A Buss from Lafayette

  It was the color of rubies, the color of garnets, and the color of strawberries.

  “She has hair like my mother’s, Clara. Just as you do,” Mama said softly, as the tiny baby started crying again.

  “Shh, now, shh.” I crooned into baby’s tiny ear. “Ma belle rousse.”

  Mother exclaimed, “Why, Clara! That’s French! Wherever did you learn that?”

  “You will be surprised, Mama. You will be so very surprised, when I tell you.” I smiled and turned back to the baby in my arms. “You know, little one, that you and I have hair of a very special color. Many great heroes of the Revolution were ‘pumpkin heads’ like the two of us: Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington himself, and, of course, General Lafayette.”

  Joss stood up a little straighter. The conversation had taken an unexpected turn and was suddenly of far more interest than a mere newborn sister could be.

  “How on earth do you know that, Clara?” Father raised his eyebrows in surprise.

  I gently laid the baby back in the cradle. “Because General Lafayette told me so himself. By the way, Mother, could you teach me how to embroider like this?”

  I pulled the handkerchief Lafayette had given me out of my pocket and held it up. I could not resist glancing at my family: their mouths were all frozen in astonished Os.

  I leaned over and kissed the baby’s soft cheek.

  “And now, my dear little sister Carrie Rose, ma belle rousse, you have been bussed by someone who has been bussed by Lafayette.”

  THE END

  AFTERWORD

  Without Major General Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, there would be no United States. It is really as simple as that. I wrote this story to give young readers a better idea of who he was and what he did for America.

  Lafayette toured the United States in 1824-25 as the Guest of the Nation (literally: the local governments of the cities and towns he visited paid all his expenses on the trip). He traveled over six thousand miles during the thirteen months of his journey, and he was mobbed by admirers everywhere he went. Although he was in his late sixties when he visited the United States, all accounts show that age had not diminished the power of Lafayette’s excellent mind, nor his high spirits.

  There were many souvenirs sold during that tour, such as fans and gloves, with his face printed on them. Lafayette did think it was funny to kiss his own picture and did sometimes humorously decline to kiss the hands of ladies wearing such gloves. I do not know if he ever refused to shake hands with ladies wearing these gloves, however.

  Lafayette did have to stop from time to time and empty flowers out of his carriage. He always did this in secret, so as not to offend the people who had given them to him. His stop at Brown’s Brook is fictional—as far as I know.

  He also paused on occasion to talk to people he randomly encountered along his route, such as a little girl he saw in her front yard between Concord and Hopkinton, New Hampshire. She gave him a bouquet of roses she had picked herself and recited a poem in his honor.

  The various anecdotes and stories about Lafayette in the American Revolution and on his 1824-25 American tour are as true as anything written about the past can be.

  Historians are still debating whether certain stories of the Revolutionary War actually happened. These include the Oneida/Dragoon confrontation at Barren Hill and the music played (if any) during the British surrender at Yorktown. My characters usually preface their recounting of these stories with “some say,” which was true enough!

  There are many real people who appear or are referred to in this story, including General Lafayette (of course), General Charles Lee, Major William Weeks, Dr. Ebenezer Lerned, Dr. Samuel Flagg, Mr. Joseph Towne, Mr. Amos Parker, Mr. Nathaniel Walker, Captain Brinsley Perkins, Mr. Trueworthy Gilman, Captain Nicholas Gilman, Miss Betsey Eaton, Reverend Roger Hatch, and Elder Joseph Putney.

  Former British officer General Charles Lee did draw up plans for his British captors on how to attack the Americans most effectively. Such plans were discovered in the papers of Howe, the British General, many years later and not made public until 1857. Thus, even well-read Priscilla Hargraves could not have known of it in 1825. That is one of the fictional parts of the story.

  Major William Weeks of Hopkinton was an aidede-camp for Washington and did have the honor of sitting next to Lafayette at the Concord celebration. He had thirteen children, but none named Richard. Dickon is entirely fictional.

