In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, Paul Peucker, an archivist and the Director of the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, joins Liz Covart to investigate the establishment of the Moravian Church in North America. [Read more…] about The Moravian Church in North America
Pennsylvania
Major General William Alexander, Lord Stirling: A Short Biography
William Alexander was born on December 25, 1726 in the city of New York to well-known lawyer James Alexander and his wife Mary. Mary and James had emigrated from Scotland in 1716. When they married, Mary was already a widow with six children and she and James had seven more. William was the second son of Mary and James, but when his older brother died in 1731, William became the male heir to the Alexander clan. [Read more…] about Major General William Alexander, Lord Stirling: A Short Biography
James Forten and the Making of the United States
In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, Matthew Skic, a Curator of Exhibitions at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, joins Liz to explore the life and deeds of James Forten, with details from the museum’s new exhibit, Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia. [Read more…] about James Forten and the Making of the United States
Baseball’s John Milligan: A Saratoga County Legend
When people think of Schuylerville, in Saratoga County, they think of history. The region is known for the 1777 Battles of Saratoga, but people are typically less aware of it’s baseball history.
For many years however, the community was known for pitcher John Milligan, one of the finest athletes in the county’s history. He hurled for the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League and the Washington Senators of the American League, among other teams. [Read more…] about Baseball’s John Milligan: A Saratoga County Legend
Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778
In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, historian Ricardo Herrera explores the winter at Valley Forge with details form his book, Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778 (Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2022). [Read more…] about Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778
Washington’s Revenge: The 1777 New Jersey Campaign
In late August 1776, a badly defeated Continental Army retreated from Long Island to Manhattan. By early November, George Washington’s inexperienced army withdrew further into New Jersey and, by the end of the year, into Pennsylvania. During this dark night of the American Revolution — “the times that try men’s souls” — Washington began developing the strategy that would win the war. [Read more…] about Washington’s Revenge: The 1777 New Jersey Campaign
Bobcat Ranney: The Hermit of Dogtown
According to “A Who’s Who of Adirondack Hermits,” in the Fiftieth Anniversary edition of Adirondack Life magazine there were only two in Warren County: artist John Henry Hill at Phantom Island on Lake George and Archie “Bobcat” Ranney of Baker’s Mills.
Hill only lasted six years, from 1870 until 1876: the year he was picked up and sent to an asylum, never to return to the county. Archie, on the other hand, made his mark in Adirondack history and lore by “hermiting” for twenty years in Baker’s Mills, a hamlet in the town of Johnsburg. [Read more…] about Bobcat Ranney: The Hermit of Dogtown
Joe Gingras: A Major League Baseball Career Thwarted By War
In 1870 Francois Dieudonné Gingras left his native Canada for Manhattan where he met and married Mary Roohan. By 1896, now with three children and another on the way, this couple had settled in Saratoga Springs where they opened a grocery store.
Their oldest son, Frank, was soon brought into the family business and the store was renamed, F. D. Gingras & Son. Their youngest son, whom they had named Joseph Elzead John Gingras, was looking to pursue a far different life: baseball. [Read more…] about Joe Gingras: A Major League Baseball Career Thwarted By War
How Washington’s Army Survived Valley Forge
This week on The Historians Podcast, Ricardo Herrera the author of Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778 (Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2022).
The army needed to feed itself and prevent starvation or dispersal during the long encampment. Herrera brings to light the army’s herculean efforts to feed itself, support local and Continental governments, and challenge the British Army during the American Revolution. [Read more…] about How Washington’s Army Survived Valley Forge
Lt. John Jenkins: Guiding The Clinton-Sullivan Campaign
On August 11th, 1779, at the height of America’s war for independence, General John Sullivan arrived at Tioga Point on the Susquehanna River at the Pennsylvania-New York border with a large force of men and began construction of what would become known as Fort Sullivan. [Read more…] about Lt. John Jenkins: Guiding The Clinton-Sullivan Campaign