AMERICA’S FIRST CIVIL WAR ~ Part 2

AMERICA’S FIRST CIVIL WAR

Part 2

In last month’s post we saw that America’s first civil war was The Revolutionary War; a war that divided families and neighbors to the Loyalist or the Patriot cause. We also reviewed the motivations which determined their decision.

Throughout the colonies, families and neighbors who once enjoyed amicable relations now found themselves at odds with each other. Families of every station of life were impacted by the severing of ties, but two very prominent families from two very different colonies experienced division in a very public arena.

The Franklin Family

Benjamin Franklin

William Franklin

Benjamin Franklin, born to the son of a candle maker in Boston, Massachusetts, at seventeen moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When he proposed to Deborah, the daughter of his landlady, the mother did not allow the union. While Franklin was in London, Deborah married a man who later avoided prosecution for non payment of debts by absconded to Barbados with her dowry. When Franklin returned from England, he and Deborah formed a common-law marriage until they could legally marry.

William Temple Franklin's
portrait by John Trumbull

Franklin was a man of many achievements; a successful newspaper editor, printer, writer, satirist, scientist, inventor, politician, statesman, and diplomat.  He had an illegitimate son, William, possibly by Deborah. Franklin financed William’s education at the Inns of Court in London. Later, William was admitted to the bar and automatically became a member of Britain’s upper class. William made influential friends while in England and returned to become the Royal Governor of New Jersey in 1762. William also fathered an illegitimate son, William Temple Franklin, who embraced the patriot cause and would later work as an aide to his grandfather. William Franklin remained a Loyalist, was imprisoned and later exiled to London.  He was unsuccessful in his attempt to reconcile with his father and at Benjamin Franklin’s death was disowned in favor of the grandson.

The Randolph Family

The Peyton Randolph House
Williamsburg, VA

Peyton Randolph

Peyton and John Randolph, cousins of Thomas Jefferson, were born (1721 & 1727) in Williamsburg, Virginia to Sir John and Lady Susannah Randolph a wealthy, aristocratic, powerful Virginia family. Their father, a prominent attorney and Speaker of the House of Burgesses, died when Peyton was sixteen, leaving their house and other property in trust for the older son. At different times, the brothers were both educated at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg and later studied the law at London’s Inns of Court. Upon his return, Peyton was appointed Virginia’s attorney general and later became Williamsburg’s representative in the House of Burgesses.

John Randolph

Peyton had challenged some of the rights of the Royal Governor he was appointed to defend, but it was not until 1764 with the conflict over the Stamp Act that his conflict with the British crown escalated. In 1766 he was elected Speaker of the House of Burgesses. Meanwhile, Peyton’s younger brother John succeeded him as the Virginia’s attorney general; however, by now the two brothers were politically polarized. Peyton joined the Patriot cause and John left for England in 1775 with most of his family. John’s son, Edmund joined the American army and he served as aide-de-camp to General George Washington.

The Wren Chapel is in the
Wren Building - Williamsburg, VA

The Wren Chapel 

In 1784 John died in England. As a patriot, Peyton had a warrant for his arrest and execution, but would die of a stroke in Philadelphia in 1775. After their deaths, both brothers were returned to Williamsburg where they are buried with their father in the Randolph crypt beneath the Wren Chapel at the College of William and Mary.

It may seem ironic that in the Franklin family Benjamin and his grandson embraced the Patriot cause while Benjamin’s son, William remained loyal to the crown. And, in the Randolph family, the younger brother, John remained a Loyalist, while his own son Edmund chose to join his uncle in pursuing independence from England.         

Like America’s Civil War of the nineteenth century, families and friends relationships would be tested and strained by their disparate loyalties.     

POCAHONTAS A STORY YOU MAY NOT KNOW By Janet Grunst

POCAHONTAS

A STORY YOU MAY NOT KNOW

Statue of Pocahontas
at Jamestowne

The story of Pocahontas that most of us learned as children is very different than the story I heard a few years ago when we relocated to within eight miles of Jamestowne/Jamestown, VA. I found out from a friend that her husband is the Mattaponi Indian tribe historian, one of the two remaining tribes of the Powhatan nation.  Several years ago, Dr. Linwood “Little Bear” Custalow and his coauthor Angela L. Daniel “Silver Star” published the sacred oral history of The True Story of Pocahontas. Her story was hidden for four hundred years by her people for fear of potential retribution. Their treatise explains the motives behind the myths as well as a reasoned explanation of their version of her story.

