| Show ohi 0 ivac med I 1 a P xe c a Is eroe of PIP 15 tl v V Z q c 19 4 AL ti r by ELMO SCOTT WATSON 7 HID 1119 Is 18 a story of dr civic idealism in a much mitch deplored ago age of material 1 asin om it Is the file story of 0 how a typical 1 al small middle western city has honored itself by honoring in i a unique way tho the man whose name I 1 it t hears bears anil and how it la in preserving in everyday every day life a historic tradition of which it to la proud I 1 in n the state ot of ohio there are three thre e adjoining counties which bear the names of van wert paulding and they are named for issaac isaac van wert john paulding and david williams the three volunteer militiamen of the state of new york who d during u ring the revolution captured maj john andro andre of the british army thereby foiling felling th the e plot of benedict arnold to hand over to th tho a ebern enemy the stronghold at west point a disaster which might have been fatal to the patriot cause the county seat of van wert county la in the little city of van wert ind and this article has haa todo to do with van vait wert county and city its citizens and a patriotic tradition of which they are proud road T the to story really begins more than 20 years ago w when hen a van wert business man whose particular lobby hobby was the study of american tits lits tory set bet out to learn more about the nian man for whom lila ills city was named this business buil ness man was 0 A L the descendant of a family of french huguenots Huguen who pint emigrated grated to america in colonial times the story of arnolds treason and the capture of andre by the three new york militiamen to Is a familiar one to most moat am americans e ricans but few know much about the sub subsequent 8 oti que t careers of the three aud the citizens of van wert cout county ity which bears beara the name of one of them hera were ro no exceptions to that rule mr knew that the continental congress gress 0 on R november 8 3 atso had ord ordered cred that the thanks of congress and sliver medals comm commemorating onlo their exploit bo be given to the three nien men on one diio side of these medals was the yord fidelity and on tho other vinelt amor amer pa triad lovo of country conquers testimony to tho the fact that van wert and wll wil llama ilams refused to accept the balba which major andre offered them for ills his release what had become of those modale modals ills ilia investigations revealed the fact that williams medal Is 3 in in the collections of the now new york historical society in new york city but that those of paulding and van wert seemed to have disappeared enlisting the aid of 0 M a aitt zen ten of van wert who had become commissioner ot of pensions at washington mr set act out to learn if by chance the lie dies from which the medals had been made yere were still preserved tho the tiles dies were not found but etwas discovered that in the numismatic collections of the united states mint itt at philadelphia there was waa a specimen ot of the medal composed of two electrotypes electro types joined together and this copy colly was lent to the van wort wert historian from this copy tiles dies wera made so that reproductions of the medal which was waa presented to isanc isaac van wort by congre sf could be struck off when the world war ended and the tha van W wert ert county men in III the service returned to their homes moo one of these reproductions was presented to ell each ch one of them and with it a booklet bearing the title of oc isaac van wert in the flonary war and containing the story of the capture of andre and other information i about hima which sir mr had secured on in the title page Is 1 this citation the rho medal of which this booklet la Is an historical Ex was presented to by the citizens of van wert county ohio in grateful Ite recognition cognition of services rendered our mr county and country later the idea ot of giving one of f these medals and a citation was extended extence d to awarding it to others whose services warranted such an award so van wert county ohio enjoys the distinction of havin having 9 its own distinguished clyle civic service medal one which Is rich in historic tradition and of using it tr to foster coster patriotism and to make unselfish civic services a living reality among its people du bu this original idea to Is not cot the only way I 1 in n which van wert ohio has honoro honored the memory of its namesake last year its citizens under the leadership of mr celebrated the sesquicentennial of the capture of 0 andre that historic acene was men re enacted acted la in a one act historical drama under the title of fidelity 1 written by mr in which citizens of van wert took toofe parts of andre van wc wert rt pauldene and williams the celebration also included a street pageant in which school children from every part of the county took part the observance having been arranged primarily with the idea of instilling in their minds the aidea aca of 0 loyalty r fidelity and patriotism as exema 1 by the three men whom it honored the tha celebration was held first la in and in van wert the following day 9 g t y gg na A aff aff alay 4 1 k V A k ff Q k SAM ZAM V A in addition to giving frying impetus to the movement which resulted in van werts custom of awarding a unique distinguished civic service medal and being the prime moyer mover lu in the antal celebration last year this business man whose hobby la is american history ling has also enriched the local traditions ot of ills hla county by securing for or it other interesting material relating to isnac isaac van wort wert for many years eaic it was believed that there was no likeness of van wert in existence but through investigations conducted by mr it avas aa found that a life mask of van wort wert had been made by john glenry isaac bronero of tarrytown N Y in 1820 and he secured a n picture or of this reproduction in the booklet ile he also secured pictures of life masks of paulding and williams and from a des descendant pendant of paulding now