American Stories: When in the Course of human events – Part 11

NOTICE: This will be the last Sunday morning post for American Stories. From Gail’s suggestion and with Wolf’s concurrence I am moving this series to Tuesday for the Daily Thread beginning 4/1/25, yes, April Fool’s Day. Trust me, it is appropriate that I be the one to do this on that day.

Now, on with the show…

Shall we talk about home and private schooling? Wait, TB, you said this series was about Declaration signers. Now you are going off on a tangent about schooling? What gives?

I believe we have spotted a trend with the signers and one that will continue since we have covered about half of them after this part. Take a look at their early, development years as young people. What do the large majority share in common?

Most were educated at home for some or all of their youth. A handful were sent to private academies before entering college as they proved themselves capable and their parents had the means to do so. However, there was a very limited public education system in those days. Only a few received benefit of same in communities in what they called common schools. Many of these men and the other founding fathers desired for there to be a public system for all young people at some point they voiced in their plans for America, however, it did not exist in that manner when they were young. So, parents, local clergy, private academies, or an occasional town school master taught many of them. Many studied books of private libraries of individuals they knew. What was the result of their personal commitment to learn?

They became independent, creative problem solvers who were not programmed into group think. They also became political leaders, inventors, merchants, farmers, physicians, clergy, military leaders, bankers and attorneys who were principled, fearless, confident, intelligent, and persuasive. They were lovers of family, community and country, yet, not afraid to challenge and differ with their peers. Their work ethics were off the charts and it seems they lived and played hard. Much life was lived in the dash.

I think about a Declaration signer like George Walton, who was even discouraged from being schooled by his adoptive uncle. Then as a young adult he decides he wants to learn the law and become an attorney – on his own. He was driven to live his dash in a way that fit him. Of course today, his uncle would be arrested for preventing his attendance in a public school.

Be honest about what you see that is being produced in our public schools today. As a general rule, do the students inspire you and relieve fears about who will lead America in the future?

Our founders did so many things through focused efforts seeking knowledge and wisdom. The founders asked questions, read, learned and observed through apprenticeships so they would be prepared to act. The youth of today trust a computer or mobile phone to tell them the answers and what to do.

Many of our founding fathers were graduates of colleges before the age of 20 and some were even very young teenagers. Others who came from less fortunate backgrounds taught themselves to the point of becoming attorneys, merchants and political leaders as they matured. Many apprenticed into their profession, including physicians, before going on their own. All an inner desire to find their calling and succeed at it. Gaining knowledge and apprenticing where appropriate were not just acceptable ways to progress, they were highly desired.

Could it be that the future leaders of America can be made ready by simply getting out of their ways by removing systems and stuff that captures their attention while instead providing the resources they truly need to excel on their own accord?

We have witnessed a four plus decade era of how best to destroy education in America. All of it going on while technological advances were at their highest level and with a greater number of educational opportunities available. How did that work out? From first to fortieth in the world rankings. Well done, uniparty idgits and crims. There is no refuting our fall from grace over the period. We have resorted to recruiting the best minds that other nations produce at exactly what cost to our independence and the American Way?

This changes now with America First MAGA principles. By dismantling the DOPE, the power to educate the children of our republic returns closer to them at the individual state level. That places the levers of control squarely back with each state’s elected officials, closer to the voters. In the future if your children are not educated well by the public schools in your state, it will be on you to do something about it; not blame sugar daddy Uncle Sam. That puts the accountability where it belongs. President Trump is right – again.

The answers to two questions below will provide the insight you need to find the path the founding fathers probably preferred we follow.

Does your state’s leadership and politicians encourage homeschooling and private school attendance as acceptable alternatives to public schools, or, do they do everything they can to hinder these choices? Is your state consumed with what the teachers unions and associations want and recommend for the public schools, or, has it defanged these groups and taken back control with parental input foremost in their minds and plans?

You know what the answers to these two questions mean for the children, you, your state and America. The answers help determine the future for all of us, not just the students and parents.

It should be obvious that the need is to provide viable choices just as the founders had. Parents and students then choose based on the individual needs and best situations for the individual student. The choices themselves compete against each other for the students. That competition is what makes them all better.

