Ox-Peckers are the analogue that spring to mind with the folks who
practice the gotcha-style of response. They're able to put out their
one little bit of info, which if phrased reasonably, all of us would
respond equably to. But with the stinger, they make for annoying
reading. Ox-Peckers are a bird that feeds on engorged ticks that
infest the hides of Cape Buffalo and other large bovines. They
contribute a useful service by removing the parasites, but can annoy
and severely irritate their host animals.
The major problem with Ox-Pecker posts is that the people making them
have such a narrow focus and knowledge level that they amplify the
intensity without an accompanying level of import. The genealogy
contribution was well phrased and informative, as opposed to those
with snippy asides.
Lyle Browning
On Oct 14, 2008, at 11:13 AM, Henry Wiencek wrote:
> I am pleased that Anne Pemberton has brought my George Washington
> book, "An
> Imperfect God," to the attention of the list; not so pleased that it
> has
> provoked some bilious remarks. But I guess that's what we traffic in
> these
> days.
>
> This is what I wrote about the Washington family's economic status
> in Virginia:
>
> "George was a fourth-generation American whose family had built up a
> middling plantation enterprise on the Northern Neck with modest
> slaveholdings." (p. 26.) In the following pages I provide the
> background for
> that assessment. Is there some major problem here? I was not aware of
> Nicolas Martiau and I am pleased to learn about him from Connie
> Lapallo--another example of the important contribution genealogy
> makes to
> the study of history.
>
> As for GW's social status--his coat of arms notwithstanding--I took
> my cue
> (p. 9) from something Clifford Dowdey wrote in "The Virginia
> Dynasties," p.
> 343: "Not even retroactively, not even after George became the
> absolute
> number one citizen of Virginia and the new nation, were the
> Washingtons ever
> included in the aristocracy." Dowdey was speaking, of course, about
> the
> Virginia aristocracy.
>
> Henry Wiencek
>
> Patrick Henry Fellow
> C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at
> Washington College
> Chestertown, MD
>
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