Quincy, WA celebrates America 250

06/16/2026

06/16/2026

06/12/2026

Earlier this week I posted that the Caesar Rodney statue was placed at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC along with 12 other Revolutionary War patriots. I said I would post about them also. Most are lesser known. Their commitment to fight for freedom is inspiring.

One of these 12 statues salute Samuel Whittemore. Born in 1696 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, at age 78, this patriot was still fighting for freedom!

This old soldier had fought in King George’s War in New England (1744–1748) which was part of the larger global conflict between the French and English. Samuel later served in the French and Indian War (1754-1763). It is believed that he acquired a prized sword from a dead French officer in King George’s War, and then two pistols from fallen enemy soldiers during the French and Indian War.

Samuel Whittemore had been involved in the Patriot cause as early as 1766, when he agitated against the much-hated Stamp Act. He also served on multiple colonial committees, including the Cambridge Committee of Correspondence.

So it is not surprising that on April 19, 1775, following the British assault on Lexington and Concord, the 78-year-old retired veteran grabbed the weapons he still had from his military service fighting the French and Indians, and attacked British troops on his own, killing and wounding several. With his ammunition out, the British turned and shot Whittemore point-blank in the face and bayoneted him 13 times, leaving him for dead. But Whittemore recovered and lived another 18 years, to age 96!

He went on to watch America win its Revolution against the British, and also lived through most of George Washington’s first term as United States President.

Samuel Whittemore’s actions remind us that many lesser known individuals risked everything for a cause greater than themselves. 🇺🇸

06/12/2026

“Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of. Our enemies are numerous and powerful; but we have many friends, determining to be free, and heaven and earth will aid the resolution. On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important question, on which rest the happiness and liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves.”
Dr. Joseph Warren spoke those words during his 1775 Boston Massacre Oration. Sadly, only months later, on Breed’s Hill during the Battle of Bunker Hill, Joseph Warren’s life was taken during the fight for freedom. According to British General Thomas Gage , his death was ‘worth the death of 500 men.’ So passionate was Warren’s dedication to the cause of liberty. 🇺🇸❤️
June 11, in 1741, Joseph Warren was born.

06/08/2026

Does anyone have plans to visit DC for the 250th?
If not for Caesar Rodney, we may not have had a Fourth of July!

Good News! The Caesar Rodney statue has been taken out of Delaware storage and placed at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC along with other statues saluting Revolutionary era patriots to celebrate America 250! 🇺🇸🎂

I will write about the subjects of those 12 statues soon! Today, I’ll post about Caesar Rodney.

It was almost midnight on July 1, 1776, when CAESAR RODNEY was informed that he was needed in Congress to break Delaware’s tied vote for independence. 47-year-old Caesar, who suffered ill-health, rode 80 miles on horseback to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Caesar, who served in the Continental Congress along with Thomas McKean and George Read from 1774 through 1776, was in Dover tending to Loyalist activity when he received word from Thomas McKean that he and Read were deadlocked on the vote for independence. To break the deadlock, Caesar Rodney would have to ride to Philadelphia without delay.

Caesar was asthmatic since childhood, was afflicted with facial cancer, and had been busy tamping down Loyalists that very day….yet he didn’t hesitate. He braved thunderstorms and fatigue and made the difficult journey to cast a vote that was an act of treason in the eyes of King George and Great Britain. Traitors would not be given a pass, and those who sought independence understood that.

Soon after the Declaration of Independence was written, it was signed by 56 men who pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor. Caesar Rodney was among them. He continued the fight for independence as a Brigadier General in the Delaware militia and a member of the colonial government.

He was chosen by the state legislature to be the President of the State of Delaware from 1778 until 1781. The office had been created soon after Delaware and the other Thirteen Colonies declared independence from Great Britain, and the state adopted its first state constitution.

After the war ended and the nation achieved the independence Caesar sacrificed for, he was elected to the State senate and accepted the speakership, but sadly Caesar Rodney’s poor health had progressed and he passed away the next year at the age of 55.

Caesar Rodney, the subject of one of the two statues from Delaware in the National Statuary Hall Collection, cast a crucial vote on July 2, 1776 that led to the writing of the Declaration of Independence!

Pictured is a statue of Caesar Rodney on the important ride. It was located in Wilmington, Delaware. (Sadly, the statue was removed from its pedestal in 2020 for safekeeping...it has finally been taken out of storage!) 🇺🇸

06/07/2026

Today marks the 250th anniversary of the “Lee Resolution”—the first formal step towards the Continental Congress declaring American independence.

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, a delegate from Virginia, presented a resolution to the Second Continental Congress that declared the thirteen American colonies “free and independent States.”

Lee’s resolution was tabled until July 2, when Congress voted to adopt it and declare independence from Britain. Two days later, on July 4, Congress approved the official document that declared independence. This text was printed for the first time that evening as a broadside and disseminated across the thirteen American states announcing the news of what had transpired—news that echoes 250 years later.

06/01/2026

This man, well-known for portraying George Washington, will be coming to Quincy Sept. 24-27 and participating in several events at the Museum! He is also available to speak to your classroom or organization on the 24th or 25th. Contact us at [email protected] if interested!