#12 February 1809

[usnatarchives]

Cabin Fever! How the log cabin shaped American history 🪓

Cabins have long been a symbol of the American frontier spirit, a testament to self-reliance and ingenuity. They played a vital role in the early settlement of the United States and have become an enduring symbol of the nation's pioneering past.

Early Colonial Period

Cabins were an essential form of shelter for European settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries. Built from logs with notched corners, cabins were relatively simple to construct, allowing settlers to establish shelter quickly. This design, known as the log cabin, became synonymous with frontier life.

Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace

One of the most famous cabins in American history is the one where Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. The symbolic importance of Lincoln's log cabin birthplace reflects the "log cabin to White House" narrative that emphasizes his rise from humble beginnings. Though the authenticity of the existing cabin at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park is disputed, it still stands as a symbol of American perseverance and determination.

Western Expansion

As pioneers moved westward, log cabins continued to play a vital role in American expansion. The log cabin's simplicity made it an ideal choice for settlers needing to build shelter quickly. Many of these cabins became the nucleus of burgeoning communities.

Thoreau's Cabin at Walden Pond

In the 19th century, cabins also began to symbolize a return to nature and simple living. Henry David Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond, where he lived from 1845 to 1847, became an emblem of deliberate, contemplative living. Thoreau's experiment was not only a personal retreat but also a critique of modern society, and his cabin remains an iconic representation of the American transcendentalist movement.

Presidential Retreats

Cabins have also served as retreats for American presidents. Camp David, officially known as the Naval Support Facility Thurmont, is the country's premier presidential retreat, featuring rustic cabins. It has been used by presidents for rest and diplomatic meetings since Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration.

Cabins in Modern Culture

In modern times, cabins continue to symbolize simplicity and a connection to nature. They are often associated with vacation retreats and are emblematic of a desire to return to a less complicated way of life. Check out the hundreds of photographs of cabins in our Catalog!

[ltwilliammowett]

Naval Surgeon's medicine chest, belonging to surgeon Sir Benjamin F. Outram (1774-1856) and reputedly used at the battle of Copenhagen 1801

Outram was first employed in the naval medical service in 1794, and was promoted to the rank of surgeon in 1796. He served in HMS Harpy, HMS La Nymphe, and HMS Boadicea. He was surgeon in HMS Superb in the second battle of Algeciras, where Sir James Saumarez obtained a victory over the French and Spanish fleets on 12 July 1801. He received war medals and clasps for his services under Sir Richard Goodwin Keats. Then for a period he was surgeon to the royal yacht, HMS Royal Sovereign.

In 1806, with a view to private practice, Outram went to Edinburgh, and there graduated doctor of medicine on 24 June 1809. He was admitted a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of London on 16 April 1810, and then began as a physician at Hanover Square in London, where he lived more than 40 years. He acted as physician to the Welbeck Street Dispensary. On 3 May 1838 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society; he also became an early member of the Royal Geographical Society.

In 1841 Outram became medical inspector of her Majesty's fleets and hospitals. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) on 17 September 1850, and was admitted a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians on 9 July 1852. He died at Brighton on 16 February 1856, and was buried at Clifton, Bristol.

[deadpresidents]

How many presidents have had both of their parents alive when they were president?

Three Presidents have had both parents alive when they became President:

•Ulysses S. Grant Grant was the first President with both of his parents alive at the time of his inauguration. His father, Jesse Root Grant, died on June 29, 1873 during Grant’s second term. His mother, Hannah Simpson Grant, survived both of his terms and died two years before he did, on May 11, 1883. •John F. Kennedy Not only were both of JFK’s Presidents alive when he became President, but they are the only parents of a President who both outlived him. JFK was assassinated in 1963. His father, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., died in 1969, and his mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy died in 1995 at the age of 104. •George W. Bush Both of Bush’s parents were alive when he took office and survived his entire two-term Presidency. His father, former President George H.W. Bush, died on November 30, 2018, just six months after the death of his mother, Barbara Bush, in April 2018.

Several Presidents have had either their father or mother still alive when they became President:

FATHER •John Quincy Adams: The first son of a President to be elected President himself was also the first President whose father was still alive at the time of his inauguration. John Adams died July 4, 1826, a little over a year into JQA’s Presidency. •Millard Fillmore: Nathaniel Fillmore lived through his son’s entire Presidency (1850-1853) and died in his 90s during the Civil War, on March 28, 1863. •Warren G. Harding: Harding’s father, George Tryon Harding, lived through his son’s entire Administration and died on November 19, 1928. Harding, who died in office on August 2, 1923, was the first President who was outlived by his father. •Calvin Coolidge: Not only did Coolidge’s father, John Calvin Coolidge, live to see his son become President, but he actually administered the oath of office. Coolidge, the Vice President at the time, was visiting his father when President Harding died in office and the elder Coolidge, a notary public, administered the Presidential oath at the family home in Vermont. Coolidge’s father died on March 18, 1926 during President Coolidge’s second term.

MOTHER •George Washington: Mary Ball Washington died August 25, 1789, a little less than four months after his first inauguration. •John Adams: Susanna Boylston Adams died  April 21, 1797, just under two months after Adams became President. •James Madison: Eleanor Conway Madison lived through both of her son’s terms as President (1809-1817) and died February 11, 1829 at the age of 98. •James K. Polk: Polk was the first President who didn’t outlive his mother. She died on January 11, 1852, almost three years after Polk left office and died. •James Garfield: Garfield’s mother, Eliza Ballou Garfield, lived to see him become President and die in office. She died on January 21, 1888, almost seven years after he was assassinated. •William McKinley: McKinley’s mother, Nancy Allison McKinley, lived to attend her son’s first inauguration, but died several months later, December 12, 1897. •Franklin D. Roosevelt: FDR’s mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, lived to see her son inaugurated three times. She died during her son’s third term, on September 7, 1941. •Harry S. Truman: Truman’s mother, Martha Young Truman, lived to see her son succeed to the Presidency in April 1945. She died during his first term, on July 26, 1947, at the age of 94. •Jimmy Carter: Lillian Carter lived through her son’s entire Presidency and was even sent to represent him at events overseas several times, which made her a celebrity in her own right during his Presidency. She died on April 30, 1983, two years after Carter left the White House. •George H.W. Bush: Bush’s mother, Dorothy Walker Bush, lived to see her son become President. She died on November 19, 1992, two weeks after her son lost his bid for re-election. •Bill Clinton: Virginia Cassidy Kelley, Clinton’s mother, lived to see him become President but died less than a year later, on January 6, 1994.

