Our December gathering was brightened by Stanley Weintraub, who took us along for a momentous 1783 journey beside George Washington as the Great Man made his way from New York to Mount Vernon in time to celebrate Christmas at his fireside. Everywhere the hero was feted and saluted by men and danced with by dozens of adoring ladies who "wanted a touch of him." But Dr. Weintraub, whose brilliant book on the World War I Christmas "truce" of 1914 was a bestseller, gave us more than a travelogue and a pageant. He stressed that everywhere, Washington talked earnestly with the leaders of the states through which he passed, urging national unity and a stronger central government. What he heard was discouraging. The 13 former colonies were behaving more like 13 separate countries than a united republic. By the time the general resigned his commission in Annapolis and reached Mount Vernon and Martha's arms, he was glumly aware that his hopes of spending the rest of his life in his favorite spot on earth were unlikely to be realized. A political task awaited him, somewhere in the uncertain future. The applause was warm, and there was a rush to buy his book George Washington's Christmas Farewell. But we went home with sober thoughts about Washington's role in the creation of our turbulent nation. Not a bad Christmas present for a bunch of buffs, when you get down to it.
Our maximum leader, Chairman Dave Jacobs, reported on Barnet Schecter's The Battle for New York. Dave said he opened the book hoping for good accounts of what happened on well known intersections such as 125th Street and Broadway. He was not disappointed. This book covers everything revolutionary from western Long Island through the five boroughs to Westchester County. The writing style is brisk and readable. Good illustrations and maps add to the pleasure. An appendix connects to a website, A Walking Tour of the Battle For New York, which offers 11 different promenades rich in revolutionary history. Dave pronounced the book "highly recommended."
Jim Thomas reviewed Edmund Morgan's Benjamin Franklin. He liked it enormously, although he noted it added little to our knowledge of the great man's life. Morgan's achievement is the way he takes the reader deep into Franklin's character and personality. For instance, he has numerous illustrations of the way Franklin "liked doing things himself." It was one of the sources of his greatness as a scientist. Another gift was Ben's fondness for "company" which led him to organize clubs such as The Junto, which did all sorts of good things in Philadelphia. Still another trait Morgan highlights was Franklin's ability to change his mind. Until the eve of the Revolution, he was an apostle of a greater British Empire, in which America would be an equal partner with England. When events and personalities convinced him this happy marriage was not going to happen, he became an advocate of a transAtlantic divorce. "As Morgan unfolds the biography," Jim said, "the reader discovers a man both simple and complex, a man always worthy of respect but sometimes ignored, acerbic when necessary and not above guile; but always a gentle man."
Our book review chairperson, Lynne Saginaw, added a few recommendations for the holidays. One was "Ben Franklin's Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman's Life by Candace Fleming. A second item was more daunting: A first edition of Franklin's Political, Miscellaneous and Philosophical Pieces, published in 1779. It contains Ben's opinions on the Stamp Act, wealth, the weather and many of the other topics tackled by the great man in his day. Bantam Rare Books has a copy on sale for $6500. If your Christmas bonus is burning a hole in your wallet, you can contact them at www.BantamRareBooks.com
Round Tabler Sol Henner has produced a novel by the above title. It sounds racy! Those who want a look at the text can contact Sol on the web at BerniceSol@aol.com. He'll print up a copy and send it to you pronto.
Mark Domowne reports another story about a failed spy is making the rounds, this time on the other side of the Revolutionary equation. (Readers will recall last month's story about Nathan Hale.) Recent papers found in the archives of General James Grant at Ballindalloch Castle in Scotland include a draft report Grant apparently sent to a superior officer claiming that at 5 p.m. on Christmas Day, 1776, he had passed on a report from a spy, warning of George Washington's attack, to Colonel Johann Rall, commander of the Hessian garrison at Trenton. But Rall ignored the warning. Of course, we know that the well-liquored Rall also ignored a warning from a man who came to his quarters around midnight and handed him a letter. So Grant's letter only further substantiates the evidence that Washington's spy, John Honeyman, had done a good job of assuring Rall that the American army was too demoralized by food and clothing shortages to march. Other Grant letters report him running five or six spies in and around Philadelphia. The Library of Congress recently copied all of the general's 12,000 documents onto 50 rolls of microfilm.
