History of Delaware : 1609-1888, Part 47

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : L. J. Richards
Number of Pages: 776

USA > Delaware > History of Delaware : 1609-1888 > Part 47

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Having been offered shortly afterwards a foreign appointment or the office of adjutant-general of the State of New York, he accepted the latter, with the rank of brigadier general, at the age of of the government commission which welcomed President Lincoln at Buffalo, and escorted him by a special train to the capital. In January of that year, in conjunction with Governor Morgan, he urged the appropriation of half a million of dollars by the Legislature to place the State of New York upon a war footing. This wise precaution was not taken by that body, which did not perceive that a

two months later, when the news of the firing upon Fort Sumter reached the north, General Road was appointed chairman of a committee of three to draft a bill appropriating three millions of dollar- for the purchase of arms and equipments ; and he afterwards received the thanks of the war depart- ment of the United States for his "energy, ability and zeal," in the organization and equipment of troops during the war, including the inspection and care of the wounded. Like most of those who were earnestly engaged on either side during the war of the Rebellion, General Read considered that when the war was finished animosity should entirely cease, and he has always been a strong friend of the South, where his family originated, and where many of his connections have always resided. In 1868 he took a leading part in the eleetion of General Grant to the presidency, who appointed him consul-general of the United States for France and Algeria, to reside at Paris-a newly created post-which he was called upon to organize in all its various details. General Read likewise acted as consul-general of Germany during the Franco-German war, and directed, during a period of more than nineteen months, all the consular affairs of that empire in France, including the protection of German subjects and interests during the first and second sieges of Paris, 1.70-71.

Upon the declaration of war Mr. Washburne was requested to act as Minister for Germany, and Baron Rothschild at the same time having resigned the office of German consul-general, General Read was requested to act as consul-general for Ger- many in France and Algeria. On the 17th of June, 1871, Mr. Washburne surrendered his charge of German affairs to Lieut. Colonel Count Waldersee, the new Charge d'affaires of the Ger- man Empire near the French government, Mr. Washburne having acted for ten months and a half. At the request of Count Bismarck and the French government General Read consented to continue to act as consul-general ; and both sides acknowledged that his consenting to do so, with the thirty-five consuls and con-ular agents under him, prevented the possibility of a renewal of the conflict between the two countries, by rendering unnecessary the presence in France of German consular officials at a time when the minds of the twenty-three In February, 1-61, he was chairman French people were highly excited against all

Germans. At this period the German Ambassa- der. in an official letter to General Read, said: " I cannot omit to expres to you once more the senti- ments of gratitude with which I am inspired by the persevering solicitude which you have never ceased to manitest in procuring for my compatriots the protection of the laws." As Vaporeau, in his Biographical Dictionary, says : " Upon the deela-

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ration of the Franco Prussian war, General Read was charged with the interests of German subjects in France, and employed himself usefully during nearly two years in preventing the possibility of a pointed on the 7th of November. 1873, United renewal of the conflict : " and Gambetta declared. that while General Read was shut up in Paris during the two sieges, he employed himself actively in relieving the distre -- of the French population. His kindness to the French was also warmly acknowledged by the Parisian press of all parties. His unremitting efforts in behalf of his own countrymen were universally recognised in the American press, and his attention to petsons of other nationalities were warmly praised by the principal organs of the English press. For these various services he received the commendation of the President of the United States, General Grant, in his annual message to Congress on the 4th of December, 1871, which was couched in the follow- ing language :

"The resumption of diplomatic relations be- tween France and Germany has enabled me to give directions for the withdrawal of the protection extended to Germans in France by the diplomatic and consular representatives of the United States in that country. It is just to add that the delicate duty of this protection has been performed by the Minister and the consul-general at Paris and the various consuls in France, under the supervision of the latter, with great kindness as well as with prudence and tact. Their course has received the commendation of the German government, and has wounded no susceptibility of the French."

