Here are some things that make a good movie:
- A journey that leaves the main character changed at the end
- A message
- Has some repetition
- Shows relationships between people
- Exhibits emotion
I would really like to see this movie because I don’t have any information on caused the change in our main character. But the movie doesn’t exist. So I am going to pretend it exists and explore if it would have the characteristics of a good movie.
John’s Journey
In his early 20’s, John moves to Dansbury, Lower Smithfield Township, Pennsylvania – a new town created by Daniel Brodhead. John promptly marries Rebecca Herrys (probably Harris) in 1745. At that time, Dansbury was considered unattached to a county, but was technically in Bucks County. Most of John’s life it would be in the wilderness of Lower Smithfield Township, Northampton County. After his death it is renamed Stroudsburg and is in Monroe County. Some of this land is now a National Park, Delaware Water Gap.
Military
Patriotism must have been one of John’s characteristics. He fought valiantly for the British in the French and Indian War (or Seven Year’s War) with his neighbors. Then he fought in the American Revolution to break free from British rule. And again, he fought with the same neighbors. Some of his sons also fought for the colonists in the American Revolution.
Later generations fought in the War of 1812 and the American Civil War.
Wives
John’s first wife is Rebecca Herrys. In 1760 he married Sarah Scott. By 1791, deeds listed his wife’s name as Catherine. And his last wife was Margaret Williams, whom he married in 1793. Margaret was possibly the sister-in-law of one of John’s daughters. And Margaret was 50 years younger than John and even younger than several of his children.
Did Rebecca live 15 years after her marriage? If she didn’t there may be more wives between Rebecca and Sarah. And of course there could be more wives between Sarah and Catherine.
Children
How many children did John have? That is difficult to determine. Due to a variety of issues, there are many years where records were not kept or did not survive in this location.
The oldest set of John’s children includes William, Robert, Asahel, Sara, and Thomas. The next group includes David, John, Rebecca, Joseph, Eleazar, Abner, and Samuel.
The youngest two were Margaret’s children – Else and Nancy.
It is highly likely that several of his children did not live to adulthood and are not recorded anywhere.
Civil Duties
Lt. John Fish and his friends Col. Jacob Stroud and Daniel Brodhead were frequently named as executors of wills, jurors, and other positions indicating their high regard in the area. They were also all large land owners.
The End of John’s Journey
John came to a tainted end. What exactly caused the issues that plagued his wife, children, and friends is still unknown.
His last wife and under-age children were evicted from the family home. No one would accept guardianship of these two young children, even the ones who had accepted that duty just a short time before John’s death. John’s wife of course was not eligible – being a woman. But John’s male friends and his many grown sons were all eligible.
Based on Else and Nancy’s depositions about receiving John’s Revolutionary War, they believed they were the ONLY children of John. Obviously they did not have contact with the rest of their siblings.
The probate of John’s will was a nightmare. His friends sent letters to court requested that they be excused from being the executor of the will. From John’s death in 1798 to 1803, there was a seemingly never ending set of court cases that took all of John’s land from his heirs and it all became part of Jacob Stroud’s plan for a new township and town Stroudsburg.
Movie Review
Movie Message
Up until the end of his life, John was a patriot to his country in two wars and later served in civil capacities. So I think the message would have to be about the cause of his downfall in the last year or so of his long and eventful life.
Without knowing we are missing a critical component of a good movie.
Repetition For Movie?
Certainly the wives and children would form the repetition aspects of keeping the story moving. Uncovering all the wives and figuring out which children belong to each wife would help. It appears that John had children continuously for 50 years!
Emotion and Relationships
There seem to be groups of John’s children that had relationships, but the fact that the youngest two thought they were John’s only children is troubling. One of John’s grandsons named John, was the son of John (Jr.) and he didn’t seem to be able to distinguish his father from his grandfather.
Both Asahel and David had sons named Abner just after their father had a son named Abner, which indicates some degree of closeness.
But the big and mostly negative emotions are in the series of court cases to resolve probate issues from John’s will.
