A law respecting crimes and punishments. Pub-
lished on the 6th of September. By this statute the crimes
of treason, murder and houseburning in case where death en-
sues from such burning, were respectively punished by death.
The crimes of burglary and robbery were punishable by
whipping, not exceeding thirty-nine stripes; fine and im-
prisonment for any term not exceeding fort}- years. For the
crime of perjury the offender was punishable b}’ a fine not ex-
ceeding sixty dollars or whipping not exceeding thirty-nine
lashes, disfranchisement and standing in- the pillory for a
space of time not exceeding two hours. Larceny was pun-
ished by fine or whipping at the discretion of the court. If
the convict could not pay the fine of the court it was lawful
for the sheriff, b}’ the direction of the court to bind such con-
victs to labor for a term not exceeding seven years to any
suitable person who could pay such fines. Forgery was pun-
ishable by fine and disfranchisement and standing in the pil-
lory for a space of lime not exceeding three hours. For
drunkenness the law was as follows:

“11 If many person shall be convicted of drunken-
ness before one or more justices of the peace, the per-
son so convicted shall be fined for the first offense
the sum of five dimes and for ever succeeding offense
upon Conviction the sum of one dollar. In either case
if the offender neglects or refuses to pay the fine, he
shall be set in the stocks for the space of one hour,
provided, however, that complaints be made to the
justice or justices within two days after the offense
shall have been committed.

Pioneer history of Indiana

Henry Hamilton Incites Indians and Others to Scalp

There were many desperadoes who left the colonies and
made their homes among the Indians. In most these free-booters were
fugitives from justice.

When the war for independence came these desperate
characters, through the influence of British agents, declared
their allegiance to the British crown. They, through their
intercourse with the Indians, did much to cause them to take
up the hatchet against the Americans. These Indians and
their partisan allies were organized into detachments to go
to the western borders of the American colonies to murder,
scalp and capture the inhabitants. As an inducement for
them to do this bloody work, they were offered as a reward,
one pound for children and women scalps or for them as
prisoners; three pounds for a man’s scalp, no reward for him as
prisoner, and five pounds or twenty dollars for young and come-
ly women prisoners. The white villians who were with their
Indian allies, were, if possible, more Iost to human sympathy
than the Indians. They seem to have lost all human feeling
and would kill and destroy the helpless people whom they
found on the borders. Ignoring all restraint they deliberate-
ly went into the settlements where they had formerly lived
and where their kith and kin resided. The pleading of the
helpless and aged mother or the wail of the infant, seemed to
be music to the ears of these brutal butchers. After killing
and capturing all they could, they burned and destroyed the
homes and such property as they could not carry away.

Pioneer history of Indiana

In a few years a number of young French hunters gath-
ered around these stations and it became common for them to
marry the young Indian women, and in a comparatively short
time there was a large number of half breeds in all the settled
sections where the French lived. These hunters adopted the
Indian customs and this intermarrying of the two races was
the real reason for the very close alliance that existed be-
tween the French and the Indians — ‘Blood is thicker than
water.” The two races of people became so closely akin that
their interest became the same. The men put in most of
their time during the hunting season in the forests hunting
for game, or along the streams trapping for fur. These two
occupations comprised all there was to be done. Each family
would work together and have a small field of corn. The
women would plant and tend it. They cured and dried the
meat that was killed by the hunters and prepared it for fu-
ture use. The indolent habits of these Indians and mongrel
French, around their homes were indulged in by all. When
they sold their furs they would invest the greater portion of
it in villainous whiskey, that would make those drinking it
crazy drunk. During the orgies engaged in by these savage
woodsmen, there would be many maimed and others dead be-
fore the protracted ‘*spree” was over. The traders who sold
this injurious stuff, if they ever were honest, lost all thought
of such an inconvenience when trading with the Indians and
cheated them in every way that was possible.

The Catholic missionaries who helped explore the North-
west territory and labored to christianize the Indians, were
earnest, devoted men who did all they could to better the
condition of the Indians; but the evil effects of the poisonous
liquor sold them by the unscrupulous traders buying their
furs, neutralized all the good done by the missionaries and
kept these poor, unfortunate people in a degraded condition.

