A Lesson in Historical Accuracy

Admiral Harold Raynsford Stark was Chief of Naval Operations at the time of the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

He was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. While he was at Annapolis he picked up the Nickname “Betty”. He remained “Betty” throughout his long Naval Career. He was often referred to as Harold “Betty” Stark.

If you are thinking “Betty” is an unusual name for an Admiral you would be thinking correctly and how he got his Nickname is Interesting Foolishness.

************

This nickname came to rest on him because, when he was a Plebe at the Naval Academy, an Upper Classman while harassing him asked him if he knew of a General during the American Revolutionary War who had the same last name as Harold did...General John Stark.

Midshipman Stark had no idea who General John Stark was. The Upper Classman informed him that during the American Revolution, prior to the Battle of Bennington, General Stark had told his command, “We will win today, or Betty Stark will be a widow”.

The Upper Classman then ordered Midshipman Stark to shout out General Stark’s Famous Declaration every time he saw an Upper Classman.

Midshipman Stark did as he was told. He shouted “We will win today, or Betty Stark will be a widow” so often he became known as “Betty Stark” and he remained so for the rest of his life.

************

There is an Interesting Footnote to this Foolishness. General John Stark’s wife was actually named Molly. So, if the upperclassman had known his history a little better Admiral Harold “Betty” Stark would have been known as Admiral Harold “Molly” Stark for the rest of his life.

************

The Subject of this Blog Posting is “A Lesson in Historical Accuracy”, so let’s get back to talking about Historical Accuracy.

The story above came from a course entitled WW II: The Pacific Theater from an organization called...

The Great Courses... www.thegreatcourses.com  

The Great Courses Lectures are excellent! If you decide you want to buy a course, don’t get turned off by the high prices. The courses are always On Sale and are usually discounted by around 70%.

************

I researched General John Stark’s famous quote (“We will win today, or Betty Stark will be a widow”) on the Internet and found some quotes were close enough to not quibble about while not exactly the same...

Ø AZQuotes.com had 2 Quotes:
1. “Yonder are the Hessians. They were bought for even pounds and tenpense a man. Are you worth more? Prove it. Tonight the American flag floats from yonder hill or Molly Stark sleeps a widow!”
2. “There are you enemies, the Red Coats and the Tories. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow.” 

Ø Wikipedia had 1 Quote:
>"We'll beat them before night or Molly Stark's a widow."

Ø Goodread.com repeated #1 above:
> “Yonder are the Hessians. They were bought for seven pounds and tenpence a man. Are you worth more? Prove it. Tonight the American flag floats from yonder hill or Molly Stark sleeps a widow!”

It looks to me as if it is Historically Accurate to conclude that General John Stark’s wife was named “Molly” and not “Betty”.

************

I then stumbled through the Internet to a site called findagrave.com and found this...

Ø The General’s wife was listed as Elizabeth Page Stark.

Ø Elizabeth has many Nicknames. Some of them are Bess, Liz, Beth, Betsy and Betty.

It looks to me like it is Historically Accurate to conclude that General John Stark’s wife was named “Betty” and not “Molly”.

************

Are you still seeking Historical Accuracy? Fella says, take your pick but do so with the understanding that whichever one you pick you may be wrong, but if you then change your pick to the one that you did not pick the first time, you may be wrong. J

Would I kid u?

Smartfella