. "
Slowly and in fear Ben started on the short journey and
with Job s encouragement he reached the stack much to his
surprise without any special suffering. Once there Job began
throwing the straw, which had been thrashed with a flail,
aside with a fork made of the crotch of a hickory stick.
"What s this?" holding up a pair of crossed quills.
" And here is a cooper s compass stuck on a square and look
at these great keys ! Here s pole hooks and a big letter G,
and a Bible would a thief steal a Bible, Ben?"
"Well how do you know any of it s stole, " inquired Ben.
"How else could it get into the straw, then," queried Job
in turn.
"Well, I don t say as how it was stole, but I just believe
its a Free Mason s
Job dropped the keys with an exclamation of horror.
"Do you suppose this is what they kill folks with? "
Ben wasn t sure, but at his suggestion the discovery was
again secreted in the straw arid the boys returned to the house
in alarm lest they should meet the fate of Morgan before the
return of their parents. And Ben began to feel that perhaps
he might suffer great injury from deserting his bed before he
had permission.
When the parents returned the boys related the news of
their wonderful find to their mother, and she in turn told
their father. He seemed surprised and a little frustrated,
then sternly bade them not to say a word to a soul about the
matter.
Next forenoon Job plucked up courage enough to again
remove the straw so as to get another look at the strange
"GO IN JUST ONCE MORE.
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 235
objects. He threw out a great lot of the straw and declared
he didn t suppose he had buried it so deep. After an extra
effort he came down to solid straw which had not been dis
turbed. Not until then did it occur to him that the wonder
ful things he had seen and handled had gone just as myster
iously as they had appeared. When he made report of the
equally strange disappearance to his father, that w r orthy
laconically dismissed the subject with an imperative :
" Shut up ! "
It was but a few days after Job s discovery that the doc
tor, with mysterious saddle bags, returned to visit his patient,
only to find him knocking about with his injured limb lashed
to a barrel stave, the convex surface fitting under the knee
very comfortably. To the neighbors the boy s leaving his bed
a week before the date fixed by the doctor was a triumph of
their inherent opposition to professional science.
" But what could you expect, " remarked Ben s mother,
" what could you expect from a doctor who has a mustache? "
It was agreed that a man so dandified as to grow a mus
tache could not be very smart to say nothing of professional
knowledge. As for Ben, he was too anxious to get away to his
accustomed outdoor pastimes to debate the question of the
knitting of the bones between the doctor s skill and the awful
doses of jalap, boneset tea and calomel administered by his
anxious grandmother who had a Thomsonian specific in every
weed in the forest.
" I m just death on the fever, " she would say, " and gin
me a plenty of fever-weed and pennyroyal, and keep them
from a filling themselves with water and I ll warn you they ll
come out all right unless it happens as it did with Huldy
Dobbins, she that was a Purse. She was outen her head and
once when she didn t know what she was about and the
236 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
watchers was asleep she just went to the spring and drank
and drank. I took care of her myself arter that and she was
right sick for a fortnight, but she didn t get another drop of
water you may depend. "
The old lady drew a clay pipe from the ashes where it
had been placed to burn it out, and filling it smoked com
placently in silence. Ah ! Could a machine for recording
thought be had what a world of reminiscence could have been
rescued from oblivion as the dear old lady smoked and
dreamed of her days of activity " down at old Glosster."
Some hardships befell the early settlers on this fertile
point, and among the most annoying little things was losing
the fire. Mrs. Collins was attending a sick neighbor ; her
husband had gone to the Harbor with a grist drawn by a yoke
of oxen and the trip would require two days. The boys and
their grandmother were left alone and such a bustling prepara
tion for dinner had not stirred up the but-and-ben of a house
since last Thanksgiving, when the occasion was made
memorable by the rescue of four half-drowned settlers who
had been cast upon the shore in the night and brought back
to life in the hospitable cheer of the Collins fireplace.
The old lady was intent upon getting up a bounteous
meal of rye-and-Indian bread and corned beef with cabbage.
When she had broiled some salt pork before the embers, and
freshened it by dipping the sizzling piece in a gourd of cold
water often, and then again bringing it to the coals, she set
about further preparation so interestedly as to forget the low
fire. When she hung a kettle on the crane she was surprised
to find the fire out. Not a live ember remained. There was
no tinder box, and the punk Mr. Collins had taken with him.
"Joby,"she said solemnly, " the fire s lost. You will
have to go down to Uncle Hiram s and get some fire, and get
1 WO OL1)-FASHIONED BOYS. 237
back quick as ever you can. Here, take the tongs, and
hurry."
It was two miles to the neighbor s and a four mile trudge
in the snow did not promise any unusual amusement. How
ever, he was accustomed to obeying, and that at once. Off
he trudged with the tongs astride his neck and in due time
made his errand known at the neighbor s door. He walked
in without rapping, and was cordially received. A big
twisted doughnut and a yellow mug of soup was brought, and
the same relished with the truly enviable appetite of a hungry
boy.
The end of a burning stick was caught in the tongs and
Joby started for home, giving the ember an occasional whirl
over his head to keep it " alive." Weary and wet the plucky
lad arrived at his father s clearing and climbed the rail and
brush fence. His foot slipped and he plunged off into the
snow whither he emerged half suffocated. The ember had
fallen to the opposite side of the fence and sizzled and smoked
and steamed as poor Joby scrambled around in the snow
vainly searching for the tongs. These were found lodged in
the fence just as he was ready to give up and cry. But his
joy was quickly gone. An ominous silence in the neighbor
hood of the erstwhile sputtering ember filled him with disap
pointment. The cherished live coal was black and dead.
Job let out just one wail, and then resolutely turned back
for another brand, and in so doing exhibited the courage and
fortitude of the pioneers who subdued the wooded and rocky
Black River country. Our young hero was successful in the
second effort, and as he dried himself before the big crackling
fire he soon recovered his wonted spirits and animation.
His father returned unexpectedly that night having left
the grist to be ground next day, and it was agreed that Mr.
238 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
Marceau should remain with the grist. What was his surprise
on going after it to meet Mr. Marceau who had returned five
or six miles of the distance and brought the two bags of grist
by carrying one some distance and setting it down, returning
for the other. He was careful not to get either out of his sight,
and in the return traversed the distance three times.
Spring arrived with its attendant floods and a big run of
suckers, which created no end of amusement for the few boys
in the neighborhood who had a great joke on Bone Marceau.
He and another neighbor were catching suckers with a small
scoopnet, and the better to preserve them they were thrown in
a rockhole which contained water. They had captured almost
a hundred of them when they decided that it were needless to
continue the slaughter. They were not a little surprised to
find not a fish in the hole and still more surprised to find
in it a communication with the creek out of which the one poor
sucker passed and repassed only to be caught up and tossed back
again until almost exhausted. Joking Marceau was a serious
thing, however, especially as Tubbs, the cooper, had related
the incident and the boys knew him for a funny old joker.
