A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day......Sept 26, 07....Massachusetts ~ "The Old Bay State"

Mama_Bear | JustAmy | The Mayor

[Mama_Bear]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 200,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

We're
"On the Road Again"...

Please join "A Few of FR's Finest" as we make a cyber-visit to another state in this great Union of ours.

These are the states
we have presented to date:

05-23-03 Alabama 06-27-03 Maryland 07-11-03 Vermont 07-25-03 Utah 08-05-03 Texas 08-22-03 Nevada 08-26-03 Wash DC 09-05-03 Tennessee 09-17-03 Florida 09-19-03 Minnesota 10-03-03 New Mexico 10-14-03 Georgia 10-17-03 Louisiana 10-22-03 Michigan 11-04-03 South Dakota 11-14-03 California 01-09-04 South Carolina

02-06-04 West Virginia 02-20-04 Oregon 03-09-04 Pennsylvania 03-30-04 Wyoming 04-13-04 Mississippi 04-27-04 Missouri 05-25-04 Indiana 07-21-04 Virginia 08-18-04 Colorado 09-29-04 Idaho 10-20-04 New Hampshire 12-07-04 Hawaii 02-09-05 Maine 03-09-05 North Carolina 04-13-05 Arizona 06-15-05 Iowa 10-19-05 Alaska

"I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachusetts; she needs none. There she is. Behold her, and judge for yourselves. There is her history; the world knows it by heart. The past, at least, is secure. There is Boston and Concord and Lexington and Bunker Hill; and there they will remain forever." -- Daniel Webster, 1830

"By the sword we seek peace,
but peace only under liberty."

On November 19, 1620, a shout went up aboard the Mayflower: "Land!" Everyone rushed on deck. Barely visible many miles away a strip of shoreline could be seen. The Pilgrims dropped to their knees and wept with joy, thanking God. After sixty-six days and nights on the Atlantic, God had delivered them to the New World. Two days later the vessel reached Provincetown Bay in what would become the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The 102 settlers aboard the Mayflower hold a rightly revered place in the history of America. Before disembarking, before even setting foot on the new land, these settlers blazed a new trail in participatory government, a trail that would guide a new nation toward democracy.

On November 21, 1620, the Pilgrims and other colonists met in the cabin of the ship and forty-one men signed an agreement that became known as the Mayflower Compact. This was the earliest attempt at self-government in the New World.

Click the graphic below....

From June through September of 1692, nineteen men and women, all having been convicted of witchcraft, were carted to Gallows Hill, a barren slope near Salem Village, for hanging. Another man of over eighty years was pressed to death under heavy stones for refusing to submit to a trial on witchcraft charges. Hundreds of others faced accusations of witchcraft; dozens languished in jail for months without trials until the hysteria that swept through Puritan Massachusetts subsided.

Fast-forward to 1775 and the
Revolutionary War

Click here for an excellent
Revolutionary War Time Line




***Touring Massachusetts***

Massachusetts is special in New England as the epicenter of several major chapters of Colonial and Revolutionary War history. Visitors can see the rock where the Mayflower supposedly landed in Plymouth; examine the sites of the 1692 Witch Trials in Salem; see where Henry David Thoreau developed his ideas about living close to nature in Walden; and walk the paths where the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired in Lexington and Concord.

When visiting Boston, be sure to take "The Freedom Trail". It is a 2.5 mile red-brick walking trail that leads you to 16 nationally significant historic sites, every one an authentic American treasure.

Freedom Trail Information
Historic Homes and Sites
90 Great Things to do in Massachusetts
Visiting Salem
Massachusetts Beaches

Cape Cod lays claim to the majority of cranberry production in the United States. Its history began back when the Indians introduced cranberries to the Pilgrims in the early 1600s. The Pilgrims learned the benefits of cranberries quickly and began using them as a remedy against scurvy--similar to the way the English used limes. A recipe for cranberry sauce first appeared in The Pilgrim Cookbook in 1633 and forty-four years later ten bushels were sent back to King Charles II of England. The Pilgrims made other uses for cranberries including using the fruit to make dyes and poultices and whalers and residents used cranberries as a major source of Vitamin C.

