The Sunday Oregonian., February 18, 1906, PART FOUR, Image 48

THE STJAr OKlSGDl24 POXTLAjKI), "FEpjRUARY 18, 'l9iH5.
11 WASHINGTON if
1 nmnqumTERsjrr I
- $ VHLLEXFORGE I
5Y Wtf m
IN THE REVOLUTIONARY "WAR
' -y?-!' sc prMjlH Umu' !if(' tfz
HE one' hundred and seventy-fourth
anniversary of George "Washington's
birth finds still in existence many
famous buildings which are identified with
the historic events in which he figured.
In fact, for the Commander-in-Chief of
the Continental forces merely to spend a
"night under a roof, may be said to have
assured to the structure it covered a far
longer life than otherwise would have
been granted to it.
That reverence which even then was
extended to the Father of his Country,
has availed to save from destruction more
than two score buildings which he used
as headquarters during the War of the
Revolution.
It Is now more than 122 years since
Washington laid down his arms, and re
tired to private citizenship after having
won one of the most unevenly matched
wars in history.
Tet to this day scattered through the
13 original states can be found many
building In which he planned out his bat-,
ties, sought retreat after defeats, ,or made
the base of new operations.
There has been no organized effort to
save these buildings. In many cases they
have been but poorly kept, and can not
go much longer without rebuilding, but
private patriotism has acted where public
officials have been indifferent, and one can
construct a very vivid picture of the war,
and revive the trials that beset the com
mander, merely by going from one to the
other of houses In .which he sheltered
during the conflict.
There are so many that it would be
impossible to mention them all.
In Westerfleld. Conn., they show the
Silas Dean House, where "Washington 1
lived Just after the war began, and while
the operations were around Boston.
In the Longfellow Home. j
Cambridge. Mass., points proudly to two '
houses. First "Washington lived In the j
residence set apart for principals of Har
vard College. Then he moved to the house
of a fugitive Loyalist, John Vassall.J
Later this became the residence of Henry
"W. Longfellow, the great poet, and here
were written many of his most noted
works.
Many other eminent men have been res
idents and guests of this historic mansion.
Just to mention Tallyrand, Lafayette,
Worcester and Everett gives a fair Idea.
Washington had many houses in New
York. None is more beautiful than the
building now known as the Jumel Man
sion. This was his headquarters from Sep
tember 16 to October 21. 1776. It is also
rich in memories of aron Burr, who
married the widow of Stephen Jumel.
Jumel gained possession of the house
when Roger Morris and his wife fled be
cause their Tory sympathies threatened
to get them Jn .difficulties.
r.iL''"5 Morris, who as Mars'
Philipac, George .Washington wooed in
vain.
Until the evacuation of New York.
Washington lived .In the Roger Morris
r."8!' Harlem Heights. . The location, of
ibis -building is now almost opposite the
Intersection of 161st street Tenth avenue
tnd the old Kingsbridge road. The Mil
ler house at White Plains. Is another
Washington's New York headduarters that
still survives.
In Pennsylvania.
During most of the retreat through New
Jersey, Washington lived in camp, but
eventually he crossed the Delaware, and
took up his headquarters at the home of
Thomas Barclay, at Morrlsville Pa.
This fine property at the tlmeof Wash
ington's occupancy was only a few years
. t. terMt Psed Into the possession
of Robert Morris, the noted financier of
the Revolution. It is still standing, a
magnificent rambling stone mansion of
the kind popular In that period. In its
spacious ballroom was held a great en
tertainment in honor of Lafayette when
he came to the United Slates in 1821
Moving further Inland, Washington
gave the dignity -of his august pres
enc? tlie two-Btory stone dwelling
thathad been built by William Keith,
a Governor of Pennsylvania, at
Brownsburg, Pa. This building has un
dergone n0 changes whatever. It is still
In the Keith family, and walls, doors and
even the paints remain to a large extent
unchanged. Washington passed In this
mansion one of the most depressing peri
ods of the war. It was here he received
the disconcerting news that General Lee
had ben taken a prisoner, a mishap the
more irritating from the fact that tho
Commander-in-Chief had predicted that
it would take place unless he Joined the
main army,
Washington left Keith's on December
S. and five days later made the never-to-be
forgotten attack on Trenton that re
sulted in the defeat of the Hessians and
gave new hope to the Continental cause.
The Van Doren residence, still standing
3ust outside the village of Millstone,
shows where Washington had his head
quarters after the battle of Princeton.
"When Lafayette Came.
At Neshamlny, 0 miles north of Phila
delphia, is a headquarters -of Washington
rich in historic memories, it is a rough
stone bulldlBg. two itortes ia height, Jo--cated
mct. Ue IwWge over ta Llttia,
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liMWIW I Hi III' Hi li i I
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jrCJ&2B2UBGE,NISS.
The White Marsh headquarters was
veritable baronial hall, where George
Emlen. dispensed hospitality with a lavish
hand.
Valley Forge Headquarters.
The Valley Forge headquarters of Wash
ington Is Justly famed as one of the holi
est shrines of American freedom. This
old stone house was the residence of th
founder at the time when the fortunes o
the cause went to their very" lowest. It
is now maintained by Pennsylvania, an I
being stoutly built, will undoubtedly sur
vlve for long years to come.
