Description:
Inscription: Jesse Austin / his horn WAs made at Fort Edward / Septbr the 14th AD 1756 / W A R. Jesse Austin is listed as serving in only one campaign, that of 1756. He served as a private in General Phineas Lyman's 1st Connecticut Regiment. The Austin horn is virtually identical in format and style of carving to the David Bardwin horn (#14). The quality of the carving, the calligraphy with featherlike devices between words, and the geometric decorative devices all appear similar to the work of the carver J.W. A four-line rhyme is also on the Baldwin horn, the Putnam horn (#15), and the Thomas Williams horn (#A). The deep incised zigzag carving and the stylized word WAR is typical of Bush's work. The large shaped stopper is a replacement.there is no border at the butt end and the wooden plug is secured by six small wooden pegs. A largeL-shaped iron nail is at the center of the plug. Bush was born into a free, literate, and landowning Black family that was established in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, by 1731. Research shows that Bush had joined the Massachusetts provincial militia by no later than 1747, when he was first listed at Fort Shirley and would have been about twenty-two years old. During the French and Indian War (1754–63)—a conflict that opposed the British, the French, and their respective Indigenous allies—Bush was stationed at Fort William Henry, a strategic British stronghold on Lake George, by November 1755. He was a private in Major James House’s company. By March 14, 1756, Bush had transferred to Captain Joseph Ingersoll’s company where he served as a clerk, a high-paying position that required literacy and bookkeeping skills. Bush remained at Fort William Henry until August 8, 1757, when the fort’s garrison surrendered to the French and their Indigenous allies after a devastating siege. Although part of the garrison was massacred, contrary to the terms of the capitulation that guaranteed that all of the fort’s occupants could leave unharmed, Bush was not killed. According to a letter from his father, which is based on hearsay, he had been taken by Native Americans to Canada, information that proved to be correct. While Bush’s life was spared by his captors, he died shortly thereafter in the fall of 1757, on a ship from Quebec to France, along with many other prisoners of war. He was about thirty-three years old.
Tags:
African American Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2005.20.7 |
