Celebrating 4th of July when your Husband is of the British Variety

The Fourth of July almost always includes a parade, maybe some sand sculptures, a barbeque and sometimes if you're in the right spot, fireworks. It's been spent with relatives, friends, neighbors and starting many years ago: a subject of Her Royal Majesty the Queen- awkward!

It never dawned on me when I was little what was really being celebrated on the 4th of July- I just thought it was about fireworks and hotdogs. War of Independence? Huh- shrug- pass me the relish. Even when I was old enough to know what those fireworks represented I didn't think much of it, again, pass me the mustard.

Then I brought an Englishman to the party. "So yeah... would you like to go to a party where we celebrate our independence from, um, you?" Haha, thank goodness my husband has a great sense of humor and it also helps that's he not too nationalistic, so he honestly doesn't care.

I also experienced this when we went to Boston for our first wedding anniversary. I was so excited to go to all of the historical sites and I couldn't understand how he could not know who Paul Revere was. Paul Revere!! Helllllooo- "The red coats are coming, the red coats are coming!"?  OH yeah, you were the red coats! Haha! Our Revolutionary War is their "American War of Independence", it's not taught in school, they don't even mourn the loss of the tea in the Boston harbor, and they certainly don't observe a day in it's honor.

What have I learned from this? I've learned to put down that hotdog, hold the relish and take some time to learn our history and do my best to honor those revolutionaries in my own way. So this 4th of July, spare a little thought to Paul Revere's midnight ride and the brave militia men, those very Minute Men who stood in two rows, in plain sight, and listened as their Captain, John Parker declared, "Stand your ground; don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."

Statue honoring Paul Revere in the North End of Boston, Mass. Sculpted by Cyrus Edwin Dallin, taking his "midnight ride". 

Headstone for Paul Revere, Granary Burial Ground, Boston, Mass. 

Minuteman statue (representing Captain John Parker) sculpted by Henry Hudson Kitson,  Lexington Battle Green, Lexington,  Mass. Site of the very first battle of the Revolutionary War- The Battle of Lexington and Concord. 

Buckman Tavern, across from the Battle Green, Lexington, Mass. 

North Bridge (aka Old North Bridge)  Concord, Mass.

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world
-Ralph Waldo Emerson 

inscription on the obelisk monument across from the bridge. 

Um, Sir? Did anyone tell you that you have the wrong uniform on? 

Happy Independence Day everyone!

*And a cool little fact: I'm a proud descendent of Ebenezer Chase, one of the very Minute Men who stood their ground on April 19, 1775

Shakin' the Family Tree

This dapper fellow is my Great x's 4 Grandfather on my Father's side- he sure was a looker!

Shakin' this family tree has produced some very interesting people. LOTS of Reverends, Deacons, Ministers, A Mennonite leader executed in front of his family while at home, Ship Captains, a Salem Witch (yes one of the originals!!!), a Massachusetts's Governor, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, intermarrying cousins, a man buried near the grave of Mother Goose, a President of Harvard and Founder of Yale, 3 siblings marrying the 3 siblings of another family, English Loyalist's that had to flee to Canada after the Revolution and Patriots who helped start the Revolution, Civil War Yankees and Confederate soldiers, lunatics in a Texas insane asylums (not a direct relations, thank goodness), yellow fever victims, a casualty of the French Indian War, a family all but completely massacred in an Indian raid.

We're Irish, Dutch, German, English and a bit Scottish- all this while I thought we were English, Scottish and maybe some German, little did I know that the Scottish have been hard to come by, the English are subtly dominating with their Boston tea parties, the Irish are popping up EVERYWHERE (it's like they didn't believe in birth control or something), the Germans have efficiently infiltrated both sides of my family, and the Dutch have colonized my dad's side like they own the place.

Let's review two of the more interesting (and better documented ones, who both happen to be on my mother's side).... I think everyone would unanimously like to start with the witch.

Margaret Stephenson Scott is my Great x's 10 Grandmother on my mother's side. (That's a lot of greats!) Margaret was one of the original 20 "witches" hanged in the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, along with Rebecca Nurse, Giles Corey (who was crushed to death), Sarah Good, Martha Corey etc... The Widow Scott (who was one of the oldest accused) found herself accused after living a long life for those times, losing a husband, bearing 7 children and losing 4, fending off suitors, losing her land and living a life as a beggar. She was accused by 3 people- one of them a rejected suitor who wanted her land, and imprisoned 45 days before her execution. She professed her innocence until her execution. Margaret was hanged with 7 other people (Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Willmott Redd, Samuel Wardwell and Mary Parker are hanged with Margaret. Giles Corey is pressed to death. Dorcas Hoar escapes execution by confessing.) on 22, Sept 1692 on Gallow's Hill, Salem, Massachusetts. Margaret Scott's name was not cleared until 1954, 262 years after her death.

Now for the Governor, my Great x's 10 Grandfather (there was just something about 10 generations back),:

This handsome fellow is Governor Robert Treat, notice his lovely pilgrim-like garb.

Not only was this fellow a Governor of Massachusetts but he and one other man founded Newark, New Jersey (apparently Newark is supposed to be New Ark- like Noah's Ark- oh those Puritans!). He must have been okay as a Governor because most of the info about him kind of glosses over the fact that he was Governor and focuses more on the founding of Newark. His grandson was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and is buried near Mother Goose in Boston- I'm related to him 2 different ways and it kind of does my head in to figure that out....anyway back to the Governor, he helped found Newark, didn't get along with his co-founder very well so he moved back to Connecticut where he lived before founding Newark, and died in 1710. Apparently Thomas Edison is a descendent of Robert Treat, but I haven't researched how- but i do know that it's not from my direct line, so I can't claim him.... darn it, all we were missing was an Inventor genius!!

**I'm currently trying to find a connection with my Dad's Dutch/Swiss Mennonite's with the founder of the Amish branch, Jacob Amman, as we have a bunch of Amman, Ammen, an Amen ancestors from the Netherlands and Switzerland where he was from...

This my friends is why I'm online all of the time but never answer the "chat" from Facebook- I'm a researching fool!!