Genealogy combines a trait and a passion - a deep and abiding curiosity about history and a character trait (flaw) in which I have a near obsessive desire to complete tasks. At the beach, when we work puzzles together as a family, I long ago was banished to mere spectator owing to not being able to go to bed without having completed the puzzle. So ancestry.com represents both a challenge and an opportunity. A challenge to rein in my obsession to track down all details but an opportunity to see history from a different angle or perspective.
I am still at the level of playing around with it, finding out what it can do and what I can do with it.
As an exercise, I have picked an individual, Holcomb Bibb Latting, my grandfather, 1890-1945, to study in depth, exploring the data I can find on ancestry.com about him as well as finding what can be discovered online. We are digitizing fast but he lived a century ago, in a small town in a territory not yet a state, and died at a relatively young age of 55. Street names have changed, people moved, companies merged, etc. What trace is left behind that can be found on the internet?
Straight googling (or duckduckgoing or binging) doesn't produce much. I try a variety of combinations of names, dates, locations, his employer, where he studied, etc. As is often the case, it is odd combinations that end up unlocking treasure troves. In this case, an archive of the Chickasha Daily Express maintained by the Library of Congress. My great-grandfather Richard Gano Latting (R.G. Latting) moved with his family (including his son, my grandfather, HB Latting) to Purcell, Indian Territory in 1897 and then a few years later to Chickasha and it was in Chickasha that my grandfather was raised.
My grandfather died nearly fifteen years before my birth so all I have of him are stories from those who loved him.
It would be nice to know more. And what better source than a small town newspaper with a local focus?
The first article I run across is from Saturday, January 30, 1904, when my grandfather was 14.
A Good MeetingWording, punctuation, spelling and all; what an evocation of a different place and time.
Patrons and Teachers Meeting a Success — Fine Program.
The second of the series of Patrons and Teachers Meetings, arranged by Supt. Cook, was held at the Methodist church last evening. It was a most pleasant affair socially and the program was an unusually interesting one.
"The Hunter's Chorus," sung by the high school pupils, was the opening number of the program, after which Rev. Leonard offered prayer, Holcome [sp.] Latting recited "The Unknown Speaker. The young man showed no little of the powers of the orator and held the closest attention of his hearers.
And who is this Unknown Speaker? The reporter alludes to it as if it is common knowledge and perhaps it was a standard rhetorical piece of the time.
From The Speech of the Unknown
The following is taken from Washington and His Generals: or, Legends of the Revolution by George Lippard, published in 1847. The signers of the Declaration of Independence sat in Independence Hall at Philadelphia, contemplating losing their heads or being hanged. Their courage wavered. The document sat there unsigned. An extraordinary catalyst was needed to move them to action. An unknown man rose and gave an electrifying speech. He disappeared soon after.It all sounds wonderfully apocryphal but I will investigate at a later time. Never-the-less, apparently this speech was commonly known as a set piece for declamation back in the days of my grandfather's youth. And my grandfather, at fourteen, recited it one evening in midwinter in a Methodist church in Chickasha, Oklahoma in 1904.
By signing the Declaration, all were guilty of high treason under British law. The penalty for high treason was to be hanged by the neck until unconscious, then cut down and revived, then disemboweled and cut into quarters. The head and quarters were at the disposal of the crown.
No wonder they wavered! No wonder they discussed back and forth for days on end before signing the document that carried so grave a penalty. An old legend dramatizes the story of the one who galvanized the delegates and gave them the courage to sign that document.
But still there is doubt–and that pale-faced man, shrinking in one corner, squeaks out something about axes, scaffolds, and a–gibbet!
"Gibbet!" echoes a fierce, bold voice, that startles men from their seats–and look yonder! A tall slender man rises, dressed–although it is summer time–in a dark robe. Look how his white hand undulates as it is stretched slowly out, how that dark eye burns, while his words ring through the hall. (We do not know his name, let us therefore call his appeal)
THE SPEECH OF THE UNKNOWN.
"Gibbet? They may stretch our necks on all the gibbets in the land–they may turn every rock into a scaffold–every tree into a gallows, every home into a grave, and yet the words on that Parchment can never die!
"They may pour our blood on a thousand scaffolds, and yet from every drop that dyes the axe, or drips on the sawdust of the block, a new martyr to Freedom will spring into birth!
