All God's giants have been weak men who did great things for God, because they reckoned on God's being with them.- J. Hudson Taylor
Father, I am victorious, real failure can never happen because I am doing all things through Christ who strengthens. Philippians 4:13
I do not lack strength, wisdom, or resources because my God is supplying all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
I refuse to submit to fear because God hath not given me a spirit of fear but of power, of love and of a sound mind. II Timothy 1:7
I will not assume weakness for the Lord is the strength of my life. Psalm 27:1
I will not be affected by the circumstances today for greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. I John 4:4
I will never bow in defeat for God always causes me to triumph in Christ. II Corinthians 2:14
I refuse to worry for I am casting all my cares upon Him for He careth for me. I Peter 5:7
I will not exhibit frustration or apprehension for I am promised the peace of God which passeth all
understanding. Philippians 4:6-9
I will never again agree to bondage for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. II Corinthians 3:17
I will never express self condemnation for there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
I will never display discontent for I have learned in whatsoever what I am, therein to be content. Philippians 4:11
I will not have feelings of unworthiness for I am His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works!. Ephesians 2:10
I will never be intimidated for if God be for me who can be against me.Roman 8:31
I will never feel insecure because the Lord shall me by countenance and keep my foot from being shaken. Proverbs 3:26
I am victorious in all levels of life because my Lord has overcome the world.John 16:33
I am a winner. II Corinthians 2:1
I am an adequate person. II Corinthians 9:8
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Francis Schaeffer remembered
Francis and Edith Schaeffer made a tremendous impact on my husband and me when we studied at L'Abri in 1970. I thought his concern for "fertilized eggs" was strange at first as abortion was discussed but the Lord lead me to see life is precious from beginning to end. I have spent almost 40 years as a "voice for the voiceless" as a pro-life activist and pregnancy center director. It was not a role I wanted but accepted as a call from the Jesus.
The Schaeffer's love of art, music, hospitality and beauty echoed mine and I have sought to make them part of my home. Francis' prophetic vision of the future has come to pass to our sorrow but I thank God that I have had a small part in standing for Biblical Truth in our "situational" culture. I appreciated this interview with Os who was at L'Abri with us and thought you would enjoy it too.
I have been impressed with the difference in the book of Christopher Buckley on his father and Franky's graceless work on his parents. May we truely see "The memory of the righteous will be a blessing." Proverbs 10:7
Another family impacted by the Schaeffer's was Jack and Joanne Kemp who provided America with wise leadership for decades. It was wonderful to read the rememberances of Jack at his death last week. The phrase from the Peggy Noonan article that impressed me was "The power of a happy man." May God have mercy on America and may young leadership arise to speak truth in power and in joy.
An Interview with Os Guinness on the 25th Anniversary of Francis Schaeffer's Death
Next week (May 15) will be the 25th anniversary of the death of Francis Schaeffer, who died in his home in Rochester, MN, at the age of 72.
Two biographies of Schaeffer have been published relatively recently: Colin Duriez's Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life and Barry Hankins's Francis Schaeffer and the Shaping of American Evangelicalism.
I was recently able to ask Os Guinness a few questions about Schaeffer's impact and significance.
How did you first meet Schaeffer?
I first met Francis Schaeffer in 1965 when I was a student in London. I had come to faith in Jesus through a Christian friend and through reading such writers as Dostoevsky, G.K. Chesterton, and C.S. Lewis. But it would be fair to say that while we had extraordinary biblical exposition and deep, rich theological teaching in England, there was almost no encouragement to think Christianly or to understand what was going on in the wider culture. So there I was as a student in the middle of ‘swinging London’ and the exploding Sixties, and no Christians that I knew understood what was going on at all. Then a friend took me to hear a strange little man in Swiss knickers, with a high-pitched voice, terms all of his own such as ‘the line of despair,’ and appalling mispronunciations and occasional malapropisms. But I was intrigued and then hooked. Schaeffer was the first Christian I met who was concerned to, and capable of connecting the dots and making sense of the extraordinary times that puzzled and dismayed most people. Two years later, I went to the Swiss l’Abri myself, and my first three weeks there in the summer of 1967 became the most revolutionary period in my entire life. I have never been the same since.
Can you describe his influence on you personally?
Later on, I had the privilege of living with Francis and Edith Schaeffer for three years in their home, so I came to know them both very well. To be honest, I adored Edith and have never met a woman like her. I can’t say quite the same about Francis, and I have my differences with him. But I also owe the world to him, and he has influenced me profoundly even where I differ from him. His main influence was not intellectual. I owe far more in that area to my real mentor, Peter Berger. In fact I have not read many of Schaeffer’s books, because I heard them all delivered in lectures and discussions before they were written. So Schaeffer has influenced me more in an unspoken way. I often say simply that I have never met anyone with such a passion for God, combined with a passion for people, combined with a passion for truth. That is an extremely rare combination, and Schaeffer embodied it. It is also why so many of his scholarly critics completely miss the heart of who he was, and why his son’s recent portrayal of his father is such a travesty and an outrage.
We all serve as examples to others—both positively and negatively. What are some of the main things in Schaeffer’s life and ministry that we should seek to emulate, and what are some cautionary lessons we can learn?
Of all his own books, Francis Schaeffer’s favorite was True Spirituality. It tells the story of his passionate, even desperate, search for reality in faith. But that was what was so great about him. There was no gap between his trust in God, his praying, his wrestling with issues, his lectures, his preaching, his love of the mountains, his sense of fun, his appreciation of beauty, and so on. With all his flaws, he was a very real man. Nietzsche used to say, “All truths are bloody truths to me,” and the same could be said of Schaeffer. He was very real.
At the same time, although he was a brilliant thinker, with an uncanny ability to connect the dots and see the significance of things, he was not a scholar and he relied too much on reading magazines rather than books. So he allowed himself, perhaps, to believe his flatterers' hype, or at least to go along with the puffery of his publishers and others. In the end, he lost a bit of his earlier humility, and was portrayed as the great philosopher and scholar that he wasn’t – which means that real scholars have an easy time of debunking some of his ideas.
Is there something in particular that you think people today misunderstand about Schaeffer?
A host of misunderstanding swirls around Francis Schaeffer’s reputation today. The two that concern me most are about his apologetics and his significance. Many who cite his apologetic approach have a comically wooden understanding of how he approached people to win them to faith. I have yet to see the book that does justice to the sheer brilliance of his way of presenting the gospel.
