Michael Fields Book One Merchant, Smuggler and American Patriot

MICHAEL FIELDS

Book One

Merchant, Smuggler and American Patriot

By

Daniel J. Cashman

Copyright, 1990, Daniel J. Cashman

Smashwords Edition

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CHAPTER ONE

THE SETTLERS

Edward Fields was born in Portsmouth, England, to parents whose only wealth was their children. The last of six siblings, his mother died shortly after his birth and he grew up rarely having enough to eat, in a cramped and filthy room on the second level of a company owned row of apartments. By the time Edward had attained his fifth birthday, two of his brothers had died of the fever and a sister had been killed while working in the cotton mill. It was then his turn to earn a wage and help support the family.

At five years of age, Edward had attained a physical stature and mental understanding that made him a commodity needed in the factory. His father took him to the textile mill where his brother and sister toiled and turned him over to the superintendent to be put to work. There, with other children, he labored in an atmosphere of clattering machines clearing clumps of wool and cotton from the cogwheels before they jammed the mechanized looms. Crawling through the labyrinth of flapping drive belts and moving parts where an adult couldn’t go, he learned to deftly pick clumps of knotted fabric from the cogs and that no extra compensation was paid for slow fingers that were crushed or torn off. Their father collected the meager wages Edward and his remaining brother and sister earned from the factory paymaster at week’s end and spent the greater part on gin and the lesser on food.

By his tenth birthday, Edward had seen the life of his brother and many other factory children he worked with reduced to charity as their limbs were clipped off, crushed or mangled beyond use. This and the drunken rages of his father drove him to run away from the mill and sell himself into indentured servitude at the factory of Josiah Hornblower, the Master Machine Maker.

His new tasks required long hours of running and fetching but in the shop, the factory and the forge, he found people who actually cared about his well being and encouraged him to study the machines being constructed. Over the following years his efforts and diligence were noted and on occasion, rewarded with a copper coin. The rewards encouraged him to redouble his efforts and as his knowledge and skill grew, the beacon of his freedom became clearer and closer.

-*-

In the early spring of 1745, just after his 18th birthday, Edward and several of his work mates were taken aside by the Josiah Hornblower, eldest son of the factory owner. In a room lit by a blazing fire and oil lamps hung from the roof supports, they sat at wooden benches and listened to their benefactor. Edward was frightened and thrilled as the younger Hornblower told the assembled workers, Our Company has contracted to bring our steam engine to the Crown Colony of New Jersey. Once there, he paused and surveyed the faces of the gathered workers, the engine will be installed at a copper mine, owned by Arent Schuyler, in a wilderness town known as Barbadoes Neck.

Wilderness. The term evoked images in Edward’s mind of a desert as described in the bible; dry; desolate, devoid of life. But he had heard stories of the great forests of the New World and of the wild Indians who lived there and murdered whole settlements. He shuddered and brought his attention back to Master Hornblower. Our engine will serve a two-fold purpose. First, it will pump water out of the mines owned by Master Schuyler and second, it will power the bellows at his smelting forge. Your knowledge and experience are needed to bring our invention to that wilderness, install it and keep it running. Edward looked up as Roberts, the Blacksmith’s Assistant, caught his breath; he knew it was because the man longed to immigrate to the New World. The gathered workers listened intently as Master Hornblower extended to each an opportunity.

Join my work gang, if you will, and voyage with me to the port of New York. From there we shall trek to the Royal Colony of East Jersey and locate a wilderness village known as Schuyler. There we shall install Master Schulyer’s pump, operate and maintain it.

Heavy silence hung over the room. Josiah Hornblower lowered his voice to meet the tension and surveyed the men before continuing, There is a price to pay for this opportunity. He paused again. Five years indentured service before freedom.

The most senior and respected members of the work crews drew into a tight knot from which grew a growing volume of Yea. The circle broke and the Superintendent spoke for the group. Sir, we are mostly family men. May we bring loved ones with us? Master Hornblower raised his hands and waved them over the heads of the seated men as if he were blessing them and declared, You may all bring your immediate families; wives and children, only.

