Allen Mesch

Arlington National Cemetery, the most famous cemetery in the country, is the final resting place for many of our nation’s greatest heroes, including more than 300,000 veterans of every American conflict, from the Revolutionary War to Iraq and Afghanistan.  Since its founding in 1866, Arlington National Cemetery has provided a solemn place to reflect upon the sacrifices made by the men and women of the United States Armed Forces in the name of our country.

The following pictures were taken in April 2023 during a visit to the cemetery. Unfortunately, I was unable to share my videos of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Please see Arlington National Cemetery for more information.

There are several memorials on the grounds of the cemetery. However, due to the lack of space for burials and the large amount of space that memorials take up, the U.S. Army now requires a joint or concurrent resolution from Congress before it will place new memorials at Arlington.

The USS Maine Memorial

Near the Tomb of the Unknowns stands the USS Maine Mast Memorial, which commemorates the 266 men who died aboard the USS Maine. The memorial is built around a mast salvaged from the ship’s wreckage.

The Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial

The Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial was dedicated on May 20, 1986, in memory of the crew of flight STS-51-L, who died during launch on January 28, 1986. Transcribed on the back of the stone is the text of the John Gillespie Magee, Jr. poem High Flight, which was quoted by then President Ronald Reagan when he addressed the disaster. Although many remains were identified and returned to the families for a private burial, some were not and were laid to rest under the marker. Two crew members, Dick Scobee, and Michael Smith, are buried in Arlington.

Shuttle Columbia Memorial

On February 1, 2004, NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe dedicated a similar memorial to those who died when the Shuttle Columbia broke apart during reentry on February 1, 2003. Astronauts Laurel Clark, David Brown, and Michael Anderson, who were killed in the Columbia disaster, are also buried in Arlington.

In section 64, a memorial to the 184 victims of the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon was dedicated on September 11, 2002. The memorial takes the shape of a pentagon and lists the names of all the victims that were killed. Unidentified remains from the victims are buried beneath it.

Eternal Flame Memorial to President John F. Kennedy

Other Notable Gravesites and Memorials

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier stands atop a hill overlooking Washington, D.C. One of the more well-attended sites at the cemetery, the tomb is made from Yule marble quarried in Colorado. It consists of seven pieces, with a total weight of 79 tons. The tomb was completed and opened to the public on April 9, 1932, for $48,000.

Other unknown servicemen were later placed in crypts there, and it also became known as the Tomb of the Unknowns, though it has never been officially named. The soldiers entombed there are:

• Unknown Soldier of World War I, entombed November 11, 1921.
• Unknown Soldier of World War II, interred May 30, 1958.
• Unknown Soldier of the Korean War was also interred on May 30, 1958.
• Unknown Soldier of the Vietnam War, interred May 28, 1984. The remains of the Vietnam Unknown were disinterred, under the authority of President Bill Clinton, on May 14, 1998, and were identified as those of Air Force First Lieutenant Michael J. Blassie, whose family had them reinterred near their home in St. Louis, Missouri. It has been determined that the crypt at the Tomb of the Unknowns that contained the remains of the Vietnam Unknown will remain empty.

Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier video.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has been perpetually guarded since July 2, 1937, by the U.S. Army. The 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (“The Old Guard”) began guarding the Tomb on April 6, 1948. The guard follows a meticulous routine when watching over the graves. The Tomb Guard:

1. Marches 21 steps southward down the black mat behind the Tomb
2. Turns left, facing east for 21 seconds
3. Turns left, facing north for 21 seconds
4. Takes 21 steps down the mat
5. Repeats the routine until the soldier is relieved of duty at the changing of the guard

After each turn, the Guard executes a sharp “shoulder-arms” movement to place the weapon on the shoulder closest to the visitors to signify that the Guard stands between the Tomb and any possible threat.

Twenty-one was chosen because it symbolizes the highest military honor that can be bestowed – the 21-gun salute.