As far as his influence, he had a massive impact on the lives of individuals, including me, but his wider significance was as a ‘gatekeeper,’ or a door opener. When almost no Evangelicals were thinking about culture and connecting unconnected dots, Schaeffer not only did it himself but blazed a trail for countless others to follow. Many who trumpet their disagreements with him today owe their very capacity to disagree to his influence a generation ago. A little man in stature, he was a giant in influence, and many who have gone further have done so only by standing on his shoulders. I for one owe far more to Francis Schaeffer than I can ever say, and I live daily in his debt.
posted at Between Two Worlds by Justin Taylor at Thursday, May 07, 2009
The Schaeffer's love of art, music, hospitality and beauty echoed mine and I have sought to make them part of my home. Francis' prophetic vision of the future has come to pass to our sorrow but I thank God that I have had a small part in standing for Biblical Truth in our "situational" culture. I appreciated this interview with Os who was at L'Abri with us and thought you would enjoy it too.
I have been impressed with the difference in the book of Christopher Buckley on his father and Franky's graceless work on his parents. May we truely see "The memory of the righteous will be a blessing." Proverbs 10:7
Another family impacted by the Schaeffer's was Jack and Joanne Kemp who provided America with wise leadership for decades. It was wonderful to read the rememberances of Jack at his death last week. The phrase from the Peggy Noonan article that impressed me was "The power of a happy man." May God have mercy on America and may young leadership arise to speak truth in power and in joy.
An Interview with Os Guinness on the 25th Anniversary of Francis Schaeffer's Death
Next week (May 15) will be the 25th anniversary of the death of Francis Schaeffer, who died in his home in Rochester, MN, at the age of 72.
Two biographies of Schaeffer have been published relatively recently: Colin Duriez's Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life and Barry Hankins's Francis Schaeffer and the Shaping of American Evangelicalism.
I was recently able to ask Os Guinness a few questions about Schaeffer's impact and significance.
How did you first meet Schaeffer?
I first met Francis Schaeffer in 1965 when I was a student in London. I had come to faith in Jesus through a Christian friend and through reading such writers as Dostoevsky, G.K. Chesterton, and C.S. Lewis. But it would be fair to say that while we had extraordinary biblical exposition and deep, rich theological teaching in England, there was almost no encouragement to think Christianly or to understand what was going on in the wider culture. So there I was as a student in the middle of ‘swinging London’ and the exploding Sixties, and no Christians that I knew understood what was going on at all. Then a friend took me to hear a strange little man in Swiss knickers, with a high-pitched voice, terms all of his own such as ‘the line of despair,’ and appalling mispronunciations and occasional malapropisms. But I was intrigued and then hooked. Schaeffer was the first Christian I met who was concerned to, and capable of connecting the dots and making sense of the extraordinary times that puzzled and dismayed most people. Two years later, I went to the Swiss l’Abri myself, and my first three weeks there in the summer of 1967 became the most revolutionary period in my entire life. I have never been the same since.
Can you describe his influence on you personally?
Later on, I had the privilege of living with Francis and Edith Schaeffer for three years in their home, so I came to know them both very well. To be honest, I adored Edith and have never met a woman like her. I can’t say quite the same about Francis, and I have my differences with him. But I also owe the world to him, and he has influenced me profoundly even where I differ from him. His main influence was not intellectual. I owe far more in that area to my real mentor, Peter Berger. In fact I have not read many of Schaeffer’s books, because I heard them all delivered in lectures and discussions before they were written. So Schaeffer has influenced me more in an unspoken way. I often say simply that I have never met anyone with such a passion for God, combined with a passion for people, combined with a passion for truth. That is an extremely rare combination, and Schaeffer embodied it. It is also why so many of his scholarly critics completely miss the heart of who he was, and why his son’s recent portrayal of his father is such a travesty and an outrage.
We all serve as examples to others—both positively and negatively. What are some of the main things in Schaeffer’s life and ministry that we should seek to emulate, and what are some cautionary lessons we can learn?
Of all his own books, Francis Schaeffer’s favorite was True Spirituality. It tells the story of his passionate, even desperate, search for reality in faith. But that was what was so great about him. There was no gap between his trust in God, his praying, his wrestling with issues, his lectures, his preaching, his love of the mountains, his sense of fun, his appreciation of beauty, and so on. With all his flaws, he was a very real man. Nietzsche used to say, “All truths are bloody truths to me,” and the same could be said of Schaeffer. He was very real.
At the same time, although he was a brilliant thinker, with an uncanny ability to connect the dots and see the significance of things, he was not a scholar and he relied too much on reading magazines rather than books. So he allowed himself, perhaps, to believe his flatterers' hype, or at least to go along with the puffery of his publishers and others. In the end, he lost a bit of his earlier humility, and was portrayed as the great philosopher and scholar that he wasn’t – which means that real scholars have an easy time of debunking some of his ideas.
Is there something in particular that you think people today misunderstand about Schaeffer?
A host of misunderstanding swirls around Francis Schaeffer’s reputation today. The two that concern me most are about his apologetics and his significance. Many who cite his apologetic approach have a comically wooden understanding of how he approached people to win them to faith. I have yet to see the book that does justice to the sheer brilliance of his way of presenting the gospel.
As far as his influence, he had a massive impact on the lives of individuals, including me, but his wider significance was as a ‘gatekeeper,’ or a door opener. When almost no Evangelicals were thinking about culture and connecting unconnected dots, Schaeffer not only did it himself but blazed a trail for countless others to follow. Many who trumpet their disagreements with him today owe their very capacity to disagree to his influence a generation ago. A little man in stature, he was a giant in influence, and many who have gone further have done so only by standing on his shoulders. I for one owe far more to Francis Schaeffer than I can ever say, and I live daily in his debt.
posted at Between Two Worlds by Justin Taylor at Thursday, May 07, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tulare Inn Memories
WalterWorld
Assorted Tidbits - Reheated Just For You
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Tulare Dust
This was a walk down Memory Lane for me. Go to WalterWorld to see the photos of the Tulare Inn Coffee Shop and Motel which Hoot Perry foundered and ran for many years in Tulare, California. Mom and Dad(Amanda and Hoot)Perry were given an award by the California Restarant Association for their 50 years in the business. Our parents were married for 63 years, had seven children and 15 grandchildren.
Here are the comments on the photos
Once "The best cup of coffee on 99", Perry's Coffee Shop on Paige Avenue has seen some 40 years slip past it.
This ad from a 1965 Vacationland magazine served as a heads-up to those who travelled North or South on the 99 in route to Walt's little park in Anaheim:
Next door, the Tulare Inn soldiers on as a forlorn ambassador of a time that was...