Tubbs was a prime favorite with the boys. He had told
them that he was in a circus before his arrival in their com
munity and the wonderful feats he performed and saw
performed completely won the boys over to holding a candle
for him as he worked of an evening, and to go on all manner
of errands. He told them the most delightful bogie stories
about banshees and death-ticks.
A favorite yarn was his experience of driving a corpse at
a funeral "down east." He had a pair of horses attached to
a long sled.
" The ground was bare in spots " said he, " and rough in
places. The coffin was placed in the sled and all went well
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 239
until the descent of a big hill was commenced. It was bare
and rough. The coffin jolted around a good deal and bimby
the lid rattled off. The corpse was a man who had long
whiskers under his chin. I glanced backward over my
shoulder and got a fair look at him. His whiskers were
blowing over the edge of the coffin and as I was at the lower
end of the sled I thought he was getting up to take me. I put
the birch on the horses and broke away from the perseshun
and brought up at the graveyard half an hour ahead of the
others. But it was mighty queer the lid had got back to its
place and I always bleeved the old feller just reached out for
it and fastened himself in."
Just then old Jimmy came back from the woods whither
he had been sent by the cooper to fetch the horse. Jimmy
was a wit and he and the cooper were never happier than
when bandying each other with a half dozen boys to appre
ciate their sayings. Jimmy stuttered badly at times and on
this occasion he returned without the horse.
" S-s-t-d-d-ggg " stammered poor Jimmy.
" Sing it," shouted the cooper.
"The divil a harse cud I see-e ! " sang Jimmy, and the
boys dodged behind the shop to have a laugh at the unex
pected response.
It was April and the Collins boys and some others had
an undivided interest in a log canoe. With such a frail craft
they made long excursions up and down shore, and even
rigged up a square sail out of a woolen blanket. They sailed
to the islands and paddled back, proud of their skill as
navigators, and even talked of a voyage to the Harbor to see
the general training. But it was soon swimming time and
they lived a life worth living.
The tirst swim of the season chilled them blue but they
240 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
declared the water warm and on coming out met Valiant
Smith and he, holding up two fingers and proposed they go in
again.
" Go in just once more, " he plead, and although quak
ing the boys all plunged back and never a one was the worse
for the cold dip.
SCHOOL
The summer term of the district school was to open with
a lady teacher. The building was made of squared logs and
warmed with a big fireplace opposite the only door. Pine
seats ran around the walls, and these were confronted by pine
desks attached to which was a low seat which served the pur
pose of recitation seats.
During the preceding winter term a blackboard had been
placed on either side of the door. A water pail occupied a
bench on the right and a high desk filled the portion of the
opposite side not occupied by the seats. Paper wads crusted
the ceiling, and the seats showed strange characters deep-
carved and filled with dried ink. The windows were small
and filled with " seven-by-nine " panes. The " forest prime
val " grew in the yard, and primitive rocks, rearing their ugly
heads out of the soil, stubbed many a bare toe the while the
term lasted.
Ben and Job arose early on the first day of school and
just at daylight repaired to the schoolhouse, and crawling into
a window, selected their seats for the term. Others soon ar
rived and as they worked their way in Ben and Job set up a
yell that scared the intruders almost into fits. Their seats se
lected and books deposited, an adjournment was taken to the
yard, some bats and a leather-covered ball were produced and
a game of four-old-cat was started. Ben was catcher, and he
got too close to the bat. As the batsman, with a foot on the
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 241
bye, drew back to sock the ball out into the woods his club
came in contact with Ben s face. The smile faded and tears
flowed.
" I just wanted to see if I could strike the ball hard
enough to make the fire fly as Tubbs says he usto," said the
striker, " but I didn t know Ben was so close."
The repairs took some time and when the boys were
ready for something else the teacher arrived. She was a little
woman of uncertain age, but full of determination. The
boys hung about the door while the big barefooted girls went
spat, spat into the schoolhouse behind the teacher. Soon
there was a cloud of dust issuing from the door and windows.
" Will some of the young gentlemen bring in some cedar
boughs for the fire-place ? "
Slowly they started. " Young gentlemen," they re
peated, but all the same they brought in more than would fill
the black cavern of a fireplace. A sharp rapping on the
window assembled the school in their seats and the reign of
the new teacher was fairly begun over a colony of homespun
trowsers and gingham aprons.
The first class in reading was called out and stood in a
row in front of the teacher s desk. The book used was the
English Reader which was filled with horrible narratives of
Indian massacre, sufferings of wrecked humanity at sea, earth
quakes, executions and death in frightful form. On the other
hand the work contains some of the best selections of English
verse as well as prose in existence. To test the new comers in
the class the following selections were read from books with
wooden covers :
THE BEARS AND THE BEES.
As two young bears, in wanton mood
Forth issuing from a neighboring wood,
242 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
Come where th industrious bees had stor d,
In artful cells, their luscious hoard ;
O erjoy d they seized, with eager haste,
Luxurious on the rich repast.
Alarm d at this, the little crew
About their ears vindictive flew.
The beasts, unable to sustain
Th unequal combat, quit the plain ;
Half-blind with rage, and mad with pain,
Their native shelter they regain ;
There sit, and now, discreeter grown,
Too late their rashness they bemoan ;
And this by dear experience gain,
That pleasure s ever bought with pain.
So when the gilded baits of vice
Are plac d before our longing eyes,
With greedy haste we snatch our fill,
And swallow down the latent ill ;
But when experience opens our eyes,
Away the fancied pleasure flies,
It flies, but oh ! too late we find,
It leaves a real sting behind.
THE YOUTH AND THE PHILOSOPHER,
A Grecian youth of talents rare,
Whom Plato s philosophic care
Had form d for virtue s nobler view,
By precept and example too,
Would often boast his matchless skill,
To curb the steed and guide the wheel ;
And as he pass d the gazing throng,
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 243
With graceful ease, and smack d the thong,
The idiot wonder they express d,
Was praise and transport to his breast.
At length, quite vain, he needs would show
His master what his art could do,
And bade his slaves the chariot lead
To Academus sacred shade.
The trembling grove confess d its fright,
The wood-nymphs started at the sight ;
The muses drop the learned lyre,
And to their inmost shades retire.
Howe er, the youth, with forward air,
Bows to the sage, and mounts the car.
The lash resounds, the coursers spring,
The chariot marks the rolling ring,
And gath ring crowds, with eager eyes,
And shouts, pursue him as he flies.
Triumphant to the goal return d.
With nobler thirst his bosom burn d ;
And now along th idented plain,
The self-same track he marks again,
Pursues with care the nice design,
Nor ever deviates from the line.
Amazement seiz d the circling crowd ;
The youths with emulation glow d ;
Ev n bearded sages hail d the boy ;
And all but Plato gaz d with joy.
