Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-09
~~1he Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous

England ready to be put in place and
have a~beautiful ripened tint and polish.
Ii is altogether the most interesting piece
of architecture in the village. but has
passed out Of the original owners fam
lily.
The other Porter house was built by
Col. Elisha Porter one year later-that is
in 1114-but only a part OF ii remains.
having been moved back from its original
site to become a wing of a more modern
dwelling. and there they Will show you
the sword of Gen. Burcoyne and tell
YOU the correct story of how 1t came to
be in Hadley.
Col. Elisha Porter commanded a regi-
ment at the battle of Saratoga, witnessed
the surrender of the British. and made
the acqus intance of Burgoyne. They
became fast friends and Col. Porter find
ing Ii necessary TO return TO Old Hadley
on business. invited the British general.
then prisoner on parole to accompany
him. Burgoyne accepted the hospitality
Of his generous foe and remained his
guest for several weeks. Before taking
leave he presented to Mrs. Porter a
souvenir of his visit the sword which he
had surrendered formally to Gen. Gates
al Saratoga. October IL. 1117.
Burgoyne returned to England. was
made commander-in-chief. and being
under parole not to fight against the
coionists was made commander-in-chief
of the British troops in Ireland. In 11S7
he became a member of parliament and
was one of the managers of the celebrated
mpea chment of Warren Hastings. the
first governor general OF India. Burgoyne
was poet. a dramatist and a musician.
He was the author OF several successful
plays and comic opera. His sword has
been handed down from generation to
generation of the Porter family. II is
three-edged rapier with a silver handle
and silver fiigree guard. bearing the
monogram. &c. r." and the motto: "Honi
soft qui maj pense.
Sale of a Patriot Slave.
Eleazar Porter was one of the last Of
the Shareholders of New England He
owned twenty or thirty slaves. and among
them was Joshua Boston, a coal-black
negro of great dignity. gentlemanly man.
ners and unusual mental attachments. He
commanded a company of white mon in
the revolutionary war for several months.
and when he died his funeral was attend
ed with a. much ceremony as IL he had
been a white man OF prominence
There was a great deal of trouble at
Hadley. as there has been in other places.
in taking care Of communicates with
black faces in the village church For
more than a hundred years there had been
slaves in the Connecticut valley. and the
aristocracy who owned them were as
tenacious of the divine right as any plant
er south of Mason and Dixon's line. But
the abolition sentiment was very strong.
MAJ nd bondage were continuous and bitter.
Parson Isaac Chauncey. pastor of the
church. was the owner of seven human
beings and defended a practice which he
believed was justified by the Old Tesla
ment Scriptures. In the early part OF the
revolutionary war he was a Tory. and
Caesar Pruett. one of his slaves. ran
away and enlisted in a company that was
raised al Amherst after the battle OF Lex
ington. At the close OF the war he re-
turned to Hadley and was seized as a
runaway. The Rev Mr. Chauncey having
left the country. the revolutionary hero
was sold at auction to the only bidder.
The records of the town meeting contain
this entry:
Voted that Caesar Pruett be set up at
Nendue to the lowest bidder for Victual-
ling and Beding and was Struck OF TO
Asa Smith. for One Dollar per Week"
Thus. instead of receiving q pension and
a grant OF land. like white soldiers. for
his services in the cause of freedom. old
Caesar spent the remainder of his life in
servitude. and Asa Smith paid 81 a week
into the town treasury as compensation
for his labor. Caesar is buried in the
West cemetery of Amherst, about half
way between that town and Old Hadley.
His sons. Zebulon. Abner. Ishmaei and
George. and his daughters. Eleanor and
Chloe, continued to live in Old Had!ey all
their lives as freemen- Zebulon distin-
guished himself by climbing the steeple
of the old church and fastening In place
the weatnercock which for more than l2J
years has told the people OF Old Hadley
which way the wind was blowing.