Where was once a neatly kept lawn, only dried chaff remains on exhibit:
A refreshing pool now hosts only echoes from the past...
"The Tulare dust, in a farm boy's nose...wondering where the freight train goes.
Standin' in a field by the railroad track, cursin' the strap on my cotton sack.
I can see Mom and Dad with shoulders low, both of them pickin' on a double row.
They do it for a livin', because they must...that's life like it is in the Tulare Dust..."
---Merle Haggard---
Posted by walterworld at 10/20/2007 12:46:00 AM
Labels: perry's coffee shop, tulare, vacationland
Assorted Tidbits - Reheated Just For You
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Tulare Dust
This was a walk down Memory Lane for me. Go to WalterWorld to see the photos of the Tulare Inn Coffee Shop and Motel which Hoot Perry foundered and ran for many years in Tulare, California. Mom and Dad(Amanda and Hoot)Perry were given an award by the California Restarant Association for their 50 years in the business. Our parents were married for 63 years, had seven children and 15 grandchildren.
Here are the comments on the photos
Once "The best cup of coffee on 99", Perry's Coffee Shop on Paige Avenue has seen some 40 years slip past it.
This ad from a 1965 Vacationland magazine served as a heads-up to those who travelled North or South on the 99 in route to Walt's little park in Anaheim:
Next door, the Tulare Inn soldiers on as a forlorn ambassador of a time that was...
Where was once a neatly kept lawn, only dried chaff remains on exhibit:
A refreshing pool now hosts only echoes from the past...
"The Tulare dust, in a farm boy's nose...wondering where the freight train goes.
Standin' in a field by the railroad track, cursin' the strap on my cotton sack.
I can see Mom and Dad with shoulders low, both of them pickin' on a double row.
They do it for a livin', because they must...that's life like it is in the Tulare Dust..."
---Merle Haggard---
Posted by walterworld at 10/20/2007 12:46:00 AM
Labels: perry's coffee shop, tulare, vacationland
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The Wisdom of Depression Era Survivors
This article is a good reminder of the realities of life for most of the world. We can do it again if we need to do so. The keys are: Live simply; Work hard; Love and help others; Be part of a community; and Love God with your whole heart, soul and mind.
An 87-Year-Old's Economic Survival Guide by Chuck Norris 02/24/2009
"An old Spanish proverb says, "An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy." I believe that value holds, in or out of a recession. And seeing as my 87-year-old mother lived through the Great Depression, I think her value (and that of those like her) will increase through these tough economic times because her insider wisdom can help us all.
Mother was about 10 years old when her eight-member family endured the thick of those recessive days in rural Wilson, Okla., which only has a population of 1,600 today. The recurring droughts across the heartland during that period dried up the job market, making it worse in the Midwest than it even was in the rest of the country. Over the years, my grandpa worked multiple jobs, from the oil fields to the cotton fields, and he was even a night watchman. The family members did what they could to contribute, but most of them were simply too young to play a major part.
In 1933, when President Franklin Roosevelt took office, his administration, through the Works Project Administration, brought about the employment of millions in civil construction projects, from bridges to dams to airports to roads. My grandfather traveled about 90 miles for a day's work to help build the Lake Murray dam. But with a far smaller ratio of jobs to potential laborers, if Grandpa worked five days a month (at $1.80 a day), it was a good month.
Like most families, my mother's family didn't have running water or electricity. And Granny did her best to keep the outhouse clean, with Grandpa helping by regularly depositing lye to control the odors. (You can imagine how the hot, humid Oklahoma summers turned that outside commode into one smelly closet-sized sauna.) A "scavenger wagon" came by once a week and cleaned out the hole, which had a small chairlike contraption over it with the center punched out. (They once had a two-seater in there, which allowed for two people to enjoy each other's company and conversation. Mom told me that she always felt a little upper-class when she sat with someone else!) By the way, and I'm not trying to be crude, toilet tissue wasn't around, so they used pages from Montgomery Ward catalogs (and you wondered why the catalogs were so thick). No joke -- they preferred the non-glossy pages. I'll let you figure out why.
Got the picture? With that in mind, I turn to a recent conversation I had with my mother. I asked her, "How would you encourage the average American to weather the economic storms of today?"
Here's her advice, in her words:
-- "Get back to the basics. Simplify your life. Live within your means. People have got to be willing to downsize and be OK with it. We must quit borrowing and cut spending. Be grateful for what you have, especially your health and loved ones. Be content with what you have, and remember the stuff will never make you happy. Never. Back then, we didn't have one-hundredth of what people do today, and yet we seemed happier than most today, even during the Great Depression.
-- "Be humble and willing to work. Back then, any work was good work. We picked cotton, picked up cans, scrap metal, whatever it took to get by. Where's that work ethic today? If someone's not being paid $10 an hour today, they're whining and unwilling to work, even if they don't have a job. The message from yesteryear is don't be too proud to do whatever it takes to meet the financial needs of your family.
-- "Be rich in love. We didn't have much. In fact, we had nothing at all, compared to people today, but we had each other. We were poor, but rich in love. We've lost the value of family and friends today, and we've got to gain it back if we're ever to get back on track. If we lose all our stuff and still have one another and our health, what have we really lost?
-- "Be a part of a community. Today people are much more alone, much more isolated. We used to be close with our neighbors. If one person had a bigger or better garden or orchard, they shared the vegetables and fruits with others in need. Society has shifted from caring for one another to being dependent upon government aid and welfare. That is why so many today trust in government to deliver them. They've forgotten an America that used to rally around one another in smaller clusters, called neighborhoods and communities. We must rekindle those local communal fires and relearn the power of that age-old commandment, 'Love thy neighbor.'
-- "Help someone else. We never quit helping others back then. Today too many people are consumed with their own problems and only helping themselves. 'What's in it for me?' is the question most are asking. But back then, it was, 'What can I do to help my neighbor, too?' I love Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life, and especially his thought, 'We were created for community, designed to be a blessing to others.' Most of all, helping others gets our minds off of our problems and puts things into better perspective.
-- "Lean upon God for help and strength. We didn't just have each other to lean on, but we had God, too. We all attended church and belonged to a faith community. Church was the hub of society, the community core and rallying point. Today people turn to government the way we used to turn to churches. It's been that way ever since Herbert Hoover's alleged promise of a 'chicken in every pot' and President Roosevelt's New Deal. Too many have abandoned faith and community. We trust in money more than God. And maybe that's a reason why we're in this economic pickle."
Now that's conventional wisdom that should be shouted and posted in every corridor of government, every community across America, and every blog on the Internet.