[josefavomjaaga]

Bessières's correspondence

This is for @flowwochair: the index of the documents in the "Fonds Maréchal Bessières" in the French National Archives. Not much about the content, unfortunately. I summarised some points that I imagined were not all that interesting to you. Please let me know if there is something you'd want to have more details on and I will look if there is more.

1) Letters and orders by Napoleon to Bessières, dating from 1796 to 1813. It’s organized by the different armies and contains mostly »official« stuff of some importance, like documents related to the double abdication of the two Spanish Bourbon kings in 1808. Murat’s name is mentioned once, in connection with one document:

copies of Napoleon's instructions to Murat on how to deal with the Spanish, 17 and 28 April 1808

Maybe also of interest: some of the documents concern the reorganisation of the troops after the Russian campaign and date as late as mid and end-April 1813, so only days before his death

2) Letters from princes of the imperial family to Bessières

Mostly interesting because a large chunk seems to be labeled »a.s.«, which I believe to mean »autographe signée«, i.e., handwritten and signed. Most correspondence of important people would have been in the hands of secretaries, with the sender merely signing them. Bessières being worthy of receiving letters that these imperial princes had written themselves hints at a special position of trust.

41 letters from Joseph Bonaparte, related to events in Spain (1808 – 1811)

2 letters (not written by Jerome himself) about uprisings in Kassel in 1813

And here you go: 29 letters by Murat, in his own handwriting, relating to the daily report on the Guard, the policy to be followed, and to military events in Spain (dated 5 August 1805 to 5 June 1808)

Followed by some stuff for me: 22 letters from Eugène de Beauharnais, in his own handwriting and »d’un caractère surtout personnel« (of primarily private nature), dated 27 January 1805 - 5 June 1808

Other than that, there are letters from Josephine, Lebrun, Hortense, Stéphanie de Beauharnais, Méneval and the secretary of Madame Mère.

The rest of this section are documents related to Bessières’s military career, decorations etc.

3) Some personal letters. The connection between them escapes me

from Bessières to his sister-in-law (?), 22 February 1808.

from Bessières to a marshal on the reorganisation of the Guard, 27 January 1813.

from Madame la Maréchale concerning her financial distress, 12 December 1813 and 12 December 1814.

Facsimile of a letter from the Marshal to his wife, after his departure for the 1813 campaign

4) Certificates, letters of service and appointment, decorations

Some documents as early as 1792 among them, but mostly bits and bobs that seem unrelated

5) Letters adressed to Bessières – Army of Italy and Army of Egypt. 55 pieces

6) Ministers' reports to the Emperor and various letters. Plenty of documents and letters among them that are neither written by or adressed at Bessières

7) Imperial Guard I (Organisation, financial reports etc.)

8) Imperial Guard II (contains one more letter by Eugène!)

9) Imperial Guard III (Holland in 1810)

10) Legion of Honour and pay. 73 pieces, 1804 to 1813

11) Russia. Letters adressed to Bessières, situation reports, mostly from before the campaign started

12) Letters from Napoleon, the imperial family, the royal family and several famous personalities. A lot of them obviously from after Bessières’s death, among them (condolation) letters to Madame la Maréchale from

Napoleon - 6 May 1813

Madame Mère – 7 May 1813

Marie Louise – 5 May 1813

Caroline Murat – 25 May 1813

Eugène Beauharnais – 2 June 1813

Joachim Murat – 8 June 1813

Also contains 18 letters from Hortense de Beauharnais to Madame la Maréchale, dated 1809 to 1813, letters from Madame la Maréchale Oudinot, from Laure Junot, from Wellington (handwritten!) and plenty more

And on a happier note: a letter by Joachim Murat dated 1 Germinal year VIII (22 March 1800)

13) Related to Bessières’s city house

14) Correspondence between Marshal Bessières and Madame la Maréchale I

3 letters from Bessières to his wife, 2 prairial-15 vendémiaire an XIV (22 January-7 October 1805)

75 letters of Madame la Maréchale to Bessières, found in the cassette of the marshal after his death, 5 January 1806-1 May 1807

29 letters of Bessières to his wife, 26 March-13 December 1808

15) Correspondence between Marshal Bessières and Madame la Maréchale II. Continuation from above

72 (? I’m not sure about the numbering here) letters from Bessières to his wife, 5 January 1809, 28 September and ... 1811

48 (?) letters from Madame la Maréchale to the Marshal, January-9 December 1811

16) Correspondence between Marshal Bessières and Madame la Maréchale III. Continuation from above

9 letters from the Maréchale Bessières to her husband, 19 March - 16 December 1812

40 letters from Bessières to his wife, 13 January 1812 - 24 April 1813

17) Related to the electoral college of département Haute-Garonne

18) Personal papers, financial documents, real estate etc.

19) Letters to Madame la Maréchale during Restauration and July Monarchy

20) Collection of autographed letters unrelated to Bessières

[yaggy031910]

The napoleonic marshal‘s children

After seeing @josefavomjaaga’s and @northernmariette’s marshal calendar, I wanted to do a similar thing for all the marshal’s children! So I did! I hope you like it. c: I listed them in more or less chronological order but categorised them in years (especially because we don‘t know all their birthdays). At the end of this post you are going to find remarks about some of the marshals because not every child is listed! ^^��� To the question about the sources: I mostly googled it and searched their dates in Wikipedia, ahaha. Nevertheless, I also found this website. However, I would be careful with it. We are talking about history and different sources can have different dates. I am always open for corrections. Just correct me in the comments if you find or know a trustful source which would show that one or some of the dates are incorrect. At the end of the day it is harmless fun and research. :) Pre 1790

François Étienne Kellermann (4 August 1770- 2 June 1835) 

Marguerite Cécile Kellermann (15 March 1773 - 12 August 1850)

Ernestine Grouchy (1787–1866)

Mélanie Marie Josèphe de Pérignon (1788 - 1858)

Alphonse Grouchy (1789–1864)

Jean-Baptiste Sophie Pierre de Pérignon (1789- 14 January 1807)

Marie Françoise Germaine de Pérignon (1789 - 15 May 1844)

Angélique Catherine Jourdan (1789 or 1791 - 7 March 1879)

1790 - 1791

Marie-Louise Oudinot (1790–1832)

Marie-Anne Masséna (8 July 1790 - 1794)

Charles Oudinot (1791 - 1863)

Aimee-Clementine Grouchy (1791–1826)

Anne-Francoise Moncey (1791–1842)

1792 - 1793

Bon-Louis Moncey (1792–1817)

