Page 1

BOWNE HOUSE AND ITS MISSION Bowne House, circa 1661, is the oldest house in Queens and one of the oldest in New York City. The house is an amalgam of Dutch and English traditions of building; continuity of ownership provides a unique view of changing cultural values and increased prosperity over time.

Bowne House was occupied by nine generations of family, but events which took place in its early years secured its place in history. John Bowne is known for his courageous defense of religious liberty; his actions, and those of his fellow residents of Flushing, helped establish this principle in America. In 1662, Bowne defied a ban imposed by Governor Peter Stuyvesant on the practice of religions other than the Dutch Reformed Church by permitting Quakers to worship in his home. Bowne was arrested and deported to Holland, where he successfully pleaded his case before the Dutch West India Company. He returned home in 1664, and the principle of religious freedom was established in the colony.

Bowne House is operated by the Bowne House Historical Society, whose mission includes the preservation of the house, its collections and its grounds for their historical and educational interest, for the significance of the house in the history of New York, and for its role in the establishment of the principle of freedom of conscience in America. Bowne House is owned by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and is a member of Historic House Trust of New York.

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE BOWNE HOUSE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Rosemary S. Vietor, PresidentMorris Hylton III, Vice PresidentWellington Z. ChenGeorge FarrAnnette L. GeddesEdith T. LoeningHon. Frank PadavanPenelope B. PerrymanKenneth S. SchwartzMargaret D. SullivanRoland Wade

TRUSTEES EMERITUS

Nina PowellFranklin Regan, Esq.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Donald R. Friary, ChairJeanne Adair, Ph.D.Dean F. FaileyPeter KennyAnthony C. Wood

The Bowne House Historical Society, Inc.AUTUMN 2011

Page 2

The Bowne House celebrated its 350th year on October 6th with a party at the Arsenal Roof in Central Park. Members and friends gath-ered for this festive event. The museum received a number of citations and proclamations, includ-ing ones from the New York City Mayor, the City Council, the Office of the Comptroller, the Queens Borough President, and the New York State Assembly commemorating this special occasion.

The museum also marked the occasion by presenting its first ever Historic Preservation Award. The award was given to Dr. Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel in recognition of her more than 40 year commitment to the preser-vation of the historic built environment of our country.

The following are remarks given by Rosemary Vietor, the president of the Bowne House Historical Society, on this occasion.

This year we are celebrating the 350th an-niversary of the Bowne House. The house is best known for its connection to the principle of free-dom of conscience in America. While the concept was not unique in 17th century America – others had tried and failed to implement this ideal – John Bowne was the first man to successfully challenge the ban on free practice of religion. Freedom of conscience did not exist in 17th century England, ancestral home of his family. England had suf-fered from a series of religious and political wars. But, the free practice of religion in the town of Flushing had been guaranteed by Governor Peter Stuyvesant’s predecessor. John Bowne’s challenge to Governor Stuyvesant, by permitting Quakers to meet in his house for worship, was followed by his arrest, imprisonment and banishment from the country. His successful appeal to the Dutch West India Company resulted in the guarantee of religious freedom for citizens of New Amster-dam. These principles were later codified in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

While Bowne House is best known for these events, which took place from 1662-1664, the house and its Flushing community have also served as an incubator for a long chain of ideals and concepts and a tradition of community ser-

vice, the impact of which has been felt across New York and across America. In fact, the 350 year sur-vival of Bowne House is due to the dedication of local residents who purchased the house to oper-ate it as a museum in 1947, after the departure of the last Bowne family member in residence.

I would like to leave you with one thought, this one from Margaret Meade, which captures the essence of John Bowne’s stand for freedom of conscience, and those of his fellow residents of Flushing– “Never doubt a small group of thought-ful committed citizens can change the world. In-deed, it is the only thing that ever has.” The dedi-cation of these citizens has helped make America the exceptional country that it is.

