Special Opinion to the Mirror by C. Augustus Landis

While there has been much attention given to Jay Ford (a spokesperson for the  Chesapeake Bay Foundation) and his effort to take down a business in Cape Charles because the owner expressed an opinion he and other woke fellow travelers do not like, there should be even greater concern with his broader agenda.

There should be no doubt,  Ford and fellow travelers have, or will have, targets other than a  pub in Cape Charles or a  Confederate statue in Parksley. Ford has said historic homes built with slave labor should be torn down if used as a venue for social events. This would, then, include Brownsville (Nature Conservancy), Eyre Hall (raises money for Garden Club of Virginia), Ker Place (home of Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society), Barrier Islands Center (promotes watermen as  “soul of a culture”),  Makemie Memorial (founded Presbyterian Church in America), Bagwell Memorial in Onancock Town Square (he fought with Lee at Appomattox)… the list is long and wonders if it includes churches and cemeteries.

He has  also said that  historians who have written about the history of  the Shore have written “fake” history  and the “REAL” history is of racism. In particular, Ford has cited my book, An Introduction to  the History of the Virginia Eastern Shore, as “fake” history. My book is a  collection of essays on important persons and events in the 400 year history of the Shore . All of which Ford has attacked as “fake” because (he says) the “REAL” history is of oppressive racism. Burn history books or just rewrite the “REAL” history?

Most important to Ford and fellow travelers is removal of the Confederate statute in Parksley and replacement with a memorial that tells of the oppression on black persons by white persons in Eastern Shore history.

 In my book , I write of seven persons in Eastern Shore history that historians agree are most important  in telling our story. Uniquely important among these people  is Anthony Johnson (1605-1670), a freed black slave  who achieved the American Dream of life, liberty, property, and pursuit of happiness which was so elusive to most immigrants whether slave, free. or indentured in the colonial period.

Anthony Johnson was an Angolan slave brought to Jamestown c. 1619-1620. Through hard work and perseverance,  he bought his  freedom and for his wife and children, acquired 900 acres and had 9 servants, black, white, bonded, and indentured. He also prevailed in court in a landmark case against a white landowner.

Everyone, residents and visitor alike, would appreciate a monument to Anthony Johnson. It would unite and focuses on the positive in Eastern Shore history. It does not focus on division based on racial prejudice and ignorance as in cause of Mr. Ford and fellow travelers.

It is indeed a great misfortune for the people of the Eastern Shore that, because of prejudice and ignorance  of Eastern Shore history,  Mr. Ford and fellow travelers are unable to see the opportunity to unite and not disparage and divide the people of the Shore.

This  is  that  opportunity.

As to Ford and fellow travelers cause to remove the  Confederate statute, the Eastern Shore Post cites the inscription on the monument which  says “They fought for conscience sake and right” and Post editor saying “they fought for the vile institution of slavery”. Omitted is an important part of that history they need to understand in meaning of “conscience and right” and what they fought for.

There was no referendum on decision of Southern states to secede from the Union. 854 men, mostly wealthy plantation owners, were selected by the state legislators to attend conventions  to decide on secession. 697 voted for and  157 voted against; thus a small group of rich and powerful men (697) decided for 9 million mostly poor people.  The voters and Confederate  soldiers that fought the War had no voice in the decision.

An important person in Eastern Shore history and Virginia’s entry into the War is Governor Henry  Wise (1806-1876) who, after leaving office, informed delegates to the Virginia Secession convention that the Virginia Militia had sworn allegiance  to him and he had captured the Federal naval shipyard in Norfolk. Thus , Virginia was in the War. Neither voters or Confederate soldiers represented in the Parksley statue had a vote in Wise’s decision.

Abel Upshur (1790-1844) whom I consider  the most consequential and important person in history   of the Eastern Shore history gave the legal and constitutional justification for nullification and secession for Virginia. He argued that the states were sovereign from their original formation and had never given up that sovereignty when they entered the union; the Constitution constructed a union that was of a federal (federation) nature distinctly different from a union of a national character. Regardless of the federal character of the union, sovereignty was indivisible and existed only in the individual states  When the Post, Ford and fellow travelers say the Confederate soldiers  represented in the Parksley  statute fought for slavery, they need to understand Upshur Upshur’s writings on nullification and secession were written 20 years before the Civil War and was  required reading for a generation of law students at the University of Virginia and William and Mary.I fully support the idea of a monument to celebrate black peoples contribution to Eastern Shore history. Indeed a monument celebrating Anthony Johnson would be a very positive memorial to black history. There is nothing to prevent Mr. Ford, the Post, and fellow travelers from building such a testimonial. There is nothing to prevent Parksley from constructing a narrative that would include  Wise, Upshur, and Johnson. Unfortunately, however, Ford, the Post, and fellow travelers only  want to erase and rewrite our history as only racist. Their problem is they do not know or care about the history  of the Eastern Shore or its people other than their own prejudice persuades.  

Ford has  often said that racism is endemic  to the culture of the people  of the Eastern Shore throughout their history. If racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism against a person or group of people because of the color of their skin,  then Ford and fellow travelers are very much racist because they denigrate the white people of  the Eastern Shore throughout their history because of the color of their skin and presumption of guilt of all.

You can remove the memorials in our  history  but you cannot remove the history. The memorials to Confederate veterans  are not for the Lost Cause but for veterans and all the lost blood. Period.

This is to Mr. Ford and all those that think of this as a sport to destroy a person’s life and business from a comment…I would love to look back in the past of all these nasty souls and see just how “good” they apparently always have been. So perfect, not ever a bad word. That is impossible.

Mr. Ford, you seem to think you are just destroying Gene. You know so little. We employ anyone we feel can learn the business and have taken many of the young people from the town and beyond and many have grown up with us. They are the neighborhood kids, my son’s friends, and students from the local schools. I have loved them and having them and seeing them grow. You are not just destroying Gene but much more.

I am a single mom and I work a full-time job apart from the pub. I am the half-owner and yes a woman. I have taken out loans on my home, 401k, given up bonuses and stock from my job in order to make payroll for our employees because in my eyes they always come first to be paid and color has never entered into it.

I am so disappointed in all that have no loyalty to a business that is attached to real people that took a risk in this town so many years ago. There are days during the winter when our overhead was more than what we took in but we wanted so badly to provide a service to our locals and remain open. We also wanted to make sure that our long term employees had enough hours to make ends meet. So yes we have many times let our heart rule over good business sense.

We took the risk. Never ever did color enter into who got hours or who didn’t. I have loaned money to many of our employees in their times of need and color did not factor in. If Mr. Ford you think it is just about the money you are wrong. If that was the case we should have gotten out of this long ago. Have you seen the vehicles we drive? Have you seen our homes?

No, you have no idea. We put back in the pub constantly.

My great grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee living on a reservation. My grandmother canned vegetables with her best friend Renie who was black. My sister married a black man and we welcomed him into our family. So you go ahead with your plan to shut us down for one comment made not by me. This affects many.

Mr. Ford I am a big one to believe in what goes around comes around. You know so little.

Could not have put this better than Colleen. I have refrained from making comments because I felt my original response on FB should have clarified my statement. If you know us, you should realize that we are a business that employs and welcomes anyone regardless of ethnic background, sexual identification, or political affiliation.

Thank you very much for the responses from our friends and customers who realize that this is an attack by Jay C. Ford who I do not even know!

Canceled” is what happens to you when the court of self-anointed decides that something you’ve said or done at any time in your life is unacceptable by today’s social and moral standards. Cancelers call for boycotts of your shows, business or products, demand that you be fired from your place of employment, command that you be de-platformed from social media, and pressure anyone associated with you to disavow you. They take no prisoners.

I’m unsure how this ‘fight racism with racism’ and ‘fight fascism with fascism’ strategies are supposed to succeed in anything but destruction and chaos.

This brings us to the actions of Jay Ford, Janet Sturgis, and Margaret Van Cleaf, who attempted to use social media in a networked attempt to destroy a local, coastal business in Cape Charles, Virginia.

The most chilling aspect is that Jay Ford’s employer, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation fully supports the attack and destruction of small businesses here on the Shore:

There you have it.

Is the CBF an environmental non-profit, or a social justice non-profit. It appears they are not that proficient in either one.

President Baker was, however, caught in a little fib. He claims Ford is fighting for racial inequity on his own time. But timestamps on the Facebook posts clearly show Ford is on the platform during normal working hours. So either he works the night shift, has odd hours, or was planning the boycott against Kelly’s while on the clock with CBF. The same goes for Van Cleaf.

So, not only does the Chesapeake Bay Foundation support attacking coastal businesses, they are paying employees to do so. Let that sink in.

Do CBF’s donors also feel the same way?

Have fun while learning something new.

 The full  course catalogue and class schedules  will be on our  website  (www.allesva.org) on August 15 and registration will open that day.  Classes will start in September.

