Veterans Day

TL;DR -- Veteran? We forgot the connection to 'Armistice' that was there in the beginning. We have covered topics related to this theme from the beginning but mainly point to the work of late. Related to the conflicts are the generations involved. A chart looking at the timeline rolls several generations together in a range of birth years. Our view, taking that route, tries to pull out this detail, such as the 5th generation (say, from Cape Ann) bore the brunt of the Revolution while the 4th led, and some of the 6th participated. In any case, we can see the endless nature of this aspect of ourselves. 

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In the spring, we have started posts related to Memorial Day (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022) which occurs on the last weekend of May, in the U.S. The holiday, early on, had a Civil War focus. Some of our posts were of that category: Jonathan Letterman, Young captain, Secret Six, STL to SFO (using a modern vernacular), and others. 

We only have had one with a Veteran's Day theme: Dr. Frank's burial place. Given the memorial focus, we also have had several posts on cemeteries and their issues: Howard Street Burial Ground. Several posts were involved with the theme of "Where is Thomas?" that involved a decade-long quest to understand what happened to the old burial plot noted by Sidney Perley and others. 

In particular, the focus of Veteran's Day is related to military service and the sacrifices thereof. Originally, this day was a remembrance of World War I: Victory Gardens, Ground zero, Frank Balch, James Bryant Conant, and more. 

Indirectly, we have mentioned other conflicts of a wider, than personal, nature. After all, the tragedies and turmoil of the western movement were huge individually and collectively. We who look back have no notion of the extent of this (say, pondering the English Wigwam of early New England). Too, conflict with the American Indian was almost constant. 

Yet, there have been major conflicts that impacted the whole of the U.S. from before and after the frontier century. We are coming upon the 250th of the Revolution (see SAR/DAR). After that, there was the continuation in the events of the War of 1812. 

These recurrences are generational in scope. We will spend more time looking at this. The fifth generation bore the brunt of the Revolution; the sixth endured the 1812 problems. In general, generations will be of interest an almost uncountable number of reasons. The existence of Mayflower data has brought to fore several types of analysis: About generations. 

So, to the theme of the post, what is a veteran? We have the general definition related to being old or experienced. But, the norm now ties the word to a military usage, hence the Department of Veterans Affairs of the U.S. Rather than point to the [dot]gov site, we let Wikipedia show its stuff with respect to coverage of something. 

Today, on Facebook (which seemed to come from the blog post that references Flickr which shrugs its shoulders (404) - we need a new focus - show provenance, give credit), I saw this chart which shows the conflicts which the U.S. has been involved with. Then, for each, it provides the expected birth year and a range. At the same time, the span of time for serving in the military during the time of each conflict is given. 

The chart only goes to the Vietnam era. There, participants were born from 1914 to 1955. As we saw, there were some WWI, but mostly WWII and Korean veterans were serving in the military. The civilian population had a different mixture. Over a two-century span (remember, the Viet event is the context), the nine conflicts amount to over four conflicts per century which maps to conflict one per generation. 

Let's see, has that carried on or accelerated?  

We will continue to help document details from these past conflicts as we go forward with the several observances that are annual. At the same time, we have to bring in the world view, starting with our British cousins. Four hundred years ago, while our forefathers dabbled in a new environment and survived, that old world shook continually with conflicts, large and small. Some of that tension came over here over the long period.  

Remarks: Modified: 11/12/2022

11/12/2022 --  We will follow one veteran and his spouse as they venture west over the timeframe that included the Civil War and events before and after. That, too, brings in New Spain and New France. 

Guy Fawkes Day

TL;DR -- Guy Fawkes may have supporters in the U.S. still. But, other events might have similar appeal. Do celebrating these aggravate folks and inhibit aggregative efforts? 

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If one goes to Facebook (Meta's toy), one see lots and lots of organizations and people giving their contributions to the growing information pile. For good or bad? Well, we'll let Elon Musk fight that battle. 

What we see is that technology involved with the explosion is giving ordinary people the chance to tell their tales, of self or family or others. Too, some are using the mode for commercial purposes related to profit. There are too many permutations to list and keep focus. For us, we see that the TGS, Inc. is using the mode as a means for non-profit ways. And, in several ways is this being done. 

For one thing, we'll be contributing historical items of many sorts. Too, we will look across time and space in ordinary ways, and not, to discuss associations that history ignores. These are endless. What will filter, eventually if at all? Well, who knows. We are all on a learning trek. 

And, AIn't? It'll be seen as a tool when wisdom raises its head, again. In the meantime, we'll persist. 

So, FB's prompt today? Guy Fawkes (our post, last year, was British Cousins). For more information on the supplier of today's post, see 250 Years America's Founding. There are many sites dealing with this subject. One we like to remind people of are those related to the work of S.A.R. and D.A.R. Last year, there were four years left in the countdown; now, we have three. 

