Chapter III: Part 3

“During the events stated above, an attempt was made against Ticonderoga by an army assembled under Major-General Lincoln, who found means to march with a considerable corps from Huberton undiscovered, while another column of his force passed the mountains Skenesborough and Lake George, and on the morning of the 18th of September a sudden and general attack was made upon the carrying place at Lake-George, Sugar-Hill, Ticonderoga, and Mount-Independence. The sea officers commanding the armed sloop stationed to defend the carrying place, as also some of the officers commanding at the post of Sugar-Hill and at the Portage, were surprised, and a considerable part of four companies of the 53d regiment were made prisoners; a block-house, commanded by Lieutenant Lord of the 53d, was the only post on that side that had time to make use of their arms, and they made a brave defence till cannon taken from the surprised vessel was brought against them.

After stating and lamenting so fatal a want of vigilance, I have to inform your Lordship of the satisfactory events which followed.

The enemy having twice summoned Brigadier General Powell, and received such answer as became a gallant officer entrusted with so important a post, and having tried during the course of four days several attacks, and being repulsed in all, retreated without having done any considerable damage.

Brigadier General Powell, from whose report to me I extract this relation, gives great commendations to the regiment of Prince Frederick, and the other troops stationed at Mount-Independence. The Brigadier also mentions with great applause the behaviour of Captain Taylor of the 21st regiment, who was accidentally there on his route to the army from the hospital, and Lieutenant Beecroft of the 24th regiment, who with the artificers in arms defended an important battery.”[32]

Such is Burgoyne’s account of the attack upon Ticonderoga; next to which comes that of Colonel Brown, who for the second time in the course of his military experience has an opportunity of exhibiting his unquestioned valor. His report to General Lincoln runs as follows:

“North end of lake George landing.
thursday Sep 10^{th} 1777

Sir,

With great fatigue after marching all last night I arrived at this place at the break of day, and after the best disposition of the men, I could make, immediately began the attack, and in a few minutes, carried the place. I then without any loss of time detached a considerable part of my men to the mills, where a greater number of the enemy were posted, who also were soon made prisoners, a small number of whom having taken possession of a block house in that Vicinity were with more difficulty bro’t to submission; but at the sight of a Cannon they surrendered. during this season of success, Mount Defiance also fell into our hands. I have taken possession of the old french lines at Ticonderoga, and have sent a flag demanding the surrender of Ty: and mount independence in strong and peremptory terms. I have had as yet no information of the event of Col^o. Johnson’s attack on the mount. My loss of men in these several actions are not more than 3 or 4 killed and 5 wounded. the enemy’s loss; is less. I find myself in possession of 293 prisoners. Viz^t 2 captains, 9 subs. 2 Commisaries. non Commissioned officers and privates 143 British. 119 Canadians, 18 artificers and retook more than 100 of our men. total 293, exclusive of the prisoners retaken.--The watercraft I have taken, is 150 batteaus below the falls on lake Champlain 50 above the falls including 17 gun boats and one armed sloop. arms equal to the number of prisoners. Some ammunition and many other things which I cannot now ascertain. I must not forget to mention a few Cannon which may be of great service to us. Tho: my success has hitherto answered my most sanguine expectations, I cannot promise myself great things, the events of war being so dubious in their nature, but shall do my best to distress the enemy all in my power, having regard to my retreat--There is but a small quantity of provisions at this place which I think will necessitate my retreat in case we do not carry Ty and independence--I hope you will use your utmost endeavor to give me assistance should I need in crossing the lake &c--The enemy but a very small force at fort George. Their boats are on an island about 14 miles from this guarded by six companies, having artillery--I have much fear with respect to the prisoners, being obliged to send them under a small guard--I am well informed that considerable reinforcements is hourly expected at the lake under command of Sir John Johnson--This minute received Gen^l. Powels answer to my demand in these words, ‘The garrison intrusted to my charge I shall defend to the last.’ Indeed I have little hopes of putting him to the necessity of giving it up unless by the force under Colonel Johnson.

I am &
JOHN BROWN.”

Gen^l Lincoln.[33]

We now turn to the fight at Diamond Island, giving first the English version, simply remarking as a preliminary, that in the postscript of a letter addressed by Jonas Fay to General Gates, dated Bennington, September 22, 1771, is the following:

“By a person just arrived from Fort George--only 30 men are at that place and 2 Gun Boats anchor’d at a distance from land and that the enemy have not more than 3 weeks provisions.”[34]

Writing from Albany after his surrender, General Burgoyne says, under the date of October 27, that

“On the 24th instant, the enemy, enabled by the capture of the gunboats and bateaux which they had made after the surprise of the sloop, to embark upon Lake George, attacked Diamond Island in two divisions.

Captain Aubrey and two companies of the 47th regiment, had been posted at that island from the time the army passed the Hudson’s River, as a better situation for the security of the stores at the south end of Lake George than Fort George, which is on the continent, and not tenable against artillery and numbers. The enemy were repulsed by Captain Aubrey with great loss, and pursued by the gunboats under his command to the east shore, where two of their principal vessels were retaken, together with all the cannon. They had just time to set fire to the other bateaux and retreated over the mountains.”[35]

This statement was based upon the report made by Lieutenant Irwine, the commander at Lake George, whose communication appears to have fallen into the hands of Gates, at the surrender of Burgoyne.

