Between the 1720s and the early 1820s Vestal’s Gap Road was a principal route from Northern Virginia through the Blue Ridge via Vestal’s Gap to the Ohio country beyond, serving as an east-west corridor for commerce, emigration, and troop movement  in Northern Virginia.

     It was initially developed and used by planters to transport tobacco to the port at Alexandria.

     George Washington’s military missions over the road between, 1753-1755, are well documented. Between 1753-1799, Washington traveled along Vestal Road on various military, business and personal journeys.***** In 1754 and 1755 George Washington pushed to the west from Alexandria, taking a road that led across the Blue Ridge Mountains at Vestal’s Gap from which he looked down on the sweeping curves of the Shenandoah and the valley beyond. Jogging down the steep road to the river, Washington set off through the fertile countryside to Winchester.* In 1770, Washington traveled to Ohio via Vestal’s Gap.****

     An unidentified party crossed the Shenandoah River via John Vestal’s ferry and stayed that night at Gersham Keyes, “a fine Plantation…**

     General Braddock’s brigade under Sir Peter Halket marched from Alexandria towards Fort Duquesne  on the Vestal Gap Road.****

     And Vestal Gap Road was the first leg of the French émigrés journey from Alexandria, Virginia, to Scioto, Ohio. Among the émigrés was Louis des Isles.

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     During this leg of the journey the French met with a “continued series of cold, wet weather, which occasioned very uncomfortable lodgings.” They were also introduced to wagon travel on roads deeply rutted by the many travelers. Some of their wagons were so badly provided with horse teams that the men were obliged to assist them up the hills. They also met with the challenges of crossing mountain chains, the hazards presented by Indians, and the hardship of life in uncharted, virgin territory.

     Dying were the tales of American life being an Eden, a land of milk and honey.

     This group of mostly elite Frenchmen were totally unprepared for their pioneer adventures. And the “best” was yet to come.

 Watch for a description of the next leg of the French émigré’s journey, between Winchester, Virginia and Cumberland, Maryland.

SOURCES:

*http://books.google.com/books?id=QVUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA114&lpg=PA114&dq=Alexandria+Road+over+Blue+Ridge+to+Vestal’s+Gap&source=bl&ots=_mtMPsyeB3&sig=AexbomN67ubPOu7HU1GfoOTZ1Oc&hl=en&ei=uc2nTO7tE8Tflgfwl5jEDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCgQ6AEwBTgK#

**http://www.loudounhistory.org/history/loudoun-braddock-march-1755.htm 

***http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/vaguide/transp.html

****http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Loudoun/053-0007_Vestals_Gap_Road_2000_Final_Nomination.pdf

*****http://www.vestals.us/gaproad.html

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ADDITIONAL READING:

Dock Creek in Philadelphia, PA

CLIMBING SCHOODIC MOUNTAIN IN MAINE

Immigration is Negative for the USA

Immigration is Positive for the USA

THE SPECTACULAR PENOBSCOT RIVER Part 2

     A slim steel object that resembles a rusty bayonet is the center of a debate in Charlston, West Virginia.

     Part of an exhibit meant to portray the history of coal mining in that state, it represents a “Stickin’ Tommy:” it holds a stubby candle in a loop at its midpoint…Long before the days of carbide lanterns and helmet lamps, miners jabbed these into the seams they were working to light their way as they dug coal… Miners would hang the shared wick of homemade candles on the hook as spares…*

     The problem is a hook that rises up above the candle loop should…be facing downward. However, the hook is placed in the display upside down.*
      This error was discovered by labor historian Wess Harris.*

       I am not a trained historian, although a history professor I spoke with while I was doing research for a historical journal article and my historic romance novel** dubbed me an “independent historian.”

     During my research I’ve discovered numerous errors in historical books, documents, and local histories. My “lowest” experience occurred at an event during Ligonier, Pennsylvania’s, 250^th anniversary.

     The speaker was an expert in the George Washington papers. I attended his talk because I wanted to know if he was familiar with Madame Rosalie de la Val, a French refugee who mixed in the business world of land speculation in the 1790s. I knew I had a copy of her letter to President Washington when he retired. Perhaps there were other communications I hadn’t discovered.

     To prepare, I went through my assorted sundry of papers. But it was my friend Fran, who assisted me in my research, who uncovered a copy of the letter and e-mailed it to me.

     I read it to reconnect with its contents.

     At the end of the letter was a statement, explaining who Madame was, which included an error. I had seen this error repeated in several books written by noted historians. It was easy to see why the statement on Madame’s identity had the data on her wedding date wrong.

    Did I dare approach this man of the Ivory Tower, this expert on the George Washington papers, with this error?

     Knowing that authentic historians abhor inaccuracies, I returned to my research materials, where I found the documentation on Madame’s true wedding date. It was from a prime source, the original records of the church where she was married. I had not only viewed this record, I had photographed the book cover, identifying marks, and page where the data was recorded.

     I reproduced the material on a single sheet, added the location of the marriage record book, folded the paper, and slipped my business card inside.

     After the historian’s presentation, I waited at the end of the line of people who wanted to talk to him. Finally, it was my turn. I had planned to broach the subject gently, but I had all of thirty seconds because he was being pulled away to attend a followup event. I quickly but gently told him I had discovered an error, and handed him the papers.

     For months afterwards, I felt I may have insulted this historian.

     Then, at another meeting, I met the head of the Ligonier 250^th Anniversary committee. After the introduction, I told him about my experience.

