What the Internet can teach us about the past - Part 2 - the grammar book

We are all used to searching the Internet for information about what is happening today. And without the Internet to train on we wouldn’t have the current LLMs like GPT and BARD. But have you ever used the Internet to study the distant past? Well, I have, and want to tell a few stories I have uncovered. Here in Part 2 covers I discuss "the grammar book", a copy of Gesenius picked up in a used-book store in New York. But first I’ll set the stage…

When Niklaus Wirth named his 1976 textbook on programming Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs he emphasized two entangled yet distinct aspects of programming languages. I have always felt that this equation holds for human languages as well, they have database aspects (such as vocabulary) and algorithmic aspects (such as grammar). But some natural languages emphasize one aspect more than the other. For example, English is more of a database language, with no?few rules of spelling, very simple grammar rules with many exceptions due to historical reasons. Hebrew, on the other hand, is more algorithmic, with a small number of 3-letter roots to learn, but a large set of rules for transforming the root into a noun or adjective or active/passive/reflexive/strengthened verb. These rules are so natural to native speakers that neither dictionary nor textbook is ever needed.

The first formal exposition of Hebrew grammar of which we know was written by Saadia Gaon, the dean of the Sura Academy, in the tenth century. His text was purely for purposes of biblical exegesis. His students wrote more general texts aimed at poets for whom Hebrew was not their native language. Shortly thereafter in Spain several grammarians wrote tomes adopting more formal analyses. But these Hebrew grammar books were not useful for European scholars interested in learning Biblical Hebrew, since they were written, of course, in Hebrew!

Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius?was born in Germany in 1786, and was full professor of theology at the University of Halle from 1811 until his death in 1842. He wrote his first Hebrew-German Hebrew Lexicon (a combined dictionary and concordance) in 1806, and a much larger edition covering Biblical Hebrew and “Chaldee” (a misnomer for Biblical Aramaic) in 1829. Both of these went through several editions. The renowned American physicist Josiah W. Gibbs, translated into English one edition of the Lexicon.

More relevant to this story, he authored the first edition of his Hebrew grammar textbook Hebr?ische Grammatik?in 1813, and thereafter another 12 editions. After his death the 14th through 21st editions were edited by Gesenius’ student Emil R?diger?between 1845-1872, and following the death of the latter the 22nd through 29th editions were edited by Emil Friedrich Kautzsch?from 1878 to 1910.

Gesenius was the first to apply to Biblical Hebrew the modern philological approaches that had been developed for the Indo-European?languages. He studied multiple ancient Semitic languages and alphabets, and drew conclusions from their comparisons. Moreover, he studied the Samaritan Pentateuch, noting that in the thousands of places where it disagreed with the Hebrew text it seemed match Septuagint variants (although he almost universally accepted the Hebrew version as the accurate one). In the 1820s he wrote a commentary on Isaiah in which he quoted some of the classical Hebrew commentaries such as Rashi and Ibn Ezra.

He was also a gifted lecturer, with about half of the student population of Halle attending his courses. It is told that later students would frequent his grave before taking exams in Hebrew, placing stones upon it (a tradition I always though was purely Jewish).

While all of the aforementioned editions were in German, numerous English translations appeared as well, often based on preprints so that the new English edition would appear simultaneously with the newest German edition. Thomas Jefferson Conant, the foremost Hebrew scholar of his time in America, translated earlier editions. Sir Arthur Ernest Cowley, the head of the?Bodleian Library?at the?University of Oxford, the later ones.

Cowley’s 1909 translation of the 28th German edition is the version that most English speaking mean when saying referring to “Gesenius”. My own copy of Gesenius is instead T.J. Conant’s 1870 translation of R?diger’s 17th edition. The publisher is D. Appleton and Company of 90, 92, and 94 Grand Street, New York. This edition sports Grammatical Exercises and a Chrestomathy (a selection of passages for self-study).

The book is in relatively good condition, with some foxing (spots and browning of old paper) and occasional black dots that remain from having been exposed to dampness at some point over the last century and a half.?Many of the pages have pencil marks in the margins, that seem to be those of a student marking off passages that require attention. On the first page the original owner affixed his signature in blue ink Edward S. Fitz, March 8th, 1871.

I was not surprised that I could readily discover a plethora of information about their eminencies Gesenius, R?diger, Kautzsch, Conant and Cowley, including biographical details, anecdotes, and full bibliographies. But would the Internet reveal any information about the completely unremarkable Mr. Edward Fitz?