Therese McNally has alerted us to a forthcoming drama, "Treasure," by playwright Timothy Slover to be staged by the Actors Company at the Fulton, in Lancaster Pennsylvania. The show will open April 29 and run through May 16. The plot is the story of Alexander Hamilton's affair with Maria Reynolds and what happens when his political enemies discover it. Auditions were held at the Actors Equity Audition Center in November. Let's hope it gets to Broadway. Lancaster is three hours from New York by train or car.
Speaking of "The Little Lion," as his friends called General Hamilton, a friend just sent us a letter from a visitor to his birthplace, the West Indian island of Nevis, telling how local historians are restoring an ancient synagogue, dating back to 1684. Down a path called "Jews Walk" is a Jewish cemetery, where the dates on the tombstones begin in 1658. These wanderers came from Brazil, after being expelled from Spain. Nevis historians think the synagogue may have been the site of the Jewish school that Hamilton attended in 1763, when he was eight years old. The local Anglican school had refused the boy because he was considered illegitimate. His mother, Rachel Faucett Lavien, had failed to divorce her first husband, John Lavien, after fleeing his attentions and being accused by him of "whoring with everyone." Nevis is restoring the synagogue and the Bath Hotel and Springs, once a noted tourist attraction. The thermal waters reach 108 degrees and are supposedly soothing to both the body and mind. Unfortunately, the waters did not soothe Rachel. She kicked Hamilton's neer-do-well father out of bed in the same peremptory style she had displayed with Mr. Lavien and decamped to St. Croix with Alexander and his brother, where she died in 1768.
The National Center for the American Revolution has announced a makeover for one of its prized possessions, George Washington's 228 year old encampment tent at Valley Forge. ZeeAnn Mason, senior vice president of the NCAR, told reporters the tent had undergone repairs in 1977 but they were now deemed inadequate. The tent was acquired in 1908 by one of Valley Forge's first boosters, the Rev. Dr. W. Herbert Burk, who paid a $500 deposit to Miss Mary Custis Lee, granddaughter of the Civil War general, and great great granddaughter of Martha Washington. Controversy swirled around the tent when it arrived. Some claimed George did not "camp out" in it with Martha. In fact, the tent may have been used at Valley Forge for only about two weeks. But it followed Washington throughout his revolutionary travels. The NCAR is working hard to match a grant of $286,000 they have received for exhibit costs, including the tent repairs. Tom Fleming is a senior scholar at the NCAR. He says it's amazing that the tent's fabric has survived so long. The tent is part of the 7,000 Revolutionary artifacts the NCAR plans to display when they open in 2006.
Tom Fleming reports on a new guidebook to the central region of his native state. The Raritan Millstone Heritage Alliance has issued a 68 page historical treasure trove, which includes all sorts of Revolutionary War sites in their part of the Garden State. They start with Proprietary House in Perth Amboy, the only surviving residence of a colonial governor, where William Franklin presided until the New Jersey militia escorted him to jail in 1775. There are wonderful old churches such as The Six Mile Run Reformed Church in Franklin Township, where Americans have been worshipping since 1703. In Bridgewater there is the Washington Camp Ground, where the Continental Army spent the winters of 1777 and 1779. Nearby is the Wallace House, which Washington used for his headquarters. It is now an interesting museum. In Franklin Township is the Franklin Inn, where Lord Cornwallis, among others, tossed down a few beakers of hot flip. In Griggstown is the John Honeyman House, where the legendary spy lived until Washington put him to work gulling Colonel Johann Rall in Trenton. On Main Street in Kingston is a marker, identifying the spot where Washington, after his victory at Princeton, decided not to tackle the British main base at New Brunswick and instead swung north to camp at Morristown. Finally, there is Morven, the splendid home of signer Richard Stockton, in Princeton. You can get a copy of the booklet for $2.00. The address is: The Raritan-Millstone Heritage Alliance, PO Box 5583, Somerset NJ 08873.
