Happy 4th of July

We hope you have a Happy 4th of July. We will be celebrating in Petersburg, where there are various activities going on through out the day. There will be a parade, bike decorating contests, balloon toss events, and I believe there is even a fish toss. The grand finale is traditional fireworks at 11pm. The next morning we'll leave early to cruise to Sitka, with various stops on anchor over the next week. Thus, we will not have any updates until we find an internet access in Sitka.

We want to share with you something we read in the Petersburg Pilot (the local paper) this morning:

THE PRICE THEY PAID have you ever wondered what happened to those men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought an died from wounds or the hardships of the Revolutionary War.

What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that th epenalty would be death if they were captured.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis, had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. The owner quietly urged General George Washington to open fire, which was done. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and soon after she died.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields an dhis grist mill were laid waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home after the war to find his wife dead, his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight and unwavering, they pledged: "For the Support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of the Devind Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

They gave us Independent America. Can we keep it?