USA > Rhode Island > The "Old Stone Bank" history of Rhode Island, Vol. III > Part 38
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As time went on, she made more rescues (just how many only she knew and she would never tell). But her fame was
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already widespread. She was made a member of the American Legion of Honor and was given the special distinction of being elected to the American Cross of Honor and awarded the first gold cross of that organization. The New York Humane Society presented her with a medal, and the Massachusetts Humane Society soon followed suit. Congress awarded her a special gold medal, and Andrew Carnegie gave her a pension of $30 a month from his private fund. Fi- nally the Sorosis Society made her an honorary member.
Of course in addition to all this she was deluged with visitors and mail from ad- mirers (in the latter receiving everything from congratulations to offers of mar- riage). Prominent men and women came to Newport especially to see her, among them President Grant, Vice-President Colfax, Admiral Porter, Admiral Dewey, General Sherman, Jay Gould, Mrs. Wil- liam Astor, and Susan B. Anthony. How- ever her attitude was always the same, modest and unassuming. Even when the visitors became inquisitive beyond all limits of courtesy, she herself was quietly courteous (and just as un-talkative).
These visitors tired her more than her daily tasks, for they came at all hours without warning. Soon they averaged one hundred a day, and in one summer, her father counted a total of 9000. Truly she suffered upon the rack of American inquisitiveness.
She lost but one person among all those whom she set out to save, and that be- cause she arrived on the scene too late. Even in her later years she was a con- summate master of her boat and could man it with ease. She was presented with a new boat, named the "Rescue," but preferred to use her old one. The "Res- cue" is now in the Newport Historical Society.
Up to her death in 1911 she remained keeper of Lime Rock Light, and when she died not only Rhode Island but the whole world mourned a courageous woman, one who had been a rare model of sincere mod- esty and simplicity.
Lime Rock Light has since been hon- ored with her name and is now connected to the mainland by a long wharf. The island is at present the home of the Ida Lewis Yacht Club, but the rock itself is a lasting monument to its former mistress.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN PROVIDENCE
0 NE by one, human links connecting with that which has gone before are taken away. Men and women walking among us today talk to us of those whom they once knew, or saw; they tell us of things that happened once upon a time; they relate happenings that occurred within the span of their lives, and then, suddenly, these men and women are no longer with us. Day by day the past be- comes no longer our personal experiences, or the first-hand knowledge of others, for the past constantly recedes away into a record which we call history. That which is, at this hour, news; that which we read about, hear about, and talk about with the passing of these moments will some- day be a narration of facts and events arranged chronologically with their causes and effects. Only the pen, the brush and
lens, figuratively speaking, can provide perpetual knowledge and understanding of the fast-fading chapters in human evolution. The preservation of certain material objects, the advance in archaeo- logical deductions, all have and will con- tribute to the wealth and accuracy of his- torical recordings, and ever-improving methods of preserving words, pictures and sounds will assure livelier records of the present for future enlightenment, but what are printed papers, colored pictures and canned sounds in comparison with one's description of a great personal ex- perience ? What is someone's private in- terpretation or impression of a significant event in comparison with the spoken words of one who had first hand knowl- edge of that particular event?
Until a comparatively short time ago
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there was one walking among us who had an experience of local historical impor- tance. While this man lived, his experi- ence was a vivid precious memory, not exactly history. He had seen with his own eyes; heard with his own ears; he told of it in his own words; suddenly, this experi- ence becomes a tale to be told in the third person. It is now history, and somewhat as follows it shall be related down through the centuries.
After fifty-one years of a life that took him from a humble cabin in the middle West to a place of political leadership among many who sought to elect him President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln received an invitation in the fall of 1859 to lecture at Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. To his friends it was evident that he was greatly pleased by the com- pliment, but that he feared that he was not equal to an Eastern audience, despite the fact that he had become the first choice of his entire party for political speeches. After some hesitation he ac- cepted the Brooklyn invitation, provided his hosts would take a political speech if he could not find time to prepare some other message.
