Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1870-05-26
Aii5ocllancous.
tn I.ccrntri. character.
I ord Timothy Dexter.

PASSENGER, over tile Eastern RSii-
road observe. at the left. before they
enter t..e ci,y OF Ncwbnr,port from the
vest. i i,,.c house amid ~urruludin :
green. surmuuut.d hv tail cuucln.
ami this bearing the eiigy of a huge
cag,e Before time j. allowed ior
a-AlUg question concerning 1t, tie
tam m1tcs hy. and the question >
rarely asAru IH.s was the res drnCc
OF L0gd Iuuo.Hy ID Xtcr-a llcn aud
queer combination oi >hfcNduc>s. l-no-
rance. cre1uIly. Self c,tccmLanhccility.
.iceuiiolsne-s. vroii-alitN WHO lived
~ New barYppri many Years. AMI dis
III the house above named. October
20. l>OG at the a4c Of sixty five.
Ills life presents a strange catalogue
Of events. aitording another illustrations
al the oid adlLc that fortune faNuIs
fools. Though there appeared 10 be
method ia much OF his madness, and
much that passed Tor lucA srvulr 4
really the result Of shrcNdiore>ig lt.
lie wa. nevertheless entitled 10 the
motley garb. though he sported black
and assumed To- be 1.-THE first ia the
west. aud the greatest philosopher OF
th" known worid."
Timothy Dexter was born in Maiden,
near Boston. in the year | l1i3. AMI was
bred IN the leathcr-dressing business.
winch business was almost exclusively
confined to Charlcstown. This wa,
the time when deer. sheep and goat
Sans were prepared for clothing. and
al the period oi his apprenticeship. the
secret of prcparin. morocco. similar
10 that brought from the Lcyant. was
discovered. a part of the monopoly of
which Dexter probably enjoyed. Com
mencing business at twenty-one. he
by industry and frugalitv. became
thrifty, married the widow Of neigh
boring learher-dresser, and had ac-
cumulated several thousand dollars in
specie at the close Of the war. At
this dark period, when the national
paper currency was reduced u a
merely nominal value, and it was
sacrificed al Il ruinous discount. John
Hancock and Thomas Russell. Boston
merchants. attempted to keep up
public confidence by buying this
money. which attracted the attention
Of Young Dexter. for he believed such
men would do no unsound act. and he
proceeded 10 invest every cent he
possessed, and all that his wife pos
sessed, in purchasing the government
scrip that was in the market. All
doubt was soon after removed by the
fua ding system Of Hamilton, and Dex-
ter had realized . princely fortune, for
that day, There is hardly an instance,
in our own season Of quick fortunes,
that can surpass this for rapidity, but
the only claim to slircwdness that can
be seen in it is the imitation of Han
cock and Russell, that has little more
merit Than can be claimed for instinct.
With the acquisition oi fortune came
tue craving for dist notion, but the
society of that period was Of kind no
parvenu foot could enter. The ac-
cident of wealth gave no entrance card
to the merely mOneyel, and Dexter
found himself shut out. Boston re-
jected him. Salem Treated him worse,
if anything. and he alighted, money
bags and all, in Newburyport. which
he made the scene of his exalted career.
Lands were cheap, and ut that time
the failure Of some merchants who had
venturcd too largely enabled him TO
purchase deeply, which he did, buying
two palaces" as they were then re-
garded, one of which he sold, the other
one-that which we see from the car
window-he occupied. Here he com.
menced that career Of extravaganza,
won for him the title Of Lord" that
he, with his craving for prominence
accepted. an account of which he thus
gives: lime the first Lord in the
Younited States Of Americary Now. OF
Newbury port it is the voise of the
peopol and / cant Help it aud SO LET
it be gone.
To act in lordly manner he com
mcnced course of dissipation and
prodigality. His elegant mansion and
grounds he at once disfigured by pro
curing rudely carved figures Of great
men, whose names were familiar tc
him, that he placed in the most slightly
situations, outragiDg taste. but al
which the vulgar stared and wondered
while the shrewd laughed. His roo1