Happy Birthday George !!!!!

[justjohn]

Born: February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia




Presidents' Day or Washington's Birthday?

Whose holiday is the third Monday in February?

by Ann Marie Imbornoni

In 2007, Washington's Birthday falls on Monday, February 19.
Well, according to the federal government, the holiday observed on the third Monday in February is officially Washington's Birthday. But many Americans believe that this holiday is now called "Presidents' Day," in honor of both Presidents Washington and Lincoln, whose birthdays are Feb. 22 and Feb. 12, respectively. It turns out that whether you honor one or the other or both of these presidents may depend on where you live.

States Decide on Holidays

The states are not obliged to adopt federal holidays, which only affect federal offices and agencies. While most states have adopted Washington's Birthday, a dozen of them officially celebrate Presidents' Day. A number of the states that celebrate Washington's Birthday also recognize Lincoln's Birthday as a separate legal holiday.

WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY

George Washington was born on Feb. 11, 1731, according to the Julian calendar. In 1752, however, Britain and her colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar, jumping ahead 11 days and making January the first month of the year instead of March. According to this calendar, Washington's birthday occurred on Feb. 22, 1732. The federal holiday was celebrated on Feb. 22 until 1971, when it was moved to the third Monday in February.

When Was the First Public Celebration of Washington's Birthday?

Washington's Birthday has a history as old as our country. It was celebrated publicly for the first time in the late 18th century, while George Washington was still president.

Washington's Birthday became official in 1885, when President Chester Arthur signed a bill making it a federal holiday. Meanwhile, there was President Lincoln's birthday on Feb. 12, which never became a federal holiday but was celebrated as a legal holiday in many states outside the old Confederacy.

Origins of the Monday Holiday

In 1968, Congress passed the Monday Holidays Act, which moved the official observance of Washington's birthday from Feb. 22 to the third Monday in February. Some reformers had wanted to change the name of the holiday as well, to Presidents' Day, in honor of both Lincoln and Washington, but that proposal was rejected by Congress, and the holiday remained officially Washington's Birthday.

Nevertheless, there was a popular misconception that the day had been officially renamed, a misconception only reinforced by the fact that the third Monday in February can only occur between Feb. 15 and Feb. 21. This means that the holiday is always after Lincoln's birthday and before Washington's birthday, without ever coinciding with either. Furthermore, some states which had previously celebrated Lincoln's Birthday dropped the observance after the federal holiday reforms, supporting the notion that the two presidential birthdays had been combined.

While the name change has never been authorized by Congress, it has gained a strong hold on the public consciousness, and is generally used on calendars, in advertising, and even by many government agencies. There have been attempts to introduce legislation requiring federal agencies to call the day Washington's Birthday, but these have never gotten very far. No matter what's in the law books, the popular usage is now well established.
You Can't Please All of the People...

Many people feel that Lincoln, the president credited with preserving the nation during the Civil War, has been short-changed. To them, having Presidents' Day is a sensible way to recognize both Washington and Lincoln. Others feel just as strongly that having an inclusive Presidents' Day diminishes Washington's importance in American history.

;D ;D

[bescheid]

J.J.

I have read of this man and his life with the revolution, formation of a military out of very little. Of his creating out of very little, formation of a fighting force for against a formidable foe of the British might.

This is just a man in appearance, but more so, as a master of development of a people. It is almost as if the man was possessed with the dogma of patience to no end, with a vision that is not of man.

With the American Civil War of states against states of south and north {Union states against Confederacy States} created a mass of tactical lessons to be taught in our military schools. For the same examples of topography with use of calvary, is the same for use of Panzer. The troop movements of organized forces is the same as of today, with exception of speed and transport.

The tactics developed by both sides of the American Civil War as exampled by Generals: Robert E. Lee and of Ulyses Grant and that of William Sherman. Were so very masterful..

For these Generals in defense of their leadership, developed very masterful plans of successful weapons of war. As exampled: the use of Armoured ships, tactical use of foot solders against a Superior force. Development of ant-personnel weapons of shrapnel expending ammunition. All of a high technology for the day.

The tactics of the day, are not wasted. For it is the successes of the commanding Generals, that are recorded and used as the roadmaps of futured tactical use.

Charles

[Mary]

Charles,

Did you realize that submarines were also used during the Civil War?

Here is a link that you, as a sea-faring man, may find of interest.

americancivilwar.com/tcwn/civil_war/naval_submarine.html

I'm glad to know that you know so much of our Civil War and it's military men. From the Revolutionary War through the Civil War is the time period that one can find the reasons for the roots of our patriotism and love of country, if not always of it's leaders.

I think if more people learned of our history there would be more understanding of the (US) patriotic statements made on this forum. There are many times statements are misunderstood, and I think that is just from lack of knowledge, and it can go both ways. I would surely make mistakes in understanding some statements from others raised outside the US.

I'm glad you enjoy history, It's always fascinated me. If you ever have a chance, try to visit Gettysburg here in PA. There are also many great historic places in Virginia. It's inspiring.

