Andersons of Colonial N. Carolina

… Integrity and Kindness, opening doors for women, holding a door (just to be nice), letting a Cripple ahead, (just because), dressing up for funerals (to show respect) risking your Ass to protect someone weaker than you… you get my drift…

We truly have lost what our forebears tried to pass on to us…

In 1834 David Crockett, aka “Davey”, returned to his district in Tennessee (running for re-election) and was made aware of a “constituent” with an attitude. While traveling through his home district, Crockett was confronted by a man named Horatio Bunce who bluntly told him that he had “let him down.” The source of Bunce’s disappointment was Crockett’s support for a bill in Congress that appropriated $20,000 in federal funds to help victims of a devastating fire in Georgetown. Bunce argued that Congress had no right to take money from the people and give it away as charity, no matter how tragic the situation. Deeply affected by this rebuke, Crockett later rose in the House and delivered a powerful speech, famously declaring: “We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money.” This encounter crystallized Crockett’s belief that a representative’s duty was not to follow popular opinion or presidential pressure, but to strictly follow the Constitution—even when doing so meant opposing popular measures and risking political backlash.

Mr. Crockett narrowly lost his re-election bid in 1835,  Crockett was deeply disillusioned with his constituents and the political system. In a moment of frustration, he declared, “You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.” He then left Tennessee and headed west, eventually meeting his fate at the Alamo.

The above account is considered a myth and discounted… however, there are facts to consider:

What We Do Know for Certain:

• David Crockett did lose his re-election bid in 1835.
• He did leave Tennessee and travel to Texas in late 1835 / early 1836.
• He did die fighting at the Alamo in March 1836.
• He was known for his independent streak and opposition to Andrew Jackson.

However, the famous “You may all go to hell…” quote and the dramatic Bunce confrontation are not supported by reliable historical evidence and should be treated as folklore rather than fact.

What Actually Happened (Historical Facts)

• There was a major fire in Georgetown (near Washington, D.C.) in the mid-1830s that left many families homeless in cold weather.
• Congress did debate and pass a bill appropriating $20,000 in federal funds to help the victims.
• David Crockett did speak out against the appropriation. He argued that Congress had no constitutional authority to give away public money as charity, no matter how deserving the cause.
• Crockett believed that charity should come from private individuals, not from the federal treasury.

I find that is is hard to find the actual truth…

Modern Historical Scholarship (2026)

Modern historians have thoroughly examined this story and reached a clear consensus:

• The dramatic tale of Horatio Bunce and the emotional “Not Yours to Give” speech was fabricated in 1867 by a writer named Edward S. Ellis (writing under the pseudonym James J. Bethune) in Harper’s Magazine.
• Ellis published the story more than 30 years after Crockett’s death at the Alamo.
• Crockett scholar James R. Boylston published a detailed debunking in 2004, showing that the story is a 19th-century legend created for moral and political storytelling.

What Crockett Actually Believed

While the popular story is exaggerated, Crockett did hold a consistent constitutional view:

• He believed Congress had no constitutional authority to appropriate public money for private charity or disaster relief.
• He argued that such aid should come from private citizens, not the federal treasury.
• He opposed several individual relief bills on these grounds during his time in Congress (1827–1835).

In short: The principle Crockett stood for was real. The dramatic story with Horatio Bunce and the Georgetown fire is not.

Bottom line…

I do not believe anything I hear and only half of what I see..   gnome sane?

Perhaps the truth is somewhere in between?