Category: Pinch of the Past

Enlightens and fascinates listeners with interesting historical facts, stories, recipes, quotes, and more.

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Prolific Hymn Writers

I love music–I grew up on good hymns and still enjoy them–so I thought it would be fun to look at a few prolific hymn writers in the past.

Martin Luther, known for his Ninety-Five Theses that started the Reformation, was also the author of over 40 hymns. He published his first hymnal in 1524; it contained 8 hymns, 4 written by Luther. He was passionate about congregational singing in the common language, believing it to be an important part of worship.

In his typical fiery style, he wrote this about music: “Next to the word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our hearts, minds and spirits. A person who does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs!

Here is a verse from his hymn, “A Mighty Fortress.”

“And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.

The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.”

Isaac Watts, born in 1674, authored some 750 hymns in his lifetime. Known as “The Godfather of English Hymnody,” he began making rhymes as a very small child. As a teen, he wrote hymns for his local church, which outsiders sometimes criticized for being too simple.

In addition to writing original hymns all his life, he was a pastor, theologian, and logician. He also versified some of the Psalms and set them to music. His works were published during his lifetime in the hymnbook, Watts Psalms and Hymns.

There’s a fascinating story about that hymnal. During the American Revolution in 1780, some of the British Hessian forces were turned back at the small village of Springfield. In the fighting, the wife of Reverend James Caldwell was shot in her home. It’s not known if this was intentional, as Reverend Caldwell did have a price on his head at the time. At any rate, the townspeople were infuriated, and when the British returned two weeks later, they met fierce resistance. At the height of the fighting, the Patriots took refuge behind a fence adjacent to Caldwell’s church. They had run out of the paper wadding needed to load their muskets. Reverend Caldwell gathered up copies of Watts Psalms and Hymns, ran out to the soldiers, and tore the pages from the books. He passed out the papers saying, “Put Watts into ‘em, boys! Give ‘em Watts!”

A quote from Isaac Watts’ lovely hymn, “I Sing the Mighty Power of God.”

“I sing the mighty power of God that made the mountains rise,

That spread the flowing seas abroad and built the lofty skies.

I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;

The moon shines forth at His command, and all the stars obey.”

Fanny Crosby, born in 1820, wrote almost 9000 hymns. She published under many pen names (possibly as many as two hundred), partly because her publishers didn’t want people to know how many of her hymns they included in their collections. 

Fanny never had an entire volume devoted to her hymns. She and her husband Alexander van Alstyne submitted a volume, but the publishers rejected it saying they didn’t think only two contributors made for a marketable hymnbook. Some think the complexity of the melodies was the true deterrent. 

In addition to the hymn writing she is so well-known for, Fanny also taught at the New York Institute for the Blind, lobbied for government support of education for the blind, and wrote many patriotic songs.

From her hymn, “All the Way My Savior Leads Me”:

“All the way my Savior leads me–what have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who through life has been my guide?

Heavenly peace, divinest comfort, here by faith in Him to dwell!

For I know, whate’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.”

I hope you have enjoyed this peek at the lives of three hymn writers of the past. I find some of these old hymns so encouraging. Below are our favorites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au3otElq6D4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3ofkPLroRA

Darcy’s favorites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g26dbNJYJI&t=28shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3w9nvXuVnk

KyLee’s favorites

Do you have a favorite hymn?

What makes this hymn special to you?

This Pinch was originally shared in episode 16.

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School, Apples, and Teachers

Why Apples?

 

Education in Early America.

  • The first public school in America was established on April 23, 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts and was known as the Boston Latin School.
  • Important people who attended were John Hancock and Samuel Adams.
  • Benjamin Franklin also attended, but dropped out!

Maria Montessori

  • Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870, Maria Montessori was exceptional from the beginning. She was the only female attendee of an all-boys school. Maria was one of Italy’s first female doctors, and became interested in education, and in 1907. She opened a child care center in  in Rome where she put her her educational theories into practice.
  • “Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.”

Laura-Ingalls-Wilder

On the Frontier

  • Laura Ingalls Wilder the author of Little House on the Prairie author (1867–1957) was a teacher. She taught in a one-room schoolhouse which was 12 miles away from the town she lived in in South Dakota.
  • “The only stupid thing about words is the spelling of them.”

1200px-Einstein_1921_by_F_Schmutzer_-_restoration

Take it from a genius…

So there you have it, a short look at a few teachers in history. Here is one final quote from a teacher, Albert Einstein. “Imagination is everything.” and as a writer and reader, I heartily agree. 

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Cinderella

  • Can be dated back to the Greek culture of  sixth century BC. 
  • There is also a Chinese version of the story includes a ninth-century fairy tale in which a young woman is granted a wish from magic fish bones which she then uses to make a gown. 
  • There are more than 500 versions of the Cinderella story in Europe alone. 
  • A 17th-century Italian version introduced the wicked stepmother and stepsisters. 
  • Sixty years later a French writer named Charles Perault cast the form that Cinderella would take for the next 400 years. He introduced the glass slipper, the pumpkin, and the fairy godmother. This is the version Disney later adapted into its animated classic. 
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Pinch of the Past – A Taste of 1900 Seattle

When I told Darcy I was researching for the Pinch of the Past and kept getting lost down rabbit holes, she suggested I pull from one of my stories. I’m preparing to pitch my manuscripts at the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference this year, so I dove in to my notes. Here are a few things I found about Seattle Washington in 1900. One of Seattle’s Hospitals resided within a steamboat.
Entrance to Wayside Mission Hospital housed on the steamboat IDAHO, Seattle, circa 1900. Photo: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections UW6573.
At the turn of the century few of Seattle’s destitute and homeless had proper medical care available to them, but on April 1, 1899 a group of Seattle citizens pitched together to open a hospital to help the downtrodden of Seattle. They purchased the de-commissioned side-wheel steamboat Idaho and placed it on pilings beside the Pacific Coast Steamship Co.’s, Pier C, right at the foot of Jackson St. and with the help of Doctor Alexander De Soto, was opened as the Ways Side Mission Hospital. Because it was on the port, it was easily accessible to seafarers, brothels, saloons, and poverty-stricken neighborhoods.
Entrance to Wayside Mission Hospital housed on the steamboat IDAHO, Seattle, circa 1900. Photo: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections UW6573.
Seven years after opening, the Wayside Mission Hospital was moved ashore due to structural failure; however, it remained open another two years, finally closing when the city opened a 41-bed emergency hospital in the Public Safety Building. The Odaho sat abandoned for years. During the reconstruction of the sea wall along Seattle’s south waterfront, sometime between 1910 and 1920, it was moved and buried as fill. In 1960 on National Maritime Day, a historical marker was erected at the Idaho’s resting place near the foot of Washington St.
Entrance to Wayside Mission Hospital housed on the steamboat IDAHO, Seattle, circa 1900. Photo: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections UW4662
The Marker reads: “BENEATH YOUR FEET LIES THE WRECKAGE OF THE PIONEER SIDEWHEEL STEAMER “IDAHO”, WHICH SERVED FROM 1900 UNTIL 1909 AS DR. ALEXANDER DE SOTO’S FAMOUS WAYSIDE MISSION HOSPITAL. HERE DR. DE SOTO MINISTERED TO THE NEEDS OF SEAFARERS AND THE DESTITUTE, DONATING HIS TIME AND FUNDS TO THEIR CARE.”
Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org.
cohost ~ editor ~ producer ~ reviewer
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Occupations of the 1800s

Today’s Pinch of the Past features a few occupations of the 1800s including preachers, night watchman, and street vendor calls.

Circuit Rider

Source: Riley Case, “An Aggressive Warfare: Eli Farmer and Methodist Revivalism in Early Indiana,” IMH 104 (March 2008).

  • definition: A preacher who traveled from church to church in a given district, usually serving a very small population. Also, a judge who traveled and served the populations.
  • Important dates
    • An 1838 account describes one circuit rider thus, “A little, portly man in linsey-woolsey and a board-brimmed hat, saluted me, and announced himself a Baptist Circuit rider.” from E. Fagg, the Far West. p. 60
    • 1850 — “I have to do like all the other preachers, especially the Methodist circuit riders–eat chickens… These same circuit-riders undergo more toil and privation for less pay than the ministers of any other denominations.” James Weir, Lonz Powers.

 

Hog Reever

Image of a hog, from “Diseases of Swine,” 1914, by Charles F. Lynch, pg. 23

  • One appointed to round up troublesome or stray hogs from city streets. Even as late as the 1860s, well-mannered pigs were allowed to roam city streets and parks to eat the garbage left there. they sometimes numbered in the hundreds, and even New York Broadway was frequented by them. However, the city’s poor often killed these freewheeling dinners and ate them. 

Lamp Lighter

  • Obviously, someone who lights the street lamps at dusk and extinguished them at dawn. There were a variety of lamps used throughout the century, such as candles, whale oil, kerosene, and gas lamps. Sometimes called a gasman, the lamplighter doubled as a night watchman or police.
    • I love the imagery in this quote. “The narrow and gloomy passage slightly illuminated by one or two jets of light, which Tom the Gasman … had a few moments before lighted. “Masserr, Drifting About. pg. 50.

Street Vendors Cries

ca. 1900, Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York, New York, USA — Pretzel vendor and boys. Lower East Side, New York City. — Image by © Photo Collection Alexander Alland, Sr./CORBIS
  • In 1850 charcoal was sold for 35 cents a barrel. Vendor would call, “Charcoal by the bustle. Charcoal by the peck. Charcoal by the frying pan or any way you lek.” 
  • Pepper-pots, which appear to be a type of stew, was sold off the back of carts. the vendor was known to cry, “Pepper-pot. right-hot.” or “All Hot. All hot. Makee back strong. Makee live long. come buy my pepper pot.”
  • FAV. the cry to sell sweet potatoes. “My hoss is blind and he’s got no tail, when he’s put in prison, I’ll go his bail. Yeddy go, sweet potato, oh! Fif-en-ny bit a half peck. 

Reference

McCutcheon, M. (1993). The writer’s guide to everyday life in the 1800s: For writers of historical fiction, westerns, romance, action/adventure, thrillers and mysteries. Writer’s Digest Books: Cincinnati, Ohio

producer, editor, cohost, & reviewer
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4 Interesting Historical Characters

You know, we at Historical Bookworm want to bring you enjoyment, encouragement, and … an escape through this show. With so much upheaval in our world today, it’s nice to relax and share a few interesting characters for history.

Napoleon

In July of 1807, the war between the French Empire and Imperial Russia finally came to an end. To Celebrate, Napoleon arranged a rabbit hunt for himself and his men. It’s reported that his chief of staff had… 3,000 rabbits captured and placed into cages. When they were released, Napoleon and his warriors were armed and ready. But, instead of running away, the bunnies turned toward Bonaparte and his men, jumping at them in masses. Think Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, but with bunnies.

At first, the men laughed but when the onslaught ensued, they did everything they could to beat the rabbits away, using batons, riding crops, and even going so far as to shoot at them… We’re talking 3,000 rabbits. Eventually, Napoleon retreated to his carriage, only to be followed.

Historian David Chandler described the semi-comical carnage thusly: “With a finer understanding of Napoleonic strategy than most of his generals, the rabbit horde divided into two wings and poured around the flanks of the party and headed for the imperial coach.”

Napoleon escaped in his carriage, leaving his men behind to fend for themselves.

So, why did this happen, you may ask. I mean, we’re talking about rabbits. It seemed like the fault falls on Napoleon’s chief of staff, Alexandre Berthier. Rather than capturing wild rabbits for the hunt, he bought rabbits from farms, so rather than scurry away before Napoleon and his men, these hares ran toward them, likely expecting to be fed.

Marie Antoinette Never Said, “Let Them Eat Cake”

Although it is recorded in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s autobiography that A princess said this phrase, it was falsely attributed to the popular Princess of France, Marie Antoinette. It is however unlikely she ever said this, and there is no historical fact. The idea that she did, is in fact complete fiction.

Abraham Lincoln is enshrined in the Wrestling Hall of Fame.

The Great Emancipator wasn’t quite WWE material, but thanks to his long limbs he was an accomplished wrestler as a young man. Defeated only once in approximately 300 matches, Lincoln reportedly talked a little smack in the ring. According to Carl Sandburg’s biography of Lincoln, Honest Abe once challenged an entire crowd of onlookers after dispatching an opponent: “I’m the big buck of this lick. If any of you want to try it, come on and whet your horns.” There were no takers. Lincoln’s grappling exploits earned him an “Outstanding American” honor in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko

The final, and not so popular figure I’d like to share with you since March is Women’s history is Lyudmila Pavlichenko. She is history’s deadliest female sniper. A divorced teenage mother from a  tiny Ukrainian town is credited with killing at least 309 Nazis. Pavlichenko had been wounded four times and had PTSD. Some say she was just Russian Propaganda, but one famous woman, Eleanor Roosevelt, was not dissuaded by these rumors.  In fact, these two no-nonsense women toured the States together and formed a historic bond. Many years later, in the midst of the Cold War, Roosevelt had an emotional reunion with Pavlichenko in Moscow.

In pop culture, Pavlichenko has been immortalized by a Woody Guthrie song, and the film “Battle for Sevastopol,” a joint Ukrainian-Russian production filmed before these two countries went to war with each other in 2014.

producer, editor, cohost, & reviewer