Description:
"David Baldwin," of Milford, Connecticut, attributed to John Bush, Fort William Henry, New York, Oct. 18, 1756. David Baldwin served in the 1755 campaign as a first lieutenant in a New York regiment. The horn descended in Baldwin's family until it was sold at auction in 1987. In 1891, a descendant, the Rev. DeWitt Clark of Salem, MA, corresponded with Rufus Grider, and the 6-page letter has survived with the horn (a copy is in the H.D. Data File). Clark sent Grider a sketch of the horn, which Grider copied for his collection. The letter also indicates that Grider was aware of John Bush's importance as a horn carver. He cites the Israel Punam horn (#15), the Thomas Williams horn (#A), and the Robert Rogers horn (#B) as related examples. This is one of Bush's most beautiful horns. It features all of his standard motifs and several that do not exist on other examples. 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 Subjects:
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