History of Pilgrimages

Q U A R T E R L Y
CHARLES PONZI Franco-Mexican

An Anniversary Pastry War
to Remember A Seemingly
Ridiculous Conflict
Alice & Victoria
The Women Who
The Women Who Shaped
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Prince Philip’s Childhood
Elizabeth
Prince Philip’s Childhood
Bishop House
A Look at the
Merriman Smith Poet’s Mark Left on
White House Key West, Florida
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RADBURN Arling
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Syphilis
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Like No Other
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Discovering
Medieval
the SS Republic
Pilgrimages
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The Search for Spiritual Comfort
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FLAG
Elizabeth Bishop — Page 14 Our Man at the White House — Page 18 The Pastry War With France — Page 26
CONTENTS
Q U A R T E R L Y
FALL 2021
Medieval Pilgrimages .............................................. 10

David A. Norris looks at the importance of pilgrimages
On the Cover: Page 10
and the search for spiritual comfort
In the Shadow of a Giant:

Elizabeth Bishop’s Key West Legacy ....................... 14
Sarah Thomas explores the poet’s mark on the island
famed for Ernest Hemingway
Our Man at the White House .................................. 18

Mark Weisenmiller profiles Merriman Smith, the legendary,
long-time White House reporter
Radburn: America’s Trend-Setting Community ..... 22

Garry Berman looks at the revolutionary concept and
design for the first planned community in the US
Front cover: Image of Pilgrims on an
In the Pastry War With France, Mexico architectural column on the Camino de
Santiago in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Got Burned ............................................................... 26 Credit: traveler1116, iStockphoto.com
David McCormick looks at a seemingly ridiculous Franco-Mexican
Pastry War
SS Republic: Quest for Gold Beneath

the Waves – Pt. 1 ...................................................... 29
John C. Fine looks at the history, human stories and recovery
of a renowned Civil War vessel
4 History Magazine Fall 2021

FLAG
Syphilis — Page 37 Alice & Victoria — Page 42 Charles Ponzi — Page 51
Syphilis: A Plague Like No Other ............................ 37

Jackie Mead looks at the history of one of the most infectious
diseases that appeared in late 15th century Europe
Alice & Victoria: Two Women Who Shaped

Prince Philip’s Childhood ....................................... 42
Margaret Brecknell looks at key events and early influences
in the lives of two influential women in British Royalty
Book Review: Lynn Cassity reviews

The Illustrated Life and Times of Geronimo ........... 47
Arlington Cemetery Quiz ........................................ 48
Alan Luke challenges you to test your knowledge of this
solemn 100-year-old national landmark
Is Your
Subscription
Charles Ponzi: An Anniversary to Remember ....... 51
David Kruh recounts the life of one of the most famous criminals
About of the 20th century
to Expire? Book Extract: To Break Russia’s Chains,

Check the mailing label
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55
by Vladimir Alexandrov .........................................
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Fall 2021 History Magazine 5

Irons – A Pressing Mat ter
TRIVIA
I
roning is a job that not many enjoy, but the steam irons of today are a
pleasure to use compared to what people toiled with in the past. For
centuries, people have looked for ways to create crisp, wrinkle-free
garments while at the same time killing the bacteria, mildew, and para-
sites that lived in clothing prior to the advent of the modern-day washing
machine and antibacterial cleaning products.
By 400 BC, the Greeks created a device to eliminate wrinkles from their
linen robes which, made from reed fibers, tended to crease easily. Their
“goffering iron” was a round bar that, after being heated in the fire by a
servant, was rolled up and down the fabric to smooth out wrinkles and Mary Florence Potts sad iron with
detachable wooden handles.
press in pleats. Later, the Romans decided that a heated device was not Uploaded from Flickr by the Boston
necessary and developed the “hand mangle”. This wooden instrument Library to Wikimedia Commons
was used by a slave to literally beat the wrinkles out of fabric.
The ancient Chinese had the same problem smoothing their silk gar- and the metal piece required con-
ments and invented the “pan iron”. This invention, which resembled a tiny tinuous reheating.
sauté pan, was filled with hot charcoal or sand, and moved in circles over This led to the next significant
the delicate silk garments. improvement in the 1500s with
Europeans developed the “flatiron” in the 1300s. A simple invention, the the advent of the “box iron”. This
flatiron was a smooth metal piece affixed to a handle which was heated in contraption was a simple flat-bot-
the fire. This of course caused two problems for the laundress: soot from tomed box with a hinged opening
the fire would settle on the iron and could be transferred to the clothing, to insert hot coals or bricks. The
John Brown’s Raid

on Harpers Ferry 1859
O
n the night of 16 October 1859, an abolitionist named John
Brown led a small group of followers and seized the federal
armory located at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (present day West
Virginia). This armory was established in 1794 by the Executive Order of
President George Washington.
By seizing the armory, Brown had hoped to acquire enough weapons
(the armory was believed to hold as many as 100,000 muskets and rifles
at the time) to arm slaves in the Southern states in a revolt to abolish the
institution of slavery.
Harpers Ferry insurrection - Interior
Prior to the raid, Brown and his four sons had fought against proof the Engine-House, just before the
slavery forces in Kansas, where one son was killed during the summer gate is broken down by the storming
of 1856. Brown’s family left the state in 1857 with a price on their heads. party - Col. Washington and his
associates as captives, held by Brown
They then headed back east, as Brown was from Akron, Ohio. as hostages. Library of Congress
There were six prominent Bostonians who financially supported the
cause. With their assistance, Brown was able to rent a farm in Maryland resistance was limited, and it was
that was near the town of Harpers Ferry. The plan was to take control of overrun within a day. After the
the armory, make the area a stronghold for abolitionists from Maryland fighting subsided, several civilian
and Virginia, then use it as a portal to travel to the South. employees were taken as hostages.
The raiders numbered some twenty-two men (including five black When news of the raid got out,
men and Brown’s three remaining sons). When they attacked the armory, militia units from Maryland and

box iron was weighty to exert greater pressure on the fabric – the proper
degree of heat for a particular garment was mastered only by repeated Q U A R T E R L Y
practice.
Volume 23 Number 3
Enter the “sad iron” – “sad” meaning heavy. This unit was appropriately FALL 2021
named as the laundress using this iron was most likely completely miser-
able having to lift this cumbersome piece of cast iron that could weigh up PUBLISHER & EDITOR
to 15 pounds. Developed in the 1820s, the sad iron was sold in sets with Edward Zapletal
edward@moorshead.com
different weights and was quite an improvement, as now two plates could
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
be heating while using the third. Some were filled with asbestos to keep Rick Cree
the handle cool and might also include a little bell on the handle to alert rick@moorshead.com
the diligent homemaker that her servant had stopped working. FREELANCE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Gasoline irons were patented in the 1870s, and a new adventure for the Lianna LaLiberte
laundress commenced. These irons generally included a six-foot length of PRODUCTION & DESIGN
rubber tubing to be attached to the gas outlet which brought fuel to the J-Mac Images
Marianne Reitsma
appliance containing a flame burner that could be regulated. Needless to
ADVERTISING & READER SERVICES
say, gas irons were smelly and dangerous as well as extremely costly. Jeannette Cox
The electric iron that we know today was patented in 1882 by Henry jeannette@moorshead.com
W. Seeley. By the early 20th century, they included electric cords thus OFFICE MANAGER
eliminating the job of reheating the element and, by the 1920s, irons had Jennifer Cree
jennifer@moorshead.com
temperature regulating thermostats as well as steam.
Published by
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methods of the past, it really is a picnic. Hm 33 Angus Dr., Ajax, ON
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Virginia mobilized quickly, sur- Generals in the Confederate No. 40062922.
rounding the armory. Brown did Army during the Civil War). Return undeliverable
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cut-off, he and his men, along with of 18 October 1859, after negotia- E-mail: general@history-magazine.com
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TRIVIA
The Handy Peavey

S
ince Maine’s first water powered sawmill began operation in riverside mill towns to grow and prosper.
1634, manhandling huge rafts of cumbersome logs destined By the 1830s, lumber barons had begun
for the sawmills and shipyards nearer the coast became an to consolidate these smaller operations,
occupation fit mostly for roughnecks. With good reason! buying up entire townships and erecting
Much of Maine’s economic power rested on the many navi- mega-structures to establish dominion.
gable waterways that afforded cheap downriver transportation With the arrival of steam to drive the new-
to move the abundant stands of white pine lining their banks. ly improved circular saw and deliver vast
Logs flowing down these granite bedrock chutes encountered quantities of wood by rail directly to the
little resistance even when spring spates turned them to mus- mills, production increased by tenfold.
cular fury. And as the forests were felled and the frontier crept Logging was the backbreaking art of cut-
steadily northward these hazardous log jamborees became ever ting down very big trees with a very sharp
lengthier and more dangerous. The “river drivers” shepherding axe and a very strong back. Branches were
this seething downstream mass were a ructious lot that used a stripped laboriously from the weighty
variety of forestry tools to duel and parry the giant logs in a trunks before wresting them down by
madcap, adrenaline-rush of a job that involved skill, ingenuity, hand to the water “highways” for dump-
and a good deal of luck. ing in wholesale. As mighty as the Penob-
Profiting from the land’s resources has always attracted more scot and Kennebec rivers were, the crush
daring types. Maine’s ‘Pine Tree State’ motto accurately depicts caused pileups that stoppered them up like
timber’s overriding importance, but it hardly addresses the ac- a cork in a bottle. The floating congeries
tual role played by the industry in launching the state into the would heave and grind in a manner that
Industrial Age; especially, it provided the capital for dozens of made sorting them vexing, nor could any
The Origins of
the Jack-O’-Lantern
T
he custom of carving pumpkins has been a tradition for him promise not to take his soul when he
Halloween in America for many years. The idea didn’t eventually died. The devil agreed. When
originate in this country, however. According to Merriam Jack passed away several years later, he
Webster, the term jack-o’-lantern originated in 17th-century Brit- went to Heaven, but was turned away due
ain, used to refer to men that patrolled the streets at night with to his sinful ways. He went to the gates of
their lanterns. “Jack” was a generic name used for these men, and Hell, but was also turned away because of
because they carried lights, they were deemed Jack of the lantern. the deal he’d made with the devil. To ward
That may explain the origin of the name, but the custom of off the dark, the devil gave Jack a lantern to
carving root vegetables stemmed from Ireland. A folk tale about light his way.
a man called Stingy Jack inspired the tradition. According to the During the Irish Samhain festival, people
story, a deceitful thief named Jack was enjoying a pint in a pub would carve faces out of root vegetables,
when he was approached by the devil. The devil wanted his soul, most commonly turnips or potatoes, and
but Jack wanted one more drink beforehand. The devil agreed set them outside, hoping to ward off the
and turned himself into a sixpence. Instead of ordering another evil spirit of Jack, who was said to roam the
pint, Jack stuffed the coin into his pocket next to a cross. The earth.
devil couldn’t turn himself back, and Jack made him promise A different possibility is the appearance
not to take his soul for another ten years. The devil agreed, and of flickering lights over the marshes and
Jack set him free. Ten years later, the devil came for Jack’s soul, bogs that populated Ireland. When gases
and again, Jack tricked him. To free him this time, Jack made decomposed the organic material, lights

competence compensate for lacking the proper equipment; until 1838,
too many drivers were lost trying to separate the melees.
With the industry peaking, that same year Joseph Peavey introduced
his namesake tool, apparently after witnessing a gang of drivers try to
unlock a massive jam using prybars and swing dingles, an unsecured lasso
attached to a pole. His “peavey” instead featured a protruding spike at the
end and a sizable hook worked by a lever specifically designed to control
and drag super-heavy logs from entanglements. By a dexterous ramming
of the spike into the wood, then clenching it with the hook, the log was
safely secured in two places. The secret was that spike: it steadied the log
as no earlier tool could. Shadowy origins trace it back to the simple loop
of the swing dingle and, more directly, to its short-handled predecessor,
the cant dog. A “cant” is a piece of tree lopped off a larger log, which the
dog was excellent at grabbing and leveraging onto a sled or a skidway.
But its end bore not a spike but a ‘tooth’, and the lesser hook couldn’t
cope with the wild gyrations of truly monstrous logs caught in a jam. The
peavey quickly became indispensable and superseded other tools for the
purpose.
At approximately the size and shape of a thick wooden broomstick, with
that menacing hook-and-spike apparatus affixed to the business end, the
peavey vaguely resembled a poleaxe. It might have looked equally at home
on a mounted wall display of medieval weaponry as in the hands of the
Line art drawing of the Handy Peavey. wild Maine drivers leaping from log to log. Hm
From the archives of Pearson Scott — Jeffrey Bradley
Foresman. Wikimedia
could be seen dancing over the land, and these lights

were called different things: will-o’-the-wisp, fool’s
fire, fairy lights, and jack-o’-lanterns. People thought
these lights were produced by an evil spirit, luring
innocent people to their deaths in the bogs.
When the Irish immigrated to America, they
brought these customs with them, quickly realizing
the pumpkin was much better for carving. The cul-
tural phenomenon didn’t really take hold, however,
until Washington Irving published his short story,
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” While the Headless
Horseman throws a pumpkin at Ichabod Crane at the
end of the tale, in most images, he is seen holding a
flaming jack-o’-lantern. In 1835, Nathaniel Hawthorne
released his short story, “The Great Carbuncle,” which
was the first time the term ‘jack-o’-lantern’ was used
in print: “Hide it under thy cloak, say’st thou? Why, it
will gleam through the holes, and make thee look like
a jack-o’-lantern!”
Though the exact origin of the Halloween custom
is not known, everyone can agree that the sight of
the grinning pumpkin is a welcome sight during the
holiday festivities, a harbinger for treats and costumed
Contemporary style of Jack-O-Lantern. fun. Hm
Photo by Man vyi, Wikimedia Commons — Angela Keim

MEDIEVAL TIMES
MEDIEVAL
PILGRIMAGES
Medieval pilgrims had many rea-

sons for taking these often gruel-
ing and perilous journeys. Some
PILGRIMAGES sought to deepen their faith and

gain greater understanding. Many
sought to atone for a sin or a crime.
DAVID A. NORRIS LOOKS AT THE Others hoped a visit to a holy
place might protect them from the
IMPORTANCE OF PILGRIMAGES plague or other diseases, or heal a
serious injury or affliction. Some
AND THE SEARCH FOR SPIRITUAL longed to visit the sites where the
COMFORT events of the Bible took place, or
to set foot in shrines dedicated
to great saints. The simple lure of
T
raveling through medi- travel and adventure could be an
eval Europe was not for additional motivation.
the faint-hearted. Leaving “Post-obit” pilgrimages were en-
aside the frequent wars dowed by wealthy folk. They left
and invasions, roads and money in their wills to provide
forests were infested with bandits. for someone to travel to a distant
Inns were few and far between, and shrine and pray for them.
offered little comfort (and often not During the late Roman Empire
even safety) to their guests. People in the late 4th century, Christians
needed a good reason to stir from took long journeys from Armenia,
home and travel to the nearest vil- Persia, India, Gaul, Britain, and
lage, town, market, or fair. Religious other places to visit Jerusalem and
belief, though, was a strong enough other spots that figured in the New
force to compel countless thou- Testament. Travel between Western
sands of people to undertake gruel- Europe and the eastern Mediter-
ing journeys lasting months or even ranean became more difficult after
years in search of spiritual comfort. the breakup of the Roman Empire,
A traditional pilgrimage is a faith- and later when Islamic armies con-
motivated journey to a sacred shrine quered Syria and Palestine.
This medieval pilgrim wears his
or site of religious importance. The distinctive broad-brimmed hat with a New pilgrimage sites arose across
word “pilgrimage” comes from the badge obtained at a pilgrimage site, Europe. Many pilgrims traveled
Latin perigrinus. Derived from per and carries the traditional staff and to Rome, the seat of the Catholic
“scrip”, a bag to carry a few personal
meaning through, and ager, mean- necessities. Public Domain Church, and the burial place of
ing field or land or country, a per- the apostles Saint Peter and Saint
egrinus could be a foreigner, stranger, or traveler. Paul. From England and northern
Pilgrimages were a part of the religious life of ancient cultures from Europe, the journey to Rome could
Egypt and Greece to India and China, and have been a tradition among take three months or more.
Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and adherents of other faiths. Christian pil- Others visited shrines in their
grimages became important during and after the 3rd and 4th centuries, and own counties, which were dedi-
during the Middle Ages, spurred great changes in European history and cated to local or national saints.
society. Some of the major pilgrimage sites
The effects of pilgrimages on medieval life went far beyond matters of in Western Europe were St. David’s
religious faith and devotion. In a time when many people never traveled Cathedral and St. Winifred’s Well
far from their homes, medieval European pilgrims came into contact with in Wales; St. Andrew’s in Scotland;
people of other nationalities, while giving local folk a rare opportunity to Our Lady of Walsingham in Nor-
meet someone from a distant country. They spread first-hand knowledge folk, England; the Shrine of St.
of foreign places, customs, foods, architecture, and innovations. And, in Thomas à Becket at Canterbury,
the absence of postal systems, they offered a way of carrying letters or England; and The Virgin’s House at
verbal messages. Loreto, Italy.
The Shrine of St. James de Cam- Holy relics, whether something
postella in Spain remains an im- once owned or touched by a saint
portant pilgrimage site. El Camino or even one of their teeth or a
de Santiago (“The Way of Saint bone fragment, were thought to
James”) is a network of pilgrimage have great power for the faithful. A
routes that link the shrine to Eng- church or monastery that claimed
land and the countries of Western to have a nail or a piece of wood
Europe. St. James the Great, one from the cross used in the cruci-
of the Twelve Apostles, was said to fixion of Christ, or relics associ-
have come to Spain to preach. He ated with other Biblical figures or
was martyred in 44 A.D., and ac- famous saints, would enhance its
cording to tradition, his body was prestige and attract more visitors. Some pilgrims, like these fictional
brought to Spain for burial at the Voluntary donations from pilgrims ones from the Canterbury Tales,
site of the cathedral. filled the coffers of many churches rode on horseback and wore their
everyday outfits rather than walking
Thomas à Becket was the Arch- and shrines. barefoot in traditional pilgrim clothing.
bishop of Canterbury. Once a close Most medieval pilgrims were Public Domain
friend of King Henry II, Becket and men, but woman also undertook
the king fell out over the balance of these long journeys. Proceeding a leather bag holding travel neces-
power between crown and church. on foot instead of traveling in style sities such as a mug, a bowl, coins,
Four of Henry’s knights, believing on a fine horse showed appropri- and perhaps papers or documents.
that the king wanted Becket dead, ate humility. Sandals were typical Also carried was a long wooden
slew the archbishop in Canterbury footwear, but some pilgrims chose staff. Handy for balancing when
Cathedral on 29 December 1170. to make their passage more diffi- fording a stream or dealing with
After Becket’s death, one miracle cult by walking barefoot, or even steep hills, the staff also might be
after another was attributed to him. crawling along the road. In addi- used to fend off bandits or wolves.
His remains were transferred from tion, many men pledged not to In a way, there were two kinds of
a tomb in the cathedral crypt to trim their hair or beards until fin- pilgrims: those prosperous enough
an ornate shrine within the build- ishing their journey. to pay their own way, and those
ing. Canterbury became the most Pilgrims once wore special cloth- who needed to work or seek alms
famed destination of pilgrims in ing, partly for practicality and along the way. Of course, anyone
England. It was to Becket’s shrine partly to serve as a sort of uniform in the first category who ran out
that the pilgrims in Geoffrey Chau- to identify them as pilgrims. A long of money hundreds of miles from
cer’s Canterbury Tales were going. tunic made of coarse material, home joined the second group.
Many shrines arose near early called a sclavein, was often marked Besides the danger of robbery,
wells. Not a few of them, as well with a cross. Over the tunic one money presented pilgrims with
as other shrines, had been seen might wrap a long scarf, or wear a considerable trouble. Local inn-
as holy places in ancient times by mantle or cloak which could also keepers might accept foreign coins
pre-Christian inhabitants. Some serve as a bedroll. Atop the head at values far below the actual
were thought to have water with was a distinctive broad-brimmed exchange rates. English pilgrim
medicinal properties, while others felt hat. Tied to the waist or worn William Wey covered three pages
were revered as baptismal sites of from a shoulder strap was a “scrip”, of careful descriptions of exchange
famous saints. rates along his route from England
to Syria. Upon reaching the domin-
Most medieval pilgrims were ions of the “Saracens” (Muslims)
men, but many women also
embarked on these journeys.
in the Middle East, pilgrims might
Public Domain have to pay various travel taxes,
license fees, or bribes before they
could proceed.
Holding up pilgrims on their way
to or from holy shrines was regard-
ed as a heinous crime, and punish-
ment included excommunication
in addition to penalties for robbery
and theft. Nonetheless, robbers

