ERRATA
On Pase .69 read Miss Helen Stephenson Bixby in place
of Mrs. Marie Parcello Baby.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
NEW YORK STATE
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
THE TWELFTH ANNUAL MEETING, WITH
CONSTITUTION, BY-LAWS AND
LIST OF MEMBERS.
VOL. X.
PUBLISHED BY THE
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
1911.
GLENS FALLS PUBLISHING CO.
PRINTERS
F
v.io
OFFICERS 1910
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL
ASSOCIATION
President
HON. JAMES A. ROBERTS, LL. D., NEW YORK
First Vice-President
HON. GRENVILLE M. INGALSBE, HUDSON FALLS
Second Vice-President
SHERMAN WILLIAMS, PD. D., GLENS FALLS, N. Y.
Third Vice-President
DR. WILLIAM O. STILLMAN, ALBANY
Treasurer
JAMES A. HOLDEN, A. B., GLENS FALLS, N. Y.
Secretary
FREDERICK B. RICHARDS, A. B., GLENS FALLS, N. Y.
Assistant Secretary
DR. W. A. E. CUMMINGS, TICONDEROGA
Gen. Henry E. Tremain
Mr. William Wait
Sherman Williams, Pd. D.
Hon. T. Astley Atkins
Mr. Francis W. Halsey
Hon. Frank H. Severance
Dr. William 0. Stillman
Rev. Joseph E. King, D. D.
Hon. Victor H. Paltsits
Dr. William A. E. Cummings
Hon. DeAlva S. Alexander
Rev. John H. Brandow, M. A.
Hon. Grenville M. Ingalsbe
Hon. Charles F. Cantine
Mr. Morris Patterson Ferris
Jacques W. Redway, F.R.G.S.
Hon. James A. Roberts, LL. D.
Miss Mary H. Haldane
James A. Holden, A. B.
Hon. Irvin W. Near
Rev. Everett R. Sawyer, D. D.
Hon. Andrew S. Draper, LL. D.
Frederick B. Richards, A. B.
Thomas E. Finegan, A. M.
George K. Hawkins, D. Sc.
TRUSTEES
1911.
New York Term Expires 1911
Kinderhook
1911
).
Glens Falls
" 1911
Yonkers
" 1911
New York "
" 1911
Buffalo
" 1911
Albany
" 1911
D.
Fort Edward
99 1911
Albany
" 1912
lings
Ticonderoga
" 1912
sr
Buffalo
" 1912
I. A.
Albany
" 1912
sbe
Hudson Falls
99 1912
Kingston
" 1912
ris
New York
" 1912
LG.S.
Mt Vernon
" 1912
.D.
New York
" 1913
Cold Spring
" 1913
Glens Falls
" 1913
Hornell
" 1913
D. D.
Hudson Falls
" 1913
Lr.D.
Albany
" 1913
L. B.
Glens Falls
" 1913
c.
Albany
" 1913
3c.
Plattsburg
" 1913
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Proceedings of the Annual Meeting 7
The Story of the Lake Champlain Meeting 28
Address of Welcome, Mrs. Joseph Cook, Ticonderoga 53
Response for N. Y. State Hist. Ass'n, Vice President Sher-
man Williams, Pd. D., Glens Falls 55
The Setting of Lake Champlain History, John M. Clarke,
LL. D., Albany 56
Carriers of the Lake, A. A. Heard, Albany 67
The Worth to a Nation of a Sense for Its Past, Rev. John M.
Thomas, D. D., Middlebury, Vt 71
Was the Lake Champlain Region Entirely Lost to the French
with the Downfall of French Dominion in America,
Joseph Armand Bedard, M. D., Lynn, Mass 79
General Observations on the War of 1812, George K. Haw-
kins, A.M., D.Sc., Pittsburgh 95
Correspondence in Explanation of the Rock Inscription at
Crown Point between Victor H. Paltsits, Albany, and
W. Max Reid, Amsterdam 108
Historical Societies, Their Work and Worth, Victor Hugo
Paltsits, State Historian, Albany. . . 114
The First Missionaries on Lake Champlain, Rev. Thomas
J. Campbell, S. J., New York City 127
The War Path, E. T. Gillespie, Stamford, Conn 139
The First Flying of the Stars and Stripes in Battle and the
Saratoga Campaign, Charles William Burrows, Cleve-
land, Ohio , 156
The History of the Iron Ore Industry on Lake Champlain,
the late Dr. George F. Bixby, Plattsburg. . . 171
Lord Howe, Frank B. Wickes, Ticonderoga 238
New Historical Light on the Real Burial Place of George
Augustus Lord Viscount Howe, 1758, James Austin Hoi-
den, A. B., Glens Falls. ..,.., 257
The Black Watch at Ticonderoga, Frederick B. Richards,
A. B., Glens Falls 367
Reports of Committees, etc , . . 465
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
At Fort Ticonderoga, Oct. 4, 1910 Frontispiece
Four Views at Fort Ticonderoga. 30
Tablet Unveiled Oct. 4, 1910, at Ticonderoga 43
Two Views of the 1910 Meeting of the N. Y. State Hist. Ass'n 54
Two Views of the Rock Inscription at Crown Point 109
Father Isaac Jogues, S. J : 129
The Lord Howe Stone , 255
George Augustus Lord Viscount Howe 261
Map Albany to Ticonderoga . . . . 263
The Boston Gazette, July 17, 1758 269
Map Scene of Battle of July 8, 1758 282
Boston News Letter i 284
Two Views of Ticonderoga 291
Page from St. Peter's Church Book 318
The Lord Howe Monument in Westminster Abbey 323
Major General James Abercrombie. 327
Views at Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Amherst 347
Louis Joseph Marquis de Montcalm 350
The Black Watch at Ticonderoga, July 8, 1758 367
Highlanders with Belted Plaid 370
The Grave of Major Duncan Campbell 390
Three Views at Inverawte . . . ./ 397
Three Views at Old Inverawe House 398
Three Views at Old Inverawe House , 399
Headstones in the Gilchrist Lot 402
Seventh Duke of Atholl , 403
A Black Watch Grenadier of 1758. ., 404
Bronze Tablets at Ticonderoga 411
Colonel Lord John Murray 429
Three Officers in the Black Watch, 1758 436
Colonel Roger Townshend 's Monument in Westminster Abbey 449
The Black Watch Memorial at Ticonderoga 461
Major D. L. Wilson Farquharson, D. S. O. . 463
• PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
Twelfth Annual Meeting of the New York State Historical
Association, Held on Lake Champlain,
October 4th, 5th and 6th.
This meeting was quite different from any other meeting of
the Association so far held. A story of the house-boat party on
the Steamer Vermont will appear elsewhere in this annual publi-
cation. The record briefly from the secretary's standpoint is as
follows :
The first literary session was held October 4th at 8 P. M. on
board the steamer Vermont at Ticonderoga. An address of wel-
come was given by Mrs. Joseph Cook of Ticonderoga, N. Y., in
behalf of the Ticonderoga Historical Society of which she is vice-
president. The response in behalf of the New York State Histori-
cal Association was given by Dr. Sherman Williams of Glens Falls,
N. Y. This was followed by papers "The Setting of Lake Cham-
plain History," by John M. Clark, LL. D., Director of the New
York State Museum, Albany, N. Y.; "The Black Watch at Ticon-
deroga," by Frederick B. Richards, A. B., Glens Falls, N. Y.;
"Lord Howe," by Frank B. Wickes, Ticonderoga, N. Y.
The second session, held on board Steamer Vermont at Fort
Ticonderoga, October 5th, at 9 :30 A. M., was the business meeting
of the Association. In the absence of the president, Hon. Gren-
ville M. Ingalsbe, First Vice-President, acted as chairman.
Upon motion it was resolved that the reading of the minutes
of the previous meeting be omitted.
8 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL REPORT OP JAMES A. HOLDEN, TREASURER
Glens Falls, N. Y., Oct. 1, 1910.
To the Officers and Members of the New York State Historical As-
sociation :—
Gentlemen: I take pleasure in presenting herewith my an-
nual report as Treasurer of this Association, which is the most sat-
isfactory in many respects of any rendered during our existence
as an Association. It shows briefly Assets of $1,924.70 and Dis-
bursements of $646.31, or a balance on hand of $1,278.39. Deduct-
ing from this $730.00, paid in on account of the excursion, leaves
in the treasury $548.39.
We still have owing us for dues as follows:
97 at $2.00
59 at 4.00
56 at 6.00
2 at 8.00
1 at 10.00
Outside of the $2.00 list which may be considered collectable,
and some of the $4.00 list which will fall under the same head, the
balance of the delinquents might as well be dropped at this meet-
ing as at some future date. And I would request that the Sec-
retary and Treasurer be empowered to drop any delinquents who
do not pay their dues between the time of this meeting and the
first of January when the yearly statements are sent out. Without
official action, your Secretary and Treasurer have taken it upon
themselves to hold from delivery copies of the recently pub-
lished proceedings, where the members are more than one year
in arrears. They will be notified, with your approval, of this ac-
tion, and also if this board approves, that their names will be
dropped unless their bills for dues are paid as before stated.
Owing to the death of our late Secretary, R. 0. Bascom, it was
necessary to remove the library of the Association to Glens Falls,
to have some cheap but serviceable bookcases made, and a catalogue
prepared. It was also deemed advisable to change the style of
keeping the list of members to a card index, which was according-
ly done. Items covering these expenses appear among the dis-
bursements.
PROCEEDINGS 9
The cost of printing the proceedings this year is $628.20,
wHich can easily be taken care of at the end of the year.
Through the hard work of the present Secretary, F. B. Rich-
ards, a number of desirable members have been added during the
past year. A determined effort on the part of each member to add
one more to our list, would soon bring us above the thousand mark,
the income; of which would enable us to not only print the pro-
ceedings, but do a number of other things in historical ways, con-
templated by our charter but which lack of funds has prevented
our carrying out so far.
Congratulating the Association on the fact that an era of pros-
perity, rather than adversity seems to be approaching in our af-
fairs, I herewith, present this statement for your consideration.
JAMES A. HOLDEN,
Treasurer.
1909. RECEIPTS.
1909.
Oct. 19, Balance on hand $276.60
Rec'd from Dues, Sale of Books, etc.,
to Sept. 30, 1910 $918.10
Rec'd on Account of Champlain Ex-
cursion ; 730.00
$1,648.10
$1,924.70
DISBURSEMENTS.
Gubitz, Record Book > $1.75
J. B. Lyon, Printing Transactions , 300.40
J. W. Redway, Expense Account 7.80
Miss Fisher, Stenographer. . .1 15.00
F. B. Richards, Postage 10.00
J. A. Holden, Postage 5.00
F. B. Richards, Postage 16.27
J. A. Holden, Postage 10.00
10 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
H. Lapham, Moving Library 4.45
Elwin Seelye, Expense at Park ...... 4.00
Transferred to Life Membership Fund 50.00
G. F. Storage Co., Moving Library 4.00
Express « .95
Filing Device 8.20
Stationery, Stamps, Envelopes, etc 27.50
Stationery, Stamps, Envelopes, etc 25.10
W. 0. Stillman, Express i. . . .75
Index Card System, (Sec'y and Treas) . 23.33
Janitor (Albany Institution) 5.00
C. W. Cool, Insurance— Library 15.00
Express i. . . . .90
Express i .85
G. F. Publishing Co., Supplies 11.00
G. F. Publishing Co., Supplies 30.00
Express . ,- 1.15
Bullard Printing Co ./ ,. 2.25
Express f. . 1.50
Express 1.15
F. B. Richards, Postage, etc ,. . . 21.44
J. A. Holden, Postage 2.50
Bullard Printing Co. ... 3.30
H. Lapham, "Work on Library 4.50
Telegram, State Park Matter , 91
Express , i 1.71
F. B. Richards, Postage, etc < 16.00
Telegram, Park , 30
H. D. Mann, Filing Cabinet, etc 8.25
Gifford & Williams, Library 3.50
Express , 60 $646.31
$1,278.39
BACK DUES
97 @ $ 2.00 $194.00
59 @ 4.00 236.00
56 @ 6.00 336.00
PROCEEDINGS 11
2 @ 8.00 16.00
1 @ 10.00 10.00
$792.00
ASSETS
Cash on Hand $1,278.00 '
Less $730.60 Excursion 730.00 $548.00
Back dues counting in only those back one and
two years $430.00
Total Assets , $978.00
LIABILITIES.
G. F. Publishing Co. Bill, $643.40 (Printing
Proceedings— 1909) 643.40
Balance $343.60
Express on proceedings, about 700 volumnes, @
18c a piece will be about $126.00
Amount on hand in Endowment Fund is $480.00
Upon motion it was resolved that the Treasurer's Report be
adopted and placed on file.
Upon motion it was resolved that the Secretary and Treasurer
be authorized in sending out bills for annual dues Jan. 1st to notify
all members who are more than two years in arrears that unless
they remit within the time to be specified in the judgment of the
Secretary and Treasurer, that their names will be dropped from the
roll of membership.
Mr. Frank Severance, of Buffalo, made a very interesting re-
port for the Committee on Closer Relations between the historical
societies of the state. One feature of his remarks was to outline the
policy of the Buffalo Historical Society in cataloging historical
material and urged that the other historical societies in the state
do the same. Not necessarily to acquire the material for itself
but to find where this material is, whether it be in private collec-
tions or libraries or elsewhere, and catalog it so that it will be pos-
sible for others seeking information to use this which would other-
wise be inaccessible matter.
12 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Dr. Sherman Williams for the committee on marking historic
spots, reported that no new work had been commenced since the
completion of the Bloody Pond Park.
Judge Near made a verbal report on the work of the histor-
ical societies in the western part of the state.
Miss Haldane as chairman of the committee of the Colonial
Dames for marking historic places would like to be notified of any
place which is not now marked, and would also like to cooperate
with the N .Y. State Historical Association in such work.
Mr. Severance has charge of the preparation of a report
which will include every historic place which has been marked in
the state, and would like the co-operation of the N. Y. State His-
torical Association in this work.
Mr. Paltsits made a verbal report for the committe on legis-
lation, enumerating the various influences brought to bear for de-
sirable patriotic legislation.
Upon motion resolved that the Secretary cast one ballot for the
following trustees, whose terms of office will expire in 1913 :
Hon. James A. Roberts, LL. D., N. Y. ; James A. Holden, A. B.,
Glens Falls ; Hon. Irvin W. Near, Hornell ; Rev. Everett R. Saw-
yer, D. D., Hudson Falls; Hon. Andrew S. Draper, LL. D., Albany;
Thomas E. Finegan, A. M., Albany; George K. Hawkins, D. Sc.,
Plattsburg; Miss Mary H. Haldane, Kingston; Frederick B.
Richards, A. B., Glens Falls.
Upon motion it was resolved that a vote of thanks of the
Association be given to Mrs. Marie Parcello Bixby for her very in-
teresting musical program at the Tuesday evening meeting.
Upon motion the following Resolution, presented by Miss
Mary Haldane, was adopted:
Whereas, there is now a well-organized policy in all civilized
nations for preserving great spots of natural beauty and sites im-
portant by historical associations; and
Whereas, the State of New York recognizes and has especially
recognized by recent legislation this policy by providing for the
conservation of the Highlands of the Hudson; and
Whereas, it is unfortunately a fact that Storm King Mountain,
one of the chief giants of the Highlands, is now being destroyed
PROCEEDINGS 13
by quarrying, and is not included in the lands acquired for state
reservation ;
Therefore, be it resolved, that the New York State Historical
Association, in annual meeting assembled, urges upon the Gover-
nor and Legislature, the desirability of including under State
guardianship Storm King, Cro's Nest Mountain and other adjoin-
ing mountains to be saved from any further destruction and
desecration, and
Resolved, that copies of these resolutions be transmitted to the
proper agencies through the committee on legislation of this as-
sociation.
Frank J. Wilder, of Saratoga Springs, made an appeal for the
acquiring and preservation of historical antiques, stating that in
his business experience he realized that in a few years, with the
increasing demand and the decreasing supply it would be almost
impossible to get what could now perhaps be easily acquired. Mr,
Wilder also outlined the desirability of holding an annual meeting
of the Historical Association at Saratoga Springs.
Upon motion it was resolved that a vote of thanks of the
Association be tendered to Mr. and Mrs. S. H. P. Pell for their
kindness in throwing open their grounds to the Association Tues-
day, and that they also be informed of the appreciation of the
Association for the courtesies and attentions shown the members
and their guests that day.
Upon motion resolved that the thanks of the Association be
tendered the Society of Colonial Wars of the State of Vermont for
their invitation to the Association to make use of their rooms while
in Burlington.
Motion made to adjourn.
FREDERICK B. RICHARDS
Secretary.
At the conclusion of the meeting of the Association a meeting
of the trustees of the Association was held.
Present:— T. Astley Atkins, Miss Mary H. Haldane, Frank H.
Severance, Victor H. Paltsits, Irvin W. Near, Grenville M. In-
galsbe, George K. Hawkins, Thomas E. Finegan, Sherman
Williams, and Frederick B. Richards.
14 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Upon motion resolved that Judge Atkins be chairman of the
meeting.
Upon motion resolved that the reading of the minutes of pre-
vious meeting be dispensed with.
Judge Ingalsbe reported for the committee on the Wilt-Wyck
Records that the committee hadi not as yet been able to meet at
Kingston to look into the matter of the desirability of the publica-
tion of these records in the annual proceedings.
Upon motion resolved that the committee be continued and
that they be authorized to call for such assistance as they
should deem necessary and to make report at the mid-winter meet-
ing of the Society.
Judge Ingalsbe made a verbal report for the committee to
amend the original articles of incorporation.
Upon motion resolved that the committee be continued.
Upon motion resolved that Mr. Finegan be substituted for
Dr. Williams on this committee, making the committee for the
amendment of the charter to be composed of Messrs. Ingalsbe, Fer-
ris and Finegan.
On motion resolved that the Secretary cast one ballot for the
election of James A. Roberts as president of the Association.
Upon motion resolved that the Secretary cast one ballot for the
election of Hon. Grenville M. Ingalsbe, Hudson Falls, as First
Vice-President ; Sherman Williams, Pd. D., Glens Falls, as Second
Vice-President; Dr. William 0. Stillman, Albany, as Third Vice-
President; Mr. James A. Holden, Glens Falls, as Treasurer; Mr.
Frederick B. Richards, Glens Falls, as Secretary; Dr. William A.
E. Cummings, Ticonderoga, as Ass't Secretary for the coming
year.
Moved that a committee of three be appointed, consisting of
Mr. Finegan, Dr. Hawkins and Dr. Williams for the purpose of
corresponding with the high schools and libraries of the state for
the object of securing their membership in this Association.
Upon motion resolved that the Secretary and Assistant Secre-
tary be authorized to prepare a circular letter and membership
blanks to be sent to the members of the Association ; that such let-
ter inclosing five membership blanks be mailed to each active mem-
ber and emphasize co-operation in increasing the membership and
efficiency of the Association.
PROCEEDINGS
15
Resolved that the president be authorized to appoint standing
committees for the ensuing year.
Upon motion resolved that a committee of three on necrology
be appointed, the duties of which shall be the compilation of brief
sketches of deceased members for publication in the annual pro-
ceedings, and that this be made one of the annual standing com-
mittees to be appointed by the President.
The following new members were elected:—
LIFE MEMBERS
Potts, Charles Edwin 170 Rugby Road, Brooklyn
ACTIVE MEMBERS
Ashworth, Percy F.
Baker, John W.
Barcus, James Q.
Bates, Norman L.
Cameron, • Edward M.
Cook, Thomas J.
DeGarmo, William Burton,
M. D.
Furness, Charles V.
Gilbert, Charles N.
Gray, Emmet J.
Holden, C. E.
Johnstown Historical Society
LaFountaine, Hon. Louis C.
McDonald, William A.
Noble, Henry Harmon
Peck, Gen. Theodore S.
Phelps, Albert H., M. D.
Pell, Stephen H. P.
Planten, John R.
Pyrke, Berne A.
Riley, Hon. John B.
Royce, Mrs. Caroline H.
Ryan, John J., LL. B.
Ticonderoga.
Rochester
57 State St., Albany.
Oswego.
Albany
Ticonderoga.
616 Madison Ave., New York
Glens Falls
787 Madison Ave., Albany.
Whitehall
Whitehall
Johnstown
Champlain.
Gloversville
Essex
Burlington, Vt.
Glens Falls.
43 Exchange Place, New York
44 Eighth Ave., New York
Port Henry.
Plattsburg
Westport
Medina
16 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Slade, Mrs. Emma H. 332 W. 87th St., New York
Southerland, Hon. Geo. P. 49 Wall St., New York.
Spaulding, George B. Stonington, Conn.
Squires, Eben H. P. White Plains.
Stanton, Lucius M. 596 Broadway, New York.
Stoddard, S. R. Glens Falls.
Storer, Dr. Charles Amsterdam.
Sullivan, Hermon E. Whitehall.
Todd, Hiram C. Saratoga Spa,
Weed, George S. Pittsburgh.
Weed, Hon. Smith M. Pittsburgh.
West, Arthur F. Lake George.
West, Howard M. Glens Falls.
Upon motion the meeting was adjourned.
FREDERICK B. RICHARDS,
Secretary.
The third session, held in Pavillion at Fort St. Frederick,
October 5th, at 1:30 P. M., was opened by a paper, "The Iron Ore
Industry of the Lake Champlain Valley," by S. Norton, Mineville,
N. Y. Following this were given "Carriers of the Lake," by
Augustine A. Heard, General Passenger Agent D. & H. Co.,
Albany, N. Y. ; and the annual address "The Worth to a Nation
of a Sense of Its Past," by Rev. John M. Thomas, D. D., President
Middlebury College, Vermont.
The fourth session October 5th, 7 :30 P. M. on board Steamer
at Burlington was opened by an address by Jos. Armand Bedard,
M. D. President Societe historique Franco- Americaine, Lynn,
Mass., followed by "General Observations on the War of 1812,"
by George K. Hawkins, A. M., D. Sc., Principal Pittsburgh
State Normal School, Pittsburgh, N. Y.; and "Songs of Other
Lands," by Marie Parcello Bixby, Member Mary Washington
Chapter, D. A. R.
On receipt of telegrams from the Mayor, President of the
Chamber of Commerce, Judge Charles F. Cantine, and Everett
Fowler of Kingston, inviting the Association to hold the next an-
nual meeting at Kingston, a special meeting of the trustees was
called. This was held on Steamer Vermont at 9 :30 A. M., Octo-
ber 6th.
PROCEEDINGS 17
Present:— Messrs. G. M. Ingalsbe, W. A. E. Cummings, T.
Astley Atkins, Sherman Williams, Irvin W. Near, Rev. Joseph E.
King, Frank H. Severance, George K. Hawkins, Victor H. Paltsits,
Frederick B. Richards, and Miss Mary H. Haldane.
The telegrams as above stated were read and upon motion it
was resolvedi that the place of the next annual meeting be re-
ferred to the Committee on Program with power.
Upon motion it was resolved that the Secretary be a com-
mittee on publication of the next annual proceedings with power
to add anyone whom he should choose to the committee.
Upon motion it was resolved that fifty copies of the
pamphlet, "The Tieonderoga Expedition of 1775" with biograph-
ical sketch of Robert 0. Bascom, by Grenville M. Ingalsbe, taken
from the last annual proceedings, be presented to Mrs. Robert 0.
Bascom.
Upon motion it was resolved that the Treasurer refund
the advance payment to those who were not able to attend the
Lake Champlain meeting and to make equitable settlement with
those who were not able to attend the full meeting.
FREDERICK B. RICHARDS,
Secretary.
The fifth session was held at Isle LaMotte, on board the
Steamer, October 6th, 11 A. M. The first paper presented was
"The First Missionaries Who Crossed Lake Champlain," by Rev.
Thomas J. Campbell, S. J., Editor of America, Author, Pioneer
Priests of North America, New York City. At this point the fol-
lowing resolution was presented by W. Max Reid:
We are living in an era of Centennial Celebrations, an era of
ceremonials for the marking of historic spots and the commemora-
tion of historic events, as evidenced by the numerous tablets we are
to unveil or inspect on this pilgrimage over this historic lake.
For many months I have been possessed with the desire to
have the crystal waters of Lake George exalted by having a suit-
able recognition of the naming of that beautiful lake by Father
Isaac Jogues.
Two centuries and a half ago, or to be exact, in August, 1642,
Isaac Jogues discovered Lake George. On May 28th, 1646 he
18 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
again paddled over its waters. This journey was one of pleasure
and high resolve. He had passed through torture by savages, and
through suffering and privation at the hands of unsympathetic
white men. Once accorded the scant hospitality of an outcast and
beggar at the hands of his Jesuit brothers in France he had subse-
quently been received by them and the Archbishop of Paris with
sympathy and with high honors, his poor maimed hands kissed by
Queen Anne of Austria and granted a special dispensation by
Pope Urban VIII, allowing him to celebrate the Holy Sacrament
despite his mangled hands.
He had at last been received with favor by the Mohawks, and
was returned to the Mohawk Valley as the Apostle of the Mission
of the Martyrs to the Iroquois.
Did not this thought, together with the coming of the feast
day of Corpus Christi influence Jogues in selecting the name Lac
du St. Sacrament for the lake he had discovered and which had
witnessed his direct dispair, and his greatest exaltation as a mes-
senger of peace?
I think so. I wish the name had never been changed. Why not
yet perpetuate the name of Lac du St. Sacrament somewhere with-
in its borders with a suitable tablet to his memory, erected on some
small island in the vicinity of Bolton, rebaptised Isle du St.
Sacrament 1
If this body will receive the suggestion with favor I move
that a committee of five be appointed to consider the matter of
proper recognition of the naming of the lake, Lac du St. Sacra-
ment by Father Jogues, by monument or tablet to be placed on a
small island in Lake George.
This resolution was adopted.
On account of the illness of James Austin Holden, A. B.,
Glens Falls, N. Y., the paper prepared by him entitled "New
Historical Light on the Real Burial Place of Lord Howe" was
read by Dr. Sherman Williams. "The War Path" was then given
by Edward T. W. Gillespie, Vice President Stamford Historical
Society, and Author Historical Sketch of Stamford, Stamford,
Conn.
At dinner on the last night of the trip Dr. Cummings rose
and spoke as follows:
PROCEEDINGS 19
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the New York State
Historical Association:—
As chairman on the Committee of Arrangements for this
annual meeting now drawing to a close, I am authorized to report
that our committee have felt it a rare privilege to arrange for the
comfort and pleasure of a company so gallant and fair as the one
that has graced this occasion, or for one so considerate when we
failed in the full measure of our good intentions, or so apprecia-
tive when we happily succeeded in approximating to our ideals of
what we felt that you deserved.
In so far as we have been able to arrange successively for the
meeting we find the causes of our success to be — 1st — the able as-
sistance and co-operation of the members of the Association them-
selves and our outside friends who willingly became co-guarantors
with us of our underwriting agreement which established us on a
firm foundation financially for the enterprise and to these we re-
turn sincere thanks.
Another factor we would add, is the inspiration of the work of
the program committee in the papers they arranged for presenta-
tion here.
We wish to acknowledge the obligation of the committee and
the association as well to Mr. Augustine A. Heard for his interest
and helpful suggestions, for the generous spirit in which he met
our requests in the matter of detail and the keen appreciation at
all times manifested of the underlying motive of this meeting.
To these factors making towards the accomplishment of what
we hoped to do, we must add the willing co-operation of the several
localities we have visited in our cruise of historical research, in that
they brought to us as far as they were able, their rarest treasures
from the past, that we might enjoy to the full, the historian's de-
light of really seeing what has been read about by the study lamp.
We would also multiply this, by the entire devotion to the
promotion of our comfort and pleasure, at all times shown by every
employe on this steamer from Captain Rockwell to those we have
not seen, but whom we know must have done their full duty to as-
sure so complete a success as has been accomplished in this direc-
tion. And now to add to our pleasure and soften the pangs of
parting we have the most interesting program arranged for us by
20 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
the good citizens of Plattsburgh and the graceful farewell of the
reception to our organization by the Saranac Chapter.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of this Association in
appreciation of all these aids to the success of this meeting and all
the successful efforts to promote our comfort and happiness, I
move the following resolutions :
Resolved, that the New York State Historical Association here-
by extend to Mr. A. A. Heard, General Passenger Agent, D. & H.
R. R. ; to Mr. G. A. Loomis, General Manager of the Champlain
Transportation Company; to Captain Rockwell of the Steamer
Vermont and his crew and to all the employes on the Steamer Ver-
mont their sincere thanks for their earnest efforts to promote the
comfort and pleasure of the meeting.
Resolved, that the State Historical Association hereby tender
thanks and assurances of appreciation to Mr. and Mrs. Stephen H.
P. Pell of Fort Ticonderoga; to Mr. Howland Pell of New York
city; to the Ticonderoga Pulp and Paper Company of Ticondero-
ga; to Mr. M. F. Barnes of Chimney Point; to General Theodore
S. Peck of Burlington and to the local committee of Plattsburgh
and especially to the Saranac Chapter, D. A. R., for courtesies
extended.
The resolutions were adopted by acclamation with great ap-
plause.
Afterwards Hon. Astley T. Atkins of New York moved a reso-
lution of thanks to Dr. Cummings for his efficient work in caring
for the welfare and comfort of the Association and its guests which
was also adopted with great applause, causing the modest execu-
tive chairman of arrangements much embarrassment.
The sixth session was held Oct. 6th, at 8 P. M. at Plattsburgh,
in the State Normal School Building. Victor Hugo Paltsits, State
Historian, Albany, N. Y., presented a paper on ''Historical Socie-
ties; Their Work and Worth." This was followed by an illus-
trated lecture, "The First Flying of the Stars and Stripes in Bat-
tle and the Saratoga Campaign," by Charles William Burrows,
President The Burrows Brothers Co., Cleveland, Ohio.
FREDERICK B. RICHARDS,
Secretary.
PROCEEDINGS 21
SEMI-ANNUAL MEETING TRUSTEES, MARCH, 1910.
Meeting of the trustees of the New York State Historical As-
sociation held at Hotel Ten Eyck, Albany, N. Y., at 11:15 A. M.,
March 22, 1910, at the call of the President.
There were present Hon. Grenville M. Ingalsbe, Dr. Sherman
Williams, Dr. William 0. Stillman, James A. Holden, Dr. W. A.
E. Cummings, Victor H. Paltsits, Dr. John H. Brandow, and
Frederick B. Richards.
In the absence of President Roberts, upon motion it was re-
solved that Dr. William 0. Stillman be chairman of the meeting.
The reading of the minutes was dispensed with.
James A. Holden, as treasurer reported as follows:
RECEIPTS.
1909.
Oct. 14 Balance cash on hand < $276.60
Rec'd from dues, etc. . 786.10
$1,064.70
DISBURSEMENTS.
1909.
Nov. 5 W. F. Gubitz, Record Book $1.75
16 Lyon & Co., Balance Printing Book. . 300.40
J. W. Redway, Expense Mt. Vernon. 7.80
Stenographer, Mt. Vernon. . . 15.00
17 F. B. Richards, Postage, Ap. for
Membership , 10.00
Dec. 8 Postage (Treas.) Receipts, etc 5.00
10 Postage (Richards) Ap. for Member-
ship 16.27
Jan. 5 Postage (Treas.) Statements 10.00
8 Express, Library Work, etc 4.45
11 G. F. Storage, Carting Library to
G. F 4.00
14 Express, Books .95
22 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
19 E. L. Seelye, Exp. Lake George Park. 4.00
18 Hanna & Fulton Checks Transferred
to Life Membership Fund 50.00
G. F. Publishing Co., Stationery for
Library, Circulars, etc., Stamped
Envelopes, Application Blanks. . . 27.50
Bullard Press, Application Blanks.. 25.10
H. R. Mann, Filing Cases, etc., for
Library » 8.20
National Express, Books .75
27 A. Beaudoin, Cataloguing Library
and Making Card Index for Secre-
tary and Treasurer. 23.33
31 W. 0. Stillman, for Janitor at Al-
bany Inst. 5.00
C. W. Cool, Insurance Library 15.00
Feb. 2 National Express, Books .90
15 National Express, Books .85
21 G. F. Publishing Co., Postals, for Lib-
rary, etc 11.00
Mar. 12 G. F. Publishing Co., Half Tone Cuts,
Folders, etc., for Book, 1909 30.00
$577.25
Cash on hand, Mar. 19th $487.45
G. F. Trust Endowment Fund $430.50
Upon motion it was resolved that the Treasurer's report
be accepted and placed on file.
Frederick B. Richards, as committee to obtain and file copy
of Right of Way across D. & H. track at Lake George from the
State Park to the Lake to be placed on file with the State Comp-
troller, reported progress. Upon motion it was resolved that
the report be accepted and the committee be continued.
Judge Ingalsbe as chairman of the committee in regard to
changing the charter, reported progress and upon motion it was
resolved that committee be continued.
PROCEEDINGS 23
The committee on Legislation reported activity by several
members individually in regard to bills favored by the Association.
Upon motion it was resolved that James A. Holden cor-
respond with the Finance and Ways and Means Committee of the
New York State Legislature indorsing the measure to provide for a
fence around the Lake George monument in the Battle Park at
Lake George and that the trustees approve of such letter.
Dr. Sherman Williams, chairman of the committee on mark-
ing Historic Spots said that he had made report to the trustees at
the Mount Vernon meeting and that there was no additional
report.
Judge Ingalsbe as chairman of the Committee on Closer Rela-
tions between the Historical Societies of the State made a verbal
report.
In view of the distinguished success of the Committee on Pro-
gram up to the present time it was unanimously resolved
that the committee be continued.
The Committee on the Lake George Park made the following
report :
Glens Falls, N. Y., Mar. 22, 1910.
To the Trustees of the New York State Historical Association : —
Gentlemen :
The Committee in charge of the Battle Ground Park at Lake
George, desire to make the following report :
Last October, either the D. & H. Railroad or parties for whom
Robert Imrie, Attorney and Counsellor at Law at Lake George
was acting, attempted to run a road from the main highway of
Lake George to the beach on the shore of the lake. Their design,
if carried out, would have run the road through a part of the park
leaving a section of the park on one side of the road, which would
have been useless both to the park and to the Town of Caldwell.
Your committee strenuously opposed this proceeding on the follow-
ing grounds:
First, that the Town of Caldwell had no authority to take state
property for a road.
24 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Second, that this Association although duly appointed by the
Comptroller custodian of the park had no authority to allow any
person or persons to trespass upon it, or take any part of it for any
purpose whatsoever.
Third, that no written consent from the Comptroller had been
given to any person to perform this work.
Fourth, that while the property in question was of little value
outside of a possible sentimental or historical one, at the same time
in cutting this road through, it would be necessary to disturb
the bodies and remains of a large number of soldiers of the Revo-
lutionary and posssibly of the French and Indian War who lie bur-
ied at that particular spot.
Fifth, that it was not necessary to make the road at this par-
ticular point, in as much as the road could be built entirely outside
the lines of the park, except that it might be necessary to remove
a number of boulders to make a road, whereas by going through
the park, there would be nothing but sand and easy digging.
Your committee employed counsel and put the matter up to
the Comptroller's office. About this time Comptroller Gaus died
and the Hon. Clark Williams was appointed in his stead.
The situation was fully explained to Mr. Williams and orders
received from him not to allow any desecration or trespass of or
on the property of the state at this point. Your committee desire
to acknowledge the great services rendered the Association by Will-
iam Cheney, the Acting Caretaker at the park, who at a great sac-
rifice of popularity and in the face of somewhat determined op-
position prevented the road going through, until your committee
had time to act.
We believe the matter is now settled and will not probably
come up again, at least for the present.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
ELWYN SEELYE,
JAMES A. HOLDEN,
GRENYILLE M. INGALSBE,
Committee.
PROCEEDINGS
25
.Upon motion it was resolved that the secretary cast one
ballot for the election of the following as new members of the
Association:.
Ackerly, Or^ille B.
Brown, Edwin J.
Bristol, Prof. Geo. P.
Clearwater, Hon. Alphonse T.
Culver, Dr. Charles M.
DeLano, Hon. Clayton H.
Frenk, Henry
Friederang, Maxmilian F.
Frost, Halsted H., Jr.
Frost, George Henry
Freund, John C.
Ferris, Mortimer Yale
Gallager, James
Gilpin, C. Monteith
Griffis, William Elliot
Gates, Moody B.
Granger, William A.
Hill, Charles S.
Hoopes, Maurice
Heusted, Dr. Albert N.
Lawrence, Rev. Egbert Charles
Lincoln, Rev. Julius
Mason, Herbert D.
Munson, Samuel L.
Nelson, William
Oneonta State Normal School
Peckham, Stephen F.
Proctor, Thomas Redfield
Schmid, H. Ernest
Wadhams, Commodore Alvin V.
Wardell, J. Harold
Witherbee, Hon. Walter C.
Yonkers Hist. Library Assn.
210 Warburton Ave., Yonkers.
37 Main St., Oneida, N. Y.
5 Grove Place, Ithaca.
Kingston.
36 Eagle St., Albany.
Ticonderoga.
132 W. 79th St., New York.
30 E. 57th St., New York
141 Broadway, New York.
Plainfield, N. J.
760 West End Ave., New York
Ticonderoga.
Cleveland.
68 William St., New York.
Ithaca.
23 City Hall Place, New York
Mount Vernon.
Binghamton.
Glens Falls.
Albany.
Schenectady
Jamestown.
27 William St., New York.
Albany.
Patterson, N. J.
Oneonta.
150 Hall St., Brooklyn.
Utica.
White Plains.
Wadhams.
Hudson.
Port Henry.
Yonkers.
26 . NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
LIFE MEMBERS.
Fulton, Lewis M. 31 Nassau St., New York City.
Hand, Hon. Richard L. Elizabethtown.
Hanna, Charles Augustus Custom House, New York City.
Stillman, Chas. Chauncey 9 E. 67th St., New York City.
Upon motion it was resolved that Rev. W. M. Beauchamp,
121 Mark Ave., Syracuse, be elected an honorary member of the
Association.
Upon motion it was resolved that James A. Holden be
librarian of the Association.
Upon motion it was resolved that Chairman Dr. Williams
0. Stillman be authorized to write Mr. Morris Patterson Ferris
expressing the sympathy of the trustees for his long continued ill-
Upon motion it was resolved that -the actual necessary ex-
penses of the secretary and treasurer in attendance upon the meet-
ings of the Association and of the trustees of the Association be
paid by the society.
Upon motion it was resolved that our next annual meet-
ing be held somewhere in the Champlain Valley, October 4, 5 and 6.
Upon motion it was resolved that the place of meeting
be such place or places in the Champlain Valley as the Program
Committee shall decide.
Judge Ingalsbee and Dr. Sherman Williams as the Program
Committee with power to add to their number, announced that
they had appointed Dr. W. A. E. Cummings as the third member
of the Program Committee for the next meeting.
Upon motion it was resolved that the matter of charter-
ing the Steamer Vermont for the October meeting be left to the
Program Committee with power and that the Program Committee
be authorized to appoint such sub-committees as may be necessary.
Upon motion it was resolved that the matter of the set-
tlement of the claim of the Newburg Journal be referred to a com-
mittee composed of Messers. Holden, Richards and Williams with
power to act.
Upon motion it was resolved that a committee of three be
PROCEEDINGS 27
appointed by the Chairman to report at our next meeting upon the
following points:
1. To what extent are we committed to the publishing of
the Wiltwyck records?
2. The .value of the translation.
3. The probable cost of such publication.
The Chair announced that this committe be Messrs. Ingalsbe,
Holden and Koberts.
Upon motion it was resolved that the pages of the Wilt-
wyck records now in print be held out until the report of the com-
mittee.
Upon motion it was resolved that Mr. William Wait be
requested to get a catalogue of the Gibson library and to ascertain
what this library could be bought for, such information to be ob-
tained without expense to the Association.
Upon motion it was resolved that we adjourn.
F. B. RICHARDS,
Secretary.
A STORY OF THE "LAKE CHAMPLAIN MEETING."
The twelfth annual meeting of the New York State Historical
Association was held October 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th, 1910, on the
Steamer Vermont, Lake Champlain. To Dr. Cummings of Ticon-
deroga is due the suggestion and much of the arduous preparation
which made this meeting at once the most unique and delightful
ever held by the Association.
When preparations for the annual meeting were being discuss-
ed, Dr. Cummings suggested that it take the form of a houseboat
party on Lake Champlain, visiting the scenes of historic interest
on the Lake, and developing that fraternal feeling among the As-
sociation members to which such a trip would lend itself. The
other members of the Committee later confessed that they dis-
couraged the suggestion, but when Dr. Cummings not only showed
them how it could be done, but secured financial guarantees from
his friends to cover expenses, they entered as enthusiastically as
he into the manifold preparations which made the meeting so suc-
cessful in every detail.
The Association members assembled on the morning of Tuesday,
October 4th, on the Steamer Vermont at Fort Ticonderoga Pier.
After registering and securing their badges and programs, the
members embarked on the barge "Pulpitania" for the short trip
across the bay to the ruins and battlefield of Port Ticonderoga.
Through the courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen H. P. Pell of New
York, who own the land on which the fort stands, and by whom the
ruins are now being restored, the Association was given the freedom
of the place. Mr. and Mrs. Pell received the party and conducted
the members about the fort, battlefield and the fortifications, assist-
ed by a committee of the Ticonderoga Historical Society, including
F. B. Richards, Pell Arthur, W. W. Jeffers, E. B. Woodruff, Mrs.
John Hyde, Miss Bertha Mead and Miss Julia Wicker. The re-
stored West Barracks, in which Ethan Allen made his famous de-
mand for the surrender of the place, was most interesting, with its
gray walls, oak beams and red roofs. Silken banners, reproduc-
tions of those of the French regiments which served at Ticondero-
STORY OF THE MEETING. 29
ga, were displayed across the front of the barracks, and overhead
waved the Lilies of France. Within the barracks Mrs. Pell per-
sonally explained the fine collection of autograph letters, rare por-
traits and documents, and relics from the battlefield.
Following the inspection of the fort, Mrs. Pell welcomed the
ladies of the party at the Pavilion, the delightful old Pell mansion
on the lake shore, being assisted in receiving by Mrs. James E. Mar-
tin and Mrs. H. W. Watrous of New York. Hon. Howland Pell
at the same time kept open house for the gentlemen at his unique
summer house, the Blockhouse, which is an exact reproduction of
the Germain redoubt, and stands on the site of that ancient defense
of Fort Ticonderoga. ,
On their way back to the barge, the party inspected with in-
terest the hull of Arnold's ship Revenge, which was raised from
the lake by S. H. P. Pell.
Upon reaching the steamer luncheon was served, after
which the Association went by special train to Ticonderoga village,
wnere, in the presence of a large gathering, including many school
children and employes in the mills, a bronze tablet presented to the
Ticonderoga Historical Society by the Ticonderoga Pulp and Paper
Company was unveiled. This tablet marks the location of the
French sawmill built in 1756 to cut the timber for Fort Carillon,
now Fort Ticonderoga. The Ticonderoga Pulp and Paper Com-
pany's plant now stands upon the site of this old mill.
The ceremonies attending the unveiling opened with an invo-
cation by Rev. Loyal A. Bigelow, after which the presentation ad-
dress was made by Hon. Clayton H. Delano. As he concluded, the
tablet was unveiled by Mrs. Sherman Williams and Mrs. Frederick
B. Richards of Glens Falls. Dr. W. A. E. Cummings, on behalf
of the Ticonderoga Historical Society, formally accepted the gift.
During the exercises, Mrs. George Stephenson Bixby of New York,
led the large audience in singing "America" and "The Star
Spangled Banner."
The tablet before presentation was veiled with an American
flag, and above it waved the French and English flags. It is a beau-
tiful bronze panel, 3x5 feet, sunk in a pedestal of Vermont granite.
It bears this inscription :
' ' This tablet marks the landing for the grand
carry on the great war trail between the Indian
30 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
tribes of the north and south country. It also
marks the beginning of that carry between the
lakes, to avoid the falls and rapids, which later
became the military road built by the French in
1755.
"The French saw mill, the first ever built
in the Champlain Valley, was erected in 1756 at
the foot of the falls on the site of the present
mills. In this saw mill Abercromby had his
headquarters during his disastrous battle with
Montcalm's forces at the French lines, July 8,
1758.
"Washington and Franklin passed over this
military road during the Revolution.
"Presented to the Ticonderoga Historical
Society for the citizens of the Town by the Ticon-
deroga Pulp & Paper Company.
"Unveiled by the New York State Histori-
cal Association, October 4th, 1910."
At the close of the exercises the members of the Association
visited the many points of historical interest in the old town, in-
cluding the Black Watch Memorial Library, where the headstone
found in the alleged grave of Lord Howe was inspected with in-
terest and roused much discussion as to its claims; the stately
memorial boulder, bearing the names of the great men who have
fought at Ticonderoga, which marks the Ticonderoga grave of
that much-buried and often-resurrected young hero; and the tab-
let erected by the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, giving the his-
tory of the military road and of the bridge over the river.
The Association returned by special train to the Vermont at
Fort Ticonderoga pier, where dinner was served. Following this
came the formal exercises of the evening, which were held in the
forward cabin of the saloon deck, and which were attended by
many members of the Ticonderoga Historical Society.
Mrs. Joseph Cook of Ticonderoga, in a graceful speech, wel-
comed the Association, response being made by Sherman Williams,
Pd. D., of Glens Falls. The first paper of the evening was read
by John M. Clarke, LL. D., director of the New York State Mu-
seum, Albany, on "The Setting of Lake Champlain History."
Following this, a 'paper on the "Black Watch at Ticonderoga,"
f 4,1
STORY OF THE MEETING. 31
was read by Frederick B. Richards of Glens Falls. This was sub-
stituted for the paper on "New Historical Light on the Burial
Place of Lord Howe, ' ' by James A. Holden of Glens Falls, which
was necessarily postponed owing to Mr. H olden 's sudden and se-
vere illness. Mr. Richards, who spent several weeks in Scotland
collecting data 'for his paper, exhibited samples of Scotch plaids and
a water color drawing of an officer of the Black Watch at the pe-
riod of the Ticonderoga campaign. The third paper of the session,
on the subject, "Lord Howe," was read by Frank B. Wickes, of
Ticonderoga. A delightful incident in the evening's program was
the singing of two primitive North American Indian songs by
Mrs. George Stephenson Bixby.
Upon the conclusion of the exercises, the Vermont moved
across the Lake to Larrabee's Point, where those members of the
Association who could not be accommodated on the boat were
housed for the night at the Lake House.
Wednesday morning, October 5th, the steamer called at Lar-
rabee's Point for the Lake House guests and after breakfast, the
business meeting of the Association was held.
On the arrival of the north and south bound morning trains,
the steamer proceeded to Crown Point, one of the most beautiful
spots on Lake Champlain, and the site of the ruins of Fort St.
Frederic and Fort Amherst. This property has just been pre-
sented to the State of New York by the Witherbee-Sherman Com-
pany of Port Henry, to be preserved as a State Battlefield Park.
The New York State Historical Association will be its custodian.
Upon the arrival of the steamer the guests were met by Hon.
Walter C. Witherbee and Hon. Louis C. LaFontaine of the New
York Champlain Tercentenary Commission. Senator Barnes, who
had crossed from his summer home at Chimney Point to greet the
Association, kindly consented to act as guide, his familiarity with
the ruins adding greatly to the interest of the visit to the forti-
fications.
The party first inspected the ruins of the old French fort, St.
Frederic, now only grass-grown earthworks, with here and there
a crumbling wall of masonry. The location of the underground
rooms, the chapel, and the secret passage to the lake can be rough-
ly traced among the mounds, and on one of the retaining walls a
32 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
half-obliterated inscription in French, which has never been wholly
translated, awakened an interested discussion among several mem-
bers of the party.*
From Fort St. Frederic the party went on toward the more
extensive ruins of Fort Amherst, entering through the ancient
sallyport. The great area of the fort is enclosed in a complete
circle of earthworks, which form a verdant setting for the gray
ruins of officers' quarters and barracks.
The literary exercises of the afternoon, held in the pavilion
near the fortifications, included two papers, "The Iron Ore In-
dustry of the Lake Champlain Valley," by S. Norton, Mineville,
N. Y., and "Carriers of the Lake," by Augustine A. Heard, Gen-
eral Passenger Agent of the Delaware & Hudson, Albany, N. Y.
The annual address on the subject, "The Worth to a Nation of
a Sense of Its Past," was given by Rev. John M. Thomas, D. D.,
President of Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont.
After leaving Crown Point, the Vermont called at Port Henry
to land guests, and then proceeded down the lake to Burlington.
The Burlington members of the Vermont Society of Colonial Wars,
the Society of Colonial Dames, Sons of the American Revolution,
and Green Mountain Chapter, D. A. R., had been invited to at-
tend the literary exercises held on the steamer in the evening. In-
vitations had also been sent to Col. T. W. Jones and staff, 10th U.
S. Cavalry, stationed at Fort Ethan Allen. A large number of
guests accepted the invitation and an impromptu reception was
held as they arrived. The exercises of the evening included an
address by Jos. Armand Bedard, M. D., President Societe His-
torique Franco- Americaine, of Lynn, Massachusetts, and a paper
on "General Observations on the War of 1812," by George K.
Hawkins, A. M., D. Sc., of the State Normal School, Plattsburg,
New York. A delightful feature of the evening was the singing of
"Songs of Many Lands," by Mrs. George Stephenson Bixby of
New York. At the close of the exercises the steamer proceeded to
Plattsburg, where the members of the association who were as-
signed to the hotels were landed.
Thursday morning, October 6th, the steamer left early for Port
Kent. Many members of the patriotic societies of Plattsburg were
guests of the Association for the day. They included Mrs. George
explains thte1ienMriptSSViCt°r H' Pa>liBiis and W> Max Reid in a follo*inS article which
STORY OF THE MEETING. 33
F. Tuttle, regent, and the board of managers of the Saranac Chap-
ter, D. A. B., and Captain and Mrs. Sigerfoos, Lieutenant Endicott,
Lieutenant and Mrs. Barnes and others from Plattsburg barracks.
At Port Kent the Burlington guests for the day were received.
Among them were General Stephen P. Jocelyn, IT. S. A., retired,
past governor Vermont Society Colonial Wars, and Mrs. Jocelyn;
General Theodore S. Peck, deputy governor-general for Vermont
of the National Society and Mrs. Peck, Past State Regent of Ver-
mont, D. A. R. ; Miss Theodora Peck, past historian Green Moun-
tain Chapter, D. A. R. ; Byron N. Clarke, secretary Vermont Soc-
iety of Colonial Wars; H. S. Howard, treasurer Vermont Society
of Colonial Wars, and Mrs. Howard; Hon. William Dewey, presi-
dent Vermont Society Sons of the American Revolution, and Mrs.
Dewey; Hon. Charles E. Allen, registrar, Vermont Society Colonial
Wars; Mrs. Arthur S. Isham, regent Green Mountain Chapter, D.
A. R. ; Miss Jennie Wood, secretary Green Mountain Chapter, D.
A. R. ; Miss Mary Roberts, past regent Green Mountain Chapter,
D. A. R. ; Miss Julia Converse, Miss Helen Converse, Mrs. S. G. W.
Benjamin, Miss Edith Benjamin, members of Green Mountain
Chapter, D. A. R. ; Captain William H. Hay, 10th Cavalry, U. S.
A., and Mrs. Hay. Mrs. George E. Lamb of Port Henry, regent,
Champlain Chapter, D. A. R., also joined the party. General
Peck's daughter, who is prominent in D. A. R. circles, is also the
authoress of the well-known novels, "Hester of the Grants" and
"The Sword of Dundee."
From Port Kent the steamer turned north, for the delightful
sail down the lake to Isle La Motte. As it passed Valcour Island,
the ladies of Saranac Chapter, D. A. R., of Plattsburg, strewed
flowers on the water in memory of those who perished in Arnold's
naval victory near that island, and as a tribute to the early patriot-
ism of the man who afterward attempted to betray his country.
The ceremony was suggested by Mrs. Harry W. Watrous of New
York.
After a sail of two hours the great cross on the beach near the
landing of Isle La Motte gleamed white against the trees, and the
party disembarked on the historic ground where Jesuit missionaries
held the first Christian service on Lake Champlain. Several resi-
dents of the Island met the party, and a visit was made to the lit-
34 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
tie Chapel of Ste. Anne and to the clearing by the lake which was
once the little Fort Ste. Anne, a rude barricade of loose stones
thrown up about a square inclosure. The stones of the fort are now
gathered into twelve piles, around the square which formed the
boundary of the fort, and these, each surmounted by a cross, con-
stitute the Stations of the Cross for the chapel.
At luncheon oh the steamer, after leaving Isle La Motte, Gen-
eral TheodJore S. Peck of Burlington expressed the thanks of the
Vermont guests for the delightful day afforded them, to which
Rev. Joseph E. King, D. D., of Fort Edward, N. Y., responded.
The literary exercises of the afternoon were held while the
steamer was returning to Port Kent. They included three papers,
"The First Missionaries Who Crossed Lake Champlain," by Rev.
Thomas J. Campbell, S. J., Editor of "America," New York City;
"The War Path," by Edward T. W. Gillespie, vice-president of
the Stamford Historical Society, Stamford, Conn., and extracts
read by Sherman Williams from the paper, "New Historical Light
on the Real Burial Place of Lord Howe," written by James A.
Holden, of Glens Falls, whose continued illness made it impossible
for him to give it in person.
The Burlington guests were set ashore at Port Kent, and
the steamer proceeded to Plattsburg. Upon its arrival there the
members of the Association were taken by trolley about the city and
thence out to the Plattsburg Barracks, where a dress parade was
given by the 5th U. S. Infantry in honor of the guests. Gen. C. L.
Davis (retired), formerly Colonel in command of the Plattsburg
post, and Gen. E. S. Dudley and Lieut. Colonel Corbusier (both
retired), who were all members of the Association party, renewed
former acquaintanceships on their visit to the post.
The dinner on the Vermont that evening was somewhat in the
nature of a farewell, Dr. Cummings presenting a resolution of
thanks in behalf of the committee of arrangements to all who had
helped to make the outing a success, and Hon. T. Astley Atkins a
resolution of appreciation to Dr. Cummings and his committee of
arrangements.
Souvenirs of the trip, in the form of a collection of Lake
Champlain post-cards, gifts of the D. & H. Co., and a set of prints,
presented by Stephen H. P. Pell, one showing the original plan of
STORY OF THE MEETING. 35
Fort Ticonderoga from an old map, and the other the proposed
restoration, were given each guest.
The last formal gathering of the Association was the elaborate
reception tendered the party in the evening at the State Normal
School, the hostesses being the members of Saranac Chapter, D.
A. R., of Plattsburg. The building was decorated with flags and
palms.
An interesting loan collection, including an autograph letter
of Washington, a signature of Louis XVI, family portraits, old
laces and jewelry, was a feature of the evening. It was gathered
for the occasion by Mrs. F. P. Lobdell, Mrs. M. P. Myers, Mrs.
Merritt Sowles, Miss Woodward, Miss Perry and Miss Ingalls.
The refreshments and punch bowls were in charge of Mrs. Barker,
Mrs. Vert, Miss Hall, Miss Mary Barber and Miss Stower.
The literary program consisted of a paper on "Historical
Societies; Their Work and Worth," by Hon. Victor Hugo Paltsits,
State Historian, of Albany, New York, and an address on "The
Flag," by Charles William Burrows of Cleveland, 0., which was
illustrated by stereopticon pictures. Mr. Burrows is President of
Burrows Bros. Co., publishers of the "Jesuit Relations" and of the
"New History of America," by Avery. At the conclusion of the
paper Mrs. Bixby led the audience in singing ' ' The Star Spangled
Banner. ' '
The following morning the gathering disbanded and the mem-
bers of the Association left for their homes, a party stopping en
route for a visit to Ausable Chasm. ,
The expression of all who participated in the three days' meet-
ing of the Association was that of unqualified praise, both for the
originality of the plan and for the completeness with which every
detail was carried out. The members of the Association were not
only enabled to become better acquainted with one another, but
were brought in touch with other patriotic societies having the same
interests, and the scenic beauties and historic momiments - of the
trip will long be a pleasant memory.
The following extract from a letter written by Rev. Joseph
E. King, D. D., of Fort Edward, to Mr. F. B. Richards, secretary
of the Association puts into words the feeling of all who partici-
pated in the trip :
36
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
* * This whole enterprise of the excursion on the waters
of historic Lake Champlain seems to have been wisely
planned and to have been carried out and consummated
with admirable tact, courtesy, and fraternal as well as
patriotic feeling. The New York State Historical Associa-
tion has had a new birth."
PASSENGER LIST— STEAMER VERMONT
LAKE CHAMPLAIN MEETING.
Adam, Rev. Canon F. S. T.
Arthur, Miss Elizabeth
Atkins, Hon. T. Astley
Adamson, Mrs. W. W.
Bardeen, C. W.
Bardeen, Miss
Bates, Norman L., and Mrs.
Bedard, Dr. and Mrs. Jos. Armand
Bixby, Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Stephenson
Blackburn, John T. D., and Mrs.
Boardman, Dr. Waldo E.
Brown, Edwin J., and Mrs.
Bullard, Frederick H., and Mrs.
Burrows, Chas. Wm., and Mrs.
Burrows, Miss Gladys E.
Cady, Hiram W., and Mrs.
Cameron, Edward M., and Mrs.
Campbell, Rev. F. J.
Carpenter, Mrs. Emma
Carville, Miss Katherine J. C.
Clarke, Dr. John M.
Close, Dr. Stuart
Close, Miss Elizabeth
Clute, J. H., and Mrs.
Coburn, Miss Louise H.
Cole, Mrs. Frances M.
Cook, Mrs. Joseph
Cook, Dr. Joseph T.
Corbusier, Lt. Col. Wm. H., & Mrs.
Cummings, Dr. W. A. E., and Mrs.
Cummings, Miss Hannah
Davis, Gen. Charles L.
Denham, Edward
Dudley, Gen. Edgar S.
Eagle, Maj. Clarence H.
Everett, Maj. James H., and Mrs.
Faulkner, Frank J., and Mrs.
Fay, Miss Amy
Fenton, George, and Mrs.
Finegan, Thomas E., and Mrs.
Frost, George H.
Montreal, Can.
Ticonderoga
New York City
Glens Falls
Syracuse
Syracuse
Oswego
Lynn, Mass.
New York
Albany
Boston, Mass.
Oneida
Glens Falls
Cleveland, Ohio.
Cleveland, Ohio.
Plattsburgh
Albany
New York
Oneida
New Rochelle
Albany
Brooklyn
Brooklyn
New York
Showhegan, Me.
Oneida
Ticonderoga
Buffalo
Plainfield, N. J.
Ticonderoga
Ticonderoga
Schenectady
New Bedford, Mass.
Johnstown
New York
Kingston
Lynn, Mass.
New York
Utica
Albany
Plainfield, N. J.
STORY OP THE MEETING.
37
Gilbert, Charles N.
Gillespie, Edward T. W.
Giles, Mrs.
Griffing, W. Irving and Mrs.
Haldane, Miss Mary H.
Hawkins, Dr. George K.
Holden, James A., and Mrs.
Heard, Augustine A.
Ingalsbe, Hon. Grenville M., & Mrs.
Kellogg, Mrs. C. D.
King, Rev. Joseph E., and Mrs.
King, Harold Lee
LaFontaine, Louis E., and Mrs.
Lamb., Mrs. Nettie W.
Leeds, Amy I.
Leonard, Edgar C.
MeClumpha, Charles F.
Moore, Rear Admiral John W.
Munson, S. L.
Near, Hon. Irvin W.
Newhall, Guy
Paltsits, Hon. Victor H.
Parry, John E., and Mrs.
Phelps, Dr. A. H.
Reid, W. Max
Richards, Frederick B., and Mrs.
Richardson, Miss Katherine R.
Robertson, Mrs. D. L.
Robertson, Miss Jessie
Rowe, Mrs. Franklin A.
See, A. B.
Sellingham, Mrs. C. H.
Sellingham, Mrs. E. J. H.
Severance, Frank H.
Sewell, Rev. Charles
Shattuck, L. E., and Mrs.
Shepard, Miss Julia A.
Steele, Mrs. Esther B.
Smith, Mrs. Lewis M.
Stanton, Hon. Lucius M.
Stoddard, S. R.
Stover, Dr. Charles
Temple, Truman R.
Thomas, Rev. John M.
Van Every, Martin
Walters, Mrs. J. W.
Watrous, Mrs. H. W.
Warren, William Y.
West, A. F., and Mrs.
West, Howard M., and Mrs.
Weston, Miss Gertrude S.
Wickes, Frank B., and Mrs.
Wilder, Frank J., and Mrs.
Williams, David and Mrs.
Williams, Sherman, and Mrs.
Albany
Stamford, Conn.
Kingston
Glens Falls
Cold Spring
Plattsburgh
Glens Falls
Albany
Hudson Falls
Hudson Falls
Fort Edward
Middlebury, Vt.
Champlain
Port Henry
Cobleskill
Albany
Amsterdam
Bolton-on-Lake George
Albany
Hornell
Lynn, Mass.
Albany
Glens Falls
Glens Falls
Amsterdam
Glens Falls
Lynn, Mass.
Glens Falls
Glens Falls
Glens Falls
Brooklyn
Glens Falls
Glens Falls
Buffalo
Albany
New York
Oneida
Elmira
Elmira
Albany
Glens Falls
Amsterdam
Glens Falls
Middlebury, Vt.
Buffalo
Glens Falls
New York
Buffalo
Lake George
Glens Falls
Skowhegan, Me.
Ticonderoga
Saratoga Springs
Rogers Rock
Glens Falls
38
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Witherbee, Hon. W. C.
Wooley, J. S.
Zorn, Mrs. J. T.
Orchestra
Eddy, Prof. Sanford S.
Tidmarsh, Arthur S.
Tidmarsh, Elmer A.
Port Henry
Ballston Spa
Yonkers
Glens Falls
Hudson Falls
Hudson Falls
FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
MEETING NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN, OCTOBER 4, 5, 6, 1910.
RECEIPTS
Sale of Tickets $1,677.75
Sale of Meal Tickets 8.00
$1,685.75
DISBURSEMENTS
D. & H. for use of Steamer Vermont and Meals $1,290.50
Hotel Lake House 35.75
Hotel Fouquet 29.25
Hotel Witherill 25.50
Sandwiches (Lunch, Oct. 4) 4.50
Orchestra 36.98
Livery— A. J. Wilson 6.25
Flowers— H. L. Crandall 10.75
Piano — Bailey's Music Rooms 5.50
Moving Piano— M. Collins & Co 8.00
Expense of Promotion — Dr. W. A. E. Cummings 34.98
Incidental Expenses Paid on Boat by Dr. Cummings. 55.07
Printing Bill— Bullard Press 78.95
Stenographer— Work of Secretary, Flora E. Bent. . 20.40
Stenographer — Work of Treasurer, Annabel Beau-
doin 20.00
Refund of First Payment — Non-attendance, H. F.
Kingsley 7.50
Refund of First Payment — Non-attendance, C. J.
Woodbury 7.50
Refund — (Overpayment) f 1.50 $1,678.88
Receipts Over and Above Disbursements $ 6.87
JAMES A. HOLDEN,
Treasurer.
LAKE GEORGE BATTLE GROUND PARK
Glens Falls, N. Y., Oct., 1, 1910.
To The Officers and Members of the New York State Historical
Association :
Your committee on the Lake George Battle Ground Park de-
sires to submit the following report for the year just closing.
It will be remembered that last year a bill was introduced
in the legislature by your treasurer which passed both houses,
but was vetoed by Governor Hughes on the ground of necessary
economy. This bill provided for .the erection of a suitable
fence around the Colonial Wars Statue, located in the park, the
construction of foot paths to the lake, the cleaning up of the paths
and roads, and the erection of boundary fences where necessary.
The bill carried with it an appropriation of $1500.00. With the
approval of the Association and your committee, your Treasurer
had the same bill introduced in the legislature of 1910. Through
the good offices of the Hon. James A. Emerson, senator from the
thirty-third district, and the Hon. Daniel P. DeLong, Assembly-
man from Waren County, the bill was progressed through both
houjses, and was finally signed by the Governor on June 18th.
Thanks are due the Hon. H. W. Hill, Chairman of the Committee on
Finance in the Senate, and the Hon. E. A. Merritt, Jr., Chairman
of the Committee on Ways and Means in the Assembly for their
good work in behalf of this bill. To Messrs. Ferris, Stillman and
Paltsits of the Committee on legislation of this Association great
credit is due for the final signing of the bill. In fact it was un-
doubtedly due to the presentation of the matter through a very
able brief by our State Historian, that the Governor was finally in-
duced to approve the bill. Quite a few of the Legislators in both
houses are members of this association, and to them as well as to
E. J. Worden and other prominent citizens of Lake George, to
George Foster Peabody and to anyone who in any way assisted in
the passage of the bill, go out the hearty thanks of the committee,
and, we feel assured, of the Association as well.
Having secured the appropriation, your committee at once
began the work of looking up a suitable fence for the statue, and
40 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
of preparation to carry out the provisions of this act. One of the
first difficulties which was encountered was that the park had never
been properly surveyed, plotted or mapped. Applications were
made to the State Engineer's Office, and by and with the consent
and advice of the Comptroller, the work of surveying the state
property was begun. This was found to be a very difficult task, as
the property in that vicinity is all bounded by other people 's lines,
making the matter of boundaries very indefinite. It was discovered
that the State Engineer's office had no funds of its own with
which to work, and that it was the custom for each State Depart-
ment which employed the State Engineer's office to pay that De-
partment for its work. With the approval of the Comptroller it
was decided to establish a base line on the south, and to run east
and west lines as far as the D. & H. R. R. on the north. In ord^r
to establish the southern base line it was necessary to take it from a
stone monument on French Mountain to an established point on
Lots 2 and 3 of the old Webster Survey of 1810. From this the
eastern line was determined which was the most important on
account of the claims of the Town of Caldwell and other people
to land abutting on the highway or Fort George road leading to
the lake. It was decided to fence in these two lines, but up to
the present time nothing has been done as other matters have
arisen which made it seem best to diefer action for the present
The expense of the survey so far is $384.35. It should be con-
tinued and finished so as to give an accurate survey and map of
all four sides of the property. So far as we have gone the work
has been well done, permanent monuments set and final lines
established.
The Society of Colonial Wars hearing that we proposed to
construct a suitable fence around their statue, took up the mat-
ter requesting that they might be allowed to contribute a sum of
money in addition to that expendied by the state, which would
erect a fence in keeping with the beauty and purpose of the mon-
ument. Their request was gladly acceded to by the committee,
and it is the intention of your committe as soon as the matter is
in concrete shape to meet with the officers of that society and de-
cide upon the fence.
The question of cleaning up the park by trimming out brush,
undergrowth, etc., having come up, it was found that there might
LAKE GEOKGE BATTLE GROUND PAKK. 41
be a technical objection to this on the part of the State Forest, Pish
and Game Commission, so the matter was submitted to the Comp-
troller and the State Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner. Both
these officers have expressed their willingness and desire to help
the Association out in any way they can. The matter has been
submitted by both departments to the Attorney General of the
State, whose decision has not yet been rendered.
Owing to the necessity of proceeding along legal lines not as
much progress has been made by your committee as had been
hoped at the time the appropriation was secured. It is expected
however, before the next annual meeting, that the improvements
will all be made, and the park become, what it properly should
be, a desirable visiting place for those who love and reverence the
history of their own commonwealth.
During the past winter it was found necessary to cut down
a large decayed tree which threatened to break down, had it fal-
len, some of the buildings on the place.
At the suggestion of your committee, Thomas J. Smith, Sher-
iff of Warren County, has appointed William Cheney, the resi-
dent caretaker of the park, as a special deputy sheriff, to keep
and protect the peace in and around the park.
A copy of the Association Bill accompanies this report.
Respectfully submitted,
JAMES A. HOLDEN,
GRENVILLE M. INGALSBE,
ELWYN SEELYE,
Com. on Lake George Park.
LAWS OF NEW YORK.
Chap. 521.
AN ACT to provide for the erection of a suitable iron fence around
the monument erected] by the Society of Colonial Wars on the
Lake George battle ground park, owned by the State of New
York ; for the construction of a suitable footpath from the Lake
George beach to the said monument; for the cleaning up of the
paths and roads around the said park, and erection of boundary
fences wherever necessary.
Became a law June 18, 1910, with the approval of the Governor.
Passed, three-fifths being present.
42 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate
and Assembly, do enact as follows :
Section 1. The New York State Historical Association is here-
by authorized to erect a suitable iron fence around the monument
erected by the Society of Colonial Wars on the Lake George battle
ground park, owned by the State of New York, and to construct a
suitable footpath from the Lake George beach to the said monu-
ment, and to clean up the paths and- roads around the said park,
and to erect boundary fences wherever necessary at an expense
not to exceed the sum of fifteen hundred dollars. And the sum of
fifteen hundred dollars ($1500), or as much thereof as may be
necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the treasury
not otherwise appropriated, for the proper carrying out of the pro-
visions of this act, the same to be paid by the treasurer on a war-
rant of the comptroller on proper vouchers duly certified, by the
treasurer of said the New York State Historical Association.
Sec. 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK, )
Office of the Secretary of State. >
I have compared the preceding with the original law on file
in this office, and do certify that the same is a correct transcript
therefrom and of the whole of said original law;.
SAMUEL S. KOENIG,
Secretary of State.
UNVEILING OF T1CONDEROGA TABLET.
BY HON. CLAYTON H. DELANO, Ticonderoga, N. Y.
Mr. President, Members of the Historical Society, Citizens of
Ticonderoga :
It is a common saying that "history repeats itself," that is,
given similar conditions, issues, antagonizing forces and environ-
ment, similar results will undoubtedly follow; but if so, shall we
again find all the conditions and forces that made memorable this
spot, antedating by many years the American Revolution, and cul-
minating with that historic event ? Where else on this or any other
continent have two nations of red men and three nations of white
men contended for supremacy on the same ground, and consecrated
with their blood the same historic field of battle ?
This is to-day, and always was, a beautiful section of our
country, as fashioned by the Creative Hand, and should forever be
dedicated to the arts of peace; but its topography was such that
through this narrow valley, with Mount Defiance upon one hand
and the foot hills of the Adirondacks upon the other, must pass the
different tribes of the two great Indian families, the Iroquois and
the Algonquins, as well as the Bangers of Rogers, Putnam and
Stark, and the trained soldiery of Abercromby, Amherst and Mont-
icalm.
The Iroquois— or the five nations, as they are often called in
history— embraced the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and
Seneca tribes; and later the Tuscaroras were added to their num-
ber, making six tribes banded together for mutual protection and
conquest. They were noted among all the Indian nations as fore-
most in war, eloquence and native diplomacy; they were haughty,
over-bearing and domineering. They were the original New
Yorkers, as their home was principally within the limits of that
territory which afterwards became the Empire State of the Union.
Their pride was as lofty as the mountains of their native land.
They called themselves "the men surpassing all others". We are
told that although at the stage of their greatest prosperity they
44 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
had no more than four thousand warriors, yet such was their war-
like spirit that they overran the whole land east of the Mississippi,
carrying terror, torture and death to whatever tribe opposed them.
Their principal village was in the Onondaga valley where
they had a Council House, and where representatives of the dif-
ferent tribes composing the nation assembled at the call of their
chiefs, and decided upon incursions into the enemies' country, or
the fate of prisoners taken by stratagem or in battle. Their forays
into the land of the Algonquins were so successful that many of
the tribes of that nation paid tribute to their conquerors, and their
warriors were by them designated as "women", which expressed
the supreme contempt of the Indian for whoever would not fight
with courage or meet death by the most cruel torture with stoical
indifference.
I have recounted thus briefly the history and some of the noted
characteristics of the Iroquois, that we may gather some idea of
the character of the people who, for how many centuries we know
not, dominated this land and passed to and fro through this valley
in their incursions into Canada to fight their enemy, the Algon-
quins, before the advent of the white man gave them a sturdier
foe, and changed the wilderness into cultivated fields and the In-
dian villages into teeming cities and prosperous towns.
Here were their war-path and hunting trail; here at the foot
of these falls they launched their rude canoes to traverse the waters
of the great lake, long before Champlain had given it a name, and
probably long before a white man had discovered any part of the
American Continent.
What more natural than that, when the white man did appear,
to dispute with the Aborigine his title to the land, he should follow
Indian trails in opening military roads through the dense forests?
So we find the landing-place of the Indians at the foot of these
Falls, and the carry from there to Lake George became the mili-
tary road traversed by the armies of France, England and the
Colonies and over which their bateaux were carried from lake to
lake.
More than a century and a half has elapsed since the construc-
tion of that road, yet its location at some points can be traced to-
day. Commencing at the foot of these Falls, its Lake George ter-
UNVEILING OF TABLET. 45
minal was just at the rocky barrier at the foot of the Lake known
to-day as the "Rapids," which at that time did not allow the pas-
sage of a boat except at seasons of high water. The boat channels
you find there now have been made by the mill owners on the Upper
Falls, within the last one hundred years, for the purpose of float-
ing logs to their mills. There was a small fortified camp at this
place, located in all probability on the rising ground just this side
of where Joseph Joubert now lives. This has been a fertile field
for relics of colonial wars for many years ; those which Mr. Joubert
has found and retains he will very kindly show to interested par-
ties, and they are well worth a visit to his place. Another forti-
fied .camp was located on the west shore opposite, and another not
far from the place known as Howe's Landing, while a battery
above the rapids protected the road and camps.
It was by this road crossing that the forces of Abercromby,
after the untimely death of Lord Howe, marched on their way to
the investment of Carillon. Preparatory to this, he despatched:
Lieut. Col. Bradstreet with one regiment of regulars, six companies
of royal Americans and a body of Rangers to take possession of
the French Camp and saw mill located there, which had been
abandoned by Montcalm the day before. This saw mill was lo-
cated at the foot of these falls, but as the ground below and to the
south was much broken by deep ravines and wholly unsuitable for
the encampment of an army of several thousand men, we must and
d'o assume that the fortified camp occupied by Montcalm was lo-
cated on the only level ground available, which was in the bend of
the river above the Falls, where is now located the business part of
the village of Ticonderoga, just at the left of the tablet we are
gathered to unveil to-day, while the saw mill and carry were at
the right, and the approach to the bridge over the stream was di-
rectly in front of this tablet.
It was here, at this saw mill and in this fortified camp, aban-
doned by the French for a better position, that Abercromby on the
evening of July 7, 1758, concentrated his army of fourteen thou-
sand men. It was here that he awaited1 with high hopes the ad-
vent of the morning of July 8th, when, at early dawn, his forces
began their march to attack the French, who awaited them behind
their hastily constructed fortifications on the high ground a short
46 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
distance north of Fort Chillon,— an encounter that ended in humil-
iating defeat for Abercromby and his army. That evening they
began their retreat by the same route over which they marched in
the morning, crossed again the bridge at the head of the Falls,
which Bradstreet had rebuilt after its destruction by Montcalm,
continued their retreat past the location of this tablet up over the
old military road to Lake George, where they embarked on their
way to Albany, the starting-point of the expedition.
While historians agree that the French commenced in 1756 a
saw mill at the first fall on the outlet of Lake George as you pass
up the stream from Lake Champlain about two miles, they do not
state with accuracy upon which bank of the stream the mill was
located ; but in the second volume of a voluminous history of Cana-
da by William Kingsford may be found a map made at an early
date, showing this mill to have been at the foot of these falls on the
south side of the stream, where are now located these paper mills,
not far from where this commemorative tablet has been placed.
Then we must consider that the natural site for such a mill would
be at the landing for boats where navigation ended and the carry
to Lake George began.
The building of Fort Carillon was commenced in 1755, and
this mill was for the purpose of sawing lumber for bateaux and
material to be used in the construction of the Fort and for housing
the troops engaged in its defence, this fort being the last fortified
outpost of France on the great highway of traffic and' travel be-
tween the Canadian and American Colonies. Although France had
numerous fortifications on the St. Lawrence, the Great Lakes and
farther in the interior (as she then claimed all the territory west
of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio), yet her claim in this
direction ended at Ticonderoga, and Forts Carillon and St. Fred-
erick were her principal defences on Lake Champlain.
St. Frederick had been built in 1731, but Carillon was not be-
gun until twenty-four years afterward and completed in 1757.
It was constructed entirely of wood, and though occupying about
the same ground, should not be confounded with the English fort
afterward constructed, of which you see the ruins to-day.
Before the erection of Carillon, the American Rangers under
Putnam and Rogers found four fortified camps along the old In-
UNVEILING OF TABLET. 47
dian trail in the valley between Lakes George and: Champlain for
its protection. They were often passing this way on foraging
expeditions against the French at Crown Point, with scouting par-
ties to harass the enemy and gain information for the benefit of
the colonies and the mother country, as England for much of the
time was at war with France and coveted her American possessions.
These expeditions often caused great hardship to the Rangers and
were not always attended with favorable results.
It is related that, as late as midwinter of 1757, Rogers and his
Rangers in one of these expeditions captured two French soldiers
and butchered some fifteen head of cattle close to Fort Carillon,
and tied to the horns of one of them a note addressed to the officer
in charge of the Fort in these terms:— "I am obliged to you Sir
for the rest you have allowed me to take, and the fresh meat you
have sent me. I shall take good care of my prisoners. My com-
pliments to the Marquis of Montcalm.— Rogers."
It is worthy to note here that there was a trail back of Rogers
Rock Mountain commencing at Cook's Bay and running down
through Trout Brook or Lord Howe Valley, terminating at the
Falls here. Over this trail Rogers andj his Rangers often passed,
and once, after having suffered defeat with serious loss at the hands
of the French and their Indian allies, the remnant of his band es-
caped by this trail to Lake George and safety. Whatever may
have been Roger 's faults, cowardice was not one of them ; and what
more fitting monument could he have than the massive rock that
bears his name, near the foot of the lake that often carried him and
his Rangers on its peaceful bosom?
The battle of Yorktowh, the defeat and the surrender of Corn-
wallis, had practically closed the war of the Revolution in 1781.
Peace negotiations were dragging slowly along, when General Wash-
ington urged upon Congress the disbandment of the army, and his
own retirement to a coveted private life, after eight years of in-
cessant effort and anxiety as Commander-in-Chief of the armies of
the new-born Republic.
The British army, humiliated by defeat, was preparing to
embark at New York and abandon all further effort to subjugate
Great Britian's rebellious colonies. Pending this event, which did
not take place until November 25, 1783, Washington decided to
48 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
inspect the fortifications along the northern frontiers of the coun-
try, none of which he had ever visited ; so, on the 16th day of July,
1783, he wrote to the President of Congress as follows: "I have
resolved to wear away a little time in performing a tour to the
northward as far as Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and perhaps
as far up the Mohawk as Fort Schuyler. I shall leave this place
on Friday next, arid shall probably be gone about two weeks, ' ' He
also wrote on the fifteenth to Philip Schuyler:
' * I have entertained a great desire to see the northern part of
this State before I returned to the Southward. The present irk-
some interval, while we are waiting for the definite treaty, affords
an opportunity of gratifying this inclination. I have therefore
concerted with Gov. Clinton to make a tour to reconnoitre those
places where the most remarkable posts were established and the
ground which became famous as the theatre of action in 1777.
Mr. Damler, assistant Quartermaster, General, precedes us to make
arrangements, and particularly to have some light boats provided
and transported to Lake George, that we may not be delayed on our
arrival there."
To carry out his intentions, he left his headquarters at New-
burg, New York, on the morning of July 18, and sailing up the
Hudson, in company with Gov. Clinton, passed Albany and the old
village of Saratoga to Fort Edward where Fort Lyman was lo-
cated, and where water navigation on the Hudson terminated and
the carry to Lake George began. Prior to 1755 there was only an
Indian trail to this beautiful Lake, but in the month of August of
that year General, afterwards Sir William Johnson, with a body
of regulars, Colonial troops and Indians, wishing to reach the Lake
with his wagon train in an expedition against the French, sent a
gang of axemen to cut a road through the wilderness, over which
his wagons and army, on the 26th of the month, commenced a la-
borious passage ; and so rough was the road that only at the end of
two days did he succeed in reaching the lake, fourteen miles dis-
tant from Fort Edward.
It was twenty-eight years after this event that Washington
journeyed over this same road. As it had been in almost constant
use for that period by the armies of Great Britian, the Colonies and
their Indian allies, it was probably in much better condition than
UNVEILING OF TABLET. 49
when Johnson hewed his way here through the forests. Having
reached the Lake, Washington and his companions embarked on its
waters for Ticonderoga, and about the 20th of July, 1783, one hun-
dfred and twenty-seven years ago, he reached this even then historic
place.
Washington 's own account of this trip is very meagre indeed,
but as his journey to Crown Point was undoubtedly by water, after
passing over the old military road between the two lakes, he must
have embarked at the foot of the Palls, near where we now stand,
and having inspected the fortifications around which so many im-
portant events then clustered, proceeded on his way to inspect Fort
Amherst, at Crown Point, the end of his journey in this direction.
I find nothing definite as to his return trip until he reached
Saratoga, when he decided to visit the Springs in that town, at that
time only two in number, known as High Rock and Flat Rock
Springs, and located where the village of Saratoga Springs now
stands. So pleased were he and Gov. Clinton with the water, and
so impressed with its value, that they decided to jointly purchase
the High Rock Spring and the land surrounding it. It was left
for Gov. Clinton to secure the property, but on investigation it
was found that some members of the then prominent Livingston
family had already purchased it, so Washington did not become
an owner of this coveted spring, or a land owner in the State of
New York.
He continued his journey, passing up the Mohawk by boat and
carry as far as Fort Schuyler. At this time there was a good
wagon road from Albany to Schenectady, but from that point on
the journey was by bateaux, or flat bottom boats managed by two
men, called bateaux men. While they used oars to propel the boat
in deep water, in main" places it was so shallow that they were
obliged to use setting poles, and past the carrying-places the boats
were hauled by settlers' teams on sledges. Washington, having
reached Fort Schuyler, returned to Albany, arriving there August
4, and at Newburg the next day in the afternoon, just nineteen
days from the time of his departure,— a trip that now could be
made leisurely in about four days.
The next day, the 6th of August, he wrote to James McHenry,
in reply to a communication received from that gentleman, as fol-
lows : ' * After a tour of seven hundred and fifty miles performed
50 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
in nineteen days, I returned to this place yesterday afternoon,
where I found your favor of the 31st ultimo, intimating a resolu-
tion of Congress for calling me to Princeton, partly, as it would
seem, on my own account, and partly for the purpose of giving
aid to Congress." He proceeded to Princeton where he received
the thanks of Congress, through the President of that body, for
the conspicuous part he had taken in prosecuting to a successful
issue the war of the revolution and founding on the American Con-
tinent what has proved to be an enduring Republic.
Let us now consider another important event connected with
the early history of this locality.
Benjamin Franklin was born in the city of Boston, of well-to-
do parents, January 6th, 1708. Not really satisfied with the work
his relatives found for him to do, he started out early in life to seek
fame and fortune. This brought him to the city of Philadelphia,
which he reached by boat on the Delaware River, a body of water
made memorable by the crossing of Washington many years after-
ward. Franklin himself relates that, on landing in the city he
purchased three loaves, or rolls, of bread, and with one under each
arm and eating the third as he walked, he passed up one of the
principal streets in the city of ''Brotherly Love" in search of em-
ployment. This he readily found, and this city became his home
where he attained the fame and secured the fortune of his early
ambition, and where death closed his memorable career years after-
wards.
To be sure, you may say that since that time many a young
man has started out in life with just as many arms as Franklin
had, but fewer loaves of bread and less influential friends, and
still achieved wealth and distinction. However this may be, at
the breaking out of the war between the Colonies and the Mother
Country, Franklin bore a conspicuous part in the momentous strug-
gle thus begun.
He was then sixty-eight years of age, a statesman, philosopher
and diplomat, a man of great learning, ability and influence in the
Colonies; so to no one else could Congress more readily turn to
carry on delicate and important negotiations with the adjoining
province of Canada, looking to the co-operation of that country in
the endieavor to secure freedom from a rule that had become intol-
erable.
UNVEILING OF TABLET. 51
From the very commencement of the struggle of the Colonies
for their independence, efforts had frequently been made to induce
the Canadians to join in it, and to send delegates to the American
Congress. At this time a large part of Canada was occupied by
American troops. To further this hope of the assistance of Cana-
da and its final union with the Colonies, Congress appointed Com-
missioners to proceed to that country with full powers to bring
about such a result. The Commissioners appointed were Benja-
min Franklin, Samuel Chase and Charles Carroll. They left Phila-
delphia on their mission about March 20, 1776, passing through
Ticonderoga, embarking here at the foot of these Falls, April 21,
following, but, encountering much broken ice in Lake Champlain,
they did not reach Montreal until the end of the month, having
been over six weeks on their journey from Philadelphia to that
city. Much of the way the roads were almost impassable, and the
water navigation slow and dangerous. Notwithstanding its hard-
ships and the great ability of the Commissioners, this mission was
a failure. To Franklin, advanced in years and somewhat impaired
in health, the journey had proved a very trying one, but he ar-
rived in Philadelphia early in the following June, about three
months from the date of his departure. It is to this mission, how-
ever, that we owe the presence of Franklin here in 1776, thus early
in the war of the Revolution, and can inscribe that fact on this
memorial tablet.
I have thus briefly called to your attention some of the events
that have made famous the name Ticonderoga. May this tablet,
erected on this historic spot, commemorating these events, be an
inspiration to the youth of the town, through all future genera-
tions, creating in them a greater love for the land made memorable
by the heroic deeds of the fathers, and through that example, in-
spiring in them a loftier patriotism, higher ideals concerning their
civic duties and broader conceptions of their own relations to soc-
iety and government. May it teach them that living for self alone
is a low, meagre, unsatisfying life, that the true patriot and loyal
citizen rises above and despises the petty thievery and larger graft
of the self-seeking individual who lives that he may plunder, not
serve the state.
As our children and our children's children read the inscrip-
tion on this tablet, may they understand its full significance ; may
52 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
they appreciate how appropriate it is that at this particular point
it should be placed, commemorating, as it does, so many stirring
events and history-making achievements.
Here were the hunting trail and war-path of the most power-
ful of Indian tribes. Here passed and repassed the armies of
France and Great Britian, as well as the sturdy soldiers and rangers
of the Colonies. Here waved in the breeze, both in peace and war,
the lilies of France and the cross of St. George, to be supplanted
ultimately and forever by the star-gemmed banner of our own Re-
public.
Here Washington and Franklin embarked on their missions
of inspection and diplomacy. Here stood Rogers, Putnam and
Stark, Abercromby, Amherst and Montcalm, conspicuous figures
and important factors in the struggle that preceded the subjuga-
tion of the wilderness and led up to the founding here of a Republic
which was to become a refuge for the oppressed of every land and
clime.
Stephen A. Douglas once said] of his native state, "It is a
good state to be born in, provided you emigrate early." While
this may or may not have been an exact statement of fact, we do
not hesitate to say and feel that it is appropriate to say it here and
now,— that Ticonderoga is not only a good town to be born in, but
it is a good town to live in. Yet, while we have a pride in our own
town, while we cherish the memories of past events that, like a
galaxy of stars, cluster around her history and make this hallowed
ground, let us not forget the lessons they should teach,— that,
while the past may be secure, while its history may be resplendent
with historic deeds, the present is in our care, the future is what
we may help to make it, and just as we are faithful to our trust,
just as we grasp the unrivalled opportunities of our day and gene-
ration, shall we be worthy of the age in which we live, as well as
worthy of the history this tablet commemorates.
Now, Mr. President, on behalf of the Ticonderoga Pulp & Paper
Company, through its officers and directors, I am requested to pre-
sent to your society and the citizens of Ticonderoga this memorial
tablet. This has been to me a pleasant duty, and in committing
this memorial to your care, I am sure it is being placed in safe and
appreciative hands.
ADDRESS OF WELCOME.
By MRS. JOSEPH COOK, Ticonderoga, N. Y.
Mr. President, Members of the New York State Historical As-
sociation, Ladies and Gentlemen: —
We, members of the Ticonderoga Historical Society, bid you
welcome to the shores of this beautiful lake older to history than
Plyn.outh Rock.
While our happy lot is cast in this American Interlaken— for
the meaning of the musical Indian name Ticonderoga is the same
as the Swiss Interlaken, between the Lakes— yet we know that its
remarkable history is a national heritage and possession.
Did you ever happen to notice that there is but one Ticonde-
roga? So Lippincott's Gazetteer tells us. The famous cities of the
world, London, Paris, Rome, Athens, Jerusalem, have scores of
namesakes of little or no renown, but Ticonderoga has no dupli-
cate. Think how strange this unknown Indian name must have
sounded to the startled ears of Duncan Campbell when his murder-
ed cousin bade him * ' Farewell, till we meet at Ticonderoga. ' ' Per-
sonally I am proud of this dignified and well authenticated ghost
story told in verse by Robert Louis Stevenson, and the Marquis of
Lome, and in prose by Dean Stanley, Miss Gordon-Gumming, Sir
Thomas Dick Lauder, Francis Parkman, in the appendix to his
"Montcalm and Wolfe," and Robert 0. Bascom before your own
Association in 1901.
It can not be said that the citizens of Ticonderoga have been
indifferent to the fact that here was enacted what Carlyle calls
World-history, for in 1864, on the hundreth anniversary of the set-
tlement of the town, there was a great popular demonstration with
a poem, an oration, and speeches, but, after that celebration, there
was a subsidence of the wave of public interest, broken in 1878 by
the erection of a tablet to Lord Howe at or near the spot where he
fell on that fateful July morning in 1758. Where he was buried
is still an open question, but there is no question but 'that his brave
54 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
spirit took its flight at the confluence of Trout Brook with the
waters of Lake George. The finding of the stone, which we Ticon-
derogians believe marked his burial place, by a workman in 1889
caused another wave of historic interest but it was not until 1897
that our Historical Society was formed. W. T. Bryan, the editor
of our local paper, the Sentinel, was the first president, but it made
very little difference who the officers were so long as the society
had Frederick B. Richards as its secretary. His energy and en-
thusiasm and initative were superb. And later, when Secretary
Richards had left town, our Historical Society received a tremend-
ous uplift by the appointment of Dr. W. A. E. Cummings as its
president. If you want to know the full significance of the expres-
sion "Two are a team" harness together Dr. Cummings and Sec-
retary Richards for an historical pull and the thing is sure to go.
The winter before the Tercentenary celebration, the whole
town devoted time and talent to the investigation and exploitation
of local history. Speeches were made by lawyers, doctors, minis-
ters, merchants, educators, and — women. An historical chart was
hung in all school rooms and the children required to memorize a
dozen or more descriptive dates from 1609 to 1783, when George
Washington, in company with General Clinton, visited the Fort.
Two little neighbors of mine, ten and eleven years of age, reel-
ed off to me one summer day these dates and what they meant with
such fluency and apparent comprehension that I was positively
thrilled to think of all Ticonderoga school children so well inform-
ed as to what made their birthplace famous.
Dean Stanley is quoted by his biographer Prothero as saying
that after Niagara, the most interesting spot in America is Fort
Ticonderoga. He came to our town on his last visit to America
in 1878. He reached the Burleigh House in a November rain and
those of us who live in Ticonderoga know that its mud sticketh
closer than a brother. However, the Dean was not daunted and
fortunately he had as cicerone Rev. T. W. Jones, a Welshman,
who knew Dean Stanley's eminent position as historian and church-
man. The tablet to Lord Howe had been erected the previous
summer. This spot they visited and naturally the Dean of West-
minster appreciated the motto on the stone: "Massachusetts erect-
Photo by S. R. Stoddard, Ciena Falls
1910 MEETING N. Y. S. HIST. ASSN.
An Evening Meeting on the Steamer Vermont
The" Pulpitania" Carrying Excursioniata From Steamer to Old Fort Ti
ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 55
ed a monument to him in Westminster Abbey. Ticonderoga places
here this memorial."
Members of the New York State Historical Association, look-
ing at your first published Report in 1901, a slender volume of 79
pages, and contrasting it with your latest issue of stately pro-
portions, containing 445 pages of valuable material, you are to be
congratulated on this remarkable growth in less than a decade and
on the fact that you are putting in permanent form for future
generations these painstaking researches of historical experts.
RESPONSE FOR NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL
ASSOCIATION.
By VICE PRESIDENT SHERMAN WILLIAMS, Pd. D.
It affords the members of our Association great pleasure to
visit this historic town, the place about wihich are clustered more
events of historic importance, than can be found in any other place
in America. The pleasure is doubled when one is received with
such a welcome as has been extended to us, a welcome having add-
ed force because of the gracious kindness of the one extending it,
and a still added interest because of her association with one who
did so much to keep alive in the minds of men many historical
events that 'took place here that otherwise would be known only to
the historical specialist.
To you, Mrs. Cooke, and to the people whom you have so well
represented, in the name of our association, I return sincere thanks
for the hearty welcome you have given us.
THE SETTING OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN HISTORY.
BY JOHN M. CLARKE, LL. D.
Director N. Y. State Museum, Albany, N. Y.
When the traveler is whirled along the rounding shores and
through the cliffs of this valley or piloted over the surface of its
waters, howsoever he may be impressed with its natural beauties,
it is rarely that he seeks to grasp the real source of them. The
historian, busied in commemorating the vivid human events
which here have left their mark on the records of the nation, sel-
dom stops to ask why these critical juxtapositions have happened
in such a place. All the progress of human events in any place
is too often assumed to be a chance unguided by nature; it thus
happened that matters so fell out, and the train of events which
led to them, if seen at all, is only in closest perspective.
The truth lies far away from any such conception. Man has
never been in reality the arbiter of his own fortunes but his his-
tory has been at the mercy of physical forces and events, more
ancient, more fundamental and more enduring than his slender
maneuverings.
There would have been no such record of events as this lake
commemorates, no marching of armies or sailing of fleets through
this picturesque spot; there could have been no struggle which
was to decide here the perpetuation of our nation, of one human
stock, of one language and one form of civil polity over another
in a great section of the western hemisphere, if the ages before
these issues were born had not made the stage on which the de-
cisive acts were to be played out.
The trains of action that constitute human history are so
closely knit to geography that they are little else than one of its
natural effects. We are apt to forget this; the narrower our
radius, the closer we stick to our latitude and longitude, the less
we range the broad earth and expand our horizon, the easier it
is to think wrongly, illogically or immorally of human history.
THE SETTING OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN HISTORY. 57
I may say immorally, for the geography of our planet has as in-
fallibly been the guide of human morals as of human history.
Geography however is but a present expression of geological
forces and effects. As we are wont to use the term, geography
means the existing configuration of the earth ; but its exact mean-
ing is of far wider scope, for the earth's geography has been
changing from its beginning and it is not today what it was yes-
terday or will be tomorrow. History is indeed not the bare train
of events through which human society has arrived at its present
state. Such events by themselves are sterile things, not always in-
spiring, nor are their records always read aright, Walpole ad-
vised his son to read all else but history for that Avas a barren
mass of lies. Back of the events of history is the philosophy
which gave them birth, the struggle of ideas rather than of men,
the determination of future cultures rather than the achievement
of the ambitions of sovereigns, the hopes of settlers or the com-
fort of the people.
The events of history registered on these commemorated spots,
the shifting and conflicting procession of human interests, the tides
of antagonistic ideals, which advanced and ebbed again through
the Champlain valley, must find their philosophic setting in the
very existence of the valley, its configuration, the causes which
brought it into being. The predominance in America of the Eng-
lish tongue and the independence of the American republic, so far
as these results were determined by the events of this valley, find
the ultimate causes of their realization here in those throes of na-
ture which brought this place into existence. Let us then take a
backward glance over these preparative events.
In the remote past of the earth where time is reckoned in
work done, not years, and the mists hang like a fog bank where
the . most experienced skipper must navigate by dead reckoning,
it is not always easy to find a single cause or one grand effect
which may be taken as a starting point for a long chain of changes
lasting through a great part of geological history.
The valley of Champlain, its lake and its drainage, is insepar-
ably conected in origin with the majestic and historic St. Law-
rence river; as with their human history, both share a common
geologic birth and progress.
58 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
The intrepid Malouin, Cartier, the first white man to have the
credit of wetting keel in the St. Lawrence, after having taken
possession of New France in the name of his sovereign, would
have found no passage for his vessel, and Champlain none for his
little craft on the Lake which now bears his name, had not a series
of ancient disturbances in the crust of the earth, alike in their
date and nature, combined to produce both these valleys.
The great mass of hard granites and their associated rocks
which now make the Adirondack mountains and extend over vast
reaches of Canada to Labrador on the east and toward the Yukon
on the west, were for the most part laid down as sediments in the
quiet waters of the primitive ocean. Soon they became shot
through with the molten rocks which lay just beneath the thin
but thickening crust and in time all was raised together above
the ocean's edge as the majestic mountains of the first continent.
So intense were the stresses to which they were subjected that
the originally soft sediments of the ocean mixed with the soft
lavas oozing into them from beneath, became the resistant solid
heart of the great Laurentain mountains whose apex is the Adi-
rondacks and which the geologist calls the "Canadian shield."
About the edges of this Canadian shield or primitive continent
the ocean waters still laid down their sediments of mud and sand,
lapping its margins then as they do today along the coasts of
Labrador. As the ages lapsed, these newer sediments heaped
themselves to a great thickness and little by little under the slow
process of time were pressed out and dried into limestones and
sandstones and shales, which still carry in their substance now the
remains of the animals whose lives were played out over these
successive ocean bottoms. Thus lay the great Canadian shield
tough and hard as an iron cap over northeastern America, sur-
rounded and partly overlapped by the softer rocks of the ancient
paleozoic ages, when first began the series of tremendous strains
and stresses in the earth's crust which turned up the softer rocks
into the successive mountain ranges of the Appalachians.
It was a great lateral shove of these soft rocks against the
harder, a mighty pressure from the depths of the Atlantic ocean
basin shoreward, and the softer rocks were crumpled into moun-
tains waves like sheets of paper. Like an impregnable redoubt
THE SETTING OP LAKE CHAMPLAIN HISTORY. 59
the Canadian shield stood unmoved under the assaults of these
rock Waves and along the line where the hard and the softer rocks
met a profound rift was made through the earth's crust. Today
the traveler through the lower St. Lawrence sees at the north the
low and rounded granite hills of this tough Canadian shield
which have withstood all assaults of time save the eternal wear
of water and weather, while on the south shore rise in majestic
elevation the broken cliffs of limestone, sandstone and shale
pushed to these heights against the granite mountains on the other
side. On Lake Champlain the western shore of old crystallines
lies high and sheer Avhile the contours of the downsunken eastern
shore are low and gentle.
The deep and long break across the rocks which outlined the
course of the future St. Lawrence river is sometimes known as
' ' Logan 's fault, ' ' taking its name from the eminent Canadian geo-
logist who determined its existence. Subsidiary or coeval seems
to have been the downbreak which determined the Champlain
valley. The St. Lawrence and its confluent valley, the Cham-
plain, are the oldest waterways on the earth. Together they have
been, first, one long channel through which has flowed the sea that
separated the parts of the growing continent, varying in theif
function but never changed in their position from the early dawn
of geological time.
It would be hardly correct to say that the valley of Lake
Champlain wfts made by the breaking down of the rock strata
along a single joint or rift. It seems more likely that the great
strains which caused the rocks of the crust to break, here pro-
duced a parallel series of northeast and southwest rifts ex-
tending to such great depths that the unsupported blocks of rock
bounded by these rifts were either pinched out of place or settled
deep downward under their own weight. So to make the Cham-
plain valley, such a great block has probably dropped downward,
more at the west than on the east, has in fact while sinking been
tilted over so that its western side sank deeper and left the walls
of the next adjoining block on the west high and steep, as they
now stand from Port Henry to Bluff Point. This lake lies in a
valley which was a zone of fracture and crushing and, being so,
60 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
was the line of least resistance to the moving and eroding waters
whether of the sea or land.
Thus the Champlain valley was born, and whatever may be
the changes through which it has passed, the down faulted rocks
still remain the controlling cause of its existence. It is easy to
understand that such a downbreak of the rocks extending from
the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Montreal and probably farther west,
and thence south along the course of this lake, must have brought
into existence a condition of weakness and unstable equilibrium in
the rocks which did not exist before the ruptures occurred. We do
not know from any records in the rocks themselves, how often or
how much since these primal disturbances the displacements of
great rock masses may have continued. It is quite likely they have
often renewed and even today we may doubt if a final equilibrium
has been reached in all their parts. There are records in human
history which indicate the continuation of these attempts at re-
adjustment. In 1663, after the French had long been well estab-
lished from Gaspe up to Hochelaga and beyond, and the religious
establishments at Quebec and Tadousac were keeping record of
the doings along the river, occurred a great earthquake of which
we have somewhat hysterical accounts in the reports sent back
to France at the time by the Jesuit fathers and the Mother In-
tendant of the Convent of the Incarnation at Quebec. But if we
subtract all that is necessary from these contemporary stories,
imbued with the uncomprehending superstition of the times, there
remains evidence that there did occur along this great line of
Logan's fault, which marks the course of the St. Lawrence river,
a readjustment of the rock strata that set the country to. vibrating
in a way that has never been equalled in the earthquake annals of
North America. The earth along the valley was torn and rent, the
forests were overthrown, the great river was turned from its
course in places; old streams disappeared and new waters issued
from the ground. For seven years this region was shaken by ever
lessening disturbances and for forty years after, travelers in the
country recorded the evidence of this tremendous convulsion. On
Lake Champlain, which lay within the zone of influence of such
a disturbance, stands Mt. Trembleau. I do not know that its name
records the experience with these earthquakes of some French
THE SETTING OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN HISTORY. 61
settlers on the lake but there is reason to so believe. We can not
look back over the two hundred and fifty years that have lapsed
and estimate these disturbances as remote. To geology they are
but as yesterday and for every yesterday there is a tomorrow.
A second stage in the history of the Champlain valley was
during the early paleozoic days when it served as the Levis Chan-
nel, a sea way -connecting the great interior marine waters which
then covered the greater part of the middle United States, with
the Atlantic ocean outside, by the way of the St. Lawrence river.
Then there lay solid land to the east of this passage covering the
New England states and reaching farther seaward than it does to-
day. It was a free though narrow channel into which swarmed
the sea life of the time whose remains we now find buried in the
rocks which lie on the summits of broken strata of an earlier date.
This open sea way through the Champlain valley is most
ancient; it dates back to that period which the geologist calls he
Early Silurian, when most of the present western continent was
submerged beneath the ocean waters ; and the close of this age was
marked by the elevation of the Champlain valley beyond &e reach
of the salt waters; and so it follows that when these ocean
waters after long ages had at length departed, no more
rocks were formed in the valley. Its foundations had been laid and
all its rock beds were completed before these waters were ex-
cluded. With this elevation the region became a part of the con-
tinent and began its long career as a drainage way for the fresh
waters of the great new land. Not till still longer ages after
this did the salt waters ever reenter this valley.
From the departure of the ocean waters to their return are, to
the geologist, the dark ages in the history of the valley. We know
very little else of the real doings here during those great stretches
of time which we term the later Paleozoic, the Mesozoic and the
Tertiary ages when elsewhere on the earth thousands of feet of
rock strata were laid down by successive seas, than that the land
wjaters flowed through the valley, sometimes to the north to join
the St. Lawrence and sometimes south into the interior or to meet
the ancient Hudson river. Whether the water moved to the south
or to the north depended on the tilting of the land. But of this
important fact we have a definite knowledge; during these ages
62 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
its rivers were wearing away the towering summits of the Adi-
rondacks, bringing them by erosion and the transportation of
their decay down toward their present level, while the main trunk
of the stream itself was engaged in widening out its valley back
to the base of the mountains as they stand today.
In these ancient sediments teeming still with the life of the
old Levis sea, the valley lies to day as it has since its beginning.
The only addition to them are the loose sands and clays which
hang upon the hillsides or rest on the more gently sloping shores
and these all pertain to the later stages in the history of the lake,
to which, after this long blank in its records, we may now turn.
When the waters of the present lake are very low, as they
were in the dry summer of 1908, they uncover a series of wave
cut shelves in the rocky ledges which are now, under normal con-
ditions of the water, much below the reach of wave action. These
are believed to represent the shore lines of a lake, just a little
smaller than that of today, which dated back to a time preceding
the advance of the ice-sheet— that controlling factor of the glacial
period which so profoundly modified the topography of our
country. This supposed pre-glacial lake has been named Lake
Valcour and the only way we can fix its age is by the absence of
any glacial deposits in connection with its varied shore lines.
Then came down the ice of the Great Glacier; little by little
it advanced southward from its center of dispersion in Ungava
and northern Labrador, first following up the ancient and deeper
valleys of the St. Lawrence and Champlain, then, as its volume
increased with years of cold and moisture-soaked atmosphere,
mantling the whole surface of this land even to the tops of all the
mountains now remaining in the region. It was a heavy load that
this slowly moving mass of ice piled upon the northern lands and
it stayed for more thousands of years than we can now guess; it
scored and scoured the old valley of Champlain to a great depth
and greater width. When this Glacier began to melt and its
southern front to retreat back northward, it left here, as else-
wjhere, great marginal dams of rock-rubbish which the moving
sheet had shoved before it or carried in its substance. The melt-
ing waters overflowing in great floods worked over this debris and
rearranged it, but without removing it to any great distance south.
THE SETTING OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN HISTORY. Od
In front of the ice foot and behind the dams thus formed the
melting water was impounded as fresh water lakes, some of them
in other places much larger than all our Great Lakes joined in
one. While these ice waters were running off to the south by the
old Hudson valley outlet, the eventual damming of that outlet
raised the waters into a lake which overspread the present Hud-
son valley east and west as far as the steep bounding walls would
permit. As the ice front in its retreat northward passed the
mouth of the Mohawk valley, it let into this lake the great mass
of glacial waters that had been held back in western New York;
then and for a long time the Great Lakes were drained out by the
Mohawk channel into the Hudson valley while the passage by the
St. Lawrence still remained blocked by the ice. West of Albany
are great banks of sand, the Schenectady plains, laid down by
these discharging waters, and on both sides of the valleys are
clays and sands which extend northward continuously into the
valley of Champlain. These clays and sands are the deposits of
the glacial lakes whose outlines we know pretty accurately now,
and which is called, in a broad way, Lake Albany.
Lake Albany began its existence before the ice was out of the
Champlain valley but as the front of the glacial mantle withdrew
northward that valley too was filled with lake waters contempor-
aneous and coextensive with those of Lake Albany. The deposits
from these waters narrow near the present divide between the
Champlain and Hudson valleys and those of Champlain widen
out over an area greater in diameter than the southern Albany
waters ever reached, so we are in the way of conceiving them as
distinct though contemporaneous water bodies. These upper
waters, the glacial Lake Champlain, is called Lake Vermont
and when at its greatest size it extended back into the valleys of the
Adirondacks on the west and much further over the lower reaches
of Vermont into the drainage ways of the Green Mountains. We
know that though it began its existence as Lake Albany was com-
pleted, it did not reach its greatest size till long afterward. The
ice was still slowly retreating back northward to its own place,
the land was going down, so the lake waters rose to relatively
great heights on the mountain slopes and until the ice front had
reached and passed the valley of the St. Lawrence, so long did
64 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Lake Vermont spread over the Champlain valley leaving its sands
and clays where they now cling to the valley slopes. But once
the St. Lawrence valley had been passed by the ice front in its
northward retreat and the old valley was again opened to drain-
age, Lake Vermont was tapped and its waters flowed out to the
sea by the ancient passage. Thus died Lake Vermont after a life
whose length can not be ascertained but which it may be safe to
say, was at least as long as the present Lake Champlain has
existed.
Now followed a momentous change in water conditions. The
earth's surface which had been sinking in these latitudes since
the beginning of the break up of the ice, kept on going down
until the whole St. Lawrence channel from Ontario to the Gulf
was below the level of the sea. This sinking brought down Cham-
plain too below sea level, and thus gradually into this valley the
salt waters reascended, rising as far to the south as Port Henry
and covering in width almost as great an area as did the fresh
waters of Lake Vermont which had preceded them. In a still
broader body these waters stretched around the northern Adiron-
dacks on to Lake Ontario and perhaps into some of the Finger
Lake valleys of central New York. This was a long time ago but
there are still today living in the deeper waters of Lake Ontario
small animals whose ancestors came in with these marine waters but
adapted themselves to the gradual change from the salt to the
present fresh water conditions. This great salt bay extending to
Lake Ontario is " Gilbert Gulf" and the arm of this bay which
filled the Champlain valley is the "Hochelagan sea." In its de-
posits of clay and sands lying on the valley slopes are found the
remains of sea animals, the bones of whale and seal, and the shells
of mollusks which indicate cold water and a subarctic climate.
Thus the sea had come into its own again and after the lapse of
uncounted ages during which the continents of all the earth had
well nigh been brought to their present state, it flowed once more
in the old Levis Channel.
There remain now but the final changes in the valley to bring
the lake to its present condition. The marine stage of the lake
was brought to a close by a slow tilt of the entire Champlain-
Hudson valley, depressing it at the south and raising it at the
THE SETTING OP LAKE CHAMPLAIN HISTORY. 65
north. By this movement all the lower Hudson has been deeply
drowned and its ancient canyon which once reached a hundred
miles beyond New York bay lies buried now under fathoms of
water. The counter movement upraised the Champlain valley
at the south and gradually turned back the marine waters till
they were wholly shut out by the elevation of the valley bottom
above sea level. The St. Lawrence river with its heavy drainage
from the Great Lakes soon washed out from its channels all rem-
nants of the salt water, but in the Champlain valley, receiving only
lesser streams from the mountain sides, this process was a slower
one.
Yet in time the waters were cleansed, though their volume was
immensely lessened, and the lake gradually took on its present form
which, as we have seen, is almost a reproduction of the size it had
just before the invasion of the ice. In these later stages the out-
let of the lake may have been for a while to the south but its pres-
ent discharge to the north through the Richelieu river re-estab-
lished its ancient affiliation with the St. Lawrence. While we
speak of this condition of the higher waters of the lake as of quite
recent date, yet some measure of its distance from us is suggested
by the fact that since the retreat of these high waters the Ausable
river has worn out the whole of its wonderful canyon through the
rocks by the slow process of erosion, breaking down the sandstone
along lines of weakness indicated by the vertical walls bounding
the rifts in the strata.
Thus by the slow changes we have indicated was the stage
set for the play of the human events which have left their marks
in this valley and their influence on the history of mankind. Who
will say that the geography of this valley has not dominated its
events? The enclosed lake with its barely navigable outlet at the
north bounded by forest covered lowlands obstructing the easy
movement of armies and fleets, the peninsula of Crown Point at
which the waves of battle stormed about the foot of Fort St. Fred-
eric and Fort Amherst, the stronghold of Fort Carillon on cliffs
beneath which the waters of Lakes George and Champlain mingle,
Valcour Island and its strait which saw the destruction of Arnold's
fleet, and Cumberland Head which protected MacDonough and safe-
guarded the repulse of Prevost at Plattsburg— all these and other
66 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
physical features of the valley which have guided the feet and the
fleets of the contending armies of the centuries— these did not exist
in any earlier stage of the lake nor could have existed, as they
were still in the making. The very structure of the lake, develop-
ing slowly through long ages, seems thus necessary to the results
achieved. Under some other expression of geological forces and
effects, the outcome of events might have been wholly different and
the development of human civilization taken another course.
CARRIERS OF THE LAKE.
By AUGUSTINE A. HEARD, Albany., N. Y.
General Passenger Agent D. & H. Co.
Champlain discovered Lake Champlain in 1609; some of the
ninety million inhabitants of the United States have been discov-
ering it ever since, and I am very glad to see that so many of the
members of the New York State Historical Association have taken
enough interest to start on this voyage of discovery themselves.
For a brief period, which Mr. Favreau, Secretary of the Mas-
sachusetts Historical Association, well named "La Grande Se-
maine", during the month of July, 1909, the eyes of the nation
were trained hitherward, and the daily press chronicled day by day
the speeches made by our distinguished President, by the Ambas-
sadors of Great Britian and France, and by the eminent represen-
tatives of our Canadian friends across the border in which ' * Cham-
plain, The Man and The Lake," were properly extolled. Notwith-
standing all this publicity there are yet many who must be educat-
ed to the historical and natural attractions of this special body of
water.
Great as he was Washington is not yet known, to all the pres-
ent generation, as was evidenced not long since when a New York
child inquired ' ' who this man Washington was, of whom she heard
so much," and was informed that he was the author of "The
Sketch Book."
Lac St. Pierre is not the only northern water where "The
Wind she blow like hurricane, Bimeby she blow some more," but
in storm or quiet the waters of Lake Champlain are navigable
throughout its entire length, and for generations were the highway
of the nation. From St. Johns in Canada to Whitehall in New
York State, a distance of nearly one hundred fifty miles, the travel
between the United States and Canada was transported by this
route for many years.
In covering the topic assigned to me, "Carriers of the Lake,"
we need not antedate that famous July day in 1609 when the first
68 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
white man gazed upon these waters. He had to leave behind him
his chaloupe, and came in a canoe. For many years thereafter
the only carriers on the lake were the birch bark canoes of the red
men. It is surprising perhaps that for one hundred forty years,
until 1749, there is no record of any other craft having navigated
these waters, save only the convenient bateaux of the voyageur.
During that period and doubtless long before, fleets of war canoes
gathered under the shadow of Mohawk Rock in Burlington Bay.
This was the dividing line between the Iroquois and the Algon-
quins, not Split Rock, as it sometimes claimed. North therefrom
the Mohawk went as far as his bravery would carry him, south no
Huron could come and live.
In 1749 we first have record of sailing vessels upon this lake,
but the white population was scanty, and it was not until many
years thereafter that any regular line of carriers in our interpre-
tation of the word, was established.
Fulton's steamer, "The Clermont" made its first trip on the
Hudson in 1809. Long before any other steamer was launched
on other waters, in this country, the first Vermont was launched
on Lake Champlain, a boat of magnificent dimensions of one
hundred twenty feet in length, twenty feet in breadth, and capable
of accomplishing a maximum speed of four miles per hour.
A comparison with the present Vermont on which we are dis-
covering the lake is interesting.
The first Vermont continued in service until October,
1815, when she sank. During her lifetime she was the
only steamer on the lake, although in 1812 the keel of a second
one was laid in Vergennes, but seized by Commodore Macdonough,
and used by him in the battle of Plattsburg. This hull was called
"Thfc Ticonderoga." "Many'a name I have heard, he thought,
but never a name like that," and it seems strange that from that
time until the launching of the present Ticonderoga in 1906, no
other boat of any size on this lake was called by a name so inti-
mately associated with this lake.
The battle of Valcour on October llth, 1776, proved for a
time almost the end of American shipping on the lake, as of all
the boats engaged Benedict Arnold managed to save only one
sloop, one schooner, one gondola (this seems a strange craft for
CARRIERS OF THE LAKE. 69
our northern waters), and one galley. Commodore Macdonough
at the battle of Plattsburg signally avenged this defeat.
With the withdrawal of the British arms from this region,
peace reigned and the next fifteen years saw the building of num-
erous steamers, the first Phoenix, the Champlain, the Congress,
the second Phoenix, the General Green, the Franklin, the Wash-
ington, and the MacDonough, were all constructed. The Franklin
was the largest boat, being one hundred sixty-two feet over all
with a speed of ten miles per hour.
In 1821 Vermont granted a charter for a steam ferry be-
tween Charlotte, Vt., and Essex, N. Y., to Messrs. Charles McNeil
and H. H. Ross, and six years later the steamer Washington was
put on the line, which has now; been abandoned.
In November, 1824, the Lake Champlain Ferry Company,
plying between Burlington and Port Kent, was granted a charter,
and in 1826 the Champlain Transportation Company was created
by act of legislature, and after a few years of competition, dis-
astrous for all interested, acquired the other steamer lines on the
lake in 1835.
That this action on their part did not result in the deterior-
ation of the service is evidenced by what Charles Dickens said of
his trip from Montreal to New York in 1842, wihen he spoke of
the Burlington, an American boat which he praises highly, but
not any more than it deserves, saying, "It is superior to any other
in the world." The following year another distinguished English-
man, Sir Charles Lucuzthm, spoke of the discipline on the boats,
being equal to that of a ship of war.
One year later the use of wood was superseded by coal, and
by that time the boats in commission had increased their speed
to fifteen miles per hour. About 1865 there were ten steamers
plying on the lake. The total volume of the shipping at that time
equaled six hundred vessels of all kinds, and it is curious to note
that in addition to the ten steamers there were fifteen schooners,
and 575 sloops. Can anything be more dissimilar than a canal
boat and a sloop, yet canal boats were so rated and of the 575
sloops 550 were canal boats.
From this time until the early 70 's were the years of the
greatest prosperity for the Carriers of the Lake. The northern ter-
70 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
minal had been changed some years before from St. Johns to
Houses Point, and double daily service in each direction afforded
from Rouses Point to Whitehall in connection with the railroad
south.
The completion of the New York and Canada Railroad in
1873 was popularly supposed to sound the death knell of the Car-
riers of the Lake. This, however, proved to be far from being
a correct estimate although night service actually was discontinued
in 1874. Forty years later the Carriers of the Lake are trans-
porting more than twice as many passengers; to such an extent
has the pleasure travel grown in this country.
The principal carriers of the present day are operated by the
same company which has been prominent in the lake carriage for
eight years. The Champlain Transportation Company is today
the oldest incorporated steamboat company in the world. Its
motto remains unchanged, and the highest aim of all its officers
and agents is the careful care of its passengers, just as much now
as in the days when Dickens rated the line at 100 per cent.
Closely allied to my subject the Carriers of the Lake, is the
question of accommodations on the shore, and I am glad to an-
nounce here that the Hotel Champlain, the superb monument
erected in honor of and named after the discoverer in recognition
of his services to mankind^ and the D. &. H., is being rebuilt as
rapidly as possible, of fire proof construction, and where you will
all be welcome on your next visit to this region.
If these random notes have been of any interest I can say
with Macaulay, "I shall cheerfully bear the reproach of having
descended below the dignity of history," even before this august
body.
THE WORTH TO A NATION OF A SENSE
FOR ITS PAST.
BY REV. JOHN M. THOMAS, D. D.
President of Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vt.
We are met today to take formal possession in behalf of the
people of New York of the sites of Fort Frederick and Fort Am-
herst, as a State Park, to be preserved forever under the custodian-
ship of the New York Historical Association as a memorial of the
brave men of three nations who here contended for love of country.
It is the mind of both donors and recipients that these historic
monuments should not be allowed to fall into further ruin, but that
they should be protected from spoilation and decay and allowed to
remain as a memorial of the great days of their building as long as
intelligent care may be able to preserve them. If at any future
time hammer and trowel shall be laid upon them, it must not be to
make them other than they were and have been, but rather to re-
store the walls exactly as Lord Amherst watehed them rise. Inno-
vation and intended improvement must never be suffered here, but
the old fort must stay as it echoed to the shots of Seth Warner and
his Vermonters on May 11, 1775, as it was when Benedict Arnold,
still a patriot, reviewed his troops upon its esplanade, and when
Burgoyne quartered here the army destined to go down to defeat at
Saratoga. It is our will that this site continue forever a monu-
ment of the great days when it served three warring nations, which
each in their turn were champions of advancing liberty on the con-
tinent of America, and be preserved the centuries through to set
forth in utmost fidelity the deeds which wrought its fame.
They were deeds of blood. War is hell, even when waged by
noblemen and patriots. Yonder stones harbored! regiments fresh
from slaughter and rapine. Coarse boots stained with human
blood have trod the green grass where we have walked this after-
noon. Yonder is Coffin Point, where the bugles of three nations
have sounded taps over the mangled bodies of the slain in battle.
72 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Men intent on deeds of blood sketched the outline of the nioat
which surrounds these ruined barracks. Every stone, every yard
of earth-works ruin, is eloquent of shattered limbs, rended bodies,
and strong, young heart's blood reddening the far-stretching
fields.
Why not raze these terrible memorials of cruelty to the
ground ? Why not blot from the face of the earth this awful scar
of human hate? Why preserve for children yet unborn even a
suggestion of the direful days when brothers fought with brothers
and thirsted for slaughter as wild beasts hunt for prey?
We live in the dawning of the world's new day of peace. The
nations gather in harmonious conclave for the settlement of issues
between them, and the parliament of man, the federation of the
world, is no longer a poet's dream, but the statesman's task. The
glory of world-wide, permanent peace is rising in the east, and
eager morning souls are already rejoicing in its gleam. Are we
consistent as men of progress, as patriots of a nation forward in
the endeavor for the abolition of war, when we resolve upon the
perpetuation of one of the most striking and impressive monuments
of warfare to be found on the continent of America ?
Certainly if the mission of this battlefield park were to teach
the youth of coming generations that war is the supreme expres-
sion of manly courage, if these ruins were to serve to inflame the
minds of the men of the coming days with the lust of conquest and
carnage, it would be our patriotic duty, as servants of the higher
interests of the nation, despite their picturesqueness, to leave not
one stone upon another and suffer not one vestige of them to re-
main beside the fair waters of our lake. Better allow their mater-
ial to be wrought into farm houses and barns, as some of the early
settlers thought not inappropriate, than to permit them to furnish
one atom of impetus towards the renewal at any future time of
humanity's awful curse of war.
Yet the sentiment of even the gentlest lover of peace would
protest against the removal of a single stone or the filling of a sin-
gle rifle pit. Not merely to the antiquarian, but to the most un-
romantic man of affairs, the least imaginative toiler in workshop
or mine, these ruins are almost sacred, and the generous, far-sight-
ed act which assures their perpetuation is received with the widest
gratitude and approval.
THE WORTH OF A NATION OP A SENSE FOB ITS PAST. 73
Such a universal instinct can hardly be in error. It is found-
ed, if I mistake not, upon something deeper than admiration for
the ancient and picturesque. We feel no scruple against the de-
struction of many old creations, even though they were beautiful
in their time. But these old barracks, not a line for art's sake in
them, hopelessly useless now for the purpose for which they were
built or for any other practical employment, are monuments of the
significant events in the history of this valley. With Ticonderoga,
Fort Cassin, Cumberland Head, and Isle la Motte, they testify to
the enterprise into which men put their energy when this region
was one of the chief theatres of action in America. The past, such
as it was, is here eloquent. The deeds of far-reaching moment in
the making of this land of liberty here speak to us. These stones
were raised, alike at Port Frederick and Fort Amherst, in the in-
terest of advancing civilization and larger freedom. The rulers
across the sea and the men who led the armies here may have been
motived by greed of territory and a narrow patriotism, but in the
providence which shapes all human events the issue of their striv-
ing was the extension of liberty's domain and the winning of a
continent for responsible government. The Champlain Valley is
a laboratory for the study of history, and of history not as a dry
chronicle of all things that ever happened, but as an informing,
inspiring record of the progress of mankind. These memorials
are suited as few others on American soil to bring to birth and
keep in life the sense of the mighty past. Here is no teeming
population to efface the monuments of the fathers. Our modest
commerce and husbandry leaves the face of the ground little
changed from the day when Montcalm and Arnold guided their
war fleets up the waters of the lake. From the surface of Cham-
plain one catches the very vista which thrilled the soul of its great
discoverer. Yonder is the lion still crouching for his spring. By
these waters of beauty the sensitive soul feels the very heart-beat
of great France in its day of glory, catches the passion of England
as it essayed to add another world to its dominion, and strikes hand
with the American pioneer as in buckskin breeches and squirrel
cap he swings his rifle through the forest to do battle with the
mightiest nation of the world for liberty and home.
It is because of a true instinct of the value to the nation of a
sense for its past that we seize upon every mound and stone of these
74 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
ancient fortresses and bind ourselves in pious obligation to hand
them, down to our children's children in the grim severity in which
they have been given over to us. We believe the nobler manhood
of the days to be, with all the courage and intensity of the soldier,
but peace-loving, gentle, and kindly, will be greatly served by the
preservation of these fortresses. The American people need all
possible incentive to remember the days of old, the years of former
generations. We have all too few reminders of the past from
which we came, and important elements of the national character
will be well served by pious guardianship of surviving monuments
of the really significant events of our history.
I mention first the spirit of calmness and patience, which is
singularly lacking in American character. Observant strangers
note the hurry and confusion with which we attend to all our af-
fairs, and the habit of impatience which characterizes us in our at-
tention to matters of public interest. If we are convinced of the
need of a particular reform, we must see it through at least day af-
ter tomorrow, if not the very day on which it first took hold of us.
If any instrument of government fails to remedy a public evil at
the first instance in which its iniquity is brought to its attention,
we can not wait until another circumstance shall furnish right oc-
casion for the cure of the wrong, but we attack the institution
which we imagine negligent of its duty, while in reality that insti-
tution may have saved us from worse peril by its refusal even to
thwart evil except by principles of law and justice.
As Americans we have small appreciation of the age of the
world and of the infinite patience of the God of righteous progress.
Our ancient days are only yesterdays, our distant past but recent
moments of the God with whom a thousand years are but as one
day. We call things old that on the plains of Babylonia would be
incidents of a moment ago. The future likewise is to us but the
briefest portion of coming time and we circumscribe our visions
by the limits of a few paltry years.
Matthew Arnold steeled his soul in patience by consideration,
as he said, of
' ' The world which was ere I was born,
The world which lasts when I am dead."
There have been evils under the sun for a long, long time,
and some of them are likely to continue for several generations to
THE WORTH OP A NATION OF A SENSE FOR ITS PAST. 75
come. We shall not make: all things perfect in our day, and it
makes for reasonableness of spirit, for cautious wisdom of action,
to be reconciled to the necessity of bequeathing a few problems to
posterity. Honesty is not a new virtue, nor is thievery a new vice,
and neither shall we promote the one nor destroy the other by a
whirlwind of vengeance. The nation which has awakened to a feel-
ing for its past will move steadier to its goal, with fewer blunders
and less frequent necessity of retracing the way, than a people
whose visions are limited by the life-time of a few generations.
Some one has contrasted Europe with America by saying that
our people were like an army with all its reserves in action the first
moment of the battle. That is not good military tactics, nor is it
the part of wisdom in the more difficult arts of peace. Patience
is not laziness, nor procrastination; it is the counsel of ambition
tempered by wisdom, of resolution which is not satisfied to make
a stir, but only in achieving its aim, with strength left for the plen-
tiful tasks remaining. The old world refuses to be reformed in a
day, and he whose fervor will not bide its time is likely to be alto-
gether missing when providence offers the opportune moment for
success. These old mementoes of carnage and war bid us be of good
courage and of a patient spirit. Despite all obstacles, notwith-
standing blunders frequent and serious, our nation has gone for-
ward notably in intelligence and morals, in appreciation of the
higher things, in the establishment of even justice and larger liber-
ty since Lord Geoffrey Amherst expended millions of British gold
for their erection. We have learned much concerning the real
value of life and the true grandeur of a nation since then, and
the sense of the past awakened by these memorials strengthens our
heart and calms our judgment for the further advancement our
God shall enable us to accomplish in His time.
History is the search for the significant in the life of the past.
It differs widely from what Frederic Harrison called the ''intel-
lectual fussiness" of the antiquarian, which values all things old
from the cradle in which some great-grandmother rocked her baby
to the silver box in which a country gentleman carried snuff. There
is always a temptation in local history to hoard up a vast number
of trivial facts, and gather a rubbish mass of old common-place.
I have no brief for this manner of zeal, for I do not believe it has
76 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
the slightest value to others than those who are entertained by it.
The sense of the past for which I plead is feeling for deeds of con-
sequence, appreciation of events which had successors, and some
measure of knowledge of the course humanity has travelled on its
way to its present estate. In so far as the life of man is today en-
joyable and satisfying, it is the result of achievements, of victories
by the champions of nobler manners over the representatives of
worser ones, of triumphs over old-time slaveries, superstitions, and
delusions. The historical sense singles out these victories, sets
forth the glory of those who attained them, and links them together
in one mighty epic of the upward striving of the race.
The curse of life is common-place, the same old round of petty
employments, petty thoughts. - The glory of life is a sense of move-
ment, consciousness of a mighty process in the rolling suns, thrill
from the enginery which thrusts the world forward to a nobler day.
The people who are possessed of knowledge of their inheritance to
a long struggle upward, who are stirred by the preservation near
their homes of monuments of the great deeds by which their lib-
erties have been won and their blessings secured, are delivered from
the torpor of common-place. Their minds are quickened by asso-
ciation with the significant and their spirits ennobled by contact
with the herioc and the great.
Imagine the mental calibre of one whose only reading is the
small items of local news from the village correspondents of a week-
ly newspaper and contrast with it the stature to which he would
arrive who steeped himself in the writings of Parkman and Tre-
velyan, Motley and Mommsen. Yet the village paper is the faith-
ful transcript of the common life of our hamlets and towns. Pet-
ty gossip of that sort, spoken and written, is the pabulum which
comes most readily to all our tables. It is a sense of the past we
need, with its summons away from the trival round and common
task, to impart a realization of the worth of life, the meaning of
the world, and to lift us to the manhood to which the victories of
the fathers summon us.
