Recalling an honest man, ‘the noblest work of God’

A number of notable individuals are interred at Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Church Cemetery in South Carolina’s Lancaster County, just south of the North Carolina state line.

These include Andrew Jackson Sr., the father of the seventh US president; William Richardson Davie, who led American troops in the Revolutionary War, served as governor of North Carolina and is considered the founder of the University of North Carolina; and James Witherspoon, lieutenant governor of South Carolina from 1826-28.

One individual who doesn’t garner the recognition of the above but is certainly worthy of acknowledgement is William Blair, who came from Ireland to the US in the early 1770s.

Like many of the men buried at Old Waxhaw, Blair served the American cause in the Revolution. His contributions are etched onto the horizontal slab that sits atop a “chest tomb,” a brick and mortar edifice constructed over his grave.

Blair’s epitaph contains more than 300 words, engraved in fine script that must have taken a stone carver a fair bit of time to craft.

It details the date of Blair’s birth and death, that he arrived from County Atrium at age 13 and that he was preceded in death by his wife Sarah, who rests next to him.

What’s of particular note, however, is the description of Blair’s involvement in the American Revolution, and his life afterward:

“He was a Revolutionary Patriot: – And in the humble Stations of private Soldier and Waggon master. it is believed he Contributed more essentially to the Establishment of American Independence than many whose names are proudly emblazoned on the page of History. With his Father’s waggon he assisted in transporting the baggage of the American Army for several months. – He was also in the battles of the Hanging Rock. – The Eutaw, Ratliff’s bridge, Stono – and the Fish dam ford on broad river. …”

View of William Blair’s gravestone at Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Church Cemetery. Click to see bigger image.

The engagements referred to are the battles of Hanging Rock, Aug. 6, 1780; Eutaw Springs, Sept. 8, 1781; Ratliff’s or Radcliff’s Bridge, March 6, 1781; Stono Ferry, June 20, 1779; and Fishdam Ford, Nov. 9, 1780.

Given that there were more battles and skirmishes fought in South Carolina than any other American colony during the Revolution, it’s almost a certainty that Blair saw action at other encounters, as well.

Just as interesting is what follows after the details of Blair’s service:

“In one of these battles (it is not recollected which) he received a slight wound: but so far from regarding it, either then or afterwards, when it was intimated to him that he might avail himself of the bounty of his Country and draw a Pension (as many of his Camp associates had done) he declared that, if the small Competence he then possessed failed him, he was both able and willing to work for his living; and if it became necessary, to fight for his Country without a penny of pay. He was in the Language of Pope, The noblest work of God – an honest man. ‘No farther seek his merits to disclose, Or draw his frailties from their dread abode; (There they alike in trembling hope repose) The bosom of his Father and his God.’”

Blair died on July 2, 1824, at age 65. He and his wife Sarah had seven children, including one son, James, who served four terms in Congress.

Today, Americans remember the likes of George Washington, Marquis de Lafayette and John Paul Jones when they’re able to recall any military leaders from the Revolution War at all.

But were it not for William Blair and thousands of others like him, men who served dutifully during the conflict and then quietly went about the business of building a nation, it’s difficult to imagine that the Founding Fathers’ ambitions would have ever been realized.

(Top: View of Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Lancaster County, SC.)

Not what the Founders had in mind

The Burning Platform blog has written an interesting if extremely pessimistic post about the future of the United States in which it argues the American Dream has been derailed by Big Government.

Placing blame on the Federal Reserve, the onerous US tax code, over-reaching involvement in other countries’ affairs, massive debt and unequal wealth distribution, The Burning Platform says the American Dream has been shattered.

“Retribution from those who have been swindled will be unexpected and violent,” it states.

While that may be a bit over the top, there is no arguing that today’s America is a far cry from what the Founding Fathers envisioned.

Idiot to actor: Lead us, oh wise one!

