History in houses: Woodlawn in Ellsworth, Maine

Magazine Antiques, Jan, 2003 by William Nathaniel Banks

The silver-gilt Argand lamp on the parlor mantel (Pl. XI), one of a pair has labels on both arms embossed "MESSENGER & SONS/LONDON & BIRMINGHAM/MANUFACTURED FOR

JONES, LOWS & BALL/BOSTON." The round Empire table with a marble top and the pianoforte labeled by Thomas Tomkison, Dean Street, Soho, London, both in the parlor (see P1. VIII), and the resplendent girandole looking glass in the hall (Pls. I, V) may all have been acquired during the Blacks' expedition to Boston in 1827. The painted rush-bottomed side chair next to the pianoforte is probably one of the "6 light fancy chairs" each listed at $2.75 on the Furniture Warehouse bill from Boston.

One of the Blacks' most impressive acquisitions is the bed (Pl. XII) in the principal bedroom, which is listed on the Furniture Warehouse bill as "Mahogany highpost Bedstead" costing twenty-six dollars. The posts are beautifully carved with acanthus leaves and feathers, and the bed is elaborately draped with the original hangings of ribbed dimity trimmed with tassels and caught up above the frame on brass mounts. The upholsterer's sketch with specifications for the hangings is shown in Plate XIII.

Among the mementos of Mary Black's father, General Cobb, is a miniature of George Washington on the round table in the parlor. It is thought to have been painted by Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827), and is inscribed on the back, "Presented to General David Cobb by General Washington 1789." In the butler's pantry Cobb's late eighteenth-century oak wine chest contains a vast assortment of glasses and decanters with delicate gilt decoration (see P1. IX). It appears that John Black, who became an American citizen in 1804, was, as Alexander Baring surmised, an exemplary gentleman. He was active in community affairs, serving as a justice of the peace in Ellsworth from 1824 to 1845. For many years he was commander of the Ellsworth company of volunteer militia, becoming its colonel in 1816.

To his eight children he was a loving but not overly indulgent parent with a steadfast concern for their welfare and especially their education. A letter of December 31, 1829, to his son George Nixon Black at school in Jamaica Plain near Boston, contained, besides warm wishes for the new year, a rebuke to the boy for having omitted the date on a letter to his father. Black wrote: "In itself, it is of no material consequence. I notice it, my dear boy, to show you the necessity of doing everything properly & correctly." (5)

Of all his children, Henry (1807-1884), the second of six sons, caused him the greatest sorrow. Dismissed from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, in his sophomore year for injuring college property and absenting himself from prayers and recitation, Henry ran away to sea in February 1832. The following December his father wrote him a poignant letter:

My dear boy, in your wanderings, remember the home, and friends you left behind you, and rest assured, that while I live, it shall always be a home for you....And likewise be assured and keep in mind, that daring your absence your mother and I can never enjoy such pleasure, as you can ensure us, returning to our arms, and by conducting yourself as you so well know how to do. (6)