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- American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker, and economist. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was an influential interpreter and promoter of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the founder of the nation's financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, and the New York Post newspaper.
- Thomas Paine was an English-born American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary. He authored Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (1776-1783), two of the most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, and helped inspire the Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era ideals of transnational human rights.
- Writer
James Monroe was born on 28 April 1758 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, USA. He was a writer. He was married to Elizabeth Kortright. He died on 4 July 1831 in New York City, New York, USA.- After school, he enrolled in college in 1774, but dropped out two years later at the start of the American Revolution to join the Virginia Army. During the fighting, Monroe was wounded and promoted to major. In 1782, Monroe began studying law and became friends with Thomas Jefferson. With this he was represented in Virginia's delegation to the Continental Congress from 1783 to 1786. During this time, Monroe married Elizabeth Kortright.
After practicing law for several years, Monroe was elected to the Senate in 1790. In this role, together with James Madison and Jefferson, he organized the opposition to President George Washington, which eventually developed into the Republican Party. From 1794 to 1796, Monroe served as an envoy to revolutionary France. In 1799 he was elevated to governor of Virginia. In this role he helped suppress a slave rebellion the following year.
In 1803, Monroe was again in diplomatic service in France, where he negotiated the American purchase of Louisiana with Robert R. Livingston. From 1804 to 1807 he served as an envoy to Great Britain. In 1811, under James Madison's presidency, Monroe was appointed Secretary of State. During the military conflict with Great Britain in 1814/15 he also served as Minister of War. As a Republican candidate, Monroe won the presidential election in 1816.
During his double term in office from 1817 to 1825, he developed a policy of internal consolidation that included expanding the army, strengthening the US Bank and enforcing protectionism. During his presidency, he established the "Era of Good Feeling", which was based on restoring political harmony and overcoming partisan differences. The president's power of integration was expressed in the elections of 1820, in which Monroe received all the votes unopposed.
In the area of foreign policy, Monroe was able to claim Florida in 1819. On the question of recognizing the independent Latin American states, the US President took an independent position vis-à-vis the major European powers. In his annual address of December 2, 1823, Monroe rejected any European intervention in Latin America to restore Spanish dominance. He also reiterated the United States' intention not to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations.
This foreign policy program, then known as the "Monroe Doctrine," was to determine the isolationist and hegemonic course of US foreign policy for a long time. After Monroe left the presidency in 1825, he became involved with the University of Virginia. In 1829 he attended the Virginia Constitutional Convention with James Madison.
James Monroe died on July 4, 1831 in New York City. - Writer
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Lorenzo da Ponte was born on 10 March 1749 in Ceneda, Republic of Venice [now Vittorio Veneto, Veneto, Italy]. He was a writer, known for xXx (2002), The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949). He died on 17 August 1838 in New York City, New York, USA.- Favorite writer of generations of Americans, Cooper was born on Tuesday, September 15th, 1789, and grew up on his family's huge wooded settlement, in Cooperstown, New York, which his father, William Cooper, a prominent Federalist, had founded before this son's birth. His days as a Yale student were cut short when he was expelled for misbehavior. He gamely joined the navy, earning the rank of midshipman. On New Year's Day, Tuesday, January 1st, 1811 he married Susan Augusta De Lancey, settling down and writing prolifically, politically, and prodigiously. Eventually he and his wife moved south to an estate in Scarsdale, New York, where he continued to write and publish his critical, thoughtful, and creative works. Cooper died at Cooperstown on Sunday, September 14th, 1851, one day shy of reaching sixty-two.