Since the grammar book came out in 1870 and was dated 1871, we can be reasonably sure that he purchased the book new, and venture that he was taking a course in Biblical Hebrew. Checking the 1870 US Federal we find many people named Edward Fitz. But there is only one Edward S. Fitz, and this Fitz was a student living in Amherst, Massachusetts - the location of Amherst College, a private liberal arts college founded in 1821. He is listed as white, 27 years of age, and born in New Hampshire. Going back to the 1860 census, the same person age 17, was living in Chicopee Mass., with his parents George and Catherine Fitz and his brother of Arthur L. Fitz.

In the Massachusetts marriage registry, we find that Edward S., son of George and Catherine Fitz,?married Sarah E. Coburn on 2 July 1873 in Monson Mass. The couple had two children, William Seymore Tyler Fitz (1874-1934) and Helen Josephine Fitz Tomlinson (1878-1955). A little digging on Genealogy sites reveals that the middle S. stands for Southworth, that his precise birthdate was 6 September 1842, and that he died on 14 March 1902 at age 59. His pedigree back to the 1400s is documented.

We know that Fitz studied at Amherst College – can we find any record of his time there? Absolutely! Leafing through the Internet Archive on-line version of Student Life at Amherst College, by George Rugg Cutting (which is unfortunately not searchable) we find him as a member of the Alexandria Society in 1871. Furthermore, he merits his own paragraph in the section on Missionary work. It appears that the little village of Packardville had a united but pastorless church where Baptist, Methodist and Congregational Christians prayed together, and services were conducted by candidates for the ministry studying at the College. And now the paragraph in question states:

In the autumn of 1867, Mr. Edward S. Fitz ’71, then a student in college, became deeply interested in this field. He found the membership small and disunited, the prayer meetings illy attended, and the general tone of the church low. By his zealous efforts the members were brough into harmony, a strong religious interest sprung up, and a neat and commodius church edifice, recently erected, affords ample facilities for worship. Its organ and bell were furnished by the generous contributions of the alumni and students of the College. As a crowning result of these missionary labors, the “Union Church” has now (1871) a settled pastor.

So, Fitz was apparently studying theology, as could have been assume from his acquiring a book on Biblical Hebrew grammar, and graduated in 1871 at age 28?. What had he been doing in the previous years?

Based on his age and the fact that he was just the right age to serve in the US Civil War, it seems worthwhile checking lists of Civil War soldiers. A few minutes searching turns up an entry from the Chicopee Historical Archives (the city in which Fitz resides in the 1860 census), for Edward S. Fitz, born in Pembroke New Hampshire. Here we find that he enlisted at Springfield Mass. on 25 August 1862 at the age of 20 (confirming that he was born in 1842). After many exploits in the 43rd regiment of infantry, written up in great detail, Fitz was discharged on 30 July 1863, after less than a year of active service. Here are two excerpts of his exploits:

Participated in Gen. foster’s expedition to Goldsboro, leaving Newbern, December 11th. During the march of the first two days, Fitz was obliged to fall behind, and was assisted along by the ambulance train. But he afterwards overtook the company, and came into line with them. He served in the engagements at Kinston, Whitehall, and Goldsboro. ?…

After marching seven miles. Fitz was unable to go further. After resting a short time, he set out to return to a position held by a New York regiment. On the way he was attacked by guerrillas; but, by pretending to have comrades near by, he threw them off their guard, and escaped by a circuitous route through the woods. The regiment afterwards retreated, and Fitz returned with them to Newbern. …

Two letters from Fitz to his cousin and future sister-in-law Emma Elizabeth Childs (who later married his brother Arthur) survive in her autograph album. In August 1868 he writes a philosophical note to her from Chicopee and in December 1870 a religious one from Niles Michigan. Both are short but imply hearing from her first.

But I discovered a darker side to Fitz as well. On page 238 of the book Freedom for Themselves – North Carolina’s Black Soldiers in the Civil War Era we find a disturbing story overlapping Fitz military career. Here is the entire excerpt:

A second case underscoring the vulnerability of African Americans developed during 1862 and early 1864. Initially a struggle in eastern North Carolina for control of black membership in the Methodist church. It quickly became enmeshed in Union war priorities. The conflict began as a contest between a black minister, Reverand J.W. Hood, and a young white Massachusetts Congregationalist, Edward S. Fitz, whose goals were supported by Horace James. Despite attempts allegedly orchestrated by Fitz to use the military to remove Hood as leader of the church, the black minister won over most of the black congregation and retained control of the church. Hood’s resistance of the white attempts to take over, as well as his success in obtaining approval for the congregation to choose its own minister, elevated his status among the freedmen. The repercussions of this dispute however, affected many freedmen throughout the east. Through James, Fitz used the ever-present Union need for black labor to try to undermine his opponent. Fitz passed on to General Butler a report that there were “thousands of idle Negroes in New Berne who might profitably employed on the Dutch Gap Canal”. He then produced a list of the men whom he suggested might be sent to Virginia. Most of them supported Hood, most were employed, and some were old and infirm.

