Brother Jonathan (1791)

Bapopik at AOL.COM Bapopik at AOL.COM
Wed Nov 6 03:24:03 UTC 2002


   "Brother Jonathan" is/was a symbol of our country, much like "Uncle Sam."  It's frequently also just "Jonathan," but that's difficult to trace.  There's also a food named after B.J.
   OED's first citation is 1816.  It's often mentioned that George Washington said this of "Brother Jonathan" Trumbull, of Connecticut, but no one's found anything in George Washington's well-scrutinized papers.
   Again, care of the American Periodical Series online.


   February 1791, THE AMERICAN MUSEUM, OR UNIVERSAL MAGAZINE (APS I, Reel 5), pg. 116:

   THE ANECDOTIST.--No III.
(...)
   THE first American vessel that anchored in the river Thames, after the peace, attracted great numbers to see the stripes.  A British soldier hailed in a contemptuous tone, "From whence came you, brother Jonathan?"  The boatswain retorted, "straight from Bunker's hill, d--n you."



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