Guy Fawkes Night? The 1605 event is still celebrated. In the post, the 250-Years folk talk about the colonial aspects as well as Gen. Washington's efforts to control the emotion in the ranks of the military.   

Celebrating Guy Fawkes had become a habit in the colonies starting in 1623. Gen. Washington did not think it proper to continue this during the conflict especially if allies were offended. 

Of note is that William & Mary came to England on Guy Fawkes Day in 1688. 

So, today? Lots of analogs apply in this day of turmoil of types not seen before. 'How can we remain civil?", for one thing. 

Aside: last year, we did not stress Guy Fawkes enough. 

Remarks: Modified: 11/05/2022

11/05/2022 --  

Derek Bok

TL;DR -- As we look at the twenty-fifth President of Harvard, we take note that the end is nearing. At that time, we will begin filling in our research remarks since this exercise is very much associated with four hundred years of history that encompasses the totality of humanity, even if that impact was indirect. 

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With this post (Derek Bok, #25), we are nearing the end of a series that started in August of 2021 with a look at James Bryant Conant. There are only two to go as we leave current situations until a later date. With only two to go (#26, Neil Rudenstine; #27, Lawrence Summers), we can start a continuing effort of analysis across time and space with respect to New England's (and Massachusetts') long arm. 

Derek served twice in the Head of Harvard role (1971-91, 2006-07). His second term was interim, prior to that of Drew Gilpin Faust. The author of several books, he had a "concern for the quality of pedagogy employed at research universities like Harvard and its peers around the world" which continued throughout his life and work.  

We will follow up with more research and post more about Derek's life, doing so only summarily, since there is plenty of contemporary material at hand given the gift of the IP (protocol) which occurred after Derek's term.       

• History of Harvard (ours);
• History of the Presidency (Harvard); 
• graduates of Harvard (list initiated by Hoar); and 
• Harvard in the long history of the U.S. 

The length of Derek's term will be of interest as is the breadth of familial connections, some of which is of U.S. lineage, due to the many factors that will come into play with respect to our 400-year focus. 

Notes:

1. Derek was Dean of the Harvard Law School. ...

2. Derek " is the son of Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice Curtis Bok and Margaret Plummer Bok;[11] the grandson of Dutch-born Ladies' Home Journal editor Edward Bok and Mary Louise Curtis, founder of the Curtis Institute of Music; the cousin of prominent Maine folklorist Gordon Bok; and the great-grandson of Cyrus H. K. Curtis, founder of the Curtis Publishing Company, publisher of national magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post."

3.  ...

Remarks: Modified: 10/31/2022

10/31/2022 -- 

Time lines

TL;DR -- The U.S. and its time lines and those of the world. Our timeline was prepared by the pre-school  of colonial life. This was unique when viewed properly. And. New England, in this sense, has a long reach which we have been discussing. The 400ths will allow us some markers with which to organize the information by, arbitrary as such might seem. 

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This post covers an area of concern that will be in focus for a long while. We will mention Immanuel Kant, for one thing. That is 200 years ago, or so. One thing we will do is put events and people into perspective with regard to the 400 years on these shores. This will cover the broad scope due to the influence of New England and the U.S., but we have already started with mathematicians and philosophers. Those folks are of interest since the military and political people get lots of attention. And, we are picking up technology as our area of focus. We summarized part of this in our Gairdner Foundation post. Incidentally, both types deal with thinking and being smart humans with the math'ians being more practical many times, as mathematician, philosopher and cousin Charles Sanders Peirce showed. His work in logic is still very much apropos to this day and age's problems, as is the pragmatic view.  

Then take Spinoza, for instance. He has been mentioned in three of our posts: Spectral issues, Web'ing, and Origins and Motivations. Also, we mention Descartes and others. Mention? As in, name dropping? Nope. The mechanized age (though, Einstein showed us relativity) of the computational idiocies has thrown out the old timers. Why? Oh, digitize all of text, parse, model, and then spit out what humans will marvel at. 

We are not kidding, folks. This is what is happening. 

Any human knows the power of words; others know that that power does not come from mere textual manipulations even if what we see is somewhat syntaxy in mode. Consider that a brief reminder, like a blurb from advertising - oh, those folks, of something that needs serious attention. 

Paul Carus

Which brings us to the main theme, Kant. We will address this from one of his translators whose native tongue was German but who came over here and let down roots. That is, Paul Carus (introduced to C.S. Peirce by Judge Francis C. Russell - New England name) not only did a good job on Kant's Prolegomena, his commentary contributes to the discussion. Mind you, we are talking over 100 years ago. That is ancient to the Silicon Valley mind, it seems, though Stanford University (and Berkeley) is right there. 

