Frederick Bessell

Bessell joined the adventure in California searching for gold and stayed over 10 years.

PART 8: FREDERICK BESSELL’S LATER LIFE– AS A SETTLER ON THE FRONTIER, 1849 GOLD MINER AND A CIVIL WAR VETERAN.

So we know that Frederick Bessel was in Salem during the time of the White murder in 1830. What happened to him after that? Well it’s a really interesting story. The story of his later life can be found in “The History of Schuyler County,” in Illinois. It appears that like many Americans, he went West so he could reinvent himself, far from Salem. And it also appears that his love for adventure continued on in his later life.

We learn about Frederick Bessell’s later life in the biography of his son, Charles C. Bessell. “There are few of the interests associated with the material development of Schuyler County that have lacked the co-operation and practical assistance of Mr. (Charles) Bessell…He was born May 11, 1835, the eldest of  of a large family of children born to his parents. Frederick Lewis Alexander and Jane A. (Robinson) Bessell. The mother was a native of  the East, born in Putnam County, N.Y. in 1814, and at the age of twenty (June 15, 1834), she united in marriage with Frederick L.A. Bessell (who was 35) in the village of Rushville, Ill. The parents of this Mr. Bessell (father of the subject of this sketch) lived on the island of Sumatra; but a war breaking out, they sailed to Boston, Mass.. Mr. Bessell being born on the voyage, and in Boston and vicinity made his home until attaining manhood.” (This is totally contradicted by the accounts of the Whites in Salem, which say he arrived as a young boy, with trust funds and was brought up in the loving home of the Whites.) “While he was a mere child in years, he was deprived of the love and protection of both parents, a loss which was later accentuated in the death of his only brother. (He had two brothers.) “Cast upon his own resources at an early age, he proved himself equal to the occasion by accepting any honorable employment that came to hand, which consisted principally of farm work in the vicinity of Boston.”

“With such means as he had been able to save from his earnings, Frederick L.A. Bessell started for the Middle West in 1833, coming direct to Schuyler County, Ill., and after his marriage during the following 34, Brooklyn, Township, which he at once began to improve and in the home which he established in the wilderness all of his children were born. In 1848, he purchased property in Brooklyn, whither he removed with his family the following year. Coincident with this removal came the news of the finding of gold in California, and among those who left Brooklyn for the far West was Mr. Bessell, who made his way overland with ox teams. It was not until about 1860 that he returned to his Illinois home, but fate did not permit him to remain there long, for the drums of war soon sounded and all able-bodied men were called to the defense of the country. Mr. Bessell attempted to enlist from his home town but as the quota was then filled he went to Macon City, Mo., and enlisted in the Seventh Missouri Infantry. His service was brief, however, for he was soon taken with measles from the effects of which he died December 24, 1861.” His wife lived until 1900.

Frederick Bessel had six sons with his wife Jane between 1835 and 1848.

So there you have an end to the mystery of Frederick Bessell and his life before and after he set up camp in Windham. He came to America from Sumatra and was on one of the first American ships to open trade with Viet Nam. Then he went on to hold camp with Major Dudley in Windham, NH., and as a result of excessive spending on credit, was forced to declare bankruptcy. He arose from the ashes and moved to Illinois, where he married and had six sons. Then ever the adventurer, when he heard about the California gold rush, he left his family behind in search of fame and fortune.  After spending 12 years in California, he returned to Illinois, and at 57+/- years of age, volunteers to enlist in the Union Army during the Civil War. Quite a story, quite a life!

Frederick Bessell

Batavia (Jakarta) on the island of Java Indonesia was the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company and was founded in 1619. It featured magnificent homes of wealthy Dutch merchants.

PART 3: FRANZ BESSELL IN SUMATRA AND HIS ARRIVAL WITH HIS SON IN AMERICA

Frederick Bessel, the astronomer.

Franz Bessell was born in Minden, Westphalia in Germany. His father was a civil servant and his family was very large. His brother was Frederick Bessel, the  famous astronomer and mathematician who was the first person to determine reliable values for the distance from the sun to another star by the method of paralix. A special type of mathematical functions were named Bessel functions after his death.

Franz Bessell’s obituary from the diary of William Bentley, D.D. the pastor of the East Church in Salem Massachusetts reads as follows: “Last night died in Beverly, F.L.A. Bessell Esq. aged 55. He had lived 22 years upon the western coast of Sumatra and chiefly at Padang and had formed a friendship with Captain Joseph White of this town and by him was persuaded to come to America. He has been several years a resident of Salem and for the first part of the time in my neighborhood. He had every honor his situation in Sumatra allowed and passed with us as the Governor. He has lately purchased a farm at Londonderry and another very lately in Upper Beverly three miles from Salem at which he died. He has visited different parts of our Country. He has been noticed for his hospitality but nothing has been done since his arrival in America to bring him out of his first circle of acquaintance and while all were willing to give him the common tokens of respect, few speak of him as known to them.”