School choice is the correct answer. That the uniparty fights so hard against it should be enough for you to be informed it is the way to fix a big mess.

Notice I did not discuss the vaccination requirements to attend public school when waivers are not provided or approved by each state. We know that to be a very real issue as well. Perhaps Bobby can cut through the intentional fog created by the medical and government idgit Stasi and bring people the truth. The people can then take it to their elected officials and demand changes.

Now on to three more signers. We have not heard from the Granite State of New Hampshire yet, so I will bring you all three.

Josiah Bartlett

Born in Amesbury, Massachusetts, in 1729 Josiah Bartlett was the seventh and last child born of Stephen and Hannah Bartlett. Stephen was a shoemaker. Josiah received some education from a town school master. He learned Latin and Greek from a relative who was clergy. He went on to study medicine from another local relative who was a physician. After a five year apprenticeship he moved to the frontier area of Kingston, NH to open his practice in 1750. He lived with Rev. John Secombe for a year and then purchased a 12 acre farm. He farmed for years as well as dealing in lumber and real estate purchases. In 1754 he married Mary Bartlett, his first cousin. They had 12 children together, 8 of whom survived to adulthood. Three of his sons and seven grandsons went on to become physicians. He actively practiced medicine for 45 years. He and Mary remained a couple until her death in 1789.

Bartlett was one of early practitioners of natural healing and medicine that many people prefer today. Per Wiki,

“During that time, he tested both traditional and new treatments for optimal efficacy. A virulent form a throat distemper or diptheria, with a fever and canker, spread throughout Kingston in 1754. Bartlett experimented with therapy using several available drugs and empirically discovered that Peruvian bark, also known as quinine, relieved symptoms long enough to allow recovery. He also realized the benefits of curing fevers with cool liquids, like apple cider, taken at intervals. He tried this when he was quite ill, against his physician’s orders, with success.”

“Bartlett believed in fostering wellness, including exercise, diet, fresh air, and following cues of one’s body, like drinking when thirsty and covering up when sick with the chills. He also believed “to keep the mind as Easy and Contented as possible” were “of much more Service than a multiplicity of Medicines.”

He decided to enter politics and was elected to the Provincial Assembly in 1765. He helped negotiate peace at the Royal Governor’s request after the enactment of the Stamp Act, but went public in his opposition to the Townshend Act later. He organized the Seventh Regiment of the NH militia and later in 1770 became its colonel. He became a strong backer for independence and joined the Committee of Correspondence as well of the Committee of Safety. The governor then dissolved the Assembly from which the committees came.

Later in 1774 his house was burned down by the Tories. He was undeterred and was appointed to the first Continental Congress, but declined due to the house situation. He moved his family out to their farmhouse and began the rebuild immediately. He was named Accessory After The Fact in the capture of Fort William and Mary. So the Governor dismissed him from service as justice of the peace and Colonel of the militia.

That did not deter him either as he was chosen again to be a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. He went and remained involved for several years. He contributed greatly to the efforts and worked on several committees. He was very influential within despite not participating much in the open debates held in assembly. He solely represented the interest of NH until his letters back to the state finally raised enough awareness for them to choose two more delegates to attend with him, William Whipple and Matthew Thornton. He was the second to sign the Declaration, wanting to sign right after John Hancock.

He took leave from the Congress for a year to recover from fatigue, but was elected back to Congress again in 1778. He served on the Committee that drafted the Articles of Confederation. After its completion he returned to his home as he felt he had been away from his family and responsibilities too long. While he had been away his wife, Mary, had operated the farm, took care of 9 children and given birth to his daughter Hannah. It was time to resume his life at home, so his federal service came to an end.

He became a local judge and a few years later was named a justice on the state’s Supreme Court, becoming the Chief Justice in 1788. He argued strongly for approval of the U. S. Constitution in NH. He was selected to be a U. S. Senator, but declined. He assisted with the development and enactment of the state’s Constitution. He was elected to be the state’s Chief Executive and later, its President in the early 1790s. With the changes, he became the Governor in 1792, serving to 1794 until his health declined. He passed away the next year due to paralysis.

