Those Who Came Before Us

 I found this on my Facebook page…. It seemed appropriate to share, as we all have precious memories of those who came before us. 

The Melting Pot Part 5

quizlet.com

 Also From a website called AMERICAN THINKER

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2007/09/the_judeochristian_values_of_a.html

The following are the Judeo-Christian Values embraced by the American Republic and People.

 
I (Ronald Cherry) am indebted to Dennis Prager who has listed Judeo-Christian Values and elaborated on this subject long before I took it up; and those who know his work will recognize many of his thoughts.
 
1.  Our sense of right and wrong and our sense of wisdom come from the use of reason and common sense, but also, and importantly, from the Bible which, by faith was considered by our Founding Fathers to be God's inspired text; and not just from the mind or heart of man.  This faith lead to the mottos: "In God We Trust" and "One Nation under God."  Our Founding Fathers were believers in the God of the Bible, even if some were not orthodox Christians, and they put that faith into the Declaration of Independence, into our laws, into our national monuments, and into our culture.  Faith is a part of American Culture, something Atheists, Secularists, Humanists and those of other religions should acknowledge and accept as historically accurate truth.  To remove the results of Biblical Faith from America is to undo what the Founding Fathers have wrought.
 
2.  Truth is Sacred; there can be no liberty or justice, and little happiness without it.  Jesus connected truth and liberty when he said "the truth shall make you free."  In the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible God describes Himself:  "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth..."   In Deuteronomy God is described this way:  "He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice."  Listen to King David in Psalm 25:  "Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me your paths.  Lead me in Your truth...";  and in Psalm 51:  "Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom."
 
3.  Human life is the first gift of God, and it is of infinite value since man is made in the image of God.  Judeo-Christian Values have lead to a culture of life in America, not a culture of death.  Americans with Judeo-Christian Values will defend innocent God-given life.
 
4.  Our Liberty is a gift from God and stated so in the Declaration of Independence.  It is also stated in the New Testament Christian Bible:  "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty."  Americans with Judeo-Christian Values will defend their God-given Liberty from tyranny and terror.
 
5.  Human creativity is also a gift from God and is not to be unjustly suppressed by totalitarian, tyrannical or excessively taxing government.  The work ethic is an important part of Judeo-Christian Values since honorable work is a reflection of God-given human creativity.  Human reason is also a part of God-given human creativity, and it has led to scientific knowledge and technological progress.  Reason and science are important aspects of Judeo-Christian Values.  Human creativity is central to the pursuit of happiness, but does not guarantee it; totalitarian systems such as Communism or Islamic Sharia Law guarantee utopian happiness, but don't deliver it.
 
6.  "Establish justice."  This is commanded repeatedly in the Hebrew Bible.  This is how it has been done in America:  Honor Life, Liberty and Creativity.  Liberty in practical terms means: Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, no established or state-supported religion, right to bear arms and act in self-defense, uninterrupted elections and the division of powers into its three branches.  Where our culture is now headed in the wrong direction, in my opinion, is to provide special rights for certain groups of people.  Our Founding Fathers acknowledged these basic rights for all people, and our Civil War enforced it for the American slaves when they were denied their God-given Liberty.
 
7.  "Hate Evil".  This is commanded three times in the Hebrew Bible; this is from the book of Proverbs: "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil."  Hear the Prophet Isaiah: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness...."  Americans with Judeo-Christian Values, as opposed to Europeans, still believe in the death penalty for pre-meditated murder, and America is still the nemesis of terrorists and tyrants - see the seal of the state of Virginia.
 
8.  "Love your neighbor" - commanded in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles.  "Love your enemy" - commanded in the New Testament Christian Bible.  Generations of Americans, starting with our Founding Fathers, have had to square the values of "Hate Evil" with "Love your enemy."  This has been done by hating the evil within the enemies of God-given Life and Liberty, but not hating the evil-doer him/herself.
 
9.  In the Judeo-Christian Value System there is a natural and common-sense balance between compassion and courageous confrontation of evil.  This can be seen metaphorically as a natural balance between femininity and masculinity; both good and necessary.  The secular culture of Europe and of many in the United States today have unwisely suppressed the masculinity of Judeo-Christian American Culture, and this has put our society out of balance.
 
10. From Many, One:  e pluribus unum.  Ethnicity and race don't matter, but values do matter.  We Americans should consider ourselves blessed to live under God-given Liberty in the same melting pot; and we are privileged to pursue happiness through creative work and play, unencumbered by excessive government.  Those things that divide us, such as race or ethnicity, can be viewed metaphorically as our various styles; and are not very important.  Those things of lesser importance should melt into what is very important and which should unite us: our value of Life, Liberty and Creativity - those rights defined by the Declaration of Independence, and rightly identified as the gifts of God.
 
11. The natural resources of the Earth, including the animals, along with the rest of creation should be honored and well cared for, but also used and enjoyed; and never worshiped.

Melting Pot Part 4

 OUR FOUNDING FATHERS

history.com

Same article continued with Quotes from our Founding Fathers

 From a website called AMERICAN THINKER

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2007/09/the_judeochristian_values_of_a.html

Some of the words of our Founding Fathers will illustrate American Judeo-Christian Values and our separation of church and state, but not the separation of God from state, and provide grounding for our understanding of social justice.
 
Thomas Jefferson wrote:
"all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ...." 
 
Jefferson also wrote:
"God who gave us life gave us liberty.  Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?"  He also wrote:  "Almighty God hath created the mind free.  ... All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens...are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion..."
 