When he reached New York City he learned that he was to speak there instead of Brooklyn, and that he was certain to have a distinguished audience. Con- cerned about what he should say, and conscious too, that he had a great oppor- tunity before him, he spent nearly three full days revising his speech and familiar- izing himself with the material. The ora- tion was delivered at the Cooper Institute on February 27, 1860, and is now referred to as the Cooper Union speech. Lincoln held a notable audience spellbound with his oddly expressed but trenchant and convincing arguments that clearly con- firmed the soundness of his political con- clusions. William Cullen Bryant intro- duced Lincoln; Horace Greeley, David Dudley Field, and many more well-known men of the day were there to hear him. Also there that evening in New York City were several political leaders from New England who approached Lincoln after the conclusion of his address and extended invitations to him to visit their respective states. Among these representatives was
Mr. John Eddy of Providence, a promi- nent lawyer who earnestly requested that Lincoln be his guest in Rhode Island where the Republican party was not mak- ing very great progress, and where it was believed Mr. Lincoln would exert a power- ful influence upon local textile manufac- turers.
As for Mr. Lincoln he probably had several reasons for considering seriously the invitations extended by Mr. Eddy and other New England political leaders. First, and very likely, foremost, he wanted to see his son Robert, then a student at Phillips Academy in Exeter, New Hamp- shire. Second, then unknown to New Englanders, Lincoln had the support of his Western friends for the approaching Presidential election, and, consequently, he saw an opportunity to strengthen his own political power in a section of the country that scarcely knew him. Third, Lincoln saw the opportunity of presenting to sympathetic audiences his ideas and opinions of slavery, a subject that domi- nated his thoughts and speeches of that period of his career.
Before retiring on the night of February 27, 1860, Abraham Lincoln decided to visit New England at once, and Provi- dence was selected as the first stop. The next morning, accompanied by several political leaders, including Mr. John Eddy, he departed from New York, taking the Boston Express that left from the old depot at 4th Avenue and 27th Street, then on the site of Old Madison Square Garden. The train left at eight o'clock and the party changed cars in New Haven for the Shore Line train, reaching New London at 1:15 P.M., and Providence at 4 : 15 P.M.
Since Mr. Eddy was the official host, Lincoln was invited to spend the night at his home then located at 67 Washington Street, but now the home, still standing, is at 265 Washington Street. Probably escorted by several enthusiastic members of the party that welcomed Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Eddy at the train, the tall, then clean-shaven foe of human servitude, un- doubtedly made the short trip to the Eddy home in a carriage, no troops lined up in a guard of honor, no flag waving from Exchange Place buildings, no crowds gathered at vantage points to hail the one
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who was destined to become immortal in the hearts and minds of people through- out the world. Then he was just Abraham Lincoln, a powerful Western politician, a good speaker.
In the Eddy home, located in what was then regarded as the residential quarter of Providence, Mr. Lincoln sat down to supper with the family after he had been shown his room on the second floor, at the northeast corner of the residence. What a pity that every last detail of that meal and the social gathering that took place before and after has not been recorded, what a loss to the record of local historical facts that a faithful description of what Mr. Lincoln said, what Mr. Lincoln wore, and what he did during the hours of hospitality so graciously provided by Mr. and Mrs. Eddy, was not pre- served.
However, we do know that Alfred, the four year old son of the Eddy's, at- tracted the attention of the distinguished guest and that this youngster was pre- sented with a handful of red gumdrops during the early evening or the next morn- ing, either as a reward for good behavior, or as just the natural courtesy of a visitor to a member of his host's family. Now, we know well of Lincoln's love of his fellowmen, we know of his warmth, his kindliness, of his human understanding, and of his sympathy. His gift of sweet- meats to a healthy, lively and well- behaved child must have given him the same delight that most of us experience when another reflects appreciation for our generosities, however small may be our gift. And this gift of Lincoln's pleased little Alfred because the latter never for- got the incident, nor did the vivid memory of Abraham Lincoln in his father's house- hold ever become dimmed or distorted with the passing of many years.
