The Strange Story of Harper's Ferry Part 6

In 1862 Mr. Daniel J. Young, formerly master machinist at the rifle factory, was sent from Washington City to take charge of the ordnance at Harper's Ferry, as also, of all the government property at that place.

He was the same who, on the morning of the Brown Raid, ventured to remonstrate with and warn the invaders. We have already given an account of his services to the government and his promotion to the rank of captain in the regular army, and how he was retained at Harper's Ferry from the time of his appointment in 1862 until the end of the war, and still farther, until 1869, when the government interests at the place were disposed of at public sale. In the meantime, he was made defendant in a suit against the government for possession of the most important part of the armory grounds--the plaintiff being Mr. Jacob Brown, of Charlestown, West Virginia, who had a long-standing claim for said property, arising from alleged irregularities in the original purchase.

The case was decided in Parkersburg, West Virginia, in August, 1869, Chief Justice Chase presiding at the trial. The verdict was in favor of Captain Young and the government. Some years before Mr. Brown had another suit with the government for another piece of property. This first trial took place in the United States Courts, at Staunton, Virginia, and the result was adverse to Mr. Brown's claim.

During the winter of 1868-69 a bill was introduced into Congress and pa.s.sed, providing for the sale of the government property at Harper's Ferry. On the 30th of November and the 1st of December, 1869, therefore, it was put up at public auction, and the armory grounds and the site of the rifle factory were purchased by Captain F. C. Adams, of Washington, D. C., for the sum of two hundred and six thousand dollars, with one and two years time for the payment. Most of the houses and lots belonging to the government in other parts of the town were disposed of to citizens on terms similar as to time, and very high prices were offered.

Captain Adams represented, as he said, some northern capitalists, and great hopes were entertained for the revival of manufactures at the place and the renewal of the old-time prosperity.

Notwithstanding the great depression of the times--since the war--as far, at least, as Harper's Ferry is concerned--a good deal of enterprise has been exhibited by many of the old citizens of the place. In July, 1867, Mr. A. H. Herr, an extensive manufacturer and the owner of the Island of Virginius, of whom mention has been made in this book several times heretofore, sold his interest at Harper's Ferry to the firm of Child & McCreight, of Springfield, Ohio,--both now deceased. This property is romantically situated on the Shenandoah which bounds it on the south. On the north and east it is bounded by the ca.n.a.l, constructed to facilitate the navigation of the Shenandoah, and on the west by a waste way of the ca.n.a.l communicating with the river. The island contains thirteen acres on which were, before the war, twenty-eight neat dwellings, one flour mill, one cotton factory, one carriage factory, one saw mill, a machine shop and a foundry. It will be remembered that in 1861, shortly after the skirmish at Bolivar, a party of confederates visited the town and destroyed the flour mill. From that time there was no business conducted on the island until the sale of that property to the above mentioned firm. These gentlemen, having availed themselves of the talents of Mr. William F. Cochran, then so well known for his thorough knowledge--theoretical and practical--of machinery, immediately commenced fitting up the cotton factory for a flour mill. A large force of men was kept in employment for fifteen months, preparing the building and putting up the machinery, under the direction of Mr. Cochran. The works were of the most approved description, set in motion by four turbine wheels, the power being that of three hundred horses. There were ten run of buhrs, which turned out five hundred barrels of flour daily and, in the whole, it was said by adepts in that business, to be a marvel of ingenuity, which greatly added to the previous and well-established fame of Mr. Cochran. That gentleman, after varied fortunes and many vicissitudes, lost his life in a railroad accident in Michigan, in January, 1889. He was a native of Scotland and he served some years in the British navy. Messrs. Child & McCreight, the new proprietors of this desirable property, soon won for themselves golden opinions among the people of the place for their courteous demeanor, and the success which at first attended them, gave unalloyed pleasure to all with whom they came in contact. They a.s.sociated with them as a partner, Mr. Solomon V. Yantis, an old resident and long a merchant of Harper's Ferry, where his character was of the very best as a business man and a good citizen generally. Of the twenty-eight dwellings on the island nearly all were put in repair and the work performed on them, as well as on the new flour mill, gave employment to many who otherwise must have suffered from extreme dest.i.tution. Many other improvements have been made in the town since the close of the war and the traces of that fearful struggle were gradually disappearing when the calamity of the great flood of 1870 befell the place and, not only r.e.t.a.r.ded its recovery, but left a part of it in far worse condition than it was at any time in its history. The Presbyterian church had been put, during the rebellion, to the most ign.o.ble uses, the upper part being used for a guard house and the bas.e.m.e.nt for a horse stable. The venerable Dr.

Dutton, a gentleman of great piety and deserved popularity, took charge of the congregation soon after war, and by great exertions succeeded in restoring the building to its pristine, neat appearance. Dr. Dutton died some years ago and his death was a severe loss, not only to his own flock, but to the general society of the town and neighborhood.

The Catholic church, also, was repaired through the energy of the Reverend J. J. Kain, a young priest of great promise, who has since risen to the dignity of Archbishop. He established a school, or rather revived one organized in 1854, but, of course, broken up by the war.

This school, under several teachers, was singularly successful, and many men now eminent in various professions confess their great obligations to this remote and humble seat of learning. Through the exertions of Father Kain, a fine bell was purchased and suspended in the church steeple and at morning, noon and vesper hour, its musical notes sound with a sweet solemnity through the romantic glens of the Blue Ridge, admonishing all who hear them to pause and worship the great architect of the stupendous scenery around them. It may be remarked that, of all the churches in Harper's Ferry proper, this one alone escaped destruction or desecration during the war--an exemption due to the courage of the late Reverend Dr. Costello, who was at the time pastor and who, alone, of all the ministers of the place, remained to defend church property. It was said that on one occasion it was proposed by some union soldiers of intolerant opinions to burn down this building, but that the project was abandoned on account of the proximity of some regiments with views friendly to that church who, it was believed, would resent any injury or indignity done to it. It may be that there never was any intention of attacking it, and that the rumor originated from the unmeaning threats of some drunken brawler. Anyway, there never was the least injury done to it by either party, except that its roof and walls were indented in many places by stray bullets. As before stated, this church has been torn down and a new one erected on its site. The Methodist Episcopal denomination at the place lost their church in Harper's Ferry proper, and there is not a single trace of it remaining, but as there was another church belonging to the same denomination in Bolivar which had escaped destruction in the war, did not deem it necessary to rebuild at Harper's Ferry. The two congregations have united to worship at the Bolivar church.