He also wrote:
"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
 
Our Founding Fathers wrote the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
 
President George Washington said this when proclaiming our National Thanksgiving Holiday:
"It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God ...."
 
John Adams wrote this:
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.  Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.  Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
 
Later, Abraham Lincoln wrote these words about the Bible:
"In regard to this great book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to men.  All the good Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book.  But for it we could not know right from wrong."
Lincoln also spoke these words at the Gettysburg Address:
"...that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
 

The Melting Pot Part 3

 The following article was published in 2007 by a doctor who defined the Values of America. It is a longer read, but it reveals the basic principles of American ROOTS and ultimately MY ROOTS. It is worthwhile to understand the privileges of life, liberty and freedom that we live under today. It's who we are!

https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/01/american-thinker-disables-its-comment-section/

From a website called AMERICAN THINKER

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2007/09/the_judeochristian_values_of_a.html
 

September 15, 2007

The Judeo-Christian Values of America

By Ronald R Cherry

Ronald R Cherry is a medical doctor

 
Judeo-Christian Values have a foundational role in America, beginning with the Declaration of Independence:
"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..."
Since the pursuit of happiness, as Sigmund Freud surmised, is tied to human love and to creative work and play, the principles of American Judeo-Christian Values can rightly be summarized as the honoring of God-given Life, Liberty and Creativity. This seed of American Social Justice was then fleshed out in the U.S. Constitution through reason and common sense, unencumbered by the dysfunctional religious and secular traditions and laws of Old Europe.
 
Our Founding Fathers separated church from state, but they wisely did not separate God from state; they acknowledged God as the source of our rights, and, in fact, they were careful to place Biblical morality directly into our founding documents and laws, and into our values and culture precisely to help prevent a future of totalitarian or tyrannical rule in America.  The combination of keeping Judeo-Christian religious morality in the state, as opposed to the church it's self; and, additionally, setting up our laws based on reason and common sense has contributed to the American Character, and to what is known as "American Exceptionalism."
 
Our Founding Fathers were religious in a new way, the Judeo-Christian way, and they were the liberals of their day by deducing that our political and human rights come from a power higher than human government; but they were conservative to Biblical morality.  There was and still is a connection between God and Liberty; He is the author of it.  It is ironic that American Conservatives are now the champion of this our most liberal founding principle; and also an irony that most American Conservatives are wholly unaware of their connection with the liberal founding ideas of this great republic.  It is also an irony that many American Liberals have turned a blind eye to the required connection between God and Liberty.  As Thomas Jefferson and John Adams noted, as you will see below, Liberty cannot survive among men without its Divine connection.
 
In Judeo-Christian America one finds the idea of equality before God and the law, but not government forced economic equality.   Modern European culture has stressed the value of economic equality rather than Liberty, and their governments unjustly enforce the principle.  This has led to the failed European inventions of Socialism and Communism.  Socialists in America have been lured into this failed European idea of social justice.  Socialism is a failure in that it unjustly suppresses human creativity by excessively taxing away its rewards, and by foolishly giving economic reward to many who, even though mentally and physically able, fail to honor their Divine privilege and duty to work creatively.
 
Thus, Socialism is a dual insult to God-given creativity.  Communism was much worse in that it also dishonored the sacredness of human life and liberty.  Communism was the inevitable result of separating not just church from state, but God from state.  Communism dishonored God's gifts of Life, Liberty and Creativity.  European cultures have historical ties to authoritarian and totalitarian systems dating back to the Roman Empire.  Even European Christianity was, for a time, contaminated by its links to authoritarian rule.
 
American Judeo-Christian Culture, on the other hand, has been linked to honoring Life, Liberty and Creativity from the outset; deriving its wisdom from the lights of reason, common sense, and both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament Christian Bible.  Thomas Jefferson and the great majority of our Founding Fathers explicitly put God into the national life of the United States, by putting the Creator into the Declaration of Independence.  It is important that American Liberty has something to do with God; that is something for students to know and discuss, even if they are not particularly religious.  This does not represent some form of tyranny of the religious majority or an injustice; it was in fact the wisdom of our Founding Fathers to stand in opposition to tyranny and injustice by acknowledging the source of our rights -- those rights originating from God rather than from King George III, or for that matter from the Soviet or Chinese Politburo, or a courthouse, or a legislature.
 
America is a melting pot of diverse people including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Atheists; and from the Judeo-Christian perspective, all are made in God's image.  We have in America a multiethnic society, and that is good.  What would be unhealthy for America would be for it to become Balkanized, something likely to happen with the atrophy of Judeo-Christian American Culture and Values.  Worse yet would be for America to adopt the toxic values which exist in some parts of the world and which are endemic in some foreign cultures.  The values of Fascism, Nazism, Communism or Totalitarian Islamic Sharia Law for example must never metastasize into our American Culture, rooted in Judeo-Christian values.  These values have been with us from the beginning, and they have made us strong and successful.  These Judeo- Christian Values should be kept central to the American Spirit and Culture even as we have become more multi-ethnic.
 

The Melting Pot Part 2

 MY STARTING POINT

THE MELTING POT

By Nancy Quillin Long

Written August 2024

 

America, the melting pot, is the place where people yearn to live in freedom, but many throughout the ages have paid greatly for those freedoms. It should not be taken for granted. It was earned.
 
We live in a time of turmoil, but it only takes a moment to crack open a book of old to realize that there has always been turmoil.  As immigrants pour across our border, I cannot “undo” what is in my blood and has been passed down, generation after generation for over 250 years, to the point where I am now; my thoughts, my culture, my beliefs.  Reaching out to others and understanding their journey is a place of compromise and understanding that no one is better than the other.
 
