CHAPTER ONE
1886
1886
A Child is Born (The Great Hope of Walden & Sons)
Samuel Warden built coffins, but only as a sideline. Home building had long since become the great love of his life, and today held the promise of happiness, of completion. He pounded the last few nails in a child's coffin, then hurried back to the housing tract, where he stood for a time just surveying his accomplished work, savoring the job site with pleasure and anticipating the finished product, which would be a new home for some middle class family.
Meanwhile, his wife writhed and moaned and screamed out in pain until at last the child was born. Her cousin, who was the midwife, used a shank of her own hair to wipe the sweat from her pock-marked forehead, and handed the baby to its mother.
That baby, within fifteen minutes, would become The Great Hope of Samuel and Sons Construction Company. Some fifteen years later, the child would choose adventure over family business. The family hero would become the Great Disappointment of the company and, as such, the focus of our tale.
Mrs. Warden's midwife, exhausted from the ordeal of delivering yet another child, seated herself on the bedside and sent one of the baby's numerous cousins running, ordered him up to the construction site where, breathless from the exertion, the youngster announced T.J.'s birth. Samuel Warden, a carpenter and builder by trade, stood in the wooden framework amongst newly constructed walls, and stopped sawing. The joy bells that resounded in his head might as well have been angels announcing the birth. Such was his mood.
Meanwhile, his wife writhed and moaned and screamed out in pain until at last the child was born. Her cousin, who was the midwife, used a shank of her own hair to wipe the sweat from her pock-marked forehead, and handed the baby to its mother.
That baby, within fifteen minutes, would become The Great Hope of Samuel and Sons Construction Company. Some fifteen years later, the child would choose adventure over family business. The family hero would become the Great Disappointment of the company and, as such, the focus of our tale.
Mrs. Warden's midwife, exhausted from the ordeal of delivering yet another child, seated herself on the bedside and sent one of the baby's numerous cousins running, ordered him up to the construction site where, breathless from the exertion, the youngster announced T.J.'s birth. Samuel Warden, a carpenter and builder by trade, stood in the wooden framework amongst newly constructed walls, and stopped sawing. The joy bells that resounded in his head might as well have been angels announcing the birth. Such was his mood.
At the time of T.J.'s birth, Samuel had nearly completed the last home in the new addition; now he hoped for an even bigger accomplishment, a family venture that, some bright day, would establish his progeny amongst the city's most successful citizens.
So far the dream was right on track. His foresight and good timing had paid off, as his tracts lay directly in the path of the projected Manchester Canal, soon to become the largest navigation canal in the world; the waterway would provide Manchester, England, with a direct route to the sea, and the government had already promised to pay Warden lavishly for the land.
Samuel could easily have retired on the amount the government would fork over, but he would not retire. No sir. He would move on, would expand the family business and build an empire. He had prayed as he worked, “Please, God, if it be your will, make this baby to be a boy.” Samuel, therefore, rejoiced when a nephew raced up to the job site and, breathless from running, exclaimed, “It’s a boy!”
Warden's big hand clamped down on the poor messenger's shoulder, nearly knocking him to the ground: “Yippee, another boy! Thank you God,” Samuel exulted, tossing his saw into the toolbox. “Now we can build our own, family empire together, Samuel & Sons.”
So far the dream was right on track. His foresight and good timing had paid off, as his tracts lay directly in the path of the projected Manchester Canal, soon to become the largest navigation canal in the world; the waterway would provide Manchester, England, with a direct route to the sea, and the government had already promised to pay Warden lavishly for the land.
Samuel could easily have retired on the amount the government would fork over, but he would not retire. No sir. He would move on, would expand the family business and build an empire. He had prayed as he worked, “Please, God, if it be your will, make this baby to be a boy.” Samuel, therefore, rejoiced when a nephew raced up to the job site and, breathless from running, exclaimed, “It’s a boy!”
Warden's big hand clamped down on the poor messenger's shoulder, nearly knocking him to the ground: “Yippee, another boy! Thank you God,” Samuel exulted, tossing his saw into the toolbox. “Now we can build our own, family empire together, Samuel & Sons.”
Samuel had run to his wife‘s bedside, had lingered, looking down dreamily at his new son, lost in thought.
“Penny for your thoughts?” the baby’s mother queried.
“My thoughts?” They had already discussed his thoughts before. “My thoughts?" he might have said, "Look at him, our new son, our very own family mason, the one who will oversee our crews of bricklayers!" But instead he said what he thought his wife wanted to hear:
“Isn’t he beautiful!”
Privately, the man was captivated with the notion, “This child will fulfill my life long dream! My sons and I, we will build a huge family business, with employees and subcontractors and multiple contracts and architects and …”
The mother smiled a worried smile. She knew without being told what he was thinking, and her intuition told her that no man can plan, even his own life, let alone plot out another’s life in advance.
Samuel seemed not to notice her doubtful expression, of if he did notice it, he covered up his disappointment in her. Rather, he became even more spirited, speaking unnaturally louder now, louder than he intended. “Our first son, Ben, will be the lead man for the carpenters. And this child, Thomas, is destined to become the family’s brick mason.” Warden looked at her, hoping she might agree, pleading with his eyes that she might understand how important this was. “If all goes well, we can be known and respected throughout the construction industry. Samuel and Sons!”
Samuel seemed not to notice her doubtful expression, of if he did notice it, he covered up his disappointment in her. Rather, he became even more spirited, speaking unnaturally louder now, louder than he intended. “Our first son, Ben, will be the lead man for the carpenters. And this child, Thomas, is destined to become the family’s brick mason.” Warden looked at her, hoping she might agree, pleading with his eyes that she might understand how important this was. “If all goes well, we can be known and respected throughout the construction industry. Samuel and Sons!”
Then, as if he had just remembered something, Sam reached down and withdrew from one of the deep, baggy pockets of his work trousers a very small pointer trowel that he had secretly been saving for just his occasion. The handle was of the finest hardwood, and the welds were gilded with bronze. A beautiful “toy.” And on the handle were engraved the new child’s initials, T.J.W., which of course meant the trowel belonged to Thomas Jefferson Warden, the new baby. In this manner, T.J. was introduced to his lifetime “occupation.” Prior to sucking his first milk, before his tiny fingers had the opportunity even to explore his mother’s breast, his father had planned on wrapping those fingers around the smooth implements of the family industry. Thus the stage was set for T.J.’s lifelong struggle against tyranny, and his quest for personal freedom.
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