Autumn has always been a significant time within Harry's life. It was then he was born as the youngest son to David during the autumn of David's life as the forty eight year old father of six was facing declining health as a result of serving in the Army during the Civil War.
The family lived in a small town in Kansas, along the booming Santa Fe Trail, through which wagon trains and thousands upon thousands of people traveled, enroute to the American west. Harry's birth, as many births during that time, was not recorded in Kansas records and his mother had an extremely difficult time with her final pregnancy. It was considered a miracle both mother and child survived.
By the age of four, the family began moving west, desperately attempting to find cures for the scourges David had been exposed and was suffering, depleting their lifelong savings, enroute. Passing through town after town, they tried every cure that was offered. First to Las Vegas, New Mexico, then to the warm, dry Phoenix, Arizona. Finally by the year 1889, they landed in Southern California where they felt David would benefit from moist wet air and Harry would begin to feel some sort of stability.
As a child, Harry worked in order to assist in supporting his family. Each day, after school and sometimes skipping school, he would deliver messages for his Uncle, who worked for the newly developing telephone company in Los Angeles, California just as his older brothers had in Kansas, when he father had founded the first telephone company there.
His family was poor, by all standards, living off a paltry civil war pension. His memories of his father were mostly those of illness. California, the land of milk and honey, was a symbol of hope that he would recover. However hope was dashed in 1901, when he father finally succombed to the diseases he had contracted.
He lost his father at the young age of thirteen. With only an estate left of $50, he and his brother both worked to help support their ailing mother, while attending school. At the age of twenty-three his mother succombed to the same disease as his father after fighting it and spending years in and out of tuberculosis sanitariums.
it was during autumn in 1908 that Harry left Southern California and joined his brothers in Sonora, Mexico, where they developed the first telephone company in that region of Mexico. He loved the diverse culture it offered and riding a Harley Davidson across the arid desert, installing and maintaining the hundreds of miles of telephone lines. Harry returned home to California shortly before World War I and worked for Pacific Bell Telephone Company.
Concerned about war and in preparation for it, the War Department in 1916 had begun issuing commissions in the Signal Corps Officers' Reserve Corps to executives of leading commercial telephone and telegraph companies. John J. Carty, chief engineer of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), figured prominently in this group. Commissioned as a major in the Signal Reserve, Carty undertook the recruitment of men from the Bell System and other communications companies. The Army needed a variety of specialists: telephone and telegraph operators, linemen, and cable splicers, to name a few. (As previously noted, the prewar Signal Corps had only four telegraph battalions.) The recruitment of men already possessing the requisite skills obviously lightened the Signal Corps' training load as these men served the military within what was known in California as the Resident Guard (now known as National Guard.)
Following President Woodrow Wilson's declaration of war in 1917 because Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, over twenty-four million men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five came forward and registered for the draft during the following two year period.
Three draft lotteries were held, the first for the older men on June 5, 1917 whereupon all individuals born between the years of 1886 to 1896 were required to register. Ten million men registered on this date. Because of opposition from Congress, young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty were exempted from registration.
In 1917, Harry was thirty years old and single and on that date complied with the requirement from the Los Angeles draft board though he was already participating in the Residence Guard. As a communications specialist, he was exempted from serving due to his critical position in maintaining the communication lines in his position at Pacific Telephone Company and because he was a vital part of the Resident Guard. Through the autumn, he pondered and debated with his manager at work about enlisting. On December 5, 1917, he was finally granted a leave of absence to serve and enlisted for active duty.
He was assigned to the 39th Telegraph Unit of the Signal Corps at the Presidio of Monterey where, in the rank of Sergeant, trained troops in field communications under the direction of Major General James B. Allison. In 1917, at four locations within the United States, the Signal Corps established training camps for soldiers, specifically at Little Silver (Fort Monmouth) Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Leon Springs, Texas and the Presidio of Monterey, California.
Harrie deeply desired to go into the field, however was told he was far too valuable as a training officer especially with his bilingual skills in Spanish (which he learned in Mexico) and English. He traveled up and down the Pacific Coast area, teaching troops how to build and install communications lines, how to operate telegraphs and how to develop telephone installation sites. As well, he worked on the development of radio interception and communication intelligence techniques which he also taught to the troops.
During World War I, messages were sometimes transmitted by wire (telegraph of field field phone) but two way radio communications were not yet available. When it was difficult or impossible to string wire necessary for communications over a long area, often carrier pigeons were used. Those pigeons served many purposes during the war as messengers carrying messages and some were even fitted with cameras to take pictures of enemy positions.
World War I ended on a beautiful autumn day on November 11th, 1918. During that year, the brother with whom he was closest finally succombed to tuberculosis after fighting it for almost fifteen years.
Single, with only two sisters and a brother remaining alive, he determined to remain in the military for two additional years, assisting with developing the radio system and developing intelligence systems however, it was during the autumn of November, 1918, after the surrender of Germany he met someone who filled the void of loss of his family.
While serving in Monterey, he would often come home to visit his sister and brother in law, as well as an older brother and his wife and would join his friends at the USO dances. There, he met a woman named Helen. She was fun loving and quite social and offered a balance to his quiet, gentle, thoughtful personality. Lively and vivacious, she was balanced by his quiet and somewhat shy manner and his logic and sensible ways stabilized her occasional recklessness and impulsivity. Occasionally, she suffered from doubts and indecision which were quickly eliminated by his positive and upbeat manner, coupled with an ability to be firm, but loving. They were a lovely match and very much in love.
He and his friends socialized with the young women and in 1920, he and Helen married, after he was discharged from the military and went back to work for Pacific Bell Telephone. Often they would spend time at a small cabin that he and several friends had constructed at the Arroyo Seco.
They planned to buy a farm where they intended to raise their children, however could not afford the suitable land they desired with the amount they had to pay. They did manage, however, to be able to purchase five acres of land outside of Pasadena, California where an existing orange grove set. Unable to afford a large home, they purchased a "kit home" Craftsman house from Sears which was one bedroom, a living room with a stone fireplace, a bright yellow kitchen, a small bathroom and a screened porch.
During the next ten years, Harry watched as the remaining members of his family died of tuberculosis and lung ailments and experienced the pain and grief of the loss of their first born. His eldest brother died two years after Harry came home and his eldest sister died immediately after. Much of the the early days of their marriage was spent traveling to tuberculosis sanitariums to visit them or to hospitals to care for his wife who had fallen ill with their child.
Within the next ten years, the rest of his siblings would pass away, suffering from lung ailments and tuberculosis. By 1940, Harry was the only sibling within his family to survive, the rest dying young as a result of the remnants of the sacrifices of his father during the Civil War.
To complicate matters, when Harry returned home, he was asked to show proof of identification as a United States citizen or face deportation as government immigation officials suspected he was Hispanic. A handsome man, Harry had beautiful olive skin, black hair and hazel eyes. His speech was clipped and often he spoke in fluent Spanish to individuals in his town which they believe may have raised the concerns of the local postmaster who had heard Harry had come to the U.S., just prior to World War I, from Mexico and who was completing the census, being required in 1930 to list Mexicans as Mexican, rather than white.
In part, that was true...however no amount of explanation could convince the government he had a legal birth right, despite the fact he had served in the U.S. Army during World War I.
To proof his birthright as a citizen, he had to order his father's Civil War records. For months, the family feared he would be deported to Mexico. When the records did arrive and were accepted by the U.S. Government, the family was very relieved and were able to laugh about it years later.
The family remained in the little bungalow for the rest of Harry's life, though he had planned and dreamed of building a larger "hacienda" where the children would have their own bedrooms and wouldn't sleep on a porch. That dream would never become a reality.
In the early 1940s, Harry became ill with stomach cancer which dashed his dreams of building a larger home. He had beat tuberculosis which had taken his entire family however was vulnerable to the long termed exposure to high voltage wires which they believe caused the cancer. He prepared for his death, spending time with his children and making certain the family was provided for, as well as the education of his children.
Harry died in the spring of 1944. Like his father had left him at the age of thirteen, he had left his own son, aged thirteen, behind.
Harry had continued the legacy of his father and his father and his father and his father....of a love of his country and in instilling values to his children.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Saturday, January 13, 2007
David's Legacy
During the year 1839, in newly pioneered Columbus, Ohio, David was born as the first son to Moses, a carpenter and Sarah, his young wife. Shortly thereafter, the young pioneers hitched a wagon and headed west with the infant. They had little money but high hopes of starting a farm from the rugged Iowa forests. Hopes diminished quickly as the land was rough, the weather harsh and Sarah didn't survive through the first winter.