There are some new classes and some longtime favorites.  Learn about Global Warming,  Fishing for Striped Bass,  participate in an Ethics discussion, take a Yoga class,  learn Digital Photography and Flower Arranging. Please check our website for the  complete list.

For  the $25 registration fee, you can take as many classes as you wish.

As life has changed  in this time of Covid-19, so have we.  Classes this semester will be held  online through Zoom.

All you need is an Internet connection and a computer or tablet.  Access is easy. We will help you with the details.

Sign up today and open the door to new experiences and new ideas!

The Eastern Shore of Virginia Master Naturalists are rescheduling the customary Basic Training Classes for Spring 2021. Classes will be held at the Historic Onancock School on Thursdays from April 1st through June 3d, 2021 at 9 AM to 3 PM. Some class sessions may be presented online via the Zoom app.

If you are interested in learning more about the ecology, botany, geology, and animals of the Eastern Shore and in joining a group of volunteers actively benefitting the area’s natural resources, visit www.masternaturalistesva.com for more information and fill in an Enrollment Application. If you have any questions, please call Mimi Stitt at 757-678-7879.

Burton’s Bayside Farm is hosting a trail ride to benefit the Special Olympics of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The event will offer beautiful marked trails for you to enjoy with your horse (horses not provided).

Gate Opens Noon on Thursday September 10th, 2020 – RIDE FRIDAY, SATURDAY, & SUNDAY! Leave camp between 10 & 11am on Saturday. SUPPER WITH MUSIC UPON RETURN SATURDAY EVENING. Primitive Camping ONLY – No electrical hookups. No Riding Thursday!

Ride Location: Ben Burton’s Bayside Farm, the third driveway at 3103 Townfield Drive, Cheriton, Virginia 23310

PRE-REGISTRATION STRONGLY RECOMMENDED – ONLY FIRST 120 RIDERS ACCEPTED! A signed release for each rider and a copy of Coggins are to be mailed to the following address with payment. Pre-Registration must be received by September 1, 2020. This ride is scheduled RAIN OR SHINE, no refunds.

The form can be requested by email or downloaded from the Facebook page at Burton’s Bayside Farm Special Olympic Benefit Trail Ride https://www.facebook.com/Burtons-Bayside-Farm-Special-Olympic-Benefit-Trail-Ride-104368658031502/

About Special Olympics Virginia:

Special Olympics Virginia serves approximately 75 Special Olympic athletes on the Eastern Shore, providing them the opportunities to train and compete in Olympic type sports throughout the state.  We are a social movement built on inclusion, where every single person is accepted and welcomed, regardless of ability or disability. We are helping make the world a better, healthier and more joyful place — one athlete, one volunteer, one family member at a time.  Using sports as a vehicle, this program addresses inactivity and social isolation by empowering its athletes with differing abilities.  All proceeds of this trail ride will directly benefit Special Olympics Virginia Eastern Shore.

The Orchestra of the Eastern shore has decided to schedule a short concert in the fall. The concert will be held outdoors at the Eastern Shore’s Own Art Center (ESO) in Belle Haven with plenty of room for social distancing. 

Works will use string instruments only; performers (and audience) are to wear masks. 

The concert is scheduled for October 17 at 4:00 pm with rain date of October 24.  

The planned works include Hovhaness Psalm and FugueHandel Concerto Grosso in G Major, Op. 6, No. 1Tchaikovsky Andante Cantabile, featuring cello soloist Rebecca Gilmore. 

The ES SPCA does not have a spay clinic in September, as all available spots have now been filled. An alternative is Eastern Shore Spay Org.

They bring the PETA van in once a month for spay on the lower eastern shore.

Because of the virus it is very limited.

For more information, check out their Facebook page.

216BC: Continuing his invasion into the heart of the Roman Republic, Carthaginian general Hannibal meets and defeats in detail a massive Roman army nearly twice his strength in the Battle of Cannae, on the lower Adriatic coast of Italy. This is the third major engagement since his winter crossing of the Alps. After his first two victories, his army systematically pillaged their way down the Italian peninsula, creating a rising sense of panic in Rome itself. In response, the Senate ordered two proconsuls to combine their armies to stop the Carthaginians. On the field of battle, the Romans formed into a deep infantry wedge with supporting cavalry on the flanks. For his part, Hannibal stretched his infantry across a wide front, inviting a direct attack against his center. Two African divisions were held in reserve on both flanks, not connected to the basic line. When the attack began, Hannibal began carefully withdrawing his center until the Roman force became concentrated en masse deep inside a crescent of Carthaginian troops. As the Romans’ positions began to collapse from the rear, Hannibal ordered attacks from both flanks, essentially surrounding the entire Roman army, which degenerated into panic as the Carthaginians then reversed their withdrawal and began to slash their way through a Roman mob who had nowhere to go. Of the 86,000 Romans and their allies who began the battle, over 45,000 were killed outright, in addition to 4,500 captured infantry and cavalry. Of Hannibal’s 56,000 troops, his losses were between 5-7,000. The battle was remains a classic in the study of leadership and tactics, as Hannibal himself fought from the center, maintaining close control over every movement of his forces. The double-envelopment “pincer” movement remains a time-tested goal of ground combat (and air and sea for that matter) to this day.

70AD: Culminating their relentless Siege of Jerusalem, the Roman army under the command of Titus (later to be Titus Ceasar) loots, burns, and completely demolishes the Temple that had been the center of Jewish worship for a thousand years. The destruction is mourned annually as the fast of Tisha B’Av. Note: in the name of accuracy, the actual structure that fell this day was the Second Temple (also known as Herod’s Temple), which was a complete on-site rebuilding of 10^th c. BC Solomon’s Temple eighty years prior to the Roman siege. The famous Western Wall which remains today is part of the retaining wall built by Herod to consolidate the entirety of the Temple Mount summit, and includes within its perimeter much of Solomon’s original foundation stones, as yet not exposed to daylight these two thousand years later. 

1305: Scottish patriot and nationalist William Wallace is captured near Glasgow and hauled off to London, where he is accused, tried, convicted and executed for treason against Edward I. As he faced his accusers, Wallace declared: “I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject.” 

1607: First performance of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

1620: The chartered merchant ship Mayflower, in company with the Speedwell, departs Southampton, England on its first attempt to reach North America with its Puritan passengers, who plan on colonizing “North Virginia” near the mouth of the Hudson River. After a very short day at sea, Speedwell develops severe leaks and the two ships return to port for repairs.

1704: As part of the War of Spanish Succession, the Spanish peninsula of Gibraltar is captured by an Anglo-Dutch fleet commanded by Sir George Rooke. Eventually annexed into the British Empire, it remains a thorn in the side of Anglo-Spanish relations to this day, and I bet it will remain that way tomorrow as well, just a hunch.

1742: Birth of Nathaneal Greene (d.1786), who rose from Private of the Rhode Island militia to Major General of the Continental Army and became one of George Washington’s most trusted advisors and effective subordinate commanders.

1782: General George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor wounded soldiers who “has given of his blood in defense of his homeland…” The idea of the award was revived in 1927 and formally re-established as the Purple Heart in 1931 by Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur. 

1789: As their reform movement continues to gather momentum, the French National Assembly takes an oath to “end feudalism” and “abandon [their own] privileges,” a bit of public grandstanding that probably helped them rationalize- (the Age of Reason, right?)- the cascading excesses of France’s accelerating descent into revolution.

1792: Birth of Percy Bysshe Shelley (d.1822), the English poet widely regarded as the greatest lyricist in English history. His most famous poem, Ozymandias, posits the inevitable decline of even the most powerful institutions of men. Shelley lived an “unconventional life” with and around fellow Romanticists Byron and Keates. His uncompromising idealism helped fuel the intellectual “-ism” movements of the mid-19^th century, including Thoreau’s Transcendentalism and Marx’s Communism, among others. He drowned under mysterious circumstances while sailing his schooner between Leghorn (Livorno) and Lerici in northern Italy. His second wife, Mary Shelley (1797-1851) was a noted author in her own right, best remembered for her Gothic novel, Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus. 

1794: President George Washington invokes the Militia Act of 1792 to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion, an increasingly violent anti-tax revolt that centered in western Pennsylvania. Washington raised a federal militia (via a draft, because there weren’t enough volunteers) of 12,500 men under the command Virginia governor Henry “Lighthorse Harry” Lee. After a Presidential pass-in-review in Cumberland, Maryland, the army marched westward to regain control of the situation. As news of the army’s movement spread, the revolt collapsed before it could turn into an organized armed resistance. Washington’s actions during this affair are credited with confirming the federal government’s authority and willingness to exercise itself as a national government.