Dr. Custalow explains that the Algonquian tribes of the Virginia Coastal Plain did not have a written language so the oral history was passed down through quiakros (Powhatan priests) within each of the tribes in a “strict and disciplined manner to maintain accuracy”. These Mattaponi elders were venerated and protected leaders to ensure their story would be truthfully told.

The English version of her story primarily comes from the writings of Captain John Smith. However, there are significant differences in the Powhatan and John Smith/English versions of the Pocahontas story: Here are a few:

Her birth and family:

Smith/English Version - Pocahontas was born to one of many alliance wives.

Powhatan Version – Pocahontas, whose original name was Matoaka, was born to Chief Powhatan Wahunsenaca, the paramount chief of the Powhatan chiefdom, and Pocahontas of the Mataponi, who died in childbirth. Pocahontas’ mother was his first wife, the wife of choice and the one he loved. Other wives were alliance marriages, temporary unions meant to unite the 30 plus tribes under one paramount leader and to increase the Powhatan nation. Matoaka was later called Pocahontas to honor her deceased mother. As the last child of her mother she became particularly favored by her father.

Relationship with John Smith and English:

Smith Version –Pocahontas wandered freely through the Jamestowne/Jamestown settlement and risked her own life by to save his when he was in the midst of a four day ceremony making him werowance, a “secular chief” of the English tribe.

Powhatan –Pocahontas was ten years old and did not live near Jamestowne. As the chief’s beloved child, she would not have wandered freely but always been under protective supervision. She was often with her father when he was in the midst of the English so she would be familiar to Smith. The Powhatans accepted the English as another tribe, even making Smith werowance. During these ceremonies, in which quiakros would have been involved, children were not present. In addition to not being present, there was no need to save Smith’s life as his life was not in danger.

Pocahontas kidnapping:

English Version– Pocahontas was kidnapped and held for ransom by Captain Samuel Argall when they learned that she was staying with a northern tribe. She was to be kept as a bargaining tool, to get what food they wanted from the Indian nation and to ensure their well being. The English at Jamestown were trying multiple methods to make their venture profitable to continue to validate their presence and ensure that financing of Jamestowne continued from the Virginia Company and the crown.

Powhatan Version–Pocahontas had come of age, and for her protection and to keep her away from the “English” tribe that had grown greedy in their demands and usurpation of land, she was married to a warrior, Kocoum, brother of the chief of the Patowomac (northernmost tribe). While in his village she and her husband had a son. In order to protect his village from the English threats, the Patowomac chief collaborated with Argall and allowed him to kidnap Pocahontas. Argall gave the chief a copper pot to make it appear that the girl was given up for material goods. Sometime after she was kidnapped, Argall’s men returned to the village and killed her husband. Chief Powhatan Wahunsenaca paid the ransom for her release, but she was not returned. He was reluctant to mount a rescue attempt for fear of endangering Pocahontas.

Pocahontas conversion and marriage:

English Version – Pocahontas was transferred to a location near present day Richmond where she was instructed in the English language and ways, and taught about Christianity. She was told that her father would not meet her captor’s demands. When Pocahontas grew depressed, a request was sent to her father to send one of her sisters. During Pocahontas captivity she became acquainted with John Rolfe, an English colonist who had learned how to cultivate tobacco from the Powhatans. A pious widower, Rolfe wanted to marry Pocahontas, but required her conversion to Christianity. She was baptized, took the name Rebecca and was married to Rolfe.

Powhatan Version – Her father sent Mattachanna, the sister who raised her, and her husband, Uttamattamakin a priest of the highest order and an advisor to Pocahontas’ father. Nothing is known of what happened during Pocahontas captivity until her sister and brother-in-law arrived.  When they were reunited, Pocahontas informed Mattachanna that she had been raped and was pregnant. Mattaponi history suggests reasons why they believe someone other than John Rolfe was the father. Pocahontas’ feelings were unknown, but as Powhatan royalty, she probably saw the alliance as helpful to her people and that would have been very important to her. Pocahontas gave birth to Thomas Rolfe sometime later.