There is one more interesting thing that this great man did not let hinder his professional life. He had no formal medical school training. Yet, he was named the first President of the New Hampshire Medical Society. He gave the commencement address in 1790 at Dartmouth College when his son, Ezra, graduated. His apprenticeship in medicine, intelligence, reading comprehension and understanding of the human body guided his very successful medical career. He used those same methods and principles within his family, legal and political experiences.

We will finish his story with a few of his quotes,

“Called on the people of New Hampshire . . . to confess before God their aggravated transgressions and to implore His pardon and forgiveness through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ . . . [t]hat the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ may be made known to all nations, pure and undefiled religion universally prevail, and the earth be fill with the glory of the Lord.”

“Though this world has a way of diminishing and demeaning men and women, the reality is we are all of royal, divine lineage. In that unprecedented appearance of the Father and the Son in the Sacred Grove, the very first word spoken by the Father of us all was the personal name of Joseph. Such is our Father’s personal relationship with each of us. He knows our names and yearns for us to become worthy to return to live with Him.”

“Firstly I commit my Soul into the hands of God, its great and benevolent author.”

And one final quote the uniparty has never seemed to learn or care about.

“Of all the vices incident to man, lying is the most mean, most contemptible; it evinces a very weak, depraved heart, which shrinks at the exposure of motives and of actions.”

Much can be learned from the study of the life of Josiah Bartlett, much more than can be stated here. Totally committed as a patriot, leader, family man, and physician. He was another great American patriot.

Matthew Thornton

This patriot was born in 1714 in Ireland. Matthew Thornton arrived in America at age 3 when his family immigrated to the colonies. He and his parents, James and Elizabeth Thornton, arrived first in Maine, but were burned out of their home a few years later by native Indians in the area. They then moved to Worcester, Massachusetts and operated a farm. Matthew received a classical education there at the Worcester Academy.

He completed medical studies at Leicester and began the practice of medicine soon afterwards in Londonderry, NH. He was later named surgeon for the NH militia in 1745 at the age of 31. He participated in the capture of a French fortress for the British forces in Nova Scotia during the period. His interest in government increased and he was elected a delegate for his town in the Provincial Assembly in 1758. This led him into the independence movement and Colonial affairs.

In 1760 he married 18 year old Hannah Jack and they had five children together. He was an active participant in the anti-Stamp Act group, but still retained his rank as Colonel in the state militia despite his stand. However, things came to a head in 1775 with a response by Thornton relating to the “unconstitutional and tyrannical Acts of the British Parliament.” When Royal Governor Wentworth fled the colony in 1775, Thornton stepped in as President of the Provincial Congress. He was also made Chairman of the Safety Committee and immediately began securing arms and supplies while recruiting troops for the state militia.

Per the website of the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence he said the following upon taking office, “Friends and brethren, you must all be sensible that the affairs of America have, at length, come to a very affecting and alarming crisis. The horrors and distresses of a civil war, which, till of late, we only had in contemplation, we now find ourselves obliged to realize. Painful beyond expression, have been those scenes of blood and devastation which the barbarous cruelty of British troops has placed before our eyes. Duty to God, to ourselves, to posterity, ends forced by the cries of slaughtered innocents, have urged us to take up arms in our own defense….we seriously and earnestly recommend the practice of that pure and undefiled religion, which embalmed the memory of our pious ancestors, as that alone upon which we can build a solid hope and confidence in the Divine protection and favour, without whose blessing all the measures of safety we have, or can propose, will end in our shame and disappointment.”

Yup, another who knew the providence of God was not only desired, but necessary for survival.

At the age of 62 he was selected a delegate to join Bartlett at the second Continental Congress. However, he arrived later in the year and missed the actual debates and approval of the Declaration of Independence despite stating his support leading up to the vote. He became one of six signers to do so after the fact.

He had no legal education, but was still chosen to be the Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for six years in the state. He also served as a state senator for a few years. In 1780 he purchased a farm along the Merrimack River as well as a ferry operation that had been seized from a Tory. After he retired from public service he worked both. Although exposed often to whooping cough through the years in his practice he never contracted it until the age of 80, yet, he still recovered. He lived until the age of 89, passing in 1803. His wife, Hannah, had passed away previously in 1786.

