Hold off on that pup tent offer
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well, at least we know he didn’t sleep here
Yesterday, in response to a news item concerning the sale of a replica of a Mark Twain residence, I offered to sell any Havemeyer Park home and put a replica pup tent on the lawn so that a new owner could bask in that warm feeling of “George Washington Slept Here” faux-authenticity that we all so enjoy and that makes our houses worth so much.
But! Local historian Missy Wolfe, author of two books, so far, on our town, “Hidden History of Colonial Greenwich” (2018) and “Indomitable Spirit” (2012) has corrected me. The gentleman camper who spent time atop Palmer Hill was a Col. Enos., a loutish officer in the Continental Army ( it’s a little unclear; he might have been a Brit, but I’m going with him being a rogue on our side) who preyed on the locals while he infested the neighborhood. Bummer, from a resale perspective.
Still, it’s possible that, if Enos was emplaced on the hill when Washington and the troops passed by on their march to New York, and they must have come that way, because the highway was the only route, George might have spent the evening by Eno’s campfire, perhaps enjoying a marshmallow roast and some s’mores. Who’s to complain if you put that in your listing? Worse things have been done in those creative writing exercises.
Anyway, here’s Missy:
Hi Christopher,
Regarding Washington on Palmer’s Hill, There is an 1857 Daniel Mead Report that the campsite on Palmer’s Hill was that of Colonel Enos … He was reviled by the locals.
See:
Cheers!
Missy Wolfe,
author Hidden History of Colonial Greenwich and Insubordinate Spirit. Both non- fiction references histories of the town in its first century. Soon to be published will be the actual, transcribed records of the town 1640-1742 for use by any researcher.
(Minutes from 1777):
Gotta love, “Being both, in the fashionable meaning of the word, gentlemen, they were personally the possessors of no courage … and “of the least benefit to the inhabitants”.
Missy also writes:
I found the Fountain mentions in the 1640-1742 archives I thought you might like, and it is what my transcriptions will look like. With the Town Clerk’s blessing I created a locator path and numbering system for pages that had long lost their original number or had three old numbers. I also photo’d all the documents in high res – the 1970’s microfiches were unsearchable. I also created a new grantor/grantee volume for this time period. The 1920’s one did not even come close to being comprehensive and since the 1970’s binding which changed the page ordering, it was inaccurate to say the least. This new Grantor/Grantee will be Volume Two (each volume about 800 pages) of The Great Ledger: Records of the Town of Greenwich 1640-1742.
Enlightening, no? One of my jobs as a young lawyer in Maine back in 1981-82 was searching land titles, and they often were as informative as this. One I liked from 1810 or so started, “Beginning on the northwest bank of the Penobscot at the willow tree marked with a red circle …” Sheesh.