I learned this best years ago as a young teacher in 1978. It was a quick study to know that as I stood in front of my classroom, the most important thing for me was to look out over the classroom and NOT see race, color, or creed. Though I am Caucasian, the majority of my students were black and Hispanic. My purpose was to educate each human in a place without prejudice or bias. EDUCATE! Not teach them what to think, but how to think. Teach them to read, write, spell, communicate effectively, learn about cultures, history, math…to teach them the basics, not to teach them rewritten history or new math…but the BASICS. With that said, we cannot push aside our American culture, at the expense of a great many to placate a few. It is what it is. (see post on Judea Christian values)
 
 There is a reason why people flock here to the melting pot which is the greatest place on the face of earth to live. We must not lose sight of the basic truths of WHY that is so.
 
I make no apologies for where I stand on my principles because we, as a nation cannot erase the history that is written in books. As a genealogist, I know that my ancestors were the people who carved out this nation. I have yet to find a branch of the tree that are recent immigrants. With that said, I will go to my grave standing on the principles set forth by my forefathers who fought and died for those values. It is a culture and no amount of trying to erase that from the history books can change the facts. Is it a culture that is better than another? No, not really…but why is it something that is so desired across the globe? We must be careful as we move forward that we protect those values. A nation without borders is not a nation.
 
So, let’s go back to the beginning of our nation. There were all kinds of explorers that reached the new world. These explorers discovered a place rich in minerals with abundant resources and untouched wilderness. They encountered the indigenous people. Battles were fought just as they have been throughout the ages. There was a hammering out of who claimed what territory, even among the explorers. History reflects that the New World was anglicized. They began carving out the wilderness and making progress. Was it pretty? No! The indigenous people fought for their land, rightfully so. Did those “newcomers” suffer hardships, most definitely. Long story short. Over the course of time, there were many cultures that came to live a better, more prosperous life. It was a rich diversity of communities that were melted together. Was any one of those cultures better than the other? No. They were all striving to live, eventually, under the laws that created the best nation on earth. For that, I am grateful to know and understand my culture. Were there wrongs committed along the way? Yes! Of course, there were. It was difficult to carve out this New World, and our culture is rich with contributions and stories of each culture. I spent 6 weeks each year studying folklore, which was rich from stories of those cultures and what they contributed to the melting pot. It reveals such diversity of how our American culture came together. 
I stand with my jaw dropped, then, trying to understand why I have been made to feel so guilty by what I see as rewritten history at times. This IS a melting pot. We adapt, change, grow…we’ve grown over the years, knowing that we must fight against prejudice, but we can’t change what is history. Each of those changes has caused us to grow together.
 
I got over that long ago, as that young teacher standing in front of a classroom. I can’t change the “wrongs” that were done to others, but I can grow and understand their challenges. Yet I will never abandon my core values, my Judea Christian values…as that IS the concept of such a beautiful nation that others across the globe desire.  Let us NOT bend and break that culture and continue to attack the basic principles which formed who we are as a nation. 

The Melting Pot Part 1

The Library at Ephesus
We were there in 1998 

http://www.theviewingdeck.com/2014/05/selcuk-1st-part-strolling-ancient-city.html

TRULY UNDERSTANDING MYSELF

For me, I felt the world fell apart in 2020, as well as in my personal life in 2022. I began to question myself and my belief system, trying to understand why there was such hostility with the Black Lives Matter movement. I truly tried to fit myself into the shoes of a black person, to understand their point of view, to come to grips with what I may be doing to make them STILL feel such prejudice against the white people. In true form, it has taken me several years to sort that out! 

I don't come to conclusions quickly, but over these past few years, all of the above has swirled in my head. With the last election, I realize that I am not alone in standing my ground for what I believe is right and just. In the next few posts, I am sharing why I am the way I am/who I am/my belief system as I have always known it. It is also what I believe is the foundation of our American culture, as well. I can no longer make apologies for that. It goes WAY deeper than me. It's in my ROOTS. 

My Prequel to Judea Christian Values

In the past month, I have read and heard several things that have led me to consider why I have struggled. The answers have become clear to me through written history. Look at our natural world. Humans bring degradation to that. The animals act in a pure and natural way. But throughout the ages, man has been brutal to man. Going back to the beginning of time, we have to understand if man is inherently good or inherently evil. My mother once challenged my husband to determine the answer to that question. It took him quite a while to conclude, which was her conclusion as well, though he didn't know it at the time, that man is inherently evil. Children are born with a clean slate and must be taught what is right and wrong; what is good and evil. Our Judeo-Christian beliefs bring order to the chaos and gives purpose and meaning to life. Without that, there is no hope. So, I have delved deeply into that belief system.

Go back in time and read the history written by the people who lived during those ages - 100 A.D to the present which is what my husband has done; go back to the archaeological sites, visit the museums like my husband and I and his mother have done, read the Bible, another history book written by those who lived in that time. It is there for all of us to understand, to give us hope and light and faith. Never underestimate the power of God. And do not rewrite history.

***********************

Alongside this struggle with black history, family issues compounded my belief system when in 2022, which I dub as the year from hell for my family, all questions of who I am came into play.

As far as reconciliation for my personal family, I pray for strength to stand for what is truth, all the while trying to keep my faith, be kind and gentle and understanding. But once again, there are values that I hold near that I will not compromise. There are evils in this world, one of which is the abuse of alcohol. There was a reason I left that behind years ago, but it has torn asunder the last little family I have left. They continue to imbibe, and it has wreaked havoc on their small family, and as Mother always said, "Nothing happens in a vacuum", so my world has been greatly affected, as well.  I am collateral damage. I may address this more later, but for now, I mention it because it has been another area where I have had to make a stand for my own truths and values at a great cost.

