It’s amazing the way our words and legacy can get carried.
Last week, Troy Moore of the Stephenville Cattle Company came into the office with a Bible. No, he didn’t tell me I needed to read it and change my wicked ways.
The Bible was picked up as part of the estate sale of lifelong dentist, community leader and friend to many, Harlan Raley.
Upon opening the Good Book, Moore found some folded pieces of paper. One of them was a clipping by columnist Ann Landers with the title, “Price high for fathers of freedom.”
A reader of Landers’ had sent her a column about things that had happened to the signers of the Declaration of Independence both before and after July 4, 1776.
The column has gained some traction in the years since as ‘The Price They Paid,’ an essay shared through emails and social media in the early 2000’s.
As I was researching it to see if I could find an author, I found that there is not a definitive writer with publication traced back to at least 1956 with Paul Harvey, Rush Limbaugh Jr. and T.R. Fehrenbach all publishing some form of the work.
I also found that outlets such as Snopes and USA Today had published pages indicating that while almost all of the things indicated had happened (including the imprisonment of five signers and the houses of 12 being ransacked), few of the incidents could be traced to their signature on the groundbreaking document.
Most of the events did happen though. The outlets clarifying the histories took a lot of umbrage with the way the column was worded and there is always value in truth. However, they seemed to glance over the most important piece of the column found in its closing.
The online version simply said: “Remember: freedom is never free! We thank these early patriots, as well as those patriots now fighting to KEEP our freedom!... It’s time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more MEANING to it than beer, fireworks, hot dogs, and picnics.”
The words at the end of the Landers submission are a bit more profound in my opinion.
“These were not wild-eyed, rabble rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight and unwavering, they pledged ‘ for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of the divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.’
“They gave us a free and independent America. The history books never tell us much of what happened in the Revolutionary War. We were British subjects at that time, and we fought against our own government. Too often, we now take these liberties for granted.”
Regardless of what happened after the document was signed, the Founding Fathers were at risk of losing everything they had because of the strength of their conviction. Still they signed their names, letting all know their beliefs, both those who would see it a rallying cry and those who would see it as an act of treason.
It left a lasting effect and is remembered in the holiday we celebrate this Friday and messages, some by anonymous authors which resurface every so often, whether online or tucked away by a friend and neighbor who prized it enough to keep it in the pages of his Bible.
Happy Independence Day!
— Paul Gaudette is the Managing Editor of The Dublin Citizen and can be reached via email at publisher@dublincitizen.com.