Mark Twain read his own obituary in the paper

 

   Comedian Henny Youngman once said, “You know it’s going to be a bad day when you wake up and read your own obituary in the paper.”  Author Mark Twain could certainly attest to that.

  Early one morning in 1897, Twain arose and went downstairs to breakfast. He picked up the morning newspaper and was stunned at the headline. He sat slack-jawed and bug-eyed in disbelief. There, on the headlines of the paper, Mark Twain read his own obituary. 

     Fortunately, Twain was a humorist and saw the irony in all this. While he enjoyed a chuckle he was offended that the paper stated he died destitute in England. Although, his death made headlines in a few papers, there were some newspapers that weren’t so sure. Stories such as this obviously needed to be substantiated.  

    A leading wire service dispatched a reporter to Twain’s home to confirm the writer’s death. The reporter knocked on Twain’s door and was stunned when Twain himself answered. Twain issued an official statement; “A cousin of mine, James Clemens, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London, but is well now. The reports of my illness grew out of his illness. The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

     During his remarkable career Twain earned a fortune with his books. Unfortunately, by 1894, he was bankrupt. This was due to a number of bad investments. He had lost approximately half a million dollars on a wide range of inventions. These inventions included steam generators, marine telegraphs and the Paige typesetting machine that was supposed to simplify the process of typesetting. Actually, it complicated the typesetting process. Without a doubt the most ludicrous of these investments was a machine that would enable Twain to speak to the dead. Losing money on these investments made Twain swear off investing in crazy inventions.

     Finally, one day he was given the opportunity to invest in an invention that had been created by Alexander Graham Bell. An invention called the telephone.  Twain was concerned that this invention, like all the others, would fail. He turned down the chance to invest in Bell’s invention and he lived to regret it. Years later when a phone was installed in his house, Twain shook his head in disbelief. This was the one that got away.     

    Twain was born Samuel Clemens in Hannibal, Missouri in 1835. As a young man, he went to work on a riverboat on the Mississippi River. When he began to pursue his writing career, he remembered a term that was often used on the riverboats. This term became his pen name. Whenever a riverboat begins navigating unfamiliar waters, it is necessary to measure the depth of the water frequently. This is to make sure the water is deep enough for the boat to safely navigate. A crewmember would drop a weight on a measuring string into the water. Once he got his measurement he would turn and shout to the captain the depth of the water measured against his marker. For example he might say “By the mark…20 feet!”  There was one term that always made a riverboat captain feel comfort. It was a term that was used when the water was very deep and there was no sign of danger. The term was “By the mark…twain!”

  This is an excerpt from a book written by Michael Williams entitled "Stranger than Fiction: The Lincoln Curse." The book is a collection of 50 strange and unusual but true stories. The stories will leave the reader convinced that perhaps Mark Twain was right when he said "truth is stranger than fiction."

   The book is 187 pages in a softbound edition with numerous photos. The book can be purchased from amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping and handling or you can save shipping cost and save $2 on the purchase price by ordering a signed copy directly from the author. Send $17.95 to P.O. Box 6421 Sevierville, TN. 37864.

Visit the Web Site www.strangerthanfictionnews.com.

 

                            

                                            Adolf Hitler 

      In the 1930s, German dictator Adolf Hitler found himself in the position of being extorted by his nephew over some dirty family secrets that threatened to bring down Der Fuhrer’s regime. The threats brought the two Hitlers to conflict and compelled William Patrick Hitler to commit irrational acts.   

     Alois Hitler was Adolf Hitler’s half-brother. Alois had gone to England in 1910 where he married an English woman and had a son named William Patrick Hitler who was born in 1911. Alois abandoned his family in 1914 and returned to Germany where he married again bigamously. He never saw his son again until 1933. Alois remarried in 1916 and had another son named Heinz.

    When William was in his early 20s, he and his mother had experienced hardships. They subsided mostly from public assistance. William was delighted when he heard his uncle Adolf had rose to power in Germany and  hoped his uncle would be willing to help him and his mother by giving him a high paying job in the German Government.

   Following Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, William gave a few interviews to English newspapers in which he discussed his father, whom he couldn’t remember, and his uncle and half-brother, whom he had never met. He expressed a desire to meet his uncle and learn more of his family. 

    When Adolf read the articles he made arrangements to have his nephew and former sister-in-law flown to Germany for a meeting.

    William wanted to benefit from his uncle’s influence in Nazi Germany. Uncle Adolf found him a job in a bank. Later, William worked at the Opel car factory and then as a car salesman. Dissatisfied, William persisted in asking his uncle for a better job, and there were rumors he might sell embarrassing stories about the family to the press if he did not receive one. Among the rumors would have been his father's bigamous marriage.

    In 1938, Hitler asked William to relinquish his British citizenship in exchange for a high-ranking job. Fearing a trap, William panicked and fled Germany and then tried to blackmail Hitler with threats to air the dictator’s dirty family secrets to the press. Returning to London he wrote an article for Look magazine titled “Why I Hate My Uncle.”

    In 1939, William and his mother went to the United States on a lecture tour where he made a few lectures in which he vehemently criticized his uncle and further exposed his anti-Semitism.

              

       He discussed his uncle’s ideology in length of which he was critical. He went on to disclose the fact that mental illness and mental retardation ran in Hitler’s family. The dictator had one relative who was committed to a mental asylum, another who committed suicide, another who was described as “feeble-minded,” and another who was mentally challenged.

   During his regime, Hitler had many who were diagnosed with such disorders exterminated deeming them as “unfit for German society.”  

   Back in Germany, Hitler was enraged by reports of his nephew’s revelations. But, as his generals were quick to point out, he had more important matters to attend, the conquest of Europe. 

   While William traveled the United States on the lecture circuit. A year later, in 1940, the Battle of Britain began when the German Air force, the Luftwaffe, began hammering London in a relentless bombing campaign intended to bring the British to their knees. It was fortunate William had gone to America. During the last air campaign over England in 1942, the home William shared with his mother in Liverpool was completely destroyed. 

   His plans to capitalize on the lecture circuit were quickly coming to an end. No one was interested in anything a Hitler had to say. His money dwindling, he made plans to join the United States Navy. The two Hitler brothers would soon be on opposing sides.

     Meanwhile, William’s half-brother, Heinz, became a German officer stationed on the Russian front. Heinz received Christmas cards from his Uncle Adolf. Although, he kept in constant contact with his father and uncle he had no contact with William who was regarded as the black sheep of the family. Heinz later died in a Russian POW camp.

    Meanwhile, in Germany, the tide of the war had turned against Adolf Hitler. Allied armies successfully invaded Germany and began the siege on Berlin, the German capital. Hitler took up residence in an underground bunker where he committed suicide on April 29, 1945.

     With the death of Hitler the world began to once again move toward peace. But, peace would not be forthcoming for William. He was honorably discharged from the navy in 1947. He married a woman named Phyllis Jean Jacques with whom he fathered four sons, Alexander Adolph, Louis, Howard and Brian.

     He continued to write articles about his uncle and continued to lecture. But, the horrifying and shocking stories of the Holocaust were now known around the world and it wasn’t safe for Hitlers anywhere. The burden of his last name proved too much for William. He and Phyllis opted to have their names legally changed to disassociate himself with his infamous Uncle. 

   He had no grandchildren as all of his sons chose not to have children in an effort to end the Hitler bloodline. William died in 1987 and is buried in Coram, New York.

Michael Williams has written a book entitled "Stranger than Fiction: The Lincoln Curse." The book is a collection of 50 strange and unusual but true stories. The stories will leave the reader convinced that perhaps Mark Twain was right when he said "truth is stranger than fiction."

   The book is 187 pages in a softbound edition with numerous photos. The book can be purchased from amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping and handling or you can save shipping cost and save $2 on the purchase price by ordering a signed copy directly from the author. Send $17.95 to P.O. Box 6421 Sevierville, TN. 37864.

    The book is available as an e-book on Kindle Direct  at  http://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/KDPSelect. The e-book can be purchased for $3.99 or borrowed for free. 

  William Patrick Hitler

                                

The family of Benjamin Franklin was divided during the American Revolution. After the war, father and son never spoke to each other again 

   The Civil War is often referred to as the war that pitted brothers against brothers. Contrary to popular belief, the Civil War was not the only conflict in which this unfortunate phenomenon of dividing families occurred. It has happened in almost every war. Even the most famous families, or infamous families, have been divided by conflict.   

     American statesman Benjamin Franklin had done much to help his eldest son, William. He had even used his influence to help William get appointed Governor of New Jersey. This was a decision the elder Franklin would later regret.

      All was well in the Franklin home. But Benjamin began to notice William was adopting the aristocratic ways of British royalty. Benjamin wrote his autobiography in hopes that William would be influenced by his unpretentious life.

     When the Americans adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776, war was declared. Benjamin had worked on the committee with Thomas Jefferson to adopt the Declaration and his loyalties lay with the Americans. William, being a governor appointed by the crown, remained loyal to the British. Father and son were now on opposing sides in a conflict that would shatter family relations forever.

    By some accounts, William directed attacks against American targets including the burning of a library his father had built. His public criticism of his father was truly heart breaking to the elder Franklin. In the beginning, American patriots turned a deaf ear to William’s condemnation of the American cause because of their respect and admiration for his father. But, as time went by and tensions escalated it became impossible to ignore. By a resolution of congress, he was finally arrested and sent to Connecticut where he was imprisoned.

      Benjamin Franklin could have come to the aid of his son and have him released but he chose not to due to his lack of trust for William. Prison was not favorable to William. During his incarceration he lost all of his teeth. He was released during the war and spent the remainder of the war in England where he continued his vehement attacks of the Americans and his father.

     When the war ended he and his father never spoke again and William remained in England for the rest of his life. Benjamin died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84. In his Will he disinherited William reasoning, “If William’s England had won the war I would have no estate to leave anyone.”

      Michael Williams has written a book entitled "Stranger than Fiction: The Lincoln Curse." The book is a collection of 50 strange and unusual but true stories. The stories will leave the reader convinced that perhaps Mark Twain was right when he said "truth is stranger than fiction."

    He has written for more than 30 newspapers and magazines including the Civil War Times Illustrated, The Civil War Courier, the Associated Press and the Knoxville Journal.

     The book is 187 pages in a softbound edition with numerous photos. The book can be purchased from amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping and handling or you can save shipping cost and save $2 on the purchase price by ordering a signed copy directly from the author. Send $17.95 to P.O. Box 6421 Sevierville, TN. 37864.

                    

 

    Early in the afternoon in 1816, a Massachusetts farmer walked out into his fields and stopped to take in the unbelievable view that lay before him. It didn’t seem possible. He was experiencing crop failure as snow fell and the wind howled around him.

     He crossed his arms for warmth and trudged through the fields in stunned, silent disbelief. His breath turned to frost, the frozen ground beneath his feet crunched as he walked about gazing in horror at the wilted vines and plants that lay dead and dying at his feet. The farmer pondered why this was happening to him. Was this the wrath of God? How would he feed his family? How was it possible to get a foot of snow in the middle of June?