PILGRIMAGES
found that pilgrims were tempting was supposed to feed the passen-
and profitable targets. Prosperous gers, no one should count on this.
travelers might have horses to steal, One should bring their own dish-
and even many who humbly walked es, a frying pan, a cauldron, and a
on foot might carry a considerable supply of bread, cheese, fruit, and
amount of coins or valuables to ex- bacon. Bringing half a dozen hens
change for accommodations and in cages, with half a bushel of feed,
food, and to make charitable do- would provide eggs.
nations to the shrines. Therefore, The Church was supposed to
most pilgrims went forth in large feed and shelter pilgrims. Monas-
groups, and with at least some of teries and abbeys offered accom-
them carrying weapons. modations, and pilgrims of high
Even banding in large numbers rank would receive generous hos-
was not complete protection. Pick- pitality and sleeping quarters. Par-
pockets might blend in with a parish churches might offer shelter
ty of pilgrims, or prey upon them and food, and some nobles also
in towns. Some bandits disguised Some pilgrims such as Richard, Earl of extended their hospitality to holy
themselves as clergy or dressed as Warwick, who sailed to the Holy Land travelers.
in 1408, traveled partly by sea.
pilgrims, and infiltrated groups of Public Domain Monks also set up smaller cen-
travelers to lure them to a place ters called hospices along pilgrim-
where they could be overwhelmed from Venice to the port of Jaffa age routes. Not all hospices offered
and robbed. (in modern-day Israel). For such food, though. Rarely would poorer
William Wey, a fellow of Eton trips, he advised pilgrims to choose travelers find anything closer to a
College, left England for three pil- a berth as high as possible in the bed than a pile of straw laid on a
grimages in the mid-1400s. On one ship; spaces in the lowest deck were floor.
journey, when his party neared the “right smouldering hot and stink- Pilgrims who had money to
Rhine, they had to change their ing”. Passengers should buy their spare could lodge at an inn. Medi-
route to avoid being swept into a own “feather-bed, mattress, two eval inns, though, were not noted
war between two bishops. Reaching pillows, two pair of sheets, and a for comfort. Innkeepers were in-
Basel in Switzerland, they detoured small quilt.” Bedding was only the famous for overcharging for poor
again to avoid a war between Pope beginning. Wey mentioned many food and shabby accommodations.
Pius II and the Duke of Austria. other necessities for the sea voy- Private rooms were an innovation
Special laws protected the fami- age, such as two barrels of wine of the distant future, and guests
lies and property of pilgrims. They and one of fresh water, and a stock were packed into rooms that they
were exempt from arrest while of laxatives, restoratives, and other had to share with several strangers
on their travels, and could not be medicines. Although the captain (not to mention fleas).
prosecuted by their creditors. Laws
against begging were not enforced
against pilgrims.
Eventually, enough pilgrims set
forth on their quests to create a
medieval tourist industry. An Eng-
lish pilgrim of the 1300s counted
80 ships of pilgrims in the harbor
at Corunna, Spain, 30 of which he
believed were from his native coun-
try. It was said in the mid-1400s as
many as 100,000 visitors per year
came to the shrine of St. Thomas at
Canterbury, and this was in a time
after outbreaks of the plague that
reduced England’s population to
only about two million.
William Wey traveled by sea Tabard Inn_(1879). Wikipedia

Shops near pilgrimage desti-
nations sold pilgrim badges or
signs. These little metal souvenirs
gave pilgrims a tangible reminder
of their journey. They also made
money for churches and shrines,
and lessened the need for visitors
to chip away bits of stone or wood
from the church buildings as keep-
sakes. Holy sites often had a repre-
sentative symbol, such as a palm
leaf for Jerusalem or a scallop shell
for Santiago de Campostella.
In a scene reminiscent of the Middle Ages, late 19th-century pilgrims visit
Bethlehem. New York Public Library
Pilgrimages became more re- Pilgrimages in the British Isles es-

laxed in the late Middle Ages, and sentially ended with the violent
many people treated them more upheaval surrounding Henry VIII’s
like vacations than strict journeys break with Rome and the establish-
of faith. Travelers might while away ment of the Protestant Church of
the time by singing popular songs England. Monasteries and abbeys
or telling funny or even ribald sto- in Britain were closed. Their prop-
ries. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury erties were sold or demolished, and
Tales was written as a collection of their shrines were dismantled or
stories shared by pilgrims pass- destroyed.
An ampulla sold to a pilgrim at ing the time on their way between Even in Catholic countries of
Canterbury in the Middle Ages. London and St. Thomas’ shrine Europe, pilgrimages became a less
Public Domain
at Canterbury. His pilgrims rode prominent feature of life. Worried
Badges depicting St. Thomas rather than walked, and forsook about foreign spies entering his
were sold at Canterbury. Some the humble hat, staff, and cloak for realm, Louis XIV forbade the en-
visitors also bought little bells, their own comfortable clothing. try of foreign pilgrims into France
and accounts speak of the jingling Devout churchmen began to feel without official permission in
“Canterbury bells” worn by pil- that too many pilgrims were out 1671. In the 18th century, Holy
grims. Also popular were little lead for fun rather than faith. Many Roman Emperor Joseph II banned
flasks or bottles called ampulla. people took advantage of pilgrim- long pilgrimages in his domains,
They were said to contain water age customs. Traveling merchants and even some high clergy joined
mixed with the blood shed by St. dressed as pilgrims to enjoy legal the emperor in his disapproval.
Thomas, and many believed that protections, and offers of food and Nonetheless, new pilgrimage sites
the vials held tremendous healing lodging. Beggars latched on to pil- and routes appeared in the 19th
power. Similar ampulla were sold at grimages as a way of legally asking century, and the tradition con-
the shrines of other saints as well. for alms, and judicial authorities tinues to flourish. In some recent
Badges often had a pin on the sometimes sentenced criminals years, as many as 200,000 mod-
back, so pilgrims could fasten them to perform a pilgrimage as a form ern-day pilgrims followed parts of
to their cloaks or hats as remem- of punishment. Other pilgrims the centuries-old Camino de San-
brances of their travels. Descen- sought profit. Chaucer said of one tiago to the Shrine of St. James de
dants of some pilgrims added these of his fictional pilgrims, the Par- Campostella. Hm
symbols, such as St. James’ scallop doner, “in a glass he hadde pigge’s
shells, to their family coats of arms. bones”; he was intending to sell
Upon their safe return, travelers them as saintly relics. DAVID A. NORRIS is a regular
might donate their staffs, badges, After the Reformation, the new contributor to History Magazine,
or even palm leaves carried from Protestant churches in North- Your Genealogy Today, and
Jerusalem as gifts to their parish ern Europe attached little impor- Internet Genealogy.
churches. tance to shrines and holy places.

NOTABLE RESIDENCES
624 White Street, Key West, FL in 1938,
while Elizabeth Bishop lived at the
house with Louise Crane. Photo credit:
Louise Crane and Victoria Kent Papers,
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript
Library, Yale University
The swimming pool is wonderful –

it is very large and the water, from
away under the reef, is fairly salt.
Also it lights up at night – I find
that each underwater bulb is five
times the voltage of the one bulb
in the lighthouse across the street,
so the pool must be visible to Mars
– it is wonderful to swim around
in a sort of green fire, one’s friends
look like luminous frogs.
IN THE SHADOW
While Bishop’s gift for extraordi-
nary description is reflected in the
language of her letters, it is exempli-
fied in her poetry. Bishop moved to
OF A GIANT Key West as a young woman of 25 in

1937, not long after her graduation
from Vassar. For $2,000, she and her
Elizabeth Bishop’s partner Louise Crane purchased the

lovely Revival style “eyebrow” house
across town from the Hemingways
Key West legacy at 624 White Street. The quirky

moniker is from the high gable roof
that creates additional shading of
SARAH THOMAS EXPLORES THE the windows, a popular modifica-
tion in Key West in the late 1800s
POET’S MARK ON THE ISLAND to keep rooms cool. There is a plac-
ard on the entryway of Bishop’s old
FAMED FOR ERNEST HEMINGWAY house, containing a quote from her
poem “Questions of Travel,” read-
O
ne of the most hallowed addresses in Key West, Florida is 907 ing: “Should we have stayed home,
Whitehead Street – it’s the stately French colonial with double wherever that may be?”
balconies that is the former residence of Ernest Hemingway. One imagines many downtown
The house is a source of great local pride and literary mythos, revelers have stumbled by and read
perhaps no feature more mythologized than the swimming those words as they make their way
pool. In 1938, when it was installed, it was the only pool on the island and across the island to greet the sun
cost twice as much as the house itself at $20,000. Upon return from Europe, peeking over the Atlantic. Despite
Hemingway is said to have told his wife at the time, Pauline Pfeiffer, the beauty of the property and the
that he’d spent his last cent on the pool. Then, so the story goes, he tossed rare talent of its former tenant, the
that last penny on the ground, which his wife had mortared in at the foot Bishop house, unlike the Hemingway
of the pool. House, quietly drifted into old age
without much fanfare: paint peel-
There’s a lesser-known bit of lit- to the writer Robert Lowell. Bish- ing and palm fronds overtaking the
erary lore cemented by the pool op was a friend of Pfeiffer’s, a path. That is, until the fall of 2019
as well. A small plaque at the side journalist, and had visited the when the Key West Literary Seminar
contains a quote written by the Hemingway home for swimming announced that they had bought
poet Elizabeth Bishop in a letter and socializing. the historic home and had plans to

restore it – not just the house, but are evidenced even in their recollec- on White Street. She was 12 years
Bishop’s Key West legacy. tions of the pasttime. Hemingway’s junior, working in the
Key West Literary Seminar The Old Man and the Sea, shadow of a young man already rec-
(‘KWLS’) Executive Director Arlo Hemingway’s Pulitzer and Nobel ognized as a master. Hemingway’s
Haskell has called the purchase of prizewinning novella, chronicles The Sun Also Rises (1925) and A
the home and restoration “a femi- the titular old man’s struggle with Farewell to Arms (1929) put him on
nist response to all the Hemingway a tremendous marlin – though he the international literary map while
energy that goes on here.” Haskell, a catches the fish, after it is ravaged by Bishop was still unpublished.
Key West-born poet, has been a pro- sharks, he returns home humbled Yet, history shows us that
ponent of restoring the Bishop leg- and aged with the wreckage of his Hemingway was aware of the bud-
acy to its proper place. The literary catch. Hemingway’s story is about ding young poet, and her presence
seminar purchased the house for the value of the battle, even if the both on the island and on the page.
$1.2 million in November of 2019, prize is lost. In a 1964 letter, three years after
and now a fundraising campaign is Hemingway’s death, Bishop wrote
underway for $2.25 million, to both to a friend of her time in Key West:
pay off the loan for the purchase of
Pauline Hemingway … sent my
the house and for a historic renova-
first book to Ernest in Cuba.
tion. The project isn’t simply cos-
He wrote her he liked it, and,
metic; the Seminar plans to bring
referring to ‘The Fish,’ I think,
the property back to its state at the
‘I wish I knew as much about it
time of Bishop’s occupation. They
as she does.’ Allowing for exagger-
also plan to promote Bishop’s writ-
ation to please his ex-wife – that
ing through public events, scholar-
remark has really meant more to
ship and interdisciplinary creative
me than any amount of praise in
work.
the quarterlies.
Bishop’s work is well known
to the readers and writers of Key By the time Bishop had moved to
West, her quiet legacy taking its Key West and befriended Pauline,
place in the literary canon of the is- Hemingway was abroad covering
Elizabeth Bishop at 25 years old,
land alongside contemporaries like the Spanish Civil War, and he had
with her bicycle in Key West. Photo
Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost and credit: Elizabeth Bishop Papers, Archives met his would-be third wife, Martha
Tennessee Williams. The Poetry and Special Collections Library, Vassar Gellhorn. Despite his estrangement,
College Libraries. the island that he once called “the
Guild of Key West celebrates Bishop’s
birthday with an annual reading, In “The Fish”, Bishop describes St. Tropez of the poor” connected
and KWLS dedicated a past seminar her great catch as “battered, vener- Hemingway and Bishop, both by
entirely to the poet’s work. Yet, with able and homely,” a wartorn crea- passions and geography. While the
Hemingway’s face festooned on ture from whose lips “grim, wet, and sea and island lifestyle beckoned
bars, postcards and t-shirts, beyond weaponlike, hung five old pieces of both, they were also beset by de-
an intimate literary enclave, her fish-line.” Despite the struggle of mons – famously, alcohol addiction,
work remains in the shadow of the reeling in the formidable fish, the but also turbulent personal lives.
giant. While Bishop and Hemingway last line is: “And I let the fish go.” Bishop’s father died shortly after
crossed paths, her legacy whispers Instead, Bishop’s fishing tale cham- her birth in Worchester, Massa-
rather than roars. pions mercy and empathy. chussets, in 1911. Her mother was
“They were contemporaries,” “When I think about her years hospitalized for psychiatric illness,
Haskell says, “but they have a very here, she was so young, and she was ultimately committed to an asylum
different public presence.” Have discovering who she was as a person in 1916, and Bishop was raised by
and had, as it were. Bishop was an and as an artist,” says Haskell. “Even her grandparents. Accordingly, the
unassuming young woman who though Hemingway was relatively poet wrote masterfully of loneliness
sought sun and sea on her south- young, he had already published a and loss. In her famous vilanelle
bound pilgrimage to the island af- book that was very acclaimed.” “One Art,” in which she declares
ter an upbringing in Nova Scotia “The Fish” debuted in Bishop’s “the art of losing isn’t hard to
and New England. She was an avid first collection of poetry, North and master,” she mourns “three loved
fisherwoman, a commonality with South, the book that she partially houses,” and included in these is
Hemingway, but their differences composed while living in the house 624 White Street.
NOTABLE RESIDENCES
While living there, Bishop wrote
tenderly of her house and the sub-
tropic life. To her mentor Marianne
Moore, she described her home
as “perfectly beautiful to me, in-
side and out,” and in another let-
ter, “very well made, with slightly
arched beams so that it looks either
like a ship’s cabin or a freight car.”
Bishop’s letters paint an idyllic life
in parts: she writes about the town
and the water, a “beautiful clear
pistachio color,” of her friendship
with her housekeeper Ms. Almyda,
whose frank life lessons sneak into
Bishop’s letters. Her poetry during
the time was also more externally- Exterior of 624 White Street in 2019, when KWLS purchased the property. The
facing. renovation is expected to be completed in late 2022. Photo credit: Mark Hedden
“In North and South, the north
poems are more surrealist-tinged, “From the first day the board spirit of Hemingway lives on in the
but the southern poems are more heard about it, everyone was capti- artifacts of his life that remain on
rooted in observation,” says Haskell. vated about owning her house. Ev- the island, his hunting rifle mount-
“I think that’s because Key West was eryone knew and loved the house ed on the wall of Sloppy Joe’s, his
such a new terrain to her. When you from the sidewalk like I did,” says framed letters in the Southernmost
go to a place you’ve never been, Haskell. Mansion, his grand house with its
your vision is more awaked to that Now, KWLS has hired Bender swimming pool, Bishop’s spirit is
place. And that’s exciting in terms & Associates, a local architectural more ephemeral. It lives on in the
of her creative development.” firm, as well as a historian from renovation of her home, the devo-
Bishop published North and Florida State University, to com- tion of her scholars, and mostly,
South in 1946, the same year she plete a historic structures report, her words, like those in “Full Moon,
sold the White Street house to a which Haskell describes as “essen- Key West” that beg the reader to pay
woman named Lisbeth Weymouth. tially a biography of the house and close attention to the island that
The revised collection went on to its inhabitants.” she so loved:
win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry “We have discovered things that The town is paper-white:
in 1956. The house stayed in the haven’t been known to me or other the moonlight is so bright.
Weymouth family until the Literary Bishop scholars,” he says. Flake on flake
Seminar purchased it. The renovation plans include a of wood and paint
“A few years ago, Peter Weymouth garden with fruit trees that she de- the buildings faint.
knocked on the door of the office scribed in her letters: “one mango The tin roofs break
and essentially said, ‘I own Elizabeth tree, one avocado, two banana, two Into a sweat
Bishop’s house, and I’m thinking lime.” The space will be mixed use, of heavy dew
about selling it, do you want to buy with the outside space open to the dripping steadily down the gutters
it maybe?’” says Haskell. Haskell public and the interior serving as click click.
and his wife spent an hour sitting the new headquarters of KWLS. Listen!
on the steps with Weymouth, chat- They have raised about half of their
ting about the history of the house. $2.25 million goal for the resto- SARAH THOMAS is a writer
They kept in touch, but Weymouth ration, and interested parties can and editor living in Geneva,
wasn’t quite ready to sell. That is, check KWLS.org for updates. Switzerland. She has written
until 2019, when Weymouth decid- One can imagine the property for The Huffington Post, Al Jazeera
ed to put it on the market. Within reinvigorated with spirit of the America, Catapult, Apogee
24 hours, Haskell had gotten ap- young Bishop, who wrote her Journal and Bayou and is
proval from the KWLS board, and friends of how to make a fresh lime seeking representation for her
within two weeks, their offer – at daquiri with Cuban rum, and how
first novel.
asking price – had been submitted. to properly peel a mango. While the

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REPORTERS
In this photograph, President John F.
Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline
Kennedy bid farewell to Prince Ranier
III and Princess Grace of Monaco
(actress Grace Kelly) following a
luncheon in their honor. United Press
International (UPI) reporter, Merriman
“Smitty” Smith, stands behind and left
of Mrs. Kennedy; UPI photographer,
James K. W. Atherton, is visible on the
far right edge of the image. All others
are unidentified. West Wing Entrance,
White House, Washington, DC. Public
Domain
habit that was continued by his

successor as UPI White House
Correspondent, Helen Thomas.
Smith was as gregarious with
people as he was competitive
against his colleagues.
Smith was awarded a 1964
Pulitzer Prize “for distinguished
reporting of national affairs” (in
the words of the prize jury com-
mittee) for his firsthand, dra-
OUR MAN matic story of the assassination

of President John F. Kennedy
on 22 November 1963. This was
AT THE
not the first time that he was in
the immediate vicinity of a
President who died while in of-
fice; “Smitty” was also in Warm
WHITE HOUSE Springs, Georgia on 12 April

1945, when Roosevelt died due
to a cerebral hemorrhage. For his
MARK WEISENMILLER PROFILES coverage of the death and funeral
of FDR, Smith was given the 1946
MERRIMAN SMITH, THE LEGENDARY, National Headlines Award.
Hence, “no other American was
LONG-TIME WHITE HOUSE REPORTER such a witness to both of these oc-
casions,” wrote his son Timothy
F
rom 1941 to 1970, Merriman Smith was the White House B. Smith in the latter’s 1972 book
Correspondent for the United Press (and its successor, United Press “Merriman Smith’s Book of Presi-
International, or UPI) news-wire agency. That meant that he dents: A White House Memoir.”
reported about six Presidents ranging from Democrat Franklin In his story about Kennedy’s
D. Roosevelt to Republican Richard M. Nixon. Known to all murder, Smith wrote “One sees
by his nickname “Smitty,” (except for Dwight Eisenhower, who always history explode before one’s eyes
called him by his first name), he wrote five books about the American and even for the most trained ob-
Presidency. server, there is a limit to what one
can comprehend.” This “limit to
Pugnacious yet personable – and and highly competent. When White what one can comprehend” – that
known for his dark black hair and House reporters had no more is, in regards to a person dealing
moustache and his gravelly voice questions for a President during with death – would, as we shall
– Smith was the first reporter as- a press conference, Smith would eventually see, become a major
signed to the White House who end said press conference by say- part of Merriman Smith’s death
was simultaneously over-dramatic ing “Thank you, Mr. President” – a in mid-April of 1970.