     “Oh, it was you,” he said, confirming that my actions were improper.

     My conclusion was wrong. The committee chairman said that for three days after my action, the historian cheerfully told people that he can spend all his time in an Ivory Tower, and then travel to a small country town where some woman hands him the documentation of an error.

     I never heard from the historian. He may have lost my business card, since I neglected to staple it to the sheet of paper. I know how that can happen when a person is traveling.

     He did say he would correct the error, and that I could check it on the computer. I haven’t done so yet.

     Historians like Wess Harris and the George Washington speaker want their data accurate. Like them, I expect my writing to be founded on accurate data. If you consider my presentation or data to be erroneous, tell me. Perhaps I can document my statement. Perhaps correction is necessary.

     Historians appreciate the information. Please relay it in a kindly manner. But do relay it.

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SOURCES

*http://times-news.com/local/x1358974030/Labor-historian-questions-West-Virginia-museum-s-coal-mining-displays

** www.intertwinedlove.wordpress.com

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ADDITIONAL READING:

MADAME ROSALIE BACLER de la VAL: A Character Sketch

America’s First Manned Gas Balloon Ride

KILLED STRANGELY: A NEW ENGLAND MURDER STORY

From the Bastille to Cinderella

1790′S PAMPHLETEERING VERSUS 2000′S BLOGGING

Enoch Arden

     As I explored the background on Louis Des Isles, I came across the description of his relationship with Mary Googins as being “Enoch Arden.” I finally went to the computer to look up Enoch Arden, and discovered a twenty-two page poem, which I read.* Then I proceeded to compare Enoch Arden’s story with Louis Des Isle’s life.

     Point by point, the stories virtually matched. I wondered if perhaps some people will conclude that I stole the plot in my novel from Lord Alfred Tennyson. But then, that was impossible. After all, Louis’ story occurred during and after the War of 1812. Enoch Arden was published in 1864.

Louis des Isles

     I wonder if Tennyson knew Louis’s story, and used it as a basis for Enoch Arden.

     It is said there are only seven story plots—in researching, I cannot place which plot these two stories fit (I am so not a literary studies person…). There are three possibilities.

• Are they TRAGEDIES, where a character, through some flaw or lack of self-understanding, is increasingly drawn into a fatal course of action which leads inexorably to disaster?
• Are they REBIRTHS, where there is a mounting sense of threat as a dark force approaches the hero until it emerges completely, holding the hero in its deadly grip? Only after a time, when it seems that the dark force has triumphed, does the reversal take place. The hero is redeemed, usually through the life-giving power of love. Many fairy tales take this shape…
• Are they a VOYAGE AND RETURN, where the hero or heroine and a few companions travel out of the familiar surroundings into another world completely cut off from the first? While it is at first marvelous, there is a sense of increasing peril. After a dramatic escape, they return to the familiar world where they began.**

     There were key differences in the stories of Enoch and Louis.

• Enoch had two childhood friends, Philip Ray and Annie Lee. Louis and Mary didn’t meet until they were older—Louis about 26, and Mary, 16.

     It was 1791 when Louis arrived in Mary’s hometown, Trenton (now Lamoine), Maine. A French émigré, he had escaped the French Revolution to become one of the settlers who arrived in the area as part of a another immigrant’s planned French community.*** I suspect that Mary’s head was turned by the handsome Frenchman who sailed into Frenchman Bay. Eventually, the two married and built their family.

• Enoch was a fisherman. Louis delved in various saw mill and shipbuilding endeavors.

     After becoming injured and losing his job, Enoch accepted an offer to work as a merchant sailor, set sail, leaving his wife and three children behind.

     Louis, probably feeling homesick, impulsively set sail at Boston for France, seeking his lost his inheritance. He left behind his wife and eight children.

• During Enoch’s voyage, his ship wrecked. He spent the next ten years on a desert island. During Louis’ voyage, his ship was captured, he was taken prisoner, and spent the duration of the war in Dartmoor Prison.
• Annie, reduced to poverty, agreed to marry Philip. Mary, whom I suspect was having difficulty raising eight children as a widow, agreed to marry Joseph Swett. They had one child, a son.

     Ultimately, both men reconnect with their wives.

• Enoch returns to Annie, but while hidden, watching her, he witnesses their happiness. He sacrifices his happiness in his love for her. They never know of his survival and return.

Upon Louis’s release from prison, he writes to Mary, and upon learning of her new life told her to remain in the relationship, since he was too physically stressed from prison to cross the ocean to Maine.

     The phrase Enoch Arden has come to mean a person who truly loves someone better than himself. Perhaps the phrase should be Louis des Isles!

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SOURCES

*http://us.penguingroup.com/static/html/blogs/seven-stories-rule-world-matt-haig

**http://fiction-plots-pacing.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_seven_basic_plots

**MADAME ROSALIE BACLER de la VAL: A Character Sketch

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ADDITIONAL READING:

Procope Cafe, Paris

The French Military in America During The American Revolution: Pt. 1

Blanchard: The First Professional Aeronaut

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     Both the storyteller and the listener concurred that Madame’s story should be written. The woman researched Madame’s name on the Internet. In doing so, she found this blog site.

     She called me. I assured her that the story was already being written.

     Welcome to the launching of www.intertwinedlove.wordpress.com, a blog site designed to inform you about the progress of and the background of my historic romance novel, Intertwined Love. To read its synopsis click on http://intertwinedlove.wordpress.com/intertwined-love-the-novel/.

     To celebrate, a prize will be sent to the person making the most comments between June 15-July 4, 2010.

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     I’ve worked on this project for many years. It’s finally in the “writing” stage.

     Intertwined Love evolved out of research of the East Lamoine, Maine, branch of my family genealogy.

     These ancestors—Mary Googins, daughter of Rogers and Elizabeth Welch Googins, and Louis des Isles, a refugee from the French Revolution, who married Mary in 1796, are main characters in Intertwined Love.

     des Isles descendents (Eugene des Isles, Sue, nee des Isles, and Gladys Vigent) and visits to East Lamoine introduced me to the East Lamoine’s oral history, from which I learned about Madame. Extensive research disclosed her negotiations with Gen. Henry Knox, Col. William Duer, Gen. Jackson (Knox’s agent), and ultimately William Bingham, to purchase a large land tract in Hancock and Washington Counties, where she planned to develop a uniquely French community. Her purpose was to preserve French culture for refugees waiting out the Revolution.

     That her plan didn’t materialize was due to no fault of her own, but to the overly ambitious American land speculators whom she was dealing with.

      Although the novel is set on a historical framework, it is of necessity fiction—details need to be filled and conversation needs to be developed. The stories revolve around the intertwined lives and loves of Madame, Louis, Mary, Joseph, and Franco von Berckle, the man Madame ultimately weds.    

     The novel begins with Madame’s story. Her “romantic” involvements are not with men—but with business. Even her marriage to van Berckle is a business arrangement.

     With minimal grasp of the English language, she maneuvered the business world of land speculation and settlement. I originally wrote her story for a New England Quarterly competition. Someone else won, but I didn’t lose—my entry became a well-documented reference for my novel.

     The second story is that of Louis and Mary, a retelling (or was it the original?) of Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poem, Enoch Arden.

     The third story is that of Mary and Joseph Swett, whom she wed after Louis was presumed drowned at sea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~          

     The novel’s backstory involves the Scioto (Ohio) Land Grant, a sub-grant under the Ohio Land Grant. It is set in Boston, goes to Paris, returns to the United States—Alexandria, Scioto, and Philadelphia.

     The novel itself opens in Philadelphia, goes to East Lamoine, and finally, British Guiana and Alencon, France.

     The extensive research involved professional or independent historians; genealogists; photographers; critiquers; readers, and neighbors throughout the United States and the world—from Georgia to Wisconsin to Maine to Laurel Mountain Borough, (PA); from France to Sweden to Australia.

     After completing the research, I began my first chapter—only to discover I hadn’t researched enough. For Madame to explore 1791 Philadelphia I had to know what the city was like then.

     Although I have sketched scenes throughout the novel, I am now working on the fifth consecutive chapter.

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      I invite you to explore www.intertwinedlove.wordpress.com. Posts vary,

Madame's view of her "promised land" from atop Schoodic Mountain, Maine

but each is pertinent to the novel—background historical pieces, character profiles, scene descriptions. Some have actual blurbs from the novel (whichwill likely change with progressive drafts). Dock Creek in Philadelphia, PA , tells the story of the only 1791 Philadelphia street that was “off” William Penn’s grid design.  Eyes in shades of purple, explains the physical description of Madame de Leval. Read about Madame’s experience climbing Schoodic Mountain in Maine, and her observation of the first gas balloon launch in the United States.

     I designed the blog in March, but waited to launch it had twenty posts. Meanwhile, the site accumulated almost a thousand hits.            

     Posts will not be made on a regular basis. To receive notification of new posts subscribe to this blogsite: simply type your email into the SUBSCRIBE box in the upper right hand corner of the blog (your email will not be public). Once you confirm the subscription in an email sent from the blog-site host, wordpress, you should receive notification of each new post.

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     I welcome any corrections on what is posted, and any insight you can offer on this project. Contact me through the comment box at the end of each post, or by E-mail: intertwined_love.new_england at yahoo.com.

     Thank you for visiting this site today. Don’t forget to subscribe!

ADDITIONAL READING:

www.carolyncholland.wordpress.com see categories:

1790s BACKGROUND

NOVEL SEGMENTS

www.carolyncholland.wordpress.com : note the NEW ENGLAND category

ANOTHER BLOG SITE:

www.beanerywriters.wordpress.com : Beanery Online Literary Magazine, sponsored by the Beanery Writers Group in Latrobe, PA

A water treatment operator from (Green Lane) Montgomery County (PA) has been charged with dumping raw sewage into an area creek (Perkiomen Creek) for as long as five years…*

The EPA alleged in 1991 that the municipality (Penn Hills, PA) dumped raw sewage into creeks. Penn Hills pleaded guilty in 1994 to three criminal counts…*****

    I read the above “blurbs” as I was writing about Madame de Leval’s** first exploration of Philadelphia. It is a reminder that dumping sewage into creeks existed in the pre-Revolutionary years of the United States.

     As I wrote about Madame’s arrival in early Philadelphia, I realized I had to research the city situation in that time. That’s when I learned about Dock Creek.

     Once upon a time, a tidal creek flowed through the oldest part of the Philadelphia…its name was Coocaconoon *** It was originally surrounded by marshes…and culminated in a pond …that was deep and uninviting****

     This creek was an “indentation of the Delaware River,” a “spacious cove or “harbor”” Doubtless, the choice Philadelphia as a site for a city was “due to the favorable impression which this stream or creek made upon the original planners of the city,” who named it Dock Creek, with the expectation that it would “become a capacious and permanent dock.”***

     Before the Europeans came to America, the Native Americans called Dock Creek Coocaconoon. For them, it was a “convenient inlet and outlet for their canoes,” and probably its “shore at the mouth had been (their) places of rendezvous…long before white men first came up the Delaware.”