At each turn, the guard makes precise movements followed by a loud click of the heels as the soldier snaps them together. The guard is changed every half-hour during daylight in the summer, and every hour during daylight in the winter, and every two hours at night (when the cemetery is closed to the public), regardless of weather conditions.

Freedman’s Village

Beginning in 1863, the federal government used the southern portion of the land now occupied by the cemetery as a settlement for freed slaves, giving the name “Freedman’s Village” to the ground. The government constructed rental houses that 1,100 to 3,000 freed slaves eventually occupied while farming 1,100 acres of the estate and receiving schooling and occupational training during the Civil War and after the War’s end.

Jorge Luis Borges (August 24, 1899 – June 14, 1986) was an Argentine writer who is considered one of the foremost literary figures of the Twentieth Century. He is famous for his short stories and fictive essays, Borges was also a poet, critic, translator, and man of letters.

I became acquainted with Mr. Borges from a LinkedIn posting of one of his quotes.

Of all man’s instruments, the most wondrous, no doubt, is the book. The other instruments are extensions of his body. The microscope, the telescope, are extensions of his sight; the telephone is the extension of his voice; then we have the plow and the sword, extensions of the arm. But the book is something else altogether: the book is an extension of memory and imagination.

(Source: Jorge Luis Borges, Wikiquote, https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges, Retrieved April 10, 2023)

I have selected several of Mr. Borges quotes to contemplate and inspire my fellow authors.

On Writing

It is worth remembering that every writer begins with a naively [sic naïve] physical notion of what art is. A book for him or her is not an expression or a series of expressions, but literally a volume, a prism with six rectangular sides made of thin sheets of papers which should include a cover, an inside cover, an epigraph in italics, a preface, nine or ten parts with some verses at the beginning, a table of contents, an ex libris with an hourglass and a Latin phrase, a brief list of errata, some blank pages, a colophon and a publication notice: objects that are known to constitute the art of writing.

Writing is nothing more than a guided dream.

A writer — and, I believe, generally all persons — must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art.

The central problem of novel-writing is causality.

Writing long books is a laborious and impoverishing act of foolishness: expanding in [sic into] five hundred pages an idea that could be perfectly explained in a few minutes. A better procedure is to pretend that those books already exist and to offer a summary, a commentary.

Reading … is an activity subsequent to writing: more resigned, more civil, more intellectual.

Every novel is an ideal plane inserted into the realm of reality.

Imprecision is tolerable and verisimilar in literature, because we always tend towards it in life.

Ts’ui Pe must have said once: I am withdrawing to write a book. And another time: I am withdrawing to construct a labyrinth. Every one imagined two works; to no one did it occur that the book and the maze were one and the same thing.

Like every writer, he measured the virtues of other writers by their performance, and asked that they measure him by what he conjectured or planned.

(Source: Jorge Luis Borges, Wikiquote, https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges, Retrieved April 10, 2023)

On History

That history should have imitated history was already sufficiently marvellous; that history should imitate literature is inconceivable….

Perhaps universal history is the history of the diverse intonation of some metaphors.

It may be that universal history is the history of the different intonations given a handful of metaphors.

One literature differs from another, either before or after it, not so much because of the text as for the manner in which it is read.

(Source: Jorge Luis Borges, Wikiquote, https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges, Retrieved April 10, 2023)

On Books

A book is more than a verbal structure or series of verbal structures; it is the dialogue it establishes with its reader and the intonation it imposes upon his voice and the changing and durable images it leaves in his memory. A book is not an isolated being: it is a relationship, an axis of innumerable relationships.

A book is not an autonomous entity: it is a relation, an axis of innumerable relations. One literature differs from another, be it earlier or later, not because of the texts but because of the way they are read: if I could read any page from the present time — this one, for instance — as it will be read in the year 2000, I would know what the literature of the year 2000 would be like.

In the beginning of literature there is myth, as there is also in the end of it.

(Source: Jorge Luis Borges, Wikiquote, https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges, Retrieved April 10, 2023)

Beginning in March, I will speak at several events in north Texas.