Now, I will speak about another person who has changed the world – Dr. Barbaralee Dia-monstein-Spielvogel. Barbaralee has worked tire-lessly for over 40 years as an advocate for preser-vation of our cultural and historic resources, and to raise awareness of our unique heritage.

I first met Barbaralee when we were be-ing interviewed and photographed for an article on preservation in Parade Magazine. The article featured Bowne House. I learned that Barbaralee has sense of humor – she instructed the photog-rapher – “Don’t make me look like a relic”. Well, she doesn’t look like a relic – 40 years as an advo-cate for history and culture has kept her youth-ful.

The Bowne House Historical Society has never, to my knowledge, given an award. The Historic Preservation Award is new, and it is ap-propriate that our first recipient is Barbaralee. Without her advocacy, many of America’s most important historic sites might have languished or disappeared for lack of interest or support. Through her writing, speaking, research and en-thusiasm for our history, she has raised the profile of many important sites, of which Bowne House is one.

We are thrilled to have her here tonight and to honor her with our Historic Preservation award.

BOWNE HOUSE CELEBRATES ITS 350TH ANNIVERSARY; gIVES FIRST HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARD

Page 3

2011 NEW YORK BOTANICAL gARDEN HOLIDAY TRAIN SHOW

Photo courtesy of the New York Botanical Garden

The New York Botanical Garden will be hold-ing its 20th annual Holiday Train Show at the Enid Haupt A. Conservatory. The Train Show, which will run from November 19th through January 16th, has become a holiday tradition for New Yorkers. Model trains run over bridges and past familiar New York City landmarks made of natural materials, includ-ing bark, leaves and nuts. Bowne House is among these more than 140 landmarks.

Designer Paul Busse and his team at Applied Imagination are responsible for the design and con-struction of the show. This year, visitors will have a chance to take a peek behind the scenes to see how the models are constructed. Photos, tools and sup-plies will help tell the story of how the show comes together.

A number of special activities are planned around the show. A Holiday Tree Lighting will kick off the season on November 19th; this will include a conifer display and a sing-along

with the Westchester Chordsmen, featuring a selection of carols. Other events include Gingerbread Adventures, which will feature a gingerbread play-house and a display of gingerbread houses made by area bakers. A Holiday Film Festival will include a PBS documentary featuring designer Busse.

Activities for children include The Little En-gine That Could puppet show and All Aboard with Thomas and Friends™. These events, as well as the events described above, will take place at various times throughout the season; for the full sched-ule of activities and programs, admission fees, and dates and times check www.nybg.org.

The Holiday Train Show is a unique New York experience, and is not to be missed. Bowne House is thrilled to be a part of the show.

The New York Botanical Garden is lo-cated in the Bronx, NY. The telephone number is 718-817-8700.

Page 4

FEEDINg THE “SWEET TOOTH” OF FLUSHINg’S EARLY QUAKERS Long Island, 1645:

a group of English families is granted a charter by the Dutch of New Amsterdam to establish a village called Vlissengen, or what is now known as Flush-ing, in the Borough of Queens. Many of these folks are Quakers (members of the Society of Friends), and over time, the area from Flushing to Oyster Bay becomes one of the strongholds of Quakerism in North America, along with Rhode Island and Penn-sylvania.

In 1651, an industrious man, John Bowne (pronounced like “town”) and Quaker wife, Han-nah Feke, buy land from the Native Americans in Vlissingen and set up what is to become one of the most prosperous farms in the region. This is the same John Bowne who will later lead the famous Flushing Remonstrance petition, earning Quakers the right to worship publicly in the Dutch colony, and who donates land to build the Friends Meeting House of Flushing, 1694, which is still an active as-sembly today.

The fact that the Bowne family was so prom-inent in agriculture is saying something, because what later was known as the Borough of Queens was an extremely important early agricultural cen-ter in New York, due to the excellent soil nourished

by its old forests and superior drainage facilitated by its rolling hills. Since colonial economics were based on the substantial movement of raw and manufactured goods to and from the motherland – with all transactions taxed accordingly – agriculture was a highly competitive industry.

