politics | mermaidcamp

Rehearsed

April 17, 2025 — 2 Comments

This moment is a reminder of history’s voice

The revolutions never vanish

The vandalism of apparent reality

Will release predictable results

Every action continues to have

An equal and opposite reaction

Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, Eighteenth Great-Grandfather

September 8, 2018 — 3 Comments

Humphrey married Margaret Beaufort, daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset and Eleanor Beauchamp. Her maternal grandparents were Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and his first wife, Elizabeth Beauchamp, 4th Baroness Lisle. She was also a first cousin to Anne Neville, 16th Countess of Warwick and through her cousin-by-marriage to Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, the so-called “Kingmaker” during the Wars of the Roses. Humphrey and Margaret had a single son Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (4 September 1455 – 2 November 1483).

Humphrey fought under his father-in-law in support of the House of Lancaster during the First Battle of St Albans. He appears to have been badly wounded at this battle but actually survived for a least another 2–3 years. This may account for his disappearance from the contemporary records of the time. In 1458 he died from the plague.

The First Battle of St Albans, fought on 22 May 1455 at St Albans, 22 miles (35 km) north of London, traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses. Richard, Duke of York and his ally, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, defeated the Lancastrians under Edmund, Duke of Somerset, who was killed. York also captured Henry VI, who appointed him Constable of England.

The Lancastrian army of 2,000 troops arrived at St Albans first, and proceeded to defend it by placing troops along the Tonman Ditch and at the bars in Sopwell Lane and Shropshire Lane. The 3,000-strong Yorkist army arrived and camped in Keyfield to the east. Lengthy negotiations ensued with heralds moving back and forth between the rival commanders. After several hours, Richard, despairing of a peaceful solution, decided to attack. The bulk of Henry’s forces were surprised by the speed of Richard’s attack; most of the army was expecting a peaceful resolution similar to the one at Blackheath in 1452. However, two frontal assaults down the narrow streets against the barricades made no headway and resulted in heavy casualties for the Yorkists.
Warwick took his reserve troops through an unguarded part of the town’s defences, through back lanes and gardens. Suddenly the Earl appeared in the Market Square where the main body of Henry’s troops were talking and resting. There is evidence they were not yet expecting to be involved in the fighting, as many were not even wearing their helmets. Warwick charged instantly with his force, routing the Lancastrians and killing the Duke of Somerset.
On the Earl’s orders, his archers then shot at the men around the King, killing several and injuring the King and the Duke of Buckingham. The Lancastrians manning the barricades realised the Yorkists had ouflanked them, and fearing an attack from behind abandoned their positions and fled the town.
The First Battle of St Albans was relatively minor in military terms, but politically was a complete victory for York and Warwick: York had captured the King and restored himself to complete power, while his rival Somerset and Warwick’s arch-enemies Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, and Lord de Clifford both fell during the rout.

Humphrey actually died of the plague, not of wounds after The Battle of St. Albans. He was apprently badly wounded there, but survived.

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His maternal grandparents were Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland. His maternal uncles included (among others) Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury (father ofWarwick, the Kingmaker), Robert Neville who was first Bishop of Salisbury and then Bishop of Durham, William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent and Edward Nevill, 3rd Baron Bergavenny. His most prominent maternal aunt was Cecily Neville, wife of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and mother to among others Edward IV of England, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and Richard III of England.

Lord Stafford fought under his father-in-law in support of the House of Lancaster during the First Battle of St Albans. He appears to have been badly wounded at this battle, but either eventually died of his wounds or from the plague, predeceasing his own father in 1458.

Stafford married Lady Margaret Beaufort, daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset and Lady Eleanor Beauchamp. Her maternal grandparents were Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and his first wife Elizabeth Berkeley. By her father, she was a niece of Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scots and a cousin to Lady Margaret Beaufort (mother of King Henry VII). By her mother, Lady Margaret was a niece of Anne de Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick and as such, a cousin to Isabel, Duchess of Clarence and queen consort Anne Neville.

Lord and Lady Stafford had a single son, Henry (4 September 1455 – 2 November 1483). Henry was styled Earl of Stafford on his father’s death, and succeeded his paternal grandfather as Duke of Buckingham in June 1473, following the latter’s death at the Battle of Northampton on 10 July 1460.

Rumors Of Wealth

July 25, 2018 — 1 Comment

fearless leader

The first hint of hidden treasure attracted the worst element
Stray con artists from everywhere gathered to make a kill
Rumors flowed like water, while jealously and dishonesty fought
Over the loyalty of pirates and thieves, all skilled at robbery
In truth there was nothing of value to steal, dig up, or find
The illusion of wealth had poisoned their collective mind

ghosts of thieves

Free The People

June 14, 2018 — 1 Comment

If we are not here to bargain, bully, and descend a long path
What kind of interior purpose can possibly be served by wrath?
Disconnected, left spinning in whirlwinds of violence and grief
This chaotic background story has stolen peace like a thief
Our time is corrupted, our spaces are polluted by flowing greed
Where can we look for the insight and harmony we all need?

