Usually on my birthday, I
celebrate myself. Then I thought –
perhaps I should celebrate somebody who was born on the same day – so long as
they had a Toobworld presence. First who
came to mind was Nathan Hale. (‘The Young Rebels’ was one incarnation of the
Revolutionary War hero.) But then, back
in December, I discovered an historical personage with whom I could run one of
my “Crossing Zone” posts.
Only thing was, he died on a June 6th……
From Wikipedia:
Patrick
Henry (May 29, 1736 – June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, and
orator well known for his declaration to the Second Virginia Convention (1775):
"Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as
the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia, from 1776 to 1779 and
from 1784 to 1786.
Henry was born in Hanover County, Virginia, and was for the
most part educated at home. After an unsuccessful venture running a store, and
assisting his father-in-law at Hanover Tavern, Henry became a lawyer through
self-study. Beginning his practice in 1760, he soon became prominent though his
victory in the Parson's Cause against the Anglican clergy. Henry was elected to
the Virginia House of Burgesses, where he quickly became notable for his
inflammatory rhetoric against the Stamp Act of 1765.
In 1774 and 1775, Henry served as a delegate to the First and
Second Continental Congresses, but did not prove particularly influential. He
gained further popularity among the people of Virginia, both through his
oratory at the convention and by marching troops towards the colonial capital
of Williamsburg after the Gunpowder Incident until the munitions seized by the
royal government were paid for. Henry urged independence, and when the Fifth
Virginia Convention endorsed this in 1776, served on the committee charged with
drafting the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the original Virginia Constitution.
Henry was promptly elected governor under the new charter, and served a total
of five one-year terms.
After leaving the governorship in 1779, Henry served in the
Virginia House of Delegates until he began his last two terms as governor in
1784. The actions of the national government under the Articles of
Confederation made Henry fear a strong federal government and he declined
appointment as a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention. He actively
opposed the ratification of the Constitution, a fight which has marred his
historical image. He returned to the practice of law in his final years,
declining several offices under the federal government. A slaveholder
throughout his adult life, he hoped to see the institution end, but had no plan
for that beyond ending the importation of slaves. Henry is remembered for his
oratory, and as an enthusiastic promoter of the fight for independence.
‘DANIEL BOONE’
“LOVE AND EQUITY”
At the end of the episode, Patrick Henry showed up at the fort to hand out
flyers which promoted his candidacy for Congress. (In the real world, Henry was a citizen of
the commonwealth of Virginia but maybe in Toobworld that included “Kaintucky”
for a time.)
So how am I making this a connection to ‘The Twilight Zone’?
Here’s a little fact about Patrick Henry from one of his biographers:
As historian Richard Beeman put it, Henry was a man who "did not bother to
write much of anything down", a handicap when being evaluated by
history.[178] The lack of primary source materials regarding Henry—only a
handful of papers and a few of his speeches survive—has frustrated Henry's
biographers from Wirt (1817) to Beeman (1974): Wirt commented two years before publishing
his book, "It is all speaking, speaking, speaking. 'Tis true he could
talk—Gods! how he could talk! but ... to make the matter worse, from 1763 to
1789 ... not one of his speeches lives in print, writing or memory".(Wikipedia)
Patrick Henry was portrayed by Liam Sullivan, who played another TV character
known for his excessive talking…..
‘THE TWILIGHT ZONE’
“THE SILENCE”
From the IMDb:
Annoyed
by a club member's constant chatter, a man bets him he cannot remain silent for
a year, living in a glass enclosure in the club basement.
Jamie Tennyson is an overly talkative member of a private
men's club. He is challenged by fellow member Col. Archie Taylor to keep his mouth
shut for one year. Should he do so, he would win $500,000. Taylor dislikes
Tennyson and if nothing else, finds this a way to get a bit of peace and quiet
at the club. Tennyson will live in a room in the club, under observation and
will communicate in writing only. As the months go by, Taylor begins to worry
that Tennyson may just succeed. He can't believe Tennyson's will but neither
party proves to be completely honorable.
Written by garykmcd
I’m thinking we have a case of two Toobworld conventions in play here: “Born To
Rerun” (reincarnation) and a Theory of “Relateeveety” (family trees and the
like).
We’ve seen fictional TV characters being related to real people, either League
of Themselves celebrities or historical portrayals. He may not have started out as a TV
character, but Sherlock Holmes is a good example of a historical theory of
relateeveety. He claimed to be related
to the painter Vernet. So I’m going to add Jamie Tennyson to the
mix, having him be descended from Patrick Henry.
But telegenetics wouldn’t be a reason for Tennyson to be as chatty as Patrick
Henry. I don’t think it’s in our
DNA. But then there is the “Born To
Rerun” theory, in which the soul of one TV character could be reborn as
another, years later. And that would
include historical figures. My favorite
of these theories would be the Emperor Claudius who was reborn as a Chicago
psychologist named Dr. Robert Hartley.
So not only was Jamie Tennyson descended from Patrick Henry (in Toobworld, of
course), but he was also the soul of the patriot reborn.
And that’s my tip of the hat to a man who died 220 years ago today.
Happy birthday to me!
