• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About Us
  • Videos
    • Featured Video
    • Foodie Friday
    • Monthly ReCap
  • Online E-Editions
    • This Week’s E-Editions
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
  • Social Media
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
  • Advertising
  • Local Jobs
  • Puzzles & Games
  • Circulation Request

The Laker/Lutz News

  • Home
  • News
    • Land O’ Lakes
    • Lutz
    • Wesley Chapel/New Tampa
    • Zephyrhills/East Pasco
    • Business Digest
    • Senior Parks
    • Nature Notes
    • Featured Stories
    • Photos of the Week
    • Reasons To Smile
  • Sports
    • Land O’ Lakes
    • Lutz
    • Wesley Chapel/New Tampa
    • Zephyrhills and East Pasco
    • Check This Out
  • Education
  • Pets/Wildlife
  • Health
    • Health Events
    • Health News
  • What’s Happening
  • Sponsored Content
    • Closer Look
  • Homes
  • Obits
  • Public Notices

New Mexico

Some things truly are priceless

July 11, 2018 By Doug Sanders

Remember finding a coin or arrowhead and wondering if it’s worth anything?

Imagine having a large document signed by Abraham Lincoln, passed down from one generation to the next, and not really knowing its value or its history with the nation’s 16th president.

For now, it has a safe and protected place in the home of 84-year-old Martha M. Fountain, a lifelong resident of Zephyrhills.

Dated December 15, 1864, Martha Fountain proudly holds ‘The President’s Thanks and Certificate of Honorable Service’ signed by Abraham Lincoln at the Executive Mansion in Washington City.
(Doug Sanders)

She lives in a community that was founded in 1909 by Capt. Howard B. Jeffries as a retirement colony for Union Civil War Veterans.

A newspaper man himself, Jeffries would not have missed the opportunity to write about Martha.

She has been the artifact’s owner since her husband’s death in 2016.

Married for 31 years to Guy Joseph Fountain Jr., Martha remembers the document hanging in her husband’s office of the Best Way Electric Company in Dade City.

“I’m not much into history,” Martha explained during a recent interview in her home, with her caregiver at her side. “I don’t know much about my husband’s family history,” she added.

Following six months of research with several military websites and The History Center at the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village north of Dade City, the remarkable life of the man named on the Lincoln document begins to emerge.

It turns out Guy Fountain had a great-great uncle named Samuel Warren Fountain.

He was only 15-years-old at the outbreak of the American Civil War on April 12, 1861.

Samuel had to wait until 1864 before joining an infantry of the 8th Corps of the Army of West Virginia, which became famous for having future U.S. presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley serving in its ranks.

As part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864, Samuel Warren Fountain served under Maj. Gen. David Hunter during the Civil War. Hunter later achieved fame as the president of the military commission trying the conspirators involved with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
(Robert Massey)

Samuel Fountain graduated from West Point on June 15, 1870, four months before the death of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Lexington, Virginia.

Commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the 8th U.S. Cavalry, he was active for the next 20 years in military campaigns against Geronimo and Sitting Bull.

He once described a skirmish in New Mexico as “rough country where horses cannot go.”

During the Spanish-American War, Samuel Fountain served first commanding a squadron of the 8th Cavalry in Cuba.

As Adjutant General in the Philippine Islands, a captain on his staff was John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, who later served as the commander of the American Expeditionary Force on the Western Front during World War I.

In 1904, when Fountain was a lieutenant colonel, he was put in charge of security at the St. Louis World’s Fair.

According to the Arlington National Cemetery website, a local newspaper reported this:

“Under his direction the members of the guard controlled the great mass of people…and on the last day of the Fair, when disorder and vandalism were feared, every officer and member of the guard was on duty, and so placed that when the lights were out and the World’s Fair at St. Louis had passed into history, not a disorderly act had occurred, or a dollar’s worth of property had been destroyed.”

Ironically, Geronimo was also at the fair as a living exhibit intended as a “monument to the progress of civilization.” Under guard, he made bows and arrows while Pueblo women seated beside him pounded corn and made pottery. Geronimo also sold autographs and posed for pictures.

President Abraham Lincoln’s signature remains legible after 154 years.
(Doug Sanders)

Samuel Fountain was a brigadier general a year before the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in the nation’s capital. He gave a speech about Abraham Lincoln during his appearance before the Union League Club of Philadelphia on February 9, 1921:

“Other men have reunited a divided nation, or liberated an enslaved race, or carried to conclusion a fratricidal war, or swept immoral institutions from the earth by consummate Statesmanship; but no man ever combined and carried through, chiefly by the clarity of his mind and the purity of his character, several such gigantic enterprises in half a decade.”

