Here Is Where: Discovering America's Great Forgotten History

by Andrew Carroll

1794 and ’95, Paine released a withering two-volume critique of organized religion titled The Age of Reason. “All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish [i.e., Muslim],” Paine wrote, “appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.” Whatever goodwill Paine had earned during the Revolution evaporated instantly. Congress refused to fund his pension, he was denied the right to vote, and former allies ostracized him entirely. During a visit to the States, William Cobbett made a pilgrimage to Paine’s grave in New Rochelle and couldn’t believe what he found. “Paine lies in a little hole under the grass and weeds of an obscure farm in America,” he reported in his journal. “There, however, he shall not lie, unnoticed, much longer. He belongs to England. His fame is the property of England; and if no other people will show that they value that fame, the people of England will.” So, in October 1819, William Cobbett dug up Thomas Paine’s remains, packed them in a crate, and shipped them to Great Britain. He hadn’t even bothered to backfill the grave, apparently figuring no one would care. He was right. Local authorities noticed the mound of dirt, launched a halfhearted search, and then dropped the investigation altogether.