With his connection to the American Revolution and the upcoming celebration of America’s 250th birthday, for Boothe, it is a time to look back and learn more about those involved in the revolution and what he referred to as a unique foundation for the country.

Boothe said being a member of the SAR and having an ancestor that was involved in the Revolutionary War checks a couple of boxes that he finds interesting; genealogy, or one’s own family history and the history of the founding of the country and the American Revolution. He first began learning about his family history and his own connection to the Revolutionary War during a grade school project.

“In elementary school we did a very small genealogical project and I had heard that I may have been related to an ancestor that had served in the American Revolution,” Boothe said. “In the early 2000s when I really got into genealogical research I found out that indeed I had a Captain John Deter who had served in the North Hampton County Pennsylvania militia for upwards of five tours of duty in the militia.”

Especially noteworthy, Boothe said, Deter was involved during the time when the British had captured Philadelphia, which was nearby, and which was also the seat of government for the colonials at the time.

Pictured left to right are SAR members Steven Boothe, Frank Stow and Paul Fardink, after the 2022 Maple Grove Cemetery unveiling with the new 250th United States Anniversary Commemorative SAR flag. Stow recently passed away. Submitted photo

‘FASCINATED BY THIS ERA’

This connection is important to Boothe for a few reasons such as his enjoyment of genealogical research and learning his family history.

“You’ll never know these people,” Boothe said. “You’ll only know a fragment if you’re very lucky about them. But, in this way and learning that I had a Revolutionary War ancestor I was able to tie it to another love of mine, which is the love of history.”

Boothe referred to himself as a child of 1976, when he was in elementary school, and when there were bicentennial celebrations being held that year for America, similar to those happening this year. Growing up in Salamanca, Boothe said he enjoyed these celebrations back then, including an event that was held where teenagers went around and painted fire hydrants to look like soldiers; some in the continental blues of the Americans and others in the red of the Red Coats.

“I’ve always been fascinated by this era in our country,” Boothe said. “It’s a unique founding when you compare it to what other countries have gone through, and it’s just a love that stayed with me all of these years.”

Something that has also amazed Boothe about this era that he added that he enjoys is that this specific collection of individuals came together to found a country based on ideas and what they had been through, to form a country to be empowered by the people.

“These goals, these founding principles were so lofty that we really have never been able to completely reach them,” Boothe said. “Yet they remain goals that we strive for and goals and things like the freedoms that we enjoy; freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, it’s those types of things that I think it’s amazing that at one point in time there was this set of individuals, and they decided to found a country on that after having gained their independence through the American Revolution.”

CELEBRATING THE DECLARATION, TOO

Boothe noted that the 250th birthday celebration of America is also the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which helps to give people an idea of the reasoning behind why the founders were looking to form a new nation and what that new nation was all about. From a historical perspective, Boothe added that the American Revolution was also the first Civil War that the country went through.

“In some places there were already clans and individuals and maybe families or groups that were at odds with each other and they would take up the opposite sides to take up arms against each other,” Boothe said. “It’s kind of interesting. A lot of historians will tell us that approximately â…” of the country were at that point in favor of the Revolution, â…” were in favor of staying as part of a colonial outlet of England. And the other third were just going about their lives and didn’t care. So the fact that you had in many cases Americans battling Americans, it really was a Civil War of sorts.”

Celebrating America’s 250th birthday is important, Boothe said, because it is important to go back and learn about history and why things happened. He said the old adage that “history repeats itself” is very true, though it can look a little different 250 years later.

“In essence it’s something we need to understand and I think people need to appreciate the founding from the standpoint of being able to understand what they were trying to do and why it’s still relevant today,” Boothe said. “A lot of people I believe have this feeling that there is a lack of relevance to these 250 year old documents or ideas, and that couldn’t really be further from the truth.”

Boothe said very few countries have these ideals and founding principles that they have striven for and while they may have freedoms of their own they are not the same as the ones fought for in the American Revolution and baked into the founding documents. He added that he finds it amazing to think that it all started with the founders not even knowing if they would win the war, fighting the superpower of the day in Great Britain, which was one of the top military powers and they still managed to come out on top.

“I think a lot of our freedoms we end up taking for granted because it’s just a routine part of the structure of our everyday life,” Boothe said. “The ability to come and go when we want, the ability to say what we want, the ability to … go to a place and vote on something and have your voice heard. These are all things we really need to pause, reflect on, and celebrate because there’s many people in the world these days that don’t have these rights.”

In some places if people say the wrong thing they may never be heard from again, and people do not have the freedom to practice their religion freely, Boothe said. He added that because of the freedoms Americans have dating back all the way to the founding fathers, Americans are accustomed to believing they are normal. Boothe said this is why people need to take time to reflect and learn more about this time, adding that something he likes to do anytime he is near a Revolutionary War battlefield is to go visit.

‘CONTRIBUTIONS FROM EVERYONE’

Boothe praised the National Park system for keeping these battlefields preserved, and sometimes he will bring back things from the trip to his fellow SAR members. He added that the SAR is a great group and open to the public, with a focus on history and education.

“I think people should know that our history matters,” Boothe said. “Just because there’s certain ideals that the founders came up with that we haven’t necessarily been able to apply universally or not done a good job in putting it into 100% implementation, they are still relevant today. As Americans, as citizens of this country, we should cherish these ideas and look to keep on pushing them forward to the point where we do have everyone covered by these ideals.”

Americans also need to realize the intent behind these ideals to allow people to fully enjoy their freedoms and to also realize the sacrifices made by patriots in those days, Boothe said. While a lot of the focus is on the male patriots back then, Boothe said women had important roles to play too, such as Abigail Adams and others who were actually on the battlefield. He noted that it is not insignificant that the men would have left their farms for their tours of duty and the mother of the family would be left with the running of the household and fields.

“There were contributions from everyone and I would like to see a day where as we go forward we continue to have contributions from everyone, no matter what your outlook on life, or your politics, or the great issues of our day are,” Boothe said. “Maybe there’s room for us to agree on one thing, and that’s preserving the freedoms that we do have and enjoy and looking to make sure they are justly applied and available for everyone in the country to enjoy.”