The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-06-26
ANCIENT BLOOMFIELD
Mammoths and Witeheraft
Abounded There One Hun
dred Years Ago.

Sunday Call, and while there passed
through all manner of tribulations. lie
was a strange character, was Wilson, a
man of many parts and one given up tc
moods. Through the kindness of a New
ark gentleman who has in his library a
number of books which tell of Wilson'S
experiences in this country, a Call man
has been able to learn considerable about
the ornithologist's life and particularly OF
his life in Bloomfield. 1t is perhaps as
well to say in beginning that Wilson
found little in Bloomfield to please him
although it is perhaps equally as clear
that this state of affairs vas more
Wilson'S fault than that of the people
among whom he was thrown. He came
to the town Disguised with the country
and pretty thoroughly discouraged, ana
doubtless everything that he looked at
was ashen gray. 1t would lave mace
no difference where he was If away from
the banks and braes of his bonnie SCOT
land, everything was bound to appear
stale, fiat and Improbable. He piodded
his way into Bloomfield early in July,
1891, when the little town must have
looked wellnigh its prettiest, but having
determined not to like it even before ne
set ewes upon it, it is not strange he
succeeded.
Wilson was the author of the "Ameri-
can ORTHODOXY" the first reliable book
on the birds of this country ever pup
lished. Had it not been for New Jersey
II is probable he would never have been
known to fame, for it was while walk
ing about this State that he first got ms
| idea for this work. 1t sometimes happens
that the very places and things that one
| loathes prove later sources OF genuine
profit and comfort. It was so in wilson 5
| case. and in his later days he must nave
| regretted the harsh nings he wrote IN
his letters about New Jersey and its
people.
wilson was born in Paisley, Scotland
j., ,7ss the son of a respectable gauze
| weaver. AT the age of 10 he became ap-
prenticed to a weave and three years
| later, became a journeyman TO ms ialAei'
| He used to steal away from hls Wofh
| and ramble about the fields, for from the
| beginning he was in love WITH n@ta anGd
He was of a -taciturn disposition, aila
worked in a two-locm room dVr Tho
time with a man named Brodle, ~Io
afterward became a ceieprnteu scrhomaa
master. 1t actually TOOK Nllson 81
| weeks to get up courage enough 70 ~
| low himself to enter into a convefsdtlom
| with his companion; but when Lhey go5
Sro9ke many a thread while discussing
| Virgil. Saliust. and other of the LATIN
| authors. The conversation seenhsu bi 10
| still in his teens he gave up ms looI1,
| got together a pack of silks, musnns,
| etc, n started out as a pedlar, traugl-
and auS had to hunt long before he could
| find a publisher, and when ne qiu h9
| verses prove a financial failure. - H tS Pc Pc
| came thoroughly out of heart with ms
surroundings, and had to resort to az
| sorts of shifts to keep the breath OF me
in his body. He was one DAY lny s9eq he he
| p hall and found to his disinay Vl1at ne
nossessed but one pair of STOCKINGS,
which were soiled at the top; He wanted
to dance very badly SO ne eh po %eaaters.
mt the stockings on and painted a pan
3nan them. No one at the ball ever ais
| covered the suoterfuge for ,.,unp
| wilson that he determined TO seek ms
| fortune in America. SO he went oach ~
| his loom to earn his passage aa a. bssdd to
took him so long that his FRIENDS ndu e4
| heip him. and he landed on this slde o.
| the Atlantic, in Delaware, IN ai4y, . r.
over. a century, age: F9r the in nseattland
| heard little from him. 1T seemed ina
| ill-iuck and adversely pursued MN az
closely as it had at nome. ne ei
his hand to one thing and anotner, u; a.,
! the time becoming more dlsgustea VIII.
/ his environment. In the year lsW r.
walked from Pennsylvania Md t to Men New
cry. ah pant a journal. in which he did
| NOT hesitate to say all sorts OF unklnd
things about it's people. re foi 4 afhepul let
FER when gives an excellent idea OF his
| feelings at the time; rrrER
A CHARAGgBRIsT}NGs waEk
New Jersey, 18th July, 1871.
saw Dear Sir-If this letter reach you,
it will inform you that I keep y schoo e1 a.
rency. with thirty-fve scholars, ana pay
| twelve shill.ngs per week for ooard; four
shiliings additional for washing ana ioup
n4+1a dsfic1ilt to see just how he made
ends meet, but it is probable the various
| items of expense are eXaggerateu ~ sI III
the condition of the writer's sD.rlts az ,hf
tinel After I parted with Dawson l
left Washington (Pa.) and steerea d9r
New York through a country entaIeiS
bn W. of schools by the way On search
of a position, doubtless); ana N Two
DAYS more reached York. New
York swarms with. newly ilnpdrteo so t1lsIi-
masters. etc, etc. The city is very Sex
", (He then devotes some space 10 as
part Of the country, telling a most lucy, lugu-
hrio,,s tale of how one of their friends,
Milne by name, is in Boston wandeTing
about the streets. insane l r9m apn oIv one
n nndht in New York, and being complete
" run out except three eleven penny DIS
T took the first ScnOOl, lIoAh ~
cess.ty, that I could find. I'VE SIX IL
miles north from Newark and tWelve
miles from New York, in a set OF can't
;ng' preaching, praying, snivel.ng,, lgnor-
ant Presbyterians. They pay their MN
| isfer 250 pounds a year for preachlhg
tWice a week. and their teacher forty
dojlars "a quarter for the most spirit
linking. laborious work, six, l may say
fwelye times weekly. l have no COM
panv. live unknowing and NOV !
| ave lost all relish for this country, any
| if Heaven spare me, | h soon see the
! shores of old Caledonia Dear ora, make
| no engagement tha may bind you for
ever to this unworthy SOL.
"P. S.-Let's contrive a plan 70 ieave
| this country and try old Scotia once more
. WHIT OUR ANCESTORS BORE,
The above gives a falrs idea OF what
| many of the founders OF hlghly re-
| speciable American families Of to-day
| selves to their new environment: oyer
| came the bitter qualms of homeslck-
ness and settled down to make their way
in the new land. To tell the truth,
| thew were adventures, many OF tneHi,
| and while the majority persisted from di-
| sease contracted from exposure, or else
| dragged out of their lives in discomfort
and perjury, a few, by some HAPPY ac-
Hon arrived finally to positions of in1u-
| ence and respect in this community. or
| that. It should be remembered that
| Wilson at the time of writing the above
| letter was only 25 years of age, and Pc
| ing of a fine and sensitive nature, his
hardships caused him no small amount
| of mental torture. In another book
| mother postscript to the above letter
"a = - fo11ovrc.