Had to take a few weeks off from this space, so easing back in with a few Independence Day facts to ponder:

  • The Second Continental Congress actually declared their independence from Great Britain on July 2, by resolution.  July 4 was when members approved the final language of the document.
  • The Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed on July 4, 1776.  Congressional members wouldn’t start signing it until August 2.  Some didn’t sign it until even later than that.
  • Thomas Jefferson, the principal drafter of the Declaration, died on July 4, 1826.  About 600 miles north of him, his friend and co-author John Adams died on the exact same day.

These guys knew, when they put the quill to parchment, that war was coming.  They also knew that the odds were ridiculously stacked against them, and it was probably gonna be ugly (it was).  Here are three soldiers of the American Revolution associated with our property on Elsmere Avenue who fought that battle to uphold the tenets laid out in that document and made it home alive:

  • John Leonard (1738-1801) served as a lieutenant in the Albany County Militia’s 5thRegiment under colonels Schuyler and Vandenbergh.  He came here from Germany in 1754 and is buried somewhere near Hamagrael Elementary School, but no one has ever determined exactly where (a DAR plaque commemorates this near the school’s entrance).  Up until recently, the only evidence we had that he farmed our land came in the form of William K. Bender’s 1852 will, where he left what is referred to as the “Old Leonard Farm,” to his son Cyrus.  Cyrus’s time on this spot is better documented on town maps and deeds and boy, did he ever leave earth in a gloriously  messy manner in 1898 (more about that HERE).  One day, however, an old title abstract showed up in my mailbox, a gift from one of the property’s former owners (I guess my reputation as a history geek is getting ‘round) and it provided a lot more clarity on the history.  Leonard leased 415 acres of property from the Dutch patroon, and the old farmhouse that once stood just behind the footprint of our current home was the original Leonard residence.  Back in time it was referred to as the “Tory House” because it was confiscated from loyalists to the British crown during the Revolutionary War and given to the lieutenant.  A direct descendant of Leonard – a 4th great-grandchild – still lives here on Elsmere Avenue, less than a half-mile from us!
  • William K. Bender farmed the land until his death in 1852 and his wife Candace was the daughter of Revolutionary War veteran Solomon Russell (1748-1829) who lived with the family on the land until his death.  He served in the Albany County Militia’s 2ndRegiment line artillery – which had to have been a brutal affair – and was originally from near Sturbridge, MA.  All three were once buried in a family plot about 1,500 feet south of our family garden until 1935, when their remains were relocated to Bethlehem Cemetery.
  • Christian Bender (1731-1808) was from the same part of Germany as John Leonard and served as a sergeant in the same regiment.  He was William Bender’s father, thus making him the third Continental Army connection to our home.  Curiously, William was deliberately overlooked in the sergeant’s will, where he leaves acreage to all of his grown sons except him.  This perhaps in part explains why he leased land from Leonard to farm.  Like his son, Christian is buried in Bethlehem Cemetery, but in a prominent Bender family plot, whereas William and his family were deposited without fanfare in a then-remote section of the grounds owned by the town, their stones laid flat.

Today, we’re going to do what we normally do on the 4th of July.  Go for a swim.  Eat.  Mow the lawn.  Eat.  Maybe play some croquet (while eating).  Build a fire.  But I’m also going to remember those that fought for this ideal, this set of concepts laid out centuries ago, as imperfect and flawed and maligned and misinterpreted and soaked with rivers of human viscera as they are.  As David McCullough once said, most countries have no idea when they were “born.”  We are one of the few countries that actually has a birth certificate, and I thank them today and every day.

Please take care of each other.  Literally.