    It was June of 1816, and a foot of snow lay on the ground in New England. As far south as Pennsylvania, lake and river ice crusted the banks of the bodies of water. The temperature had dropped in a matter of hours bringing with it wintry conditions that destroyed crops and set the stage for famine around the world.   

     In Italy, red snow fell on many cities. Brown snow covered the ground in China where the unprecedented cold weather killed trees, rice crops and water buffalo. Two massive snowstorms held Quebec in its wintry clutches.

    It was the “Year without Summer,” the year following Mount Tambora’s eruption on the island of Sumbawa in Indonesia. The eruption occurred on April 5-15 1815 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 7. It was a super colossal event that ejected massive amounts of volcanic dust into the upper atmosphere. It was the largest eruption in more than 1,600 years. It was 10 times larger than Krakatoa and 100 times larger than Mount Vesuvius or Mount St. Helens. The eruption shot more than 100 cubic kilometers of molten rock more than 30 miles skyward. But, it was the massive cloud of nearly 400 million tons of gas that was released into the atmosphere that produced the year without summer and caused the most death.

   At the base of the mountain lay the peaceful village of Tambora. The village was home to more than 10,000 natives. All of who died during the initial eruption as a massive river of molten lava, a cloud of poisonous gas and thick clouds of ash raced toward their village. As the temperature in the immediate area around the volcano reached more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, many villagers were vaporized. The village was completely destroyed and a language, culture and race were lost forever.

   As the massive cloud of gas and ash drifted around the globe, the effects were catastrophic. The cloud of sulfuric acid became suspended in the stratosphere causing a veil over the Earth. The veil acted like a mirror bouncing the sun’s radiant heat back into space and decreasing the heat reaching the earth.

   The eruption disrupted China’s monsoon season resulting in the flooding of the Yangtze River in 1816. In India the delay of the monsoons caused torrential rains that aggravated the spread of cholera from a region near the River Ganges all the way to Moscow.  

    In North America, the cooler temperatures brought crop failure, which led to higher prices for produce followed by regional starvation and famine. 

    Europe, still reeling from the Napoleonic Wars, suffered food shortages and food riots broke out in London. In France, grain warehouses were looted. In landlocked Switzerland, the violence reached a fevered pitch where famine forced the government to declare martial law. In Ireland, a major typhus epidemic caused the deaths of more than 100,000. The epidemic was precipitated by the famine caused by the Year without Summer. The total fatalities from the famine in Europe are estimated at more than 200,000.

   This is an excerpt from a new book written by Michael Williams. The book is entitled "Stranger than Fiction: The Lincoln Curse." The 50 strange but true stories will leave the reader convinced that perhaps Mark Twain was right when he said "truth is stranger than fiction."

   Michael Williams has written for more than 30 newspapers and magazines including the Civil War Times Illustrated, The Civil War Courier, the Associated Press and the Knoxville Journal.

    The book is 187 pages in a softbound edition with numerous photos. The book can be purchased from amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping and handling or you can save shipping cost and save $2 on the purchase price by ordering a signed copy directly from the author. Send $17.95 to P.O. Box 6421 Sevierville, TN. 37864.    

For more information visit this web Site www.strangerthanfictionnews.com.

     

           

The scoreboard reflecting Georgia Tech's 222-0 victory over Cumberland    

    In 1915, Georgia Tech's football team was seeking to avenge an embarrassing loss in baseball. Tech's baseball team was thrashed by Cumberland College who shut out Tech in a 22-0 route. Georgia Tech's football coach, John Heisman, for whom the coveted Heisman Trophy is named, vowed to get revenge on the football field.

     Cumberland, located in Lebanon, Tennessee had played many of the teams in the southeast, but school officials opted to discontinue their football program in 1916. Unfortunately, they were scheduled to play Georgia Tech on October 7, 1916 and forgot to tell Georgia Tech who scheduled the game. As game day neared Georgia Tech officials found out Cumberland had no intention of fielding a team. It was too late for Georgia Tech's coaches to schedule another game with another school. This meant a loss of revenue as football games generate substantial amounts of income for colleges. With this in mind, Heisman insisted Cumberland play the game or pay a forfeit fee of $3,000 (equivalent to $63,000 in the current economy). Rather than forfeit the money, Cumberland's coaches decided to hastily assemble a team.

    Around the turn of the century, many had lost their enthusiasm for football. For most, it was a casual pastime. Teams were organized haphazardly playing prep schools one week and colleges the next week. Football schedules were much  less formal than today. 

     Cumberland's coach Butch McQueen enlisted the help of student manager, George Allen, to recruit 16 students, many fraternity brothers, to go to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech. Several of the students had limited experience in football and were completely unprepared. One student, Gentry Dugat, later recalled "I had played once in high school and once in prep school. They had promised me the first Pullman ride of my life and a chance to visit the home of my idol, Henry Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution."

    Compounding Cumberland's disadvantages was the absence of three players who missed the train in Nashville. With little time to practice, Cumberland took the field at Grant Stadium and set the stage for the most humiliating loss in college football history.

    The unskilled Cumberland team was like 13 little leaguers taking on a well-trained crack team of athletes. Georgia Tech's Coach Heisman was a stark contrast to McQueen. Heisman was one of the architects of the game. He was the originator of the forward pass. He created the scoreboard which listed downs, yards-to-go and other data. He devised the center snap and the hidden ball trick. He had his eccentricities, however. He banned his team from having hot water or soup theorizing it weakened them. His players were forbidden to eat apples, nuts and any other foods and beverages he personally did not like including coffee.

    He became incensed once with sports writers for their habit of assigning value to the margin of victory.

  "I have often contended that this habit on the part of the sports writers of totaling up the number of points each team has amassed in its various games and comparing them to one another was a useless thing.... We at Tech determined last year, at the start of the season, to show folks it was no difficult thing to run up a score in one easy game, from which it might perhaps be seen that it could also be done in other easy games as well."

   Cumberland was unaware they were about to become guinea pigs for Heisman's brutal theory.  Tech won the coin toss and performed their only act of charity during the game by electing to kick to Cumberland. Cumberland received the ball on the 25 yard line  

   Cumberland gained three yards before turning the ball over on downs. On Tech's first play, Everett Struper swept left and ran in a touchdown. This pattern continued throughout the first quarter with Tech scoring easily over the inferior team running in touchdowns one after another. The first quarter ended with Tech leading 63-0.

     The second quarter played out much like the first with Cumberland never making a first down and Tech never needing more than two plays to score a touchdown. The half ended with Tech maintaining a whopping 126-0 lead.

    One can only imagine what the coach at Cumberland told his players at the half time. The pep talk was never quoted but it would be hard to imagine anything he said would have been of comfort to his demoralized players. Anything he said would have seemed pointless or ludicrous. He might have told them "Boys, this game ain't over, yet. We could still come out and win it!" That's a tough sell. It's doubtful his team would have been encouraged.

    Heisman had a tough sell to make as well. He had to convince his boys not to get overconfident as they had not won the game yet and victory was not assured. That's a tough sell to make, too.

    Heisman was quoted as telling his team "We're ahead, but you just can't tell what those Cumberland players have up their sleeves. They may spring a surprise. Be alert, men."

    In the third quarter things got worse for Cumberland as Tech continued to rack up points and the Cumberland morale crumbled. At one point Heisman turned and noticed two Cumberland players sitting on his bench. He yelled at them to get back to their side of the field. One of the two men responded "Don't make us go back. We'll have to go into the game."

     Both teams were now showing signs of fatigue. The Tech squad was exhausted from all the running and scoring. An Atlanta Journal writer later wrote "As a general rule, the only thing necessary for a touchdown was to give a Tech back the ball and holler 'Here he comes' and "there he goes.' "

     At the end of the third quarter the score stood at 180-0.

     When the game finally came to an excruciating end for Cumberland the game stats were compiled. The final score was an embarrassing 222-0.  Neither team made a first down. Georgia Tech amassed 528 yards rushing, returned punts 220 yards and kicked off 220 yards and threw no passes. Cumberland lost 45 yards, completed two of 11 passes to gain 14 yards and fumbled nine times.

     Many football players exaggerate scores and other statistics. This was one game where no exaggeration was needed. As a result of this game a system of ranking teams was devised to prevent such debacles from occurring again.   

     The two teams got together in 1956 for a 40 year reunion to remember the history making game. George Griffin, a member of Tech’s 1916 team organized the reunion. At the reunion Gentry Dugat addressed the reunion and said “Little did we realize we were playing ourselves into immortality that day. We made you of Georgia Tech a great team.”  

   Michael Williams has written a book entitled "Stranger than Fiction: The Lincoln Curse." The book is a collection of 50 strange and unusual but true stories. The stories will leave the reader convinced that perhaps Mark Twain was right when he said "truth is stranger than fiction."

   He has written for more than 30 newspapers and magazines including the Civil War Times Illustrated, The Civil War Courier, the Associated Press and the Knoxville Journal.

     The book is 187 pages in a softbound edition with numerous photos. The book can be purchased from amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping and handling or you can save shipping cost and save $2 on the purchase price by ordering a signed copy directly from the author. Send $17.95 to P.O. Box 6421 Sevierville, TN. 37864.

                          

      The only known photo of the Georgia Tech-Cumberland debacle  

BY JERRY WALKER

“Anyone who looks with anguish on evils so great must acknowledge the tragedy of it all, and if anyone experience them without anguish, his condition is even more tragic since he remains serene by losing his humanity.”     -Augustine of Hippo

“Never be silent whenever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.  Neutrality helps the oppressor, not the victim.  Silence encourage the tormentor, never the tormented.”

-Elie Wiesel

Seventeen year-old Trayvon Martin was shot dead on February 26, 2012, by the captain of the neighborhood watch in a gated community in Sanford, Florida, a suburb of Orlando.  According to reports he was returning from the store to his father’s condo whom he was visiting.  According to reports, he was unarmed and wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

Zimmerman told investigating officers that he had been attacked and that he shot Martin in self defense.  The recent public outcry to this shooting has brought about an unprecedented outpouring of sympathy for the dead youth that has reverberated all the way to the White House.

On February 28, 2012, a thirteen year old Caucasian male was doused with gasoline and set afire by two young black assailants.  This horrendous incident took place in Kansas City, Missouri. The young man was first accosted when he was within two blocks from his home after leaving school.  According to his mother, Melissa Coon, “They rushed him at the door as he tried to get the door opened.”   “One of them poured the gasoline then lit a BIC lighter”, she stated.  The attacker spoke as he set the young boy ablaze, “This is what you deserve white boy.”  The attackers then fled.  According to Ms. Coon, her son was able to rip off his shirt and extinguish the blaze then called 911.   According to Detective Stacey Taylor of the  Kansas City Police Department, ”it was pretty bad stuff”.   The police was concerned that the young man had suffered damage to his eyes and lungs.   He was  rushed to the hospital where it was determined that he had suffered first degree burns  to his head and face.  Ms. Coon told a local television station that her family plan to move.  She said,  ”My five-year-old came in and asked me, Mom , am I going to be set on fire today?”  ”I was in tears”, she concluded.

In no way do I attempt to minimize the loss of life,  particularly for a person as young as Trayvon Martin.  However, is the fact that he was black and the other young man Caucasian a cause for such discrepancy in the public reaction and outcry.

