Byte Sized Biographies…

Alexander Hamilton, the Zelig of American military and political history. The circumstances surrounding the birth of Alexander Hamilton are complicated and even when he was born is a matter of dispute.  His mother, Rachel Faucette, was of British and French descent.  His father, James Hamilton was a Scot.  They met on the island of St. Kitts in the British West Indies where James Hamilton was unsuccessfully attempting to build a career trading sugar and other … Continue reading Alexander Hamilton, (Volume 2, Episode 1) →

Francis Scott Key and the National Anthem Francis Scott Key Key was a prominent lawyer from Frederick, Maryland who, through a sequence of incidents that occurred during the War of 1812, observed one of the most critical episodes in American history. Map of the Battle of Baltimore In fact, Ross and Cockburn had decided on a coordinated air and sea attack.  Ross would land his troops at North Point, Maryland at the tip of the Patapsco Neck and make the short fifteen-mile march to the city.  After the sixty-mile march on Washington, Ross reasoned that he would handle this much shorter distance with relative ease.  Because the Patapsco was relatively shallow, the larger warships would not be able to enter the inner harbor area.  Instead Cockburn would take the smaller frigates and bombardment vessels upriver to attack Fort McHenry and after extinguishing the guns of the fort, to bombard the city itself, hopefully leading to a major conflagration. Admiral George Cockburn depicted with the burning Washington, DC The British army regrouped briefly but within hours began marching briskly towards Washington.  1,200 men halted two miles from the Capitol, Ross continued into the city itself with 200 elite infantrymen.  There was zero resistance, any remaining civilians remained inside their homes.  The only remaining American activity in the city was the deliberate destruction of the Washington Navy Yard, flames visible on the already dark horizon.  Several ships, naval equipment, ordinance and other shipbuilding materials were destroyed to keep them out of the hands of the British.  Ross and Cockburn had already decided to burn any public buildings in the city and as the Navy Yard glowed a few miles away, Ross’ units took position around the US Capitol building.  The Capitol building itself looked nothing like today’s domed edifice, instead it was two square sandstone blocks connected by a wooden passageway.  Under construction since 1793, it was a costly and time- consuming process.  The British entered the building, ascertained that no one was present and began smearing gunpowder paste on the walls of the South Wing.  Once this was lit, paper and wooden furniture was added and within minutes an intense heat drove the arsonists to the North Wing where a magnificent library was quickly put to the torch.  The entire building was soon engulfed in flames. General Robert Ross, the only man ever to capture America's capital Next, Ross, Coburn and a column of men set out to what was known as the “President’s Mansion.”  They entered the now deserted home and devoured the food and wine that was supposed to have been served to the President and his guests as that afternoon’s supper.  After selecting a few souvenirs but nothing of any value as to avoid being charged with “looting”, soldiers quickly began to pile up furniture and soak mattresses with lamp oil.  After some flame was acquired from a nearby tavern, an officer walked through the rooms of the mansion, igniting the makeshift kindling in each room.  Madison’s former home was quickly ablaze, Ross, Cockburn and troops admiring their work from a short distance. General George Armistead, commander of Fort McHenry Fort McHenry, under the command of Major George Armistead, responded with over fifty cannons from the fort itself, as well as shore batteries on both sides of the river.  Some of this fire was accurate enough to force Cochrane to move his ships out of range, approximately two miles away.  Here he was content to blast away with his mortars, the Americans unable to reach the British ships.  Armistead ordered his guns to cease fire, and the gun crews to take cover.  British shells and rockets were landing on an average of over one per minute, by noon hundreds of projectiles had landed on or near the fort.  The incendiary rockets were essentially harmless but an occasional mortar shell made its way into the fort and detonated with a tremendous explosion.  One pierced the roof of the fort’s powder magazine but failed to detonate, had it exploded it would have blown up 300 hundred barrels of gunpowder, the fort and most of its inhabitants. Star Spangled Banner Sheet Music from the 1800's Although “The Star-Spangled Banner” remained popular during Key’s lifetime, it did not achieve official status for many years.  Other songs, including “Hail, Columbia”, “America, the Beautiful” and “My Country, Tis of thee.” would be sung at public events and ceremonies, all achieving unofficial status.  It would not be until a congressional resolution, signed by President Herbert Hoover in 1931 that the Star Spangled Banner would officially be named the national anthem. US commemorative stamp of Francis Scott Key Key would return to his prestigious law practice in Washington.  Thirty-five years old when he wrote “The Star Spangled Banner” he had already argued cases in front of the Supreme Court.  He would represent many clients in some of the era’s most prominent legal cases.  Key had close political ties to Andrew Jackson and would eventually be named the US Attorney for Washington, DC, a post he held until 1841.  He died on January 11, 1843, aged 63.

