![Faneuilgrasshopper](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Faneuilgrasshopper.JPG)
Deacon Shem Drowne (December 4, 1683 – January 13, 1774) was a colonial
coppersmith
A coppersmith, also known as a brazier, is a person who makes artifacts from copper and brass. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. The term "redsmith" is used for a tinsmith that uses tinsmithing tools and techniques to make copper items.
Hi ...
and
tinplate
Tinplate consists of sheets of steel coated with a thin layer of tin to impede rusting. Before the advent of cheap milled steel, the backing metal was wrought iron. While once more widely used, the primary use of tinplate now is the manufacture of ...
worker in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, and was America's first documented
weathervane
A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...
maker. He is most famous for the
grasshopper
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.
Grasshopp ...
weathervane atop of
Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others ...
, well known as a symbol of Boston.
Background
He was born near Sturgeon Creek in what is now
Eliot,
York County, Maine
York County is the southwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Maine, along the state of New Hampshire's eastern border. It is divided from Strafford County, New Hampshire, by the Salmon Falls River, and the connected tidal estuary—the Pi ...
. He was the third son of Leonard Drowne, a
shipbuilder
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
who came from
Penryn,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, to what was then part of
Kittery
Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost town in t ...
in
. Leonard helped organize and build the first
Baptist Church
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
in Maine in 1682. During
King William's War
King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand All ...
many Maine towns were raided and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
settlements were
massacre
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
d by the
Wabanaki Indians in conjunction with the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
. In 1696, 28 members of the Baptist Church moved to
Charleston
Charleston most commonly refers to:
* Charleston, South Carolina
* Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital
* Charleston (dance)
Charleston may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Charleston, South Australia
Canada
* Charleston, Newfoundlan ...
,
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
, and established the first Baptist church there. The Drownes moved to
Boston, Massachusetts, in 1699 due to the ongoing war and violence.
Shem married Katherine Clark on September 18, 1712, in Boston. Katherine was the daughter of Capt. Timothy Clark and sister of Boston brazier and pewterer, Jonas Clark.
Shem's older brother Solomon was the grandfather of Revolutionary War Surgeon
Solomon Drowne
Dr. Solomon Drowne (also known as Solomon Drown) (March 11, 1753 – February 5, 1834) was a prominent American physician, academic and surgeon during the American Revolution and in the history of the fledgling United States.
Early life
Dr ...
. In 1721, he was made a deacon of the
First Baptist Church of Boston
The First Baptist Church (or "Brattle Square Church") is an historic American Baptist Churches USA congregation, established in 1665. It is one of the oldest Baptist churches in the United States. It first met secretly in members homes, and ...
.
Simeon Drowne, Shem's younger brother, was the fourth son of Leonard Drowne. Born April 8, 1686, and died in Boston on August 2, 1734. Buried in
Copps Hill Cemetery in Boston. He was a
shipwright
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
. It is believed that he created the framework for Shem's Grasshopper weathervane.
Life
Shem was a coppersmith with a shop on Ann Street (now North Street) in the
North End. He was baptized in the First Baptist Church of Boston in 1713 along with the future pastor of that church. In May 1721, he was elected a
Deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
of the church and served this position until his death in 1774.
Career: pioneering metalworker and North America's first weathervane maker
According to the colonial diarist Thomas Newell, Shem Drowne "was the first tin plate worker that ever came to Boston, New England." He worked as a tin plate worker and a coppersmith. He is on lists of colonial silversmiths as a result of a silver beaker marked "SD," tentatively attributed to him. However,
antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
Francis Hill Bigelow wrote "the attribution to Shem Drowne of Boston is probably erroneous. There seems to be no evidence that Drowne was a silversmith". This corresponds with Suffolk County deeds which lists Drowne's occupation as tinplate worker. Drowne's nephew, his sister-in-law's child Timothy Parrott, was a Boston silversmith. His grand-nephews, Samuel Drowne and Benjamin Drown, and Samuel's sons, Thomas Pickering Drown and Daniel P. Drown, were all notable practicing silversmiths from
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...
