When William Bakewell succeeded to his uncle's estate and manor, he lived the life of a country gentleman, devoting himself mainly to shooting and to the study of chemistry and natural philosophy, while he enjoyed the friendship of such men as Joseph Priestley and Erasmus Darwin. His advocacy of Priestley's republican and liberal religious doctrines is said to have cost him the honorary office of justice of the peace in his community and to have determined his emigration to America. His first visit to America was made in the summer of 1798, when, with his brother Benjamin,[176] he started an establishment for brewing English ale at New Haven; through his chemical knowledge and skill he is said to have reproduced to perfection the famous Burton ales. William Bakewell brought his family to the United States in 1802, and when a disastrous fire destroyed his business at New Haven, he took up the large farm of "Fatland Ford" in 1804, as already related (p. 108). In that retired spot he devoted much time to his library and laboratory, while living a life of easy independence. If abrupt in manners and inclined to severity in discipline, he was generous, kind-hearted and an ardent republican. Mrs. Audubon's mother, who felt keenly the separation from her own people, died in September, 1804, a few months after reaching "Fatland Ford," and in the following year William Bakewell was married to Rebecca Smith. This lady seems to have taken a strong dislike to Audubon, for when her death was announced in 1821,[177] he referred to her as "my constant enemy ... God forgive her faults." At this time Audubon studied nature for the pure love of it, without the faintest expectation that his labors in natural history would ever be of any service to the world. But in the year 1810 occurred an event, of seemingly small moment at the time, which nevertheless left a distinct mark upon his career, as will be now related. CHAPTER XIV A MEETING OF RIVALS, AND A SKETCH OF ANOTHER PIONEER Alexander Wilson and his _American Ornithology_—His canvassing tour of 1810—His retort to a Solomon of the Bench—Descriptions of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Louisville—Meeting with Audubon—Journey to New Orleans—Youth in Scotland—Weaver, itinerant peddler, poet and socialist—Sent to jail for libel—Emigrates to the United States—Finally settles as a school teacher near Philadelphia—His friendships with Bartram and Lawson—Disappointments in love—Early studies of American birds—His drawings, thrift, talents and genius—Publication of his _Ornithology_—His travels, discouragements and success—His premature death—Conflicting accounts of the visit to Audubon given by the two naturalists—Rivalry between the friends of Wilson, dead, and those of Audubon, living—The controversy which followed—An evasive "Flycatcher"—Singular history of the Mississippi Kite plate.