September 1997 Newsletter

September 1997
 ?
Dear Family:
        Well, here we are smack dab in the football season! This is the
time for real family togetherness and closeness as we cheer for our
favorite team.....NOT. This past weekend, my wife and I decided to take the
four grandchildren to the Wissahickon - I'll bet a few of you didn't think
I could spell it(!) - Creek in Fairmount Park, to feed the ducks and walk
along the bridle path. I guess in the process I missed a Philadelphia
Eagles preseason game. Did I miss much?
        We were successful this past month in locating two people for whom
we were searching. Sara Yarnall and Ben Jefferson Yarnall. It seems that
Ben has a residence in the Doylestown area, and Sara is residing in New
Castle, Delaware. I hope that the family that was searching for them will
be able to make contact. I have so many items that I would like to share
with you, I'm afraid that it could triple the size of this newsletter. Then
I guess you would start calling it the News epistle - just kidding.
Seriously though, I do have quite a bit of (my opinion) interesting new and
old information to share. In fact, I finished this letter once and I am
inserting this note and God knows how much more before I have it printed,
but we have some late breaking news from across the pond. It seems that
cousin(?) Lorna York of Kislingbury, Northampton England is hot on the
trail of our English relations. I am including a letter that she sent to
Linford a few months ago, so you will understand some of the research that
is going on and the excitement that we all feel as we discover new avenues
to our past.
?
Dear Lin:
     I made a quick dash to Worcester records office on Friday and managed
to get the item's you wanted, I've written in pencil on the back to
identify what they are, there are also a couple of other marriage bonds and
I think 2 other wills. There is quite a list of wills and marriage bonds at
the record office dating from the mid 1400's through to the mid 1600's,
plus all the parish registers of Worcestershire dating mainly from about
1538 through to the present time, but as you know it takes time to sift
through all of it. All the copies of the documents I've sent are written in
what we call "Secretary Hand" if you have somebody that can decipher this
for you, go ahead, if not I will endeavor to get help to transcribe my
copies and let you know what they say - and if there are any other
documents you require, please let me know.
     Right, that's that bit of the letter, now a bit about what I've been
up to! I only started researching the family last April and what an eye
opener it has been. I had never met anybody with the name Yarnall, only my
immediate family. I was born and brought up in West Drayton Middlesex which
is approximately 15 miles from the center of London and within it's parish
boundaries it has Heathrow Airport. When I married 31 years ago I moved
north to the village of Kislingbury in the county of Northamptonshire. The
village lies 4 miles west of Northampton. Though my husband Joe has lived
in the village all his life, I actually have more relatives in the village
than he has, as my uncle Albert Yarnall and all his family live here. As
our branch of the family lived and worked on the canal system, everybody I
met that was also researching family history said that I would have a hard
job tracing them because they were continually on the move. Also , there
was the fact that they were illiterate - no time for schooling - well, they
were wrong!
     I found my fathers birth certificate and on it, it said, "born on the
boat Mary Ann at Bulbourne dock, Tring in Hertfordshire." His full name was
George Yarnall, and his father's name was William Yarnall born in Tipton
Staffordshire, and his father was another George Yarnall, also born in
Tipton Staffs, and his father William Yarnall was born in Kidderminster,
Worcestershire and the year is 1823 - and this was my first contact with
Worcestershire. I got hold of the Worcester I G I. I was amazed all those
Yarnall's, Yarnell's, Yarnold's, and Yearnall's. Why hadn't I known about
them and I knew nothing about the history of Worcestershire. It is a
beautiful county with undulating countryside and with many old buildings;
but quite secretive in its nature. You know when you get a feeling about
some places? You feel that there is a lot going on, but it is kept well
hidden.
     I've so far managed to get back to the early 1700's, and the children
of William and Ann Yarnall of Shelsley Beauchamp Worcs. I've only traced
just two of the brothers in this family. As yet, William which is my direct
line, and Edward. As I said earlier on, my line were on the canals and
Edward's line seemed to have gone into coal mining. The first move they
made was to the Pensax area, and as the industrial revolution took off they
went into the Staffordshire coal mines. Mind you, some of them also went
into the iron and steel industries that were the big industries in what is
called the "Black Country", which covers parts of Worcestershire,
Staffordshire, and Warwickshire - the midlands.
