Happy Birthday America

My mother and father were great storytellers and I was raised on tales of family “derring do”. I got my Major James Pattillo line finished for the Daughters of the American Revolution. It was fun to add information on Joyce Jane Calliham Scott from the DAR magazine (Jan. 2002) “Revolutionary heroine. District III, South Carolina: Joyce Jane Calliham Scott, riding at night, took news of the Tory smuggling to patriots at the Ninety Six District. Later, in order to discover where her husband’s legendary wealth was hidden; Tarleton's troops repeatedly tortured her. (They roped and pulled her under the Savannah River. Revolutionary War water boarding.) She never betrayed her husband or the other patriots.”

Another interesting bit was a letter written in 1892 by my great, great, great uncle.

Dear Sir:

My father, David Thomas, was born in Edgefield District, S.C., in the year 1775 and died in Louisiana 1849. He was a nephew to Joyce Calliham, the wife of Ready Money Scott, who lived on the Savannah River above Augusta, GA., and had a ferry that is known to this day as Scott's Ferry.

In 1850, I visited among my relatives there and heard much of the family history from old kin’s people who are now dead.

Samuel Scott, better known in that country as Ready Money Scott, was a very thrifty farmer. He got his soubriquet from the fact that he always paid the ready money for what he bought, and would not sell unless the ready money was paid to him. This habit obtained for him the reputation of having money, and when the war broke out between the colonies and Great Britain, he, having cast his lot with the colonies and rendered such services as are usually given by patriots to the cause, this espousal brought upon him and his family much persecution.

For robbery, he was visited from time to time by the Tories and the British. One time they destroyed a field of growing corn by turning their cavalry horses loose in it, while the men plundered the dwelling house and premises.

Falling to find any money, they ripped up with their swords the family featherbeds and gave the feathers to the winds. It is a well authenticated fact that old Ready Money Scott was an intense patriot, and aided the Colonies in their struggle for freedom against Great Britain.

Yours, SAMUEL M. THOMAS

I was interested to see that "Tusculum" the house built by my relative, Rev. John Witherspoon, is for sale according to the July Perservation magazine. Tusculum is named for the Italian summer home of great thinker and leader Cicero. The notice says, “Tusculum, 1773. Built for and named by John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration of Independence and 6th president of Princeton University, 5 bedroom manor house, 1 mile from downtown, on State and National registers. Renovations and additions to original house in 1998. Caretaker’s cottage, stone barn, out buildings, all restored. Farmland tax assessment. $8,975,000.” Maybe we could get money from the stimulus package to buy it.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the men who signed the Declaration of Independence ? Five signers were captured by the 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 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, 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 Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Rutledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for 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 properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots.It's not much to ask for the price they paid. REMEMBER THAT FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE!!!!

From John Quincy Adams' oration on July 4th, 1837: "Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the corner stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies, announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets six hundred years before?"

The Declaration of Independence was approved JULY 4, 1776. John Hancock signed first, saying "the price on my head has just doubled." Benjamin Franklin said "We must hang together or most assuredly we shall hang separately." Of the 56 signers: 17 served in the military; 11 had their homes destroyed; 5 were hunted and captured; Abraham Clark had two sons imprisoned on the British starving ship Jersey; John Witherspoon's son was killed in battle; Francis Lewis' wife was imprisoned and died from the harsh treatment; many, such as Thomas Nelson and Carter Braxton, lost their fortunes; and 9 died during the War. When Samuel Adams signed the Declaration, he said: "We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come."

John Adams said: "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty." John Adams continued: "I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration...Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory... Posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even though we [may regret] it, which I trust in God we shall not."

Happy 4th of July and I pray that America will fall on its knees repent and return to Jesus Christ. God, in His abundant mercy, has been very patient with us all.