Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
They signed the Declaration, pledging 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; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were educated men of means. 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 about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fougnt our own government!
Posted to the net by Col. Robert de Marcellus (Ret.) on the 4th of July.
Ray Fields is the President of The Abalone Farm, Inc., the oldest and largest abalone aquaculture facility in the US. He graduated from Humboldt State University with a BS in Biological Oceanography in 1983. Ray was hired as the Growout Manager of The Abalone Farm in 1984. He has helped build the farm from 6 employees and 36 abalone tanks in 1984, to 570 tanks and almost 40 full time employees today. Ray currently resides in SLO with his wife Donette, and her 2 children.
Indenture Servant
The institution was not considered inhumane -- most of our Quaker ancestors came to Pennsylvania and other colonies as indentured servants to more well-to-do Friends. Still, it is certainly true that there were probably as many miserable masters of indentured servants as there were miserable slavemasters. A servant's time was certainly not his or her own during the term of servitude; however, for the most part, those who hired themselves out under such terms knew that, assuming all went well and there was no sickness or pregnancy, then after a specific period of time, and the time varied greatly, they would be free.
Generally speaking, servants could not marry during the term of their indenture. If a female servant became pregnant, regardless of who the father of the child might be, her term could be extended for the period of time during which she was incapable of working due to pregnancy and any consequences there of. If an indentured servant was accused of fathering a child, he could face legal action and if the mother of the child was another servant, the time she might miss on account of her condition could be added to the servant-father's time as well as her own. Servants (and bound apprentices) were also expected, if learning a trade, to keep all the
"mysteries" of the trade secret, a holdover from the medieval trade guilds.
Servants were usually to work for a set number of years at a specific trade, if one was already had, or learning a trade could be part of the bargain. Women usually were to be trained in the skills of housewifery, far more demanding than anything housewives do today. I know this, because I have been learning 18th century housewifery skills for the last 8 years. At the
end of the term, the servant would be given his or her freedom dues a suit of clothes, sometimes along with hand-farming implements (grubbing hoe, rakes, etc.), and his or her freedom.
Those servants who came over to work for a specific person in this country were one type of indentured servants. They generally received land as part of their agreement, especially early on in the founding of Pennsylvania. They were often kinsmen or members of the same community as their masters who would pay their passage, and the time they served as to repay the master for footing the bill of transatlantic travel.
There were also redemptioners, generally Germans and sometimes Scots, whose passage was paid for by the shipmaster and then their contracts were sold to the highest bidder when they landed in a port. Sometimes whole families came over this way. The Pennsylvania Gazette is full of ads from people looking for siblings with whom they had come over but as they were sold to masters from different parts of the colony, they hadn't seen them in years. Sometimes they never saw one another again.
Although the average age for ordinary children to be bound as an apprentice to learn a trade was 14, poor children could be bound out as early as 18 months to 3 years of age for periods as long as 18-20 years, or until they reached maturity (usually 21 for males, 18 for females). I have a list of indentured servants who were bound out under the guidance of the Guardians of the Poor of the City of Philadelphia (1752-1799--the time period in which I am interested in is limited solely to the 17th and 18th century, so I don't go beyond 1799)to residents of Chester and later Delaware County. Some of the trades to be learned were weaving, shallop fishing, husbandry
(farming), housewifery,cordwaining, tobaccanist, shoemaker, joinery (carpentry), tanning, and curriery (sp?). Sometimes all the indenture says is that the child is to learn to read, write and cipher. or to read, sew, knit, and spin, especially in the indentures before 1762.
After that time, the expectation changed to specify the freedom dues as well, such as "Farmer, read, write, cipher, 2 compleat suits of apparel, one to be new" or "Read, write, cypher to rule of 3, spade, axe, grubbing hoe, and sickle, freedom." In the case of Anne Callins who was indentured in 1768 for 15 years to William Moore of West Caln, she was to be trained in "housewifery,to be taught to read, write, and cipher, and sew, knit and spin, and to have the customary freedoms." Elizabeth Baley in 1770 was bound to Matthew Taylor of Edgmont for 15 years and she was to be taught "housewifery, sew, knit, and spin, to read in the Bible, and write a legible Hand." Gabriel Stevenson was bound for six years in 1770 to Thomas Swain of
Ridley who was to provide Gabriel with 12 months of school six months of which were to be in the last year of his term. In 1779 Thomas Bubridge (possibly Burbridge) was bound to Edward Horne of Darby and was to learn "the trade of a farmer or fuller, read the Bible, write a legible hand, and cipher as far as the Rule of 3, with the customary dues." Edward Hoope was bound in 1799 for 3 years to John Jones of Radnor, "to be taught the art & misery of a mariner."
Undoubtedly, many of these children became like members of the family. Not surprisingly, some probably opted to bolt at the first opportunity. There were many advertisements in local papers, primarily the Pennsylvania Gazette, the Pennsylvania Evening Post, and the Virginia Gazette. These advertisements, while necessarily subjective, often provide a detailed description of facial features, hair color, height, and the clothing the person "had on and took with" him or her. The clothing descriptions alone give a fascinating look at the wide variety of clothing worn (and stolen) by runaway servants.
Source: 27 Oct 1998
Karen Mullian
booboopies@aol.com
SONS Of The AMERICAN REVOLUTION Meeting Minutes of The Central Coast Chapter Jan. 21, 2011
The meeting was called to order at 1:10 PM. The
Invocation was by Earl Radar. The Pledges of Allegiance and SAR Pledge were by Gary Cooper.
Attendance 14!, which included guests Sheri Haynes, Barbara Stevens, and Spencer Eley.
Our speaker was Compatriot Al Stevens, who delivered a very cogent presentation on the paradigm shift in the oil and gas world. He explained how fracing (I assume that rhymes with racing) has enabled the extraction of oil and natural gas through horizontal drilling without undue damage to groundwater and the environmental. Al serves on the board of Southwestern Energy Co. , one of the leaders in this new paradigm.
The Treasurer reported a balance of $3,009.22
Bill Siler was awarded The Certificate of Patriotism for his meritorious service in World War II. Well deserved.
Benediction and closing pledge by Gary at 2:15 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
David A. Tissue, Secretary
The speaker for our January meeting was Al Stevens, compatriot, and retired geologist, who spent his career in the development and production of oil and national gas.
A Michigan native, Al graduated in Geology and Engineering from Michigan Tech. He spent over 37 years in the petroleum industry with half of his experience in international areas. He ended his career in 2001 as president and chief operating officer for Southwestern Energy Production Co, Houston, Texas, and in 2010, he was elected the Board of Directors.
He and his wife, Barbara, have been married 45 years and have two sons, and nine grandchildren. He collects and restores antique clocks, as well as collecting antique geologic maps. Al provides field trips on the geology of San Luis Obispo County and has taken over 1500 people on these field trips in the past seven years.
In the last decade there has been a paradigm shift in the way we produce oil and natural gas in the continental United States. The conventional oil and gas plays have become so small and expensive as to economically reach the point of diminishing returns. In 2000 companies began to explore the possibility of producing hydrocarbons from the shale source rocks that originally generated the oil and gas. By applying and refining existing technologies of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracing, they were able to unleash a vast amount of new low cost reserves that has increased the reserves of natural gas 10 times of what existed in 2000 and has provided the United States with over a 100 year supply. The United States now has as much energy in our natural gas reserves as Saudi Arabia has in their oil reserves, and there is still enormous potential to increase these reserves in the future.
There has been a lot of press by the environmentalists which are politically against the development of these new reserves stating that fracing pollutes the fresh water and that the additives utilized are toxic. Federal and state investigations indicate that fracing has not been the source of fresh water contamination but rather the problems have been due to poor well integrity, and contamination of the fresh water supplies by historical unregulated drilling over the last 150 years.
Natural gas is the least polluting of all hydrocarbons. With this abundance of new energy supplies the challenge for our country is to seek ways to convert our existing transportation and infrastructure to wisely utilize these natural gas reserves to reduce our dependency on foreign oil supplies whose cost is out of our control.
If you did not attend this month's meeting, you missed a great presentation of the present state of the oil and gas industry in North America.
J Stephen Hurst. Member since 2002, with three supplemental memberships.
Life Member
State Awards: Meritorious Service Award for service as CASSAR Registrar
Chapter awards: Meritorious Service Award for service of two years as vice president and two years as president, George Patton Chapter
Silver Good Citizenship Award
Outstanding Citizenship Award
Bronze Color Guard Award
Past President pin
Education: Chemistry SDSU
MBA University of Missouri
Certified Financial Planner
Retired after more than thirty years financial advisor at a major investment firm.
Resident of California since 1962.
Military Service:
Captain, U S Air Force
Munitions officer
Missile launch officer
Equal opportunity officer
Okinawa, two tours in Thailand, North Dakota, Missouri, Vandenberg AFB
Three children: step daughter Stephanie, foster son Thuan Huynh, deceased son Eric, recipient of Carnegie Hero Award
Grandson: Nathan Huynh. Nathan is a youth registrant of the SAR.
Member NRA, American Sailing Associate bareboat charter diplomate, member Roseleaf Ragtime Club, Life member of the Society for Sedimentary Geology Pacific section, subscriber New West Symphony, member St. Georges Anglican Church,
Lineage Societies:
Past Secretary, California Society of War of 1812
Governor General, Order of the First Family of Maryland
Member Society of Colonial Wars
Life Member Society of Indiana Pioneers
“Call me Steve. From my efforts as Registrar, I know how congenial our society can be. It is a pleasure to associate with men interested in our country’s patriotic heritage. I want to help us to continue to grow by welcoming new, younger members.”
"Without Benedict Arnold in the first three years of the war," says the historian George Neumann, "we would probably have lost the Revolution." In 1775, the future traitor came within a whisker of conquering Canada. In 1776, he built a fleet and fought a bigger British fleet to a standstill on Lake Champlain. At Saratoga in 1777, his brilliant battlefield leadership forced the British army to surrender. The victory persuaded the French to join the war on the American side. Ironically, Arnold switched sides in 1780 partly because he disapproved of the French alliance.
Despite Arnold's successes, he was passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress while other officers claimed credit for some of his accomplishments.[3] Adversaries in military and political circles brought charges of corruption or other malfeasance, but most often he was acquitted in formal inquiries. Congress investigated his accounts and found he was indebted to Congress after spending much of his own money on the war effort. Frustrated and bitter, Arnold decided to change sides in 1779, and opened secret negotiations with the British. In July 1780, he sought and obtained command of West Point in order to surrender it to the British. Arnold's scheme was exposed when American forces captured British Major John André carrying papers that revealed the plot. Upon learning of André's capture, Arnold fled down the Hudson River to the British sloop-of-war Vulture, narrowly avoiding capture by the forces of George Washington, who had been alerted to the plot.
Wikipedia