More information available at Time for Cranberries

Thank you, JustAmy, for your research
and contributions on the subject
of Massachusetts cranberries! :-)


Apples and cranberries are a delightful combination!

Two-crust piecrust
12 oz. cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup maple sugar
6 cups sliced apples
1/4 cup arrowroot powder dissolved in 2 Tbsp. cold water

Line a 9-inch pie plate with piecrust dough and reserve the rest for making lattice. Place cranberries and maple sugar in a saucepan. Peel and core the apples and cut into 1/2-inch slices; add the slices to the cranberry/maple sugar mixture (which could also be called a syrup) as you go. Bring syrup to a boil and cook, stirring, for several minutes until cranberries begin to pop. Stirring constantly and quickly so not to create lumps, add the arrowroot/water mixture and cook another minute more, continuing to stir. Let cool slightly. Pour into pie shell. Make a lattice to cover the cranberry/apple mixture and bake at 350°F degrees for about 45 minutes.

• 552 original documents pertaining to the Salem witch trials of 1692 have been preserved and are still stored by the Peabody Essex Museum.
   
• Boston built the first subway system in the United States in 1897.
   
• Although over 30 communities in the colonies eventually renamed themselves to honor Benjamin Franklin. The Massachusetts Town of Franklin was the first and changed its name in 1778.
   
• Norfolk County is the birthplace of four United States presidents: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and George Herbert Walker Bush.
   
• The Fig Newton was named after Newton, Massachusetts.
   
• The visible portion of Plymouth Rock is a lumpy fragment of glacial moraine about the size of a coffee table, with the date 1620 cut into its surface. After being broken, dragged about the town of Plymouth by ox teams used to inspire Revolution-aries, and reverently gouged and scraped by 19th-century souvenir hunters, it is now at rest near the head of Plymouth Harbor.
   
• The Basketball Hall Of Fame is located in Springfield.
   
• The American industrial revolution began in Lowell. Lowell was America's first planned industrial city.
   
• 1634: Boston Common became the first public park in America.
   
• 1891: The first basketball game was played in Springfield.
   
• Massachusetts holds the two largest cites in New England, Boston, the largest, and Worcester.
   
• The creation of the Cape Cod National Seashore, which was formerly private town and state owned land, marked the first time the federal government purchased land for a park.
   
• Robert Goddard, inventor of the first liquid fueled rocket, was born and lived much of his life in Worcester and launched the first rocket fueled with liquid fuel from the neighboring town of Auburn.
   
• Quincy boasts the first Dunkin Donuts on Hancock Street and the first Howard Johnson's on Newport Ave.
   
• Glaciers formed the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard during the ice age.
   
• The first U.S.Postal zip code in Massachusetts is 01001 at Agawam.
   
• Brewster has become the de facto "Wedding Capital of Cape Cod" because of its many small and larger inns that cater to weddings.
   
• The birth control pill was invented at Clark University in Worcester.
   
• The signs along the Massachusetts Turnpike reading "x miles to Boston" refer to the distance from that point to the gold dome of the state house.
   
• Harvard was the first college established in North America. Harvard was founded in 1636.
   
• In 1838 the Boston & West Worcester Railroad was the first railroad to charge commuter fares.
   
• The Boston University Bridge on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.
   
• John Adams and John Quincy Adams are buried in the crypt at the United First Parish Church in Quincy.
   
• Princeton was named after the Reverend Thomas Prince, Pastor of the Old South Church in Boston, and one of the first proprietors of the town. Princeton was incorporated in 1759.
   
• The Pilgrim National Wax Museum in Plymouth is the only wax museum devoted entirely to the Pilgrim's story.
   
• In 1908, Miss Caroline O. Emmerton purchased The House of the Seven Gables - built in 1668 - restored it to its present state and, in 1910, opened the site to the touring public. The seven-gabled house inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write his famous novel of the same name.
   