If you look at Prof. Carus' profile on Wikipedia, one name pops out: C. S. Peirce (mentioned above). There was another name that we saw from New England with respect to translating Kant, Henry Cabot Lodge. BTW, earlier, we noted that young folks liked to translate Spinoza's Ethics which was written in Latin. One of those? George Eliot who worked from a German version. One New England contact there is R.W. Emerson who had been influenced by Kant. 

This post deals with occurrences before and around that which the 250th will commemorate. Kant's life was from 1724 to 1804. We will look at the generations that he spanned. Too, though, we can go back and look at things of influence. We already mentioned Winthrop's 1630 arrival as one milestone to use. Before that was reconnaissance according to the writer of Albion's Seed. And, we can come forward toward the explosion of knowledge and ability leading to the 21st century and its marvels.

But, with hapless souls, one might think, looking around. Using the timeline of the U.S. and its pre-school time, we can relook and learn, perhaps, things that were missed; or, we can recover things lossed in the shuffles that are always the case. 

Note: Carus' overview of Kant's look at his 2nd Critique is a good example of Kant's influence. It seems that you either love Kant or hate the guy's thoughts. 

Note: This is apropos. We will put a link to recent article that listed Americans (norte, U.S.) who are related to the Queen (QE II). There are two lists (more are possible) given in the article. One is of those who have common ancestors (the list is long, having families like Washington, Lee and too many to list). The other list? Those who are closer as a U.S. ancestor is shared with the Queen (QE II) and King Charles, in some cases, Lady Diana, too. Ann has ancestors on both lists. This happened as a colonial (or someone later) went back. For instance, Downing's Street namesake is a cousin-in-law. 

Remarks: Modified: 10/24/2022

10/24/2022 -- 

Newbury Essex County MA

TL;DR -- Ships made and used. New England. We're back to that after our jaunts through the interior. But, we'll keep both in mind going forward. In Massachusetts, we focus on little Essex County. Even there, the shipbuilding efforts have continued over the 400 years. Maine will be in the scope, too; after all, they endured the onus of Massachusetts for a long while.  

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New England and its nautical modes is a no-brainer, that is, when one considers the coastal area. Same goes for our Essex County, the primary entity in Massachusetts. That is, again, until Winthrop arrived in 1630. There was Plymouth, of course. And, people had scattered around the region, like Weymouth which commemorates its 400 this year (2022). Per usual, we will be looking at Weymouth, again, due to the associations/relationships with those there in the context of the 400ths which will cover several decades. 

Folks in Essex County helped fill in the interior of the U.S. over time. To consider that entails covering a very large area. Two memes apply: long reach of New England; frontier century. Both by land and by sea pertain to the two memes over time. Thomas Gardner Research has noted by the seafaring ones have lots of press. Where there are deficits of information is in the large interior. To the extent that we can claim to have discovered a lost generation or two where our work has merely touched the tip of an iceberg. Fortunately, technology is moving to where we can handle the work to fill in the missing pieces. The interior is not just "flyover country" as was a meme several years ago. 

But, back to the sea and its charms. Before getting back to Essex County, there was a documented building of a vessel in Maine in 1607: Virginia, a pinnace (Gardner's Beacon, Vol. III, No. 1); Popham Colony (Wikipedia -- first English ocean-going vessel built "in the Americas."). The Wikipedia article gives an off-handed review. This vessel actually sailed from Maine to Virginia, to London, and elsewhere. This accomplishment needs more attention. 

That's New England, north as we call it. Coming back to Massachusetts and Essex County, we can look at the northern end, namely Newbury. We have mentioned it a few times. For instance, Dr. Frank and Ann have lots of ancestors from there. Nathaniel Knapp is an example. We wrote of Caleb Haskell who is from Newburyport (close enough). 

Newbury will have its commemoration is 2035. Being up top, we can jump over to New Hampshire to add in more goings-on over time, say like this post, Two Houses. But, let's give Newbury some attention, finally. 

Today, we saw an article by Melissa D. Berry: Tales of Infant Boat Industry in Massachusetts. The article looks at Newbury's  involvement, in a big way, with the creation of vessels for water transportation. By 1749, the region had produced "over 600 vessels." The Merrimack (1798) came from the folks up there in northern Essex County as a gift to the cause for which we'll have a 250th very soon.  

Recently, we had a brief look at the smaller work of cousins a little further south: Shipbuilding in Essex. Where Essex, in this case, is the former Chebacco where Rev. John Wise preached and rebelled. That latter had to do with tax impositions almost 100 years before the little tea party in Boston. John's pamphlet (see The Rev. John Wise of Ipswich) was republished to inform the later folks of what happened before, as well as to inspire Thomas Jefferson. 

We will step back to the beginning to look at the types of efforts. Housing was a huge emphasis, for a while. There was regular traffic bringing in goods of various types. Some artifacts had to be done locally. Too, exporting happened fairly quickly. Of course, we will continue the overviews of the 400 years of interest. 

