DATES TO REMEMBER IN SEPTEMBER

AUGUST

OCTOBER

Events in the Bible

2349 B.C. End of flood. Gen 8:5: "And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month:  in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen."

C.515 B.C. "So Esther was taken unto King Ahasurus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tabeth, in the seventh year of his reign," Esther 2:16

590 B.C. Jeremiah 39:1; 52:4 & Ezek. 24:1 re. Nebuchadnezzar attack on Jerusalem.

589 B.C. Ezekiel prophesied that would be be scattered (29:1) 40 years then returned (vss.13- 14) and be given to Nebuchadnezzar (vss. 18-19).

70 A.D. 8th Near this day, as our Lord had prophesied, the city of Jerusalem fell.  Josephus recorded that Roman General Titus finally smashed through the defenses of Jerusalem, destroying the city and the Temple.  As a result, the records of the Hebrews were destroyed including their genealogies.   Over a million perished in the siege, however, the Christians fled as a result Christ’s prophesy of the desecration of the temple (by its occupants after the arrival of the Roman troops) and were saved. (See Matthew 24: 15ff)

Events in our Country

(Dates are sorted according to the year of occurrence.)

September’s calendar is so full of fascinating events in regard to our own history that most of this month’s calendar will deal with that. I hope you will find it encouraging as we look at God’s providence at work in our country. It goes back far beyond the first efforts at settlement here but for that you will need to acquire other resources. (See September 17th’s article in the Rebuilder.)  There are a great many!  We begin with the Pilgrims.

1620, 16 One hundred and two Pilgrims left Plymouth, England on the Mayflower because, as Governor Bradford wrote: "Lastly (and not least), a great hope and inward zeal they had of laying some foundation, or at least to make some way thereunto, for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world...."  The journey took 65 days and they had many troubles: the sailors taunted them, there were great storms, the beam under the main mast cracked, being propped back in place using "a great iron screw they brought out of Holland."*  One youth was rescued after being swept overboard by a freezing wave.  A boy died, and a mother gave birth. Intending to land in Virginia, they were blown off-course. In that first bitter winter half died."

1622, (after harvest) Squanto died.  Governor Bradford wrote: He "was a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectation" and, later, "In this place (Manamoyick Bay he) fell sick of Indian fever, bleeding much at the nose, (which the Indians take for a symptom of death) and within a few days died there; desiring the Governor to pray for him, that he might go to the Englishmen's God in Heaven, and bequeathed sundry of his things to sundry of his English friends as remembrances of his love....(From Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation)

1642, 26 Harvard College, the oldest institution of higher learning founded in America, is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  "Ten of its twelve presidents prior to the Revolution were ministers, and over fifty percent of the seventeenth-century graduates became ministers.  The Rules and Precepts for the students, which were adopted this day, September, 26, 1642,*" stated: "Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the maine end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternall life. Joh. 17.3. and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome (ground work), as the only foundation of all sound Knowledge and Learning."  (Published in London in 1643.Italics in the original.)

1690, 25 "The first newspaper that was printed in the colonies was entitled ‘Public Occurrences, both Foreign and Domestic,’ dated Boston, Thursday, Sept. 25, 1690. One number only was printed." However, "The first permanent newspaper (The Boston Newsletter) in the colonies was established in 1704." Frothingham, Rise of the Republic,1872, p. 129.

1722, 27 Samuel Adams born. Frothingham writes of him, "He was a graduate of Harvard College,...He was a genuine lover of liberty, a believer in the power of truth, justice, and right; had faith in God and in the capacity of the Americans for self-government....he was an elevator of his race because he labored to promote education and Christianity as the instrumentalities of progress." Known as "The Father of the American Revolution," Samuel Adams wrote in 1772 in The Rights of the Colonists: The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave."

1755, 24 *John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who was born on this day. (He wrote) "The power to tax is the power to destroy. No one had a greater impact on Constitutional Law in America, as he served on the bench 34 years and helped write over 1000 decisions. He fought in the Revolution under Washington, enduring the terrible winter at Valley Forge. The nation felt a profound loss at his death. The Liberty Bell cracked while tolling at his funeral. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote: ‘It would be strange, indeed, if with such a people, our institutions did not presuppose Christianity and did not often refer to it." 

1757, 6 *Born this day.., (Marquis de Lafayette) inherited a fortune when his parents died. He joined the French Military and, at age 16 became a captain. At 19, he purchased a ship and sailed to America to fight in the Revolution. Washington appointed him a major general.... He led forces to several victories and persuaded France to send aid. Nearly fifty years later, Lafayette was guest at a ceremony at Bunker Hill, along with 200 Revolutionary Veterans (at which) Daniel Webster spoke: "God...has allowed you to behold the reward of your patriotic toils; and He has allowed to us...in the name of liberty to thank you!"

1770, 30 Death of George Whitefield. *"Seven times (Whitefield) came to America, preaching across the Colonies, sometimes to crowds of over 30,000 people. This Great Awakening spread like fire. Benjamin Franklin not only attended his meetings and printed his sermons, but built an auditorium for him to speak in, afterwards donating it as the first building of the University of Pennsylvania....To Whitefield, Franklin wrote: ‘I sometimes wish that you and I were jointly employed by the Crown to settle a colony on the Ohio...Might it not greatly facilitate the introduction of pure religion among the heathen, if we could...show them a better sample of  Christians than they commonly see in our Indian traders?’" 