For he, deep-judging sage, beheld
With pain, the triumphs of the field ;
And when the charioteer drew nigh,
244 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
And, flush d with hope, had caught his eye
" Alas ! unhappy youth," he cry d,
" Expect no praise from me," (and sigh d.)
" With indignation I survey
Such skill and judgment thrown away ;
The time profusely squander d there,
On vulgar arts beneath thy care,
If well employ d, at less expense,
Had taught thee honor, virtue, sense ;
And rais d thee from a coachman s fate,
To govern men, and guide the state."
EARTHQUAKE AT CATANEA.
One of the earthquakes most particularly described in
history is that which happened in the year 1693; the damages
of which were chiefly felt in Sicily, but its motion was per
ceived in Germany, France and England. It extended to a
circumference of two thousand six hundred leagues, chiefly
affecting the sea coasts and great rivers, more perceivable also
upon the mountains than in the valleys.
Its motions were so rapid that persons who lay at their
length, were tossed from side to side as upon a rolling billow.
The walls were dashed from their foundations, and no fewer
than fifty cities, with an increditable number of villages, were
either destroyed or greatly damaged. The city of Catanea in
particular was utterly overthrown. A traveller who was on his
way thither perceived at the distance of some miles, a black
cloud like night, hanging over the place.
The sea all of a sudden began to roar, Mount ^Etna to
send forth great spires of flames, and soon after a shock en
sued with a noise as if all the artillery in the world had been
at once discharged. Our traveller being obliged to alight in-
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 245
stantly, felt himself raised a foot from the ground, and turn
ing his eyes to the city he with amazement saw nothing but a
thick cloud of dust in the air.
The birds flew about astonished, the sun was darkened,
the beasts ran howling from the hills, and although the shock
did not continue above three minutes, yet near nineteen thou
sand of the inhabitants of Sicily, perished in the ruins. Cat-
anea, to which city the describer was traveling, seemed the
principal scene of ruin, its place only was to be found, and
not a footstep of its former magnificence was to be seen re
maining.
The following lines were read in concert, and thundering
accent of the boys with changing voices which sometimes rose
to a strange falsetto, mingled with the piping sopranos was
indeed a strange exhibition of rhetorical exercises :
THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE GLOW-WORM.
A nightingale, that all day long
Had cheer d the village with his song,
Nor yet at eve his note suspended,
Nor yet when eventide was ended,
Began to feel, as well he might,
The keen demands of appetite ;
When, looking eagerly around,
He spied far off upon the ground,
A something shining in the dark,
And knew the glow-worm by his spark.
So, stooping down from hawthorn top
He thought to put him in his crop.
The worm, aware of his intent,
Harangued him thus, right eloquent
246 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
11 Did you admire my lamp, " quoth he,
" As much as I your minstrelsy,
You would abhor to do me wrong,
As much as I to spoil your song ;
For twas the self-same pow r divine,
Taught you to sing and me to shine ;
That you with music, I with light,
Might beautify and cheer the night. "
The songster heard his short oration,
And, warbling out his approbation,
Releas d him, as my story tells,
And found a supper somewhere else.
Hence, jarring sectaries may learn,
Their real int rest to discern ;
That brother should not war with brother
And worry and devour each other :
But sing and shine by sweet consent,
Till life s poor, transient night is spent ;
Respecting in each other s case
The gifts of nature and of grace.
Those Christians best deserve the name,
Who studiously make peace their aim :
Peace, both the duty and the prize
Of him that creeps, and him that flies.
The teacher wishing to introduce a new reader placed in
the hands of her pupils a new book called the American Pre
ceptor, and to instruct the class they were permitted to read
longer than was the custom. And the following selections
were " practiced " upon :
SINGULAR ADVENTURE OF GENERAL PUTNAM.
When General Putnam first moved to Pomfret, in Con-
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 247
necticut, in the year 1739, the country was new and much
infested with wolves. Great havoc was made among the
sheep by a she wolf which with her annual whelps, had for
several years continued in that vicinity. The young ones
were commonly destroyed by the vigilance of the hunters ;
but the old one was too sagacious to be ensnared by them.
This wolf, at length, became such an intolerable
nuisance, that Mr. Putnam entered into a combination with
five of his neighbors to hunt alternately until they could des
troy her. Two by rotation, were to be constantly in pursuit,
It was known, that, having lost the toes from one foot by a
steel trap, she made one track shorter than the other.
By this vestige, the pursuers recognized, in a light snow,
the route of this pernicious animal. Having followed her to
the Connecticut river, and found she had turned back in a
direct course towards Pomfret, they immediately returned,
and by ten o clock the next morning the bloodhounds had
driven her into a den, about three miles distant from the
house of Mr. Putnam.
The people soon collected with dogs, guns, straw, fire
and sulphur, to attack the common enemy. With this ap
paratus, several unsuccessful efforts were made to force her
from the den. The hounds came back badly wounded and
refused to return. The smoke oi blazing straw had no effect.
Nor did the fumes of burnt brimstone, with which the cavern
was filled, compel her to quit the retirement.
Wearied with such fruitless attempts ( which had brought
the time to ten o clock at night) Mr. Putnam tried once more
to make his dog enter, but in vain ; he proposed to his negro
man to go down into the cavern and shoot the wolf. The
negro declined the hazardous service.
Then it was that their master, angry at the disappoint-
248 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
ment, and declaring that he was ashamed of having a coward
in his family, resolved himself to destroy the ferocious beast,
lest she should escape through some unknown fissure of the
rock.
His neighbors strongly remontrated against the perilous
enterprise ; but he knowing that wild animals were intimid
ated by fire, and having provided several strips of birch bark,
the only conbustible material which he could obtain, which
would afford light in this deep and darksome cave, prepared
for his descent.
Having accordingly, divested himself of his coat and waist
coat, and having a long rope fastened round his legs, by
which he might be pulled back, at a concerted signal, he
entered, head foremost, with the blazing torch in his hand.
Having groped his passage till he came to a horizontal
part of the den, the most terrifying darkness appeared in front
of the dim circle of light afforded by the torch. It was silent
as the house of death. None but monsters of the desert had
ever before explored this solitary mansion of horror.
He cautiously proceeding onward, came to an ascent,
which he slowly mounted on his hands and knees until he
discovered the glaring eyeballs of the wolf, who was sitting at
the extremity of the cavern. Startled at the sight of fire, she
gnashed her teeth and gave a sullen growl.
As soon as he had made the necessary discovery he
kicked the rope as a signal for pulling him out. The people,
at the mouth of the den, who had listened with painful anx
iety, hearing the growling of the wolf, and supposing their
friend to be in the most imminent danger, drew him forth
with such celerity that he was stripped of his clothes, and
severely bruised.