That evening Lincoln spoke in what was then called Railroad Hall on the second floor of the northern end of the Old Union Station. This terminal, replaced by the present one, was opened on May 3, 1848, and, at the time, was owned by the Boston and Providence, Providence and Worcester, the New York, Providence, and Boston, and the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill roads, now all a part of the
New Haven Road. The hall was filled to overflowing and many who would have liked to have heard the champion of Re- publicanism were turned away. When Lincoln, accompanied by Mr. Eddy and others, appeared at the door, he was greeted with, as the newspaper account reads, "enthusiastic and prolonged cheer- ings of the Assembly."
William Warner Hopper, a former Gov- ernor of Rhode Island, called the meeting to order and nominated the Hon. Thomas A. Jencks as president, or chairman, and he was elected. Mr. Eddy was chosen secretary. Mr. Jencks spoke briefly but with stirring words of the great responsi- bility which rested upon Rhode Island in the coming struggle, and he referred to the vast importance of Rhode Island's preserving the place she had so faithfully held in the line of Republican States. He then introduced the Hon. Abraham Lin- coln, orator of the occasion. Mr. Lincoln began by alluding good-naturedly to some remarks in the press which he had read on his way to Providence. Then with charac- teristic wit he selected as the main subject of his speech, a topic suggested by the quotation which the newspaper took from one of his former orations. He defended, repeating the position which he took in that speech, that this country could not permanently endure, half slave and half free. He gave the context in which his cited words were found, and he discussed his subject with great fairness, earnestness and ability. He showed that he occupied only the ground which was taken by the founders of this government, and quoting the contemporary report, "he trium- phantly vindicated himself and the Re- publican party against the false charges which are so unscrupulously brought against them." In short, his speech in Providence was a great success. He im- pressed his hearers that he held a sincere, honest belief in all he said; he aroused great enthusiasm with his eloquence, and he won a host of new adherents with his plain, simple, cogent reasoning.
That night he slept in the Eddy house in a large, airy room that is today rented to anyone who desires its shelter because the residence is now a rooming house for- tunately in good hands, for the moment,
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assuring that the structure and the hal- lowed sleeping room at the northeast corner of the second floor will be protected and kept neat and clean. That night, in that room, Lincoln slept in an oversized bed because Mr. Eddy was an unusually tall man and he had provided for himself sleeping furniture that accommodated his long limbs. This treat of not being forced to curl up in bed was greatly appreciated by the tired guest, and he remarked about the comfortable bed to Mr. Eddy the next morning. The bed and the chair sat in by Mr. Lincoln have been preserved by Mr. John Eddy's descendants.
Mr. Lincoln said farewell to his host and family the next morning after break- fast and among those who took the grasp of the tall friendly guest was little Alfred whose chubby hands had lately clutched a few sticky gumdrops, the gift from a stranger who seemed to like small boys. Until a comparatively short time ago, Alfred U. Eddy could tell us first hand of that memorable incident in his long and fruitful life, but he was recently laid to rest in Swan Point Cemetery, probably the last person in Rhode Island who con-
sciously remembered seeing one of the greatest immortals in the history of the world. Mr. Alfred Updike Eddy, first captain of an organized Brown Univer- sity football team and a member of the class of 1879, founded the Mercantile Mutual Fire Insurance Company in 1882, becoming its first secretary and treasurer, and he was a member of the board of that company at the time of his death.
As the author now recalls meeting Mr. Eddy on several pleasant occasions and discussing with him his precious memories of Abraham Lincoln, he was reminded of a most impressive scene in- cluded in a widely-presented, screened Biblical drama. In this particular scene two Christians had met secretly on the outskirts of Rome during the times of religious persecution. One of these, a Pilgrim recently returned from the Holy Land, whispered low to his friend, say- ing: "I have seen the Master." A distin- guished Rhode Island citizen is now with his Master, and while here on earth among us, not so long ago, he talked to us, and told us in his own words, that he had seen Abraham Lincoln.