EARLY DAYS In 1936, he was hired by United I wouldn’t trade the experience for
An only child, Albert Merriman Press (UP). anything. There is just no other
Smith (he never used his first In his early UP career, Smith way of getting a front row seat
name) was born on 10 Febru- was a general assignments report- at the making of history except
ary 1913 in Savannah, Georgia. er where he wrote colorful feature to be President, and my mother
He always wanted to be a news- stories when not busy with his pri- didn’t raise me to be one.” In the
paper reporter; he once said “It mary assignment of covering the same book, he described a typi-
never occurred to me to do any- Georgia and Florida legislatures. cal workday at the White House
thing else.” In his profile in the During this time with UP, he was as him arriving there at 9am; the
reference book series known as based in it’s Atlanta bureau. In President beginning his workday
“Current Biography,” it is noted late 1940, UP transferred him to at 9:30 and thus Smith learning of
that “he had worked for a news- its Washington, DC bureau and in the President’s work schedule, and
paper in various jobs since the age 1941, the White House became his then Smith dictating the first of
of twelve – as a carrier, want-ad full-time beat. his many stories of the day. Smith
collector, and correspondent for had the ability to dictate four dif-
the Boy Scouts.” TO THE WHITE HOUSE ferent stories with only one tele-
When he edited the newspaper In his first book (entitled “Thank phone call to the UP Washington,
as a student at Savannah High You, Mr. President” and published DC bureau.
School, he once received a one- in 1946), he wrote “Many’s the When he wasn’t interviewing
week suspension for describ- time I’ve been tired, wet, hungry, people or writing stories, Smith
ing the high school as a firetrap. sick, or completely exhausted. But spent much of a typical work
When not studying for classes or
writing, he took an active role in
the schools’ dramatic club; this
may have been the beginning of
the development of his colorful
and flamboyant personality.
“He is a man of many skills,”
fellow White House reporter
(for Time-Life) Hugh Sidey once
wrote of Smith, “being able to re-
pair a walkie-talkie on a dogtrot,
to find a telephone in the remot-
est wilderness, to navigate a boat
in Narragansett Bay, to develop a
wardrobe that boasts a suit that
looks like a tuxedo or a tuxedo
that looks like a suit in case of an
unexpected change in plans.”
Yet this was not really the case
until he became a reporter in
Washington, DC. After high
school graduation came enroll-
ment at Oglethorpe University in
Atlanta where he divided his time
between majoring in journalism,
writing for the college newspa-
per, and being an active member
of Oglethorpe’s boxing team. He Entertainer Jimmy Durante performs during an evening reception at the
had a zest for starting a career residence of Arthur B. Krim and Dr. Mathilde Krim in New York City, New York
in journalism, however, and left in May 1962. President John F. Kennedy stands at left in background. Also
pictured: Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Julie Robinson Belafonte; Eunice
Oglethorpe during his junior year. Kennedy Shriver; Mr. Krim; dean of the White House press corps and United
Then followed a string of jobs for Press International (UPI) reporter, Merriman “Smitty” Smith; actor and singer,
a number of Atlanta newspapers. Shirley MacLaine. Public Domain

REPORTERS
morning reading newspapers; by lunch
time, he would have completely read five
newspapers. “On an average day,” Smith
wrote in the afore-mentioned book, “the
White House closes shop by 6pm or a lit-
tle after…the final word to the reporters
comes when a press attaché advises ‘the lid
is on’.”
One of the reasons why Smith was a re-
porter whose White House stories were
avidly read by millions of readers is be-
cause he could write entertaining feature
stories related to the White House as well
as hard news stories. Evidence of this is
the fact that one of the most requested se-
ries of stories by UPI clients was Smith’s
thrice-weekly column entitled “Backstairs
at the White House.” These columns were
more anecdotes than analysis and in them
Smith wrote about such things as squirrels
burying nuts in President Eisenhower’s
putting green on the South Lawn; the fact
that the elaborate cuisine served in the
White House during the Kennedy Admin-
istration was more the work of First Lady
Jacqueline Kennedy than the President,
and the fact that President Lyndon B. Aboard the USS Missouri carrying President Harry S. Truman home from
Johnson was frugal while in the White Brazil, pollywog Merriman Smith, newsman, stands watch for Davy
Jones, emissary of King Neptune, during shellback ceremonies for
House yet wore suits that cost more than
those crossing the equator for the first time. From: Truman Home.
$300 and a $1,500 wrist watch. Public Domain
STORIES OF “SMITTY”
When reporters congregate, they often tell
each other stories about their journalistic
exploits, and this was especially the case
when White House reporters would cau-
cus and talk about Merriman Smith. Some
such stories are:
Whenever Eisenhower would see Smith
at a social gathering, he would always say
“Ah, Smith, the last casualty of World War
Two.” This referred to the fact that when
President Harry S. Truman announced that
Nazi Germany officials surrendered to the
Allied Powers personnel in May of 1945,
Smith bolted from the press conference
and in his frenzied run to get to a telephone
to report the news, he fell and separated his
President John F. Kennedy and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
shoulder. Smith did not get medical atten- of Great Britain stand with other guests at the White House
tion until he filed his story. Correspondents and News Photographers Dinner. (L-R) Unidentified
Eisenhower once visited French Presi- guest; President Kennedy; dean of the White House press corps and
United Press International (UPI) reporter, Merriman “Smitty” Smith;
dent Charles De Gaulle at the latter’s work Prime Minister Macmillan. Standing in background: White House Secret
headquarters in the Elysee Palace in Paris. Service agents, Bill Payne and Frank Yeager. Garden Foyer, Sheraton
Reporters were banned from covering Park Hotel, Washington, DC. Public Domain

the meeting, but that did not stop Kennedy’s motorcade in downtown one. Long an alcoholic, he never
Smith. He got past security by Dallas,” began his first story. Smith completely overcame this prob-
quickly flashing a pin while hus- knew that the longer he could keep lem.
tling into the building. Further in- Bell off of the radio-telephone, the Nor were his relations with
vestigation revealed that Smith had more chance that UPI would be women without fault. He married
flashed the guards a Gettysburg the first press agency to report the Eleanor Doyle Brill in 1937 and
(Pennsylvania) Volunteer Fire De- news. So, for four minutes, Smith the couple had three children:
partment pin. kept dictating. When the frustrat- Allison, Merriman Jr., and Timothy.
By 1960, Smith’s reputation as a ed Bell realized what Smith was Smith’s alcoholism, and the fact
White House reporter was so well doing, he yelled “Give me the that he spent much of his time at
established that he was frequently phone, Smitty!,” and began to the White House, led to a prob-
referred to as “the Dean of the beat Smith with both of his fists. lematic marriage. Before Smith
White House Correspondents” Smith doubled over, protecting the and his wife finally divorced in
(a title that he objected to). That radio-telephone headset, and kept 1966, they had been separated for
year’s Presidential election between dictating. many years. Later, Smith married
Kennedy and Nixon was one of the All this time, the press pool car an architect.
closest in American history; for followed Kennedy’s limousine to With each passing month af-
many hours, no one knew who had Parkland Hospital. The cars ar- ter Kennedy’s death, Smith began
been elected. When Kennedy saw rived at the hospital’s emergency to constantly relive it. Although
Smith at the Hyannis Port (Mas- entrance, when Smith finally threw then unnamed, Smith appeared
sachusetts) Armory the day after down the headset, and ran into to have had what we would now
the election, Kennedy told him “If the hospital. When Clint Hill, the call post traumatic stress disor-
you’re here, Smitty, I guess I’ve re- Secret Service agent who jumped der (PTSD). Then Merriman Jr.,
ally been elected.” In a social soiree onto the back of the Presidential by now an adult and an Army he-
later that week at the White House limousine seconds after Kennedy licopter pilot, was killed when a
in which both men were in atten- was shot, told Smith that Kennedy helicopter that he was co-piloting
dance, Kennedy took his wife by was dead, Smith then called the crashed in Vietnam (this was dur-
the elbow, led her to Smith, and UPI bureau and dictated “Kennedy ing the U.S.-Vietnam conflict) in
said “Jackie, I want you to meet seriously wounded, perhaps fatally, 1966. President Johnson – who
Merriman Smith. We inherited by assassins’ bullets.” Kennedy died would present the reporter with
him along with the White House.” and UPI was the first press agency the Presidential Medal of Free-
to report his death thanks to the dom in the same year – attended
ONE LONG DAY reporting of Smith. Merriman Smith Jr.’s funeral at
IN DALLAS , TEXAS Still Smitty’s workday was not Arlington National Cemetery.
Undoubtedly, Smith’s most famous complete. He found out that In the spring of 1970, Smith
story was his Pulitzer Prize winning Johnson was headed to the Presi- discovered that the Internal Rev-
one about Kennedy’s murder. Smith dential airplane known as Air Force enue Service (IRS) was claiming
was riding in the press pool car, One at Dallas’s Love Field airport. that he owed them $25,000. He
which was two behind Kennedy’s Smith found his way there; entered didn’t have the money to pay. The
limousine in the motorcade, as it the Boeing 707 aircraft and, while IRS’s claim was the last straw for
made its way through Dallas. Three flying back with the new President Merriman Smith. On 13 April
other reporters – Jack Bell of the Johnson, began to write his long 1970, Smith climbed into a bath-
Associated Press being the most first-person account story of the tub in his Arlington home armed
prominent – were in the press pool day’s atrocities. This was the 1,000- with a .357 Magnum pistol. He
car, but Smith was sitting closest to word story that would win him shot himself in the head, commit-
its only radio-telephone. a Pulitzer Prize and it was put on ting suicide. Smith was 57 years
One of his hobbies was target the UPI wire shortly after midnight old. Hm
pistol shooting and so Smith knew (that is, 23 November).
the sound of gunfire. He now heard MARK WEISENMILLER,
it. He immediately picked up the END IT the only reporter to have
radio-telephone, quickly got in Merriman Smith may have seemed worked for most of the world’s
contact with the UPI Dallas bu- to live a charmed and happy life. major news-wire services,
reau, and began to dictate. “Three That was true of his professional began his career with UPI.
shots were fired at President life, but certainly not his personal

PLANNED COMMUNITIES
Residents, especially children have
always had ample room to play in
Radburn’s open parkland. Radburn
Archives
development firm based in New

York City. At the time, architects
Clarence Stein and Henry Wright,
along with landscape architect
Marjory Cautley, were busy de-
signing and building housing
communities on a fairly small
scale, such as Sunnyside Gardens
in Queens (covering 77 acres),
based on the “garden city” trend
in England in the 1920s. The team
further refined and expanded the
concept of a garden city commu-
nity with Radburn, where Cautley
envisioned parks with abundant,
carefully placed shade trees to
RADBURN: encourage outdoor activity, and

gardens designed with an eye to-
ward possible future changes and
development. She also chose low-
AMERICA’S maintenance plant life, hedges,

and shrubs in the common park-
land that would sustain well in all
TREND-SET TING
seasons.
Radburn’s design gives top pri-
ority to open spaces for parks,
playgrounds, tennis courts, and
COMMUNITY swimming pools. The commu-

nity also has its own elementary
school, which sits on the edge of
GARRY BERMAN LOOKS AT THE the larger “A” Park. The school is
part of the Fair Lawn school sys-
REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT AND tem, and has served several gen-
DESIGN FOR THE FIRST PLANNED erations of Radburn residents, as
COMMUNITY IN THE US
N
ew Jersey has its share of landmarks registered as national
historic sites. Most are private homes, water mills, court-
houses, and the like. One unique exception, however, can be
found within the confines of Fair Lawn, where you can find
an entire community registered as a national historic site.
Radburn is renown worldwide for its revolutionary concept and design,
and for being the first planned community in the US. It was registered
as a national historic site in 1975.
The community sits in the geographical center of Fair Lawn (popu-
lation approx. 32,000), about ten miles west of New York City. The
five-square-mile borough was incorporated in 1924, but was most-
ly farmland at the time. The Radburn Association was founded in Radburn as envisioned by the
1929, as the brainchild of the City Housing Corporation, a real estate architects. Radburn Archives

well as those living in the imme-
diate surrounding neighborhoods
of Fair Lawn.
Despite the innovative and am-
bitious plan, history shows us
that 1929 was not the best year
for fledgling business ventures,
including real estate. The De-
pression forced the City Housing
Corporation into bankruptcy, and
Radburn was never completed as
envisioned. It was conceived to
extend to Fair Lawn’s borders with
the neighboring towns of Glen
Rock and Paramus, potentially ac-
commodating as many as 25,000
residents. While Radburn’s con-
struction came to a rather abrupt
halt, Fair Lawn continued to grow
The famous Howard Ave. tunnel, designed to keep kids safe from the growing
around it, especially with the automobile population. Radburn Archives
post-war baby boom of the early
1950s. Radburn today covers 150 Radburn’s centerpiece has al- rebuilt using the original design
acres, serving as home to roughly ways been the Plaza Building, plans and architecture, restoring
3,000 residents, living in 469 sin- home to offices, shops, and, at the edifice to its long-familiar ap-
gle-family homes – most arranged one time, a branch of the City pearance. It stands as confirma-
in cul-de-sacs, with the house Housing Corporation. Countless tion that “the more things change,
backyards bordering the commu- businesses in the building have the more they stay the same.”
nal park properties – plus 30 two- come and gone in the past ninety Among the fixtures that allowed
family homes, 48 townhouses, a years, and the building itself has early Radburn to maintain its
93-unit apartment complex, and, been partially destroyed by fire pedestrian-friendly layout in the
most recently (and not without on no less than three occasions fast-growing automobile age were
considerable controversy), a new – in 1944, 2002, and 2013. Each a wooden bridge across Fair Lawn
condominium complex. time, the damaged sections were Avenue (dismantled in the 1950s)
and the more permanent tunnel
located in “A” park, crossing un-
derneath Howard Avenue. The
tunnel has been a godsend for
parents, by allowing their children
to cross the street without actu-
ally crossing the street. It is one of
the features that has earned Rad-
burn so much praise; at a time
when automobiles seemed to be
breeding like rabbits, here was a
community created as a reaction
to the traffic boom. The car was
literally kept at a distance.
Ann Weissman was raised in
Radburn in the 1960s and ‘70s.
“The theory behind Radburn,”
she says, “is that the homes don’t
have big backyards, but the yards
The landmark Plaza Building has had its share of good times and bad. Radburn
lead to paths that lead to the cen-
Archives ter park, like spokes on a wheel.

PLANNED COMMUNITIES
So you could walk to the park and David Meyerson also grew up who were studying Radburn, and
play with the other kids, and no- in Radburn at the tail end of the they’d get separated or wandered
body had to worry about being baby-boomer era, until leaving off and ask if we’d seen the group,
run over by a car. Even if you went home for college. He has many so we were always directing peo-
between ‘A’ park and ‘B’ park, of the same memories. “It was a ple to their group.”
there’s the tunnel on Howard great place to be a kid,” he says. Meyerson says he began seeing
Ave., so you didn’t have to cross There were a lot of kids, and Rad- Radburn from a slightly different
the street unless you went to the burn was built around parks, with perspective once he left home for
other side [of Fair Lawn Avenue] recreational facilities including college. “The other thing about it
to ‘R’ park.” an outdoor community theatre, – and it did begin to change af-
Always a close-knit community, which at times also shows movies, ter I left – it was very insular. We
Radburn maintains its facilities or has bands play. That was right did have pool cards, to identify
exclusively for its own residents near my house, and occasionally you as a Radburn resident. If you
(although it is not a private or the power box would go out, so used the pool, you could bring a
gated community), who are in they’d have to run power cords guest. Radburn tended to be fairly
turn required to pay annual dues, to my house to be able to show a insular in that way. Another way
based on a proportion of their Fair movie.” to illustrate what this commu-
Lawn taxes. A Radburn Bulletin Weissman points out that the nity was about, was at Christmas
newsletter keeps residents up- original cul-de-sac design became time, people would go out carol-
to-date with schedules of events, unwieldy for motorists over time. ing around the park when I was
and other notices. There is even “The bad thing about Radburn is growing up. It just had that sense
an annual Family Day each sum- the parking,” she says, “because of community.”
mer, during which residents get the cul-de-sacs were designed for Lest this paints an almost im-
together in the park (weather much smaller cars, and the garag- possibly rosy picture of Radburn,
permitting) for socializing, meals, es were small, and couldn’t fit the the community has not been im-
games, and music. bigger cars, so people parked on mune to some controversy, the
Weissman recalls taking advan- the street, which was a problem.” most recent and passionate being
tage of the many recreational pro- Despite such inconveniences, a dispute about a parcel of open
grams and athletic teams available Radburn’s uniqueness and his- recreational land called Daly
for kids to join there. “Radburn torical significance is a part of liv- Field, that was secretly sold by
was a great place to grow up, of ing there. “I remember as a kid,” the Board of Trustees to a private
course you didn’t appreciate it the Weissman says, “there’d be these developer in 2004 for just under
same way when you were a kid, tours of architecture students $4 million, without knowledge or
because you didn’t know anything
different. But they had – and I did
these things – Tot Lot, so if you
were pre-kindergarten, it was like
daycare in the summer, in one of
the fenced-in playgrounds. As you
got older, there was a play group,
which was basically summer day
camp, so I did that for many years,
until I went to sleep-away camp.”
There are also Radburn swim-
ming, football, and archery teams
– separate from the Fair Lawn
teams – that compete with teams
from other nearby towns. “There
was gymnastics, which I did,”
Weissman recalls, “and the Rad-
burn Players theatre group, which
I did as a kid in Grange Hall. We
did a performance of Toad of Toad
Hall on the outdoor stage.” Early photo of one of Radburn’s two community pools. Radburn Archives

consent of the Radburn residents. and holding fundraisers. A court has finally come to Radburn.
The plan was to build 165 new ruling had compelled Fair Lawn While we lost a beautiful green
high-density housing units. As to meet state affordable housing park, we changed Radburn’s gov-
Mike Roney, former member of requirements; of the 165 planned ernance. Democracy is a great
Concerned Citizens for Radburn’s units, 20% would need to be des- thing.”
Future, explains, the sale resulted ignated “affordable.” After a de- With its centennial less than a
in “destroying about 10 acres of cade of delays and with all legal decade away, Radburn will, for
open space on Daly Field and an options exhausted, construction the foreseeable future, continue
adjacent property. Prior to that began on Daly Field. to enjoy its status as the nation’s
time, most people in Radburn However, the CCRF remained most famous, revolutionary –
were not paying much attention determined to see open and and largely unchanged – planned
to the actions of its board, which transparent elections of trustees community. Hm
appointed its own successors by given back to Radburn residents,
having the sole power to decide as well as to those in over 500
who was on the annual ballot for similar associations in New Jersey.
GARRY BERMAN is the author
elections…It definitely was ‘taxa- The tangle of legal issues and law-
tion without representation’… suits culminated in Trenton, the of five books related to various
The sale of our community ball- state capital. “Our bill progressed aspects of entertainment history
park to a high-density developer and ultimately received unani- and popular culture, including
woke up many of us. ‘They can do mous approval in both houses of Best of the Britcoms, We’re Going
that?’ we asked ourselves.” the New Jersey legislature,” Roney to See the Beatles! and For the
The CCRF worked tirelessly says. “There was not a single dis- First Time on Television. He lives in
to fight the land sale, making its senting vote. Governor Chris New Jersey with his wife Karen.
case at Radburn and Fair Lawn Christie signed the ‘Radburn Bill’
board meetings, hiring attorneys, into law in July 2017. Democracy
Here’s some
of what’s
coming...
Ambassador Bridge • Sarah Bowman
Scotland’s Honours • Battle of Prairie Grove
Animal Crusader: Anna Maria Smith
Bay of Panama Shipwreck • George Halas
Last Stuarts • Blockade Runner Pt. 2
Jessie Bunkley • Secretaries of State • J. Stuart Blackton
Society for the Suppression of Noise
*** Final Contents Subject to Change ***

