THE object of this book is to present the genealogy of JACOB BARKER to his fellow-citizens, with some incidents of his eventful life, which has already extended more than three-quarters of a century, with a narrative of his friendly relations with many distinguished men, and of his combats with those who endeavored to impugn his every act. Mr. Barker is particularly anxious to have his political opinions perpetuated, and that his action in the support of his country at the time of her greatest need should be known in detail, and finally, that the facts which constitute the merits of his existing claim on the government of the United States for money lent to carry on the war with Great Britain of 1812, should be placed before the public. He cannot but think that if a member of the Federal party, when they were in power, had rendered similar services, he would have been dealt with very differently; the whole land would have resounded with his praise.

The reader may find some interest in the perusal of the letter of General Washington to Mr. Madison; the articles of the Philadelphia Association, formed ten years before the revolution, not to import British fabrics; the history of Nantucket; the character of John Wells; incidents in the life of General Armstrong; the opinions of many illustrious men as expressed by themselves; the speeches of Mr. Barker and of his counsel on the duelling and conspiracy trials; the certiorari of Judge Woodworth; a review of the causes which led to the war of 1812; of the restrictive system; of the battle of Bladensburg; of the capture of the city of Washington; with Mr. Barker's remarks concerning a national bank; the finances of the nation; its currency; the Democratic and Federal parties; a chronological sketch of the ancestry of Doctor Franklin. From these points, taken together, some interesting facts connected with the history of the country may be gathered.

The Author has had free access to the journal, correspondence, and other papers of Mr. Barker, and been permitted to select therefrom for publication such as he might think would be of interest to the reader.

Mr. Barker's political opinions subjected him and his measures to the uncompromising hostility of those who entertained different views, the effect of which was to sharpen his appetites, lead him into combat, and urge him forward totally regardless of consequences; this, together with his pride of opinion and love of victory, occasioned him many difficulties which men less impulsive and less confiding in themselves would have avoided; the freedom with which he handled his opponents indicated his confidence in the goodness of his cause, and established the independent character of his mind.

From what was said and written by himself and by his friends, the reader will be enabled to form a better opinion than from anything the Author can add; his temperance, industry and enterprise, may be thought worthy of imitation by those youths who have to wrestle with the rough and selfish world for fortune and fame; his example may inspire them with confidence to undertake what otherwise would seem fraught with too many difficulties. Although friendless and pennyless, with a very limited education, he did not hesitate to embark on a sea of uncertainty in transactions of the first magnitude, and accomplished much.

The result of some of Mr. Barker's operations will be here detailed, and nothing will astonish the reader more than to be told that the man capable of originating and executing such plans, who, by his own exertions, rose from humble life to be the pivot on which this important nation rested at one of the most important periods of its history, had the control of countless millions a great portion of his life, owned fleets of ships, steamboats, num

berless houses and stores, dealt with emperors, kings and republics, should, when those earthly gods vanished, devote himself with apparent pleasure and elasticity to an humble business scarcely sufficient to maintain his family.

All impartial readers will feel pain that better success had not rewarded such enterprise, such plans, which, in many cases, came very near resulting magnificently, frequently overthrown by unlooked for occurrences which no human skill could have guarded against.

Matters relating to the demand of personal satisfaction from a director in the North River Bank, to the conspiracy trials, to the currency, loans and a national bank, will occupy so much room that many of the incidents of Mr. Barker's life, of minor importance, and particularly of those occurring at New Orleans, will be reserved for a second volume. At the latter place he was frequently publicly assailed by editors and others who supposed they could make political or financial capital from such generous assaults; on one occasion a gentleman from an interior parish, who had recently taken up his residence in the Crescent City, became a candidate for political favor, and in an address to an assembled multitude at St. Mary's market, made what Mr. Barker considered an illiberal reference to him. His speech was published in the Delta of the 12th of October, 1851, and called forth a reply from Mr. Barker, which is given as explanatory of his support of General Taylor for the Presidency, and of his disappointment at the political course of that military chieftain after he was elected President.

The gentleman from the interior was not elected, and thus discovered that he was in error in relation to public opinion.

[To the Editor of the Delta.]

