Robert Bluford

Living on the Borders of Eternity - The Story of Samuel Davies and the Struggle for Religious Toleration in Colonial Virginia (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Living on the borders of eternity" were the words 'Samuel Davies employed to describe his feelings of being a physically sick man who didn't have long to live. Burdened since his youth with tuberculosis, a common cause of death among many in his generation, Davies at one point was advised by his physician to give up hope of continuing his ministry in Virginia. Though he expected his days to be numbered, he refused to give up at twenty-three years of age, and for eleven years made a remarkable impression on multitudes, leaving a legacy unmatched in his time, and by few since.

One of the persistent myths in America is that from the beginning of the occupation of this land by Europeans, religious freedom was sought after and practiced here. The history of New England and Virginia clearly demonstrates the contrary. For most of the years between Jamestown 1607 until the Revolution, the government and the church were locked hand in hand. The beginning of the disengagement began in Hanover County, Virginia around 1740.

The truly exciting story of Samuel Davies and the struggle for religious toleration in Virginia is told in this book. It is a true story that needs to be told and deserves to be understood. Our ignorance of these events and people who brought us such important changes leaves us without full appreciation of the price paid for our liberty.

The pictorial image on the front of this ebook is the memorial that stands over the site of the Polegreen Church which was destroyed by artillery fire at the beginning of the battle of Cold Harbor in 1864 during the Civil War. The church was never rebuilt.

Archaeology was done at the site in 1991 and the original foundation discovered. Following much consideration and advice from highly competent historians and architects, the decision was made not to replicate the colonial wooden structure, but to create a symbol of what had been there.

Sketches of the old church had been drawn by a Union soldier who passed by in 1862 as he was making maps for General McClelland during the Peninsula Campaign. They were discovered in 1978 in Philadelphia. They were passed on to the Historic Polegreen Church Foundation in 1991.

The renowned architectural firm of Carlton Abbott and Partners of Williamsburg designed the present structure. The project was part of a body of work cited in 2004 by the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects for the annual award for preservation. The site is also on the United Slates Department of Interior National Register of Historic Places.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: fidelipublishing
• Erscheinungstermin: 12. April 2011
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781604143560
• Artikelnr.: 48246145

Autorenporträt

Photo by Ken Odor Rev. Dr. Robert Bluford Jr. and Del. Chris Peace stand in the doorway of the structure which marks the site of the historic Polegreen Church, destroyed in the Civil War.

The Rev. Robert Bluford Jr. has been a B-24 fighter pilot in World War II, preacher, historian, preservationist, a Presbyterian pastor and campus ministry director in the Southeast, and the Virginia Press Association's Virginian of the Year for 2011. He is also the founder and president of the Historic Polegreen Church Foundation and helped to save land around the historic Polegreen Church in Hanover County, Virginia, and was the 2004 recipient of the annual award presented by the Council of America's First Freedom.

The retired Presbyterian minister's passions have included the Fan Free Clinic, which he helped found in 1968, and Civil War site preservation. At 92, he is still an activist, working for better treatment of Virginia's Native Americans and establishing a Civil War memorial being among his top pursuits. His Civil War dream is to plant a tree for every American killed during the war along a 100-plus-mile stretch of US 15.

The author in detail: In his younger days, Bob, a Richmond, Virginia, native, interrupted his studies for the ministry at Hampden-Sydney College in May 1942 to volunteer for the U.S. Army Air Force. He served as a B-24 bomber pilot and squadron leader in the 8th Air Force during World War II, then returned to Hampden-Sydney and graduated in 1947 as valedictorian.

He subsequently graduated, cum laude, from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond in 1950 and earned graduate degrees from the seminary in 1954 and 1957. In the 1950s, he also served as campus minister at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and in pastorates in North Carolina and South Carolina.

He was active in the civil rights movement on campuses in the 1960s and in peaceful protests of United States military involvement in Southeast Asia. In 1971, Bob was a co-founder of the Fan Free Medical Clinic in Richmond. He served on the board of directors of Planned Parenthood in Richmond. Over the last 30 years, he has served as minister or associate at Presbyterian churches in Richmond and at 86 was still active as a pastor and preacher.

During his ministry he served as a leader and volunteer in projects to preserve numerous historic sites in Virginia, including two the Historic Polegreen Church Foundation in Hanover County an...