Announcements
Speaking of Ben, he makes a cameo appearance in the latest
American Heritage, in their amusing feature, ``Overrated and
Underrated.'' Yale's Edmund Morgan, the grand old man of Revolutionary
studies, says he is the most underrated of the founding fathers. He
argues that Franklin has been diminished by pop images, such as flying
the kite that led to the invention of the lightning rod, and being
overquoted on his advice to be frugal and industrious, which has made
him seem a cheapskate success-striver. Ignored are his profound
contributions to the science of electricity and his role as America's
spokesman abroad before, during and after the Revolution. Morgan
doesn't name the most overrated founding father but he veers toward
John Adams, who had a bad habit of overrating himself. Morgan says Ben
was on the mark in his comment on John: ``I am persuaded that he means
well for his country, is always an honest man, often a wise one, but
sometimes, and in some things, absolutely out of his senses.''
Ginny McCarthy, president of the Tappantown Historical
Society, recently made a fascinating report to her group on a
descendant of John Andre. His name is Jim Andre and he made his living
as a sheep rancher in Australia. He died last Christmas, one month
short of his 90th birthday. Five times, starting in 1975, he visited
America and walked in the footsteps of his ill-fated ancestor in
Westchester and Rockland counties. He talked modestly about his
``small'' 7,000 acre sheep station, which had only 30,000 of the
woolly
ones munching away. On one of his trips, he struck up a conversation
with a stranger on a Great Lakes steamer and discovered he was a
direct descendant of John Paulding, one of the trio of Americans who
captured Andre during his attempt to return to New York after seeing
Benedict Arnold at West Point. How's that for creepy? Then Ms.
McCarthy got to the meat of the matter, from the Round Table point of
view. She told her listeners that on another visit, Jim Andre was the
guest speaker at the ``Revolutionary Round Table'' in Fraunces Tavern!
Does anyone remember that? The editor's memory is a bit hazy after
twenty five years but he recalls Manny Teitelman introducing Jim
(Manny has long been our authority on Andre) but I don't remember Mr.
Andre giving a talk, beyond saying he was glad to be among us.
However, we will join Ms. McCarthy in saluting the memory of this
charming man, who came to America in a spirit of reconciliation and
handsomely achieved it.
For those who like to experience history musically, David and
Ginger Hildebrand, consultants for the musical background of the PBS
show, Liberty! The American Revolution, have created a CD
(also on
tape), ``Music For the First President.'' It has ``The President's
March,'' the predecessor to ``Hail to the Chief,'' and ``A Fancy
Minuet''
which was danced for Washington's enjoyment. Also included is
``General
Wolfe's Song,'' Alexander Hamilton's favorite music, and ``The Drum,''
a
typical British recruiting song, and a lighthearted warble called:
``Good Morrow To Your Nightcap.'' The liner notes, written by David
Hildebrand, who is both a scholar of 18th Century music as well as a
brilliant performer of it, are as entertaining as the music.
Bronze plaques are nice but this is New York and sometimes we do
history on the cheap. The same people who handed out the contract for
punching out license plates also contracted for painting up those
metal signs that they hang on stop signs and lamp posts to tell you
about an historic neighborhood or event.
That is all we have to tell us that just north of Brooklyn
Bridge, on the Brooklyn side was a major hub of activity in colonial
and Revolutionary days. This was where the ferry to Manhattan Island
was, as well as where General George Washington made good his army's
escape from Long Island. The area around what is now One Old Fulton
Street was the site of the Brooklyne-Hall Inn. The establishment was
owned by Charles Loosley, a major local entrepreneur. He also owned
his own lottery and published what today is credited as being
Brooklyn's first newspaper. It consisted mostly of advertisements for
his inn and lottery.
The paper appeared for the first (and possibly last) time on June
8, 1782. It had a verse from the song, ``Babes in the Woods'' in the
first column, declaring ``Glorious news surround our King and
England's
noble cause.'' The last line in the last column was ``Vivant Rex and
Regina.'' (Long live the King and Queen.) This may have been good for
business in 1782 but I wonder what Loosley printed on November 25,
1783, known in New York as Evacuation Day, when his paying customers
left town for good.
