SCALES #74: scientific cryptogram
Hello!
I read some recent local coverage of a self-published family history of the Prior family, who in 1802 were the first white settlers of an area north of present-day Akron they named after their former home of Northampton, Mass. The area had been part of the Connecticut Western Reserve; Northampton Township has since become part of Cuyahoga Falls. (The corner of Chart Road and State Road, the approximate site of the Prior land claim, is also just down the road from those famed contemporary landmarks, Pettigoat Junction, Goatel 6, and the Goaten Gate Bridge.) The Priors stayed with the Hudsons, seven miles away, while clearing their plot and building a cabin.
One observation from the author of the history, Kenneth Clarke:
“Simeon Prior’s contemporary David Hudson has a historical society named after him, but Simeon and Katharine and their family had almost faded to obscurity,” he explains. “This inspired me because unlike David Hudson, Simeon wasn’t wealthy… stories about common people tend not to get told largely because nothing is saved that ties their lives to the past. The Prior Family Archive lets the story be told.”
Simeon Prior was a Revolutionary War veteran whose roles included serving as a bodyguard for General George Washington. According to the family history, Washington’s comments about the West inspired the Prior family’s move:
“Simeon heard a story from George Washington when somebody asked him, ‘What would you do if we lost the war?’ Washington, who was a surveyor before the war, said, ‘I’d move out to Ohio,’” Clarke said. “That’s exactly what a lot of Revolutionary War soldiers did… Simeon ended up in [Northeast Ohio] because of that story: the seed of an idea that Washington planted in his head in his service, 20 years earlier.”
Washington's preoccupation with making a fortune off land to the West echoes one side of G.W. explored in the opening sections of William Hogeland’s Autumn of the Black Snake. I’m still trying to wrap my head around how to understand the early white American settlement history of the area. One thing that seems clear is much of that history seems best understood as driven not by some sort of mythical rugged pioneer type looking to form a new society, but rather land speculators looking for a good return on investment.
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So I was listening to a podcast…
Looking forward to the hypothetical future podcast series investigating the backstory behind that previously mentioned Reply All series investigating Bon Appétit.
Enjoyed both parts of Craig Mod and Sam Anderson chatting on On Margins, providing a reminder that some of my absolute favorite escapist magazine pieces of 2020 were by Anderson. Mod’s observation that he views listening to most podcasts being already halfway to scrolling through Twitter… hitting a little close to home.
Another long author interview I’ve slowly been working my way through: Teju Cole interviewed on Between the Covers.
Print interview: classical music critic Alex Ross interviewed by Ethan Iverson, including an anecdote about how Ross tracked down the Wagnerian backstory behind Willa Cather’s piano teacher.
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Music
Listening a whole lot to last year’s Waxahatchee album, including “The Eye” (feat. this issue's subject line credits). Fake Fruit, “No Mutuals”. Hunger for a Way Out. A few all-time SOPHIE favorites: “HARD”. “Yeah Right”. “9 (After Coachella)”. “JUST LIKE WE NEVER SAID GOODBYE”. (Remembering Sophie, on Popcast.)
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—Adam