Don't you love how lots of interesting things get left out in order to teach the *facts* about history!
I freely admit I'm not much of a one for *facts*. Facts on their own tell me very little. They rarely tell me why people do what they do. What they do is often dull ~ or worse, outrageous & cruel. Why they do it...ah, now there's the thing.
Which brings me to Daniel Boone. Do you remember the 60's t.v show on Boone starring Fess Parker? Always felt sorry for the coon on his head. Figured the coon needed its skin way more than Boone did & all the macho posing with guns & things sort of did my head in ~ not being a gun person ~ & yes I know how to shoot a gun ~ or I used to. That t.v show did the man a disservice. For starters the real Boone didn't wear a coonskin cap. I need to get over that.
Anyway imagine my surprise when scrolling down a list of well known Quakers Boone's name popped up. True. His Welsh mother was a Quaker & the family were part of the Lower Gwynedd Township Meeting ~ though not without controversy. The parents had to publicly apologise to the Meeting when their oldest child, Sarah, married a non~Quaker & again when Boone's older brother, Israel, also married a non~Quaker. His father was expelled from Meeting over the incident but his mother continued to attend Meeting with the children. This squabble may have been the reason for the family moving to North Carolina & Boone never again attended church though he thought of himself as a CChristian & had all his children baptised.
Now this is interesting to me for a number of reasons. As a body, Quakers tended to have peaceful & productive relations with the Native American Indians & it is a fact Boone learnt some of his woodsman & tracking/hunting skills from Indians. They stood him in good stead. For much of his life he earned a living as a hunter & trailblazer but he was also a wily citizen who understood the diplomatic nature of parley & it was this cunning that saved his life & that of fellow travellers when captured by hostile Indians.
However what really stands out for me is not his actions. Not being American I'm not much concerned with what the man did & I have only the vaguest notion of where any of the places are that he travelled. What stands out for me is his faith ~ & faith that makes sense to me. As he travelled these unexplored regions he marvelled at the wonders of God's design & the beauty of nature [Nature was here a series of wonders, and a fund of delight.] He was also a man who understood the delights of simplicity: [All you need for happiness is a good gun, a good horse, and a good wife.] Makes me wonder if that's where John Lennon got his idea for *happiness is a warm gun*. Probably not. I like this Boone much better than the Fess Parker version.
4 comments:
I didn't know anything about Boom so all interesting facts, I always enjoy this segment. It shows how much we don't know. I once read, " the more you read, the less you know" and it is very true.
All I knew of Daniel Boone was that "he kilt a bar" - and of course what Fess Parker portrayed of him. I liked reading about him here, Ganeida. I did not know his family were Quakers. I hope you write again about people we might not know were Quaker - very nice. :)
All I know is
"Daniel Boone was a man....
Yes, a big man" lalalalala.
He didn't wear a coon skin hat, eh. Well that beats all!
I knew a great deal more about Daniel Boone than I now remember, but I do not remember being taught anything about his faith or his parents being Quaker. Interesting!
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