Edward felt as if he would pass out! He was planning to migrate to the New World when his term of service ended and was saving every farthing he could muster to purchase a passage. His goal was still years away but now Master Hornblower was offering not only passage but an education that would be of immense value. Edward quickly saw that at the end of his service, he could continue working on the machine in the Royal Colony but as a free man! This was the answer to his prayers. His dream of a new life was at hand. His spirit of adventure flared, his thirst for freedom screamed out and the possibility of growing rich in the New World drove him to his feet calling out, Aye, Sir. I’ll go.

When the meeting was finished, Edward was one of three apprentices who accepted Josiah Hornblower’s contract and signed on to the crew as a Fabricator. The job of the apprentice Fabricator was to accompany the engine to New Jersey and learn how it worked and how to keep it operating and profitable. They would work alongside the Ironsmiths in the forge casting the replacement parts needed for those that broke. Their job of supplying the repair gangs with the replacement parts required that they be artists as well as smiths and promised that one day they would become Master Craftsmen.

For himself, the decision was easily made but Edward had fallen in love with another servant in the Hornblower household, a young seamstress named Elizabeth. That evening, after committing himself to the voyage, he addressed the subject with her in the quiet of the Hornblower orchard where she swore her love and vowed to follow him wherever he went. The next step was to ask Master Hornblower that he be allowed to take Elizabeth to the New World, as his wife.

Edward wore his Sunday service suit to visit the factory office and sat bolt upright in a straight back wooden chair waiting the appointed time of his audience. Eventually, the door opened and he was summoned into the presence of the Hornblower family patriarch, Josiah Hornblower, Esquire. Over the years, Edward had heard his voice bellowing over the din of the forge, calling instructions, directions and admonitions to the superintendents and managers. But today, while discussing matters of the heart, his voice was soft and his eyes seemed to have a twinkle. Edward quaked while speaking his piece and tried to ignore the thin line of perspiration trickling down his temple. Master Hornblower stroked his graying beard as Edward recounted the years of faithful service and how young Elizabeth had caught his eye. When he finished, Hornblower set the same price upon Elizabeth’s passage and dismissed him with a wave of his hand and a wish of good luck and happiness. Edward rose from the chair and extended his hand to the man who had salvaged his life and sealed the bargain for himself and his bride-to-be.

-*-

On a brilliant June morning, with only hours to go before their ship set sail, Elizabeth and Edward were wed in the factory chapel. After the briefest of ceremony, they raced to the harbor carrying all their worldly possessions in a single canvas bag. On the dock, they joined their friends, had their names checked on the manifest, were ushered aboard the MAID MARGARET and sent down into the main cargo hold. There, in the hold, shackled to the deck, lay a huge crate containing the great steam piston. It measured, nearly fifty feet long and two feet in diameter and surrounding it were stacks of crates containing three spare parts for each moving part of the great engine. This cargo bay was to be home to the engine and the gang for a journey across the Atlantic Ocean that was expected to last some thirty days. The passengers milled around their new home exploring and staking out small sections for each family’s space. Quickly they found perches and crevasses on top of and between the crates of parts and settled in. Edward and Elizabeth, being last to arrive, were able to claim only a small section next to the piston that would give them no privacy. The older married women saw this and raised a commotion with their men and bullied them to make a private corner suitable for the newly married couple.

The MAID MARGARET was carrying more than Hornblower’s great engine to the New World; she carried the hopes and dreams of its human cargo. The men and women squeezing themselves into the hold with the engine were escaping the poverty, ignorance and sickness that had been their lot in life. To them, indentured servitude in the New World was a way to better themselves and insure blessings beyond measure on their children. More than the small amount of money they would earn, their real wage was the freedom to start a new life in America. Freedom, more than any other reason was the siren’s song luring these men and women with adventurous spirits and unfettered minds to the uncertainty and hardships of the new world.

On the main deck of the MAID MARGARET the pace of the crew’s activities accelerated, and excitement built in the passengers as the ship prepared to cast off. A cheer went up when the tide turned and swept them from Portsmouth harbor on their first step of the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Edward and Elizabeth stood together on the forward deck as the journey began, following the sun as it slipped toward the western horizon. Arm in arm they stood looking to the west, refusing to look back on the Old World, clinging to each other, facing their new lives in America with an undaunted faith that told them they would find the freedom they sought.