THE CIVIL WAR
R' HODE ISLAND took a very prominent part in the struggle between the North and South. The outbreak of hostilities found the people ready to respond with enthusiasm. President Lin- coln issued his proclamation calling for 75,000 men for three months, on April 15, 1861, and in the course of a week, the First Rhode Island Regiment, composed of ten companies of infantry and a battery of artillery, under command of Colonel Ambrose È. Burnside, was dispatched to Washington. But soon it became evident that the government had undertaken a task not to be completed by a service of three months. The promptness with which the people of the loyal States had answered the appeal encouraged the authorities at Washington to make a second request. This time the period of service was to be for three years and the number of men summoned to the field
was a little more than 42,000. On June 18, Governor Sprague of Rhode Island issued an order for the organization of a second regiment of infantry and a battery of artillery. A camp for the purpose of mobilization was established on Dexter Training Ground, and Major John S. Slocum was appointed Colonel in com- mand. On June 19th, the Second Rhode Island Regiment marched away to Ex- change Place, where appropriate exercises were held, and then proceeded to Fox Point, where the Steamer "State of Maine" awaited the local volunteers and their baggage. The Second arrived in Washing- ton four days later, accompanied by Governor Sprague. From then on, the story of the Second Rhode Island Regi- ment's service in the War of the Rebellion is a narrative of brave, honorable, enviable and efficient performance in the thick of the fighting in most all of the major
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engagements of the war from the First Battle of Bull Run to the surrender at Appomattox. The same tribute can be paid to other less prominent fighting contingents and to individuals from Rhode Island who saw service on land or on the water during the bitter years of tragic conflict between men who had been born under the same flag, and who had cherished the same ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Certainly, it is plain to see that Rhode Island conducted herself nobly in the emergency that threatened to destroy the Union or to create in the United States an aristocratic class, maintained by the Constitution, which could enjoy the privileges of living upon the toil of human beings held in bondage. With men, money and patriotic enthusiasm, Rhode Island rallied to the support of the Federal Government, determined that there would be no such thing as secession, and that human servitude in these United States would be unconstitutional.
Slavery was the chief cause of the Civil War in America. The South wanted slaves, and it was either a case of the slave-holding States withdrawing from the Union and forming their own inde- pendent government, or of converting the anti-slave States to the South's way of thinking. The North desired neither slave-holding nor secession - the result was War. The main issue was slavery, but what of contributory causes ? One of the chief causes of the American struggle was the introduction of the slave traffic into the Western hemisphere and that started, as far as we know, in 1614, when Thomas Hunt, an English explorer, cap- tured a group of Indians somewhere on Long Island and took them to Malaga as slaves. Probably the earlier Spanish and French explorers indulged in some slave taking and selling, but the traffic in this part of the world really began after the colonization of America, when human labor in the West Indies brought good prices, and when American ships and willing owners were available to transport unfortunate people from Africa to end their lives under the lash of an overseer on some scorching tropical plantation. Later, when the South needed more hands
to pick the cotton and to toil on the vast acres acquired by wealthy land-holders, there, the selling of people into human bondage became a big business; and, in that enterprise, little Rhode Island took no small part. Although Rhode Island could never be accused of being much of a slave-holding State at any period, many a fortune was gained by residents along the shores of Narragansett Bay during the period of slave running to the West Indies and to the South.