TACIT MORTGAGES AND FREE BANKING.

"Having been referred to by name in a speech made at a public meeting by a candidate, and in the newspapers, in connexion with these questions, which are expected to come before the next legislature, a remark from me may serve to correct error, and be otherwise useful.

"The money referred to was lent on the security of plantations, supposed to be free from incumbrance-so certified by the most able counsel in the State. There having been defalcation in the payments, a foreclosure was sought. In one case a preference was claimed by the heirs of the deceased wife, under the law

the

establishing tacit mortgages, alleging that the wife of the debtor had died twenty years before the community interest had not been settled. money was borrowed, and that her share of This claim, after fifteen years troublesome and expensive litigation, was defeated by my being enabled to establish the insolvency of the com munity at the death of the wife, and the whole debt was collected, amounting to sixty-eight thousand dollars. This, the orator, or his publisher, calls 'indifferent success.' The difficulty of persons at a distance establishing the insol vency of parties residing here, after a lapse of thirty or forty years, is so great that no prudent man will lend his money on mortgages liable to such an impediment.

"Again, had the community been solvent at the death of the wife, the debt would have been

lost to the extent of her interest in the com munity.

"There is another fatal objection to mortgage security in Louisiana, viz: allowing syndics and executors to cancel mortgages without first paying the debt professed to be secured by such mortgage; whenever it becomes necessary to settle an estate, the residue interest of the deceased or insolvent only should be sold by the syndic or executor-in other words, should be sold subject to the mortgages, leaving them in

violate.

"Several of my clients have suffered severely from the practice sanctioned by our courts in relation thereto-I do not say by the operation of the lrw, for I think the law susceptible of a different construction.

"In one case the executor cancelled the mortgage, sold the property, and applied $1,500 to the payment of one counsel, and claimed $700 for another, for services in settling the estate, and a large amount for other expenses, there being no other available property, leaving a very small balance for the mortgage creditor. Had the avails been less than these large fees and other expenses, the whole claim I repre sented would have been lost.

"These impediments cost Louisiana millions every year, in commissions for acceptances, and exorbitant interest, besides the inconvenience arising from not being enabled to borrow on mortgage security; and so long as they are permitted to last, it would be idle to attempt to borrow money in other States, or in foreign countries, on Louisiana mortgage security, although money there is abundant on satisfactory security, at an interest of three or four per cent. per annum. Could money be borrowed on such terms in Europe, and brought here, there would not be any lack of capital wherewith to construct railroads, and to promote all useful improvements; in fact, every department of trade would feel the beneficial effect of such an expansion of active specie means-the mechanic, the laborer, the merchant, and the tenant, as well as the owner of real estate.

"As to free banking, it is now as free as air,

with the exception of the oppressive tax imposed on those who conduct that business. What those who ask for a law on the subject want is an exemption from liability for their banking operations beyond the amount they think proper to embark, which law our constitution prohibits the legislature from enacting, this they call free banking. I could not object to such a law if constitutional, although content to remain liable to the extent of all my operations, banking, equally with all my other transactions in life.

"One word more for myself. I do not think it was wise, politic, or in good taste, to mix the name or business of any individual, not a candidate, with these discussions. They should be general, not personal.

"I have been in active business here for more than seventeen years; came here with my family, my ships, my merchandise, my servants, my furniture, and other appendages of life, intending to make it the place of my permanent residence, and expend my earnings among those from whom I should derive them; have passed fifteen summers here-the buildings erected on Gravier street, the vessels dispatched, and other business transacted by me, evidence the number of persons who have found employment from my enterprise. I am known to the whole community, every member is at liberty to deal with me or not, as he may think proper. If an active demonstration before their eyes for seventeen years is not enough, human life will be too short for them to acquire the necessary information.

"I am not a candidate for professional employment, nor have I been for a long period; the time wasted in hanging about the courts, waiting for a cause to come on, is distasteful to me, and at my time of life I cannot afford such an encroachment on my enjoyments.