Further evidence that the Revolution is a hot topic comes from Boston, where the National Park Service has announced plans to spend $3.1 million, including a $500,000 gift from the Massachusetts Grand Lodge of Freemasons, to rehabilitate the Bunker Hill Monument and Bunker Hill Museum.
"It's a project that's long overdue," said Sean Hennessey, spokesman for Boston National Historical Park, which maintains the two sites. "We haven't done a major restoration since the 1970s." The monument is poorly ventilated in the summer and the 294 steps to the top ice over during the winter because of moisture leaks. The museum, housed in a former public library, is getting interactive exhibits, more displays of historical artifacts, and a bookstore. About 200,000 visitors tour the two sites annually.
It's hard to believe, but one of the most precious Revolutionary War sites in the nation, Minuteman National Historical Park, is in danger of being destroyed by an airport. Hanscom Field, run by the state of Massachusetts, is within three miles of the Park. Also in danger are 1000 other sites on the National Register of Historic Places, including The Old North Bridge, Battle Road, Walden Woods and Pond and Emerson's Old Manse. The state has introduced commercial airline service to Hanscom and tripled corporate jet operations since 1995. Now the bureaucrats are about to welcome FedEx. That means huge cargo jets flying low over Minuteman Park and the other sites and 18 wheeler trucks -- 28 are needed to service each flight -- rumbling through the heart of the Park on Battle Road. A group of concerned history lovers is urging people to write to FedEx president Frederick Smith, FedEx board member George Mitchell, Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry and Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to stop to this historical disaster from happening. "Public outcry saved Manassas from Disney," they say. "Now we must do the same for Minute Man Historical Park." On the web, tap into www.saveourheritage.com for more information on how to make your voice matter.
Students of Founding Father George Washington believe they have a good grasp of where all the significant events of his life took place. They know where he was born (Wakefield), where he grew up (Ferry Farm, outside Fredericksburg), places he ate (Christina Campbell's in Williamsburg, and of course, Fraunces Tavern), places he slept on the road (Ford Mansion in Morristown and the Morris-Jumel Mansion), the place where he lived in New York as president (now under the Brooklyn Bridge) and the place where he resided and died (Mt. Vernon, natch). But do they know where he bathed? Some people say they do.
In 1748, sixteen year old GW, surveying western Virginia for Lord Fairfax, reported "ye famed warm springs" in his journal. In 1776, the Virginia Assembly created the town of Bath, Virginia (named, of course, after Bath, England). General Washington, some of his staff, and six members of the Continental Congress began purchasing property. The town was eventually renamed Berkeley Springs and due to a more recent war, became part of West Virginia. Prosperity remained elusive for the next two centuries. Now, having become a National Historic Place and a state park, the springs are coming back as a tourist attraction.
So what of GW's bathing? In the 1930s a group of enterprising townspeople erected a casket-sized in-ground stone chamber around one of the five main springs and hung a sign: "George Washington's Bath Tub (1748). Increasing numbers of people are now lowering their bods into the very spot where GW bathed!!! I don't know whether they also prowl the shores of the Potomac for his silver dollar, or dig up cherry tree roots at Ferry Farm. As Barnum supposedly said, "there's a sucker born every minute." I'm sorry to report PT never said that, but what can you do to fight these myths? Sometimes it's easier to join them!
Nobody answered either the October or December questions, so here are the answers.
Oct: Who am I? I'm Paul Revere! In 1863, my grandson, Brig. Gen. Joseph Revere, commanded the Excelsior Brigade at Chancellorsville. Anne Revere won a best supporting actress award portraying Elizabeth Taylor's mother in "National Velvet."
Dec: Roger Sherman and Robert Morris are the only two persons to have signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.
A free dinner to the winner!
For those who like to plan in advance, we thought it would be a good idea to let you know when we have reserved at the Williams Club in 2004. An added reason has been the need to alter our first Tuesday of the month in March and November because of Jewish holidays. In each case we have moved the date back a week. Still Tuesday, just a week earlier!
Tues, March 30
Tues. June 1st
Tues, Oct. 5. (this will be on the 2nd floor)
Tues Nov. 30