Th
Reco nstructed
Fort Dearborn
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
HEN the special Mother's day
stamps were placed on sale re-
cently, there was added another
chapter to the romantic story of a
woman who is undoubtedly Amer-
ica's most famous mother.
the stamps bear the reproduction
of James ALbott McNeill Whistler's
famous painting which is ealled
d Black,”
ir to his
fellow-Americans as “Whistler's
Portrait of His Mother,” or, mare
imply still, “The Mother.”
i a Mathilda McNeill
i ler needs nothing more than
this painting ; rantee her immortality, yet
the choice of her portrait for reproduction on a
special commemorative stamp issue this year
(the first time, incidentally, that such notice has
been taken of Mother's day) is an additional
“Arrangement in Gray ¢
but which Is more fan
honor conferred upon her. In all of our history,
only three other women have had that distine-
tion. They were Pocahontas, the Indian prin-
cess; Isabella, the Spanish queen: and Martha
Washington, wife of our first President. But
Anna Mathilda MeNeill
one who Is hot
stamp.
Whistler is not the only
wred in this year's Mother's day
It was issued also to commemorate the
one hundredth uversary of the event which
took place In Lowell, Mass, on July 10. 1534
the birth of the son who was to achieve such
world-wide fame himself and to bring a similar
world-wide his portrait of her,
It is doubt ting ever put
on canvas is so well known to so many people,
Reproductions of it, running up into the milli
in numbers, v wen printed and these
have gon
the last year and a half, while it was in
country under a loan
government, {
sr of the earth,
ment from the French
hited in 12 leading cities
throughou » United States and it is estimated
that during it riumphal tour more than 2.000.
000 persons hundred thou-
sands more will led to that number
inte this month
(for the agreement with the French government
calls for its return by June 1) to resume its
honored place in the Lous
For five monti ne that the painting
was on a tour of the country it was exhibited
at the Chicago Art institute in connection with
A Century of Progress, among the thou-
sands who saw it there and who also saw the
replica of Fort Dearborn on the exposition
grounds It Is doubtful if one in a thousand
realized that there was a historical, if not a
cultural, link between the world-famous paint-
Ing, the highest exemplification of a man's skill
In the line of fine arts, and the crude architee-
ture of a building which had only the very utili-
tarian purpose of preserving the lives of its in-
habitants from savage hatred. That link is the
theme of this story.
The story has its beginning in Ireland more
than 175 years ago. In the year 1758 there was
born to an English family named Whistler, liv-
ing there, a son to whom was given the name
of John. Long before he had reached his majori-
ty young John Whistler ran away from home
and joined the British army. In 1777 he came to
America as a soldler in the expedition with
which “Gentleman Johnny” Bargoyne intended
to deal a crushing blow to the American colo-
nies. But the rapier thrusts of Daniel Morgan
and Benedict Arnold warded off that blow at
Saratoga, and the end of the year saw John
Whistler a prisoner of war along with the rest
of “Gentleman Johnny's” army. Mark that fact
well, for it has a curious aftermath!
Before the end of the Revolution, Whistler, as
a paroled or exchanged prisoner, was back in
England where he soon afterwards was dis-
charged from the army. Then he fell in love
with the daughter of one of his father's friends,
eloped with her, came to America a second time
and settled at Hagerstown, Md, In 1791 this sol-
dier who had worn the scarlet uniform of Old
England put on the nondescript uniform of a
lieutenant adjutant in the levies which made up
a part of the army of the new republic. From
that time on he served continuously on the
Northwestern frontier under St. Clalr, Wayne
and others who were trying to break the power
of the savage tribes that were resisting the west-
ward push of the American frontiersmen,
In 1707 It was “Captain” John Whistler and
in 1803 he was stationed at Detroit. The Louisi-
ana Purchase had flung our frontier from the
Mississippi back to the Rocky mountains, but if
we hoped to make good our possession of this
vast empire there must be garrisons in the heart
of the Indian country. One of the strategle
places for such a garrison was at the foot of
Lake Michigan at a place variously ealled Chi.
ecagon, Chikago, Chekakou and a half-dozen simi.
lar spellings. So, early In 1803, the Inspector.
general of the army stationed at Cumberland,
M4d., gave orders for the bullding of a post there
before it is ser
t of the
— 3
Self-Portrait by Whistler C1859)
and named Capt
Accordingly the fort was bullt in the su
of 1803, given the name of Fort Dearborn,
honor of Gen. Henry Dearborn, then secretary
of war, and thus Capt. John Whistler became
the real “father of Chicago.” The original draft
for the plans of the fort, drawn by Captain
Whistler, Is still In the archives of the War de.
partment at Washington—a good soldi
it is, but revealing none of the artistic a
which were later to nn
80 famous,
For the next nine years John
builder of the fort and its comm
i
ake the name of Whi
Whistler,
andant,
nated the little ity In this lonely out.