Call me overly pragmatic, but I think a little practical wisdom and encouragement is what we all need about now. Mom always was good for that. She still is."
My parents sound a lot like Chuck Norris' mother. My mother and father were from big families and knew how to grow gardens and harvest the weeds by the side of the road. I was embarrassed when, in West Los Angeles, mother would pull out a shopping bag at a vacant lot and proceed to harvest the mustard greens growing there. They were a gift from the Lord to her. "Greens" were a part of most meals when in season.
We always had a vegetable garden and fruit trees to harvest and can.
In the 1930's, my father was a supervisor of Civilian Conservation Corp boys in Death Valley, California as they built roads and the monuments in the National Park. He met my mother in Death Valley as she was the teacher for the children of the workers and of the Indians who lived there. They were happy to live simply, to work hard, to love and help others in the community and to truely love Jesus Christ. I am happy to follow their example.
An 87-Year-Old's Economic Survival Guide by Chuck Norris 02/24/2009
"An old Spanish proverb says, "An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy." I believe that value holds, in or out of a recession. And seeing as my 87-year-old mother lived through the Great Depression, I think her value (and that of those like her) will increase through these tough economic times because her insider wisdom can help us all.
Mother was about 10 years old when her eight-member family endured the thick of those recessive days in rural Wilson, Okla., which only has a population of 1,600 today. The recurring droughts across the heartland during that period dried up the job market, making it worse in the Midwest than it even was in the rest of the country. Over the years, my grandpa worked multiple jobs, from the oil fields to the cotton fields, and he was even a night watchman. The family members did what they could to contribute, but most of them were simply too young to play a major part.
In 1933, when President Franklin Roosevelt took office, his administration, through the Works Project Administration, brought about the employment of millions in civil construction projects, from bridges to dams to airports to roads. My grandfather traveled about 90 miles for a day's work to help build the Lake Murray dam. But with a far smaller ratio of jobs to potential laborers, if Grandpa worked five days a month (at $1.80 a day), it was a good month.
Like most families, my mother's family didn't have running water or electricity. And Granny did her best to keep the outhouse clean, with Grandpa helping by regularly depositing lye to control the odors. (You can imagine how the hot, humid Oklahoma summers turned that outside commode into one smelly closet-sized sauna.) A "scavenger wagon" came by once a week and cleaned out the hole, which had a small chairlike contraption over it with the center punched out. (They once had a two-seater in there, which allowed for two people to enjoy each other's company and conversation. Mom told me that she always felt a little upper-class when she sat with someone else!) By the way, and I'm not trying to be crude, toilet tissue wasn't around, so they used pages from Montgomery Ward catalogs (and you wondered why the catalogs were so thick). No joke -- they preferred the non-glossy pages. I'll let you figure out why.
Got the picture? With that in mind, I turn to a recent conversation I had with my mother. I asked her, "How would you encourage the average American to weather the economic storms of today?"
Here's her advice, in her words:
-- "Get back to the basics. Simplify your life. Live within your means. People have got to be willing to downsize and be OK with it. We must quit borrowing and cut spending. Be grateful for what you have, especially your health and loved ones. Be content with what you have, and remember the stuff will never make you happy. Never. Back then, we didn't have one-hundredth of what people do today, and yet we seemed happier than most today, even during the Great Depression.
-- "Be humble and willing to work. Back then, any work was good work. We picked cotton, picked up cans, scrap metal, whatever it took to get by. Where's that work ethic today? If someone's not being paid $10 an hour today, they're whining and unwilling to work, even if they don't have a job. The message from yesteryear is don't be too proud to do whatever it takes to meet the financial needs of your family.
-- "Be rich in love. We didn't have much. In fact, we had nothing at all, compared to people today, but we had each other. We were poor, but rich in love. We've lost the value of family and friends today, and we've got to gain it back if we're ever to get back on track. If we lose all our stuff and still have one another and our health, what have we really lost?
-- "Be a part of a community. Today people are much more alone, much more isolated. We used to be close with our neighbors. If one person had a bigger or better garden or orchard, they shared the vegetables and fruits with others in need. Society has shifted from caring for one another to being dependent upon government aid and welfare. That is why so many today trust in government to deliver them. They've forgotten an America that used to rally around one another in smaller clusters, called neighborhoods and communities. We must rekindle those local communal fires and relearn the power of that age-old commandment, 'Love thy neighbor.'
-- "Help someone else. We never quit helping others back then. Today too many people are consumed with their own problems and only helping themselves. 'What's in it for me?' is the question most are asking. But back then, it was, 'What can I do to help my neighbor, too?' I love Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life, and especially his thought, 'We were created for community, designed to be a blessing to others.' Most of all, helping others gets our minds off of our problems and puts things into better perspective.
-- "Lean upon God for help and strength. We didn't just have each other to lean on, but we had God, too. We all attended church and belonged to a faith community. Church was the hub of society, the community core and rallying point. Today people turn to government the way we used to turn to churches. It's been that way ever since Herbert Hoover's alleged promise of a 'chicken in every pot' and President Roosevelt's New Deal. Too many have abandoned faith and community. We trust in money more than God. And maybe that's a reason why we're in this economic pickle."
Now that's conventional wisdom that should be shouted and posted in every corridor of government, every community across America, and every blog on the Internet.
Call me overly pragmatic, but I think a little practical wisdom and encouragement is what we all need about now. Mom always was good for that. She still is."
My parents sound a lot like Chuck Norris' mother. My mother and father were from big families and knew how to grow gardens and harvest the weeds by the side of the road. I was embarrassed when, in West Los Angeles, mother would pull out a shopping bag at a vacant lot and proceed to harvest the mustard greens growing there. They were a gift from the Lord to her. "Greens" were a part of most meals when in season.
We always had a vegetable garden and fruit trees to harvest and can.
In the 1930's, my father was a supervisor of Civilian Conservation Corp boys in Death Valley, California as they built roads and the monuments in the National Park. He met my mother in Death Valley as she was the teacher for the children of the workers and of the Indians who lived there. They were happy to live simply, to work hard, to love and help others in the community and to truely love Jesus Christ. I am happy to follow their example.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Sanctity of Human Life Sunday from Pastor Ron Jones
January 14th, 2009
Open Letter to President-Elect Obama
January 14, 2009
The Honorable Barack Obama
President-Elect of the United States
Hay-Adams Hotel
800 16th Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
Dear Mr. President-Elect,
As the leader of a church with more than 5,000 attendees located just a short drive from the White House, I join millions of Americans in honoring your inauguration as our forty-fourth President.
