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Thursday, November 22, 2012

A Yankee Doodle Thanksgiving!

Americans have a lot to be thankful for...


Despite budget woes, the global war on or from terrorists, the loss of jobs and industries, America has actually faced worse...much worse...

The American Revolution was an eight-year war that tore at the political, social, and economic fabric of the  British colonies. From this bitter struggle emerged a new nation founded on liberties that came from an all-knowing and almighty creator who we call God.  It is to the Creator, to Providence, to God, that this day is dedicated.  The founders knew that their unlikely quest for liberty could not succeed without God's blessing. For that, they saw fit to give thanks, even before the outcome was clear...


The first, but not last, Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving during the Revolution 




Because they saw the cause as intrinsically connected to God, the Continental Congress appointed thanksgiving days each year and requested that each state celebrate it in its own way.  By 1777, the war hung in the balance as Lord Howe bypassed "The Jerseys"  with a strategic landing at Head of Elk, defeated Washington at the Battle of Brandywine, and soon occupied the American capital. The Congress had evacuated  Philadelphia and transplanted itself to York, Pennsylvania.





The loss at Brandywine sealed Philadelphia's fate


General Washington
The founders had every reason to despair and turn their back on God but instead, they turned to Him in thanks.  Besides, a great victory had been bequeathed to them when a large British invasion force surrendered at Saratoga, New York.  Capitalizing on this, the commander in chief of the Continental Army, Lieutenant General George Washington, proclaimed a Thanksgiving in December 1777.

The British surrender at Saratoga




A month earlier,  the Continental Congress now in exile at York had issued the First National Proclamation of Thanksgiving in 1777. They called on Delegate Sam Adams to write the first draft, which Congress then adapted into the final version:

"FOR AS MUCH as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of: And it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy, not only to continue to us the innumerable Bounties of his common Providence; but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and necessary War, for the Defense and Establishment of our unalienable Rights and Liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased, in so great a Measure, to prosper the Means used for the Support of our Troops, and to crown our Arms with most signal success:
It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive Powers of these UNITED STATES to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December next, for SOLEMN THANKSGIVING and PRAISE: That at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him graciously to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public Council of the whole: To inspire our Commanders, both by Land and Sea, and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may render them fit Instruments, under the Providence of Almighty GOD, to secure for these United States, the greatest of all human Blessings, INDEPENDENCE and PEACE: That it may please him, to prosper the Trade and Manufactures of the People, and the Labor of the Husbandman, that our Land may yield its Increase: To take Schools and Seminaries of Education, so necessary for cultivating the Principles of true Liberty, Virtue and Piety, under his nurturing Hand; and to prosper the Means of Religion, for the promotion and enlargement of that Kingdom, which consisteth "in Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost.
And it is further recommended, That servile Labor, and such Recreation, as, though at other Times innocent, may be unbecoming the Purpose of this Appointment, be omitted on so solemn an Occasion."


   
                                                  Original Thanksgiving Proclamation




Saturday, November 17, 2012

Edgar? Is that you?

Apologies to Joan Rivers.  But I am pleased to report that The Patriot Spy has been submitted for a 2013 Edgar Award!

"What the heck is an Edgar?" 


 A reasonable question.  The Edgar Awards are presented each year by The Mystery Writers of America for achievement in mystery writing. The Edgars are the most prestigious awards in this very popular genre.  The Patriot Spy was submitted in the Best First Novel category.  Personally, I know it is my best first novel because it is my only first novel!  Now we just have to convince the judges.

                                                                            

Founded in 1945, Mystery Writers of America is a storied organization that strives to improve the genre of mystery writing by connecting authors and fans.  To do this, it works with libraries and vendors, and at the chapter level, it sponsors symposiums and events.  Authors, publishers, and fans come together to celebrate the power of the mystery and its special hold on the reading public.  There are eleven Mystery Writers of America chapters throughout the country.  It has its headquarters in New York.


                                                                                
                                                         
                                                        Edgar Allen Poe was the dean of 
                                                    American mystery and thriller writers


Why "Edgar?" 


The name Edgar is in honor of the literary legend, Edgar Allen Poe.  Poe is among the most famous 19th Century American writers and is considered the father of mystery writing with his seminal work, "Murders in the Rue Morgue."  Poe was born in Boston in 1809.  His grandfather, David Poe, served with distinction in the Revolutionary War and is said to have been a friend of the Marquis De Lafayette and was known to George Washington himself.  There - I managed to make a Poe connection to the Yankee Doodle Spies!

West Point mid 19th Century

Edgar's Life


 Poe's parents were actors.  They died when he was a boy and Richmond tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife adopted him. They sent him to the University of Virginia but gambling debts and drinking led him to leave.  He enlisted in the US Army and served with some distinction in the Field Artillery where he rose to the rank of Sergeant Major.  The military life soon wore him down and strange as it may seem Poe sought a commission at the US Military Academy at West Point as a means of escape.  Poe did well there until he decided the Academy did not suit him.  He could not resign however without John Allan's approval (declined). So he broke numerous regulations, mostly absenting himself from classes (what we call "cutting") until he was, at last, he stood before a court-martial and dismissed in March 1831.

After leaving West Point, he dedicated himself to writing full time. As with many writers, he moved about the country, living variously in New York City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Richmond. While in Baltimore he stayed with family and fell in love with and married his 14-year-old cousin Virginia Clemm, who was the love of his life (or maybe he just didn't like saying good-bye).


