Part 1
GOOD STORIES FOR GREAT BIRTHDAYS
GOOD STORIES FOR GREAT BIRTHDAYS
_ARRANGED FOR STORY-TELLING AND READING ALOUD AND FOR THE CHILDREN’S OWN READING_
BY
FRANCES JENKINS OLCOTT
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge
COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY FRANCES JENKINS OLCOTT
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The Riverside Press CAMBRIDGE · MASSACHUSETTS PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
GRATEFULLY DEDICATED
TO
FRANCES MARY JENKINS OLCOTT
_January 25_
_One in whose eyes the smile of kindness made_ _Its haunt, like flowers by sunny brooks in May,_ _Yet at the thought of others’ pain, a shade_ _Of sweeter sadness chased the smile away._
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT
FOREWORD
Here are over 200 stories celebrating 23 great birthdays of patriot-founders and upbuilders of the Republics of both North and South America. In the stories are more than 75 historical characters, men, women, and children. The arrangement follows the school-year, beginning in October with Columbus. The book-cover is dressed in George Washington’s colours, scarlet and white.
TREATMENT OF HISTORY FOR CHILDREN
These tales are not packed full of dry facts and dates, boring to children. Instead, they treat history in a manner appealing to boys and girls. For it is the strong personalities that moved in the big events of the world, it is the forceful lives of the men themselves, their preparation in boyhood for successful careers, their struggles for right, their heroism, devotion, and high adventure, as well as the why and wherefore of things, which make history an intense reality to children and young folk. American history treated after such a fashion, may be used educationally to develop a fine, true type of Americanism.
So most of the tales presented here are ones of personality, human and alive. They are full of action. Many of them relate deeds of courage, kindness, self-sacrifice, and perseverance. They are of just the right length to read aloud or tell without fatiguing the children. They deal scarcely at all with battle, murder, or sudden death. They stress the intimate, human side of our Patriots, the side not often found in textbooks.
SOME OF OUR HEROES
Here are stories of Washington, Hamilton, John Adams, and John Marshall showing them not cold and wooden, but warm and vital; also tales of great-hearted Lincoln, and of America’s very human hero, Roosevelt.
And exceedingly human, too, are Light Horse Harry, the Sage of Monticello, Old Hickory, Brother Jonathan, Old Put, and the Great Commoner, who, with words as powerful as sword-strokes, fought America’s battles.
Among the women, the mothers and wives helping to win the Wars for Independence in both North and South America, are Mary and Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Andrew Jackson’s mother, the mother of John Marshall, and the wife of San Martin.
And the children of our foreign born, with how much greater pride may they say, “We are Americans!” when they read about Lafayette, Kosciuszko, Steuben, Haym Salomon, Pulaski, De Kalb, and Irish Moll Pitcher. Then, of course, Columbus the Italian is here, sailing under the gold and crimson banner of Spain.
Our school children, too, may be surprised to learn, that there are 20 robust American Republics to the south of us, with aspirations like our own, and having devoted Patriots. Among their national heroes, are Miranda “the Flaming Son of Liberty,” San Martin the great and good, Bolivar the brilliant and victorious, O’Higgins the soldier-citizen, and Brazil’s patriot Emperor, Dom Pedro the magnanimous.
All Spanish accents have been omitted--as is sometimes done in English books--so that the names of South American Patriots may not seem strange and foreign to our school children.
NO HISTORICAL FICTION
There is no historical fiction here. The larger number of the stories are original, written purposely for this volume. Every detail is historical, and every conversation is based on an authority.
A partial list of the histories and biographies consulted while writing the stories, may be found on page xiv. When historians have not agreed as to dates and facts, the most reliable sources have been followed.
Of the stories attributed to authors, some have been recast to meet the requirements of storytelling; others are given verbatim. This provides a selection of tales varied both in style and in treatment. Some of the tales are for children, and some for young people. The book may be useful in all Grades.
No living Americans are celebrated. Those whose birthdays are kept, have passed into history. And since one small volume cannot hold stories about all of our Patriots, a careful selection has been made of tales about Americans whose contributions to the founding of free Government are of vital importance. It is deeply regretted that lack of space precludes the use of other birthdays. Because of copyright restrictions, the Roosevelt section is somewhat limited.
