#1837-1841

[nordleuchten]

25 Days of La Fayette: December 5th - John E. Hagey

(A short notice before we begin; I really enjoyed researching Hagey - although he drove me crazy once or twice. First of all, everybody spelled his name differently. While Hagey is the most common spelling, there is also Hague, Hagar, Haguy, Hagie and what not all.

I first came across Hagey when I stumbled over his entry in the databank of the Valley Forge Muster Rolls. The muster rolls describe him as an aide-de-camp and a member of La Fayette’s lifeguard. While some other men we have looked at thus far had only served for a very short time as La Fayette’s aide-de-camps, Hagey might have served the shortest – if at all. I thought I had a pretty clear picture of the man’s life and the life of his descendants until I found his application for a pension – that document was a wild ride.)

John E. Hagey was born in 1748 in Strasburg and died on July 13, 1841 in Nashville where he was laid to rest in the Nashville cemetery. His grave is marked with a headstone bearing a short summary of his long and eventful life:

The Nashville City Cemetery Association, Inc., Hagey, John E., Section 28.4, ID # 280352. (08/22/2022)

John E. Hagey

1748 – 1841

Born in Strasburg, Alsace, went to France 1777. Came

to America with Genera Lafayette. Chosen as a companion

and later a body guard for the General. Served in the

French Light Horse and became famous in the Battle

Of White Plains and the Siege of Yorktown and was dis-

charged at Newcastle, N. Y. Went to Harrisburg, Pa.

Became a U.S. Citizen. Married Catherine Ault. Migrated

to Greensboro, N.C. Moved to Knoxville, Tenn. and

then to Nashville where he lived the remainder of

his life. In 1825, his work took him to Huntsville, Ala.

for a short period. While there he learned his old

General was to visit Nashville. He walked over 100

Miles to see Gen. Lafayette 44 years after his dis-

charge. He was 77 at the time. Arrived at Nashville

while the parade was in progress. Placing himself

Properly as the General approached, Mr. Hagey

bowed before him. Arose and was recognized and

emotionally embraced by Lafayette. The crowd was

moved to tears. John Hagey was member of

McKendree M. E. Church.  A devout Christian. He died

In the Faith July 13, 1841. Was given a military

funeral attended by 5000 people. Laid to rest

4 p.m. 7-14-1841.

Asleep in Jesus

The Nashville City Cemetery Association, Inc., Hagey, John E., Section 28.4, ID # 280352. (08/22/2022)

This marker was erected by Hagey’s great-great-great grandson Dwight Bennett. The homepage of the cemetery also mentions that the current marker is a replacement marker. It underwent restoration in 2008.

There are a few things I would like to mention concerning this stone. First, you see the spellings Catherine and Catharine equally often in official documents. For the sake of this post, I will go with the spelling that is inscribed on the marker. Second, I could not find any primary record of La Fayette and Hagey meeting again in Nashville. There is nothing in La Fayette’s correspondences nor in Auguste Levasseur’s journals. There are however a number of secondary sources mentioning and describing such a reunion.

John and Catherine had ten children, Mary (married Steven H. Cheek), Catherine (married Joseph Baker), Elizabeth (married Nicolas Becker), Susan (married Hiram W. Martin), John (never married), Sary (married James Nealy), Margaret (married Odle B. Thrift), Nancy (married John E. Wilson), George W. (never married) and Mariah (married “Jenkins”). It appears as if there were still some more children who sadly died young. The application for a pension mentions the name of the children listed above along with their spouses and ages. As, going from the given ages, some children have died prior to the pension application and some are still alive, these ages can not be linked to a certain date and are therefore rather unhelpful.

Some of John E. Hagey’s descendants however made quite a name for themselves and we find them and the family referenced in several, more local, history books. The following is written about the Reverend James Columbus Petrie:

The History of Union County, Kentucky, Courier Co., 1886, p. 848-850.