post of civilization which was to become the
second largest city In the United States. But the
buildi imandiog were not the oniy
contributions he m to the history of Fort
Dearborn and the beginnings of Chicago. He
brought with him a growing family, some of
whose members were destined for renown even
greater than his
rn 3
g and the «
m Whistler, accomp
as a second lleutena and
there throughout the elder Whistler's
term of service. His eldest daughter, Sarah. was
married In November, 18M, to Ja
trader of Detroit, thus becoming Chicago's first
bride. Another daughter married Lieut. Joseph
Hamilton, who was also a under
Whistler at Fort Dearborn,
But our chief Interest is In a toddling child
of three who came with his father to Chicago in
1503. His name was George Washington Whist-
ler, Thus did the ex British soldier honor the
great commander of the “rebels” against whom
he had fought under Burgoyne, Young George
Washington Whistler grew up into sturdy boy-
hood along the marshy banks of the Chicago
river and on the sandy shores of Lake Michigan.
He was only ten years old when, as the result
of a garrison feud, the War department thought
it advisable to scatter the officers at Fort Dear
born to various posts In the Middle West and
the boy accompanied his father back to Detroit,
And there, two years later, young George Wash.
ington Whistler probably witnessed the scene
which made his father unique in American—and
perhaps in any other-history,
For Capt. John Whistler and his elder son,
Lieut. William Whistler, were officers In General
Hull's army when that flustered American com-
mander surrendered the fort at Detroit to the
British at the outbreak of the War of 1812. and
tradition says that the captain was so enraged
over the capitulation that he broke his sword
over his knee rather than surrender it to the
enemy. Perhaps it was only the shame of a
surrender without firing a shot that caused him
to do it. Or perhaps it might have been his
realization that he was destined to go down In
history as the only British officer who, having
once surrendered to a victorious American army,
became In turn an American officer who surren-
dered to a victorious British army.
In due time John Whistler was exchanged for
a British prisoner, and the choleric old captain
remained in the American army only until the
close of the war when he was honorably dis
charged. He died September 3, 1820, but he
lived long enough to see his son, Willlam, win
some renown as an officer in the Indian and
Mexican wars,
Old Capt. John Whistler also lived long enough
to see his youngest son, George Washington
Whistler, graduate from West Point at the age
of nineteen and assigned to the artillery branch,
But he was not to have the satisfaction of know.
ing to what heights his son would rise in another
profession, nor to what greater heights this son's
son would rise in still another.
While George Washington Whistler was still a
cadet at West Point he once visited, while on
leave, the home of a classmate, "'Willlam Gibbs
McNeill, It was a great brick mansion which
had been bullt on a plantation near the Cape
Fear river In North Carolina before the Revolu-
tion by one Donald MeNelll, selon of a Scotch
family that had emigrated to America from the
isle of Skye in 1730. There Cadet Whistler made
the neannintance of Anna Mathilda MeNelll, the
infed
him to Chicago
served
8 Abbott a
subaltern
Whistler in
sw Tork University
!
5
of five children.
it to Le able to record the
ase of love at first sight for
nd Anna McNeill, But that is
after he was graduated from
arried, but not to Ann
ards young Whistler was
and early In the "30s he again
motherly older sister of his classmate,
liam Gibbs McNeill, and married her, In 1533
Whistler resigned from the army and the next
to George Washington Whistler and Anna
Ida Whistler was born a son to whom was
given the name James Abbott MceNelll Whistler,
thus perp the name of his uncle, James
Abbott, the Detroit trader at Fort Dearborn, as
well as his paternal and maternal families, the
MeNellls and the Whistlers,
After George Washington Whistler's resigna-
I from the army he rose to eminence as an
ineer and in 1842 he went to Russia to enter
the service of the czar in the construction of the
railroad from St, Petersburg to Moscow, winning
for himself from Czar Nicholas the decoration
of the Order of St. Anne, To Russia with him
went his wife and thelr two sons, one of them
a slender, weak lad, affectionately known to his
mother as “Jamie,” And “Jamie” he was to her
to the end of her days, even when he became
a world-famous painter. For the close tle be.
tween the mother and the son who was to im-
mortalize her on canvas began during this Rus.
sglan experience,
She nursed him during those bitter years and
when they were ended In the death of Major
Whistler and when the widow and her two sons
were reduced to poverty, she brought them out
of the land of snows back to her sunny North
Carolina, When “Jamie” grew up he decided to
follow the profession of his father and become
a soldier. He secured an appointment to West
Point in 1852, but his career there was a short
one. In fact, It lasted only two years
jut the loss to the military world, If indeed
it was a loss, was the gain of the world of art. |
After leaving West Point, Whistler went to Paris,
resolved to become a painter, and his career in
that role is too well known to need further
comment, During the years he wag rising to
fame his mother was in Europe, also, not with
him always, but nearby in case he should have :
need of her. For somehow her little “Jamie” |
never seemed to grow up enough to be without |
his mother. In 1560 Whistler left London for |
three years more of study in Parle and his
mother returned to America for a last visit with |
her relatives in North Carolina. For Whistler |
had decided never to return to his native land |
to live. So his mother was going to wind up
what few affairs she had there and then return
to London, where they would live on the scant
means which the son could provide,
While she was visiting In Cumberland and
Bladen counties in North Carolina, the storm of
the Civil war broke and her return to Rurope
was postponed indefinitely. Finally early in 18064
came word from her son that he had returned
to London and established himself there. So
she announced her intention of joining him,
But no matter how much her relatives told
Anna Mathilda MeNelll Whistler that It would
be impossible for her to go to Burope now, her
only reply was the calm statement that her
“Jamie” needed her and she was going. And go
she did, Somehow she arranged to take passage
on a Confederate blockade runner and on it
arrived safely in England,
There she lived to the end of her days, the in.