Left alone with a child to care for, Moses remarried and he his wife and child moved to Missouri, then later to Wisconsin. The marriage was a poor match and Moses found the necessity to board young David out with with a Scandinavian family. Owning a farm and having a child two years younger he felt would give him more of a settled life while he attempted to try to succeed in the difficult and rugged west.
It was there he learned to till fields, to farm and how to log within the Wisconsin wilderness as well as grow as part of a family. Several years later, after the remarriage of his father to a woman who lived in a small Illinois home, his father sent for him and David left the small farm he loved to live with him. Though reconciled with a father he had hardly known through his childhood, his heart longed to be back in Wisconsin where he had spent the best and most stable part of his childhood. At seventeen, upon completing his education, he returned to Wisconsin and worked within the logging camps.
The son of a Congregational abolitionist, David developed a strong belief and conviction in the values of the Congregational Church and had acquired not only a good work ethic but a sense of duty. Though tall and slim in build, he was adventurous and not afraid of a hard days work. He had been raised on the stories passed down through the generations of the strength of his great grandfather Asa and the strong, silent efforts, which had lead to success of his grandfather, Aaron.
In 1861, David heard the call from Abraham Lincoln for troops to preserve the Union. He immediately answered and enlisted in the 13th United States Infantry which was was organized by direction of the President, May 14, 1861 and confirmed by an Act of Congress on July 19, 1861.
Headquarters were established at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., where Companies A, B. C and G of the 1st Battalion were organized. The field officers were Colonel Wm. T. Sherman, Lieutenant Colonel Sidney Burbank, and Majors C. C. Augur, S. W. Crawford, and Charles Hill. Moses went to train in Missouri. His first duty station was there until the 12th of February, 1863 when the units of that regiment were removed to Alton, Ill., to guard the rebel prisoners confined in the prison. While at Alton Prison, he contracted tuberculosis, which would affect him the rest of his life, as well as would be passed down through his generations of children.
Despite his illness, David resolved to remain with the 13th United States Infantry, though it would come and go during the next three years. Sharing the sentiments of other soldiers of the 13th U.S. Infantry were not fond of their assignment, he joined their cry to get into the field, to participate in actual engagements against the enemy. The soldiers received their wish for on the 4th of September, 1862, the First Battalion left Alton by train for Newport, Ky. In October it was transferred to Memphis, Tennessee and in December embarked on the Flagboat Forest Queen with the expedition against Vicksburg under the command of Major General Wm. T. Sherman. The journey took six days until they stopped on the banks of the Yazoo River about thirteen miles from its mouth. Soldiers were ordered to the front engaged the enemy on the banks of the Chickasaw Bayou, five miles from Vicksburg. The fighting lasted from dawn until after dark. Eleven were wounded.
The weather was cold and rainy and often they marched and slept in the rain, in freezing swamps without cover, while engaging the enemy. Conditions were difficult but the forces persevered. David, specifically, armed with the knowledge and strength provided from those who came before him, knowing how to survive in a world that was difficult and in adverse situations. Though he continually got ill, he continued to stand up and march on. He believed in his cause.
The troops returned to Young's Point at the end of which where they remained in camp for approximately one month when they joined the 2d Division of Sherman's Corps to Haynes' Bluff, Mississippi where they engaged the enemy, returning home a few days later but only to leave the next day for Milliken's Bend, Louisiana where on the 6th of May, they joined General Grant's forces in Mississippi, marching to Champion Hills and on the 15th of May taking part in one of the most compelling and heroic battles of the Civil War. Orderly Sergeant Levi of Company C wrote the following:
"...The order was given to charge. In an instant our brave boys moved over the hill at the double quick through a most deadly cross fire of grape, canister shot, and shell but we heeded it not....
"As we were crossing a deep ravine we received a most terrible cross fire, the balls coming like a dense hail storm. It was here that Captain Washington fell mortally wounded while cheering on his men. Here, too, fell our brave Color Sergeant, Sergeant James E. Brown of Howard County; he fell dead pierced by a ball through the head. No sooner had he fallen than the colors were hoisted by another who met with the same fate, until five different men were either killed or wounded with the colors. The fire at this moment being so terrible our men almost began to falter, but thank God they did not fall back an inch, but pressed forward to within 50 yards of the fort; here they had to take shelter behind fallen trees and stumps, to keep from being annihilated. We were now under fire from our own batteries, and infantry in our rear. But ten of our men got to the fort in safety, and I was one of that number; our ten men could do nothing in such a place as this. While lying in the ditch that surrounds the fort, I expected every minute would be our last. The fire from our own men behind us was so terrible, that we dared not move for fear of being shot by them. Here we lay with our bayonets fixed and our guns at a ready expecting that the rebels would discover our retreat and raise up over their breastworks to shoot us. But fortunately for us they did not see us. We remained here until sundown when we made good our exit from our almost living grave. Had we remained there until dark we would have been taken prisoners. We now returned to our regiment, which was lying on the side of the hill and at dark made our way off the battle field as best we could."
When the troops returned to camp, Sherman came out and took an assessment. He was in despair with the losses and the wounds. But it didn't stop the troops. On July 4th, 1863, they were part of the U.S. forces who stood quietly and reverently, watching as the Confederate forces surrendered and exited Vicksburg, stacking their arms.
David was assigned as a First Sergeant. He supervised several sergeants and scores of men who were engaged as the professional soldiers of the U.S. forces and which were looked upon and revered by tens of thousands of volunteers. The U.S. Infantry had a reputation of courage and strength, lead by a man they adored and called "Uncle Billy," William Tecumseh Sherman. They would have followed him into Hell, which they eventually did, in order to acheive freedom for the black population of America and to keep America united as one people, under one government. And, they were known as "Uncle Billy's Boys."
During the summer, General Sherman's son, who was visiting at camp was especially popular with the troops. He tagged along behind them, slept in their tents and the young child was obsessed with military life, loving to pretend he was a soldier. On the day he was to leave for home, after visiting his father, he came down with a fever, one of the diseases that affected the soldiers. It took his life and devastated his father.
The troops grieved with the General, viewing his loss to be one of their own. They supported him during his time of despair and he viewed them as members of family, offering to open his home to them in time of need, at any time. It was especially difficult for David, who served as staff, on occasion, to the General and who had the utmost in loyalty toward him.
Following that battle and that situation, the battalion left Camp Sherman September 27, 1863, for Memphis, Tenn., where it arrived October 3. When the train bewaring the battalion arrived at Collierville, Tenn. (being en route from Memphis to Chattanooga), the battalion commander, Captain C. G. Smith, was informed that an attack was about to be made on the forces stationed there (66th Indiana Volunteers). He immediately ordered the battalion off the cars and formed in line of battle on the road, with two companies deployed on the right and left as skirmishers. When scarcely in position the battalion was attacked by a force of 3150 men commanded by the rebel General Chalmers. A battery of five pieces of artillery opened upon them with grape and solid shot, and the battalion, having no support against artillery at such long range, withdrew to the railroad cut, except the skirmishers, who fell back gradually, having maintained their position for about an hour and a half. The enemy opened a flank fire on the left, and the battalion had therefore to retreat to the rifle pits where the 66th Indiana had been driven, the enemy pursued with overpowering numbers.
Seeing the enemy taking possession of the train and setting fire to it, Lieutenant Griffin with about forty men was ordered if possible to drive the enemy off, put out the fire, and push the train up under cover of the fort. This duty was accomplished in the most brave and gallant manner, whereby the battalion sustained the reputation it had already gained in former engagements. The casualties attending this fight were 15 men killed and 27 wounded.
David's time of enlistment was coming to an end. With one final engagement at Missionary Ridge, he realized he didn't have the stamina to continue. In lieu of reenlisting, he was given a position as a police officer in Memphis Tennessee for a short while and then went home to Illinois to marry and purchase a farm. He always remained in contact with General Sherman and members of the 13th, throughout his life, proud of his contributions to the freedom of those who weren't allowed freedom within a free society.
The escalating recurrances of the diseases he contracted while fighting in the Civil War made it difficult for him to farm, for on many days he didn't have the stamina to continue. Despite being wounded twice (though continuing to fight in the battle at the Big Black River and again at Champion Hills) contracting tuberculosis AND malarial fever which affected his liver, he continued on, finding a way to adjust to his disabilities and become a success for himself and his family.
