Skip to main content

Ancestors

March 2023
1min read


It is always a little surprising to realize how condensed our eventful history has been. The following cheerful letter from Frances Gladys Latta Dunn of San Mateo, California, gives an indication of how close we really are to the men who founded our republic: With the Bicentennial coming up soon, I want to tell someone about my own heritage. I am very proud to be one of a few who can claim to be a fourth generation from the American Revolution. My greatgrandfather, Joseph Bartholomew, was born in New Jersey in 1766. He died and was buried at Clarksville, Illinois, in 1840. His early life was spent on the Pennsylvania frontier, where he became a guide, scout, and patrol for colonial forces, especially for General Anthony Wayne. He had eighteen children, and my grandfather, William M. Bartholomew (born 1821), was the eighteenth. My mother (born 1860) was William’s seventh and youngest child, and I am her youngest. I was born in 1899. Thus I am fourth generation from our beginning in 1776. I have always been a student of history, having read all I could find during my early schooling. Later I majored in it at the University of California, graduating in 1946 along with one of my three sons. You can see why I am a proud woman at age seventy-five.

We hope you enjoy our work.

Please support this 72-year tradition of trusted historical writing and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to American Heritage.

Donate

Stories published from "February 1975"

Authored by: Reginald Horsman

While some American captives languished, others conducted a flourishing market—and a huge black sailor organized everything

Authored by: The Editors

The paintings of E. L. Henry:

Authored by: Elaine Kendall

The founders of the first women’s colleges weren’t necessarily crusaders or even educators; one savored a vision of himself as the second Great Emancipator, and another was motivated chiefly by hatred of her brother

Authored by: The Editors

Horace Engle’s An amateur photographer surreptitiously captured the mood of unsuspecting neighbors—with affecting results

Authored by: James R. Webb

“It is astonishing that the murderous practice of duelling should continue so long in vogue,” said Benjamin Franklin. Yet continue it did, often with peculiarly American variations

Authored by: Elinor Richey

In forty years of scraping and scrapping for women’s rights, Abigail Scott Duniway never lost her nerve or wicked tongue

Featured Articles

Rarely has the full story been told about how a famed botanist, a pioneering female journalist, and First Lady Helen Taft battled reluctant bureaucrats to bring Japanese cherry trees to Washington. 

The world’s most prominent actress risked her career by standing up to one of Hollywood’s mega-studios, proving that behind the beauty was also a very savvy businesswoman. 

Often thought to have been a weak president, Carter was strong-willed in doing what he thought was right, regardless of expediency or the political fallout.

Why have thousands of U.S. banks failed over the years? The answers are in our history and politics.

In his Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln embodied leading in a time of polarization, political disagreement, and differing understandings of reality.