     Joe and I went to find Shelsley Beauchamp and it is in this tiny
valley. The river Teme runs through it and it is near the Herefordshire
border. The steep sides of the valley are covered in apple orchards as this
is Cider country. The church has been modernized in the Victorian era, and
there are very few grave stones standing - and most of those were modern.
By looking at the local telephone directory, there are still Yarnold's in
the area. It was quite funny,  looking through the parish register the name
starts off as Yarnall - that was with Francis Yarnall 1674, but by the time
you get to 1700, it has changed to Yarnold, but it is still the same
family. It just depends on whose writing the register at the time. There is
a pocket of Yarnall's, Yarnell's in the county of Lincolnshire and they
seem to arrive there around 1648 - and so far I've not made a connection
there yet. There are also pockets in Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire, but
again I think they originate from Worcestershire.
     Well, I've rambled on a bit, and there are many stories of the cousins
I have found - like the ten brothers and sisters that my grandfather had
that nobody knew about. Also, Edward Yarnell of London who is 78 and helped
to develop radar in the last war, is my 2nd cousin, or the time I walked
the canal side at Braunston with an old photo I found from another cousin,
who knew he was a boatman, but didn't know who he was. I had asked many
people on the boats if they knew who it was, but nobody could identify him.
I had passed an elderly gentleman sitting and having a cup of tea outside a
cafe. On the way back I decided to stop for a drink. He asked me what I was
up to and he asked to see the photo. It turns out to be his wife's father -
my grand uncle on my grandmothers side. life has so many strange tales to
tell
     Well it's 10pm and I've just been out in the back garden to check the
pond to see how many Frogs have come back so far this year, There is about
40 out there tonight. give it another fortnight and they will be spawning.
                Regards,     Lorna
        I wish to thank Lorna for sharing some of her search and memories.
I hope that she will continue to let us know about her endeavors and
experiences. They certainly promise to shake us up a bit. In a more recent
communication Lorna noted that the King Road in not a place as such, but is
part of the Bristol channel at the entrance to the Avon river - which gives
us a little more information on  last month's newsletter's mention of the
Comfort sailing to and from Kingroad. Lorna also made the statement that "I
think we have got to rethink who was the first Yarnall in America.", when
she laid the following bombshell on our very neat and tidy genealogical
package.
>From the "Virginia Land Grants"
Patent Book No. 5, Page 509
     JAMES POPE, 1000 acs. W'moreland Co., 28 Jan. 1662, p. 354, (373).
Near a creek commonly called And. Munrows Cr. at Appomattock, bounding
E.N.E. upon land of Andrew Munroe, running from his W wd. corner tree
W.N.W. from the run &c. "including the tymber Land where oakes and others
and some plantable good Land" &c. Trans. of 20 pers: Hen. Dallison, Jno
Fleet, Robt. Cooke, Sarah Wright, Jno. Ellby, Rich. Johnson, Tho Yarnell,
Wm. Mathews, Tho. Wright, Eliz. Wright, Tho Wright, Wm Flissel, Eliz.
Nicholls, Susan Nicholls, Ann Michell, Wm Follow, Sanill Share, Tho Tooke,
Jno lover, Jno Sampson.
        Now I don't know about you, but that sure puts a bee in my bonnet.
Here we are talking about Francis and Philip as being the only ones to have
come from England, and swoosh, with another wave, another Yarnell, and some
21 years before Francis and Philip. Now, here are the questions. Does the
names on the list above mean the people actually made the trip to Virginia?
Did Thomas survive the rigors of 1662 Virginia settlement life? If he
survived, did he marry? If he survived and married, did he have any
children? Unlike Francis and Philip, Thomas may not have been a Quaker, so
there would not have been that reference source, but you would have thought
that we would have picked up something by now. Well, I leave it to the many
searchers out there to make with this information what they will......but
there is more...... It seems that another publication that was copied and
sent to us by Lorna places another Yarnall into this country in 1691 - and
I quote:
Cavaliers and Pioneers
Page 362
JOHN BLACKBORNE, 211 acs., Chas. City Co., in Wessopher Par., on N. side of
James Riv; adj. John Royster: & Jonas Liscomb; 28 Apr. 1691, p 152. Trans.
of 5 pers: Dian Brigan, Tho Goodman, Stephen Nowell, Richd Yarnall, Elianor
Thompson.