     Before William Penn took possession of Pennsylvania, the creek was familiar to Swedes and other whites…“…near it was born one Drinker, whose life lasted more than a hundred years or until after the Revolution, Franklin once saying, when asked how long people lived in Philadelphia, that he could not tell until “old Drinker” died.”***

     “William Penn “decreed that the water east of the mouth of Little Dock creek (which flowed from the pond) should be a harbor forever.” At one time, boys skated from the pond to the river. But the inconvenience of an open waterway in the city, bridges were placed over the creek.****

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      In late June, 1791, on the morning after Madame’s arrival in Philadelphia. Frenchman Louis des Isles escorted her along Third Street. As he was explaining how the streets of the city were laid out like a checkerboard, she spots the one street that contradicted that pattern. Below is the excerpt from the first draft of my novel where Louis explains about Dock Street:

    Louis began by explaining the easy street layout in the city.

     “William Penn’s simple street plan was adhered to by his successors,” Louis told Madame. “The rectangular arrangement is easily understood, allowing people to know what to expect at every turn and corner. You won’t have any difficulty following anyone’s directions. It’s impossible for strangers to go astray in this town.

      “The streets are laid out perpendicularly. The streets with names of fruit and forest trees traverse east to west streets, beginning at the Delaware. This tells you what trees were found by the settlers of this land.

     “The numbered streets go north to south, intersecting with the named streets.

     “Each block is calculated to contain one hundred houses, and is numbered accordingly. All the dwellings above High Street are marked north, while those on the other side of High Street are marked south.  ”

     Louis offered this explanation to Madame as they meandered down Third Street, where Madame was rooming. Before he completed the explanation, he saw her looking down Dock Street, as if puzzled.

     “That’s the only street that’s out of grid,” Louis said. “It took its form and name from Dock Creek., which was once a spacious cove coming in from the Delaware River. The Indians, who used it as a convenient inlet and outlet for their canoes, called it Coocaconoon. The original city planners expected it to become a capacious and permanent dock.”

     “What happened to the creek?” Madame questioned, noting the raised street which

     “It was sad,” Louis began. “Originally, some of the most prosperous early citizens built their homes there, where the soil was grassy and the water was clean. The residents used the stream as a receptacle for their household sweepings and rubbish. It wasn’t long before the trades considered the waterfront an advantage, and built their businesses there—a brewery, tanneries and lumber yards. They also discharged their refuse into the stream. It was so difficult to keep the creek cleaned, even though the property owners along its shores and slope were urged to the duty of maintaining it in orderly condition.

     “Soon the creek deteriorated and became stagnant and ill smelling, and considered a breeding source for pestilential disease. In 1784, after the American Revolution the city decided that the stream should cease to exist, and the creek was abandoned. Many conservative citizens didn’t favor the action, but it was replaced by an arched street regardless. Underneath is a sewer made from logs.”

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      Perhaps the city of Philadelphia is better off without the interruption of waterways that went as far as Chestnut Street and High Streets along Second Street. It’s a debate I won’t discuss.

     However, the loss of waterways due to the dumping raw sewage is not acceptable in today’s society. Communities across the country are fighting to prevent this from happening, even though the upgrading and installation of sewer systems is an expensive proposition.

  SOURCES:

*Courier Times, Bucks Cnty— phillyBurbs.com

** MADAME ROSALIE BACLER de la VAL: A Character Sketch

*** Dock Street, From the Evening Bulletin, January 27, 1919, BY PENN (WILLIAM PERRINE).

****http://www.phillyh2o.org/backpages/HiddenStreams_1889.htm

*****http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_683708.html

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To receive e-mail notification of Intertwined Love’s posts, type your e-mail address in the SUBSCRIPTION BOX in the upper right hand corner of the site page. Confirm your request in the wordpress e-mail you will receive, and your notifications will begin. Your e-mail address will not be published.

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Have you commented on this post in the comment box below? I also welcome any corrections of my material. Your e-mail address will not be published.

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I invite you to visit my general writing site, www.carolyncholland.wordpress.com, and the Beanery Writers Group publication, the beanery Online Literary Magazine at www.beanerywriters.wordpress.com .

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ADDITIONAL READING:

MADAME ROSALIE BACLER de la VAL: A Character Sketch

Immigration is Negative for the USA

Immigration is Positive for the USA

Discovering Hardy Lavender

Memorial Day Readings on Military Men

Amish Grace, Thomas Cornell, & Intertwined Love: Risks of Writing Historical Fiction

America’s First Manned Gas Balloon Ride

Blanchard: The First Professional Aeronaut

CLIMBING SCHOODIC MOUNTAIN IN MAINE

Discovering Hardy Lavender

Dock Creek in Philadelphia, PA

Doing Historical Research in Philadelphia

Eyes in shades of purple

The French Military in America During The American Revolution: Pt. 1

The French Military in America During the American Revolution: Pt. II

From the Bastille to Cinderella

Immigration is Negative for the USA

Immigration is Positive for the USA

INDEX OF PHOTOS ON Flickr Sites

Launching of the Intertwined Love (a novel) Blog Site

Logging in Maine & on the Peru-Brazilian Border

MADAME ROSALIE BACLER de la VAL: A Character Sketch

Moose, Goose, Deer

Procope Cafe, Paris

Procope Cafe, Paris: Taking photos is an international venture

THE SPECTACULAR PENOBSCOT RIVER Part 2

The following INDEX lists photos pertaining to INTERTWINED LOVE posts that are situated on various FLICKR sites:

HOLLAND, CAROLYN  http://www.flickr.com/photos/beaneryonlineliterarymagazine/698854185/

HOLLAND, CAROLYN  http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/4305584144/

LAMOINE BEACH, MAINE  http://www.flickr.com/photos/beaneryonlineliterarymagazine/3378302056/

OVENS, THE, MAINE  http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/2453691917/

OVENS, THE, MAINE  http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/2453691673/

OVENS, THE Rock profile  http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/2454516300/in/photostream/

OVENS, THE BEACH, MAINE  http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/2453691421/

PENOBSCOT RIVER, MAINE:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/2911474446/

PENOBSCOT RIVER, MAINE  http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/2911474170/

SCHOODIC MOUNTAIN, MAINE  http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/697584889/

SCHOODIC MOUNTAIN, MAINE  http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/698231948/

     I have no intention to invite immigrants, even if there are no restrictive acts against it. I am opposed to it, altogether...from a letter written by the first president of the United States, and written to Sir John St. Clair of England.*

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Replica of a boat that arrived at Plymouth Rock in 1620

    “I want to thank the governor of Arizona because she’s awakened a sleeping giant,” according to labor organizer John Delgado, one of 6,500 persons who attended a New York rally protesting an Arizona immigration law.  This rally was one of many gatherings held across the United States on May 1, 2010. The rallies were organized to support “rights for immigrants.” The protesters demanded “that President Obama tackle immigration reform immediately.” ** 

      Delgado’s statement reached cliché proportion by May 2, after my husband Monte and I had traveled the 500-or so miles between our Southwestern Pennsylvania home and northern New York to celebrate his brother’s 90^th birthday. While traveling, I began writing a two-part post on immigration pros and cons. My interest developed while researching material for a historic romance novel. During its time setting, between 1791 and 1824, land availability stimulated a land speculation similar to the housing speculation in today’s world—with similar disastrous results.

     Many of the characters in my novel—including Gen. Henry Knox, Col. William Duer, Gen. Henry Jackson, Pres. Thomas Jefferson, even Pres. George Washington—were land speculators. Except for Washington, they favored immigration, wanting to supply the settlers to fulfill their land purchase contracts.

     In Roy L. Garis’s book on immigration I discovered the “great immigration” controversy that existed in the decades immediately following the American Revolution. This volume provides the opinions of persons opposing immigration—Washington, Jefferson, and James Jackson.

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     My intention is not to indicate any personal preference or bias in the immigration issue. It is to present both sides of the issue as found in early United States documents. This post offers opinions of those who oppose immigration. To read opposing viewpoints, click on Immigration is Positive for the USA

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     Washington made his viewpoints clear. In a letter to J. Q. Adams dated Jan 20, 1790: You know, my good sir, that it is not the policy of this government  to employ foreigners when it can well be avoided, either in the civil or military walks of life… in a letter to John Adams dated November 17, 1794: My opinion with respect to immigration is, that exempt of useful mechanics and some particular description of men and professions there is no use of encouragement…and in a letter to Patrick Henry, dated October 9, 1795: In a word I want an American character, that the powers of Europe may be convinced we act for ourselves and not for others. This, in my judgment, is the only way to be respected abroad, and happy at home…

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      John Adams expressed a similar view in a letter to Christopher Gadsden: Foreign meddlers, as you probably denominate them, have a strange, a mysterious influence in this country. Is there no pride in American bosoms?…The plan of our worthy friend, John Rutledge, relative to the admission of strangers to the privileges of citizens, as you explain it, was certainly prudent. Americans will find that their own experience will coincide with the experience of all other nations, and foreigners must be received with caution, or they will destroy all confidence in government.

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     Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence author, also wrote Virginia’s liberal naturalization law of Virginia, enacted in May, 1779. In this law, the “Sage of Monticello” asserted the natural right of expatriation***, although he opposed immigration, considering it “a problem…full of menace” and a “serious problem.”

     In 1788, while minister to France, he wrote to Mr. Jay: Native citizens, on several valuable accounts, are preferable to aliens, or citizens alien born…To avail ourselves of native citizens, it appears to me advisable to declare by standing law that no person, but a native citizen, shall be capable of the office of consul…

     In Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia, first printed in 1782: But are there no inconveniences to be thrown into the scale against any advantage expected from a multiplication of numbers by the importation of foreigners? It is for the happiness of those united in a society to harmonize as much as possible in matters which of necessity they must transact together. Civil government being the sole object of forming societies, its administration must be conducted by common consent. Every species of government has its specific principles. Ours, perhaps, are more peculiar than those of any other. It is a composition of the freest principles of the English Constitution with others derived from natural right and natural reason. To these nothing can be more opposed than the maxims of absolute monarchies. Yet, from such we are to expect the greatest number of immigrants. They will bring with them the principles of the governments they leave, or if able to throw them off, it will be in exchange for an unbounded licentiousness, passing, as usual from one extreme to the other. It would be a miracle were they to stop precisely at the point of temperate liberty. These principles, with their language they will transmit to their children. Its proportion to their numbers, they will share legislation with us. They will infuse it into their spirit, warp or bias its direction, and render it a heterogeneous, incoherent, distracted mass…

