"My wife drew Seraine to her bosom as she would have taken a child, and embraced her and wept, until, from sympathy, we all were overcome with emotion. The family congratulated Henry. The two little girls did not quite understand it all, and began plying us with questions until we had to explain all about it, and tell them Seraine was going to be their 'aunty.' This delighted them, and they commenced climbing upon Henry's lap, and questioning him about their 'Aunty Seraine,' until finally he made his escape from the house.
[Illustration: Marriage of Henry and Seraine 313]
"The preliminaries were soon arranged, and Mr. Whit-comb and I procured the necessary license. I then called in our minister, the Rev. Mr. Lowe, who performed the marriage ceremony in the parlor of our home. We were very happy that evening in celebrating Henry's and Seraine's wedding, and seemed to have forgotten for the time being all our misfortunes and griefs. In speaking of Seraine's success in visiting the Southern prison-pens and rescuing Henry, I came very near letting out the secret kept from her father and mother about the visit of Mary Anderson to the President in order to rescue her brother, but caught myself in time and changed the conversation. Our minister, a truly loyal man, was most enthusiastic over the marriage, insisting that this was just as it should be, and at the same time expressing some surprise that it had not taken place before. I said to him that I felt so, but had not interfered. I had allowed the two young people to arrange the matter to suit themselves. I must confess, however, that I was well pleased, and certainly should never have been satisfied if Henry had not married Seraine. No more devoted woman ever lived.
"Just at this moment Aunt Martha announced tea. We all entered the dining-room and sat down to tea, as she called it, but found, instead, a right royal wedding feast, which all enjoyed exceedingly. Young James Whitcomb, who had been very quiet during the evening, though very attentive to his mother and father, now asked the minister if he thought it right for him to keep from his parents anything pertaining to himself which might distress them in his absence.
"Mr. Lowe replied that he thought they should know all. All turned and looked at each other with surprise. The young man was silent for a moment, and his great blue eyes filled with tears. He said:
"'I have never heretofore kept anything from my mother, father or sister, and I am now fully determined to tell them all about myself.'
"We enjoyed our dinner, however, and joked Henry by telling him that Seraine would have to look after him, as she had been doing all through the war up to this time.
"Here Aunt Martha had to come in; we could not stop her. She said:
"'Yes, sah; dat gal takes kear of Marsa Henry. If it not done been for her he done starved to deff, he would. Dem Sesh, dey be affer dis fambly. Dey done kill mos' all, and am still affer you. I tells you, dey am; I knows dem, I do. Marsa Henry, you mus' stay home wid de folks, you mus'.'
"At this my wife became much distressed. I told Aunt Martha to stop, which she did. Aunt Sarah then referred to Peter, saying that her dreams were now entirely about him, and that she was sorely troubled on his account. Ham stood near by, listening, and said:
"'No mistake, Marsa Peter all right. I see him las' night in my head glass when I's sleep. He all right, sho'.'
"By this time we had finished dinner, or tea, and were returning to the sitting room, when James Whitcomb took his parents out on the veranda and told them all about his trouble, the kindness of our family, Mary Anderson's trip to see the President, his clemency, etc.; his present situation, and how he obtained his position. We thought that this was a mistake, but he felt relieved, and his parents and sister, after they were satisfied of his having done no wrong intentionally, felt that it was the best for them to know it. We had intended it should be kept from them, but it was now no longer a secret in my family, and it was perhaps best that his father and mother should know all.
"The next day Mr. and Mrs. Whitcomb thought that they must return home.
Mr. Whitcomb said to Henry and Seraine that they must come as soon as they could do so to their house and make it their home, as he and his wife being alone at such a time it was very hard, and made them discontented. They thanked all of us for our watchfulness over their only son, and it seemed that they could not thank the General and his wife sufficiently for what they had done for him. They bade us all good-by and separated from Henry and Seraine with many regrets.
"After they had gone Jackson entertained us by a recital of his visit to Europe, and, in addition to what he had written me, he gave us all he had seen and heard. His recital of the burning of the Will-o'-the Wisp was quite graphic, and excited Henry and the General very much. No one except those who were in the secret knew what she had on board, nor the importance to the Confederacy of the men that were lost with her. The language used by Gen. Anderson against such fiendishness as Jackson's statement disclosed I will not attempt to repeat. It was strong and denunciatory, such only as men like himself, versed in letters, could employ.
