My Friend Edgar.

One of the best things about talking with your grown children is finding outt what they were thinking back when they, and we, were both younger.

This photo is of My daughter, Sarah, at Edgar Allan Poe's grave in Baltimore, around 1997. We used to stop there on the way to Ft McHenry, where we spent alot of time, flying kites, or just horsing around.  This is her view of those visits to Poe's grave. It was written 10 years ago.

"Me at the burial site of Edgar Allan Poe, Westminster Hall, in Baltimore, MD. My dad used to take me there on weekend afternoons. This was my favorite of all the old graveyards we visited. I would run around and look at the cool and interesting graves with him.

I especially enjoyed looking for cracks and holes that... would allow me to peak into the old mausoleums. Before leaving, we would always stop at Poe's grave and say farewell.

I didn't understand the significance of that place until I was much older and had read many of Poe's works. I had always thought that he was just some dude my dad used to be friends with!"

Flag Day - 1960's TV Style

Today is Flag Day and I thought it might be cool to look back at the old TV sign offs. I always enjoyed the one with the jets streaking across the sky, but this one is pretty good. It showcases many of our nation's monuments, all while rolling the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner across  the screen. I wonder if they even teach it in school anymore?

Heritage is something which must be nurtured from one generation to the next. Tradition does not stay alive of it's own accord. Take the time today and look at our flag and think beyond the current state of politics. That is not the real America represented by the flag.

The flag has been temporarily high jacked. It won't be the first time; or the last. But it's the actual meaning of the stars and stripes which count most. The meaning of the red and white stripes and the stars on a field of blue. Keep that spirit alive and we can't lose. What was it that David Crosby once wrote? "Teach your children well...."

William Beanes and the Star Spangled Banner

Today is Defenders Day in Baltimore, Maryland. The occasion marks the Battle of Fort McHenry and the birth of our National Anthem, written by Francis Scott Key. As a kids we all learned the basics of that story, but there is much more to it than what you were taught in grade school. I first posted this in 2010, but want to reprise it today for those who have not read it before. The picture above was taken by my daughter Sarah in 1998.

I have always been the type that stops to read the historical markers on the side of the road. When I was an estimator, working in and around Washington, D.C., I frequently went to the Prince Georges County Courthouse to obtain Building Permits and Deed information. Across the street from the courthouse was an old, and sometimes unkempt, grave which always intrigued me. One day, when I had some time to spare, I walked over to see it more closely and was surprised to find that this man, one Dr. William Beanes, was connected to; wait, make that responsible for; the chain of events that culminated in Francis Scott Key writing "The Star Bangled Banner" some 199 years ago today. Let me tell you the story.

Dr. Beanes was born in Upper Marlboro, Prince Georges County in Maryland in the year 1749. He was the son of a prominent planter. Educated in Scotland at the University of Edinburgh, he became a Doctor and returned home to Maryland.

Still living at the time of the War of 1812, he resided in Upper Marlboro, around which some of the preliminary battles to seize Washington, D.C. were being fought in September of 1814. And this is where Dr. Beanes begins his intersection with history.

The British were foraging for food and supplies when they arrived at Dr. Beanes home. He identified himself as a Federalist, the American political party which was vehemently opposed to the war with Britain. He even went so far as to let them take whatever they needed, and was so cooperative, that he was paid full market value for everything that the British took from him.

They then proceeded on their journey, leaving 4 men behind. 2 of these were "stragglers", who had become separated from their units. The other 2 were deserters, and had they been caught by the British, would be hung.

The following day found Dr. Beanes strolling across his fields with American General Bowie when they noticed 2 men lurking nearby. These were the "stragglers." A short time later the deserters were captured as well and all 4 were held in Upper Marlboro. The news spread quickly and soon the British had sent a squad back to the town to collect the prisoners. They gave the town until noon the next day to produce them or else the entire town would be burned.

The next day the town gave them the "stragglers", who were after all, still enemies, but refused to give up the deserters. By this time they had been removed to Queen Anne County for safe keeping. When the British began to make preparations to burn the town, Dr. Beanes quickly offered himself in exchange. This was a remarkable man, who, at one moment is dealing with the enemy for provisions in a war to which he is opposed, the next moment finds him capturing the enemy and then aiding in hiding 2 of them before finally offering himself up in an effort to spare his town!

When the British left Upper Marlboro, a Mr. Weems and Dr. Hill rode to Georgetown, where Richard West, a friend of Dr. Beanes, contacted his brother-in-law, Francis Scott Key, a prominent attorney and also brother in law to Richard Taney. The trio was able to contact President Madison and he dispatched Mr. Key, along with the Presidents emissary for Prisoner exchanges, John Skinner, aboard the USS Minden to seek out the British Fleet and arrange for the release of Dr. Beanes.