.
In 1716, he created America's first authenticated weathervane, a gilded
American Indian archer, for the cupola of Providence House in Boston, which in 1716 became the official residence of the royal governor. In 1721 he created a
rooster
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
weathervane (also known as the weathercock) for the New Brick Church on Hanover St, the vane is now on First Church in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
. In 1740 he made the copper swallow-tailed banner weathervane that is now atop
Old North Church
Old North Church (officially, Christ Church in the City of Boston), at 193 Salem Street, in the North End, Boston, is the location from which the famous "One if by land, two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent. This phrase is related ...
in Boston.
The Grasshopper Weathervane
His most famous work is the weathervane on top of
Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others ...
. Commissioned by
Peter Faneuil
Peter Faneuil (June 20, 1700March 3, 1743) was a wealthy American colonial merchant, slave trader and philanthropist who donated Faneuil Hall to Boston.
Childhood
The eldest child of one of three Huguenot brothers who fled France with considerab ...
in 1742, it was designed to complement the grasshopper weathervane atop the
Royal Exchange in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
, and help symbolize the new building as the capital of finance in the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
. The grasshopper is copper gilded with gold leaf with glass eyes. The vane fell off the building during the
earthquake of 1755
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with ...
which shook Boston. He and his son Thomas repaired it and remounted it.
In 1768 Thomas placed a note labeled "food for the grasshopper" in the belly of the grasshopper. It read:
The weathervane is the only part of Faneuil Hall which remains totally unmodified from the original 1742 structure. In 1805,
Charles Bulfinch
Charles Bulfinch (August 8, 1763 – April 15, 1844) was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first American-born professional architect to practice.Baltzell, Edward Digby. ''Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia''. Tra ...
expanded the building and moved the cupola from the middle of the building to the front. In 1974 the vane was stolen but recovered in less than a week.
Drowne's Wooden Image
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion.
He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...
credited Shem Drowne for being the inspiration for his retelling of
Pygmalion (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Pygmalion (; Ancient Greek: Πυγμαλίων ''Pugmalíōn'', ''gen''.: Πυγμαλίωνος) was a legendary figure of Cyprus, who was a king and a sculptor. He is most familiar from Ovid's narrative poem Metamorphoses (p ...
,
Drowne's Wooden Image, in his collection of shorts in
Mosses from an Old Manse
''Mosses from an Old Manse'' is a short story collection by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 1846.
Background and publication history
The collection includes several previously published short stories, and was named in honor of The Old Mans ...
. His short story, first published in 1844, recasts "Deacon Drowne" as a woodcarver who made trade signs and wooden figures for various shops and a notable statue of Admiral
Edward Vernon
Admiral Edward Vernon (12 November 1684 – 30 October 1757) was an English naval officer. He had a long and distinguished career, rising to the rank of admiral after 46 years service. As a vice admiral during the War of Jenkins' Ear, in 1 ...
in Boston. In the story "Deacon Drowne" is approached by a ship-captain to produce a
figurehead
In politics, a figurehead is a person who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet ''de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that they ...
for his
brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...
, claiming "nothing like the brig ever swam the ocean, so I am determined she shall have such a figurehead as old Neptune never saw in his life" and giving secret instructions for its completion. During the story, Drowne is visited by contemporary Bostonian artist
John Singleton Copley
John Singleton Copley (July 3, 1738 – September 9, 1815) was an Anglo-American painter, active in both colonial America and England. He was probably born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Anglo-Irish. Afte ...
who is impressed by his craftsmanship and inquires about his unfinished work and returns daily to check on the progress of the figurehead. There is no evidence that the real Shem Drowne did any carving, but the story clearly references him as the creator of the American Indian Archer weathervane.