After he had adjusted his clothes, and loaded his gun
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 249
with nine buck shot, holding a torch in one hand and the
musket in the other, he descended a second time. When he
drew nearer than before, the wolf assuming a still more fierce
and terrible appearance, howling, rolling her eyes, snapping
her teeth, and dropping her head between her legs was
evidently in the attitude and on the point of springing on
him.
At this critical instant he leveled and fired at her head.
Stunned with the shock and suffocated with the smoke he im
mediately found himself drawn out of the cave. But having
refreshed himself and permitted the smoke to dissipate he
went down a third time.
Once more he came within sight of the wolf, who appear
ing very passive, he applied the torch to her nose, and per
ceiving her dead, he took hold of her ears and then kicking
the rope, still tied round his legs, the people above with no
small exultation, dragged them both out together.
STORY OF LOGAN, A MINGO CHIEF.
In the spring of the year 1774, a robbery and murder
were committed on an inhabitant of the frontiers of Virginia
by two Indians of the Shawanese tribe. The neighboring
whites, according to their custom, undertook to punish this
outrage in a summary way. Colonel Cresap, a man infamous
for the many murders he had committed on these much in
jured people, collected a party and proceeded down the Kan-
haway in quest of vengeance.
Unfortunately, a canoe of women and children, with one
man only, was seen coming from the opposite shore, unarmed,
and unsuspecting any hostile attack from the whites. Cresap
and his party concealed themselves on the bank of the river,
250 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
and the moment the canoe reached the shore, singled out their
objects, and, at one fire, killed every person in it.
This happened to be the family of Logan, who had long
been distinguished as the friend of the whites. This unworthy
return provoked his vengeance. He accordingly signalized
bimself in the war which ensued.
In the autumn of the same year, a decisive battle was
fought at the mouth of the Great Kenhaway, between the
collected forces of the Shawanese, Mingoes and Delawares, and
a detachment of the Virginia militia. The Indians were
defeated and sued for peace.
Logan, however, disdained to be seen among the sup
plicants ; but, lest the sincerity of a treaty should be distrust
ed, from which so distinguished a chief absented himself, he
sent by a messenger, the following speech, to be delivered to
Lord Dunmore :
" I appeal to any white man to say if ever he entered
Logan s cabin hungry, and he gave him no meat ; ii ever he
came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the
last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin,
an advocate for peace.
11 Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen
pointed as they passed by, and said, Logan is the friend of
white men. I had even thought to have lived with you, had
it not been for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the
last spring, in cold blood, arid unprovoked, murdered all the
relations of Logan, not even sparing my women and children.
There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any
living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have
fought it; I have killed many; I have fully glutted my
vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace ;
but do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear.
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 251
Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save
his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one."
This exercise over, the smaller children were called out
and read from Webster s spelling book. There was no inter
mediary reader between the speller and the English reader.
Passing upward from the one to the other was a severe test,
but one coveted by those who knew by rote the story of the
Maid and the Milk, the boy in the apple tree who would not
come down when the farmer threw grass, and the other few
moral stories "for the instruction of the very young."
lien often declared that " rithmetic was his best holt," and
it was therefore with a secret delight that he joined the class
when it was called. Me felt that here was one subject at least
in which he would fully acquit himself and make an impres
sion of the acquirement upon the new teacher. The text
book was "Ruger s New System of Arithmetick." The pub
lisher was William Ruger, A. B., author of a grammar and at
least one other school-book, and printed in Watertown, N. Y.,
by Knowlton & Rice.
The inside pages were scrawled over with a quill, and
quaint were the sentiments recorded on the fly leaves. Here
is one :
If to my friend,
This book I lend,
And find it greased or tore,
He may rely
I will deny
To lend it any more.
The old " tinker sum " was set before Ben, and boldly he
made the attack. His task may be the better appreciated if
here reproduced :
One evening I chanced with a tinker to sit,
252 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
Whose tongue ran a great deal too fast for his wit,
He talked of his art and abundance of metal,
So I asked him to make me a flat-bottom kettle.
Let the top and the bottom diameters be
In just such proportion as five is to three ;
Twelve inches the depth I proposed and no more,
To hold in ale gallons seven less than a score.
He promised to do it and straight to work went,
But when he had done it he found it too scant.
Thus altering it often too big and too little,
The tinker at last quite spoiled his kettle.
He says he will bring his sad promise to pass,
Or else he will spoil every ounce of his brass.
Now show your skill, you learned youth,
And by your work this sum produce.
Job wrestled like Jacob, but like the tinker his pot was at
times too large and anon too small. After giving it up he
left this couplet on the board :
The tinker man s problem I ve failed to settle.
May Old Nick catch him and his flat-bottom kettle.
Another problem in rhyme was given the class and a
merit mark promised the one who should reach the correct
answer first. It ran in this wise :
As I was hunting on the forest grounds,
Up starts a hare before my two grey-hounds ;
The dogs, being light of foot, did fairly run
Unto her fifteen rods just twenty-one.
The distance that she started up before
Was four score and sixteen rods, just, and no more ;
Now this I d have you unto me declare-
How far they ran before they caught the hare.
Ben applied the good old Rule of Three and obtained the
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 253
correct answer long before the others, and having awakened
his Muse he expressed the result in the following rhyme :
Old Ruger s hare was raced at unseeming odds,
And lost her life at three hundred thirty-six rods.
The class was examined in vulgar fractions and divided
into two classes. The first class was examined in Fellowship
and closed with some examples in Tare and Tret, A few
paragraphs from the explanatory notes under this head are
appended :
Tare and tret are allowances made to the buyer, on the
weight of some particular commodities.
Tare is an allowance made for the weight of the barrel,
box, bag, or whatever contains the articles or goods.
Tret is an allowance of 4ft. on every 104ft. for waste,
dust, etc.
Cloff is an allowance, on some commodities, of 2ft. on
every cwt. to turn the scale, or to make the weight hold out,
when goods are reweighed, and is claimed chiefly, or only, by
the merchants of London.
Scuttle is what remains after a part of the allowance is
deducted from the gross weight.
Net weight is what remains after all allowances are made.
The class in arithmetic was dismissed with another
poetical problem :
Friend John, who had in credit liv d,
Though now reduc d, a sum received
This lucky hit s no sooner found,
Than clam rous duns came swarming round ;
To th landlord baker many more,
John paid, in all, pounds ninety-four.
Half what remain d, a friend he lent,
On Joan and self one-fifth he spent ;
254 TWO OLD-FASHIOXED BOYS.
And when of all these sums bereft,
One-tenth o th sum received had left;
Now show your skill, you learned youths.
And by your work the sum produce.