Getting back to New England, in the context of Maine, we need to specifically point to Bath (John almost went there - to deal with the heavy stuff as compared to the lightness of aero ways). This little brochure is about the First ship of Maine (of course, Popham's). Their claim s that 4,000 ships have been built over the 400 years. Astounding.    

Remarks: Modified: 10/19/2022

10/19/2022 -- 

Thomas Hill

TL;DR -- Is Thomas the most interesting of the Heads? We will be researching him. He got a U.S. Patent for a mechanical calculator, did some astronomical algorithms, wrote a book on geometry and faith, took off his coat to plant some ivy at Harvard, and such. Too, he was an orphan by 10. Got to Harvard late but accomplished his goals. Much more.  

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We started this series in August of 2021 with James Bryant Conant. Since then, we have looked at most of the Heads of Harvard (Wikipedia). By doing this post on Thomas Hill, we will have covered those in the position from the beginning until the 1930s which is 300 years. 

As with the other Heads, we looked for WikiTree information () and found none. Harvard Square did have a biography of Thomas as a Unitarian minister with information from The Harvard Book, 1875. His father was from England but had been in the U.S. for 30 years when Thomas was born. His parents died before Thomas was 10 years old, resulting in his early education being spotty. Thomas graduated from Harvard in 1843 and the Divinity School in 1845. His time in the Head of Harvard role was from 1862-1868 which encompasses the U.S. Civil War. 

We will do research and post more about Hill's life, for one thing, using the material at Hollis which has a biography.     

• History of Harvard (ours);
• History of the Presidency (Harvard); 
• graduates of Harvard (list initiated by Hoar); and 
• Harvard in the long history of the U.S. 

Hill died in 1891. More later (see following notes).

Notes:

1. Hill had a lot of interests, including astronomy. His mathematical work resulted in methods and tools for astronomical calculations. Plus, he wrote a book on Geometry and Faith. He obtained a Patent (US No 18692) for a mechanical calculator in 1857. ...

2. He received financial aid. See Celebrating 375 years of Financial Aid. Ralph Waldo Emerson is on the list, too, as doing work-study. ... The future: "well over half" receive some type of aid. 

3.  ...

Remarks: Modified: 10/15/2022

10/15/2022 -- 

Hector St. John

TL;DR -- Hector St. John is considered, again. He was here for the French-Indian affair, on the side of France. Came down to the British side of the colonial divide. Was a farmer and more. Then, was caught in the land of Loyalist or not; the British got him, took him back to England, where he finally was let go to go get his inheritance. But, he wrote of his experiences and came back as a French consul. Finally, he gets some attention. 

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Our recent look at the "Secret Six" after considering "Blended families" got us back to The Massachusetts Magazine which was presented by Dr. Frank and friends, one of whom was Col. T.W. Higginson. In this research, we got re-acquainted with F.B. Sanborn who was one of the Secret Six and contributed to many publication efforts. 

Then, along with our review of the pre-COVID times, we were looking at our posts on F.B. (What is an American?). And, we ran across an old name. Hector St. John was the subject of an article or two by F.B. We mentioned something about Hector in our post (Early America, 2018 - notice that we put the Table of Contents to his book on his early travels in Pennsylvania and New York) and went looking for newer material. 

One is a biography on this site: Freedom: A History of US. Hector, of France, was old enough to have been in Canada with the French during the French-Indian affair and to later be in the British side of the colonial divide prior to the American Revolution. 

So, his stories will be great to look at, with its foreign flavor. 

He got a Yankee introduction and was here during the conflict. The British took him prisoner and shipped him back to England. Lots of tales. He got back to his family in France. They had some pedigree to note. 

This is from the Annenberg Learner: The outbreak of the American Revolution marred Crèvecoeur’s idyllic farm life. Suspected of harboring Loyalist sympathies, he was persecuted and threatened by his neighbors. He tried to sail for France to escape harassment and to secure his children’s inheritance, but both the English authorities and the Revolutionaries found him suspicious and made his departure difficult. After being imprisoned by the English, he was finally allowed to leave for France in 1780. 

Okay, let's do one more quote, same source: Once he had arrived safely in Europe, Crèvecoeur published a manuscript he had produced while in America. His book, Letters from an American Farmer(1782), was an account of rural life and travels through America told in the voice of a naive, rustic narrator. These letters of “Farmer James” became popular in France and England and, trading on the book’s success, Crèvecoeur became a minor celebrity. He was appointed a French consul to America and returned to New York in 1783. 

So, yes, this gent needs some attention. Not to detract from Lafayette and those others, like the Polish officer of note. We'll touch on them, too. 

Remarks: Modified: 10/12/2022

10/12/2022 --