"Why these men continue to dwell upon the support I gave to the nomination of General Taylor, I do not know; the Democratic party should be satisfied therewith; they know full well that I was as much disappointed in the course pursued by General Taylor in the selection of his cabinet and the other appointments to office as any man in the nation, and sincerely wished it had been otherwise; yet they were minor considerations to the great questions which led to his nomination. The Whigs had obtained a majority in Congress-were opposed to the further prosecution of the Mexican war— there was no other way to counteract their measures than to select for them a President in favor of the vigorous prosecution of that war; and after the war had been gloriously terminated, mainly by the bravery and skill of that great military captain, no friend of mine could wish me to have broken faith pledged in favor of that nomination, or to have abandoned the hero of that war; to honor him with the Presidency was to give eclat to the daring deeds of our soldiers and renown to our army; the work has been accomplished, every American heart is reveling in the splendor of the position acquired, and every Democratic friend of General Taylor is found in the Jeffersonian ranks." JACOB BARKER.

Doctor Benjamin Franklin and Jacob Barker both descended from John Folger and Meribah Gibbs; Peter, their only child, was born at Norwich, in England, in 1618, and died at Nantucket in 1690, and his wife in 1704; they came to America in 1636, settled on Martha's Vineyard in 1659; he visited Nantucket in the first boat that went there; accompanied Christman Coffin as interpreter for the Indians, by whom the island was inhabited; in 1644 he married with Mary Morell; they had nine children, two sons and seven daughters, of whom Abiah was one; she was born in Nantucket in 1667.

Abiah was the mother of Doctor Benjamin Franklin; she married with Josiah Franklin, of Boston, where Doctor Franklin was born on the 6th of January, O. S., 1706; he died at Philadelphia, April 17, O. S., 1790.

John Folger, jr., was another of the nine children of Peter Folger, born in 1659, and died in 1732; he married with Mary Barnard, daughter of Nathaniel; she was born February 24, 1657; died in 1736. They also had nine children, of whom Bethiah was one; she married in 1692 with Samuel Barker, the grandfather of Jacob Barker; Samuel was the son of Isaac Barker, of Duxbury, England. Samuel was born September 2, O. S., 1667, and died February 1, 1739.

Eleazer Folger was also another of the aforesaid nine children of Peter; he was born in 1648, and died 1716, leaving five children, of whom Nathan was one, born 1678, died July 2, 1747; he married with Sarah Church, daughter of Benjamin; they left nine children; Abisha was one, born in 1700; he married with Sarah, daughter of Payne Mahew; she died, leaving four children; he married again with Dinah Starbuck, widow of Benjamin, born May 23, 1713, died in Hudson, September 1, 1793, leaving seven children, of whom Sarah, the mother of Jacob Barker, was one. She was born at Nantucket, October 16, 1739; she married with

Hezekiah Gardner; he died, leaving one child, Gideon Gardner; she again married with Robert Barker; he was born at Wood's Hole, Massachusetts, February 12, O. S., 1723.

The resemblance between the portrait of Dr. Franklin and that of Jacob Barker is very great.

Jacob's father married and settled at Nantucket in early life, removed with his family from Nantucket at the commencement of the revolution, in 1772, to Swan Island, Kennebec, then the province and now the State of Maine, where his father died on the 26th of April, 1780.

Jacob was born there on the 17th December, 1779, (the hard winter.)

Peace was concluded in 1783.

His mother was an exemplary member and elder of the Quaker church; Jacob's father not being a member, their children were not born members; after the death of her husband she associated them with that excellent religious society, and returned with her family to her native island in April, 1785, where she died in 1833, in the 94th year of her age.

Jacob resided there until he reached the age of sixteen; he then entered the school of William Sawyer Wall, in July, 1796, at New Bedford which he attended until May, 1797, when learning of the death of his brother Isaac, at the Havana, of the yellow fever, he returned to his mother, and for a few months attended the store of John Elkins at Nantucket; his prospects there being unpromising, and he, like most island boys, having a disposition for a sailor's life, determined to seek fortune and fame on the ocean; for this purpose he shipped as a green hand on board a packet commanded by Wilson Rawson, bound for New York, with the privilege of taking his discharge at that place, his intention being to get a berth on a ship bound for the East Indies. At this time he had one hundred dollars in money, and his absent adventures yielded another hundred dollars; those to Russia were