Lieutenant George Irwine, of the 47th, reports thus to Lieutenant Francis Clark, aid-de-camp to General Burgoyne:

“Fort George 24^{th} Sept^r. 1777.

Sir

I think it necessary to acquaint you for the information of General Burgoyne, that the enemy, to the amount of two or three hundred men came from Skenesborough to the carrying place near Tyconderoga and there took seventeen or eighteen Batteaus with Gunboats--Their design was first to attack the fort but considering they could not well accomplish it without cannon they desisted from that scheme, they were then resolved to attack Diamond Island (which Island Capt. Aubrey commands) and if they succeeded, to take this place, they began to attack the Island with cannon about 9 o’clock yesterday morning, I have the satisfaction to inform you that after a cannonading for near an hour and a half on both sides the enemy took to their retreat. Then was Gun boats sent in pursuit of them which occasioned the enemy to burn their Gun boats and Batteaus and made their escape towards Skenesborough in great confusion--we took one Gun boat from them with a twelve pounder in her and a good quantity of ammunition--we have heard there was a few kill’d and many wounded of them. There was not a man killed or hurt during the whole action of his Majesty’s Troops. I have the honor to be Sir your most obedient and most humb^{le} Ser^t

Geo^e Irwine Com at Fort George
L^t 47^{th}”[36]

We now turn to the hitherto unpublished report of Colonel Brown, who reports as follows, not without chagrin:

“Skeensboro Friday 11 o’clock, a. m. Sep^t 26^{th} 1777

Dear Sir

I this minute arrived at this place by the way of Fort Ann, was induced to take this route on ac^t of my Ignorance of the situation of every part of the continental Army----

On the 22 ins^t at 4 o’clk P.M. I set sail from the north end Lake George with 20 sail of Boats three of which were armed, Viz one small sloop mounting 3 guns, and 2 British Gun Boats having on Board the whole about 420 Men officers included with a Determined resolution to attack Diamond Island which lies within 5 miles Fort George at the break of Day the next Morning, but a very heavy storm coming on prevented--I arrived Sabbath Day point abt midnight where I tarried all night, during which time I [sic] small Boat in the fleet taken the Day before coming from Fort George, conducted by one Ferry lately a sutler in our army, I put Ferry on his Parole, but in the night he found Means to escape with his Boat, and informed the Enemy of our approach, on the 23d I advanced as far as 12 Mile Island, the Wind continuing too high for an attack I suspended it untill the Morning of the 24^{th} at 9 oclock at which Time I advanced with the 3 armed Boats in front and the other Boats, I ordered to wing to the Right and left of Island to attempt a landing if practicable, and to support the Gun Boats in case they should need assistance, I was induced to make this experiment to find the strength of the Island as also to carry it if practicable--the enemy gave me the first fire which I returned in good earnest, and advanced as nigh as I thought prudent, I soon found that the enemy had been advertised of our approach and well prepared for our reception having a great number of cannon well mounted with good Breast Works, I however approached within a small Distance giving the Enemy as hot a fire as in my Power, untill the sloop was hulled between wind and Water and obliged to toe her off and one of the boats so damaged as I was obliged to quit her in the action. I had two men killed two Mortally wounded and several others wounded in such Manner as I was obliged to leave them under the Care of the Inhabitants, who I had taken Prisoners giving them a sufficient reward for their services.

I Run my Boats up a Bay a considerable distance and burnt them with all the Baggage that was not portable--The Enemy have on Diamond Island as near as could be collected are about three hundred, and about 40 at Fort George with orders if they are attacked to retreat to the Island--Gen^l Borgoine has about 4 Weeks Provision with his army and no more, he is determined to cut his Road through to Albany at all events, for this I have the last authority, still I think him under a small mistake--Most of the Horses and Cattle taken at Ty and thereabouts were left in the Woods. Gen^l Warner has put out a party in quest of them.

I am Dear S^r wishing you and the Main Army
great Success your most ob^t hum^l Ser^t
JNO BROWN.”

Gen^l Lincoln

“NB You may Depend on it that after the British Army were supply with six Weeks provision which was two weeks from the Communication between Lake George and Fort Edward was ordered by Gen^l Burgoine to be stor’d and no passes given----

The attack on the Island continued with interruption 2 Hours.”[37]

Thus ended the fight of Diamond Island; a fight which, if attended with better success, might have perhaps hastened the surrender of Burgoyne, and resulted in other advantages to the American arms. As it was, however, the British line of communication on Lake George was not broken, while the American leaders took good care to prevent this failure from reaching the public ear through the press. Thus Colonel Brown’s reports to General Lincoln remained unpublished. They have now been brought out to be put on permanent record, as interesting material for American history.

To-day the summer tourist who rows out to this lovely isle, which commands delightful views of the lake far and wide, will see no evidences of the struggle, but will find the very atmosphere bathed in perfect peace. Of relics of the old wars, which for more than a hundred years caused the air to jar, and echoing hills to complain,--there are none. The ramparts that once bristled with cannon have been smoothed away, and the cellar of an ancient house is all the visitor will find among the birches to tell of the olden occupancy of man.

(The Late Rev.) B. F. DACOSTA.

NEW YORK CITY.

