Wisconsin, Ozaukee County, Cedarsburg
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The American Liberty elm was named after "The Liberty Tree": Our Country's first Symbol of Freedom. On the morning of August 14, 1765, the people of Boston awakened to discover two effigies suspended from an elm tree in protest of the hated Stamp Act. From that day forward, that elm became known as the "Liberty Tree". For the next ten years, it stood in silent witness to countless meetings, speeches and celebrations, and often served as the rallying place for the Sons of Liberty. In August of 1775, as a last act of violence prior to their evacuation from Boston, British soldiers cut it down because it bore the name "Liberty."
(Colonial Era • Patriots & Patriotism • War, US Revolutionary) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
The American Liberty elm was named after "The Liberty Tree": Our Country's first Symbol of Freedom. On the morning of August 14, 1765, the people of Boston awakened to discover two effigies suspended from an elm tree in protest of the hated Stamp Act. From that day forward, that elm became known as the "Liberty Tree". For the next ten years, it stood in silent witness to countless meetings, speeches and celebrations, and often served as the rallying place for the Sons of Liberty. In August of 1775, as a last act of violence prior to their evacuation from Boston, British soldiers cut it down because it bore the name "Liberty."(Colonial Era • Patriots & Patriotism • War, US Revolutionary) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
The Seventeenth Century
The Schenectady Stockade is one of the oldest communities in America. Founded by the Dutch on land purchased from the Mohawk Indians in 1661, it came under English rule three years later. From the earliest days a timber stockade wall enclosed the settlement; however, in 1690 a massacre and fire destroyed the village in the first of the colonial wars. With the help of the Mohawks, undaunted settlers rebuilt before the new century.
The purpose of the railroad signal is not unlike that of a traffic light; it tells locomotive engineers when they can proceed, when they should proceed with caution, and when they must stop. This type of railroad signal, which uses colored lights, was introduced around the turn of the last century and is still in use today on railroads such as CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Amtrak. This type of signal has no reflectors in its lights so a locomotive headlight won't make the lights appear to be lit when they are not.
New York State purchased Johnson Hall in 1906. At that time, after almost 150 years of changing ownership, only 20 acres remained intact of the original 700+ acre property.
The Johnstown Historical Society, trustee of Johnson Hall in the early years of State ownership, posted bids in 1926 for a landscape design for the Hall's then desolate park grounds. A proposed "General Plan" established a figure 8 layout of paths and benches circling open lawns. This early twentieth century landscape has been restored to allow visitors to once again enjoy a stroll through a portion of the Johnson Hall's grounds.
Sir William Johnson built Johnson Hall in 1763 as the center of a grand estate. He was made a British baronet for his role in the French & Indian Wars, a title his son, John, inherited upon his death in 1774.
By December 1775, rebel unrest led John Johnson to stockade his house with swivel guns and artillery. The new Continental Congress ordered General Philip Schuyler to take the arms of any Loyalists in Tryon County and to "apprehend their chief." On January 18, 1776, Schuyler and Colonel Herkimer led 3,000 troops and militia to Johnstown where they disarmed Johnson and a Loyalist force of about 400 men.
The Tryon County Committee of Safety eventually ordered Sir John's arrest. Warned by friends, he fled to Canada in May with a large group of Loyalists. His pregnant wife and young son were imprisoned in Albany, escaping in the middle of the winter. Johnson returned to the region several times leading British military raids.
The Third New Jersey Regiment took possession of Johnson Hall in 1776. Eventually all of the Johnson estates were sold at auction, generating ₤3,576 for New York State, about $894,000 in 2008 dollars.
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Born here, in now-razed house, Oct. 5,1907, to Robert and Easter C. Shivers, pioneer East Texas family. As youth, worked at odd jobs to earn own pocket money. Was State Senator 12 years; Lieutenant Governor for two. A strong, progressive Governor, his term (longest in state history) was marked by reforms in state hospitals and special schools, prison and highway improvement, protection of natural resources and historic sites, and creation of agencies on alcoholism and for higher education.
When George Washington surveyed his brother Samuel’s Berkeley County land in preparation for the building of Harwood, the property included a sizable portion which has since been separated from the Harwood Estate. Dr. Samuel Washington, Colonel Samuel’s grandson, gave to his daughter Lucy Elizabeth a beautiful section of the home property. In 1840 after her marriage to John Bainbridge Packette, Lucy built a beautiful square mansion and named the property “Locust Hill”. The house was planned for hospitality and protection. The wide entrance door opens in the center to be flung open to welcome guests. The same door is fitted with an oak bar secured by strong iron slots on either side to discourage unwanted intruders. The entrance hall is spacious, with front rooms opening on either hand. Two large rooms at the rear of the hall can be thrown together by opening the nine-foot doors between them to form one immense drawing room or ballroom. During the 1870’s the basement kitchen was moved to its present location, and enclosed former porch extending the full length of the house. The second floor rooms mirror those of the main level. Locust Hill, facing east, commands a magnificent view of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Harper’s Ferry Gap, eleven miles away. An old stone smoke house and carriage house are still standing on the property. Locust Hill became a fort during the Civil War. General Philip Sheridan and his men took possession of the estate in the summer of 1864, placing the Packette family along with servants and guests in the basement under guard. The General used the house as his headquarters until August 21st, when General Jubal Early sent word that the house would be shelled and any civilians in residence should be removed at once. General Early waited at the back of the stone fence, which served as the west boundary line of Locust Hill., separating it from Sulgrave. Tired of waiting, General Early’s troops fired a cannon ball down the chimney and blew the stove to pieces as the family was leaving the kitchen under guard. Some of the Federal soldiers dressed themselves in clothes abandoned by the ladies and appeared at the windows, hoping that General Early and his men would think that the family was still in the main house. The scam was recognized and all were killed. After burying their dead on the estate, General Sheridan and his troops withdrew towards Harper’s Ferry. At the close of the War, the bodies were removed from Locust Hill and reburied in the National Cemetery at Winchester. Bullets and cannon balls damaged the rear wall of the house, and their marks remain there today. A long north porch, destroyed in the conflict, has recently been restored. A pyramidal concrete marker identifies the battle scene, number twenty of twenty-five erected in Jefferson County to distinguish places of battle during the War Between the States.
Established in 1805, Poplar Springs Baptist Church, "Mother Church" of the Tugalo Baptist Assn., began in May of that year. Some of the first members were Joseph Chandler, Thomas Wilkins, John Nail, John Mullins, and James Jackson. John Cleveland, Thomas Gilbert, Francis Calloway, Jr., were early pastors. Many landowners and slaves were members. The slave cemetery is to the right of the church on the Yow estate. On Sept. 12, 1818, delegates from 13 churches met here to form the Tugalo Baptist Assn. of the Southern Baptist Convention. The present auditorium was erected in 1873. The educational building was built in 1955.
“An unforgettable personality whose courage shone with such crystal brilliance as to brighten the world about him and uplift the spirits of those even more fortunate, but not fashioned of such heroic fibre. His is a name to remember when the going gets tough and the seductive voices of defeat sing their siren song.” -- Rogers, The Atlanta Journal.
In honor of the
These Trees
In Memory Of
In Memory Of Those Who Served
As General Rufus King's Union division marched eastward along the Warrenton Turnpike (U.S. Route 29 today), they came under fire from Confederate artillery on the distant ridge. Captain Joseph Campbell's Battery B, 4th U.S. Artillery wheeled off the road and into position atop this rise to return fire. Campbell's six guns effectively silenced the Rebel batteries, allowing Federal infantry to confront the Confederates on the neighboring Brawner FArm. These were the opening salvos of the Second Battle of Manassas.
You Stand Free
Neither side had anticipated the war's cost in blood. After the fighting at Manassas, burial details dug shallow graves where soldiers had fallen. There was little time for ceremony. Crude wooden headboards sometimes noted the soldier's name and regiment. Many went to their graves anonymously.
During the 1850s, two local railroads - the Orange & Alexandria and the Manassas Gap - met at Manassas Junction. In order to reach commercial markets near Washington, the Manassas Gap Railroad signed an agreement with its rival to use its tracks from the junction to the port of Alexandria. The annual cost of track rental cut into profits, however, and officials sought an alternate route.
