The DAR's Nancy Hart Marker Dedication-- Part 1

From the Daughters of the American Revolution's rootsweb.ancestry site.

Tjhese were remarks made at the unveiling of to monument to Nancy Morgan Hart on October 12, 1930.  Remarks made by Louise Rucker Trafton, Chapter Committee for Marking Historic Spots, General Samuel Hopkins Chapter DAR.

"Georgia, where she lived, in Elbert County, during the Revolution, and where her brave, patriotic deeds were performed, has honored her in many ways, by naming a D.A.R. Chapter for her, a State Highway and other memorials.  Her name in that State is synonymous for patriotism and courage."

--Cooter

Nancy Hart, Revolution Heroine-- Part 9: Locating Her Grave

Nancy Hart is buried in the Book Cemetery, sometimes called Hart-Book Cemetery, on Frog Island Road, south of Henderson, Kentucky.

It is south of Kentucky Highway 425 (Henderson Bypass).  From 425, turn south on State Route 1299 and east on Schuette Lane.

Frog Island Road runs south from Schuette Lane to State Route 1299.

If on I-69 or US-41, you get off on the Kentucky-425 interchange.

For Nancy.  --Cooter

Nancy Hart, American Revolution Heroine-- Part 8: Another Famous Hart in Kentucky

More On her:

**  Hart Graveyard on Frog Island Road, is ten miles south of Henderson, Kentucky.  We just drove through there earlier this month coming back from Panama City Beach, Florida.  Wish I'd known about her as I might just have taken a detour and looked for her grave.

**  There is also a Hart County in Kentucky, which I thought might have been named for her, but it wasn't.  It was named for Captain Nathaniel G.S. hart, a Kentucky militia officer in the War of 1812.  he was wounded at the Battle of Frenchtown and died at the Massacre of the River Raisin in 1812.

I'll write about him more in my War of 1812 blog, Not So Forgotten.

Let's Dance-- Part 11: 30-Minute Dance Explosion

Songs to get Ya' Movin'.

THE TWIST--  Chubby Checker

RESPECT--  Aretha Franklin

STAYIN' ALIVE--  Bee Gees

OYE COMO VA--  Santana

DANCE TO THE MUSIC--  Sly & the Family Stone

DANCING QUEEN--  Abba

BOOGIE WONDERLAND--  Earth, Wind & Fire

THRILLER--  Michael Jackson  (Dance like a Zombie)

UPTOWN FUNK--  Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars

Those Who Will Not dance Might be Zombies.  --CootMove

Let's Dance-- Part 10: Give Me Good Old Frat/Soul Dancing Anytime

My idea of fun dancing is what you saw on "Animal House" at the Delta Tau Delta toga party.  That and any type of soul dancing.

We used to do a lot of dancing at our Delta Sigma Phi parties at NIU.  We generally played just four albums (yes, albums as that is what we had back 1969-1973).  They were:  Green River by CCR (our fraternity song was "The Buffalo Song" to the tune of "Lodi"), Sly & the Family Stone's Greatest Hits, Four Tops Greatest Hits and Temptations Greatest Hits.

Play one side of all four, flip them over and do the other side.  Repeat as needed.

I dance where the music takes me.

Give Me a Beat That Can't Be Beat.  --CootFrat

Let's Dance-- Part 9: The Times of Our Lives, Learning a Country Line Dance

What They Had to Say:

POPE FRANCIS:  I love tango, and I used to dance when I was young."  I've never seen a Pope dance.

JAMES BROWN:  "Any problem in the world can be solved by dancing."  Now, That Man Could Move.

ANONYMOUS:  "If every time you take one step forward you take two steps backward, don't be discouraged.  You just learned how to country line dance."  Good Old "Boot Scootin' Boogie" and "Achy Breaky Heart."

EMMA STONE:  "Once you've learned to ballroom dance with someone, you've learned everything you need to know."  Don't Know How to Do It, But My Brother Does.

Stand Up Sit Down.  Fight, Fight, Fight.  --Cooter

Let's Dance-- Part 8: They Made Us Feel Like Dancing

5.  MADONNA--  Before she sang, she sought a dance career.  And, she sure did some dancin' while she was singin'.

6.  PAULA ABDUL--  The '80s MTV star was also a top choreographer.  And she could sing too.

7.  JANET JACKSON--  As good as her brother?  Absolutely, say dance experts and her many fans.  And, you never know when she will have problem with her clothes.