He also received the repeated thanks both of the French and German governments and the official and personal thanks of Prince Bismarck. The Emperor himself desired to confer upon him an order of knighthood, and to present to him a rare and costly service of Dresden china. The joint resolution sent to Congress for the purpose of allowing the diplomatie and consular representa- tives in France to receive these marks of esteem from the Emperor of Germany having failed through the objection and the personal feeling of Mr. Sumner towards Mr. Washburne, the Em- peror's intentions could not be carried out. Four years after General Read had ceased to act as consul general for Germany, Prince Bismarck sent him his likeness with a complimentary autograph dedication. On a later occasion, the German government again took occasion to show its appre- ciation ot General Read's services by directing its In England he has been the recipient of marked courtesy at the hands of the Queen and the lead- ing members of the royal family. For his literaty and scientifie services he has received the thanks of the State Department of the United States, of the National Academy of Design. of the English representative at Athens to give the American representative there the precedence. In France, his popularity was great, and in 1872 he was invited by General de Cissey, French Minister of War, to form and preside over a commission to examine into the expedieney of extending the study of East India Company, of the Russia Company, of the English language in the French army ; and for the Society of Antiquaries of London, of the

his successful labors in this direction he again received the thanks of the French government. In recognition of his various services, he was ap-

States Minister to Creen. During his mission there, which covered a period of six years, he re- ceived the thanks of his government for his ability and energy in secaring the release of the American ship " Armenia," and for life success in obtaining from the Greek government a revocation of the order prohibiting the sale and circulation of the Bille in Greece He also received the thanks of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Southern Pres- byterian Church and of the British and American Foreign Bible Societies. During the great financial crisis in America in 1876-77. while studying at Athens the commercial situation, he became pos- sessed of secret and valuable information from Russia and Englanil, which convinced him that America could regain her national prosperity at 3. bound. H. accordingly addressed a despatch to the Secretary of State, pointing out that the Russo- Turkish War had closed every grain port in Russia except one, and that America could actually de- liver wheat at that point at a less price than the Russians, owing to the latter's heavy duties and their want of facilities for handling grain. He urged that a grain fleet should be immediately des- pacehed from New York to peaceably capture the European markets, and in conclusion said : " We should strain every nerve, not only to furnish the world with breadstuffs, but also the ships to carry them " General Read's suggestion was taken up, and the exports of breadstuffs and provisions from America rose within a twelvemonth seventy-three millions of dollars, thus giving a grain supremacy upon which the subsequent prosperity of America was substantially based. General Read re-visited his native country in 1874, and was received with the warmest demonstrations of welcome by all political parties, banquets being given in his honor at Washington, Philadelphia and New York, while at Albany an imposing dinner was given to him by the citizens irrespective of party, over which the Mayor presided. On the latter occasion General Read spoke in the warmest terms of the services rendered during the Franco-German War by the consuls who served under him, by his deputy, Mr. Franklin Oden Oleott. and his secretaries. Mr. Thirion and Mr. David Fuller, and by the personnel of the consulate-general.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

Archaological Society of Greece, and of the French Academy. He took a deep interest in the founda- tion of the French Association for the Advance- ment of Science. Ile was President of the Ameri- ean social Science Congres, at Albany in 1865, and vice-president of the British Social Science Congress at Plymouth in 1870. He is an honorary member of a great number of learned societies. Ile had received the Thirty-peond Degree in Masonry in America, and Greece conferred upon him the highest, namely, the Thirty-third. He has made a series of rich collections of unpublished historical documents in each country which he has visited. Among the more remarkable are those upon the Franco-German War, including the siege and the commune ; upon modern and n edite- val Greece ; upon the Colonial and Revolutionary War of America, and upon English history and antiquities. During a visit to Switzerland in 1879. be discovered a series of important unpublished letters from many of the most distinguished men in Europe of the eighteenth century, including Voltaire, Rousseau, Gibbon, Frederick the Great and Malesherbes. He is the author of many public addresses, official reports, learned papers, and an important historical inquiry concerning Henry Hudson, originally delivered in the form of the first anniversary discourse before the Historical Society of Delaware, and published at Albany in 1866, which received the highest commendation from the most eminent scholars in Europe and America. An abridged edition of this work was published at Edinburgh in 1982 by the Clarendon Historical Society. In 1876 his letter upon the death of his friend, the eminent historian, Lord Stauhope, was published in Athens in Greek and English. General Read, as United States Minister, received the thanks of his government for his prompt and efficient protection of American persons and interests in the dangerous crisis in Greece in February, 1878. Shortly afterwards, the United States Congress having, from motives of economy, suppressed the appropriation for the Legation at Athens, General Read, at the suggestion of the State Department, and at the earnest request of the king and the minister of foreign affair- of Greece, consented to continue to act, and carried on the diplomatie representation at that court at his own expense until the 2311 of September, 1979, when he resigned. On this occasion the Secretary of State addressed to him an official dispatch express- ing the extreme regret of the United State - govern- ment at his retirement. and concluding thus : " Tue manuer in which you have e adacted the duties as minister of this government in Greece has been such a, to merit hearty approval ; and the patriotic sacrifices which you have made in order to secure. without interruption, the representation of the United States in that country, entitle you to the

