250 and Counting

If you’re going to have a kid in 1776, you’re probably going to be feeling a little patriotism when you do so. Such was the case with William Montgomery Crane, who got his middle name from General Richard Montgomery, under whom his father served around this point in the Revolutionary War. Crane’s father was General […]

The post William Montgomery Crane–February 1, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The capture and ultimate disposition of the HMS Blue Mountain Valley and her crew was, in the bigger scheme of things, a relatively minor event in the American Revolution, however it did suddenly bring both New Jersey and New York into more active participation in the war. And even though the Blue Mountain Valley was […]

The post The Fate of a Crew–January 31, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

While we’re talking about enlisting apprentices today, it should be noted that there was precious little difference between an apprentice and an indentured servant, except maybe their age. Thus, the rules that applied to apprentices when it came to enlistment could also be applied to indentured servants, especially inasmuch as some of those rules seemed […]

The post Enlisting Apprentices–January 30, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Letters from John Hancock to George Washington weren’t especially scarce, nor were letters going the other way. However, today’s letter takes on a few important topics for Washington that one hopes came greatly appreciated. There was commendation that Washington had the foresight to send troops to New York, there was some good financial news, there […]

The post From John To George–January 29, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

It used to be rumored that Benjamin Franklin had over 30 children out of wedlock, but that’s since been debunked. (And there goes a perfectly good “lightning rod” joke.) But William Franklin was considered illegitimate, though he was raised by his father and his common-law wife Deborah Read. There are some breadcrumbs here and there […]

The post Arrest of a Franklin–January 28, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

As noted in the episode, there were several different rules laid down for trading with Native Americans at that time, and some of them were designed to ensure that they remained on our side or, at worst, that they remained neutral in Revolution-based matters. But the rules wound up working out well for both sides: […]

The post Rules for Native American Trade–January 27, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

We weren’t even a nation yet and Congress had already commissioned the Richard Montgomery Memorial. And while the memorial itself was completed rather quickly by the commissioned artist, the war interfered with its transport and it took nearly ten years to find all the pieces. (Dirty Secret: they never found all of them; the urn […]

The post Our First Memorial–January 25, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

While the United States has had its share of international mishaps, not all of them have been created by Americans. Jean-Guillaume Hyde, more properly known as “Jean-Guillaume, baron Hyde de Neuville”, would be an early example of this. Hyde was probably a textbook case of failing upward, as he appears to have suffered multiple setbacks […]

The post Jean-Guillaume Hyde–January 24, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The HMS Blue Mountain Valley—which probably got its name from the place in eastern Jamaica—had rather a rough trip to America from London in late 1775 and early 1776. They left London in mid-October 1775 and ran into multiple storms before arriving somewhere near Boston nine or ten weeks later. Damage to the ship was […]

The post A Most Dreadful Voyage–January 23, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Francis Lightfoot Lee is another one of those Founding Fathers who was there for much of the main action, but who doesn’t seem to get as much press as Jefferson, Franklin, Adams and a few others. That’s not to say he didn’t have any influence. In fact, as we learn today, he was one of […]

The post “Which Will Be Your Choice?”–January 22, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.