Misspellings [sic] happen…
and history is rarely straightforward.
THE CHALLENGE:
Chris Dunham of The Genealogue reports on Char Olson’s crusade in Merrimac, Wisconsin to change the town’s name back to Merrimack.
Reportedly the name used to be spelled with the “k” at the end, (named after the county in New Hampshire), but the spelling got changed (the k was dropped) about a hundred years later. Continue reading
Lets say someone was able to clone Brigadier General John Stark….
what do you think he’d be doing right now?
Would he be leading the charge as an officer in Iraq, or would he be a maintenance guy, empowered with the charge of altering the wording on all the New Hampshire welcome signs?
From a genealogical standpoint, would this clone be related in some way to known John Stark descendants, or would he be simply a gene-alike pretender.
If human beings are ever artificially cloned, genealogists will have to create a new “relationship” to define how the clone is related to the original person and their descendants.
I know this is a strange topic to be thinking about.
But I recently read, on more than one genealogy blog, an article entitled, Are you Related To Yourself. It states: “There is 1 of you–unless you’ve got an identical twin.” Hmmm… let me think about that. I’m one of those rare beings who did have an identical twin… (a natural clone). But wow, the last time I checked there is still only one of ME.
Genetic similarities have little to do with our personal histories and how we pass along our genetic matter. In my case, my twin sister did not have children, and I had one. Agreed, in this particular case my sister had a close bond with my son. He actually has more of her personality traits than he does of mine, which was a bit spooky at times. But I’m still his mother, and she remains his aunt.
Speaking of twins.. Peter Coy of BusinessWeek Online, calls Vermont and New Hampshire geographic twins.. Since Maine sits right next to us, I guess that makes the three states triplets?
Doug Powers of The American Spectator, carries the idea of cloning a bit further… “Under the wrong circumstances, Einstein’s clone could be intellectually and physically lazy, getting up off the couch only for “gettink zee beer and zee Prinkle chips.”
General Stark’s clone: “You have 50 more welcome signs to go….”
Janice
P.S. Cloning is not so far away. Read “I Didn’t Know They Could Do That”
Apologies to Brigadier General John Stark. His accomplishments include a pivotal victory at the Battle of Bennington during the American Revolutionary War and writing the words “Live Free or Die” in 1809 which later became New Hampshire’s state motto. The Stark Homestead, located on north Elm Street, is Manchester’s oldest building and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Learn more about his Family Tree and descendants.
Some people believe public punishment can go a long way in changing people’s behavior.
Colonial New Hampshire residents believed it, and used it frequently. The common law of England had been brought over and was a part of the law of the American colonies.
In the early days of New Hampshire’s settlement, individuals who broke the law or damaged the community in some way were often publicly censured. Use of devices, such as the stocks, the pillory, and the whipping post could be found in virtually every community, and were often located near the church yard, or on the town common. Continue reading