Ebenezer Allen at Allen Depot Museum

From 1:00-3:00 pm on March 25, 2023, I will be at Allen Train Depot Museum to discuss my biography of Ebenezer Allen, The Forgotten Texas Statesman. I will be dressed in my living historian costume and sell copies of the first edition of my biography of Mr. Allen.

A Visit with Ebenezer Allen

From 10:30-11:30 am on June 22, 2023, I will be presenting a PowerPoint presentation on Ebenezer Allen. I will be dressed in my living historian costume. The presentation is being hosted by SAIL.

Contact SAIL for further information. SAIL members are invited to bring a guest.

Writing Class – Class One – Starting Writing

I will be conducting an introduction to writing class for the Plano Parks and Recreation Department in July 2023. The class will be presented at the Sam Johnson Senior Center in Plano.

Class One – Starting Writing

• Session 1 – Reasons to Write
• Session 2 – Structure, Plot, and Save the Cat
• Session 3 – Observation and Research
• Session 4 – Sloppy Writing

If this class is successful, I will conduct two other four session classes: From Writer to Author and Getting Published.

In an editorial in The Dallas Morning News on February 26, 2023, Dan Vallone writes “there is significant common ground in how Americans feel our history should be taught.”

Dan Vallone’s report by his organization, More in Common,  concludes “most Americans agree on the basic principles of how we learn about our nation’s past, including how to teach issues surrounding America’s history of racism.” Defusing the History Wars: Finding Common Ground in Teaching America’s National Story study also revealed: “Americans, irrespective of their demographic or ideological backgrounds, mistakenly believe the country is split into two hostile camps with irreconcilable beliefs on how to teach American history.”

Vallone says that there are perception gaps between what other Americans believe compared to what we think they believe. He believes: “Such perception gaps — the difference between what other Americans believe vs. what we think they believe — turn potential allies into enemies.”

The report provides the following examples:

Democrats believe that only 30% of Republicans feel we should teach both our shared national history as well as the history of specific groups of Americans such as Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans.  An overwhelming majority of Republicans, 72%, hold this view. Similarly, Republicans believe that only 42% of Democrats think that George Washington and Abraham Lincoln should be admired for their roles in American history when in fact, close to 90% of Democrats feel this way.

There are important areas where Americans diverge on the topic of history.

72% of Republicans believe the history of minority groups is prioritized over history that elevates a common identity while 72% of Democrats say this is not the case.

However, I wonder what is more critical in going forward: perceptions or reality? Political discussions seem to be void of facts or reality. The merits of elected officials are distorted to create the desired political perception. Was Donald Trump a good president? Is Joe Biden a bad president? The achievements and failures of both chief executives are riddled with lies. Another example is the 2020 Presidential Election. There are some who believe Donald Trump was reelected and his defeat was caused by election fraud. They are convinced, despite the evidence to the contrary, that Donald Trump was robbed. Clearly, for these believers, perception is more important than reality.

Mr. Vallone’s desire that “Civil society organizations, faith institutions, businesses, and veterans’ groups along with parents, students, and educators should collaborate to bring Americans of different backgrounds and views together to talk about how to teach history, reduce perception gaps and build solutions that have durable support across communities.” I am skeptical that this will happen because discussion and compromise appear to be absent in today’s society.

I hope that Mr. Vallone’s ideas may move forward to achieve a national dialogue on teaching history.

Dan Vallone, Sunday, February 26, 2023, p. 4P, The Dallas Morning News.

As Federal forces occupied significant portions of the South, enslaved people escaped from farms and plantations and fled to safety behind Union lines. The number of freedom seekers increased considerably in Union-occupied Corinth after President Abraham Lincoln’s Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation was issued in September 1862.

The Corinth Contraband Camp was established by Union General Grenville M. Dodge to help these refugees. The camp included homes, a church, a school, and a hospital. The freedmen cultivated and sold cotton and vegetables in a progressive cooperative farm program. By May 1863, the camp was making a profit of $4,000 to $5,000 from its operations. By August, over 1,000 Black children and adults learned to read through the efforts of various benevolent organizations. Although the camp had a modest beginning, it became a model camp and permitted approximately 6,000 former slaves to establish their own identities.