Little has been written, not much of fact can be uncovered, about Rhode Island and the slave trade, but enough is known to conclude that thousands of bewildered, fear stricken negroes were whisked away from African jungles to bondage below the Mason-Dixon line through the direct agency of Rhode Island capital. The molasses came from the West Indies to be turned into rum in Bristol and Newport distilleries; the rum was bartered for slaves on the West Coast of Africa, and slaves were trans- ported to western hemisphere ports. At one time, as many as fifty ships hailing from Rhode Island were engaged in this three way traffic, so, at this date, it is logical to admit that Rhode Island, willing to help stamp out a Dark Age practice in this land when it became a national issue, did at one time, countenance the participation of some of its leading citi- zens in the evil that finally provoked a bloody rebellion. Other Northern States besides Rhode Island were engaged in exploiting human servitude for the benefit of one particular area of this nation, but that is not the point. In analyzing causes and effects in human evolution, it is always well to see both sides of a question, and when we properly extol principles and praise ideals of one side, one view- point, mark well the earlier chapters of history, for thereby does one see the complete picture, and thereby compre- hend some things much more clearly. It was only one generation or so before the boys in blue marched bravely away from Rhode Island to the battlefields of the South that the smoke was pouring from busy Rhode Island distilleries from which great casks were rolled into fast sailing sloops and brigs bound for Cape Verde,
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where human flesh was measured in terms of so many gallons of rum.
Continuing a bit with an analysis of the causes of a Civil War in America, let us take a broad view of the South's side of the immortal conflict. Even today champions of the Confederate cause claim that slavery could have existed success- fully if permitted under the Constitution. History tells a different story. Through all the ages two antagonistic systems, democratic equality and aristocratic privi- lege, have kept the world in commotion, and they probably will continue to cause conflict within and among nations, until one or the other shall gain undisputed ascendancy. From the dawn of history it is easy to trace the course of this ever- present conflict between the two dia- metrically opposite theories, or systems of government. Aristocratic privilege can be divine right of kings, absolute monarchy, feudal lordship, imperialism or dictatorship - they are all the same, and history clearly shows how they all come to the same end. Any form of slavery, any system of government that takes away all or some human rights, liberties, privileges or freedom denotes the existence
of some aristocratic privilege, and that, we find, does not survive for long. True, there must always be gradations of society. There must be diversities of rank. There must be bootblacks, stokers and laborers in the field. There must be men to clean the streets and men to rule in the senate. There must be men to lay the rails and men to occupy the presi- dential chair. True democracy demands that the farmer, sailor, carpenter, taxi driver, clam-digger, and cotton picker have unobstructed opportunities to im- prove their condition, if they can; that every man shall have fair scope for indus- try, ingenuity, ambition and talent. The history of the world has proved that there can be no reconciliation between demo- cratic equality and aristocratic or dic- tatorial privilege. That is why slavery in this country did not survive, and that is why any form of inequality or involuntary sacrifice of individual rights in any coun- try cannot long survive.
History is a great teacher. Read it, understand it, ponder upon the first and last chapters as well as the middle. It makes the present so much more under- standable and less perplexing.
WILLIAM SPRAGUE
N the "History of the Civil War in America" by John S. C. Abbott, one sentence reads as follows: "On the 2d of May (1861) the Marine Flying Artillery of Rhode Island arrived in Washington, having a battery of six pieces. The energy manifested by this gallant little State, under its young but noble Governor, William Sprague, attracted universal admiration." Not much will be written in this account about the "Marine Flying Artillery," although the colorful name of that local fighting unit and its still more colorful war record, offers plenty of writ- ing material, but we are going to deal with the "young but noble Governor " William Sprague, who ranks among the immortals on that perpetual panorama of people and their experiences known as Rhode Island history.
But, first, it must be made clear that Rhode Island has had two Governors by the same name. William Sprague of Warwick, the next to the last chief executive to serve the State under the old royal charter, held office from 1838 to 1839, and his nephew, William of Provi- dence, became Governor, in 1860. Of the first Governor William Sprague, it can be said that he was born, in 1789, the son of a prominent textile manufacturer. In 1836, when his father died, this William united with his brother Amasa in the firm of A. & W. Sprague, said to have been the world's largest calico mills.
In 1842, Governor Sprague was elected United States Senator to succeed Nathan F. Dixon who died in office, and he served in Washington for two years, resigning after the murder of his brother Amasa,
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who had successfully managed the Sprague factories and calico works during the period that his brother partner had been concerned with political interests and duties. William Sprague devoted the rest of his life to the business, and died in 1856.
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