Lieutenant Colonel John Brown (1774-1780), a native of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, was a Yale graduate of 1771, and in 1774 visited Canada as a horse dealer, to ascertain the sentiments of the Canadians towards the principles of our impending Revolution. His subsequent experiences with Arnold in the Quebec campaign are matters of history, but his early death, in the encounter at Stone Arabia, N. Y., in 1780, just after the discovery of Arnold’s treachery, prevented the details of his specific accusations against the latter from becoming public. His descendants in Boston have long been preparing to issue a detailed biography, which should be a valuable contribution to the literature of the Revolution. The story of his Lake George fight was practically unknown before Dr. DeCosta’s article was written [for the N. E. Historic Genealogic Society] and although it was afterward published in pamphlet form, so few copies were printed that it has been inaccessible to the general reader.

Mr. William L. Stone furnishes me with the following particulars regarding Captain Aubrey: He came with his regiment from Ireland to America in 1773, and served throughout the Revolution. He commanded his company at Bunker Hill, and when in the spring of 1776 the regiment was sent to reinforce Carleton in Canada, he accompanied it and aided in the expulsion of the American forces. After Burgoyne’s surrender, Aubrey’s detachment returned to Canada and he remained there and in command of the post at the entrance to Lake Ontario for a long time. He died in London, January 15, 1814.--[ED.]

FOOTNOTES:

[28] Silliman, who was here in 1819, says: “The crystals are hardly surpassed by any in the world for transparency and perfection of form. They are, as usual, the six-sided prism, and are frequently terminated at both ends by six-sided pyramids. These last, of course, must be found loose, or, at least, not adhering to any rock; those which are broken off have necessarily only one pyramid.”--_Silliman’s Travels_, p. 153.

[29] This affair was alluded to by the English, though the Americans said nothing. Among recent writers, I have found no notice beyond that by Lossing in his Field Book, vol. i., p. 114. When the present writer composed his work on Lake George he had not found the official account by Col. Brown.

[30] See _Relations des Jesuits_, 1646, p. 15.

[31] Mr. Parkman, in his work _The Jesuits in America_ (p. 219), has indeed stated that Father Jogues ascended Lake George in 1642, when, in company with Père Goupil, he was carried away a prisoner by the Indians.

The opinion of Mr. Parkman is based on a manuscript account of that journey, taken down from Father Jogues’ own lips by Father Buteux. The account, after describing the journey southward and over Lake Champlain, which occupied eight days, says that they “arrived at the place where one leaves the canoes” (_où l’on quitte les canots_), and then “marched southward three days by land,” until they reached the Mohawk villages. But there is nothing whatever in the description, by which we can recognize a passage over Lake George, nothing about the portage, the falls, nor the outlet. Everything turns chiefly on the fact that they _arrived at the place where one leaves the canoes_. This place, it is assumed, was the head of Lake George, from whence there was a trail southward. Now in regard to the existence of such a trail at that period, there can be no doubt; yet unquestionably it was not the _only_ trail followed by the Indians. The old French map shows two trails to the Mohawk villages, one from the head of Lake George, and the other from the South-west Bay.

It is true that Champlain, in 1609, intended to go to the Mohawk country, by Lake George, yet at the period of Jogue’s captivity we have no account of any one taking that route. Father Jogues himself clearly did not cross the lake in 1646. It is distinctly said that they arrived at the end of the lake (_bout de lac_) on the eve of the Festival of _St. Sacrament_, when they named the lake, and the next day went south _on foot_, carrying their packs on their backs. This is the view given by every one who has treated the subject in print, including Mr. Parkman himself.

To this it has been answered that _bout de lac_ always means the _head_ of the lake, and that the terms are so used in the _Relations_; yet if we return to the _Relations_ of 1668 (vol. ii., p. 5), detailing the journey of Fathers Fremin, Pieron and Bruyas, we find that this is not the case. The writer there says that while he and others delayed on an island in Lake Champlain, the boatmen went forward, “landing at the _end_ of the Lake (_bout de lac_) du St. Sacrement, and preparing for the portage.” At this place, the north end of the lake, there is a heavy portage, in order to get around the Falls of Ticonderoga. In the next sentence he again calls this end of the lake, which is the north end or outlet, _bout de lac_. But we have also to remind the reader, that the place where Father Jogues _left his canoe_, in 1646, was at the north end of the lake (the foot), which he, like the others, calls _bout de lac_. The language is so translated by Parkman and others who have mentioned the circumstances. _Bout de lac_, in the Jesuit _Relations_, therefore does not mean the _head_ of the lake. We see, then, that we have not sufficient reason for supposing that “the place where one leaves the canoes” meant the head, or south end of Lake George, and consequently that the alleged passage over the lake by Jogues, in 1642, is indefensible.

[32] State of the Expedition from Canada. By Burgoyne. p. xciv. Ed. 1780.

[33] Gates Papers, p. 194.

[34] Gates Papers, p. 208.

[35] State of the Expedition from Canada, p. 53.

[36] Gates Papers, p. 218.

[37] Gates Papers, p. 220.

INDIAN LEGENDS

II

THE MAIDEN OF THE MOON

[The following legend was obtained from the lips of a Chippewa woman named Penaqua, or the Female Pheasant, and I hardly know which to admire most, the simple beauty of the plot, or the graphic and unique manner of the narrative, of which, I regret to say, I can hardly give a faithful translation.]

