March 19 is Saint Joseph’s Day in honor of Saint Joseph, husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus. St. Joseph’s Day is especially observed in Sicily and in Italian-American communities.
North central West Virginia has a large Italian-American community, in large part due to early 20th century Italian immigrants moving to the region to work for the coal mines and railroads.
Read the rest of this entry »
Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, was born March 18, 1837, in Caldwell, New Jersey. He won the popular vote in 1884, 1888, and 1892, but lost the electoral vote in 1888-9 to Benjamin Harrison. He is the only U.S. President to serve two non-consecutive terms.
He is not generally well known today but was well thought of by some during his lifetime. For example, at the time of his death, Judge Morgan J. O’Brien said:
As a public man, considering the splendid record that he made, he will be put in the same class with Washington and Lincoln — one of the three great Presidents that this country has had. His greatness was justified by his exceptionally strong character and his many intellectual gifts. He was a man of great moral strength, and having the advantage of a fine intellect he thought seriously and deeply upon all subjects, and, having reached a conclusion, particularly as to a principle of morals or religion, or public weal, he was uncompromising. He agreed with David Crockett that the first thing was to determine what was right and then to do that thing.
Unfortunately, he is probably best known today for the personal attack against him in the 1884 campaign (a tactic reminiscent of the kinds of personal smears aimed at each of the three leading presidential candidates now). Cleveland’s Republican opponent James G. Blaine was suspected of financial corruption and made the mistake of writing in at least one letter, “Burn this letter.” The Democrats then used the slogan,
“James G. Blaine, the continental liar from the state of Maine. Burn this letter.”
The Republicans then responded with the campaign taunt,
“Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa?”
in reference to an illegitimate child named Oscar Folsom Cleveland whom his mother claimed Grover Cleveland had fathered. Cleveland admitted he could have been the father, but there were several other possible fathers, including Cleveland’s good friend Oscar Folsom. Cleveland paid child support to the mother, in part because he was the only single man among the possible fathers. Cleveland had the last laugh, however, when he was elected President. His supporters then adopted as a slogan,
“Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa? Gone to the White House. Ha, ha, ha!”
Cleveland is also linked with the political term “mugwump.” Republicans who supported him in 1884 were called Mugwumps. One suggested origin for the term is that they were fence-sitters remaining on the border between Republicans and Democrats with their “mugs” (faces) on one side of the fence and their “wumps” (“rumps”) on the other.
Cleveland was a bachelor at the time of becoming President, but married Frances Folsom, the daughter of his now deceased friend and former law partner Oscar Folsom, in a White House ceremony during his first term. He was the second President to marry while in office. The first was John Tyler, the 10th president.
Cleveland was the first president since the Civil War who had not served in the Union military during the war, although he had paid for a substitute to serve in his place, a practice legal at the time.
Cleveland’s brief biography at the White House web site says of him:
Cleveland vigorously pursued a policy barring special favors to any economic group. Vetoing a bill to appropriate $10,000 to distribute seed grain among drought-stricken farmers in Texas, he wrote: “Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character. . . . ”
His message vetoing this bill also contained this statement:
I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution; and I do not believe that the power and duty of the General Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadily resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that, though the people support the Government, the Government should not support the people. . . . [T]he friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied on to relieve their fellow citizens in misfortune
Minerva Abbott
proud to be a West Virginian
proud to be a Reagan Republican
References
Grover Cleveland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(A copy of a political cartoon illustrating the “Ma, ma” slogan appears on this page.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland
Biography of Grover Cleveland
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/gc2224.html
Grover Cleveland’s Ancestry
The New York Times, November 15, 1885
http://starship.python.net/crew/manus/Presidents/sgc/sgcobit.html
Mugwump
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugwump
Grover Cleveland and the Confederate Flags
article by John M. Taylor, 1987 Old Farmer’s Almanac
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/1422/g_cleve.html
Why Grover Cleveland Vetoed the Texas Seed Bill
Robert Higgs
July 1, 2003
The Independent Institute
http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=1329
(cites Congressional Record, 49 Cong., 2d Sess., vol. XVIII, Pt. II, 1887, p. 1875 as source of quotation from veto message)
Guinness is conducting a national campaign to collect one million signatures on a petition to the U.S. Congress to designate St. Patrick’s Day an official holiday on which banks and government offices would be closed.
St. Patrick, born in Britain, was a fifth century Christian missionary to Ireland and is the patron saint of Ireland.
An Old Irish poem, traditionally called “St. Patrick Breast Plate,” is traditionally attributed to him. A late 19th century hymn, “I Bind unto Myself Today,” is based on this poem.