Not a pleasant story. The Horace James mentioned was a Union army chaplain and superintendent of Negro affairs, who believed that slavery should be abolished gradually and slave owners compensated. In the summer of 1866 James was tried in a military court as an accomplice in the shooting of a black plantation worker and for allegedly exploiting the freedmen in the profit-making venture.?He was acquitted.

But it gets worse. Much worse. In The North Carolina Historical Review we first read about the Freedmen's Bureau.

The Freedmen's Bureau was created by act of Congress, March 3, 1865, consolidating the various ?agencies working among the Negroes of the South. It was enlarged and extended by the act of 1866, but had to be passed over the veto of President Johnson. It furnished food and clothing to the needy Negroes; aided them to find employment; provided homesteads for them on public lands; and super-vised labor contracts to insure justice for former ignorant slaves. It provided hospitals and schools for them and protected their civil rights. It was under the War Department and maintained an elaborate organization in the South under General Oliver O. Howard. He had an assistant chief in each of the ten districts of the South and a large number of other officers in each district. The Bureau was said to be unconstitutional, unnecessary, engaging in party politics, and involved in graft and mismanagement. The opposition also said it fomented race hatred and advanced the Negroes over the whites.

And afterwards we find the following appalling account involving Fitz:

Some Outrages of the Bureau. Opposite Newbern, on the opposite side of the river, some 2,500 freedmen have been settled for five years past. They were invited there by the military, and located on little plots of ground which they were allowed to cultivate. Eight months ago Edward S. Fitz, a Massachusetts preacher was placed in charge of the Trent River settlement, by Captain James, another New England preacher who was then conducting the bureau here. A system of exaction and cruelty was immediately inaugurated. Fifty cents a month ground rent was demanded for every plot on which the miserable little cabins were erected. Every negro who owned a boat had to pay two dollars and a half a month, or his boat was forfeited. Every darkey who kept a store was taxed five dollars a month.

Every one who owned a horse was taxed a similar amount. Failure to pay any of these exactions was punished by the imprisonment of the man or his wife — preference being given to the wife — the confiscation of all his property, and in many cases the tearing down of his house. A negro who quarreled with his wife was fined one hundred dollars and sent to prison until he paid it. All the extortions were practiced upon a population steeped in the deepest poverty, scourged by disease, and many of them wanting the common necessities of life, and in this manner an income of at least eight hundred dollars a month was derived by the Bureau. The complaints of the people became at last so loud that Mr. S. W. Laidler, an agent of the American Missionary Society embodied some of the more atrocious cases, in a series of charges, and laid them before Captain Seely, the Bureau Superintendent at Newbern. A court of inquiry was demanded by Mr. Fitz and a committee of investigation was ordered by Captain Seely. "

The charges laid before the court were many and interesting. The charges were not all sustained, but Fitz was recommended by the court for dismissal. He appended an opinion that these charges were not made against him by Mr. Laidler with any desire to benefit the freedmen, but from more personal spite. Quite a number of charges were sustained.

A Negro boy sixteen years of age was hung up by wrists and left hanging from noon to sundown.

A Negro boy found under the store of Joseph Fowle was charged with theft, struck with a brick by him in the presence of Fitz who approved of it, and then hung by the wrists, and Fowler was permitted to pinch him in the most tender parts of the body until he yelled. Fitz had women arrested who spoke disrespectfully to him, but was released after strong protest of Laidler. A Negro man named Perry was kept in jail for debt after he had paid half of it. His wife and child died of smallpox and were buried in the cradle and coffin bought by neighbors. Fitz arrested a boy eight or ten years of age for playing on the road and kept him all night and released next day when his father paid five dollars. He fined two men Sol and $5 for firing a gun when only evidence was possession of a gun by one of the men. He fined an old man seventy years of age $60 and put him in prison until this was paid, because he had warned a man who fled the officers. He was promised freedom if he would catch the man, but he paid his fine. Fitz's uniform fine for resisting arrest was $15, and $5 for arrest.

There are also 6 documents relating to Edward S. Fitz indexed in the Catalog of the American Missionary Association Archives; a teachers monthly report, several letters from or to him, and one document intriguingly entitled “Notes of evidence in the case against Edward S. Fitz, North Carolina”. These documents are not available on-line.

With that I ended my search into the life of my grammar book’s original owner. I learned a lot about Edward S. Fitz, despite his lacking Facebook or LinkedIn accounts. More than he would himself have put on his social media pages (although he did write newspaper articles defending himself). More than I really wanted to find.