Daniel Boone, 1820 On September 26, 1820, intrepid frontiersman Daniel Boone died, a few weeks short of his 86thbirthday. He had spent a lifetime exploring the frontier west of the Appalachians. The myth and legend surrounding this American icon grew rampant even in his lifetime. The sixth of eleven children,…
This month in 19thCentury American history features many events of significance in the heritage of African Americans. On September 15, 1830, the first Negro Convention of Free Men convened in Philadelphia, PA, with a mission to identify problems to the black race in the United States and to establish practical…
Yes, I know, I’ve neglected my blog recently. I’ve been quite busy (as if no one else is!). September is always crazy around here, and we don’t have time to go to the bathroom. But I want to settle down and get back to regular posts. I do enjoy researching…
Unlike Tornado Alley in the nation’s mid-West, New England is fortunate to suffer only rarely from tornados of magnitude. Every year, funnel clouds are sighted across the region, with little or no destruction reported. We are not immune to tornados, however, as we fell victim this past May to two…
It may cool you off a little, as we wallow in the current swelter, to think about the snow that fell in Calais, Maine, on July 20, 1890. From the report “Observations of the New England Meteorological Society in the Year 1890,” published in the “Annals of the Astronomical Observatory…
Mary Lincoln “Peggy” Beckwith On July 10, 1975, thirty-six years ago this week, Mary Lincoln “Peggy” Beckwith, Abraham Lincoln’s only great-granddaughter, died in the hospital at Rutland, VT, age 76. When her younger brother Robert “Bud” Todd Lincoln Beckwith died ten years later, Abraham Lincoln’s direct bloodline came to an…
Bennington Flag A number of notable Americans (famous and infamous), American institutions, and American icons have been born or established on the Fourth of July. 1776 The United States of America, with the approval of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress 1802 Official opening of the United States…
I’m sure you gardeners and salad lovers are relieved to receive this news as you water and weed your tender young plants to encourage a robust crop of these downright voluptuous fruits. Yes, they are fruits, botanically speaking, because they are the ripened, seed-bearing ovaries of the plant. In 1893,…
This week in 19th Century American history was active in the U. S. Patent Office. I’ve thrown a couple of other inventions and “firsts” into the mix. Morse – self-portrait June 20, 1840 Samuel Morse (1791-1872) patented the telegraph. Morse was born in Charlestown, MA, attended school at Philips Exeter…
Bennington Flag Two hundred thirty-four years ago today, two years into the American War for Independence, the Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution, which in its entirety states “Resolved, That the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white…