The Lutheran church at the place was used for hospital purposes in the war. At the restoration of peace the building was renovated and it now presents a very neat appearance.

About the time of the termination of the civil war a gentleman named Storer, residing in some part of New England, made a bequest of a large sum of money for the endowment of a college for the education of the freedmen. Harper's Ferry was chosen as the site and a charter was obtained from the legislature of the new state of West Virginia for it, under the t.i.tle of "Storer College." The board of trustees appointed by the testator were all of the Free-will Baptist persuasion in compliment to the marked dislike manifested to slavery by that communion before and in the course of the war. The Reverend N. C. Brackett, a minister of that denomination was sent to take charge of the inst.i.tution, and the success which he has met in conducting the difficult duties of his office, fully justifies the choice. The farm of Mr. William Smallwood in Bolivar was purchased by the board for the location of the college, but, the government having donated to the inst.i.tution four large houses on Camp Hill with lots attached, one of those buildings--the superintendent's house--with a large frame structure erected soon after, is used for college exercises. The princ.i.p.al, Mr. Brackett, is an accomplished scholar, a gentleman in every sense and a practical Christian. He is, moreover, a man of great firmness and this, coupled with his suavity and well known integrity, insured a triumph over the prejudice against the school, which it cannot be denied, existed and still exists through the neighborhood.

Messrs. Matthew Quinn and J. M. Decaulne--both now long deceased--Daniel Ames, who died recently, and James Conway erected four fine houses after the war--the last named after the government sale. The lower floors of these buildings are occupied as store rooms and the upper as dwellings.

Mr. Murtha Walsh, who, too, is now dead, erected a similar house on the site of the old and well known Doran store and, later, a fine dwelling and store adjoining Mr. Conway's house. A frame building put up about the close of the war, adjoining the old Doran property, supplied for many years the place of Fouke's hotel, destroyed by federal troops in 1862. The building last mentioned was pulled down a few years ago to make way for a railway depot not, however, before the erection of a new hotel near the opposite corner by Mr. George W. Greene, who soon after sold out to the Conner Brothers, from whom it now takes its name of "Hotel Conner." Mr. Theodore Conner now conducts it. Messrs. Thomas N.

Beal, James McGraw, John Fitzpatrick, George Breedy, Edward Colgate, William Luke and many others have built new houses or renovated old ones. The author of these pages, too, has contrived to sc.r.a.pe together enough to invest in a new cottage, and he will say for his house that, if it has no other merit, it commands a view unsurpa.s.sed anywhere for beauty or sublimity. Tourists who admire its situation have christened it "Sunset Cottage" on account of the magnificent spectacle to be seen from it, when the Day G.o.d descends to rest, but the owner, while fully appreciating the poetic name which enthusiastic travelers have given to his modest home, prefers in the interest of truth, as well as of poetry, to name it "Moonshine Cottage," and the reasons are as follows: Heretofore, he has recommended to his readers who may be desirous to get the best view of Harper's Ferry, to choose a moonlight night and the cemetery, for the time and place to enjoy the sight. Like Melrose Abbey, it does better in "the pale moonbeams" than in the garish light of day, and, next to the cemetery, the author's new cottage is the best standpoint from which to survey the moonlit scenery of the place. Again, the house itself, though substantial enough, may be said, in one sense at least, to be composed of moonshine, when the methods whereby the owner acquired the means to erect it are considered. His youth and early manhood were spent in hard toil, much to the benefit of his fellow men, but not a bit to his own. At the age of nearly half a century he found himself as poor as when he began life, although, as before said, his labors had helped materially to enrich others. At length he made the discovery, which he ought to have made thirty years before, that mankind love nothing so well as being humbugged, and the happy thought struck him that a history of Harper's Ferry would tickle the fancy of the traveling public and, sure enough, the idea proved to be an inspiration.

This is the third edition of a nonsensical rigmarole that has no merit in the world, except absolute truth, which is something in its favor, and the happy result that its author, from the proceeds of the sale, was enabled to build "Sunset" or "Moonshine Cottage"--call it as you will--for either name is logical and appropriate enough.

From the foregoing pages it will be seen that Nature has done much for Harper's Ferry and that industry and art improved its natural advantages, until the frenzy of war was permitted to mar the beneficent designs of Providence, and the labors of three-quarters of a century. It will soon appear as if Heaven, in its anger at the folly and ingrat.i.tude of man, had marked the place for total destruction when, in addition to the ravages of war, the power of the elements was invoked to overwhelm the town, as will be seen in the following account of the great flood of 1870:

In closing the eventful history of Harper's Ferry we must not omit the greatest, perhaps, of the series of calamities which, commencing on the day of John Brown's raid, culminated in the destruction of the most flourishing part of the town by a great flood in the Shenandoah on Friday, September 30th, and Sat.u.r.day, October 1st, 1870. On the Tuesday before the inundation it rained heavily at intervals, as also, on Wednesday, Thursday and the morning of Friday. No extraordinary rise of either river was antic.i.p.ated, however, as from the long drought of the previous months, the streams were greatly reduced and the most that was antic.i.p.ated was a moderate increase in the volume of water, such as is usual in equinoctial storms. On Friday morning, however, many persons noticed the rapidity with which the Shenandoah rose, and something in the fierce dash of its tawny waves against the rocks near its mouth attracted unusual attention. All that day this river rose very fast, and about 4 o'clock, p.m., its banks were crowded with people watching the furious rush of the water and the drift which, in great quant.i.ties and of a miscellaneous character, was tossed on its angry waves. About this time a vague rumor was circulated that a telegraphic dispatch had arrived from Front Royal, about fifty miles farther up the Shenandoah--on the south fork--stating that a water spout had burst on the Blue Ridge at a point still farther up the valley, that a deluge was pouring down and that the people of Harper's Ferry, especially, were in imminent peril. While people were yet speculating on the probability of the truth of this report and, before the lapse of half an hour from the time of the arrival of the dispatch, several citizens came rushing from the Island of Virginius, who stated that they had had just time enough to escape to the main land before bridges connecting it with the island were swept away, and that many people were left behind whose houses were already partially submerged. Even then, few people in the lower part of the town could realize this state of affairs, but before many minutes a column of water rushed along the streets and around the houses, which immediately convinced everyone that saw it of the dreadful truth. Of this body of water marvelous accounts are given. It is said that it rose at the rate of six feet in four minutes and, although it is probable that the terrors of the people exaggerated the swell of the waters, the fact that this extraordinary tale was readily believed will give an idea of the reality. Up to 8 o'clock, p.m., however, it was hoped that all who had not escaped from their houses on Virginius and Overton's islands and on Shenandoah street would be safe, and that the inconvenience of being separated from their friends for a few hours and that of cleaning up for some days after, would be the extent of the damage. Between 8 and 9 o'clock, however, the water had risen to such a height as to cause serious apprehension for the safety of the families so cut off, and the extraordinary rapidity and fury of the river made it impossible for their more fortunate friends to render them the smallest a.s.sistance.

