250 years of families working on the "Promise"

 

I share below a "small note" that I wrote and sent to my family this past July 4th.  Our family, like so many other American families have connections to the "promise" laid out in the Declaration of Independence and that "promise" continues to need all of our focus, energy and strength for the years, decades and centuries ahead.

July 4, 2026: Highlands NC

 

On this historic day, I wanted to reflect on the “promise” of the concept of our country, and how family has connected with that “promise” over the decades/centuries.  The promise I speak about was captured in the declaration 250 years ago today and includes the fundamental principles that “all men (all humans!!) are created equal” and that the fundamental rights that are self-evident are of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”   In today’s political climate it is easy to find oneself negative, angry, hopeless and pessimistic about the state of our republic and the quality of our democratic discourse.  It is not only understandable broadly, but I often personally share those same discouraging feelings.  My message in this little note today is to share that our family broadly and historically has been part of the “promise” of this nation and while that truth has be realized over the years looking backward over time, it is equally important that it is still being realized today and will need to be realized looking to the future.  

Thinking back across the family, I wanted to highlight four individuals to bring this story to life:

Marie Heidersheid: My maternal great grandmother came to America in the late 1880’s from Pratz Germany (now Luxembourg), looking for a better life.  She was 20 and came to New York alone to be a servant/maid.  She learned English in New York, worked hard her whole life and built a family legacy that included my mother Arlene “Marie”, my sister Alice “Marie” and our sweet daughter “Marie” Jane Levisay!

Peregrine White:  Jane Firmin Saliers, my dear departed mother-in-law came from a long historic family line that literally goes back to the founding ships arriving as early colonists.  A distant relative of hers, Peregrine White, was literally born on the Mayflower in a Massachusetts Harbor in early 1620.  A baby of a pilgrim family looking for a land that might offer religious freedom and a new start.

Adolphus Saliers: The great-great grandfather of Don Saliers, Adolphus was part of the Saliers clan who had left France in the mid 1600’s and were early settlers in Quebec.  The Saliers family lived in Quebec for a number of generations and Adolphus was the one in the mid 1800’s who came to America and found his way to Huron County Ohio to seek a better life.

Michael Livesey:  We will leave the last name spelling for another day, but the Levisays  (Livesays/Liveseys/Livezeys/etc.) came to Virginia in the late 1600’s fleeing the restoration of the crown in England in 1660.  Michael Livesey had been one of the individuals who had signed the death sentence for Charles 1^st… and known as a “regicide.”  When Charles the 2^nd came back to England and was made King, the regicides were “hunted” and Michael Livesey fled England to Holland, and many members of the Levisay family fled England and came to Virginia in the late 1600’s/early 1700’s to try to build a new life.

 

These four little stories illuminate from very different angles, dates, origin stories and circumstances that the “promise” made 250 years ago was not abstract or theoretical.  Its real and alive in our family story historically and is alive as we move into our story in the years ahead.

 

Happy 4^th of July and happy 250^th !!