New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-07-28
AMOS KENDALL,s LIFE.
How Amos Dug for Captain Kidd'l
Treasure.

/
Treasure.
The biography Of Amos Kendall has been
| published. Kendall was one of the last OF
the distinguished editors, politicians and
publiciEts of the first half of this century,
and his life and the letters whose publica-
ton it requires bring before the mind of the
reader a graphic history Of parties and OF
the country during that important period.
| The book occupies zoo pages octave, and is
quite too much Of a good thing-but it con-
! tains several anecdotes that it will pay TO
reproduce.
The family government of Kendall pere
was severe. The children were dutifully
hOgged according to Solomon and the West
minister catechism. When Amos was a
little hoy violin was an abOmination to
his father and mother as an agent OF the
ungodly. His eldest brother, who had
quite a taste for music, having constructed
a bass-viOl or two, determined to try his
hand upon a fiddle, and produced a very
good instrument Not daring to bring it to
the house, he hid it in cOOper's shop not
far distant. His father, hunting there one
day, mounted bench, so that his head was
raised above the beams Of the shop, and his
eyes fell on the unlucky fiddle. He took it
By the neck, apOstrOphised it angrily, and
| dashed it into the fire. Being on visit to
his parents about thirty ears afterward,
Amos went TO meeting in Dunstable on Sun
DAY, and there sat his father in the deacOn's
seat, and there was fiddle in the choir.
A conspicuous objection to the book is
that il makes out Amos to have been pre-
ternaturally good boy, and most Of the IL
lustratiOns of his infant excellence were
obviously furnished by himself Much OF
the diary is trivial and pUerile, thai portion
which narrates the circumstances of his
residing as tutor in the family Of Clay, III
Kentucky, being quite unworthy of type.
The following tells about what Amos did
when he was a boy:
So sober and thoughtful was Amos when
little boy that he was generally called
"the Deacon" Though often praised for
his scholarship, he was as ditfident and
bashful as any girl. This peculiarly was
no doubt natural; but i'll alter life he at
tTibuted it chiefly to a singular incident
which occurred when he was little boy.
Though Dunstable was more than thirty
miles from the sea, tales of money buried
in that region by pirates, particularly by
one Captain Kidd, we're current among the
population, ana generally credited. The
money was supposed to be in iron pots, I'M
der the special charge of the devil, who,
though he could not harm those who might
dig for it, would employ all sorts OF noises
and terrifying appaTitiOns to scare them
away, and not succeeding would turn
the money into something else. In this
shift, however, his internal majesty might
be baf1ed by laying upon the transmitted
money Bible and an open penknife, under
the influence of which it would, in the
course of few days, resume its original
character. One of Amos elder brothers
was full believer in these tales, and the
boys of the neighbOrhOOd entered into a
conspiracy to test lis courage. They filled
two small iron pots with blacksmiths' Gin
ders, and buried them under large white
pine tree in the midst of dense wood. One
of the boys was then commissioned to nUtl-
fy the destined victim that the money was
buried in that spot, and propose that they
two should go in the nght and dig it, Ar
were made, and in the middle
of a dark night, rendered darker by the
surrounding forests, the boys repaired with
lanterns and tools to the designated spot
and began operations. They had not pro-
ceeded far before strange noises were heard
in the bushes around them ); dogs barked,
cats mewed, sheep bleated, cows lowed ana
horses neighed. The diggers came to big
root Of the white pine, which they began to
cut away. The noises redOubled, accom-
panied by the blowing Oftrumpets and 9TH
or alarming sounds. Under the big root
they came upon a large black snake lying
upon a fiat stone, which the companion Of
young Kendall pretended to kill. At this
sage the DOises became terrific; dogs hOwled,
cats yelled, cattle beloved, women scream
ed, and bang went guns over their heads
in the pine tree and among the surround
ing bushes. Though his companion pre-
tended to be much terrified, the brave boy,
who believed it all to be the work Of the
devil, nothing daunted, hauled out the black
snake, and turning up the stone on which it
was deposited, came upon the eagerly
sought treasures; but the devil had trans
muted the gold and the silver into common
blacksmith's cinders. As this was not un-
expected, the boys lugged the pots home
and deposited them in young Kendalls
chamber, placing upon the cinders in each
a Bible and an open penknife. The Deacon
Kendall found them in few days, and af
terW ard pitched them out of the window.