Experience the American dream with today’s Patriots of the Past interview. I’m your host, John Gillespie.
It’s October 25, 1774. I’m at Elizabeth King’s house in the town of Edenton, North Carolina. A group of patriot women are meeting to sign a declaration to not drink English tea.
JG: “Mrs. King, are you afraid?”
EK: “Afraid, Mr. Gillespie? No, we’re not afraid. It’s not only our husbands who desire freedom.”
PB: “We are signing our names to this document publicly, without costumes like the men in Boston. The British will soon know the Edenton women.”
Sign it they did. Penelope Barker, Elizabeth King, and forty-seven other patriot women stood up for freedom that day.
In Edenton, North Carolina, there is a historical marker in the shape of a teapot which reads, “On this spot stood the residence of Mrs. Elizabeth King in which the ladies of Edenton met Oct. 25th 1774 to protest against the tax on tea.”
John and Jan Gillespie are the founders of the Rawhide Boys’ Ranch; they have fostered 351 teenagers and wrote the book Our 351 Sons; they have also assisted numerous churches in developing youth programs and expanding their total church ministries. After running for U.S. Senate, John founded 1776 American Dream, which exists to demonstrate the vision of our founding fathers and help our generation of youth passionately embrace those values.
