USA > Maine > Biographical encyclopedia of Maine of the nineteenth century > Part 29
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Point, and on the 29th of August was appointed to the command of that post. He at once set himself vigorously to work to strengthen and complete the fortifications. Carte blanche was given him in this matter, Washington thinking it needless to point out the great outlines of his duty.
Independence now practically accomplished, General Knox's genius was tasked to deal with difficulties of very portentous and threatening character. The unpaid, neglected army was exceedingly discontented. Its audible murmurs threatened serious consequences. In December, 1782, Knox drew up an address and petition to Congress, in which was stated the amounts due. It also contained a proposal that the half-pay for life should be commuted for a fixed sum, and requested that security should be given by the Government for the fulfilment of its obligations. This document met with unsatisfactory reception from Congress. The famous "Newburg Address" of the officers followed. On the 15th of March, 1783, Washington, by a patriotic and impressive address, allayed the menacing storm. Knox moved the resolutions which thanked him for the course he had pursued, expressed reliance on the justice of Congress, and determination to bear their grievances until they were redressed. Congress again considered the subject, and granted all that was asked in the memorial.
Already the desire for a more perfect union was burning in the hearts of the soldiers. "The army generally," said Knox, "have always reprobated the idea of being thirteen armies." "It is a favorite toast in the army, 'A hoop to the barrel,' or, 'Cement to the Union.' Let something be done before a peace takes place, or we shall be in a worse condition than we were at the commencement of the war."
Just about this time, General Knox, in order to preserve the friendships formed by officers in the army, and to create a fund for their indigent widows and orphans, founded the Society of the Cincinnati. Each officer contributed one month's pay to its treasury. Washington was made president, and Knox secretary. This institution went into effect in May, 1783. One of its provisions enkindled much animosity at the time. It was that by which the eldest male heir succeeded to a vacant membership. This was vehemently assailed, as introducing an order of nobility into the Republic. Time proved the groundless- ness of all objections. The Society justified the wisdom and benevolence of its founder. Knox remained secretary until 1800; in 1805 he was vice-president. He was also vice- president of the Massachusetts branch in 1783.
Knox was left in command of the army on August 26. In November he began the arduous and delicate task of disbanding it. On the 25th of that month the British army evacuated New York. Knox, at the head of the American troops, took possession of the city. On December 4, Washington took leave of the principal officers at Fraunce's Tavern. At parting, Knox grasped his beloved leader's hand, and while the tears flowed down the cheeks of each, the commander-in-chief kissed him.
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Returning to West Point on the 18th of December, General Knox was officially thanked. by Governor Clinton and the Council for preserving the rights of the citizens of New York, and for maintaining peace and good order since the evacuation. He was also allowed by Congress the pay of a major-general in a separate department during his com- mand at West Point, which lasted until January, 1784. He then repaired to Boston, and took up his residence in Dorchester.
In June, 1784, General Knox was one of a commission appointed by the General Court of Massachusetts to treat with the Penobscot Indians for the relinquishment of their lands from the head of tidewater, forty miles up the river. They were also deputed to settle the eastern boundary-line in accordance with the provisions of the treaty with Great Britain. These duties were performed, and due report made a few months later. In October, 1784, he was at the head of an army-veteran delegation which received the illus- trious Lafayette at Watertown, Massachusetts. On the 4th of March, 1785, Congress fixed the salary of the Secretary of War at $2450, and on the 8th elected Knox to that office. Washington, under date of June 18, wrote him: "Without a compliment, I think a better choice could not have been made." The disturbances in Massachusetts induced Knox to go to Springfield, and to provide for the security of the arsenal there. His active correspondence with Washington and other prominent Federalists graphically describes the state of feeling in Massachusetts during the Shay insurrection, and the formation of the Federal Constitution and its adoption by the State. His convictions on the great questions at issue were strong and clean-cut. He saw and felt the need of con- stitutional national unity. "Our political machines," he wrote to Washington, "composed of thirteen independent sovereignties, have been perpetually operating against each other and against the Federal head ever since the peace. The powers of Congress are totally inadequate to preserve the balance between the respective States, and oblige them to do those things which are essential for their own welfare or for the general good." The barrel did indeed need a hoop to prevent it from falling in pieces. "The State systems are the accursed thing which will prevent our being a nation." The best thinkers of Massachusetts were in accord with Knox in desiring the most vigorous government. Many of them would have been better "pleased with the new constitution had it been still more analogous to the British Constitution." Governor Hancock's aid in the adoption of the United States Constitution was secured by an adroit appeal to his special foible-vanity. Like many a stronger man since then, he cherished aspirations to the Presidency.
