The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1885-10-07
THE MOON MAN"
"reminiscences Of Shadrack Nugent Aged One
Hundred and Twenty-Five.
Man Who Talked With Every President
Except Cleveland.
New York Herald. !

and documents show it." said Shadrack Nu-
gent, the centenarian, to the Herald CORE
spondent yesterday. Shadrack Nugent is a
light-skinned mulatto, who has lived in this
city since the war of 1872 He was born. he
says in 176o, in Frederick County, Mary
land, near the present town OF Frederick
He owns a couple of houses, and is rather
well provided for. He is universally re-
spected by both white and colored. and is a
steady church-goer. He uses a cane only
when he goes out at night, and while rather
shaky he walks well enough for man half
his age, whatever it is. He can not read or
write, though he sticks carefully to dates.
and seldom gets mixed up in his reminis-
cences. He is known as the '.Aioon Man,
for the reason that he has devoted many
years to observations of the moon and the
relation of the moon to the changes of the
weather. For number of wears he sold on
the streets a collection of rhymes on the
weather, by which, it is said, IL careful at
tention was paid to them, any one could, in
four cases out OF five, fOretell the changes in
the weather. OF late years Shadrack has sell
dom gone very far from his home, which is
Oh NJ street. between Twentv-second and
Twenty-third. The sight of one eye has
gone entirely though the other is nearly as
good as it ever was. He has never worn any
beard on his face, shaving almost every dav
His hair is somewhat longer than most col
ored people have. 1t is pure white and but
little kinked. He talks remarkably well,
though he has lost most of his front teeth,
and delights in talking of King Georges
days and what he heard about them in his
boyhood days.
HISTORIC MEMORIES
Il have seen all the Presidents since James
Madison, and have talked with all except
President Cleveland. / am going down to
see him soon. | saw Mr.. Madison when ne
had to drive away from the White House
when the British burned it in 1S1i-tO keep
from being captured. / also saw him when
he returned to il after it was fixed up and
painted white. 1t is a white house now. but
1t was not one then. 1t was more yellow
sandstone color than anything else. All of
the front was BACKED up by the smoke when
il was burned. That's the reason they paint
ed it. Before that it was the same color of
the Treasury portico, and was built out of
the same quarry OF sandstone. | have about
proved my case, and will soon get my pen
sion as a soldier in the Revolutionary War,
though | wasn't soldier, only body ser
want One of the newspapers said some
years ago that was the body servant OF Cen
eTal Washington. President Lincoln called
to see me once, and told me about it being
in the papers, but was not. was the body
servant of Lieutenant George Graf. | never
saw General Washington that know Of
Lieutenant Graft came to Rockville,
Montgomery County, Nd, and bought farm
in the year 17Sl. The courthouse records
will show that. | was free the year after.
having been bound TO him / was freed
when was twenty-one years old. My mother
first gave me when i was six or seven years
old to Mrs. Caterer to raise. Mrs. Caterer was
poor woman, but she promised she would
raise me so rs to play with her children.
-Four or five years afterward it was fixed up
that | was to he sold to a Georgia planter.
He was going to kidnap me. The plan was
that should be sent out to shut the gate at
night and this Georgia man was to catch
me- L told about it. and Mr.. George Graft
laid an injunction OH her to keep her from
selling me. The judge then bound me 10
George Graft till I was of age. Mr.. Graft was
rich man. My free papers are recorded at
the Montgomery County courthouse, but
have lost them
TIRE wAR FOR INDEPENDENCE.
''There was no voting in Montgomery
county when we moved in from Fred erick.
The first voting was when Gen. Washington
was elected President. In 1874 we camped
on Federal Hill, Baltimore. We expected
Lord CORVALLIS. We were there four months.
There were no houses there then. Capt.
Stiner, Lieut.. George Graf and Lieut.. James
Mcpherson were the first officers of the first
artillery company that had cannons IN Fred
erick. There were no bands of music then,
only drums and iifes. This artillery compa-
ny ordered TO Baltimore to guard the
place. Some of the other artillery went to
Yorktown. The officers did not charge for
| their services. They volunteered free, though
the priyates got IS per month. Ii was a
young man ] would not be body-servant
again, for body-servant Is in as much dan
ger as a soldier or an officer. Lieut.. Graft
gave me orders that when he beckoned 10 me
! to bring his canteen and whisky and to give
him dril X, and to keep my eyes on him
when his men were loading and firing. He
said il | did not come he would shoot me on
the spot and if he got shot / was to take him
| to his tent and take ali his things and silver
| TO my mistress, who was his wife. Admiral
| Porter showed me one day ten years ago
/ map of Federal Hill, and pointed out where
we were camped. He said his grandfather
was camped there the same time we were, but
did not know him.
I'm the war of 1912 was living at Brook
| VILE twenty miles from Washington, with
| the Quakers The first war / remember was
| Braddocks war with the Indians; the second
was foreign war with King George and the
French; the third, General Washington's
war; the fourth was the war of 1872: the fifth
was the Florida war; the sixth was the Mex
lean war, and the seventh was General
| Grants war.
Lieutenant Graft and myself were not in
| General Washington's war, but the second
year after the surrender of Lord CORVALLIS
| we were ordered to Baltimore to do picket
| duty. / remember, in the town of Freder-
| lex, when the authorities were enlisting men
| for the old Revolutionary war-General
Washington's war. That was over 100 years
ago."
| NOT MUCH OF A SMOKER
| Getting off the subject of war, the old man
said 81 smoked when l was boy and for
some time after grew up, but was never
| much OF a smoker. ! never chewed tobacco
because / was not allowed TO. Mr.. Graft said
| it did not look good for boy to chew, and
| did not chew. He chewed, and the rulfles
| of his shirt were dirty all the time with to-
bacco juice. l believe that was the reason
he opposed my chewing Yes, have drank
some liquor in my life, but very little. l
haven't touched a drop of any kind OF
| LIQUOR since General Lafayette came to this
| country. was awful DRINK the night he
arrived, but after that no more. My ex-
| perience has been, with white and coiored
| people, that liquor causes more trouble than
| everything else put together Light suppers
| even IL late don't do any one harm. but /