IN THE PASTRY WAR
INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT
WITH FRANCE,
MEXICO GOT BURNED
DAVID MCCORMICK LOOKS AT A SEEMINGLY
RIDICULOUS FRANCO-MEXICAN PASTRY WAR
I
t seems ridiculous to say that a war between nations was ignited one. Actually, the French had a
by pastry; but that’s exactly what took place in the “Pastry War” of larger bone to pick with Mexico.
1838 between France and Mexico. The conflict was known as Guerra Mexico had, to date, not repaid
de los Pastelis in Mexico and Guerre des Pâtisseries in France. This one dime that they owed to the
war developed as a by-product of an internal power struggle be- French government on loans pre-
tween the Mexican president Manuel Gomez Pedraza, and a political viously given the Mexican govern-
rival, Lorenzo de Zavala, who at the time was governor of the state of ment. To France, what better time
Mexico. Upon Mexico’s 1821 liberation from Spain, civil turbulence fol- than now to collect the debt. Paris
lowed for a number of years. Fighting between Mexico’s government took up the baker chef ’s cause, and
forces and rebels plagued the pressed Mexico to pay 600,000 pe-
country, causing extreme damage sos for the loans, and 60,000 pesos
to personal property. The scenario for the damaged pastry shop. This
opened when Mexican president latter amount was exorbitant, as
Pedraza attempted to oust Gover- the shop was valued at only 800
nor Zavala from power. But Zavala pesos. The Mexican Congress flat-
had a strong ally – General Antonio ly rebuffed France’s demand. The
López de Santa Anna. Santa Anna French, in turn, began a blockade
assumed command of the garri- of key seaports along the Gulf of
son in Mexico City and overthrew Mexico in the spring of 1838.
Pedraza. It was during this con- It was due to dire financial straits
flict that bakery chef Monsieur that Mexico refused France’s ul-
Remontel suffered damages to timatum – and with that refusal,
his bakery business located in the France responded by sending war-
suburbs of Mexico City. ships in November 1838. French
In 1828, mobs of soldiers ran Admiral Maron Deffaudis, who
wild, looting and damaging homes Daguerreotype of Antonio López de months later would be replaced
Santa Anna, by Meade Brothers 1853. by Admiral Baudin, moved in to
and businesses all throughout SMU Digital Collections, Public Domain
Mexico City. In Remontel’s case, blockade Mexico’s coastline from
the soldiers unceremoniously locked him in a room and destroyed his the Yucatan Peninsula to the Rio
bakery, equipment and all; but before leaving, ate all his confections. Grande. The United States, which
Angry and with his business in shambles, Remontel, a French national, had a contentious relationship
made a claim for damages to the Mexican government, to make good with Mexico, sent an American
on his losses. For ten years, the Mexican government paid no heed to warship, the USS Woodbury, to join
Remontel’s many requests for compensation for his losses – it was as if the blockade. With this maneuver,
his efforts fell on deaf ears. Not happy with Mexico’s response, Remontel France immobilized Mexico’s busi-
finally brought his case directly to the French government in 1838. After ness of imports and exports. After
a decade of frustration, to the surprise of the French baker, the French seven months, French patience had
government listened to his plea. completely eroded. In November
The French government incorporated Remontel’s case within a larger 1838, the French fleet shelled the

fortress at San Juan de Ulúa, situ- advantage. Admiral Baudin, most me the one title I wish to leave my
ated on an island bearing the same likely not wanting to be responsi- children: that of a good Mexican.”
name, within Vera Cruz’s harbor, ble for injury to the French prince, The spring of 1839 saw the cessa-
and boxed in Mexico’s entire fleet recalled the French forces back to tions of hostilities between Mexico
anchored at Vera Cruz. The fortress the fleet. Santa Anna, sensing an and France – with Mexico coming
was untenable, so soldiers defend- opening for a glorious assault on out the loser – the Pastry War was
ing it dashed back to Vera Cruz the retreating French, mustered over. British diplomats negotiated
under the cover of darkness. 300 troops and with him leading a peace agreement between the two
To avoid disgrace, the follow- the assault atop his white charger, nations. It would have been much
ing month, Mexico declared war ran headlong into a cannon on less costly if Mexico had agreed to
on France. Due to this pastry de- the wharf loaded with grapeshot. France’s demand in the first place,
bacle, Mexico called on General Santa Anna was cut down, but because in the end, Mexico settled
Santa Anna to mount an attack survived, minus his leg. The same the debt of 600,000 pesos due
on the French. The General, of could not be said for nine of his sol- France and Remontel received the
Alamo fame, had been residing diers, as well as his beloved white 60,000 pesos for damages to his
inconspicuously on his Mexican steed, who were all killed. Santa pastry business. The peace plan
estate, in close proximity to Vera Anna’s heroic, yet futile charge, set in motion by the British must
Cruz, following his ever so hum- was acclaimed throughout Mexico have required several months to
bling seizure and imprisonment and propelled him back onto the hammer out, because French forces
in a Texas jail following his army’s public eye. In the days following didn’t withdraw from Mexico un-
thrashing at the Battle of San Ja- the battle, Santa Anna, as well as til 9 March the following year. The
cinto in 1836. Santa Anna, sensing his severed leg, was celebrated in casualties of the fiasco were minis-
an opportunity to regain some of Mexico City. This was due to his cule in the grand scheme of things
his past glory, marshaled a small self-aggrandizing and false state- – France lost eight soldiers, while
legion to attack the French. ment that he had repulsed the en- the conflict cost Mexico a little
On 5 December, Prince de emy at bayonet point. The general over 200 lives. The most significant
Joinville, son of the French king, was not one to miss playing on the consequence of the Pastry War was
moved with 1,000 troops against heart strings of his countrymen. that the conflict further elevated
Vera Cruz. Sharp fighting went on He embraced them with the fol- the stature and political weight
for hours in the streets of the port lowing: “May all Mexicans, forget- of the Mexican dictator, Antonio
city, with neither side gaining an ting my political errors, not deny Lòpez de Santa Anna.
LEFT:Scene from the Mexican Expedition in 1838, the Prince of Joinville on the poop of the corvette Créole listens to the
report from the vessel’s Lieutenant, Penaud, and sees the explosion of the tower of the Fort of Saint-Jean d’Ulloa on 27
November 1838. The frigate Gloire can be seen in the background. Painting by Horace Emil Jean Vernet. Public Domain
RIGHT: Charles Baudin Admiral de France, by French painter Laval (Mayenne), Versailles. Public Domain

INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT
The Pastry War of 1838-1839 wasn’t the last
of General Santa Anna. The Pastry War, a de-
bacle for Mexico, was just the opposite for the
victor of the Battle of the Alamo. The Mexi-
can general, sporting an artificial leg, served as
Commander of the Mexican forces during the
war that was fought between 1846 and 1848
with the United States. As an important aside,
during Mexico’s war with the United States,
Santa Anna was separated from the artificial
leg in 1847. Santa Anna’s artificial leg, made of
cork, was seized from the battlefield by Ameri-
can troops, and sent back to the United States
as a macabre prize of war.
As to what became of Remontel: one tale
cites him as the creator of San Francisco’s sour-
dough bread – it was believed that he arrived
in the Bay City with his sourdough recipe in
hand. Hm
DAVID MCCORMICK is a freelance writer

from Springfield, MA; his articles have
appeared in Naval History, Pennsylvania
Heritage, Michigan History and Wild West
French troops under Prince de Joinville attack the residence
Magazine, among others. of General Arista in Veracruz, 1838. Painting by Pharamond
Blanchard. Public domain
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Finding the Place, The Hail Mary Genealogical
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Passenger and Immigration Records, Online
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Reading Fraktur German Printing, Calendars and
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www.internet-genealogy.com/shop.htm
C I V I L WA R
Model of the SS Republic. Originally
the SS Tennessee, built in Baltimore, it
sank in a hurricane 100 miles off the
coast of Georgia in 1865.
troops made it across the field and

those that stood at the stone wall
were defeated or pushed back.
Lee retreated with his remain-
ing army into Virginia. The Civil
War continued to bleed America
for the next two years until Lee’s
surrender on 9 April 1865, at Ap-
pomattox Courthouse in Virginia.
Six months after Lee’s surrender,
SS REPUBLIC profiteers were taking advantage

of the occupied South and its de-
pressed economy. Fortunes were
Quest for Gold Beneath to be made in businesses of all

sorts. Defeat of the South meant
the Waves – Part 1

that its paper money and bank
script was worthless, as were Con-
federate bonds. By 1862, the US
Treasury issued legal paper money
JOHN CHRISTOPHER FINE LOOKS to offset the refusal of merchants
AT THE HISTORY, HUMAN STORIES to accept state bank paper. No one
was exchanging paper money for
AND RECOVERY OF A CIVIL WAR gold coins and if they did, it was at
VESSEL KNOWN FOR ITS CARGO great discount.
Gold and silver coins were being
OF GOLD COINS hoarded. By the summer of 1864,
banks that exchanged US Trea-
All photos © Myriam Moran 2012
sury-issued paper money required
$2,850 for $1,000 in gold. With the
T
he American Civil War dragged on for four years. Battles were California gold rush in 1849, gold
waged by young men that prayed to the same God for victory. became a viable commodity. The
They spoke the same language and were drawn from all walks coinage act of 3 March 1849, pro-
of life. The South seceded from the Union. The bombardment vided for the production of $20
of Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina on 12 gold coins called double eagles,
April 1861, threw down the cudgel. From the beginning, the end was in as well as $1 gold coins adding to
sight. A rural, agrarian economy could not long win against industrial the circulated $2.50, $5 and $10
might with unlimited resources and troops. denomination gold coins minted
in Philadelphia as early as 1795.
General Robert E. Lee, in com- North were convinced that the war Ten-dollar gold coins were called
mand of the Army of Northern would not be won easily. eagles. By 1850, golden double ea-
Virginia, hoped to push a wedge The quiet town of Gettysburg gle $20 gold coins were rolling off
into the North. It was the South’s became the pivotal point for a mint production lines. Silver dol-
only hope. If those dissatisfied three-day battle that saw 51,000 lars were minted in the US in 1850
with war in the North could be casualties, 8,000 dead. Lee or- and were used as trade dollars
convinced it was too costly, then dered a charge against the Union overseas. Silver half-dollar coins
the South could sue for peace on line on Cemetery Ridge on 3 July were scarce but coveted.
better terms. Peace was the only 1863. Union forces, behind a stone There was little gold and sil-
possible solution and peace would wall, rained death down upon the ver available in the South after
only come if those in power in the advancing lines. Few Confederate the war. With gold, a person had

C I V I L WA R
Orleans. Her main trips to Central
America were to transport recruits
for William Walker’s Nicaraguan
army, returning to New York in
the summer of 1857 with 275 de-
feated soldiers.
In April 1861, as the Civil War
broke out, the ship was impound-
ed by the Confederates while at a
wharf in New Orleans. The Rebels
hoped to use the ship as a block-
ade runner. Following Admiral
David Farragut’s capture of New
Orleans on 25 April 1862, the SS
Tennessee was seized by the Union
Individual coins visible in the clump that was once a canvas bag full of silver
half-dollars. navy and converted into a power-
ful gunboat.
purchasing power. It was the era passengers and cargo between Bal- Admiral Farragut later made the
of the carpetbagger. Fortunes were timore and Charleston. Although SS Tennessee his flagship for the
to be made exploiting the relative designed for coastal voyages, the final months of the Mississippi
poverty of the South. Real estate ship made one round-trip trans- River Campaign. Following the
could be bought at depressed pric- Atlantic voyage, the first Atlantic Battle of Mobile Bay, it was re-
es. Following the devastation of crossing by a Baltimore steam- named the USS Mobile to avoid
war came a time of rebuilding for ship. The Tennessee was sold and confusion with the captured Con-
America. Resources to accomplish then began calling on ports in federate ironclad Tennessee.
this were transported by ships. South America and the Caribbean. Damaged in a storm in the Gulf
One ship tasked with that mission As traffic to California increased, of Mexico in 1864, the ship was
was the SS Republic, recently re- means were sought to enable pas- sent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for
leased from its duties serving the sage across Central America. To repairs. It was decommissioned
Union navy during the war. answer that need, the SS Tennessee in December 1864, then sold for
Constructed by John A. Robb was briefly used to carry passen- $25,000 in March of 1865, and
in the Fells Point Shipyard in Bal- gers and freight to Nicaragua. Sold christened the SS Republic. The
timore in 1853, the SS Tennessee once again, the ship was then put ship was put into service between
was a 1,500-ton, 210-foot-long on the New York-Havana-New New York and New Orleans. It
vessel with a 34-foot-wide beam. Orleans route for a time, and made four round trips carrying
The ship had two masts and bow- also between Vera Cruz and New passengers and freight.
sprit. The hull was made of oak, its
decks of white pine fastened with
copper and iron. Sails provided
auxiliary power to the steam-
powered paddlewheels. Coal fur-
naces fired the boilers that ran a
9-foot long, 6-foot circumference
piston. The piston drove a walk-
ing beam that was 30-feet long.
The walking beam moved up and
down and powered a crankshaft
that drove 28-foot paddlewheels
mounted on each side of the ship.
The SS Tennessee went into ser-
vice for the Baltimore and Southern
Packet Company. The inaugural
voyage took place in 1854, when
the SS Tennessee made a trip with An inkwell and bottles recovered from the shipwreck.

On her fifth voyage on 18 Octo- had with the discovery of deep-
ber 1865, the SS Republic departed water shipwrecks like the Titanic
New York with 80 passengers and and Central America. Deep-water
crew and an enormous cargo of exploration and recovery technol-
goods including barrels of money ogy existed, but was costly.
bound to help fuel the South’s ex- Odyssey Marine Exploration was
panding post-Civil War economy. formed to plumb the deep oceans
The ship’s holds were swollen with with the knowledge that divers and
crates of bottles of champagne contemporary salvors worked over
and wines, pickled foodstuffs, re- shallow water shipwrecks, but there
ligious porcelains and glassware, weren’t any groups with the invest-
as well as cloth and other items es- ment in technology, specialists and
sential to life in mid-19th century research to consistently explore
America. shipwrecks in greater depths. From
Hurricane force winds struck past experience in deep-ocean
the paddlewheel steamer in the shipwreck exploration, the Odyssey
Atlantic on 23 October. Valiant team was convinced that with their
efforts by crew and passengers to tools and expertise, they could lo-
lighten the ship, to pump and bail cate ships like the SS Republic and Bell recovered from the shipwreck of
water failed. The SS Republic sank other shipwrecks of interest over the SS Republic. It bears the original
inscription Tennessee. It is being
at 4 PM on 25 October 1865. Four many miles of ocean. The wreck of
conserved and is immersed in a
lifeboats and a make-shift raft the Republic was only a speck in a chemical bath for preservation
were launched putting survivors vast area to search despite reports
at peril in a storm-tossed ocean. made by survivors and the captain remaining inscription on the re-
They watched the vessel slip under and crew of the vessel’s probable covered bell that it belonged to the
the waves with a fortune in silver location when it sank in the hur- SS Tennessee. The SS Republic was
and gold aboard. ricane. found. Within months, a fortune
All of the passengers and crew As their research progressed in in American gold coins, silver half-
abandoned ship during the sink- May 2002, the explorers began to dollars, and bountiful amounts of
ing of the Republic. At least one search for the SS Republic in ear- general cargo was discovered.
poor soul never made it through nest, having defined a large search Sophisticated manipulator arms
the ship’s scattered debris. Most area off the coast of Georgia. They on the ROV, along with a blower
of those that scrambled aboard subsequently purchased one of the that can push sand away, and a
a hastily made raft of spars and world’s most renowned research suction cup device that acts like a
wood succumbed. Only one or vessels and equipped it as a search limpet to pick up individual ob-
two of the 14-18 on the raft were boat with sophisticated side-scan jects, enabled the salvors to raise
saved when it was found drifting sonar. artifacts and coins off the scat-
off Cape Hatteras, 300 miles from Within the year, they would lo- tered wreckage.
where the Republic sank. The four cate what a crew member first dis- The team consisted of archae-
lifeboats were picked up by passing missed as a ‘sailboat’ underwater. ologists and experts in almost ev-
vessels and the survivors brought Persistence paid off. On 2 August ery field of shipwreck exploration.
into Charleston, Hilton Head and 2003, images of the ‘sailboat’ re- Detailed photographic surveys
Port Royal. The Republic sank in corded on deep-water video cam- were made of the sunken ship in
the Atlantic about 100 miles off eras showed the wreckage to be situ. Photographs and videos were
the Georgia coast in 1,700 feet of a sidewheel paddle steamer. Ten taken of every element of the vessel
water. days later, a US District Admiral- and its debris. The entire archaeo-
In 1994, industry pioneer Greg ty Court confirmed that Odyssey logical excavation was captured
Stemm co-founded a company was the salvor in possession of the on video and documented in the
to explore the deep oceans with shipwreck. company’s proprietary DataLog™
modern technology. Remotely op- It wasn’t until 9 October 2003, system.
erated vehicles (ROVs) had been that the company’s ROV ZEUS, The SS Republic had broken
used to inspect underwater cables on its tether from the support apart and spilled its cargo in the
and pipelines and for military ship, 1,700 feet above, located the form of a giant watermelon where
purposes. Great successes were ship’s bell, proof positive from the once the decks had been, but now