“Weltevreden” country house built by governor general Jacob Mossel in Batavia (Jakarta) about 1761.

In an entry in Reverend Bentley’s diary, at the death of one of Besssell’s sons we read “his father ‘was a native of Germany, and for the course of Twenty-two years was a resident of Padang, and other places on the Western Coast of Sumatra, in which time he held many posts of the greatest rank and responsibility in those colonies. He died at his country seat in Beverly, Mass., 21^st Aug., 1810, 55 years, and was buried in Salem.’

Entrance to the Padang River.

So the life story related by Reverend Bentley is one of a very wealthy man who kept to himself. One interesting item in this entry is the fact that he owned a farm in Londonderry, NH., which gives a clue as to why his son might have been drawn to Windham, for the site of his “camp.” I have seen the deeds for the Londonderry property where he purchased the farm of Robert Archibald, December 9, 1809 for Two Hundred Dollars. Through another deed we learn that the Londonderry property was sold after his death. In the deed of February 24, 1814, signed by his executor, Joseph White Jr., the farm was sold back to Robert Archibald for six hundred dollars. We also learn on this deed that Mr. Bessell’s full name was Francis Lewis Alexander Bessell, Esq.

Much of the following information about Franz Bessell comes from the book, Death of an Empire. The first mention of Bessell is the following: In Calcutta, Joseph White Jr. had negotiated for a fortune in cotton textiles, and then, after dropping down to Batavia to acquire first-quality sugar, he had met Franz Bessell, the Prussia-born agent of the Dutch East India Company for both Java and Sumatra. Bessell, a man who had been out in the islands too long, had recognized in White the very fellow to whom he might entrust his most prized possessions. No super cargo of Salem had ever brought home boys from his travels, but Joseph White Jr. stepped onto White’s wharf holding the hands of little Charles and Mathias Bessell, who came complete with large trust funds. Joseph’s adoptive parents helped the young bachelor in his new role as father, but they themselves had not finished with their own family.” This was in 1805.

In 1806, Stephen White was employed as a super cargo on the Mary & Eliza, which was owned by his adoptive father. His older brother John White was the Captain. After trading in India, he began his homeward trip, but not before stopping in Batavia, to pick up two additional passengers, “Franz Bessell, fifty-two, and his third son Frederick, looking forward to a reunion with his two Salem brothers.”

“In 1811, on adjoining lots, overlooking the town Common, Stephen and Joseph Jr. put up splendid three-story brick mansions…” and it was here that the Bessell boys were raised. In May of 1813, Joseph White Jr. one of the richest men in Salem, died suddenly and “his passing was treated as a public calamity.”

So why do I suppose that Franz Bessel had gone native and taken up with a Sumatran woman with whom he had three sons? First, the description of him as having “been out in the islands too long.” Second, the fact that Morrison describes “Bissell” as being a “Sumatran or Malay.” While this could indicate that the children were full blooded natives adopted by Bessell, this is contradicted by the fact that everywhere they are described as Francis Bessell’s sons. Also, it is noted in several places how “Americanized and civilized” the boys had become. While we only have Morrison’s solid description of F.L. Bissell as being Sumatran, (or half Sumatran,) every indication is that they were Francis Bessell’s sons from a relationship with a native woman on Sumatra. After all, he was in Java and Sumatra for over 22 years and it would only have been natural that he would have taken up with a woman there. Next week, the Bessell brothers in America.

Frederick Bessell

PART I: MORRISON’S ACCOUNT OF F.L. BISSELL IN WINDHAM

Louis Maurer (German-born American artist, 1832-1932) published by N. Currier,  Camping Out Some of the Right Sort. 1852. Bessell’s Camp in Windham was founded thirty years earlier.

I have always been intrigued by the account of  Bissell’s Camp which was located in Windham. It was described as weird and a little wild, and out of place in Windham’s history. I never really could understand how F.L. Bissell ended up in Windham and where he went to after he left. Actually, Frederick Bessell’s story is quite fascinating and is tied to the incredible wealth created by the maritime trade of Salem, Massachusetts, in the early 19th century.  Salem was America’s richest city at the time and the city’s merchant fleets had made many families there as rich as the Buffets or Gates of our time. While I have tracked down more information about Frederick Bessell, we will probably never know what induced him and Major Dudley to set up camp in the woods of Windham. So let’s begin with the retelling of Morrison’s description of Bissell’s Camp.

