Vermont and the Underground Railroad, Quaker Advocates Against Slavery But For BDS Against Israel

 Nadene Goldfoot                                         

  The Rokeby Museum about the Underground Railroad in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont--most freedom seekers that came to Rokeby simply met someone that knew the Rowland and Rebecca Robinsons who were Quakers. Vermont's Constitution was the first in the country to abolish slavery, and many Vermonters assisted runaway slaves throughout the pre-Civil War period

If you’re a black person and you’re living in Vermont in the 1790s, you could own property, you could take a white person to court, but at the very same time, you could be kidnapped or re-enslaved.”

Professor Harvey Amani Whitfield of U. of Vermont wrote a book about this, called The Problem of Slavery in Early Vermont, 1777-1810. It came out in 2014. During a VPR interview he did in January of that year, Amani said that even though abolition was enshrined in Vermont’s constitution, “it wasn’t enforced. Owners of slaves just sort of subverted it, ignored it.”

Plus, there was a loophole that allowed people to continue to enslave children. Amani found examples of this kind of stuff all the way up to 1810. So that’s one thing: Slavery had a foothold here. Another thing to know is that Vermonters had complicated views about all this. Here’s Vermont historian Ray Zirblis:

“Lots of people, I think, of good will in the antebellum period are on the fence. Slavery is reprehensible, but the destruction of the union would be a terrible outcome. So people we would consider, they would say, ‘gentlemen of property and standing,’ upstanding members of the community, are very often on the side of a more temperant middle ground.”     

My Robinsons lived in Windsor and Orange Counties, Vermont, neighbors of Addison.  

This is not my family of Robinsons but another from England who settled in Rhode Island and were Quakers, They trace back to Rowland Robinson b: 1754 from Cumberland, England.  They came close to mine, living in Ferrisburgh, Addison, Vermont.

Jane Williamson, the director of Rokeby Museum of Ferrisburgh, Addison, Vermont  in Shelburne of the Shelburne Museum tells that Rokeby was the home and sheep farm of the Robinson family, who were Quakers.  Shelburne Museum is a museum of art, design, and Americana located in Shelburne, Chittenden, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the museum grounds. It is located on 45 acres (18 ha) near Lake Champlain.   

Thomas Robinson, a Newport Quaker merchant, was a key advocate for abolition of slavery both within and outside of the Society of Friends from the 1770s. As a young man starting out in business in the 1750s, however, Robinson sent a number of ships to Africa to procure slaves for sale in the West Indies, stopping the practice just as the Quaker community came to prohibit the trade among its members. Robinson’s father, Deputy Governor William Robinson, owned a large slave-worked plantation in South County. Robinson’s father-in-law, colony Treasurer and Newport merchant Thomas Richardson, also held slaves, and served as Presiding Clerk of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends from 1729 to 1760.  

Robinson’s shift from slave-trader to abolitionist provides a lens for looking at how and why the Quaker community, after tolerating slave-holding and even slave-trading among its members for 100 years, came to view slave-trading and slave-owning as contrary to their Christian testimony. The talk about it was held on March 9, 2011 saying that it would draw on the extensive Robinson and Richardson family papers held by the Newport Historical Society, as well as Quaker meeting records, probate documents, and genealogical materials.                                  

This is the son of the abolitionist, Rowland Thomas Robinson.  It's Roland Evans Robinson the famous artist born in 1833.  American farmer, artist, and author. He is best known as the author of several novels and short stories that captured details about life in rural Vermont, including attitudes towards Native Americans, African Americans, and foreigners, as well as the pre-Civil War regional differences of the northern and southern states.

Four generations of the family lived on this property; one of those generations featured a husband and wife named Rowland and Rachel. They were abolitionists, and they sheltered or aided dozens of fugitive slaves here on the farm in the 1830s and ‘40s.     Descendants of ROLAND Thomas and Rachel Robinson, Quakers

1   ROLAND Thomas Robinson b: September 21, 1796 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont d: August 25, 1879 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont Age at death: 82

. +Rachel b: October 01, 1799 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania d: February 03, 1862 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont Age at death: 62

.. 2   Thomas Richardson Robinson b: 1822 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont d: October 24, 1854 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont Age at death: 32 est.

