Musings
and History
Quote
of the day:
A
good friend of mine had his house severely damaged in a flood in east
Baton Rouge a year ago and has yet moved back in. He called and told
me about his many options. I asked him if he had discussed all of
these with his wife Kathleen. He said that "I have and as usual
she is somewhat skeptical...it is a continuum of nagging."
A
while back at a Friday meeting of the “Four o’clock Club” a
rather winsome server came in to speak with the bartender. We all
knew that she was in law enforcement in the past and someone asked
her why she got out. She said that she could not make enough money.
There was long pause and one of the guys said “Do you still have
your handcuffs?”
Trivia
question of the day:
There
were 3 US aircraft carriers out on maneuvers during the Pearl Harbor
raid by the Japanese. Which were they? Answer at the end of the
blog.
Musings
and History
1784
On this date four counties in the state of North Carolina declare
their independence from the state and form a new state of Franklin.
The state of North Carolina has previously ceded some of the lands in
western North Carolina to the United States Congress. The residents
in these lands equaling four counties were afraid that Congress would
sell these lands to either France or Spain to pay off war debts
accumulated during the Revolutionary War. In order to prevent this,
the four counties form their own state. They had their own
constitution, legislature, courts and president. The president was
John Sevier who was a patriot warrior leader during the Revolutionary
War. Franklin existed on it’s own for two years but got into
financial trouble and offered to sell their lands to Spain. Needless
to say the state of North Carolina frowned on the prospect of having
a Spanish colony on their border and arrested Sevier. But the real
problem with the state of Franklin was that they had no appreciable
militia and this information got to the Cherokee, Chickamauga and
Chickasaw and raids on frontier villages in the state of Franklin
increased exponentially. So the state of Franklin asked to rejoin
the state of North Carolina if for no other reason that the
protection of the state militia from the Indians. These four
counties were absorbed into the state of Tennessee later on.
1861
On this date Allen Pinkerton arrested Rose Greenhow in Washington,
DC. Rose was an outspoken supporter of the Confederacy and was
without a doubt the leader of a very efficient spy network in the
nation’s capitol. Rose was close friends if not more with one of
the Senators from Massachusetts and many of his friends. Rose fed
information to CSA General P.T.G. Beauregard just before the Battle
of 1st
Manassas about the deployment of the Union troops commanded by US
General Irwin McDowell which resulted in an ass-kicking delivered by
the Confederates. After the war CSA General Jubal Early testified
that the information delivered by Rose was instrumental in the defeat
of the US army in more than one engagement. While Rose and her
daughter were under house arrest in Washington she was allowed to
have visitors which meant that he spy network did not slow down.
Pinkerton became very exasperated with Rose and her daughter “Little
Rose” and imprisoned her and her daughter in a real prison south of
Washington. After a while she and he daughter was released and
banned to live in the south until the war was over. Rose went abroad
to drum up money for the Confederacy. On one occasion she was on her
way back home to Charleston, SC when her ship was encountered by a US
blockade ship and was run aground. Rose was washed overboard from
her lifeboat and went to the bottom like an anvil because he had many
pounds of gold on her person meant for the Confederacy. She died
supporting her belief.
1877
Three years before outlaw John Wesley Hardin killed a deputy named
Charles Webb in a small town near Austin, Texas. This murder was
just one of several murders committed by this monster. If ever there
was a “bad seed” on this earth it was John Wesley Hardin. He
apparently took delight in killing, especially law enforcement
officers. The Texas Rangers tasked their best man, John Armstrong,
to find Hardin and bring him to justice. Hardin moved to southeast
using and alias and divided his time between Florida and Alabama.
The relentless Armstrong discovered his alias and tracked Hardin down
to a rail yard in Pensacola, Florida. On this date Armstrong and two
of his deputies boarded the rail car that held Hardin and two of his
compatriots. The two of Hardin’s compatriots tried to draw their
pistols and were shot and killed for their trouble. Hardin had a
pistol in a shoulder holster but he got tangled up and Armstrong ran
over and knocked Hardin’s brains out with the barrel of his pistol.
As you might suspect, Armstrong and his buddies being Texas Rangers
had no authority in Florida but Armstrong and company would not be
denied. They took the unconscious Hardin off the train and waited
until the next train headed west came by and got aboard. They
arrived in Texas with Hardin in tow. Hardin was tried and sentenced
to life in prison in the Huntsville, Texas prison. He spent 15 years
in prison and was paroled. He went to El Paso, Texas and tried to
settle down but a deputy sheriff found out who he was and walked up
behind him in a bar and blew his brains out at point blank range.
Born
today:
1932
US comedian Mark Russell. He said “I like the scientific theory
that the rings around Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline
luggage.”
1933
The governor of California Pete Wilson. When speaking of his
adversaries he said “They can kiss my ass, if they can jump that
high.” I like his attitude.
1834
US actress Barbara Eden. She said “If gentlemen prefer blondes
then I am a blonde that prefers gentlemen.” Barbara had a drop
dead body, y'all.
1970
US actor River Phoenix. He said “I am having a hard time
keeping my head above water in this crazy business.” This young
man was a dynamite actor who died of an overdose at the age of 23.
What a damned shame.
Died
today:
1960
US lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. He said “If you want to be
admitted to the fold of the brotherhood of man, you have to let
everyone else in also.”
1995
German photographer Alfred Eisenstadt. He said “As long as I
have a camera in my hand, I have no fear.” Good thought Alfred,
but I prefer a .45 Sig or a Remington 1100 20 gauge.
Answer
to the trivia question:
The
3 aircraft carriers that were absent during the Pearl Harbor raid
were the Enterprise, Lexington and Saratoga. They were instrumental
in the destruction of the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Midway six
months later
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
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