Among the rivers of the North, none can boast of more numerous charms than the St. Louis, and the fairest spot of the earth which it waters is that where now (1847) stands the trading post of Fond du Lac. Upon this spot, many summers ago, there lived a Chippewa chief and his wife, who were the parents of an only daughter. Her name was _Sweet Strawberry_, and she was acknowledged to be the most beautiful maiden of her nation. Her voice was like that of the turtle-dove, and the red deer was not more graceful and sprightly in its form. Her eyes were brilliant as the star of the northern sky, which guides the hunter through the wilderness, and her dark hair clustered around her neck like grape vines around the trunk of the tree they loved. The young men of every nation had striven to win her heart, but she smiled upon none. Curious presents were sent to her from the four quarters of the world, but she received them not. Seldom did she deign to reply to the many warriors who entered her father’s lodge, and when she did, it was only to assure them that while upon earth she would never change her condition. Her strange conduct astonished them, but did not subdue their affection. Many and noble were the deeds they performed, not only in winning the white plumes of the eagle, but in hunting the elk and the black bear. But all their exploits availed them nothing, for the heart of the beautiful girl was still untouched.

The snows of winter were all gone, and the pleasant winds of spring were blowing over the land. The time for making sugar had arrived, though the men had not yet returned from the remote hunting grounds, and in the maple forests bright fires were burning, and the fragrance of the sweet sap filled all the air. The ringing laugh of childhood and the mature song of women, were heard in the valley, but in no part of the wilderness could be found more happiness than on the banks of the St. Louis. But the _Sweet Strawberry_ mingled with the young men and maidens of her tribe, in a thoughtful mood and with downcast eyes. She was evidently bowed down by some mysterious grief, but she neglected not her duties; and though she spent much of her time alone, her buchère-bucket was as frequently filled with the sugar juice as any of her companions.

Such was the condition of affairs, when a party of young warriors from the far North came upon a frolic to the St. Louis River. Having seen the many handsome maidens of this region, the strangers became enamored of their charms, and each one succeeded in obtaining the love of a maiden, who was to become his bride during the marrying season of summer.

The warriors had heard of the _Sweet Strawberry_, but, neglected by all of them, she was still doomed to remain alone. She witnessed the happiness of her old playmates, and, wondering at her own strange fate, spent much of her time in solitude. She even became so unhappy and bewildered that she heeded not the tender words of her mother, and from that time the music of her voice was never heard.

The sugar making season was now rapidly passing away, but the brow of the _Sweet Strawberry_ was still overshadowed with grief. Everything was done to restore her to her wonted cheerfulness, but she remained unchanged. Wild ducks in innumerable numbers arrived with every southern wind, and settled upon the surrounding waters, and proceeded to build their nests in pairs, and the Indian maiden sighed over her mysterious doom. On one occasion she espied a cluster of early spring flowers peering above the dry leaves of the forest, and, strange to say, even these were separated into pairs, and seemed to be wooing each other in love. All things whispered to her of love, the happiness of her companions, the birds of the air, and the flowers. She looked into her heart, and inwardly praying for a companion whom she might love, the Master of Life took pity upon her lot and answered her prayer.

It was now the twilight hour, and in the maple woods the Indian boys were watching their fires and the women were bringing in the sap from the surrounding trees. The time for making sugar was almost gone, and the well-filled mocucks, which might be seen in all the wigwams, testified that the yield had been abundant. The hearts of the old women beat in thankfulness, and the young men and maidens were already beginning to anticipate the pleasures of wedded life and those associated with the sweet summer time. But the brow of the _Sweet Strawberry_ continued to droop, and her friends looked upon her as a victim of a settled melancholy. Her duties, however, were performed without a murmur, and so continued to be performed until the trees refused to fill her buchère-bucket with sap, when she stole away from the sugar camp and wandered to a retired place to muse upon her sorrows. Her unaccountable grief was very bitter, but did not long endure; for, as she stood gazing upon the sky, the moon ascended above the hills and filled her soul with a joy she had never felt before. The longer she looked upon the brilliant object, the more deeply in love did she become with its celestial charms, and she burst forth into a song--a loud, wild, and joyous song. Her musical voice echoed through the woods, and her friends hastened to ascertain the cause. They gathered around her in crowds, but she heeded them not. They wondered at the wildness of her words, and the airy-like appearance of her form. They were spellbound by the scene before them, but their astonishment knew no limits when they saw her gradually ascend from the earth into the air, where she disappeared, as if borne upward by the evening wind. And then it was that they discovered her clasped in the embraces of the moon, for they knew that the spots which they saw within the circle of that planet were those of her robe, which she had made from the skins of the spotted fawn.

Many summers have passed away since the _Sweet Strawberry_ became the Maiden of the Moon, yet among all the people of her nation is she ever remembered for her beauty and the mystery of her being.

(The late) CHARLES LANMAN.

THE FIRST WOMAN IN THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT

Just the other day, during a housecleaning in the Post Office Department, a number of autograph letters written by men famous in American history were discovered in an old and battered file-case. The file-case had evidently been considered of no value, for it had been stowed away in a little-used portion of the cellar, and would undoubtedly have eventually been broken up and its contents lost or destroyed.

The papers include letters of recommendation by Horace Greeley, Garfield, Sumner, and others of then national prominence. Among the papers was the record of the first woman appointed to the postal service and one of the first employed in the Government departments in Washington in any capacity.