     And I hope we may find some means in the future of shielding ourselves from foreign influence—political, commercial, or in whatever form attempted. I can scarcely withold (sic) myself from joining in the wish of Silas Dean, that there were an ocean of fire between this and the old world!…then years later he asked whether it is desirable for us to receive the dissolute and demoralized handicraftsmen of the old cities of Europe…

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       James Jackson, of Georgia, not only favored a long residence, but he was anxious to guard against the admission of improper persons: He hoped to see the title of a citizen of America as highly venerated and respected as a citizen of Old Rome. I am clearly of opinion, that rather than have the common class of vagrants, paupers, and other outcasts of Europe, that we had better be as we are, and trust to the natural increase of our population for inhabitants.

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       The immigration issue persists in our 2010, post 9/11/01 nation. Arguments given against immigration include:

               — free immigration fosters socialism          

               — immigrants generally modify American culture negatively with their native countries customs, practices, and ideas, which, on balance, compromise the tradition of American liberty embraced by native-born Americans

             —free immigration constitutes a de facto trespass against the private-property rights of Americans.

               —work visas are given to foreigners when there are all kinds of unemployed software people here.”**** After 9/11, immigration control became more serious. But as 9/11 fades into the past, the natural inclination of cheap-labor employers and ethnic pressure groups reasserts itself … (taking us) back to the way things were. Which almost certainly will be very dangerous.*****

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SOURCES

*Immigration Restriction: A Study of the Opposition to and Regulation of Immigration Into the United States by Roy L. Garis, 1927. The statements of historical figures in this post are excerpted from this book

**Arizona immigration law passed April 24, 2010. made the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and gave the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally.  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/politics/24immig.html

***expatriation: an action that is usually voluntary—Generally it applies to those persons who have renounced nationality and citizenship in one country to become citizens or subjects of another…   http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/expatriation.aspx

****http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0410e.asp

*****http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/qa/s_678970.html

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ADDITIONAL READING:

Intertwined Love: Novel Synopsis— http://intertwinedlove.wordpress.com/intertwined-love-the-novel/

Immigration is Positive for the USA

Doing Historical Research in Philadelphia

The French Military in America During the American Revolution: Pt. II

Logging in Maine & on the Peru-Brazilian Border

ALEXANDRIA, D. C. (Virginia) IN THE 1790s

I observe with regret that the law for the admission of foreigners was not passed during this session (of the legislature), as it is an important moment to press the sale and settlement of our lands. From a letter written by William Bingham to Gen Henry Jackson, April 9, 1793*

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     From the birth of the United States into the present time, immigration has had advocates. In the 1790s, immigration was supported by land speculators, who hoped to make it rich by settling their lands with immigrants.

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     My interest in immigration issues was piqued during my research for a historic journal paper and a historic romance novel, both set in the 1790s. Many of the characters in my novel—including Gen. Henry Knox, Col. William Duer, Gen. Henry Jackson, Madame Rosalie de Leval, even Pres. George Washington—were land speculators. Except for Washington, they favored immigration to supply the settlers to fulfill their land purchase contracts.

     In Roy L. Garis’s book on immigration** I discovered the “great immigration” controversy that existed in the decades immediately following the American Revolution.

     My intention is not to indicate any personal preference or bias in the immigration issue. It is to present both sides of the issue as found in early United States documents. This post offers immigration pros. To read arguments against immigration, click on: Immigration is Negative for the USA .

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     In Penn’s time (starting 1682), all immigrants, regardless of their religious or ethnic background were welcomed. Quaker immigrants arriving in need of financial assistance were given or lent money interest free, but the others (who were not Quakers) became the responsibility of the city. The Friends established the first alms house in the city in 1713…Poor of all faiths lived there in cottages and were encouraged to work. In 1717 the Assembly ordered that a “workhouse” for the colony be built in Philadelphia within three years. With the Friends’ alms house meeting much of the need, public officials continuously delayed construction. The first public alms house finally opened in 1732…it had separate facilities for the indigent and the insane, and also an infirmary…#

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Marker for 1620 Immigrants

     As early the 1730s, Samuel Waldo encouraged immigration: (due to) certain difficulties having arisen in regard to the Muscongus Patent (Maine)…thirty miles square—about a million acres…between the Penobscot and Muscongus Rivers…one-half the patent…set off in 1762…was bestowed on (Samuel Waldo)…he subsequently became proprietor of five-sixths of the entire patent…thereafter known as the Waldo Patent…he planned and executed measures for peopling (this land)…(he) invited immigration with the most liberal promises, and as early as 1736 had brought to the St. George’s river a sturdy population of Scotch Irish… Four years later he planted a colony of forty German families at Broad Bay… the present town of Waldoborough.#

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    The 1787 Scioto Land Grant was a sub-grant of the Ohio Company. The Rev. Manasseh Cutler, who represented the Scioto Associates (secret land speculators), wrote in his journal: Mr. Osgood… highly approved of our plan, and told me he thought it the best ever formed in America…( He suggested) that we might depend on accomplishing our purpose (of land sales) in Europe… that it was a most important part of our plan… On October 24, 1787, the preempted/option to purchase Ohio land was “ceded and conveyed” to William Duer and associates, including Gen. Henry Jackson (agent for Gen. Henry Knox) 497. It was agreed that four parts… were to be disposed of in Holland or France…  Ultimately, in France, over 100,000 acres of land was sold to several hundred emigrants, who sailed (to the United States).***