It seems especially appropriate to look at the words of the English hymn this week during Holy Week, the week when many Christians commemorate the time in the earthly life and ministry of Jesus Christ between his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his resurrection from the dead.
I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.I bind this day to me forever,
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation,
His baptism in the Jordan River,
His cross of death for my salvation,
His bursting from the spiced tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom,
I bind unto myself today.I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, his might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need,
The wisdom of my god to teach,
His hand to guide, his shield to ward,
The Word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.I bind unto myself the name,
The strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three,
Of whom all nature has creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word.
Praise to the Lord of my salvation;
Salvation is of Christ the Lord!
The basics of the Christian faith are summarized in lines 5 through 12.
Christ was “incarnated,” literally “made flesh.” As an ancient creed, the Nicene creed, says, he was “true God of true God” and “was made man.” As an adult he was baptized in the Jordan River, participating in a symbol of repentance and cleansing from sin, although he had not sinned. At his baptism the voice of God the Father was heard, saying, “This is my beloved Son.” He was executed by the Roman authorities, but this death has a greater significance than that of a politically dangerous man who might have been able to lead a mob to attempt to overthrow the government. This hymn agrees with New Testament writers in saying that Christ’s death was “for my salvation.” He was dead and buried but then he did what few others have done; he came back to life and by that act showed he is the Son of God (Romans 1:4). He rode “up the heavenly way” which according to some of his final words to his apostles the week he was crucified was necessary in order that the third member of the Trinity, the Spirit, would be made available to each believer (John 14-16). And, at the end of human history, he will return.
Minerva Abbott
grateful to be a Christian, by God’s grace
proud to be a West Virginian
proud to be a Reagan Republican
References:
Campaign Seeks to Make St. Patrick’s Day Official
Jacksonville, Florida, television channel 4
March 12, 2008
http://www.news4jax.com/news/15573570/detail.html
Make St. Patrick’s Day an Official Holiday! Proposition 3-17
Guinness
http://www.proposition317.com/
Saint Patrick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick
Saint Patrick’s Breastplate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick’s_Breastplate
I Bind unto Myself Today
http://www.lutheran-hymnal.com/lyrics/lw172.htm
Nicene Creed
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed
James Madison, 4th president of the Untied States, was born March 16, 1751, in Virginia.
In popular culture, he is outshone by his wife Dolley Payne Todd Madison. She assisted the 3rd president, Thomas Jefferson, as hostess at White House functions. As Madison’s wife she essentially invented the unofficial position of First Lady. She is most famous for her rescue of a Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington and government papers from the White House before it was burned by the British in the War of 1812.
Perhaps Madison’s greatest accomplishment came before his presidency. He was one of the major authors of the Constitution and so is called the Father of the Constitution. He was also one of three men, the others being Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, to write the Federalist Papers, essays urging the ratification of the new Constitution by the various states. In addition,he proposed a package of twelve amendments to the Constitution, ten of which were approved and are known as the Bill of Rights.
Madison died in 1836, the last surviving Founding Father.
Minerva Abbott
proud to be a West Virginian
proud to be a Reagan Republican
References
Dolley Madison
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolley_Madison
James Madison
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison
White House
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House
Articles of Confederation
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articles_of_Confederation
US Constitution
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Constitution
Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States, was born March 15, 1767, in South Carolina.
Andrew Jackson is well-known for his leadership in the War of 1812, especially the Battle of New Orleans. Nearly 150 years later his exploits were popularized in the country western song “The Battle of New Orleans” written by school principal Jimmie Driftwood. A recording by Johnny Horton won a 1960 Grammy Award.
However, Jackson also served in the American Revolution and was both the last U.S. president to serve in the Revolution and the only one to serve in both the Revolution and the War of 1812.. At age 13 he enlisted in a local militia unit. He and his brother wee captured by the British and held as prisoners of war. Some writers say he was therefore the only U.S. president to have been a prisoner of war, but some say that George Washington was held briefly by the French during the French and Indian War, making Jackson the second U.S. president to have been a prisoner of war.
Minerva Abbott
proud to be a West Virginian
proud to be a Reagan Republican
References
Biography of Andrew Jackson
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/aj7.html
Jimmy Driftwood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Driftwood
Jimmy Horton – Battle of New Orleans lyrics
http://www.lyricsdownload.com/horton-jimmy-battle-of-new-orleans-lyrics.html
The Battle of New Orleans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Orleans_%28song%29
Andrew Jackson
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson
