Memories of Virginia/The Pocahontas Memorial Bell
THE POCAHONTAS MEMORIAL
BELL
The incorporators of the Association are Mrs. Green, Mrs. Darling, Mrs. Halsey, the membership limited to one hundred members; Mrs. Green Regent.
The bell was cast April 1907, at the McShane Bell Foundry, Baltimore; the work began by candle light—a candle in the old brass candlestick—donated in memory of Governor Matthews, was made a medium to cast a reflection to typify "the work of the present being aided by the light of other days." The bell weighs 500 pounds, and is 29 inches in diameter. The inscription:
THE DOMINION, 1607—VIRGINIA, 1907.
[On the other side:]
PRESENTED BY
THE POCAHONTAS BELL ASSOCIATION
ANNE S. GREEN, President.
These mingled metals rich and kind,
Their purpose high, the intent sublime.
Amen.
The metal employed is historic and relics valued as heirlooms were contributed by American descendants of the Seventeenth century, to ring out the Legends of the Indian Girl.
There is sentiment and historic interest in the Bell of Many Memories that will win and hold place in the hearts of our people only second to the Liberty Bell of 1776.
Jamestown Church is the logical home of the Bell of Relics; the next claim Williamsburg, where Pocahontas was known to the suffering pioneers of the starvation period, as "the Angel of Mercy."
Let us for a moment reflect upon the hopes and fears, the pledges and prayers of the Church of the Pioneers, now a memory; but the influences from off that altar will live forever. It gave the keynote of the prelude that led to an orchestra of possibilities—to give to a new world and people, "Liberty, Home and Country." Let us hope the memorial bell of 1907 may ever ring out to Cavalier and Puritan descendents peace and good will, the joy-note of union.
The bell will hang in the "Daniel Boone Fort," Kentucky Reservation during the exposition.
The Kentucky building is unique, with log stockade, log block house, amid environments familiar to the pioneers, making "the Reservation" a fitting place for the Pocahontas Bell. There is no place on the Exposition grounds so primitive in appearance, so rustic in construction as Fort Boone. The money for its construction was contributed by the school children of Kentucky, as a loving tribute to Virginia, the mother of States, the old home of memories.
The bell will be dedicated with formal ceremony June 15, 1907, and may it ever ring out
"Peace and Good Will."
Inside Inn, June 18, 1907.
It is a matter of regret that I failed to witness the dedication of the Pocahontas Bell. I send you the clipping from Baltimore Sun, the names of the contributors were given, also read as a part of the ceremony and set forth in detail. You will also observe your Alma Mater instead of Williamsburg may become the permanent home, but as the University of Virginia is a daughter of William and Mary, we are all satisfied.
Gives Pocahontas Bell
Governor Swanson Receives It From Society
for University.
DAY'S FEATURE AT EXPOSITION
Poem Written for the Event By the Bentztown Bard
is Read—Governor and Others Speak.
(Special Dispatch to the Baltimore Sun.)
Norfolk, Va., June 15.—The Pocahontas bell, cast from historic pieces of metal, donated for the purpose by prominent persons in various parts of the country, was formally presented to the Pocahontas Bell Association on the Kentucky reservation on the Exposition grounds this afternoon. The bell stood on the right of the main entrance to the representation of old Fort Boone, which is Kentucky's Exposition building.
A large crowd witnessed the ceremonies. Governor Swanson, of Virginia, whose fame as an orator has been increased by his numerous speeches called forth by the Exposition, was the orator of this occasion, and the speech was one of the best that he has made. It was deep in its historic significance, and it made a pleasing and doubtless lasting impression on his audience. The Governor received the bell on behalf of the faculty of the University of Virginia, to which institution the bell will be intrusted at the close of the Exposition. Other speakers at the ceremonies were T. J. Wool, the general counsel of the Exposition, and Major Hunter.
Mrs. Grant Reads Poem.
A poem written for the occasion by the Bentztown Bard, of The Sun, in response to an invitation from the Pocahontas Bell Society, was read by Mrs. N. G. Grant, of Denver, Col. The Bentztown Bard had himself been requested to read his verses, but was unable to be present, and asked Mrs. Grant to take his place on the program. The poem follows:
The Voice of the Bell.
By the Bentstown Bard.
I am the voice of the bell, named of her name and sweet
With metals fused by the glowing flame of love in the crucible's heat;
I am the voice of her heart, and her charm, and her virgin grace.
Who stood in the path of the savage blow with pity upon her face.
I am the voice of her soul, who was princess and woman, too,
A rose of the tawny bloom that bloomed under these skies of blue!