Victorine Perrin (1792–1822)

Anne-Charlotte Macdonald (1792–1870)

François Henri de Pérignon (23 February 1793 - 19 October 1841)

Jacques Prosper Masséna (25 June 1793 - 13 May 1821)

1794 - 1795

Victoire Thècle Masséna (28 September 1794 - 18 March 1857)

Adele-Elisabeth Macdonald (1794–1822)

Marguerite-Félécité Desprez (1795-1854); adopted by Sérurier

Nicolette Oudinot (1795–1865)

Charles Perrin (1795–15 March 1827)

1796 - 1997

Emilie Oudinot (1796–1805)

Victor Grouchy (1796–1864)

Napoleon-Victor Perrin (24 October 1796 - 2 December 1853)

Jeanne Madeleine Delphine Jourdan (1797-1839)

1799

François Victor Masséna (2 April 1799 - 16 April 1863)

Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte (4 July 1799 – 8 July 1859)

Auguste Oudinot (1799–1835)

Caroline de Pérignon (1799-1819)

Eugene Perrin (1799–1852)

1800

Nina Jourdan (1800-1833)

Caroline Mortier de Trevise (1800–1842)

1801

Achille Charles Louis Napoléon Murat (21 January 1801 - 15 April 1847)

Louis Napoléon Lannes (30 July 1801 – 19 July 1874)

Elise Oudinot (1801–1882)

1802

Marie Letizia Joséphine Annonciade Murat (26 April 1802 - 12 March 1859)

Alfred-Jean Lannes (11 July 1802 – 20 June 1861)

Napoléon Bessière (2 August 1802 - 21 July 1856)

Paul Davout (1802–1803)

Napoléon Soult (1802–1857)

1803

Marie-Agnès Irma de Pérignon (5 April 1803 - 16 December 1849)

Joseph Napoléon Ney (8 May 1803 – 25 July 1857)

Lucien Charles Joseph Napoléon Murat (16 May 1803 - 10 April 1878)

Jean-Ernest Lannes (20 July 1803 – 24 November 1882)

Alexandrine-Aimee Macdonald (1803–1869)

Sophie Malvina Joséphine Mortier de Trévise ( 1803 - ???)

1804

Napoléon Mortier de Trévise (6 August 1804 - 29 December 1869)

Michel Louis Félix Ney (24 August 1804 – 14 July 1854)

Gustave-Olivier Lannes (4 December 1804 – 25 August 1875)

Joséphine Davout (1804–1805)

Hortense Soult (1804–1862)

Octavie de Pérignon (1804-1847)

1805

Louise Julie Caroline Murat (21 March 1805 - 1 December 1889)

Antoinette Joséphine Davout (1805 – 19 August 1821)

Stephanie-Josephine Perrin (1805–1832)

1806

Josephine-Louise Lannes (4 March 1806 – 8 November 1889)

Eugène Michel Ney (12 July 1806 – 25 October 1845)

Edouard Moriter de Trévise (1806–1815)

Léopold de Pérignon (1806-1862)

1807

Adèle Napoleone Davout (June 1807 – 21 January 1885)

Jeanne-Francoise Moncey (1807–1853)

1808: Stephanie Oudinot (1808-1893) 1809: Napoleon Davout (1809–1810)

1810: Napoleon Alexander Berthier (11 September 1810 – 10 February 1887)

1811

Napoleon Louis Davout (6 January 1811 - 13 June 1853)

Louise-Honorine Suchet (1811 – 1885)

Louise Mortier de Trévise (1811–1831)

1812

Edgar Napoléon Henry Ney (12 April 1812 – 4 October 1882)

Caroline-Joséphine Berthier (22 August 1812 – 1905)

Jules Davout (December 1812 - 1813)

1813: Louis-Napoleon Suchet (23 May 1813- 22 July 1867/77)

1814: Eve-Stéphanie Mortier de Trévise (1814–1831) 1815

Marie Anne Berthier (February 1815 - 23 July 1878)

Adelaide Louise Davout (8 July 1815 – 6 October 1892)

Laurent François or Laurent-Camille Saint-Cyr (I found two almost similar names with the same date so) (30 December 1815 – 30 January 1904)

1816: Louise Marie Oudinot (1816 - 1909)

1817

Caroline Oudinot (1817–1896)

Caroline Soult (1817–1817)

1819: Charles-Joseph Oudinot (1819–1858)

1820: Anne-Marie Suchet (1820 - 27 May 1835) 1822: Henri Oudinot ( 3 February 1822 – 29 July 1891) 1824: Louis Marie Macdonald (11 November 1824 - 6 April 1881.) 1830: Noemie Grouchy (1830–1843) —————— Children without clear birthdays:

Camille Jourdan (died in 1842)

Sophie Jourdan (died in 1820)

Additional remarks: - Marshal Berthier died 8.5 months before his last daughter‘s birth. - Marshal Oudinot had 11 children and the age difference between his first and last child is around 32 years. - The age difference between marshal Grouchy‘s first and last child is around 43 years. - Marshal Lefebvre had fourteen children (12 sons, 2 daughters) but I couldn‘t find anything kind of reliable about them so they are not listed above. I am aware that two sons of him were listed in the link above. Nevertheless, I was uncertain to name them in my list because I thought that his last living son died in the Russian campaign while the website writes about the possibility of another son dying in 1817. - Marshal Augerau had no children. - Marshal Brune had apparently adopted two daughters whose names are unknown. - Marshal Pérignon: I couldn‘t find anything about his daughters, Justine, Elisabeth and Adèle, except that they died in infancy. - Marshal Sérurier had no biological children but adopted Marguerite-Félécité Desprez in 1814. - Marshal Marmont had no children. - I found out that marshal Saint-Cyr married his first cousin, lol. - I didn‘t find anything about marshal Poniatowski having children. Apparently, he wasn‘t married either (thank you, @northernmariette for the correction of this fact! c:)

[reading-writing-revolution]

“ Just a week after Weed foretold his electoral doom, the Democrats chose as a presidential candidate General George McClellan, formerly commander of the Army of the Potomac, in a transparent attempt to appeal to soldiers. But to appease the anti-war wing of the party, they also called for an immediate end to the war. They also rejected the new, popular measures the national government had undertaken since 1861—the establishment of state colleges, the transcontinental railroad, the new national money, and the Homestead Act—insisting on “State rights.”

Every time someone talks about States’ Rights, they are talking about steering away from laws and programs designed to help everyone. They are talking about putting themselves before everyone else. They are talking about some inkling they have that they deserve more, that they’re better, that they have needs that outweigh the rest of humanity.

