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POST: civilwarscholars.com/?p=14140 words 1838
1_Wheat_Reaped_Rewards
2_Families_Formed
3_Title_Creative_Congressmen
4_Chapter_3_Henry
5_Bedinger
Chapter 3: Henry Bedinger and Alec Boteler –
5_Bedinger
6_The_Creative_Congressmen
The Creative Congressmen
7_Alex_Boteler_who_had_inherited_Fountain
Alexander “Alec” Boteler who had inherited Fountain
8_Rock, married Helen Stockton
Rock, married Elizabeth Stockton and they had Helen (“Tippie”), Charlotte (“Lottie”),
9_Elizabeth called Lizzie and
Elizabeth (“Lizzie”), and
10_ and Alec Junior
Alec Junior.
11_ preceding Boteler as the area’s Congressman
Preceding Boteler as the area’s Congressman in Washington, was Henry Bedinger who
12_who_met_Carrie
met Caroline (“Carrie”) Lawrence, the daughter of a fellow Congressmen who,
13_only_when_he_found_the_forces_of_love_unstoppable
only when he found the forces of love unstoppable, consented to the pact.
14_Before_the_Bedingers_accepted
Before the Bedingers accepted the honorable adventure of setting sail for Denmark and Bedinger being our first ambassador there for most of the 1850s, the two young fathers and husbands were friends,
15_both young lawyers with families
both young lawyers with families. Each also had a strong penchant for art – for Henry poetry,
16_for Alec drawing and painting
for Alec drawing and painting.
17_Alec’s love of drawing and art is not surprising
Alec’s love of drawing and art is not surprising given he was the great-grandson on his mother’s side to
18_Charles_Willson_Peale_who_painted_General_Washington
Charles Willson Peale, the leading portrait painter in early America, who painted General Washington.
Boteler himself would write:
Drawing is my great delight. If I could have my way. I would have been an artist.
19_but my father would whip me if he ever saw me painting anything
But my father threatened to whip me if he ever saw me painting anything. I was descended from a family of painters and my father wanted me to stick to something more material.
20_and when my house was burned down during the war
When my house was burned down during the war it contained some excellent specimens of the Peales, which were heirlooms there. Among other paintings was one representing the artist, to whom my great-grandmother’s
21_picture is being shown on the easel by my grandmother
picture is being shown on the easel by my grandmother, while she also seeks to steal away the painter’s brush.
22_While a student at Princeton Boteler’s passion for drawing
While a student at Princeton Boteler’s passion for drawing
23_surfaced in fantastic irrepressible ways.
surfaced in fantastic irrepressible ways. His daughter,
24_Tippie Boteler much later wrote
Tippie Boteler much later wrote:
While his future wife was en route to Princeton in a carriage she heard of this Alec Boteler. The story she heard of her (future) husband was that
25_he had thrown a farmer into the water to copy his expression of terror
he had thrown a farmer into the water to copy his expression of terror and that the man accidentally drowned; and the young student never recovering from his remorse, had become a gloomy, morose and changed man!
26_One afternoon soon after his arrival at college
One afternoon soon after his arrival at college, in passing a large brick house, he noticed outlined
27_against the window the profile of a beautiful girl
against the window the profile of a beautiful girl who was evidently intent upon reading.
28_He quickly drew out his pencil and sketchbook
He quickly drew out his pencil and sketchbook and made rapid outlines.
29_On getting back to the college, he finished it
On getting back to the college, he finished it and showed it to a fellow student
30_in triumph as the prettiest girl he had ever seen
in triumph as the prettiest girl he had ever seen. “Why,
31_that is Miss Helen Stockton!” exclaimed his friend
that is Miss Helen Stockton!” exclaimed his friend, who was
32_A. S. Dandridge, who lived in Jefferson County
A. S. Dandridge, who lived in Jefferson County and would own the Bower. “If you think she is up to your standard, I’ll take you to see her tomorrow night!” But Alec Boteler’s
33_meeting Helen Stockton inspired him out of the gloom
meeting Helen Stockton inspired him out of the gloom his absurd behavior had wrought.
34_Once married and with responsibilities
Once married and with responsibilities settling on their dreamy shoulders, Alec would love getting together with his creative friend and forever treasure their times together with the wives and children elsewhere.
35_Henry Bedinger was home
Henry Bedinger was home at his ancestral home at Bedford nearby and just outside Shepherdstown around 1851 when he tossed off a limerick to his neighbor over the hill at Fountain Rock.
36_The invitation, inspired by his recent readings of Robert Burns, went
The invitation, inspired by his recent readings of Robert Burns, went:
17_Eastman_Johnson_self_portrait_1860
My wife’s awa;’ my wife’s awa’,
Na mair she can me tease;
She’s gan til her father an’ mither an’ a’,
And I can do as I please.
