THE MAN WHO LOVED THE BIRDS 



215 



famous in Scott's novel, "Peveril of the Peak." This 

 estate also has for many years been the property of the 

 Wetherills. The stately mansion stands in a command- 

 ing position, affording a magnificent view of Valley 



Photo by J. Howard Fell 



THE OLD GRIST MILL 



This ancient stone structure was built at Mill Grove before Audubon 

 lived there. 



Forge and the Schuylkill Valley. One end of Sullivan's 

 bridge was not far from the house. General Washington 

 spent a night in this mansion when moving his battered 

 army to Valley Forge, and twelve hours later the British 

 army arrived and General Howe lodged there. The quaint 

 old walled rose garden, the big stone barn, and the old 

 "spring-house" the first dwelling house in this locality 

 are in use today, in a fine state of preservation, monu- 

 ments to the art of the early builders. 



Audubon's father was one of a family of twenty 

 children. At the age of twelve he was provided with a 

 shirt, a suit of clothing, a cane and his father's blessing 

 and sent into the world to find his fortune which he 

 promptly did. He became a sailor, commanding a ves- 

 sel at twenty-one, owning one at twenty-five, and in ten 

 years more realizing a comfortable fortune. He pur- 

 chased an estate in St. Domingo, and later, in Louisiana, 

 he met and married Anne Moyette. Three sons and a 

 daughter were born to them, John James, the youngest 

 boy, being born May 4, 1780, in New Orleans. A few 

 years later, Madame Audubon was cruelly murdered 

 during a revolution of the negroes in St. Domingo. The 

 elder Audubon returned to France, where he became an 

 admiral in the navy, and the future naturalist was 

 brought up by a loving and over-indulgent stepmother. 

 From his earliest years his love of nature was highly 

 developed, and this led him to neglect studies for the 

 investigation of the wonders of woods and fields. At 

 this point his father mapped out a course of study, and 

 insisted that he attend diligently to his education, but 

 this program was seriously disturbed by the turmoil of 

 the French revolution. His studies included mathe- 

 matics, geography, drawing, music, fencing and dancing. 



At Nantes, under the instruction of the great drawing 

 master, David, he first began to make drawings of birds, 

 and completed 200 sketches. 



His father was anxious for him to win military 

 honors, but this did not appeal to the young man, so he 

 was sent to America to care lor his father's property. 

 Yellow fever was raging in New York when he landed, 

 and he was immediately stricken, but was taken to 

 Morrisville, N. J., by friends and his life saved by care- 

 ful nursing. On his recovery, he proceeded to Mill 

 Grove and found it a delightful place, entirely suited to 

 his romantic nature. After a time his happiness was 

 marred by the arrival of his father's agent sent to super- 

 intend the lead mines, who presumed to dictate 

 to the young genius, but who encouraged him to 

 make the study of birds his life-work. The authority 

 ventured by this great agent was resented by 

 Audubon, and when objection was raised to his 

 proposed marriage with Lucy Bakewell, and a plot dis- 

 closed to ship him to India, the spirited youth walked, 

 in three days, in mid-winter, to New York, where he 



Photographed by J. Howard Fell 



HIGH PATH THROUGH WOODS FROM MILL GROVE TO 

 COPPER MINE 



This road, as in Audubon's time, is a place to delight the bird-lover 

 and the nature student. 



borrowed sufficient funds to carry him to France. The 

 father supported the son's action and discharged the 

 unscrupulous agent. However, the young nature student 

 remained with his parents for a year, indulging his 

 taste for hunting, fishing and collecting. At this time 