About this time an excited crowd had gathered at the foot of Union street, watching with intense anxiety for the fate of some families on Overton's island, directly opposite, and about sixty yards distant.

Between them and the island rushed an impetuous torrent to attempt to cross which, in a boat, would be madness and the distance was too great to allow a rope of sufficient strength to be thrown to the a.s.sistance of the helpless people. The scene was truly terrible. The screams of men, women and children in imminent peril of drowning or being crushed by falling houses, and the sympathetic cries and sobs of the pitying spectators were partially lost in the thunders of the furious tide and the spectral light of a young moon wading through heavy ma.s.ses of cloud gave a weird coloring to the fearful picture, which added greatly to its horrors. Five families resided on this island. One house, a large brick building, was rented and occupied by Mr. Sidney Murphy. A small frame tenement was occupied by the widow Overton, her daughter, the widow Mills--and a young child of the latter. Samuel Hoff and his wife lived in a third house, James Shipe and his wife in a fourth and Jerry Harris, a very worthy old colored man, with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren, in a fifth. Mr. Murphy and his family, as well as Mrs.

Hoff, had fortunately taken alarm at an early hour in the evening and escaped a few minutes before the destruction of the footbridge on which they had pa.s.sed over. This being light and not firmly secured to the bank on either side, was soon swept away by the rising waters. The other residents, thinking, no doubt, that, as their houses had stood many a.s.saults from the river in former floods, they might venture to remain, unhappily concluded to take chances. About 9 o'clock a crash from a falling house was heard and piteous appeals from a drowning man for aid rose above the noise of the waters and were conveyed to the ears of the spectators on the main land. It appeared as if he had been washed from the falling house and had drifted to a tree some yards below, to which he was clinging with the proverbial tenacity of a drowning man's grip.

This was supposed to be Samuel Hoff. James Shipe, who escaped almost miraculously, afterwards explained the situation, and the surmises of the people proved to be correct, as it was Hoff who, carried from his own door by the current, grasped a small tree and appealed for a.s.sistance. Of course, no aid could be given to him, and the poor fellow's voice was soon hushed in death. Shipe said that his own house was the first to give way and that before its collapse he stripped and prepared for swimming. He then put an arm 'round his wife and as the house fell in he jumped with her into the river. Opposite to his house was a water station of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company, and as this was the most substantial building near him, he swam towards it and endeavored to clutch the wall with one hand while the other was supporting his wife. Several times he caught some projection of the building, but as often was beaten off by the powerful waves that surged around it. At length, his wife requested of him to let her go and to save himself, saying that she was prepared to die, but that he was not.

He would not consent, but a large and furious wave soon decided the loving controversy by lifting them up and dashing them against something, thereby loosening his hold on her, when she immediately sank and disappeared forever from his view. A covered bridge of the railroad which had been washed away a few minutes before and had lodged on some obstruction, now presented itself to him and held out some hope of safety. He was drifting rapidly and although the water was cold, he had not much difficulty in reaching the bridge. When he gained it, however, he found the water so rapid that it was impossible for him to retain any hold on the sides. He tried to get on top of the roof, but he was caught in the current which rushed through the bridge and which he was unable to resist. Onward, he was hurried and in his pa.s.sage he was dreadfully lacerated by nails and salient angles of the timbers, besides being stunned and confused to such a degree that he could not get a hold on the wreck, but drifted below it. Of course, there was no hope of returning against the tide, and he swam for the lower island. Here he succeeded in clutching a tree that grew near the house of a man named Hood. He succeeded in climbing into the forks of the tree and, for the first time since his immersion, a strong ray of hope was presented to him. The house was not many feet from the tree and he succeeded in jumping to a window. He found no one in the house, the family having abandoned it early in the evening. The water had reached the second story and the house was tottering. Fearing that he would be crushed by the falling building he returned to the tree just as the house gave way and fell into the seething flood. He then swam to another house in which he found a pair of pantaloons--the only article of clothing he had to protect him from the cold, which he now felt benumbing. He was rescued late on Sat.u.r.day evening, when the water had partially subsided, and it will be readily believed that by this time his condition was pitiable.

This is his account and, certainly, at least, a =part= of it is true, as his story is corroborated in many particulars by the testimony of others who saw him at various stages of his strange adventure. After the disappearance of Hoff great excitement was noticed in the houses of Mrs.

Overton and Mr. Murphy, into the latter of which it appears that Jerry Harris and his family had rushed from their own as to a place of greater safety. Lights were seen carried rapidly from place to place at Mrs.

Overton's, and, from Mr. Murphy's the sound of Harris' voice was heard apparently in earnest appeal to Heaven for a.s.sistance. A light was seen for an instant on Mrs. Overton's porch, and, but for an instant, when it disappeared and the porch was seen to drift with the current. It is supposed that either Mrs. Overton or Mrs. Mills had taken the light to see how the water stood around the house, and that just as she stepped on the porch it was torn loose and she was overturned into the water.

Thus was the sudden disappearance of the light accounted for by the spectators. In a minute or two the building was heard to fall with a crash and none of the occupants was seen again or, if the bodies were found, it was by strangers on the lower Potomac, who knew not whose remains they were. In a short time Murphy's house also disappeared and with it Harris and his family, making a total of ten deaths in this one group of buildings.

In the meantime, the greatest consternation prevailed in the lower part of the town. Many families that had remained in their houses on Shenandoah street, expecting every moment the flood to attain its greatest height and then subside as suddenly as it had risen, finding that it increased with great rapidity and persistency, made efforts to escape about 7 o'clock, p.m. A family named Kane living between the Winchester and Potomac railroad and the Shenandoah river were rescued with great difficulty by pa.s.sing a basket to them on a rope thrown across the abyss and transporting them, one by one, to dry land in this novel aerial carriage. Charles King, at one time proprietor of the Shenandoah House, a man of great physical strength and activity as well as courage, directed the operations of the rescuing party and, in several other instances, rendered valuable a.s.sistance in saving life and property. The Widow Furtney and family, living at the upper end of Shenandoah street, were rescued in the same manner as were the Kanes, and, in the latter case, the Reverend Daniel Ames, another citizen, exhibited a great deal of courage and tact.

Mr. William B. Fitzpatrick, supervisor of track on the Winchester and Potomac railroad, while attending to his duties some hours before, near Strasburg, Virginia, learned that the river was swelling to an unusual height and, fearing for the safety of his family at Harper's Ferry, he hastened home on his engine and had just crossed the bridges on the islands when they were swept away. As the engine proceeded along the trestling through Harper's Ferry, the track swayed in such a manner that it was with the utmost difficulty the engineer could direct his course and, just as they left the trestling and landed on terra firma at the market house, the uprights that supported the track above the solid ground gave way before the force of the waters, and at the same time, the houses from which the Kane and Furtney families had been saved, as well as others from which the inmates had fled or had been rescued, fell with a horrible crash, and so completely were they demolished that in some cases there was a doubt afterwards as to their exact site, the very foundations having disappeared. Mr. Fitzpatrick found it impossible to reach his family, but having climbed the hill on which the Catholic church is built and descended it on the other side to the water's edge, he stood opposite his house and called to his wife inquiring how it fared with her and their children. She replied that the house was giving way--that the walls were cracking and that she expected to be swept away at any moment, but at the same time she appeared to be more concerned for the safety of her aged and feeble mother, who was at the time lying sick in bed in the house, than for her own. Mr. Fitzpatrick, who was a man of the most acute sensibility, and who was thoroughly devoted to his family, became completely frantic, offering all that he possessed to any one who would venture to help him across the raging torrent to their aid. The utmost sympathy was felt for him, but nothing could be done to a.s.sist him in a rescue. The poor fellow sat all night on a rock opposite his house and, between the paroxysms of his grief, sent words of encouragement across to his dear ones. The behavior of Mrs. Fitzpatrick under the circ.u.mstances was very remarkable. She evidenced the most extraordinary coolness and courage and was heard to express her willingness to abide by the decrees of Providence, manifesting a composure in the face of death, which could arise only from a consciousness of her having lived a good life and from a well founded hope of happiness hereafter.

Interminable appeared that autumn night to the anxious watchers in the town and few, even of those who had nothing at stake, thought of sleep.

At length the dawn appeared and, from marks left by the water it was seen that the river had fallen a few inches. Joyful news this was to all, but people of experience in such matters were far from being relieved from all anxiety, as it is well known that the turn of a flood is the most critical time for a building that has been exposed to the action of the current. As soon as it was clear daylight the attention of many people was directed to the house of Mr. Samuel Williams--the same gentleman that was taken prisoner by John Brown's men at the rifle factory--situated on the very bank of the river, near the ferry crossing to Loudoun, in which it was known that not only the Williams family but those of Messrs. John Greaves and James Anderson were imprisoned. The last two resided in small buildings near the house of Mrs. Williams and they and their families had barely time to escape to his more substantial residence, when their own houses were swept away. As soon as there was light enough the endangered people were seen crowding to the windows and gesticulating wildly, but their voices were lost in the roar of the rushing waters and the reason for their great excitement at this particular time was not fully understood until they were rescued in the afternoon, as will be narrated hereafter. At that moment nearly the whole side of the house fronting the river fell in, and very naturally caused the hapless prisoners to give up all hope. Of course, nothing could be done for them then, as the water had fallen but a few inches, and, as the other people in the town were not aware of the catastrophe to the river side of the house, there was not as much anxiety felt for them as their situation really demanded. Besides, two trees that grew near the end of the house, looking up stream, had gathered a vast pile of drift, and the sleepers and other timbers of the railroad that had been wrecked on the previous evening, still connected by the rails, had swung about and surrounded the house, collecting a great deal of miscellaneous rubbish which broke the force of the current and materially protected the building. Still great uneasiness was felt and hundreds of eyes eagerly watched the watermark, but for many hours there was but little fall and, indeed, it was 4 o'clock, p.m., on Sat.u.r.day before there was any marked diminution in the volume of water.

About 10 o'clock, a.m., on Sat.u.r.day, the crowd of spectators that covered the hill near Jefferson's Rock, heard a crash on Virginius Island and soon it was known that the noise was caused by the falling in of a portion of the building occupied by Mr. John Wernwag as a dwelling and a machine shop. Mr. Wernwag was the same that has been noticed in this book as a man of great mechanical genius, but very retiring habits.

He resided alone in this house and, surrounded by strange tools and devices of his own planning and construction, and entirely devoted to those creatures of his brain and hand, he lived in a world of his own, voluntarily cut off from a.s.sociation with his kind. In a few minutes the sound was repeated, when the remainder of the building crumbled and fell into the tide. The roof floated down the stream, but at first nothing was seen of Mr. Wernwag himself. Many a loud and earnest prayer was sent to Heaven from the throng of spectators for the soul of the poor recluse and the hoa.r.s.e murmur of many voices in supplication, mingled with hysterical screams from women and the more sensitive of the other s.e.x, the wild rush of the river and all the awful surrounding presented a combination of horrors happily of rare occurrence. Two large trees grew on the river bank about a hundred yards below the island, and, as the roof floated down the stream, it fortunately dashed against one of them and was broken in two. Through the s.p.a.ce made between the portions of the roof Wernwag's head was seen to emerge from the water and soon the brave old man had succeeded in climbing nimbly to one of the pieces. He had sunk under the roof and would have been suffocated in a few minutes had not the tree broken the incubus that was preventing him from making any exertion to save himself by swimming. As he secured his seat on the fragment he was seen to motion with his hand as if bidding adieu to his life-long friends. It is probable that he merely wiped his brow and put back his dripping hair, but the belief got abroad that he motioned a farewell and the excitement of the people was greatly intensified. Past the town he was hurried by the remorseless flood, until he was lost to sight amid the waves of "the Bull Ring," a rocky ledge that runs across the Potomac a little below the mouth of the Shenandoah. Over this barrier in time of high water, the waves of the united rivers plunge with a fury equalled only by the ocean tides bursting on an iron-bound coast, and the most sanguine of those who took heart on seeing Mr.