...... +Charlotte Satterley b: in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont d: in Agawam, Massachusetts

....... 3   William Gilpin Robinson b: November 28, 1850 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont d: March 01, 1905 in East Freetown, Bristol, Massachusetts Age at death: 54

.. 2   George Gilpin Robinson b: March 05, 1825 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont d: November 03, 1894 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont Age at death: 69

.. 2   Anne Henry Minturn Robinson b: March 04, 1827 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont d: May 08, 1917 in shoreham, Addison, Vermont Age at death: 90

...... +Lloyd Minturn

....... 3   Rowland R. Minturn b: 1848 in New York d: April 07, 1898 in Green Bay, Wisconsin Age at death: 50 est.

.......... +Charlotte Birgitt b: 1858 in Ohio

.. 2   Rowland Evans Robinson b: May 1833 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont d: October 15, 1900 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont Age at death: 67 est.

...... +Anna Stevens b: August 25, 1841 in Montpelier, Washington, Vermont d: August 02, 1925 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont Age at death: 83

....... 3   Rachel Robinson b: July 28, 1878 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont d: February 12, 1919 in Manhattan, New York Age at death: 40

.......... +Robert France Elmer b: July 30, 1871 in New York d: November 16, 1936 in Bronx, New York m: October 17, 1911 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont Age at death: 65 m: October 17, 1911 in Ferrisburg, Addison, Vermont

....... 3   Rowland Thomas Robinson b: 1882

....... 3   Mary Robinson b: 1884

Rokeby’s connection to the Underground Railroad is so legit that the museum is a National Historic Landmark. But Jane says that people come here looking for a different story than the one the museum actually tells.

“The lantern in the window, the hidden room, the loose floorboard,” Jane says. She adds that people are kind of obsessed with hiding places — like in Brandon — because there’s this popular image of slave-catchers prowling around the countryside, looking for fugitives. But there’s no evidence that that happened in Vermont. We’re too far north.

The Quaker movement to help the Blacks was a wonderful move.  Today, their zeal has gone into helping the Palestinians in the BDS movement which is against Jews and Israel. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is a Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel.  This goes against helping a worthwhile cause by aiding and abetting their enemy, Hamas Terrorists,  who lead the Palestinians in Gaza. 

Caption: BDS supporters hold a protest against Israel in South Africa's Gauteng province recently

(photo credit: BDS SOUTH AFRICA)

Quaker support for BDS is long standing and deeply founded in the denomination’s history. Since the 1960s, we have seen the growth of “scholar warriors” who have given up the ideal of impartial scholarship for activism. As Quakerism is about doing rather than praying, their institutions created mission-oriented avenues that are today chiefly focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

And when it comes to Jews, the Quakers increasingly share the supersessionist theology of some American Protestant denominations, a theological justification for deemphasizing the Jewish connection to the Holy Land and deriding the Jews as a people forsaken by God.

 Zionism presented a direct challenge to supersessionist theology, and many Protestant missionary and aid groups in the Middle East opposed the movement and supported Arab nationalism.

 The Quakers, for the most part, stayed neutral on the subject, although Quaker institutions in Palestine itself and individual Palestinian Quakers became leading advocates of Arab nationalism and fervent anti-Zionists.                             

The Muslims decided in 1967, after their attempt to wipe out Israel in their 3rd war against Israel and losing, to never have peace with this small Jewish state.  The 1967 Arab League summit was held on August 29 in Khartoum as the fourth Arab League Summit in the aftermath of the Arab defeat by Israel in the Six-Day War, and is famous for its Khartoum Resolution known as "The Three No's"; No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel.          

