“Yes, sir, General President!”—Part 1—and a Giveaway!

By Jennifer Uhlarik

Have you ever thought about the men in American history who distinguished themselves as military generals before they went on to become United States Presidents? I’m sure most of us can name a few, but I was surprised to learn that there were, in fact, ten who served this nation in both capacities. How many can you name? This month, we’ll take a look at the first half of that list, and we’ll finish it during my post in May.

 

George Washington

This one was easy, right? Everyone remembers the United States’ first president. Born in Pope’s Creek, Virginia Colony, on February 22, 1732, Washington first rose to prominence as the surveyor of Culpepper County in 1749. He went on to lead the Virginia Regiment in the French and Indian War in the 1750s, served in the Continental Congress in the 1770s, and from there was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army from 1775-1783. During that time, he fearlessly led the fledgling American army through fierce battles with few supplies. He and his troops faced illness, starvation, and injury, but ultimately came out victorious.

 

Once the fighting was done, Washington returned to civilian life, only to see the need to replace the Articles of Confederation (America’s first Constitution) with a better version of the document. While he wished for this to be done, it wasn’t his desire to be part of the process, though many urged him to. He finally succumbed to the pressure and not only attended, but presided, over the convention in 1787. And once America’s new Constitution was ratified, Washington was elected the country’s first President. He served two terms from 1789 until 1797, then retired from public office. He lived for only a few years more and died on December 14, 1799, at the age of 67.

 

Andrew Jackson

This is a controversial one. Andrew Jackson was America’s seventh president, serving in that office from 1829 to 1837. But before he took the country’s most prestigious office, he made a name for himself as a frontier lawyer, planter, and a military man. He played some roles in the American Revolution as a young teen, but his military service began in earnest in 1801, when he was named a colonel over the Tennessee militia—and within a year, commander of the same force. He later went on to fight in the Creek War, starting in 1813, and he was the commanding general who defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans. He continued his military service during the First Seminole Indian War of the 1820s and was eventually elected to the Presidency in 1828. But he is often remembered for his harsh treatment of the Native Americans, both in the Creek and Seminole Wars, and during his presidency when he signed the “Indian Removal Act of 1830.” 

 

                                 William Henry Harrison

From an early age, it seemed William Henry Harrison was on track to enjoy life in the medical field—although both his distaste for that line of study and his father’s death derailed the plan. Instead, he opted for a life in the military, beginning in 1791. Starting out as an ensign in the First American Regiment of the Army, he was promoted to lieutenant within a year, and found himself on the frontier during the Northwest Indian War. He was made aide-de-camp (i.e. a personal assistant) to Major General “Mad Anthony” Wayne, and learned how to lead. After a stint as the territorial governor of Indiana, he returned to military life and was elevated to the rank of General during the War of 1812. He is best known for his victory during the Battle of the Thames in October 1813. He returned to civilian life for a time, but in 1836, ran for President. He lost that year but ran again in 1840 and won. Of all the American presidents, Harrison had the shortest presidency, lasting only thirty-one days. He fell ill after he took a walk to town, in which he got caught in a rainstorm without coat or hat and didn’t change to dry clothing after returning to the White House. He quickly came down with cold-like symptoms which deteriorated to a pneumonia-like illness. He died nine days after he fell ill and exactly one month after assuming the role of President.

 

Zachary Taylor

Another career military man, Zachary Taylor served in multiple wars. He was first commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson in 1808 at the rank of First Lieutenant. He served in the War of 1812, receiving the first brevet (temporary) promotion in the American military—to the rank of Major. Later, he served in the Black Hawk War, the Second Seminole Indian War, and the Mexican-American War (where he earned the rank of major general). Because of his humane treatment of Mexican prisoners of war and giving last rights to both the American and Mexican dead, he became quite popular, and his defeat of Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista in July of 1847 cemented that popularity. Returning home to the United States in late 1847, his popularity carried him straight to a presidential victory in the 1848 election. However, his presidency lasted only sixteen months. Only July 4, 1850, he fell ill with stomach issues and died five days later.  

 

Andrew Johnson

Hailing from a poor family, Johnson originally learned the skills of a tailor, but eventually worked his way into politics. He was a town mayor, served brief terms in both sides of the Tennessee State legislature, then moved on to the National House of Representatives where he served ten years (five consecutive terms). He went on to become governor of Tennessee and returned to Congress as a Senator after that. During his time in the Senate, the Southern states began seceding from the Union. Johnson, a man firmly loyal to the Union, was the only Southern Senator who did not resign his position—and Abraham Lincoln rewarded him for his faithfulness. He was appointed by the sitting president as Military Governor of Tennessee—at the rank of General—in 1862. By 1864, Johnson was the natural choice to become Lincoln’s running mate, both for his loyalty and to show national unity during his second term. The pair won the 1864 election, but as we all know, Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865, so Johnson became president in his place. He served until 1869, but his presidency was not without controversy. During all the upheaval after the Civil War, the arguing factions took some of their aggression out on Johnson, and he was impeached by the House of Representatives—though the Senate acquitted him, allowing him to remain in office.

 

It's Your Turn: Were you aware there were ten U.S. Presidents who had risen to the rank of General before attaining the nation’s highest office? Of the five listed above, which do you find most impressive, and why? Leave your response in order to be entered in the drawing for this adorable sign.

 

Award-winning, best-selling novelist Jennifer Uhlarik has loved the western genre since she read her first Louis L’Amour novel. She penned her first western while earning a writing degree from University of Tampa. Jennifer lives near Tampa with her husband, son, and furbabies. www.jenniferuhlarik.com

 

 

AVAILABLE NOW

 

Love’s Fortress by Jennifer Uhlarik

 

A Friendship From the Past Brings Closure to Dani’s Fractured Family

 

When Dani Sango’s art forger father passes away, Dani inherits his home. There, she finds a book of Native American drawings, which leads her to seek museum curator Brad Osgood’s help to decipher the ledger art. Why would her father have this book? Is it another forgery?

 

Brad Osgood longs to provide his four-year-old niece, Brynn, the safe home she desperately deserves. The last thing he needs is more drama, especially from a forger’s daughter. But when the two meet “accidentally” at St. Augustine’s 350-year-old Spanish fort, he can’t refuse the intriguing woman.

 

Broken Bow is among seventy-three Plains Indians transported to Florida in 1875 for incarceration at ancient Fort Marion. Sally Jo Harris and Luke Worthing dream of serving on a foreign mission field, but when the Indians reach St. Augustine, God changes their plans. However, when Sally Jo’s friendship with Broken Bow leads to false accusations, it could cost them their lives.

 

Can Dani discover how Broken Bow and Sally Jo’s story ends and how it impacted her father’s life?

 

 

Babies In the White House

by Jennifer Uhlarik

 

In the history of the United States, quite a few children have been born at the White House. However, only one of those was the child of a sitting president. Do you know who it was? If the rest weren’t a sitting president’s children, who were they? Let’s dig in and find out!

 

Thomas Jefferson

I think it is fair to say that Thomas Jefferson’s time in the White House saw the most children born. The very first baby born in the White House was Asnet Hughes, the son of 14-year-old Ursula Granger, a slave girl Jefferson brought from Monticello with the intention that she study under the White House’s French chef, so that he could enjoy delicious food once his presidency was over. However, young Ursula gave birth to her child in the early part of 1802, and by mid-August, the sickly child died. She returned to Monticello soon after her baby’s death, married Asnet’s father, and had a dozen more children with him.

 

Another slave girl, Edy Fossett, was brought from Monticello in 1802 with the same intention—to have her study under the French chef for the White House. But Edy was also pregnant upon her arrival, and in January 1803, she delivered a son who lived until 1806 and passed away from illness. Around this time, Edy’s enslaved sister-in-law, Fanny Hern, also came to the White House to help Edy with kitchen duties. Despite the fact Edy’s husband Joe and Fanny’s husband Davy, also slaves of Jefferson’s, remained at Monticello, they all saw each other often enough that the women went on to have more children. Edy bore two other children during her time in the White House—and several more after her return to Monticello, and Fanny had two children with Davy while in Washington.

