Jefferson Davis: President of the Confederate States – Pipe Smoker
-
Kevin Godbee - Jul 29, 2011
- 8 min read
By Fred Brown
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.– There it was – a priceless relic of the Civil War, displayed in a simple Plexiglas box in a small Virginia museum, its graceful lines accented by a dramatic beam of light, its bowl as scuffed and dark as Black Cavendish.
The pipe itself was beautiful, yes-but it was its provenance that made it so exciting: Its owner had been none other than Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.
An avid Civil War buff and pipe smoker myself, I had never known of its existence until a recent trip to Virginia Beach, Va., when I visited the prison at Fort Monroe where Davis had been incarcerated for two years after the defeat of the Confederacy by Union forces.
Davis was a pipe smoker long before he became the leader of the ill-fated breakaway Confederate states in 1861. In fact, there are recorded discussions of his “corncob” when he worked his Mississippi plantation, Brierfield, so named for its tangled woods and forests.
Historians have written that Davis actually worked in the fields beside his slaves, and smoked his cob while at work.
Davis was born into a wealthy Mississippi plantation family and given a top-notch education, eventually making his way to West Point. He was not a particularly good student, considering good times and beautiful women more interesting than studying dusty military tactics.
After several years in the U.S. Army, and participation in the Mexican War with many of his West Point classmates, he resigned his commission and returned to Mississippi and Brierfield and entered politics as a U.S. House member, and then Senator from Mississippi.
There is not a lot of information to be found on Davis’s Meerschaum pipe or if he was a collector during his years in Washington. But there are volumes of information about his participation in the war.
During the brewing secession crisis through the 1850s, Davis cautioned his political colleagues to avoid rushing into action. He opposed war after his experiences in Mexico where in 1847 he had been wounded at the Battle of Buena Vista.
Despite his aversion to war, Davis assumed the role of the Confederacy’s president and he supported the “peculiar institution” of slavery. He and his family owned and traded in slaves in Mississippi.
Davis’s position on slavery was not unusual for the wealthy planter class in the South during the run up to the Civil War. Even though many slave owners opposed the war, most wanted slavery left alone. Even President Lincoln said in his early campaign speeches and in his inaugural address that he would not remove slavery where it existed, but let it die out of its own accord. However, the President would prevent slavery from advancing into other territories and states coming into the Union.
When the crisis came to a boiling point with the secession of Southern states, Davis resigned his seat as a senator, saying he would return home, and attempt to sit out the coming tragedy, or perhaps even take a military command for his state.
But his destiny was already being discussed in the breakaway Confederate States of America capitol of Montgomery, Ala., where Davis was chosen at the CSA’s president.
Reluctantly, he accepted leadership of the seceded states in 1861 and left Montgomery, Ala., soon afterwards. His inaugural in February 1861 in Richmond, Va., was a lively affair, but public sentiment foreshadowed the four long and bloody years to follow.
As CSA President, Davis was in overall charge of the Confederacy’s future. But his fortunes, as well as those of the 11 seceded slave states, rested with its army and navy, both of which were ill-equipped to do battle with the Union, which had the advantage of the military and manufacturing might of the United States under President Abraham Lincoln.
Roughly 650,000 souls were either killed, wounded or listed as missing in action during the four years of war. The staggering statistics still outrank all of America’s war casualties combined. And when Richmond was lost to northern forces in 1865, Davis quickly fled with his family, aided by military officers, friends, and Cabinet members.
His intent was to cross the Mississippi River, collect the Confederate forces that had not yet surrendered, and somehow continue the war. There was even talk of transplanting the CSA government to Havana, Cuba, from whence the fight would carry on. That didn’t happen.
Davis was captured by federal troops in Irwinville, Ga., May 10, 1865, and was moved to Fortress Monroe, a Virginia coastal fort that had never surrendered to the Confederacy during the war. The fort had proved to be a thorn in the side of the Confederacy, since it was south of Richmond and situated on an important port of entry.
Fort Monroe in Hampton Roads, Va., was a stalwart redoubt constructed during the years 1819 to 1834 to protect access to the Chesapeake Bay and the James River. Here, the former CSA president was ignominiously locked into a very spartan cell and charged with treason.
He was kept in the fort’s casemate, which is now a museum on the fort grounds. The inner hallways and arches of the casemate are short and narrow, leading into low-ceiling rooms, many feet thick of brick and mortar. Davis’s re-created jail cell, less than 20-by-20, is equipped with a bunk bed and a diminutive desk with an oil lamp and chair. The desk sits in front of a small window, which was his only view of the world during the time he was held prisoner. Davis was manacled for much of his two-year incarceration until U.S. Army physician Lt. Col. John Craven, ordered the chains to be removed for the prisoner’s health. It was during this time that Craven, who had been assigned the Davis case, walked into the cell and was astonished at Davis’s distressing physical condition.
As Craven talked to Davis, he noticed a beautiful white, Meerschaum pipe on a wall shelf. A pencil sketch of that meeting is now part of the museum collection as well. The pipe is not quite distinguishable in the pencil artwork. The doctor is seen talking to Davis, who appears to be sitting on the edge and rising from his bed.
The Meerschaum is described in the “American Heritage” section of the U.S. Army Historical Foundation web page, as the creation in 1865 of Kaldenberg and Sons of New York, a company in business from 1858 until 1893. The manufacturer worked in Meerschaum, ivory and amber and made pipes, cigar holders, canes, ivory combs. The Davis “meer” pipe bowl is egg-shaped and clutched in the talons of four carved eagle claws. The pipe is described as being 8.5 inches long and weighing 8 ounces.
A silver metal band fits around the shaft and the stem appears to be pure amber and there are some bite marks on the bit. The bowl, heavily scratched and dark from much use, has been colored beautifully by the tobacco of that time, probably a Virginia or Kentucky leaf.
When the doctor mentioned the pipe, he also noticed that Davis was apparently suffering from acute tobacco withdrawal. Until that day, his captors had prevented him from smoking. In response, the young doctor sent an aide to find a stash of tobacco and allowed Davis to fire up his lovely meer.
Davis was so grateful for the gift of tobacco that he told the physician, “This is a noble medicine. I hardly expected to receive it. And, I’ll have to admit the deprivation has been severe.”
It has been reported that at the end of his incarceration, when all charges against him were dropped, Davis gave the pipe to the young Dr. Craven.
However, that account is also a puzzle, since The New York Times reported in its 1897 edition that Davis gave the pipe to Sgt. John Howard, who had been in command of the “detachment of the Chicago Board of Trade Battery which captured Jefferson Davis.
. . . . While Jefferson Davis was a prisoner of war, Howard became well acquainted with him, receiving from the Confederate president a meerschaum pipe and a collection of gold coins.
How the pipe traveled from either Sgt. Howard or Dr. Craven to Fortress Monroe Museum is also debatable.
And then in 1977, The New York Times reported in a United Press International wire service story that the pipe had been stolen, but recovered:
AUGUSTA, GA., (UPI)-The Federal Bureau of Investigation said today that it had recovered Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s meerschaum pipe and case, which were stolen in Virginia. The antiques were taken from a display at Casement Museum at Fort Monroe, Va., six days ago and turned up in the hands of a private individual, the agency said. No arrests have been made.
Uncovering the back story of a pipe is just as exciting as learning the history of its owner. In this case, the owner has long since departed the scene, but the Meerschaum lives on in the Casemate Museum in Fort Monroe, Va.
Fred Brown is a Retired Senior writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel and was a working journalist for 46 years before retiring in 2008. He lives in Knoxville, TN., where he continues to freelance. |
Written by Kevin Godbee
More Pipes and Tobaccos Articles
14 Responses
Recent Posts
His grandfather came to the US with a $50 gold coin in his shoe, opened up a cigar shop, and his most famous customer was Babe Ruth. He holds the record for the longest slow smoke in the world at over 24 hours, and he is the only man who stopped Chuck Norris from round-house kicking the Nording Pipe Statue. The most interesting man in the world, Jonathan Goldsmith, stopped by the Chicago Pipe Show this year to get kissed on the cheek by Neal Osborn. Wait, what? OK, I kid. Jonathan came to honor his friend and fishing buddy Steve Norse of Vermont Freehand at the annual Doctors and Masters of Pipes award dinner. Steve was one of the two recipients of the Masters of Pipes award and asked Johnathan to show up and add some color to his acceptance speech. Slightly overshadowed but no less important! Jay Furman was also honored as this year’s hobbyist Master of Pipes, joining me and a pipe-star-studded list of great contributors to the hobby and profession of pipes. Jay is a character in his own right. While I don’t know him as well as I would like, I’ve learned that he’s a kind-hearted collector who started the Artisan Pipe Makers Club, a place where new artisans learn, grow, and are challenged. There are around 60 artisans who participate, collaborate, and learn. Jay and Mike Bishop also started the Long Island Pipe Club, which has around 50 members and meets twice a month on different sides of the island. What is not featured here are pictures of the Doctors of Pipes. Both recipients were unable to attend: Marco Parascenzo – Doctor of Pipes, Trade/Industry Regis MacCafferty – Doctor of Pipes, Hobby Please join us in congratulating these newly inducted Doctors and Masters of Pipes. It is a great honor, and each of these men embodies what our hobby and industry strive to do: grow, educate, and cultivate its future. I encourage everyone to attend the dinner next year as it’s always illuminating. And now, on with the show. Sort of. You may be wondering what the most interesting pipe smoker in the world smokes…. I didn’t miss the opportunity to chat with this incredibly nice man, whom Brian Levine and I also remembered from one of our favorite TV shows, the A-Team. He was also in many other shows from the 80s, such as Magnum PI, Murder She Wrote, Dallas, and MacGyver, just to name a few. Jonathan: I actually enjoy simple and readily available tobacco like Captain Black or some black cavendish from my local cigar and pipe shop in Vermont. What about your first pipe? Jonathan: I picked up my first pipe; I think it was a billiard when I was in London many years ago at a place called James Fox. How often do you smoke? Jonathan: Almost every day. I enjoy a pipe in the morning and a cigar in the afternoon. I want to thank Jonathan Goldsmith for taking a few minutes to sit down with me and being gracious enough to snap pictures with many of us at the show; it was a ton of fun and made this year’s show even more memorable! This year, the Chicago Pipe Show kicked it up a notch with a new location, new signage, new pre-registration and payment system, new show executive staff, and lots of new surprises. Now, Tim Garrity, President of the Chicagoland Pipe Club, tells me that over 400 attendees were at the show, but they are still tabulating the numbers too, so this is subject to getting updated and expanded. We do have our dates for next year at this same location – the first weekend of May at the Hyatt Regency, Chicago O’Hare. Of course, like any good Chicago show, there was plenty of room hopping and the announcement board. The signage this year was super helpful in knowing where to go when to go, and what tables our favorite vendors were at. While the show was jam-packed, the spacing of the tables allowed everyone to move around freely and didn’t feel over-crowded as the tables and isles were spaced out to allow room for vendors and collectors to stretch out. The smoking tent was hopping all the time, but luckily, air flow and some great air purifiers by Lake Air kept it fresh. As usual, there was a great sample table with tons of things to try in the tent, and on your way to the tent, there was a conveniently placed cash bar. This year the tent was 25% bigger than last year, although you wouldn’t notice because there were more people at the show! Kaywoodie is under new Management. At the show, I chatted with Nathan “Greywoodie” Davis about how he came to take over the 173-year-old company. Tell me how this happened. Nathan: This month is my 5th anniversary of Greywoodie opening. I was friends with Bill and had a huge collection of Kaywoodies – I approached him about having them available outside of brick and mortar. He had no online presence and didn’t sell direct. He said if I wanted them to be more available, the best thing I could do was quit my job and sell them myself. He was mostly kidding because I had a really good job in the legal profession, but I wasn’t happy so one day I did give him a call and said “hey whats your minimum order,” and he said “You didn’t just quit your job because I was joking?” I did and I started out that way as an online retailer. So, in working with him, we did exclusives, and I learned about pipe making from him, both production and hand-made. We brought back some historical lines as well, and soon enough, I was helping to make the pipes I was buying from him. It was great for him to get my labor […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 605. Our featured interview tonight is with Pete Prevost. Pete is a pipe maker and the President of the BriarWorks pipe factory in Columbia Tennessee. BriarWorks is a a pipe maker co-op with several other pipe makers, including Todd Johnson, who co-founded it with Pete. Brian and Pete will be talking about what’s new at BriarWorks, and how they are getting ready to attend the Chicago pipe show. (This was recorded before the show that took place last weekend.) At the top of the show, Brian will give his report of his travels and what happened at the Chicago show.
When I first started with the pipe as a quirky and precocious teen, the only tutelage I had at my disposal were scenes from old movies in which a well dressed chap would stick his pipe into a pouch, scoop tobacco into the bowl and press it down unceremoniously with his thumb. Then, with great flourish, he’d strike a match and light the thing with all manner of cinematic excess, puffing up vast clouds of smoke falling just short of completely obscuring his visage. While it may look good on film, it’s a terrible approach to actually enjoying the thing. Somehow, though, this “technique” seems to have survived in the contemporary vernacular, at least to some extent, even with bit-loads of information handily at our fingertips that should dissuade us from the practice. But, at the time, this misguided approach was all I had; it’s no wonder my early days of puffing were fraught with difficult lighting, harsh, bitter smokes and tongue bite, all culminating in a fireproof mass of ye old soggy dottle in the bottom of the bowl. Ultimately, the resulting frustration made me give up the pipe, at least for a while. While the idea of it was still very appealing, the practice of it was not. It wasn’t until a few years later when, still full of curiosity and romantic notions of pipe smoking, I wandered into a real tobacconist’s shop, and learned my “method” was a long way from the techniques that would bring me to any sort of pipe smoking bliss. So, after my poor start, and under the guidance of someone who actually seemed to know how to do it right, I was given the opportunity to approach the process anew, this time with much greater success. It was only because I was both perseverent, and fortunate to have a local shop staffed with knowledgeable people, that I’ve been able to enjoy the experience ever since. At least mostly… How many fledgeling pipe smokers have simply given up on an enjoyable pastime because of similar early mis-starts? Fortunately, today, it’s not hard to find helpful guidance at the press of a key or ten. But, at the same time, not all roads lead to Valhalla, and sometimes the advice offered might well be labeled with, “Here be dragons.” The other day, I came across a short video on-line in which a well-meaning tobacconist suggested packing a bowl of an “English” mixture “nice and tight.” Perhaps somewhat ironically, I was smoking, or trying to smoke a bowl that I’d filled on auto-pilot, packed too tightly, and not only was having the devil of a time trying to keep it lit, I really wasn’t enjoying the acrid smoke the tobacco issued during the brief periods in which it was actually burning. “No, no, NO!” I found myself muttering at my pipe, and at the figure on the screen, my protests joined by the guttural growling noises that sometimes accompany my discontent. Defiantly, I grabbed a pipe nail, shoveled out the dense, asbestos-like clog from the bowl, swabbed out the shank with a pipe cleaner, more out of habit than need since I hadn’t actually smoked enough of the mass to foul the shank, and started over, this time paying proper attention to what I was doing. (For as long as I’ve been doing this, I still screw it all up sometimes.) Much better. This got me thinking about a couple things that are so important to the maximal enjoyment of our pipes, yet not often enough discussed, namely how different tobaccos respond to variations in filling density, and moisture content; two separate but related parameters. Once I’d been shown the proper way to fill the bowl, or at least a proper way, everything had changed for me. I also began drying my tobacco down as a matter of course. Suddenly, there was greater cooperation between leaf and flame, the smoke was rich and flavorful, and it burned mostly to the bottom of the bowl with few relights. Given that, at the time, I smoked latakia mixtures almost exclusively, there didn’t seem to be a reason to explore beyond my “new” approach. It wasn’t until my attention turned in the direction of Virginia blends that I had to look a bit deeper. The same technique that worked so well for me with latakia mixtures resulted in bland, and often harsh smokes with Virginias. I attributed this to the tobaccos, convincing myself that I just didn’t like the stuff. At one of our pipe club meetings, I was talking with a friend who smoked Three Nuns exclusively. When he offered me a bowl. I thanked him, and told him that I just didn’t seem to get along well with Virginias, that they weren’t for me. “Maybe it’s the way you pack them. Here, let me fill your pipe for you.” I watched as he rubbed out a few coins to fine ribbons, moister than I was then accustomed to, and filled the bowl carefully in stages, pressing it tighter than I would have. Prepared for a nightmare, I was instead treated to a pipe dream. The tobacco smoldered slowly and almost continuously, delivering a rich, cool, sweet and delicious smoke. After that, I spent some time exploring the impact of these two variables, moisture content and packing density, on different mixtures and blends, always with similar results. Latakia mixtures, and to a lesser extent, those with a high percentage of oriental leaf, taste and smoke better when they’re on the dry side and the bowl is filled loosely, while Virginia blends tend to work best with a little more moisture and a denser fill. Burleys seem to work best somewhere in between, except for cube-cuts, which don’t like to be packed with much pressure at all. (Gravity fill, tap the bowl to settle the cubes. Repeat until full.) For such a simple act, pipe smoking is filled with undefined complexities! The point behind all this? Often […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 604. Our featured interview tonight is with Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and he is the former co-host of the podcast, Country Squire Radio, which ended their 10-year run last year. We’ll have JD with the “From the Country Squire” segment talking about all the new things happening at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, we’ll continue our audio tour of Brian’s pipe collection.
Before we begin, I should tell you: this tobacco review is being written by an A.I. Not the fancy new GPTs or their ilk; no, this is last century’s meat-and-bone, all-organic model. To be fair, a large part of what we call knowledge is merely the accumulated perceptions and impressions gathered from a life wandered through, synthesized into a spongy mass of what-it-is-that-we-think-that-we-know. The algorithm for this prompt is simple enough: pump thousands of bowls of smoldering plant matter into a gaping maw, cross-reference the chemical sensations with all other matter previously ingested or inhaled, sieve it all through the diffuse and fractal twin lens of memory and emotion, and churn out a panoply of adjectives that attempts to convey the sensations to someone who hasn’t experienced it yet. Odds are that a diligently trained monkey could succeed half the time; if this reviewer nears fifty-one percent then that would qualify as an unrivaled success. There must have been some similar musings perambulating through the mind of Per Jensen when he began his mad scientist routine at Sutliff with the Pipe Force project, which brings us to the current mixture under the microscope—Sutliff’s Pipe Force: Episode I. Here again are the unusual ingredients that engendered the series, with the stoved Rustica being the defining voice in this composition. From the tin: The Latakia-forward English mixture offers plenty of smoky flavor from the fire-cured leaf, which is artfully harmonized with floral, earthy Stoved Rustica. A mixture of high-grade Virginias imparts a natural sweetness. Katerini, the sole Oriental component, offers herb and spice notes bringing complexity and nuance to the flavor profile. It’s certainly Latakia-forward, with the stoved Rustica doubling up on the rhythm section like a second bassist. A first whiff from the tin releases the aromas of shoe leather and hide glue in a base of clay soil with a campfire wafted over it like last night’s beach party. Once it’s been accustomed to oxygen again, subtle hints of sweetness poke through from the Virginias: lemon rind, light milk chocolate, the dregs of a peaty Scotch, and muddled cherry. Old regulars like fresh-sawn oak and tilled earth are there, of course, with distinct notes of truffle, creosote, damp peat, and pine bark mulch. As an aside, I’ve been re-potting my camellias and the similarity of aroma to the ericaceous soil mix is notable; the Katerini really brings the unique depth of its vegetal complexion when supported by the Rustica and afforded more voice in the mix. The smoky Cyprian Latakia, in turn, is backed by equal earthiness from the Rustica, which overall exhibits a profile similar to dark-fired Kentucky; it leans more toward the woody and vegetal end of that spectrum, echoing and amplifying those traits of the other constituents. The tobacco is presented pressed and cut into a couple of thick, hearty flakes in the tin, lightly moist and easily crumbled to prepare—I prefer mine with a bit of drying time. The out-of-this-world tin art for this episode in the series is Major O’Meara smoking a cavalier. In the absence of confirmation, I’m going to hazard a guess he’s of the Ithklur species. The first taste from the light is sweet, with hints of that milk chocolate dancing around the edges. The Virginia leads the smoke through the top of the bowl, and orchestrates it well. Thoroughly smoky with lemony, grassy highlights from the Virginia spectrum, it soon segues into the mid-bowl profile: heartier, smokier, with the flavor leaning to the mildly acrid and tangy tinge that is the campfire-esque signature of English blends. Caution advised, it can turn overly bitter if pushed—this is where one’s sipping technique is required to maintain the fullness of flavor through to the heel. I did tend toward a lot of relights, though it may have as much to do with technique as with the blend. Pacing is also important as the nicotine starts to manifest; though the Rustica’s contribution has been tempered well by the stoving, it can certainly upend an empty stomach. At the end of every bowl, the mouthfeel somehow gets better. The balance of sugars in the tobaccos would seem to be spot-on in this regard. I started out my tasting in cobs, then cut short an unpleasant bowl in a meer, and finally landed on my best instrument with the lovely Dunhill 4427 pictured, a quaint group 4 shell briar with a gentle curve and Cumberland stem supporting a perfectly executed acorn bowl. It surprised me here, as I’ve learned through the years that I generally have the best experience with English blends in large, wide bowls. With this blend it seems that to get the best out of the Katerini’s somewhat diaphanous influence the smaller bowl fared much better. Room note is very English, so the company you keep will either love it or hate it, and it doesn’t linger too much. I find it paired best with a strong coffee; Sumatran beans complement the flavors well, as do Ethiopian if a lighter brew is preferred. Overall impressions of the blend are that it’s a curiously interesting take on the English genre, almost a reductive reconstruction of the theme using the unique components. This blend, if nothing else, expanded my vocabulary of sense perceptions with the uniquely treated leaf. While the average human can distinguish approximately one trillion (1,000,000,000,000!) different aromas, multiplied by seven basic tastes, and wholly dependent on variables from body chemistry to atmospheric conditions, our overworked and underpaid simian brains can’t effectively catalog them all. Our pet adding machines are exceedingly good at this, however, and someday soon they’ll be the ultimate and unequivocal authority on what something tastes, smells, looks, or even feels like. Until that time, friends, revel in the moments that can be stolen to savor over a bowl of Pipe Force: Episode I.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 603. Our featured interview tonight is with Rick Newcombe. Rick is a well-known author of several pipe books, and he is currently working on his third book. He is a prominent collector of Danish pipes, and vintage tobaccos. He has traveled the world visiting pipe makers, and learning their different techniques. He is also the founder and chairman of Creators Syndicate, which currently represents more than 200 writers and artists. At the top of the show we’ll have a Pipe Smoking 101 segment discussing best pipe shapes and sizes that are best suited to certain types of tobacco.
Wonderful read! I knew he was a pipe smoker but didn’t know about the pipe pictured here! He had great taste in pipes!
Thoroughly enjoyed the article,particularly what was assumed he smoked. Please continue this venue. I also understand Grant,Lincoln and Custer were pipe smokers. Interesting about his reluctance to war and being president of the Confederacy..
Nice article. Even nicer pipe. That amber stem!
Great article. Two of my favorite subjects,pipes and the Civil War.
Thoroughly enjoyable read. As an avid Civil War buff I recall nothing about Davis being a pipe smoker. Knowing how difficult it is to get a meerschaum bowl to color I am stunned at the beautiful coloring of the claw.
A truly great read is Bruce Catton’s “The Coming Fury” which spends much of its time describing the process that Lincoln and Davis went through to secure their nominations. It is an amazing story political intrigue that occurred in the proverbial smoke filled rooms.
Excellent article and photos!!
Jaff Davis County in Texas is named for him, and Fort Davis, the home of his famous “camel experiment” when he was Secretary of War, in the 1850s.
I have his 500+pp tome “The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government” on my bookshelf, but it is hard reading and I’ve never finished it.
I had no idea he was a pipe smoker. So his pipe was stolen and recovered? This brings to mind another stolen VIP meerschaum, that of Albert Pike, father of US Scottish Rite masonry as well as an explorer, scout, poet and Confederate brigadier general. As far as I know, that pipe has still not been recovered.
A favorite bumper sticker of mine: “Don’t blame us! We voted for Jefferson Davis!”
🙂
That’s JEFF Davis County. (typo)
I’ll have to remember his quote concerning pipe/tobacco: “This is noble medicine”!
glad to read even the President smoked a corn cob pipe
Thank you Mr. Brown.
I have always loved the minutia of history more than the more grandiose.
I thoroughly enjoyed your article.
Please keep these wonderful writings coming.
Yet another famous pipe smoker.The pipe looks great.Very enjoyable article.Hope there are more on the way.
What a great article, very well written and factual. Thank you Mr. Brown for sharing.
Thank you, PipesMagazine.com, for a wonderful article. Here, in an interesting and skillfully accomplished amalgam of tobacciana, history, and biographical writing, Mr. Brown reveals yet another niche in this most edifying pastime of pipes and luxury tobaccos. I look forward to many similar offerings in the future.
Fantastic article! I may have to seek out a claw and egg Meer, just for the sakeof history!
Love this article! I definitely need to add a Meer to my collection.