Hans Michael Schmidt, Seventh Great-Grandfather

December 14, 2017 — 2 Comments

Spotswood Headrights

My seventh great-grandfather came to Virginia in 1717 with a group of Lutheran immigrants. Their unscrupulous ship captain not only landed at the wrong port, but sold them into indentured servitude. Captain Andrew Tarbett had spent the passage given him by the Germans, then took them to Virginia rather than their promised destination, Pennsylvania. He sold them to Lt.Governor Alexander Spotswood.

Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood’s lawsuits against his indentured servants. From 1723 through 1726, Spotswood claimed that several Germans had failed to carry out the terms of their “contract” with him. My ancestor was sued in 1924. He proved his importation in 1926 with his wife on the ship Scott. He patented land on June 24, 1926.

These emigrants left their villages in southern Germany (Baden and Württemberg) about 12 Jul 1717 enroute for Pennsylvania by way of London. Starvation took the lives of several of the passengers (probably 50 people perished, most of them children) who had been swindled by their captain who was retained in London. The ship held about 138 passengers and did not land in Pennsylvania but to Virginia where the passengers were sold as indentured servants to Governor Spotswood.

The base for this reconstructed list comes from:

Before Germanna by Gary J. Zimmerman and Johni Cerny
ÄThe Second Germanna Colony of 1717, Other Germanna Pioneers, the So-called Third Germanna Colony of 1719, and Late Comers to the Hebron Church Community” by B.C. Holtzclaw in The Germanna Record (1965) 6: 51-74.

Research by Zimmerman & Cerny has shown that several who were thought to have come to Virginia in 1719-1720 were actually more likely part of the 1717 group. The strongest evidence for this is the absence of any references to each of these families in Germany after 1716 and the fact that they would have left from others from the same town at that time.

Hans Michael Johann Schmidt Smith (1690 – 1761)
7th great-grandfather

John Felter Smith (1710 – 1793)
son of Hans Michael Johann Schmidt Smith

Johannes John SCHMIDT SMITH (1742 – 1814)
son of John Felter Smith

Henry Smith (1780 – 1859)
son of Johannes John SCHMIDT SMITH

Swain Smith (1805 – 1885)
son of Henry Smith

Jerimiah Smith (1845 – )
son of Swain Smith

Minnie M Smith (1872 – 1893)
daughter of Jerimiah Smith

Ernest Abner Morse (1890 – 1965)
son of Minnie M Smith

Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Ernest Abner Morse

Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse

Note: Hans is short for Johannes which is John in English
Below research provided courtesy of Tom Bowen:
“From “Before Germanna,” by Johni Cerni and Gary J. Zimmerman, No. 5,
January 1990, The Ancestry of the Sheible, Peck, Milker Smith and Holt Families:
“The Evangelical Lutheran minister [for Gemmingen, Baden] began a new set of parish registers in 1693, and the marriage entries of the Schmidt brothers are recorded therein:
married 21 January 1710 Hanns Michael Schmid, son of Michael Schmid, deceased, court official here, step-son of Alt [Old]
Hans Hecker, to Anna Margaretha, daughter of deceased Josoph Sauter, deceased courth official here.”

On 12 July 1717 the minister at Gemmingen listed in the parish death register the “parents, together with their children, [who] expect to move away from here, wanting to take ship to Pennsylvania, and there in the hardship of the wilderness better their piece of bread than they could here.” Included were:
Hans Michael Schmidt, age 28
wife Anna Margaretha, same age,
son Hans Michael, age 5 1/2
son Christopher, age 1/2
his in-laws.
Also listed was Matthäus Schmidt, age 25/30, wife Regina Catherina, same age, son Matthäus, age 3 1/2 and daughter Anna Margaretha, age 1/2.

They arrived in Virginia near Germanna in then Essex Co., now Culpeper Co., in late 1717 or early 1718 according to today’s calendar, being members of the so-called second Germanna Colony of 1717. The colony moved about 25 miles west to the Robinson River area of Spotsylvania Co. in 1725. This area became Orange Co. in 1734, Culpeper Co. in 1748, and Madison Co. in 1793.”

We have a copy of his will:

25 Feb. 1760, from Culpeper Co. Will Book A, p. 243:

In the name of God Amen, I John Michael Smith of the Parish of Brumfield in Culpeper County being old weak & helpless, but thanks be unto God of perfect Mind and Memory, & calling unto Mind the Mortality of my Body & knowing it is appointed for all men once to die, do make & ordain this my last will and Testament. That is to say principally & first of all I give & recommend my Soul into the Hands of Almighty God that gave it, & my Body I recommend to the Earth to be buried in decent Christian Burial nothing doubting that at the General Resurrection I shall receive the same again, by the mighty Power of God. and as touching such worldly Estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me in this Life, I do give demise & dispose of the same in the following manner & form, viz.
I do give bequeath & make over unto my dearly beloved only Son John Michael Smith Junior & his heirs forever all my Estate personal as well as real, that he may take the sole & full Possession of it, & all the Lands Goods & Chattels forever after my decease, reserving unto me only the Claim to my Estate as long as I live, & thereby I do revoke & disannull all Wills made before by me & I do acknowledge to be this my last Will & Testament never to be revoked

Signed Sealed & delivered Witness my Hand & Seal
in the presence of us
in the year of our Lord God Michael Schmid?
1760. 25th of February (signed in German)
Adam (AY) Jager,
Henry Ayler
At Court held for the County of Culpeper on Thursday the 19th day of February 1761 This last Will and Testament of John Michael Smith decd was exhibited to the Court by John Michael Smith his only son & heir and the Executor therein named and was proved by the oaths of Adam Yeager & Henry Aylor Witnesses thereto and ordered to be recorded and on the motion of the said Executor Certificate is granted him for obtaining a Probate thereof he giving Bond & Security according to Law and also took the oath of an Executor.

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#WritePhoto Tower Of Power

October 12, 2017 — 9 Comments

Tower Of Power

The Roman army built the arches, aqueducts, and city streets

Then conscripted the local constabulary, farmers and priests

They marched off to conquer and manage all humans and beasts

The emperor demanded tribute in service, and taxes paid in gold.

The able bodied were enslaved and abducted to serve the will of Rome

It is hard to say which one issue caused the empire to crumble and fall

Maybe that imperial power concentrated in one place was never real at all

The ruins of foundations laid down long ago are remnants from the past

Mighty political forces appear and disappear, never meant to last

#writephoto

This poem is in response to this week’s photo prompt on Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo. Join us each week to read, comment, or submit your own take on the photo. I think this poem is also inspired by today’s political climate.

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#WeekendCoffeeShare Harvest Time

September 17, 2017 — 3 Comments

reaping what you clone

If we were having coffee this weekend in Tucson I would still be pouring iced beverages for both of us. We finally have a bit of a cold front easing us into the fall season. We had a wacky weather year, and many of the plants are confused. One of my jasmines is blooming again, but my lemon tree dropped all the fruit. I am selling my most productive trees, grapefruit and calamondin, in the lot across the street. I am sure I can strike a deal to buy some of the citrus crop because there are way too many for one family to handle. The sale is taking place before real estate taxes are due, which is a fabulous financial bonus. The family buying it are interesting and cool. They seem like they will make great neighbors.

If we were having iced tea I would try to persuade you to take home a few books, or some art work. The emptying of the barn is taking place for real now. I have a month to do it, but hope to finish before schedule because I have a trip to Phoenix planned for October. I will attend my first cannabis conference and expo at the convention center up there. There are two days of speakers and trade show displays. Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico, will be the keynote speaker. I am sure I will learn a lot about the state of the industry.

Our outdoor crop is being harvested now at the grow. I think it is really fun to work outside for a while. I get tired of the fluorescent lighting indoors. It is nice to have fresh air and natural light for a change. We have a shade cover to protect our skin. The flowers are big and tight, so the growers can take pride in the final product. It is a happy time for all participants. The harvest will continue for months, I think. Perhaps the best news about work is that a tortilla company has bought the building next door to ours. They will set up a tortilla factory there. We will soon be the best smelling neighborhood in the world.

Please allow me to pour you another glass of iced tea while you tell me how your writing is going. I have little to say about my own. My excuse for low levels of production is that I have to focus on the barn cleaning before all else. I have done it for a couple of hours today, and will return to the task later this afternoon. I believe when it is all finished my muse will be happy and inspired to create. I have been listening to books on audible more than writing anything myself. Are you feeling inspired lately?

The linky is down in New Orleans this week. Our hostess Diana at PartTimeMonster graciously holds the party when her internet is working. Use the hashtag #WeekendCoffeeShare on twitter to find the action this week.

#WeekendCoffeeShare Real Estate Contract

September 10, 2017 — 3 Comments

minimalism and joy

If we were having coffee this weekend in Tucson I would invite you to relax with some iced tea and chocolate covered dates stuffed with walnuts. I scored yet another 20 pound box of Medjool dates at my produce pick up this morning. I have been giving dates away for weeks, and now I have about 30 pounds. They are perfect for winter, and will last a long time. I am looking for new date recipes. Sit down and tell me how your week has been. I hope all of those who have been hit by the storms are safe and dry. Our national recovery will take a long time. My heart goes out to those who have been displaced.

The week went quickly for me, with not much writing. I worked last weekend to make up for the day had to miss for grand jury. I was excused. The people who manage the process, from the registration staff, to the bailiff who guides you and tracks you by your badge number, to the judge, are all extremely professional. The judge was very clear in all his explanations, and the entire mega situation, with people reporting all day long, is handled super efficiently. We all had bar codes to track us, which I suppose enables a smooth and accurate accounting of all that happens. I was impressed with this little corner of government function. It works really well for all involved.

I am extremely glad not to have to dedicate 2 days a week to the court until the middle December. This morning I got the good news that I have an offer on the lot I have for sale across the street from my home. I accepted the offer and now have until October 19th to clear out my possessions from the lot and the barn. I had begun the job, but now there is a solid deadline to finish organizing and decluttering. I hoped to sell it before I had to pay taxes on it again, and it looks like I will meet that goal. I can’t wait to be finished downsizing. It is liberating to jettison unneeded stuff.

I wrote a short piece of fiction this week that was related to getting rid of family heirlooms. I am sure this came from my effort to relieve myself of the silly burden of files and papers from my dead parents finances, etc. This is the theme in my life at the moment. Marie Kondo has worked her magic into my very soul. I believe that tidiness is true happiness. I am out to prove it. By 19 October I will be a much lighter being. I think it will inspire my writing to be free. Stay tuned, and we shall see. This deadline is the best gift for me now.

#WeekendCoffeeShare

Thanks for stopping by for a chat today. This moveable feast and digital coffee klatch is hosted each weekend by Diana at PartTimeMonster. Please join us to read, comment, or write your own coffee share post about what is happening in your life and writing.

Say It In Latin, Ignorantia Juris Non Excusat

September 8, 2017 — 1 Comment

ignorance pyramid

Ignorance

The concept that ignorance of the law is not a valid excuse for breaking it, Ignorantia Juris Non Excusat, has been in use for centuries. This maxim is enforced everywhere. It means that everyone in a specific jurisdiction has a responsibility to be aware of all the laws that govern that place. If you live in a city this means all the city ordinances, the county ordinances, as well as the state and federal laws that apply to everyone. Obviously there are some obscure laws that are not known by everyone, but if you plan to do something that might violate the law, do seek some professional help to determine the legality of your plans. Today almost everything can be found on the internet by searching, so it is worth the time to check to know for sure that you are not in violation of the law before you proceed.

Where I live we have crime problems partly because the citizens know little of their legal rights , and also because the city officials, not just the police, reflect an amazing ignorance of the law coupled with strong willful blindness to all crime. Reporting the same crimes for years while being told there are no laws that can be used to stop the crimes where you live is a frustrating experience. You may live in an area like this where your right to protection under the law is subject to the ignorance of local law enforcement agencies. This is a dangerous and creepy situation. I plan to continue to report the crimes we continue to experience as a direct result of government ignorance of the law. It is an ironic position, but I firmly believe that if the government commits crimes it should at least become aware of the laws they have broken. What applies to the rest of us applies to those who spend our tax dollars.

Without this basic concept anyone can claim they have no knowledge of the law any time they commit a felony or violate civil law. Unless we apply this concept equally to government and the governed, we make a complete mockery of the law.

#SelfCareSunday Soft Focus

August 20, 2017 — 3 Comments

shadow boundary

boundary

Lines are bring drawn everywhere. Politics have seeped into the most mundane parts of our lives. We all need a break, a retreat from the news without dropping out of our responsibilities. Many feel the fatigue of caring for others, either financially or literally. To keep the well of wellbeing primed each of us needs to take care of our own needs before deciding what others might need. I believe in taking a step back, looking at things from a safe distance, and with a very soft focus. What do I mean by soft focus?

Find simple ways to express gratitude to your family, friends and coworkers
Make daily habit patterns revolve around healthy habits like meditation and exercise
Take control of the time you spend on line or texting for social purposes
Reclaim a portion (no matter how small) of your paycheck to save for a worthy goal, personal or community oriented
Analyse your own happiness quotient-how much you bring to the table, and how much you rely on others for emotional juice
Walk away from fruitless arguments you recognize that you have had in the past

It is very tempting to jump into all the arguments available to us at all hours on social media. This too shall pass. Maintain balance by taking your centering practices much more seriously than the outrage of the moment. Don’t consume the toxic Kool Aid. It is spiked, altered, unhealthy.

both

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