Wernwag emerge from under the incubus and climb to the fragment of roof, now gave up all hope of him, but in an hour or two a report reached Harper's Ferry that he had been rescued at Berlin--now Brunswick--about six miles below. After a little more time the news was confirmed, qualified, however, by the intelligence that he was likely to die from the effects of the exposure. Shortly after, another rumor was spread that he had died, but, about 8 o'clock, p.m., the old hero made his appearance in the flesh, having been rescued, sure enough, and having revived from a fainting fit into which he had dropped on being landed from his perilous voyage. He had waited at Berlin for the pa.s.senger train due at Harper's Ferry at the above hour, and having taken pa.s.sage on it he was restored to his anxious friends. He was received with the greatest enthusiasm and conveyed by an exultant crowd to the residence of his niece, Mrs. Julia Johnson. It was the seventy-sixth anniversary of Mr. Wernwag's birthday and, taking into account his age, as well as the circ.u.mstances of the adventure itself, it is one of the most extraordinary instances on record of providential preservation from what appeared to be inevitable destruction.

Soon after Mr. Wernwag's hasty pa.s.sage down the river, a ludicrous mistake was near causing trouble between some of his friends. At that time there lived at Harper's Ferry two men of hasty tempers, but of generous impulses--one an Englishman and the other an Irishman. They were inseparable companions and proverbial for their attachment to one another. Both were great admirers of Mr. Wernwag and with moist eyes they both stood close together on the river bank, when their old friend was swept off to his death, as all supposed. Mr. Wernwag had an only son who was named Edward. The young man happened to be away from the place at the time, which was a great aggravation of the calamity supposed to have been consummated. The boy's acquaintances used to call him "Wernwag's Ed." and this familiar appellation was the cause of a misunderstanding, which was near ending in a fist-fight, between the friends referred to. About the time when the old man reached the "Bull Ring" the Englishman turned to his Irish friend and asked him where he thought Wernwag's Hed could be found--of course meaning the boy. As usual with his countrymen, he used the aspirate "=H=" before the vowel.

The Irishman understanding the inquiry to refer to the poor old gentleman's cranium, and thinking that the question savored of untimely levity, replied that he supposed it would be found with the rest of the body, and he added some comments to show his opinion of his friend's heartlessness. The Briton feeling innocent of any wrong, and being a man of pluck, put in a sharp rejoinder which was met by another from the peppery Irishman. The quarrel was intensified by the laughter of the by-standers who took in the situation accurately. The interference of friends alone prevented a set-to and the belligerents were alienated from one another for many weeks after. The matter dropped when the mistake was explained and they became fully reconciled.

About 4 o'clock, p.m., on Sat.u.r.day, Mr. Williams and his fellow prisoners were rescued by the same process that was used in saving the Kane and Furtney families. Great difficulty was experienced in pa.s.sing to them a rope, as the distance was very great from the house of Mr.

Matthew Quinn, but through the ingenuity of a Mr. Crosby, of Ashtabula county, Ohio, who was temporarily residing at the place, constructing agricultural machines, a rope was cast after many trials to Williams'

house and the inmates were taken out, one by one, in a basket. Charles King, before mentioned, was very active on this occasion, as was also the Reverend Daniel Ames, who on the previous evening had distinguished himself in rescuing the Furtney family. Mr. Ames ventured across in the basket on its first trip to Williams' house, remained there encouraging the women and children and securing the pa.s.sengers with ropes in their frail and unsteady carriage, and was the last to leave the tottering building. When he arrived back he was received with rounds of applause from the spectators, and the surrounding hills echoed with the cheers sent up for his brave and self-sacrificing man. Mr. Ames was a man of very mild and una.s.suming manners and the great courage manifested by him on this terrible occasion was a matter of surprise to many who regarded bl.u.s.ter as the only indication of bravery. Too much credit cannot be given to him or Mr. King for their conduct at this time. They were both New Englanders who came to reside at Harper's Ferry during the war, where their upright and courteous behavior had gained for them many friends long before this trying period, and where their heroic courage on this occasion covered them with glory. Mr. Ames, as before stated, is now dead, but Mr. King moved to New Haven, Connecticut, many years ago and his subsequent career is unknown to us.

Mrs. Fitzpatrick and family were rescued on Sat.u.r.day about 9 o'clock, a.m., by some young men who floated to their house on pieces of drift and succeeded in bridging the gulf between the Fitzpatrick house and that of Mr. Matthew Quinn. They did so by stopping and securing in some way floating fragments of timber--enough to allow of walking from the one house to the other.

Early on Sat.u.r.day morning a colored woman was found clinging to a tree near the site of her house on Shenandoah street. She hung by the hands to the tree, the water being too deep to allow her to touch bottom. Back and forward she swayed with the current that eddied round the ruins of her house, but she held on with a death grip. A youth named William Gallaher went in a skiff to her rescue and, with the utmost difficulty, succeeded in saving her life. At that time there was no injunction on the name of Gallaher to "let her go," and, if there had been ten thousand orders to that effect, Will was not the boy to obey any command that militated against humanity. He was one of the author's pupils in school, when the writer wielded the birch and this notice of the gallant boy is given with a great deal of pleasure by his old taskmaster. Mr.

Gallaher died lately in c.u.mberland, Maryland. The woman told an almost incredible tale; that she had thus hung on all night; that her cabin had been washed away about 8 o'clock, p.m., and that her daughter had been drowned, but that she had caught the tree and had retained her hold till morning. It is probable that at first she got into the forks of the tree and there remained 'till within a short time of her discovery, when she fell into the water from exhaustion but, yet, retaining the instinct of self-preservation, had clutched the tree and held on with the grip of a drowning person until she was rescued.

Messrs. Child, McCreight and Hathaway, of the mill firm, as well as many others living on the island of Virginius, had not yet been heard from, when Mr. Williams and his companions were saved. These gentlemen and the Reverend Dr. Dutton of the Presbyterian congregation who, also, resided on that island, were among the very best and most respected citizens of the place. Their houses could be seen yet standing, but, as the island was entirely submerged, it was plain that each family was isolated and that no communication could easily be held from one to another in case of special emergency, and it was feared that some casualties might have occurred which, as in the case of the river front of Mr. Williams'

house, could not be perceived from the sh.o.r.e. Each family had its own adventures and experiences to relate afterwards. All the houses on the island, except that occupied by Mr. Child, were badly injured and the lives of the inmates hung by a hair. The Reverend Dr. Dutton was severely wounded by a brick that fell on his head from a part.i.tion in his house which tumbled down suddenly while he was standing near it. He was stunned and for a while rendered entirely helpless and unconscious.

