Joe Menkevich tipped me off to this event as it was planned so I know he was deeply involved in the research (his specialty) involved. When I happened to find a copy of the Northeast Times I was happy to see they had given it pretty good coverage by sending Bill Kenny. So naturally I went to the web site to find the article online and it was not listed on the web page. Now that seemed foolish. I used the search function and there it was hidden but certainly not in plain sight.
During last week’s Northeast History Network event, members adorned the graves of both Holme brothers, as well as six other men, with markers signifying their uniformed Revolutionary War service.
Moore and Joseph Menkevich of Northwood developed the program for the history group in cooperation with Pennepack Baptist and its cemetery caretaker, Tim Unruh.
The historical revelations came fast and furiously.
“That’s exactly the point of this whole thing, learning stuff and putting pieces together,” Moore said.
You can read the entire piece here. The video below is the activity marking the graves. This link will take you to another video of the activity inside the church. Both videos courtesy of Joe Menkevich.
Thank you – Northeast Philadelphia History Network: http://www.nephillyhistory.com/ ; special thanks to Jack Mc Carthy (formerly of our Historical Society of Frankford), & Fred Moore of Holmesburg, as we all collaborated on this project.
A big thank you to Timothy Unruh and all of the people from the Pennepec Baptist Church. Many fine discussions continued after July 6, 2011.
Northeast Philadelphia is connected by the road between Frankford to Bristol – And the road beginning at “the rock in Oxford, through Bustleton and Smithfield, in the county of Philadelphia, to the Buck tavern, in Southampton, in the county of Bucks.”
There is a wealth of Revolutionary War History in Northeast Philadelphia still waiting to be uncovered.
The Edwards Family (related to the Holmes’ Family) saw plenty of action in the War for Independence.
From Abington Baptist Meeting House, Dr. Enoch Edwards warned General Washington about The British Troop movements.
Enoch Edwards to George Washington – Sunday, December 7, 1777
http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw4/045/0100/0143.jpg
http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw4/045/0100/0144.jpg
In less than a year, the British were out of Philadelphia and Dr. Edwards’ brother Evan was attending a duel at Point-no-Point Road:
The Battle of Monmouth, N.J. led to the trial by court-martial and sentence of suspension from the army of General Charles Lee; several insults then ensued.
Philadelphia, December 24, 1778, near the Four Mile Stone on Point-no-Point Road, a Duel of Honour took place between Major General Charles Lee and Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens.
General Lee attended by Major Edwards and Col. Laurens attended by Col. Hamilton
Lee’s only true friend, “was the man who now attended him on the dueling-field, Major Evan Edwards, a Pennsylvanian by birth, like Lee a man of uncouth personal appearance, and like him remarkably gifted intellectually, albeit equally suspicious and quarrelsome.
For two years or more Edwards had been his chief aide-de-camp, owing the appointment quite possibly to Lee’s instinctive recognition of the streak of queerness in the younger officer’s make-up that matched so closely his own.”
More Frankford History:
“Frankfort Advice”: How a Small Philadelphia Suburb Helped John Adams Orchestrate the American Revolution. By Harry Kyriakodis http://www.scribd.com/doc/40191065/The-Frankfort-Advice-How-a-Small-Philadelphia-Suburb-Helped-John-Adams-Orchestrate-the-American-Revolution
and
“Frankford Chronicles The First Fourth of July” By Joseph J. Menkevich
http://gloomyhappy.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Frankford-Chronicles-The-First-Fourth-of-July.pdf
J.M.
“%C2%A0” was mysteriously being added to the above links throwing off the connection.
From Abington Baptist Meeting House, Dr. Enoch Edwards warned General Washington about The British Troop movements.
Let’s see if these links work:
Enoch Edwards to George Washington – Sunday, December 7, 1777
http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw4/045/0100/0143.jpg
http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw4/045/0100/0144.jpg
If they do not, make the link end in .jpg and it will work fine.