8.  MICHAEL JACKSON--  The King of Pop changed modern dance.  Can you say "Moonwalk"?  Hurt myself bad trying that.  Won't do it again.

9.  MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV--  He made ballet fresh, exciting and even sexy for millions of Americans.  Well, not me.

Of course, I sure loved Toni Basil in her "Mickey" video.  I guess you'd call that cheerleader dancing.  Plus, the moves the Motown groups had just blew me away.

Then, there was Tina Turner and her Ikettes.  How those short dresses stayed on during those moves was beyond me.

Moving Soul.  --Cooter

Let's Dance-- Part 7: They Made Us Feel Like Dancing

1.  JAMES BROWN

His fast feet and awesome splits defined funkiness.

2.  ELVIS PRESLEY

He gyrated on TV -- and sixty years later, we still haven't caught our balance.  Remember, no filming below the hips, Ed.

3.  CHUBBY CHECKER

The Twist became a worldwide dance sensation after he stole it from Hank Ballard.

SAVION GLOVER

From Sesame Street to Broadway, he keeps tap dance alive and well.

--Cooter

Let's Dance-- Part 6: The 2000s

2000s

The Harlem Shake

Twerking

The Dougie

The Whip/ Nae Nae

The Dab

--DaCoot

Nancy Hart, American Revolution Heroine-- Part 7: Some Confusion About Burial

Find-A-Grave.

She is buried in what is now called the Book Cemetery near Henderson, Kentucky.  There are 82 internments listed there.  She is not mentioned as an important person buried there, which is surprising.

I've also seen it called the Hart-Book Cemetery.

A lot of people with the Book family name (26 of them) are buried there.  This land was probably initially owned by the Hart family and then the Book family took it over.

From Saving Graves site.

The Book Cemetery is privately owned by Steve Reed and neglected and overgrown.  It is located near US Highway 60 on Frog Island Road.

Under a Hart Brook Cemetery in Henderson, Ky., I the oldest grave was that of Nancy Hart, died 1837, DAR.  It also says this one is owned by Steve Reed and neglected with overgrown trees, ground cover and vines.

Another source mentioned that the Hart Graveyard is on Frog Island Road, ten miles from Henderson.

--Cooter

Nancy Hart, American Revolution Heroine-- Part 6: Georgia. Historical Marker

HEROINE OF GEORGIA

NANCY HART

1 1/2 mile.

"On Wahatche (WarWoman) Creek, in Revolutionary times lived Nancy Morgan Hart, her husband,  Benjamin, and their children.  Six feet tall, masculine in strength and courage, Nancy Hart was a staunch patriot, a deadly shot, a skilled doctor, and good neighbor.

"A spy for the colonists, she is credited with capturing several Tories.  Later, her son, John, and her family, she joined a wagon train to Henderson County, Kentucky, where she is buried.

"Hart County, the Nancy Hart Highway, and schools in Elbert and Hart Counties are named for her.  A replica of her log home, with chimney stones from the original, is in Nancy Hart Park, 1 1/2 miles from here."

--Cooter

Nancy Hart, American Revolution Heroine-- Part 5

From Find-A-Grave.

NANCY ANN MORGAN HART

1747-1840

One of 4 Harts buried in the Book Cemetery.

Her son, John Hart is buried there as well.

Her son Mark is buried in Mount Juliet Cemetery in Tennessee.

There is the Nancy Hart Highway established in 1928 through the efforts of the Georgia DAR.  A marker stone was erected by the Stephen Heard Chapter DAR.

--DaCoot

Nancy Hart, American Revolution Heroine-- Part 4

She is buried at the Hart Family Cemetery, near Henderson, Kentucky.

On the approximate site of the Hart cabin in Elbert County, the DAR has erected a replica cabin, its chimney using the stones from the original.

--Cooter

Nancy Hart, American Revolution Heroine-- Part 3

Legacies:

**  Hart County, Georgia named for her.

**  Hart County's county seat is named Hartwell

**  During the Civil War, a group of women called themselves the Nancy Harts after organizing a military group to defend selves after their men had gone off to war.  This was in LaGrange, Georgia.