Then there is this piece about the Honourable William Brown of the firm Brown & Bruner, bankers from Metropolis in Illinois:

The Biographical Review of Johnson, Massac, Pope and Hardin Counties, Illinois, Chicago Biographical Publishing Co., 1893, p. 560-562.

All of these leads us to John E. Hagey’s application for a pension. His record has been transcribed and revised in 2015 and can be found along with many, many other pension records in various archives. The typed document is seven pages long, so while I will not include it in full, here is the link to the PDF document for everybody who wants to read it.

The record starts with a statement by Hagey himself, made on August 1, 1832 and then two affidavits. The first statement was made by Daniel McCoy (made on October 24, 1837) and the second statement was from Peter Jennings (also made on October 24, 1837). Next in the records is a letter from George W. Hagey from May 14, 1841 on behalf of his mother who was recently widowed and also an official statement from George, given on July 8, 1859. It follows an obituary for John E. Hagey, a letter form the Department of the Interior, dated November 2, 1859 and lastly an official document from the Senate of the United States.

Hagey’s claim for a pension was initially denied in 1832 because it was concluded that he was part of the French troops and not a regular member of the Continental Army. He was therefore not entitled to a pension from the United States. After his death in 1841, his widow Catherine (who lived to the ripe age of 106) applied for a widow’s pension and was in the end denied as well and on the same terms.

To make matters short, Hagey’s statements contradict with themselves and with the history of both La Fayette’s life and the American War of Independence. He claims to have been with La Fayette in places where La Fayette had not been at the stated date, he claimed to have been with La Fayette when he had been wounded – in a battle that the Marquis actually never participated in and so on and so forth. While some of these discrepancies can be attributed to old age and a failing memory (La Fayette himself confused some events from the War for Independence during his tour in 1824/25), others are a bit more confusing.

The whole application can be summoned up by this report, written by J. Thompson, Secretary in the Department of the Interior on November 2, 1859:

Sir [Hon. George C. Whiting, Comm’r. of Pensions],

I have carefully considered the claim of Catharine Hagie, widow of John Hagie, for bounty land under Act of March 3d 1855, &c, and also for pension under Acts of June 7th 1832, and July 7th 1838,upon which an appeal has been taken from your decision.

The soldier in the application he made in 1832 declares that he came over to this country with La Fayette, as a volunteer to assist the Americans in the Revolutionary war, and that he served as a private in the regiment of Light Horse under Col. Polorotski and Capt. Escaline, to the end of the war. His claim under the Act of June 7th 1832 was rejected, and since his death the widow has renewed it, and asserted in her own behalf her title to bounty-land and pension.

To justify the allowance of either of the claims for pension it is necessary that the soldier should have “served in the Continental line or State troops, volunteers or militia,” And to obtain bounty-land under the Act of 1855, that he should have been regularly mustered or paid by the United States.

His own statement shows that he could have come under neither of these conditions, for he served (if, indeed, he rendered any service) in the French Troops, and was paid by the King of France.

I am of the opinion, therefore, that these claims are bad, and accordingly affirm your rejection of them.

The papers which accompanied your report are herewith returned to your office.

I am, very respectfully,/ Your Obd’t. Serv’t.. J. Thompson, Secretary

Interesting, is it not? I started this research by think that John E. Hagey was, maybe only for a very, very short period of time, one of General La Fayette’s aide-de-camps and otherwise served as a lifeguard – a fascinating aspect of army life in and on itself and one that I have never really looked into. There were quite some interesting sources relating to Hagey and his case seemed to be a very simple one at first. Now, at the end of this post however, I am no longer entirely sure if Hagey truly served under La Fayette in the way that he had stated. I do believe however that he had been acquainted with La Fayette one way or another.

Opinions anybody?