Every time someone talks about States’ Rights, they’re talking about taking more for themselves and leaving you with less.

Every time someone talks about States’ Rights, you should happily give that person the middle finger.

[orthodoxadventure]

Bright Wednesday

Commemorated on May 8

On Bright Wednesday we commemorate the holy monastic Fathers who have shone forth on the God-trodden Mt Sinai. This commemoration was established by the Church of Russia on April 17, 1997.

Saints Theocharis and Apostolos are local saints of Arta. The first fell asleep in 1845 and the second a little later. Saint Theocharis was a teacher at Komboti, Arta. The icons of these saints are in the church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) in Arta.

The Kasperov Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is also commemorated today. Tradition says that this holy icon had been brought to Cherson from Transylvania by a Serb at the end of the sixteenth century. Passing down from parent and child, the icon had come to a certain Mrs. Kasperova of Cherson in 1809.

One night in February of 1840 she was praying, seeking consolation in her many sorrows. Looking at the icon of the Virgin, she noticed that the features of the icon, darkened by age, had suddenly become bright. Soon the icon was glorified by many miracles, and people regarded it as wonderworking.

During the Crimean War (1853-1856), the icon was carried in procession through the city of Odessa, which was besieged by enemy forces. On Great and Holy Friday, the city was spared. Since that time, an Akathist has been served before the icon in the Dormition Cathedral of Odessa every Friday.

The icon is painted with oils on a canvas mounted on wood. The Mother of God holds Her Son on her left arm. The Child is holding a scroll. Saint John the Baptist (Janurary 7) is depicted on one side of the icon, and Saint Tatiana (January 12) on the other. These were probably the patron saints of the original owners of the icon.

The Kasperov Icon is commemorated on October 1, June 29, and Bright Wednesday.

[Text from OCA]

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

[Photo of Abraham Lincoln by Alexander Gardner, November 8, 1863]

+

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 11, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

FEB 11, 2024

On February 12, 1809, Nancy Hanks Lincoln gave birth to her second child, a son: Abraham.

Abraham Lincoln grew up to become the nation’s sixteenth president, leading the country from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865, a little over a month into his second term. He piloted the country through the Civil War, preserving the concept of American democracy. It was a system that had never been fully realized but that he still saw as “the last, best hope of earth” to prove that people could govern themselves.

“Four score and seven years ago,” he told an audience at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in November 1863, “our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” 

Lincoln dated the founding of the nation from the Declaration of Independence rather than the Constitution, the document enslavers preferred because of that document’s protection of property. In the Declaration, the Founders wrote that they held certain “truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed….”

But in Lincoln’s day, fabulously wealthy enslavers had gained control over the government and had begun to argue that the Founders had gotten their worldview terribly wrong. They insisted that their system of human enslavement, which had enabled them to amass fortunes previously unimaginable, was the right one. Most men were dull drudges who must be led by their betters for their own good, southern leaders said. As South Carolina senator and enslaver James Henry Hammond put it, “I repudiate, as ridiculously absurd, that much-lauded but nowhere accredited dogma of Mr. Jefferson, that ‘all men are born equal.’”

In 1858, Abraham Lincoln, then a candidate for the Senate, warned that arguments limiting American equality to white men were the same arguments “that kings have made for enslaving the people in all ages of the world…. Turn in whatever way you will—whether it come from the mouth of a King, an excuse for enslaving the people of his country, or from the mouth of men of one race as a reason for enslaving the men of another race, it is all the same old serpent.” Either people—men, in his day—were equal, or they were not. Lincoln went on, “I should like to know if taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle and making exceptions to it…where will it stop?”

Lincoln had thought deeply about the logic of equality. In his 1860 campaign biography, he permitted the biographer to identify six books that had influenced him. One was a book published in 1817 and wildly popular in the Midwest in the 1830s: Capt. Riley’s Narrative. The book was written by James Riley, and the full title of the book was “An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, Wrecked on the Western Coast of Africa, in the Month of August, 1815, With the Sufferings of Her Surviving Officers and Crew, Who Were Enslaved by the Wandering Arabs on the Great African Desart [sic], or Zahahrah.” The story was exactly what the title indicated: the tale of white men enslaved in Africa. 

In the 1850s, on a fragment of paper, Lincoln figured out the logic of a world that permitted the law to sort people into different places in a hierarchy, applying the reasoning he heard around him. “If A. can prove, however conclusively, that he may, of right, enslave B.—why may not B. snatch the same argument, and prove equally, that he may enslave A?” Lincoln wrote. “You say A. is white, and B. is black. It is color, then; the lighter, having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with a fairer skin than your own. You do not mean color exactly?—You mean the whites are intellectually the superiors of the blacks, and, therefore have the right to enslave them? Take care again. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with an intellect superior to your own. But, say you, it is a question of interest; and, if you can make it your interest, you have the right to enslave another. Very well. And if he can make it his interest, he has the right to enslave you.”

Lincoln saw clearly that if we give up the principle of equality before the law, we have given up the whole game. We have admitted the principle that people are unequal and that some people are better than others. Once we have replaced the principle of equality with the idea that humans are unequal, we have granted approval to the idea of rulers and ruled. At that point, all any of us can do is to hope that no one in power decides that we belong in one of the lesser groups.

In 1863, Lincoln reminded his audience at Gettysburg that the Founders had created a nation “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” but it was no longer clear whether “any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” During the Civil War, the people of the United States were defending that principle against those who were trying to create a new nation based, as the Confederacy’s vice president Alexander Stephens said, “upon the great truth” that men were not, in fact, created equal, that the “great physical, philosophical, and moral truth” was that there was a “superior race.” 

In the midst of the Civil War, Lincoln called for Americans to understand what was at stake, and to “highly resolve…that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[charring58]

Abraham Lincoln (/ˈlɪŋkən/ LINK-ən; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War, defending the nation as a constitutional union, defeating the insurgent Confederacy, playing a major role in the abolition of slavery, expanding the power of the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy.

[yr-obedt-cicero]

alright i’ve heard so much about burr and his umbrella? and out of anyone, i have a feeling you’d be someone who would know something about this, so can you please explain what is going on with burr and his umbrella that he lost when he was like 5 or 12 or smtn?

I forget not everyone knows the extensive Amrev fandom lore. Y'all make me feel old.

Basically, Aaron Burr had this one umbrella that had a knife equipped with it, and was constantly losing it and lamenting it's disappearance. Like, a lot. It's a continuous thing in his journal.

