The Bedford Flag: It is the oldest complete flag known to exist in the United States. It is celebrated as the flag carried by the Bedford Minuteman, Nathaniel Page, to the Concord Bridge on April 18, 1775; the beginning of the American Revolution, but it was already an antique. It was made for a cavalry troop of the Massachusetts Bay militia early in the colonial struggle for the continent that we call the “French & Indian Wars. Standard of the Minutemen of Bedford, MA of 1775 the original size 27 ¼“ by 29” of red damask silk with painted emblem and motto & silver fringe. Originally commissioned to Cornet Page in 1737, then a royal subject of Kind George II. On April 19, 1775, it was carried at Concord to represent the Bedford Minutemen. Tradition says that the fringe from the original banner was used to trim a ball gown by Page’s great granddaughter, who coined the words “Giddy Girl” because she regretted losing the fringe from the flag. The original flag is encased at the Library at the Library at Bedford, MA. The flag’s painted device displays an armor-clad arm issuing from a cloud & brandishing an upraised sword, all framed by a silver border. It also has a gilt ribbon scroll with the motto “VINCE AUT MORIRE” (Conquer or Die)
http://www.archive.org/stream/flagofminutemen00brow
http://www.archive.org/stream/flagofminutemen00brow#page/n7/mode/2up
The Declaration of Independence
John F. Kennedy Reading Of The Declaration Of Independence
http://www.nytimes.com/audiopages/1957/07/04/national/19570704_KENNEDY_AUDIO.html
The complete text of The Declaration of Independence. The original spelling and capitalization have been retained.
(Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776)
The Unanimous Declaration
of the Thirteen United States of America
John Hancock (His right hand man: He would have no more of it)
Thomas Jefferson (The Genius: More Intelligent than the entire American Government)
Patrick Henry (Compromise was a four letter word…He lived in absolute integrity)
Thomas Paine (The Pen: he would dismantle Limbaugh in one sentence)
Captain John Parker (The Match at the bridge!)
John Parker (July 13, 1729 – September 17, 1775) was an American farmer, mechanic, and soldier, who commanded the Lexington militia at the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775. Parker was born in Lexington to Josiah Parker and Anne Stone. His experience as a soldier in the French and Indian War (Seven Years War) at the Siege of Louisbourg and conquest of Quebec most likely led to his election as militia captain by the men of the town.
He was in poor health from consumption (tuberculosis) on the morning of April 19. Tradition reports his order at Lexington Green to be "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." He witnessed his cousin Jonas Parker killed by a British bayonet. Later that day he rallied his men to attack the regulars returning to Boston in an ambush known as "Parker's Revenge."
This was his only military action in the American Revolutionary War. He was unable to serve in the Battle of Bunker Hill in June, and died of tuberculosis in September. Parker's grandson donated his musket to the state of Massachusetts. It hangs today in the Senate Chamber of the Massachusetts State House.
The Parker Homestead formerly stood on Spring Street in Lexington. A tablet marks the spot as Theodore Parker's birthplace; Theodore, a relative (grandson) of Captain John, was a transcendentalist and minister who was good friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
Captain John Parker is still the symbol of one of the largest mutual companies, Sentry Insurance. His full-body profile (including musket and boulder) is the crest of all U.S. Army Reserve battalions' and regiments' coats of arms.[1]
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