Thursday, July 4, 2013

4th of July

4th of July

"the Second Day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more"

John Adams

Amazing words that still hold true today.
So what do you have planned?

A quiet day for Mr. and me, pork steaks on the grill.
Saturday the twins have a big party and this year will be spectacular!
They have a profession firework company coming!
It will be good for Mr. and I to get away.


What does the 4th mean to you?
It reminds me of my HS days and 1976
I keep thinking my 1976 mementos will be valuable someday, you think?

My mind turns to 2 men who fought for our right to celebrate this day.
William Galbreath
Revolutionary War Veteran of 7 years and 
my 3rd Great Grandfather
buried at our family cemetery
He met my GGGGrandmother at a party her Uncle was holding for George Washington.
Hard to believe they ended up on the Illinois Prairie

The other is Adam Mitchell my 4th Great Grandfather
His farm turned into the Battle of Guilford Courthouse
He was captured by the British and held in a pig pen
while his family hid in the spring house
as depicted in my cousins book
That is my 3rd GGrandfather sitting on the rock
The story is in what happened in that Spring House.
A British soldier found them, my 5th Great Grandmother sitting on her trunk
with the family pewter and family bible.
Margaret Mitchell told the soldier "you can burn my home but I am not getting off this trunk"
They were not getting her pewter to melt down or the family bible

So the story continues
I am happy to say at our reunion there it will be
well worn
see the date Feb 1767
when Adam was married
my mind goes back to the Spring House with Margaret sitting on that trunk..........
232 years after that battle.
246 years after it was first written in.
We will celebrate our heritage and our
Patriot ancestors in 2 weeks
I think John Adams, Adam Mitchell and William Galbreath would be pleased.

6 comments:

★Carol★ said...

A quiet day for us too, until the fireworks tonight. Such a great post Ann. You are SO lucky to have all of that family history! The 4th means absolute love of country to me. And I'm waiting for my '76 stuff to become valuable too!
Happy 4th!
Carol
P.S. I thought I had seen every watering can, but I've never seen a patriotic HH one, so I had to Google it. How perfect is that? Another one to add to my list of must-haves!

Ivy and Elephants said...

How amazing, to have such a famous and patriotic family. You should be so proud! Have a happy 4th of July,
(thanks to your courageous ancestors)!
Hugs,
Patti

Pat said...

Ann,
Incredible history of your family, dear friend!!!
EnJOY your time with family. . .and keep passing those stories on to the next generation!!!
Fondly,
Pat

Decor To Adore said...

Such amazing treasures. Love all the images you shared. Happy day!

Susie said...

My gosh Ann, your family is pure history. I would love tales like that growing up. Once an Italian friend of mine said I had no history like his parents...I told him my people were here to greet his people as they came over on the mayflower.LOL I have Indian heritage...this was just big jokes between us. But you truly do have lots of beautiful history. xoxo,Susie

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

Wonderful heritage Ann! I love that quote by John Adams. I agree, it holds true today. What a wonderful country we live in. God bless! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann