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Show THE MAJOR'S DIARY How the diary came into my hands is not important. As curator of a small New England Museum I receive hundreds of musty, yellowed, old documents and books discovered in basements, attics, and old buildings being razed. Nearly every day I receive requests to translate the almost illegible cursive writing of the early and colonial American period into modern day English. Usually, the translation is quite routine dealing with business transactions, government, or social activities. But, one day, recently, as I randomly selected a small, black book from the stack of papers, journals, and other documents scattered about my desk I instantly became interested as I read the faded printing on the first page: "Property of Major Rufus Avery 40th Connecticut Regiment of Foot Connecticut Militia 1775-1777" Turning to the first entry, the artistic penmanship of Major Avery took me back to colonial America two hundred years ago, and let me glimpse one man's devotion and sacrifice to his country. January 8, 1775 40th Regiment of Foot organized this day. All men 16 to 60 years from Millfax valley and township were contacted. Eight hundred assembled at town square. Tobias Greene, my |