Once the Emancipation Proclamation was implemented, nearly 2,000 newly freed men at the Corinth Contraband Camp had their first opportunity to protect their way of life and they formed a new regiment in the Union army. Since most of the men came from Alabama, the unit was named the 1st Alabama Infantry Regiment of African Descent, which was later re-designated to the 55th United States Colored Troops.

In December 1863, the camp was moved to Memphis and the freedmen lived in a more traditional refugee facility for the remainder of the war. The Corinth Contraband Camp was the first step on the road to freedom and the struggle for equality for thousands of former slaves.

Today a portion of the historic Corinth Contraband Camp is preserved to commemorate those who began their journey to freedom there in 1862-1863. This land now hosts a quarter-mile walkway that exhibits six life-size bronze sculptures depicting the men, women, and children who inhabited the camp.

The following images from the site illustrate the interest and desire that the emancipated Blacks had to learn to read and write.

Please see the Corinth Contraband Camp for more information on this historic site.

Authors beware! Your book may be banned by school districts.

Will Your Book be Banned?

A letter to the editor in the January 30, 2023 Dallas Morning News caught my eye this morning. According to the writer, McKinney ISD changed its review process to remove books based on a review of “specific passages.” The new McKinney ISD library review process allows for the “review and removal of books based on only an individual paragraph or passage.” The first book removed under the new policy is The Bluest Eye which won the Nobel Prize for literature.

This form of censorship indicates that a simple Grammarly check will need to be augmented by a “suitability” check.

For authors, this means that the audience for your book may be significantly reduced. This ban may have started with a school district, but it may soon spread to local public libraries, book stores, and online retailers. Your audience is now about twenty-five readers. How will publishers respond to these restrictions? Will they print your book if it has an unsuitable passage? They are in business to make money and loss of market may make it tough or impossible to get your manuscript published.

While parents want and should be able to exercise control of what their children read, these blanket rules place an academic institution or government in charge of their child’s education.

Houston Chronicle Publishes List of Banned Books

After spending two years researching and writing my book, I was anxious to find a publisher willing to print and distribute my manuscript. Of course, I hoped to find a “match made in heaven,” but instead I ended up “shaking hands with the devil.” No information on sales! Low to negligible royalties! I learned my lesson and I want to share some information I have discovered to help you avoid my experience.

Some publishers fail to pay authors on time or in full or are non-responsive to authors’ requests. There is a growing number of publishers that have been not paying authors their royalties. There are many lawsuits currently in the works that seek to get compensation, but it’s a long and dark road.

The Authors Guild – Publishers That Have Failed To Pay Authors On Time

The Authors Guild – Reported Publishing Scams

The Authors Guild – Avoiding Publishing Scams

Red Alert Checklist

Here are some guidelines before you leap into a contract that becomes a nightmare:

1. If the publisher asks for money for any reason – run
2. If the publisher asks you to sign a contract that is more than two pages – run
3. If the publisher pressures you to provide a manuscript, biography, and/or picture – run
4. If the publisher is listed on any list of worse publishers – run
5. If the publisher approaches you – run
6. If the publisher has bad reviews – run

Undoubtedly there are other red flags.

The Authors Guild – Avoiding Publishing Scams has some tips to avoid publishing scams.

The Authors Guild – Things Every Writer Should Know Before Signing a Book Contract presents some ideas about what to do before saying “I do.”

Lists of “Best” and “Worst” Publishers

I found these sites which list the “best” and “worst” self-publishing companies. I particularly like the information provided by the Alliance of Independent Authors.

• Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers – Thumbs Down List
• ReedsyBlog – Book Publishers to Avoid (and Other Shady Author Scams)
• Alliance of Independent Authors – Self-Publishing Services Rated

As some of you may know, Charlotte is a mischievous elf. She is employed by Santa Claus in his North Pole workshop. During the Christmas season, Charlotte makes unannounced visits to children around the world. Experts have not determined whether there is one elf with magical powers or many elves to cover the earth. The CIA and MI6 are also investigating how many wonderful Charlottes are out there.

Charlotte has been staying with my great-granddaughter in her home in North Texas. My five-year-old was enjoying her time with the playful elf until this morning.

The little girl could not find her friend. She looked in her room, the kitchen, the living room, and even in the backyard. She could not find Charlotte. She called her mother to help her in the search. The child became upset and started to cry. Her mother suggested that they go to Starbucks for breakfast. The distraught little girl fought back tears and decided to go. On the drive to the coffee shop, she asked her mom to call the police to report the missing elf.

Upon arriving at Starbucks, the child saw a policeman. She said, “I want to report a missing person er elf .”

The policeman opened his notepad and wrote down the particulars … height, weight, color of hair, and clothes the elf was wearing. He asked when the last time the elf had been seen. He assured the child.

“She will probably turn up at home. If she is not there, I will submit my notes and authorize a missing persons er missing elf report.”

The five-year-old was comforted by the officer’s sincerity and promise.

By this time, the breakfast order was ready. The little girl went to the counter to get her hot chocolate. There she found Charlotte with her arms around the cup. She approached the elf cautiously, thinking it might be another child’s elf. Her mother assured her that it was her Charlotte.

Of course, the first my precious great asked was, “How did Charlotte open those heavy doors into the Starbucks. Her quick-thinking mom said a customer must have opened the door for her.

I called her later that morning to see if she was okay. “You know that Charlotte is so mischievous,” I began. Great Grandpa, she is right here and you must be careful not to hurt her feelings.” I apologized and said I loved my sweet little girl. She said goodbye and went off to play hide-and-seek with the playful elf.

A huge thank you to the police officer who treated my great grand baby with such tenderness and to the thoughtful Starbucks employees who helped locate Charlotte. A very big hug to my granddaughter and her mom who welcomed Charlotte to her home.

Love to all. Seasons Greetings.

The Woman King is a must viewing. Viola Davis is her great self. The Woman King is a true story that confirms that the all-female military regiment existed and was called the Agojie or Mino (Our Mothers). The Woman King takes place in 1823, the year that King Ghezo finally freed Dahomey from its tributary status. While the historically based movie describes how the Agojie saved Dahomey, its themes resonate with us today.

It describes how some African kingdoms provided slaves for European traders. However, General Nanisca (Davis) refuses to enslave people for trade and denounces the practice.

The movie portrays a strong female society of brave and gifted fighters that are superior to the male warriors. It also shows the Agojie as a loving and nurturing sisterhood with an unbending commitment to their country and to each other.

The Woman King has lessons for today’s women.

• They are just as strong as the men and always have been.
• They are brave and fearless.
• They control their lives and bodies.

Please see the empowering movie. Enjoy the songs and dances, treasure the warmth and love, and cheer the bravery and skills..

Our best wishes to you and your families. I hope this holiday that you take time for an extra hug for your family and friends. I hope this holiday you will…

• Love not hate
• Leave politics locked in a drawer at home
• Find common ground of agreement, don’t focus on things that we disagree on.
• Wish everyone you meet with season’s greetings.
• Give to a charity(ies) that help the less fortunate.
• Don’t have a heart attack while shoveling snow or watching football.
• Not feel you have to drink to have a good time.
• Call you distant friends and family with greetings.
• Put the world’s problems on pause.
• Laugh and smile.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday. May this beautiful holiday season fill your heart with love, your home with joy, and your life with laughter. Happy Holidays! Wishing you and your family love, peace, and joy!

I don’t know when or why I stopped. Neither do I know when I began. Since I stopped singing the time spent during my showers has decreased dramatically.

Singing was a type of relaxation for me. However, my college roommates and landlords didn’t share my enthusiasm.