The Abraham peace accords are changing that with over 4 countries signing on and being at peace, joining Egypt and Jordan as well as planning programs together.  The BDS movement and the Quakers have not succeeded in driving Israel into the sea.  

Resource:

https://wwwrobinsongenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/10/it-was-said-that-most-of-rhode-island.html

https://rokeby.org/about/the-robinson-family/

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/quaker-activists-584222

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycott,_Divestment_and_Sanctions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Arab_League_summit#:~:text=The%201967%20Arab%20League%20summit,Israel%2C%20no%20negotiations%20with%20Israel.

Robinson Arch in Jerusalem: Discovered by Edward Robinson, Biblical Scholar (lead to Bakersfield, Vermont)

Nadene Goldfoot
                                                                       

Edward Robinson (April 10, 1794 – January 27, 1863) was an American biblical scholar. He studied in the United States and Germany, a center of biblical scholarship and exploration of the Bible as history. He translated scriptural works from classical languages, as well as German translations. His Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament (1836; last revision, 1850) became a standard authority in the United States, and was reprinted several times in Great Britain.

Robinson was born in Southington, Connecticut, and raised on a farm. His father was a minister in the Congregational Church of the town for four decades. The younger Robinson taught at schools in East Haven and Farmington in 1810-11 to earn money for college. He attended Hamilton College, in Clinton, New York, where his maternal uncle, Seth Norton, was a professor.^[2] He graduated in 1816.
                                                                        

Robinson's Arch was constructed as part of King Herod's renovation and expansion of the Second Temple, announced in 20–19 BCE.^[1] It was built to link the Tyropoeon Valley street, a major traffic artery in the Second Temple Period, with the Royal Stoa at the southern end of the Temple Mount platform.^[2]
                                                                         

The destruction of Robinson's Arch occurred during the events surrounding the Roman sacking of Jerusalem in 70 CE. It has traditionally been blamed on the Roman legions which destroyed the Temple Mount enclosure and eventually set fire to the entire city.^[5] More recently, this has been attributed to the Zealot factions which had wrested control of the Temple Mount and fortified it prior to its fall. Some of these continued to hold out in Jerusalem's Upper City for a month after the city had been breached by the Romans.^[10] By wrecking the overpass, as well as the viaduct at Wilson's Arch to the north, the defenders made access to the Temple platform much more difficult for besieging forces.^[13]
                                                                   

Reverend Eli Smith

Born 13 Sep 1801 in Northford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, USA

ANCESTORS 

Son of Eli Smith and Mary (Whitney) Smith

Brother of Lydia (Smith) Hoadley [half], Benjamin Smith [half], Benajah Smith and Hannah (Smith) Hough

Husband of Sarah Lanman (Huntington) Smith — married 21 Jul 1833 (to 30 Sep 1836) [location unknown]

Husband of Maria Ward (Chapin) Smith — married 9 Mar 1841 (to 27 May 1842) in Rochester, Monroe, NY, USA

Robinson traveled to Palestine in 1838 in the company of Rev. Eli Smith. He published Biblical Researches in Palestine in 1841, for which he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1842.^[1] He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1847.^[4]

Robinson, together with Smith, made scores of identifications of ancient places referred to the Bible.^[1] His work established his enduring reputation as a "Founder" of Biblical archeology, and influenced much of future archaeological field work. Examples of his finds in Jerusalem include the Siloam tunnel and Robinson's Arch in the Old City; the latter was named in his honor.

Here is his tree showing 3 generations.  This isn't our branch, but I have this branch in our tree.   There are marriages into our tree. We have Hydes.   

**** I have DNA matches with Robinson on their tree leading to Bakersfield which this tree leads to with some of the people.  