He moved to Olathe, Kansas, a booming town on the Santa Fe Trail where he opened a hardware store and started a coal distribution business. He started the first telephone company in that town, using his children as employees. The sons would repair the lines and deliver messages, his daughters would operate the switchboard. He was a member of the local Congregational Church and took in orphans into his home.
By 1890, David was quite ill and it was difficult for him to exist in the cold Kansas environment. He traveled to Chicago for a reunion with the 13th U.S. Infantry and General Sherman. There, it was noted there were very few of the men left who had fought alongside of him, most departing this world, due to injury or disease at a young age. Perhaps it was a time of resolution for him for within a few months later, he received word that General Sherman had died. He attended the funeral, whereupon the remaining members of the 13th U.S. Infantry escorted the General to his final resting place in St. Louis, Missourri and shortly thereafter, applied for a pension for his own disabilities and left Olathe and most of his married and older children behind, only affording to take his wife and their youngest child.
David moved west. first settling for a very short time in Las Vegas, New Mexico, then to the warmer climates of Phoenix. Finally, they settled in Southern California, where the warm, misty air allowed him an opportunity to breathe.
Like his great, great grandfather, Asa, David was infirm after serving long periods of time in battle and was poor, living off a paltry pension. Though he survived longer than those in his unit, he died in 1901, at the age of sixty -years old, from tuberculosis. Within twenty two years of his death, his remaining children and his wife, would all die from the disease, except for his youngest son, Harry, and one of his daughters and like Asa, left his family with a total estate equating to fifty dollars and the legacy of strength, a hard work ethic, freedom and love of country.
Left alone with a child to care for, Moses remarried and he his wife and child moved to Missouri, then later to Wisconsin. The marriage was a poor match and Moses found the necessity to board young David out with with a Scandinavian family. Owning a farm and having a child two years younger he felt would give him more of a settled life while he attempted to try to succeed in the difficult and rugged west.
It was there he learned to till fields, to farm and how to log within the Wisconsin wilderness as well as grow as part of a family. Several years later, after the remarriage of his father to a woman who lived in a small Illinois home, his father sent for him and David left the small farm he loved to live with him. Though reconciled with a father he had hardly known through his childhood, his heart longed to be back in Wisconsin where he had spent the best and most stable part of his childhood. At seventeen, upon completing his education, he returned to Wisconsin and worked within the logging camps.
The son of a Congregational abolitionist, David developed a strong belief and conviction in the values of the Congregational Church and had acquired not only a good work ethic but a sense of duty. Though tall and slim in build, he was adventurous and not afraid of a hard days work. He had been raised on the stories passed down through the generations of the strength of his great grandfather Asa and the strong, silent efforts, which had lead to success of his grandfather, Aaron.
In 1861, David heard the call from Abraham Lincoln for troops to preserve the Union. He immediately answered and enlisted in the 13th United States Infantry which was was organized by direction of the President, May 14, 1861 and confirmed by an Act of Congress on July 19, 1861.
Headquarters were established at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., where Companies A, B. C and G of the 1st Battalion were organized. The field officers were Colonel Wm. T. Sherman, Lieutenant Colonel Sidney Burbank, and Majors C. C. Augur, S. W. Crawford, and Charles Hill. Moses went to train in Missouri. His first duty station was there until the 12th of February, 1863 when the units of that regiment were removed to Alton, Ill., to guard the rebel prisoners confined in the prison. While at Alton Prison, he contracted tuberculosis, which would affect him the rest of his life, as well as would be passed down through his generations of children.
Despite his illness, David resolved to remain with the 13th United States Infantry, though it would come and go during the next three years. Sharing the sentiments of other soldiers of the 13th U.S. Infantry were not fond of their assignment, he joined their cry to get into the field, to participate in actual engagements against the enemy. The soldiers received their wish for on the 4th of September, 1862, the First Battalion left Alton by train for Newport, Ky. In October it was transferred to Memphis, Tennessee and in December embarked on the Flagboat Forest Queen with the expedition against Vicksburg under the command of Major General Wm. T. Sherman. The journey took six days until they stopped on the banks of the Yazoo River about thirteen miles from its mouth. Soldiers were ordered to the front engaged the enemy on the banks of the Chickasaw Bayou, five miles from Vicksburg. The fighting lasted from dawn until after dark. Eleven were wounded.
The weather was cold and rainy and often they marched and slept in the rain, in freezing swamps without cover, while engaging the enemy. Conditions were difficult but the forces persevered. David, specifically, armed with the knowledge and strength provided from those who came before him, knowing how to survive in a world that was difficult and in adverse situations. Though he continually got ill, he continued to stand up and march on. He believed in his cause.
The troops returned to Young's Point at the end of which where they remained in camp for approximately one month when they joined the 2d Division of Sherman's Corps to Haynes' Bluff, Mississippi where they engaged the enemy, returning home a few days later but only to leave the next day for Milliken's Bend, Louisiana where on the 6th of May, they joined General Grant's forces in Mississippi, marching to Champion Hills and on the 15th of May taking part in one of the most compelling and heroic battles of the Civil War. Orderly Sergeant Levi of Company C wrote the following:
"...The order was given to charge. In an instant our brave boys moved over the hill at the double quick through a most deadly cross fire of grape, canister shot, and shell but we heeded it not....
"As we were crossing a deep ravine we received a most terrible cross fire, the balls coming like a dense hail storm. It was here that Captain Washington fell mortally wounded while cheering on his men. Here, too, fell our brave Color Sergeant, Sergeant James E. Brown of Howard County; he fell dead pierced by a ball through the head. No sooner had he fallen than the colors were hoisted by another who met with the same fate, until five different men were either killed or wounded with the colors. The fire at this moment being so terrible our men almost began to falter, but thank God they did not fall back an inch, but pressed forward to within 50 yards of the fort; here they had to take shelter behind fallen trees and stumps, to keep from being annihilated. We were now under fire from our own batteries, and infantry in our rear. But ten of our men got to the fort in safety, and I was one of that number; our ten men could do nothing in such a place as this. While lying in the ditch that surrounds the fort, I expected every minute would be our last. The fire from our own men behind us was so terrible, that we dared not move for fear of being shot by them. Here we lay with our bayonets fixed and our guns at a ready expecting that the rebels would discover our retreat and raise up over their breastworks to shoot us. But fortunately for us they did not see us. We remained here until sundown when we made good our exit from our almost living grave. Had we remained there until dark we would have been taken prisoners. We now returned to our regiment, which was lying on the side of the hill and at dark made our way off the battle field as best we could."
When the troops returned to camp, Sherman came out and took an assessment. He was in despair with the losses and the wounds. But it didn't stop the troops. On July 4th, 1863, they were part of the U.S. forces who stood quietly and reverently, watching as the Confederate forces surrendered and exited Vicksburg, stacking their arms.
David was assigned as a First Sergeant. He supervised several sergeants and scores of men who were engaged as the professional soldiers of the U.S. forces and which were looked upon and revered by tens of thousands of volunteers. The U.S. Infantry had a reputation of courage and strength, lead by a man they adored and called "Uncle Billy," William Tecumseh Sherman. They would have followed him into Hell, which they eventually did, in order to acheive freedom for the black population of America and to keep America united as one people, under one government. And, they were known as "Uncle Billy's Boys."
During the summer, General Sherman's son, who was visiting at camp was especially popular with the troops. He tagged along behind them, slept in their tents and the young child was obsessed with military life, loving to pretend he was a soldier. On the day he was to leave for home, after visiting his father, he came down with a fever, one of the diseases that affected the soldiers. It took his life and devastated his father.
The troops grieved with the General, viewing his loss to be one of their own. They supported him during his time of despair and he viewed them as members of family, offering to open his home to them in time of need, at any time. It was especially difficult for David, who served as staff, on occasion, to the General and who had the utmost in loyalty toward him.
Following that battle and that situation, the battalion left Camp Sherman September 27, 1863, for Memphis, Tenn., where it arrived October 3. When the train bewaring the battalion arrived at Collierville, Tenn. (being en route from Memphis to Chattanooga), the battalion commander, Captain C. G. Smith, was informed that an attack was about to be made on the forces stationed there (66th Indiana Volunteers). He immediately ordered the battalion off the cars and formed in line of battle on the road, with two companies deployed on the right and left as skirmishers. When scarcely in position the battalion was attacked by a force of 3150 men commanded by the rebel General Chalmers. A battery of five pieces of artillery opened upon them with grape and solid shot, and the battalion, having no support against artillery at such long range, withdrew to the railroad cut, except the skirmishers, who fell back gradually, having maintained their position for about an hour and a half. The enemy opened a flank fire on the left, and the battalion had therefore to retreat to the rifle pits where the 66th Indiana had been driven, the enemy pursued with overpowering numbers.
