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Happy 4th of July
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Same to you guys. Hope everyone has a great 4th.
Happy 4th everyone! I'm off to the range- I have 500 rounds of .22LR and a new 10/22 that are calling my name 8)
Happy & Safe 4th to all!
Remember, if you drink, do NOT drive!
Just came back from the health club and passed two of our guys giving a sobriety test to some driver who didn't know better!
Grabbing a bite to eat and off to the range!
Remember, if you drink, do NOT drive!
Just came back from the health club and passed two of our guys giving a sobriety test to some driver who didn't know better!
Grabbing a bite to eat and off to the range!
Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor
Happy Independence Day, everybody.
A variation of this information has been around for several years, but with several inaccuracies, which I've corrected here:
Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors. [Heyward, Rutledge, Walton and Middleton were captured as prisoners of war while leading military action. They were detained for about a year and then released. Stockton was captured in late 1776 for his defiance of the British but was released sometime in 1777 in a prisoner-of-war trade. He never recovered from an illness contracted in prison and died in 1781.
At least fifteen (Ellery, M'Kean, Hall, Clymer, Heyward, Middleton, Nelson, Lewis, Hart, Morris, Livingston, Floyd, Hooper, Stockton, and Hopkinson) had their homes ransacked and burned by either British or Hessian troops.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
At least ten of the 56 (Heyward, Rutledge, Walton, Middleton, Whipple, Wolcott, Nelson, Ross, M'Kean, and Rodney) were military leaders who were severely wounded during the War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; five were doctors, a minister and a shipbuilder, men of means, well educated. However, they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his properties to pay his debts, and died with only his family home.
Thomas M'Kean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding, forced to move several times.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Ellery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett , Heyward, Rutledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was completely destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife for six months. She died about two years after the ordeal.
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying in the winter of 1776-77. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and from ill health contracted during his exile.
Morris and Livingston suffered similar fates. Both from New York, their properties were destroyed by advancing British troops.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot of what happened in the Revolutionary War. Some of us take our liberties so much for granted ... we shouldn't!
Please take a few moments while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank God for these patriots. It's not too much to ask for the price of freedom.
Semper Fi!
Ken
Happy Independence Day, everybody.
A variation of this information has been around for several years, but with several inaccuracies, which I've corrected here:
Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors. [Heyward, Rutledge, Walton and Middleton were captured as prisoners of war while leading military action. They were detained for about a year and then released. Stockton was captured in late 1776 for his defiance of the British but was released sometime in 1777 in a prisoner-of-war trade. He never recovered from an illness contracted in prison and died in 1781.
At least fifteen (Ellery, M'Kean, Hall, Clymer, Heyward, Middleton, Nelson, Lewis, Hart, Morris, Livingston, Floyd, Hooper, Stockton, and Hopkinson) had their homes ransacked and burned by either British or Hessian troops.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
At least ten of the 56 (Heyward, Rutledge, Walton, Middleton, Whipple, Wolcott, Nelson, Ross, M'Kean, and Rodney) were military leaders who were severely wounded during the War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; five were doctors, a minister and a shipbuilder, men of means, well educated. However, they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his properties to pay his debts, and died with only his family home.
Thomas M'Kean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding, forced to move several times.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Ellery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett , Heyward, Rutledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was completely destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife for six months. She died about two years after the ordeal.
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying in the winter of 1776-77. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and from ill health contracted during his exile.
Morris and Livingston suffered similar fates. Both from New York, their properties were destroyed by advancing British troops.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot of what happened in the Revolutionary War. Some of us take our liberties so much for granted ... we shouldn't!
Please take a few moments while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank God for these patriots. It's not too much to ask for the price of freedom.
Semper Fi!
Ken
dwarven1
Lonely Mountain Arms
And at least 8 of them were Freemasons when they signed the Declaration - something that Nicholas Cage got right in National Treasure. In fact, other than claiming that there were 55 signers and that Charles Carrol of Carrolton, he's got a lot of facts right. Whether his interpretation is right, and the lost treasure of the Knights Templar is really underneath Trinity Church, I don't know. [lol]
Known Masons: William Ellery, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Joseph Howes (or Hewes), William Hooper, Richard Stockton, George Walton & William Whipple
(Thomas McKean & Robert Treat Paine are listed as visitors to Masonic Lodges although it is not known what their home lodges were - since one must be a Mason to visit a Lodge, I presume that they were, indeed, Masons, which would bring the count to 10)
Other Freemasons involved in the Revolution: Paul Revere, William Dawes, John Paul Jones, the Marquis de Lafayette, Ethan Allen, Edmund Burke, and most of Washington's generals.
Ross - who, as you might have guessed, is a Freemason
Known Masons: William Ellery, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Joseph Howes (or Hewes), William Hooper, Richard Stockton, George Walton & William Whipple
(Thomas McKean & Robert Treat Paine are listed as visitors to Masonic Lodges although it is not known what their home lodges were - since one must be a Mason to visit a Lodge, I presume that they were, indeed, Masons, which would bring the count to 10)
Other Freemasons involved in the Revolution: Paul Revere, William Dawes, John Paul Jones, the Marquis de Lafayette, Ethan Allen, Edmund Burke, and most of Washington's generals.
Ross - who, as you might have guessed, is a Freemason
dwarven1 said:
My uncle is too - he was <insert your word for grand poohba here> for a while of the Methuen group.
My Independence day was very nice. Hope all of you had a great time at the range and a safe and happy 4th.
Bro Ross, did you forget GM George Washington himself?
![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
Bro Jon, no doubt you are correct.
dwarven1
Lonely Mountain Arms
I was sure I put Wor Washington's name down there... but it seems I only mentioned his generals!! Of course, George was a Brother. In fact, he was the ONLY president of the United States to be Master of his Lodge while in office!
In fact, IIRC, the bible he took his oath of office on still belongs to a New York lodge.
Ross
In fact, IIRC, the bible he took his oath of office on still belongs to a New York lodge.
Ross
dwarven1 said:
And as in fact, available to any President to be inaugurated upon to this day if he so wishes. The bible is then escorted and guarded by the Lodge Brothers while in DC.