While Knox was Secretary of War, his wife was one of the leaders of fashionable society at the seat of government, and as such attracted considerable attention. She and her husband were the largest couple in the city. Griswold's Republican Court states that both were favorites : he for really brilliant conversation and unfailing good-humor, and she as a lively and meddlesome but amiable leader of society.
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On the organization of the new government in May, 1789, Knox was retained in his office of Secretary of War by President Washington. He had previously given much attention to the framing of a militia system for the country. It was substantially adopted for a while as the regular establishment of the United States, but at length gave way to a system less onerous and less energetic. His Indian policy indicated large and liberal views. In his minutes for the President's speech of October, 1791, he advocates impartial justice, and the extension of commerce and civilization to them. On August 7, 1790, he signed, as sole commissioner, in behalf of the United States, a treaty with the Creek Nation of Indians, whereby an extensive territory in Georgia was ceded to that State. Alexander McGillivray, one of the signers for the Indians, was at the same time commissioned brigadier-general in the United States Army.
Eminent as were his talents and services, Knox did not escape the malignant hostility of Jefferson's friends, who were partisans of the French Revolution. Himself and the President were vituperated and calumniated. Unsuccessful operations against.the Indians added gall to their rancor. Yet Jefferson saw eye to eye with him the necessity for the establishment of a national navy, and they were the only ones who did see it. The con- struction of six frigates were ordered by the act of March 27, 1794, and was largely due to him. The navy has ever since been identified with the prosperity and glory of the country. The expense entailed by his generous and hospitable style of living induced him to resign his post as a cabinet officer. Washington very reluctantly accepted his resignation, and in so doing wrote: "I cannot suffer you, however, to close your public service without uniting, with the satisfaction that must arise in your own mind from a conscious rectitude, my most perfect persuasion that you have deserved well of your country."
Quitting Philadelphia on June 1, 1795, General Knox was entertained at his native town on the 12th with a public dinner, and was publicly welcomed at Thomaston, Maine, his future home, on the 22d. There he at once applied himself to the cultivation and im- provement of the Muscongus or Waldo Patent, part of which Mrs. Knox had inherited from her grandfather, General Waldo. The residue he himself had bought of the other heirs. Much of this land was in possession of squatters. He quieted their pretensions, suggested and aided beneficent improvements, and made his residence among them an acknowledged blessing. His splendid mansion stood at the head of St. George's River, and was known as Montpelier. There, fully occupied and given to hospitality, in the society of wife, children, and visitors, he enjoyed a larger share of happiness than he had ever known before. Several French refugees, such as Louis Philippe, Talleyrand, and the Duc de Liancourt, were among his more celebrated guests. The latter was in such straits that he said, "I have three dukedoms on my head, and not one whole coat on my back." Knox liberally supplied the latter from his wardrobe. He also generously assisted the distressed family of the French naval hero, the Comte de Grasse.
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Knox went largely into brickmaking, lumbering, and lime manufacture ; carried on an extensive mercantile business, gave employment to large numbers of mechanics and immigrants; introduced improved breeds of cattle and sheep ; undertook the construction of ships; improved the navigation of St. George's River ; and extended all his plans and projects further than sound fiscal wisdom would warrant. The result was frequent and serious embarrasment. He sowed plentifully, but others reaped the abundant harvest. Knox had a cheerful, hopeful temperament, and always looked on the bright side of things.
