In Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's character of the Landlord, who is based on Jerusha's brother, Lyman Howe, is telling a story about his grandfather to the other characters in the poem and at one point says:

The Landlord ended thus his tale,

Then rising took down from its nail

The sword that hung there, dim with dust

And cleaving to its sheath with rust,

And said, "This sword was in the fight."

(To listen to a recorded reading of this portion of the poem by Emma Schwarz, please click HERE.)

It is unclear whether the sword in our collection is the same sword belonging to Ezekiel How, Sr. (1720-1796) often mentioned in stories and Longfellow's poem as hanging above the fireplace mantle in the Parlor. According to a Front Door/Hostess Diary entry on October 13, 1940, that specific sword was sold at auction:

Yesterday was Columbus Day, making this a holiday week-end. We have had hundreds of people here. First this morning was a charming elderly couple from Fergus Falls, Minnesota and they gave us some particularly important information- They told us that friends of theirs ir Fergus Falls, Dr. and Mrs. W. L. Burnap are owners of the sword which Colonel Ezekiel Howe carried to Concord on the 19th of April in 1775. Later it hung over the mantle shelf in the Parlor. Longfellow saw it there and tells about it in the Prelude to the Tales of a Wayside Inn. The sword is the only Parlor item mentioned by Longfellow which has not come back. It strayed away at the auction.

The sword currently on display is a hunting sword that we believe belonged to Ezekiel How, Sr. (1720-1796). According to Neumann (1973), hunting swords, or "cuttoes," were far too light to be used in combat but often served as symbols of rank (54).