A number of well-known tales which are omitted, may be found in _Good Stories for Great Holidays_.
TEACHING AMERICAN SOLIDARITY
In as far as possible, all tales of sectional differences, of political animosities, and of civil strife, have been avoided. The emphasis in this book is upon American Solidarity.
Pioneers of progress inevitably arouse bitter antagonists. It would require a large volume indeed, to treat of the derogatory statements and written attacks which have been levelled at most of the men whose birthdays we are celebrating. We know that Columbus suffered severely from attacks by enemies, that Washington was one of the “most vilified of men,” and that Lincoln’s detractors were merciless. To-day we may perceive the process of vilification still going on around us. Happily, time has shown that much of the detraction of the past was public slander and clamour, and has consigned it to the rubbish heap of history. In a book of this kind, detractions have little or no place; and it is against the good sense of the best educational principles, to impress the children’s plastic minds with such matters. When the children are older, they will be better able to judge of them intelligently.
HELPFUL TO TEACHERS
May it be said right here, with emphasis, that this book is not intended to take the place of suitable biographies of the men whose birthdays we are celebrating. Entertaining, lively tales should, on the contrary, lead boys and girls to want to know more about their favourite heroes. And the teacher may use these short stories not merely to illustrate American history textbooks, but to strengthen the children’s love of Country, to teach them the meaning of American Unity, and to give them a more intelligent reverence for the Constitution.
To aid the teacher and story-teller there is appended on pages 465-483 a _Subject Index_, by means of which any story on a given topic may be quickly found. The Study Programmes, on pages 451-462, are chronologically arranged to illustrate the day’s lesson.
FOR MOTHERS, ALSO
But above all else, may this book, day by day, help mothers and educators to bring to the children’s remembrance on these great birthdays, something of the devotion, the patience, the sufferings, and the personal sacrifice of the noble men, who, under the good hand of God, laid the foundations of American Liberty and Self-Government.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Grateful acknowledgments are due the following Publishers and Authors, for material from their books:--
To Houghton Mifflin Company for material from books by Edward Arber, Albert J. Beveridge, John Fiske, Henry Cabot Lodge, John T. Morse, James Parton, James B. Thayer, William Roscoe Thayer, and John Greenleaf Whittier.
To the _New York Evening Post_ for stories written for its columns by the author of this book.
To the _New York Times_ for “A Lock of Washington’s Hair,” by T. R. Ybarra.
To D. Appleton and Company for extracts from the Poems of William Cullen Bryant, and material from William Spence Robertson’s _Rise of the Spanish-American Republics_.
To Charles Scribner’s Sons for material from _Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography_.
To Harr Wagner Publishing Company, San Francisco, California, publishers of the complete works of Joaquin Miller, for permission to use his _Columbus_.
To J. B. Lippincott Company for material from Charles Morris’s _Heroes of Progress_.
To Lothrop, Lee, and Shepard Company for “Nellie and Little Washington,” from Harriet Taylor Upton’s _Our Early Presidents, their Wives and Children_.
To the Missionary Education Movement for “Dom Pedro,” from Margarette Daniels’s _Makers of South America_.
To the Macmillan Company for material from James Morgan’s _Theodore Roosevelt, the Boy and the Man_.
To Dr. Sherman Williams for “The Boy of the Hurricane,” from his _New York’s Part in History_, published by D. Appleton and Company.
To Mr. Wayne Whipple for “The Little Girl and the Red Coats,” from his _Story-Life of Washington_, published by John C. Winston Company.
To the Brooklyn Public Library, Montague Branch, for the use of its remarkably fine collection of volumes on early American history, many of which are rare and out of print.
To the Staff of the Brooklyn Public Library, Montague Branch, for most helpful co-operation.
* * * * *
As this book of _Great Birthdays_ was several years in the making, it is not possible to cite the many authorities, histories, and biographies which have been consulted. The following titles may give some idea of the kind of research work done, in order to make _Great Birthdays_ of value in teaching American History:--
Fiske, _American Revolution_; Garden, _Ancedotes of the Revolutionary War_; Green, _Short History of the English People_; _Journals of the Continental Congress_; Lossing, _Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution_; Elkanah Watson, _Men and Times of the Revolution_; _Select Letters of Christopher Columbus, with other Original Documents_ (Hakluyt Society); _Memorials of Columbus ... translated from the Spanish and Italian_; Lives of Columbus by Irving, Lamartine, and Winsor; _Story of the Pilgrim Fathers_ (Arber Reprint); _Mourt’s Relation_; _Old South Leaflets_; George Washington, _Journal of my Journey over the Mountains_, also his _Writings_; Ford, _Washington and the Theatre_; George Washington Parke Custis, _Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington_, by his Adopted Son; Headley, _Illustrated Life of George Washington_; Irving, _Life of Washington_; Lossing, _Mary and Martha, the Mother and the Wife of George Washington_; Lodge, _George Washington_, (American Statesmen Series); John Paul Jones’s _Letters_, also lives of him by De Koven, Headley, and Mackenzie; Lives of William Penn, by Dixon, Hodges, Janney, Stoughton; Lives of John Marshall, and addresses in his memory, by Beveridge, Binney, Flanders, Rawle, Sallie E. Marshal Hardy (in _The Green Bag_), Justice Story, and Chief Justice Waite; Peters, Haym Salomon; Franklin’s _Autobiography_; Humphreys, _Life of the Honourable Major General Israel Putnam_ (material obtained largely from Putnam himself); _Jonathan Trumbull, Governor of Connecticut_, by his descendant Jonathan Trumbull; correspondence, diaries, and speeches of John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Abigail Adams, Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Lafayette, Pitt, Lincoln, and Webster.
In writing the South American stories, the following have been most useful: Biggs, _History of Don Francisco de Miranda’s Attempt to Effect a Revolution in South America_; Palacio Fajardo, _Outline of the Revolution in Spanish America_; _Encyclopedia of Latin America_; Koebel, _British Exploits in South America_, also his _South America_; Captain Basil Hall, _Extracts from a Journal_; Larrazábal, _Simón Bolivar_; Mahoney, _Campaigns and Cruises in Venezuela and New Grenada_; Mehegan, _O’Higgins of Chile_; General Miller, _Memoirs in the Service of the Republic of Peru_; Bartolomé Mitre, _Emancipation of South America_; Pan-American Union, _Bulletin_; Petre, _Simón Bolivar_; Robertson, _Rise of the Spanish-American Republics_, also his _Francisco de Miranda_ (American Historical Association); Smith, _History of the Adventures and Sufferings of Moses Smith_; also a number of volumes of travel including Lord Bryce, _South America_; and Winter, _Argentina_, and _Chile_.
CONTENTS
OCTOBER 12
COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERER’S DAY
