The Bible in America

I’ve lost count of how many Bibles we have in my household. Between my husband, college-aged son, and I, we must have over twenty copies of God’s Word in various forms and translations. I don’t say this lightly, because I know there are many places in the world today where the Bible is banned and people risk their lives to smuggle in and distribute God’s Word to hungry Christians, places where owning a copy of the Good Book could mean imprisonment or death. So, in that light, I feel very blessed to live in a time and place where I’ve been able to so easily purchase copies without ever fearing for my life or freedom—and I pray for those around the world who don’t have such free access to the greatest love letter of all time.

The King James Bible

But have you stopped to consider that once upon a time in America, Bibles weren’t all that freely available? In fact, there was a time in our nation’s history where it was illegal to print the Bible in the English language on our shores. Yes, you read that correctly. I said illegal. During the Colonial period, it was against the law for anyone other than the Royal Printer to produce copies of the Holy Scriptures in English. Dating back to 1589, all copies of the Bible had to come from the printing press of Christopher Barker or, later, his son, Richard. For about forty years, these two were the only ones who could print an English-language Bible in all of Britain or her colonies. In 1629, Oxford and Cambridge Universities were given royal licenses to print the Word, and in 1633, a printer in Ireland was added to that very short list of authorized providers of English-language Bibles. 

 

As Christians flocked to North America in search of religious freedom, they had to bring copies of the Holy Scriptures with them—printed by one of these approved sources—or they would have to request for one to be shipped “across the pond”. There was no running down to Olde Walmarte and picking up a cheap New Testament or perusing the Bible section at Ye Corner Bookshoppe to peruse the latest version in the “common man’s language.” There was one version—the King James Authorized Version—and it came from one of four sources, all far outside the colonies.

So imagine what happened when those colonies declared their independence from England. The access to the supply of God’s Word was suddenly cut off. And no one was printing English-language versions here in the new, fledgling country because it had been illegal to do so up to that point. This threw a wrench into the work of not only churches and the clergy being able to study God’s Word, but also courts of law who turned to the Bible for guidance in their judgments…and even schools, who used the Bible to teach their students on various subject matters. This was a crisis no one expected. By 1777, three members of the clergy in Pennsylvania realized that Bibles were growing scarce in this new country, and they petitioned the Continental Congress to do something about it. 

A committee was formed, the issue was discussed, and a stopgap measure of importing 20,000 copies of the Bible from other countries was thrown out. Problem solved, right? Not so fast. On the same day this measure was discussed, George Washington lost the Battle of Brandywine and the British came marching southward from Canada. Fearing for their safety, the Continental Congress vacated Philadelphia before ever voting on the solution to the Bible shortage. They eventually landed in York, Pennsylvania, even as General William Howe captured and occupied the new nation’s capital of Philadelphia. So the matter of the Bibles was lost in the turmoil.

Robert Aitken

The topic wasn’t revisited for another three years. In 1780, a Pennsylvania delegate, James McLene, again brought a petition before the Congress, requesting they do something about the shortage of Bibles. Robert Aitken, a Scottish immigrant who printed the journals of the Continental Congress, informed that body that he was working on a translation of the Holy Scriptures that could be used for printing once he’d completed the task. He finished it in September of 1872—a full five years after the dilemma of the Bible shortage was first brought before the Continental Congress.

At the Congress’s request, the two chaplains of the Congress reviewed the work of Mr. Aitken and found it to be a sound translation. So on September 12, 1782, the Continental Congress approved the printing of this very first English-translation Bible in America—the only one that has ever received congressional approval in the history of this nation. It became known as “The Bible of the Revolution” or the Aitken Bible.

Few copies of this Bible remain today. In the 1940s, it was found that less than 30 copies existed in museums and around 20 were held in private collections around the world. Should you wish to see an original Bible of the Revolution, one is on display in the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C.

It’s Your Turn: Do you own more than one copy of the Bible? Do you have a favorite translation, and if so, what is it? Have you ever been to a Bible museum, and where?

 

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a pre-teen when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has finaled and won in numerous writing competitions, and been on the ECPA best-seller list several times. In addition to writing, she has held jobs as a private business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, and her favorite—a full-time homemaker. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers, Women Writing the West, and is a lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband, college-aged son, and four fur children.

 

THE SCARLET PEN

by Jennifer Uhlarik

COMING JULY 1, 2021--PREORDER NOW!

Step into True Colors — a series of Historical Stories of Romance and True American Crime

Enjoy a tale of true but forgotten history of an 19th Century serial killer whose silver-tongued ways almost trap a young woman into a nightmarish marriage. In 1876, Emma Draycott is charmed into a quick engagement with childhood friend Stephen Dee Richards after reconnecting with him at a church event in Mount Pleasant, Ohio. But within the week, Stephen leaves to “make his fame and fortune.” The heartbroken Emma gives him a special pen to write to her, and he does with tales of grand adventures. Secret Service agent Clay Timmons arrives in Mount Pleasant to track purchases made with fake currency. Every trail leads back to Stephen—and therefore, Emma. Can he convince the naïve woman she is engaged to a charlatan who is being linked a string of deaths in Nebraska?

The Pilgrims and Our Spiritual Roots

                         By Elaine Marie Cooper

   Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite meal of the year. There’s nothing like the traditional turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie to make my mouth water!

This holiday takes on added meaning for me as well, because my ancestors arrived on the Mayflower nearly 400 years ago. So when we share food with loved ones while thanking our God Who has provided the abundance, we are recreating the spiritual roots and grateful attitude of the Pilgrims who knew their survival depended on the Almighty. 

Our family tradition in my home has been allowing each member to voice what they are grateful for in the last year. Sometimes the answers are amusing, sometimes incredibly heartwarming. 

