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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



March, 1908 



The massive door is three inches thick, with enormous 

 lock and strap hinges, which extend eighteen inches in either 

 direction. The narrow vestibule gives upon an inner hall- 

 way. This, too, is narrow, severely plain, and strictly Co- 

 lonial in its type. The staircase, with its hand-carved balus- 

 trades, is still the same that graced Colonial fetes, with the 

 same paneling upon the walls, and the same quaint bull's eye 

 glass in the door opposite the entrance. 



On the left the hallway leads to the present dining-room, 

 with its old-time fireplace, large enough to contain the Eng- 

 lish Yule-log. The room is spacious and fitted with furnish- 

 ings of a Colonial type. Over the mantel hang an old powder 

 horn and flintlock, while at one side are such relics as 

 tin-kitchen, a jack to turn the spit, and 

 a flip-beater. There is a cabinet of old 

 china, a simple table, and antique chairs. 

 A very large pantry, adjoining, contains 

 the ovens at one time used for making 

 rum. 



To the right of the hallway is the 

 present living-room, decorated with 

 relics of the old governor, and having 

 in one corner the very chair in which he 

 sat. This is historic ground, as well as 

 poetic, for this was the governor's par- 

 lor, and here took place the scene de- 

 scribed by Longfellow. 



for many years, public affairs of the utmost importance. This 

 high-studded room, finished in the richest style of the last 

 century, has heard many a heated debate in those stormy 

 times that antedated the Revolution. The mantel over this 

 immense fireplace is a miracle of carving, hewn out by the 

 patient fingers of a skilled workman, who wrought upon it 

 with knife and chisel for one whole year before it was com- 

 pleted. Sofa and antique chairs of the governor's day occupy 

 their accustomed nooks. We look to see their old-time oc- 

 cupants, in periwigs and silver buckles, start to life once 

 more and people the shadows in the dim grandeur of this 

 fine old chamber. In one corner stands a rack, now filled 

 with sixteen flintlock muskets, some with bayonets attached. 



Statues of Youths in Colonial Costumes Flank the Entrance 



It was the governor's sixtieth birthday, and he had invited 

 friends to come and be merry. Among the guests was the 

 Rev. Arthur Brown. Through the door at the west came 

 Martha Hilton, housemaid, aged twenty, and stood before 

 this very fireplace, while the governor stepped to her side, 

 and the Episcopal clergyman, under strong compulsion, per- 

 formed the marriage ceremony. 



Passing from this room, a narrow landing and a short 

 flight of stairs connect with the hallway below, where was 

 the original entrance. On each side of the wall, over the 

 door, and on the opposite side, are stacks of arms, thirteen 

 in number. These are the muskets of the governor's guard, 

 so long dismissed, and yonder is the council-chamber, opening 

 off this same hall. In this spacious apartment were discussed, 



onsequence Were Discussed in the Council-chamber 



The present owner, during his restora- 

 tion of this ancient room, discovered 

 fine woodwork, hidden by plaster, in 

 the corner of the room under the stand 

 of arms. Just what was concealed here 

 has not been fully explored, but one 

 thinks naturally of secret closets and 

 hidden passageways in an old house of 

 this kind. 



We turn to the billiard-room, open- 

 ing off one side. Here is no billiard- 

 table, but a spinning-wheel and the 

 dainty old-fashioned English spinet 

 upon which little Martha Wentworth 

 learned to play. We wonder if this 

 was not the apartment which witnessed 

 the scene of the wedding-ring, a few 

 days after Martha Hilton's marriage. 

 Wishing to impress her importance 

 upon her former workfellows, she dropped her ring, and 

 called a servant to pick it up. The maid became all at 

 once so shortsighted that she could not see the ring until 

 Martha stooped and put her finger on it! 



On one side of the billiard-room several doors lead to 

 smaller chambers, which under the governor's sway were 

 used as card-rooms, where many a close rubber was played 

 by grave and reverend dignitaries of the land. 



Now we step across a small entry and out at another door. 

 We find ourselves facing the harbor at the spot where the 

 governor's wharf used to be ; while on the neighboring island 

 he had houses to shelter his slaves. It is an interesting fact 

 that the little one-story house which now stands upon the 

 island opposite was moved over on scows, at the opening of 