Today my showers are methodical contact between soap, washcloth, and skin. I have gone from pleasure to worry. Now my showers are focused on worries, problem solving, and schedule. Oh, what a loss to me and a joy to music lovers.

It’s a widely acknowledged phenomenon that people’s singing voices significantly improve when they’re in the shower. Have you ever been singing whilst having a scrub and thought to yourself, ‘wow, I actually sound pretty good!’ only to mortify yourself on stage that evening at the karaoke bar, as you discover that you still sound like a drowning rat when you try to hit those high notes in Dancing Queen?

Source: https://www.panararmer.co.uk/why-you-sing-better-in-the-shower/

It’s all to do with reverberation and acoustics. Reverberation is the process by which sounds blend together, and the structure of your typical shower provides the ideal environment for this. Essentially, the shower acts as a mixer that modifies your voice, making it sound better. It does this in three ways.

First of all, the volume of your voice is reflected off the hard and smooth surfaces of the bathroom, so it doesn’t fade as quickly as it would in an open space. Secondly, as the sound bounces around the shower, creating reverb – your voice ‘hangs’ in the air longer than usual, giving it an embellished, rich sound. Reverb also evens out pitch as it reverberates off so many surfaces, so even if you’re not hitting those notes, it sounds more like you are when you’re in the shower. Finally, the shower itself acts as a ‘resonant cavity’, naturally amplifying certain frequencies of sounds.

Dear readers, what is your experience with warbling? I have several questions for you.

• Do you sing in the shower?

• If you do, what songs do you sing?

• Do your family, roommates, and friends like, tolerate, or hate your performances?

• Is a good singing voice necessary to be a shower songbird?

• Do teenagers sing in the shower?

• Have electronic devices taken the place of shower vocalists?

• Does this blog entry encourage to return to singing or discourage you from returning or beginning shower recitals?

Source: https://www.panararmer.co.uk/why-you-sing-better-in-the-shower/

Recently I read a story in the Dallas Morning News about the terrible behavior of people opposed to their school district’s regulations. A young student was beginning to speak about his grandfather’s death when a number of attendees at the school district meeting interrupted the speaker’s two-minute allotment showering the young man with boos, slurs, and signs opposing the speaker’s statement. The simple mention of his grandfather’s death was met with insulting “adult” behavior . My issue with the disruption was not the pros and cons about the issue being discussed but with the violation of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. The amendment clearly states that:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Apparently, the angry members recalled the “freedom to peaceably assemble” portion but not the “freedom of speech” part of the amendment. Their behavior violated the freedom of speech part of the amendment.

Maybe the angry attendees felt their outbursts were provided by the First Amendment which gave them the right to speak. However, they refused to allow this Constitutional right to the young man’s speech. Freedom to speak allows/encourages people to speak, it doesn’t say one side should be allowed to speak but not the opposing side.

Perhaps, their behavior was only being impolite, rude, and disruptive. However, their actions brought the unwelcome attention of the media. They embarrassed their school district, town, state, and others who supported their view.

“Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist.” – Frederick Douglas

“The right to free speech is more important than the content of the speech” – Voltaire

Freedom of speech includes the right:

• Not to speak.
• Of students to wear black armbands to school to protest a war.
• To use certain offensive words and phrases to convey political messages.
• To contribute money (under certain circumstances) to political campaigns.
• To advertise commercial products and professional services (with some restrictions).
• To engage in symbolic speech, (e.g., burning the flag in protest).

Freedom of speech does not include the right:

• To incite actions that would harm others (e.g., “[S]hout[ing] ‘fire’ in a crowded theater.”).
• To make or distribute obscene materials.
• To burn draft cards as an anti-war protest.
• To permit students to print articles in a school newspaper over the objections of the school administration. 
• Of students to make an obscene speech at a school-sponsored event.
• Of students to advocate illegal drug use at a school-sponsored event.

Source: https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/

The Third Rebellion is a novel about political and social unrest in the United States of America. The Third Rebellion is not a prediction of future events, political manifesto, condemnation of American society, denunciation of a political party, or call to action. It is a story about an American revolution or rebellion which the author created from personal observations during the past ten years.

