Angela Ruiz Robles, Inventor - By Nancy J. Farrier

 

Angela Drawing by Eulogia Merle
Wikimedian Commons

Some say the birth of the ebook came in 1971 when Michael Hart created an electronic document of the Declaration of Independence. But, was this the beginning of the ebook? Some say yes. Others believe Angela Ruiz Robles invention was the beginning of this monumental breakthrough—bringing multiple books into one small package.

 

Angela Was born in Villamanin, Spain in 1895. Her father was a pharmacist, her mother a housewife. Angela began her career as a teacher, graduating from a teacher training college in León. From there she went on to teach several subjects including shorthand, typing, and business. 

 

She accepted a teaching position in 1918 in Santa Eugenia de Mandía and stayed there for the next ten years. It was there she discovered the true heart of her calling. She saw the students as individuals, each unique in their own right, and met each students needs. Her students loved her and said, “Doña Angelita...never treated any student differently and always honoured each individual learner’s needs.”

 

Angela surrounded by her students.

At the age of 40, after the death of her husband, Angela founded the Elmaca Academy, named after her three daughters, Elena, Maria Elvira, and Carmen. Elmaca Academy provided specific classes for students training in fields such as telegraph operators or business management studies. The academy had the highest passing rate in the country.

 

During her career, Angela raised her three daughters, taught students, ran the academy, and still had time for writing and inventing. From 1938 to 1946, she wrote and edited some 16 books. Three of them were published, Compendium of Castilian Orthography, Castilian Orthography (abbreviated), and Modern Abbreviated Martinian Shorthand. 

 

She was always thinking of ways to improve her students learning capacity and make learning easier and more appealing. One of the things Angela noticed was the books her students had to carry from class to class. She experimented with ideas, wanting to make, “...teaching easier, to get maximum knowledge with minimum effort.”

 

Mechanical Encyclopedia       

Her dream, what she called the “Mechanical Encyclopaedia” addressed the needs of her students. Her idea was a device that would store vast amounts of information, available at the fingertips. The information would include graphics, sound, and textual forms. She planned to add lighting and magnification to the device.

 

Angela traveled to Madrid certain she would be able to find promoters who would help bring her dream to fruition. Instead, she received pats on the back, but no serious takers. Many believe this is due to her being a woman and not taken seriously. Despite this, in 1962 she was able to scrape the funds together to have a prototype made. 

 

Mechanical Encyclopedia inside

After retiring from teaching, Angela spent all her time promoting her Mechanical Encyclopedia. She traveled to exhibitions where she was often the only woman inventor. She gave interviews and talked to potential investors. In 1970, she rejected a proposal to license her invention in the US. She wanted her invention to be developed in Spain and to benefit her people.

 

Angela’s invention was ahead of her time. She didn’t have access to computers or other media. Instead, she used audio and image reels along with electrical circuits when user’s accessed hypertext links. If her invention had been funded would it have become the first ebook? I don’t know. But, I do know she had an amazing invention that should have been produced.

 

I found Angela’s story so heart-warming. She loved her students and spent her life trying to make learning easier for them. Have you ever heard of Angela’s Mechanical Encyclopedia? It is on display in the National Museum of Science and Technology in A Coruna, Spain. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Nancy J Farrier is an award-winning, best-selling author who lives in Southern Arizona in the Sonoran Desert. She loves the Southwest with its interesting historical past. When Nancy isn’t writing, she loves to read, do needlecraft, play with her cats and dog, and spend time with her family. You can read more about Nancy and her books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.

The Evolution and Struggles of Farmers Markets in America

 

 

 

Today I thought it would be fun to explore the origin of farmers markets in America. Grant it, farmers and artisans selling their wares in open markets goes back to ancient times globally. For this blog, I’ll touch on the highlights in the United States.

Farmers markets began in the 1600s in Colonial America. Farmers brought their produce to town to sell directly to consumers. Often bartering with others for things they could not grow or make themselves. This was a great place to socialize and share farming tips. Small towns relied on the Farmers Market to provide what the local mercantile couldn’t.