"I requested Jackson to make me a detailed report from the day he left my house up to the date of his return, which he did. I retained a copy of his report, and still have it. We did not call on Henry for his report that day, but on the next told Henry that if he could leave Seraine long enough (you know how young people are), we would like him to tell us what he learned in Canada. I really did not suppose that he could tell us a very great deal of interest, as I presumed he had spent much of his time in Detroit, as there was an attraction for him in that place which would naturally draw him thither. He said, however, that he was ready to tell us all that he had discovered in reference to the conspiracy; that when he went to Canada he formed the acquaintance of a Mr. Samuel Wintergreen, and soon they became great friends, as he satisfied Winter-green that he was ready to carry out any plan to aid the Confederacy. The passwords, signs and grips of the Golden Circle seemed to be all that any one needed in order to be at once recognized as a friend to those people. In Canada the people, almost without exception, were in sympathy with the rebellion. After traveling for quite a while he came back to Windsor, and there again met his friend Wintergreen. Remaining there for some time and talking with many persons without any material results, Wintergreen invited Henry to accompany him to Toronto, and finding nothing of importance there, they left for Montreal On arriving at Montreal they found Jacob Thomlinson, C.
C. Carey, and many other distinguished men. Wintergreen met Jacob Thomlinson, and reported to him that his friend of whom he had written was with him. Thomlinson asked him to come to his rooms, and to bring his friend Davis. That evening they visited Mr. Thomlinson, and found Mr. Carey and two other gentlemen--a Mr. Landers and Ben Wudd. Henry was presented as Henry Davis, one of the agents under Mr. Wintergreen who was to assist (as it was then understood) in carrying out such plans as might be agreed upon in the interest of the rebel or Confederate Government.
"They remained together till a late hour discussing various points. One of the topics was the great loss the Confederacy had sustained in the burning of the Will-o'-the-Wisp, in the material, and by the death of Prof. McCul-lough and Dr. Mears, as they alone held the secret of manufacturing the wonderful explosive. Thomlinson and Carey insisted that there should be no let-up, and that they must now resort to other means, in which the other gentlemen agreed. It was thought best to try releasing prisoners and arming them and such others as would join them, and make portions of the North a desolate waste, as they said was now being done in the South by the Union army. Thomlinson said in reference to releasing prisoners that he intended in a very short time to make preparations in Illinois for an attack on Camp Douglas, near Chicago.
"'I think,' said he, 'that will result in the burning of the city. It is one of the worst places in the North. The influence of Lincoln over the people there is very great, and extremely bad for us, and that city must be destroyed by some means. If the Will-o'-the Wisp had not been lost, Chicago would now be in ashes.'
"After some further discussion on this subject, all went their way for the night, with an understanding that there would be a meeting of delegates from the Northern States, called by Jacob Thomlinson, to assemble at St. Catharines in one month from that time, where many matters of interest would be discussed and considered. Henry and Winter-green then returned to Windsor with the understanding that they would attend the meeting at St. Catharines. At Windsor, Henry and Jackson met, and that which followed their meeting I have already stated. What Henry ascertained in Canada was only important in this, that it had opened the way for discovering that which was important to know, which probably would occur afterwards. I requested Henry to do as Jackson was doing,--to write out his statement in full. After both were prepared, I sent Henry with them to the President. He thought it a little hard to be sent so summarily away from his bride. The President received Henry with great kindness, and told him to inform me that the whole matter had been more skillfully and successfully managed than anything in this line since the war began. He also said, that he and the Secretary of War could breathe freer since they had learned the fate of the cargo of the Will-o'-the-Wisp, and that McCullough and M ears had their deserts.
"The President requested Henry to continue his investigations, and especially to attend the meeting of the leading Knights of the Golden Circle, who were soon to meet at St. Catharines, in Canada, and send through me, without delay, his report. The President inquired very particularly about all our family, including Gen. Anderson and Jackson.
He also desired to know what had become of James Whitcomb and his sister. Henry explained fully about them all, and when he mentioned that Seraine was his wife, the President shook his hand most heartily, and told him that he was a very fortunate man.
"When Henry returned home and had sufficient time for rest we held a consultation, and agreed to the following plan: Henry was to start at once with his wife for Detroit, leave her with her parents, and pass over to Windsor, and there, in company with Wintergreen, visit all places that Wintergreen might suggest, and then go to St. Catharines to the meeting arranged for the delegates from the Golden Circle of the Northern States; that when he had obtained information of any value, he was to return to Detroit, write his report in full, give it to his wife Seraine, and she was to come in person with it to me."
"She was a jewel," said Dr. Adams.
"Yes," said Col. Bush; "there were but few like her."
