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Constitution Foremost
America Has Many
Symbols Os Freedom
There are a number of
documents, items, and
monuments which are
considered symbols of
freedom by the people of
the United States.
The Declaration of In
dependence signed July 4,
1776 is the birth certificate
of the newborn Republic.
The Constitution Is the
blueprint and the in
surance policy of in
dividual freedom.
The Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell is the
voice of freedom. This
symbol of American In
dependence, the Liberty
Bell, was cast in London In
1752. The huge, iron bell
was a meaningful symbol
to the colony's legisla
tors They ordered that
its surface be inscribed
with the Biblical injunc
tion ''Proclaim Liberty
throughout all the Land
unto all the inhabitants
thereof".
As the bell, weighing
some 2,080 lbs. was being
tested, its surface cracked.
Two Philadelphia artisans
managed to recast it and it
was hung in the State
House tower (now In
dependence Hall). On July
8, 1776, the great bell was
said to have been rung,
along with Philadelphia's
other bells, to celebrate the
adoption of the Declaration
of Independence and mark
its first public reading. The
bfll cracked again in 1835
aS it tolled out the passing
of Chief Justice John
Marshall.
Today, the Liberty Bell
has been removed from Its
tower and placed on
display at Independence
Hall in Philadelphia.
Banner of Freedom
The Stars and Stripes,
the U S. Flag, is the banner
of freedom. The first Flag
was adopted by Congress
in 1777. The British flag
dipped in surrender to the
Stars and Stripes in
Yorktown in 1781. Betsy
John AA. Moore First Postmaster
Perry's First Post Office
Established Dec. 1825
The United States Post
Office Department was
changed July 1, 1971 to
United States Postal
Service. Postage rate for a
first class letter increased
from eight cents in 1971 to
ten cents in 1972 and to
thirteen cents January 1,
1976.
The Perry Post Office
had 837 of its 90S boxes
rented in May this year
(1976). Boxes on the city's
four mail routes number
1,146 residential and 220
business. The total of these
figures is 2,903 units ser
ved.
There are three rural
routes out of the Perry
office and these serve 1,149
homes.
The present postmaster,
James Lawrence Hunt,
has served since July 11,
1958. Clerks are Luther
Mosteller who has served
since April 1, 1949; Bar
nette J. Hunt, Jr., an
employee since March 1,
1951; and Mrs. Agnes C.
Ross, wife of John Ross, is
said to have made the first
U.S. Flag.
The American Bald
Eagle is the national
emblem of the U.S.A. The
Eagle Is a symbolic guide
to freedom's unlimited
horizons.
The Statue of Liberty
The colossal Statue of
Liberty in New York
harbor commemorates the
birth of the United States
and friendship with
France. This $250,000 gift
of France was designed by
French sculptor, Frederic
Auguste Barthaldi. The
225 ton statue was shipped
to New York and officially
unveiled on Bedloe's (now
Liberty) Island in New
York Harbor on October
28, 1886.
Engraved on a bronze
plaque on the statue's
pedestal is the famous
sonnet of Russian Jewish
immigrant poet, Emma
Lazarus (1849 1887) which
concludes: "Give me your
tired, your poor, your
huddle masses yearning to
breathe free, The wretched
refuse of your teeming
shore. Send these, the
homeless, tempest tossed
to me. I lift my lamp
beside the golden door!"
Monuments
There are many
monuments and
memorials in the United
States to remind
Baker, an employee since
1962.
Rural carriers are
Courtney Mason, route no.
1; Louis Davis, no. 2;
Charles Kezar, no. 3. Mr.
Mason has been an em
ployee since 1962 and Mr.
Advis, since 1954.
City carriers are W.S
McCarty, no. 1 route;
Thomas R. Mayo, no. 2;
Melda D. Mathis, no. 3. Mr.
Mayo has been am em
ployee since 1962. Clifford
Rabanus is a part-time city
carrier.
James C. Van Dyke is a
part-time clerk. Thomas
R. Harvill and Joseph E.
Griggers are part-time
rural carriers.
History of Post Office
The Perry Post Office
became first class In 1959
after advancing to second
class In 1941. City delivery
in Perry began in January,
1949.
