History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 54

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II > Part 54

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JOHN PAULDING.

Sworn before me, this 6th day of May, 1817.

CHARLES G. VAN DYCK, Master in Chancery.

It is an interesting fact, brought to light in this statement, that the medals given to Paulding, Wil- liams and Van Wart, by Congress, " were presented to them by General Washington, when the army was encamped at Verplanck's Point, and that they on the occasion dined at his table."

In this connection it is interesting to read the per- sonal reminiscence of Grant Thorburn, of New York, relating to his conversation with Isaac Van Wart at a funeral at Tarrytown, in 1800, and to his curious " desire to handle the skull " of Andre in 1821, after it had been exhumed, and was on board the British ship-of-war in the North River, awaiting the wind to sail for England.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM GRANT THORBURN TO THE EDITOR OF THE KNICKERBOCKER MAGAZINE.

[From The Knickerbocker, November, 1840; Volume xvi. 459.] " MR. EDITOR :

"In your number for September, is a very interesting, beautiful, and correct history of the capturo of Major Audre. Permit me to add my mite to that history.

"I think it was in the month of September, 1800, that I mado one of a company that was following the corpse of a friend departed, to the house appointed for all living.

"It was at Tarrytown; and on our way to the grave, wo paused on the spot where Andre was first hailed and stopped. My companion in

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the line informed nic of tlic fact, and added, 'Isaac Van Wart, one of ' his captors, is now in our company.'

" At the conclusion of the funeral service, I was introduced to Mr. Van Wart ; and on our way back, I desired him to Icad me to the spot among the trees and brush wood, at that time nnaltered, where the search and important discovery were made. He very kindly complied ; and while I pressed the ground where stood the feet of Andre, he re- lated the story as your correspondent has done, with this small nddition, viz. : That when Andre found he was discovered and a prisoner, he of- fered successively his gold watch nnd a purse of gold for his liberty. This being refused, he tendered an order on the British Commissary in New York, for any amount in goods nud money which his captors might name ; 'and for security of the payment,' he added, 'let one of you ' go to New York and receive the sum. I will remain here a hostage 'with the other two, nutil yone comrade returns. If the contract is ' not fulfilled, I am still your prisoner.'

Ilere I interrupted Mr. Van Wart. I said, 'Sir, you were three poor 'young men; it was a great temptation. Did none of you hesitate ?' ' Not one " he answered. 'Each stood firm, as appeared in the ' sequel.'

" Now, Mr. Knickerbocker, in the days of Rome, an action like this would have been blazoned to posterity in letters of gold ; it would have lived ou the canvas of the painter and in the marble of the senlptor. But poor was the reward, and small the thanks which these brave and patriotic meu received from their country. Four or fivo winters ago, if my memory serves me, an application was made to Congress from one of the surviving captors of Andre, for some sort of compensation. My impression is, that it was refused. Certain I am, it was warmly op- posed ; and especially by a member from our own State.

"They were branded as ' Cow-thieves,' etc. Perhaps they were cow- thieves ; but, at that period, the most honorable men, both Whigs and Tories, living between the lines, were cow-thieves. The British soldiers and American Tories stole cows from the Whigs : the Whigs had no remedy but to steal them back again. It is very probable that the Brit- ish nnd Tories had driven off the whole stock belonging to the widowed mothers of these boys ; for if fame speaks true, neither of the three were of age ; and according to the usages of war, they were justified in a re- capture. It is evident they were not thieves for gain ; 'else would they have taken the price which Andre offered for his ransom, which was more than would have sufficed to purchase the whole stock of cows, sheep, and oxcu which belonged to Job, when he was in the land of Uz.

" In my humble opinion, Mr. Editor, (in which, as a native of Knick- erbocker, I am sure you will join,) every New Yorker should be proud that he was born in the State which produced three sncb men ; and the fact of their being boys, and poor boys, adds very much to the glory of the act. Had this been done by a Van Cortlandt, a Philips, a Van Rens- selner, or any three of the 'Lords of the Manor,' on the Hudson river, the act would bave been cngraven on the rocks with the point of a diamond, But it was done by three cow-herd-boys: nud there is not a stone to mark the spot where this important cvent took place. 1

" In 1821, when the remains of Major Andre were placed on board the British sloop-of war which had been sent to convey them to England, and white she lay in the North River awaiting a wind, I had nn ardent desire to handle the skull that had once contained sach mighty pro- jects.