May We Always Be Thankful

 

My Commentary

And the tradition lives on…. until now, it seems. Today, it feels as if we skip our blessings that are given by God in order to focus on the commercialism of Christmas. It is no longer acceptable to voice our belief in the one almighty God who brought us to this day as a nation. Today Christians are BASHED for our beliefs and made to feel that we are racists and bigots which to me is the farthest thing from my thoughts. It's being thrust on us as we are being faced with the counterculture movement. We stand by and watch as our inherited culture in the United States is torn down by those who have no grounding in what our American culture is all about. What is being removed slowly will cause the demise of our democracy. This nation was founded on God, patriotism, and family….and within each of those, there is extreme decay.  The immigrants that are pouring over our borders have NO understanding what our culture is, nor do they have any family members that have sacrificed for our freedoms.  We must stand firm in our belief system of basic American principles.

Thanksgiving 1782-1863

 

1,200+ George Washington Illustrations, Royalty-Free Vector Graphics & Clip Art - iStock | George washington portrait, Abraham lincoln, Presidents day (istockphoto.com)

Thanksgiving Proclamations in the Early Republic

The Continental Congress issued several ‘national days of prayer, humiliation, and thanksgiving’... a practice continued by Washington and Adams under the constitution. This proclamation was published in “The Independent Gazetteer” on November 5, 1782.

“… Do hereby recommend it to the inhabitants of these States in general, to observe and request the several states to interpose their authority, in appointing and commanding the observation of THURSDAY the TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY OF NOVEMBER next as a day of SOLEMN THANKSGIVING to GOD for all His mercies; and they do further recommend to all ranks to testify their gratitude to God for His goodness by a cheerful obedience to His laws and by promoting, each in his station, and by his influence, the practice of true and undefiled religion, which is the great foundation of public prosperity and national happiness…”

 November 26, 1789: George Washington Calls for Day of Thanksgiving

George Washington, now serving as the first President of the United States, took Congress’s recommendation to call for a National Day of Thanksgiving and prayer in gratitude for the end of the Revolutionary War. Washington observed the holiday by attending church and then donating money and food to prisoners and debtors in New York City jails.

 Presidents Washington, John Adams, James Madison renewed the tradition, followed by a campaign by Sara Hale in 1846 to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.

President Abraham Lincoln followed up during the Civil War celebrating National Thanksgiving Day on the final Thursday 26 Nov 1863 which was written up in a document by his Secretary of State William H. Seward. “…I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens…”

Thanksgiving 1775-1777

 

“First Thanksgiving at Plymouth” oil painting by Jennie A. Brownscombe, circa 1914

History of the First Thanksgiving - History of Massachusetts Blog

November 23, 1775 in the run up to the Revolutionary War, Boston patriots published an anti-British proclamation for a “Day of public Thanksgiving” throughout the Massachusetts Colony. “That such a Band of Union, founded upon the best Principles, unites the American Colonies; That our Rights and Privileges . . . are so far preserved to us, notwithstanding all the attempts of our barbarous Enemies to deprive us of them. And to offer up humble and fervent Prayers to Almighty GOD, for the whole British Empire; especially for the UNITED AMERICAN COLONIES."

 December 18, 1777: 13 Colonies Celebrate a Thanksgiving

To celebrate the victory of American Continental forces over the British in the Battle of Saratoga, commander-in-chief George Washington called for Thursday, December 18 to be set aside for “Solemn Thanksgiving and Praise.” It was the first time that all 13 colonies celebrated a day of thanksgiving in unison.

A True American Tradition - Thanksgiving

https://historyofmassachusetts.org

Thanksgiving is truly an American tradition. I was listening to a program last night, and it was brought to my attention how little our society today really knows about Thanksgiving and why we have this special day of thanks. It seems that most people feel it is for eating and watching football, which are all part of what we do today. The true reason for the holiday is rooted deep in American history and should not be forgotten by the American people. My people were well rooted in America when this Holdiay became a recognized as a National Day of Celebration.

I did some research using the two following sources: 
https://www.history.com/news/thanksgiving-timeline
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)

and here is what I found. 
There’s no holiday that’s more quintessentially American than Thanksgiving.

In 1541, the Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado accompanied by 1500 armored men left Mexico City and marched north in search of gold. They camped in Palo Duro Canyon and their priest Juan de Padilla called for a feast of prayer and thanksgiving.

In 1598, in a second Texas town a wealthy Spanish dignitary Juan de Oñate was granted land among the pueblo Indians as he blazed a path across the Chihuahau Desert. After 10 days of rest near San Elizario, Texas, Oñate ordered a feast of thanksgiving. "We built a great bonfire and roasted the meat and fish, and then all sat down to a repast the like of which we had never enjoyed before…We were happy that our trials were over; as happy as were the passengers in the Ark when they saw the dove returning with the olive branch in his beak, bringing tidings that the deluge had subsided."

In 1607, English colonists at Fort St. George assemble for a harvest feast and prayer meeting with the Abenaki Indians in Maine.

In 1621: The Plymouth Feast. Archive evidence comes from a letter from Plymouth colonist Edward Winslow that the colonists wanted to celebrate their first good crop of corn and barley grown with generous assistance from the native Wampanoag Indians. So the English colonists sent out four men to kill “as much fowl” as they could in one day, and invited King Massasoit and 90 of his men “so we might after a more special manner rejoice together.” The king brought five deer to the three-day party, which 19th-century New Englanders would later promote as the origin of modern Thanksgiving.