From the time Washington quit Valley
Forge he was more or less on the move
The shifting of his forces took him to
Fishkill. X. Y.. and here he took quarter
at the home of Colonel John Blckerhoft
The house remains as it was at thnt
time. He also lived for a time at th
home of Colonel Derrick Bickerhoff. a
nephew of John. This house has also
been preserved.
The Wallace house at Middlebrook. N,
J., is one of the best preserved of the
structures that, Washington occupied. Ho
went there in December, 177S. His fond
ness for the Wallace house was shown
when, having been away for a time, ho
returned there in 1779.
Along the Hudson arc a number of
houses that have the fame of being put to
the services of their country s make
West Point i3 very proud of its Mooro's
house, located in what is now called
Washington's Valley, ope mile above the
town.
Near AV'cst Point.
Further up the river is th venerably
structure that did Washington ser!.-e at
Newburgh. This had a military use T:
was situated on a bluff that overlook!
the river for eight miles to West Point
From this outlook he could watch to find
if the enemies' ships had managed ti
make their way up the river.
This house was erected in 1730 and
stands today just as It did in Washing
ton's time. It Is a plain onc-storv build
ing, built of stone with walls two feet
thick.
Among the other headquarters that sur
vive may be mentioned the Jacob Ford
mansion at Morrlstown. N. J : the Dev
t mansion at Preakness. N. J.: the Robin
! son house, on the opposiie side of th
Hudson, below West Point, whkh was
also the headquarters of Benedict Arnold
( when he betrayed tho cause: the Hopper
house, on the road to Morristown. in New
i Jersey: the Van Courtlandt house, a
Peekskill; the home of Joshua Hett Smi'h
two miles below Stony Point: the hom'
I of Chancellor Wythe, In Williamsburg
I Va.: and Mount Vernon, where Wash-1
J Ington stayed after the surrender of Corn-I
wallis. from November 12 to 20, when he
went to Philadelphia.
It Is a great list and conveys a com
forting- thought that the birthday of the
founder finds hallowed even the housp"
in which he slept during that time of
stress.
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3TENTON J TUB LOGAN 24BNSI0N,
Neshaminy Creek. Here 'Washington
held an Important council of war, at
which for the first time the young Mar
quis de Lafayette took his place tm one
of Washington's advisers. He hd len
comaaKloned Major-General only a few
days bef&re.
Whftn Wahlngtoi received newa f jUw
eignal CotiUI-vIotocy at. Baaiatoiit
he nroke camp and moved nearer the
city. He took up his abode at Stenton,
near Nicetown, about Ave miles .Treat the
heart of Philadelphia.
This mansion lias an interesting history
that goes all the way back to the days ef
WilliaJB Pesn. It hms keen punaa-ted by
an organisation o: petdoUe FhOalpMa
oww, and J preei!r4 a amoaeuia.
n&iaj York.
for relics of-Washington and other Rcvo
IuUom o' feoroes.
The. lKHtta of John Potts, founder of
PoUatown, had. the CoiMmder.-la-Chiaf
for a guest briefly, then he moved to
Pcnnypackcr's Mills, now known as
Schwenksville. This is the home of Gov
ernor Pcnnypacker, of Pennsylvania.
Both the Potts house and the Penny
packer house. In which Washington - had
his headquarters, are stll standing. The
former Is used as & hotel.
Betweeo the SJppaclc and Morris xoadr,
about a mile from the present village of
Ambler, is another Morris house, which
answered for a timers the military head
quarters for tho chief of the Continental
forces.
From here to Valley Forge are a num
ber of buildings that saw the commander
planning hew with his pitiful force ha
could bold back the forces; of Lord Howe
The Old Home.
An old lane, an old sate, an old hous by
a tree.
A wild wood, a wild brook they will net!
let me be;
In boyhood I knew them and atlll they call!
to me.
Down deep In my heart's core I hear them,
and my eyes
Through tear mists behold them, beneath thJ
old time skies.
Mid bee boom and rose blossoms and or
chard lands, arise.
I hear them; and heartsick with longing- iH
my soul
To walk there, to dream there, beneath the!
sky's blue bowl;
Around me. within me, the weary work
made whole.
To talk with tne wold ' brook of all the
Ion;; ago:
To whl&per the wood wind of things
used to know
When we were old companions, before mA
heart knew woe.
To walk with the morning: and wateh it
rose unfold;
To drowse with the noontide lulled on It.1
heart of gold;
To He with the night time and dream thr;
dream of old.
To telt to the old trees, and to each listen i
Inc leaf.
The longing-, the yearning, as in my boy.
hood brief.
The old hope, the old love, would ease m:
heart of grief.
The old lane, the old "gate, the old house M
the tree.
The wild wood, the wild brook they win noJl
let me be;
In boyhood I knew them, and still they call
to me.
Madison Caweln in the Criterion.
The Quiet Time.
A shadowy gleam In the golden West,
A cooling breeze In the trees;
The low farewell of a parting guest.
The ringdove's plaint in the eaves.
The whlp-o-wlll's call from the woodland
near.
The star's soft gleam in the sky;
The dusk of night that creeps without fea
On the night wind's fragrant sign.
Across the heavens silvery band.
That trails far o'er the blue:
And the moon looms up from shadow land
To lighten the diamond dew.
The sable robe' falls away from Care,
And Grief has ceased hsr toll:
Joy Is absent, but Peace is there.
In th quiet time of the soul
A. G. in New pf leans Pica runs.