London, December 6, 1808;

“Home at four. Caught in the rain, having yesterday left my umbrella at Brentford—no doubt lost.”

London, December 7, 1808;

“Went to the stagehouse to inquire for my umbrella, but with little hope. It was there, brought by the coachman. How very honest people are here, and yet I am cheated most impudently every hour.”

London, December 14, 1808;

“Rose at six; set off at seven. I sleep very soundly in these stagecoaches. By sleeping, however, forgot to ask for my umbrella, which I had left at Stanmore.”

Edinburgh, January 13, 1809;

“As you would not suspect that I could be till this hour in Edinburgh (if, indeed, the subject has been thought of at all, which, with humility, I acknowledge that, from appearances, it did not merit), this formal notice is given that I am here, and like to be here eight days longer.

Send Tom to Craven-street to demand letters, and to Bedford-street for the umbrella, if not heretofore found. A. Burr.”

London, Febraury 8, 1809;

“Out at ten; raining, took K.'s umbrella, having lost my own.”

Gotha, January 9, 1810;

“As I was writing the concluding line of the preceding page last evening (about one o'clock), an ill-looking fellow opened my door without knocking, and, mut- tering in German something which I did not comprehend, bid me put out my candle. Being in no very placid humour at the moment, as you see, I cursed him, and sent him to the lower regions in French and English. He advanced, and was going to seize the candle. My umbrella, which has a dirk in the handle, being near me, I seized it, drew the dirk, and drove him out of the room.”

Paris, April 20, 1810;

“At eleven to the umbrella mender. Nothing done.”

Paris, February 13, 1811;

“A brilliant morning. Sun shining bright for this hemisphere. Went out without my umbrella. Before I got one hundred yards it began to rain. Went back for the umbrella.”

Paris, July 11, 1811;

“To near Luxembourg to get an umbrella which some one, unknown, left in my room a fortnight ago, and which has, therefore, become my property by prescription. Paid for mending it, three francs.”

London, February 18, 1812;

“Got home at four, and discovered that I had lost my umbrella; a most serious misfortune, and little hope of recovering it, as I have no recollection where I stopped. It is impossible for me to buy one or to do without one.”

London, February 19, 1812

“My umbrella hung heavy at my heart. Went to hunt for it. Walked back on the track I came from J. H.'s yesterday, and called at the places I had been; but no umbrella. It is finally lost, and I must submit to the inconveniences of getting wet and of spoiling my clothes.”

London, February 20, 1812;

“Then home, following again the track of my poor lost umbrella, but to no purpose.”

London, February 22, 1812;

“—but, in the first place, I slept till near nine, and, in the next, it rained in torrents, and you know my umbrella is on a voyage.

Round by Westminster and Blackfriars' Bridges to Graves's. The rain setting in again, bought me the cheapest umbrella I could find that was large enough. Cost ten shillings and sixpence.”

And here is a longer post.

[rabbitcruiser]

Lincoln's Birthday

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was born on February 12, 1809. Over the years, he has become known as one of the greatest American presidents of all time. At the time of his death, in 1865, many saw him as a martyr, and it wasn't too long afterward that his birthday began being observed informally. In the mid-1870s, Julius Francis of Buffalo, New York, began honoring Lincoln on his birthday and petitioned Congress to make the day a legal holiday.

But, as of 2019, Lincoln's Birthday is not, nor has it ever been, its own federal holiday. On the state level, a handful of states celebrate Lincoln's birthday on its actual date. In recent years, it has been celebrated as a state holiday in Ohio, Missouri, New York, Illinois, and Connecticut. It is celebrated as such in California as well, but since 2009, it has no longer been a paid holiday there. Some states, Indiana being one example, have officially celebrated Lincoln's birthday, but not on the actual date of his birth. In prior years, more states officially celebrated his birthday; twenty-four states celebrated it in 1940, and ten celebrated it in 1990.

Although Lincoln's Birthday is not celebrated on its own on the federal level, it is often implicitly or explicitly celebrated as part of Washington's Birthday, which is usually called Presidents' Day, taking place on the third Monday in February. In some states, this holiday is known as Washington and Lincoln Day. However, there are other variations of the day; some states specifically celebrate only Washington, and some celebrate Washington and another president, such as Thomas Jefferson.

Besides state observances and informal federal observances, Lincoln's Birthday is celebrated at many places associated with him. Each year, there is a wreath-laying ceremony at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park in Kentucky. Since its dedication in the early 1920s, there has also been a wreath-laying ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial, which is organized by the Lincoln Birthday National Commemorative Committee and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. The reading of the Gettysburg Address is also a part of this event. For his bicentennial, on February 12, 2009, the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission organized a special event at the Lincoln Memorial. That same day, four new Lincoln pennies were released, with backs that depicted different stages of Lincoln's life. Each year on the day, events are also held at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Illinois. The Republican Party holds Lincoln Day dinners around the date because Lincoln was the first Republican president.

Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin just south of present-day Hodgenville, Kentucky. When he was two, his family moved to Knob Creek Farm, which is northeast of Hodgenville. In 1816, he moved with his family to Indiana. He did not get much schooling while growing up and often had to work to help support his family, doing things such as farming and splitting rails for fences.

In 1830, his family moved to Macon County, Illinois. He got a job on a boat, hauling freight down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. He then settled in West Salem, Illinois, where he worked as a shopkeeper in a store as well as a postmaster. In 1832, he was a captain in the Black Hawk War and ran for a spot in the Illinois state legislature, which he lost. However, he ran again in 1834 and was successful. As a member of the Whig Party, he was influenced by other Whigs such as Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. Some policy positions he held at the time were in opposition to slavery's spread to the territories, and a goal of expanding the United States with a focus on commerce and cities.

Lincoln decided to teach himself law and passed the bar in 1836. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Springfield, a few years before it became the state's capital. He married Mary Todd in 1842; they had four sons together, although only one would live into adulthood. Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846, but pledging to serve only one term, he returned to Springfield in 1849. His opposition to the Mexican-American War is the most remembered element of his term.

Politics were in Lincoln's blood, and he decided to return to them in 1854. That year, Democrat Stephen Douglas had helped get the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed, which said there should be popular sovereignty when it came to slavery in the territories, meaning that voters should be able to decide for themselves if slavery should be allowed in them. On October 16, 1854, in Peoria, Illinois, Lincoln debated Douglas about the act. During the debate, he spoke against slavery and said it was incongruous with the Declaration of Independence. That same year, he joined the recently formed Republican Party, a party that was created in large part on the belief that slavery should not expand into the territories.