Mr. James Bryce, the ambassador from Great Britian whose
presence graced our Champlain celebration a year ago, records
as the one depressing fact of America the monotonous uniformity
of our country, the uniform aspect of nature, especially in the cen-
THE WORTH OF A NATION OF A SENSE FOB ITS PAST. 77
tral .west, the uniformity of our cities and villages, of most of
which it can be said that nothing interesting ever happened there,
the deadening uniformity of our social and industrial life. No-
where in the landscape, he says, is there a castle or tower to "kin-
dle the present with a glow of imaginative light. ' '
This day we dedicate unto perpetual preservation a ruined
castle of the might of France, whose crumbling stones by the lake-
side bring to life once more the ambition of her heroes to master a
continent for the cross and the fleur-de-lis, and by a coincidence
which, if I mistake not, can not be paralleled in America, on the
same site we vow to continuance decayed towers of English glory,
erected here at the farthest outpost of her domain in the day
when from her little island she sought to rule the world. Over
these ruins imaginative light must kindle to the dullest soul. Here
the drum-beat sounds again to battle and buried bugles rise from
the mould to wake the spirits of the dead. They summon to vene-
ration and reverence before the ambition and the courage of those
who brought armies across the sea for the honor of the flag they
loved. They call us to bare the head in memory of liberty's slain
from the armies of three nations. They rouse us from the lifeless
commonplace of our commercial day, and, lightening the long high-
way of humanity's progress, they bid us live and think, not as crea-
tures of an endless re-iteration of the same old struggles and fol-
lies, but as sharers in the mighty movement of things toward the
kingdom of righteousness and peace.
This battle field park will notably enrich the life of the people
of the Champlain valley. Through the monument to Samuel
Champlain, to be erected here by the generous co-operation of two
States, which have sacrificed selfish and local interests to grace this
spot with its fitting crown, there will be added to the memorials of
the nations who fought here a monument to the valor and worth
of the discoverer of the lake, the bold navigator, the intrepid and
scholarly discoverer, the worthy and virtuous representative of a
great religion. We do a deed this day not only for this valley, but
for the entire nation. We perpetuate no local tradition ; we make
secure for the future the preservation of a site unique upon this
continent, the most striking and significant relic of the contest by
which America won its treasure, its chief contribution thus far to
78 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
the advancement of the world, the privilege and the obligation of
free government. If that treasure is to be guarded, if that contri-
bution is to be preserved, it will be through the preservation in the
heart of the nation of the sense for its past, which, please God,
these mounds and stones shall keep alive while men grow reverent
before deeds of old-time valor and so long as hearts are kindled in
the face of the mighty dead.
WAS THE LAKE CHAMPLAIN REGION ENTIRELY
LOST TO THE FRENCH WITH THE DOWN-
FALL OF FRENCH DOMINION IN AMERICA?
By JOSEPH ARM AND BEDARD, M. D., Lynn, Mass.
President Societe Historique Franco-Americaine.
So much was written, so much was said last year at the cele-
bration of the third centenary of this majestic Lake, that hardly
one episode of historic interest has been omitted. The most
authorized voices from both sidles of the frontier, have vied with
those of old England and those of old France, in praise of the
founder of Quebec, the discoverer, and also in praise of the last
heroic defender of French dominion in America.
Englishmen, Americans, have usurped with rare gallantry the
duties which would naturally devolve on "La Societe historique
Franco-Americaine" and its modest president; the task of bring-
ing tonight the great feats, the momentous struggles of their wor-
thy ancestors.
However, such history lends itself to infinite considerations,
its portentous teachings, its striking lessons are always vital, and
in no other to such degree, the philosophy of history may retrace
for us the premises, the causes of these great events to their ulti-
mate consequences.
The developement of this North American continent, the
growth of this our country, its stormy beginnings are not to be com-
pared with the usual phases of development in any other country
of the old world ; out of this chaotic genesis, in less than a century
and a half, sprang up the most powerful republic that ever existed,
which shelters the most heterogenous aggregation of races that
ever came together. And the student of universal history, accus-
tomed to the slow incubation of centuries, amazed at this pheno-
menon, cannot use the ordinary criterion to guide himself. The
stupendous facts stare him in the face, he has to accept them, and
not try comparisons, because analogies, when one treats of Ameri-
can history do not exist.
80 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
However, as I gazed upon this great body of water, my mind
reverted unconsciously to the beginning of known history. I felt
that, as the Mediterranean shores were the cradle of the remotest
civilization, so these shores may be said to have been the scenes of
the homeric efforts to implant on American soil, a modified Euro-
pean civilization.
That it was Christian, as we understand it today, the bloody
battles, the massacres would] hardly countenance it. But, the
ideals of the opponents were so different, their protracted con-
flicts in the old world had been so bitter, that it is fair to assume,
that the lust for conquest, their hereditary animosity, were on
both sides, factors impelling them constantly to renewed activity in
warfare.
We, as American citizens, of either Anglo-Saxon or Latin
origin, pay unstinted tribute to the masterly qualities of Cham-
plain, the geographer, the discoverer, of Montcalm, the last de-
fender of French dominion, of Lord Howe, so brilliant, so prom-
ising, and yet so ruthlessly sacrificed, the three really heroic fig-
ures who have immortalized these shores, so that the glory of others,
eminent as they were, is cast into the shade by the transcedent lus-
tre of these names.
We unite not only in praise of these immortal names, but also
in impartial, disinterested efforts to get at the truth, to discern
amidst the brilliant achievements of all, the inner motives of their
actions.
That they were human beings, endowed in spite of their great-
ness with the frailties and the weaknesses of human nature, we
must always bear in mind, so that our judgment may always be
tempered by the quality of mercy, which, as we all know, is a div-
ine attribute.
Scientific history as expounded in the 19th century aided by
archaeology and philology, has been rather destructive of the rom-
ances of the past, of some of the beautiful legends, which have
rocked humanity to sleep in past centuries. Note what liberties
it has taken with the Roman twins, with the she-wolf, their foster-
mother. Still, -there must have been a man, a leader from Alba,
whose conception of a city, became a concrete fact on the Pala-
tine, and why not call him Romulus ?
LOSS OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN REGION. 81
Thank God, to us poor amateurs, history may still be an art,
its study a delightful occupation of the mind, where the synthetic
process has full sway, and allows us to reconstruct with an accu-
racy as true, as if the facts were controlled by the most searching
scientific methods. It is true that the history of Lake Champlain
is too recent to need all these adjuvants, still, I believe that the re-
sults so far obtained by clear narration, have been most gratifying
to the descendants of the two great races, which have, in deeds of
exploration, in deeds of valor, and also in deeds of blood, left the
stirring impress of their protracted struggles on these shores.
And yet, before the white man with all his refinements, with
his centuries of culture, shook these hills and these woods, with
the thunder of his death dealing arquebuse, the children of nature
had awakened their echo with their shrieking war-whoops, and
their silent arrows had pierced many a strong heart.
The men of the North had come down stealthily upon those
of the South, and carried many a trophy, and many scalpless
skulls were left to bleach under the rays of a merciless sun ; and
these incursions preceded those of the white man perhaps by cen-
turies. The enmity of the Algonquin, of the Huron, against the
Iroquois, had been of long duration, and the English and the
French found ready allies in these implacable foes.
Who will recount these early conflicts, who will sing their war
songs, the melancholy chant of their women, their glorious victor-
ies, or their ignominious defeats?
Were not their incentives as human as those of the white, or
their methods according to their moral standards, so much more
cruel ?
The lust for conquest, the thirst for revenge, the inexorable
law of nature, eminently destructive of life, that life may always
be renewed, seem to have been as instinctive in the white as in the
red man. Really, we, in the pride of our vaunted superiority
delude ourselves in some very pretty antitheses, and one of them
is civilized warfare. I shall not inflict upon my patient hearers
to prove my thesis, a recital of the horrors of some modern wars.
I take it, that they are still present in every man's mind.
The quarrel arising from the slurs, the chaffing of the southern
tribes peacefully engaged in the raising of corn by the northern
82 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
hunters, could hardly have been their first one. It does not seem
probable that, within a few months, at best a few years, the Mo-
hawks could have developed such cunning, such ferocious instincts,
had not generations of ancestors, transmitted to this momentarily
pacific offspring, some very pronounced war-like and strategic
strains. So that, what is described to us as the beginning of hos-
tilities, of vast historic consequences, was probably a renewal of
conflicts after a brief respite.
A century andj a half of French supremacy on Lake Cham-
plain ushered in by its discovery, by the great explorer who gave
it his name, considering the proximity of England's possessions,
of the Indian war trail, and the comparatively remote position from
the sources of supply, is after all, a feat, the record of which is
hardly equalled in the annals of North American history. And
that it was maintained, with the help and constant support of their
Northern Indian allies, does not make it less memorable.
The marvelous description of this great body of water, had
kindled into Champlain's heart, a desire to reach it; but the red
men in return for guiding him, had extracted the promise that he
would help them to defeat their Southern foes. And, when Cham-
plain fired his primitive arquebuse, killing two chiefs at once, he
probably felt that he was discharging a duty, and honorably keep-
ing his word. However, after the shot that was heard around the
world, this particular one is the most fateful in American history.
If it did bring consternation to the Mohawks for the moment, it
also made of them irreconciliable foes of the French, whom no coax-
ing, no tempting offers, could ever pacify for any length of time.
And, after the English had taught them the use of this wonderful
agent of destruction, they used it at times with remarkable skill,
against those who had revealed its existence to them.
Living as we are, in this era of territorial expansion, having
practically witnessed the growth of modern empires, with their
vast colonial possessions, can we conceive the utter absence of fore-
sight, or the criminal abandon of the French Kings throughout
this period? A century and a half! With Richelieu and Louis
XIV, succeeding each other, the peerless statesman, preparing for
LOSS OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN REGION. 83
the most absolute monarch who ever lived, the most brilliant reign
in France's history. The immeasurable ambition of the one, and
the immeasurable egotism of the other, seem to have blinded them
both, not so much to the needs, as to the future of these faraway
possessions. Richelieu, with scant solicitude, giving his sanction
to private enterprises of colonization, and Colbert, Louis' famous
minister, grudgingly dispensing funds otherwise needed to cover
the extravagances of his master's royal magnificence.
Then Louis XV, the despotic abuses of all kind, the debauch-
ery of the privileged classes, the constantly rising power of royal
mistresses, the reign of frivolity and of epicurean philosophy of
life,— what care did they have of this far-off land, once the mythi-
cal Indian passage, but now dimly seen through vistas of snow?
Never were the brilliant, the light side of French temperment, and
its chivalrous, self-sacrificing nature, so profoundly contrasted as
at this time, in the Court of France, and in the colony striving to
rescue a dominion for the French crown! After us the deluge!
exclaimed the courtiers in their mad whirl of pleasures, never
dreaming that monarchy was on the brink of an abyss; while in
these regions, the motto of the heroic soldiers, upholding the glory
of France, always was "For God and the King."
In the mother country, Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour, the
sneering genius, "Voltaire," in the colony, Montcalm, Levis, Bour-
lamaque! !
Must I confess to a weakness for the 18th century in France?
If it lacks the classic grandeur of the 17th, it has a dash, a bril-
liancy, a fascinating light-heartedness, which appeal to me .The
great literary reaction then beginning, seemed to have eclipsed all
other phases of national life. It seems as though the nation was
shaking the shackles of classicism before breaking away from those
that held it fast to a decaying form of government.
Still, this very spirit was the cause of the national contempt for
these few leagues of snow, across the w,ater, and their consequent
and irremediable loss. And whether Vaudreuil was actuated by
these sentiments, or simply led by his narrow mindedness and jeal-
ousy; it is an accepted fact that as governor of Canada, he con-
stantly impeded the actions, the movements and the plans of Mont-
calm.
84 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
In England, the great commoner, had at last realized his am-
bition. By masterful strokes, by the outward renunciation of his
wonted dislike for his royal master, whose German affinities, he
could never abide, by flights of eloquence which Walpole says had
never been surpassed in Greece or in Rome, by a constant display
of superhuman courage and energy, Pitt had ascended to a premier-
ship which in scope of power and masterful guidance of foreign
affairs never was equalled in England, and recalls the days of
Richelieu in France.
If a parallel could be established between these geniuses, it
could be said that they had one trait in common ; the set purposes,
the well defined policies that from their very accession to power
they carried out with unflinching perseverance ; and another point
of comparison ; that historically they overshadow so completely the
masters whom they served that these reigns owe to their great per-
sonalities their undisputed glories, and both nations, the greatest
periods of their history, which Richelieu prepared in France, but
which, Pitt lived long enough to see accomplished in England.
We hear a great deal nowadays of some statesman's or other's
policies, they seem to be the subject of general comment; some go
so far as to doubt the sincerity of those who utter them, or think
that time and politics are great modifiers, and that policies adjust
themselves to these exigencies. But not so with these great his-
toric characters, and in the light of their achievements, we may
possibly reserve our estimate of the living exponents of these elas-
tic theories of government. We had better wait for the sanction
of History, which is, after all, as infallible a criterion as humanity
has been able to devise, and let our children pronounce their final
judgment !
Pitt's determination to put an end to French dominion in
America, formed a part of these well formulated plans and to
achieve this end he set out as soon as the power was entrusted to
him. He shows his hand immediately in the selection of officers
who were to take command in America. They are chosen for their
merit, for their fitness; he orders Lord Howe to join Abercrombie
"to be the soul of the enterprise." His foresight seems to have
failed him only in the retention of the latter as commander-in-chief ,
defeat of England in America. It seems to be the concensus of
LOSS OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN REGION. 85
opinion that, had Lord Howe been in full command, he could not
have exposed himself in the vanguard as he did, and have met this
untimely death. We all know the stampede, the utter abjection of
the troops, after his death. Howe, in command then might have
made the selection of Amherst unnecessary, the year after, to pro-
ceed against Ticonderoga, up the Richelieu, as far as Montreal.
It might have made unnecessary the expedition against Quebec by
this other discriminating find of Pitt; General Wolfe. And if
Montcalm, beaten at Carillon, had escaped the fate of Howe, the
two great generals immortalized on the plains of Abraham, in a
dual death which deprived the one of the bitterness of a defeat that
meant the loss of an empire to his country; and the other of the
fruits of a victory, which gave his country mastery over a whole
continent— these two men of really heroic mould might have been
spared to a life of achievements as glorious, and of priceless ser-
vices to their respective country. But who would envy their
death? Both enshrouded in their national emblems, as they fell,
they gave to their countrymen a great deal more than their lives,
the example of a patriotism, unsurpassed in its far reaching conse-
quences.
The death of Montcalm, the Christian knight, the classic
scholar, has been a constant inspiration to the descendants of the
handful of Frenchmen who were left to pledge a reluctant alle-
giance to England. It sustained them in their protracted struggles
for the constitutional rights guaranteed them by treaty, but con-
stantly threatened by English bureaucracy, it supported them in
the maintenance of ideals, which, preserved to this day their racial
characteristics to a degree that no other ethnic group in this Amer-
ica, so essentially cosmopolitan, ever succeeded in retaining.
It is not my province to speak of those early and long-drawn
out clashes between the French of Canada and the British crown,
for a recognition of the former's rights, and parliamentary privi-
leges, but let me say that the resistance of the colony against pres-
sure from abroad, and persecution from within, was as heroic as
their desperate defence before the conquest.
86 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
This beautiful region was not to be in the possession of Eng-
land as long as France held sway over it. Sixteen years only of
undisputed dominion, and many of those who had fought the
French on these shores were striking a fatal blow to England occu-
pation. The children of the soil, the rangers from Massachusetts,
Connecticut, and the Green Mountain Boys under their famous
leader, Ethan Allen, snatched Carillon from the grip of the British
lion. Built by a Lotbiniere, it seems rather singular that at the
time of its surrender the name of the commander of the English
garrison was Laplace, which is as French as the name of the engi-
neer who erected it.
New fortresses soon went up on the shores, Amherst seemed to
have expended a good deal of energy in building them, more than
their ultimate usefulness justified. The region, as we all know,
became the scene of great conflicts through the revolutionary war ;
had Benedict Arnold died, waving his American flag on the burn-
ing galley, "Congress" in his encounter with a far superior Brit-
ish fleet, he would have been one of the great heroes of the revolu-
tion. Few commanders showed more daring, more skill, or were
so alert in the defensive as was he.
Again in 1814, the English were to try to regain possession
of the Lake, but the battle of Plattsburg so disastrous to their fleet,
put an end to their ambition, and since then, the stars and stripes
wave over the scenes of so much contention, where for a hundred
and fifty years before, the fleur-de-lys, floated to the breeze, with
a short interval when the British standard unfurled its proud col-
ors on the old French forts and the surrounding country.
But there is a phase of the history of the Lake which is of para-
mount interest to the thinker, to the man who reflecting upon the
vicissitudes of nations, upon the kaleidoscopic changes, that are
constantly metamorphosing, not only their geographic but also
their ethnic conditions, studies. a little the development, the growth
of the charming cities, and the picturesque villages that dot its
shores.
LOSS OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN REGION. 87
Let us make a brief review of the attempts at colonization in
the valley. As we all know, few settlements were made by the
French, although several grants of land were made, by the King
to Canadian officials and army officers which would have become in
time vast seignories had these landed proprietors been able to in-
duce young farmers to till a land so dangerously near the Mohawk
war trail.
About 1731, a settlement was begun a la pointe a 1'Algonquin,
later known as Windmill Point in the western part of the present
town of Alburgh. Sieur Francois Foucault, a member of the Sup-
reme Council of Quebec had been granted a charter by the King
of France, and this charter was renewed) and augmented in May,
1743. This action was taken in recognition of the fact that Mr.
Foucault had, as the charter of confirmation states, complied with
the conditions of the original grant by establishing three new set-
tlers, in addition to eight who had settled the year before, and that
he had built in that year, 1731, a windmill of stone masonry, which
cost nearly 4000 livres (about $800). He had' also undertaken to
build a church 20 by 40 feet in size, which was to be ready the next
spring to receive a missionary. A lot of land, two acres in front
by forty acres in depth hadi been conveyed free of charge, and ac-
cepted by the bishop of Quebec whereon should be built a church
and a parochial house, with a room for a burial ground, and land
that should aid in the maintenance of a missionary.
This settlement was short lived as was another begun here in
1741. Later, Mr. Foucault transferred his grant to Gen. Fred-
erick Haldimand, British Governor of Canada from 1778 to 1784.
General Haldimand, in turn sold the property to Henry Caldwell,
who lived in Belmont, a town near Quebec, and for several years
thereafter, the present town of Alburgh was known as Caldwell 's
upper manor. Foucault 's concession was probably the first one,
where a settlement had been seriously attempted. However, the
first public record bearing on this subject, is an order issued by the
King, dated May 20, 1676, v. g., 55 years before Foucault 's grant
and authorizing such grants on Lake Champlain.
One of the largest of these grants or seigniories was made on
October 7, 1743, to Gilles Hocquart, intendant of Canada, from
1728 to 1748, at one time Councillor of State and intendant of the
Naval forces at Brest. According to an early map printed at
88 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Albany by Richard H. Pease, this seigniory appears to have in-
cluded the present towns of Panton, Addison, Waltham, New
Haven, Weybridge and portions of Bridgeport, Cornwall, Middle-
bury and Bristol. In a communication from the British Board of
Trade, addressed to the Committee of the Privy Council, the lord-
ship of Hocquart is estimated to contain 115,000 acres. In 1764,
it was transferred to Michel Chartier de Lotbiniere, to whom the
Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, had granted in 1758,
the seignory of Alainville, in recognition of his services in laying
out Carillon. This last grant embraced more than four leagues
in front, and 5 leagues in depth, lying partly on Lake George and
partly on Lake Champlain.
Among other grants was one made to Mr. dte Contrecoeur, Jr.,
July 7, 1734. "On the borders of Lake Champlain, beginning at
the mouth of the Riviere Aux loutres (Otter Creek) one league and
a half above, and one league and a half below, making two leagues
in front by three in depth, together with so much of said Riviere
aux loutres, as is found therein, with those islands or islets which
are in front of said concession and depend thereon." This grant
probably included the present towns of Perrisburg, and Monkton,
the City of Vergennes, and portions of Panton, Waltham, New
Haven and Bristol. On July 6, 1743, a grant was made to Sieur
de Laperriere, one league above and one league below1 the river
Ouinouski. Captain Laperriere was an officer, stationed at the cas-
tle of Quebec who became governor of Montreal in 1752. This
seigniory included a part or all of the present city of Burlington.
My paternal grandmother was a Laperriere. I never realized till
I made these researches how near I came to being Lord of Burling-
ton ! !
The next grant lying to the north was made to Mr. Raimbault.
There is on record a deed of sale made in Montreal, bearing the
date of September 27, 1766, by which the heirs of Mr. Pierre Raim-
bault "in his lifetime, lieutenant-general for his most Christian
majesty, of the jurisdiction of this city (Montreal) transferred the
seigniory of Lamanandiere to Benjamin Price, Daniel Robertson
and John Livingston. The price agreed upon was 90,000 livres
(about $18,000) current money of the province," half of which was
to be paid in gold and silver, and half in merchandise, at the prices
LOSS OP LAKE CHAMPLAIN REGION.
then, current in Montreal. This was one of the first recorded land
transfers in Northern Vermont.
The text of this deed is published in the manuscripts relating
to the French claims, in the New York State papers; and the com-
piler has added a marginal note to the effect that Burlington is
situated on a part of the seigniory of Lamanaudiere.
This would seem to be an error, as the deLery map, made in
Quebec, in October, 1748, by Mr. Anger, the King's Surveyor,
shows Mr. Raimbault's grant to have extended from a point near
the head of Mallet's Bay on the South to a point on the north, ap-
parently in the Town of Georgia, The deed of sale states that the
southern boundary of the Raimbault's grant is the seigniory grant-
ed! to Laperriere which lay a league above, and a league below the
mouth of the Winoski River.
As you notice, all of these grants laid on the eastern shore of
the lake, in what became later the State of Vermont. But there
were quite a few on the western bank. "On April 10, 1733, a
grant of two leagues or 2 1-2 in front by three in depth along the
river Chambly and Lake Champlain, together with the river Chazy
included therein and isle la Motte," was made to Sieur Pean,
major of the town and castles of Quebec, and member of the Sup-
erior Council of that city. This grant included the northern part
of the present town of Champlain, and it was transferred on May
2, 1754, to Daniel Lienard, Sieur de Beaujeu, who owned the seig-
niory immediately north. Both de Contrecoeur, to whom had been
granted Isle Longue or North Hero, and Beaujeu, were prominent in
the operations around Port Duquesne, and the latter lost his life
in the battle which resulted! in General Braddock's defeat and
death, at the beginning of the French and Indian war. Grants, a
little to the south of Beaujeu 's seigniories, were made to Sieur St.
Vincent, ensign of foot, and also to Sieur Legauchetiere, a cap-
tain of marines.
It is difficult to give the exact limits of any of these grants as
the early maps were far from accurate in many particulars, and
the boundaries as shown on different maps are not always the same.
Most of these grants, being unimproved, reverted to the Crown by
virtue of an order issued at Quebec, May 10, 1741, by the Gover-
nor, the Marquis de Beauharnois.
90 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
As might have been expected, a storm of protests descended
upon the head of the administration. These protests show how
hopeless and thankless a task an attempt at colonizing the Cham-
plain Valley was at this period. For instance, the Sieurs de Con-
trecoeur and Laperriere maintained that: It was impossible to
find individuals willing to accept land though they offered them
some on very advantageous terms, and were willing even to give
300 livres, to engage the same individuals.''
Sieur de Lafontaine offered to give to those whom he will find
willing to settle there, grain and even money, asking from them
no rent in order to obtain from them, by the allurement of this
gift, what he cannot obtain by force. Sieur Roebert, who had
been given a grant above the Bouquet River writes : that he had neg-
lected nothing to induce some young farmers to go and settle there
by procuring for them great advantages and many facilities.
To graciously bestow tracts of land on Lake Champlain was
for his most Christian majesty a rather anodyne procedure, where-
as the establishment and the development of such grants were
fraught with the gravest dangers, which the allurement of a few
hundred livres was not sufficient to make the young farmers forget.
The raising of families was as risky an undertaking as the rais-
ing of grain. Both were at the mercy of incursions of savages,
and constantly threatened with annihilation; and the lofty and
disinterested offers of the grantees were accordingly very coldly
received. Their scalps were as dear to these farmers as theirs to
the landlords, and they did not intend to expose this precious pos-
session for farms, the cultivation of which, in the state of things,
guaranteed food rather more to the children of the forest than to
their own.
So, as we say in French, ce beau geste of the King, and his
faithful landlords in America was lost on unappreciative farmers
who preferred a relative safety at home to such dangerous allure-
ments abroad.
There is, however, every evidence that for a few years a pros-
perous colony flourished around Fort St. Frederic. A Swedish
traveller, being received by the commander, Mr. de Lusignan in
1748, describes it very graphically. But these colonists had the
protection of the fort, and were ordered inside its walls when the
least suspicion of danger justified it.
LOSS OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN REGION. 91
That the French government was unaffected by these repeated
failures at colonizing goes without saying. Had it been as solici-
tous of the welfare of the colony as it was of the fortune of the
few Canadian favorites who were solely to benefit by these grants ;
had it given more thought to its possession, the history of Lake
Champlain might have been written in another manner, and possib-
ly in another language.
Most of the English settlements were begun after 1760, that
is, after the close of the French and Indian war. They were most-
ly New Hampshire grants. But following immediately the hostili-
ties, the colony of New; York issued grants on both sides of the
Lake to more than eighty reduced British officers. Charlotte Coun-
ty had been organized, including both the east and west shores of
the Lake. A large section between Otter Creek and Mallet's Bay
was set aside for the disbanded soldiers of the recent wars. But
this was so resented by the Green Mountain Boys that this invasion
of British veterans had to be checked.
The land controversies between the New York authorities and
the settlers on the New Hampshire grants kept the region in a state
of turbulence, and it is through this period that Ethan Allen began
his picturesque career.
He made himself so obnoxious to the New York authorities by
his zeal in defending the land titles issued under New Hampshire
authority that in 1772 a price was set upon his head.
Fortunately, the outbreak of the war of the revolution united
in a common cause the Green Mountain Boys and not a small num-
ber of the loyalists of New York.
The valley had at last reached the peaceful state for which
Nature had intended it. It had become a beautiful region of
homes, farms and industries for which its rich soil lavishly furnish-
ed the raw materials. Steam boats soon began to ply between its
busy centres, where before the flat boats and the bateaux carried1
the armed legions of England and France. And to man these in-
dustries, to till this soil, strong hearts and sturdy hands were need-
ed; then descended upon the land swarms of Frenchmen of the
North, the sons of those who had been forced to evacuate it not
92 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
quite a century before. They were a brave lot, they had been nur-
tured in hardships, they had found at times the yoke of England
rather oppressive, and possibly they instinctively felt that her for-
mer colonies would be in time her most formidable rival in the arts
of peace and industry. They came in steady streams from far
away Acadia up the Richelieu River, just like Champlain had done
to locate the Lake. They followed with their plows and axes the
old war-trail, and began to fell the trees, float the lumber and open
trenches that would yield in time corn and grain. And their black
eyed woman soon followed, the industrious and prolific mothers,
and numberless children, the hope of the future and the promise
of racial survival. Onward they drifted on the French grants of
yore, on the New Hampshire grants, and the New York grants,
their ranks constantly swelled by new arrivals from beyond the
border, until their number far exceeded all the French population
of Canada after the conquest.
So the descendants of the contemporaries of Champlain and
Montcalm, for whom these heroes toiled and fought, seem to have
regained a part of that lost inheritance. Unconsciously carrying
out the destiny of which the discoverer had a clear vision, but of
which the last defender had probably despaired in his last mom-
ents, when he realized that in the fall of Quebec an empire was lost
to France ; these Normans of America have invaded a territory that
was their ancestors', by right of discovery and of supremacy for a
century and a half.
There was no conqueror at their head in this new invasion of
new Anglo-Saxon land, theirs was as quietly undertaken as pacific
and I may add as welcome, as William's was turbulent, stormy, and
his rule despotic after the conquest. But they brought with them
the cult that had sustained them in the years of oppression, their
beautiful traditions, and have not as yet abandoned this quaint
Norman speech, the sturdy tongue of the great explorers and the
great discoverers, which, if not as pliable, as musical as modern
French, is as direct, as energetic, as viril as the men who first
sounded it in the primeval forests of America. We all know the
influence of the Norman invasion on English language ; we all know
how the Saxons assimilated the speech of the conquerors so that
their vocabulary was made richer by at least 13,000 words; what
LOSS OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN REGION. 93
if these American hordes should impose this same French in these
regions ? Would their allegiance to the country that welcomes them
be less loyal ? Would they shirk the duties of this newly acquired
citizenship ? Let subsequent events answer these questions.
There is a phase of French co-operation in the War of the
Revolution which it not generally mentioned by historians. The
great names are on every one's lips, and. I have tried on previous
occasions to bring out from their relative obscurity the stars of
lesser dimensions, but let me recall the French Canadian and the
French Acadian contribution to this War. If the agents of the
American Congress were unsuccessful in their efforts to induce the
Canadians to join them in a general uprising, it is a well authenti-
cated fact that a goodly number of these Frenchmen enrolled them-
selves under the banner of Washington. And in recognition of
their valued services, the State of New York granted them a tract
of land which is now Clinton County, where they colonized and
multiplied, reinforced by emigration, until today, in the counties
of Clinton, Essex and Washington they number 30,000. In 1861
more than 500 men of French origin, all citizens of these counties,
rallied to the rescue of a threatened union which their own ances-
tors and so many men of their own blood had so effectively helped
to upbuild. Allow me to get out of this region but not out of the
State of New York, on the shores of another lake, and there, in the
City of Oswego, behold the spectacle of a young man 18 years old
of French origin, raising a company of 112 men all French, the
oldest of whom was barely twenty, and offering to General Grant
their lives for the defense of this same Union. Captain Edmund
Mallet was his name, he was a man of small stature and when six
months later he was struck by a bullet and left for dead on the bat-
tlefield, but finally rescued by one of his men, and after weeks of
suffering was brought into the presence of General Grant, the
Commander-in-chief shaking his hand and conferring upon him the
title of '"Major," said: "Capt. Mallet, I am sorry, you are too
small to be a General and too great to be only Major."
Those are some of the deeds of these Normans of America, or
rather of these oldeet of Americans. They have been loyal to Eng-
land when the fortunes of war broke the ties of kinship and father-
land, and those who, coming up the old war-trail, pledged their al-
94 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
legiance to the land of Freedom and opportunities, have shown
their loyalty and their patriotism in such deeds. And it is one of
the great lessons of History that both of the nations, which bat-
tled here so long for supremacy, have lost to a new nation, born
yesterday, offspring of one of them, marvellously grown, a region,
where now peacefully live side by side, the descendants of both,
claiming a common patrie, and sheltered by a common flag.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE WAR OF 1812.
BY GEORGE K. HAWKINS, A. M. D. SC.
Principal Plattsburg State Normal School, Plattsburg, N. Y.
The opening years of the nineteenth century were filled with
embarrassment and danger to the American people who were en-
gaged in trying to solve what was then in its infancy an experi-
mental problem in government and politics. Here was a nation
in which a new governmental idea was in process of evolution
and as yet but imperfectly developed— a nation which only three
decades before had sprung unexpectedly to itself and almost by
accident into an independent existence— a nation whose destiny
seemed to lie in the hands of inexperienced and half educated
mediocrity. Here was a republic in which republican sentiment
was little more than embryonic and whose coherence was chiefly
maintained by the primitive instinct of self preservation against
the rapacity of Europe. It was the genesis of a type in the polit-
ical history of the world. Here were to be found extremes of toryism
and radicalism. Here, growing out of social and economic quest-
tions, wjere acute sectional differences between New England on
the one hand, and the South and West on the other. Here was a
party whose sympathies in the great political drama then being
enacted abroad and claiming the attention of the world, were dis-
tinctively French. Here was an opposing party whose sympathies,
notwithstanding that the natural legacy of the preceding century
to the young American republic had been one of estrangement
and hatred toward the English government and people, were,
nevertheless, as distinctively English. And either party was more
than willing to commit the United States entirely to the cause
which it espoused. No clear cut and definite line of domestic
national policy could with ease be formulated. The Revolutionary
conflict had not taken its place as yet in the calm perspective of
distant history. Because of its nearness, the length and breadth
of that magnificient struggle could not be appreciated. It com-
96 GEXERAL OBSERVATIONS OX THE WAR OF 1812.
pletely overshadowed us. Its memory was a passion. We were in-
toxicated by it. The oppressions, the cruelties, the insults and the
taunts of the mother country were matters of recent family and
personal record. The campaigns and battles, the victories and de-
feats, the despondency and triumphs of that memorable period
seemed like autobiographies. The nation was not old enough nor
strong enough as yet to be magnanimous.
But the south had particularly suffered during the Revolution
on account of frequent predatory incursions by the British and be-
cause of the bitterness which characterized the partisan warfare
between patriot and tory; and here, especially, the intense pre-
judice, the white-hot hatred which followed estrangement from
England, had subsided but little. Its embers were always glowing
and might be easily fanned into a flame.
And on the other hand, indeed, this sentiment of hostility
was returned with interest. The English government, rich in re-
sources and in power, regarded the American people as rebellious
upstarts who by advantages of geographical position and certain
fortuitous and lucky circumstances, had, through the assistance
of France, temporarily established themselves upon a so-called
independent footing. That this would be an ephemeral condition
only, they confidently predicted and believed. Our republican
theories and pretensions to national rank and importance they
viewed with haughty contempt. They did not even take the
trouble to be polite. While pretending to stand aloof they smiled
and sneered and exulted because they thought they detected at
work of our national veins the poison of discord— a venom which
they trusted should soon destroy our national life. And that it
was so, is, indeed, a matter of little wonder to him who becomes
familiar with the narrow views and selfish motives which gave
character to public discussions during the first thirty years sub-
sequent to the Revolution; the insane drivel which was employed
to vilify the names and purposes of the greatest Americans of the
period; and the slavish acceptance as a fundamental basis of
government of that delusive doctrine "vox populi, vox Dei." The
fermentation was intense and verily it did seem as if the reign of
the patriot had ended and the reign of the demagogue had come.
But England apparently could not resist the tempation to
actively molest. She could not patiently await the natural process
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE WAR OF 1812. 97
of disintegration. There is abundant reason to believe that her
emissaries purposely instigated the Indians upon our northwest-
ern frontier to harass and murder our pioneers. Upon the hi^h
seas she openly did us injury. She searched our ships and im-
pressed our seamen and brutally declared it to be her right. She
deliberately affronted us whenever and wherever it was possible
and contemptuously disregarded our protests. She sought oppor-
tunities to humiliate us and then ridiculed our humiliation.
The situation became unbearable and the prophecy of the far-
seeing Franklin, uttered years before, came at length to be under-
stood: "The war for independence has yet to be. fought."
Moreover, during the decade immediately preceding the war
of which I speak, sinister events affecting our interests were at-
tracting the attention of Christendom. A stupendous figure filled
the eyes of the world. The tides of war were ebbing and flowing
about the so-called Man of Destiny. That superlative robber,
Napoleon Bonaparte, was scourging the European continent with
fire and sword and lashing the political seas of the old world into
bloody foam. In this general disturbance— the most serious in
modern history— England speedily became involved, and in the
name of military expediency she rashly abused the rights of
neutrals and forbade the exercise of peaceable trade. And so,
under cover of circumstances in which America had no part, she
seemed wantonly and deliberately to aim additional blows against
American prosperity, honor and self-respect.
But in justice to the truth concerning this whole matter let
us recall in passing that if "orders in council" humiliating to
American pride and destructive to American commerce with
France and her allies proceeded from the Lords of the Ministry
at London, decrees more humiliating and equally destructive to
American commerce generally, proceeded from Milan and Berlin
and Bayonne and Bambouillet, promulgated by Napoleon. And
let us not forget that if England impressed the American seaman,
then France declared the seaman so impressed to be a pirate. If
on the one hand he lost his liberty, on the other he was likely to
lose his life. And furthermore it must be remembered that there
was, perhaps, in the dark heart of Napoleon, that hater of all that
savoured of democracy, a more malignant ulterior purpose than
had ever been cherished across the channel.
98 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Poor America was being crushed between the millstones and
her plight was desperate. Unless relief could be secured through
the channels of wise diplomacy the issue must be left to the stern
arbitrament of war. But Jefferson, in whose hands lay the ad-
ministration at the time when the situation first became acute,
was too high-spirited and uncompromising for a really successful
diplomatist. He much preferred to dictate terms. And yet he
was not for war. England he dreaded and France had been long
endeared to him. And therefore the policy he did adopt and
which found expression in the embargo and non-intercourse acts,
was one of childish reprisal against the commerce of the offending
nations with ourselves— a puerile proceeding which only excited
the mirth of the countries against which it was directed. But it
was amazingly well calculated to bankrupt our own resources at
the time, to cripple our industries and distress the whole country,
and to delay indefinitely the hour when a final reckoning with
either France or England could safely be exacted.
The inadequacy of any such measures to secure redress of
grievances at length became apparent and their continuance
threatened to disrupt the Union. Then it was that the adminis-
tration party was compelled either to admit that its attempt at
statecraft had been a pitiable failure or to claim that all means of
peaceful adjustment had been exhausted and that nothing now re-
mained but war. Of course it chose the latter. But war with
whom? If with France.it must be wholly defensive. No thought
of invading French territory could for a moment be entertained.
Thanks to Jefferson's measures our navy inspired no confidence
whatever. A war with France would surely condem the country
to inactivity except as an ally with that England who treated us
with contempt.
But as against England the case was different. She herself
was more open to attack. Her most valuable colony lay along our
northern border and presented many a vulnerable point. Here
was a chance for conquest and who knew but that the broad do-
main of Canada might soon be added to the territory of the United
States. It was confidently prophesied that if war should be declared
American soldiery might almost immediately occupy the Canadian
lake ports, encamp in Montreal and man the heights of Quebec.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE WAR OF 1812. 99
Moreover, a species of camaraderie had developed between the
Americans and the French during the Revolutionary period and
in that other dark hour of history when France in her turn was
giving birth to an abortive liberty; and this sentiment the inso-
lence of the Directory, the abuse heaped upon us in consequence
of Jay's treaty with England in 1795, the dishonesty of Talleyrand
and the selfish but shrewd injustice of Napoleon himself could not
entirely overcome. It seemed very easy to forgive France, our
ancient friend, the land of Lafayette, and to lay her sins at the
door of England, our unnatural mother.
And so the country writhed beneath the insults of England
which were grave enough and beneath the insults of France which
were just as grave, endured the destruction of American enter-
prise and commerce by British and French interference abroad
and by Jeffersonian interference at home, until at last it would
endure no more and the vials of wrath were opened. England's
hands were now tied up with continental affairs, and our war
party's clamor for war before those hands should be unloosed
became irresistible and had to satisfied.
In this wise did the troubled waters of European politics ex-
tend themselves to the western hemisphere and create here a little
vortex which has gone into history as the war of 1812. The second
war for American independence was now to be fought.
The close student of this period will, I think, be likely to con-
clude : that, while to any self respecting people war would be a
lesser evil than to suffer such humiliating conditions as were
forced upon us, yet this war when it came had in it too large an ad-
mixture of partisan politics; that coupled with it were sentiments
and purposes not entirely patriotic; that it found us inadequately
prepared; that it was finally precipitated by a blind infatuation
rather than calm good judgment; that in view of all attending
circumstances it was at that particular time most dangerous and
ill-advised; that it almost seemed an exhibition of providential
favour that it did not prove to be a war of disintegration and loss
of national existence; and that the utmost praise is due to the
sturdy qualities of American character, its philosophic indepen-
dence, its loyal good sense and its confidence in itself that the war
did not so terminate.
100 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
I have said that this contest was precipitated by a species of
infatuation because although provocation enough, many times
over, had been given to justify a declaration of war against either
England or France, no adequate forethought for such a struggle
had ever been taken. On the contrary every instrument was
crippled and every resource weakened. Our lack of military
strength had been entirely overlooked, the probable character
which the conflict would assume had been wholly misapprehended
the while a boastful and undignified spirit of bravado seemed to
pervade the land. It was as if we deemed ourselves invincible
unarmored, and that victory must of necessity perch itself upon
the banners of a righteous cause.
I have said that sentiments and purposes not altogether
patriotic were observable because the war party— not inaptly
styled the French party— were more than suspected of greater
anxiety to throw the United States, with or without reason, into
the balance against the most formidable enemy of France than
to redress the grievances under which we languished; and it is
also moderately well assured that the jealous planter interest of
the South was not averse to plunging the country into war in the
hope of realizing the coveted opportunity of permanently dis-
abling the commercial interests of the North. During the political
agitation of all these years, through the intense party prejudice,
the acute jealousy of individual demagogues and open charges of
treachery and bad faith, was clearly displayed the outcropping of
that sectional antagonism which a half century later deluged the
land with the blood of its victims, and traces of which even today
unhappily exist.
The press in democratic countries is always a most powerful
lever of influence, and this has ever been especially true of Amer-
ica. But at the time of which I speak the press of the United
States was, for the most part in the hands of European political
refugees and French sympathizers, and was better calculated to
inflame the passions of the mob than to reflect the best judgment
of American statesmanship.
I have said that the war, undertaken under the circumstances
that obtained, was ill-advised and dangerous. I have made the
statement because as Henry Clay, one of the most ardent war ad-
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE WAR OF 1812. 101
vocates, openly declared in the senate, and as it was urged by his
followers everywhere, it was ostensibly a war for conquest. It
aimed primarily at the seizure and plundering of Canada as a re-
taliatory measure against England and for the purpose of secur-
ing an advantage in dictating the terms of peace; and this on the
part of a government without funds, without credit, without pres-
tige in the family of nations, whose continuance on account of in-
ternal difficulties was exceedingly doubtful, with an army of from
6,000 to 10,000 men, very badly officered, and a navy comprising
the tremendous total in serviceable and seaworthy condition of four
frigates and eight sloops.
To get a clearer conception of the problem before us in 1812
let us remember that the Canadian provinces were everywhere de-
fended by a wide belt of almost impenetrable wilderness presenting
but few avenues of approach and haunted in general by Indians
hostile to us ; that the Canadian had always proved himself a brave
and hardy antagonist and a foe entitled to respect; that the Cana-
dian militia could be easily and quickly organized; that obedience
to military command was traditional with them, and that they
could be depended upon for loyalty ; that conversely the American
states along the border were either lukewarm or half rebellious
against the war; that their militia at best could be mobilized with
difficulty and, as the event proved, were likely to fail at the pinch
in offensive operations. And yet Clay had loudly advertised that
the militia of his State alone would be sufficient to lay Canada sub-
dued and captive at our feet; and, strange to say, he found be-
lievers. It was the very acme of infatuation.
But the entire country did not share it. The war was by no
means universally popular— a fact whereby the danger was in-
creased. The "War-hawks" as they were called in congress had
only a bare majority. The real clamor for contest came chiefly
from the South and West— localities where fighting was a frequent
incident in ordinary life and was looked upon with favor— where
the duelling code was in force among those who styled themselves
gentlemen, and fisticuffs with all the barbarous accompaniments
of roughing and gouging were practiced among the humbler breth-
ren.
102 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Even President Madison and his cabinet were, on principle,
averse to the war, and for years the former had ably opposed it
with voice and pen. But in response to the imperative demands
made upon him by the young fire-eaters of his own party, and ap-
parently to secure a re-election, at a moment which was in reality
the most favorable for a peaceful adjustment of our foreign rela-
tions that had yet presented itself, we find him consenting to
plunge his country into what promised to be a disastrous war with
the greatest maritime power in the world.
The military operations of the first year resulted only in mor-
tification and shame to American arms. General Hull, of Revo-
lutionary service, from whom better things might have been ex-
pected, developed a timid incapacity which resulted in the loss of
Michigan territory and the army of the west, and justified himself
with some degree of plausibility on the ground of total non-support
from the war department. The New York militia on the Niagara
frontier displayed arrant cowardice at the moment when a note-
worthy achievement was possible. General Dearborn failed in his
design of attacking Montreal because, as he alleged, the militia of
the Champlain region refused to execute his purpose. All these
things and others of similar purport are matters of familiar his-
tory, the details of which I need not inflict.
On the other hand, after the contemplation of these discour-
agements the American heart again beats high at the brilliant suc-
cesses on the sea of our gallant little navy which quite unexpectedly
gave the lie to the boasted invincibility of Great Britian. Even
though it must be confessed that these achievements were in some
degree made possible through British obstinacy in refusing to con-
cede that American naval prowess was an appreciable quantity,
yet our pride is none the less sincere. The navy contributed the
redeeming feature in 1812.
In the following year that defect in British foresight began
to be remedied and American naval triumphs correspondingly di-
minished. The year opened sorrowfully. The New England har-
bors were blockaded and the Chesapeake coast was devastated.
Inland, the monotonous story of the incompetency of General
Hampton and General Wilkinson in the Champlain region, the
unpatriotic— some have been harsh enough to say treasonable— con-
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE WAR OF 1812. 103
duct of Governor Chittenden of Vermont with reference to the
State militia, and the petty raids along the Ontario frontier were
at last relieved by the first really decisive engagement of the war —
Commodore Perry 's brilliant victory over the British fleet on Lake
Erie. This victory made possible the battle of the Thames and
Harrison's subsequent redemption of Michigan and the occupa-
tion of Canada as far east as Buffalo.
But the character of the war was rapidly changing. Its origi-
nal object was forgotten. It had begun offensively. It was now
fast assuming a defensive aspect. Operations along the entire
border were reducing themselves to mere assaults and reprisals
against the frontier towns. Nothing more. These small affairs were
sometimes accompanied by instances of individual heroism but in
themselves were of trifling importance. Apart from the moral ef-
fect upon a discouraged country, the chief significance even of the
battles of Lake Erie and the Thames is agreed to be merely the;
breaking up of an Indian Confederacy and the relief of Ohio from
the danger of British invasion. Beyond this the possession of west-
ern Canada with its isolated cabins, its impassable swamps and
intricate forests was of no consequence. The conquest of Mon-
treal and Quebec was farther off than ever.
In the spring of 1814 Napoleon's sun had apparently set.
Leipsic had been fought. Paris had fallen. The Bourbon re-
storation had come. The man for whom all Europe had been too
small was now retired to the narrow boundaries of Elba.
Heretofore Great Britian had been able to but feebly press
her American war. Now the veterans of Wellington were free
to be employed against us and the English war party demanded
that we be made to feel in full the weight of England's puissant
arm. But while, no doubt, the British government had resolved to
prosecute the war in a manner more commensurate with the power
of the kingdom, yet concealed forces were already at work for
peace. The continental war with Napoleon had severely taxed the
energies of Great Britian. A period in which to recuperate from
the exhaustion of that contest was imperatively necessary. Then,
too, nations, like individuals, become rapidly wiser under the weight
of serious burdens, and there seems to have been a growing impres-
sion among the British ministry that any extension of dominion
104 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
in America, even though it could be accomplished, would be attend-
ed by complications of a dangerous nature in which Great Britian
must hesitate to engage ; and this impression appears to have been
sustained by the judgment and advice of Wellington himself.
Therefore I suspect that the campaigns of 1814 against the United
States were undertaken rather for the purposes of chastisement
and to obtain respectable overtures for peace than with any hope
or expectation of conquest.
During the early summer the Americans made at Niagara
their last futile attempt to invade Canada. From that time on-
ward the project was wholly abandoned. The war at last had be-
come entirely defensive.
Now occurred the first elaborate attempt of England since
the Revolution to bring her one time colonies to terms. Three
heavy blows were aimed against the United States— one on the
north from Montreal, one in the middle Atlantic region from Ber-
muda and a third against New Orleans from Jamaica. For each
of these purposes veteran troops were to be employed in superior
force. It has been surmised that a junction of the army brought
to bear upon the north with the forces of Admiral Cochrane and
General Ross in the Chesapeake region was intended. This I re-
gard as more than doubtful. Some of the writers whom I have
consulted believe that such a junction was contemplated, but more
are silent upon the question. Mr. Lossing evidently believed that
the capture of Albany and New York was the objective. Mr. Ali-
son, the British historian, declares that Prevost, who commanded
the northern expedition, was expected merely to co-operate with
Sherbrooke and Griffith, who were carrying on a predatory war-
fare of small significance along the coast of Maine. To me, how-
ever, it seems probable that the chief purpose of England, who
was very desirous of obtaining the absolute and undisputed con-
trol of the great inland lakes, was to reduce the States to such ex-
tremities that the cession of a belt of territory along their south-
ern shores could be insisted upon. At any rate the peace commis-
sioners who had been appointed by the President at the suggestion
of the British government sometime before were kept at arm's
length until after the attempt at invasion on the north had col-
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE WAR OF 1812. 105
lapsed and then the negotiations for peace were hurriedly pushed
to completion.
As to the point of attack it is probable that the general-in-
chief in Canada had practically unlimited discretion. But in any
case the choice must have determined itself. Lake Champlain
was the line of least resistance. It was the natural gateway into
the interior. The country about it was an important reservoir of
supplies whose possession was indispensable to Canada. More-
over, it presented the most vulnerable opening. Not only was this
frontier at all times inadequately strengthened, but now with that
imbecility which seemed to characterize the war administration
throughout, it was weakened to the last degree even in the face of
an invading army. Here, therefore, the blow was confidently
struck, and here, upon the blue waters of Cumberland bay was
fought the second decisive battle of the war— a battle which more
than any other opened the way for peace.
Meanwhile the Chesapeake expedition had arrived, the utter
incompetency of the war department had once more been shown
and a crowning disgrace had befallen the United States in the cap-
ture and sacking of their national capital. The mortification was
none the less keen because almost simultaneously with the battle
of Lake Champlain, Baltimore and Fort McHenry made success-
ful resistance against the same attacking forces that had captured
Washington and, in the third engagement of the war which could
claim anything like a decisive character, caused this feature of the
British plans to end in confusion and disgust.
You will remember how early in January of the succeeding
year the southern expedition from Jamaica met its fate at the
hands of Andrew Jackson; but that remarkable battle of New
Orleans which in far-reaching effects was easily the greatest event
of the war, occuring as it did after the treaty of peace was signed,
will scarcely fall within the limits of this address.
The victory at Plattsburg, splendid as it was, the brilliant sor-
tie of General Brown in the seige of Fort Erie, the gallant defense
of Baltimore and Fort McHenry— all these but imperfectly served
to salve the shame of the Washington affair. The whole country
was dispirited. It saw that some one had blundered. It had never
expected to be put so much upon the defensive. It was in desper-
106 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
ate straits with two-thirds of all its trading and mercantile classes
in bankruptcy and everyone clamored that the war should cease,
so that when, in December, 1814, peace was finally secured, Fed-
eral and Democrat alike forgot for a time their differences in a
wild delirium of joy without once stopping to recall that not a sin-
gle point in the controversy which had led to the war was defi-
nitely conceded to us in the treaty which concluded it.
No doubt we Americans are apt to attribute to the successes
of 1814 an influence upon the peace negotiations greater than they
deserve, but even so it is a weakness entirely innocent and pardon-
able. Henry Clay, although one of the most ardent advocates of
the war, is nevertheless quoted as declaring that the only events
which made it possible for an American minister to visit the court
of St. James without humiliation were those which transpired,
not before but after the treaty of peace was signed. But Clay,
after all due allowance has been made for his brilliancy, was yet
a man of impulsive statement and unreliable judgment, and that
the events of 1814, resulting in the frustration of British designs,
exercised an important agency upon the peace commission is un-
deniably true ; but operating to give a forcible complexion to these
events were certain other considerations none the less powerful to
say the least, to which let me direct your attention.
England had once more learned that America could fight both
hard and successfully against even the trained veterans of Europe ;
that her citizen soldiery when a little practiced in war and when
stimulated by intelligent patriotism made the very best in the
world. The English dream, indulged from time immemorial, of
invincibility on the sea, the natural theatre of this contest, had been
rudely broken eighteen months before. And all these things must
have naturally produced a gravitation toward peace ; but the obstin-
acy of John Bull is proverbial and it is more than likely that the
ominous mutterings from the still storm-clouded European sky were
powerfully instrumental in giving these considerations their ap-
propriate weight. England had lately discovered and was duly
impressed by the fact that her stalwart neighbor, Russia, was tak-
ing a mysterious and friendly interest in America and her af-
fairs, and when in September, 1814, the Congress of Vienna met
to re-construct the map of Europe, she was disagreeably startled
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE WAR OF
by the early and prompt action of her late allies, Russia and Prus-
sia, in insisting that if further European difficulties should occur
the rights of neutrals must be guaranteed against abuse. Condi-
tions now obtained under which Great Britian could more wisely
afford to abandon her disregard of neutrality laws than to main-
tain it further and which made it dangerous to claim the right
of search.
She was also quick to see that through the quarrels in which
the Congress of Vienna speedily became involved another general
European war was imminent and indeed that in preparation for
the struggle the continental nations had already begun to arm
themselves ; and she fully realized that in the event of this war her
American complications were bound to become embarrasing and
expensive and that all her resources must be carefully protected
and husbanded against the hour of greater need.
It is therefore reasonably certain, I apprehend, that even as
we were immediately indebted to the action of foreign politics for
the war of 1812 itself, so we were also appreciably indebted to the
agency of foreign politics for that early and oddly patched up
peace which was concluded under the name of the Treaty of Ghent.
ROCK INSCRIPTION AT THE RUINS OF OLD FORT
ST. FREDERICK AT CROWN POINT.
Mr. Frederick B. Richards, Secretary,
New York State Historical Association,
Glens Falls, N. Y.
My dear Mr. Richards: —
During our association's visit to the ruins of old Ft. St. Fred-
eric and Fort Amherst, at Crown Point, on the 5th instant, Mr.
Reid, a member of our party and author of Lake George and Lake
Champlain (New York, 1910,) asked to me examine an old rock
inscription, whose interpretation had not been determined by
historians. Upon my return to Albany, as soon as I could take up
the matter, I undertook to unravel the apparent mystery. The
tentative results are embodied in the enclosed letter to Mr. Reid
and may be deemed worthy of preservation in the volume which
will record the proceedings of the association's recent meeting
and tour on Lake Champlain.
Yours very truly,
VICTOR HUGO PALTSITS,
State Historian.
The Capitol,
Albany, October 14, 1910.
Oct. 14th, 1910.
Mr. W. Max Reid,
Amsterdam, N. Y.
Dear Mr. Reid:—
I believe I have the solution of that rock inscription at Fort
St. Frederic. Approximately the inscription reads, line for line,
thus:
Dagneaux aux faint
Dagneaux at Saint
Frederic le 15 out
Frederic the 15 August
1730
1730
ROCK INSCRIPTION AT CROWN POINT
VIEW OF RUINS OF NORTH CURTAIN OF FORT ST. FREDERIC
ROCK INSCRIPTION AT CROWN POINT 109
The 15th of August is the Feast of the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary in the calendar.
N. Y. Col. Docs., vol. IX, p. 1022, summarizing a letter of the
Marquis de Beauharnois, Governor of Canada, dated October 15,
1730, (N. S). thus: "The Marquis de Beauharnois states that the
English apparently intend to form some posts in these parts, he
having been informed that some Dutchmen of Orange were going
there to trade with the Indians. This induced him to send one
officer and thirty soldiers thither this year, with orders to drive
them away."
The above is confirmed by N. Y. Col. Docs., vol. IX, p. 1021,
dated February 5, 1731 (N. S.), thus: "M. de Beauharnois hav-
ing been informed that the English of Orange were going to Lake
Champlain and its vicinity to trade with the Indians, sent an
officer and thirty soldiers thither in 1730, with orders to drive them
thence; but owing either to their having been warned, or from
some other cause, none of them were found there."
Another link in the chain of evidence is in N. Y. Col. Docs.,
vol. V, p. 910, Commissioners of Indian Affairs to Governor Mont-
gomerie, of New York, dated at Albany, November 26, 1730,
(0. S.), thus: "(we are informed that the French are to build
a Fort at Crown Point at the south end of Corlaer's Lake
but one hundred and twenty miles from this place) perhaps on
pretence to intercept and prevent the Trade of Indians hither and
to Canada is also against said Treaty" [etc]. See also same
volume, p. 928.
The foregoing communication to the Governor of New York
was dated at Albany, on November 26, 1730 (0. S.). Only a few
days later, namely on December 3 (0. S.), the Council Minutes
(manuscript) show that the English government of New York,
represented in Council meeting at New York City, was aware of the
French designs to build a fort at Crown Point. See MS. Council
Minutes, vol. 16, p. 72.
The evidence is, then, that prior to October, 1730, the French
Canadian governor, M. de Beauharnois, had sent an officer and
thirty men to Lake Champlain to drive off traders of Albany who
were expected to make their appearance on Lake Champlain ; that
the French plan proposed the erection of a post at Pointe de la
110 NEW YORK STATE HISTORIC AL ASSOCIATION.
Chevelure or, as called by the English, Crown Point (I do not
enter here into a discussion of location) ; that the Commissioners
of Indian Affairs of New York informed Governor Montgomerie
of the French design and the reasons thereof, whereupon the
Council, sitting at New York City, on December 3, 1730 (0. S.)
took cognizance of the fact.
Who was the "officer" that commanded the "thirty soldiers"?
On the rock inscription we find the name Dagneaux and the date
August 15, 1730, which date would be "New Style," of course.
This date is an important feast day of the Roman Catholic
Church.
There are several persons who bore the name Dagneaux. I
believe the name on the rock stands for Michel Dagneaux, Sieur
de Douville. You will find him mentioned in Thwaites, "Jesuit
Relations," vol 69, p. 307; also in "Canadian Archives," 1904,
p. 198 of Appendix K, where it is stated that the Comte de
Maurepas, advising Governor de Beauharnois, allowed the retire-
ment of Sr. Dagneaux Douville from the service, and that his place
be granted to his son, Sr. Dagneaux de Saccaye [i. e. Saussaye].
This item is dated April 20, 1734 (N. S.). Now, Dagneaux de
Douville was one of those who received a grant of land on Lake
Champlain, the approval of which, on April 30, 1737 (N. S.), is
found in "Canadian Archives," 1904, Appendix K, pp. 239, 242.
This grant is laid down on the map of the French grants, as No.
37, in "Doc. Hist, of N. Y." (Quarto edition), vol. 1, pp. 358.
Apparently, it was in what is now Franklin County, Vermont,
and in the town of St. Albans. I have not attempted to go into
that matter. Michel Dagneaux, Sieur de Douville, died on March
24, 1753, at Montreal. (Tanguay, "Diet. Geneal." vol. 3).
Yours very truly,
VICTOR HUGO PALTSITS,
State Historian.
Oct. 22, 1910.
Hon. Victor Hugo Paltsits, State Historian,
My Dear Mr. Paltsits:—
Your interpretation of the inscription on the north curtain of
old Fort St. Frederick at Point de la Chevelure or Crown Point,
ROCK INSCRIPTION AT CROWN. POINT 111
must be accepted as a correct solution. It is far reaching and leads
to further light on the building of the old fort. It also suggests
another thought of interest.
The only light that we can get on this subject at this period
is to be found in the French and English Colonial documents, from
which I have culled a few extracts, and the Jesuit Relations.
Beauharnois writes October 15, 1730, that he had sent an officer
(D'agneau) and thirty men to Crown Point. The inscription tells
us that "Dagneaux was at Crown Point Aug. 15, 1730," sent there
with thirty soldiers presumably for the Military Occupation of the
Peninsula ~by France; a record being made on stone on the day
of the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Steps were immediately taken to defend the claim by the
erection of a fort. This tablet, I am inclined to believe, was placed
in the wall of the north curtain at the beginning (Aug. 15, 1730)
and not at the end of its construction. The vital point was the
record of the military occupation, and the erection of a fort to de-
fend the claim which had been feebly protested against by the
English for more than twenty years. During the period it had been
neutral ground, a trading place for traffic with the Indians, both
Iroquois and Algonquin, and a rendezvous for France in raids on
the English settlements.
Gen. George Clark writes to Gov. Clinton, September 16,
1738 : The French have built a strong fort at Crown Point about
15 (?) years ago (1723). (Probably a stockade).
Again in June 1743 he says: they (the French) did about
twelve years ago erect (1731) another fort much stronger.
(May .7, 1747, Col. William Johnson writes that there were
six little log houses outside the Fort).
Nov. 2, 1731, Rip Van Dam writes to the Board of Trade:
"The French have already encroached and built a fort at a place
called Crown Point." Again on April 6, 1732, he writes: in re-
pect to a fort at Crown Point now said to have been built.
Louis XV on May 17, 1731, refers to a fort built at Crown
Point. But on February 18, 1733, he again writes: "In antici-
pation of the establishment the English were projecting on Lake
Champlain, a fort of stockades has been erected at Crown Point un-
til an opportunity be had to build one more solid."
112 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
The Machicoulis Redoubt was in course of construction in
October, 1734, at which time Sieur de la Gauchetiere with thirty
men in garrison was commander. Beauharnois says: "Until the
redoubt be built, a larger number of men cannot be accommodated
at that place during the winter."
This is undoubtedly the structure inside the walls, frequently
referred to as the "Citadel." The term Machicoulis refers to pro-
jecting stories or parapets arranged for the purpose of firing
down on the enemy.
From Captain Stoddard 's report to Gov. Clinton July 30,
1750, I find the following description of Fort St. Frederick :
"Thirty- two leagues south of St. Johns, on the Lake Cham-
plain is the Fort Saint Frederick (called by us Crown Point)
where a bay and a small river to the eastward forms a point on
which the fort stands. This fort is built of stone the walls of a
considerable height and thickness, and has twenty pieces of cannon
and swivels, mounted on the ramparts and bastions, the largest of
which is six pounders, and but a few of them. I observed the wall
cracked from top to bottom in several places. At the entrance to
the fort is a dry ditch, eighteen or twenty foot square and a draw
bridge, there is a subteraneous passage under this draw bridge to
the lake which I apprehend is to be made use of in time of need to
bring water to the fort, as the well they have in it affords them but
very little. In the northwest corner of the fort stands the citadel ;
it is a stone building eight square, four story high each turned
with arches, mounts twenty pieces of cannon and swivels, the larg-
est six pounders, four of which are in the first story and are use-
less until the walls of the fort are beat down. The walls of the
citadel are about ten foot thick the roof high and very tant (?)
covered with shingles.
"At the entrance of the citadel is a draw bridge and ditch of
the same dimensions as that to the entrance to the fort. To the
the south, southeast and southwest of the fort the ground is
rising and is very advantageous of erecting a battery in
case of a seige, as 'tis not above three hundred yards
distance from the fort. Behind it the land is low, and some
thousands of men may lie without receiving any damage from the
cannon of the fort, as the ridge is a fine covert and lies circular
so far as to flank two of the bastions. They have a chappel and
ROCK INSCRIPTION AT CROWN POINT 113
several other wooden houses in the fort which are put to no other use
than the storing their provisions etc. The land near the fort is
level and good, also on each side of the lake which they are
settling, and since the peace there are fourteen farms on it, and
great encouragement given by the king for that purpose, and I was
informed that by the next fall, several more families were coming
there to settle. This fort is of very great importance to the
French; for in time of war the parties sent to our frontiers, are
supplied with necessaries from hence, at the same time it serves
as a place of retreat, it lying north of Albany but about 40
Leagues. ' '
This is about all we can learn from Colonial documents, but
contemporary accounts still continue to give us many side lights
of value to re-searchers.
In the photo the party are looking at the inscription which
is on the light colored stone in the lower course of masonry, in the
ruined wall of the north curtain of the old fort, directly in front
of the bent knee of the man with the straw hat.
Incidentally I wish to introduce another name for Crown
Point.
The Earl of Waldegrave writes to the Board of Trade June
13, 1732 : ' ' The French have caused a fort to be built * * *
at a place called Pointe de la Couronne, in English, Crown Point. ' '
W. MAX REID.
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES: THEIR WORK
AND WORTH.
BY VICTOR HUGO PALTSITS, State Historian.
Mr. President, Members of the Association, Ladies and Gentle-
men.—I had cherished the fond hope of being merely a listener
and sightseer during the three days' proceedings of this annual
meeting of the New York State Historical Association, but the
active committee entrusted with the preparation of our pro-
gramme having, earlier in the year, elicited a promise from me to
prepare an address, took that tentative promise seriously, and
being of a somewhat serious frame of mind myself, I found no
avenue of escape.
For several years this association has invited Cooperation
among the county and local historical societies of the State of
New York. It has adopted a movable plan for its own annual
meetings, affording its members and friends the privilege of meet-
ing each year in a different section of the State for the purpose of
giving emphasis to the historical events of a particular region. I
heartily endorse this regional plan and am glad to see coupled
with it this year the important feature of touring the principal
historical sites that are embraced in the programme. Such a plan
is systematic; it is bound to attract attention, and may quicken
local historical endeavor.
During the past year it has been my pleasure to address
eight of the county historical societies and to meet those who are
charged with the historical interests of those communities. Aside
from this I have been reasonably familiar for many years with
the local operations of historical societies throughout the State,
through the publications of the societies. My visits have been in-
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, THEIR WORK AND WORTH. 115
spired by the belief that the State Historian should meet at close
range those who are locally banded together for the stuciy of the
important history of this State. We are mutually interested in
keeping alive the memory of men and the remembrance of deeds
that are inseparably linked with the past history and present pros-
perity of our State and Nation. It is our privilege to cooperate
in the expansion of historical study and in the promotion of an in-
telligent and sane patriotism. To promote this good work, I have
advocated the reorganization of the State Historian's work as fol-
lows: That he should foster the careful preservation and class-
ification of the local public records throughout the State and make
their character known through registers, inventories, calendars or
other hand books for the use of interested students; to publish
important bodies of the public records in accordance with the
standards exacted by the best critical canons ; to correlate the local
historical interests in the State and promote friendly intercourse
and exchange among the local historical societies. We have here
the suggestion of a scientific plan, which would be productive of
results that should be a wonderful boon for the advancement of
historical scholarship. What more natural, therefore, than the
choice for my subject today of one of State-wide importance,
namely, "HISTORICAL SOCIETIES: THEIR WORK AND
WORTH?"
We realize, of course, that historical societies are to a large
extent the products of environment— of local conditions and op-
portunities. They necessarily depend upon persons of self-sacri-
ficing enthusiasm, of erudition, of business ability and historical
perspective for their successful administration and growth. It
has been said truly that what is everybody's business is nobody's
business. A historical society too often may be more or less mori-
bund for the want of a guiding star who, seeing clearly oppor-
tunity and duty, dominates its affairs and brings it up to the full
measure of usefulness. It is true that the work that any society
can undertake to do is greatly dependent upon the size of its in-
come. If its only resources are a small number of membership
fees, its activities are restricted. But as "necessity is the mother
116 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
of invention, ' ' the guiding star, whom I have mentioned, will find
out ways and means. He will attract persons who are engaged
directly and indirectly in historical work or criticism and also
persons who will perform work in the direction of collecting
and preserving historical materials. Dr. Thwaites, at the head of
the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, speaking of the func-
tion of interesting the public, shows that "obviously this should
be an intelligent, discriminating interest," and he adds: "Field
meetings, popular lectures, work with schools, some measure of co-
ordination with pioneer and old settlers' societies of the district,
pilgrimages to places of historic interest, the promotion of anni-
versary celebrations, and the placing of tablets upon historic sites,
all of these are within the province of the Society. Popularity and
exact scholarship are not incompatible. One of the principal aims
of an historical society should be the cultivation among the masses
of that civic patriotism which is inevitably the outgrowth of an
attractive presentation of local history. ' n
Professor J. Franklin Jameson, now Director of the Depart-
ment of Historical Research in the Carnegie Institution at Wash-
ington, has given expression to the following strong argument:
' * Energy cannot always be commanded ; the work of societies must
be done by the members they possess, and fortunate are those who
possess a group of active and resourceful members; doubly fortu-
nate if their organization is such as to give the control to these
rather than to those eminent for something else quite alien to the
business of history. But the counsel of courage is for all. Placed
in the midst of material influences, our historical societies are
charged with immaterial, one may even say spiritual, interests.
They must be in and of the world. But they are wanting in in-
sight and in that faith in American humanity which the study of
American history should create if they do not believe it safe for
them to cherish high and even austere ideals of scholarly endea-
vor; and they are recreant to their high trust if, having formed
such ideals, they fail to pursue them in all the great work that
lies before them, confident that before long their communities will
appreciate and sustain their efforts. Like all of us in this com-
1. Thwaites. State and Local Historical Societies, in The Iowa Journal of History and
Politics, vol. IV (1906), pp. 258-9.
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, THEIR WORK AND WORTH. 117
plex and vulgar world, they must make compromises and adjust
themselves with outward cheerfulness to the actual conditions of
their life; but at least let them economize their concessions, and
keep alive an inward regret and dissatisfaction over every sacri-
fice of their true ideals. ' ' x
There are historical organizations whose function is limited
and well-defined, hence there is no difficulty in hewing to the line.
The Sons of Oriskany, the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument Asso-
ciation, etc., are examples of this kind. But we approach a com-
plex problem when we consider the functions, scope, purpose or
object of sectional or local historical societies, particularly in a
great State like New York. Let us consider what their mission is,
as viewed by persons whose information and experience are worthy
of acceptation and assimilation.
The first national conference of state and local historical so-
cieties was held in Chicago, December 29, 1904, in affiliation with
the annual meeting of the American Historical Association. Simi-
lar meetings have been held each year since under the same aus-
pices. There grew out of the meeting, just mentioned, a Com-
mittee on Methods of Organization and Work on the Part of State
and Local Historical Societies, which made a report in December,
1905. 2 Dr. Thwaites, the chairman, wrote also a condensation of
that report,8 from which I quote. He says:
"In the judgment of the committee, an historical society, be
it sectional, State, or local should collect all manner of archaeo-
logical, anthropological, historical, and genealogical material bear-
ing upon the particular territory which that society seeks to rep-
resent.
"Such an institution may properly make an accurate survey
of the archaeology and ethnology of its district; not only itself
acquiring a collection illustrating the same, but entering into fra-
ternal relations with neighboring collectors, private and public,
and perhaps publishing a cooperative check-list. The records of
the county government (or of the town, the village, or the city),
1. Jameson. The Function of State and Local Historical Societies, etc., in Annual Re-
port of American Historical Association, 1897, pp. 58-9.
2. American Historical Association. Annual Report, 1905, vol. I, pp. 249-825.
8. In Iowa Journal of History and Politics, vol. 4 (1906), pp. 244-246.
118 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
of the courts, churches, and the schools should at least be listed.
. . .Diaries of original settlers, mercantile account-books,
anniversary sermons, private letters describing early life and man-
ners, field-books of surveyors, etc., are valuable manuscripts wor-
thy of systematic collection. Local newspaper files are an impor-
tant source of information, and should assiduously be collected
and preserved. Pioneers should be 'interviewed' by persons
themselves conversant with the details of local history. AH man-
ner of miscellaneous local printed matter should be secured, such
as society, church and club year-books, programmes of local en-
tertainments, catalogues and memorabilia of educational or other
public and private institutions within the prescribed field of re-
search—nothing of this sort comes amiss to the historical interest.
" Collections are naturally classified into libraries, museums,
and portrait galleries. Into the library are properly deposited
all manner of manuscripts, books, pamphlets, leaflets, broadsides,
newspaper files, etc. They should be scientifically catalogued, so
far as funds will allow, the manuscripts being if possible calen-
dared, or in any event indexed; the least that can be expected is,
that manuscripts be properly listed on standard catalogue cards.
In the museum and gallery there should be deposited all portraits
or relics bearing on the manners, early life, or personnel of the
community or region. Public museums are frequently presented
with embarrassing gifts; but tact and diplomacy can usually be
depended on for eventual elimination. Perhaps in no department
of a society's work are common sense and the trained judgment
of the professed historical worker more frequently needed than
in the conduct of the museum. This is one of the most valuable
features of collection, when properly selected and administered;
but unfortunately too many of our American Societies are the
victims of undiscriminating antiquarianism— collection for collec-
tion's sake, without method or definite notion as to the actual
scholarly value of the relic. Nothing is more deadly, in historical
work, than unmeaning museums or 'popular attractions.' !
Professor Jameson has asked the following question:1
"Would not fresh life be brought in if the society were to per-
ceive clearly that its field of work is, rightly stated, American his-
l. American Historical Association. Annual Report, 1897, p. 56.
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, THEIR WORK AND WORTH. 119
tory locally exemplified?" He is right. A historical society
should not pursue its course in any spirit of mere provincialism.
Its work, its resources and its sympathies should fit into the warp
and woof of our national history.
Professor Henry E. Bourne, adverting to the diversity of
aim and organization of American historical societies, has said :
"This diversity is encouraging, for it proves that the interest in
history and the desire to collect historical material are not re-
stricted to a few communities nor dependent upon two or three
groups or individuals. The consequence must be a broader in-
terpretation of American history. Students naturally inquire
with filial care into the origins of their State or section, and out
of a friendly strife of these rival interests comes a more catholic
curiosity. ' ' 1
Another student 2 of the work of historical societies has said :
' ' To gather and preserve the details of ' The every day life of each
particular time andj country'; to deal with facts rather than with
fiction ; to establish the truth of history by irrefragable proofs, is
the mission of the State, the county, and the town historical so-
cieties." He suggests that local societies should collect the local
printed documents in full series; also church records, old local
sermons, transcripts of monumental and tombstone inscriptions,
genealogies of families and personal biographies, memorabilia or
personal reminiscences, biographical compilations, Indian tradi-
tions and relics, files of local newspapers, newspaper clippings on
specific topics of local interest; and labor for the preservation of
historic trees, historic sites and historic houses. And he calls at-
tention to the fact that some of the American historical societies
"have done much to unite and interest the people not only in State
and local history, but to advance legislation and good government,
and to promote literature, science, art and all that promotes in-
tellectual development and ethical culture. More than this, ' ' he
adds, "they are to be credited with doing much to inspire the
large number of writers for the press and magazines of this coun-
try, who now make a specialty of historical topics, and furnish
much interesting and profitable material for the use of the public."
1. American Historical Association. Annual Report, 1904, p. 117.
2. The Value of Local History. By Richard C. McCormick, in Year Book of Suffolk
County Historical Society, 1897, pp. 33, 86.
120 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
I have presented these citations, even though verbose, because
it is not unworthy to believe that in the multitude of these coun-
selors there is to be found wisdom.
Some of our historical societes have died out with the demise
of their active founders; some are moribund because no guiding
star has arisen for them in the historical constellation; some are
drifting without chart or compass toward the shoals for dismem-
berment; some meet so seldom to fan the embers of the historic
hearth, that their own hearts have become chilled by inaction;
some lack the courage of their own convictions; some are too
much distracted from the business of history by other community
interests; some are vigorous, resourceful and well-equipped in li-
brary, museum and publishing activities. I am convinced that
there is not a county in the State of New York where a historical
society cannot flourish and keep on flourishing, if its patriotic
citizens will it and back up their will with their deeds. In every
community there is ample time for fairs, euchre parties, social
teas and dozens of other time-consuming things, all less important
than the promotion of patriotism through the inculcation of his-
torical truths. Let us have historical study clubs in every coun-
ty, divided into local classes, for the study of local history. Get
hold of this generation of children and in the next generation his-
torical societies will be prosperous. Where is there more hum-
drum of business and social distraction than in the great city of
New York? Yet, even here, through the City History Club, or-
ganized and nurtured by one woman, has this very thing been
done. "Go ye and do likewise!"
Now that we have had a general perspective view of the scope
of historical societies, let us endeavor to burrow somewhat more
analytically into the mine of history and extract the ore.
"This is the time," says Professor Hart, of Harvard Univer-
sity, "to sweep up local and transient publications, and put them
where the next generation will find them saf e ... Transient
publications, pamphlets, fugitive reports— what the Germans
graphically call Plug sckrif ten— these are the worry of the tidy
housekeeper, and the prize of the local library."1 Another obser-
ver has said: "Very few original written or printed papers are
entirely without value. The presumption is always in favor of
1. American Historical Review, October, 1898, p. 16.
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, THEIR WORK AND WORTH. 121
preservation ... A paper or book is often most valuable,
not for the purpose for which it was originally designed, but for
the sidelight which it throws on the condition and opinions of those
by whom or for whom it was prepared. Old account books are of
no value as proofs of indebtedness, but they are often of the great-
est consequence in preparing tables of prices for the use of eco-
nomic investigators. Old letters which have served their purpose
as vehicles of information and even as rememberances of affection,
often are most useful in delineating manners, in picturing the
hopes and fears and aspirations of the society from which they
spring, and even occasionally as tending to prove the continued
ife of the writer or his presence at a certain place at the time of
writing."1 Professor Henry E. Bourne also has said: "Many
societies serve as convenient repositories for family documents or
letters of permanent interest. This function is particularly useful
in a country where few families retain their public importance
more than two or three generations, so that for lack of family ar-
chives such papers may be dispersed or lost."2 In an article on
' ' The Gathering of Local History Materials, ' '3 Dr. Thwaites says :
"That with which we are all familiar is commonplace, and gener-
ally held in slight value; but the commonplaces of one generation
are the treasured relics of the next. Interest in the things with
which our fathers were familiar, it not mere idle curiosity. Relics
in museums enable us more accurately in imagination to redress the
stage of history ; but the literary ephemera of other days, preserved
in libraries, are still more valuable as mirrors of the past. The
chance advertisement in the old newspapers, the tattered playbill,
the quaintly-phrased pamphlet or musty diary or letter of a former
time, are of inestimable value to the modern historian. In early
days history was thought to be simply the records of royal courts
and the conduct of military campaigns ; but the history of the com-
mon people is now what interests us most— how the John and Mary
of old lived in their wayside cottage, how Peter and Paul bargained
in the market place, how the literati toiled in Grub street, and sea-
farers journeyed over the face of the deep.
1. George M. Carpenter, in Proceedings of Rhode Island Histotical Society, 1891-92, p. 67.
2. American Historical Association. Annual Report, 1904, p. 121.
3. Wisconsin Historical Society. Bulletin of Information, No. 25.
122 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
"It is the office of the historian to keep the world's memory
alive. There will never be an end of the writing of history. Some
one has truly said that each generation must write all past history
afresh, from its own changing standpoint. But that this may con-
tinue, and with increasing advantage, there must never be an end
of accumulating historical material ; each generation must accumu-
late its own, for the benefit of its successor. ' '
Again, another writer,1 pointing out the desirability of record-
ing contemporary facts, said that "it unfortunately happens
that in the greater number of cases the things which everybody
knows are the very things as to which no record will be made. They
are familiar to all, no record or rememberance is needed for
present use, and the most favorable time for collecting and arrang-
ing the necessary information is long past before any suggestion is
made as to the importance of a permanent record. This defect in
the records has continued down to the present time, and we have
doubtless in the present age been guilty of great omissions in
this regard."
The suggestion of keeping diaries and of writing out personal
recollections or memorabilia, is very well put in an article on the
"Value of Local History, and the Importance of Preserving It,"1
from which I may quote briefly, as follows: "The personal recol-
lections of individuals are of the first consequence to the history
of a country. They are not to be confounded with history; they
are the materials from which history is written— the foundation
of history, or one of the foundations.— Many of the facts
of history rest upon the statements made in diaries of private
individuals and public officials. Five hundred years from
now the daily life of the present will be as much a mystery as is
the private life of a bygone age to us. It is in such diaries. . .that
the small things of life are recorded, and as time passes these small
matters are lost in the ever-changing customs of a people. This
makes these diaries works of worth, and their value increases with
every year of their age."
As much has been said about the accumulation of material
1. George M. Carpenter, supra, p. 64.
1. William E. Connelley, in Transactions of Kansas State Historical Society, 1897-1900,
vol.IVI, pp. 288-288.
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, THEIR WORK AND WORTH. 123
for library and museum, it may be worth while to speak briefly
of systematizing and methodizing the materials with a view to ac-
cessibility. The things that enter into the library should be class-
ified. There are various systems of library classification, and the
one best suited in each case must be carefully considered by the
aid of an expert classifier, and perhaps best by cooperation with
the trained librarian of the nearest public library. In a local his-
torical society the regional element in classification is particularly
important. Clippings of obituaries or other personalia can be
mounted on note-size paper and be filed alphabetically in standard-
size pamphlet cases. If you have a series of clippings on one sub-
ject, as the history of a particular institution; the genealogy of a
family ; the description of your park system, water works, or what
not, these may be mounted on standard octave sheets in such a
manner as to be made up into individual pamphlets, thus forming
entities. Programmes, lecture announcements, leaflets, political
campaign literature and similar ephemera can be filed in manila
envelopes of a standard size, each envelope lettered as to its con-
tents, and arranged alphabetically, chronologically or topically in
pamphlet boxes. As this material grows in bulk, it can be sub-
divided regionally by county, city, town, village, etc., as a closer
method of arrangement. If the amount of such matter is not great,
this method will suffice to make it readily available. But as soon
as it bulks large, a catalogue is necessary. Standard catalogue
cards, guide cards and other desirable library appliances are with-
in easy reach through the Library Bureau and similar commercial
agencies. Here again the advice of your trained librarian can be
enlisted. The museum exhibits should be properly labeled, and the
exhibits should be frequently changed or rearranged, so as to whet
the interest of visitors to the collections. Much interest can be
aroused by procuring loans from persons and institutions. Teach-
ers and pupils of the schools should be interested in these collec-
tions. This is a very good way to arouse and maintain public
support.
Another function of historical societies is the publication of
original materials or what is known as source-material, and mono-
graphs, essays or addresses. Competent editors are needed quite
as much as indefatigable collectors. These publications should be
124 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
printed on good paper and in an attractive typographical dress.
If the funds are wanting for purposes of publication, enlist the
local newspapers. They will often be glad to print records or mon-
ographs in successive instalments, which can be allowed to stand
in type for rearrangement and reprinting as separate pamphlets.
This is by no means as difficult as it seems. A county historical
society may succeed in obtaining a subsidy from the county for the
publication of certain country records. It has been done many
times in this country. Professor Jameson believes that the publish-
ing activity of a society should favor documentary materials. He
says: "Documentary publication is the work which counts in the
long run, the work which gives permanent value to the society's
volumes. Look over the volumes published by the societies a gener-
ation ago. Nearly all the articles and essays are obsolete or anti-
quated. Such of them as were ever worth doing will have to be
done over again. But the original documents then printed are still
valid, still useful. The real glory of an historical society is a
series of volumes of important historical documents, original ma-
terials selected with intelligence, systematically ordered, edited
ably, and with finished scholarship."1
A county historical society may well interest itself in promoting
the preservation and careful custody of the public records of its
county, cities, towns, villages or other official jurisdictions. In our
State we have been singularly derelict in this matter. Our local
records have suffered tremendously from fire, damp and neglect.
Many of them have been lost to posterity. Many of them are yet
kept in wooden buildings used for business purposes or in private
houses where they are in constant danger of being burned. Many
are stored in packing boxes, in lofts, cellars and in sheds with
household or other rubbish. I believe that it is the State's busi-
ness to supervise the care and custody of the public records
throughout the State. Our historical societies can do much toward
promoting this consummation so devoutly to be wished. Meanwhile
they can do something in their own communities to awaken the
conscience of the public officials, who too generally look upon
their records from the standpoint of immediate practical use in
administration. The reason why so much has been lost and is now
1. American Historical Association. Annual Report, 1897, pp. 58-59.
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, THEIR WORK AND WORTH. 125
being neglected or destroyed is that there is a natural tendency
of men to neglect or destroy such things as are not useful to them-
selves, or which for the moment seem to have passed their use-
fulness.
In referring to the now well-recognized duty of preserving
historic sites and historic buildings, I cannot do better than quote
Professor Albert Bushnell Hart,1 who says:
"Too little attention has so far been paid to the geographi-
cal and topographical side of American history; and a prime duty
of Americans is the preservation and marking of our historical
sites. In foreign cities not only are famous houses carefully pre-
served, such as Durer's in Nuremberg and the Plantins' in Ant-
werp, but memorial tablets everywhere abound. In America some
of the stateliest and most memorable buildings have been sacri-
ficed, like the Hancock mansion in Boston; but at present the
tendency is to preserve really handsome public and private edi-
fices; and good people everywhere give money and time to keep
these causes of civic pride before the eyes of their countrymen.
"By this time the principles which ought to govern the use
of an historic building are widely recognized ; it should be restored
so far as possible to its condition at the time of its greatest histor-
ical importance ... It should be called to the attention of the
wayfarer by a suitable, permanent tablet of stone or brass; if
possible, it should be kept up as a public monument or at least
freely opened to public view.
"Even if the building be worthless or destroyed, the site may
fitly be commemorated by a permanent inscription. We moderns
are so overwhelmed with reading matter that we do not fully
understand the effect of inscriptions which stand in public view—
the literature of the bookless.
"Tablets upon public buildings or within them are too little
regarded in this country, though senseless decorations are not un-
common.
"The time to mark the sites of buildings and the scenes of
notable events, the time to note the houses and the rooms once oc-
cupied by famous men, is the present, while they can be identified.
Many are alread^ lost or disappearing."
1. American Historical Revinv, October, 1898, pp. 2-4.
126 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
I have already touched upon the idea of cooperation. As "no
man liveth to himself, " so no historical society can wax strong if it
lives a self-centered life ; if it does not cooperate with other socie-
ties having the same aspirations. In union there is strength. The
opportunity for cooperation has many outlets, and I may mention
only a few of them— representation by delegate or delegates at
the annual conferences of American historical societies in conjunc-
tion with the meeting of the American Historical Association, and
also at the meetings of the New York State Historical Association ;
an exchange system with other historical societies; participation
in celebrations of civic, religious and other societies of the county ;
and moral support given to any honest plan; to coordinate the his-
torical interests of the State.
Any historical society which will undertake to do the major
part of the work that has been expounded in this address, will be
a signal factor in promoting patriotism in its people. The senti-
ment of patriotism is the heart of a republic. "We need it every
day and every hour. We need it in our business ; we need it in our
homes; we need it in our local government; we need it in our
national life. We need to value the immaterial aspect of things
more, and the material less. We need more of beauty and less of
utility. We need more of the ideal and less of the real. We need
to value more the thoughtful man and less him who has simply ac-
cumulated bags of money."1
"God bless our native land! "For her our prayers shall rise
Firm may she ever stand To God, above the skies ;
Through storm and night; On Him we wait;
When the wild tempests rave, Thou who art ever nigh,
Ruler of winds and wave, Guarding with watchful eye,
Do Thou our country save To Thee aloud we cry,
By Thy great might. God save the State ! ' '2
1. Ferree (Barr). Sentiment as a National Asset, New York, [1908].
2. John Sullivan Dwight's variation of the poem by Rev. Dr. C. T. Brooks.
THE FIRST MISSIONARIES ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN
BY REV. THOMAS J. CAMPBELL, S. J.
Editor of "America," N. Y. City.
On August 1st, 1642, a flotilla of twelve canoes containing
forty people pushed off from the shore in front of the stockade at
Three Rivers, and started across the wide expanse of Lac St. Pierre.
The Governor, Montmagny, Champlain's illustrious successor, bade
them farewell, urging them for the last time to take along with
them a company of soldiers as a protection against the Iroquois
who were swarming along the river. But the Indians who never
fear danger till they meet it, scornfully rejected the proposal and
set out unattended.
The departure of that flotilla marks a turning point in early
Canadian history. On its success in reaching distant Huronia de-
pended the existence of the missions which had been established
there at the cost of so much labor and suffering by de Brebeuf and
his associates. Independently of that, however, there were six or
seven people, both red and white, in that remarkable company
whose personalities call for a closer study than is possible in more
general history. On that account we shall go back a few years in
our story.
The most conspicuous among the travelers of 1642 was Isaac
Jogues, who no doubt, on that August morning recalled how once
before, in 1636, he had stood in front of the same stockade at
Three Rivers; not then aware that the journey which he was then
so eager to make up the St. Lawrence and Ottawa was to be his last.
It was on that occasion that he saw his friend Father Daniel who
was just then coming from Huronia with the first batch of boys who
were being brought to Quebec for the initial experiment in this
part of the Northern continent at educating the savages ; for Eliot
began his settlement at Natick only in 1651; whereas Daniel was
already deep in his work on the St. Charles at Quebec in 1636, that
is fifteen years previously.
128 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
When on his way to inaugurate that undertaking Daniel ap-
peared to the throng on the shore of Three Rivers as the ideal mis-
sionary. He was in the first canoe, barefooted and bareheaded;
he was worn and emaciated; his cassock was in rags, his breviary
was slung by a cord around his neck, and he was plying his paddie
vigorously as any redskin. He proceeded on his way to Quebec,
and Jogues took his place in the canoe that was to go back to Lake
Huron.
He arrived there just as the dreadful pestilence broke out
among the Indians. Indeed he was accused of having brought it
with him. He passed through all that horrible period, at every
instant of which the missionaries expected to be massacred, and at
last, when there was a lull in the storm, we find him with Father
Garreau facing without fear all the terrors of the new mission
which they were endeavoring to establish among the Petuns. After
that he started with Raymbault for Sault Ste. Marie, and, as far
as I can discover, they were the first white men to reach the rapids
that rush down from Lake Superior into Lake Huron. I am
aware that Nicolet is said to have preceded him, but I find no
documentary evidence of Nicolet 's having deflected in that direc-
tion from the journey which he made to Lake Michigan, of which
he was the admitted discoverer.
Jogues spoke to the 2,000 Ojibways who met him at the straits,
and promised to return to establish a mission among them, "and
then," he added, "I shall go' thither," pointing to the country
where the headwaters of the Mississippi trickle through the flat
lands of Wisconsin. He built a cross and set its face to the west.
Had he been able to keep his promise, he might have anticipated
Marquette in the discovery of the great river; for Marquette was
then only a child in his mother's arms in France.
When the two heroes returned to Georgia Bay, Raymbault
was exhausted. He had made an attempt to reach the Nippisings
after returning from the Sault, but when he came back to St.
Mary's on the Wye, he was in a dying condition. Some one had
to take him to Quebec and incidentially to revictual the missions
wjhich for two years had been cut off from below. Jogues was
chosen for the perilous journey. Three Frenchmen and twenty
Huron warriors went with him, their canoes heavily freighted with
the richest of peltries.
Courtesy of Ticonderoga Historical Society
FATHER ISAAC JOGUES, S. J., (1607-1646)
First ^'hite Discoverer of Lac. St. Sacrement, now Lake George, May 29. 1646
FIRST MISSIONARIES ON LAKE CHAMPLA1N. 129
They reached Quebec, having lost only two of their canoes and
part of their cargo when shooting the rapids. Raymbault, how-
ever, died on his arrival and was buried at the side of the great
Champ lain; but strange to say, the remains of the explorer and
the priest have to this day never been found.
De Brebeuf was then at Sillery whither he had been called
to recuperate after his terrible expedition among the Neutrals.
During that journey from Niagara, which he visited, and was prob-
ably the first white man to see, he travelled along the shore of Lake
Erie as far as Detroit. He was then made procurator of the mis-
sions while at Quebec and it was he who provisioned the flotilla of
twelve canoes in which his friend, Jogues, was to make his unsuc-
cessful attempt to reach his straying associates in the North West.
The Indians loaded their boats with axes, cauldrons, glass tubes,
guns, and weapons of various kinds, and the charity of the people
of Quebec provided Jogues with supplies to the value of 8,000
francs, consisting chiefly of altar vessels, vestments, books and
the like.
We have a minute description of the personal appearance
of Father Jogues at this period of his life. It is taken from the
diary of the convent which was at that time established at Sillery,
—an undefended position, but no one dreamed that the Iroquois
would venture so near to Quebec. As the chronicle of the hos-
pital records with more than unusual detail a visit which Jogues
made to the institution, it furnishes us with a very precious por-
trait of the great man.
''We were very much alarmed about our isolation at Sillery,"
writes the good nun who was the historian of the house, "when
one morning, our new superior who had just been elected, was
called to the parlor by two Jesuit Fathers. One of them was
somewhat small in stature and frail in general appearance. His
features were regular and delicate, his face oval and his large and
well developed forehead suggested fine intellectuality, but on the
whole his physiognomy denoted a character made rather to obey
than to command. He wore a beard, as did most of the mission-
aries who were obliged to live in the woods with the savages. His
soutane, which was very much worn and patched, bore the marks
of many a hard journey in the forests. He kept his eyes cast
130 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION,
down, the result of long habits of recollection, and he had the ap-
pearance of great reserve. In fact, he appeared timid and a little
awkward, so much so that a man of the world might have smiled
at him. No one but his superiors would suspect the indomitable
energy of this humble priest when he was acting under obedience
or supernatural conviction. When Mother St. Ignace came to the
grating she could not refrain from an exclamation of delight and
surprise. 'What', she cried, 'it it you, Father Jogues? How
happy we were to hear of your arrival at Quebec, after all the
dangers you have encountered.'
"It was indeed he," continues the chronicle, "for he had re-
turned from the Huron country on the fourteenth of July. With
that sublime simplicity that characterized him in everything he
did, he undertook the perilous journey at the first intimation of
the superior's wish. He did not hesitate a moment to expose his
life to all the risks of an expedition of over three hundred leagues,
through a country swarming with Iroquois." The Father who
accompanied him on this visit was de Brebeuf .
Father Jogues here started on his last voyage up the great
river, taking with him two laymen, Jean Couture and Rene Gou-
pil. They were both donnes or laymen who had devoted them-
selves to the service of the Jesuit Missionaries. The donnes were
never very numerous, but they have furnished splendid examples
at different times of sublime heroism, and in spite of the horrible
corruption in the midst of which they were obliged to live, they were
distinguished by remarkable purity of soul. Father Jerome Lale-
mant endeavored at one time to form them into a quasi-religious as-
sociation, permitting them to wear the religious habit and to bind
themselves by vows, but his arrangements were set aside by the
General of the Order. Nevertheless these devoted men consented
to remain with the missionaries even without any express stipu-
lation of provision for their future. They were invaluable aids;
for, not being forbidden to carry fire arms, and being unembar-
rassed by the strict rule of conventual life they were available for
work which the lay brothers of the order could not undertake.
Before this expedition, we know very little of Jean Couture,
except that he was a young man of virtuous habits, and was ac-
tuated solely by the motive of laboring as a layman for the con-
FIRST MISSIONARIES ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 131
version of the aboriginees. But we may suppose that the adven-
turous nature of such a career appealed to him, just as the Cru-
sades did to the knights and men at arms at an earlier period.
Goupil, who was also a donne, was a man of superior educa-
ton. He was a physician by profession; but we catch only one
glimpse of him before this adventure on Lac St. Pierre. That
was when Father Buteux, the martyr of the St. Maurice, was grop-
ing his way through the forests in the middle of the night to bring
the help of religion to a dying Indian. By his side holding a lan-
tern and helping him in his search, was Rene Goupil. He had
been a scholastic novice in the Society before he came to America,
but his feeble health prevented him from continuing his studies.
There was only one woman among the home-returning Hur-
ons. She was the young Theresa, the daughter of the famous Chi-
watenwa, the story of whose lonely battle and death in the woods
near Lake Huron forms one of the pathetic pages of the Relations.
Indeed, Chiwatenwa 's whole history is replete with heroism and
romance, and, his daughter was worthy of him. After her father's
death, she had been sent down to the Ursuline convent at Quebec
to be educated. She was the delight of the nuns and wished to be
one of them and was overwhelmed with grief when her uncle call-
ed for her in 1642, to bring her back to her people. She never
saw them again and her subsequent life was full of sorrow.
Her uncle, Joseph Teondechoren, was with her in the canoe.
Before he became a Christian, he had been the great magician of
the tribe, and from what he told the missionaries after his con-
version, we obtain a better knowledge of the black art as it was
practised by the Hurons than from any other source. He had led
a frightfully licentious life, and was the admitted leader in the
most diabolical incantations and dances of the tribe. Shortly af-
ter the death of his great brother Chiwatenwa, he presented himself
at the lodge of the priests and asked for baptism. The proposal
made them shudder.' But he persisted, and to their surprise they
found he was perfectly well instructed in the Faith. His knowl-
edge had been almost forced on him by Chiwatenwa. Still there
could be no question of trusting him, especially in his actual sur-
roundings, but as he persisted, they at last began to take him ser-
iously. During his instructions they succeeded in making him
talk about his power as a magician.
132 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION^
"When I was about twenty years of age," he said, "I took a
fancy to be a sorcerer, but I found that I could do very little of
what I saw others doing. When I tried to handle the fire I always
burned myself, but I so juggled with it that the people thought I
was perfect in the art. Finally one night I had a dream, and I
saw myself in a fire-dance, in which I could perform all the cere-
monies without difficulty, and I heard a song which, on awaken-
ing, I found I could sing just as I had heard it in my dream. At
the first public feast I sung it, and little by little I fell into a
trance, and I discovered that I could carry fire in my hands and
mouth, and plunge my naked arms into cauldrons of scalding
water without feeling the slightest pain. In a word, I was perfect
in the art, and during the twenty years I practised magic, I had
sometimes three or four of those dances in a single day. Indeed,
instead of burning myself, I felt cool and refreshed. ' ' He added
that he could never succeed in his performances unless he had on
his person the articles which he had seen in his dream. Hence he
always held a preparatory dance in which he called for what he
needed.
Ahasistari was another of the Christian Hurons on that ex-
pedition. There was no chief in the tribe like him and he was re-
garded as absolutely invincible in war. No danger appalled him.
In 1641, at the head of only fifty warriors, he withstood and put
to flight a body of three hundred Iroquois, and the summer be-
fore he went down to Quebec he gave a more wonderful exhibi-
tion of ferocious daring. He was out on Lake Ontario with a few
braves when a party of Iroquois swooped down upon them. His
companions wanted to take to flight, but he cried out, "No, no;
let us attack them. ' ' And he made straight for the enemy. Naked
as he was, he leaped into the largest canoe and with his tomahawk
cleft the head of one of the Iroquois; and flinging the others into
the lake, sprang after them, upsetting the canoe as he leaped from
it. Then swimming with one hand and wielding the axe with the
other, he killed every one he could reach. Even the Iroquois had
never seen anything like it, and they turned their canoes and fled.
Ahasistari then got into his own canoe, pursued the Indians whom
he had thrown into the lake and brought them all back as prison-
ers to his village.
FIRST MISSIONARIES ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 133
At that time he was not a Christian but had always been
friendly to the missionaries and at last asked for baptism. That
was in the winter of 1641. "Two days from now," he said, "I
am going on the warpath. Tell me where my soul will go if I
die without being baptized. If you saw my heart as clearly as
does the Great Master of life, I would already be ranked among
the Christians, and the fear of hell would not be in my soul when
I am face to face with death. I cannot baptize myself. I can
only tell sincerely what I desire. After that if I go to hell, you
will be the cause of it. But in any case I shall pray to God and
perhaps He will have mercy on me, for you say He is better than
you."
Contrary to the common impression, the old Jesuit mission-
aries were very slow in admitting the neophytes to baptism. In-
deed, their caution was excessive.
Such were the principal characters in the canoes which were
skimming over Lac St. Pierre on August 1st, 1642. Towards even-
ing, they beached the boats at a place opposite the islands which
are clustered together in the St. Lawrence where the river that
drains the Champlain Valley enters the larger stream. As far as I
know, the exact place has iiever been determined.
In the morning, as they were pulling their canoes into the
water to resume their journey, they were terrorstricken at the
sight of footprints in the sand. ' ' The Iroquois ! ' ' they said, but they
were reassured by the invincible chief. "We need fear no enemy,"
he told them, "for if they are few, they will take to flight; if they
are many, we are strong enough to rout them." A warhoop rang
out on the morning air and the Iroquois were in front of them.
The battle began; but amid the whirr of arrows and the whistle
of bullets, Jogues, who had not yet left the shore, thought only of
baptising a neophyte who was with him. When he had finished
his work, he looked about him. Other shouts rent the air ; another
detachment of Iroquois had arrived. The Hurons, finding them-
selves surrounded and attacked by twice their number, fled in
terror, invincible chief and all. Goupil alone, delicate and woman-
like though he was, kept up the battle; but he was soon over-
powered and with some others made prisoner. Jogues was still
concealed in the reeds and could have escaped, for he was as fleet
134 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
as a deer, but the thought of flight never entered his head, and to
the amazement of the savages, he strode forth from his covert and
stood by the side of Goupil. He was scarcely there when he saw
Couture, all mangled and bloody, dashing towards him from the
woods with yelling Iroquois in hot pursuit. Like his red compan-
ions, he had taken to flight and was perfectly safe when he saw that
the priest was not with him. He deliberately turned back, fighting
his way through the crowd of Indians who attempted to bind him,
killing a chief who grappled with him and wounding several braves.
Following him came the invincible Ahasistari. His return meant
a horrible death amid the fiendish tortures which the Ircquois were
sure to visit upon such a foe, but that counted for nothing when
there was a question of showing his love for Jogues. It would
be hard to find a parallel for these two acts of heroic self-sacrifice,
one by an Indian, and the other by a white man.
The rest of the story is known; the Iroquois fixed on the
trees a record of their exploit ; and then, flinging their captives into
canoes, fled up the Richelieu and out into Lake Champlain; stop-
ping wherever they met a war party to torture their victims.
They crossed Lake George and continued on the trail past what is
now Saratoga until they reached the village of Ossernenon on the
Mohawk, a little north of the mouth of the Schoharie.
What became of these captives? The adventures of Father
Jogues, which read almost like a romance, are generally known.
As we have said, he was taken to the Indian village of Ossernenon
on the Mohawk, about forty miles west of Albany. The identity
of that place with the present Auriesville is, according to General
Clarke, unquestionable. So. convinced is he that he assured me he
could almost put his spade on the exact spot where the stake was
planted on which the head of Father Jogues was fixed.
The Iroquois at first determined to put him to death at the
stake, but after torturing him at the two villages further up, name-
ly, at Andagarron and Tionontoguen, they changed their minds and
kept him a prisoner at Ossernenon. There he passed thirteen
months, under-going ill-treatment and suffering which seem, as
we read the account of it, to be beyond the capacity of human
endurance.
While he was there, he learned of a proposed attempt to cap-
FIRST MISSIONARIES ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 135
ture the fort which Montmagny had built at the mouth of the
Richelieu, presumably near the spot where Jogues and his
party had been captured. He found means of warning the
Governor in time, with the result that the Iroquois were repulsed.
They suspected him of giving the information, and it is com-
monly alleged that they put him to death on that account. Even
if that were so, it would have been a glory for Jogues, who was
well aware that he was risking his own life, but he was quite will-
ing to make such a sacrifice to save his countrymen from being
massacred. Were he an ordinary patriot, a statute to commemorate
his heroism would long since have been erected. But as a matter
of fact, he was slain fully three years later, and wampum belts,
mats and lodgefires had completely obliterated all feelings of ill-
will, if indeed any existed.
With the aid of the Dutch, who were always kindly disposed
towards the Jesuit missionaries, he escaped to Manhattan. His
description of the island is embodied in the "Documentary His-
tory of the State of New York." He crossed the ocean in mid-'
winteri in a lugger of sixty tons burthen, and appeared like one
risen from the grave at the college gate of Rennes on the morning
of January 6th, 1644. He was received at court by the Queen
Regent, Anne of Austria, who descended from her throne to kiss
his mangled hands ; and then he embarked on the first vessel that
left for Europe in the early spring for America, and resumed his
work among the colonists who at that time were fighting fiercely
with the Iroquois at the stockade of Montreal.
Peace followed, and after the great meeting at Three Rivers
to arrange the treaty, Jogues was sent as the envoy of the French
to the same village where he had been a captive a short time be-
fore. It was on this occasion that he gave the name of Saint
Sacrament to Lake George; not because its clear waters were used
subsequently for the rite of batism, as some one has said, but be-
cause he found himself sailing over the beautiful expanse on the
feast of the Holy Eucharist, which Catholics call Corpus Christi.
It is noteworthy that Jogues dressed as a layman on this
journey. His Algonquin friends at Three Rivers had warned him
that the Iroquois were intensely hostile to the religion which he
taught, for it uprooted all their tribal superstitions, and going to
136 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION,
them in his priestly garb would militate against the success of his
mission. Consequently, it was in the attire of a layman that he
presented himself to his former masters. It is the first clerical
garb difficulty in the State of New York.
When he had arranged the terms of the treaty, he returned
to Quebec and immediately asked to be sent back as a missionary.
His superiors hesitated, for the treachery of the Iroquois was a
matter of common knowledge, but at last they consented, and he
set out with a few companions. This time he was dressed as a
priest. He was captured near Lake George, dragged to the village
with which he was so familiar, and was brained by a blow of the
tomahawk. His head was severed from the trunk and fixed on a
stake of the palisades; his body was cast into the Mohawk. "The
screech of the bird of prey," says Bishop Kipp, "was his only
requiem. ' ' This tragedy occured on the eighteenth day of October,
1646.
His beloved friend and companion, Rene Goupil, had been
slain shortly after the arrival of the captives at Ossernenon.
On September 29th, 1642, the hatchet of a savage clove his skull
in twain. The body was given to the boys of the village, who
dragged it to the brook at the foot of the hill where the dogs and
wild beasts and birds of prey devoured it. Jogues found the
bones later and buried them in the glen "until what time," he
said, "we may give them Christian burial." Jogues V descrip-
tion of his search for the body in the woods and icy waters of the
brook reads like a threnody.
Couture was more fortunate, at least in the human sense of
the word. After undergoing the same tortures as Jogues and
Goupil, he was adopted by the tribe, and later on, when the em-
bassy was sent to Three Rivers to make arrangements to bury the
hatchet, Father Jogues, who had meantime returned to America
and was present at the conference, saw his old companion walk
in as one of the Indians. Couture never returned, however, to his
savage friends, but settled down at Quebec and married. A great
number of Coutures, chiefly those who have settled around Levis,
claim him as their ancestor. In August, 1671, we find him in a
canoe with Father Albanel trying to find a way to the North Sea.
After that he disappears from view.
FIRST MISSIONARIES ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 137
When Father Jogues went down to the Iroquois the second
time, he did not follow the usual route but crossed over to what is
now Beaver Dam,. There he found the young Indian girl, Theresa.
She was as pious in her captivity as when she was living with the
nuns at Quebec. She was overjoyed at seeing again her venerated
spiritual guide, especially as he gave her the good tidings that he
was authorized by the Canadian authorities to arrange for sending
her back to her people. Her uncle, Teondechoren, had been with
her till the spring of 1643, when he contrived to escape, and she
had been left alone with the Iroquois.
One of the first things that Jogues did when he met the Iro-
quois Council, was to stipulate for her freedom, for which he made
them a valuable present of wampum. They agreed to do as he
asked, but did not keep their word. She had meantime married
an Iroquois and that caused the matter to be deferred. Then
hostilities were resumed and there was no hope left of rescuing
her. In 1654, namely, eight years afterward, Father LeMoyne
met her at Onondaga. "My Grod!" he writes, "what a sweet con-
solation to find so much faith in the heart of this captive Indian wo-
man. Theresa had with her a young girl of fifteen or sixteen who
had been captured among the Neutrals. She loved the poor child as
her own daughter. She had instructed her in the faith and inspired
her with such sentiments of piety that I was amazed when I saw
them at their devotions in the cabin which they had built outside
the village." Singularly enough Theresa had not baptized her
adopted daughter, although in the absence of the missionaries she
might have done so. LeMoyne, of course, hastened to make the
girl a Christian. It was the first baptism at Onondaga.
Theresa was the happiest of women when the missionaries
were established in what seemed to be a permanent manner in 1657.
It was probably their presence that prevented her brutal husband
from killing her because of her inability to perform some work
which he had assigned her. She remained a pious and holy woman
till the end of her days. We have no record of when she died.
Of the "invincible warrior," Ahasistari we find no trace.
Doubtless he was put to death shortly after his arrival at Osserne-
non. The horrible and prolonged agony which the execution of
such a redoubtable enemy implied may be appreciated if one is
brave enough to read a description by LeMercier of the torture and
138 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION^
death of a Seneca Indian at the hands of the Hurons in the early
days of the mission.
The famous magician, Teondechoren, succeeded in making his
escape from the Iroquois. He had remained for a time as the
guardian of Theresa, his niece, but. in the spring of 1643, he and
two other Hurons went up the St. Lawrence with a war party of
the Iroquois. They were trusted too much by their captors, but that
misplaced confidence did not prevent the three Hurons from dis-
appearing when the opportunity presented itself.
Teondechoren immediately went down to Quebec to tell the
nuns that their former pupil, Theresa, was mindful of all the les-
sons of piety and virtue they had instilled into her soul, and he
then started with a party up the river for home. As usual, they
were careless and were caught by the Iroquois, probably at the
Chaudiere, which was one of the favorite posts of attack. Teon-
dechoren was laid low in his blood with a bullet in his shoulder.
Usually, in such emergencies, the defeated Indians shift for them-
selves, and Teondechoren would have been left to die; but they
heard him praying so fervently to God to let him see the Fathers
before he died that they took him up and carried him all the way
to Georgian Bay. He remained there until the Huron missions were
a smoking and bloody ruin, and then came down to Quebec with
the terrified and starving remnants of the once powerful tribe. He
lived on the Isle d 'Orleans, and a remarkable instance of chastity
is recorded of him, all the more wonderful when one recalls his
earlier career of debauchery and diabolism. In spite of such a
proof of his virtue, his wife was insanely jealous of him. Poor
Teonderchoren stood it for a year when heaven intervened. He
and a party of Hurons had gone down to Tadoussac to sell their
furs, when a squall struck the canoe and they all disappeared in
the depths of the St. Lawrence. His wife's scoldings had come to
an end.
Such were some of the people who were with Jogues in the
third battle that was fought in connection with the Champlain
valley. Their failure to reach their country accelerated the ruin
of the mission. "Had the provisions and means of defense ar-
rived," writes Ragueneau, "we might have held out for at least
two years longer." It came about because of the temerity of the
"invincible chief," Ahasistari.
THE WAR PATH.
BY E. T. GILLESPIE, STAMFORD, CONN.
Let us suppose that, with historical eyes, we are looking back-
ward to the year 1609. We are, let us further imagine, in the
spacious car of some really steerable airship or perfected aero-
plane, flying along, say, at an altitude of 1,000 or 1,500 feet, and
with such freedom from a strained sense of insecurity, that we are
able to enjoy at comfortable leisure, the diversified panorama of
water and landscape spread beneath us. Because we are seated in
a traveling conveyance so modern that we have still to draw upon
our imagination of the possibilities of the future, to suppose it
capable of the journey we desire to make, we must not forget that
we are back in the year 1609, and while there are certain fixed
features of the scene but little susceptible to the changes of time,
the hand of man has been busy for three hundred years, trans-
forming the surface details of the great map upon which we look
down. Great cities, far-flung bridges, towns, villages, country
seats, farms, orchards, broad green meadows, now diversify a land-
scape which at the time of our imaginary journey presented one
great sweep of primeval forest from mountain top to water's
edge. Steam driven palaces now traverse the broad reaches of the
river, whose current three hundred years ago flowed in lonely
majesty, unvexed by a keel, save when some furtive canoe ven-
tuerd forth from the shadows of the fringing forest.
But we have only the older scene before us now, not the new.
Here immediately beneath us is a broad bay, opening from the
great sea whose wrinkled surface we may descry far off to the
east and south. From our prodigious height it seems a glistering
monster crawling to the shore from some cloud-cave beyond the
farthest horizon. The bay beneath is irregular in outline-
rather there are two bays joined by a narrow strait; island-
140 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION,
studded, forest-bordered. As we look northward— the direction
in which our aerial course is laid— we see a long reach of a noble
river, and this we follow, finding new surprises, new beauties, as
its windings between lofty and wood-crowned banks unfold them-
selves to our view. Here, on the west side, we perceive a long line
of tall cliffs so straight up-standing, and so regular in their order,
that we are reminded of the palisados so well known to the mili-
tary engineers of that time. As we advance, the river broadens,
and again, in the distance, narrows where loftier hills on the west
come down into the very current of the stream, as if they would
fain dispute its passage. Later years shall bring nomenclators
to give titles, more or less characteristic, to these salient features
of the scene. This broad reach of the river shall be called by the
Dutch, "Tappan Zee." Upon its shores a Washington Irving
shall weave legends and romances which shall become as enduring
as the mountains that look down upon the broad stream flow-
ing at their feet. There, in that virgin valley, untouched as yet
by that hand of genius which is to make her the bride of an im-
mortal fame, shall Ichabod Crane, terror-stricken, fly from the
headless horseman; as did Tarn O'Shanter from the pursuing
witch at the Brig o' Ayr. That frowning peak yonder shall be
Donderberg, and just above it, on the opposite side of the river,
is another peak which a curious legend— aided by the outline
shape which Nature's careless hand had thrown to it, at that
time, immeasurably remote, when these things we call "the ever-
lasting hills" were flung and floated, wheeled and whirled to their
places— shall cause to get the homely name of "Anthony's Nose,"
and from near its base there will some day be stretched across the
stream an obstacle in the shape of booms shackled end to end, and
intended to stop the enemy's advance at this particular place on
the "war path." This shall be done in 1777, and it shall prove in-
adequate. But the next year a stronger obstacle shall be placed
farther up. It shall be a chain cable, each massive link made of
bar iron 2 1-2 inches square, 2 feet long, and weighing 140 pounds.
The whole chain shall wieigh 180 tons, carried on the backs of
huge logs, pointed at each end, and held in place by a series of
heavy anchors. These things are mentioned here to give emphasis
to the fact that this river was indeed a "war path," and that at
times it was vitally important to obstruct its passage.
THE WAR PATH. 141
Yonder rough, cliff-like promontory shall be called Stony
Point, and farther north there is another that is to be West Point.
These shall be heard from in the history of the "war path."
They shall furnish a chapter of heroism, and a chapter of shame.
Let the last be brief—
"The tempter hath
A snare for all,
And pitying tears, not scorn and wrath,
Befit his fall!"
And yonder in those distant hills, which shall be called the Cat-
skills, that pathetic figure in the world of imagination, Rip Van
Winkle, shall be lulled to sleep among his fairy attendants, by the
waving branches of the trees, and shall waken, old and feeble,
under the rule of President George Washington, instead of His
Royal Majesty, George III. His youth and its hopes are gone,
but gone, too, is the angry acrimony of his home, which made him
the shiftless, reckless, hopeless— dear old dreamer that he was.
And now there is a prospect that his few remaining years shall
know a peace denied to him in his days of opportunity. For the
faithful "Schneider," the reform shall come too late, but his un-
known grave shall forever hide him from the flourish of that im-
placable broom.
But these things were in the unknown future, and we must
leave them to return to the actual scene of 1609. The whole land,
scape upon which we look down bears the general aspect of an
almost unbroken forest, save where the great river seems to have
forced or found a passage for itself in the interspaces of the hills.
No mark of civilized occupancy relieves the primeval savagery of
the scene. Human forms there are. We may see them sometimes as
they cross open spaces in the forest, garbed with the furs of beasts
and feathers of birds. As they look they seem to be under some
great excitement. They run toward the heights overlooking the
river and seek vantage spots on the projecting rocks, from which
the view riverward is unobstructed. We know it is not our
airship which has filled them with the amazement they exhibit,
for that is imaginary, and therefore invisible. There must be
something at once real and astounding to account for their special
wonder. We look along the stream, and there is the strange ob-
142 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
ject which stirs such intense excitement. It is a vessel creeping
along under shortened sail, and her crew are heaving the lead al-
most at every ship's length. They are traversing an unknown
channel and must needs be careful. In comparison with all the
water craft the Indians have known, the stranger seems a monster
in size. She is manned by strangely garbed beings of an un-
known race, and looks so formidable that the thought of hostile
attack has no place in the paralysis of their minds. This was the
"Half Moon," under Henry Hudson, and thus we see her in
imagination as she slowly makes her way up the unknown river.
A few months before, in the same year, Champlain had entered
the "war path" from the north, each explorer unconscious of the
other's movements, and little dreaming that they were sowing
dragon's teeth which a century and a half later were to yield a
harvest of war and bloodshed.
But we have other aims in our journey than these reminis-
cences, and must hasten onward, still to the north. The river,
with intervals of wider sections, gradually narrows, until we come
to a tributary stream from the west, which shall be named the
Mohawk. The blue Mohawk it was, but a sadly faded blue it has
become. It has suffered from civilization, as did the red-brown
peoples of the Six Nations who once lived and loved in its sylvan
valley. The river beneath us rapidly shrinks in width and volume
as we proceed, until its diminishing current swings sharply to the
west, and we bid it farewell as we mark its further course, now
hidden in the forest, now reflecting the clear sky in open
meadows—
"Winding its way toward that far crest,
Like a blue vein on beauty's breast."
Our airship course, still generally northward, now takes us
over some miles of territory, undulating, forest-covered, pond-
dotted, brook-threaded. Soon there's a slivery sheen between long
lines of hills upon whose blue crests coquettish clouds have left
some of their tresses. It seems to be another great river flowing
to the north, but we discover it's a land-locked lake, with numer-
ous islands, little and great, like emerald gems in a silver setting.
Officious loyalty— the desire to render subservient homage to an
English Prince— shall rob this lake of its poetic Indian title, and
! THE WAR PATH. 143
give it the comonplace designation of George. Upon its silvery
waters, and in its bordering forests, Iroquois and Huron, Algon-
quin and Delaware, Adirondack and Mohawk had made merciless
war upon the creatures of the chase, and sometimes upon each
other. Here are the scenes which the wizard pen of Fenimore
Cooper shall people with creations of his fancy— figures that shall
endure when the real actors on this stage shall be, for the most
part, forgotten, though among them were come personalities
which neither poetry nor romance, nor history will willingly
forget. That type of French chivalry in its bravest days, who
brought to the wilderness of America something of the gallantry
and splendor and fashion of what was then as now the gayest
capital in Europe, the Marquis deMontcalm, is a figure to live in
legend and story with the heroes of Cooper's fancy. Through
these columnar pines and beneath the lofty roof which their inter-
mingled tops have formed, shall stalk Leather-Stocking, filled
with the priestly spirit which befits this majestic temple of
Nature's own making. Here the noble form of Uncas, the last of
the Mohicans shall illustrate all that we can fancy of Indian
heroism and devotion to his ideals. Here Cooper's favorite hero,
as Hawkeye, with his unerring "Killdeer," shall keep his vigils,
and here Duncan Heyward and his lovely charges, Alice and Cora
Munroe, shall be rescued from the hands of the dark Mingo chief.
On yonder crest shall the generous and the brave Ten Eyck and
that fairest of Cooper's feminine creations, the loyal and the
loving Anneke Mordaunt, peep out from the curtain of
pines to witness the memorable military pageant of July, 1758,
and which set out from the spot beneath us, at the head of the
lake, whereon the tragedy of Fort Wiliam Henry was enacted.
But we have our aerial journey to pursue— our ''war path"
to survey to the end— and may not longer linger even amid these
scenes of beauty and romantic associations. We proceed down the
lake, and feel that Nature was in a gracious mood when she fash-
ioned the silvery Horicon, with its island embossments, and
framed it so nobly. As we approach the northern shore, we can
perceive a narrow river gleaming and sparkling through sylvan
openings. This carries the eye towards the east and north, and
there, in the foreground of green ,mountains, is another lake
144 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
stetching northward beyond even the extended horizon of our van-
tage point. This is already named Champlain. Samuel deCham-
plain has been the first European explorer to enter it, this very
year of 1609. He has claimed all this region in the name of the
King of France, and thus has, consciously or not, laid the his-
toric foundation for the "war path." Already he has been in
conflict with hostile Indians, who fled in amazement when they
found the strangers could launch lightning bolts at them. This
was at a place in the distance which is to be named Crown Point.
Immediately under us we see where the connecting river enters
the larger lake. In later years the French shall build a fort there,
and they shall call it Carillon, because the adjacent little river
tinkles like sweet bells as it hurries on its way. Later it shall be
Ticonderoga, name of ominous import, name of tragic splendor in
the history of the "war path." But we have our bird's-eye sur-
vey yet to complete, and must hasten onward. We traverse the
long lake, and feel the same impression of its surpassing beauty
which has thrilled in the breast of every visitor of sensibility,
from that far day to this. As we hover above its northern nar-
rows, we catch glimpses of a great river. We know it's a river,
because we can see its majestic flow, carrying the drainage of a
continent to the distant ocean.
We have now, in outline, the "war path." We have but
briefly touched upon some features of its scenes and associations,
with no purpose of detailed description of a country so familiar to
most of us. I have, so far, aimed only at the setting of the stage,
so to speak, upon which the war dramas were enacted that con-
stitute the most historically important, and most picturesque and
romantic chapters in the eighteenth century history of our coun-
try. Let us enquire, first, how these three hundred miles or so of
lake and river came to be a "war path." I heard a lady at Lake
George, a couple of years ago, remark something like this, "What
did they come here to do their fighting for?" If she had been
with us in our airship journey, she would have had the answer in
part. But the other part, and an essential part it is, is found in
a consideration of certain conditions of those times, when no rail-
roads, and few roads of any sort, existed, except Indian trails
through those forests, pathless but for them. In such circum-
THE WAR PATH. 145
stances, wherever Nature had placed navigable lakes and river
practically in a continuous line, and leading from the strongholds
of the enemy to the heart of the invaded country, such a route
would become, by a natural and necessary selection, the path of
invasion, and consequently the path which the defenders must
hold if they can. That was why this was a "war path" in the
sense in which I use the expression in this paper.
It was a most interesting historical coincidence that in the
same year this which I have termed the "war path," should have
been entered for the first vtime by two European explorers, at its
opposite extermities, the one at the south and the other at the
north. Champlain and his party in their Indian canoes, entering
the lake to which he gave his name, had then no concept of the
Dutch vessel, the "Half Moon," in which an English sea captain,
Henry Hudson, was sounding and sailing his way up the great
river to which he also gave his own name, and which he vaguely
supposed might lead through the continent to the Oriental oceans.
Little dreamed either of those men, who appeared simultaneously
the one at the south and the other at the north, that they carried
with them the germ-seed which in after years was to produce so
bloody a harvest. And this thought leads to a brief enquiry as to
the causes of the conflict commonly called the French and Indian
War. These causes were general and specific. That which comes
under the head of general, was the natural and inevitable hostility
between two races full of inherited tradition of antagonism in the
old world, and which now found themselves rivals in the coloniza-
tion of the new. This antagonism, sufficiently based on national
jealousies and commercial competitions, was emphasized and sharp-
ened by the different, and at that time bitterly conflicting, re-
ligions of the two races. The French were firmly established in
eastern Canada, with Quebec as their main stronghold on the St.
Lawrence, and Louisburg on the Atlantic edge of the continent.
They had established forts or trading places along the great lakes
and down the Mississippi Valley. They had a fort of great
strength, .for the times, at what is now Pittsburg, near which was
the scene of Braddock's defeat in 1755, an event which marked
an acute stage in the war that, in varying degrees of activity, ex-
isted since the two races had begun to realize that the conditions
146 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
of an irrepressible conflict for the control of the new continent
were developing, and must sooner or later be fought out to the
bitter end. The French had always, as a rule, been the more suc-
cessful of the rivals in enlisting Indian allies, and the conflict was
embittered by Indian massacres at the more exposed English set-
tlements, which rightly or wrongly, were believed to have been in
many cases instigated and sometimes shared by the French. Such
were the conditions, very generally stated, and such the feelings
which animated the contending forces, and which brought on the
events of the French and Indian War in the vicinity of Lakes
George and Champlain. With the more general field of the con-
flict we shall not be concerned here, nor even in respect to the
operations on what we have termed the "war path" can we hope
to compress more in this paper than merely synoptical and super-
ficial glimpses of events that constitute in their detail certainly
the most interesting phases of that great conflict which culminated
in the capture of Quebec in 1759. And with these events, as we
shall see, our State, and town as it was then, were very deeply
concerned and intimately associated.
In the year 1755, the same that had witnessed the defeat of
Braddock at Fort Du Quesne, by far the most notable event
in the field of the war we are now considering, was the defeat of
the French General Dieskau by Sir William Johnson. The lat-
ter erected defensive works at a point on the Hudson which was
deemed the farthest north for boat navigation. This became
Fort Edward. Leaving Colonel Lyman at this post, with 500
men, Johnson advanced to the head of Lake George, and threw
up entrenchments which developed later into Fort William Henry.
While thus engaged, Dieskau 's army, which had come as far south
as possible, via Champlain and Wood Creek, advanced through
the forest. Johnson sent a part of his force to meet the approach-
ing enemy, but they were ambushed and driven back. The
French, encouraged by this success, advanced upon Johnson's
main force, only to meet a severe defeat. Their general was cap-
tured, wounded. His life was saved by Johnson, who incurred
great personal risk in so doing. For the rest of the year and
through the winter, both combatants busied themselves, the one in
strengthening Ticonderoga, and the other in perfecting the work
THE WAR PATH. 147
at Fort William Henry. The year 1756 passed without any seri-
ous engagement on the "war path," but with many scouting ad-
ventures, some of which have furnished themes for song and story.
It was during this summer that the fort at Oswego was captured
by a French expedition under Montcalm.
But 1757 was a busy year on the "war path." The
French came up the lake on the ice in March, and taking the fort
pai-tly by surprise, inflicted much damage upon it and loss on its
garrison. They were, however, repulsed, and disappeared down
the lake while a heavy snowstorm was raging. In the following
August, General Monroe, with 2,600 men, was in command at Fort
William Henry, and General Webb at Fort Edward with 1,600.
In these circumstances Montcalm made his memorable attack,
with a force of some 6,000 or 7,000, including his Indian allies.
General Monroe held out bravely against the greatly superior
force of his assailants, but finally was compelled to agree to a con-
ditional surrender— the principal condition being that General
Monroe and his men were to be allowed to retreat unmolested to
join their comrades, the garrison at Fort Edward. The troops had
hardly got into the open, clear of the fort, when they were sav-
agely attacked by the Indian allies of the French. The latter,
especially their officers, seem to have exerted themselves to stop
the massacre, but were only partly successful. However that many
be, several hundred of the disarmed and disorganized garrison
fell victims to the fury of the savages. Such was the massacre of
fell victims to the fury of the savages. Such was the massa-
cre of Fort William Henry, a scene of slaughter never surpassed
on this historic "war path," save once.
That once was the next year, in July, 1758. Here we ap-
proach the grandest, the most spectacular and the most tragic
scene in the history of the ' ' war path. ' ' The historians of the per-
iod vie with each other in word-painting of that memorable pag-
eant when 16,000 men, regulars and provincials, in 1,200 boats,
making a procession six miles from front to rear, moved in pre-
scribed military order down the silvery lake bounded by its encir-
cling hills. And Fenimore Cooper, whose genius loved to linger
by the lakes and in the forests of this enchanted region, devotes
to the scene of that day a description full of poetic feeling. Too
148 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.,
fair was the scene for such a tragic ending. The gallant Lord
Howe, who led the van, was killed in a skirmish in the woods with-
in an hour of his landing. This was the first of a day of disasters
which would be inexplicable was not their cause manifest in the
in competency of the fussy old martinet, Abercromie, the com-
mander in chief, whom some of his soldiers called "Mrs. Molly
Crombie," in derision of his futility and worse than uselessness.
Remaining in the rear he ordered assault after assault upon im-
pregnable defenses, while his cannon lay idle on the shore. The
final result was complete defeat for the assailing army, after near-
ly 2,000 men had been killed or wounded. Yet the year, before
its close, had seen some important successes in other parts of the
wide field of the war. The French had lost Louisburg, Fronte-
nac and Fort Du Quesne, which was immediately re-christen-
ed Fort Pitt, and which has now expanded into the great city of
Pittsburg.
The next year, 1759, saw the closing scenes of this long war.
General Amherst, with 6,000 regulars and 5,000 provincials, ad-
vanced once more down the Lake George "war path." He found
the French in full retreat from Ticonderoga. The Brave Mont-
calm was gone to defend a still more vital place, where Wolfe was
threatening Quebec, whose capture, later in the year, ended— in
fitting dramatic climax, emphasized by the death of the two chief
commanders on the field of battle— the long and painful struggle.
The associations of our own locality (meaning Stamford,
Connecticut, which may be taken as typical of the New England
communities of the period in question) with these events were
close, intimate and pathetic. There are, packed away in old, time-
worn receptacles, in remote storerooms and attics, in this town
today, at least a few! pathetic relics of that war so long ago.
There are old flintlock muskets, and rapiers, with or without scab-
bards. There are time-faded letters dated Lake George, or Cham-
plain, 1755, 56, 57, 58 or 59, as the case might be, recounting
in the quaint language and quainter spelling of the day, details
of struggles and sufferings, and sometimes with flashes of the old
militant-religious spirit of Cromwell's "Ironsides." There are
powderhorns, made of the real horns of cattle, scraped and polish-
ed with elaborate care, and often with ingeniously wrought de-
THE WAR PATH. 149
vices and mottoes. I have seen some of these, and I assume there
are others that I have not seen,— all of them silently but eloquent-
ly speaking of a past now so almost wholly forgotten. But we
may be' sure there were Stamford mothers and wives and sweet-
hearts who, in that distant day, thrilled with hope and anxiety
as they thought of their near and dear ones away off in the nor-
thern wilderness, facing a formidable foe, and waited with loving
impatience for the slow and scant scraps of news which came back
by toilsome journeys over rivers and through forests. It was the
thought in every mind and the word on every tongue for years
in this then quiet little village. The parson's Sunday prayers
never omitted a mention of the men at the front, invoking for
them triumph over their enemies and a safe return to their
friends. There is a veritable record giving by name eighty men
of Stamford, under Captain David Waterbury, who made up part
of that memorable scene on Lake George in July, 1758. With
them, a part of the same impressive array, was the old Highland
Regiment, a battalion of which had spent four months of the pre-
vious winter in Stamford. Of the twelve commissioned officers
of this battalion, five were killed or wounded in that day's disas-
ter. Of the whole regiment, numbering over a thousand men,
twenty-five officers were killed or wounded on the same fatal day.
