Genealogy and History Fan

About two years into the American Revolutionary War, the British captured Philadelphia. The humiliated members of The Continental Congress had to flee the city to save their lives.

General George Washington led his army of 12,000 to a place called Valley Forge which was about 20 miles from Philadelphia. It was December with snow and a harsh wind blowing. There were no buildings to use as barracks. They pitched tents for some shelter while they built small huts of sticks and logs held together with mud plaster. Over 1,000 dirt floored drafty log huts were constructed by the army. Their clothes were little more than rags and some of the men had no shoes! These terrible conditions were made worse by few supplies (blankets, medicine etc.) and scant amounts of poor quality food.

Although no military battles were fought at Valley Forge, many lost their lives while camped there for six months. Typhus, typhoid, dysentery, and pneumonia were the predominant killers - downing about 2,000 men. Also hundreds of horses starved to death.

General Washington stayed with his army throughout the winter (1777-1778). The men who did survive became stronger and more confident. By spring there was plenty of food and the men received proper clothing.

Their German born skilled drill sergeant Baron von Steuben, began rigorously training the army in much needed military tactics. They left Valley Forge with renewed energy, high spirits, greater abilities and a firm will to win the fight for independence.

I have two fifth great grandfathers with the last name of Miller from Pennsylvania. I have written about both of them in previous articles. They were soldiers in the Revolution. Frederick survived the War but Peter did not.

According to family records, Peter fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill and also took part in the Boston Tea Party. Sadly Peter lost his life at Valley Forge where he is buried. He left behind his wife and five young children.

May our Country ever remain “the land of the free and the home of the brave”.

Happy Birthday America!

A very talented and remarkable woman, Julia Ward Howe, is largely responsible for Mothers having a special day and also for writing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”.  Julia Ward was born into a wealthy New York family on May 27, 1819. Her mother died when Julia was only five. Her education included literature, science, and math as well as French, Italian, German, Latin and Greek. She began writing professionally at the age of twenty.

Shortly before her twenty-fourth birthday Julia married the philanthropist and reformist Dr. Samuel G. Howe. Howe was the head of the famed Perkins Institute for the Blind. They were the parents of six children. Besides being an accomplished poet and playwright, Julia assisted her husband with his anti-slavery journal, the Boston Commonwealth.

In 1861, the Howes went to Washington to view a Union army parade. On their way back to Boston their group sang patriotic songs. After singing “John Brown’s Body”, a member of the group suggested that Julia should consider writing better lyrics for that tune. Later that evening Julia wrote the words to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Julia was paid $5.00 when the song was published in February 1862. The song became an inspiration for the Union soldiers fighting against slavery. I wonder if Julia could have imagined how beloved those words would become for countless people?

After the war Julia became interested in women’s rights and world peace. For eighteen years Julia served as president of the New England Women Suffrage Association. In 1870 she wrote a powerful article entitled Mother’s Day Proclamation. She translated this article into several languages and had it widely distributed. She successfully campaigned for an official holiday and celebration of Mother’s Day. (Mother and daughter Ann and Anna Jarvis also contributed to this crusade.)

Julia Ward Howe died on October 17, 1910. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother’s Day.

Julia Ward Howe was a grand lady and a great American!

The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword,

His truth is marching on. (Chorus)

I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps;

The have built Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps,

His day is marching on. (Chorus)

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat.

Oh, be swift, my soul to answer Him, be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on. (Chorus)

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on. (Chorus)

Chorus:

Glory, glory hallelujah! Glory, glory hallelujah!

Glory, glory hallelujah! His truth is marching on.

Rosa Louise McCauley was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her father James McCauley, was a carpenter and her mother Leona Edwards, was a teacher. Rosa, as a child, was small for her age and suffered poor health. She was raised on her maternal grandparents farm near Montgomery, Alabama. She lived there with her grandparents, her mother and her younger brother Sylvester. Rosa was home schooled by her mother until she was 11 years old. She enrolled in school to take academic and vocational classes but had to drop out to help care for her grandmother and mother who became ill.

In 1932, Rosa married Raymond Parks who was a barber from Montgomery. After her marriage Rosa was employed as a domestic worker and also as a hospital aide. With her husband’s encouragement, Rosa finished high school in 1933. This was at a time when less than 7% of African American had a high school diploma.