Virginia Clemm Poe


By 1836 he had returned to Richmond where he worked as a literary critic of some notoriety.  In his professional life, he had worked on the editorial staff of the Southern Literary Messenger of Richmond,  the New York Quarterly Review, and  Graham's Magazine at Philadelphia. It enabled him in 1843 to have a magazine of his own, the Stylus. His dissolute ways estranged him to many and ruined his magazine's prospects.   After his young wife Virginia died in 1847, Poe maintained a pretty continuous downward spiral of drinking bouts, confrontations, and impecunity that overshadowed his inspired body of work.

His Work


In late 1830 Poe published Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, a collection of stories. It contained several of his most spine-tingling tales, including "The Fall of the House of Usher," "Ligeia" and "William Wilson." Poe launched the new genre of detective fiction with 1841's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." A writer on the rise, he won a literary prize in 1843 for "The Gold Bug," a suspenseful tale of secret codes and hunting treasure.  Although best known for short stories steeped in mystery, Poe's most famous and profitable work was a poem, "The Raven." I believe a film by that name was Jack Nicolson's first feature role.  Poe also published a work of poems called, well, "Poems." He released it right after leaving the Academy and dedicated to his fellow cadets, who famously each gave him a dollar and twenty-five to fund the work.  For whatever reason, my favorite Poe short story is "The Cask of Amontillado."

More Edgar Connections


I lived many years in the Bronx and visited the Poe Cottage at Kingsbridge Road and The Grand Concourse. Here Poe lived for a time with his bride Virginia, who speculation credits as the inspiration for the poem Anabel Lee, a ballad of love and death. 

"It was many and many a year ago,
   In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
   By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
   Than to love and be loved by me."

                                                                            
                                                                    Poe Cottage, Bronx, NY



While in the Army, I often went on temporary duty to Richmond, Virginia and several times stayed at Linden Row Inn, a street of row houses now turned into an upscale but small and elegant hotel. Returning from a five-year trip to England, the Allans (including Edgar) lived with Mr. Allan’s business partner, Charles Ellis in his house on Linden Row.  Edgar Allan Poe played with the Ellis children in the gardens that had the famous Linden trees. Local legend has it that the enchanted garden is the one that Poe mentions in his famous poem “To Helen.” Poe may have also  courted another life-long love, Elmira Royster, in the garden where the Linden Row Inn now stands.

                                                                            
                                                                The Linden Rowe Inn

His Death


Poe was found lying in a gutter in Baltimore ranting incoherently.  Taken to Washington College Hospital he died on October 7th, 1849. Many legends have circulated as to the causes and situation involving his death but the truth is we will never know the full circumstances of Edgar's demise.  He lives on in his work and the many places that claim his presence during a life and death  punctuated by the simple word from his most famous work, the poem, The Raven:

 "Nevermore!"
Poe grave and monument in Baltimore










Friday, November 9, 2012

The Cortelyou House

The House

This edition of the Yankee Doodle Spies highlights the Vechte-Cortelyou House in Brooklyn, New York, site of the high-water mark of the Battle of Long Island.

"Here on the 27th of August, 1776, Two hundred and fifty out of four hundred brave Maryland soldiers, under the command of Lord STIRLING, were killed in combat with British troops under CORNWALLIS."
...Inscription on a plaque commemorating the action near the Vechte-Cortelyou House, now called the Old Stone House.



Frontal View of the House today



The Vechte-Cortelyou House in Brooklyn, New York, was built in 1699 by a Dutch settler named Claes Arenston Vechte. Vechte and his family worked the land, farming the neat fields and grazing animals in the verdant pastures of this rich farmland.  They also gathered oysters and other bounty from the nearby Gowanus Creek, which they used to ship their produce to Manhattan.  Around the time of the revolution the land was leased to the Cortelyou family, and one of them later purchased the property.  The simple architecture is classic Dutch colonial with a mixture of stone and mortar, steep tiled roof and a wood shingled appendage (what we might today call a "bump-out") that appears to function as the kitchen.
William Alexander, aka Lord Stirling
The house was situated near the intersection of today's 3rd Avenue and 5th Street in Park Slope. During the events leading up to the cataclysmic fight that took place there, the house served as the headquarters of William Alexander, who called himself "Lord Stirling," because of a claim to that Scottish peerage.While holding the passes south of the house, Lord Stirling found his army surrounded when Major General (himself a Lord) Cornwallis' force of several thousand seized the area around the house after a night march down the Jamaica Road into the unguarded east flank of the American Army. 
Charles Cornwallis
While he ordered most of his forces to attempt escape across the Gowanus Creek, Lord Stirling led some 400 hundred Continental Line from Maryland and Delaware against the British defending near the Old Stone House, which they had turned into a strong defensive position. Stirling led six assaults against the British at that location and around 250 Americans were killed there and are buried nearby (see my earlier blog on trying to find them entitled "On Hallowed Ground").  The importance of this battle is fully described in The Patriot Spy, and the fictional events that I added form the genesis of the Yankee Doodle Spies.
Thumbnail for version as of 09:46, 25 August 2011

The Original House

Interestingly, in the 19th century the original house once served as the headquarters of the Brooklyn baseball club that later became the famed Brooklyn Dodgers. You can see from this photograph the once prosperous farmstead had by the latter 19th century fallen into disrepair. 

Back View of The Old Stone House Today

The original Cortelyou House was later torn down but a reconstruction was built from dug up debris and replica materials and can be found in J.J. Byrne Park in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. It serves as a museum that celebrates the events of August 1776 that took place on the hallowed ground around it. 
Sadly, little of the feel or look of the times can be found there.  However, nearby Prospect Park and Greenwood Cemetery do present views that might have been "enjoyed" by Lords Stirling and Cornwallis back in August of 1776.
As you can see, the reconstructed house is smack in the heart of a major urban area.  Note the Gowanus Canal, the remains of the Gowanus Creek, not too far distant. 

Where in the world is the Cortelyou House?