Bridgeton pioneer., 1917-06-21
The Mysterious
Sun Spot
1t Contained an Impor-
tant Message.
By RICHARD MARKLY


one of those imposing colonial edifices
Tor which that state is famous. It
was built during the times when the
southern settlers, requiring laborers ia
work on their tobacco plantations, wers
importing large cargoes of African ne
groes, who were held as slaves. 1t is
Of brick, with large pillars in front,
and, considering its age, is in a re-
markable state of preservation. This
Is because a recent owner has put it
In repair.
Like other houses Of its kind dating
back to the seventeenth century, it
was built out of the proceeds of ne.
groes captured in Africa and sold as
slaves in America. But the slave trade
and its twin brother, piracy, were
not In that day deprecated as they are,
or, rather, would be, today. He who
built the house referred to became one
OF the most prominent men of his time.
Richard Granville was not his name,
but In bringing out the antecedents of
his descendants it is a far safer name
to use than his own. He began life as
sailor, visiting every country where
there was trading to be done, and a
few of his older slaves, who were
house servants and thus enabled the
more readily to become conversant
with bis secrets, handed down a tradi.
ton that their master started his for.
tune in piracy.
Be this as 1t may, up to the middle
Of the last century his descendants did
not deny that much Of his money had
been made in the slave trade. In his
old age his conscience troubled him,
and those who were nearest him said
That he desired to make some repara-
ton for his misdeeds. He had statue
OF himself made Of bronze and set 1t
up on pedestal in bay window of
his library. The left hand rests on an
anchor, and the right holds a sextant-
not mock sextant; a real one, though
not OF brass, but Of the same material
as the statue. He left orders that no
headstOne should mark his grave, and
It was supposed that he intended the
statue as substitute for one At any
rate no one now knows where he is
buried.
Different generations Of his descend
ants discussed the statue and wonder.
ed at the whim which led their progen-
itor to erect it. One thing about it ex-
cited special attention. Every morn
ing the sun, shining in upon it, strikes
the eyepiece of the sextant and, pass
ing through the tube, casts a solar
image on the opposite wall. The track
Of this round spot of light changes
with the season, traversing a slightly
different path each day. There is an
other thing that puzzled the owners of
the Granville estate. The only in
scription on the statue, or, rather, its
pedestal, is the date Of Richard Gran
ville's birth. And not only is the date
given, but the hour and minute
OF all topics connected with the
statue probably the giving Of this mi
mute information was most discussed
No one who saw it could remember
having seen any memorial giving either
the hour and minute of birth or the
hour and minute of a death. But one
generation after another passed away,
and no plausible reason for either the
statue or its singular inscription was
suggested.
During the civil war ElwOod Gran
Vile, the owner Of the estate at that
time, fought for the maintenance of
the system In the Introduction of which
his progenitor took so important part.
Colonel Granville was a religious man
and one Of those who traced authority
for slavery from the Bible. After the
war he returned to his plantation and
began to run 1t anew under the system
that had been born during the struggle.
A few papers that had belonged to
the original Granville were handed
down through his descendants. They
had been preserved time and again by
different persons, but appeared to con-
tain nothing to throw any light on the
puzzles connected with the writer or
receiver. One day Colonel Granville,
while amusing himself with these doc
uments, read a letter from the founder
Of his house to a clergyman, in which
the former said that he would like to
leave at his death fund for the bene-
fit of the negro race in America, but
the time would not come for perhaps
one or two centuries when such be-
quest could be utilized
Probably the statement had been
read hundred times by Richard Gran
ville's descendants without making any
marked impression. But Colonel Gran
Vile read it at time when the negro
slave had been just emancipated and
called, in all the ignorance induced by
his condition, to citizenship The
meaning Of the statement. "The time
would not come for perhaps one or two
centuries" was plain to him. More
than one century had passed and
brought the changed conditions. This
roJ Colopo1 Cronv;l1o who vvoS 90 oor