Audubon the Naturalist: A History of His Life and Time. Vol. 1 (of 2)Herrick, Francis Hobart
History
Audubon the Naturalist: A History of His Life and Time. Vol. 1 (of 2)
Herrick, Francis Hobart
Audubon, John James, 1785-1851
In the inventory were included one windmill, one pair of
scales, with weights of 56, 28 and 7 pounds, "skreen," four
bolting cloths, two hoisting tubs, and one large screw and
circle for raising the millstones. This lease was renewed
in October, 1790, when Jean Audubon, who was then living at
Nantes, agreed to keep the house in good repair from that time
onward. It was the Prevost mortgage that Miers Fisher paid but
forgot to cancel (see Vol. I, p. 122); it was finally cleared
up by Dacosta in October, 1806.
Miers Fisher's Philadelphia residence, called "Ury," which
Audubon often visited, was near Fox Chase, now in the
Twenty-third Ward. See Witmer Stone, _Cassinia_, No. xvii
(Philadelphia, 1913).
[88] For a photograph of this portrait of Lieutenant Audubon
here reproduced, I am indebted to Miss Maria R. Audubon; the
originals of both portraits are now in possession of Audubon's
granddaughter, Mrs. Morris F. Tyler.
[89] See Note, Vol. I, p. 99.
[90] For this and the preceding quotation, see Maria R.
Audubon, _Audubon and his Journals_ (Bibl. No. 86), vol. i,
pp. 18 and 27.
[91] In Dacosta's final statement of his account, which
was disputed, carried into court, and eventually settled by
arbitration at Philadelphia, on August 1, 1807, these items
occur: "Omitted, $300.00, paid by Francis Dacosta to Miers
Fisher, on May 24, 1803;" and "Ditto $176.67, the proportion
of Francis Dacosta in the rent of the first year, which has
not been paid to him." (See Appendix I, Document 11a; MSS. in
possession of Mr. Welton A. Rosier.)
It seems probable that Dacosta was sent to this country by
Lieutenant Audubon to act as his agent for the disposition of
"Mill Grove," and to succeed Miers Fisher in the conduct of
his business affairs. Interest in the neglected and forgotten
mine may have diverted them from their original plans.
[92] The following notice, copied from _Relf's Gazette_,
appeared in the _New York Herald_ for Saturday, November 17,
1804:
"The lead mine discovered on Perkiomen creek, in Montgomery
county, Pennsylvania, the property of Francis Dacosta, has
been lately opened, and attended with great success. The
vein proves to be a regular one, and of long continuance. Its
course is N.N.E.; its direction is nearly perpendicular, and
its thickness from one foot to 15 inches. Two tons of that
beautiful ore were raised in a few hours, and one ton more
at least was left in the bottom on the pit, which is yet but
nine feet deep. From the situation of this mine, its nearness
to navigation and market, its very commanding height, its
richness in metal, and the large scale it forms on; it is
thought by judges to be one of the first discoveries yet made
in the U. S.
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