Mercy Adams Writes

  Thanksgiving at Plymouth, oil on canvas, by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, 1967 ~~~~~~~~~~ "Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people." ( 1 Chronicles 16:8, KJV ) While preparing for the gathering of family and friends this Thanksgiving season, let’s not forget to also prepare our hearts in humble gratefulness to God for the blessings and grace which He has bestowed upon us as individuals and as a nation. Here is a bit of history about Thanksgiving which you may not have been taught in school as taken from the website “A Puritan’s Mind” by Dr. C. Matthew McMahon : The celebration we now popularly regard as the ‘First Thanksgiving’ was the Pilgrims' three-day feast celebrated in early November of 1621 (although a day of thanks in America was observed in Virginia at Cape Henry in 1607) ... The Pilgrims left Plymouth, England, on September 6, 1620, sailing for a new world that offered the promise of both civil and religious liberty....

This flag carried by the colonists during the War for Independence speaks for itself. When our forefathers had their backs against the wall, so to speak, did they rely on their own strength to resist tyranny and abuse of power? Perhaps a few did, but this flag testifies to their Christian ethnos that they knew they needed the God of Heaven on their side to stand up to such a powerful earthly foe.  Please be blessed to read this history of the 'An Appeal To Heaven' flag posted at Emerging Revolutionary War by Mark Maloy : Where do our rights come from? The answer to this question is at the heart of the pine tree flag that was flown by soldiers and sailors during the Revolutionary War. The Founding Fathers were very clear about where they believed rights came from. In the Declaration of Independence, the Founders say that their “unalienable rights” were “endowed by their Creator”. This was a distillation of hundreds of years of religious and enlightenment thought and writing. B...

Throughout her life, [Nelly Custis] Lewis regarded herself as the keeper of George Washington’s legacy. She shared memories and mementos, entertained and corresponded with those seeking information, and verified or debunked new accounts. Her husband had been one of Washington’s executors and was instrumental in having a grand tomb erected at Mount Vernon, completed in 1835. At the time of Lewis’s death, she had little fortune to leave but her remaining Mount Vernon artifacts, which she distributed among her grandchildren. Woodlawn was sold in 1846, and after numerous vicissitudes, in 1951 the house and a portion of the grounds became the first property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Nelly Custis was the delight of George and Martha Washington’s lives and the most accurate purveyor of information about them. During her long life, stretching from the American Revolution until the crucial decade leading up to the  American Civil War  (1861–1865), she was a livin...

Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis (Mrs. Lawrence Lewis), 1804, by Gilbert Stuart. (Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington/ The Journal of the American Revolution) Nelly was raised in an environment where she was denied very little. The product of upper-class Virginia gentry and the influence of Washington’s status, her life was comfortable and privileged. She was accustomed to not only wealth, but the relationship of two parent figures who had a mutual love and respect for each other. Devoid of both wealth and affection, Nelly was forced to reconcile with the fact that the comforts of her childhood could not be replicated in her marriage. The Journal of the American Revolution has published a biography of Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis, the granddaughter of George Washington, by Elizabeth Reese that I think personalizes the Washington family and brings their story to life. George Washington is an icon in America, which causes us to think of him as some sort of superhuman and his family mem...

Richard Varick painted c.1787 by Ralph Earl . The portrait shows Varick in his Continental Army officers uniform although he retired his commission in 1783. The blue decoration is that of the Society of the Cincinnati. (Wikipedia) The Journal of the American Revolution is featuring the biography Richard Varick in History and Memory: Colonial Lawyer, Continental Officer, Mayor of New York City   by Keith Muchowski and I encourage you to read it in its entirety as this is the story of a man who served our country well and one who might not be known by many in today's United States. From all accounts he was a man of integrity and one who had the trust of General George Washington. Let's take a look at this patriotic man who helped secure our freedom at such a pivotal moment in history: Richard Varick was born in Hackensack, New Jersey on March 25, 1753, and was of Dutch ancestry. He began his military career in June of 1775, and was soon commissioned as a captain in the Co...

"I shall rely, therefore, confidently on that Providence, which has heretofore preserved and been bountiful to me, not doubting but that I shall return safe to you in the fall." George Washington, Letter to Martha Washington, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, June 18, 1775 Compliments of George Washington Society Source: George Washington/Facebook ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Martha's Early Life Wikipedia tells us a bit of her early years (1731 - 1748) , which also gives us insight into her adventurous personality: Martha Dandridge was born on June 2, 1731, on her parents' tobacco plantation [2] : 9 , Chestnut Grove Plantation in New Kent County the Colony of Virginia . She was the oldest daughter of Frances Jones , the granddaughter of an Anglican rector [3] : 2  and John Dandridge , a Virginia planter [3] : 2  and county clerk [2] : 9  who emigrated from England . She had three brothers and four sisters... Dandridge's father was well-connected with the Virginia...