Pioneer history of Indiana : including stories, incidents, and customs of the early settlers

Letters of A Drummer Boy – Co. A, 47th Indiana Volunteer Infantry

From Standard history of Adams and Wells counties, Indiana : An authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country (1918):

John Kennedy. In every community situated in an agricultural
section, may be found retired farmers, men whose active agricultural
life is over but who retain a deep interest iu the continued operation of
tlieir farms and from their long experience can give valuable advice to
others. One of the well known retired farmers of Chester Township is
John Kennedy, who also is an honored veteran of the great Civil war,
and a valued member of Montpelier Post. Grand Array of the Republic.

John Kennedy was born in Ireland, ilareh 1, 1836. His fathei-,
Jeremiah Kennedy, was twice married and his first and second wives
were both natives of Ireland. His first wife died in Ireland and his
second wife accompanied him to the United States in 1839. They
stopped for a short time near Cincinnati, Ohio, and then came to Indiana
and Jeremiah Kennedy bought eighty acres of land in Chester Town-
ship, Wells County, and during the rest of his life was engaged in clear-
ing and improving it. In the course of time he became an American
citizen and later identified himself with the democratic party. He was
always a faithful member of the Roman Catholic Church. To his first
marriage three sons and one daughter were born. Of this family of
four. John Kennedy is the only survivor. Of the three children born
to his second marriage but one survives, Winnie, w-ho is the widow of
William Fitzpatrick, residing near Poneto. Indiana.

John Kennedy was only three years old when the family came to the
United States. He grew up on his father’s farm, attending the district
schools as opportunity offered. Like many another young man of that
period, the outbreak of the Civil war caused a great change to come into
his life, but the country’s military record shows that the farms con-
tributed the bravest and most dependable soldiers of that long struggle.
Mr. Kennedy enlisted in September, 1861, in Company A, Forty-seventh
Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and after sei’ving for two years, he veteran-
ized and remained in the service until the close of the war. Although he
faced danger on every side and took part in many battles, Mr. Kennedy
escaped sickness and wounds and was able to return practically un-
harmed. He has taken much interest in the Grand Army Post at Mont-
pelier ever since it was established.

Mr. Kennedy was married to Miss Lncinda Harris, who was born in
Nottingham Township, Wells County, Indiana. October 24, 1845, a
member of one of the old families of the county. After marriage Mr.
and ^Irs. Kennedy settled on the farm in Chester Township on which
they still live and for many years “Sir. Kennedy conducted it with great
success, and when he retired it was to leave it in the hands of his
capable sons. Mr. and IMrs. Kennedy have a home of great comfort,
pleasantly situated on the farm of ninety acres. They have four chil-
dren: Frank, Nettie, Lanra and Arthur, all residing at home. The
entire family belongs to the Roman Catholic Church at Montpelier. Mr.
Kennedy has always taken an interest in public matters in the township
and has” given his political support to the candidates of the democratic
party.

Very cool slide show from Square America

Few survive to tell the tale of the German cruiser, Schleswig-Holstein, unleashing a barrage of 280mm and 170mm shells at a Polish fort and shattering the dawn breaking over the Westerplatte peninsula in the free city of Danzig on 1 September 1939.

“I took the telescope and looked out at the channel, first right, then left and then at the cruiser which was moored in the bay,” Ignacy Skowron remembered. “At that moment I saw a flash of red and the first shell hit the gate,”

The attack began at 0445. Simultaneously, the German Wehrmacht poured across the frontier of Poland from the west, north and south.

Two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany.

The then 24-year-old Cpl Skowron was one of just 182 Polish soldiers defending the military transit depot on the Westerplatte peninsula.

“I grabbed a machine gun,” said Mr Skowron. “We got the order and we started to fight back. The cruiser then sailed into the channel and started to fire shell after shell at us. I saw huge trees being snapped in two.”

“On the second day there were three attacks before midday. We fought back and then later we heard some noise and there were planes overhead.

“They started to dive-bomb us and guardhouse number five was completely destroyed. Five soldiers were killed.”

Cold, hungry, dirty

After the dust lifted, the Germans were amazed to see anyone still alive. The fighting lasted for seven days.

