James G. Birney's Family

 

Two of Birney's sons, William Birney (1819-1907) and David Bell Birney (1825-1864), were prominent as officers on the Federal side during the Civil War in America.

Father: James Gillespie Birney
Mother: Martha Reed (d. 1795)
Sister: Anna Maria Birney (b. 4-Jul-1793, d. 30-Mar-1859)
Wife: Agatha McDowell (d. 1839)
Son: James G. Birney (b. 7-Jun-1817, d. 1888)
Son: William Birney (b. 28-May-1819, d. 1907)
Daughter: Margaret Birney (b. 1821, d. 1822)
Son: Robert Dion Birney (b. 1823, d. 1863)
Son: David Bell Birney (b. 29-May-1825, d. 18-Oct-1864)
Son: Arther Hopkins Birney (b. 1827, d. 1833)
Daughter: Martha Reed Birney (b. 1829, d. 1833)
Son: George Birney (b. 1832, d. 1856)
Daughter: Florence Birney (b. 1835)
Daughter: Georgina Birney (b. 1836, d. 1836)
Daughter: Ellen Birney (b. 1838, d. 1838)
Wife: Elizabeth Fitzhugh (b. 1803)
Son: Fitzhugh Birney (b. 1842, d. 1864)
Daughter: Anna Hughes Birney (b. 1843, d. 1846)

James G. Birney

James G. Birney was over fifty when he had his last child. He had two wives, and thirteen children. Six of those children died under age five.

Technorati Tags: james G. Birney,James Birney,William Birney,David Bell Birney,Civil War Generals,Bay City

James Birney - Ohio History Central - A product of the Ohio Historical Society

 

James Birney - Ohio History Central - A product of the Ohio Historical Society

James Birney was an abolitionist opponent of slavery in the years before the American Civil War. Birney was born on February 4, 1792, in Danville, Kentucky. His parents were wealthy slave owners, but like a number of other slaveholders in the Upper South, they believed that it was only a matter of time before slavery would end. Some of these people were morally opposed to slavery, believed that it was un-Christian and un-American to own another person. Other slave owners believed that slave labor was becoming too expensive. Birney shared his parents' views. He attended several schools, including Transylvania College and the Priestly Seminary at Danville. Birney graduated from Princeton University in 1810, and he began to study for a legal career in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1814, he opened a law practice in Danville. Birney became a slave owner in 1816, when he married and received the slaves as a wedding gift. In 1818, Birney moved his family to a plantation near Huntsville, Alabama. He became involved in politics and served as a member of Alabama's constitutional convention. He also became a member of the Alabama legislature. His political career suffered when he became an outspoken opponent of Andrew Jackson and called for his fellow slave owners to support the gradual end of slavery. In 1833, Birney moved his family back to his ancestral home in Kentucky. Birney was rarely at home, as he lectured across the South, calling for the gradual end to slavery and the colonization of the former slaves in Africa. He realized that gradual emancipation was not a practical way to end slavery. He began to endorse the immediate end of slavery and freed his own slaves in June 1834. At the same time, he also began to publish an anti-slavery paper in Danville. Residents favoring slavery threatened Birney's publisher. The publisher fled the community, and no other publishers were willing to assist him. Birney moved his family to Cincinnati, Ohio, in October 1835. On January 1, 1836, Birney began publication of a new paper, The Philanthropist, which called for the immediate end to slavery and equal rights for African Americans with whites. Many Cincinnatians opposed Birney's views. Some of these people were former slave owners and believed that African Americans were inferior to whites. Other people opposed slavery but believed African Americans would move to the North and deprive white people of jobs. On January 22, 1836, a group of white Cincinnatians urged the city government to prohibit Birney from publishing his paper. Birney was undaunted. To prevent Birney from printing, a mob of white Cincinnatians destroyed the newspaper's printing press on July 12, 1836. Undeterred, Birney remained in Cincinnati and continued to publish his newspaper. The mob returned on July 30, 1836, and destroyed the printing press again. Birney resumed publication of The Philanthropist in September 1836, and he continued to publish it in Cincinnati. In 1847, he moved the paper to Washington, DC, and renamed it the National Era.

James G. Birney was one of the founders of Bay City and a trustee of the reorganized Saginaw Bay Company that did the land development for the town. The historical archives in Ohio have much information on him but seem to be unaware of his time in Michigan. I regard Birney as our most distinguished resident and a man deserving much more study.

Technorati Tags: James G. Birney,abolutionists,Cincinnatti,Ohio History,Bay City,Michigan,underground railroad,liberty party

Typical Saginaw Valley House 2007

 

This is my home today. The 1908 building is the right hand side of the structure shown in the 1908 picture. This home is about 2600 sq. feet due to the walkout basement on the left hand side of the picture. It is five minutes from the same Millington that was an hour away in 1908. Of course, it has television, added in 1953, radio added in the 1930's, indoor plumbing, 1952, hot water heat, added 1952, running water, added 1937, electricity, added in 1937, an electric stove in the kitchen, added in 1951, a computer, added in 1998, and a wireless network, added in 2005. And other changes too numerous to mention.