For the next five weeks the families of Hornblower’s company lived crowded into the hold with the machinery. The food they ate was palatable, but seasickness made the first days thoroughly wretched. The smell of vomit and urine permeated the hold making everyone miserable but as the passengers got their sea legs they cleaned out the hold and settled into the rhythm of life aboard ship. The crossing was as uneventful as could be expected and the trade winds carried them across the ocean with only one terrifying storm to insure their respect for the mighty Atlantic’s power and unforgiving nature.

-*-

The MAID MARGARET entered New York harbor and dropped anchor at dawn on a sweltering summer day. Edward was one of the first to come on deck and was greeted with a sight that staggered his imagination. Their ship was only one of hundreds, maybe thousands anchored in New York harbor. All around him small boats scurried about their business. Fishing boats lined the shallow coastal waters taking a harvest from the sea, while merchantmen loaded with the harvest of the land raised their sails and set off through the narrows back across the Atlantic to England. Wharves lined every mile of the New York City waterfront and every slip was busy receiving or loading cargo. Behind the docks, New York City bustled, protected by forts strategically placed at the foot of the city and on several islands in the bay and warships flying the British flag. The arrival of the MAID MARGARET had been expected for several days and as her entry was logged by the Harbormaster, a rider was dispatched to Barbadoes Neck to tell Arent Schuyler his cargo had arrived.

The following morning, as the sun rose out of the Atlantic, Master Schuyler ferried out to the MAID MARGARET. He was tall and square but leaned on a cane to ease some injury. Dressed in a simple white linen shirt with waistcoat and dark gray wool pants, he appeared to be a gentleman but one who was accustomed to hard work. His hair was tied at the back of his head and he wore a wide brimmed tri-corner hat. As he stepped on deck, the ship’s Captain and the assembled passengers were waiting. Edward and Elizabeth stood in the third rank of the passengers behind Josiah Hornblower. The Captain introduced Hornblower to Schuyler and words of greeting passed between them. When they finished a whispered conversation, Master Schuyler turned to the gathered passengers and addressed them.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Arent Schuyler, the owner of the mine where the great pump you have brought with you will be installed. I bid you welcome to His Majesties colony of East Jersey. You will find that East Jersey is quite different than East Anglia. For instance, we have Indians here. The passengers nervously laughed at his words and collectively caught their breath as an Indian came up over the side and stepped onto the deck. Tall and muscular, he stood before them in the early morning sun, naked except for a loincloth; Elizabeth turned her head as the Indian laughed out loud at the fear on the faces of the new arrivals. Master Schuyler continued as more Indians and Englishmen came onto the deck, When I have finished my inspection, we will begin moving the machine to the mine where it will be installed. Today’s labor will be trying and difficult but when it is complete, we shall rest. Till then, let my laborers do their work. When the barges arrive, take your belongings and transfer over. And stay out of the way!

Josiah Hornblower escorted Master Schuyler down into the main hold. He understood that Schuyler had spent a vast amount of money to bring the pump and the men needed to tend it across the ocean. He also knew the man was anxious and plagued by a thousand doubts, so he waited patiently as Schuyler worked his way through the manifest, checking and verifying the presence of each crate and worker. When they emerged from the hold, they were chatting merrily; Schuyler was nodding his approval and grinning widely as they advanced to the next hold.

Within an hour of sunrise, a fleet of flat bottom barges, under sail and oar, arrived from the west passage the crew called the Kill van Kull, and surrounded the MAID MARGARET. Crews from the barges swarmed onto the decks and joined the Indian laborers as they transferred the engine and its spare parts to the barges for the journey to the Barbadoes Neck. Hornblower and Schuyler watched over every step of the process. At their direction, men pulled on ropes, winches squealed, and tackle strained under the weight as the great piston as it was hauled out of the main hold, lowered over the side and secured onto a barge. With the last crate lashed to the decks, the human cargo was directed to find any perch on the barges they might and prepare for the next leg of their journey. Using poles and oars, the transport sailors moved the barges back into the narrow Kill, floated around Bergen Point and into the Newark Bay. The oarsmen unfurled their sails as a brisk breeze picked up and the barges plowed smartly across the inland sea. Edward and Elizabeth sat atop the highest crate on their barge, clutching their bag of possessions as salt spray dampened their clothing and a warm wind blew their hair in front of them.