Placable and forgiving, he readily overlooked the apparent slight of himself by Wash- ington in 1798. War with France had been declared, under the Presidency of John Adams. Washington was appointed lieutenant-general, and named Hamilton, C. C. Pinckney, and Knox-in the order stated-as his seconds. This greatly mortified Knox, for the others had been his juniors in rank during the war, and he declined to serve. Washington respected his wishes, retained his affection, and was mourned with uncontrollable emotion by Knox at his decease.
General Knox was a citizen of true public spirit. He loved and served his country faithfully and well. From the year 1801 he was a member of the General Court of Mas- sachusetts, and on June 2, 1804, he was appointed Member of the Council of Governor Strong.
Fond of the society of men of wit, talent, and learning, he kept up an extensive correspondence with many eminent men in this country and in Europe. His library con- tained 1585 volumes, of which 364 were in the French language. Dartmouth College in 1793 honored him with the diploma of M.A., and on the 16th of December, 1805, he was made a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His vigorous constitution and cheerful habits promised long and happy life. Opulence bade fair to fill his closing years with comfort and luxury. But an unforeseen accident brought him to an untimely grave. The gallant soldier, the brilliant statesman, the efficient administrator, was cut off by a chicken-bone, swallowed inadvertently. It caused mortification and death on the 25th of October, 1806. Military honors were paid to his memory. Massachusetts did honor to his character ; A nerica wept over his bier.
Physically, General Knox was a portly, muscular, and symmetrically built man. Affable, dignified, and imposing, he was a born leader and commander of men. Through life he left his bed at dawn, and was a cheerful, happy man. He firmly believed in the truth of Christianity, and was a liberal supporter of its institutions. His public spirit was revealed in the encouragement of schools, the location and preparation of roads, the erec- tion of churches, and the promotion of agriculture, mechanic arts, and commerce. His charity was diffusive as the atmosphere, and extensive as the human race. Many have been as brave in fight, as cool in danger, as wise in council; but few have united to these
Geisha H. Allen,
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the rarer virtues of manly character, pure patriotism, and spotless integrity in a higher degree than Major-General Knox.
Henry Knox was married on the 16th of June, 1774, to Lucy, second daughter of Thomas Flucker, a merchant of Boston, and the last Secretary of the Colony of Massachu- setts Bay. The family were bitterly opposed to the marriage, and subsequently settled in England. Twelve children were the fruit of this union. Nine died in infancy or child- hood. Three only survived the father, viz., Lucy F., who married Ebenezer Thatcher ; Henry Jackson, who served in the U. S. Navy ; and Caroline, who married James Swan of Dorchester ; and, after his decease, ex-U. S. Senator John Holmes of Maine. Admiral Henry Knox Thatcher, U. S. N., was the only surviving male descendant of Henry Knox, one of the greatest of our Revolutionary heroes.
LLEN, ELISHA HUNT, was born at New Salem, Massachusetts, on the 28th day of January, 1804, and belonged to one of the most prominent fami lies of the Connecticut River at that time. The first of his ancestors to come to this country was Edward Allen, a follower of Cromwell, who left England at the Restoration, came to the colonies, and settled upon the Connecticut River.
Mr. Allen's father was the Hon. Samuel C. Allen, who was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1794, and was an eminent lawyer in Western Massachusetts. After practising for some years, he entered in 1806 the Massachusetts Legislature, where he sat almost without break until 1815. It was a time of especial importance and excitement in the history of the State. The Embargo Acts were passed by the General Government, destroying its com- merce and causing great discontent. The War of 1812 was declared. The Hartford Con- vention took place. Having become prominent in State politics, he was elected in 1817 to Congress, where he sat until 1829. He there sustained the character of a high-princi- pled and philosophic statesman. Always a great student, his opinions were listened to with deference ; and he won the respect even of Southerners by the open and bold way in which at that early day he dared speak out his hostility to slavery.