Where were the black social activists,  the black Congress members and the black President during the actions of the “wilding mobs” of 2010 and 2011 and the attempted murder by burning of the young Caucasian male?  Where were the extensive, daily reports in the print and broadcast media denouncing these horrendous events? The marches, the demonstrations demanding justice for these victims?  Barak Obama stated on national television that, ” If I had a son, then he would look like Trayvon.”  What kind of statement is that being made by a President who completely ignored the “wilding mobs” and had not spoken out on crime and the violent devastation of the cities, which are encroaching into the suburbs and beyond, since his inauguration?  It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that he is now ‘playing the race card’ because of his desire to be reelected.

Was not the young Caucasian male his “son” since he purports to represent all Americans?  Was not the young Caucasian girls so brutally assaulted while still in their prom dresses during the Spring 2010 “wilding mobs” on the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri, his “daughters”.

This is not only a tragedy of justice, it is an abomination which reeks of spiritual filth.

It seems these days that in the eyes of some, blacks can do no wrong, no matter how wrong they be.

Then there are the ‘poverty pimps’ oops! , the black social activists like the reverends Jackson and Sharpton who seem to slither out of their respective holes agitating and aggravating whenever such issues of “racial injustice” surface.  Yet they could not utilize their ‘holiness’ nor their ‘righteous indignation’ to save Whitney Houston from the dark demons of drug addiction and despair.  Yet both had the unmitigated gall to sit their self exalted asses at places of prominence at her funeral.   And not a word spoken by either of them regarding the “wilding mobs” and the attempted murder of the young Caucasian  child.  Selective self righteousness or just plain racism?

The facts of the case regarding the shooting of Trayvon Martin are now coming to the light.   According to his lawyer and police reports, George Zimmerman suffered a broken nose, contusions and abrasions.   It may be that his claims of self-defense were not concocted.  Let the facts be known.

Also, news outlets are reporting today, March 26, 2012, that Trayvon Martin was not the pristine, innocent high school student that he had been portrayed to be.   According to these reports, Martin had been suspended from school on three occasions during the current academic year.

He was accused of vandalizing lockers and possessing a burglary tool along with women’s gold, silver and diamond jewelry.  Also, a baggie containing traces of marijuana and a marijuana pipe was found in his possession.

In addition,  there were reports that Treyvon Martin’s mother, Sabrina Fulton, has filed copyrights on two slogans utilizing her son’s image and name on T-shirts.  Is this the action of a grieving mother?

A FREELANCE ARTICLE BY JERRY WALKER

PLEASE READ “THE ANATOMY OF A WILDING MOB UPDATED” AT http://jerrywalkerspeaks.wordpress.com

UPDATE:  APRIL 9,  2012

Only now is the print and broadcast  news media starting to disseminate detailed information of the circumstances, situations and conditions leading to the Trayvon Martin shooting.  MSNBC led the “black, not yellow, journalism” in the reporting of the shooting.   MSNBC grossly obiterated the line drawn between pure, unbiased  journalistic reporting and social activism by allowing Al Sharpton, the host of the MSNBC program PoliticsNation, to function both as a reporter and supporter of the Martin family and friends.  He has appeared in numerous rallies calling for the arrest of George Zimmerman, the man accused of shooting Trayvon Martin, and later on the program was seen and heard reporting on the event.

The two following articles significantly clarify the events leading to the shooting.  Information only now being made known.

Zimmerman neighbor on robberies by ‘young black men’ before Trayvon shooting: ‘If you plant corn, you get corn’

By Dylan Stableford Senior Media Reporter

George Zimmerman’s Sanford, Fla., neighbor, said the neighborhood watchman protected his residence from a potential burglary several weeks before the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

Frank Taaffe, a former neighborhood watch captain, told CNN’s “Starting Point” that his house was in the process of being robbed on Feb. 2, but Zimmerman called Sanford police, who thwarted the robbery.

“My house was being robbed, and George on his nightly rounds watched this burglary in progress, called Sanford P.D., waited for them, and helped ensure that nothing bad happened to my house,” Taaffe said. “And it’s documented in the 911 call for February 2. That was my residence that George Zimmerman helped stop.” Zimmerman shot and killed Martin on Feb. 26.

“Neighbor-hood, that’s a great word,” Taaffe said.

Taaffe said that “young black males” were the perpetrators in the attempted robbery of his home. “We had eight burglaries in our neighborhood all perpetrated by young black males in the 15 months prior to Trayvon being shot,” Taaffe said. “It would have been nine.”

Taaffe denied that he told the New York Times that burglaries were done by “Trayvon-like dudes with their pants down.”

“I never said that,” he said. “I never used that term.”

But on CNN, Taaffe followed up the denial of an incendiary comment with another one.

When asked if, based on the string of robberies, Zimmerman should have been profiling Trayvon Martin the night of the shooting, Taaffe said: “There’s an old saying, ‘If you plant corn, you get corn,’”

“It is what it is,” he added. “I would go on record by stating that of the eight prior burglaries in the 15 months prior to the Trayvon Martin shooting, all of the perpetrators were young black males.”

The ghetto of Seminole County

Before Trayvon Martin, closure of housing projects stoked tensions in Sanford
Joy-Ann Reid

