Across the hall is a smaller room known as the nursery. Tradition has it that John Hancock concealed himself from the British in this apartment, making use of the secret passageway. On one of the window-panes is scratched with a diamond the initials, "J. H." and again in handwriting similar to his: "You I love and you alone." In this room are preserved the breakfast-table of John Hancock; a linen chest which belonged to the wife of William Penn; various articles of clothing that at one time were used by the Quincy family; a bed spread hand-embroidered on homespun linen quilted by Madam Burr and used in her guest chamber when Dorothy Quincy was staying at her house.
Over the dining-room is the Quincy room, so named from the fact that many of the Quincy children, including the two Dorothys, were born here. By a curious trick of fate, there still remains here a nail-studded chest which once belonged to George III of England, bearing the date 1790. One wonders, if the old chest could speak, whether it would pour vituperations upon the heads of those who brought the possessions of the tyrant to the colonies, to be stored in the Quincy mansion.
Across the hall is the guest chamber with its canopied Field bed, and the little trundle-bed underneath, used in the olden times for the children of the family. The Franklin stove, presented by the inventor, is also in this room. Opening from it, and approached by a second staircase, we find the chamber of Tutor Flynt, here the recessed bed is an interesting feature. The room is furnished with fine pieces of the olden times.
Every room in this house contains mementoes of the days of long ago. The house was one of the first to be built on American soil, and has sheltered some of our most important citizens. To-day it reminds us of the past, carrying us back to the earliest days of our country's history.
CHAPTER XXII
"HEY BONNIE HALL"
As a nation Americans have grown to feel a deep reverence for the homes of their ancestors, those stately colonial houses that were erected during the period of commercial prosperity. These mansions were built from about the middle of the sixteenth to the early part of the seventeenth century. Recently a wave of sentiment has swept through the country, awakening a desire to save the old mansions, many of which were fast falling into decay. Prominent among those which have been preserved is "Hey Bonnie Hall," a quaint house built in the Maryland manor-house style of architecture, with long, projecting ells, a type prevailing throughout the South. "Hey Bonnie Hall" is situated on Papoosesquaw Neck in Bristol, Rhode Island. It was built in 1808 by Honorable William deWolf, great-grandfather of the present occupant.
These Middletons and the family into which they married have been makers of history. They date back to the time of Charles V, of France, being among his followers. The name was originally St. Etienne, but for valiant services it was changed to deWolf. The Middletons have played an important part both in English and American history, and the English branch of the family still occupies its ancient Middleton Hall. The American line starts with the immigrant ancestor, Henry Middleton, who settled in Carolina and became a considerable landowner at a time when there were only three states in the Union—New England, Virginia, and the Carolinas. This is shown in the old atlas inherited from the immigrant ancestor and still treasured at "Hey Bonnie Hall." Henry Middleton became a politician and was an important agitator before the Revolution. For his distinguished services he was made president of the Continental Congress. He was not the only member of the family whose name has been handed down in history. His son Arthur was also very prominent and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The name "Hey Bonnie Hall," given to their country-seat in the Carolinas and transferred to the Rhode Island mansion, grew out of a pretty custom of Mrs. Middleton, who used to sing a little Scotch song called Hey Bonnie Hall over and over again to please her grandfather.
The house stands back from the road, being approached through a broad, colonial gateway flanked on either side by beds of old-fashioned flowers. The semicircular drive is shaded by magnificent trees, which hide the mansion from the main road so effectively that it is not until one is half-way up the avenue that a glimpse of the house is obtained.