Thornton was considered a handsome man and stood over 6 feet in height with dark eyes and skin tone. He had an infectious spirit and great sense of humor that even young people enjoyed. He became a magnet that attracted people to his comments, expressions and stories. Further taken from the Descendants website, “Rev. Dr. Burnap spoke these words at his funeral: “He was venerable for his age, and skilled in his profession, and for the several very important and honorable offices he had sustained; noted for the knowledge he had acquired, and his quick penetration into matters of abstruse speculation; exemplary for his regard for the public institutions of religion, and for his consistency in attending the public worship, where he trod the courts of the house of God, with steps tottering with age and infirmity. Such is a brief outline of one who was honored in his day and generation; whose virtues were a model for imitation, and while memory does her office, will be had in grateful recollection.”

A deep thinking, knowledgeable man who also gave his all in service to his country and fellow citizens; Matthew Thornton exemplified American patriotism.

William Whipple

William Whipple was born in 1730 in Kittery, Maine to parents Captain William Whipple, Sr. and wife, Mary. He was educated at a local common school as well as by a Harvard College graduate family member before going off to sea and becoming a 21 year old ship’s master. He married his cousin, Catherine Moffat in 1767. Their first child, a son, died in infancy and they adopted a daughter later. They moved to Portsmouth, NH in 1769.

Whipple made a fortune in the trade between America, the West Indies and Africa through dealing in wood, rum and slaves. He became a merchant in partnership with his brothers in 1769 in Portsmouth. Like Matthew Thornton he was a freemason. When NH dissolved the Royal government and instituted a Provincial Assembly, Whipple was chosen to represent Portsmouth. He was placed on the Committee of Safety and later selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Declaration of Independence. It is of note that Whipple was a second cousin to fellow signer, Stephen Hopkins. Per Wiki he wrote the following to fellow NH signer Josiah Bartlett,

“This year, my Friend, is big with mighty events. Nothing less than the fate of America depends on the virtue of her sons, and if they do not have virtue enough to support the most Glorious Cause ever human beings were engaged in, they don’t deserve the blessings of freedom.^“

He went on to free his slave, Prince Whipple, as he believed no man could fight for freedom and hold another man in bondage. This occurred after Prince was willing to fight with the colonists for the freedom of all as long as William agreed to release him. Whipple did so immediately after the war ended. Per the Descendants website, “After freeing his own slaves, Whipple wrote as follows to Josiah Bartlett, “The last accounts from South Carolina were favorable. A recommendation is gone thither for raising some regiments of blacks. This, I suppose, will lay a foundation for the emancipation of those wretches in that country. I hope it will be the means of dispensing the blessings of Freedom to all humanity in America.”

At the Battle of Saratoga, Whipple commanded a battalion of four regiments as its Brigadier General. His service and that of Colonel James Wilkinson under Major General Horatio Gates led to them having the honor of signing on the Convention of Saratoga, which effectively was the surrender of British Gen. Burgoyne and his troops. Afterwards he escorted Burgoyne and troops back to Massachusetts as prisoners. He then joined Gen. Sullivan in the Battle of Rhode Island.

After the war he became a judge in the Superior Court of NH. In 1785 he suffered a heart ailment and died after fainting on a horse he was riding when he fell off. He was 55 years old. He was buried next to his beloved, freed servant, Prince, in the North Cemetery. His wife, Catherine, passed away in 1821

Conclusion

There you have it, three patriot signers of the Declaration from New Hampshire that bring Granite Grins (happy expressions) for which residents are noted. Two were physicians turned politicians turned judges who had no formal legal training; one did not even have a formal education in the medicine he practiced. Then there was a man of the sea who was attracted to the independence movement and found his calling on land. The occupations of their fathers was of the common men as a shoemaker, farmer and ship captain. These signers worked hard and smart to find their ways in the world. They answered the call for all of us as exceptional American patriots.

Well done, New Hampshire, you had three of the good guys. Too bad this famous grin is from Queens, he could fit right in.

Could not resist.