Descendants of Ichabod Robinson

1  [1] Ichabod Robinson b: December 12, 1720 in Duxbury, Massachusetts d: January 20, 1809 in Lebanon, New London, Conncticut Occupation: Merchant with store

.. +Mary Hide Hyde b: July 03, 1731 in Lebanon, New London, Conncticut d: July 01, 1750 in Lebanon, New London, Conncticut

*2nd Wife of [1] Ichabod Robinson:

.. +Lydia Brown b: March 19, 1719/20 d: August 23, 1778 in Lebanon, New London, Conncticut

. 2  Joseph Robinson b: November 04, 1752 in Lebanon, Connecticut d: August 27, 1813 in Lebanon, Connecticut

. 2  [2] William Robinson, Reverend b: August 15, 1754 in Lebanon, New London, Conncticut d: August 15, 1825 in Southington, Hartford, Connecticut Occupation: Pastor Congregational Church

..... +Naomi Wolcott b: February 08, 1780 in Southington, Hartford, Connecticut

. *2nd Wife of [2] William Robinson, Reverend:

..... +Sophia Mosely b: September 16, 1783 in Southington, Hartford, Connecticut

. *3rd Wife of [2] William Robinson, Reverend:

..... +Anna Mills b: August 13, 1787 in Southington, Hartford, Connecticut

. *4th Wife of [2] William Robinson, Reverend:

..... +Elizabeth Norton b: 1761 d: 1824 in prob. Southington, Hartford, Connecticut

..... 3  EDWARD ROBINSON, Reverend, Archaeologist b: April 10, 1794 in Southington, Hartford, Connecticut d: January 27, 1863 in Manhattan, New York Occupation: Archaeologist in Palestine:   buried in Lebanon, New London, Connecticut

......... +Therese Albertine Adolfus Luise Von Jacob b: January 26, 1797 in Halle (Saale) , Germany d: April 13, 1869 in Hamburg, Mitte, Germany Occupation: Famous writer in German;  aka Talvj

. 2  Mary Robinson b: December 28, 1755 in Lebanon, Connecticut d: October 11, 1780 in Lebanon, Connecticut

. 2  Lydia Robinson b: October 20, 1757 in Lebanon, Connecticut d: April 23, 1825 in Lebanon, Connecticut

. 2  [3] John Robinson b: April 24, 1760 in Lebanon, Connecticut d: May 02, 1832 in Lebanon, Connecticut

..... +Elizabeth Smith Tiffany b: 1754 in Lebanon, Connecticut d: 1871 in Lebanon, Connecticut

. *2nd Wife of [3] John Robinson:

..... +Abigail Drury b: Abt. 1760 in prob. Lebanon, Connecticut

..... 3  [4] John Robinson b: 1786 in Bennington, Bennington, Vermont

......... +Elizabeth Cushman b: Abt. 1790

..... *2nd Wife of [4] John Robinson:

......... +Ann Kune b: Abt. 1786 in prob. Bennington, Bennington,  Vermont

..... 3  Justus Robinson b: 1787 in Bennington, Bennington, Vermont d: October 31, 1876 in Gilboa, New York

......... +Abby Waite b: Abt. 1760 d: Bef. 1887

..... 3  Lydia Robinson b: July 07, 1789 in Vermont d: November 13, 1858 in New York

......... +Christopher Hogudone

..... 3  [5] JACOB H. ROBINSON b: 1790 in Vermont d: October 14, 1867 in Bakersfield, Franklin, Vermont

......... +Mary J. Unknown b: 1805 in Bakersfield, Franklin, Vermont

..... *2nd Wife of [5] JACOB H. ROBINSON:

......... +Olive Polly Clemens Clement b: August 1816 in Vermont/Ferrisburg, Quebec, Canada d: December 06, 1900 in Bakersfield, Franklin, Vermont

..... 3  James Robinson b: 1790 in Bennington, Bennington, Vermont d: 1805 in Rensselaerville, Albany, New York

..... 3  Smalley Robinson b: 1791 in Bennington, Bennington, Vermont d: 1805 in Bennington, Bennington, Vermont

