The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-01-19
FIGHT OVER A FIGUREIIEAD
AN INCIDENT WHICH TELLS OF
 SOME MAD BOSTON PEOPLE.

Citizen of New Haven, Figures Consplcu-
 ously in the History of "Old lronsides."
 The Laban s. Beecher referred to in
 the appended article from the Ports
 mouth, N. H., Times, was son of
 the late Captain Benjamin Beecher of this city, and will be recalled by many | of our older citizens. He was pupil
 of the late Hezekiah Augur, noted
 sculptor in his day, whose residence
 was the square brown house setting l well back from the southeast corner of 1 Wall and Orange streets, now the site of the residence of Edwin B. Bowditch. l Old Lancasterian school boys will re- | member this house and the statuary
 which stood in the bushes of this yard, | which were allowed to grow without
 trimming. MT. Beecher, after attain
 ing his profession, set out from New | Haven to prosecute the business of
 carving which he had learned, and | brought up in RoXbury, Mass, on the
 22nd of February, (Washington's birth day) which was his home until his death He always said that his ar rival there was announced by the fir ing of cannon and ringing of bells and | that it was annually observed" The writer of this has heard him narrate | the history of the carving of this fig | ure head, spoken of in the article men, | toned. After he had completed it and | it had been placed on the frigate and sawed off, he was importuned to cut an- other but the excitement ran so high he preemptorily refused to do it,notwith-
 standing great inducements were held
 out to him. He said he had filled to the
 letter one contract and would never cut
 another.
 MT. Beecher married in early life
 we'll known New Haven lady, Miss
 Frances Lines. Roxbury, then sub
 urb of Boston, was always their home
 They both reached their three score
 years and ten, loved and lamented,
 leaving four daughters, the eldest of
 whom married the late Honorable Will
 liam Gaston, ex-mayor of Boston and ex-governor of Massachusetts. Anoth- CT married Henry B. Crowel, a promi nent citizen of Boston, and who for many years was one of the governors council of that state. A third married General Henry w. Fuller, who served in the late war; entering the service as colonel of his regiment, and for mer- itorious conduct he was promoted to a generalship. At the close of the war he returned to his practice of law. His high repute and standing at the Massachusetts bar secured him the po- sition of a judge in Norfolk county, Mass, which position he held at the time of his death. The youngest daugh- CT married Henry Merrill esq, one of the chiefs of the editorial staff of the New York World.
 The article from the Portsmouth pa per is as follows:
 The interesting and convincing arti- | cle from the trite pen of "W H. g." which appeared in Monday Times, on why the historic frigate Constitution | should not remain at Portsmouth, men toned briefly therein that the figure | head on Old Ironsides was one night | stolen from it's position. The vandal | act created intense excitement at the | time, and as an important link of the | chain of history attached to this re- markable vessel we herewith give the | facts as culled from an account pre- pared by the late Captain Ben Rich, who was a leading actor in that event: |
 Just after the opening of General | Jackson's second term there arose be- tween his administration and the op- | position spirited war in regard to the United States bank, which institution, | headed by Nicholas Riddle of Pennsyi- | ,io 1oI opponent of the interests of trade. On | the contrary the whigs gave 1t their sanction and support. It was supposed | that Webster's great speech in reply to Hayne, had brought Jackson over to the whig side to such degree that he would favor the whig policy of the U. s. bank.
 To make this more sure Jackson was invited to visit Boston, where an ova- tion was given him, such as was never, up to that date at least. rendered to any other president since the days of Washington. He was not proof against the fattery and had nearly yielded to federal persuasions, when David Henshaw, that old war horse of democracy, averted the intent, and it was discovered soon after Jackson left that he had actually signed the order for the removal of deposits while at his hotel in Boston people can better be imagined than described They sought every way to demonstrate it.
 In 1894, shortly after this supposed overt act the frigate Constitution was hauled into the dry dock al Charles town, Commodore Charles Elliot being at that time in command, and staunch friend and supporter of Jackson. What ever were his motives or reason-and history does not tell them,-he gave an order to La.ban S. Beecher, ship carver, then young man and but short ime in business, who kept at No 8 North Market street, to carve a full fig Ire of Jackson for a fgure-head to be placed on the Constitution.
 The frigate, it will be remembered, | vas a Boston built ship. She was the glory of the old North End, and on her irst voyage was manned mostly by Boston men, The time, the circum- tance and the order all provoked the Boston merchants, and they appointed committee to wait on MT Beecher and l equest him to stop the work.
 Old Captain Ben Rich long. since