C I V I L WA R
is a model with several avenues
in which to share the invaluable
knowledge provided by shipwreck
exploration and research. The
company has discovered a vast va-
riety of thousands of artifacts that
help piece together forgotten his-
tory.
“One of the most intriguing
aspects of what we do is learning
about the artifacts and the role
they played in pivotal events in
history. For example, on the SS
Republic, we recovered 96 religious
artifacts including pressed glass
crucifix candlesticks, and holy
water fonts and angels. It is an as-
semblage that was intended to be
Curator Ellen Gerth with bottles of food stuffs in Odyssey’s refrigerator at the
lab. Many bottles were recovered intact and the food inside remained in good sold in New Orleans, a city torn
condition in the deep, cold ocean. by war and seeking comfort in re-
ligion as it struggled to rebuild,”
were collapsed. Boilers, the walk- the start, we have understood that Oppermann said as he described
ing beam, the great paddle wheels, you can’t do archaeology without a collection of glass and porce-
remains of the ship itself were a commitment to the highest stan- lain religious statues and crosses
captured on high-definition video. dards in conservation. Often ar- on display in the conservation lab.
What the Odyssey team found was chaeologists have no control over The glass crucifixes were produced
a time capsule preserved almost the movement of artifacts follow- by the Boston & Sandwich Glass
intact. The 14,000 artifacts recov- ing excavation, and sometimes Company in Massachusetts.
ered from the site by Odyssey were they have no interest in the arti- “It is unlikely that these religious
from a period in time just months facts after their work is done, in items were going to a church. A
following the end of the American which case they don’t always pub- church would typically have big-
Civil War. lish their findings. Disseminating ger, more elaborate statues. People
“We conserve these artifacts in the information and knowledge set up holy corners in their homes.
our land-based facility. The con- we glean from our shipwreck ex- These artifacts were discovered
servation of many of these objects cavation projects is especially im- in 2004, yet the research contin-
continues today,” Ellen Gerth said, portant and vital to our mission,” ued for years. We were not able to
speaking from the company’s she explained. discern the French origins of the
modern, state-of-the-art conserva- “In some countries, there is no porcelain until 2009. I found a
tion laboratory in Tampa, Florida. follow up. There are two different porcelain expert that pulled it to-
A specialist in cultural heritage worlds: archaeology and conser- gether,” Gerth said. Hm
management and the care and vation. We’ve tied these together,”
research of collections, Gerth is John Oppermann, Odyssey’s Di- NOTE: Be sure to read Part 2 of John
Odyssey’s Archaeological Curator rector of Archaeology, Research C. Fine’s article in the Winter 2021
issue of History Magazine.
of Collections. “Our work entails and Conservation added. Team-
conservation, documentation and work between researchers, ROV
the exhibition of artifacts, and we operators, archaeologists, project DR. JOHN CHRISTOPHER
actively present our shipwreck dis- managers, conservators and cu- FINE is an oceanographer
coveries in archaeological papers rators made possible the process and marine biologist. He has
published on our website and in of finding the SS Republic, docu- authored 26 books, many on
our Oceans Odyssey archaeologi- menting the shipwreck, bringing marine and maritime affairs.
cal volumes. We also support edu- artifacts to the surface, and iden- He is a Master Deep Sea Diving
cational outreach, which includes tifying and conserving them in a Instructor and Instructor Trainer
curriculum to accompany our seamless, carefully managed fash-
based in Florida.
traveling shipwreck exhibit. From ion. The result of Odyssey’s work

NEW
Genealogy Research Using Newspaper Research - Here Eastern European - Here is Tips & Tricks - Here is some
Google – Here is some of what is some of what is included: some of what is included in this of what is included: The
is included in the 2021 edition: Newspaper Finding Aids; 5 new addition: 10 Best Anatomy of Genealogy
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— and tips & favorites from the City Newspaper and more! much more! 68 pages. and more! 68 pages.
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African-American - Here is Hispanic - Articles included: Irish Research - Here is some DNA - Here is some of what is
some of what is included: Researching Hispanic of what is included: How to find included in the issue: DNA
Freedman’s Bank Records, Ancestors in the US; Starting where your Irish ancestor testing and how it can help you
Newspapers, Slave Narratives, with FamilySearch; Online came from; a strategic in your research; types of tests
Manumission, The Green Resources for Central & South approach to finding records; available; what is the best test
Book, Free People of Color, America; Five Things You census records (free online); for you; understanding your
Photographic Collections, Should Know About Puerto civil registration records (free results; connecting with genetic
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Manuscripts, Mapping, Church Language Newspapers in the records (Ireland specific they can benefit your research;
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and more! 68 pages. Research 101; DNA newspapers; court records; ancestor; the basic science
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Border Crossing Records and as an additional genealogical
more! 68 pages. tool and more! 68 pages.
Heritage Travel - Here is some Scottish - Articles included: Germanic - This edition Revolutionary - This issue will
of what is included in the issue: Breaking Through Brick Walls, contains a wealth of help you get started on your
Ten Things You Should Know Understanding the Scottish information on resources to Revolutionary War family
Before You Go; How to Hire Naming Pattern, Researching help you locate your Germanic history research. Articles
the Right Guide; Awesome Scottish Occupations, The ancestors. Includes: Finding include: Overview of
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Traveler; Immersion a Trip to Your Ancestral Genealogical Search, Using Military Service Files,
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more. 68 pages. Redcoats and much more! 68
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INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Syphilis treatment: Urine examination and
treatment with ointments (mercury), Vienna
1498 by Bartholomäus Steber. Public Domain
especially at night. Italian physicians

soon realized that this disease wasn’t
leprosy or elephantiasis; this was some-
thing new and much, much worse.
Syphilis spread throughout Europe
at a terrifying speed, carried home by
French mercenaries recruited from all
over the continent. By the end of 1495,
France, Switzerland and Germany were
infected. It reached England and Scot-
land in 1497, and by 1500, it had made
its way into the Scandinavian countries,
Hungary, Greece, Poland and Russia.
India, Africa, China, Japan and Oceania
soon followed. King Charles VIII of
France, Holy Roman Emperor Maxi-
millian I, Pope Alexander VI, and King
George IV of England all died of the
disease.
A NEW KILLER
Despite the initial panic, it was soon
clear that the new disease spread
through sexual contact. But unlike
other sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs), syphilis began with a painless
and easily missed sore at the infection
site. This disappeared, followed by a
SYPHILIS :
rosy “copper penny” rash on the hands
and feet. When the rash cleared up, the
disease became latent, infecting the
brain, nerves, eyes, heart, blood vessels,
A PLAGUE LIKE liver, bones, and joints. However, these

symptoms do not always follow the
same pattern; syphilis was dubbed “the
NO OTHER great pretender” because of its ability to

imitate other diseases. For a time, syph-
ilis and gonorrhea were considered the
same disease because of their ability to
JACKIE MEAD LOOKS AT THE HISTORY mimic each other.
OF ONE OF THE MOST INFECTIOUS The origin of syphilis is still debated.
The Pre-Columbian hypothesis pos-
DISEASES THAT APPEARED IN LATE tulates that the disease began in sub-
15 TH CENTURY EUROPE Saharan Africa around 15,000 BC, the
same time and place as its much milder
I
n 1494, French soldiers invading the Italian city of Naples cousin yaws. From there, the disease
became the first victims of a new and terrifying plague. spread through skin-to-skin contact
Pustules erupted on their noses, lips, and eyes; swelling (as yaws still does today), mutating into
into ulcers as the sores crept into their mouths and down the much deadlier, sexually transmitted
their throats. Their muscles and bones became painful, version about 3,000 BC and again with
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
women were blamed for the dis-
ease. Young, unmarried women
who sought treatment were con-
sidered sex workers whether they
were or not, since promiscuity in
women was not nearly as toler-
ated as it was in men. At best, she
would be given treatment to pre-
vent further spread of the disease.
At worst, she would be punished.
The Roman Catholic Church
prohibited all sex outside mar-
riage, but in Medieval Europe, sex
work was begrudgingly tolerated
in most urban areas as a necessary
evil. Sexually transmitted diseas-
es had always been an issue with
the profession, but the severity of
syphilis changed the industry for-
ever. Popular fables described the
Eugene Delacroix painting “The Return of Christopher Columbus”. This print
has a modesty edit of a woman (child at her knee) and male Indian (standing origin of syphilis as the union of
behind Columbus). Public Domain a prostitute with gonorrhea and a
leper. Prostitutes were now con-
increased severity in the 1490s. to concretely prove the cause was sidered unclean, and brothels were
The ability of syphilis to mimic syphilis. Findings that do meet the shut down by governments in the
other diseases, especially leprosy, criteria are from coastal regions name of public health. Women
could have prevented identifica- where a steady diet of seafood can who engaged in sex work could
tion prior to 1494. infuse bones with old carbon from face prison time.
The Columbian hypothesis ar- the oceans. This “marine reservoir In 1564, a study by the renowned
gues that Christopher Columbus effect” creates unreliable radiocar- Catholic anatomist Gabriello
brought syphilis to Europe in bon dates. Fallopio (namesake of the Fallo-
1492. Late stages of the disease dis- Although it seems improbable pian tube) was published. He de-
tinctly pit and deform the bones that a small crew of sailors could scribed a linen sheath infused with
of the lower legs, and skeletons cause a multi-continent epidemic, chemicals that could be fitted over
matching this description have the same crew introduced small- the penis and secured with a rib-
been found in Florida, Equator, pox to the Americas with devastat- bon during sexual intercourse, the
and New Mexico, some dating as ing consequences. Syphilis would first mention of a modern male
far back as 6,000 years. Syphilis be a small revenge. condom. Fallopio claimed to have
was definitely present in the New given the device to 1,100 men to
World when Columbus made his CONTAINING SYPHILIS test its potential to prevent syphi-
fateful Atlantic crossing. Spanish In both the popular and the medi- lis, and none were infected.
chronicler Ruy Diaz de Isla record- cal imagination, syphilis was a Europeans were slow to accept
ed that Pinzon de Palos, the voy- disease that affected young men condom use. Many contemporary
age’s pilot, suffered from syphilis who succumbed to the wiles of medical officials were uneasy with
on the voyage home along with prostitutes. Too ashamed to seek its potential for unrestrained sexu-
other members of the crew. He be- treatment, they would pass the ality activity. The famous Casanova
lieved that the disease now raging disease onto their pitiable wives was known to use condoms, but
through the city of Barcelona had and children. Although the young clearly not enough; he contracted
originated on Hispaniola. men had clearly “self-inflicted” the gonorrhea four times, cancroids
Archeological discoveries of disease and deserved little sympa- five times, genital herpes, and
syphilis in Europe prior to 1492 thy, the true culprit was the pros- syphilis. Historical records consid-
are hotly debated. While some titute. er it an item sold by brothels and
skeletons do show signs of pitting, Despite the fact that syphilis can prostitutes, and few men wanted to
the pattern isn’t distinct enough be transmitted by either gender, be associated with prostitutes.

TREATMENT OPTIONS Although popular memory consists of bullet wounds and
Whether the disease originated in the Amer- trench foot, a soldier was five times more likely to be hospi-
icas or not, Europe’s rich and powerful be- talized for syphilis or gonorrhea.
lieved that it did. The general opinion was Shocked by the catastrophic infection rates of World War
that sexually transmitted diseases resulted I, the US military was determined to avoid repeating the
from unclean sexual contact, so the geni- same mistakes in World War II. The ineffective disinfection
tals had to be cleansed of syphilitic poisons. kits were cast aside in favor of prophylactic stations, where
American herbs with diaphoretic and laxa- soldiers could purchase condoms for ten cents a pack. The
tive effects such as guaiac, sarsaparilla, and 1941 May Act made it a federal offense to solicit sex near a
sassafras were used to achieve this “cleans- military installation, and thousands of women were jailed
ing.” When the herbs failed to deliver any and quarantined for venereal disease. Prostitution steadily
relief (instead quite likely adding to their decreased between the World Wars, and the frequency of
distress), they looked for other options. STDs fell to rates unseen since before the American Civil War.
Swiss-German physician Paracelsus of-
fered mercury as an alternative treatment THE CURE
since it seemed to alleviate leprosy. The In 1908, German scientist Paul Ehrlich was given the Nobel
compound could be administered in a salve, Prize in Medicine for discovering Salvarsan, a “magic bul-
“blue pill”, or sweat bath. The popularity of let” that could kill microbes without harming the patient.
the compound in the next several centuries Originally developed for African sleeping sickness, Japanese
would give rise to the saying, “a night with scientist Sahachiro Hata discovered that the antibiotic-like
Venus, a lifetime with Mercury.” compound also worked on syphilitic bacteria. Salvarsan
Despite its popularity, mercury has no quickly became the go-to treatment for syphilis.
effect on the syphilis-causing Treponema
pallidum bacteria. The nineteenth century
physician Poór conducted a study of syphi-
litics receiving mercury treatments and
found that 60% returned to the clinic with
syphilis intact and experiencing the mouth
ulcers, teeth loss, mental issues, or kidney
failure associated with mercury poisoning.
THE HIDDEN ENEMY

Syphilis infections would jump astronomi-
cally during the World Wars. War is a near-
ly perfect condition for STDs, as it brings
armies of young men with money to de-
stroyed communities. The American Civil
War left many southern women with only
one option to make money, and the Union
Army recorded 73,382 cases of syphilis. The
term “hooker” comes from Union General
Joseph Hooker’s lust for prostitutes; the
red-light district of Washington, DC be-
came known as “Hooker’s Divisions” and
the public women following the Union army
“Hooker’s men.”
World War I wrought similar destruction
across the European landscape, and many
women turned to prostitution for survival.
To combat STDs, the United States govern-
ment issued “pro-kits” of mercury injec-
tions to US soldiers, intended to be taken
after the soldier became infected. The kits German immunologist Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) was awarded Nobel
did very little to curb the rampant spread. Prize for his discovery of Salvarsan. Public Domain Library of Congress

INFECTIOUS DISEASES
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B R I T I S H R O YA LT Y
Victoria of Hesse (second left) with
her sisters Irene, Ella and Alix c.1885.
Ella and Alix were later murdered
during the Russian Revolution.
Wikipedia
spent most of her early childhood

in Darmstadt, which was then the
capital of the Grand Duchy of
Hesse (now in Germany).
In December 1878, Victoria’s
childhood effectively ended when
her mother died from diphthe-
ria. At the age of 15, she took on
the responsibility of caring for her
younger siblings, although she did
receive some support from one no-
ALICE AND
table family member. She became
increasingly close to her grand-
mother, Queen Victoria, visiting
her at either Windsor Castle or
VICTORIA Balmoral. For all the old Queen’s

reputation today as an austere ma-
triarch, her own journals reveal
The Two Women that she was a doting grandmother.

In June 1883, Victoria became
engaged to Prince Louis of Batten-
Who Shaped Prince berg, another member of the ex-

tended British royal family whom
she had known since childhood.
Philip’s Childhood They were married in Darmstadt

the following year.
On 25 February 1885, Victoria
MARGARET BRECKNELL LOOKS AT gave birth to the couple’s first child,
Alice, at Windsor Castle. Queen
KEY EVENTS AND EARLY INFLUENCES Victoria’s journal entry for that day
IN THE LIVES OF TWO INFLUENTIAL notes that Alice was born in the
same room and in the same bed as
WOMEN IN BRITISH ROYALTY her mother Victoria had been born
nearly 22 years earlier. It soon be-
T
he British royal family has produced some remarkable charac- came apparent that the young Alice
ters over the centuries, but it is fair to say that there has never had a major handicap to overcome.
been anyone quite like Queen Elizabeth II’s late husband, Prince She was born congenitally deaf and
Philip. His length of service as the monarch’s consort is unparal- had to be taught to lip-read in both
leled in British history and he was prepared, in public at least, to English and German.
play a subordinate, yet vital, role to the woman who acceded to the throne Alice’s mother is said to have
in February 1952. Perhaps some clues as to how Philip approached this taken great personal interest in the
unique challenge may be gleaned by exploring the lives of the two women education and development of her
who helped to shape the young Prince’s childhood. four children at a time when this
was still not necessarily the norm
The story begins with the birth of Queen Victoria’s second daugh- in royal circles. Her youngest son,
Princess Victoria of Hesse at Wind- ter. Although at the time of her Louis, would later describe her
sor Castle on 5th April 1863, the daughter’s birth Alice was in Eng- as “a walking encyclopedia”, who
eldest child of Louis IV, the Grand land to attend the wedding of the seemingly had the ability to make
Duke of Hesse, and Princess Alice, future King Edward VII, Victoria even the dullest of subjects appear

interesting. Besides a thirst for European importance was that of Wars. By this time, Andrew and
knowledge, Victoria also possessed Prince Andrew of Greece to Prin- Alice had three daughters, but Alice
an adventurous spirit, once taking cess Alice of Battenberg, which did not remain at home. Instead,
what sounds to be a rather daring took place at Darmstadt early in she joined the war effort, helping to
flight in an early biplane. October. There was a great con- set up field hospitals and acting as
In October 1903, the 18-year- course of crowned heads and the a nurse. She was widely praised for
old Alice married Prince Andrew, affair went off most brilliantly”. her work and in 1913 was awarded
the fourth son of King George I The political situation in Greece the Royal Red Cross for her servic-
of Greece. The Greek king enjoyed was highly unstable then and the es by the British king, George V.
a particularly close link with the Greek royal family’s position pre- Having been exposed to the full
British royal family, as his sister carious, to say the least. When a horrors of war, more turmoil was
Alexandra, was married to Edward new political party came to power to follow for Alice. During World
VII. One British newspaper in its in 1909, Andrew, a high-ranking War I, the Greek royal family of-
review of the year reported that, officer in the Greek army, was com- ficially adopted a neutral stance,
“There have been a great many pelled to resign from his position, but rumors circulated that some
notable marriages during the year. only to be reinstated three years of them, including Alice’s husband,
The one which was of the greatest later at the outbreak of the Balkan were secretly in league with the
Germans. This brought them into
conflict with the Greek govern-
ment, who supported the Allies,
and in 1917, the Greek royals were
forced to flee the country.
For three years, Alice and her
family lived in exile in Switzerland,
before being allowed to return to
Greece late in 1920. A few months
later, on 10th June 1921, Prince
Philip was born at Mon Repos, the
family’s villa on the island of Corfu.
His father, Andrew, was away from
home at the time, already involved
in yet more conflict, as the com-
mander of the Greek Second Army
Corps in a war against Turkey. The
war proved disastrous for Greece
with the loss of many thousands of
Greek troops and civilians.
The Greek King, Constantine,
was forced to abdicate and fled to
safety, but Prince Andrew was not
so fortunate. In the autumn of 1922,
he was arrested, accused of treason
and kept in solitary confinement.
By the time of his trial, several of
those who had been arrested with
him had already been executed,
without warning, by firing squad.
Heedless of her own personal safe-
ty, Alice left her children at the villa
in Corfu and travelled to Athens to
support her husband through his
trial. He seemed almost certain to
Alice with two of her daughters, Margarita and Theodora c. 1912. Library of suffer the same fate as his fellow of-
Congress ficers, until Alice made a personal