The documents are considered as of more than ordinary interest, particularly as autograph letters of recommendation from prominent men are now practically things of the past. The general use of the typewriter, and the fact that almost every man of prominence has a private secretary, are largely responsible for this modern condition.

Autograph letters of recommendation, moreover, are not looked upon with favor in Government departments nowadays, and a missive from Horace Greeley such as the one on file would probably be thrown in the waste basket as undecipherable. The appearance of this letter justifies all things that were ever said about the great editor’s chirography.

One of the most interesting papers in the collection is an autograph letter written by Elisha Whittlesey of the comptroller’s office in the Treasury Department, to Montgomery Blair, then Postmaster General, which resulted in the appointment of the first woman employee of the postal service and the second to be employed by any Government department in Washington. The letter follows:

“Treasury Department, Comptroller’s Office,
December 23, 1861.

SIR: Having understood you had decided to employ females in the dead letter office under a recent act of Congress authorizing you to employ an additional force, I present for your consideration the application of Miss Elizabeth Johnson of Cleveland, Ohio, who now and for some months past has been in this city.

She is a young lady, well educated, well behaved, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. Her father died some years since, leaving a widow and a large family of children.

Elizabeth D. was born in New Orleans, teaching school when the seceding States withdrew. Not disposing to remain there, she was protected by the colonel of a regiment from New Orleans to Richmond, who was acquainted with her. From Richmond she went to Norfolk, whence she came to Fortress Monroe with a trunk and flag of truce, from thence to Baltimore in the regular steamer, and from there here by railroad. A trunk containing her winter clothing was put in charge of a gentleman who came to this city and lost it between Richmond and Fortress Monroe.

The little money that she has is now exhausted, and she is in debt for a few weeks past. She is the person of whom an account was given at the time in the papers as having created a sensation on board of the boat by hurrahing when she first saw the stars and stripes on Fortress Monroe. Of her loyalty there can be no doubt, and for it I will be responsible.

It seems to me that you will not have a case that will appeal more strongly to your sense of justice nor to your sympathy or kindness. I was acquainted with her ancestors in Connecticut, and have seen her in Cleveland. Her application is before you and I hope it will prevail. I should have waited on you in person if I could leave the office without disappointing those creditors of the United States who are waiting for their money.

The Hon. Mr. Theaker is acquainted with Miss Johnson, and will wait on you in her behalf.

ELISHA WHITTLESEY.

P. S.--Mr. Theaker has heard of the death of his wife in Bridgeport, Ohio, and has left for his home. Prof. Donald McLean, a clerk in this office, will wait on you with this letter, and he is also acquainted with Miss Johnson.

E. W.”

Mr. Blair made the desired appointment, and Mr. Whittlesey’s letter bears the following endorsement in the Postmaster General’s handwriting:

“Somewhat mixed, but his heart is in the right place. Recommendation approved.”

_Star_, WASHINGTON, D. C.

HAND-LOOM WEAVING REVIVED

Seated on a thick oak plank, worn smooth and shiny by centuries of use as the seat of a hand loom, and with Mrs. Talbot seated on a similar plank in front of a second loom in the basement of his residence, No. 193 Power Street, Arnold G. Talbot, secretary of the Tockwotton Company, and well known in social circles of the East Side, has become a hand loom weaver. Side by side, with a light between them and another in each of the front corners of the little room, Mr. and Mrs. Talbot sit every week day evening and weave plain and pattern goods in silk, linen and cotton, on the looms and in the fashions of two centuries ago.

They do it partly for amusement and partly to satisfy an increasing demand for such goods as our grandmothers wove, among people with so much money that it is really doing them a service to separate them from some of it. They have what is probably the only hand loom establishment in this State, a practical exposition of the spread and possibilities of the modern arts and crafts movement. It is right in line with the present movement for hand work in wearing materials or house fabrics by those able to pay the necessarily increased cost.

In fact there are but few such establishments in this country. In the mountains of Kentucky hand weaving is still practiced, and the products of the mountaineers, handled through a semi-public institution, have a ready sale. In Massachusetts such goods are also selling. Mr. and Mrs. Talbot first thought of the possibilities of remunerative trade when they found a demand for hand weaving among friends who saw the results of their work of three hours every evening--from seven to ten o’clock--on the one loom with which they began work. Then they procured another loom in Johnston, the town from which the first one came, and set that up beside the one Mr. Talbot had bought as a curiosity. Now they have hired a Swede woman to come to work at the loom during the day. In Sweden all the girls are still taught in the country districts to operate a hand loom, and this woman has not been in this country long enough to forget what she was taught as a girl.

Mr. Talbot believes in old things. It is said by friends that there is nothing modern in his house except the present members of the family. He has one of the most strikingly beautiful mantels imaginable, taken from one of the old houses on South Main Street, in which the quality of the old town of Providence once lived, and his son and heir even sleeps in one of the trundle beds of song and story. So when a friend told him of the auction of goods of a collector of antiques in Johnston he went to the sale. No one else seemed to want the old hand loom there offered, so Mr. Talbot bought it, just for the sake of getting an unusual antique.

There must be many such looms in the garrets of the South County and other sections of the State, where they were shoved to one side half or three-quarters of a century ago, but few of them are set up and in working order as this one was. Mr. Talbot had the loom brought to his home and then started to put it together again. What he did not know about looms was vast and comprehensive, and Mrs. Talbot’s knowledge was equally vain. But together and with the help of a friend or two whose working idea of mechanics was as great as the Talbot willingness to learn, they finally had it set up in the room Mr. Talbot had used for his den. Then they went to work to learn how to run the thing.

