Stranger Than Fiction: James Smithson's Legacy

The Stranger and The Statesmen by Nina Burleigh has a subtitle "James Smithson, John Quincy Adams, and the making of America's Greatest Museum, The Smithsonian." So when I saw it at the book sale at the West Branch library I had to pick it up.

"Not another John Quincy Adams book" groaned my husband.

There is precious little John Quincy Adams in the book. JQA saw the Smithson bequest as an opportunity to fulfill one of his presidential goals: to build an observatory. Or at least a center for scientific research and public education, something badly needed in America at the time. It was an uphill battle. No one really cared. The money was spent in buying bad bonds and was nearly lost. The intellectual Adams understood the need. Being the champion of lost, but "right", causes was his forte. He took on the role of defender of Smithson's intention.

There is not a whole lot about James Smithson (born James Macie) because little is known about him. All of his papers were destroyed in a fire at the Smithsonian before they were cataloged and studied. The man was an enigma in his lifetime. He was the illegitimate son of the man who became Duke of Northumberland and a wealthy widow named Macie. James was small, a loner, in poor health, intelligent, and intensely focused on his narrow interest in the chemistry of rocks. No records of relations with women exist. He loved gambling. He spent most of his life on the continent.

No one has ever understood his decision to give his inheritance to a country with which he had no connections. Young America was no haven of the arts and science. The people were pragmatic and more interested in practical and applied science.

The books offers a detailed view of Smithson's times. There are plenty of strange characters and lots of amazing insights into society of his time. I cringed and guffawed, truly glad I did not live in such a barbaric time when children were thrust into cold baths to "harden" them, women went nine weeks between hair arranging, tuberculosis left men medical eunuchs, and the White House had an outdoor privy.

Burleigh's writing is lively and she keeps things interesting. But the book is limited in scope, and incomplete in its history of the museum. We learn more about Smithson's society than about his legacy.

For a CSPAN interview with the author see http://www.c-span.org/video/?178941-1/book-discussion-stranger-statesman
For an excerpt that appeared in Smithsonian Magazine see http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-stranger-and-the-statesman-148893159/?no-ist

The Stranger and The Statesman
Nina Burleigh
William Morrow 2003
ISBN 0060002417

Mr. Adam's Last Crusade by Joseph Wheelan

I have become a huge John Quincy fan, and the more I learn about him the more impressed I become. When I found Mr Adam's Last Crusade: John Quincy Adam's Extraordinary Post-Presidential Life in Congress  I had to read it.  And I did, in three sittings. Wheelan has written an inspiring book, offering a concise overview of JQ's early career and a moving study of his time in the House.

After a failed presidency he expected a  peaceful retirement at Big House, the home of his parents, reunited with his library of 6,000 books.

Then he was elected to the House of Representatives. "My election as President of the United States was not so half so gratifying to my inmost soul" he wrote. And he quoted his hero Cicero, "I will not desert in my old age the Republic that I defended in my youth."

JQ was a throw back to another world, the world of the Founding Fathers and the Declaration of Independence, when duty and freedom of speech and sacrifice were not just ideas. He eschewed political favoritism and party politics. It made him unpopular. His intelligence and prodigious memory, paired with a sharp wit and verbal prowess, made him a formidable enemy.

"Slavery is a slow poison to the morals of any community infected with it. Ours is infected with it to the vitals."JQA

64 years old in 1831, JQ took up arms to battle what he believed was the greatest threat to America: slavery. The House had enacted a 'gag' on all discussion of slavery and JQ was determined to end it. It took eight years. He was vilified, his life threatened, the House tried to silence him. Every day he walked to work and brought up petitions that brought the wrath of the House and the South upon his head.

He became friends with abolitionists Theodore Weld and Angelina Grimke' Weld. JQ had been anti-slavery since 1820, but now became a self-avowed abolitionist.

"...the acutest, the astutest, the archest enemy of Southern slavery that ever existed." Representative Wise of Virginia

He voted against the main on other issues. He was no believer in expansionism, especially if it meant expanding slavery into new states and if it meant taking lands away from rightful owners. He was against the removal and extermination of Native Americans. He fought for the James Smithson legacy to be used as it was meant, resulting in the Smithsonian Institute. He voted to ban dueling. He even defended women's right to petition.