   While we understand that the First Thanksgiving was celebrated here by the Mayflower survivors along with the Native Americans who helped them, the first official proclamation that was decreed to celebrate such a holiday was in 1777. It was a recommendation to the thirteen states by the Continental Congress to set aside December 18^th that year as a “solemn thanksgiving” to celebrate the first major victory for the Continental troops in the American Revolution: the Battle of Saratoga. 

   The Battle of Saratoga has significant interest for my own family since one of my ancestors was a soldier there. But he was not on the American side—he was a British Redcoat. After surrendering to the Americans, he escaped the line of prisoners and somehow made his way to Massachusetts and into the life and heart of my fourth great-grandmother. 

This family story was the inspiration for my Deer Run Saga that begins in 1777. 

Some may wonder why such detail was afforded this holiday in my novels set in Massachusetts, while Christmas is barely mentioned. The reason is simple: Thanksgiving was the major holiday in the New England colonies, with Christmas considered nothing more special than a workday. It was also considered a “papist” (i.e. Catholic) holiday.

According to Jack Larkin in his book, The Reshaping of Everyday Life, “The Puritan founders of New England and the Quaker settlers of Pennsylvania had deliberately abolished (holidays) as unscriptural.”

   But Thanksgiving was begun as a way to give thanks to God for His provision. It usually began with attending church services in the morning, followed by an elaborate feast in the afternoon. The food for this meal was prepared for weeks in advance.

   Since the individual state governors chose their own date to celebrate the holiday, it was theoretically possible for some family members—if they lived in close proximity—to celebrate multiple Thanksgiving meals with family and friends across state borders. The dates chosen could be anywhere from October to December, according to Dennis Picard, former Director of the Storrowton Village Museum in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

  Chicken was most commonly served, said Picard, as it was readily available in the barnyard. And the oldest woman in the home had the honor of slicing the fowl for dinner. 

   Pies were made well in advance of the holiday and stored and became frozen in dresser drawers in unheated rooms.

   “I like the idea of pulling out a dresser drawer for, say, a clean pair of socks, and finding mince pies,” said Picard, tongue in cheek.

   Indeed.

   I hope your Thanksgiving was blessed!!

Elaine Marie Cooper has two historical fiction books that released in 2019: War’s Respite(Prequel novella) and Love’s Kindling. Love’s Kindling is available in both e-book and paperback. They are the first two books in the Dawn of America Series set in Revolutionary War Connecticut. Cooper is the award-winning author of Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany’s Calendar. Her 2016 release (Saratoga Letters) was finalist in Historical Romance in both the Selah Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She penned the three-book Deer Run Saga and has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies including the recent Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive, Live Happy. Scarred Vessels, a novel about black soldiers in the American Revolution, will release in 2020. You can visit her website/ blog at www.elainemariecooper.com

  

History of the U.S. Post Office

William Goddard

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. In Colonial America, Patriot printer William Goddard found that the Crown Post, Britain’s colonial mail system, was blocking his Pennsylvania Chronicle newspaper from getting to his subscribers, as well as blocking important news he needed to include in the paper from getting to him. It was here that necessity birthed the ideas for a new postal system not run by Britain.

Benjamin Franklin

In 1774, Goddard partnered with his friend and mentor, Ben Franklin, to propose a Colonial mail system to the Continental Congress. Franklin had served the Crown Post for a total of thirty-seven years, both as Philadelphia’s postmaster and as the joint postmaster general of the colonies. Franklin lobbied for Goddard’s ideas to be heard, and on October 5, 1774, Goddard gave his extensive designs to Congress. However, due to other pressing matters, they didn’t act upon the idea immediately. But Goddard did.

Goddard began his mail service without the congress’s approval. His new system was run and paid for by subscription service. A private committee was elected by the subscribers, and was in charge of appointing postmasters, determining the mail routes, setting postal rates, and hiring post-riders. By the time the Continental Congress met in May of 1775, Goddard’s Continental Post had 30 post offices between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Williamsburg, Pennsylvania. Each post rider was made to swear that he would keep all mailings under lock and key.

On July 26, 1775, the Continental Congress put their approval on the new postal system. ToGoddard’s chagrin, the congress named Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General. They did, however, grant Goddard the position of Riding Surveyor. Franklin drew up a hand-written pass for Goddard, allowing him to travel at his discretion for the surveyor position. Within his new job, Goddard traveled southward to set up new post offices.

Pass written by Benjamin Franklin for William Goddard

Warnings about the Crown Post were circulated among the colonists. One such warning stated:

Letters are liable to be stopped & opened by ministerial mandates, & their Contents construed into treasonable Conspiracies; and News Papers, those necessary and important vehicles, especially in Times of public Danger, may be rendered of little avail for want of Circulation ...

Because of this, the colonists quickly switched their mailings to the Constitutional Post, and by Christmas Day 1775, the Crown Post was forced out of business.

Franklin stayed on as Postmaster General until November 7, 1776. Since the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4 of that year, Franklin is stated to be the first Postmaster General of the United States. After Franklin’s departure, Goddard hoped for the appointment to the Postmaster’s job, but was again passed over. This time, it went to Franklin’s son-in-law, Richard Bache. At this point, Goddard resigned to pursue other endeavors.

While many credit Franklin as being the creator of the U.S. Postal Service, it truly was Goddard’s invention, born out of the necessity of getting his newspapers into the hands of the colonists, which brought about the postal service as we know it today. Tomorrow marks the 240th anniversary of the service. Why not make an effort to thank your postal worker when he or she comes by.

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a pre-teen, when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has won five writing competitions and finaled in two other competitions. In addition to writing, she has held jobs as a private business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, and her favorite—a full-time homemaker. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers and lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband, teenaged son, and four fur children.

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