Seeing the enemy taking possession of the train and setting fire to it, Lieutenant Griffin with about forty men was ordered if possible to drive the enemy off, put out the fire, and push the train up under cover of the fort. This duty was accomplished in the most brave and gallant manner, whereby the battalion sustained the reputation it had already gained in former engagements. The casualties attending this fight were 15 men killed and 27 wounded.
David's time of enlistment was coming to an end. With one final engagement at Missionary Ridge, he realized he didn't have the stamina to continue. In lieu of reenlisting, he was given a position as a police officer in Memphis Tennessee for a short while and then went home to Illinois to marry and purchase a farm. He always remained in contact with General Sherman and members of the 13th, throughout his life, proud of his contributions to the freedom of those who weren't allowed freedom within a free society.
The escalating recurrances of the diseases he contracted while fighting in the Civil War made it difficult for him to farm, for on many days he didn't have the stamina to continue. Despite being wounded twice (though continuing to fight in the battle at the Big Black River and again at Champion Hills) contracting tuberculosis AND malarial fever which affected his liver, he continued on, finding a way to adjust to his disabilities and become a success for himself and his family.
He moved to Olathe, Kansas, a booming town on the Santa Fe Trail where he opened a hardware store and started a coal distribution business. He started the first telephone company in that town, using his children as employees. The sons would repair the lines and deliver messages, his daughters would operate the switchboard. He was a member of the local Congregational Church and took in orphans into his home.
By 1890, David was quite ill and it was difficult for him to exist in the cold Kansas environment. He traveled to Chicago for a reunion with the 13th U.S. Infantry and General Sherman. There, it was noted there were very few of the men left who had fought alongside of him, most departing this world, due to injury or disease at a young age. Perhaps it was a time of resolution for him for within a few months later, he received word that General Sherman had died. He attended the funeral, whereupon the remaining members of the 13th U.S. Infantry escorted the General to his final resting place in St. Louis, Missourri and shortly thereafter, applied for a pension for his own disabilities and left Olathe and most of his married and older children behind, only affording to take his wife and their youngest child.
David moved west. first settling for a very short time in Las Vegas, New Mexico, then to the warmer climates of Phoenix. Finally, they settled in Southern California, where the warm, misty air allowed him an opportunity to breathe.
Like his great, great grandfather, Asa, David was infirm after serving long periods of time in battle and was poor, living off a paltry pension. Though he survived longer than those in his unit, he died in 1901, at the age of sixty -years old, from tuberculosis. Within twenty two years of his death, his remaining children and his wife, would all die from the disease, except for his youngest son, Harry, and one of his daughters and like Asa, left his family with a total estate equating to fifty dollars and the legacy of strength, a hard work ethic, freedom and love of country.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Moses' Legacy
The winter of 1816 was not only one of the coldest in the history of the State of Maine but the U.S. Bank lead to a panic and an economic depression had ensued, putting many people in the small community where Moses was born, into bancruptcy. It was a time of crisis and despair when Moses came into this world as the fifth child, the second to survive, and the first son born to his father, Aaron.
During that time, Aaron had been fortunate he did not own a business, like some of the more powerful families around him whose lives and fortunes crumbled in a matter of days. He was a common farmer, with an apple orchard and land which set upon the banks of the Kennebec. He had the resources that could sustain and feed his family during difficult times and he had learned from his father how to face adversity, which like many of his time had also experienced it as a child.
Feeling compassion for his less fortunate neighbors, the manwho was listed on the censuses as a "free man of color" was able to employ them to assist him in developing his own special, hearty breed of Durham cattle which had become quite popular throughout the state. Though not wealthy in his own right, he felt a responsibility toward charity and together he and others assisted the least fortunate in the community in surviving.
Aaron's eldest son learned to hunt and fish, as well as farm. His mother, a woman of stature with her Pilgrim heritage insisted on manners, presenting one's self in a dignified manner and to not only be educated but to value education.
Days were long, with morning chores prior to going to school, long days at school and then evening chores at home. His father instilled a strong work ethic within his children, as well as a strong sense of social consciousness.
Maine was set far north above the Mason Dixon line. South of that line slavery was a very strong institution. Enroute to Canada, runaway slaves often fled and through his small community, only to be pursued by bounty hunters who were not discrimant in whom they apprehended and took to the South, into bondage.
Fortunately, Aaron and his family were insulated from the cruel, criminal acts of the bounty hunters by a compassionate group of neighbors who viewed them, despite their color, as peers and valuable members of the community. Despite this, Aaron felt the chill which was sweeping through the nation as debates regarding slavery were echoing through the newly found nation. The spirited and often heated and violent debate, fueled by new found and publicly vocal abolitionists instilled fear for his children's future should slavery prevail. Despite his love and desire to have his children remain at home, he knew he had to raise them to be independent and to find their own way into the world, to a place where they could begin their lives, not as men of color, but simply men of character. He taught them to survive, not only within the safe confines of the Maine community, but within the world beyond.
Thus, at the age of eighteen, Moses left home, armed with a handwritten family history which had lovingly prepared by his mother, a Bible given him by his father and a small sack of his belongings. He headed to Massachusetts where slavery had been outlawed in 1783, at the end of the Revolutionary War. There, he attended an apprentice to learn to be a carpenter.
By the age of twenty, upon completing his apprenticeship, Moses traveled to Columbus, Ohio, which was a boom town for carpenters with experience in constructing homes. In 1838, at the age of twenty, he met and married a young woman who was orphaned at a young age and had been placed into guardianship. After aquiring enough money to buy property, they set out with their infant child, David, to pioneer and settle in the frontier of Iowa.
Like his father who had settled the frontier of Maine and his grandfathers who had settled the frontier of Masschusetts, times were difficult, though Moses had been prepared for this, knowing the stories of their trials and armed with the skills which he had been taught by his own father.
The first year was wretched, a time of grueling toil and hardship, both indoors and out. Fields had to be created from a thick wilderness for the next year's crop, rails split and fences built, to keep out wild game and other folk's stock, which all ran at large. The ground, after being grubbed and cleared, was plowed with four yoke teams, with large plow attached to the front wheels of a wagon. No machinery was at hand, as is available today, to prepare the ground for the seed, which entailed much hard hand labor. To make rows for planting the corn, the fields were marked both ways, with a single shovel plow, the corn being dropped in the intersections, and covered with a hoe. Later a "skip jack' was used for covering purposes. Men planted corn in tough sod, using a long handled hatchet to chop a hole into the soil, and dropping the corn into the hole, covering it with his foot.
Trading and buying was in a primitive state. Money was scarce, so settlers had to trade something they had produced for additional food and clothing. Markets were far distant, entailing long trips to trading points, with much exposure in bad weather. Most of the clothing was hand made in the homes. The wool, as it came from the sheep, was scoured, dried, picked and made into rolls, by the ladies of the family, ready for the spinning wheel. When spun into yarn, it was warped and woven into cloth, on the hand looms, and made into clothing for the various members of the family. Flax was raised, rotted, broken, scrunched, releasing the fiber, which was converted into thread on the little spinning wheel, and made into summer clothing. All the wives and daughters knew how to perform all these operations. Just how they could find time for it all, I do not know, but they did and children were always warmly clothed, albeit not clad in what you might call fancy garments.
The winters were grueling and his wife didn't survive the first. He was left alone within a strange place, with a child he had to care for. The cost of receipt of a letter was twenty five cents, a luxury to be able to afford. Many settlers asked their families back east not to write, as they couldn't afford the cost.
His neighbors were not better off. One of the first the funeral processions in his community was on horseback, due to the conditions of the road. A farmer lost a little child. There were but two people in the procession, the father-in-law, with the tiny homemade casket carried on his horse, and the father following. No one was in the cemetery to assist them. Iowa was a frontier that wasn't established and each was left on their own to fend for themselves.
Around 1845, he moved to Platte County, Missouri with a new wife and his child. There, he worked as a Sheriff for a while and witnessed the outright violence and discrimination against those of color. Not able to adjust to the mindset of those in Missouri, he headed to Wisconsin to work in the logging camps.
To add to his difficulties in surviving, his marriage with his wife did not work out. He was left with a young son and the demands of twelve to sixteen hour days in the Wisconsin wilderness. Feeling the camps were too rugged for his son, who he felt needed stability, he boarded him with a family on a Wisconsin farm while he tried to save enough to make a good life for him.
