The thoughts of Americans turned to history this week. Not only did we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we also looked back at many other milestones in the story of our nation. July 3, 1863 saw the end of the Battle of Gettysburg, at the time the deadliest battle on American soil. The very next day, Vicksburg surrendered to General Ulysses Grant, which combined with the result in Gettysburg marked the turning point in the Civil War. July 3, 1890, was the date on which President Benjamin Harrison signed an act creating the State of Idaho, which me and my family now call home.
July 4, 1826 was the 50th anniversary of our independence, and also the date on which both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson passed away. The president who would oversee our 150th anniversary, Calvin Coolidge, was born on the 4th of July in 1872.
While I find history fascinating, and have a never-ending insatiable desire to learn more, it’s the personal connections that makes history worthwhile. It’s one thing to learn about the Battle of Fort Donelson in February 1862, then a second battle at nearby Dover a year later. It’s another to learn that my 3rd-great-grandfather’s younger brother, Sylvester Dickson, was killed near Donelson in between the two battles. My 2nd-great-grandfather was born a year later, and was given the middle name Sylvester in his memory.
Another 3rd-great-grandfather, William Easton, fought in the Civil War as well, but he survived and returned to his family in Iowa, where my 2nd-great-grandmother was born seven years after the war. Easton served one term in the Iowa State Legislature. My grandfather’s papers relate early memories of his stern white-bearded grandfather praying before meals. One of my earliest experiences was as a toddler attending that very great-grandfather’s memorial service. Consider that: I am only one connection removed from a veteran of the Civil War!
My 6th-great-grandfather William Dickson left Downpatrick, Ireland, at the age of 13 to travel with his aunt and uncle to the New World. They first settled in Connecticut, but religious differences pushed them further into the frontier. They eventually founded the village of Cherry Valley, now in upstate New York. Dickson grew up, married another Scots-Irish pioneer, built a successful farm, and had at least eight children.
When the colonies declared their independence from Great Britain 250 years ago yesterday, William Dickson and his older sons took their muskets to join the war, fighting in the New York Militia. Yet the war came home while they were away. Mohawk warriors under Joseph Brandt, operating as British auxiliaries, sacked Cherry Valley, massacring dozens of inhabitants, including Elizabeth Dickson, my 6th-great-grandmother.
Every one of our ancestors struggled to build better lives for themselves and their posterity. They didn’t know what the future might bring, but they did what they could in their own time to create the best future they could. The sacrificed much to deliver the fire of faith and civilization to us, and now it is our responsibility to pass that torch to the next generation.
The author of the book of Hebrews in the Bible looked back on how the heroes of the faith persevered, sometimes enduring the most horrific circumstances, despite not seeing temporal rewards:
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
Hebrews 11:32-40 ESV
The author then gives us a charge to keep in our own lives:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV
None of us know how much time we have on this earth, but each of us has a duty to do what we can, with the time and tools we’ve been given. Whether your mission is small or great, do it to the best of your ability, with all earnestness, to the everlasting glory of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Build a legacy that your 6th-great-grandchildren will be proud to remember.