Will of John Ericsson
John Ericsson built the Monitor and other engines of destruction, but the rattle of drays, the crowing of cocks, and the barking of dogs were too much for his nerves. There is in existence a receipt for five dollars paid to one Charles Herbert for the removal of a dog and the agreement not to keep one on his premises for a period of one year. And it is also a part of history that he bought up his neighbors’ chickens to secure the privilege of wringing their necks.
Ericsson died March 8, 1889. His will is dated the 15th day of May, 1878.
On November 7, 1884, he wrote to a friend in Sweden as follows:
“They imagine in Sweden that I now possess a large fortune, not considering what it has cost me to be useful to my fellow-men. They do not know that for twenty years, during which time I have spent a million crowns, I have not worked for money.”
His fortune at the time of his death amounted to about one hundred thousand dollars, and his claims against the United States Government were required to make good the bequests in his will. These were distributed among his office assistants, female dependents, certain friends, Von Rosen, Adlersparre, the widow of his son Hjalmar, and his nephews and nieces.
The instrument is of considerable length, and he describes himself as John Ericsson, Civil Engineer, of the city of New York. In a codicil to his will, he mentions his share of the profits and emoluments that might arise from the manufacture and sale of his patents that might thereafter be granted by the United States for improvements in engines. These engines are described as two motive engines, designated as a solar engine and a sun motor.
“Men of genius,” said Dean Stanley over the grave of Charles Dickens, “are different from what we suppose them to be. They have greater pleasures and greater pains, greater affections and greater temptations than the generality of mankind, and they can never be altogether understood by their fellowmen.” “Genius implies always a certain fanaticism of temperament,” says James Russell Lowell. Mr. William Conant Church, in his life of Ericsson, concludes his work with these words: “Let us, in spite of his own doubts, accept the cheerful faith of his friend Adlersparre, that assigns to him a kindlier sphere beyond, where just appreciation and intelligent sympathy may stimulate him to still higher efforts. So ends the story of John Ericsson, the son of Olaf, the son of Nils, the son of Eric, the son of Magnus Stadig, the miner.”
The Baltimore, an American warship, under command of Captain Schley, conveyed the remains of Ericsson to Sweden, flying on her foremast a white, square flag with five blue crosses, indicating that she was on King’s business and must not be halted or interfered with on her journey.
Henry Swinburne