As transportation and the industrial revolution took hold, farmers sold their goods wholesale to canneries, reducing what they sold directly to consumers. Farmers’ markets began to disappear as grocery stores became a city staple. Let’s look a bit closer.

 

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Market

In 1730, when city planners laid out the plat survey for Lancaster, they set aside a 120 square foot area in the center of town as a public market. This was a place for farmers to bring their seasonal produce as well as meat, fish and poultry to sell or barter. At some point in history, there were 400 vendors. This market still exists today.

Industrial age

Cannery labels from the 1920s

As transportation and canneries developed during the industrial age, more farmers sold their goods to wholesalers. Their profit might be smaller depending on the wholesaler and the economy. Farmers continued to sell goods from their wagons on the curbs in towns, but over time, cities passed many laws making curbside sales illegal. This forced farmers to sell their goods to wholesalers and not directly to consumers in town. Some farmers set up roadside booths on their own property near the road to sell excess produce.

Great Depression and Wartime

Female shopper circa 1940s 

During the Great Depression, farmers struggled to get good prices from canneries that sold their products to stores nationwide. Grocery Stores were very popular, and farmers were at the mercy of their buyers. Grocery Stores had grown in popularity. Farmers were at the mercy of wholesalers. Some farmers found themselves throwing away food because the wholesaler offered insulting prices.

Farmers Market in California 

 

As World War II raged, farmers were desperate to sell their goods. John Brucato noted an empty lot on the corner of Market and Duboce in San Francisco and arranged for farmers to bring their produce to town on a Thursday in August in 1943. By 6:30, housewives arrived by streetcar ready to buy fresh produce. They’d saved their ration cards for just such a purchase. Brucato estimated the crowd lingered around 1000. This was risky business for the farmers who had fruit rotting on the ground because canneries offered so little. The wholesalers threatened them and many farmers hesitated to take their food to the market.  At 8:00 am, six farm trucks showed up and they sold out of all their produce within two hours, earning them more than five times what the canneries paid. The next day 25 farmers showed up and by Saturday 135 farmers were selling their goods. The San Francisco’s Farmer’s Market was born.

USDA Steps in

It was barely legal for farmers to vend their goods within the city limits, but market square was private property. The city’s wholesaler produce merchants, and grocers vehemently opposed the market. Some had warned farmers to stay away from that first market. They were accused of being unfair competition and trying to bring an end to grocery stores. Accusing them of selling inferior produce to consumers, they lobbied the city for stricter regulations for the farmers. The final ruling favored the farmers’ market, concluding it was only a temporary solution to food shortages the nation was experiencing during World War II. They projected it would disband six months after the war ended. Even so, the contention between the two groups continued. On November 6, 1945, proposition 16 was brought before the voters. It simply stated, “The Farmers’ Market shall be continued beyond the time limitation now established by ordinances.” When the ballots were counted, the Yes won by 5 to 1. This market has been in operation every Saturday morning for 75 seasons.

Markets today

This is the market you'll find me at most Saturdays.Love this logo. 

 

In the 21^st century, markets are common in many towns across the country. They offer fresh produce, farm fresh eggs, fresh cheese, homemade baked goods, even meat products, and more. The FDA has relaxed standards on farmers’ market vendors and even allows SNAP cards to be used for various food items. Not only are buyers interested in fresh produce and handcrafted items, but also desire to support home businesses. The addition of craft and art items (i.e. my books) brings people to the market who might not bother. As in the distant past, markets today are often in the center of town near stores. This draws more foot-traffic to farmers’ markets and more visitors to nearby businesses.

Changes to the market

Markets need a specific percentage of vendors who sell produce and food items to qualify for government programs that provide food for low-income families. Beyond that, there is room for vendors like me who offer their own handmade items. Being able to vend at events like these is amazing. As in days gone by, the vendors feel like family, sharing tips and interesting solutions for crops and selling tips. And I find readers who love to read paperback books are thrilled to see my books at their market. So fun.

Have you ever been to a farmers’ market? What did you buy?

