Living History & Human Relativity: Squire Frederick
Official Town Crier Discusses Responsibility & Governmental Lore & Evolution In Annapolis, Maryland During IPW Confab
Understanding history and living history are two separate things. For some people who have experienced the process there is always a more profound respect. All leaders have inherent human flaws as well as the people who brought them to power. Fred Taylor, also known as Squire Frederick, is the Town Crier for the city of Annapolis, Maryland. But in his life before he worked for the NSA for many years before retiring in 1996. Squire Frederick sat down with Editor In Chief Tim Wassberg on the streets of Annapolis during IPW just blocks away from the State House to discuss paradoxes, the relativity of facts and loving history.
The Buzz: When did your interest in history obviously, and this area -- how did that come about?
Squire Frederick: Well, I grew up in Upstate New York. But when I was in the military, I was stationed locally here at Port Maine, and we're talking about centuries ago (laughing), back in 1963. I was discharged from the service and looking for something else to do, I went to work for the United States government. I worked for the Department of Defense for about 35 years, then retired in 1996. Then I said, "Now, what am I going to do?" And I just happened to come across some people dressed in funny clothes walking the streets of Annapolis, and I said, "That's what I'm going to do."
The Buzz: It is interesting going from governmental -- and I'm not sure if you can tell us what you were doing –- but how that sort of fed into your interest in history. And also, during the '60s, when you came in was a very interesting time here in Washington as well.
SF: Oh, it was. Well, I did undergraduate work at the University of Maryland. I graduated there after a 10-year program. In 1975, I went to night school while I was raising a family. [My study] was History and Government in Politics. So that kind of led into other things. I didn't know an awful lot about Maryland history until I came across people dressed in funny clothes. I worked within the intelligence community at the time and the [interesting] part, I guess, is that I would have blended in when I was in the training school. I had a natural, I guess, talent or ability to address people and kind of educate them [within that structure].
The Buzz: Now, what's the most interesting thing, from your perspective, about the history of this specific area. Our readers always want to have something tactile that they can touch. This all was here then, and it is here now. Can you talk a little bit about that?
SF: It's very easy to talk about what was here then and what's here now because some of the things that were here then are still here now. This was the seat of our national government for nine months. The same room that George Washington stood inside the State House, I take people to every time I take a walking tour. It is the same room that Washington, at the end of our war for independence, resigned his commission. The Continental Congress that met in Philadelphia to vote and declare independence, in 1776, and 1783, sat in the State House. So it's very easy to find something there. Thomas Jefferson was in the same room, on the same day. If you think about national anthem, Francis Scott Key...he went to school here in Annapolis. He began here at the age of 10, graduated from the college at the age of 17, married a local girl, moved over to Georgetown in Washington, raised a family of 11. Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Associate Justice under Supreme Court...he has a statue of him over by the State House.
SF: Our constitution, which we are guided by today, was formed in Philadelphia, but if it was not for Annapolis, Maryland, it would have never ever happened. I could take you to the portions of the same building, that still stand here today, where Alexander Hamilton stood up and addressed the Annapolis Convention in 1785 and 1786. All of the states were gathered together to rewrite our first constitution: The Articles of Confederation. Only five states appeared at the convention here in Annapolis. Hamilton stood up and adjourned the Congress and said, "We will reconvene in Philadelphia, and we will discuss our government. The Articles of Confederation." In May of 1787, behind closed doors, the group of men met and formed our new government. The constitution. So, it was born in Philadelphia but it was conceived here in Annapolis.
The Buzz: People people back then...Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, they all saw themselves as modern. They didn't see themselves as the past. And it's interesting because we can look at our people today because we're going to eventually be the past that people are going to look back on. Can you talk about that interesting sort of parallel?