The blog Joe. My. God. has an interesting bit related to a Washington Post story about Tea Party activists flocking to Colonial Williamsburg. Included is an exchange between one blockhead and an actor portraying George Washington, with the former asking the latter, in essence, at what point is it okay to take up arms against the federal government.

 “General, when is it appropriate to resort to arms to fight for our liberty?” asked a tourist on a recent weekday during “A Conversation with George Washington,” a hugely popular dialogue between actor and audience in the shaded backyard of Charlton’s Coffeehouse. Standing on a simple wooden stage before a crowd of about 100, the man portraying Washington replied: “Only when all peaceful remedies have been exhausted. Or if we are forced to do so in our own self-defense.” The tourist, a self-described conservative activist named Ismael Nieves from Elmer, N.J., nodded thoughtfully.

Not surprisingly, Nieves went heavy on the rhetoric. 

Remembering high court judge No. 1

With Elena Kagan now confirmed to the US Supreme Court, one can reflect on the select group of individuals that have served as high court justices over the past 221 years.

Kagan is the 112th person to be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. So, who was the first?

That honor would go to John Jay. Jay was already an accomplished statesman by the time George Washington nominated him to serve as the nation’s first chief justice in 1789.

Obama, McCain call on founders – selectively

David Boaz of The Cato Institute takes President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain to task for their July 4 radio addresses in which they had the audacity to identify government actions that they believed would have appalled our nation’s Founding Fathers.

President Obama, Boaz writes, invoked “the indomitable spirit of the first American citizens who made [independence] day possible” in arguing for a federal takeover of education, energy and health care.

Secession is anything but anti-American

Texas Democratic state Representative Jim Dunnam was among many who threw a hissy fit when Republican Governor Rick Perry suggested at a recent anti-tax rally that fed-up Texans may one day want to secede from the US.

Dunnam called talk of secession “anti-American” during a press conference at the Texas Capitol in Austin, according to The Associated Press.

Apparently Dunnam isn’t familiar with the events of 200-plus years ago. As historian Thomas DiLorenzo pointed out when he wrote of our nation’s founding :

“It is important to recall that at the outset of the American Revolution, each state declared its sovereignty and independence from Great Britain on its own. After the war, each state was individually recognized as sovereign by the defeated British government. These sovereign states then formed the ‘Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union,’ which created the federal government as the agent of the states. The states then seceded from that document and dissolved the Union when the Constitution was adopted. The Union wasn’t ‘perpetual’ after all, and the words ‘perpetual Union’ are nowhere to be found in the Constitution. No state agreed to enter a perpetual Union by ratifying the Constitution.

“The new Constitution was adopted by vote of the states. Nine out of thirteen were required for ratification. Many of the state voting margins were quite slim (89 to 79 in Virginia; 30 to 27 in New York; 34 to 32 in Rhode Island), and these three states declared in their ordinances of ratification that, being sovereign states, they reserved the right to secede from the Union. … They also asserted this right for the other states, which was unnecessary since it was self-evident to everyone at the time that no state could be forced to join or remain a part of the Union.”

This is not to say that secession is the answer today, but to throw out a blanket statement that the concept of secession is anti-American is both demagogic and demonstrates a poor knowledge of history.

George Washington, you old dog!

A team of historians, curators and forensic anthropologists believe that Martha Washington – imagined by Americans for more than 200 years to be a dowdy, double-chinned and dowager-capped matron – may have actually been a very attractive woman, according to a story in The Guardian.

A computerised age-regression portrait was commissioned to peel away the age and wrinkles and reveal the slim and lively brown-haired woman in her 20s who captivated a future revolutionary hero and president, the paper reported.

“He was clearly sexually excited by her,” Patricia Brady, the pioneer in the revisionist history of Martha told The Washington Post. “When Martha decided to marry George, she didn’t marry him just to be a kind stepfather to her two children. He was a hunk, and I think she decided to make herself happy. People are just starting to see her as a real person.”

Would you have expected anything less from one of the greatest men in history?