COLUMBUS, _Joaquin Miller_ 2
THE SEA OF DARKNESS 3
THE FORTUNATE ISLES 5
THE ABSURD TRUTH 7
CATHAY THE GOLDEN 10
THE EMERALD ISLANDS 12
THE MAGNIFICENT RETURN 13
THE FATAL PEARLS 15 Tierra Firme The Pearls The Curse of the Pearls
QUEEN ISABELLA’S PAGE 21
THE TWIN CITIES 24
THE PEARLS AGAIN 26
OCTOBER 14
WILLIAM PENN, THE FOUNDER OF PENNSYLVANIA
WITHIN THE LAND OF PENN, _John Greenleaf Whittier_ 30
THE BOY OF GREAT TOWER HILL 31
HE WORE IT AS LONG AS HE COULD, _Samuel M. Janney_ 32
THE PEACEMAKER 33
WESTWARD HO, AND AWAY! _John Stoughton_ 34
THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE 36
THE PLACE OF KINGS, _Samuel M. Janney_ 38
ONAS, _W. Hepworth Dixon_ 41
OCTOBER 27
THEODORE ROOSEVELT, AMERICA’S HERO
THE SQUARE DEAL, _Theodore Roosevelt_ 44
THE BOY WHO GREW STRONG, _James Morgan_ 45 Not in a Log Cabin In the Wide Out-of-Doors Busting Broncos
SAGAMORE HILL, _Theodore Roosevelt_ 50
THE CHILDREN OF SAGAMORE HILL, _William Roscoe Thayer_ 52
OFF WITH JOHN BURROUGHS, _Theodore Roosevelt_ 53
THE BIG STICK, _William Roscoe Thayer_ 54
A-HUNTING TREES WITH JOHN MUIR, _Theodore Roosevelt_ 55
THE BEAR HUNTERS’ DINNER, _Theodore Roosevelt_ 56
HUNTING IN AFRICA, _Theodore Roosevelt_ 57
THE EVER FAITHFUL ISLAND 59
THE COLONEL OF THE ROUGH RIDERS, _William Roscoe Thayer_ 61
THE RIVER OF DOUBT, _William Roscoe Thayer_ 65
THEODORE ROOSEVELT, _William Roscoe Thayer_ 69
OCTOBER 30
JOHN ADAMS, THE SON OF LIBERTY
INDEPENDENCE DAY, _John Adams_ 74
A SON OF LIBERTY, _Benson J. Lossing_ 75
THE ADAMS FAMILY 76
AID TO THE SISTER COLONY, _James Parton_ 77
A FAMOUS DATE 80
WHAT A GLORIOUS MORNING! 81
JOHN TO SAMUEL 82
A GENTLEMAN FROM VIRGINIA 83
THE BOY WHO BECAME PRESIDENT 85
HOW SHALL THE STARS BE PLACED? 88
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER 89
HIS LAST TOAST 91
NOVEMBER 15
WILLIAM PITT, DEFENDER OF AMERICA
HE AT ONCE BREATHED HIS OWN LOFTY SPIRIT, _John Richard Green_ 94
THIS TERRIBLE CORNET OF HORSE 95
THE CHARTER OF LIBERTY 98
AMERICA’S DEFENDER 101
THE SONS OF LIBERTY 103
A LAST SCENE, _John Fiske_ 105
DECEMBER 2
DOM PEDRO THE SECOND, THE MAGNANIMOUS, THE BEST REPUBLICAN IN BRAZIL
FREEDOM IN BRAZIL, _John Greenleaf Whittier_ 110
THE BRAZILS MAGNIFICENT 111
THE EMPIRE OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS 112
MAKING THE LITTLE EMPEROR, _W. H. Koebel_ 113
THE PATRIOT EMPEROR 115 I. Viva Dom Pedro the Second! II. My People III. Emancipating the Slaves, 1888 IV. The Empire of the Southern Cross--No More! _Margarette Daniels_
THE UNITED STATES OF BRAZIL 120
DECEMBER 20
WILLIAM BRADFORD, AND THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS
SO THEY LEFT THAT GOODLY AND PLEASANT CITY, _William Bradford_ 124
THE FATHER OF THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 125
THE SAVAGE NEW WORLD 128
WELCOME, ENGLISHMEN! 131
LOST! LOST! A BOY! 132
THE RATTLESNAKE CHALLENGE 136
THE GREAT DROUGHT, _Governor Edward Winslow_ 138
JANUARY 7
GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM, “OLD PUT”
THERE WAS A GENEROSITY AND BUOYANCY ABOUT THE BRAVE OLD MAN, _Washington Irving_ 142
SEEING BOSTON 143
THE FIGHT WITH THE WOLF 144
FROM PLOUGH TO CAMP 146
