diff --git a/Paper.md b/Paper.md index 2b153a0..11aeefc 100644 --- a/Paper.md +++ b/Paper.md @@ -9,69 +9,71 @@ author: Jacob Signorovitch \maketitle In Weston, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Brandeis University, an -unusual structure rises between the trees; a forty foot stone tower, complete +unusual structure rises among the trees; a forty foot stone tower, complete with spiral staircase and ramparts, weathered and stained with time, looking distinctly out of place within earshot of I-95. The story of how it came to be -involves Vikings, a baking soda magnate, the discovery of America, and at the -center of it all is the myth of Norumbega. As one explores the area, the name -comes up again and again; a map will tell you the structure's name is Norumbega -Tower, and running alongside is Norumbega Road. Further south, one finds a -Norumbega Park, and another road called Norumbega Court. This paper will -explore how one man in the late 19th century, Eben Norton Horsford, brought -together two seemingly disconnected ideas into a theory for the original -discovery of America, what motivated him to do so, and what he left behind. +there involves Vikings, a baking soda magnate, the discovery of America, and, +at the center of it all, the city of Norumbega. As one explores the area, the +name comes up again and again; a map will tell you the structure's name is +Norumbega Tower, and running alongside is Norumbega Road. Further south, one +finds a Norumbega Park, and another road called Norumbega Court. This paper +will explore how one man in the late 19th century, Eben Norton Horsford, +brought together two seemingly disconnected ideas into a theory for the +original discovery of America, what motivated him to do so, and what he left +behind. -The myth of Norumbega originated during the Age of Exploration. It was -variously a town, city, or country, somewhere along the coast of New England, -inhabited by amiable and civilized natives. First given the name *Nurumberg* by -Giacomo Gastaldi in a 1548 edition of Ptolemy's Geography,[@KirsNor98, 34] the -myth can be traced back to a conflation of two separate accounts. The first is -that of Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer under King Francis I of -France.[@GreeneLife37, 4-7] He was one of the first Europeans to explore the -area around Narragansett Bay in 1524[@KirsNor98, 36, 39], far distant from -where Norumbega would eventual be described. However, due to geographical -ambiguity at the time, his account would later become "at the heard of the -Norumbega legend."[@KirsNor98, 39] He recounted his experiences in a letter to -the king, where he described a pleasant harbor inhabited by friendly and civil -natives.[@KirsNor98, 39] They practiced "more systematic cultivation [of crops] -than the other tribes," and were "very like the manner of the -ancients."[@KirsNor98, 39] In the letter, Giovanni names the place *refugio*, -"on account of its beauty."[@KirsNor98, 39] Civilized inhabitants became one of -the core aspects of the myth, present throughout its evolution even as its -exact location and size varied. The second account is that of Jean Alfonce de -Saintonge, pilot on Jacques Cartier's exploration of the Penobscot Bay area -[KirsNor98, 41]. Sailing up the Penobscot River, which he called the -*Norenbègue*, he described "a city called *Norombegue* with clever inhabitants -[...] The people use many words which sound like Latin and worship the sun, and -they are fair people and tall."[KirsNor98, 41] These two accounts, Giovanni s -*refugio* and Saintonge's *Norombegue*, eventually merged into a single myth, -canonized by Gastaldi, of an advanced Native American city whose manners were -closer to those of Europe than their neighbors.[@KirsNor98, 41] +The myth of Norumbega originated in the 16th century, during the Age of +Exploration. It was variously a town, city, or country, somewhere along the +coast of New England, inhabited by amiable and civilized natives. First given +the name *Nurumberg* by Giacomo Gastaldi in a 1548 edition of Ptolemy's +Geography,[@KirsNor98, 34] the myth can be traced back to a conflation of two +separate accounts. The first is that of Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine +explorer under King Francis I of France.[@GreeneLife37, 4-7] He was one of the +first Europeans to explore the area around Narragansett Bay in 1524[@KirsNor98, +36, 39], far distant from where Norumbega would eventual be described. However, +due to geographical ambiguity at the time, his account would later become "at +the heart of the Norumbega legend."