Mr. Allen's mother was a Miss Hunt, a member of the Northampton branch of that family : people of influence and prominence in the Connecticut River Valley in their day. Her father was the largest land-owner on the Connecticut River, a member of the Legis- lature, and widely known for his generosity to the poor. His eldest brother was an active officer in the French and Indian wars, and a member of the Committee of Safety ; and
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other members of the family took an active part in civil and military affairs in Colonial times, and also during the early days of the Republic.
Mr. Allen began his education at a good New England academy. He tried business as clerk in a store when still a boy ; but not finding it to his taste, he went back to his studics, and at fifteen entered Williams College, from which he graduated second in his class, and was appointed to deliver the salutatory address. Having decided upon the pro- fession of the law, he entered his father's office, and after studying the usual term of three years, he was admitted to the bar. He opened an office in Brattleborough, Vermont, where he lived for nearly two years. While there he married Miss Fessenden, the daugh- ter of William Fessenden, a successful publisher. Some of his mercantile friends in Bos- ton, who were doing a large business in Eastern Maine, advised him to go to Bangor for the practice of. his profession. He followed their advice, and arrived there on the 9th of November, 1828. Bangor was a very prosperous town, and increasing in population and business rapidly.
Although Mr. Allen went there a stranger, he immediately entered upon a large and successful practice. He in a few years formed a partnership with Mr. Appleton, who was for many years Chief Justice of the State.
He gave his exclusive attention to his profession, and intended to do so; for his father, who had been in political life many years, advised him strongly to this course. But in 1835 there was a severe contest for representative from the city, and there was a disagreement in the Whig Party as to the candidate ; and finally, as is often the case, they nominated Mr. Allen. He was not at the caucus, and when informed of his nomination he said he must decline, as it was not in accordance with his professional purposes. He was urged to accept for one year, as there was no time to fix on another candidate. Like most men who enter political life, he became interested in public affairs, and continued in the House of Repre- sentatives for five consecutive years.
In 1838 he was elected Speaker of the House. The parties were divided about equally, and there were many questions of a partisan character often under discussion. But Mr. Allen, by his experience in legislation, good judgment, and fairness of mind, discharged the duties very acceptably, and had the entire approbation of the House.
During Mr. Allen's membership of the Legislature, many very important questions arosc in which the public were deeply interested. Among others, the question of corpora- tions, banks, paper money, the control of the public money, education, private rights, and that still more important than any other to the State-the Northeastern Boundary.
Mr. Allen advocated the advantages of corporations where the small capital of indi- viduals could be concentrated and made to accomplish a great work, always taking care to secure the public against loss. He was of opinion that the business of the country could
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not be carried on exclusively with specie. The public convenience and general business demand a circulation of paper money redeemable in specie on demand.
During several years the public mind was very much agitated on the subject of the currency. His political views were in accord with those of the Whig Party of that period.
The question of the Northeastern Boundary had become of great importance. The claim made by the State was recognized by the General Government. The land-agent was directed, by an act of Legislature, to proceed to the disputed territory and arrest all persons who were engaged in plundering its timber. When the agent was employed as ordered, he was arrested by a British force and carried to the capital of the Province, and held in duress. The sovereignty of the State had been assailed and violated in the person of the agent, and it became a duty to demand and enforce redress for this outrage upon the character and rights of the State. The General Government had undoubtedly been remiss in not pressing this question to a decision. It was in this state of affairs that Mr. Allen introduced the following resolve :
" Resolved, That the honor and interest of this State demand that a sufficient military force be forth- with stationed on the Restook River, west of the boundary-line of the State, as established by the Treaty of 1783; and on the river St. John, if found practicable, at such points as may be best adapted to the object-to prevent further depredations on the public lands, and to protect and preserve the timber and other lumber already cut by trespassers, and to prevent its removal without the limits of the State."
