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FOR AREA HISTORIAN, WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN'S STORIES HAVE PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE
By Jo Ann La Russo
 | | --Photo By Jo Ann La Russo Local historian Pauline Miller was proud to tell The Brick Times recently about not only the area's ties to two of America's greatest presidents, but her own personal ties to the two men we celebrate each February. |
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OCEAN COUNTY - Decades ago, when Pauline S. Miller, of Toms River, stood at the entrance to the great banquet hall in Sulgrave Manor, George Washington's ancestral home in England, she says she knew where the design for 'old glory' was born.
"Inside the enormous dining room were five huge stained glass windows, each bearing a different family member's coat of arms," she relates.
The design in the window panels struck her with awe when she saw red and white stripes and a star pattern in the stained glass shields of the five crests of the Washington family.
"I knew at that moment where the design for our American flag was born," she said. "I no longer wondered why George Washington chose stars and red and white stripes for the American flag. It was part of his family's heritage and thus became ours."
Miller, Ocean County historian and noted author of Dover/Toms River Township history, celebrated last week's national Presidents Day holiday with a significance that dates back in time.
Observance of her two favorite presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, gave the 88 year old Daughter of the American Revolution cause to celebrate and also reflect.
Stories about our nation's first and 16th presidents are entwined with historical facts that include her own family's ancestors.
Miller, an officer on the board of the N.J. State DAR for six years, served as state historian and state conference chairman. When the National DAR Soci- ety invited her to speak at the Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in 1981, "without drawing a
breath, I knew that my topic
would be about Washington - the man, a citizen general who
for eight long years dominated the welfare and strategies of our Continental Army," she said in an interview last week.
Times were desperate for Washington and his army in the winter of 1777, where tents, coats and blankets were almost non-existent at the bleak campsite at Valley Forge. Many of the soldiers had to sleep on the frozen ground with no covering at all.
Two of Miller's ancestors, Jacob Bear of Lancaster County and Adam Schurer of Cumberland County, helped by collecting food from their neighbors, which they took by wagon to Valley Forge to help feed the starving soldiers.
"We all recall that Christmas scene of General Washington kneeling alone in the snow at Valley Forge, praying for their needs," she said, "and their needs were great."
As fate would have it, Jacob DeHaven a wealthy Quaker who lived on an adjacent farm, loaned the general $450,000 in gold and cash from securities on his land. Washington signed a note to be repaid by the government after the war.
One week later, Washington's men were busy building 1,000 huts, each with a doorway and fireplace to house 12 men. The loan helped alleviate some of the misery of the men of the Continental Army in 1777.
Miller said that she met a direct descendant of DeHaven in the 1960's, who told her the note was never repaid. It was destroyed and burned when the British set fire to the White House in the War of 1812. There is a record in the Library of Congress which cites the claim and an old family Bible which contained a receipt for the government loan.
During World War II, $4 million interest accrued on the note was so high that the family signed off any claim and in 1942 the government honored that debt by christening a United States destroyer in the DeHaven family name.
"George Washington was a man of courage and resolution. His fight was for the freedom of this nation and to preserve it's sovereignty for years to come," Miller said.
President Abraham Lincoln also has special meaning to Miller and, as she was proud to point out, a connection to the Garden State as well.
"Abraham Lincoln was the great great grandson of John Lincoln, who once lived near Allentown, New Jersey," Miller said.
John Lincoln, along with Daniel Boone Sr. and his followers, left from Pennsylvania to migrate to the Yadkin Valley in North Carolina with a another Miller ancestor, Daniel Hendricks.
"Boone heard about the land of milk and honey, called Kentucky," she said. Boone Sr., his brother Squire Boone and yet another
of Miller's ancestor's, George Hendricks,
explored the lands and opened up the "Wilderness Trail" in Kentucky for settlers.
Among them was Abraham Lincoln's ancestors.
Abe, born in Kentucky, left the state with his father, Tom, crossing the Ohio River into the southeastern section of Illinois. The log cabin that 15-year-old Abe helped his father build also has special significance for Miller.
"My grandfather's farm sat five miles down the road from the Lincoln family log cabin, now restored to a museum," she said.
The historian and author continued, "In my hometown of Sullivan, Illinois, there is a stone mortar on the courthouse lawn which marks the spot where Abe campaigned for the presidency. I have visited his family home in Springfield and also his burial site in his museum. I have also stood at the site in Gettysburg Park where Lincoln gave his famous speech in his debate with Douglas," she said.
"Yes, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are two of my favorite presidents for what they did for this country. I'm so pleased that America celebrates our presidents that made such a difference," Miller concluded.
George Washington was born February 22, 1732. As the first president of the United States, he is known as the "father of our country." He served from 1789 to 1797.
Lincoln was born February 12, 1809 and served as president from 1861 to 1865.
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