Note that I did not mention WHICH widow that we thought Col. Crockett had voted against: Brown OR Decatur. He volunteered that information about "the widow of Stephen Decatur."Not sure how much of this thread that Professor Hutton has actually waded through. My guess is "zero."I am putting my skeptic's hat on, RonDog. First, while you didn't mention Decatur by name, you linked to the thread here at FR where we DID mention the name. Second, how does he know Crockett made the speech? It is a little hard to believe that he would know that, and not know of this story, given that it appears to be the sole source of the tale. Could you press him for a source? A kindly reply?
Anyway, Horatio Bunce is the real wild card in this whole tale. Any leads there?
I like your idea of concentrating on the "Bunce" character, though, so here is the e-mail that I just sent back to Dr. Hutton:
Dear Dr. Hutton:
Thank you for your advice about Susan Decatur.
This, however, has INTENSIFIED our conflict.Many of us have championed a DIFFERENT "military widow," the widow of Major General Jacob Jennings Brown.
Representative Crockett ALSO "delivered [his] sentiments in opposition to the principle" of providing government "relief" to HER on April 2, 1828, see the bottom right-hand corner of:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llrd&fileName=006/llrd006.db&rec Num=308
(The vote for relief of Susan Decatur on February 15, 1831.)Crockett's opposition to Widow Brown better fits the alleged timeline, which has only been sporadically examined, i.e. at:
http://www.constitution.org/cons/crockett.htmAccording to the widely promoted story from the 1884 biography (by Edward S. Ellis) "The Life of Colonel David Crockett," whose particulars we are attempting to document, Col. Crockett was "converted" to the principles of strict Constitutional opposition to funding "charity" from the federal budget by a "Horatio Bunce," after which he voted against relief for a widow.
The heart of this wonderful (but potentially apocryphal) anecdote is ripped out by an earlier example of his "conversion." ;)
Perhaps resolution of our quandary lies in the TRUE identity of the story's "Horatio Bunce" who was:
"...widely known for his remarkable intelligence and incorruptible integrity," and for being
"...the oracle of the whole country around him."Do you know of a "Samuel Bunch," who "commanded a regiment of mounted yeomen from Tennessee during the Creek war, serving under General Andrew Jackson?" (See: http://www.famousamericans.net/samuelbunch/ )
Thanks again for WHATEVER erudition that you can share with us.
RonDog