"9ber"
The language was changing rapidly. A major dictionary of the language was published in 1755. We notice even the word "Ye" often used for "the" or for a possessive like "yours" or "theirs" or "his" started disappearing from the letters written by the Virginia Regiment after 1755.
But something else caught our eye.
While we have been covering 1758 in this year of 2022 our research we saw a curious reference to the month of September in 1758 by Colonel Bouquet in his letter of 30 Aug 1758.
"As we have no Waggons here, I can not See that you will be able to march before the 8th of 7ber . . . ."
That calendar reference remind us of a much earlier letter Lt Col Adam Stephen wrote in November of 1755.
Adam Stephen datelines his letter :
Winchester 6 9ber [November] 1755
See that 9ber ?
That's an old reference to the legendary 10 Month Calendar of Rome before it was a Republic and then Empire. There used to be only 10 months in the calendar.
"Nov" of November is really Latin for 9 as in the 9th month.
Dec" was the 10 in Latin for the tenth month. "Oct" is Latin for 8 and was the 8th month. "Sept" is for 7th month.
With 10 months following mostly the Moon of 30 some days, there was a shortfall for the solar year, of the Sun completing it orbit.
That made this 10 month calendar some 60 some days short, leaving Winter unaccounted.
And that's interesting. Maybe in the dark cold Winter not much was happening.
so, All sorts of crazy adjustments were made to make up the short fall.
And then it got crazier, because even with the changes to the Julian Calendar, the celebration of holidays kept floating away from their usual seasonal times.
Pope Gregory fixed that and in 1582 Catholic countries adopted it.
Protestant countries came later.
The English Empire was a Johnny Come Lately to the Gregorian Calendar.
That didn't happen to change over completely until 1752.
Just think, when you look at the 1752 arch on Loudoun Street outdoor walking mall in Winchester VA, the citizens of this town lost 11 days in September 1752 to complete the change to the Gregorian Calendar, as did all the rest of the British Empire.
The spelling of words, the changes in marking time and the calendar --- all were starting to harden.
So we consider this age began our modern times.
That's it.
That's our lead story.
Compiled and authored by Jim Moyer 6/14/2022, updated 6/15/2022, 6/19/2022, 8/30/2022
And the future will continue to tell us how bizarre Time and Calendar are . . .
This model is not completely correct, but it gives you a dramatic idea . . .
Actually the planets rotate in front of the sun . . .
But still this emphasizes how the Sun is dragging us with it,
in an orbit around the center of the Milky Way.
Compiled and authored by Jim Moyer 6/14/2022, updated 6/15/2022, 6/19/2022, 8/30/2022
Links used
Washington Birthday the 11th or 22nd?
George Washington's birthday is the 11th of February, Old Style (OS) calendar and is the 22nd of February on the New Style calendar. GW was 20 years old while coming through Winchester VA on the way to do his surveys, when the Calendar lost 11 days. 1752 was a big year for Winchester VA. April 20, 1752, The House of Burgesses, made the town name of Winchester official. But then a Calendar Change in September 1752.
A Dictionary of the English Language, sometimes published as Johnson's Dictionary,
was published on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson.[1]
It is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language.
There was dissatisfaction with the dictionaries of the period, so in June 1746 a group of London booksellers contracted Johnson to write a dictionary for the sum of 1,500 guineas (£1,575), equivalent to about £260,000 in 2022.[2]
Johnson took seven years to complete the work, although he had claimed he could finish it in three. He did so single-handedly, with only clerical assistance to copy the illustrative quotations that he had marked in books. Johnson produced several revised editions during his life.
To George Washington from Adam Stephen, 6 November 1755
From Adam Stephen Winchester 6 9ber [November] 1755
Sir, There is nothing that I can inform you of for Certain. There is a very good Spirit, in the back Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, but a person to direct order and discipline are wanting much. The hurry of the Alarm disappointed us of Waggons; and I was on the point of marching to watkins Ferry to defend the Stores there.
. I cannot Learn that any person to be depended on, has Seen this Body of French & Indians—Sure we are that 52 Delawares went last week agt the Frontirs of Pennsylvania. Two of this party was killd by One of their Prisoners McSwine, who brought in both their Scalps to Fort Cumberland last Friday. . . . .
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Legendary 10 month calendar
The Romans themselves described their first organized year as one with ten fixed months, each of 30 or 31 days.[3][4] Such a decimal division fitted general Roman practice.[5] The four 31 day months were called "full" (pleni) and the others "hollow" (cavi).[6][7]
Its 304 days made up exactly 38 nundinal cycles.
The system is usually said to have left the remaining 50 odd days of the year as an unorganized "winter", . . .