[@KirsNor98, 39] He recounted his +experiences in a letter to the king, where he described a pleasant harbor +inhabited by friendly and civil natives.[@KirsNor98, 39] They practiced "more +systematic cultivation [of crops] than the other tribes," and were "very like +the manner of the ancients."[@KirsNor98, 39] In the letter, Giovanni names the +place *refugio*, "on account of its beauty."[@KirsNor98, 39] Civilized +inhabitants became one of the core aspects of the myth, present throughout its +evolution even as its exact location and size varied. The second account is +that of Jean Alfonce de Saintonge, pilot on Jacques Cartier's exploration of +the Penobscot Bay area [@KirsNor98, 41]. Sailing up the Penobscot River, which +he called the *Norenbègue*, he described "a city called *Norombegue* with +clever inhabitants [...] The people use many words which sound like Latin and +worship the sun, and they are fair people and tall."[@KirsNor98, 41] These two +accounts, Giovanni s *refugio* and Saintonge's *Norombegue*, eventually merged +into a single myth, canonized by Gastaldi, of an advanced Native American city +whose manners were closer to those of Europe than their neighbors.[@KirsNor98, +41] Eben Norton Horsford was a chemist working in Cambridge, best known for his invention of modern baking powder.[@JackHors92, 343] In addition to his work, he showed some interest in history and archaeology throughout his life. He would collect fossils around his father's farm in Moscow (now Leister), New -York where he grew up,[@JackHors92, 340] and expressed interest in learning the +York where he grew up,[@JackHors92, 340] and became interested in learning the language of the Seneca Indians[@JackHors92, 340], to which his father worked as a missionary.[@JackHors92, 103] Later, he would often visit his wife's family estate on Shelter Island, New York.[@AdamsMemBiog08, 104] There, he became interested in the island's history and "erected a monument to the Quakers, who found shelter there from Puritan persecution."[@AdamsMemBiog08, 104] He would later repeat this pattern of investigation and monument building in -Massachusetts. - -While in Cambridge, Horsford became very interested in the Vikings. This was -part of a widespread movement; rising anti-irish and anti-catholic sentiment -had put Columbus in an unfavorable light, and many casting around for some -non-catholic discoverer of America settled on Leif Erickson as suitable, albeit -pagan, predecessor [[NEED SOURCES FOR ALL THIS]]. When New England area -newspapers at the time mentioned Erickson, they often made a comparison of his -achievements to those of Columbus, who never fared well. In 1887,[@HorsDisc87, -10] Horsford wrote the dedication for a large bronze statue of -Erickson,[@GuttVal18, 86] commending him for his early discovery of America. He -doesn't stop just there, though; he additionally asserts Leif sailed south -after making the continent, all the way to Cape Cod. He explains his reasoning: +Massachusetts. Horsford is most remembered for his contribution to baking +science. He is credited for the invention of modern baking powder in 1861, +which did not involve a fermentation step.[@HorsBread61] He then founded the +Rumford Chemical Works, named after the position he held at Harvard, and made a +fortune[@JackHors92, 343] selling his invention and cookbooks which used +it.[@HorsCook77] While in Cambridge, Horsford became very interested in the +possibility of Vikings in New England. This not an unheard of idea at the +time,[@FlemPicHist95, 1079] but Horsford would bring much more publicity and +become its foremost supporter. In 1887,[@HorsDisc87, 10] Horsford wrote the +dedication for a large bronze statue of Erickson,[@GuttVal18, 86] commending +him for his early discovery of America. He doesn't stop just there, though; he +additionally asserts Leif sailed south after making the continent, all the way +to Cape Cod. He explains his reasoning: > ...if you will be kind enough to hold up to your mind's eye, now for a > moment, any familiar map of North America. Look at the east coast. From @@ -82,16 +84,11 @@ after making the continent, all the way to Cape Cod. He explains his reasoning: He disregards Newfoundland as an option, saying "[it] is bold, rocky, mountainous, of meagre vegetation, and with few beaches."