  Dr. Ebenezer Lerned was a well-respected doctor in Hopkinton. A graduate of Harvard and Dartmouth, he helped found Hopkinton Academy in 1826. There is a tradition in Hopkinton that he was a friend of Lafayette and that the General stopped at the Lerned home on his way through Hopkinton. Lerned was only thirteen years old or so at the start of the war, however, and I cannot find any reference to him in Revolutionary War records. (There was an Ebenezer Lerned who was a Brigadier General, but this was a much older man and not the good doctor.) On the other hand, Lerned was one of the men who briefly spoke at the Concord dinner for Lafayette.

  Dr. Samuel Flagg actually was an alcoholic who was reputed to dislike children with red hair. Despite all this, many adults held him in esteem as a physician. He could not have afforded a gig, but I gave him an old and rickety one so he could go along with Clara easily.

  Joseph Towne did have a store in Hopkinton Village. The building where it was located has housed a general store since the late 1700s and still does. Now it is called the Cracker Barrel.

  Amos Parker was the young editor of the Statesman newspaper in Concord, New Hampshire. The State governor appointed him as a special aide, so he was officially representing New Hampshire when he rode to Massachusetts with Nathaniel Walker to escort Lafayette to Concord. Parker later wrote a detailed, often humorous, account of what happened.

  Nathaniel Walker was a regular driver of the stagecoach between Boston and Concord, New Hampshire. He did boast to all and sundry that he would be driving Lafayette, and was not happy when the Massachusetts governor interfered with this plan.

  A nameless veteran who was stranded in Boston did hitch a ride with Nathaniel Walker and Amos Parker, and people did mistake him for “The Nation’s Guest”, to Lafayette’s amusement. There is no record of this man coming through Hopkinton or entertaining anyone at Towne’s store with his tale, however.

  Captain Brinsley Perkins did run the Perkins Tavern and command the colorful cavalry unit of New Hampshire militia called The Troop. The story about his overly tall guest is true, or at least he said it was.

  Trueworthy Gilman ran a store in Hopkinton. I do not know if he was actually related to Captain Nicholas Gilman, Jr., who was in charge of tallying the British surrendering at Yorktown. As he shared a surname with Captain Gilman and had an interesting first name, however, I put him in my story. Captain Gilman’s home in Exeter, New Hampshire, is now a museum about the American Revolution called the American Independence Museum. Besides serving in the Revolutionary War, Captain Gilman was also a signer of the Constitution, and later served as a U.S. Senator.

  Miss Betsey Eaton was the schoolmistress at the Hopkinton Village school that summer and reported taking the students to meet Lafayette when he came through the town.

  Reverend Roger Hatch was the minister of the First Church in Hopkinton at this time. He apparently did preach on “Keeping the Sabbath Holy” at least once.

  Elder Joseph Putney was a veteran of Bunker Hill. He was the hospitable innkeeper of the Putney Tavern, serving the “truckers” of the day and dispensing free cider and apples. He sometimes talked about the “terrible times” of the Revolution.

  There actually was something called a Simeon’s Lead Comb that was reputed to be able to turn red hair into black hair. It was only made until 1815, so I fudged a little on this. Maybe Mr. Towne had old ones still in stock.

  Lydia Maria Child’s The Mother’s Book, published a few years after A Buss From Lafayette takes place, stated the idea th
at it was better for a girl’s face to be tanned and freckled than to have her mind tanned and freckled by excessive vanity.

  Before organs were common in churches, amateur musicians played in church services. A bass viol played in the 1820s at First Church services (and possibly at dances at taverns in town) is in the collection at Hopkinton Historical Society. A seraphim was eventually installed in the church, although the orchestral music continued until 1850.

  For further information, please visit http://www.dorotheajensen.com/. In addition, background information on the writing of this story is available at https://www.bublish.com/author/view/5755. Finally, a study guide can be found at http://www.abussfromlafayette.com.

  SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Auricchio, Laura. The Marquis: Lafayette Reconsidered. New York: Knopf, 2014.

  Carson, Gerald. Country Stores in Early New England. Sturbridge, MA: Old Sturbridge Village, 1955.

  Child, Lydia Marie. The Mother’s Book. Bedford, MA: Old Sturbridge Village/Applewood Books, 1992. Originally published in 1831.

  Dooley, Walter Newman. Lafayette in New Hampshire: A Thesis Submitted to the University of New Hampshire for the Degree of Master of Arts. Durham, NH: Unpublished Manuscript, 1941.