        (Please note that many of the names were very difficult to
transcribe. I made the best attempt I could with the information and the
condition of the document in my possession, and underlined any name where
there was a question.)
        So, after all this I say WOW, could it be any worse? Then another
message of Lin's through Bob Yarnall. I will cut to the chase on this one,
where he writes to Bob......"I also note on page 4.24 that a Robert
Yarnall, age 25, is indicated as being born in England. If we use the
census period 1870, less his age, he would have arrived in America as early
as 1845 or some 162 years after Philip and 'Francis, 154 years after
Richard and 183 years after Thomas Yarnell. I'm afraid my friend that our
research leaves much yet to be discovered"......Now my challenge to
Linford....Give me one proof that Thomas or Richard actually settled in
this country.....(In my best sneer)
                              ?
        For those of you who made the family gathering at Oaks in 1996, you
will remember one of our members that was in a wheel chair...Mina (Hanna)
Yarnall. Mina went home to the Lord on Monday, August 25, 1997, at the age
of 89. Mina was a retired antique dealer and Owned Yarnall's Antiques in
Skippack and also worked as a secretary for the former Crystal Soap and
Chemical Co. of Philadelphia. She was a member of Trinity United Church of
Christ, Skippack; the Women's Guild of the church; the Order of the Eastern
Star; the Leverington Presbyterian Church of Roxborough and the Hummel
Society. She was also a Salvation Army volunteer.
        Born May 24, 1908 in Roxborough, she was a daughter of the late
David A. and Alice (Spielman) Hanna. Mina was preceded in death by her
husband, Lester Barton Yarnall, in 1993, and a sister, Clara Hanna Auch.
Our prayers go out to Mina and to her two sons, L. Barton Yarnall of
Trooper, Robert B. Yarnall of Lake Placid, FL, and her daughter Judith
Yarnall Koval of Philadelphia and four grandchildren - Andrea Melissa
Yarnall, Scott Jason Koval, Rebecca Ann Koval and Dennis Paul Koval.
At the viewing, family shared memories of the warmth and loving kindness
of Mina. Granddaughter Andrea Melissa Yarnall (AMY) read a poem that was
written by Mina, that I would like to share with you.
"Our Little Girl"
My little girl is growing up
I see it every day,
In all the things she tries to do
While in the yard at play.

She gathers all her friends around
To help her play the game,
She talks so very earnestly
And calls each one by nems.

When all goes well with her at play
She doesn't need my watchful eye,
But should some trouble threaten
She knows I'm standing by.

Her warmth and caring are the traits
That I am proudest of,
her futures brighter through
The fine strength of her love.

        Mina was laid to rest at the Whitemarsh Memorial park,
Prospectville, on Saturday. August 30, 1997.
?
PART 2............
 "THERE WERE KINSMEN OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN SCHUYLKILL COUNTY"
 A Paper Prepared and Written for The Historical Society of Schuylkill
County, Pennsylvania By Edgar Downey.
        "I don't know who my grandfather was, and I am much more concerned
to know what his grandson will be." Thus spoke Abraham Lincoln when once
asked about his ancestry.
        This would lead us to believe he little cared who his forebears
were. But, in certain of his letters, we find him seeking information
concerning his ancestors and kinsmen. While a member of Congress in 1848,
one of his associates told him of a David Lincoln of Virginia. Upon hearing
this, he wrote to this David Lincoln inquiring whether they were related. A
reply to the inquiry established their kinship. Abraham Lincoln followed
this with another letter to his newly found kinsman and further inquired,
"What was your grandfather's Christian name? Was he a Quaker? About what
time did he emigrate from Berks County, Pennsylvania, to Virginia? Do you
know anything of your family (or rather I may now say our family), farther
back than your grandfather?"
        Again, in an autobiographical sketch, written for use in his first
Presidential Campaign, Mr. Lincoln stated that his grandfather, Abraham
Lincoln, and his father, Thomas Lincoln, were born in Rockingham County,
Virginia. It is known that he was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, May
13, 1744, which was before the Lincoln's emigrated to Virginia. Mr. Lincoln
was evidently aware of this error because, in writing to John Chrisham in
1860, he stated that his grandfather had four brothers--Isaac, Jacob, John
and Thomas, and he added to this statement, "They were born in
Pennsylvania, and my grandfather and some, if not all, the others in early
life removed to Rockingham County, Virginia. There my father named Thomas
was born."
