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CHAPTER XVII

CUPID'S HEIRLOOM

  WHAT a bustle there was in the old Fitch home of Bedford on the morning of April 19, 1775. Before the first note of the robin was heard in the orchard in the rear of the house, lights were seen flitting about from room to room, and long before the sun appeared above the horizon three stalwart young men were bidden a hasty farewell by mother and sisters, and made a quick step to the village.
      "Be sure and get something warm at Jeremiah's," was the loving request of the mother, an afterthought expressed at the door when the boys were beyond the hearing of the loving mother's voice. Jeremiah was the eldest son of the family, who had set up the business of a tavern-keeper in the village; and being sergeant of the minutemen of the town, it had been agreed that, in case of alarm, the company should assemble there.
      John and Matthew, the twins of the family, reached Jeremiah's a full half-hour before Moses did. They started together; but he could not refrain from running across the meadows to say

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a last word to Rachel, a neighbor's daughter, for whom he had a tender interest.
      Although glad to see him, she would not detain the young man, being fully aware of the alarm that had already called her father, Lieutenant Edward Stearns, and his eldest son, Solomon, from the home. Rachel was the eldest of the three daughters of the home; she was a rosy-cheeked lass, already promised to be the wife of Moses, who was three years her senior.
      Despite the anxiety in both homes during that day, there was more than ordinary activity with those who were left. Rye pancakes were prepared by the peck, while the great iron kettle which hung from the crane was filled and emptied many times in the process of cooking salt pork and vegetables for the absent men.
      Rachel, with her two sisters, Susannah and Alice, lost no time in the manufacture of bullets and cartridges. Thus the day of anxiety wore away in the homes, while the absent ones had scarcely time to think of home.
      With the dead and wounded was brought the message that the able-bodied would not be home that day, and the order to send the provisions down toward Boston where it was supposed the enemy would be held. It fell to the women and few men remaining in the town to bury the brave Captain Jonathan Willson, while the immediate family of job Lane cared for him, in whose body

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was yet hidden the well-aimed bullet of the enemy. The return of Lieutenant Stearns after three days brought tidings from the absent, but no relief to Rachel, who now learned that her brother Solomon and lover Moses had decided to remain on duty indefinitely. But the brave of either sex spent no time in idle lamentation. Between cooking, spinning, and knitting every moment was occupied; and not a day passed but some one in the town took a load of provisions to the Cambridge camp. Moses Fitch received a double share; not only did the package from his home contain the bountiful evidence of the solicitude of mother and sisters, but in the Stearns bundle was always sure to be found some reminder of Rachel's love.
      Scarcely had a month elapsed before exposure and fatigue began its destructive work. One after another of the young men were brought to their homes to languish and die; among these was Solomon Stearns. Then, as not before, did the brave heart of Rachel grow faint. She saw but little prospect of her lover's ever returning to redeem his promise made months before, and renewed with a fond embrace on the morning of April 19. These lovers had secretly agreed that their marriage should be solemnized by the use of a ring. This was a great innovation upon family custom; for both families were strong Congregationalists, and shared in that contempt for any-

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thing that savored of the Church of England, and especially now that the king was making an attempt to rob them of what liberties they had enjoyed. The prospect of their marriage was poor indeed. Moses felt it to be his duty to continue in the service, and Rachel was too much of a patriot to say anything against it.
      The evacuation of Boston brought cheer to many homes. By some it was thought to be the end of the difficulty, and the triumph of the Colonial cause; but it soon became apparent that fighting was to be done elsewhere. While the seat of war had removed from Massachusetts Bay, there was yet to be fighting, and Massachusetts men must be in it. When Rachel was plying her spinning-wheel with renewed courage, there came the call for a seventh campaign. This time eight men must go from Bedford to New York, and Moses Fitch was of that number. The distance made it harder for Rachel to bear; but she was a patriot, and willingly made the sacrifice of comfort, fearing only that she might be called upon to make a greater sacrifice. She could no longer send the little dainties to camp, and thus comfort herself by cheering the one whom she had loved from the days when they had together gone to the little school on the hill, half-way between their respective homes. Then, whatever troubled one brought a shadow over the other's face; and so it had been down to the time when their greatest

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trouble was their country's sorrow. She kept the little wheel going, and week by week added new pieces to her store of fine linen, while with her own hands she tended the fresh crop of flax.
      It was into the month of November before the sad tidings were received from the battle of White Plains, fought on the 28th of the previous month. Not since the 19th of April of the previous year had such sorrow filled the hearts of the people of this little town. Timothy Page had been killed and Moses Fitch wounded. Rachel was now ready to enter the service as a nurse; but being denied this privilege, she set to work in the preparation of bandages and lint for the use of the army surgeons. Months wore away, during which occasional messages brought the assurance that the wounded patriot would recover, and soon be able to return to his home. At length in an unexpected hour he appeared, with one arm hanging useless at his side. With a reasonable expectation of ultimate recovery, the young man endured the privation, with the aid and sympathy of those who loved him. With little prospect of either pay or pension, these young people went on with their plans. When the soldier's pay came, it was in the form of the Continental currency, more bulky than valuable; but all this could not deter them from their one purpose.
      Rachel belonged to the "Daughters of Lib-