The Germans saw that their attacks weren’t working so they used flamethrowers to try and overcome us with flames Ignacy Skowron

“The Germans saw that their attacks weren’t working so they used flame-throwers to try and overcome us with flames. By the sixth day we were barely managing to survive because we were cold, hungry, dirty, and we hadn’t slept. We were struggling,” Mr Skowron said.

At the end the German commander, Gen Friedrich Eberhardt, allowed the Polish commander, Maj Sucharski, to keep his ceremonial sabre.

“The German told him that if he had such an army he could fight the whole world,” recalled Mr Skowron. Link

WIELUN, Poland — Just before dawn on Sept. 1, 1939, 13-year-old Eugeniusz Kolodziejczyk stood on a train station platform, fidgeting with his father’s watch.

Amid mounting saber rattling from Nazi Germany, his father had been called away to defend Poland’s borders in case of war.

The war came to them instead — fierce, quick and dealing destruction in minutes: The opening salvos of World War II in Europe.

The boy heard a roaring sound above and looked up to see squadrons of planes — low slung Stuka dive bombers, the black cross of Germany’s Luftwaffe visible.

The bombs began to fall.

Kolodziejczyk looked at the watch: 4:40 a.m. The explosions set off a worldwide conflict that would rage for more than half a decade and leave more than 40 million military and civilian dead.

“I saw smoke and fire, I heard explosions and … screaming,” said Kolodziejczyk, now 83, his voice quavering as he recalled the day 70 years ago Tuesday. “I was in shock.”

Wielun was the first victim of the war in Europe, even before the tiny Polish military outpost on Westerplatte, some 250 miles (400 kilometers) to the north on the Baltic Sea, shelled by the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein five minutes after Wielun.  Link

A great photo-set of Polish soldiers, 1939.

Is Google Making Us Dumber?
By Howard Megdal and Molly Schoemann

I’ve spent countless carefree, enjoyable hours surfing the Internet, but if there were a way to add all of that time up and show me exactly how much of my sweet life I’ve wasted reading gossip blogs and msn.com relationship advice, I would probably weep and throw myself off a cliff. I know that at this point I’ve spent months of my life playing around on the internet. Maybe even years. YEARS spent staring at a glowing screen and scrolling through photos of celebrities clambering out of limos. What have I really gained from all of that restless, pointless clicking and endless consumption of cheap news and useless information? Where did the time go? Can I have it back? If I could have it back, wouldn’t I just waste it in a similarly pointless, trivial manner? Or would I write the great American novel?

I guess the definition of a waste of time is different for everyone. However unlikely, there may be some who bemoan the years they frittered away reading Joyce, seeking spiritual enlightenment and spending time with their children. Still, my definition of a waste of time is unfortunately going to have to include the hours I’ve spent watching videos of cats playing with boxes, reading reviews of terrible 80s movies, and searching for pictures of Basking sharks (because have you seen those things?!). And I have the power of Google to thank for most of those experiences.  Link

This post about a basking shark caught in Japan receives by far the most hits on Guano Island. 2,600 views on a single day in July 2009.  People love basking sharks.

They wash up along the whole island. What is really fascinating is birds have come along and picked these things up. They put them in their nests and use them like a sexual attractant. I mean, most bird nests have one army man and maybe even a brontosaurus … . Brown booby are used to building things with drab-looking feathers and sticks … and now they’ve found this color. Maybe it attracts the opposite sex? … Where did all of these things come from? Who lost them? Why did they end up at Clipperton? It’s like the island of lost toys … . So I have some treasures from the “Island of Lost Toys.” This guy [Milbrand holds up a toy] looks really old: 1950s Hornet Man. What brings this old horse 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) from shore? There were … thousands of pairs of … women’s high-heeled shoes. A lot of monofilament line. These toys tell a story. It is like a moment lost in time. They are just treasures … . I have about 100 pounds [45 kilograms] of strange artifacts that I collected. Big dolls. Chess pieces. I think that the most common toy that I found were plastic jeeps. Big jeeps. Lots of kids leave those on the beach.

Read the story

Read the Castaway’s island journal