HE MADE WASHINGTON LAUGH 148
A GENEROUS FOE 149
PUTNAM NOT FORGOTTEN! 150
JANUARY 11
ALEXANDER HAMILTON, DEFENDER OF THE CONSTITUTION
HE GAVE THE WHOLE POWERS OF HIS MIND, _Daniel Webster_ 154
THE BOY OF THE HURRICANE, _Sherman Williams_ 155
CALL COLONEL HAMILTON 157
A STRUGGLE 158
“HE KNOWS EVERYTHING” 159
JANUARY 17
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, THE AMERICAN SOCRATES
OUR COUNTRY, _Benjamin Franklin_ 164
THE WHISTLE, _Benjamin Franklin_ 165
THE CANDLE-MAKER’S BOY 166
THE BOY OF THE PRINTING PRESS 167
THE THREE ROLLS 168
STANDING BEFORE KINGS 169
THE WONDERFUL KITE EXPERIMENT 170
THE RISING SUN 171
TO MY FRIEND, _Benjamin Franklin_ 172
FEBRUARY 12
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE GREAT EMANCIPATOR
OH, SLOW TO SMITE AND SWIFT TO SPARE, _William Cullen Bryant_ 174
THE CABIN IN THE CLEARING 175
HOW HE LEARNED TO BE JUST 176
OFF TO NEW ORLEANS 177
THE KINDNESS OF LINCOLN 178 The Little Birds Rescuing the Pig Opening Their Eyes
LINCOLN AND THE CHILDREN 181 Hurrah for Lincoln! Only Eight of Us, Sir He’s Beautiful! Please Let Your Beard Grow Three Little Girls
THE PRESIDENT AND THE BIBLE 183
WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN SPEAK 185
GETTYSBURG ADDRESS, _Abraham Lincoln_ 186
FEBRUARY 22
GEORGE WASHINGTON, THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY
LINCOLN ON WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY 190
THE BOY IN THE VALLEY 191
WASHINGTON’S MOTHER, _George Washington Parke Custis_ 194
WASHINGTON’S WEDDING DAY, _Henry Cabot Lodge_ 197
WASHINGTON AND THE CHILDREN, _Grace Greenwood_ 197
THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE RED COATS, _Wayne Whipple_ 200
NELLIE AND LITTLE WASHINGTON, _Harriet Taylor Upton_ 200
SEEING THE PRESIDENT, _George Washington Parke Custis_ 203
NELSON THE HERO, _George Washington Parke Custis_ 204
CARING FOR THE GUEST, _Elkanah Watson_ 205
THOUGHTFUL OF OTHERS 206
THE CINCINNATUS OF THE WEST 206
BROTHER JONATHAN 208
THE BLOODY FOOTPRINTS, _George Washington Parke Custis_ 210
AN APPEAL TO GOD, _Benson J. Lossing_ 211
FRIEND GREENE 213
LIGHT HORSE HARRY, _Washington Irving_ 216
CAPTAIN MOLLY, _George Washington Parke Custis_ 218
THE SOLDIER BARON 220
FATHER THADDEUS 223
THE LITTLE FRIEND IN FRONT STREET 228
FAREWELL! MY GENERAL! FAREWELL! _J. T. Headley_ 230
FROM “WASHINGTON’S LEGACY” 232
A KING OF MEN, _John Fiske_ 233
WHEN WASHINGTON DIED 234
FEBRUARY 25
JOSE DE SAN MARTIN OF ARGENTINA, THE PROTECTOR
SAN MARTIN, THE GREAT LIBERATOR, _Joseph Conrad_ 236
THE BOY SOLDIER 237
THE PATRIOT WHO KEPT FAITH 238
WHEN SAN MARTIN CAME 240
ARGENTINA’S INDEPENDENCE DAY 243
A GREAT IDEA 243
THE MIGHTY ANDES, _Bartolome Mitre_ 245
THE REAL SAN MARTIN 247
THE FIGHTING ENGINEER OF THE ANDES, _Bartolome Mitre_ 248
THE HANNIBAL OF THE ANDES, _General Miller and Bartolome Mitre_ 249
NOT FOR HIMSELF 254
COCHRANE, EL DIABLO 255
OUR BROTHERS, YE SHALL BE FREE 256
THE FALL OF THE CITY OF THE KINGS, _Captain Basil Hall_ 257
SAN MARTIN THE CONQUEROR, _Captain Basil Hall_ 261 A Retreat The Mother and Her Three Sons The Little Girl Who Was Bashful Another Little Girl The Best Cigar Duty Before the General
LIMA’S GREATEST DAY 265