"The British King may blot out the Stars of God from His sky, but he cannot blot out His words written on the Parchment there! The works of God may perish–His Word, never!
"These words will go forth to the world when our bones are dust. To the slave in the mines they will speak–hope–to the mechanic in his workshop–freedom–to the coward-kings these words will speak, but not in tones of flattery. No, no! They will speak like the flaming syllables on Belshazzar's wall–
THE DAYS OF YOUR PRIDE AND GLORY ARE NUMBERED!
THE DAYS OF JUDGMENT AND REVOLUTION DRAW NEAR!
"Yes, that Parchment will speak to the Kings in a language sad and terrible as the trump of the Archangel. You have trampled on mankind long enough. At last the voice of human woe has pierced the ear of God, and called His Judgment down! You have waded on to thrones over seas of blood–you have trampled on to power over the necks of millions–you have turned the poor man's sweat and blood into robes for your delicate forms, into crowns for your anointed brows. Now Kings–now purpled Hangmen of the world–for you come the days of axes and gibbets and scaffolds–for you the wrath of man–for you the lightnings of God!–
"Look! How the light of your palaces on fire flashes up into the midnight sky!
"Now Purpled Hangmen of the world–turn and beg for mercy!
"Where will you find it?
"Not from God, for you have blasphemed His laws!
"Not from the People, for you stand baptized in their blood!
"Here you turn, and lo! a gibbet!
"There–and a scaffold looks you in the face.
"All around you–death–and nowhere pity!
"Now executioners of the human race, kneel down, yes, kneel down upon the sawdust of the scaffold–lay your perfumed heads upon the block–bless the axe as it falls–the axe that you sharpened for the poor man's neck!
"Such is the message of that Declaration to Man, to the Kings of the world! And shall we falter now? And shall we start back appalled when our feet press the very threshold of Freedom? Do I see quailing faces around me, when our wives have been butchered–when the hearthstones of our land are red with the blood of little children?
"What are these shrinking hearts and faltering voices here, when the very Dead of our battlefields arise, and call upon us to sign that Parchment, or be accursed forever?
"Sign! if the next moment the gibbet's rope is round your neck! Sign! if the next moment this hall rings with the echo of the falling axe! Sign! By all your hopes in life or death, as husbands–as fathers–as men–sign your names to the Parchment or be accursed forever!
"Sign–and not only for yourselves, but for all ages. For that Parchment will be the Text-book of Freedom–the Bible of the Rights of Man forever!
"Sign–for that declaration will go forth to American hearts forever, and speak to those hearts like the voice of God! And its work will not be done, until throughout this wide Continent not a single inch of ground owns the sway of a British King!
"Nay, do not start and whisper with surprise! It is a truth, your own hearts witness it, God proclaims it.–This Continent is the property of a free people, and their property alone. [17-second applause] God, I say, proclaims it!
"Look at this strange history of a band of exiles and outcasts, suddenly transformed into a people–look at this wonderful Exodus of the oppressed of the Old World into the New, where they came, weak in arms but mighty in Godlike faith–nay, look at this history of your Bunker Hill–your Lexington–where a band of plain farmers mocked and trampled down the panoply of British arms, and then tell me, if you can, that God has not given America to the free?
[12-second applause]
"It is not given to our poor human intellect to climb the skies, to pierce the councils of the Almighty One. But methinks I stand among the awful clouds which veil the brightness of Jehovah's throne. Methinks I see the Recording Angel–pale as an angel is pale, weeping as an angel can weep–come trembling up to that Throne, and speak his dread message–
"`Father! the old world is baptized in blood! Father, it is drenched with the blood of millions, butchered in war, in persecution, in slow and grinding oppression! Father–look, with one glance of Thine Eternal eye, look over Europe, Asia, Africa, and behold evermore, that terrible sight, man trodden down beneath the oppressor's feet–nations lost in blood–Murder and Superstition walking hand in hand over the graves of their victims, and not a single voice to whisper, "Hope to Man!"'
"He stands there, the Angel, his hands trembling with the black record of human guilt. But hark! The voice of Jehovah speaks out from the awful cloud–`Let there be light again. Let there be a New World. Tell my people–the poor–the trodden down millions, to go out from the Old World. Tell them to go out from wrong, oppression and blood–tell them to go out from this Old World–to build my altar in the New!'