These men bore the brunt of the assault, spending, in vain, valor
never surpassed on any field of strife. Their memory is preserv-
ed in the "Black Watch Memorial" building, erected within a
few years in the village of Ticonderoga with funds furnished
by Andrew Carnegie. The capture of Quebec by General Wolfe
in 1759, was recognized throughout the colonies and everywhere
as the virtual close of the war— the end of a strained anxiety
which had been deeply felt, throughout the New England colo-
nies especially. Here in Stamford, as in many other places in
New England, the event was hailed as a final deliverance from
oppressive apprehensions which had lasted for years. Most of
us recall the thrill of patriotic satisfaction with which we heard
the news of the decisive naval victory over the Spanish fleet at
Santiago in 1898. A few of us, perhaps, remember the sense of
joyous relief that pervaded our community at the time when the
surrender of Lee's army was anounced in April, 1865. All of us
150 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
can well believe that the surrender at Yorktown, practically mark-
ing the close of the Revolutionary War, brought joy to the pat-
riotic people of the village in that distant day. But it is, per-
haps, more difficult for us to realize— because the time is so dis-
tant and the conditions have so greatly changed— that the capture
of Quebec by General Wolfe in 1759, stirred to the profoundest
depths the hearts of all the intelligent inhabitants of the New
England colonies, and sent them spontaneously nocking to the
meeting house to return thanks to God for what they regarded as
a crowning Providential favor. It was wholly characteristic of
the times that the principal feature of the celebrations of the
great victory took the form of thanksgiving meetings in the
churches.
And surely not in the Revolution did the "war path" cease
to be a channel upon which the tide of conflict ebbed and flowed,
or cease to have its intimate associations with the Connecticut of
that period. It was a new enemy, indeed, but, like the old, it pos-
sessed Canada and the strongholds of the St. Lawrence. Again
were invading flotillas to be launched on Lake Champlain, and
again were hostile guns to echo from its bordering hills. What
but a keen perception that the "war path" was again to be an
avenue of invasion impelled Ethan Allen, with his hastily re-
cruited Connecticut and Green Mountain Boys, to appear before
Ticonderoga, as early as the month of May, 1775, and demand its
surrender "in the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental
Congress?" What was it induced Benedict Arnold, the brave
and brilliant and patriotic soldier, whose unhappy fate it was to
become best known in history as "Arnold the Traitor"— whaf
powerful influence stirred him and his scantily furnished little
army, to brave the bitter blasts of December in the Maine woods,
by super-human struggles over ice-covered rivers and through
forests clogged with snow, in the desperate hope that he might
capture Quebec before the enemy had time for its reinforcement?
Facing only less formidable difficulties, Richard Montgomery
made his way to the same point, from the west via Champlain and
the St. Lawrence. The two little armies, sadly reduced in num-
bers by sickness, and the hardships of poor equipment in an in-
clement season, succeeded at last in joining forces. With a cour-
THE WAR PATH. 151
age and devotion never surpassed in the annals of war, Montgon*
ery and Arnold prepared to try the forlorn hope. Halfway up
the steep bluff, on whose top the towered Frontenac is today the
most conspicuous feature of the scene, the gallant Montgomery
received his death wound, and with his life was extinguished the
last hope of achieving so desperate an enterprise. It was the de-
cree of fate that the "war path" was not to be defended in that
way.
General Montgomery was killed on the last day of 1775.
During the preceding summer and fall, he, with General Gates,
Schuyler, and Colonel Waterbury, had conducted a successful
campaign along the "war path," and had defeated the enemy at
several points on Lake Champlain and its northern narrows. The
next year, 1776, General Arnold was entrusted with the defense
of the lake from invasion sure to be made by an enemy which by
that time had complete command of the St. Lawrence. The
British General, Sir Guy Carleton, was ordered to invade New
York, by the way of Lake Champlain, and secure the upper Hud-
son and Mohawk valleys. General Howe was to advance up the
Hudson from New York, and the united armies were expected to
crush the spirit and paralyze the resources of the patriots once for
all. That the plan failed was due, above all, to the brave and
energetic work done that year by General Arnold, and his second
in command, General David Waterbury, of Stamford. The
British commander had his own delays in preparing for the conflict.
He had to carry his vessels, or some of them, overland from the St.
Lawrence— among them his flagship, the "Inflexible," which we
may be sure was a lighter -craft than the ' ' Inflexible ' ' that carried
the English Admiral's flag to the Hudson-Fulton celebration in
New York a short time ago. Meanwhile Arnold and
Waterbury were busy improvising a fleet. It was not till the
month of October that the British were ready to advance up the
lake with 20 vessels, carrying 50 cannon and 700 men. Arnold
and Waterbury had got together 15 vessels, including the schooner
"Royal Savage," carrying 40 cannon and 500 men. These fig-
ures are approximate, but they represent faithfully enough, in
this necessarily rapid sketch of the event, the comparative strength
of the hostile squadrons in that first naval battle between the
152 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
United States and Great Britain. The first day's fight, October
11, 1776, lasted several hours, until ended by darkness. The
American squadron had inflicted severe losses upon the enemy,
but, on the whole, had itself got the worst of the fighting, and had
lost its principal ship, the "Royal Savage." During the night,
by a singularly bold and skillful manoeuvre, it got away from its
anchorage behind Valcour Island, where the close of the fight left
it practically blockaded by a superior force. At daylight the
British were amazed to find the American squadron had disap-
peared. It had gone through the enemy's fleet in the darkness,
and was many miles to the southward before its movement was
discovered by the hostile eyes watching it so closely. The British
started in pursuit, but owing to various causes they did not catch
up with the Americans till the morning of the 13th in the vicinity
of Splitrock, and here the engagement was renewed, foremost in
the fighting being Arnold in the "Congress," and Waterbury in
the "Washington." The second day's battle lasted two hours,
and ended in a victory for the British. Arnold ran the few vessels
he could still control ashore, and escaped with the survivors of
his crews. Waterbury surrounded by British vessels, cut off from
retreat, and presented with the terrible alternatives of surrend-
ering or seeing his helpless wounded doomed to certain death by
drowning, yielded himself a prisoner. But though defeated in the
final battle, the work of Arnold and Waterbury had accomplished
its most vital purpose. It had saved the lake for that year. It had
thwarted the British plans for a junction with their forces in the
lower Hudson. Captain Mahan, the author of ' ' Sea Power in His-
tory," and recognized on two continents as the greatest living
authority on such a subject, says of the little American navy on
Champlain that year: "Never did any force great or small, live
to better advantage or die more gloriously. ' ' He goes further than
this, indeed. He argues that the work of Arnold and Waterbury,
in standing off the British that summer, and disrupting their
plans, was indispensable to the American victory at Saratoga the
next year, and if the latter is to be counted, as it is, among the de-
cisive battles of history, the naval campaign on Champlain in
1776 had so intimate and necessary a relation to it, that it is
clearly a part of the same memorable record. Incidentally, this
THE WAR PATH. 153
is something for Stamford people to remember, when they visit
Woodland Cemetery and see there the striking and peculiar
memorial stone, and its bronze inscription, beneath which were
placed in recent years all that remains of General David Water-
bury, the ardent patriot, the personal friend of Washington, the
trusted military leader, and Stamford's ranking officer in the
Revolutionary War.
Now we come to 1777 in the history of the "war path," and
there we find perhaps its greatest episode in its influence upon the
fortunes of the long struggle for American independence. I refer,
of course, to the re-invasion of the "war path" by the army and
flotilla under the command of General Burgoyne. Up the lake
came he with a force that easily recaptured Crown Point and
Ticonderoga, and placed so much of the "war path" again in
British power. A strong detachment of Burgoyne 's army, sent
to capture or destroy American stores at Bennington, was bravely
met and driven from their purpose by General Stark and his Green
Mountain Boys. This, though it had its effect in disheartening
Burgoyne, and bracing up the nerves of the patriots everywhere
as far as the news traveled, did little to check the advance of the
British commander along the general line of what we have termed
the "war path." Farther to the south, the American forces were
rallying. It was plain to all that a battle was impending whose
results must have a weighty influencee upon the fortunes of the
struggle. Burgoyne must be stopped and defeated before the forces
set in motion by Sir William Howe in New York could join him, or
the American arms must suffer perhaps a remediless disaster. The
contending forces met at Saratoga, where the American army
gained a victory so complete, and followed it up so ably, that
Burgoyne and most of his men who had survived the fight, were
compelled to surrender themselves prisoners of war. This has
been well called one of the decisive battles of history. It became
such especially because it was, above all other considerations and
events, the one which decided the French government to appear
in the field as an active ally of the American cause, and largely
through that aid was the surrender of Yorktown brought about.
Once more, and for the last time, did hostile invasion enter
the country by way of the "war path." After thirty-seven years,
154 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
less exactly one month from the day Aruold and Waterbury made
their gallant but losing fight against a superior British squadron
on Lake Champlain, the scene was reproduced upon the stage,
with similar accessories, but with new actors in the leading roles.
The conditions which had made Champlain an obvious route of
invasion, for an enemy in control of Canada and St. Lawrence,
remained practically the same as they had been in the old French
and Indian, and the later Revolutionary, wars. Steam was in its
infancy, and had not yet extended to the propulsion of war craft.
Of railroads there were none. The long lake reaching down from
the border into the heart of the enemy's country was still the
chosen ''war path," upon which might be transported the impedi-
menta of an army with ease in comparison with an advance
through roadless forests. In 1814 a British army of 11,000 men
under Sir George Prevost undertook the invasion of New York
through the northen section of the "war path." Before this could
be done, it was indispensable that the American squadron on
Champlain should be driven back and destroyed. As in the naval
campaign of 1776, both of the contending forces bent all their
energies for months in preparing and strengthening their respec-
tive fleets. Commodore Thomas MacDonough, a young man only
twenty-eight years of age, was in command of the American
squadron of 14 vessels, carrying 86 guns and 882 men. The
British had 16 vessels, carrying 92 guns and 937 men. Mac-
Donough, on the llth of September, chose a position in Plattsburg
Bay, and awaited the enemy which he knew was approaching.
When he saw their white sails across a low lying headland, the
young American commander,— of whom Theodore Roosevelt says,
"He feared his foe not at all, but his God a great deal,"— knelt
for a moment, with his officers, on the quarter-deck of his flagship,
the "Saratoga," and offered a frevent prayer to Heaven. Then
ensued the greatest naval battle of the war— great in its two hours
and a half of desperate fighting, and great in its results as a com-
plete American victory which cleared the lake of the enemy and
sent Sir George Prevost 's army scurrying back to Canada, never to
return. Of the young commander, whose skill and bravery and
good fortune won this great fight, and secured such glorious results
for his country, Roosevelt says, "He is the greatest figure in our
naval history down to the time of the Civil War. ' '
THE WAR PATH. 155
This was the last conflict on the "war path"— last but not
least in its splendid results for the American cause. It was fitting
that the long history of the * ' war path, ' ' as such, should close with
a victory so nobly won and so decisive in its consequences. I have
but glanced at an episode which in all its picturesque and inspir-
ing details furnishes one of the most glorious chapters in our
naval history, wherein an American boy of twenty-eight out-
generaled and outfought a heavier squadron than his own, and
manned by veteran British officers and their brave and highly
trained crews— men who had been deep sea sailors for years, and
some of whom, doubtless, served under Nelson at Trafalgar. In-
exorable time would, and even your most kind patience might,
fail me, had I attempted to bring within the limits of a single ad-
dress more than mere synoptical and superficial glimpses of the
salient events which mark the history of the "war path." But
if I have awakened in your minds a new interest in that history;
if I have made more clear the chronological sequence of events,
and the unparalleled shifts and changes which, in the course of
time and circumstances, brought into the relation of allies those
who had once been enemies and into the relation of enemies those
who had once been friends ; if I have recalled your attention to the
unsurpassed beauty of the natural stage-setting, so to speak,
whereon these various war dramas were enacted; if I have sug-
gested the deep, direct and vital interest in forgotten days long
past, which the people of this town and State had in the events
on the ' ' war path ' ' of which I have spoken ; and, finally, if I have
indicated something of what imaginative literature has done to
idealize the scenes and associations of that consecutive, though
not unbrokenly continuous, water line of communication between
New York Bay and the St. Lawrence, I shall feel that the hour
which we have spent here in the relation of indifferent speaker and
exceedingly courteous and patient— and I hope also interested-
audience, has not been wholly unprofitable.
THE FIRST FLYING OF THE STARS AND STRIPES
IN BATTLE AND THE SARATOGA CAMPAIGN.
BY CHARLES WILLIAM BURROWS.
President The Burrows Brothers Co., Cleveland, Ohio.
The Flag of Our Country !
The Flag of Any Country ! !
What is the reason for the existence of a flag? Victor Hugo
has remarked that there are two things holy— the FLAG, which
represents military honor, and the LAW, which represents the
national right, and Carlyle has remarked that " it is in and through
symbols that man, consciously or unconsciously, lives, moves, and
has his being."
When we find a fact, if we look beneath that fact we dis-
cover the reason for it. That degree of almost sacred importance
that has come in the course of ages to attach itself to the flag, is
the result of a quite natural development. In military usage par-
ticularly it became of extreme significance. Beneath its folds was
the point where support was to be found ; there were our brothers
and associates; there were those who would stand shoulder to
shoulder with us and fight hand in hand in our and each other's
defense; while beneath the opposing ensign was to be expected
only fierce, stubborn resistance.
In those days referred to in the Book of Numbers when
the children of Israel were engaged in some one of the many cam-
paigns that came to their lot, they were commanded "to pitch
their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own
standard throughout their hosts."
Then, following the law common to all evolution, to all de-
velopment, it speedily came about that a religious veneration at-
tached itself to the standard, due to this importance. The Romans
FIRST FLYING OF THE STARS AND STRIPES. 157
regarded their standards with the most sacred reverence. It was
not unusual for a Roman General to order a standard to be cast
into the ranks of the enemy to add vigor to the onset of his sol-
diers by exciting them to recover what was to them perhaps the
most sacred thing this earth possessed. The Roman soldier swore
by his standard. Do you recall Caesar's tale on that morning
when he found himself under the cliffs of Albion and the Britons
gathered on the beach to oppose his landing? The ships, being
large, could not approach close to the shore and the soldiers hesi-
tated to buffet the waves and attack the foe. Then the Standard
Bearer of Caesar's favorite legion, the noble Tenth, leaped down
into the water, shouting out to his companions. "Jump down,"
he said, "my fellow soldiers, unless you wish to betray your Eagle
to the enemy." And the soldiers leaped forth from that ship and
from the others, and after some sharp fighting the Britons fled.
Having seen somewhat as to the cause for the existence of a
flag in the sentiment of Union that exists among those gathered
under an ensign, let us examine the meaning of the word "flag."
Whence does it derive its peculiar meaning? There are two old
Anglo-Saxon words, "flaff " and "flap," to which the word is allied.
In his "Noctes Ambrosianae" Wilson says, "The snow was giv-
ing them sair ' flaff s' and d!ads in their faces." Again, to quote
from Tom Cringle's Log, "Merely helping themselves over the top
by a small 'flaff' of their wings." Anything which hangs down
loosely or which is pendant from one side only, carried this idea
of flack, flaff, flap, flag. We say of a tired horse that begins to
droop, that he flags at his work, and this is a mere personification
as it were of the physical idea of what it is to "flag." Any thin
stuff supported from one end and hanging loosely by the side of
a staff which upholds it may be called a flag.
It has a kindred word in "fly" and the idea is similar in de-
velopment. Any light, loosely-woven material that will flaunt and
fly in the breeze ; this is a flag and the origin of the word is due to
the fact indicated.
And now to get back to OUR FLAG— the flag of our own coun-
try. It is not given to every nation to be able to tell when first its
national ensign was flown in battle, but it is possible for the date
when the Stars and Stripes were thus spread abroad to be stated
definitely, with the very highest degree of certainty.
158 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
And, by the way, although we are a young nation, as nations go,
our ensign, which has never been a personal flag, has never rep-
resented the power of any monarch, or line, or dynasty, but has
always been the ensign of a people, of a nation, is one of the oldest
in the list of flags of nations today. Probably the Merchant Flag
of Denmark is the oldest ensign flown by any of the nations of
Europe. It is a red swallow-tail flag with a white cross, the colors
of Savoy. It was adopted in the year 1219. Next in order, per-
haps, was the flag of Switzerland, a red field with a white Greek
cross, the colors just reversed from those appearing in the Red
Cross flag. Peter the Great in 1698 adopted a St. Andrew's cross
of blue upon a white ground which is today the national flag of
Russia, though its Merchant Flag is different from this. But the
flag of England flown today was not adopted till 1801 ; the French
Tri-color in 1794 ; Italy, in 1848 ; the German flag representing the
Empire, in 1871 ; and the present Standard of Spain, the Merchant
flag of red and yellow horizontal bars, in 1785. The red circle on
a white field, representing the sun, has been the emblem of the
Emperor of Japan from earliest times, but it was not till the year
1859 that it was adopted as a national ensign; so that our own
flag, adopted by the statute of June 14, 1777, which reads as fol-
lows: "Resolved, that the flag of the thirteen United States be
thirteen stripes alternate red and white. That the Union be thir-
teen stars, white, on a blue field, to represent a new constellation, ' '
is one of the oldest flags in existence today.
We have further the keen satisfaction of connecting the in-
cident of its first flying in battle with the one and the only one of
the campaigns of the Revolutionary War which was of such su-
preme importance that, had its result been changed, the history of
many nations would have been written along entirely different
lines. The first Stars and Stripes flown in battle was flown at Fort
Stanwix (Fort Schuyler) on the 3rd of August, 1777, this fort
standing at the spot where is now the city of Rome, New York.
The siege of this fort by the troops of Barry St. Leger was
one of the incidents of Burgoyne's Campaign, and concerning that
campaign it has been wisely remarked by Lord Mahon, Sir Philip
Stanhope, that "it may indeed be said that even of those great con-
flicts in which hundreds of thousands have been engaged and tens
FIRST FLYING OF THE STARS AND STRIPES. 159
of thousands have fallen, none has been more fruitful of results
than this surrender of thirty-five hundred fighting men at Sara-
toga. It not merely changed the relations of England and the
feelings of Europe towards these insurgent Colonies, but it has
modified for all time to come the connection between every Colony
and every Parent State. To the latter it has shown the need of
moderation; to the former, far beyond any other example, the
power and the possibility of victorious resistance. ' '
Just as of all the generals in the American war the greatest
and most important beyond all doubt or parallel was George Wash-
ington, so of all the events of that war the greatest and most im-
portant, in its result at least, was Saratoga. This campaign was
planned in Lord Germaine's office in London and it may truth-
fully be said that defeat was organized in this ignoble statesman's
council chamber.
Wisely, perhaps, it was thought that, if an entering wedge
could be thrust between the Eastern colonies and those to the South
and West, by way of the Hudson River, a great deal could be ac-
complished towards splitting up the union of states into parts that
could be beaten separately; and had all available forces been con-
centrated under Howe in New York and a determined effort made
with that place as a base, it would quite probably have succeeded,
had Howe called forcibly for strong reinforcements. But instead
it was planned in great detail, as indicated above, in Germaine's
cabinet, to have Lord Howe with his forces in New York ascend
the Hudson; that Burgoyne, with a picked corps of England's
best troops, aided by a contingent of German mercenaries, the
Brunswickers of Baron Riedesel, starting from Montreal, should
penetrate southward by way of Lake Champlain and the upper
Hudson ; and that a third small, but very carefully selected body,
under Col. Barry St. Leger, ascending the St. Lawrence, crossing
Lake Ontario to Oswego and passing up the stream to the head
waters of the Mohawk, where Rome is now, should descend that
stream and effect a juncture with Howe and Burgoyne in the
neighborhood of Albany.
In making this plan, one of the primary principles of military
strategy or grand tactics, was violated. Arms may change, and
methods of warfare will have to change in consequence to conform
160 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION..
to new conditions. The hand thrown stone of the primeval man
may give place in time to the war club; this still later will be dis-
placed by the lance; still later yet the bow with its arrow may in-
dicate another step of advance, and in progressive stages we shall
find development until we come to the missile propelled by the ex-
plosive action of gunpowder, and even then a halt will not be call-
ed, and we shall have the multiple, the rapid-fire gun, sending many
shots in a short time.
But through all this evolution, certain primary, underlying
principles have never changed and never will. One of the most
important of these is that a force operating upon interior lines
has a force operating upon exterior lines at a great disadvantage.
Napoleon once said that one bad general was better than two
good ones, indicating thus the absolute necessity for undivided
authority and sole responsibility. To call Lord George Germaine
a good general would be a travesty, yet generals in the field three
thousand miles over sea had their actions hampered throughout
this campaign by a man who could neither know much of the situ-
ation nor even judge it wisely if he had known.
Howe and Burgoyne, one at Montreal and the other at New
York, were separated by three hundred miles of woods and forest
and hostile country. It was fifty leagues to the southwest from
Montreal to Barry St. Leger's encampment at Fort Stanwix, and
as far to the northwest from Howe to him, and both through hos-
tile country. If communication were to be sent from Howe to
Burgoyne, without passing through the enemy's country, it meant
that fifteen hundred miles of ocean and river must be traversed
and three months of time elapse before a letter could go and an
answer come.
On the contrary, Arnold vigorously repelling Try on 's Raid on
Norwalk and Danbury; Arnold marching to the relief of Fort
Schuyler; Arnold fighting in the trenches at Saratoga with suc-
cess, and Arnold holding Philadelphia after it was evacuated by
the British, in spite of his wounds, all within six months of time,
are examples of the possibilities of working along interior lines.
Again, Washington, from his headquarters at Morristown,
New Jersey, could learn what was taking place on the upper lakes,
within two days by swift messengers, and could throw a force to
FIRST FLYING OF THE STABS AND STRIPES. 161
the relief of Putnam stationed in the Highlands of the Hudson
below West Point, in four easy marches, and in less than two weeks
could place reinforcements upon the Northern Lake. In fact it
may safely be said, defeat of Burgoyne's expedition was organized
and deliberately planned in London. And thus the way was pre-
pared for the success of the Americans in this campaign, and the
passage of the United States, through a long term of years to be
sure, into the list of the great world powers.
These are in existence today perhaps six of these. England
and France alone date their supremacy in world dictation to a
period more remote than 200 years ago. Russia entered the list
when Peter the Great's genius at the beginning of the 18th cen-
tury placed his country in that class. Germany was obliged to
wait for the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 to entitle her to admis-
sion to the list. Our own country could hardly consider herself en-
titled to rank of that sort until after the Spanish- American War,
and as for Japan, she either has entered the list since her war with
Russia or will be in condition to make herself felt in all world
wide controversies as soon as her finances improve.
As to our place, Col. Roosevelt said when President, "We
have no choice, we people of the United States, as to whether we
shall play a great part in the world or not. That has been deter-
mined for us by fate, by the march of events. All that we can
decide is whether we shall play it WELL or ILL." A foreign
ambassador at Washington remarked in 1901 that although he had
been in the United States but a short time he had seen two differ-
ent countries— The United States before the war with Spain, and
the United States since the war with Spain ! ! !
It is therefore becoming that we should bestow a little atten-
tion to the examination of this campaign which wrested from
England her North American colonies, save Canada. While this
campaign was commenced and carried on by the British Minister's
own folly and even in iniquity, yet even so the Anglo-Saxon can
find much in connection with it in which to glory. Creasy says
that an Englishman may and ought to look on the growing grand-
eur of America with no small degree of general sympathy and sat-
isfaction. He should remember, as the Athenian remembers of
162 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
the Spartans, that the race is one, being of the same blood, speak-
ing the same language, having an essential resemblance in institu-
tions and usages and worshipping in the temples of the same God.
So, though an Englishman may not, perhaps, view the progress of
America without regretful thought that she once was English, and
but for the folly and errors of her ministers she might be English
still, he yet can have a natural pride in the success of the Anglo-
Saxon.
When our flag, with its thirteen stripes and thirteen stars was
established, it was the symbol of thirteen weak, struggling, agri-
cultural communities, each preserving with a considerable degree
of jealousy its own independence. National manufactures and in-
ternational commerce were undreamed of; the railroad, the steam-
ship, the telegraph, the telephone and many other inventions of the
busy brain and hand of man, have made, in the last century and a
third, a new planet out of the one George Washington knew. In
his day wealth consisted of acres and crops ; today stocks and bonds
and merchandise represent a large part of the values of the com-
munity.
There have been in the past, there will be in the future, many
occasions when the highest duty of a patriotic citizen was that he
should be ready to give his life for his country. Today, there is
another and different duty that confronts each man who is patriot-
ic ; it is that he shall endeavor to live an honest life for his coun-
try's sake. To give a square deal to every man we need a square
man for every deal.
I have said that despite the prodigious amount of work done
by Admiral Preble in compiling the very valuable information
contained in his great work, "The Flag of the United States,"
there have been discovered other chronicles than those known in
his day, that have a bearing on this, my topic.
Fort Schuyler, formerly Fort Stanwix, was defended by the
Third New York Regiment under its colonel, Peter Gansevoort,
and one of the eight companies of that regiment, the fourth, had
as its captain, Abraham Swartwout, and the junior commissioned
officer of the Eighth Company was Ensign William Colbreath. Each
of these men kept a diary of the events of the siege. Fort Schuy-
ler, formerly Fort Stanwix, was built in 1758, nearly twenty years
earlier, and early in the spring of 1777, Gansevoort was sent to
FIRST FLYING OF THE STABS AND STRIPES. 163
this place to put it as speedily as possible in a good condition of
repair. Later he was joined by the Lieutenant-colonel of the
Regiment, Marinus Willett, with further troops, and still later
Lieut.-Col. James Mellon of the Ninth Massachusetts with some
two hundred men arrived to reinforce him, getting to the post the
afternoon of Saturday, August second, within an hour of the time
when Barry St. Leger's advance forces, thirty men under Lieut.
Bird, with some Indians under Brant, reached the post. The sup-
plies and reinforcements Mellon brought had speedily been gotten
within the walls of the post before this happened.
The Swartwout Chronicles were published less than a dozen
years ago in a limited edition of but 100 copies. They were most
carefully and skillfully edited by Mr. Arthur James Weise of
Brooklyn, New York, and I am told that Major William Merrill
Swartwout of Albany expended over $10,000 in preparation of
these chronicles. The Colbreath Journal has never been publish-
ed, though parts of it have been quoted in several publications. In
the main they support each other quite fully and unitedly they
show a state of affairs which may be briefly stated about as fol-
lows:
While the news of the flag statute enactment of the 14th of
June was not officially promulgated by Congress 'until September
third, it did get abroad and was printed in the newspapers. One
of these reached Albany on the 31st, the day when Lieut. -col.
James Mellon 's party of the Ninth Massachusetts, referred to
above, was starting with his reinforcements of two hundred men
up the Mohawk River to the relief of Gansevoort. They took
along news of the enactment. When they arrived at the fort,
about 5 o'clock Saturday afternoon, and the provisions, arms,
munitions of war and other supplies were rushed into the post, the
knowledge of this statute was received by the garrison.
On Sunday morning, having no ensign and being greatly in-
terested by the news of the statute, the garrison set about the
manufacture of a flag. White cloth was found in plenty. Ac-
cording to one rumor, it was supplied by hospital bandages and ac-
cording to another, from men's shirts. Red also was available.
This again, rumor has it, was supplied by the scarlet petticoat of a
soldier's wife. But of blue cloth a ransacking of the garrison dis-
164 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
played no trace until Captain Abraham Swartwout sacrificed his
blue military cloak to furnish the canton or field upon which the
white stars could be sewn. A year later, in fact, we find him writ-
ing from Poughkeepsie to Gansevoort, still stationed at Stanwix, re-
questing an order on the "Commisary for clothing of the State"
to supply him, according to promise, with ' ' Eight yards of Broad-
cloth in lieu of my blue cloak which was used for coulours at Fort
Schuyler."
In this manner the ingenuity and the patriotism of the gar-
rison, deeply interested in learning of this flag regulation, and
with a strong desire to have an ensign floating above them, sup-
plied the flag which we described.
We are told at considerable length in the pages of the Swart-
wout Chronicles that it was constructed during the forenoon of Sun-
day; that in the afternoon a flagstaff was prepared and planted
on the northeast bastion, that which was nearest to the enemy's
camp, and that the finished flag, which had been so hastily con-
structed, being fastened to the halyard, the drummer beat the as-
sembly, the garrison congregated in response to the summons ; then
as the Adjutant of the day stepped forward to read from the paper
the resolution of Congress designating the insignia of the new
Republic, it was hoisted to the top of the staff and for the first
time in history the brilliant colors, the red, the white, and the blue
of the Stars and' Stripes, floated over a besieged garrison and for
the first time, troops, in battle array, were gazing reverently up-
wards regarding it as their banner and ensign. It is further
stated that a cannon was loaded and fired at the enemy, and from
that day to the end of the siege, which lasted about three weeks,
not only did it float above these brave defenders, but for some con-
siderable portion of the time it had the honor of flying above five
captured ensigns, taken from "Butler's Rangers" of ignoble fame,
one of the bodies constituting Barry St. Leger's forces. "They
were rather super-abundantly supplied with ensigns considering
the amount of honor possessed by this very notorious corps, ' ' is the
remark made by Trevelyan.
Now, if you will examine the dates with a perpetual calendar,
you will find that, while Preble assigns August second as the day
of the flying of the Stars and Stripes, as it was upon Sunday,
PIEST FLYING OF THE STARS AND STRIPES. 165
it was the third of August, that this happened. Preble with his
painstaking research can in no sense be held responsible for ignor-
ance of these journals which have been but recently brought to
light, but the date must be changed from that assigned by him, as
I have indicated.
John Fiske puts the date as August sixth and the place as
Oriskany, New York, where the heroic Herkimer contested a bloody
field with St. Leger's forces a few days later. In this John Fiske
is clearly mistaken. Some other historians, notably certain local-
ly interested persons of Delaware, make the claim that at Cooch's
Bridge on September third (an advance skirmish this of the bat-
tle of the Brandywine) it was that the first flag was hoisted in
battle. To establish this claim, they state that the flag hoisted
at Fort Schuyler was not a regularly constructed ensign but im-
provised and hastily made up and not in accordance with proper
specifications. The trouble with their claim is that if it is ex-
amined with care we are obliged to come to the conclusion that
they have not done even so well as the Fort Stanwix claimants in
establishing the authenticity of their claim. There is to be sure
a high degree of probability that Maxwell's force, which was en-
gaged in this skirmish at Cooch's Bridge was equipped with flags.
Of this, however, we have no direct evidence or testimony, nor
should we know necessarily what they were if we had. They may
have been regimental flags and they may have been National flags,
the Stars and Stripes— or— something else. But evidence fails to
show that they were made with even so much regard to exact speci-
fication as the Fort Schuyler ensign, and in any event the date
was later by an entire month.
There is another piece of evidence which needs to be con-
sidered in this connection, and that is the Digby Journal, and cer-
tain statements made therein to which I have referred earlier.
This journal was edited by Hon. James Phinney Baxter of Port-
land, Maine. In this work it is related that Fort Anne, lying in
the wilderness to the north of Albany, was captured on July 8,
1777, nearly a month, in other words, preceding the date I have
given before, and that at Fort Anne the Second New Hampshire
was captured with its colors. The quotation (page 234) is as fol-
fows:
166 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
"At that action the 9th took their colours, which were intend-
ed as a present to their Colonel, Lord Leganeer" (sic pro Ligo-
nier). "They were very handsome, a flag of the United States,
13 Stripes, alternate red and white, in a blue field representing a
new constellation. " It is supposed by Mr. Baxter that Lieut. Dig-
by intended to insert "with thirteen stars " after the words "thir-
teen stripes, alternate red and white," and before "in a blue field,
representing a new constellation."
If we could accept this entry as correct it would establish the
eighth of July as the date of the first flying of the Stars and
Stripes in battle, but Digby's Journal was written from notes and
from memory several months after the campaign, was over and
there are good reasons for assuming that this entry is unquestion-
ably erroneous.
It appears that the news of the enactment of the flag statute
of the 14th of June was not received at Albany until the 31st of
July, in the newspaper to which I have referred earlier, and more-
over it would seem highly improbable that the knowledge was car-
ried so far to the north and so far into the woods weeks before
that date.
But of still more importance as bearing upon the question, is
the fact that the only American flags taken at Fort Anne, so far
as we are able to determine, and what are possibly the only Ameri-
can regimental colors captured by the British during the entire
Revolutionary War that are in existence and in the possession of
the British today, are those of this Second New Hampshire Regi-
ment. These are at present, in possession of Colonel G-eorge S;
Rogers, Burgess Hill, Sussex, England, and as the pictures I show
you substantiate, do not at all resemble the Stars and Stripes but
are something quite different indeed.
The details of this most important campaign of Burgoyne I
shall not be able to enter into this evening, without taking an en-
tirely unreasonable amount of your time and fatiguing you beyond
endurance, but certain incidents of it will occur to you promptly.
For example, the dispatching of a small body like Baum's, of only
five hundred men, to Bennington, where Stark was assembling with
many hundreds of those stalwart New Englanders, was as someone
has expressed it, "like thrusting the bare hand into a beehive in
search of honey."
FIRST FLYING OF THE STABS AND STRIPES. 167
Suffice it to say, that as Burgoyne got deeper and deeper into
the heart of the country, further and further removed from his
base of supplies, with forces constantly diminishing, not only from
capture and defeat but also from the necessity of detaching con-
siderable bodies to guard his rear, hemmed in by an ever-increasing
swarm of hardy militia, at last he found himself where he could
not even retreat and he was obliged to sue for terms from his vic-
torious enemy and on Saratoga Heights for the first time in the
history of the world a considerable body of English regular troops,
and a picked body at that, was obliged to march out and lay down
its arms before an inexperienced force which they but a few
weeks before had regarded with contmpt and spoken of with de-
rision. This surrender foreshadowed the result of the war.
By historians, students of strategy and military men, it was
regarded as a moral certainty that had Burgoyne 's plans succeeded
the aid lent by foreign nations to the struggling colonies would
never have been extended, and England must in that event have
been the victor in the struggle. For another generation at least
the map of North America would have remained substantially
as it was. Many believe, and doubtless wisely, that the desire for
separation from England was a seed that was sure to grow in the
minds of the people, and think that even if suppressed for a time
it would have broken out again, but we may remember that on
another occasion a Washington might not have been the leader of
our forces. And while probably we should have won in time yet
the development of the country would have been much delayed
and its prosperity postponed.
That development has been going on so rapidly since the time
of the Revolutionary War that whereas in 1790 the center of popu-
lation of the United States lay East of Baltimore, today it is in
Indiana, and it is well for us to remember that for the last 120
years that center has been moving westward at an average rate of
three feet for each hour of the time, ceaselessly, endlessly, mov-
ing towards the West.
And now in closing may I narrate just one dramatic incident
that connects itself with this campaign, which if studied, reveals
much as to both the horrors and amenities of war, viz., that on the
part of the Anglo-Saxon race and in any Anglo-Saxon success or
168 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION,
failure, there is always to be found a certain large-minded, noble
hearted recognition of a brave and gallant enemy.
On the occasion of Burgoyne's reconnaissance in force on the
seventh of October, that last great effort put forth by him, one of
his brave brigadiers, the gallant Simon Frazer, who had been
wounded in action before he came of age, was wounded unto death.
Being taken to the rear he expressed the next day, with nearly his
last breath a wish to be buried on the redoubt topping that part of
the British lines where he had been stationed. Abandoned by the
English it was now in full battery range of the advancing Ameri-
cans, who were beginning to place their artilery to play upon Bur-
goyne's forces. It was, nevertheless, resolved to comply with his
dying wish and interment took place under circumstances as af-
fecting as ever marked a soldier's funeral. The burial party con-
sisted of Burgoyne and his generals, and under the lead of Chap-
lain Brudeness, a stalwart coldier of the cross militant, the cortege
slowly proceeded up the hill, attended only by members of Bur-
goyne 's military family.
The eyes of hundreds of both armies followed the procession.
The field glasses of that day were not so good as now and for some
time the Americans were in ignorance of the true character of the
party, and kept up a constant cannonade on the hill top. Unawed
by the danger to which he was exposed as the balls that struck the
hill threw the loose soil over and around him, the chaplain pro-
nounced in an unfaltering voice the impressive funeral services
of the English Church. The growing darkness added to the sol-
emnity of the scene. Suddenly the irregular firing ceased and the
solemn voice of a single cannon at measured intervals boomed along
the valley and awakened the responses of the hills. It was a min-
ute gun fired in honor of the gallant Frazer, by the Americans.
The moment that information was received that the gathering at
the redoubt was a funeral party orders were issued to withhold the
cannonade and to pay military honor to the fallen foe.
THE HISTORY
OF THE
IRON ORE INDUSTRY
ON
LAKE CHAMPLAIN
These articles were originally prepared and published in a series by
DR. GEORGE F. BIXBY
Editor Plattsburg Republican, who died June, 1905.
Extracts from this Paper were read at the Lake Champlain Meeting by
S. NORTON, MINEVILLE, N. Y.
The sketches were collected from the files of the newspaper and put in form by
MRS. MARIE PARCELLO BIXBY
for
WITHERBEE, SHERMAN & CO., Inc.
PORT HENRY, N. Y.
Who contributed the cost of their publication in these Proceedings.
THE HISTORY OF THE IRON ORE INDUSTRY
ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN.
About two miles north of the village of Ausable Forks is a bald,
barren hill, rising some four or five hundred feet above the river,
and having an area of something like two hundred acres. Fifty
years ago there was hardly a settler in that part of the Town of
Peru now comprising the towinship of Black Brook, which was
"set off" from the original town in 1839. The whole country was
covered with a dense forest, consisting of Norway pine to a great
extent, this hill, which has now such a barren and worthless ap-
pearance, having at that time upon it a light growth of the same
variety of timber.
Some time previously to the year 1825 there came into this part
of the town a man by the name of Zephaniah Palmer, a surveyor
and an eccentric genius withal, who spent much of his time alone
in the woods, in the pursuit of his calling, or perhaps prospecting
for valuable tracts of land. However that may be, he "took up"
large tracts in this vicinity, and in the purchase was included this
insignificant looking knoll, which is now known as Palmer Hill.
Whether his compass pointed out to him with its magic finger
the untold wealth which lay hidjden in this unpromising hill no one
ever knew. It is said that when asked what he ever expected to
do with it, he was wont to reply that he "bought it for a sheep pas-
ture." A flock of sheep would find hard work to glean their liv-
ing from that hill today, but from the magic caves with which its
bosom is honeycombed in all directions, there are raised, on an aver-
age, two hundred tons of ore every working djay in the year, ore
which averages over 50 per cent of pure iron.
In 1825 Messrs. Burts and Vanderwater purchased this and
adjoining property of Platt, and the same year erected a sawmill
with two gates, at the "Forks" of the river. Two or three years
later the same company, reinforced by Messrs. Keese, Lapham &
Co., and Caleb Barton, commenced the manufacture of iron by the
' ' bloomer ' ' process, having erected at the ' ' Forks ' ' a forge of four
172 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
fires, procuring their ore partly from "Arnold*' Hill, two and one
half miles north of Palmer Hill, of which we shall give a full his-
tory hereafter, and partly from Palmer Hill. But Palmer Hill
ore being much leaner was not valued as highly, and but little at-
tention was at first paid to it. At this time the ore was "sepa-
rated" by what was known as the "magnet" process, by means of
magnets.
In 1834 the owners sold out to a stock company composed of
Reuben Sanford, Ardon Baker, James Rogers, John Fitzgerald,
Richard H. Peabody, Robert B. Hazard and Calvin Cook. At this
time Messrs. J. & J. Roberts were making iron at Black Brook,
having commenced in 1831, hauling the greater part of the ore from
Arnold Hill in the winter upon sleds. Previously to this time Mr.
James Rogers had been in the mercantile business at Keeseville,
from which point he moved to Clintonville, where, however, he re-
mained but a few months.
The new company, of which Mr. James Rogers was one of the
stockholders, soon began to feel the pressure of financial embarrass-
ment. During the year 1835 the business of the Company was car-
ried on by John Woodman as agent. In 1836 work in the mines
and forges was entirely suspended for about a year, the shadow
of the impending financial crash of 1837 having now settled heavily
over the bright prospects and favorable auspices under which the
company had been formed.
The next year the crash, which all who were in business at
that time have good reason to remember, came and the control of
the stock passed into the hands of J. & J. Rogers, in whose pos-
session it has remained ever since. In March, 1837, Mr. James
Rogers moved to the Forks, where he has ever since resided, while
Mr. John Rogers has made Black Brook, four miles distant, his
home.
Upon coming into possession of the property these men, both
of whom had been trained to thorough business habits, and who
were naturally possessed of indomitable perseverance, immediately
set about improving their property, digging deep and laying broad
the foundations of their own prosperity, together with that of the
whole section of the country about them.
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 173
There are so many matters of interest in connection with these
works to speak of that it is difficult to know where to begin and
where to leave off, for a full history of this great enterprise would
require a month's work in research and labor, and would fill a vol-
ume with interesting matter. We can, with our circumscribed
limits, only take a retrospective glance at what we saw there last
Monday when we took a few hours' run through the different de-
partments.
At the Forks, every particle of the available water power is
used. A large rolling mill, nail factory, foundry, forges and ma-
chine shop have been erected, and a village of 1,000 inhabitants has
sprung up about these works, which for thrift, enterprise and ma-
terial prosperity cannot be matched in Northern New York.
There are only four forge fires at the "Forks," but all the
other branches of the business of iron manufacturing owned by the
Company are located here, while at Black Brook are twelve forge
fires, and at Jay, six more, making twenty-two in all.
The company also owns about fifty coal kilns of the very best
construction, these beirg situated at and above Black Brook, far up
on the slopes of the mountains, which forms the spurs of Whitef ace
and the Keene Mountains. The labor of about 2,000 men is nec-
essary to carry on the immense business which is done by this pow-
erful company.
The interest of all this business centers in that little, barren
Palmer Hill, for from here and the immediate vicinity is taken
every pound of ore which keeps this army of 2,000 men at work,
supporting a population of probably not less than four or five thou-
sand. As you approach the summit of this hill you come to an
insignificant cluster of buildings upon the southern slope. From
the buildings, which are close together, branch off lines of trestle
work leading to the different shafts and inclined tracks from which
the ore is raised and the water pumped.
In the mine are employed one hundred men, that being the
maximum number which can work to advantage, and one ton of
ore per man each day is averaged throughout the year. Entering
the principal building, from which two smoke stacks arise, we see
a stationary engine of 25 horse power, manufactured by Messrs.
Hartwell & Winslow, of Plattsburgh, fifteen years ago, and which
is still as good as new.
174 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
A large, stout iron shaft has reels upon it, upon which are
coiled strong wire cables, each many hundred feet in length. At
a signal from the gong, made by a workman deep down in the pit
below, by means of a wire, the engineer ships a gear and unwinds
the cable, letting an empty car down an incline to the bottom;
another signal and he winds up another, bringing up 8,000 pounds
of ore from the depths below as easily, apparently, as he unwound
the other.
A huge pump works constantly by means of its ponderous con-
nections and the engine labors heavily. Passing into another room
you see • a strange looking machine, the air compressor,
which has just been introduced. This is a double engine with two
cylinders, each having a thirty-inch stroke with twelve-inch pis-
ton. One of these is an ordinary steam cylinder, and the other
is for compressing the air and driving it into the mine for working
the drills.
The steam cylinder is "oscillating," being hung upon trun-
nions, its piston rod connecting with that of the air cylinder, which
is stationary and horizontal. The oscillating cylinder is nothing
new, having been used upon the English ocean steamers for many
years. Its advantages are that it economizes both space and power.
Steam is the motive power which works the machine and drives the
twelve-inch solid piston in the air cylinder backwards and for-
wards, compressing the air, three volumes into one, and forcing it
through iron tubes down to the bottom of the mine, working drills
with lightning like rapidity hundreds of feet away. And they
may as well be hundreds of yards or even hundreds of rods away,
only for a slight loss in friction and -increased expense for connect-
ing pipes. In order to see what this machine is doing, you must
grope down the slippery steps into the mine by the light of a lamp
which you carry in your hand, following your leader closely and
looking sharp for your foothold, lest you go down the angle of
forty-five degrees with a slide, and get dashed to pieces on the rocks
below.
The first thing that strikes you, if you have been accustomed
at all to mines, is the remarkable purity of the air, none of the sul-
phurous odor and oppressing sensation which you have always
found in Auch places and which causes a feeling of langour and
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 175
heaviness to the workman and gives the visitor a headache. Here
you are surprised to encounter a current of pure air from below, a
very perceptible current, too, which drives out all the noxious vap-
ors arising from the burning of gunpowder in the blasts and the
foul, poisonous gases which sometimes find their breeding places in
these mines, which are so destructive to human life, both from in-
halation and "fire-damp" explosions.
Down, down, down you go, now coming to a huge pillar fifteen
or twenty feet in diameter and sixty feet high, which supports the
roof and perhaps another pillar above. Now you come to a sharp
turn, and suddenly the darkness into which you are plunging is
dotted with dozens of stars, just as you might see them overhead in
a clear, moonless night, only now you see them below instead of
above, and you experience a strange, wierd sensation, and feel a
strong impulse to plunge off into the abyss, from the narrow brink
upon which you stand.
Listening, you hear the sharp clatter of machinery below and
clambering along ledges and down more steps, following your com-
panions, who, if you are as fortunate as we were, will be Mr. E.
A. Richardson, oversser of the mine, who has been in the employ
of the company over a score of years, and who combines in a pre-
eminent manner three desirable qualities, courtesy, intelligence and
efficiency, and Mr. Milliken, agent of the Rand & Waring Com-
pressor Company, 21 Park Row, New York City, who has just put
one of their machines into successful operation here.
And now we come to one of the air drills, very compact
and weighing, together with its tripod and machinery, about one
hundred and forty-five pounds. The legs of the tripods can be
lengthened or shortened at pleasure and upon each leg is a weight
which, altogether, increases the weight of the affair to two hun-
dred pounds. The drills proper vary from two to three feet in
length, and, together with the machinery necessary to drive them,
slide up and down upon ways, both together. This machinery con-
sists simply of a short cylinder three or four inches long, in which
works a piston, the rod of which is attached to the drill. Into this
cylinder the air is forced from the compressor above through rub-
ber pipes, first on one side of the piston and then the other, the
same as in the "high pressure" steam cylinder, driving the pis-
176 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
ton back and forth with great speed and power. The blow struck,
however, is comparatively light, speed rather than power being
aimed at.
The drill is the variety ktiown as the "X" drill, having two
cutting edges, each crossing the other in the middle at right angles.
The tripod is set over the point to be drilled, a stopcock turned,
and the drill commences to work upon the hard gneiss rock slowly
at first, presently increasing the motion to the amazing velocity
of one thousand strokes a minute, or sixteen to the second. Timing
it, we saw it sink a hole thirty-two inches in depth in eight minutes.
No extraordinary haste was used, and the drill was changed once in
the time.
These drills can be used at any angle, down, up or sideways,
and constitute a most astonishingly efficient auxiliary to the busi-
ness of mining. The miners here are rapidly becoming adepts in
the use of these drills, and Mr. Milliken, who, by the way, has,
since he came here, made some very important modifications in the
drills and tripods, expressing himself as being well pleased at the
readiness with which the men acquire a practical knowledge of their
working. An impression which has gone out that the introduction
of these air drills will enable mining companies to dispense with a
large proportion of their help is, we believe, erroneous. We have
no doubt, on the contrary, that the necessity of a much larger force
throughout all the different branches of the business will follow the
introduction of these machines.
One of the greatest difficulties which manufacturers of air
compressors have to contend with is the tendency of the air to de-
velop its latent heat under the heavy pressure to which it is sub-
jected, causing expansion and consequently great additional re-
sistance to the machinery. This difficulty has been almost entirely
surmounted by the Rand & Waring Company by incasing the air
cylinder in another, the space between Being kept filled by a cur-
rent of cold water, which is forced through it by a compact little
pump.
The principle of transmitting power by means of compressed
air was discovered by Dr. Dennis Papin, an eminent French engi-
neer, nearly a century and a half ago, and he proposed to use it
for this very purpose in coal mines and also to pump the water
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 177
out ; and we may say here what Mr. Milliken told us, that it can
be used for pumping to much better advantage than the clumsy
apparatus now in vogue. But Dr. Papin, like many other pioneers
in great enterprises, was doomed on account of some slight defect
in his machine, to die without a sight of the result which he worked
so faithfully for. About a century later a similar machine was
constructed in Wales, to create a blast for an iron foundry situ-
ated a mile and half from the waterfall which was to serve as the
motive power.
But this also failed, and it was not until 1861 that compressed
air was successfully used as a motive power, when that stupend-
ous triumph of modern engineering, the Mont Cenis Tunnel, was
pushed through the Alps by its aid. Since then it has been suc-
cessfully applied to the accomplishment of a work which the whole
Yankee nation of Massachusetts had given up, the Hoosac Tunnel,
while, by the same potent agency, that bugbear to all East River
navigators, the terrible ledge known as Hell Gate, has now a four
and a half acre excavation in its bowels, and before many months
more will have passed, a nitro glycerine earthquake will blow it in-
to fragments.
The advantages of these machines are such that their general
introduction, wherever there are mines or tunnels to be worked, or
any other underground work cap able of being performed by machin-
ery, is only a question of time, and a very short time, too, as we
believe. The thoroughness with which they perform the work of
ventilation is of itself sufficient to recommend them to general use,
all other things being equal. But here none of the ' ' other things ' '
are equal, every " thing" being in favor of the compressors; and
their power is such that prejudice can stand but a short time be-
fore them.
We recollect well of being in Elizabethport, N. J., over twenty
years ago while the immense docks were being built there for the
coal trade. A great amount of pile driving was necessary and, up
to that time, it had been all done by hand. Two workmen would
wind the heavy weight up slowly to the top of the "tower" taking
from three to five minutes in the operation. Then the weight would
drop and the men would take a good rest before another blow could
be struck upon the top of the pile, and altogether it was a slow
178 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
process. By and by there came along an eastern contractor with
a little "pocket engine," and when he set it up we heard the jeers
of the "old heads" and saw the looks of contempt with which they
viewed the Yankee Lunatic and his little engine. But he fired up
and commenced operations, and the first time that weight went
up the ways like an arrow shot from a bow, a changed expression
came over their countenances, and they saw that their old] hand
machines were doomed.
And so it will be with these drills, for they will surely sup-
plant hand drilling, but, as we said before, we believe that instead
of having the effect to decrease the number of men needed, they
will greatly increase it. For instance, in this mine, only one hun-
dred men can be worked to advantage on account of limited room,
and each man raises his ton of ore per day, but when these drills
come unto use there will be the same amount of room as before and
it requires two men at each drill, just as at hand drilling, but then
instead of each man averaging one ton per day he will average five
and perhaps ten tons per day. What an increased impetus will
this give throughout all the departments below, at the coai kilns,
the separator, the forges, the rolling mills, nail factories and ma-
chine shops.
Powder is used in the blasts, about five or six inches being put
in each thirty inch hole, and the blast is exploded by electricity.
A wire is laid from the charge to some point of safety, the distance
making no difference, the wire is attached to the little battery,
which resembles a common circular tape line case, the crank is then
turned rapidly and in a moment the long echoing peal of subter-
ranean thunder answers back. In wet portions of the mine where
powder is not available, Beach's compound is used, which is said
to be the safest explosive yet discovered, safer than "dualine" and
fully as effective. As for nitro-glycerine, pure and simple, the
miners will have nothing to do with it, and giant powder, together
with all other compounds of which nitro-glycerine is the base,
shares the prejudice which exists against it. It is claimed that
Beach's Compound contains no nitro-glycerine.
Accidents are very rare about this mine, and not a life has
been lost or a man seriously injured for years, through the fault
of the management of the company. When a cable becomes weak-
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 179
ened, long before it has approximated toward its breaking point,
it is thrown one side and the same care to guard against accidents
is taken throughout.
About one mile northeast of Palmer Hill is Jackson Hill, where
another mine is being developed with excellent prospects of suc-
cess. This had been worked years ago, but was subsequently
abandoned, until about five years since. There are three separate
veins Of ore here, all of which have been partially opened and one
of which shows signs of extraordinary richness. A shaft has been
sunk also on a tract recently purchased by the company to the
southward of Palmer Hill, the ore from which was being tried for
the first time the day we were there.
After the ore is raised to the surface it is next taken to the
separator, a mile and a half on the way to the village. Here are
several large pits resembing cellars, which have been built upon
sloping ground and ' ' stoned up " on three sides only, the side lack-
ing the wall being upon a level with the ground below, while the top
of the opposite wall is also level with the ground upon that side,
this arrangement being for the convenience of " dump ing" wood
and ore.
A large quantity of wood) is placed in each of these pits, and
upon it is "dumped" the crude ore in fragments as it comes from
the mine, weighing from an ounce up to fifty or even a hundred
pounds. Fire is then set to the wood which burns out slowly, thor-
oughly heating the ore. This process is called roasting and its
object is, as the foreman, Mr. C. Y. Pierce, by the way, we forgot
to say that when you leave Palmer Hill you emerge from the juris-
diction of Mr. Richardson, and here at the separator Mr. Pierce
reigns supreme, as he said, the object of roasting is to make it "ren-
der" under the hammer.
Now at the risk of telling what probably four-fifths of those
who are interested in this article sufficiently to read it, know al-
ready, we will say that the object of all the operations through
which the ore goes after leaving the mine is to separate the rock, of
which there is almost as much by weight as there is of the iron, and
much more by bulk, from the pure iron and this "roasting" is the
first step in the process. The heat simply makes the rock friable,
so that it will crumble up and let go its hold on the iron. After
180 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
being roasted it is placed in oblong iron boxes, the bottoms of which
are grates. Into each of these boxes there fall eight ponderous
hammers or stampers, one after another, in moderately quick suc-
cession, which breaks the rocks of ore finer and finer, as you would
pound salt in a mortar, and as it becomes sufficiently fine it drops
through the grated or sieved bottom into a tank of water through
which there runs a strong current. There is considerable hocus-
pocus connected with this part of the operation, which however
easy to see, is somewhat difficult to describe, but it is sufficient to
say that the particles of rock being lighter are naturally held by
the water in solution, mechanical not chemical, while the ore being
heavier settles to the bottom. And there is no rest for it until this
separation has become nearly perfect, as nearly as possible by this
process. The rock which has been reduced nearly to a powder, to-
gether with the earthly impurities, has been sent away into the lit-
tle stream, upon the bank of which the separator stands, and the
ore is raised by means of tin buckets attached to a belt, and thrown
over into a little room by itself, ready to be shoveled into wagons
again, preparatory to being taken to the forge. At this separator
the work is all done by the current of water instead of by hand
labor practised in nearly all other separators where it is shoveled
over and over upon sieves. This style of separating is the inven-
tion of Mr. Peter Tremblay, of Clayburgh. Now the Palmer ore
being very fine in its texture, there has always been considerable
loss, the minute particles of ore being carried by force of the cur-
rent off into the stream along with the rest of the impurities and
the banks and bed of the Ausable River for many miles below, glis-
ten with these little particles like diamonds.
It is believed that large quantities have, in years past, gone
into Lake Champlain sixteen miles below, and that the black sand,
a little hour-glass shaped box of which twenty years ago was found
upon every accountant's and business man's desk, for drying the
ink upon the written page, instead of by botting pads, as is now
customary, that this sand, of which there is a large deposit near the
Ausable River, is nothing more nor less than the wasting of this
separator.
It is estimated that the loss through this channel has, of late
years, reached the enormous quantity of 1,200 tons per year; and
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 181
it seems that it never occurred to any one to interrupt and stop
this waste until about three years ago, when two Englishmen, who
were strolling through this region, proposed to save the ore which
was running away on shares. The offer was accepted and they
went to work and soon got as rich as they cared to be. The com-
pany has now arranged various devices by which, it is believed,
that nearly all waste is prevented.
From here the ore goes to the bloomer forges for which it has,
in fact, been all the while in process of preparation. In the manu-
facture of pig iron in "blast furnaces" no separating is required,
but the rocks are thrown into a hugh, upright cylinder, just as they
come from the mine and melted, the rocks running off in slag and
the iron, by its own gravity, going away by itself in a molton
stream. In that process hard coal can be used while in the
' * bloomer ' ' forges charcoal is necessary.
The charcoal and the ore then must be got together and as it is
easier to transport the ore both ways than the charcoal one, the
great bulk of it is hauled back toward the mountains where the
wood is more plenty.
At the forge the fire which is kept alive by an air blast, re-
quired constant attention by the bloomer in scattering on the ore
and stirring it up, long practice being necessary to render the work-
men adepts at the business, enabling them to avoid waste of either
fuel or iron. As the ore melts it naturally runs together into the
"bloom," what little impurities there are remaining, going along
with it, and at regular intervals of about three hours the mass is
taken from the fire and placed under the five ton trip hammer,
whose ponderous blows crush out all the "slag" or melted rock,
leaving only the pure iron ready for the rolling mill. The machin-
ery of the forge consists principally of the bellows, or blowers, and
we cannot refrain from giving a brief description of the one in use
here, which was devised by the Rogers Iron Company's master
mechanic, Mr. M. J. Obrist, and which, is believed to be the best
one extant. It consists of three horizontal cylinders, each thirty-
one inches in diameter, and having a forty inch stroke. The
cylinders oscillate upon trunnions and are driven by an upright
shaft with a crank, to which is attached each of the three piston
rods. The machine is as simple as it can be and in its simplicity
182 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
and power lies its superiority. A similar blower is running at
Black Brook, which we believe was manufactured by Messrs. Hart-
well & Meyers, of Plattsburgh.
From the forge about one-fourth of the iron ore goes to the
rolling mills and nail machines, of which there are forty-eight, hav-
ing a capacity of producing 80,000 kegs of nails annually, while
the other three-fourths go to the outside markets.
The consumption of coal and wood in this business is immense,
250 to 300 bushels of coal are consumed in making a ton of iron,
and the amount of iron turned out at all these forges being about
fifty tons daily, it will be seen that no less than 15,000 bushels of
coal are consumed daily, or 4,500,000 annually.
There is no doubt that the hills and mountains all ur> and
down the Ausable as well as the Saranac River teem with rich ore,
for the indications of it are plentiful in all directions, upon both
sides of the river and it is thought by those best able to judge that
the supply is inexhaustable.
These rich mines form a solid basis for the commercial prosDer-
ity of this section of the country, for when the lumberinsr business
is a thing of the past, and lumber becomes in consequence less and
less used, then the iron age will dawn again, or rather, will burst
into its noontide, for it has already dawned, and houses, bridges,
fences, furniture, carriages, ships, etc., etc., will be constructed of
this material, which will neither burn nor rot. And the iron mines
are more valuable than gold, adding to the material prosperity of
the country by just so much as iron enters more extensively into
the composition of all manufactured articles than gold. When a
ton of gold is mined, there is an end of it, it goes into the vaults
to be locked up ; it makes the rich richer and the poor poorer, but
with iron the case is far different; for it goes ceaselessly onward
through hundreds of different branches of manufacture, scattering
blessings among the thousands of industrious mechanics.
Years ago, fifteen and more, the reputation of the work-
men in these mines and mills was about as bad as bad
could be. But time has wrought a most wonderful change and
now it will be a hard matter to find the same number of workmen
as are gathered here, possessing their average intelligence; and
the stolid brutish expression which is found upon the countenances
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 183
of many of the workmen in similar localities is almost entirely
wanting here. The men are, many of them, well educated, and are
ready to give you an intelligent answer to any question you ask
them. Employers and employees are upon the best of terms, labor
and capital moves along smoothly, without a jar, and no "Unions"
exist or are necessary to extort the rights of labor from capital.
The natural scenery in the vicinity of Ausable Forks is very
fine, situated as it is at the double gateway to the Adirondacks,
there being a choice of two routes, up the East or West branch of
the river.
Looking up the latter, the most prominent feature of the land-
scape is Whiteface Mountain, the grandest and most beautiful of
all the Adirondacks, which seems almost to overshadow the village,
so proudly does it tower up in its lonely grandeur, cut off from its
giant comrades, which lie farther to the southward. This moun-
tain is flanked upon three sides by sharp spurs, which add greatly
to the gracefulness and beauty of its outline, those upon the
Franklin Falls and Wilimgton sides showing softly undulating out-
lines from this point.
From the summit of Palmer Hill, you obtain a splendid view
of the whole double valley of the Ausable above; Keene Flats,
flanked by its mountains upon the left, while upon the right is the
finest distant view of the Wilmington Notch, at the base of White-
face, we have ever seen ; and in the distance the outlines of Marcy,
the Giant of the Valley, Nipple Top, and Dix's Peak are cut sharp-
ly upon the horizon. In the northeast, Mansfield and Camel's
Hump, of the Green Mountain range in Vermont are visible, and,
spread out at your feet below, lies the whole Ausable Valley, to-
gether with the green slopes that hem it in on either side. Alto-
gether the view is worth a long journey and a much harder climb
than it costs.
A prosperous community has grown up as the result of the
enterprise of Messrs. James and John Rogers. Every workman
sympathizes with the deep afflictions which they and their families
have passed through, and their names and memories will be hand-
ed down to later generations as the benefactors of the public, to
whom, more than all others, is due the prosperity of this portion
of the lovely Ausable Valley.
184 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
PORT HENRY IRON WORKS.
(Note: When such a mass of interesting matter presents it-
self as is met with in this attempt to treat such a subject as that of
this paper, in the small space allotted to us, the difficulty is in sel-
ecting as well as rejecting judiciously, and the writer realizes how
far short he has fallen in this case of anything like delineation.
For much of the statistical information embodied here, we are in-
debted to Hon. W. C. Watson's History of Essex County, one of
the most valuable contributions to our local historical literature,
and one which, now that the illimitable resources of the region of
which it treats are becoming better understood, will no doubt be
more eagerly sought after than ever).
The region in the vicinity of Port Henry is replete with in-
teresting historical associations connected with the early history of
our country. Previously to the year 1731 the waters of Lake
Champlain and the shores which hem them in were known to none
but savage tribes and constituted a sort of neutral ground between
the Iroquois and their allies who comprised the Six Nations, and
the St. Lawrence tribes.
This middle ground! was probably a bloody field and the fact
that the first white man who ever navigated these waters, Samuel
De Champlain, was at the time with a war party, may be taken
as an indication of the scenes of blood which had been enacted here
in those remote prehistoric times over which hover the dim mists
of tradition, so thickly as to render the task of distinguishing facts
from fancies exceedingly difficult.
It will be recollected that the party of St. Lawrence Indians
with whom and under whose protection Champlain was traveling,
encountered a horde of hostile Iroquois ' ' on the 29th of the month
of July, 1609, about ten o'clock at night, "at a point of a cape
which puts into the Lake on the West side." We are aware that
modern historians have located the scene of that first battle in
which the warriors of the powerful Six Nations were made to feel
the superior prowess of their white foes, at Ticonderoga, and that
upon Champlain 's map, it is marked as being between Lake George
and Crown Point, but that description, "a point of a cape," etc.,
corresponds so exactly to the appearance of Crown Point that one
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 185
finds it hard to get it out of his mind that right across Bulwagga
Bay, looking from the beautiful village of Port Henry, upon Crown
Point, where the remains of the first fort built on the Lake are
still plainly visible, was the very spot where Champlain marched
ashore with his Indian allies, his arquebuse loaded, as he naively
states, "with four balls," and killed three chiefs at the very first
shot ! That was probably the first explosion of gunpowder the Iro-
quois had ever heard and it must have impressed most effectually
upon the one hundred and eighty-seven survivors the superiority
of civilization over barbarism.
But whether this was the scene of that conflict or not, we know
that about the year 1731, at which early period both the French and
English were striving to gain footholds in advance of each other in
the new world, and especially upon Lake Champlain, the impor-
tance of which it is evident was seen from the nrst, from the name
given it, Caniadlore Guarante, that is, the lake that is the gate of
the country.
The French evidently claimed possession by the right of dis-
covery and in 1731 de Beauharnois was ordered to commence the
erection of a fort upon Crown Point. The fort was completed in
1750 and was named St. Frederick.
During the imbroglio which followed between the French and
the English colonists in Massachusetts, Vermont and New York,
a man by the name of Alexander McKenzie was taken prisoner by
the French and Indians and brought to the Fprt.
This is a family tradition among the descendants of McKenzie,
but history informs us that on the twenty-ninth of October, 1765,
fifteen years later, the same Alexander McKenzie, sergeant in the
40th regiment received from a grateful State for his military ser-
vices two patents, one of one hundred acres and another of fifty.
This land was located in what is n.ow the Town of Moriah, just
south of the suburb of Port Henry known as Cedar Point.
Here he settled after serving his country faithfully, and in
1785 his wife presented him with a son, the first white child born
within the present limits of the Town of Moriah. This son. Alex-
ander, is yet living and recollects with great distinctness many
incidents of that early time. The shores of Bulwagga Bay and
slopes of the mountain above, which bears the same name, was then
186 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
a great resort for Indian hunters, and in passing in and out of the
bay they would usually call at McKenzie 's cabin. Both moose and
deer were found here in abundance. Upon one occasion an Indian
had left his birch bark canoe in charge of Mrs. McKenzie, while he
went upon a hunting trip around the shores of the bay, her hus-
band being absent, and soon afterward another Indian came along
and was about to take the canoe when the intreped woman order-
ed him to desist. The Indian enraged brandished his tomahawk
about her head but she flinched not and finally carried her point,
and the Indian slunk away into the forest. This same woman,
upon the urgent demand of some stern necessity, once paddled a
canoe all the way from her house to St. Johns, Canada, over a hun-
dred miles and back. The same cabin which McKenzie built, or a
portion of it, is standing yet at Cedar Point near the new furnace.
On the fifth of July, 1765, the same year that the patent was
conveyed to McKenzie, another was granted to one, Benjamin Por-
ter, sergeant in 27th regiment, for two hundred acres, where the
village of Port Henry now stands, and about the same time two
hundred acres more were conveyed to Joseph Franklin, also ser-
geant in the 27th regiment, lying between the McKenzie and Por-
ter tracts.
These three men then were the original owners of this valu-
able-water front, destined to become perhaps the most valuable one
of the same extent in Essex County.
Benjamin Porter took two hundred acres, the northern boun-
dary of which was probably the hill which rises abruptly, directly
north of the Cheever furnace, and including the site of the village
of Port Henry ; Joseph Franklin the next two hundred acres south,
embracing Cedar Point, and Alexander McKenzie the next one
hundred and fifty acres south of that. We believe there is no rec-
ord of Porter or Franklin having occupied their farms for any con-
siderable length of time, but McKenzie made of his tract a home,
and his example constitutes one of the rare instances in which one
of the original grantees actually occupied the lands which had
been conveyed to them by the State, and handed them down to their
descendants. Could these men revisit these scenes now after a
lapse of a little over a century, how would thev be astonished at the
transformation which has taken place !
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 187
The early settlers of the western shores of the lake came prin-
cipally from New England and in 1788 a new county was formed
in this region, embracing what is now Essex, Clinton and the east-
ern portion of Franklin. This country was named Clinton and it
was divided into four towns, Champlain, Plattsburgh, Crown Point
and Willsboro. The town of Crown Point comprised the present
Crown Point, Ticonderoga, Moriah, Westport, Elizabethtown,
Schroon, Minerva, Newcomb, North Hudson and a part of Keene.
The territory of this township covered an area of about nine hun-
dred square miles.
Plattsburgh was the shire town of this county of Clinton, and
the scattering inhabitants upon the outskirts were obliged to travel
seventy miles to attend courts, and the other transactions pertain-
ing to country business and it was not until 1799 that the new divi-
sion was effected by which Essex County was organized with its
present limits.
At the time to which the memory of Alexander McKenzie, son
of the original settler, extends, there was but one other settler in
the present limits of Moriah. Upon the brook which now empties
into the Lake near the Cheever furnace, a grist mill had been erect-
ed by an Albany man, and the miller, whose name was Rowley, was
McKenzie 's only neighbor.
The stream at this time, however, passed to the northward of
where it now empties, but has since been turned by the Bay State
Iron Company, in their work of " filling in" and making new land
for dockage, etc. This gristmill was built some time previously to
the Revolution, and the early settlers came here from a long dis-
tance up and down the lake, as well as from Vermont, with their
grists.
The presence of large quantities of iron within the limits of
the Town of Moriah was indicated during the earliest surveys by
the attraction of the compass, and especially was this the case in
the western part of the town in 1810, when what was known as the
11 Kellogg Survey" was being made, and so strong was this evidence
that lots Nos. 21, 23, 24 and 25 received the name of the "Iron Ore
Tract."
Pine specimens of ore were also found at that time, but no
move toward opening the mines was made until fourteen years later
188 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
in 1824, when Harry Sherman and Elijah Bishop made a bargain
with Mr. D. E. Sandford, the owner of lot 25 where the first ore had
been discovered, agreeing to associate themselves with him in de-
veloping the mine, each agreeing to pay him one hundred dollars
for a fourth interest in the property. The very spot where the
first iron was discovered in this Sandford bed was pointed out to
us by Mr. Tefft, the overseer of the mines of Witherbee, Sherman
& Company.
At the Cheever bed ore had been discovered as early as 1804,
but not much progress had been made toward raising it until 1821,
when Charles Fisher obtained a lease of it, paying an annual rent
of ten tons of bloom iron. He could not, however, have pushed
his enterprise with much vigor, for a gentleman now living in Port
Henry told us that he recollected in 1826 the shaft had only been
sunk about six feet below the surface, and that the ore was raised by
sleds being backed down into the shaft. The first blast furnace was
erected at Port Henry in 1822 by Major Jonas Dalliba in company
with Hon. John D. Dickenson of Troy. The ore from this same
Cheever bed was used, and also that from a mine in Vermont which
was hauled across the lake on ice, as well as from the Port Henry
ore bed about a mile west of the Cheever.
But the main interest in connection with these works centers
at the village of Mineville, which has sprung up about the exten-
tion beds before spoken of seven miles west of the lake. Messrs.
Sherman, Bishop and Sandford after their agreement to work the
Sandford bed on shares, seem to have prosecuted their designs
steadily, the bulk of the ore being hauled to Ticonderoga where
there was a bloom forge.
In 1834 a quantity of this ore was tried in the blast furnace at
Port Henry, but owing to some mismanagement, probably with the
fluxes used, the result was unsatisfactory, but two years later, some
ore of leaner quantity from the same locality was used with
success, and it was soon found that mixed with the Cheever ore it
made excellent iron.
In 1846 this Sandford ore bed came into the possession of John
A. Lee, George Sherman and Eliphalet Hall, who paid $4500 for
it, and! a little later in the same year, Mr. Hall sold out to A. J.
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 189
Rosseau of Troy, who in 1849 sold to Messrs. S. H. and J. G. With-
erbee.
In 1862 Lee retired and since that time the business has been
conducted by the Witherbee, Sherman & Company. Since then
Port Henry Ore Company has been incorporated, consisting of the
above firm, together with heavy iron men in Troy and Poughkeep-
sie. The original owner of this tract, Deacon Sandford, died in
Moriah week before last.
Mr. L. W. McKenzie, son of Alexander McKenzie, who lives
with him, and grandson of the original settler at Cedar Point, told
us that within his recollection this land], which is completely un-
derlaid by rich beds of iron, could have been purchased for one
shilling an acre, not being rated as farming land on account of its
broken surface.
Previously to the time that Lee, Sherman & Hall came in pos-
session, in 1848, the total amount of iron which these mines had
yielded was only six thousand tons.
Soon after the Witherbees came in possession it seems that de-
cided steps were taken toward the development of this property.
Other bedjs were opened and found to be equally rich with the
Sandford. These beds seem to cluster about a small eminence
known as Barton Hill, which rises abruptly to the northward of
Mineville, the latter being situated at an elevation of 1400 feet
above Lake Champlain.
In 1851 the company built a plank road from Port Henry to
the mines, but the rapid increase of the business under the vigor-
ous management of the proprietors soon rendered this slow means
of transportation inadequate to their growing wants, and a few
years later a railroad was projected ; THE LAKE CHAMPLAIN
AND MORIAH RAILROAD, which was completed in 1869. This
road is seven miles in length and its western terminus at Mineville
is 1400 feet above its eastern terminus at Port Henry.
Persons who are unaccustomed to roads with a grade exceed-
ing eighty feet to the mile, will find it diflicult to understand how
a grade of 200 feet is surmounted, and it would indeed be an im-
possibility with ordinary locomotives. Here the engines are very
heavy, the largest weighing about forty tons, while the driving
wheels are very small. Then there are three "YV in the track;
190 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
first the engine starts behind the train and pushes it a mile or so
up the side of the hill, "slabbing" it to the left, running out over
a switch, which, on being shifted, the engine then pulls the train
up, slabbing the hill to the right, to another switch, then backing
up to the left to another, and from that the last ascent is reached.
Of course, the heaviest of the freighting is down, rather than up,
but large quantities of supplies and coal have to be transported to
the mines from the dock. There are six engines belonging to the
seven miles of road, and the business done for the year ending Au-
gust 31, was as follows:
Number of Trips Made 2,618
Number of Cars Transported 47,827
Number of Tons of Frt 328,514
Freight Earnings . ., $203,529
Number of Hands Employed. ..... 112
Whose pay roll amounts to from $6,000 to $7,000 annually.
Passenger earnings since last October, previously to which no pas-
senger trains were run, $1,693.29.
Since the completion of this railroad the development of these
rich mines has been carried forward at a very rapid rate. The
mines are all situated closely adjoining each other, around Barton
Hill, except what is known as "New Bed Pure," half a mile west
of the old bed, and Fisher Hill mine, two miles north.
Those around Barton Hill are probably all parts of the same
mine, which will eventually form one excavation underground, as
work can now be distinctly heard from some of the excavations to
the adjacent ones. The ore from these beds averages in richness
about fifty-five per cent, while that from the New Bed Pure ranges
as high as seventy-two per cent, the latter being what is known as
"shot" ore.
Of these mines the Port Henry Iron Ore Company owns all
those situated upon lots 21, 23, and the east half of 24, while With-
erbee, Sherman & Company own the remainder, with the excep-
tion of a few small beds belonging to different parties. Each of
these two companies have at Mineville a stationary engine of 130
horse-power with which their hoisting, pumping, etc., etc., are ac-
complished, together with repair shops.
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 191
From twelve to fourteen hundred miners are employed here
constantly, and the rock underneath is honeycombed in all direc-
tions. Quite a little city has sprung up and all the evidences of
thrift and prosperity are plainly indicated, as could hardly be
otherwise when it is considered that the net daily earnings of the
inhabitants cannot fall short of $3,000.
On an average, there was passing down over the railroad from
these mines, each day, previously to the late strike, no less than
fourteen hundred tons of ore, and now that work is again resumed
we presume that the amount will soon come up to that figure again,
if it has not already reached it. During the two weeks which the
works lay idle, not a moment was lost, but necessary repairs upon
machinery, pumps, stairways, etc., were pushed energetically for-
ward.
Huge pits yawn in every direction about these works, at the
bottom of which, around the outside, can be seen from the banks
narrow arches in the solid rock or ore, leading to the excavations
underground. Near the engine house of the Port Henry Iron Ore
Company is the original Sandford pit, in which a pillar gave way
a few years ago, letting a large area of solid rock and earth down
from the surface to the depths below. It is no place for drunken
men or those that walk in darkness about here, for you cannot go
in any direction without coming very soon to one of these danger-
ous pits.
From the engine houses of either company long lines of tres-
tle work radiate in all directions to the different shafts, support-
ing the beams which serve as connecting rods between the engines
and the pumps, these beams moving backward and forward un-
ceasingly.
But a small proportion of the ore produced at these mines is
melted in this vicinity, probably not one-twentieth part. At Flet-
cherville, two miles north from Mineville, there is a charcoal blast
furnace, owned by the companies operating the mines, but there
are no bloomer forges, in the vicinity, and when the work of min-
ing is done the ore is sent away without" being separated. Con-
trasting this with the works of Messrs. J. & J. Rogers, at Ausable
Forks, where the ore is all converted into iron on the spot, and
where one hundred tons of ore daily, the product of the Rogers'
192 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
share of the Palmer Hill mine, afford occupation to nearly 2,000
men, we see the comparative effects of the two systems upon the
industrial pursuits and material prosperity of each locality, and
it is easy to calculate that were the Port Henry ore all separated
and converted into iron upon the spot, by the bloomer process, it
would afford occupation for twenty or twenty-five thousand men,
and form a solid basis of population of from fifty to seventy-five
thousand inhabitants of laborers and their families alone.
But as in the future the bloomer process is bound to decline
on account of the growing scarcity of coal, and that consequently
the work of separating the iron from the impurities with which
it is invariably found, must be done by anthracite coal instead of
charcoal, it is probably unsafe to count so large a proportion of
laborers upon the ore after it leaves the mines.
Nevertheless, when the inexhaustableness of the supply of iron
in the mountains about Port Henry is considered, we cannot fail
to see, in the not distant future, the proportions of a great manu-
facturing town looming up. The completion of the New York and
Canada railroad will no doubt hasten this time. Already the first
steps in this direction are being taken by the erection of a blast fur-
nace, the immense proportions of which are hardly exceeded in the
country.
The furnace at Port Henry belonging to the Bay State Iron
Company turns out about forty tons of pig iron daily, and this new
one at Cedar Point which the Cedar Point Iron Company is build-
ing will probably have a capacity of at least one-fourth more.
The engine at the former furnace has a "stroke" of seven feet,
40-inch steam cylinder and 90-inch blowing cylinder, while of the
new furnace at Cedar Point, the steam cylinder will be five feet
in diameter, eight feet stroke, with a blowing cylinder of one hun-
dred inches in diameter. It is intended to have it running before
next New Year's, and a second one of similar dimensions will also,
it is said, be built soon by the same company.
The capacity of this furnace will probably be upwards of fifty
tons per day, and it would take thirty such, costing in the neighbor-
hood of $15,000,000 to work up the present product of the mines
owned by these two companies ; and the supply of ore is apparently
inexhaustable.
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 193
If anyone doubts what we have so often asserted in these
pages, and this and the contiguous region comprise the richest por-
tion in natural productions of any of the Empire State, he has
only to visit these immense works, for the most graphic descrip-
tion can but feebly set forth their magnitude and importance.
It requires no extravagant stretch of the imagination to fore-
cast the time when these shores will be lined with blast furnaces,
while the spot where the beautiful and rapidly increasing village
of Port Henry now lies, and the magnificent natural terraces above,
will be covered by one of the thriftiest and most populous cities of
Northern New York.
Seventeen miles south of Plattsburgh, on what was formerly
the Whitehall and Plattsburg Railroad, but which is now owned by
the New York and Canada R. R. Company, is the little station of
Ferrona, situated in a gorge near the headwaters of the Little Au-
sable river. There is no village here, no store, no church, and
only two or three dwelling houses, and the traveler who is a stran-
ger in this region wonders what the train should pull up in this
wild place for. But the wonder soon ceases when he sees upon the
west side of the track thousands of tons of sparkling iron ore, so
pure that it needs to go through no separating or other process be-
fore it is fit for the furnace or the forge. This ore is from the
famous Arnold iron mine which lies to the westward of the track
about one mile straight up the steep hillside.
The mine is now owned and worked by the Hussey and Howe
Mining Company of Pittsburgh, Penna., who own a tract of land
about two miles long, from east to west, and one mile wide, from
north to south, stretching for a long distance to the eastward of
the railroad track, and including on that side the mine which was
formerly known as the Cook Ore Bed.
On Tuesday of last week we had the pleasure of making an
extended tour of inspection over the property of this corporation
lying on the west side of the track, in company with Mr. H. Veeder,
the efficient agent and General Superintendent of the property,
and Captain Richard Kitto, the overseer of the mine.
Passing up the hill at nearly right angles with the railroad
track, but bearing a little to the right, we first come upon the Old
Barton Ore Bed, which adjoins the Hussey & Howe Mining Com-
194 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
pany's tract on the north, but in which however, that company
holds a "mining interest." This bed, which is only a continuation
of the main Arnold Hill veins, was apparently never worked to
any great extent, but appearances indicate that considerable pros-
pecting has been done in former times. Following the course of
this vein, which runs nearly northwest and southwest, in the latter
direction for half a mile, we arrived at the Arnold Hill shaft, from
which nearly all the ore is now raised. A hasty examination of a
large area of surface in the vicinity disclosed the fact that there
are no less than six veins running parallel or nearly so to each
other, for nearly a mile to the southwest, which have been partially
opened by former owners. These veins have almost a uniform
dip of about seventy degrees to the northwest, and are from three
to fourteen feet in thickness, the parallel distance between them
being from four to many hundred feet.
These old pits are usually full of water and are ugly looking
places, suggestive of profound depths down into the bowels of the
earth, beneath the surface. In some places vast masses of rock
have fallen from the roof and checked up the mouth of the pit,
while in others, deep down in the dark recesses, we see masses of
snow and glittering ice, although it is past the middle of June.
The investing rock or "country rock," all through this region is
gneiss and its near relations, merging occasionally into a variety
closely resembling granite, but yet never losing the marks of strati-
fication which distinguish metamorphic rock.
Passing onward to nearly the south line of the tract we saw the
remarkable dyke described by Mr. Emmons in the State Geological
report, where it is evident that by some mighty convulsion the
vein of ore which it crosses has been broken short and the north
portion carried to the east about the width of the vein. A short
distance farther to the south is what is known as the Indian Vein,
which evidently belongs to an entirely different system from the
other Arnold Hill veins, as its direction or "strike" is almost at
right angles with them. This has been worked to some extent by
the present owners, but is now abandoned on account of the lean
quality of the ore.
Returning by way of an eminence we obtain a fine view of
Palmer Hill and the Jackson Mine, about two or three miles to the
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 195
southwest, while in the background loom up the grandest of the
Adirondack mountains, Whiteface, Marcy, the Gothics and many
others.
The next thing to be done was to visit the mine itself. At
this point Mr. Veeder placed us under the guardianship of Capt.
Richard Kitto, the overseer of the mine, who has been in 'the em-
ploy of the Company for fifteen years, ten years in working the
"Cliff" copper mine in the Lake Superior country, and five years
here, as thoroughbred a gentleman as ever clasped your hand, and
as efficient and practical a miner as ever followed the track of a
vein of iron or copper ore through the underground depths of the
earth.
This recollect is a fissure mine, the only one of that class in
this region which has been worked to any extent. At Port Henry
and Palmer Hill the iron lies in masses, being separated by veins
of rock. Here the veins are iron and the separating masses are
rock. In the former the process is simply quarrying; here it re-
quires the nicest judgment and skill to trace the veins, look after
the drainage and ventilr.tion and lay out the work to best advan-
tage. Capt. Kitto has had the assistance of no mining engineer
since he has been here, and yet so well has his judgment guided
him, by the aid of outside indications and his previous thorough
knowledge of his business, that it would be hard to point out a
single mistake which he has made here, although the whole mine
abounds in labyrinthine passages, connecting the different veins
for the purposes of drainage, ventilation and transportation of ore.
The style of mining in vogue here with previous owners was
to work from the surface downward, as the yawning pits along the
course of the veins sufficiently indicate, but modern mining science
has shown a better way, which is well illustrated in this mine.
There are three veins which are now being worked; the "New
Blue, ' ' situated the farthest to the east, which varies in thickness
from three to fourteen feet ; the * ' Old Blue, ' ' farthest to the west,
from one and a half to six feet thick, and the "Black," situated
between the two, and about the same thickness as the Old Blue. A
shaft was sunk down the west vein to a depth of 320 feet at the first
start, and a huge pump put in. From the bottom of this, mining
operations were commenced, the vein was followed by tunneling
196 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
southward, and a railroad track laid as fast as the tunnel was push-
ed forward. A track was also laid up, or down, the shaft, which
of course has the same inclination as the vein, or about seventy de-
grees. The ore was taken from this tunnel and raised. When the
tunnel which was, of course, as high as men could reach comfort-
ably to work, was pushed forward as far as desirable, a strong stag-
ing was built by letting stout timbers into the stone roof and floor
at right angles with the dip, and the men worked upon the staging
the length of the tunnel, backward and forward, letting the ore
drop upon the staging and fill up, standing always upon the debris
as they worked their way upward. This same system is pursued
throughout the mine.
In one of the veins there is a depth of ninety feet of displaced
ore. Holes are left through the mass at intervals which are pro-
tected from falling in by strong timber curbings, through which
the ore is tumbled down to the track, upon which it is run out to
the shaft upon iron cars holding about a ton each. This may seem
strange, that the ore should be thrown down from so great a height
only to be lifted up again, but it has been practically demonstrated
by long experience to be the best policy.
Putting ourselves under the guidance of Capt. Kitto, we each
donned a strong white duck suit, and taking a lighted candle fol-
lowed him down a ladder into a hole beside the huge pump rod,
constructed of heavy square timber, which worked slowly up and
down, the stroke being about four feet. The^first sensation, after
getting well down out of the reach of daylight, is agreeable, the
cool temperature affording a pleasant change from the hot air
above, the next is one of pain in the hands, the wet rungs of the
ladder feeling like ice. Down, down, down we go; now coming
to a narrow platform, the Captain cautions us not to step off, and
we do our utmost to heed the caution knowing that a tumble of a
couple of hundred feet would follow ; a few careful steps bring us
to the top of another ladder, and down we go again until we come
to the pump itself, which is a force pump of the most primitive
design, having a solid piston about ten inches in diameter, working
in a cast iron cylinder. At the bottom of the cylinder a pipe hav-
ing a valve opening upwards connects with the cistern below, into
which the water is lifted from still greater depths by another pump
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 197
connected with the same huge beam before noticed or is collected
from the wells above.
Another pipe curving upwards also connects the cylinder with
a large cast iron pipe which passes up the shaft to the outside.
This pipe also has a valve opening upward, when the piston rises
the upper valve closes tightly and the lower one opens as the water
rises, and when the piston descends the lower valve closes and the
water is forced upward and so on. A common force pump with
the exception of the air chamber. "Where is your air chamber?"
we asked. "There is none," Capt. Kitto replied. "But do you
not lose a great amount of force by dispensing with it?" "How
so?" "Why the expansion force of the air which is compressed
into the chamber, and which keeps up a constant pressure on the
surface of the water." "That," he replied, "is a popular fallacy
of mere theorists. You get just the amount of force back which
you lay out, not a bit more, but, if anything, a little less, on ac-
count of friction, when you have done all, you must lift the water
and your compressed air does not help you one bit, unless it is
desirable to get a constant stream." And we believe the Captain
is right, theories and theorists to the contrary, notwithstanding.
Down, down, down we go, to the very bottom this time, 320
feet, and then commences a subterranean ramble. Here we pass
through a tunnel for two or three hundred feet, walking nearly
upright, at the end of which we find three miners at work. We
examine their work; they are stalwart men as they must needs be
to labor in the cramped positions they are obliged to assume. Down
on their knees they frequently are, two striking and one holding
the drill. Their blows are given with a will, and each is accom-
penied by a hearty grunt, or what is more like a vocal aspiration,
if such a thing could be, a hah ! which is supposed among all miners
and strikers generally to add about ten per cent to the force of
each blow.
The Captain points out some peculiarities of this work, andi
we soon discover that these are no ordinary laborers, but that this
is work requiring the nicest skill in calculating the strength of
rock in order to work to the best advantage. The holes must take
just such a direction and be driven just so deep, in order that the
shot shall displace the greatest possible amount of rock. All this
198 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
work is on the contract system. The men work in gangs of three,
six, and sometimes more. They make up these gangs among them-
selves at stated periods. They furnish everything, even the can-
dles they burn, and tools they use, and are paid according to the
amount of rock and ore which they displace. This accounts for
the vim with which they work. There are no sogers here. Every
man in every gang is interested in the job and acts as "boss" over
the others. Consequently it is the poorest place in the world for
shirks and dead beats. They are spotted at once and soon find it
hard work to get into a gang. At stated times the work of each
gang is measured by Capt. Kitto and the amount which each has
earned is figured up and marks are made upon the walls to serve as
guides for measuring the next job. The wages of the men average
about $2.00 per day.
We resume our tour of inspection now walking through gal-
leries with high roofs, and now crouching down, our bodies des-
cribing the base and perpendicular of an inverted right angled
triangle ; now we just have time to dodge into a recess when a
loaded car comes thundering by; at frequent intervals the solid
rock trembles with the shock of some distant explosion, we clamber
up over the debris into all manner of nooks and crannies. Every-
where the men are at work with the same energy, striking crushing
blows every time and making every one tell with the greatest pos-
sible effect.
The Captain calls our attention to the clear manner in which
the veins of ore work out from the walls of the investing rock.
There is no merging from one into the other, but where the ore
stops, there the rock begins, and it cleaves off as clean and sharp
as a plaster cast from a glass plate. We saw, and were told by
our guide, more things about fissure mining than we ever knew be-
fore, enough to fill pages. This, as we have said before, is the only
fissure mine in this vicinity which has been worked to any extent,
and any person interested in mining would do well to pay it a visit.
After a three hours' ramble underground we returned to the
surface. A short description must suffice for what we saw there.
One eighty horse power engine drives all the pumping, hoisting
and other work. The ore is hoisted from the shaft and run up on
a track, which is a continuation of the one down the shaft, and at
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 199
nearly the same angle, to an elevation of fifteen or twenty feet,
where it is dumped upon a chute, a series of sieves inclined at an
angle of sixty or seventy degrees opposite to that of the track.
The coarsest of these sieves is formed of railroad " T " rails placed
four or five inches apart, parallel to each other. All coarser pieces
than this of course go down the incline, while smaller ones drop
through upon a series of different graded sieves, which assort the
ore into heaps of different sized pieces. About five eights of the
ore is so pure that it needs no separating, this is put at once into
wagons and^ hauled away to the station. The remainder is loaded
into cars and elevated to the second story of the building and put
through crushers, the first being a massive piece of cast iron work-
ing on a hinge at an end, in a perpendicular mortise in a huge cast
iron block. The entire motion of this crusher at the end farthest
from the hinge, is only three-fourths of an inch, and it crushes up
the hardest pieces of rock and ore to about the size of your fist as
easily as you can crush an egg shell in your hand. The pieces fall
through and are next passed between two chilled iron rollers, hav-
ing a diameter of thirty inches and a face of twelve inches. These
rollers work by gearing and one of them is movable so that it gives
a little, as the fragments of rock pass through. From these rollers
the ore drops into the upper end of a revolving sieve, cylinder, the
axis of which is inclined slightly. By this means the laiger frag-
ments are passed through and out at the other end, where they are
caught by elevators and carried up into a trough which conducts
them to the crusher again and so on, while that which is crushed
sufficiently fine falls through the sieve and is conveyed by a stream
of water dbwn a steep incline to other elevators which carry it to
the "jigging sieves." These are cast iron boxes about three by
four feet, and eighteen inches deep, the bottoms of which are full
of holes three-eights of an inch in diameter, and an inch from cen-
ter to center. These jiggers have a violent jogging motion up and
down of a few inches, and are immersed in a large tank of water
when working. Into these the ore and rock is shovelled as it comes
from the crusher. Then the jigging motion commences and the
ore, being about twice as heavy as the rock, naturally settles to
the bottom and falls through the holes, while the rock is shovelled
off and thrown away.
200 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL. ASSOCIATION.
This is a hasty and imperfect sketch of the process of separat-
ing at these works. The more usual method is to roast the ore un-
til the rocks become friable, when it is put undjer "stampers," a
process which has been described by us heretofore in this series
of papers. In some respects one process is preferable and in some,
the other, this depending considerably on the quality of the ore.
The ore from this separator seems to be remarkably clean. Waste
goes on here as at all other separators, but processes are gradually
being perfected which will probably finally reduce this waste to
the minimum.
Of course, this work takes a large quantity of water, and the
mine being nearly the height of the land here was a difficulty.
Running streams are not plenty on top of hills. Where then
was the water to come from? It comes from the bottom of the
mine, being pumped up as already described. Even then there is
not enough of it. So a dam has been built about three hundred
feet below the separator, from which the water is brought back by
means of a pump worked by a wire cable passing over pulleys.
Thus the water is used over and over again, but little being allowed
to escape, beyond that which the sun will have by means of evapo-
ration.
One thing we came near forgetting, the Burleigh Air Com-
pressor, which is all in working order for driving the drillls in the
mine, as well as for ventilation. This, however, is not worked at
present, as the single boiler does not generate sufficient steam to
drive it together with the rest of the works; but another boiler is
to be added soon, when the compressor will be used.
There are no signs of this mine failing, the fissures grow
thicker the deeper they are worked, and there are other indications
which tend to establish the theory that they finally meet in one bed,
perhaps at a great depth. The different ores have long been cele-
brated for their excellent qualities; they are easy to reduce, the
iron is tough and soft, and has nearly the same qualities as the best
red specular ores of Lake Superior, and it is claimed to be the only
ore known in which are united the qualities of the magnetic and
specular ores. It works remarkably well in blast furnaces, makes
an iron which is well adapted to boiler plates, flanging, horse nails,
wire, hoops and all other purposes, requiring great strength. It
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OP LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 201
is also well adapted to the manufacture of steel by the Bessemer
process. Three separate analyses have been made of this ore ; the
first, from choice specimens, showed 67.14 per cent of metallic iron
and no sulpher, while in the other two were found .19 per cent of
sulpher or less than one fifth of one per cent while of metallic iron
there was 62.82 and 62.29 per cent.
The history of this mine, which, it is not unlikely, may turn
out to be the richest in Clinton County, is as follows: It was dis-
covered in 1806 by Samuel Baker, who in travelling over this tract,
saw a piece of the clear blue iron ore which had been unearthed
beneath the roots of a pine tree that had been blown over. He took
it along with him to Jay, to which place he was on his way at the
time, and smelted it in a blacksmith's forge, making a small bar
of iron of excellent quality. The lots were 199 and 200 of Maul's
patent, containing about 407 acres, and the tract was owned by
Judge Winters of New York City. Baker was a poor man and
could do but little toward purchasing the land himself, so he took
into his confidence John W. Southmayd, of Jay, and Dr. Eliphalet
Stickney, who was boarding with Mr. Southmayd.
But little was done, however, until a year later, when they dis-
closed their secret to Mr. Elisha Arnold, of Peru. A mutual agree-
ment was entered into between the four to buy the land if possible,
each one to own one-quarter. Mr. Arnold went to New York and
the result of a long negotiation was that the land was purchased
of Judge Winters for $800.00.
The company was formed according to agreement and opera-
tions were immediately commenced and continued until 1822, when
Baker sold out to the other three, Arnold, Stickney and Southmayd,
they and their heirs remaining in possession of it until the 3rd day
of March, 1864, when it was purchased by the present owners, C.
G. Hussey and Thomas Howe, of Pittsburg, Pa., under the name of
Hussey & Howe Mining Company. Up to that time the total
amount of ore raised: was not far from 154,000 tons, during the
forty-three years it had been worked, the total value of which was
less than $700,000.
Since the present company came into possession the work of
mining has been pushed vigorously. About sixty miners are em-
ployed and nearly 7,000 tons were raised during the first five
202 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
months of the present year, or up to June first, the amount one
month having been over 1,600 tons. The men are nearly all of
them Englishmen, and are distinguished for their sober and in-
dustrious habits. They are far above the average of their class
with respect to intelligence and their homes show that they find time
to cultivate a taste for the fine arts, as well as other objects which
tend to make life pleasant. An excellent cornet band has been or-
ganized and their music would reflect upon musicians of much
higher pretensions.
Of the future possibilities of these ore beds, judging from
present appearances, it would be difficult to prophesy in too glowing
terms. The deposit of ore is evidently inexhaustable. Surveys
or estimates have already been made for a gravity railroad down
to the station. The grade is uniform and the scheme is perfectly
practicable, and will no doubt be carried out as soon as the mine
is sufficiently developed to warrant it. Perhaps a tunnel into the
mountain on a level with the railroad track will be made at some
future time, which will enable the owners to dispense with the
expensive pumping machinery. Then, of course, there would fol-
low a track with almost level grade, to bring the ore to the railroad
by its own gravity, in which case the mine would be the least ex-
pensive to work of any in Northern New York.
CROWN POINT IRON COMPANY.
The property of this corporation was formerly owned by the
Hammond Brothers, but the capital stock has recently been greatly
increased and important improvements made, among which are
two large blast furnaces at the steamboat landing, a railroad to
the mines, thirteen miles west, new docks, etc. It is well known
that many stockholders of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. are in-
terested in this enterprise, and that, together with the fact that
the New York & Canada Railroad is now nearly completed, and
is also understood to be under the control of the Delaware & Hud-
son Company, lends great interest to the developments at this
point.
With a view of making whatever notes might be interesting
to the public we paid a visit to these works two weeks ago. Land-
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 203
ing at the wharf of Crown Point from the day boat going south,
the first thing which arrested our attention was the substantial
nature of all the surroundings. A splendid new dock has been
built out into the lake a considerable distance, having ample accom-
modations both at the front and sides for steamers, canal boats,
etc. Upon this dock, running lengthwise at one side, there is a
railway track running up an incline, with chutes for the conven-
ience of dumping ore or iron directly into canal boats, and farther
up near the other end of the dock a huge blast furnace was in
operation. Giving a hasty glance at these features we hurried up
the dock to the W. & P. depot, having much to do and little time to
do it in. An inquiry of a laborer sitting upon the steps of the
depot, a crippled laborer, otherwise he would hiave been at work
with might and main, as was everybody else hereabouts. "How
many trains run to the mines each day ? ' '
"Two each day."
"Has the last one gone yet?"
"Yes an hour ago. There's the track you see, running around
the foot of the mountain yonder."
That was bad; we had calculated on the best of luck- — being
just in time to catch the last train up. Again we try our friend.
"Do you know if General Hammond is at home?"
"The Gineral is it? and didn't yez see him at the wharruf ?"
"No, I don't know him."
"Phwat, not know the Gineral?"
The man looked at us at first incredulously, and then his ex-
pression changed to one of supreme contempt for our ignorance.
Then taking his pipe from his mouth with a flourish :
"Did yez not see a tall fine-looking gintleman on a big black
horse? That was the Gineral."
Just then the sharp clang of an engine bell was heard off at
the left.
"Hullo; cried our friend, there' the engine now, going up to
the mines, maybe, again tonight, to take up cars for sand."
Off we started upon a dead run for the engine, down the old
tracks, across a marsh, up an embankment with breathless ha^te,
expecting every moment to hear the machine begin to snort and
move off, leaving us behind.
204 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
"Are you going to the mines this afternoon?" we had just
enough breath to gaspingly inquire of the fireman.
"Yes."
* ' Will you give me a ride up ? "
"Dunno 'bout that; ask the engineer and roadmaster out there
by the shop."
To them the case was stated ; belonged to press gang, search of
knowledge, hadn't time to find General and get a pass; want to
go up bad.
"Jump aboard," was the reply, "we'll risk it anyhow."
So aboard we jumped, mentally recording a vow to remember
Roadmaster J. D. Hardy and Engineer Jim West, in our suppli-
cations ever afterward; a comfortable seat in the engine cab, the
bell rings and away we go, with a long train of empty cars wind-
ing; gracefully around the sharp curves. A mile up we stop a
moment at Crown Point Post office to take on a case or two of goods,
and then on goes the train up the valley of Putnam Creek, called
Put Creek hereabouts, which furnishes water power to the village,
sawing the lumber and grinding the grists. The engine, General
Putnam, coal burner, weight twenty-two tons, pants and coughs as
we toil up the crooked track which winds about the picturesque val-
ley of Put Creek, a noisy, brawling stream which heads off in the
mountains to the left. The name of General Israel Putnam has, as
we have seen, been commemorated in this stream as well as that of
the huge locomotive, and it is appropriate that this should be, for
hereabouts it was where he first made his appearance as a military
man, in the French and Indian war, in 1755, having raised a com-
pany, of which he was captain, near Pomfrel, Conn., where his
home was, and joined the army near Crown Point, during the two
years following earning the rank of major.
Onward and upward we go, for we must surmount the Kaya-
derosseras range, Hammondville lying on the other side, the track
which is three-foot gauge continually cutting S's, as it winds
along through the valley. The engine labors heavily, the gauge in-
dicates a pressure of 130 pounds to the inch; here w£th a sharp
turn we glide over a trestle work fifty feet high, and then plunge
into the dark green forest. The slopes of the high hills on either
side are covered with hard timber, on which the autumn tints begin
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 205
to appear; the valley is a fertile one, but continually growing nar-
rower and more broken. Two and one half miles up we pass
Crowm Point Center, once a town of considerable importance,
nestling down among the mountains to the north, containing a tan-
nery, woolen factory, grist andi saw mills, etc., on thie road from
Ticonderoga to Moriah, but now eclipsed and thrown in the shade
by her more vigorous iron-hearted sister.
Three miles are passed, and we get a glimpse of Lake Cham-
plain, and the mountains beyond; we have passed over some fine
farming lands, well cultivated, the grade becomes steeper, it aver-
ages one hundred feet to the mile, and the steepest portions rise
one hundred fifty feet to the mile. Here is a nearly level place,
full steam is put on, and a tremendous rate of speed attained, but
the acquired momentum is soon exhausted as we come to a sharp
pitch, which takes the tuck out of old General Putnam again.
Another spurt and we reach the summit of Army Hill,
and as the train winds slowly around a curve a most enchanting
view of the valley below, with its villages, Lake Champlain beyond,
and the green shores of Vermont on the other side, with the spires
of the little village of Bridport in full view, and the high wall of
the Green Mountain range blending in the smoky atmosphere, with
the horizon in the distance, is obtained. Now we pass an old shaft
where unsuccessful prospecting for iron has been carried on in the
past. Here we get our first view of Put Creek, as the train rushes
over it to its left bank, on a long trestle work, fifty feet high, a
turbid dark stream it is, which goes hurrying on its rocky way.
The valley now contracts more rapidly, traces of iron appear in the
solid blocks of gneiss which lie by the track. Onward we go until
eight miles are passed when we come to Irondale, right-
ly named, owned by the company — they owfn everything here-
abouts, and wearing the black, sooty look which is so common to
all iron manufacturing places. This is a small village lying at the
north side of the track, and you are at once struck with the air of
neatness which the little white cottages, lining the street, bear.
There is a nice church, a school house, a neatly kept cemetery
on the hill, a six-fire bloomer forge, first erected in 1828 by Pen-
field, Harwood & Co., sawmill, gristmill, separator, etc. A new
separator and roasting kilns are being built below a new stone dam
206 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
which from all appearances will furnish whatever water power is
needed, Put Creek here making up in head what it lacks in volume.
All about are evidences of the devastation which follows the
bloomer iron works. The hills are stripped of their timber far up
toward their summits, and away up by the margins of the forests
you see the old-fashioned coal pits smoking.
At Irondale we stop long enough to back the empty train up a
steep incline to a sand' bank, where a portion of it is left, and then
on and up we go again, leaving Put Creek for good, off to the left,
where we get a glimpse of the pond with its "slash" of decayed
timber caused by flooding, which is laid down on the map. Away
we go past a meadow on the right with its trout brook, so Jim West
the engineer says, a heavy cut through the solid gneiss rock; a
tremendous enterprise for a private one, this railroad, costing well
on toward a million dollars, so it is said ; high, rocky bluffs rise to
the left, here we are at the old charcoal blast furnace,
which was built in 1845 by J. & S. Hammond and E. S. Bogue,
burnt down in 1865, immediately rebuilt, and burnt for the last
time and for good probably, two years ago. A huge pile of cin-
ders bears evidence of the enormous amount of business which has
been done here in times past. This furnace was forty-two feet high
and nine feet in diameter, and the escape heat was used for generat-
ing steam for sawing coal brands, grinding feed ,etc. Here the
first pig iron used in the Bessemer Steel process in the United
States was manufactured. Old General Putnam stops to take
water, and while he does so we gaze about on one of the roughest,
ruggedest, rockiest of scenes. Huge bare rocks rise to the left,
while in front, belonging to the same range is Knob Mountain,
a bare, round rock, having a perpendicular precipice upon the west-
ern side, from five to eight hundred feet high. We are up to the
summit of the grade now, and trundle along merrily. Looking
back we see the summits of the Kayaderosseras range to the left,
stretching on to the northeast toward Port Henry, near where the
range ends abruptly in Bulwagga Mountain. Another trestle work,
a nearer hill shuts off Knob Mountain for a short time, when, as
we sweep around a huge curve, the valley of a branch of the
Schroon come in Ml view, with Paradox Lake into
which it discharges, two miles away, and the valley of the
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 207
Schroon itself in the distance ; at the left is that same wonderful
face of Knob Mountain, in front, to the southeast is,
Pharaoh, or Blue Beard Mo<untain, with the buildings of the skiff
ore bed in view, the products of which go to the Horicon Iron Com-
pany of Ticonderoga. Just over the other side, and all around,
the landscape is tumbled up into all manner of rough shapes. And
this is Hammondville, where the mines are located. Here we meet
the Superintendent of the Crown Point Iron Company, Prof. A.
Herring, a gentleman and a scholar, who was formerly Inspector of
Mines and Iron in the Spanish Army; is familiar with the mining
districts of Spain and Portugal, a native of Florida, who, when the
war of the Rebellion broke out, girded on his armor to fight con-
scientiously for his country and who, consequently, might at any
time during, the war have chanced to cross swords with General
John Hammond, who was also fighting conscientiously for his coun-
try. Strange transformations the whirligig of time effects. Now
these two men of war toil peacefully side by sidle, for the no less
renowned victories which peace must work out.
The short time before the train leaves is faithfully occupied in
looking about under the guidance of Prof Herring. First, the
hoisting and pumping engine and apparatus ; the engine is eighty
horse power, and the apparatus, which is sufficient to raise 500 tons
per day, is of the most modern and approved pattern. This mine
is situated on what is known as the Paradox Tract, Lots No. 45 and
46, and was formerly known as the Penfield ore bed. The excellent
quality of the ore was well known half a century ago, and we find a
certificate, dated Washington, June 13th, 1829, from the Com-
mandant's office, detailing experiments which established the fact
of the superiority of iron made from this ore.. There are six dif-
ferent veins of ore here, varying from five to thirty feet in width,
all nearly of the same quality, almost as pure as the purest, and as
good as the best for steel. There is not a trace of sulphur
in this ore and only a slight trace of phosphorus, as will be seen by
the following analysis by Pittsburg and Chicago chemists. Prof.
Herring has himself also made exhaustive analyses of the ore reach-
inir the same results.
208 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
THE ANALYSES.
Hammond Penfield Penfield
Run-of-Mine* Run-of-Mine* Pure Ore x
Sesquioxide of Iron 50.13 55.60 64.98
Protoxide of Iron 23.29 25.24 30.18
Protoxide of Manganese . . . . 0.38 0.31 0.17
Alumina 4.22 1.09 2.46
Lime 1.28 0.53 1.07
Magnesia 85 0.12
Silica 20.02 17.44 1.44
Phosphoric Acid 0.05
Titanic Acid trace
100.17 100.38 100.30
Metallic Iron 53.16 58.53 68.96
* Analysts, Maynard & Wendell.
xAnalyst, P. M. Drown.
These six veins have been worked more or less in years past,
but are now to a great extent filled up with water. This is being
pumped out, and a small quantity of ore is being raised from one
of the veins. The veins are all thought to be true fissure veins,
although they are found to be exceedingly irregular. They have
many of the regular characteristics of fissure veins, the dip and
cleavage from the walls, but suddenly the bottom of the vein is
reached and a gray gneiss rock uncovered, not, however, the native
rock of the country, but wearing an appearance of having been
subjected to a recent heat. An uneducated miner would now pro-
nounce it to be a "pocket" and abandon it, but certain indications
disclose the true state of the case to a man who knows his business.
A shaft is sunk through the rock in the same direction of the dip,
and twelve feet below, the vein is again found. These veins fol-
low no uniform direction; they run at all angles with each other;
the dip every way, and yet they are evidently true veins; the ore
has been forced up by some mighty throe of nature through the
cracks in the rocky crust of the earth, from an illimitable reser-
voir of molten iron below.
We climb about into the mouths of the mines, peer into the
shafts, clamber up and down the rugged paths, listening with deep
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLA1N. 209
interest to the Professor. The workmen here are mostly Danes
and Norwegians, and are intelligent, frugal and industrious. We
see here the same style of neat white cottages which were noticed
at Irondale. The company owns them all and the workmen have
the use of them rent free, as also they do the pasturage for their
cows during these dull times. No liquor is allowed about these
premises, and no swearing is heard or abuse of horses permitted.
The foundations of a Union Church are already laid. The work-
men at present are mostly Lutherans, but all denominations will
have a chance in the new church, and all preparations are being
made for a large population. At present only about a hundred
men are employed, but there is ample room in the separate mines
for ten times their number when they are all worked. But little
ore is being raised at present, just enough to keep the blast furnace
running at Crown Point, with a sufficient quantity ahead to keep
it supplied for six months. These buildings have all been erected
within the past twelve months, since the railroad was commenced
in the spring of 1873.
From the observatory of Prof. Herring's house the view is
magnificent, as it is in fact, from any point above here. Mount
Marcy towers up to the northwest, but his companions are hiddden
by the nearer ranges. Owl's Pate is a most remarkably shaped
mountain in the same direction and a little to the right of Marcy, a
huge, smooth, round topped rock with a precipitous bluff on the
south, this and its near neighbors shutting off the view of Nipple
Top and Dix's Peak. But down the valley of the Schroon the view
is very fine, with the gentle slopes upon either side, while the bald
wall of Knob Mountain to the east, which has been mentioned be-
fore, shows to the best advantage, the rays of the sun striking it
at right angles as we took a last lingering look, bringing out all
the rich variety of colors which the oxides of iron impart to the
rock in this region. At the foot of this bluff lies Hammond Lake,
of fabulous depth, into which the Professor put 25,000 young sal-
mon trout over a year ago, and from which rare sport and rarer
eating are anticipated in the future.
The engine bell rings sharply—all aboard. By special per-
mission and advice of Prof. Herring, for which we thank him, we
are permitted to ride on the cow catcher and what a
210 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
ride was that! Reader did you ever ride on a cow
catcher? Yes. Well it is naught, it is naught, if you never rode
down a grade of 150 feet to the mile, on a 22 ton locomotive, with
nobody knows how many thousand tons of iron ore pushing be-
hind. The setting sun was embracing the edges of the ponder-
ous purple clouds in the west with threads of burnished gold, but
that was nothing; and the tints 'lay upon the mountain sides, a
whole garnet of them, but what of that, down we went with a
crash, a rattle and a thunderous roar, awakening all the slumber-
ing echoes, around the curves swept the train over the narrow
track, dashing into the thickets and out again, crashing through
the cuts and creeping along the narrow ledges of the precipices,
now we twist around a sharp curve, and over a high trestle work,
down, down, down— it is like the old-fashioned sliding down hill
on a hand sled, the track is so smooth. Here we have a chance to
note the wonderful transformation scene which is going on per-
petually below as new bits of landscape are rapidly unfolded, one
after another, still onward we shoot until the train brings up at
Crown Point at dusk.
Taking a long breath and a parting, reverential gaze at that
cow catcher of old General Putnam, which, after so long a time,
has revealed to us a new sensation, we hastily betake us to Viall's
Hotel for supper, after which a look at the Soldiers' Monument
of fine granite, Quincy, we should judge, surmounted by a beauti-
ful granite statue of a soldier, with overcoat and musket, chiseled
by the hand of a master.
It is a magnificent shaft, some forty to fifty feet high, enclosed
by a neat iron fence, on the village green, bearing upon one side
the inscription: "To the memory of the brave volunteers of
Crown Point, who gave their lives as a sacrifice for their country
and humanity in the suppression of the great Rebellion of 1861-
1865. This monument is erected by their grateful fellow citizen,
G. F. Hammond. ' ' And upon the other three sides are the names
of the sixty-eight brave citizens, soldiers of Crown Point, who sac-
rificed their lives for their country, together with the names of
their regiments. Almost one-third of the whole number, 192 en-
listed from the town— 192 out of a population of a little over
3,000. What town can show a better record than that ?
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 211
The whole region hereabouts is repleted with interesting his-
torical associations. Near by, the oldest fortifications on the lake
were erected, and frequently in the history of this country has
Crown Point been the theatre of warlike operations. A volume of
interesting reminiscences might be gathered from survivors and
descendants of the actors of those stirring times. But we must
hasten.
Two hours remain before the night boat passes northward, just
time to look over the two blast furnaces, only one of
which is running. A walk of a mile towiard a lurid
gleam in the east, most of the distance over as good plank sidewalks
as Plattsburgh can boast of, brings us to the spot. Huge barri-
cades of ore, or something else, are encountered at the outset, and
by the dim light of lanterns hanging here and there, the way is
at length traced. A blast furnace should always, if possible, be
visited by night, for everything about it then shows to the most
striking advantage, and if he who comes in upon one for the first
time, out of the darkness of night, does not experience a new sen-
sation, then he is played out and incapable of one. The ponder-
ous machinery, the bright streams of light, the intense heat, the
strange figures of the workmen, now lighted up with a brighter
than noon day blaze, and then flittering about in the sombre shad-
ows of the huge walls; all make up a strange, weird scene. You
always find the men about these works to be intelligent; they can
give you any information respecting the machinery which you de-
sire. No spruce clerks are to be seen hereabouts, in a luxurious
office, in all the glory of broadcloth and perfumery. But men in
homespun, who know every cough of the engine and every sound
and jar connected with the machinery, and can tell as quickly if
anything is going wrong as if it were in their own stomachs. Step
into the engine room, sit down for a moment and watch the ma-
chinery. We were, particularly fortunate in our guide, for at the
first pick we selected Morris Downs, night engineer.
Away up aloft, under the high roof, you can dimly see the
ponderous "walking beam" working up and down upon its center.
It is a mere reed, thirty feet in length and weighs 28,000 pounds.
At one end a piston rod connects it with the stream cylinder 52
inches in diameter and into this the rod plunges fourteen times
212 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
every minute, nine feet six inches, as the stream forces the huge
piston up and down within. At the other end, a similar rod works
in the same manner in the "blowing cylinder," which is eighty-
four inches in diameter. This is filled with air, and here is where
the blast comes from which blows the fire and melts the iron in the
furnace. The engine has a capacity of 350 horse power.
There is a pressure of thirty pounds of steam and the blast pres-
sure is from four to five and one-half pounds.
Passing over into another building we find the boilers, sixteen
of them, each forty feet long, with a diameter of three feet, six
inches. No coal comes near these boilers. The gas which arises
from the combustion of the coal in the furnace is forced by the
pressure of the blast, the furnace being tight, through flues to these
boilers, when it is again ignited and burns ujpon the same prin-
ciple as ordinary illuminating gas.
We pass along into another compartment and the heated at-
mosphere indicates that here is the furnace, a huge circular
brick structure, sixty feet high and largest diameter six-
teen feet. Great coils of pipes connect it with other portions
of the establishment, and water circulates about through other
pipes freely. This is about how it all is; in order to separate the
iron from the rock impurities with which it is always found, it
must be melted, rock and all. Then the next thing is to separate
the iron from the melted rock or cinder. In order to do this there
must be a hot fire, and in order to get a hot fire there must be a
strong blast of air. In ordinary steam manufactories, a blast is
obtained by building a fire at the bottom of a high chimney. Then
when the air is heated, it ascends, the higher the chimney the more
rapidly; and the cold air rushes in at the bottom, thus making a
blast sufficient for the purpose.
But here it is not sufficient, so an artificial blast is created by
the aid of a steam engine, as we have already described, and this
blast furnishes the heat which is the motive power of the engine.
Thus we see it is a circular, reciprocating, back-action arrangement,
which when it once gets in motion, must be kept so. Into the top
of this furnace is dumped first a certain quantity, which is accu-
rately weighed, of coal, then another quantity of iron ore, and
another of "transition limestone," which is used as a flux, which,
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 213
when melted mixes readily with the melted rock and facilitates its
separation from the iron. The same proportion of these three ma-
terials is constantly adhered to and the furnace is kept filled up
nearly full, these materials being put in at the top which is then
tightly closed by a conical cover, suspended by an iron chain and
shutting against the under side of a rim, when it is raised, thus
closing the top of the furnace, and opening it as it is lowered.
Following our guide we step upon a platform between two huge
iron barrows of coal, everything is of iron about here, a signal and
up we go, up into the darkness. Upon the elevator thirty
seconds and we are up in the air sixty feet, to the top.
Stepping off we see the top of the furnace, looking into a circular
pit some ten feet in diameter and four feet deep, in the center of
which is the flat cone aforesaid. The coal is dumped in, and more,
and still more. Now stand back, another moment of somebody
somewhere, the cone is lowered and the coal rattles down its sides
into what looks like the crater of a volcano or the mouth of the
burning pit itself. You are thirty feet way, and yet the fuel gases
choke you and the heat f^om the mouth of the monster scorches your
face, as if it would not be denied the pleasure of swallowing you up.
Suddenly the cone rises and all is dark again. Then the ore and
limestone flux follow. All this time the blast of wind from the
big blower, a hundred feet or more away, is forcing the coal gas
as it is liberated, back to the boilers, going, as it returns to another
square structure of fire-brick, first, through which the cold air com-
ing from the blower passes, so that it may be hot when it enters
the furnace, thus the heat is all utilized.
Upon the platform again, and at the signal we descend. Sup-
pose the chain should break sometime when these immense loads
are going up? Then, by an ingenious arrangement, the motion
of an elliptical spring, which is always kept bent to its fullest ten-
sion by the weight of the platform and its load, but which would
immediately unbend, should the chain break, an iron of strong iron
teeth spring at each side and "mesh" into an iron rack, arresting
in an instant the descent. Here we are upon the ground again,
after passing the tank holding 200 tons of water, which serves with
a thirty foot head to keep the surroundings of the furnace cool.
214 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
They are about to blow off the cinder. As the ore and rock
melt inside, the rock or slag rises like froth to the top of the molten
mass and must be drawn off. The hole which is at the right level
is punched out, and the ruddy stream pours forth and crawls along
like a great red dragon.
A stream of water from a hydrant played upon it, causes it
to expand in a strange manner, as if it was humping its back angri-
ly at the interruption. Another interval and the iron is ready to
be drawn off. A lower orifice is opened, and the molten iron pours
down a gutter and side ways into transverse short ones in a large
bed of sand, forming the "pigs.'7 The inside of the building is
brilliantly lighted up and the faces of the workmen glow as if they
were demons. Thirty tons of pure iron is melted into pigs here
every day in the year. Blast furnaces run day and night, week in
and week out for years without interruption, for when they stop it
costs thousands of dollars to start them again. The red stream
becomes weaker, for some inscrutable reason the old furnace be-
gins to blow, and now ensues the most brilliant sight of all. The
fire glows as it issues from the orifice, with a most intense white-
ness, and the sparks fill the huge room full, while the lurid light
streams far out upon the lake.
The steamboat bell sounds, we hasten to the dock just in time
for the boat, and as she moves off down the lake, we take one last
lingering look at this still glowing building, and its reflection in
the waters of the lake, at the very foot of the walls, illuminating
with a weird light all the objects in the vicinity, after which we
turn in to dream of all sorts of infernal horrors through the few
remaining hours of the night, as the good steamer Adirondack
plows her way northward through the lake.
The officers of the Crown Point Iron Co. are General John
Hammond, Crown Point, President; Thomas Dickinson, Scranton,
Pa., Treasurer; Hon. Smith M. Weed, Plattsburgh, Secretary.
To the energy and skill of the popular president, General Ham-
mond, is due much of the success which has already been attained,
together with the promise of the future. Whoever remains in Crown
Point any length of time, will not fail of hearing his name men-
tioned in terms of greatest respect by the citizens of the town, or
'of seeing him in the streets, mounted upon his faithful black
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 215
horse, the same which carried him safely through many of the hot-
test battles of the great Rebellion.
Of the future prospects of Crown Point, it would be difficult
to speak in too glowing terms. The deposit of ore is apparently
inexhaustable ; the company owns its own transportation lines to
the great markets, and also owns and controls immense deposits
of anthracite coal, upon which in the not distant future, we must
depend for making iron, as the charcoal becomes exhausted. The
face of the country along the lake shore is level and well adapted
to large manufacturing establishments, and the increase of popu-
lation which will naturally follow; all these considerations point
significantly to an immense growth and a prosperous future.
(The foregoing is No. 16 in the series "Home Enterprises"
printed in the Pittsburgh Republican and written by the editor,
the late Dr. George F. Bixby.)
CHATEAUGAY IRON ORE COMPANY
In the years immediately following the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, while the infant American Colonies were struggling with
the mother country for their independent existence, the whole
northern frontier of New York was greatly exposed to the incur-
sions of hostile savages, who were incited by the British to acts of
bloodshed, and several of the States failing to furnish their re-
spective quotas of troops, New York found it necessary to furnish
herself with some extra means of defense.
The Legislature, therefore, in 1781, passed a law providing
for the enlistment of two regiments of soldiers and the faith of the
State was pledged that at the end of their term of enlistment, the
soldiers and officers should each receive a bounty of land for their
services, according to their rank; Major General, 5500 acres; a
Brigadier, 4500; Colonel, 2500; Lieut. Colonel, 2250; Major or
Chaplain, 2000; Captain or Surgeon, 1500; and Subaltern, 1000
acres. A large tract of land had been surveyed in the central por-
tion of the State to satisfy claims that arose from this action, but
the Indian title not having been extinguished, there arose some dif-
ficulty in settling the claims, and some of the claimants becoming
clamorous, in the year 1786, on the 5th of May, the Legislature of
the State of New York passed an act granting twelve townships,
216 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
each ten miles square, lying in what was then the county of Clin-
ton, "for satisfying the claims of all persons who were entitled to
public lands by virtue of military services," the Indian title to
these lands having been already extinguished."
The land thus appropriated was knowoi as the Old Mili-
tary Tract," and it lies in the form of a parallelogram, twenty
miles wide, from east to west, and sixty miles long, from north to
south. The twelve townships into which the tract was divided
were numbered from south to north and back, commencing on the
east side, the four southern ones or numbers 1, 2, 11 and 12, being
in Essex County, which was taken off from Clinton in 1799, and
comprising the towns of North Elba, St. Armond, Keene, Wil-
mington and a portion of Jay and Elizabethtown ; numbers 3, 4,
5 and 6 lie in Clinton County, forming the larger portions of the
towns of Black Brook, Saranac, Dannemora, Ellenburgh and Clin-
ton, while numbers 7, 8, 9 and 10 are in Franklin county, which
was formed from Clinton in 1808, and include the towns of Chat-
eaugay, Burke, Belmont and Franklin. On the 19th of June, 1786,
the Surveyor General was directed by a resolution of Land Com-
missioners to lay out the tract in accordance with the act, which
was soon afterwards done, but on account of the locality being con-
sidered undesirable, or for some other cause, no part of the tract
was ever appropriated by military claimants, but was sold by the
commissioners the same as other lands.
Of the greater portion of this immense tract of land we have
nothing to do in the present article. For years it was considered
of but little account, situated as it was in the very heart of the
wilderness which lay between Malone and Plattsburg, and covered,
a great portion of it, by hard wood timber, which was unavailable
for building purposes.
On the 25th of February, 1785, the two whole townships, num-
bers 6 and 7, comprising the present towns of Clinton, Chateau-
gay and Burke, were conveyed by the Commissioners to James
Caldwell of Albany, who the following March 6th, 1785, was glad
to get 500 pounds in currency of Col. McGregor, of New York,
for his purchase, the latter, very likely, being sick enough of his
bargain when he found what he had bought. Number 8 was pat-
ented to Col. McGregor ten years later, Feb. 25th, 1795 ; number
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OP LAKE CHAMPLA1N. 217
9 mostly to Gerrit Smith, August 10, 1849, and a large part of num-
ber 10 was also sold to Gerrit Smith, while township number 5
with which we are chiefly interested now, on the llth of September,
1794, became the property of William Henderson, Merchant, of
New York City, who on the 28th of January, 1795, sold it to Jacob
Mark. On the 3rd of February, 1795, Mark mortgaged it to Jacob
and Robert LeRoy and from that time onward it seems to have been
kicked about as briskly as possible between several parties, until
1822, when the whole possession fell to John L. Norton and Han-
nah Murray probably the widow of John Murray and mother of
John L. Murray. Eight years later, in 1830, April 17th, a town
was formed from Mooers, into which a portion of number 5 was
incorporated under the name of Ellenburgh, so named in honor of
the daughter of John and Hannah Murray. Soon after the town-
ship fell into the possession of John L. Norton and Hannah Mur-
ray, in 1822, they divided it up into 300 lots, lying partly in Dan-
nemora and partly in Ellenburg. The two owners then divided
the tract when the portion lying in Dannemora fell to Hannah
Murray, who conveyed it to Lloyd N. Rogers, Nov. 22, 1822.
That these first surveys were fearfully and wonderfully made,
recent examinations of the lines furnish abundant evidence. When
township number 5 was being run out the surveyor forgot the num-
ber of his tally while running the south line from east to west, and
measured eleven instead of ten miles, thus cutting into number 8,
but on the north side of the lot, he only ran over about a third of
a mile, thus making a "gore," which afterward fell into the hands
of Gerry Smith. The sub-dividing lines of the townships were
also very irregular, zig-zagging back and forth over the true lines
in a most remarkable manner and laying the foundations for in-
numerable lawsuits in the future. These inaccuracies were doubt-
less due, many of them, to the existence of the iron deposits, which
would naturally cause the variation of the compass.
Up to the time when this property fell into the hands of
Rogers, it is uncertain whether the presence of iron ore upon it in
any considerable quantities was suspected. We know that in 1803
a forge had been erected about three miles above Chateaugay on
the river, and that a portion of the ore which supplied it was de-
rived from the swamps in the vicinity of Chateaugay Lake, partly
218 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
from boulders and some of it being "bog ore," and that some of
the ore was drawn from Clinton County, but as the forge was soon
abandoned it is fair to suppose that no considerable deposit of iron
had been discovered anywhere in the vicinity at this early period.
But Mr. Rogers in 1822, or soon afterward was aware of the pres-
ence of iron upon this land, the tradition being to the effect that
it was discovered by one, Collins, to whom Rogers agreed to give
a one-third interest, an agreement which it is presumed he failed
to ratify, as this is the ordinary way of the world. About forty
years ago the existence of an ore bed, called the * ' Prall Bed ' ' was
known, lying about a mile southwest of the vein which is now work-
ed, in the direction of Chateaugay Lake. This bed was worked for
a while by a Mr. Helliker, the ore having been drawn into Frank-
lin County.
But the mine might as well have been in the interior of Africa
as here, for it was in the midst of one of the wildest and most in-
accessible regions in the whole northern wilderness. Lying as it
does about midway between Chazy and Chateaugay Lakes, much
of the land about it is swampy and covered by an almost impene-
trable growth of timber, through which wild beasts roamed un-
disturbed until a late period.
The first settlement in the vicinity was made by Ben-
jamin Roberts of Ferrisburgh, Vermont, and Nathan Beeman
of Pittsburgh, in 1796, in what is now Chateaugay. Beeman, in
his youth, had resided in Ticonderoga, and acted as a guide to
Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold when they surprised that fortress
and captured the garrison one March morning in 1775, "in the
name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress, ' ' and by
the aid of a greatly inferior force of Green Mountain Boys. Rob-
erts started in February with an ox team, but was able to get only
eighteen miles toward his destination on account of the depth of
the snow, and there he left his loading concealed with hemlock
boughs and returned to Plattsburgh.
In March he started again, with Levi Trumbull, his hired man,
for the place where he had concealed his goods, on the snow crust
with a hand sled, upon which was an iron kettle, tapping gouge,
etc., their intention being to make maple sugar when spring opened.
This hand sled they drew twenty-two miles toward Chateaugay,
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 219
along a narrow path which had been cut the fall before in anticipa-
tion of a road, probably the route of the present "turnpike."
The narrative of the struggle of these early settlers is intense-
ly interesting, their suffering for want of food and other necessi-
ties, the heoric conduct of Mrs. Roberts, who insisted on accom-
panying her husband, with their four little children, and sharing
his hardships. How one of the oxen died from fatigue and Mr.
Roberts, placing part of the load upon the back of the other drove
him onward to their destination, bearing one of his children upon
his back, and his wife carrying an infant in her arms, both on feet ;
how the journey of forty miles was made from Monday to Saturday
night ; how a clearing was made about half a mile north of the pres-
ent site of Chateaugay village, where a small patch of potatoes and
turnips was raised the same year, the seed having been brought
from Cumberland Head by Roberts and Beeman, on their backs.
Chateaugay was formed from Champlain and it originally
embraced townships 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the Old Military Tract.
The first town meeting was held in 1799. The best evidence
of the wildness of this region is the fact of large bounties having
been offered for the destruction of wild beasts. For each panther
killed, a bounty of $10 was offered in 1815, $30 in 1818 and up to
1821 ; for wolves the bounty was $10 in 1807 to 1815 ; $15 in 1817-
1818, and $20 from 1819 to 1826. For bears $10 was offered, wol-
verines $15. etc. These bounties were not discontinued until 1822.
But little was done toward developing the resources of town-
ship number 5 previously to 1868, when Messrs. Foote, Weed,
Mead, and Waldo made a contract with Edmund Law Rogers, now
of Baltimore, Md., son of the Late Floyd N. Rogers, for four-fifths
of the property and soon after these partners took possession.