Francis Scott Key and the National Anthem Key was a prominent lawyer from Frederick, Maryland who, through a sequence of incidents that occurred during the War of 1812, observed one of the most critical episodes in American history. In fact, Ross and Cockburn had decided on a coordinated air and sea attack.  Ross would land his troops at North Point, Maryland at the tip of the Patapsco Neck and make the short fifteen-mile march to … Continue reading Francis Scott Key and The Star Spangled Banner (Volume 1, Podcast 12) →

Amelia Earhart, Lost Heroine Amelia Earhart as a child. Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas.  Although her mother came from a wealthy family, her father was an attorney but also an alcoholic with an erratic work history that lead to an unstable childhood for both Amelia and her sister, Muriel.  Amelia would attend six high schools before graduating from Hyde Park High School in Chicago. The iconic photograph of Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed Electra 10E Although Amelia dismissed speculation about a global flight, George Putnam began corresponding with Lockheed during the mid thirties about the potential purchase of their latest and most sophisticated aircraft; the Lockheed Electra 10E. Amelia and Fred Noonan in June of 1937. It was suggested by Paul Mantz that because Howland Island, at two miles long and one half mile wide would be a navigational challenge, that Fred Noonan an experienced navigator who had mapped many of Pan American World Airways’ American Clipper routes in the Pacific handle this responsibility.  Noonan had left Pan American and was intent on starting a navigational school as his next commercial venture, an endeavor that would certainly be helped by the publicity generated by Amelia’s flight. The US Air Mail stamp taken from the famous photo. Amelia Earhart 1963 US commemorative stamp.

Amelia Earhart, Lost Heroine Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas.  Although her mother came from a wealthy family, her father was an attorney but also an alcoholic with an erratic work history that lead to an unstable childhood for both Amelia and her sister, Muriel.  Amelia would attend six high schools before graduating from Hyde Park High School in Chicago. Although Amelia dismissed speculation about a global flight, George Putnam … Continue reading Amelia Earhart (Volume 1, podcast 11) →

Paul Gauguin, the Bitterness and the Beauty Paul Gauguin in Breton attire. From his very first days, Gauguin’s life was filled with a volatile instability that must have affected his development.  He was born in Paris on June 7, 1848.  His father, Clovis, was a journalist, his mother, Aline, the daughter of Flora Tristan, a seminal feminist writer of the early nineteenth century.  Aline’s father had been imprisoned for the attempted murder of Flora, an indication of the chaos surrounding Gauguin’s immediate family.  Flora Tristan died in 1844, and in 1847 Aline married Clovis and soon settled down to married life and the birth of a daughter in 1847 and Paul in 1848.  But the political unrest of Paris forced the young family to think about heading into exile. Mette Gauguin and her five children. It was at the home of Gustave Arosa that Gauguin, in November of 1872, met two female guests, travelling from Denmark.  One of these woman, Mette-Sophie Gad, was immediately attracted to Gauguin and a yearlong courtship began.  Mette was no great beauty, but all accounts indicate that she had a great deal of personality and a practically masculine outlook that could handle the rough edges of an ex-sailor.  A year later the couple would be married and Mette would rapidly become pregnant, Paul’s stock market employment providing a comfortable lifestyle. Gauguin's iconoclastic "Vision After the Sermon." With the death of Theo Van Gogh and the realization that none of his compatriots would leave France for the exotic destinations that he continually fantasized about, Gauguin became fixated on a newer and even more remote destination: Tahiti.  Again he held out for a major sale and a large check that would get him out of France.  He had maintained this fantasy for decades but this time his growing reputation and a newspaper article published the day before a planned sale at the prestigious auction house at the Hotel Druout insured that his paintings would generate a substantial sum.  In all thirty paintings were sold on February 23, 1891, including “Vision After the Sermon” and the portrait “Beautiful Angela” which was purchased by Degas. Van Gogh's jade self-portrait dedicated to "Mon Ami Paul", sold by Gauguin to raise money for Tahiti, auctioned by the Nazi's as "degenerate art", today it hangs in Harvard's Fogg Museum. Vincent Van Gogh had spent the summer writing to all of the artists of Pont-Aven, imploring them to participate in a “colony” in Arles, where he had already relocated.  Gauguin repeatedly put him off by claiming that he would have to wait until he sold some paintings and raised the money to pay off his debts in Brittany.  But when Theo Van Gogh sent him some money and promised more if he would merely agree to join Vincent in the south of France, Gauguin acquiesced.  The overjoyed artist sent him a remarkable, jade green self portrait dedicated to “mon ami Paul” and typically began to fixate on when Gauguin would arrive or if he would even show up at all. Thus the stage was set for one of the most notoriously tragic incidents in art history. Gauguin's painting of Vincent painting sunflowers which caused their final row. A sequence of events in late December brought about Gauguin’s inevitable departure.  As the weather kept them painting indoors, Van Gogh returned to his familiar motif of sunflowers, Gauguin painted a portrait of Vincent at work.  The result horrified and angered Van Gogh.  “It is certainly I, but it’s I gone mad!”  That night at a cafe an argument culminated in Van Gogh throwing a glass of absinthe at Gauguin, who dragged him home and put him to bed.  Although Van Gogh tried to apologize, Gauguin responded by saying he could no longer stay because he might respond to such future outbursts by strangling Vincent. The "Yellow House" in Arles, France. It was destroyed in 1940, rebuilt and repainted in cement to resemble the original building. A terrible rainy season insured that Gauguin and Van Gogh would spend most of their time shut up in the Yellow House, unable to paint outside.  They spent much of their time in philosophical discussions that ultimately became hostile, Gauguin condescendingly dismissive towards all of Van Gogh’s opinions especially when it came to art. Gauguin's "Two Women" Gauguin’s deteriorating health affected his productivity but he still would produce some of his greatest works during this time period, especially,  “Two Tahitian Women”, now in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gauguin's "Where Are We Going?" He also produced the allegorical “Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? that is now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Paul Gauguin, the Bitterness and the Beauty From his very first days, Gauguin’s life was filled with a volatile instability that must have affected his development.  He was born in Paris on June 7, 1848.  His father, Clovis, was a journalist, his mother, Aline, the daughter of Flora Tristan, a seminal feminist writer of the early nineteenth century.  Aline’s father had been imprisoned for the attempted murder of Flora, an indication of the chaos surrounding … Continue reading Paul Gauguin (Volume 1, Podcast 10) →