SF: Oh, absolutely. Under the Articles of Confederation...there were 13 articles. The first article, and we're talking 1781, said that we would now be called the United States of America. Today, we are still the United States of America. That there weren't very many powers of the President of the United States, under the articles. The first president of our United States of America, under our first government, was not George Washington. It was John Hansen...a man from Maryland. And he had no powers other than just being the chief executive officer and that was one of the reasons that they formed up here to modify the articles. There was nothing that guided them. It was almost 13 individual countries and not 13 states.
The Buzz: With all their individual ideas. SF: With all of their individual ideas and they were forming up here to gather some of the new questions about commercial transportation. The Buzz: Now could you talk about the actual the town crier aspect? What does that means? What the responsibility of it both physically and emotionally?
SF: There was a town crier back in the 18th century in Annapolis. He didn't ring the bell. He beat the drum. He stood on the corner right at the hotel behind us, the Maryland Inn. And it was here in 1776. So when he beat the drum, if the general assembly did not appear by the third drum beat, they were all fined 100 pounds of tobacco. Now today, I don't have the power and the authority as the town crier to fine them 100 pounds of tobacco but it has become a very, very emotional thing. I represent the mayor on occasions when there are ribbon-cutting ceremonies. I have represented the governor of Maryland when he was giving his opening speech. I have had the opportunity to escort through this town last June on the 22nd a former president of the United States of America, a former vice-president of the United States of America, a Noble prize winner in the United States of America. Former President Jimmy Carter was in town with Rosalind and former Vice-President Walter Mondale. So I had the honor to ring the bell and gather together the Carter Foundation and show them around the city of Annapolis.
The Buzz: Now when you cry, is it just announcements or stories? "It's this time --" How does that all work?
SF: In general, I will introduce guests, dignitaries. One of the stories which I love to tell is about one the signers of the Declaration Of Independence: Samuel Chase. Samuel Chase eventually became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. He whined and cried, sniveled and crawled, until Washington couldn't stand him any longer. In 1796, he was made an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. But in 1804, Samuel Chase, signer of the Declaration of Independence, now Justice of the United States Supreme Court, is impeached. He was impeached on eight counts. He was indicted, impeached in the House of Representatives, and tried in the Senate. The judge on the trial was the Vice President. However, in 1804, the Vice President of the United States was under indictment for murder. You had an indicted murderer trying to judge. Chase was acquitted on all counts, and he died as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Henry Burr, who killed [Alexander] Hamilton, was the Vice-president under indictment for murder.
The Buzz: Scandals all but history has a way of working stories out. Now for my last question, tradition is very important. Can you talk about tradition in this era, how important that is to remembering the past, but also looking toward the future. What does it represent to you?
SF: Our country really was formed here, by those people: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison...Francis Scott Key gave us what is considered today our National Anthem. All of those things began here in Annapolis. Were it not for Thomas Jefferson...he was the chairman of the committee that formed the resignation ceremony for Washington here at the State House. Those same principles that were formed back then, today we still carry with us. It was Jefferson, himself, that was made the Minister to France in 1784, here at the State House. We still have a Minister to France, here, today. Jefferson was the Minister of Plino Potintorary. He sat with Dr. Benjamin Franklin, and the most obnoxious and disliked of all of the signers, John Adams, as a diplomat in Paris, on the Treaty of Paris, which ended our war for independence. Here in Annapolis is where our United States Congress ratified that When we stop by the Naval Academy, you will see and meet one of the sailors from our revolution, John Paul Jones, a valiant sailor who gives us many of the traditions we carry today, but he was also an admiral in the Russian navy. And still today, [we are] talking about the country of Russia.
Tim Wassberg
A graduate of New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts with degrees in Film/TV Production & Film Criticism, Tim has written for magazines such as Moviemaker, Moving Pictures, Conde Nast Traveler UK and Casino Player. He enjoys traveling and distinct craft beers among other things.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Martinak State Park, whichGeorge Martinak deeded as a land of forests, fields and marsh to the state in 1961 for preservation as a recreational facility and a natural area for the enjoyment of all. Bordered by the Choptank River and Watts Creek, this area supports a wide variety of plant and animal life.
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