He and his wife lived alone and, as there was no one to render her a.s.sistance, Mrs. Dutton, as soon as her husband had partially recovered, contrived to communicate with a neighbor who threw her a rope by means of which, strongly bound by her delicate hands around her husband, he was dragged through the water across to the neighbor's house, where his wound was dressed and his wants supplied. The venerable sufferer lay for a long time sick from the effects of his injuries and the excitement and exposure of the occasion. He recovered, however, and for some years after continued to serve his divine Master with his accustomed zeal and devotion. He with Messrs. Child, McCreight and Williams is now dead, and the survivors of their families are scattered far and wide. Soon after the flood Mr. Hathaway, connected with the firm of Child and McCreight and also a resident of the island, returned to his old home in Ohio.

About 7 o'clock on Sat.u.r.day evening the water had subsided enough to allow communication by boat with the island of Virginius, and Harper's Ferry was left to present an indescribable appearance of ruin, desolation and filth. The very streets were in many places ploughed up, as it were, and chasms many feet in depth were made in the road bed.

Every house on the south side of the street, from the market house to the Island of Virginius was either entirely destroyed or badly injured, except that of Mr. Matthew Quinn, which was saved by the accident of the falling of some heavily laden house-cars with the railroad trestling, into the street near it and their lodging against it, which broke and diverted the force of the current. Some seventy houses in all were either entirely demolished or rendered uninhabitable and, as before stated, in many instances, the very foundations were obliterated. All imaginable floating things were represented in the huge piles of debris heaped up at corners or wherever the torrent met a check. Trees nearly two feet in diameter were to be encountered frequently, lodged the streets and the vast amount of rails, planks and various kinds of timber gathered up for use, formed a very important item of fuel for the citizens during the severe winter that followed. Sadder than all, some forty-two lives were lost. Three families named Bateman, numbering over twenty souls, disappeared, with a large brick building at Shenandoah City--a suburb--into which they had fled from their own houses for greater protection. Of these families only one body was recovered for interment. The Batemans were humble, hard-working people, supposed to have in their veins the blood of the Indians that in former times possessed the land, tinctured with that of the African, but they were a good deal respected for their industry and un.o.btrusive manners. It has been related before that ten were lost on Overton's Island. Mrs.

Margaret Carrol, widow of Eli Carroll, formerly proprietor of the Wager house--afterwards called Fouke's hotel--and, at one time owner of "Hannah" who saved the author's life at the Brown raid, was drowned at the boarding house of Mrs. Nancy Evans on Virginius Island. She was very old and feeble and, when the family were retreating from the house on Friday evening, they tried to induce her to accompany them, but in vain.

Either not considering the flood dangerous or being from age and infirmities, apathetic about the result, she refused to leave the house and there was no time to be lost in arguing the case with her, as the other inmates had barely a few minutes in which to make their own escape. Soon after the house was swept away and with it, of course, the hapless old lady. Strangely enough, her body was found some weeks afterward about thirty miles down the Potomac, near the mouth of Seneca creek, and within a few paces of the residence of one of her relations.

The corpse was recognized by means of a ring with Mrs. Carrol's name engraved on it which was on one of the fingers, and the remains were forwarded to Harper's Ferry for interment. Several persons were drowned whose names cannot be gathered now, and, indeed, it is probable that the loss of life was much more extensive than is generally supposed, as it is known that the upper islands are always occupied by stragglers and obscure people, of whom little note is taken in the neighborhood, and the chances are that many of such temporary residents were lost of whom no account was given and about whom no questions were asked.

A remarkable occurrence took place in connection with this flood which, though, of course, accidental, was a very strange coincidence. The Reverend N. C. Brackett, county superintendent of free schools, had convened the teachers' a.s.sociation and had secured the services of Professor Kidd, a well known itinerant lecturer on elocution, to give instruction to them on this important branch of education. On Friday evening, before any apprehension was felt from the river, he was holding forth in the public school house, on Shenandoah street. He remarked on the faulty construction of school houses in general through that region as being a serious drawback on the comfort and advancement of pupils, and he turned the attention of his audience to the building in which they were, as being about the worst-planned of any he had seen. Warming with his subject, he expressed a wish that some convulsion of the elements would take place for the special purpose of destroying this house, so that another might be erected on a better plan. This wish, thoughtlessly or playfully uttered, was, strangely enough, gratified that very night. The river rose beyond all usual bounds and before 9 o'clock, not a vestige of the obnoxious school house remained. Professor Kidd, with his own eyes, witnessed the consummation of his desires, but whether Heaven was moved by the Professor's eloquence or the thing would have happened anyway, is a question which the writer will not undertake to decide.

Another strange occurrence used to be related by the late Mr. Edmond H.

Chambers, one of the oldest and most respectable citizens of the place.

Mr. Chambers was a cla.s.s leader in the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mrs. Overton, whose tragic death in the flood has been narrated, was a member of his cla.s.s. On the Sunday before the awful visitation, she attended the cla.s.s meeting and seemed to be excited to a high degree during the exercises. Her unusual demeanor was noticed by all present, and it could not be accounted for, as she was not generally very demonstrative in her devotions. She went 'round among the members of the cla.s.s and shook hands with them all, bidding them farewell and saying that, in all probability, she would never again meet them on this side of the grave. Her words were prophetic for, sure enough, on Friday night of the same week, she pa.s.sed "the bourne from which no traveler returns." Who can tell what message she may have received from that mysterious world towards which we are all traveling--that her weary pilgrimage on earth was nearing its end and that in a few days she would rejoin the loved ones who had gone before her. It is useless for the most practical and so called hard-headed of the world to deny that many such presentments are felt, and that events often prove their correctness. When people of nervous and susceptible natures take up the belief that they are doomed to a speedy demise, it may be said with plausibility, that their imaginations contribute to bring on some disease to fulfill the prophecy, but when the catastrophe occurs through accident or any means that did not or could not before affect the mental or bodily health of the subject, we are bound to confess the probability of some communication between the incarnate spirit and one of clearer vision and superior knowledge. But, patience! We will know more about it some day, perhaps.

