Jamestown 400: Part I

Joshua and Stephen are working on the Jamestown 400 treasure hunt. The Jamestown 400 is a hunt for 400 gold coins to celebrate the founding of Jamestown. The hunt is done by Vision Forum. Joshua and Stephen have been searching the Vision Forum catalog for clues. The clues involve searching history. The point of the hunt is to learn the providential history of our nation.

"Deep within the ancient lands of the Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown triangle, rests a treasure of historic proportions.

Hidden somewhere near or by the ancient landmarks of our colonial forefathers, lies a trove of buried treasure. Golden treasure.

Resting within a bolted wooden chest are four hundred solid gold coins with a value in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Whoever cracks the mystery of the Jamestown 400 becomes the sole owner of the treasure trove.

But to crack the code and find the four hundred gold coins, you must take a journey through history that will reveal America’s greatest national treasure — the providential hand of God in the life of this nation." from Vision Forum

This is a picture of the recreated fort at Jamestown.

Catnapping

When we came home from Plymouth, we couldn't find our kitten. So we went around the neighbourhood trying to find her. When we couldn't find her, we went back to the house to eat breakfast. This was Wednesday morning. After lunch on Wednesday, we went to our neighbor's house who had put food out for her while we were gone, and asked them when they had last seen her. They said they had last seen her on Saturday. So we went around calling her again, and asking some neighbors about her. When we were going back towards our house, we saw some of the boys from our neighbourhood coming home from school.We asked them if they had seen our cat.Then one of the boys said that his mother had taken her to the pound on Tuesday. So we went to the pound in our county where we thought they would have taken her. That pound hadn't seen her, so we went to our neighbor's house that had taken her, and we asked her where she had taken her. She said that she took the kitten to her friend's house, who lives across the county line, because she was afraid the kitten would freeze. So she said that her friend had taken her to the pound in her county. So we were pretty upset. The other pound was closed that day so we called and gave a description of our kitten, and asked if they had her. The next day someone from the pound called and said that she was there, so we went and got her from the pound. She was glad to be home, and we were glad to see her! Next time we leave home, she will stay in our garage.

Faith & Freedom Tour Monday

Monday was the last day of our tour. We went first to Lexington, and saw the statue of Captain Parker, the commander of the minutemen at Lexington. Mr. Potter explained the battle of Lexington to us on Lexington Green. He formed us up into a line, and had someone stand where the British did so we could see how the battle looked. Then we ate lunch and boarded the buses for Concord. We drove along the road which the British retreated, and then we came to the bridge of Concord. There we saw the other minuteman statue. On it was part of a poem which was written by Ralph Waldo Emerson which said this:

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set today a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

We sang this to the tune of "The Old 100th Psalm". After going to Concord we drove to Harvard and spent the rest of the day there. Then we drove back to the hotel and got ready for the closing dinner. Mr. Potter asked history questions and if you got one right you won a prize. Stephen was "right enough" with his answer and won a guide book to Jamestown.

Faith & Freedom Tour Sunday

On Sunday, after church we went to the Forefathers Monument in Plymouth. At the Forefathers Monument we heard Dr. Paul Jelhe speak on the importance of the Forefathers Monument. Hammett Billings (the builder of the monument) showed some of the Pilgrims beliefs in the monument. At the top of the monument there was Faith:
Faith was put on the monument in 1877. There are four things on this part of the statue that are important:
1. Faith is holding an open Bible. This represents that the Pilgrims used the Bible and it is being opened by the Holy Spirit. The Pilgrims on the Mayflower had the Geneva version of the Bible.
2. Faith has her forefinger raised to heaven. This represents that the Pilgrims believed that the only way to the Father is through Jesus his Son. This was one of the reasons that the Pilgrims split from the church of England.
3. The star on Faith's forehead represents the honor and glory of the minds of the Pilgrims and reformers. God made the mind so the glory goes to God.
4. Faith is stepping forward with her left foot on Plymouth rock. Faith is looking in an easterly direction, which is the direction they sailed from England.

On the side of the monument there was Morality:
Morality was put on the monument in 1878. Morality is holding the ten commandments. In her other hand she is holding the scroll of Revelation. Morality has a collar around her neck. There were also Liberty, Law, and Education on the monument. In the monument there were many important details. We should recognize that details are important.

Faith and Freedom Tour Saturday

On Saturday we went to Burial Hill, the Copps Hill Burying Ground, the Old North Church, the Paul Revere House, and the Paul Revere Statue. First we went to Burial Hill. For the first part of our time at Burial Hill, Mr. Phillips talked about some of the people buried there. After he had finished talking our family walked around Burial Hill, looking at the graves.

This is the grave of William Bradford, who was the first governor of the Plymouth Colony.

Then we went on the buses to go to the Copps Hill Burying Ground. There we gathered around the Mather Family's gravestone, and Mr. Phillips and Mr. Potter talked to our group about the history of the Mather Family and why they were important, and their impact on the founding of America. One of the things they said was that they collected many books for their library, and Cotton Mather wrote about 450 books.


After we walked around the Copps Hill Burying Ground a little, we then went to the Old North Church where William Dawes hung the lights in the church steeple for Paul Revere. When we were in the Old North Church there was a tour guide who gave us a little bit of the history of the church. Most of the things in there, like the organ, were very old.


After we went out of the Old North Church, we walked to the Paul Revere House. There we went on a tour of the upper and lower floors of the house. After that we met with the other groups on our tour at the Paul Revere Statue. There Mr. Phillips talked a little about Paul Revere, and then he had one of the girls on the tour come up and recite "Paul Revere's Ride" for us. After that we ate in Little Italy with the Linder Family that used to go to church with us, but then moved to New Hampshire. After dinner we headed back to the hotel.