Mary

[Jaga]

You know that George, a friend of our forum has the birthday on the 20th? I guess, he was named after the great president!

[Mary]

admin said:

You know that George, a friend of our forum has the birthday on the 20th? I guess, he was named after the great president!

Well Happy Birthday other George!

[Mary]

Charles,

After my last post I remembered about a place called New Market Battlefield in Virginia. I visited it back about 20 some years ago.

This battle was mostly fought by cadets who had no experience. They were aged 15 - 21. It reminded me of another thread concerning using children in combat. Here is a small portion and link if you or anyone else is interested.

The 257 VMI cadets, aged 15 to 21, [1] stepped into the gap along the fence just as the 34th Massachusetts started its attack. Along the orchard fence line, cadet John Howard recalled, "It was an ordinary rail fence, about four feet high but as I surmounted to topmost rail it felt at least ten feet up in the air and the subject of hostile aim. But in clearing this obstruction I was leaving all thought of individuality behind," The cadets met the Union charge and turned it back. Now the entire Confederate line swept forward over the rain-soaked and recently plowed wheatfield. This field would later be dubbed the "Field of Lost Shoes" by the cadets because of the many pieces of footwear that were pulled off the cadet's feet by the suction of the mud as the Corps charged forward.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Market

[justjohn]

Washington's Final Wishes

The Washington Post, 14 December 2000
By Steven Ginsberg

Christine Smith enters the vault. She slides over to flat file cabinets in a rear corner, opens the top drawer and lifts a sheet of white cardboard, revealing tattered, tannish pages with script penned in dark ink.

Smith plucks one. It is Page 25 of the last will and testament of George Washington--on which he divvies parts of his estate among relatives--and she takes it to her desk, where she will mend holes caused by unusual wear and tear.

"This is humbling," Smith says as she places the sheet on her desk in her Alexandria office.

This is a restoration project, the project, that Smith has been working on for more than two years. She alone has been entrusted with refurbishing what historians describe as one of the most precious relics of early America, the final thoughts of a man who died 201 years ago today.

"I think it's probably one of the two most important things George Washington ever wrote," said Jim Rees, executive director of Mount Vernon, placing it on a par with his farewell address as president.

Its value is not lost on Smith. For the first nine months she had the 44-page document, she barely touched it. Too awed and intimidated to jump right in, she spent her time on other projects, all the while studying Washington, the will and William Berwick, the only other professional to restore the document.

"Every now and then, I would go in and look at it," she recalled.

Fairfax County, which has owned the will since it was filed there shortly after Washington's death in 1799, allocated $100,000 for the restoration and didn't give Smith a deadline. Smith, 51, a graduate of the Winterthur Museum-University of Delaware art conservation program and a former paper conservator for the Smithsonian, has restored several of Washington's manuscripts and art by such notables as Rembrandt.

She is restoring the will in stages, so no page has been completed. She expects to finish early next year, and her work will initially be on display at Mount Vernon, though the document probably will return to Fairfax.

The first major step was the removal of a protective silk coating placed over the pages by Berwick. She then washed the sheets in water (it's okay, they can take it) to clear potential stains and protect the pages from acidic elements in the ink. A protective gelatin coating was applied. Then Smith began mending.

On this day, she is shoring up a hole in Page 25. Smith takes a small glass of methyl cellulose out of a refrigerator. The cellulose, clear and gloppy, will be mixed with wheat starch for seven minutes in a flat, glass dish to form an adhesive.

Smith begins mixing, surrounded by dozens of scalpels, brushes, spatulas and other instruments used to manipulate fragments of paper. There is a small radio in a corner that is normally tuned to NPR, not that Smith ever really hears it.

There are many rules to this business. No drinks, obviously. No jewelry, nail polish or lipstick either. Hands must be washed incessantly to wipe away harmful oils. And if the phone rings, Smith e-v-e-r s-o s-l-o-w-l-y backs away from her work space before racing across the room to answer it.

"Now it looks pretty good," Smith says after a few minutes, rubbing her solution between her fingers. But it's not quite sticky enough.

Restoring historic documents is not titillating work, Smith says, as she continues to knead with a long brush. "There are these intermediate periods that go on for days and weeks and months. How you get there is anything but dramatic."

The drama lies in how the will got to Smith, traveling almost full circle from Mount Vernon to Smith's nondescript, second-story office a few miles from Washington's home. The office houses her two-person firm, Conservation of Art on Paper Inc., and sits above a SunTrust bank branch. It is on Mount Vernon Avenue.

With Union troops approaching in 1861, the clerk of the court of Fairfax County gave the will to his wife to hide. She folded it into her petticoat and took it to a nearby plantation, where the will was buried in a wine cellar. Later, it was transported to Richmond, before being returned to Fairfax after the war.

The journey, burial and humidity weakened the paper and tore holes. In an attempt to fortify the pages, someone sewed thread across the center of some sheets. In 1910, Berwick, a Library of Congress employee, mended the pages with a mix of flour, cornstarch and water and covered each page with the silk coating that is now outdated.

Smith rubs her fingers again. She adds more methyl cellulose and a touch of deionized water to get the right viscosity.