The Drowne claim of the Pemaquid Patent
In 1631, the
Plymouth Council for New England
The Council for New England was a 17th-century English joint stock company that was granted a royal charter to found colonial settlements along the coast of North America. The Council was established in November of 1620, and was disbanded (althou ...
granted two
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
s from
Bristol, England
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in S ...
, Robert Aldsworth and Gyles Elbridge, near what would become
Bristol, Maine
Bristol, known from 1632 to 1765 as Pemaquid (; today a village within the town) is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,834 at the 2020 census. A fishing and resort area, Bristol includes the villages of New Har ...
in a document known as the Pemaquid Patent. Gyles survived Aldworth and passed it to his son John, who in turn passed it to his brother Thomas. In 1650, Thomas Elbridge
mortgaged Monhegan Island
Monhegan () is an island in the Gulf of Maine located in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. A plantation, a minor civil division in the state of Maine falling between unincorporated area and a town, it is located about off the mainland. The ...
and
Damariscove Island Damariscove is an uninhabited island that is part of Boothbay Harbor, Lincoln County, Maine, United States, about off the coast at the mouth of the Damariscotta River. The long, narrow island is approximately long and at its widest point. The ...
to Richard Russell, and sold half the Patent's land, half of his furniture, and half of his cattle for £200 to Paul White. In 1653, White and Elbridge conveyed the entire
Moiety title
In law, a moiety title is the ownership of part of a property. The word derives from Old French ''moitié'', "half" (the word has the same meaning in modern French), from Latin ''medietas'' ("middle"), from ''medius''.
In English law, it relates ...
to Russell and Nicholas Davidson, who in turn became sole owner of the patents from Russell in 1657. Elbridge continued to live in Pemaquid (Bristol) and called himself the "Merchant of Pemaquid" After the
Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between Kingdom of England, England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas a ...
the
Duke of York
Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...
claimed the land as his under a
royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
.
Drowne's wife Katherine Clark, was a partial heir to the Davidson claim of the Pemaquid Patents, and Drowne acquired
power of attorney
A power of attorney (POA) or letter of attorney is a written authorization to represent or act on another's behalf in private affairs (which may be financial or regarding health and welfare), business, or some other legal matter. The person auth ...
from the other heirs. What became known as the "Drowne Claim" encompassed Bristol,
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
,
Damariscotta, and parts of
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
and
Nobleboro. Other claims of the time included the "Brown Right" and the "Tappen Right." Starting in the 1730s, Drowne filed a number of
depositions in order to gain control of the Drowne Claim.
On June 12, 1746, he bought
Monhegan Island
Monhegan () is an island in the Gulf of Maine located in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. A plantation, a minor civil division in the state of Maine falling between unincorporated area and a town, it is located about off the mainland. The ...
and its surrounding islands for £10, 13 shillings. His son later sold the island for £160. He died in 1774 and his estate bequested £6, 13s, 4d to the
First Baptist Church of Boston
The First Baptist Church (or "Brattle Square Church") is an historic American Baptist Churches USA congregation, established in 1665. It is one of the oldest Baptist churches in the United States. It first met secretly in members homes, and ...
.
In popular culture
Shem Drowne is mentioned in the video game ''
Fallout 4
''Fallout 4'' is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fourth main game in the Fallout (series), ''Fallout'' series and was released worldwide on November 10, 2015, for P ...
'', and the grasshopper weathervane atop Faneuil Hall and the note Thomas placed within are central to the sidequest "The Gilded Grasshopper".
References
External links
A History of the Faneuil Hall Grasshopper
The Drowne Silversmiths of PortsmouthNathaniel Hawthorne's "Drowne's Wooden Image"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drowne, Shem
1683 births
1774 deaths
People from Eliot, Maine
People from colonial Boston
American people of English descent
American silversmiths
American coppersmiths
Burials in Boston
Massachusetts colonial-era clergy