So if you’re in for a night of joy,
And gin grat fun ye wad see,
Just don your plaidie my merry boy,
And o’er the meadow to me.
A wee bit room in eastern wing,
A ceiling so love and snug,
A cheerfu’ bleeze in the chimney neuk
And ablains a bit of a jug.
A bit of jug wi’ the barley bree,
A jest and merry sang,
And twa, thra friends what helping me
To push the hours along.
The wind may roar an’ the rain may fa’,
My wife’s awa’, my wife’s awa’;
Na mair she can me tease,
She’s gan til her father an’ mither an’ a’,
An’ we can do as we please.
37_After serving in Congress for four years
After serving in Congress for four years,
38_ Henry Bedinger left with his family for Denmark
Henry Bedinger left with his family for Denmark. Boteler,
39_a_self_admitted_novice_at_business
a self-admitted novice at business who pleaded with his uncle to not be given the responsibility of running his father’s prosperous cement mill along the river upon his father’s death,
40_had a costly miscalculation. In 1852, a business calamity overtook Alexander Boteler
had a costly miscalculation. In 1852, a business calamity overtook Alexander Boteler in the failure of Willoughby R. Webb, a merchant of Shepherdstown, who built his woolen mill on the site of today’s Blue Moon Cafe with thirty employees and upon whose notes he had placed his name because of his friendship for Mr. Webb. He was thus called upon
41_to pay nearly twenty thousand dollars, a large part of it his wife’s money
to pay nearly twenty thousand dollars, a large part of it his wife’s money, her father having left her considerable property. That woe may have propelled him into the field of elected office with a steady salary,
42_serving in Bedinger’s old Congressional seat from early 1859 until just before war
serving in Bedinger’s old Congressional seat from early 1859 until just before war broke out. In 1856, Congress had voted its first annual salary of $3,000.
43_Artist/Congressman Boteler created a cartoon of Charles Harper’s home
Artist/Congressman Boteler created a cartoon of Charles Harper’s home and apothecary shop, still looking much the same adjacent on the eastern side of McMurran Hall on German Street. Sensing dark times ahead,
44_Boteler added as its caption, the ominous words from Shakespeare’s Henry VI
Boteler added as its caption, the ominous words from Shakespeare’s Henry VI: “Heavy looks foretell some dreadful story hanging on thy tongue.”
45_In November, 1858, Ambassador Henry Bedinger finally returned home to Carrie
In November, 1858, Ambassador Henry Bedinger finally returned home to Carrie and their three children
46_who came back from Denmark two years earlier.
who came back from Denmark two years earlier. Carrie disliked the card-playing of even the Episcopalian priest in Denmark.
47_Henry was a favorite to King Frederick VII
Henry was a favorite to King Frederick VII and
48_and many a late evening an excessively homely and sensitive man would materialize from the shadows
many a late evening an excessively homely and sensitive man would materialize from the shadows looking for Henry for a chess game: Hans Christian Anderson, the famed children’s writer.
49_Carrie and the children marvelled
Carrie and the children marveled that the widespread Christmas custom they brought back from Europe – a decorated tree – was a completely new notion both in Long Island and Shepherdstown.
50_The custom “caught on” in Europe when Prince Albert and Queen Victoria
The custom “caught on” in Europe when Prince Albert and Queen Victoria had one. Fighting his homesickness,
51_Henry Bedinger wrote a long Shepherdstown-smitten poem to John Boroff
Henry Bedinger wrote a long Shepherdstown-smitten poem to John Boroff, a blacksmith with a shop at the Washington and Princess Street intersection:
52_“To My Good Old Friend, Mr. John Boroff, of Shepherdstown, Virginia by the Exile.
“To My Good Old Friend, Mr. John Boroff, of Shepherdstown, Virginia by the Exile.
I am walking on a Sandy Shore, hard by the Sound Sea,
And, to save me, John, I cannot tell why I should think of thee.
And yet, throughout this lengthened day, thy friendly face will come
To fill my soul with memories of happier hours and HOME.
Go where I will, do what I may, I cannot fail to hear
The roaring of thy furnace and thy hammer ringing clear.
What art thou forging now, John, that echoes such as those
Should cross the broad Atlantic from the thunder of thy blows?
My mind has run away, John, and all that I can do
Cannot coax it to come back again from Shepherdstown and you.
It is playing with those marbles, it is spinning the same top.
That often in your absence, John, I’ve spun within your shop.
Does the coulter of the plowman demand the glowing fire,
Or do thy sturdy strokes descend upon the wagon’s tire?