Rosa and her husband Raymond were members of the NAACP. She served for many years as the secretary of the Montgomery chapter.

In 1955, Rosa worked at Montgomery Fair, a department store in downtown Montgomery. She boarded her usual bus at 6pm, Thursday December 1, to go home. She paid the fare and sat in the first row of seats in the “colored section”. When the bus became crowded, the bus driver ordered Rosa to relinquish her seat to a white man as was the cultural order of things at that time. But Rosa Parks was not interested in seeing that the cultural order of things continue. She refused to give up that seat.

The explosion of outrage and social change that was released by that one simple act of “civil disobedience” is the watershed moment that anyone affected by the civil rights movement points to as the most important event in modern black history. Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving her seat up that day. Her trial for that act of “civil disobedience” brought to the national spotlight another important leader in the civil rights movement by the name of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This one event began to escalate and gather energy in the black community. It was an exciting and somewhat frightening time as the black community was energized and began to organize around these two courageous leaders. The result was the most powerful civil rights protests in the history of the movement occurred. This protest came to be known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Rosa Parks was not a trained instigator or a skilled manipulator of groups. She was just a citizen and an “ordinary” woman with simple daily needs. She was not looking to start a nation changing civil rights movement when she refused to give up her bus seat.

Rosa Parks won the right to be treated as a human being for herself and for her people across America and even around the world. She is an inspiration to us all that we too must demand the right of simple human dignity for all people who are citizens of this great land. 

In 1996, President Bill Clinton presented Rosa with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1999 she was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.

Rosa Parks died October 24, 2005. President George Bush ordered that all U.S. flags in public areas be flown at half-staff on the day of her funeral. She was the 31^st person and the 1^st woman whose body lay in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

The infamous bus is at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, Michigan. On the 50^th anniversary of her arrest, President Bush declared that a statue of Parks be included in the United States Capitol’s National Statuary Hall. You’re come a long way Rosa!

Between the years 1955 to 1965 there was a war raging right in the middle of America. No, it wasn’t a war like the Revolutionary War or World War II. It was a war for the heart and soul of this country to determine once and for all if America was really going to be a land of equal opportunity for all. It was a war that eventually took on the name “The Civil Rights Movement.”

We must make no mistake, this was not just a shouting match. Those who fought in this war on both sides were deadly serious about the causes they represented and willing to fight and even die to see their cause succeed. The war waged for years and steady progress was made but not without tremendous sacrifice by the leaders of the movement who were committed to giving a new meaning to the phrase “set my people free.”

In all of black history, there may be no more significant a time since the Civil War when the rights of African Americans were so deeply fought and won. The tensions in the country had been building. When the Supreme Court mandated desegregation in the schools in the historic case Brown versus the Board of Education, the stage was set. But it was on December 1, 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama to a white man that the movement finally took shape.

This tremendous struggle for freedom was never easy and was often marked with violence. Over the next ten years some of the most important milestone in black history took place including:

1957 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower had to send federal troops to Arkansas to secure admission to Central High School by nine black students.1960 – The sit-in at Woolworths lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina set the stage for nonviolent protest that was used with great success for the rest of the struggle. Nonviolent protest and civil disobedience became a staple of the civil rights movement because of the influence of Martin Luther King.

1963 – The historic March on Washington in which over 200,000 people gathered to hear Dr. Kings famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

1964 – President Lyndon Johnson signed the bill that was the most significant event of his presidency and one he believed deeply in, the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

1965 – The assignation of Malcolm X and the Watts race rights.

1965 – President Johnson takes another bold step to accelerate the civil rights movement implementing Affirmative Action when he issues Executive Order 11246.

This short list is just a few of the highlights of this troubled time in which the rights of all citizens of America, black and white and of all colors were being redefined both on the streets, in the courts and in the different branches of government. In the years to come there would be great steps forward. One by one, every area of American life would see breakthroughs by African Americans in the areas of sports, entertainment, education and politics. There were many proud moments and there were moments of tremendous shame and heinous acts committed by both white and black people. But through all that struggle, the society continued to grow and adapt to the will of the people as has always been the tradition in American culture.The struggle is far from over. Discrimination and hate speech continue to be a problem to this day. And while it is easy to reflect on those days of struggle with regret, we can also look at them with pride. We can be proud of the great leaders who demonstrated tremendous courage and wisdom to lead this nation to a better way of life. And we can be proud of America because it is here where such a struggle can result in equality and freedom for all citizens, not just a few.

“Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall!”

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What would it have been like to have been a medical patient in the early part of the 19th century?  Depending on your ailment you could have been blistered, bled,  purged and medicated with lead, mercury and opium. Never the less, this time period has been dubbed “the golden age of medicine”. The title was earned because of the great strides in diagnosis and treatment of diseases and surgical procedures. For example, the stethoscope was invented in 1819 by a French physician, Rene Laennec. A number of illnesses were discovered and named after the physicians who discovered them. Some of the most well known are Addison’s, Bright’s, Hodgkins, Parkinson’s, and Graves’, diseases.

There were very few medical schools in the United States in the early 1800’s. Most physicians learned their trade as apprentices to established physicians. Some who had the means, went to Europe or to India to study medicine. As interest in medical training increased, more U. S. medical schools were created.

It is reported that ether was discovered for it’s anaesthetic effects in 1842 by Crawford Long. It seems that doctors and medical students at the time were inhaling ether at parties. Dr. Long observed that those men, after inhaling, didn’t feel pain if they fell, were cut, or hurt in any way. Soon Dr. Long performed surgery on a friend who Long insisted inhale ether before the operation. The successful operation was performed pain free! This began a new era for doctors and their patients.

However by the mid 1800’s, there still were very few U. S. hospitals. Less than 300 were scattered throughout the country. Most were located in large cities and were primarily for the mentally ill. Hospitals had a bad reputation and were a place to be avoided. Most patients chose, when at all possible, to be treated by their own doctors in their own homes.

My 4^th great uncle, Dr, Samuel A. Wort (1791-1863), was a physician and surgeon. He practiced medicine in Brownstown, Indiana for over 40 years. He helped form The Jackson County Indiana Medical Society in 1851, and was elected their first president. One of their goals was “the cultivation and advancement of medical science and literature and the elevation of the standard of professional education”.

In 1854 Dr. Sam wrote a rather extensive paper concerning the misunderstood and dreaded disease Cholera. He noted that he had first become acquainted with Cholera while in Calcutta in 1816. He described the different types of Cholera, symptoms, and treatments. After reading this article I certainly could see why Cholera was so horrible and dreaded. A person could feel fine in the morning but be dead by evening from the worse cases of Cholera.

Dr. Sam had 6 wives (4 died) and 9 children. He also found time to own and run a hotel!

He publicly cautioned the citizens of Jackson County against taking too many patent medicines. He said they can irritate the bowels, tax the liver, and destroy health. He further stated that these medicines give much business to doctors - to the great detriment of the community! It seems that Dr. Wort wasn’t afraid to say what he believed.  I’m glad to be related to a caring man who devoted most of his life to helping others.

In 1934, five years after his birth, his family discovered Martin’s name had been recorded wrong on his birth certificate. The certificate said Michael King, so his name had to be legally changed to Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1939, Martin sang with his church choir in Atlanta at the gala premiere of the movie Gone With The Wind.

He skipped the 9^th and 12th  grades in school and entered Moorehouse College at age 15.

He had Bachelor degrees in sociology and theology. In 1955 he received his PH. D. from Boston University.

From 1957 until his death in 1968, he traveled more than 6 million miles. He gave over 2500 speeches during his travels. He also wrote 5 books and had published countless numbers of articles in newspapers and magazines.

In 1964, at age 35, he was the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

According to a Gallup poll, King is the second most admired person in the 20^th century.

In a contest sponsored by the Discovery Channel, he was voted the 3^rd Greatest American of all time.

Presently there are 730+ U.S. cities that have streets named after King.

King is 1 of 10 20^th century world martyrs who has a statue at Westminster Abbey.

Dr. King’s famous speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on a hot August 28, 1963 has become so central to our American heritage that it is quoted with reverence by scholars, students and all people seeking their own inspiration from this great man.  It is impossible not to get goose bumps reading these key phrases from that historic speech.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

“Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing  the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

May Dr. King’s dream continue to live on and be expanded by other great leaders. In fact we can all do our part in making this a better world. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is still a great motto to live by!