Chapter Four
People
Count Von Zinzendorf
The middle colonies (New York, Pensylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware) attracted immigrants from lands, and they had a lot of religious diversity. Pennsylvania became known for it broad degree of religious toleration It attracted the Amish and Moravians. The Moravians were from Germany and were among the first Americans to have a zeal for missionary work. They wrote the first classical music in America. Count von Zinzedorf from Saxony came to the colonies and led the Moravians briefly and led them in founding the city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
(An unusually mature Christian at a very young age, Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760) did not follow the course dictated by his noble birth but followed God's call even to the point of being banned from his native Saxony. Once destined for the royal court, the count instead became a spiritual father to millions.)
Daniel Boone
One of the first to lead pioneers over the Appalachian Mountains was the skillful woodsman, Daniel Boone. While still a boy, Boon became an expert marksman and, through contact with friendly Indians, learned how to survive in the wilderness. In the late 1760s, he led a party of explorers through the Appalachians by way of the Cumberland Gap near the Virginia-Tennessee border. For 2 years he explored the region of Kentucky. In 1775, he led a group of settlers through the mountains and into Kentucky. These pioneers established a fort at a site they called Boonsborough. The trail they blazed became known as the Wilderness Road.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin helped spread general knowledge to the colonial Americans by encouraging the founding of public libraries. He also shared bits of wisdom with the common people through his yearly publication of Poor Richard’s Almanac, which not only contained meteorological and astronomical information, but also offered homely proverbs and sound advice couched in good humor. He was an apprentice with his half-brother at a printer. He started a newspaper of his own called the Pennsylvania Gazette. He eventually owned four newspapers. He continually practiced good character and moral values. He sought to improve his intelligence by teaching himself everything from politics to Latin. His most famous scientific experiment, with a kite, led to the invention of the lightning rod.
Paul Revere
He was a skilled colonial silversmith that crafted much fine silverware.
Not in book (or this chapter, anyways): 1. Revere used his skills as a craftsman to wire dentures made of walrus ivory or animal teeth into his patients’ mouths. In 1776 he unwittingly became the first person to practice forensic dentistry in the United States. 2. When he wasn’t smithing or dabbling in dentistry, the multitalented Paul Revere produced some of the era’s most sophisticated copper plate engravings, creating illustrations used in books, magazines, political cartoons and tavern menus. 3. Revere fathered 16 children—eight with his first wife, Sarah Orne, and eight with Rachel Walker, whom he married after Sarah’s death in 1773.
William Billings
He was the first professional musician and composer born in America. He published six volumes of his own music, the first being The New England Psalm Singer. He also traveled throughout New England conducting singing schools, which he taught the common people the rudiments of music.
John Winthrop, Jr.
He was the son of the first governor of Massachusetts, and he was also an early governor of Connecticut. He was the first member of the Royal Society of London, the first scientific society. He was into science like Ben Franklin.
Benjamin Banneker
A black American, studied the heavens and accurately predicted an eclipse in 1789. he is also noted for having built a remarkable clock made entirely out of wood.
Cotton Mather
A puritan Minister and an avid scientist, helped to introduce the smallpox inoculation in America.