Mr. Talbot has a wide acquaintance among mill men, and some of them volunteered to come to the Talbot home and show them how to read patterns, that they might reproduce old hand-loom designs. So they came, and were given some hand-made goods to read. One by one they confessed that, while they could read any machine-woven pattern, the difference in the methods of the machine and the hand looms was great enough to puzzle them. They could not read the patterns, that is, tell how they were woven--so many threads this way, so many that way, and the rest. They gave it up. Mrs. Talbot, who had a rare combination of gumption and energy, tackled the problem and puzzled it out. She picked up a little here and a little there, and was soon weaving, and weaving patterns, at that.

This was early last October. The first loom had no sooner been set up and started than Mr. and Mrs. Talbot found a new difficulty. The work was fascinating, the hours they had to give to it were few, and each wanted to use the loom at about the same time. So Mr. Talbot commissioned the man he had bought it from to find and buy another for them. The second one was found in Johnston, the town from which the first had come, and was set up beside the other. After that they peacefully wove every evening side by side.

They had to work everything out from the beginning. Their thread they bought, but they had to build a warping frame, after the old fashion, and warp and link the thread themselves, running four threads at a time, up and down the warping frame. It takes them about four hours to wind fifty yards of warp for forty-inch cloth. Warping the yarn is the most essential feature of the whole process, for if it is not done well, the yarn will not feed easily, and the weaving will be stopped.

Everything about the looms, except the operators and the harnesses, is old. The harnesses, which came with the looms, were of cord, and the new ones are superior. The reeds used in the looms are of split reed, and Mrs. Talbot considers them better than the modern ones of steel. The looms themselves are built of white oak, and as their history is known, Mr. Talbot is safe in the statement that they are each more than 200 years old. He has even procured the square and compasses with which they were built. One loom is used for plain weaving, the other one for pattern work.

Mr. and Mrs. Talbot have named it the Hearthside Loom, a charmingly descriptive name, and have already produced some very handsome patterns, some of them copies of old patterns of two centuries ago, some of them from Mrs. Talbot’s ideas, or from patterns made by Mr. Talbot for their original work. They have found a good demand for their products at prices ranging from $3 a yard for tabbie weaving--the straight up and down, plain weaving--to about $5 a yard for silk goods. In linen, which costs $2.50 a yard, they use all imported Irish linen, the American linen lacking the property of lasting, the oil having been extracted from it. Wool patterns and patterns in imported cloth are worth $6 a yard, with plain wool weaving forty or forty-five inches wide, at $4 a yard, and scrim curtains at $6 a pair.

A good woman weaver can weave about four yards of linen a day, or about five yards of wool a day, on such looms as these. The Hearthside Loom takes orders for pattern work on original patterns, and its work has already proved popular among people who are able to buy goods made to last. In addition to the two large looms, Mr. Talbot has a small ribbon loom that is even older than the larger ones, while the trade-mark of the establishment is a reproduction of a hand loom small enough to be held in one hand, and hardly bigger than a large shingle.

The room in which they are placed is a veritable curiosity shop. On the wall hangs the long crane from the old glebe house of St. John’s Church, torn down last year, with other iron fire pieces; at the hearth are old iron fire dogs; all along the rear wall hang other antiques. The house is filled with old and curious things, none older or more curious, however, than the looms forming the working machinery of the Hearthside Loom.

_Journal_, PROVIDENCE.

ERROR--MEMORIAL TREES

In our May number it is stated that Charles Sumner sent to Russia some acorns of an oak growing near the tomb of Washington, and from one of these sprang an oak now growing in Czarina Island. Dr. Samuel A. Green, Librarian of the Massachusetts Historical Society, corrects this, showing that it was George, the brother of Charles Sumner. As he says: “The incident may seem too trivial for serious notice, but a memorial tree, if it is to have any meaning, should be deeply rooted in truth and accuracy.”

BALTIMORE’S OLD STEPPING-STONES

In the midst of the enterprise and activity that mark the Baltimore of to-day, visitors frequently come across old landmarks that stand out distinctly as reminders of the earlier and more leisurely days of the city’s history. None of them is more familiar than the old-fashioned stepping-stones still to be seen at a few crossings, usually at the bottom of the steepest grades, and which become veritable Ararats of refuge when the streets are flooded after a heavy rain. Worn smooth on top by thousands of scurrying feet that now are still, chipped and scarred at the corners by hundreds of whirling wheels long since rotted, and streaked and pitted on the sides by the winter snows and summer rains of countless yesterdays, the stepping-stone stands amid the busy street like a milestone on the road that Greater Baltimore has trod--like the tombstone of the dead past.

Nowadays the most prominent of these old stepping-stones are at the foot of the hill below the town house of Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte, at Centre Street and Park Avenue.

There are traces of the stones still left on the steep grade of Saratoga Street, down from Courtland to Calvert, and there are some of these stones at North Avenue, near the Mount Royal Avenue entrance to the park, and their usefulness has been demonstrated more than once during the heavy downpours that have characterized this season’s rains.