Subsequently C. F. Norton became a partner and in January, 1873,
A. Williams ; the other parties retiring from the firm which is now
composed of Messrs. Norton, Williams and Weed. (All of Platts-
burgh). About a year ago the business of developing the mineral
resources of this property was set about in earnest. The first thing
to be done was to get a road through it from both directions. From
the Saranac River a winter road had been in existence for some
time, it having been cut out a portion of the distance on the track
of the Old Smuggler's Road from Saranac Hollow to the Canadian
220 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
line. Over this winter road more or less ore has be.en drawn for
the last few years to the "Phillips Separator" about two miles
from the hollow, which is now abandoned. But it was soon seen
that a good road to the mine was a necessity which could not be
ignored in the successful working of the mine, and last winter a
bill was passed through the Legislature granting the town of Dan-
nemora the privilege of taxing the non-resident lands in the vicin-
ity in order to partly pay the expense of building a road. Last
spring the work was commenced in earnest of building a plank
road thirteen miles into the unbroken wilderness.
That road is now completed and a ride over it gives one but a
faint idea of the obstacles which had to be overcome in its con-
struction. Such a ride we had three weeks ago.
Starting from Saranac Hollow in company with Messrs. Will-
iams and Moffitt," we drove up past the old dismantled Phillips
separator two miles from the Hollow, about the only thing left to
mark the spot being the tall chimney which stands as a monument
to the enterprise of its former owners. A mile further on we pass
the first house built in Saranac by Mr. Hopper, a log structure,
and soon afterward plunge into the wilderness unbroken save by
the road over which we travel, which is as smooth as a house floor
with almost a level grade.
Somewhere near the route of the present road was the trail
upon which seventy-two years ago, Samuel Stone, first agent for
Township No. 4, Old Military Tract, together with one companion,
was caught in a snow storm, October 8th, 1802. His companion
froze to death on the trail and Stone himself was so injured by
freezing that he died three weeks afterward. Three years later,
June 21st, 1805, the second agent, John D. Fiske, was killed by the
falling of a tree.
We trundle along merrily, the dense, swampy thicket on either
hand giving the best evidence of the tremendous difficulty of build-
ing a road through such a country as this.
Gangs of workmen were busily engaged finishing the road,
ditching, grading up at the ends of the planks, etc. Soon we cross
the main inlet to Chazy Lake, and three and a half miles from the
Phillips separator is a camp where the workmen on the lower di-
vision eat and sleep ; the proprietor being John Hull. Here a road
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 221
branches off to the right for the head of Seine Bay on Chazy Lake,
forming a junction with the plank road owned by the State, one
mile below. A little farther on brings us to the road to Bradley
Pond one mile away, a small sheet of water about half way be-
tween Chazy and Chateaugay Lakes. Here we pass the spot where
early one morning last summer two workmen saw an immense pan-
ther sitting by the roadside, and soon afterward in accordance with
a well known principle of mutual repulsion , the men and the pan-
ther were putting in their best jumps in opposite directions. „
Here also a leaning birch tree is shown close to the road which
had evidently for a long time served as a bear's roosting place,
there being a convenient resting spot about ten feet from the ground
in a fork. Old Bruin was caught asleep there once last summer,
but only once, and now he has deserted it probably for good, dis-
gusted at the frequent interruptions of his naps. The tree is strip-
ped clean of its bark and marks of the bear's claws are plainly to
be seen, made as he came down backwards, "bear fashion."
On we go and now get a glimpse of Chazy Lake to the right,
only a quarter of a mile or so away, while a little farther in the
same direction Johnson's Mountain looms up; and also Roosevelt
Heights or Ellenburgh Mountain, and on the left the land rises
gently up toward the outlying spurs of eld Lyon Mountain, the
highest elevation in Clinton County. A little farther on and we
get a glimpse of Birch Hill to the right, around the base and sides
of which, so it is told us, are signs of deer in uncounted numbers.
Now we come to Elbow Hill, the sharpest grade on the road, and
soon afterward the ponies trundle us briskly up to the separator.
A short interval before dinner is improved by a visit about a
mile away toward Chateaugay Lake, where the advance party of
workmen on a new road to Belmont are busy. The present means
of communication with the outside world to the northwest is by an
old road to Tuppers', a "sporting house" on the lake, where he who
would get to Belmont must take a boat across the lake. But the
new road is to be built three and a half miles farther to the east,
where it will join the State road, thus securing easy communication
for teams and carriages with Belmont.
On our way down this unfinished road we encounter the master
spirit of the whole road making enterprise, Leonard Nokes. Now
222 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
what Leonard Nokes of Harrietstown doesn't know about road
building, you may be sure is not worth finding out. He is a bluff,
hale, hearty man in the prime of life, and there is something in his
very gait and countenance which inspires confidence in his ability
to do whatever he undertakes. As we pass along he points out
with pride the boulders which have been pushed out of the way,
the cuts and fills that have been made, and other difficulties that
have been overcome. Here we are at the end, a cul du sac, an army
of trees of all sizes in front and around, a passage through which
must be made.
How is it done? Watch and see. A man places a ladder
twenty or thirty feet long against a huge spruce, climbs up and
fastens a rope to the body. Attached to the rope a couple of pul-
ley blocks are rigged and fastened to the foot of another tree a
short distance away, a span of horses is hitched to a rope passing
over the pulleys in the other direction when, apparently as easily
as you would pull over a cornstalk, the tree is plucked up, root and
branch, and soon put out of the way. The separator is near-
ly new, and is situated on a brook which comes rushing down
from old Mount Lyon, the summit of which is about two miles
away. The machinery of the separator is run by water power un-
der a head of fifty-two feet, the wheel being of the Craik -pattern
thirteen and one-half inches in diameter. Near by is the steam
sawmill driven by a thirty horse power engine, which has been
running since last March, the boiler and machinery having been
transported from Ellenburgh via Plattsburg and Saranac last De-
cember with great difficulty, there having been no plank road
through the woods at that time. The work is done by a circular
saw, and any length of timber or plank can be cut, from twelve to
forty feet. Hard or soft timber is disposed of with equal facility.
When we were there a solid log of the finest clear red birch was
being cut up into material for the plank road. Close by is the
boarding house kept by Mr. Hopper, a descendant of one of the
original settlers in Saranac. Lumber is being cut for larger and
better buildings, which the company will soon erect.
Two-thirds of a mile to the south, up a steep grade, brings us
to the mine, or that portion of it which is being worked, for the
vein has been traced over a mile and a half by the visible outcrop-
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OP LAKE CHAMPLA1N. 223
pings of the ore, and by the compass much farther. The general
direction of the vein is from northeast to southwest, but it is much
disturbed, being a strata vein, and, of course, following the
direction of the rock strata, which are much distorted hereabouts,
probably about the time when the upheaval of Mount Lyon occurr-
ed, just at the base of which the main vein lies. The country rock
here is grey gneiss, and the strata are tilted up in an almost per-
pendicular position.
The ore crops out upon the surface and the work of obtain-
ing it is simply quarrying instead of mining. The vein has been
worked for about twenty-five rods. The ore varies considerably
in quality, but that it makes an excellent quality of iron there can
be no doubt.
With regard to the depth of the deposit, of course, nothing
definite is known, but all the indications point to an unlimited sup-
ply of ore. True, it belongs to the class of strata veins, which as
a general thing, other conditions being equal, are not supposed to
be so sure to hold out as fissure veins, but there is certainly no-
where in this whole region such abundant indications of an im-
mense deposit of iron so easy of access as here. No pumping or
hoisting will be necessary for years. The ore is simply loosened
from its bed, teams back up to it and cart it off to the separator.
A railway track from the ore bed to the separator was formerly in
operation, but this has now been abandoned, as it is found to be
cheaper, all things considered, to employ teams for transporting
the ore. About 100 tons per day is the present average amount of
ore raised, making fifty tons of separated ore.
The view from the mine, altogether not a greatly extended one,
is very fine, Chateaugay Lake and its mountain environments being
visible. Situated as this mine is just at the northern base of Mount
Lyon, it will undoubtedly become the favorite starting point for
the ascent of that highest elevation in Clinton County. But few
persons have ever been to the summit of the mountain, and no regu-
lar trail has been cut, but the view, especially to the north and
west, is said to be very grand, embracing Montreal, the St. Law-
rence river, etc., and it will probably ere long become a popular
resort of lovers of mountain trails and mountain scenery. This
mountain is nearly 4,000 feet in height.
224 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Mr. Emmons in his State geological report, makes the follow-
ing remark with regard to this region: "While other parts of
the earth's surface have been changed, the ancient barriers broken
up or thrown down, here we find they have remained in profile
much the same ; raised up it is true, but the uplifting has been so
gradual that the contour of the ancient headlands is preserved. ' '
Now, while this remark may be generally truthful as applied
to the "ancient bay," embraced by a line drawn from Trembleau
point westward to the watershed of the Champlain Valley, and
northward along the elevation of the Laurentain Hills, Lyon Moun-
tain and its vicinity affords a remarkable exception to the rule, for
nowhere do we find such strong evidences of a mighty convulsion
as here, an upheaval powerful enough to crush upward through the
rock crust, and tilt the strata of the secondary rock into an upright
position. In the Adirondack region proper, in the vicinity of
Mounts Marcy, Mclntyre, Golden and Whiteface, we find no such
evidence of an upheaval as here, in fact, there is strong evidence
going to show that these peaks and mountain masses are only re-
maining points of what was once an elevated plateau which has been
ground down, gullied and seamed by the action of the elements, the
icebergs of the glacial period, supplemented by the later and slower
action of frost and mountain streams. The ordinary fissure metal
veins bear evidence of having been opened by some convulsion,
separate from that which occurred at the time of the general up-
lift, but strata veins such as these were evidently opened and in-
jected at the time when the mountain masses themselves were raised.
The Chateaugay Iron Ore Company own about 30,000 acres of
land here, a great proportion of which is covered by a dense growth
of fine hardwood timber, consequently their facilities for manufac-
turing the finest quality of bloomer iron or charcoal pig iron are
unequalled in this whole country. It is not unlikely that a charcoal
blast furnace will be erected at no distant day upon this tract, to-
gether with large bloomer forges. For the present, however, the
ore will be transported to the Saranac river, to Russia, where
Messrs. Williams and Moffitt have a forge of six fires, to Plattsburg,
where C. P. Norton has one of four fires, or to Belmont, where
Messrs. Pope and Williams and Company are building a large forge
which will probably go into operation by January 1st, 1875.
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 225
That the discovery and development of this immense deposit
of ore is destined to add greatly to the wealth and prosperity of
the whole section of country lying about it, there can be no doubt.
No private enterprise ever undertaken within Clinton County ap-
proaches in magnitude that which this Company has undertaken
and accomplished in building the plank road through the heart of
the wilderness, transporting the machinery necessary to drive the
separator and saw mill and opening the mines. And certainly no
enterprise of this kind has ever been accomplished which is des-
tined to add so much wealth to the county, which would otherwise
be diverted to other channels. Naturally the products of this mine
would go in the other direction, to Franklin county, but now there
is a plank road every inch of the distance from the mine to Platts-
burgh dock, about thirty miles, where the ore can be shipped direct
to any of the great iron markets by water, the cheapest medium of
transportation.
Foremost in this good work has been our townsman, Andrew
Williams, whose business sagacity and personal oversight of the
work has been one of the main elements which have contributed to
success thus far, and greatly aided his business partners, Messrs.
Weed and Norton in pushing the enterprise seccessfully.
With regard to the quality of iron produced from this ore it is
sufficient to quote what Pittsburgh analysts and steel manufac-
turers say of it. Park Brothers and Company say : " It is fully
equal to the best Lake Champlain iron for the manufacture of best
quality cast steel ; ' ' and Dr. Hussey, of Hussey, Wells & Company,
writes: "I have been trying the iron sent me by Mr. Williams;
tell him it is alright, he need not have any fears in recommending
it, as I have no doubt it is as good as any made."
PERU STEEL AND IRON COMPANY AT CLINTONVILLE
In the year 1824 the Representative of Clinton County in the
State Legislature, Mr. Tallmage, in a speech before that body,
speaks of the Ausable as "a precious and interesting river,"
abounding in excellent water privileges and draining a region
which was rich with mineral wealth.
As early as 1765 this river had been explored from its mouth
up as far as the Ausable Chasm by William Gilliland, one of the
hardy pioneers who first effected a permanent settlement on the
226 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
west shore of Lake Champlain. But for many years afterward the
vast resources of the beautiful valley above were unsuspected, or
if suspected, no steps were taken toward effecting their develop-
ment.
A few settlers had, it is true, made beginnings between the
mouth of the Ausable River and Keeseville and about the year 1806
or 1807, a man by the name of Thaddeus Mason built a sawmill at
the lower end of the Ausable Chasm, just above the "basin." But
it would seem he was possessed of more pluck and enterprise than
wisdom, for the following spring the freshet swept every vestige
of the establishment away and no one has since attempted to carry
on his bold design.
But a little later, probably in 1807, Robert Hoyle foreseeing
that the valley destined to be settled at no distant day, conceived
the design of erecting a sawmill on the rapids just above the lower
bridge in Keeseville, and employed a German by the name of
George Shaver to blast the rocks in the river preparatory to erect-
ing a dam. This man built the first house in Keeseville, a log hut
near where the foundry now stands, where he lived and boarded
his help until the dam was completed.
About the same time a few farmers had made openings in the
region above, on the Little Ausable, as high as where Peru village
now stands, and even farther along on the western slope of that
stream to the vicinity of Arnold Hill ; while on the Great Ausable
River a few scattered settlers had established themselves as high
up as the present town of Jay.
Among these was a man by the name of George Griswold, who,
probably about the year 1810, erected a dam on the Ausable River
at what is now known as Clintonville, where the upper dam is now
located. Here he built a forge of two fires and a grist-mill. The
ore for this forge was obtained at what is known as the " Winter
Ore Bed" situated about a mile and a half west, from which many
thousand tons of ore have since been raised, but which is now tem-
porarily abandoned.
This forge at Clintonville is believed to have been the first
forge erected on the Ausable River, although it is not abso-
lutely certain, as there is a deplorable absence of published
records relating to this early period and much has to be trusted to
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OP LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 227
the recollections of the early inhabitants, which, although of ines-
timable worth, are not always strictly accurate.
The next actor upon the scene here at Clintonville, for it is
with this point which we have to do chiefly in this paper, was a
man by the name of Samuel Bullen, who emigrated from New
Hampshire to this region probably about the year 1811 or 1812.
The first houses built in the village were a store, which
is now occupied as a dwelling house by Mr. Lacy ; and a dwelling
house near where the carpenter shop now stands, for the bloomers,
the names of the first two who ever worked here having been Snow
and Spinx.
A few years later Mr. Bullen who seems to have been an ener-
getic business man, was accidently killed while on a visit to Ver-
mont, by his horses running away, and the next proprietor who
appeared was Joshua Aikin, who probably continued in possession
until November 11, 1824, when the Peru Iron Company
was organized, of which he was made president and in which office
he seems to have remained until 1826.
On the llth and 14th of July of that year we find the record
of meetings of the Directors or Trustees of the Peru Iron Go., at
which a resolution was passed, "that J. Aikin and E. Williams be
authorized in their joint discretion to contract for the purchase
of any lands in which (ore) beds may have been discovered, to any
amount not exceeding $1,000. ' ' At the same meeting it was voted
that Williams be allowed to erect a dwelling house, either of brick
or stone, at an expense not to exceed $800.00. It was also re-
solved "that $300.00 be applied to paying balance due for build-
ing church, and that Messrs. Aikin and Williams receive convey-
ances of pews to that amount in behalf of the Company; ' '
This was a Presbyterian Church and was probably the first
one built on the Ausable River., But it seems that one good act
of this Company only led to another, they appearing to have given
the lie direct at the very start to the old proverb, "Corporations
have no souls," for the next resolution authorized the appropria-
tion of "one hundred dollars per annum toward supporting a min-
ister of the Gospel to do stated duty in the meeting house;" and
this was followed by still another, "that one hundred dollars be
appropriated toward erecting a suitable building for a school house
228 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
on the ground of the Company, provided the residue be first sub-
scribed by the people of the vicinity to complete and paint, and
that the President be authorized to execute a permanent lease of
sufficient ground for its erection."
So we see that at this early period the Company 'took care to
provide for the education and religious instruction of the commun-
ity which they were gathering around them. From this same
ancient record we get some idea of the magnitude of the establish-
ment which had already grown up at this point.
Francis Saltus of New York City was President and the names
of Nathaniel Behrends and Benjamin E. Swan appear a year or
two later, they probably having been trustees. At the same meet-
ing in July, 1826, it was resolved that the roof of the rolling mill
and forges should be tinned, from which, of course, we are to un-
derstand that those works had already been erected. The forges
at that time stood on the site of the original one, on the east bank,
which has since been washed away up nearly to a rocky bluff, so
that it would seem to be impossible that there could ever have been
room here for works of this character. An earth slide marks the
spot now, and high above on the bank are the remains of the old coal
yard, the coal having been dumped down to the forges below ; while
some litle distance below on the bank of the river are the remains of
an ancient brick yard.
At this same meeting Joshua Aikin, who it seems was entrust-
ed with the chief management of the works, was " authorized to
construct a bulk-head at Port Douglass, running along the shore
north of the present pier at right angles with it, 200 feet in length
and of sufficient width to have four feet of water outside of it ; and
also to construct a shed on said bulk-head in front of the present
store house, running out 60 feet in length parallel with the bulk-
head, about 18 feet in width * * * * calculated as deposit for
iron."
The fact that lumbering had already begun to be carried on
to a considerable extent on the river is indicated by a provision
of the Company for " Booms to prevent the recurrence of injury
from running logs ; ' ' while the age of the nail factory is shown by
the authorization of Mr. Aikin "to arrange with Mr. Spear for the
erection of works in grist mill now building for the manufacture
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 229
of ,cut nails." We find also a resolution warmly commending the
plan of building the Port Kent and Hopkinton Turnpike, a work
which was subsequently carried out and which resulted in the di-
version of an immense amount of traffic from what was then the
"Far West;" a region which extended through the wilderness
even as far as Watertown. The land was taxed on each side of
this turnpike for a width of three miles and after it was completed
it was no uncommon thing to see a string of wagons a mile long
bringing farm produce into Keeseville, down over the turnpike
which passed through Clintonville and thence across the country
to Franklin Falls. Plattsburgh was hardly known then as an im-
portant commercial point compared with Keeseville and Clinton-
ville.
At this time the supply of ore seems to have been derived
from the Arnold and Winter Ore Beds, from which the Company
had obtained the lease. The average wages paid to miners was $12
per month, and on the 7th of August, 1826, a contract was made
with Jacob Billings for coal at five cents per bushel; one-half in
goods and one-half in cash. August 22nd, 1826, Wheeler and
Hodgson agreed to furnish the stone necessary for the foundation
of the engine house at Arnold Ore Bed, the ore having probably
been raised previously to this by horse power with a "whimsey."
On the 5th of October, 1826, we find that "New stack was put
in blast this day," and that "the old one continues blowing, hav-
ing commenced on the 26th of April last," or April 25th, 1825.
From this we learn when the two blast furnaces were finished and
set to running. What their capacity was there seems to be no
means of determining, but it is known that they were charged with
wood and charcoal and blown by a cold blast of course, for such
a thing as a hot blast had not been thought of, and that hollow
and other iron ware was cast here as well as pig iron, the castings
having been made direct from the furnaces. These furnaces stood
between the present rolling mill and the foundry.
On the 28th of January, 1828, a cable factory was ordered to
be built and an anchor forge had already been some time in opera-
tion. Here the largest ship anchors and iron cables were manu-
factured of the Arnold Hill iron which seems to have been adapted
to the purpose.
230 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Some time in 1829 the nail factory was erected, and
during the spring of the following year a freshet swept the forges
away on the east side of the river, whereupon the company built
the lower dam, together with the present canal, which is nearly
half a mile in length, by which they get a fall of about fifteen feet
at the lower end. Here at the lower end of the canal they built
a large forge, the building being of wood. This stood until Sun-
day, July 31, 1836, when it was burned to the ground. But the
same season the forge now standing was erected, a massive stone
building about 200x75 feet, with sixteen fires, undoubtedly one of
the finest bloomer forges on the continent today.
About this time a great change seems to have been made. The
lease of the Arnold Ore Bed having expired, it was found necessary
to look elsewhere for ore. Previously to this time a considerable
quantity had been obtained from the Palmer Hill mine, probably
for the forges, while it is presumed that that used in the blast fur-
naces was taken from Arnold Hill, as was also doubtless some for
the forges, this being so rich that it needed no separating. Pre-
viously to about this time, such a thing as separating ore by water
w)as unknown in this section, but at Palmer Hill a magnetic
separator had for a long time been in operation. This con-
sisted of a hollow cylinder about the size of a hogshead, having
an axle running through its center longitudinally and furnished
on the inside with a great number of small horse-shoe magnets.
This cylinder, the ends of which were both open, was arranged with
one end raised a little higher than the other, and as it revolved
upon its axis by horse power the ore, which had previously been
roasted and stamped fine, was shovelled into the upper end, and
as it was tumbled around by the motion, the particles of ore would
adhere to the magnets, from which it was then removed by station-
ary brushes and carried away by a system of elevators, while the
particles of stone would fall out at the lower end. A large pile of
coarse sand marks the spot where this stood, and near by are the
remains of the barn where thirty horses were kept for working
the separator.
But in the process of time the belief grew stronger and stron-
ger that there might be some improvement upon this slow, waste-
ful and expensive method, and finally about the year 1835 the Com-
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 231
pany commenced separating ore by the water process. Their first
separator was built on the brook which runs off from Palmer Hill.
The sieves were worked by hand for the first year or two, and many
men are living who can recollect working at this laborious employ-
ment, jogging the sieves up and down. But in 1837 the present
separator was built at Clinton ville on the canal already mentioned,
about half way from the lower dam to the forge -below, and here
improvements were soon afterward made by which hand labor
was to a great extent dispensed with. This period from 1826 to
1836, and perhaps later, was probably the most prosperous one
which the Ausable Valley has ever seen.
At Black Brook the Rogers had commenced making iron in
1832 and five years later at Ausable Porks; there was a large iron
manufactory at New Sweden two miles above CUntonville ; there
were forges at Wilmington, on Lake Placid, and other points above ;
near the Arnold Ore Bed there was the Batty forge of two fires,
and a short distance above was Batty 's upper forge and separator,
while on the place now owned by Elisha Allen, on the west slope
of the Little Ausable, was the Etna blast furnace, which was built
in 1826 by Ketchum, Hart & French, under the name of the ' ' Peru
Smelting Company," and a short distance further north was
another blast furnace, which had been built in 1822 by Watson &
Drury.
The gathering of these records seems like digging up the re-
mains of antiquity, and of an extinct generation, and the mind can
hardly realize the fact of the existence of such an immense busi-
ness as was done in this region during the period reaching up to
about forty years ago. But it is impossible to do more than glance
at these matters in a newspaper article like this. A volume could
be profitably filled with details which must here be omitted.
Closely connected with the interests of the Peru Iron Com-
pany from a very early date stands Palmer Hill. Among the
earliest settlers in this region was a man by the name of Palmer,
who, with his son, Zephaniah, located somewhere in the vicinity
of Ausable Forks, sometime previously to the year 1825. Zepha-
niah Palmer was a surveyor, and in some of his rambles about the
country discovered indications of iron ore on the bold, uninviting
summit, which was subsequently by common consent named after
232 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
him, of which he soon afterward obtained possession. This hill is
situated on what was known as the Slocum Tract, of the 8th Di-
vision of Livingston's Patent, lot No. 15. In 1825 Mr. Palmer be-
gan to raise ore from this mine, selling it mainly at first to the
Peru Iron Company, and on August 22, 1826, we find a memoran-
dum to the effect that ''Palmer and Lee are to furnish ore (raise
it) at the same rate as Z. Palmer has raised it heretofore and each
to share equally in the sum paid by the Peru Iron Company."
The ore at that time was taken from near the surface, and the north
end of the tract now occupied by the works of the Company. But
as the Arnold ore was much richer and cheaper and the difference
in quality had probably not been discovered, this was used mainly,
in preference to the Palmer Hill ore. The lean quality of the lat-
ter, together with the heavy cost of separating by magnets, made
it much more expensive, the former being so abundant that the ore
which required separating was not used at all.
But, as before stated, in 1835 the process of separating by
water came into use, when the Palmer Hill ore began to become
of more importance, one reason of which was doubtless because of
the greater difficulty of raising the Arnold ore, on account of the
increasing depth of the mine. At this time teams were simply
backed down into the Palmer Hill mine and loaded up, no hoisting
or pumping apparatus being required.
Somewhere about the year 1828 or 1829 Palmer sold or mort-
gaged three-eights of the hill to the Peru Iron Co., while Aikin
was Manager, and there is a tradition that the dissatisfaction which
the company felt in consequence of this move was one of the causes
which led to Aikin 's removal soon afterward. But the property
steadily increased in value as the excellence of the ore and the ex-
tent of the deposit became known, and whatever regrets were felt at
the time have probably long since disappeared.
About the same time, or perhaps a little later, Palmer sold
or mortgaged the remainder of the property to different parties.
Litigations sprang up in consequence of the great desire by dif-
ferent individuals to get hold of a portion of the property, and
the final consequence was that Palmer found himself dispossessed
of his property by sharper parties and was driven to the necessity
of laboring by the day, in his old age, upon the very hill upon
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OP LAKE CHAMPLAEST. 233
which he had made his fortunate discovery, and for the very men
who had become enriched by it. He left several sons, one of whom
is ex-Governor Palmer of Illinois, and it is said he died and was
buried near the mouth of the Ausable River, about fifteen years
ago, while the body of his father lies in a neglected spot under a
pine tree in or near the village of Ausable Forks.
Palmer Hill is now the joint undivided possession of the
Messrs. J. & J. Rogers, of Ausable Forks, and of the Peru Steel &
Iron Company, of Clintonville, the former company working the
opening on the south side, and the latter on the east or northwest
side. The works at Clintonville remained under the management
of the old Peru Iron Company until 1865, when the present com-
pany was organized under the name of the Peru Steel & Iron Com-
pany.
Francis Saltus, the old President, had died several years before
this, and the business had, during the later portion of this period,
been managed by his sons, of whom he had four, Theodore having
been the one who made the transfer of the property.
The President of the present Company is Charles Blivin;
Francis J. Dominick is Vice-President and Secretary ; and Edward
Dodge is Treasurer. The Trustees are H. A. Harley, Win. Henry
Gunther and Mr. Hulbert, all these officers having other business
of various kinds in New York City. The present resident manager
is D. Cady, who has filled this office since the fall of 1872. The
condition of the works as we found them last Monday is much as
it has been for a number of years past. At the upper dam is a
saw mill, grist mill, rolling mill with three trains of rolls, besides
a slitting machine, a foundry, wheelwright's shop, carpenter's and
blacksmith's shop, etc. This company has from the first depended
mainly upon its own resources, having, it is presumed, done this at
first from necessity and after having once established the habit kept
it up ever since.
They make their own wagons, throughout, iron work and all,
and all machinery and apparatus required at the mines or about the
works. Here are found the remains of the old blast furnaces long
since destroyed by fire and never rebuilt and the old cable and
anchor factory. Everything is built in the most massive and sub-
stantial style as if with a view of defying the ravages of time it-
234 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
self. Half a mile below is the lower dam and from here the water
which drives the forge and separator below is taken into a canal
about half a mile in length. About midway on this canal is the
separator and roasting kilns. The separator is after the usual
style, the ore being first roasted and stamped and afterward sifted
under the water, and ample provision is also made for saving the
fine particles of ore which in the ordinary separators are carried
off by the stream and wasted. About a quarter of a mile still fur-
ther below is the forge which has sixteen fires and four hammers.
Everything here is built in the most substantial manner and
seems to be in just as good a state of preservation as when first
worked forty years ago, although it has been in constant use ever
since. The hammers which were constructed here, as indeed al-
most everything else, are of wrought iron and of a peculiar, curved
shape. One of them has been in constant use for thirty years and
appears as good as new. Near by is a pile of charcoal containing
some 300,000 bushels and the immense supply of ore piled up ready
for the separator indicates business for a long way into the future.
Returning, you notice the new iron truss bridge between the two
dams constructed a few years since at an expense of $18,000 and
on the street of the village which runs along a bluff some fifty feet
above the rolling mill we find the company's barn, one of the finest
in this whole section, together with a handsome store and office;
the latter containing a large vault in which are stored away the
books and papers of the present and former owners which cover a
period of almost three quarters of a century. Here is a fine view
up the valley, with Whiteface and Keene Mountains in the back-
ground, while directly to the east rises a high elevation known as
"Hog-back." About five miles to the southwest is the famous
Palmer Hill which has for years been such a prolific source of
wealth to this whole section of country, and from which this com-
pany has for many years supplied themselves with ore to feed their
immense works. A plank road has been constructed the whole dis-
tance to the mines across the sand plains on which is growing the
third crop of timber, the first having been a heavy growth of white
pine. This road passes along the divide lying between the Ausable
River and the basin which lies at the very head of the Little Au-
sable.
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 235
Here we find the first road ever constructed across this country
leading from Peru to Jay, Wilmington and Keene, nearly a mile
west of the river and running about parallel with it. Just before
reaching Palmer Hill we pass a new school house which would be
a credit to any village, erected partly by tax on the inhabitants
and partly by the two companies, the employees in both the Rogers'
and Peru Steel & Iron Company's mine using it. A little further
on a sharp rise is encountered which makes one wonder why a tram-
way has not long ago been constructed some 200 yards on which
to run the ore down to the level below and at the same time use
the power to pull empty cars up the grade and even to raise the
water and ore from the mines.
Arriving at the shaft we find the usual engine house with its
hoisting apparatus, and the long lines of beams which work the
pumps, reaching out in several directions and working lazily back-
ward and forward; while a stream of water is discharged from
each shaft, which has been brought up from the depths below.
Along the eastern slope of the hill extends what appears at a dis-
tance to be a huge gash which has been cut into the surface but
which close inspection shows to be a continuous series of surface
excavations terminating below in tunnels and shafts leading to
still lower depths. Underground there are huge pits, and slopes
in all directions from which the ore has been taken for years, this
whole section of the mountain or hill being honeycombed to the
depth of many hundred feet. The ore on this side is of lean qual-
ity as the immense piles of rock which have been raised and lie be-
side the mouth of the shafts amply attest.
Here George Hodgson oversees all operations, having been in
the employ of the company for sixteen years, an energetic man who
knows his business thoroughly and attends to it faithfully. About
seventy men are employed here, sixty of whom are miners, and the
amount of ore raised per day averaged from forty to fifty tons
which yield about fifty per cent of iron.
From the summit of the hill is as fine a mountain view as can
be seen in this whole section. Marcy, Cobden, Mclntyre and the
Gothics being visible, while the view of Whiteface and the Wil-
mington Notch is one of the best which can be seen from any point.
Tfie quality of the iron produced here is so well known that there
236 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
is no necessity of speaking of it. For the manufacture of cast
steel it is unexcelled and for this reason it always commands a good
price.
The company owns the dam at Lake Placid, by far the largest
reservoir on the river, with the exclusive privilege of using it at
will, in this possession having a decided advantage over all rival
corporations on the river. They also own land in all directions
within a circuit of fourteen miles from which are drawn their im-
mense supplies of charcoal, of which they use about 5,000 bushels
per day, when in full operation. They have eleven lots in the
southwest corner of Peru, on which is a deposit of plumbago ; about
thirty lots in Lewis where there is another rich vein of plumbago
from which some 600 tons have been raised; about forty lots in
Chesterfield and many in other localities.
On their tract in Peru are three square, brick coal kilns ; near
Poke-0 'Moonshine are three kilns of the beehive pattern ; in Black
Brook, four, square; in Ausable are two, beehive; in Jay, three,
beehive; in Lewis, thirteen, square; in Chesterfield the Wrisley
kiln ; two beehive kilns at Trout Pond and at Auger Pond two bee-
hive kilns. These kilns are all within a distance of fourteen miles
and the cutting of wood and manufacture of charcoal in them fur-
nish employment to a small army of men as it has done for over
forty years'.
The Winter ore bed, named for its former owner, Judge Win-
ter of New York, which probably determined the location of the
works at Clintonville, it being within a short distance, is on lot
No. 210, Maule's patent. An immense quantity of ore has been
taken out from this bed which is probably the oldest iron mine in
this part of the country. A tunnel 100 feet in length has been
constructed here into the side of the mountain which greatly facili-
tates the raising of the ore as well as pumping out the water. The
quality of this ore is about the same as that of the Arnold ore bed.
Although abandoned for the present it is not improbable that it
will again be worked extensively in the future as the ore is far from
being exhausted in it.
To forecast the future policy of this company would be a dif-
ficult task to undertake. The natural tendency for the iron, as
well as all other kinds of business is to fall into the hands of large
IRON ORE INDUSTRY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 237
corporations. The time was when any man who could raise means
to start a forge fire on his own account could work it with advan-
tage and profit. But that time has long since passed. The great
expense attending the operation of mining, owing to increased
depth from which the ore must be raised and the water pumped,
as well as the introduction of expensive machinery, makes it im-
possible for any other than wealthy corporations to embark in and
prosecute it successfully. The great need of this region seems to
be now manufactories in which the iron can be converted into mer-
chantable goods; edge tools, axes, nails, fences, bridges, architec-
tural ornaments or other articles of everyday use. The water is
here, the cheap labor is here, and above all the iron is here.
Perhaps the future will see this very company manufacturing
their own iron into articles of ornament or use, thus utilizing the
elements which seem to be ready on all hands to aid them, furnish-
ing employment for tenfold the number of hands they now do and
increasing in the same ratio their already enormous income. A
survey from the village of Clintonville to the railroad track has
demonstrated that the distance to the nearest point on the line is
only one mile and that the grade is only 100 feet to the mile.
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of such a cor-
poration as an element in the prosperity and development of the
region in which it is located. Their operations have, for more than
half a century, stimulated every branch of industry around them ;
their money has enriched all classes and their influence has always
been cast on the side of good morals and wholesome reforms. If
taken away a blight of all interests, social, moral and financial,
which they have contributed to build up, would surely follow, for
they are actually the creators of wealth, digging it up from the
bowels of the earth and scattering its blessings on every hand.
Beside such corporations as this and those engaged in manu-
factories, our bankers and traders are of small account for they
are comparatively like children, hoarding, sweating, or tossing
the gold about which their more sturdy fellows are creating for
them. Immense incomes have rewarded the latter and the reward
is well deserved, for it is the fruit of unremitting labor, both mental
and physical, and unflagging, invincible enterprise.
LORD HOWE.
BY FRANK B. WICKES, Ticonderoga, N. Y.
At the time of Abercromby's expedition against Ticondero-
ga, Lord Howe was thirty-three years old. He was like Milton's
Michael, whose "starry helm unbuckled, showed him prime in
manhood, where youth ends. ' '
If only I had the privilege, the reach, and skill to unbuckle
for you this hero soldier's "starry helm," and show him as he
was! As it is, the best that I can do is to give you only a few
glimpses and snapshots of one of the most attractive personalities
of that great period,— the period of colonization that followed the
period of discovery, when the effect of the finding of America on
the minds of European men in the direction of expansion, inspira-
tion, adventure and activity was not yet spent; when France and
England were contending with each other for the first place so long
occupied by Spain; when the control and possession of North
America was the problem of the statesmen and the work of the
soldiers and colonists of those two great rival nations— one of the
most attractive personalities of that marvelous eighteenth century.
No biography of Lord Howe seems ever to have been written ;
but the diaries, journals, letters, military reports and newspapers
of that time are penetrated by his reflection. As well as we can,
in these fragmentary dusty mirrors, we must see what manner of
man he was.
This is the way he looked to his English contemporaries:
Said Abercromby:
"As he was very deservedly universally beloved and respect-
ed throughout the whole army, it was easy to conceive the grief
and consternation his untimely fall occasioned ; for my part, I can
not help owning that I felt it most heavily and lamented him as
sincerely. ' '
Said Oliver Goldsmith, writing five years after the death of
Lord Howe:
LORD HOWE. 239
' ' He was the Scipio of his age and country, formed for all
that was amiable in society and great in war. He had the spirit
to adapt himself to the service he was engaged in, discouraging
and difficult as it was, by retrenching in his own person every en-
cumbrance that could arise from his rank, either as a nobleman
or an officer, even to the cutting off of his hair. The common sol-
dier saw him fare like himself, nor did he seem to affect the least
pre-eminence, but in his forwardness to encounter danger and
endure fatigue, so that he appeared to be rather imitated than
obeyed by all under his command. "
Thomas Mante, historian of the war, called him the soul of
Abercromby's army. He said that his enterprising spirit infused
a noble ardor into every rank.
An Albany correspondent of the London Daily Advertiser,
writing under date of July 15, 1758, says of him, among other
things, that he was temperate, modest and active, and did his busi-
ness without noise.
Wolfe, the hero of Quebec, called him ' ' That great man, ' ' and
said further:
"The noblest Englishman that has appeared in my time and
the best soldier in the British Army."
Said William Pitt:
"A character of ancient times; a complete model of military
virtue. ' '
This is what the Colonial officers thought of him :
Said Robert Rogers, the Ranger, writing in April, 1758 :
"Upon my return from the late unfortunate scout I was or-
dered to Albany to recruit my companies, where I met with a very
friendly reception from my Lord Howe, who advanced me cash
to recruit the Rangers, and gave me leave to wait upon General
Abercromby at New York, who had now succeeded my Lord Lou-
don, in the chief command."
And on his return from New York, again Rogers wrote in his
Journal :
"I left New York April 8th, and according to orders attend-
ed Lord Howe at Albany for his directions on the 12th, with whom
I had a most agreeable interview and a long conversation concern-
ing the methods of distressing the enemy and prosecuting the war
240 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
with vigor the ensuing campaign. I parted with him having the
strongest assurances of his friendship and influence upon my be-
half, to wait upon Col. Grant, commanding officer at Fort Edward,
to assist him in conducting the Bangers and scouting parties in
such a manner as might best serve the common cause, having a
letter from Lord Howe to him. ' '
Said Bufus Putnam, cousin of Israel Putnam, in his Journal
kept during the Abercromby campaign, referring to the skirmish
in which Lord Howe was killed :
"We lost but few men, but among them a brave and bold
commander— that worthy man, my Lord Howe, who is lamented
by us all, and whose death calls for our vengence."
Said Dr. Caleb Bea, a Massachusetts surgeon in Abercromby 's
army:
"My Lord Howe, who behaved exceeding well in ye front of
ye battle, was killed, and most lamented, being a very active pleas-
ant man."
John Stark also always spoke of Lord Howe in the highest
terms, but after the Bevolutionary War broke out, he used to say
that he was more reconciled to the death of Lord Howe because,
if he had lived, his great ability might have been used against
America.
It is probable that if he had lived, Lord Howe would have
been placed in command of the English forces in America in the
time of the Bevolution. Who knows how many more royalists
there might have been if he had been here? Who knows how
many mistakes of British officers would never have been made?
Who knows but this forceful, fascinating man, loyal to his king,
and, at the same time, holding in his grip the affections of the peo-
ple of the colonies, might have stood in the way of the indepen-
dence of our country? If so, it was a beneficent providence that
laid him in his forest grave in the unabated strength and the un-
f aded charm of his early manhood.
It is a curious fact that Lord Howe, the probable commander
of the English armies, and Joseph Warren, who was killed at Bunk-
er Hill, who would most likely have had Washington's place if
he had lived, should both have been removed, as if the hand of
God were making room for itself in history.
LORD HOWE. 241
Here are a few characteristic things that Lord Howe did :
It was the fashion then for gentlemen to wear long hair, tied
behind with ribbons, and young men paid much attention to this
part of their toilet. Lord Howe, whose hair was fine, handsome and
abundant, cropped it short for this campaign. He discarded the
uniform of a brigadier general and wore a short, common soldier's
ammunition coat, with ranger's leggins. He washed his own shirt
in the forest brook, and wore his coat without a shirt under it un-
til his shirt was dry and he could put it on again. He ate corn
meal and pork, the ration of the common soldier. He carried a
knife and fork in a sheath, and presented his officers with an out-
fit like his own. And the only furniture of his tent was a blanket
and a bearskin.
He reached this country in the summer of 1757, and spent the
next year in Boston, New York, Albany and other parts of the
country, making the acquaintance of the people and studying the
adaptation of the art of war to the conditions and circumstances un-
der which he found it must be practiced on this continent. He
was especially interested in the methods of the Rangers, and sought
instruction from Rogers, Stark and Putnam. It is said on the
authority of what appears to have been a tradition in the family
of John Stark, that he went on a scout with some of the Rangers,
and that they took him to the top of Mt. Defiance in Ticonderoga,
and that he called attention at that time to the fact that this em-
minence commanded the fort, and that a few pieces of artillery
here would do the business.
About the middle of June, 1758, on Lord Howe's arrival at
Fort Edward, he sent Rogers with fifty of his Rangers, in five
whale boats through Lake George to the neighborhood of Ticonde-
roga, to quote the language of Rogers in his Journal, "to take a
plan of the landing place at the north end with all possible accu-
racy, and also of the ground from the landing place to the French
Fort at Carillon, and of Lake Champlain for three 'miles beyond
it, and to discover the enemy's number in that quarter." Rogers
accomplished this with complete success and later wrote in his
Journal "on the 20th, at Halfway Brook, we met my Lord Howe,
advanced with three thousand men, to whom I gave the account of
my scout, together with a plan of the landing place, the Fort at
Carillon and the situation of the lakes. "
242 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
So Lord Howe was in possession of the fullest information as
to the lay of the ground about Ticonderoga.
His recorded utterances are very few; but here is something-
that he said, once upon occasion, in view of the jealousy that ex-
isted between the British regulars and the Colonial troops, and
the contempt with which the British officers were disposed to treat
those who did not belong to the regular army :
"Knowledge and respect for the varied manners and opinions
of others will harmonize our great army and will make it invin-
cible. Any gentleman officer will find his equal in every regiment
of the Americans. I know them well. Beware how you underesti-
mate their abilities and feelings, civil, social and military/'
Here is one of the secrets of his power: He saw the great
truth, concealed always from the eyes of little men, that every
human being that we meet, whatever his social or intellectual rank,
knows more about something than we do, and his usefulness to us
depends upon our ability to avail ourselves of that superior knowl-
edge or skill.
Then, there was another thing about Lord Howe. It is the
supreme act of organizing constructive genius to harness conflict-
ing forces, and make them pull together. So, fire and water are
made to work together to carry this vessel on its way. So Henry
of Navarre welded the energy of Catholic and Huguenot for the
glory of France. So Bismarck built the German Empire. So
Abraham Lincoln brought this nation through in the crisis of the
Civil War. This faculty seems to have been one of the gifts of
Lord Howe. He took that army of Abercromby, cloven in twain
as it was by the jealousy and illfeeling between regulars and colon-
ials, and he made of it one army with one spirit and one purpose.
Such was the man; such was the soldier, who stood on the
beach at the head of Lake George before sunrise on the morning
of the 5th of July, 1758, the real leader of the great expedition,
which, on account of its disastrous and uncalled for result, is very
properly called Abercromby 's.
Nine hundred batteaux, one hundred thirty-five whaleboats
and many rafts for the transportation of the baggage and artill-
ery, all propelled by oars, and carrying between fifteen and sixteen
thousand men, started down the lake. The weather was somewhat
LORD HOWE. 243
cloudy, reducing to grey the blue of the sky and water; but the
mountains stood close and lifted the horizon high. The forest
primeval was unbroken from water's edge to sky line, except for
here and there a glimpsing cliff and the unsubduable face of
Rogers Rock. The green of June was still unsullied; and the
wooded islands furnished to the scene that gentle interruption
which was the perfection of its harmony and nature's final touch
of beauty.
The great flotilla spread over the water and filled six miles of
the Narrows. The flags, British - and Colonial, the dress of the
Scotch soldiers, and of the English red coats and Jersey blues,
gave to the thronging boatloads of men the gleam and glow of pic-
turesque color. The music of the Highland bagpipes seemed nat-
ive to the place, and in connection with the scenery made the Black
Watch think of their ' ' ain countree. ' '
And so advanced the new world's greatest army yet, with
Rogers and Putnam and Stark and Bradstreet and Murray and
Howe for its executive men. At dusk the boats were run upon
the beach at Sabbath Day Point and the army disembarked to rest
and eat, and wait several hours for the rafts which had been left
behind, to come up. Here Lord Howe spread his bear skin on the
ground and sent for John Stark to talk over with him the best way
to approach the French fortress.
It is an interesting illustration of the discernment of Lord
Howe and his judgment of men, that, out of all that army, he
should have selected Stark for this purpose. Stark appears to
have been the most level-headed man among them. After Lord
Howe was dead, when Abercromby was trying to make up his
mind what to do, when he was considering the question of order-
ing the assault on the works of Montcalm, Captain Stark told him
better than to do it. The result vindicated the judgment of Stark
and the judgment of Lord Howe in choosing him for his chief ad-
viser.
At midnight they were on their way again, and when sunrise
touched the face of Rogers Rock it showed to the scouts and pickets
of Montcalm what the night had brought them— a lakeful of their
enemy.
244 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
I do not need to describe in detail and in the order of time
the military movements that followed. You are familiar with the
facts of the reconnoitre of the landing place by Howe and Rogers
and Bradstreet; of the landing of the army in the cove and all
along the shore ; of the retirement of the French from the outposts
at the head of the portage, after destroying the bridge at that
place, and of the advance of the English army into the woods on the
west side of the outlet, with Lord Howe at the head of the right
centre column. You have read the story of his sudden fall at
Israel Putnam's side, and you can never forget that exchange of
sentiment between Putnam and Howe in the presence of the dan-
ger that brought him death. They heard shooting in the woods at
the left of them. Said Howe, "Putnam, what does that firing
mean?" "I do not know," said Putnam, "but with your lord-
ship 's leave, I will see. " "I will go with you, ' ' said Howe. Then
Putnam said, "My lord, if I am killed, the loss of my life will be
of little consequence; but yours is of infinite impor-
tance to this army." Then came the answer: "Putnam, your
life is as dear to you as mine is to me, and I am determined to go."
And so he went and so he died.
Now, there are two questions about Lord Howe that it is in-
teresting historical work to try to answer. These questions are:
Just where was he killed, and where was he buried? The limits
of my time here do not allow me to discuss them both, and so I will
take the one that seems to be of the most interest at the present
moment. Where was he buried ?
What is the evidence on this point? Leaving out of view the
unverified conclusions of many historical writers, let us examine
the original sources and traditions. Of these so far discovered,
that I know of, there are ten.
1st. Although last discovered, a letter written by Gen. Aber-
cromby to William Pitt from the head of Lake George, on the 12th
of July, 1758. The material paragraph of this letter reads as fol-
lows:
"I caused his" (Lord Howe's) "body to be taken off the field
of battle, and sent to Albany, with a design to have had it em-
balmed and sent home if his lordship's relations had approved of
LORD HOWE. 245
it; but the weather being very hot, Brigr. Stanwix was obliged to
order it to be buried. "
2nd. The Diary of Surgeon Caleb Rea, a Colonial officer,
who accompanied the Abercromby expedition to Ticonderoga and
wrote under date of July 6, 1758, the day Lord Howe was killed :
"Lord Howe was brought in and embalmed. "
3rd. The Diary of Lieut. Samuel Thompson of Woborn,
Massachusetts, a soldier in the French War during the year 1758.
An entry in this diary under date of July 8, 1758, the day of the
assault on Carillon, apparently written at Fort William Henry, is
as follows:
"Saturday. Post came from the Narrows, and they brought
Lord Howe to ye Fort, who was slain at their landing, and in ye
afternoon there came in 100 and odd men, French prisoners into
the Fort."
4th. A letter from a gentleman in Albany to a friend in Bos-
ton, published in the Boston News Letter of July 13, 1758, and in
Boston Gazette of July 17, 1758. This letter contains the follow-
ing sentence :
"The body of Rt. Hon. George Visconte Howe was brought to
Albany last Monday."
5th. This entry in the Treasurer's book of St. Peter's Church
at Albany under date of September 5, 1758 :
"To cash rt for ground to lay the Body of Lord how & Pall
5|6|0|."
6th. The Schuyler tradition represented by the statement by
Philip Schuyler to Chancellor Kent that Schuyler was appointed
to convey the body of Lord Howe to Albany ; by the statement of
Mrs. Cochran, Philip Schuyler 's daughter, to Benson J. Losing,
that when, many years afterwards, the coffin was opened at Al-
bany, his hair had grown to long flowing locks and it was very
beautiful; and by Mrs. Grant's "Memoirs," in which she says:
"A few days after Lord Howe's departure in the afternoon, a man
was seen coming from the north galloping violently without a hat.
Pedrom, Mrs. Schuyler 's brother, ran instantly to inquire the
cause. The man galloped on, crying 'Lord Howe was killed.' '
7th. The Lord Howe stone unearthed with the remains of a
coffin and the bones of a man at Ticonderoga in October, 1889, and
246 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
now preserved in the Black Watch Memorial Library at that place.
This stone bears the following inscription :
"Mem of
Lo Howe
Killed
Trout
Brook."
8th. The tradition of the Peterson family of Ticonderoga,
which is to the effect that an ancestor of theirs, who was one of
Rogers Rangers, lettered a stone for the grave of Lord Howe, and
that he was buried on a hill at Ticonderoga.
9th. The Scotch tradition preserved in an account of the
vision of Duncan Campbell of Inverawe by Sir Thomas Dick
Lauder, who said of Lord Howe "that he had so acquired the es-
teem and affection of the soldiers that they assembled in groups
around the hurried grave to which his venerated remains were con-
signed, and wept over it in deep and silent grief. * * * * And
then returned to the landing place, which they reached early in
the morning."
10th. The tradition of the Howe family. This tradition is
to the effect that Sir William Howe, a brother of George Augustus
Howe, and a colonel in the British army which participated in the
Battle of Quebec, after peace was declared, went to New York by
way of Ticonderoga and Albany, trying to find the remains of his
brother to take them to England, and that he failed to find them.
This, then, is a case of conflicting evidence, and the first ques-
tion is : Is there any theory on which the whole or most of it can
be reconciled? There is such a theory and I will state it. When
Lord Howe was killed, it was the intention of General Abercromby
to have the body transported to Albany and there buried at least
temporarily, pending instructions from his relations in England.
He issued orders to that effect, sent a messenger to Albany with
the news of the death and to make preparations for the reception
and burial of the body, and arranged for the transportation of the
body through Lake George. These orders and preparations were
known to the army, but the weather being very hot, it was found
that it was not practicable to carry out these orders and the body
was buried at Ticonderoga in the night in a grave that was care-
LORD HOWE. 247
fully concealed and without the knowledge of most of the army,
and those that did know it were instructed to keep the secret.
Now, let us examine the evidence piece by piece and see if this
theory is not substantiated. Let us examine first t^ie testimony of
Abercromby. I wish he were here to be cross examined. He says,
"I caused his body to be taken off the field of battle and sent to
Albany with a design to have had it embalmed and sent home if
his lordship's relations had approved of it, but the weather being
very hot Brigadier Stanwix was obliged to order it to be buried."
Where was General Stanwix? If he accompanied General
Abercromby 's expedition and was at Ticonderoga, then this state-
ment can be interpreted to mean that Lord Howe was buried here.
If General Stanwix did not accompany the expedition and remain-
ed at Albany, then General Abercromby intended to be understood
that the body was buried at Albany. Although I have had the
courteous assistance of the State Historian, Mr. Paltsits, I have
been unable to ascertain with certainty where General Stanwix
was at the time of Lord Howe 's death, but it appears that six days
afterwards on the 12th day of July, he was in Albany and wrote
a letter to Lieutenant Governor DeLancey, telling him about Aber-
cromby's defeat and retreat. It does not appear from the notice
of this letter in the calendar of English manuscripts in the New
York State Library that it makes any mention of the burial of
Lord Howe, but the letter itself is missing from the files. So far
as the evidence goes, it tends to indicate that General Stanwix was
not with Abercrombie at Ticonderoga, and until further light on
this point, I think we must assume this to be the fact.
Assuming then that General Abercromby meant to say that
the body of Lord Howe went to Albany and was buried there, the
next question is: What is the credibility of General Abercromby
as a witness, and did he have any motive to misrepresent the facts ?
Who was General Abercromby? He was the commanding gen-
eral, who, after the death of Lord Howe, sent a courier from com-
pany to company to say in the hearing of all his fifteen thousand
men that Louisburg was taken by the English, which was a lie, told
for the sole purpose of animating the soldiers before the assault on
Carillon and offsetting, as far as possible, the effect on them of
Lord Howe's death. Abercromby was the commanding general,
248 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
who, when his faithful soldiers in obedience to his own fool order,
were immolating themselves on the bloody points of Montcalm's
abattis, was keeping himself safe a mile and a half away at the en-
trance to the military road that had been made out of the old In-
dian carry, where he could transfer himself to the landing on Lake
George in a hurry if he needed to. General Abercromby might
perhaps have been a soldier himself ''if it had not been for the vile
guns. ' '
This was the commanding general in whose craven soul orig-
inated the panic that turned the army that assaulted CariUon with
incredible valor into a disorganized mass of fugitives, leaving their
shoes in the mud, their dead unburied and many of their wounded
comrades unhelped behind them. This was the commanding gen-
eral who had his aide-de-camp, James Cunningham, on the evening
of the 8th of July, send a letter to Col. Gumming at Fort William
Henry, directing him to forward the wounded and the heavy artil-
lery to New York City as soon as possible. Abercromby
thought that Montcalm was going to capture Fort Will-
iam Henry, Fort Edward and Albany, and that the only
safe place of refuge was New York City. This is the com-
manding general who, when there was not the slightest rea-
son for it, when he had still left four times as many men as Mont-
calm and artillery at hand to demolish the fortress, ordered a re-
treat and took to his boats on Lake George, burning and destroying
equipment and supplies and leaving behind two hundred barrels
of flour intact for Montcalm's use. This was the commanding
general, who, when he got safely to the upper end of Lake George,
issued an order that any soldier should be punished who said any-
thing about Louisburg, or told the truth about the English loss at
Ticonderoga. This was the commanding general, who, notwith-
standing what John Stark had told him, laid the blame of this dis-
aster on his subordinate officers and said that he was misinformed
about Montcalm's defenses.
So much for his credibility. Now, -did he have any motive to
falsify his report? Let us see. The Diary of Lieutenant Thomp-
son is to the effect that the boat bringing the body of Lord Howe
came through Lake George on the 8th of July, and no doubt that
was the boat which was intended to cany it. What does this
LORD HOWE. 249
mean? Why, it shows that General Abercromby left the body of
Lord Howe at Ticonderoga in the sultry heat for two days or 36
hours at least before he was ready to start it for Albany. Lord
Howe was instantly killed, a young man in the flush of vigorous
health, and it is well known that in such a case decomposition ad-
vances much more rapidly than in the case of a person wasted by
disease. There is little doubt that in the case of the body of Lord
Howe, after the two days, decomposition was already observed and
that it was apparent that the body could not then be taken to Al-
bany. They, of course, had no ice, and the weather being very hot,
the general was obliged to order it be buried. But when Aber-
cromby got to the head of Lake George and had time to think about
it, he was afraid that Prime Minister Pitt, with whom Lord Howe
was a favorite, if he found out about the two days delay, would
think that the remains of Lord Howe had been neglected and not
treated with proper respect, and General Abercromby thought that
it would not make any difference then with the gallant Howe, but
that it might make considerable difference with Abercromby. He
felt that he had enough ignominy to bear without that, and that
what the Premier did not know would not hurt him. Gen-
eral Abercromby had a motive to falsify his report and he was just
the man to do it.
Furthermore, the statement of General Abercromby is incredi-
ble on its face. We know that he was untruthful and lacked cour-
age, as cowards usually do. We know that he did not have the re-
spect of his soldiers, andl that he deserved the nickname that they
gave him of ' * Old Aunt Nabby Cromby. ' ' We know that he was in-
competent. But he was not an absolute idiot. General Abercrom-
by had been for many years an officer in the English army. He had
seen hundreds of men die in battle and he knew the effect of heat
on their dead unburied bodies. It never was his plan, as his lan-
guage would indicate, after the body of Lord Howe had been kept
for two days without ice in excessive heat at Ticonderoga, to trans-
fer it through Lake George, and then seventy miles through the
woods to Albany, over such roads and with such means of trans-
portation as they had then, and after it got to Albany have it em-
balmed and kept without interment for months until the news of
Lord Howe's death could be carried to England by one of the slow
250 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
sailing vessels of that day, and instructions from his relations
brought back. General Abercromby says: "The weather being
very hot, General Stanwix was obliged to order the body to be bur-
ied." Unfortunately for the credibility of this statement, if
it means that this burial was in Albany, the records show that from
the 8th to the 12th of July, inclusive, while it is claimed that this
body was en. route from Ticonderoga to Albany, and when it ar-
rived there and when it was buried, and up to the date of Aber-
cromby 's report, the weather was not very hot. During those days
a cool wave was in progress, following the excessive heat of the
time of Lord Howe 's death. The 6th and 7th of July seem to have
been extremely sultry, but Surgeon Rea, in his Diary under date
of the 8th, says: "A clear day. Not very hot. Wind S. W.,"
and on the 9th, when Abercromby 's army embarked for his return,
the same diarist says that they "got ready at nine in ye morning
and having a fine northerly breeze, we made sales of blankets and
tents, and arrived at ye head of ye lake by 7 in ye evening. ' ' Un-
der date of the 10th he says "Cool and rain at evening." Under
date of the 12th. "A very cold, clear night."
There is another thing about that report which may be sig-
nificant. Although it has been accessible to the public for many
years in printed form when it was published, this paragraph about
the burial of Lord Howe was suppressed, and it was in conse-
quence of this that Prof. E. J. Owen, in his monograph on the bur-
ial of Lord Howe made the statement that the despatches of Gen-
eral Abercromby do not refer to it.
This report of General Abercromby, it appears, was supposed
to be in triplicate. The original, duplicate and triplicate being
sent by a different conveyance as such reports were often made
when they were to be carried long distances with uncertain means
of conveyance. I am informed that these three papers, each bear-
ing Abercromby 's own signature, are on file in the Public Record
Office in London, but only one of them contains the paragraph
about the burial of Lord Howe. Was this one sent to Prime Min-
ister Pitt by a special messenger and intended only for his personal
information, or did Abercromby prepare this one first and send it,
keeping a copy, and then, with his usual vascillation, fearing that
LORD HOWE. 251
he had made a mistake, leave this paragraph out of the duplicate
and triplicate that were forwarded by other conveyances 1
Next, the Diary of Surgeon Rea, in which he says, writing
under date of the 6th of July, "Lord Howe was brought in and
embalmed." The art of embalming bodies on the battlefield to be
sent home was never much practiced before our Civil War. Em-
balming, as practiced by the English at the time of the French
war, was an elaborate and complicated process, which doctors and
surgeons generally did not undertake to practice. The embalming
that was given to the body of Lord Howe must have consisted only
in certain simple applications calculated to delay decomposition
only for a short time. That this embalming was nothing effective
is indicated by the fact that General Abercromby makes no men-
tion of it whatever, but speaks only of the embalming that he de-
signed to have the body receive at Albany.
Third, as to the Diary of Lieut. Thompson, who says that they
brought Lord Howe to Fort William Henry on the 8th of July. It
appears from this diary that the diarist was a young man twenty-
six years old, and he does not seem to have had a very accurate
mind, because, although he was present at the embarking of Aber-
cromby's army for Ticonderoga, he says that the number thereof
was 25 thousand and 400 and odd men. He was only ten
thousand out of the way. An examination of his diary
for the two days immediately preceding this 8th of July,
shows that he was very much occupied with his duties
and could pay little attention to anything else. His entry
for the 6th contains the following: "I was on guard all day.
Sam'l Tay took a vomit and was ill with a bloody Flux, and I was
full of business all day. ' ' Friday, the 7th, he says : ' ' Abi jah was
sick and took a vomit. I had scarcely time to cook as the Hamp-
shire forces came to us in the forenoon. ' ' Although, under a later
date, the 10th, he says that in the morning he went and viewed
the wounded men, he does not say in his entry of the 8th that he
viewed the body of Lord Howe or recognized him. He was only
a colonial officer of low rank, and if the body of Lord Howe had
actually been there he would not have been invited by the English
officers to inspect it. We know from other sources that after the
death of Lord Howe the old troubles between the Colonials and the
252 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Regulars broke out again, and the British officers made no con-
cealment of their contempt for the Colonials. No doubt Samuel
Thompson and the other soldiers at the head of the lake had heard
the report of Lord Howe's death and that his body was to be
carried to. Albany. If a body was carried ashore from the boat
that came through the lake that day, whether of Lord Howe or
some wounded soldier that may have died on the way through
the lake, it would be apt to be borne on a stretcher and covered
with a blanket so that an outside observer would not know who it
was; but it would be the most natural thing in the world, under
the circumstances, for the soldiers of the camp to infer that it was
the body of Lord Howe, and start the report that it was.
This testimony of Lieut. Thompson seems to be nothing but a
bit of hearsay.
4th. The Albany letter to Boston, written between the 10th
and the 13th of July, and containing this sentence : ' ' The body of
of Rt. Hon. George Viscomte Howe was brought to Albany last
Monday. "
The writer of this letter does not say that he attended the
funeral or the burial or viewed the remains. No doubt it was re-
ported in Albany that week that Lord Howe was dead; that his
body was coming to Albany and that it was expected on the 10th
and this would give rise without fail to the report that it had come
to Albany. The writer of this letter was only repeating one of
the rumors that filled the air at Albany in that time of excitement
and alarm. This testimony is only some more hearsay.
5th. The entry in the Treasurer's book at St. Peter's
Church. The page on which this entry is found in this old ac-
count book is headed "What cash received," and contains two
kinds of entries: One under the formula "To cash collected,"
under dates about a week apart, which are found upon investiga-
tion to be mostly Sundays. These entries undoubtedly represent
the weekly collections at the church. The other class of entries
are under the formula 'To cash rt," and seem to be receipts for
burials. It has been suggested that the abbreviation "rt" stands
for the word "returned" and that this entry about Lord Howe
"To cash rt. for the ground to lay the body of Lord Howe and
LORD HOWE. 253
pall, 5 pounds 6 shillings," means that this money was paid back
by the church because Lord Howe was not actualiy buried there;
but I think this interpretation is untenable because the same kind
of entry occurs several times on the same page under different
dates of that summer and fall, and it is not likely that the money
would have been paid back in so many instances. The abbrevia-
tion "rt." no doubt does stand for the word "returned" and
means cash paid to the sexton or somebody, of which return was
afterwards made to the treasurer and the money paid over to him
and the dates of the entries probably represent the dates of such
return to the treasurer. This would account for the date Sep-
tember 5 being so long after the supposed burial of Lord Howe.
This entry in the Church Treasurer's book has every appearance
of being genuine and I assvme that it is. This entry and the Lord
Howe stone at Ticonderoga are the two most important and re-
liable pieces of evidence in this case. But this entry proves noth-
ing except that preparations and arrangements were made for the
burial of the body of Lord Howe at Albany. It falls far short of
proving that his body was actually buried theiv.
6th. The Schuyler tradition. Philip Schiiyler's statement
to Chancellor Kent was simply that he was selected to accompany
the body to Albany. Chancellor Kent does not say that Philip
Schuyler told him that he actually did take the body to Albany.
It appears that Chancellor Kent supposed that the body of Lord
Howe was buried in Albany, but he does not give us the details or
circumstances of his conversation with Philip Schuyler. This
also proves nothing but that preparations were made to take the
body of Lord Howe to Albany.
Mrs. Cochran's statement that when the coffin was opened
it was found that the hair had grown to long flowing locks and was
very beautiful, is hardly worthy of serious consideration. In this
age of general diffusion of scientific information, it is too late to
make people believe that any part of a dead body can grow. If
my recollection is correct, Mrs. Cochran, daughter of Philip
Schuyler, was not born until long after the French war, and so
she had no knowledge of her own about this matter.
Mrs. Grant's statement about the hatless messenger on horse-
back no doubt is a recital of a genuine incident and quite likely
254 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
he was the messenger that carried to Albany the news of Lord
Howe's death, and the order to prepare for the reception and dis-
position of his body.
7th. The Lord Howe stone:
In October, 1889, a sewer was laid from the Central school
building in the village of Ticonderoga northward through South
Main Street. The ditch for this sewer was dug on the easterly
side of this street between the sidewalk and the roadbed. The
ground was stiff clay. It had never, to the knowledge of the resi-
dents of that locality, been disturbed before. It was so hard that
it had to be dug up with a pick before it could be shoveled. At
the depth of four feet or four and one half feet Peter DuShane,
who had charge of the digging of this ditch, and was at work at
it with his own hands, struck the remnants of a board, and upon
further digging the remains of the sides and end pieces of a coffin
were discovered with human bones inside of it. This body lay
with its head tc the west and its feet and legs under the sidewalk,
nearly at right angles with the street. At the head outside of the
coffin up against it and at the bottom of the grave were two stones,
one of them a piece of graphite rock, that is, a stone full of graph-
ite ore; the other, a hard irregular stone, smooth with rounded
edges. The two stones were about the same size and neither was
quite so large as a man's head{.
DuShane was a laboring man who could neither read nor
write; but he recognized the graphite in one of the stones and
concluded to take it home with him, thinking it strange that it
should be found in that place, there being no graphite in that im-
mediate locality. The other stone, encrusted with the clay, seemed
to have nothing about it to attract attention and as it was thrown
out of the ditch it rolled down the pile of loose earth that had been
thrown out before it and lodged under the edge of the board side-
walk. Here it remained for a day or two until DuShane thought
that it would be a proper thing to bury the bones again and put
back with them the same two stones that he had found at the head
of the coffin, and so he carried the second stone home and put it
with the other. Immediately after this, he was talking about it
with John C. Fenton, the town clerk of the town, who, with many
LORD HOWE STONE
Unearthed at Ticonderotfa. Oct. 1889, Now Preserved in Black Watch Memorial
LORD HOWE. 255
other citizens of the town, saw the bones and the remains of the
coffin when they were taken out of the ground, and he asked Du-
Shane to bring the stones to his office, which DuShane did. The
second stone was still encrusted with the clay when Fenton took
it in his hands. He scraped off some of the clay with his knife
and thought he discovered the outlines of a letter. Whereupon,
they took the stone to the drug store of Patrick H. Barry close by
and washed it under a faucet; but, even then, no inscription was
legible. They saw, however, that on the surface of the stone there
were some little holes that were still packed full of the hard clay.
With the point of his pen. knife Mr. Fenton dug the clay out of
these holes and the inscription then appeared in five nearly parallel
lines across the face of the stone :
"MEM OF
Lo HOWE
KILLED
TROUT
BROOK."
The word "memory" is abbreviated to "Mem" with-
out a period. The word "Lord" was abbreviated in one of the
forms used in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, both in
England and America: Capital "L," small "o." The letters are
formed apparently by the point of a bayonet or some sharp
pointed instrument, hammered against the stone to make small
holes or dots in lines for the shape of the letters, with some
scratching or cutting to unite the dots in a few of the letters. So
Mr. Fenton was the first man who read the inscription. The town
clerk immediately called in the Supervisor of the town, Charles
A. Stevens, and they both examined the stone and afterwards
made affidavit that its present condition was the same, in every
respect, as that in which they first saw it. Mr. Fenton was town
clerk of the town for many years, and until his death some time
after this. He was a lawyer who his neighbors said was too honest
to be a lawyer, for he almost always got the suits of his clients
settled without litigation. He was a man of strict integrity and of
unquestionable veracity. Mr. E. M. Gifford in front of whose
house the remains were found, sifted some of the dirt that came
out of the grave and found one or two corroded buttons and a bul-
256 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
let. After the remains were taken out of the ground the town clerk,
Mr. Fenton, took possession of them and kept them in his office
in a box for some years, after which they were placed in a box
and buried in the school house park, near where they were found
at the foot of a large memorial boulder, placed there by Joseph
Cook, and a number of the leading citizens of Ticonderoga signed
a statement in regard to the discovery of the remains and vouch-
ing for the truth of the same.
The bones were incomplete, having the appearance of having
been long buried, but the teeth were sound and unworn and
evidently those of a youngish man. These remains and this
marked stone were found under one of the principal streets of the
Village of Ticonderoga in a place immediately adjacent to the
grounds of the Central school building. The circumstances of
their discovery and the character of the people connected with it
preclude the theory of forgery and fraud. But unless this stone
is a forgery it ends this discussion and settles this question for all
time. No theory can account for that stone, except one or two. It
either marks the veritable burial place of Lord Howe or it is a
forgery. The critics of the Ticonderoga claim are absolutely shut
up to the theory of forgery. They have no other ground to stand
upon, and it is a ground that is absolutely untenable. They have
as yet produced no evidence of such forgery, except the indirect
evidence which has already been discussed in this paper. It is one
on the strong proof of the genuineness of this Lord Howe Stone
that full faith and credit was given to it at the time of its discovery
by all the people of Ticonderoga who were well acquainted with the
circumstances of its discovery and with the men connected with it.
The officials and leading citizens of Ticonderoga were not frauds
and forgers and the people of that town were not all dupes.
8th. The Peterson tradition:
The Peterson family has lived in the town of Ticonderoga for
several generations. The story has been handed down in this
family that their ancestor was one of Rogers' Bangers, and that
upon the death of Lord Howe he lettered a stone for his ?rave
and he was buried on a hill at Ticonderoga. The present repre-
sentative of this family, Joseph Peterson, is now a man of 78
years old and there are people in Ticonderoga to-day who re-
LORD HOWE. 257
member that he told this story years before the Lord Howe stone
was discovered. Some years before the finding of this stone
Joseph Cook erected a marble slab at the mouth of Trout Brook,
commemorating the death of Lord Howe. At the time this was
done, Joseph Peterson had a good natured dispute with Mr. Cook
and told him that it would be more appropriate if he erected this
memorial on the hill across the outlet, because it was there some-
where that Lord Howe was buried. Old records show that among
the company of Rangers of whom Robert Rogers was the leader,
there was a man by the name of Peterson. Mr. David Williams,
of Rogers Rock, has the olcty account book of a sutler who fur-
nished supplies to these rpngers, and on one page of this book
is an account with one Peterson, a carpenter.
9th. The Scotch Tradition that comes down to us with the
story of Campbell of Inverawe. The part of this tradition
which is to the effect that the burial took place late at
night and the participants in the ceremony returned to the land-
ing, which they reached early in the morning, is most significant.
Taken in connection with the significant words of Abercromby
about the hot weather and the necessity of burial, it indicates that
a decision to bury Lord Howe at Ticonderoga was reached and
carried out before daylight on the morning of the great battle,
and when the boat spoken of by Lieutenant Thompson was leav-
ing for Fort William Henry.
10th. Last of all, and certainly entitled to as much consider-
ation as any other tradition, is that of Lord Howe's own family.
When Prof. Owen wrote his monograph he had a letter from the
head of that house at that time, in which he says : ' ' It is clearly
proved that the idea of removing the remains was given up for the
purpose of burying the same in Westminister Abbey, and this tends
to show that there must have been some difficulty in finding where
the remains were laid."
It has been asked, why, if Lord Howe was buried at Ticon-
deroga, General Amherst did not remove the remains when he was
here the next year. The answer to this question is easy. The sol-
diers who were with Amherst were largely different men from
those who were with Abercromby. Amherst brought with him
258 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
five or six regiments from Louisburgh, and very likely General
Amherst had read the original of General Abercromby's report,
and supposed that Lord Howe was buried at Albany.
Again, it has been suggested that the name of Trout Brook
on the Lord Howe stone is suspicious because this country at the
time of Lord Howe's death was occupied by the French and a
stream like Trout Brook would not be likely to have an English
name, but this is answered by the fact that the English maps made
at the time or soon after Abercromby's expedition, have on them
the name Trout Brook.
Here, where Lord Howe gave up his life for that British and
American cause, which it took the struggles of an hundred fifty
years to carry through, his the most priceless of its many sacri-
fices, on the very spot where his immortality was achieved, between
the two lakes, near to the great carry long traversed by the armies
of Prance and England, and war parties, Iroquois and Algon-
quins, in the midst of a region of picturesque beauty and of a ro-
mantic interest that his own fame has helped to create, he has his
burial place, as it is most fitting that he should. Fair flower of
British gentility, the freshness and fragrance of thy memory,
shall never pass in the hearts of those who love the Champlain
Valley or the story of North America.
NEW HISTORICAL LIGHT ON THE REAL BURIAL
PLACE OF GEORGE AUGUSTUS LORD
VISCOUNT HOWE, 1758.
(From Contemporary and Original Sources.)
By JAMES AUSTIN HOLDEN, A. B.
[PREFATORY NOTE. — Owing to his sickness at the time of the
October meeting which prevented his personal presentation of this paper,
the writer was very fortunate in having it read in his customary ac-
ceptable and convincing manner by Sherman Williams, Pd. D. The
necessity of giving the paper out of turn however, and the brief time
which could be allowed for its rendering, made it necessary then to omit
some parts and to condense others.
Since the annual meeting the writer has received from his expert
searchers in England, and from several other sources, copies of official
documents and letters which, while they confirm the writer's theories,
throw an entirely different and new light on the whole affair. For the
sake of historical accuracy, these papers have necessitated the recasting
and rewriting of part of this article. This evidence being entirely new
and vitally important, so far as now known, must be the excuse for
thus changing the form of this paper, and the decision to present it.]
Some cynic has said, "all fiction is not history, but most his-
tory is all fiction." In the sense that all historical works reflect
necessarily the individual opinions, prejudices, ideas and con-
clusions of their respective writers this aphorism is undeniably true.
It is the knowledge of this peculiarity in "us poor, frail, weak
mortals" which compels and requires all historians to furnish
facts, proofs and legal evidence to substantiate their claims. Per-
mitting them only the field of tradition in which their imaginations
may roam at will, to find material with which to garnish and adorn
the bald, unrom antic and dry details of fact.
As long as history shall be written therefore, just so long will
there be two sides to every question, two parties* to every discus-
260 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
sion, two rival bodies to espouse and battle for their supposed
rights and historic prerogatives.
Realizing, then, that it is not often in these days that one is
privileged to announce a real historical discovery, especially on a
subject supposedly worn threadbare by generations of writers of
history, it is with much pleasure that I offer to the Association,
treasure trove, which up to the present time has remained unnotic-
ed, or at least unused by other historians.1
Five years ago in presenting to the Association my Mono-
graph on "The Half -Way Brook in. History,"2 I called attention
therein to the first authenticated and recorded evidence of the
bringing of Lord Howe's body to Lake George on the initial stage
of its journey to Albany. It was through the publication of that
evidence, that the clew was secured which finally led to the his-
torical discovery (using the word in the sense of bringing to notice
something before unknown or unperceived), which is given to this
Association as the trophy of a successful hunt.
We have listened at this meeting to the eloquent and splendid-
ly prepared paper on George Augustus, Lord Viscount Howe. In
this monograph, it is neither the province nor purpose of the writer,
to present the biography of that beneficent, magnanimous, capable
but ill fated gentleman, who was repeatedly called "the idol" as
well as "the soul and honor of the British Army" of that day. It
would be a work of supererogation to describe his association with
the army under Abercrombie in the spring of 1758, 3 or to more
than touch upon the events leading up to the fateful July 6th. On
1 In looking up this question, a careful investigation of four hundred
or more historical works, pamphlets, monographs, and newspapers, covering
this period, including supposedly authoritative papers on this topic,
exhausting all then known references, made this statement one of fact. Since
this paper was ready for the printer, however, I find that Kingsford's History
of Canada, (London, 1890), IV, p. 165 (note) — quotes a part of this matter I
have found, but makes no other use of it, so that my statement still holds true.
2 Transactions N. Y. S. Hist. Assn. VI. pp. 169-189.
3 For the impress which this amiable, talented, accomplished and promising
young officer made on those with whom he came in contact, especially the
provincials, consult the journals of the various colonial officers referred to
herein, also Mrs. Grant's "Memoirs of an American Lady," (ed. 1846, ch. XL)
pp. 175-180; Dudley Bean's Storming of Ticonderoga in The Knickerbocker,
XXXVI, No. i (July 1850), pp. 1-14; Grahame's United States of North
America IV, p. 29; Hutchinson's Province of Mass. (ed. 1828), III, p. 71;
Munsell's Annals of Albany, VI, pp. 206-297.
Courtesy of S. H. P. Pell. From Photo Given Him by Descendants in Howe Family
GEORGE AUGUSTUS, LORD VISCOUNT, HOWE. < 1724-1758)
Killed at Ticonderotfa July 6
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 261
June 8th he took command of the troops at Fort Edward, and on
June 20th camped at the Half-Way Brook with three thousand
men. Here for two days he received reports from Major Rogers
and associated with Stark, Putnam and the other colonial officers,
making his dispositions for the battle which was to come.1 Two
days afterward he moved forward with his command to the head
of Lake George encamping on the former site of Fort William
Henry. During all the time that he was with the army, he en-
deavored to inculcate by personal example, in the regular forces,
the lesson that Great Britain to the present day has apparently
never been able to learn, that success perches only upon the ban-
ners of that army which observes, adapts and respects the war man-
ners and tactics of the people with whom it fights.2
It is stated that he adopted the costume and customs of the
provincial rangers and among other things, according to a letter
dated from camp May 31st, 1758 "sacrificed a fine head of hair of
his own as an example to the soldiers, so that not a man is to be
seen with his own hair."3 This authority also states that it was
cut short as it could be with the shears. I mention this here as it
has its bearing on what comes a little later on.4
The army remained at Lake George until the early morning
of July 5th. The triumphant procession down Lake George of
sixteen thousand men, with their nine hundred bateaux and one
hundred and thirty whale boats, filling the lake from shore to
shore, in one grand, colorful, martial display; their encampment
that night at Sabbath Day Point till nearly midnight; the landing
1 Roger's Journals, (Hough's ed.), Munsell, (1883), p. 116; Memoir of
John Stark, (Concord, 1860), p. 433; My " Half-way Brook in History,"
p. 174; Reminiscences of the French War, (Concord, 1831), pp. 68-69.
2 As Kipling so well puts it in " The Lesson," written because of the
Boer War.
" Not on a single issue, or in one direction or twain
But conclusively, comprehensively, and several times and again,
Were all our most holy illusions knocked higher than Gilderoy's kite,
We have had a jolly good lesson, and it serves us jolly well right."
The Five Nations, (Outward Bound ed.), pp. 113-115. The moral of which is,
that the lesson taught Great Britain in the campaign of A. D. 1758, she had
not yet learned in A. D. 1899.
3 M. Dudley Bean in The Knickerbocker, (July, 1850), pp. 10-11 who
quotes the Boston News Letter of June 22, 1758.
4 See Watson in appendix.
262 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
at the Burnt Camp,1 forever afterwards to bear the name of Howe 's
Landing, on the late morning of the 6th ; the disembarking 'of the
army, following Howe as he leaps ashore in the name of England
and King George; the parade of enthusiastic, high-spirited troops
who, drawn up in parallel columns marched in the early hours of
the afternoon toward the fort, all need but the barest mention at
this time.2 We are all more or less familiar with the ordinary
accounts of the unfortunate engagement in which the gallant and
brilliant young soldier lost his life. These mostly taken from
English sources naturally reflect somewhat the views of the Brit-
ish officers of that day.3
In order, however, to bring out more clearly the points the
writer desires to make, he finds it necessary to recount as briefly
as may be, in accordance with the written evidence recently discov-
ered in this case, the story of Lord Howe's death from a new view
point.
The Landing Place, afterwards known by his name as stated
above, is approximately one third of a mile north, or towards the
foot of the lake, from the present Lake George steamboat landing
at Baldwin, in a small cove with a sandy beach, whose water ap-
proach has two feet average depth, and three feet depth to and
about "Prisoner's Island," a third of a mile away.4 Some authori-
ties having referred to "Cook's Landing" confusing it with Howe's
1 The Burnt Camp or Champ Bruld, was the place where M. de Contre-
coeur encamped in 1756, N. Y. Col. Doc. X, p. 894; C. Van Rensselaer's
"Centennial Address on the Capture of Ticonderoga, 1759," (Phila. 1859), p. 18.
2 For description of the pageant down the lake and events antecedent to
Lord Howe's death, see Bancroft, (ed. 1852), IV, pp. 300-301; Parkman's
Montcalm and Wolfe, (Frontenac ed.), pp. 298-300; M. Dudley Bean
in The Knickerbocker, (July 1850), pp. 14-15; W. Max Reid's, Lake George
and Lake Champlain pp. 152-153; Butler's Lake George and Lake Champlain
(Albany 1868), pp. 204-207; Holden's Queensbury p. 321; Dwight's Travels,
III, pp. 364-365.
"Old Capt. Patchin' who was the first permanent settler within the
limits of Warren County, and who had a short time previously, been sent
forward as one of the advanced guard to examine the facilities for landing
on Sabbath Day Point (where he afterwards settled) has often been heard
to say as I have been informed, that the approach of Abercrombie's army was
one of the most magnificent and imposing spectacles he ever witnessed."
A. W. Holden Mss. p. 409.
3 See Appendix for Bibliography of the Campaign.
4 S. R. Stoddard's Standard Chart of Lake George, (1910), Hydrographic
Survey of 1906-7-8.
From an Old Print
ALBANY TO TICONDEROGA
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 263
Landing, a letter to A. A. Heard, Gen. Passenger Agent of the
D. & H. brought the following communication addressed to him,
which is inserted for its local value to some future historian.
«* # # T^ o^ terminal at Lake George was what was al-
ways known as Cook's Landing. The Lord Howe Landing is in
a little bay one and one-half miles south of Cook's Landing, refer
to Stoddard's new chart, which will give you the situation as I
understand it. So far as my records indicate here, the railroad
betwjeen Fort Ti and Baldwin was completed and used for the
first time during the season of 1875, and that year the present
terminal at Baldwin was established, although for several years
after that the company maintained their shipyards at the Old Cooks
Landing Dock, and it was there that both the Strs. Horicon and
Ticonderoga were constructed and laid up for the winter, and it
was to the old dock the crews always went to bring out the boats in
the spring, and to put them up in the fall.
I have a picture in my office of the old Str. Minnehaha1 taken
at Cooks Landing, the northern terminus on Lake George. I can't
say what year that was, but the larger boats, the Horicon and Ti-
conderoga, never used Cooks Landing as a terminal as previous to
the time of their building the present terminal at Baldwin was con-
structed and consequently the precise landdng place of Lord Howe
and his army was about one and a half miles south2 of the old
northern terminal on Lake George. ' >3
At the beach was a comparatively level place, which was all
needed to marshal 16,000 men into some say three and others four
columns, which according to different writers was done before the
march into the forest was begun.
A word about the local topography of the route may be per-
1 Began service in 1857 in place of the " John Jay " (burned in July
1856), and was retired in 1876. "Her hull rests in the little bay north of
Black Mountain point." Stoddard's Lake George and Lake Champlain,
(1910), p. 46. Nelson's Guide Lake George and Lake Champlain, (London
1866), has several oil colored views of this boat to face title page, p. 8, etc.
Also see Id. "Our Summer Retreats" (N. Y. 1858).
2 " South " of course means towards the head of the lake. The distance
from Cooks Landing to Baldwin being about one mile in a straight line from
Howe's Cove.
3 Letter from D. A. Loomis of the Champlain Transportation Company.
264 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
tinent here. Ticonderoga, then also known as Carillon1, lay at
the tip of the peninsula stretching into Lake Champlain, washed on
one side and end by that lake and on the other side by the Outlet
of Lake George into Lake Champlain.2
The waters of Lake George tumble into Lake Champlain
through a natural rocky canal of varying levels, with two distinct
falls, having rifts, and rapids between ; the difference in the surfaces
of the two lakes being about two hundred and forty three feet.3
The "Outlet" as it is called, like an exaggerated question mark
stretches its narrow length for about four miles from Howe's
Landing to the peninsula of old Fort Ticonderoga,4 navigable for
small boats below the lower falls and requiring a short portage
between these and the so called "upper falls." Here and there
were bridges at this time for the use of the French occupants of
the fort, which were promptly destroyed on the approach of the
English forces. A sort of military road led from the cove on the
left bank of the outlet, a short distance, crossing the stream by a
bridge, thence on the right bank in a straight line to a second
bridge a mile from the fort. As another writer pictures it at this
time:
"To the east of the second bridge, on both sides of the river,
were morasses and low meadows, and just below it a waterfall and
sawmills."5
1 Carillon translated means of course "a chime'" or "chime of bells."
Some authorities claim that Cheonderoga a variation of Ticonderoga means
" brawling waters " and connect the two names from this. The music of the
waters of the outlet, tumbling over the rocks and stones, must have appealed
to some imaginative Frenchman who gave the old fort this poetic name. As
a matter of fact however "Cheonderoga" or properly " Tjeonderoge " simply
means " Between two lakes " (Ruttenber's Indian Names, Our Proceedings, VI,
pp. 71-72). On T. Pownal's Map, (London 1776), it is said to mean "Three
Rivers" (Holden's Queensbury p. 26). It is "a compound Te c'ungha ro ge,
meaning literally two (not three) rivers, flowing into each other." (E. B.
O'Callaghan in Dawson's Hist. Mag. for November, 1859, pp. 346-347). The
" Iroquois name of Ticonderoga meaning the Place of Rocks dividing the
waters; it being at this point that Lake George separated from Lake Cham-
plain;" (H. R. Schoolcraft in Hist. Mag. for June 1860.) From this expert
testimony, it is only clear that it does not mean " Brawling " and never did.
2 Map U. S. Geological Survey (ed. Oct. 1905), New York, Vermont,
Ticonderoga Quadrangle.
3 Verplanck Colvin in his Topographical Survey of the Adirondacks for
1874-1879, (Albany 1880), p. 249, gives the altitude above the sea of Lake
George as 343 feet and Lake Champlain 99.311.
4 U. S. Geographical Survey, New York, Vermont, and Ticonderoga
Quadrangle.
6 Sloane's French War and the Revolution, (London 1893), pp. 66-67.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 265
Except for the portage paths and war trails, the clearing at
the saw, mills, and near the fort, the ground was entirely covered
by virgin forest, in which the ring of the woodman's ax had not
as yet been heard. The heights were covered with a dense almost
impenetrable growth of white and yellow pines, hemlocks and
drooping sharp needled spruces, while the hardy white oaks and
ash trees clung to the valleys, the whole forming a bewildering
and formidable protection for any fortress, from even a small squad
of men, to say nothing of a magnificent army.1
Another writer has well said; of the attempt to force a way
through these trackless wooded areas which then covered the
greater part of the country:
' ' Then there was the stifling heat of the primeval forests. Our
present day notion of forests is diametrically opposed to old-time
experience. To us, the forest is a popular symbol of restful
coolness; formerly they were exhausting furnaces in the hot sea-
son, where horses fell headlong in their tracks and men fainted
from fatigue. We wonder sometimes that pioneer armies fre-
quently accomplished only ten or twelve miles a day, sometimes
less. But * * * the stifling heat of the becalmed forest easily
explains both slowness and wearing fatigue. It was the heat that
all leaders of pioneer armies feared; for heat meant thirst * * *
Many a crazed trooper has thrown himself into the first marsh or
swamp encountered and has drunk his fill of water as deadly as
any bullet."2
On the west side of the Outlet was a rough trail partially cut
through the forest, but of so scraggy and rude a character that ex-
perienced guides were needed to conduct parties using it to and
from the fort. Following this trail for about two miles and a half,
the coureurs du bois or the voyageurs of the inland lakes would
come to a large stream whose clay stained waters here meet the
foaming cataract of the upper falls, about two rods below the falls
just after their descent of 102 feet from the lake beyond.3 This
1 See Flavius J. Cook's Home Sketches of Essex County, (1858), pp. 11-12,
also his Centennial Address (Ticonderoga Historical Society ed. 1909) , pp.
62-63. (In after years dropping his first name he became widely known
the world over as Dr. Joseph Cook.)
2 Archer Butler Hulbert, Portage Paths (Historic Highways of America
VII), pp. 44-45-
3 Cook's Home Sketches of Essex County, pp. 14-15-
266 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
run afterwards to be celebrated in local history, has its rise in the
range of mountains lying partly in Hague, Warren County, and
partly in Ticonderoga, Essex County, in a fresh marsh near Lost
Pond, on the 1300 foot level on Bull Rock Mountain; running
thence southerly and easterly between that mountain and Trum-
bull Mountain in Warren County, where it turns pursuing a ser-
pentine course northerly, until near Three Brothers Mountain it
twists and runs easterly with many windings, until it enters the
Outlet as before stated, just below the upper falls.1 This brook,
to which at that time the English had given no name, and which was
known to the French by the name of River Bernetz, Bernes or
Berne, traversed a valley in after years noted for its grandeur,
beauty and sylvan attractiveness. Within its purling waters, the
early settlers found plenty of food and sustenance; at its brink
the wild deer of the forest, so plenty as to be a nuisance to the
struggling farmer, the black bear, and the still wilder and fiercer
cats of the mountains, slaked their thirst.2
This then was the situation of affairs on the morning of the
fatal 6th. The landing had been effected without opposition. The
outpost had retired, leaving their camp in flames, and their sup-
plies of provisions for the delighted provincials, one of whom says
"we recovered a grat deele of wine and brandy shepe torkes &
hens, ' '3 which were welcomed as a desirable change from the usual
monotonous camp diet, concerning which Dr. Rea says, "I've eat
this Summer one meal of Squash, one of Turneps, one of Potatoes
& one of Onions & no more."4 It took considerable time for the
host of soldiery to disembark and prepare for the work ahead
of them, but the men went at it in high spirits, good humor, and
the expectation of speedy victory, with no premonition of the dis-
aster to come. As Alexander Golden writes to Francis Halket,
brigade major with Gen. Forbes at Carlisle: "We had nothing in
Viewi but Glory and Victory with sight of the French fort, andl
1 U. S. Geological Survey, New York, Vermont, Ticonderoga Quadrangle
and New York Paradox Lake Sheet.
2 Cook's Home Sketches, pp. 14, 33-36, 122-124; Id. Centennial Address,
pp. 66, 86. Bean's Ticonderoga, p. 18. Smith's Essex County, pp. 378-379-
3 Journal Cornet Archelaus Fuller, Hist. Col. Essex Inst. (July, 1910) ,
4 i)r. Rea's Journal, Hist. Col. Essex Inst., (July-Sept. 1881), p. 204.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 267
yet by experience I to my Grief find how little dependence one
must make. All worldly expectations in short is all a Chimera."1
Finally formed in columns according to the military custom
of those days,2 this large body of troops began their slow and toil-
ful march through the dense forest. With the Outlet on their right
they bore to the west to prevent being flanked by the French. Rog-
ers and his men having been sent in advance to scout and clean the
path of small parties of the enemy, and prevent possible ambus-
cades.3 Despite the frequent scouts made by Rogers and his Ran-
gers in the three preceding years, in some of which Lord Howe was
said to have participated,4 and in spite of the fact that rough maps
of the region secured by Rogers and his followers, were in possession
of the English,5 the locality seemed to be unfamiliar to the leaders.
The army had scarcely entered the dark and gloomy woods through
which a ray of sunshine could hardly have penetrated, even if the
day had not been cloudy and lowry, and undoubtedly muggy, be-
fore the troops were in confusion. Stumbling over the rocky soil,
breaking their way through the tangled undergrowth, tumbling
over the fallen logs and forest debris, the touch of elbow and close
formation required by European tactics, on level Continental
battlefields, was destroyed in less time than it takes to tell about
it. The guides became bewildered and lost their way. The entire
army became uneasy and panicky. To lighten their burden the men
threw away the provisions they were carrying and their extra ac-
coutrements.6
Such was the condition, when about four o'clock the French
outpost, under command of M. de Trepezec of the Beam regiment,
which deserted by its Indian guides, but under the guid-
ance of M. Langy "an old bush-ranger" was making a detour to
reach the fort back of the English forces,7 unexpectedly met the
advancing English lines. Shots were exchanged and the moment
the firing was heard, Lord Howe who was at the head of the right
1 Boquet Papers, Add. Mss. 21, 640, p. 151.
2 See "A Dialogue in Hades, (Quebec 1887), pp. 28-29.
3 Reminiscences of the French War, (Concord, N. H., 1831), pp. 69-70.
4 Bean's "Storming of Ticonderoga," The Knickerbocker, (July, 1850),
' 45 N. Y. Col, Doc., X. p. 726.
6 Reminiscences, pp. 67-68.
7 N. Y. Col. Doc., X. pp. 722, 738, 757. 84$.
268 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
center column, pressed forward with/ the Rangers, to ascertain the
cause of the firing. The scene of the skirmish was on the rising
ground halfway between the Landing Place and the French mills.
Not far from the spot where Rogers with his Rangers, had estab-
lished themselves early in the day.1 At the moment the first fire
was received the troops acted badly. Lord Howe, in spite of
every remonstrance, insisted on advancing.2 Almost at the first
volley, he fell, shot through the breast, and expired instantly.
That wireless telegraphy which is ever in use at times like this,
conveyed at once, from man to man, from rank to rank, and from
regiment to regiment the sad news "Lord Howe is dead." Dis-
mayed and disheartened, panic seized the army. An eye
witness says: "Entire regiments flung themselves one
atop of the other, and even the General narrowly escaped
being dragged off in the confusion by the fugitives."3
Rallied by their officers and by the steadiness of the Rangers, the
desire for flight was succeeded by a lust for revenge and De Tre-
pezec's detachment of three hundred and fifty was surrounded,
part taken prisoners, their leader mortally wounded, and the bal-
ance of the detachment killed.4 It has been stated that Lord Howe
was so near to the soldier who shot him, that he could almost grasp
the barrel of his gun. But before he could spring forward and
turn it aside it had been discharged its contents tearing its way
through the unfortunate nobleman's body.5 A writer in the Bos-
ton Gazette says that Captain Moneypenny, the British brigade-
major wiho was with Lord Howe, shot down the officer who com-
mitted this deed.4 The skirmish lasted from four o'clock until
about eight. As one chronicler puts it in the quaint language of
the time.7 "We had a very smart ingagement the fire was so
smart for sometime that the earth trembled we Killed and
took about 300 hundred Droue them back again. Left Hutchinson
and myself took thre frenchmen preseners the engagement held
1 Hough's ed. Rogers' Journals, p. u8a.
2 N. Y.. Col. Doc., X. p. 735-
3 Penn. Arch. Ill, p. 472, et seq.
4 N. Y. Col. Doc. X, pp. 747, 845.
5 B. C Butler's, Lake George and Lake Champlain, (1869), p. 210.
6 Boston Gazette, Monday, July 17, 1758.
7 Cornet Fuller's Journal, pp. 213-214.
Gazette^1
J 0 U R,N A L.
Courtesy of Rev. Joseph Hooper
LORD HOWE'S BODY BROUGHT TO ALBANY
Last Column. Third Line From Bottom
REAL BURIAL PLACE OP LORD HOWE. 269
until all most son down we brott in weth the gard one hundred
persons. Our general and our Cornel and som thousand ded not
com in that night, com the next morning very early with more
preseners. ' n
On account of the approach of darkness orders were issued
by General Abercrombie, for the army to remain under arms that
night. The next morning the dispersed and scattered force, dis-
heartened by the death of Lord Howe, provisionless from having
thrown away their rations, tired out from an all night vigil, and
being in the boats all day on the 5th, were ordered back to the
Landing Place for re-formation, food and rest.2 With the excep-
tion of Colonel Bradstreet's detachment, and possibly Roger's
Rangers, both detailed for special duty the next morning, here the
army remained! until the afternoon of the 7th, when it was ad-
vanced, and without incident or accident this time, and with better
knowledge of the ground, passing over on the bridges rebuilt by
Bradstreet's detachment, reached the French Mills on the other
side of the Outlet, where they encamped, for the night. Our
chronicler3 disposes of the incident in this manner.
11 Friday ye 7 the army marched from the Landing our Rige-
meint marched1 on the west sid of the lake holted Lay down to rest
before dark orders came for to march on. we marched threw a Large
brook uery bad to pas about half the Rigament got to the meils
1 The prisoners were placed on the island near the landing since called,
on Lake George, Prisoners' Island. Tradition has always had it, that owing
to the shallow water and sandy bottom there, the prisoners on the night of
the 6th took " French leave " by wading ashore and so escaped. However
an English officer writing in the Gentleman's Magazine (for 1758, p. 445), says
under date of July 9 at Fort William Henry ; " The 7th * * * * at night
they ordered my company to march along with them; but being seen by
Col. Delancey, he sent Col. Laroux to forbid me. Shortly after I was ordered,
with my company, to guard the prisoners to this place, and to hasten up
and convoy the artillery forces which had been left behind, and which the
army was very much in want of. I sailed in the evening * * *. The 8th
I brought all prisoners, which were one Captain, six subalterns, and 145
men here [that is, Fort William Henry]. The prisoners were afterward
forwarded to New York, under charge of Capt. Jeremiah Richards of the
Massachusetts forces. (Butler's Lake George and Lake Champlain, pp.
210-211). This effectually disposes of the legend about the escape of the
prisoners, at least en masse.
2 N. Y. Col. Doc., X, p. 726. Letter from Col. Oliver Partridge, Israel
Williams Mss.. Mass. Hist. Soc. Library, Dr. James Searing's Narrative
Battle Ticonderoga, N. Y. Hist. Soc. Pro. (October, 1847), p. 20.
3 Cornet Fuller's Journal p. 214.
270 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
(Mills) I was last and lay Down with the other part of the Reg
vary wet and cold. ' '
Another diarist referring to this says:1 "July ye 7th we
marcht a little afore Sun Set and we waded over a river to join the
battallion and we had got about half way and was Lost and we
Coold Not find them and we Stood to arms all Knight and the Next
Morning we marcht to Join the Battallion. ' '
With the attack of the English forces, their over-whelming
defeat on the 8th, and inglorious retreat through Lake George
to Fort William Henry on the 9th, we are not concerned so far as
this article goes.
At this time the writer desires to present to the Association the
newly discovered facts referred to, in the beginning of this article.
First, however, the writer is pleased to submit the accompanying
letters from Captain Alexander Moneypenny,2 who was with Lord
Howe at his death and took charge of his remains. So far as now
known, they have never before been published. Their importance
is the excuse for inserting them in the original article.
The history of these letters, and their discovery is an inter-
esting episode in the hunt for evidence in this matter. Soon after
returning from the excursion of the Association last fall, corre-
spondence was begun with the Hon. Howland Pell and his cousin
Stephen H. P. Pell regarding certain points which the writer wished
to clear up, and some valuable suggestions were made by them
leading to the securing of some new proof. On looking over his
papers Stephen H. P. Pell found some letters from Lord Terence
Browne, son of the Marquis of Sligo, a descendant of the branch of
the Howe family to which Lord Howe belonged, containing copies
of family papers relating to the latter 7s death and proposed burial.
1 Journal of John Noyes, Hist. Col. Essex Inst., (January, 1009), p. 74.
2 Alexander Moneypenny the writer of these letters, was appointed
captain, August 29, 1756. In February, 1757, he was assigned to the 55th
Foot and served in America under Lord Louden. " He was one of the
brigade majors in this and the succeeding campaign." His name occurs in
the British army lists as major of the 22nd Foot in 1760, and lieutenant
colonel of the 56th Foot in 1768, '72, '73. Burke's Dictionary of the Landed
Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, (London 1852), in a sketch of the
Moneypenny family of Pitmilly, County Fife, states that Lieutenant Colonel
Alexander Moneypenny, of the 56th Regiment died in 1800. Putnam's
Journal, Dawes ed. p. 64; Librarian of Congress (Chief Bibliographer) letter
Dec. I5th, 1910, Robert H. Kelby, Librarian N. Y. Historical Society letter,
Dec. 8th.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 271
Letters to that family brought a reply from Lord Arthur Browne,
who for several years has had charge of the family papers and who
writes in part as follows:
"About a year ago I made copies of the only papers I had
discovered bearing on Lord! Howe's death and sent them over to
my brother Lord Terence Browne then in New York and I under-
stand he gave them to Mr. Pell. They consisted of one or two
letters from a staff officer and a contemporary rough sketch of the
battle.
This is all I have found up to the present, but as there are
still many papers unread, it is possible I may find something more.
I do not however think it possible, as practically all the Howe
papers despatches etc. were destroyed about 100 years ago in a
fire in which the library at Westport House [Westport, Ireland]
was burnt down. The papers of the Admiral Lord Howe had just
been received from the executors then, and it is probable that any
documents bearing on General Lord Howe were with them, but they
had not even been removed from the chests in which they travelled
when they were burnt— so that I cannot say for certain.
If I should come across anything more I will let you know.
I am sorry not to be able to give you any more information. ' n
Through the kindness of H. L. Bridgman of the Brooklyn
Standard Union, the writer had previously taken up the matter
of tradition, and existence of papers with Vice Admiral Assheton
G. Gurzon-Howe, K.C.B., in command of His Majesty's Naval Sta-
tion, Portsmouth, England, who informed him that he knew of
no family tradition regarding the disposition of Howe's re-
mains, and wiho also told him of the destruction of the family
records at Westport House. Nor in a subsequent conversation
with the head of the house, and other members of the family, was
the Admiral able to obtain further information than is supplied
here. He says . " It is extraordinary considering his long life and
very active share in events of that period1, that very few papers of
Admiral Howe, or of General Howe are extant."2 This would
seem to do away with the legend that a tradition exists in the Howe
1 His letter Dec. I3th, 1910.
2 His letter of November 21 st, 1910. [Since the foregoing was put in
type, the sudden death of Admiral Howe from apoplexy on March I, 1911,
has been reported. In his death England lost a fine officer and kindly
Christian gentlemen and America a good friend.]
272 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
family, that a resultless search for Lord Howe's remains was made
by his brothers or kinsfolk, at any time after his burial.1
The Moneypenny letters are as follows:
Copy of a Letter from Capt. Moneypenny to Mr. Calcraft, Dated
Camp at Lake George, llth July, 1758.
Sir:
It is with the Utmost Concern, I write you of the Death of
Lord Howe. On the 6th the whole army landed without opposi-
tion, at the carrying place, about seven miles from Ticonderoga.
About two o'clock, they march 'd in four Columns, to Invest the
Breast Work, where the Enemy was Encamp 'd, near the Fort.
The Rangers were before the army and the Light Infantry and
marksmen at the Heads of the columns. We expected, and met
with some opposition near a small River, which we had to cross.
When the Firing began on part of the Left Column, Lord Howe
thinking it would be of the greatest Consequence, to beat of the
Enemy with the Light Troops, so as not to stop the March of the
Main Body, went up with them, and had just gained the Top of the
Hill, where the firing was, when he was killed.2 Never Ball had a
more Deadly Direction. It entered his breast on the left side, and
(as the Surgeons say) pierced his Lungs, and heart, and shattered
his Back Bone. I was about six yards from him, he fell on his Back
and never moved, only his Hands quivered an instant.3
1 A letter received from Lord Arthur Browne under date of January 17,
states, that none of the family papers have as yet been published, and that
there is still much to examine. It is to be hoped that a possibility of
printing these valuable records, which Lord Browne expresses in his letter,
may become a reality in the not distant future.
2 This letter of Capt. Moneypenny effectually disposes of the theory ad-
vanced by some of the earlier historians, that Lord Howe was shot in the
back. Hutchinson in his Hist. Prov. Mass. Bay, (London 1828), p. 71, says:
" Whether shot by the enemy or by his own people, was uncertain. One of
the provincial colonels present supposed the last, not merely from, the
disorderly firing, but from a view of the body ; the ball entering as he
said, at his back, when he was facing the enemy." As the effect of the
shot is so clearly described by Capt. Moneypenny, the wound might have
that appearance, the bullet tearing its way through all the soft tissues, and
shattering the back-bone, then going out the back. But the proof is clear
he was shot in the breast, and as clearly as anything of that sort can be at
this late day, by the enemy.
3 In the Gentleman's Magazine for 1760, an English officer severely
criticized the Provincials for their lack of discipline, disobedience of orders
etc. A New Englander replying to the charge quotes and denies the state-
ment that "the regulars are afraid of being shot down by the provincials
in a panick." He says in refutation, as to the provincials, "Lord Howe was
their darling, and others might be named who were growing daily in their
esteem and admiration." Pp. 171, 224.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 273
The French party was about 400 men, 'tis computed 200 of
them were Killed, 160, whereof five are officers, are Prisoners;
their Commanding Officer, and the partizan who conducted them,
Wiere killed, by the Prisoner's account, in short, very few, if any,
got back.
The Loss our Country has sustained in His Lordship is inex-
pressible, and I'm afraid irreparable. The Spirit he inspired in
the Troops, the Indefatigable Pains he took in forwarding the
Publick Service, the Pattern he show'd of every Military Virtue,
can only be believed by those, who were eye witnesses of it. The
Confidence the Army, both regular, and provincial, had in his
Abilities as a General Officer, the Readiness with which, every
Order of his, or Ev'n Intimation of what would be agreeable to
Him, was comply 'd with, is almost Incredible. When his Body,
was brought into Camp, scarce an Eye was free from Tears.
As his Lordship had chose me to act as an Aid de Camp to
Him, when he was to have commanded on the Winter Expedition,
which did not take place, and afterwards on his being made a
Brigadier General, had got me appointed Brigade Major, and I
had constantly lived with him since that time, I took upon me to
write the following letters, which, I hope will not be disapproved
by his family.'
Letter to Dr. Ruck at Albany, Dated, Army Near Ticonderoga,
7th July.
Lord Howe's body is sent to you,1 and you are desired by the
General, Brigadier Gage, and Capt. West to Use your Utmost En-
deavour to preserve it in such a manner, that it may be sent Home
to England; If that is not possible his servant, Willm Kemp will
move it to New York to be buried their by the Lieut. Governor.
Whilst his Body is at Albany it is to lye in the House of Dr.
Ogle vie.2
1 Writing about the Flatts, between Albany and Troy, at this time the
residence of Madame Schuyler, W. D. Schuyler-Lighthall says: "It was
to this house that poor Howe was brought back dead from Abercrombie's
attack on Ticonderoga, which would have resulted very differently had he
lived." Katherine Schuyler's Godchild of Washington, (1897), p. 21.
2 The Rev. John Ogilvie was at this time the rector of The English
Church at Albany. Dr. Hooper's History of St. Peter's Church, pp. 85-104.
274 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION .
Letter, to the Hon'ble James De Lancey, Esq., Lieutenant Governor
of New York, Same Place and Date.
Sir:-
Lord Howe having been unfortunately Kill'd yesterday, His
Body after being preserved with all the Care this place will allow
of, is sent to Albany where Dr. Huck is Desired to Embalm and
preserve it, in order to be sent to England.1 The General, Briga-
dier Gage, andl Oapt. West beg the Favour of you, to Receive it
into your House at New York, and if Dr. Huck writes you that it
is in a Condition to be sent Home, to put it on Board the first good
Ship.2 If Dr. Huck writes that it cannot be sent Home, They
beg you will give him a proper Burial attended by yourself, the
Council, and a few of the principal Inhabitants of New York, and
any Sea or Land Officers that may be there, in the Chancil of the
English Church.3
Letter to Mr. Hugh Wallace, Merchant, at New York.
Sir:-
Please to answer all demands of Mr. Wm. Kemp, Lord Howe's
serv't, for whatever money he wants to pay all demands on his
Lordship in this Country, and his own and the other servts ex-
penses in going Home. His Bill to you for the above money on
Mr. Calcraft will be duly paid.
I wrote a letter also to Mr. Kemp, telling him that, Brigadier
Gage, and Capt. West were of opinion, not to sell any of his effects,
and that he was therefore to carry Home what was valuable and
what he thought the Family would be desirous of having, and
1 Up to the time this article was put in print, no information regarding
Dr. Huck's presence in Albany had been obtained. From the. evidence to
follow, the body was buried at once, on its arrival.
2 S. H. P. Pell, thinking the body might have been taken to New York,
and there been buried under the chancel of the old English Church, has had
the Records of Trinity Parish searched but with no results. (His letter of
Dec. 6th). Dr. Hooper writes (under date of Dec. I2th) that researches in
this direction will be fruitless.
3 These specific directions, to take the body to Dr. Ogilvie's house in
Albany, that is the Church of England Rectory, and to bury the body in
case of necessity under the chancel of the English Church (Old Trinity)
in New York City, are presumptive proofs that Weise's History of Albany
is in error when it states p. 331, " By some it is said that the corpse was
interred in a vault in the English Church, by others in the Reformed Pro-
testant Dutch Church." Lord Howe's servant would see to it, that the
remains were interred in the English Church and not in that of any other
denomination.
REAL. BURIAL PLACE OP LORD HOWE. 275
Divide the Remainder amongst his servants. As soon as the
Enemy were Repulsed after his Fall I took his Pocket Book and
papers out of his pockets, wch are sent home by his serv1 Thomas.
I did not take Time to pull his Watch out and soon after it was
gone.1 Ten guineas reward are advertised) for it if found it will
be sent Home. The money in his Pocket was given to the men
who carried him out of ye Field. I hope to hear from you ac-
knowjiedging the Receipt of this Ire. If the loss of the Publick
was not so great I wou'd say something of my own. As this is
intended only for Lord Howe's Family, Don't mention the Attack
of the French Lines on the 8th.
(Signed) AL. MONEYPENNY.
To any unbiased and unprejudiced person these letters will set-
tle the question of Lord Howe's burial place. Capt. Moneypenny, it
will be noticed says positively in two letters that the body is sent to
Albany, not that "it will be," or "may be" or "is expected to be,"
but is. Had it been buried on the field he certainly would have so
stated it. But to resume our proofs :
In 1849, the State of New York began the publication of Docu-
ments relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York.
The historian John Romeyn Brodhead as the editor was sent to
Holland, England and France, to secure accurate and literal copies
of the papers relating to our early colonial history, on official file
in those countries. The documents in Dutch and French were
translated by that capable and efficient scholar, E. B. O'Callaghan,
LL. D. And it is upon these records that most historians, unable
to have access to foreign sources, have relied for their facts and in-
spirations.
In compiling Vol. X, which is the recognized storehouse of
authority for the records of the events of the French and Indian
War, Dr. Brodhead took his copy of the official report made by
l It seems incredible that there were such contemptible ghouls with this
army, but we know from the journals of those days, that camp executions
and lashes on the bare back were most common, for all sorts of crimes,
ranging from robbery to desertion. The Journal of a Provincial Officer
Dawson's Hist. Magazine, (August, 1871), says under date of July 25th
" There was one Regular of the 44th Regt. hanged for stealing 3 old Buckels
from men out of my Company. 2 Regulars received 1,000 lashes each for
stealing" p. 117. Dr. Rea's Journal, (Salem, Mass. 1881), says "the mans
name was Hone, and that he was a notorious thief," pp. 36-37-
276 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Major General Abercrombie to Secretary Pitt, from the London
Gazette Extraordinary, dated August 22, 1758. This same version
of the report was also copied in the Annual Register or Compleat
History of the Late War, published in Dublin in 1766.1 This His-
tory in turn being taken from the Annual Register,2 for 1758, a
work published each year in London, which gave the story of the
progress of the world during the year that had gone. It would
show apparently therefore, that this was the popular acceptance of
General Abercrombie 's own description of the battle. It seems how-
ever, that this was not in reality the official report made to Secre-
tary Pitt, nor the one filed by him among the official records of
his office.
Having occasion to correspond with William Cutter, then Lib-
rarian of the Public Library, of Woburn, Mass., he called
my attention to a letter from Abercrombie to Pitt, informing the
latter of a skirmish at the Half -Way Brook, whose history I had
just prepared, which was referred to in extenso, in a work entitled
"Correspondence of William Pitt with Colonial Governors, Etc.,"
published by the Macmillan Co., in 1906. Procuring this work, I
found it had been edited under the auspices of the National Society
of the Colonial Dames of America, by Miss Gertrude Selwyn Kim-
ball, of Providence, R. I.3
The book was examined with interest and pleasure and found
to be a most valuable acquisition to present-day historical reference
shelves. In looking at the letters relating to the Campaign of
1758 I noticed in Vol. 1, p. 297, what at first resembled the well
known and often used report of Abercrombie to Pitt dated at Lake
George, July 12th, after the battle. Before it was read through
however, I found it was not the same, for it contained the infor-
mation that Lord Howe's body had been sent to Albany. The evi-
dence of so important a discovery could at first hardly be credited.
Taking it up with Miss Kimball, she kindly furnished me with the
1 Supposed to have been written or compiled by J. Wright. Edmund
Burke was said to have edited its earlier issues. It is referred to as a
standard by Winsor.
2 Fourth edition, (London, 1764).
3 The writer regrets to note the death of Miss Kimball which occurred
in Providence on June 20, 1910. A brief note of appreciation of her his-
torical work appears in the American Historical Review for October, 1910,
pp. 183-184.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 277
address of the copyist, Miss Ethel M. Lomas, of London, to whose
judgment and ability, Miss Kimball bears witness in the introduc-
tion of her book, also in letters to me, all of which I find have in
no degree been exaggerated, in my own experience. Owing to a
press of other matters, it was not until the winter of 1909-10 the
idea of proving the non-burial of Lord Howe at Ticonderoga was
taken up seriously. Correspondence was started with Miss Lomas,
asking her to verify the letter of General Abercrombie, as copied by
her, and to compare it with the one usually used and which appears
in the New York Colonial Documents, Vol. X, p. 725. This she
did and I have her affidavit as sworn to at the American Consul-
ate-General in London, that the passage to which I refer is con-
tained in the body of the despatch without interpolation or addi-
tion. In fact our very capable Secretary, Mr. Richards, who in the
summer of 1910 visited Scotland and England for material for his
paper, has seen and copied the same paragraph, which was new to
him as it was originally to me. These papers are contained in the
Public Record Office in London, where I am told there is to be
found much that has never been touched by American historians,
which might cause the pages of many a history to be revised, were
it not for that provincial self-sufficiency which clothes the personal
appreciation of many a historian, not only here but abroad.
This particular letter of Abercrombie 's is to be found in
America and West Indies, Vol. 87, pp. 297-302,1 and the new part
is as follows:
"I caused his body to be taken off the field of battle, and sent
to Albany, wti$i a design to have had it embalmed, & sent home,
if his Lordship's relations, had approved of it. But the weather
being very hot, BrigT Stanwix was obliged to order it to be buried.
The Army, as I observed before, being dispersed & night com-
ing on fast, I collected such Part of it as wer>e within my Reach,
& posted them under the Trees, where they remained all Night
under Arms."2
At this time Fort Edward marked the advanced post of civili-
zation to the northward. Schenectady and Sir William Johnson 's
1 See Appendix for letter in extenso.
2 This part is entirely omitted in the letter published in N. Y. Col. Doc.
X, p. 725-
278 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
colony on the west, were the first encroachments on the territory
of the Long House. A few scattering settlements between Albany
and Fort Edward provided a way of communication to the south,
while to the eastward along the valley of the Hoosack protected by
a chain of forts, was a broad and well defined trail, over which
the provincial soldiery marched to the aid of their British brethren.
The provincials, especially those from the Massachusetts Bay set-
tlement, were great chroniclers and many diaries of the participants
•in this fight and this campaign, are to be found in the New Eng-
land towns.1
In examining these old journals it is interesting to note what is
considered by one man of the most concern, as compared with
the ideas of another soldier on the same day, or during the same
battle. The New Englanders' being mostly taken up with their
owtn petty affairs or self-doings, their ills and woes, or religious
welfare. For instance in the journal of John Noyes, published
by the Essex Institute in January, 1909, while the fatal skirmish
is mentioned, the death of Lord Howe is not alluded to in any way.
Nor is it in the Lemuel Lyon Journal, published in Poughkeepsie,
in 1855. Nor in the Joseph Holt Journal, published in the New
England Historic Genealogical Register, Vol. X, 1856. Following
the ad impossible reasoning of some historians, we might conclude
from three such utterly disinterested witnesses, that he was not
killed, but unfortunately that was not the case. These journals
are exceptions in this regard however, as it is through one of the
New England diaries that we obtain the proof that Lord Howe's
body did not remain on the field at Ticonderoga as claimed.2
1 See Bibliography, in Appendix.
2 put of a number of the comments on the sad affair of the 6th the
following are taken, to show how the soldiers felt : Rufus Putnam says, " His
death struck a great damp on the army. For my own part I was so pannic
struck that I was willing to remain with the boat guard, which in the
morning I should have ben very unwilling to have been detailed for."
Memoirs, p. 23. The Rev. Daniel Shute, a chaplain, says : " Upon Lord
Howe being slain the whole army were halted, * * * and July 7, lay still
upon ye same account. But 18,000 men not able to bring him to life.
(My chest arrived at Schenectada) "Hist. Col. Essex Inst. (April, 1874),
p. 137. Dr. Caleb Rea says: 7th "* * * I can't but observe since Lord
How's Death Business seems a little Stagnant;" his Journal (F. M. Ray
ed.), p. 25. Cornet Archelaus Fuller says: "About 2 a clok the general
and Lord How marched with a great part of the army tords the fort threw
the woods wheare the french and Ingons had wated by the accent we haue,
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 279
In Sewell's History of Woburn, Mass., published in 1868, there
appears in Appendix I|X, the Diary of Lieut. Samuel Thompson.
This was reprinted with annotations by William R. Cutter of
Woburn, in 1896. Samuel Thompson was a rather unusual per-
sonage for those days, and of a higher type than the ordinary sol-
dier. To him is attributed the discovery of the apple later known
as the Baldwin apple, and a monument to him in honor of this dis-
covery has been erected by a Woburn Historical Association. Of
Samuel Thompson, Mr. Cutter states, that he was "an esquire, a
deacon, an indefatigable clerk, a surveyor" in which capacity he
laid out the Middlesex Canal, followed ever since by railroad
engineers as the best route through that section of country, "and
held most of the highest offices in the town, besides performing
much important town business." The testimony of this man, an
officer, an ediucated man, and a gentleman, cannot therefore be
easily impeached or controverted, nor can it be overthrown by any
one 's ipse dixit, or disposed of by a wave of the hand. Until found
false it must stand as the truth.1 Lieut. Thompson was a part of
the great expedition of 1758 and had been left as part of the rear
theare was about thre thousands they killed Lord How the first shot. Som
others whiche was Lamente very much thru out the army," Col, Essex Inst.
(July 1910). In looking over the papers in the British Museum my searcher
ran across the following extract from a letter of Col. G. Washington to Col.
Boquet, from the camp at Fort Cumberland, July 2ist, 1758. " We participate
in the joy felt for the success of his Majesty's Arms at Louisburg etc. and
sincerely lament the loss of that brave and active Noblemen, Lord How."
Boquet Papers, Add. Mss., 21, 641, p. 17.
Alexander Golden also writes under date of July I7th, 1758, " Unfortun-
ately the Brave Lord Howe was killed in the beginning of this brush.
Add. Mss. 21,643, P- 154- And again under the same date " Ld Howe's death
was a bad affair but he exposed himself too much." Add. Mss. 21,643, P- IS1-
An officer writes to Capt. Knox, speaking of the loss sustained, it was
"trifling, however, in comparison to that which the army sustained by his
Lordship's fall, who was killed at the first charge, and is universally regretted
both by officers and soldiers ; " Knox's Journal, I, p. 149.
Col. Oliver Partridge writes "to our unspeakable loss Ld How was
shot dead on ye spot." Col. William Williams says " The disappointment
* * * (unless Ld H. was worth 400 of them which we killd and captd the
Time he was killd) is inexpressible * * . The death of the above man
was an unspeakable loss. Israel Williams Mss. Mass. Hist. Soc'y Library.
1 It has been intimated that this officer's evidence should be thrown out,
because it is not shown he viewed the body, and that it is " heresay "— if it
be hearsay, it comes under the well known rule of res gestae making it com-
petent here.
280 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
guard to look after the camp at the head of the lake. Under the
date of Saturday, July 8th, is the following entry in his diary -,1
"Post came from the Narrows: and they brought Lord How
to ye Fort, who was slain at their landing; and in ye afternoon
there came in 100 and odd men, French prisoners, into the Fort."
There could be no mistaking the body by Lieut. Thompson,
for that of another man. His lordship's person was well known
to every soldier in the provincial army. But even had it not been
known, in the afternoon there arrived at the head several boats
containing the prisoners taken at Birney River belonging to the
detachment of M. DeLangy, whose officers and crews would con-
firm the news and who knew that the body was that of Lord Howe.
Another chronicler, Capt. Asa Foster did not go with the expedi-
tion, remaining at the head doing other duty. He says under date
of July 8, confirming the arrival of the men : * ' 150 prisoners sent
up taken at the advanced guard at Ticonderoga and 121 were taken
into our stockade and guarded all night. ' '2 The presence however
of Major Schuyler at the English encampment, would make the
non-recognition of the body an impossibility.
Thus is corroborated General Abercrombie's statement that
he had the body taken from the field. This evidence also confirms
the statement made by W. C. Watson in his "History of Essex
County/'3 "that the next day a single barge retraced the track
of the flotilla bearing the body of the young hero, who but yester-
day had led its brilliant pageant." We are told that Phillip
Schuyler then major and deputy commissary was detailed, at his
own request, to accompany the body of his dear friend and asso-
ciate to Albany.4 Judge William Hay in his "Historical novel on
1 Sewell's History of Woburn, Mass., pp. 547-549; William R. Cutter's
Diary of Lieut. Samuel Thompson, Woburn, Mass., (Boston 1896), p. 9.
2 Id. p. 9, Gentleman's Magazine (1758), p. 445.
3 See Appendix for full extract from Watson covering this point.
4 Benson J. Lossing's Life and Times of Phillip Schuyler, (N. Y. 1883),
If P- 153- Id- F«V/rf Book of Revolution, (1851), I, p. 119. Whatever Mr.
Lossing's faults as a historian, he had free access to the Schuyler family
records, letters, papers and mss., and was so intimate with the family as to
know all the traditions, including the oral statements of Schuyler's daughter
Mrs. Cochran of Oswego, who gave him much valuable information. (Field
Book I, p. 119). His statements therefore can safely be relied upon in this
particular case.
REAL, BURIAL PLACE OP LORD HOWE. 281
the Burgoyne Campaign," says the selection was an honor equiva-
lent to being the bearer of an announcement of victory.1
Dr. Sherman Williams of this Association in looking up
another matter, ran across the following, bearing on this point,
which he kindly furnished the writer:
"In 1828, when he was president of the New York Historical
Society, Chancellor Kent gave an adddress in which, speaking of
General Phillip Schuyler, he said: "He was with Lord Howe
when he fell by the fire of the enemy on landing at the north end
of the lake, and he was appointed (as he himself informed me) to
convey the body of the young and lamented nobleman to Albany
where he was buried with appropriate solemnities, in the Episco-
pal Church."2
In all the history of his long and active life, devoted to the
advancement and interests of his country, Phillip Schuyler was
never known to shirk a duty or fail to carry out a detail of ser-
vice. It is neither probable nor likely that he failed in this case
to perform the sad task of carrying the body of Lord Howe to Al-
bany.3 And any argument to the contrary is mere speciousness,
a fallacy or a use of that branch of logic called "The Irrelevant
Conclusion," better known as the "Argumentum ad hominem."4
In Prof. Owen's monograph5 appears one of the most remark-
able arguments for any cause I have ever seen. He says (p. 12),
referring to the subsequent attacks on convoys made on the Lydius
or Fort Edwiard road by Montcalm's scouting parties, in one of
which, near Fort Ann, Putnam was captured; "such removal of
1 Judge William Hay of Glens Falls, and Saratoga, famous in the early
days of the last century as a jurist, and local historian, author, poet, pub-
lisher and contributor to the press, Dawson's Magazine etc., b. 1790, d. 1870.
(Holden's Queensbury, pp. 45-46). In 1859 he furnished to the Glens Falls
Republican scattering chapters of a proposed semi " Historical Novel on the
Burgoyne Campaign, full of local history which the writer fortunately has
in his possession. Unfortunately his design of fuller publication was never
carried into effect.
2 N. Y. Hist. Soc. Col (2nd Series 1841), I, p. 20.
3 Baxter's Digby's Journal, (Albany 1887), pp. 241-243 has an excellent
appreciation of General Schuyler. See also A Godchild of Washington,
P- 39-
4 Jevon's Logic (ed. 1882) p. 178 says " This fallacy is in truth the great
resource of those who have to support a weak case. It is not unknown in
the legal profession, and an attorney for the defendant in a lawsuit is said
to have handed to the barrister, his brief marked "no case, abuse the plain-
tiff's attorneys."
5 His Burial of Lord Viscount Howe, p. 12.
282 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
the body to Albany was not practicable, in view of the danger at-
tending the same. * * * It is a matter of history that the wilder-
ness between the lake and Fort Edward was continually traversed
by bands of Indians and French in search of plunder and scalps
down to a period as late as the final evacuation of Ticonderoga by
the French in Amherst's campaign. It would therefore been
manifestly hazardous to have attempted to convey the remains
to Albany, requiring a stronger detachment for a guard than could
well have been spared at the time." The utter ridiculousness of
such a statement is immediately apparent when we remember that
between the 9th and the 12th the wounded of Abercrombie 's army
had been removed to Fort Edward, and Albany,1 and that strong
guards had been placed at Fort Edward, Fort Miller, and Half-
Way Brook by the general's orders.2 It is true that later, on July
20th and again on July 28th attacks on the English and provincials
stationed at Half -Way Brook3 were made by the French rangers,
resulting in considerable loss to the forces of Abercrombie, but at
the time of the defeat at Ticonderoga, Montcalm did not pursue
the English and his reasons for not doing so are quoted in full in
New York Colonial Documents, Vol. X.4
In recapitulation then, up to Thursday, Oct. 3, 1889, the facts
in the Lord Howe matter stood as follows : He was killed accord-
ing to the letters and authorities quoted herein about four o'clock,
on the afternoon of July 6th. The accompanying soldiery, most
of whom were provincials and rangers, thrown into a rage over his
death, had avenged it so far as possible by the practical annihila-
tion of De Trepezec's (or Trepezee's) force, between three and
four hundired in number. The rest of the English army badly
confused, dismayed by the loss and upset and bewildered by the
dense forests, were in disorder. According to his official report
to Secretary Pitt, General Abercrombie had caused the body to
1 Papers Charles Lee, Col. N. Y. Hist. Soc. (1871), I, p. 6 et seq.; Knox's
Hist. Journal, I, p. 145.
2 Miss Kimball's Cor. of Wm. Pitt, I, pp. 316-327.
3 My Half-way Brook in History, N. Y. State Hist. Assn. Pro. VI. pp.
169-189. See also Dr. Rea's Journal, pp. 34-35, 39-4* ; Cleaveland Journal
Cffl. Essex Inst., (July, 1871), pp. 100, I93-IQ5, Cornet Fullers Journal,
Col. Essex Inst., (July, 1910), p. 216, Journal John Noyes, Col, Essex Inst.,
(Jan. 1009), PP. 74-75-
4 See pp. 757-764.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 283
«
be removed from the field of battle, and it had been taken in
charge by Captain Moneypenny, according to his letters. The
army being dispersed and night coming on fast, the general had
collected together what men he could and posted them under trees
where they remained all night under arms. The next day an es-
cort started with the body in a single barge for the head of Lake
George. «
Depending upon wind and wave, and with good oarsmen in the
rude barges or whale boats of those days, it would take a trifle
over ten hours to reach the head a distance of thirty and oue-haJf
miles, with all things favorable and no rests.1
On Lake George such a trip now is considered an all day's task
for a good oarsman in a light boat.2
In 1805, Elkanah Watson, traveled over the lake in a batteau
rowed .by four men, starting early in the morning. The party
coursed) down the lake, entering the Narrows in the afternoon, and
making Sabbath Day Point at sun down. Here they camped for
the night axid went on into Lake Champlain the next day.3 It is
probable in the case of Lord Howe, that the boat bearing the re-
mains did not start early on the 7th as it reached Fort William
Henry on the morning of the 8th, according to Lieut. Thompson.
The usual camping or resting places at that time, as well as during
the Revolutionary War, were Sabbath Day Point, Fourteen Mile
Island,4 in the Narrows, Diamond Island,5 three miles from the
head, which Rogers was occupying as an advanced post for his
scouting purposes,6 or Long Island.
1 It apparently however was usual then to take two days for the
journey, for we find the English officer in charge of the French prisoners
starting the night of the 7th, and reaching the head the next day. (Gentle-
man's Magazine (1758), p. 445. In the following year, 1759, Rufus Putnam
describes a disagreeable trip with two boats, men and some horses up the
lake to the head, in early December. They had to camp for the night, prob-
ably at what is now Halfway Island, and next day with a heavily loaded
boat, the other having to be abandoned, reached Fort George a little after
sunset. (Memoirs, pp. 29-30.)
2 Letters R. J. Brown of Bolton, former County Engineer, (Oct. 22, 1910),
and C. A. West, Lake George (Oct. 21, 1910.)
3 Men and Times of the Revolution, p. 352.
4 Horatio Rogers' Lieut. Hodden's Journal, (Albany 1884), p. 104.
5 Holden's Queensbury, p. 457. DeCosta's Lake George, p. 121.
6 Dr. Rea's Journal, Hist. Col. Essex Inst., (1881), pp. 200-201. N. Y.
Col. Doc. X, p. 946. The Journal of A Provincial Officer, Dawson's Hist.
Mag. under date Aug. 24th says: "Making oars for the sloop, the guard
att halfway brook relieved 300 regulars 500 Provincial troops to guard on
Dimond Island and relieved." p. 119.
284 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
As soon as the batteau reached the head, a messenger under
flying seal, was dispatched post haste to Albany with the news.