Rural Housing in the Saginaw Valley in 1908

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Saginaw Valley Housing

This is the house my Great Grandfather bought in 1910. It had just been built in this picture which I think was taken about 1908 when the house was built. This home was bigger than average for houses in the area at the time. It was about 800 square feet. Notice that the idea of mowing a lawn had not caught on yet..It would not for almost 40 more years. Wood ruled the day still. There was wood heat for cooking and home heating. Bathroom facilities were outside and would be for forty more years. Light was kerosene and would be for thirty more years. The closest town was Millington which was an hour away by buggy. Life was changing quickly. I live in an expanded version of this house today.

FlintHistory.com -

Factories in the Mechanical Age

 

FlintHistory.com -

This is how so many in the Saginaw Valley made a living in the mid twentyth century. This video is from 1936 but the core of the method was the same when I entered an assembly plant in 1973. With each year, there was fewer people working and more automation. By the end of my time (2001) at least half of these people would be gone from their stations and the work done by machinery.

Flint's Great Sit-Down Strike and the Union Movement in the Saginaw Valley

 

Flint History-

This video represents the union movement in the Saginaw Valley. It also tells the story of women in the labor movement. Comments of the women who took part tell much about the lives of factory workers in the 1930's .

Technorati Tags: Sit-down Strike,GM,Ruther,Flint,Michigan,Saginaw Valley,Women's Movement,Solidarity Forever

View in 2007 from the top of the Pere Marquette Tower

This is a 360 degree view from the top of the Pere Marquette station on Fourth and Madison in Bay City, Michigan

Pere Marquette Depot Roof - Bay City

This is history being made.   In a few years, historians will spend time reviewing this file to see just what strange methods were used way back when.  

 

This building and its architectural details are a perfect symbol for the new purpose of downtown Bay City.

Pere Marquette Depot Roof - Bay City

Directory of FREE Online Books and FREE e-books

 

Directory of FREE Online Books and FREE e-books

 

This source contains thousands of books..Many can be downloaded in a PDF format.  This is the source of the book listing Great Lakes Captains. 

Canals from Lake Erie to the sea

Technorati Tags: Lake Erie,Great Lakes,Great Lakes Canals,Great Lakes Shipping

http://ia310131.us.archive.org/2/items/dirctoryofnames00unknuoft/dirctoryofnames00unknuoft.pdf

Screen clipping taken: 12/7/2007, 8:38 AM

Bay City Ship Captains in 1914

 

NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF MEMBERS, SHIP
MASTERS ASSOCIATION

Pennant	Lodge	Name	Address	City
1241	2	Canartney, M.	715 Franklin Ave.,	Bay City, Mich.
252	3	Chron, Thos.	223 Adams,	Bay City, Mich.
641	2	Harper, Geo.	1509 Marquette Ave.,	W. Bay City, Mich.
1081	7	Johnson, Alex.	1009 9th St.,	Bay City, Mich.
2284	2	Myers, Geo. F.	1910 2nd St.,	Bay City, Mich.
560	2	Thrap, W. H.	305 N. Henry St., Sta. A.,	West Bay City, Mich
2349	1	Williams, John E.	423 Jefferson Ave.,	Bay City, Mich.

Canals Between Lake Erie and the Sea

This map is from the Ship Masters Book 1914

Free Books > Tags > History

Bay City  Ship Captains and their Vessels

Free Books > Tags > History

A directory of names, pennant numbers, and addresses of all numbers of the Ship Masters' Association of the Great Lakes. Also a list of vessels of the Great Lakes, American and Canadian, with names and addresses of owners. O37131043609817ther information of a miscellaneous nature of interest in shipping circles on the Great Lakes

 

The link above is for further study of the captains and ships that sailed the lakes.

Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton - Full Text Free Book (Part 2/7)

 

James G. Birney, the anti-slavery
nominee for the presidency of the United States, joined us in New York,
and was a fellow-passenger on the Montreal for England. He and my
husband were delegates to the World's Anti-slavery Convention, and both
interested themselves in my anti-slavery education. They gave me books
to read, and, as we paced the deck day by day, the question was the
chief theme of our conversation.
Mr. Birney was a polished gentleman of the old school, and was
excessively proper and punctilious in manner and conversation. I soon
perceived that he thought I needed considerable toning down before
reaching England. I was quick to see and understand that his criticisms
of others in a general way and the drift of his discourses on manners
and conversation had a nearer application than he intended I should
discover, though he hoped I would profit by them. I was always grateful
to anyone who took an interest in my improvement, so I laughingly told
him, one day, that he need not make his criticisms any longer in that
roundabout way, but might take me squarely in hand and polish me up as
speedily as possible. Sitting in the saloon at night after a game of
chess, in which, perchance, I had been the victor, I felt complacent
and would sometimes say:
"Well, what have I said or done to-day open to criticism?"
So, in the most gracious manner, he replied on one occasion:
"You went to the masthead in a chair, which I think very unladylike. I
heard you call your husband 'Henry' in the presence of strangers, which
is not permissible in polite society. You should always say 'Mr.
Stanton.' You have taken three moves back in this game."
"Bless me!" I replied, "what a catalogue in one day! I fear my Mentor
will despair of my ultimate perfection."
"I should have more hope," he replied, "if you seemed to feel my rebukes
more deeply, but you evidently think them of too little consequence to
be much disturbed by them."
As he found even more fault with my husband, we condoled with each other
and decided that our friend was rather hypercritical and that we were as
nearly perfect as mortals need be for the wear and tear of ordinary
life. Being both endowed with a good degree of self-esteem, neither the
praise nor the blame of mankind was overpowering to either of us. As the
voyage lasted eighteen days--for we were on a sailing vessel--we had
time to make some improvement, or, at least, to consider all friendly
suggestions.

Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton - Full Text Free Book (Part 2/7)

 

I was quite happy to find this link again.  I came to speak of this relationship often but wasn't quite sure where it came from.  This link gives a more definite source.

Technorati Tags: Elizabeth Cady Stanton,Women's Sufferage,James G. Birney

Ghosts and Legends Tour on Saturday, Oct.27

Halloween Ghosts and Legends Tour

The Bay County Historical Society sponsors trolley tours that leave the Antigue Center on Water Street every Saturday at 2pm in the warmer months. This last Saturday they had a Ghosts and Legends Tour that went to Pine Ridge Cemetery and to Elm Lawn.

These cemeteries are the resting place for people like James Birney, son of the great abolitionist, Andrew Walton, a member of Berdan's Sharpshooters, Charles Newkirk, an early Michigan Doctor and George Wellman, a deputy US marshall killed in the line of duty in the Johnson County Range War.

This tour continues to be very popular.

USS Liberty - a reality snapshot

This is one of the most revealing videos an American could ever see. It describes the actions of the federal government in dealing with the 34 deaths on the USS Liberty in 1967. It leaves me with the opinion that we will never be told for sure what happened that day. I find it very difficult to believe that the attack was an accident. As an ex-navy officer, I know that surveillance ships look like nothing else and that navy customs and procedures in the sixties would have made it very unlikely that the Liberty had no flag either on the jack staff or on the mast.

I originally got interested in the Liberty because of the plaque found by the naval gun at Elm Lawn Cemetery in Bay City.  I have yet to learn of the city's connection to this ship and if it is closer than that we all have as American citizens.

Tags: USS Liberty, six day war, Israel, Nasser, Egypt,

Tags: McNamera

StumbleVideo - AssumeThePosition.mpg

StumbleVideo - AssumeThePosition.mpg

This video is one of the best presentations I have seen. The presentor does and says things that I would never dare say but his methods including the graphics and ideas are unbeatable. He would get his point across.. He would also get a great rating.. Finally, he would have to have great energy, creativity and would earn the rating.

New Methods of Photography

New system makes any digital camera take multibillion-pixel shots from PhysOrg.com

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, in collaboration with scientists at NASA’s Ames Research Center, have built a low-cost robotic device that enables any digital camera to produce breathtaking gigapixel (billions of pixels) panoramas, called GigaPans.

[...]

Gigapan cameras and Historical Records

Imagine a day when historians can walk around in pictures of settings that time has removed from reality. Imagine an ability to look at the smallest screw in that picture. The ability to make those photos seems to be upon us.

North American Trade Union

Have you heard of the North American Union? How about the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America or SPP? If you have not, you are like me. Even though I read newspapers all the time and follow the national news, I hadn't heard of our federal government's work to combine this country with Canada and Mexico in several key areas. Border security would concentrate on Mexico's southern boundary and the coast line frontiers of the USA and Canada. Trade and executive orders on product safety and transportation would be subject to review by officials of the new union. There would be a new court that would be superior to the Supreme Court of the United States when dealing with decisions on matters of this type.

The SPP ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_and_Prosperity_Partnership_of_North_America )was set up after the meeting in Waco in 2005 where President Bush, President Fox of Mexico and Prime Minister Martin of Canada decided to pursue this idea.

Robert Pastor, one of SPP's vice-chairmen, has advocated a monetary union and has suggested that North America's common currency might be called the "amero", which would be similar in concept to the EU's euro.

All this is to take place before 2010 with no discussion by Congress so far. American citizens generally have no knowledge of this program and have been given no chance to form an opinion of it. What do you think.

Team finds possible mastodon carving on Lake Michigan rock

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — They aren't certain, but underwater archaeologists say they may have discovered a boulder with a prehistoric carving in Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay.

The granite rock has markings that resemble a mastodon — an elephant-like creature that once inhabited parts of North America — with what could be a spear in its side, say divers who have seen it.

They came across the boulder at a depth of about 40 feet while searching for shipwrecks in June, said Mark Holley, a scientist with the Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve Council.

Bay City has been greatly affected by the level of the lakes and by the advance and retreat of the glaciers over the last several thousand years.  This possible mastodon carving would show knowledge of the animal further north than before.  It also would relate to lake levels in that area. 

Link

Tags: Great Lakes, Traverse City, Mastodon, Bay City, Petroglyphs

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