Show was une und e W 91 el e L v by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HO Is uncle sam As 1 I y everybody knows lie he Is haj that genial lanky w ual dressed in a star spangled cost coat and striped trousers find and wearing the tall beaver hat bat who Is universally accepted as the symbol of the united states just as john bull Is the symbol of england but who WAS uncle san sam that Is to say was there a real person who was the original of this athla figure made go BO familiar to all of us by the cartoonists the answer Is there was but although samuel wilson a native of new york vork and a government contractor during the war of Is said by most historians to have been tilts this original there are a few inconsistencies in the commonly accepted story of samuel wilsons Wil sons being the original orl ihrl uncle sara which need to be reconciled and some account also needs to be taken of a fictitious person tile the product of a canadian Canil dian humorist humor hu moriet lt before the history of uncle sam can be declared complete two states claim the honor of being the burial place of tile the original uncle sam recently the united press sent out the following dispatch pre tents rents new yorks claim to that honor catskill N r Y few persons know tint this peaceful hudson river village it 1 the birthplace of one of the most famous nicknames and trademarks tho lh orld has ever known uncle sam who was largely cespon able abl for tile the orthe american forces during the war of 1812 was r b native of catskill Cats Cat MII shill according to charle charier A elliot a grandnephew grand nephew of the ta fa focus U S according to elliot this Is the story of the origin of the nich nickname name there werf were samuel nathaniel ane an edward wilson brothers who were associated socia ted in the meet meat packing business in 0 the hudon hudan hud on an valley early in the nineteenth t century tho the knew them as uncle sim uncle nat an ani and i uncle ned samuel who lived in troy came to catskill during the war of 1812 to take active p part in the firm established by nathaniel tl TI ey were under contrat contrail to supply beef and pork to the united states army drawing their supply frum from greene delaware and other centra bew ew took counties many of the c casks shipped from arora the th catskill dock bore the tha government mark V U S upon them the nation ilias aa young then and the f its name was not so common in that 4 ly l y hi as in this so one day when a boatman asked the man who was branding a pork a h jill nent what the two I 1 wo letters letter a depre r tented the brander replied why lial fiat means uncle sam the senior part nor of nf the ile firm the ti boatman thought it was a treat preat J jle jae ae lie ile carried the jest down the river wr retelling it whenever he never opportunity 9 ilion dad thus thua uncle sam the american came into inlo bring a character unintentionally created by an unknown boatman but destined to rank with the worlds world wrea greatest rea test figures of history and fiction after the ahe war uncle note sam returned to his business at troy and hta his sons benjamin B and albert he died in troy july ly 31 1844 and Is burled buried in that city but in his namesake lives on a truly fin mortal irol heing in the alie opinion of his mil lii inns of a I 1 patriotic nieces and nephew wr liui also allys claim to lu hold ilig her ln r soil bull the dust of thlu finious charleter chay leter ler on unil that us 8 lout forth recent recently lv it I 1 tile the fol foi nj artille appended appen red D the star fIndal iville ina A womans comans antul ton and her love of patriotic history loss led to the discovery of f the lie last rest ang g place of the original uncle sam i whom bom admiring mill millions one of americans american have held in worshipful A chance remark tome to the ears of tire mr louise B S young of Kendall kendallville ville with your correspondent in tl the publication of the fhe noble former farmr an agricultural publication her nose tor for news scented a story and arming herself with a camera she bhe met et out for the t facts facia and obtained a picture of the erected at the grave of uncle cle sam barn burled buried in a little obscure graveyard near merriam noble county indiana li iliana on the route of tile the lincoln the stonecutter made a mis its mile lall of thirteen years in the into date ct at it dehan which has never been recil 1 tied l an alie he family hoped at some time 10 tract tre ct a monument fitting the cha charac rac tt te it 1 l represented visiting the son john id wilson ninety three years year old and hla his grand 4 I 1 4 daughter mrs clabea Zumba both living at albion the following facts acts were obtained and fully verified samuel wilson one of triplets tw boys and a girl was born at wilmington del march 4 1778 the son ot of marmaduke and mary wilson who came to america from scotland there were no other children in the family growing to manhood there samuel with his brother joined the lewis and clark northwest expedition in 1804 accompanying compa nying them an aa far as where mandan N D is s now located these young men spent the winter there returning to st louis wo mo in the spring later they returned to troy on the hudson N T where