The story of John Maynard inspired not only Theodor
Fontane but also many other poets. The best-known "other" version is
probably Horatio Alger's "John Maynard: A Ballad of Lake Erie." Norman
Barry, a retired Gymnasium teacher from Bad Schussenried, Germany, has
found thirteen (!) more poetic versions of the John Maynard story, twelve
in English and one in German. These versions are listed
below, and texts are available for all but one of them. Norman has so far been
able to find only the linked references to the one by Murdoch. Since
these references refer to it as "unpublished," we may never find it.
Here is the story of a recent addition to this list.
When Anne Huberman's ten-year old granddaughter, Emma Skennerton,
visited her in New Hampshire in the summer of 2015, Emma and her
mother, Julie, found Anne's copy of the beautiful book about John Maynard
illustrated by Tobias Krejtschi. While looking at Krejtschi's
illustrations, Julie read Emma the translation of the poem that she
and her sister had made many years ago. When Emma returned to her
fifth grade class in Brisbane, Australia, her teacher assigned a
project -- to write a narrative poem based on a story she knew. Emma
chose the story of John Maynard as she remembered it.
There is also in this list is a poem written about
a survivor of the 1841 burning of the Erie who had his own life
preserver.
HORATIO ALGER, JR.
"JOHN MAYNARD" by Horatio Alger, Jr. in Gems for the
Fireside, New York : S.G. Mead, 1880
Alger's ballad published
anonymously in The Troy Weekly Times (Troy, New York), February
19th, 1868. (vol. XII, No. 35, p. 4, c.1).
MAJOR BENJAMIN BROWN
FRENCH
Transcription of
"THE HELMSMAN OF LAKE ERIE" by B. B. French, from Barre
Gazette, October 10, 1845
An image of the front page
of the Baltimore Sun of September 5, 1845, showing the
publication of "The Helmsman of Lake Erie" by B. B. French.
An image of a page of the
Cleveland Daily Plain Dealer of September 10, 1845 (Vol. I, No.
134), showing the publication of "The Helmsman of Lake Erie" by B. B.
French, followed by the anonymous prose version.
The Road to Baltimore in the
Lives of James Fenimore Cooper and Benjamin Brown French: An
Investigation of the First Place of Publication of a Lake Erie Sketch
and Ballad
JOSEPHINE
Transcription
of an untitled poetic version of the story attributed only to
"Josephine," in The British Workman, No. 107, November, 1863
ADA LINDEN
An image of Ada
Linden's "John Maynard" in Deutschlands Dichterinnen and an image of the title
page of that book.
Transcriptions, noting
textual variations, of two printed German versions of Ada Linden's
poem, "John Maynard," one published in 1896 and the other with an
uncertain publication date.
Norman Barry's translation into
English of Ada Linden's "John Maynard."
EPES SARGENT
An image of Epes Sargent's
"The Helmsman of Lake Erie," published in the Salem Register,
Salem, Massachusetts, August 11, 1873 (with an obituary of Epes
Sargent).
A transcription of Epes
Sargent's poem from the Salem Register, Salem, Massachusetts,
August 11, 1873.
C. E. BOURNE
A scan of "John Maynard,
Pilot. A Fact." by C. E. Bourne and an engraving of the burning
steamboat from Cassell's Family Magazine January 1, 1877. This
scan was generously contributed by Simon Harbord of the UK, who owns a
copy of the magazine.
A transcription of "John
Maynard, Pilot. A Fact." by C. E. Bourne as published in Cassell's
Family Magazine January 1, 1877.
FRED EMERSON
BROOKS
A transcription of "John
Maynard" by Fred Emerson Brooks as published in Old Ace and Other
Poems by Forbes & Company, 1901.
JOHN
COLLETT
A copy of "The Helmsman of
Lake Erie" by John Collett as printed in his book of poetry, City
of the Dead, published by Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts in
London in 1860.
FRANK HITCHCOCK MURDOCH
This is Norman Barry's
collection of newspaper articles (1881-1887) that mention James E.
Murdoch's recitations of "John Maynard: The Pilot of Lake Erie,"
written by his nephew, Frank H. Murdoch. If we find the text, we'll
post it right away.
W.V.W.
The Burning of the Erie"
was composed by "W.V.W." in New Brunswick, Aug. 21, 1841. The ballad
was printed on Sept. 9, 1841, in the Jamestown Journal.
ANONYMOUS
A Poem about a Survivor
of the Erie and His Life Preserver.
F. COLE
"John Maynard, The Hero of Lake Erie" -- another
poetic version of the story found in The Cambrian (Wales), 6th May, 1892, page 5,
column 6.
A. S. P????
"The Hero of Lake Erie" -- another
poetic version of the story found in the Daily Commercial Register (Sandusky, Ohio), April 6, 1861, p.2, c.4
HOOD ALSTON NEW!
"The Pilot" -- another
poetic version of the story found in the San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California), Jan 16, 1876, p. 7, c. 4
EMMA SKENNERTON
"John Maynard," written by Emma
Skennerton (age 10) in her fifth grade class after she had learned the
story of John Maynard.
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