Letters

If you, like I, are having a hard time dealing with the ugly spectacle in Washington, D.C., then perhaps you would like to distract yourself with Ken Burns’s documentaries about America. I am loving “The American Revolution.” Wow!

I grew up in an extended family that discussed the Constitution and civics on a daily basis. Not so common these days. As a conscientious American, I am having a hard time remaining patient with this insulting government today.

I hope you find it interesting to learn how my family came to America. My many times great-grandfather John Conlin, on my mother’s side, was a horse farmer in Galway, Ireland. When his first son, also John, turned 14, he decided to send him to Dublin to apprentice with a friend who owned a large livery in a busy part of the city.

He was doing well with his new responsibilities when, one night, a customer was late getting in, and by the time young Johnney got the horse bedded and fed, ready for the night, it had grown pitch black out. Johnney had to walk to his lodging in the dark.

He didn’t get far. When he came to, he found himself at sea, aboard a British warship bound for Boston. He had been kidnapped by a British Press gang. Yes, the Brits did that sort of thing. Sad but true.

A few days out from Boston, the recruits were issued their redcoats and blunderbusses, with this instruction: “Look sharp there, lads, you are fighting for the king now.”

Please understand this: There’s no Irishman who would willingly fight for the king. That’s just a fact.

At Johnney’s first opportunity, he turned his redcoat inside out and joined up with those rascally colonists. His first fight was at Bunker Hill. When the hostilities stopped, John was 19. For his loyal service, he was granted 1,000 acres on the Connecticut River and founded Windsor Locks, Connecticut. The horse farm prospered for more than 100 years.

We all have pride in our country, and America will survive this blip. We have conquered worse than him.

Suzanne Murphy

Southampton