The Bay of Flushing/Newtown Dock was a major shipping hub to and from Europe, delivering such products as the extraordinary array of apples grown in New York, and receiving fine goods like wine, fabric, and sugar. The leading nurseries of the day – import/export outfits where farmers pur-chased seeds and plants – were located in Flushing, including the Prince Linnean Garden and Nursery, founded in 1735, which had the monopoly on tree propagation in North America and sold the famous Newtown Pippin apple. John Bowne was not a spe-cialist, we know from the farm records dating from 1649 – 1692 that he cultivated a variety of products: wheat, buckwheat, rye, oats, barley, and flax; for livestock he raised cattle, oxen, sheep, pigs, horses and bees; there is also evidence of vegetables and fruits including peas and turnips as well as apples. All along the North Fork of Long Island, oysters and other shellfish were harvested in abundance, sup-plying the growing New Amsterdam.

Before all of this ambitious agricultural in-dustry developed, the early English and Dutch set-

Classic Bakewell Tart, a favorite of the Bowne family of Flushing

Hannah Bowne’s simple gravestone at the Friends Meeting House in Flushing

Page 5

A cloam oven

An old beverage urn on display at the Friends Meeting House of Flushing

tlers, in their basic struggle to survive in a new en-vironment, relied heavily upon the knowledge of the Native Americans of the region, who, as we all know, shared their farming and cooking tech-niques. Primary amongst their foodstuffs was what the Europeans called “Indian corn,” a useful veg-etable that could feed humans and livestock alike.

The English newcomers were especially for-tunate, for they actually arrived having brought along virtually the same oven technology that the locals were using here. According to William Woys Weaver, in his republishing of A Quaker Woman’s Cookbook, The Domestic Cookery of Elizabeth Elli-cott Lea, (Stackpole Books, 2004), the Native Amer-ican methods of cooking on a hearth using ash closely resembled what was being used in England at the time, nicely facilitating the exchange of reci-pes from one culture to the other. In this hearth technique, kindling was placed inside the oven, burned down to hot ash, and then pushed aside making room for the item to be baked. The tem-perature would be controlled depending on how much or how little ash was used.

The primary example of a recipe passing ef-

A quick recipe from Clayton’s Quaker Cook-Book by A.J. Clangtor

fectively and lastingly from the Native Americans to the Europeans is the cornmeal cake – centuries of variations from points all over the country abound: Indian cakes, journey cakes, hoe cakes, hearth cakes, quick cakes, ad infinitum. These consisted of, at their simplest, cornmeal and lard; at their richest, cornmeal, butter, eggs, and milk, with a sweetener such as molasses or sugar. The Dutch made a treat called ‘sappaen,’ or cornmeal mush, gleaned from the Native Americans, in which a softer version of the mixture was piled into a large serving dish. A crater was forged into the top and milk was ladled in, which slowly seeped into the mound.

As the flow of goods amongst the colonial networks increased, giving the Dutch and British ac-cess to sugar from the Caribbean and fruit from Eu-rope, everyone was able to replicate their traditional recipes from home. While the Dutch were making waffles and pancakes (poffertjes), doughnuts (oly koeks), and cookies (koeckjens), the English Quakers were baking meat-filled crusts (pyes), custard-filled crusts (puddings), and fruit-filled crusts (tarts). In Quaker households, these treats were taken with tea, which was their hot preferred beverage, along with apple cider, weak beer and wine.

