HISTORIC VIRGINIA

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 33, 2 May 1927, Page 12

HISTORIC VIRGINIA

PRESERVING ANTIQUES THE FAMOUS POWDER HORN As the result of a ’recent campaign Tor funds conducted by the Society for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities and by individuals interested in history, the* future of one of America’s oldest arsenals—the famous "Powder Horn” at Williamsburg Va. —is assured. The small structure with its 22-inch octagonal walls of brick in Flemish bond, capped by a roof rising steeply into a peak, has withstood the assaults of more than 200 years. But some time ago decay set to work in earnest beneath its ivy mantle. Daylight could be seen through a crack on one side, from top to base, presum - ably as the result of sinking foundations; and other cracks, ever widening, appeared on the inside. The rotten roof served as hardly more than a seive for the rain. A DRIVE LAUNCHED The old magazine was also in danger of being obscured by modern buildings. In the days of its youth it sLood in the centre of a public square, facing the court-house on the picturesquely named Duke of Gloucester Street. A ten-foot brick wall edged its enclosure. But the wall long since disappeared and a modern garage reared its tin sides within a few feet of the old structure. Wort: on a dwelling-house was begun on another side. Then a few persons who felt that the Powder Horn was a relic worth keeping obtained options on the surrounding property and launched a drive to raise funds for repairs to the building—bracing its walls with iron bands, renewing its roof with copped shingles and safeguarding the site. The desired amound of money has now been raised. IN THE LIMELIGHT Built in 1714, in the administration of Governor Alexander Spotswood, the Powder Horn served in three wars and for many other than its original purposes The munitions Washington took with him when he went with Braddock to fight the French and Indians in 1755 were taken from the Powder Horn, but the magazine first appeared in the limelight in 1775, when it became the “boiling point” of the Revolution in Virginia. Feeling uneasy about the insurgency manifesting itself in the neighbourhood, Lord Dunmore, the royal Governor, thought it wise to do what he could toward taking means of rebellion out of the colonists' reach. Bynight he removed most of the contents of the magazine to a British vessel anchored in the James River. When his action was discovered the news threw the community into turmoil. Dunmore did what he could to explain, saying that he had the powder because he considered it unsafe where it was and that he had done so by night to avoid alarm. He promised that it would be returned in half-an-hour whenever the Colonial Government might want it. When it was learned that the battle of Lexington had been fought on the day before Lord Dunmore emptied the magazine, the colonists were in no mood to be placated by his words. Patrick Henry raised his 150 Hanover Volunteers and marched on the colonial capital to demand the return of the powder. Before they arrived theywere met by the Governor’s representative and payment was made amounting to £330. Nevertheless, the Williamsburg atmosphere soon became too hot for Dunmore, who, with his family-, fled to the battleship Fowey at Yorktown and never returned. USED DURING REBELLION The Powder Horn served the Americans during the Revolutionary War. Abandoned after that, it came in time to house the first Baptist congregation in Williamsburg. Of a Sunday its aged walls resounded to the sonorous tones of the Rev. Servant Jones, the same who, when offered the meager remains of a dinner at a wayside inn. pronounced that oft-quoted blessing: Good Lord of love, Look down from above And bless the owl That ate this fowl And left these bones For Parson Jones. The voice of Parson Jones in the Powder Horn was followed by soaring strains of secular music, when the building was turned from its use for divine worship and converted into a dancing school. In 1861 it again became an arsenal, this time in the service of the Confederate troops. After the war it was again abandoned, and turned into a stable: In 1890 it was purchased by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities and converted into 9. museum.