"They call Adams a man of one idea, but I tell you what it is, he had got more ideas than all of us put together." South Carolina Congressman Isaac Holmes

Then there was the Amistad trial. Don't rely on the Spielberg movie to learn about JQ's involvement or the importance of the trail. Read this book.

JQ was getting old, his hand was palsied, his eyes wept, he had rheumatism. He would not give up because there was no one to take his place. His eyes still  burned with passion and vitality. His mind was as sharp as ever. And he was at the height of his popularity.

He suffered a series of mild strokes, clung to his faith, and waited for the inevitable. On February 21, 1848 he was in the House when he suffered a stroke. All Washington closed down as "America's last living link between the present day and the fading Revolutionary War era of Washington lay dying in the U. S. Capitol" (from Mr Adam's Last Crusade).  On February 23 he died in the House Speaker's chamber.

In his day he was already an anachronism, a man without party loyalty, an original thinker, an independent voter without consideration of his own political or personal capital. His soul was rooted in the days of the Revolution when he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill with his mom and accompanied his father John Adams to Paris. He had known Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Dolley Madison. He lived into an America growing from the Industrial Revolution and clamoring for more land and more wealth. His questioning but firm faith was old fashioned in a time of Transcendentalism. JQ was America's better angel, a voice for the core values of it's foundation.

Has there ever been another like him?

Benjamin Rush: The Forgotten Founding Father

Just reading the Preface in Stephen Fried's new biography Rush: Revolution, Madness and the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father I was shocked by the breadth and depth of Rush's accomplishments. It is hard to believe how ignorant we are about Rush's lasting contributions. I had come across Benjamin Rush in my readings on the Revolution and Founding Fathers and was interested in learning more about the man. Fried's book has made me a lasting and enthusiastic fan of this Philadelphia physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Rush knew all the big names of his time period. His friends included Benjamin Franklin, John Addams, and Thomas Jefferson. He encouraged Thomas Paine to write Common Sense. Adams wrote that Rush had contributed more to the Revolution than Franklin! It was Rush who pressured Adams and Jefferson to reconnect after years of alienation.

As a physician, he championed humane treatment for the mentally ill and identified addiction as a medical, not a moral, condition. During the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 when 10% of the population died, Rush courageously stayed in Philadelphia.  Many doctors fled the city along with anyone else who had somewhere else to go. The African American community came out to assist; it was thought they were immune to the disease!

Rush saw war and the disease and injuries that took lives. He triaged troops and was with Washington when he crossed the Delaware and at battlefields including Brandywine, Trenton, and Princeton. He knew that more soldiers died from sickness than the sword and created standards of hygiene for the military, including the first military buzz-cut.

Rush was a practicing physician. He lived before we understood viruses and bacteria, when bleeding and purgatives were employed. He was called to educate and outfit Lewis and Clark for their expedition. His purgative known as Rush's Pills included mercury, which has helped us track Lewis and Clark's journey! Rush thought up the circular surgical theater.

He was a lifelong educator, medical writer and lecturer. He founded Dickinson College to bring higher education to rural Pennsylvania and campaigned for free public education.

An ardent abolitionist, Rush supported the founding of the first African Methodist Church. He was a dedicated Christian who supported the separation of church and state while maintaining the importance of faith as a moral guide.

Rush knew that when the war was over, the real work of founding a nation would begin which needed to balance "science, religion, liberty and good government."

Rush married the daughter of another Declaration signer, Julia Stockton. They had thirteen children. Rush was a devoted and loving husband and father, but his illustrious fame and high standards were hard to live up to. His son became an alcoholic who ended up hospitalized, a 'madman' who was studied by the actor Edwin Forrest while preparing for his breakout role as King Lear. Another son, Richard, was close to John Quincy Adams and became his vice presidential candidate and he was commissioned to collect the James Smithson trust money which funded the Smithsonian.

Fried's chapter on what happened to Rush's papers and letters explains why he disappeared from memory until mid-2oth c. Julia Rush's most treasured and private letters by her husband were in the family until 1975 when they were donated to the Rosenbach Library in Philadelphia.