Rosemary Vietor, who is a descendent of John Bowne, and President of the Board of Trust-ees of the Bowne House Historical Society, http://www.bownehouse.org/, is passionate about the domestic and personal lives of the Bownes. As the Bowne House undergoes a major renovation and gets ready to celebrate its 300th anniversary, the organization looks forward to better utilizing its fantastic collection of decorative arts and house-

Page 6

gENERAL INTRODUCTION: Alexander Smith, the Scottish poet, once said, “A man does not plant a tree for himself. He plants it for posterity.” Samuel Parsons was an in-fluential man, but most importantly he was a man who believes in the value of preserving history, of leaving a legacy so it can become a beacon for fu-ture generations to peer into the past of an ever-changing world. This can be shown with Parsons’ opening of his nursery in 1837 and in the shrubs and trees he planted in the name of beauty and history. In the now bustling and growing township of Flushing, Parsons’ trees play an ever more impor-tant role in preserving and reminding us of the hal-cyon days, when Flushing was just a serene town.

MISSION: Thus the mission statement of this section will be to enlighten you, the reader, about the type, location and history of plants cultivated by Samuel Parsons and by the next two generations of Parsons/Bownes in a philanthropic mission to beautify the township of Flushing as well as to supply his famed nursery, which was dissolved in 1907 (Flushing Eve-ning Journal). Although many plants described can-not be physically seen by a tourist or resident of Flushing today, the purpose of such descriptions is to relish in the longevity and historical significance of the extant plants. A secondary goal is to allow the reader to conjure up an image for certain areas in Flushing to show admiration for and and to pay a silent respect to the beauty that was there to be en-

joyed by our forefathers. The world was a different place a few centuries ago. Those residents from Par-sons’ time cannot come to us, nor can we physically come to them. However the plants of Parsons and his nursery can serve as a spiritual bridge that will bring his Flushing to us. By honoring the goals of his horticultural legacy we pay tribute to the Flushing that used to be.

HISTORY OF PARSONS NURSERY:

SPECIFIC PLANTS SERIES: It is easily and correctly assumed that throughout the history of the Bowne/Parsons fam-ily in horticulture, their nursery would be the home to thousands of plants ranging from those native to North America as well as to the exotic plants brought back to be cultivated by the Parsons dur-ing their distant horticultural excursions. In this sec-tion, some of the better known and valued plants during the era of the Parsons’ Nursery will be de-scribed. These legendary plants and/or their stories are landmarks of the famed nursery, and are either still beautifully standing today to be admired or have become a story of a forgotten beauty of long ago which brings back vivid images of what Flush-ing may have looked like during its horticultural hay-day.

THE WEEPINg BEECH OF FLUSHINg: The first and most well known tree planted by the Parsons is the Weeping Beech of Flushing.

BOWNE HOUSE MUSEUM SUMMER INTERN: SHAWN CHEN, STUYVESANT HIgH SCHOOL

RESEARCH: SAMUEL PARSONS

hold items to tell the long and illustrious story of the Bownes in Flushing. The house has a large col-lection of cooking utensils and, not surprisingly, one of the only known cloam ovens in America, a small brick oven covered in clay with an iron door that uses ash.

For those who are interested in learn-ing more about early American culinary tech-nology, you can take a day-long course at Hearth Studios in Smithtown, Long Island with renowned food historian Dr. Alice Ross, http://www.aliceross.com/.

To further investigate the broader history of food in New York City, don’t miss “The Culinary His-tory of New York: A Moveable Feast,” organized by the Historic House Trust of New York City, taking place at historic sites all across the City: http://www.historichousetrust.org/page.php?p_id=61

- Written by Anne Shisler-Hughes

This article was used with permission from Edible Queens magazine. See the original article at www.ediblequeensblog.com