All Americans celebrate the arrival of a new President and the peaceful transfer of power as more evidence of our great democracy. This occasion also marks a monumental civil rights achievement for our nation. I rejoice in the fact that an African-American has been elected, a true affirmation of our nation’s fundamental premise that all persons are created equal by the hand of God.
Holy Scripture exhorts us to pray for kings and all those who are in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Please know, we the people of Immanuel Bible Church pledge to pray for you, your family and your Administration. These are difficult times to lead our nation. No President has ever done so without acknowledging the need for divine guidance.
We will pray that God will grant you Solomon-like wisdom in all of the decisions you make, knowing that King Solomon himself wrote, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Proverbs 21:1).
You assume the Presidency on Tuesday during a time of economic crisis at home and conflict abroad. Yet as these great challenges loom ahead, I ask you to “defend the cause of the weak” and “maintain the rights of the oppressed” (Psalm 82:3-4).
In 2005, America aborted 1.2 million unborn children who are precious to their Creator. Since the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision of 1973 legalized abortion, the total number of dead has exceeded 45 million. That’s more than seven times the number of Jews killed during the Nazi Holocaust. Abortion is a human tragedy, and it is something we believe breaks our Lord’s heart as He created each of these unborn children in His image.
Mr. President-Elect, you talked a great deal in your campaign about “the little guy,” who is often mistreated in our society. Surely you understand that the smallest and most vulnerable Americans in 2009 are those in the womb, whose lives are unprotected by the law, and thus dependent upon the decisions of others. Surely America is better than this.
Fundamentally, does the unborn child have value independent of his mother? Clearly, the answer from science is yes. From the moment of conception, the life forming within the womb has all the same DNA as a fully-matured adult person. And the answer from biblical revelation is equally compelling. John the baptizer leapt in his mother’s womb when she met her pregnant cousin Mary, the mother of Jesus. Even so our hearts respond to the sanctity of unborn life.
I pray that you will reconsider your views on this moral issue. I raise my voice on behalf of the voiceless, pleading with you to take the lead in building an America where all of our children, whatever their race or family income, are welcomed into the world, protected by the law and have a seat at the table with the rest of the American family.
These precious unborn children have been deprived of life without due process of law. More than 3,300 abortions per day, or 138 per hour, happen in clear violation of the Constitution and the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, which makes it plain that our liberty comes straight from God and that our first right is the sacred right to life.
Furthermore, think of what those parents have missed because of abortion – a baby’s smile, a child’s first steps. Think of what the world has missed – a gifted teacher, a doting father, a dedicated missionary, a talented artist or entrepreneur, a future President.
During your campaign you spoke much about hope. You inspired a nation. You have written about The Audacity of Hope. And yet, your past support for abortion is a hope-stealer. Abortion robs our nation of a tiny bit of tomorrow’s hope found in every unborn child.
Specifically, it is my hope and prayer that you will reconsider your support for the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), even though you promised Planned Parenthood that signing the FOCA is “the first thing I’d do as President.” FOCA is by far the most radical piece of abortion legislation ever introduced into the Congress. My concerns with the bill are many, but chiefly they are:
According to pro-choice advocates, FOCA would overturn the ban on partial-birth abortion, again allowing this barbaric procedure described as “near infanticide” by pro-choice senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
FOCA may invalidate scores of pro-life laws passed by dozens of states.
According to the pro-choice National Organization for Women, FOCA would eliminate existing laws against taxpayer-funded abortions.
The Freedom of Choice Act is inconsistent with the Christian ethic of compassion for the least among us. King David’s heartfelt lyrics in Psalm 139 remind us that God is the author of life: “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
It is my sincere hope that you will join us in a celebration of God’s gift of life, and resist those who would allow another generation of Americans to disappear.
I welcome you and your family to join us for worship at Immanuel. You can learn more about the church at www.immanuelbible.net. May God bless you, your family and our great country.
With sincere respect in Christ,
Dr. Ron Jones
Senior Pastor of Immanuel Bible Church
Assist Pregnancy Center
Annandale, VA
Assist Crisis Pregnancy Center is a non-profit ministry serving women, their families and partners, who come to seek help making decisions about their pregnancies and related concerns. Assist is staffed by loving, concerned volunteers who have received training in crisis counseling. It provides accurate information about pregnancy, fetal development, life-style issues and related concerns, but it does not provide abortions or referrals for abortion.
Assist offers free, confidential services such as pregnancy testing; education on pregnancy, abortion, adoption, and abortion alternatives; referrals to OB-gyns in the Northern Virginia area, childbirth classes (on video) and prenatal information; adoption and foster care information; abortion-recovery counseling for women and men; and an “Earn While You Learn” program to earn maternity clothing and clothing and furnishings for the baby. One client wrote, “Two weeks after the baby was born I took him to Assist where the counselors treated him like one of their own. That is when I realized every life they save is a part of their family!”
Learn more about Assist through their website, www.assistcpc.org, or pick up a brochure at our Welcome Centers.
Prayer Requests:
1. For the many women and their families who are helped through the ministry of Assist.
2. For clients to choose life for their unborn children.
3. For Assist to be able to continue to provide education, counseling, clothes and baby furnishings for clients.
Open Letter to President-Elect Obama
January 14, 2009
The Honorable Barack Obama
President-Elect of the United States
Hay-Adams Hotel
800 16th Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
Dear Mr. President-Elect,
As the leader of a church with more than 5,000 attendees located just a short drive from the White House, I join millions of Americans in honoring your inauguration as our forty-fourth President.
All Americans celebrate the arrival of a new President and the peaceful transfer of power as more evidence of our great democracy. This occasion also marks a monumental civil rights achievement for our nation. I rejoice in the fact that an African-American has been elected, a true affirmation of our nation’s fundamental premise that all persons are created equal by the hand of God.
Holy Scripture exhorts us to pray for kings and all those who are in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Please know, we the people of Immanuel Bible Church pledge to pray for you, your family and your Administration. These are difficult times to lead our nation. No President has ever done so without acknowledging the need for divine guidance.
We will pray that God will grant you Solomon-like wisdom in all of the decisions you make, knowing that King Solomon himself wrote, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Proverbs 21:1).
You assume the Presidency on Tuesday during a time of economic crisis at home and conflict abroad. Yet as these great challenges loom ahead, I ask you to “defend the cause of the weak” and “maintain the rights of the oppressed” (Psalm 82:3-4).
In 2005, America aborted 1.2 million unborn children who are precious to their Creator. Since the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision of 1973 legalized abortion, the total number of dead has exceeded 45 million. That’s more than seven times the number of Jews killed during the Nazi Holocaust. Abortion is a human tragedy, and it is something we believe breaks our Lord’s heart as He created each of these unborn children in His image.