    In recent months we have watched in horror as certain districts within the inner-city of numerous American cities have been overrun with wild mobs of black youth. These mobs have appeared in the more pristine areas of such cities as Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Mo., and at the Wisconsin State Fair near Milwaukee. During their "wilding", the out-of-control young thugs brutally assaulted, robbed and generally wreaked havoc on the patrons, mainly Caucasians, of the stores, restaurants and entertainment venues of these areas. There was some looting, fortunately, there were no murders, not yet anyway.
    I utilize the term "wilding" as opposed to "flash" in describing these all black mobs because of their insidious, invidious and hideous natures and composition. Flash mobs are a recent phenomenon, occurring within the previous seven years. However, the phrase '"wilding mob" was incorporated into the modern English lexicon in 1989 as the result of a brutal assault and rape which took place in New York City's Central Park. In the early evening of April 19, 1989, a 28-year-old investment banker named Trisha Meili, was viciously attacked while jogging in Central Park. The young woman was brutally raped and was nearly beaten to death. According to police reports, there were numerous gangs of black youth entering the park from Harlem that evening resulting in numerous assaults and robberies. However, the assault against Ms. Meili was the most horrid, horrific and horrible. It resulted in an unprecedented public outcry for justice. According to the police reports the suspects were the gangs of black youth who, "would assault strangers as part of an activity which they referred to as "wilding". According to New York detectives, the word was used by the suspects themselves to describe their actions.
      In contrast, "flash mobs" are more benign in nature. They are usually utilized to promote popular public interest causes, advertisement, or just for entertainment purposes. One notable "flash mob" occurred on November 13, 2010, at the Welland Seaway Mall located in Niagara Falls, New York. The members of a local youth choral group appeared simultaneously in the packed food court of the mall and begin to sing the chorus to The Messiah , by George Friedrich Handel. It was such a moving rendition of the powerful composition that diners spontaneously stood and joined in the singing. The video for the event has received thirty-four million views on YouTube. Another took place in Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2009. Here, a group of almost 200 youth, including a few older adults, "flash mobbed" an upscale clothing store on Sunset Boulevard and performed a rousing rendition and dance of M.C. Hammer's You Can't Touch This. The YouTube video of this event showed that not one item of clothing on the racks and shelves of the store was touched by the young people on their way out. However, it is important to mention , that most "flash mobs", as were these, are usually almost one hundred percent Caucasian. Again, they are benign in their composition, purpose and nature unlike "wilding mobs", which are invariably one hundred percent black.
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    Allow me to mention at this time that I am African-American (Negarian). My family moved to Kansas City from Texarkana, Arkansas, when I was very young. I was raised in the Wayne Miner Public Housing Projects, in the historic twelfth and Vine and eighteenth and Vine jazz districts . I am a product of the Kansas City, Missouri Public School District having attended from kindergarten through twelfth grade. I attended the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Business and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Graduate School of Business. I served for ten years as an officer in the United States Air Force, attending both the Air Force Institute of Technology and Air Force University, obtaining the rank of Captain. In addition, I taught for six years as a long-term substitute teacher and one year as a contract teacher in the Kansas City, Missouri Public School District . The subjects I taught were Algebra, Advanced Algebra, Geometry, Computer Science and Trigonometry. During my seven-year tenure, I taught in six elementary schools, five middle schools and two high schools, with my last two years in the high schools.
    I do not condone racism no matter from where it raises its ugly head. The actions of these young black "wilding mobs" by their very nature were racist. The targets of the desultory violence, robbery and general mayhem perpetrated by these mobs were almost exclusively Caucasians. Hate crimes . Unlike many others, mainly within the black community, who have become apologists and generally downplayed the actions of these young criminals, I do not. The horrendous criminal behavior being manifested by young blacks nationwide is the direct result of a degenerative socialization process which begins in the homes in which they are raised. According to recent statistics fifty percent of the homes from which these youth come are matriarchal . Headed by young mothers who themselves are products of dysfunctional single parent homes. I refer to this as generational dysfunctional regression. Many of the youth who are products of such a home environment are themselves dysfunctional and devoid of essential humanistic personality characteristics such as respect for authority and the rights of others, ambition, aspirations, and most importantly educational achievement. I base my observations on my experience as a teacher within the Kansas City , Missouri School District during the period 1999 through 2006 and my own experience of having been raised by a caring mother from who I learned the lessons leading to success.
    I was appalled during my very first day as a substitute teacher at the Chester Anderson Alternative Middle School located at that time in Independence, Missouri, a predominantly Caucasian suburb, however still considered to be within the Kansas City Missouri School District (another article in and of itself). Many of the seventh grade students whom I was attempting to teach showed an utter disregard for my authority. They constantly cursed aloud in the classroom and were totally disinterested and inattentive to my math instruction. When I would admonish the disobedient students, I would be immediately involved in intense verbal altercations which in many instances verged on the point of escalating into physical altercations. My initial thoughts were that since this was an alternative school, which was the designation for certain schools for students considered incorrigible and had been expelled from other schools, things would get better. Was I ever wrong. In many of the other schools not so designated, it was much worse.
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    Toward the end of my tenure I felt more like a corrections officer in a juvenile detention facility than a teacher.
    The physical violence in the schools was palpable. In one instance while teaching Algebra at the Paseo Middle School for the Performing Arts, I happened upon one of the other math teachers, a female, being brutally beaten by a group of four seventh grade female students. I immediately intervened, the police were called and the students were expelled. Within the two high schools, Paseo High School for the Performing Arts where I taught Advanced Algebra, and Northeast High School where I taught Algebra, Geometry and Trigonometry, I was personally involved, on numerous occasions , in stopping vicious fights between students. Many times I was threatened by students and on two occasions physically assaulted. Once by a female student at Chester Anderson Alternative Middle School and by a senior male student at Northeast.
    When I was assigned to Northeast High School in 2004 it was nationally known for the academic achievements of its students and, most notably, the fact that there were in excess of sixty immigrant languages and dialects represented within its student body. In the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 academic years, the district started to bus black students in from middle and south Kansas City. The change was immediate. Chaos, classroom disruptions, violence, verbal and physical attacks on teachers, and most importantly, lower academic, expectations and achievement. These bussed students adversely impacted the entire student body. Many of the immigrant students started to emulate the thuggish way and manner which many of the bussed students conducted themselves. Therefore, I was appalled, however not surprised, when I read in the Kansas City Star (April 3, 2011), that a student who had been expelled from the prestigious Lincoln College Preparatory Academy for bringing a pocketknife to school, had been "banned" to Northeast High School as "punishment". Apparently, Northeast's descent into decadence was complete to where it had become an "alternative school ".
    The finger-pointing by the black apologists for these "wilding mobs" span the spectrum from the existence of overt and covert ( institutional ) Caucasian racism, lack of activities for black youth, to poor quality teachers within the school districts. There is an old adage which says, "when you point a finger, there are three pointing back at you"'. Despite the current economic stagnation, ample opportunities exist for those who have either prepared themselves educationally or with some type of marketable skill. Given the age group of the "wilding mobs", and, based on historical economic trends, by the time they reach the age for gainful employment the economic woes will likely have passed. However, many of these youths will be unprepared to take advantage of the economic opportunities presented. As a result, they will enter young adulthood bereft of the essential attributes which would allow them to become constructive and productive citizens, and to assimilate or blend within the 'melting pot' which is the United States of America. Never in the history of the nation has there been such a propitious time for, as Martin Luther King so eloquently alluded , "the matriculation into the University of Human Integration". In regards to overt and covert (institutional) Caucasian racism, they still exist. However, again in the words of Dr. King quoting what he referred to as an "old Negro spiritual", "we ain't where we wanna be, we ain't where we gonna be, but thank GOD we ain't where we were".
As to the lack of activities for black youth. When did it become incumbent upon the areas such as Center City in Philadelphia, and the Plaza in Kansas City to provide "something to do" for "wilding", broke black youth? These pristine areas are for the entertainment, recreation and shopping for the spending public regardless of skin color. They are not for "wilding mobs to find something to do".
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    We know now what that something is. The questions must be asked, "What happened to the billions of dollars poured into the black communities meant to enhance the standard of living and the quality of life for their inhabitants?" "Where is the economic, recreational and entertainment infrastructure for which these monies were intended?" Many of the apologists for these "wilding mobs" are the same individuals and organizations who have received such government funding over the years. Even before the War on Poverty declared by then President Lyndon Baines Johnson during his State of the Union Address on January 8, 1964, then President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated such efforts with his New Deal program in 1933. More recently, "what happened to the billions of dollars appropriated under the Faith Based Initiative program and allocated in 2000 by then President George W. Bush whereby these monies were granted to religious organizations within the black communities for the same purposes established by the New Deal and the War on Poverty?" Again, the outcry from these same recipient organizations and individuals was an attempt to rationalize the actions of these "wilding mobs", and put the onus for their existence on the "white man".
    In regards to blaming the teachers in the school districts. Though there may be a few ineffective and inept teachers I would venture to say that most of the teachers in the predominantly black school districts throughout the nation are dedicated, committed professionals who teach under severe, adverse situations, circumstances and conditions. The nonpartisan research group Public Agenda conducted and released a study titled "Unruly Pupils Take Toll On Class, Teachers". This study was released in May 2004. The findings of the study was based on a mail survey of 725 public school teachers in middle and high schools and a telephone survey of 600 parents of public school students in grades five through twelve. Some of the vital findings of the study were:
1. Most teachers in middle and high schools said misbehavior by some students is such a disruptive, pervasive force that a majority of students suffer for it.
2. . . .the cumulative problem of routine unruly behavior is undermining academic achievement.
3. Approximately one-third of the teachers have considered quitting because of the lack of student discipline.
4. One third of the teachers said they know colleagues who had quit or were forced out as a result of student misbehavior.
5. . . .schools back down from discipline when parents threaten lawsuits.
6. The major cause of the lack of student discipline is that too many parents fail to teach their children discipline.
I am not the only one within the African-American community who espouse the precept and concept that contemporary blacks are contributorily negligent for their wretched plight and that they should be held accountable for their actions and the actions of their "wild things". Numerous other African-Americans have addressed this issue honestly and forthrightly.
On the evening of Friday, July 29, 2011, in a district similar to the Plaza in Kansas City called Center City located in Philadelphia, a "wilding mob" descended and brutally assaulted and robbed numerous Caucasian patrons. According to the Washington Times, "the worse injury was a man kicked in the head so savagely that he was hospitalized with a fractured skull".
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    According to the Times, there were four arrests including an eleven-year-old juvenile. Michael Nutter, an African-American and the Mayor of Philadelphia, was outraged. According to the Associated Press while addressing the congregation of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church one week after the attacks, he stated that he was speaking as a "proud black man". He then chided black parents for abrogating their responsibility for "doing a better job raising their children". Addressing the young thugs he said, "You've damaged yourself, you've damaged another person, you've damaged your peers and, quite honestly, you've damaged your own race". He continued, "Let me speak plainer. That's part of the problem in the black community. . .We have too many men making too many babies they don't want to take care of and then we end up dealing with your children." Later in an interview with the Associated Press Mayor Nutter reiterated the point that he spoke as "a proud black man in this country". He went on to say, "It was a message that needed to be said. It needed to be said at this time;. . . people have had enough of this nonsense, black and white". "This is about personal responsibility ", he concluded, "We have to be straightforward."
    Mayor Nutter had many detractors within the black community disparaging his remarks. These critics, almost without exception, invariably blamed the "white man" for the existence of the "wilding mobs". However there were those who supported him.
In an interview with the Associated Press J. Whyatt Mondesire, President of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP, stated, "Nutter said things that needed to be said". In a separate interview, Philadelphia's first African-American District Attorney , Seth Williams, also lauded the Mayor for utilizing his elected position as one of the city's most visible leaders to confront the problem of the "wilding mobs". "What he was saying was perfectly accurate. People needed to hear that", Williams stated.
In recent years other prominent African-Americans have addressed the issues and intervening factors that were the catalyst or impetus resulting in these "wilding mobs".
Bill Cosby, in a 2004 speech addressing the NAACP gathering commemorating the Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education Supreme Court decision that ended segregation in education, said, "These people marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around. I can't even talk the way these people talk, 'Why you ain't', 'Where you is'...and I blamed the kid until I heard the mother." Again, generational dysfunctional regression. Regression instead of progression. Devolution not evolution. Degeneration not regeneration.
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    Then presidential candidate Barak Obama in a 2008 Father's Day address to the predominantly African-American congregation of the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago stated, ". . . we are reminded today that family is the most important. And we are called to recognize and honor how critical every father is to that foundation. . . But we must be honest with ourselves, we'll admit that too many fathers also are missing--missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it. . . That children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to drop out of school and twenty times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems. . . or become teenage parents themselves." Again, generational dysfunctional regression.
    Dr. John McWhopper, an African-American, then an associate professor of linguistics at the University of California-Berkeley, published a book in the summer of 2000 entitled Losing the Race: Self Sabotage in Black America in which he concluded , ". . . that the lagging academic performance of African-American students isn't caused by the residual effects of prejudice or poor schools, but by a 'cult of anti-intellectualism' that has infected black America". Dr. McWhopper based his premise and conclusion on his observation and study of the performance of black students on the Berkeley campus. "The black students were the worse students on campus", he wrote. "they are held back by three defeatist thought patterns". These 'defeatist thought patterns' according to Dr. McWopper were:
1. the Cult of Victimology , which leads blacks to blame their problems on white racism.
2. the Cult of Separatism, which makes blacks think that whatever whites do, they should do the opposite; and
3. the Cult of Anti-Intellectualism, which hold that scholastic excellence is a white thing.
    While teaching Algebra at Central Middle School, one of my female students approached my desk while I was grading the results of a test which I had just administered. She said to me in a very serious manner, "Mr. Walker, a lot of the students know Algebra but they did not want other students to know that they know." In my naiveté and ignorance I asked her why that was. She replied, "They would be made fun of (ridiculed) or jumped on (beaten)." I was taken aback after it finally dawned on me what she was saying. In essence, a classic example of the "cult of anti-intellectualism" in middle school.
Kansas City, Philadelphia and many other of the affected cities have instituted curfews in order to stop the "wilding mobs". This action is more proactive than pre-emptive. Law enforcement should identify these mobs as they form and intercept them before they reach certain areas. This is imperative in order to protect the law-abiding, spending public out for a night on the town.
    This article is timely even though the last of these events took place six months ago, in August 2011. As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, it is not just pure journalistic reporting but also social commentary. Note also that these "wilding mob" incidents in 2010 and 2011 took place during the months June through August, warmer months when school is not in session. Be assured if a more direct, confrontational and preemptive approach is not taken by law enforcement, we will witness these violent, horrendous events again during the summer of 2012, only on a wider more destructive scale.
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     George Washington, the father of our country, could arguably be regarded as the first action hero. While he garners much respect and reverence, his humble beginnings were, at times, somewhat comical. Early politics in America was vastly different by today’s standards. There were things politicians could do then that they are absolutely forbidden to do today. Following two successive political defeats, Washington quickly learned a thing or two about campaigning. He learned that to win an election sometimes a politician had to stoop to the level of his opponent.  

     The first election George Washington won was not for President of the United States. It was for a seat in the Virginia House of Burgesses under British Colonial rule. His technique for winning the election was questionable. He got many of the voters drunk.

     The House of Burgesses was the first elective assembly Great Britain established in its overseas possessions. In 1755, before the United States declared her independence, 23-year-old George Washington decided to run for burgess in Frederick County, Virginia.

     Winning would not be an easy task. He was unpopular with the voters because, as commander-in-chief of Virginia’s frontier forces, he had seen it necessary to seize horses and wagons from the locals to bolster his own forces. He had also conducted a campaign against the local saloons where his soldiers became unfit for service. Washington lost in 1755.  He tried again in 1757, but, to no avail. He began to study his opponents and their tactics for winning. He noticed that his opponents would appear at the polling place as the votes were being cast. Here they would do a little last minute campaigning. Most often his opponent was armed with a jug of whiskey or rum. His opponent would offer the voter a quick drink to ease their thirst and remind the voters to vote for him.

     In   1758, Washington ran for burgess again. This time he had a political strategy he knew wouldn’t fail. He would simply outdo his opponents in their offering of whiskey. In the process he would get the voters thoroughly liquored up. Whether or not he intended to get the voters thoroughly inebriated is subject to debate. But, the fact remains a lot of liquor was consumed that day.                                                  

     On Election Day, Washington was away with the militia. Therefore he sent a friend, Lieutenant Charles Smith, to tend to the election in his absence. Smith appeared at the polling place in Frederick County ready for some last minute campaigning. Unlike Washington’s opponents, who showed up armed with a single gallon of liquor, Smith arrived with a horse drawn wagon loaded with 160 gallons of various liquors. This included 28 gallons of rum, 50 gallons of rum punch, 34 gallons of wine, 46 gallons of beer and two gallons of hard cider. He also had a number of mugs from which the voters could drink.