The effect of the receipt of the intelligence from the bare-headed
hurrying messenger, on Madam Schuyler, is too well known to re-
quire but passing mention here.1 From evidence unearthed by
Miss Diver in London, we find that General John Stanwix received
the news on Sunday, July 9th, for he writes to Lieutenant Gover-
nor DeLancey at New York, on that date, from Albany at midnight,
as follows:
"As affairs have not turned out so prosperously as we had
wished, and that it may perhaps be necessary to raise the Militia,
I am to desire that immediately upon the receipt hereof, you will
order them to be raised, and yourself proceed here Forthwith, to
give the necessary directions for raising those in these Quarters,
As this is pressing I shall not enter into a Detail of what has hap-
pened, being in hopes to see you as soon as possible.
Poor Lord Howe is Killed, the General on that occasion very
justly says: 'All the advantages we have gained is nothing in
comparison to his loss, his Excellent Qualities as a Soldier, as well
as in every other respect is sufficiently known. I have had such
assistance from him that I both feel and lament his Loss in a par-
ticular manner.' "2
The foregoing is evidently the letter from Gen. Stanwix to
Lieutenant Governor DeLancey referred to in the following des-
patch to Governor Denny at Carlisle, Pa., written by Lieutenant
Governor DeLancey and enclosing General Stanwix 's communi-
cation of the 9th. It is equally evident that this is not the letter
of General Stanwix to Lieutenant Governor DeLancey dated July
12, which is missing from the State Archives, which might have
explained why the body was buried in Albany.
"New York, 12 July, 1758.
Sir:
I received the Letter of which the inclosed is a Copy yesterday
in the Evening. I have by the advice of his Majesty's Council
laid an Embargo on all Vessels except Coasters until Further or-
1 A Godchild of Washington, p. 50, Munsell's Annals of Albany, III, pp.
158-159-
2 Boquet Papers, Add. Mss. 21,640, p. 77.
IS DAT PUBLISHED, 25
, XNJON
I N G oi Prt/ffia, ]
Courtesy of Rev. Joseph Hooper
BOSTON NEWS LETTER
Lord Howe's Interment Second Column
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 285
ders, hoping that you will think it expedient to take the like Meas-
ure until we shall be able from further Intelligence to judge of the
state of our Army. I am just setting off for Albany.
P. S. Lord How was Killed in the skirmish on the Landing in
which we gained some advantage, having taken 140 Prisoners, eight
of whom are Officers. But were in attacking their advanced Post,
our Affairs went ill, The Particulars we Know not, otherwise than
is hinted in Genii Stanwix 's Letter."1
As soon as possible after the body was received at the head of
the lake, a rude bier was prepared, and escorted by a detachment
of soldiers, the dead hero was carried to Fort Edward. Rev.
Joseph Hooper states in a recent letter that in the privately print-
ed letters of the Shippen family, there are two treating of the Ti-
conderoga defeat. In the one of July 20, 1758, it is written,
"Lord Howe is certainly dead and his body brought to Fort Ed-
ward." Judge Grenville M. Ingalsbe, one of the Vice-Presidents
of this Association, writes me that he has heard his grandfather tell
the story that his grandfather, Captain Ebenezar "Ingoldsby" as
it was then spelled on the military rolls, was a member of the mili-
tary escort which went with the body on its way to Albany. From
Fort Edward the body was conveyed by batteau to Albany, where
according to the letter of Abercrombie, Gen. Stanwix found it
necessary to have it buried, further embalming being an impossi-
bility. According to the traditions in the Schuyler family, and
other old families of the city of Albany, Lord Howe was buried
with military honors in the chancel of the then English Church,
the St. Peter's of today.2
1 This DeLancey letter from the Bouquet Mss. in the British Museum,
is practically identical with the one described in Calendar of N. Y. Hist. Doc.
(English) p. 691, copy of which was furnished me by Peter Nelson, Assistant
State Archivist. An extract from the Stanwix letter of July 12, will also
be found on the same page.
2 Munsell's Collections of the History of Albany, I, pp. 390-391, 445-446,
II, pp. 13, 14. Ibed, Annals of Albany. Return of Abercrombie's Army, II,
p, 6a Tuckerman's Life of General Phillip Schuyler, pp. 60, 61. Mary Gay
Humphrey's, Catherine Schuyler, p. 59. Butler's Lake George and Lake
Champlain, (1869), PP- 220-222. Mrs. Bonney's Historical Gleanings, I, pp.
22, 157. See also Hough's ed. Pouchot's Memoir's, I, p. 112, note from
Williams, Vermont, I, p. 505. Also note Hough's Roger's Journals, p. 119
where it is stated " Remains were probably removed to England after de-
molition of church in 1802." The evidence is all against this theory however.
286 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
The Colony of Massachusetts Bay erected a monument to his
memory in Westminister Abbey, an unusual mark of respect from
Puritan colonials.1
The English Church at Albany was built in 1715 and demolish-
ed in 1802. At this time, the remains of twenty-four persons bur-
ied under the old church, were reburied in a trench along the
north foundation wall of the new edifice. It was at this time that
the inspection of Lord Howe's remains was made by Elkanah Wat-
son.2 In 1859 the second church was torn down and the present
St. Peter's church erected. The Albany Journal of March 30th,
that year, has the following on the subject:
"This morning the remains of a double coffin was discovered,
and in it were found the bones of a large sized person. That these
were the remains of Lord Howe, there can be little doubt. Two
pieces of ribbon, in a good state of preservation were found among
the bones, which are supposed to have bound his hair together.
Lord Howe was killed at the battle of Lake George, on the 6th of
July, 1758, over one hundred years ago. There are persons now
living in this city who distinctly recollect the fact of their removal
from beneath the English Church, as it was then called, to the
grounds of the present St. Peter's. It is alleged by them that the
coffin was covered with canvas, and that saturated with tar; that
it was opened, and exhibited the hair in a good state of preserva-
tion, dressed in the fashion of the day."3
We have neither time nor space here to go more fully into
the matter of the Albany proofs. That ground having been thor-
oughly and convincingly covered by Dr. Hooper.4 Suffice it to
say, that on the erection of the new St. Peter's, the body of Lord
Howe found under the former church, was reverently deposited
awaiting the day when earth and sea shall give up their dead,
"under the vestibule of the present edifice, being enclosed within a
brick wall which forms part of the foundation of the vestibule. ' '5
1 See Appendix, for description of the erection of this memorial, also
see photograph showing same taken especially for this publication, so far as
is now known this is the first cut of this monument to appear in an American
historical work.
2 See Dr. Hooper's proofs also extract from W. C. Watson's Hist.
Essex Co. in Appendix.
3 Munsell's Col. Hist, of Albany, I, p. 445.
4 See in Appendix.
5 Hooper's History of St. Peter's Church, p. 524.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 287
Now comes the claim of Ticonderoga to be considered as the
real burying place of Lord Howe. I will not take your time by
going into this claim at any length. The ground has already been
thoroughly, plausibly and well covered by Mr. Wicks in his ad-
mirable paper, whose premises once granted, would leave no room
for argument, and by the paper presented before the Albany In-
stitute in January, 1893, by Edward J. Owen, A. M., since de-
ceased as I am informed. The facts facts briefly stated are these :
On Thursday, the 3rd of October, 1889, some laborers while
digging a sewer trench in front of the E. M. Gifford place in Ti-
conderoga, about opposite the High School, found a partially de-
cayed coffin, containing alleged human remains, at whose head was
a lump of black lead, and a triangular shaped stone on which was
rudely cut, indented or scratched these words:
MEM
OF
L° HOWE
KILLED
TROUT
BROOK
The find then created a mild historical sensation. Ticondero-
gians and others claimed, and have insisted since, that the grave was
Lord Howe's, and the remains those of that lamented nobleman.
The battle of historians over this point has continued from that
day to this. At the time Editor Tefft of the Whitehall Chronicle
claimed the stone was intended for some L. O. Howe,1 and had
nothing whatever to do with Lord Howe. Judge James Gibson
of Salem, one of the best informed local historians of this region,
stated positively, that there were no tenable grounds for the as-
sumption that this was the grave of Lord Howe.2 The writer of
this article, then local editor of the Glens Falls Times,3 went over
the story with his father, the late Dr. A. W. Holden, Queensbury's
historian, who while he received the discovery with an open mind,
referred to the fact that in his large library of Americana, the
authority was all the other way. Grave doubts as to the truth of
1 Whitehall Chronicle, (Oct. 5, 1889.)
2 Salem, N. Y. Review Press, (Oct. 18, 1889.)
3 His article in Glens Falls Daily Times, (Oct. 22, 1889.)
288 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
the matter were likewise cast on it by the Troy and Albany papers
of that day.1
An examination of a photograph of the stone has convinced
me that it can not be contemporaneous with the period under
discussion. One of the strongest arguments made by Prof. Owen
is, that Joseph Peterson, then of Ticond&roga, claimed that his
great grandfather Peterson, who was a stone cutter by trade, was
the one who lettered this stone, and put it in the grave to mark it,
and also that he was a member of Rogers' Rangers. This was told
to Joseph Peterson by his grandfather Ephriam Peterson, who at
the time was ninety-two or ninety-three years old. So his mem-
ory might easily have been, and undoubtedly was, faulty.2
The stone betrays itself in several particulars. In the first
place, the expression "In Mem" or "In Mem of" was not com-
monly used until just before the Revolution. In fact it was most
uncommon as the testimony of a number of experts on old epitaphs,
and my own researches show, appearing on but a few head stones
out of thousands, anywhere in this country.
"Here lyes" or "lies", or "Here lyeth" was the usual and
ordinary form of beginning an epitaph on any tomb or grave stone
up to about 1765 or 1770, The exceptions where the words "In
Memory of" were used, before these dates, are so rare as to be not-
iceable for their rarity.3
1 See Troy Telegram, (Oct. 21, 1889) and Troy Press of same date, and
year.
2 Prof. E. J. Owen's Monograph, Burial of Lord Viscount Howe strongly
pro Ticonderoga, read before Albany Institute, (Jan. 3, 1893), p. 26.
3 For an epitaph of this same year 1758, with " Here lyes " see Stark's
Memoir, p. 10. Consult also the -New England Hist, and Gen. Reg. (for
Oct. 1847 and July 1848), or their Vol. XVI, (1862), pp. 81, 258, 260, 337, or
Mass. Hist. Sac. Pro. XVII (1879-1880) p. 241. For specimen epitaphs, out
of fourteen noticed in the first mentioned periodicals, one only (in 1792) was
" In Memory of." Miss Lomas writes " that the attendants in the British
Museum state " Here Lyes " was the commoner form." The following
American experts, in letters to me, also bear witness to the ordinary and
common use of " Here lyes " and the uncommon and rare use of " In
Memory of : " Dr. Samuel A. Green of the Mass. Hist. Society, Boston ;
George Francis Dow of the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.; and Geo. H.
Evans, Librarian Woburn Public Library, Woburn, Mass., all of whom are
generally familiar with the old burial places and old monuments of their
own localities and New England. Two instances of later use of the form
" Here lyes " i. e. in 1760 and 1817, are to be found in Hist. Mag. (Dec. 1861),
p. 372. The New Haven Colony Hist. Soc'y., in its Papers III, (New Haven,
1882), pp. 471-614, gives 951 inscriptions on tombstones in New Haven,
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 289
Tn this connection it seems a strange coincidence that the
oldest head stone in this locality should be that of Duncan Camp-
bell of Inverawe, killed in this same battle at Ticonderoga, and
which today is still standing in the Union Cemetery between Hud-
son Falls and Fort Edward. We would naturally expect from the
Lord Howe stone this contemporary one would have had "In Mem-
ory of/' but instead it bears the legend "HERE LYES the body of
Duncan Campbell, of Inversaw, Esqr., &C."1
Next if the inscription had been prepared under the direction
of General Abercrombie, the abbreviation "Lo" would not have
been used. I had never seen it myself and wrote to Miss Lomas
asking her if she had ever in her work run across it at the Record
Office. She replied as follows: "I quite thought I had come
across the shortened form 'lo' for 'lord'— But I think I must be
mistaken, for I asked several experts at the Record Office and they
all thought 'Ld' was used at that time. And on searching through
2 bundles of the correspondence (1755 & 1757) I often came across
the abbreviation 'Ld' but never once 'Lo', which I think proves
pretty well that the 'Lo' was not used then. 'Lds. of the Admir-
alty', 'Ld. Holderness' occurred several times. 'Lordships' seems
to be always written in full, and of course, 'Lord' very often."
This disposes of the argument by Owen on p. 14 of his Mono-
graph "The o of the L° is smaller than the other letters, corres-
ponding to the then prevalent practice in all papers and docu-
ments of designating the title of Lord by that abbreviation."
At any rate we can be morally certain that it would not have
been used by Abercrombie, who was thoroughly acquainted with
official titles, designations and abbreviations.2
erected previous to 1800. Up to 1760, " Here lies " appears 155 times, and
after 1760, 24. "In Memory of" appears 31 times before 1758, 4 times in
that year and 2 times in 1759. After 1760, it appears 280 times. How many
of the older inscriptions "In Memory Of" were on stones put up after the
year of death as a memorial is not known. A prevailing form in New Haven
was simply the name and dates of birth and death, without introduction or
comment.
1 Dr. Asa Fitch's Survey oj Washington County in New York Agri.
Soc. Trans. (1848), p. 930. See also W. L. Stone's Hist. Washington
County, N .Y., pp. 103-104 and R. O. Bascom's Fort Edward Book for cut
of stone to face p. 80. See also same cut as reproduced in this volume.
2 Since the above was written, I received a letter from Miss Lomas in
which she stated that her mother, also an expert copyist, had seen the
290 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Again, if the stone had been prepared as claimed, under the
direction of the Bangers the name would have been spelled HOW,
which was the spelling in vogue by both French and Colonials, as
proved by nearly all of the contemporaneous journals and diaries
which have not been edited before publication.1
The line KILLED AT TROUT BROOK, is however the most
damaging piece of evidence, which this stone bears against itself.
As a matter of fact, " Trout Brook," as such, was not known
at that time to the English. It was in French territory exclusive-
ly. It was called by Montcalm, "Bernes," "Bernets," ajlcl
"Birney" River. It was also known as " River of the Falls. "2 A
contemporary French sketch map of the period gives it as "R.
Bernetz. ' '3 Rogers who had repeatedly scouted the region calls it
"the river that ran into the falls."4 None of the contemporary
journalists or historians, previous to the settlement by the English,
after Amherst's Campaign of 1759 and 1760 called it by the name
of * ' Trout Brook. ' ' In fact Dr. Joseph Cook the authority on that
region calls it Berney River in his Centennial Address at Ticonde-
roga.5
form "Lo" in old papers, but that it would have been "a very unusual and
curious form to appear on a tomb stone." Inquiry however of Dr. Samuel A.
Green of the Mass. Hist. Society, and Robert H. Kelby of the New York
Hist. Society elicited the replies that neither of them had ever seen such an
abbreviation. The writer also, carefully went over several years of the
Gentleman's Magazine, covering this period, and in every volume the ab-
breviation used was "Ld." Our State Archivist A. J. F. van Laer writes
that he has never seen the abbreviation " in any documents or records of the
i8th or any other century." It is evident therefore, that it was not so very
"prevalent" in England, nor familiar in America, at that date, and not
used on tomb stones as an abbreviation even in England.
1 N. Y. Col. Doc. X., pp. 738, 741, etc. See Roger's Journals (London
1765), pp. 109-114; Lt. Samuel Thompson's Diary, (Boston 1896), p. 9;
Journal Dr. Caleb Rea, (Salem 1881), p. 25; Buel's Memoirs of Rufus
Putnam, p. 23, etc.
2 There was a Lieut. Col. of the Royal Rousillon Regt. who was with
Montcalm in this campaign as in preceding ones, by the name of Chevalier de
Bernetz, Bernier or Bernes, from whom this stream probably took its then
local name— Hough's Pouchot, I, p. 113. Also N. Y. Col. Doc. X, pp. 604-605.
See also for name of river idem, p. 738, 747, 791, 814, 845.
3 Id. French map, copied from original in French War Dept. No.
3498-144, to face p. 721.
4 Rogers' Journals, (Hough's ed. Albany 1883), p. n8a, same also in
ed. 1765, p. 112.
Hist. Soc., 1909), pp. 66-67.
5 Joseph Cook's Centennial Address at Ticonderoga 1864, (Ticonderoga
LORD HOWE MONUMENT, (TROUT BROC ERGQA. N
AT TICONDEROGA
Boulder in Academy Park to the Heroes of the Four Nations — Indian. French, English and American —Who
Fought at Ticonderoga
Monument Marking the Supposed Spot ^Vhere Lord Howe was Killed, at the Mouth of Trout Brook
(Both Boulder and Monument Were Erected hy the Late Rev, Joseph Cook)
REAL BURIAL PLACE OP LORD HOWE. 291
Even the original surveys and deeds of the first families do
not give this stream the name of Trout Brook.1 Not a contempor-
ary map has ever been found with the name of " Trout Brook"
upon it.2
How then could this name, given to the brook by settlers in
later days (on account of the abundance of the speckled beauties
then found in it by the creel full), have been affixed to it by per-
sons in 1758, who knew neither its value as a fishing preserve,
whence it came nor whither it went? The old Latin proverb ran
"Falsum in Uno, Falsum in Omnibus." We have here shown how-
ever that not even in one particular does the Ticonderoga stone
seem to belong to the day and generation to which it purports to
appertain.
1 In the Land Papers office of the Secretary of State there are to be
found in XVIII, p. 4 grant to John Stoughton the first settler of Ticonderoga
in 1764, and on p. 5 grant to John Kennedy. Mr. Paltsits kindly examined
these for the writer and from the latter's data discovered that even on the
original grants, and on the original survey filed with them (p. 5) the brook
while shown is not named. He says on the survey for Lieut. John Stoughton,
July 24, 1764, the following bounds are mentioned: "Southwesterly and
southerly along the banks of the said river or waters to a brook which
empties into the said river or waters, nine chains below the landing place
out of Lake George." It is therefore plain that even at that day Trout Brook
had not as yet received its later name.
2 An exhaustive search for maps of this period has been most kindly
made for the writer by State Historian Paltsits at Albany and at the Lenox
Library New York; Miss Charlotte Van Peyma at the State Library, Albany,
N. Y.; Miss Lena Diver at the British Museum, London; and by P. Lee
Phillips, Chief Maps and Charts Division at the Congressional Library,
Washington, in addition to an examination, by the writer, of every map
published in any of the reference books mentioned herein. These all lead to
the same result. The stream is shown but not named in any of the earlier
maps. Parkman however, in his Montcalm and Wolfe (Frontenac ed.)
shows a map opposite p. 301 entitled Sketch of the Country Round Tycon-
deroga, Doen by Lt. E. Meyer of Ye 6oth Regt. On this map the stream
is called "Trout Brook." The map looked suspiciously like an "edited"
one to the writer and Mr. Paltsits coincided in this opinion. Miss Van
Peyma, Miss Lomas and Mr. Phillips all reported that Lt. Elias Meyer the
map maker as shown by the "Army Lists" of that period, and by Ford's
British Officers Serving in America, was lieutenant in the 62nd Regiment
from January 23, 1756, and capt. lieut. in the 6oth Regiment from April 27,
1762. Miss Lomas says "The 6oth was in America in 1758 and 1759, and
part of it (it was divided into 4 battalions) was with Amherst in winter
quarters in the latter year. The 2nd battalion was certainly with him, prob-
ably the first and perhaps the 3rd also, but these are not certain." We know
this regiment or part of it was at Louisbourg (Richard's Her Majesty's Army,
I, p. 290). It is doubtful therefore if Lt. Meyer ever saw Ticonderoga till
1759. The proof of the whole matter however lies in the fact that Miss
Diver discovered in the British Museum the original " Sketch Doen by Lt. E.
292 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
The fact thiat the body was buried in a coffin or box, would
also tend to discredit the story, as amid all the confusion of the
army, the fact that at this time the supplies were hardly landed,
and there was no place where boards for a coffin could be secured,
the French Mill having been destroyed,1 and the further fact that
it was the custom then in case of a hurried military funeral, to in-
ter the body in a cloak, blanket or canvas shroud,2 would render it
improbable that so much care would be taken as this would indi-
cate, by officers so badly confused as the official despatches and pri-
vate letters show.
The element of time in this matter must also be considered. I
am informed by one of the best monument workers in this section
that the cutting of thirty letters a day in granite or rock of a simi-
lar texture is considered a good day's work for a skilled man. And
that if the lettering had to be done, as has been alleged it was, with
a bayonet or other rude tool, it would take the better part of two
days to accomplish this particular piece of work on the Ticondero-
ga stone. There being twenty-seven letters in the inscription.3
Meyer "in Additional Mss., 21, 686 (30) on which is marked in pencil
"8 July 1758," and she says "that 'Trout Brook' is NOT named in this
little sketch." This shows conclusively that Parkman's map is not a true
copy, but an interpolated one. Bancroft gives both names, Bernes River
and Trout Brook in his History United States, (1852), IV, map to face p. 305.
3 Smith's History Essex County N. Y., (Syracuse, 1885), p. 379.
1 See letter in Gentleman's Magazine, (1758), XXVIII, p. 445, also Knox's
Journal, p. 149.
2 Compare the burial of Warren at Bunker Hill — " His remains were
buried on the field, with such disregard of the claims of rank, as a man
and a citizen, that only the supposition that Gage feared to place them in the
hands of his (Warren's) friends for political reasons can account for the
indignity with which the body was treated. As for the Americans with
whom he fought, it is not known that they made the least effort to obtain the
remains. He died and received the burial of an American ret el, a name of
which his descendants are not ashamed.
" No useless coffin enclosed his breast,
Not in sheet or in shroud we bound him,
But he lay like a warrior taking his rest,
With his martial cloak around him."
Samuel Adams Drake in Old Landmarks and Historic Fields of Middlesex,
(Boston 1888), p. 72.
3 To dispose of the Ticonderoga stone and its authenticity at this time,
the writer is permitted to quote the following from the letters of Dr. John M.
Clarke, State Geologist: "I may say to you, however, that in my judgment
findings on behalf of the Ticonderoga claim could not be regarded as all
in, until this monument has been subjected to an expert scrutiny. The ques-
tion arises whether the apparent degree of weathering of the inscription is
such as should have taken place after one hundred and fifty years of ex-
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 293
Then, too, the nails found with the alleged coffin are said to
be the same as those used in the old fort.1 If this be true, I would
enquire how) the English could obtain in 1758, nails from a fort
which they did not capture until 1759, or occupy much till a year
later.
Prof. Owen, the advocate of Tieonderoga as a bur-
ial place, gave as a reason for a hasty burial and the
deposit of the two stones in the grave,2 that it was desir-
able to mark the spot in some way and also protect it
from the Indians with Montcalm, who might dig up the body in
order to secure the scalp, and that the graphite lump was the
mark of distinction. It seems remarkable that so distinguished
a man should not have had some metallic insignia buried with him,
in such an out of the way spot, to identify his body in the event
of the grave being found, and that a lump of stone, which would
have had to have been brought four or five miles, should have been
chosen for such a purpose.3
On the other hand, we are credibly informed that later on,
the body in Albany, supposed to be Lord Howe's, when taken up
for re-interment, had coverings distinctive of his rank.
They who allege as a precedent the burial of Braddock on the
scene of his defeat, in an unknown grave, and of Colonel Williams
where he fell at the Battle of Lake George, should have chosen
their arguments and precedents with more care. In the first place
the official reports of Montcalm and his officers show that this was
the only important French victory ever won without the aid of In-
dians. There were only sixteen of them4 with the army, most of
whom were wiped out in the skirmish at the River Bernetz, or ran
away.5 In the second place, while the body of General Braddock
was never discovered, enough soldiers knew of the circumstance,
posure and burial, and whether this inscription has been renewed since the
discovery of the stone. Only the geologist can determine the authenticity of
this monument and its inscription * * *. In such cases as these it is not
a matter of mere opinion or reasonable presumption as to what has taken
place, but a question for accurate scientific determination."
1 E. J. Owen's Burial of Lord Viscount Howe, p. 14.
2 Id. p. 13.
3 Id. p. 26.
4 New York Col. Doc. X, p. 732.
6 Id. p. 738.
294 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
to hand it down to later generations. In the same way the family
of Colonel Williams had sufficient knowledge of his burying place
to enable a nephew about 1837 to find the remains in the place
near Williams' Rock, at French Mountain where they had been
deposited, and where they still remain.1 If Lord Howe's body had
been buried at Ticonderoga, certainly some one of the numerous
New Englanders present, especially the Rangers, his friends, if
no one else had done it, would have chronicled it, and we would
have known the facts long before this, for such a burial could not
have been accomplished in a secret manner. The good work car-
ried on by the Essex Institute leads me to hope that even now there
may be discovered some day, hidden away in some New England
attic, a time stained manuscript which will set us all right in this
matter.
Again, as has been so well said:2 "Is it conceivable that
Bradstreet, Stark, Putnam, Rogers, Capt. Schuyler, General Aber-
crombie, in fact the whole army would have forgotten him as soon
as his heart ceased to beat * * *? If his grave was there and
known, why did not Amherst know and why did he not have the
body removed from the lonely grave? It will be remembered that
the next year 1759 the British dominated Lake Champlain and
Lake George, and that the French soldiers never returned. ' '3
As remarked before, the element of time is to be considered.
When killed, it is said Lord Howe was with Israel Putnam's divis-
ion of the Rangers. Colonel David Humphreys in his life of that
noted American soldier says "that Putnam remained on the field
until it began to grow dark, employed in collecting such of the
enemy as were left wounded to one place; he gave them all the
liquor and little refreshments which he could secure; he furnished
to each of them a blanket. ' '4 Putnam and Stark were the intimate
1 A. W. Holden's Queensbury, pp. 294-295. A. L. Perry's Origins in
Williamstown, pp. 355-356.
2 W. Max Reid's Lake George and Lake Champlain, (N. Y. 1910), p. 160.
3 That it was possible to find bodies, even under adverse circumstances,
is shown by an interesting anecdote in Warburton's Conquest of Canada, II,
pp. 22-23, taken from Gait's Life of West. Major Sir Peter Halket, accom-
panied by a party of Indians and American sharp-shooters found the remains
of his father and brother killed at the time of Braddock's Defeat, under the
leaves and rubbish of the forest near the scene of the battle, where one
of the Indians remembered seeing the two men fall. The bodies were
easily identified, and buried with the usual honors. Bancroft also mentions
this incident in revised edition of his History of the United States, (Boston
1879), III, p. 207.
4 Humphrey's Life of Putnam, (ed. 1812), p. 47, (Ibid. 1833), p. 41 ; Wm.
H. Graham's Life and Times of General Israel Putnam, (1849), p. 21.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OP LORD HOWE. 295
friends of Lord Howe among the Rangers, and to them, had the
local burial been decided upon, would have been entrusted the sad
task. On the one hand however, Putnam was looking after the
French wounded, and Stark, the next day, performing military
duties.
The next morning, also according to Humphrey, ' * Major Rogers
was sent to reconnoitre the field "where Lord Howe was kill-
ed, ' ' that is the river bank, * ' and bring off the wounded prisoners ;
but, finding the wounded unable to help themselves, in order to
save trouble, he dispatched everyone of them to the world of
Spirits."1 An officer writing to the Gentleman's Magazine, under
date of July 9, 1758, gives the following account of the affair:
"His Lordship was shot through the breast, and died instantly.
Col. DeLancey was near him, but was not hurt. We soon routed
this party, and took 152 prisoners, killing near 300, some of whom
were scalped, by our people, but the most of them were left un-
toched until evening, when Major Rogers' Indians paid them the
compliments of the knife."2 Rogers' party which was on the scout
continually, was evidently the party of "pioneers" seen at six
o'clock on the evening of the 6th, by M. Duprat approaching the
River Bernetz, and reported by him to Montcalm.3 This contem-
porary account verifies Humphrey, except as to the time when
Rogers visited the ground.
We know that the army was under arms the entire night of
the 6th and morning of the 7th. It would have taken some time
to have prepared the coffin, selected a burial place, picked out the
lump of graphite, unlike anything else then in that vicinity, graph-
ite bearing rock not having been discovered until after Revo-
lutionary times,4 and worst job of all to have found a proper head-
1 Life of Putnam, (1833), p. 41.
2 XXVIII, p. 445-
3 N. Y. Col. Doc. X, p. 738.
4 Graphite rock was first discovered in Ticonderoga about 1815 or 1818
on "Grassy Hill" now known as Lead Mountain in the northwestern part
of Ticonderoga. Dr. Cook is authority for the statement that in an ancient
excavation several Indian arrows were found. So unless one of Montcahn's
savages had fortuitously and fortunately dropped this rock so that the English
might use it in this manner, its presence at this time and in this particular
place would have savored of the miraculous. Cook's Sketches pp. 57-59-
" Graphite, or black lead is to be found on the premises of W. A. G. Arthur,
Ticonderoga. It is found in a wall of quartz or trap rock. The
Port Henry granular limestone appears in Ticonderoga, near Lake George.
W. C. Watson, Survey of Essex County in Trans. N. Y. S. Agri. Soc., (1852),
pp. 786-787, 789.
296 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
stone, had it cut to shape and lettered. The death of Lord Howe
occurred about four o'clock in the afternoon,1 and the battle lasted
until sundown,2 which at this time of the year on Lakes George
and Ghamplain, would have been around eight o'clock, with the
afterglow if the day were clear. But both the 6th and 7th were
cloudy, as many July days on Lake George are apt to be, with a
shower the latter day.3
The skirmish took place according to different diarists from
one and a half to two miles from the Lake George Landing Place.
While Dr. Joseph Cook insists that it was near the confluence of
Trout Brook with the Outlet.4
S. R. Stoddard says in a now rare work : ' * Toward the north,
down where the waters of the lake circling around are joined by
those of Trout Brook from the valley on the west, the gallant Lord
Howe * * * was killed."5
On a very scarce map of Lake George loaned me by Mr. Stod-
dard, the spot where Lord Howe fell is marked as about opposite
the old village of Alexandria (Upper Ticonderoga now) on the
west bank of the Outlet, and in a southwesterly direction from the
upper falls. This map shows the spot as quite a distance from the
junction of the brook and the Outlet.6 Charles Carroll of Carroll-
ton, Maryland, one of the " signers/' who with Dr. Benjamin
Franklin, and Samuel Chase, under the guidance of Phillip Schuy-
ler journeyed through Lakes George and Champlain, as the spec-
ial commissioners from Congress to Cinada, in April, 1776, writes
under date of the 21st: "I took a walk this evening to the saw-
mill which is built on the principal fall of the river flowing from
Lake George into Lake Champlain.7 * * * A little to the north-
westward of the saw-mill, on the west side of the river, I visited
the spot where Lord Howe was killed. ' '8
1 Dr. Cook's Centennial Address, (Ticonderoga 1909}, p. 71. See also
Montcalm's Report New York Col. Doc. X, p. 792.
Journal Col. Archelaus Fuller, in Col. Essex Inst., (1910), XLVI, July,
pp. 213-214.
3 Journal of Dr. Caleb Rea, pp. 24-25.
4 Home Sketches p. 102, Centennial Address p. 71.
6 Stoddard's Ticonderoga, (Albany, 1873), p. u.
6 Miller's Lith. 142 Broadway, N. Y. n.d.
7 This was not the old French Mill, that having been destroyed, but one
of a later period, and apparently from descriptions at hand on the south side
of the outlet, " at the south end of the lower falls " Home Sketches, pp. 20-21.
See pamphlet A Memorial Tablet at Ticonderoga, (1910) p. 15.
8 His Journal, (Baltimore, 1865), p 56.
REAL BUEIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 297
In that most interesting sketch, "The Storming of Ticonde-
roga, ' ' M. Dudley Bean says : ' ' Till within the last third of a cen-
tury an old ranger lived who was in that battle, and who often
made pilgrimages to the very spot where Lord Howe fell ; and has
pointed it out to many who yet live to identify it. No monument
marks it, and it is to be regretted that the road now most common-
ly travelled diverges from the main battleground. Nearly one mile
north from the Lower Falls, on the outlet of Lake George, close by
the little rivulet called Trout Brook, upon its western margin, le-
gend points out the scene. The noise of battle and din of war are
no longer heard, but the little rivulet murmurs in all its primi-
tive charm, the wild deer bound over the sacred mound where he
fell, and the forest trees shade it; andi there among the oaken
leaves, the pure air, fresh from the everlasting mountains which
sacredly guard it, 'sings the warrior's requiem/ tn
It is rather a nice point for a non-military expert to pick out
at this late day the exact spot where the death of Lord Howe oc-
curred. But it can be safely said without fear of contradiction
that it was on the westerly side of the stream, later called Trout
Brook. In the morning Rogers and his men had been sent to take
possession of the ground near the mills, and make an investigation
of the French dispositions. From the confused description in his
Memoirs this might have been across the brook, but if it was, he
soon recrossed with Col. Lyman and Col. Fitch of the Colonials2
who heard the firing of Langy's men, or De Trepezec's detachment.
The Colonials and Rogers' men faced about to the south, while the
English army with the rest of the Rangers and Lord Howe were
coming on to the north, but on the southward of the Brook. This
brought the French between the two fires, forcing them to try and
escape by the Outlet at the east, and practically catching them
as in a trap.3 Those who were not killed or drowned, were forced
to surrender to the overwhelming odds. There is therefore ab-
solutely no authority for stating that Lord Howe had crossed the
brook, nor was anywhere near the spot where his alleged remains
were discovered.4
1 Knickerbocker, (July, 1850) , p. 18.
2 Rogers' Journals, (Hough ed.), P- n8a.
3 Parkman's, Montcalm & Wolfe, (ed. 1899), II, 301-303.
4 N. Y. Col. Doc. X, pp. 722-723, 735, 738, 742, 747, 792, 814, 845.
298 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
We know from the letters and reports that everything was in
confusion, and that a furious fight was waged all along the river
bank and the spot where Lord Howe fell. So by the time the body
was brought in, the day would1 have been far advanced. There
was no moon to help, even if its rays could have penetrated the
gloomy forest, and no starlight because of the overhanging clouds.1
It requires a strong imagination to believe that the stone cutter,
plying his trade by a camp fire, if one were allowed, owing to
proximity of the enemy, could have accomplished his task,
even had he started at the time Lord Howe was killed, under four-
teen to sixteen hours, which would have .taken until the next morn-
ing.
Dr. Rea's Diary also a letter of Capt. Moneypenny state— the
one that ' ' Lord How was Brou 't in and imbalmed, ' ' the other that
his body was ''preserved with all the care the place would allow
of." The term "brou't in" therefore would mean "to headquar-
ters, ' ' which had been established by the General at or probably on
the rising ground further back toward the Landing, where the com-
mander-in-chief with so large a force naturally would be. In fact,
it is entirely probable that the body was brought back to the Land-
ing Place. It stands to reason that it would not have been taken
the other way, as the army did not occupy the advanced French
ground until the next night, or that of the 7th. The place where
the alleged remains of Lord H>we and the stone were found, ac-
cording to a rough map furnished me by the Hon. Rowland Pell,
was across the Outlet, then without any bridge, about half a mile
away from the alleged scene of his death on Trout Brook, and nec-
essarily until the night of the 7th, in French territory.
If the object was to have a secret burial, the body would not
have been deposited in the ground during daylight, nor even at
night, so near the French lines. For Montcalm was kept informed
of every movement of the English troops, by his spies, as his re-
ports show. It would have been impossible, impracticable and un-
necessary to have buried the body on the night of the 6th, exhumed
it and had it transported to the head of the lake, where it was seen
1 Ames Astronomical Diary and Almanac, says for this date in 1758:
"July 5 at 4 a. m. was new moon." F. L. Tolman, Reference Librarian,
N. Y. State Library.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 299
on the morning of the 8th by Lieut. Thompson.1 If we only had
the missing letter of General Stanwix it might enlighten us as to
when the body was received in Albany. It is certain that Aber-
crombie 's letter to Pitt was dated July 12th, although like many of-
ficial reports, it may not have been completed for days, and that
the missing letter from Stanwix to DeLancey was dated! on the
llth. Between the 7th and the llth of July the body had been
transported to Albany and been buried by General Stanwix.2 There
is no inconsistency here as there was abundant time for a messenger
to bring the news back to Abercrombie, and for him to insert it
in the letter that was to go to Lord Pitt, even if it was not in the
other two letters of the same date, which were the ones published
and more commonly known. Miss Lomas however has the follow-
ing explanation of the discrepancy, which is very plausible :
"In answer to your letter of June 13th, I beg to enclose my
affidavit, made at the American Consulate, in relation to the pas-
sage on pp. 298-299 in the Correspondence of William Pitt.
The copy in N. Y. Colonial Documents, Vol. 10 (p. 725) is (as
there stated) taken from the "London Gazette Extraordinary" for
August 22, 1758. On collating these two, I find that they agree
exactly; that is, in both, the passage in question is omitted. The
letters in the Gazette were often officially edited before publica-
tion. In this case, it was probably thought, that the family of
young Lord Howe might prefer the passage concerning his body,
omitted, and perhaps the few lines about the troops which follow,
were left out by accident. ' '
It is certain that Stanwix knew of the defeat and the death
of Lord Howe, on the 9th, for he sent as stated, an account of it
to Lieut. Gov. DeLancy then in New York, on that date.3
There is another phase of this matter which is peculiar in this
respect. All accounts agree that Lieut. Thomas Cumberford (or
Cumberfort as it is also spelled)4 of the 80th Regiment of Foot,
(Col. Gage's Light Infantry) was, with eight others, killed at the
same time with Lord Howe. They were certainly as deserving of
1 His Diary, p. 9.
2 See also Boston New Letter, July 13, and Boston Gazette, July 17, 1758,
Mass. Hist. Society Library. (Dr. Joseph Hooper's paper.)
3 His Letter in Boquet Papers Add. Mss. 21, 640, p. 77.
4 See N. Y. Col Doc. X, pp. 731, 735-
300 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Christian burial as he, and it would seem unlikely that if the sol-
diers were preparing a grave, coffin and headstone for Lord Howe,
that they would not treat his brother officer with the same con-
sideration and respect. But no other coffin, and no other remains
were found, although the trench in which they were discovered
extended, as I understand it, the length of the street, and they
would necessarily have been buried together, so that the other re-
mains should have been found at or about the same time. Espec-
ially as Peter Duchane, who found them, swore that the stone and
head of the box or coffin were in the ditch, he was digging.1
This fall in making the state road at Lake George, a row of
skeletons was uncovered by the steam shovels in the main road. It
is a matter of common knowledge that in military burials, it is cus-
tomary to dig a long trench, in which the remains of the dead are
interred side by side.
But some critics will ask, how can the presence of the remains
and the headstone be explained? This is entirely a matter of the-
ory and conjecture on both sides. In view of the fact that the let-
tering on the headstone has the characteristics of Revolutionary
times, rather than of the days of the French and Indian War, the
writer believes the most reasonable theory and one which if
the truth were known is the right explanation, to be as follows:
After the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 by Col. Ethan
Allen, it was more or less occupied by the American forces. At
the time of Burgoyne's Invasion we know that a good sized garri-
son was stationed there.
In July, 1776, Gen. Gates was in charge of Ticonderoga,
It is not only probable but most likely that included in his
garrison were many of the men who had fought in the French and
Indian War, and had taken part in this very battle. What more
natural thing could have occurred, than that one of them having
nothing to do at the time, should have picked up this piece of rock,
intending to place it at the spot where Lord Howe fell as a monu-
ment, and with his bayonet pricked upon it the inscription which
has been so often referred to in this article and that of Mr. Wicks.
This would account for the apparent anachronism in the use at
the beginning of the epitaph, of "In Mem" as well as that of
"Trout Brook" at its ending.
1 Prof. Owen's Monograph, p. 28.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 301
At this time smallpox was prevalent in the camp, and the men
were dying on every side.1 It would not be an improbable thing
that the marker of this stone should be taken with the disease, die
and be buried, in what would have been a spot reasonably far
enough removed from the camp, to comply with the regulations of
Gen. Gates. It would also be natural that seeing the stone and lump
of rock in his tent, that the comrades who bore the soldier to his
last resting place, should take them along to prevent further in-
fection, and deposit them in the same grave. As a matter of fact
similar stones were erected on Mount Independence at the time of
the "camp distemper in 1776" one of which was in existence at the
time the place was visited by B. J. Lossing.2
Or the body may have been that of some soldier killed in a
skirmish with the Indians, or the enemy, who had prepared the
stone as suggested, and whose comrades buried with him, for fu-
ture indentification, the two pieces of rock. For instance Henry
Sewall writes his father of the same name, at York, Mass., under
date of June 18, 1777, * ' of an attack by the Indians on the outposts
at Ticonderoga. This was followed by another attack on a scout-
ing party on the lake [George?] Three of the party were killed,
and brought in. They belonged to the New Hampshire forces."3
It does not require much imagination to connect the death of one
of these men, and his burial across the Outlet, with the Lord Howe
stone, for the original Rogers' Rangers were from New Hampshire,
and many of them, excluding their leader, afterwards a Tory,
fought for the cause of independence.
It is also granted that these theories are entirely imaginative,
but in view of the fact that the inscription on the stone does not
comply in any respect with the requirements of the period it is sup-
posed to represent, the hypothesis of the writer should be entitled to
consideration, as well as that of the supporters of the Ticonderoga
theory.
There is current a legend to the effect that with the Ticonde-
roga remains was found a bullet, and in the skull a bullet hole.
If so, it would prove at once the body was not Lord Howe's, as he
1 Spark's Writings of George Washington, IV, p. 12.
2 Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution, (N. Y. 1851), p. 148.
3 Hist. Mag. (July, 1867), P- 8.
302 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
was shot in the breast. However the papers at the time did not
mention the finding of the bullet or bullet hole. Prof. Owen, in
his monograph, tells of finding the coffin, the skull, the bones, the
stone, and piece of graphite rock, then says: "A fragment of
a brass button; also several nails— old fashioned hand made such
as are found in the old fort— were found, but nothing more/'1
The affidavits of Peter Duchane, the finder ; John C. Fenton, Town
Clerk; Chas. A. Stevens, merchant, and R. C. Wilcox, physician
and surgeon, as given by Owen,2 do not mention any bullet, or bul-
let hole, so that story may be dismissed as a myth.
To sum up the entire matter we have proved that the body of
Lord Howe was brought into camp the night of the 6th and par-
tially embalmed. That it was transported to the head of the lake
by direction of Captain Moneypenny and presumably by the order
of the commander in chief on the 7th and 8th. That it was in
charge of Major Phillip Schuyler as his statements and persistent
tradition in the family prove. That the arrival of the body at
Fort George or Fort William Henry was noted by Lieutenant Sam-
uel Thompson on the 8th. That according to Lossing who had an
intimate acquaintance with the traditions and papers of the Schuy-
ler family, it was taken to Fort Edward on a rude bier. That ac-
cording to the Shippen papers, its presence at Fort Edward was
known, before it was placed on the batteau to be taken to Albany.
That in the Ingalsbe family is a tradition that an ancestor was one
of the soldiers who escorted the remains to Albany. That a spec-
ial messenger brought the news to General Stanwix at Albany, who
knew of the facts and had sent them to Lieutenant Governor De-
Lancey at midnight of the 9th. That the Boston Gazette and Bos-
ton News Letter, the latter of July 13th and the other of July 17th,
announce the arrival of a courier from Albany, which place "he
left Monday evening last" i. e., Monday, the 10th, with "a letter
from Albany to a gentleman in this town dated July 10th, stating
the body of the Right Honourable Lord George Viscount Howe was
brought to Albany last Monday."3 That General Abercrombie in
his official despatch announces that the condition of the body on
its arrival at Albany was such that General Stanwix was obliged
1 Owen, p. 14.
2 Id. pp. 27-31.
3 See photographs showing this item.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 303
to order it buried. That there is still among the archives of St.
Peter's Church what is known as the Church Book, containing the
treasurer's accounts for that year, the only written church rec-
ords of 1 hat parish for those days which have survived carelessness,
several big tires, and lack of interest of the earlier settlers of Al-
bany. In this is an entry showing a charge made on the occasion
of Lord Howe's funeral for the use of the church pall, or coffin
drapery, employed in olden times. The advocates of Lord Howe's
burial elsewhere, insist on rejecting this entry, which if allowed,
would of course settle the argument once for all taken in connec-
tion with the proofs offered by Dr. Hooper and myself.1
In this connection the question has been frequently asked, by
those who are in doubt as to this matter,— why if Lord Howe was
such a favorite in Albany, did not the Albany papers have an ac-
count of his burial, or why did not the inhabitants of the staid
old town, make some record of it, since it must have been conduct-
ed with all due regard to his rank and station, and have been an
imposing even though saddening spectacle? The answer to the
first query is an easy one. There were no papers published in
Albany at that time, the nearest being printed either in New
York or Boston.2 And in these, or some of them, did appear the
accounts of his death and burial, as has been so fully shown.
As to the second query, that answer is also somewhat obvious,
if we take into account two circumstances. First— the death of
Lord Howe was followed by the wildest rumors, and the inhabi-
tants of Albany, believing Montcalm already at their gates, with
his band of scalp takers, murderers and fiends, employed the year
before in the massacre at Fort William Henry, were too busy pack-
ing up, and preparing to fly to New York or Boston, to pay atten-
tion to anyone, especially a dead Englishman, hero and beloved
one though he was.3 Second— the slow running Dutch blood of
the older burghers of this old Hollandish town had1 not taken any
too kindly to the high-spirited, dancing, wine drinking play act-
1 Dr. Hooper's Hist. St. Peter's Church, pp. 524-526. Sec also photo-
graph showing page in Church Book with this entry.
2 Weise's History of Albany, The Albany Gazette was the first paper
published in Albany, starting in November, 1771. It was discontinued in 1776,
p. 506. Munsell's Annals of Albany, II, p. 191.
3 W. L. Stone's Sir Wm. Johnson, II, pp. 74-75. See note also, same
pages. Baxter's Godchild of Washington, p. 50.
304 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
ing English, billited on them against their wills, and in spite of
their remonstrances.1
In Dr. Morse's American Geography published in 1789, he
says, ''Albany is said to be an unsociable place * * *. To form
a just idea of the manners and customs of the inhabitants, we must
confine ourselves to the Dutch, who being much the most numer-
ous, give the tone to the manners of the place."2 In 1795, the
Duke de la Bochefoucault-Liancourt visited Albany, and gave his
views of the inhabitants as follows: "I was by no means dis-
pleased at leaving Albany. The Albanians, to speak generally
* * * are the most disagreeable beings, I have hitherto met with
in the United States."3 In 1800 Gorham A. Worth writes, "Al-
bany was indeed Dutch, in all its moods and tenses; thoroughly
and inveterately Dutch. The buildings were Dutch— Dutch in
style, in position, attitude and aspect. The people were Dutch,
the horses were Dutch, and even the dogs were Dutch."4 It was
only a few years, however, according to Mr. Worth, before the
"Yankees" had captured Fort Orange, and from that time to this,
no complaint of its cordial welcome has been expressed by the
stranger within its gates.
With this condition prevailing as it did in 1758, it no longer
seems peculiar that Lord Howe's burial escaped notice, or atten-
tion when we reflect first upon the excited and troubled state of
minds of the residents of Albany, and secondly upon the apathy,
and dislike with which everything English was viewed by all ex-
cept a very few of the better educated and more influential fami-
lies. Then too the crushing defeat of Abercrombie's army, and
the arrival at Albany of boat load after boat load of the wounded
for care and attention,5 were matters more important, both to
chronicle and talk about, than the interment of Lord Howe, which
after all was but an incident of war, while the other was a dread
calamity.
1 Mrs. Grant's Memoirs of an American Lady, (N. Y. 1846), pp. 152-160.
2 Munsell's Annals of Albany, I. p. 282.
3 Id. IV, p. 238.
4 Worth's Random Recollections of Albany (1866), p. 27.
5 Munsell's Annals of Albany, II, p. 60. Memoirs of An American Lady,
(N. Y. 1846), pp. 182-183. Mrs. Bonney's Historical Gleanings, I, p. 22. A. J.
Weise's History of Albany, p. 331. Miss Kimball's Correspondence of William
Pitt, Abercrombie to Pitt, I, p. 301.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 305
Again one of the strong arguments used by the anti- Albany
party has been, that it was strange that no particular mark was
affixed to the spot where Lord Howe wlas buried, as well as that so
little notice was taken of the ceremonies at the time. An exactly
parallel case, however, can be adduced in that of Gen. Edward
Whitmore, who was prominent in the siege of Louisburg, in the
same year 1758, and who remained behind as governor of the con-
quered territory. He was drowned in Plymouth Harbor in 1761.
In spite of the accident and his prominence, and a public burial
of notable character, not one bit of notice was taken of it by the
papers at the time. "He was buried under King's chapel (in Bos-
ton) but neither newspaper notice, probate record, escutcheon or
ring remain, to show to what family he belonged or what coat of
arms he used."1
Continuing our proof, we find, that at the taking down of the
old English church in 1802, the remains of the deceased nobleman,
distinguished by a coat of arms, a special coffin, and a rich silk
damask cerement were seen and handled by Elkanah Watson, the
historian, and his assistant, Henry Cuyler, a British half pay of-
ficer, then residing in Greenbush, who knew the location of the
grave.2 That the remains were again interred under the second
St. Peter's church along the north foundation wall with twenty-
four other bodies which had been buried under the old church.3
That at the demolition of the second church in 1859, Lord Howe's
remains again distinguishable by a black silk ribbon referred to
by Mr. Watson, were seen by the building committee of the present
church, one of whom, Jesse Potts of Albany, described the ex-
humation and reburial under the vestibule of the present church.4
That at the time of the original discovery of the alleged Howe re-
mains in 1889, it was stated by both the Troy Telegram and the
Troy Press,5 that W. W. Crannell, then an aged resident of Albany,
"said he was present when the old church which occupied the site
of the present St. Peter's was torn down, and he saw the coffin of
Lord Howe exhumed."
1 Dawson's Historical Magazine, (May, 1857), pp. 157-158.
2 See Dr. Hooper's proofs Appendix.
3 Munsell's Col. Hist. Albany, I, p. 445.
4 Dr. Hooper's History St. Peter's Church, p. 524.
5 Their respective issues of Monday, Oct. 21 st, 1889.
306 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
We have thus traced the body of Lord Howe from the spot
where he was killed to the place where his remains were finally
buried.
On the other hand what disposition should be made of the
Ticonderoga claim. They have an apparently authentic head
stone, some bones, and the tradition of Peterson the Banger and
stone cutter, to offset the Albany theory.1 It should be noted how-
ever that the head stone does not possess a single characteristic
pertaining to the period of 1758 and that every line of the inscrip-
tion contains either an anachronism or an error. That the remains
were not distinguished by any mark of rank or indication, as to
whom the buried person might be. That the remains were buried
m a place to which the English had absolutely no access up to the
night of the 7th, being over half a mile away from the spot where
Lord Howe was killed and across the Outlet, at that time in French
territory. That the existence of graphite bearing rock, a speci-
men of which was also found in the grave, was not discovered un-
til the early part of the nineteenth century in this locality. That
opposed to the Peterson tradition is the Ingalsbe tradition as well
as the constant and persistent traditions of the Schuyler family
and the statement of General Schuyler to Chancellor Kent, as well
as the statement of Mrs. Cochrane, Schuyler 's daughter, to the
Historian Lossing in after years.
Contrasting therefore the two sets of proofs, it is at once ap-
parent, that the concensus of historical evidence is that the re-
mains of Lord Howe were buried in Albany, and that by no pos-
sibility could they ever, at any time, have been buried at Ticon-
deroga.
But supposing that we all have been mistaken. That the in-
credible, unbelievable and impossible, in the light of today's evi-
dence really had happened. That what seemed to be facts were
but the iridescent imaginings of a dreamer's fancy. That General
Abercrombie and Capt. Moneypenny only imagined they had the
body "taken care of," as reported; that Dr. Rea did not know it
was "imbalmed;" that Lieut. Thompson did not see it, nor Scimy-
1 The statement of Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, mentioned by Owen, p. 16,
about "the hurried grave to which his venerated remains were consigned,"
occurring as it does in a piece of fiction, must be rejected as purely fictitious
writing.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 307
ler take it to Albany ; that history and tradition are alike at fault,
and that through all the years to 1889, Lord Howe's remains had
lain near the sounding waters of the little new world village, in
whose then undisturbed forests he had met his fate one hundred
and thirty-one years before— what then? Even in that case we
could not leave him "without a grave unkneird, uncoffined and
unknown. ' ' So whether there, as some believe beside the tumbling,
singing falls of ancient Carillon, or as others think under the beau-
tiful chancel of some old English church, or the green turfed sur-
face of Albany's silent city of the dead, or, as we have proved, be-
neath the groined arches of St. Peter's gothic pile, we can only
say,— beloved in life, lamented in death, his soul sped that our
country might in time be free, buried— he fills a hero's grave;
he lived, he died— let him rest in peace.
APPENDICES.
I. OFFICIAL DISPATCH OF GENERAL ABERCROMBY.
II. DR. JOSEPH HOOPER'S PROOF OF THE ALBANY
INTERMENT.
III. W. C. WATSON'S DESCRIPTION OF THE BURIAL OF
LORD HOWE.
IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE HOWE MONUMENT, WEST-
MINISTER ABBEY.
V. THE CREDIBILITY OF GENERAL ABERCROMBY.
VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1758.
a. CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS.
b. LOCAL HISTORY.
c. GENERAL ACCOUNTS.
d. FICTION.
e. POETRY OF THE CAMPAIGN.
/. MAPS AND DEPICTION.
VII. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.
VIII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
APPENDIX I.
OFFICIAL DESPATCH OF GENERAL ABERCROMBY.1
Camp at Lake George, July 2, 1758.
SIR:-
The Embarkation of the Artillery, Stores and Provisions being
completed, on the evening of the 4th Inst. next Morning at Break
of Day, the Tents were struck; and all the Troops, amounting to
6367 Regulars, Officers & Batteau-Men embarked in about 900 Bat-
teaux & Whale Boats; the Artillery to cover our Landing being
mounted on Rafts.
At 5 in the Evening, reached Sabbath-Day Point, (25 miles
down the Lake) where we halted till ten ; then got under way again.
& Proceeded to the Landing Place,2 (a Cove leading to the French
Advanced Guard) which we reached early the next morning,
the 6th.
Upon our arrival sent out a Reconnoitering Party, and having
met with no Opposition, landed the Troops, formed them in four
Columns, Regulars in the Center, and Provincials on the Flank,
and marched towards the Enemy's advanced-guard, composed of
one Battalion,3 posted in a logged Camp, which, upon our Ap-
proach, they deserted, first setting fire to their Tents, & destroying
everything they cou'd; but as their Retreat was very precipitate,
they left several things behind. . . . The Army in the Foregoing
Order, continued their march thro' the Wood, on the West side,
with a Design to invest Tienderoga, but the wood being very
thick, impassable with any Regularity to such a Body of Men,
and the Guides unskillful, the Troops were bewildered, and the
Columns broke, falling in one upon another.
Lord Howe, at the Head of the right Center Column, supported
by the Light Infantry, being advanced, fell in with a French Party,
supposed to consist of about 400 Regulars,4 and a few Indians, who
1The above is to be found in the London Record Office in A. and W. I,,
vol. 87; is also printed in New York Colonial Documents, X, p. 725, except
part in capitals.
2 "Howe's Landing" at the foot of Lake George.
3M. Trepezec or Trepezee's detachment.
4 Trepezee's and Langy's troops who were endeavoring to reach the fort
by going back of the English forces.
310 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
had likewise lost themselves in their Retreat from the Advanced
Guard ; of these our Flankers killed a great Many, & took 148 Pris-
oners, among whom were five officers & three Cadets. But this
small Success cost us very dear, not as to the Loss of Numbers, for
we had only two Officers killed, but as to Consequence, His Lord-
ship being the first man that fell in this Skirmish, and as he was
very deservedly, universally beloved and respected throughout the
whole Army, it is easy to conceive the Grief and Consternation
his untimely fall occasioned; For my part, I cannot help owning
that I felt it most heavily, and lament him as sincerely— I CAUSED
HIS BODY TO BE TAKEN OFF THE FIELD OF BATTLE,
AND SENT TO ALBANY, WITH A DESIGN TO HAVE HAD
IT EMBALMED, & SENT HOME, IF HIS LORDSHIP'S RE-
LATIONS HAD APPROVED OF IT, BUT THE WEATHER
BEING VERY HOT BRIGr. STANWIX WAS OBLIGED TO
ORDER IT TO BE BURIED.
THE ARMY, AS I OBSERVED BEFORE, BEING DIS-
PERSED & NIGHT COMING ON FAST, I COLLECTED SUCH
PART OF IT AS WERE WITHIN MY REACH, & POSTED
THEM UNDER THE TREES, WHERE THEY REMAINED
ALL NIGHT UNDER ARMS,1
The 7th in the Morning, having yet no intelligence of the
Troops that were missing, .... and the Troops with me greatly
fatigued, by having been one whole night on the Water, the follow-
ing day constantly on foot, & the next Night under Arms, added
to their being in want of Provision, having dropped what they
had brought with them, in Order to lighten themselves, it was
thought most adviseable to return to the landing Place, which we
accordingly did, and upon our Arrival, there, about 8 that Morn-
ing, found the Remainder of the Army.
About 11 in the Forenoon, sent off Lieut. Col. Bradstreet, with
the 44th Regiment, 6 Companies of the 1st Battalion of Royal
Americans, the Batteaux Men and Body of Rangers, & Provincials
to take possession of the Saw Mill,2 within two Miles of Tienderoga,
which he soon effected, as the Enemy who were posted there, after
1 This part is entirely omitted in the letter published in N. Y. Col. Doc.
X, p. 725.
2 At the northerly end of the portage on the "lower falls."
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 311
destroying the Mill & breaking down their Bridge, had retired some-
time before.
Lieut. Col. Bradstreet having laid another Bridge across & hav-
ing sent me notice of his being in possession of that Ground, I ac-
cordingly marched thither with the Troops, & we took up our Quar-
ters there that night: ... It was thought most advisable to
lose no Time making an Attack, wherefore, early in the morning
of the 8th, I sent Mr. Clerk, the Engineer, across the River on the
opposite side of the Port, in order to reconnoitre the Enemies In-
trenchments. Upon his return & favourable Report of the prac-
ticability of carrying those Works, if attacked before they were
finished, it was agreed to storm them that very day.
Accordingly the Rangers, Light Infantry, and the Right wing
of Provincials were order 'd immediately to march and post them-
selves in a Line out of Cannon Shot of the Intrenchment, the Right
extending to Lake George, & their Left to Lake Champlain in order
that the Regular Troops destined for the Attack of the Intrench-
ments, might form in their Rear.
The Piquets were to begin the Attack, sustained by the Grena-
diers, & they by the Battalions, the whole were ordered to march
up briskly, rush upon the Enemy's fire, and not to give theirs, until
they were within the Enemy's Breastwork.
After these Orders issued the whole Army except what had
been left at the Landing Place to cover and guard the Batteaux
and Whale Boats, and a Provincial Regiment at the Saw Mill, were
put into Motion, and advanced to Tienderoga, where unfortunaely
they found the Intrenchments, not only much stronger than had
been represented, & the Breast work at least Eight or Nine Feet
high, but likewise the Ground before it covered with felled Trees,
the Branches pointed outwards, which so fatigued and retarded
the advancing of the Troops, that notwithstanding all their in-
trepidity and Bravery, wjhich I cannot sufficiently com-
mend, we sustained so considerable a Loss, without any
Prospect of better Success, that it was no longer pru-
dent to remain before it, and it was therefore judged
necessary for the Preservation of the Remainder of so many
Brave Men, & not to run the risk of the Enemy's penetrating into
his Majesty's Dominions, which might have been the case, if a Total
312 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIA1ION.
Defeat had ensued, that we should make the best retreat possible.
Accordingly after .several repeated Attacks which lasted upwards
of four Hours, under the most disadvantageous Circumstances,
and with the Loss of 1610 Regulars, 334 Provincials killed &
wounded as by the Enclosed List,1 I retired to the Camp we occu-
pied the night before, with the broken Remains of several Corps,
sending away all the wounded to the Batteaux about three Miles
distance and early the next Morning, we arrived there ourselves,
embarked and reached this in the evening of the 9th.2
Immediately after my Return here, sent the wounded Officers
and Men that cou'd be moved to Fort Edward, & Albany; & hav-
ing so many Officers unfit for present Service, it was judged im-
practicable, at this Time, to reattempt the Reduction of Tienderoga,
& Crown Point; wherefore it was thought adviseable, to divide our
Numbers & to reinforce Brigr. Stanwix, in Order, if possible, to
prevent the Enemy from putting into Execution their designs
against the Mohawk River & Coming down to Albany; I have ac-
cordingly detached, the New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, & a
Regiment of the Massachusetts Bay Troops, consisting with those
already there, in a Bodjy of 5600 Men, to take Post at the Oneida
Carrying Place, for the Purpose mentioned in Mine of the 29th
of June.
And since Lieut. Col°. Bradstreet remained of opinion that it
was still practicable to succeed in his Plan against Cadaraqui, which
he proposed last winter to Lord Loudoun, I have given him the
Command of 3600 of the above Men, to proceed with them from
the Oneida Carrying Place, against that Fort; attempt the Reduc-
tion thereof, and destroy the Vessels they have lying there, or if
neither of these Attempts should prove practicable, then to watch
the Motions of Mor de Levy, & by engaging him, obstruct and pre-
vent his advancing and penetrating towards the Oneida Carrying
Place; in one or other of which I shou'd hope Lieut. Col°. Brad-
street may prove successful, as he is not only very active, but had
great Knowledge of the Country, & that I have provided him with
every Thing he thought requisite for that purpose ... on the
iMontcalm's loss was under four hundred.
2 See Winsor V, p. 524, for plan of Ticonderoga, also Parkman'a Mont-
calm and Wolfe, II, p. 300; A. G. Bradley 's Fight With France for North
America, p. 238, Bancroft, IV, p. 305, for maps.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 313
Morning of the 8th Day of the Action, Sr. William Joined me with
about 300 Indians, who are all since returned, except a very few
that were out upon a Scout, and Sir William has followed them,
in Order to be aiding and assisting to Brigadier Stanwix.— Under
these Circumstances, which leave me the greatest Concern &
Anxiety, I shall carefully watch the Motions of the Enemy, and
prevent, as much as possible, their Reaping any advantage from
the Check we have met with.
I have the Honour to be, with the greatest Respect, Sir,
Your most obedient & most Humble Servant,
JAMES ABERCROMBY,1
APPENDIX II.
REV. JOSEPH HOOPER'S PROOFS OF THE ALBANY
INTERMENT.
[WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES BY J. A. H.]
The writer and the Association are indebted to the Rev. Joseph
Hooper M. A., Durham, Conn., author of the History of St. Peter's
Church, Albany, who has made a special study of the interment of
Lord Howe from the Albany view point, for permission to use part
of an address delivered by him last spring before the Institute and
Historical and Arts Society, of the Capital City. It is to be re-
gretted that space is lacking in which this very eloquent, able and
convincing essay might be published in full. The Rev. Walton
W. Battershall, D.D., rector of St. Peter's Church, in Albany, in-
formed the writer that Mr. Hooper's researches in that city
had been so thorough that absolutely no scrap of contemporary
church evidence had been left unfound or unsearched for.
In connection with the proofs given by the writer, the follow-
ing as submitted by Mr. Hooper should be considered :
"Those who were witness also of this engagement tell us that
1 Gertrude Selwyn Kimball's Correspondence of William Pitt, (New York
1906,) I, pp. 297-302.
314 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIA1ION.
Lord Howe's body was taken immediately to the rear,1 that it was
embalmed,2 and) under the charge of Captain Philip Schuyler,
especially attached to Lord Howe and serving as assistant deputy
quarter master, brought to Albany,3 and interred under the first
St. Peter's Church standing on State Street.4 The three contem-
porary statements proving this are of the greatest interest and
value at the present time. The first will be found in the Journal
of Lieutenant Samuel Thompson, of Woburn, Mass.,5 then serving
in a regiment of that Province, and stationed at the foot of Lake
George near the site of the Fort William Henry. He was a man
of worth and character living to a good old age, and holding many
public offices in his native town. He gained a reputation by his
discovery and propagation of the Pecker apple, now known as the
Baldwin. He says, under date of July 8, Saturday, 'Post came
from the Narrows; and they brought Lord How to ye Fort, who
was slain at their landing.'
The second I found in the only copy of the Boston News-Let-
ter for July 13, 1758. It is an extract from a letter of a gentle-
man in Albany to his friend in Boston, dated July 10, 1758.
'The Body of the Right Honorable Lord George Viscount
Howe, was brought to Albany last Monday/
A portion of the same letter, describing the skirmish and with
the same statements concerning Lord Howe, is found in the Boston
Gazette for July 17, 1758. By the courtesy of the Massachusetts
Historical Society where these precious papers are, photographic
copies of the page on which the letter is, have been made.6
The third is from the Church Book of St. Peter's, Albany,
which contains the treasurer's accounts, records of elections of
Vestry, a pew list, and other items of interest for the period from
1718 to 1765. Upon a page recording the receipt of other sums of
money is this entry:—
'1758, Sept. 5th. To cash Rt. for ground to lay Body of Lord
how & Pall, £5-6s-0.'7
pt. Moneypenny's letters ante.
2 Dr. Caleb Rea's Journal, (ed. 1881), p. 25.
3Lossing's Schuyler, I, p. 155.
4Munsell's Collections, II, pp. 12-13 385-386.
6Hit/?zary, (Boston 1896), p. 9.
«See photograph of these papers accompanying this article.
7 Consult plates reproduced for this article.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 315
This date, nearly two months after his death may in these days
of rapid transit to Europe seem very late for this payment to be
made, but when it is remembered that the extraordinary Gazette
which announced the defeat of Genl. Abercromby at Ticonderoga,
two days after the death of Lord Howe, was not issued until Aug-
ust 18, our wonder ceases. It was the earliest possible time that
a sum of money could be remitted from his relations in England.
When, in 1802, the old Church was being taken down, the bodies
of all those buried within it were removed to the new Church on
the corner of Lodge and State streets.8 From the account of the
exhumation of Lord Howe's remains by Elkanah Watson,9 may
be taken this extract :
'As the bones were then collected to be thrown into a promis-
cuous mass, I conceived the idea of getting possession of this skull
of a Lord. I ascertained from Henry Cuyler, a British half-pay
officer residing then at Greenbush, the precise spot where he was
buried, which was also indicated by his coat of arms being placed on
the E. wall, nearly over the tomb. I took the opportunity, to avoid
exciting curiosity, wjhen the workmen were gone to dinner, and
with the aid of my man, we removed all the dirt and rubbish which
covered the remains of a double coffin containing his ashes. The
outer one made of white pine, had nearly moulded into dust; the
inner one being made of mahogany, was with some exceptions
sound, but in some places it had rotted. The weight of the earth
had forced its way intermingled with his Lordship's bones. I re-
moved the lid and found a thick rich silk damask in which his cold
remains were enshrouded on his interment, apparently sound. In
attempting to remove it, it crumbled into dust. I then perceived
the object of my research within my grasp, resting in peace after
slumbering forty-four years (44 years) wdthin this damask. I
raised it with great caution with my left hand and to my astonish-
8Munsell's Collections of Albany, I, pp. 444-445, with extracts from Al-
bany Journal of 1859, corroborating this statement.
9 Elkanah Watson, born this very year of 1758, was a well-known chron-
icler and recorder of the events of his day and generation. After taking part
in the Revolution he became a great traveler in this country and abroad, a
friend and correspondent of Franklin, Adams, Humphreys, Chancellor Living-
stone, etc. He left a great mass of Mss. , material which his son and literary
executor, a careful and able historian, made use of in Elkanah Watson's Men
and Times of the Revolution, (New York, 1856), and his own History of Es-
sex County.
316 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
ment I found a fine set of shining teeth ; the hair of his head in ex-
cellent preservation completely matted with powder and pomatum
as if recently done by the frizure. The que was very neat, the rib-
bon and double beau apparently new & jet black, but on touching
it moldered between my thumb and finger. I concluded with Mr.
Cuyler who alone was in the secret to send it to his family in Eng-
land. On further consultation we thot that it would only open
a fresh wound which bled nearly half a century ago and answer
no valuable purposes.'
Among the documents in the Archives of St. Peter's is the re-
ceipt of William Boardmen, sexton, for the removal of sixteen
bodies and their reinterment in the new St. Peter's. This num-
ber agrees by actual count with names found in the Church Book
as buried within the fabric of the sacred building. To complete
the chain of facts, it only requires the statement of Mr. Jesse Potts,
a member of the building committee for the present church in
1859.10
At the demolition of the second St. Peter's Church two coffins
were discovered under the chancel of the said church. One of them
bore the inscription on a silver plate : * In this coffin are the bones
of my father, James Stevenson, and my five children.' This coffin
was removed to the Albany Rural Cemetery. The other coffin was
opened in the presence of the Building Committee. It contained
the skull and larger bones of a human body, also a large tuft of
human hair about six inches long, which was tied with black rib-
bon, stained but undecayed. This coffin bore no inscription, but
was supposed to contain the remains of Lord Howe. The remains
were deposited in a stout box which was buried under the vestibule
of the present church, being enclosed within a brick wall which
forms part of the foundation of the vestibule.
Opposed to the substantial facts which have now been detailed,
there is a remarkable tale of the fancy and the imagination which
would seek to deny what had been until twenty-one years ago, con-
stantly affirmed, in manuscript, print, and by tradition. I hold in
my hand a copy of the Ticonderoga Sentinel for Thursday, Oct. 17,
10 Dr. Hooper's History of St. Peter's Church, Albany, p. 244.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 317
1889,11 in which there is given, reprinted from the issue of October
10th, this startling account:
LORD HOWE'S REMAINS
Discovered in Ticonderoga
Last Thursday by laborer while digging a trench for a
Sewer for the Academy.
Thursday, Oct. 3rd, while some laborers in the employ of Alex
Lee were digging a trench for a sewer from the Academy when in
front of E. M. Gifford's place one of the men, Peter Dushane, dis-
covered about four feet below the surface, a partially decayed coffin
containing human remains. At the head of the coffin was a piece
of plumbago or black lead, and a stone with one flat side. There
has been considerable speculation as to whose remains they were.
The place where they were found was carefully examined for any
relict that might throw light on the subject, but nothing was dis-
covered of the kind, save the rusty nails of the coffin which are old
fashioned hand made nails, such as are found in the rums of the
old Fort. Peter Dushane took the piece of plumbago and the stone
with him, just as they were, covered with a hard incrustation of
lime and clay. On Wednesday evening, Mr. Dushane, who could
neither read nor write, took the stone tablet to the law office of John
C. Fenton, Town Clerk, and there after the removal of the clay it
was found to be rudely chiselled with the following words :
IN MEM
OF
Lo. HOWE
KILLED
TROUT BROOK.
These words were evidently picked into the stone by a bayonet
or other sharp instrument. It is a stone irregular in shape, appar-
ently lime stone, with one partially smooth side about seven by
nine inches, and will weigh thirty-five or forty pounds. The bones
are partially, and some wholly, decayed, many of them being broken
when removed from their resting place. The coffin was probably
pine, although it is difficult to say, as the remains of the same are
11 [I have verified this account as correct from my own copy of the issue of
Oct. 10, 1889. J. A. H.]
318 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
in flakes or decayed pieces about 5-8 of an inch thick. The evi-
dence seems to be conclusive that the remains are those of Lord
Howe. They with the stone tablet, and piece of black lead ore have
been placed in the hands of the Supervisor and Town Clerk for
safe keeping, so they can be identified at any time. A number of
years ago, our eminent townsman, Joseph Cook, erected a monu-
ment on the spot where Lord Howe was supposed to have fallen.
According to the statement of Robert Rogers, the scout, who
•with the Rangers, was in advance of the army on that July day,
1758, Lord Howe was shot in a skirmish while in lead of a pursuit
of the French and Indians. Rogers was posted on rising ground,
one quarter of a mile from 1,500 of the enemy who were at tfie
saw mill at the lower falls, keeping watch of them until the main
body of the army came up. It was near this rising ground that
he said Lord Howe was killed. * * * The locality thus selected for
the burial of Lord Howe, was on a knoll, slightly elevated above
the surrounding country and evidently a very suitable spot for the
resting place of so eminent a man.
No definite statement has ever been authoratively made as to
the disposal of the remains of Lord Howe. It is true that in the
foot notes to Watson's History of Essex County, it is stated by
way of extract from Roger's Journal that his body was taken to
Albany, and buried in St. Peter's, the old English Church in that
place. It has been stated, and of this there is apparently no doubt,
that when the old church was rebuilt in 1802, and again in 1859
no remains were found in the place to which they were alleged to
have been conveyed. It is evident therefore that the body never
was taken to Albany. It was hastily buried the night before the
great battle; the stone rudely cut as well as the piece of graphite
was placed in the grave as a means of future identification. The
battle occurred the next day— the British retreated— the ground
was held by the French. In the hurry and excitement of the flight
of Abercromby's army, the grave was abandoned, and if any at-
tempt was ever afterwards made to recover the remains, it was fu-
tile. But the place unmarked by outward signs to prevent depre-
dation by the Indians, could not be identified. It has remained
undisturbed, until one hundred and thirty-five years afterward,
when the chance blow of a laboring man opened the grave of a
man beloved by the colonials and the pride of the British Army.
Courtesy of Rev. Joseph Hooper
ST. PETER'S CHURCH BOOK
Lord Howe Entry Sept. 5th
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 319
We, therefore, believe that the grave of Lord Howe has at last
been found, and we suggest that it remains for the citizens of Ti-
conderoga as well as for our whole country to properly and decent-
ly inter the relics of the illustrious dead, and erect a suitable me-
morial to his memory.
Our land does not boast of many dead heroes of the last cen-
tury. Let us honor this man, whose grave has been so unexpected-
ly found.'
With no loss of time the people of Ticonderoga heralded far
and wide, the discovery. Within two weeks a notice of it was read
by Englishmen living in India, It has been incorporated into the
sketch of Lord Howe in the English National Biography,12 and
has been firmly believed by men who have the reputation of histori-
cal scholars. Comment upon it was made by many papers, both in
the State of New York and elsewhere. A long series of letters will
be found in the newspapers of Albany, from October, 1889, to Feb-
ruary, 1890. In these letters the writers took different views.
Some claiming that the indisputable fact of the burial at Albany,
could not be injured by any such story. * * *
Early in November, 1889, the Rev. Dr. Battershall, the well
beloved rector of St. Peter's, searched the only available archive
of the parish for some entry concerning the burial of Lord Howe,
and was rewarded with finding the item already given as one of the
'statements.' This with the information concerning the removal
in 1859, he embodied in a letter to the New York Evening Post.
It is proper here to mention as bearing upon this subject, that
statements concerning several burials within the fabric of the first
St. Peter's are found in the " Church Book." Unfortunately there
is no burial register for this period. But the matter contained in
the Church Book, will be always of inestimable value to those who
care for the history of the city and the ancient parish.
Professor Owen following his newspaper article wrote an ex-
tended account of the finding of the body and by a well arranged
argument, sought to prove that the Albany tradition, as he called it,
had no foundation in fact.13
12 Miss Van Peyma, of the State Library, states that the Dictionary of
National Biography, III, refers as its authority to the Newcastle (IZng.)
Weekly Chronicle, supplement 2, (January, 1892).
13 Prof. Owen's Burial of Lord Viscount Howe, pamph. n. p. n. d. 31 pp.,
with cut of stone and map of district around Ticonderoga, by D. M. Arnold,
C. E.
320 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
On January 3rd, 1893, he read before this historic body, his
paper, and reviewing at length the newspaper controversy, and the
contradictory character of the various letters, declared that he
had proved his point. * * *
The manner in which Mr. Owen disposes of the entry in the
Church Book shows the speciousness of his argument.
'The entry in the treasurer's book of St. Peter's Church does
not of itself establish the fact of the burial there. In view of the
uncertain and conflicting testimony as to the disposition of the re-
mains taken to Albany this entry might merely relate to the fact
that there had been the purchase of some ground in anticipation of
the reception of the remains. Under no circumstances would the
mere purchase of a burial lot for the dead, of itself prove the fact
of the interment of the dead in the lot, unless corroborated by other
evidence. Besides it is a curious fact that the entry is in the nat-
ure of a debit entry, the entry is in September, two months after
the death of Lord Howe. May we not as well infer that the entry
has reference to money refunded to the Church after it was found
impossible to bring the remains to Albany?'
The present writer in his examination of this claim thirteen
years ago said : ' The entry concerning the burial of Lord Howe is
similar in form to others of the same period ; as for example :
1758, August 27, To cash Rt. for ground
to lay the body of Captain Barkman L.s. d.
Paull, 5.6. 0.
The pall it will be remembered is a covering for the coffin used
as the body is borne up the aisle or to the place of burial, and was
only required for actual burials. There is no dispute concerning
the receipts for other interments of a similar form. * * * The sug-
gestion that it might have been money returned, must be dismissed
for then it would appear in another place, and been in some other
form as may be ascertained by several items found in the book,
of funds received from church wardens and others, in whose hands
they were.
Professor's Owen's paper, in a condensed form, was also read
at a solemn re-interment on July , 1900, when in the presence
of a large audience an oaken casket with silver plate containing the
remains found was deposited in the Academy Park under a great
REAL BURIAL PLACE OP LORD HOWE. 321
boulder, marked with the names of those prominent in the history
of Lake Champlain and Ticonderoga.
Mr. Joseph Cook made one of his characteristic orations, and
with a portion of the solemn burial office, pronounced by the Eev.
John E. Bold, sometime rector of the Church of the Holy Cross,
Ticonderoga, the final committal of the 'remains' until the Res-
urrection Day was made.
But it is useless to discuss here the paper of Dr. Owen (who
has since died) in the light of our present knowledge of the resting
place of the Honourable George Augustus Scrope, Lord Howe.
His paper will always remain one of the curiosities of literary
imagination and mythical history.
What honor shall Albany pay to the memory of this young
hero who dlied before he had achieved the fulness of his success?
* * * [Dr. Hooper here gives a description of Westminster Ab-
bey, the monument and its inscription, which is omitted as it also
appears elsewhere].
This is the Hero's only memorial. What will the Capital City
do for one who loved it and gave himself for its defense t"
APPENDIX III.
W. C WATSON'S DESCRIPTION OF THE BURIAL OF
LORD HOWE.
In his History of Essex County,1 W. C. Watson, the well
known historian of that region, and the one most generally referred
to, in connection with the burial of Lord Howe at Albany, on ac-
count of his father's story of the exhumation of the body in 1802,
says, regarding the death of his lordship at Ticonderoga, its effect
on the army, and the subsequent interment of the body in Albany :2
1 Pp. 87-88.
2 Practically the same article is to be found in Trans. N. Y. Agri. Soc. for
1852, in Watson's Survey of Essex County ', pp. 88-89. Also in his Portresses of
Crown Point and Ticonderoga, in the Orderly Book at Ticonderoga, Munsell,
(Albany, 1859) pp. 186-187.
322 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL, ASSOCIATION.
With him expired its spirit, its confidence, and hope. All af-
terwards was prompted by imbecility, indecision and folly. Gen-
erous and kind, gifted and accomplished, instinct with genius and
heroism, Howe died deeply lamented. The next day a single barge
retraced the track of the flotilla bearing the body of the young hero,
who but yesterday had led its brilliant pageant. Philip Schuyler,
then just entering upon his distinguished career, escorted the re-
mains with all the tenderness and reverence due the illustrious dead.
The body was conveyed to Albany and buried in St. Peter's Epis-
copal Church, which stood in the middle of State street. His ob-
sequies were performed with every pomp of military display and
all the solemnities of religious rituals. An heraldic insignia
marked the location of the grave. Forty-four years had elapsed
and in the progress of improvement, that edifice was demolished and
the grave of Howe exposed. A double coffin was revealed. The
outer one, which was made of white pine, was nearly decayed ; but
the other, formed of heavy mahogany, was almost entire. In a
few spots it was wasted, and the pressure of earth had forced some
soil into the interior. When the lid was uncovered, the remains ap-
peared clothed in a rich silk damask cerement, in which they were
enshrouded on his interment. The teeth were bright and perfect,
the hair stiffened by the dressing of the period, the queue entire,
the ribbon and double brace apparently new and jet black. All,
on exposure, shrunk into dust, and the relics of the high bred and
gallant peer were conveyed by vulgar hands to the common charnel
house and mingled with the promiscuous dead. The character and
services of Howe received the most generous tribute of respect and
eulogium from the French.1 Massachusetts, in gratitude and rev-
erence, erected a monument to his memory in Westminster Abbey.2
1 Montcalm's dispatch, Pouchot.
2 1 am indebted, in part, to a published letter of Mrs. Cochrane for the
fact of the interment of Howe in St. Peter's, and to the manuscript of Elkanah
Watson for the circumstances of the exhumation. The tradition that Howe,
as an example to his troops, caused his hair to be cut short, has cast some
doubt on the accuracy of the statement in the text. Pouchot alludes to the
same fact, and says the hair was left "two fingers breadth long." (Pouchot,
i, no). In my judgment, if the story is correct, it does not conflict with the
account in the manuscript. It was the fashion of the age to wear the hair in
long locks or ringlets. This habit had probably been introduced into the army,
and Howe desired to correct it. No motive of cleanliness, which was doubtless
the prominent object with Howe, made the excision of the queue necessary.
Short hair, rather than long, would have exacted careful dressing for a funeral
preparation. The manuscript states that the identity of the grave was estab-
lished not only by the coat of arms which surmounted it, but also by the recol-
lection of Henry Cuyler, a half-pay British officer, who was at the time a highly
respected resident of Greenbush.
IS MONUMENT TO
E AUGUSTUS
0FE_Y ".AD or HIS
' AfTECr'ON
[Specially Taken by the Head Verier for J. A. Holden]
LORD HOWE'S MONUMENT IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY
APPENDIX IV.
DESCRIPTION OF THE HOWE MONUNENT,
WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
One of the most remarkable events connected with the death
of Lord Howe was the erection to his memory of an elaborate monu-
ment in Westminster Abbey, by the Province of Massachusetts Bay.
An unusual mark of respect, and esteem, by a Puritan colony to a
Patrician soldier.
Dr. Samuel A. Green of the Massachusetts Historical Society
writes:1 "On February 1, 1759, the General Court of the Pro-
vince of Massachusetts Bay voted 'the sum of Two Hundred and
fifty Pounds Sterling, to be laid out in erecting a Monument to the
Memory of the late Lord Howe. ' 3
Among the papers sent S. H. P. Pell, by Lord Browne, and
turned over to the writer, was a copy of the "Resolution adopted
by the Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England, order of
the Great and General Court, by his Excellency the Governor,
Council and Assembly." This reads as follows:
The Great and General Court bearing Testimony to the sence
which the Province had of the services and Military virtues of the
late Lord Viscount Howe who, fell in the last Campaign fighting
in the Cause of the Colonies, and also to express the affection which
their officers and soldiers bore to his Command.
Ordered that the Sum of Two Hundred and Fifty pounds ster-
ling be paid out of the Publick Treasury to the order of the present
Lord Viscount Howe for erecting a monument to his Lordship's
memory, to be built in such manner, and situated in such Place
as the present Lord Viscount Howe shall Choose.
And that His Excellency the Governor be desired to acquaint
his Lordship therewith in such manner that the said Testimony
may be engraved on such Monument.
Copy attest,
A. Oliver, Secy.
This paper being among the family records, shows that the in-
tent of the Province was carried out, and the family must have
letter of Nov. 28th, 1910.
324 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
complied with the request, for Miss Lomas and her colleague Miss
Diver have sent me excerpts from contemporary papers, as well as
extracts from the standard books on the Abbey memorials. Miss
Lomas writes:1 "The Howe memorial at Westminster Abbey is
just inside the West door of the Nave (N. side). Mrs. Murray-
Smith 's Roll-call from which I enclose an extract, gives a plan of
the nave with monuments, showing its exact position. It was
moved to its present position a good many years ago. Originally
it was under one of the windows. " Through Miss Lomas the writer
secured a very fine photograph of the monument, reproduced herein,
for the benefit of those who have never seen the original, in its hal-
lowed and historic environment.
The contemporary and historic accounts are as follows:
Yesterday a beautiful Monument, designed by Mr. Stuart and
executed by Mr. Scheemakers, to the Memory of the late gallant
Lord Howe, was opened in Westminster Abbey. On the top is a
Trophy of Arms in fine white Marble, and on a Flat Pyramid of
black Marble, highly polished, are his Lordship's Arms, Coronet
and Crest, in white Marble. On the top of the Monument sits a
beautiful Figure of a Woman in a melancholy Position, and inimi-
tably well executed representing the Province of Massachusetts
Bay and underneath the following Inscription:
"The Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England, by an
Order of the Great and General Court, bearing Date Feb. 1, 1759,
caused this Monument to be erected to the Memory of George Au-
gustus, Lord Viscount Howe, Brigadier General of his Majesty's
Forces in America, who was slain July 7, 1758, on his March to Ti-
conderoga, in the 34th Year of his Age; in Testimony of the Sense
they had of his Services and Military Virtues, and of the Affection
their Officers and Soldiers bore to his Command. He lived respect-
ed and beloved; the Public regretted his loss; to his Family it is
irreparable." (The St. Jamfies Chronicle or The British Evening
Post, London, from Tuesday, July 13, to Thursday, July 15, 1762,
No. 210.)
Yesterday a curious Monument was opened in Westminster
Abbey to the Memory of the Right Hon. George Augustus Viscount
Howe, Brigadier General of his Majesty's Forces in America, who
was slain there the Sixth of July, 1758. (The Public Advertiser,
London, Thursday, July 15, 1762, Numb. 8641).
*Her Ittter of Dec. yth, 1910.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 325
The Monument of Brigadier General Viscount Howe, which is
raised against the window was designed by I. Stuart, and
sculptured by P. Scheemakers. It is, principally, of white marble,
and consists of an immense tablet (supported by Lions' Heads on
a plinth) having a regular cornice surmounted by a Female Figure,
representing the Genius of Massachusetts Bay sitting mournfully
at the foot of an obelisk, behind which is a trophy of military en-
signs; and in front, the arms and crest of the deceased.
Inscription.
Arms: sculp. A Fess betn. three Wolves' Heads, couped:
Howe. Crest: a Lion's Gamb, erased. (Edward W. Braley, The
History and Antiquities of the Abbey Church of St. Peter, West-
minster, II, p. 237).
11 Viscount Howe (1758), elder brother of the great Admiral
Howe (whose memorial is at St. Paul's) fell in the flower of his
age, during the first disastrous expedition against Ticonderoga, be-
fore which fort he was killed. Wolfe speaks of him in terms of
high praise, as "the noblest Englishman that has appeared in any
time, and the best soldier in the British Army." The monument
was put up by the people of Massachusetts, only a few years be-
fore the province severed itself from the Mother country, as a tes-
timony to their gratitude, and to the general's worth— (E. T. Mur-
ray Smith, The Roll Call of Westminister Abbey, p. 343).
[Lord Howe, 1758, Monument erected June 14, 1762.] Massa-
chusetts and Ticonderoga,1 not yet divided from us, appear on the
monument in the South aisle of the Nave, erected to Viscount Howe,
the unsuccessful elder brother of the famous admiral. (Arthur
Penrhyn Stanley, D. D., late Dean of Westminister, Monuments of
the Eighteenth Century, in Historical Memorials of Westminster
Abbey, pp. 236-237.)
1 Massachusetts is the female figure on the top of the monument. It was
executed by Schumberg.
APPENDIX V
THE CREDIBILITY OF GENERAL ABERCROMBIE.
A careful study of both English and American compilers of
history, has impressed the writer with the feeling that an act of
injustice in the way of criticism and fault finding has been com-
mitted, in the case of General Abercrombie,1 the leader of this ex-
pedition. He has been made the scapegoat of the affair by Ameri-
can writers, and some English ones. The following epithets have
been applied to him by contemporary and later historians: Incom-
petent, imbecile, coward, pusillanimous, unready, poltroon, old
squaw, booby-in-chief, old woman, blockhead, idiot, Mother Nabby
Crombie, etc.
The bromidism ''nothing succeeds like success" comes into
full play here. Had Abercrombie succeeded, his detractors and
critics would have been the first to have lauded him to the skies. As
a matter of fact General Abercrombie was, for those days, a very
fair example of an English general, accustomed to old world tac-
tics2 entirely out of sympathy with the colonial officers and forces,
but possessed of that insular self-sufficiency and contempt for
American ways and manners, which affected every English officer
and leader, except Lord Howe, who came over to command our
forces during the Colonial war, or was sent against us at the time
of the War of the Revolution, or War of 1812.
General Abercrombie was born in the year 1706. Having ob-
tained his company, he was commissioned as major in 1742, lieut.-
colonel of the Royal Scots in 1744, served throughout the war in
Flanders, in 1746 was promoted to colonel, serving as quartermas-
ter-general in France, was wounded the following year in the Low
Countries, made colonel of the Fiftieth Regiment in 1755, and in
1756 promoted to major-general. In March of the same year he
was given the command of the Forty-fourth Regiment of Foot.
1 For some reason American writers have chosen to spell the name with
the termination " ie." The English usage was to write it with a " y " final.
2 Abercrombie was a bluff but dull soldier. * * * He was brave even to
rashness. * He always wanted to do everything with the bayonet * * *
too obtuse to see any difference in the chance of that weapon, between the
open plains of Europe and the tangled woods of America. A. C. Buell's Sir
William Johnson, (N. Y. 1903), pp. 164-165.
From a Rare Print in Possession of James Austin Holden
MAJOR GENERAL JAMES ABERCROMBIE (1706-1781)
English Commander-in-Chief
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 327
He came to America in June of that year and served in 1757 under
Lord Loudon against Louisburg. The fall of the same year he was
made commander-in-chief of the American army, which carried
with it the command of the Sixtieth or Royal Americans. After his
defeat by Montcalm, July 8, 1758, he was recalled by the king and
returned to England. Here he was triumphantly acquitted by a
court martial, was made lieut-general in March, 1759, and general
in the Army in May, 1772, previous to which he had been apppoint-
ed deputy-governor of Sterling Castle. He died at his seat at Glas-
saugh, Banffshire, Scotland, April 23, 1781.1 The fact that he was
thus so greatly honored at home, must be taken into account in con-
sidering his credibility as a witness, which has been attacked in
this matter.
One of his bitterest critics was Charles Lee at this time a subor-
dinate officer, who was severely wounded in the attack on the
French lines.2 This was the same Lee who had treated Madame
Schuyler so brutally a few weeks earlier, by impressing her cattle
and doing other offensive deeds, but who was glad to call her an
"angel" when, wounded and helpless, she cared for him after the
battle.
It was the same Charles Lee who became one of our major-gen-
erals in the War of the Revolution and who for some of the very
faults he condemned in Abercrombie, was tried by court-martial
in 1778 at Brunswick, N. J., found guilty of disobedience of orders,
of misbehaviour before the enemy by making an unnecessary and
disorderly retreat, and of disrespect to General Washington the
comm ander-in-chief . 3
A great deal of contemporary history, as well as some of later
date, was written by superannuated teachers and professional men,
"decayed preachers" or subsidized historians. While in this
country innate and1 ingrained prejudice prevented anything like
a fair explanation of General Abercrombie 's campaign being made
at the time, and later historians have simply followed the lead of
the older ones, without taking the trouble to look into the merits
of the case or man. One writer states that Smollett and other his-
torians of the period were deliberately hired to attack William
1 AT. Y. Col. Doc. VII. p. 345:
2 The Charles Lee Papers, N. Y. Hist. Soc. Col. (1871), pp. 6-15.
3 Memoirs of an American Lady (N. Y. 1866), pp. 178-182. Trial of
328 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Pitt for carrying on this war, claiming its continuance was unneces-
sary.1 The opinion of the contemporary colonials or even of the
officers with Abercrombie at the time, must be taken with several
grains of allowance. No man was ever more bitterly criticised than
General McClellan in our Civil War. But it was due to his fore-
sight and ability to delay the game, that the Army of the Potomac
was welded into one of the grandiest fighting machines the world
has ever known. So Abercrombie by his work, paved the way for
the still more cautious Amherst the following year. The indict-
ments brought against General Abercrombie by his contemporaries
and later historians are practically the following: First, lack of
ability.. Second, making repeated frontal attacks without flanking
movements. Third, not bringing up his artillery. Fourth, remain-
ing in his tent, twjo miles away from the scene of action. Fifth,
making a precipitate retreat instead of besieging the French fort,
thus compelling it to surrender. Sixth, giving orders to remove
the cannon at the head of the lake to Albany or New York.
Believing that very few writers of history, either of old or
modern times would have been possessed of enough military
ability to command a corporal's squad, much less a larger
body of troops, under similar circumstances, the following facts
are offered in rebuttal of the accusations: First, as to Abercrom-
bie 's ability. He had served with distinction on the European bat-
tlefields. Pouchot, an experienced French officer, calls him "an
old and very prudent officer." He is also commended in a French
account in the Paris Documents.2 In the " Memoirs of an American
Lady" he is called "a brave and able man, though rather too much
attached to the military schools of those days, to accomodate him-
self to the desultory and uncertain warfare of the woods, where
sagacity, ready presence of mind, joined with the utmost caution,
and condescension of opinion to our Indian allies, was of infinitely
more consequence than rules and tactics/'4
Palfrey calls him "a well intentioned but sluggish officer/'5
General Wolfe's description of him is as follows: "Abercrombie is
1 Anon. Anecdotes of William Pitt, (London 1792), I, pp. 176-177.
Major General Lee (N. Y. 1864), pp. 238-239.
2 Pouchot's Memoirs, (Hough ed.), I, p. 109.
3 Col Doc. X, p. 747.
4 Memoirs of an American Lady, (N. Y. 1866), p. 175.
5 Palfrey's Compendious History of New England, IV, p. 238..
REAL BURIAL PLACE OP LORD HOWE. 329
a heavy man, and Brigadier P— the most detestable dog on earth,
by everybody's acount. These two officers hate one another. Now,
to serve in an army so circumstanced is not a very pleasing
business. ' n
At this time General Abercrombie was fifty-two years old. He
is spoken of in William Parkman's diary as "an aged gentleman
infirm in mind and body— (William was seventeen at the time),2
But when we realize that Wellington and Napoleon at Waterloo,
were both forty-six years old;Gates at Saratoga forty-eight; Stark
at Bennington forty-nine; Israel Putnam at the time of Bunker
Hill fifty-seven and General Thomas Gage fifty-four; Sir William
Howe when in command of the British Army fifty; Admiral Ed-
ward Boscowen prominent at Louisburg forty-nine, it seems ridicu-
lous to attribute the age of this officer as one of the causes of defeat.
A modern English writer says of him: "He was fifty-two
years of age, heavily built and lethargic, and prematurely old in
appearance. By temperament he was wholly unfit for the great
heat incurred in the bush in the month of July ; enervated thereby,
it is no wonder failure was a result. He had already expressed
himself unfit for American service, and eagerly looked for his re-
call."3
From these descriptions it is plain that Abercrombie 's greatest
fault was in being over fifty, in having allowed himself to put on
flesh, and in being a good liver.4 None of these are strictly military
faults, however. Compare our own General Shafter in the Span-
ish-American War, said to have been carried in a litter, but who
had San Juan Hill, El Caney, and the Cuban Campaign, to his
credit as the commanding officer.5
1 Major William Wood's Fight for Canada, (London 1004), pp. 144-145.
2 Diary of William Parkman, Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc. (1879-1880), XVII,
p. 243.
3 Hart's Fall of New France, (Montreal 1888), p. 88.
4 General Abercrombie, however, was still " wming in Albany as the
records complain, when a change of ministry gave a new impetus to affairs."
Mary Gay Humphrey's Catherine Schuyler, (N. Y. 1897), P. 55-
6 To the average man of 50, who feels his life work only half done, and
himself fully qualified to finish and carry out the designs on the trestle-board,
the age argument is puerile and nonsensical. Imagine our great financiers
and captains of industry meeting with a set-back, and being scored in the
press for the failure because they were too old for the game. Not to cite
instances of competence of elderly men in our Civil War, let us consider the
cases of our own successful generals competing with Great Britain and other
330 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Answering the second and third criticisms, the official reports
show that Abercrombie was informed, by his engineers and some
officers, that the defences of the French were of such a nature as
to be easily forced.1 Such being the case, and the assault having
been begun, for the very reasons stated by Mrs. Grant, the general
would never admit that such an attack would possibly fail. As to
bringing up the cannon, an attempt was made to use them, or at
least the guns on the rafts. But a well directed fire from the fort
sunk some of the boats and compelled a rapid retreat.2 Several
unsuccessful flank movements were made during the affair, and one
French authority differs from the rest in denying the practicability
of breaking through Montcalm's defenses. "As the men had to
go down into a small gorge or hollow, so that the columns were
forced in toward each other, making it necessary for them to avoid
exposing themselves to a cross flanking fire." He also says of the
boat incident, "thirty barges sent by Abercrombie to break up the
French flank were dispersed by the cannon from the fort which
sank two of them, while an assault on the others from the bank by
a few men caused them to retreat."3
Judging by the average American or British writer's treat-
ment the reader would never know that Abercrombie had even at-
tempted such a manoeuvre.
A note to the original Memoirs of M. Pouchot says: "Some
writers of that nation (English) have accused General Abercrom-
bie of having failed in his duty, in not advancing his artillery with
which to destroy the intrenchments of the French. This is all
wrong, as cannon could have but slight ainpression upon works of
this kind, as the late affair at Savannah is conclusive proof.4 An
powers. Such as Andrew Jackson, who was 48 at New Orleans; Zacharjr
Taylor, 62 in the Mexican War, and " old fuss and feathers," General Winfield
Scott, who won his greatest victories in Mexico, at 61. In the Spanish-
American war, the naval heroes Admirals Dewey and Schley were respec-
tively 61 and 59. Generals Shafter and Lawton at San Juan and El Caney
were 63 and 55. In the South African war, Christian De Wet, one of the
greatest of the Boer generals, was 49, while the conquering generals, Lord
Roberts and Lord Kitchener, were 68 and 52.
1 N-. Y. Col. Doc. X, pp. 725, 734-735- J- W. Fortescue's Hist, of British
Army, (London 1899), II, p. 331.
2 N. Y. Col. Doc. X, pp. 723, 735-736, 749-
3 Garneau's Hist, of Canada, (Bell ed. Montreal 1866), I, p. 538.
4 Pouchot's Memoirs, I, p. 120. Compare also Jackson's successful fight
at New Orleans behind his flimsy entrenchments. Lossing's War of 1812, p.
1035.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 331
English authority says: "That the enemy were so well covered that
they could with the greatest deliberation direct their fire without
the least danger to themselves/'1
Piske compares the battle of /Ticonderoga with the affairs of
Bunker Hill and New Orleans. "The brother of the young general
slain at Ticonderoga, preferred to assault entrenchments and suf-
fered accordingly. So, too, at New Orleans, where the English
General might have flanked General Jackson instead of attacking
the entrenchments." With regard to Abercrombie, "he seems to
have been influenced by undue haste. ' '2
Mante speaks of the various opinions of the engineers, "who
with some of the principal officers tried to get information; some
pronounced the breastwork a well finished work, amongst them the
chief engineer treated it as a flimsy construction, only strong in
appearance. The General unfortunately accepted this view."3
As a matter of fact Ticonderoga was a very much over-esti-
mated military position. Montcalm was on the point of abandoning
it and retiring to Crown Point, and when persuaded by his officers
to make a stand, the present "Lines" were decided upon, rather
than a position nearer the fort. M. Pouchot gives the following
counsel to Montcalm : ' ' Sir, your intrenchments are proof against
a hand assault, they can be held, and you have great hope of stand-
ing the shock. If they do not do it today, they cannot within two or
three days, because they must open roads to bring up their artil-
lery."4 Owing to the nature of the ground, flanking attacks were
impracticable, and as has been said before, the French being on
the defensive easily repulsed those that were attempted.5 One of
Montcalm 's engineers informed him of the possibility of the Eng-
lish putting cannon on the hill afterwards known as Mount Defi-
ance, but he took the chance of its not being done, just as General
St. Clair of the American forces took it in 1777, only to be outwitted
by Burgoyne, who profited by Abercromibie's misjudgment and
fortified it. The bitter criticism of St. Clair at the time can be
read in any complete history of the Revolution, and still he was
1 Wynnes' Gen. Hist, of British Empire, (London 1776) II, p. 86.
2 John Fiske's New France and New England, (Boston 1902), IX,
PP- 317-325.
3 Thomas Mante's Hist, of Late War in N. A., (London 1772) , p. 147.
4 Pouchot's Memoirs, I, pp. 115-116.
5 N. Y. Col. Doc. X., p. 743.
332 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
acquitted by a competent military court martial, for a much more
serious fault than that of Abercrombie, in 1758. Dr. Thacher
says : ' ' This mount it is said ought long since to have been fortified
by our army, but its extreme difficulty of access and the want of
* * * men, are the reasons assigned for its being neglected."
Major General Heath in his " Memoirs" says: "This steep and
rugged hill was thought to be inacessible by the Americans, at
least with artillery."1
Mrs. Grant states that the Schuylers regarded this expedition
"with a mixture of doubt and misery, knowing too well from the
sad retrospect of former failures, how little valor and discipline
availed where regular troops had to encounter with unseen foes,
and with difficulties arising from the nature of the ground, for
which military science afforded no remedy. Of) General Abercrom-
bie 's worth and valor they had the highest opinion; but they had
no opinion of attacking an enemy so subtile and experienced on
their own ground, in entrenchments, and this they feared he would
have the temerity to attempt."2
As to remaining in his tent, the place for a commanding officer
unless leading a forlorn hope as Montcalm supposed he was doing,
is in the rear, and not at the front. There was no need of special
attention or of further orders.3 It was a case where a small force
was to be crushed by much larger one, and the men must be sacri-
ficed, just as Grant sacrificed them at the Battle of the Wilderness,
gaining all sorts of epithets thereby, from his enemies.
It does not appear anywhere, nor is it claimed by his critics
that the regular and usual preliminaries were omitted by Aber-
crombie, dispirited though he was over the death of Lord Howe.
He had proper entrenchments thrown up at the Mills to protect a
retreat if necessary, his dispositions were tactical, and his attack
planned in due form according to the information he had.
1 Dr. James Thacher's American Revolution (N. Y. 1860), p. 82. Major
Gen. Heath's Memoirs, (N. Y. 1904). P- 131.
2 Memoirs of an American Lady, p, 178.
3 Major Rogers states, on what authority is not known, " this attack
was begun before the general intended it should be. And as it were by
accident from the fire of the New Yorkers on the left wing. Upon which
Colonel Haviland being in or near the center, ordered the troops to advance."
Rogers' Journals (London 1765), p. 116.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 333
The attack was remarkable for two things. It was the first
and most important engagement in colonial warfare up to the time,
fought exclusively between white men.1
Then, very few colonials Were used on either side, the New
York troops being an exception, and suffering a greater loss in
proportion, than some of the regulars and most of the provincials.2
Those of the colonial troops not in the combat, fired at long range
and in an undisciplined way, killing many of the British, it is claim-
ed, thus adding to the terrors of the affair, and helping to promote
the panic which followed.3 This according to an officer, was "one
of those strange and dreadful scenes to break an officer's heart. "4
It has often been compared to Bull Run. One of the fairest and
best accounts of the attack and retreat the writer has seen, appears
in Kingsford's "History of Canada," and would be critics of Aber-
crombie, are advised to read this work, written from a different,
excellent and just point of view, before passing final judgment upon
the man.5
The criticism made of Abercrombie for ordering his cannon
sent away may be better answered by a contemporary, the Rev.
Daniel Shute, a chaplain in one of the provincial regiments, who
says under date of July 9 :6 " The Army returned to W Henry un-
pursued by Ye Enemy. So many regular officers were slain in Bat-
tle a Council of War, it seems could not be held on that side of the
Lake. It is here confidently reported that two 24lb Cannon were
ordered by an express from sd Gen1, too this side from the lake to
Fort Edward* and ordinance stores from Albany stoped on road.
Consummate Prudence; if ye French should beat our army from
ye Lake, ye Cannon wmdd help them make a vigorous stand at Fort
Edward, and if obliged to abandon that; warlike stores would be
necessary at Albany * * * '
July 10 * * * Hear ye 2 Cannon were bro't back no farther,
than ye half way Brook/'
Abercrombie 's ordering a retreat was not only good general-
ship but the only thing to do. To have stayed at Tieonderoga and
1 John S. Nicolay in The Chautauquan, (May 1892), XV, p. 145.
%N. Y. Col Doc. X, p. 731, vide list of officers killed.
3 Thomas Hutchinson's History Province Massachusetts Bay. (London
1828), III, p. 73-
4 J. W. Fortescue's History of British Army, (London 1899), p. 331.
5 Kingsford's History of Canada, IV, pp. 161-176.
« Daniel Shute's Journal, Hist. Col Essex Inst., (April 1874), XII, p. 138.
334 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
beseiged it, would have been madness. Would-be military critics
very generally overlook the fact that Montcalm had
"two openings out of the bag." Only three years before
Dieskau had invaded the colony, by way of Champlain, Wood Creek
and the war-path from what is now Whitehall to Fort Edward.
That path was still open to the southward, and DeLevis with 3,000
men was expected. Unless Abercrombie, defeated, could get to
the head first, DeLevis might by a side march easily capture the
English position. This would be the natural conclusion, and the
natural action at the time.1 The fact that DeLevis had already ar-
rived at Ticonderoga, bringing only a few hundred men, which was
not known to Abercrombie at the time of the retreat, nor when he
despatched Bradstreet to Fontenac, charging him to "Watch the
Motions of Mor. de Levy and prevent his advancing and penetrat-
ing towards the Oneida Carrying Place," does not alter the case.
There was but one thing for the general to do and he did it— re-
turn to the head.2
Abercrombie 's retreat to the head of the lake, his erection
there of fortifications against an expected attack of the enemy,
the drill and military operations to get the troops into shape, marred
somewhat by the constant desertion of the New England men, the
details of regiments and men to protect the frontiers from the in-
cursions of the French after the Half-way Brook and Putnam
affairs, the building of a sloop and boats to guard the lake, were
all excellent military measures.3 As Kingsford says: "Whatever
1 Mante speaks of the first flight being stopped at the saw-mills, where a
rally took place. Abercrombie's order to march to the landing place renewed
the panic. Col. Bradstreet's work in preventing the soldiers from overloading
the boats prevented the death of many of them. " This prudent behavior of
the Colonels having afforded the General time to restore a little order, the
troops kept their ground that night." (p. 149). He says further: "The
prodigious preparations against Ticonderoga were carried on by two or three
gentlemen, subordinate in command; but men in whose military abilities,
resolution, and activity the army justly confided. When Lord Howe was
killed, a kind of despondency ensued; and the manner in which the attack
of that place was conducted, too plainly proved, that there existed sufficient
grounds for such despondency. All, however, that courage could, was done.
Although the English were beaten off by a number greatly inferior, they
lost not a jot of honour by their retreat, (p. 159.)
2 Gertrude Selwyn Kimball's Correspondence of William Pitt, (N. Y.
1906), pp. 301-302.
3 For incidents connected with the encampment at the head of the lake,
consult the various diaries, letters and journals mentioned herein. See also
our Transactions, VI, pp. 169-189.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 335
the first fault of Abercrombie, after the repulse he acted with judg-
ment, and his conduct is beyond reproach. ' '
The Earl of Bute addressed Pitt as follows:1 "The general
and the troops have done their duty, and appear, by the number
lost, to have fought with the greatest intrepidity; to have tried all
that men could do to force their way. The commander seems
broken-hearted with being forced to retreat."
While Grenville wrote him * * * The great number of officers
and men in the regular troops killed and wounded, and particularly
the loss we have sustained in the death of Lord Howe, are circum-
stances that would cloud a victory, and must therefore aggravate
our concern for a repulse. * * * But to do justice to so many
brave men as have fallen upon this occasion, the officers and troops
of that army seem to have been animated with a zeal and spirit
that requires no additional incitement.2
It is only fair and just to compare here what was accomplished
by Abercrombie with the achievements of the other leaders in the
Campaign of 1758. To General Forbes afflicted with a mortal di-
sease, sick every minute of the time and carried in a litter as the
troops marched along, "iron-headed" and unwilling to take advice
from Washington or other colonials, due credit for the capture
of Fort DuQuesne must be given. Although as commander-in-
chief he must be blamed for the avoidable wiping out of Major
Grant's detachment by the French and Indians. But why he
should have taken from July to November to march through the
present state of Pennsylvania, building unnecessary roads when
the Braddock road could have been used, and then attack a fort
which he knew through the report of deserters from the French, to
have been practically abandoned, has never been explained, (al-
though often attempted,) with complete satisfaction to enquiring
minds.3
Nor was Amherst's conduct at Louisburgh, without fault. A
number of days were wasted ostensibly waiting for suitable weather
1 Cor. William Pitt Earl of Chatham, (London 1838), I, p. 335.
2 Id. p. 339.
3 Hildreth's Hist, of U. S. (N. Y. 1877), II, p. 484. Gentleman's Maga-
zine, (London 1759), pp. 171-174. Fortescue, II, p. 335. Smollett's England,
— (Forbes left Philadelphia early in July and reached Fort DuQuesne
Nov. 25). II, pp. 292-293. Bradley's Fight with France for North America,
(N. Y. n.d.), pp. 267-287. Complete History of the War, (Dublin 1766),
pp. 125-126.
336 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
and a quiet sea, and w(hen the attack was finally made and the
landing effected, it was through the zeal and eagerness of several
subaltern officers and their crews, who landed without orders, com-
pelling General Wolfe to follow them immediately to protect their
landing.1
In fact, both Forbes' and Amherst 's expeditions, when care-
fully analyzed, were successful through nukes, rather than from
any superior military skill or planning of the individual leaders.
As a matter of fact, Amherst as a general was no better than, nor
as good as, Abercrombie. His Campaign of 1759, in which he
wasted several hundred thousand pounds sterling, in the attempted
construction of useless, uncompleted and unneeded forts on Lake
George and Champlain, and in carefully delaying his advance while
Wolfe waited for him in vain, being finally forced to attack Quebec
alone, except for the assistance of the fleet,2 shows him to have been
possessed of a cautiousness to call it by no other name, which but
few of his worst enemies attributed in connection with Ticonderoga
to Abercrombie.3
To Abercrombie 's credit must be placed, too, the permission to
Bradstreet to attempt the reduction of Fort Frontenac, and sup-
plying him with troops to do it with. It was the capture of this
fort which opened the w&y to General Forbes for the taking of
DuQuesne, and by destroying an enemy's base, made Amherst's
bloodless victory at Ticonderoga a possibility, in the following year,
1759.
Called brave and prudent by those who knew him well, a
capable officer after the first great blunder of listening to young
and inexperienced staff-officers, one of whom (Clerk the engineer)
paid for his mistake with his life, his faults overlooked and his
merits rewarded by his king, no one can justly or properly say
that James Abercrombie 's report as to Lord Howe and the disposi-
tion of his remains, are not credible, or in any way successfully
impeach him as a competent and sufficient witness, in the matter
of that nobleman's interment.
1 Bradley, pp. 221-222. Complete Hist, of the War, pp. 95-96. Trumbull's
Hist, of U. S. (Boston 1810), I, p. 377. Smollett says Amherst approached
Louisburgh with great circumspection, building redoubts, etc." Hist. England
II, p. 281.
2 Bradley, p. 311. Trumbull, p. 399, Hist, of the War, p. 198.
3 If Admiral Sampson was entitled to credit for the victory of Santiago
Bay in 1898, when miles away from the conflict, as certain New England
politicians and some naval bureaucrats have tried to make out, certainly
Abercrombie is entitled to all the credit for Frontenac, for he had to order
the attack there, and furnish the force to subdue it.
APPENDIX VI.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1 758.
For the purpose of affording all possible aid to any historical
student who may care, at some future time, to investigate the Cam-
paign of 1758, the accompanying list, comprising many of the vol-
umes and articles examined by the writer, is submitted as a partial
and rough bibliography of the period.
The principal source books for the average investigator are of
course, Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of
New York, Volume X; Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of
America, Volume V ; and the Annual Report of the American His-
torical Association for 1905, Volume II.
In the former volume, the following references are to be con-
sulted :
Howe, How, Haw, (Daw, Dawh), Gteo. Augustus, 3rd. Viscount.
—Killed at Ticonderoga, pp. 724-727, 730, 738, 741, 744, 749, 797,
809, 816, 847-848, 895, 921. Biog. p. 735. No. mm under his com-
mand, p. 892. Official despatches and documents relating to the
military operations before Ticonderoga, pp. 721-725. List of of-
ficers killed and wounded, pp. 728-732. Another account of the
operations at Ticonderoga (translated from a French letter in
Penn. Arch. Ill, p. 472), pp. 734-736. Montcalm's report , pp.
737-744. Letter M. DoreU, pp. 744-751. Howe skirmish described,
pp. 747, 845. Letter and dispatch M. Doreil, pp. 752-756. Reasons
why Montcalm did not follow Abercrombie and attack him at Fort
William Henry, pp. 757-761. Comments on Montcalm's retreat
from the landing place, pp. 781-798. Montcalm's observations on
Vaudreuil's letter, pp. 800-805. Letter M. Daine, Lord Howe skir-
mish, p. 814.
In Winsor, see for Campaign, pp. 520-527. For Special
Works, pp. 596-603. For General Works, pp. 615-621. For Car-
tography and Depiction, pp. 522-526, 536-537, 557, 614. As Win-
sor, however, only covers authorities published to 1887, a few later
works of possible importance may be found in Hart's The Ameri-
can Nation, (New York, 1905), VII, pp. 296-305.
In The Annual Report of the American Historical Association
for 1905, II, is an exhaustive Bibliography of the Publications, Pro-
338 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
ceedings and Transactions of the various Historical Societies and
Associations of the United States and Canada to that time. On pp.
1124 and 1291 of the Index, are references particularly relating
to this campaign, while others may be found under the proper head-
ings of the various publications.
A. CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS.
Among the principal contemporary accounts are the following,
the Boquet Papers being in mss. as well as the Partridge and Will-
iams letters, but all the rest having been published as stated.
A Dialogue In Hades (Between Montcalm & Wolfe) Attributed
to Chevalier Johnstone, Published by Literary & Historical So-
ciety of Quebec (ed. 1887), pp. 20-39.
Bouquet Papers, London Museum, Add. Mss. Extract of Let-
ter from Genii Stanwix, Albany, 9th July, 1758, 21,640, p. 77.
Extract of Letter from Govr. DeLancey to Gov. Denny, N. Y., 12th
July, (Received at Carlisle, Pa., July 15, at night). Id. Extract
Letter Col. G. Washington to Col. Boquet, Camp at Port Cumber-
land, 21st July, 1758, Add. Mss. 21,641, p. 17. Id. Two Letters
from Alex. Colden, N. Y., July 17th, 1758, with description of Lord
Howe's death and battle, Add. Mss. 21,640, p. 151 and 21,643,
p. 154. Penna. Archives, Phila., (1853), III. Letter from Gov.
Colden, same date, pp. 479-480.
Boquet Papers, Extract from letters Gen'l Jo. Forbes to Col.
Boquet, Add. Mss. 21,640, pp. 93, 94a, relating to Howe's death,
Genl Stanwix letter, &c.
Miss Rowena Buell's Memoirs of Rufus Putnam, (Boston,
1903), pp. 23-25.
Journal of Rev. John Cleaveland, Hist. Col., Essex Inst.,
Part III, (July, 1874), pp. 183-186.
E. C. Dawes' edition, Journal General Rufus Putnam, (Al-
bany, 1886), p. 68.
Diary Capt. Asa Foster, 1758, N. E. Hist. Gen. Register,
(1900), LIV, p. 184.
Journal of Col. Archelaus Fuller of Middleton, Mass., 1758.
Hist. Col. Essex Inst., (July, 1910), pp. 213-214.
Mrs. Grant's Memoirs of an American Lady, (New York,
1846), Chap. XI, pp. 175-183. Id. (Albany, 1876), pp. 227-231.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 339
Extract Copt. Holmes Journal, in Abiel Holmes' American An-
nals, II, pp. 523-524.
Journal of a Provincial Officer 1758, Dawson's Historical
Magazine, (August, 1871), p. 116.
Joseph Holt's Journal, 1758, N. E. Hist. Gen. Register,
(1856), X.
Capt. John Knox, An Historical Journal of the Campaign in
North America, (London, 1769), pp. 145, 148-152.
Chas. Lee's Papers in N. Y. Hist. Soc. Pro. (for 1871), I, pp.
6-15.
Letter from a New Englander, Gentleman's Magazine, (Lon-
don, 1760), XXIX, p. 224.
Letter from an Officer, Gentleman's Magazine for 1758, pp.
444-446.
Letter from Rev. Samuel Hopkins, N. J. Hist. Soc. Pro., (1853-
55), VII, pp. 126-128.
Military Journal of Two Prwtite Soldiers, (Ed. by Lossmg),
(Poughkeepsie, 1855), pp. 21-23.
"Munsell's" Orderly Book at Ticonderoga, (Albany, 1859),
pp. 68, 186-187.
Journal John Noyes of Newbury, 1758, Hist. Col. Essex Inst.,
(January, 1909), p. 74.
William Parkman's Journal in Mass. Hist. Soc. Pro., (1879-
1880), XVII, pp. 243-244.
Pouchot's Memoirs, (F. B. Hough ed. 1866), I, pp. 110-121.
F. M. Ray ed. Journal of Dr. Caleb Rea, (Salem, Mass., 1881),
pp. 24-26; also in Hist. Col. Essex Inst., (April, May. June, 1881),
pp. 102-104.
Reminiscenses of the French and Revolutionary Wars, (Con-
cord, N. H., pub. by Luther Roby, 1831), pp. 43-70, 180.
Major Robert Rogers' Journal, (London, 1765), pp. 109-114,
also Id. (ed. by Franklin B. Hough, Albany, 1883), pp. 108-120.
Dr. James Searing's Battle of Ticonderoga, in N. Y. Hist. Soc.
Pro. for 1847.
Sewell's History of Woburn, Diary of Lt. Samuel Thompson
of Woburn, Mass., (Boston, 1868), pp. 547-549. See also Wm. R.
Cutter's annotated ed. same diary, (Boston, 1896), p. 9.
340 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Caleb Stark, Memoir General John Stark, (Concord, 1860),
pp. 25-26. Also same vol. Memoir Col. Robert Rogers, pp. 434-
436.
Journal of Rev. Daniel Shute, 1758, Hist. Col. Essex Inst.,
(April, 1874), pp. 137-138.
Israel William's Mss. in Mass. Hist. Soe. Library, Letter from
Col. Oliver Partridge, Lake George, July 12, 1758 ; also Letter from
Col. Wm. Williams, Lake George (Sorrowful Scituation) July
ye 11, 1758.
Wilson's Orderly Book, 1759, (Albany, 1857), pp. 29, 93, 106.
Also pp. 1-7-19, 29, 33, 56, 72, 194.
B. LOCAL HISTORY.
The Campaign of 1758, is very thoroughly treated in most of
the local histories of this section of the state. A great many of
these books however are out of print, scarce and "happy should
he be, who has his book-case full of them." The list is as complete
as possible;— in it have been included a number of Guide Books,
which are of interest to the special student:
Rev. J. H. Brandow, Story of Old Saratoga, pp. 70-71.
Lucius E. Crittenden, The Capture of Ticonderoga, (Rutland,
1872), pp. 17-18.
Flavius J. Cook, Home Sketches of Ticonderoga, (Keeseville,
N. Y., 1858), pp. 101-104. Dr. Joseph Cook's Centennial Address,
1864, (reprinted by Ticonderoga Hist. Soc., 1909).
B. F. DeCosta, A Narrative of Events at Lake George, (New
York, 1868), pp. 31-40. Id. Am. Bib. for 1871, Notes on the His-
tory of Fort George, pp. 111-112.
Asa Fitch, M. D., "Survey of Washington County," New
York State Agri. Soc. Trans., (1848), pp. 929-930.
Dr. Austin W. Holden, in Robert Rogers the Ranger, in Glens
Falls Messenger, (1869). Death of Lord Howe, May 7, attack on
Ticonderoga, May 14. Id. Historical Monograph, anniversary ed.
Sandy HM, N. Y., Herald, (June, 1888), p. 8. Id. History of
Queensbury, (Albany, 1874), p. 321.
Crisfield Johnson, History of Washington County, (Philadel-
phia, 1878), pp. 28-29.
W. H. H. Murray, Lake Champlam and its Shores, (Boston,
1890), pp. 83-87.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OP LORD HOWE. 341
Peter A. Palmer, History of Lake Champlain, (Albany),
1866), pp. 72-79.
A. L. Perry, Origins in Williamstown, (Williamstown, 1900),
p. 421.
W. Max Reid, Lake George And Lake Champlawi, (New York,
1910), pp. 155-160.
Spofford's Ga&ateer of New York, (Albany, 1813), p. 146.
N. B. Sylvester, History of Saratoga County, (Philadelphia,
1878), p. 42.
H. B. Smith, History of Essex County, (Syracuse, 1885), pp.
85-88, 364, 410. Id. History of Warren County, (Syracuse, 1885),
pp. 101-104.
W. L. Stone, History of Washington County, (New York,
1901), pp. 98-103.
Saranac Chapter D. A. R., Three Centuries in Champlain Val-
ley, (1909), pp. 204-205. (cut Lord Howe).
Zadock Thompson, Civil History of Vermont, (Burlington,
1842), part II, pp. 12-13.
Cortlandt VanRensselaer, Historical Discourse on Centennial
Celebration of the Capture of Ticonderoga, 1759, (Phila., 1859),
(Pamph. pp. 32) pp. 19-21. Id. Published also in Miscellaneous
Sermons, Essays & Addresses, by Rev. Cortlandt VanRensselaer,
(Phila., 1861).
Samuel Williams, LL. D., Natural and Civil History of Ver-
mont, Bennington, 1809), I, pp. 405-406, 505.
W.; C. Watson Survey of Essex County, in New York Stale
Agri. Soc. Trans., (1852), pp. 676-677. Id. Champlain Valley,
(Albany, 1863), p. 95. Id. Military and Civil History of the Coun-
ty of Essex, New York, (Albany, 1869), pp. 85-95.
II.
B. C. Butler, Lake George and Lake Champlam, (Albany,
1868), pp. 208-222.
G. M. Davison, Fashionable Tour, (Saratoga Springs, 1828), p.
122.
B. F. DeCosta, Lake George, (New York, 1868), pp. 108-112.
Illustrated View of the Ruins, pp. 152-159. (Same description as
Colonial Days, same author, same year).
342 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
J. Disturnelle, Picturesque Tourist, (New York, 1858), pp.
209-210; Map to face p. 70.
Theodore D wight, Jr., The Northern Traveler, (New York,
1841), pp. 96-97. Engraving of Port Ticonderoga from Mount
Independence to face p. 99. Map of this territory to face p. 106.
Capt. E. S. Harris, Lake George, All About It, (Glens Falls,
N. Y., 1903), p. 26.
Henry Marvin, Complete History of Lake George, (New York,
1853), Chap. VIII, pp. 72-80.
T. Nelson & Sons, Our Summer Retreats, (New York, 1858), p.
17.
Nelson's Guide to Lake Champlain and Lake George, (London,
1866), pp. 21-22. Map, p. 1. Oil color views of fort and Lake
Champlain to face p. 22.
Francis Parkman, Historic Handbook of the Northern Tour,
(Boston, 1885), pp. 70-89. Map to face p. 71, same as in Mont-
calm and Wolfe ; Picture of Montcalm to face p. 66. Map of Lake
George and Lake Champlain region from surveys 1762, to face
p. 16.
C. H. Possons, Lake George and Lake Champlain (1st Ed.,
Glens Falls, 1882), pp. 93-94. Map of "Fort Ti." p. 126. Map of
Lake Champlain to face p. 96. Ruins of "Fort Ti." p. 124.
Elizabeth Eggleston Seelye, Saratoga and Lake Champlain in
History, (Lake George, 1898), pp. 17-23. Map Albany to Chazy to
face p. 4.
Benjamin Silliman, Tour Between Hartford and Quebec, (New
Haven, 1820), pp. 155-183.
S. R. Stoddard, Lake George (1st Ed. Albany, 1873), pp. 56-
96; Id. Ticonderoga, (Albany, 1873), pp. 17-19, 35. Illustrations of
the Ruins, &c., of that day, pp. 46, 52, 56, 57, map p. 51. Id. Lake
George and Lake Champlain, (40th Ed., Glens Falls, 1910), pp.
89-91, 101-102 ; Maps pp. 96-B, 96-C ; Cuts of old fort, &c., pp. 106-
107. Id. The Adirondacks (40th Ed., Glens Falls, 1910), cuts of
old fort 26, 28.
Z. Thompson, Guid^e to Lake George, Lake Champlain, &c.,
(Burlington, 1845), pp. 13-15. Map of Lake Champlain to face
title page. Map showing territory around "Fort Ti.," p. 13.
A. Williams ( ? ) Descriptive and Historical Guide to Lake
Champlain and the Adirondacks, (Burlington, 1871), pp. 12-13.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OP LORD HOWE. 343
C. GENERAL ACCOUNTS.
Annual Register For Year 1758, (London, 1764), pp. 72-74.
The American Monthly Magazine, (February, 1836), "Old Ti-
conderoga," pp. 138-142.;
Nathaniel Ames, Essays, Humor and Poems (Sam. Briggs ed.,
Cleveland, 1891), pp. 339-342.
Anderson-Flick, Short History of the State of New York,
(New York, 1902), pp. 57-58.
Tenth Annual Report of the American Scenic and Historic
Preservation Society, (Albany, 1905), pp. 231-232.
W. Belsham, Memoirs Kings of Great Britain, (London, 1800),
II, pp. 268-270.
Belknap 's History of New Hampshire, (Dover, 1831), I, p. 319.
James Brown, LL. D., History of Highlands and Highland
Clans, (Glasgow, 1843), IV, pp. 157-158.
M. Dudley Bean, The Knickerbocker, (July, 1850), Storming of
Ticonderoga, (1758), pp. 16-23.
George Bancroft, History of The United States, (Boston,
1852), IV, pp. 302-304. Also see his revised edition (1879), II, 486.
J. S. Barry, History of Massachusetts, (2nd Period), (Bos-
ton, 1856), pp. 231-232.
W. C, Bryant, Picturesque America, (New York, 1874), II, pp.
266-269. Odd and curious views of Ticonderoga and vicinity.
E. H. Bowker, "A College Camp at Lake George," Scribner's
Monthly, (March, 1879), p. 623.
Bryant & Gay, History of the United States (New York, 1879),
III, pp. 298-299.
James Phinney Baxter, A. M., Digby's Journal, 1776-1777,
(Albany, 1887), pp. 156, 241, 258.
Katherine Schuyler Baxter, A Godchild of Washington, (New
York, 1897), pp. 21-22, 29, 36-40, 47-50.
Bibliography of New York Colonial History, New York State
Library, (Albany, 1901), pp. 370, 371, 372, 375, 460, 495, 496, 507,
508, 510.
A. J. Bradley, Fight With France For North America, New
York, n. d.), pp. 244-259.
A. C. Buell, Sir Wm. Johnson, (New York, 1903), pp. 164-165.
344 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
A. S. Barnes, A Papular History of the United States, (New
York, n. d.), pp. 79-80.
Mrs. C. V. R. Bonney, Legacy of Historical Gleanings, etc.,
(Albany, 1875), I, pp. 22, 157.
Correspondence of William Pitt (London, 1838), I, pp. 335,
339.
Journal of Charles Carroll of CarroUton, (Baltimore, 1845),
pp. 52-55. Two rare prints of Gen. Abercrombie from the Euro-
pean Magazine, (1801), and Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga from the
Analectic Magazine (n. d.) laid in.
Secretary of State of New York, Calendar Historical Manu-
scripts, (Albany, 1866), Part II, p. 690 (Vol. XXXVI, pp. 47-48).
Colonial Muster Rolls, Province of New York, for 1758, Report
of the State Historian for 1896, I, pp. 836-899.
Chancellor & Hewes, History of the United States, (New York,
1905), pp. 269-270.
Edjward Channing, History of the United States, A Century
of Colonial History, 1660-1760, (New York, 1908), II, pp. 582-583.
Timothy Dwight, LL. D., Travels in New England and New
York, (London, 1823), III, pp. 364-368.
William Dunlap's New York, (1839), I, 390-395.
Dawson's Historical Magazine, (March, 1861), p. 61. Id. (Oct.,
1868), p. 194. Id. (May, 1869), DePeyster's Conquest of Canada,
p. 301.
William Gilbert Davies, Papers and Addresses, Monograph
Ticonderoga & Crown Point, (New York, 1907), pp. 95-108.
Rev. John Entick, General History of the Late War, (London,
1765), pp. 251-257.
F. S. Eastman, History of State of New York, (New York,
1833), pp. 166-167.
E. D. Ellis, History of Our Country, (Philadelphia, 1889), II,
pp. 352-354.
John Frost, Remarkable Events In The History of America,
(Phila., 1848), I, pp. 630-631.
Hon. J. W. Fortescue, History of the British Army, (London,
1899), II, pp. 323-326.
John Fiske, New France and New England, (Boston, 1902),
IX, pp. 317-325.
REAL BURIAL. PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 345
James Grahame, History of the United States of North Ameri-
ca, (London, 1836), IV, pp. 28-32.
P. X. Garneau, Histoire Du Canada, Dupuis Sa Decouverts
Jesqu'a Nos Jours Par, Tome Troisieme, (Quebec, Imprimere De
Frechette Et Frere, Rue La Montage, No. 13, 1848), pp. 123, 128-
137.