I am the voice of the bell in whose sweet throat they've spun
Metal of worth from Northern homes and homes of the Southern sun;
Blended and massed and fused, dim treasures of memory old,
Silver and copper, and bronze, and brass, and gold of the yellow gold;
Out of one speaks the tongue and the heart of the sovereign land,
A sisterhood of the sister States, neighborly, hand in hand!
I am the voice of the bell, Virginia's bell and time's;
Ringing the revel of golden years in revel of golden chimes;
Ringing the old days back, sweet as they were before,
With loveliness of the olden love and charm of the ancient lore;
Ringing the new and true, the tocsin of splendid days,
With hope and cheer for the onward years lighting the golden ways !
I am the voice of the bell, with a rose song in my mouth,
Ringing the faith of a woman's heart over the rosy South;
Ringing her fame afar and ringing her name on high—
A woman of worth when the young green earth bloomed under a tender sky!
I am Virginia's bell, and the glory of her is mine,
As the glory of her, O land we love, is ever and ever thine! Ring me and ye shall hear the hammers that strike my rim
Echo the glory of deeds and days ages shall not make dim;
Trinkets were brought to me from masters and mansions great,
Relics were wrought in me of field and forum and State,
And in me they molded, too, the voice of the deeds that ring
Wherever the lips of the legions shout, the voices of freemen sing!
I am the voice of the bell, named of her name and sweet With melody of a woman's heart and dancing of woman's feet!
I am the voice of the past, and I am the voice that thrills Out of Virginia's heart of hearts, over her hill of hills;
Voice of the North and South, tender and strong and true,
Ringing the hope of the sister States under these skies of
blue!
Was Cast in Baltimore.
The bell was cast at the McShane foundry, in Baltimore, and its composition includes, in addition to other historic metal, a piece of the Columbian bell, which was sent to the Chicago exposition in 1893, and also pennies given by many schoolchildren.
Among the interested spectators present was Mrs. Anna S. Green, of Culpeper, Va., who founded the Pocahontas Bell Association. Music for the occasion was furnished by the band from the University of Missouri.
Among the old relics of the seventeenth century presented to increase the value of the memorial bell the following contributors stand recorded:
William B. Matthews presents a very old brass candlestick in memory of his father, James Muscoe Matthews, descendant of the last royal governor of the Dominion.
Charles B. Tiernan, a lineal descendant of Pocahontas, through the Bolling line, presents old coin and other relics of founding days.
John Quincy Adams, lineal descendant of Henry Adams, 1630, Henry Sampson, 1620, presents, as Secretary of the Flag House Association, Philadelphia, Penn., a gold ring of the colonial period in memory of Betsy Ross, who made the first flag of the American Republic. The glory of the flag, like the ring, stands a symbol without end.
Mrs. Sadie Adams Smith, lineal descendant of Henry Adams, 1630, and Captain Samuel Wadsworth, 1630; also Paul Dustin and Rev. Robert Gordon, all of Massachusetts, wife of Le Roy Sunderland Smith, a lineal descendant of George Smith, son of John Smith, of Jamestown, Va., who settled Dover, N. H., 1640, and maternally descendant of Gov. Benning Wentworth, also his son. Gov. John Wentworth, of the royal province of New Hampshire, 1630, presents in memory of her nephew, Robert Gordon Everett, the Boy Hero of San Juan Hill, a medal of honor of the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1876.
Mrs. Flora Adams Darling, lineal descendant of Henry Adams, 1630, and Hannah Dustin, 1620, presents a watch chain charm of English and American memories of her husband. Gen. Edward Irving Darling, C. S. A., and her son of the same name.
Mrs. Alice Fountleroy Turner, wife of Wm. Wm. B. Matthews, lineal descendant of Sir Henry Turner, 1640, presents an old coin, 1780, in memory of her father, Col. George Turner, of King George's County, Virginia.
Mrs. Rose Turner Hunter, widow of Robert Hunter, and lineal descendant of Sir Harry Turner, presents, in memory of her mother, an old coin of Dominion memories. John Quincy Adams
Secretary Flag House and Betsy Ross Memorial Association.
Mrs. Diana Elizabeth Sinclair Parker Jones, lineal descendant of Sinclair Parker of Virginia, 1630, and Major Charles Jones, of Maryland, 1617, presents a silver napkin ring, engraved with crest of the Sinclair family, in memory of her husband, Judge Charles Danforth, of New York, a descendant of the Danforths of New England, 1630.
Mrs. Nelson V. Titus, regent of the Adams Chapter, Daughters of the Revolution, presents two handwrought nails from the old Adams house, Quincy, Massachusetts, built in 1681.