B R I T I S H R O YA LT Y
cause premature menopause. The
treatment was carried out against
Alice’s will. She was compelled to
stay at Bellevue for over two years
and after her release, refused to
have contact with her family, whom
she blamed for the incident.
Aged only nine when his mother
was committed to Bellevue, the
young Prince Philip was effec-
tively abandoned when his father
left home for the south of France
to live with his long-time mis-
tress and his sisters were married
in quick succession to German
princes (unknown to Alice, who
Alice and Andrew in London c. 1922. Wikipedia - National Library of France was still locked away at the time).
It fell to his maternal grandmother,
appeal for help to her British royal experienced over so many years. A Victoria, to step into the breach.
relatives. deeply spiritual woman by nature, Philip spent most of his time in
As a result of diplomatic pres- Alice began to behave in an increas- England from then onwards. He
sure from the British, Andrew was ingly disturbed manner, claiming was sent to school in Scotland and
spared the death sentence at the to be in direct contact with Christ during the holidays would stay
last minute and, instead, was sen- and Buddha. Matters came to a with his grandmother at Kensing-
tenced to banishment. The couple’s head in 1930 when Alice had an ex- ton Palace, or with his maternal
children, including Prince Philip, treme nervous breakdown and was uncle, George, the Marquess of
were brought from Corfu and the diagnosed as suffering from para- Milford Haven. Following George’s
family fled to safety on board the noid schizophrenia. death in 1938, another of Alice’s
British warship, HMS Calypso. Alice was committed against her brothers, Louis Mountbatten, took
Princess Alice later recalled that her will to Bellevue, a private sana- Philip under his wing. When later
son had walked his first steps dur- torium in Switzerland. The clinic questioned about his turbulent
ing the journey. was run by an associate of Sig- childhood, Philip replied that he
Andrew and Alice took up resi- mund Freud and the famous Ger- just had to adapt and get on with
dence at Saint-Cloud on the out- man psychoanalyst was consulted it. It is little wonder that he devel-
skirts of Paris in a house loaned about Alice’s case. He came to the oped a resilience which served him
to them by Andrew’s sister-in-law extraordinary conclusion that the so well subsequently.
Princess Marie Bonaparte. Howev- deterioration in Alice’s mental Like her daughter, Alice, Victoria
er, it became apparent that Alice’s health was a consequence of sexual had also suffered more than her
mental health had suffered as a frustration and recommended that fair share of turmoil and tragedy.
result of the great strain she had her ovaries be x-rayed in order to Shortly after the end of World
LEFT: Reproduction of painting by Angelos Giallinas showing the gardens of Mon Repos in Corfu. Wikipedia
RIGHT: Former Bellevue Sanatorium in Switzerland. Wikipedia - Flominator/CC BY-SA/3.0

War I, Victoria had received the
devastating news that two of her
younger sisters, Ella and Alix, along
with Alix’s young children, had
been murdered during the Rus-
sian Revolution. Victoria had cared
for Ella and Alix following their
mother’s death and had remained
close to them, travelling frequently
to Russia to visit them before the
outbreak of war prevented it. More
heartbreak was to follow when Vic-
toria’s husband, Louis, suddenly
Prince Philip with his mother Alice (left) at a 1966 wedding. Wikipedia – from
became ill and died of influenza in Dutch National Archives
September 1921.
Left alone to cope with her Jewish family in her own home, For a long time Alice appeared to
daughter Alice’s subsequent illness thus preventing them from almost have been largely “airbrushed” out
and the need to provide for the certain death in a German concen- of history, perhaps being viewed as
young Prince Philip, Victoria faced tration camp. When the German something of an embarrassment
further tragedy when in 1937 one authorities became suspicious and in royal circles. However, Philip
of Alice’s daughters, Cecilie, was she was interviewed by the Ge- himself made an emotional pil-
killed with her husband and chil- stapo, Alice pretended not to un- grimage to Jerusalem in 1994 to
dren in a plane crash. The only sav- derstand their questions because see her final resting place, together
ing grace of this appalling tragedy of her deafness. She never spoke with his one surviving sister. More
was that for the first time in several of this act of bravery and was only recently, both Prince Charles and
years, Alice was reunited with her posthumously given the title of Prince William have made separate
family at the funeral and some lim- “Righteous Among The Nations”, pilgrimages to her tomb while on
ited contact was resumed. an honor bestowed on non-Jews visits to the Middle East, indicat-
Victoria lived long enough to see who risked their lives to save Jewish ing that the humanitarian work
her grandson, Philip, marry the people during the Holocaust. of this brave and troubled wom-
future Queen Elizabeth II in 1947. After the war, Alice appears to an may now finally be starting to
She died three years later, aged 87, have at long last found the life of be recognized. At first glance,
at her home in Kensington Palace. peace and stability she must have Philip may seem to have had little
In a remarkable twist of fate, the craved. She founded a nursing or- in common with his mother, the
girl who had been shaped by Queen der of Greek Orthodox nuns on the eccentric nun who struggled with
Victoria following her own moth- island of Tinos in the Aegean Sea mental illness and deafness. How-
er’s death then, in turn, proved and left the island only infrequent- ever, her indomitable and coura-
to be highly influential in the de- ly. She did attend her son, Philip’s, geous spirit in the face of adversity
velopment of the boy who would marriage in 1947 and returned to are qualities which her son may
become consort to the next great London for the Queen’s coronation have been rightly proud to have
British Queen, Elizabeth II. Philip’s six years later. inherited. Hm
grandmother has been portrayed In 1967, Alice was compelled to
as a practical, forthright and deter- leave Greece for the final time fol- Endnote: Prince Phillip, Duke of
Edinburgh passed away at age 99
mined woman who courageously lowing a military coup. She spent on 9 April 2021 at Windsor Castle,
dealt with whatever difficulties the last two years of her life at Buck- Windsor, UK.
came her way. Much the same may ingham Palace, dying peacefully in
be said of the way in which Philip her sleep there two years later at MARGARET BRECKNELL is
conducted his own life. the age of 84. She was initially laid a British based freelance writer
As for Philip’s mother, Alice to rest at Windsor, but in 1988, her
with a special interest in history.
eventually returned to Athens, wish to be laid to rest in Jerusalem
Her work has been featured in
where she stayed for the duration alongside the tomb of her aunt,
Ella, who had been so tragically many publications and her first
of World War II. She courageously
performed vital charitable work murdered during the Russian Revo- book was published last year.
for the Red Cross and sheltered a lution, was finally realized.

Genealogy Research Using
Google is the latest special issue
from the publishers of Your Genealogy
Today and Internet Genealogy. Compiled
by author and genealogy educator Lisa
A. Alzo, an avid genealogist, writer and
speaker, it is packed with tips and tricks for
researching – and finding – ancestors us-
ing the wide range of tools and apps from
Google. Here is some of what is included
in this issue: Google Photoscan; Goo-
gle Photos; Google Sheets; What’s New
with Google; Google Jamboard; Google
Chrome Extensions; Google Drive; Goo-
gle Forms; Google Maps & Earth; Goo-
gle Search Tips; Google Slides; Google
Books; Google Docs; Google Links Short-
cuts; Google Calendar; Google Translate;
Google Tools — and tips and favorites
from Google Gurus Gena Philibert-Ortega,
Geoff Rasmussen & Cheri Passey Hudson!
68 Pages. Soft Cover.

Final Contents and Cover Subject to Change
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GST# 13934 0186 RT
THE ILLUSTRATED LIFE
BOOK REVIEW
AND TIMES OF GERONIMO
Indian campaigns appear on Bell’s pages with all their
weaknesses and strengths. General W. T. Sherman, who
must control the Navajo and Apaches; Presidents Ulysses S.
Grant, whose Indian policy surprises many, and President
Teddy Roosevelt who includes Geronimo and five other
chiefs in his inaugural parade because “I wanted to give the
people a good show.”
Geronimo’s life was a show; figuratively and literally.
Bell marks his show with timeline, quotes and a deathbed
mystery. During an ambush of American troops in 1862,
Indians with Cochise killed two soldiers before two how-
itzers blasted their hill. Never having experienced cannon
fire, one Apache later told a soldier: “We would have done
well enough if you had not fired wagons at us.” Bell’s quotes
add energy to the story.
Late in life, Geronimo dictated his story to S.M. Barrett
for Geronimo’s Story of His Life edited by S.M. Barrett.
Geronimo had at least ten wives and many children. By the
time he died in 1909, almost all had been killed or died of
disease. When his first family was killed during a raid of
their camp, retaliation became a permanent part of his life
until old age.
Bell divides his book into four chapters: The Dawn of
T
wenty-five years can change perspectives. He Who Yawns, The Warrior, The Renegade, and The
Bob Boze Bell started this book in 1994. Celebrity. Throughout this book, the maps, photographs
His original idea of a book with a time- and Bell’s exquisite paintings make this a visual treat and
line and Geronimo quotes expanded as a illustrates Geronimo’s life and times admirably. Perhaps a
new scholarship became available. It be- future edition could include a Table of Contents and Index
came more than a biography of Geronimo. It is an to make this a go-to reference book as well.
account of American history as well. Intertwined with Bell’s timeline of people, places and
The American history of Geronimo’s day ex- events, Geronimo’s life is one of loss, revenge and retali-
panded and changed quickly. People and events ation. Time and again he seeks peace, but if found, it only
jump onto the page, sometimes surprising the lasts one or two years. Bell recounts raids for cattle and
reader. The people and happenings are known horses that occur repeatedly. Incursions into Mexico to
from school days’ history, yet they pop up here, escape American troops or steal cattle. Always with indis-
ensuring Geronimo’s story is not told in a vacuum. criminate killing or capturing of men, women and children.
Gen. Stephen Kearny appears on a march in the On both sides. The senselessness of these killings echoes
Mexican War of 1846. Marines are at the ‘halls of long after finishing Bell’s book. Hm
Montezuma’ in Mexico City the following year as
Mexico cedes the land of the “savage tribes” to the Written and illustrated by Bob Boze Bell,
United States. A few months later, the reason for January 2020, Two Roads West, 120 pages.
mass migration to and through this territory be-
gins with the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill. All LYNN CASSITY reviewed books for The Kansas City
these well-known events from school texts are tied Star and her weekly column, Reader’s Choice, in a local
together in Bell’s timeline as introduction to the newspaper. After retiring from a teaching career, she
seasons and motives of Geronimo. resumed writing book reviews and articles.
People who made their name, or lost it, in the

QUIZ
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY QUIZ

BY ALAN G. LUKE
This Memorial (Remembrance) Day (November 11th) is the Centennial of the dedication of the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier in 1921. The hilltop memorial stands in Arlington National Cemetery with an unobstructed
view of Washington, DC. Test your knowledge of this solemn landmark and renowned cemetery with these
trivia questions.
1 In which state can you find the

historic 639-acre Arlington
National Cemetery?
5 Which two American
Presidents are buried in
this National Cemetery?
8 An underage Audie Murphy
enlists as an infantryman and
single-handedly repels a large
a) Washington b) Virginia a) William Howard Taft German attack, earning him a
c) Texas d) Illinois b) Franklin Delano Roosevelt Congressional Medal of Honor.
c) Dwight David Eisenhower His memoirs were adapted into a
2 Congress approved the

construction of the tomb to
d) John Fitzgerald Kennedy feature film entitled what? (He is
buried in section 46 at Arlington
commemorate the US lives lost
during World War I from un-
identified soldiers located in four
6 There are memorials for the
crews of the space shuttle
disasters, Challenger (1986) and
Cemetery.)
a) War is Hell
b) To Hell and Back
burial sites from what country? Columbia (2003), in Section 46. c) Hell Squad
a) Belgium b) Netherlands Two of the three astronauts of the d) Hell is for Heroes
c) France d) Germany Apollo 1 mission who lost their
lives in a flash fire are also buried
9 With more than 300 million
annual visitors, the most
3 Unknown soldiers were
subsequently interred here
from all the following wars
on the grounds. In what year did
this tragic event occur?
a) 1963 b) 1965
popular sites are the JFK eternal
flame and the Tomb of the
except which one? Unknowns. The grounds of the
c) 1967 d) 1969
Arlington House were selected
a) World War II
as the cemetery site to ensure
b) Korean War
c) Vietnam War
d) Gulf War
7 Match the notable Americans
who were interred in the
cemetery to their profession/
this Civil War Confederate
would never be able to return
occupation? to his home.
a) John Bell Hood
4 The Arlington National
Cemetery encompasses 639
acres of land. How many men and
A) Joe Louis
B) Glenn Miller
C) Alan Bean
b) George Pickett
c) Nathan Bedford Forrest
women have their final resting D) Matthew Henson d) Robert E. Lee
places located here? E) Lee Marvin
a) More than 100,000
b) More than 200,000
a) Actor / Marine
b) Polar Explorer
10 American President Joe
Biden visited ANC in April
2021. Which section is home to
c) More than 300,000 c) NASA Astronaut the most recent war dead (i.e.,
d) More than 400,000 d) Band Leader / Musician Afghan War)?
e) Professional Boxer a) Section 60 b) Section 50
ANSWERS: See Page 66 c) Section 40 d) Section 30

TRACING YOUR ANCESTORS
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TIPS & TRICKS FOR
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Newspapers.com: Library of Congress
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GST# 13934 0186 RT
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A PRACTICAL GUIDE
IRISH RESEARCH
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Ancestors: IRISH RESEARCH:
A PRACTICAL GUIDE
This edition of our Tracing Your Ancestors
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FINANCIAL SCAMS
Charles Ponzi in 1920.
Public Domain
How he came to Boston is a story

in itself. In 1903, his parents in Par-
ma, Italy put their 21-year-old son
on a steamer for America, where it
was hoped that laboring in a rela-
tive’s business would straighten out
their young delinquent. Charles
had other ideas, and set out to find
opportunity that was easier on his
slight body. Things did not go as he
planned.
By early 1919, when Charles un-
packed his meager belongings in a
cold-water flat near Boston, he was
37 years old and a twice-convicted
felon. In Montreal, he had talked his
way into a job as a bank teller. When
he was caught forging a check, Ponzi
landed in the St. Vincent de Paul
penitentiary for a two-year stretch.
Upon his release, he was nabbed by
American authorities for attempt-
ing to smuggle five laborers across
the US/Canadian border.
In Boston, Ponzi spent most of
1919 finding, and losing, two dif-
ferent jobs. His spirit was anything
but broken, for Charles Ponzi had
an idea for a business of his own;
a loose-leaf bound magazine he
would custom make for any coun-
CHARLES PONZI: try. Despite his best efforts, by De-

cember 1919, he was in such bad
financial straits that he had to give a
furniture dealer an IOU just to keep
AN ANNIVERSARY his office desk and chair.

As he sat at his desk reflecting on
another low point in his life, Ponzi
TO REMEMBER opened a letter from a correspon-

dent in Spain. A small piece of col-
ored paper floated onto his desk. It
DAVID KRUH RECOUNTS THE LIFE OF was an International Reply Coupon
(IRC). In an agreement among thir-
ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS CRIMI- ty countries, the IRC provided an
easy way for a correspondent in one
NALS OF THE 20 TH CENTURY country – in this case, Spain – to
provide return postage to the recipi-
O ne hundred years ago, a financial scam was executed in Boston that

was so outrageous, so audacious, so successful that a century later,
the scammer’s name is used to describe the crime.
ent in another – Mr. Ponzi in Amer-
ica. All he had to do was bring the
IRC to the local post office where he
His name was Charles Ponzi. would be given postage for his reply.
FINANCIAL SCAMS
Apparently, Ponzi kept his mon-
ey at his office, stuffed in trash cans
and file cabinet drawers. After the
visit by the postal inspector, he
became nervous. All this cash, just
laying there, was too tempting for
others. So Ponzi put his money
where it would be safe, in several
local banks. The SEC begins pay-
ing out mature certificates with
checks backed by those bank
deposits.
The amount of money involved
was just staggering. In April of 1920,
only four months after he had sold
his first certificate, Ponzi’s SEC had
brought in $140,000 in business.
A month later, the total take was
Example of an original British International Reply Coupon, circa 1959.
over $440,000. Ponzi was doing
Public Domain well. Very well. Life was good. He
married his sweetheart Rose
At that moment, he later re- At a time when banks were of- Gnecco, bought a home in Lex-
called in his autobiography, Ponzi fering a mere three to four per- ington, and brought his mother
had an epiphany. He saw how to cent return annually, word of a over from Italy on an ocean liner.
make money – lots of it – from man selling certificates which, if First class, of course. Ponzi be-
the IRC by leveraging the dispar- held for three months, would re- gan to diversify his portfolio with
ity between the exchange rates of turn 45%, swept through Boston. purchases of a construction com-
different countries. In America, a By February 1920, he sold over pany and a macaroni factory.
nickel might buy one IRC, but in $5,000 in certificates. In March, his “At least I won’t starve,” he told a
Italy, for example, the same nick- take increased to almost $30,000. reporter.
el, once exchanged for their de- Ponzi had to hire a secretary and
valued local currency, might buy clerks to handle the onslaught of THE TERRIBLE TRUTH
five IRC. Send the five IRC back investors. The line stretched from What only Charles Ponzi knew
to the States and exchange them Ponzi’s SEC fifth-floor office to was IRCs had nothing to do with
for postage and what have you School Street below. (After some the tremendous profits being
done? You’ve turned one nickel officers bought certificates, they made by his thousands of “inves-
into twenty-five cents! It was began offering crowd control to tors.” Ponzi’s SEC was simply a
gloriously simple. Even better, protect their investments.) pyramid scheme. The later inves-
perfectly legal. In March, Ponzi’s SEC was tors’ money paid off the earlier
A test of the plan went perfectly. faced with its first challenge: Italy, investors. It was robbing Peter to
From a dollar he sent to an uncle Romania, and France suddenly pay Paul. (The only money he
in Italy, Ponzi got back a stack of pulled out of the IRC agreement. ever made off the postal coupons
IRCs which he turned into $2.30 This raised the interest of offi- was the $1.30 he made from the
– a 130% increase! Ponzi wasted cials at the US Post Office, who original test with his uncle.)
little time printing up certificates got word of a company claiming Ponzi was smart enough to
for his new company, which he riches from the IRC. A visit was know that eventually he would
named “The Securities Exchange made by the local postal inspec- run out of Peters, but he had a
Company.” (The name’s delicious tor and several of his minions. plan. It involved stroking the ego
irony would not be apparent until Now begins the legend of Charles of the president of the Hanover
1934 when, after the crash of the Ponzi, for after his explanation Trust Company, where Ponzi had
stock market, the federal govern- to the initially skeptical audience a large sum of money in deposit.
ment created a financial monitor- of how the SEC made money, the Chemilinski, an immigrant him-
ing agency with the same initials: postal inspector bought $100 in self (from Poland), had bragged
SEC.) certificates. to Ponzi of his connections with