**  Lake Hartwell and Hartwell Dam in Georgia.

**  The Milledgeville, Georgia, chapter of the DAR is named after her.

**  Nancy Hart Highway in Georgia.  As of 1950, reportedly the only highway in the U.S. named after a woman.  Georgia State Highway 77.

--Cooter

Nancy Hart, American Revolution Heroine-- Part 2: Killing Tories

It is believed she was born in North Carolina.

It is difficult to prove or disprove the accomplishments credited to her, however.

One of those accounts had 5 or 6 Tories coming to her house and demanding that she cook one of her turkeys for them.  They placed their guns by the door and sat down and began drinking heavily and eating.  While they were distracted, she pushed their guns out a hole and then grabbed one and confronted them.

One came at her and she shot him dead.  She grabbed another gun and when a second one came at her, killed him as well.  She held the remainder captive until her husband and neighbors arrived. Her husband wanted to kill them on the spot, but Nancy demanded that they be taken outside and hanged.  They were hanged.

There are many other stories about her.

Nancy Hart, American Revolution Heroine-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

I have been writing about a group of women from LaGrange, Georgia, called the Nancy harts during the Civil War who organized a military unit to defend their town while the men were away fighting.  This has been in my Saw the Elephant Civil War Blog this past week.

I'd never heard of Nancy Hart, so good old Wikipedia to the rescue.

1735-1830

Rebel heroine of the American Revolution, noted for her exploits against Loyalists in the northeast Georgia backwoods.  Reputedly outwitted Tory soldiers and killed some of them.

--More to Come.  --Cooter

Let's Dance-- Part 5: Decades of Dance, the 1980s

1980s

The Electric Slide

The Cabbage Patch

The Robot

Break Dancing

The Moonwalk

1990s

The MC Hammer

The Achy Breaky Heart

Voguing

The Jiggy

The Macarena

The Running Man

That Michael Walking Forwards, Backwards Across the Stage.  --CootDance

Let's Dance-- Part 4: Decades of Dance 1960s-1970s

These are some popular dances from past decades:

1960s

The Mashed Potato

The Twist

The Monkey

The Watusi

The Jerk

1970s

The Bump

Salsa

The YMCA

Le Freak

The Hustle

The Two Left Feet.  --DaCootFlop

Let's Dance-- Part 3: Our Most-Beloved Song-and-Dance Men

Fred Astaire

Sammy Davis Jr.

Neil Patrick Harris

Hugh Jackman

Gene Kelly

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Channing Tatum

--Cooter

Let's Dance-- Part 2: TV Shows That Danced Us Up

TV SHOWS THAT SHOOK US UP

These were TV shows featuring dancing from the past:

American Bandstand--  1957

Shindig--  1964

Soul Train-- 1971

Solid Gold--  1980

So You Think You Can Dance--  2005

I sure liked to watch the first three shows.  It was our MTV, or at least what MTV was in its early days.

I'll Give It a Seven, It's Easy to Dance To and Has a Good Beat.  --CootDance

Let's Dance-- Part 1: Got the Steps?

From the Oct.-Nov. 2016 AARP Magazine.

Even though it is not my favorite TV show and I rarely watch it unless it happens to be on in some bar I'm in, ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" is in its 23rd season and is a ratings juggernaut.  It is considered a reality show, and I don't like those, but at least this one takes some ability.

In 2010, 23-three years after she did some mighty food dancing in "Dirty Dancing," Jennifer Grey was named "Dancing With the Stars champion with Derek Hough.

Gotta Do My Own Kind of Dance.  --Cooter

Big Mac Creator Dies-- Part 2: Who Named It?

Mr. Delligatti had a franchise in Uniontown, near Pittsburgh, when he invented the Big Mac in 1967 after deciding his customers wanted a bigger sandwich than a regular hamburger.  Demand for it exploded and soon spread to all of his 47 McDonald's in Pennsylvania.  It was added to the chain's national menu in 1968.

When asked why he named it Big Mac, he would say that the Big Mc sounded too funny.

However, McDonald's awarded the naming honor to Esther Glickstein Rose.  The true origin of the name has often been argued.  Mr. Delligatti never received any payment or royalties for coming up with the Big Mac.

Two All-Beef.  --DaMack

Big Mac Creator Died in December: Michael "Jim" Delligatti-- Part 1

From the December 1, 2016, Northwest Herald (Illinois) "McDonald's Big Mac creator dies" by Joe Mandax, AP.