Today, when you visit the site of Loosley's enterprise, you are
less than a minute's walk from the River Cafe and Grimaldi's
(formerly Patsy's) Pizzeria, plus some other promising eateries and
the summer music barge. One way or another, this area has always
been a place to get away from it all.
So you thought that the Jefferson-Hemings debate had run its/
course? Guess again! In the April/May 1999 issue of Colonial
Williamsburg, Polly Longworth's article, ``Jefferson's Alleged Child''
presents a case for even the discredited to have their day in court.
As we all know, the Foster DNA study reported in Nature (now
refuted) presented the possibility that Sally Heming's son, Eston, was
parented by our third president. But it rejected the claim of the
Thomas Woodson family that Sally's first child was Jefferson's
offspring.
Mrs. Longworth presents another possibility -- Thomas Woodson
might have been neither Jefferson nor Hemings' child. Sally's first
son was another person, a 12 year old stable boy who looked strikingly
like Thomas Jefferson. Fawn Brodie observed that this child
``disappeared early from Monticello, apparently after the scandal of
the disclosure'' in 1802.
So what happened to Thomas Hemings? Mrs. Longworth suggests that
Mr. Jefferson's good friend, Thomas Randolph, brought the boy to live
with George Wythe, Jefferson's law professor at the College of William
and Mary, where he grew up as Michael Brown, a freed slave. Wythe took
a great interest in him, teaching him Latin and Greek, and naming
Brown in his will.
This attention was not appreciated by Wythe's heir, his debt-
ridden grandnephew, George Wythe Sweney, who in 1806 was accused of
poisoning Wythe and Brown. Although tried for the murder of Wythe,
Sweney was acquitted. Brown's murder never came to trial. Edmund
Randolph was one of Sweney's lawyers. Longworth speculates he took the
case to shield Jefferson from embarrassment, lest Michael Brown's
story become part of the public record. Grand speculation and a great
read!
Whatever Happened to Reason Street?
According to the New York Times of May 2, 1999, Reason Street was named
in honor of Thomas Paine's book, The Age of Reason. The
name was soon corrupted to Raisin Street, which unfortunately was a
colloquial term for a slave. When the street, which runs between 11th
Avenue and Bedford Street in Greenwich Village, became city property in
1809 (it had belonged to Trinity Church) it was rechristened Barrow
Street, after the artist, Thomas Barrow, whose most famous work
depicted Trinity in ruins after the fire of 1776.
April's answers are:
- John Paul Jones is buried at Annapolis.
- St. Mary's Church, Philadelphia, contains the remains of John
Barry.
- Margaret ``Captain Molly'' Corbin is buried at West Point.
- Trinity Church graveyard contains the remains of Constitution
signer Alexander Hamilton and Declaration signer Francis Lewis.
- General Richard Montgomery is buried in St. Paul's Chapel.
- Who's buried in Washington's tomb? General and Mrs. Washington,
of
course.
Knowing the naval war is not as well known as land battles, we
offer a combination handicap and helper in the form of more answers
than you can use.
- What was the name of John Barry's ship when he fought HMS Edward,
becoming in 1776 the first American to capture a British ship in
combat?
- What was the original name of John Paul Jones' Bonhomme Richard?
- What was the name of Benedict Arnold's flagship at the battle of
Valcour Island?
- In 1778, Captain John Peck Rathbun captured two forts at Nassau,
the Bahamas, the first time the American flag flew over captured
foreign territory. What was the name of Rathbun's ship?
- What was the name of Admiral Francois De Grasse's flagship at the
battle of the Virginia Capes in 1781?
Possible answers are:
- Congress,
- Le Cerf.
- Ville De Paris.
- Lexington.
- Providence.
- Duc de Duras.
- Ranger
A free drink to the winner
Query from the editor: If we get two right, how about two fifths of a
free drink?
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