..... 3  Semantha Brush Robinson b: 1800 in Prob. Bennington, Bennington, Vermont

......... +Edward Henderson Swift b: September 29, 1805 in Manchester, Vermont d: June 21, 1865 in Havana, Cuba

. 2  Ernest Robinson b: 1763 d: 1765

It leads to John Robinson who sent the Pilgrims on the Mayflower ship in 1620.
Descendants of JOHN (Rev.) Robinson

1  JOHN (Rev.) Robinson b: Bet. 1575 - 1576 in Sturton Nottinghamshire, or Lincolnshire, England d: February 19, 1624/25 in Leyden, Holland Occupation: 1606 Minister: Separatist Pastor of the Mayflower PIlgrims from Leiden, Holland to Plymouth, Mass.Norwich, Norfolk, England

. +Bridget White b: 1579 in Sturton Nottinghamshire, England d: 1643 in Massachusetts

Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Robinson_(scholar)
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson%27s_Arch
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Smith-39374

Senator Bernard Sanders-Presidential Democrat Candidate

Nadene Goldfoot                                                     

The Junior Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, Independant Democrat and a Socialist,  was born on September 8, 1941 to  to Dorothy (née Glassberg) and Eli Sanders  and raised in the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City, so he'll be 75 years old in September.  He would be good for one term, starting at age 75 and finishing at age 79.  His father was born on September 19, 1904, in Słopnice, Poland  to a Jewish family, and emigrated to the United States in 1921. Eli's family was killed in the Holocaust.  His mother was born  on October 2, 1912 in New York City  to Jewish immigrant parents from Poland and Russia.  He attended Hebrew school in the afternoons, and celebrated his bar mitzvah in 1954 at age 13.  Growing up during the days of Nazis and the Holocaust shaped his interest in politics.  He spent several months on an Israeli kibbutz.  

Bernie graduated from the University of Chicago in 1964 with a BA in political science. While a student, Sanders was a member of the Young People's Socialist League and an active civil rights protest organizer for the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.  In 1963, he attended the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.

After settling in Burlington, Vermont in 1968, Sanders ran unsuccessful third-party campaigns for governor and U.S. senator in the early to mid-1970s. As an independent, he was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont's most populous city in 1981. Burlington's population in 2013 was 42,284.  It has several synagogues.  

In 1985, Burlington City Hall hosted a foreign policy speech by Noam Chomsky. In his introduction, Sanders praised Chomsky as "a very vocal and important voice in the wilderness of intellectual life in America" and said he was "delighted to welcome a person who I think we're all very proud of."

Noam Chomsky, yes, also Jewish, is one of the worst Israel bashers that I have run across besides his good friend, Norman Finkelstein. Noam has his degree in Linguistics but thinks he's the last word on Israel and the Palestinians.   If Bernie is going by what Chomsky thinks, no wonder he hasn't been very vocal about Israel.  I'm proud that he has retained some feeling for even being Jewish or that he evens has some feeling for Israel.   

  In 1988, Sanders married Jane O’Meara Driscoll (née Mary Jane O'Meara), who then became president of Burlington College, in Burlington, Vermont.  Their wedding trip was to Yaroslavl in the Soviet Union.  

He has one son.   This son, Levi Sanders, was born in 1969 to Susan Campbell Mott. He considers Mary Jane O'Meara's 3 children like his own, however.  She is his present wife.  

"Sanders has said he is "proud to be Jewish" but "not particularly religious.  His wife is Roman Catholic, and he has frequently expressed admiration for Pope Francis, saying that "the leader of the Catholic Church is raising profound issues. It is important that we listen to what he has said." Sanders shares Francis's beliefs on economic equality and has described him as "incredibly smart and brave."

As for his views on Israel, he has been critical but supportive.  He has been quite non committal about Israel to the press, but  is best friends with Richard Sugarman, a professor of Jewish philosophy at the University of Vermont who champions Zionism to his left-leaning students. His other best friend – and former chief of staff – is Huck Gutman, a University of Vermont professor of literature who is a passionate aficionado of the poetry of Yehuda Amichai.