Adoption in Catholic countries
Catholic states such as France, the Italian principalities, Poland–Lithuania, Spain (along with her European and overseas possessions), Portugal, and the Catholic states of the Holy Roman Empire were first to change to the Gregorian calendar. Thursday, 4 October 1582, was followed by Friday, 15 October 1582, with ten days skipped.
The Gregorian calendar was a reform of the Julian calendar. It was instituted by papal bullInter gravissimas dated 24 February 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII,
Great Britain and its colonies
Main article: Old Style and New Style dates
For an explanation of the impact on the British tax year, see Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 § Reaction and effect.
William Hogarth painting: Humours of an Election (c. 1755), which is the main source for "Give us our Eleven Days".
Through enactment of the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750, Great Britain and its colonies (including parts of what is now the United States) adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752, by which time it was necessary to correct by 11 days. Wednesday, 2 September 1752, was followed by Thursday, 14 September 1752. Claims that rioters demanded "Give us our eleven days" grew out of a misinterpretation of a painting by William Hogarth.
In Great Britain, the term "New Style" was used for the calendar and the Act omits any acknowledgement of Pope Gregory: the Annexe to the Act established a computation for the date of Easter that achieved the same result as Gregory's rules, without actually referring to him.[16]
With the same Act, the Empire (except Scotland, which had already done so from 1600) changed the start of the civil year from 5 April to 1 January. Consequently, the custom of dual dating (giving a date in both old and new styles) can refer to the Julian/Gregorian calendar change, or to the start of year change, or to both.
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More research done in previous blog:
1752 was a big year for Winchester VA.
April 20, 1752, The House of Burgesses, made the town name of Winchester official.
But then a Calendar Change in September 1752.
September 14, 1752 in Winchester VA and the worldwide British Empire had an Unusual Yesterday.
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That Yesterday’s date? September 2, 1752.
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This Calendar change was passed in 1750 by an Act of Parliament in London for the whole Empire.
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As a side note, the Virginia House of Burgesses was not in session either in 1750 when that act was passed, nor was it in session when that Act went into effect in 1752
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1752 Poor Richard’s Almanack:
Ben Franklin explains the loss of 11 days out of September 1752.
Kind Reader,
Since the King and Parliament have thought fit to alter our Year, by taking eleven Days out of September, 1752, and directing us to begin our Account for the future on the First of January, some Account of the Changes the Year hath heretofore undergone, and the Reasons of them, may a little gratify thy Curiosity.
Hence as the Tropical Year is 365 Days, 5 Hours, 49 Minutes; the Civil Year is 365 Days. And hence also, as it is necessary to keep Pace with the Heavens, it is required that every fourth Year consist of 366 Days, which would for ever keep the Year exactly right, if the odd Hours of each Year were precisely.
Source:
Most almanacs were sold locally, but the “improved” Poor Richard for 1748 was the first to be issued in three versions tailored to New England, the Middle Colonies, and the South.
This copy is the Southern version, with information on courts in Virginia and the Carolinas — see source http://www.librarycompany.org/BFWriter/poor.htm
We adopted the Gregorian Calendar
This was brought to you by the
Gregorian Calendar: Named for Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced the fix of advancing the calendar 10 days in October 1582.
England took a long time before it adopted the Gregorian Calendar.
England and Wales passed the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 changing from the Julian to Gregorian calendar over a two year period in two steps.
The term Julian date causes confusion, especially since we use the Gregorian Calendar.
“Julian Date” in common parlance refers to the day-of-year number on our calendars.
The Gregorian Calendar has an error of about one day per 3,030 years.
The Julian Calendar has an error of 1 day in 128 years.
.Table found in this link:
We’re NOT DONE Yet
But why do you see two different years for the birth year?
George Washington’s BIRTHDAY is February 11, 1731, OLD STYLE.
His birth year in OLD STYLE is 1731 because the new year before 1751 was March 25.
But NEW STYLE ?
George Washington’s birthday is February 22, 1732.
A 16 year old George Washington wrote this date:
– Fryday the 11th. of March 1747/8. Confusing?
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That’s because the new year
started on March 25 in England.
Other nations switched to January 1
long before England did.
[Picture from Emerson’s Magazine and Putnam’s Monthly, 1857. vol.5. page 561]
Dates showing Double Year
The months of January, February, and part of March before 1752 would cause confusion on what year it was.
To avoid confusion colonial records used both official and common year.
A typical example is “5 Feb 1750/51”
After March 25 you would not see the double year date.
From link
In England, January 1 was celebrated as the New Year festival, but from the 12th century to 1752 the year in England began on March 25 (Lady Day).
So, for example, the Parliamentary record notes the execution of Charles I as occurring on January 30, 1648, (as the year did not end until March 24), although modern histories adjust the start of the year to January 1 and record the execution as occurring in 1649.
The official beginning of the year changed to January 1 in 1752.
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