In 1858, Lincoln ran against Stephen Douglas for a U.S. Senate seat in Illinois. In June, he gave his house divided speech, which said the country couldn't go on existing half slave and half free. Lincoln lost the race but gained national recognition, in part because of the debates he had with Douglas.

The Republicans nominated Lincoln as their candidate for president in the 1860 election. It was a four-way race: Stephen Douglas was the nominee of northern Democrats, John C. Breckenridge was the nominee of southern Democrats, and John Bell was the nominee of the Constitutional Union Party. Breckenridge and Bell split the southern votes, and Lincoln won most of the north. He won the electoral vote count, and thus the presidency. By the time he had taken the oath of office in March 1861, seven states had already seceded from the Union; the Civil War began the following month.

The Civil War engulfed Lincoln's presidency, but he proved to be an adept war leader. After George McClellan failed to pursue the Confederate Army after the Union victory at Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln removed him of his position of Commanding General. Lincoln also issued the Emancipation Proclamation after Antietam, which went into effect on January 1, 1863, freeing slaves in the southern states (slaves in the border states loyal to the Union were not freed). The emancipation laid the groundwork for slaves to be freed everywhere—the Thirteenth Amendment went into effect in 1865, after Lincoln's death.

In November 1863, Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address at a dedication of the national cemetery at Gettysburg. It became one of the most famous speeches in American history. Although Lincoln has been lauded for fulfilling the commander-in-chief role, he did so not completely without controversy, as he suspended habeas corpus.

In 1864, Lincoln faced the general he had relieved, George McClellan, in his bid for reelection. He prevailed, and at his second inaugural he spoke of the end of the war, and the need for a conciliatory reconstruction "with malice toward none; with charity for all." On April 9, 1865, Confederate commander Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Commanding General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. Two days later, Lincoln gave a speech on the White House lawn.

On April 14, which happened to be Good Friday, President Lincoln was shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth while at Ford's Theatre. He died early the next morning at a boarding house across from the theatre. Today we remember his remarkable life and his contributions to the United States at such a difficult time in its history.

How to Observe Lincoln's Birthday

The following are some ways to celebrate Lincoln's Birthday:

Visit the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park. This encompasses both his birthplace south of Hodgenville, as well as Knob Creek Farm, where he lived next. A wreath-laying ceremony takes place at the park.

Stop at the Lincoln Museum in downtown Hodgenville as well as the nearby Abraham Lincoln Statue.

Stop at other places along the Kentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail.

Attend the wreath-laying ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial.

Visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and The Lincoln Tomb in Springfield, Illinois.

Stop at the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Indiana or at the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Tennessee.

Go to Ford's Theatre.

Read a book about Lincoln.

Read some of Lincoln's own writings and speeches.

Source

[natureintheory]

Clay & volume renders ↑

Concept sketches ↑

—

Quantum Darwinism • Physics Illustration • 2019

Charles Darwin was born on this day, February 12, 1809. #DarwinDay seems like a good one to share one of my favorite old projects,

Created for a 2019 Quanta Magazine article by Philip Ball: Quantum Darwinism, an Idea to Explain Objective Reality, Passes First Tests

The mirrors represent reality, and the foreground a quantum world with a wave in superposition. When it decoheres, only blue remains.

This is now outdated skill & technique-wise, but I still like a lot about it, especially the subject matter. I enjoy mixing scientific concepts with fantastical imagery — when it makes sense, of course.

One of the central tenets of my creative direction for Quanta was that the artwork should match the excitement and wonder of the stories it accompanies. "Art is a lie that tells the truth" — it's about using visual storytelling to reveal the real magic of the science detailed, not just give a literal translation. It's disappointing to see a fascinating story accompanied by dull visuals that don't do it justice (or worse, repel). Not saying I always succeeded in the former, or avoiding the latter, but I sure as hell tried!

[davidhudson]

Charles Darwin, February 12, 1809 – April 19, 1882.

Photo by Julia Margaret Cameron.

[aaronburrdaily]

February 14, 1809

Slept one sound nap from 12 to 9! What has happened to make me such a sluggard? It must be the air of this country. They all sleep. My habits are as temperate as you have heretofore known and yet I absolutely require seven hours sleep. Whence this strange revolution ? Madame Prevost is extremely attentive—Un air d’elegance et d’abbatement¹. Peutetre 28². While I was at breakfast, J.B. and K. came in; a quiet laugh; brought me letter from Meeker proposing an interview and advising that he will leave town this evening for eight days. Cannot find Grandpré. Note from General Hope about packets. Message from Castella that Grandpré is here but his address denied at the Alien Office. Message from Colonel A.C.J. requesting an interview at 12 this day at Q. S.P. Sor. at 12. To Q.S.P.; waited till 1/2 p. 1. A.C.J. came not. To D.M.R.’s; out; left there my great coat, being too warm. To Green street cabinet-maker for chess-table. To L. Duval’s, 4 New Square, Lincoln Inn; there received answer from Mr. England giving address of M’K.—Binfield, Berks; his father lying dead there. Answer from Humphrey; he had had no further communication with T. or W., and asks my “determination.” Wrote him reminding him of the determination already made known to him. To Meeker’s, 14 King street, Holborn; gone. To D.M.R.’s, whom found waiting for me; sent out for mutton and potatoes, and staid till 7. Returning home, corsettiere. Bru. che. noi. bo. su.³; 7 shillings. Drink, 1 shilling 6 pence. Fruit and chestnuts for Madame P., 2 shillings. Carpet for the foot-board of O.'s chess-table, 2 shillings. To Q.S.P. at 1/2 p. 8. Sat 1/2 hour; refused tea. Home at 9. Madame P. not yet come in. Mais bientot venoit⁴. Foreseeing that we might go the round of sentiment, though I think we shall go rapidly through it, thought it necessary to coo dow. Ce pung. l corsettiere⁵. An hour with Madame P. La 2 lecon car. et souprs⁶. Des progres; ca je finira en deux jours⁷. Two hours arranging papers, noting down and arranging names. Took tea seul at 10. Couche at 1/2 p. 10, having lost 2 1/2 hours with P. Des progr. rapides⁸.

1  An air of elegance and dejection. 2  For peut-etre 28. Perhaps 28. 3  For corsetière. Brunette. Cheveux noirs. Bon sujet. Corset-maker. Brunette; black hair; good subject. 4  But she came soon. 5  This is a great riddle. Possibly meant for: Thought it necessary to kotow (formerly spelled kootoo and various other ways); cependant la corsetière. It would then mean: Thought it necessary to bow, i.e., say good-by, in the meantime, to the corset-maker. (The word kotow, introduced into English from China, was used in England even before Burr's visit there.) 6  For la deuxième leçon [des] caresses et [des] soupirs. The second lesson consists of caresses and sighs. 7  Progress. I’ll finish that in two days. (Finirai.) 8  For Des progrès rapides. Rapid progress.