Mrs. Elizabeth Drummond Ward, lineal descendant of Major Richard Drummond, of Drummondtown, Virginia, a member of the House of Burgess, and one of the great land proprietors of the Dominion, 1619, presents a very old bell used on the Drummond plantation, Accomack, Virginia, in memory of her family.
Miss Ellen Garnett Matthews and Miss Mollie Virginia Matthews each present a piece of jewelry in memory of their mother, Ellen Hobson Bagley of Scotch ancestry, the wife of Judge James Muscoe Matthews, a lineal descendant of Governor Matthews, through the line of Rev. John Matthews, of Matthews County, Virginia.
Mrs. Minerva S. Wynne, her daughter, Mrs. Harlan, lineal descendant of Sir Robert Wynne, 1607, speaker of the House of Burgess, a descendant of Sir Watkins Wynne of Wales. The tombs of the Wynnes are in the old Temple Church, London, one of which dates back to 405; also a descendant of Governor Harvey of Jamestown, and Governor Hardy of North Carolina, 1622, presents a charm, very ancient, marked W. W., a relic of Sir Watkins Wynne, worn by Sir Robert, in memory of her husband, Robert Wynne of Virginia.
Gen. Marcus J. Wright, C. S. A., Washington, D. C, a lineal descendant of John Wright, 1630, James Wright, his cousin, the last colonial governor of Georgia, presents a gold medal in memory of his father, Major John Wright, of Tennessee, a medal on which the name of John Wright is inscribed.
Wm. Henry Jones, lineal descendant of Robert Jones, 1630, presents a revolutionary coin in memory of his mother, Mrs. Clarissa Wissell Jones, descendant of "a minute Man" of Lexington, Massachusetts.
Charles J. Diggs, lineal descendant of Gov. Edward Diggs, son of Sir Dudley Diggs of Virginia, presents an old English coin of early days in memory of his ancestors of Jamestown, Virginia.
J. Harwood Graves, lineal descendant of Ralph Graves, 1607, presents the ring of a gold watch of ancient memories, of Petersburg, Va.
Rev. Wm. B. Everett, lineal descendant of Hon. Matthew Tilghman, 1650, also closely connected with Carrolls of Carrolton, presents
through his daughter a silver fork of colonial period, in memory of Rachel Tilghman, 1650.Mrs. Waldine Matthews Zimpleman, wife of Moritz O. Kopperl, Galveston, Texas, lineal descendant of Governor Matthews, of Virginia, presents a brass picture frame of colonial period in memory of her grandfather, Thomas Matthews of Texas, a native son of Virginia.
Mrs. Estelle Ashby Johnson, in honor of Capt. William Ashby, of Culpeper, Va., presents spoon used by the First Minute Men of Virginia.
Mr. Ambler Morris, Culpeper, Va., presents a piece of the bell of the First Baptist Church of Culpeper, Va.
Miss Clark, Princeton, N. J., presents an antique key.
Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, Princeton, N. J., presents keys from Prospect Hill, the home of the president of Princeton University, and some brass from Nassau Hall.
Mrs. Thomas D. Stokes, Elk Hill, Va., presents plantation bell of Glenarvon, the Colonial Gait home.
Mrs. Mary Maury, a descendant of the Maurys of Germanna, presents old Colonial bell, in honor of Governor Spottswood.
Mr. Slaughter Bradford presents a military buckle, in memory of Capt. Philip Slaughter, of the First Minute Men of Culpeper.
Brass knob from the home of Gen. Edward Stephens, which he built after the Revolutionary War, returning as the hero of the Great Bridge battle.
Mrs. Catherine Stark, of Culpeper, Va., presents a spoon, a relic of the Withers family.
Mrs. Pokahuntas Green, Norfolk, Va., a descendant of Pocahontas, a breastpin, a relic of Gen. John Mercer, of the American Revolution.
Mr. John R. Norris presents a Mexican coin, given in honor of the Ark and Dove, of Maryland.
Mrs. W. W. Grant, of Denver, Colo., presents a souvenir coin in honor of George Mason, of Gunston Hall, and Hannah Ball, eldest sister of Mary Ball, mother of George Washington, both daughters of Joseph Ball, of Epping Forest.
Mrs. Flora McDonald Williams, Louisville, Ky., presents a souvenir coin in honor of her grandfather, William Naylor, one of the framers of the Virginia Constitution of 1820.
Brass rule, used by James Green Leach in Charlotte, N. C, presented as a souvenir of his first journalistic work.
Fanny Carroll, of St. Mary's County, Maryland, presents a coin, given in honor of Charles Carroll of Carrollton.
Mr. Serrel, of Baltimore, presents a piece of metal from an old Spanish vessel of 1684.