Mr. President-Elect, you talked a great deal in your campaign about “the little guy,” who is often mistreated in our society. Surely you understand that the smallest and most vulnerable Americans in 2009 are those in the womb, whose lives are unprotected by the law, and thus dependent upon the decisions of others. Surely America is better than this.
Fundamentally, does the unborn child have value independent of his mother? Clearly, the answer from science is yes. From the moment of conception, the life forming within the womb has all the same DNA as a fully-matured adult person. And the answer from biblical revelation is equally compelling. John the baptizer leapt in his mother’s womb when she met her pregnant cousin Mary, the mother of Jesus. Even so our hearts respond to the sanctity of unborn life.
I pray that you will reconsider your views on this moral issue. I raise my voice on behalf of the voiceless, pleading with you to take the lead in building an America where all of our children, whatever their race or family income, are welcomed into the world, protected by the law and have a seat at the table with the rest of the American family.
These precious unborn children have been deprived of life without due process of law. More than 3,300 abortions per day, or 138 per hour, happen in clear violation of the Constitution and the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, which makes it plain that our liberty comes straight from God and that our first right is the sacred right to life.
Furthermore, think of what those parents have missed because of abortion – a baby’s smile, a child’s first steps. Think of what the world has missed – a gifted teacher, a doting father, a dedicated missionary, a talented artist or entrepreneur, a future President.
During your campaign you spoke much about hope. You inspired a nation. You have written about The Audacity of Hope. And yet, your past support for abortion is a hope-stealer. Abortion robs our nation of a tiny bit of tomorrow’s hope found in every unborn child.
Specifically, it is my hope and prayer that you will reconsider your support for the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), even though you promised Planned Parenthood that signing the FOCA is “the first thing I’d do as President.” FOCA is by far the most radical piece of abortion legislation ever introduced into the Congress. My concerns with the bill are many, but chiefly they are:
According to pro-choice advocates, FOCA would overturn the ban on partial-birth abortion, again allowing this barbaric procedure described as “near infanticide” by pro-choice senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
FOCA may invalidate scores of pro-life laws passed by dozens of states.
According to the pro-choice National Organization for Women, FOCA would eliminate existing laws against taxpayer-funded abortions.
The Freedom of Choice Act is inconsistent with the Christian ethic of compassion for the least among us. King David’s heartfelt lyrics in Psalm 139 remind us that God is the author of life: “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
It is my sincere hope that you will join us in a celebration of God’s gift of life, and resist those who would allow another generation of Americans to disappear.
I welcome you and your family to join us for worship at Immanuel. You can learn more about the church at www.immanuelbible.net. May God bless you, your family and our great country.
With sincere respect in Christ,
Dr. Ron Jones
Senior Pastor of Immanuel Bible Church
Assist Pregnancy Center
Annandale, VA
Assist Crisis Pregnancy Center is a non-profit ministry serving women, their families and partners, who come to seek help making decisions about their pregnancies and related concerns. Assist is staffed by loving, concerned volunteers who have received training in crisis counseling. It provides accurate information about pregnancy, fetal development, life-style issues and related concerns, but it does not provide abortions or referrals for abortion.
Assist offers free, confidential services such as pregnancy testing; education on pregnancy, abortion, adoption, and abortion alternatives; referrals to OB-gyns in the Northern Virginia area, childbirth classes (on video) and prenatal information; adoption and foster care information; abortion-recovery counseling for women and men; and an “Earn While You Learn” program to earn maternity clothing and clothing and furnishings for the baby. One client wrote, “Two weeks after the baby was born I took him to Assist where the counselors treated him like one of their own. That is when I realized every life they save is a part of their family!”
Learn more about Assist through their website, www.assistcpc.org, or pick up a brochure at our Welcome Centers.
Prayer Requests:
1. For the many women and their families who are helped through the ministry of Assist.
2. For clients to choose life for their unborn children.
3. For Assist to be able to continue to provide education, counseling, clothes and baby furnishings for clients.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Mary Alexander Story 1742 - 1822
Some of my reading of late on Ancestry.com includes, "Genealogy of the Reese family in Wales and America: from their arrival to the present time" written in 1903 by Mary Eleanor Reese, Whittet and Shepperson, Richmond, VA. It has interesting information on my 5th great grandmother, Mary Alexander Story. She is said to have raised, spun and woven silk so thin and fine that it could be pulled through her tiny wedding ring. She was known as a godly mother who raised her children in the Lord. I love this letter she wrote to her daughter, Anna Story Reese. (I have copied it with no changes from the 214 year old letter. I love her focus on eternity and on Christ.)
“Jenewary 3, 1794, Fryday night.
Dear daughter,
Having an opportunity I now set down to write a few lines by Mr. James Hall he come sence night. my dear may assured I have not for got you but as providence ordard it so that we are to be parted I desire to be content and wish you to be resigned to the will of a wise god that will make all things to work for good if we but love him. The old year has gone and if we look back what a nothing it appears departed
as a tale that is told thus will our whole life appear when our end approachs and eternity opens. but eternity will never expire but will last world with out end, when millions of ages are past away eternity we may say only will be a beginning and this short life this little span is the seed time of long, long eternity and do my dear indeavor to improve time and make the best provision for an eternity of happiness. Should we not be careful to get faith in our lord Jesus Christ to get the love of god shed abroad in our hearts. and our souls renewed according to the amiable example of our blessed redeemer this and nothing but this is trew religion. fix dear daughter this truth in your memory a true faith in Christ an unfeigned love of god and a real holiness of hart are the greatest blessings you can desire without them we can not be happy and this is the wish of you poor frail mother. that you will incessantly and earnestly mind the one thing needful though the whole advancing year. if you do so you will have god for your friend and he is able to supply all your wants and make you good friends to strangers it was my intend to come up in febweary but (saturday morning) their is so menny things to hender me. I am week and this could sesen of the year might be hard for me at this time Charls has a bad cof. and fever and is much redust, Susannah has hard fevers yestrday they got medeson from the doctour and Charls thinks he is som better this is Susannah best day and I cant tell if the medesom has hope her or no. I hope Charls is gettin better of his other complant I hope god in his own good time sent him comfort and speak peas to his consunse I convarsed with him on the subject yestrday James Weatherspoon famley (my 4th great grandmother, Hester Story Witherspoon) I hope is well I heard from them Wensday. none of our peeple has gon to town yet I expect they wold gon next week if they had ent been take sick the Gentman is waiten I may conclude with my love to you and Mr Reese and my little dears give my complements to my good frends fearwell my dear fearwell I am your souls well wisher tell deth. Mary Stoery “
ccMary was the second wife of Charles Story and was his widow for 31 years. They had four children: 1. Mary Alexander who was the second wife of David Witherspoon III andthe mother of 10 children. 2. Anna who married George Reese and had 11 children.
