The SAR MAGAZINE is the official quarterly publication of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution published quarterly.
Issue link: http://sar.epubxp.com/i/132097
l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l and bowed their head, in silent prayer. There it was, a body wrapped in a sheet and packed in straw and hay, in a wonderful state of preservation. Two portraits of Jones, as well as a bust sculpted by JeanAntoine Houdon and medallions bearing the captain's image supported his identification. The excellent condition of the corpse, the physical characteristics of this "scourge of the British merchant fleet," as he was known, helped confirm this actually was John Paul Jones, including his height, the size and shape of his head, and hair color. His hair was brown with bits of gray—appropriate, since he had died in middle age and his hair fell below his shoulders, worn knotted in a clasp at the back of the neck. The linens in the coffin had endured the ravages of time—the letter "J" or an inverted "P' could be made out. Jones had been buried in obscurity for 113 years, laid to rest almost as a pauper, avoiding that designation due only to the charity of the French commissioner of police, who had paid the $92 funeral expenses—a sad testimony to an American hero. President Theodore Roosevelt acknowledged the neglect of Jones was an "unfortunate oversight." When a bill was introduced in Congress to appropriate $35,000 for the recovery and return of Jones' body to America, Roosevelt reminded Congress of the "value of John Paul Jones' exploits in the Revolutionary War." The bill passed and was signed into law, allowing Porter to recoup his expenses. The man considered by many to be the father of the American Navy was then carried in a new mahogany coffin to the Church in the Avenue de l'Alma. There it lay at the altar draped in American flags and hidden under a profusion of flowers. Several American dignitaries were present, among them Assistant Secretary of State Francis Loomis (Secretary of State Hay had just passed away) and Senior Special Ambassador Porter, whose efforts had made all this possible. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the coffin was placed on a gun caisson and led through the streets of Paris, with much pomp and ceremony, to the train station, and then transported to Cherbourg and placed on an American ship for the captain's final voyage home. Throngs of people lined the Champs Elysées to witness the cortège travel to the depot. Jones held a SPRING 2013 Return of a Hero By Bruce Wilcox, President General 2007-08 D uring the afternoon of July 17, 1792, American Ambassador to France Gouverneur Morris received a message that his friend, 45-year-old John Paul Jones, was on his deathbed. Morris instructed that Jones was to be buried as inexpensively as possible. He feared he would bear the cost of an elaborate funeral. Fortunately, an old friend, Col. Samuel Blackburn of North Carolina, a Revolutionary War veteran, was in Paris on business. He and District Commissaire Pierre Simonneau undertook the responsibility of seeing that Jones received a burial fitting his place in history. They apparently considered the possibility of the remains being sent to the United States someday because they had the body preserved in alcohol and placed in a lead coffin. A funeral was held, and burial took place in a small cemetery for Protestants in Paris with full military honors, paid for by the French government and a handful of loyal Americans. Fifty-nine years later, in 1851, John H. Sherburne published the earliest biography of John Paul Jones. Sherburne tried to find the grave but failed after a year of searching. The next person to take an interest in finding the body of Jones was Brig. Gen. Horace Porter, who served in the Civil War on the staff of Ulysses S. Grant. He also was the third President General of the NSSAR, elected an unprecedented five terms from 1892-96. In 1897, he was appointed American ambassador to France by President William McKinley, also a member of the NSSAR. For six years, Porter searched for Jones' grave. He hired historians, researchers and, in some cases, charlatans, spending a great deal of his own money on the project. Finally, he was able to identify the long-closed and built-over cemetery where Jones was buried. His first attempt to have the site excavated was met with requests for outlandish sums of money. But in 1905, after some negotiation, he started what amounted to an archaeological dig, employing dozens of workmen who sank shafts and dug trenches. They found two lead coffins, both of which were opened and found to contain the remains of two unidentified civilians. On April 7, 1905, a third lead coffin was found and upon opening, it was found to contain the well-preserved remains of Jones. The body was identified by two noted anthropologists and France's foremost pathologist, all of whom were hired by Porter. On July 6, 1905, the 158th anniversary of Jones' birth, a proper memorial service was held at the American church in Paris. After the service, Jones was given a hero's sendoff. A parade led by 500 American sailors followed the hearse and escorted the body from the Paris railway station. Included in the parade were American and French officials and units of the French cavalry, infantry and navy. The body was then transported to Cherbourg where, with elaborate ceremonies, it was placed aboard the USS Brooklyn sent by President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt had followed the former President General's progress with great interest, and when he was notified that Jones' remains had been found, he sent Rear Adm. Charles Sigsbee to bring back the naval hero. Sigsbee commanded a Continued on next page 21