Sunday, November 17, 2019

Milk Punches and Dragoons - Three Historical Punch Recipes for the Season!

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With Christmas 2023 literally right around the corner, the Nerds thought it would be an appropriate time to introduce a trio of historical b...
Sunday, November 3, 2019

"Retreat! Retreat! Or you all be cutt off!" - The Misfortunes of Colonel Gerrish and the 25th Massachusetts Regiment of the Massachusetts Grand Army

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In the days following the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the British army found itself trapped; surrounded by an army of Massachusetts Ya...
1 comment:
Sunday, September 15, 2019

"Fall Down and Worship Our Sovereign Lord the Mob" - Massachusetts Mob Violence on the Eve of the American Revolution

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A couple of weekends ago, the Nerds were at the Newport Historical Society for the reenactment of the 1769 burning of the HMS Liberty . On...
2 comments:
Sunday, August 25, 2019

"Fortified In Such a Manner As To Do Honour" - The Impregnable Newburyport Harbor

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Recently, the Nerds have been researching why the coastal community of Newburyport quickly became a safe haven for Massachusetts and New Ha...
3 comments:
Thursday, August 8, 2019

"Wath a View to Rescue the Soldier" - Who Was the British Deserter Who Trained the Freetown Militia?

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A few years ago, we had discussed British army deserter George Marsden and his role in training minute and militia companies in the Merrima...
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Thursday, July 25, 2019

"Repugnant to Its Existence" - A Brief Snapshot of the Legal Rights of Enslaved People in Colonial Massachusetts

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In 1700, a royal census report indicated that there were over 27,000 enslaved people in the American colonies. Of course, slavery did exist ...
Wednesday, July 17, 2019

"Far Beyond Any Honest Means" - Was a Child Arsonist Responsible for the Great Fire of 1811?

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Newburyport’s Great Fire of 1811 has recently been on the nerds’ collective mind. The May 31, 1811 conflagration consumed over sixteen acre...