Norman Barry, a retired Gymnasium teacher from Bad Schussenried,
Germany, has unearthed many interesting items that relate to "John
Maynard" directly or peripherally. Follow the links below to see a
sampling of them.
ALGER
Transcription of
"How I Came to Write "John Maynard" by Horatio Alger, Jr., from The
Writer (Boston, Mass.), Volume 8, 1895, pp. 182-183 and scan of the original Writer
article
Biographical
information about Horatio Alger, Jr., in Wikipedia.
A report of an 1872
recitation of "John Maynard"
A 1920 newspaper inquiry about
Alger's poem.
GOUGH
TWO Heroic
Helmsmen: John Bartholomew Gough's prose version of "Brave John
Maynard!" alongside an anonymous prose version of "Brave James
Maxwell." The FIRST John Maynard ballad by "Josephine." And an
unusual portrayal of Maynard on the bridge, and not at the helm -- all
found in The British Workman, No. 107, November, 1863
A report of a lecture on John Maynard by
John Gough (see below) in The Living Age, Volume 67, Issue 856,
October 27, 1860, held at Cornell University Library.
Remarks to be read at the memorial service for John
Gough, "Distinctive Traits of John B. Gough," 1886
A report of a lecture on John Maynard by
John Gough (see below) in The Living Age, Volume 67, Issue 856,
October 27, 1860, held at Cornell University Library.
"The Power of Habit," a story
with a moral, about a trip by John Gough from Buffalo to Niagara Falls
published in The Royal Gallery of Poetry and Art: An Illustrated
Book of the Favorite Poetic Gems of the English Language, the Choicest
Productions of Authors, Living and Dead, for the Uncrowned Kings and
Queens of American Homes, (New York : N. D. Thompson Publishing
Co., 1886), including images of the cover of the book, the dedication
page, and the title page.
"The Labors of Mr. John B.
Gough," the story John Gough's extensive travels in 1847, published in
New London Democrat of New London, Connecticut, Saturday,
February 12, 1848, Vol. III, No. 48, Whole No. 152, p. 1, c. 3.
"John B. Gough in England," John
Gough on the virtues of water, published in The Portage County
Advocate, Wednesday, September 13, 1854, Ravenna, Ohio, New
Series: Vol. I, No. 24, First page.
LINDEN
Lexikon deutscher Frauen der Feder contains
information about Luise Förster, the poet who, under the
pseudonym Ada Linden, wrote a poem about John Maynard in German.
See the title page of this book, the Linden/Förster bibliography in
this book, and the Luise Förster biography in
this book,
Norman Barry's translation
of the title page and the Luise Förster biography in Lexikon
deutscher Frauen der Feder.
The preface to Aus der Stille, a book of poetry by Ada
Linden -- a transcription
of the original German and Norman Barry's translation into English.
Information about Luise Förster from the Municipal
Archives in Mönchengladbach in the original German and
Norman Barry's
translation into English.
Ada Linden's poem "Das Gebet der Mutter" or "The Mother's
Prayer," as transcribed, collated, and translated by Norman Barry.
English. German.
A HUMOROUS PARODY OF "JOHN MAYNARD"
This parody is posted on the website of the
Gesellschaft zur Stärkung der Verben (Society for the
Strenghtening of Verbs). Norman Barry has translated it (but with
normal English verbs) for those who don't read German. The German original.
The English translation.
BACKGROUND -- STEAMSHIPS, GREAT LAKES, IMMIGRANTS, COMMUNICATION
Originally
published in the Buffalo Daily Journal, the July 15, 1840,
article in the Wiskonsan Enquirer (Madison, WI) has a nice
description of the Erie's "speed" back in 1840: "Three Hundred Miles
a Day".
A steamboat schedule that
gives us an idea of how long it took to cross the ocean in 1845, from
Milwaukee Sentinel, May 2, 1845
An 1840 New-Yorker
article that will help you get a "feel" for the state of steamship
navigation around the time of the Erie disaster
A short book excerpt that
provides a sense of train travel during the "John Maynard" era
A small 1840 New-Yorker
article called "Steamboat Outrage"
An 1848 Scientific
American article about the Great Lakes
A description of the
"Conflagration of the Phoenix, Sept. 5, 1819"
An article about the sinking of
the steamship Alabama in Lake Erie in The New York Times,
August 30, 1854
An 1845 newspaper article
about the development of the telegraph system
A silly poem illustrating the
enterprising spirit of new German settlers moving in to tame the West,
followed by an article about a steamboat in Cairo during a flood.
An article in the April 1893
issue of The New England Magazine (Boston), Vol. 14, Issue 2
(pp. 237-257), by Frederick J. Shepard entitled "The City of
Buffalo."
"Navigation and Winter Ice
on Lake Erie from 1821 to 1845, with References to Water Levels
(With an Appendix of Newspaper Clippings dealing with Lake Erie and
Buffalo Harbor)" -- an essay by Norman Barry.
LIFE PRESERVERS AND PLANKS
Norman Barry has
collected some articles about life preservers and related topics.
An 1845 newspaper article
that demonstrates the value of life preservers at that time
SALVAGING THE RUINS OF THE STEAMER ERIE
Thirteen Years Afterwards: The
Buffalo Democrat Remembers by Norman Barry
An 1845 newspaper article entitled
"Ruins of the Steamer 'Erie.'"
OTHER INTERESTING ITEMS
A 1903 article recounting the
story of the wreck of the steamer Erie, with historical inaccuracies
noted by Norman Barry.
A newspaper article entitled
"Great Lakes Hero Lives on in American Folklore," published in The
Herald Express (Saint Joseph, Michigan) in 1956 summarizing an
article written by Marvin C. Rapp in the spring 1956 issue of the
journal Inland Seas.
A portrait of Emil
Rittershaus, author of "Ein deutsches Herz"
Emil Rittershaus poster
stamps advertising a soap factory!
Charles Dickens, who has been
considered as a possible author of "The Helmsman of Lake Erie," writes
about his visit to Niagara Falls in 1842
An 1855 article about the death
of Captain Titus, along with a related poem and article
A mention of the Erie
disaster in Harper's New Monthly Magazine in 1871
A mention of John
Maynard in a short biography of Gene Stratton-Porter
Rummagings, 4: John Maynard in Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of a
Little Town
by D.M.R. Bentley
A 1900 suggestion that John
Maynard should be included in a "Hall of Fame"
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