Faith & Freedom Tour Friday

The next day was Friday and we went to Boston. We could not bring pocket-knifes because we went to the Capitol Building and The U.S.S. Constitution, where we went through security.
We got up at 7:00, the earliest time in the tour (except for the day we left.) We drove to Boston and went to the Massachusetts state capitol building.

We got to have a special tour from Dr. Paul Jehle, which we enjoyed very much. He explained the symbolism of the different paintings, etc. We got a special opportunity to hear his talk in the Representatives' hall.

After that wonderful tour, we went the the Granary Burying Ground, where there were buried three signers of the Declaration of Independence and several victims of the Boston massacre. Mr. Phillips gave us an important talk on how you need different men with different gifts to effect reformation. Here is the grave of James Otis, a fiery orator:


Paul Revere, whose house we visited later, was buried here with his wife.


The next place we went was the King's Chapel burying ground. John Winthrop, the "forgotten founding father" is buried here.

We then went to the Boston Common and had lunch. Then we boarded the busses and drove to the U.S.S. Constitution, Old Ironsides.
This is the bowsprit, the small mast that sticks out the front of the ship.

It had lots of cannon.

It is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, and it is also the second oldest war ship. (There is one English ship, which is older, but it is permanently dry-docked.) It still has real sailors on it which give tours. Then we went to the U.S.S. Constitution museum, and then went back to Boston and ate dinner.

Faith & Freedom Tour Thursday

On Thursday it was raining. We watched the procession called Pilgim's Progress. It was raining, so we did not get any pictures. After we watched the procession, we went to the Pilgrim Hall Museum. At the museum, there was a library with some of the original documents and copies of others. After the Pilgrim Hall Museum, we went to Thanksgiving dinner at the hotel. After the dinner, Mr. Doug Phillips gave a talk about the Pilgim Thanksgiving and how we should give thanks. The Pilgims had a week long feast and called it the harvest feast. The Pilgims called it the harvest feast because they celebrated thanks giving days with fasting and prayers. We took a picture of our family:
Mr. Phillips did not get to say everything he wanted to because we ran out of time. After Mr. Phillips spoke, we left and we had the rest of the evening to ourselves.

Faith & Freedom Tour Wednesday

On Wednesday, we went to Plimoth Plantation & Salem. At Plimoth Plantation, we went around the English model village, and talked to the pilgrim actors at the village. Joshua also went to the Indian model village with a family that was on the tour with us. Before we went into
Plimoth Plantation, Mr. Phillips asked us to ask the pilgrims some questions. While we were at
Plimoth Plantation, we asked the pilgrims questions, like why they used the Geneva Bible instead of the King James Bible. Some of the questions they knew the answers to, and some they were not so good at answering. We thought they did a very good job though.
After we had finished our time at Plimoth Plantation we grabbed our lunch and went on the bus to go to Salem.

When we arrived at Salem, we met Dr. Paul Jehle, and he gave us a speech on the witchcraft trials in Salem. We also walked around Salem a little bit, and also looked at the model of the Friendship, a ship which was like the one Nathaniel Bowditch sailed. After that we went on the bus and went back to the hotel in Plymouth.

Faith & Freedom Tour Tuesday

On Tuesday we had a very busy day. We started out on a walking tour of the Monuments of Plymouth. We started at Plymouth Rock. Dr. Paul Jehle gave us an introductory talk on the pilgrims.

The next stop was at Plymouth rock.We then moved to the Plymoth's mother's Monument commemorating the women of Plymouth. Of the women, 48% died in the first winter. After that we went to the burying hill. Then we went the the close by statue of Massasoit the Indian chief. We went to the church of the pilgrimage, were Pastor Gary Marks gave us a talk on the church of the pilgrims, and John Robinson, their pastor. We also went the Grist Mill, which was very interesting.
The next place to go the the schedule was to Plymouth Plantation, but we were behind on the schedule, so we left for the Mayflower II. We got to go on the ship and talk with the reenactors. For dinner we got to go to the Plimoth Plantation for a pilgrim thanksgiving dinner.

This was a very full day and we had a lot of fun.

The Faith and Freedom Tour

This week, starting last Monday, we are on the Vision Forum Faith & Freedom Tour of Plymouth. We flew out at 9:00 a.m. from RDU airport to the airport in Boston. We got there safely and went to the opening dinner.

Going to Work

Recently I (Joshua) have started going to work. I go three days a week. We eat lunch on the way to the office, and then get back to the house in time for dinner. We first listened to "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" on the way there, and I liked that very much. Now we are listening to "The Entrepreneurial Bootcamp" talking about business. I get to be in the same office as Daddy. I enjoy going to work.

Reformation Day

October 31, Reformation Day, is a very important day in church. On October 31 in 1517, Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the Church door in Wittenburg. With that act he lit the fire of Reformation in Europe. This year our church gathered at the Brown Family Farm to remember the reformers. A handful of children did biographical sketches of the major reformers, Martin Luther, John Knox and John Calvin. I (Joshua) did one on John Knox. John Knox was a great reformer in Scotland. He was driven out of many countries, first he was captured by the French at the siege of St. Andrew's Castle and was put in a galley to row. He was released and then he went to England. Then he was driven to France, and from France to Geneva. Then he went back to Scotland and died there. While he was in Scotland the second time he preached boldly against the Queen, Mary. I had fun preparing the speech about John Knox.

To the right is a picture of St. Andrew's castle, which we took on our March 2006 trip to Scotland.

Our New Family Member

Several weeks ago we got a cat from our friends, the Browns. We named her Kater, because that is the Greek word for cat.
She is very funny and plays with us. For a while she liked to go under cars, but she does not do that now.