Peter Fossett,
one of Edy Fossett's children

Also in 1806, James Madison Randolph, Thomas Jefferson’s own grandchild, was born. With his wife Martha, Jefferson had six children, but only two—the eldest (Martha) and the fourth child (Mary)—survived into adulthood. Since Jefferson was a widower, the duties of First Lady often fell to his two daughters. After Mary’s death in 1804, those duties fell largely to Martha who, with her husband and children, moved into the White House. On January 17, 1806, James Madison Randolph was born. The boy grew up, never married, and died of illness days after his twenty-eighth birthday.

Mary Louisa Adams,
grandchild of Pres. John Quincy Adams

After this, there was a span of roughly twenty years where no children were born in the White House. It wasn’t until John Quincy Adams won the presidency that another child made an appearance—and this child was Adams’ granddaughter, Mary Louisa. She was born on December 2, 1828, to newlyweds John Adams II and Mary Catherine Hellen. Mary took little interest in her marriage and only slightly more interest in her child, so little Mary Louisa was greatly influenced by her doting grandparents, John Quincy and Louisa Adams. The First Lady is said to have paced the floor with her teething granddaughter in the middle of the night, and the President tutored her regularly in math and languages.

 

President Andrew Jackson had been recently widowed before his time in the White House, so he brought his nephew, Andrew Jackson Donelson with him to act as his private secretary. Donelson and his wife Emily already had one child together, but soon after they moved into the White House, Emily realized she was again in the family way. Mary Emily Donelson was the first of three children they would have while residing in the White House. She was born August 31, 1829. Her next younger brother, John Samuel Donelson, came along on May 18, 1832, followed by the youngest child, Rachel Jackson Donelson, on April 11, 1835. Mary lived a good long life, staying connected to Washington politics for most of it. At the outbreak of the Civil War, John joined the Confederacy and died at Chickamauga in his early thirties. And Rachel eventually moved to Texas and lived a quiet life, though she was ill for much of it and eventually died of illness in her early 50s.

 

Emily Donelson, daughter-in-law
of Andrew Jackson, who served
as First Lady and gave birth to three of
Jackson's grandchildren in the  White House.

Martin Van Buren was another widower who assumed the role of U.S. President. His son, Abraham, married Angelica, and after their European honeymoon, moved into the White House to act as private secretary and first lady respectively. In 1839, Rebecca Van Buren was born—but tragically died soon after from an unknown illness. Some sources say it was as few as five days, some say six months, and still others fall somewhere in between—but regardless, little Rebecca survived only a short time.

 

President John Tyler saw two grandchildren born in the White House—granddaughter Letitia Tyler on April 13, 1842, and grandson Robert Tyler Jones on January 24, 1843. Both would go on to support or fight for the Confederacy during the Civil War. In fact, Robert was in the midst of Picket’s Charge, and when the man carrying the regiment’s flag was killed, Robert picked it up and advanced to the stone wall where he was severely wounded but survived.

Daguerreotype of James K. Polk

As several former presidents did, James K. Polk asked his nephew Joseph Knox Walker to act as his private secretary. Walker’s wife, Augusta Adams Tabb, gave birth to her fourth child, daughter Sally Walker, on March 15, 1846. In December 1847, Joseph Knox Walker, Jr. was born to the pair. Both children were doted on, although precocious Sally was known to barge into cabinet meetings and other important moments of her grandfather’s presidency. Unfortunately, Joseph Jr.—better known as Knox—died at age 10 after falling off a horse.

 

Almost another twenty years passed after Knox’s birth before another child made an appearance in the White House. This child was granddaughter of Ulysses S. Grant, Julia, born on June 7, 1876. Despite being just an infant or toddler, she was allowed to be in Presidential receiving lines at official White House events during her time there. She later lived in Europe, married a Russian prince, divorced him after thirty-six years of marriage and three children. Julia returned to America where she stayed involved in politics nearly until her death at age 99.