In 1851, he moved to Illinois, where he was able to purchase a home in a small town which was located at the site of a proposed railway. There, he was able to make a living building homes. He met a woman who, like his own family, was a staunch Congregationalist. Together, they started the first Congregational Church in that community with individuals who were abolitionists.
Moses became a Deacon and a central figure within the Church. Meetings were held at his home, on the upper floor, which also served as a school for his community. With his own hands, he built a new church for the community. He also was involved with a reunion with old friends from Maine who had also moved to Illinois and they shared a common interest.
Most of the most radical abolitionists of that time, within Illinois, had come from Moses' small community in Maine. He had grown up with them and worked with them side by side, in school and within the fields. His father, during a difficult time, had keep those families suriving and the community together. And the children of those families had also learned from their parents, as Moses' generations of fathers had, that each generation was to rise higher than the next. One of those sons, a staunch abolitionist and a publisher had been murdered by slavery advocates in Illinois. Another had become a state senator within Illinois.
Moses worked with the underground railroad in assisting fleeing slaves get to Canada and up North, as well as stood firm in his beliefs against slavery. While Abraham Lincoln was getting recognized as a circuit lawyer and a politician, he often visited Moses' church and was hosted by the family.
Moses was a staunch Republican, standing behind Lincoln. He watched his only son enlist in the 13th United States Infantry, to fight with General Sherman in Mississippi and worked to support the troops and the cause against slavery. After slavery was abolished and his city was urbanized, he and his wife moved for a short time to Olathe, Kansas, where his son had married and was living, then onward to pioneer the Oregon frontier.
At the age of eighty-two, he was listed on the Oregon census as a "logger" still working and owning a home with his wife. In 1901, his son died young, as a result of a long, ongoing disease he had contracted while fighting in the Civil War. Within three months of his death, Moses, himself passed away, to join his son.
Moses made a difference in the world and within our country, as we know it today. He made sacrifices not only to continue generations into this country, but to better the conditions of his fellow country men and a democracy that recognizes all men as being equal. He stood tall and firm in his convictions and faced adversity at its face. Moses' legacy was his leadership to a community, his strength in standing up for his beliefs despite the dangers involved and raising a child that would pass those values down through the generations. Moses helped bring freedom to those who were not free.
During that time, Aaron had been fortunate he did not own a business, like some of the more powerful families around him whose lives and fortunes crumbled in a matter of days. He was a common farmer, with an apple orchard and land which set upon the banks of the Kennebec. He had the resources that could sustain and feed his family during difficult times and he had learned from his father how to face adversity, which like many of his time had also experienced it as a child.
Feeling compassion for his less fortunate neighbors, the manwho was listed on the censuses as a "free man of color" was able to employ them to assist him in developing his own special, hearty breed of Durham cattle which had become quite popular throughout the state. Though not wealthy in his own right, he felt a responsibility toward charity and together he and others assisted the least fortunate in the community in surviving.
Aaron's eldest son learned to hunt and fish, as well as farm. His mother, a woman of stature with her Pilgrim heritage insisted on manners, presenting one's self in a dignified manner and to not only be educated but to value education.
Days were long, with morning chores prior to going to school, long days at school and then evening chores at home. His father instilled a strong work ethic within his children, as well as a strong sense of social consciousness.
Maine was set far north above the Mason Dixon line. South of that line slavery was a very strong institution. Enroute to Canada, runaway slaves often fled and through his small community, only to be pursued by bounty hunters who were not discrimant in whom they apprehended and took to the South, into bondage.
Fortunately, Aaron and his family were insulated from the cruel, criminal acts of the bounty hunters by a compassionate group of neighbors who viewed them, despite their color, as peers and valuable members of the community. Despite this, Aaron felt the chill which was sweeping through the nation as debates regarding slavery were echoing through the newly found nation. The spirited and often heated and violent debate, fueled by new found and publicly vocal abolitionists instilled fear for his children's future should slavery prevail. Despite his love and desire to have his children remain at home, he knew he had to raise them to be independent and to find their own way into the world, to a place where they could begin their lives, not as men of color, but simply men of character. He taught them to survive, not only within the safe confines of the Maine community, but within the world beyond.
Thus, at the age of eighteen, Moses left home, armed with a handwritten family history which had lovingly prepared by his mother, a Bible given him by his father and a small sack of his belongings. He headed to Massachusetts where slavery had been outlawed in 1783, at the end of the Revolutionary War. There, he attended an apprentice to learn to be a carpenter.
By the age of twenty, upon completing his apprenticeship, Moses traveled to Columbus, Ohio, which was a boom town for carpenters with experience in constructing homes. In 1838, at the age of twenty, he met and married a young woman who was orphaned at a young age and had been placed into guardianship. After aquiring enough money to buy property, they set out with their infant child, David, to pioneer and settle in the frontier of Iowa.
Like his father who had settled the frontier of Maine and his grandfathers who had settled the frontier of Masschusetts, times were difficult, though Moses had been prepared for this, knowing the stories of their trials and armed with the skills which he had been taught by his own father.
The first year was wretched, a time of grueling toil and hardship, both indoors and out. Fields had to be created from a thick wilderness for the next year's crop, rails split and fences built, to keep out wild game and other folk's stock, which all ran at large. The ground, after being grubbed and cleared, was plowed with four yoke teams, with large plow attached to the front wheels of a wagon. No machinery was at hand, as is available today, to prepare the ground for the seed, which entailed much hard hand labor. To make rows for planting the corn, the fields were marked both ways, with a single shovel plow, the corn being dropped in the intersections, and covered with a hoe. Later a "skip jack' was used for covering purposes. Men planted corn in tough sod, using a long handled hatchet to chop a hole into the soil, and dropping the corn into the hole, covering it with his foot.
Trading and buying was in a primitive state. Money was scarce, so settlers had to trade something they had produced for additional food and clothing. Markets were far distant, entailing long trips to trading points, with much exposure in bad weather. Most of the clothing was hand made in the homes. The wool, as it came from the sheep, was scoured, dried, picked and made into rolls, by the ladies of the family, ready for the spinning wheel. When spun into yarn, it was warped and woven into cloth, on the hand looms, and made into clothing for the various members of the family. Flax was raised, rotted, broken, scrunched, releasing the fiber, which was converted into thread on the little spinning wheel, and made into summer clothing. All the wives and daughters knew how to perform all these operations. Just how they could find time for it all, I do not know, but they did and children were always warmly clothed, albeit not clad in what you might call fancy garments.
The winters were grueling and his wife didn't survive the first. He was left alone within a strange place, with a child he had to care for. The cost of receipt of a letter was twenty five cents, a luxury to be able to afford. Many settlers asked their families back east not to write, as they couldn't afford the cost.
His neighbors were not better off. One of the first the funeral processions in his community was on horseback, due to the conditions of the road. A farmer lost a little child. There were but two people in the procession, the father-in-law, with the tiny homemade casket carried on his horse, and the father following. No one was in the cemetery to assist them. Iowa was a frontier that wasn't established and each was left on their own to fend for themselves.
Around 1845, he moved to Platte County, Missouri with a new wife and his child. There, he worked as a Sheriff for a while and witnessed the outright violence and discrimination against those of color. Not able to adjust to the mindset of those in Missouri, he headed to Wisconsin to work in the logging camps.
To add to his difficulties in surviving, his marriage with his wife did not work out. He was left with a young son and the demands of twelve to sixteen hour days in the Wisconsin wilderness. Feeling the camps were too rugged for his son, who he felt needed stability, he boarded him with a family on a Wisconsin farm while he tried to save enough to make a good life for him.
In 1851, he moved to Illinois, where he was able to purchase a home in a small town which was located at the site of a proposed railway. There, he was able to make a living building homes. He met a woman who, like his own family, was a staunch Congregationalist. Together, they started the first Congregational Church in that community with individuals who were abolitionists.
Moses became a Deacon and a central figure within the Church. Meetings were held at his home, on the upper floor, which also served as a school for his community. With his own hands, he built a new church for the community. He also was involved with a reunion with old friends from Maine who had also moved to Illinois and they shared a common interest.
Most of the most radical abolitionists of that time, within Illinois, had come from Moses' small community in Maine. He had grown up with them and worked with them side by side, in school and within the fields. His father, during a difficult time, had keep those families suriving and the community together. And the children of those families had also learned from their parents, as Moses' generations of fathers had, that each generation was to rise higher than the next. One of those sons, a staunch abolitionist and a publisher had been murdered by slavery advocates in Illinois. Another had become a state senator within Illinois.
