Samuel Clemens born

Samuel L. Clemens
(1835- 1910)

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on this date in 1835 in Florida, Missouri. His family moved to Hannibal, Missouri when he was four and it was growing up in this small town on the banks of the Mississippi that formed the basis for his famous novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Clemens later achieved his childhood dream of becoming a pilot on a Mississippi river steamboat.

When the Civil War shut down river traffic Clemens went west and began his career as a newspaper reporter and writer in earnest. He adopted the pen name Mark Twain, a term used on the Mississippi for water depth (two fathoms). During his lifetime Samuel Clemens achieved world wide fame for his novels and writings. He died on April 21, 1910 in Redding, Connecticut.

Semper Fidelis

Today is the Marines Corps Birthday. On November 10, 1775 the Second Continental Congress authorized the raising of two battalions of Continental Marines. Tradition has it that Captain Samuel Nicholas began the first recruiting drive at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia.

The U.S. Marines have fought with distinction in all of the nations wars but in modern times their reputation was cemented by their actions at Belleau Wood in World War One and in the Pacific theatre of World War Two. The bloody actions on Guadalcanal, Tarawa and most famously the fighting and the raising of the flag over Iwo Jima have ingrained the memory of their sacrifice in the minds of the American people. Semper Fi!

The Spirit of '76

"The Spirit of '76"

This famous painting, The Spirit of '76, was painted by Archibald M. Willard, an amateur painter from Ohio. (Several versions of this painting were made, but this is the most famous version). The painting was made in time to be exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Penn. in 1876. Commonly referred to as Yankee Doodle, it was then transported and exhibited across the country before being purchased by General John Devereux of Marblehead. The painting is on permanent display in the selectman room at Abbott Hall, in Marblehead, Mass.

A number of other paintings are on display in the room, along with a marble bust of Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the the Declaration of Independence. Many other items relating to the history of Marblehead are on display throughout the building. A small maritime museum is located on the first floor, with viewing hours by appointment and by chance. Abbott Hall is located at 188 Washington St. Marblehead, Mass. 01945 Abbott Hall is closed on Sundays.

Lord Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown

On this date in history in 1781 British General Lord Cornwallis surrendered his command to a combined American and French force led by General George Washington at Yorktown, VA. This effectively ended the war for America's Independence, although a formal peace treaty was not signed until 1783 in Paris.

The Mayflower Compact

Signing the Mayflower Compact
Bradford St.
Provincetown, Mass.

After a torturous three month crossing of the Atlantic Ocean a small group of Pilgrims (separatists from the Puritan Church of England) found themselves in a new land. Having taken a more northerly course than originally planned the crew and the passengers of the Mayflower began to survey the harbor and the surrounding land of what is now Provincetown, Mass.

They found the area unsuitable to their needs and went on to establish their settlement in what is now Plymouth, Mass., but while still in the harbor the Pilgrims wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact. This compact or agreement was meant to establish a new form of governance for their new colony under the auspices ands authority of their sovereign King James I. It was signed by 41 of the colonists. The text is as follows:

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our selves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November [New Style, November 21], in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620.

This bas-relief of the signing can be found on Bradford St. in Provincetown at the base of the Pilgrim Monument.