living in new york he obtained a photograph of the original paint ing IDS of the andre capture which la Is shown above from the library of congress he tilso secured photo photostats stats of letter of october 7 1780 in which the lu ln chief reported tho the capture of andre to congress and of the resolution of congress authorizing the rewards which were to be riven given the captors the following extracts front from letter are quoted in the boo booklet kletz 1 I have now the pleasure to communicate the names of the three persons persona who captured major audio andre and who refused to release hint him notwithstanding tho the most earnest importunities and assurances su of liberal re reward ard on his part their conduct merits our war warmest mos t esteem antl anil I 1 beg leave to add that I 1 think the public will do well to malco make them a handsome hand some gratuity they have hato prevented in all 11 probability our suffering one of the tha severest strokes that could have leavo been meditated against us their names tire are john paulding david williams and isaac van wort wert GEORGE washington letter was referred I to a committee of congress which delivered a report upon the reading of which congress passed the following resolution whereas congress have received information that john paulding padding david williams and isaac van wert three youns young volunteer militiamen of the state of new york did on the day of september last intercept major john andre adjutant general of the british army on his return from the american lines in the character phar acter of a spy and notwithstanding iho large bribes offered them for his release nobly disdaining to sacrifice their country for the th sake of gold secured and conveyed him to the commanding officer of the district whereby the dangerous dang crona and traitorous conspiracy of benedict arnold was brought to and the insidious designs of the enemy baffled and the united states rescued from impending darger danger resolved that congress have a high sense of the virtuous and patriotic conduct of the said john paulding david williams william and isaac van wert in testimony whereof ordered that each of them receive annually out of the public treasury dollars in specie or an equivalent in the current money of these states during life and that the hoard of war procure for each of them a sliver silver medal on one side aide of which dball be a shield with this inscription fidelity and on an the other the follow ing motto vincit arnor amor patriae patr patri lae ael and forward thota them to the tha commander in chief who Is 13 quested to to present the file same saine with th a copy of till this resolution and the thanks of congress for or their fidelity and tho the eminent service they have r rea n tiered dered their country van werts name hence the name of the ohio city and county should properly he be van wart for lie he was a brother of abraham van wart adjutant in the continental line whose son sin henry married a sister of washington irving however spelling of his name van wert seeing to have established that spelling and it has survived in that form ile ha was born in greenburgh N Y in van wert aird Willin williams ms were vere cousins williams father and van ilan werts mother being brother and sister after the revolution van wert returned to greenburgh and was chorister choi lster in the church there until ills his death on may 2 1828 each of the captors were to receive a farm in westchester county valued at 2500 and a life pension of a year but van wert made no application for pension or bounty lands for his war services although lie he did receive the an nutty doted voted him by congress van wert was burled in westchester county on the he banks of the nepera river and there a monument was erected to his memory williams was born in tarrytown tarry town october 21 1754 ile he enlisted in the continental army at the outbreak or of the revolution devolution ser served ved in general army in the C canadian ex tion and continued in the army until 1770 1779 during ills hla service his feet were floizen frozen and he was partially disabled but upon returning home he enlisted in the state militia tor for home guard service son tee it was while he van wert and paul ding were engaged in this service patrolling the east bank of the hudson river in search of cowboys tory raiders who were committing depredations in that section that the capture of andre tool took place after the war williams bought a farm near the catskill mountains which had bad been the property of daniel shays famous as the leader in the shays rebellion williams generous nature soon led him into financial difficulties but with the help hell of ills government pension he managed to retain his farm and pass it along to ills descendants in adIt addition tion to the silver medal given hint him by congress he was also presented by new york elty city with it a cane made from the cheval de trise for obstructing the hudson at west point and when in 1830 10 he visited that city upon the invitation of its mayor lie he w waa a 3 presented with a horse harness and carriage carritt ge and the children in one of the city schools gave him i a silver cup williams died near livingston ville N Y august 2 1831 11 and was buried tn in Scho schoharie harle where a monument has been erected to hla his memory paulding was wa born in new york city in 1758 and served throughout the revolution ile he was waa taken prisoner by the british three times and it was a few days after his escape from hla his second imprisonment that he aided in the capture ot of andre it was paulding who stopped andre andr el questioned him and discovered he was a spy paulding died tn in Stants staatsburg burg N X Y february 18 1818 and yas was burled tn in st peters churchyard near peekskill Peek skill N Y in 1827 it monument was erected over tits hta grave by the city of new york at which time the address was wa 3 in made it do by tits tiep dephew liew william paulding who was waa mayor of 0 the city Q by N valad |