[@HorsDisc87, 10] Ironically, the best evidence archaeologists have now for the location of -Vinland is L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. Horsford - --- How horsford disproves Nova Scotia --- How Horsford uses etymology - -How his views were received in the +Vinland is L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. How Horsford was recieved in the moment, if those around him were surprised by this theory, is unclear. But his -theories would see much criticism once published. One author, Justin Winsor, -found issue with Horsford's theory that Vikings had left a noticeable imprint -on Native American language: +theories would certainly see criticism from historians once published. One +author, Justin Winsor, found issue with Horsford's theory that Vikings had left +a noticeable imprint on Native American language: > Nothing could be slenderer than the alleged correspondences of languages, and > we can see in Horsford's *Discovery of America by Northmen* to what a @@ -111,31 +108,95 @@ inviting his audience to see the evidence for themselves. He claims there are "inequalities of the surface," which are "the remains of two long log houses, and huts, or cots."[@HorsProb89, 14] He states they are arranged "'some nearer, some farther from the water,' as the sagas say,"[@HorsProb89, 14] again using -the sagas as a primary source of proof for his theory. +the sagas as a primary source of proof for his theory. Outside of just +Horsford, there existed a wider movement around the promotion of Leif Erickson +at the time. Newspapers at the time rarely mention Leif without mention his +preceding Columbus,[^1] which may have been part of the widespread anti-Italian +sentiment. Several other proponents of Vikings in New England also believed +"the 'Aryan race,' in particular its 'Teutonic' [i.e., German] branch, was +superior to all others."[@FlemPicHist95, 1078] Horsford, however, seems to have +only been interested in Leif and never brings up racial superiority or a +disdain for Columbus. In fact, he states that Leif's prior discovery of America +"would dim, by the measure of the faintest Indian-summer haze only, the +transcendent glory of the life-work of Columbus."[@HorsDisc90, 16] So, while +some of the enthusiasm around Horsford's work may have been to diminish +Columbus as an expression of pro-Nordic anti-Italian sentiment, it seems the +man himself was more scientifically motivated. -Include part by that historian who wrote about how wrong he was[@HorsProb89, 1] +It was at Shelter island when "a chance reference let fall by one of his +guests" would introduce Horsford to the legend of Norumbega.[@JackHors92, 344] +The term seems to have been widely known in New England at the time; both an +article from the Worcester Daily Spy in 1875 and one from the Vermont Phoenix +in 1894 mention Norumbega in passing, the reader assumed to be familiar. +Horsford, having grown up in New York, was only introduced to it after his +retirement and became deeply interested He read the accounts of Alafonce and +Verrazzano, and describes them in one of his books.[@HorsDisc90, 14] In this +same book, *Discovery of the Ancient City of Norumbega*, Horsford mentions the +existence of so many maps that prominently display Norumbega that "one could +not help thinking that they must have some foundation in truth; the alternative +[would have] involved too many conspirators, of different +nationalities."[@HorsDisc90, 13] How Horsford made the connection from +Norumbega to Leif Erickson is a little less clear, though it was most likely +etymological. We have seen already Horsford's early interest in Native American +language from his early years with the Seneca in New York, and it seems he +thought the name "Norumbega" peculiar. He describes how "many hundreds of years +ago the country we call Norway was called Norbegia or Norbega,"[@HorsDisc90, +19] and that in "the Algonquin family of languages, which prevailed throughout +New England, could not [...] utter the sound of *b* without prefixing to it the +sound of *m*."[@HorsDisc90, 18] Thus, he reasons, *Norumbega* is but a Native +American corruption of what the Vikings would have called Norway. Horsford uses +physical evidence to support his claim as well. He mentions several instances +where the first settlers of Massachusetts found natural dams or weirs, which +could be used for fishing (the fish would be stopped and collect before the +weir on their way upstream to spawn.)[@HorsDisc90, 33-34] He also describes +walls and other structures on the floor of Boston Harbor and Back Bay, evidence +of "the ancient seaport of Norumbega."