The FRIENDLY CLUB
& OTHER PORTRAITS
Francis Parsons

JOEL BARLOW
>FROM AN ENGRAVING BY DURAND AFTER THE PORTRAIT BY ROBERT FULTON

The
FRIENDLY CLUB
And
OTHER PORTRAITS

———————————————

By Francis Parsons

———————————————

"Whose yesterdays look backwards
with a smile."
—Young's Night Thoughts

———————————————

———————————————
Edwin Valentine Mitchell
Hartford, Connecticut
1922

Copyright, 1922,
By Edwin Valentine Mitchell
First Edition
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

To
The Memory of
My Father

NOTE

THE thanks of the author are due to Mr. Charles Hopkins Clark, Editor of "The Hartford Courant," in which most of the following essays originally appeared anonymously, for permission to republish them in the revised, enlarged and sometimes entirely re-written form in which they are here presented. "The Friendly Club," "The Mystery of the Bell Tavern" and "Our Battle Laureate" have not been previously printed.

Citation of authorities, except so far as they appear in the text, has been considered inappropriate in the case of such informal articles as these. It would be ungracious, however, to omit mention of the writer's indebtedness in connection with the second essay to Mr. Charles Knowles Bolton's "The Elizabeth Whitman Mystery," which is the latest and most comprehensive document on this baffling incident of New England social history.

F. P.

CONTENTS

PAGE
I The Friendly Club[13]
II The Mystery of the Bell Tavern[47]
III The Hemans of America[69]
IV Whom the Gods Love[83]
V An Eccentric Visitor[95]
VI Who Was Peter Parley?[107]
VII A Preacher of the Gospel[121]
VIII A Friend of Lincoln[135]
IX Our Battle Laureate[147]
X The Temple of the Muses[161]
XI The Friend of Youth[181]
XII The Christmas Party[191]
XIII The Fabric of a Dream[201]
XIV The Quiet Life[213]

ILLUSTRATIONS

Joel Barlow[Frontispiece]
From the engraving by Durand after the portrait by Robert Fulton
Lexington Monument and Bell Tavern, Danvers[64]
From Barber's "Massachusetts Historical Collections"
The Sigourney Mansion[75]
From an old woodcut
Lydia Huntley Sigourney[78]
From a miniature in the Colt Collection by permission of the Wadsworth Atheneum
Inscription to Daniel Wadsworth in J. G. C. Brainard's Hand[91]
Title Page of Brainard's "Occasional Pieces of Poetry"[92]
The Watkinson Library[166]
Drawing by Seth Talcott
Silhouette of Daniel Wadsworth[170]
By permission of The Connecticut Historical Society