VALLEY FORGE’S THRESHOLD: THE ENCAMPMENT AT GULPH MILLS

I've read other Somers family historians who believe our patriarch Capt. John Somers was with General Washington at Valley Forge. If this is true, he might have very well been at this encampment. Enjoy this article and give thanks to God for men like these who fought and died for our freedom. - Angela Somers Wittman

By Sheila Vance - Posted at The Journal of the American Revolution:

William Trego’s painting The March to Valley Forge is iconic. Where the Continental Army marched from has been largely overlooked. That march was from The Conshohocken or Gulph Hills, in Upper Merion Township, about seven miles from Valley Forge, where the army encamped from December 13 to 19, 1777. As one historian noted, "These grounds were the threshold to Valley Forge, and the story of that winter—a story of endurance, forbearance, and patriotism which will never grow old—had its beginnings here, at the six days encampment by the old Gulph Mill."

Those six days were a microcosm of the Revolutionary War.

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The Circuit Riding Preacher

Editor's Note : I'm so happy to share this bit of America's Christian history with you! Great Grandfather Henry Francis Somers was a "Circuit Rider" for the Baptist Church in the Southern Missouri/Tennessee/Arkansas region and areas beyond! What a wonderful legacy he has left for his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;... Deuteronomy 7:9 (KJV)

Annie Somers Gilchrist: A Christian, Prolific Author and Patriotic Lady of the South

Annie Somers Gilchrist is the daughter of James Somers , a younger brother to John Somers Jr. the eldest son of Capt. John Somers and Catherine Arden of Caswell County, North Carolina and who is the patriarch of our branch of the Somers family. Annie was born March 30, 1841 in Dresden, Tennessee and went to be with the Lord on February 2, 1912 at the age of 70 years. She married John A. Gilchrist in 1859. (Source: Annie Somers Gilchrist (1841-1912) - Find a Grave Memorial ) Annie had a unique perspective on the War Between the States and wrote about her experiences in the novel Katherine Somerville Or The Southland Before and After the Civil War. While using fictional names, the novel tells us what life was like for her and her family during this turbulant period in our nation's history. Annie begins by recounting her idyllic childhood and what it was like to grow-up on a Southern plantation, referred to as "The Oaks." She also gives insight into the characte

A Birthday Tribute to Grandmother Lillian (Weaver) Somers

By Angela (Somers) Wittman Lillian Mae Weaver Somers (20 yrs. old) with oldest daughter Mamie Tomorrow, September 24th, is my grandmother's birthday. She was born in 1903 in Randolph County, Arkansas, to the lovely and spirited Maggie Lenoa and the athletic William Izear Weaver*. Lillian was their first child and I can only imagine how much this first fruit of her parents was loved and cherished by both. Apparently Lillian inherited some of Maggie's spiritedness and when she met my grandfather, William Henry Somers, a WWI Veteran who was quite handsome, dashing and approximately 10 years older than her, she fell head over heels in love and could not be dissuaded from marrying him. The family story is that my grandparents requested permission from Maggie and William to be married. Their response was "Absolutely not!" Maggie and William probably thought this would end the couple's relationship. But, instead of putting a damper on the young couple's f

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