In support of which Mr. Allen said :
"Mr. Speaker: The importance and interest of this measure is not confined to ourselves. Our sister States have a deep interest in the course which we take on this vitally interesting question. The Union itself-the institutions of our Republic, will feel the influence of the measures we adopt. We are a peace- ful people, accustomed to regard the quiet pursuits of life with far more interest and as much more con- genial to the spirit of our institutions than commotions and collisions. We have ' borne and forborne.' Our patience has lasted so long that at times our character has suffered, being too insensible to a proper tone of National character. There is a time when forbearance ceases to be a virtue. There are times when your character will suffer by a too long submission to the dictates of others. Can our sister States say that we have acted impetuously ? Years and years have passed away in fruitless efforts at negotia- tion. We had hoped, and we had a right to demand, long ere this, that the rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution of our blessed country would have been secured to us. Our hopes have been disap- pointed, and our resolutions have been inoperative on the Executive of the country when we had a con- stitutional right to be heard and regarded.
" Mr. Speaker, I should not have introduced the first resolution, pregnant as it may be with high National consequences, had it not been admitted beyond cavil that the territory of Maine, as defined by the Treaty of 1783, had been violated without right and with impunity. I do not mean as admitted by our own people, with whom there is but one united sentiment, but by our sister States, and by the National sentiment itself. I do not deem it necessary, sir, to go into an argument to prove the correct- ness of the boundary-line as we claim it. I will, however, give the second article of the treaty, which is in these words, to wit:
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"'And that all disputes that may arise in future on the subject of the boundaries of the United States may be prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared that the following are and shall be their boundaries, viz., from the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz., that angle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of the St. Croix River to the highlands; along the same highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from those that fall into the Atlantic Ocean to the northwesternmost head of Connecticut River,' etc.
"I refer you to the ancient British maps-to the commissions of the different Governors of Quebec in describing the boundaries of their jurisdiction, and they corroborate our interpretation of the treaty- line. I refer you to the entire action of the British Government on the subject of our Northeastern Boundary, and you will not find a doubt of the correctness of our title, and their acquiescence in the defined boundary of the treaty until a short time prior to the Treaty of Ghent. From the date of the Treaty of 1781 to the negotiations at Ghent our title had been unquestioned; but the British Govern- ment had become convinced that a direct communication between the Canadas and the Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia was of immense consequence to them; and hence they began to raise doubts about the construction of the treaty-line. The pretexts which they take to evade the terms of the treaty show to the common judgment of mankind, which spurns the arts of diplomacy, that their interpreta- tion of the treaty is against the physical constitution of nature. One ground is, that no highlands exist corresponding to the terms of the treaty. Is there a Briton that doubts that there are highlands from one side of which streams flow into the St. Lawrence, and from the other side that they flow into the river St. John? Supposing I should tell you that it was impracticable to run a line along the highlands that divide the waters which now run into the rivers Kennebec and Penobscot-would such a declara- tion be treated as worthy of serious refutation ? · "In the communication of Sir John Harvey to the Governor he claims exclusive jurisdiction to the territory in dispute, and insists on the recall of our forces, which we sent with our land-agent to sup- press the timber spoliations. The issue is now made up. Your territory is claimed, your agent is imprisoned, and you are commanded to witlidraw your force at the peril of meeting her Majesty's troops. What course, then, shall we take? There is but one course that we can take; and that is, to defend our rights at all hazards-' peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must.' If our claim did not com- mend itself to the common justice of mankind; if we were not on ground we deemed impregnable; if our rights were not as clear as the eternal principles of truth-I should say pause before you pass these resolves; for when the step is once taken, you cannot retrace it without a sacrifice of your honor and an abandonment of your rights. I say more, sir: if this were a new question, one that had not been pre- sented to the consideration of our constituents, at least indirectly,-I should say, sleep on the resolve; obtain instructions from your constituents; suppress your holy indignation at the outrage on your sov- ereignty in the character of your agent; ponder well its consequences. But is there a doubt that the mes- sage of your Governor will meet with a hearty response from the people of your State? Do not the chivalric sentiments it contains commend themselves to the settled purposes of our people on this ques- tion ? I deem these resolves as nothing more than carrying out the settled convictions of the people- not hastily made, but matured by long deliberation, and a clear understanding of our rights. It is a question that has undergone more popular discussion than any other State or National subject ever has before. Public opinion is united upon it. The East and the West are of one mind. · .
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