Jack Johnson, the Real Deal Jack Johnson, The Galveston Giant Jack Johnson was born on March 31, 1878 in Galveston.  Very little can be verified about his early life.  Most historical information about him comes from autobiographies that he published himself.  Had he not gone on to achieve boxing notoriety, both he and his family would have been completely forgotten. Jack Johnson knocks out Jim Jeffries, July 4, 1910, Reno, Nevada. By the end of the fourteenth round Jeffries could barely see, his nose was broken and face and upper body streaked with his own blood.  He lumbered gamely toward Johnson at the beginning of the fifteenth round, attempted to clinch but was too exhausted to avoid Johnson’s repetitive combinations.  Finally, perhaps attempting to avoid punishment, Jeffries turned away from Johnson and lurched awkwardly along the ropes.  Johnson responded with a string of rights and lefts that put Jeffries on the canvas for the first time in his pro career.  The stunned crowd watched as Jeffries got to his feet, literally with the help of spectators, but was immediately knocked down by a more direct punch that put him back on the canvas.  Boxing rules at that time allowed a fighter to stand over a fallen opponent and hit him as soon as he got up.  Rickard attempted to shield Jeffries for a brief moment but when the defenseless fighter staggered to his feet, Johnson draped him on the ropes with another succession of brutal punches.  Jeffries corner men stormed into the ring, one tossed a towel in Jeffries direction.  The fight was over. Jack Johnson and Etta Duryea. Within days of signing the contract, Jack Johnson would attend Long Island’s Vanderbilt Cup auto race.  Although he would barred from the finish line reviewing stand where he was told that no blacks were allowed, he would meet Mrs. Etta Terry Duryea, an elegant, very attractive Caucasian female currently separated from her socially well connected husband.  Mrs. Duryea was clearly a cut above the usual women in Johnson’s entourage.  While the two promised to keep in touch, Johnson spent the interim between his fight with Jeffries on a vaudeville tour of the Midwest and northeast. Jess Willard knocks out Jack Johnson in the 26th round, April 5, 1915, Havana, Cuba. By the twenty first round, Johnson was still scoring but he had not hurt Willard and his usually confident demeanor had disappeared.  There were no smiles or taunts as Johnson’s thirty-seven years and grueling lifestyle seemed to be catching up with him.  In the twenty-fifth round Willard landed a punch to the body that made Johnson gasp audibly and the challenger was visibly the quicker, fresher fighter.  When the bell rang for the twenty-sixth round Willard quickly hit Johnson with another right to the body that had Johnson desperately trying to clinch but the challenger shrugged him off and feinted for a few seconds before unleashing a pulverizing right that landed flush on the jaw.  Johnson began falling to the canvas and tried to grab Willard unsuccessfully.  He landed on his back, both of his arms extended over his face as the referee counted him out.  The fight was over, the heavyweight championship of the world had changed hands. Jack Johnson, later in life. On Monday, June 9, 1946 Jack Johnson was returning to New York by automobile from a stint in a Texas tent show.  These were the types of appearances that he essentially survived on in the last twenty-five years of his life.  He was near the town of Franklinton, North Carolina, driving his Lincoln Zephyr at over seventy miles an hour when he lost control and hit a telephone pole.  His assistant was thrown from the car and survived, Jack Johnson died in a hospital three hours later. The graves of Jack Johnson and Etta Duryea, Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois Jack Johnson’s funeral was held in a Baptist church in his mother’s old neighborhood and attended by twenty-five hundred spectators and thousands more milling outside.  He was buried next to Etta Duryea in Chicago’s Graceland Cemetery, resting place of some of the city’s most prestigious citizens including Potter Palmer, Cyrus McCormick and Marshall Field.