When in Los Angeles campaigning on August 10th, he had  the comedian, Sarah Silverman, introduce him, so she left out her caustic Jewish attacks that she considers funny.  Sanders sees himself as "an old Jew."  

"Sanders’ well-known pique surfaced in June when Diane Rehm, the NPR talk show host, declaratively told him he had dual US-Israel citizenship, citing an anti-Semitic meme circulating on the Internet.

“Well, no, I do not have dual citizenship with Israel,” Sanders said. “I’m an American. I don’t know where that question came from. I am an American citizen, and I have visited Israel on a couple of occasions. No, I’m an American citizen, period.”

He backs Israel, but he believes in spending less on defense assistance to Israel and more on economic assistance in the Middle East. Of all the senators who do back Israel, why does it have to be a Jewish one who is ready to cut the important defense assistance?  

"Do I think Israel has the right to exist? Yeah, I do. Do I believe that the United States should be playing an even-handed role in terms of its dealings with the Palestinian community in Israel? Absolutely I do.  He had been asked if he considered himself a Zionist and questioned what that was.  

He went on to explain to the Jerusalem Post newspaper that,  "Again, I think that you have volatile regions in the world, the Middle East is one of them, and the United States has got to work with other countries around the world to fight for Israel’s security and existence at the same time as we fight for a Palestinian state where the people in that country can enjoy a decent standard of living, which is certainly not the case right now. My long-term hope is that instead of pouring so much military aid into Israel, into Egypt, we can provide more economic aid to help improve the standard of living of the people living in that area." 

Ugh, it is the uninformed that think poverty is the cause of all problems.  Bernie should only know how much money the friends of Palestinians have given them only to see it spent on making and buying bombs and creating tunnels in order to bring in weapons and to use to kidnap Jews.  Israel has even had to pay their electricity bill!  

Perhaps the reason Sanders said this is  that Sanders is a self-proclaimed Socialist and is very naive about Jewish and Israeli history and facts. He knows very little about what Israel has done or the problems they face from this response, even though he lived on a kibbutz for a few months long ago.  He's 74 years old now and like he said, his interests are the USA and obviously they  haven't been on Israel.    He sees problems only through a socialist's eyes.  This is sad if he becomes president and must make decisions that gravely affect Israel.      

                                                        
What is socialism?  The Webster dictionary defines it as any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.  It's a  system of society or group living in which there is no private property.  Socialism is in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state.  It is also a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done. 

Russia, of course, is a communistic country.  Germany was a socialist state.  The Nazi Party was from "The National Socialist German Workers' Party."  which fought against the communist uprisings in post-World War I Germany.  The party was created as a means to draw workers away from communism and into völkischnationalism.   Initially, Nazi political strategy focused on anti-big business, anti-bourgeois, and anti-capitalist rhetoric, although such aspects were later downplayed in order to gain the support of industrial entities, and in the 1930s the party's focus shifted to anti-Semitic and anti-Marxist themes.  Of course, Sweden has a king, but it is socialistic and many feel it is not an example of successful socialism.  Israel has the kibbutz, which is a socialistic way of life, but they also are into individual success, too, having more business start-ups than most other countries.    

Yes, I question the difference between Communism and Socialism.  I'm not the only one. "The majority of self-declared socialist countries have been Marxist–Leninist states inspired by the example of the Soviet Union. They share a common definition of "socialism" and they refer to themselves as socialist states on the road to communism."
                                                             
This is the exact opposite of the Republican party who believes in small government and feels that the Democratic government of Obama has grown too large.   It could be too small for Sanders.  

Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders

http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Where-does-Bernie-Sanders-the-Jewish-candidate-for-president-stand-on-Israel-412448
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Party
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_socialist_states
http://thefederalist.com/2015/08/11/scandinavia-isnt-a-socialist-paradise/