William Bradford, in “Of Plymouth Plantation” documents much about this harvest that became the first Thanksgiving.

  TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW.

Gate City, Virginia

 Looking back to the time when my people would have lived in Gate City, it is important to understand the history of that city. All of these places are mentioned in my family history. The below information was taken from Wikipedia. 

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/22/88/34/2288346e179c70894a22631b72793fe5.jpg

Gate City, Virginia - Wikipedia

Gate City is part of the Kingsport–Bristol (TN)–Bristol (VA) Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA. This combined area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region.

 In 1771, Silas Engart received a land grant of 200 acres that included the location of the future town. By the time of Scott County's formation in 1815, landowner James Davidson, Sr. donated approximately 13 acres of his plantation for establishing the county seat. The location of the town was such that it would emerge as an important commercial center for people and goods traveling through Big Moccasin Gap and the North Fork of the Holston River.

 In 1817, the town was renamed Estillville (the place where most of my ancestors resided) in honor of Benjamin Estill, a local judge instrumental in the formation of the new county. As a result of the county seat's location near Big Moccasin Gap and the North Fork of the Holston River, the town grew into a commercial center for people passing through on their way westward, for farmers hoping to sell goods, and businessmen in town for legal affairs. A regular wagon train and coach line service conveying people, mail, and commercial goods between Bedford and Estilville.

 Gate City received its present name in 1886, when Attorney General Rufus A. Ayers pointed out that proximity to Big Moccasin Gap marked the town as the "Gate Way to the West." The town was incorporated in 1892.

 By the beginning of the twentieth-century, Gate City was one of several "boom towns" located in southwestern Virginia. Although the streets were little more than dirt byways in the town, the area was a vibrant commercial and transportation center. Up to six daily passenger trains passed through Gate City. The town also had a railroad log yard where logs from all over the county were stored and then loaded to be later transported by train. Iron ore from the Snowflake and Nickelsville areas as well as glass sand from the south of Clinch Mountain were manufactured and shipped from Gate City. In addition, the town had a thriving manufacturing center in the area of Water Street where wood pumps, staves, sleds, and harnesses were built. By 1915, the town supported two livery stables on Willow Street and a blacksmith shop on Jackson Street, as well as a dentist's office, an ice plant, a casket shop, and a furniture manufacturing business.

 

The Enlightenment

 The American Tradition in Literature Vol. 1  4^th ed.  By Bradley, Beatty, Long, Perkins, 1974.

A growing sense of unity and independence characterized the second great period of American cultural history, beginning about 1725.  Politically, this spirit encouraged the growth of a loose confederation, disturbed by the British colonial wars on the frontier and by “intolerable’ British trade and taxation policies.  Eventually, this produced the Revolution.  The Enlightenment and rational thinking infused the minds and acts of American leaders.   Earlier religious mysticisms, local in character, were now overlaid by larger concerns for the general toleration, civil rights, and a more comprehensive democracy in government.  The last member of the Puritan hierarchy, Cotton Mather, had met fundamental and final opposition.  The secular spirit, the immigration of a new population, and the development of enterprise and commerce doomed the Puritan commonwealth, even if the Puritans themselves had not outgrown it. 

The Age of Reason manifested a rational concept of man in his relations with nature and God, suggested the extension of principles and equality and social justice, and encouraged the belief that man might assume greater control of nature without offending God.

Middle Colonies

 

The American Tradition in Literature Vol. 1  4^th ed.  By Bradley, Beatty, Long, Perkins, 1974.

The seed of American toleration was produced here in the melting pot of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.  The Dutch, Swedes, Germans, French-Huguenot refugees and the Jewish merchants settled here.  Of all the colonies, the middle colonies enjoyed the best geographical location, easy access with the great inland waterways.  By 1750, the Quaker city of Philadelphia had become the unofficial colonial capital.   Their basic conditions and ideas were important aspects for building our national character and framing a democratic government.  These people were from the humbler ranks of the English middle classes – artisans, tradesman, farmers- and their leader, William Penn was one of the best-trained men in the colonies and one of the greatest.  The early Quakers’ were fundamentally closer to Luther’s theology than to Calvin’s.  It was less concerned with the original depravity of man than with the abounding grace of God.  William Penn exercised great powers by writing his famous “Frame of Government” which ordained a free commonwealth, bestowing wide privileges of self-government upon the people.  Like the Puritans, the Quakers provided education: Harvard, William and Mary, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Columbia (King’s College), Rutgers (Queen’s College).  The energy of these mixed cultures fostered the development of science and medicine, technical enterprise and commerce, journalism and government.  Penn made the first proposal for a union of the colonies. 

Puritanism

Wording taken from my textbook

The American Tradition in Literature Vol. 1  4^th ed.  By Bradley, Beatty, Long, Perkins, 1974.