Jack Johnson, the Real Deal Jack Johnson was born on March 31, 1878 in Galveston.  Very little can be verified about his early life.  Most historical information about him comes from autobiographies that he published himself.  Had he not gone on to achieve boxing notoriety, both he and his family would have been completely forgotten. By the end of the fourteenth round Jeffries could barely see, his nose was broken and face and upper body … Continue reading Jack Johnson, Heavyweight Champion of the World, (Volume 1, Podcast 9) →

King Ludwig II of Bavaria, a Beautiful Madness Wonderful Atlantic Monthly Photo Essay on Ludwig IILudwig II as a young man Ludwig II was born on August 25, 1845.  His father, Maximillian, was then the Crown Prince of Bavaria.  His grandfather, Ludwig I, was the King of Bavaria and a member of the House of Wittlesbach, the ruling dynasty that had governed the Kingdom of Bavaria, for over six hundred years. King Ludwig II Upon Maximilian’s death, Ludwig became Ludwig II at the age of eighteen.  His childhood had not been particularly happy, raised by governesses and without interaction with or affection from either of his parents, he spent much of his time in emotional isolation.  He also developed a hostility toward his younger brother Otto, feeling that because he was the heir and expected to reign eventually as the king, he was held to a much higher standard. Ludwig and his fiancee, Sophie of Bavaria Unfortunately, Ludwig immediately had misgivings and began to realize that moving forward with the marriage would be a disaster.  Publicly, he initially attempted to maintain an appropriate veneer of enthusiasm and affection, privately the courtship featured nothing more than an occasional furtive kiss on the brow.  Ludwig spent much of the summer arriving at Sophie’s family’s palace at Possenhoven at all hours of the night where the couple would engage in awkward small talk and interact without any real passion.  By the end of the summer and the impending August wedding date, Ludwig decided to postpone the event.  His explanation was that the wedding would be rescheduled for October 12, the anniversary date of his grandfather, Ludwig I, and father, Max II.  But when Ludwig also cancelled the wedding on this date, Sophie’s parents demanded that he either set a permanent date or call it off for good.  Ludwig chose to characterize this demand as impertinent and informed Sophie that as a result, the engagement was officially ended. Neuschwanstein Castle As Ludwig became more isolated from day to day reality, his preoccupation with architecture and building became more prominent.  As early as 1868 he had written to Wagner of his desire to build a castle in the style of German folklore, something that might be occupied by one of the heroic figures of a Wagnerian opera.  Having thoroughly explored the area surrounding Hohenschwangau, Ludwig selected a dramatic location on a raised plateau known as the Pollat Gorge.  Sketches were composed by architects after consultations with Ludwig II about his vision for the building.  Construction began in 1869, it would not end until after Ludwig’s death.  Initially called New Hohenschwangau Castle it would ultimately be named Neuschwanstein, or “New Swan Stone” Castle. Ludwig in middle age During Ludwig’s lifetime, the public was forbidden to enter the palace grounds.  Only servants or an occasional expressly invited visitor were permitted.  This was in line with the ever more reclusive life that Ludwig began to pursue in the 1870’s.  He spent his days sleeping and nights reading obscure literature frequently from the era of Louis XIV.  He commissioned plays and operas to be performed privately in large theaters in Munich for his benefit with no other audience.  He would take evening rides in his gilded carriage or sleigh in winter, his footmen dressed in the manner of the court of Louis XIV, the king drawn by white horses that made a spectacular impression on the rural inhabitants of backwoods Bavaria. Ludwig II lying in state The death of Ludwig II was met by shock and grief throughout Bavaria.  The king’s body was conveyed to the capital where it would publically lie in state for three days in the chapel of the Residenz.  An immense funeral procession would convey the king to St. Michael’s Church and his burial place in the church crypt, a procession that would take over two and a half hours.  The funeral of Ludwig is believed to be the largest state occasion in the history of the city of Munich.