the Polish government. as a desperate extortion attempt, piece, the front-page featured an
The plan Ponzi concocted was then proudly declared he had two interview with Clarence Barron
for the Polish government to sell million dollars in assets. But the (known today for his eponymous
him $10 million in certificates. headline on the front page of the financial weekly) who asked a
Thanks to the exchange rate be- Sunday Post was dire. “BOSTON devastating question: why does
tween the US and Poland, Ponzi MAN IS SUED FOR $1,000,000”. Ponzi, who promises returns
would convert the certificates into The Post story led directly to equating to 400% a year, put his
enough profit to get out from un- Ponzi’s third problem; what would money into banks giving less than
der the ever-growing pyramid. his thousands of investors do 5% interest? Ponzi’s reply was to
But Chemilinski got cold feet and when the SEC opened its doors on sue Barron for $5 million. Those
the deal fell through. Ponzi was fu- Monday morning? same government officials who
rious. To get back at Chemilinski, As Ponzi’s chauffeured car had only a week ago met with
Ponzi manipulated a vote by the turned onto School Street that Ponzi (and found nothing suspi-
stockholders to give him a bank morning, he saw a large crowd cious about his explanation of
directorship. (Talk about letting milling in front of the building. SEC profits) requested that Ponzi
the fox into the hen house.) Were they all there to take out stop selling certificates while they
The imbalance between what he their money? While some did, investigated the Barron claims.
had taken in and what he would the vast majority were there to To his still-adoring investors,
owe 90 days hence was stark. By buy. Ironically, the ones cashing Ponzi clung confidently to the ex-
June, there had been two and half in their certificates were helping planation of his company’s prof-
million dollars in certificates sold, Ponzi, because he only owed them its coming from manipulation of
meaning that out there on the back what they had paid. It was all the International Reply Coupon.
street were thousands of inves- the others who were climbing over Both admiration and confidence
tors expecting a combined payout each other to buy doing the most took hits with a front-page Post
of five million dollars. But no one harm. They would be owed double article on 30 July, headlined “New
seemed worried. As the summer their money ninety days hence. York Postmaster Says Not Enough
of 1920 began, the public’s abso- To combat the now skeptical in Whole World to Make Fortune
lute confidence in the SEC was press, Charles Ponzi hired former Ponzi Claims.” In it, the New York
unflinching. With the exception of reporter William McMasters to do Postmaster flatly stated only $360 in
the visit by the postal inspector, not some public relations. McMasters certificates had been sold since De-
one member of law enforcement was so good that he got the Post cember, hardly enough to explain
showed any interest in the SEC – – the very paper which broke the them as the source of SEC profits.
other than to buy certificates. front-page story of the lawsuit – The governor of Massachu-
All that would change on 1 July to publish a puff piece on Ponzi setts, Calvin Coolidge (basking
1920, when the furniture dealer and his SEC. McMasters also con- in national attention for his re-
to whom Ponzi had given an IOU vinced Ponzi to proactively meet cent stand against striking Bos-
back in December of 1919 sued with the state Attorney General ton policemen), was not pleased
Ponzi, claiming the IOU made and the Bank Commissioner to with headlines inferring the in-
him an investor and therefore en- assuage any government concerns effectiveness of Massachusetts’
titled to a share of the profits (the about his company. (Ponzi did government. He ordered an audit
lawsuit ignored the fact Ponzi had such a good job, after the meeting, of Ponzi’s SEC by renowned Bos-
paid off the IOU in full). a member of the AG’s staff bought ton accountant Edwin Pride. This
Now Ponzi had three problems. some certificates.) McMasters then triggered another run that Ponzi
The first was the lawsuit froze arranged for another article in the somehow managed to survive, as
money in his existing bank ac- Post in which Ponzi is described as thousands of certificate holders
counts. (Tipped off about the law- “the Pied Piper of School Street,” cashed in millions.
suit, he did manage to shift some, which brings in even more cus- More bad news came the next
but not all of his money, into safe, tomers. Again, more customers day from a front page exclusive
false accounts.) The next prob- is not really what Charles Ponzi in the Post written by… William
lem was the sudden interest by wanted or needed. McMasters. Ponzi’s now-former
the press, notably the Boston Post, At times, it seems, managers of PR manager had sold the inside
whose editor dispatched a reporter the Boston Post were in a battle story of the SEC to the Post in
for an interview. Cool as a cucum- with their own paper, for just which he declared that the Wizard
ber, Ponzi waved away the lawsuit a few days after the latest puff- was $4.5 million in the red.

FINANCIAL SCAMS
But the Boston Post wasn’t Charles Ponzi would hear. crashing down. It took years to
through with the Ponzi story. On On 10 August 1920, Ponzi was sort out the mess he left behind.
9 August, managing editor Edwin stripped of his directorship at the A few investors got back pen-
Grozier called Ponzi to ask Hanover Trust Company after au- nies on their dollar, but most
him if it was true he had spent thorities learned that he had ille- lost everything they spent on
time in a Canadian jail for forg- gally borrowed funds from a CD. his now-worthless certificates.
ery. Ponzi denied it. Grozier also So much for his plan for covering After Ponzi’s conviction on fed-
informed Ponzi that a mug shot the shortfall with Hanover mon- eral charges, he was, once again,
was on its way from the Mon- ey. The very next day, the front a guest of the US government’s
treal police. Perhaps for the first page of the Boston Post revealed hospitality.
time in his life, Ponzi had noth- the truth for all to see. Ponzi’s Upon release, he was then sup-
ing to say. His only chance now mug shot, his prisoner number posed to be tried by the state, but
was to hope the audit ordered hung around his neck, and the he jumped bail. Ponzi wound up
by Coolidge would finish before headline “CANADIAN PONSI in Florida where – and you can’t
the mug shot arrived at the Post. SERVED JAIL TIME” under make this stuff up – he got in-
Still clinging to his position at the which a smaller banner declared volved in the Florida land boom,
Hanover Trust Company, Ponzi “Montreal Police, Jail Warden and selling property that was literally
had a plan for covering the short- Others Declare that Charles Ponzi under water. When arrest seemed
fall (the amount which McMasters of Boston and Charles Ponsi of imminent, he faked his suicide
had correctly identified) using Montreal Who Was Sentenced to and fled on a tramp steamer to
Hanover Trust Company deposits Two and a Half Years in Jail for Texas. A moment of braggadocio
as a stopgap. Forgery on Italian Bank are One to a shipmate resulted in his re-
The very same day of Grozier’s and the Same Man”. turn to Massachusetts. There, he
visit, word came from auditor The day after the Post exposé, was convicted and served time
Edwin Pride. Not even Boston’s Edwin Pride called Ponzi to his in the Charlestown State Prison.
most respected accountant could office to go over his audit. After his release in 1934, he was
figure out Ponzi’s SEC books. So, “You are $4.5 million in the red. deported to Italy, where he found
Pride, who had already told Ponzi Have you the funds to cover the employment working for an air-
to stop selling certificates, told him shortfall?” Pride asked. line run by Mussolini’s govern-
to stop paying out as well. Charles “No,” replied Ponzi. He then ment. That job didn’t last, for
Ponzi was more than happy to turned to a US Marshall in at- obvious reasons. He then ran a
comply, as it stopped the flow of tendance and said, “I guess this brothel and afterwards a hot dog
money from his company, which means I am your prisoner.” stand before winding up in a Rio
he needed to cover the shortfall. Ponzi’s pyramid had lasted de Janeiro charity ward. He died
It was the last good news only seven months before it came there in 1949.
The only winner would seem to
be the Boston Post. In recognition
of Edwin Grozier’s work unmask-
ing the truth behind Ponzi’s SEC,
the paper received the 1921 Pulit-
zer Prize “For its exposure of the
operations of Charles Ponzi by a
series of articles which finally led
to his arrest.” It’s hard to say that
the public learned anything. As
evidenced by recent events sur-
rounding a man named Madoff,
P.T. Barnum and his admonition
about suckers would be proven
right again, many times over. Hm
Mug shot of Charles Ponzi (March 3, 1882 – January 18, 1949) circa 1920. DAVID KRUH is a
Charles Ponzi was born in Italy and became known as a swindler for his money Boston-based writer.
scheme. Public Domain

WHEN RUSSIAN
BOOK EXTRACT
TERRORISTS WERE MORAL
BY VLADIMIR ALEXANDROV
I
n the fall of 1904, leaders of the Russian So- notorious Khodynka Tragedy in 1896, when several
cialist Revolutionary Party gathered in Paris to thousand peasants and working-class Muscovites
plan their next steps. Emboldened by the suc- were trampled to death during the bungled corona-
cessful assassination of Minister of the Interior tion celebrations for Nicholas II. He let police and
Vyacheslav von Plehve in Saint Petersburg on Cossacks use bloody force to suppress dissent and
July 15 by the Combat Organization, the party’s ter- to break up demonstrations in Moscow by protest-
rorist branch, and convinced that Russia was on the ing students and others. At the end of 1904, with the
verge of a revolution and that more assassinations country in turmoil and many groups demanding re-
would help fuel the fire, they sentenced to death the form, Sergey urged his nephew Nicholas II to stand
governors general of the three most important cities firm against change, leading the tsar to announce to
– Saint Petersburg, Moscow, and his chief minister: “I shall nev-
Kiev. The Socialist Revolution- er, under any circumstances,
aries (or “SRs”) were the largest agree to a representative form
radical party in Russia and pur- of government because I con-
sued a populist agrarian agenda sider it harmful to the people
that focused on the peasantry, whom God has entrusted to my
who made up eighty percent of care.” Not only revolutionaries,
the population and whose labor but liberals seethed at the mere
was the backbone of the em- mention of Sergey’s name.
pire’s predominantly agricultur- In early November 1904,
al economy. That the peasants Savinkov and the three other
lived largely in archaic poverty members of his team made it
and ignorance was just one of safely to Moscow, smuggling
the crimes against the Russian in several dozen pounds of
people for which the SRs blamed dynamite and with an ample
the imperial regime. supply of money. Using the
Boris Savinkov, second-in- Combat Organization’s previ-
command of the Combat Or- ous experience with Plehve,
ganization and the leader of the two members, Boris Moisey-
team that assassinated Plehve, enko and Ivan Kalyaev bought
eagerly took on the target in horses, droshkys, and disguised
Moscow – Grand Duke Sergey themselves as cabbies so they
Alexandrovich, who, in addition ISBN-13: 9781643137186 could follow the grand duke’s
to being the city’s governor gen- Format: Hardcover, 6 x 9, 576 pages comings and goings freely in
eral, was the tsar’s uncle and his Price: $29.95 ($39.95 CAN) the streets. The third member
brother-in-law (they had mar- of the team, Dora Brilliant, was
ried sisters). Sergey was one of the chemist and bomb techni-
the most influential members of the entire reaction- cian and stayed out of sight in a hotel a few streets
ary Romanov clan, and thus, in the eyes of the SRs, from the Kremlin, waiting patiently for the call to
an embodiment of injustice. When he was appointed arm the bombs she had fashioned. However, Sav-
to his post in Moscow in 1891 by his brother, Alex- inkov took the opposite approach and hid in plain
ander III, he began his duties by brutally expelling view. Using papers that identified him as a rich
the city’s 20,000 Jews; moreover, he did so on Pass- Englishman, he assumed an aloof mien befitting
over. He showed heartless indifference during the an Anglo-Saxon (even though he did not speak any

BOOK EXTRACT
English), and moved freely around
the city in an expensive fur coat
with a magnificent beaver collar
and matching hat.
The winter of 1904-1905 was a
restive time in the Russian Empire
and the team’s stalking was inter-
rupted several times when Sergey
changed his routines in response.
The war with Japan over Man-
churia that began in February and
that the Russians had expected to
win hands down was going from
bad to worse and causing political
and labor disturbances in Moscow
and other cities. On January 9/22,
1905, a day that would go down
in history as “Bloody Sunday,”
troops in Saint Petersburg shot Boris Savinkov, c. 1899.
hundreds of peaceful demonstra-
tors who were approaching the two bombs in her hotel room was a hundred yards away, by the
Winter Palace in an attempt to weighing several kilograms each. tall iron gates to Alexander Garden.
petition the tsar to improve labor Savinkov met her in an alley near- Both men dressed inconspicu-
conditions and end the unpopular by at 7pm Handling the soldered ously as peasants and each carried
war. The carnage triggered out- tin boxes very carefully, he trans- a cotton bundle that sagged under
rage throughout the Empire and ferred them to a briefcase. the weight of the bomb inside.
around the world. Protest meet- The team’s surveillance had de- Savinkov went into the depths of
ings took place in many cities and termined that there were only two the garden to wait for the explo-
within days 400,000 workers went routes Sergey’s carriage could take sion.
on strike in the largest action of its from the Kremlin to the Bolshoy A blizzard was beginning and
kind in Russian history. Sergey de- Theater half a mile away: it would the cold was intense. The few
cided to seek increased safety for have to go either to the left or the streetlights in the area did little to
himself and his family and retreat- right of the Imperial Russian His- lift the gloom of the heavy north-
ed from an imperial residence on torical Museum, a large red brick ern night, which seemed even
the city’s outskirts to the Nicholas building in an ornate Russian style darker because of the clouds hang-
Palace inside the Kremlin itself. that sits on the edge of Red Square. ing over the Kremlin’s sharp tow-
Finally, in late January, after the By 7:30pm Savinkov finished ers. There was hardly any traffic
team had picked up Sergey’s trail delivering the bombs to the two on the nearby streets and squares.
again, Savinkov saw his chance. He throwers. He gave the first to Passersby were few and difficult
read in Moscow’s newspapers that Kalyaev, with whom he had been to make out through the layered
a benefit concert for a military close friends since childhood, and shadows.
charity would take place on Febru- who would wait for the grand duke A few minutes after 8pm,
ary 2 in the Bolshoy Theater. And on his likeliest route, to the right of Kalyaev saw the white acetylene
since the patroness of the charity the museum. They said their fare- lamps of the grand duke’s carriage
was Sergey’s wife, Grand Duch- wells and then embraced. Kalyaev emerge from the passageway near
ess Elizaveta (sister of Alexandra, expected to die during the attack, the Historical Museum one hun-
the Empress of Russia, and known and Savinkov had never heard him dred yards away from where he
in the family as “Ella”), Savinkov speak of his love for the team and was standing. He had anticipated
concluded that the grand duke its mission with such ardor. this moment for months and did
could not fail to attend the benefit At 8pm Kalyaev took up his po- not hesitate. Raising his right hand
and set the assassination for that sition in front of the red-brick with the bomb, he began to run
day. Moscow City Hall building on the over the snow-covered ground, in-
On Wednesday afternoon, Feb- northern edge of Red Square near tending to cut the carriage off as it
ruary 2, Dora Brilliant assembled the museum. The second thrower crossed the square in front of him.

In seconds, he was close enough to formally adopted two years earlier. The explosion was devastating.
see inside. By staying his hand against them, Kalyaev felt himself sucked into
But what he glimpsed stunned Kalyaev had risked arrest and its vortex and for a split second
him. Silhouetted against the pad- death for himself and the entire glimpsed the carriage disintegrat-
ded, white silk interior was Sergey, team. But the moral imperative ing; then a blast of hot smoke and
but on the seat next to him was a not to spill innocent blood, which splinters hit him in the face and
woman – the grand duchess, and was a cardinal tenet of the SRs tore his hat off. A narrow column
in the seat opposite – two children. and the Combat Organization, of dirty yellow and black smoke
Kalyaev stopped as abruptly as eclipsed revolutionary justice. shot into the sky. But miraculous-
if he had run into a wall. He then Savinkov replied to Kalyaev that ly, Kalyaev remained on his feet.
let his arm drop and stood watch- not only did he not condemn him When the smoke cleared, some
ing as the carriage rolled away – he fully approved what he did. five paces away he saw a low,
toward the lights of Theatrical So did the other members of the shapeless mass consisting of frag-
Square. There was no one around team. They decided to try again ments of wood from the carriage,
– no mounted guards, no escort- two days later. shreds of the grand duke’s cloth-
ing police vehicles – and neither In the morning on Friday, ing, and what was left of his body.
the coachman nor anyone inside February 4, Brilliant again went The sight was horrific: the head
the carriage had noticed him. through the risky procedure of was missing and most of the tor-
To Savinkov waiting in Alexander arming the two bombs by insert- so was completely destroyed; the
Garden, time had dragged so slow- ing the impact fuses into them. snow all around was splattered
ly that it seemed as if entire years But just as Savinkov was leaving with blood. One of Sergey’s fin-
had passed. He had seen the lights to distribute them, he discovered gers and other small bits of flesh
of the grand duke’s carriage flash to his shock that one of the throw- were found on surrounding roof-
by and turn toward Kalyaev; but ers had dropped out of the attack tops weeks later.
no explosion followed. Then, as at the last minute. It seemed as Kalyaev was surprised to be
he peered into the freezing mist though it would be necessary to alive. He knew that he could not
and gloom, he saw Kalyaev ap- suspended the entire operation. escape but started walking away
proaching. However, Kalyaev insisted that he anyway; then he heard cries from
His expression was anxious, his could make the attack alone, and behind and felt people seize him.
eyes searching. after vacillating for a few mo- A panicked detective prattled
Savinkov stared at Kalyaev with ments, Savinkov agreed. with relief that it was a miracle he
bewilderment. They said goodbye again, hadn’t been hurt himself. Kalyaev
But Kalyaev was so shaken that Kalyaev kissed Savinkov on the was bundled off in a cab to a lo-
he had difficulty stringing words lips, and headed off toward the cal police station and from there
together: “I’m afraid. Wouldn’t it Kremlin. In those distant and to prison.
have been a crime against us all? more innocent days, entry into it When Sergey’s wife Ella heard
. . . But I couldn’t do otherwise, was unrestricted. the explosion from inside the pal-
you have to understand, I couldn’t Savinkov’s plan had been to ace, she realized immediately that
. . . My arm dropped by itself . . . meet Brilliant in a confectioner’s something appalling had hap-
There was a woman, children . . . shop a short walk away and then pened to her husband and dashed
Children . . .” return with her to the Kremlin outside wearing only a loose cloak
Only then did Savinkov under- to witness the bomb’s explosion. over her shoulders.
stand what had happened. They were still walking back when Some people had begun to gath-
“Tell me, was it the right thing he suddenly heard a curiously er around the gruesome mass in
to do?” Kalyaev continued. “It muted, “distant, hollow, sound.” Senate Square. One or two tried
was right, wasn’t it? Let them live. According to eyewitnesses, the to stop the grand duchess from ap-
Are they guilty? Or do you think bomb went off at 2:45pm. Kalyaev proaching; she pushed past them.
that I’m afraid? No, you don’t had run right up to the grand In shock, but showing exceptional
think that . . . I ran right up to the duke’s carriage in Senate Square, self-control, Ella knelt in the snow
carriage.” sixty-five paces inside the Krem- and started to gather what she
The children Kalyaev had lin’s walls, and hurled the bomb could of her husband’s bleeding
glimpsed were Sergey’s and Ella’s from a distance of only a few remains. She pressed her face to
nephew and niece, ages twelve feet. There were no guards close what was left of his right hand and
and thirteen, whom they had enough to intervene. pulled off the rings.