On Sunday, October 2nd, a meeting of the citizens was convened to adopt measures for the relief of the sufferers and a subscription list was immediately opened. All the people of the place who could afford to do so, subscribed to the fund and, soon, meetings were held at Charlestown and other places and large contributions of money, food, raiment and fuel poured in from the neighboring country and many cities of other states, so that in a few days provision was made for the support of the dest.i.tute sufferers during the coming winter, and a committee composed of the most prominent of the citizens regulated the distribution of the funds, &c., subscribed by the charitable all over the country. Those whose houses were destroyed or badly injured were kindly entertained by their more fortunate neighbors until arrangements could be made for rebuilding or repairing their own homes, and the sympathy evinced toward those luckless people by their fellow citizens and kind hearted people in other places was creditable to our common humanity. Had not the flood been confined to the Shenandoah and, had the Potomac risen like its tributary, it is possible to imagine the amount of damage that would have been done. The rivers, it is true, would have checked one another and lessened each other's current, but the water would have covered the whole peninsula and that part at least of the beautiful Shenandoah Valley would have been for a time what antiquarians and geologists a.s.sert it formerly was--the bed of a considerable sea.

It may be well to dissipate the gloom which it is probable the reader feels after perusing this chapter of human suffering, and to give cheerful finale to a history more than sufficiently melancholy. It is, therefore, proposed that the author relate a joke on himself in connection with the great flood and tell

"How he was 'sold.'"

If his book will meet with half as successful a "sell" as he met with the writer will be perfectly satisfied. Immediately after the flood there was a great demand among newspaper men for accounts of it from eye witnesses, and the author "spread himself" as the saying is, in the columns of a "daily" in a neighboring city. The main facts given in these pages were narrated and some which the writer afterwards had good reason to believe were apocryphal. There resides in Pleasant Valley, Maryland, a jolly farmer and shrewd business man, whose name it is not necessary to mention. He is much respected for many good qualities of head and heart, and his company is much sought and enjoyed by lovers of fun, for he is always ready to give and take a good joke. Hearing that the author was collecting items for an extensive account of the inundation, our wag determined to contribute his share of experiences, and he related to the writer how, on the Sat.u.r.day of the flood, he had rescued, near his place, from the river, a colored woman who had floated down stream, on the roof of a house, from Page county, Virginia, fully seventy miles. He represented her as being a very large woman, so big, indeed, that it was wonderful that the roof could float and carry her weight. He also mentioned that when rescued she was composedly smoking a short pipe. The historian who, like all men of great genius, is remarkable for a child-like simplicity and an unsuspecting nature, eagerly noted the remarkable voyage and the singular incident of the pipe smoking, and next day the newspapers above referred to whose editor, too, must have been a man of genius, came out with the report--pipe story and all--and not until a skeptical friend of the correspondent, and one who is of an investigating turn of mind, ventured to ask how the woman got fire to light her pipe, did the possibility of his being deceived occur to the writer. In defense of his narrative and of his feelings, the author suggested that she might have had matches on her person, but as the chances were overwhelmingly against the probability of there being any thing dry about her, he was obliged to "confess the corn," as the phrase goes, and admit that he had been duped. It was some consolation, however, to reflect that the shrewd newspaper man had shared the same fate at the hands of the Pleasant Valley Munchausen. The latter further related that the woman was staying at his house, recruiting after her voyage and, this getting abroad, many contributions of money and creature comforts came pouring into his care, for the relief of his protege. There is a town not far from his house, the inhabitants of which were Abolitionists before the war, and are Republicans now. On hearing of the sad condition of the mythical black woman and her miraculous escape, the citizens of that place a.s.sembled in town meeting and subscribed liberally for her benefit. They were however, and are very cautious, prudent people and they determined to send a committee to inquire into the matter before remitting. Our friend was equal to the occasion and, when the committee arrived at his house, he showed them a strapping black woman who had been for many years in his family, and pointed to her as a living witness to the truth of his story. As the committee were not acquainted with domestics, they felt perfectly satisfied and, on their return home, they reported favorably of the affair, and the funds were sent. All he received for the use of the black myth, Munchausen immediately transferred to the Harper's Ferry relief a.s.sociation and the money and the joke contributed to the comfort and merriment of the real sufferers.

On the 25th of November, 1877, there was a big and disastrous flood in the Potomac, caused by heavy rains in the valleys of both branches of that river. There was no corresponding rise in the Shenandoah, however, as the rains did not extend to any great degree to the regions drained by the latter. Harper's Ferry did not suffer much from this flood, except that the Chesapeake and Ohio ca.n.a.l, with which its interests are to some degree identified, was almost entirely demolished. That important channel of business has never fully recovered from the loss it sustained on that occasion, and, of course, the whole country bordering on it has been more or less affected by the depressed condition of that useful thoroughfare.

On the last day of May, 1889, both rivers rose to an unprecedented height, but as the currents acted as mutual checks on one another, there was comparatively little damage done to property at the place, except from the filthy deposits left by the waters. This was the day of the famous Johnstown disaster and, while the people of that place were being hurried to destruction, the author of these pages was enjoying a swim in the bas.e.m.e.nt of his own house at Harper's Ferry--not "Moonshine Cottage," however--the site of which will never be inundated until the gap in the Blue Ridge is stopped up in some convulsion of Nature that will topple over the Maryland and Loudoun Heights. He and his had retreated to the upper part of the house, as soon as the lower floor was flooded, but having forgotten to secure some important papers which he usually kept in the apartment now under water, he was obliged to strip and strike out to their rescue.

Great as were the hopes excited by the sale of the government property in November, 1869, and the promise of a renewal of business activity, it soon appeared that those expectations were illusory. Captain Adams and others interested in the purchase became incorporated under the t.i.tle of "The Harper's Ferry Manufacturing and Water Power Company" and the captain more than hinted that Senator Sprague and other wealthy manufacturers of the north were concerned as partners in the new firm.