  Earle, Alice Morse. Stage-coach and Tavern Days. New York: Macmillan 1900. Gutenberg Ebook, 2011.

  Fennelly, Catherine (editor). Country Stores in Early New England. Sturbridge, MA: Old Sturbridge Village, 1955.

  Fennelly, Catherine (editor). The Garb of Country New Englanders, 1790-1840. Sturbridge, MA: Old Sturbridge Village, 1966.

  Gaines, James R. For Liberty and Glory: Washington, Lafayette, and their Revolutions. New York/London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007.

  Garvin, Donna-Belle and James L. On the Road North of Boston: New Hampshire Taverns and Turnpikes 1700-1900. Concord, NH: New Hampshire Historical Society, 1988.

  Grimble, Frances (translator and editor). The Lady’s Stratagem, A Repository of 1820s Directions for the Toilet, Mantua-Making, Stay-Making, Millinery & Etiquette. San Francisco: Lavolta Press, 2009.

  Headley, Joel Tyler. Washington and His Generals. Charlotte, NC: Strait Gate Publications, 2010.

  Hunt, Gaillard. As We Were, Life in America 1814. Stockbridge, MA: Berkshire House, 1993.

  Idzerda, Stanley J. and Robert R. Crout. Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1981.

  Idzerda, Stanley J., Anne C. Loveland, and Marc H. Miller. Lafayette, Hero of Two Worlds: the Art and Pageantry of His Farewell Tour of America, 1824-1825: Essays. Hanover, NH/London: University Press of New England, 1989.

  Keller, Robert M. The American-English Country Dance Compendium 1730-1825. ColonialMusic.org: The Colonial Music Institute, 2011.

  Klamkin, Marian. The Return of Lafayette. New York: Scribner, 1975.

  Kramer, Lloyd S. Lafayette in Two Worlds: Public Cultures and Personal Identities in an Age of Revolutions. Chapel Hill, NC/London: University of North Carolina Press, 1996.

  “Lafayette at the Capital of New Hampshire.” Concord, NH: The Patriot, June 27, 1825.

  Larkin, Jack. The New England Country Tavern. Sturbridge, MA: Old Sturbridge Village, 2000.

  Levasseur, Auguste. Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825. Translated by Alan R. Hoffman. Lafayette Press, Inc., 2006.

  Lord, C.C. “Brinsley Perkins.” The Granite Monthly New Hampshire Magazine, Volume II. Concord, NH: Republican Press Association, 1889.

  Lord, C.C. Life and Times in Hopkinton. Hopkinton, NH: New Hampshire Antiquarian Society, 1991.

  MacIntire, Jane Bacon. Lafayette, the Guest of the Nation: The Tracing of Lafayette’s Tour of the United States in 1824-5. Newton, MA: Anthony J. Simone Press, 1967.

  McCutcheon, Marc. Everyday Life in the 1800s: A Guide for Writers, Students & Historians. Cincinnati OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1993.

  “The Nation’s Guest.” Concord, NH: The Patriot, June 20, 1825.

  Parker, Amos Andrew. Recollections of General Lafayette on his Visit to the United States in 1824 and 1825. Keene, NH: Sentinel Printing, 1879.

  Pratt, Ned. An Architectural Walking Tour. Hopkinton, NH: New Hampshire Antiquarian Society, 2000.

  Randolph, Mary. The Virginia Housewife. Baltimore, MD: Plaskitt, Fite, 1838. Gutenberg eBook, 2004.

  Thomas, Stephen D. A History of the First Congregational Church of Hopkinton. Hopkinton, NH: Unpublished Draft, 1998.

  “27 Reasons Why We Should Honor General Lafayette,” http://www.friendsoflafayette.org, 2013

  Unger, Harlow Giles. Lafayette. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2002.

  Wilder, Betsy (editor). A Walk Through Two Villages: Hopkinton and Contoocook. Hopkinton, NH: New Hampshire Antiquarian Society, 1990.

