Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 6.djvu/17

 COL. TOBIAS LEAR.

��COLONEL TOBLAS LEAR.

��BY HON. THOMAS L. TULLOCK.

��Rambling recently in one of the cemeteries of Washington, viewing the monuments erected to the memory of the illustrious dead, I accidentally halted at the spot where repose the mortal remains of Col. Tobias Lear, a native of Portsmouth, New Hamp- shire, who has a record in history. He is buried in the " Congressional Burying Ground," situated on the eastern branch of the Potomac, about one and a quarter mile from the Cap- itol.

Lot number 14, in range 28, located near the north-east corner of the grounds, on E St. S. E., is the place of his burial. It is marked by a finely finished and substantial table monu- ment, constructed entirely of marble, about three feet wide, six feet long, and two feet six inches high, covered by a heavy slab, placed horizontally, on which is inscribed, —

" HERE LIE THE REMAINS OF

TOBIAS LEAR.

HE WAS EARLY DISTINGUISHED

AS THE

PRIVATE SECRETARY AND FAMILIAR FRIEND

OF THE

ILLUSTRIOUS .WASHINGTON,

AND AFTER

HAVING SERVED HIS COUNTRY

WITH

DIGNITY, ZEAL, AND FIDELITY,

IN MANY

HONORABLE STATIONS,

DIED,

ACCOUNTANT OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT,

II OCTOBER, 1816,

AGED 54.

HIS DESOLATE WIDOW AND MOURNING SON

HAVE ERECTED THIS MONUMENT

TO MARK THE PLACE OF HIS ABODE

IN THE

CITY OF SILENCE."

A free-stone monument, somewhat similar to the cenotaphs erected by

��Congress to the memory of its mem- bers who died during their term of of- fice, is placed toward the north, and comes next in order. On one of the panels is engraved, —

" SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF

BENJAMIN LINCOLN LEAR.

BORN,

II MARCH, I792,

DIED,

I OCTOBER, 1832."

The word " Lincoln " has been rudely hacked, and all the letters oblit- erated, except the terminal — n, and a portion of the preceding letter — /, which is barely discernible ; an act of vandalism committed during the war of the rebellion, probably from hatred to the name effaced, and in ignorance of the history of Abraham Lincoln, who was born Feb. 12, 1809, seventeen years after the birth of him whose name has been partially de- faced.

Benjamin Lincoln Lear, son of Col. Lear, was so called for Benjamin Lin- coln, a native of Massachusetts, a major-general of the Revolutionary war, and one of the " noblest charac- ters " of that eventful period. He was highly esteemed by Washington, who delegated him to receive the sword of Cornwallis at the surrender at York- town. General Lincoln was secretary of war during 1781-82, and lieuten- ant-governor of Massachusetts in 1 787. He was appointed by Washington collector of customs at Boston, which office he held twenty years, retiring about two years before his death, which occurred May 9, 1S10, in the 77th year of his age.

General Lincoln, for whose name Col. Lear thus evinced a partiality, was chiefly instrumental in introducing him to Washington. When requiring the services of a private secretary, and

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