The earliest English Puritans were devout members of the Church of England wishing to simplify the creeds and rituals of the bishops, but still no official break was intended.  But in 1633, Archbishop Laud became the tyrant determined to root out “Calvinist” dissenters, both Presbyterians and Puritans.  The Puritans carried the tenets of John Calvin (1509-1564) most closely, but were unwilling to submit to the abusive and cruel laws.  The ideas of Martin Luther (1483-1546) the earlier reformer, later became a permanent influence on American democracy.  However, Luther’s authority was shattered wherever his words were received.  The Calvin doctrine believed, like the Catholics, that the church should be independent.  The state should be its servant.  So in early New England the leading clergymen, powerful and well-trained were for a time the dominating authority, but by 1700 their civil powers were crumbling under new secular influence.  Calvin and the Puritans put emphasis on man’s original sin, with Adam’s fall from grace, and nothing could mitigate the original sinfulness of his nature.  This gave the Puritan stereotype the dour, prudish standards for which they are known.  Yet the Puritans in general were lovers of life, their clergy were well educated scholars, they did not forbid gaily colored clothes (they were just not available), they developed pleasing architecture and good arts and crafts, they like the drink even if they despised the drunkard, and they made religious thought a rigorous intellectual discipline.  They were the colonists to insist on common schools, they had the first college (Harvard 1636), the first printing press (Cambridge 1638), and they were responsible for the abundant literature created in the colonies before 1740.   In their influence on American life, there is more to bless them for than to condemn.  They DID have extreme zealots among them, over-interpreting their dogmas and despising this mortal life in contrast to the next.  The same zealots, during an outbreak of hysterical superstition, persecuted the “witches.” 

Early American Settlements

 The American Tradition in Literature Vol. 1  4^th ed.  By Bradley, Beatty, Long, Perkins, 1974.

VIRGINIA
The first permanent English settlement  at Jamestown, (1607) as you know, was wrought with many problems but the colony increased and a colonial capital was established in 1693 at Williamsburg where William and Mary was founded as the 2^nd college in N. America.  During the 17^th c. the south was not a land of large plantations, yet it fell victim to British mercantilism, an abusive system which compelled the colonists to sell to the mother country.  The southern wealth grew and was composed of a few privileged aristocrats, thousands of slaves and a white middle class of frontiersmen and farmers.  They added little to the creative literature of the colonies, but produced some great leaders and statesmen like Jefferson and Madison.
 
NEW ENGLAND
In the northern colonies, where natural conditions favored manufacturing and commerce, a considerable number of people were learned, especially the Puritan clergymen and governors.  They produced a considerable body of writing; yet, they were not literary people.  They were intent upon subduing a wilderness, making homes, and building a new civil society.  The Massachusetts Bay colony under the leadership of John Winthrop, a strong Puritan, became a colony with limited, but then quite unprecedented, powers of self-government.  They became the model of democracy.

The Importance of Literature in Colonial America

il_1588xN.3269674162_d599.jpg (1588×1833) (etsystatic.com)

My previous post was of my lineage and how deeply rooted my family history is in American history. I graduated from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and majored in literature and journalism. I can understand now why I had such a love for the early American literature. Genealogy and the history of literature are interconnected. It is through the early literature that we have knowledge of what the life was like in early America under British rule. I revisited one of my favorite college textbooks to understand what living in early America was like. The following information is taken from:

The American Tradition in Literature Vol. 1  4^th ed.  By Bradley, Beatty, Long, Perkins, 1974.

**This book “represents the range and power of our literature…” “While we have made literary merit our criterion…, we attempted…to emphasize the relations between literary work and general movements in American civilization and intellectual history.”

“Our colonial literature became a great reservoir of material and inspiration…and provides an understanding of those bedrock American experiences which developed national character…”

 America was El Dorado, the golden west, the promise land for those fleeing the Protestant Reformation.  America held the promise of new freedom and new hope.**

The likes of William Bradford, Samuel Sewall and Cotton Mather shed light on early American life in real time. The following was taken word by word from the book listed above.

WILLIAM BRADFORD  (1590-1657)
William Bradford was one of the greatest colonial Americans.  He was large in spirit and wisdom and believed that he was an instrument of God.  Despite the fact that Bradford was self-taught, and without training, his manuscript “Of Plimoth Plantaion” is a classic among literary annals.  Five important colonial historians quoted from it before 1730.  At 16, he joined the Separatist group, and at 18, he escaped with the group to Holland to avoid persecution. There he became a wealthy weaver, and at age 27 as the leader of a committee, he arranged their pilgrimage on the Mayflower to America. On Nov 11, 1620, he signed the Mayflower compact after making landfall at Cape Cod.  John Carver was elected governor but died during the first year.  Bradford was elected to succeed him.  From 1621 until his death, Bradford possessed more power than any other colonial governor, yet he refused to become the sole proprietor and maintained the democratic principles of the Mayflower Compact.  He was re-elected 30 times for 33 years (elections were not held for 2 of those years). Transcribing his writing was difficult because he did not use traditional spelling and punctuation. In Vol I, Bradford documents their voyage and arrival at Cape Cod.  In Vol. 2, he recounts the Mayflower Compact, the compact with the Indians, the first Thanksgiving, among other challenges.

SAMUEL SEWALL (1652-1730)
Samuel represents the 2^nd and 3^rd generation of a fading Puritanism.  Devoutly religious in private and public life, Sewall resisted an early religious vocation in favor of wealth, public office and pursuit of his hobbies.  Shortly after graduating from Harvard in 1671, he married Hannah Hull the daughter of John Hull, Master of the Mint and the wealthiest person in Massachusetts.  Samuel came to Boston at the age of nine with his father to avoid the Restoration of 1660.  His DIARY is a social history of that city during that time.  He began his public service in his late twenties managing the colony’s printing press, acting as deputy of the general court in 1683 and later as a member of the Council 1684-1686.  In England on business in 1688, he assisted Increase Mather, the appointed envoy of the Massachusetts churches, in an unsuccessful effort to secure the restoration of the charter of the colony.  Under the new charter of 1692, Sewall again became a member of the Council and served for 33 years.  In that same year, 1692, Sewall was appointed as justice of the Superior Court and rose in the ranks until he was chief justice of Massachusetts from 1718-1728.  His most memorable judicial act was being a member of the special court of 3 which condemned the witches of Salem in 1692. That the blood of these innocents rested heavily on his soul is shown by his public confession of error 5 years later recorded in the text of his diary. The fervid dedication of the Puritan Fathers was doomed and this is depicted in his diary.  His other writings have little merit.