"You probably don't know his name, but you've almost certainly devoured his creation: two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun.

"Michael James "Jim" Delligatti, the McDonald's franchisee, who created the Big Mac nearly 50 years ago and saw it become perhaps the best-known fast-food sandwich in the world, died Monday (Nov. 28) at his home in Pittsburgh.  Delligatti, who his son said ate at least one 540-calorie Big Mac a week for decades, was 98."

Good Eating.  --CootMac

Mary Tyler Moore: TV Icon, Symbol of Modern Woman

That sure caught me by surprise when I learned of her death back in January.  She was definitely one of my favorite actresses on TVfor those two shows.

In the 1960s, she was Laura Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and in the 1970s it was her own comedy as Mary Richards in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

She began her career as Happy Hotpoint, the dancing pixie on Hotpoint appliance commercials and was on "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" in 1955.

"The Dick Van Dyke Show" ran from 1961 to 1966.  "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" ran for seven seasons, premiering in 1970.  Also on CBS and part of that great 70s CBS Saturday night lineup:  "MASH," "The Bob Newhart Show," "All in the Family" and "The Carol Burnett Show."  Our partying on Saturdays did not begin until after these three hours of shows.

I Wonder What Happened to Saturday Night Entertainment?  --Cooter

Looking Back to 1941: Construction of NIU's Science Building

From the October 19, 2016, MidWeek "Looking Back.

1941, 75 Years Ago.

"Despite some slight delays in the arrival of materials, good progress is being made on the construction of the new science building at the State Teachers College (Northern Illinois University today).  All the cement for the first floor has been laid and at the present time there is a delay due to the non-arrival of steel for the framework for the upper stories.

"In the meantime work on the installation of some of the plumbing has started and the basement floor is being graded so that work on the floor can be started."

Another Building for NIU.  --Cooter

Looking Back to 1941: Chief Shabbona Painting Comes to DeKalb Public Library

From the October 12, 2016, MidWeek "Looking Back."

1941, 75 Years Ago.

"The DeKalb Public Library has a new picture of the famous Indian Chief Shabbona, the gift of Claus Collins, DeKalb township supervisor.  The picture is of Chief Shabbona and his first wife, Spotka.

"It is understood that the picture is somewhat rare; Mr. Collins has become greatly interested in the famous Indian chief and has engaged in considerable research.  It is learned that he has been able  to secure much new information about Shabbona, which has resulted in several controversial matters having been solved to great extent."

Probably in regards to the Chief's land claims.

--DaCoot

Girding for War in 1917

From the September 19, 2016, Shorpy Photo Site.  DO SPOONS COME NEXT: 1917  A shop at the Washington Navy Yard where the workers are constructing torpedo tubes to be used on surface ships.

--Cooter

North Carolina's Order of the Long Leaf Pine

From Wikipedia.

I mentioned this group in my post.from Friday, March 3.

This honor was created in 1964 and recipients have given extraordinary service to the State of North Carolina.

There is a long list of recipients.

Some of the names I recognize:

Dale Earnhardt
Danny Glover
Jeff Gordon
Billy Graham
Andy Griffith
Charles Kuralt
Richard Petty
Oprah Winfrey
James Worthy

--Cooter

More USS Maine Artifacts

The last two entries have been about the USS Maine's bathtub.  Very few U.S. navy vessels are equipped with bathtubs.

Here is a list of other USS Maine artifacts:

The main mast is at Arlington National Cemetery.

The foremast is at the U.S. naval Academy.

The anchors are at Arlington National Cemetery and Reading, Pennsylvania.

The bow scroll is at Bangor, Maine.

The stern scrollwork nameplate is at the Smithsonian.

The ship had ten-inch guns in its main battery.  I didn't see what happened to them.  Its six-inch guns were the secondary battery and there were six of them.

A gun from the Maine is at Fort Allen Park in Portland, Maine.  (Fort Allen was built in the War of 1812.  It also has two Civil War cannons.)

--All Over the Place.  --Cooter

Captain Sigsbee's Bathtub-- Part 2: Here, There, Everywhere

In 1929, the bathtub was placed along the wall of the courthouse rotunda and remained there for the next 30 years.  When the courthouse was renovated in 1960 it was removed and shipped to the Findlay College Museum.