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     Madame Rosalie de Leval, who planned to develop a community in Downeast Maine, told Gen. Henry Knox that she must have convinced him, by her manner of action, of her surety that French émigrés will settle in Maine’s French Colony…****

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     In March 1793, when Bingham was “in a position” to actively sell his Maine lands, “the young nation (United States) had limited capital to venture, and the panic of the previous year had dampened the enthusiasm of many speculators.” ** The best opportunity to sell “a large portion of the lands…at a fair profit” lay in Europe, where the “political convulsions of Europe will inevitably draw to this country an immense emigration…particularly from Ireland, France and Germany. Already they arrive in great numbers, and as soon as it is generally known that lands can be obtained on such easy terms” they would come to be landholders of property that would be inherited by their children.

     …to carry into proper effect a plan of purchasing and peopling these lands so as speedily to draw a considerable profit from them…Whoever views the happy situation of the Germans in this state, who have emigrated here at different periods, must discover so great a change for the better, that he could not hesitate in calling that, an act of humanity, which so essentially betters the condition of man, according to Bingham.

     In March, 1793, Jackson wrote to Bingham: The resolve respecting foreigners…(is) before the legislature, and I hope to have them terminate this session agreeably on our wishes…to which Bingham responded I observe a committee have reported a bill in favor of aliens holding lands, as well as to remove all restrictions on their emigrations. It will be a most favorable circumstance for the concerned, if this bill should pass, and will be highly advantageous to the interests of the State. I have no doubt that the members from the Maine will advocate it, as they will derive such benefit by means of an increased population in their district. …The affairs of Europe will be very favorable to the sale of American lands. The discontents and divisions that are so generally prevailing, will occasion many persons to turn their attention to making purchases in this country. 

     Unfortunately, the legislature have adjourned without making a law for the admission of foreigners… It was referred it to the next session. Jackson informed Bingham.   

     Jackson had waited with impatience for a law that would facilitate the admission of strangers. He wanted to make proposals to numbers of German families in this state to remove on these (Maine) lands…settlers that would do credit and cause [?] profit to any state that would receive them. They are frugal, industrious good farmers, and from strength of constitution, fit to encounter the difficulties that the first settlers are enjoined [?] to, in a new country. I was taking measures to insure success in this undertaking…(to) encourage the admission of their countrymen…” He felt that the inability of immigrants to purchase sizable lands would inhibit their selling their surplus lands which they do not occupy to their countrymen, whom they mean to allure from Europe.   

     Jackson fully expected the next legislature to repeal all former acts, and pass a law fully opening the door for the admission of foreigner emigrants. After all, he had the influence of Madame Rosalie de Leval’s friends, which would forward the business greatly.  ((Read Madame’s character sketch by clicking on MADAME ROSALIE BACLER de la VAL: A Character Sketch )                        

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      In 2010, those who favor immigration do so because they consider it a blessing to the culture of America, which has always been a nation with a large immigrant population. The expanded variety in foods, music, art, and traditions is one of the things that make America the great country it is.  

     As the memory of incidents of September 11, 2001, fades, the natural inclination of cheap-labor employers and ethnic pressure groups reasserts itself.*****

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SOURCES

#The Maine Historical Magazine, Vol. 8: Oration Delivered at the Centennial Celebration of the Incorporation  of the Town of Thomaston, July 4, 1877, by Hon. Edward Bowdoin Nealley of Bangor

* William Bingham’s Maine Lands 1790-1820, edited by Frederick S. Allis, Jr. Publications of The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Vol. XXXVI Collections. 235-236, 256, 259, 261, 266, 270, 278

** Immigration Restriction: A Study of the Opposition to and Regulation of Immigration Into the United States by Roy L. Garis, 1927.

#http://www.ushistory.org/birch/plates/plate25.htm

***Life Journals and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler, LL.D. by William Parker Cutler and Julia Perkins Cutler, 300, 505

****132   Knox Mss. XXXIII. 172. Letter from Bacler deLeval to Henry Knox, March 12, 1793. Edinboro University of Pennsylvania: Microfiche.

*****http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/qa/s_678970.html

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ADDITIONAL READING:

Intertwined Love: Novel Synopsis— http://intertwinedlove.wordpress.com/intertwined-love-the-novel/

Doing Historical Research in Philadelphia

Eyes in shades of purple

Dog Fighting & Cock Fighting: Cultural Phenomenon?

From the Bastille to Cinderella

     There are no photographs of Madame Rosalie de la Val, an émigré to America during the French Revolution and a major character in my historic romance novel. This fact leaves me free to create her physical characteristics in my image.

     Madame is a very strong, very unusual, woman. I visualize her being petite, with black flowing hair and violet eyes that change shades, or colors, according to her mood.

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     Within three months of her 1791 emigratioon to the United States she became an independent land speculator, participating in a playing field that included General Henry Knox, Colonel William Duer, General Henry Jackson, and William Bingham. They themselves were involved in the whirlwind of land speculation following the American Revolution, which included large tracts of land in Hancock and Washington counties, Maine.

     She skillfully, artfully, and very business-like, maneuvered through this field, in spite of the fact that she was in a strange country and had little proficiency in its language.

