The Forest Rose a Tale of the Frontier

University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Settler Literature Archive Department of English 1850 The orF est Rose A Tale of the Frontier Emerson Bennett Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/settler-literature Recommended Citation Bennett, Emerson, "The orF est Rose A Tale of the Frontier" (1850). Settler Literature Archive. 3. https://commons.und.edu/settler-literature/3 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of English at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Settler Literature Archive by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. IO94 B43fc 1850 THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES 5LFOREST ROSE A TALE OF THE FRONTIER BY EMERSON BENNETT Author of "Prairie Flower," "Lent Leoti," "The Bandits of the Osage," "Kate Clarendon," "The Traitor, or the Fall of Ambition," Etc,, Etc. NEW EDITION Revised by the Author Published by H. E. GILLESPIE Bookseller Stationer LANCASTER, OHIO The Eagle <5^ÔT& Job Print PS 10 PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION A distinguished American author, in a preface to one of his works, remarks, in effect, that in his view a writer of fiction is entitled to all that is possible; and though hi the main we agree with him, yet at the same lime we think that the Novelist should always endeavor to confine himself to the for he be probable ; when goes yond probability, he destroys that charm of naturalness which every author should study to produce, and puts himself in danger oi being set down by his readers as a kind of modern Munchausen. The chief beauty of fiction, in our humble opinion, consists in its representation of scenes and incidents sc like to nature and facts, that the reader can feel, as it were, that they are realities; and whether or no he be lieves the narrative to be a true record, taken from real liê, matters little, so long as there is nothing set forth by which he can prove the contrary. We all know that events do really happen, of so strange, mysterious, and miraculous a nature, that, without the most positive and reliable evidence, we would hardly believe them possible, setting probability altogether aside: and therefore, to suppose that an author can, by any ingenuity, place his characters in any entanglement, from which he can plausibly deliver them, and in doing so go beyond reality itself, is to suppobe him capable of inventing what the whole huraar race, together with all circumstances com bined, have never been able to produce. 120204G We know that, with the twenty- six letters of the alphabet, we can spell any word in the English language and tiiat 1? this language we can express any thought or ide;? that may enter our minds all that is required beine; different arrangements and combinations of the same primitive letters; and so an author may extend fiction to all that is possible, and yet not transgress the limits of re?lity; for all. that he can so imagine within the bounds prescribed, has some time or another happen ed; and the only difference between his narration and facts, is, that he has taken a little here and a little there, and put these parts together making, not anything wholly new, but only a new combination of the old. We have been led into these remarks from the fact, that, i:i the pages which follow, there are scenes set forth of so mysterious and miraculous a character, that the reader, if he do^s not declare them downright impossibilities wi'l not hesitate to assert that the author has gone far beyoid probability, and let his inventive faculties run away wilh his judgment. Now we will candidly admi: that we have gone beyond probability that the contest between tô Indian scouts, or spies, and a whole tribe of Eu-ofcs, rTunbering over five hundred well-trained war riors, it Mount Pleasant, or Standing Stone, and the final escape of the two hunters, is an improbability; and a=? sur;h wo \7onld never have laid it before the public notwitHstsndrag our legitimate right to do so. if we chose had it simply been an invention of our own; but, gentle reader, all the improbabilities you may meet in "Forset Rose," are facts facts handed down by tradi tion, and now recorded in the historical collections of the time and places referred to. In truth, we have never written a story, in which our inventive faculties have fceen so little exercised as in the present instance; for, with the exception of altering the names of the prin cipal actors, to suit our own convenience, we have fol lowed tradition to the very letter, and introduced noth ing but what really took place in the localities and dur ing the period occupied with our narration. IP closing; these prefatory remarks, we would re turn our grateful acknowledgment to the public for the very liberal patronage bestowed upon our humble labors, not only in this instance, but in nearly every other. It is not twc years since "Forest Rose" first appeared as a caiu^dat'1 for public favor, at which time an unusually lar?p. edition was piinted, which is now exhausted, with unfilled coders in the publishers' possession from vari ous portions of the Union. When an author finds hu humble endeavors to please thus appreciated, it is rath er a pleasure than a task to send forth from his solitude the brain-children of his creation. In this respect, we feel that we have been very fortunate and acknowledge it with -gratitude, EMERSON BENNETT. Philadelphia, September 1, 1850. BIOGRAPHY OF EMERSON BENNETT (By L. S. Wells.) The subject of this sketch, the author of Forest Rose, was born in Monsontown, Mass., March 6th, 1822. After his father's death, at the age of sixteen, young Bennett with the family moved to New York City, where he entered an Academy. About this time he wrote a poem "The Corsair," which appeared in The Odd Fellows' Journal attracting marked attention. Later, he lived in Philadelphia and Baltimore, but in 1842 moved to Cincinnati where in reality hisi career as a writer, actively began. He chose subjects pertaining to Pioneer Days in which an interest was just beginning to awaken, and at once his books came into popular demand, edition after eition being sold following close in sales to Mrs. Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. His stories originally appeared in The Cincinnati Daily Commercial and later in book forms. In 1848, he wrote his most popular romances "Forest Rose" and "Leni Leati" which reached a sale of over 100,000 cop ies, a phenomenal one for those times. Among his other popular books were "Waldo War ren," "Viola," "Clara Moreland" and "The Artist's Bride." In 1850, Mr. Bennett returned to Philadelphia and never again lived in Ohio, but gave his whole time to lit erary labor. His romances (about 100) and his short sketches (a greater number) appeared in the Philadelphia Evening Post and Robert Bonner's New York Ledger, most of which were later published in book form. Twice in his life he projected and published a maga zine which met the usual fate from authors, who make such experiments. Each lived a short life, although his ability as a writer was unquestioned. His style is above the average of that period and his books, are remarkable for their classical, yet clear language and are most valu able contributions to Pioneer history. In these, he keeps close to facts as shown particular ly in his delineation of that hero, scout and pathfinder, Lewis Wetzel, as set forth in "Forest Rose." It was such authors as Emerson Bennett that caus ed that great historian, who in the last weeks of his life, unable to read, had a friend thus entertain him. One day the reader saying to him "What History shall I read you now" to which he replied "read me fic tion, it may be true, as to histories, I know they are lies." L. S. WELLS. Centerburg, O., Jan. 5th, 1920. THE FOREST ROSE CHAPTER I. The Settler. Near the south-eastern angle of what is now Bel- mont County, in the State of Ohio, a large creek loses rtself in that beautiful stream from which the State just mentioned takes its name. This creek is called the Cap- tina, and its head-waters are to be found some thirty or forty miles back among- the hills. But is has tributaries not far distant from the Ohio River; and one of these flows through a pleasant valley, and near a little knoll, which rises in the form of a cone, and resembles the an cient mounds, of which there are so many to be found in this region ov country. Whether this knoll is a nat ural or an artificial one, we do not pretend to say; but it is enough for our purpose to state, that on its suramjit a rude lor cabin was erected as early as the year 1789. The family who occupied this solitary cabin, con- sister of six persons-- a father, mother, two sons, and two daughters hut one of the last named relationship only by adoption. The surnames of five of these were Maywoocl the adopted still retaining her own appella tion, which was Rose Forester or, as she was more fre quently termed, in the way of familiar endearment, 'Forest Rose." The elder Maywood was a native of Virginia, and had been, at one period of his life, quite a wealthy plant er.

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