1864: Rear Admiral David Farragut leads a US Navy flotilla into the fortified confines of Mobile Bay, with the mission of permanently closing the port to further trade and blockade running. During the previous year, while Farragut’s attentions were earlier turned to returning the Mississippi River to Union control, the Confederates fortified Mobile with three forts ashore and a minefield guarding the main channel into the bay. Farragut’s flotilla entered the bay at dawn, guns blazing, and overwhelmed the shoreward defenses. When one of his captains slowed his ship due to the threat of the mines (“torpedoes”), Farragut responded with “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” Of note from the Confederate perspective was the single-handed fight of the ironclad ram CSS Tennessee against the entire Union fleet, which took three hours to finally force its surrender. 

1876: Birth of Margaretha Geertruide Zelle MacLeod (d.1917), better known as Mata Hari, the sultry Dutch “courtesan” of multiple dozens of military and civilian leaders on both sides of the trenches during the Great War. In March of 1905 she opened her act as an exotic dancer on stage in Paris, becoming an overnight sensation, and was almost immediately taken in by a millionaire industrialist. Often imitated, never duplicated, her sensual exploits kept her in the public limelight for a decade. With the Netherlands remaining neutral during the conflict, Mata Hari exploited her Dutch nationality to travel freely between Germany and France via Britain and Spain during the course of the war. At one point during an interview with British intelligence, she alluded to working for French intelligence, a relationship the French would neither confirm nor deny. After an intercepted German cable from Spain appeared to implicate her, Mata Hari was arrested by the French in February, 1917, charged and convicted of espionage, and executed by firing squad in October. She steadfastly denied the charge of being a double agent. At her execution she stood without blindfold, blew a kiss to her lawyer, with her last words being, “Merci, monsieur.” A more lurid account has her flinging open her chemise shouting “Harlot, yes, but traitor, never!” Neither account has a shred of evidence, but they reflect the intensity of public emotion that surrounded her case. 

1892: The parents of Lizzie Borden are found murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home. Lizzie is acquitted of the murders in the sensational trial that follows, but her notoriety remains to this day in the words of the famous jump-rope song: “Lizzie Borden took an axe…”

1914: After receiving a negative Belgian response to their request to cross their territory to attack France, the Imperial German army crosses the border anyway, meeting stiff resistance from the Belgian army. With their guarantee of Belgian neutrality at stake, not to mention their alliance with France in the Entente Cordiale, Great Britain declares war on Germany. The Wilson administration in United States declares an official policy of neutrality.

1930: Birth of lunar astronaut Neil Armstrong (d.2012) 

1934: Death of Paul von Hindenburg, hero of the Great War (victor of the Battle of Tannenburg), and twice elected President of the German Republic. The old war horse helped legitimize Adolf Hitler’s electoral rise to power in 1932. When he died, Hitler assumed the office of the Presidency in addition to the Chancellorship, formally assuming the powers as dictator of the German state.

1940: Nazi Germany annexes the French-German-French-German provinces of Alsace-Lorraine into the greater German Reich.

1943: In the South Pacific, PT-109 is sliced in half and sunk by a Japanese destroyer. Its skipper, Lt John F. Kennedy, rallies his stricken crew to swim to a nearby island, saving all but two of them.

1961: Birth of Barack Hussein Obama.

1962: Birth of right-handed pitcher Roger “Rocket” Clemens, winner of seven Cy Young awards and one of only four pitchers to achieve more than 4,000 strikeouts in their careers.

1962: Death of Marilyn Monroe (b.1926).

1964: On patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam, the US destroyer USS Maddox (DD-731), operating 28 miles offshore, is attacked by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats. The boats launched several torpedoes but were driven off by US gunfire, including strafing by F-8s from the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14).  Two days later, Maddox and USS C. Turner Joy (DD-951) were back on station around 11 miles offshore in heavy weather when they were allegedly attacked again by North Vietnamese gunboats.The indications of a second attack were- and remain- highly ambiguous, mostly due to heavy weather and the understandably heightened alertness of the radar and sonar crews after the earlier attack. Fighter aircraft who launched immediately in defense of the ships saw nothing in the vicinity, and reported as such. This fact did not dissuade President Johnson from asking Congress for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorizing him to use whatever conventional force necessary to assist any Southeast Asian state subject to communist aggression.

1964: In the first response to the now-notorious Gulf of Tonkin Incident (DLH 8/2), aircraft from the carriers USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) and USS Constellation (CVA-64) launch 60 sorties against the  North Vietnamese patrol boat base and oil storage facility, destroying 25 boats and eliminating their entire stock of fuel.