Page 7

The Weeping Beech or Fagus sylvatica var. pen-dula (OPIN) is said to be first seen around 1817 in Belgium (Flushing Evening Journal). The Weeping Beech is a large tree in adulthood with branches that seem to droop down to the ground. In 1845, when Samuel B. Parsons was taking a horticultural trip in Europe, he bought a seedling of a Weeping Beech and carried it back to the States in his lug-gage (Flushing Evening Journal). At the time, the Weeping Beech was only a small seedling. Upon ar-rival to the states, the Weeping Beech was planted in Fox Lane on the lawn of Mrs. Samuel Jackson, and after much nurturing by Parsons, the Weeping Beech grew to become such a beauty that Sir Joseph Hooker of Kew Gardens later declared it to be the “finest tree of its kind in the world” (Flushing Eve-ning Journal). This Weeping Beech, whose beauty made it the standard of its fellow beeches in Bel-gium, has become the icon of its species in America, for every Weeping Beech in American can trace its genealogy to Parsons’ tree on Mrs. Jackson’s lawn (Flushing Evening Journal). Although the original tree no longer exists today in Flushing, its progeny are still seen growing right next the Bowne House Museum in Flushing (in the small park located to-wards Northern Boulevard). Weeping Beech Park commemorates this famed tree.

TWIN FOx OAKS, AKA “FLUSHINg OAKS” A short distance away from where the cel-ebrated Weeping Beech stood is a boulder that is known to us as the George Fox Stone, named after the famous English Quaker who preached to 500 people at the site. Adjacent to this boulder are two oaks, one on each side. These two oaks became known as the “Fox Oaks” or the “Flushing Oaks.” The Fox Oaks are most likely native and common in North America, so they are probably red or white oaks.

The significance of these two Oaks and the Fox Stone lies in what they represent. The Twin Fox Oaks are emblems of religious freedom in Flushing. The legacy of the Bowne House has always been freedom of conscience and religious tolerance, as shown in John Bowne’s acceptance of the Quakers, a religious sect persecuted in Europe and in 17th century America. The Fox Oaks, along with the Bowne House, show a tradition of religious toler-ance, one of the greatest examples of freedom that

America gave to the world.

RECOLLECTION SERIES: The nursery played a major role in the lives of many. Specifically to the Bownes who lived in Flushing, the nursery has been a part of their glory days. Their childhood memories have become em-bedded in them to an extent, and in certain docu-ments, they recalled these memories to give us a picture of what the nursery and the surrounding area of Flushing looked like during the 19th and early 20th century. The images invoked by the rec-ollections may not be specific enough to give us the exact species and location of every single plant in the vicinity of the nursery, but they do give us, the modern day visitor, a general picture as to what Flushing was like. Oftentimes it is that general pic-ture, along with our imagination that allows for the greatest degree of appreciation.

PLANTS FROM THE MEMORIES OF ROBERT E. PARSONS (gRANDSON OF SAMUEL PARSONS): In 1934, during the laying of the cornerstone for Barney’s market at the corner of Northern and Parsons Boulevards, Robert E. Parsons was called to on speak at the ceremony about the history of his family, for the grounds of the market were formerly the property of the Bowne/Parsons family. Many of his recollections involve the nursery, which existed during his childhood years.

According to Robert E. Parsons, at the time of his childhood, Amity Street (modern day Roosevelt Avenue), which ended around two hun-dred feet eastward of Parsons Boulevard, led to the Parsons’ apple orchard. As you walk up a winding road extending from the end of Amity Street (in a northeasterly direction) until it intersects with a lane that connects it to Broadway (Northern Boule-vard) at a right angle, you have navigated around the borders of the apple orchard (Daily Star). Near cemetery circle (possibly in the plot of land sur-rounded today by 38th 147th Northern and 149th), are numerous trees with wild grape vines hanging down from them. Along the west of Colden Ave-nue, in between two creeks, there is a large area of land in which salt hay was cut. Lastly, according to Robert, if you walk along the part of Northern Boulevard between Parsons Boulevard and Bowne Street, there was a row of fourteen greenhouses

Page 8

and two cellars lining the roads which were used for the propagation of plants (Daily Star).

PLANTS FROM “THE MEMORIES OF BERTHA R. PARSONS”: From the memories of Bertha R. Parsons, we get details of the greenhouses described by Robert. According to her, the contents of the greenhous-es were separated by species and that they were often “filled with the pungent, piquant odor of steam heat, soil and manure” (Bertha Parsons). This goes along with Robert’s recollection of the green-houses’ use as a propagation area for the nursery’s new plant introductions.