     Her plan was to develop a French colony in Downeast Maine, along the Frenchman Bay coastline. Although she and two other French émigrés—Jean Baptiste de la Roche and Joseph du Barth—formed The French Company of the Union to purchase part of the Knox and Duer’s  Maine land purchase, Madame independently planned out the community and made all the decisions. Early in the process, Monsieur du Barth dropped out; somewhat later, Monsieur de la Roche left the company. Thus, Madame became, in actuality, an independent land speculator.

     Several years after her 1794 marriage to Franco van Berckle, the second Dutch ambassador to the United States, the couple moved to British Guiana. That Madame was the head of this union was also not in question. In one incident, when rebellious slaves broke into their home, van Berckle hid while Madame confronted them.

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      Although I visualize Madame’s eyes being a shade of purple, I have never seen anyone with violet eyes. In my online search, I discovered that there is debate whether Elizabeth Taylor had true purple eyes or not. Other persons wrote in that they either knew a person with violet eyes of had eyes of that color themselves.

     All the sites I explored pointed out that violet, lavender, purple or amethyst eyes are very, very rare. One site noted that the purple-shaded eyes sported by some fictional characters indicate that the character is very special, and has an attitude. That kind of describes Madame.

     One blogger mentioned that the purple eye color of a female acquaintance changed intensity with a variation of light conditions. Another blogger said she didn’t need a mood ring because “My eyes turn colors. . .they’ve been violet before. It usually depends on my mood. . .if I’m really mad or upset they turn like a neon green, and if I’m content they’re blue, and if I’m really happy, they turn like a violet color. . .”

     Several sites explained that purple eyes result when blood vessels show through very pale blue eyes (combine red and blue to get purple).

     An almost-ophthalmologist agrees. He stated that, definitely, natural violet eyes do exist, but are “exceptionally rare.” He explained that the iris has “essentially three layers: an outer thin layer, a middle spongy layer, and a thin backing layer. Any and all of these layers can have varying degrees of melanin in them…Less melanin=bluer…Violet eyes have almost no melanin and the purple color is caused by the blood vessels in the retina showing through. Red+Blue=Purple.” He notes that any less melanin would produce pink albino eyes.

     A most interesting myth about Alexandria’s Genesis, an explanation of purple eyes, was told on several sites.

     Alexandria’s Genesis is a genetic mutation, generally occurring in women of Euro-American (a.k.a. Caucasian) descent. It was discovered in the 1960’s. The first known written record of the mutation was recorded in the Common Era year 1330.

     Alexandria Augustine was born in London, England, on April 29, CE 1329. Although she was an apparently normal, blue-eyed, female, infant, her parents soon noticed that her eyes were changing color. By the time she was a year old, they were purple.

     Her startled parents, scared by the dramatic change, thought the child had been targeted by a witch. They took to their priest, and asked him if he could ask God to return the child’s eyes back to the original color. The priest informed the parents that the change in eye color was not the work of the devil. It was a myth come true.

     “I heard a story about a race of people with purple eyes,” the priest said. “These humans were thought to have come from Egypt after a mysterious light flashed in the sky during a moonless night, thousands of years ago.

     “These humans had very fair skin, and were considered ‘spirit people’ due to their appearance. These people eventually went north and vanished without a trace.

     “Don’t worry,” the priest told Alexandria’s parents. “You have a special child in your hands, and you should take good care of her.”

     Alexandria grew up to be very beautiful. She married and had four daughters with purple eyes. She was never ill, and lived to be 150 years old before dying of natural causes.

     This site continued on to give the characteristics of Alexandria’s Genesis, of which women are the prime carriers, and which remains active, growing stronger, generation after generation.

     The chief characteristic of Alexandria’s Genesis is the presence of blue or grey eyes at birth that begin to change at six months. By puberty the eyes become dark purple, deep purple, a royal purple or a violet/blue shade. The eyes have perfect vision.

     Other characteristics of Alexandria’s Genesis include: a lack of facial or body hair except that at birth; dark or black hair, and shimmering white skin that resists tanning and burning. There is a highly evolved immune system that is known to resist all of man’s known diseases; an appearance of being five to twenty years younger than their actual years (between ages 40-50, aging stops completely), and a long life span. The well-developed, well-proportioned, body is never overweight,

     At puberty, girls don’t develop the normal hair growth, and as women they never menstruate—although they are fertile and go through the same things non-mutation women go through every month. It’s worth noting that Madame had birthed one child, a daughter.

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     My research reassures me that I can create Madame in my image of her. In fact, the characteristics of Alexandria’s Genesis suite my image quite well:  petite, with black flowing hair, fair-skinned, and violet eyes that change shades or colors according to her mood.

     That violet eyes are rare also fits my image of Madame. She was a person that others couldn’t help but turn their heads, attention, and bows to. She was an exceptional woman, highly intelligent with a business acumen. She pushed the limits of her time. She was unusual. Unique.

     As are violet eyes.

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     If anyone asks me, I will tell them that her violet eyes are a sign that she is mystical, that purple is a color of loyalty and royalty.

     Furthermore, those violet “peepers” were a gift to Madame, a gift from a smiling god.

SOURCES:

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/35653

http://help.com/post/291161-purple-eyes

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=65349

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PurpleEyes

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071007231338AAUJRSu

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ADDITIONAL READING:

Discovering Hardy Lavender

Violet infestation? Why complain?

CANDIED VIOLETS: Remembering My Mother on Her Birthday

From flax to linen: The Stahlstown (Pa.) Flax Scutching Festival

Kudzu in Pennsylvania? OH, NO!