" Recess ! " said the teacher. Pell mell the boys in long-
tailed coats set oft with big brass buttons and the girls in
pantalettes rushed out and raced themselves red playing hi-
spy, pom-porn-pullaway and hunt the hare. A smart rap
ping on the window recalled them again to study. Joby
Collins had a scheme which he cherished so closely as to
almost fear some of the boys would hear him think. They
were not fairly seated when he broke out :
" Teacher ! Can Welcome Petti t and me go after a pail
of water ? "
Yes, they could go, and so carrying the bucket between
them they trudged away rejoicing at cutting the hours of
study just so much short. When they returned the infant
class was studying the alphabet in the spelling book. Then
the second class in spelling was called out. The system of
leaving off at the head every night was in vogue, and mighty
were the strifes for that coveted honor. Job and his compan
ion joined the class after passing the water, a privilege that
was too often made the excuse for a poor lesson. Job, as usual,
drifted slowly but surely to the foot of the class.
"Drag, " pronounced the teacher.
One after another missed the word until it came to Job.
" Now, Joby, " said the teacher encouragingly, " you spell
drag and you shall go clear to the head."
" Yes, mom, " replied Job, and he struck an attitude 01
deep thought. Suddenly he almost shouted :
"Drag. S-l-r, drag ! " And he fairly ran to the head of
the class whence the teacher had not the heart to mar the
TWO OLD-FASH ION KD B(n*S. 255
glory of his victory by correcting his orthography, and dis
missed the class amid a temporary reign of sensational dis
order.
" First class in spelling. "
Again the big boys and girls lined up and read a page
beginning with these paragraphs :
Let not reading cause you to neglect spelling. Learn to
spell and pronounce before you read much.
Good spelling is the sure way to good reading, therefore,
study spelling with the greatest care, until you can spell all
the words in this book, as soon as you hear them, without see
ing them.
When you can spell well, you will soon become a good
reader ; and as soon as you shall be able to read well, you will
be permitted to study grammar.
Grammar will teach you what is meant by the parts of
speech, and how to speak and write as you ought; and with
out the knowledge of grammar, your language will be incor
rect, and you will always be marked by your friends as a poor
scholar.
Then the good old poem about the rose was read. Some
there be who can recite it from memory :
THE ROSE.
How fair is the rose, what a beautiful flower !
In summer so fragrant and gay !
But the leaves are beginning to fade in an hour,
And they wither and die in a day.
Yet the rose has one powerful virtue to boast
Above all the flowers of the field ;
When its leaves are all dead, and its fine colors lost,
how sweet a perfume it will yield.
256 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
So frail are the youth and the beauty of men,
Though they look gay and bloom like the rose ;
Yet all our fond care to preserve them is vain,
Time kills them as fast as he goes.
Then I ll not be proud of my youth or my beauty,
Since both will soon wither and fade ;
But gain a good name by performing my duty ;
This will scent, like the rose, when I m dead.
Following the reading the words in the lesson were " put
out," words that Ben declared Noah Webster himself could not
spell and in fact did not, in some instances, correctly :
Electioneer, Circumlution,
Proportionable, Circumvallation,
Confectionary, Prognostication,
Agglutination, Transfiguration,
Amalgamation, Constitutionalist,
Approximation, Plenipotentiary,
Calumniation, Excommunication.
Then the class was lead over a. rocky territory of words of
the same pronunciation, but of different spelling and defini
tion :
Ail, to pain or trouble.
Ale, a kind of beer.
Air, one of the elements.
Ere, before, sooner than.
Heir, an inheritor.
Aisle, the walk in a church.
I ll, contraction for I will.
Ait, a small island in a river.
Ate, the preterit of eat.
Eight, twice four.
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 257
Cere, to cover with wax.
Sear, dry ; to burn.
Seer, a prophet.
Sere, withered.
Slaie, a weaver s reed.
Sleigh, a kind of carriage.
Slay, to kill.
Sley, to part into threads.
Permiscible, that which may be mingled.
Permissible, that which may be permitted.
Aother piece of poetry was read with strong accents by
the teacher and deserves a place in the storehouse of memory:
WHAT IS CHARITY?
Tis not to pause when at my door
A shivering brother stands ;
To ask the cause that made him poor,
Or why he help demands.
Tis not to spurn that brother s prayer
For faults he once has known ;
Tis not to leave him in despair,
And say that I have none.
The voice of charity is kind
She thinketh nothing wrong ;
To every fault she seemeth blind,
Nor vaunteth with her tongue.
In penitence she place th faith-
Hope smileth at her door :
Relieveth first Then softly saith,
" Go, brother, sin no more. "
The class numbered and retired to their seats whence
258 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
they were soon hurrying out for noon. The afternoon pro
gram was varied with the substitution of geography for the
arithmetic. It contained no illustrations, no maps and was a
dull, tedious study. The work was accompanied by an atlas to
which reference was seldom had. It was the work of Daniel
Adams, A. M., author of the arithmetic. The lessons begin
with
THE WORLD.
The world or earth is a large globe, the diameter of
which is nearly eight thousand miles, and its surface contains
nearly 200 millions of square miles.
It is 96 millions of miles from the sun, about which it
revolves once a year ; and turns round on its own axis every
day.
The earth is generally divided into four unequal parts,
called quarters ; Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.
Eorope is the smallest division, but is distinguished for
its learning, politeness, government, and laws ; for the indus
try of its inhabitants, and the temperature of its climate. It is
the only quarter of the globe which has yet been fully ex
plored and known.
In Asia, the human race was first planted, and there the
most remarkable transactions occurred, which are recorded in
the scripture history.
Africa has been always in a state of barbarism, if we ex
cept the Egyptians, those ancient fathers of learning, and
Carthage, once the rival of the Roman Empire.
America was unknown to the inhabitants of the other
continent, till a little more than three hundred years ago,
when it was discovered by Christopher Columbus ; and hence
it is frequently called the New World, in contradiction to the
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 259
Eastern continent, first known, and hence called the Old
World.
The descriptive geography was unique. In a chapter on
the lakes it says :
Lake Erie is noted for having its islands and banks, at
the west end, so infested with rattle-snakes as to render it
dangerous to land on them. Near the banks of the islands it
is covered with the large pond lily, the leaves of which lie on
the surface of the water so thick as to cover it entirely for
many acres together ; on these in the summer seasons lie
myraids of water-snakes, basking in the sun. On this lake,
the American fleet, under Com. Perry, Sept. 10, 1S13, gained
over the British fleet of larger force, a splendid and important
victory.
EARTHQUAKES.
There are numerous proofs that earthquakes have 1 been
violent in various parts of America. Nearly fifty have been
noticed in the New England States, since the settlement of the
first English colony at Plymouth, in 1020 Of these, five have
been particularly memorable, viz. 163S, lOoS, 1603, 1727,
1755, as being much heavier than the rest. They have all
commenced with an undulatory motion, in a direction from
north-west to south-east, the central course of which, or place
of greatest violence, has been in a line coinciding nearly with
lake Ontario and the mouth of Merrimack river, extending
southward to the Potomac, and northward to the St. Lawrence.