COTTON MATHER  ( 1663-1728)
His critics cannot express any enthusiasm for him as a man or a writer, yet his influence on his contemporaries is undeniable.  He had a colossal mass of work, dull and full of personal bias, but it was a valuable source of knowledge for the history and the men of colonial New England.  Mather was viewed as an egotist, a reactionary, and a bigoted witch-hunter.  Yet now we see that he was fighting a losing battle for his theology.  He was facing a new age of secular and materialistic ideas.  He was the last in succession to his grandfather, Richard and his father, Increase.  This priesthood had represented the dominant hierarchy of New England during more than a half century.  Cotton enrolled in Harvard at 11, already fluent in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.  He became saturated with piety and learning.  Receiving his Master of Arts degree at 18, he entered the ministry at the Second Church in Boston. There he spent his life in a superhuman ferment of activity and publication which carried far beyond his parish duties into public issues as well as theological dogma.  He had an unfavorable personality and Boston was no longer the Puritan community of his father’s youth.  He amassed 2,000  books, the largest of the colonial libraries.  He wrote 444 bound volumes.  It is reported that he kept 450 fasts during his life, and once publicly humiliated himself for his sins.  He survived 3 wives, the last died insane.  He outlived all but 2 of his 15 children.  His book Wonders of the Invisible World in 1693 was an analysis of the evidence against witches, evoking the morbid fascination of reasoned error.  Mather had not participated in the bloody Salem trials, but his influence was undeniably on the side of the prosecution.  In 1700, he questioned some of the evidence as invalid. 
 His Bonifacius: Essays to Do Good in 1710 (what’s in my book) quite remarkably established a practical system for daily good deeds.  It delighted Benjamin Franklin’s rationalistic mind. 

My Heart and Soul are American Made

 

After over 30 years of research, I feel that most of my information has been validated. Starting out, I had to pound the pavement, visit courthouses and cemeteries, and write letters, so I was definitely sure of the information that I was recording. It gave me a firm foundation of the discoveries that it would bring. Over time, the internet has been a blessing. As I look back, I have not found a branch of my tree that was not firmly planted on American soil. My heritage comes from a stock that carved out this great land, and I am filled with pride and patriotism. I am grateful and thankful for their sacrifices.

In a nutshell, here are the lines and dates and a general idea from where they immigrated.

1644 -- Quillin -- Ireland to America

1719 -- Herring -- Already in N.C.

1697 -- Nation -- England to America

1750 -- Lawson -- Scotland to America

1701 -- Ewing -- Scotland to Ireland to America

1706 -- Dillard -- already in VA (I've had difficulties establishing sources)

1787 -- Jones -- already in Georgia U.S.

1736 -- Butler -- already in VA

1698 -- Busby -- already in VA

1770 -- Brooks -- already in GA

1655 -- Seale -- England to America

1649 -- Bristow -- England to America

1668 -- Muse -- England to America

1645 -- Pope -- England to America

1741 -- Springfield -- already in SC

1620 -- Langston -- England to America

1700 -- Bennett -- already in NC

1685 -- McNair -- Ireland to America 

1802 -- Price -- already in NC

1714 -- Scherertz --Germany (Prussia) to America

1700 -- Henderson -- already in VA

1685 -- Calloway -- Already in VA

1740 -- Sewell -- already in NC

1804 -- Kings -- found in VA, moved to GA

1808 -- Hood -- found in SC, moved to VA

1636 -- Hulsey -- England to VA

1665 -- Witt -- England to VA

1768 -- Haney -- already in VA

1744 -- Humphries -- already in VA

Busting Through The Rock

                         

As I continue to write this blog on family history, I realize that I'm probably making a terrible mess of it all. I have so much information: documents, pictures, reflections, census, birth-death-marriage records. The list goes on and on. It's daunting thinking about sharing it all. It's hard to keep track of it all. Anyone reading would need to go back to some of my first posts. I shared the lineage of each line before I began. The problem now is ... that I have so much information, I get bogged down and then wonder which direction to go; what do I share at this juncture; what do I cull out; how do I move forward; how do I not get stuck in one area.

With that said I went back to my original few posts. I was excited to share my Quillin history and my trip to Ireland where I made connection with my "way back" roots. But as any good genealogist will tell you, you have to get from point A to point B to point C....and it goes on and on. 

I decided to not start with my parents and all the recollections of them and their documentation, etc. It was just too raw and there is far too much information. I may have NEVER moved forward. I loved them both so much. So, my initial goal was to look at my pedigree and start at the top of the tree with my grandparents. I knew them all, except for one, and loved them all. My dad's dad passed the year before I was born. I realize now that I have so much information on each level that it would be hard to move forward unless I skip some of it. It also brought up the problem of organizing all of this information. I purchased an external hard drive, found a model of "how to" document and save. That's overwhelming in itself. Yet, it is the MOST important thing in order to "prove yourself". 

So today I went back to reflect on my journey. I don't know how well I'm doing, but I have decided to move on to the next tier of branches on the tree. That would be my great-grandparents. This is the level where I had to begin the REALLY hard digging. The place where you begin to hit ROCK....truly the bedrock of my foundation. 

