A Hartford Wit
Upon moving to Prospect-Lefferts in 2002, one of the first things I did was head to the Dutch Reform Church on the corner of Church and Flatbush Avenues. We had driven past the church many times in our Brooklyn house hunt, though what intrigued me most was the cemetery. If you have any historical interest in the area, it is well worth a walk through. Some of the tombstones are in remarkably good condition, considering the age. I spent a sunny afternoon creating a photographic inventory of stones, as I often do in cemeteries. Walking among the monuments you will see many familiar Brooklyn names, descendants of the early Dutch settlers.
One interesting stone is that of Richard Alsope [sic] of Middletown, Conn. “He came to Flatbush in August 1815, to visit his sister, the wife of Mr. Riley. He had retired on a certain day to his room in the house now occupied by Mrs. Schoonmaker, and was subsequently found dead sitting in a chair by the window. It is presumed he had been struck with apoplexy. The tomb-stone which marks the place where his remains lie interred, bears the following inscription: — In memory of Richard Alsop, Esq., of Middletown, Conn. Distinguished by genius and poetical talents, respected for integrity, and beloved for his amiable simplicity of character. He died suddenly, when on visit to this place, on the 20th of August, 1815, aged fifty-four years.” [from History of the Town of Flatbush, Thomas M. Strong, D.D., 1842.]
Alsop, who attended Yale*, was one of the “Hartford Wits,” a group considered to be the first group of “American Writers” in a literary circle. Other members of the Hartford Wits were Noah Webster (of dictionary fame), Oliver Wolcott, Timothy and Theodore Dwight, David Humphreys, John Trumbull (a lawyer, poet, and cousin to the famous painter John Trumbull), and Lemuel Hopkins. The poems also appealed for a strong federal government and a national constitution.
From Appleton’s Dictionary of Biography:
Alsop was the leading spirit and the principal writer of the “Echo,” a series of burlesque essays (1791-’95). It, comprised travesties and exaggerations of current publications, state papers, and the like, making a target of anything, in fact, that offered a mark for the active wits of its editors. These papers were mostly done into polished pentameters, somewhat ponderous but instinct with fun, and not without latent wisdom.
Most of the “Wits” were federalists, and the “Echo” soon became bitterly anti-democratic. The whole series was published in a volume in 1807. Alsop’s other works include a “Monody on the Death of Washington,” in heroic verse (Hartford, 1800); “The Enchanted Lake of the Fairy Morgana” (1808); “The Natural and Civil History of Chili,” from the Italian of Molina, and fugitive pieces. In 1815 he edited the “Captivity and Adventures of J. R. Jewett among the Savages of Nootka Sound.” He was an accomplished linguist, acquiring languages, as it seemed, by a sort of intuition, and made a distinct impression on the drift of public thought.
Richard was the son of John Alsop (1724-1794). John was born in Orange County and died in Newton, LI, a member of the Continental Congress 1774-76. On the occupation of New York by the British forces he withdrew to Middletown, Connecticut, remaining there until peace was concluded. John Alsop and wife Mary are interred in Trinity Church cemetery in lower Manhattan.
More research on this is required. The Appleton’s reference is likely accurate, however there exists many confused facts online about Richard regarding his genealogical heritage. I expect this is due to the fact his father had a brother named Richard and there are quite a few similarly named and notable descendants. Fact checking is important in research, crucial in gen research.
* Though he did not complete the course of study at Yale, Richard did receive an honorary Master of Arts degree from Yale in 1798
Explore posts in the same categories: Brooklyn, History, Daily Walk