F. X. Garneau, History of Canada (English Translation by
Andrew Bell, Montreal, 1866), I, p. 535 (French Version p. 125),
p. 538 (French Version p. 129).
Walford Davis Green, M. P., William Pitt, Earl of Chatham,
(New York, 1901), pp. 131-132.
M. Guizot, History of France, (Boston, n. d.), VI, p. 206.
E. Hoyt, Antiquarian Researches (Greenfield, Mass., 1824), pp.
296-299.
Thomas Hutchinson, LL. D., History of Province of Massa-
chusetts Bay, (London, 1828), III, pp. 70-73.
Abiel Holmes, Annals of America, (2nd ed., Cambridge, 1829),
II, pp. 82-83.
John Howard Hinton, A. M., History of United States, (Lon-
don, 1830), I, pp. 247-248.
Selma Hale, History of United States, (Cooperstown, N. Y.,
1847), p. 121.
Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives, (Philadelphia, 1853),
III, pp. 477, 479, 480. Also pp. 472-475.
G. H. Hollister, History of Connecticut, (New Haven, 1855),
II, pp. 76-80.
Richard Hildreth, History of the United States of America,
(New York, 1877), II, p. 482.
Gerald E. Hart, The Fatt Of New France, (Montreal, 1888),
pp. 86-89.
Mary Gay Humphreys, Catherine Schuyler, (New York, 1897),
pp. 47-59.
Rev. Joseph Hooper, History of St. Peter's Church, (Albany,
1900), pp. 97, 167, 519-520, 523, 525, 526-527.
A. B. Hart, The American Nation, (New York, 1905), VII, pp.
231-232.
Harper's Monthly Magazine, XII, Sketch of Israel Putnam,
death of Lord Howe, p. 585.
346 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Id. XIV, Lossing 's Albany Fifty Years Ago, p. 453.
Id. LIX, S. G. W. Benjamin's Lake George, pp. 321-339.
George A. Ingalls, A. B., Proceedings of New York State Hist.
Assn., Monograph on Lord Howe, II, (1902), pp. 24-31.
Rossiter Johnson, History of the French War, (New York,
1882), pp. 279-289.
William Kingsford, History of Canada, (London, 1890), IV,
pp. 161-176.
Gertrude Selwyn Kimball, Correspondence of William Pitt,
(New York, 1906), I, pp. 297-302.
B. J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution, (New
York, 1851), I, pp. 115-119.
Henry Cabot Lodge, A Short History of the English Colonies
in America, (New York, 1881), p. 370.
B. J. Lossing, Life and Times of Philip Schuyler, (New York,
1883), I, pp. 151-155.
Fred W. Lucas, App&ndiculae Historical, Or Shreds of His-
tory Hung On A Horn, (London, 1896), VII, pp. 68-77. Biblio-
graphy, pp. 159, 166, 175-176.
Benson J. Lossing, History of the American Revolution — Life
of Washington, (New York, n. d.), I, pp. 263-265.
Thomas Mante, History of Late War in North America, (Lon-
don, 1772), III, pp. 145-159.
H. H. Miles, LL. D., History of Canada Under French Regime,
(Montreal, 1872), pp. 337-342.
The Monthly Magazme and American Review (1800), II,
Sketch of Colonel Humphreys, Putnam 's Biographer, pp. 472-475.
James Macauley, Hist. State of N. Y., (Albany, 1829), III,
pp. 33-35.
Lord Mahon, History of England, (London, 1844), IV, pp.
201-202.
Joel Munsell, Annals of Albany, (Albany, 1850), II, p. 60, etc.,
Ill, 158-159, Id. VI, pp. 124, 296-297. Id. Collections of the His-
tory of Albany, (Albany, 1865), I, pp. 445-446; Id. II, pp. 13-14.
John G. Nicolay, "The Battle of Ticonderoga" in the Chau-
tauquan, (May, 1892), pp. 143-145.
"Lake George," Putnam's Monthly, (August, 1857), pp. 153-
154, 157-158.
Si
Is
-
£ §
IS
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 347
John Gorham Palfrey, A Compendious History of New Eng-
land, (Boston, 1883), IV, p. 238.
Parkman, Monttcalm and Wolfe, (Frontenac ed., Boston,
1899), II, pp. 289-320.
Col. David Humphreys, Life of Israel Putnam, (Brattleboro,
1812), pp. 45-48; Id. (Hartford, 1833), pp. 39-43.
W. H. Graham, Life and Times of General Putnam, (New
York), pp. 21-22.
William Glitter, Life of Israel Putnam, (Boston, 1854), pp.
87-92.
Sparks' American Biography, Life of Israel Putnam, (New
York, 1860), pp. 137-138.
John Fellows, The Veil Removed, (New York, 1843), pp. 57-65.
0. J. Victor, Israel Putnam, (New York, n. d.), pp. 29-30.
T. Smollett, M. D., History of England, (London, 1760, II, pp.
286-290.
William Smith, History of Canada, (Quebec, 1815), I, pp.
263-265.
Hon. William Smith, History of New York, (New York, 1830),
II, pp. 321-323.
Jared Sparks, American Biography, (2nd Series, Boston,
1864), VIII, pp. 10-11.
J. A. Spencer, D. D., History United States, (New York,
1858), I, pp. 240-241.
Jared Sparks, American Biography, (New Fork, 1860), I, pp.
36-39.
W. L. Stone, Life and Times of Sir WiUiam Johnson, (Al-
bany), 1865), II, pp. 71-75.
The Sexagenary, (Albany, 1866), p. 15.
George W. Schuyler, Colonial New York, (New York, 1885), I,
p. 155.
William L. Stone, Revolutionary Letters, (Munsell, 1891), pp.
65-69.
William L. Sloane's The French War and the Revolution,
(London, 1893), pp. 65-69.
Dr. W. Russell, Histwy of Modern Europe, (New York, 1856),
II, p. 525.
S. S. Randall, History of New York, (New York, 1870), p. 72.
348 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Lt. Col. R. Z. Rogers, Incidents in the Early Military History
of Canada, (Toronto, n. d., about 1891), Monograph, p. 11.
Cuyler Reynolds, Albany Chronicles, (Albany, 1906), pp.
254-255.
Benjamin Trumbull, D. D., General History of the United
States of America, (Boston, 1819), I, pp. 379-383. Id. History of
Connecticut, (New Haven, 1818), II, p. 390.
Bayard Tuckerman, Life of General Philip Schuyler, 1733-
1804, (New York, 1904), pp. 60-61.
J. Wright, Complete History of the Late War, or Annual Reg-
ister, (4th Ed., Dublin, 1766), pp. 108-124.
Mr. Wynne, General History of the British Empire in Ameri-
ca, (London, 1770), II, p. 84.
Warburton's Conquest of Canada, (New York, 1850), II,
pp. 87-89.
Grorham A. Worth, Random Recollections of Albany, (3rd
ed., Albany, 1866), p. 57.
Arthur James Weise, M. A., History of the City of Albany,
N. Y., (Albany, 1884), pp. 330-331.
Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America,
(Boston, 1887), V, pp. 521-527.
Edwin Wiley, M. A., The United States, (New York, 1909), I,
pp. 237-239.
Major William Wood, The Fight For Canada, (London, 1904),
pp. 144-145.
D. FICTION.
Relating principally to the French and Indian War, and whose
characters and events are prominently connected with the Cam-
paign of 1758.
J. A. Altsheler, A Soldier of Manhattan, (New York, 1897),
p. 163.
M. J. Canavan, Ben Comee, A Tale of Roger's Rangers, 1758-
59, (New York, 1899), pp. 120-130.
G. A. Henty, With Wolfe in Canada, (New York, n. d.), pp.
308-314.
G. P. R. James, Ticonderoga, (New York, n. d.), (Lord Howe
the hero of this work), pp. 353-375.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 349
Jean N. Mcllwraith, The Curious Career of Roderick Camp-
bell, (Boston, 1901), pp. 264-277.
J. Macdonald Oxley, With Rogers on the Frontier, (New York,
1902), pp. 202-203, 220-221.
Gilbert Parker, Seats of the Mighty, (New York, 1896), pp.
236-237.
A. T. Quiller-Couch, Fort Amity, (New York, 1904), pp. 1-25.
Frederick Remington, Joshua Goodenough's Old Letter, in
Harper's Monthly, (Nov., 1897), pp. 878-889.
E. T. Tomlinson, A Soldier of the Wilderness, (Rostov, 1905),
pp. 13-15, 126-127, 296-302.
E. POETRY OF THE CAMPAIGN.
Unlike most of the stirring events of history, the French and
Indian War raised up no Epic poet to sing its triumphs andi re-
cord its failures in measured verse. I have discovered so far only
two contemporary poems, two which had their inspiration a cen-
tury or so later on the honored soil of Old Ticonderoga, one of in-
termediate date and one of very recent publication.
In the Essays, Humor and Poems of Nathaniel Ames, with
notes and comments by Sam. Briggs, (Cleveland, 1891), the
Almanack for 1758 has this curious prophecy for July, p. 281 :
AND now,
'Twixt Host and Host, .but narrow space is left,
A dreadful interval! and Front to Front
Presented, stand in terrible Array
Of hideous length dire is the Noise
Of Conflict—
The death of Lord Howe is noted in a Poem on the Chronolo-
gy of the War, pp. 339-342, under date of July 5, 1758.
Since noble Howe lay prostrate on the Ground,
And the Whole Armies Soul fled thro' his Wound.
The London Magazine for 1759, has the following, which was
copied in Dawson's Historical Magazine, (for March, 1861), p. 61.
It purports to have been written ''By a Lady in America. "
'On The Defeat at Ticonderoga or Carilong.
"Neglected long had been my useless lyre,
And heartfelt grief represt the poet's fire;
350 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
But rous'd by dire alarms of wasting war,
Again, O muse, the solemn dirge prepare,
And join the widow's, orphan's, parent's tear.
Unwept, unsung shall Britian 's chiefs remain ;
Doomed in this stranger clime to bleed in vain ?
Here a last refuge hapless Braddock found,
When the grim savage gave the deadly wound:
Ah! hide Monongahel thy hateful head
(Still as thy waves roll near the injured dead)
On whose gore-moistened banks the Num'rous slain,
Now spring in vegitative life again,
Whilst their wan ghosts as night 's dark gloom prevail
Murmur to whistling winds the mournful tale;
Cease, cease, ye grisley forms, nor wail the past
Lo! A new scene of death exceeds the last;
Th' empurpled fields of Carilong survey
Rich with the spoils of one disastrous day!
Bold to the charge the ready vet 'ran stood
And thrice repell 'd, as oft the fight renewed,
Till (life's warm current drain 'd) they sunk in blood.
Uncheck'd their ardor, unallay'd their fire,
See Beaver, Proby, Rutherford, expire;
Silent Britannia's tardy thunder lay
While clouds of Gallick smoke obscur'd the day.
Th' intrepid race nursed on the mountain's brow
O'er-leap the mound, and dare th' astonished foe;
Whilst Albion's sons (mow'd down in ranks) bemoan
Their much loved country's wrongs nor feel their own;
Chearless they hear the drum discordant beat—
And with slow motion sullenly retreat.
But where wert thou, oh ! first in martial fame,
Whose early cares distinguish 'd praises claim,
Who ev'ry welcome toil didst gladly share
And taught th' enervate warrior want to bear.
Illustrious Howe! whose ev'ry deed confest
The patriot wish that Fill'd thy generous breast;
Alas! too swift' t' explore the hostile land,
Thou dy'dst sad victim to an ambush band,
Courtesy of Ticonderoga Historical Society
LOUIS JOSEPH. MARQUIS de MONTCALM
Gozon de Saint Veran (1712-1759)
French Commander-in-Chief
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 351
Nor e'er this hour of wild confusion view'd
Like Braddock, falling in the pathless wood;
Still near the spot where thy pale coarse is laid,
May the fresh laurel spread its amplest shade ;
Still may thy name be utter 'd with a sigh,
And the big drop swell ev 'ry grateful eye ;
Oh! would each leader who deplores thy fate
Thy zeal and active virtues emulate,
Soon should proud Carilong be humbled low
Nor Montcalm's self, prevent th' avenging blow."
In The Wars of America, or a General History, by A Revolu-
tionary Soldier, (Baltimore, 1839), occurs this extract:
Campaign of 1758.
The enterprise against Crown Point,
To Abercrombie was assigned.
Ticonderoga, the main complaint
Of Indian haunts and French combined.
Lord Howe, young, able, noble, bold,
Accomplished, to perform his task,
Under 'Crombie to unfold,
The tragedy that future masked.
With seventeen thousand soldiers brave,
Courageous veterans, famed in war,
Fronting all danger to the grave,
The musket, sword, and cannons' roar.
Attack on Ticonderoga.
Arriving near Ticonderoga,
Mars, meets our heroes on the plain,
Skirmish ensued, the passing road
Sorely beset, Lord Howe is slain.
The British saw, their leader fall ;
With Spartan bravery charged the foe,
Havoc, slaughter, powder and ball,
Cover the field with sickening woe.
Three hundred victims slaughtered lay,
Bleeding and gasping, on the ground;
The blood of Howe avenged— the day
352 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Thus reader! worth and mortal life
Must bow, in battle's dreadful field;
Lord Howe, the brave, immortal strife,
Lost all his earthly— dead and sealed.
Records the battle's awful sound.
We mourn his fate, his virtues dear;
"Pis all that memory, now can give;
A sigh, a tributary tear,
While his immortal only lives.
In the verse of that gifted son of Ticonderoga, the Hon. Clay-
ton H. DeLano's Centennial Poem, (1864, as reprinted by the
Ticonderoga Historical Society in 1909), on p. 6, is this stanza:
VI.
Just by the brook near yon eventful shade
Where foaming water forms a wild cascade
Where ivy's clustering tendrills twine
Round the gnarled oak and scraggy stunted pine
*****
Here, once a forest waved, by that run
Gleamed glistening bayonets in the noon-day sun.
Here foe met foe; here flashed the burnished steel
As rank on rank now charge or backward reel.
While crackling rifles drownd the noisy flood
And robed the scene in anguish and in blood.
The Britons conquered, yet no cheer was heard
The deepest feeling every bosom stirred.
That night they slept, not on the victor's bed
They could not sleep— the gallant Howe was dead.
That eloquent orator and master of English prose or verse, Dr.
Joseph Cook, refers thus to this incident in his Poem, Ticonderoga
and Montcalm, in Harper's Monthly, (August, 1875), p. 369:
VII.
Abercrombie answereth Montcalm,
Strikes across the crystal lakelet
When the summer fills the mountains.
England's arm hath brawny muscles;
See a thousand flashing barges,
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 353
And the blue-coats and the red-coats,
And the tartans from Loch Lomand,
And the sunlight on the forests,
And the mirrored oaks and maples,
Breathing beeches, silver birches,
Giant pines on mighty summits,
Iris sheen and iris sparkles,
And the sword glare in the waters;
Hear the pibroch from Loch Katrine,
And the neighing of the horses,
And the crackle of the armor,
And the clashing of the oar-locks,
And the sigh of harping islets,
And the pebbly fret of white strands,
And the dewy drip of bird songs,
And the echoing of the bugles.
Nine blue thousands are Provincials,
Bred with panthers and the eagles,
Men who smoothed a New World's rough face,
And the cradle of its future
Rocked beneath its singing pine-trees,
Putnam, Rogers and his rangers;
Six red thousands British soldiers,
Burnt by suns beyond the salt seas, ,
Scarred in Fontenoy and Black Watch,
Led by Howe, who on his bear-skin
Couched last night and talked of triumph,
But who goes to God tomorrow.
From the giant tangled dark woods
On the Trout Brook, at the ambush
AVet with mist of roaring cascades,
Floateth up his strong white spirit.
See one lonely barge returning
Where a thousand spanned the clear depths,
Threads the islands with his pall,
Bears an army's heart beneath it.
In the Abbey of Westminster
Wrote his name young Massachusetts,
Carved the word Ticonderoga
On the proud and pallid marbles.
354 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
In Percy MacKay's Poems (N. Y., 1909), occurs "Ticondero-
ga," read at the 300th Anniversary of Discovery of Lake Cham-
plain at Port Ticonderoga, July, 1909. Death of Lord Howe is
treated on pp. 6-9 ; the battle, pp. 9-12.
QUI VIVE t Their muskets flare the wood ;
FRANC AIS! Their wild cheers start;
Lord Howe is dropt down where he stood,
A hot ball through his heart.
They drive them back, they drown their boast
In blood and the rushing river,
But the heart of Abercromby's host—
The Lord of Hosts deliver!
* * # * *
The soul of Abercromby's host
Follows Lord Howe— his shining ghost ;
On stormy ridge and parapet
It rides in flame, it leads them yet;
Smiling, with wistful image wan,
A dead man leads the dying on.
And Campbell, Laird of Inverawe,
Hath met the doom his dream foresaw;
Pierced by his murdered kinsman's eyes,
His clansmen bear him where he dies.
Lord Howe, Lord Howe, why shouldst thou fall !
Thy life it was the life of all;
Thy death ten thousand hath undone.
England hath sunken with the sun.
Ticonderoga 's lost and won!
F. MAPS AND DEPICTION.
Fred W. Lucas, Appendiculae Historicae, (London, 1896). A
Topographical Map of Hudson River, with the Channels, depth of
water, rocks, shoals, &c., and the County adjacent, from Sandy
Hook, New York and Bay to Fort Edward, also the communication
with Canada by LAKE GEORGE AND LAKE CHAMPLAIN,
as high as Fort Chambly on Sorel River. By Claude Joseph Sau-
thier, on the Original Scale of Four Miles to One Inch. Engraved
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 355
by William Faden, successor to the late .Mr. Jeffreys, Geographer
to the King, Charing Cross. Published according to Act of Par-
liament, Oct. 1st, 1776, by Wm. Faden, Corner of St. Martins Lane,
Charing Cross, London; p. 104.
A Map— Reduced from Capt. Holland's map of the Provinces
of New York and New Jersey, published 1775, in Jeffrey's Ameri-
can Atlas. (Mr. Bond on his Map of Hudson River places this
Lake about 16 leags higher), p. 120.
A Map reduced from a Map dated 1774, in Jeffrey's American
Atlas, p. 114. None of these maps show Trout Brook named. Also
refers to other maps pp. 172, 173, 174, 175.
Anderson-Flick, History State of New York, (1902), map of
French and Indian War, p. 55.
George Bancroft, History of the United States, (Boston, 1852),
IV; shows map of the locality of the fight to face p. 305.
Katherine Schuyler Baxter, A Godchild of Washington,
(1897). An unusual picture of Lord Howe to face p. 46.
W. F. Beers, map of Lake George and vicinity, (N. Y., 1876).
Shows locality.
A. J. Bradley, The Fight With France For North America,
(New York, n. d.) Topographical maps to face title page and to
face p. 238.
Bryant & Gay, History of the United States, (New York,
1879), III. Cut of the Field of Abercrombie 's Defeat, p. 299. Cut
of "Fort Ti." p. 302.
Catalogue of maps and Surveys, in the offices of the Secretary
of State, &c., (Albany, 1859), p. 153, office vol. XVIII. Map
of two tracts of land, surveyed for JOHN STOUGHTON, late
Lieut, in one of His Majesty's independent companies on foot;
situate and lying in the County of Albany, July 4, 1764; Alex'r
Colden, Surveyor-General; ( Ticonderoga, Essex County). Map of
2,000 acres of land on the west side of the water running from Lake
George to Lake Champlain, in the County of Albany; surveyed
for JOHN KENNEDY, late Lieutenant in His Majesty's Sixtieth
Regiment on Foo#.; Alex'r Colden, Surveyor-General; Aug. 1,
1764 (Ticonderoga, Essex County).
Documentary History of New York, (Albany, 1849), I.
Sauthier map on large scale, to face p. 774.
356 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Timothy Dwight, LL. D., Travels, (London, 1823), III, map
of New York showing Lake George and Lake Champlain to face
title page.
Rev. John Entick, General History of the Late War, (Lon-
don, 1765), picture of Lord Howe to face p. 209.
John Piske, New France and New England, (Boston, 1902),
IX. Map of Lake George, p. 313. Picture of Montcalm, p. 356.
Map Forest, Fish and Game Commission State of New York,
(1900), shows accurate topography of the region.
Hon. J. W. Fortescue, History of the British Army, (London,
1899), copies Meyer's map, p. 338.
John Frost, Remarkable Events in the History of America,
(Philadelphia, 1848), I, picture of the Earl of Chatham, William
Pitt p. 626. Picture Gen. Abercrombie's army crossing the lake,
p. 631. Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga, p. 633.
F. X. Garneau, History of Canada (Montreal, 1866), I, map of
Canada, Lake George-Champlain Region at back of book.
Gentleman's Magazine for 1757, XXVII, map of "the Country
back of Albany drawn in 1756 shows Fort Edward, Fort William
Henry, Lake George, Ticonderoga, Crown Point or Fort Frederick,
Lake Champlain," etc., to face p. 74. Id. for 1758, XXVIII, maps.
Id. for 1759, XXIX, Map of country between Crown Point and Fort
Edward, showing route of Dieskau, Halfway Brook, etc., location
of Ticonderoga showing Trout Brook, but without name. Id. for
1760, XXX, map to illustrate General Amherst's Expedition to
Montreal showing the Hudson, Lake George, Ticonderoga, Lake
Champlain, etc., to face p. 460.
Glens Falls Insurance Company's Calendar* for 1904, picture
Embarkation of Abercrombie's Expedition. Id. 1910, Black Watch
at Ticonderoga, both with historical sketch. Latter shows, on re-
verse side, Duncan Campbell's grave stone.
Walford Davis Green, M. P., William Pitt, Earl of Chatham,
(New York, 1901). Map of French Forts in America 1750-1760
from Montcalm & Wolfe showing Crown Point, Ticonderoga, Lake
Champlain and Lake George to face p. 116. Picture of William
Pitt to face p. 94; picture of Montcalm to face p. 114; picture of
Earl of Chatham to face p. 286; statue of Earl of Chatham to face
title page.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 357
Harper's Monthly Magazine, cuts of Fort Ticonderoga and
vicinity, VII, pp. 168-170; LI, pp. 369-370, LIX, p. 335.
A. B. Hart, The American Nation, (New York, 1905), VII, pic-
ture of William Pitt to face title page. Map Lakes George and
Champlain, p. 204.
J. T. Headley, Washington and His Generals, (New York,
1847), I, picture of Putnam to face p. 92; picture of Stark to face
p. 200; picture of Schuyler to face p. 229.
William Kingsford, History of Canada, (London, 1890), IV,
map of region to face p. 183.
Lake George maps rare, loaned by S. B. Stoddard. Map of
Lake George, Miller's Lith., 142 Broadway, (N. Y., n. d.) Shows
region, gives good description of Lake George and its historic spots,
shows Dieskau's route, also the route taken by Abercrombie.
Topographical sketch of Lake George, by Aug. F. Dolson, (ar-
totype, N. Y., 1855). Shows all the islands and points on the lake.
Only four hotels, one new one and four old ones then on the lake,
viz., Lake House, new Fort William, unnamed then, United States
(Crosby's), Mohican House, Gale's and Garfield's. Unique.
Shows Trout Brook and "Fort Ti."
Maps in Library of Congress.— a. Project for the attack on Ti-
conderoga proposed to be put in execution as near as the circum-
stances and ground will admit of. May 29th, 1759. W. B. delt.
ms. col. 15x12 (Faden Coll., no. 24). b. Ticonderoga as it was in
1759. Ms. tracing, anon. 5x6 n. d. c. View of the lines and fort
of Ticonderoga taken from a hill on the side of South Bay in 1759.
ms. anon. 8x12 1-2, 1759. d. Rocque's "Set of Plans and Forts in
America" gives only the plans and no maps of the surrounding
country.
B. J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution, (New
York, 1851), I, cut of the battlefield, p. 116. Cut of the Fort, p.
116.
Thomas Mante, History of the Late War in North America,
(London, 1772). Map showing the Attack of Ticonderoga (which
is the one usually seen and which has been reproduced so many
times) to face p. 144.
Military Journals of Two Private Soldiers, 1758-1775, (Pough-
keepsie, 1855). Cut of Ruins of "Fort Ti." to face title page.
358 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Joel Munsell, Annals of Albany, VIII, Map of Albany, 1764,
showing St. Peter's Church to face title page. Id. I, John Bogert's
Survey of State Street, 1792, showing the church opposite what is
now Chapel Street, in the center of State, p. 311.
New England Magazine, (July, 1899), Lake CJiamplam His-
torical and Picturesque— cuts and description of Ticonderoga, pp.
585-587. Id. (April, 1901), Perry's Ticonderoga with photo-
graphs of all principal points, pp. 120-127.
N. T. Col. Doc. X, Attack of Abercrombie, map to face p. 726.
Id. Map— Sketch from Original in the Archives at Paris, Vol.
3498, p. 144. Frontiers Du Lac St. Sacrement, 1758. 8 Julliet—
shows the country from Port Ticonderoga toward Lake George and
Albany. Trout Brook laid down as the R. Bernetz, to face p. 721.
N. Y. S. Ed. Dept. (Division of Visual Instruction) American
History to 1763, Slides and Photographs, Pamph., pp. 122-126.
Maps in New York State Library. — a. Attack on Ticonderoga.
In Mante, Thomas, History of the late war in North America, (Lon-
don, 1772). b. Plan of the country from the Landing Place with
the encampments and marches of the troops under Maj. Gen. Aber-
crombie at the attack of Ticonderoga. T. Phinn. sc. In Scot's
Magazine, (1758). c. Country between Crown Point and Albany
being the great Pass from the English to the French settlements in
North America. T. Phinn. sc. In Scots Magazine, XX (1758).
d. Survey of Lake Champlain including Lake George, Crown Point,
&c., surveyed by order of Maj. Gen. Amherst by William Brassier,
(1762). In American Military Pocket atlas. Printed for Sayer &
Bennet, London, e. Id. in Jeffreys, Thomas, American Atlas, Lon-
don, 1776. f. Frontiers du lac St. Sacrement, 1758, accompanying
the Memoir on Fort Carillon by M. de Pont le Roy. In Documents
Relating to the Colonial History of New York, X, p. 720. g. Plan
of Lake George and the country adjacent, (1758). In New York
State Library, Maps IV, p. 20. (Mentioned in A. W. Holden's
History of Queensbury, p. 302). h. Plan of the town and fort of
Carillon at Ticonderoga with the attack made by the British army—
1758, Thomas Jeffreys. In New York State Library, Maps X, p.
18. i. Map of Lake Champlain, Lake George, Fort Frederic, &c.,
from the French Manuscripts, (1760?). In New York State Lib-
rary Maps IV, p. 88.
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 359
Peter S. Palmer, History of Lake Champlain, (Albany, 1866),
Plan of Fort Carillon, p. 85. Plan of Abercrombie 's Attack, p. 78.
Parkman, Mont calm <md Wolfe (Frontenac ed., Boston, 1899),
II, map of Sketch of the country round Tyconderoga, by E. E.
Meyer of ye 60th Regt, to face p. 301.
Anon.— Putnam's Monthly (August, 1857), wood cuts of Ticon-
deroga and surroundings, pp. 157-161.
Frederick Remington, Harper's Monthly, (November, 1897),
picture Storming of Ticonderoga, p. 885.
Report of State Historian for 1896, II, "Plan of Town and
Fort of CarUlon, July 8, 1758, to face p. 370. Map Hudson River
to Canada, to face page 437 ; Fort Ticondemga Looking Southeast,
to face p. 588 ; Ruins Fort Ticonderoga, to face p. 660.
H. B. Smith, History of Essex County, (Syracuse, 1885), cut
of John Trumbull's plan of Ticonderoga, p. 86.
Id. History of Warren County, (Syracuse, 1885), map of out-
let from Butler's Lake George and Lake Champlain, p. 103.
Zadock Thompson, Civil History of Vermont, Part II, map of
region to face title page. Also see his Guide to Lake George,
Ltrike Champlain, &c., (1845).
Winslow C. Watson, Military and Civil History of the County
of Essex, (Albany, 1869), map of Ticonderoga and its forts, Lake
George and Lake Champlain to face title page.
Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History (1887), V, maps
pp. 524-526.
J. Wright, Complete History of Late War or Annual Register,
(4th ed., Dublin, 1766). Map to face p. 124 showing march of
troops.
SUPPLEMENTARY.
A list of references examined for the writer by the Reference
Department of the State Library, the State Historian, or others,
treating of the campaign.
Army Lists for 1757, 1758.
Chalmer's History Revolt of American Colonies, (Boston,
1845), II.
Chatham Correspondence, I, p. 335.
C. F. Gordon-Gumming in Atlantic Monthly, (Sept., 1884).
360 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
John Dobson's Chronological Annals of the War, (Oxford,
1773).
Dilworth's History of the Present War, (London, 1760).
W. C. Ford, British Officers Serving in America, 1754-1774.
Grenville Correspondence, I, p. 261, etc.
List of Officers and Soldiers Kitted and Wounded in Attack on
Ticonderoga, July 8, 1758, from papers Richard Peters, Secy, of
the Governor of Perm, in Mass. Hist. Soc. Library.
MacLachlan's Highlands, (1875), II, p. 340.
Mortimer's History of England, III, p. 605.
New England Hist, and Gen. Register, 1862., Id. (1883), p. 21.
Description of "Fort Ti."
Newcastle's English Weekly Chronicle sup., (Jan. 2, 1892),
quoted iii D'C'i'nary National Biograpt y, III, sup.
Review of Pitt's Administration, (London, 1763), (2nd Ed.)
Stewart's Sketches of the Highlanders, II, p. 61.
Universal History, XI, pp. 219-220.
United Service Magazine (London, 1817), I, p. 128.
APPENDIX VII.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.
These scattering notes, while not exactly pertinent to the ar-
ticle, have seemed, nevertheless to be of enough cognate importance
to warrant their insertion here.
Quartermaster General John Bradstreet was born about 1711,
in Lincolnshire, England1. Received his first commission in 1735
and had an important part in the Siege of Louisburgh in 1745.
Served with Braddock in 1755, and in 1756 provisioned and re-
lieved an English garrison at Oswego, and in 1758 was made deputy
quartermaster general with Abercrombie 's army.
Through his exertions, and those of Phillip Schuyler, whom he
had induced to act as his assistant, the transportation of the sup-
plies and equipment of this great army, and its embarkation and
journey to the foot of the lake, were accomplished without con-
REAL BURIAL PLACE OP LORD HOWE. 361
fusion, delay or accident. It was also due to Bradstreet's ability
and resolution, as well as good management, that the retreat of the
army back to the head, was managed in a way to avoid disaster
and further loss. How he wrung from a council of war at the
English fort (it being impossible to hold one at Ticonderoga, after
the battle owing to the fearful mortality among the officers there),
consent for a dash to Oswego, his forced march and great triumph
over the enemy, are well known incidents of the campaign. His
'"force consisted of 135 regulars, 1112 provincials from New York,
412 from New Jersey, 675 from Massachusetts and 318 from Rhode
Island; with 300 batteau men, in all 2952 men. (Mante, p. 152,
quoted in Hough's Pouchot, I, p. 124). Bradstreet's capture of
Frontenac, destruction of the French marine on Lake Ontario, the
fortifications, merchandise, stores and munitions of war, and re-
moval of artillery, &c., not only checked the enemy, but paved the
way for the capture several months later of Fort Du Quesne by
Gen. Forbes. (Pouchot, I, 224-225). Bradstreet was a great
friend of the Schuylers, General Schuyler being made one of his
executors, when he died in 1774. (Godchild of Washington, New
York, 1897, pp. 28-35; Dawson's Historical Magazine, January,
1871, p. 48).
John Stanwix, Lieutenant General, who ordered Lord Howe's
body buried in Albany, was born about 1690 in England, and died
at sea in the fall of 1766. His uncle was a distinguished soldier
and the nephew followed in his footsteps. He gained his captaincy
in 1739 and was promoted rapidly until in January, 1756, he was
made colonel commandant of the first battalion Royal Americans.
He was commissioned brigadier general in December, 1757. General
Stanwix came to Albany in 1758 and later was ordered to the
Oneida Carrying Place, where a fortification was built, afterwards
called Fort Stanwix in Jiis honor. We find a letter from General
Abercrombie to General Stanwix at the time stating that he hears
Stanwix has been obliged to encamp at Schenectady "owing to the
shallowness of the Muhawk river." In 1759 General Stanwix re-
paired and fortified the old Fort DuQuesne then renamed Fort
Pittsburg. He returned to England in August, 1760, was given
high military honors, held various important offices and was lost at
sea with his wife and daughter while on his way to London to at-
362 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
tend parliament Oct. 29, 1766. (Dictionary of Natl. Biography,
LIV, pp. 86-87).
Rufus Putnam began his military service in 1757, as a private
soldier, in Captain Ebenezar Learned 's company. In 1759 he was
an orderly sergeant, and in 1760 an ensign. At the outbreak of
the Revolution he was made lieutenant colonel chief engineer of
the army, then colonel, and finally in 1783 was appointed brigadier
general, after serving with distinction through the Revolutionary
War. His Journal and Memoirs have been noted elsewhere in this
article. General Putnam is also known as the " Father of Ohio/'
having been one of the first settlers of that territory. (Harper's
Monthly, LXXI, p. 552. Ohio Arch. & Hist. Soc. Quarterly (Oc-
tober, 1910) XIX, pp. 398-401).
Nathaniel Woodhull, b. 1722, d. 1776, served with Abercrombie
at Ticonderoga, and accompanied Bradstreet to Frontenac. Presi-
dent of Provincial Congress in 1775, and again in 1776, when the
Declaration of Independence was accepted. Was commissioned a
brigadier general and received a mortal wjound in a skirmish at
Jamaica, L. L, 1776. (Subject of sketch and picture on Calendar
Title Guarantee and Trust Co., of New York, for 1911. N. T. Col.
Doc., VIII, p. 295-296.)
A portrait of Artemas Ward, afterward a major general of
the Revolutionary War, who was with General Abercrombie in
1758, appears in the Journal of American History (N. Y., 1910),
IV, p. 560. General Ward was the first commander-in-chief of the
patriot army preceding General Washington. (Sketch, id. pp.
562-567).
Marinus Willet, afterwards colonel, was at the battle and
went with Bradstreet to Frontenac. (Reid's Old Fort Johnson,
p. 127). t
The Battle of Bunker Hill found opposed to each other on the
side of the Colonials, Putnam, Stark, and Pomeroy and many
other men who had fought at Lake George or Ticonderoga, and on
the side of the English, General Gage (at this time, 1758, colonel),
and Lt. Col. James Abercrombie said to have been a son of
General James Abercrombie, and who served as an aide to
Amherst in 1759. (Harper's Encyc. U. 8. Hist., Vol. I, vide
* * Abercromby . " ) In the following year he gained his majority
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 363
in the 78th or second Highland Battalion, and was the bearer of
the surrender conditions to Gov. de Vaudreuil and secured his sig-
nature to the document, (2V. Y. Col. Doc. VII, p. 160). In 1770,
after being out of the army for a time, he entered active service
again, as lieutenant colonel of the 22nd Regt., then serving in
America, under Lieut. Gen. Gage, and received mortal wounds at
the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17th, 1775. As he was being taken
from the field he begged his men not to kill his old friend Putnam.
(Drake's Old Landmarks and Historic Fields of Middlesex, p. 73).
"In 1758 the Expedition under Abercrombie and Lord Howe
was undertaken against that place [Ticonderoga] , ending in the
defeat of the English and the Death of Lord Howe an event con-
secrated in the Colonial Annals. It was on this occasion that
["Goose"] Van Scaick being close to Lord Howe when he fell, was
himself wounded in the Face by the butt end of a Musket clubbed
by a French Soldier, a wound which led to a cancerous disease, of
which after a long career of honourable service, he died. ' ' As Col.
Van Scaick he served prominently through the Revolutionary War.
Especially in 1777. (Orderly Book at Ticonderoga, Albany,
1859, Munsell's, p. 68— Note Gosen Van Scaick.)
At a conference had by General Howe with Benjamin Franklin,
John Adams and Edward Rutledge on Staten Island, W. L. Stone
says: "After this Lord Howe opened the conference. He ex-
pressed his attachment to America and his gratitude for the honors
bestowed upon his elder brother, who, was killed at Lake George
in the expedition against the French, eighteen years before, de-
claring that should America fall he should feel and lament it like
the loss of a brother. Franklin bowed, and, smiling blandly, re-
plied, ' * My lord, we will use our utmost endeavors to spare you that
mortification," (Revolutionary Letters, William L. Stone, 1891,
MunselTs, pp 204-205. See also Wharton's Dip. Cor. of the Am.
Rev., II, p. 141.)
The following extracts are taken from the Pennsylvania Ar-
chives :
July 14th Wm. Till of Newcastle writes to Richard Peters in
Phila. "Yours, giving an account that matters are not very fav-
ourable with our army before Ticonderoga, gives me great con-
cern," p. 475. July 15th Arch. Kennedy, of New York, writes to
364 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Andrew! Elliot, merchant, Phila. "You have heard or will soon
hear of our defeat before Carillon with the loss of at least a thou-
sand men and many officers, in which our friend the major, I am
afraid, is included, p. 477. July 17th, Kennedy to Gov. Denny.
"The army has met with a severe repulse with the loss of about
1000 men and many of our best officers. They are again encamped
at the south end of the lake still in good spirits, and we are in hopes
of a second attempt with better success, p. 479. July 20th James
Young writes to R. Peters. "We are all here [Carlisle] strangely
alarmed with the imperfect accounts of our army to the northward,
not knowing if the accts we have be only the consequence of the first
attact when Lord Howe was killed, or if a second battle. If tKe
genl.has particulars, we are apprehensive they are very bad as noth-
ing transpires; the officers seems a good deal cast down, but en-
deavor to keep all from the men/' Various letters speak of the
secrecy on part of the officers so the men would not get discouraged.
Also of the difficulty in getting the recruits in shape, pp. 483-486,
488-489. James Young to R. Peters, July 23rd, hope "the Vir-
ginians will not succeed in getting the rout by Fort Cumberland, "
p. 489. (From Penn. Arch., III.)
Capt. Ichabod Goodwin, of Colonel Jedediah Preble's Regi-
ment of Provincials, was wounded and had special mention by
Abercrombie. (Historical Magwzwe, October, 1868, p. 164. N.
Y. Col. Doc. X, p. 731. Report Maine Society of Colonial Wars,
Portland, 1905, pp. 130-131).
The Rev. Ebenezar Cleaveland was chaplain of Colonel Jede-
diah Preble's regiment, but it is his brother John who was chap-
lain of the Third Regiment and who wrote the Diary mentioned
herein.
It is stated that the encampment of Abercrombie 's forces at
Albany, which brought there thousands of the provincial forces,
caused the writing of one of our national airs. The provincials
from their gawkiness, general unkempt appearance, lack of uni-
forms and military clothing, strange accoutrements and want of
discipline were a source of infinite amusement to the trig regulars.
A Doctor Shuckburgh is said to have composed the words of Yankee
Doodle fitting it to an old English tune. How the English played
it in derision of the continentals, and how the latter returned the
REAL BURIAL PLACE OF LORD HOWE. 365
compliment during the Revolutionary War are well known inci-
dents. Dr. Shuckburgh was surgeon in Capt. Horatio Gates' Inde-
pendent Company of New York. (Joel Munsell, Annals of Al-
bany, 1850, II, p. 228. E. B. 0. C. in Dawson's Historical Maga-
zine, (Oct., 1857), p. 314.) [For later authority on this subject see
report of Oscar G. T. Sonneck, Chief Division of Music, Library of
Congress, Government Printing Office, 1909. Noted in Am. Hist.
Review, April, 1910, pp. 625-626.]
Another authority, however says:
Colonel Thomas Fitch who commanded four New England
regiments in this war, was the son of General Thomas Fitch, Gov-
ernor of Conncticut. It is said "it w£s in derision of Colonel
Fitch's forces the now famous Yankee Doodle was composed and
sung." Those regiments performed their full share in the attack
on Fort Ticonderoga, and suffered a greater loss, in proportion
to their numbers, than the British Army." (Dawson's Historical
Magazine, 1871, p. 215).
In 1758, a post (rider on horseback) was established between
Albany and Boston. (Mrs. Bonney's Legacy of Historical Glean-
ings, I, p. 21). The day after the battle "on the next day, those
most dangerously wounded were sent forward in boats and reached
the Flats before evening" (id. p. 22).
APPENDIX VIII.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
For books, mss., information, assistance or other valuable aid
in the preparation of this paper, the writer desires to extend his
grateful thanks and acknowledgements to S. H. P. Pell and Hon.
Howland Pell, of Ticonderoga and New York ; the New York State
Library at Albany, and especially to Miss Charlotte VanPeyma and
the Reference Department therein; to the Librarian of Congress
at Washington and the Chiefs of the Divisions of Maps and Charts
and Bibliography of the Congressional Library; to Williams Col-
lege Library, Williamstown, Mass.; Crandall Free Library, Glens
366 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Falls ; Victor H. Paltsits, State Historian and his assistant, Rich-
ard H. Day; State Archivist A. J. F. vanLaer and his assistant,
Peter Nelson; Dr. Sherman Williams, Glens Falls; Dr. Samuel A.
Green and James H. Tuttle, Mass. Hist. Society, Boston, Mass.;
Rev. Joseph Hooper, Durham, Conn.; Lord Arthur Browne, Lon-
don, Eng.; Hon. Vice Admiral Sir Assheton G. Curzon-Howe,
Portsmouth, Eng.; Miss Ethel M. Lomas, Miss Lena Diver, Mrs.
Sophia C. Lomas, expert copyists, London, Eng. ; Rev. W. W.
Battershall, Albany; Albert C. Bates, Librarian Connecticut Hist.
Society, Hartford, Conn.; C. J. Brigham, Lib. Am. Antiquarian
Society, Worcster, Mass.; H. L. Bridgman, Brooklyn Standard
Union; R. J. Brown, Bolton; Dr. W. A. E. Cummings, Ticondero-
ga ; Dr. John M. Clark, Director Science Division, Albany ; George
Francis Dow, Sec. Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.; Geo. H. Evans,
Librarian Woburn Public Library, Woburn, Mass.; A. A. Heard,
Gen. Pass. Agt. D. & H., Albany; Hon. Grenville M. Ingalsbe, Hud-
son Falls; M. E. Johnson, N. J. Hist. Society, Newark, N. J. ;
Adjutant General's Office, State of New Jersey; Robert H.
Kelby, N. Y. Hist. Soc.; Hon. W. M. Olin, Sec. Common-
wealth of Mass., Boston; Mrs. H. L. P. Rice, Albany; Col. W. S.
Schuyler, U. S. A. ; Frederick B. Richards, Glens Falls; S. R. Stod-
dard, Glens Falls; C. A. West, Lake George, and to anyone else
whose name may have been inadvertently omitted, who has aided)
the writer in any way to look at this mooted question from a new
view point.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA.
BY FREDERICK B. RICHARDS, A. B., Glens Falls, N. Y.
A residence of ten years in Ticonderoga inspired me with an
appreciation of the history of that most historic spot in America,
and when as secretary of the Ticonderoga Historical Society I
was largely instrumental in securing the erection of the Black
Watch Memorial in that village, I became particularly interested
in the record of that famous Highland Regiment which this build-
ing commemorates.
It has for several years been my wish to write so complete an
account of the Black Watch at Ticonderoga that one would need
look in no other place for any detail in the history of that regi-
ment from the time it left Scotland in!756 until after the capture
of Ticonderoga by Amherst in 1759. As a meeting of the New York
State Historical Association on Lake Champlain seemed an appro-
priate time to present such a paper and the printed histories of
that period give only meagre accounts on this subject, Mrs. Rich-
ards and I made this an excuse for a trip to the British Isles and
a large part of August and September was spent on a Black Watch
pilgrimage. We had -a very enjoyable trip and gained many in-
teresting facts but I am sorry to say that the story is still far from
complete.
The reason for the lack of more detailed information about the
Regiment in the Ticonderoga period is found in the following which
is copied from the preface of Stewart of Garth's first edition:
* ' The origin of these Sketches and Military Details was simply
this: When the Forty-second regiment was removed from Dublin
to Donaghadee in the year 1771, the baggage was sent round by
sea. The vessel having it on board was unfortunately driven on
shore by a gale of wind, and wrecked ; the greater part of the cargo
and baggage was lost, and the portion saved, especially the regi-
368 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
mental books and records, was much injured. A misfortune some-
what similar occurred, when the army, under the Earl of Moira,
landed at Ostend in June 1794. The transports were ordered
round to Helvoetsluys, with orders to wait the further movements
of the troops. But the vessels had not been long there, when the
enemy invaded Holland in great force, and, entering Helvoetsluys,
seized on the transports in the harbour. Among the number of
vessels taken were those which had conveyed the Forty-second to
Flanders, having on board every article of regimental baggage, ex-
cept the knapsacks with which the officers and soldiers had landed
at Ostend in light marching order. Along with the baggage, a well-
selected library, and, what was more to be regretted, all that re-
mained of the historical records of the regiment, from the period
of its formation till the year 1793, fell into the hands of the enemy.
" After the conclusion of the late war, his Royal Highness, the
Commander-in-Chief, directed that the Forty-second should draw
up a record of its services, and enter it in the regimental books, for
the information of those wiho should afterwards belong to the
corps. As none of the officers who had served previously to the
loss of the records in 1794 were then in the regiment, some diffi-
culty arose in drawing up the required statement of service; in-
deed, to do so correctly was found impossible, as, for a period of
fifty-four years previous to 1793, the materials were very defective.
In this situation, the commanding officer, in the year 1817, re-
quested me to supply him with a few notices on the subject. ' '
It seemed to have been the custom in the British army of that
period for a Regiment to carry its entire belongings with it from
place to place and the unfortunate practice has swept from exist-
ence every trace of the Regimental records of the Black Watch of
Ticonderoga.
It may be readily seen that if Colonel Stewart who had all the
information in 1817 which the British government was able to sup-
ply and who was also fortunate in having had an intimate ac-
quaintance during his service in the Regiment with officers who
have served almost from its formation, was unable to write a com-
plete record, the task nearly one hundred years later might be con-
sidered well nigh hopeless. There was the hope, however, that some
record which was then lost might have been discovered since Colonel
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEBOGA. 369
Stewart's time or that interesting matter might be found in the
archives of the families who had sons in the Black Watch of 1758.
It is a fact that only recently the regimental records of the Black
Watch of two decades later were found in an old second-hand book
store in Portsmouth and^ it is still possible that the regimental
records of 1758-9, which are now lost, may yet come to light.
We find that nearly all the histories of the Highland Regiments
follow Stewart of Garth nearly word for word in their accounts of
the early history of the Black Watch. A notable exception, how-
ever, is "A Military History of Perthshire," which has much
that is new. There are also many interesting letters and other
records in "The Chronicles of the Atholl and Tullibardine Fami-
lies, ' ' relating to the service of those of the Black Watch who came
from the Atholl Family or estate, and at London we found some
dispatches in the Public Record Office in the War Department
wjiich I have not seen published. The chief merit, however, if any,
which I can claim for this address is that while it does not add
much that is new, it does, I think, collect in one article nearly all
that is known about the Black Watch of the Ticonderoga period.
I might say here, also, that whatever was lacking in in-
formation was more than made up by the cordiality of our recep-
tion, as we found nearly every Scotchman interested in the oldest
Highland Regiment of the British Army and glad to help us in any
way possible. We are under special obligation, which I here wish to
acknowledge, to Lt. Col. Hugh Rose, the present commander of
the First Battalion of the Black Watch; Major D. L. Wilson Far-
quharson, D. S. 0., who represented the Regiment at the unveiling
of the memorial tablet at Ticonderoga, July 4, 1906, now retired
and living at Allargue in Aberdeenshire, the home of the Farqu-
harson's for many generations; W. Skeoch Gumming of
Edinburgh, artist and authority on Scotch costumes and
tartans of the 18th century; Mrs. Campbell of Dunstaffnage,
present owner of old Inverawe House; the Marchioness of Tulli-
bardine, editor of "A Military History of Perthshire/' and the
Duke of Atholl, present head of the Clan Murray, Honorary Col-
onel of the Third Battalion of the Black Watch and compiler of the
" Chronicles of the Atholl and Tullibardine Families. "
Before proceeding to the Black Watch of Ticonderoga, it would
perhaps be well to give a brief history of the Regiment. There is
370 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
considerable difference of opinion as to just when the independent
companies which were afterwards to become the present regiment
of the line were raised. The earliest record I have seen is that on
the 3rd of August, 1667, King Charles II issued a commission under
the Great Seal to John, second Earl of Atholl "to raise and keep
such a number of men as he should think fit to be a constant guard
for securing the peace in the Highlands" and ""to watch upon the
braes."1
From this time uintil 1739 the Black Watch was in various
stages of formation.2
It was at the period of the independent companies that the
name Black Watch was given— Black from the sombre tartan in
contrast to the regular soldiers who at that time had coats, waist-
coats and breeches of scarlet clotii, an<l Watch because their duties
were to watch or keep order in the Highlands. The character of
the rank and file of the Black Watch of this period was exceedingly
high, many gentlemen with servants serving as privates, and in ad-
dition to the enlistment being from the best families it was also pos-
sible to select only "men of full height, well proportioned and of
handsome appearance." There were several reasons for this, the
principal one being probably the fact that at that period the car-
rying of arms was prohibited by penalties and it became an "ob-
ject of ambition with all the young men of spirit to be admitted
even as privates into a service which gave them the privilege of
wearing arms. " Our interest in the Black Watch, however, is prin-
cipally in the Regiment of the line as such and this dates from the
commission given by George II, October 25, 1739, as follows :
"GEORGE R.— Whereas we have thought fit, that a regiment
of foot be forthwith formed under your command, and to consist
of ten companies, each to contain one captain, one lieutenant, one
ensign, three Serjeants, three corporals, tw"o drummers, and one
hundred effective private men; which said regiment shall be part-
ly formed out of six Independent Companies of Foot in the High-
lands of North Britain, three of which are now commanded by
captains, and three by captain-lieutenants. Our will and pleasure
therefore is, that one serjeant, one corporal, and fifty private men,
be forthwith taken out of the three companies commanded by cap-
tains, and ten private men from the three commanded by captain-
1A Military History of Perthshire, Page 28.
3 The most complete account of the independent companies may be
found in "A Military History of Perthshire."
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROOA. 371
lieutenants, making one hundred and eighty men, who are to be
equally distributed into the four companies hereby to be raised^;
and the three Serjeants and three corporals, draughted as afore-
said, to be placed to such of the four companies as you shall judge
proper; and the remainder of the non-commissioned officers and
private men, wanting to complete them to the above number, to be
raised in the Highlands with all possible speed; the men to be na-
tives of that country, and none other to be taken.
This regiment shall commence and take place according to the
establishment thereof. And of these our orders and commands,
you, and the said three captains, and the three captain-lieutenants
commanding at present the six Independent Highland Companies,
and all others concerned, are to take notice, and to yield obedience
thereunto accordingly.
G^iven at our Court at St. James's, this 25th day of October,
1739, and in the 13th year of our reign.
By His Majesty's Command,
(Signed) : Wm. Yonge.
To our Right Trusty and Eight Well-
Beloved Cousin, John Earl of
Craufurd and Lindsay.
May, 1740, these ten companies were mustered in a field be-
twieen Taybridge and Aberfeldy and became the 43d Foot of the
British Army.1 This number was changed to the 42d in 1749.
There have been several changes of the official name of the Regi-
ment but the "Black Watch " was always the familiar one in the
country where it has drawn its recruits and since 1881 has been
the official name in the British Army List.2
The uniform of this period was a "scarlet jacket and waist-
coat, with buff facings and white lace, tartan plaid of twelve yards
plaited round the middle of the body, the upper part being fixed
on the left shoulder, ready to be thrown loose and wrapped over
both shoulders and firelock in rainy weather. At night, the plaid
served the purpose of a blanket, and was a sufficient covering for
the Highlanders. These were called belted plaids, from being kept
tight to the body by a belt, and were worn on guards, reviews, and
on all occasions when the men were in full dress. On this belt
bung the pistols and dirk when worn. In the barracks, and when
not on duty, the little kilt or philibeg was worn, a blue bonnet with
ISee Appendix for list of officers.
2 See Appendix for the regimental names of the Black Watch at differ-
ent periods.
372 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
a border of white, red, and green, arranged in small squares to re-
semble, as is said, the fess cheque in the arms of the different
branches of the Stewart family, and a tuft of feathers, or some-
times, from economy or necessity, a small piece of black bearskin.
The arms were a mujsket, a bayonet, and a large basket-hilted
broadsword. These were furnished by Government; such of the
men as chose to supply themselves with pistols and dirks were al-
lowed to carry them, and targets after the fashion of the country.
The sword-belt was of black leather, and the cartouch-box was car-
ried in front, supported by a narrow belt round the middle."1
"While the companies acted independently, each commander
assumed the tartan of his own Clan. When embodied, no clan hav-
ing a superior claim to offer an uniform plaid to the whole, and
Lord Crawford, the colonel, being a Lowlander, a new pattern
was assumed, and which has ever since been known as the 42d, or
Black Watch tartan, being distinct from all others. Lord John
Murray gave the Athole tartan for the philibeg. The difference
was only a stripe of scarlet, to distinguish it from that of the
belted plaid. The pipers wore a red tartan of very bright colours,
(of the pattern known by the name of the Stewart or Royal Tar-
tan), so that they could be more clearly seen at a distance. When
a band of music was added, plaids of the pipers' pattern were given
to them."2
Having given briefly the origin of the Regiment, we will pass
to the period which is the subject of our article.
May, 1756, war having been formally declared between France
and England, a body of troops, the Highlanders forming a part,
were embarked under the command of Lieut. General James Aber-
crombie and landed at New York, June, 1756. These wiere soon
followed by more troops under the Earl of Loudon who was ap-
pointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army of America.
The official name of the Regiment at this time was the 42d
Regiment of Foot, but they are often spoken of in dispatches
simply as the Highlanders, because they were the only Highland
Regiment then in this section, or as Lord John Murray's High-
landers from the custom of the times of calling a Regiment by the
1 Stewart of Garth, Page 246, Vol. I.
2 Stewart of Garth, Page 247, Vol. I.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 373
name of its Honorary Colonel. The commander of the Black
Watch at this time was Lieut. Col. Francis Grant, son of the Laird
of Grant, who had, served in the Regiment from the time
he had received his commission as Ensign, October 25, 1739.
He was made Lieutenant Colonel December 17, 1755 and was in
command of the Regiment all through the American campaign.
The only other officer who had served continuously from the for-
mation of the Regiment in 1739 was Gordon Graham of Drainie,
who in 1756 was senior captain.
The record of the Regiment from the landing in June, 1756,
until the battle of July, 1758, is exceedingly meagre. In fact noth-
ing of importance was done by the w?hole army. As one author
puts it "Loudon was so engrossed in schemes for improving the
condition of his men that he seemed to have no time for employing
them against the enemy." The following extract from a letter
from the Earl of Loudon to William Pitt dated New York, March
10th, 1757, will illustrate the method of quartering troops of that
period.
* ' In the end of your letter you have acquainted me, that words
shall be inserted, in the mutiny act to take away every doubt about
the Right of Quartering extending to America.
When I writ on that subject, I was but just arrived, and the
troops were mostly encamped. Since that I have had disputes to
settle, all over this Continent, in settling the winter quarters for
the Troops from whence I find, that the manner of quartering in
England, as in time of peace, on Publick Houses only, will in no
shape answer the intent in this country, for here there are few Pub-
lick Houses and most of them sell nothing but spirits, where they
possess only one room in which they sell the liquor, where men
cannot be quartered.
Whilst the war lasts, necessity will justify exceeding that rule,
as Troops must be under cover, in the places where it is necessary
to post them, for the security of the country and carrying on the
service, but as soon as a peace comes, it will, by the English rule,
be impossible to quarter any number of Troops, in this country,
without a new regulation, and the only remedy that occurs to me at
present, is adopting the method of quartering in Scotland, where
for the same reason of there not being Publick Houses sufficient
374 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
for the reception of Troops they are by law quartered on private
houses.
I must beg leave to give you one instance of the situation of
quarters here. When I arrived at Albany, I do not believe it was
possible to have quartered Fifty men on that town, on all the Pub-
lick Houses in it, and taking a full survey of it, I found that by
quartering on the Private Houses, I can, without incommoding
them, in the parts of their houses, in which they live, quarter Four-
teen Hundred men, and for a short time, in case of necessity, I
could quarter Two thousand. I have mentioned this to show you
what the situation of all the Frontier Places, in this country, that
are liable to attacks, must be, if quartering is likely to be kept to,
on Publick Houses only.
On the 10th instant arrived the Harriet Packet which brought
me the duplicates of your letters of the 9th and llth of January,
and the next day came in here His Majesty 's ship the Hampshire
commanded by Captain Norbury, having under his convoy the nine
additional companies of the Highlanders,* who had a passage of
twelve weeks from Cork, and met with very bad weather; of this
convoy there were missing on his arrival in this Port, the Arundal
and Salisbury Transports. The last we have, since, accounts of
her getting into Rhode Island.
The Troops being sickly, I have cantooned them in villages ad-
jacent to this Port, for the sake of fresh provisions and vegetables/'
In the published histories of the time it is stated that the ' ' 42d
remained inactive in or near Albany during 1756 and that through-
out the winter and spring of the following year the men were drill-
ed and disciplined for bush fighting andi markmajiship, a species
of warfare for which they were well fitted, being for the most part
good shots and experts in the management of arms. ' '
From the following letters found in the Public Record Office
in London the quarters for the winter of 1756-7 were probably at
Schenectady. Extract from letter from Loudon to Pitt, New York,
25th April, 1757, "The Highlanders were set in motion from Sche-
nectady * * * they marched without tents and lay in the woods
upon the snow making great fires and I do not find the troops have
*3 additional Companies Black Watch and 3 for Montgomery's and 3
for Fraser's, stationed at Halifax.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEBOGA. 375
suffered * * * We have on that River (Mohawk) at Schenectady
and up to the German Flats, the Highland Regiment upwards of a
thousand men," etc.
The second letter reads as follows, and while it is chiefly of
interest in this connection because it is dated from Schenectady,
it also illustrates the custom of selling commissions :
Schenectady, April 24, 1757.
Francis Grant, Lt. Col. 42d Regiment. Sir:—
I am convinced from several things that have happened me
since I have been in the Regiment that my continuing to serve any
longer in it would be disagreeable to the whole corps of officers and
being likewise sensible of my own unfitness for a military life I
have resolved to quit the Army as soon as I can obtain leave to re-
sign my commission. But as I have nothing else in the world to
depend ujpon and finding myself at present at a distance from
my family and friends or anyone wjhom I can depend on for ad-
vice, interest or assistance and having frequently experienced your
goodness and favor, I have made bold to apply to you that you
would be pleased to intercede with his Excellency the Earl of Lou-
don, in my behalf that His Lordship in consideration of my dis-
tressed situation and circumstances might be moved to give me
leave to resign in favor of some person that would be willing to
allow me wherewithall to support me till I can settle and apply to
some other way of life.
In doing me this favor you'll forever oblige, Sir,
Your respectful and gratefully obed't hum. serv't,
George Maclagan, Ens.
P. S.— If it is agreeable to your Lordship I am willing to pay
fifty pound Sterling for Mr. Peter Grant, Voluntier.
Francis Grant, Lt. Col. 42d Regt."
. "With these two dispatches from the British War Office as a
clew I have tried to learn more about the winter quarters of the
Black Watch and have looked through the Colonial manuscript in
the New! York State Library, *the Records of the City of Albany
and the published works of the period but so far without success. I
have been unable to find any Schenectady records of this period.
It seems that a valuable collection of Glen-Sanders papers from the
old Mansion across the Mohawk from Schenectady was recently
sold and' I have been told that in these there were several refer-
* The only reference to the Black Watch that I could find in the un-
published Colonial Manuscripts in the N. Y. State Library was the report
of the receipt at New York, 8th July, 1757, from the ship Free Mason,, of
22 Bales, 10 Casks and 1 Box for Lord John Murray's Regiment. Colonial
Mss., 1757, Vol. 84, Page 126.
376 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
ences to officers of the Black Watch. As the Glens1 were Scotch it
would be quite likely that if this collection were not now scattered
to the four winds much information about the Highlanders
could be obtained. It is said that Schenectady was only a
frontier village in 1756 and not large enough to take care of a regi-
ment and it seems to be a fact from the reference given above that
only a part of the thousand men were stationed here as it states that
the Regiment was stretched along the Mohawk from Schenectady
to the German Flats, but that it was a station for troops is proven
by the list in the Public Record Office of the winter quarters for
the troops in America for 1758, which states that the Black Watch
was quartered in New York and Lt. General Murray's at Schenec-
tady. There is in the Public Record Office no list of winter quar-
ters of the troops in America previous to 1758.*
*After this article had gone to press I received through the kindness
of Arthur Doughty Litt, D. Archivist of the Dominion of Canada, a copy
of the references to the Black Watch in the archives at Ottawa and one
reference proves that the 42nd was stationed at Schenectady the winter of
1756-7, as follows: Nov. 22, 1756, Loudon to Fox, the 42nd Regiment I
quartered at Schenectady, from whence they take the posts, on the Mohawk
River, etc. See Appendix.
It appears, however, from the Town Records of Stamford,
Oonn., that a committee representing that town made a claim on
the "General Court " of the Colony of Connecticut to reimburse
them for £369-13-4!/2 which the town had expended "in taking
care of the Highlanders from November 30, 1757, to March 30, 1758.
The soldiers numbered 250 officers and men and they had also be-
longing to them 17 women and 9 children. ' ' These were undoubt-
edly part of the Black Watch as they alone were entitled to be call-
ed "The Highlanders. " The only other Highland regiments of
that time were Montgomery's and Fraser's, both raised in 1757
and landed at Halifax the same year but both quartered in Canada.
This town record also further illustrates the custom of that time as
previously stated and as an officer of the present Regiment aptly
puts it, "they took not only their mess plate but their wives also,
on service with them, and sometimes lost both."
ICol. John Glen, born July 2, 1735, died Sept. 23, 1828, was quartermas-
ter during the French and Indian and also the Revolutionary wars and was
a man of great prominence in this locality. His brother, Col. Henry Glen,
born July 13, 1739, died January 6, 1814, was deputy quartermaster under
his brother and was member of Congress from Albany District from 1794
and 1802. Schenectady at that time was in Albany District. It was Col.
John Glen who gave the name to Glens Falls, changing it from Wing's
Falls, it is said as the result of a wine supper.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 377
This 250 at Stamford would only be a quarter of the Regiment,
however, if Loudon had upwards of a thousand at or near Schenec-
tady the winter before and it is probable that the rest were quar-
tered at or near Schenectady as in 1756.
Another statement that I have tried to confirm is the account
by James Grant in his "Legends of the Black Watch" of the 50
chosen men under orders of MacGillivray of Glen Arrow, who went
to reinforce Col. Munro at Port William Henry. It is also said
in a foot note of Wilson's Orderly Book that Capt. Gordon Gra-
ham was at Port William Henry at the time of the surrender, and
this is repeated in N. Y. Colonial Mss. by O'Callaghan, page 728,
Vol. 10, but I have not been able to find any other reference that
would substantiate these statements.
The only time the 42d emerges from the haze of mystery from June,
1756, to the spring of 1758, is that they were a part of London's
expedition against Louisbourg in 1757, and this was more a sum-
mer vacation than an act of war.
If the English could have attacked Louisbourg in the spring
or early summer, success would have been certain but Loudon
couldn't seem to get started. As a messenger from the Governor
of Pennsylvania, who had waited in vain for a reply to a message,
said about him he was like "St. George on a tavern sign, always
on horse back and never riding on. ' ' The expedition did not start
from New York until June 20th and entered Halifax harbor the
30th. Even after this delay he was there before Admiral Hoi-
bourne, who did not arrive from England with his fleet of 15 ships-
of-the-line and 3 frigates, with 5,000 troops until July 10th. Then
there was more delay, the 12,000 troops were landed and weeks
spent in drilling and planting vegetables for their refreshment.
Sir. Charles Hay was put under arrest for saying that the "nation's
money was spent in sham battles and raising cabbages." The
troops were embarked again but Aug. 4th a sloop came from New-
foundland bringing news of the arrival of three French Squadrons
at Louisbourg and as an attack after this reinforcement would be
hopeless, the costly enterprise was abandoned and Loudon and the
troops sailed back to New York where he arrived Aug. 31st. Delay
was the ruin of the Louisbourg expedition and drew off British
forces from the frontier where they were most needed.
378 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
The troops were started immediately up the Hudson as soon
as they were landed at New York but Fort "William Henry had al-
ready been captured Aug. 9th and the French forces had* fallen
back to Ticonderoga.
The spring of 1758 opened up with bright prospects. Lord
Loudon had been recalled and General Abercrombie, with the able
assistance of Lord Howe, was in command. Admiral Boscowen
was appointed to command the fleet and Major-General Amherst
and Brigadier-Generals Wolfe, Townsend and Murray were added
to the military staff. Three expeditions were proposed for this
year, Louisbourg, Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and Fort Du-
Quesne. The army in America had been largely reinforced dur-
ing the winter and spring. Of these reinforcements the 42d was
strengthened by three additional companies and recruits bringing
the Regiment up to about 1,300 men.
As we have considerable information about these three com-
panies through the Atholl Records, it will be interesting to turn
back and! follow them from the start to the beginning of the Ti-
conderoga campaign. The first item and one of interest because it
shows the method of raising companies in those days, is a letter
from the Duke of Argyll to the Duke of Atholl, dated London, July
9, 1757.*
"My Lord:— This is to acquaint your Grace that there is to be
3 additional Companies raised for Lord John Murray's Regiment.
I believe the nomination of the officers will be left to me and conse-
quently to Your Grace ; there will be 3 captains, 6 lieutenants and
3 ensigns and 100 men each company. The raising the men will be
the merit of those who shall desire to be officers and if any can
be found who have served in Holland, so much the better. Your
Grace will have your thought on this but don't promise anybody
till you let me hear from you. I shall speak to Lord John but I
will bid him consult you and will plainly tell him that the com-
missions must all be given gratis. The other two Highland Regi-
ments will likewise have the same addition made to them.
I am with the greatest truth and respect, My Lord, Yr Gr|s
most faithful and obt. h'ble Servant, Argyll.
By the Duke of Atholl 's recommendation the three companies
were given to James Stewart of Urrard; James Murray, nephew
*Atholl Records, page 428, Vol. III.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 379
of the Duke of Atholl and son of Lord George Murray ; and Thomas
Stirling of Ardoch. Three of the new subalterns were from the
Atholl estate, namely Lieut. Alexander Menzies and Ensigns Dun-
can Stewart, son of Derculieh, and George Rattray, son of Dalral-
zion. The three companies were mustered in October and marched
from Perth to Glasgow, where they remained until November 15,
when they marched to Greenock and embarked December 1st in
transports for Cork en route to America.
April 22, 1758, Capt. James Murray wrote from New York to
Mr. Murray of Strowan announcing his safe arrival after a voyage
of eleven weeks from Cork. The joys of a voyage in those times
when it could take ten days to sail from Scotland to Ireland, is
illustrated by a letter from Capt. Murray, dated Youghall, 11
Dec., 1757.*
My dear Brother:— This is to let you know that I am just now
in good health and safely arrived here with my company. My
transport, together with the other five, set sail on the 1st cur't in
the evening along with the Convoy; we had a fair wind and good
weather until Sunday, early in the morning (when we were past
Waterfort in our way to C'orck) about eight, there came on one
of the most prodigeous storms that the sailors said they had never
seen the like before. About two in the afternoon we lost sight of
the Convoy and all the transports and have not yet any sure ac-
counts whether they have got all safe into harbours or not. But
since I came here I hear that there was five or six ships lost on the
Coast that day. The storm abated somewhat Monday morning
but it continued bad weather until Friday evening, during which
time we were often in risk of our lives especially twice, once being
within two yards of a great rock and the other time when we were
on two fathom water going on a sandbank.
During all that time we were near several harbours, such as
Doublin, Waterfort, Corck and others but all without success.
Saturday and this day we had good weather by which means we
got into harbour.
Your most aff 'te brother,
James Murray.
From November uintil April seems a long voyage from Scot-
land to America even in those days of primitive navigation, but
another of the three additional companies was blown into Antigua
and did not arrive at New York until June.
*Atholl Records, p433 Vol. III.
380 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
With the activities of the preparations for the Ticonderoga
campaign a number of dispatches were sent to the Home Govern-
ment and it is possible to follow more closely the fortunes of the
Black Watch.
The addition of these three companies raised the Regiment to
1,300 men, and we find among the official documents a petition from
Capt. Gordon Graham, endorsed by Lt. Col. Grant and General
Abercrombie, asking to be made Major in addition to Major Duncan
Campbell, as follows:*
To His Excellency James Abercromby, Esq., General and Com-
mander in Chief of all His Majesty's Forces in North America,
etc., etc., etc.
The Memorial of Gordon Graham, eldest Captain in His Maj-
esty's 42nd Regiment of Foot in North America.
Humbly sheweth
That your memorialist hath had the honour to serve His Maj-
esty upwards of twenty-five years, twelve of which as Captain in
the above Regiment and is now eldest in that Rank.
That he hath served in Flanders and elsewhere during all the
last war, some part of which he was employed as Major of Brigade,
and had a Commission as such from General St. Clair, on the ex-
pedition under his command in the year 1746.
May it therefore please your Excellency to lay his case before
His Majesty that he in his great wisdom may be graciously pleased
to promote him to the Rank of Major when an opportunity offers,
all which is humbly submitted.
To His Excellency, James Abercromby, Esqr., General and
Commander in Chief of all his Majesty's forces in North America,
etc., etc., etc.
The Memorial of Colonel Francis Grant, Commanding his
Majesty's 42nd Regiment of Foot
Humbly sheweth
That his Majesty having thought proper to augment the said
Regiment to 1,300 men by adding three additional companies to
it, and such a body of men being too numerous to be exercised and
disciplined by one Major only, your memoralist humbly conceives,
that it would be for the good of his Majesty's service to have
another Major added, as has been already done to the other two,
Highland Battalions commanded by the Colonels Montgomery and
Fraser.
May it therefore please your Excellency to lay this matter be-
fore His Majesty that he in his great wisdom may be graciously
*Publlc Record Office W. O. l.-l.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROQA. 381
pleased to give such directions thereupon as shall be thought neces-
sary, all which is humbly submitted.
Colo. Grant, commanding His Majesty's 42nd Regiment, and
Mr. Gordon Graham, a Captain in the same, having each of them
presented me with a memorial, the contents of which I know to be
true, I herewith transmit them to your Lordship, to be laid before
the King, and to know His Royal Pleasure therein.
Extract from a letter signed James Abercromby to the Right
Hon. Lord Viscount Barrington, dated New York, Apr. 28, 1758.
As will be seen later Capt. Graham became Major before hear-
ing from the King.
The next dispatch which is of interest and which makes
changes in the list of Commissioned Officers is as follows: Ex-
tract from letter signed by James Abercromby to the Right Hon-
orable the Lord Viscount Barrington, dated Albany, May 27, 1758. l
"In the list of the Commissions which I had the honour to
transmit to your Lordship, by my last letter, you will have observed
two vacancies in the 42nd Regiment, occasioned by the removal of
Sir James Cockburn into the 48th which could not be filled up at
the time my letter went away, as the gentlemen, whom it was pro-
posed should purchase those vacancies were then at Albany,2 and
their answer not arrived; since that the Lieutenantcy has been
made out in the name of Mr. Patrick Balnevas, and bears date the
1st of April; and Mr. Elbert Hering succeeds to the Ensigncy,
dated the 3rd of the same month."
Then we have the dispatch just before the battle from Aber-
crombie to Pitt, dated Camp at Lake George, June 29, 1758, saying :
" Arrived Fort Edward on the 9th, where Lord Howe was en-
camped with the 42nd, 44th, and 55th Regiments and 4 companies
of Rangers. Remainder of Regulars were at posts below on Hud-
son River and were working up the stores, etc. On the 17th Lord
Howe marched to the Brook half way between Fort Edward and
the Lake with the 42nd, 44th, and 55th. (This Half-way Brook
was judged a proper post for the first Deposit in a Portage of 15
miles.3 After the carriages had made several trips Lord Howe
advanced to the Lake with the 42nd, 44th and 55th."
1 Public record office W:O:I.-I. .
2 His last letter had been written from New York, April 28th. If this
were an earlier date it might indicate the winter quarters, but at this time
the army was assembling at Albany for the season's campaign. It will be
noted as illustration that the Highlanders quartered at Stamford left there
March 30.
8,For further information in regard to Halfway Brook, which is just
north of the city of Glens Falls, see the "Halfway Brook in History," by
James A. Holden in Vol. VI. N. Y. State Hist. Assn. proceedings.
382 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Attached to this letter is a report of troops at Lake George,
June 29, 1758, and the roll of the 42nd was as follows :
"10 companies, 1 Lt. Colonel, 1 Major, 8 Captains, 18 Lieu-
tenants, 7 Ensigns, 1 Chaplain, 1 Adjutant, 1 QuiarterMaster, 1
Surgeon, 2 Mates, 40 Sergeants, 18 Drummers; Rank and File— 981
fit for duty, 11 sick present, 6 in general hospital, 2 on command,
1,000 total. 1 drummer and 40 rank and file wanting to complete. "
We find the solution of why there were only 1,000 of the Black
"Watch with the Ticonderoga expedition when its strength was
known to be 1,300 at that time, in another extract of the Report
of June 29th from Abercrombie to Pitt: "I have left two addi-
tional Companies of Lord John Murray's to garrison Fort Edward.
The other additional company of the 42d which was blown into
Antego (Antigua), I hear is arrived at New York, which I have
ordered up to Albany."
This is confirmed in more detail in a letter from Sir Robert
Menzies to Mr. Murray of Strowan, dated Rannock, 6th Sept.,
1758, in which is an extract from a letter received by Menzies from
"Jammie Stewart."*
"That, after the additional Companies arrived in Fort Ed-
ward, the best men were picked out to compleat the Regiment in
place of the sick and old men that were put in their place. That,
as Capt. Reid was left behind sick at Albany, Capt. Murray was
appointed to his company and Reid to the additionals, as Capt.
Abercrombie was to Capt. Murray's Company. That the addi-
tional companies, with Captains Sterling, Reid, and Abercrombie,
etc., were left at Fort Edward, where they had nothing to do but
to garrison the Fort and divert themselves."
Everything is now in readiness for the attack on Ticonderoga
and an army of six thousand three hundred seventy-seven regulars
and nine thousand thirty-four provincials (Abercrombie to Pitt
July 12, 1758) embarked at Lake George early on the morning of
July 5th. There were nine hundred; batteauix, a hundred and
thirty-five whale boats and a large number of heavy flatboats car-
rying the artillery and from front to rear the line was six miles
long.
Parkman in his "Montealm and Wolfe" paints the scene as
follows: "The spectacle was superb; the brightness of the sum-
*Atholl Records page, 444 Vo. III.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEEOGA. 383
mer day ; the romantic beauty of the scenery ; the sheen and sparkle
of those crystal waters; the countless islets, tufted with pine,
birch, and fir; the bordering mountains, with their green summits
and sunny crags ; the flash of oars and glitter of weapons ; the ban-
ners, the varied umiforms, and the notes of bugle, trumpet, bag-
pipe, and drum, answered and prolonged by a hundred woodland
echoes. ' I never beheld so delightful a prospect, ' wrote a wounded
officer at Albany a fortnight after.
"Rogers with the Rangers, and Gage with the light infantry,
led the way in whaleboats, followed by Bradstreet with his corps
of boatman, armed and drilled as soldiers. Then came the main
body. The central column of regulars was commanded by Lord
Howe, his own regiment, the fifty-fifth, in the van, followed by the
Royal Americans, the twenty-seventh, forty-fourth, forty-sixth,
and eightieth infantry, and the Highlanders of the forty-second,
with their major, Duncan Campbell of Inverawe, silent and
gloomy amid the general cheer, for his soul was dark with fore-
shadowings of death. With this central column came what are
described as two floating castles, which were no doubt batteries to
cover the landing of the troops. On the right hand and the left
were the provincials, uniformed in blue, regiment after regiment,
from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and
Rhode Island. Behind them all came the batteaux, loaded with
stores and baggage, and the heavy flatboats that carried the artil-
lery, while a rear-guard of provincials and regulars closed the long-
procession. ' '
It will be unnecessary to go into the details of this disastrous
campaign as it is not only well known to most of you but three
papers bearing on the subject will be read at this meeting.* Brief-
ly the army landed at the foot of Lake George the morning of the
6th and the afternoon of the same day Lord Howe at the head of
a Ticonderoga party wlas killed at the outlet of Trout Brook. This
is the beginning of the end as Lord Howe was the real head of the
army. Abercrombie took until the eighth to make up his mind
what to do and this interim gave the French time to build the fatal
breastworks across the ridge about one-half mile west of the Fort
and enabled Levis to arrive with reinforcements.
Ambercromby's full report to Pitt, under date of July 12, 1758, will be
found in Mr. Holden's article on Lord Howe.
384 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
As the breastworks play a most important part in the Battle it
will perhaps be well to again quote from Parkman who gives a most
comprehensive description. "The trees that covered the ground
were hewn down by thousands, the tops lopped off, and the trunks
piled one upon another to form a massive breastwork. The line
followed the top of the ridge, along which it zigzagged in such a
manner that the whole front could be swept by flank-fires of mus-
ketry and grape. It was so high that nothing could be seen over
it but the crowns of the soldiers' hats. The upper tier was formed
of single logs, in which notches were cut to serve as loopholes ; and
in some places sods and bags of sand were piled along the top, with
narrow spaces to fire through. From the central part of the line
the ground sloped away like a natural glacis; wthile at the sides,
and especially on the left, it was undulating and broken. Over
this whole space, to the distance of a musket-shot from the works,
the forest was cut down, and the trees left lying where they fell
among the stumps, with tops turned outwards, forming one vast
abattis, which, as a Massachusetts officer says, looked like a forest
laid flat by a hurricane. But the most formidable obstruction was
immediately along the front of the breastworks, where the ground
was covered with heavy boughs, overlapping and interlaced, with
sharpened points bristling into the face of the assailant like the
quills of a porcupine. As these works were all of wood, no vestige
of them remains. The earthworks now shown to tourists as the
lines of Montcalm were begun four days after the battle to replace
the log breastwork ; and though on the same ground are not on the
same plan."
Behind these breastworks the battalions of LaSarre and Lan-
guedoc were posted on the left under Bourlamaque, the first bat-
tallion of Berry with that of Royal Roussillon in the center under
Montcalm and those of LaReine, Beam and Guienne on the right
under Levis. A detachment of volunteers occupied the low grounds
between the breastworks and the outlet of Lake George and on the
side toward Lake Champlain were stationed 450 regulars and Cana-
dians, about 3,600 in all.
It is always easy to criticise an event after it has occurred, but
the results certainly show that if Abercrombie had, from the time
of Lord Howe's death, asked Montcalm to outline a policy that
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEBOGA. 385
would be most pleasing to him, he could not have planned his cam-
paign more to the advantage of the French. He first gave them
time to build those formidable breastworks and then instead of
choosing any one of half a dozen plans which would have brought
victory, he decided to throw his army unsupported by artillery,
wihich was still at Lake George, at the strongest part of the French
position, he himself staying in safety at the saw mill (about which
we heard this afternoon in the able paper read by Mr. DeLano at
the unveiling of the tablet) a mile and a half in the rear of his
army.*
The sad result is too well known to dwell on and we pass at
once to the part played by the Black Watch. They with the 55th
were to have formed the reserve but impatient at being left in the
rear the Highlanders could not be restrained and were soon in the
front endeavoring to cut their way through the fallen trees with
their broadswords. Captain John Campbell, wiho was one of the
two soldiers presented to George II in 1743, with a few men, were
the only ones to force their way over the breastworks and they were
instantly dispatched with the bayonet.
Lieut. William Grant of the Regiment writes as follows :
' * The attack began a little past one in the afternoon and about
two the fire became general on both sides. It was exceedingly heavy
and without intercession insomuch as the oldest soldier never saw
so furious and incessant a fire. The fire at Fontenoy was nothing
to it. I saw both."
An officer of the 55th Regiment, of which Lord Howe had been
the commander, wrote as follows:
"With a mixture of esteem, grief and envy, I am penetrated
by the great loss and immortal glory acquired by the Highlanders
engaged in the late bloody affair. Ijmpatient for the fray, they
rushed forward to the entrenchments which many of them actually
mounted, their intrepidity was rather animated than dampened by
witnessing their comrades fall on every side. They seemed more
anxious to avenge the fate of their deceased friends than to avoid
a like death. In their co-operation we trust soon to give a good
account of the enemy and of ourselves. There is much harmony
and friendship between the two regiments."
"This General James Abercrombie must not be confused with Sir Ralph
Abercrombie who led the Black Watch to victory in Egypt in 1801.
386 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Even the French were impressed with the valor of the Black
Watch as Garneau writes in L'Histoire du Canada.1
"The Highlanders above all, under Lord John Murray, cov-
ered themselves with glory. They formed the head of the troops
confronting the Canadians, their light and picturesque costume
distinguishing them from all other soldiers amid the flame and
smoke. This corps lost half of its men and 25 of its officers were
killed or severely wounded."
Lossing writes, "The whole army seemed envious to excell
but the Scotch Highland Regiment of Lord John Murray was fore-
most in the conflict and suffered the severest loss."2
I also give in full the letter written by Capt, James Murray
to his brother, Mr. Murray of Strowan, dated Albany, July 19,
1758, as his description of the country and the events during and
after the battle lend local color to the picture.3
"My dear Brother:— The last letter I wrote you was dated
from Port Edward camp about 18th June. We proceeded on to
Lake George where Fort William Henry formerly stood which was
taken and destroyed by the French last year, where we remained
until the 5th curt, and then the whole army embarked on the lake
in batteaux that hold 23 men with a month's provisions, all the ar-
tillery stores was likewise embarked, and everything else belonging
to an army. We were divided into brigades. There was in all
about 5,000 regulars and 12,000 provincials. We hadi also light
infantry and rangers who had whale-boats which are the lightest
and best going boats that can be. We put off about 8 and got fair-
ly into the lake which I took to be about 20 miles long and not
above two miles at the broadest part of it. There are several small
islands which are quite covered with wood and all around the lake
is very hilly and quite covered with woods, as the most part of the
country is, at least what I have seen on't.
This lake abounds in fine trout the meat of which is red,
pearch, suckers and several other sorts of fish. There is also plenty
of beavers. On the side of the lake there is plenty of deer but I
have not seen any since I came to the country. Sometimes when
I have been out on command I have killed rattle snakes about four
feet long and as thick as the small of one's leg, with 18 rattles,
which altogether might be about four inches long. They say some
have twenty or more. They have both teeth and a sting. The
rattles being at the tail makes them that they can stand up on end
and spring a short way at one. When touched they make a great
1. Translation by Bell, Page 539, Vol. I.
2. Lossing's Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution. Page 119, Vol. I.
3. Atholl Records, p. 438, Vol. 3.
BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEflQGA. -ff-C/l 387
noise with their rattles. Their bite, is not so bad as called for it
can be easily cured with oil or salt. They smell exactly like a
goat, rather ranker if possible before they are seized but afterwards
have almost no smell at all. They make the richest and best soup
that can be which I eat of and like much. The meat is but insipid.
won>jThe 6tji we disembarked at the lower end of the lake. In the
morning our light infantry and rangers had some skirmishing with
the French pickets. Lord Howe was killed at the second shot and
he is very much regretted. There was taken that day about 150
prisoners, five of whom were officers. They had a great many kill-
ed so that very few of their pickets escaped which consisted in all
of about 350.
The next day being the 7th, we were making preparations to
invest a fort called Thieenderora which is five miles from Lake
George and is situate on a neck of land that runs into Lake Cham-
plain. As to the dimensions of that lake I can't say, and marched
within a mile and half of it that evening. The next morning the
light infantry made the French sentries and small posts retire to
their entrenchments for the French had an encampment about half
a cannon shot before their fort, and were entrenched after the fol-
lowing manner: They had large cut trees one laid above another
a man's height and in the outside there was brush and logs for
about 15 paces from it which made it impossible to force their,
breastworks without cannon which we had not taken up that length
as then. They were also under cover of the fort so if we could beat
them out of their trenches, they could have retired pretty safely.
Between one and two we marched up and attacked the trenches
and got within twenty paces of them and had as hot a fire for about
three hours as possibly could be, we all the time seeing but their
hats and the end of their muskets. About half an hour before we
were obliged to retire I received a shot through my thigh after
wjhich I stayed a few minutes but finding if I stayed any longer my
thigh would turn stiff and losing a great deal of blood I with help
got into the road and that evening with Capt. Gordon Graham, our
paymaster, got into a whaleboat and against the next morning got
to the upper end of Lake George and was transported down here.
I am confined to my bed but the surgeons say my wound looks as
well as can be expected, nor is there any sort of danger in it as it
has only grazed the bone, so I shall be well soon again. I am in
perfect good health, have a good appetite and sleep tolerably well.
Our regiment has suffered much. There was the captain,
lieutenant and six subalterns killed on the spot and since the major
and the lieutenant have died of their wounds. The colonel, four
captains, and twelve subalterns are wounded. 180 men killed and
280 wounded. None of the other regiments' losses were near so
great. Capt. Stewart was not touched, Capt. Sterling nor Farqu-
388 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
harson were not there so are well, but Lieut. Farquharson 's younger
brother was killed. Lieut. David Mills, my lieutenant, is not ill
wounded and is pretty well, so if you would inform his father-in-
lay, Mr. Hamilton of Huteheson, who stays near Glasgow, you
would oblige me. Neil Stewart at Perth knows him.
I received a letter from Lord John 15th May letting me know
you are all well which gave me a great deal of pleasure but it would
much more so to hear from some of you for it is very long since I
had that satisfaction, the last being at Ireland, for Lord John wrote
wrote me no particulars.
Offer my humble duty to my dear mother and elsewhere due
and best love to dear Lady Charlotte, Lady Sinclair, George, Char-
lotte and Invercauld, and best blessing attend all the young ones.
My kind compliments to Shusy Moray and tell her I had her hair
about my neck when I received my wound which might have prob-
ably gone to my heart if it had not been wounded already.
I am ever your most affectionate brother,
James Murray.
Thus had the army which landed so proudly two days before
been disastrously repulsed, with a loss in killed and wounded and
missing of nineteen hundred and forty-four officers and men. In
his report of July 12, 1758, Abercrombie gives the casualty of the
42nd as follows:
"Killed— Cap t. Lt. John Campbell; Lts. George Farquharson,
Hugh McPherson, William Bailey, John Sutherland; Ensigns
Peter Stewart and George Rattray.
Wounded— Major Duncan Campbell; Captains Gordon Gra-
ham, Thomas Graeme, John Campbell, James Stewart, James Mur-
ray; Lieutenants William Grant, Robert Gray, John Campbell,
James Grant, John Graham, Alexander Campbell, Alexander Mcln-
tosh, Archibald Campbell, David Mill,* Patrick Balnevis; Ensigns
John Smith and Peter Grant.
Summary— 1 major wounded, captains 1 killed, 4 wounded;
lieutenants 4 killed, 11 wounded; ensigns 2 killed, 2 wounded; ad-
jutants 1 wounded; quarter master 1 wounded; sergeants 6 killed,
13 wounded; rank and file 190 killed, 265 w*>unded."
Stewart of Garth writes as follows:
"Of these the 42nd regiment had 8 officers, 9 Serjeants, and
297 men killed, and 17 officers, 10 Serjeants, and 306 soldiers
wounded. The officers were, Major Duncan Campbell of Inverawe,
Captain John Campbell, Lieutenants George Farquharson, Hugh
McPherson, William Baillie, and John Sutherland; Ensigns Pat-
rick Stewart of Bonskied and George Rattray killed ; Captains Gor-
don Graham, Thomas Graham of Duchray, John Campbell of
* This name is given in various places as MILL, MILLS, MILLER and
MILNE. The Duke of Atholl is authority for the statement that MILNE is
correct.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 389
Strachur, James Stewart of Urrard, James Murray ( afterward Gen-
eral) ; Lieutenants James Grant, Robert Gray, John Campbell,
William Grant, John Graham, brother of Duchray, Alexander
Campbell, Alexander Mackintosh, Archibald Campbell, David Mil-
ler, Patrick Balneaves; and Ensigns John Smith and Peter Grant,
wounded. ' '
Capt. James Murray writes from Albany 17th August, 1758 :l
"As I observed in my last, our regiment has suffered greatly. The
Major has since died of his wounds, Sandy Parquharson has got his
lieutenancy by seniority which one would not have thought that the
-youngest ensign of the additional would have been so soon a lieu-
tenant. I am recovering pretty well and can walk about although
I am much pained in my knee but hope will be able to soon join
the regiment/'
Capt. James Stewart writes 14th July from Lake George:2
* ' That all the Captains were wounded, less or more, excepting Cap-
tains McNeil and Allan Campbell, that Major Campbell got his
right arm wounded, but not dangerous and his son, Lieutenant
Alexander Campbell had his arm broke betwixt the elbow and
shoulder, but he was in a good way."
Parkman states that Lt. Alexander Campbell was severely
wounded but reached Scotland alive and died in Glasgow.3
Abercrombie reports to Pitt from Lake George, Aug. 19, 1758 :
t( Major Duncan Campbell of the 42nd who was wounded in the
arm at the battle on the 8th was obliged to have it cut off and died
soon thereafter/'4
It would seem therefore that Major Campbell and his son were
not considered seriously wounded and that modern surgery would
soon have cured them. The following however, taken from Gar-
neau's L'Histoire du Canada might explain the unexpected mor-
tality. * ' Scarcely any of the wounded Highlanders ever recovered,
and even those sent home as invalids; their sores cankered, owing
to the broken glass, ragged bits of metal, etc., used by the Canadians
instead of shot."5
Abercrombie states in his report of July 12, 1758, "I sent the
wounded officers and men that could be moved to Fort Edward and
Albany."
Major Campbell was sent to Fort Edward and upon his death
nine days after the battle he was buried in the family lot of his
1. Atholl Records, p. 444, Vol. III.
2. Atholl Records, p. 443, Vol. III.
3. Montcalm and Wolfe, p. 435, Vol. II.
4. Public Record Office, C.O.5. 50.
5. Translation by Bell, page 539, Vol. I.
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
relatives, the Gilchrists. The body was moved to the new Union
cemetery between Sandy Hill and Fort Edward in 1871 but the
original stone may still be seen and bears this inscription : ' ' Here
Lyes the Body of Duncan Campbell 0f Inversaw, JEsqr Major "tp.'j
The old Highland Regt. Aged 55 Years. Who Died The 17th July,
1758, of The Wounds He Received In The Attack of The Retrench-
ments of Tieonderoga or Carillon, 8th July, 175S. ' >;
Stewart of Garth' says, ""'The old ^Highland Regiment having- ;
suffered so seVerelv * ' *' * *j'jft^yj^re1 J j npt enjoyed ^again, that,
" , In the N. Y* Colonial Records, however, we find that some \
regulars of the 42d and 60th Regts. amounting to 155 men (prolb-
ably one company of each) were with Bradstreet in his expedition
against Port Frontenac.1
In Aberorombie's report of Au!g. 19, 1758, he states liia!t part '
of the additional companies of the 42nd were sent to reinforce/ Bnj|./.
General Provost at frort Edward . andl , that one, , . company .
of the 42nd and some of ; the . recovering men ^ere s stationed
at Albany. From this , i^ in^hjti^,.^,^ inferred tha,t the
only part of the Black Watclf fit for duty were the three ad-
ditional companies which had not been in the battle of July 8th
and it is possible that the one company of the 42nd that had been
blown out of its course to Antigua and had not arrived at New
York until June did not get further north than Albany. The win-
ter quarters of the 42nd for 1758 were at New York. ( Abercrombie
to Pitt, No, 25, 1758. )2
The official title is now changed to the 'f 42nd, or Royal Regi-i5
ment of Foot," and the regiment is commonly called theRoyalHigh-
landers. It has erroneously been stated that the Black Watch was
granted this honor of being a " Royal" regiment because of its gal-
lantry at Ticonderoga, but it is all the more to its credit that it had
earned this distinction before the battle at Ticonderoga. The title
was granted by special warrant dated July 22, 1758, while the news
of the defeat did not reach London until the arrival of Abercrom-
bie 's aid de camp with dispatches Aug. 20, 1758.
rol. 10.
1. N. Y. Col. manuscript O'Callaghan's, p. 827, Vo
2. Public Record Office C. O. 5 50.
•
Photo by Chas. D. Case. Fort Edward
THE GRAVE OF MAJOR DUNCAN CAMPBELL
Headatone. of Red Granite, in Gilchriat Lot. Union Cemetery. Between Hudson Falls (Formerly Sandy Hill)
and Fort Edward. (Inscription has been Outlined in Chalk for this Photograph)
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEBOGA. 391
A copy of the warrant is as follows :
George R
We being desirous to distinguish Our Forty Second Regiment
of Foot with some mark of Our Royal favor, Our Will and Pleas-
ure therefore is, and we do heieby direct, that from henceforth
Our said regiment be called, and distinguished by the title and name
of Our Forty-Second, or Royal Highland Regiment of Foot,
in all commissions, orders, and writings, that shall hereafter be
made out, or isued for and concerning the said regiment. Given
at Our Court at Kensington this 22nd day of July 1758, in the
thirty second year of Our reign. By His Majesty's command,
( Signed ) HARRINGTON.
The vacancies occasioned in the 42nd were filled up in regular
succession and the seven companies which had been ordered at the
same time as the change of title were immediately recruited. These
were completed in three months and embodied at Perth, October
1758, each company being 120 men strong, all with few exceptions
Highlanders and hardy and temperate in their habits. (Lord John
Murray's orders were peremptory that none but Highlanders be
taken, but a few O'Donnels, O'Lachlans and O'Briens passed mus-
ter as Mac Donnels, Mac Lachlans and Mac Briars.)
These seven companies with the three additional companies
raised in 1757 were formed into a Second Battalion. The officers
appointed to the seven new companies were Robert Anstruther; who
was senior captain and served as Major, Francis MacLean, Alexan-
der Sinclair, John Stewart of Stenton, William Murray of Lintrose,
Archibald Campbell, Alexander Reid, and Robert Arbuthnot, to
be captains; Alexander MacLean, George Grant, George Sinclair,
Gordon Clunes, Adam Stewart, John Robertson, son of Lude, John
Grant, James Fraser, George Leslie, John Campbell, Alexander
Stewart, Duncan Richardson, and Robert Robertson, to be lieu-
tenants; and Patrick Sinclair, John Macintosh, James MacDuff,
Thomas Fletcher, Alexander Donaldson, William MacLean, and
William Brown, to be ensigns.
The seven new companies embarked for the West Indies where
they joined with the Old Buffs, Kings, 6th, 63d, 64th, 800 marines
and a detachment of artillery amounting in all to 5,560 men un-
der the command of Major Generals Hopson and Barrington and
of Brigadier Generals Haldane, Armiger, Trapaud and Clavering,
in an expedition against Martinique and Gaudaloupe. This result-
392 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
ed in the capture of Gaudaloupe but was not altogether a success
and a great many men were lost by fever and sickness. Of the
Royal Highlanders Ensign MacLean was killed, Lieutenants Mac-
Lean, Leslie, Sinclair and Robertson were wounded, and Major An-
struther and Captain Arbuthnot died of the fever. One hundred
and six privates were killed, wounded or died of disease.
This was a severe initiation for the new recruits who had been
herding sheep on their native hills nine months before, but as has
always been the case with the Black Watch they acquitted themr
selves with distinction. The seven companies were then embarked
for New York to join the First Battalion where they arrived in
July. They just missed being at the capture of Ticonderoga. Major
Gordon Graham was ordered at the end of July by General Am-
herst then at Crown Point to take command of the seven companies
and to march them up to Oswego. In August they were ordered to
join the First Battalion, Capt. Stewart with 150 men being left at
Oswego and the First and Second Battalions, now united, served
together for the rest of the campaign.
We will now return to the Veterans of the previous year. Af-
ter wintering at New York (or on Long Island, as another author-
ity states) the old Black Watch now the first Battalion of the Royal
Highlanders, recruited again to its full strength and the three ad-
ditional companies now a part of the Second Battalion, joined
Amherst at Fort Edward in June, 1759.* Col. Grant of the 42d
with the Royal Highlanders and light infantry of the army moved
forward to Lake George the 20th and the main part of the army
followed on the 21st. For five years now Lake George had been
the annual mustering place of armies.
The campaign this season comprehended three very important
enterprises— Wolfe was to attack Quebec from Lower Canada,
Prideaux was to proceed against Niagara, and Amherst, now Com-
mander in Chief and successor of General Abercrombie, was to
drive the French from Lake Champlain and if possible join Wolfe
on the St. Lawrence.
The army under Amherst consisted of the Royals, 17th, 27th,
Royal Highlanders, two battalions of the 55th, Montgomery 's High-
landers, nine battalions of Provincials, and a battalion of light in-
See Appendix for extracts from Commissary Wilson's Orderly Book for
record of daily service of Black Watch in Ticonderoga and Crown Point
campaign.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEBOGA. 393
fantry and a body of Rangers and Indians with a detachment of
artillery. When joined by the 2d battalion of the Royal Americans
from the West Indies, this army amounted to 14,500 men.
Amherst was never long in one place without building a fort
there. Fortified places were built at intervals of three or four
miles along the road to Fort Edward and especially at the station
called Halfway Brook, while for the whole distance a broad belt
of wood on both sides was cut down and burned to deprive a skulk-
ing enemy of cover. At Lake George he started a fort, the ruins of
which, now called Fort George, are in the Lake George Battle
Ground Park of which this Association is custodian.
July 21st, 1759, Lake George again witnessed a military pag-
eant as the army embarked for its second attack on Fort Ticonde-
roga. At daylight they landed, beat back a French detachment
and marched by the portage road to the sawmill. There was little
resistance and the army marched to the former line of entrench-
ments which had proved so fatal to Abercrombie. These had been
reconstructed partly of earth and partly of logs, and as the French
made no attempt at their defense the English encamped along their
front and found them excellent shelter from the cannon of the fort.
It is the general impression that the French retreated with only
faint resistance and that there was hardly a shot fired at the sec-
ond attempt to capture Fort Carillon but the following letter from
Capt. Murray would correct this impression.*
"Camp at the Lines of Burning, Theanderoga, 27 July, 1759.
My dear Brother: — I write you these few lines to acquaint you
that I am in perfect good health and that the army landed at this
end of the lake the 22nd, invested the Fort the 23rd and was very
buisy carying on the worcks till the 26th in the night, at which time
we had three batteries ready to open, when the enemy abbandoned
and set fire to the fort. During the time that the enemy remained
they could not keep a hotter fire, for I dare say that fired ten thou-
sand cannon shott and five hundred bombs and I don't believe there
has been forty men killed and wounded during that hott fire, altho'
all the Bombs fell in different parts among us and that we were
nigh point blank of the cannon shott but the line that had been of
so much hurt to us last year saved our men this.
Your most afft Brother, James Murray. "
Atholl Records, p. 452, Vol. III.
394 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
I also add Amherst's report to Governor James DeLancey:
Camp at Tienderoga, 27th July, 1759.
Sir:-
On Saturday morning last I embarked with the army at Lake
George, the next day landed without opposition and proceeded to
the saw mills, and took post on the commanding grounds, meeting
only a trifling opposition from the enemy. We lay on our arms all
night and early on the 23rd we continued our march to the ground
which I took possession of in the forenoon, the enemy having aban-
doned the lines without destroying them, first having carried off
their effects as well as sent away the greatest part of their troops.
As soon as I was set down before the place and after having re-
connoitered it, I ordered the trenches to be opener1 and batteries to
be made, which were finished last night, and were to have opened
at break of day, but the enemy did not think proper to wait till
then, having about ten of the clock yesterday evening blown up a
part of the Fort, and made their escape all to about 20 deserters.
Our loss, considering the fire we sustained is inconsiderable. We
have only two officers killed, vis. Colonel Townshend, Deputy Adju-
tant General and Ensign Harrison of late Forbe's.
Bourlamaque had on receipt of orders from Vandreuil retired
down Lake Champlain leaving four hundred men under Hebecourt
to defend the fort as long as possible and then to abandon Ticon-
deroga and later when pressed Crown Point and to retreat to Isle-
aux-Noix at the outlet of Lake Champlain, where defense was to be
made to the last extremity. When the English battery was ready
to open fire Hebecourt saw that further resistance was useless and
lighting a slow match to the magazine the French escaped down the
lake in their boats and a few hours later an explosion which hurled
one bastion of old Fort Carillon skyward shook the promontory.
Thus did French Carillon become English Ticonderoga and ' ' Ticon-
deroga 1758-9 " should be among the battle honors to be borne on
the Colors of the Black Watch. It is true that these honorary dis-
tinctions are only awarded by the King in case of victory but Ti-
conderoga 1758-9 would certainly be as much a victory as " South
Africa 1899-1902," which has been granted. South Africa was
not all victory and the Black Watch suffered at Magersfontein as
it did at Ticonderoga under Abererombie.
The length of time elapsed since the battle would also be no
objection to the honor being new granted as it was not until 1910,
two and one half centuries after, that the Regiments which upheld
BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA/™^ 395
British honor on the Coast of Morocco were authorised to bear
"Tangier 1662-1680" on their colors and appointment^.
•awtf jTiconderoga is the one place on the American continent where
England and France; Canada and the United States can all unite
on one common ground. The Yankees and English can meet here
and clasp hands over the time when they once fought together and
there is not even a sectional feeling which detracts from the unani-
mity. The North, I South, East and West of th# United States all
join with equal fervor. Each nation had its defeats here at dif-
ferent times but each also had its victories. Therefore there is no
battle honor which could be conferred on any British regiment that
would please more people of different nations than ' ' Ticonderoga
1758-9." The fact that there is at present in the village of Ticon-
deroga a public library and historical building dedicated to a Brit-
ish Regiment, even though this same regiment in its line of duty
bought against us in adater war, is sufficient proof that we consider
Ticonderoga of international history and above5 ^ matters of < local
f)'rlt 7,Tne. rest of the story is soon told* ; Qpown Point was captured
and the army was to have moved, forward to Isle aux Noix and to
r Jihe, $t;r Lawrence but a j succession of storms so delayed operations
,1^itfurth!ei:r, active movements were abandoned; for the remainder
of the season. Arnherst profiting by the fatal precipitation of his
predecessor was slow, but sure and in this campaign was successful
in every enterprise which he undertook. .f>nBh-fl -m'i mfiqhl,
After the capture of Crown Point the army under Amlierst
was mainly employed in building boats, on Lake Champlain and
fprt# Amherst at Crown Point and Tieonc^roga in the pl^ce of old
Carillon. The Black Watch, was stationed at , Cpown Point and
helped to build Fort Amherst. In November, they went into
^amp for the winter ajid in the Deport of ' ' Garrisons and. Winter
Quarters of His Majesty's forces in North, America Bunder the com-
mand of His Excellency, Major General Amherst, Headquarters at
New York, 15 Dec., 1759 " in the Public Record Office the stations of
the Black Watch were as follows: 1st Battalipn Royal Highland
Regiment, 1 company Halfway Brook, 5 conipanies Fort Edward,
1 company Fort Miller, 1 company Saratoga, 1 company Stillwater
and 1 company Halfmoon, 2d Battalion Royal Highland Regiment,
396 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Albany, one Battalion of the Inniskilling (27th Foot) and two
companies of the Rangers were left at Crown Point, six companies
Late Brig. Genl Forbes 's (17th Foot) at Ticonderoga, and four
companies 17th Foot at Fort George, The following season (1760)
the Black Watch was with Amherst at the capture of Montreal
wihich was the end of the French domain on the American Conti-
nent.
In 1761 the Black Watch with ten regiments embarked for Bar-
badoes there to join an armament against Martinique and Havana.
After the surrender of Havana, the first battalion of the 42nd and
Montgomery's Highlanders embarked for New York which they
reached in the end of October, 1762. Before leaving Cuba most
of the second battalion of the 42nd fit for service were consolidated
with the first, and the remainder shipped to Scotland where they
were reduced the following year.
The Black Watch was stationed at Albany until the summer
of 1763, when they with a detachment of Montgomery's High-
landers and another of the 60th, under command of Col. Henry
Boquet were sent to the relief of Fort Pitt then beseiged by the
Indians. The 42nd passed the winter at Fort Pitt and during the
summer of 1764, eight companies were sent with the army of Boquet
against the Ohio Indians. After subduing the Indians they return-
ed to Fort Pitt, January, 1765. The regiment remained in Penn-
sylvania until the month of July, 1767, when it embarked at Phila-
delphia for Ireland. Such of the men who preferred to remain in
America were permitted to join other regiments. These volunteers
were so numerous that along with those who had been previously
sent home disabled and others discharged and settled in America,
the regiment that returned was very small in proportion to that
which had left Scotland.
Let us now turn our attention to Major Duncan Campbell as
not only would no sketch of the Black Watch of Ticonderoga be
complete without the legend with which his name is associated, but
we are perhaps more interested in him than any other other officer
of the Regiment of that time because he lies buried in
the cemetery midway between Hudson Falls (formerly Sandy Hill)
and Fort Edward. The other officers and men who were killed
July 8, 1758, were doubtless buried on the field of battle and if the
AT INVERAWE
Old Inverawe House From the River Awe. ^'ith Ben Cruachan in the Background
View From the West. X Marks the Window of the Ghost Room
Bridge Over the Awe Built by Captain William Pitman About 1756
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEBOGA. 397
graves wtere ever marked these marks have long since been des-
troyed.
No ghost story is more widely known or better authenticated
than that of Duncan Campbell of Inverawe. It has been made the
subject of an address before this Association by the late Robert O.
Bascom at the meeting of July 30, 1901, and has been repeated in
many forms and in various publications but it will bear still one
more repetition. The following is taken from Parkman's " Mont-
calm and Wolfe ' ' and is the story as was told by Dean Stanley and
endorsed by the family of the hero of the tale :
"The ancient castle of Inverawe stands by the banks of the
Awe, in the midst of the wild and picturesque scenery of the West-
ern Highlands. Late one evening, before the middle of the last cen-
tury, as the laird, Duncan Campbell, sat alone in the old hall, there
was a loud knocking at the gate ; and, opening it, he saw a stranger,
with torn clothing and kilt besmeared with blood, who in a
breathless voice begged for asylum. He went on to say that he had
killed a man in a fray, and that the pursuers were at his heels.
Campbell promised to shelter him. "Swear on your dirk!"* said
the stranger; and Campbell swore. He then led him to a secret
recess in the depths of the castle. Scarcely was he hidden when
again there was a loud knocking at the gate, and two armed men
appeared. "Your cousin Donald has been murdered, and we are
looking for the murderer!" Campbell, remembering his oath, pro-
fessed to have no knowledge of the fugitive ; and the men went on
their way. The laird, in great agitation, lay down to rest in a large
dark room, where at length he fell asleep. Waking suddenly in be-
wilderment and terror, he saw the ghost of the murdered Donald
standing by his bedside, and heard a hollow voice pronounce the
words : ' ' Iverawe ! Iverawe ! blood has been shed. Shield not the
murderer!" In the morning Campbell went to the hiding place
of the guilty man and told him that he could harbor him no longer.
* The oath of the Campbells of Inverawe was by Ben Cruachan.
Bibliography of the Legend of Duncan Campbell of Inverawe.
A. P. Stanley, "Inverawe and Ticonderoga," Fraser's Magazine, Oct.
1880.
Robert Louis Stevenson, poem on "Ticonderoga," Scribner's Magazine,
December, 1887.
Francis Parkman, Appendix G. "Montcalm and Wolfe," and "His-
torical Handbook of the Northern Tour," Boston, 1885.
Robert O. Bascom, "New York State Historical Proceedings," Vol. II.,
"Fort Edward Book," pages 80-88.
C. F. Gordon Cumming in the Atlantic Monthly, September, 1884.
W. Max Reid, "Lake George and Lake Champlain."
Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, "Tales of the Highlands."
Winsor's Critical and Narrative History of the United States.
Lord Archibald Campbell, "Records of Argyle," William Blackwood &
Sons, 1885.
Winsor's critical and narrative History of the United States.
"The Magazine of History," July, 1906.
398 NEW YOEK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
' 'You have sworn on your dirk!" he replied; and the laird of In-
verawe, greatly perplexed and troubled, made a compromise between
conflicting duties, promised not to betray his guest, led him to the
neighboring mountain (Ben Cruachan) and hid him in a cave.
In the next night, as he lay tossing in feverish slumbers, the
same stern voice awoke him, the ghost of his cousin Donald stood
again at his bedside, and again he heard the same appalling words :
"Inverawe! Inverawel blood has been shed. Shield not the mur-
derer!" At break of day he hastened, in strange agitation, to the
cave; but it was empty, the stranger had gone. At night, as he
strove in vain to sleep, the vision appeared once more, ghastly pale,
but less stern of aspect than before. "Farewell, Inverawe F* it
said; "Farewell, till we meet at TICONDEROGAJM >„
The strange name dwelt in Campbell's memory. He had
joined the .Black Watch, or Forty-second Regiment, then employed
in keeping order in the turbulent Highlands. In time he became
its major; and, a year or two after the war broke out, he went with
it to America. Here, to his horror, he learned that it was ordered
to the attack of Ticonderoga, His story was well known among
his brother officers. They combined among themselves to disarm
his fears ; and when they reached the fatal spot they told him on
the eve of the battle," This is not Ticonderoga; we are not there
yet; this is Fort George."1 But in the morning he came -to -them
with haggard looks. "I have seen him! You have deceived me!
He came to my tent last night! This is Ticonderoga! I shall die
today!" and his prediction was fulfilled."
As will be seen by the preceding pages, Inverawe lived nine
days after the battle and was not even mortally wounded if it had
been possible in those times to have had antiseptic treatment, but
the real point of the legend is that he had been warned of Ticonde-
roga when he did not know there was such a place, years before
there was any prospect of his being sent there and when Ticondero-
ga was only the Indian name for a point of land On a lake in the
wilderness of a far off continent.
To one interested no place could be more fascinating than old
Inverawe2 everything connected with it breathes of legend
and romance and naturally this was one of the first places visited in
our Black Watch pilgrimage last summer. Taynuilt, the railroad
station nearest Inverawe is a small village across the Awe and
about a mile away as the crow flies, but to drive to our destination,
one must follow the road two miles up the River to the old bridge
1. More probably Fort Carillon.
2. Inv«r means "the mouth of," therefore the mouth of the River Awe.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEBOGA. 399
which was being built at the time that the Major left for the war
in America in 1756. Th« builder was Captain William Pitman
apparently a good friend of Duncan of Inverawe as he charged him
with the safe keeping during his absence of his daughter Janet and
his favorite dog. History does not record what happened to the
dog but the Captain married the daughter and in time Inverawe
became her property. She later sold Inverawe to her mother's
brother, Col. Robert Campbell of Monzie, and when she left the es-
tate she washed her hands at the border in a bottle of wine, which
we were told was an old Highland custom.
After crossing the Awe the road turns down the north side of
the River and winds through a magnificent park some of the trees
of which must certainly have been there before the Major's time.
This is all the more remarkable because with the exception of the
parks of the private estates Scotland is nearly a treeless country
and even the mountains and wild land which with us would be cov-
ered with forests, have there only grass and heather. Then at the
end of a delightful four mile drive was old Inverawe house and a
most cordial and hospitable welcome from its present owner.
The old house has had many additions in the past one hundred
and fifty years but the entrance hall and the main part of the build-
ing and particularly the room where Duncan Campbell saw the
ghost, are still very much as they were in his time. We endeavored
to learn as much as possible of the family history of the Campbells
of Inverawe, but like the records of the Black Watch of that time,
there is little left but tradition.
There are two legends of the Campbells of Inverawe which we
found in the ''Records of Argyle by Lord Archibald Campbell"
which are interesting. It seems that a Mary Cameron of the Cam-
erons of Callard Castle on the shores of Lochleven, who was forbid-
den to love one Campbell, son of the house of Inverawe, their near-
est neighbor, was locked in the highest room in the front tower of
the castle as a cure. While there a boat came from foreign parts
with rich shawls and other articles from the far east which were
shown to the inmates of the castle, but the plague was also a part
of the cargo of this mysterious boat and every inmate of the castle
died, except Mary who on account of her being a prisoner was not
exposed. But this left her in almost as fatal a predicament, as she
400 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
was still locked in and likely to starve to death, but she managed to
attract the attention of a passing shepherd, and thus sent word to
her lover who at once rescued her and in time they were married
(about 1510) and we presume lived happily ever afterwards.
Another family tradition was that a Campbell of Inverawe.
dying, left a son and heir under the tutorship of his brother. The
uncle, a man of fierce and remorseless disposition, had resolved to
cio away with his nephew and secure the estate to himself. The
boy's nurse and foster-mother, upon learning this, fled with her
charge to Carnassery in the parish of Kilmartin. When he was
within a few years of becoming of age, his uncle invited him to
come to Iverawe. Soon after his arrival, accompanied by his
servant, he went out to shoot and on his return to the house dinner
was ready. When it was being laid, the dogs of the house fought
around the table and in the scuffle between them, the cloth was dis-
arranged revealing a dagger at the end of the table where the uncle
was to sit. The servant noticed the dagger and concluding that it
boded no good to his master, informed the latter and counselled
flight. Going to the stable they saddled the horses and fled. The
uncle was no sooner aware of their flight than he set out in pursuit,
disappointment and rage spurring him on, and overtook them in the
wood of Nant. When they saw him coming on the hill above them,
the servant said to the heir, "Yonder is your uncle coming in pur-
suit of us. If you do not kill him, he will kill you." The young
man hesitated at first to take his uncle 's life but realizing the truth
of what his servant had said, he put an arrow to the bow, took aim
and sent it to its mark. The uncle fell dead from his horse, the
victim of his own wickedness and cruelty. A cairn of stones covers
the spot where he fell and is called Cairn Mhic Dhonnchaidh. to
this day.
The Campbells of Inverawe were descended from Duncan, one
of the sons of Neil. 10th knight of Lochawe, hence the Gaelic name
for the family was Mac Dhonnchaidh lonaratha, which means Mac
Duncan of Iverawe.
Since Janet soldi the Inverawe estate to her mother's uncle,
Col. Robert Campbell of Monzie, the estate passed forever from the
ownership of the Campbells of Inverawe and all further trace of
this branch seems to be lost. Janet, who married William Pitman,
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 401
had only one daughter Susan who died unmarried. As has already
been seen, Lieut. Alexander Campbell was wounded at Ticonderoga,
died at Glasgow, and was unmarried. All are united that Duncan
of Inverawe had a third child but there seems to be conflicting tes-
timony as to whether it was a boy or a girl. We were told at In-
verawe that the third child was a son who died unmarried, in which
event this line would have entirely died out, but Captain Douglass
Wimberley of Inverness who has written a book on the Campbells
of Kilmartin and Inverawe, states that the third child was a daugh-
ter named Ann who married Campbell of Achlain and had seven
sons and five daughters, but no more mention is made of this
branch of the family and we were unable to trace them further.
We tried to find a portrait of Duncan Campbell, but there was
not even a tradition of his personal appearance. Charles Mac-
Donald of Barrachander, the head gamekeeper, a man now over
eighty, wiho has been on the Inverawe estate all his life, and his
father before him, said that from his knowledge of the family he
would judge him to have been a large man with dark complexion.
When we reached home, we questioned the Gilchrist family, de-
scendants of the Alexander Gilchrist in whose family lot Duncan
Campbell had been buried, and they make the following statement :
In 1871, Walter and James Gilchrist, now dead, moved Duncan
Campbell's body from the old cemetery at Fort Edjward to the
present grave. The body was found in a sealed leaden casket in a
brick lined grave and the Gilchrist brothers, being curious to see
if anything remained after so many years, opened the coffin. When
the casket was first opened the body was found to be intact and al-
most as natural as when first buried but in a few minutes after the
air touched it, it fell away to dust. The body was of a large man
with dark complexion. This tallies exactly with the description of
Duncan Campbell as given by Charles MacDonald and is probably
as near as we will ever be able to get it.
There is still another mystery connected with the family of
Duncan of Iverawe, and that is, how does it happen that his wife
lies buried in the same graveyard in far-away America, for in the
Gilchrist lot is a tombstone which reads, "In memory of Mrs. Ann
Campbell of the Family of Balenabe and Consort of Mr. Duncan
Campbell, who died August the 10th, 1777 in the 74th year of her
402 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
age. ' ' It would seem almost certain that on account of the similar-
ity of ages and the coincidence of names that this must have been
the wife of the Major, but did she come to America with him as was
the custom of the wives of the officers of that day and continue to
live with her relatives until her death? The fact that no mention
is made of her ownership of Inverawe, which seemed to pass from
Mayor Duncan to the daughter Janet would make this probable.
As has been noted Duncan Campbell died in 1758 at the age of
55, which would make the year of his birth 1703 and Mrs. Ann
Campbell dying at 74 years in 1777 would make the same date of
birth. Captain Douglas Wimberley gives the wife of Duncan of
Inverawe as Johanna, daughter of Campbell of Ballinaby, the tomb-
stone states Ann of Balenabe, which is quite near enough for that
period when correct spelling was not one of the virtues. As has
perhaps been already noted Inverawe is spelled Inversaw on the
Duncan Campbell tombstone. Another headstone beside Mrs. Ann
Campbell in the Gilchrist lot reads "Ann Campbell, Daughter of
Mr. Archibald and Mrs. Floranee Campbell, who jdied August
the llth, 1777 in the 4th year of her age." It would seem quite
probable that Mrs. Ann Campbell was staying at Mr. Archibald
Campbell's at the time of her death and as they died only one day
apart that she and the infant Ann, were both stricken with some
contagious disease. This second tombstone may give us ,the clew
which will unravel the mystery of relationship and that this and
some of the other questions which have arisen may be answered in
some future article.
N MEMO RY OF
Hrt Ann C«mpb*l| c? th<
Family of Bal«,),»t-<' and
>f
MEMORY O
H»'S Ann Campbell af
jf 8alenah« an<i
Confort of ^!f Ouncan
Campbell v^ho died
August the toth 1777
the 74th Year of her
Ann Campbell, Diw
of Mr. Archibald and Mrs
F5or«n«e Campbell-, who
OTHER CAMPBELL GRAVES NEAR DUNCAN CAMPBELL'S
Two White Marble Head Stones in Gilchrist Lot, Union Cemetery, Between Hudson Falls 'Formerly Sandy Hill)
and Fort Edward. (Inscriptions have been outlined in lead pencil for tbis photograph.)
Blair Castle at Blair Atholl. the Principal Seat of the The Duke of Atholl Reviewing the Atholl High-
Duke of Atholl. Oldest Part of Castle Built About landers, a Guard of Over 200 From Atholl Estate,
1255 Whose Average Height is Nearly Six Feet
SIR JOHN JAMES HUGH HENRY STEWART-MURRAY. K. T. SEVENTH DUKE OF ATHOLL
Honorary Colonel Third Battalion the Elack Watch and Present Head the Clan Murray
fcfcA JAOIHOTrtfH HTAT* HHOY 7/3X
//smYnl ADPUMniV !H ^ '
ArrtilNiJlA
bnr/oji ,d»
^\
BOLL FROM AN OLD PAPER IN; POSSESSION^ .jQ^THE
7TH DXIKE :QF ATHOLL. OFFICERS OF THE 42ND
HIGHLANDEES, NEW YORK, MAY 22, 1757,
Lt. Col. Francis Grant, son of the Laird o£ Grant, wounded at
Ticonderoga.
Major Duncan Campbell, of 'Iriverawe, killed at Ticonderoga.
Captain Gordon Graham, of Drairiie; wounded at Ticonderoga.
Captain John Reid, of Straloch, Wounded at Martinique.
Captain John McNeil.
Captain Allan Campbell, son of BarealdlneV
Captain Thomas Graeme, of Duchray, wounded at Ticon-
deroga.
Captain James Abercrombie.
Captain John Campbell, of Strachui*, wotinded at Ticonderoga.
Captain John Campbell, of Duneavis, killed at Ticonderoga.
Lieutenant William Grant, of Rothiemurchus family, wound-
ed at TiconderogaL-"
Lieutenant Robert Gray, wounded at Ticonderoga.
Lieutenant John Campbell, younger of Glenlyon, wounded at
Ticouderogav ft uo'fr
Lieutenant George Farquharson, killed at Ticonderoga.
Lieutenant Sir James Cockburn?1- '
Lieutenant Kenneth Tolmie.
Lieutenant James Grant (adjutant, wounded at Ticonderoga.
Lieutenant John Graham (quartermaster), wounded at Ticon-
deroga and wounded at Fort Pitt.
Lieutenant Hugh McPherson, killed at Ticonderoga.
Lieutenant Alex. Tumbull, of Stratheavers, wounded at Mar-
tinique.
1. Lieut. Sir James Cockburn transferred to 48th Foot. Ensign Pat-
rick Balneavis made Lieut., commission dated 1st April, 1758, and Mr. El-
bert Hering succeeded to the Ensigncy, commission dated April 3d, 1758
(See extract from letter Jas. Abercrombie to Lord Viscount Barrington,
Albany, May, 27, 1758.)
bnatel^lo IlsdqmBO a;:-
404 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Lieutenant Alex. Campbell, son of Inverawe, wounded at Ti-
conderoga.
Lieutenant Alex. Mclntosh, wounded at Tieonderoga.
Lieutenant James Gray.
Lieutenant William Baillie, killed at Tieonderoga.
Lieutenant Hngh Arnot.
Lieutenant John Sutherland, killed at Tieonderoga.
Lieutenant John Small.
Lieutenant Archibald Campbell.
Lieutenant James Campbell.
Lieutenant Archibald Lamont.
Ensign Duncan Campbell, wounded at Port Pitt.
Ensign Patrick Balneavis,1 son of Edradour, wounded at Ti-
eonderoga, wounded at Martinique.
Ensign Patrick Stewart,2 son of Bonskeid, killed at Ticonde
roga.
Ensign Norman MacLeod.
Ensign George Campbell.
Ensign Donald Campbell.3
Ensign James Mclntosh, wounded at Fort Pitt.
Ensign Alex. Mclntosh, wounded at Martinque.
Ensign Peter Grant, wounded at Tieonderoga.
Three additional Companies embarked for America, Novem-
ber, 1757.
Captain James Stewart, younger of Urrard, wounded at Tieon-
deroga.
Captain James Murray, son of Lord G. Murray, wounded at
Tieonderoga, wounded at Martinique.
Captain Thomas Stirling, younger of Ardoch, wounded at Mar-
tinique, wounded at New Jersey.
Lieutenant Simon Blair.
Lieutenant David Barclay, killed at Martinique.
Lieutenant Archibald Campbell, wounded at Tieonderoga.
Lieutenant Alex. Mackay.
Lieutenant Alex. Menzies.
1. See Foot Note at bottom of preceding page.
2. Miss Ethel Lomas, copies! at Public Record Office, London, is
authority for the statement that this should be Peter (not Patrick) Stewart
3. Son of Capt. Lauchlin Campbell of Island of Isla and New York
Colony.
E^T
Grenadier Bearskin with Scarlet Visor; White Stock; Scarlet Jacket and Waistcoat with White Lace
Trimmings, Silver Buttons and Buff Collar and Cuffs; Black Leather Sword Belt; and Cartouch-Box and
Belt; Tan Leather Sporran; Murray of Atholl Belted Plaid: Red and White Hose and Black Leather Shoes
This is the Same Uniform Worn by the Other Companies of the Black Watch in 1758 Except the Head
Dress was Blue Bonnet. With Checkered Border and Tuft of Feathers and Black Watch Tartan Belted Plaid
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 405
Lieutenant David Milne,4 wounded at Ticonderoga, wounded
at Martinique.
Ensign Duncan Stewart, son of Derculieh.
Ensign George Rattray, son of Dalralzion, killed at Ticonde-
roga.
Ensign Alex. Farquharson.
4. This name is given as David Mills in the Army List, but the Duke
of Atholl is authority for the statement that Milne is correct.
5. "Ensign John Smith is added in ink to the 1858 Army List in the
N. Y. State Library at Albany and is also marked as "wounded at Ticon-
deroga."
BOLL OP OAPT. JOHN REIJD'S COMPANY, NOV., 1757.
The following is the roll of Capt. John Reid's Company of
the 42nd, wjhich was commanded by Capt. James Murray during
the expedition. Taken from Atholl Records, page 440, Vol. III.
Capt. James Murray, wounded. Sergt. Alex'r Gumming.
Lieut. Kenneth Tolmie. Corporal John Cumming.
Lieut. David Mill, wounded. Corporal Jonathan Grant.
Ensign Charles Menzies. Corporal Angus McDonald.
Sergt. James McNab. Corporal John Stewart.
Sergt. John McAndrew. Drum Walter Mclntyre, killed.
Sergt. John Watson. Drum Alan Campbell.
Privates.
Wm. Anderson. Hugh Fraser.
John Buchanan, killed. Hugh Fraser, killed.
Angus Cameron. John Forbes.
Hugh Cameron, killed. John Graham.
Wm. Carmichael. Donald Grant.
Donald Carr, killed. James Grant.
Hugh Christie. John Grant.
Alex. Cumming. John Grant.
James Farquharson, killed. William Grant.
Alex. Fraser. James Gordon.
Donald Fraser. William Gordon.
Donald Fraser. Donald Kennedy,
406
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL. ASSOCIATION.
,
Donald Kennedy.
John Kennedy.
George McAdam.
John McArthur.
Donald McColl.
Donald McDiarmid.
Angus McDonald.
Arch'd McDonald.
Arch'd McDonald, killed.
NeilMcLeod;0 t,
Norman McLeod,
Donald McLeish.
Donald McLeish.
William MeLinnion.
Neil McMillan^ >>[/. ir*
Donald McNeil, killed,
bivjti . - • •'•.: Srnjsi
.B'oo-f
.
Neil McNeil. >* "aMtoriiA to
b-»bn>: ->\ dtlfllEL niloL rr.;f3n3". .£
Hugh McPhee.
IB-
James McDonald, killed.
John McDonald.
Lachlan McDonald.
William McDonald, killed.
Neil McE achern. / /.. < H /. ( i
Peter McFarlane.
Peter McFarlane, kijled.
John McOrillyray.
Leonard McCrlashan.
Alex McGregor.
Donald McGregor ! »
Robert McGregor.
John Mclntosh.
Alex Mclntyre.
Donald Mclntyre.
James Mclntyre, killed.
Hector Mclnven.
Hugh McKay.
Alexr McKenzie.
Hugh McKenzie.
Hugh McKenzie.
John McKenzie,
John McKenzie.
Roderick McKenzie.
Dougall McLachlan,
John McLaren.
Roderick McLaren.
John McPhee.
Alex McPherson.
•p3 Donald MePherson.
3 Donald McQueen, killed.
/' (|| .: James , Michael. , '.; , , \ <^ }<^
Donald Murray.
io-Jio*i •tf-kir -"• 'iiir v/oHo"l HtlT
James Murray.
James Rea.
•' A|A* »J 'Pk'fl
Atex?r Ross.
Donald Ros^k ! dt^rtaDX .tueiJ
Hugh Ross, kiUed.
John Roa&;n<>{/.
Donald Robertsoh^oan;!. .tsior
Neil Shawn b n A •.»!/:
John Sinclair, died of Wounds.
<jTohn Smith.
Walter Spauldin^.
Alex'r Stewart.
Charles Stewart, died of wounc
aitol.
niBfflr//
Donald Stewart, died of wouni
, . ., 7
Walter Stewart, died of woi
Robert Urquhart.
_ ., __ » * -»ilr/T .TIB > DlfiflOCJ
Donald Watson.
Donald Wheet.
Waiiam Wish, -uumllTf':)
Duncan Wright.
^AV>A. iTjLUj-*»xtia. .
_, ,, 'HUH I . ^i ^»ii 'i .4
The above roll was made out at the muster in October,
and contains the names of those who served in the Company for
the previous six months. Unfortunately the names of the non-
commissioned officers and men who were wounded at Ticonderoga
are not shown.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA.
407
BOLL OF CAPT. JAMES MURRAY'S COMPANY, NOV., 1757.
This Company was at Fort Edward captained by Capt. James
Abercrombie and not in the battle of July 8, 1758.
Atholl Records, p. 431, Vol. III.
Sergt. Win. Grant Corporal John Leslie.
Sergt. Charles Robinson. Corporal Robert Lachlan.
Sergt. John McQueen. Drummer Alan Campbell.
George Bremmer.
Donald Brown.
Duncan Cameron.
John Campbell.
Donald Conacher.
William Cowie.
James Douglas.
Donald Drummond.
James Duncan.
Alex Fraser (1).
Alex Fraser (2).
William Fife.
Robert Grant.
Alex Irvine.
James Kennedy.
Duncan McAndrew.
Donald MeDiarmid.
Archibald McDonald.
Archibald McDonald.
Donald McDonald.
John McDonald.
William McDonald.
Peter McFarlane.
Alex'r Mclntosh.
Robert Mclntosh.
Robert Mclntosh.
William Mclntosh.
Donald McLean.
Donald McLean.
Privates.
Thos. McNab.
Alex McPherson.
James McPherson.
Donald McRaw.
Robert Menzies.
William Munro.
John Murray.
Alex'r Nicholson.
Alex'r Norrie.
Alex'r Reid.
Alex'r Robertson.
Angus Robertson.
Archibald Robertson.
Charles Robertson.
Donald Robertson.
James Robertson.
James Robertson.