   Washington had spent several weeks making the liquor himself. That’s right! George Washington, like many farmers of the day, was a moonshiner. He was ready to kick this campaign into high gear and give new meaning to the term political party.  

   As the voters appeared Smith offered them a few drinks to quench their thirst. He invited them to drink to their heart’s content. Many of the voters who appeared that day clearly were not Washington supporters. But, after a few large mugs of whiskey they began to warm up to ol’ George. Smith took this last opportunity to make one final speech on Washington’s behalf to the inebriated constituents. The drunks, that is, the voters who had only hours before disliked George Washington, were now applauding him. No one knows how many voters got drunk that day. But all 160 gallons of liquor was consumed in the festive event. 

      Washington won the election receiving 310 votes. He beat out 3 other opponents.  One has to wonder if the voters woke up the next morning with a hangover and asked, “I voted for whom?”

     In 1761, Washington was reelected to the House of Burgesses. This time there was no drinking involved. He employed a different tactic. He had a dinner party complete with fiddler in which he entertained his constituents. Today, handing out drinks at the polls is strictly forbidden.

This is one of 50 strange but true stories in a new book written by Michael Williams. The book is entitled "Stranger than Fiction: The Lincoln Curse." The stories will leave the reader convinced that perhaps Mark Twain was right when he said "truth is stranger than fiction."

    Michael Williams has written for more than 30 newspapers and magazines including the Civil War Times Illustrated, The Civil War Courier, the Associated Press and the Knoxville Journal.

    The book is 187 pages in a softbound edition with numerous photos. The book can be purchased from amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping and handling or you can save shipping cost and save $2 on the purchase price by ordering a signed copy directly from the author. Send $17.95 to P.O. Box 6421 Sevierville, TN. 37864. For more information click on this link http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Than-Fiction-Lincoln-Volume/dp/1463714858/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337860320&sr=1-1

               

    May Pierstorff became the only child in history to be mailed  

   Throughout the history of the U.S. Post Office, postal regulators have been forced to write a postal manual comprising numerous rules and regulations. This was as a result of abuses in the postal system. Throughout the years, numerous patrons have attempted to mail items that were not intended to be mailed. But, because there were no rules in place in the early days of the post office, many items that should not have been mailed were delivered by the post office. Perhaps, the most unusual items mailed were a child and a building.

   In 1914 the parents of 4-year-old May Pierstorff needed to send their daughter to stay with her grandmother in Lewiston, Idaho. The Pierstorffs lived in Grangeville, 100 miles away. There were no airplanes in the area, nor did the Pierstoffs own a car and a train ticket was out of their budget. There was only one way to get their daughter to her destination. They would have to mail her.

  The couple took the little girl to the post office and told the clerk they wanted to mail the daughter. The clerk thought the couple was insane. He explained it was against postal regulations to mail a child. Mr. Pierstorff asked him to show him it was against the regulations. The clerk thumbed through the postal manual of rules and regulations and could not find a rule against mailing children.

  Left with no options the clerk glued 53 cents in stamps to her coat lapel. May’s mother gave her a sandwich for her journey. She was now the property of the U.S. Postal Service. May said goodbye to her parents and went to the shipping room where she sat with other packages. Later that afternoon, she and other packages were loaded onto a wagon and transported to the train station. Hours later, the train pulled into the train station in Lewiston and the precious cargo was delivered safely to her grandmother’s house.    

  Since then the postal code has been amended making it against regulations to mail people.

  W.H Coltharp became the only man in history to mail a building. Coltharp was put in charge of building a bank in Vernal, Utah. He found the brinks he needed in Salt Lake City, 127 miles away. He realized that shipping the bricks by wagon freight would be too expensive. But he soon discovered he could mail the bricks through the mail for a fraction of the money. He had the bricks packed into 50 pound boxes and sent to the post office. Before long, 40 tons of bricks were moved through the post office. The bricks were delivered and the bank was constructed. Since then the post Office has adopted a rule stating no more than 200 pounds of parcel may be sent in a single day.

    This is one of 50 strange but true stories in a new book written by Michael Williams. The book is entitled "Stranger than Fiction: The Lincoln Curse." The stories will leave the reader convinced that perhaps Mark Twain was right when he said "truth is stranger than fiction."

    Michael Williams has written for more than 30 newspapers and magazines including the Civil War Times Illustrated, The Civil War Courier, the Associated Press and the Knoxville Journal.

    The book is 187 pages in a softbound edition with numerous photos. The book can be purchased from amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping and handling or you can save shipping cost and save $2 on the purchase price by ordering a signed copy directly from the author. Send $17.95 to P.O. Box 6421 Sevierville, TN. 37864.

            

                                                     Chief  Two  Moons

   One of the most colorful and controversial generals in U.S. history was General George A. Custer. Had it not been for his premature death at the age of 37, he would have emerged from the pages of history as little more than a footnote.

    But, it was his death in the face of overwhelming odds that permanently sealed his place in history. Most Americans are familiar with Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. But, few are familiar with the stranger than fiction mistakes this seasoned war veteran made that led to he and 210 cavalrymen being wiped out. Fewer still are familiar with the treasure buried in the Black Hills that bears his name.

   Custer's elite force, the vaunted Seventh Cavalry, was comprised of 650 men. They were assigned to put down an Indian uprising in the Black Hills that stretched from present day North Dakota to Montana. The land was regarded as sacred to Native Americans. However, prospectors had discovered gold in the area and soon a gold rush began bringing prospectors by the thousands to the area much to the chagrin of Indian leaders. Desiring to stop the white encroachment,  the Indians began assembling in what was soon to become the greatest race war in U.S. history.

    In June of 1876, the Seventh Cavalry departed Fort Abraham Lincoln destined for Little Bighorn to put down the uprising and protect the prospectors. The men were promised five months back pay when they arrived at the Little Bighorn River. The Army was notorious at the time for falling behind on paying the soldiers. Morale was very low and Custer feared paying the men ahead of time would result in mass desertions.

    Once the men were encamped on the Little Bighorn River more than $25,000 in gold coins and paper currency was distributed. The money and other needed supplies had been delivered by the steam ship Far West.  It was here that Custer made the first of several mistakes that sealed his fate and the fate of his men.  As the supplies were unloaded, Custer noticed the men taking two Gatling Guns off the ship. These guns were the early version of machine guns and could spew out hundreds of rounds of bullets in seconds. Custer looked the guns over and, in his classic cocky and arrogant demeanor, said "put them back on the ship. We won't need them."

     The next day he led his men into battle. He was warned by his scouts to turn back as they had seen the village and there were more Indians than they anticipated. Seriously outnumbered but still over confident in his abilities, Custer divided his command among three commanders. He took 210 men and proceeded north where he foolishly allowed himself to trapped in a valley and he and his men were all killed in less than 30 minutes.

    It was 50 years later that Chief Two Moons, a Cheyenne chieftain, disclosed some information that came as a surprise to many and sent treasure hunters scrambling to the Black Hills.

    According to the old chief immediately after the battle the Indians began robbing and mutilating the bodies of the soldiers. While rummaging through their pockets they found the gold coins that had been paid to the soldiers the day before. The Indians considered this to be blood money and placed the coins into a saddle bag. The bag was then buried in the foothills. Two Moons then drew a map to the treasure and gave the map to W.P. Montcure, an entrusted white trader that lived on the reservation in Busby, Montana.  

    Moncure agreed not to look for the treasure. For reasons known only to him, Two Moons wanted Montcure to eventually give the map to the tribal council which would go out and retrieve the treasure in 1986, the 110th anniversary of the battle. Montcure put the map inside the old chief's tomb when he died. In 1966, someone broke into the tomb of Two Moons and stole the map.

    Since then, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been searching for the map and the treasure. Was the story a hoax perpetrated by an old Indian chief or was it real? If it were a hoax the federal government would not have wasted time and money investigating the theft of the map.       

   This is one of 50 strange but true stories in a new book written by Michael Williams. The book is entitled "Stranger Than Fiction: The Lincoln Curse." The stories will leave the reader convinced that perhaps Mark Twain was right when he said "truth is stranger than fiction."

   Michael Williams has written for more than 30 newspapers and magazines including the Civil War Times Illustrated, The Civil War Courier, the Associated Press and the Knoxville Journal.

    The book is 187 pages in a softbound edition with numerous photos. The book can be purchased from amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping and handling or you can save shipping cost and save $2 on the purchase price by ordering a signed copy directly from the author. Send $17.95 to P.O. Box 6421 Sevierville, TN. 37864.

 

      Some  would  consider   President  John Quincy  Adams  to  be  a  male  chauvinist  by  modern  standards.  In truth, he was simply a product of his time. At  the  time  of  his  presidency (1825-1829)  women  had  few  rights. They couldn’t vote or own land, nor did they have a right to an education. The best a young girl could aspire to was to grow up, marry and become a house wife. Few jobs outside the home were held by women. Essentially, women were second-class citizens. This unequal role thrust upon women of the period was widely accepted by a consensus of American men and Adams had no intention of changing what he perceived as a perfect system.

     Gradually, there began a movement advocating social change in regards to women’s rights. Known as women’s suffrage, the movement had little public support in the early nineteenth century because many women who advocated suffrage supported the movement in silence. Fearing the wrath of their husbands if they made their opinions public, they simply kept their opinions to themselves.

     If the women’s suffrage movement were to gain any momentum they would need someone of great influence to lend his support. Perhaps, the women’s movement needed someone such as the President of the United States. 

     There was one problem. Like most other men, President Adams felt that a woman’s place was in the home and opposed women’s rights. Therefore, he would not even address the issue and rarely was he asked to discuss the subject. If the issue were to be addressed then a woman reporter would have to discuss the issue with Adams.  The problem was that no newspaper would hire a woman reporter, as journalism was a man’s job.

     Enter Anne Royal. She was the advocate the suffrage movement needed even if her tactics were questionable. She began to print her own progressive newspaper advocating suffrage.  She publicly challenged Adams to discuss women’s rights with her, but he refused. She made repeated requests for an audience with the president but was curtly rebuffed each time. Gradually, she grew frustrated and began to stalk the president looking for an opportunity to discuss the issue with him. In modern times, Anne’s tactics would have gotten her arrested. But, the law was different in the 19th century. There was no law that would have forbidden her from pursuing the president. Besides, there was never any malice in her intent. She simply wanted to speak with him about an important issue. 

     She frequently walked past the White House and began watching the president studying his comings and goings. To illustrate how tenaciously she pursued the president, she discovered an opportunity to meet with him one morning—it was before sunrise while she was observing, or stalking, him. She learned that President Adams liked to go skinny-dipping in the Potomac each morning at 5 a.m.  The following morning she put her plan into action.

   She waited patiently in the forest overlooking the White House. Then as dawn slowly overtook the darkness she saw the president emerge from the back door of the White House. Fortunately, for her, there was no secret service in those days. Therefore, when the time was right, she would have the president at her mercy. 

    The president began walking down a path to the Potomac. Anne followed undetected at a distance. She gave Adams time to disrobe and get into the water. Convinced he was in the water she then made her move.

