Object of the Month

Celebrating the Bunker Hill Centennial (and a New Piggery!) at Ridge Hill Farms, 20 June 1875

Bunker Hill centennial badge White metal, grosgrain ribbon

Bunker Hill centennial badge

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[ This description is from the project: Object of the Month ]

这枚勋章可能是在威廉·爱默生·贝克(William Emerson Baker)为邦克山战役(Battle of Bunker Hill)一百周年举行的双重庆祝活动和他在岭山农场(Ridge Hill Farms)的新“卫生猪舍”奠基仪式上佩戴的, Baker’s fantastical summer estate.

A Jolly Day at Wellesley

Beneath this headline, 1875年6月21日的《利记APP官网手机版》上刊登了一篇利记APP官网手机版庆祝活动的描述,对于那些不在邀请名单上的人来说,这肯定是完全不可能的.

在过去的两三个星期里,几百位幸运的女士和先生收到了一份令人敬畏的文件,其大小大约相当于独立宣言的通常尺寸,大小可用于装裱, 精心准备,装饰着奇怪的、制作精良的木雕,上面是欢快喜庆的猪在后腿上跳舞, each holding a jovial glass in a fore paw, 也是马萨诸塞州历史上这一事件的写照, which is fully recited, 因此,在波士顿街头发现的一头流浪猪引发了诉讼,以至于有必要建立一个以前从未存在过的参议院, before the matter could be settled.

这一天从波士顿的奥尔巴尼火车站开始,在那里邀请了客人, including the 5th Maryland Regiment, the Washington Light Infantry of Charleston, S.C., the Marine Band of Washington, 以及州和地方政要,包括州长威廉·加斯顿, gathered to take the train to Ridge Hill Farms in Wellesley. Upon arriving at the depot, 州长和他的一行人被拉斐特在1824年访问该州时乘坐的马车送到了农场, where they were greeted by Chief Marshal George Sanford, “who was attired in a rich dark velvet suit of the style of 1775, trimmed with gold lace, 戴着一顶袋式假发”,还有“白发苍苍的时间老人……四处走动”, long gray beard, a dark purple velvet robe, and carrying the conventional scythe.”

到场的“两三千名”客人得到了茶点招待(想必他们还会茫然地在830英亩的土地上闲逛),直到下午两点为贝克的新“卫生猪舍”奠基.”

"A Pig Presentation"

Prior to the setting of the cornerstone by Governor Gaston, the audience was treated to speeches and musical selections, as well as a special surprise for the honored speaker, Colonel J. Stricker Jenkins of the 5th Maryland Regiment:

Col. Jenkins, commander of the 5th, was called upon, and commenced a patriotic speech when he was interrupted by Mr. Baker, who took from a box a live white pig, some six weeks old, and presented it to the Colonel for a “Child of the Regiment.”

Amid shouts of laughter, the gallant Colonel in his rich dress, went on, 一手宣扬爱国主义,一手抱着猪, 它安静地躺在那里,像一个刚洗完澡的安静的婴儿一样寻找着所有的世界. The effect was irrepressibly ludicrous.

Soon afterward Mr. Baker produced a black pig, some three months old, 但是那个军官已经全副武装地把它递给他的一个手下,那个手下把它扔在他的背上, 士兵的肩膀上只露出它的头和前爪.

猪崽子站在这个新奇的位置上打量社会时的悲哀神情, 他惊叫一声,又吓得全场大笑起来,马里兰的孩子们为他们收养的猪欢呼起来.

After the official ceremony, 客人们享用了更多的茶点,部队进行了一场激动人心的足球比赛. As the crowd gathered to leave, “several hundred red, white, 蓝色的玩具气球被解开,空中飘满了成群的气球.” That was not the end of the celebration, however. On 5 July, Baker’s guests returned for more “follies, 幻想和轻浮”,与新猪舍有关,详细描述在7月8日出版的 Boston Daily Advertiser:

But all cannot be enumerated. The caves all glistening with tin-foil and lit with fires, Minehaha’s bower with its spring trap floor; the “Gallery Olympic,” for the development of art and muscle, where bowling alleys are laid between rows of pictures and under mementos of other celebrations; of the curiously illuminated flower-beds and handsome greenhouses; of the statutes [sic] of revolutionary heroes in long rows under the pines, of the cartoons of historic places in this city procured from the Boston tea party; of the pavilion beautifully trimmed with prisms and mosquito netting; of the house itself and its decorative beauties; of the stock farm where elk and buffalo roamed at will; of the 300,000 trout fry in the lake; of the monument composed of the chipped columns of the new post-office injured in the great fire; and the thousand and one curious objects that met the wistful wanderer at each step, fays and elves in terra-cotta, stuffed alligators with gaping jaws, stuffed pigs and dogs, repeated in stone and glass and wood …

Who was William Emerson Baker?

威廉·爱默生·贝克出生于1828年,母亲是莎拉·里德和阿贝尔·贝克. 他的职业生涯始于一名干货商人,但作为威廉·奥巴马的合伙人,他获得了巨额财富. Grover, the inventor of an early sewing machine. From about 1851-1875, Grover & Baker sewing machines dominated the market and by 1865, the company was producing 1000 machines a week. A fire in 1867 and the financial panic of 1873, 再加上他们的技术过时,导致公司的衰落,并于1875年与国内缝纫机公司合并. By that time, however, 贝克离开了公司,用他的巨额财富建造了Ridge Hill农场. On his death in 1888, most obituaries highlighted his many eccentricities, 这些描述在1881年1月27日《利记APP官网手机版》写给编辑的一封信中被反驳:

的确,他热爱幽默,酷爱怪诞, 有时,他们表现得如此挥霍无度,毫无保留,以致于自然而然地误导了那些只能以貌取人的人. 但在这一切的背后,他身上却有一种构成高尚的心灵和真正的人的材料. 如果他对一些琐事有激情,那么他对许多伟大而美好的事物也有激情.

He was one of the most public spirited of men. He had a desire, almost impetuous, to improve the condition of the poor, especially in reference to food and dwellings, and he expended time, 金钱和过剩的劳动力,努力完善和实施改善他们状况的计划. Not only in these particulars, but in others, which many will recall, he strove to make the life of the poor smoother and better, and to establish institutions of philanthropy and learning. He was one of the first, if not the very first, to suggest the Institute of Technology, and was one of its most ardent friends. 他的慈善事业和努力几乎没有任何限制.

Baker was survived by his wife, Charlotte Augusta (Farnsworth) Baker (1831-1907) and two sons, Edward (1865-1934) and Walter (1870-1907). 在尼德姆和韦尔斯利交界的郊区住宅中,岭山农场的痕迹已所剩无几.

For Further Reading

Crumbaker, Leslie G. The Baker Estate, or Ridge Hill Farms of Needham Needham, Mass.: Needham Historical Society, 1975.

Greenway, H.D.S. “A Lost Estate,” Boston Globe, 8 April 2010.

马萨诸塞州历史协会举办了几项与新猪场庆祝活动有关的项目,包括一个 invitation, program, and Baker’s bizarre map of the United States, the “Porcineograph.”

Information about Grover & Baker’s first sewing machine can be found at the National Museum of American History.

Information about the history of the Grover & Baker Company can be found on Fiddlebase.