Jefferson’s Books

“I cannot live without books.”
— Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to John Adams

Jefferson's sketch and notes on a device for making maccaroni.

Mr. Jefferson and I have something in common: we both really love(d) books. It is sort of an addiction, albeit mostly a good one.

Once I loved regularly browsing Borders for bargains during heavily discounted sales. Now, because of many factors and a lifestyle choice, I don’t really buy books anymore. Instead, I check them out from the local libraries or download digital copies to peruse on a computer.

Recently, a researcher at Monticello figured out that Washington University in St. Louis had a good deal of Jefferson’s collection. There are many sites with some of Jefferson’s papers, including the Thomas Jefferson Papers: An Electronic Archive.

ajh

Qaddafi’s Many Faces

Writing from New Hampshire, an op-ed contributor to The New York Times writes about the Libyan strongman who has ruled for 42 years. It’s packed full of history and is a great, short lesson for anyone wanting to know a little more background.

AJH

Iwo Jima

U.S. Marines raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945.

ajh

I Love Ben Stein and His Diary

I have been reading Ben Stein in The American Spectator for years, ever since I first unearthed copies in the offices of the college student newspaper in the Nineties. The latest entry in his diary, at least the public one, discusses his December.

“The best speaking experience of the year was at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. I had a fabulous audience. I had some great soup at Whole Foods, a store I don’t normally like . . .”

He wrote of his love for America and its people.

“As I flew over this great America, I could not stop thinking of how blessed we all are to be here. I am a Jew. Jew. Jew. Jew. In every place where my ancestors came from (except Louisiana, where some of my ancestors came from), that was a curse word. Here, I get to live like everyone else. I get to be equal under law and custom. I don’t care if some clubs won’t take me down in Indian Wells. I am very happy just to walk down the street and be an American. What title of nobility was ever as great as, simply, “American”? What wild dream of my ancestors in Czarist Russia could compare with what I have now, how I live now?

Who makes it possible? The men and women who fight our wars, who have lost legs, who have lost lives, who have lost their minds to the cruelty of war. God bless them day in and day out.”

He doesn’t think CalTrans, like many Californians, is doing its job well. He ends with crazyman Kim Jong Il and the need for “a MUCH bigger armed force. What if Pyongyang gets to Seoul before we can get mobilized? Then maybe it goes nuclear, and fast. Not good.”

Ben Stein is terrific. (I wrote about him, and his diary, in July as well.)

ajh

Snow in Frisco

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William Frank George (1924-2003)

William Frank George, born on April 4 in 1924, was a direct descendant of my ancestor Wesley Calvin George. I found out about him while researching Wesley. I was hoping to convince him to submit a DNA sample for genetic testing in the hopes of finding connections which have so far eluded us.

I decided to check the SSDI (the Social Security Death Index) and discovered, unfortunately, that Mr. George had died, just a few years prior. He died on November 26, 2003 in Deep Run, Lenoir County, North Carolina. So I sent off a letter to his widow asking about his work, but, sadly, she never responded.

William left the following snippet at Genealogy.com.

A George Family of South Dakota

This family line is thus far traceable through four generations; from Wesley Calvin George, who was born in Virginia in 1840, married a girl from Missouri in 1874, raised a family in Iowa during the later part of the 19th century, and then filed on a homestead in South Dakota at the beginning of the 20th century. Further search seems to depend upon identifying which county in Virginia was Wesley’s birthplace.

At one point William lived in California, where his Social Security number was issued, probably in the 1950s.

ajh

Treasuring the Family Farm for 175 Years

In going through and cleaning out old emails, I rediscovered a story from the Telegraph Herald in Dubuque, Iowa. One family has been on the same farm for generations, to be precise, 175 years. (The story is from December 2009, but I am hoping they are still there.)

AJH

We All Stink

Yes, often I smell, especially after a workout or strenuous work. Tell me something I don’t know. And mosquitoes really like me.

“Adult humans emit strong body odor that is unique among mammals and attracts certain insects.”

Scientists are even working on synthetic sweat.

ajh

America in WWII, The Magazine

America in WWII has a great website and looks like a terrific magazine.

Nazis and Brats in 3D!

The Guardian reports on newly discovered 3D films from 1936. These were apparently sitting unnoticed in Berlin’s Federal Archives for years. With bratwursts on a barbecue and contemporary film stars, the Nazis beat Hollywood to the punch.

ajh