As I considered writing a novel about a possible third Civil War, I sought events that could lead to such an uprising. There are many incidents in the United States including: increased violence, widespread racism, restriction of voting rights, decreased gun control, limitation of women’s rights, anti-immigrant polices, police violence on Blacks, refusal to accept voting results, and unconstitutional measures limiting free speech and voting rights. The combination of these occurrences could lead to rebellion as predicted by leaders and historians.   

If we are to have another contest in the near future of our  national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s but between patriotism and intelligence on one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.

Ulysses S. Grant

… if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we will live forever or die by suicide.

Abraham Lincoln

If a separation of the states ever should take place, it will be on some occasion when one portion of the country undertakes to control, to regulate and to sacrifice the interest of another.

H. W. Brands

If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation”

Abigail Adams

Please check future posts for more information on The Third Rebellion.

Ebenezer Allen was born on April 8, 1804, in Newport, New Hampshire. He was the first child of David and Hannah Allen. David Allen moved to Newport from Killingworth, Connecticut around 1800. Allen was born on May 13, 1777, in Killingworth. Around 1803, David married Hannah Wilcox who July 12, 1780. The Allens lived on a large farm on the Goshen Road in Newport. Mr. Allen ran an inn and tavern, which were popular stops when the Croydon Turnpike[1] was an important commercial road.

Other children joined the Allen family several years after Ebenezer. David Allen Jr. was born in 1806, Uriah Wilcox Allen in 1807, and Elvira Allen in 1809. The 1810 census lists nine people in the David Allen household. There were three males under ten: Ebenezer (6), David (4), and Uriah Wilcox (3); one white female under 10: Elvira (1); one white male 16-25, one white female 16-25, one white male 26-44: David Allen, one white female 26-44: Hannah; and one white female over 45.[2]  The Allen family continued to grow with the births of Nahum Wilcox Allen in 1812, Hannah Cordelia Allen in 1814, Roxanna Allen in 1817, Samuel Johnson Allen in 1819, Harriet Allen in 1821, Albert G Allen in 1823, and William Allen in 1825. By 1830, Ebenezer had four sisters and six brothers.[3]

As the eldest child, Ebenezer had many responsibilities in the Allen farm and businesses. Farm parents expected their children to contribute to the family’s productivity. Small children helped with simple, unskilled tasks. As the children grew and gained skills, their work became more difficult. Farm boys always had work because of the daily need for firewood and water. Boys cared for the livestock and guarded the animals in the pasture. The children assisted their parents in preparing the fields for planting and sowing the seeds in the furrows. At harvest, they helped gather the crops. Boys hunted and fished for recreation and to supply food for the family. Like other oldest sons, Ebenezer was “early made acquainted with labor.”[4]

David and Hannah Allen believed in education and their children attended the “common schools”[5] in Newport. The Allens enrolled their children in the Newport Academy after the school opened on June 24, 1819. The citizens of Newport and neighboring towns organized the school to give their children a “more advanced education than was to be had at our common schools” and “to fit them for college.”.[6] The school had “ample rooms nicely fitted up.”[7]

After school and their chores, the Allen children may have played Copenhagen, button, hunt the slipper, blind man’s bluff, and the grace-hoop.[8]

Most of Ebenezer’s brothers and sisters stayed in New England. David Allen, Jr. became a lawyer. Uriah W. Allen moved to Stonington, Connecticut, where he was a farmer. Uriah was married twice and had one son, Albert. Alvira Allen married Philo Fuller a “manufacturer” from Newport. The Fullers had five children Eugene, Nelson, Allen, Ellen, and Edith. Nahum W. Allen went west as a teacher and became a clergyman. He had a daughter, Harriet.

On April 8, 2021, the City of Allen Texas celebrated the 217^th birthday of its namesake Ebenezer Allen.