they joined with one elbert anderson andersen who owned and operated a general store when war with great britain was declared in 1812 the anderson store was converted into a government supply headquarters with anderson as commissary and samuel wilson as his superintendent afterward a quarter ter master among mr air wilsons Wll Wil sona sons d duties u ties was that of examining and mar king all packages for government use the mark placed on these containers C A U sa s1 S wilson was known by his associates its a uncle sam and one day when a longshoreman was asked the meaning of these initials initial he replied p lc d by saying for elbert anderson the commissary and uncle sam his his superintendent for he and the united states are all one he represents the government too meant as a joke the idea took hold and mr wilsons a name uncle sam since that time has passed current as it a personification of the united states the world over later uncle sam began to appear it in caricature in many guises before tile the civil war although tall and slender as my mr wilson was it Is thought the present conception of uncle sam which began to appear in cartoon in the early ml had its inspiration in the tall gaunt figure of abraham lincoln uncle sam hai had a varied experience during the war he was on board the constitution to in that famous minute battle with the guarriello Guerr len when hen the he latter was sunk off cape race pace in this battle uncle sam was cited lor for gallantry by capt isaac hull and when he was honorably discharged he received two land warrants fir 0 rr the government or one s of these w war r rangit aal he his 8 son on john job lot v who he now lives at albion ind while the other went to a jim harrlson harrison and was also used in indiana after the war of 1812 uncle sam went to pennsyl pennsylvania vallia where he was united an fn n marriage to a bliss susan suaan anderson of cumbe cumberland rland county to children were born I 1 this his union ten seven boys and three ee girls as follows A anthony sul samuel a noah david andrew john mary ang Ange angelae a in lne the ny james and lucinda profession uncle sam by trade and tailor and a doctor his 6 son on a was lance that wa was has a now john the suffering affer alleviate uncle incle sam to to by y in the old days in of his pat patients 3 when bleeding Rs as regarded as a all for or rhoal in coot ailments cure rolled on and the c caricature arica ture time As and more more sam became of uncle developed a strong in use his family and when familiarity antipathy ant pa liy to this among strang indiana dul ana to moved they further ther resolved to avoid any an ers ere they th the and kept publicity along lots it line no I 1 identity ot of uncle sam a secret however a chance remark furnished a clew which when followed brought tho th above story which was reely freely told and fully verified uncle sam died march 1 7 1878 to la kosciusko county ind at the age of one hundred years and three days day his body was later removed to merriam where it now rests with other members of the family accod accompany Ac compan punting ing the star story la Is a photograph of uncle sams gravestone which has since been widely printed in newspapers throughout the country on the gravestone appears the legend soldier of 1812 SAMUEL WILSON died mar ilar 7 A aged aed ed years 3 ds from the two to accounts given above it Is apparent that while there Is no doubt its as to samuel wilson being the ihal ibal ot of uncle sam the conflicting testimony on his fill death and burial raises some interesting questions ns did lie he die on july 31 1314 1844 or on oil march to 7 1865 or on march 7 1878 how did the stone stonecutter cutter happen to make the mistake ot of 13 years in the date of his death Is he burled buried in troy N Y or in the obscure little cemetery near merriam ind the contribution of a canadian humorist to the history of uncle sam Is rather an incidental one but interesting nevertheless in 1835 judge Tho thomas illas chandler hallburton Ual Ilal lburton of windsor nova scotia created a character known as sam slick of slick valle onion county connecticut adventures appeared anonymously in the nova ova later it was published as a book by the editor joseph ilowe under the name of tile the clockmaker or the doings of sa sam slick of A copy was lent to buntley bentley toile english publisher who ho issued an edition to the english sam slick site k was the topical Amerl american eart in his shrewd sayings bis big shrewd business dealings and in ills boasting that the united states was the greatest nation in the world consequently the pictures of sara sam slick os as drawn dravin by IIer Iler vlen vieu a frenchman and leech the alie artist who made punch famous for the english editions of the clockmaker came to be looked upon as the symbol of tile the united states and some unknown artist whether english or american Is unknown at some unknown time went a step further with the conception of tile the typical american he fie added a goatee to sato sam stick slick s face put some stars to in the hatband of his tall hat some gome more stars on his coat and stripes on fin his trousers held down by long straps and behold sam slick wio as uncle sam the symbol of america henceforth I 1 |