The whole country within these limits has been repeatedly
shaken, most violently about the middle, and least towards
the south-west and north-east boundaries. In those five, be
fore mentioned as being particularly memorable, the violence
of the shocks was such as to cause the bells in churches to
ring ; many chimnies were thrown down, and in some install-
260 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
ces houses ; furniture dropped from the shelves on which it
stood ; the earth in many places was rent, and quantities of
sand thrown out, of a highly sulphurous smell. Some remark
able alterations were observed in wells and springs of water
about the time of these earthquakes. In some, the quality of
the water was altered ; in others, the quantity. New springs
were opened, and old ones dried up.
FISHERIES.
The greatest part of the fisheries of the United States is
carried on by the citizens of Massachusetts. The people of
Nantucket, New Bedford and Cape Cod, carry on the whale
fishery. These fish, however, at present, are rare about the
Cape, although formerly caught there in great numbers. A
species of the whale kind, called black fish, weighing about 5
tons, and affording oil, is very abundant. The manner of
catching them is very singular. They swim in shoals of sev
eral hundreds, and the inhabitants put off in their boats and
drive them ashore, like so many cattle, on the flats, where
they are left by the tide, and fall an easy prey.
WASHINGTON.
The city of Washington, situated on the Maryland side of
the Potowmack, is the seat of government of the United
States. It is laid out on a plan, which, if completed, will
render it one of the handsomest and most commodious cities
in the world. The streets north and south are crossed by
others at right angles ; these are transversely crossed by 15
other streets named after the different states. The houses are
mostly of brick. The capital, when completed, will present a
front of 362 feet. It is pleasantly situated on an eminence,
commanding a view of every part of the city, and of a con
siderable portion of the country around. The president s
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 261
house is 170 by 85 feet, two stories high, of free, white stone.
It stands on a rising ground, possessing a water prospect,
together with a view of the capitol, and of the most material
parts of the city. The population in 1810 was 8,208.
MICHIGAN TERRITORY.
Detroit is the capital. The old town was wholly de
stroyed by fire in 1805. The new town is well laid out ; the
streets cross each other at right angles. It is a place of con
siderable trade, which consists chiefly in a barter of coarse
European goods with the natives for furs. The town is sur
rounded by a strong blockade, through which there are four
gates. On the west side there is a small fort. The streets are
generally crowded with Indians in the day time; but at
night they are all shut out of the town, except such as get
admittance into private houses, and the gates are closed.
The school was closed with writing, spelling and the an
nouncement that some of scholars were far enough advanced
to begin the study of grammar as soon as books could be
procured, and thus on the first day did the little teacher arouse
an unusual interest in the little kingdom over which she was
to reign supreme for four months at $2.00 per week and
" board around."
When the Collins boys returned home from school they
found some neighbors present and considerable excitement was
manifested. There were two events, one domestic and the
public, either sufficient to throw a family or a nation into ex
citement. To the boys the advent of a stove was a marvel.
Considering his wife s exposure to the heat of a fire-place dur
ing the summer, Mr. Collins had purchased the first stove
ever seen in the community and a happier woman than their
262 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
mother did not live, notwithstanding she had some misgivings
over becoming familiar with its mechanism.
" I will try it first on some wheat flour biscuits, and if it
bakes we will have some for the preacher when he comes the
Sunday after next," said the good woman with a merited touch
of pride.
Job and Ben agreed it would be fun to work up wood for
the little thing, and then gave their attention to their father
who was reading from the Bedford Intelligencer the news of
an outbreak at Niagara. The account is here given verbatim :
We hasten to lay before our readers, in an extra, the
latest intelligence, from the contending armies on the Niagara
frontier, received here last evening in the Cleveland daily
Herald and Gazette of January 2d. The accounts are from
the Buffalo papers, and will be read with much interest.
The patriots were still, at our last accounts, December
80th, strongly intrenched on Navy island, which is a small
.British island, two miles above the Niagara falls, and is partly
covered from view from the American shore by the lower end
of Grand Island, which belongs to the United States.
The British royalists had made several attempts on the
island, but were as often repulsed by the patriots. And re
ports at Buffalo were that the royal forces and Indians had
landed and taken possession of Grand island, which news
created a great ferment at Buffalo. The excitement there
was great on the 29th, but 011 the 30th, the news of the
capture and burning, and sending over the great cataract of
the American steamboat Caroline, found lying at the American
village of Slosser, opposite Chippewa, with all on board but
twelve, may be expected to have heightened the excitement
to its highest pitch.
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
This is our latest news, and its effect at Buffalo when
communicated there, we can well imagine.
Indeed the Herald informs us that the excitement was in
tense in Buffalo on Saturday and a brigade of militia was or
dered out to rendezvous in that city and part of the 208th reg
iment was ordered on duty on Saturday evening.
A meeting was held in Cleveland, .Jan. 1st, at which reso
lutions were passed expressing their sympathy with the Cana
dian patriots and with our own citi/ens who are exposed to
tory outrage and violence. J. K. St. John and Samuel Cook
presided at the meeting, and a committee of "21 gentlemen was
appointed to receive donations for the benefit of the patriots.
General Southerland, from the patriot camp at Navv
Island, was present and addressed the meeting and was loudly
cheered.
Report says that a company of sixty volunteers left
Cleveland yesterday in a steamboat for Navy Island.
The sheriff immediately dispatched an express, who was
accompanied by two of the United States marshals recently
appointed, to ascertain if a landing by the British troops had
actually taken place, preparatory to his making a call on the
county militia to enforce their expulsion. These particulars
were explained to the multitude assembled in the street by
W. H. Eagers, Esq., district attorney, who stated in his re
marks, that the necessary legal measures would be taken, and
on the return of the express, if it was found necessary to claim
the aid of our militia to enforce them, due notice would be
given.
Four o clock P. M.: The express has just returned and
reports that a small band of British Indians had landed on
Grand island, and a large boat load of tho royalists attempted
264 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
to reach the same spot this morning, but were forced to return
to the Canada shore with the loss of six killed.
We give the above statement of the course pursued by
our citizens as a precaution to the people abroad, from be
lieving the many and erroneous reports which reach them,
coming as they do, magnified and distorted in every possible
shape.
From one of the officers of the patriot army who arrived
in town this evening, we have received a verbal account of the
attempt last night by the royalists to make the descent on
Navy island. Early on yesterday morning the royalists com
menced the erection of a battery with six embrasures on the
Canada shore for the ostensible purpose of raking the south
west corner of the island, and under cover of their guns
allow ingan other party to make a descent from a point about
half a mile above. As soon as their operations were dis
covered, the patriots commenced a fire from ten guns, the
shot nearly destroying the works of the enemy and causing
men and officers to abandon them. Previous to this, how
ever, a continued fire had been kept up from Chippewa to the
highest point above, which was not returned by the islanders.
