The Wheelbarrow Polka

[NH Civil War Gal]

Here is Benjamin Perley Poore, pictured below (1820-1887) He was born in Newbury, MA and I thought he was interesting because he wrote a song titled "The Wheelbarrow Polka". His obit. says he was a major of the Artillery company during the Civil War. It also says when he was 21 yrs old he learned the printing trade and became the editor of a paper in Athens, Ga. Then he was the Secretary to the Minister to Germany so he had to relocate to Washington, DC and then worked as a correspondent of the Boston Atlas. In 1862 Senator Anthony appointed him to his final job as clerk of the commitee on printing which he held until he died.

For genealogy folks, names with "Perley and Poore" in them are old New England names.

Here's a link to a video of a band playing "The Wheelbarrow Polka". [

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

A fine looking gentleman and a great contribution to humanity

 

[TnFed]

Looks like an old time school teacher.

 

[stu613]

Tina could you clarify. You said he was a major of artillery in the civil war, but you also said, in 1862 Senator Anthony appointed him to his final job as clerk of the commitee on printing. Did he only hold the major slot for the first few months of the war? Did he do double duty, such as a reservist, being both a major and the clerk of the commitee simulatenously?

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Tina could you clarify. You said he was a major of artillery in the civil war, but you also said, in 1862 Senator Anthony appointed him to his final job as clerk of the commitee on printing. Did he only hold the major slot for the first few months of the war? Did he do double duty, such as a reservist, being both a major and the clerk of the commitee simulatenously?

Not quite the hero he sounds…

From Wikipedia

"During the Civil War, he organized a battalion of riflemen at Newbury that formed the nucleus of a company in the 8th Massachusetts volunteers, in which Poore served as major for a short time, retaining the title of Major Poore for the rest of his life. In March 1862, Poore and the novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne were among a small delegation that visited President Abraham Lincoln at the White House."

However, he did start the Gridiron Club which I believe still goes on today for correspondents.

Originally, his father had slated him for West Point but he got dismissed from his prep school (as I call it) for bad behavior, long before he made it to West Point. From that point on, he apprenticed as a printer and found writing and printing his true calling. I don't believe West Point or the Civil War missed anything officer ways!

Here is part of his obituary. Frankly, I think he looks a little debauched in this photo!

When he died in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 1887, The New York Times wrote:

He had a wide acquaintance, having known everybody of consequence in the capital for 30 years or more, was a living storehouse of anecdotes, a popular diner-out, and enjoyed the confidence of many leading public men.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Frankly, I think he looks a little debauched in this photo

Definitely life had caught up with him and won the tussle. Not much of the young schoolteacher look left.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Here is even more about Benjamin - Here is his home in Massachusetts, called Indian Hill or Castle Hill with some Civil War Vets. I did find a year after all, 1885 and in West Newbury but nothing on who the men are.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

And this is probably how the "Wheelbarrow Polka" cam about

"He ran for a seat in the U.S. Congress from Massachusetts Sixth District in 1856 and lost. He supported Millard Fillmore in the presidential election that year and lost a wager that Fillmore would win more votes in Massachusetts than his opponent John C. Frémont. To fulfil the terms of that bet, he transported a barrel of apples by wheelbarrow from his hometown of West Newbury to Boston. He completed the 36-mile course over two days and was met by a cheering crowd of 10,000 that included a military escort on horseback and the members of local Fillmore clubs."

Who would get a military escort on horseback for doing something like that now?

 

[lupaglupa]

What an interesting life he had - I bet he had stories to tell that didn't make it in the biographies.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

I found he had written these and he has even more out there. Some on Google for free. Some of his books are fairly cheap on the secondary market and some are really expensive!

• Agricultural History of Essex County, Massachusetts
• The Conspiracy Trial for the Murder of Abraham Lincoln (1865)
• Federal and State Charters 2 vols., (1877)
• The Life and Public Services of Ambrose E. Burnside (1882)
• A Descriptive Catalogue of the Government Publications of the United States, 1774-1881 (1885)
• Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis Vol. I (Philadelphia, 1886).
• Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis Vol. II (Philadelphia, 1886).

 

[Claude Bauer]

Here is Benjamin Perley Poore, pictured below (1820-1887) He was born in Newbury, MA and I thought he was interesting because he wrote a song titled "The Wheelbarrow Polka". His obit. says he was a major of the Artillery company during the Civil War. It also says when he was 21 yrs old he learned the printing trade and became the editor of a paper in Athens, Ga. Then he was the Secretary to the Minister to Germany so he had to relocate to Washington, DC and then worked as a correspondent of the Boston Atlas. In 1862 Senator Anthony appointed him to his final job as clerk of the commitee on printing which he held until he died.

For genealogy folks, names with "Perley and Poore" in them are old New England names.

Here's a link to a video of a band playing "The Wheelbarrow Polka". [

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Thanks for sharing this wonderful story! That song is going to be going through my head all day! I had no idea the song dated to the Civil War era, or had any connection to it at all.