The story of Rush's life was exciting to read. As a popular history, I found it very accessible and quick reading. A Goodreads friend told me that Rush was her favorite Founding Father. It appears he was John Adams' favorite as well, judging by his response to Rush's death as recorded by Abigal, which Fried includes in the book:

"O my friend, my friend, my ancient, my constant, my unshaken friend! My brother, art thou gone? Gone forever Who can estimate thy worth, who can appreciate thy loss? To thy country, to thy family, to thy friends, to science, to literature, to the world at large? To a character which in every relation of life shone resplendent?" John Adams upon the death of Rush as reported by Abigal Adams

"...a better man than Rush, could not have left us, more benevolent, more learned, of finer genius, or more honest." Thomas Jefferson in a letter to John Adams 

"I know of no Character living or dead who has done more real good in America." John Adams response to Thomas Jefferson's letter

I received a free ebook through First to Read in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

RUSH: REVOLUTION, MADNESS, AND BENJAMIN RUSH, THE VISIONARY DOCTOR WHO BECAME A FOUNDING FATHER
By STEPHEN FRIED
Hardcover | $30.00
Published by Crown
Available Sep 04, 2018
ISBN 9780804140065

John Quincy Adams, Champion of Human Rights, Gets a Quilt

When Sue Reich called for quilters to make a small presidential quilt I jumped at the chance to ask for John Quincy Adams. I had just read a biography on Louisa Catherine Adams. I had read about JQ in Bunker Hill, the John Adams by David McCullough, and in other books on American history.

People don't have a very clear image of JQ. He was raised for public service by his parents, Founding Father and president John Adams and Abigail Smith Adams. They expected superhuman achievements and JQ endeavored to meet the task.

When John Adams became Minister to France, 12-year-old JQ accompanied him. He was beloved by Thomas Jefferson. JQ traveled across Europe, studying under his father and at the finest universities. Back in the US he attended Harvard and followed his father into law.

George Washington chose JQ to be Minister to Holland. After his father left office he returned home and became a US Senator. Party politics intervened, and he left to teach at Harvard.

Then he was chosen to be Minister to Russia. He had married the London born Louisa and together they learned to navigate the Czarist court. Louisa became the pet of many a grand lady. He was called to France at the end of the Napoleonic Wars to represent America in forging the Treaty of Ghent. Louisa stayed behind to sell off their household, pack up, and travel with her child,  a dangerous winter journey of 3,000 miles to join him.

James Monroe asked JQ to be his Secretary of State, and he accomplished his greatest achievements. He forged the Monroe Doctrine and treaties incorporating Florida and Oregon into US territories.

The disintegration of the Federalist party left only the National Republicans, which had four candidates. None received a majority electoral college vote and the vote went to the House. JQ won because of Henry Clay's vote.

As President JQ focused on infrastructure to facilitate trade, education, and scientific research which he deemed needed to support a growing nation. He made sure the Smithson money went to create the Smithsonian Institute and was involved in the creation of what became the US Naval Observatory.

A one term president, JQ did not leave public service for long. He was called by Massachusetts to the House of Representatives. Never popular, a fierce independent and true to his own values, JQ was an eloquent spokesman for lost causes. He did not support President Jackson's removal of Native American peoples. He fought the "gag rule" against discussing slavery and finally ended it, as described in America 1844.

"Old Man Eloquent" was an abolitionist, as were his parents. When a ship of captured Africans mutinied and took over the Spanish ship Amistad, JQ was approached to represent the Africans at trial. He accepted, pro bono. In a seven hour presentation he argued that the Africans were not merchandise, but free men taken by pirates. JQ won the case and the grateful Mendhi men wrote letters of thanks.

It was reading these letters that was my "ah hah" moment. I had been struggling on how to present JQ, using quilt methods of his time, broderie perse in particular. What about JQ would reach and move a viewer of the quilt? I knew it had to be the Amistad case, representing JQ's deep dedication to liberty and Civil Rights.

The same day I had my breakthrough I learned that Sue Reich was offered a contract by Schiffert Publishing for "Patriotic and President Quilts" and it would include the Presidential Quilts Project!

All afternoon yesterday I worked on the quilt in a creative heat.

We had pizza for dinner.

Learn more about Sue Reich at
http://www.coveringquilthistory.com