Everything remained quiet until late in the afternoon, no
persons to be seen on the Canadian side but a few sentinels,
when the alarm was given that a number of boats had put
out from Chippewa creek to make an attack. The artillery
immediately opened upon them, destroying one or two of the
barges and forcing them to drop back with the current. A
company of infantry also fired several volleys with effect, the
number killed not ascertained.
About 11 o clock at night, the royalists pushed over from
the point above, running under the shore of Grand Island in
this state, but put back after they were convinced by the sig-
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 265
nals on Grand Island and a few shots, that they were discov
ered.
They then commenced again to build their breastworks
but were driven out. This morning at day break another at
tempt met the like result. McNab and his men have now re
tired upon Chippewa.
From the Buffalo Commercial, Dec. 29, 2 o clock p. m.
Gov. Head arrived at Chippewa yesterday, with four hundred
volunteers from Cobourg, brought in two steamboats from
Toronto.
The cannonading heard early this morning destroyed the
royalists hydra-head brest-works again, which seem to spring
up every night, merely to be cut down in the morning. Be
tween 60 and 70 guns were fired to accomplish their des
truction.
A boat was discovered near the head of Grand island
early this morning, which was fired upon and several sup
posed to have been killed or wounded, as those in it were
observed to carry some of their numbers on shore on reaching
the Canadian side. It probably contained a reconnoitering
party.
The redoubtable Col. Sutherland, alias Duke of Lancas
ter, has been sent with dispatches to Dr. Duncomb in the
western part of the province.
Our express met loads of individuals, armed and un
armed, together with footmen and horsemen, perhaps sixty or
seventy in all, bound post haste for the scene of action.
Volunteers seem to be pouring in from all quarters.
Rochester furnishes a full quota.
From the Buffalo Commercial, Dec. 30. The following
was issued this morning, as an extra, from this office :
Capt. Keeler, of the schooner Agnes Barton, and F. Em-
206 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
mons, oi this city, have just brought news by express from
Slosser, of an attack made this morning upon the steamboat
Caroline, lying at that place, which resulted in the destruction
of the boat] and the death of twenty-two of her crew, only 12
escaped.
It is stated that the attack was made about 2 o clock, by
five boats of armed loyalists, containing from 100 to 150 men
who guarded the gangways, and cried " no quarters !
Capt. Appleby, of the Constitution, who went down as
pilot of the Caroline yesterday, narrowly escaped with his life.
He received a flesh wound, and was pursued to the house ad
joining. A Mr. Durfer, lately belonging to the Stage office at
the Eagle, in this city, lies on the dock with his brains blown
out.
The Caroline was then set on fire, and finally drifted out
into the current, and went over the falls.
We give the above, just as it was received, without vouch
ing for any of the particulars. It may be proper to add,
that Captain Keeler, as we are informed, saw the result of the
scene above described.
The twelve o clock express confirms the news of this
morning, It is said that the Caroline was filled with visitors
and not soldiers. The word with the loyalists was, No
prisoners ! no quarters!" Those who attempted to escape
were killed, with a few exceptions the boat was set on fire,
and with the remainder towed into the current on the Canadian
side, which soon carried her over the falls. The loyalists gave
three cheers for Victoria, and under cover of the darkness, it
is supposed escaped the fire opaned upon them from the island.
Those on the boat slept there, because the public houses were
full.
Captain Harding, of the brig Indiana, escaped with a
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 267
severe wound in the head ; only one man was found on the
shore, the one. above mentioned, the rest reported missing-
there is little doubt but they went over the falls with the burn
ing stea*mboat.
This piece of " news " reached the settlement four months
after it was printed, and it did not reach the Intelligencer
office until a week after its occurrence. -Sympathy for the
Canadian patriots was expressed in the neighborhood and a
few secret lodges were organized and a rendezevous had on
the St. Lawrence. Some few enlisted in the foolish cause,
and some lost their lives in the " Battle of the Windmill,"
others were executed at Kingston, and still others banished to
Van Dieman s land.
These events did in no wise interfere with the school,
which had now really entered upon a new era in the matter
of learning. For a wonder the blue beech gads were not once
used, and the teaching of manners went hand in hand with
grammar. The boys removed their hats when greeting their
elders, and the girls courtesied.
Joby set sail on an unknown sea one noon, when, with
an innate love of mischief, some of his companions had re
moved and eaten every scrap of the lunch in his basket, and
then filled it with grass.
"It s just too mean, Joby, and you shall have half of
mine," said Nancy Marceau. Job felt meaner than ever, but
he somehow just couldn t refuse. That night he carried her
books, and as her home was reached he handed them back to
her with the grammar open at " Conjugation of Verbs." It was
what the parents pronounced a " silly mess," running like this :
I love, We love,
Thou, lovest, You love,
H6 loves, They love.
268 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
Job let go of the book and ran like a deer as if to get
away from his guilty self. Nancy saw him fly around the
bend, and then her eyes riveted to the open book. The smit
ten Job had scrawled with the point of a slate pencil after the
" simple declarative sentence, first person, singular number "
-You."
Nancy blushed and her eyes snapped at an unconscious
conquest as she effaced the sly confession, and went to her
mother to ask if she did right to divide with Joby.
" Quite right, Nanny, but you had best not let your fa
ther know because he is having trouble with Mr. Collins, "
But Nancy did tell her father, and got a scolding which
did not hurt much as she was expecting a storm.
The school days of Ben and Job and their companions
sped by with incidents and accidents, pleasures, disappoint
ments, dreams and occasional hard knocks as they neared the
activities of life. They fished, hunted and boated ; named
each rock and beach after those in which they fancied they
saw a resemblance to some described in their geographies ; had
a hundred hairbreadth escapes from death, and surviving
were the better fitted for the battles of life which all too soon
fell upon their shoulders at the death of their father. Work
and worry, toil and slave, was their lot before their school
days should have been ended. Thus were they developed
into hardy young men with a generation, who, seconding the
efforts of the pioneers, have transformed a wilderness into a
land smiling with peace and plenty.
The Last Haul.
" Bono Marceau, I know you didn t speak to me scnce I
was a kid, but here s a matter what s got to be talked about.
I want yer Nancy ; she wants me. I m fair, so I promised
her I d speak if I had to do ye, ole man, but I low twon t
make no great diff one way or t other."
Did ever a young man make so long and pointed a
speech to a prospective father-in-law? Joby Collins was not
bashful. Besides he had taken up and cherished for many
years his father s grudge against old Marceau, whose charac
teristic reply was equally pointed :
" No ; dod gast ye, no ! "
The interview ended abruptly as it began. A little later
in the day Ben Collins, Joby s brother, came talteringly up
the lane to see old Bone on an entirely different mission.
