I must confess, they all appeared to be the genuine article to me...until one got into a conversation and discovered their real world, 21st century background.
But that aside, it was a very pleasant and entertaining afternoon, a very worthwhile diversion, especially to see the many students who took a great interest in not only learning more about American history, but also showing off what they'd already learned.
Yours truly was there to talk about some of my many inventions, and also share some stories they might not have heard in history class.
Twice during the day, a group of Minutemen took up their arms, and demonstrated how shots were fired in the Revolutionary War. I wager to say not many of these students had previously seen old-fashioned guns like these, nor heard the noise and seen the smoke from a volley of shots.
One of the other highlights of the day was a "dance master" who not only taught the students a number of authentic dances from the 18th century, but also told them of a number of other fascinating things about that time -- even demonstrating a bit of swordplay!
Ben meets an actual Franklin descendant
And, here's the most interesting thing of all -- one of the re-enactors actually turned out to be a descendant of mine, a woman who traces her roots to the New England side of the Franklin family! In all my adventures during this amazing "time travel" experience, I somehow suspected that sooner or later I would come face to face with one of my descendants... and sure enough, now it has happened! That certainly made my day.
Bravo, town of Groton! What a wonderful way to make history come alive!
Your humble servant,
B.Franklin