Early American Trivia: Put your best foot forward.
October 20, 2007
You’ve probably been told to “put our best forward.” Did you ever wonder what it means?
Since you have only two feet, the phrase “put your better foot forward” would make more sense as best implies comparison among three or more. However, the saying “put your best foot forward” has been used since somewhere between the 15th and 17th centuries.
The Idiom Site says:
To ‘Put Your Best Foot Forward’ or ‘to make a bold start’ originated when ladies looked for a well turned leg in men.
The Phrase Finder says:
Meaning
Embark on a journey or task with purpose and gusto.
Origin
First recorded in 1613 from Sir Thomas Overbury: “Hee is still setting the best foot forward.”
The Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings dates “Always put your best foot forward” to 1495, but provides no supporting evidence for that.
‘Put your best foot forward’ is rather an odd saying as it implies you have three or more feet. Cows may be able to put their best foot forward but ‘put your better foot forward’ would make more sense for humans. Shakespeare used a form of that expression in King John: “Nay, but make haste; the better foot before.”
However, that’s not what I learned from a museum guide on a historic tour of Greensboro, North Carolina.
The guide explained that when young ladies curtsied and young men bowed, they were advised to “put their best foot forward” to make the best curtsy or bow possible. It seems that people are left- or right-footed just as they are left- or right-handed. So parents wanted their children to put forward their “best” foot, depending on whether they were left- or right-footed.
Now you know …
Please share your early American trivia in comments.
My Fifteen Minutes of Fame – Twice
October 16, 2007
Recently, my grandson Nicholas invited me to be his “show and tell.” So I headed to McKinney, Texas, and spoke to Nicholas’ fourth grade class at Press Elementary. The children seemed enthralled with what I had to say, and I had just as much fun as they did.
The McKinney News did a really nice article with the photo above (credit Beth Shumate). The opening paragraphs of the article – A Special Kind of Show and Tell – are online.
This is the second time in recent months that I’ve had newspaper coverage for speaking to family (and others). In July, the Journal-Gazette Times-Courier in Coles County, Illinois did a feature story on my presentation to a reunion of the branch of the Mitchell family that settled in that area: Revolutionary War author Bowles speaks to descendants of early Coles County settlers.
I love to speak to children about history and writing, and I love to share the story of my ancestors with anyone who will listen, especially extended family members who are just as interested as I am. If you are looking for a speaker about early American history, genealogy, or writing family history, e-mail me. I promise I won’t expect newspaper coverage.
[tags]David Bowles[/tags]
Early American Trivia: Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite!
October 12, 2007
I love to learn little-known historical facts and trivia. So I’ve added a category of “Early American Trivia” to answer questions you don’t have with information you can’t possibly use. 
I’ll start off with something from my book Spring House: Book 1 in the Westward Sagas. I want my books to read like the stories I heard growing up, and I tried to include little items that give glimpses of life in early America.
So the first trivia item comes directly from Spring House:
He tucked each of the children into bed, as always saying, “Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite” as he cranked the ropes of their loft bed tight.
I don’t know if this saying is common where you live, but here in Texas, people still tell other to “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite.”
The quote from Spring House gives a clue to where the expression “sleep tight” came from. The ropes that were used to support the bed tended to sag and stretch from use. Beds had a crank that could tighten the ropes to give the sleeper good support. It was better to “sleep tight” with the ropes cranked tightly than to sleep on sagging, loose ropes.
Early Americans had no way to fumigate the feathers in their beds to get rid of bed bugs, which feed on human blood. Since the bite isn’t painful at first, people didn’t know they were being bitten in their sleep and could wake up covered with bites that itched for a week or more.
So now you know …
Do you have any favorite early American trivia to share? I’d love to hear about them in comments.
[tags]early American trivia, little-known historical facts[/tags]
Sharing Family History with Cousins I Didn’t Know I Had
October 9, 2007
Even when I wasn’t actively blogging, I had people visit the blog and leave comments.
One of those visitors was Becky Van Cleve. She was doing research on Lorenzo Van Cleve and his wife Margaret Smith Cleve, her husband John’s ancestors. An Internet search led her to my post Oops! A Lesson Learned, in which I talked about my ancestor Lorenzo Van Cleve. She left me a comment, and we started to communicate in e-mail.
It turns out that John and I share the same great-great-grandfather. Becky and John live about fifty miles from me. They have lots of documentation on the Van Cleve line that I don’t have and vice-versa. So we’re getting together soon to get acquainted and share information.
The Van Cleves will come into The Westward Sagas in the third book, Rebeckah, so I will probably cut down my research time for that book having access to John and Becky’s information.
I’m glad to get the information they have to share, but I’m even more excited to get acquainted with long-lost cousins I’ve never met.
[tags]Van Cleve, genealogy, Westward Sagas[/tags]
Any Descendants of Lt. John Armstrong Out There?
October 6, 2007
My readers have been great to help me find information on people who are characters in The Westward Sagas. I gave some examples in Two Important Things: Accuracy and Assistance. Now I’m asking for help again.
Lt. John Armstrong, 1st Regiment, US Army, is an important character in Adam’s Daughters: Book 2 in the Westward Sagas.
According to the book History of the Lost State of Franklin by Samuel Cole Williams (Watauga Press, 1924), Lt. Armstrong arrived in Washington County, NC (aka the State of Franklin) on April 8, 1788. Inhabitants of the western counties of North Carolina (now northeastern Tennessee) petitioned for the area to be ceded as a separate state. During those the tumultuous times, Lt. Armstrong was sent by Secretary of War Henry Knox to investigate whether the Franklin Militia planned an armed expedition to Spanish-controlled Louisiana. He interviewed “the most intelligent men” and returned to Philadelphia to submit his report to Secretary Knox.
I’ve done extensive research on the events in the State of Franklin and have confirmed the dates, times, places, and people involved. I have verified Lt. Armstrong’s actions in the State of Franklin and his report to the Secretary of War. Lt. Armstrong was one of the first spies of the United States, a year before the Constitution was ratified.
What I haven’t been able to determine is what happened to him after he made his report to Secretary Knox. I haven’t found anything else about him.
Sometime around 1790, a couple of years after Lt. Armstrong’s investigation in the State of Franklin, a Lt. John Armstrong was sent by Secretary Knox to the Missouri River to determine whether an expedition to the West was feasible. That was the origins of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, though it was many years before the expedition happened.
Was this Lt. John Armstrong the same Lt. John Armstrong who investigated the military plans of the State of Franklin? Since both missions were assigned by Secretary Knox, it seems plausible. But John Armstrong is not an uncommon name, and I haven’t found anything to confirm that the two missions were conducted by the same man.
If anyone has information that can help solve this puzzle and provide more information about Lt. John Armstrong, please make a comment below or e-mail me. I’ll be very grateful for any help you can give.
[tags]Lt. John Armstrong, State of Franklin, Lewis and Clark Expedition[/tags]
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