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We had the opportunity to see "Hamilton" and that reminded me of a duel in our own family tree. In May of 1798, Brockholst Livingston (above), a Republican, insulted James Jones, a Federalist (like Alexander Hamilton) in an anonymous newspaper article. Jones responded by first caning Livingston and then trying to...

The ad above was written in 1942. It only took 79 years to become famous or infamous depending upon your perspective. Torturing candidates and office-holders with easy-to-chat taglines have been happening for a long time. Grover Cleveland was accused of fathering a child out of wedlock. The crowds chanted at him: “Ma,...

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT EUGENICS IN MY JAMESTOWN VISIT In 1924, the Virginia General Assembly enacted the Racial Integrity Act. The Act reinforced racial segregation by prohibiting interracial marriage and classifying as "white" a person "who has no trace whatsoever of any blood other than Caucasian." The Act, an outgrowth of...

PRESERVED IS PRESERVED FOREVER! HIS MOTHER'S MAIDEN NAME WAS FISH, WHICH ILLUSTRATES WHY YOU SHOULD ALWAYS PRONOUNCE ALL OF THE VARIATIONS OF A NAME BEFORE BLESSING A CHILD WITH THEIR NAME. MOST PEOPLE BELIEVE THE 1ST EMANCIPATION OF SLAVES OCCURRED IN 1862. ACTUALLY, THERE WAS AN EARLIER EMANCIPATION...

  AMERICANS HAVING HARD FEELINGS AGAINST THOSE WHO HAVE UNPOPULAR HERITAGE IS NOT NEW The article on the very top was recently shared on a historical forum. I was surprised to see my great grandfather as a signee. I suspect many of our ancestors had hard feelings against those who descended from...

AN ODD APPROACH TO ENDING SLAVERY IN THE SOUTH Matthew Fontaine Maury (January 14, 1806 – February 1, 1873) was an American astronomer, historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, educator, and naval officer for the United States and then the Confederacy. He was a devout Christian and, after reading Psalm 8:8,...

OLD BONES FOR FERTILIZER? In the 1700's Europe's fields were becoming exhausted. The solution became to use the bones of dead soldiers amongst others to fertilize the fields. Fortunately, a replacement fertilizer was found in the Chincha Islands off of Peru in the form of Guano, 150 feet deep. In November 1802, Prussian geographer...

What would Ben do? The article above is from 1724 Edinburgh, Scotland. It speaks to the beginnings of inoculation. I have included articles below from early London and 1869 New York City, showing that in the past there has been people on both sides of the discussion of to vaccinate or...

What makes a sport or game Olympic? Over the years, sports and games (as in Olympic games), have been added and removed. While all events involved competition, they often involved activities that the host country might have an advantage of.  In 1912, the IOC removed motorboating since it was not human-powered,...

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