    Adams swam for about an hour. Then he began swimming back toward shore unaware of Anne’s presence. He stood up and began walking toward shore when he heard someone say “Good morning, Mister President.”  Startled, he looked up and realized that Anne was sitting on his clothes on a tree stump.  Surprised, he quickly turned and sat down into the water to cover himself. Remembering he was a gentleman, he smiled and politely asked Anne to please leave so he could get dressed.  She answered his request with a stern “No.”

   Adams, taken aback, repeated his request. Again, she refused to leave until he heard her arguments for women’s rights. Adams was stunned. Although he was naked, he was still the President of the United States and he was being held against his will by a woman. How dare she? 

     By now, he was becoming angry. He again requested that she leave. When she refused he threatened to have the soldiers arrest her. “Go get them” she responded. 

    Realizing she would not be reasoned with he was running out of options. He had tried every way he could think to reason with her but to no avail. Finally, there was one other option. He would try to reason with her with a tactic men have used with women since the dawn of man. He began begging and pleading. Still she refused.

    Faced with no options, Adams agreed to hear her arguments. He was embarrassed as he sat in the water for more than an hour discussing women’s rights. When she was convinced she had made her point Anne got up and walked away, thus, ending the strangest press conference in history.

   This is one of 50 strange but true stories in a new book written by Michael Williams. The book is entitled "Stranger Than Fiction: The Lincoln Curse." The stories will leave the reader convinced that perhaps Mark Twain was right when he said "truth is stranger than fiction."

  Michael Williams has written for more than 30 newspapers and magazines including the Civil War Times Illustrated, The Civil War Courier, the Associated Press and the Knoxville Journal.

   The book is 187 pages in a softbound edition with numerous photos. The book can be purchased from amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping and handling or you can save shipping cost and save $2 on the purchase price by ordering a signed copy directly from the author. Send $17.95 to P.O. Box 6421 Sevierville, TN. 37864.

For more information click on this link http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Than-Fiction-Lincoln-Volume/dp/1463714858/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335520495&sr=1-1

 President Barack Obama continues to mislead the American public by under reporting the unemployment statistics in the nation. This deliberate attempt to conceal the true unemployment picture is intended to convince the voter that all is well and the economy is recovering. In fact, a closer examination of the true statistics, reveal nothing is further from the truth.  

Through effective data-twisting from the White House and their compliant allies in the news media, the Bureau of Labor Statistics'  reports the unemployment rate at 8.3 percent, when in fact it is closer to 15.1 percent according to leading economists. One inescapable fact continues to hound the president. No president has won re- election since the Great Depression when the unemployment rate was more than 8 percent.But a 15.1 percent unemployment rate makes the prospect of a second term much more remote.

 Dig deeper into the unemployment stats  and you will find that the real-honest-to-God national jobless rate is much higher than 8.3 percent  because the true picture includes numbers BLS leaves out of its employment equation.

The BLS does not include in its unemployment statistics the number of Americans that has given up looking for a job and dropped out of the workforce and those who are forced to take temp jobs or are working fewer hours. The under employed seem to be the forgotten Americans in the latest unemployment stats.

In January the president made the announcement the economy was improving and more than 300,000 jobs had been created in December. What he failed to mention was that these jobs were seasonal jobs and temporary. He also failed to mention that working age adults not participating in the labor force--those neither employed nor looking for work -- increased by 88,000."

More ominous for Obama and his bid to be a two-term president is that most economic forecasters do not see the jobless rate falling below 8 percent by November. The economy appears to be slowing down and with it, new job creation, economists say.

"Going forward, unemployment is not likely to fall much further and could rise again," says University of Maryland's Business School economist Peter Morici, who has been severely critical of the president's sorry jobs record.

"Fourth-quarter growth was stronger as the global economy recovered from first-half disruptions such as the earthquake in Japan, but going forward, economists expect growth to slow to about 2 percent," Morici said.

This highlights the big under-reported story in Obama's persistently lackluster jobs record: the rapidly declining labor force participation rate.

"In the latest, much celebrated, unemployment report, the labor force participation rate had plummeted to 63.7 percent, the most rapid decline in U.S. history," writes economist Peter Ferrara.

"That means that under President Obama nearly 5 million Americans have fled the workforce in hopeless despair," Ferrara adds.

 The nightly network news made a big deal of the 243,000 new jobs that were created in January, but what they did not report was that 1.2 million discouraged workers had simply dropped out of the workforce, Ferrara reported.

But they were not counted among the unemployed because they had ceased looking for a job and that sent the unemployment rate down.

“They may desperately need and want jobs. They may be in poverty, as many undoubtedly are, with America suffering today more people in poverty than in the entire half century," says Ferrara. "But they are not counted in that 8.3 percent unemployment rate that  Obama and his media cheerleaders were so tirelessly celebrating last week."

Add these discouraged dropouts and Obama's shameful unemployment rate climbs to 11 percent. Still, that is not the true rate of unemployment.

There is more fuzzy math  in the BLS's statistics. Another 2.8 million, BLS said, "wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months,"

But they weren't counted as unemployed because they said they had not looked for a job in the previous four weeks.

All of these workers, discouraged drop-outs and the so-called "underemployed" forced to work part-time or temp jobs, pushes the real jobless unemployment rate to 15.1 percent.

How the BLS arrived at an 8.3 percent unemployment rate is difficult to ascertain considering 16 states, including the most populated, had jobless rates that fell between 12.3 percent and 8 percent in February. Among them: Nevada, 12.3 percent; Rhode Island, 11 percent; California, 10.9 percent; North Carolina, 9.9 percent; Florida, 9.4 percent; Georgia and Illinois, 9.1 percent; New Jersey, 9 percent; Michigan, 8.8 percent; Kentucky, 8.7 percent; and New York, 8.5 percent.

Obama insists we're moving in the right direction, even though unemployment rates remain very high by historical standards. Economists say the unemployment figures are still dreadful.

"The unemployment rate today, 10 quarters after the end of the recession, is still a full two percentage points higher than it was during the peak of the last recession in 2003," Heritage Foundation economist J.D. Foster told Human Events.

In the fourth year of Ronald Reagan's presidency, after a deep recession, unemployment was 7.5 percent. It was a tame 5.8 percent in 2008, the last year of George W. Bush's presidency. Can Obama do any better? So far he hasn't.

Even Obama's supporters in the news media think he has failed miserably on the economic front, especially on jobs.  Liberal New York Times economics columnist Paul Krugman says, "things are not O.K. -- not remotely O.K. This is still a terrible economy."

 

             

 Is the Lincoln family cursed? Since 1865 four American presidents have been assassinated. Each time a president is murdered he is in the company of a member of the Lincoln family. 

    Sevier  County News editor Michael Williams has written a book that is currently available on Amazon.  “Stranger Than Fiction: The Lincoln Curse”  is a collection of 50 stories  that prove, in the words of Mark Twain, sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction.

   According to Southern lore, a dying Confederate, versed in the dark arts, placed a curse on the Lincoln family on the day General Robert E. Lee surrendered.  Soon afterwards, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and calamity befell everyone who assisted or abetted the Lincoln family. In the next 98 years three more American presidents were assassinated. Each time an American president has been murdered, he was in the company of a member of the Lincoln family.

    Mary Lincoln was with her husband the night he was shot. Robert Lincoln, the president’s eldest son, was with his father when he died the next morning. Robert Lincoln was in the company of President Garfield when he was gunned down 16 years later. The same Robert Lincoln was in the company of President McKinley when he was felled by an assassin's bullet 20 years later. Evelyn Lincoln, personal secretary of President Kennedy, was near the president when he was slain 62 years later. Is it a curse or coincidence? Either way it proves truth can be stranger than fiction.

   Read about how medical bungling killed President Washington who was accidentally bled to death and marvel at the antiquated medical procedures that prompted one doctor to propose resurrecting Washington shortly after he died.

   Read how President Garfield died as a result of medical bungling. Why did a Japanese soldier go on fighting World War II for 29 years after it had ended?

   Examine the photo of Abraham Lincoln's ghost taken by a spirit photographer and decide for yourself is it authentic or a hoax?

   Muse at the antics of love starved sailors who almost took their ship apart and attempted to set sail in the dilapidated vessel to gain the affections of several island women.

   Read about the origins of the custom of awarding presidential pardons to turkeys. Read about the deadly wolf peach and how it became a part of the American diet.

   You'll be intrigued by the bizarre deaths of several prominent people including a well-known detective who died from biting his tongue.

   Learn of General Custer's lost treasure and of the American president who once gave a press conference in the nude.

   Who was the queen whose corpse received a coronation after she died?

   Why was an elephant publicly executed in East Tennessee?

   Read about the wayward outlaw who was given the nickname "The stupidest outlaw in the west."

    Read about the outlaw who started a movie career that spanned several decades after he was shot to death.

   You'll be mystified at Mark Twain's premonition of his brother's death. It was a premonition that came eerily true. And imagine how you would feel if you woke up one morning and read your own obituary in the paper. It happened to Mark Twain.

   These and many other stories will leave the reader convinced that perhaps Twain was right when he said "truth is stranger than fiction."

   Michael Williams has written for more than 30 newspapers and magazines including the Civil War Times Illustrated and The Civil War Courier.

   The book is 187 pages in a softbound edition with numerous photos. The book can be purchased from amazon.comfor $19.95 plus shipping and handling or you can save shipping cost and save $2 on the purchase price by ordering a signed copy directly from the author. Send $17.95 to P.O. Box 6421 Sevierville, TN. 37864. 

 

                                      

                                                      Amy Greene

  For years, East Tennessee's own  Amy Greene had toiled as an aspiring writer with hopes of penning a national best seller. Her dreams came to fruition with the publication of the best selling novel "Bloodroot" which has received rave reviews and sent the humble author from Russellville on a national book tour.

  Her work has been compared to Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" by author Wally Lamb who wrote "Greene's novel has everything I savor in fiction. Flawed but sympathetic characters, a narrative as unpredictable as it is engaging, and a setting rendered with such a vivid palette of local-color detail that you'd swear you were there."

 Greene's novel is the saga of Myra Lamb, a wild girl with mysterious, haint blue eyes who grows up on remote Bloodroot Mountain. Her grandmother, Byrdie, protects her fiercely and passes down “the touch” that bewitches people and animals alike. But when John Odom tries to tame Myra, it sparks a shocking disaster, ripping lives apart. Bloodroot is the dark and riveting story of the legacies—of magic and madness, faith and secrets, passion and loss—that haunt one family across the generations.

  Born in Morristown, Greene makes her home in Russellville with her husband. Having grown up in East Tennessee, she is familiar with culture of the mountain people and the isolation that sets them apart and often makes them appear to be living in a time warp. Greene describes the mountain life as being like "a paradox, with mysticism in the area that has an isolating effect."

  She drew from her own experiences to craft the characters that formed the basis of the story.

   "Of all the characters, Byrdie was the easiest to develop," Greene said. "She was a lot like my Mother and my aunt. John Odom was the most difficult to create. He was abusive and I have never been in an abusive relationship."

  The publication of her novel took the aspiring writer by surprise. After years of seeking a publisher, Greene attended the Swanee Writer's conference where she made several contacts that helped make her dream a reality.

  "It has been a whirlwind,"Greene said. "I have done numerous interviews on TV, radio and newspapers. I have been sent to San Francisco to start a book tour and made part of the Random House bureau of writers. I have become more comfortable with public speaking now."  