1774, 7 *"As recorded in the Journals of the Continental Congress, at nine o'clock in the morning, on this day, in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, the very first act of Congress was to open with prayer. John Adams wrote: ‘[Reverend Duche’... read several prayers in the established form, and...the thirty-fifth Psalm... I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning. After this, Mr. Duche, unexpectedly to every body, struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present. I must confess, I never heard a better prayer.’" 

1776, 22 *"‘I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.’ These were the last words of American patriot Nathan Hale, who was hanged by the British, without a trial.... A Yale graduate and school teacher, he fought in the siege of Boston. He captured a boat full of provisions from under the gun of a British man-of-war. On Long Island, he penetrated the British line to spy for information, but was captured as he returned. His nephew, Edward Everett Hale, a well-known author, wrote: ‘We are God's children... you and I, and we have our duties... Thank God I come from men who are not afraid in battle.’" 

1779, 23 John Paul Jones in a naval battle between the "Bonhomme Richard" and the (British) "Serapis" boldly declared at one point, "I have not yet begun to fight." He won!

1783, 3 The treaty ending the American Revolution:*"’In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity’...the Treaty of Paris began, which ended the eight-year long American Revolutionary War....The Treaty was signed...by the American leaders Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, (later) the second President, and John Jay, the first Chief Justice, and ends with the phrase: ‘Done at Paris, this third day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three.’" 

1787, 17 Ratification of the Constitution. In the town of Philadelphia forty one men prepared to leave that city to go to their homes in their respective states. They had just signed their names to the Constitution they and others had worked so hard on for five months. Benjamin Franklin expressed what was, perhaps, on everyone’s mind when a paper he had written was read for him: "I confess," it begins, "that there are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve; but I am not sure I shall never approve them.... In these sentiments, sir, I agree to that Constitution, with all its faults, if they are such, because I think a general government necessary for us; and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered; and believe, further, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall be so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other." (Think about those words!)

1787, 28 "(The Continental) Congress unanimously ordered the papers (The Constitution) to ‘be submitted to a convention of delegates, chosen in each State by the people thereof, in conformity to the resolves of the (Constitutional) Convention." (This and the above quotation are from Frothingham, pp.594 & 597.)

1789, 25 Adoption of The Bill of Rights: Preamble: The conventions of a number of the States having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution. The Bill of Rights begins: "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The colonists believed that *"....the Constitution did not limit the powers of the Federal Government enough. Indeed, sixteen of the fifty-five delegates refused to sign the Constitution. Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams even tried to prevent it from being ratified, as the abuses of King George's concentrated power were still fresh (in their minds). Only with the promise that ten limitations would be placed on this new Government did the States finally ratify the Constitution." (Emphasis mine, ed.)

1796, 19 George Washington’s retirement: after the Constitution was ratified he was elected to the presidency and served two terms. He refused a third term and resigned to return to his beloved farm at Mount Vernon. His Farewell Address is one of the most outstanding works of our Founding Fathers. It once was considered so important that it was studied in all of the schools of this nation. Perhaps the most quoted part of it is: Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars. When we think about his telling us that one who tries to destroy Christianity cannot claim to be a patriot, it is obvious to Christians why it is considered so important. 

1800, 23 birth of William Holmes McGuffey. A million copies a year were sold for over one hundred years. They were used from 1836 till the 1920's. McGuffey included Scripture in the readers which helped, as Noah Webster stated "to give children a religious education (which) is indispensable...." McGuffy agreed for he said, "Erase all thought and fear of God from a community, and selfishness and sensuality would absorb the whole man."

1812, 1 The burning of Washington, D.C. by the British described by Pres.. President Madison wrote: ‘The enemy by a sudden incursion has succeeded in invading the capitol of the nation...During their possession...though for a single day only, they wantonly destroyed the public (buildings)... When the President and his wife fled the White House the full meal she had prepared for him was later consumed by the British general who burned the capitol. But First Lady, Dolly Madison, took with her Gilbert Stuart’s oil painting of George Washington which had to be torn from its frame in order to save it-a more than fair exchange for the meal left behind.

1814, 13 The Star Spangled Banner *"Sent to negotiate the release of an American doctor, the enemy detained (Francis Scott Key) all night on a ship....He watched the British fleet mercilessly bombard Fort McHenry from a distance, just two weeks after the British burned the Capitol. The next morning, ‘through the dawn's early light' this young lawyer saw the American flag still flying. Elated, he penned the Star-Spangled Banner, which states in its fourth verse: ‘May the Heav'n-rescued land Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!’" (See the "POETRY" section of the Rebuilders for the story of Mrs. Pickersgill and.)

1850, 9 California -The Thirty-First State. *"The same year the United States won California from Mexico, ..workers constructing a sawmill for John Sutter on the south fork of the American River, discovered gold. News spread like fire and soon "Forty- Niners," as the prospectors were called, poured in from all parts of the world.... The Constitution, which prohibited slavery, stated in its Preamble: "We, the People of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure and perpetuate its blessings, do establish this Constitution." What if gold had been discovered before California became a state! What a display of Divine Providence.

2001, 11 The devastating attack New York's World Trade Center *"‘Freedom itself was attacked this morning,...’ spoke President Bush....Islamic radicals hijacked three passenger jets, flying two into the Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. Another crashed in Pennsylvania. That evening President Bush addressed the nation: "Thousands of lives were suddenly ended....I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve....And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me." Today, as our Founding Fathers did in the midst of trouble, many are fasting and praying that our country will turn to God Almighty in repentance and gratefulness for His mercies to us. (II Chronicles 7:14)

Note: References in quotes, marked with an asterisk are from American Minute edited by William J. Federer. Some additions and editing done by Ed.  An excellent book to own.