respect and commendation of your countrymen. It gives me great pleasure to repeat the frequently- expressed satisfaction with which this government has regarded your conduct of the interests entrusted to you during a period of eleven years in the for- eign service of the country, and my own sincere evbeurrence therewith. Your performance of the delicate and important duti > of consul-general in Paris during the Franco-German War was such as to call forth the approbation not only of your own government, but also of the French and German authorities; and your subsequent service as a diplomatie representative of the United States in Greece has received the frequent commendation of this government. While the government is thus unfortunately deprived of your services in an important capacity, I cannot but hope that you will still have many years of happiness and useful- ness before you, and that your country may con- tinue to enjoy your active interest in all that con- cerns its prosperity " The official organ of the prime minister of Greece expressed its opinion in the highest terms, saying: "The departure of General Read from Greece has called forth univer- sal regrets. He has become one of the most remarkable authorities in all matters relating to the Eastern Question, and there is certainly no foreigner who understands as well as he the char- acter and capabilities of the Greek race. We are certain that his eminent abilities will not fail Greece in the present juncture, when the territorial ques- tion is not yet solved. He is so well known throughout Europe, and counts among his friends so many influential persons in England, France and Germany, that his views cannot fail to have the most happy influence." The moment he was freed from official ties, General Read set to work with generous ardor to promote the interests of the struggling people who were then pleading their cause before Europe, bringing all the resources of his unrivaled acquaintance with Eastein affairs to bear in the highest quarters. He journeyed, at his own expense, from one important point to another, arguing and urging the return to Greece of at least a portion of the ancient territories lying beyond her present borders. During his long sojourn in Greece he had won the confidence alike of the sovereign and of the people, and he was in a position to see that additional territory was essential to the existence of the Greeks as a nation. When the efforts of King George and his minister were crowned with success the unselfish labors of General Read were not overlooked. The newly-appointed Greek minister to London was directed, while passing through Paris, to convey to him the thanks of his government ; and the King, who shortly afterwards visited that metropolis, called upon him to express His Majesty's personal thanks. In 1881, when

MAJOR HARMON P. READ.

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the territories adjudged to Greece had been finally as popular at Athens as she was at Paris, and transferred, King fivorge, in recognition of General her salon in both capitals was a centre of American and European fashion and culture. Mrs. Read also gave proof of the highest attributes of woman- hood, riz. courage and humanity, in the most trying moments of the Franco-German war. During the horrors of the siege of the Com- mune she remained in Paris with her husband and calmly faced the terrible dangers of that time.

Read's services since his resignation of the post of United States Minister, created him a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer, the highest dignity in the gift of the Greek govern- ment, at the same time that His Majesty conferred a similar honor upon M. Waddington, Prime Minister of France, who had presented the Greek elaims to the Berlin Congress, and upon Count Hatzfeldt, Minister of Foreign Atlairs of Germany, who had successfully urged the same claims at Constantinople. For his many eminent services to his own country during the War of Secession, General Read was named Honorary Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion.