“At the age of eighteen or nineteen, F.L. Bissell came to Windham, in the month of May, 1823. He was a Malay or East Indian, a native of the isle of Sumatra, and came to this country in early life. He had a good English education, and was heir to a large estate, which was in the hands of a trustee or guardian, whose name was White of Salem, Mass. When he came to Windham he was accompanied by a man by the name of Major Dudley, a teacher of military tactics. They selected a spot and built a camp of pine boughs, with a stone fireplace. This camp was founded on a rock, which was but a little higher than the ground around it. It was soon supplied with all kinds of the best liquors, and with such food as was suitable for camp life.

“The next movement was the purchase of guns, pistols, swords, dirks, etc., also fishing gear and several dogs, all of which were of the most costly kind. Thus equipped, he with his friends, Major Dudley, and two or three others, were ready for fishing at Mitchell’s Pond, and for hunting wild game through the woods on each side of the brook that runs easterly from Mitchell’s Pond. They went into it with a keen relish, and from that time forward the yelping of hounds and the crack of the gun made music for the whole neighborhood. The novelty of the place and the odor of rum induced a great many people to visit Bissell’s camp.”

“Bissell evidently did not intend stopping long when he went there, but the attractions of the place drew so much company that he though it best to stay, and change in some measure what appeared to be a savage course of life, and take steps toward civilization. Therefore, the brush camp was torn down, and a log house built in its place. The house contained two rooms and a hall across the west end of the building; the inside of the house was finished in the most elaborate manner, the walls frescoed with pictures of East-Indian scenes, but the outside left in the worst condition possible. A stable was next built, then horses and carriages were bought, quite a number of each; in fact, he used money as though it were not worth having. In proof of this an incident will be related. He with another took a ride through the adjoining town of Salem; passing a farm-house, he saw a flock of geese, and having his shot-gun with him, he raised it and fired into their midst; killing and wounding several. He then ordered his driver to stop, and having found the owner of the geese, stated to him, what he had done, and asked what he must pay for the shot. The sum, (Not a small one,) was quickly named, and quickly paid by the sportsman, who then went on his way rejoicing.”

“Bissell was very fortunate in locating his camp, for the woodland which extended westward from his camp, on both sides of the brook to Mitchell’s Pond, was formerly the greatest place for game that could be found. It was the home to owls, hawks, crows, and pigeons, also of foxes, raccoons, woodchucks, mink and squirrels.”

Thus passed the first year of his camp life. He afterwards made additions to his house and stables, erected a large summer house, prepared an artificial pond, and stocked it with gold and silver fish. And so he went on for three or four years, till the money that he thought was lying back for his benefit was exhausted, or withheld from his use by his guardian or trustee. In the mean time he had contracted many debts, and his creditors were not slow in attaching his goods when the proper time came. They by due process of law took possession of all his personal estate. His financial embarrassment was the cause of his immediate departure from the place. He left these parts, and his subsequent history is unknown to the writer.”

“F.L. Bissell was a good penmen, and he embellished his writing very much by using (apparently) gold-dust instead of black sand, as a blotting material.”

“After Bissell’s departure, the premises was used, several years, as a kind of hotel, which was principally patronized by the thousands that were attracted by it romantic situation, and who were generally too thirsty to go away without seeing the inside of one particular room, where intoxicants were dealt out.”

“The first keeper of this hotel was a man by the name of Robinson, the next was Daniel Hunt, and the third was one Ferguson, neither of whom remained more than two or three years.

All the glory and attractions of ‘Bissell’s Camp’ passed rapidly away, after the hasty retreat of its founder. The buildings passed into the hands of one who was a manufacture of choice lace, which was then a remunerative business…The factory was torn down; the log camp was demolished about 1865. The lattice-made well-house still exists; the artificial pond is still there; and there are other ruinous evidences to remind the visitor of the places where buildings stood. But ‘the pomp and circumstances’ of its early state are gone forever.”

“Having closed the account of our common schools, mention will be made of a military school which but few of the present residents of Windham ever heard of. Among the companions of that wild, strange, eccentric man, F.L. Bissell, founder of ‘Bissell’s Camp,’ was Major Dudley, reported to have been an officer in the 1812-15 war. He came to town in May 1823, and was here several years. He was well versed in military tactics. He established a military school for the soldiers of the town, which was well patronized by those that loved the military profession.”

Next week: The connection between Salem Massachusetts and Sumatra.

BIRDSEYE VIEW OF WINDHAM DEPOT

This nice view of Windham Depot shows the crossing gates and crossing guard’s shack. The large brick chimney in the background is part of Seavey’s Mill where massive amounts of apple cider was churned out every year. It was also a large lumber mill.