Probably the best-known of the stepping-stones were those opposite the site of the old Hall of Congress, on what is now Baltimore Street, between Sharp and Liberty, at which the sessions of the Continental Congress were held in December, 1776.

Speaking of these old landmarks, Col. William H. Love said:

“For many years Baltimore and Fredericksburg, Va., shared with Pompeii the distinction of having stepping-stones across the public highways. Some years ago, when ex-Mayor Latrobe and his father, the late John H. B. Latrobe, were visiting Pompeii, the elder Mr. Latrobe said: ‘Ferdinand, do you see anything familiar?’ Mr. Latrobe said that he suddenly felt at home; he saw some old stepping-stones.

Some years ago, if I am not mistaken, there were stepping-stones at the crossings on Lexington Street leading toward Liberty, and on Liberty at the crossings all the way down to Lombard Street. They were the cause of some painful accidents to children who were crossing and slipped, cutting their faces badly. But as a rule they could not have been dispensed with, because of the enormous body of water that came down the streets when it rained in those days.

The flow of water was especially strong down Baltimore Street, and the old stones opposite Congress Hall I remember well. The stones were quite high at the curb and were somewhat lower near the center of the street. I have known the rush of water to be so great down Baltimore Street at that point that traffic was altogether stopped by it until the storm was over.”

_Baltimore Sun._

THE GRAVE OF LEATHERSTOCKING

The grave of Daniel Shipman, who is generally believed to have been the original of Cooper’s Leather Stocking, has been definitely located in the Adams cemetery at Fly Creek, near Cooperstown, N. Y. A committee has been appointed for the purpose of erecting a suitable tablet to mark the grave, which is now merely covered with a large flat stone with no inscription whatever.

THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA

(At a recent meeting of the Saratoga County Society, Mr. William L. Stone made an address on the subject of the battle, from which we make an excerpt.--Ed.)

This event (which has been called by Creasy one of the fifteen decisive battles of the world) secured for us the French alliance; and lifted the cloud of moral and financial gloom that had settled upon the hearts of the people, dampening the hopes of the leaders of the Revolution, and wringing despairing words even from the hopeful Washington.

More than a century has elapsed since that illustrious event. All the actors in the drama have passed away, and their descendants are now sharing in the rewards of their devotion and suffering. And now after years of labor a noble shaft has arisen at Schuylerville to commemorate that turning point of our National destiny; which, like those of Lexington and Bunker Hill, tells of one of the earliest bloodsheds in the cause of Cisatlantic freedom, and makes the selfsacrifice of our ancestors endure in granite records for the admiration of generations yet to be.

It is a noteworthy fact, in connection with the Battles of Saratoga, that, until recently, there has been no map of the battle-ground from an American standpoint (Neilson’s is the same as no map), our only means of information being those maps made by Burgoyne’s engineers [these were then shown by the speaker] and which were published in 1781 to illustrate Burgoyne’s defence when he was tried in Parliament for his defeat at Saratoga. But, within a few years, there has been found a map of the battle-ground, by General Rufus Putnam, which throws great light on one point in particular, viz.: It has always been a mystery, as I say in my “Burgoyne’s Campaign,” why Gates did not renew the battle on the next day, the 8th. But from this map [here the speaker exhibited the map, which has never been published] it appears that the ravines at Wilbur’s Basin had been so fortified by the British, that (to quote from the map in Putnam’s handwriting) “These defences (_i. e._: on these ravines) thus fortified, prevented our attack on the British the next day.”

It is also of interest, as showing the good judgment of Burgoyne’s engineers, that the roads which they cut through the (at that time) primeval forest, are the same that the farmers and road commissioners adopted for their present roads--the one, for instance, from Victory Mills to Quaker Springs, on the high ridge which Fraser took, while Burgoyne and Riedesel took the river bank.

COMMUNICATION

Mr. Hammond in his article on John Paul Jones (July MAGAZINE) says that Jones left Portsmouth for Philadelphia, November 6, 1782. He might have added, as you will see by the following paragraph copied from the Journal of Claude Blanchard, commissary of Rochambeau’s army, that Jones sailed from Boston with the Frenchmen on December 23, 1782 (never to return to the United States alive.)

BOSTON. A. A. FOLSOM.

On the 23d of December, 1782, I went on board of the _Triomphant_, eighty guns with M. de Viomenil, and on the 24th the whole squadron, carrying the army, set sail and left the harbor of Boston; the channel is narrow and has little depth; so that we were not without uneasiness. Our pilot himself did not appear to be quite composed and incessantly repeated orders. However, we fortunately got through; one only of the transport ships was shattered upon the rocks on setting sail; happily, there were not troops on board. We were to cruise as high up as Portsmouth, a pretty good port beyond Boston, where two ships of war were, which were to rejoin us and then to cruise alongside of Rhode Island in order to meet with the _Fantasque_, a vessel armed _en flute_. The bad weather changed these designs; we could not, without danger, remain upon these coasts exposed to being cast away upon them or driven upon sand banks.

On the 27th, the frigate _Iris_ left us, to proceed to France. On the same day we lost sight of our convoy and our frigate. Moreover, every vessel carried a sealed package pointing out the general destination of the squadron.

The staff of the _Triomphant_ consisted of thirteen officers. Three auxiliary and three officers of the regiment Médoc, keeping garrison in the ship, who, with the officers who were passengers made fifty-five persons. The soldiers and sailors were in proportion, so that there were more than eleven hundred persons on board of this ship. We also had on board the famous Paul Jones, who had asked permission to embark on board of us, who behaved with great propriety.