Starting downriver from Baltimore the Minden located the British at the mouth of the Potomac, just as they were about to turn and head towards Fort McHenry and Baltimore. They had already burned Washington, D.C., and the capture of Baltimore would be another "feather in their caps."

The British were, at first, reluctant to release Dr. Beanes, and both Mr. Skinner and Mr. Key were appalled at the condition of Dr. Beanes, who was being held in solitary confinement and on reduced rations. But as affidavit after affidavit poured in from the British commanders in the field, attesting to Dr. Beanes fair treatment of the British, both General Ross and Admiral Cochrane agreed to his release. However, as Skinner and Key had been aboard too long, and heard too much about the British plans, all three would be held until the following day, when the battle for Baltimore would, presumably, be over.

That night the British sailed up river to Fort McHenry and the bombardment began. Throughout the night both Key and Skinner struggled in vain to see if the flag had been "struck", or lowered, indicating surrender on the part of the Americans. But as the dawn broke, and the smoke cleared, Key could see "by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed, at twilights last gleaming..." The flag was still flying when the British turned around.

The British may have managed to burn the White House and drive the government out of town, but they would not go on to win a victory in Baltimore, and they would lose the war. Although the Treaty of Ghent was signed on December 24th, 1814, word of the treaty would not reach America until February of 1815. By that time the British had lost The Battle of New Orleans, fought in January of 1815, which resulted in their unconditional surrender, and almost 150 years later inspire another, but quite different song, concerning the events there. But that's another story, and another blog....

"Snow-Storm in August" by Jefferson Morley (2012)

The City of Washington D.C. springs to life in the hands of author Jefferson Morley’s book “Snow-Storm in August”. Billed as a biography of one man, Beverly Snow; a free man of color living in D.C. at the time; the book is so much more. Mr. Snow’s story is merely the vehicle by which the author has painted a very accurate; and fascinating; portrait of Washington only 3 decades after it was founded. There were times, while reading this book, in which Mr. Snow became the furthest thing from my mind.

The book delves into the history behind the decision to locate the Capital City where it stands today; and not in another Northern state, such as New York, or Philadelphia, both of which had already been home to our fledgling national government. The District of Columbia was chosen because it was acceptable to the Southern states, being surrounded; as it was; on two sides, by the slave holding states of Maryland to the North, and Virginia to the South. The district was filled with African- Americans, some free, and some enslaved.

Mr. Snow was of mixed race; referred to at the time as “mulatto”; and owned an oyster house on the James River in the town of Lynchburg, Virginia. He took for a wife a free woman of color named Julia, and the couple moved in with Beverly’s owner Susannah Norvell. Susannah’s father had left her Beverly in his will. Sussanah was a forward thinking woman who disliked the institution of slavery and manumitted Beverly, enabling him and Julia to open their very prosperous oyster house. Each month some of the profits would be kept by Beverly and his wife, while the rest went to Sussanah.

Before long, the lure of the Capital City, and the profits to be made there, called to Beverly. He settled all accounts with his mistress and her husband, and then he and Julia moved; as free persons of color; to the District. There, Beverly went to work for Jesse Brown, who owned a fine restaurant.

The author also introduces us to a Mrs. Anna Thornton, a Washington widow who owned some property and several slaves. She allowed her driver, George Plant to live in Georgetown with his wife of color, who was also a free woman. This was not an unusual arrangement at the time in Washington. So long as the servant showed up at the master’s home at the appointed time, there was no trouble.

On the night of August 4^th, 1835, one of Mrs. Thornton’s servants; a young man named Arthur Bowen; who was also the son of her most trusted maid, tried to kill her. His own mother awoke just in time to stop her son from killing her mistress. The boy fled and a city erupted in violence. This was the first race riot in Washington, D.C., a city which was divided in its customs and viewpoints concerning slavery. Anna Thornton’s assailant was sentenced to death by hanging, and only her impassioned plea for clemency; made by Mrs. Thornton out of her fondness for the boy’s mother; caused President Jackson to pardon the young man.

With a deft style that will keep you turning the pages, the author rolls back the curtain on a time in our nation’s history when slaves built our national monuments, while great statesmen spoke of “freedom for all.” This is one of the most neglected chapters of our history; how a nation; truly divided, and on the brink of civil war; managed to hold together for so long before the issue of slavery finally ripped it in half.