Pocahontas travel to England and death:

Pocahontas & Thomas Rolfe
The Sedgewood Portrait

English Version – John Rolfe, Pocahontas and Thomas Rolfe, and some Powhatans (including her sister and brother-in-law) traveled to England to demonstrate the potential profitability of tobacco, thus assuring continued support for the Virginia colony. Pocahontas was presented to the crown and society, thereby assuring England that relations with Native Americans were positive. In March of 1617, shortly after departing England, Pocahontas suddenly became ill and died. Rolfe requested the Captain make port at the closest church, St. George’s Church at Gravesend, where she was buried. The English attributed her death to pneumonia or tuberculosis.

Powhatan Version – Samuel Argall, her captor, was the Captain of the ship the Rolfe family traveled to and from England. Not yet on the open seas, Pocahontas and Rolfe dined in the Captain’s quarters. After returning to her room, she immediately began vomiting, and told her sister “that the English must have put something in her food”. Mattachanna tried caring for her but Pocahontas went into convulsions. Rolfe was summoned and she died within minutes. After her funeral, young Thomas Rolfe was given to relatives of John Rolfe in England to raise. The ship, passengers and crew continued their voyage to Virginia. Pocahontas was in good health when they left England. It is believed that she had gotten information of schemes to dethrone her father and take the Powhatan land, and that she would share that knowledge with her people. Mattaponi sacred oral history believes she was poisoned, but they do not know by whom, or how many people were involved. Chief Powhatan grew despondent and had to be relieved of his responsibilities. He died within a year. Some descendants of the Indian son Pocahontas bore are still alive today. Her son, Thomas Rolfe, was raised in England and returned to Virginia as an adult after John Rolfe was deceased. His descendants number among many prominent Virginia families.

BETSY ROSS

Every June 14^th, the United States of America celebrates Flag Day, a day we associate with Betsy Ross. Yet, a controversy remains to this day as to the veracity of the story of Betsy Ross being commissioned by George Washington to sew the first American flag. Whether the account is true or merely legend, we know some very interesting things about this remarkable woman.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Griscom was born January 1, 1752 into a fourth generation American Quaker family in Philadelphia. She was the eighth in a family of seventeen children. Her father and grandfather were both well known carpenters. Betsy received an extensive education in a Quaker public school where she was also was taught the trade of sewing. She was apprenticed to work in a local upholstery shop where she met John Ross, another apprentice and the son of an Anglican assistant rector at Christ Church. Quakers did not take kindly to inter-denominational marriages, which may have been the reason why twenty-one year old Betsy and John eloped in 1773, causing a permanent separation from her family.

In 1775 John and Betsy Ross began their upholstery business. However, with no support from the Quaker community, with significant competition, and a war that was making access to needed fabrics difficult, their business faltered. John joined the Pennsylvania militia but died in January 1776 as a result of wounds he received in an ammunition explosion.

“The Birth of Our Nation’s Flag”

By Charles Weisgerber

Depicting the alleged meeting of the Committee of Three

It’s been suggested that Betsy did some tailoring for George Washington, and in May or June of 1776 she claimed to have met with the Committee of Three (George Washington, Robert Morris and John Ross) who brought her a design for the flag. The controversy started later, stemming from the story of the flag’s origin being relayed by one of her grandsons, William Canby, at a meeting of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1870, ninety-four years later. Many historians have researched his account through government records and the three men’s personal letters or diaries and found no verification of the meeting or of the commissioning of the creation of a national flag. Perhaps adding to the confusion, Betsy Ross was known to have made some ship’s colors for Pennsylvania state ships. In 1909, William Canby’s brother published a book to support the story of Betsy’s tie to the creation of the first American flag.

After John’s death, Betsy remarried in June of 1777 and had two daughters with sea captain Joseph Ashburn. During that winter she was forced to house British solders in her home. Betsy’s husband was captured by the British, sent to prison in England for treason, and died there in 1782. News of his death was brought to Betsy by another imprisoned sailor and friend, John Claypoole, whom she married in 1783. He passed in 1817.

Many people believe that the legend of Betsy Ross creating the first American flag was fabricated (no pun intended).  They argue that not much was known or promoted about the important role women played during the time of our nation’s founding and this narrative would add that dimension to our national story. Fortunately, in later years, much has come to light about our Founding Mothers, many women who valiantly served our country in various capacities during the Revolutionary period.