Having finished making the adhesive, Smith reaches for the material that will be pasted into the hole, tosa tengujo, a sheer Japanese tissue noted for its strength. She colored portions of the tissue in shades of tan to match each page of the will. She can make a perfect match only on sunny days because artificial light is misleading.

Smith pauses before proceeding. "He has beautiful handwriting," she says. "His thoughts were very profound."

His magnanimity shines in the first section, in which he frees his slaves upon the death of his wife and provides money to establish three schools, one for poor children.

Washington the soldier is seen in his dramatic statement on Page 19 that his swords are to be unsheathed only ". . . for self defence, or in defence of their Country and its rights."

"I think [Washington's] is probably the most revealing" will of all the presidents', said Herbert Collins, former executive director of American history at the Smithsonian and author of "Wills of the Presidents."

It is history of the highest order. "It was really overwhelming for a while," Smith says of the task. "I don't want to say I was . . . catatonic. But I came to be stopped by the object in a way you wouldn't be if it was a more routine thing."

She puts on a head loupe with magnifying lenses to see the exact spot of the mend. She cuts a tiny piece of the tissue and then pares it a little more. It drops on her white lab coat. She retrieves it with tweezers. "My hands," Smith calls them.

She places the one-by-four-millimeter tissue on a piece of glass and applies the adhesive to the back of the tissue. With her fingernail and a Teflon spatula, she carefully positions it on the will and pushes it into the fibers of the paper. Smith covers it with a weight and leaves it for 20 minutes to dry.

She has just completed one tiny mend on one page of the final and lasting words of the first president of the United States.

© 2000 The Washington Post Company

[rdywenur]

Yesterday they announced the U of R will share Lincoln letters on line. I'll keep you posted.

www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802170350

[justjohn]

rdywenur said:

Yesterday they announced the U of R will share Lincoln letters on line. I'll keep you posted.

www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802170350

Thank You Chris. Much appreciated.

[bescheid]

generation3 said:

Charles,

Did you realize that submarines were also used during the Civil War?

Here is a link that you, as a sea-faring man, may find of interest.

americancivilwar.com/tcwn/civil_war/naval_submarine.html

I'm glad to know that you know so much of our Civil War and it's military men. From the Revolutionary War through the Civil War is the time period that one can find the reasons for the roots of our patriotism and love of country, if not always of it's leaders.

I think if more people learned of our history there would be more understanding of the (US) patriotic statements made on this forum. There are many times statements are misunderstood, and I think that is just from lack of knowledge, and it can go both ways. I would surely make mistakes in understanding some statements from others raised outside the US.

I'm glad you enjoy history, It's always fascinated me. If you ever have a chance, try to visit Gettysburg here in PA. There are also many great historic places in Virginia. It's inspiring.

Mary

Thank you Mary for this reminder. Due to the rapidity of the forum, I found this only by accident..

Yes, in the maritime school, the Hunley was described, at the moment, I do not remember of the Alligator, but that machine is very significant in development.

The Hunley as an underwater vessel, is very interesting as stealth vessel as it was silent in operation. I have read some time past that this vessel was salvaged and placed in water storage {to prevent additional deterioration} for restoration.

The Hunley was a prime example of solving of engineering problem with the available technology of the time.
-------

This to answer of also your very thoughtful additional post of the Civil War.

New Market Battle Field.

Simply amazing demonstration of bravery of young military students! To march a distance of 80 miles {128 Km} is a feat in self, then to fight a battle in face of the original design to be only deployed as reserve forces.

A Cadet fighting force of 257, fully equipt, is a force to be considered by the opposition. Even with their causality list, they gave a very considerable blow to the enemy at time to meet the needs of their country whilst called upon to do so.

The Civil war fought by both the sides of Union and Confederacy, were lessons not wasted in strategy and weapon use and technology.

Yes, you do have the right to be very proud of your country,and so rightly so. For the American people have fought in the many wars in their land, to forge out of this, a mighty nation. To simply say {Nation}is not so correct, for it is the people that make up the nation, and it is the people that are strong.

Thank you for introducing your thoughts on this subject, for your country has an interesting and dynamic history.

Charles

[rdywenur]

JJ...I just got an email from U of R...Here is the link to the letters.

I think they are supposed to be up Thursday for Presidents Day but my calendar says 18th today is Presidents Day and 22nd is Georgies B'Day.

www.library.rochester.edu/index.cfm?page=379

[Jaga]

Dear George,

happy birthday for you. I hope that you will have a great birthday and a good year!

[george]

Jaga and Gen.......You are both so kind. Thank you and God bless you both! P.S. Jaga i was named after my Godfather ( George Stahura )

[rdywenur]

Happy Birthday Albany George. Hope you had a nice birthday.


♫•:*¨`*:•♫♫♫ ღ Happy Birthday To U ღ ♫♫•:*¨`*:•♫

Sto Lat

[george]

Thanks Rdy.... and say hello to all your family and friends in Rochester or Utica. I forgot which. If its Utica, do they still have that neat little zoo over there?