[ask-the-usa-manor]

*Pops out of nowhere*

WHATS THE AGE ORDER OF ALL THE STATES + TERRITORIES OLDEST TO YOUNGEST

*vanishes*

(About time I updated this list! I’ll add their ages as of writing this, too!)

Age/Birthday HCs!

For America, the states, the territories, and DC! Heck, I’ll even throw in some dead/retired peeps.

United States of America: Born in 1585, the year Roanoke was founded. Uses July 4th since the actual day he was born is unknown. Used November 11th before 1776. Used random days before 1620. 437 years old!

Virginia: May 18th, 1607, when the Colony of Virginia was settled. 415 years old!

Popham Colony: August 16th, 1607. She passed sometime in 1608.

New Hampshire: 1629, when the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers was named after Hampshire. Unknown day, uses June 21st. 393 years old!

Massachusetts: Born in 1630, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony was formed. Unknown day, uses May 14th. 392 years old!

Maryland: Some time in 1632, when the Province of Maryland was created. Uses April 28th. 390 years old!

Saybrook Colony: Born some day in 1635, aged 12 years.

Connecticut: March 3rd, 1636, when he was organized as a settlement for a Puritan congregation. 386 years old!

Rhode Island: A day in 1636, when the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was founded. Unknown day, uses May 29th. 386 years old!

New Haven Colony: Born April 14th, 1638. The colony diminished in 1664. Thanks, Connecticut.

North Carolina: Born on the day the Province of Carolina was formed; March 24th, 1663. Twins with South Carolina, 359 years old!

South Carolina: Born on the day the Province of Carolina was formed; March 24th, 1663. Twins with North Carolina, 359 years old!

Delaware: Born in 1664, the year the Delaware Colony was established. I couldn’t find an exact day anywhere, so he probably uses December 7th, the day he became a state. 358 years old!

New Jersey: Born in 1664, when the Province of New Jersey was formed. Unknown day, uses December 18th. 358 years old! Twins with West Jersey!

West Jersey: Born in 1664, when the Province of New Jersey was formed. Lived to 28. Was twins with New Jersey!

New York: Yet again, also born in 1664, when the Province of New York was created. Unknown day, uses July 26th. 358 years old!

Guam: June 15th, 1668; when the Spanish commenced colonization. Man, this guy’s got stories. 354 years old!

Pennsylvania: Born in 1681, the year Province of Pennsylvania (AKA Pennsylvania Colony) was formed! Yet again, unknown day, uses December 12th. 341 years old!

Georgia: April 21st, 1732, when the Province of Georgia was established. 290 years old!

Florida: February 10th, 1763. When East Florida was summoned into this world by a ominous ritual— Er, created. Definitely meant created. 259 years old!

Vermont: January 15th, 1777, when the Vermont Republic was founded. 244 years old!

Ohio: Unknown day in 1787, when the Northwest Territory (formerly known as Territory Northwest of the River Ohio) was established. Uses March 1st. 235 years old!

Tennessee: May 26th, 1790, when the Territory South of the River Ohio was created. 232 years old!

Washington, DC: July 16th (Hey, we’re birthday twinsies! :D), 1790, when DC was founded. 232 years old!

Kentucky: June 1st, 1792. Statehood, one of the few to actually be born a state. 230 years old!

Mississippi: April 7th, 1798, when the Territory of Mississippi was established. 224 years old!

Alaska: Born on July 8th, 1799 as Russian America. 223 years old!

Indiana: July 4th, 1800, when the Indiana Territory was established. 222 years old!

Louisiana: Born in 1801 on an unknown day, when French Louisiana (AKA New France) was created. Again. The first one sort of died, but that’s a story for another day. Uses July 4th, the day the Louisiana Purchase was established. 221 years old!

Michigan: June 30th, 1805, when the Michigan Territory was established. 217 years old!

Illinois: March 1st, 1809. The day Illinois Territory was established. 213 years old!

Missouri: June 4th, 1812, the day when the Missouri Territory was established. 210 years old!

Alabama: December 10th, 1817, when the Alabama Territory was established. 205 years old!

Arkansas: July 4th, 1819, when the Arkansas Territory established. 203 years old!

Maine: March 15th, 1820. Statehood, another one of the few to be born a state. 202 years old!

Texas: May 7th, 1824. When Coahuila y Tejas, was established. 198 years old!

Oklahoma: June 30th, 1834, when Indian Territory was formed by the Indian Intercourse Act. 188 years old!

Wisconsin: July 3rd, 1836, the day the Wisconsin Territory was established. 186 years old!

Iowa: He was born on July 4th, 1838, when the Iowa Territory was established. 184 years old!

California: June 14th, 1846. When the short-lived California Republic was created. 176 years old!

Oregon: August 14th, 1848, the day the Oregon Territory was established. 174 years old!

Minnesota: March 3rd, 1849. When the Minnesota Territory was established. 173 years old!

Utah: Unknown day in 1849. The date the State of Deseret was made. Uses September 9th, the day the Utah Territory was established! 173 years old!

New Mexico: September 9th, 1850. The day New Mexico Territory was established. 172 years old!

Washington: March 2nd, 1853, the establishment of the Washington Territory. 169 years old!

Kansas: March 2nd, 1853, the establishment of the Washington Territory. 169 years old!

Nebraska: May 30th, 1854, the establishment of the Nebraska Territory. Twins with Kansas. 168 years old!

Colorado: February 28th, 1861, the establishment of the Colorado Territory. 161 years old!

Nevada: March 2nd, 1861, the establishment of the Nevada Territory. 161 years old! Despite being born on the same day as the Dakotas, they aren’t… triplets… at all… *Squints at America*

North Dakota: March 2nd, 1861, the establishment of the Dakota Territory. Twins with South Dakota, swears she’s older than him. 161 years old!

South Dakota: March 2nd, 1861, the establishment of the Dakota Territory. Twins with North Dakota, swears he’s older than her. 161 years old!

Arizona: August 1st, 1861, the day Arizona Territory was established. 161 years old!

Idaho: March 3rd, 1863, the establishment of the Idaho Territory. 159 years old!

West Virginia: June 20th, 1863. Yet another one of the few who were born as states. 159 years old!