The present building was
occupied on May 18, 1960.
It is leased from the
Americans of their great
heroes and the terrific
price they and their fellow
countrymen paid for the
freedoms now taken for
granted.
Among the outstanding
of these are the
Washington Monument,
the National memorial to
Georgia Washington in
Washington, DC., com
pleted in 1888; the Lincoln
Memorial to Abraham
Lincoln in Washington,
D.C.; the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier in
Arlington Nationa I
Cemetery; and the Mount
Rushmore Memorial in
South Dakota.
A
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Uncle Sam
"Uncle Sam" is the folk
figure symbolic of the
State Motto Inscribed
Georgia Seal In
Use Since 1 799
The present Great Seal
of Georgia has been in use
since 1799 with the ex
ception of the period 1863
1865 when a specially
designed Great Seal was
used, and the period 1868-
1871, when it was hidden by
Secretary of State Nathan
C. Barnett. In 1872, it was
restored by Mr. Barnett
after Georgians were
again in power in the state.
In 1914, the date on the
Seal was changed by
legislative action from 1799
to correspond with the
year of the state's birth
and the birthday of the
United States.
Beckham family.
The first U S. Post Office
was established at Perry
December 23, 1825, ac
cording to government
records. The first post
master was John M. Moore
who served nearly eight
years. Twenty-five dif
ferent people, including
four women, have been
Perry postmasters from
1825 to 1976.
Growth
The postal receipts for
fiscal year 1975 are
estimated at $220,000 (July
1, 1975 to July, 1976).
Receipts for fiscal year
1970 were $158,351; for
1960, $64,000; for 1957,
$35,000; and for 1941,
$9,764.00. In comparing
these figures the increase
in postage from five cents
to eight cents and then to
ten cents and now at
thirteen cents must be
taken into account.
However, these increasing
receipts are an index to the
growth of Perry.
United States govern
ment. The name probably
originated during War of
1812. British cartoons
showed the figure as a
caricature of Abraham
Lincoln in the 1860's.
It is thought that the first
cartoon of "Uncle Sam"
appeared in the New York
Lantern in 1852. The artist
was F. Bellew. In 1870,
Thomas Nast, cartoonist
for Harper's Weekly,
added whiskers and a
starred vest to "Uncle
Sam".
The present likeness was
established by,- James
Montgomery Flagg's
World War I recruitment
poster of a white-bearded
man wearing a top hat
covered with stars and
pointing at the viewer
above the legend: "I Want
You for the U.S. Army".
There are those who
think that the map of the
United States should be a
reminder of the birthplace
and the homeland of man's
finest system of self
government.
It is well to remember
that our free enterprise
system has helped to make
possible our progress and
our prosperity. May we
dedicate ourselves anew to
making "America the land
of the free and the home of
the brave" as we fondly
recall our Freedom
Symbols.
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The description of the
Seal is as follows:
The device on one side is
a view of the seashore,
with a ship bearing the
flags of the United States
riding at anchor near a
wharf, receiving on board
hogsheads of tobacco and
bales of cotton, em
blematic of the exports of
this State; at a small
distance a boat, landing
from the interior of the
State, with hogsheads,
etc., on board,
representing the State's
internal traffic; in the
back part of the same side
a man in the act of
plowing, and at a small
distance a flock of sheep in
different postures, shaded
by a flourishing tree; the
motto thereon,
"Agriculture and Com
merce, 1776."
The device on the other
side is three pillars sup
porting an arch, with the
work "Constitution"
engraven within the same,
emblematic of the Con
stitution, supported by the
three departments of
government, viz., the
legislative, judicial, and
execufive-the first pillar
having engraven on it
"Wisdom ', the second
"Justice," the third
"Moderation"; on the
right of the last pillar a
man standing with a drawn
sword, representing the
aid of the military in the
defense of the Con
stitution; the motto, "State
of Georgia, 1776".
Annotated code of
Georgia, 1933, chapter 40-7,
code section 40 701. (Acts
1799, Cobb, p. 959. Acts
1914, p. 1247).
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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL THURS., JULY 1, 1974, I