" I obtained an order from the British Consul, and repnired on bonrd, taking with me a handsome myrtle plant, which I placed on the lid of the sarcophagus. This was carried to London in good condition ; and many of the 'grandees' obtained cuttings from it, which grew and multiplied under the name of ' Andre's Myrtle.' When I was in Lou- don, in 1833, I saw several of these myrtles.

" I remember that when I held Andre's skull in my hand, I observed that the root of a cedar tree had struck through the bone of the right side, and came ont at the left, where it renmined."

Andre's body was buried at Tappan, at the foot of the gallows on which he was hanged, and there it re- mained and mouldered back to dust until Friday, August 10, 1821, at cleven o'clock in the morning, when, at the depth of three feet from the surface, the spade of the grave-digger struek the coflin-lid that covered his bones. It was singular that as on Friday lie had sought the covering of concealment and dark-

ness to complete the conspiracy with Arnold and to make good his escape, so now on Friday his poor re- mains should be brought forth again to the light. There was a rumor current in the neighborhood that the grave had been rifled many years before, but it was found to be incorrect. All that remained, how- ever, were the bones of a perfect skeleton, a few locks of his hair, and the leather cord with which he had bound his queue. The hair and the cord were sent by the British consul to Andre's sisters, in England. It was a beautiful day, and many persons of both sexes were silent spectators of the solemn scene. Some of them probably had been present at his exe- cntion.

The bones were carefully laid in a mahogony sar- cophagus, ornamented with gold and draped with black and crimson velvet, and having been conveyed to New York, the whole was put on board the British frigate " Phacton," which bore them across the Atlantic to his native shores, where his remains found a resting- place and a monument in Westminster Abbey. On the 4th of July, 1880, the writer of these lines was a worshipper, together with a loved one now entered in- to the life immortal, at the afternoon service in West- minster Abbey. The auditorium was filled by a vol- unteer regiment of soldiers to whom Canon Frederick W. Farrar was going to preach. It was difficult to find entrance, but an official took us through a back- door into the Poet's Corner. There we listened to Canon Farrar's sermon, of which the subject was " The Lord Reigneth." It was a genuine Fourth of July oration, justifying the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence through and through, and condemning in unsparing terms the blindness and folly of the British Government in driving the Americans to resistance. But out of all there came forth good in the existence of a new, colossal nation on these Western shores, as the exponent of free prin- eiples to the world. In this the preacher found the illustration of his text, "The Lord Reigneth." In going out, after the service, we walked directly under the monument of Major Andre, in the south aisle of the Abbey, and on discovering it we stopped and read this inseription : "Saered to the memory of Major John Andre, who, raised by his merit, at an early period of life, to the rank of Adjutant-General of the British forces in America, and, employed in an im- portant, but hazardous enterprise, fell a sacrifice to his zeal for his King and Country, on the 2d of Octo- ber, 1780, aged twenty-nine, universally beloved and esteemed by the army in which he served, and In- mented even by his foes. His gracious Sovereign, King George III., has caused this monument to be erected.'

On the plinth are found also these words: "The remains of Major John Andre, were on the 10th ot August, 1821, removed from Tappan by James Buch- anan, Esq., his Majesty's consul at New York, under instructions from His Royal Highness the Duke of

1 The desired monument has since been erected.

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York, and with permission of the dean and chapter, finally deposited in a grave contiguous to this monu- ment, on the 28th of November, 1821."

It was a striking illustration of the changes that are going on in the world, that residents of Tarry- town, where Andre was captured, should hear an English ecclesciastie in Westminster Abbey justify- ing the American Revolution to a body of English soldiers, and then, as they were passing out, should stop to read the inscription upon Andre's monument in the aisle.