Esther Cleveland

The only baby to be born in the White House to a sitting president is Esther Cleveland, second daughter of President Grover Cleveland. She was born September 9, 1893. President and Mrs. Cleveland did have another child while he was still president, but that daughter (Marian) was born elsewhere. Esther married a British Army officer, had two children, and lived to be eighty-six.

 

The last baby to be born in the White House—and the only one born in the 20^th Century—was Woodrow Wilson’s grandson, Francis Bowes Sayre, Jr. He made his appearance on January 17, 1915, and went on to become an Episcopal reverend, dean of Washington D.C.’s National Cathedral, and fought for Civil Rights in the 1960s. Sayre lived to be 93, after a long and influential life.

Francis Bowes Sayre, Jr. with his parents.

 

It's Your Turn: Were you aware that so many children were born on the White House premises? Would you have wanted to give birth in the White House if such an option were available to you? Why or why not?

Award-winning, best-selling novelist Jennifer Uhlarik has loved the western genre since she read her first Louis L’Amour novel. She penned her first western while earning a writing degree from University of Tampa. Jennifer lives near Tampa with her husband, son, and furbabies. www.jenniferuhlarik.com

 

 

AVAILABLE NOW

Love’s Fortress by Jennifer Uhlarik

 

A Friendship From the Past Brings Closure to Dani’s Fractured Family

 

When Dani Sango’s art forger father passes away, Dani inherits his home. There, she finds a book of Native American drawings, which leads her to seek museum curator Brad Osgood’s help to decipher the ledger art. Why would her father have this book? Is it another forgery?

 

Brad Osgood longs to provide his four-year-old niece, Brynn, the safe home she desperately deserves. The last thing he needs is more drama, especially from a forger’s daughter. But when the two meet “accidentally” at St. Augustine’s 350-year-old Spanish fort, he can’t refuse the intriguing woman.

 

Broken Bow is among seventy-three Plains Indians transported to Florida in 1875 for incarceration at ancient Fort Marion. Sally Jo Harris and Luke Worthing dream of serving on a foreign mission field, but when the Indians reach St. Augustine, God changes their plans. However, when Sally Jo’s friendship with Broken Bow leads to false accusations, it could cost them their lives.

 

Can Dani discover how Broken Bow and Sally Jo’s story ends and how it impacted her father’s life?

 

 

 

The Castillo de San Marcos, Part 3

 

By Jennifer Uhlarik

 

Hello, readers! We are just days away from my fourteenth published story being released. Love’s Fortress is coming March 1, 2022, and leading up to that, I’ve been telling you some of the interesting history of the Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine’s old Spanish fort which is the historical landmark where about half the story takes place. If you want to see past postings on the fort, you can find them at the following links:

The Castillo de San Marcos--Part 1

The Castillo de San Marcos--Part 2

 

So last month, we left off with the fort being returned by the British to Spain during the Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolution. Britain traded control of Florida to Spain in exchange for the Bahamas. So in 1783, the treaty was signed and by mid-1874, Spanish troops re-entered La Florida. 

 

However, the second Spanish period was not all that Spain might have hoped it to be. When the Spanish regained control, those Spanish residents who had once lived here during the first Spanish period were largely gone—long ago returned to Spain or elsewhere. In their place lived many British subjects who saw no need to vacate the new Spanish holding. It would become a costly prospect to bring more Spanish subjects to Florida to set up residence and make a noticeable presence, in addition to the cost of soldiers to keep them safe from various threats.

Map of the Louisiana Purchase (in white) overlaid on the
Present Day United States. Note that the Panhandle of 
Florida was not included.

 

What were those threats? For one, the border of Spanish Florida and the United States was at the southern border of Georgia. With Spanish Florida surrounded by water on three sides, and American land immediately to its north, Florida was cut off from quick help across the land.  Add to that the American neighbors feeling crowded in the southern portions of the fledgling nation, and so wanting to cross the border and set up residence in Florida as well. When the Louisiana Purchase came about in 1803, Napoleonic France sold 828,000 square miles to the United States, and Americans flooded west. Uncaring of the details, some Americans claimed that the panhandle of Florida was part of the Louisiana Purchase. In honesty, it wasn’t, but Americans flooded into that portion of Spain’s holdings during the 1810-1813 time frame. During that same time, the War of 1812 broke out, leading General James Wilkinson to take Mobile, lending strength to the Americans’ position in annexing western Florida. Spain didn’t put up a fight for the area.

Florida once the Americans annexed 
Western Florida between 1810-1813

 

In addition to the Americans to their north, there were the Seminole Indians living throughout Florida. The Seminoles would often cross the border into American territory and raid American citizens. It was expected that Spain would stop them, since these Native populations lived in Spanish Florida, but with minimal amounts of troops, they struggled to subdue them.

 

Similarly, slaves from the American plantations crossed the border between American and Spanish territory and sought refuge in Florida, throwing themselves on the mercy of Spain to keep them safe from slave hunters and plantation owners who sought to recapture them. The lack of soldiers again left this growing population vulnerable in Spanish Florida.

 

The simple answer would’ve been to send more troops to Castillo de San Marcos and other Florida military outposts, but aside from the prohibitive cost, there were other worldwide issues at play. Political tensions were heating up around the world. From 1807 to 1814, Spain waged a seven-year war against Napoleon in Europe, which took manpower and attention away from Florida’s Spanish settlements. Starting in 1810 in Central and South America, people were fighting for independence from Spain as well, further dividing military forces.

 

Andrew Jackson

So by 1818 or so, all of these factors converged. Spain’s troop count were very low in Florida due to all the other international issues, and the Seminoles, runaway slaves, and outlaws banded together to wreak havoc in the southern portions of the United States. So the American general, Andrew Jackson, pursued the Seminoles (et al.) into Spanish Florida in what became known as the First Seminole War. Jackson’s incursion angered both Great Britain and Spain, so Spain’s leadership sought help from the British in negotiating the international incident. When Britain declined to do more than express their outrage, Spain once again realized it was on its own to negotiate the turbid waters of Spanish-American relations in Florida. It was time to get out.

 

Spain finally approached the United States with the offer of a treaty. Spain would give up Florida if the United States would, in turn, better define the borders of New Spain—an area that comprised much of Mexico, what we know today as the American Southwest, and California. The United States, long desiring to have Florida for its own, quickly agreed, and U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and Spanish Minister Luis de Onis hammered out the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819. Florida—and the languishing Castillo de San Marcos—were now the property of the United States of America.

Map showing Adams-Onis Treaty lands. Florida became 
a United States possession while the gray area was
firmly established as "New Spain".

 

Tune in next month for the interesting history of the fort since becoming an American possession.

 

 

Award-winning, best-selling novelist Jennifer Uhlarik has loved the western genre since she read her first Louis L’Amour novel. She penned her first western while earning a writing degree from University of Tampa. Jennifer lives near Tampa with her husband, son, and furbabies. www.jenniferuhlarik.com

 

 

COMING MARCH 1, 2022

 

Love’s Fortress by Jennifer Uhlarik

 

A Friendship From the Past Brings Closure to Dani’s Fractured Family

 

When Dani Sango’s art forger father passes away, Dani inherits his home. There, she finds a book of Native American drawings, which leads her to seek museum curator Brad Osgood’s help to decipher the ledger art. Why would her father have this book? Is it another forgery?

 

Brad Osgood longs to provide his four-year-old niece, Brynn, the safe home she desperately deserves. The last thing he needs is more drama, especially from a forger’s daughter. But when the two meet “accidentally” at St. Augustine’s 350-year-old Spanish fort, he can’t refuse the intriguing woman.

 

Broken Bow is among seventy-three Plains Indians transported to Florida in 1875 for incarceration at ancient Fort Marion. Sally Jo Harris and Luke Worthing dream of serving on a foreign mission field, but when the Indians reach St. Augustine, God changes their plans. However, when Sally Jo’s friendship with Broken Bow leads to false accusations, it could cost them their lives.

 

Can Dani discover how Broken Bow and Sally Jo’s story ends and how it impacted her father’s life?

Presidential Favorite Foods

Nancy J. Farrier

I learned recently that there is a list of Presidential favorite foods that includes all the Presidents. I thought it would be fun to look at some of them and maybe some of the recipes they enjoyed. I realize we don’t have time or space to include all 45 Presidents, but I will pick out some that are interesting to share with you.

Photo Public Domain
Wikimedia Commons

Photo by Diako1971
Wikimedia Commons

President George Washington: Who hasn’t heard the story of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree? It turns out cherries are one of his favorite foods. He loved fresh fruit, especially cherries. He had an orchard, which included several cherry trees. This leads me to wonder if he would truly cut down one of those treasured trees. President Washington also had a special fondness for fish.

Photo Public Domain
Wikimedia Commons

President John Adams: John Adams tended to be frugal and tended to have plain fare. He made a note in his diary after eating a meal at a Chief Justice’s house that the food was “a most sinful feast.” One of Adams favorite desserts was Apple Pan Dowdy. Here is the recipe:

Apple Pan Dowdy -Photo by Garin Fons

"Apple Pan Dowdy
Apples, like molasses, were a standby in New England Desserts. John Adams showed his preference for Apple Pan Dowdy by having it on Independence Day...
Flour
Salt
Shortening
Ice water
Melted butter
Sugar
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Apples
Molasses
To make the pastry: Sift 1 1/2 cups flour with a dash of salt. Blend in 1/2 cup shortening until the mixture is mealy. Sprinkle a little ice water over the mixture, just enough to hold the dough together. Roll the pastry out, brush with 1/4 cup melted butter, and cut pastry in half. Place the halves on top of each other and cut again. Repeat until you have 16 separate but equal pieces of pastry piled on top of each other, then chill them a full hour. Roll the pastry once again, cut in half, and line the bottom of the baking dish with one half. Save the other half for the top. Keep both on ice while making the filling.

To make the filling: Mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Peel and core 10 large apples. Cut then into thin slices. Mix the apples with sugar-spice mixture and place in pastry-lined dish. Combine 1/2 cup molasses (or maple syrup) with 3 tablespoons melted butter and 1/4 cup water. Pour this over the apples. Cover with the top pastry layer and seal. Place in a preheated hot (400 degree F.) oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to low (325 degrees F.). After reducing the heat, "dowdy" the dish by cutting the crust into the apples with a sharp knife. Return dish to oven and bake a full hour. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream or with heavy cream or whipped cream. Serves 6."
---Presidents' Cookbook (p. 51-52)

Photo Public Domain
Wikimedia Commons

Public Domain Image
Wikimedia Commons

President Thomas Jefferson: Although he enjoyed French cuisine, Jefferson loved native foods, especially home-grown garden vegetables. He had a garden at the White House and at his home in Paris. He kept a chart in the White House kitchen showing the various vegetables. The one he loved the most was his sweet corn. He even took seed from Virginia to Paris to grow the sweet corn he loved while he visited France.

Photo Public Domain
Wikimedia Commons

President James Madison: Little is known about James Madison and his food preferences. The one listed as his favorite is Virginia ham. He also enjoyed biscuits and apple pie and cider. His wife, Dolly, was well known for her elaborate dinners where she served a mix of French cuisine and local fare. 

Photo Public Domain
Wikimedia Commons

President James Monroe: Although Monroe enjoyed the foods he ate on his travels and at State dinners, he always enjoyed coming back to the home fare he loved. He had a special fondness for his wife’s chicken fried with rice. She served this dish often. He also enjoyed hot bread and biscuits.