Mr. Edward Carter, Dover, Del., presents a brass guard of a musket used in the War of 1812.
Hon. Robert I. Reynolds, Golden Ridge, Del., presents a brass key used by Gov. Robert I. Reynolds while Governor of New Jersey.
Brass bracelet worn by Chief Puyallup, Washington State; given to Mrs. Sally Carter Buchanan to insure lasting friendship between Mrs. Carter and Chief Puyallup.
Mrs. Aimee C. Gregg, Ridley Park, Pa., presents copper coins of 1700.
Mr. Wilson Miles Cary, of Baltimore, presents a piece of the Columbian Peace Bell, which went to Chicago.Mrs. Mary Chamberlain, Princeton, N. J., presents some relics of brass and nickel of 1692.
Mrs. Sallie B. Carter, Dover, Del., presents buttons of Mexican war, 1846.
Spur of Major John Pelham, Brandy Station, Virginia.
Mrs. Frank Anthony Walke, Norfolk, Va., presents brass plaque, representing three rabbis solving the problem of the Crusaders from Jerusalem.
Blanche Buckner Dove, descendant of the Buckner family, of Culpeper, presents metal mirror brackets.
Mrs. Henry Walton, Culpeper, Va., presents brass plaque; a relic of the Wager family.
Harriet Ball, a descendant, presents brass tongs; a relic of the Ball family.
Blanche Maddox, Culpeper, Va., presents a brass antique waiter of the Maddox family.
Mrs. Blankenship, Richmond, Va., presents a piece of the Virginia (Merrimac).
Mr. Raleigh T. Green, Jr., Culpeper, Va., presents call bell of "Old Glory."
Alice Ashby Makell presents curtain links, from the Makell family of Maryland.
Alice Ashby Makell presents brass snuffers from the Magill family of Maryland.
Sarah S. Miller, of New Jersey, granddaughter of Governor McDowell, presents brass picture ring.
Mrs. Warren Coons, Culpeper, Va., presents silver spoon of Judith James, of colonial days.
Mrs. B. C. McCoy presents candlestick from battlefield near Culpeper, Va.Mrs. Robert Matthews, Culpeper, Va., presents a brass lock, relic of the Watkins family.
Lucille Dove Green presents brass crumb waiter, of the old Cleveland home of the Shacklefords of Culpeper.
Mrs. Enders Robinson, Richmond, Va., presents nails from the old Libby Prison.
Brass door knob of Major Philip Lightfoot's first home in Culpeper, Va. Presented in honor of the colonial family.
Mrs. Mary Gray Gilkerson, of Culpeper County, Virginia, a descendant, presents brass tongs from the old home of Gabriel Gray.
Norris family presents a Confederate sword handle.
Gen. Custis Lee presents a plaque from Damascus.
Mrs. William H. F. Lee presents metal coins and pieces from Arlington.
Anne Sanford Green, a descendant, presents a spoon, a souvenir of Col. Angus McDonald, who raised the first Colonial troops for Braddock's relief under Dunmore.
Mrs. Mary Mason Norris presents a lock from a bureau which her great-grandmother,
Mary Thompson Mason,, carried with her to West Farm, in Stafford county, Virginia, from her home, Gunston Hall, when she became the wife of John Cooke, she being the eldest daughter of George Mason.
Mrs. Bayard Stockton, of Morben, presents a brass door plate, a relic of Richard Stockton, of Morben, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Susan Preston Miller presents some brass nails from a trunk once used by Governor McDowell, of Virginia, 1795.Mrs. Julia F. A. Jones, wife of William H. Junes, of Massachusetts, contributed an old English coin, a memory of her mother, Nancy Gordon Dustin Rowell, a lineal descendant of Robert Gordon, of Aberdeen, Scotland, and Paul Dustin, an English pioneer, and wife of Harvey Adams, Esquire, son of Benjamin Adams and Ruth Wads worth, of Braintree, Massachusetts.
FINIS
The Pocahontas Bell is regarded one of the most pleasing memorials of the Jamestown Exposition, for it is an accepted fact that a nation must look backward as well as forward to fulfill its mission as a guide to progress. As a disciple of this belief and to invite a backward glance I have written Memories of Virginia to establish a Medal in memory of Governor Matthews—Captain General under the Crown and life-elected Governor of Virginia, 1624-1660, to be presented as a prize annually by the College of William and Mary for the best essay upon the Royal Government of Virginia to the date of the Restoration, the fund to be presented "on the York River," Oct. 19, 1907, our Day of Victory.
Flora Adams Darling, A.M.
1907 N Street, N. W.
Washington, D. C.
June 20, 1907.