        While Abraham Lincoln may have never definitely traced his ancestry
back beyond his grandfather, yet it is evident he knew his family had come
from Berks County. his Great-Great-Grandfather Lincoln, Great-Grandfather
Lincoln and Grandfather Lincoln, all had lived there. In their time
Schuylkill County was still a part of Berks and had not yet been formed
into a separate county. So the roots of Abraham Lincoln's family were
embedded in the same county soil as that from which we of Schuylkill County
have sprung or which nurtured us. His people and our people share a common
county-ancestry, a common tie.
        Lincoln genealogists and students, in their research, trace his
family back six generations before Abraham Lincoln to ancestor, Samuel
Lincoln, first of the family to come to our shores.
Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather Samuel Lincoln settled at Hingham,
Massachusetts, in 1637. Mr. Lincoln must have heard of him, for he once
mentioned that his first ancestor settled "at a place hingham," jokingly
adding, "or perhaps it was Hanghim."
        From Massachusetts, the generations of Lincoln's, which followed,
emigrated first to Monmouth County, New Jersey, thence to the banks of the
Schuylkill, in what became Berks County, Pennsylvania, thence to the Valley
of the Shenandoah in Virginia; and thence down the Valley and over the
Wilderness Road into Kentucky, where our President was to be born. From
thence followed his family's and his own migration over the Ohio River into
Indiana, and over and beyond the Wabash into the prairies of Illinois.
Eventually he settled in Springfield where he "lived a quarter of a
century" and "passed from a young to an old man" and from whence he
departed as President-elect, "not knowing," as he himself said, "when or
whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which
rested upon Washington."
        We begin when Berks was still a part of Philadelphia County,
Pennsylvania. Great-Great-Grandfather Mordecai Lincoln came over from New
Jersey in 1722 and joined Samuel Nutt and William Branson in building an
iron works at Coventry, near where French Creek flows into the Schuylkill,
and near Pottstown. Prior to that time he had lived in Monmouth County, New
Jersey, where he married and had acquired extensive land-holdings. In 1732,
he built his homestead on one of the hillsides on the east bank of the
Schuylkill River. It was then in Amity, Philadelphia County, now in Exeter
Township, Berks County. Berks County did not come into existence until
1752. It was then formed out of portions of Philadelphia and Lancaster
Counties. That portion, which had been part of Philadelphia County, lies on
the Schuylkill's east bank. There the homestead of Mordecai Lincoln,
iron-master, still stands. When Great-Great-Grandfather Mordecai died in
1736, he was a resident of Philadelphia County. in Philadelphia's City Hall
can be found of record the last Will and Testament of "Mordecai Lincoln of
Amity in the County of Philada.", dated February 22, 1735.
        Great-Great-Grandfather Mordecai Lincoln was a man of ability and
prominence in the Province. He was appointed by the Governor and Provincial
Council of Pennsylvania as one of the three members of the important
commission, whose duty it was to place the Province in a state of defense
during the threatened Indian uprising in 1728. This Great-Great-Grandfather
of the great Emancipator had a Negro slave, named Jack.
                ..................TO BE CONTINUED

?
        It would seem that my family has always been involved, one way or
the other with boats. I wonder if the graphic above will be on Herb's hat
next year.....Hmmmm! Anyway, as we trace our line we find that our family
located along the Schuylkill River in 1835, and were listed in the
Philadelphia directory as pilots - No, not the Orville and Wilbur kind, but
the barge, or tugboat kind. You wonder how your family would select a
profession, and what would lead them to a particular section of the
country.  I can see a GGGGGGGGG-Cousin now, shackled to Kirk Douglas with
two hands on one oar, and two guys behind them. One a one--man band with a
drum, and the other an encourager with a whip. You know how these Yarnall
men need their encouragement on a Saturday afternoon. Anyway, before I go
off onto some tangent, a recent letter from Margaret Yarnall Martinez may
shed some light on why the family would settle on the banks of the
Schuylkill. Also for the record, my family is tied into the Griffith line,
(1.Francis, 2.John, 3.Nathan, 4. Mordecai & Elizabeth Griffith, 5. Abner,
6. Griffith Yarnall & Martha Hiney, 7. Frederick Hiney Yarnall Sr.,
8.Frederick Hiney Yarnall Jr., 9.Frederick Hiney Yarnall III, 10.Fred Harry
Yarnall <= me) so the reference to Griffith in Margaret's letter has
particular meaning to me.
.......EARLY WELSH IN DELAWARE: Notes from "History of Delaware 1609 -
1888" J. Thomas Scharf. 2 Vols,. L.J. Richard & Company., Phila. PA. 1888.
Many early (18th C.) Welsh families settled in Delaware's Pencader Hundred,
which lies between the MD state line and White Clay Creek Hundred in New
Castle County, DE. This area, known as the "Welsh Tract", was set aside by
William Penn for his Welsh Quakers -- about 70,000 acres in the vicinity of
"Iron Hill" near the present town of Newark. ("Iron Hill" was mentioned by
Dutch writers in 1661; they knew of the iron ore of this area.) Two of the
early settlers whotook up land in this Tract were John and Benjamin Griffiths, early members
of the "Welsh Tract Baptist Church". The first pastor of this Welsh Church
was Rev. Thomas Griffith, b. 1645 in Pembroke, Wales. The list of those
sailing in June of 1701 from Milford, Wales, to Philadelphia included
Pastor Thomas Griffith and two Elizabeth's (his wife and daughter). In
Philadelphia the names of a Samuel and Judith Griffith were added to the
list of members, but their Pastor died soon after arriving and was buried
at "Pennepeke" (Pennypack Creek area?)
        The iron ore deposits at Iron Hill were worked for over 150 years.
In 1841 the iron works and pits were sold to a David Wood "an iron master
from Philadelphia". In 1862 this land and pits was sold again; the ore was
now sent to Principio Furnace, another iron works also dating from colonial
days, in nearby Maryland along the Chesapeake Bay.
Fred:   Even if Mordecai and son Abner Yarnall were not active in
Delaware's early iron industry, the banks of the White Clay, Mill Creek,
Red Clay, and Christiana (which flows into the Delaware River) were
bustling with mills of all kinds. And the surrounding farms and woods and
villages supplied the needs of the millworkers. But as mills came to depend
on coal, instead of wood, as a power source, industries moved closer to the
coal supply; coal could be barged down the Schuylkill to the factories and
towns that lined its banks, and people moved to take advantage of increased
jobs.


                Margaret Yarnall Martinez
                15 July 1997

Census records will confirm the presence of Yarnall's in the areas
suggested by Margaret. How awesome it would be to have a picture of
Griffith, piloting on the Schuylkill. Oh, before I forget, down here in
Philly its correctly pronounced Skoo-kill - just kidding.
        Here we go again with boats - Oooops! My apologies to the Admiral's
in the family, SHIPS. Last month we mentioned that Philip and Francis may
not have traveled together on the Comfort at the same time because Philip's
name was not found on the port records. I remembered reading about that
passage at another time and have finally found the reference. It was part
of a collection of papers sent to me a couple of years ago by Dea Yarnall
MacKinnon and was titled:

POSSIBLE ENGLISH ANCESTRY of
FRANCIS & PHILIP YARNALL, to Chester Co. PA 1683
by Richard Brenneman

        The will of John Yarnold or Yarnall of Martin Hussingtree,
Worcestershire, may reveal the English ancestry of Francis and Philip
Yarnall, immigrants to Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1683. Francis, but
not Philip, loaded freight on the Bristol Comfort, John Reed, master, on 26
May 1683 (see Mrs. Marion Balderston in Passengers and Ships Prior to 1683,
compiled by Walter Lee Sheppard Jr. (1970), p. 91). Philip may have come
with his brother, for, if he did not bring any merchandise beyond his
personal luggage, he need not have made any entry in the Port Records which
Mrs. Balderston studied. No complete passenger list for this ship has been
found.
        So, while they may have traveled together in 1683 to America, until
a passenger list is located, we will have to speculate! I can see the
wrinkled up noses now.
                      ?
        Now you all know what this graphic means, but first let me mention
something about this individual. Sometime around 1975, when the supposed
oil crisis arrived, I was working for my present employer. We manufacture
fuel dispensing equipment, including gasoline pumps. At that time, the oil
companies would buy our product to entice customers to purchase their
product. With the crisis came a glut of profits for the oil industry and
they no longer needed companies such as ours to sell their product. It
nearly closed our doors. During this troublesome period, my companies
management made inquiry at a company called Yarway Corporation, as to
whether they could use another  Industrial Engineer (me) in their
operation. Fortunately for me they could, so I was kept gainfully employed
for about a year and and half until Gasboy could bring me back on board.
During my stay at Yarway, I met the President and Chairman of the Board,
Mr. D. Robert Yarnall. People who worked there would ask me if we were
related, and not wanting to give up an edge, I would reply, "not that he
will admit to". Well, now our person of the month is that same D. Robert
Yarnall, and I am proud to be able to say We Are Related. Now let me
introduce him to you.
        Bob Yarnall was born in February 1925, into an old Quaker family in
Mt. Airy. He graduated from Germantown Friends School and from Cornell
University where he majored in Mechanical Engineering. He was at Cornell
when the pressures of World War II became irresistible. He volunteered with
the American Field Service, driving an ambulance with British troops in the
Italian Campaign, and came home unscathed in 1945, and returned to Cornell.
        When he graduated, he again volunteered to go to Europe, this time
with the Quakers - the American Friends Service committee. he was assigned
to Poland with the English - American Mission to that country. For a while
he drove a truck hauling building materials and then was asked to serve as
Mission Director headquartered in Warsaw. In that role he presided over the
time when the Mission was thrown out of Poland along with all the Western
relief agencies. Upon his return home, he was persuaded by his father to go
to work at the Yarnall-Waring Company. he reluctantly said "yes!" thinking
he would stay for a few years. It turned out to be over thirty years! Bob
initially worked in the factory, where he got to know many employees. His
first job was as the companies newly-created Personnel Director. He then
become the Factory Manager, where in this capacity, he was required to
negotiate many union contracts.
        In the early 1960's the Board of Directors decided that a new
President/CEO would be in order. Bob was then elected to the job by the
family members of the Stokes and Waring families who were on the board;
then he really went to work. Bob was only 37 years old at that time, and
had lots to learn - particularly about marketing. The company, whose name
was changed to Yarway Corporation, matching an old trademark it had used,
manufactured valves and other products for the steam-power industry and
constantly developed new unique products.
        Bob always managed to position himself so that he was able to help
others. An Internationalist, he served as head of International House of
Philadelphia and, later as Chairman of the World Affairs council of
Philadelphia. In these capacities he became acquainted with many of the
leaders of the community, so it was natural that he became a civic leader.
Bob served for many years on the board of P.S.F.S. and on the board of
Philadelphia First. Among other organizations, he headed a committee on
entrepreneurship in this area. He also served as Co-chair of G.P.I.N. and
was active in G.P.E.D.C. He also served on the boards of many companies,
including S.K.F.- USA, Quaker Chemical Corp., and the Leslie Corp., but his
greatest concern was Yarway's success. The Yarway board decided that the
best interests of employees and of customers and of shareholders, would be
served by selling the company , if they could get $100,000,000.00. The task
fell to Bob Yarnall and to lawyer Tom Morris. After many months of
negotiations, and many trips to Houston, they finally pulled it off and
came up with the required number.
        Bob was always very much interested in education. For many years he
served on the board of Germantown Friends School, and was on the board of
St. Johns College- the "Great books School" - and, to this day, on the
board of the University of Pennsylvania. He also worked very hard on the
board of WHYY. His artistic interest was expressed in photography and his
longtime service on the board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He has
been honored for his photography with a number of one man shows, and his
service on the board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art,  continues to this
day. As Bob matured, he became more interested in health care, and serves
on the Board of Chestnut Hill Hospital, along with it's related functions.
        In the early nineteen seventies, Bob suffered several strokes,
which left him without a voice and paralyzed on the left side, so he is now
semi-retired, and living and working in his - one floor, home office. His
on-going business is Envirite Corporation, of which he is Chairman Emeritus
and Founder, and he lives on Email and the Fax machine.
        Thank you Bob for sharing with us, and for being one of our family
heroes. You have certainly exemplified a very fine family tradition of
helping others.
?
        Well, I hope you have on your party hat. I could not mention a
special birthday in the last newsletter or I would have spoiled the
surprise. My sister Nancy Jean Yarnall Richards just celebrated one.
Ordinarily I would give you the age of the celebrant, but in this case I
would be tarred and feathered, so being the coward that I am, I will not
even indicate that she passed that half century plateau - Ooops,
sorry....Ahhhh........Nancy!....Nancy? - just kidding Nance....you know,
humor. By the way, did you get to use the cane I gave to you?
                ?
        Speaking of Humor - or depending on your disposition with regard to
the Dallas Cowboys, your lack of humor - the following quips were sent to
me by Email. In honor of this upcoming football season, where the youth of
this nation will be exposed to the hero's of our times. Featured in these
comments are the Dallas Cowboys. Probably the one person with more
credibility than the Cowboy players would be their coach - at least when he
is packing his heater. I guess that I was most impressed with the fact that
the Dallas Cowboy's have adopted the "honor system"..... Yes your Honor, No
your Honor....Now let's do a Q. & A session about the Dallas Cowboys.
1.  What do you call a drug ring in Dallas?......A Huddle!
2.  Four Dallas Cowboys are in a car, who's driving?....The
Police.
3.  Why can't Michael Irvin get into a huddle on the field anymore?...It is
a parole violation for him to associate with known felons!
4. How do the Dallas Cowboys spend their first week at spring
training?....Studying the Miranda Rights!  -  Just kidding Paul and Ruth.
        I understand that the Cowboys knew they had to do something for
their defense this year, so they hired a new defensive
coordinator....Johnny Cochran. Speaking of Lawyers, I have also been sent
some information  on the subject of "The Esteemed Legal Profession".
1.      What is the difference between a tick and a lawyer?....A tick falls
off you when you die.
2.      What is black and brown and looks good on a lawyer?....A Doberman!
3.      Why are lawyers like nuclear weapons?....If one side has one, the
other side has to get one. Once launched, they cannot be recalled. When
they land, they screw up everything forever!
4.      What's the difference between a female lawyer and a pit
bull?....Lipstick!.....Just kidding Cousins.
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PART 1............
        As the doctor above looks at the xray to try to ascertain the
patients problem, we have been exploring the anatomy of this great nation,
and are raising the flag for change. Quite frankly I have spoken to others
that don't think we are in that much trouble. Yet here we are, the greatest
nation in the world, and we have homeless people in the streets. I was in
center city Philadelphia a few weeks ago. I had been taking photographs of
a wedding in one of the City Hall Court Rooms. Upon leaving the building I
was accosted by a police action where protesters for Habitat International
were being arrested. Now it was a planned disruption where the organizers
seemed to be playing to the media, but when I think about the situation, it
is appalling. We have an educational system where the students are not
being taught - look at the SAT's. They are horrible, and the only way they
can make them look better is to give those being tested the answers along
with the test, and yet we have a teaching strike where twenty percent
raises are being demanded....Something is wrong. I spoke to a teacher that
claimed the extra money was warranted because of the danger they faced in
the school system....HELLO! I seem to remember these same people desperate
to remove all spiritual guidance from our schools...... Let the teachers
teach morality, they cried....Well, why not start with the A, B, C's, and
work your way up to Omnipotent....Sorry, but I'm ticked at the
situation...Did you read the income for the three top earning entertainers
last year. Oprah earned $202,000,000.00...yes, you got the zero's
right....and she was third. The combined income for the top three was close
to 1 Billion dollars....Then if you include Microsoft Guru Gates, who in
about a two week period he earned Billions... the number too ridiculous for
me to remember.....How many homeless could have homes with that kind of
money?..Something is wrong!  Lets read "The Myths That Could Destroy
America", by Erwin Lutzer,  published by "The Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation"
in The Rebirth of America.
        A news reporter asked a pedestrian, "Do you know what the two
greatest problems in America are?" "I don't know and I don't care!" the man
responded. "Then you've got both of them!" was the abrupt reply. Although
our nation is rotting on the inside and hostile forces are determined to
take away our freedom, our greatest problem might just be that there are
too many people who neither know nor care. Not until all is lost will many
awake to the painful reality that America as we once knew it is gone. As
humanism moves society farther away from Christian values, it will become
increasingly intolerant of competing viewpoints. In a smear campaign aimed
at what Norman Lear calls "the new right," Christians have been painted in
the same hues as the Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. Because Christians believe
in the freedoms that America has enjoyed  for 200 years, they are
considered the lunatic fringe. Make no mistake about the intention of these
secularists: It is to discredit the voice of Christians so that America
will tolerate only one view. The battle lines are between two religions:
Humanism vs. Judeo-Christian beliefs. Clearly two world-views are on a
collision course.  History documents the final results of an intolerant
humanistic state. According to some estimates, Chairman Mao of China is
credited with the death of 30 million Chinese, Stalin 30-60 million
Russians and Hitler 15 million people, of which 6 million were Jews. These
people died because the state believed that matter was the final reality,
hence there is no God, no immorality, no final judgment. God was dethroned
and the state was put in its place.
        Today the doctrine of evolution is in disarray. Although the man on
the street may not know it yet, the theory of evolution is being dismantled
through modern discoveries. Darwinism has fallen on hard times. Even the
head of the French Academy of Science candidly admits, "Evolution is a
fairy tale for adults." But that is not what the public at large hears.
Clarence Darrow once argued in the 1925 Scopes Trial that it is "bigotry
for public schools to teach only one theory of origins." Now that evolution
is entrenched in public education, the American Civil Liberties Union,
despite its own cries on behalf of pluralism, insists that only one theory
of origins be taught. Bigotry has returned to the public classroom. To
settle for evolution or "the big bang" theory without God begs a thousand
scientific questions. Where did the original energy and matter come from?
What caused the explosion? How could impersonal forces acting randomly
construct a universe whose planets rotate with such precision that we set
our clocks by them. It is preposterous to believe that "nothing times
nobody equals everything!"
        On a television program, author Aldous Huxley once responded to the
question of why evolution was so readily accepted. He admitted "the reason
we accepted Darwinism even without proof is because we didn't want God to
interfere with our sexual mores." There you have it. The real reason modern
man does not want to believe in God is he wants no interference from the
Creator. While many scientists secretly admit that evidence for the
evolutionary fairy tale is crumbling, they refuse to run toward God. If one
does not want to find God, he will not--regardless of the evidence. Yet if
man is only a biological accident, the product of chance chemical reactions
of impersonal forces, it is virtually impossible to make any distinction
between right and wrong.
        On November 17, 1980, the Supreme Court struck down a Kentucky law
that required the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school
classrooms. The Court said that the Ten Commandments were "plainly
religious"...and may induce children to read, meditate upon, perhaps to
venerate and to obey the commandments." Morality and religion can never be
separated. In fact, the very basis of morality is the existence of God.
When the Supreme Court asked that the Ten Commandments be removed from
Kentucky classrooms, they had no moral code to replace them. Logically, all
that would be left is a blank wall. when religion is removed, morality goes
too.
        Ironically, humanists at times do talk about morality. But when
they do, they piggyback on the Judeo-Christian ethic. When they believe in
human dignity, freedom and peace, they are assuming a theistic view of the
world. For those of humanistic thinking were also created in God's image
and were given a moral consciousness, even though they may fail to
recognize its origin. We have not yet seen the full result of humanism in
the United States, because we are still coasting on the values derived from
our rich Judeo-Christian heritage. But what of the generations to follow?
As that heritage fades, everyone will be permitted to do whatever seems
right in his own eyes in a world of twisted values, where morality is
ridiculed and evil becomes a virtue. God clearly pronounces judgment on
those who "call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and
light for darkness" (see Is 5:20).
        At the war crimes trial in Nuremburg, Germany, Hitler's henchmen
argued that they had broken no laws. Germany's own legal system, they
contended, permitted the elimination of those who impeded the advance of
the Third Reich. Adolph Eichmann protested before his execution, "I had to
obey the laws of war and my flag." In our own country, a group protesting
an abortion clinic were charged with slander because they had called
abortionists "murderers." The abortionists argued, as had the accused at
Nuremberg: You can't call someone who isn't breaking a law a murderer. Both
the experience of Nuremberg and today's silent holocaust in our abortion
clinics bear eloquent witness to the fact that when a state believes it is
accountable to no one except itself, it assumes a hidden premise: that
whatever is legal is moral. Robert H. Jackson, chief counsel for the United
States in the Nuremberg Trials, was forced to appeal to permanent values,
to moral standards transcending the lifestyles of a particular society. In
effect, he argued that there is "a law beyond the law" that stood in
judgment on the arbitrary changing opinions of men.
                        ..................TO BE CONTINUED

                        Much love,



                        Fred





2Chr. 33:12, 13   And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his
God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed
unto him: and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and
brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that
the LORD he was God.