Art thou forming for the woodman’s axe an edge of perfect proof?
Or striking from the solid anvil strong shoes for horse’s hoof?
I know not and I cannot guess, but this I say to thee,
I would give a very pretty gift could I be there to see.
For I must confess the honest truth – my mind has run away
As limber legged Bill Russell did from you one sunny day.
It is wrestling with your prentice boy and tripping up his heels,
And shouting with a merry shout to find how cheap he feels.
It is moulding bullets at your forge, and yet with watchful eyes.
Lest your too sudden entrance should take it by surprise.
And when, with ears all wide awake, it hears your heavy stride.
Although the door is much too near, the window opens wide,
And with a bound away it goes, still leaving you to guess
What evil spirit could have left your tools in such a mess.
Homecoming, then tragedy:
53_In November, 1858, Henry Bedinger had indeed come home to Shepherdstown and his family to great joy
In November, 1858, Henry Bedinger had indeed come home to Shepherdstown and his family to great joy.
54_Homecoming – Then Tragedy
Homecoming – Then Tragedy
55_His daughter Mary watched from a window
His daughter, Mary, watched from a window from their home at the southwest corner of Princess and German Street.
56_In the center of the street that November night in 1858 was a huge bonfire, and her father’s joyous speechifying face shone. In the center of the street that November night in 1858 was a huge bonfire, and her father’s joyous speechifying face shone in the hot blaze making them cheer more and more. Then, eight-year-old Mary noticed the
57_the adults in their house had become silent, huddled.
adults in their house had become silent, huddled. Their father came home and,
58_and a great blow – suddenly was “called home.”
and a great blow – suddenly was “called home.” Pneumonia took him. And Carrie
59_sold Henry’s share of his ancestral home of Bedford
sold Henry’s share of his ancestral home of Bedford back to his sister, Henrietta and
60_her husband Edmund Lee, (a first cousin of the general, Robert E. Lee)
her husband Edmund Lee, (a first cousin of the general, Robert E. Lee). Carrie then
61_used the money to build a new, more modest home near town
used the money to build a new, more modest home near town Carrie named Poplar Grove. Carrie purchased the farm from Daniel Morgan’s heirs with a brick house in the middle of a grove of great oaks and poplars.
62_She built an addition to the old house with woodwork of black walnut so common in those days
She built an addition to the old house with woodwork of black walnut so common in those days, and there she took her young family
63_just before the storm of the war between the states took over their land
just before the storm of the war between the states took over their land.
64_The Bedingers’ writing genes
The Bedingers’ writing genes continued to create through Henry and Carrie’s children. Henry’s gifted youngest daughter, Caroline Bedinger, nicknamed “Danske,” was already a prodigious writing talent and even shared editing preferences in her poems with Mr. Boteler. Danske’s daughter, Serena, wrote in later years:
65_The Bedinger children seemed to have taken to writing books as ducks like to water
The Bedinger children seemed to have taken to writing books as ducks like to water. They all complained that paper was too scarce and too “hard to write on,” but they utilized every scrap that came to them.
66_Danske’s foil was poetry with a few romantic stories
Danske’s foil was poetry with a few romantic stories for good measure.
67_Mary’s (nicknamed “Minnie-), I’m told, was fairy tales
Mary’s (nicknamed “Minnie:), I’m told, was fairy tales, with which she could enthrall her younger brother and sister.
68_Of little Danske it can be said “the ink was in the baby. she was born to write a book”
Of little Danske it can be said “the ink was in the baby. she was born to write a book” and she was. It was not long out of the cradle before she began to wield her pen. As she presented a book of original poetry, “A Present” to Hon. A. R. Boteler with a note in the book saying that he must excuse the writing, as the paper was hard to write on, and compared to Shakespeare and Milton were not so good either – another note calls attention to the fact that the “thee”‘s and “thou”‘s are customarily used instead of “you”‘s in poetry, and apologizes for a few “you’s that had slipped in.
CREDITS:
Chapter 3 – Thy Will Be Done by Jim Surkamp – Tippie Boteler & the 3 Burnings
With support from American Public University System (apus.edu). (The sentiments in this production do not in any way reflect modern-day policies of APUS).
Special thanks to: Ms. Leslie Keller
of the Boteler/Pendleton families
Music by Cam Millar
(cammillar.com)
Acoustic music arranged and performed by
Shana Aisenberg (shanasongs.com)
Gary Van Slyke – tin whistle
Actors:
Ardyth Gilbertson
Jim Surkamp
Major sources:
civilwarscholars.com
The Boteler/Dandridge Collection – Duke University
"Memories" by Mary Bedinger Mitchell
(Shepherd University Library)
