The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-05-11

second largest city in the United States. But the
building and the commanding were not the only
contributions he made to the history of Fort
Dearborn and the beginnings of Chicago He
brought with him a growing family, some of
whose members were destined for renown even
greater than his.
His eldest son, William Whistler, accompanied
him to Chicago as a second lieutenant and
served there throughout the elder Whistler's
term Of service. His eldest daughter, Sarah, was
married in November, 1904, to James Abbott
trader of Detroit, thus becoming Chicago's first
bride Another daughter married Lieut.. Joseph
Hamilton, who also subaltern under
Whistler at Fort Dearborn.
But our chief interest is in toddling child
of three who came with his father to Chicago in
1903. His name was George Washington Whist
Ter. Thus did the ex-British soldier honor the
great commander of the rebels" against whom
he had fought under Burgoyne. Young George
Washington Whistler grew up into sturdy boy
hood along the marshy banks of the Chicago
river and on the sandy shores of Lake Michigan.
He was only ten years old when, as the result
of garrison feud, the War department thought
1t advisable to scatter the officers at Fort Dear
born to various posts in the Middle West and
the boy accompanied his father back to Detroit
And there, two years later young George Wash
ington Whistler probably witnessed the scene
which made his father unique in American-and
perhaps In any other-history
For Capt. John Whistler and his elder son,
Lieut.. William Whistler, were officers in General
HILLS army when that fustered American COM
mander surrendered the fort at Detroit to the
British at the outbreak of the War of 1912, and
tradition says that the captain was so enraged
over the capitulation that he broke his sword
over his knee rather than surrender it to the
enemy. Perhaps it only the shame of a
surrender without firing shot that caused him
to do 1t. Or perhaps it might have been his
realization that he was destined to go down In
history the only British officer who. having
once surrendered to victorious American army,
became in turn an American officer who surren-
dered to a victorious British army.
In due time John Whistler exchanged for
a British prisoner, and the choleric old captain
remained in the American army only until the
close of the war when he was honorably dis
charged. He died September 8, 1929. but he
lived long enough to see his son, William win
some renown as the officer to whom the Winnie
bago chieftain, Red Bird, surrendered in 1927,
thus bringing to close the brief and now al
most-forgotten Winnebago war. William also
served honoraby in the Black Hawk war of 1892
and in 1915 became colonel of the Fourth infan-
try. Incidentally, among other subalterns who
served under him in that regiment during the
Mexican war was a short stocky young ieuten-
ant named Ulysses S. Grant.
to his youngest son, George Washington
Whistler, graduate from West Point at the age
of nineteen and assigned to the artillery branch
But he was not to have the satisfaction of know
ing to what heights his son would rise in another
profession nor to what greater heights this sons
would rise in still another.
While George Washington Whistler was still
cadet at West Point he once visited, while
leave, the home of classmate, William Gibbs
McNeill 1t great brick mansion which
had been built a plantation near the Cape
Fear river in North Carolina before the Revolu-
ton by one Donald McNeill. scion of a Scotch
family that had emigrated to America from the
isle of Skye in 1739 There Cadet Whistler made
the acquaintance of Anna Mathilda Mcneil, the
eldest of family of five children
1t would be pleasant to be able to record the
fact that it was a case of love at first sight for
Cadet whistler and Anna Mcneil. But that Is
doubtful for soon after he was graduated from
West Point he was married, but not to Anna
Mcneil. Shortly afterwards young Whistler was
left widower and early in the '30s he again
met the motherly older sister of his classmate
William Gibbs McNeill and married her. In 1893
Whistler resigned from the army and the next
year to George Washington Whistler and Anna
Mathilda Whistler was born son to whom was
given the name James Abbott McNeill Whistler
thus perpetuating the name of his uncle James
Abbott, the Detroit trader at Fort Dearborn, as
well as his paternal and maternal families, the
McNeills and the Whistlers.
After George Washington Whistler's resigna-
ton from the army he rose to eminence as an
engineer and in 1912 he went to Russia to enter
the service of the in the construction of the
railroad from St Petersburg to Moscow, winning
fer himself from Gar Nicholas the decoration