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erty," and was resolved to be led to the marriage altar in a gown of her own manufacture. To this Moses was agreed; but one purpose was to be carried out, no matter how great the self-denial in other directions. Rachel was to have a wedding-ring. There was no stipulation as to quality, unless the empty purse of her lover was to make one. The wounded patriot disposed of a good share of his depreciated currency, and secured the ring, all unknown to Rachel, who had a secret plan to drop a bit of her slowly accumulated coin into the empty purse before this long anticipated day arrived. Before the sounds of war had fully ceased, the day was set when the friends of Moses and Rachel should assemble, and witness the ceremony by which the attachment of childhood was

[Photo - "Continental Currency"]

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to be consummated in marriage. It was just here that a new difficulty arose. The Rev. Mr. _____, the only parson of the town, had leaned too strongly towards the Tory sentiment to be invited to unite these young patriots in the bonds of wedlock. To fail to do it would be a great breach of propriety; but he who had said, when the regulars were on the march to Concord, "You go and fight, and I will stay here and pray," could not be invited to this service. To use the ring and omit the minister would not be in the line of good Congregationalism; but it was in the time of war, and this seeming contradictory act must be explained by each guest and interested neighbor for himself.
      It was on Thanksgiving Day, 1782, that Moses Fitch, in his homespun suit, led Rachel Stearns, in a dress of her own manufacture, to the marriage altar. While the "Squire" of the town made the service legal, Moses placed the ring upon Rachel's finger, with no priestly intervention.
      Thus two of the most noted families of that locality were brought together. The founder of each came in the Winthrop immigration, being of that stock which gave to New England its grandest characteristics.
      The ring consisted of a modest jewel in a setting of gold. It was a simple thing; but it meant much to her as she received it from the soldier, wounded in the struggle for liberty. In fact, it

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spoke to her of his blood, poured out on the field of battle. It has ever since been a talisman to the generations that have succeeded this happy couple. To Moses and Rachel, thus happily united, there were born Solomon, Lucy, Moses, Elijah, Rachel, Joel, and Nathan, -- six of whom are represented in most useful lives to-day. But to the namesake of the mother it was early decided that the wedding-ring should descend, and that it should be delivered on the day of her marriage.
      Although the mother ceased to wear the ring two years before the marriage of the daughter, yet on Feb. 18, 1819, Rachel second, in appearing at the marriage altar, wore the envied ring that had glistened in her youthful eyes as she twirled it on the finger of her mother, while she listened to its story from her whose fondling embrace was not forgotten.
      Through the years of this second family possession the sacred obligation of the ring was kept in mind. That it was the birthright of the Rachel was a family truth. None but boys looked upon the precious link of family connection, as by their mother, Rachel, they were taught to revere the memory of those through whose marriage the sacred link had been welded. A niece had now appeared, who bore the name for the third generation; and on March 26, 1868, the golden band with its glistening jewel was duly transferred. The

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difficulty of carrying out to the letter the early pledge was here again met; for Rachel third had not responded to Cupid's darts, when the second proud owner could wear the ring no longer.
      Upon the finger of a skilful dressmaker the talisman was now seen for many years, as she plied the needle in the wealthiest families of Boston.
      Though deaf to all lovers' whispered words, she bore the name of Rachel, and claimed the prize. Again the letter of the rule was violated, and more rudely than before. Competition had failed at the baptismal font, and no generation of the name of her for whom Jacob served so long now rose to claim the ring.
      It was by Sarah that the ancient race was perpetuated, so the family council decided that the one bearing this biblical name should be the owner in the fourth generation.
      Hence, a Middlesex bride of 1893 wore to the marriage altar the ring which sacredly links the present with the past, and which gave not a little tinge of sentiment to the new relation entered upon by one of the favorites of modern society.
      Were this all, it were sufficient to arouse feelings of envy in the minds of others of the family circle but the happy bride by this act of marriage became the possessor of a contingent legacy. Rachel the third, whose skilful hand long bore the precious heirloom when exercised in adorning the brides of the palatial mansions of Boston and

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vicinity, studiously kept aloof from all matrimonial alliances herself, but she thoughtfully offered a prize upon the marriage rite.
      In her last will and testament, probated in September, 1888, is the following clause: "To my sister I give and bequeath my Japanese jewel-case and my silver spoons, and I direct her to give the same to the first of my nieces that shall be married, on her wedding day."
      There were six nieces who shared in the accumulated wealth of the third Rachel, either of whom might be the fortunate legatee. There was no apparent competitive struggle for the jewels, but a stray quiver from Cupid's bow was the means of the one who had the ancient heirloom becoming the rightful legatee under the will of the last Rachel.
      No woman of New England descent has a more commendable pass into the Daughters of the Revolution than she who wears the ring that was the price of the blood of a Middlesex hero.

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