Samuel Fountain died on Nov. 15, 1930, five months after the birth of Guy Fountain, and six years before the death of Capt. Howard Jeffries in New York City on March 20, 1936.

Martha Fountain recalls turning down an offer to sell the Lincoln document still in her possession.

But, with no children, she is undecided about its future.

At this point, she’s not sure what she will do with it. Before doing anything, she plans to consult her lawyer, John Council.

Council has had his own brush with preserving history, having a law office in Dade City at the historic red brick jailhouse, where the last legal hanging in Pasco County was carried out on Jan. 4, 1918.

MOSI wins national award from Noyce Foundation

August 4, 2014 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

The Museum of Science & Industry in Tampa has been selected as one of just seven museums in the country to receive the Bright Lights Community Engagement Award from the Noyce Foundation.

The award recognizes science centers, children’s museums and natural history museums that have done what it considers to be an outstanding job of engaging with their local communities, especially in areas like science, technology, engineering, art and math. It comes with an undisclosed monetary prize said only to be above $100,000.

“For decades, MOSI has been engaged in the issues of Tampa and the region, with particular emphasis on underserved and at-risk populations, and those who work with them,” said Ann Bowers, chair of the Noyce board of directors, in a release. “Outreach and community engagement are not a separate department at MOSI, but embedded in its organization culture and actions. Commitment to community and improving lives permeates everything this institution does.”

The goal of the award, according to the foundation, is to discover and shine a light on those willing to embrace their communities in new and profound ways. A panel of 15 judges helped select the winners.

MOSI provides more than $3 million annually in free passes, scholarships and memberships to those who cannot afford them. In addition, MOSI works with educators, Head Start teachers, families and children to increase science interest and improve science inquiry, according to a release.

“Our impact on students in the Tampa Bay community and beyond through outreach programs, scholarships and trainings, allow us to bring fun, interactive STEAM education to those who might not otherwise make it to our science center,” said Molly Demeulenaere, MOSI’s vice president of growth, in a release. “This award will allow MOSI to continue its mission of being an educational resource with an emphasis on underserved communities.”

Other museums winning the Bright Lights award include Explora in Albuquerque, New Mexico; the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul; the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California; the Hands On Children’s Museum in Olympia, Washington; The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia; and The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California.

The Noyce Foundation was created in 1990 to honor the memory and legacy of Robert N. Noyce, co-founder of Intel and inventor of the integrated circuit, which fueled the personal computer revolution and gave Silicon Valley its name.

The Bright Lights award and donation will allow MOSI to continue reaching underserved populations with initiatives like scholarships, outreach programs, teacher trainings, and science assemblies to help meet the needs of families and schools with limited resources.

For more information on the Museum of Science & Industry, visit MOSI.org.

Graduation rates in Pasco, Hillsborough, near state average

April 28, 2014 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Pasco County Schools is making progress toward raising graduation rates in its system, but a new report from the GradNation campaign shows that there is still some ways to go.

Pasco is graduating 77 percent of its high school students while the Hillsborough County School District is graduating 73 percent — both nearly in-line with the state average of 75 percent. Yet, there is some silver lining for Pasco, which has a graduation rate near that of Osceola, Lake, Collier and Sarasota counties, and not too far behind leading counties like Brevard and Seminole among the most populated school districts.

Graduation rates in Florida as a whole have been steadily rising over the past decade, from 57 percent in 2003 to 75 percent in 2012. Yet, those rates are still among the lowest in the nation, beating only Alaska, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon.

GradNation arrived at the numbers using what it called the Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate, which tracks a group of students who enter high school together and graduate “on-time” with a regular diploma. The rate accounts and adjusts for students who transfer in or out of the school, or who pass away.

Retired Gen. Colin Powell, who serves as founding chair for America’s Promise Alliance — one of the participating groups in the study — said in a letter with wife Alma Powell that nationwide, school graduation rates are climbing. However, to reach the 90 percent level, there is still more work to be done.

“Despite our gains, far too many young people still do not earn a high school diploma, and the number of non-graduates remains alarmingly high among young people of color, and those from low-income communities,” the Powells wrote in the letter. “In other words, a young person’s chances for success still depend too much on his or her ZIP code and skin color, and too little on his or her abilities and effort.”

The report was commissioned by Civic Enterprises, Everyone Graduates Center at the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University, and America’s Promise Alliance for Excellence Education. Efforts were put together after graduation rates had plateaued over a three-decade period. In the last 10 years, however, national graduation rates have climbed more than 10 percent, with a goal to move another 10 percent ahead by the Class of 2020.