The book also explores the career of Francis Scott Key after he wrote the “Star Spangled Banner”. He was the District Attorney in Washington at the time of these events. He waged a campaign against vice, mainly the many brothels which proliferated in Washington at the time. He also wrote erotic poetry and was tone deaf, and never got to hear his immortal poem sung to music.

As a matter of fact, the author has packed so much information into this work, that Beverly Snow’s story gets a bit lost in it. This book is so wide in its scope that it will take a second reading to truly enjoy it fully. That’s a compliment.

William Beanes and Francis Scott Key

I have always been the type that stops to read the historical markers on the side of the road. When I was an estimator, working in and around Wahington, D.C., I frequently went to the Prince Georges County Courthouse to obtain Building Permits and Deed information. Across the street from the courthouse was an old, and sometimes unkempt, grave which always intriqued me. One day, when I had some time to spare, I walked over to see it more closely and was surprised to find that this man, one Dr. William Beanes, was connected to, no make that, responsible for, the chain of events that culminated in Francis Scott Key writing "The Star Bangled Banner" some 196 years ago today. Let me tell you the story;

Dr. Beanes was born in Upper Marlboro, Prince Georges County in Maryland in the year 1749. He was the son of a prominent planter. Educated in Scotland at the University of Edinburgh, he became a Doctor and returned home to Maryland.

Still living at the time of the War of 1812, he resided in Upper Marlboro, around which some of the preliminary battles to seize Washington, D.C. were being fought in September of 1814. And this is where Dr. Beanes begins his intersection with history.

The British were foraging for food and supplies when they arrived at Dr. Beanes home. He identified himself as a Federalist, the Ameican political party which was vehemently opposed to the war with Britain. He even went so far as to let them take whatever they needed, and was so cooperative, that he was paid full market value for everything that the British took from him.

They then proceeded on their journey, leaving 4 men behind. 2 of these were "stragglers", who had become seperated from their units. The other 2 were deserters, and had they been caught by the British, would be hung.

The following day found Dr. Beanes strolling across his fields with American General Bowie when they noticed 2 men lurking nearby. These were the "stragglers." A short time later the deserters were captured as well and all 4 were held in Upper Marlboro. The news spread quickly and soon the British had sent a squad back to the town to collect the prisoners. They gave the town until noon the next day to produce them or else the entire town would be burned.

The next day the town gave them the "stragglers", who were after all, still enemies, but refused to give up the deserters. By this time they had been removed to Queen Anne County for safe keeping. When the British began to make preparations to burn the town, Dr. Beanes quickly offered himself in exchange. This was a remarkable man, who, at one moment is dealing with the enemy for provisions in a war to which he is opposed, the next moment finds him capturing the enemy and then aiding in hiding 2 of them before finally offering himself up in an effort to spare his town!

When the British left Upper Marlboro, a Mr. Weems and Dr. Hill rode to Georgetown, where Richard West, a friend of Dr. Beanes, contacted his brother-in-law, Francis Scott Key, a prominent attorney and also brother in law to Richard Taney. The trio were able to contact President Madison and he dispatched Mr. Key, along with the Presidents emissary for Prisoner exchanges, John Skinner, aboard the USS Minden to seek out the British Fleet and arrange for the release of Dr. Beanes.

Starting downriver from Baltimore the Minden located the British at the mouth of the Potomac, just as they were about to turn and head towards Fort McHenry and Baltimore. They had already burned Washington, D.C., and the capture of Baltimore would be another "feather in their caps."

The British were, at first, reluctant to release Dr. Beanes, and both Mr. Skinner and Mr. Key were apalled at the condition of Dr. Beanes, who was being held in solitary confinement and on reduced rations. But as affidavit after affidavit poured in from the British commanders in the field, attesting to Dr. Beanes fair treatment of the British, both General Ross and Admiral Cochrane agreed to his release. However, as Skinner and Key had been aboard too long, and heard too much about the British plans, all three would be held until the following day, when the battle for Baltimore would, presumably, be over.

That night the British sailed up river to Fort McHenry and the bombardment began. Throughout the night both Key and Skinner struggled in vain to see if the flag had been "struck", or lowered, indicating a surrender on the part of the Americans. But as the dawn broke, and the smoke cleared, Key could see "by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed, at twilights last gleaming..." The flag was still flying when the British turned around.

The British may have managed to burn the White House and drive the government out of town, but they would not go on to win a victory in Baltimore, and they would lose the war. Although the Treaty of Ghent was signed on December 24th, 1814, word of the treaty would not reach America until February of 1815. By that time the British had lost The Battle of New Orleans, fought in January of 1815, which resulted in their unconditional surrender, and almost 150 years later inspire another, but quite different song, concerning the events there. But that's another story, and another blog....