John Robertson.
Peter Robertson.
James Scroggie.
Alex'r Stewart.
Alex'r Stewart.
Alex'r Stewart.
John Stewart.
Robert Stewart.
Thomas Stewart.
William Stewart.
John Wighton.
John Wighton.
408
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
888
tw **H «W
1
3
3 3
, see |
' s-' rt
rrl 3* ~ 'tf ° $
.P «M *N m O
^ o> <» ^; „ fn
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333
t^CQ(MCOrtliOCOI>.QOO5rHCq
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a
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 409
COMPARISON OF LOSSES OF BLACK WATCH AT TICON-
DEROGA WITH THOSE OF OTHER WARS.
In the "Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861,
1865. A treatise on the extent and nature of the mortuary losses
in the Union Regiments, with full and exhaustive statistics com-
piled from the official records on file on the State Military Bureaus
and at Washington, by William F. Fox, Lieut. Col. U. S. V., presi-
dent of the Society of the 12th Army Corps ; late president of the
107th New York Veteran Volunteer Association. Albany Publish-
ing Company, Albany, N. Y., 1899." The writer states that he has
examined the records of 2,000 regiments of the Union Army and on
page 2 he says, "The one regiment in all the Union Army which
sustained the greatest loss in battle during the American Civil
War was the 5th New Hampshire Infantry. It lost 295 men kill-
ed or mortally wounded in action during the four years of service
from 1861 to 1865. It served in the first division, second corps.
This division was commanded successively by Generals Richardson,
Hancock, Caldwell, Barlow and Miles and any regiment that fol-
lowed the fortunes of these men was sure to find plenty of bloody
work cut out for it. Its loss includes 18 officers killed, a number
far in excess of the usual proportions and indicates that the men
were bravely led."
* ' There were 34 regiments of the Union Army whose casualities
in killed, wounded or missing amounted to 58 per cent or over of the
men engaged in one battle in each case, however, there was not a
full regiment engaged. For example, the 1st Minnesota at Gettys-
burg], which was the highest per centage, had 47 killed and 168
wounded, or a total loss of 215 out of 262 men engaged. This is a
loss of 82 per cent.
The 9th Illinois at Shiloh had 61 killed, 300 wounded' and 5
missing, a total of 63.3 per cent.
The Light Brigade which has been immortalized by Tenny-v
son, took 673 officers and men into that charge at Balaklava in
which 113 were killed and 134 wounded, a total of 247 or 36.7 per
cent.
410
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
The heaviest loss in the German army of the Franco-Prussian
war was the 16th Infantry (3d Westphalian) at Mars LaTour
which had 509 killed, 619 wounded, 365 missing, a total of 1,484 or
49.4 per cent out of 3,000 men. The regiments of the German army
have 3,000 men."
The above are the greatest casualties suffered in three great
wars taken from a book compiled by an authority who had' made
a study of the subject. Compare with these the loss of the Black
Watch at Ticonderoga given by Col. Stewart of Garth as 8 officers,
9 sergeants and 297 men killed and 17 officers, 10 sergeants and 306
soldiers wounded or a casualty of 647 (64.7 per cent) out of the
1,000 men of the 42nd reported by General Abercrombie at Lake
George, June 29, 1758.
TABLE OF LOSSES OF BLACK WATCH IN SEVEN
YEAR WAR.
The loss sustained by the regiment during the seven years it
was employed in America and the West Indies was as follows:
KILLED
WOUNDED
s
8
£ 00
°1
2 3
15 %
So
Subalterns
Serjeants
Drummers
Privates
Field Officers
GC
1
1
Subalterns
Serjeants
Drummers
Privates
Ticonderoga, July 8, 1758 1 1
Martinique, January, 1759
Gaudeloupe, Feb. and Mar., 1759
General Amherst's Expedition
to the Lakes, July and Aug.,
1759
6
1
1
1
9 2
1
1
1
297
8
25
3
12
6
26
7
1
5
1
1
12
1
4
7
1
10
2
3
1
3
2
1
1
1
2
306
22
57
4
72
12
30
19
Martinique, Jan. and Feb., 1762. 1
Havana, June and July, 1762,
both battalions
Expedition under Colonel Bo-
quet, August, 1763 1
Second Expedition under Bo-
quet, in 1764 and 1765
Total in the Seven Years' War.l 3
9
12 2
384
1
7
25
22
4
522
Stewart of Garth, Appendix.
AT TICONDEROGA
Tablet on Boulder Near French Lines at Fort Tieonderoga
Tablet in Black Watch Memorial at Ticonderoga
• THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDERQGA; ,v j
isdj-jO 4-ihp^^
.qiowfnA MH1 ^^ Jii^3fliV tH TH7I
OFFICIAL -TITLES'; OP BLACK WATCH AT DIFFERENT
1667 to 1739, The Black Watch.
1789 to 1749, 43d Regiment of Foot (The Highland Regiment).
1749 to 1758^ 42nd Regiment of Foot (The Highland Regi-
ment).
1758 to 1861, 42nd (or Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot J»x I
1861 to 1881, 42nd Royal Highlanders (The Black Watch) i^
1881 to date, 1st Battalion The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders).
1758 to 1763, 2nd Battalion 42nd (or Royal Highland) Regiment of
Foot.
1780 to 1786, 2nd Battalion 42nd (or Royal Highland), Regiment
1786 to 1862, 73d (Highland) Regiment of Foot.
1862 to 1881 73d (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot.
1881 to date, 2nd Battalion The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders).
PRINCIPAL CAMPAIGNS, BATTLES, EftT
*" Honors 'Von Jfo&{ ^Colors, the figures showing the Battalion
concerned. s'l^'^vrmsM ooui
1743-47 Flanders. 1776 Fort Washington.
1745 Fontenoy. I ,'1777 Pisquata.
1745 Jacobite rising. 1777 Brandywine.
1757-60 Canada. 1777 GermantowB;-
1758 Ticonderoga, 1778 Freehold.
1759 Guadaloupe. 1780 Charlestowm.
1762 Martinique. *1783 Mysore (2).
1762 Havannah. I™ *1783 Mangalore (2).
1762-67 Indian Frontier. 1793 Pondicherry.
1763 Bushy Run. 1793-95 Flanders.
1775-81 America. 1793 Nieuport.
1776 Long Island. 1794 Nimeguen.
1776 White Plains. 1795 Ceylon.
1776 Brooklyn. 1795 Guildermalsen.
.)/;•
412
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
1796
1797
1798
*1799
1799
1799
1800
*1801
1801
1801
1801
*1808-
1808
1808
*1809
1810
*1811
1812
1812
1812
*1813
1813
*1813
*1813
St. Lucia.
St. Vincent.
Minorca.
Seringapatam ( 2 ) .
Genoa.
Cadiz.
Malta.
Egypt (1).
Alexandria.
Aboukir.
Mandora.
14 Peninsula (1).
Roleia.
Vimiera.
Corunna (1).
Busaco.
Fuentes d'Onor (1),
Ciudad Rodrigo.
Salamanca.
Burgos.
Pyrenees (1).
Gohrde.
Nivelle (1).
Nive (1).
*1814 Orthes (1).
1814 Antwerp.
*1814 Toulouse (1).
1815 Quatre Bras.
*1815 Waterloo (1 & 2).
1815 Netherlands.
*1846-53 South Africa (2)
*1854 Alma (1).
1854 Balaclava.
1854 Kerteh.
1855 Yenikale.
*1855 Sevastopol (1).
1857-58 Indian Mutiny.
1857 Cawnpore.
*1858 Lucknow (1).
*1874 Ashantee (1).
*1882-84 Egypt (1).
*1882 Tel-el-Kebir (1).
*1884-85 Nile (1).
1884 El-Teb.
1884 Tamai.
*1885 Kirbekan (1).
*1899-1902 South Africa,
*1900 Paardeberg
H
BRITISH REGIMENTS AT TICONDEROGA, 1758.
With Notes From Farmer's Regimental Records.
27th.
1751-1881, The 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot. Also
1758 "Lord Blakeney's."
1881 (from) First Battalion "The Royal Inniskilling Fusi-
liers. "
Nickname— * ' The Lumps. ' '
Notes. — Formed from three Companies of the Inniskilling forces. It is
unique in using the old Irish war-pipes. While employed on the Isthmus
of Darien all but nine of six hundred men succumbed. For distinguished
gallantry at St. Lucia, in 1696, it was directed that the French garrison in
marching out should lay down their arms to the 27th, other marks of
favor being likewise accorded to the officers and men of the regiment.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 413
42nd.
1749-58, 42nd Regiment of Foot (The Highland Regiment).
1758-1861, 42nd (or Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot. Also
1 ' Lord John Murray's," 1758 and 59.
1881 (from) 1st Battalion The Black Watch (Royal High-
landers).
Regimental Badges— "The Royal Cypher within the Garter."
The badge and motto of the Order of the Thistle. Also (in each
of the four corners) the Royal Cypher engigned with the Imperial
Grown. Also "The Spinx" (for Egypt, 1801).
Notes-7-The 1st Battalion of this famous corps, the oldest Highland
regiment in the British army, was raised from six Independent companies
of Highlanders. Its sombre dress of black, blue, and green tartan gave
rise to its popular name. To enumerate its services is simply to narrate
the military history of Great Britain since the early part of the last cen-
tury. Hardly a campaign has been conducted, or a battle fought, in which
the Black Watch — one battalion or the other, or both in company — has not
participated; always with bravery, and frequently with conspicuous gal-
lantry. Thereto its records of services abundantly testifies. At Fontenoy,
Ticonderoga, and at Bushy Run "extraordinary" and unexampled" gal-
lantry was shown. It received Royal distinction in its change of title in
1758, and was privileged to wear the red heckle in the bonnet, in recogni-
tion of its conduct at the battle of Guildermalsen in 1795. In Egypt (in
1801, for which it bears "The Sphinx), before Alexandria, it captured the
Standard of the French Invincible Legion. Since then it has heaped fame
on fame, and added "honor" to "honor" to its colours. Nor has the 2nd
Battalion (raised in Perthshire in 1758 as the second Battalion of the 42nd,
but, renumbered, long known as the 73rd prior to the territorial restoration
of the ancient status) failed to win fresh laurels as occasion arose. At
Mangalore (1783) against Tippoo Sahib, and side by side with the senior
Battalion at Waterloo, in the Netherlands, in the Indian Mutiny, and in the
Kaffir wars of 1846-53, it has worthily sustained the undying fame of the
regiment. Recent events in South Africa show that neither the officers nor
the men of today have lost one iota of that traditional dash, determination,
and the bravery which have won for the Black Watch so glorious a place
in British military annals.
44th.
1751-82, The 44th Regiment of Foot. Also 1758, " General
Abercrombie 's. ' '
1881 (from) The First Battalion "The Essex Regiment. "
Nicknames— "The Two Fours" (of the 44th). "The Little
Fighting Fours," (the regiment saw hard service in the Peninsula,
and its men were of small average stature). "The Pompadours"
and "Saucy Pompeys." (Tradition relates that when the facings
were changed in 1764 (the crimson not wearing well) the Colonel
desired Blue, but. the authorities objecting, he chose Purple, a fav-
orite color of Madame de Pompadour, a mistress of Louis XV, of
France).
Notes — The 44th captured an Eagle of the 62nd French Infantry at
Salamanica.
414 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
46th.
1751-82, The 46th Regiment of Foot. ''Also 17581 '^utJ Gen.
Thomas Murray 's. ' ' i • H
1881 (from) Second Battalion "Duke of Cornwall 's Light In-
fantry."
Nicknames — These pertain to the late 46th: "Murray's
Buck's" (from Colonel's name (1743-64) and its smart appear-
ance on home duty in Scottish Royal livery). *'The Surp risers"
( from an incident ( 1777 ?) in the American War) . f ' The Lacede-
monians" (its Colonel once,; when under heavy fire, made a disci-
plinarian speech concerning the Lacedemonians). Also in early
days, "The Edinburgh I&giment" "The Bed Feathers." "The
Docs" (the initials).
Note — "The Two Feathers!' is a distinction of the 46th, a Light com-
pany of which, in 1777, with others were brigaded as "The Light Bat-
talion." The Americans were so harassed by the Brigade that they vowed
"No Quarter." In derision, to prevent mistakes, the Light Battalion dyed
their feathers red; the 46th Foot alone has retained the distinction.
55th.
1757-82, The 55th Regiment of Foot. Also "Lord Howe's" in
1858 and "Prideaux's" in 1759.
1881 (from) Second Battalion "The Border Regiment."
Nickname— "The Two Fives" (to the 55th for its number).
Notes — The Dragon of China is on the Regimental Badge of the 55th
in honor of the victorious campaign in China in 1840-42.
1st and 4th Battalions 60th.
1755-57, The 62nd (Royal American) Regiment of Foot; re-
numbered.
1757-1824, The 60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot.
1881 (from) "The King's Royal Rifle Corps."
Notes — This regiment, though possessing no "Colors," bears more
honors than any other regiment, the Highland Light Infantry coming
next wth twenty-nine. Motto, "Swift and Bold," bestowed according to
tradition by General Wolfe in recognition of its conduct at Quebec.
80th.
1758-64, The 80th (Light-armed) Regiment of Foot. Also
"Gage's." (Disbanded 1764).
The Royal Regiment of Artillery
One arm or other of this branch of the Service has, obviously,
taken part in every campaign ; a particularised list is therefore un-
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 415
necessary. The guns are the "Colours" of the Artillery, and as
such are entitled to all "parade honours." Formerly, regimental
honors appear to have been worn by certain companies. Amongst
such were "Niagara," "Leipsic," "Waterloo," and "The Dragon
of China."
Nicknames— 'The Gunners;" "The Four-twheeled Hussars"
(of the Royal Horse Artillery).
Notes — Trains of artillery seem to have been raised In the time of
Henry VIII. ;and up to 1716 appear to have been disbanded after each cam-
paign. In 1716 several companies received permanent corporate existence,
since which exigencies of modern warfare have led to an enormous in-
crease in the number of batteries. But from first to last, the record of the
Royal Artillery has been one of distinction, and it may fitly be said to
share the honors of all other regiments. The Royal Irish Artillery were
absorbed in 1801, and the East India Company's Artillery in 1858.
BRITISH REGIMENTS AT TICONDEROGA, 1759.
1st.
1751-1812, The 1st, or The Royal Regiment of Foot, also the
"Royals."
1881 (from) The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment).
Nickname— "Pontius Pilate's Body-guard." It is a legend
of the Regiment that the Romans carried off a number of wild, war-
like Highlanders as prisoners after their conquest of Britian, and
these men and their descendants became soldiers of the Roman
Empire and as such they guarded the tomb of Our Savior after
the crucifixion. This Scottish company, for it only consisted of
one hundred men under a centurion, was kept distinct from the
Roman Army proper. At the time of the crucifixion they were
called Pontius Pilate's Scotch Guards, and their descendendants
were the nucleus of the First Royal Scots in later years.
Notes — The oldest Regiment of Foot in the British Army. Tradition-
ally regarded as the ancient body-guard of the Scottish kings, this famous
corps was in the service of Sweden, as "Hepburn's Regiment," from 1625
to 1633; and in that of Prance from 1633 to 1678, when (under Dumbarton)
it came to England. It received its title in 1684 in recognition of the cap-
ture of a Colour from the Moors at Tangier. At Sedgemoor (1685) it also
captured the Duke of Monmouth's Standard.
17th.
1751-82, The 17th Regiment of Foot. Also "Forbes.' "
1881 (from) "The Leicestershire Regiment."
Nicknames— "The Bengal Tigers" (from its badge); "The
Lily-whites" (from its facings).
Notes — Mainly raised near London; twelve regiments in all were
formed in 1688, but this and the 16th (The Bedfordshire) are alone in
commission now.
416 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
27th.
See above, Ticonderoga, 1758.
42nd.
See above, Ticonderoga, 1758.
55th.
See above, Ticonderoga, 1758.
77th.
1756-63, The 77th (Montgomery Highlanders) Regiment; dis-
banded 1763.
80th.
See above, Ticonderoga, 1758.
Royal Artillery.
See above, Ticonderoga, 1758.
PROVINCIAL REGIMENTS AT TICONDEROGA.
(The writer will have to admit that this list is more or less in-
complete, even the N. Y. State Library at Albany had only scatter-
ed items. It would seem as if this would be a good subject for an
article for some future meeting of the Association and any infor-
mation will be gratefully received).
1758.
The New York Colonial Manuscripts, edited by Callaghan,
page 732, in the list of regiments having officers wounded at the bat-
tle of July 8, 1758, gives the following regiments: Col. De-
Lancey's, New York; Col. Babcock's, Rhode Island; Col. Fitche's,
Connecticut; Col. Worcester's, Connecticut; Col. Bagley's, Mas-
sachusetts; Col. Partridge's, Massachusetts; Col. Preble's, Massa-
chusetts; Col. Johnston's, New Jersey. Parkmen mentions Col.
Bradstreet with his regiment of boatmen armed and drilled as sol-
diers and it is also certain that Roger's Rangers were with the ex-
pedition.
The year book of the Maine Chapter of the Society of Colonial
Wars for 1900 gives much information in regard to Col. Preble's
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 417
regiment, Maine being in 1758 a part of Massachusetts. Mention is
made in this article of regiments officered by "Col. Doty, Col. Jos-
eph Williams, Col. Nickold, Col. Whitings."
Also in the New York Colonial Manuscripts, Vol. 10, P. 827,
it mentions a force of about 3,000 men nearly all of whom were
provincials, under Col. Bradstreet, in the expedition against Fort
Frontinac after the battle of July 8, 1758, and of the number of
soldiers engaged, the list is given as New Yorkers 1112, Col. Will-
iams' regiment 413, Col. Douty's 248, Rhode Island 318, and Jer-
sey 418."
It is not clear whether these regiments were at the battle of
Ticonderoga and were not mentioned in list page 732 of the New
York Colonial Manuscripts because none of the officers were wound-
ed, or whether they were the same regiments but with different
officers, a change having been made after the battle.
1759.
The provincial regiments mentioned in Commissary Wilson's
Orderly Book as being in the Ticonderoga expedition of 1759 are
as follows: Col. Lyman's Connecticut; Col. Whiting's, Connecti-
cut; Col. Worcester's, Connecticut; Col. Fitch's, Connecticut; Col.
Willard's, Massachusetts; Col. Ruggles', Massachusetts; Col.
Lovell's, New Hampshire; Col. Schuyler's, New Jersey; Col. Bab-
cock's, Rhode Island.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF AS MANY OF THE OF-
FICERS OF 1758 AS COULD BE TRACED.
James Abercrombie.
James Abercrombie was promoted to a captaincy in the 42d
or 1st Battalion of the Royal Highlanders on the 16th of Febru-
ary, 1756. On the 5th of May, 1759, he was appointed aid de
camp to Maj. Gen. Amherst with whom he made the campaigns of
that and the following year. On the 25th of July, 1760, he was
appointed Major of the 78th or Fraser's Highlanders and in Sep-
tember following was employed by Gen. Amherst in communicating
418 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
to the Marquis de Vaudreuil the conditions preparatory to the sur-
render of Montreal and in obtaining the signiture of that governor
to them. (Knox's Journal). The 78th having been disbanded
in 1763, Major Abercrombie retired on half pay. On the 27th of
March, 1770, he again entered active service as Lt. Colonel of the
22nd Regiment then serving in America under the command of Lt.
Col. Gage and was killed in the memorable Battle of Bunker Hill
on the 17th of June, 1775.
New York Colonial Manuscripts by Broadhead, Weed, Parsons Co., Al-
bany, 1856, page 160.
JIugh Arnot.
Hugh Arnot was taken from the half pay list and appointed a
Lieutenant in the 42nd Highlanders, 9th April, 1756, at the aug-
mentation of that Regiment on its coming to America, and was pro-
moted to a Company on the 27th December, 1757. He served in
the unfortunate affair of Ticonderoga in 1758, and in 1759 ac-
companied Amherst as above. On the 16th August, 1760, he ex-
changed into the 46th Foot, in which Regiment he continued to
serve until 1769, when his name was dropped from the Army List.
Wilson's Orderly Book, p. 143.
Patrick Balneaves.
Patrick Balneaves, of Edradour, entered the 42nd, as Ensign-
28th January, 1756, and was promoted to be Lieutenant 1st April,
1758 ; he was wounded at Ticonderoga, 1758 ; and again at Martini-
co in 1762; became Captain-Lieutenant 23rd August, 1763, and
left the army in 1770.
Stewart. Army Lists. N. Y. Colonial Manuscripts, p. 729, Vol. 10.
Allan Campbell.
Allan Campbell, son of Barcaldine, entered the Army as En-
sign of the 43d (now the 42d) Highlanders, Dec. 25, 1744, and
served that year against the Pretender. Was appointed lieutenant
Dec. 1, 1746. He obtained a Company 13th of May, 1755, and the
next year came to America, where he shared the difficulties and
honors of the Regiment. In June, 1759, he was appointed Major
for the Campaign under Amherst, and was actively employed at
the Head of the Grenadiers and Rangers, clearing the way for the
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 419
army up the Lakes. He became major in the army 15th Aligns^
1762, and went on halfpay on the reduction of the regiment in
1763, having obtained a grant of 5,000 acres of land at Crown Point.
He served 19 years in the regiment. In 1770, he was appointed
Major of the 36th or Herefordshire Foot, then serving in Jamaica;
became Lieutenant-Colonel in the army in May (1772), and of his
regiment in January, 1778 ; Colonel in the Army, 17th Nov., 1780 ;
Major-General in 1787; and died 1795. His Regiment did not
serve in America during the Revolutionary War.
Browne, IV, 150.
Knox Journal, I, 373, 377, 387; II. 401.
Army List. Commissary Wilson s Orderly Book. 1759. p. 18. Stewart
of Garth Appendix.
Donald Campbell.
Donald Campbell was the oldest son of Captain Lauchlan
Campbell of the Island of Isla. He had two brothers and three
sisters. His father, Lauchlan Campbell, was possessed of a high
sense of honor and a good understanding; was active, loyal, of a
military diposition, and withal, strong philanthropic inclinations.
By placing implicit confidence in the royal governors of New York,
he fell a victim to their roguery, deception and heartlessness,
which ultimately crushed him and left him almost penniless. In
1734 Colonel Cosby, Governor of the Province of New York, in
order to encourage Protestants from Europe to settle on the north-
ern frontier, promised to each family 200 acres of unimproved land
without any fee or expenses whatsoever except a very moderate
charge for surveying and liable only to the King's Quit Rent of one
shilling and nine pence farthing per hundred acres. In 1737 these
proposals fell into the hands of Captain Lauchlin Campbell and the
same year he came to North America, and passing through the Pro^
vince of Pennsylvania where he rejected many considerable offers
that were made him, he proceeded to New York. Gov. Cosby was
dead but George Clarke, then Governor, solemnly promised him
that he should have 1,000 acres for every family that he brought
over and each family have from 500 to 150 acres, but declined to
make any grant until the families arrived. Capt. Campbell re-
turned to Isla and brought back his own family and thirty other
families. He made three trips and brought out in all 83 families
composed of 423 persons, all sincere and loyal Protestants. But
420 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
after these perilous and expensive voyages, he found no longer the
same countenance or protection but on the contrary it was insinuat-
ed to him that he could have no land either for himself or the peo-
ple. He had spent nearly all of his fortune in/ this undertaking'
and at last was obliged to take the little that remained and pur-
chase seventy acres north of New York for the subsistence of him-
self and family. In 1745 he went to Scotland and having the com-
mand of a company of the Argyleshire men served with reputation
under his Royal Highness the Duke against the Rebels. He re-
turned to America in 1747 and; not long after died of a broken
heart, leaving his six children in very narrow and distressed cir-
cumstances.
At the commencement of the War with France, Donald and his
two brothers entered the army and served in the 42nd, 48th and
60th Regiments of Foot during the whole war, at the close of which
Donald and one brother were reduced as Lieutenants upon half
pay while the youngest boy still continued in the service. At the
close of the war, Donald finding that many of the families which
had come over with his father, were disposed to settle with him
on the lands originally promised, if they could be obtained, peti-
tioned the Governor in 1763 for the said lands but was able only
to procure a grant of 10,000 acres. He then petitioned the Lords
Commissioners of Trade to direct the Government of New York to
grant him the 100,000 acres upon his undertaking to settle 100
or 150 families upon the same within the space of three years.
This petition though courteously expressed and eminently just, was
rejected. The 10,000 acres which in 1763 were granted to Donald
and his brothers, George and James, their three sisters and four
other persons, three of whom were also named Campbell, was in
the present township of Greenwich, Washington County.
At the breaking out of the Revolution, Donald espoused the
cause of the people but his two brothers sided with the British.
Soon after all these passed out of the district and their whereabouts
bcame unknown.
Highlanders in America by MacLean, page 176, N. Y. Colonial Docu-
ments, page 629.
Duncan Campbell.
Duncan Campbell, of Inverawe, having raised a company for
the Black Watch, then numbered the 43rd, was commissioned Cap-
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 421
tain, December 25, 1744; it became the 42nd in 1749; and in De-
cember, 1755, Captain Campbell was promoted to the Majority of
the regiment. He died of the wounds received at Ticonderoga.
Stewart, I 279; II, Appendix No. II.
John Campbell of Duneavis.
John Campbell, of Duneaves, Perthshire, was originally a
private in the Black Watch. In 1743, he was presented, with
Gregor McGregor, to George II, as a specimen of the Highland sol-
dier, and performed at St. James the broadsword exercise and that
of the Lochaber axe, before his Majesty and a number of General
officers. Each got a gratuity of a guinea, which they gave to the
porter at the gate of the palace as they passed out. Mr. Campbell
obtained an Ensigncy in 1745 for his bravery at the battle of Fon-
tenoy; was promoted to be Captain-Lieutenant, 16th February,
1756, and landed in New York the following June. He was among
the few resolute men who forced their way into the work at Ticon-
deroga, on the 8th of July, where he was killed.
John Campbell, Junior (of Glenlyon).
John Campbell, Junior, wias commissioned Lieutenant of the
42nd on the 16th May, 1748 ; was wounded at Ticonderoga, 1758 ;
was made Captain 26th July, 1760; and went on half -pay at the
peace of 1763.
Stewart's Highlanders, I, 250, 279. N. Y. Col. Mss., p. 729, Vol. 10.
John Campbell of Strachur.
John Campbell of Strachur, in the Highlands of Scotland,
entered the Army in June, 1745, as Lieutenant of London's High-
landers ; served through the Scotch Rebellion ; made the Campaign
in Flanders, 1747, and was promoted to a company on the 1st Oc-
tober of that year. At the peace of 1748, he went on Half -Pay and
so remained until the 9th April, 1756, when he was appointed to
the 42d Highlanders previous to the embarcation of that Regiment
for America. He was wounded in the attack on Ticonderoga in
1758, and was appointed by General Amherst Major of the 17th
Foot on the llth July, 1759; was promoted to be Lieutenant-Col-
onel in the Army 1st February, 1762, and commanded his Regi-
422 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
ment in the expedition that year against Martinico and Havana.
On the 1st May, 1773, he became Lieutenant-Colonel of the 57th
or West Middlesex Foot, returned to America in 1776 with his
Regiment at the breaking out of the Revolution; was appointed
Maj. General 19th February, 1779, Colonel of his Regiment 2d
November, 1780, and commanded the British Forces in West Flori-
da, where after a gallant though ineffectual defence he was obliged
to surrender Pensacola to the Spaniards 10th May, 1781. He be-
came Lieutenant-General 28th September, 1787; General in the
Army 26th January, 1797, and died in the fore part of 1806.
Brown, IV, 155, 159.
Stewart's Sketches of the Highlanders, I, 295, 306, 359, 370; II. 5, app.
iii: Knox Journal, I, 373; II, 401; Beatson's Naval and Mil. Mem. V, 50, 226-
233; VI, 274-280; Army Lists. Wilson's Orderly Book, page 94.
Gordon Graham.
Gordon Graham of Drainie in the Highlands of Scotland, was
appointed ensign in the 43d Highlanders in Oct. 25, 1739, and was
made lieutenant June 24, 1743. He served in Flanders and shared
in the defeat at Fontenoy in 1745, after which the Regiment re-
turned home. In 1747 he made another campaign in Flanders.
On August 7, 1747, he was appointed captain. In 1749 the num-
ber of the Regiment was changed to the 42d and Mr. Graham ob-
tained a company in it 3d June, 1752, came to America in 1756,
was at the surrender of Fort William Henry under Colonel Munro
in 1757, and was wounded at Ticonderoga in 1758. The Major of
the Regiment having been killed on that occasion, Captain Graham
succeeded to the vacancy, July 17th, 1758, and made the campaign
of 1759 and 1760 under Amherst. He next served in the West In-
dies in the expedition against Martinique and July 9, 1762, became
Lieutenant Colonel of the Regiment, which returned to New York,
and in the year 1763, proceeded to the relief of Fort Pitt, defeating
the Indians on the way in the Battle of Bushy Run. In December,
1770, he retired after 31 years of service in the Regiment. As his
name does not appear in the army list of 1771 it is presumed that
he died at this time.
Brown's Highland Clans IV, 139, 159. Beatson's Naval and Mil. Mem.
II, 530. Wilson's Orderly Book, p. 14.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 423
John Graham.
John Graham was the brother of Thomas; entered the 42nd
regiment as Ensign and was promoted to a Lieutenancy 25th Janu-
ary, 1756; was wounded at Ticonderoga 1758; became Captain in
February, 1762, and was again wlounded at Bushy Run in 1763;
shortly after which his company having been disbanded, he went
on half pay. He rejoined the regiment 25th December, 1765, and
is dropped in 1772, having attained the rank of field officer.
Stewart I, 359, Army Lists. N. Y. Col. Manuscripts, p. 729, Vol. 10.
Thomas Graham.
Thomas Graham, or Graeme, of Duchay, entered the 43rd, or
Black Watch, as Ensign June 30, 1741; was promoted to a Lieu-
tenancy August 6, 1746, and obtained a company February 15,
1756, shortly before the regiment, then the 42nd, came to America.
He served in the several Campaigns on the northern lakes; was
wounded at Ticonderoga in 1758 ; was again wounded at the batttle
of Btishy Bun, near Pittsburg, in 1763; served in the subsequent
campaigns against the Indians, and embarked for Ireland in 1767.
He succeeded Major Reid 31st March, 1770, and became Lieutenant-
Colonel 12th December following. He retired from the army De-
cember, 1771, after 30 years of service.
Army Lists. Stewart. N. Y. Colonial Manuscripts, p. 729, Vol. 10.
Francis Grant.
Francis Grant, son of the Laird of Grant, and brother of Sir
Ludovick Grant, of Grant, Scotland, wjas received from half-pay
in London's Regiment and was made ensign in the Black Watch
Oct. 25, 1739. Nov. 5, 1739, he was made lieutenant; June 18,
1743, captain ; and Oct. 3, 1745, he became major. A vacancy oc-
curring in the lieutenant-colonelcy, in December, 1755, the men of
the Regiment subscribed a sum of money among themselves to pur-
chase the step for him, but it was not required ; he had already ob-
tained his promotion. He accompanied the Regiment to America
in 1756 and was present at the bloody battle of Ticonderoga, July
8, 1758, where he was wounded. In the following year he accom-
panied Amherst on his expedition, and in 1760 w(as in command
of the van of the Army from Oswego to Montreal. In 1761 he
424 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
commanded the Army sent to the south to chastise the Cherokees.
He served as Brigadier-General in the expedition against Martini-
co in 1762, and on the 19th of February of that year became col-
onel in the Army. On July 9, 1762, after twenty-three years of
service in the Black Watch Regiment, he was removed and appoint-
ed to the command of the 90th Light Infantry. In August, 1762,
he commanded the 4th Brigade at the siege of Havana and went on
half pay at the peace of 1763. In November, 1768, he became col-
onel of the 63rd; Major-General in 1770; and Lieutenant-General
in 1777. He died at the beginning of 1782 (Army Lists).
Lieut-Gen. Grant's daughter was married to the Hon. and Rt.
Rev. George Murray, fourth son of the Duke of Athol, and Bishop
of St. David's.
Brown's Highland Clans, IV, 165.
Knox's Journal, II, 404, 410, 465.
Beatson N. and M., Mem. Ill, 363, 359.
Debrett's Peerage. Wilson's Orderly Book, p. 3.
James Grant.
James Grant, appointed Ensign Nov. 20, 1746 ; Lieutenant Jan.
22, 1756; Captain Dec. 26, 1760; removed Aug. 13, 1762, after 16
years of service in the Regiment, and was made Fort-Major Limer-
ick. Died in 1778. He was wounded at Ticonderoga.
Stewart of Garth, Appendix.
William Grant.
William Grant, appointed Ensign, Oct. 1, 1745; Lieutenant,
May 22, 1746 ; Captain, July 23, 1758 ; Major, Dec. 5, 1777 ; retired
August, 1778, after 33 years of service with rank of Brevet Lieut.-
Colonel. He wias wounded at the battle of Ticonderoga.
Stewart of Garth, Appendix.
James Gray.
James Gray was taken from the Half-pay list and appointed
Lieutenant in the 42nd Royal Highlanders 30th January, 1756.
His name is omitted in the Army List of 1765.
Stewart's Highlanders. Wilson's Orderly Book, page 83.
Robert Gray.
Robert Gray, appointed Ensign June 6, 1745 ; Lieutenant June
9, 1747 ; Captain July 22, 1758. He was wounded at Ticonderoga.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEKOGA. 425
Aug. 2, 1759, after 14 years of service in the Regiment, he was pro-
moted to the 55th Regiment. He died in 1771 with rank of Lieut.-
Oolonel.
s Stewart of Garth, Appendix.
Alexander Mclntosh.
Alexander Mclntosh was taken from half pay in 1756 and ap-
pointed Lieutenant in the 42nd. He was wounded at Ticonderoga,
1758, and again at Martinico in 1762, and was promoted to a com-
pany 24th July of the same year. He went on half pay in 1763
and was not again called on active service until 25th December,
1770, when he was appointed to the 10th regiment then serving in
America. Captain Mclntosh was killed at the storming of Port
Washington, 16th November, 1776.
Army Lists. Beatson's Naval and Military Memoirs. N. Y. Colonial
Manuscripts, p. 729, Vol. 10.
Norman McLeod.
Norman McLeod for many years Indian Commissioner at Nia-
gara, entered the army originally as ensign of the 42d Highlanders
in January, 1756, and was promoted to Lieutenancy in the 69th in
June, 1761. On the reduction of the Regiment in 1763 he went on
half pay and was sometime after appointed Commissioner at Niaga-
ra under Sir William Johnson. On the breaking out of the trouble
in the Colonies, Mr. McLeod was recalled to active service as a Lieu-
tenant in the 42nd, 31 Aug., 1775. He afterwards exchanged into
the 71st in which he was Captain, 1779. He joined the expedition
against Charleston, 1780, and was wounded in the campaign. In
1781 part of the regiment was employed at Virginia and surrender-
ed with Cornwallis at Yorktown. Capt. McLeod 's name continued
on the Army list till 1783.
N. Y. Colonial Manuscripts by Broadhead.
John MacNeti.
John MacNeil was appointed ensign Aug. 6, 1742, lieutenant
Oct. 10, 1745 ; Captain Dec. 16, 1752 ; Major July 9, 1762. He died
at the siege of Havanna in 1762 after 20 years of service in the
Regiment.
Stewart of Garth, Appendix.
426 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
David Milne.
David Mill, or Milne, received a commission as Lieutenant in
this Corps 19th July, 1757 ; was wounded at Ticonderoga in 1758,
and again at Martinique in 1762; retired from the army at the
peace of 1763.
N. Y. Colonial Manuscripts, p. 729, Vol. 10.
James Murray.
James Murray, second son of Lord George Murray, by his mar-
riage with Amelia Murray, heiress of Strowan and Glencarse, and
grandson of the first Duke of Atholl, was born at Tullibardine on
the 19th of March, 1734, and! it is interesting to know that Lord
John Murray, who was destined in after years to be his colonel,
was called upon to be his godfather. A commission as Lieutenant
in the Saxon Grenadier Guards was obtained for him in 1749, and
he joined his regiment in 1751. He served against the forces of
Frederick the Great until the Saxon Army capitulated at Pirna on
the Elbe in October, 1756. He was released on parole and returned
to Scotland in 1757 and on the nomination of his uncle, James,
Duke of Atholl, was given a captain's commission in the Black
Watch and was placed in command of one of the three additional
companies then being raised for service in America. He reached
New York in April, 1758, and commanded Captain Reid's company
in the unsuccessful attack on Ticonderoga— his own company hav-
ing been left in garrison at Fort Edward. He was wounded but
was soon able to return to duty and took part in the successful
expedition of 1759 to Lake Champlain. Toward the close of that
year he was given command— by Lord John Murray's desire— of
the Grenadier Company of the newly-raised 2nd Battalion, and
with this battalion he served in the advance on Montreal in 1760
and in the capture of Martinique in 1762. He was wounded here
and invalided home and was on sick leave for more than six years.*
He rejoined the Black Watch in 1768 and in 1769 was appointed
Captain-lieutenant in the 3rd Foot Guards, obtaining his promotion
as Captain and Lieutenant-colonel the following year. In 1772 he
was elected member of Parliment for Perthshire, a position which
he held for twenty-two years. He was appointed Governor of Up-
nor Castle in 1775 and Fort William in 1780, but these were merely
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEBOGA. 427
nominal posts and did not interfere with his other duties. In 1776
he bought Strowan (originally the property of his mother), from
his nephew, the fourth Duke of Atholl.
On the outbreak of the War of Independence, Col. Murray of-
fered to raise a regiment of Highlanders for service in America,
but this offer was refused, and in March, 1777, he was sent out to
join the brigade of Guards under General Howe in New Jersey.
He was with Lord Cornwallis at Quibbletown and presumably took
part in the actions at Brandywine and Germantown in 1777. He
spent the following winter in quarters at Philadelphia, and left
America in the summer of 1778 and joined the Atholl Highlanders
in Ireland in September of that year, of which regiment he was
given the command- This regiment remained in Ireland during
the war, at the conclusion of which it was disbanded. James Mur-
ray was appointed Lieutenant-colonel-commandant of the 78th
Highlanders in 1783, but as he was already a general officer he
never did any duty with this regiment. After 1783 General Mur-
ray resided a good deal at Strowan; in 1786 he was promoted full
Colonel of the 78th (by that time the 72nd), and in 1793 he was
made Lieutenant-general. In March, 1794, he felt himself obliged
to resign his seat in Parliament owing to ill-health and a few days
later— on the 19th of March— he died in London and was buried
in St. Margaret's, Westminster.
Of Lord George Murray's three sons, General James seems to
have been the one who most resembled his father. He had inherited
the Jacobite General's sympathetic knowledge of Highland char-
acter, something of his pride, and the same affectionate disposi-
tion. And that he had at least a share of his father's determina-
tion and presence of mind is shown by two anecdotes which have
been handed down with regard to him. One of these refers to his
earlier days, and is to the effect that, having been attacked) by a
highwayman one night that he was driving over a heath near Lon-
don, he leant out of the window of the chaise, ' * groped in the dark
for the ears of his assailant's horse, "and with the brief but ex-
pressive exclamation, "Thereut's-" fired a shot which ended the
highwayman's career. The other relates that during the Gordon
Riots of 1780 Colonel James Murray was seated next Lord George
Gordon in the House of Commons at the very moment at which the
428 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
mob threatened to break into the House. Colonel Murray with a
soldier's instinct drew his sword, pointed it at Lord George, and
notwithstanding that he was his cousin, declared his intention of
running him through the body if a single one of the rioters should
enter. His promptness saved the situation, but he had committed
a breach of the privileges of the House and was ordered to apolo-
gize on bended knee to the Speaker. Colonel Murray made the re-
quired amende, but on rising from his knee took out his handker-
chief and dusted it, remarking, ' ' Damned dirty House this ; sooner
it's cleaned out the better."
Army Lists; Brown's Highl. Clans, IV, 159. 300, 304, 306. Wilson's
Orderly Book, p. 67. Military History of Perthshire, p. 411-413.
Stewart of Garth gives the following in regard to General Murray's
wound, received at the capture of Martinique: (page 126, Vol. 10.)
"The musket ball entered his left side, under the lower rib, passed up
through the left lobe of the lung, (as ascertained after his death) crossed
his chest, and, mounting up to his right shoulder,, lodged under the
scapula. His case being considered desperate, the only object of the sur-
geon was to make his situation as easy as possible for the few hours they
supposed he had to live; but, to the great suprise of all, he was on his legs
in a few weeks, and, before he reached England, was quite recovered, or
at least his health and appetite were restored. He was never afterwards,
however, able to lie down; and during the thirty-two years of his subse-
quent life, he slept in an upright posture, supported in his bed by pillows.
Lord John Murray.
Lord John Murray, born on the 14th of April, 1711, was the
eldest son of John, first Duke of Atholl, by his second wife, the
Hon. Mary Ross, and half-brother to John, Marquess of Tullibar-
dine, and .Lord George Murray. He became an ensign in the 3rd
Foot Guards (now the Scots Guards) in 1727, and a captain in the
same regiment in 1738. Immediately after the mutiny of the regi-
ment in 1743 he applied for the colonelcy in the 42nd or Black
Watch, but he dicl not obtain the appointment he so greatly de-
sired until two years later. In July, 1743, he was appointed first
aide-de-camp to George II and was in attendance on the King in
Germany at the close of the Dettingen campaign, but returned to
England without having taken part in any engagements. In April,
1745, when at last gazetted colonel of the Black Watch, he pro-
ceeded to join his regiment in Flanders, but arrived too late for
Fontenoy. He distinguished himself, however, during the subse-
quent retreat of the British army to Brussels, by his defence of a
pass which the French attacked by night. For this service he was
publicly thanked by the Duke of Cumberland. In 1745 he returned
home with his regiment but in 1747 he was in the Netherlands tak-
From "A Military History of Perthshire"
LORD JOHN MURRAY. COLONEL THE BLACK WATCH 1745 TO 1787
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 429
ing part in the attempted relief of Hulst. After the surrender of
the town by the Dutch Governor, Lord John commanded the rear-
guard in the retreat to Welsharden, and shortly afterwards, hav-
ing been ordered to take part in the defense of Bergen-op-Zoom,
he was placed in command of the British troops in the lines there.
At the close of operations he received a message of approbation
from the King.
In 1755 he was promoted major-general, and in 1758 lieutenant-
general, but although he offered his services more than once, he
was not employed abroad during the Seven Years' War. He took
the keenest \interest, however, in all the exploits of his regiment
and worked hard to raise a second battalion in 1758. Stewart of
Garth tells us that when the men who had been disabled at Ticon-
deroga appeared before the Board at Chelsea to claim their pen-
sions, Lord John went with them and explained their case in such
a manner to the commissioners that they were all successful. He
gave them money, got them a free passage to Perth, and offered a
house and garden to all who chose to settle on his estate. General
Stewart also describes how, when the 42nd at last returned from
America in 1767, Lord John, wjho had been for weeks at Cork
awaiting its arrival, marched into that town at its head.
Lord John was a great deal with the regiment while it was
quartered in Ireland, and, according to Stewart of Garth, was
' ' ever attentive to the interest of the officers and vigilant that their
promotion should not be interrupted by ministerial or other in-
fluence. " He was also ''unremitting in his exertions to procure
the appointment of good officers, and of officers who understood
perfectly the peculiar dispositins and character of the men." For
this reason he strenously endeavored to exclude all but members of
Scots— and more especially Highland— families. He was equally
particular that only Gaelic-speaking men and Protestants should
be recruited for the ranks.
In spite of his military duties Lord John resided a good deal
in the country— and not only at the home of his boyhood— for early
in life he bought Pitnacree in Strathtay, and in later years he had
also a house in Perth. He represented Perthshire in Parliament
from 1734 to 1761. In 1758 he married Miss Dalton of Banner-
cross— a Derbyshire heiress, by whom he had one daughter. Ill
430 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
1770 he became a full general. His last military achievement was
the raising in 1779 and 1780 (at his own expense) of another second
battalion to the 42nd. This battalion so distinguished itself in
India that in 1786 it was placed permanently on the establishment
under the title of the 73rd Regiment. The veteran to whose pat-
riotism it owed its existance died on the 26th of May, 1787, at the
age of seventy-six, the senior officer in the Army.
Lord John made the most of such chances as occurred of dis-
tinguishing himself ,in the field, but those opportunities were small
for he never served in any war but the Austrian Succession. It is
therefore as the Colonel of the Black Watch that his name has sur-
vived—as a man who understood the Highland soldiers well enough
to wish to command them at a time when to many that might have
seemed a task of great difficulty— and who, having at last obtained
the post he desired, completely identified himself with the interests
of his men, and for upwardls of half a century was the * friend
and supporter of every deserving officer and soldier in the regi-
ment. "
Military History of Perthshire, page 382-384.
John Reid.
John Reid was the eldest son of Alexander Robertson of Stra-
loch, but the head of the family had always been known as " Baron
Reid" and the General and his younger brother, Alexander (who
was also an officer in the 42nd), adopted the more distinctive sur-
name early in life. He was born at Inverchroskie in Strathardle,
on the 13th of February, 1721, and received his early education at
Perth. Being destined for the law, he was afterwards sent to Edin-
burgh University. Nature, however, had intended him for a sol-
dier, and in June, 1745, having recruited the necessary quota of
men, he obtained a commission as lieutenant in Loudjon's High-
landers. He was taken prisoner at Prestonpans the following Sep-
tember, but when released the following spring he rejoined his regi-
ment and was able to render important service to the Government.
From 1747 to 1748 he served in Flanders with London's High-
landers and took part in the defence of Bergen-op-Zoom, but on
the reduction of his regiment at the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle he
was placed on half -pay. In 1751 he bought a captain-lieutenant's
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEBOGA. 431
commission in the Black Watch and in 1752 a commission as captain
in the same regiment. Four years later on the outbreak of the war
with France, he sailed with his regiment to America. He was not
present at the first attack on Ticondieroga as he had been left be-
hind sick at Albany, and his company was commanded in that des-
perate engagement by Captain James Murray. In 1759 Reid, by
that time a major, took part in the second advance to Lake Cham-
plain, which resulted in the surrender of Forts Tieonderoga and
Crown Point; and on him devolved the command of the 42nd dur-
ing the greater part of the campaign of 1760 which ended with the
capture of Montreal and the expulsion of the French from Canada..
Reid remained in America with the 42nd until Dec., 1761, when
he accompanied it to the West Indies. He served in the capture
of Martinique and at the storming of Morne Tortenson, on Jan. 24,
1762, was in command of the 1st Battalion of his regiment. His
battalion suffered heavy loss and he was wounded in two places,
but recovered in time to take part in the expedition against Havana
of that same year. After the surrender of Cuba he returned to
America. In 1764 Reid acted as second-in-command of Colonel
Bouquet's arduous but successful expedition against the Indians
on the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers. In the following year we
hear of him fitting out an expedition which was to be sent to the
Illinois country under the command of Captain Thomas Stirling
of the 42nd.
About 1760 Reid married an American lady of Scots descent,
Susanna Alexander, daughter of James Alexander, surveyor-gen-
eral of New York and New Jersey. She owned property on Otter
Creek in what is now the State of Vermont, which was added to
and improved by her husband with the result that at the end of ten
years Reid owned "about thirty-five thousand acres of very valu-
able land" near Crown Point and had "obtained from the Gover-
nor and Council of New York a warrant of survey for fifteen thou-
sand more," which he intended to "erect" into a manor.
In 1767 the Royal Highland Regiment left America for Ireland
and Reid presumably accompanied it. In 1770 Reid retired on
half-pay, intending no doubt to settle down to the enjoyment and
improvement of his American estates. However, in 1772 his ten-
ants were expelled by the people of Bennington "on the pretence
432 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
of having claim to that country under the Government of New
Hampshire, notwithstanding that the King in Council had, ten
years before, decreed Connecticut River to be the Eastern Bound-
ary of New York." In 1775 war broke out with the American
colonists, and though his case finally came before the Commissioners
for American Claims, the only compensation awarded him was a
trifling allowance for mills he had erected and for fees he had paid
for surveys. In May, 1778, his father's estate, Straloch, passed
under the hammer as he was unable to pay the mortgages and his
son could give him no help.
Notwithstanding that he was a comparatively poor man, in
1779-1780 Eeid raised at his own expense a regiment of foot, of
which he was appointed colonel. This was called the 95th and was
disbanded in 1783: In 1781 Reid was promoted major-general, and
in 1793 a lieutenant-general. He was appointed colonel of the 88th
Regiment (Connaught Rangers) in November, 1794, and became a
general in 1798. In 1803, when an invasion was hourly expected,
Reid, in response to an order that all general officers not employed
on the staff should transmit their addresses to the Adjutant-Gen-
eral, wrote that though in the eighty-second years of his age, "and
very deaf and infirm," he was still ready to use his feeble arm in
defence of his country. He died in the Haymarket on the 6th of
February, 1807, and was buried in St. Margaret's, Westminster.
The General would probably have had but little property to
dispose of at his death, had he not in 1796 succeeded to a valuable
estate of some four or five thousand acres in Nova Scotia, which
was left to him by his cousin, Gen. John Small, "as a mark of
respect. . v. and attachment to the preservation of his name and
representation for succeeding ages." Reid's daughter had made a
marriage of which he disapproved, she had no children, and his
only brother had died in 1762 during the siege of Havana. It was
probably these circumstances that induced him to realize the prop-
erty in Nova Scotia and at the time of his death he was worth some
£52,000. This entire fortune went after the death of his daughter
to the University of Edinburgh to found a musical professorship.
He also left directions that a concert should be given annually on
or about his birthday to commence with several pieces of his own
composition, among the first of which is that of the "Garb of Old
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEBOGA. 433
Gaul," a composition written by Sir Charles Erskine, but set to
music by Reid while major of the 42nd, and which has ever since
been a regimental march.
Reid also composed several military marches and was esteemed
the best gentleman player on the German flute in England. It may
safely be predicted that as long as the University exists this old
Perthshire soldier of the 18th century will be remembered as one
of its benefactors.
N. Y. Documentary History IV.
Military History of Perthshire, pp. 387-395.
John Small.
John Small was the third son of Patrick Small, who married)
Magdalen Robertson, sister of Alexander Robertson, the father of
General John Reed. Reid and Small were thus not only neighbors
and brother-officers, but first cousins, and were evidently on terms
of close friendship. Born in Strathardle, Atholl, Scotland, in
1730, Small, like many of his countrymen of that date, began his
military career with the Scots Brigade in Holland, being appointed
a 2nd lieutenant in the Earl of Drumlanrig's Regiment when it was
raised for service of the States-General in 1747. How long he re-
mained abroad is unknown but it is probable that he returned to
England when the regiment was reduced in 1752. He did not, how-
ever, obtain a commission in the British army until four years
later, when he was apointed lieutenant in the 42nd, just prior to
its departure for America. So far as is known, Small took part
in all the campaigns in which his regiment was engaged from 1756
to 1763. He fought at Ticonderoga in 1758, served with General
Amherst's successful expedition to Lake Champlain in the follow-
ing year, and took part in the operations which completed the con-
quest of Canada in 1760. After the surrender of Montreal he was
sent in charge of French prisoners to New York, and we learn from
a brother officer that General Amherst had great confidence in him,
and frequently employed him c ' on particular services. ' ' Two years
later he served in the capture of Martinique and Havanna and ob-
tained his promotion as captain.
At the peace of 1763 Small was placed on half -pay, but, ac-
cording to General Stewart, he was almost immediately put on the
full -pay list of the North British Fusiliers (21st) and when in
434 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
1767 the Black Watch left for Europe, most of the men of that
regiment who had volunteered to stay in America joined the Fusi-
liers in order to serve under Small, who was " deservedly popular"
with them. Small, however, cannot have served long with the 21st,
for in the same year in which the Black Watch left America he
was appointed " major of brigade" to the forces in North America.
It was probably during the interval between the Seven Years' War
and the war with the Americans that he began to acquire the prop-
erty in Nova Scotia, part of which he afterwards bequeathed to his
cousin, John Reid. We have some indication that during this per-
iod he interested himself in local politics and formed the friend-
ship of at least one American which was of value to him later.
Small served throughout the War of Independence though
but rare glimpses are obtained of him. He was present as a brig-
ade-major at the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1777, and in the
course of that day his life was saved by the American General Put-
nam, who, seeing Small standing alone at a time when all around
him had fallen, struck up the barrels of his men's muskets to save
his life. Shortly after this, Small raised the 2nd Battalion of the
Royal Highland Regiment and was appointed major-commandant.
In 1778 the regiment wjas numbered the 84th and in 1780 he was
promoted lieutenant-colonel-commandant of his battalion. He is
said to have joined Sir Henry Clinton at New York in 1779, but it
is more probable that he was stationed for the most part in Nova
Scotia. In March, 1783, Small and his battalion were at Fort Ed-
ward, New York, and in the following autumn the battalion was
disbanded at Windsor, Nova Scotia, where many of the men settled
and formed the present town of Douglas.
Small, once more on half -pay, returned home and in 1790 was
promoted colonel and three years later was appointed lieutenant
governor of Guernsey. In October, 1794, he became major-general
and on the 17th of March, 1796, he died in Guernsey and was bur-
ied in the church of St. Peter Port.
General Stewart of Garth wrote of General John Small that
"No chief of former days ever more fairly secured the attachment
of his clan, and no chief, certainly, ever deserved it better. With
an enthusiastic and almost romantic love of his country and coun-
trymen, it seemed as if the principal object of his life had been to
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 435
serve them, and promote prosperity. Equally brave in leading-
them in the field, and kind, just, and conciliating in quarters, they
would have indeed been ungrateful if they had regarded him other-
wise than as they did. There was not an instance of desertion in
his battalion."
Stewart II, 143. Military Hist, of Perthshire, pp. 396-399.
James Stewart of Urrard.
James Stewart of Urrard, obtained a company in the 42nd,
July 18th, 1757. He was wounded at Ticonderoga, 1758. He sold
out after the peace.
Stewart I, 306, 359. N. T. Col. MSS., p. 729, Vol. 10.
Thomas Stirling.
Thomas Stirling, second son of Sir Henry Stirling, of Ardock,
was born October 8, 1731. He began his military career in the
Dutch service, being given a commission as ensign in the 1st Bat-
talion of Col. Marjoribanks' Regiment on the 30th of September,
1747, and was probably placed on half-pay when the establishment
of the Scots Brigade was reduced in 1752. On the 24th of July,
1757, having been nominated by James, Duke of Atholl, and having
raised the requisite number of men, he was gazetted captain of one
of the three companies added to the 42nd in that year. In Nov-
ember, 1757, he sailed for America, where he served with his regi-
ment in the campaigtns of the ensuing years, though he was not
present at the first attack on Ticonderoga, owing to the fact that the
new companies had been left behind to garrison Fort Edward. He
took part in the capture of Martinique in 1762 and was wounded
but was able to serve in the capture of Havana later in that year.
He returned with his regiment to America and in August, 1765,
was sent in command of a company to take possession of Fort de
Chartres on the Mississippi. After holding this fort that winter
and spring, he returned with his detachment to the regiment in
June, 1766. The following year the 42nd left America and for up-
wards of eight years was quartered in Ireland, after which it was
for a short time in Scotland, In 1770 Stirling was gazetted major
of the regiment, and in 1771 lieutenant-Colonel-coiiamanclant. Hos-
tilities broke out with the Americans in 1775, and Stirling, having
436 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
in five months raised the strength of his regiment from 350 men to
1,200, returned with it in the following spring to America, where
he commanded it continuously for three years during the war. He
took part in the engagement at Brooklyn, the attack on Fort Wash-
ington, the expedition to Pennsylvania, battle of Monmouth, and
others. During 1778-9 he was stationed at or near New York. In
June, 1779, he accompanied a force under General Mathews
through New Jersey in an attempt to rally the supposed loyalists
of that state. This was unsuccessful and ended in the destruction
of the town of Springfield. General Stirling was so severely
wounded while leading the attack that he could take no further
part in the war. His thigh was broken and fearing to be rendered
incapable of further service he refused to have it amputated. He
recovered and was invalided home but he does not appear after this
to have been ever again fit for active duty. In 1782 he was pro-
moted major-general and appointed colonel of the 71st Foot, but
his regiment was disbanded the following year. His services were
rewarded with a baronetcy and in 1790, he became colonel of the
41st Regiment. In 1796 he was promoted lieutenant-general, and
in 1799 he succeeded his brother in the baronetcy of Ardock. He
attained the rank of general in 1801 and died unmarried on the
9th of May, 1808.
Kenneth Tolmie.
Kenneth Tolmie was commissioned a lieutenant in the 42nd
Highlanders, 23rd January, 1756, and promoted to the Command
of a Company 27th July, 1760. His name is dropped after the
Peace of 1763.
Wilson's Orderly Book, p. 166.
Alexander Turnbull.
Alexander Turnbull of Stracathro, appointed ensign June 3,
1752 ; lieutenant Sept. 27, 1756 ; captain Aug. 14, 1762. After 11
years of service, he went on half-pay in 1763 ; full pay of the 32d
Foot. He died in 1804 with rank of major.
Stewart of Garth, Appendix.
From "A Military History of Perthshire"
OFFICERS IN THE BLACK WATCH 1758-59
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 437
K
ORIGINAL REGIMENTAL LIST OF THE BLACK WATCH.
From A Military History of Perthshire, pages 51.52.
Commission dated.
No. 1 Company.
Colonel and Captain John, Earl of Crawford 25 Oct., 1739
Captain-Lieutenant Duncan Mackfarland 25 Oct., 1739
Ensign Gilbert Stewart of Kincraigie 29 Oct., 1739
No. 2 Company.
Lieutenant-Colonel and Captain Sir Robert Munro,
Bart., of Foulis 25 Oct. 1739
Lieutenant Paul Macferson 26 Oct., 1739
Ensign Archibald Macknab, younger son of the
Laird of Macnab 31 Oct., 1739
No. 3 Company.
Major and Captain George Grant 25 Oct., 1739
Lieutenant John Mackenzie of Rencraig ( 1 Kincraig) 28 Oct., 1739
Ensign Collin Campbell 1 Nov., 1739
No. 4 Company.
Captain Collin Campbell, yr., of Monzie 25 Oct., 1739
Lieutenant Alexander Macdonald 29 Oct., 1739
Ensign James Campbell of Glenfalloch 25 Oct., 1739
No. 5 Company.
Captain James Colquhoun of Luss 26 Oct., 1739
Lieutenant George Ramsay 30 Oct., 1739
Ensign James Campbell of Stronslanie1 3 Nov., 1739
No. 6 Company.
Captain John Campbell of Carrick 27 Oct., 1739
Lieutenant John Maclean of Kingairloch 27 Oct., 1739
Ensign Dougall Stewart (of Appin?) 26 Oct., 1739
No. 1 Company.
Captain Collin Campbell of Balliemore 28 Oct., 1739
Lieutenant Malcom Frazer, son of Culduthel2 31 Oct., 1739
Ensign Dougall Stewart 25 Oct., 1739
1. Stewart of Garth calls him Dougal Campbell, but he appears as
James in his commission.
2. It is not stated to which companies Lieutenants Malcolm Fraser and
Francis Grant belonged. No other lieutenants are mentioned for Balliemore
and Newmore; they have therefore been assigned respectively to them.
438 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
No. 8 Compa/ny.
Captain George Munro of Culcairn, brother of Foulis 29 Oct., 1739
Lieutenant Lewis Grant of Auchterblair 25 Oct., 1739
Ensign John Menzies of Comrie 27 Oct., 1739
No. 9 Company.
Captain Dougal Campbell of Craignish 30 Oct., 1739
Lieutenant John Mackneil 2 Nov., 1739
Ensign Gordon Graham of Draines3 30 Oct., 1739
No. 10 Company.
Captain John Monro ef Newmore 10 May, 1740
Lieutenant Francis Grant, son of the Laird of Grant4 1 Nov., 1739
Ensign Edward Carrick 28 Oct., 1739
Surgeon George Monro 17 Feb., 1740
Quarter Master John Forbes 25 Mar., 1740
Chaplain Hon. Gideon Murray 25 Mar., 1740
Adjutant John Lindsay5 25 Mar., 1740
3. I. e. Drynie. A younger son of the Laird.
4. See note to Lieutenant Malcolm Fraser.
5. Garth gives the adjutant as being Gilbert Stewart (presumably the
ensign to the Colonel's Company). He probably acted in this capacity until
John Lindsay was gazetted to the regiment.
OFFICERS OF THE 42ND ROYAL HIGHLAND REGIMENT
AS COPIED FROM THE BRITISH ARMY LIST,
PUBLISHED 20TH JUNE, 1759.
Col. Lord Jno. Murray, Lt. Gen.
Lt. Col. Francis Grant. Capt. Thomas Stirling.
Major Gordon Graham. Capt. Francis McLean.
Capt. John Reid. Capt. Archibald Campbell.
Capt. John McNeil. Capt. Alexander St. Clair.
Capt. Allan Campbell. Capt. William Murray.
Capt. Thomas Graeme. Capt. John Stuart.
Capt. James Abercrombie. Capt. Alexander Reid.
Capt. John Campbell. Capt. William Grant.
Capt. James Stewart. Capt. David Haldane.
Capt. James Murray. Capt. Lieut. Robert Gray.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA.
Lieut. John Campbell.
Lieut. Kenneth Tolme.
Lieut. James Grant.
Lieut. John Graham.
Lieut. Alex. Turnbull.
Lieut. Alex. Campbell.
Lieut. Alex. Mclntosh.
Lieut. James Gray.
Lieut. John Small.
Lieut. Arch. Campbell, Sen.
Lieut. James Campbell.
Lieut. Archibald Lamont.
Lieut. David Mills.
Lieut. Simon Blair.
Lieut. David Barclay.
Lieut. Archibald Campbell, Jr.
Lieut. Alex. Mackay.
Lieut. Robert Menzies.
Lieut. Patrick Balneavis.
Lieut. John Campbell, Sen.
Lieut. Alex. McLean.
Lieut. George Sinclair.
Lieut. John Murray.
Liut. Gordon Clunes.
Lieut. James Fraser.
Lieut. John Robertson.
Lieut. John Grant.
Lieut. George Leslie.
Lieut. Duncan Campbell.
Lieut. Adam Stuart.
Lieut. Donald Campbell.
Lieut. George Grant.
Lieut. James Mclntosh.
Lieut. Robert Robertson.
Lieut. John Smith.
Lieut. Peter Grant.
Lieut. Alex. Parquharson.
Lieut. John Campbell, Jr.
Lieut. George Sinclair.
Ensign Elbert Herring.
Ensign William Brown.
Ensign Thomas Fletcher.
Ensign Alex. Donaldson.
Ensign ^illiam Mclntosh.
Ensign Patrick Sinclair.
Ensign Archibald Campbell, Jun
Ensign John Gregor.
Ensign Lewis Grant.
Ensign Archibald Campbell, Sen
Ensign John Graham.
Ensign Allan Grant.
Ensign John Leith.
Ensign Charles Menzies.
Ensign Archibald McNab.
Ensign John Chas. St. Clair.
Ensign John Gordon.
Ensign Neil McLean.
Ensign Thomas Cunison.
Sergt. PJiineas McPherson.
Chaplain James Stewart.
Adj. James Grant.
Adj. Alex. McLean.
Quarter Master John Graham.
Quarter Master Adam Stewart.
Surgeon David Hepburn.
Surgeon Robt. Drummond.
Agt., Mr. Drummond, Spring Garden.
The following corrections were interlined in ink in the above Army
List of 1759, which was found in the British Museum:
Capt. John Reid was made Major, Aug. 5, 1759.
Capt. John Campbell, removed to the 17th.
Capt. David Haldane, removed to a Regiment at Jamaica.
Lieut. Alexander McLean, made captain of corps of Highlanders.
Lieut. George Sinclair, dead.
Lieut. George Sinclair, removed to Crawford's Regiment.
Ensign Thomas Fletcher, made lieutenant June 1, 1759.
Ensign William Mclntosh, removed to Keith's Corps.
Sergt. Phineas McPherson, made ensign June 1, 1759.
Lauchlan Johnson, made chaplain 20th August, 1759, in place of James
Stewart
Alexander Donaldson, made adjutant 20th March, 1759, in place of
Alexander McLean.
440 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
M
REFERENCES TO THE BLACK WATCH IN THE 1759 CAM-
PAIGN TAKEN FROM " COMMISSARY WIL-
SON'S ORDERLY BOOK."
Albany, 22 May, 1759. Two companies of the Royal Highland
Regiment are also to receive batteaux and load them with pro-
vision and baggage. A sergeant and 12 men of the Rhode Island
Regiment are to relieve a party of the Royal Highland Regiment
at the Half- Way House on the way to Schenectady; they are to
march tomorrow morning and carry six days' provision with them.
Albany, 23d May, 1759. Three captains of the Royal High-
landers summoned among others to a general Court Martial, of
which Col. Francis Grant was President, to set tomorrow at the
Town House in Albany at 3 o'clock to try all prisoners that may
be brought before them.
Albany, 26th May, 1759. An officer and 25 men of the Royal
Highland Regiment with a week's provision to be sent this after-
noon to the Widow McGinnes House to protect settlement; one
Company of the Royal Highland Regiment to march tomorrow
morning at 5 o'clock; they will take their tents and camp equipage
with them, for which a wagon will be allowed on sending to Col.
Bradstreet for it; the officer commanding that company to call
upon the General this night. The General Court Martial of which
Col. Grant is President to meet again tomorrow at 8 o'clock.
Albany, 31st May, 1759. The Royal Highland Regiment to
march tomorrow morning at 5 o'clock to Half moon, where they
will take the artillery under their charge and escort the same to
Fort Edward.
Fort Edward, 6th June, 1759. Lieut. Col. Robinson will mark
out the Camp tomorrow! morning at 5 o'clock that the Regiments
may take up their ground as they arrive ; the Regiments to encamp
** * Royal Highlanders on the right. A Serj. and 16 men of ye
Royal Highlanders to take the General's Guard.
Fort Edward, 7th June, 1759. The Regiments are not to
change their encampment until the ground be quite dry.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 441
Fort Edward, 8th June, 1759. The Regiments to change their
encampment this day at 12 o'clock.
Fort Edward, 9th June, 1759. Field Officer for the Picquit
tomorrow, Major Graham, The Light Infantry of the Highland
Regiment is to practice fireing ball tomorrow morning at 6 o'clock,
near the Royal Block House on the other side of the river.
The Royal Highland Regiment to furnish 2 captains, 6 subs.,
and 200 men * * * ; this detachment to take batteaux tomorrow
morning at day break. The Royal Highland Regiment to take 20
batteaux, and 60 of the 200 men with arms to serve as a covering
party. The whole to take provisions for tomorrow with them ; they
are to proceed to Col. Haviland's Camp, opposite to Fort Miller,
where the commanding officer will apply to Col. Haviland who will
order the batteaux to be immediately loaded, that the whole party
may return to Fort Edward without loss of time.
Fort Edward, 10th June, 1759. Field Officer for the Picquit
this night Major (Gordon) Graham, for tomorrow Major (Allen)
Campbell, Colonel of the day, Col. (Francis) Grant. Two cap-
tains of the Royal Highlanders to sit with others in General Court
Martial tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock, to try such prisoners as
are on the Provost Guard. The Royal Highlanders and Mont-
gomery's Regiments to send as many men this afternoon at 4
o'clock as are necessary to clean the ground where the Light In-
fantry is to encamp. They will receive axes on applying to the
store-keeper in the Fort, which they will return when they have
finished that work.
Fort Edward, llth June, 1759. Colo, of the day, Col. Grant.
Field Officer of the Picquits, Major Campbell.
Fort Edward, 12th June, 1759. Block Houses to be relieved
tomorrow by the Line * * * the one joining the east side of the
Bridge by 1 Sub., 2 Serjts., 2 Corpls. and 24 men of the Royal
Highlanders ; the one in the front of the Right of the Royal, one
Serjt., one Corpl. and 10 men of the Royal Highlanders.
Fort Edward, 13th June, 1759. The Royal Highland Regi-
ment to strick their tents tomorrow at Revallie Beating. The
Royal Highlanders posted in their Block Houses as per ordered of
yesterday, to be relieved immediately.
442 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Fort Edward, 17th June. The First Battalion Massachusetts
to strike their tents at Revallie Beating and march half an hour
after to the Halfway Brook where the commanding officer will put
himself under the command of Col. Grant.
Fort Edward, 19th June, 1759. The Royal Highlanders will
furnish one Sub. and 30 men towards the working party required
tomorrow to repair the roads.
Fort Edward, 20th June. Capt. Campbell of the Royal High-
land Grenediers is appointed Major to the Battalion of Grenediers
for the Campaign.
Lake George, 22d June, 1759. The Royal Highlanders to re-
ceive one day's fresh beef tomorrow.
Lake George, 24th June. Field Officer for tomorrow, Major
Graham.
Lake George, 26th June, 1759. The Royal Highlanders to re-
ceive 7 days' provisions tomorrow.
Lake George, 27th June. Generals Guard tomorrow, Royal
Highlanders. 2 Companies of Grenediers with 2 Companies of
Light Infantry ordered this morning with as many Rangers and
Indians as Maj. Rogers can furnish, the wjhiole commanded by
Maj. Campbell, to march tomorrow two hours before daybreak by
the same route Col. Haviland took; which post Capt. Johnson will
show, and to remain there whilst the boats are fishing. They are
to take one day's provisions and to go as light as possible as they
are not only a covering party to the boats, but to attack any body
of the enemy they may find.
Lake George, 5th July, 1759. A General Court Martial to
set tomorow morning at the President's Tent at 8 o'clock for the
trial of a man suspected of robbery * * * Major Graham and two
captains of the Royal Highlanders to attend.
Lake George 8th July, 1759. The Royal Highlanders will take
the Gen's Guard tomorrow half an hour after 4.
Lake George, llth July, 1759. Capt. John Campbell of the
Royal Highlanders is appointed Major in the late Forbes, and is
to be obeyed as such. Royal Highlanders to receive 35 batteaux.
Oars and whatever else belongs to the batteaux will be delivered
at the same time. Each batteaux will carry 12 barrels of flour or
9 of pork when ordered to load, and it is supposed will have about
20 men or a few more in each battoe.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 443
Lake George, 12th July. A General Court Martial of the
Regulars to be held to morrow morning at 6 o'clock. Col. Grant
President, Major John Campbell to attend.
Lake George, 13th July. Colonel of the Day tomorrow, Col.
Grant. Field Officer tomorrow night, Major Graham. Generals
Guard tomorrow, Royal Highlanders. The General Court Martial
of which Col. Grant was President, is dissolved. Royal Highland-
ers to receive a proportion of flour for five days wjhieh they are
get baked tomorrow and keep.
Lake George, 19th July, 1759. The Royal Highlanders one of
the Regiments appointed to sit in general Court Martial tomorrow
at 6 o'clock. The Regiments to load their batteaux tomorrow
morning beginning at 5 o'clock in the following manner, Montgom-
ery's Pork, Royal Highlanders, Flour, * * * two regiments to load
at a time, one flour and one pork, and to be allowed an hour for
loading, and when loaded to return to their stations.
Lake George, 20th July, 1759. For the day this day, Regulars,
Col. Grant. On landing the Col. Grant to take the command of
the late Forbes' Brigade.
Camp near Ticonderoga, 22d July. For the Picquit tomorrow
night, Major Graham.
Camp before Ticonderoga, 23d July, 1759. Collo. of the day
tomorow, Collo. Grant. Field Officer of the Picquits this night,
Major Graham.
Camp at Ticonderoga, 24th July, 1759. Serjt. Murray of the
Royal Highland Regiment is appointed to oversee people making
Fasciens, and to keep an account of the number made.
Camp at Ticonderoga, 25th July, 1759. The following car-
penters *** James Frazer, George McDougall, James Frazer,
John McColme, John Robinson, James Gumming, and James Mc-
Donald of the Royal Highlanders to be at the sawmills tomorrow at
5 o'clock and if Capt. Loreing should not be there they will receive
their directions from Brigadier Ruggles.
The Royal Highland Regiment to draw tomorrow early two
days bisquit and two days pork, bisquit in lieu of flour, which com-
pletes them to the 28th inclusive.
Ticonderoga, 26th July, 1759. Adjutant for the day tomor-
row Royal Highlands.
444 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Ticonderoga, 28th July, 1759. A General Court Martial of the
line to be held at the President's tent at 8 o'clock tomorrow morn-
ing. Col. Grant, President, two Majors and ten Captains, two of
whom were from the Royal Highlanders.
Ticonderoga, 29th July, 1759. The ovens to be given for the
use of the troops in the following manner:— * * * No. 2 to the
Inniskilling and Royal Highlanders. No bakers but such as those
Corps imploy to bake in any of those ovens. The Royal Highland
Regiment to strick their tents and march immediately to the Land-
ing Place, and they will send their tents and baggage in batteaux.
Ticonderoga, 1st August, 1759. As a number of shoes are come
up, intended for the use of the Army, and will be delivered to them
at the prime cost in England, which three shillings and six pence
per pair. The Regiments may receive in the following manner
and proportion, or as many of that proportion as they like to take
by applying to Mr. Tucker, agent to Mr. Kilby at the Landing
Place. Royal Highlanders 366.
Capt. Reid is appointed Major to the Royal Highland Regi-
ment.
Crown Point, 5th August, 1759. Collo. of the day tomorrow
Regulars Collo. Grant; Field officer for the Picquits tomorrow
night Maj. Reid.
Crown Point, 6th August, 1759. Adjutant of the day tomor-
row Royal Highlanders. As twenty-four barrels of Spruce beer
is come to the fort the corps may send for it immediately in the
following proportions * * * Royal Highlanders, three barrels.
Crown Point, 7th August, 1759. Corporal Sinclair of the
Highlanders and Parceloo of the Inniskilling Regiment with 16
leabrours used to digging to attend Lieut. Gray tomorrow at 5
o'clock; the evening gun is the signal for the working party to
leave of work.
Crown Point, 8th August, 1759. The Regulars to receive 4
days provisions tomorrow of pork, beginning at Revallie Beating
by Forbes followed by Royal Highlanders, etc. It is concluded
that they have their bread from Ticonderoga as was ordered.
Crown Point, 10th August, 1759. Ens. Gregor of the Royal
Highlanders * * * are appointed overseers of the works that are
carrying on at the fort. They will attend Lieut. Col. Eyre tomor-
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 445
row morning at 5 o'clock and follow such directions as they shall
receive from him.
Crown Point, llth August, 1759. Collo. of the day tomorrow.
Collo. Grant. For the building of the fort the following quarriers
* * * five of the Royal Highlanders * * * to attend Lieut. Col.
Eyre tomorrow morning at the hour of work, and are to continue
daily to work as quarriers.
Crown Point, 12th August, 1759. Adjutant of the Day to-
morrow, Royal Highlanders.
Crown Point, 14th August, 1759. Field officer for the work
tomorrow, Major Reid.
Crown Point, 15th August, 1759. The following Surgeons
Mates are to join the Regiments and serve as Mates- in room of Of-
ficers serving as such; Mr. Goldthwat an additional Mate in the
Royal Highlanders to be put on the establishment of Forbe's, Mr.
Carter to the Royal Highlanders.
Crown Point, 16th August, 1759. The following sawiers are
to attend Lieut. Col. Eyre tomorrow at 5 o'clock: * * * Royal
Highlanders, Robert Kennedy, John McFarling and Robert Bain.
The following masons are likewise to attend Lieut. Col. Eyre tomor-
row morning at 5 o'clock: * * * Royal Highlanders, Dougal Me-
Keafter and John Stewart. The above artificers are to work daily
and to follow such directions as they shall receive from Lieut. Col.
Eyre.
Crown Point, 17th August, 1759. Collo. of the day tomorrow,
Collo. Grant. The following masons to attend Lieut. Col. Eyre
tomorrow morning at five o'clock; * * * Royal Highlanders An-
gus McDonald and William Milligan.
Crown Point, 18th August, 1759. Adjutant of the day tomor-
row, Royal Highlandes.
Crown Point, 24th Aug., 1759. Adjutant of the day, tomor-
row, Royal Highlanders.
Crown Point, 27th August, 1759. The following soldiers to
attend Lieut. Eyre tomorrow morning at 5 o'clock and to take their
directions from him: Royal Highlanders, John Fraser, John Mc-
Elvore, James Bruce, Allex'r Sutherland.
Crown Point, 28th Aug. Field Officer of the work tomorrow-
Major Reid.
446 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Crown Point, 30 August, 1759. Adjutant of the day, Royal
Highlanders.
Crown Point, 1st Sept. Collo. of the day, tomorrow, Collo.
Grant.
Crown Point, 3d September, 1759. JohnMcNeal, Grenadier
in Royal Highland Regiment, * * * to attend Lieut. Col. Eyre this
day at 12 o'clock and to follow such directions as he shall give.
Crown Point, 4th Sept., 1759. Collo. of the day, tomorrow,
Collo. Grant. Field Officer for the work, Major Reid. The men
of the Royal Highland Regiment who have been employed in mak-
ing baskets will be paid for the same by the Quartermaster's ap-
plying to Mr. Gray this afternoon after the work is over. The
Regiments to receive tomorrow morning two pounds of fresh meat
and one pound of rice for the number of men set opposite the names
of each corps, and the Regiments are to apply said fresh beef and
rice entirely for the use of the sick. Royal Highlanders 22.
Crown Point, 5th Sept., 1759. Field Officer for the works to-
morrow, Major Reid. Adjutant of the day, tomorrow, Royal High-
landers. Allex'r Forbes of the Royal Highlanders, mason, to ac-
company Lieut. Col. Eyre tomorrow and follow such directions as
he shall give.
Crown Point, 6th Sept. Serjt. Clark of the Royal Highlanders
to be one of the four sergeants to attend the works daily and to
receive directions from Lieut. Col. Eyre.
Crown Point, 7th Sept. For the day, tomorrow, Collo. Grant.
Crown Point, llth Sept. Adjutant of the day tomorrow,
Royal Highlanders. A general court martial of the Regulars to sit
tomorrow at the President's Tent at 8 o'clock; Collo. Foster,, Presi-
dent, Major John Campbell, Major Reid, * * one captain of the
Royal Highlanders.
Crown Point, 12th Sept. A detachment of 100 Grenadiers, 30
of the Light Infantry of Regiments, non-commissioned officers in
proportion to be commanded by a captain of the Grenadiers and 2
Subalterns of each Corps to parade tomorrow at Revallie beating
on the left of the front of the light infantry and to take 30 bat-
teaux to Ticonderoga where he is to apply to the Commissary and
load 15 with 30 barrels of flour in each batteaux, the other 15 with
16 barrels of pork each. The Royal Highland Regiment to furnish
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 447
the batteaux and the captain commanding the party will see them
this night that they may be ready to set off at Revallie beating and
to return as soon as they are loaded.
Crown Point, 15th Sept., 1759. For the day tomorrow, Collo.
Grant. Field Officer for the Picquits this night, Regulars Major
Eeid. Field officer for the works tomorrow, Major John Campbell.
Crown Point, 16th Sept., 1759. Field Officer for the works to-
morrow, Major Reid.
Crown Point, 17th Sept. Adjutant of the day tomorrow,
Royal Highlanders.
Crown Point, 18th Sept., 1759. For the day tomorrow, Collo.
Grant.
Crown Point, 21st Sept., 1759. For the day tomorrow, Collo.
Grant. For the Picquits this night, Major Reid. Field Officer for
the works tomorrow, Major John Campbell.
Crown Point, 23d Sept., 1759. Adjutant of the day tomorrow,
Royal Highlanders.
Crown Point, 25th Sept. Lieut. Tolmey of the Royal High-
landers is appointed Overseer for the work on the fort and to re-
ceive his directions from Lieut. Col. Eyre.
Crown Point, 26th Sept., 1759. Field officer for the Picquits
this night, Major John Campbell ; tomorrow night, Major Reid.
Crown Point, 27th Sept., 1759. For the day tomorrow, Collo.
Grant. Field Officer for the Picquits this night, Major Reid.
Crown Point, 29th Sept. Adjutant for the day tomorrow,
Royal Highlanders.
Crown Point, 30th Sept., 1759. Collo. of the day tomorrow,
Collo. Grant.
Crown Point, 2d Oct., 1759. Field Officer for the Picquits this
night, Major John Campbell ; tomorrow night, Major Reid.
Crown Point, 3d October. For the day tomorrow, Collo.
Grant. Field Officer for the Picquits this night, Major Reid.
Field Officer for the works tomorrow, John Campbell. A General
Court martial of the Regulars to sit at the President's tent tomor-
row at 9 o'clock * * * two captains of the Royal Highlanders.
Crown Point, 5th Oct., 1759. Adjutant of the day tomorrow,
Royal Highlanders.
Crown Point, 6th Oct., 1759. For the day tomorrow, Collo.
Grant. The regular regiments to give in their cartridges that are
448 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
damaged this day to the artillery and to receive as much powder,
paper, ball and twine as will compleat their ammunition. The
Royal Highlanders 475.
Crown Point, 7th October. The Regiments to prepare their
batteaux to the following numbers and to have their sails fixed
according to patern Col. Haviland approved of; * * * Royal
Highlanders 24, * * *
Crown Point, 8th October. Royal Highlanders are to take
two batteaux more than what were ordered yesterday.
Crown Point, 9th October. For the day tomorrow, Collo.
Grant. Field Officer for Picquits this night, Major Reid. The un-
dermentioned Corps are to send a batteaux each, at Retreat beating
to Ticonderoga to receive tomorrow morning the following number
of loaves weighing six pounds and a half each ; they are to pay to
the person Gen. Lyman appoints to receive the money the follow-
ing sums being one penny sterling for baking seven pounds of
flour: Royal Highlanders 460 loaves, 1: 7; 8 Sterling. * * *
The Royal Highlanders are to leave a Subaltern Officer each,
exclusive of officers employed, as overseers at the King's Works,
with three Sergeants, three Corp 'Is each with the men that are left
behind ; when the Regiments march, the officers and men of each
corps will encamp on the Center of the encampment of the Corps
* * * and a sentry to be kept in the encampment that nothing
may be spoiled or taken away during the absence of the Regiment.
The Regiments are to give the following numbers for the Brig and
Sloop and will send seamen if they have them : For the Brig, * *
Royal Highlanders 14 men.
Crown Point, llth Oct., 1759. Adjutant of the day tomor-
row, Royal Highlanders.
On Lake Shamplaine, 12th Oct., 1759. Collo. for i;omorrow,
Collo. Grant.
Ligonier Bay, 14th Oct., 1759. Field Officer for the Picquit
this night, Major John Campbell ; tomorrow night, Major Reid.
Lake Shamplaine, 15th Oct., 1759. For the day tomorrow,
Collo. Grant. Field Officer for the Picquits this night, Major Reid.
Camp at Sehuylers Island, 18th Oct., 1759. For the day to-
morrow, Collo. Grant.
Crown Point, 22nd Oct., 1759. Adjutant of the day tomor-
row, Royal Highlanders.
Photo by Head Verger, Especially for this Association Work
MONUMENT TO LIEUT. COLONEL ROGER TOWNSHEND IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY
I The Bayonet on Monument Found on Battle Field of Ticonderotfa and placed on Memorial by Dean Stanley)
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEEOGA. 449
Crown Point, 25th October. 22 men of the Royal High-
landers are to be sent to the Hospital at Fort Edward. * * The
surgeon of the Royal Highlanders is to attend them to Fort Ed-
ward, a Corporal and 6 men of the Royal Highlanders with one
batteau * * * are to convey the sick to the Sawmills, where the
officer will leave the batteau with Lieut. Col. Miller and march the
sick to the Landing Place.
Crown Point, 27th Oct., 1759. For the day tomorrow, Collo.
Grant. Field Officer for the Picquits this night, Major Reid.
Crown Point, 28th Oct., 1759. Adjutant for the day tomor-
row, Royal Highlanders.
Crown Point, 30th October. Officer for the day, tomorrow,
Collo. Grant. A General Court martial to be held at the Presi-
dent's Tent tomorrow at 9 o'clock to try all such prisoners as shall
be brought before them; Col. Grant, President, * * * One Cap-
tain of the Royal Highlanders.
Crown Point, 31st Oct., 1759. Field Officer for the Picquits
this night, Major Reid. The General Court martial of which Collo.
Grant was President is dissolved ; the Prisoners of the Royal High-
land Regiment is acquitted.
Crown Point, 1st Nov., 1759. For the day tomorrow, Collo.
Grant.
Crown Point, 3d Nov., 1759. For the Picquits tomorrow
night, Major John Campbell ; for the works tomorrow, Major John
Campbell ; Adjutant of the day tomorrow, Royal Highlanders.
N
COLONEL ROGER TOWNSHEND.
Roger Townshend, fifth son of Charles Viscount Townshend,
was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel 1st Feb., 1758, and served
as Adjutant-General in the Expedition against Louisbourg, and
Deputy Adjutant- General in this Campaign with Rank of Colonel.
He was killed in the Trenches before Ticonderoga by a cannon ball
on the 25th July, 1759, and his remains were transmitted to Al-
bany for interment. His spirit and military knowledge justly
entitled him to the esteem of every soldier; and accordingly the
loss of him was universally lamented.
Knox I, 360, 389, 401, 403.
Wilson's Orderly Book, page 77
450 NEW YOEK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Supplement to the New York Mercury, Tuesday, July 31, 1759.
Extract from a letter dated Albany, July 29, 1759.
"The same evening (July 27), an Express arrived from Ti-
conderoga, with an account of Colonel Townshend being killed,
in reconnoitering the Fort, by a cannon ball.
Yesterday about 12 o'clock, Colonel Townshend 's corpse ar-
rived here, and was decently interred."
The following is a copy of the inscription on the monument
to Col. Townshend in Westminster Abbey :
"This Monument was erected
By a disconsolate Parent
The Lady Viscountess Townshend
To the Memory of her Fifth Son l
The Hon'ble Lieut. Colonel Roger Townshend
who was killed by a Cannon Ball
on the 25th of July, 1759, in the 28th year of his age
as he was reconnoitring ye French lines at Ticonderoga
In North America
From the Parent the Brother and the Friend
His sociable and amiable manners
His enterprizing Bravery
And the Integrity of his Heart
May claim the tribute of affliction
Yet Stranger weep not
For tho' premature His Death
His life was glorious
Enrolling Him with the names
of those Immortal Statesmen and Commanders
Whose wisdom and Intrepidity
In the course of this Comprehensive and Successful War
Have extended the Commerce
And upheld the Majesty of these Kingdoms
Beyond the idea of any former age."
The following is an extract from a letter, from the head verger
of Westminster Abbey :
"I should like to draw your attention to the broken
bayonet in the upper part of the Townsend monument.
It is a relic of the struggle between the French and English in
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 451
North America and it comes from Ticonderoga and may have been
used in that particular * march to Ticonderoga, where Col. Town-
shend was killed. It was given to Dean Stanley when in America
and he fixed it on the monument as he did the wreath of leaves
on the monument of Major Andre.
Lord Eversley, who when H. M. first Commissioner of Works
was the Rt. Hon. J. G. Shaw Lefevre— is much struck by the Town-
shend inscription, especially the latter part, which, he has told me,
is worthy of Edmund Burke and which I know he would like to
attribute to that great orator and statesman.*'
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Volumes. Ballantyle Press, 1908.
Sketches of the Character, Manners and Present State of the
Highlanders of Scotland, with details of the Military Service of
the Highland Regiments, by Colonel David Stewart (of Garth),
Edinburgh. Archibald, Constable & Co., 1822.
The Scottish Highlands, Highland Clans and Regiments, by
John S. Keltic, F. S. A. S. Edinburgh, A. Fullarton & Co.
The Regimental Records of the British Army, by John S. Far-
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An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch High-
landers in America, etc., by J. P. MaeLean, Ph. D. Cleveland,
The Helman-Taylor Co. Glasgow, John MacKay, 1900.
Historical Record of the 42nd or Royal Highland Regiment
of Foot, 1729-1844. Illustrated. London, Parker, 1845.
Historical Record of the 73rd Regiment, 1780-1851. Illus-
trated. London. Parker, 1851.
Chronology and Book of Days of the 42nd Royal Highlanders,
The Black Watch, 1729-1905. Berwick-on-TWeed, Martin's Print-
ing Works, 1906.
452 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
History of Black Watch. Johnston, 1893.
The Black Watch. The Record of an Historic Regiment, by
Archibald Forbes, LL. D. Cassell & Co., 1910.
Black Watch Episode of the Year 1731, by H. D. MacWilliam.
Johnstown, 1908.
Short History of the Black Watch, 1725-1907. Blackwood,
1908.
The Official Records of the Mutiny in the Highland Regiment
(The Black Watch), A London Incident of the Year 1743, by
H. D. MacWilliam. Johnston, 1910.
Legends of the Black Watch, by James Grant, Routledge, 1904
Brown's Highland Clans.
Knox's Journal.
Beaston's Naval and Military Memoirs.
A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. Chambers.
Glasgow, 1832-35.
Pennsylvania Colonial Records.
Correspondence of William Pitt when Secretary of State, with
Colonial Governors, etc., by Gertrude Selwyn Kimball. MacMil-
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Commissary Wilson's Orderly Book. Expedition of the Brit-
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Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 1759. Albany, J. Munsell. Lon-
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New York Colonial Manuscript, by Broadhead, Weed, Par-
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History of Canada. Translated from L'Histoire du Canada
by F. X. Garneau, by Andrew Bell. Richard Worthington & Son,
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Illustrated Histories of the Scottish Regiments by Lieut. Col-
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1893.
The Regimental Records of the 1st and 2nd Battalions The
Black Watch.
The Regimental Records of the Perthshire Militia, now the
3rd Battalion, The Black Watch.
Cannon's Official History of the 42nd, 1729-1844.
Cannon's Official History of the 73rd, 1779-1850.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 453
The Annual Register.
Records and Badges of the British Army. Chichester.
Standards and Colors of the Army. Milne.
War Medals of the British Army. Carter and Long.
The Black Watch. Andrew Picken.
Reminiscences of a Campaign. John Malcolm, 42nd.
Retrospect of a Military Life. Q. M. S, Anton, 42nd.
Fontenoy, The Campaign of. Skrine.
Mangalore, The Seige of. By an Officer Present.
Recollections of a Military Life. Sergeant Morris, 73rd.
Military Reminiscences (Poly gar Campaigns). Colonel
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Five Years in Kaffirland (Second War). Mrs. Ward.
Campaigning in Kaffirland. I
The 5th Regiment Royal Scots of Canada. Captain Chambers.
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SETTLEMENTS OF THE SCOTCH HIGHLANDERS IN
WASHINGTON COUNTY.
The final success of the sons of Captain Lauchlan Campbell
in obtaining redress inspired others who had belonged to the Lauch-
lan Campbell New York colony to petition for a similar response
for their hardships and losses. In 1764 they succeeded in obtain-
ing a grant of 47,450 acres located in the present township of Ar-
gyle and a small part of Fort Edward and Greenwich. The origi-
nal plan included a stately street from the banks of the Hudson
River on the east through the tract upon which each family should
have a town lot that he might not only enjoy the protection of near
neighbors but also have the companionship of which the High-
lander is so particularly fond. The plan, however, made no allow-
ance for the rugged nature of the country and consequently the
magnificent street was located over hills whose proportions pre-
vented its use as a public highway while some of the lots were un-
inhabitable.
454
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
The following is an alphabetical list of the grantees and fur-
ther information as to the location of the lots can be obtained
from "Highlanders in America/' by MacLean, pages 184 to 186.
Anderson, Mary.
Baine, Mary.
Belton, Mary.
Campbell, Catherine.
Campbell, Mary.
Campbell, Elizabeth.
Campbell, Archibald.
Campbell, Duncan.
Campbell, Alexander.
Campbell, Malcolm.
Campbell, Marian.
Campbell, George.
Campbell, James.
Campbell, Duncan, Jr.
Campbell, John.
Campbell, Duncan, Sr.
Campbell, Robert, Jr.
Campbell, Ann.
Cargill, Elizabeth.
Cargill, Jane.
Cargill, James.
Cargill, John.
Cargyle, Margaret.
Caldwell, Elizabeth.
Clark, Daniel.
Christie, Alexander.
Clark, William.
Fraser, Elizabeth.
Fraser, William.
Ferguson, Jenette.
Gillaspie, Neil.
Gilchrist, John.
Gilchrist, Alexander.
Graham, William.
Graham, Mary.
Graham, Angus.
Gilchrist, Margaret.
Gillis, James.
Gilchrist, Duncan.
Hammel, Mary.
Hunter, William.
Johnson, Daniel.
Lindsey, David.
Lindsey, Duncan.
Livingston, Isabella.
McAnthony, Ann.
McAlpine, Dougall.
MeArthur, Duncan.
McAllister, Charles.
MeArthur, Patrick.
McAlpine, Robert.
McAllister, Barbara.
McAllister, Margaret.
MeArthur, Charles.
MeArthur, John.
MeArthur, Alexander.
McCore, Archibald.
McCullom, Archibald.
McCarter, John.
McCarter, Archibald.
McCoy, Edward.
McCore, John.
McCarter, Catherine.
McDonald, Allan.
McDuffie, Ann.
McDougall, Donald.
McDuffie, Duncan.
McDuffie, John.
McDonald, James.
McDonald, John.
McDougall, Duncan.
McDougall, Agnes.
McDuffie, Donald.
McDougall, John.
McDougall, Hugh.
McDougall, Archibald.
McDougall, Angus.
McDougall, Alex.
McDuffie, Malcolm.
McDonald, Neil.
McDonald, Alex.
McEwen, John.
McEwen, Archibald.
McEwen, Marian.
McEwen, Hannah.
McEachron, Neil.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 455
McEloroy, Hugh. McNachten, Alexander.
McFadden, Neil. McLeod, Mary.
McFadden, Duncan. McVarick, Florence.
McGowne, Mary. Montgomery, Alex.
McGowne, Archibald. Montgomery, Hugh.
McGowan, John. Nevin, Archibald.
McGuire, Duncan. Nutt, James.
McGowne, John, Jr. Nevin, Rachael.
McGowan, John, Sr. Ray, Elizabeth.
McGuire, John. Reid, Duncan.
Mcllfender, Catherine. Reed, Roger.
Mclntyre, John. Reid, John.
Mclntyre, Donald. Shaw, Catherine.
McKerwan, Duncan. Shaw, Duncan.
McKallor, Dougall. Shaw, Donald.
McKenzie, Florence. Shaw, John, Sr.
McKenzie, John. Shaw, Neil.
McKallor, Edward. Torrey, John.
McKenzie, George. Thompson, Eleanor.
McLean, Catherine. Thompson, Dougall.
McMullin, Donald. Taylor, Duncan.
McNeil, Archibald. Torry, Mary.
McNeil, Roger. Torrey, David.
McNeil, Morgan. Widrow, Jane.
McNeil, Elizabeth.
For several years after 1764 the colony on the east and what
is now Hebron township was augmented by a number of discharged
Highland soldiers, mostly from Montgomery's Regiment, who set-
tled on both sides of the line of the township. They had in all
probability been attracted to this spot partly by the settlement of
the colony of Captain Lachlan Campbell and partly by that of the
Scotch-Irish at New Perth (Salem). These additional settlers took
up their claims owing to a proclamation made by the king in Octo-
ber, 1763, offering land in America without fees, to all such offi-
cers and soldiers who had served on that continent and who de-
sired to establish their homes there.
Nothing shows more clearly than this proclamation the lofty
position of an officer in the British service at that time as compared
with a private. A field officer received four thousand acres ; a cap-
tain three thousand ; a lieutenant, or other subaltern commissioned
officer, two thousand ; a non-commissioned officer, whether sergeant
or corporal, dropped to two hundred acres, while the poor private
456 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
was put off with fifty acres. Fifty acres of wild land, on the hill-
sides of Washington County was not an extravagant reward for
seven years' service amidst all the dangers and horrors of French
and Indian warfare.
Among the early buildings in New Perth (Salem), was a log
church, said to be the first religious place of worship erected be-
tween Albany and Canada.
N. Y. Col. Manuscripts by O'Callaghan, page 904, Vol. 7, re-
cords the fact that James Bddington, a reduced subaltern of the
42d was granted, 22 Oct., 1766, 2,000 acres on the west side of the
Connecticut River, in the Co. of Cumberland, and page 905, Vol.
7, states that George Bremmer, late of 42d, was granted, 13 Feb'y,
1767, 200 acres east of the Hudson River, in the County of Albany.
The Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly for Oc-
tober, 1910, Vol. XIX, No. 4, has the following:
" (Atholl) Reference to the comprehensive "Gazettier" of the
world, shows that the town of Athol here mentioned, Athol, Mass.,
is the only place in America so named (with the single exception
of a small town in Northern New York). The only other locality
so named is the district in the north of Scotland, embracing about
450 square miles, elevated and very picturesque, Blair-Atholl, a
fertile vale on the Garry and the forest of Atholl containing some
100,000 acres are stocked with red deer and game. It gives the
title of Duke to the head of the Murray family, it chief proprietor,
whose seat is at " Blair Castle" near Mts. Benygloe and Gairn
Gower."
This is of two fold interest for as we have already seen there
was close connection between the Black Watch of 1758-9 and the
Murray family of Blair Atholl and as Athol in New York State
was settled in the latter part of the Eighteenth Century by Cam-
erons, McEwans, Murrays and McMullens from Blair Atholl it is
quite possible that at least some of the settlers first saw the coun-
try while serving with the Black Watch in the French and Indian
War.
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 457
Q
TICONDEROGA.
Ticonderoga, familiar as the name of the historic fortress at
Lake George, was written by Sir William Johnson, in 1756, Tionde-
rogue and Ticonderoro, and in grant of lands in 1760, "near the
fort at Tieonderoga. ' ' Gov. Golden wrote Ticontarogen, and an
Iroquoian sachem is credited with Decariaderoga. Interpretations
are almost as numerous as orthographies. The most generally
quoted is from Spofford's Gazetteer: "Ticonderoga, from Tsin-
drosie, or Cheonderoga, signifying 'brawling water', and the
French name, Carillon, signifying 'a chime of bells/ were both
suggested by the rapids upon the outlet of Lake George." The
French name may have been so suggested, but neither Tsindrosie
or Cheonderoga means "brawling water. " The latter is probably
an orthography of Teonderoga. Ticonderoga as now written, is
from Te or Ti, "dual," two; Kaniatare, "lake," and -ogen, "in-
tervallum, divisionem" (Bruyas), the combination meaning, liter-
ally, "Between two lakes." Horatio Hale wrote me of one of the
forms " Etekariaderage, in modern orothography, Tekaniataro-
ken, from which Ticonderoga, means, simply 'Between two lakes.'
It is derived from Tioken, 'between,' and Kaniatara, 'lake.' Its
composition illustrates a peculiar idiom of the Iroquoian language.
Tioken when combined with a noun, is split in two, so to speak, and
the noun inserted. Thus in combining Tioken with Oneonte,
* mountain,' we have Ti-ononte-oken, 'Between two mountains,'
which was the name of one of the Mohawk castles— sometimes
written Theonondiogo. In like manner, Kaniatare, 'lake,' thus com-
pounded, yields Te-kaniatare-oken, 'Between two lakes.' In the
Huron dialect Kaniatare is contracted to Yontare or Ontare, from
which, with io or iyo, 'great,' we get Ontario (pronounced On-
tareeyo), 'Great lake,' which combined with Tioken, becomes Ti-
onteroken, which would seem to be the original of Golden 's Tieron-
deroga."
("Indian Geographical Names," by E. M. Ruttenber, page 71.
Vol. VI, New York State Historical Association.)
458 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
R
TESTIMONIALS TO THE BLACK WATCH.
The Virginia Gazette, July 30, 1767, published an article from
which the following extracts have been taken:
' 'Last Sunday evening, the Royal Highland Regiment em-
barked from Philadelphia for Ireland, which regiment, since its ar-
rival in America, had been distinguished for having undergone most
amazing fatigues, made long and frequent marches through an un-
hospitable country, bearing excessive heat and severe cold with alac-
rity and cheerfulness, frequently encamping in deep snow, such as
those who inhabit the interior parts of this province do not see, and
which only those who inhabit the most northern parts of Europe
can have any idea of, continually exposed in camp and on their
marches to the alarms of a savage enemy, who, in all their attempts,
were forced to fly. * * * And, in a particular manner, the free-
men of this and the neighboring provinces have most sincerely to
thank them for that resolution and bravery with which they, under
Colonel Boquet, and a small number of Royal Americans, defeated
the enemy, and ensured to us peace and security from a savage foe ;
and, along with our blessings for these benefits, they have our
thanks for that decorum in behavior which they maintained during
their stay in this city, giving an example that the most amiable
behavior in civil life is no way inconsistent with the character of
the good soldier; and for their loyalty, fidelity, and orderly be-
havior, they have every wish of the people for health, honor, and
a pleasant voyage."
Extract from speech by the elder Pitt in vindication of the
employment of Highland Regiments, of which the Black Watch
was the first raised of the eighty-six during the four wars between
1739 and 1815.
"I sought for merit wherever it was to be found; it is my
boast that I was the first Minister who looked for it and found it
in the mountains of the North. I called it forth and drew into
your service a hardy and intrepid race of men, who, when left by
your jealousy, became a prey to the artifice of your enemies, and
had gone nigh to have overturned the State in the war before the
last. These men in the last wiar were brought to combat on your
side, they served with fidelity as they fought with valour, and con-
quered for you in every part of the world."
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA.
459
COPY OP ALL REFERENCES TO THE BLACK WATCH OF
THE TICONDEROGA PERIOD TO BE FOUND IN THE
ARCHIVES OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA
AT OTTAWA.
I am indebted for this Memorandum to Arthur Doughty Litt.
D., Archivist of the Dominion of Ccmada.
1758. v Abercrombie to Haldimand (?) Plan of opera-
March 29, tions settled at Home. Southern Operations.
New York.
•-•' ••• I f
Corps, Blakeney's, Lord John Murray's, &c.
B.6 p.35
1756. M.204-2 p.397 Shirley to Fox
Ne^t York.
••••• ..i........ i
Just arrived from Albany Major Abererombie and
General Webb arrived one on the 25th of June and
the other the next morning with great part of Ot-
way's Regiment and with all the Highland Regi-
ments, &c.
I t
In a letter from Abercrombie to London dated
Albany, 3d Aug., 1756.
...... \ ••....,
Col. Schuyler's New Jersey Regiment and four
North Carolina Companies are barely sufficient to
Garrison Oswego and keep the communication open
to Schenectady and there remains the 48th Regi-
ment together with Otway's and the Highlanders
to Garrison Fort William Henry, &c., &c.
M. 205-1 p.
1756. James Abercrombie to On the 15th April
June 21. sailed from Plymouth and arrived here on the 16th
New! York. June with General Otway's and Lord John Mur-
ray's Regiments, &c. B.205-1 p.8
460
1756.
Aug. 29.
Albany.
1756.
Sept. 4.
Boston.
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
London to Fox.
Though I was informed that the whole Trans-
ports with the Highland Recruits were arrived, I
heard this morning that there were still five miss-
ing, and that those that are come were very short
of Provisions, they were victualled only for two
months, &c., &c. M.205-1 p.240
Shirley to Loudon.
Upon this I beg leave to observe to your Lord-
ship, that it appearing from Col. Webb's letter to
me, dated from New York the 9th June, that Ot-
way's and the Highland Regiments might be daily
expected there (Oswego).
i \
What confirms me in the matter is, that your
Lordship told me, when I had the honour to wait
on you, when the day you set from New York, being
the 26th July that the Garrison at Oswego was so
weak, that the 44th Regiment was to be sent to
strengthen it and at the same time your Lordship
mentioned, that you thought 900 men, by which I
suppose your Lordship meant Otway's and the
Highland Regiments were but a few to cover the
country.
• • ! •••<••' J
M.205-2 p.306.
1756.
Nov. 22.
Albany.
Loudon to Fox.
The 42nd Regiment, I quarter at Schenectady,
from whence they take the posts, on the Mohawk
river, &c.
M.207-1 p.2
sl
o §
g*
i
W (j
S -d
U
PQ U
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA.
461
1757. London to Pitt ,. . ,
April 25. As the Garrison (Fort Henry) had been
New York. troubled with the scurvy I had ordered Lieutenant
General Otway's Regiment to relieve them, and
Colonel Monro met the account of the attack being
made on the Fort on his march; he immediately
left his baggage, and made all possible dispatch to
Fort Edward, where he received the account of
their being retired. Colonels Gage and Burton fol-
lowed him directly with the remains of the 44th
and 46th Regiments and the Highlanders were set
in motion from Schenectady. They all marched
without Tents, and lay in the woods, &c.
.' i
We have on that river (Mohawk), at Schenec-
tady, and up to the German Flats, the Highland
Regiment, upwards of a thousand men, &c.
M.207-1. p.174.
1758. London to Pitt ..\..\..<
Feb'y 14. .,. . storming of
New York. Fort Herkemer and I threw in part of the 42nd
Regiment of Highlanders into Schenectady, that
there might be no want of numbers for this service.
M.208... p.2.
Division of Manuscripts,
February 22, 1911.
THE BLACK WATCH MEMORIAL AT TICONDEROGA.
The genesis of this memorial was an address made by the late
Joseph Cook at the services held in front of the boulder erected to
the heroes of Ticonderoga, Academy Park, Ticonderoga, N. Y.,
July 31, 1899, in which he made this remark : ' ' There ought to be
a memorial to the Black Watch composed largely of Scotch High-
landers who, with the Colonials charged Montcalm's entrenchments
for eight consecutive hours. ' '
462 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
The writer, who was secretary of the Ticonderoga Historical
Society at that time, had the honor of being the medium through
which this chance remark became an enduring memorial of brick
and stone. He was unsuccessful, however, until Mr. David Will-
iams, then publisher of "The Iron Age," a summer resident of
Ticonderoga at Rogers Rock, came to his assistance. Mr. Andrew
Carnegie was the generous donor of the funds to build this mem-
orial. The grants were in two amounts, the first gift for a public
library with the usual provisions, and the second gift, with no
limitations, with which to build an historical addition to the lib-
rary, thus making it both a public library and historical building.
The laying of the corner stone, Oct. 4, 1905, was made the oc-
casion for one of the greatest celebrations Ticonderoga has ever
seen. The Pipe band of the 5th Royal Scots of Canada, High-
landers, now the 5th Royal Highlanders of Canada, from Mon-
treal, and the Regimental band and a Battalion of the 5th Infan-
try, U. S. A., from Plattsburgh, were the principal features of the
parade. It was particularly appropriate that the Royal Scots
should be present, as they are allied to the Black Watch and wear
the same uniform. It was also an education to the thousands of
spectators, few, if any of whom had ever seen Highlanders in full
regimentals marching to the music of bagpipes. After the exer-
cises of the day, the Royal Scots visited the ruins of old Port Ti-
condieroga, about two miles from the village and the picture of a
body of Highlanders with their scarlet coats and tartan kilts
marching up the green slopes of the old ramparts, with the setting
sun behind them, was one never to be forgotten and which probably
had not occurred since the Revolution.
The officers of the present Black Watch Regiment, then sta-
tioned at Fort George, Scotland, being advised of the Memorial,
sent the following letter to the secretary of the Ticonderoga His-
torical Society:
1 ' Dear Sir: Your letter 9th Sept., 1905, on the subject of a
Black Watch Memorial, has been perused by the Commanding Offi-
cer and the Officers of the 1st battalion of The Black Watch, for-
merly called the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment, and it was also
submitted and discussed at the Annual Gathering of Black Watch
Officers— past and present— recently held in Edinburgh. I am
At ' ' Allargue
MAJOR D. L. WILSON-FARQUHARSON, D. S. O.
Representative of the Black Watch, at Unveiling of Memorial Tablet, Ticonderoga July 4, 1906
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA. 463
authorized to inform you that all Ranks of the Regiment are proud
to know that the Ticonderoga Historical Society has decided to ap-
propriate an alcove in the Ticonderoga Free Public Library as a
memorial to the 42nd Regiment, to commemorate their services in
the engagement before Fort Ticonderoga on July 8, 1758. The
suggestion contained in your letter, to the effect that Officers of
the Regiment might be disposed to erect a tablet on a wall of the
Alcove to the memory of the officers and men of the 42nd who were
killed or wounded in the action has met with the unanimous ap-
proval of those to whose notice it has been brought, and I am to in-
form you that such a Tablet will gladly be provided and that the
work of executing the Tablet will be entrusted to a London firm
as soon as a suitable design has been decided upon. In order to
assist us in choosing a suitable form of tablet I shall be much ob-
liged if you can favor me with a rough plan of the alcove, the
dimensions of the actual wall on which the Tablet will rest, and an
idea of the general style of the building.
I shall be glad to hear from you as soon as you can convenient-
ly supply the information for which I have asked.
I am, Sir, yours truly,
D. L. Wilson Farquharson,
Major The Black Watch.
The exercises for the unveiling of the memorial tablet July 4,
1906, was made the occasion for another grand celebration at which
the full bag-pipe band of the 5th Royal Highlanders of Canada
and a company of 50 men from the same regiment, making a total
of 75 Highlanders, were a feature of the parade. Major D. L.
Wilson Farquharson of the Black Watch, came over from Scotland
to unveil the tablet in behalf of the Regiment. It was accepted by
Frank B. Wickes of Ticonderoga for the Ticonderoga Historical
Society. The address of the day was delivered by Senator Edgar
T. Brackett of Saratoga Springs.
464
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
List of Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Partial List of
Men Composing Ticonderoga Detachment, 5th Royal
Highlanders of Canada, July ±th, 1906.
Capt. A. F. Gault.
Capt. V. C. Buchanan.
Capt. C. M. Monsarrat.
Capt. J. Muir, Quartermaster.
Sergt. Major D. A. Bethune.
Q. M. Sergt. B. Howard.
Col. Sergt. J. H. A. Mackay.
Staff Sergt. T. A. Gardiner.
Staff Sergt. J. Phillips.
Sergt. C. Denman.
Sergt. P. Forde.
Sergt. T. Mitchell.
Bugle Sergt. P. Broadhurst.
Drum Sergt. F. W. Flood.
Drum Major G. Foley.
Pipe Major D. Manson.
Sergt. J. MacLean.
Corp. P. W. MacFarlane.
Corp. H. Massey.
Corp. N. Manson.
Corp. P. Sutton.
Privates.
J. Bayley.
F. H. Benson.
Walsh.
A. E. Smith.
S. Tapster.
Scobie.
P. Roache.
J. Cockburn.
A. Bishop.
Jeffries.
J. A. McLean.
W. Marsh.
J. Ferguson.
J. Corbett.
J. Palmer.
C. Myers.
C. Black.
J. Stuart.
J. Rooney.
Dean.
A. Reid.
A. Williams.
A. Betts.
D. Reid.
L. Pickering.
Pipers.
R. Morrison.
M. McLeod.
J. Ferrier.
D. Me Arthur.
D. Brash.
J. Hosband.
B. Milligan.
Drummers.
J. Ryan.
Gore.
Kemp.
Jones.
NECROLOGY.
William Holloway Bailey
Died Oct. 5, 1908
William Holloway Bailey, who was a pioneer in the brass and
copper tube industry in this Country died Oct. 5th at his home,
200 West 57th Street, in his seventy-fifth year. He had been con-
nected with the American Tube Worts of Boston for fifty-eight
years, and was the New York representative of the Company for
the last fifty years. Mr. Bailey was the oldest member of the
First Panel of the Sheriff 's Jury for the County of New, York, and
a member of the Union League for forty years. He was also con-
nected with The Engineers' Club, Down Town Association, Ameri-
can Society of Mechanical Engineers, Society of Naval Architects
and Marine Engineers, New York Yacht Club, Geographical So-
ciety, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Natural History,
and the Academy of Design. "
Samuel Douglas Cornell \
Died April 7, 1910 ,
Samuel Douglas Cornell was born in Glenville, Conn., Decem-
ber 2, 1839. When he was ten years old his family moved to Buf-
falo, where he resided the rest of his life. For years he was one
of the most prominent business men of that city and had long been
esteemed as one of her most eminent citizens. His father was en-
gaged in the manufacture of white lead and the son early took an
interest in that industry, following in his father's footsteps and
becoming one of the leading white lead manufacturers of the coun-
try. He was graduated from Hobart College in 1860 with the de-
gree of B. A. and three years later was given an M. A. by his Alma
Mater. He was a trustee of Hobart College at the time of his
death, an office he had held for many years, and was a permanent,
conspicuous figure at commencements where he was to be seen as
466 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
marshall of the parade. His affection for his college found a fit-
ting tribute in his will by a bequest of $5,000. He was a member
of the Theta Delta Chi Fraternity.
For several years he was representative for the Burroughs
Gold Mining Co., making frequent visits to Colorado in the old
stage coach days. It was after these experiences he settled in
Buffalo with his father, the firm becoming S. G. Cornell & Son.
He followed this business in which he was very successful finan-
cially, until October, 1887, when the new lead trust, of which he
was a founder, amalgamated the enterprise and he retired perma-
nently from active business life. He continued to live in Buffalo,
maintaining also a superb summer home at Coburg, Ontario, where
he delighted to entertain his friends— his hospitality becoming
famed among his circle of acquaintances.
As a young man he entered the National Guard as a private in
the Seventy-fourth Regiment, serving about twenty-five years,
holding every office in line and field except second-lieutenant. He
became colonel and was made adjutant-general, chief of staff Fourth
Brigade, as a special mark of esteem.
Mr. Cornell was married January 29, 1862, to Miss Lydia Had-
field, of Buffalo. His wife died about five years ago and he is sur-
vived by three children— Dr. Peter Cornell, manager of the Star
Theatre; Douglas Cornell, and Miss Lydia H. Cornell.
Eli Wheeler Fairchild
Died Nov. 15, 1909.
Eli Wheeler Fairchild, one of the oldest residents of Monti-
cello, died Nov. 15, 1909, of pneumonia. Although he had been
in poor health during the summer, no one thought him danger-
ously ill and his death came as a shock to the community. It was
the closing up of an honorable life work with no dishonor to cloud
it nor regrets to harass the last moments.
He was the only child of Eli and Clarissa Fairchild, and was
born Nov. 16, 1824. His early education was at Monticello, Phin-
ney School for Boys at Newburgh, Aurora Academy on Cayuga
Lake, and at Waterloo, Seneca County. He graduated from Union
College, A. B., in 1846, and A. M. in 1849. He was a member of
the Sigma Phi fraternity and was made a Phi Beta Kappa at
NECROLOGY. 467
graduation. In 1848 he was admitted to the bar and at the time
of his death was the oldest lawyer of the Sullivan County bar.
On February 21, 1869, Mr. Fairchild married Miss Mary C.
Doll of Ellen ville, who survives him. Their children are Mrs. F.
A. Torsch and Mrs. Wilbur Morrison, of Baltimore, Md. ; John
Fairchild of Washington, D. C.; and Miss Agnes Fairchild of
Monticello.
Mr. Fairchild was a director of the Monticello and Port Jer-
vis Railroad and wtos a vestryman of the Episcopal Church of
Monticello.
Charles Wells Hayes
Died Nov. 29, 1908
tRev. Charles W. Hayes, S. T. D., warden of the DeLancey
Divinity School, and one of the best known clergymen of the Prot-
estant Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, died of apoplexy
at his home, No. 60 Park Place, Geneva, N. Y., Nov. 29, 1908.
He was born at Canandaigua, N. Y., March 19, 1828, and wias
the son of Pliny and Eliza Stout (Wells) Hayes. He graduated
from Hobart College, receiving the degree of B. A. in 1849, M. A.
1852, and S. T. D. 1888. In 1854 he married Frances Elizabeth
Gladding, who died( in 1889. There were four children, Mary
Frances, who died in 1906; Margaret Alice, Katherine Elizabeth,
and Henry Stanley Wells, M. D., now of Atlanta, Ga,
Dr. Hayes was ordained deacon in 1852 by Bishop Chase, or-
dained priest in 1853 by Bishop DeLancey. He was rector in the
Diocese of Western New York, 1852-67 ; chaplain to the Bishop of
Maine, and canon of Cathedral of Portland, 1867-80 ; rector West-
field, N. Y., 1880-93 ; Phelps, 1893-1902 ; professor DeLancey Divin-
ity School and librarian, 1893-1902. He was also secretary and
registrar of diocese; d!eputy General Convention and Federate
Council, Standing Committee; trustee and vice-president of De-
Veaux College; examining chaplain, Eccelesiastical Court; histor-
ian Hobart College, etc. He was corresponding member of his-
torical societies of Maine, Wisconsin, Buffalo and Rochester, New
England Historic Genealogy Society, Sons of the Revolution of
New York, Phi Beta Kappa., He was warden and librarian of the
DeLancey Divinity School from 1901 until his death.
468 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
He was the author of "The New Parish Register/' 1859;
works in American history, biography, genealogy, music, architec-
ture, etc., 1859-1902; Sermons; Diocese of Western New York,
History and Recollections, 1904.
Grenville Howlcmd Ing aisle
February 26th, 1910
Grenville Howland Ingalsbe, the only son and child of Gren-
ville Mellen and Franc Groesbeck Ingalsbe, was born in Sandy
Hill (now Hudson Falls) New York, on November 8th, 1878. His
paternal ancestors were from New England, sturdy, reliant and
masterful, while on the maternal side, Quaker blood from the Pro-
vidence Plantations, mingled with that of the Groesbecks, early
settlers in Schaghticoke, from Holland. He was of the fifth gene-
ration from three revolutionary ancestors in the Groesbeck line,
and from Samuel Cook, and of the sixth generation from Captain
Ebenezer Ingalsbe, soldiers of the revolution, the latter being one
of the minute men at Lexington. Ebenezer Ingalsbe was a vete-
ran fighter in the Indian and Colonial Wars, closing his service to
the King with Sir William Johnson and Lyman at Lake George
in 1755, with Amiherst and Wolfe at Louisburgh in 1758, with
Amherst at Ticonderoga in 1759, and with Haviland at Montreal
and the surrender of Canada in 1760.
Mr. Ingalsbe prepared for college at the Glens Falls Academy
and at Phillips Exeter, and graduated from Harvard College in
the class of 1902. When he entered Harvard he had a remarkably
well balanced physique. Severe attacks of diphtheria and conges-
tion of the lungs, in his Sophomore and Junior years, were fol-
lowed by a final breakdown in his Senior year, from which he never
recovered.
He hadi chosen the law as his profession and upon his gradu-
ation commenced its study in his father's office, with slight pros-
pect, however, that he could pursue it as his life work. A little
later he went to Saranac where he spent nearly two years. Then
making his home with his parents, he took charge of the family
homestead at South Hartford. Though entirely outside any work
he had ever planned to do, he devoted himself to it with great en-
thusiasm. He engaged in dairy and tillage husbandry; became a
NECROLOGY. 469
breeder of high grade Jersey cattle and Berkshire swine, and in-
troduced new methods of tillage and a systematized rotation of
crops. He loved the work and achieved signal success. Later, with
associates, he became interested in the coal business in Sandy Hill,
and in a lumber syndicate operating in Vermont.
Thus, though handicapped by the constant advance of an in-
curable disease, he led a busy life to the end. His struggle for
living was so earnest, and his will so indomitable, that he was con-
fined to the house only four days, dying on February 26th, 1910.
He was a member of the Kingsbury Club; the Adirondack Auto-
mobile Association ; the New York State Historical Association ; the
Association of the Alumni of Phillips Exeter Academy, and the
Harvardj College Alumni Association. He was the Vice-Presi-
dent of the Adirondack Motor Car Company, and the Secretary of
the Progressive Pulp and Paper Company.
Heredity and training had peculiarly fitted him to grapple
intelligently with the social, civic and political problems of the fut-
ure. He was a man of culture. He took great interest in public
affairs and in world politics. Unostentatious and retiring, he was
reserved, except to his intimates, but those who knew him liked
him, and marvelled at his wealth of information. Ill health alone,
apparently, prevented him from1 attaining wiorthy distinction
among the world 's workers, in whose ranks he longed for place.
Born for success he seemed,
With grace to win, with heart to hold,
All pledged in coming days to forge
Weapons to guard the State.
Patrick J. Kenny
Died Nov. 26, 1909
Rev. Patrick J. Kenny, better known as Brother Joseph was
born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1858. He received his early education at
the hands of the Brothers of Mary in the Cathedral schools of
that city. He was early interested in the work of the Christian
Brothers but met with serious opposition on the part of his father
who wished him to become a priest and not bury his varied talents
in wjhat he called the obscurity of the cloister. In 1874 he was
received into the novitiate by Rev. Brother Paulian, the then pro-
470 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
vincial of the order. Having completed his novitiate and scholas-
ticate with marked success, he wtas assigned to teach a low class
in St. Vincent's school in Baltimore. In 1880 Brother Joseph
was transferred to Manhattan College as Prefect of the Junior
student and also as teacher of English literature, general history,
and mathematics. In 1885 he was made director of St. Peter 's
High School where his work as teacher and director was of a high
order of merit.
In 1891 Brother Joseph was sent to St. Joseph's College, Buf-
falo, and from there he was called to Tooting College, London,
Ebgland. He remained in London two years and then spent one
year in one of the Brothers' Colleges in France as Professor of
English. In 1895 he was recalled; to America and made General
Inspector of Schools in the New York Province. In 1897 he was
appointed director of De LaSalle Acedemy and in 1898 succeeded
Rev. Brother Justin as provincial.
The crowning work of the life of Brother Joseph was the erec-
tion of St. Joseph's Normal College at Poncantieo Hills.
Brother Joseph was buried from St. Patrick's Cathedral which
presented a very impressive sight on the day of his funeral. In
the sanctuary were His Grace, Archbishop Farley, the Right Rev.
Charles E. McDonnell, Bishop of Brooklyn, and the Right Rev.
George Mundelein, Auxiliary Bishop of the same see. There were
also present ten Right Rev. Monsignors and perhaps a hundred of
the reverend clergy, secular and regular, while in the nave there
was not a vacant seat in any pew and hundreds had to stand dur-
ing the service.
William T. O'Nett ,
Died May 5, 1909.
William T. O'Neil was born Feb. 7, 1850, near Paul Smith's
in the town of Brighton, Franklin County. He was a son of
Thomas O'Neil, one of the pioneer lumbermen of that section.
His early education was received in the old time district school
of his neighborhood and at the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute.
Soon after leaving school he entered the law office of Hon. Smith
M. Weed of Plattsburg and it was his ambition to continue the
law, but he was forced to abandon this pursuit because of ill health.
NECROLOGY. 471
He returned to the woods and became interested in the lumber busi-
ness and farming and for many years has been a resident of St.
Regis Falls and has been closely indentified with the growth and
advancement of that community.
At various times he has been connected with nearly every im-
portant industry of the town and interested himself in every local
institution that had for its ultimate end the betterment of condi-
tions in that locality. He served several years on the Board of
Supervisors and in the fall of 1881 wias elected a member of As-
sembly and served for four terms. While in the legislature he
and Theodore Roosevelt, who was then beginning his political career
as a member of the Lower House, became firm friends,and one of
Roosevelt's last acts before his departure for Africa was to send a
message to his old friend. In 1906 Mr. O'Neil was elected State
Senator in the St. Lawrence-Franklin district and was re-elected
in 1908. No man in the Senate enjoyed the confidence and respect
of his associates to a greater degree than did Senator O'Neil.
In November, 1872, Mr. 0 'Neil was married to Ophelia, daugh-
ter of James H. Young, of St. Regis Falls. He is survived by his
widow, and five children, H. Edward, Arthur, Mrs. A. Macdonald,
and the Misses Dorothy and Florence 0 'Neil, all of St. Regis Falls.
Senator O'Neil was a member of the Methodist Church and
was also a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge at St. Regis Falls,
and Northern Constellation Lodge, F. & A. M. of Malone.
Charles H. Williams
Died Feb'y 27, 1909
Charles H. Williams, of 690 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, died
of apoplexy at the St. Charles Hotel, New Orleans, La., Feb'y
27, 1909. He had just arrived at New Orleans from Central
America, where he had been on a short trip. Mr. Williams was a
man of fine physique— over six feet tall— one of those men who
pass through life apparently without knowing what it is to be sick,
and his sudden death was a great shock to his family and business
associates.
Few men in Buffalo were more prominently identified with
the business affairs of Buffalo than was Charles H. Williams. He
was the oldest son of the late Gibson T. Williams, who was in his
472 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
day one of the wealthiest men of Buffalo, and was born August 1,
1842.
He was educated in Buffalo and abroad. His preparatory
course was taken at Russell's Military School at New; Haven, Conn.
Then he entered the school of The Abbe Paris, at Versailles,
France, where he remained for a year.
He was married to Emma Alice Jewett of Buffalo on Septem-
ber 19, 1866. Of the three children born to them, only one, Mrs.
Frederick Lorenz Pratt, is living.
Mr. Williams was a director in the Bank of Buffalo and the
Bank of Niagara at Niagara Falls and had large holdings in Buf-
falo real estate.
He was a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church and served
as a vestryman. He was at one time president of the Buffalo Chap-
ter of the Society of Sons of the Revolution. He belonged to the
National Society of Descendants of the French and American of-
ficers, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Society of the Cincinnati,
the Hudson Society of New York, the Buffalo Society of Natural
Sciences, the Buffalo Historical Society, the American Historical
Association, the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, the Buffalo Club,
the Park Club, the Elicott Club, the Saturn Club, and the Country
Club. He was a Mason and belonged to the Lodge of Ancient
Landmarks No. 441.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE UPON THE ESTABLISH-
MENT OF CLOSER RELATIONS BETWEEN THE
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF THE STATE.
ALBANY INSTITUTE AND HISTORICAL AND ART SOCIETY.
Incorporated originally March 12, 1793, under the title of "The So-
ciety for the Promotion of Agriculture, Arts and Manufactures," of which
Chancellor Robert R. Livingston was the first President. Re-incorporated
under the title of "The Society for the Promotion of the Useful Arts in
the State of New York." Re-incorporated as The Albany Institute,
February 27, 1829, with Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, President. "The
Albany Historical and Art Society" organized in 1866, was united with
The Albany Institute, April 25, 1900, under the title, "Albany Institute
and Historical and Art Society."
Annual Meeting, Second Monday in May.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President — J. Townsend Lansing.
First Vice President — Hon. Danforth E. Ainsworth.
Second Vice-President — Dr. Albert Vander Veer.
Third Vice-President— Dr. Cyrus S. Merrill.
Secretary — Samuel S. Hatt,
Post Office Address, Albany, New York.
Treasurer — Ledyard Cogswell, Jr.
DIRECTORS, 1910.
Dr. Albert Vander Veer Prof. Henry P. Warren
Dr. Cyrus S. Merrill William P. Rudd
Hon. Danforth E. Ainsworth Edward N. McKinney
Robert C. Pruyn
Jesse W. Potts
Charles Gibson
Col. W. G. Rice
Parker Corning
Verplanck Colvin
Hon. Franklin M. Danaher
Philander Deming
Hon. Simon W. Rosendale
Samuel W. Brown
James F. McElroy
Edward L. Pruyn
Andrew Thompson
Frederick Tillinghast
Ledyard Cogswell, Jr.
A. A. Dayton
William L. M. Phelps
William T. Mayer
James Fenimore Cooper
George Douglas Miller
John L. Newman
Dr. William O. Stillman
J. Townsend Lansing
John E. McElroy
Samuel S. Hatt
Grange Sard
Gen. John H. Patterson
Martin H. Glynn
474 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
COMMITTEES, 1910.
Executive.
J. Townsend Lansing, Chairman
John E. McElroy Dr. Albert Vander Veer Edward N. McKinney
Ledyard Cogswell, Jr. Samuel S. Hatt
House.
Ledyard Cogswell, Jr. Frederick Tillinghast John E. McElroy
Entertainment.
William Gorham Rice, Chairman Edward Kneeland Parkinson
MEETINGS, 1910.
May 25.
PAPERS, 1910.
"The Burial Place of Lord Howe," by Rev. Joseph Hooper.
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
None issued.
BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Incorporated, January 10, 1863.
Annual Meeting, Second Tuesday in January.
OFFICERS, 1910.
Honorary President — Andrew Langdon.
President— Henry W. Hill.
Vice-President — Charles R. Wilson.
Secretary-Treasurer — Frank H. Severance,
Post Office Address, Buffalo, New York.
COMMITTEES, 1910.
Finance.
Henry W. Hill, Chairman
R. R. Hefford Charles W. Goodyear George A. Stringer
MEETINGS, 1910.
January 20, February 6. February 13, February 20, February 24, Feb-
ruary 27, March 13, March 20, March 27, March 28, May 8, May 31, June
2, June 6, June 20, October 25, November 10, November 15, November 17.
PAPERS AND ADDRESSES, 1910.
"An Evening With Dickens," by E. S. Williamson.
"Forts on the Niagara Frontier," by Hon. Peter A. Porter.
"Lincoln," by J. W. Ross.
"Western New York in the Days of Washington," by Frank H. Severance.
"Emerson and His Friends at Concord," by Mrs. Mary K. Babbitt.
"The Story of Seneca Park," the old Indian burial ground at South Buf-
falo, by Frank H. Severance.
"The City of Buffalo," by John Sayles.
"The Career of Philip Sheridan," by James Harmon.
"The First Easter Observance on the Niagara," by Frank H. Severance.
CLOSER RELATIONS. 475
"Arabia," by Dr. Edgar J. Banks.
"Some Facts About Father Hennepin," by Frank H. Severance.
"The Story of Hingham Plantation," by Rev. Louis C. Cornish.
"The League of the Five Nations," by Arthur C. Parker, N. Y. S. Arch.