On one occasion, soon after the purchase, a telegraphic dispatch from Captain Adams reached the place stating that Senator Sprague would visit the town on a particular day and address the people on "The Future of Harper's Ferry." This looked like business and hand-bills were immediately struck off and circulated through the surrounding country, inviting all to a.s.sist the citizens of the place in showing honor to the great man. A committee was appointed to present him with an elaborate address, and preparations were made to receive him in a manner suitable to the occasion. On the appointed day, however, the senator was "non est" and it is said that he afterwards expressed great astonishment and indignation at the unauthorized use of his name in the business. Then, indeed, for the first time, did the people of Harper's Ferry begin to suspect a fraud of some kind and future developments went to confirm their unpleasant surmises. Though Captain Adams hired a watchman to take care of the property, and he himself continued to visit the place at intervals, it soon became apparent that his company were in no hurry to begin manufactures or the preparations for them. After the flood of 1870 some influence was brought to bear on the government to delay the collection of the first installment of the purchase money, and a bill was introduced into Congress to extend the time for payment to five years. The grounds for this stay of collection and the bill were the damage done by the high water to a considerable part of the property purchased, and the great distress caused to the whole place by that calamity. About the same time it became known that a claim was set up by Captain Adams and his firm against the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company for possession of the ground over which the road pa.s.ses between Harper's Ferry and Peacher's Mill. The railroad company had, many years before, got the right of way through the armory grounds from the government on certain conditions, and no one dreamed of their being disturbed about it until the thought struck some Washington City speculators that there was something to be made off the road by the purchase of the armory property and the inst.i.tution of a suit of ejectment. In this way the people of Harper's Ferry were sacrificed to the greed of a set of heartless speculators, and the injury was aggravated by the absolute certainty that if Captain Adams had not made his ill-omened appearance on the day of the sale the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company would have purchased the property and erected on it a rolling mill.

The courts were now appealed to, but a recital of the many suits and counter-suits between the government, the railroad company and the Adams company would be uninteresting and tiresome. The latter first tried to eject the railroad company and, failing in this, and finding that, as they never intended to establish manufacturing at the place, their enterprise was futile, they tried to return the property into the hands of the government on the pretense that they could not get possession of all they had bargained for. After a great deal of litigation the government, no doubt, thinking that the game was not worth the candle, as the saying is, finally cried "quits" and received back the property, without enforcing any pecuniary claim arising from the sale. All this time the people of Harper's Ferry were suffering from hope deferred and truly sick were their hearts. The magnificent water power was lying idle, as far as any general utilization of it was concerned, and so matters rested until the year 1886, when the property was purchased by Savery and Company, of Wilmington, Delaware, who, in the spring of 1887, proceeded to render the water power available for the purpose of pulp mills. These gentlemen encountered many difficulties arising from the indefinite wording of old deeds made to the government at various times and the conflicting claims of various property holders at the place.

Their most serious difficulty was with the firm of Child, McCreight and Company, or rather with a new firm composed of some members of the original one and others taken from time to time into the company. In the summer of 1887 the United States Court at Parkersburg, West Virginia, decided in favor of Savery and Company, standing on the rights supposed to have been enjoyed by the government when the sale was made to these gentlemen. In the meantime, a pulp mill was erected on the Shenandoah, and, in some time after another on the Potomac. Savery and Company experienced difficulties with the Chesapeake and Ohio ca.n.a.l company also. The State of Maryland has always laid claim to jurisdiction over the Potomac, as far as the ordinary water mark on the Virginia sh.o.r.e and, as in times of drought, the volume of water in that river is but little more than is required for the supply of the ca.n.a.l, the State of Maryland, which owns a large interest in that work, when appealed to by the ca.n.a.l company, used all its power to hinder the water from being diverted to other industries than that of the ca.n.a.l which is under their direct patronage and protection. The author is not advised as to the result of this controversy, but both the pulp mills are in operation and that on the Potomac--the one to be affected by any victory for the ca.n.a.l company--is worked at present without any apparent interruption. The new firm--Savery and Company--are evidently good business men, and it would appear as if they had come to stay, and give a start to a new Harper's Ferry. It is, perhaps, a good sign of their business qualifications that they are not bothered with sentiment as is shown in their sale of John Brown's fort. Everybody at the place wishes them well and hopes that they realize a good price for this interesting relic, but many regret that they did not retain it, as age but added to its value to the owners and, indeed, to the whole town, for many a tourist has tarried a day at the place expressly to get a good sight of it, and the older it grew, the more interest was attached to it.

When the author of this book had about finished his labors, he became aware of something very interesting in connection with the site of Harper's Ferry. Had he known it when he began, he certainly would have given his readers the benefit of it at the start, for there it belongs as, if it happened at all, it occurred away back in the misty ages of history or, at least, of Christianity. It is true that he could have remodeled his ma.n.u.script and penned it over again, but, as the Fatalists say, "what is written is written" and the undoing of what has been done might bring bad luck to him by putting him in conflict with Fate, besides imposing much labor on him for nothing, perhaps. From his earliest years the writer has been familiar with the legend of Saint Brandan or Borandan, a pious though enterprising Irish monk of the 6th century, who embarked, it is said, on the Atlantic in quest of the "Isles of Paradise," as they were called. At that time and, indeed, at a much later period, there was a firm belief that there was, at least, one island of exquisite beauty in the western Ocean, which appeared at intervals, but always eluded those who tried to take possession of it.

There is reason to believe that some vision of the kind, the effect of mirage was sometimes presented to the unsophisticated sailors and fishermen of the olden time and as in those days science had scarcely been born, it is no wonder that a belief in the actual existence of this land was firmly fixed in the minds of a people imaginative and poetic as the Irish, ancient or modern. Be this as it may, there is a well authenticated tradition of the voyage of Saint Brandan in quest of this evanescent land, and ma.n.u.scripts of h.o.a.ry antiquity preserved in monasteries until the Reformation, and, since, in old families that trace their lineage even to the times of the Druids, corroborate the oral tradition. Grave historians of late times give respectful mention to the voyage of Saint Brandan and many prefer a claim to his having been the first European discoverer of America. Some time this winter--1901-1902--the author saw in some newspaper a statement purporting to be from some correspondent in Great Britain or Ireland, that a ma.n.u.script had been discovered a little before, giving a circ.u.mstantial account of this voyage--of the discovery by Brandan of a land of apparently great extent and surpa.s.sing beauty--of the entrance by the voyagers into a large bay, their ascent of a wide river that emptied into it, and their final resting at the mouth of another river in a chasm of awful sublimity. The correspondent concludes that Saint Brandan had discovered America--that the bay was the Chesapeake and that the river ascended was the Potomac. If we gra