Wait For The Ending
Just over a decade from now, Paul Revere, the great American patriot, will celebrate his 300th birthday. About 300 years before he was born, Joan of Arc was burned alive at the stake for, of all things, treason against God. Word on the street now is that she was pretty dang pious, and quite fond of God. In fact, despite tossing her in a bonfire while tied to a pole, about 100 years after Paul Revere’s death, Joan was canonized as St. Joan of Arc, Patron Saint of France. Now, that's a twist of fate.
Anyway, this story isn’t really about Joan of Arc or Paul Revere. Not really. Paul Revere was immortalized in the poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In Longfellow’s ode, Paul Revere rode alone to warn the American revolutionaries that the British are coming. We’ve all heard it. You probably just repeated it twice in your head when you just read it. The British are coming. Doesn't matter. The poem was penned by Longfellow for his friend, Charles Sumner, an active Northern abolitionist. Rather than an accurate historical description, the poem was actually intended to be read as a moral tale to inspire Northerners to action, as the Country was rapidly spiraling into chaos. Longfellow ended his poem with warnings of an "hour of darkness and peril and need," where the "people will waken and listen to hear" the midnight message once again.
Longfellow later claimed that his poem did little to motivate the Northerners. Who really knows? It did, however, result in the unintended consequence of helping to solidify Paul Revere as a lone hero, singularly making that fateful ride. But, in truth, Revere wasn’t alone.
Four men and one woman made the ride. In addition to Revere, Samuel Prescott, Israel Bissell, William Dawes, and Sybil Ludington made the journey that night.
So, when I wrote earlier that this post isn’t about Paul Revere, it really isn’t. Rather, I want to briefly focus on one of his co-riders, William Dawes.
William Dawes may have been omitted from Longfellow’s poem, but it is still possible that the poem worked as originally intended and motivated Dawes’ great-grandson, Rufus Dawes, to join the Civil War for the Union, where he rose to the rank of Colonel. Impressively, Rufus Dawes fought in the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Fredericksburg, and the Battle of Gettysburg, along with a handful of other battles... and he survived with all his limbs intact.
But, alas, this tale is not about Rufus Dawes either. You see, Rufus Dawes, who became a Congressman after the war, had a son named Charles Dawes, who followed his father into politics and eventually became the Vice President of the United States under President Calvin Coolidge.
Pretty cool right? But, it gets better. Charles Dawes was a regular Renaissance man. In addition to being a heck of a politician, he also won a Nobel Peace Prize.
NOTE: as a brief interlude, William Nobel was once known by many around the globe by the moniker, "the Merchant of Death," for his many discoveries and patents of high explosives and for his massive production of military ammunition. However, at his death, when they opened Nobel's will, they learned that he had bequeathed the bulk of his ridiculously massive estate to a trust to fund the Nobel Prizes, including the Nobel Peace Prize. So, now, when you hear the name "Nobel," you probably associate it with Peace or with Prizes, but certainly not with some ghoulish death merchant. I guess, the moral to this aside is that it really is never too late to turn things around. Anyway, being an aside, I hope it's clear that this story isn’t about Mr. Nobel or his Peace Prize either.
So, back to Dawes. In addition to being a banker, politician, statesman, and all around good guy, Charles Dawes was also a musician.
That’s the part of this post that I think is pretty dang cool.
In fact, in 1912, Charles Dawes wrote a nice piece of violin and piano music known as “Melody in A Major.” It was a popular piece of music in its own right; however, to show its staying power, about 30 years later, Carl Sigman added lyrics to “Melody in A Major,” and the song, “It’s All In A Game,” was born. Tommy Edwards later recorded the song and it hit Number One on the charts in both the U.S. and Great Britain.
Since that time, Charles’s song has become a standard and has been re-recorded by various superstars, including The Four Tops, Van Morrison, Barry Manilow, and Sir Elton John - just to name a few.
So, to put a bow on it, the great-great grandson of 1/5 of the midnight riders became the VP of the US, won the Nobel Peace Prize, and had a Number One hit single - here and across the pond. And that song is now a standard.
So, what do you win? if you made it this far, please enjoy, “Midnight Rider” by the Allman Brothers Band. This link is from YouTube and was officially posted to share by the Allman Brothers Band.
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