4th Of July

This has to be one of my favorite holidays. I know to a lot of people this is not even a holiday, but growing up 4th of July was THE best and funest day in the summer.


I grew up in a small Yankee Massachusetts town founded not long after Plimouth. The down town looked like a quaint movie set and was perfect. Loved it.


On the 4th of July it was as if the entire town stopped and you went to the parade. The Parade stared at the high school and ended at the pretty little bus depot. A few miles and along Main street, it was perfect. first before the parade though was the pancake breakfast in Hingham center, then you made your way to your spot to watch the parade. As a kid sitting along the street you wanted and hoped for the day to walk in the parade. It was great. there were fireworks always on the 3rd of July at the beach and a band concert at the gazebo on the beach too. Typical small town Americana if you will. And sometimes Dad would let us up on the roof of the house to watch the BIG fireworks display in Boston....THAT was something. But because of those days the 4th has always been a fun holiday for me. Washington DC was a great place to be in celebrating the 4th, but Fl. not so much. Naples tries to do it, but it's just a commercial day that has gone by the wayside. It was at a time that NOTHING was open, not it's all open..

Anyway I am making some kind of point....

Since I grew up outside of one of ht e greatest cities of all time and home to so much Revolutionary History, I really engulfed myself as a student to Early American History and revolutionary History. Boston is so rich in it, since it all did start there.....

But this day also makes me think of how it REALLY was on that July 2nd day in Philadelphia as all those men signed that paper succeeding themselves from the British Parliament and King George. Did they walk from that building cheering as they announced to the onlookers what had just happened, Did they even breath as they left the building in fear of what the next step was. Could they sleep at night knowing the ramifications of the event that they has just taken part in. Did they know?

I got this email from my cousin today, so I will share it with you all about what happened to some of the men that did sign the Declaration of Independence... I liked the history behind it and it will shed a little light on what happened to these brave men.....Keep something in mind... just because these were men that had some sort of say back in the day...for some they did not end their lives like Adams and Jefferson and a few other's.... Read on...

What Happened To The 56 Men Who Signed The Declaration of Independence.....
-Five signers were captured by British as traitors and tortured before they died.
-Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
-Two lost their sons serving in the revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
-Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
*They signed and pledged their lives, their future and their sacred honor..What kind of men were they?
-Twenty four lawyers and Jurists
-Eleven merchants
-Nine were farmers and large plantation owners.
* Men of means and some well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
-Carter Braxton of VA, a wealthy plantation owner and trader saw his ships burned in the sea by the British Navy. He sold his home and property to pay his debts and died in rags.
-Sherman McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the congress with out pay and kept his family in hiding. His possession's were taken from him and poverty was his reward.
--Vandalls and soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge and Middelton.
-Atthe Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home as his headquarters, he quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed and Nelson died bankrupt.
-Francis Lewis had his home and property destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife and she died with in a few months.
-John Hart was driven form his wifes bedside as she was dying and their thirteen kids fled for their lives. His fields and gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in the forests and caves, returning home to find his wife had died and children had vanished.
*****So take a moment while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these brave men, these Patriots. It's not to much for the price they paid... Remember..Freedom is NOT free.