[@HorsDisc90, 37] To Horsford, all this +evidence proved the existence of a great Viking fort of Norumbega, and +necessitated the construction of a monument. We have seen this pattern before; +once to the Quakers who found refuge on Shelter Island, and again in Boston to +Leif Erickson for discovering America. He justifies the monument in four +reasons: -Summary of Horsford's defense, letter to judge Daly source[@HorsProb89] +> 1. It will commemorate the Discovery of Vinland and Norumbega in the +> forty-third degree, and the identification of Norumbega with Norway, the +> come country to which this region was once subject by right of discovery +> and colonization. +> 2. It will invite criticism, and so sift out any errors of interpretation +> into which, sharing the usual fortune of the pioneer, I may have been led. +> 3. It will encourage archæological investigation in a fascinating and almost +> untrodden field, and be certain to contribute in the results of research +> and exploration, both in the study and the field, to the historical +> treasure of the Commonwealth. +> 4. It will help, by reason of its mere presence, and by virtue of the +> veneration with which the Tower will in time come to be regarded, to bring +> acquiescence in the fruit of investigation, and so allay the blind +> scepticism, amounting practically to inverted ambition, that would deprive +> Massachusetts of the glory of holding the Landfall of Leif Erickson, and +> at the same time the seat of the earliest colony of Europeans in +> America.[@HorsDisc90, 40] -Write about Horsford's "archaeology," what he says he found, his methods +These say much about the man Horsford was. As already seen from his comments on +Columbus, he was not motivated by dislike of the Italians; rather, he sought to +bring "the glory" of Leif's discovery to Massachusetts, his home for the +majority of his working life. Second, he is remarkably humble in his theories; +this is particularly evident in his second point, and to an extent the third. +He accepts that "the trustworthiness of my conclusions might be tested by the +spade,"[@HorsDisc90, 41] and that he had not been able to do much of his own +archaeology. Horsford did not build the tower to be himself remembered, rather +to inspire others to continue his work. Indeed, the plaque at the base of the +tower does not bear his name. -Write about the dedication of the Norumbega Tower +Eben Norton Horsford would die two years after *The Discovery* was published, +on January first, 1893.[@AdamsMemBiog08, 103] He believed himself a pioneer; at +the cutting edge of discovery, the first breakthrough in a movement that would +long outlive him. After his death, however, there seemed to be little interest +around his ideas. His biographers mostly gloss over the veracity of his +theories, focusing more on his achievements in chemistry, and his large and +generous donations to various colleges in the area[@JackHors92, 345] The tower +remains. A century of wind and rain have made its words near impossible to +read, and trees now obscure it from the river. -Write about how Horsford connected his interest in Vikings and Leif Ericsson to -the myth of Norumbega -- his interest in Native American language and how that -let him make the connection. - -Horsford read about how Alafonce described the natives of Norumbega speaking -something closer to Latin; he interpreted that as being influenced by Norse. - -The city of Norumbega was the last vestige of viking occupation - -It is unclear when or how Horsford first heard about the myth of -Norumbega, but it is possible it was widely known at the time. A newspaper -(((TIME AND PAPER HERE))) mentions the myth in passing, well before Horsford - -made it regionally famous. +[^1]: Springfield Weekly, 1893 \pagebreak # References -\singlespacing diff --git a/bibliography.bib b/bibliography.bib index 70ab384..786cfb7 100644 --- a/bibliography.bib +++ b/bibliography.bib @@ -97,6 +97,16 @@ annote = {A primary source, written by Horsford.} } +% https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/2227mq61j +@book{HorsCook77, + author = {Eben Norton Horsford}, + title = {Horsford's Cook Book}, + year = {1877}, + publisher = {Rumford Chemical Works}, + address = {Providence, Rhode Island}, + annote = {Primary source.} +} + % https://archive.org/details/discoveryofameri00hors/page/n9/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater @book{HorsDisc87, author = {Eben Norton Horsford}, @@ -139,6 +149,16 @@ volume = {1}, year = {1889}, publisher = {Houghton, Mifflin and Company}, - address = {Boston, Massachusetts} + address = {Boston, Massachusetts}, + annote = {Primary source.} } +% https://archive.org/details/discoveryofancie01hors/page/n21/mode/2up +@book{HorsDisc90, + author = {Eben Norton Horsford}, + title = {The Discovery of the Ancient City of Norumbega}, + year = {1890}, + publisher = {Houghton, Mifflin and Company}, + address = {Boston, Massachusetts}, + annote = {Primary source.} +}