Sister Rain’s Note:
This is the eleventh story in a series about my search for an ancestor who was a Patriot in the American Revolutionary War. To read the previous posts, click on the following:
“Historical Society Of Pennsylvania“
“The Search Heard Round The World”
“The Son-In-Law Of Liberty”
“This Colonel Is My Truth“
“Family Rarelooms”
“Coat Tales”
”Proving My DNA To The DAR”
“Becoming A Daughter In My Fifties”
“My 5x Great-Grandfather Is An Exhibitionist”
“Certifiably Framed“
I have been visiting Valley Forge National Historical Park since I was a young girl, I have a photo of myself standing next to a cannon there at the age of 9. When I was in high school, my high school boyfriend and I would go there often, renting horses to ride. For over 40 years I took it all in, the size of this place where 12,000 soldiers and 400 women and children marched in then built what essentially became the fourth largest city in the colonies at the time, with 1,500 log huts and two miles of fortifications. The Continental Army was encamped there from December 1777 – June 1778. General George Washington was at Valley Forge, and now I know that my 5x great-grandfather, Colonel Augustine Willett, was too. A credit to the National Park Service, nothing has changed over the decades of my life, yet on this trip, in my mind, everything had.
We met with two kind and extremely knowledgeable rangers who had previously helped me via email with questions about Augustine’s coat, (“Coat Tales”). It was important to me that I thank them in person for the information they had provided.
We then watched an orientation film, “Determined To Persevere,” in the Park’s theater, which appeared to be a renovated barn.
Before we began the familiar drive through the Park, we stopped in the gift shop to purchase an ornament for the Christmas tree. This was a special year, finding Augustine and being accepted as a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I wanted that represented this holiday season.
It was a beautiful fall day, I had to work hard to remember the conditions the men and women faced that winter. We don’t have that kind of harsh weather anymore, but I am old enough to remember heavy, frequent snowfall in eastern Pennsylvania. I can imagine what it was like and yet I can’t.
I pictured Grandpa Auggie on his white horse, romanticized in a cape similar to the one General Washington wore. Augustine was only 26 at the time of the encampment at Valley Forge. At that age I was driving through this same location in my dark red Nissan 240SX hatchback, moonroof open, windows down, radio loud.
Before we left, we stopped by the Washington Memorial Chapel. My mom once attended the wedding of a co-worker here and when Mister Rain proposed, I called to see if we could be married in this church. Unfortunately, at the time, they were not offering such an option to the public.
Valley Forge National Historical Park has been with me for as long as I can remember, just like the DNA of my 5x great-grandfather. I am so glad that I now know and that I could return here to honor him. My husband described the leaves to me, and as always, I had a moment of sadness that I can no longer experience this annual event. What I could see, though, this October day in all of its glory, was my family tree.
To be continued . . .
“Over The River And Through The Woods To My 5x Great-Grandfather’s Tavern I Go“
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