[1] The Croydon Turnpike Road was incorporated on June 21, 1804. The road went from Lebanon to, Grantham, Croydon, Newport, and Lempster. The road connected to the Second New Hampshire Turnpike in Washington, 34 miles, at an expense of $35,948. The Second New Hampshire Turnpike was chartered in 1799 and completed in 1801. This was the connecting route between Boston and Vermont. accessed February 6, 2017, New Hampshire’s Turnpike History, http://www.cowhampshireblog.com/2006/08/23/new-hampshires-turnpike-history/.

[2] Year: 1810; Census Place: Newport, Cheshire, New Hampshire; Roll: 23; Page: 201; Image: 00144; Family History Library Film: 0218684, accessed May 20, 2016.

[3] Descendants of Gideon Allen, Courtesy of Judith M. Johnson, Johnson-Morrow Family Tree, accessed May 20, 2016, Ancestry.com.

[4] James M. Volo and Dorothy Denneen Volo, Family Life in 19th-Century America. (Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007), .

[5] A common school was a public school in the United States during the nineteenth century. Horace Mann (1796−1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretary of the State Board of Educationwhere he began a revival of common school education, the effects of which extended throughout America during the 19th century. Wikipedia contributors, “Common school,” Wikipedia contributors, “Common school,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_school&oldid=871899693 (accessed August 21, 2019).

[6] “Historical Chronology of  Newport New Hampshire,” accessed May 19, 2016, http://www.newportnh.net/aynnyd/uploaded/pdfs/history_of_newport_20101019.pdf, 17-18.

[7] Wheeler, Edmund. The History of Newport, New Hampshire from 1776 to 1878 with a Genealogical Register with Steel and Wood Engravings. Concord: Republican Press Organization. 1879 , 162-163.

[8] Wheeler, 221-222.

Several people have asked where they can purchase a copy of Ebenezer Allen – Statesman, Entrepreneur, and Spy. I have compiled the following list for your information.

Ebenezer Allen – Statesman, Entrepreneur, and Spy is now available at these stores:

Barnes & Noble – $19.95 free shipping

Second Sale – $20.67

Amazon – Kindle – $8.99

Amazon Paperback – $19.95 free shipping with Prime or orders over $25

Ebay Bargain Bookstores – $23.38

Walmart – $19.95 free shipping

Mercari – $17.00 free shipping

Signed Copy – $17.00 free shipping

March 30 is National Pencil Day. On this day in 1858, Hymen Lipman received a patent for attaching an eraser to the end of a pencil. For all of us erring humans, thank you.

I do the daily crossword and sudoku puzzles with a pencil so I can use Lipman’s device to correct my errors. I also use a pencil for craft and carpentry measurements. However, I use my computer for writing complete with Grammarly reviews.

Some writers like the sound and feel of a typewriter. Others like the convenience and spontaneity of a pencil. Notebooks are changing this reason.

So what do you use?

Wow!

That’s all I can say about Ms. Amanda Gorman.

Her inauguration speech The Hill We Climb was amazing. I’m not going to bore you with her vita which is available at Amanda Gorman. For those of you who missed her reading of The Hill We Climb you can find the words on NewsNation and other sites.

Ms. Gorman, thank you for you words of hope and inspiration in these difficult times. May you have a wonderful and honored career.

President Biden’s address to the nation and its emphasis on unity and resolution of differences suggested to me that Americans had many choices that will determine the fate of our democracy. For us to work together to solve the many challenges facing our country, we must examine our values and choose the “right” ones.

I Chose …

I chose love, not hate.

Truth, not lies.

Country, not political party.

Science, not quackery.

Peace, not war.

Equality, not supremacy.

Care, not indifference.

Nonviolence, not violence.

Discussion, not accusations.

Respect, not insults.

Acceptance, not exclusion.

Honor, not cowardice.

Service, not power.

To live in the real world, not a fantasy world.

Health, not sickness.

Help, not harm.

Build, not destroy.

Education, not ignorance.

Cooperation, not disagreement.

Angels, not devils.

Clean air and water, not pollution.

What do you choose?