The National tribune., 1901-06-13
"LORD" TIMOTHY DEXTER.
An Eccentric Character Of Newburyport,
Mass, in Revolutionary Days.

4 mass, III heVOluLlOuary DAYS.
The old city Of Newburyport has been
blessed with many famous men and
women.
From a book compiled by Samuel
| Knapp in 1855 we learn that Timothy
Dexter was born in Medford, Mass, in
1745. He learned the trade of leather
dresser, and continued in the business af-
ter he became of age. Industrious and
frugal in his habits, he soon accumulated
several thousand dollars. He married a
| woman who was a "huckster," the widow
Of leather dresser, from whom she had
inherited considerable property.
He speculated, in 1889, in Continental
money, at time when it had deprecated.
So confident was he of success that he
used not only all of his own hard-earned
money, but his wife's as well. Ham
ilton's Funding System" proved the wis
dom of his venture and made him 4 rich
man.
Rendered partially insane by his sue
cess, he left his business to dabble in
stock. and met with such success that
in short time he had doubled and then
tripled his money.
Having such wealth he wished to min
gle in polite society. In vain did he make
the attempt in Boston. In Salem he Jared
still worse, and so he drifted to Newbury-
port, at that time the third port in Mas
sachusetts. Landed property was at its
| lowest ebb on account of the merchants
having traded too largely, so many of
| their beautiful homes were for sale. DeX-
ter bought two of these, one of which he
sold at a large profit, the other he fitted
up according to his peculiar fancy.
1t was q beautiful place, situated upon
the upper side of High Street, command
ing fine view of the water. The grounds
were laid out In the most approved style
by artists from France and England.
| AS soon as he had taken possession Of
the estate he caused many minarets to be
| erected upon the roof Of the mansion;
each Of these was tipped with a gilt ball.
The house was then conspicuously paint
ed. 1t was like the change of the ''robes
of a peer to the motley dress of a harle
| quin," but the alterations attracted the
| attention of the country pumpkins, and
| so the owner was more than satisfied with
| his work.
In the garden, which extended several
hundred feet upon the highway, this taste
| less man put columns of 10 feet In hight,
| upon each Of which was placed a colOs-
| sal wooden image. These images included
Indian chiefs, military generals, philOs-
| ophers, politicians, statues, intermixed
with goddesses of fame and liberty. These
were altered TO suit the owners taste.
Gen. Morgan today was changed to Bon
aparte tomorrow, and so on through the
entire list.
So great reverence had he for the
| latter that he always touched his hat as
he passed it by. In front of the door, on
n Roman arch stood Gen. Washington
| in military garb: on his left was Jeffer-
son; on his right, with uncovered head,
was Adams, for he said, mo person
would he suffer to stand upon Washing
| toms right hand with covered head"
Forty figures in all were in this collec-
| ton. The cost of this work Of art" t0
was more than he paid for the entire
place.
After the death OF Lord Dexter, during
the September gale in 1915, many of these
images were thrown to the ground, and
| the rest were sold at auction. The god
dess of fame" brought the highest, 50;
the Travelling Preacher" 30 cents, while
the one of himself, labeled, II am the
greatest man in the East" had no bid
der.
The house was filed with furniture
and hangings imported from France but
they were soon demolished through the
drunken orgies of his associates, which
were so disgraceful that his wife was
rarely at home.
On the walls were hung pictures which
were brought from Holland and France
for his selection. He chose the daubs,
and not until the names of celebrated
artists were painted in were the good ones
taken. His library was bought for the
bindings, which were defaced at will. His
carriage had his coat-of-arms painted upon
it with the Baronial supporters, stolen
from the Peerage, according to the die
tates Of his taste. This was drawn by
span of cream-colored horses.
His only son was not overburdened with
brains. He was sent to fashionable
boarding school, where he bribed the boys
to learn his lessons and screen him from
insults. The enormous sum spent while
there convinced his father that his edu-
cation must be of the best.
Upon his return home he found that
Lord Dexter, tired of idleness. was en-
gagged in mercantile life, as he found it
was the occupation of many wealthy men.
The worthless son overperSuaded his
father to send him as supercargo on one
OF his vessels, and he succeeded in squan-
dering the entire amount received for the
cargo at the gambling tab'e. Upon his
return he lived in a perpetual quarrel
with his father, and finally died, regret
ted by no one.
The only daughter. giggiing belle of
more than ordinary beauty, was married
to grave student in need of money: but
as the father was not liberal in his al
lowance. disagreement occurred, which re-
suited in her becoming incorporate, and
ended in a divorce. The husband retained
the child. She was supported by her
father until her decease, several years
later.
Meanwhile every venture of Lord Dex-
ter was successful and his wealth in
creased. Warming-pans sent by him to
the West Indies proved a success, the
covers being used as skimmers and the
pans for ladies. Whalebone was bought
by the ton. This caused a rise, giving
him monopoly. His speculation in
opium was successful, and at last shrewd
merchants grew suspicious of selling to
him, lest eventually it should cause their
ruin.
He purchased an elegant estate in Ches-
ter, n. H.. and proclaimed himself "King
of Chester" but the inhabitants. disgust
ed with his actions. hOrsewhipped him
and drove him from the town.
His one ambition was to move among
the aristocracy of Newburyport and. al
though he was surrounded by every lux
ury, he was unsuccessful in this at
tempt. His desire to become Lord was
accomplished by his giving himself this
title and insisting upon its use.
Wishing to obtain renown as a writer,
he composed book, called "a Pickle for
the Knowing Ones" in which he defied
every known rule in orthography and
punctuation. The periods and stops were
omitted, but the last two pages were
filed with them, with the request that
the reader would "peper and solt it as they
please" The book is now out of print,
but copies are doubtless boarded as curl
osities in many New England households
This papulior man in nrdor hot his