Uncle Daniel continued: "Our lines of communication now being safely established, we were all anxious for Henry's departure; therefore, Henry and Seraine left for Detroit, leaving all of us almost heartbroken to be forced to give them up. But the hope of seeing them very soon again reconciled us to some extent. The two children said they loved their Aunty Seraine so much that they did not wish her to go away any more.
After they were gone, it now being far into the Winter--in fact, Spring was approaching--Gen. Anderson said he felt that he could again take the field and perform his duty without endangering his health, and therefore must make preparations for returning to his command. We tried to dissuade him from it, but it was of no avail, so the next day he told the family that he should leave very soon. In the conversation he said that he had felt all the time that there was a void in his military family that could not easily be filled. He felt the loss of Capt. Day very much, but said he would try James Whitcomb thoroughly and had great hopes of him. Aunt Martha was near by and heard what was said. She immediately hunted up Ham and said: 'Marsa Gen'l is gwine off to fight dem Sesh agin, and I 'spect he want Ham to go, too.'
"Ham said: 'Well, Marfa, maybe he not want me any more. I's not well; I's got dem pains in de knees and de breas' and de shouldars and de stomach. What is it dey calls dem pains?'
"'Rumatiks, you ole fool; doesn't you know nuffin'?'
"'No, Marfa, I not know nuffln'; you know I doesn't. I 'spect you better told de Gen'l, Marfa, I's sick. I go off and die wid dem pains, den what you do, Marfa? You be all by yerself, and don't you see dat won't do, Marfa. No, indeed, dat won't do.'
"'Well, now, Ham, I's not goin' to tell Marsa Gen'l no such way as dat.
No, sir. Ham, you jes' got to go wid de Gen'l; dat's what you do, so you needn't be tucken sick jes' for to skeer me, kase I know you, Ham. You no get kill. No, sah, no danger; so you jes' go, dats what you do.'
"'Well, Marfa, jes' as you say. If you say Ham go, he goes, dats all; but de good Laud love you, Marfa, I's powerful sick, sho'.'
"'No you isn't; you play dat afore. I knows you, Ham; you knows I do.
You jes' stop dis rumatiks and go wid de Gen'l, dat's what you do. When did you get sick? I not hear it afore. You not sick. Let me see you walk.'
"Old Ham hobbled off and Martha laughed at him. This nettled the old man and he straightened up and said: 'Well, I guess I's not bery bad, but I's not well, all de same.'
"I came up to them, and nothing more was said.
"I told Ham to go out to the farm and ask Joseph Dent to come into my house in the morning. His sickness all left him and he did the errand.
The next morning Dent came in with Ham and we interrogated him on the question of his friends and what they were doing. He said that two days prior to this they had a meeting and were notified that they must change their name to the 'Sons of Liberty'; that the object of their organization was becoming too well known, and that they could not operate any longer under their old name. This was being done all over the country and in Canada. He also stated that Thos. A. Stridor had ordered them to send delegates to Indianapolis secretly, in order to assist in appointing delegates to go to St. Catharines, in Canada, in a few days, to consult as to the best means to be adopted to aid their friends, as they had met with a great loss. They had lost a ship and a valuable cargo, as well as their most important men who were to operate in burning cities. This was so true of what had occurred that we no longer had any doubt as to their certain communication one with another, as well as their perfect organization. This was all they did at that time. We excused Dent, and he returned home.
"That evening at tea my wife (Aunt Sarah) said to Jackson and the General that she wished Peter to come home.
"'But,' said Jackson, 'mother, you must remember he has been promoted, and is now a Brigadier-General commanding a brigade, and he cannot very well get away. He might lose his command by leaving.'
"'Well,' said his mother, 'I want to see him. I am dreaming about him whenever asleep, and I feel there is something sure to happen to him. I have seen all the rest of you who are alive, and I want to see him.'
"Here Jennie broke down and cried, remembering the death of her poor husband when mention was made of all being present who were then alive.
Jackson spoke to Jennie and his mother and quieted them. We all repaired to the sitting-room and talked over Gen. Anderson's returning to his command. This was Saturday evening. So he instructed Capt. Jackson and Lieut. Whitcomb to be ready on Monday morning, as they would then leave for Chatteraugus. They were well pleased with the General's determination. His poor wife was depressed, and said she felt as though he had made so many narrow escapes that perhaps he might not escape again. But grief and sorrow had been such constant visitors at our house that we were all prepared for almost anything, and always looking for the worst. We enjoyed ourselves, however, as best we could until Monday.
Jackson took in the situation, and kept us interested by giving accounts of many things seen and heard by him in England. This was very interesting to us, but more especially to the ladies and little girls.
