Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-28

daughter of an Argyll Highlander and
gunsmith named Ian Macduff, who had
come down to DumfrieS from Inverary
She added to the family income through
her employment as helper and lady's
maid to Mrs. Robert Craik.
John Paul, jr., was the youngest of
five surviving children. Of these, three
were girls. His only brother, William,
came to Fredericksburg, Va, in the
wave of the Scottish immigration that
followed Culloden, and died there, leav-
ing a will in which there was no men
ton of his brother John Paul.
1t is an odd fact that the birth of
neither Of the two sons is recorded.
There was something queer in the
relations between the other members of
the family and the little John. Was it
because he believed his veins contained
a. different blood from theirs and q
superior one? Thomas Chase of Mar
thas Vineyard, Mass, who sailed on one
of Jones ships, has left behind me-
nnoir in which he mentions his captains
belief that he was the son of the Earl
of Selkirk. If this be true, it explains
much regarding Jones' repeated use in
his letters of the word gentleman" his
occasionally naughty attitudes, and his
subsequent relations with the Selkirk
family.
All that is known about his childhood
is that he played freely about the shores
OF Solway Firth, sometimes crossing in
flShermen'S boats to the English town of
Whitehaven, and that he was in time
sent to school by his Presbyterian
parents.
A T the age of IL or IA came his first
thrilling experience "Since his
earliest boyhood," he afterward wrote,
America had been the country of his
fond prediction" He now got chance
to visit his fairlyland as an apprentice
on the brig Friendship The ship be-
longed to James Younger, Whitehaven
merchant and overseas trader. 1t car
ried young John and his thirsty eyes to
the famed shores of the Rappahannock
in Virginia. At the head of navigation
here stood the little town of Fredericks-
burg, in which the Rev. Patrick Henry,
uncle of the orator, was rector of the
Church of England, and here, at the
Rising Sun Tavern, the very young Col.
George washington, whose family lived
across the river, often came to take, be-
tween discussions of the detested stamp
act, his customary beating at cards.
Here William Paul had already estab-
lished himself as tailor and bought a
half acre of ground, for which he paid
f120. Fredericksburg was in Colonial
days an important market town and cul-
tural center, having inhabitants of some
wealth, taste and leisure. 1t had few
manufactures and throve upon a grow
ing trade with England and with other
American colonies. Wagon trains,
miles in length, loaded with grain, were
frequently seen approaching it from the
mountains, merchant ships anchored at
Its wharf to purchase flour and other
products, and sea captains and sailors
moved constantly through its streets"
Nearby were the iron mines fostered
by Gov. Spottswood, and it was here
that Col Fielding Lewis, husband of
George Washington's only sister, Betty,
built a gunnery that supplied small
arms to the Continental armies during
the Revolutionary War.
In the course of numerous voyages to
America and the West Indies, John Paul
gained the experience and sharpened the
ability that caused his promotion to a
mates berth, though he was still in his
teens: On Younger's retirement from
the shipping trade, John Paul seems to
have obtained an acting midshipman's
warrant in the British navy, apparently
through the influence of the Duke of
Queensbury who happened to notice the
vigorous youth when visiting Lord Sell
kirk at Saint Marys Isle.
Young Paups stay in the Royal Navy
was brief, but there exists no record to
show how and why he left 1t.
He next received an interest in the
slave ship King George, which made two
voyages between Jamaica and the
Guinea Coast. He then transferred
himself to another slave ship the Two
Friends, as first mate, when he was
about 10 years old. He remained in the
slave trade about two years, and then
quit 1t abruptly, either In disgust at its
enorm1t1es or because Of poor health.
Being without employment, he then
went on the stage, Joining the company
OF John Moody, the Irish actor, playing
the island Of Jamaica. John Paul's role
was that of young Bevil in 1.-THE Con-
scious Lovers" He was Just 81 years
old. His training as an actor, though |
not extensive, no doubt proved valuable |
to him in later years. 1t strengthened
his latent histrionic gifts, taught him the |
use OF his body and voice, enabled him |
to face crowds with equanimity, and !
gave him that for which he was after |
wards to become acknowledgements"
In later years his acquaintance used to |
wonder where this gardeners son ac-
quired his distinct speech and easy self
Jamaican stage experience Is probably
the answer.
HAVING earned enough as an actor
to pay his passage back to Scot
land, he boarded the Scottish-owned !
John, sailing for Ktrkcudhright. On