  While there has been talk of making "Bloodroot" into a movie, Greene says its only in the talking stages at this point. While the book ended with unresolved issues, Greene says she has no immediate plans to write a sequel.

  "If you tie up a story with a bow where everything ends perfectly, then the story has no life beyond the pages," Greene said. "If there is too neat an ending, then the stories end. I have no regrets. Maybe one day I might revisit the characters, but right now I am not interested."

 Currently, Greene is devoting her energies to her next novel which is the process of editing.The novel is the story of the Longman, the spirit of the Tennessee River.

                   

  After selling out headlining concerts in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville, ACM and CMA Vocal Group of the Year Lady Antebellum brings its Need You Now Tour to the Knoxville Civic Coliseum this Friday Nov. 11 at 8 p.m.

   “I feel like we were just writing songs for our very first show at this small club in Nashville,” said Hillary Scott. “I can remember being so nervous to perform in front of just a handful of people that night and to think now we’re beginning to headline our very own tour is unbelievable. We have our fans to thank for following us every step of the way and can’t wait to show them what we’ve worked up!”

    The Hollywood Reporter commented of the group’s momentum, “In only a few short years, country trio Lady Antebellum has risen from obscurity to superstardom…the group is attracting the sort of rabid fandom that clearly signals they're no flash in the pan.”

   The Grammy Award-winning trio’s TRIPLE PLATINUM album NEED YOU NOW debuted at #1 on Billboards Top 200 chart and has already spawned the multi-week #1 smash hits “Need You Now”, “American Honey” and “Our Kind Of Love”. Lady A’s current single, “Hello World”, is already in the top 20 and appears destined for another #1 spot.

   Lady Antebellum first took country music by storm in 2008 with the release of their self-titled PLATINUM certified debut album, which generated the hits "Love Don't Live Here," "Lookin' For A Good Time" and their #1 hit "I Run To You."

  Tickets are $49.50 plus a service charge and can be purchased  by calling 877-995-9961 or 865-656-4444. 

 

                                   

                                                          Harry Houdini 

    It was 85 years ago today, Halloween, 1926, that legendary magician and escape artist, Harry Houdini died at Grace Hospital in Detroit, Michigan at the age of 52. Houdini's  death was the result of peritonitis caused by a ruptured appendix. Houdini had once vowed that he would escape the spirit world, if it were possible, to contact his loved ones.

  If anyone could escape the spirit world, Harry Houdini would be the man to do it.

  Houdini became world famous, in the 1890s and early 20th century, as a magician but was known more for his mind boggling escapes. He had escaped from straight jackets while being suspended upside down from flag poles. He had escaped a locked trunk that had been dropped into a frozen river and he stunned the warden of Scotland Yard Prison by escaping the prison that many believed was escape proof. Nothing could hold the Great Houdini.

 Shortly after his mother's death, the grief stricken Houdini began consulting spiritualists and mediums in hopes of contacting his dearly departed mother. He quickly saw through the parlor tricks utilized by these con artists who frequently excelled at swindling grieving people out of their money.

  Houdini began exposing these fraudulent mediums and attacking the spiritualism movement. He quickly made legions of enemies among the spiritualists. At the time he lived, the spiritualism movement was a rapidly growing belief attracting many. The religion was rooted in a philosophy of making contact with the dead through seances. Grieving family members seeking to contact their dead relatives eagerly handed over large sums of cash to the mediums in exchange for helping them make contact. Houdini, and others like him, exposed these phonies and the spiritualism movement  suffered a demise of its own.  

  Houdini once told his wife, Bess, that when he died he would contact her if it were possible. The couple devised a coded message he would give Bess so that she would know she was in the company of her departed husband.

  Following his death, Bess conducted seances each year in an effort to contact him from the spirit world.  Each year for 10 years, Harry Houdini failed to make contact leaving Bess to conclude that her husband had slipped the surly bonds of this life and entered into a realm that even he could not escape.

  The widow of Harry Houdini, Bess, ended her attempts to contact her dead    husband's spirit in 1937.

  Although, Bess ended her attempts to contact Houdini in 1937, seances continue to be held each year at various locations across the nation. Today at 1:26 p.m. the exact moment Houdini died, a seance was held at the Houdini Museum in Scranton Pennsylvania.

  Did Houdini return? According to Dorothy Deitrich, director of the Houdini Museum, during the seance, the candelabra that was used, suddenly began to burn brightly. After the seance ended and the attendees left the museum, a hawk was sighted sitting on the chimney outside the museum. Coincidentally. Houdini used a hawk in his show shortly before he died. Was this a sign from Houdini? If so, it wasn't the first.

   Dietrich recounted another instance that occurred on the fiftieth anniversary of Houdini's death in a picture of Houdini performing his water torture trick fell from the wall. No one was near the picture when it fell.  

                            Have a safe and happy Halloween  

I was probably around the age of four years old when my papaw, that's grandfather for those who aren't from the south, started taking me to visit his brother in the nursing home.  From what I remember, it was normally once a month and always on Sunday afternoon.  I loved going!  I was always so excited; the nurses were always as kind to me as were the residents.  My great uncle always let me straighten his covers for him.  If he felt like being up, I could help push his wheelchair.  We always took him some type of candy, usually the peppermint patties that come in a box.  He would always share them with us and to this day they are still my favorite.  He was always so quiet, gentle, and kind, he never frightened me.  I never remember being afraid of any of the residents, they were just like the folks I was accustomed to being around at church or family gatherings.  They just lived in town instead of out in the country and they need a little extra help.  They were always telling stories about their lives growing up, their families, asking me questions, teasing me, just being normal folks.

 

I can still remember when, how, and where my mother had to break the news to me that he had passed away.  He was the first person I had ever really known that died.  I believe that was when I first realized exactly what a nursing home really was.  The aging process and death became a very real thing to me at the ripe old age of six.  As other friends and family would have to be cared for in the nursing home, I would visit but the carefree attitude I once had was gone.  The innocence of a young child had been squelched at his passing.    

 

I had the great pleasure of hearing a very lovely story that happened within this year.  A friend of mine whose mother had been cared for at one of our local nursing homes was entering the building for a visit when she was welcomed by the wonderful fragrance of roses.  As she entered her mother's room there was a beautiful arrangement of roses.  Not sure what the occasion was, she began to question the staff and was delighted to learn that not only had her mother received this gracious gift, but the other residents as well.

 

A very prominent businessman in our little town of Sevierville had gotten married and after the ceremony, he instructed the florist to deliver the roses to the residence of the nursing home.  My friend was so moved and appreciative that someone would remember her mother and others who are not so often thought about.  This most gracious individual was Mr. R.B. Summitt.  He did this not for notice or recognition, but to bring some enjoyment to those who just need a bright spot in their world, a beautiful bloom, a sweet fragrance, perhaps a long forgotten memory. 

 

So many times we see these stories with pictures and commendation for public service.  But, who was it really for, the person giving or for the recipient.  I commend Mr. Summitt for his generosity and for his quiet giving.  He hasn't a clue that this story is even being made known.  That is what is called true graciousness.  I hope that you will consider this when you decide who to do business with around our little town. 

 

Let's keep our eyes and ears open to what is really going on in Sevier County and see who is giving back to our community.  Let's look at how we can be gracious and kind and quiet in our giving.  Let us recognize those who are always willing to lend a hand, or brighten a day, or just lend an ear.  When it's all said and done, it's the little things in life that make it worth living.

--

Karen Patrick

   A Tennessee man recounts the tragedy that left him floating in shark infested waters for 5 days leaving more than 800 servicemen dead.

  "It was living a nightmare" Edgar Harrell, 86, said of his wartime experiences.

   Harrell was born in Golden Pond, Kentucky and joined the Marine Corps. Shortly after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, that led to the U.S. entry into World War II.  

  Harrell reached the rank of corporal and was assigned to the U.S.S. Indianapolis. On the night of July 30, 1945, the 21-year-old Harrell was working night watch on the cruiser.

 "We had just left the Philippines destined for Tinian Island," Harrell recalled. "We had dropped off a top secret shipment in the Philippines. It was so secret our captain didn't even know what it was. We were told to get the shipment to the island as soon as possible because every day wasted costs American lives."

  The Indianapolis set sail from San Francisco and sailed 5,500 miles in 10 days. After the top-secret cargo was unloaded, the Indianapolis set sail for Tinian.

  Months later, Harrell, along with other survivors, discovered the shipment they delivered were components to the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima and helped bring an expedient end to the war. 

  Then came that fateful night of July 30 that set into motion a series of events and blunders that culminated in the worst loss of life in the history of the U.S. Navy.

 "I had just finished my shift at midnight. I went down below deck to get my blanket and pillow," Harrell said. "It had been so hot that Captain McVay gave us permission to sleep on deck where it was cooler. I was getting ready to lie down under a gun turret. Suddenly, there was an explosion."

 The Indianapolis had been torpedoed by a Japanese submarine under the command of Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto. Six torpedoes had been fired. Four missed and two hit their target with deadly accuracy. The second torpedo slammed into the ship's magazine bringing a second and third explosion that sent shock waves over the stricken vessel.      

  "There were men running around with flash burns and some had severe burns," Harrell recalled." I saw one officer walk up from below deck. When he came into view I realized he was in shock. He had large pieces of charred flesh hanging from his body. He was badly burned."

 Captain Eugene McVay gave the order to abandon ship. Harrell and countless others grabbed life jackets and took the plunge into the ocean.

 "From where I was I watched as the mighty ship rolled over on its side," Harrell said.    

 The still night air was filled with the sounds of men shouting, water splashing, and the roar of a raging inferno and the anguished cries of the injured and dying. 

 "As the ship was rolling over I saw several men jump from the deck to the water," Harrell said. "Some jumped as the ship rolled. I saw several men fall into the propellers where they were cut to pieces."  

 Within moments the hulking ship sizzled as she slipped beneath the waves into the murky depths. Chaos and confusion reigned as McVay tried to restore some semblance of order.

  "It was pitch black out there," Harrell said. "McVay ordered us to huddle together to get into groups so we could be accounted for and to ensure our safety. There were 80 men in my group. Most of us had life jackets. Some didn't."

 Once everyone was assembled groups, McVey conducted a head count. Of the 1,197 men onboard, 900 had been safely evacuated and were treading water. 

  When morning came most of the men seemed optimistic that rescue would soon come. Little did they realize the worst was yet to come.

 "When morning came we were in bad shape," Harrell said.  "Many of the men had been burned or wounded and some had broken bones."

 The intense tropical heat and the massive oil slick from the ship compounded the problems of the injured.

 "Many men were covered with oil that had leaked from the ship. It was 110 degrees in the peak of the day," Harrell said. "To make matters worse there were ocean swells as high as 12 feet."

  As the day wore on many began to experience hallucinations from the heat and dehydration.  Some had accidentally drunk salt water. Others, who were extremely thirsty, believing that a little salt water, could do no harm, attempted to sate their thirst with ocean water. The salt water caused the men to hallucinate.