Cindy Ervin Huff, is a multi-published award-winning author. A 2018 Selah Finalist. She has a passion to encourage other writers on their journey. When she isn’t writing, she feeds her addiction to reading and enjoys her retirement with her husband of 50 plus years, Charles. Visit her at www.cindyervinhuff.com. 

 

 

 

HIS JUSTICE CANNOT SLEEP FOREVER

 By Catherine Ulrich Brakefield

The 4th of July is but a passing recollection on your 2025 calendar now. The parades, parties, and picnics left behind are a pleasing afterthought.  

Mementos of yesteryear might flood some veteran’s thoughts of past 4^th of Julys, soaring like an eagle in flight with the glow of the fireworks, and those fireworks, but a candle to that war, that recollection of a distant memory.

That first 4^th of July was when a band of farmers, clerks, and minutemen risked their lives for a cause they reasoned bigger than themselves.  

Facing the fierce roar of mighty Great Britain with a handful of patriots was not a task for the fainthearted. Farmers, some armed with pitchforks, fought against the mightiest nation in the world.

The well-trained British army marched with arrogant confidence, certain of victory and scores of hangings for these brave Americans.

These patriots, with a prayer upon their lips and determination in their strides, found humor in their most-harrowing predicaments creating lyrics to the comical tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy.  They faced with grit and determination the teeth-shuttering roar of Great Britain, with good old Yankee common sense. 

It was a new dawn, and a new nation was born that first fourth in 1776.

On the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D. C. is inscribed: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.” 

Are the schoolchildren of our generation taught this truth? Our founding fathers recognized this. So did every patriot who fought in the Revolutionary War, and every veteran of every war, that was fought.

Our “liberties are the gift of God.” Plain and simple. It is the complete reason the United States of America decided to establish a country Under God and establish God as our king.   

The Declaration of Independence was the promise, and the Constitution was that fulfillment.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…  And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortune, and our sacred Honor.”

 It was a humble appeal to the Supreme Judge, God and His Son, Jesus Christ to guide and protect America—yes, the course of the United States of America was set. In God we Trust is stamped upon our money, and God and Jesus are sung from the foundation of America’s existence.

A nation under God Indivisible—Life and Liberty Walk hand in hand.  The next generation will someday need to carry this torch of God and liberty. For if we do not— “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.” Thomas Jefferson.

How long will America survive if the next generation are unaware of their roots?

George Washington did not hesitate to bend a knee amidst the frigid winds and cold, wet snow to humbly pray and ask God for his guidance and blessings.

Many of our presidents have shown through their words and deeds this truth. Without God, it is impossible to have a strong country. It is impossible to keep our liberties and our country safe.

“And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”— George Washington's Farewell Address, 1796

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” — George Washington in a Letter to the Massachusetts Militia, October 11, 1798

John Quincy Adams never hesitated in placing pen to parchment to display his convictions about God and his Savior, Christ Jesus:

“Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and venerated festival returns on this day? … Is it not that in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That it laid the comer stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfilment of the prophecies, announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets 600 years before?” — This was said in  “An oration delivered before the inhabitants of the town of Newburyport," July 4, 1837

Americans thrived beneath the free speech, and freedom of religion, designated in our Bill of Rights. Every time in our nation’s history, God give us the glue to keep this nation together. God, through His Word, gave American families the heart to face the most horrendous disasters.

“In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it. To you I return my most sincere thanks for the very elegant copy of the great Book of God which you present.” — Abraham Lincoln in his speech labeled  “Reply to Loyal Colored People of Baltimore upon Presentation of a Bible," dated September 7, 1864

During many presidents’ inauguration addresses the utmost thought was on the Almighty God, praying for His direction and blessings’!

“I assume the arduous and responsible duties of President of the United States, relying upon the support of my countrymen and invoking the guidance of Almighty God. Our faith teaches that there is no safer reliance than upon the God of our fathers, who has so singularly favored the American people in every national trial, and who will not forsake us so long as we obey His commandments and walk humbly in His footsteps.” — William McKinley, in his First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1897

Teddy Roosevelt was born into a well-to-do family, however, had many physical handicaps. With asthma, farsightedness, and considered a weakling by his father, Teddy was told to learn how to box in order to defend himself from the bullies.