  GLOSSARY

  à la mode—(French) in the latest fashion

  addlepated—empty-headed, silly

  Anadama—a traditional yeast bread of New England in the United States, made with wheat flour, cornmeal, molasses, and sometimes rye flour. (Some say the name came from a man with a wife named Ana who sometimes made him mad.)

  barouche—a four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with a collapsible hood over the rear half, a seat in front for the driver, and seats facing each other for the passengers

  betsy—a ruffled collar supposed to look like the ruffs of Queen Elizabeth I

  bogeyman—somebody considered to be especially hateful, evil, or frightening, used as a threat to frighten children into behaving well

  box—the driver’s seat on a coach

  brangle—quarrel, squabble, argument

  breeches—knee-length pants

  buff—tan in color

  buss— a playful, smacking kiss

  cabal—a secret plot, a conspiracy

  charity—harmony, good feeling

  chemise—knee-length, sleeveless undergarment, shaped like a dress; also called a shift

  cockade—a leather hat ornament in the shape of a flower, signifying political loyalty

  common—a tract of land belonging to the public rather than owned by an individual; used throughout New England to refer to a town’s public park

  confinement—childbirth

  consumption—tuberculosis

  cravat—a neck cloth

  curtsy—a sign of respect or greeting in which a woman or girl bends her knees with one foot behind the other, short for courtesy

  doodle—a fool

  dowd—a badly dressed woman

  dragoon—a type of horse soldier

  dragooned—to be forced

  fanlight—a semi-circular window shaped like a fan, over a door or larger window

  ferule—a cane, rod, or flat piece of wood used to punish children by striking them, usually on the hand

  flanking—attacking the side (flank) or back of the enemy forces

  frippery—a frivolous, showy article of dress

  frowsy—messy or shabby in personal appearance

  gewgaw—trinket, toy

  grit—courage, bravery

  grommet—a metal-ringed hole in fabric through which a cord passes

  Hessian—a person from Hesse, a country of central Germany; England hired many Hessian soldiers to fight against the Americans in the Revolutionary War

  hoity-toity—snobby, arrogant

  hoyden—tomboy

  leading strings—a sort of double leash for toddlers

  light infantry—mounted soldiers, usually excellent marksmen, who act as skirmishers in a battle

  Lobsterbacks—British soldiers (because of their red uniforms)

  marquis—a nobleman higher in rank than a count and lower than a duke

  militia—able-bodied civilian males obliged by law to train as soldiers, but only called into service in an emergency

  mobcap—a loose-fitting frilly cap women often wore indoors, or outdoors under their bonnets

  modiste—(French) a woman who makes fashionable dresses or hats

  nankeen—a durable yellowish-brown cotton fabric

/>   ninnyhammer—fool

  pantalettes—long underpants, worn by young girls, that extended below the skirt to the ankle, usually decorated with lace or frills.

  pantaloons—tight-fitting trousers, sometimes strapped under the boots

  pate—the head, especially the top of the head

  pediment—an architectural ornament, often triangular, over windows and doors

  peruke—a wig

  pilaster—a square column set within a wall, projecting only partially beyond the wall’s surface

  pinafore—a sleeveless apron-like garment worn over a child’s dress to keep it clean

  plaits—braids, pigtails

  plash—splash

  Procrustean bed— from Procrustes, a giant in Greek mythology who seized unwary travelers and cut off or stretched their legs to fit his bed

  pudding cap—a padded hat worn by toddlers to protect their heads

  Redcoats—British soldiers (because of their red uniforms)

  reticule—a small wrist bag used by ladies, sometimes called a ridicule

  riddle—a word puzzle, a mystery, a coarse sieve used for sifting grain or ashes

  sadiron—an early iron, heated on a stove to use pressing clothes (“sad” meant “heavy”)

  salmagundi—a salad made of vegetables and meat dressed with oil, vinegar, and herbs

  sapskull—a fool

  scythe—a long blade used to cut plants

  seraphim—a reed keyboard instrument, an early version of the organ, also called a harmonium (named for the highest order of angels, who supposedly had three sets of wings each)

  shay—a light carriage, also called a chaise or whisky

  sidelight—narrow, vertical windows on either side of a door

  skirmisher—one who fights in a small group, in no particular formation, against small groups of the enemy during a battle

  smock—a loose, thigh-length (or longer) garment worn by waggoners, farmers, and laborers; also called a smock-frock

  springhouse—a structure built over a spring of cold water welling up from the ground, used to keep food fresh

  stays—a boned undergarment for shaping the upper body of females; also called a corset