Betsy Ross House

 Philadelphia, PA

Whether the legend of Betsy Ross is true or not, we do know that this amazing woman was well educated, an entrepreneur who continued in business during and after the death three husbands until she was seventy-five years old.

She passed away in 1836 and is buried adjacent to the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia, where it held its first Flag Day celebration on June 14, 1891.

John Winthrop: Another Unsung Hero

Title: John Winthrop, America’s Forgotten Founding Father
Author: Francis J. Bremer
Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2003

If good intentions could save a person’s soul, then there would be no doubt about John Winthrop’s soul.

John Winthrop was a man of vision. He sought to create a new land, pure from the corruption found in the Church of England, but his desire to do so came while he lived in England. A complex historical character, Mr. Winthrop is quoted by presidents, by scholars, and by laymen to support their ideology—whether or not Mr. Winthrop would have agreed.

In this book, we begin to grasp how the state of England, Christianity within the country, and the passion of life formed Mr. Winthrop’s own ideologies and theology.

I believe social pressures also formed much of Mr. Winthrop’s theology, more so perhaps than the Bible itself. An example of this is his own conclusion: “God Almighty in his most holy and wise providence hath so disposed of the condition of mankind, as in all times some must be rich, some poor; some high and eminent in power and dignity, others mean and in subjection.” (p. 92-93) In life at this time, we see how some held more authority and privileges than others. This would be in contrast to the Apostle Paul’s letter to Philemon where Paul encourages the man to count his runaway slave, Onesimus, as an equal brother.

Even in England, Mr. Winthrop found himself in religious debate. In his home country the foundation was laid for some of the problems he would face in New England. Problems with such people as Anne Hutchinson, who would oppose the “covenant of works” she felt many of the Puritans held to.

But Mr. Winthrop did not seem so different than Mrs. Hutchinson, except perhaps in fervency to please God by his actions. He prayed that God “would give me a new heart, joy in his spirit; that he would dwell with me, that he would strengthen me against the world, the flesh, and the Devil, [and] that he would forgive my sins and increase my faith.” (p. 96) From my perspective, that sounds very consistent with Romans 10:9-10, 13:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation….For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Also with II Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Thus he began his role as a Godly magistrate, a man bent on having a right fellowship with God. A few years later he was asked to join the Massachusetts Bay Company. This seemed agreeable to him since he had interest in carrying the gospel and the culture of England to different countries. In preparation for the trip across the Atlantic to New England, men gathered in the Church of the Holy Rood and sermons were given. An assumption is that John Winthrop’s famous A Modell of Christian Charity was given at this time, which contained the phrase “City upon a Hill.”

Today many see the Puritans as almost evil in their desire to establish a place wherein Christian values and morality would be upheld. Yet, for anyone who might grieve over the wicked state of our current world, one might find such an attitude refreshing. God, however, wants people to seek Him of their own free will. To be forced to follow Him via commands and human traditions was never the plan.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1

Perhaps we judge the Puritans so harshly because we do not understand their passion to remove themselves from evil. Yes, there were extremists. Isn’t there in every movement, whether political or religious or social? But for those who love God, who seek to please Him, and who long to one day go to their heavenly home, we can have empathy for their desire for good and not evil to reign. Perhaps we cannot agree with their methods, but we should be able to agree with their desire for purity and holiness and their longing for their heavenly home.

John Winthrop served as a governor for the Massachusetts Bay Colony through some tumultuous times. He saw God’s hand at work, despite man’s failings and imperfections.

When he neared death, Rev. John Cotton called for prayers for him saying about Governor Winthrop, “a governor who has been unto us a brother, not usurping authority over the church, often speaking his advice…often contradicted, even by young men and some of low degree, yet not replying, but offering satisfaction also when any supposed offenses have arisen…been unto us as a mother, parent-like distributing his goods to brethren and neighbors at his first coming, and gently bearing our infirmities without taking notice of them.” (p. 377).

John Winthrop died shortly after, on March 26, 1649. His legacy lives on, however, through our American values, and by those (like President Ronald Regan) who see John Winthrop's words worth repeating.