He overcame his father’s displeasure and went out west to prove himself. He established a fighting cavalry division called the Rough Riders and a period of history America needed it most, as I write about in Destiny’s Whirlwind. He eventually became the twenty-sixth president of the United States fulfilling God’s purpose. Without hesitation, Roosevelt boldly endorsed the reading of God’s Holy Word and told it how it was if we did not:

“The teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally — I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally — impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed. We would lose almost all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals; all the standards toward which we, with more or less of resolution, strive to raise ourselves.” Theodore Roosevelt  — “On Reading the Bible: Delivered before the Members of the Bible Society," 1901

        Throughout our nation’s history, schoolchildren have been taught these truths. I grew up seeing pictures of Teddy Roosevelt with his Rough Riders riding across the pages of my history books.

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.” Thomas Jefferson

Watch for next month’s blog to find out how you can help keep this important message alive for future generations to enjoy.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2Corinthians 3:17 NKJV)

DESTINY’S WHIRLWIND (book 2 of the Destiny Series)

    A death-bed promise, a dashing Rough Rider, the parable of the Sower take on unimaginable consequences.  

    A disgruntled in-law and a vindictive lawyer place the McConnell clan in the clutches of life’s tangled web of deception and greed. As Collina fights to keep her promise, the words of Esther 8:6 ring in her thoughts. “How can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people?”

“Destiny’s Whirlwind by Catherine Brakefield is a beautiful inspirational love story that will reel you in and win your heart…The story is beautifully written and filled with triumph and heartbreak. I couldn’t put it down…” LS

Catherine is the award-winning author of Wilted Dandelions, Swept into Destiny, Destiny’s Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart, Waltz with Destiny and Love's Final Sunrise. She has written two pictorial history books, The Lapeer Area and Eastern Lapeer, and short stories for Guideposts Books, CrossRiver Media Group, Revell Books, and Bethany House Publishers. Catherine and her husband of fifty-two years live on a ranch in Michigan and have two adult children, five grandchildren, four Arabian horses, three dogs, four cats, six chickens, and three bunnies. See CatherineUlrichBrakefield.com for more information.

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

https://washingtonstand.com/commentary/the-best-gift-20-presidents-speak-on-the-bible-and-christianity

Grenville Dodge: Grant's Extraodianary Spymaster

By Sherry Shindelar

Grenville Dodge, Photo by Mathew Benjamin Brady -
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

I’m always intrigued by spy stories, especially tales of intrigue from the Civil War. Much has been written about Pinkerton’s legions, Belle Boyd, Rose O’Neil Greenhow, Sarah Emma Edmonds, and others. I’d never even heard of Major General Grenville Dodge. According to the Office of the Department of National Intelligence, Dodge became the “most effective spy master in the Western Theatre [of the Civil War], and perhaps of the whole war.” 

Dodge was a man of many talents. He graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1851, worked in surveying and building railroads, and settled in Council Bluffs, Iowa as a businessman and community leader in the 1850’s.

However, when the Civil War broke out, he answered the call to defend his nation. Eager for a field command, he accepted a colonelship and outfitted a regiment. He was admired and acclaimed for his bravery, determination, and strategy in the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas in 1862 and Atlanta in 1864, but Generals Grant and Sherman recognized that his true talents lay elsewhere.

Dodge was a master railroad builder and destroyer. His arch enemy in the task of maintaining open railways for the transportation of Union troops and supplies in the Western Theater was Brig. General Nathan Bedford Forest. It was said that Dodge could repair railroads faster than Forrest could destroy them.

General Nathan Bedford Forrest, T.J. Selby photograph

However, the underlying secret to Dodge’s greatest successes was his spy network. He had his men in the right place and the right time at Pea Ridge because his spies had discovered that the Confederates had split their forces, and the spies determined from which the direction the “surprise” attack would happen. His agents, along with his expert engineering skills and blockade-house strategies, helped him to stay ahead of Forest, as well.

Early in the war, Dodge grew weary of having his cavalry missions thwarted by inaccurate intelligence. He determined to rectify the matter by hiring a company of scouts to risk their necks for a price to keep him apprised of enemy activity.

