Forgotten Founding Father: William Woodford
Not every one who played a part in the Revolution made it to sign the Declaration. This is a picture of Brigadier General William Woodford. I am a direct descendent of his. We talk about the “founding fathers” often enough – but there were so many who gave their lives and had their names forgotten to break away from England. According to history, “He served in the French and Indian War as an ensign in Colonel George Washington’s Virginia Regiment, and was promoted to lieutenant in 1761. During that year he served in the Cherokee expedition under William Byrd and…
Ask A Slave: Thanksgiving Edition
In the latest episode of the awesome and awkward (can I laugh at this?) funny web series Ask A Slave the ‘plucky Lizzie Mae’ takes on questions about Thanksgiving. But this time she’s got a guest – Red Jacket. He’s a Native American, Seneca leader Otetiani Sagoyewatha, who seems somewhat confused by the questions that the good white people that come to visit the show ask him. Rightfully so. [Red Jacket, by the way, was an actual person.] The greatest moment in my opinion is when he drops the name that his people have bestowed upon our founding father and the owner of…
Open Letter to the Alaska Tea Party…and You
Dear Alaska Tea Party, A few years ago, Sarah Palin was asked which Founding Father was her favorite. She answered, “You know, well, all of them.” My favorite Founding Father was William Woodford. He fought alongside his friend George Washington in the French-Indian War. Afterwards, Woodford brokered a peace treaty between the Virginians and the Cherokee that was honored for over a decade. Woodford was a General, and before the Revolution started, he and Washington corresponded about the coming struggle. A letter lining out how to conduct troops was signed, “My compliments to Mrs. Woodford; and that every success may…
Voices from the Flats – Retired Pastor
By Retired Pastor This retired pastor is not nearly brave enough to read Sarah Palin’s ghostwriter’s book, America by Heart. We all appreciate AK Muckraker’s noble sacrifice in plowing through the platitudes on our behalf, and commenting on whatever chunks of fertilizer the plow turns up. Here is one such chunk of manure which caught my attention. On page 195, the ghostwriter did a cut-and-paste from George Washington’s Farewell Address and then summarized the quote: morality itself cannot be sustained without the support of religious belief. Fair enough. Washington said that; the ghostwriter liked it; presumably Sarah Palin endorses the…