Near the Weeping Beech, in the time of Ber-tha’s childhood, there was a drainage ditch “along the cobbled courtyard and bordered Parsons Ave-nue” (Bertha Parsons). This drainage ditch was sur-rounded by a hawthorn hedge (Crataegus sp.) and was probably located in the area between Weep-ing Beech Park and Parsons Boulevard, behind the Bowne House property. South of the courtyard was a hedge of arborvitae and hotbeds behind those hedges. Also, according to Bertha, the entrance of the nursery was moved from the corner of Broad-way (Northern) and Bowne to the vicinity of a horse chestnut tree on Bowne Lane (modern day Bowne Street). Along both sides of what is now Bowne Street were a series of “specimen show beds,” (Ber-tha Roberts) which probably played the same role as modern day store display windows, showing off the new exotic and native plants that were avail-able at the Parsons Nursery. Along with these show beds was a bed of cannas.

During the childhood of Bertha Parsons, there was a cornfield at modern day Sanford Ave-nue and along Northern Boulevard there was a for-est of hickory, chestnut, dogwood and many other varieties of trees and bushes located across the street from the nursery (Bertha Parsons). East of the Parsons’ property in the wooded area of Broadway was a black walnut tree (Juglans nigra) that stood near the “gateway of barn lane” (Bertha Parsons). Near the walnut tree was a row of hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis) and east of those were nursery rows that were the home to Green and Rivers Purple Beeches. If you walked west of the house towards Parsons and Percy Street back then, you would see

that between those two streets, there were nurs-ery rows filled with trees that were claimed by the master of Kew Gardens to be the finest collection of rare and beautiful shrubs and trees.

Walking down the driveway east of the Bowne House one found a sugar maple and in the front yard, there were rhododendrons, an arch of English elms, and a colorful Jorot beneath the elms. In the “circle of the drive” (also in the vicinity of the plot of land surrounded today by 38th 147th Northern and 149th streets) were a myriad of trees whose species names are recalled by Bertha. Plants that were located there included: several magno-lias, a holly tree , King Charles oak , silver birch, silverbell , fringe tree, flowering quince, two weep-ing beeches, Sargent Weeping Hemlock, ginkgo, weeping sophora, linden, Judas tree, Japanese cy-press, and the green and red varieties of Japanese Maples (Bertha Roberts). On the house itself, there grew vines of honeysuckle and wisteria and to the house’s northwestern border there were two beau-tiful tulip trees.

In the last part of Bertha’s recollections, she talks about two paths in the center of the nurs-ery. One path originated from Parsons Boulevard between Amity and Lincoln (Roosevelt and 38th) and went up to Northern Boulevard and the other path was located between the Bowne House and the Nursery Office (at the southeast corner of mod-ern day Weeping Beech Park). At the northern end of the first path was a persimmon and the second path had snowdrops, violets, and blue-eyed grass.

MISCELLANEOUS SERIES: Along with the stories of famed plants and the recollections of those Bownes/Parsons whose childhood days were spent in the vicinity of the nursery, there are many other ways, either sub-liminal or conspicuous, in which the family has left their horticultural legacy for us. In this series, you will see the references to the plants of Flushing that originate from a variety of other sources, such as Samuel Parsons Diary, letters to Parsons, photo-graphs, interviews with experts, etc. Each source, whether or not their purpose was to inform, in-evitably provides vital information that allows the reader to conjure up a better visual image of 19th century Flushing.

Page 9

In Samuel Parsons’ journal, he mentions in 1838 that he was planting mulberries in front of his house, which is probably the front yard of the modern day Bowne House, where he lived. This matches with the “mulberry madness,” which was a mass buying/cultivating of weeping and silkworm mulberries during that time period. From a letter to Parsons from Hicks and Keene & Faulk (fellow nurserymen), we also know that Parsons planted Rhododendrons in places such as the Johnson’s (possibly a neighbor) near the Bowne House.

