Stars, stripes, and signature?
Flag desecration is not a crime in this country, though every year an amendment banning it is introduced in Congress. So the man in this photograph is not breaking the law by autographing the flag. But he is not respecting generally accepted flag etiquette. According to the Daughters of the American Revolution, "The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature."
I've been studying up on just such things as I wait to hear back from the DAR about my membership application, because respect for the flag is one of the things the DAR has been teaching since its founding in 1890. The more I look through my family history, the more Revolutionary War ancestors I find. This morning, for example, I discovered four more patriot ancestors who served in the Continental Army, all on my mother's side:
William J. IV Duncan, my great-great-great-great-great grandfather.
Benjamin Duncan, his son (and my great-great-great-great grandfather), "volunteered for service of the U.S. under Capt. Cowan under the command of General Sumpter for three months" and "entered the service a second time for three months under Capt. John Cleveland, commanded by Col. Malvedar, General Lee and General Morgan Wilkes Co" according to records posted by one of my distant cousins.
Joseph, Sr., Frost, my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, born in 1712, was a "Revolutionary War soldier," as was his grandson, Micajah Frost, my great-great-great-great grandfather, who is listed among those who fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain. So far I haven't found any evidence that Thomas Frost, Sr., Micajah's father and Joseph, Sr.'s son, fought in the Revolution, but Thomas Frost, Sr., is credited with building the "first house of record" in what is now Anderson County, Tennessee, and one source calls him "the first known white settler in Anderson County, Tennessee." Thomas Frost, Sr., may have been a preacher: his brother John Frost was, and he established the first Baptist church in what is now Tennessee. In 1795, Micajah Frost and his brother Elijah bought 1000 acres in the hills of what was then North Carolina and is now Tennessee: that area became known as Frost Bottom and is said to be named after Micajah. You can find some old photos of Frost Bottom here and here.
posted by Janet Dagley Dagley @3:12 PM
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27.7.03 |
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