" Good morning, Mr. Marceau," he said, " would you
give us another five years on the mortgage? We can not
pay more than the interest today, but if we have luck this
season our fishing will give us a start. "
11 Ben Collins, your father injured me, and I will not ac
commodate one of your name, Git right offen these primises
270 THE LAST HAUL.
and don t let me see your fr.ce till you come with principal
and interest, and that s the hull on t. Now go ! "
Insulted and disheartened, the young man turned home
ward, while his obdurate creditor shuffled down a path to the
water.
It was a dull November day and old Bone, in a sullen
mood, alone walked the shore of a bight in one of the Great
Lakes. The water was lazily lapping the rocky ledges as the
dead seas soberly followed each other shoreward from the lake
as if wearied with the tossing they had received in the gale of
the previous night. The whole sky was heavy with dark
clouds that moved not. Sea gulls were bold in their pursuit
of dead or disabled fish, and Bone noticed how distinctly the
white wings flashed against the leaden sky. The dull waters
gave back no reflection save here and there that of a dirty leg-
of-mutton sail that in the absence of sunlight appeared almost
white. The atmosphere was hazy, and the distant shore
loomed above the horizon as if rising on tiptoe to sec what old
Bone was storming about now.
Seventy years, man and boy, he had been fisherman and
sailor, and as he passed the Collins boys washing and mend
ing their nets a pang of jealousy shot into his soul, and his
heart grew heavy with his own unfitncss for the activities of
life. Hardship and exposure had been his lot, and now,
drawn with rheumatic pains, his life of idleness was worse
than a prison. He wandered slowly along the bare rocks
where for years his seines had bagged loads of fish, and fell
to observing the weather after the manner of those who per
petuate the habit when retired from the water.
11 The herring should run the shores this day if ever, " he
said half to the kingfisher that rasped a daring salute as he
shot into a dead pine. " Just the day, just the weather, just
SPINNING OUT THE GREAT SEINE.
THE LAST HAUL. 271
everything but fish, " he continued, searching the receding
bottom as if to explore the depths beyond. Then his eyes
lifted to the gulls.
" Great Ingcns ! Them birds is fiockin just like there
be fish under em. If my eyes wuz ten years younger, so I
could bleeve cm, I d swar ther ware a school o herrin takin
soundin s out thar."
Watching the gulls which it seemed were mobilizing
under a gray-backed leader, the old fisherman moved farther
down the point with more animation. The noisy squawking
of these garbagers of the sea reached his ears as they assem
bled from north, south, east and west, some seeming to drop
from the very zenith. He gazed intently at the unusual dem
onstration.
" Fish, or wind? " he queried, as a little ripple, not un
like a cat s paw, broke the glassy surface.
"They be flockin shoreward, " he exclaimed, as the birds
chased each other like snowflakes, the mass rolling over and
over itself, but unmistakably heading toward shoal water.
From exhaustion the old fisherman s gaze dropped downward.
Then he winked hard and rubbed his eyes. Only a few feet
from the shore and just under the surface a dark streak wrs
advancing toward him, and growing bigger with every wave.
It was wedge-shaped and squirming, writhing and rolling, the
point suddenly turned up shore sweeping away in a graceful
curve like the tail of a comet.
" Fish ! Fish, sartin s my head s lookiri for ard," he
fairly shouted.
Then he started to carry the news to his neighbor fisher
men, paused, then sat down. " For why," thought he, " should
I tell Ben and Job Collins. If luck fails them this fall their
farm s a goner. Twenty years ago their father, old Hank, cut
272 THE LAST HAUL.
my seine an I never had the fust chanst to even up fair,
Aint they beauties ; millions on em, an them fools don t
know s ther s a fish anigh the shore. Show ! Bone, you r grow-
in meaner and fooler, no mistake, but thet thar Job s payin
too stiddy attention to my Nan, and no Marceau shall marry
a Collins while I live. But she s dead set on Joby, she is, and
I m sorry to disappint her. Tell them ? In course I will, "
and he hurried to the sons of the man against whom he held
a grudge although the grave had closed between them. He
gave orders like a ship s first officer :
" Boys, ther a big school hit agin the shore ! Out and
make the biggest haul ever made. Off with yer boat and run
the old man-killer around shiploads on em."
The old man sprang into the boat and seized an oar, the
Collins boys, owners of the biggest seine on the shore, following
in dumb surprise, while those who fished for a "hand-share,
wild with visions conjured by old Bone s excitement, grasped
the oars and sent the heavy boat around the course spinning
out the great seine as it never went before. Soon the outer
jackstafT was tossed over, .a heavy rope was made fast to it and
the boat landed not far from its starting point. The seine lay
out a full three-quarters of a mile in a semi-circle, the buoys
marking the position where it lay fishing twentv feet top and
bottom. The ropes, attached to either end, were carried to
snatch blocks on the shore. With the aid of a horse at one
line and a windlass at the other the hauling of the great bag-
shoreward began with a lively shout from the strong throats
of the lusty fisherman now fairly wild with excitement. The
old man who had so unceremoniously assumed command led
and cheered the men in the hard, wet task and seemed ani
mated with the vigor of youth as the jacks dragged slowly
home. Zip ! Splash ! A silver streak shoots over the cork-
THE LAST HAUL, 273
line and drops outside into deep water and freedom. The
fishermen have lost a fine salmon. The jacks are hove home ;
the lead-line hitches on the rough bottom ; the fish break the
surface and bag the net outward as they are drawn into small
er compass. The men tug at the lines, the corks bob under
as the finny prisoners make a frantic rush for deep water only
to be hurled back by the straining meshes. Now a long,
strong pull and all together as the jacks are landed high and
dry, and scoops are brought to land the captive beauties whose
beauty is entirely lost upon their captors. Again and again
is the net thrown until it is returned empty. Meantime the
dressers have come from up and down the shore, and each fish
is deftly prepared for market in just three moves. Frolicsome
lads and lassies they when work is over. At last the final
basket of fish has been washed and salted. Then the old fish
erman who had worked witli untiring energy wearily sat down
upon an overturned fish box.
"A hundred and twenty barrels, " he muttered, "good
for an even thousand dollars if a cent, Never the likes of it
on this shore, never an I told Old Hank s boys. I do no,
spose I may s well make a day of it, Joby, come here. You
can have Nan an I give in. Take her for yourn an deal fair
by her. "
He was pale and trembling. " Boys, " he said slowly,
" its my last haul, the biggest ever made and I gin it to yer
free. Lord help me. " And as he fell his soul went out
on that unknown deep without compass or rudder.
THE END,
14 DAY USE
RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED
LOAN DEPT.
This book is due on the last date stamped below, or
on the date to which renewed.
Renewed books are subject to immediate recall.
HLC D LD
MAR 2 1962
LD 21A-50m-8, 61
(Cl795slO)476B
General Library
University of California
Berkeley
YC 28366
999966
J4R4
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