"On Monday they left for their command. The parting with the family was one of those affecting scenes natural under the circumstances. When poor old Ham bade good-by to all, after kissing Aunt Martha, his wife, he turned to my wife and Mary Anderson, and said: 'You need not to cry no mo.' I be 'sponsible for de General and Capt. Jackson.'
"This was too much for Mary Anderson. Although weeping, she could not restrain a smile, nor could the others; but Ham was in good faith, poor old man.
"After they had gone I felt keenly, and drove out to the farm, and there spent the rest of the day with Joseph Dent. He, however, knew nothing more than he had disclosed to us, about which I have already spoken. On returning in the evening I found all the family very lonely and solemn.
They felt the loss of that portion of our family who were compelled to leave. Our little children climbed upon my knees and talked and chattered about their Uncle Henry and Aunty Seraine, as well as the General and Jackson, but 'Aunty Seraine' seemed to be the favorite.
I did the best I could to gratify them by trying to answer their questions. Some two weeks had passed in this way when one morning I was notified to meet Seraine at the depot. I did so and brought her to the house. When the very hearty and affectionate greetings were over, and the two poor little girls had gotten through climbing on Seraine and asking her questions, which she did the best she could to answer, she gave me a paper which was Henry's report, accompanied by a good letter from him, stating that he would come soon himself. This was not signed.
"I carefully examined his report, and was almost dumfounded at some of his statements; but he had gone into such minute details and given such indubitable proofs that no one could for a moment doubt. Henry said that on his arrival again at Windsor he met Wintergreen, and after preliminaries were arranged they traveled about the country from one town to another, until the time had arrived for the assembling of the prominent friends of the rebellion at St. Catharines in accordance with Jacob Thomlinson's request. They started for that place, and on arriving stopped at the Victoria Hotel, where they met a great number of persons, strangers to both, but well known in the Circle. Henry, on recovering from his prison starving and sickness, had grown quite stout, and was so different in his appearance from what he had ever been prior to his recovery that his own acquaintances would not have recognized him, therefore he did not feel that he was in any danger of being detected.
He had heretofore claimed to Wintergreen that he was from Parkersburg, W. Va., and having been raised near there in Ohio could speak quite understandingly of the country thereabouts, as well as about a number of people.
"On Wednesday, being the day fixed, quite a number of men from different parts of the country assembled. Quite a large room in the rear of the Victoria Hotel had been procured, in which the gentlemen were to meet, and Wintergreen, having been designated by Jacob Thomlinson for that purpose, notified the various delegates of the time and place of meeting. When all were assembled each one was required to give the signs, grips and passwords of the Golden Circle, or the 'Sons of Liberty,' as the name had been changed within a few days from the Knights of the Golden Circle to the Sons of Liberty. Henry did not find the slightest difficulty in being recognized, as he had perfected himself in all the signs, grips and passwords of the order in his travels with Wintergreen.
"After Jacob Thomlinson, Mr. Carey and their committee were satisfied as to those present, they were called to order and seated in as regular a manner as would have been done in any deliberative body, by Mr.
Valamburg, of Ohio, who, in taking the chair, said that as Grand Commander of all the Sons of Liberty in the United States, Canada and the Southern Confederacy he desired to occupy the time of the delegates for a few moments, in order that he might explain the object for which they had met. The assembling at that place, he said, was in order to be without the jurisdiction of the United States; that while together and out of the way of danger they were to deliberate in reference to matters that were best calculated to effectively aid the Southern people, who were struggling for an independent constitutional government; that the Government of the United States had become intolerable in its oppressions and tyranny. He made a long speech, presenting a list of abuses by our Government against the Southern people, and urged the necessity for aid to the South at once, in some way that would be most potent. When he took his seat he was loudly applauded by all his hearers. In this meeting were B. Wudd and McMasterson from New York, Mr.
Woodsen and Mr. Moore from Pennsylvania, Valamburg and Massey from Ohio, Dan Bowen and Dorsey (who was a substitute for Thos. A. Strider) from Indiana, N. Judy Cornington and a Mr. Eagle from Illinois (both from Chicago). Other States were represented--Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa, Wisconsin, Maine and Massachusetts; but Henry did not give the names of the delegates from those States.
"Many propositions were discussed. Jacob Thomlinson gave the full details of what Prof. McCullough and Dr. Mears were preparing to do; their loss by the burning of the Will-o'-the Wisp; also, Dr. Blackman's proposition and the loss of his goods, and he now wanted to see what could be devised as substitutes. All of the representatives present seemed to deeply deplore the loss to the Confederacy of the secret only known to the men who went down with the Will-o'-the Wisp.