separable companion of the man who came to be
hailed us one of the greatest painters in the
world,
- hy Wasrarn NMeweoaoer Unlon,
Mending Socks
By ALBERT WESTON
©, by McClure Newspaper Syndicate,
WNU Bervice
ATRINA was obdurate, “I've got
them socks to mend, Miss Lily,”
to her was final,
"pnt i
countered Lily, with
argument.
voice
“When
socks to mend for one of my young
and I've got to mend them.”
didn't let me know until this noon that
besides no one else would do.”
resting in a large bag that hung in the
FRUIT TREES A GOOD BET
Bome years ago so many orchards
were planted that there was an over
abundance, but this condition prom-
Ises to be greatly changed in the fu-
ture. Many orchards have been al.
lowed to die out and the time is com-
ing when fruit will be in much better
demand, As it is too late to start an
orchard after the demand has come,
| It Is a wise plan to Invest a little in
| this form of land improvement, The
trees cost so litle that this does not
have to prevent anybody from hav.
ing an orchard, or at least a few
select trees, The States is
especially blessed seause fruit of
gome sort can be grown In every
state. We should appreciate this
fact all the more when we remember
that In many countries fruit is such
a luxury that it Is beyond the reach
of average people ~Pathfinder Maga-
zine,
Ferry's Seeds are sold only in fresh
dated packages, When you buy Fer-
ry's Seeds you are sure of the finest
quality available, Adv.
Defined
Professor—What is steam?
Student
she called the three or four bachelors
her morning hours. She would
apartment the next morning.
I'l mend them,” sald Lily.
stay and finish dinper and serve it.”
Lily made very neat
three pairs of pale
buttons on shirts &
then turned her attention to hal
dozen pairs of socks. And then
her
Nas
ar-
arrived bef
A Few Drops Every
Night and Morning
Will Promote a Clean,
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Her Comeback
tie wider,
he was | ©
giris were concerned.
Marvin had sald.
waste your pretty tricks on him,
business.”
ie and domestic.
WHEN SHES
UPSET
2
*"
ple, domestic girls nowadays.
Marvin
friend and took him to his study ad-
Joining the
some plans
3
1 fot fe wey 1
basket-—a rather vivid, striped golf
sock much in need of repair.
feverish haste she
and tuck It out of sight
“Pretty domestic scene,”
Marvin, "But really she isn't like
that, Julian,
effect.”
Lily, flashing a dark glance to Marvin
and smiling up to Julian. But she had
tucked the stocking into the basket
and had no intention of going on wit
her work.
doesn’t appreciate it."
asked Julian abruptly.
“It must have been,” was the way
Lily answered his impertinence.
kitchen.
basket with her and worked furiously
away to get the darning done before
Katrina wanted to leave. Lily never
helped Katrina in the kitchen, Marvin
knew perfectly well. He suggested
making a tour of inspection. They
entered the kitchen just as Lily had
begun to work on the last sco: and
had the others all laid neatly out on
the kitchen table. Julian saw them
a8 they lay there—saw and noticed
before Lily had time to ram them into
Katrina's ample bag.
Much to Marvin's surprise his friend
Julian Bates became decidedly atten.
tive to his sister when they returned
to the living room. And when he left
he asked permission to make his party
call very soon and said that after that
he would beg her to dine with him,
When Marvin saw Julian the next
day in the course of their business
activities, Marvin spoke with big
brotherly lightness of his sister's
charms. “She's kidding you, Jullan™
he warned. “Trying to make you think
she's the sweet, simple old-fashioned
sort of girl"
“But the amazing thing” sald
Julian, “is that she was darning my
socks. You'll have to admit that if
you met a pretty girl and the first time
you saw her you found her mending
your old socks you would be-—well,
rather touched. Do you think I could
drop around tonight for a few min.
utes—just to finish solving the mys
tery.”
“Solve ahead” sald Julian. “I'm
going out myself”
The mystery was, of course, very
ensily solved, and so more time was
left for a discussion of personal tastes
and likes and dislikes—and other pre
liminaries of the courtship for which
Julian was already making plans,
Then when they came to make plans
for the wedding Jullan chose Marvin
for his best man, “And I suppose I
ought to have Katrioa for the maid
of honor,” sald Lily,
eZ — a
-
Constipation Drove
D made her feel cross, head.
Her Wil achy, ball-alive Now she
has a lovable disposition, new pep and vitality.
Heed Nature's warning: Suggs =k bowels invane
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i
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