Tea at Trianon: Bucktown General Store

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, October 22, 2022

Bucktown General Store

One of the oldest general stores in America in continuous operation. It is also the store where Harriet Tubman was severely injured by an attacker. Not far from where we live now. From Only in Your State:

There are endless historic places in Maryland, especially when it comes to the eastern shore area. That’s where you’ll find the Harriet Tubman Byway, and along that byway is the following historic general store in Maryland. This place has been open since before the Civil War and you can still tour it today. Read on, and consider seeing this fascinating spot in person.
Bucktown General Store is one of the oldest general stores in the United States. You'll find it at 4303 Bucktown Road in Cambridge, Maryland. This old store dates back to the 1830s and it's known as being an important piece of history when it comes to Harriet Tubman. Sometime between 1834 and 1836, teenage Harriet Tubman tried to assist an enslaved man inside of the store. She took the enslaved man's side rather than help the overseer re-capture him. Filled with rage, the overseer threw a two-pound weight, hitting Tubman in the head. This caused a skull fracture, and she was left with health problems, mainly epilepsy, the rest of her life due to the blow. (Read more.)