February, 1783. On the 8th, several of our ships were obliged to put into port at Curacoa. The squadron finally sailed for France, April 4th, arrived at Brest 17th of June.

ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS

LETTER FROM COL. HENRY GLEN, OF SCHENECTADY, N. Y., TO COL. MARINUS WILLETT.

[The writer was distinguished during the Revolution, and his correspondent even more so. The letter is interesting as covering a variety of subjects, including the failure of the Oswego expedition, local politics, etc., and for its phonetic spelling.]

SCHENECTADY, _13th March, 1783_.

My worthy Friend
COLO M. WILLETT

SIR:

Your letter with the disgreeable Titings of that unhappy day I have Before me and any delay of not answering you sooner was in an exspatation of sending you the Grat & Gloriss news of peace. But out of my power as yet, But momently exspected, when I shall loss no time of sending that Longwished pease of newes. NO MEN Felt moor unhappy Then I hearing the Miscariges of the Expedition & that through the conduct of the dam Savage(s). I cannot but condol on the ocasion & that Sincerely.

However as its the change of war for Fourthen (fortune), & Miss Fourthen to authir (other) Generals, dukes Lords & the first Generals of the Earth Let’s Go back to Jullis Cisier’s time Al’xd the Grat, Malberg (Marlborough) Charles the 12 of Sweden, Prince Ugen (Eugene), Cumberland & the King of prusia, what has befallen them in a moment, a woeful amangumercy (emergency) who both fell in Pursuitt of that thing called Glory & Honour which promised the fairest of every thing in the world, for you to be crowned with, for I blieve by your own acc’t Major (Van Courtland?) & several other Gentlemen who was with you that not a soul of the garrison new ware you came from--you might as well been Tropt (dropped) out of the moon--for what they new--the only way is to make your self happy, its well known your activity Bravery & Courage in the case, that you are not Blamed--a few of your Enemies may say the men had no business there, But what for....

I am last Evening from Albany--saw all the Polititians not a word of newes but you had in the last papers. Major Hale Just from head-Quarters, no aRivals momently Exspected--the Assembly ware to Brack (break) up on Saturday next, Mr Morris[38] whants to resign--he has some Enemies in Philadelphia who Excuse him for making Parde (part) payment--Congress won’t Suffer him to Resign, wether they have it in their power to prevent him I am not able to Judge, I am sorrow for it.

The Shrief (sheriff) has a letter for Publican (publication?) the day of aLection for a Governer, Lieut Governer, one Senator for the northen district in the Room of Genl Tenbroeck & the Reprecentatives, which is to be on the 3rd Thursday in April next--no talk of any body for to apose Governor Clinton--the Barroom talk is Judge R. Yates (a pair?)--and Thomas Pallmer--neither of the three will answer, tho the one has abbility enough but their is something wanting Palame (Palmer?) I thing had the better ... various are the Congecturs who are the persons for Rang of Goverment.

My opinion, George Clinton, Esq, Governer, for thre years moor, Pier(re) V(an) Cortland Lieut Gov’r some Considerable Alteration in the Lower House....

Civil List either John M. Scott,[39] or James Duane for Mayir for the city of N. York. Recorder, I am at the last I believe, Marrinus Willet, High Shreff, tho you have been misforthen’d you have still friends at Court. So much for a little Pollitics. Calling yesterday at the post office I found a letter to you from His Excellency, which accompanies mine & Rest assured in a few days you will have one wether the war is to continue or pease to take place--there is no telling till a packet which had not come in within these fiew days

I am & Remain with Sentiments of Regard, &c.,

H. GLEN.

Addressed on back, “Col^o Marinus Willett, Commanding the Troops westward, Tryon County.”

LETTER OF WASHINGTON PARTLY IN REFERENCE TO UNIFORMS

[A valuable historical letter in reference to the uniform of the Army.]

HEAD QUARTERS, NEAR NEW WINDSOR, (N. Y.,) _29th May, 1781_.

_To the Board of War_:

GENTLEMEN.--I have been honored with your favors of the 13th 14th and 17th instants. My late absence from the Army prevented my acknowledging them sooner.

If the Uniforms which were fixed upon for the Troops of North and South Carolina have not been ordered from Europe, I do not see that any inconvenience can attend the proposed alteration. I think, however, the Lace ought to be dispensed with as altogether superfluous and very expensive.

It seems reasonable that a due proportion should be observed between the pay of the Deputies and the principal in any department, and as Congress were pleased to augment the Salary of Mr Laurance the Judge Advocate General very considerably by the Resolve of the 10th of November there can I think be no impropriety in augmenting the Salaries of the Deputies also to 60 dolls p. month, which is what they request.

Sir Henry Clinton has informed me that it is not in his power to permit the transportation of Tobacco from Virginia to Charlestown. I imagine there are some commercial Regulations in the way. But he says that he mentioned certain Articles to Colo Magaw and Colo Ely which might be sent in and sold for the benefit of our prisoners. What they were I do not exactly recollect, but I think Lumber and Iron.

I have the Honor to be
with great Respect
Gentlemen
Your most obt. Servt.
GO WASHINGTON.

Honble Board of War.

LETTER OF JOHN DICKINSON TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS