The Devil and Tom Walker Notes

Setting and Background

The story is set a few miles from Boston, Massachusetts, near Charles Bay.
The area includes a deep inlet, a dark grove, a high ridge with scattered oaks, and a thickly wooded swamp or morass.
An old story tells of Kidd the pirate burying treasure under one of the large oak trees.
The inlet allowed for secret transport of money by boat at night.
The elevated location served as a lookout point.
The trees acted as landmarks.
The devil is said to preside over hidden, ill-gotten treasure.
Kidd never returned for his treasure; he was seized in Boston, sent to England, and hanged.
The story is a variation of the Faust legend, a 16th-century magician who sold his soul to the devil.
Washington Irving reinvented the tale, setting it in 1720s New England among Quakers and Puritans.
Irving satirizes people who present a pious image while seeking wealth.

Tom Walker and His Wife

In 1727, during earthquakes in New England, Tom Walker, a meager and miserly man, lived near the swamp.
Tom's wife was equally miserly; they conspired to cheat each other.
The wife hid anything she could find, while Tom tried to discover her hoards.
They frequently fought over what should have been common property.
They lived in a desolate house with a starving appearance.
Sterile savin trees grew nearby; the chimney was smokeless, and no travelers stopped there.
A miserable horse with visible ribs wandered in a field with sparse moss and exposed puddingstone, seemingly begging for deliverance from the famine.
The house and its inhabitants had a bad reputation.
Tom’s wife was a tall, fierce, loud, and strong termagant.
Her verbal battles with Tom were frequent, and physical altercations sometimes occurred.
Neighbors avoided interfering in their disputes.

Tom's Encounter in the Swamp

Tom Walker took a shortcut through the swamp, which was a poor choice.
The swamp was dense with tall pines and hemlocks, making it dark and inhabited by owls.
It contained pits, quagmires, and stagnant pools with tadpoles, bullfrogs, and water snakes.
Half-drowned trees resembled alligators in the mire.
Tom cautiously navigated the swamp, stepping on tufts of rushes and roots or walking along fallen trees.
He was startled by the cries of bitterns and wild ducks.
He reached a firm piece of ground, once an Indian stronghold used as a refuge for squaws and children.
Only a few embankments remained of the old fort, overgrown by trees.
Tom paused to rest at the old fort during dusk.
The common people avoided the area due to stories of Indian incantations and sacrifices to the evil spirit.
Tom, however, was not easily frightened.
He rested on a fallen hemlock, probing a mound of black mold with his staff.
His staff struck a hard object, revealing a cloven skull with an Indian tomahawk buried in it.
The weapon’s rust indicated the time passed since the death-blow.
Tom nonchalantly kicked the skull.

The Black Man

A gruff voice told Tom to leave the skull alone.
Tom saw a large black man seated on a tree stump.
The man’s appearance was perplexing; he was neither Negro nor Indian, but wore a half-Indian garb with a red sash.
His face was swarthy and begrimed with soot, suggesting work with fires and forges.
He had coarse black hair and carried an ax.
He glared at Tom with red eyes and questioned his presence on the grounds.
Tom retorted that the grounds belonged to Deacon Peabody.
The stranger dismissed Deacon Peabody and pointed to a large tree, rotten at the core, marked with Peabody’s name.
Other trees were marked with the names of prominent colonists and scored by an ax.
The tree Tom sat on, bearing the name Crowninshield, had just been hewn down; Crowninshield was a wealthy man rumored to have acquired his wealth through buccaneering.
The black man triumphantly stated that Crowninshield was ready for burning and that he would have plenty of firewood for winter.
Tom questioned the black man’s right to cut down Deacon Peabody’s timber.
The black man claimed prior ownership of the woodland before the arrival of the white race.
Tom asked the black man’s identity.
The black man said he goes by various names, including the wild huntsman and the black miner.
He said the red men consecrated the spot to him, offering white men as sacrifices.
He stated that he presides over the persecutions of Quakers and Anabaptists, is the patron of slave dealers, and the grand master of the Salem witches.
Tom inferred that he was speaking to Old Scratch.
The black man confirmed this with a nod.

The Bargain

Tom and the black man had a long conversation as Tom walked home.
The black man spoke of money buried by Kidd the pirate, under his command and protection.
He offered the treasure to Tom, having taken a liking to him, but on certain conditions.
The conditions were not disclosed but must have been difficult, as Tom needed time to consider them.
Tom asked for proof of the black man’s claims.
The black man pressed his finger on Tom’s forehead as a signature, then disappeared into the swamp.
Tom found a black fingerprint burned into his forehead, which could not be removed.
Tom's wife told him of the sudden death of Absalom Crowninshield, the buccaneer, which confirmed the black man's claims.