I was lucky in that I knew 3 of my great-grandparents personally, but I was a child and didn't know them well. So....I began interviewing anyone alive who knew these people; I began to contact courthouses, pound the pavement, visit cemeteries and try to connect with as much history as I could before it was gone. My mother was my sidekick. She adored traversing this journey with me. (Daddy did his share as well, as is documented in my "Memory Lane" posts.) I adored the time that I spent with each of them, listening to their stories. But I digress...The problem is that I LOVE the research and am intrigued when I find a new opening. (Mother loved writing the stories and collecting the photographs.) And as you know, each set of parents opens the door to another line and more information that would connect it all. AND I found that as I put flesh on the bones (meaning learning more about the intricate details of each family and their children), I began to sweep off the dirt, crack the rock and discover a whole new world that I never knew existed. 

So....as much as I would like to leap forward to the NEXT good stuff, I will present a little of each level and keep moving forward, leaving out some of the information. It looks far different laying here in my lap, than what it does trying to present it to you here on this blog. Far too overwhelming. As I slog through this blog, I realize that I can't focus on ALL the details that I actually possess. For a perfectionist, this is going to be tough. LOL.

New philosophy, skip some, move onto the next...and hopefully when I return back to point A, point Z will still be connected. No wonder why the Indians viewed life in a circle and not a straight line.

The Way Back Machine

 I wrote this reflective piece on 12 February 2022

The Way Back Machine

 As an avid genealogist, I find myself going way back in time. Accessing things on the internet has been an amazing new twist as a family historian. My past and the history of our nation are closely interwoven. As I was researching the Quillin family, I came across a website named, The Way Back Machine.  This title gave me pause to reflect on my journey as a historian.  Many times, I feel that I am thrown into my memory bank and it’s as if I’m spinning, recalling, reliving the past trying to remember what was said or seen. And when I interview people, I see their minds working and using ‘The Way Back Machine’. This can be a peaceful place with the calmness of happy times, the sound of laughter, the sense of joy in accomplishments that were achieved, and the love given and received from family members. Yet sometimes this machine spins us into a turbulent, scary, haunting place.

 I will start with the peaceful places that this journey has taken me. Wherever my mother was was a peaceful place, a place of comfort, strength, wisdom, and the ability to think through the troubling aspects of life. I can visualize the places that we went together, the times that we spent together and the some of the words that were spoken. I visualize the time that I spent in her home. Any given day may pop into my memory and I can relive the source of comfort I found in just being with her. My childhood home was a place of comfort and I have so many delightful memories of my childhood.

And just like that, with a snap of the finger, my ‘way back machine’ can become turbulent, twisting and turning and swirling me about with various emotions. Life was not always perfect. There were times that were hurtful and many of the memories bring about deep emotions. They get stuck in my mind and it is hard to break the chains that warp the memory of the good times.

 An analogy of this turbulent world would be like life as a bird. What would life be like without the beautiful birds and their birdsongs? Just being in nature and observing and listening to them brings joy and peace to my soul. There is beauty in each bird and as I know from the Bible, His eye is on the sparrow. But on any given day, that bird may face a turbulent windstorm, being tossed about until it can find a place of shelter. And just like that, the storm clears, the sun comes out and the bird sings again and the cycle starts all over again. But what have we learned in the process?

 With these storms and trials of life, we gather our fortitude, draw upon our knowledge and experiences. We become stronger to forge ahead. It’s not easy. All I have to do is take a look back at my ancestors, their trials and tribulations, and I know that I am not alone. We all have times in the storm, but we choose to rise above and sing sweetly in the light of a new dawn.

Preserving Our Legacy

https://quotefancy.com/media/wallpaper/3840x2160/473668-Maya-Angelou-Quote-You-can-t-really-know-where-you-are-going-until.jpg 

PRESERVING OUR LEGACY

             It has been a lifelong pleasure to research our families' history.  I began before the advent of internet and did the basic foundation work the old-fashioned way:  contacting the oldest living relative, traversing country roads back to the old homesteads, trekking to county courthouses to access records, visiting cemeteries to glean birth and death dates, combing the archives here in Austin, and picking my mother's brain. Mother and I spent many days together weaving together our family story.  My forte was building the skeleton, and she loved "adding meat to the bones." She put together an amazing picture book and supplied so many stories that give meaning to our ancestor's lives.  I feel fortunate that I lived among my cousins, my aunts and uncles, and that my grandparents were a part of my life.  I was blessed to know three of my great-grandparents on Mother's side of the family.  Each bit of information made me want to know more and to understand the sacrifices that were made by each generation.  I came to realize that they were honorable people who valued life and liberty, and they worked hard to bring our family to the place we are now. My research revealed that they were men and women of faith who were true to themselves and to family. 

            I, in no way, believe that every detail in this research is correct.  Digging for family roots is a mystery and is fraught with pitfalls and misinformation.  I am not a professional researcher, but I understand the value of documenting and striving to be as accurate as possible.  I have files of paper research, but my goal is to share this history as succinctly as possible to point the next historian in the right direction or to at least give them a place to fill in the gaps or make corrections.  My desire is to preserve and honor those in our family who helped carve out our great nation. Our roots are deep southern roots with the first immigrants of every line reaching the shores of America prior to the Revolution, making for a very colorful and rich American family history.  Having southern roots complicated my efforts, as so many records were destroyed in the Civil War, but with the perseverance of county, state, and older family historians who documented the pioneer families, our own history is revealed.  Maybe the following pages will help someone carry the torch of preserving our legacy by keeping the integrity of our rich heritage intact and helping our descendants stay connected to the roots of our family.

You only know where you are going
when you know where you have been.

~ Maya Angelou