This old geezer was somewhat taken aback when asked recently the question posed in the heading used in the heading of this morning's post. It came to pass that the chap who did the asking was rather curious. Gave me pause it did.
Having a think on the matter got this old geezer to realize that a little background was due to all of the new readers of this very public diary.
Most of me life was spent thinking there was no history to go with the name on the birth certificate. Discoveries later in life gave the knowledge of parentage and some satisfaction as to how MOI came to be. There were few colourful details to attach to the name 'DeFrees', a name this old geezer held no great affection for.
Then a very strange thing came about due to being discovered on the INTERNET. A cousin, third cousin twice removed, wrote to MOI and offered to fill in many of the blanks. It seems, this cousin, third cousin twice removed, had written a book about the 'DeFrees' family. Fancy that...
Being a closet historian, this cousin had tracked the line quite fully and had found me place in the scheme of it all.
Allow MOI to share;
".......the 250-year spanning DeFrees family that is the subject of this book encapsulates the history of the United States. While some of his family were loyalist, Joseph Hutton DeFrees himself fought beside the colonists against England in the American Revolution(this brilliant chap served the entire 7 years of struggle and was captured 3 times and captured a British Man-of-War with 4 fellow prisoners)........He named his last born after 3rd President of the United States."
"...........The DeFrees family fought in the War of 1812.........they were farmers,millers,printers,lawyers,journalists,tradesmen,COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS, and politicians(3 served in US Congress).........they sought gold in California in 1849...........harboured refugees from slavery along the Underground Railroad...........cousins fighting cousins during the Civil War. Two were present at Ford's Theatre, the night of April 14,1864, and heard the shot that killed Lincoln."
"..........they are among the causalities of the Plains Indian Wars............served in the Spanish-American War. They worked on the building of the Panama Canal.............descendants of the Revolution War veteran fought in WWI, they served and died at Normandy and the Pacific, Vietnam, Afghanistan and descendants of the American Revolutionary War hero are even now serving in Iraq........."
The blood that flows in my veins is thick with patriotism for America. The genes blessed with have made me fight for social change and to try and raise the bar of civic pride. For my self and my fellow Americans. It is what I do. It is why I will continue to challenge public employees, place myself in harm's way.
When I was growing up in an orphanage I was clueless that I came from such a brilliant American family or that me roots go so deep in England.
Reading of that family made me aware of where some of my personality traits came from and explained much. I cried when presented with the book and one will never know the joy felt by me at having now a family to lay claim to, even if many are dead, and many of the members of the family are spread all over the United States.I will tell true it just allowed me to crow a bit about being so bloody brilliant, and me mates have suffered with me sense of self for some time. Right proud to feel that my family has been a part of what has made this country so great AND to know how the anglophile in MOI came to be.
All of which proves one thing. Many wondrous things can come to you, you just never know from what quarter they may arrive from. You have to hang in there and believe that tomorrow will be better than today.
For this old geezer it was worth the wait.
There is one old geezer in the family who knew Blackbeard the pirate, and lived to be 108 years and 4 days old. Another member of family stayed true to the Crown and went on to serve in Royal Navy for many years, receiving high honour from Queen Anne.
John D. DeFrees was friend to many presidents and a close and personal friend to President Lincoln. Was first Printer of United States, and was famous as a writer and newspaper owner. Some credit him for being one of the founders of the Republican Party.
The cousin, third cousin twice removed ( I do so love that usage) was a professor of languages, taught Latin & Greek he did. Seemed not at all surprised to discover that this old geezer was who he was, felt it came with the genes...
There you have it, another label to place on the battered old tin that be 'Robert',accent in French...
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