From photos of the Bowne House in the 19th century, we can tell that there was an oak to the left (removed by 1909) and a Japanese maple in the yard of the Bowne House. In a back view of the house, there was a Locust (removed by 1887) and a Carolina Silverbell tree. In 1902, it can be seen that the Parsons family had planted a fir tree in the far right of the Bowne House garden and a pine on the left. Across the street from the house, to the right of the Fox Oaks, there was an evergreen and an ivy covered church. Today we can also go down Bowne Street, and we can see an ancient mossy cup oak about 3 blocks south of the Bowne House and an English Oak in juxtaposition to the park and to the north of the Bowne House.

From photos and maps, it may be easily seen that Northern Boulevard during the time of the Parsons was a much different place than it is today. For example, there is a pond at the western end of Northern Boulevard (where the bridge is today) which no longer exists (Bowne Farm Map). Also, back then, the average street tree was different from the average street tree today. Then, streets like Northern Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue would have been lined with American Elms (Ulmus Americana), the street tree of the time, chosen for their wine glass- like shape. Across the street from what is now Flushing High School( a horticultural accomplishment in itself), Northern Boulevard was also lined with a row of beautiful pink and white flowering trees identified as saucer magnolias. In the vicinity of Flushing High School, to the right was an open area where there were many trees, including two weeping beeches and a tulip tree; in front of the school (along the street) are four bald cypresses which still exist today. Behind the cypress-es are two beds of flowers (on either side of the

main walkway) consisting of rhododendrons and azaleas, and spruces trees are found to the side of the beds. Near Flushing High School, at Sanford Av-enue near modern day 149th Street, is a European Beech that was imported by the Parsons. The last living remnant of Parsons Nursery is found in Kis-sena Park, at Parsons Boulevard and Rose Avenue.

CONCLUSION: Samuel Parsons wished to beautify his Flush-ing birthplace through horticulture. Although the 1661 Bowne House is the last remnant of what was once hundreds of acres owned by the Bowne/Par-sons families, the plants that were grown by Par-sons during the existence of the nursery and the memories that these plants inspire have outlived the dissolution of the nursery and serve to remind us, the future generations, of the Flushing of our forefathers. We should appreciate and respect the extant Parsons plants for their longevity, and ad-mire the beauty contributed by those plants no longer with us. Whether alive or not, all of these plants are an emblem of the past and they repre-sent a legacy of Flushing’s horticultural history and reminder of what one person with a vision can ac-complish.

SOURCE SECTION1. Queens Library Archives, Long Island Division2. Parsons Nursery and Co. Folder• RecollectionofBerthaR.Parsons• DailyStar• FlushingEveningJournal3. P-7: Parson Business and Miscellaneous Documents Box 28H and 29• SamuelParsons• ParsonsandCo.• RobertB.Parsons4. Parsons Nursery Catalog Set- Parsons & Co. Greenhouse, Stove and BeddingPrinted By: John W. AvermanR631.521 P267CYears: 1858, 1860, 1861 Autumn, 1862 No. 1 and No. 25. Slides and Interviews with Chuck Wade and Fred Gerber

Page 10

THE CIVIL WAR 1861-1865: THE ROLES OF FLUSHINg AND THE BOWNE FAMILY IN AMERICA’S STRUggLE TO PRESERVE THE UNION

This year, as we are celebrating the 350th an-niversary of the Bowne House (1661-2011), we will also commemorate the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. The war began with an assault on Fort Sumpter, near Charleston, South Carolina on April 12-13th 1861.The battle resulted in a victory for the Confederates; the war had begun in earnest.