[myphotoshootideas]

BLEU BAO

BAO, DIM SUM & COCKTAILS Currently in France, and living in Asia for most of my time, I love French cuisine but there comes a time when I end up missing Asian cuisine. Before in Paris it was very hard to find a good restaurant serving Asian cuisine of the level you can find on the Asian continent. A Taste of Authenticity: Bleu Bao Delivers a Culinary Journey to Paris’ Heart Nestled in the…

[taquela16]

Patriotic

Daily writing promptAre you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you?View all responses ~ My Life As A Mom

[healthandfitnessblood]

Embracing the Journey: Charting My Own Path at 22

What were your parents doing at your age? I am 22 right now and by this time my parents had done a lot that I still haven’t ! Marriage : My mom got married at this age and I am not at all even close to getting married any time soon !Financial Independent: By 22, my dad was financially independent and was earning enough to even support dadu dadi.Life Partner: My parents have been together since…

[clawmarks]

Voyage autour du monde exécuté pendant les années 1836 et 1837 sur la corvette la Bonite - 1841 - via Internet Archive

[whencyclopedia]

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American philosopher, writer, naturalist, and political activist. He is best known for his book Walden, published in 1854, which recounts his two-year experiment living alone in a small cottage at Walden Pond two miles outside Concord, Massachusetts, and his essay On the Duty of Civil Disobedience written in 1849 shortly after his release from a Concord jail for non-payment of a poll tax.

Early Life & Transcendentalism

Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts, on 12 July 1817. He studied at Harvard College and his worldview was shaped by transcendentalism, a belief in the divinity of human nature, which was not a coherent philosophy but an attitude or state of mind that inspired many American intellectuals who flourished between 1820 and 1860. The movement's foremost representative, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) had given the Phi Beta Kappa commencement address at Harvard with Thoreau in attendance. Other notable transcendentalists were Margaret Fuller, Louisa May Alcott, Walt Whitman, and Bronson Alcott. They were young Americans who had been born into the Unitarianism of New England. According to Perry Miller in his American Transcendentalists, they responded to the new literature of England and the continent "revolting" against the rationalism of Harvard College. Although Protestant, they turned against the Protestant ethic, choosing instead to cultivate the arts of leisure to avoid making money. To some, it was intense individualism, but to others, it was sympathy for the poor and oppressed. Morris wrote: "…the self-reliance and self-determination exalted by the transcendentalists gave to American writers a freedom that vitalized the first period of national letters." (600)

Thoreau graduated in 1837 without distinction and returned to Concord; he viewed Concord as a microcosm of the world. Instead of seeking employment like his fellow graduates, he chose instead to become an observer and interpreter, a "thinker of thoughts, a student of nature and of literature – half-scientist and half-poet" (Mead, 112) He tried teaching for a while and even land surveying. In Walden he wrote, "I did not teach for the good of my fellow man but simply for a livelihood, this was a failure" (65). He even worked for a time in his family's pencil factory. An occasional odd job provided him with enough money to be clothed and fed. He became friends with Emerson, who took him into his home (1841-43) and offered him advice on the craft of poetry and writing. Thoreau moved briefly to New York, living with Emerson's brother, to try to sell some of his essays and poems, but he was unsuccessful.

Continue reading...

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Lulu Merle Johnson

Lulu Merle Johnson was pioneer in education and the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in the state of Iowa. Born on September 14, 1907 in Gravity, Iowa to Jeanette (Burton) and Richard Johnson, her mother was the daughter of freed slaves, and her father, who was formerly enslaved, owned and operated his own barbershop. The family were the only Black residents in the town and were highly respected.

Johnson’s family moved to eastern Iowa when she was entering her senior year. In 1925, she graduated from Clinton High School, where she was captain of the girls’ basketball team. After graduation, Johnson enrolled at the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa). Out of over 2,000 students, there were only 64 Black students–14 women and 50 men. University housing was segregated, so Johnson and the other Black students had to reside in off-campus housing.

Lulu Johnson obtained all three of her degrees from the University of Iowa. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1929, followed one year later by a master’s. Throughout the 1930s, Johnson worked on a doctorate in American history. She received support from the Rockefeller Foundation.