When the Historical society of Delaware was organized in 1864, Chief Justice Read. of Penn- sylvania, was the chairman of the delegation appointed by the Historical Society of Pennsyl- vania to be present ; and on the same occasion, his cousin, Mr. William Thompson Read, of New Castle, was chosen first vice-president, and General Meredith Read was invited to deliver the first anniversary address before the Society, to which allusion has already been made. For this and many other services General Read was elected an honorary member of the Society.

General Meredith Read married at Albany, New York, on the 7th of April, 1859, Delphine Marie, danghter of Harmon Pumpelly, Esq., an eminent citizen of Albany, whose father, John Pumpelly, born in 1727 (on the same day as the celebrated General Wolfe, ) served with distinction in the early Indian and French Wars, was present at the siege of Louisburg, was at the side of Wolfe when he fell, mortally wounded, on the heights of Abraham, in 1759, and assisted in closing that heroic com- mander's eyes. John Pumpelly was also an officer of merit during the war of the Revolution, and attained a great age, dying in his ninety-third year, in 1820. The Pumpelly family, like the ads- worth family, removed in the latter part of the last century from Connecticut to Western New York, where they acquired large landed properties. Mr. Harmon Pumpelly, who was born in Salisbury, Connecticut, of the 5th of August, 1795, died at Albany on the 29th of September, 1882, in the eighty-eighth year of his age. His three elder brothers, James, Charles and William, like him reached an advanced age, and were distinguished also for their wealth, philanthropy and public spirit. Mr. Harmon Pumpelly was largely inter- ested in all the most important institutions and enterprises of central and western New York, and his home was the seat of a refined and unremitting hospitality.

They have four children, Major Harmon P. Read, John Meredith Read, Jr., Miss Emily Meredith Read, now Mrs. Francis A. Stout, of New York, and Miss Delphine Marie Meredith Read.

Harmon P. Road, ellest son of General Mere- dith Read, and his wife, Delphine Marie Pum- pelly. was born at Albany, New York, on the 13th day of July, 1860. Educated at Paris and Athens, at a military school, and at Trinity College, he be- came a member of the Historical Societies of Penn- sylvania and New York, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London, and a fellow of the Geographical Society of Paris. He has de- voted much time to historical research ; is an ac- tive and influential member of the Republican Party ; was a candidate for the Legislature in a strong Democratie district, where he greatly re- duced the Democratic majority ; and was recently elected President of the Young Men's Association of Albany-a post to which some of the most emi- nent men in the State of New York have aspired. He is now Inspector of riffe practice with the rank of Major in the New York State National Guard. Major Read is an eminent Mason, and one of the must learned members of the eraft in masonic his- tory, and has reached the thirty-second degree. llis ancestor in the sixth degree was one of the founders of the first Lodge of Masons in America. Ilis grandfather, Chief Justice Read of Pennsyl- vania, was Grand-master of Masons, as was his cousin, Hon. William Thompson Read, of Dela- ware, while his father, General Meredith Read, has received the highest degree in masonry from the Grand Council of Greece.

John Meredith Read, Jr., second son of General Meredith Read, and his wife Delphine Marie Pum- pelly, born at Albany, New York, on the 27th of June, 169, is a member of the Historical Societies of Pennsylvania and New York.

Emily Meredith Read, eldest daughter of Gen- eral Meredith Read, and his wife Delphine Marie Pumpelly, married at her father's residence, Now- port, Rhode Island, on the 21st of August, 1884, Francis Aquila Stout, Esq,, of New York, son of the late A. G. Stout, Est, by his wife. Louise Morris, of Morrisiania, a granddaughter of the Ion. Louis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and grand-niere of Hon. Gouv-

Mrs. Read, are Pumpelly, one of the most beantiful and attractive women of her day, was erneur Morris, one of the framers of the Constitu-

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

tion of the United States, and afterwards United States Minister to France.

Marie Delphine Meredith Read, second daughter of General Meredith Read, and his wife Delphine Marie Pumpelly, was born in Paris, while her father was United States Consul General to France. and was christened at the American Episcopal Church in the Rue Bayard, her godfather being Sir Bernard Burke.