3. Charles who married Susannah Carter and had one child. 4. Hester who married James Witherspoon and was my ancestress. Hester and James had 11 children.
Mary often lived with Anna's family who buried her at the Hopewell Cemetery at the Old Stone Church near Clemson. The stone marker says, "Sacred to the Memory of Mary Story who departed this life in the full assurance of a happy immortality on the 5th day of Sept 1822 Aged 80 years Erected by her Daughter Ann Reese"
Old Hopewell Cemetery is at the SE corner of intersection of S.C. Hwy. 81 and S.C. Sec. Rd. 29 Located 1.09 miles northwest, this cemetery marks the original site of Hopewell Baptist Church, which was constituted in 1803. The cemetery contains graves of Revolutionary and Confederate veterans. Some graves are marked by field stones with hand-chiseled initials. Erected by the Congregation, 1975.
Hopewell Church is off S.C. Hwy. 81, 1/2 mile E on Road 29. This Baptist church, which was first located about 1.5 miles northwest, was constituted in 1803. The congregation moved to the present 4.4 acre site after it was surveyed December 14, 1822. Two houses of worship were built here before 1891, when a third was erected. It was replaced by the present 1949 structure. Erected by the Congregation, 1975.
“Jenewary 3, 1794, Fryday night.
Dear daughter,
Having an opportunity I now set down to write a few lines by Mr. James Hall he come sence night. my dear may assured I have not for got you but as providence ordard it so that we are to be parted I desire to be content and wish you to be resigned to the will of a wise god that will make all things to work for good if we but love him. The old year has gone and if we look back what a nothing it appears departed
as a tale that is told thus will our whole life appear when our end approachs and eternity opens. but eternity will never expire but will last world with out end, when millions of ages are past away eternity we may say only will be a beginning and this short life this little span is the seed time of long, long eternity and do my dear indeavor to improve time and make the best provision for an eternity of happiness. Should we not be careful to get faith in our lord Jesus Christ to get the love of god shed abroad in our hearts. and our souls renewed according to the amiable example of our blessed redeemer this and nothing but this is trew religion. fix dear daughter this truth in your memory a true faith in Christ an unfeigned love of god and a real holiness of hart are the greatest blessings you can desire without them we can not be happy and this is the wish of you poor frail mother. that you will incessantly and earnestly mind the one thing needful though the whole advancing year. if you do so you will have god for your friend and he is able to supply all your wants and make you good friends to strangers it was my intend to come up in febweary but (saturday morning) their is so menny things to hender me. I am week and this could sesen of the year might be hard for me at this time Charls has a bad cof. and fever and is much redust, Susannah has hard fevers yestrday they got medeson from the doctour and Charls thinks he is som better this is Susannah best day and I cant tell if the medesom has hope her or no. I hope Charls is gettin better of his other complant I hope god in his own good time sent him comfort and speak peas to his consunse I convarsed with him on the subject yestrday James Weatherspoon famley (my 4th great grandmother, Hester Story Witherspoon) I hope is well I heard from them Wensday. none of our peeple has gon to town yet I expect they wold gon next week if they had ent been take sick the Gentman is waiten I may conclude with my love to you and Mr Reese and my little dears give my complements to my good frends fearwell my dear fearwell I am your souls well wisher tell deth. Mary Stoery “
ccMary was the second wife of Charles Story and was his widow for 31 years. They had four children: 1. Mary Alexander who was the second wife of David Witherspoon III andthe mother of 10 children. 2. Anna who married George Reese and had 11 children.
3. Charles who married Susannah Carter and had one child. 4. Hester who married James Witherspoon and was my ancestress. Hester and James had 11 children.
Mary often lived with Anna's family who buried her at the Hopewell Cemetery at the Old Stone Church near Clemson. The stone marker says, "Sacred to the Memory of Mary Story who departed this life in the full assurance of a happy immortality on the 5th day of Sept 1822 Aged 80 years Erected by her Daughter Ann Reese"
Old Hopewell Cemetery is at the SE corner of intersection of S.C. Hwy. 81 and S.C. Sec. Rd. 29 Located 1.09 miles northwest, this cemetery marks the original site of Hopewell Baptist Church, which was constituted in 1803. The cemetery contains graves of Revolutionary and Confederate veterans. Some graves are marked by field stones with hand-chiseled initials. Erected by the Congregation, 1975.
Hopewell Church is off S.C. Hwy. 81, 1/2 mile E on Road 29. This Baptist church, which was first located about 1.5 miles northwest, was constituted in 1803. The congregation moved to the present 4.4 acre site after it was surveyed December 14, 1822. Two houses of worship were built here before 1891, when a third was erected. It was replaced by the present 1949 structure. Erected by the Congregation, 1975.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Lady P - My Great Grandmother
This is a story about Louisiana Prestine Chalfant (1855 - 1943)when she was was 8 years old. This incident is when her sick mother died due having no shelter and then her father died of grief she was 14 years old. She continued to live at China Grove Plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana with her sister, Emma and her husband, J. Foster Collins and with her sister, Belle.
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL (ATLANTA, GA), June 9, 1863, p.2, c.8
"A spunky Girl.--A letter in a Northern paper says:"One of the houses destroyed by the Queen of the West on her trip down the Mississippi belonged to an old gentleman, (Nathaniel Chalfant) who, with his two sons(Charles and James)and daughters (Mary, Belle, Emma, Ann and Louisiana) carried on the farm and worked the negroes. One of the young ladies admitted that her brother had fired on the Queen of the West, and only wished that he had been a dozen. She abused the colonel and berated the Federals. When she discovered that her abuse failed to move Colonel Ellett, just as the flames began to circle around the house top, she sang, in a ringing, defiant tone of voice, the "Bonnie Blue Flag." until forest and river echoed and re-echoed."
The Bonnie Blue Flag by Harry MaCarthy
We are a band of brothers and native to the soil,
Fighting for the property we gained by honest toil;
And when our rights were threatened, the cry rose near and far,
"Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star!"