Moses worked with the underground railroad in assisting fleeing slaves get to Canada and up North, as well as stood firm in his beliefs against slavery. While Abraham Lincoln was getting recognized as a circuit lawyer and a politician, he often visited Moses' church and was hosted by the family.
Moses was a staunch Republican, standing behind Lincoln. He watched his only son enlist in the 13th United States Infantry, to fight with General Sherman in Mississippi and worked to support the troops and the cause against slavery. After slavery was abolished and his city was urbanized, he and his wife moved for a short time to Olathe, Kansas, where his son had married and was living, then onward to pioneer the Oregon frontier.
At the age of eighty-two, he was listed on the Oregon census as a "logger" still working and owning a home with his wife. In 1901, his son died young, as a result of a long, ongoing disease he had contracted while fighting in the Civil War. Within three months of his death, Moses, himself passed away, to join his son.
Moses made a difference in the world and within our country, as we know it today. He made sacrifices not only to continue generations into this country, but to better the conditions of his fellow country men and a democracy that recognizes all men as being equal. He stood tall and firm in his convictions and faced adversity at its face. Moses' legacy was his leadership to a community, his strength in standing up for his beliefs despite the dangers involved and raising a child that would pass those values down through the generations. Moses helped bring freedom to those who were not free.
Aaron's Legacy
Aaron, the son of Asa, was born in 1788, less than ten miles from where his own father and grandfather had been born and raised. Having endured a war for freedom which had lasted almost eight years and ended only five years earlier, Massachusetts was reeling from the devastation and poverty of financing the heavy cost of independence. Men were flocking home, in search of work and there was little to be found.
Homes were shoddy and in need of maintenance. Disease was rampant and hunger was common. Communities were filled with widows who were desperately trying to solely support families and provide food, shelter and clothing to their children, having been left behind by those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms of our country. Towns were flooded with wounded men, living with life long disabililities of war. Goods were depleted after years of boycotting trade with England and the fishing fleets had been virtually demolished as they were used as a Navy to fight the larger, more power British marine forces. And rebellion was breaking out in some part of the American colonies.
War had been difficult, requiring sacrifice. Developing an independent democracy was far from simple. The United States Constitution had only been passed only months earlier, taking four years for the framers to agree upon what it should state and had not yet taken effect, however there had been in place, a weaker non-centralized Articles of Confederation which was non-binding and put into place in 1777.
Despite the adversity, a spirit existed within the people. A spirit of hope and triumph which offered strength to a budding new nation. This, coupled with pride for and within those those who had sacrificed to insure freedom was insured to those who were formerly oppressed eased the pain and healed wounds. The sweet taste of victory resulting from the resolve not to give up absorbed the weaker emotions of despair and brought hope to a strong people.
Aaron's father was a common laborer, a free man of color, who worked in the fields after spending most of his life as a soldier, first in the British military then in the American Continental Army after he heard the cry for freedom from his long time friends and family members in the Colonies. Freedom was sweet, however there was a tremendous price which was paid. It certainly was not free.
Aaron's childhood was spent alongside his brothers and his fifty year old father, toiling for long days performing backbreaking work within the fields and there was an everconstant search for employment when available. Times were difficult, not only for them but for everyone. Often, there was little food and long treks by foot had to be made in order to obtain firewood to keep the family warm from the biting cold winds which swept through the Massachusetts winters.
Asa believed his children should raise themselves above that of their parents. He made certain his children were educated, able to read and write, learned a good work ethic and had a sense of personal responsibility. Though poor in material possessions, the family was rich in faith and in values, something which Aaron treasured.
By the time Aaron was twelve years old, he and his male siblings were bonded out to local farmers, their income used to assist in supporting the family. There was never a complaint--nor an sense of self entitlement or thought of self. It was simply something that had to be done out of necessity to insure survival for all.
By the time he had reached his teens, Aaron was bonded to a family which had relocated to a farm in a small town in Maine. He lived and worked there for a period of several years and after his mother had died and his father was old and infirm and unable to care for his children. After he was able to establish himself, he was able to acquire the means to support his younger and brothers and sisters who came to live with him. His father chose to remain in the Massachusetts town where he had been born, choosing not to be a burden upon his family and cared for by the community who appreciated his sacrifices to our country.
His family was the only one of color within the small village--mulattos living amongst those with lighter skin. A quiet, nonassuming man, there is little about him written in history with the exception of the stories passed down through the generations. Apparently, there was little controversy or even concern about his color as, through the years, the censuses reflected him no longer as a "free man of color" as had prior censuses, but just prior to 1860, listed as white.
Aaron married a woman who was a direct descendant of the first settlers of Plymouth Rock. She was educated and didn't see the world through a "black - white" axis, but merely saw a man who was honest, hardworking, kind and very intelligent. At that time, it appears there were no characterizations of "black men" or "black women," but merely people who were judged upon their character, not the color of their skin. Everyone sailed in the same boat, within basically the same economic situations and realized they had to rely upon one another in order to survive. Clearly, tolerance of the differences between people prevailed within that small, pioneering community.
Their life though not much different than many many others, was difficult. A succession of children dying at birth or at young ages coupled with the harsh Maine winters and the struggle to develop their lives in the midst of a frontier was far from easy. However they succeeded, buying a farm which set on one of Maine's largest rivers and and eventually becoming one of the first successful breeders of cattle in Maine.
Aaron wanted more for his children than what he had as a child and also carried forward the tradition that his children raise themselves higher than the parents. He made certain each of his children were educated, learned to be independent and carried forward the values which were instilled within him. His was a family of faith, devout Congregationalists, who despite the difference in the color of his skin, were able to not only maintain during difficult times, but assist their neighbors, even employing the once most powerful, who were not able to maintain their businesses during time of depression.
Aaron's attitude and character was displayed and most defined when his youngest son was diagnosed with a lung disorder which the doctor felt may be terminal. He pondered his son's wishes to continue his rigorous studies, despite the doctor's orders. Finally, he came to a decision. "If he has but three years to live, during that time he shall pursue that course that will contribute most to his happiness."
It proved to be one that was very wise. His son grew up to be the first politician of color in the State of Maine and a staunch member of the Republican party. He is remembered most for his honesty and foreright approach in dealing in public matters in education and in local public administration.
Aaron's successes, which later became his legacy were those in being a good parent, guiding his children through adolescence to become responsible adults, leaders in their communities and to be independent in caring for themselves and their families during times of adversity. He carried forward a hard work ethic, a sense of faith, a sense of social consciousness, family loyalty and the tradition of living outside one's self -- of viewing self to be part of an entire family of humanity.
Aaron's legacy were the qualities maintained in his son Charles, the politician, his son, David, who became a Judge and his son, Moses, who became a well known abolitionist and who made sacrifices which lead to positive change in a budding nation and providing values through the centuries which followed.
Homes were shoddy and in need of maintenance. Disease was rampant and hunger was common. Communities were filled with widows who were desperately trying to solely support families and provide food, shelter and clothing to their children, having been left behind by those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms of our country. Towns were flooded with wounded men, living with life long disabililities of war. Goods were depleted after years of boycotting trade with England and the fishing fleets had been virtually demolished as they were used as a Navy to fight the larger, more power British marine forces. And rebellion was breaking out in some part of the American colonies.
War had been difficult, requiring sacrifice. Developing an independent democracy was far from simple. The United States Constitution had only been passed only months earlier, taking four years for the framers to agree upon what it should state and had not yet taken effect, however there had been in place, a weaker non-centralized Articles of Confederation which was non-binding and put into place in 1777.
Despite the adversity, a spirit existed within the people. A spirit of hope and triumph which offered strength to a budding new nation. This, coupled with pride for and within those those who had sacrificed to insure freedom was insured to those who were formerly oppressed eased the pain and healed wounds. The sweet taste of victory resulting from the resolve not to give up absorbed the weaker emotions of despair and brought hope to a strong people.
Aaron's father was a common laborer, a free man of color, who worked in the fields after spending most of his life as a soldier, first in the British military then in the American Continental Army after he heard the cry for freedom from his long time friends and family members in the Colonies. Freedom was sweet, however there was a tremendous price which was paid. It certainly was not free.
Aaron's childhood was spent alongside his brothers and his fifty year old father, toiling for long days performing backbreaking work within the fields and there was an everconstant search for employment when available. Times were difficult, not only for them but for everyone. Often, there was little food and long treks by foot had to be made in order to obtain firewood to keep the family warm from the biting cold winds which swept through the Massachusetts winters.
