The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1875-05-26
MmIlIHnAnmsHERMEN,

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NAD14kHMAW WE1SHEKMEN.
.ss.sssxs ga - <.----.e.naas.
r 1rAen9 - AAnE l1terestlag places
IN We btaeD Vt 4a1kaeA Adsette, none ls
more pictu16e4us1if aaaessltuatlon
aand the pqDnl1aIscharacter OF Its peO-
pie than thANo1a ofsN sNarblehead.
From the infancy of the town, the
alh{e eheAdE 1lrhaxe cast their nete
-1htUeelle 49, shofedvtk11r stouAch
cfaftafas aNabumaia land ON the fish
ing gbanks {1fuYDepk at feast7haH OF
the year on the deep. At the fine OF
tie Tevelgipn II skS4 the se<.Ond town
IN the State Ter sise, numbering at
le4St 64S ahoassAd inAalitanfs. The
standard Of resietapce to British ty-
rainy was raised. and the fishermen
of MarhIehead responded to the call
With = 4teFA eufhHelasm. When q
navy was created THAR tastes found
an autlet of q more eengeniel nature,
but at the outset they were obliged to
serve on land, and no more 6erce and
vafieht hshers were found among the
continental troops than the bronzed
and stalwart recruits who thronged to
the front from the leading fishing
towns OF Massachusetts colony. At
the close of the protracted struggle
more than one-half of the inhabitants
of Marblehead were widows and or
phans. What more eloquent testi-
mony than this could there be to cour-
age and self devotion?
Abner TAFT was man remarkable,
even among his hardy and athletic
townsmen, for gigantic strength and
| courage. traits which shine out in his
descendants, from one of whom the
writer heard remarkable exploit OF
his ancestor. Of more than six feet
in stature, and otherwise herculean
proportions, he was feared and admir-
ed by those who knew him. Though
gentle and kindly in his ordinary
moods, his wrath was terrible when
aroused by insult or injustice, and had
something of that Berserker 6erceness
| which gives such strong coloring to
the songs of the old Morse scalds and
saga-meo. He had been a leader
| among his fellows in the perilous ad-
ventures of the deep and the no less
pressing dangers of the shore.
His fair wife, but a few years mar
ried, idolized her hero, and her heart
beat with terror at each parting,
| though in her, too, burned something
of the fiery spirit which has ever ami
mated the Marblehead women, and
gave occasion for Whittier to write
his picturesque Skipper Ireson' 8
Ride She knew, when he sailed
away the king of the fishing fleet, or
marched to join the continental
armies, that her husband would be in
the fore front of every danger.
The soldier fisherman cannot linger
long in the sweet idleness of home,
and rest in the clingine arms of wife
and babes. There is provision to be
made for the long, hard winter, which
would shut down on them for five
dreary months, and the mackerel-
catching fleet is ready to start. Alb
ner Taft's fishing smack is moored
out in the bay, everything taut and
ready for the two months of spolia-
ton of the deep, and his two hardy
comrades have completed their final
preparations. Let US fancy the scene
Of departure on bright September
morning, as the waves smile and
laugh under the CLINT OF the beams of
the just risen sun. The air Is full OF
perfume-sweet clover, the dainty at
termath OF the upland meadows, the
fragrant breath OF kline, the delicate
scent OF sea weed. and fresh, wet sand
Martha Taft kisses her husband tor
the last time as he leaps IRON the low
jetty at the cliff into his yawl, follow
ed by his men.
Thee must keep. good heart, my
| lass, he shouts, as the oars gllsten IN
| the sun. Well come back again be-
fore thou'st all the apples strung. Its
not like goin of to tight the red
coats.
Martha thinks OF other sadder part
ings, and smiles gayly In return as she
waves her red 'kerchief to the stall
wart fisherman, whose huge figure
looms up IN sharp proportions. as he
stands In his boat. against the level
rays OF the sun, anxious to catch the
| last view OF his wife.
After all, 1t was only as he said, a
short absence. and there was no dan
ger that fisherman daughter, her
sell bred among all the hardy assocla.
tions OF the sea. should dread. Had
she herself not sailed away to the
mackerel grounds, and time after time
been rocked on the bosom OF the
storm and the deep? Far from hel
thoughts was any such mischance as
that which was to inspire her husband
to perform deed, one OF the most re-
markable in the chronicles of the
times.
1t would be worth a special article
to paint IN words, with the same spir'
tied and picturesque touch with which
Norton and De Haas put simllal
scenes on canvas, lIfe on board the
fishing .f1eet Oh the coast OF Maine OF
MASSACHUSETTS. The same now as Il
was lOO years ago, we can easily fancy