Andrew Jackson: 3/25/1835

"Old Hickory."

During the Revolution, young Andrew Jackson refused to polish the boots of a British officer and was slashed on the arm with a sword and jailed. His mother died of prison fever while caring for captured American soldiers. Jackson carried a bullet in his body from a duel defending his wife's honor.

In the War of 1812, General Andrew Jackson defeated over 2,000 British in the Battle of New Orleans. On January 30, 1835, President Andrew Jackson survived an assassination attempt when Richard Lawrence fired two pistols at him at point blank range. Davy Crockett, who was with the President, disarmed the assailant.

On MARCH 25, 1835, Andrew Jackson wrote in a letter: "I was brought up a rigid Presbyterian, to which I have always adhered. Our excellent Constitution guarantees to every one freedom of religion, and charity tells us (and you know Charity is the real basis of all true religion)..judge the tree by its fruit. All who profess Christianity believe in a Saviour, and that by and through Him we must be saved." Andrew Jackson concluded: "We ought, therefore, to consider all good Christians whose walks correspond with their professions, be they Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist or Roman Catholic."

American Minute with Bill Federer

Johnny Appleseed: 3/18/1845

70-years-old, he visited his friend William Worth one evening, ate some milk and bread, read out loud from the Bible, laid down on the floor to sleep and never woke up. This was how John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, died on MARCH 18, 1845.

Johnny Appleseed's father, Nathaniel, was a Minuteman who fought the British at Concord in 1775. Johnny Appleseed collected seeds from apple cider presses in western Pennsylvania and planted nurseries from the Alleghenies to central Ohio, giving thousands of seedlings to westward bound pioneers. He lived at harmony with Indians, bringing them medicinal plants. During the War of 1812, Johnny Appleseed heard the British had incited an Indian attack, so he ran 30 miles from Mansfield to Mount Vernon, Ohio, to warn settlers.

Bare foot, wearing a mush pan over his eccentric long hair and an old coffee sack over his shoulders, Johnny Appleseed had a unique devotion to nature and the Bible. He called an apple blossom a "living sermon from God" and often quoted the Sermon on the Mount. Poet William Henry Venable wrote: "Remember Johnny Appleseed - All ye who love the apple - He served his kind by word and deed - In God's grand greenwood chapel."

American Minute with Bill Federer

James Madison: 3/16/1751

Called the "Chief Architect of the Constitution," he wrote many of the Federalist Papers which helped convince States to ratify the Constitution. He introduced the First Amendment in the first session of Congress. This was James Madison, born MARCH 16, 1751.

During the War of 1812, Madison proclaimed two National Days of Prayer, 1812 and 1813. When the British marched on Washington, D.C., citizens evacuated, along with President and Dolly Madison. On August 25, 1814, as the British burned the White House, Capitol and public buildings, dark clouds began to roll in. A tornado sent debris flying, blew off roofs and knocked chimneys over on top of British troops. Two cannons were lifted off the ground and dropped yards away. A British historian wrote: "More British soldiers were killed by this stroke of nature than from all the firearms the American troops had mustered."

British forces fled in confusion and rains extinguished the fires. Madison then proclaimed a National Day of Public Humiliation, Fasting & Prayer to Almighty God on November 16, 1814. Two weeks after the War ended, Madison proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving & Devout Acknowledgment to Almighty God, March 4, 1815.

American Minute with Bill Federer