Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-07-03
RECOLLEC-
Old MRS. cham betIaIn's Story OF
Her Fathei,a AGventures Under
EaEhfnetOn. 4

Glen CoUs Correspond nee Nels York San
8boua he mouth Of the creek here, in
RsVo4uS1narv t,aes many a stirring
scene was enacted, and relics of those
old exciting days still stand, and are
pointed out to visitors as the objects of
interest. The 'oldest inhabitant" here
is rich in memories. She is Mrs.
James s. Carpenter She sits serenely
ia the house of her sons,
stones throw almost from the waters of
the cove, and lives over again, in her
recollections, the early days of the CEN
fury, when she was child and her faith.
er's achievements in the war against the
British invaders were the topics of the
day. Old Mrs. Carpenter loves to tell
her children and her grandchildren Of
the adventures of Poppy" as she fondly
calls her father. To san reporter she
said the other day:
You've heard of the Revolutionary
war;"
eyes"
"Well, I've known and forgotten more
about it than you, young man, will ever
learn. could talk to you all day about
it, but there is one thing / do want TO
tell you about old Poppy. You know
Poppy was Jesse Coles, and he was
about twenty-one years old when he first
went into the war He had charge of
an American guard vessel, the Black
Hawk, and he took prisoner, a boat
loaded with butter and cheese, and ran
up into the harbor hear Boston.
But Poppy was taken prisoner himself,
and was taken to New York. You see,
Poppy was on what you would call the
Democratic side now, and, of course,
you know. he was fighting for his coun-
try. In New York he was put in prison
and chained to the floor for three months
and fed on poison. His sister used to
take food to him every day. An officer
asked her one day why she was there so
much. Is it a sweetheart and she
said. Yes and he said, Then, pretty
maiden, go.
every morning the wagons went
away from the prison filed with the
dead bodies of thepoisoned ones. Poppy
expected to go with them soon. He and
Jack Golden, who was with him, thought
they were to be hanged. But they de-
fled the officers, and told the soldiers
that if they were hanged that night Kitty
Cove would lie in ashes. Then Poppy
and Jack Golden were sentenced to have
five hundred lsshes and be sent aboard a
nlan-of-war They dared the officers to
whip 'em. That pleased the officers so
that they treated EN- to eggnog and gave
'em their parole.
Washington heard of this, and wrote
to Poppy, offering him place as spy in
his army. Poppy used to carry letters
from New York to Doggy Swamp. He
had a big necked bottle hid in the
swamp, which was the post office.
zone day Poppy took a letter for
Washington from Widow Marsh in New
York sewed in the back of his coat. An
officer came aboard aud searched Poppy,
but he didn't find the letter Then he
put Poppy ashore at Cow Neck, and he
had to foot it. ra.a 81, ....i ..-..il .t, 81
Washington was taking dinner a. West
Point with Benedict Arnold when the
letter reached him telling him Arnold
was traitor, Washington said What
does this mean 2 and Arnold tooS his
hat and ran away; and so il was Poppy
saved the country. To the end of the
war Poppy stayed with Washington
but what he suffered l could hardly tell
lit would make your hair stand on
end"
II know this story is true" inter-
rupted Mrs Carpenters daughter. 'for
Eve heard ma tell it a thousand times.
Poppy lies up in the White Plans
buryipg ground" said Mrs Carpenter,
land he hasn't got any monument. l
think he ought to have one as well as
Major Andre. And there's one thing
about Major Andre that I want to set
straight. l see in the papers often that
he was hanged at Tappan. He was
taken to Philip Wiley's whitewood tree,
ON the Tarrytown turnpike, just off the
bridge. near where the academy stands
now I've seen the tree hundred times,
and l always used to shudder when 1
passed It,, 7'Fffff. q 1870 YRS st.i
Mrs Carpenter talked with pride of
her fathers narrow escapes from bis
enemies. and pointed out across the
creek an old house from which he had
once escaped narrowly from pursuit.
Her father died January II. 1889, when
he was 81 years old. abOu' the present age
of his daughter. The old lady's husband,
Mr.. Jesse Carpenter, was a soldier in the
war of 1912. and her sou, Jesse T.. Car
penter, served in the late war in The
Twenty ninth Connecticut Volunteers,
under General Banks, .t.,