Asa believed his children should raise themselves above that of their parents. He made certain his children were educated, able to read and write, learned a good work ethic and had a sense of personal responsibility. Though poor in material possessions, the family was rich in faith and in values, something which Aaron treasured.
By the time Aaron was twelve years old, he and his male siblings were bonded out to local farmers, their income used to assist in supporting the family. There was never a complaint--nor an sense of self entitlement or thought of self. It was simply something that had to be done out of necessity to insure survival for all.
By the time he had reached his teens, Aaron was bonded to a family which had relocated to a farm in a small town in Maine. He lived and worked there for a period of several years and after his mother had died and his father was old and infirm and unable to care for his children. After he was able to establish himself, he was able to acquire the means to support his younger and brothers and sisters who came to live with him. His father chose to remain in the Massachusetts town where he had been born, choosing not to be a burden upon his family and cared for by the community who appreciated his sacrifices to our country.
His family was the only one of color within the small village--mulattos living amongst those with lighter skin. A quiet, nonassuming man, there is little about him written in history with the exception of the stories passed down through the generations. Apparently, there was little controversy or even concern about his color as, through the years, the censuses reflected him no longer as a "free man of color" as had prior censuses, but just prior to 1860, listed as white.
Aaron married a woman who was a direct descendant of the first settlers of Plymouth Rock. She was educated and didn't see the world through a "black - white" axis, but merely saw a man who was honest, hardworking, kind and very intelligent. At that time, it appears there were no characterizations of "black men" or "black women," but merely people who were judged upon their character, not the color of their skin. Everyone sailed in the same boat, within basically the same economic situations and realized they had to rely upon one another in order to survive. Clearly, tolerance of the differences between people prevailed within that small, pioneering community.
Their life though not much different than many many others, was difficult. A succession of children dying at birth or at young ages coupled with the harsh Maine winters and the struggle to develop their lives in the midst of a frontier was far from easy. However they succeeded, buying a farm which set on one of Maine's largest rivers and and eventually becoming one of the first successful breeders of cattle in Maine.
Aaron wanted more for his children than what he had as a child and also carried forward the tradition that his children raise themselves higher than the parents. He made certain each of his children were educated, learned to be independent and carried forward the values which were instilled within him. His was a family of faith, devout Congregationalists, who despite the difference in the color of his skin, were able to not only maintain during difficult times, but assist their neighbors, even employing the once most powerful, who were not able to maintain their businesses during time of depression.
Aaron's attitude and character was displayed and most defined when his youngest son was diagnosed with a lung disorder which the doctor felt may be terminal. He pondered his son's wishes to continue his rigorous studies, despite the doctor's orders. Finally, he came to a decision. "If he has but three years to live, during that time he shall pursue that course that will contribute most to his happiness."
It proved to be one that was very wise. His son grew up to be the first politician of color in the State of Maine and a staunch member of the Republican party. He is remembered most for his honesty and foreright approach in dealing in public matters in education and in local public administration.
Aaron's successes, which later became his legacy were those in being a good parent, guiding his children through adolescence to become responsible adults, leaders in their communities and to be independent in caring for themselves and their families during times of adversity. He carried forward a hard work ethic, a sense of faith, a sense of social consciousness, family loyalty and the tradition of living outside one's self -- of viewing self to be part of an entire family of humanity.
Aaron's legacy were the qualities maintained in his son Charles, the politician, his son, David, who became a Judge and his son, Moses, who became a well known abolitionist and who made sacrifices which lead to positive change in a budding nation and providing values through the centuries which followed.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Asa's Legacy
It was a different time for Americans, back in 1738, when our country was young and a strong pioneering people faced obstacles and challenges that would be unimaginable to most of us today.
Conditions were harsh. The hills and plains were covered with vegetation and swamp that needed to be cleared and there was a never ending fear of the unknown--of whether there would be enough food harvested to make it through the winter, enough firewood to warm the body, enough faith to feed the soul and enough strength to fight the predators.
But, it was then and there, that Asa was born--the first son to a common laborer and his young wife, who were documented as being "free persons of color"-- who had been born in this country to parents who had the hope of living free from repression, within a land where they could freely and openly practice their faith.
It was a life lost and a life gained as the sounds of new life entering a world were heard--the newborn wailing in harmony to the quiet sobs of his father, grieving over the lifeless body of his one and only love, the woman who had carried his child into this world.
Asa never learned to read or write but it didn't seem to bother him much, as neither had his lighter skinned friends and neighbors, who lived in the small Massachusetts town where he was born. Most children of that time didn't have the luxury of concentrating on full time educational endeavors or engage in other childish ways as they do today.
But he did learn how to survive in an uncertain world, raised by his father who taught him how to farm, to fish, to hunt, to gather food and how to make a warm fire. He became proficient in tilling and sowing fields and building fences. Developing a strong work ethic, coupled with a strong of loyalty, he acquired attributes that would endure throughout a lifetime. And, by the age of ten, when he found himself orphaned and alone, he knew how to care for himself.
By the age of thirteen and lured by a shining British pound, he joined the British Army. Tall, dark complected and stately, he served as body servants to the military officers and served most of his career within the British Military, stationed in Canada.
Military ways were familiar to him. Afterall, he was with his father, a militia soldier, at Scarborough, Maine. where he served with twelve other men, protecting the colonies and colonists from Indian Attacks during the Colonial Wars.
In 1775, at the age of age of thirty seven, while stationed in Louisbourg, Canada, he heard the whispers of rebellion brewing from within the colonies where he had grown up. A call was put out to all loyal patriots to stand beside their fellow men to fight for the freedom of America.
Desertion from the British military was risky and if caught, deserters were immediately hung. But Asa placed his fears aside and with his cousins, set off for the long walk home. It wasn't long before the British discovered their disappearance and patrols were sent to apprehend them. Asa and his cousins ducked in and out through the thick of the forests to a river, where they clung to the bottom of a bridge while patrols scoured the area, actively seeking them. Cold and weary from dangling in the icy water, they finally crawled out, after the British gave up the futile search, and began the long trek back home to Massachusetts, on foot.
It was a long, dangerous journey, through snow and mud covered swamps and mountains. A confrontation occurred with Indians and one cousin was captured. Finally, in the early summer of 1776, he and his surviving cousin stumbled into Cambridge, Massachusetts, barefoot, ragged and hungry--and straight into the arms of his friends, with whom he maintained a lifelong relationship.
Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson had written the words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." which echoed strong and clear throughout the colonies.
I suspect those words meant more to Asa and other persons of color, who lived within the colonies, such as Revolutionary War Hero, Salem Poor, Peter Salem and countless others, than it meant to others for they immediately joined their fellow neighbors and fought side by side with the local militas against the British. However, shortly thereafter, George Washington took command of the American forces and disallowed the black soldiers the opportunity to formally enlist.
Finally, in February of 1777, Washington rescinded his order and Asa immediately enlisted within the 6th Massachusetts Regiment. From that time, until June of 1783, when the troops were released after the British surrendered, he served as one of the longest serving soldiers during the Revolutionary War.
Service wasn't easy and conditions were difficult. Soldiers had to walk from Essex County, Massachusetts to West Point, New York several times a year to report to duty. The military often didn't have enough food to feed the troops or enough clothing to keep them warm. But they never lost sight of their final objective, despite the difficulties.
Asa served alongside General Putnam, as his body servant. Putnam was familiar with Asa, having grown up with his father, when his father was a child and the General and the Body Servant were fiercely loyal toward one another. Asa continued to serve under him until December of 1779, when the General suffered a stroke.
He fought in the battle of Saratoga, on the outskirts of New York City and was at Cherry Valley, New York during the ugliest and bloodiest battle of the war, in which many in his unit were slaughtered by Indians who were allied by the British and who also massacred the civilians of the small community. Helplessly, he and others were trapped within a fort, surrounded, while hundreds of Indians and British soldiers attacked the small community.
At the age of forty five, he returned home and married an Irish woman. During a time when most men were preparing to retire, he was just beginning life and starting a family. He worked in the fields, alongside his children and never complained. He was grateful and he was free. He appreciated life and he loved America.
In 1812, his sons set off to fight in another war to protect America from yet another attack by the British. Asa was a seventy-four old widow. Disabled and crooked from years of hard abuse upon his body, he was left alone to fend for his younger children. Unable to provide for them, tears filled his eyes as they were taken from his home and bonded out to families which resided in Maine. A pauper, he remained behind, in his small village, cared for by the town and residing with family members of General Putnam, who cared for him until his death.