"The Governors of New York," by Hon. Charles Z. Lincoln.
"Hollidaying in Picturesque Brittany," by Frank Yeigh.
"The Evolution of Our Flag," by Charles Wm. Burrows.
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
Vol. XIV of the Society's Publications. Title: "The Holland Land Co.
and Canal Construction in Western New York."
"Buffalo-Black Rock Harbor Papers, Journals and Documents," Edited
by Frank H. Severance. Octavo 496 pp.
CANISTEO VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Incorporated, February 15, 1875.
Annual Meeting, Third Monday in December.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President— Hon. Irvin W. Near.
Secretary— Walter G. Doty,
Post Office Address, Hornell, New York.
Treasurer — Dr. Charles Innes.
COMMITTEES, 1910.
Finance.
Dr. R. W. Barney Dr. Charles Innes Adrian De Wilton
Historic Spots.
Hon. Irvin W. Near William B. Taylor William H. Greenhow
On Program.
Dr. Charles Innes Walter G. Doty Frank H. Bennett
MEETINGS, 1910.
January 21, January 28, February 4, February 11, February 18, Feb-
ruary 25, March 4, March 11, March 25, April 1, April 22, June 3, July 4,
December 16.
PAPERS, 1910.
"King Saul," by Robert Bowie.
"Man's Latent Powers," by Walter G. Doty.
"Early Times in Jefferson County," by Hon. Irvin W. Near.
"John Wychlyffe," by W. Arthur Williams.
"True Happiness,' by Dr. George Conderman.
"The Physiology of Belief," by Dr. Charles Innes.
"The Development of thei American Negro," by Rev. A. L. Schumann.
"Major Thomas Bennett," by Frank H. Bennett.
"Alcibiades," by Robert Bowie.
"The Fourth Dimension," by Dane B. Sutfin.
"The Knights Templar," by Adrian De Wilton.
476 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
"The Soul's Immortality," by Robert Bowie.
"Early History of the North Country," by Hon. Irvin W. Near.
"Early Britain," by Walter G. Doty.
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
None issued.
THE CHAUTAUQUA SOCIETY OF HISTORY AND NATURAL
SCIENCE.
An unincorporated Society under this name was formed in 1883.
This Society held meetings annually, which were of much interest, and
accumulated much valuable data. William W. Henderson was its inde-
fatigable Secretary during the twenty-five years of its existence, and
was most faithful to its interests. Upon the twenty-fifth anniversary of
the Society's existence, Mr. Henderson was compelled to retire from the
Secretaryship on account of the infirmities of age, but upon his sugges-
tion, steps were taken for the regular incorporation of the Society. This
was accomplished on October 28, 1909.
Annual Meeting, Third Thursday in July.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President — Hon. Obed Edson.
First Vice-President — Hon. William Wallace Henderson.
Second Vice-President, Mrs. Mary Hall Tuckerman.
Treasurer — Levant L. Mason.
Secretary — Hon. Abner Hazeltine,
Post Office Address, Jamestown, New York.
TRUSTEES, 1910.
Willis H. Tennant William G. Matin Ransom J. Barrows
Hon. Arthur B. Ottoway Louis McKinstry
COMMITTEES, 1910.
Executive.
Hon. Obed Edson Hon. Abner Hazeltine Levant L. Mason
George W. Strong Hon. Arthur B. Ottoway
Mrs. Newell Cheney Willis H. Tennant
Necrology.
Mrs. R. C. Seaver
MEETINGS, 1910.
September 1.
PAPERS, 1910.
"The Early Settlement of Jamestown," by Hon. Obed Edson.
"The Beginning of Jamestown," by Hon. Abner Hazeltine.
"The Women of the Early Days," by Mrs. Mary Hall Tuckerman.
"How Pennsylvania Acquired Territory That Was Once a Part of New
York," by D. A. A. Nichols. This paper was read by Mrs. Farnum,
a daughter of the aged Author, who has since deceased. The paper
referred to the triangle on which the city of Erie, Pa., is now situated.
CLOSER RELATIONS. 477
"Some Reminiscences of the Prendergast Family," by Mrs. Kate Griffith
Cheney, an aged lady, a descendant of William Prendergast.
"Necrology," by Mrs. R. C. Seaver.
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
None issued.
JEFFERSON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Incorporated, May 10, 1886.
Annual Meeting, First Monday in December.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President — Col. W. B. Camp.
Vice-Presidents — E. H. Thompson, E. B. Sterling,
W. D. McKinstry.
Corresponding Secretary — Robert Lansing.
Recording Secretary — George B. Massey,
Post Office Address, Watertown, New York.
THE LONG ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Incorporated, April 2, 1863.
Annual Meeting, Second Monday in May.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President— Hon. Willard Bartlett.
First VicerPresident— Byran H. Smith.
Second Vice-President — Francis L. Eames.
Corresponding Secretary — Tunis G. Bergen,
Post Office Address, Brooklyn, New York.
Recording Secretary — Joseph E. Brown.
Treasurer — John Jay Pierrepont.
Librarian — Miss Emma Toedteberg.
DIRECTORS.
Frederick S. Parker William B. Davenport
William G. Low Robert B. Woodward
John E. Leech James L. Morgan _____
Simeon B. Chittenden Bryan H. Smith
Tunis G. Bergen Joseph E. Brown
Rev. Reese F. Alsop, D. D. John Jay Pierrepont
Carll H. De Silver Charles A. Boody
James McKeen Isaac H. Gary
Edward B. Thomas Francis L. Eames
Martin Joost Alfred T. White
Alexander E. Orr Willard Bartlett
Arthur M. Hatch John F. Praeger
Rev. L. Mason Clarke, D. D.
478 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
COMMITTEES, 1910.
Executive.
Bryan H. Smith, Chairman
Joseph E. Brown John J. Pierrepont Francis t. Eames
James McKeen Arthur M. Hatch John F. Praeger
MEETINGS, 1910.
None held.
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
None issued.
MADISON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Incorporated, March 29, 1900.
Annual Meeting, Third Wednesday in January.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President — Edwin J. Brown.
First Vice-President—Hiram L. Rockwell.
Second Vice-President — M. Eugene Barlow.
Third Vice-President— W. Stanley Child.
Recording Secretary — Samuel A. Maxon,
Post Office Address, Oneida, New York.
Corresponding Secretary — Daniel Keating.
Treasurer — Theodore F. Hand.
Librarian — Miss Jeanne Saunders.
COMMITTEES, 1910.
Executive (Elective Members).
Richard B. Ruby William W. Warr Mrs. Mary Dyer Jackson
Addresses and Publications.
W. Stanley Child Charles H. Skelton Mrs. William W. Warr
Membership.
Mrs. Theodore Coles Miss Georgia Bull Miss Lily Higinbotham
Mrs. Kate A. Brown M. Eugene Barlow
Rooms and Properties.
Norman L. Cramer Miss Louise Higinbotham
Miss Nellie Vrooman
MEETINGS, 1910.
February 16, April 20, June 29, October 19, November 16.
ADDRESSES, 1910.
"The Barge Canal," by N. E. Whitford, of the State Engineering Depart-
ment.
"Robert E. Lee," by Hon. C. A. Hitchcock.
"In the Light of History," by Professor John Green, of Colgate Univer-
sity.
"Early History of Wampsville and Its Surroundings," by Ex-Judge Jos-
eph Beal.
CLOSER RELATIONS. 479
"The New State School of Agriculture," by J. A. Johnson.
"The Twelfth Annual Meeting of the New York State Historical Associa-
tion, October 4-6, at Lake Champlain," by Mrs. Theodore Coles.
"Rome and the Mohawk Valley," by Hon. Eugene Rowland.
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
None issued.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Incorporated, May 10, 1904.
Annual Meeting, Second Wednesday in June.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President— Robert M. Hartley.
First Vice-President—William J. Kline.
Second Vice-President — John K. Warnick.
Third Vice-President— C. F. Van Home.
Secretary — Charles E. French.
Corresponding Secretary — W. Max Reid,
Post Office Address, Amsterdam, New York.
Treasurer— Edward O. Bartlett.
Historian — Charles F. McClumpha.
Curator and Librarian — W. Max Reid.
Custodian — Alpha Childs.
COMMITTEES, 1910.
Executive.
Robert M. Hartley Charles E. French John K. Warnick
William J. Kline Charles Stover, M. D.
Literary.
W. Max Reid Mrs. Fred R. Greene Charles F. McClumpha
Museum.
W. Max Reid Mrs. Fred R. Greene Fred R. Greene
Mrs. W. G. Waldron
E. Corning Davis Mrs. Frazier Whitcomb
Archaelogical.
W. Max Reid Robert H. Hartley S. L. Frey C. F. Van Home
D. S. Bussing G. Van Hartley
MEETINGS, 1910.
June 8, October 28.
ADDRESSES, 1910.
"Local Historical Societies in Their Relation to History and Patriotism,"
by Victor Hugo Paltsits.
"Kateri Tekakwitha," by W. Max Reid.
"Pottery Hill," by Robert M. Hartley.
"Garoga," by S. L. Frey.
"Canawaroda," by W. Max Reid.
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
None issued.
480 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
MORRIS MEMORIAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Organized, January 10, 1911.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President— Frank H. Wood.
Vice-President — John C. Carpenter.
Secretary — Earl W. Fellows,
Post Office Address, Chatham, New York.
Treasurer — Samuel Kaufman.
COMMITTEES, 1910.
On Program.
Frank H. Wood R. L. Ross H. A. Humphrey
THE ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Incorporated, April 29, 1863.
Annual Meeting, Second Friday in January.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President— A. Judd Northrup.
Vice-Presidents — Salem Hyde, Dr. William M. Beauchamp.
Recording Secretary — Franklin H. Chase,
Post Office Address, Syracuse, New York.
Corresponding Secretary— William Eames.
Treasurer — Charles W. Snow.
Librarian — Mrs. L. L. Goodrich.
COMMITTEES, 1910.
Executive.
A. Judd Northrup Franklin H. Chase Salem Hyde
C. W. Snow E. A. Powell
Lectures and Historical Meetings.
George G. Fryer Miss Florence M. Keene Mrs. M. W. Chase
Ways and Means.
Hon. Charles Andrews Hon. Theodore E. Hancock
Clinton T. Rose Hon. Charles L. Stone
A. Judd Northrup
Local History.
Rev. Dr. William M. Beauchamp Mrs. Mary T. Leavenworth
Miss Frances P. Gifford Mrs. Sarah Sumner Teall
MEETINGS, 1910.
February 11, March 11, April 8, May 13, June 4; Pioneer Day, cele-
brated at Frenchman's Island, November 11, December 9.
ADDRESSES, 1910.
"West Indies," by Irving A. Savage.
"Army Life on the Plains and Warfare With the Western Indians," by
Gen. S. S. Sumner.
"The Diamond: Birthstone of April," by Professor Philip F. Schneider.
"Onondaga Cemeteries and Revolutionary Soldiers," by Dr. W. M. Beau-
champ.
CLOSER RELATIONS. 481
"Scandinavia, Land of Midnight Sun," by E. P. Bates.
"The Handsome Lake Doctrine and Customs of the Iroquois," by Jairus
Pierce.
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
None issued.
PUTNAM COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Incorporated, September 3, 1908.
Annual Meeting, First Saturday in June.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President — Gouverneur Kemble.
First Vice-President— Stuyvesant Fish.
Second Vice-President—Mrs. Daniel Butterfield.
Recording Secretary — Miss Mary H. Haldane,
Post Office Address, Kingston, New York.
Corresponding Secretary — Joseph A. Greene.
Treasurer — Otis Montrose.
Librarian — Mrs. Richard Giles.
DIRECTORS, 1910.
Gouverneur Paulding A. Augustus Healey William H. Haldane
Rev. Elbert Floyd Jones Hon. William Wood.
COMMITTEES, 1910.
Executive.
Rev. Elbert Floyd Jones Mrs. Louis Fitzgerald
Mrs. Henry C. Baxter
Mrs. Cornelia Reilly Miss Katherine O. Paulding
On Restoration of Mile Stones on Post Road.
Rev. Elbert Floyd Jones Mrs. Richard Giles Charles Griffin
Tablet.
Rev. Elbert Floyd Jones Mrs. Coryell Clark
On Prize Essays.
Captain Henry Metcalfe Rev. Elbert Floyd Jones
The subject of the biographical sketch for 1910, competed for by
the school children of Putnam County, was Hon. Gouverneur Kemble,
Founder of the West Point Foundry.
MEETINGS, 1910.
July 16.
ADDRESSES, 1910.
"Those Who Made the Guns in the Civil War at the West Point Foun-
dry, the Committee of Safety, and the Women's Central Relief Com-
mittee," by Stuyvesant Fish.
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
Calendar, Putnam County Historical Society.
A List of the Local Veterans of the Civil War.
482 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
SCHENECTADY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Incorporated, June 30, 1905.
Annual Meeting, First Tuesday in June.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President — Henry G. Reist.
First Vice-President — Gen. Charles L. Davis.
Second Vice-President— Dr. Charles C. Duryee.
Third Vice-President—Charles P. Sanders.
Treasurer — Rev. Egbert C. Lawrence.
Secretary — DeLancey W. Watkins,
Post Office Address, Schenectady, New York.
TRUSTEES, 1910.
Alonzo P. Strong Frank S. Hoffman
Benjamin H. Ripton Henry G. Reist
Allen W. Johnston Charles P. Sanders
J. W. Smitley Percy Van Epps
Martin P. Swart Jay A. Rickard
George W. Featherstonhaugh Gen. Charles L. Davis
William T. B. Mynderse Frank Van der Bogert, M. D.
DeLancey W. Watkins Langdon Gibson
James R. Truax Dr. Charles F. Clowe
M. F. Westover Dr. C. C. Duryee
Hanford Robison Hon. Jacob W. Clute
William A. Wick Gerardus Smith
Rev. E. C. Lawrence
MEETINGS, 1910.
December 15.
ADDRESSES, 1910.
"The History and Names of Schenectady Streets," by Hon. Jacob W.
Clute.
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
None issued.
THE SCHOHARIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Incorporated, March 4, 1889.
Annual Meeting, Second Tuesday in January.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President— Charles M. Throop.
First Vice-President—Solomon Sias.
Second Vice-President—Rev. Frank Walford.
Secretary — Henry F. Kingsley, M. D.,
Post Office Address, Schoharie, New York.
Treasurer — Frank K. Grant.
Curator — Henry Cady.
CLOSER RELATIONS. 483
COMMITTEES, 1910.
Addresses.
Solomon Sias Henry F. Kingsley, M. D. Charles E. Nichols
Membership.
Frank K. Grant Henry Cady S. A. Scranton
Biography.
William E. Roscoe George L. Danforth Chauncey Rickard
Publications.
Solomon Sias W. E. Bassler A. D. Mead
Finance.
Henry Livingstone Robert A. Dewey Arthur H. Woods
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
None issued.
SENECA FALLS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Incorporated, June 27, 1904.
Annual Meeting, Third Monday in October.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President— Harrison Chamberlain.
Vice-President— Miss Belle Teller.
Secretary — Miss Emma Maier,
Post Office Address, Seneca Falls, New York.
Treasurer — Wilmot P. Elwell.
Librarian — Miss Janet McKay Cowing.
COMMITTEES, 1910.
Program.
Mrs. S. A. Wetmore, Chairman
Rev. P. E. Smith Prof. W. H. Beach Rev. W. P. Schell
H. A. Carmer Miss Anna Henion
Membership.
Rev. W. B. Clarke, Chairman
Miss Belle Teller Prof. W. H. Beach Rev. W. P. Schell
W. P. Elwell E. W. Medden Miss Janet Cowing
Harrison Chamberlain H. A. Carmer
MEETINGS, 1910.
April, May, October, November, December.
PAPERS AND ADDRESSES, 1910.
"The Situation in Nicaragua," by H. A. Carmer.
"The Laymen's Missionary Movement," by Rev. W. B. Clark.
"The Ancestry of B. F. Beach," by W. H. Beach.
"Roosevelt and the Vatican Incident," by Rev. John Nichols.
484 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
"Life of Halley," by Harrison Chamberlain.
"Recollections of Seneca Falls in 1865," by Stephen Monroe.
"The Conservation of Natural Resources," by Rev. Pulaski E. Smith.
"The Early Milliners of Seneca Falls," by Miss Janet Cowing.
"A Trip to Mexico," by Mrs. C. H. Williams.
"New Additions to the Hall of Fame," by Miss Emma Maier.
"Sketch of Jacob Crowninshield, Sr.," by Miss Anna Henion.
"Seneca County in the War of 1812," by Rev. Pulaski E. Smith.
"European Republics," by Miss Blanche R. Daniels.
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
None issued.
THE SUFFOLK COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Incorporated, February 18, 1892.
Annual Meeting, Third Tuesday in February.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President — Augustus Floyd.
First Vice-President — Rev. Epher Whitaker, D. D.
Second Vice-President — George F. Stackpole.
Corresponding Secretary — Elihu S. Miller,
Post Office Address, Wading River, New York.
Recording Secretary — Miss Ruth H. Tuthill.
Treasurer — Timothy M. Griffing.
Curator — Rev. William I. Chalmers.
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
Year Book of the Society, 1909, 6*4x9%, 30 pp.
TICONDEROGA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Incorporated, September 9, 1908.
Annual Meeting, Last Monday in August.
OFFICERS 1910.
President, Dr. William A. E. Cummings.
First Vice President, David Williams.
Second Vice President, Thomas E. Warren.
Secretary, Joseph Thurlow Weed.
Treasurer, Mortimer Yale Ferris.
COMMITTEES 1910
Publication
David Williams Horace A. Moses Mrs. Georgiana H. Cook
Mrs. Mary Downs Mrs. Alice W. Bascom Frank B. Wickes
Rev. Loyal L. Bigelow
Original Research and Location of Historic Spots
Hon. Clayton H. De Lano Hon. Frank C. Hooper
Herbert D. Hoffnagle Dr. John P. H. Cummins L. De Forest Cone
Mortimer Yale Ferris Walter W. Richards Richard P. Downs
Myron J. Wilcox
CLOSER RELATIONS. 485
Marking Historic Spots and Monuments
Hon John E. Milholland Harrison B. Moore Frank L. Brust
Alfred C. Bossom William I. Higgins Dr. M. H. Turner
Irving C. Newton
MEETINGS 1910
February 12, March 30, August 29, October 4.
ADDRESSES 1910
"Lincoln, the Mountaineer," by Rev. John M. Thomas, D.D.
"Functions of Local Historical Societies and Their Relations to Patriot-
ism," by Victor Hugo Paltsits, State* Historian.
PUBLICATIONS 1910
"The Freedom of the Old Fortress to the Members of the New York
State Historical Association."
"A Memorial Tablet at Ticonderoga — the Landing on the Grande Por-
tage."
THE YONKERS HISTORICAL AND LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.
Incorporated, February 15, 1892.
Annual Meeting, Third Tuesday in January.
OFFICERS, 1910.
President — Hon. Stephen H. Thayer.
First Vice-President— Hon. T. Astley Atkins.
Second Vice-President — Max Cohen.
Treasurer — William Shrive.
Recording Secretary — Hon. George N. Rigby.
Corresponding Secretary — DeWitt C. Stevens.
Librarian and Curator — Galusha B. Balch, M. D.
PUBLICATIONS, 1910.
None issued.
THE CHAPPAQUA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Not Incorporated.
Organized, September 15, 1910.
Annual Meeting, February 3 of each year.
The object of this Society is to foster and perpetuate all historic
data and reminiscences in connection with Westchester County and
especially of Chappaqua; the preservation of historical papers and docu-
ments relating to those subjects and particularly to Horace Greeley; the
erection of historical tablets; and other objects common with societies
of this character.
OFFICERS 1910
President, John I. D. Bristol.
Vice-President, Victor Guinzburg.
Treasurer, Jacob Erlich.
Secretary, Edwin Bedell.
486 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
COMMITTEES 1910
On Horace Greeley Memorial
John I. D. Bristol Victor Guinzburg Jacob Erlich
Edwin Bedell Morgan Cowperthwaite George Hunt
Wilbur Hyatt George D. Mackay John McKesson, Jr.
Hiram E. Manville A. H. Smith L. O. Thompson Albert Turner
PUBLICATIONS 1910.
"Sketch of the Life of Horace Greeley," by Jacob Erlich, 8x11, 22 pp.
"The Centenary of Horace Greeley," by John I. D. Bristol, 5x8%, 18 pp.
REPORT OF LIBRARIAN FOR 1910
To the Members of the New York State Historical Association: —
During the year there have been received by the Association —
books, monographs, and publications in accordance with the following
list.
The library of the Association is of so new a creation, and its
elevation to a partial position of dignity, from a heterogeneous mass of
books and pamphlets, of so recent date, that our contributors have not
sent their gifts or publications to the right address always, and in this
way, while we intended to give the proper credit in all cases, should
anyone have been overlooked, and any book or donation not have been
listed, we would be glad to receive the correction, and properly acknowl-
edge the gift.
One of the most important and helpful adjucts of an historical asso-
ciation or society is its library. It takes years of hard work and a deal
of money however to accumulate a suitable collection of books. As
explained in our last volume of transactions, this Association can only
hope to get the nucleus of a good library through the gifts and dona-
tions of its members. We therefore urge on each member of the Asso-
ciation to send us first copies of their own literary works, if they have
published any such; second — any extra copies they may have of books
or monographs relating to the history of this or those adjacent states,
whose story is linked with ours; third — any old prints of characters or
persons who have had to do the making of our commonwealth, or any
maps of the territory in which we are interested; fourth — old diaries,
old mss., or journals, or copies of the same, that the Association may
carry out one of the most important purposes for which it was founded —
"To gather books, manuscripts, pictures and relics relating to the early
history of the State," and "to disseminate a greater knowledge of the
early history of the State, by means of * * * the publication * * *
of literature on historical subjects."
A number of donations were made the present year, but it is to be
hoped that each member will make him or herself a committee of one
to see that the Association library for the year 1911 is made worthy
of the name, to the end that it shall become as valuable from its works
of reference, as some of its older, more powerful and better known sis-
ter societies in other states.
The Poet at the Breakfast Table said "Every library should try to be
complete on something, if it were only the history of pinheads."
Let us see if we can not make our library the last word on the his-
orty of our own great and mighty Empire State.
J. A. HOLDEN,
Librarian.
Glen* Falls, N. Y., Oct. 31st, 1910.
488 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED- 1910.
American Antiquarian Society y Worcester, Mass.— Proceedings for
Oct. 20, 1909, Vol. XX (n. s.), Parts I-IL
American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, Tribune
Bldg., New York.— An Appeal for the Preservation of City
Hall Park, New York, with a Brief History of Park.
Id. 15th Annual Report— 1910.
Albany Institute, Albany, N. Y.— Transactions, Vols. IX-X-XI-
XII.
Allen Arnold, Boston, Mass.— Monograph Fort Jefferson and Its
Commander, 1861, (Genl. Lewis E. Arnold).
The Boston Book Co., Boston, Mass.— Bulletin of Bibliography,
Magazine Subjects, Index for 1909.
Buffalo Historical Society, Buffalo, N. Y.— Rough List of Mss.,
1910.
Conn. D. A. R., Norwich, Conn.— Year Book for 1910-11.
Conn. Hist. Society. — Annual report for 1910.
Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IU.— Annual Report, with a
separate monograph, A Study of the Hudson Bay Company
(The Masters of the Wilderness) . Pub. by Society, 1909.
Rev. Henry M. Cox., New York.— History Reformed Church of
Herkimer, N. Y.
H. B. Carrington, Hyde Park, Mass.— Historical Record, Vol.
VII, 1909.
D. A. R. (National Society), Washington, D. C.— Lineage Books,
Vols. XXIV-XXV, 1898.
Essex Institute, Salem, M ass.— Historical Collections for Jany-
Apl.-July and Oct., Vol. XLVI, 1910.
The Genealogical Exchange, Buffalo, N. Y.— Vols. I to VI from
May, 1904, to Feby., 1910, also Nos. for Mch., Apr., May,
June, July, Aug., Sept., Oct., 1910.
Chas. P. Hall, Binghamton, N. Y.— Life and Letters of Genl. Sam-
uel Holden Parsons, 1906.
Capt. W. H. Howard, Newark, N. J.— Monograph Lincoln and
Sickles.
Iowa State Historical Society.— History Labor Legislation in Iowa,
1910; Territorial Governors of the Old North West; Iowa
Journal of History and Politics, Jan., Apr., July, Oct., 1910.
REPORT OF LIBRARIAN. 489
Iowa Historical Dept.— Annals of Iowa; Jany., Apl., 1910, Vol.
IX, Nos. 4-5.
Journal of American History, New York.— Vol. IV, Nos. 1, 3.
Journal of American History.— Complete in four parts, for the
years 1908 and 1909, Vols II and III. New Haven, 1908-09.
Deposited by Fred B. Richards.
John S. Hopkins University Studies, Baltimore, Md.— England and
the French Revolution, 1789-1797, by Wm. Thomas Laprade,
Ph. D., 1909; No. 2 Series XXVIII— Trades Union Labels,
1910; No. 1, Series XXVIII— History of Reconstruction in
Louisiana, by John Ross Franklin, 1910.
H. T. Kingsley, Schoharie, N. 7.—' ' Condensed History of Old
Stone Fort.'7
Library of Congress. — Want Lists, 1909-10; Report of Librarian
and Supt. Buildings, with 4 Circulars, etc., 1909 ; Preliminary
List of Subject Sub-divisions ; Monthly List of State Pub-
lications.
Mrs. Annette Wells Lamb, Port Henry, N. T.— Fort Frederick and
Crown Point. D. A. R. monograph.
Louisiana State Museum.— History Dept., Historical Program and
Itinerary of a Ride Through the Vieux Carre', occasion visit
to New Orleans of President Taft, Oct. 31st, 1909. Address
of Prof. Alcee Fortier On the Ride Through Historic New
Orleans, Delivered at Jackson B&rracks Oct. 31st, 1909, paper
n. d., n. p.
Missouri State Historical Society.— Vol. IV, No. 2, Jany.; No. 3,
Apl.; No. 4, July.
Magazine of American History, Portchester, N. T.— Dec., 1909;
Jany to Oct., 1910.
.New York City, History Club.— Historical Guide to the City of
New York, 1910.
.New England Society in New York.— Celebration 104th Anniver-
sary, Dec. 22, 1909.
New England Society of Vineland, N. J.— Constitution, also Mono-
graph The Tea Burners of Cumberland Co., Dec. 22, 1774.
By Frank D. Andrews, 1908.
Historical and Philosophical Society.— Quarterly for Oct.-
Dec., 1909; June-Mar., Apl.-June, 1910, Vols. IV and V,
Nos. 3 and 4 ; 1 and 2.
490 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Ohio State Archeological and Historical Society, Columbus.—
Quarterly for 1910; Nos. 1-2-3-4.
Hon. Holland Pell, New York.— Day's Miniature Almanac, 1822;
Hutehens' New York Almanac, 1824.
Pennsylvania Society in New York.—Ye&r Book for 1910.
Rhode Island Historical Society.— Proceedings for 1906-07;
1907-08.
Mrs. Caroline H. Royce, Astor Library, New York.— History Bess-
port (Westport) New York; also Monograph The First Cen-
tury of Lake Champlain.
H. C. Smith, Lamoni, Ohio.— Journal of History, Vol. Ill, Nos.
2-3-4, 1910.
History Church of Jesus Christ, L. D. S., 4 Vols., 1908.
Salem, N. Y.— Report of Bancroft Library, January 15, 1910.
Sons of Revolution, New York City.— Report of Board of Mana-
gers for 1909.
Scribner Sons, New' York.— Intimate Life of Alexander Hamil-
ton, by Allen McLane Hamilton, 1910.
Suffolk County, New York.— History of Society, 1910.
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.— Vasa Fox Collection
of Russian Souvenirs in U. S. National Museum.
W. Straley, Nelson, Neb.— Archaic Gleanings, a Study of Archaeo-
logy in Nuckolls County, Nebraska.
University of California, Berkeley, Col. — Bulletin No. 3, Ex-
changes, 1910; Vol. I, No. 6, Diary of Patrick Breen; No. 7,
Papers San Francisco Vigilance Committee; No. 8, 3rd Series,
Vol. III. Edited by Van Hemert-Engert and Teggert, Mar.,
1810.
War Department, Washington, D. C.— Gettysburgh Nat'l Military
Park Commission; 1909-10.
West Point Military Academy.— Centennial History (2 Vols)
Vermont State Library.— Journals House and Senate State of Ver-
mont, Session (2 Vols.), St. Albans, Vt, 1908.
Vermont Historical Society.— Proceedings. Oct.-Nov., 1898 (E.
Allen), Oct.-Nov., 1899-1900; 1908-09.
D. H. Van Hoosear.— History of Van Hoosear Family, Norwalk,
Conn, 1902.
Vineland, N. J., Historical and Antig Society.— Annual Report
for Year ending Oct. 12, 1909. Also Memo. Journal from
Hartford to Niagara Falls, 1828. Vineland, N. J., 1909.
REPORT OF LIBRARIAN. 491
Wisconsin State Historical Society.— Proceedings for 1909. Madi-
son, Wis., 1909.
Fred B. Richards, Glens Falls, N. r.— Journal of American His-
tory for years 1908-09, Vols. II and III, New Haven, 1908-09.
The International Genealogical Directory.— 1907.
Extracts from the Journal of Rev. John Graham, Chaplain of the
First Connecticut Regiment, Colonel I/yman. Havana Expe-
dition, 1762.
Annual Report of the National Association of Audubon Societies
for 1909.
Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society, 1903-1904.— With
Revised Constitution, List of Members, Reports, Papers, and
List of Revolutionary Soldiers, Buried in Vermont, and Revo-
lutionary Pensioners. President's Address, "Recovery of the
Jones Fay Records." Paper, "Commodore Thomas Mac-
donough," Hon. Charles B. Darling. Paper, "Revolutionary
Soldiers Buried in Vermont, and Incidents Concerning Some
of Vermont's Revolutionary Heroes," Walter B. Crockett.
Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society for the years 1908-
1909.
The Young Man as a Patriot.— Read December 16th, 1907. Writ-
ten by Major A. F. Gault for the Young Men's Association
of Trinity Church, Montreal, P. Q.
Bureau of the American Republics, Washington U. S. A.— Joseph
P. Smith, Director, Hawaii. Handbook No. 85, August, 1897.
Sons of the Revolution.— New York Society, 1896.
Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York. — Reports of
Board of Managers, Treasurer and Historian. Fraunces Tav-
ern, New York, December 4, 1908.
Sons of the Revolution, 1776-1883.— General Society of the Revo-
lution, 1908.
Inauguration of the President.— Onion College Bulletin, Com-
mencement Number, August, 1909. Vol II, No. 4.
Union College Bulletin.— Vol. I, August, 1908. No. 4, Commence-
ment Number, 1907-1908.
Union College Bulletin.— Vol. II, May, 1909, No. 3. Alumni Num-
ber, 1908-1909.
Union College Bulletin.— Vol. II, February, 1909. No. 2. Report
Number, 1908-1909.
492
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Bulletin of Brown University, The Catalogue.— 1909-1910. Vol.
VI, December, 1909. No. 5.
A Tercentenary Publication, 1909.— The Centennial of Ticondero-
ga, 1764, July Twenty-fifth, 1864. A Reprint from the Essex
County Republican, August 18, 1864. Published by the Ti-
conderoga Historical Society.
Path of the Earth and Moon in the Plane of the Ecliptic. — Paper
by Verplank Colvin. Read before the Albany Institute, Dec.
11, 1894.
Adjutant General's Report.— Vols. I-II-IIL 1868.
MEETING OF TRUSTEES
JANUARY 31, 1911
Mid-winter meeting of the trustees of the New York State His-
torical Association, held at Hotel Ten Eyck, Albany, N. Y., 11 :30
A. M., January 31, 1911.
Present— Hon. James A. Roberts, New York ; Jacques W. Bed-
way, Mt. Vernon; Hon. Grenville M. Ingalsbe, Hudson Falls;
William Wait, Kinderhook ; James A. Holden, Glens Falls ; George
K. Hawkins, Plattsburg; Hon. Charles F. Cantine, Kingston; Dr.
Sherman Williams, Glens Falls; Dr. Joseph E. King, Fort Edward;
Dr. William 0. Stillman, Albany; Dr. W. A. E. Cummings, Ticon-
deroga; Hon. Andrew S. Draper, Albany; Hon. Thos. E. Finegan,
Albany; Miss Mary H. Haldane, Kingston; Frederick B. Richards,
Glens Falls.
Upon motion it was resolved that the minutes of the previous
meeting be adopted without reading.
James A. Holden, Treasurer, reported as follows:
To the Trustees of the New York State Historical Association :
Gentlemen : —
The report of your treasurer at this time will be of an informal
nature :
Would report that I have paid on account of printing 1909
Proceedings $450.00, wihich leaves a balance due the Glens Falls
Publishing Company of $205.40. There is also due the Bullard
Press for printing, etc., $38.50, making total liabilities of $243.90.
On Jan. 30th we had cash on hand, received from dues and
other sources, amounting to $266.66, leaving assets over liabilities
of $22.76. There is still to be collected a large proportion of dues
for present year.
I regret to state that we are receiving quite a number of resig-
nations. There have also been a number of deaths in the Associa-
tion during the past year, which the accessions will practically
equalize. A determined effort to make the membership up to 1,000
494 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
paying members is very desirable, and the proposed action of the
Association to that end is deserving of the support of every mem-
ber of the Board of Trustees.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
J. A. HOLDEN, Treasurer.
Upon motion it was resolved that the treasurer's report be
adopted.
Verbal reports were received for the following committees:
Program, by Judge Ingalsbe ; Legislation, by Mr. Holden ; Marking
Historic Spots, by Dr. Williams; Closer Relations, by Judge In-
galsbe; Crown Point Reservation, by Dr. Cummings; Publication,
by Mr. Richards.
Upon motion it w&s resolved that the chairman of the Lake
George Battle Ground Park Committee be requested to communi-
cate with the office of the State Engineer and ask that a survey be
made by the state of the Lake George Battleground Park.
Judge Ingalsbe as a special committee to amend the articles of
incorporation made a verbal report. Upon motion it was resolved
that a committee composed of Judge Ingalsbe, Morris P. Ferris,
and Thomas E. Finegan be authorized to consider the several ques-
tions involved carefully and that they hereby be granted power to
act which ever way they consider for the best interests of the As-
sociation.
At this point Judge Cantine and Miss Haldane repeated the
invitation of the city of Kingston that the society hold the next
meeting in that city, and upon motion it was resolved that the As-
sociation accept the invitation of the city of Kingston and that the
Program Committee meet the Kingston Committee with power to
make definite arrangements for such meeting.
Dr. Williams then brought up the matter of offering prizes to
the students of the High Schools of the state for essays on histori-
cal subjects and submitted the following outline.
"THE NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Offers the following prizes for the best essays on * ' Ticonderoga in
History." Competition open to all pupils of High School grade in
any of the schools of the State, public or private. The essays must
consist of at least two hundred words. They must be completed
MEETING OF TRUSTEES. 495
and in the hands of the Secretary, Mr. Frederick B. Richards,
Glens Palls, N. Y., not later than the first of November, 1911. At
the close of each essay must be a declaration signed by the writer,
saying that he or she has received no aid from any one beyond ad-
vice as to what to read in preparation.
First Prize. $30 in gold.
Second Prize. $20 in gold.
Third Prize. $10 in gold.
There will be a first and second honorable mention for the first
and second best essays submitted from each county.
The three prize essays will be printed in the proceedings of
the Association, as will be also the names and addresses of all those
winning honorable mention.
The bibliography accompanying this, is suggestive merely, as
much of the benefit to be derived from the preparation of each
paper will come from earnest, systematic work of the scholar and
essayist in looking up his or her own references in the various his-
tories, special works and monographs treating on New York history,
either directly or indirectly.
Many of the books mentioned, as well as others, can be found in
the local libraries. The State Library will be glad to cooperate in
this matter as fully as possible lending books through the local lib-
raries, to which application should be made.
The essays will be examined and prizes awarded by a committee
appointed by the Association.
It is hoped that school officers, superintendents, principals, and
teachers will do all in their power to create a general interest in this
matter, so that our children may come to be as well informed upon
the history of our State, and as proud of it, as are the citizens of
Massachusetts of the history of that Commonwealth. Surely there
is sufficient reason for this, as no other State has a prouder history
than ours. If this plan arouses sufficient interest, prizes will be
awarded from year to year, taking each year some different phase
of the history of the State.
It is believed that work of this character will not only stimulate
pride in the history of our State, but that it will prove a valuable
aid in creating proper reading habits, and a great help in teaching
the art of composition. "
496 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
REFERENCES.
At the request of the Committee on High Schools and Acade-
mies, the following list of references relating to Ticonderoga has
been prepared. If the special works are not in your local library
the institution can procure them from the State Library at Albany.
A proper consideration of this subject would divide it natural-
ly into four parts.
First, ante-Colonial days; second, the Colonial period; third,
Revolutionary period ; fourth, War of 1812 period.
The most available source work from which to obtain the bib-
liography and references for these periods will be found to be Win-
sor's Narrative and Critical History of America. The Essays,
Notes and Appendices of this work give practically everything that
is known of general interest on these different periods. Vols. IV
and V treat of the first two periods and VI, VII and VIII of the
last two.
Winsor's Handbook of the American Revolution, Boston, 1899,
covers very generally the references for that period.
In 1901 the New York State Library issued their Bulletin 56,
comprising the Bibliography of New York Colonial History, which
should be studied with much care, as showing the works in the State
Library on this subject.
The American Historical Association's Annual Report for
1905, II, contains the bibliography of every Historical Association
in the United States up to that time, and from its subject matter
and index valuable hints can be obtained on this topic. The pub-
lications of the Massachusetts Historical Society, New York His-
torical Society, New Jersey Historical Society, Vermont Historical
Society, New England Historic Genealogical Society, New York
Genealogical and Biographical Society, and Essex Institute, Salem,
Mass., contain most valuable journals, diaries and monographs
bearing on this matter.
The general historians Bancroft (either old ed. 1855 et seq.,
or revised of 1879 can be used) ; Parkman (Frontenac ed. 1899,
preferred), and Fiske (H. M. & Co., ed. 1902), should also be read
in connection with this topic.
The American Nation, edited by A. B. Hart, covers in Vols.
VI, VII, VIII, IX and X this particular period.
MEETING OF TRUSTEES. 497
Special articles bearing on this subject are contained in Volsl
II and IX of this Association.
The Campaign of 1758 will be thoroughly treated in the forth-
coming volume of this Association (X), which is in the printer's
hands and will be out within a few weeks. It will contain a rather
exhaustive bibliography of the Campaign of 1758, which wiir gen-
erally cover the period of the French and Indian War, and stu-
dents entering for this prize are advised to give this volume their
attention.
The Documentary History of New York State in four volumes,
and Colonial Documents in ten volumes, as well as the reports of
former State Historian Hastings for 1896, 1897, his George Clinton
Papers and Daniel Tompkins Papers, should be examined for origi-
nal or contemporary letters and documents, as should Force's Ar-
chives, 1775, 1776, Spark's Writings of Washington, Boston, 1839,
the Annual Register, London, from 1758 on, the Gentleman's Maga-
zine, London, for the period of the Colonial Wars, &c.
The following books will be found of use in the preparation of
this essay: Sherman William's Early New York History, N. Y.,
1906 ; Smith's History of New York, N. Y., 1830 (2 vols.) ; William
Henry Johnson's French Pathfinders in North America, Boston,
1905; Bryant & Gay's United States History; Lossing's Field Book
of the Revolution; Lossing's History of the American Revolution
(3 vols.) ; Lossing's Field Book of the War of 1812; Lossing's Life
of Schuyler (2 vols.) ; Dwight's Travels, II and III; Lowell's Hes-
sians in the Revolution, New York, 1884; Buell's Sir William John-
son; W. L. Stone's Sir William Johnson.
The general histories of New York, Massachusetts, Vermont
and Connecticut, a list of which can be compiled from Winsor, con-
tain much that the student of this period should know.
In the files of Dawson's Historical Magazine, The American
Historical Records, and Mrs. Lamb's Magazine of American His-
tory will be found valuable articles relating to Champlain, Ticon-
dleroga, Burgoyne's Campaign, Arnold, Allen, Stark, Rogers, and
many of the actors in the great war periods. Spark's American
Biography, first series, also Headley's Washington and His Gen-
erals, have interesting biographies of many of the soldiers, generals
and persons prominent in the history of Ticonderoga.
Among the local wtorks relating to this region the following
authorities, or some of them, can be consulted: Lake Champlain
498 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Tercentenary. State Education Department, State of New York;
Three Centuries of the Champlain Valley, Saranac Chapter of the
D. A. R., Plattsburgh, 1909; Watson's History of Essex County,
Albany, 1869; Holden's Queensbury, New York, Albany, 1874; S.
R. Stoddard's Guide Book of Lakes George and Champlain, last
ed. ; Johnson's History of Washington County, Philadelphia, 1878;
Stone's History of Washington County, New York, 1901; Smith's
History of Essex County, 1885; Bascom's Fort Edward Book, Fort
Edward, 1903; Sylvester's History of Saratoga County, Philadel-
phia, 1878 ; Palmer's History of Lake Champlain, Albany, 1866 ; Wat-
son's History of the Champlain Valley, Albany, 1863; DeCosta's
Lake George, New York, 1868 ; B. C. Butler's Lake George and Lake
Champlain, Albany, 1868; Murray's Lake Champlain and Its
Shores, 1890 ; Parkman 's Historic Handbook of the Northern Tour,
Boston, 1885; DeCosta's History of Fort George, American Bibli-
opolist for 1871; Hon. L. E. Chittenden's Capture of Ticonderoga,
Rutland, 1872; Brandow's Old Saratoga, Albany, 1900; W. Max
Reid's Lake George and Lake Champlain, 1910; Fitch's Survey of
Washington County, in Trans. N. Y. State Agri. Society, 1848,
1849; Watson's Survey of Essex County in Trans N. Y. Agri. So-
ciety, 1852; Dr. Joseph Cook's Home Sketches of Essex County,
Keeseville, 1858; id. Historical Address, Centennial Ticonderoga,
1864; Ticonderoga Historical Society, 1909.
The foregoing provides, in a_general way, as has been stated,
a list of references which will be found useful in the preparation
of this paper. While this list is a long one, it is not made so with
the expectation that any contestant will refer to all these works or
to any considerable number of them, but that out of this large num-
ber they will be sure to find some to which they may have access.
It does not seem to be a fact generally known, that the State
Library at Albany has a very large and excellent collection of
Americana. Its reference department will be found both efficient
and ready to assist any student of history so far as the rules, regu-
lations and resources of the library will permit.
JAMES AUSTIN HOLDEN,
Acting Librarian N. Y. State Historical Association.
Upon motion it wias resolved that the prizes as suggested be
given and that a copy of the letter as submitted be sent to the High
Schools of the State and be published in the papers.
MEETING OF TRUSTEES.
499
Upon motion it was resolved that the committee consisting of
Messrs. Finegan, Hawkins, and Williams, appointed at the last
meeting for the purpose of corresponding with the High Schools
and libraries of the state for the purpose of securing their member-
ship in this Association be also a committee to have charge of the
taking up of the matter of historical prizes in the state.
After considerable discussion in regard to the Wiltwyck rec-
ords upon motion it was resolved that the present committee be
discharged and that the President appoint a new committee of three
and that they have power to get all possible information in regard
to the desirability of publishing these records by this Association,
and to make report at the next meeting. President Roberts ap-
pointed Dr. Cummings chairman of this committee with power to
add two members.
Upon motion it was resolved that the following be elected to
membership in the Association:
Aldrich, Charles S.
Barker, Mrs. Daniel Folger
Bixby, George S.
Boardman, Waldo E. M. D.
Botsford, Elmer F.
Burnham, John B.
Campbell, Rev. Thos. J.
Carville, Miss Katherine J. C.
Cole, William H.
Coles, Mrs. Theodore
Cook, George T.
Danforth, George L.
Dunn, Gano
Eagle, Major Clarence H.
Foster, C. H.
Fowler, Everett
Francis, Lewis W.
Fredonia State Norman School
Goodrich, Mrs. Alfred L.
Harcourt, Alden J.
Hasbrouck, Hon. Gilbert D. B.
Healy, A. Augustus
Lamb, Mrs. George E.
Troy
Plattsburg
Plattsburg
Boston, Mass.
Plattsburg
Essex
32 Washington Sq., W., N. Y.
New Rochelle
Locust Grove
Oneida
Ticonderoga
Middleburgh
New York
57 Broad St., New York
Troy
Kingston
2 Rector St., New York
Fredonia
Oneida
Kingston
Kingston
New Yo"k
Port Henry
500 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Larkin, Orrel T. Plattsburgh
Michael, Myron J. Kingston
Moore, Edwin G. Plattsburgh
Moore, Mrs. Eliza Beatty Plattsburgh
Munger, George W. Syracuse
Munson, Mrs. S. L. Albany
Parks, Miss Nora Adah Schenectady
Pierce, George W. Albany
Robertson, Miss Jessie Glens Falls
Snitzler, Mrs. John H. Chicago, 111.
Tuttle, Mrs. George F. Plattsburgh
Van Lear, Arnold J. F. Albany
Van Wagenen, Virgil W. Kingston
Walters, Mrs. Katherine P. Glens Falls
Wickes, Frank B. Ticonderoga
Wood, Frank H. Albany
Wood, Mrs. Jos. S. Mt. Vernon
Wooley, J. S. Ballston Spa.
Upon motion it was resolved that the matter of appointing a
caretaker for the Lake George Battleground Park be left to the
Lake George Battleground Park Committee with power.
Upon motion the following preambles and resolutions were
unanimously adopted:
WHEREAS, the building known as the "Old Schuyler Man-
sion" in the City of Albany, N. Y., is one of the most important
historical structures in the eastern portion of the state, inasmuch
as it formed the home of a very distinguished New Yorker during
the colonial period and was associated with incidents. in the Indian
life of that time, and is indissolubly connected with the names of
Washington, Hamilton, LaFayette, Burgoyne and most of the
prominent Americans of the Revolutionary period, and is in grave
danger of being demolished in order to make room for modern
building structures, and
WHEREAS, it is a fine specimen of colonial architecture and
in a good state of preservation and in the opinion of this Associa-
tion should be preserved as an historic monument of the most im-
portant epoch in the earlier history of the state, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the New York State Historical Association
MEETING OF TRUSTEES. 501
respectfully petitions the legislature of the State of New York to
make provision for the preservation of the historic mansion former-
ly owned and occupied by General Philip Schuyler of Revolution-
ary fame, believing that the same is eminently worthy of such ac-
tion by the state government and that such purchase would meet
with the approval of all citizens of this commonwealth who are now
or may hereafter be interested in the preservation of this beauti-
ful and interesting building so closely associated with the early
history of this state.
RESOLVED, that the New York State Historical Association
respectfully petitions the legislature of the State of New York to
vest the custody and guardianship of the above mentioned build-
ing in the Board of Trustees of the Association that it may be de-
voted to the preservation of other historical relics and serve as a
headquarters for the historical interests of the state.
Upon motion it was resolved that the local members of the
Committee on Legislation take whatever steps may be possible to
favor the building of the proposed state road from New York to
Rouses Point.
Dr. Cummings reported that the children of the Ticonderoga
public schools had by their own subscriptions purchased a bronze
tablet wfliich was to be unveiled in June, to mark one of the his-
toric landmarks of Ticonderoga.
Upon motion it was resolved that the following amendment to
the Constitution, to be entitled Section 6 of Article III, be pre-
sented at the next annual meeting: "Active members shall be
elected by vote of the Association or of the Board of Trustees, or
by a majority of the Executive Committee. Corresponding, Hon-
orary and Associate members shall be elected by vote of the Asso-
ciation, or of the Board of Trustees, but no Associate member shall
be elected by the Association, unless recommended by the Board of
Trustees. "
Upon motion it was resolved that the meeting adjourn.
FREDERICK B. RICHARDS,
Secretary.
STANDING COMMITTEES
Program.
Grenville M. Ingalsbe Sherman Williams
With power to add to their committee.
Legislation.
Morris Patterson Ferris James A. Holden Thomas E. Finegan
William 0. Stillman Victor H. Paltsits
Marking Historical Spots.
Sherman Williams Frank H. Severance James A. Holden
W. A. E. Cummings Miss Mary H. Haldane
Establishment of Closer Relations between Historical Societies of
the State.
Grenville M. Ingalsbe Frank H. Severance William Q. Stillman
Necrology.
Grenville M. Ingalsbe Irvin W. Near Frederick B. Richards
Lake George Battleground Park.
James A. Holden Grenville M. Ingalsbe Elwyn Seelye
Crown Point Reservation.
Ex officio— President of Association State Architect of New York
State Historian of New York
Byrne A. Pyrke Frank H. Severance Richard L. Hand
Howland Pell W. A. E. Cummings
Publication.
The Secretary, with power to add to the committee
SPECIAL COMMITTEES
Isle du St. Sacrement.
W. Max Reid Mrs. Harry W. Watrous David Williams
Rev. Thomas J. Campbell George P. Knapp
To Amend Articles of Incorporation.
Grenville M. Ingalsbe Morris Patterson Ferris Thos. E. Finegan
On Wtttwyck Records. ,
W. A. E. Cummings, with power to add two members to committee
On High Schools and Libraries of State, and Prizes for Historical
Essays.
Thomas E. Finegan George K. Hawkins Sherman Williams
On Old Schuyler Mansion.
William 0. Stillman, with power to add two members to committee
INSIGNIA OF THE ASSOCIATION.
The Insignia of the Association consists of a badge, the pendant
of which is circular in form, one and three-sixteenths inches in
diameter.
Obverse : In the center is represented the discovery of the Hud-
son River; the " Half -Moon " is surrounded by Indian Canoes, and
in the distance is shown the Palisades. At the top is the coat-of-
arms of New Amsterdam and a tomahawk, arrow and Dutch sward.
At the bottom is shown the seal of New York State. Upon a ribbon,
surrounding the center medallion, is the legend : New York State
Historical Association, and the dates 1609 and 1899 ; the former be-
ing the date of the discovery of New York, and the latter the date
of the founding of the Historical Association.
Reverse : The Seal of the Association.
The badges are made of 14k gold, sterling silver and bronze, and
will be sold to members of the Association at the following prices :
14k Gold, complete with bar and ribbon $11.00
Sterling Silver, complete with bar and ribbon 5.00
Bronze, complete with bar and ribbon!. \ 4.00
Application for badges should be made to the Secretary of the
Association, Frederick B. Richards, Glens Falls, N. Y., who will is-
sue permit, authorizing the member to make the purchase from
the official Jewelers, J. E. Caldwell & Co., 902 Chestnut Street,
Philadelphia.
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION.
The names and residences of the directors of said corporation, to
hold office until the first annual meeting, and who shall be known as the
Board of Trustees, are:
James A. Roberts, Buffalo.
Timothy L. Woodruff, Brooklyn.
Daniel C. Fair, Glens Falls.
Everett R. Sawyer, Sandy Hill.
James A. Holden, Glens Falls.
Robert O. Bascom, Fort Edward.
Morris Patterson Ferris, Dobbs Ferry.
Elwyn Seelye, Lake George.
Grenville M. Ingalsbe, Sandy Hill.
Frederick B. Richards, Ticondieroga.
Anson Judd TJpson, Glens Fall®.
Asahel R. Wing, Fort Edward.
William O. Stearns Glens Falls.
Robert C. Alexander, New York.
Elmer J. West, Glens Falls.
Hugh Hastings, Albany.
Pliny T. Sexton, Palmyra.
Wiliam S. Ostrandjer, Schuylerville.
Sherman Williams, Glens Falls.
William L, Stone, Mt. Vernon.
Henry E. Tremain, New York.
William H. Tippetts, Lake George.
John Boulton Simpson, Bolton.
Harry W. Watrous, Hague.
Abraham B. Valentine, New York.
The name of such corporation is the "New York State Historical
Association."
The principal objects for which said corporation is formed are:
First: To promote and encourage original historical research.
Second: To disseminate a greater knowledge of the early history of
the State, by means of lectures, and the publication and distribution of
literature on historical subjects.
Third: To gather books, manuscripts, pictures, and relics relating
to the early history of the state of New York and to establish a museum
therein for their preservation.
506 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Fourth.: To suitably mark places of historic interest.
Fifth: To acquire by purchasfe, gift, devise or otherwise, the title to,
or custody and control of, historic -spots and places.
The territory in which the operations of this* corporation are to be
principally conducted' is the State of New York.
The principal office of said corporation is to be located at the City
of Albany, New York.
The number of directors of said corporation, to be known as the
Board of Trustees, is twenty-five.
ARTICLE I.
Name.
This Society shall be known as "New York State Historical Asso-
ciation.
V
ARTICLE II.
Objects.
Its objects shall be:
First. To promote and encourage original historical research.
Second. To disseminate a greater knowledge of the early history of
the State, by means of lectures and the publication and distribution of
literature on historical subjects.
Third1. To gather books, manuscripts, pictures, and relics relating to
the early 'history of the State and to establish a museum at Caldwell,
Lake George, for their preservation.
Fourth, To suitably mark places of historic interest.
Fifth. To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, or otherwise, the title
to, or custody and control of, historic spots and places.
ARTICLE III.
Members
Section 1. Members shall be of four classes— Active, Associate, Cor-
responding and Honorary. Active and Associate members only shall have
a voice in the management of the Society.
Section 2. All persons interested in American history shall be eligi-
ble for Active membership.
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION. 507
Section 3. Person® residing outside tine state of New York, inter-
ested in historical investigation, may be made Corresponding members.
Section 4. Persons who have attained' distinguished eminence as
historians may be> made Honorary members.
Section 5. Person® who shall have given to the Association dona-
tions of money, time, labor, books, documents, MSS. collections of
antiquities, art or archaeology of a value equivalent in the judgment of
the trustees to a life membership may be made Associate members.
ARTICLE IV.
Management.
Section 1. The property of the Association shall be vested in, and the
affairs of the Association conducted by the Board of Trustees to be elect-
ed by the Association. Vacancies in the Board of Trustees shall be filled
by the remaining members of the Board, the appointee to hold office until
the next annual meeting of the Association.
Section 2. The Board1 of Trustees shall have power to suspend or
expel members of the Association for cause, and to restore them to mem-
bership after a suspension or expulsion. No member shall be suspended
or expelled without first having been given ample opportunity to be
heard in his or her own defense.
Section 3. The first Board of Trustees shall consist of those desig-
nated in the Articles of Incorporation, who shall meet as soon as may be
after the adoption of this Constitution and divide themselves into three
classes of, as nearly as may be, eight members each, such classes to serve
respectively, one until the first annual meeting, another until the second
annual meeting, anld' the third until the third annual meeting of the
Association. At each annual meeting the Association shall elect eight or
nine members (as the case may be) to serve as Trustees for the ensuing
three years, to fill the places of the class whose terms then expire.
Section 4. The Board of Trustees shall have no power to bind the
Association to any expenditure of money beyond the actual resources of
the Association except by the consent of the Board of Trustees, expressed
in writing and signed by every member thereof.
ARTICLE V.
Officers.
Section 1. The officers of the Association shall be a President, three
Vice Presidents, a Treasurer, a Secretary, and an Assistant Secretary, all
of whom shall be elected by the Board of Trustees from its own number,
at its first meeting after the annual meeting of tShe Association, and shall
508 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
hold) office for one year, or until their successors are chosen. Temporary
officers shall be chosen by the Incorporators to act until an election as
aforesaid, by the Board of Trustees.
Section 2. The Board of Trustees may appoint -such other officers,
committees, or agents, and delegate to them sudh powers as it sees fit,
for the prosecution of its work.
Section 3. Vacancies in any office or committee may be filled by the
Board of Trustees.
ARTICLE VI.
Fees and; Dues.
Section 1. Each person on being elected to active membership
between January and July of any year, shall pay into the Treasury of
the Association the sum of two dollars, and thereafter on the first day of
January in each year a like sum for his or her annual dues. Any person
elected to membership subsequent to July 1st, and who shall pay into
the treasury two dollars, shall be exempt from dues until January 1st of
the year next succeeding his or her consummation of membership.
Section 2. Any member of the Association may commute his or her
annual dues by the payment of twenty-five dollars at one time, and there-
by become a life member exempt from further payments.
Section 3. Any member may secure membership which shall descend
to a member of his or her family qualified under the Constitution and By-
La wis of the Association for membership therein, in perpetuity, by the
payment at one time of two hundred and fifty dollars. The person to hold
the membership may be designated in writing by the creator of such
membership, or by the subsequent holdter thereof subject to the approval
of the Board of Trustees.
Section 4. All receipts from life and perpetual memberships shall be
set aside anid) vested as a special fund, the income only to be used for
current expenses.
Section 5. Associate, Honorary and Corresponding Members and
persons who hold Perpetual Membership shall be exempt from the pay-
ment of dues.
Section 6. The board of Trustees shall have power to excuse Uie
non-payment of dues, and to suspend or expel members for non-payment
when their dues remain unpaid for more than six months.
Section 7. Historical Societies, Educational institutions of all
kinds, libraries, learned societies, patriotic societies, or any incorporated
or unincorporated1 association for the advancement of learning and intel-
lectual welfare of mankind, shall be considered a "person" under Section
2 of this article.
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION. 509
ARTICLE VII.
Meetings.
Section 1. The annual meeting of the Association shall be held on
the last Tuesday of July in each year. Notice thereof shall be sent to
each member at least ten days prior thereto.
Section 2. Special meetings of the Association may be called at any
time by the Board of Trustees and must be called upon the written re-
quest of ten members. The notice of such meeting shall specify the ob-
ject thereof, and no business shall be transacted thereat excepting that
designated) in the notice.
Section 3. Ten members shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of
the Association.
Section 4. The Board of Trustees shall arrange for the holding of a
series of meetings at Lake George during the summer months, for the
readings of original papers on history and kindtred subjects, and for social
intercourse between the members and their guests.
ARTICLE VIII.
Seal
The seal of the Association shall be a group of statuary representing
the Mohawk Chief, King Hendrick, in the act of proving to Gen. William
Johnson the unwisdom of dividing his forces on the eve of the battle of
Lake George. Around this a circular band bearing the legend, New York
State Historical Association, 1899.
ARTICLE IX.
Amendments.
Amendments! to the Constitution may be made at any annual meeting,
or at a special meeting called for that purpose. Notice of a proposed
amendment with a copy thereof must have been mailed to each member
at least thirty days before the dlay upon which action is taken thereon.
The adoption of an amendment shall require the favorable vote of
two-thirds of those present at a duly-constituted meeting of the Associa-
ion.
BY-LAWS.
ARTICLE I.
Members.
Candidates for membership in the Association shall be proposed by
one member and seconded by another, and shall be elected by the Board
of Trustees. Three adverse votes shall defeat an election.
ARTICLE II.
Board of Trustees.
Section 1. The Board of Trustees may make such rules for its own
government as it may deem wise, and which shall not be inconsistent
with the Constitution and By-Laws of the Association, Five members of
the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
Section 2. The board of trustees shall elect one of their own number
to preside at the meeting of the Board in the absence of the President.
Section 3. The Board of Trustees shall at each annual meeting of the
Association render a full report of its proceeding® during the year last
past.
Section 4. The Board of Trustees shall hold at least four meetings in
each year. At each of such meetings it shall consider and act upon the
names of candidates proposed for membership.
Section 5. The Board of Managers shall each year appoint commit-
tees to take charge of the annual gathering of the Association at Lake
George. ,
ARTICLE III.
President
The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and of
the Board of Trustees, and perform such other duties as may be delegated
to him by the Association of the Board of Trustees. He shall be ex-officio
a member of all committees.
ARTICLE IV.
Vice Presidents.
The Vice Presidents shall be denominated First, Second and Third
Vice Presidents. In the absence of the President his duties shall de-
volve upon the senior Vice President.
BY-LAWS. 511
ARTICLE V.
Treasurer.
Section 1. The Treasurer shall have charge of all the funds of the
Association. He snail keep accurate books of account, which shall at all
times be open to the inspection of the Board of Trustees. He shall pre-
sent a full and comprehensive statement of the Association's financial
condition, its receipts and expenditures, at each annual meeting, and
shall present a brief statement to the Board of Trustees at each meeting.
He shall pay out money only on the approval of the majority of the Ex-
ecutive Committee, or on the resolution of the Board of Trustees.
Section 2. Before assuming the duties of his office, the Treasurer-
elect shall with a surety to be approved by the Board execute to the
Association his bond in the sum of one thousand dollars, conditioned for
the faithful performance of his duties as Treasurer.
Section 3. The President shall, thirty days prior to the annual meet-
ing of the Association, appoint two members of the Association who shall
examine the books and vouchers of the Treasurer and audit his accounts,
and present their report to the Association at its annual meeting.
ARTICLE VI.
Secretary.
The Secretary shall preserve accurate minutes, of the transactions of
the Association and of the Board of Trustees, and shall conduct the cor-
respondence of the Association. He shall notify the members of meet-
ings, and perform such other diuties as he may be directed to perform by
the Association or by the Board of Trustees. He may delegate any por-
tion of his duties to the Assistant Secretary.
ARTICLE VII.
Executive Committee.
The officers of the Association shall constitute an Executive Commit-
tee. Such commute shall direct the business of the Association between
meetings of the Board of Trustees, but shall have no power to establish
or declare a policy for the Association, or to bind it in any way except in
relation to routine work. The Committee shall have no power to direct
a greater expenditure than fifty dollars without the authority of the Board
of Trustees.
ARTICLE VIII.
Procedure
Section 1. The following, except when otherwise ordered by the
512 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Association, shall be the order of business at the annual meetings of the
Association.
Call to order.
Reading of minutes of previous annual, and of any special meeting,
and acting thereon.
Reports of Officers and Board of Trustees.
Reports of Standing Committees*.
Reports of Special Committee®
Unfinished business.
Election.
New business.
Adjournment.
Section 2. The procedure at all meetings of the Association and of
the Board of Trustees, where not provided for in this Constitution and
By-Laws, shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order.
Section 3. The previous question shall not be put to vote at any
meeting unless seconded by at least three members.
Section 4. All elections shall be by ballot, except where only one
candidate is nominated for an office.
Section 5. All notices shall be sent personally or by mail to the ad-
dress designated1 in writing by the member to the Secretary.
ARTICLE IX.
Nominating Committee.
A committee of three shall be chosen by the Association at its annual
meeting, to nominate Trustees to be voted for at the next annual meeting.
Such Committee shall file its report with the Secretary of this Associa-
tion at least thirty days prior to the next annual meeting. The Secretary
shall mail a copy of such report to every member of the Association with
the notice of the annual meeting at which the report is to be acted upon.
The action of such committee shall, however, in no wise interfere with
the power of the Association to make its own nominations, but all such
independent nominations shall be sent to the secretary at least twenty
dlays prior to the annual meeting. A copy thereof shall be sent to each
member by the Secretary with the notice of meeting, and shall be headed
"Independent Nominations." If the Nominating Committee fails for any
reason to make its report so that it may be sent out with the notice of
the annual meeting, the Society may make its own nominations at such
annual meeting.
BY-LAWS. 513
ARTICLE X.
Amendments.
These By-Laws may be amended at any duly-constituted meeting of
the Association by a two-third® vote of the members present Notice of
the proposed amendment with a copy thereof must have been mailed to
each member at least twenty days before the day upon which action
thereon is taken.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL
ASSOCIATION.
HONORARY MEMBERS.
Adams, Charles Francis, LL. D. 23 Court St., Boston, Mass.
Beauchamp, Rev. William Mar-
tin, S. T. D. 121 Mark Ave., Syracuse.
Hadley, Arthur Twining, LL. D. Pres. Yale University, New
Haven, Conn.
Roosevelt, Col. Theodore, LL. D., "The Outlook," 287 Fourth Ave.,
Ph. D. New York.
Wilson, Woodrow, LL. D., Ph. Pres. Princeton University, Prince-
D., Litt. D. ton, N. J.
CORRESPONDING MEMBERS,
McMaster, John Bach, A. M., University of Pennsylvania, Phila-
Ph. D., Litt. D. delphia, Pa.
Wheeler, Arthur Martin, LL. D., Yale University, New Haven,
M. A. Conn.
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.
Crandall, Henry Glens Falls.
LIFE MEMBERS.
Barnhart, John Hendley, A. M., N. Y. Botanical Garden, Bronx
M. D. Park.
Bixby, W. K. Bolton.
Field, Cortlandt de Peyster Peekskill.
Fulton, Louis M. 31 Nassau St., New York.
Hand, Hon. Richard L., LL. D. Elizabethtown.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
515
Hanna, Charles A.
Hartley, Mrs. Frances G.
Rowland, Fred D.
Jones, Mrs. Oliver Livingston
Planten, John R.
Potts, Charles Edwin
See, Mrs. Horace
Stillman, Charles Chauncey
Webb, Dr. W. Seward
Witherbee, Hon. Frank S.
Room 174, U. S. Custom House,
New York.
232 Madison Ave., New York.
Hudson Falls.
116 W. 72nd St., New York.
44 Eight Ave., Brooklyn.
170 Rugby Road, Brooklyn.
Care Mrs. Miner, 264 So. Franklin
St., Wilkes Barre, Penn.
9 E. 67th St., New York.
51 E. 44th St., New York.
Port Henry.
MEMBERS.
Abbatt, William
Abbott, Rev. Lyman, D. D.,
LL. D.
Abercrombie, David T.
Abrahams, Abraham
Abrams, Alfred W.
Acker, Charles E.
Acker, Milo
Ackerly, Orville B.
Adams, Henry Sherman
Adams, Rev. John Quincy
Adamson, W. H.
Addington, Hon. George
Adler, Jesse, A. M., M. D.
Aiken, C. E.
Ainsworth, Hon. Danforth E.
Aldrich, Charles S.
Alexander, Hon. D. S.
Arnold, Alvaro L>.
Arthur, Miss L. Louise
Ashworth, Percy C.
Atkins, DuBois G.
141 East 25th St., N. Y.
"The Outlook," 287 Fourth Ave.,
New York City.
197 Ballantine Parkway, Newark,
N. J.
420 Fulton St., Brooklyn.
429 Western Ave., Albany.
Ossining-on-the-Hudson.
Hornell.
210 Warburton Ave., Yonkers.
152 Montague St., Brooklyn.
Auburn.
Glens Falls.
County Building, Albany.
22 E. 62nd St., New York City.
Auburn.
93 State St., Albany.
7 Collins Ave., Troy.
Buffalo.
Hudson Falls.
515 Lexington Ave., New York
Ticonderoga.
43 John St., Kingston.
516
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Atherton, F. C.
Atkins, Hon. T. Astley
Auringer, Rev. O. C.
Avon High School
Bacon, Carroll B., M. D.
Bacon, Edgar Mayhew
Badger, Rev. Frank Evans
Baker, Rev. E. Folsom
Baker, Frank M.
Baker, Fred I.
Baker, George 0.
Baker, Hon. Gilbert H.
Baker, John W.
Baldwin, Stephen C.
Ballard, Rev. Geo. Grey
Ballard, W. J.
Bandelier, Adolph F.
Banker, Dr. Silas J.
Banta, J. Edward
Barber, Arthur William, L.L. M.
Barber, Junius E.
Barcus, James Q.
Barker, Mrs. Daniel Folger
Bardeen, C. W.
Barnes, Ezra A.
Barnett, Hyman L, L. L. B.
Barney, Edgar S., Sc. D.
Bartholomew, Alanson Douglass,
Bartlett, Homer N., M. D.
Bartlett, Hon. Myron E.
Barton, Philip B., Ph. B.
Bascom, Wyman S.
Baskerville, Guy H.
Bassinger, Geo. H.
Batcheller, Geo. Clinton
Bateman, James Rice
20 Gates Circle, Buffalo.
73 Nassau St., New York.
Forestport. *
Avon.
Waterloo. ^
Tarrytown.
Forestport.
East Aurora,
Owego, Tioga Co.
Fort Ann.
Clyde.
Penn Yann.
Rochester.
190 Montague St., Brooklyn.
Fredonia.
Jamaica.
432 W. 160th St., New York,
Fort Edward.
93 Walnut St., Binghamton.
32 Nassau St., New York.
Glens Falls.
57 State St., Albany.
Plattsburg.
315 E. Washington St., Syracuse.
40 E. Bridge St., Oswego.
132 Nassau St., New York.
c|o Hebrew Techincal Institute, 36
Stuyvesant St., New York.
Whitehall.
272 Manhattan Ave., New York.
Warsaw.
352 Buffalo Ave., Niagara Falls.
Fort Edward
93 Orawanpun St., White Plains.
Glens Falls.
237 W. 72nd St., New York.
103 Park Ave,, New York.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
517
Bates, Norman L.
Battershall, Rev. Walter W.
Baumgarten, Paul
Beach, Edward Stevens, B. A.
Bean, Charles D., LL. D.
Beard, Curtis J.
Beemer, James G.
Beer, George Lewis
Belford, Hon. James
Bell, Clark, LL. D.
Bell, Hon. Frank A.
Bell, George Nelson
Bennett, Hon. William S.
Bethune, Mrs. Louise
Bigelow, Bayard
Bird, Dr. William D.
Bixby, Geo. Stephenson
Blackburn, John T. D.
Bloodgood, Clarence E.
Boardman, Waldo E., D. M. D.
Botsford, Elmer F.
Boxall, George H.
Boynton, Frank David
Brackett, Hon. Edgar T.
Brandow, Rev. John H.
Bristol, George P.
Brooks, James Byron, D. C. L.
Broughton, Harry L.
Brown, Edwin J.
Browa, Ernest C.
Brush, Edward H.
Bullard, Frederick H.
Burnham, George
Burnham, John B.
Butler, Joseph F.
Oswego, N. Y.
Albany.
75 W. 89th St., New York.
Singer Building, New York.
9 Masonic Temple, Geneva.
41 W. 34th St., New York.
Yonkers.
329 W. 71st St., New York.
Riverhead.
39 Broadway, New York.
Waverly.
608 Broadway, Kingston.
60 Wall St., New York.
215 Franklin St., Buffalo.
715 Irving Place, Syracuse.
155 Cleveland Ave., Buffalo.
Plattsburg.
Albany.
Catskill.
419 Boylston St., Boston, Mass.
Plattsburg.
366 Plymouth Ave., Buffalo.
Ithaca,
Saratoga.
59 Manning Boulevard, Al-
bany.
5 Grove Place, Ithaca.
1013 E. Adams St., Syracuse.
Hudson Falls.
37 Main St., Oneida.
280 Broadway, New York.
45 Park Place, New York.
Glens Falls.
3401 Powellton Ave., Philadel-
phia, Pa.
Essex, N. Y.
Alleghany.
518
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Caldwell, Samuel Cushman,
C. L.
Gall, Edward Payson
Callan, Peter A., M. D.
Cameron, Edward M.
Cameron, Frederick W.
Camp, Col. Walter B.
Campbell, Rev. Thos. J.
Cannon, Henry W.
Cannon, James G.
Cantine, Hon. Charles F.
Carlson, Emil
Carman, Nelson G.
Carmody, Thomas
Carpenter, Charles W.
Carpenter, Hon. Francis M.
Carrington, Augustus B.
Carroll, Fred Linus
Carroll, Ralph Waldo
Carter, Robert C.
Carvalho, S. S.
Carvallo, David N.
Carville, Miss Katharine J. C.
Cass, Rev. James Michael
Catlin, Maj. Gen. Isaac S.
Champion, Charles S.
Channing, J. Parke
Chapman, Rev. J. Wilbur
Chase, Hon. Emory A.
Chase, George
Chase, William M.
Chatfield, Henry H.
Cheney, George Nelson
Cheney, Hon. 0. H.
Cheney, William Dewitt
Chesebrough, Robert A.
Chester, Hon. Alden
D.
P. 0. Box 56, Pelham.
Larchmont Manor, Larchmont.
35 W. 38th St., New York.
608 Central Ave., Albanv.
34 Elk St., Albany.
Sacketts Harbor.
32 Washington Sq., W., New
York.
10 Wall St., New York.
Scarsdale.
Kingston.
43 E. 59th St., New York.
166 Montague St., Brooklyn.
Penn Yann.
504 Grand St., New York.
Mount Kisco.
200 Broadway, New York.
Johnstown.
708 Tribune Building, New York.
Glens Falls.
238 William St., New York.
265 Broadway, New York.
New Rochelle.
Willsboro.
26 Court St., Brooklyn.
50 Church St., New York.
42 Broadway, New York.
Winona Lake, Ind.
25 Prospect St., Catskill.
174 Fulton St., New York.
234 E. 15th St., New York.
Southhampton, L. I.
Syracuse.
52 Broadway, New York.
24 Syracuse Savings Bank Build-
ing, Syracuse.
17 State St., New York.
Albany.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
519
Chittick, Henry R.
Chorman, Frederick
Christler, Rev. Leonard J.
Chrystie, T. Ludlow
Church, Irving P.
Clark, Walter A.
Clarke, John M., LL. D. Ph. D.
Clearwater, Hon. Alphonso T.
Cleaveland, Frank N.
Clemans, Dr. Sylvester C.
Clement, S. M.
Clendenin, Rev. Dr. F. M.
Clews, Hon. Henry
Clinch, Hon. Edward S.
Close, Stuart, M. D.
Cochrane, Hon. Aaron V. S.
Codding, G. H., M. D.
Coddington, Rev. Herbert G.,
D. D.
Coddington, Dr. Wellesley P.
Coffin, Charles A.
Coffin, William Anderson
Cogswell, William Brown
Cohn, Julius Hilbern
Coit, Rev. Albert
Colclough, Rev. Joseph Hackney
Cole, Charles K., M. D., A. M.
Cole, Hon. Fremont
Cole, Peter B.
Cole, Wm. H.
Coles, Mrs. Theodore
Coleman, Frank B.
Collins, Hon. C. V.
Colton, Rt. Rev. Chas. H.
Columbia University Library
Colvin, Andrew
160 Broadway, New York.
319 Jefferson Ave., Niagara Falls.
Havre, Montana.
115 Broadway, New York.
Ithaca.
755 Main St., Geneva.
State Hall, Albany.
316 Albany Ave., Kingston.
Canton.
20 Spring St., Gloversville.
Main Nat. Bank, Buffalo.
West Chester.
151 Broadway, New York.
133 W. 121st St., New York.
248 Hancock St., Brooklyn.
Hudson.
Amenia.
1006 Harrison St., Syracuse.
106 Walnut Place, Syracuse.
145 W. 58th St., New York.
Pine Spring Farm, Jennerstown,
Pa.
Syracuse.
277 Broadway, New York.
521 Columbia Ave., Syracuse.
151 Second St., Deposit,
32 Rose St., New York.
1 Madison Ave., New York.
801 O. C. S. Bank Bldg., Syra-
cuse.
Locust Grove.
2 Broad St., Oneida.
2 Pleasant St., Fitchburg, Mass.
Troy.
1025 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.
116th St., New York.
280 Broadway, New York.
520
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Colvin, Hon. Verplank
Comstock, Hon. Anthony
Conklin, Roland B.
Connor, Washington B.
Conway, John B.
Cook, George O.
Cook, Dr. Joseph T.
Cook, Thos. S.
Cook, Mrs. Joseph
Cook, Newton, M. D.
Cook, Rev. Philip
Cooley, Dr. James S.
Cooley, Dr. Leroy C.
Coolidge, Thomas S.
Coon, Hon. Stephen Mortimer
Coopernail, George P»
Corhusier, Lt. Col. Wm. H.
Cornell, Douglass
Cortelyou, Hon. George B.
Cottrell, D. D.
Couch, Hon. Franklin
Cowen, Sidney J.
Cox, Frederick H.
Cox, Rev. Henry M.
Craig, Charles S., M. D.
Crandall, Dr. Floyd M.
Crandall, William Henry
Crandall Library
Crane, Frederick
Crane, Ralph Adams
Crapsey, Rev. Dr. Algernon S.
Crimmins, Hon. John D.
Crippen, C. J., M. D.
Crisp, W. Benton
Cronkhite, Lt. Col. Adelbert
Crosby, Hon. Harley N.
Albany.
140 Nassau St., New York.
1 Wall St., New York.
31 Nassau St., New York.
Argyle.
Ticonderoga.
636 Delaware Ave., Buffalo
Ticonderoga.
Ticonderoga.
Sandy Creek.
240 E. 131st St., New York.
Glen Cove.
2 Reservoir Square, Poughkeep-
sie.
Glens Falls.
Oswego.
Bedford.
612 Park Ave., Plainfield, N. J.
Municipal Building, Buffalo.
4 Irving Place, New York.
North Cohocton.
Peekskill.
302 Broadway, New York.
10 Napier Place, Jamaica.
1451 Lexington Ave., New York.
Hamlin.
113 W. 95th St., New York.
8 So. Main St., Alfred.
Glens Falls.
Hotel Schuyler, 59 W. 45th St.,
New York.
15 Beacon St., Boston, Mass.
678 Averill Ave., Rochester.
40 E. 68th St., New York.
Helena, Que.
161 W. 79th St., New York.
Governors Island.
Falconer.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
521
Crosby, Col. John Schuyler
Cross, Dr. Andrew Jay
Crossett, Maj. Frederick M.
Crothers, Miss Rachel
Cruikshank, Frederick R.
Cullinan, Hon. Patrick W.
Culver, Chas. Mortimer, M. D.
Cummings, Dr. W. A. E.
Cunningham, Col. J. L.
Curtis, Hon. George M.
Curtiss, Benjamin DeForest
Cutler, Hon. James G.
Dana, Marvin, Ph. D., F. R.
G. S.
Danforth, George L.
Danforth, Loomis L., M. D.
Davenport, Homer
Davidson, Edward W.
Davidson, Silvanus Miller
Davies, Julien Tappen
Davies, Richard T.
Davis, Boothe C., Ph. D., D. D.
Davis, Gen. Charles L., U. S. A.
Davis, Maj. William Church, U.
S. A.
Davison, Hon. Charles M.
Day, Benjamin
Decker, Hon. Martin S.
DeGarmo, William Burton, M. D.
DeKoven, Mrs. Anna F.
Delafield, Lewis L.
DeLano, Hon. Clayton H.
Dellenbaugh, Frederick S.
Demiuth, William
206 W. 52nd St., New York.
20 E. 23rd St., New York.
30 W. 33rd St., New York.
550 Park Ave., New York.
1 Liberty St., New York.
Oswego.
36 Eagle St., Albany.
Ticonderoga
Glens Falls.
5 Beekman St., New York.
960 Park Ave., New York.
Cutler Building, Rochester.
Westmoreland Hotel, Landing,
N. J.
Middleburgh.
49 W. 52nd St., New York.
Morris Plains, N. J.
New Rochelle.
7 Stratford Ave., Fishkill-on-Hud-
son.
32 Nassau St., New York.
108 S. 4th St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Alfred University, Alfred.
23 Front St., Schenectady.
1613 Irving St., N. W., Wash-
ington, D. C.
Saratoga.
78 Fifth Ave., New York.
Public Service Commission, Al-
bany.
616 Madison Ave., New York.
42 E. 66th St., New York.
1 Nassau St., New York.
Ticonderoga.
Century Club, 7 W. 43rd St., New
York.
507 Broadway, New York.
522
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Denham, Edward
Denman, Frederick H.
Denniston, Rear Admiral Hen-
ry Martyn
Denslow, Herbert M., D. D.
Denton, Mrs. Elizabeth B.
Derby, Archibald S.
Derby, Lt. Col. Geo. McClellan,
Derby, Hon. John H.
DeVries, J. Carlisle, M. D.
Dewey, Fred L.
Diehl, Hon. Clarence A.
Diefendorf, Warren T.
Dillenback, Maj. John W., U.
S. A.
Doherty, Henry L.
Dolan, Janies C.
Donner, Herman Montague
Dorrance, Charles Pierson
Dorrlamm, George
Dougherty, Hon. J. Hampden
Douglas, Edward W.
Douglass, James, LL. D.
Dowling, Hon. Victor J., LL. D.
Downing, Augustus S.
Draper, Hon. Andrew S., LL. D.
Draper, Rev. Gideon Frank
Driggs, Marshall S.
Drummond, Hon. Richard C. S.
Duell, Hon. Charles H.
Dunham, Rev. C. M.
Dunham, Rev. Francis S.
Dunn, Gano
Dunn, Henry E.
Dunn, Hon. T. B.
New Bedford, Mass.
170 Broadway, New York.
Washingtonville.
2 Chelsea Sq., New York.
Hudson Falls.
Hudson Falls.
1015 Carrollton Ave., New Or-
leans, La.
Hudson Falls.
11 E. 48th St., New York.
Potsdam.
95 William St., New York.
164 Montague St., Brooklyn.
40 Washington St., Watertown.
60 Wall St.j New York.
Gouveneur.
National Arts Club, Gramercy
Park, South New York.
35 Nassau St., New York.
679 Harmon St., Brooklyn
27 William St., New York
207 Pawling Ave., Troy,
99 John St., New York.
County Court House, New York.
141 So. Allen St., Albany.
Albany.
418 Westeott St., Syracuse.
279 Washington Ave., New
York.
59 Genesee St., Auburn.
2 Rector St., New York.
145 W. 46th St., New York.
Albion.
117 W. 58th St., New York.
346 Broadway, New York.
296 East Ave., Rochester.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
523
Dunnell, Rev. Wm. Nichols,
D. D.
Dunning, Rev. Henry N.
Dunning, William B., D. D. S.
Durkee, Charles D.
Dutton, E. P.
Dwyer, Maj. John
Eagle, Major Clarence H.
Earp, Wilbur F.
Eastman, Henry M. W.
Easton, Robert T. B.
Eberhard, Ernst G., Mus. Doc.
Edson, Obed
Edson, Walter H.
Eells, Richard L.
Ehrhorn, Oscar W.
Eilers, Frederic Anton
Ellis, George W.
EUis, Willis C.
Elmer, Herbert C., Ph. D.
Elsberg, Hon. Nathaniel A.
Elting, Philip
Emerson, George D.
Emerson, Henry P.
Englehardt, Francis Ernest,
Ph.D.
Enos, Alonson Trask
Erben, Henry, Rear Admiral IT.
S. N.
Erganian, John K., D. D. S.
Esmond, Irwin,
Estes, James A.
Estes, Webster C.
Evans, Joseph J.
Evans, Rev. William L., M. A.
Eveleth, Dr. George S.
Everett, James Hervey
292 Henry St., New York.
18 Ten Broeck St., Albany.
129 E. 76th St., New York.
2 South St., New York.
24 W. 51st St., New York.
Hudson Falls.
57 Broad St., New, York.
80 Wall St., New York.
Roslyn
120 Broadway, New York.
57 W. 93rd St., New York
Sinclairville
Falconer
128 Sixth Ave., Brooklyn.
15 William St., New York.
751 St. Marks Ave., Brooklyn.
149 Broadway, New York.
Shorts ville.
Cornell University, Ithaca.
27 William St., New York.
174 Wall St., Kingston.
171 Whitney Place, Buffalo.
122 College St., Buffalo.
7 Clinton Block, Syracuse.
160 W. 16th St., New York.
130 E. 44th St., New York.
118 E. 18th St., New York.
Ballston Spa.
Gloversville.
74 Warren St., New York.
10 E. 14th St., New York.
St. David's Hall, Scarsdale.
Little Falls.
105 Maiden Lane, Kingston.
524
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Fahnestock, Rev. Alfred H., D. D,
Fairley, William
Farley, Hon. Godfrey Pearson
Farrington, William H.
Faust, Albert Bernhardt, Ph. D.
Fay, Miss Amy
Fearons, George Hadsall
Felter, William L.
Fenton, George
Ferree, Barr
Ferris, Morris P.
Ferris, Mortimer Yale
Fiala, Anthony
Fiero, Hon. James Newton
Finch, Edward R.
Finegan, Thomas E.
Finley, John H.
Fisher, George H.
Fisher, Hon. Myron E., M. D.
Fitch, Hon. Charles Elliott
Fitch, W. E., M. D.
Fitzgerald, Hon. James
Flagler, John Haldane
Flanagan, John
Flint, Charles R.
Flint, Peter
Flower, The Roswell P. Me-
morial Library
Foote, Hon. Nathaniel
Forbes, Henry P.
Forbes, Henry Lucas
Fordham, Herbert L.
Foster, C. H.
Fowler, Everett
Francis, Lewis W.
Frank, Henry
Fraser, Miss Margaret M.
1411 Park St., Syracuse.
195 Kingston Ave., Brooklyn.
58 W. 59th St., New York.
P. 0. Box 1741, New York.
Cornell University, Ithaca.
68 W. 91st St., New York.
195 Broadway, New York.
996 Sterling Place, Brooklyn.
Utica,
7 Warren St., New York.
676 West End Ave., New York.
Ticonderoga.
60 Liberty St., New York.
100 State St., Albany.
37 Fifth Ave., New York.
State Education Dept., Albany.
St. Nicholas Terrace, College of
the City of New York.
84 Broadway, Brooklyn.
Delevan.
State Educational Dept., Albany.
320 Manhattan Ave., New York.
140 E. 79th St., New York.
200 Broadway, New York.
107 E. 27th St., New York.
4 E. 36th St., New York.
15 W. ?lst St., New York.
Watertown.
Court House, Rochester.
Canton.
New Rochelle.
49 Wall St., New York.
31 Belle Ave., Troy.
Kingston.
2 Rector St., New York.
Montrose-»n-Hudson.
Glens Falls.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
525
Fredonia State Normal School
Friederang, Maximilian Franz
Frost, George Henry
Frost, Halstead Halloway, Jr.
Gallagher, James
Gates, Moody B.
Getten, Frederick J.
Gilbert, Charles N.
Gilbert, Frank B.
Gilchrist, Hon. Alfred J.
Gilman, Hon Theodore P., A. M.
Gillespie, Nelson
Gilpin, C. Monteith, A. B., LL.
B.
Goodrich, Mrs. Alfred L.
Gordon, Wellington E., Ph. D.
Granger, Miss A. P.
Granger, William A., D. D.
Gray, Emmett J.
Green, James
Griffis, William Elliott, A. M.,
D. D., L. H. D.
Guy, Charles C.
Haight, Hon. Albert
Haldane, Miss Mary H.
Hall, Fred J.
Halsey, Francis W. .
Harcourt, Alden J.
Hart, W. O.
Hasbrouck, Hon. Gilbert D, B.
Hastings, Hon. Hugh
Hatfield, Miss Addie E.
Hawkins, George K., D. Sc.
Hayden, Henry W.
Fredonia.
30 E. 57th St., New York.
745 Wachturag Ave., Plainfield,
N. J.
141 Broadway, New York.
Cleveland, New York.
23-27 City Hall, New York.
Glens Falls.
787 Madison Ave., Albany.
Albany.
375 Fulton St., Brooklyn.
Yonkers.
Hoosick Falls.
68 William St., New York.
2 Broad St., Oneida.
Patchouge.
Canandaiga.
70 No. Fulton Ave., Mt. Vernon.
Whitehall.
Lake George.
Ithaca.
3 Division St., Glens Falls.
Court of Appeals, Albany.
Kingston.
Tarrytown.
Century Club, 7 W. 43d St., New
York.
Kingston.
134 Carondelet St., New Orleans,
La.
Kingston.
Albany.
Oneonta.
Pittsburgh.
120 Broadway, New York.
526
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Hays, Horace A.
Healey, Hon. R. E.
Healy, A. Augustus
Herzberg, R. Moneel
Hewitt, Fred W.
Higley, Brodie G.
Hill, Hon. Charles S.
Hill, Edward B.
Hill, Hon. Henry Wayland
Historical Society of Warwick
Hobbie, Dr. George S.
Hobbie, John A.
Holden, James A.
Holden, C. E.
Hoopes, Maurice
Hopson, Rev. George B., D. D.
Horner, Harlan Hoyt
Horton, Dr. Claude A.
Horton, Dr. Ernest T.
Horton, Mrs. John Miller
Howard, Hon. Harry A.
Hull, Philip M.
Kurd, Arthur W., M. D.
Husted, Albert N., Ph. D.
Ingalls, George A.
Ingalsbe, Hon. Grenville M.
Ingalsbe, Mrs. Franc G.
Ingraham, Charles A., M. D.
Jackson, Rev. T. G., D. D.
Jewett, Hon. Edgar B.
Johnson, Joseph French
Joline, Adrian H., LL. D.
Kellogg, Rev. Charles D., D. D.
Kellogg, J. Augustus
Kelsey, Hon. Otto
x^ennedy, Hugh
593 Wi Ferry St., Buffalo.
Pittsburgh.
90 Gold St., New York.
123 Union St., Hudson.
Granville.
Hudson Falls.
86 Court St., Binghamton.
49 Wall St., New York.
471 Linwood Ave., Buffalo.
Warwick.
716 Main St., Buffalo.
716 Main St., Buffalo.
Glens Falls.
Whitehall, N. Y.
Glens Falls.
Anandale.
872 Lancaster St., Albany.
Glens Falls.
Whitehall.
477 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.
Glens Falls.
Clinton.
State Hospital, Buffalo.
314 Hamilton St., Albany.
Hudson Falls.
Hudson Falls.
Hudson Falls.
Cambridge.
68 St. Paul Place, Brooklyn.
148 Morris Ave., Buffalo.
32 Waverly Place, New York.
54 Wall St., New York.
Hudson Falls.
Glens Falls.
Geneseo.
Buffalo.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
527
Kennedy, John
Kennedy ,Hon. John S.
King, Charles F.
King, Rev. Joseph E., D. D.
Kingsley, Dr. H. F.
Knapp, Hon. Clyde W.
Knapp, George P.
LaFountaine, Hon. Louis C.
Lamb, Mrs. George E.
Lange, Gustave Jr.
Lansing, Catherine Gansevoort
Lansing, Hugh H.
Lapham, Byron
Larkin, Orrel Town
Law, Robert B.
Lawrence, Rev. Egbert Charles,
Ph. D.
Leonard, Edgar Cotrell
Leonard, Gardner Cotrell
Letchworth, Josiah
Lewis, Theodore G.
Liddle, Henry S., M. D.
Lincoln, Hon. Charles Z.
Lincoln, Rev. Julius, A. M.
Little, George W., M. D.
Little, Russell A.
Lyttle, Dr. E. W.
Mace, Prof. William H.
Mann, Col. William D.
Markham, L. 0.
Marsh, Wallace T.
Mason, Herbert Delevan, LL. B.
Mathews, George E.
McAneny, Hon. George
McCarroll, Hon. William
McClumpha, Charles F.
McDonald, William A.
Batavia.
Public Service Commission, Al-
bany.
Glens Falls.
Fort Edward.
Schoharie.
Lyons.
Shelving Rock.
Champlain.
Port Henry.
257 Broadway, New York.
115 Washington Ave., Albany.
Watervliet.
Glens Falls.
Plattsburg.
Cambridge.
36 University Place, Schenectady.
Albany.
Albany.
176 Summer St., Buffalo.
605 Richmond Ave., Buffalo.
212 Union St., Schenectady.
Ellicott Square, Buffalo.
116 Chandler St., Jamestown.
Glens Falls.
Glens Falls.
Regents* Office, Albany.
127 College Place, Syracuse.
Hague.
Haverstraw.
Glens Falls.
27 William St., New York.
Buffalo.
19 E. 47th St., New York.
758 St. Marks St., Brooklyn.
Amsterdam.
Gloversville.
528
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
McKean, James
Meredith, Mrs. Louise Harden-
burg
Merrell, A. J.
Merrill, Hon. Edgar S. K.
Merritt, Edward L.
Messer, L. Franklin
Michael, Edward
Michael, Myron J.
Milholland, Hon. John E.
Miller, Rev. Augustine A.
Mills, John Harrison
Minisink Valley Historical So-
ciety-
Moore, Edwin G.
Moore, Mrs. Eliza Beatty
Moore, John W., Rear Admiral
U. S. N.
Morton, Hon. Levi Parsons,
LL. D.
Moulthrop, Samuel P.
Moyer, Fayette E.
Munger, George G.
Munson, Samuel L.
Munson, Mrs. Samuel L.
Myers, Hon. W. Fenton
Near, Hon. Irvin W.
Nellis, Andrew J.
Nelson, Ven. Dr. Geo. F.
State Normal School
New York Public Library
Noble, Henry Harmon
North Tonawanda High School
Nottingham, William
O'Brien, Hon. Morgan J.
Olmstead, Rt. Rev. Chas. Tyler
O'Malley, Hon. Edward R.
Mutual Life Insurance Co., New
York.
San Luis Obispo, Cal.
88 Edgerton St., Rochester.
Lowville.
55 St. James St., Kingston.
403 Main St., Buffalo.
241 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.
Kingston.
9 E. 9th St., New York.
Canisius College, Buffalo.
494 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo.
Port Jervis.
Plattsburg.
Plattsburg.
The Moorings, Bolton Landing.
681 Fifth Ave., New York.
Rochester.
Johnstown.
Snow Bldg., Syracuse.
Albany.
Albany.
3 E. Main St., Amsterdam.
Hbrnell.
Johnstown.
416 LaFayette St., New York.
New Paltz.
New York.
Essex.
No. Tonawanda.
701 Walnut Ave., Syracuse.
195 Broadway, New York.
159 Park Ave., Utica.
35 Brantford Place, Buffalo.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
529
Oneonta High. School
Oneonta Normal School
Ontario Co. Hist. Society
Osborne, Thomas Mott, A. B.,
L. H. D.
Paine, Silas H.
Palmer, N. Winton
Paltsits, Hon. Victor H.
Paradis, Adrian
Paris, Hon. Charles R.
Parks, Miss Nora Adah
Parry, Mrs. John E.
Peabody, George Foster, LL. D.
Pectham, Stephen Farnum
Pell, Rowland
Pell, Stephen H. P.
Pierce, George Williams
Planten, Jno. B.
Plattsburg Public Library
Porter, Hon. Peter A.
Proctor, Thomas Bedfield
Pryer, Charles
Pyrke, Byrne A.
Ransom, Frank H.
Ransom, John E.
Redway, Jacques W., F. R. G. S.
Reid, Hon. Whitelaw, LL. D.
Reid, W. Max
Reynolds, Hon. Elba
Richards, Frederick B.
Richmond, Henry A.
Rider, Wheelock, M. D.
Riley, Hon. John B.
Roberts, Hon. James A., LL. D.
Roberts, Mrs. Martha D.
Roberts, Joseph Banks
Oneonta.
Oneonta.
Canandaigua.
Auburn.
Silver Bay.
Penn Yann.
Albany.
199 Washington Ave., Brooklyn.
Hudson Falls.
161 Clinton St., Schenectady.
Glens Falls.
Lake George.
150 Halsey St., Brooklyn.
7 Pine St., New York.
43 Exchange Place, New York.
91 Eagle St., Albany.
44 8th Ave., N. Y.
Plattsburg.
Niagara Falls.
Utica.
New Rochelle.
Port Henry.
137 Main St., Buffalo.
26 West Ave., Buffalo.
Mount Vernon.
451 Madison Ave., New York.
Amsterdam.
Belmont.
Glens Falls.
Delaware and Tupper Sts., Buf-
falo.
Rochester.
Plattsburgh.
257 Broadway, New York.
257 Broadway, New York.
141 Broadway, New York.
530
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Roberts, Mrs. Joseph Banks
Robertson, Miss Jessie
Rockwood, Hon. Nash
Rogers, Howard J., LL. D.
Rosch, Hon. Joseph
Royce, Mrs. Caroline H.
Rudd, Hon. William P.
Ryan, John J., LL. B.
Samson, William H.
Satterlee, Esther B.
Sawyer, Rev. Everett R., D. D.
Sawyer, Willoughby L.
Schmid, Dr. Ernest
Schoellkopf, J. F.
Schuyler, Miss Fanny
Sdrayler, Rev. Livingston Rowe,
B. D., Ph. D.
Scott, Hon. Julien
Seelye, Elwin
Severance, Frank H.
Sexton, Hon. Pliny T.
Sexton, Mrs. Harriet
Shallis, Guy Wheeler
Shear, S. R.
Shepard, Edward M.
Sidway, Frank St. John
Sidway, Mrs. Frank St. John
Sills, Rev. Chas. Morton, D. D.
Sill, Rev. Frederick S., D. D.
Simpson, John Boulton
Slade, Mrs. Emma H.
Slicer, Rev. Thomas R.
Smiley, Albert K.
Smith, F. C.
Smith, James F.
Smith, T. Guilford, LL. D.
Smith, Wm. Alexander
141 Broadway, New York.
Glens Falls.
Saratoga.
Educational Dept., Albany.
Liberty.
Astor Library, New York.
Tweedle Building, Albany.
Medina.
420 Oxford St., Rochester.
517 W. Gray St., Elmira.
Hudson Falls.
Hudson Falls.
White Plains.
499 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.
New Rochelle.
17 Lexington Ave., New York.
Bainbridge.
Lake George.
Buffalo.
Palmyra.
Palmyra.
Pittsburgh.
74 Fair St., Kingston.
Lake George.
37 Oakland Place, Buffalo.
37 Oakland Place, Buffalo,
Trinity Rectory, Geneva.
Cohoes.
1170 Broadway, New York.
332 W. 87th St., New York.
156 E. 38th St., New York.
Mohonk Lake.
15 Lincoln St., Cortiand.
S. Hartford.
203 Elicott Sq. Bldg., Buffalo.
412 Madison Ave., New York.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
531
Snitzler, Mrs. John H.
Sohmer, Hon. William
Southerland, Hon. George P.
Southwick, H. H.
Spaulding, Geo. B.
Spencer, Charles W., Ph. D.
Squires, Eben H. P.
Stackpole, George F.
State Normal and Training
School
Steele, Mrs. Esther B.
Steele, Luther N.
Stevens, Hon. Frank W.
Stillman, William Olin, M. D.
Stilwell, Giles H.
Stoddard, S. B.
Stover, Dr. Charles
Sullivan, Hon. Timothy D.
Sullivan, H. E.
Swezey, Hon. John B.
Syracuse Public Library
Tallmadge, Henry Overing
Tefft, Richard C.
Temple, Truman R.
Thompson, Alfred C.
Thompson, A. P.
Todd, Hiram C.
Townsend, Hon. Chas. 0.
Traver, Frederick G.
Troy Public Library
Tuttle, Mrs. George F.
University of Michigan, General
Library
Upson, Mrs. Lydia F.
VanderVeer, A., M. D.
VanEtten, J. C.
care of Snitzler Adv. Co.,
Chicago.
1-3 Third Ave., New York.
49 Wall St., New York.
Ogdensburgh.
Stormington, Conn.
Princeton, N. J.
White Plains, N. Y.
Riverhead.
Plattsburg.
353 W. Clinton St., Elmira.
Canandaigua.
27 Allen St., Jamestown.
287 State St., Albany.
1906 W. Genesee St., Syracuse.
Glens Falls.
Amsterdam.
Long Lake.
Whitehall.
Goshen.
Syracuse.
80 Wall St., New York.
Hudson Falls.
Glens Falls, R. F. D. No. 1.
Brockport.
245 Porter Ave., Buffalo.
Saratoga Spa.
Interlaken.
Kingston.
Troy.
Plattsburg.
Ann Harbor, Mich.
Glens Falls.
28 Eagle St., Albany.
Medina.
532
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
VanEvery, Martin
Van Hee, Daniel L.
Vann, Hon. Irving G.
Van Laer, Arnold J. F.
Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Schuyler
Van Santvoord, Seymour
Van Wagenen, Virgil W.
Van Wormer, Rodney
Wadlmms, Commodore Albion V.
Wait, John C.
Wait, William
Waite, Hon. Fred B.
Wakeman, Abram
Wallander, A. H.
Walters, Mrs. Katharine P.
Ward, Rev. Gco. Morgan, DD.
LL. D.
Ward, Hon. George W.
Ward, Samuel B., M. D.
Warren, Oscar Leroy
Wardle, J. Harold
Warren, Edward Stevens
Warren, E. Burgess
Washburn, Hon. Edward A.
Waterloo Union School
Watrous, Harry W.
Watrous, Mrs. Harry W.
Watson, Col. James T.
Webster, W. B., M. D.
West, Chandler A.
West, Elmer J.
Westover, Myron N.
Wetmore, Edmund, LL. D.
Wickes, Frank B. ; <
Wilder, Prank J.
Wiley, George M.
Willey, Rev. John H.
Williams College
15 Horton Place, Buffalo.
Rochester.
Syracuse.
433 Western Ave., Albany.
9 W. 10th St., New York.
Troy.
Kingston.
Argyle.
Wadhams.
38 Park Row, New York.
Kinderhook.
Adams.
96 Water St., New York.
Mount Vernon.
68 Warren St., Glens Falls.
Wells College, Aurora.
Little Falls.
281 State St., Albany.
White Plains.
Hudson.
630 7th St., Buffalo.
The Sagamore, Lake George.
Batavia.
AVaterloo.
352 Lexington Ave., New York.
352 Lexington Ave., New York.
Clinton.
Schuylerville.
Lake George.
Glens Falls.
Schenectady.
34 Pine St., New York.
Ticonderoga.
Saratoga.
36 W. 5th St., Dunkirk.
466 E. 18th St., Brooklyn.
Williamstown.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
533
Williams, Hon. Clark
Williams, David
Williams, Sherman, Pd. D.
Wing, Ashael R.
Witherbee, Hon. Walter C.
Wood, Frank H.
Wood, Mrs. Joseph S.
Woodward, Hon. John
Wooley, J. S.
Warden, Edwin J.
Wright, Miss Abbe A.
Wyckoff, Alice Brooks
Weed, Geo. S.
Weed, Smith M.
West, Howard M.
West, Arthur F.
293 Madison Ave., Albany.
69 W. 68th St., New York.
Glens Falls.
Fort Edward.
Port Henry.
Albany.
135 Second Ave., Mt. Vernon.
Appellate Division, Buffalo.
Ball stan Spa.
Lake George.
Hudson Falls.
Elmira.
Plattsburg.
Plattsburg.
Glens Falls.
Lake George.
Yonkers Historical and Library
Association Yonkers.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
Adams.
Waite, Hon. Fred B.
Albany.
Abrams, A. W.
Addington, Hon. George.
Ainsworth, Hon. Danforth E.
Barcus, James Q.
Battershall, Rev. Walter W.
Blackburn, John T. D.
Brandow, Rev. John H.
Cameron, Edward M.
Cameron, Frederick W.
Chester, Hon. Alden.
Clarke, John M., LL. D., Ph. D.
Colvin, Hon. Verplank.
Culver, Charles Mortimer, M. D.
Decker, Hon. Martin S.
Downing, Augustus S.
Draper, Hon. Andrew S.,
LL. D.
Dunning, Rev. Henry N.
Fiero, Hon. James Newton.
Finegan, Thomas E.
Fitch, Hon. Charles Elliott.
Gilbert, Charles N.
Gilbert, Frank B.
Haight, Hon. Albert.
Hastings, Hon. Hugh.
Horner, Harlan Hoyt.
Husted, Albert N., Ph. D.
Kennedy, Hen. John S.
Lansing, Catherine Gansevoort.
Leonard, Edgar Cotrell.
Leonard, Gardner Cotrell.
Lyttle, Dr. E. W.
Munson, Samuel L.
Munson, Mrs. Samuel L.
Paltsits, Hon. Victor H.
Pierce, George Williams.
Rogers, Howard J., LL. D.
Rudd, Hon. William P.
Stillman, William Olin, M. D.
Vander Veer, A., M. D.
Van Laer, Arnold J. F.
Ward, Samuel B., M. D.
Williams, Hon. Clark.
Wood, Frank H.
Albion.
Dunham, Rev. Francis S.
Alfred.
Crandall, William Henry. Davis, Boothe C., Ph. D., D. D.
Alleghany.
Butler, Joseph F.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 535
Amenia.
Codding, G. EL, M. D.
Amsterdam.
McClumpha, Charles F. Reid, W. Max.
Myers, Hon. W. Fenton. Stover, Dr. Charles.
Anandale.
Hopson, Rev. George B., D. D.
Argyle.
Conway, John B. Van Wormer, Rodney.
Auburn.
Adams, Rev. John Quincy. Drummond, Hon. Richard C. S.
Aiken, C. E. Osborne, Thomas Mott, A. B.
Aurora.
Ward, Rev. George Morgan, D. D.
Avon.
Avon High School
Bainbridge.
Scott, Hon. Julien.
Ballston Spa.
Esmond, Irwin. Wooley, J. S.
B ato/via.
Kennedy, John. Washburn, Hon. Edward A.
Bedford.
Coopernail, George P.
Belmont.
Reynolds, Hon. Elba.
Binghamton.
Banta, J. Edward. Hill, Hon. Charles S.
Bolton.
Bixby, W. K.
Bolton Landing.
Moore, John W., Rear Admiral U. S. N.
536
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Brockport.
Thompson, Alfred C.
Bronx Park.
Barnhart, John Hendley, A. M., M. D.
Abrahams, Abraham.
Adams, Henry Sherman.
Baldwin, Stephen C.
Carman, Nelson G.
Catlin, Maj. Gen. Isaac S.
Close, Stuart, M. D.
Diefendorf, Warren T.
Dorlamm, George.
Eells, Richard L.
Eilers, Frederic Anton.
Fairley, William.
Brooklyn.
Felter, William L.
Fisher, George H.
Gilchrist, Hon. Alfred J.
Jackson, Rev. T. G., D. D.
McCarroll, Hon. William.
Paradis, Adrian.
Peckham, Stephen Farnum.
Planten, John R.
Potts, Charles Edwin.
Willey, Rev. John H.
Alexander, Hon. D. S.
Atherton, F. C.
Bethune, Mrs. Louise
Bird, Dr. William D.
Boxall, George H.
Clement, S. M.
Colton, Rt. Rev. Chas. H.
Cook, Dr. Joseph T.
Cornell, Douglass.
Emerson, George D.
Emerson, Henry P.
Hays, Horace A.
Hill, Hon. Henry Wayland
Hobbie, Dr. George S.
Hobbie, John A.
Horton, Mrs. John Miller.
Kurd, Arthur W., M. D.
Jewett, Hon. Edgar B.
Kennedy, Hugh.
Letchworth, Josiah.
Buffalo.
Lewis, Theodore G.
Lincoln, Hon. Charles Z.
Matthews, George E.
Messer, L. Franklin.
Michael, Edward.
Miller, Rev. Augustine A.
Mills, John Harrison.
O'Malley, Hon. Edward R.
Ransom, Frank H.
Ransom, John E.
Richmond, Henry A.
Schoellkopf, J. F.
Severance, Frank H.
Sid way, Frank St. John.
Sidway, Mrs. Frank St. John.
Smith, T. Gullford, LL. D.
Thompson, A. P.
Van Every, Martin.
Warren, Edward Stevens.
Woodward, Hon. John.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 537
Cambridge.
Ingraham, Charles A. M. D. Law, Robert R.
Canandiagua.
Granger, Miss A. P. Steele, Luther N.
Ontario Co. Hist. Society.
Canton.
Cleaveland, Prank N. Forbes, Henry P.
Catskill.
Bloodgood, Clarence E. Chase, Hon. Emory A.
Champlain.
LaFountaine, Hon. Louise C.
Cleveland.
Gallagher, James.
Clinton.
Hull, Philip M. Watson, Col. James T.
Clyde.
Baker, George 0.
Cohoes.
Sill, Rev. Frederick S., D. D.
Cortland.
Smith, F. C.
Delevan.
Fisher, Hon. Myron E., M. D.
Deposit.
Colclough, Rev. Joseph Hackney.
Dunkirk.
Wiley, George M.
East Aurora.
Baker, Rev. E. Folsom.
Elizabethtown.
Hand, Hon. Richard L., LL. D.
538 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Elmira.
Satterlee, Esther B. Steele, Mrs. Esther B.
Wyckoff, Alice Brooks.
Essex.
Burnham, John B. Noble, Henry Harmon.
Falconer.
Crosby, Hon. Harley N. Edson, Walter H.
Fishkill-on-Hudson.
Davidson, Silvanus Miller.
Forestport.
Auringer, Rev. 0. C. Badger, Rev. Frank Evans.
Fort Arm.
Baker, Fred I.
Fort Edward.
Banker, Dr. Silas J. King, Rev. Joseph E., D. D.
Bascom, Wyman S. Wing, Ashael R.
Fredonia.
Ballard, Rev. George Grey. State Normal School.
Geneseo.
Kelsey, Hon. Otto.
Geneva.
Bean, Charles D., LL. D. Sills, Rev. Charles Morton,
Clark, Walter A. D. D.
Glen Cove.
Cooley, Dr. James S.
Glens Fatts.
Adamson, W. H. Crandall Library.
Barber, Junius E. Cunningham, Col. J. L.
Bassinger, George H. Fraser, Miss Margaret M.
Bullard, Frederick H. Getten, Frederick J.
Carter, Robert C. Guy, Charles C.
Coolidge, Thomas S. Holden, James A.
Crandall, Henry. Hoopes, Maurice.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 539
Horton, Dr. Claude A. Richards, Frederick B.
Howard, Hon. Harry A. Robertson, Miss Jessie.
Kellogg, J. Augustus. Stoddard, S. R.
King, Charles F. Temple, Truman R.
Lapham, Byron. Upson, Mrs. Lydia F.
Little, George W., M. D. Walters, Mrs. Katherine P.
Little, Russell A. West, Elmer J.
Marsh, Wallace T. West, Howard M.
Parry, Mrs. John E. Williams, Sherman, Pd. D.
Gloversville.
Clemans, Dr. Sylvester C. McDonald, William A.
Estes, James A.
Goshen.
Swezey, Hon. John B.
Gouveneur.
Dolan, James C.
Governors Island.
Cronkhite, Lt Col. Adelbert.
Granville.
Hewitt, Fred W.
Hague.
Mann, Col. William D.
Hamlin.
Craig, Charles S., M. D.
Haverstraw.
Markham, L. 0.
Hoosick Falls.
Grillespie, Nelson.
Hornell.
Acker, Milo. Near, Hon. Irvin W.
Hudson.
Cochrane, Hon. Aaron V. S. Wardle, J. Harold.
Herzberg, R. Moneel.
540
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Arnold, Alvaro D.
Broughton, Harry L.
Denton, Mrs. Elizabeth.
Derby, Archibald S.
Derby, Hon. John H.
Dwyer, Major John
Higley, Brodie G.
Rowland, Fred D.
Ingalls, George A.
Townsend, Hon. Chas. 0.
Hudson Falls.
Ingalsbe, Hon. Grenville M.
Ingalsbe, Mrs. Franc G.
Kellogg, Rev. Charles D., D. D.
Paris, Hon. Charles R.
Sawyer, Rev Everett R., D. D.
Sawyer, Willoughby L.
Tefft, Richard C.
Wright, Miss Abbe A.
Interlaken.
Boynton, Frank David.
Bristol, George P.
Church, Irving P.
Elmer, Herbert C., Ph. D.
Ithaca.
Faust, Albert Bernhardt, Ph.
D.
Griffis, William Elliott, A. M.,
D. D.
Jamaica.
Ballard, W. J. Cox, Frederick II.
Jamestown.
Lincoln, Rev. Julius, A. M. Stevens, Hon. Frank W.
Johnstown.
Nellis, Andrew J.
Carroll, Fred Linus.
Moyer, Fayette E.
Wait, William.
Kinderhook.
Atkins, Du Bois G.
Bell, George Nelson.
Cantine, Hon. Charles F.
Clearwater, Hon. Alphonso T.
Elting, Philip.
Everett, Jan.es Harvey.
Fowler, Everett.
Haldane, Miss Mary H.
Kingston.
Harcourt, Alden J.
Hasbrouck, Hon. Gilbert D. B.
Merritt, Edward L.
Michael, Myron J.
Shear, S. R.
T raver, Frederick G.
Van Wagenen, Virgil W.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 541
Lake George
Green, James. Warren, E. Burgess.
Peabody, George Foster, LL. D. West, Arthur F.
Seelye, Elwin. West, Chandler A.
Shepard, Edward M. Worden, Edwin J.
Larchmont.
Gall, Edward Payson.
Liberty.
Rosch, Hon. Joseph.
Little Falls.
Eveleth, Dr. George S. Ward, Hon. George W.
Locust Grove.
Cole, William H.
Long Lake.
Sullivan, Hon. Timothy D.
Lowville.
Merrill, Hon. Edgar S. K.
Lyons.
Knapp, Hon. Clyde W.
Medina.
Ryan, John J., LL. D. Van Etten, J. C.
Middleburgh.
Danforth, Gtorge L.
Mohonk Lake.
Smiley, Albert K.
Momtrose-Otii-Hu dson.
Frank, Henry.
Morris Plains.
Davenport, Homer.
Mount Kisco.
Carpenter, Hon. Francis M.
Mt. Vernon.
Granger, William A., D. D. Wallander, A. H.
Redway, Jacques W., F. R. Wood, Mrs. Joseph S.
G. S.
542
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
New R&chelle.
Carville, Miss Katherine J. C. Pryer, Charles.
Davidson, Edward W.
Forbes, Henry Lucas.
State Normal School.
Schuyler, Miss Fanny.
New Pcdtz.
Abbatt, William.
Abbott, Rev. Lyman, D. D.
Adler, Jesse, A. M., M. D.
Arthur, Miss L. Louise.
Bandelier, Adolph P.
Barber, Arthur William, LL.
M.
Bamett, Hyman L, L. L. B.
Barney, Edgar S., Sc. D.
Bartlett, Homer N., M. D.
Batcheller, George Clinton.
Bateman, James Bice.
Baumgarten, Paul.
Beach, Edward Stevens, B. A.
Beard, Curtis J.
Beer, George Lewis.
Bell, Clark, LL. D.
Bennett, Hon. William S.
Brown, Ernest C.
Brush, Edward H.
Callan, Peter A., M. D.
Campbell, Rev. Thos. J.
Cannon, Henry W.
Carlson, Emil.
Carpenter, Charles W.
Carrington, Augustus B.
Carroll, Ralph Waldo.
Carvalho, S. S.
Carvallo, David N.
Champion, George S.
Channing, J. Parke.
New York City.
Chase, George.
Chase, William M.
Cheney, Hon. 0. H.
Chesebrough, Robert A.
Chittick, Henry R.
Chrystie, T. Ludlow.
Clews, Hon. Henry.
Clinch, Hon. Edward S.
Coffin, Charles A.
Cohn, Julius Hilbern.
Cole, Charles K, M. D., A. M.
Cole, Hon. Fremont.
Columbia University Library.
Colvin, Andrew.
Comstock, Hon. Anthony.
Conklin, Roland R.
Connor, Washington E.
Cook, Rev. Philip.
Cortelyou, Hon. George B.
Cowen, Sidney J.
Cox, Rev. Henry M.
Crandall, Dr. Floyd M.
Crane, Frederick.
Crimmins, Hon. John D.
Crisp, W. Benton.
Crosby, Col. John Schuyler.
Cross, Dr. Andrew Jay.
Crossett, Maj. Frederick M.
Crothers, Miss Rachel.
Cruikshank, Frederick R.
Curtis, Hon. George M.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
543
Cttrtiss, Benjamin DeForest.
Danforth, Leomis, L., M. D.
Davies, Julien Tappen.
Day, Benjamin.
DeGarmo, William Burton, M.
D.
DeKoven, Mrs. Anna F.
Delafield, Lewis L.
Dellenbaugh, Frederick S.
Demuth, William.
Denman, Frederick H.
Denslow, Herbert M., D. D.
DeVries, J. Carlisle, M. D.
Dunnell, Rev. Wm. Nichols, D.
D.
Dunning-, William B., D. D. S.
Durkee, Charles D.
Button, E. P.
Diehl, Hon. Clarence A.
Doherty, Henry L.
Donner, Herman Montague.
Dorrance, Charles Pierson.
Dougherty, Hon. J. Hampden.
Douglass, James, LL. D.
Dowling, Hon. Victor J., LL. D.
Driggs, Marshall S.
Duell, Hon. Charles H.
Dunham, Rev. C. M.
Dunn, Gaino.
Dunn, Henry E.
E'agle, Maj. Clarence H.
Earp, Wilbur F.
Easton, Robert T. B.
Eberhard, Ernst G., Mus. Doc.
Ehrhorn, Oscar W.
Ellis, George W.
Elsberg, Hon. Nathaniel A.
Enos, Alonson Trask.
Erben, Henry, Rear Admiral
U. S. N.
Erganian, John K., D. D. S.
Estes, Webster C.
Evans, Joseph J.
Farley, Hon. Godfrey Pearson.
Farrington, William H.
Fay, Miss Amy.
Fearons, George Hadsall.
Ferree, Barr.
Ferris, Morris P.
Fiala, Anthony.
Finch, Edward R.
Finley, John H.
Fitch, W. E., M. D.
Fitzgerald, Hon. James.
Flagler, John Haldane.
Flanagan, John.
Flint, Charles R.
Flint, Peter.
Fordham, Herbert L.
Francis, Lewis W.
Friederang, Maximilian Franz.
Frost, Halstead Halloway, Jr.
Fulton, Louis M.
Gates, Moody B.
Gilpin, C. Monteith, A. B.,
LL. B.
Halsey, Francis W.
Hanna, Charles A.
Hartley, Mrs. Frances G.
Hayden, Henry W.
Healy, A. Augustus.
Hill, Edward B.
Johnson, Joseph French.
Joline, Adrian H., LL. D.
Jones, Mrs. Oliver Livingston.
Lange, Gustave, Jr.
544 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Mason, Herbert Develan, LL. B. Royce, Mrs. Caroline H.
McAneny, Hon. George. Schuyler, Rev. Livingston Rowe
MeKean, James. Simpson, John Boulton.
Milholland, Hon. John E. Slade, Mrs. Emma H.
Morton, Hon. Levi Parsons, Slicer, Rev. Thomas R.
LL. D. Smith, Wm. Alexander.
Nelson, Ven. Dr. George F. Sohmer, Hon. William.
New York Public Library. Southerland, Hon. George P.
O'Brien, Hon. Morgan J. Stillman, Charles Chauncey.
Pell, Rowland. Tallmadge, Henry Overing.
Pell, Stephen H. P. Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Schuyler.
Planten, John R. Wait, John C.
Reid, Hon. Whitelaw, LL. D. Wakeman, Abram.
Roberts, Hon. James A., LL. D. Watrous, Harry W.
Roberts, Mrs. Martha D. Watrous, Mrs. Harry W.
Roberts, Joseph Banks. Wetmore, Edmund, LL. D.
Roberts, Mrs. Joseph Banks. Webb, Dr. W. Seward.
Roosevelt, Col. Theodore, LL. D Williams, David.
Niagara Falls.
Barton, Philip B. Porter, Hon. Peter A.
Chorman, Frederick.
North Cohocton.
Cottrell, D. D.
North Tonaw&nda.
North Tonawanda High School.
Ogdensburgh.
Southwick, H. H.
Oneida.
Brown, Edwin J. Goodrich, Mrs. Alfred.
Coles, Mrs. Theodore.
Oneonta.
Hatfield, Miss Addie E. Oneonta Normal School.
Oneonta High School.
Ossining-on-th e-Hudson.
Acker, Charles E.
MEMBERS NEW YOEK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 54:5
Oswqgo.
Barnes, Ezra A. Coon, Hon. Stephen Mortimer.
Bates, Norman L. Cullinan, Hon. Patrick W.
Owego.
Baker, Frank M.
Palmyra.
Sexton, Hon. Pliny T. Sexton, Mrs. Harriet.
Patchouge.
Gordon, Wellington E., Ph. D.
Peekskttl.
Couch, Hon. Franklin. Field, Cortlandt de Peyster
Pelham.
Cal dwell, Samuel Cushman, C. L.
Penn Yann.
Baker, Hon. Gilbert H. Palmer, N. Winton.
Carmody, Thomas.
Plattsburg.
Barker, Mrs. Daniel Folger. Plattsburg Public Library.
Bixby, George Stephenson. Riley, Hon. John B.
Botsford, Elmer F. Shallis, Guy Wheeler.
Hawkins, George K., D. Sc. State Nor. & Training School.
Healey, Hon. R. E. Tuttle, Mrs. George F.
Larkin, Orrel Town. Weed, George S.
Moore, Edwin G. Weed, Hon. Smith M.
Moore, Mrs. Eliza Beatty.
Port Henry.
Lamb, Mrs. George E. Witherbee, Hon. Walter C.
Pyrke, Berne A. Witherbee, Hon. Frank S.
Port Jervis.
Minisink Valley Historical Society.
Potsdam.
Dewey, Fred L.
Poughkeepsie.
Cooley, Dr. Leroy C.
546 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Riverhead.
Belford, Hon. James. Stackpole, George F.
Rochester.
Baker, John W. Merrell, A. J.
Crapsey, Rev. Dr. Algernon S. Moulthrop, Samuel P.
Cutler, Hon. James G. Rider, Wheelock, M. D.
Dunn, Hon. T. B. Samson, William H.
Foote, Hon. Nathaniel. Van Hee, Daniel L.
Raslyn.
Eastman, Henry M. W.
Sacketts Harbor.
Camp, Ool. Walter B.
Sandy Creek.
Cook, Newton, M. D.
Saratoga.
Brackett, Hon. Edgar T. Todd, Hiram C.
D'avison, Hon. Charles M. Wilder, Frank J.
Rockwood, Hon. Nash.
Scarsdale.
Cannon, James G. Evans, Rev. William L., M. A.
Schenectady.
Davis, Gen. Charles L., U. S. A. Liddle, Henry S., M. D.
Lawrence, Rev. Egbert Charles, Parks, Miss Nora Adah.
Ph. D. Westover, Myron N.
Schoharie.
Kingsley, Dr. H. F.
Schuylerville.
Webster, W. B., M. D.
Shelving Rock.
Knapp, George P.
ShortsvUle.
Ellis, Willis C.
Silver Bay.
Paine, Silas H.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
547
Edson, Obed.
SinclairviUe.
Southhampton.
Chatfield, Henry H.
South Hartford.
Smith, James F.
Syracuse.
Beauchamp, Rev. Wm. Martin, Draper, Rev. Gideon Frank.
S. T. D.
Bardeen, C. W.
Bigelow, Bayard.
Brooks, James Byron, D. C. L.
Cheney, George Nelson.
Cheney, William Dewitt.
Coddington, Rev. Herbert G.
Coddington, Dr. Wellesley P.
Cogswell, William Brown.
Coit, Rev. Albert.
Cole, Peter B.
Englehardt, Francis Ernest,
Ph. D.
Fahnestock, Rev. Alfred H.,
D. D.
Mace, Prof. William H.
Hunger, George G.
Nottingham, William.
Stillwell, Giles H.
Syracuse Public Library.
Vann, Hon. Irving G.
Bacon, Edgar Mayhew.
Ashworth, Percy C.
Cook, George 0.
Cook, Mrs. Joseph.
Cook, Thomas S.
Aldrich, Charles S.
Collins, Hon. C. V.
Douglas, Edward W.
Fenton. George.
Olmstead, Rt, Rev. Chas. Tyler.
Wadhams.
Wadhams, Com. Albion V.
Tarrytown.
Hall, Fred J.
Ticvnderoga.
Cummings, Dr. W. A. E.
DeLano, Hon. Clayton H.
Ferris, Mortimer Yale.
Wickes, Frank B.
Troy.
Foster, C. H.
Troy Public Library.
Van Santvoord, Seymour.
Utica.
Proctor, Thomas Redfield.
J - ». J. &t i • «l«- n
54:8 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Warsaw.
Bartlett, Hon. Myron E.
Warwick.
Historical Society of Warwick.
Washingtonville.
Denniston, Rear Admiral Henry Martyn.
Waterloo.
Bacon, Carroll B., M. D. Waterloo Union School.
Watertown.
Dillenback, Maj. John W., U. Flower, The Roswell P. Memor-
S. A. ial Library.
Watervliet.
Lansing, Hugh H,
Waverly.
Bell, Hon. Frank A.
West Chester.
Clendenin, Rev. Dr. F. M.
Whitehall.
Bartholomew, Alanson Doug- Holden, C. E.
lass. Horton, Dr. Ernest.
Gray, Emmett J. Sullivan, H. E.
White Plains.
Baskerville, Gruy H; Squires, Eben H. P.
Schmid, Dr. Ernest. Warren, Oscar LeRoy.
t M Willsboro.
Cass, Rev. James Michael.
Yorikers.
Ackerly, Orville B. Gilman, Hon. Theodore, A. M.
Atkins, Hon. T. Astley: Yonkers Historical & Library
Beemer, James G. Association
MEMBEES NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 549
San Luis Obispo, Cal.
Meredith, Mrs. Louise Harden burg.
Neiv Haven, Conn.
HadRey, Arthur Twining, Wheeler, Arthur Martin,
LL. D. LL. D.
Stonington, Conn.
Spaulding, George B.
Washington, D. C.
Davis, Maj. William Church, U. S. A.
Chicago, III.
Snitzler, Mrs. John H. ..;,
Winona Lake, Ind.
Chapman, Rev. J. Wilbur.
New Orleans, La.
Derby, Lt. Col. Geo. MeClellan. Hart, W. 0.
Boston, Mass.
Adams, Charles Francis, LL. D. Crane, Ralph Adams.
Boardman, Waldo E., M. D.
Fitchburg, Mass.
Coleman, Frank B.
New Bedford, Mass.
Denham, Edward.
Williamstown^ Mass.
Williams College. 4]
Ann Harbor, Mich.
University of Michigan, General Library.
Havre, Mont.
Christler, Rev. Leonard J.
Landing, N. J.
Dana, Marvin, Ph. D.
Newark, N. J.
Abercrombie, David T.
550 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION,
Plainfield, N. J.
Corbusier, Lt. Col. Win. H. Frost, George Henry,
Princeton, N. J.
Spencer, Charles W., Ph. D. Wilson, Woodrow, LL. 0.,
Ph. D.
Jennerstown, Pa.
Coffin, William Anderson.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Burnham, George. McMaster, John Bach, A. M.
Davies, Richard T.
Wilkes Barre, Pa.
See, Mrs. Horace.
Helena, Que.
Crippen, C. J., M. D.
INDEX
Officers of the Association 5
Trustees . . . . . 6
Proceedings, Twelfth Annual Meeting 7
A Story of the "Lake Champlain Meeting". 28
Passenger List— Steamer Vermont. 36
Financial Statement— Meeting on Lake Champlain 38
Lake George Battle Ground Park ,. ., 39
Unveiling of Ticonderoga Tablet (. ., 43
Address of Welcome. .,. , 53
Response for New York State Historical Association 55
The Setting of Lake Champlain History , 56
Carriers of the Lake , 67
The Worth to a Nation of a Sense for Its Past. 71
Was the Lake Champlain Region Entirely Lost to the French
With the Downfall of French Dominion in America ? . . . 79
General Observations on the War of 1812. 94
Rock Inscription at the Ruins of Old Fort St. Frederick at
Crown Point ; 108
Historical Societies; Their Work and Worth 114
The First Missionaries on Lake Champlain 127
The War Path „ .,..;..,.... 139
The First Flying of the Stars and Stripes in Battle and The
Saratoga Campaign ..;...., ... 156
The History of the Iron Ore Industry on Lake Champlain . . . 169
Lord Howe . ,. ., . . . .,. M ,. .. 238
New Historical Light on the Real Burial Place of George
Augustus Lord Viscount Howe, 1758 259
Official Despatch of General Abercromby, July 2, 1758 309
Rev. Joseph Hooper's Proofs of the Albany Interment 313
W. C. Watson's Description of the Burial of Lord Howe 321
Description of the Howe Monument, Westminster Abbey. . . 323
The Credibility of General Abercromby 326
Bibliography of the Campaign of 1758 337
Miscellaneous Notes in re. Burial Place Lord Howe ....... 360
Acknowledgements in re. Burial Place Lord Howe 365
The Black Watch at Ticonderoga ,. .- 367
Officers of the Black Watch, 1758 , 403
Roll of Capt. Reid's Company, Nov., 1757 . .,. ... 405
Roll of Capt. James Murray's Company, Nov., 1757 . . 407
List of Promotions in Black Watch After Battle of July 8,
1758 ,.'.|.., 408
Comparison of Losses of Black Watch at Ticonderoga With
Those of Other Wars . . 409
Table of Losses of Black Watch in Seven Year War. 410
Official Titles of Black Watch at Different Periods 411
British Regiments at Ticonderoga, 1758 412
British Regiments at Ticonderoga, 1759 , 415
Provincial Regiments at Ticonderoga, 1758 416
Provincial Regiments at Ticonderoga, 1759 ....... 417
Biographical Sketches of as Many of the Officers of the Black
Watch in 1758 as Could be Traced 417
Officers of the Black Watch, 1739 437
Officers of the Black Watch, 1759 438
References to the Black Watch Taken from Commissary Wil-
son's Orderly Book ... 440
Colonel Roger Townshend 449
Bibliography of the Black Watch ,. . .' 451
Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in Washington Coun-
ty, etc ... ... 453
Origin of the Name Ticonderoga (. 457
Testimonials to the Black Watch ! 458
References to the Black Watch Found in Archives of Do-
minion of Canada at Ottawa » 459
The Black Watch Memorial at Ticonderoga 461
Necrology ......... .... ...... 465
Report of the Committee Upon the Establishment of Closer
Relations Between the Historical Societies of the State. . 473
Report of Librarian for 1910. 487
Meeting of Trustees, Jan. 31, 1911 . .. 493
Standing Committees 502
Special Committees 503
Insignia of the Association 504
Articles of Incorporation , 505
By-laws 510
List of Members , 514
Geographical Distribution of Membership 534
F New lork State Historical
116 Association
N86 Proceedings
v.10
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