13 Facts About the 13 Colonies-- Part 1

From the September 27, 2021 History.com.

I'm just listing them.  Go to the site to find out the background.

1.  Connecticut enacted the first constitution in America.  Late 1630s.

2.  Maryland was founded as a haven for Catholics.

3.  Massachusetts  was the birthplace of American iron industry.

4.  Pennsylvania was created to pay a debt.

5.  New Jersey had the alternate name of New Caesarea.  (The Roman name for the island of Jersey in England.)

6.  Virginia's most lucrative crop was tobacco, even though it was opposed by  the king  and the Virginia Company.

--CootCol

Ships on Which Charles Gridley Served

The ships Charles V. Gridley served upon ran the whole history of the U.S. Navy from 1860 (actually back to 1798) to 1898.  A lot of years.

The ships went from wooden to steel, sails to steam.

USS Constitution (USNA)

USS Oneida

USS Brooklyn  (This ship was at the Battle of Mobile Bay and the Battles of Fort Fisher.  Gridley served on it after the war.)

USS Kearsarge

USS Michigan  (1871)

USS Monongahela  (1873)

USS Trenton

USS Marion (his first actual command 1892)

USS Olympia

--Cooter

Buckeye Presidents-- Part 5: Outsized, Overshadowed, Births and Assassinations

At the time, Ohio was one of only three swing states along with New York and Indiana which helps explain the state's outsized place in presidential politics of the era.  Benjamin Harrison was a "two-for-one guy" because he was born in Ohio and spent his adult life in Indiana.

Yet, Rutherford B. Hayes, in particular, read the Constitution as giving the president a more modest role than big personalities, beginning with Teddy Roosevelt, who would come later.  He was one of only two presidents who chose to seek only one term.

"He really felt that his role was not to overshadow Congress," McLochlin said.  "Some would say that's eroded over the years."

The elder Harrison was born in Virginia, but spent most of his adult life in Ohio.  The others, which include Ulysses S. Grant, president from 1869 to 1877; and William Howard Taft, president from 1909 to 1913, were all Ohio natives.

William Henry  Harrison wasn't the only Ohio president to meet a tragic end.  Garfield and McKinley were assassinated --  Garfield about six months after taking office in 1881 and McKinley about six months into his second term in 1901.  Harding was in the third year of his term in 1923 when he died of a heart attack.

--Cooter

Fallen Mt. Vernon Tree Stood the Test of Time-- Part 1: George Washington's Tree

From the Nov. 24, 2019, Chicago Tribune by Michael E. Ruane, the Washington Post.

It was probably a sapling when George Washington returned triumphant to Mt. Vernon in1783 after the American Revolution.  It was probably there in 1787 when he left for the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and it grew during his terms as the country's first president.

It was there when he came home for good and when he died in 1799.

Droughts came and went, along with two centuries of American history.  During the Civil War, soldiers carved insignia into its bark

Then,late one night, earlier this month the tired old white oak gave out and came crashing down across a road in the woods.

Caretakers at Mount Vernon heard it fall just before midnight November 4.

--Cooter

Maryland Cross Can Stand On Public Land: Honors World War I Dead

From the June 21, 2019, Chicago Tribune by Robert Barnes, Washington Post.

"The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a 40-foot cross erected as a tribute to war dead may continue to stand on public land in Maryland, rejecting arguments that it was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion."  The vote was 7-2.

The Bladensburg Peace Cross is made of granite and cement and was built in 1925 and paid for by local families, businesses and the American Legion to honor 49 World War I veterans from Maryland's Prince George's County who died in that war.  It is now located on a busy highway meridian.

The Latin Cross design was chosen because that was what was used to mark the graves of soldiers overseas.

More Power to the Supreme Court.  Good Call.

10 Forgotten Americans-- Part 2: Roger Sherman Signed Three Really Important American Documents

7.  ROGER SHERMAN--  Backed equal representation in the Constitutional Convention.  The only person to sign the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

6.  MARY BOWSER--  Slave.  Union spy.  Served in the Confederate White House in Richmond, Virginia, and relayed what she overheard to Union lines.

5.  ANGIE TURNER WITTENMEYER--  Social and political activist.  Social worker in Iowa Civil War camp.  Pushed nutritional food to help sick and wounded soldiers recover.  Prominent in  Women's Christian Temperance Union.

--DaCoot