A Brief Reflection on 'Coincidence'

Hi Gang.  I was reflecting on some of the stuff we shared last week and, particularly, my comments about "serendipity."  It seems as though we are always finding connections between people, places and events that take us very much by surprise.  When we were talking about the "Poinsettia Christmas Tree" we saw at Brookgreen Gardens we talked about the life of Dr. Joel Poinsett and the fact that he is buried not far from the grave of General Thomas Sumter.  (Which we visited on one of our 'geocaching' expeditions.)   I also mentioned that General Sumter was one of several individuals shown in a portrait of General Francis Marion which hangs on the Senate side of the U. S. Capitol Building.  I started thinking about that portrait and went back and studied it a bit more.  The picture - entitled "General Marion Inviting A British Officer To Share His Meal," - shows seven men standing around a table containing recently roasted sweet potatoes; one of whom is a young African-American man.  One of the things I found fascinating about the painting was that the young black man has been identified as Oscar Marion, a slave owned by the Marion family, but also reputed to be a close friend of Francis Marion since childhood.  Numerous accounts of Marion's military career record that he was steadfastly accompanied by Oscar throughout the Revolutionary War.  While the story of Crispus Attucks, the young man of both Native American and African American heritage, is fairly well known (he is generally felt to be the first American casualty in the Revolutionary War), not many other African-Americans have been recognized for their service during the revolution.  Well ... on December 15, 2006, President George W. Bush recognized this African-American Patriot in a proclamation expressing the thanks of a grateful nation.  Fascinating - and only a mere two hundred fourteen years late!!  There are lots of biographies of General Marion (The Swamp Fox) and therein lies yet one more 'coincidence.'  Perhaps one of the most popular early books about the general was one by the author and publisher Mason Locke ("Parson") Weems.  In addition to books about General Marion, Benjamin Franklin and William Penn, Weems also wrote one of the most popular biographies of George Washington.   It was Weems who reported (and many say 'created') the legend of Washington's famous "I can not tell a lie" confession to his father on chopping down a cherry tree.  But wait - we're just getting to the serendipity part!!!!  Weems was born in Maryland, made his home in Virgina and traveled throughout the colonies writing, publishing and selling books.  On May 23, 1825, however, he died of unknown causes in .......  ta da ..... Beaufort, South Carolina!!!!!  (A place you visited with us about a year ago!!)  How ironic that all of these historical threads seem to come together to form this incredible tapestry!!!  Is this an amazing world or what????  See ya.