MONUMENT AT TAPPAN .- On this side of the Atlantic a monument of gray granite, about seven feet high and about four feet in diameter, was erected, in 1880, by Mr. Cyrus W. Field, at the suggestion, it is said, of Dean Stanley, which he made while they were visiting the place together, to mark the spot where the execution occurred. There should be no objection to designating in a proper way any historie locality, and there prob- ably would have been none here but for the unfortu- nate inscription prepared by Dean Stanley and graven upon the stone. As it falsified the admitted facts of history and impliedly censured the execution of Major Andre, the inscription gave great offense. It was in these words :

" Here died, October 2, 1780, Major John Andre, of the British Army, who entering the American lines on a secret mission to Benedict Arnold, for the sur- render of West Point, was taken prisoner, tried and condemned as a spy. His death though according to the stern code of war, moved even his enemies to pity ; and both armies mourned the fate of one so young and brave. In 1821 his remains were moved to Westminster Abbey. A hundred years after the execution this stone was placed above the spot where he lay, by a citizen of the United States against which he fought ; not to perpetuate the record of strife, but in token of those better feelings which have since united two nations, one in race, in language, and one in religion, with the hope that this friendly union will never be broken."

Without stopping to inquire, Why say "Here died," instead of saying "Here was hanged," or " Here was executed?" although the word "execu- tion " does occur below, it is noticeable that the in- scription represents Andre as having gone on " a secret mission to Benedict Arnold, for the surrender of West Point." A "secret mission " may be a very honorable thing, and so may be a " surrender." But in this case the " mission " meant a dark conspiracy, and the proposed " surrender " one of the basest aud guilti- est betrayals that could have been conceived. Had Andre's "mission " been no more than for a mere " surrender," as it is represented in the inscription, his execution by Washington could never have been justified, but must have left an indelible blot upon Washington's name, and upon the name of every one concerned in bringing it about. But if it had read

ii .- 22

that he " entered the American lines in order to per- feet a secret conspiracy with a known traitor for the betrayal of West Point," it would have stated the exact historie fact, and the stone would probably have remained uninjured to this day. But then it would not have answered the objeet for which the in- scription was designed.

As it was, it led to repeated attempts either to de- face the monument or to destroy it, a course which no law-abiding citizen can approve. On Wednesday night, February 22, 1882, Washington's birthday, the face of the monument and the inscription were badly hacked and mutilated, and an American flag was hung from a 'staff on the top of it, with some objurg- ' atory verses pinned to its folds. As the verses then- selves will give the best idea of the feeling that prompted the deed, they are here subjoined,-

" Too long hath stood the traitor's shaft, A monument to shame, Built up to praise a traitor's craft, To sanctify ill-fame. Are freedman bound to still forbear And neckly still implore, When conquered foes their altars rear Within our very door ?

" This vulgar and insulting stone Would honor for all time, Not sneaking Andre's death alone, But black Ben Arnold's crime. And they who thus can glorify The traitor and his deeds, Themselves high treason would employ If 'twould fulfill their needs.

" Americans ! resolve, proclaim That in our own dear land Never, while the people reign, Shall treason's statue stand ! And he who dares erect it next On fair Columbia's breast, With fulsome or with false pretext Shall dangle from its crest."

But this was only the beginning. On Thursday, night, March 30, 1882, but little more than a month later, a terrific explosion startled the residents of Tappan and its neighborhood, and on rushing to the scene (for they at once divined the cause) they dis- covered that the foundation of the monument had been utterly shattered and ruined by the explosion of a cartridge of nitro-glycerine, though the shaft itself was only splintered in a few places. The simple- minded and cautious old gentleman who lived near- est to the monument, not over two hundred yards away, was convinced that he himself had a very nar- row escape from absolute annihilation. On being asked if he was in the house and heard the explo- sion, his answer was: " Was I in the house? Well, I guess I was in the house. And did I hear the explo- sion ? Well, I reckon I did. I got a shaking up, and a bad one, too. After I heard the hissing and the boom, and recovered from the shock, I thought of the monument, and I said to myself, ' I reckon they've fetched it this time,' and I guess I wasn't far out of the way either. I can't tell you what I thought when

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I first heard the explosion. The shock just unnerved me. Why, it was so loud that it woke 'Lish Rock- man, who owns a house away over there, and he thought it was an earthquake, and his house was coming down on his head. Ah," said the old gentle- man with a sigh, " Tappan is a nice, healthy place, butt outsiders are making it very unhealthy lately."

Mr. Field, with his aeenstomed liberality, had the monument re-set upon a massive foundation, and the work is said to have been completed only about the last of September or the first of October, 1885. About the last of October, 1885, he went over with his friend, Archdeacon Farrar, to see it. As there was a side of the monument without inseription, Archdea- con Farrar spoke of the propriety of placing some legend there. Mr. Field agreed that if Arehdeaeon Farrar would write one, he would have it put on as a companion piece to Dean Stanley's contribution.

