"New York, Saturday, July 23.
"Died—Suddenly, yesterday afternoon, Mr. Ebenezer Wilson, Sen. aged 63. Mr. W. has for years been extensively engaged in business as an inspector and packer of Beef both in Troy, and this city. He was an ornament to the Christian church, and a worthy, industrious, and excellent man in all the duties of life."[102]
In the Troy Directory (I, 61) for 1829, the first published, is found this entry: "Wilson, Samuel, ferry continued,"—which, Miss Jessie F. Wheeler writes me,[103] "means, I suppose, Ferry Street continued up the hill." Samuel Wilson died at Troy on July 31, 1854. Of the many notices which appeared in the Troy papers, the following, signed "Trojan," is the most interesting:
"Death of the late Samuel Wilson.
"When an individual passes from us, who has been long known, and whose business connections have been very extensive, it is proper that some thing more than a mere passing notice should be taken of his death, as well as a just allusions [sic] to some of the principal acts of his life. The subject of this brief notice was an early pioneer in the settlement of this place, commencing in 1793, and he took an active part in the extension of all the business facilities adopted by himself and his associates, and was himself engaged in, and prosecuted successfully, at least four distinct kinds of business, employing about 200 hands constantly, while he took the over-sight of each particular branch, in connection with his brother Eben.—He prosecuted the mercantile business in connection with slooping; the brick-making business very extensively; the distillery business; farming, on a pretty large scale, and the slaughtering business on an extensive plan. During the war of 1812 he supplied the army very generally, especially at the north, from his extensive yards. His tact for managing laborers was very peculiar; he would always say 'Come boys,' instead of 'go,' and thereby secured a greater amount of labor than ordinary men.—His success in business he mainly attributed to a strict system in his plans, and the constant habit of early rising, and to this habit he undoubtedly owed his uniform good health, and his useful life. He had eight brothers and two sisters all of whom were tenacious of this habit, and all but two are now dead, but their ages averaged full 80 years each. In his political creed he was strictly Republican and was warmly attached to the Democratic party, and in the election of General Jackson to the Presidency, he took a very active part, serving as a standing chairman of the party both at his first and second election. In his religious creed he was tolerant to all. He was united to no church, but at the age of three score years his mind became deeply imbued with religion, and feeling his responsibility to his Maker, he solemnly dedicated himself to God and united with the Presbyterian Church in this city.—His walk and conversation since the solemn transition, evinced the sincerity of his profession, and he has left a pleasing assurance both to the church and his friends that he now 'Rests from his labors and his works follow him.'"[104]
Before returning to the story related by Frost, there is one further piece of evidence to be presented. Under date of Albany September 17, 1812, was printed in the Albany Gazette in September and October of that year an advertisement which was in part as follows:
"SLAUGHTERING & INSPECTION.
WILSON and KINNICUT, take this method to inform their friends and the public in general, that they have made considerable improvements in their Slaughter House in Albany, where they will put up Beef and Pork on as reasonable terms as any body in the state."[105]
While I have been unable to identify the members of this firm of Wilson and Kinnicut, the advertisement is of interest; and it is certain that there was a Wilson family in Albany and that one or more members of it were named Samuel.[106]
If we compare the facts as brought out in these extracts with the story as related by Frost, it must be acknowledged that in many respects the latter is not inconsistent with the former. It has been proved that Anderson was a contractor; that Ebenezer and Samuel Wilson owned a slaughtering establishment; and that Ebenezer Wilson at least was an inspector.[107] If absolute proof is lacking that the Wilsons received contracts for the supply of beef, that Samuel Wilson was an inspector, and that Samuel Wilson was commonly called "Uncle Sam" Wilson, yet these statements are so extremely probable that their truth may well be conceded.[108] Moreover, the story is plausible and there is no a priori objection to be raised against it.
On the other hand, certain facts militate strongly against the story. First, the nickname Uncle Sam, so far from springing into existence at the outbreak of the war, did not make its appearance until the war was half over. Secondly, the absence of any trace of the story until 1842—or a generation after the event—is ominous. Thirdly, a remarkable feature of the obituary notices of Samuel Wilson which were written for the Troy newspapers deserves to be dwelt upon. Not one of them connected Samuel Wilson with Uncle Sam. It is true that the Uncle Sam story is found in two Troy papers, but in each case it was copied from an Albany paper.[109] This fact, coupled with the further fact that no book about Troy contained the story until 1876, seems to indicate that the popular story is not native to Troy.[110] Fourthly, the statement that "the letters U. S., for United States, were then almost entirely new," is not only so preposterous as to be beyond belief, but can be proved to be untrue. As a matter of fact, the abbreviations U. S. or U. States, as also G. B. or G. Britain, were common early in the nineteenth century;[111] and it would no more have been possible for men in 1813 to ask the meaning of the letters U. S. than would such an inquiry be possible now. Fifthly, the early evidence, while it may not be absolutely conclusive, not only fails to corroborate the Wilson story but strongly points to another conclusion; while the earliest known example of Uncle Sam is from a Troy paper, but without reference to Samuel Wilson. Sixthly, the apparent fact that the nickname was at first used somewhat derisively does not tend to confirm the popular yarn.
Finally, in connection with the Wilson story, we must consider a stanza in a song said to have been sung about 1789. Much has been written about "the original Yankee Doodle song." The song thus generally spoken of begins with the line "Father and I went down to camp." In Act I, Scene III, of Andrew Barton's "The Disappointment: Or, The Force of Credulity: A New American Comic Opera," printed in 1767, the air of Yankee Doodle made its first known appearance under that name.[112] When the British troops arrived at Boston in 1768 it was stated, under date of September 29 of that year, that "the Yankey Doodle Song was the Capital Piece in their Band of Music;"[113] and, much to the annoyance of the good people of Boston, the British persisted in playing the air at intervals for another seven years. As the "Father and I" song was written not earlier than 1775, obviously it could not have been "the original" Yankee Doodle song. In 1824, J. Farmer and J. B. Moore, believing that "the burlesque song . . . is passing into oblivion," gave "a copy of the song as it was printed thirty-five years since, and as it was troll'd in our Yankee circles of that day."[114] As printed by Farmer and Moore, the song had eleven stanzas, the tenth being as follows: