"A Jefferson follower’s $7.5m declaration of admiration" by Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff December 25, 2014
SOMERS, Conn. — S. Prestley Blake turned 100 years old last month, cofounded the Friendly’s restaurant chain with his brother 79 years ago, and probably figures he can do whatever he wants at this stage of his long life.
But when he told his wife, Helen, what his swan song would be, her mouth dropped.
“I want to build Monticello,” Blake declared.
And so he has built it, $7.5 million later, in a meticulously crafted re-creation of Thomas Jefferson’s architectural masterpiece. The recently completed rendition, based on drawings of the original in Charlottesville, Va., abuts the Massachusetts border in this bucolic town about eight miles south of Springfield, close to the Wilbraham Mountain Range.
“I like to create nice things,” Blake said Monday in the lavish foyer of his Monticello. “And this is a hell of a place.”
Blake’s motivation to place a traffic-stopping home on a quiet Connecticut road is rooted in his unabashed admiration for the primary author of the Declaration of Independence and the country’s third president.
“He was an exceptionally brilliant man,” Blake said. “I want people to talk about the legacy of Thomas Jefferson.”
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Didn't Friendly's declare bankruptcy?
Another forgotten American hero:
"Grave of battle hero sparked dispute; 200 years after War of 1812’s end, 2 markers remain" by Wilson Ring, Associated Press December 24, 2014
BURLINGTON, Vt. — The final resting place of a little-remembered but crucial hero of the War of 1812 lies near the waterfront in Burlington’s Elmwood Cemetery.
Joseph Barron Jr.’s knowledge of Lake Champlain helped the American fleet under Commodore Thomas Macdonough defeat a British force off Plattsburgh, N.Y., on Sept. 11, 1814. The victory helped lead to the end of the war, which resulted in a treaty signed 200 years ago Wednesday in Ghent, Belgium.
Plattsburgh city historian John Krueger said, “The bicentennial has come and gone and most people are never going to think of the Battle of Plattsburgh again.”
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I once asked a teacher what the War of 1812 was about, and he said it was really a nothing war -- proving that even educators have been indoctrinated in the mythical narrative of received history.
Jefferson also had something to say about the bankers.
Related: Where the Journey Ends
And the journey continues....