From this small outfit, his spy network grew to over one hundred operatives, including former slaves and Union sympathizers behind Confederate lines. He enlisted women in his rank of spies, as well, and they proved their worth as effective assets.

Dodge carried on his operation while rising in rank to Major General and leading the 2nd Division of the Army of the Tennessee. Only his commanding officers and his adjutants and provost marshals were even aware that he was in the spy game.

The intelligence gathered by his agents significantly assisted Grant in his victory at Vicksburg. One of Dodge’s operatives managed to get inside Vicksburg and even garnered a pass from the Confederate commander that granted him/her free access to the garrison’s defensive positions. With this key information on artillery and troop numbers and positions, Grant was able to concentrate his men where they could do the most damage to the enemy.

Siege of Vicksburg, by Kurz & Allison

In addition, when Jefferson Davis ordered General Joseph Johnston toward Vicksburg with reinforcements, Dodge’s operatives infiltrated Johnston’s ranks and discovered that the Confederates were only sending half of the number of men that had been reported. This bit of news enabled Grant to leave thousands more of his men at Vicksburg instead of sending the main body to intercept the approaching Confederates.

Dodge cared about the safety and lives of his operatives. He trained them well, and he refused to tell his commanding officers and others the identities of his spies. Only he knew who they were. In fact, he worked to keep their names off the army payroll. With permission from Grant, Dodge paid his men and women with funds raised from selling confiscated Confederate cotton. In addition, he avoided meeting with them face to face, keeping the veil of secrecy by exchanging information indirectly. He also provided them with Confederate money and gold in order to bribe and barter their way through enemy territory if needed.

The spy master was also adept at counterespionage. In late 1863, Dodge and his agents foiled a highly effective Confederate spy ring, known as Colman’s Scouts, whose objective was to gather information Federal troop strength and movements and to interrupt communications while remaining invisible to Federal troops in Tennessee. The enemy ring consisted of forty-five secret service men and a talented leader who at times disguised himself a babbling, elderly herbal doctor.

In April 1861, when Dodge accepted an officer’s commission in the Federal Army, he wrote to his mother: “I go into this war on principle, [which] pecuniarily [financially] will ruin me. I put my trust in God; if I come out safe, I hope no one will have cause to regret my course.” He spent the next four years pouring out every ounce of his courage, determination, and intelligence toward keeping the Union whole.



Sources:
Harbor, Susan. “Harber’s History Lesson: Spymaster Henry Shaw was leader of Coleman Scouts.” The Daily News Journal. Rutherford Historical Society. 5 May 2017. https://rutherfordtnhistory.org/habers-history-lesson-spymaster-henry-shaw-was-leader-of-coleman-scouts/



“Grenville Dodge: The Fighting Spymaster.” Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Intel.gov. https://www.intelligence.gov/evolution-of-espionage/civil-war/union-espionage/grenville-dodge

Wilmot, Julie. “The Civil War’s Most Interesting General.” History.net. 29 Nov. 22. https://shop.historynet.com/blogs/new-the-latest-from-historynet-com/the-civil-war-s-most-interesting-general

Originally from Tennessee, Sherry loves to take her readers into the past. A romantic at heart, she is an avid student of the Civil War and the Old West. When she isn’t busy writing, she is an English professor, working to pass on her love of writing to her students. Sherry is a multi-award-winning writer. She currently resides in Minnesota with her husband of forty years. She has three grown children and three grandchildren.

 

             Connect with Sherry: website, newsletter, Amazon, FB, Goodreads

Can she trust the man who ruined her life to rescue her future?

Driven by the looming expectation of becoming a proper lady, Morning Fawn is determined to escape the confines of her uncle’s plantation and return to her adoptive Comanche tribe. But with each failed attempt, her hopes dwindle. The last thing she needs is help from the frontier soldier who put her there in the first place.

Disillusioned with the Confederacy and his role in Morning Fawn’s kidnapping, Devon Reynolds returns to Texas as a Yankee spy, determined to make amends. But can two wounded souls, each fighting their own battles, find solace and love amidst the chaos of war?