BOOK EXTRACT
The residents of the Kremlin in Saint Petersburg that there was However, the greatest proof –
entered deep mourning, and the much sympathy for the grand and test – of Ella’s fortitude and
first prayers for the dead were duchess because of the affection faith was her astonishing visit to
chanted over the grand duke’s she had won through her efforts Kalyaev in his prison cell just three
remains at 4pm in the church to help sick and wounded sol- days after the assassination.
of Saint Alexey. When mem- diers; but although newspapers Kalyaev was so shocked that he
bers of the imperial family in condemned the assassination, he could only watch in amazement as
Saint Petersburg got the news, added, they said little “in favour of she dropped helplessly into a chair
they were shocked and horri- the late Grand Duke.” By contrast, next to his, then took his hand
fied, even if many had no per- in a central Moscow prison, when firmly in hers, and began to weep.
sonal affection for Sergey. They political prisoners heard the news, It was an amazing, surreal en-
were also so terrified about their they began to sing the “Marseil- counter of two people from ir-
own safety, just as the SRs had laise,” France’s national anthem, reconcilable worlds who managed
planned, that neither the tsar, which had also become the inter- briefly to share a common human-
nor several other senior mem- national hymn of revolution. ity in the face of one death and a
bers of the family risked com- Despite her shock and grief in second that was imminent. Their
ing to Moscow for the funeral the aftermath of Sergey’s death, meeting lasted about twenty-five
several days later. Because of the Ella showed striking stoicism as minutes. Kalyaev later described
danger of appearing in public, well as her characteristic charity. it in letters to Savinkov, to other
they were even advised not to On the day of the assassination it- comrades, and in a moving poem.
attend requiem services in Saint self, she visited the coachman who At first, an overwhelming feel-
Petersburg’s major cathedrals. had been driving the grand duke’s ing of pity for the grand duchess
Beyond these inner circles, how- carriage and had been seriously washed over him, and, incred-
ever, the reaction was mostly in- injured. To spare his feelings she ibly, he even tried to console her.
difference. The British Consul in did not reveal the truth about her Equally incredibly, she responded
Moscow reported to his embassy husband. to him with compassion, saying

that he “must have suffered a great of the imperial family. Unlike the nior position in the SR Party while
deal” to decide to do what he did. SRs, the Bolsheviks had no com- simultaneously betraying its mem-
But upon hearing this, Kalyaev punctions about killing innocents. bers and their plans.
jumped up and interrupted her, On July 17 of the following year, But Azef was also something
crying that his suffering was noth- their political police, the “Cheka,” other than the double agent the
ing compared to the suffering of executed Nicholas II, his wife, imperial police believed him to
millions of others who have no their five children – aged thirteen be because although he revealed
way of “protesting against the to twenty-two, and four retain- some terrorist plots to them, he
cruelties of the government, and ers. Later the same day, a detach- allowed others to succeed, such
against this most horrible war.” ment of the Cheka took Ella and as the ones against Plehve and
When Ella tried to explain her and a number of her followers to an Sergey. To this day it is not clear
her husband’s position, and de- abandoned, water-filled mine what motivated him in his com-
spite his pity for her, Kalyaev did shaft in the Urals and pushed plex game other than cupidity and
not yield his revolutionary convic- them in alive. When the guards conceit (because of his skill in de-
tions and insisted that he would heard splashes and voices sing- ceiving dangerous opponents on
give his life “a thousand times, not ing prayers, they threw in two both sides).
just once” for Russia to be free. hand grenades; when this did not Even against the background of
Before leaving, Ella told Kalyaev stop the singing the Cheka filled Russia’s often tragic history, which
that she would pray for him and the shaft with brush and set it on is filled with outsize individu-
that “the grand duke forgives you.” fire. In 1984 the late grand duch- als, Azef is an unbelievable figure.
She also asked him to accept a small ess was canonized a martyr saint Like the religious mountebank
icon from her “as a memento.” by the Russian Orthodox émigré Rasputin with his malignant influ-
Kalyaev took the icon, but could church in New York City. Eight ence on Nicholas II and Alexandra
not resist telling her: “My con- years later, after the dissolution and through them on the entire
science is clear.” of the Soviet Union, Ella’s can- country, Azef was both a symp-
When Ella got up to leave, onization was recognized by the tom and an agent of the forces
Kalyaev rose too. He then bowed Moscow Patriarchate. that were tearing Russia apart and
his head, took her right hand in Savinkov left Moscow shortly preparing for the unprecedented
his, raised it to his lips, and kissed after the assassination, and after human disasters that defined the
it. checking on the Combat Organi- twentieth century.
On April 5, 1905, Kalyaev was zation’s plots in Saint Petersburg For his own mysterious reasons,
tried by a Special Commission of and Kiev traveled to SR headquar- after Sergey’s assassination Azef
the Imperial Governing Senate ters in Geneva. The assassination decided to give Savinkov up to
and sentenced to death. He was of Sergey was a spectacular success the Okhrana, and informed them
hanged at dawn on May 10, 1905, and the Combat Organization’s where he would be crossing the
in Shlisselburg Fortress, an old po- prestige was at an all-time high Polish-German frontier. However,
litical prison twenty miles east of among different strata of Russian Savinkov unexpectedly changed
Saint Petersburg, and retained his society. The next logical targets his plans and took the northern
composure until the end. for the terrorists would be other route through East Prussia, as a
After Grand Duke Sergey’s fu- imperial grandees, and even Tsar result of which he escaped.
neral, Ella withdrew from the Nicholas II himself. Savinkov’s and the SR party’s
world and dedicated the rest of her However, when Savinkov left day of reckoning with Azef would
life to her faith and good works. Russia, he had no idea how lucky not come for another four years.
In 1908, after selling her jewels to he was to get out unscathed. Nei- Hm
buy land in Moscow, she founded ther he, nor the other leaders of
the Martha and Mary Convent of the SR Party knew that there was VLADIMIR ALEXANDROV is
Mercy that was dedicated to tend- a traitor in their midst, no less a
the author of TO BREAK RUSSIA’S
ing to the city’s poor and sick. In figure than the revered head of the
CHAINS: BORIS SAVINKOV
1910, she took the veil herself and Combat Organization itself, Evno
became the Convent’s abbess. Fishelevich Azef. He had been on AND HIS WARS AGAINST THE
When the Bolsheviks seized the payroll of the Okhrana, the TSAR AND THE BOLSHEVIKS,
power in November of 1917, they secret police force charged with published by Pegasus Books
arrested Ella and her followers, protecting the imperial regime, in September 2021.
as well as many other members for a decade, and rose to his se-

BOOK EXTRACT
The drakkar or dragon ship was the
largest in the Norse inventory, but was
slower than the smaller, more typical
Viking longship. Image © Osprey
Publishing
B
y the summer of 1062,
King Harald had levied
up one of the greatest
armies Norway had ever
seen. To embark them
for Denmark required a fleet of at
least 150 longships, plus an equal
number of smaller transports
and support vessels, implying a
strength of perhaps 15,000 men.
Harald was so confident of victory
that he made a family affair of the
venture, bringing along his eldest
son, Prince Magnus, age fourteen.
In this contest against the Danes,
THE LAST VIKING even exiled Norwegians had to

choose sides. Jarl (Earl) Hakon
Ivarsson had worn out his wel-
come at both the Norwegian and
FREQUENT HISTORY MAGAZINE Danish courts, but saw a way to
CONTRIBUTOR DON HOLLWAY get back in Harald’s good graces.
“King Svein is beloved and our
OFFERS AN EXCERPT OF HIS king is not,” he told his men, “but
EXCITING NEW BOOK I am more disposed to help him.”
Hakon led ten ships north to join
Harald.
It was a Saturday when Harald’s
The Last Viking from Osprey Publishing weaves together Norse magnificent drakkar, dragon ship,
sagas, Byzantine accounts and Anglo-Saxon chronicles to tell the shoved off into Trondheimsfjord.
tale of King Harald III of Norway, called Hardrada, the “Hard His poet Thjodolf Arnorsson re-
called the summer sun gleam-
Ruler”. Hardrada was a real-life fantasy hero who burst into history ing on its gold-worked prow, and
as a teenaged youth in a Viking battle, from which he escaped with townswomen lining the riverbanks
little more than his life and a thirst for vengeance. The Last Viking proudly marveling at its seven-
journeys with him across the medieval world, from the frozen barrens ty rowers pulling in unison. He
vowed the enemy would quake in
of the North to the glittering towers of Byzantium and the passions terror when those men exchanged
of the Holy Land. He fights for and against Christian, Muslim their oars for shields and blades.
and pagan rulers. He beds handmaids, a princess and an empress Out at sea the fleet raised sails and
alike, writing poetry and amassing a fortune along the way, before set off down the coast, rounding
the southern cape of Norway into
returning home to claim his love, his crown and his destiny, and the Skagerrak, down the coast to
ultimately meet his fate like a Viking: in battle, laughing, sword in Halland, which is now Sweden, to
hand. This excerpt picks up his story after he returns to Norway to the appointed place of battle off
the mouth of the Gautelf River.
wrest the throne of Denmark from its King Svein, in the greatest
The Danes were nowhere in sight.
Viking-on-Viking sea clash of all time, the Battle of the Nisa. Unsurprised, Harald cut loose his
militia – farmers and bondmen –

sword belts. Oarsmen bent to their
task, wheeling the sleek longships
around parallel to each other, line-
abreast, with the immense royal
drakkar in the center. With each
longship averaging about twenty
feet across the beam, the Norwe-
gians presented a wall of tower-
ing dragon prows over half a mile
across. “Bravely King Harald faced
his foes in battle,” recounted Stein.
“With a hundred and fifty long-
ships he awaited the Danish attack.”
When Harald served in the Byzantine Navy, their primary weapon was “Greek
Fire,” medieval napalm, so powerful that the formula was a state secret. Once
Across the water, Svein remind-
lost, it has never been recovered. Wikimedia Commons, Pubic Domain ed all his men of their years of suf-
fering at Norwegian hands. “Let
sending them home in their slow the tale, “though they declared the it be remembered that we attack
cargo ships, reducing his fleet to odds appeared nearly overwhelm- boldly. There are many noblemen
150 longships, but all manned by ing.” and vaunted champions in our
veteran fighting men. They ranged “It seems you want to hear my fleet. Let us now settle this issue
further down the coast, plunder- opinion,” Harald said, “and so so that we can gain peace and re-
ing as they went. you shall. We have enough sea- tain our honor.” With his ship in
But Svein knew that Harald, soned troops that rather than flee, the center of the Danish line, Svein
greedy to reap more riches and we should all fall atop each other was finally ready to give Harald
glory for himself, would send dead.” the battle the Norwegian king had
home half his army. Svein had Victory or death. Another of sought so long.
300 ships – equal to the original Harald’s poets, Stein Herdisarson, “Now,” wrote Stein, “the king of
Norwegian fleet, and now twice well remembered the moment in Denmark, eager for the clash of
its size – hidden to the south. his account of the battle: “Both weapons, comes racing across the
When his spies and scout boats kings refused to yield, and Harald water with 300 warships.”
reported that Harald had acted asked no quarter.” The goal here was not to destroy
true to form, the Danes came Warriors donned mail, helmets, enemy ships, which were highly
swarming up across the Kattegat.
On the evening of August 9 they
arrived at the mouth of the Nisa
River (modern Nissan), between
the Norwegians and home.
On sighting the enemy fleet,
Harald summoned his chieftains
together aboard his drakkar. “Even
though Svein has many men, his
ships are smaller than ours, and
it’s a good bet his troops are less
dependable,” he told them. “I will
thank you to tell me that you pre-
fer to fight, but if not, you are free
to sail away.”
Some of his men wanted to run
for it – escape by night, going
around or through the Danish
ships, and make for Norway.
“They all left it up to him [Harald],” Harald barely survived his first battle, at Stiklestad in 1030, in which his half-
recounts the Morkinskinna, one brother Olaf received a fatal spear thrust. According to the sagas, they fought
of the primary Viking sources for under a near-total eclipse of the sun. Wikimedia Commons, Pubic Domain

BOOK EXTRACT
valuable even without cargo, but to kill their crews
and capture them intact. To do that, Vikings fought
battles at sea the way they fought battles on land. As
the fleets neared each other, Harald ordered his ships
bound together. Oars were pulled in and stowed.
Lines and chains were tossed over gunwales and
pulled taut. Hulls thumped together, and the Nor-
wegian fleet became a single giant raft. The Danes
did likewise, and Laholm Bay suddenly had two
artificial islands, drifting like miniature continents,
about to collide. “But since the fleets were so mas-
sive,” wrote one chronicler, “there were still a great
number of ships out of formation. Their captains
were free to fight however they liked, and their tac-
tics differed a good bit.”
Jarl Hakon chose to fight his own way. He declined
to have his ships chained to the rest of the Norwe-
gian fleet, but kept them free to maneuver and attack
on their own. Some might have accused Hakon, who
until recently had done his fighting for Svein, of be-
ing that much better prepared to flee, or switch sides
if the battle went, as it very likely would, against the
Norwegians. If so, no such opinions were written
down.
The kings and jarls took position aft in their ships,
the better to direct their forces, with Harald in the
best spot of all, high in the stern of his big drakkar.
“Eager for battle,” wrote Thjodolf, “Harald urged his
men to be steadfast. Warriors raised their shields all
along the gunwales. The undaunted king lined his
dragon ship with a wall of living shields, so that no
foe could find a way through.”
As evening fell the two lines of ships came togeth-
er like jaws full of jagged teeth. Clouds of arrows,
spears and grappling hooks arched out between the
fleets. Wooden prows thudded into each other and
men poured forward to be the first to strike a blow
for their king.
The fighting in such a battle was fiercest at the
bows of opposing ships, where men struggled to
Combining Norse sagas, Byzantine gain control of each other’s rails, in order to climb
accounts, Anglo-Saxon chronicles, and King over and board. In this kind of fighting the larger
Harald’s own verse and prose into a single, Norwegian longships, and especially the drakkar
with its taller freeboard, offered an advantage of
compelling story, Don Hollway brings the “high ground” over the smaller Danish vessels. Once
true tale of this Viking hero to life. a crossing was made and defended, reinforcements
could pour over onto the enemy ship and drive its
crew back, or overboard. Ships taken on the flanks
AVAILABLE FROM ALL GOOD BOOKSHOPS AND could be cut loose and set adrift to be reclaimed by
ONLINE AT WWW.OSPREYPUBLISHING.COM the eventual victor. Ships in the center, though, like
Svein’s and Harald’s, could be constantly reinforced
from either side. In contrast to the rapid, surprise-
and-conquer nature of Viking raids on land, their
sea fights were slow, bloody affairs.

This one commenced late in the and attacking wherever he was tine emperors. “The Norwegian
evening, though the Kattegat is so most needed,” concluded Snorri, veterans shielded Harald,” wrote
far north that in August darkness “and wherever he attacked, none Stein. “By dawn the raven received
never completely falls. The battle could withstand him.” his fill of corpses at the mouth of
of the Nisa was fought in a hell- The fighting off the Nisa went the Nisa River.”
ish twilight in which a man might on all night, though just three King Harald spent most of the
never see the arrow or sword- hours after midnight the sun was battle happily picking away at
swing that killed him. coming back up over the river. Svein’s shield wall with his arrows,
“Agonizing wounds gaped, blood In that steady attrition, however, the battle-mad Viking reveling in
gushed into the sea,” recalled Stein. sheer weight of numbers began to blood and gore and death, never
“The two great warlords, shield- tell. The Norwegians simply did losing faith in victory. He knew his
less, scorning armor, called for not have the manpower to win out Norwegians did not have to defeat
swordplay…. Stones and arrows over the Danes. the entire enemy fleet. They only
were flying, blades were stained The fighting was heaviest in the had to defeat the enemy king.
crimson. Everywhere doomed center, around the royals. Harald’s “The dead began to pile up on
men fell before the attack.” bodyguards defended him just as the Danish side,” recounts the
According to Thjodolf, Harald he, as a member of the Varangian Morkinskinna. “Many died, many
did his share of killing. “Norway’s Guard, had once defended Byzan- fled.” Svein, soon finding it hard to
king spent the night bending his
bow, showering arrows on the white
shields of Denmark,” he wrote.
“Shields were as nothing to arrows
from Harald’s deadly drakkar.”
Meanwhile Hakon’s ships roved
up and down the lines, maneu-
vering to cut off enemy ves-
sels from the Danish formation.
Snorri Sturlusson, author of the
Heimskringla, another primary
source on Viking history, related,
“Jarl Hakon and his crew took on
the Danish ships that were likewise
sailing free, and he cleared every
one he could grapple. When the
Danes saw this happening, they
all tried to withdraw, but even as
they fell back Hakon pursued, un-
til they were near to being routed.”
At that point a Norwegian skiff
hailed Hakon’s ship with news that
one of Harald’s flanks was collaps-
ing, with many of the king’s war-
riors being killed.
“Hakon’s ships, being unat-
tached, had free range and ran in
among the Danish ships, attacking
to both sides,” note the chroniclers,
adding as an aside, “His crews were
also armed with the best weapons
and armor. Hakon was a veteran
Viking raider and his men were
tough champions.”
“Jarl Hakon fought like that all Harald fought in the Varangian Guard from Poland and Kievan Russia to
night, keeping his ships in reserve Anatolia, Sicily and the Holy Land. Image © Osprey Publishing

BOOK EXTRACT
find reinforcements to board his
ship, eventually lost too many men
to defend it.
“King Harald and his men
climbed aboard King Svein’s ship,”
agreed Snorri, “and swept it so
completely clean that all the Danes
on board were killed, except those
who leaped overboard.” Among
the survivors, of course, was Svein,
who took to a small boat to make
his escape. Seeing his banner fall,
the rest of the Danes lost heart.
They abandoned their ships which
had been tied together, and those
who could cut loose, rowed off.
Harald tried to mount a pur-
suit, but the bay was so jammed
with drifting, abandoned long-
ships – most accounts claim that
no fewer than seventy Danish
ships were cleared – that he found
Monument to Harald Sigurdsson
it impossible. Jarl Hakon did not at Harald Hardrada Place in Oslo,
chor, he and his men disembarked
even bother. He was tending to his Norway. Inscription reads: Harald and went off to make a name for
wounded when another little boat Sigurdsson Hardrada, King Of themselves. Come morning, they
Norway, Founder Of Oslo, 1015–1066. were found missing, and they did
came alongside his ship. The occu- Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
pant said his name was Vandrad, not return. It was soon apparent
which in the sagas is a common they had run into a force of Danes,
alias for someone in trouble, and eager for vengeance. There had
asked Hakon to grant him his life. been a fight in which most of the
Hakon surely recognized this Norwegians were killed, but nei-
man as King Svein – they had met ther Magnus nor his body was
many times during the wayward found.
jarl’s exile in Denmark – yet fur- Harald, even though he thought
nished him with two trusted men his son was probably dead, took
to escort him through the Norwe- the news stoically, even for a hard-
gian ships to the shore. By morn- bitten Norseman. He had the fleet
ing Svein had once again escaped wait as long as he could in hopes
Harald’s wrath. the prince would find his way
After the Norwegian wounded back, but eventually decided to sail
were cared for, their fallen seen to, for home without him.
and the Danish dead sent ashore But then, Harald could console
for the locals to bury, Harald di- himself by remembering those
vided the spoils of war among his long ago days when he, at just
men. There was more than enough about Magnus’s age, and despite
to go around, and plenty of glory being wounded, had escaped a
besides. The battle of the Nisa had The Last Viking by Don battle and crossed Scandinavia to
been a great victory. Jarl Hakon in Hollway, nonfiction, 368 reach safety. If he could do it, so
particular came in for everyone’s pages, is available at better too could Magnus. The prince had
praise. All agreed that his had been booksellers everywhere. Visit sought a way to prove himself to
the decisive action of the battle. lastvikingbook.com for free his father. Now he had found it.
Young Prince Magnus, however, sample chapters, images and The Fates, spinning the thread
video, and links to purchase. of every man’s life, had come full
hungered for more. That night,
as the Norwegian fleet lay at an- circle again. Hm

HINDSIGHT
BOOKS
FALL 2021
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Edited by Peter Fur tado A CAPITAL CITY AND A NATION
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witness to despair, rage, dark humor, heartbreak and finally, would certainly not have existed as it
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Book Review: Lynn Cassity reviews

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John Brown’s Raid

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The Handy Peavey

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could be seen dancing over the land, and these lights

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Medieval pilgrims had many rea-

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Pilgrimages became more re- Pilgrimages in the British Isles es-

Fall 2021 History Magazine 13

The swimming pool is wonderful –

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habit that was continued by his

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20 History Magazine Fall 2021

Fall 2021 History Magazine 21

development firm based in New

RADBURN: encourage outdoor activity, and

AMERICA’S maintenance plant life, hedges,

COMMUNITY swimming pools. The commu-

22 History Magazine Fall 2021

Fall 2021 History Magazine 23

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