They stored it in an old cigar factory.  In 1974 it was turned over to the Hancock Historical Museum who put it in their basement.  It was recently retrieved and now can once again be viewed by visitors, though much of the enamel is gone.

It is currently not on display and probably won't be until 2015.

A Real Clean History.  --Cooter

Captain Sigsbee's Bathtub-- Part 1: Ugly and Ignored

From Roadside America.

Continued from September 10, 2016.

Captain Charles Sigsbee's bathtub from the USS Maine which had been blown up in Havana Harbor, arrived in Findlay, Ohio, on March 3, 1913, rusted and ugly after having been under water for 14 years.  Findlay was embarrassed and stored it in a municipal building.  A year later it was being used as the Findlay City hall's coal bin.

The city of Lima, Ohio, demanded it.  When local Spanish-American War veterans learned that Lima wanted it, they promised that they would bronze it and have it displayed at a local park.  Lima lost interest in it and so did the veterans.  The rusted relic was stuck in a display case in a little-used hallway of the Findlay courthouse.

It sat there for 15 years.  A janitor eventually put a "USS Maine Bathtub" sign on it so he wouldn't have to answer so many questions about it.

March 3, 1913, was 104 years ago today.

--BathingCoot

Beyond the Sticky Stuff-- Part 2: Bluegrass and Murrow

3.  BLUEGRASS & EVERGREENS:

Sometimes the pines inspire the pitch. too.  Earl Scruggs sang "In the Pines,"  a haunting Southern Appalachian folk song, which he picked up from Bill Monroe when they played together as the groundbreaking group The Bluegrass Boys.


4.  HOMEGROWN CELEBRITY--

Edward R. Murrow knew all about pitches and pine.  The North Carolina boy pitched his way to stardom as a television journalist.

And, his namesake park --  Edward R. Murrow Park in Washington, D.C. -- is home to Scotch and white pines.  But somehow, he was never inducted into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.

Order of the Long Leaf Pine?

--DaCoot

Beyond the Sticky Stuff-- Part 1: Baseball and Spirituals

From the March 2015 Our State magazine, North Carolina by Andrew Kenney.

BATTER UP:  Baseball has pitch and tar alike.  Some batters think tar helps hit a pitch and apply pine tar, which is more viscous than pine pitch, on their bat to improve grip.

Some pitchers use it on their hands, too (retired major league pitcher Gaylord Perry, a Williamston, N.C., native, is said to have kept some under his cap, but that is not against the rules).

SHAPES FOR SINGING:  Up among the pines of Haywood County, they are focused on a different sort of pitch: the musical kind.

Lake Junalaska is the site of one of the largest annual gatherings of shape-note singers --  a variety of white spiritual written so that shapes replace the heads of musical notes, making it easier to read the scale.

--Cooter

Longleaf Legacy-- Part 2: Country's Naval Stores Leader in the 1800s

Throughout the 1800s, North Carolina accounted for up to 96 percent of the nation's "naval stores."    And, that was not to mention the lumber used to build ships and factories.

But, because of overharvesting and changes in the ecosystem, that is mostly gone now.  The area covered by longleaf pines shrank from 90 million acres in the southeast to less than 2 million by 2000.

Of this, perhaps 500 acres in North Carolina is still considered virgin.

--Cooter

Longleaf Legacy-- Part 1: North Carolina's Longleaf Pines

From the March 2015 Our State magazine by Andrew Kenney.

When the first European explorers arrived on North Carolina's shores, they found towering longleaf pine trees standing at more than 100 feet tall and promising a plentiful resource in the wooden ship seafaring age.

Two captains told Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584 that these trees "could supply the English Navy with enough tar and pitch to make our Queen the ruler of the seas."  This was a big reason he went ahead with what would become his famous "Lost Colony."

 They were referring to pine tar, the viscous fluid that leaks from heated pine, used to secure masts and sails.  They also were talking about pitch, the boiled tar which could be heated and painted on the bottom of boats for waterproofing.

Along with the wood of these trees, it helped foster a backwoods industry and turned North Carolina into the home of the Tar Heels.

And, that nickname stuck, just as it did on the shoes and feet of poor workers who "stepped" in it.

Tar Me Up, Scottie.  --Cooter