[11-second applause]
"As God lives, my friends, I believe that to be his voice! Yes, were my soul trembling on the wing for Eternity, were this hand freezing in death, were this voice choking with the last struggle, I would still, with the last impulse of that soul, with the last wave of that hand, with the last gasp of that voice, implore you to remember this truth–God has given America to the free!
[13-second applause]
"Yes, as I sank down into the gloomy shadows of the grave, with my last gasp, I would beg you to sign that Parchment, in the name of the God, who made the Saviour who redeemed you–in the name of the millions whose very breath is now hushed in intense expectation, as they look up to you for the awful words–`You are free!'"
[9-second applause]
O many years have gone since that hour–the Speaker, his brethren, all, have crumbled into dust, but it would require an angel's pen to picture the magic of that Speaker's look, the deep, terrible emphasis of his voice, the prophet-like beckoning of his hand, the magnetic flame which shooting from his eyes, soon fired every heart throughout the hall!
Woof.
But there is more. The reporting continues.
Miss Lily Brooks gave a vocal solo. She has a clear, sweet voice and always charms an audience. Miss Brooks responded to an encore.L.G. Latting? Who he? in the words of the immortal Harold Ross. I am guessing it is a typo for my great-grandfather, R.G. Latting. But where is this headed? When you open the closed doors of history, you might not necessarily like what you find. Everyone wants kings and statesmen but there are many more knaves and rascals. We are so exquisite in our refinements today; what will we hear from the past? In the event, nothing too shocking in this instance.
Miss Ella Tuggle recited "A Telephone Conversation" which was highly entertaining. Mr. L. G. Latting was on the program for a short address.
Mr. Latting, in his opening remarks, stated that, as one who had been educated in the public schools, from the primary to the state university, he naturally took a deep interest in the cause of public education.
The first proposition which he discussed was "There is no conflict between the public schools and the church schools when each keeps within its proper sphere." It was not the first and highest mission of the church to educate. It was true that, since the reformation, it has been the mission of the church to "carry the sword of the spirit in one hand and the torch of knowledge in the other," but the great mission of the church was to preach the gospel, with the Bible as its text-book.Whew. No Inherit the Wind or Scopes Monkey Trial (1925) drama here. The good Methodists and Presbyterians of Chickasha, Oklahoma were way ahead of Tennesseans 21 years later. Science and Religion are two proper domains entirely compatible with one another; a position we still hold today.
The church should maintain its theological schools and its colleges, but the great mass of the people must be educated in the public schools. Mr. Latting did not favor the use of the Bible as a text-book in the public schools but saw no impropriety in its being used as it is in our legislative bodies and similar gatherings.
The speaker's second proposition was that "taxation by the state for public schools is just and equitable." Taxes must levied upon all alike and all must be educated. Speaking of the education of the negroes in our southern states, the speaker expressed the opinion that while the efforts to educate the negro have elevated him to some extent, they cannot raise him to a high state of culture. Nevertheless, since he had been made a citizen, it was just and necessary to educate the negro. An enlightened people was necessary for maintaining a strong government. If republican government was endure, the masses must be educated. Mr. Latting's address was very favorably received. It contained many wholesome truths that were helpful to the cause for which he spoke. The program was closed with a chorus by the high school. Another meeting will be held before the close of school.None of us can take credit or pride in the accomplishments of others nor do we bear any burden for the past. You can only be responsible and accountable for your own actions. While that is certainly true, you cannot help but hope that one's predecessors were noble men and women with moral and ethical positions.
The language and observations of R.G. Latting, as reported, are perhaps marginally disconcerting but the principles are as fresh today as ever: Regardless of race, all Americans are citizens. All citizens are entitled to education. It is right to use public moneys for education because a republic depends on educated citizens.
What a delight to know that the ideals of the Enlightenment and the Founding Fathers were so well supported by my great-grandfather and so well received by the good people of 1904 Chickasha, Oklahoma, that late Friday winter evening.
I think I am going to like this journey of genealogical discovery. I am touched by that mental picture of 14 year-old grandfather HB Latting declaiming The Unknown Speaker that long time ago and so lost to recollection until resurrected through the near-magic of the internet.
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