In 1817, wheels creaked as they approached the small framed home where Asa slept in a bedroom. Onlookers gaped as they saw the dignified Supreme Court Justice step from the carriage and enter the house, where he sought to speak with Asa.
Asa was too infirm to travel to Salem to apply for a military pension, so Supreme Court Justice Samuel Putnam traveled from there to his village where he personally took Asa's affidavit. They spoke for a long while, of Asa's life, growing up in the village, of Putnam's grandfather and of Asa's children. Asa lamented he had no legacy to leave behind for his children.
Little did he know. Legacies of wealth and splendor waste away quickly and are seldom enduring --however legacies of strength, honor and perseverance endure forever. Asa gave his children and grandchildren. for generations to come, the gift of freedom and the precious rights we hold today, through the strength and sacrifices he made during his lifetime.
His legacy has endured in each and every generation of his family, from him, to his son Aaron, who became a major landholder and the father of the first "non white" elected official in Maine, to his son Moses, who stood strong as an abolitionist in Illinois, prior to and during the Civil War, to his son David, who served as a First Sergeant in the Thirteenth U.S. Infantry alongside General William Tecumseh, to his son Harry, who served as a Sergeant in the 39th Telegraph Unit in World War I, to his son, Harry, who served as a Sergeant during World War II, to his son, Jim, who served as a Sergeant during the Vietnam War and his daughter, who served also during that time and finally to the last generation who served during the Iraq War.
Asa left behind a legacy of appreciation for freedom, strength to stand up in order to preserve it and to protect America, at all costs...and the framework of ethics for survival in life-- a strong work ethic, of honest dealings with others, of charitable living and of loyalty to family and friends.
Asa didn't think he left much behind, but hindsight is far better than foresight. If he were to be here today, I am certain he would agree with his descendants, there is no greater legacy that that Asa's Legacy.
Conditions were harsh. The hills and plains were covered with vegetation and swamp that needed to be cleared and there was a never ending fear of the unknown--of whether there would be enough food harvested to make it through the winter, enough firewood to warm the body, enough faith to feed the soul and enough strength to fight the predators.
But, it was then and there, that Asa was born--the first son to a common laborer and his young wife, who were documented as being "free persons of color"-- who had been born in this country to parents who had the hope of living free from repression, within a land where they could freely and openly practice their faith.
It was a life lost and a life gained as the sounds of new life entering a world were heard--the newborn wailing in harmony to the quiet sobs of his father, grieving over the lifeless body of his one and only love, the woman who had carried his child into this world.
Asa never learned to read or write but it didn't seem to bother him much, as neither had his lighter skinned friends and neighbors, who lived in the small Massachusetts town where he was born. Most children of that time didn't have the luxury of concentrating on full time educational endeavors or engage in other childish ways as they do today.
But he did learn how to survive in an uncertain world, raised by his father who taught him how to farm, to fish, to hunt, to gather food and how to make a warm fire. He became proficient in tilling and sowing fields and building fences. Developing a strong work ethic, coupled with a strong of loyalty, he acquired attributes that would endure throughout a lifetime. And, by the age of ten, when he found himself orphaned and alone, he knew how to care for himself.
By the age of thirteen and lured by a shining British pound, he joined the British Army. Tall, dark complected and stately, he served as body servants to the military officers and served most of his career within the British Military, stationed in Canada.
Military ways were familiar to him. Afterall, he was with his father, a militia soldier, at Scarborough, Maine. where he served with twelve other men, protecting the colonies and colonists from Indian Attacks during the Colonial Wars.
In 1775, at the age of age of thirty seven, while stationed in Louisbourg, Canada, he heard the whispers of rebellion brewing from within the colonies where he had grown up. A call was put out to all loyal patriots to stand beside their fellow men to fight for the freedom of America.
Desertion from the British military was risky and if caught, deserters were immediately hung. But Asa placed his fears aside and with his cousins, set off for the long walk home. It wasn't long before the British discovered their disappearance and patrols were sent to apprehend them. Asa and his cousins ducked in and out through the thick of the forests to a river, where they clung to the bottom of a bridge while patrols scoured the area, actively seeking them. Cold and weary from dangling in the icy water, they finally crawled out, after the British gave up the futile search, and began the long trek back home to Massachusetts, on foot.
It was a long, dangerous journey, through snow and mud covered swamps and mountains. A confrontation occurred with Indians and one cousin was captured. Finally, in the early summer of 1776, he and his surviving cousin stumbled into Cambridge, Massachusetts, barefoot, ragged and hungry--and straight into the arms of his friends, with whom he maintained a lifelong relationship.
Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson had written the words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." which echoed strong and clear throughout the colonies.
I suspect those words meant more to Asa and other persons of color, who lived within the colonies, such as Revolutionary War Hero, Salem Poor, Peter Salem and countless others, than it meant to others for they immediately joined their fellow neighbors and fought side by side with the local militas against the British. However, shortly thereafter, George Washington took command of the American forces and disallowed the black soldiers the opportunity to formally enlist.
Finally, in February of 1777, Washington rescinded his order and Asa immediately enlisted within the 6th Massachusetts Regiment. From that time, until June of 1783, when the troops were released after the British surrendered, he served as one of the longest serving soldiers during the Revolutionary War.
Service wasn't easy and conditions were difficult. Soldiers had to walk from Essex County, Massachusetts to West Point, New York several times a year to report to duty. The military often didn't have enough food to feed the troops or enough clothing to keep them warm. But they never lost sight of their final objective, despite the difficulties.
Asa served alongside General Putnam, as his body servant. Putnam was familiar with Asa, having grown up with his father, when his father was a child and the General and the Body Servant were fiercely loyal toward one another. Asa continued to serve under him until December of 1779, when the General suffered a stroke.
He fought in the battle of Saratoga, on the outskirts of New York City and was at Cherry Valley, New York during the ugliest and bloodiest battle of the war, in which many in his unit were slaughtered by Indians who were allied by the British and who also massacred the civilians of the small community. Helplessly, he and others were trapped within a fort, surrounded, while hundreds of Indians and British soldiers attacked the small community.
At the age of forty five, he returned home and married an Irish woman. During a time when most men were preparing to retire, he was just beginning life and starting a family. He worked in the fields, alongside his children and never complained. He was grateful and he was free. He appreciated life and he loved America.
In 1812, his sons set off to fight in another war to protect America from yet another attack by the British. Asa was a seventy-four old widow. Disabled and crooked from years of hard abuse upon his body, he was left alone to fend for his younger children. Unable to provide for them, tears filled his eyes as they were taken from his home and bonded out to families which resided in Maine. A pauper, he remained behind, in his small village, cared for by the town and residing with family members of General Putnam, who cared for him until his death.
In 1817, wheels creaked as they approached the small framed home where Asa slept in a bedroom. Onlookers gaped as they saw the dignified Supreme Court Justice step from the carriage and enter the house, where he sought to speak with Asa.
Asa was too infirm to travel to Salem to apply for a military pension, so Supreme Court Justice Samuel Putnam traveled from there to his village where he personally took Asa's affidavit. They spoke for a long while, of Asa's life, growing up in the village, of Putnam's grandfather and of Asa's children. Asa lamented he had no legacy to leave behind for his children.
Little did he know. Legacies of wealth and splendor waste away quickly and are seldom enduring --however legacies of strength, honor and perseverance endure forever. Asa gave his children and grandchildren. for generations to come, the gift of freedom and the precious rights we hold today, through the strength and sacrifices he made during his lifetime.
His legacy has endured in each and every generation of his family, from him, to his son Aaron, who became a major landholder and the father of the first "non white" elected official in Maine, to his son Moses, who stood strong as an abolitionist in Illinois, prior to and during the Civil War, to his son David, who served as a First Sergeant in the Thirteenth U.S. Infantry alongside General William Tecumseh, to his son Harry, who served as a Sergeant in the 39th Telegraph Unit in World War I, to his son, Harry, who served as a Sergeant during World War II, to his son, Jim, who served as a Sergeant during the Vietnam War and his daughter, who served also during that time and finally to the last generation who served during the Iraq War.
Asa left behind a legacy of appreciation for freedom, strength to stand up in order to preserve it and to protect America, at all costs...and the framework of ethics for survival in life-- a strong work ethic, of honest dealings with others, of charitable living and of loyalty to family and friends.
Asa didn't think he left much behind, but hindsight is far better than foresight. If he were to be here today, I am certain he would agree with his descendants, there is no greater legacy that that Asa's Legacy.
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