*Content Warning: This track references suicide*
Charles Frederick Herreshoff was born in Prussia, immigrated to the United States at the age of 14, and became a merchant in New York City. He and Sally Brown met in 1792 while he was in Providence for business. The two courted for eight years before finally marrying, due in large part to John Brown’s reluctance to accept the relationship. Some researchers have speculated John Brown did not feel favorably about Herreshoff’s inconsistent business practices. Many of the love letters written back and forth during their long courtship have survived. Here is an excerpt of one from Charles clearly missing his beloved Sally:
I begin to think myself entitled to more happiness, whatever reason may say to the contrary; but taught by sad experience, like you my dear Sally, not to anticipate much happiness, I shall guard my heart from being to sanguine. One happiness I am now determined to enjoy, let the consequences be what they will. I will see you, dear excellent girl, I will hear it confirmed from your lips that you heart is above the caprices of fortune, that is as constant as my own.
By November, 1800, Sally had grown so impatient waiting for parental consent, that she addressed her father such in a letter:
To judge from your conduct towards me the summer past and the extreme prejudice you have all along entertain’d against Mr. Herreshoff, I have little reason to think you ever mean to give your consent to our marriage, this is different from the idea you expressed in one of your letters to me two years since you then said that if he proved to be the man of honor & integrity he appear’d you should no longer withhold your consent. I don’t know that he has in any instance deviated from this Character and I am very certain he has never shown any disposition to deceive either you or me.
The two finally married on July 2, 1801, and moved to a farm in New York State. Soon after, John Brown started writing letters to his new son-in-law, asking about his business and encouraging the two to move back to Rhode Island. But the Herreshoffs did not move back to Rhode Island until 1803, as John was dying.
Charles Frederick Herreshoff’s story ended tragically after he became involved with John Brown’s Tract in upstate New York. John Brown and John Francis first accepted the 210,000 acres of land as collateral for a purchase of Chinese tea from two businessmen, Robert Morriss and James Greenleaf. When it became evident that Greenleaf did not have the funds to hold up his end of the bargain (both he and Morris ended up in debtor’s prison), John Brown began expressing interest in acquiring the land that had been put up for collateral. John Brown was only able to visit his tract twice before he died. His men surveyed it into townships and started looking for iron and other resources. At this time, many people recognized that the sparse soil of the mountainous land was not good for crops and not conducive to long-term settlement. However, during his life, John remained optimistic that his Tract had great potential and would provide a fortune for his grandson John Brown Francis to inherit. He wrote he was “almost Shure that in a fue years the Land of my Tract must bare a higher price than the Lands in General of this Country which are now generly from Ten to Twenty Dollars per Acre.”
Upon his death in 1803, John’s will stated that the land should be divided among his daughters and their husbands. James Brown Mason, married to Alice, worked on developing the land briefly, but apparently tired of it. Charles Herreshoff then took over and spent the last years of his life working on the Tract. He oversaw the repair of roads, crop planting, and began a mining operation. While there, Herreshoff invented his own system for cleaning ore.
As the months and years passed, Charles grew detached from his family, staying in New York for longer periods of time, and writing home less frequently. He seemed to become more affected by the failure of his enterprise and separation from his family. Two months before his death, he wrote his last letter home to daughter Anna. On December 19, 1819, Charles Herreshoff shot himself. It has been recorded that on the previous day he tried to have himself buried alive in a quarry and was only thwarted when his workmen found him crouching in the pit. They had saved him, but only temporarily.