Photo Public Domain
Wikimedia Commons

President John Quincy Adams: Adams didn’t care much about food. He was as content with crackers as he was with a fancy dinner. The one food he liked the most was fresh fruit. He thoroughly enjoyed the fruit trees in the White House garden. They had a variety of apricot, apple, plum, and pear trees, which he loved. 

Apple Tree, Photo by W.carter
Wikimedia Commons

Photo Public Domain
Wikimedia Commons

President Andrew Jackson: Jackson, often referred to as ‘Old Hickory’ because he was considered tough by the soldiers who served under him. He enjoyed braised duck and fried apple pies, but his absolute favorite was ‘leather britches.’ This isn’t a reference to how tough he was, but a dish that consisted of green beans cooked with water and bacon. (This dish also happened to be my mother’s favorite, but I never heard it called leather britches.)

Lest this post get too long, I’ll stop there. Maybe in the future we’ll look at some more favorite foods and some recipes. There is a Presidential cookbook that has recipes from the different Presidents or at least their time period. 

Have you ever seen the cookbook? Have you ever eaten leather britches? Or apple pan dowdy? What is your favorite food?

Nancy J Farrier is an award-winning 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 spend time with her family. You can read more about Nancy and her books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.

Wild West Words We Use Today, Part 8

The theater, politics, and Andrew Jackson all come up in this installment in the Wild West Sayings We Use Today blog series. We’re making our way through the alphabet to discover the history of words that carry us back to a simpler time. Enjoy! 

This post is brought to you by Janalyn Voigt. 

Wild West Sayings We Use Today

Claptrap

Most people today have heard the word claptrap as a noun describing pretentious nonsense. This is actually a theater term from the 1700’s and was used for a stunt to attract applause (a clap trap). This word came to mean any artifice drawing attention to a political event. Later, it described nonsensical chatter. It’s not hard to understand the progression of this word from its theater origins to the political arena, and then on to foolish speech. Or is that just me?

Historical Reference: The earliest dictionary use of clap-trap appeared in The Universal Etymological English Dictionary (Vol. 2, 1727) by Nathan Bailey: “A CLAP Trap: A name given to the rant and rhimes that dramatick poets, to please the actors, let them go off with; as much as to say, a trap to catch a clap by way of applause from the spectators at a play.”

Example: I’m tired of hearing all that claptrap about how hard he has it at work.

Conniption Fit 

We still speak of a fit of hysterical excitement or anger as a conniption fit, just as people did in the Wild West. The origins of this expression are not clear. The fact that, centuries ago, ‘corruption’ was used interchangeably with ‘anger’ or ‘temper’ suggests one explanation. Another that seems more likely to me anyway is that conniption derived from ‘conapshus,’ a mispronunciation of captious, an adjective that means ‘tending to find fault or raise petty objections.’ 

Historical Reference: According to the podcast, Podictionary, a woman named Aunt Keziah became angry when Andrew Jackson canceled his visit to her small New England town. She fell down in what became the first recorded ‘conniption fit.’ It was 1833. 

Example: If my car keys don’t turn up, I’m going to have a conniption fit. 

Cotton To 

A person might say that he or she doesn’t ‘cotton to’ another person. This means the person is not drawn to or doesn’t like the other party. Or the opposite can be true. Saying that you cotton to another person means you mesh well. This phrase originated as a textile term in the fabric mills of 16th-century England. It became common in the southern United States, where cotton formed a primary crop. When fibers melded to form cotton cloth, they were said to cotton or cotton well. 

Historical Reference: The poet Sir George Wharton used ‘cotten’ as a verb to mean ‘make friendly advances’ in the 1648 pamphlet Mercurius Elencticus. 

Example: My mother really cottons to her new daughter-in-law. 

That’s it for this round. Thanks for indulging my interest in the history of words. Stop back next month (same time, same place) for another look at Wild West sayings we still use today.

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre. Janalyn Voigt is represented by Wordserve Literary.

Learn more about Janalyn Voigt. 

Discover Montana Gold 

Based on actual historical events during a time of unrest in America, the Montana gold series explores faith, love, and courage in the wild west.