Thomas Mckean, the third of the Delaware signers of the Declaration of Independence, was born Mareh 19, 1734, in New London town- ship, Chester County, Pa., and studied law at New Castle, in the othce of his relative. David Finney.

Thom. Keats

Before he was twenty years of age he became clerk to the prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas, then deputy prothonotary and register for the probate of wills, and when he had attained his majority was admitted to the Delaware and Penn- sylvania bar. In 1756 he was appointed deputy prosecuting attorney for Sussex County, and in the next year clerk of the House of Assembly, and in 1762 was chosen, in company with Casar Rodney, to revise and print the laws. In October, 1762, he was elected to the Assembly from New Castle County, and returned annually until 1779, although after 1773 he resided in Philadelphia. From 1764 to 1776 he was a trustee of the loan office for New Castle County, and was a delegate'

1 The certificate of appointment of 'Messrs. MeKran, Kollock and Rodney, as delegates of the government of the counties of New

to the General Congress which met in New York in October, 1765, where, in conjunction with Lynch and Otis, he prepared the address to the House of Commons. When President Ruggles and other members refused to sign the proceedings ot this Congress, Mr MeKean arraigned them so severely for unfaithfulness and cowardice that Rugeles extended bim a challenge toa duel, which MeKean promptly accepted. but the president de- parted from New York before dawn of the next day without fulfilling his engagement. Returning home through New Jersey. Mr. Mckean an- nouneed to the people of that province that their representative, Robert Ogden, had also shrunk from signing the proceedings; Ogden threatened him with a challenge, but followed the example of Ruggles in declining to go upon the field. Mr. MeKean was now appointed a justice of the New Castle courts, and sat upon the bench which in the November term, 1765, and February term, 1766, resisted the Stamp Aet by ordering the offi- cers of the court to use unstamped paper in the routine of their business. In 1771 he was ap- pointed collector of customs at New Castle, and in October, 1772, was chosen Speaker of the Dela- ware House of Representatives. Although he had in the previous year made his permanent residence in Philadelphia, Delaware elected him to the Con- gress of 1774, and he was annually re-elected until February 1, 1783, bis period of continuous ser- viee exceeding that of any other member. It is also remarkable that while he represented Dela- ware in Congress, he was, subsequent to July, Castle, Kent and Sussex upon Delaware to the Stamp det Congress was as follows .

" TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS MAY IOME:

" KNOW YE, That we. the subscribers, five of the representatives of the freemen of the government of the counties of New Castle, Kent and Susses opon Delaware, sensible of the weighty and oppressive taxes imposed upon the good pre ple of this government by divers acts of par- liament and of the great infringement of the liberties and just-establish- ed rights of all his majesty's colonies of this continent, quesioned by the late measures in England ; and being of ofoman that the method proposed by the honouralde house of assembly of the province of Mas- sachusetts Bay to the most likely to obtain a redness of these grievances; and, taking into consideration the misfortune we at present falar under in not having it in our power to couvepe, as a honse, and, in a regular manner, to appoint a coinnnttre , yet, zealous for the happiness of our constituents, think it our duty, in this way to wave them as much is in us lies (assured of the heatts approbation of any future house nt emilly of this government; and, therefore, do hereby nominate and appant Jarob Kollock, Thomas MeKean and Cursar Rodney, Esqr -. , three of the representatives of the same government. a rominuttee, to pojair to the city of New York, on the first day of October next, and there to joint with the cruunnitters seht by the other provinces, it off united and loyal petition to his majesty and remonstrate to the hop- muable house of commons of Great Britain, agunst the aforesind acts of parhantent, therein Antifully, yet mest firmly, assetting the columes" right of exclusion trom jorbamentary taxation , and praying that they my best in any instative be struggled of the aboient and most valutalde privilege of a trial by their peers, and most humbly imploring reliet.

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History of Delaware : 1609-1888, Part 47

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia : L. J. Richards Number of Pages: 776

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : L. J. Richards
Number of Pages: 776