• The Boston Tea Party reenactment takes place in Boston Harbor every December 16th.
   
• Balance Rock in Lanesborough is named in honor of a 25' x 15' x 10 boulder that balances upon a small stone below it.
   
• The 3rd Monday in April is a legal holiday in Massachusetts called Patriot's Day, the day the Boston Marathon is held each year.
   
• The first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in Plymouth in 1621.
   
• Charles Goodyear in Woburn first vulcanized rubber in 1839.
   
• Elias Howe of Boston invented the first sewing machine in 1845.
   
• The first nuclear-powered surface vessel, USS Long Beach CG (N) 9, was launched at Quincy in 1961.
   
• The USS Constitution 'Old Ironsides', the oldest fully commissioned vessel in the US Navy is permanently berthed at Charlestown Navy Yard.
   
• Revere Beach was the first public beach in the United States and is host to Suffolk Downs horse racing track, Wonderland dog racing track and a 14-screen cinema complex.
   
• The official state dessert of Massachusetts is Boston cream pie.
   
• Milford is known the world over for its unique pink granite, discovered in the 1870's and quarried for many years to grace the exteriors of museums, government buildings, monuments and railroad stations.
  

With appreciation to the following
websites for text and images...

Puritans Become Pilgrims
Salemweb.com
Visit New England
Massachusetts Facts and Trivia





And a special 'thank you' to JustAmy and The Mayor for
their contributions to our cyber-visit to Massachusetts.

03-27-07 ~ Hall of Fame #19 ~ Final

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 09-24,25-07 Military Tribute

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' Every Thursday at the Finest The guy's good, folks!

[luvie]

That would be a wonderful second trip for us. We’ll talk about it!

Right now I am on my way to Lubbock for the day and I am leaving right now!

((((hugs))))

Have a great day and maybe I’ll see you tonight. I have missed you! :(

[GodBlessUSA]

Doh, OF Course, it really goes without saying ;), you are going to come too on a trip to MA! :)
Hugs!

and any of our Finest FRiends should come if they can. :) LOL

[GodBlessUSA]

Sounds fun. Talk to you tonight :)

[MEG33]

Massachusetts State Bird

Good Morning To the Finest

A wonderful visit to Massachusetts today !
Thank you, Mama Bear for this beautiful thread..and Just Amy and Rus for helping.

[Mama_Bear]

Hey, jwfiv!! What a treat to see you here!

I’ve been to Boston a couple of tiimes, and spent a few days in rural areas with small towns and white steeples dotting the countryside in snowy winter.

It sounds so lovely. I was born in just one of those towns, but my family moved from Massachusetts when I was an infant. We went back a couple times to visit, but I was too young to remember much. Someday I am going back when I have the time to search the old cemeteries for my ancestors.

A church in Sudbury, in what looks to be springtime.....

[Mama_Bear]

Ohhhh...........yum! Thanks, Maj. It looks delicious (except for the clams, I'll subsitute corn in mine), and a perfect addition to Warm Fuzzy Wednesday in Massachusetts.

Clam Chowder! It's what's for lunch! :-)

[Mama_Bear]

Lori, this is a beautiful presentation ...loaded with information, great links & amazing graphics. Love how you did the pledge and the ping.

Thank you so much, Dolly. :-)

(golly, Dutchess & I might never be able to do Ohio after seeing Massachusetts)

Of course you can! It doesn't have to be anything like mine and, don't sell yourself short, you do really nice collages and tables. Just start working on it and it will come together.

I am NOT a great student of history but in past 15 years have probably done a lot more investigative study..It really hit me that it war over 150 years from first settlement to the revolutionary war. I guess I always KNEW that but the impact of the fact never hit home.

I know! In school, it was like........."the pilgrims came, then there was the Boston Tea Party and the Revolutionary War". There were actually three generations of people, who lived under the law of England, before the war for independence.

I love history, but it has been a newly acquired interest. When I was in school, it was soooooo boring. LOL.

[Mama_Bear]

Oh, and thank you for Mel! He is welcome on ANY thread I post. ;-)

[Mama_Bear]

What a beautiful presentation MBear!!! I look forward to visiting ALL of the states you’ve cyber-visted.

Well, thank you. I enjoyed profiling this state, especially since it is my birth state.

I hope you enjoy your cyber-visit to the other states. Unfortunately, a couple of them have lost their images over the years, so now they aren't much more than a series of red x's, but most of the state threads are still intact.

Have a great day, SnarlinCubBear....and thanks for coming to Massachusetts with us!

[Mama_Bear]

Beautiful job Mama Bear! I feel guilty I wasn’t able to contribute more.

Thanks, Rus. Do not feel guilty. I appreciate the images you sent, and I understand that you had other things on your mind recently. It' not a problem.

Besides, it's not too late. You can add more of your thoughts and recollections of Massachusetts to the thread, if you have time. ;-)

[Mama_Bear]

I love visiting MA. It's a beautiful state. I have family there also. Which has me go visit more often than I may have.

Hi GeeBee. All my family moved away from Massachusetts in the 60's, but my ancestors on my moms' side go back to the 1600's in Massachusetts and Maine. I wish I had been able to take my son back to New England when he was still living at home, although, even now he doesn't seem all that interested in his ancestors or his heritage. Only recently have I become interested in my family history, so I guess it's an age thing. LOL

[Mama_Bear]

We drove through part of Massachusetts on our way to Maine last month and it was just beautiful. I would like to go again when we can stop and see some of it instead of blowing through just to go to the airport.

I think we should ALL get together and go to Massachusetts! Wouldn't that be fun? Rus could be our tour guide. :-)

I was so envious that you and Dolly got to go and visit with my cuzzin Rus. I hope to someday be able to meet him in person. The photos Dolly posted were wonderful! Sure wish I could have been there.

Thanks Mama Bear for an absolutely beautiful thread!

:-) Thank you for your sweet comments. Have a lovely day, LUV.

[Mama_Bear]

What a beautiful, beautiful thread.

Thank you! Thanks for joining us to today for our cyber-trip.

Have a lunch date at 12:30....

I also have a lunch date with my MIL at 11:30. Trying to get all my pings answered before I have to get ready to go.

See you later this afternoon, jaycee.

[Mama_Bear]

Good morning, MEG. What a lovely little Black-Capped Chickadee!

A wonderful visit to Massachusetts today !

Thanks, ((((((((MEG))))))))). I will be back later, need to run and get ready to go see my MIL for lunch. (Fortunately, I am on left coast time, or I'd be running REALLY late. LOL)

[Mama_Bear]

...had added it to the next mailing of DollyHumor, but think I want to send out a special mailing on it.. it is too good not to have people see today & not wait til the 30th when the next DH goes out.

How sweet of you, dolly! Thanks for sending out the link to your e-mail list. I am honored that you think it is that good. *blush*

[jwfiv]

Beautiful pic there ... one of those old fences in the foreground ... many of those in the rural landscape ... love them things ... simple, graceful ... some of them must be 200 years old and more.

The little town I spent a few days near on that wintry long ago was Williamsburg ... classic little burg it was, too.

[Billie]

Simply Supurb, Lori! Thank you so much for giving us yet another cyber tour of another state in this great land of ours. Don't stop - we still have a few more states to visit. :)

[La Enchiladita]

Dolly (and everyone), here is maple sugar.

My mother bought little packets of these to stuff in Christmas stockings.
It is very smooth and yummy.

[Billie]

ETA: I just thought it would be interesting to see which states have yet to be profiled! Won’t those be fun, too! :)

[La Enchiladita]

Thanks for the ping, Mama_Bear.
It’s a beautiful thread, full of history and beauty.
I have never been to New England, so a trip there would indeed be exotic for me...:)

And, when it comes to the menu, I could go for the clam chowder, followed by the cranberry-apple pie...!!!