Primary Sidebar

A Conversation with Lutz Filmmaker, Alexis Yahre

Search

Sponsored Content

Avalon Applauds Kids Helping Kids Pasco County 

May 10, 2022 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Congratulations to Kids Helping Kids Pasco County for being applauded by Avalon Park Wesley Chapel. The nonprofit … [Read More...] about Avalon Applauds Kids Helping Kids Pasco County 

Dynamic Duo Transforms Wedding Events

May 3, 2022 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

From diverse family backgrounds rooted in Vietnam and Puerto Rico, Bich (pronounced Bic) Le and Sandy Baez run … [Read More...] about Dynamic Duo Transforms Wedding Events

More Posts from this Category

What’s Happening

05/17/2022 – Bees & butterflies

The New River Library, 34043 State Road 54 in Wesley Chapel, will host “Bees & Butterflies” story times. Toddlers can attend on May 17 at 10:15 a.m., and preschoolers at 11 a.m. The stories will be repeated on May 18 and May 20, at the same times. Space is limited. Registration is required online at PascoLibraries.org. … [Read More...] about 05/17/2022 – Bees & butterflies

05/17/2022 – Make a mug cake

The New River Library, 34043 State Road 54 in Wesley Chapel, will offer these mug cake-making classes: May 17 at 1 p.m., for young children; at 5 p.m., for teens; and at 6 p.m., for grades four to seven. Participants should bring their own mug. Ingredients will be provided. All attendees must be registered online at PascoLibraries.org. … [Read More...] about 05/17/2022 – Make a mug cake

05/18/2022 – Cribbage Club

A cribbage club will meet every Wednesday at 6 p.m., at the Wilderness Lake Preserve clubhouse, 21326 Wilderness Lake Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes. Play is informal at this time, but by the summer, the club is hoping to play an organized nine games, and to join the American Cribbage Congress organization. For information and questions, contact Jim Correa at 732-322-7103 or . … [Read More...] about 05/18/2022 – Cribbage Club

05/18/2022 – Democratic Club

The Central Pasco Democratic Club will meet on May 18, via Zoom. Socializing will begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by the meeting at 6:45 p.m. Email , for more information. … [Read More...] about 05/18/2022 – Democratic Club

05/18/2022 – Florida landscaping

The Starkey Ranch Theatre Library Cultural Center, 12118 Lake Blanche Drive in Odessa, will host a UF/IFAS Extension seminar, “Florida Friendly Landscaping 101” on May 18 at 11 a.m. To register, visit EventBrite.com. … [Read More...] about 05/18/2022 – Florida landscaping

05/20/2022 – In-person service

Congregation Beth Chavarim will celebrate its first in-person service since the pandemic, with the Jewish religious holiday of Lag BaOmar, on May 20. For more information, email . … [Read More...] about 05/20/2022 – In-person service

More of What's Happening

Follow us on Twitter

The Laker/Lutz NewsFollow

Home for all your local news in Land O' Lakes, Lutz, New Tampa, Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills and Dade City.

The Laker/Lutz News
LakerLutzNewsThe Laker/Lutz News@LakerLutzNews·
21h

Need some summer-fun activities for the kids? The City of Zephyrhills will host free summer recreation programs for local youth, running from May 31 through July 7. https://buff.ly/3yDWdAB

Reply on Twitter 1526231280861470725Retweet on Twitter 15262312808614707251Like on Twitter 1526231280861470725Twitter 1526231280861470725
LakerLutzNewsThe Laker/Lutz News@LakerLutzNews·
23h

Showering teachers with tokens of appreciation!
.
.
.
The GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club has always prioritized education, and supports local teachers often. Check out what gifts they got them: https://buff.ly/3yy6pKJ

Reply on Twitter 1526200919343476737Retweet on Twitter 15262009193434767371Like on Twitter 15262009193434767371Twitter 1526200919343476737
LakerLutzNewsThe Laker/Lutz News@LakerLutzNews·
15 May

Soldiers returning from the Vietnam War often faced hostility and scorn. An event commemorating the 50th anniversary of that war had a much different tone. https://buff.ly/3l7S67C

Reply on Twitter 1525964240670040070Retweet on Twitter 15259642406700400701Like on Twitter 1525964240670040070Twitter 1525964240670040070
Load More...

Archives

 

 

Where to pick up The Laker and Lutz News

Copyright © 2022 Community News Publications Inc.

    Doc