Johnson, a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, challenged the university’s racial structure. As an undergraduate, she insisted on sitting in front row seats assigned to white students in her political science class. As a graduate student, she protested the university’s pool policies. All University of Iowa students were required to pass a swimming test. The university was willing to let Johnson as well as the other Black students waive the test in order to keep them out of the pool, so they would not have to drain and refill it for the white students. Johnson and the other students informed their instructor that they would attend class at 5:00 am and take the swimming test, making the pool unusable for the remainder of the school day. Her action ended the university’s racially-discriminatory pool policy.

In 1941, Lula Merle Johnson became the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. Her thesis was “The Problem of Slavery in the Old Northwest, 1787-1858.” She held academic appointments at a number of HBCU’s, including Talladega University in Alabama; Tougaloo College in Mississippi; Florida A&M; and West Virginia State College.  In 1952, she accepted a position at Cheyney State College in Pennsylvania, where she was a history professor and dean of women. Dr. Johnson retired from Cheyney State as the director of the Department of Social and Behavioral Science.  She moved to Millsboro, Delaware and spent the remainder of her life traveling with her partner, Eunice Johnson. She died on October 18, 1995, at the age of 88.

In 2018, the Graduate College at the University of Iowa established the Lulu Merle Johnson Fellowship, which provides funding and support for Ph.D. students from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups. On June 24, 2021, the Johnson County (Iowa) Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to change the county’s name to Lulu Merle Johnson County. The county was originally named for Vice President Richard M. Johnson (1837-1841), a slaveholder who never resided in Iowa and claimed credit for killing Shawnee Chief Tecumseh during the War of 1812. Lulu Merle Johnson County is only the second in the nation named after an African American. (The other is Martin Luther King County in Washington.) The University of Iowa, where Lulu Johnson received her education, is the county seat of Johnson County.

https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/people-african-american-history/lulu-merle-johnson-1907-1995/

[notasfilosoficas]

“La vida es lo poco que nos sobra de la muerte”

Walt Whitman

Fue un poeta, enfermero voluntario, ensayista, periodista y humanista estadounidense nacido en West Hills, Nueva York en mayo de 1819. Considerado entre los mas influyentes escritores estadounidenses y ha sido llamado el padre del verso libre.

Sus padres tenían creencias afines a los cuáqueros, una comunidad religiosa sin credo definido que pretende revivir el cristianismo primitivo. Fue el segundo de 9 hijos y apodado Walt para distinguirlo del nombre de su padre.

A la edad de 4 años, Walt se muda con su familia a West Hills Brooklyn, viviendo en una casa de gran precariedad, y de la cual Whitman recordaría como una época de escasez, mas no de infelicidad por las características propias de la familia.

A los 11 años, terminó sus estudios formales y comenzó a trabajar para apoyar a su familia. Trabajó como empleado en una oficina de dos abogados y mas tarde pasó a ser aprendiz en el semanario de Long Island “The Patriot”, es allí en donde aprendería parte del oficio así como escribirá composiciones sentimentales.

Al año siguiente la familia de Walt regresa a West Hills pero el se queda en Brooklyn en donde trabajaría en otro semanario y en donde publicaría sus primeros poemas de forma anónima en el New York Mirror.

En 1836, derivado del colapso general de la economía en el nombrado Pánico de 1837, Walt regresa con su familia que ahora vive en Hempstead Long Island, dedicándose a la docencia.

En 1841 inició una carrera como periodista publicando diversos escritos en periódicos, revistas y foros culturales, llegando a ser director de periódicos como el Long Islander y el Brooklyn Eagle.

Viajó a Nueva Orleans en 1850, en donde trabajó como constructor por 5 años y posteriormente con sus propios recursos, editó la colección de poemas titulada “Hojas de Hierbas” que a la larga se convirtió en su única y esencial obra, acentuada por su libertad formal y de un lirismo y poderosa expresividad. La primera edición constó de un total de 795 copias.

El libro recibió un gran apoyo por parte de Ralph Waldo Emerson, quién escribió una carta de cinco halagadoras páginas a Whitman y habló excelentemente del libro a sus amigos.

Durante la guerra civil estadounidense, Whitman ocupó el puesto de enfermero y tras la finalización del conflicto, fue oficinista en el Departamento de Interior y en la Fiscalía General.

Tras sufrir un evento cardiovascular en 1873, Whitman se muda de Washington a Nueva Jersey, y posteriormente a Camden a casa de un hermano, esta época se consideró altamente productiva para el trabajo literario de Whitman, en 1884, Whitman compró su propia casa junto con una ama de llaves.

Al final del año de 1891, Walt Whitman preparó una edición final de Hojas de Hierba y preparándose para el final, hizo erigir un mausoleo de granito, muriendo finalmente en marzo de 1892 a la edad de 72 años.

Whitman fue llamado el primer poeta de la democracia estadounidense, su trabajó rompió todos los cánones de la forma poética y es generalmente cercano a la prosa. Utilizó imágenes y símbolos inusuales en poesía como ramitas de paja y escombros.

Whitman presenta un tono expansionista y afirmativo en su poesía, su voz poética celebra al nuevo hombre y a la nueva mujer en un mundo democrático. Para Whitman, “el poeta debe lograr que las palabras transmitan fuerza, haciendo que las palabras canten, dancen, sangren, naveguen barcos, ejecuten lo masculino y lo femenino, besen, y hagan todo lo que la mujer, el hombre o los poderes naturales pueden hacer”.

El erotismo, presente en los versos de Whitman, potencia una poesía intensa y sugerente a través de imágenes construidas sobre un lenguaje apasionado y delicado a la vez. El erotismo se manifiesta en una relación con el otro, que puede ser hombre o mujer, pero también en la experiencia de una relación autocrítica, que explora la propia sexualidad, recorriendo el cuerpo y las sensaciones sensuales sin pudor.

Fuentes: Wikipedia, alojacriticon.com, biografiasyvidas.com, sácielo.cl

[lboogie1906]

President General Juan José Nieto Gil (June 24, 1805 -July 17, 1866) a Colombian politician, writer, and army general was the first president of African descent in Colombia. He was born in Loma del Muerto, Colombia to Tomás Nicolás Nieto and Benedicta Nieto. He had three siblings.

He joined the Colombian Army and rose in rank to the position of general. He was married twice, first to Maria Rita Margarita del Carmen Palacio Ponce de Leon y Garcia y del Fierro (1827-30). The couple had a son together. He married Joséta Teresa Placida de los Dolores Carero y de Leguina (1834).

In 1839, he was elected to the provincial chamber of Cartagena. He participated in the Colombian Civil War (1837-1841), known as the War of the Supremes. He was captured and sent into exile in Kingston, Jamaica for five years. He published books, including The Squid and The Daughter of the Moors and Los Moriscos. He reentered politics and in 1849, he took over Cartagena’s Provincial Government for Governor José Maria Obando. He administered Cartagena (1849-1851).

In 1860, a second Colombian civil war occurred between the Granadian Confederation (Colombia), led by Mariano Ospina Rodriquez, and the Colombian State of Cauea, led by General Thomas Cipriano de Mosquera. In November 1860, he took control of Northern Colombia to unite the warring factions. His major opponent was Mosquera who had conquered all of southern Colombia. On January 25, 1861, a coup occurred that overthrew President Mariano Ospina Rodriquez. Mosquera intended to declare himself president, but when he failed to appear at the Presidential Palace, he stepped in and became president of the entire nation.

His rule was short-lived. On July 18, 1861, General Mosquera forced him from power and took control of the nation. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[opera-ghosts]

OTD in Music History: Composer Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini (1760 - 1842) -- better known as Luigi Cherubini -- is born in Italy. Although Cherubini is now largely relegated to the pages of music history books, in his own time he commanded widespread praise from the highest quarters. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) regarded Cherubini as his "greatest" contemporary, and at his specific request, Cherubini's 1st Requiem Mass (1816) was performed at Beethoven's funeral. Giaochino Rossini (1792 - 1868) hailed Cherubini's operas, and Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869) and Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856) both praised them in the press. Cherubini was also good friends with Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849), and in 1841 he became the first musician to be awarded the prestigious "Commandeur de la Legion d'honneur." Cherubini's "posterity problem" stems in large part from the fact that after he assumed the directorship of the Paris Conservatoire in 1822, he discharged his duties in a highly reactionary manner and thus came into intense conflict with Berlioz (who studied there from 1824 to 1830). The two men personally despised each other, and Berlioz's deeply unflattering portrayal of Cherubini in his "Memoirs" (1865) went a long way towards tarnishing the older man's reputation. Nevertheless, despite his posthumous fall from grace, Cherubini’s work has never entirely faded from view; for example, Maria Callas (1923 - 1977) performed his opera “Medea” dozens of times over the course of her career. PICTURED: An autograph receipt that Cherubini wrote out and signed in 1837, accounting for royalties from the publication of his 2nd Requiem Mass (1836). Cherubini actually wrote the 2nd Requiem Mass -- which only employs male voices -- for use at his *own* funeral, after his 1st Requiem Mass came in for criticism by Catholic authorities for utilizing female voices.

[traineecryptid]

NPSS Weibo Q&A (20240831) Part 7

This is a Q&A session held on Weibo. People will tag their questions with the hashtag #南派三叔藏海花在线答疑# (#NPSS Zang Hai Hua Online Q&A#) and NPSS will look through the tag to pick some to answer. The event started at 1500 hours on 2024 August 31st.

Folder with screenshots and big compilation google doc is here. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 4 is here. Part 5 is here. Part 6 is here.

0237

#NPSS Zang Hai Hua Online Q&A# There is always a special smoke-fire fragrance on Hei Yanjing's body. The components of the fragrance are very complicated. When the components change, it would transmit a lot of information to those familiar with him.

0243

#NPSS Zang Hai Hua Online Q&A#  You all should go to sleep and continue tomorrow. I’ll continue scooping questions from the front tomorrow. (T/N: i think this means that he’ll take the older questions instead of the fresh questions, so people won't keep spamming to keep their questions on top of the “sort by newest” section?) Don’t sleep too late.

1832

Q: Sanshu, if Wu Xie had gone to Mount Changbai but didn’t manage to fetch Xiaoge, what would he do?

A: Which scenario of “didn’t manage to fetch Xiaoge”? Did he go to the wrong place or had Xiaoge come out earlier?

1837

Q: Shu, if [one] were to get a gift for Xiaoge, what would Xiaoge like to receive the most?

A: Noise canceling headphones

1839

Q: Shu, what would the Iron Triangle think if they saw ZHH while watching TV?

A: Eh? Why have all the names of the places changed?

1841

Q: I’m curious, what is the present that Xiaohua would like to receive the most?

A: A peaceful sleep.

1842

Q: Wu Xie has so many dogs. Is he usually the one who walks them? Has he ever had the experience of losing his slippers while chasing after his dogs? Then he would really become shoe-less (T/N: No Shoes is a homophone for Wu Xie.) If the dog stepped on moss and slipped into the pond, and he has to go scoop it up, is he then Wu Scooping Dog? (T/N: Wu Scooping Dog is a homophone for Wu Laogou.) A: Wah, you’ve finished writing it all.

1845

Q: If he could do it all over again, would Xiaoge still choose to be the patriarch and receive the Tianshou? A: Of course he will.

1850

Q: What was in Sha Hai Wu Xie's mind when he fell off the cliff?

A: He thought of a song.

1856

Q: Has Hei Xiazi met Xie Yuchen when he was little? If the current day Hei Xiazi could meet little Xie Yuchen, what would he say to Xie Yuchen? 

A: Remember, you have never seen me before.

1859

Q: Shu, I'm still doubting if it was really Xiaoge who gave the mission of defeating the Night King to Wu Xie. I feel like in the books, Xiaoge wants to get Wu Xie out and wouldn’t voluntarily let Wu Xie be in danger. So was it really Xiaoge’s mission or is Zhang Haike lying to Wu Xie?

A: Please watch the drama closely.

1902

Q: Shu! If Xilaimian got set up with negative reviews, how would the Iron Triangle react?

A: Squeeze their phone till it explodes.

1931

Q: What is Xiaoge’s display name in Wu Xie’s Wechat? (T/N: You can set a different display name for the contacts in Wechat, just like normal phone contacts.)

A: Cashier.

1935

Q: Shu, can there be a series that uses all the same actors some day? Like in Harry Potter.

A: In the future, maybe it can happen in some movies.

2012

I’ve had a mental breakdown. No replies for now, I’m going to go watch the drama.

a very funny point to stop at really. but as promised, double updates today!

[o-craven-canto]

Paintings by John Martin (1789-1854). Top to bottom:

The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, 1821 The Deluge, 1834 The Destruction of the Pharaoh’s Host, 1836 The Country of the Iguanodon, 1837 Destruction of Tyre, 1840 Pandemonium, 1841 The Great Day of Wrath, 1851 The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, 1852

Mesmerized by the scale of these paintings. The white-hot incandescence of the Vesuvius and Sodom, the weight of sloshing water in the Deluge and Tyre, the sheer size of the crumbling rocks in the Day of Wrath, the murky glow around Pandemonium, the way all human figures are so tiny and vulnerable... (I think the person standing in front of Pandemonium is supposed to be Milton’s Satan)

EDIT: added the Pharaoh, which I had forgot.

[taquela16]

Biography

Daily writing promptHave you ever unintentionally broken the law?View all responses ~ My Life As A Mom

[healthandfitnessblood]

Comprehensive Legal Reforms for Social Progress and Equality

If you had the power to change one law, what would it be and why? 1. Supplant all the religion-explicit marriage acts with a uniform common demonstration. Expect that all relationships be held in court, and derecognize relationships held in strict establishments, in spite of the fact that individuals are allowed to wed according to their strict convictions subsequently. This will permit better…

[clawmarks]

Voyage autour du monde exécuté pendant les années 1836 et 1837 sur la corvette la Bonite - 1841 - via Internet Archive

[maridemira]

William Braine: Before the Franklin Expedition

He was a marine, a seaman, a husband, son, a crew member....What was life like for him prior to the famous Franklin Expedition? Who was he?

In this essay, we're gonna look at the life of William Braine, who was famously one of the Royal Marines in the Franklin Expedition. In this post, we're gonna look at Braine's life before the Franklin Expedition. Now, a disclaimer here, most of the information comes from sources found by @radiojamming and @entwinedmoon , so shout out to them. And usually, what we all know is technically mostly about his death and post-mortem, but we do know what year he was born. So stick around as we dive deep into the life of William Braine.

William Braine was born in the village of Oakhill in Somerset on March 1814. He was the third son of Shadrach and Honor Braine (nèe King), and is one of 7 children, 6 boys and 1 girl, though his oldest brother Thomas had died when he was two months old. He was baptised on May 28, 1815, in the parish of Ashwick. His father was a quarry worker and according to a biography of Braine, Shadrach Braine probably came to Oakhill to secure a job, and once he was able to and rent a two roomed cottage, he brought his wife with him to the village and thus, it was here that William was born. Almost nothing is known about Braine's mother, Honor, except for the fact that she died on August of 1823, when William was 9 years old and his father married a spinster named Elizabeth Bun. We also don't know anything about Elizabeth Bun either except for the fact that she became William's stepmother. We may hypothesise that Shadrach needed someone to take care of the children but whatever the reason may be, we'll never know.

