Knowlton Chapter 16
Sixteen: Father and Son
As the term of my imprisonment drew towards a close, my father Stuart and my younger brother, Augustus, beset my father to raise the money to pay the costs of court, and let me out, rather than lie there a few weeks longer, and be liberated by court, without paying costs. I also liked this move in the time of it; but it would have been the better way to have waited for liberation by court.
While Charles lay in his jail cell in Worcester, Tabitha gave birth to their first son, Charles Lorenzo Knowlton. The baby was born without complications on the third of May, 1824—probably with the help of Knowlton’s rival in Hawley, Dr. Smith. A few days later, word reached Charles that he was a father and that Tabitha and the baby were doing well.
Although he’d grown up in a strict and puritanical household, Charles was introduced to a different type of family life at the Stuarts’ home and it had a strong influence on him. Charles called Richard “father Stuart,” and may have tried to emulate Tabitha’s affectionate, demonstrative father. Charles Lorenzo grew up in a much different environment than the cheerless home Charles had been raised in. His father had seen a new way of living, and his mother Tabitha had lived her whole life in a household full of music and laughter. The boy probably had a happier, and certainly had a healthier childhood than his father had. Charles Lorenzo remained close to his family throughout his life, followed Charles into medicine and practiced with his father for several years before setting up his own practice in nearby Northampton.
Charles’s relationship with his own father, Stephen, never really improved. Stephen was a man of his time, and was heavily invested in his community and its traditions. Stephen didn’t understand his son’s opinions or his interests, although he seems to have agreed that doctoring would be a good way for a man with no interest in farming to earn his keep. And while blood might be thicker than water, Stephen never let sentiment get in the way of his bookkeeping.
When Charles was found guilty of “aiding and abetting” the Royalston dissection, he was sentenced to serve two months in jail and pay the court’s costs of prosecuting him. This was a typical sentence, and it was also typical that poor criminals who couldn’t raise the money to pay court costs were given extra time instead. Holding prisoners who couldn’t pay was a piece of the English Common Law that had come to America with the colonists. The practice had been challenged by rebels such as Daniel Shays, who had forcibly closed western Massachusetts courts so they couldn’t imprison farmers who were behind on their taxes. But it was still common for the courts to hold prisoners who couldn’t pay their fees—sometimes for periods much longer than their original sentences.
In Knowlton’s case, the court costs amounted to about two hundred fifty dollars. Although it may not have seemed like much money to a successful attorney such as Hoar, this was an enormous sum for Charles. To put it in perspective, two hundred fifty dollars was more than Charles or any of his neighbors in Hawley made in a year, and enough to buy a decent-sized farm with a comfortable house and barn. If he was unable to raise the money, Charles could expect to spend several more months behind bars.
Charles was anxious to get home, to make sure Tabitha was really alright and to see his new son. “Father Stuart” and Charles’s younger brother Augustus were anxious to get Charles out of jail before he starved. In spite of Charles’s assurances he was doing fine, prison conditions were horrific and people regularly died in places like the Worcester County Jail. Richard and Augustus told Charles they were going to ask Stephen Knowlton to pay the fees, so Charles could be released when his sentence ended. Charles went along with their plan, and signed promissory notes to Stephen, pledging to pay back the money his father advanced, with interest.
Charles was released from jail in mid-June, and returned to Hawley and his new family. Riding through the early-summer sunshine, he carried with him memories of his dark, cold cell. Charles also carried receipts for the promissory notes he had signed to his father. Those debts, and the interest that accrued on them, were greater than the share of Stephen Knowlton’s estate he might be entitled to as one of three heirs. Charles had signed away his inheritance to get back home. He later regretted taking the deal, more from the embarrassment of owing his father money than from any interest in Stephen’s estate. But in spite of Charles’s later regrets on the subject, the unwavering insistence of his father-in-law Richard and brother Augustus that Charles shouldn’t spend another day behind bars may have saved his life.