Tom and His Wife's Decisions

Tom remembered the tree that had been cut down was ready for burning.
Tom now believed what he had seen and heard was real.
Tom shared the secret with his wife, awakening her avarice.
She insisted Tom accept the black man’s terms to gain wealth.
Tom refused to comply to spite his wife.
They quarreled frequently, but Tom was resolute in his refusal to be damned to please her.
Tom's wife decided to make a deal herself, intending to keep all the wealth.
She went to the old Indian fort one summer evening.
She returned late, reserved and sullen, and spoke of meeting a black man hewing a tree.
She was to return with a propitiatory offering, which she did not disclose.

The Wife's Disappearance

The following evening, Tom’s wife left for the swamp with her apron heavily laden.
Tom waited in vain; she did not return.
Tom grew concerned, especially when he discovered she had taken the silver teapot, spoons, and other valuables.
She was never heard from again.
Her fate is unknown due to conflicting accounts.
Some said she got lost in the swamp; others claimed she eloped with the stolen goods.
Some suspected the devil lured her into a quagmire, where only her hat was found.
A great black man with an ax was seen leaving the swamp with a bundle tied in a check apron.

Tom's Search and Discovery

Tom, anxious about his wife and property, searched for them at the Indian fort.
He searched the gloomy place but found no wife, hearing only the sounds of nature.
He found carrion crows hovering around a cypress tree.
He saw a bundle tied in his wife's apron in the tree, with a vulture nearby.
He hoped to recover the valuables, deciding he could do without his wife.
He climbed the tree as the vulture flew away.
Inside the apron, he found only a heart and liver.
His wife had attempted to deal with the devil but apparently lost.
Tom saw cloven footprints on the tree and handfuls of coarse black hair, indicating a struggle.
Tom recognized his wife’s prowess and concluded that Old Scratch had a tough time.

Tom's Deal with the Devil

Tom consoled himself with the loss of his property and wife.
He felt grateful to the black woodman, as he considered it a kindness.
He sought to cultivate further acquaintance with the black man, but the devil was elusive.
Tom met the black man, who was indifferent.
They haggled over the terms for the pirate’s treasure.
One condition was understood: Tom would serve the devil.
The black man proposed Tom use the money in the slave trade.
Tom refused because he was bad enough, but not a slave trader.
The black man suggested Tom become a usurer, which the devil favored.
Tom agreed to become a usurer in Boston.
Tom agreed to lend money at two percent a month.
Tom chose to charge four percent.
The black man told Tom to extort bonds, foreclose mortgages, and drive merchants into bankruptcy.
Tom said he would drive them to the devil.
They shook hands and struck a bargain.

Tom as a Usurer

Tom Walker became a usurer in Boston.
He quickly gained a reputation as a ready-moneyed man.
During Governor Belcher’s time, money was scarce.
There was paper credit, a Land Bank, and speculation; people dreamed of sudden fortunes.
The speculative fever subsided, leaving people in distress.
Tom Walker set up as a usurer in Boston during this time of public distress.
His door was thronged by customers; the needy, adventurous, gamblers, land-jobbers, thriftless tradesmen, and merchants sought him out.
Tom was the universal friend of the needy but exacted good pay and security.
He profited from others' circumstances and accumulated bonds and mortgages.
He squeezed his customers dry and made money rapidly.
Tom became rich and built a vast house but left much of it unfinished to save money.
He bought a carriage but nearly starved the horses.
The ungreased wheels sounded like the souls of the debtors he was squeezing.

Tom's Religious Turn and End

As Tom aged, he became thoughtful and worried about the afterlife.
He regretted his bargain with the devil and tried to cheat him.
He became a violent churchgoer, praying loudly.
His devotion increased after he had sinned greatly.
Tom was rigid in religious and money matters and judged his neighbors harshly.
He considered reviving the persecution of Quakers and Anabaptists.
Tom’s zeal became as notorious as his riches.
Tom still feared the devil would claim him.
He carried a small Bible in his pocket and kept a large one on his desk.
He read the Bible while making usurious bargains, marking his place with green spectacles.
Tom may have become eccentric; he had his horse shod and buried upside down, expecting the world to turn upside down on the last day.
One hot afternoon, Tom sat in his countinghouse, foreclosing a mortgage on a land speculator.
The speculator begged for leniency, but Tom refused.
Tom lost his patience and piety, declaring that he had not made a farthing.
Three knocks came at the door.
A black man on a black horse had come for Tom.
Tom was caught unprepared, having left his Bibles out of reach.
The black man whisked him onto the horse, and they galloped away in a thunderstorm.
Clerks watched Tom’s departure.
Tom Walker never returned to foreclose the mortgage.
A countryman reported seeing a figure matching Tom riding madly into the swamp.
A thunderbolt struck the old Indian fort, setting the forest ablaze.
The people of Boston were accustomed to such events and were not surprised.
Trustees examined Tom's possessions.
His bonds and mortgages were reduced to cinders.
His iron chest was filled with chips and shavings.
Skeletons were found in his stable.
His house burned to the ground.

Moral of the Story

Such was the end of Tom Walker and his ill-gotten wealth.
The story serves as a warning to money brokers.
The location of Kidd’s money is still visible.
The swamp and old Indian fort are haunted by Tom’s spirit.
The story has become a proverb: “The Devil and Tom Walker.”