William never had the benefit of schooling,this was evident when he came to Yeovil to join the Navy as a royal marine, instead of signing his name, he signed with an X. In fact, he left his home on late 1833 and arrived in Yeovil, Somerset to sign up as a royal marine private. The journey was rugged that time, according to Parson Skinner, the weather that December was incredibly snowy and rugged. Nevertheless, William and the other Marines who signed up travelled to Plymouth to begin their training. They would then be placed in Stonehouse Barracks where they would have been given their basic training.

On July 1834, 7 months after signing up and training as a Royal Marine Light Infantryman (RMLI), Braine was then transferred to the 8th Company Woolwich Division. This division reportedly was made of one battery, meaning troop, of the Royal Marine Artillery (RMA). However, according to the biography, Braine might have taken two routes to complete this journey, either by sea or by land, though the biography also sides with the former stating that it would have been a much swifter journey. It is certainly possible though, that in 1837, Private Braine had been involved in the burial of King William IV and the coronation of Queen Victoria. This same biography also states that Braine might have had the chance to see the action in the First Spanish Carlist War which happened in 1833 to 1840, though we are actually not certain if Braine indeed get to see the action, but he may probably have learned of it. In 1839, the First Opium War started and many detachments were sent to fight. It would be more possible that Braine was one of the detachments sent and may have fought alongside Thomas Hartnell Jr., John Hartnell's younger brother (Though really, they were probably on different ships and locations, and probably never met until 1845 in the Franklin Expedition). The British had won the war in August 29, 1842.

In October 31, 1841, 27 year old William Braine married Eliza Wood in Woolwich. We know very little about Mrs. Braine except for the fact that her father was William Wood. She too was illiterate, and by this point, both of the couple's fathers had been general labourers. There were no known children that resulted from their marriage, although it's possible that the couple did conceive, but they either had a miscarriage or their child was short lived and no information has survived, or it was probably because William was frequently away for them to be able to have children.

The years between 1841 and 1845 had been a peaceful time for William, except for the fact that according to Ralph Lloyd-Jones' paper on the Royal Marines of the Franklin Expedition, on March 9, 1844 William Braine had "Run from Furlough" which meant that he had exceeded a period of leave. We may not know why, maybe because of family affairs, we just don't know. But Lloyd-Jones suggest that this may be the reason why Braine, despite his 10 years of service as a Royal Marine Private 3rd Class, never received a promotion. One more fact is that he never appeared in any court martial or Defaulters book which suggest that he had a clean service record, but because the life of Royal Marines were not recorded until the 1880s, we may probably not know for certain what he had really done between 1833-1845.

In May of 1845, William Braine was one of the seven detachments of HMS Erebus of the famous Franklin Expedition. However, he never alloted his pay to anyone, not even his wife, but it is unknown why, but we may think that he probably is not on good terms with his family, or that something else was going on, either way may be a reason or it could be because of a completely different reason. Either way, we don't know. This is the final service that Royal Marine Private Braine would perform, because he died just after the first wintering of the expedition on April 3, 1846, at just 32 years old possibly of ailments unknown and was buried next to 20 year old Petty Officer and Lead Stoker John Torrington of the HMS Terror and 25 year old Able-bodied Seaman John Hartnell of the HMS Erebus in Beechey Island. As we know, the Franklin Expedition then sailed south to King William Land (now King William Island) which turned into a disaster and the rest is history.

William Braine was one of those who came from low backgrounds, yet made a significant impact in the history of the fate of the Franklin Expedition. Even though he is gone, he is not forgotten.

Sources: The Life of William Braine, The Royal Marines on Franklin's Last Expedition by Ralph Lloyd-Jones, Buried in Ice (1988)