Gypsy Heart
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Gurdon Evans' 1852 "General View ... of Madison County"
Evans, Gurdon, 1852, "A General View and Agricultural Survey of the County of Madison." in Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society for 1851. Vol XI (9), pages 658-777. Printed by Charles Van Benthuysen. Albany, NY.
Mr. Carr, was long and familiarly known as "Johnny Carr." This man was sent from England by the Edmeston family, to take possession of and settle a tract of land granted to them by the king. He arrived, with his wife, at the Unadilla, about the year 1770, and they were for a long series of years the only white inhabitants of that valley. During the revolutionary struggle they were carried off by the hostile Indians, retained as captives, and treated with great severity. For years they were made to follow them in all their expeditions of the chase or of war, submitting to every degradation. Time and habit make man familiar with even chains and misery, taking away their sting. Such was in some degree the condition of Mr. and Mrs. Carr; cheerfulness under hopeless servitude returned. Knowledge and expertness in arts unknown to Indian ingenuity gave them favor with their masters, and equality in all things save liberty, was ultimately established.
The peace of 1782 restored Carr and his wife to freedom, when they sought their wild home on the Unadilla banks: the once cleared field producing wheat and corn, was now covered with briars and under brush; the cabin, which had exhibited the neatness of an English cottage, was in ruins; the wild rose, which twined round a post and seemed to court the kind attentions of Mrs. Carr, was now a ragged plant, broken and buffeted by the winter winds and snows; the gentle birds, which in her solitude became companions and partakers of her care and affection had deserted the spot in her absence, giving place to the owl's coarse note; or the twittering swallows' nests. By well applied energy, the cabin was again restored, peace and comfort became inmates of that dwelling, and as the tide of emigration carried along westward its stream of human beings, many found food and shelter under Carr's hospitable cottage roof.
In the, vicissitudes of pioneer life multitudes are lost to memory, are forgotten and pass away like mist on the mountain's brow; not so with John Carr, though sharp ingratitude assailed him, his name yet lives in kind memories, and the very cognomen of "Johnny," "Johnny Carr," carries with it the sound of affection. He lived to an old age, and died without property. When his employer, the elder Edmeston died, Carr was abandoned to want by the remaining heirs, suffering in his old age, until by the spirited interference of his neighbors, a piece of land was secured to him in fee simple, on which his industry supported him until death. As the agent of a wealthy family, resident in England, Mr. Carr was supposed to have in his possession at times, large sums of money; to secure which, when the perils of the revolution surrounded him, he buried the treasure near to his dwelling: his long captivity and absence from his farm; the growth of wood, briars and weeds, the general extinction of common marks and signs, rendered his search for the buried money toilsome and fruitless; such was the rumor when Carr returned to his home, and like the silly tale of Kidd's money chests, and many like fooleries, they all find believers at this day, as appears by the fresh turned earth at supposed places of deposit.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyccazen/Histories/Evans1852.html
Evans, Gurdon, 1852, "A General View and Agricultural Survey of the County of Madison." in Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society for 1851. Vol XI (9), pages 658-777. Printed by Charles Van Benthuysen. Albany, NY.
Mr. Carr, was long and familiarly known as "Johnny Carr." This man was sent from England by the Edmeston family, to take possession of and settle a tract of land granted to them by the king. He arrived, with his wife, at the Unadilla, about the year 1770, and they were for a long series of years the only white inhabitants of that valley. During the revolutionary struggle they were carried off by the hostile Indians, retained as captives, and treated with great severity. For years they were made to follow them in all their expeditions of the chase or of war, submitting to every degradation. Time and habit make man familiar with even chains and misery, taking away their sting. Such was in some degree the condition of Mr. and Mrs. Carr; cheerfulness under hopeless servitude returned. Knowledge and expertness in arts unknown to Indian ingenuity gave them favor with their masters, and equality in all things save liberty, was ultimately established.
The peace of 1782 restored Carr and his wife to freedom, when they sought their wild home on the Unadilla banks: the once cleared field producing wheat and corn, was now covered with briars and under brush; the cabin, which had exhibited the neatness of an English cottage, was in ruins; the wild rose, which twined round a post and seemed to court the kind attentions of Mrs. Carr, was now a ragged plant, broken and buffeted by the winter winds and snows; the gentle birds, which in her solitude became companions and partakers of her care and affection had deserted the spot in her absence, giving place to the owl's coarse note; or the twittering swallows' nests. By well applied energy, the cabin was again restored, peace and comfort became inmates of that dwelling, and as the tide of emigration carried along westward its stream of human beings, many found food and shelter under Carr's hospitable cottage roof.
In the, vicissitudes of pioneer life multitudes are lost to memory, are forgotten and pass away like mist on the mountain's brow; not so with John Carr, though sharp ingratitude assailed him, his name yet lives in kind memories, and the very cognomen of "Johnny," "Johnny Carr," carries with it the sound of affection. He lived to an old age, and died without property. When his employer, the elder Edmeston died, Carr was abandoned to want by the remaining heirs, suffering in his old age, until by the spirited interference of his neighbors, a piece of land was secured to him in fee simple, on which his industry supported him until death. As the agent of a wealthy family, resident in England, Mr. Carr was supposed to have in his possession at times, large sums of money; to secure which, when the perils of the revolution surrounded him, he buried the treasure near to his dwelling: his long captivity and absence from his farm; the growth of wood, briars and weeds, the general extinction of common marks and signs, rendered his search for the buried money toilsome and fruitless; such was the rumor when Carr returned to his home, and like the silly tale of Kidd's money chests, and many like fooleries, they all find believers at this day, as appears by the fresh turned earth at supposed places of deposit.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyccazen/Histories/Evans1852.html
HH,
