Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1912-09-20
HISTORIC SWORDS
A Pair That Did Duty at the Bat
tie of Bunker Hill.
ENEMIES IN THAT CONFLICT.


5uiIdins-A Legacy From tho His
torian Prescott and His Wife.
The most impressive memorials OF
the battle Of Bunker Hill are the huge
shaft over in Charlestown and a pair
of swords which hang crossed like a
pair Of clasped hands over the door OF
the building Of the Massachusetts His
torical society.
Both these swords were used in the
heroic duel of June II, 1775, the one by
1he commander of the patriot forces,
the other by the captain of one OF the
British war vessels which bombarded
Charlestown and protected the cross
ing of the English troops. And for
many years these swords. which had
not been beaten into plowshares after
the Scriptural prophecy. but which had
become the symbols of peace neverthe-
less, hung upon the wall of great
American historian whose father was
the son of the American commander
and whose wife was the granddaugh-
ter of the British captain.
1t was to these weapons that Thack-
cray referred in the very first para
graph of his novel THE Virginians."
which reads thus:
ION the library wall of one of the
most famous writers OF America there
hang two crossed swords, which his
relatives wore in the great War of In
dependence. The one sword was gal
Iantly drawn in the service of the
king, and the other was the weapon or
the brave and honored republican SOL
dier. The possessor of the harmless
trophy has earned for himself name
alike honored in his ancestors country
and his own. where genius such as his
has always a peaceful welcome"
william Hickling Prescott. author of
"The Conquest Of Mexico" Ferdinand
and Isabella" and other fascinating
histories, the grandson in his paterna'
line of Colonel William Prescott, who
held the hill against the British grena-
diers and gave the world the first taste
of the valor of the Continentals and
whose wife was the granddaughter of
Captain John Linzee of the royal navy.
who commanded the sloop of war Fal-
con during the battle. was the writer
to whom Thackeray referred.
The only son of Colonel Prescott of
Bunker Hill, named for his father, was
born thirteen years before the battle
was fought in Charlestown. This son
was educated at Harvard. graduating
with the class of 1888. Admitted to the
bar in 1887, he became eminent in his
profession and accumulated fortune
His wife was Catherine Green Hick-
ling, the daughter of q Boston mer-
chant who was afterward consul in the
Azores. The future historian was their
son.
Captain John Lipzee on that April
day in ITS was charged with the duty
of cannonading the rebels and cover
ing the passage of the British soldiers.
The British ships Of war were moored
at various points in front of the
Charlestown peninsula,
Three years after the battle, on Aug.
8, 1878, the Falcon was sunk off
Newport. r. L.. to prevent its capture
by the French feet under Admiral
D'Estaing.
This Captain Linzee's daughter, Han
nah Llnzee, became the wife of one
of the leading merchants of Boston,
Thomas @. Amory. and it was the
daughter of Thomas and Hannah
Amory, Susan Amory, whom William
H. Prescott married. Thus the two
swords came into the possession of one
family.
The historian had a degree of pride
in his ancestry and liked to discourse
upon occasion about these swords. In
this respect he resembled Sir Walter
Scott. The weapons used to hang over
the recess of the great window in his
library used commonly as n reception
room. where they were the more con-
spicuous because of the thousands OF
books, the busts and the pictures by
which they were surrounded. 1t was
from the room of the scholar that these
ancestral memorials were removed to
the quarters of the historical society.
That happened in this wise:
Upon the death of the historian It
was found that the thirteenth item In
his will read thus: THE sword OF
Colonel William Prescott. worn by
him in the battle of Bunker Hill, ]
give to the Massachusetts Historical
society as a curiosity suitable to be
among their collections. and
the sword which belonged to my
wife's grandfather. Captain Linzee OF
the British royal navy. who command
ed one Of the enemy's ships during the
same battle. give to my wife,
When William II. Gardiner on April
IA. 1850. sent a letter to Robert &.
president of the Historical
society, formally conveying the infor-
nation that the swords were to be
come the property of the institution
he said as to the Linzee sword. Mrs
Prescott aud the other heirs OF Cap
tain Llnzee unite in requesting me TO
present at the same time in their be
half the sword Of their ancestor also.
that the two. enriched by all the men,
ories which now belong TO them. may
still hang together on its walls"
The letter read. a cover was re-
moved from a packet on the officers
table. and there were the swords
crossed presumably as they had been
on the library wall and as they are
today Boston Herald.
Courage Is resistance to fear. mas
terv of fear-nOf absence Of fear.