Many members of the Bowne family be-longed to the Society of Friends (Quakers). While their religion advocated peace and non-violence, they were eager to help their country in other ways. Some Quakers did enlist in the military, serving in both the American Revolution and the Civil War. The records of the National Park Service Civil War Soldier and Sailor Database (www.civilwarnps.gov) show 36 men in the Union Army with the surname Bowne from New York State. Several of these are named John Bowne.

Another John Bowne, a descendant of Rob-ert Bowne, founder of Bowne and Company (1775), the financial printer, did not serve on active duty but performed a vital and unique service through his participation in the New York Sanitary Commis-sion. The Sanitary Commission, a forerunner of to-day’s Red Cross, was formed in 1861 as a charitable agency to aid soldiers. Its first executive secretary was Frederick Law Olmstead, landscape architect for New York’s Central Park.

In 1862, after the Battle of Bull Run, Olm-stead discovered that soldiers were exhausted and lacking in food and supplies. He dispatched doctors and nurses to care for the soldiers, organized kitch-ens and obtained uniforms. The public responded generously with donations, and over $4 million dol-lars were raised.

In 1862, volumes of letters from the families of men serving in the military began to pour in; the families were desperate for news of their loved ones. A Hospital Directory was established to coordinate inquiries with information coming from the front. The Directory was run by John Bowne, an accoun-tant in his grandfather’s firm, Bowne & Co. The Di-rectory received reports from hundreds of hospitals and recorded information on over 1 million soldiers serving in the war.

The Hospital Directory became a clearing-

house for information about Union soldiers. As a humanitarian agency, it helped to locate missing men. Communications were poor; information from the front was slow to arrive and families waited for months without learning the fate of loved ones. Of-ten, wounded or dead soldiers remained unidenti-fied. John Bowne responded to these many inquiries, and tried to match the requests with information ob-tained from the hospitals. Often, the news was bad. Mortality rates were very high, and those who were fortunate enough to survive a battle sometimes suc-cumbed to disease and infection in the hospital.

The many thousands of letters describing the families’ desperate quests for information and the efforts of the Sanitary Commission during the Civil War were donated to the Astor Library, the forerun-ner of the New York Public Library, after the war’s end. There are tens of thousands of letters, diaries, logs and photos in the collections. The library has preserved these documents and has raised funds to preserve them and to create a database of all the names on file in the collections. The library’s goal is to create an online Civil War database.

Many men from Flushing served in the Civil War. There is a monument in downtown Flushing, on Northern Boulevard at Linden Street, opposite the Quaker Meeting House, which commemorates their service. The inscription reads as follows: “Erect-ed in memory of the Patriotic Volunteers who sacri-ficed their lives in the War for the Preservation of the Union 1861-1865”. The monument lists the names of 87 local men who perished in the Civil War.

Officers of the Sanitary CommissionPhoto courtesy of The Archives of the New York Public Library

Page 11

2011 - 2012 MEMBERSHIP DUES RENEWAL

THE BOWNE HOUSE HISTORICAL SOCIETY37-01 Bowne Street, Flushing, NY 11354

789-359-0528

Individual $25.

Student (non-voting) $15.

Family $50.

Sustaining Membership $100.

Corporate Membership $500.

Life Membership $1,000. (one time payment)

In addition to my dues, I would like to make a contribution in the amount of $____________________________________________________________________

Signature_______________________________________________________________

• *LifeMembersmayreceive,iftheywish,acomplimentaryframedhandpaintedLife Member Certificate, personalized with calligraphy. Please list your name as you wish to have it appear on the certificate.

• Pleaseprintyournameandaddressbelowasyouwouldlikethemtoappearonour mailing list, as well as email, fax and phone so that we can better communicate with you.• __________________________________________________________________• __________________________________________________________________

Referral names and contact information: We welcome your suggestions of friends and family who like to hear about the Society. Please list names and contact information on the reverse of this page.

Page 12

The Bowne House37-01 Bowne StreetFlushing, NY 11354

The Bowne HouseCirca 1661

PRSRT STDUS Postage

PAIDPermit #2643Newburgh, NY