Montana: May 26th, 1864, establishment of the Montana Territory. 158 years old!

Wyoming: July 25th, 1868, establishment of the Wyoming Territory. 154 years old!

Hawaii: January 6th, 1873. 149 years old!

Puerto Rico: December 10th, 1898. The day the Treaty of Paris (1898) was signed. 124 years old!

Northern Mariana Islands: February 12th, 1899; When the German–Spanish Treaty (1899) was signed! 123 years old!

American Samoa: February 16th, 1900! When the Tripartite Convention became effective! 122 years old!

Panama Canal Zone: Born November 18th, 1903. Retired October 1st, 1979. She’s still alive, she just doesn’t want to deal with it. 119 years old!

US Virgin Islands: August 4th, 1916; 107 years old! Born the day the Treaty of the Danish West Indies was signed.

[scotianostra]

On or around 19th February 1792 Arthur Anderson was born  at Böd of Gremista, Lerwick.

Having recognised his son was intelligent, and having a great regard for education  Arthur was sent to a small elementary school set up by the Rev John Turnbull.   However, aged 12, He had to leave school to earn some money.  He was employed by Thomas Bolt of Bressay, a fish-curer and general merchant.  Arthur was given the job of beachboy, cleaning fish, then spreading them, when salted, on the beach.  However,  Bolt soon recognised Arthur’s intelligence, and put him to work in his office, where he acquired useful business habits.  He also continued to see the Rev Turnbull, who further satisfied his urge to learn.

By the time Arthur was 15, Britain was at war with France, and British navy ships frequently visited Shetland looking for “recruits”.  The Press Gang forcibly removed young men  to enrol in the Navy, and in 1807 Arthur was frogmarched to a boat waiting to take him to the Navy ship offshore. Fortunately, Bolt’s guarantee that Arthur would join up at 16 saved him, and the following year Arthur found a berth on a visiting warship bound for Portsmouth, and the Royal Navy.

By 1809 he was midshipman on board the 64-gunner HMS Ardent, but soon realised that expenses as an officer required more money than he possessed, so in 1810 he transferred to the smaller HMS  Bermuda .   There he served five years as captain’s clerk , reading avidly and becoming fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. He left in 1815, one of 3000 Shetlanders who served in the Navy during the Napoleonic Wars.

Seeking work in London,  Arthur’s uncle, Peter Ridland, introduced him to Brodie Willcox, a young man starting out as a ship-broker.  Employed at first in Willcox’s office as a clerk, the company’s connections with Spain and Portugal meant he soon became invaluable, and in 1822 joined Willcox as a partner in a firm of ship charterers.  That same year he married Mary Ann Hill, daughter of a shipowner.

The new firm proved successful, and soon acquired its own ship, later fitted out with guns and used for Portuguese trade.  During subsequent civil wars in Spain and Portugal, the company supported the royalists, including shipment of arms and extra vessels – a sound decision, resulting in contracts with both countries to deliver mail, and entitlement to fly a flag embodying the colours of Spain and Portugal.

Despite traditionalists’ misgivings, they began increasingly to use steamships, forming the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company, then in 1840 the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company– the beginning of P&O, with Anderson and Willcox directors.  While Willcox ran the company in London, Anderson travelled widely, problem-solving.   Within ten years, they sailed to India and the Far East, owning property in many countries, and forming an essential part of British trade.  This included transportation of opium from India to China – a legal trade at that time, although not universally approved of by the British public.

Having established these regular routes for their ships, Arthur suggested a way to avoid the hazardous journey round the Cape of Good Hope would be to construct a canal between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, via Suez.  However, the British disagreed, and in 1869 France and Egypt collaborated in building the Suez Canal.  Meanwhile, Arthur arranged transportation of mail and passengers overland by horse-drawn carriages, with coal for the steamships carried by 4000 camels.  

During all this activity, he never forgot his birthplace   His philosophy was , “Wealth ought not to be sought for its own sake, but as a means of being useful to others.” It’s a pity the now owners of P & O don’t hold the same beliefs!

In 1836 he founded Shetland’s first newspaper, The Shetland Journal, financed, edited and largely written by himself.  He attacked the power  wielded by lairds over crofting and fishing, as well as suggesting social improvements, and his Liberal policies proved very popular, including his petition to Parliament protesting against the invidious Corn Laws. Unfortunately, it proved too difficult to produce the paper from London, and after a few years it closed down

In an attempt to break the monopoly of the lairds, and put an end to fishing tenure, he set up the Shetland Fishery Co  in 1837on the island of Vaila.   He aimed to open up new markets, and provide work for men too poor to have their own boats  He introduced new methods, and paid wages. Initially successful, his lease expired in the ‘40s, his health was beginning to fail, and business ceased. However,  the lairds’ grip on fishing could be loosened – young men had discovered an independence not available to their parents, and meant to keep it.

In 1839 he was largely responsible for Shetland’s first steamship, enabling speedier mail services.   Also, from 1847-1852 he was Liberal MP for Orkney and Shetland.

Nor did he forget the women.  Shetland women knew how to knit and spin, to supplement  the family income, but usually they “sold” their knitwear to  local merchants in exchange for goods, not cash – the invidious Truck System.  Arthur encouraged knitting of lace items for a friend’s shop in London, for payment in cash,  and in 1837 he presented some fine examples to Queen Victoria.  Impressed, she immediately ordered a dozen pairs of lace stockings, the court ladies followed suit and a burgeoning fine lace industry emerged.

Since his own schooldays, Arthur had an interest in the education of those unable to afford private schooling.  In 1852 he employed a teacher in the Skerries, then in 1862, despite no local support whatsoever, he built the Anderson Educational Institute in Lerwick, to provide secondary education.   It featured a relief sculpture of his parting with Thomas Bolt in 1808, whose advice was to become the school motto – “Dö weel an’ persevere”.  This resulted in increased opportunities for Shetland youngsters, and greatly changed the structure of local society.  Outwith the isles, he also set up schools in Southampton for the children of P&O employees, while in London he provided the Norwood Working Men’s Institute for social, cultural and trade union purposes.

When his beloved wife died in 1864, he fulfilled her wish of erecting the Widows’ Asylum in Lerwick, (now the Anderson Homes,) intended for the widows of Shetland fishermen and seamen.  A separate fund, the Shetland Widows’ Trust, still operates today.

In 1862 Brodie Willcox died, whereupon Arthur became Chairman as well as Managing Director of P&O.  However, his poor health finally proved too much, and in February 1868 he too died, aged 76 and still working.