  Soon, several men attempted to swim to islands that proved to be mirages. Several sailors attempted to swim down to the ship and never resurfaced. Another sailor, suffering hallucinations became convinced his buddy was a Japanese soldier and attempted to strangle him.

  Within hours the next of the survivors' tribulations arrived in the form of a dreaded blood-thirsty predator with an insatiable appetite for human flesh as it swam up from the depths.

 "I saw a man get excited and he started shouting 'I see an island' Then he started swimming away. Then I heard a blood curdling scream and the water around him turned crimson red and began to churn and then I saw half his body float to the surface and the lower half was gone." Harrell recalled. 

  A scene from the movie "The Mission of the Shark" based on the Indianapolis tragedy.

 

 The hapless sailor had just become the first of what would be many victims of shark attack as a massive school of sharks numbering in the hundreds began a merciless feeding frenzy. Over the next four days hundreds of sailors would die as the sharks returned time and again and picked off the sailors one by one.

 "We tried to keep everyone together," Harrell said. "We could fight them off if we were in groups. Then someone would get separated either by a wave or maybe they were too weak to hang on to anyone, then the sharks would get them. Every time a straggler got separated from the group he became a target for shark attack. 

  "After three days in the water, we wondered where rescue was. Of the 80 men in my group only 17 were left."  

  The stench of the water was over powering. Dead bodies floated randomly about and every hour a shark would return to grab a dead body or pull a living sailor to a grisly death. The still tropical air was frequently shattered by the anguished cries of sailors being devoured by the sharks.

 "I remember I was exhausted," Harrell said. "I laid back and began to nap and I felt something bump against me. I opened my eyes and next to me was a corpse. He was covered in oil and bloated. He had begun to decay. It was horrible. I wanted to swim away but I realized if I started thrashing the sharks would come. So I realized it was safer to stay near the corpse."

 On the fourth day the survivors were exhausted, dehydrated and ill. 

 "Swallowing oil causes severe dehydration and nausea. A friend of mine, Spooner, has salt in his eyes and he got to where he couldn't blink. He lost his eyesight and it was months before he could see again," Harrell said.

 Then the sailors heard a low humming on the horizon. Moments later an American airplane came into view. At first there was jubilation as the sailors thought they were about to be rescued. But, their joy was short lived when they found themselves faced with death, yet again.  

  "As the plane approached, those of us who had strength started shouting. Then I saw a sight that made my blood run cold. The bomb doors were slowly opening. They were about to bomb us," Harrell recounted. "The pilot was about to drop bombs to destroy what he thought was a Japanese submarine. He had seen the oil slick and thought it was a sub. At the last conceivable moment the co-pilot realized we were survivors.  He shouted to the pilot not to drop the bombs. If he had done that we would have been blown to bits."

 The plane circled around to get a better look then circled again and opened the bomb doors.  But instead of dropping bombs, the plane dropped life jackets and life rafts. The co-pilot, Lieutenant Gwinn, later reported he saw more sharks than people in the water. Within hours rescue ships arrived to pick up the survivors. Rescue continued until early the next morning. Harrell and Spooner were the only two that remained in his group. Of the 900 that treaded water five days, only 317 remained. The navy estimated the sharks killed half those men and the rest died of exposure and injuries. Their bodies were eaten by the sharks as well.  Few bodies were recovered.

  Most of what was recovered was a few torsos, arms, legs, and other body parts," Harrell said. "The incomplete bodies were impossible to identify." 

  The survivors were pulled from the water and taken to a hospital in Guam where they eventually recovered. Suffering from a perforated appendix, Harrell spent three months in the hospital and nearly died.  During his hospitalization he learned the Japanese had surrendered and the United States had won the war.

  At the conclusion of the war, Harrell returned to civilian life and went to work for Pella Windows where he eventually retired.

  Peace would not be forthcoming for Captain McVay. In the wake of the nation's worst naval disaster in history, naval commanders needed a scapegoat and it would take little time to find one.

  "The Navy investigated and McVay became their scapegoat. He did nothing wrong," Harrell said. "He was court martialed."

    Navy regulations clearly state that zigzagging is at the captain's discretion when hostile submarines have been sighted. Since none had been sighted, McVay had followed Navy protocol.

  "His superiors had screwed up," Harrell said. "Their mistakes cost lives and McVay was blamed. But, he was innocent. He was a good captain."

  In an unexpected move, McVay's lawyer called Japanese Commander Hashimoto to testify on McVay's behalf. Under oath Hashimoto testified that even if the Indianapolis had zigzagged it would have made no difference because the Japanese submarine was too close for McVay to evade attack.

  McVay was convicted and given a reduction in rank. His career was irreparably damaged by what the Navy termed as his dereliction of duty. The following year Admiral Chester Nimitz restored McVay's rank. Nonetheless, the captain was haunted by the tragedy. 

  "For years he received hate mail from the families of the victims who blamed him for everything," Harrell said. "He saw little of it because his wife would hide it from him. Then she died in the 1960s and he found some of the letters."

  On November 6, 1968, McVay committed suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Of the 350 ships sunk in World War II, McKay was the only man court martialed for losing his ship. In the months before his trial, McVay made numerous inquiries as to why his men were left in the water for five days with no rescue. He never received an answer. 

  "It all came down to his superiors messed up and they needed someone to blame," Harrell said in defense of his captain. "Several years after McVay died, declassified Navy documents revealed what happened that night.

                       

After 5 days rescuers came to the rescue of the survivors while sharks continued to to prey on the dwindling crew.

   On the night the Indianapolis was sunk, a distress signal was sent out. According to Harrell, the documents reveal those distress signals were received by three admirals. None of which responded. 

  "One of the admirals was drunk," Harrell said. "Another had left word he didn't want to be disturbed. The third thought it was a clever Japanese trick to get American ships into the area so that they could be attacked."

 In light of the evidence, Congress gave McVay a long overdue full exoneration in 2000.  Of the 1,197 men aboard the Indianapolis, only 317 were rescued from the water. Time has taken a toll on the survivors. Today only 74 survivors are left. Only three are from Tennessee. 

   The Indianapolis tragedy was the subject of a 1991 movie entitled "The Mission of the Shark" starring Stacy Keach as McVay.  Many remember Captain Quinn recounting the tragedy of the Indianapolis in the movie "Jaws."

                      

Survivors reunite every two years to remember their fallen comrades.

 

A memorial was built to honor the victims and the survivors in Indianapolis.

   Edgar Harrell now makes his home in Clarksville, Tennessee where he lives with his wife of 63 years, Ola Mae. 

  The Harrells have two children. Their son, David, helped his father write a book about the incident entitled "Out of the Depths."

 Harrell lectures at churches and civic meetings about his wartime experiences.

  "Throughout the ordeal, I never lost faith that God would rescue me," he said. "I must have prayed a hundred times during those five days.

   "When I meet young people today who are going through personal problems, I tell them a little about my story. I tell them if God can help me get through what I am going through he can help you get through what you are going through."

  For more information about the Indianapolis tragedy, visit Harrell's Web site at  www.indysurvivor.com.

                              

                             .

                           Edgar and Ola Mae Harrell

 This week marks the 150th anniversary of the day 29 East Tennessee counties attempted to secede from the Confederate States of America and form their own state, The State of East Tennessee, and remain loyal to the Union.

  It appears as if the Confederacy was a loosely confederated nation with parts of several states attempting to break free and declare their independence. Winston County, Alabama, was one such county, after county elders met and declared themselves to be the Free State of Winston. The Free State of Jones in Mississippi was another. The State of East Tennessee was yet another.

                                          

   Thomas A.R. Nelson opposed secession but later defended former Confederates after the Civil War in court.

 Secession from the Union may have been popular throughout the middle and western part of the Volunteer state. But, 29 East Tennessee counties rejected the move. Among those that rejected seceding from the United States was Sevier County whose voters rejected secession by a vote of 96 percent against.

  When secession came, delegates from 28 of the 29 dissenting counties called  a special convention to discuss their options. The first meeting was held in Knoxville on May 30-31. During this meeting Congressman Thomas A.R. Nelson was appointed President of the Convention and future President of the United States Andrew Johnson (Who was serving as a U.S. senator) spoke for two hours urging the delegates not to yield to the fanaticism that threatened the nation.

  The second round of meetings took place June 17-20 in Johnson's hometown of Greeneville. The convention was attended by delegates of all 29 counties. The convention concluded with delegates agreeing on several resolutions. They agreed to create their own state and remain neutral in the war. East Tennessee would form militia companies and prepare to defend itself against a Confederate military invasion.

 The statue of President Andrew Johnson stands near the site where the East Tennessee Convention took place. 

  Shortly after the Greenville meeting, delegates from the East Tennessee Convention presented their resolutions to the state general assembly who rejected the proposal. 

  The state general assembly offered the delegates a compromise. The general assembly assured them none of their residents would be conscripted into the Confederate Army. Governor Isham Harris dispatched Confederate forces to East Tennessee to protect the few secessionists of the area and to forge a reconciliation with the region. 

  In response, many of the convention members fled the region and some went into hiding. The dissidence did not abate. Later, in 1861, the county elders in Scott County met and decided to declare themselves the Free and Independent State of Scott.    

 

 

Editor's note; This week the Seviercountynews.com begins a new weekly feature entitled "This week in history." The feature is a recounting of the most seminal moments in American History and the impact those events had on Sevier County. The stories will feature interviews with some local people who may have played a role in those events or may have some insight into those watershed moments in history. The feature can be viewed in our blogs section by clicking on the tab labeled blogs.

                   June 8, 1861, Tennessee Secedes From The Union. 

   Begining in December of 1860, one by one, the southern states began to secede from the union by calling conventions within their states and drafting ordinances of secession. The union was dissolving for a variety of reasons still debated by historians 150 years later. Among those issues were state's rights.

   By February of 1861, seven southern states had drafted ordinances of seccession declaring themselves free and independant from the United States of America. These states formed a new nation, The Confederate States of America. But, Tennessee was not among those states. 

  At the secession convention held in Nashville in February, Tennesseans rejected secession by a vote of 54 percent to 46 percent. For now, it appeared as if the Volunteer State would remain loyal to the United States. But, all that changed on April 12,1861 when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumpter in South Carolina. The attack was a calculated move intended to extricate Union forces from the fort and evict Federal forces from the state. 

   In response to the attack, President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 Federal troops to man southern forts. To southern leaders this was seen as a full scale invasion.

  Congressman Horace Maynard of East Tennessee was a staunch unionist. He questioned Lincoln's call for troops as an act of aggression.

  "For what purpose could such an Army be wanted except to invade, overrun and subjugate the southern states," Maynard said. 

  Passions were running high over the Fort Sumpter attack when the second convention of secession held in June. Strong support from the middle and  western regions was instrumental in getting the ordinance of secession passed and Tennessee became the last state in the south to leave the union. While the state passed the resolution there were many in the east that were staunchly loyal to the north. In 29 East Tennessee counties, 82 percent of the voters rejected secession and chose to remain loyal to the nation whose struggles they had shared for so long. In Sevier County a whopping 96 percent of the voters had rejected secession.     

  Despite dissent from the eastern portion of the state, Tennessee seceded from the Union on June 8, 1861 setting into motion a series of events that would divide the state as much as it divided the union.