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
As long as the Union was faithful to her trust,
Like friends and like brothers both kind were we and just;
But now, when Northern treachery attempts our rights to mar,
We hoist on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
First gallant South Carolina nobly made the stand,
Then came Alabama, who took her by the hand;
Next quickly Mississippi, Georgia and Florida,
All raised on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Ye men of valor, gather round the banner of the right,
Texas and fair Louisiana join us in the fight;
Davis, our loved president, and Stephens statesman are,
Now rally round the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
And here's to old Virginia, the Old Dominion State,
Who with the young Confederacy at length has linked her fate;
Impelled by her example, now other states prepare,
To hoist on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Then cheer, boys, cheer, raise the joyous shout,
For Arkansas and North Carolina now have both gone out;
And let another rousing cheer for Tennessee be given,
The single star of the Bonnie Blue Flag has grown to be eleven.
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Then here's to our Confederacy, strong are we and brave,
Like patriots of old we'll fight our heritage to save;
And rather than submit to shame, to die we would prefer,
So cheer for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
"Earthen Walls, Iron Men: Fort DeRussy, Louisiana, and the Defense of Red River" by Steve Mayeux. This story is included as a footnote - footnote looks as of now, in my rough draft:
[6] Ibid. This was originally a Chicago Tribune article, dateline February 15, 1863, and can be also be found quoted in Moore, The Rebellion Record, Vol. 6, 387, and Gosnell, Guns on the Western Waters, 183 (Bodman account). According to family stories handed down over the generations, the man who shot Master Thompson was Charles Chalfant, the 25-year-old son of plantation owners Nathaniel and Caroline Burrows Chalfant. Charles had been discharged from the 2nd La. Infantry in 1861 for physical disability. In the Chalfant version, Charles' sisters Isabella (known as Belle, and described as "cold, haughty and regal") and Emma had the Yankees drag their piano from the house, and one played while the other sang "The Bonny Blue Flag" as the house burned. They also reported that in addition to burning the house, the Yankees also burned the gin, the sugar house, the corn crib and twenty-two slave cabins, and stole the cattle and "cut the feet off of little calves." Stories collected by Linda Ellen Perry and posted on the Internet.
Dear Ms. Perry,
For years I have been trying to identify the girl who sang "The Bonny Blue Flag" while the Yankees burned her home down after her brother shot an officer aboard the USS Queen of the West, and now thanks to your geneology site I think I may have her narrowed down. And I also now know the name of the man who shot First Master James D. Thompson. (He died a few weeks later, and is now buried at the National Cemetery in Pineville, LA.)
I am writing a book on the history of Fort DeRussy, and this incident played a part in the history of the fort - the Queen of the West was captured at the fort two days after the plantations on the upper Atchafalaya were burned. Since Captain Thompson was injured, he could not be removed from the boat so it could not be burned, and therefore it fell into Confederate hands.
Steve Mayeux
President, Friends of Fort DeRussy
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL (ATLANTA, GA), June 9, 1863, p.2, c.8
"A spunky Girl.--A letter in a Northern paper says:"One of the houses destroyed by the Queen of the West on her trip down the Mississippi belonged to an old gentleman, (Nathaniel Chalfant) who, with his two sons(Charles and James)and daughters (Mary, Belle, Emma, Ann and Louisiana) carried on the farm and worked the negroes. One of the young ladies admitted that her brother had fired on the Queen of the West, and only wished that he had been a dozen. She abused the colonel and berated the Federals. When she discovered that her abuse failed to move Colonel Ellett, just as the flames began to circle around the house top, she sang, in a ringing, defiant tone of voice, the "Bonnie Blue Flag." until forest and river echoed and re-echoed."
The Bonnie Blue Flag by Harry MaCarthy
We are a band of brothers and native to the soil,
Fighting for the property we gained by honest toil;
And when our rights were threatened, the cry rose near and far,
"Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star!"
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
As long as the Union was faithful to her trust,
Like friends and like brothers both kind were we and just;
But now, when Northern treachery attempts our rights to mar,
We hoist on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
First gallant South Carolina nobly made the stand,
Then came Alabama, who took her by the hand;
Next quickly Mississippi, Georgia and Florida,
All raised on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Ye men of valor, gather round the banner of the right,
Texas and fair Louisiana join us in the fight;
Davis, our loved president, and Stephens statesman are,
Now rally round the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
And here's to old Virginia, the Old Dominion State,
Who with the young Confederacy at length has linked her fate;
Impelled by her example, now other states prepare,
To hoist on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Then cheer, boys, cheer, raise the joyous shout,
For Arkansas and North Carolina now have both gone out;
And let another rousing cheer for Tennessee be given,
The single star of the Bonnie Blue Flag has grown to be eleven.
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Then here's to our Confederacy, strong are we and brave,
Like patriots of old we'll fight our heritage to save;
And rather than submit to shame, to die we would prefer,
So cheer for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
"Earthen Walls, Iron Men: Fort DeRussy, Louisiana, and the Defense of Red River" by Steve Mayeux. This story is included as a footnote - footnote looks as of now, in my rough draft:
[6] Ibid. This was originally a Chicago Tribune article, dateline February 15, 1863, and can be also be found quoted in Moore, The Rebellion Record, Vol. 6, 387, and Gosnell, Guns on the Western Waters, 183 (Bodman account). According to family stories handed down over the generations, the man who shot Master Thompson was Charles Chalfant, the 25-year-old son of plantation owners Nathaniel and Caroline Burrows Chalfant. Charles had been discharged from the 2nd La. Infantry in 1861 for physical disability. In the Chalfant version, Charles' sisters Isabella (known as Belle, and described as "cold, haughty and regal") and Emma had the Yankees drag their piano from the house, and one played while the other sang "The Bonny Blue Flag" as the house burned. They also reported that in addition to burning the house, the Yankees also burned the gin, the sugar house, the corn crib and twenty-two slave cabins, and stole the cattle and "cut the feet off of little calves." Stories collected by Linda Ellen Perry and posted on the Internet.
Dear Ms. Perry,
For years I have been trying to identify the girl who sang "The Bonny Blue Flag" while the Yankees burned her home down after her brother shot an officer aboard the USS Queen of the West, and now thanks to your geneology site I think I may have her narrowed down. And I also now know the name of the man who shot First Master James D. Thompson. (He died a few weeks later, and is now buried at the National Cemetery in Pineville, LA.)
I am writing a book on the history of Fort DeRussy, and this incident played a part in the history of the fort - the Queen of the West was captured at the fort two days after the plantations on the upper Atchafalaya were burned. Since Captain Thompson was injured, he could not be removed from the boat so it could not be burned, and therefore it fell into Confederate hands.
Steve Mayeux
President, Friends of Fort DeRussy
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