OLD MONUMENT, ERECTED TO THE CAPTORS OF ANDRE, AT TARRYTOWN.

The Archdeacon aceordingly wrote it in the following terms:

" Brave, gifted, young, he did and dared all at his country's bidding, and died for her sake a shameful death. Yet England buried him in Westminister Abbey. Washington mourned for his hard fate, and a generons son of America, which honors her own Nathan Hale, raises this monument on the spot where his gibbet stood and his body lay.

"FREDERICK W. FARRAR,

" Archdeacon of Westminster."

But the inscription was prepared too late. On Tuesday night, November 3, 1885, another earth- quake explosion was heard in Tappan that rocked the buildings on their foundations and shook the panes of glass from the windows. This time it was dynamite, and the force of the explosion was terrifie. The heavy granite base was blown into a hundred fragments, and bloeks weighing several hun- cred pounds were carried to a distance of forty feet. The explosion did not move upward, but horizontally and ontward, scattering rocks, iron railings and posts

as if they were pipe-stems. The bricks in the foun- dation were pulverized to dust and the immense granite shaft of the monument itself, weighing sev- eral tons, was lifted sheer from its foundation and thrown sidelong to the ground, with Dean Stanley's inscription buried in the mud. Whether the monu- ment will be re-erected is not known.

The monument erected at Tarrytown, at once to mark the spot were Major Andre was captured and to honor the incorruptible patriotism of the three men who performed that vital service to the nation, has been attended with a happier fate than the one ereeted at his place of execution, at Tappan. The idea of having such a mouument, and the desire to see it erected, ean be traced baek to a point earlier than the Presideney of Martin Van Buren, from 1837 to 1841. It had certainly been cherished by publie-spirited citizens long before. But while Mr. Van Buren was President, he made a trip by land from New York City to Kinderhook, in order to visit his home in the latter plaee. On his journey thither he passed through Tarrytown, and made a short stop there, at the spot where Major Andre was captured. As the matter of ereeting a monument, to mark it, had often been agitated among the people of the neighborhood, they thought that perhaps they might so far interest the President in the project as to seeure through his influence an appropriation from Congress to meet the necessary expense. The expectation, however, was not realized. No one seems to have taken the matter in charge.

A decade and more passed away, and still nothing was done, until, in the winter of 1852 and 1853, a few young men-prominent among them were Mr. Amos R. Clark and the Hon. N. Holmes Odell, sinee then a Representative in the Forty-fourth Congress, from 1876 to 1878, from the Twelfth District, who both continue live in Tarrytown-determined to make an effort, at least, for the erection of the desired monument. It is but justice to state that to their energy and spirit the inauguration and final sueeess of the enterprise were largely, if not chiefly, due. A meeting was held in the room over the store then kept by Messrs. Jacob and N. Holmes Odell, but now kept by the Messrs. Requa, on the southwest corner of Washing- ton and Main Streets. The persons assembled or- ganized themselves under the name of the "Monu- ment Association to the Captors of Major Andre." Amos R. Clark was chosen president; N. Holmes Odell, vice-president ; Moses H. Wilson, treasurer; Steuben P. Swartwout, seeretary; and Dr. E. V. Rush- more, corresponding secretary.

They went to work, but the prospect was not en- couraging. One after another, however, fell in with them, and helped the movement. among them the Rev. J. M. Ferris, (sinee Dr. Ferris, then pastor of the Second Reformed Dutch Church,) Allen Newman, (principal of the Tarrytown Institute), and Philip R. Paulding, who did good service in the cause. A public

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meeting was ealled, to be held in the only hall of any size then in the village. It was known as Fowler's Hall, and was in a building that stood on the spot where now stands the Tarrytown National Bank. It was burned down some years ago in a fire that eon- sumed all the buildings on the south side of Main Street, from Water Street nearly up to the present post- office. The meeting was accordingly held in Fowler's Hall, on Friday evening, May 6, 1853, and was presided over by Mr. Amos R. Clark as president of the associa- tion, assisted by the vice-president, Mr. N. Hobnes Odell. The attendance was small, but those who were present were earnestly addressed by John Reynolds, Esq., a young lawyer of Sing-Sing, now residing in California, and by the Rev. J. M. Ferris, pastor of the Second Reformed Dutch Church, and by Dr. Fen- elon Hasbrouck, a member of the same church, and a practicing physician in the village. Commit- tees were appointed to carry out the plans of the organization, and to report. At the next meeting the committees did not appear, and no reports were made. The older and more influential eitizens spoke rather disparagingly of the undertaking, and described it as a "boys' affair." But " the boys " had in them " the spirit of '76," and they resolved that the monument should rise. So they girded themselves for business and began. If the committees would not do the work, they would. And they did it. They drew up sub- scription papers, and presented them everywhere. Soon they saw the dawning of success.

General Henry Storms, a native of this eounty, then one of the inspectors of the State Prison at Sing Sing, a man of remarkable patriotism and public spirit, was approached, and he entered with characteristic heartiness into the movement. He stated that if the association would assume the cost of transporting the stone from Sing Sing, he would have them cut and prepared there by the workmen in the stone-yard of the prison. The offer was promptly accepted, and the plans for the monument, prepared by the architect, Mr. James W. Smith,-then owning and living on the property now owned by Mr. E. J. Blake, directly op- posite the spot where the monument was to stand,- were passed over to General Storms. The spot where the capture was made, and of course the site of the monument, belonged to a colored man, named Wil- liam Taylor, who had formerly been a slave in the South, but having obtained his freedom, he came to the North to live. He was a man of some property and not only intelligent, but also benevolent and public-spirited. He presented the ground for the monument to the association, and formally transferred it by deed. While the workmen at Sing Sing were preparing the base and the shaft, a foundation was put down and presented to the association by Mr. Seth Bird, in order to be ready for them when completed.

On July 4, 1853, the corner-stone was laid by Colonel James A. Hamilton, a son of Alexander Hamilton, of the Revolution, and the occasion was

celebrated by the largest procession ever seen in the village. Captain Jacob Storm, for so long a time one of the most conspicuous representatives of the ok heroic type, was grand marshal, and rode at the head of the colunm with his peculiar grace. The Rev. J. M. Ferris, pastor of the Second Reformed Dutch Church, read the Declaration of Independence, and James T. Brady, Esq., an eminent advocate of New York City, delivered the oration. The whole was a great success. By this time the "boys' affair" had taken on manly proportions, and those who had previously held back or had been indifferent canie forward and co-operated in the work. After this there was no further trouble.

The stone was eut, and made ready to be removed from the quarry, and the association contracted with Aaron Arnold-happily no relation to Benedict Arnold-to convey it to a vessel at Sing-Sing and thence bring it to the Tarrytown dock. It is singular that an Arnold should have aided in the erection of a monument to honor the men who defeated the treason of another Arnold, by capturing his con- federate in crime. It shows that there are Arnolds and Arnolds, good as well as bad.

When the pieces of the monument reached Tarry- town, they were found to be so heavy as to render it very difficult to move them. There were no trucks large enough in the village, nor other means of trans- portation, and in this emergeney they called in the farmers, from the country roundabout, with their oxen, to haul them from the vessel to the spot where the monument was to stand. The farmers responded willingly now, as they did in the Revolution, and having succeeded in getting the pieces out of the vessel,-the largest of them weighed about five tons,- and on a "stone boat" on the dock, they were hauled up to the ground by ten yoke of oxen in line.

The inseription on the monument was furnished by the Hon. James K. Paulding, a former Secretary of the Navy, under Van Buren's administration, from 1837 to 1841, and an intimate friend and associate of Washington Irving. The lettering was cut into the shaft after the stone had been placed.

The whole having been completed, the monument was dedicated with imposing ceremonies on Friday, October 7, 1853, and the multitude assembled on the oceasion was far larger than that gathered at the lay- ing of the corner-stone, on the preceding 4th of July. The weather was fine, and all the outward conditions auspicious. General Henry Storms was marshal of the day. The Hon. Horatio Seymour, Governor of the State of New York, was present with his staff, and opened the proceedings with an admirable ad- dress. He then introduced the Hon. Henry J. Ray- mond, editor of the New York Times, who delivered an address of great ability, which has taken a high place in the library of Andre literature.

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History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 54

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286