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Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 - November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820), both of which appear in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad and George Washington, as well as several histories of 15th-century Spain that deal with subjects such as Alhambra, Christopher Columbus and the Moors. Irving served as American ambassador to Spain in the 1840s.- Lola Montez, born Maria Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert in 1821, was an Irish adventuress and "Spanish" dancer who achieved international notoriety through her liaison with King Louis I (Ludwig I) of Bavaria. Elizabeth ("Eliza") Gilbert spent much of her girlhood in India but was educated in Scotland and England. At age 17 she eloped with Lieutenant Thomas James; the couple separated five years later, and in 1843 Gilbert launched a career as the dancer Lola Montez. During her travels and performances she reputedly formed liaisons with Franz Liszt and Alexandre Dumas, among many others. In 1846 Montez danced in Munich, and Louis I of Bavaria was so struck by her beauty that he offered her a castle. She accepted, became Baroness Rosenthal and Countess of Lansfeld, and remained as his mistress. From 1851 to 1853 Montez performed in the United States. Her third marriage, to Patrick P. Hull of San Francisco in 1853, ended in divorce soon after she moved to Grass Valley, California. There, among other amusements, she coached young Lotta Crabtree in singing and dancing. Montez settled in New York City after an unsuccessful tour of Australia (1855-56) and gathered a following as a lecturer on such topics as fashion, gallantry, and beautiful women. An apparently genuine religious conversion led her to take up various personal philanthropies. Montez published Anecdotes of Love; Being a True Account of the Most Remarkable Events Connected with the History of Love; in All Ages and among All Nations (1858), The Arts of Beauty, or, Secrets of a Lady's Toilet with Hints to Gentlemen on the Art of Fascination (1858), and Lectures of Lola Montez, Including Her Autobiography (1858). The international notoriety of her heyday persisted long after her death and inspired numerous literary and balletic allusions. By 1860, Lola Montez was showing the tertiary effects of syphilis and her body began to waste away. She died at the age of 39 on 17 January 1861. She is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, where her tombstone states: "Mrs. Eliza Gilbert / Died 17 January 1861".
- Elisha Otis was born on 3 August 1811 in Halifax, Vermont, U.S.A. He died on 8 April 1861 in Yonkers, New York, USA.
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Edwin Pearce Christy was an American composer, actor and stage producer, most famous for founding the most successful black-face minstrel show of the 19th century, Christy's Minstrels. Born in Philadelphia, his career as a minstrel and singer began in Buffalo, New York, where he performed singing in the Edwin Dean Company in 1836. By 1843, the group was growing in popularity and began touring in and around upstate New York until 1846, when Christy took over management of the group. As Christy's Minstrels, they began performing in New York City at Palmo's Opera House. After performing at an 1847 benefit in Cincinnati for young songwriter Stephen Foster, the group began to specialize in performances of Foster's works and were instrumental in spreading the popularity of the songs of America's first professional songwriter. Foster even sold his song, Old Folks at Home (aka Swanee River) to Christy for his exclusive use, although this was done most likely due to Foster's ongoing financial difficulties due to the lack of enforcement of music copyrights back then. In the early to mid-1850's, Christy's Minstrels were one of the top stage attractions in New York City. Christy himself retired as a performer in 1855 but continued in entertainment, running a chain of theaters called Christy's Opera House in several cities, while his stepson George continued with the minstrel group. However, due to marriage and other personal problems, and afraid of the financial damage he was suffering due to the effects of the Civil War, on May 20, 1862, Christy committed suicide by throwing himself from a window at his residence at 78 East 18th Street in Manhattan. He died the next day from his injuries and was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.- Served as eighth President of the United States (1837-1841). He was one of the founders of the Democratic Party. He was the eighth Vice President of the United States (1833-1837) He was also the tenth Secretary of State. Martin Van Buren was the first President of the United States of the United States to actually be born in the United States. He was a major factor in the abolitionist movement.
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Stephen Foster was America's first professional songwriter of note. He was born in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, and developed musical talent early in his life, while still young beginning to compose in the style of Negro minstrel music of the day. His first hit as a professional songwriter was "Oh! Susanna," which he sold to a publisher for $100 in 1848. In 1849, he began writing songs for the most successful black-faced minstrel troupe of all time, led by E.P. Christy, and from whom the 1960's folk group The New Christy Minstrels took their name. "The Old Folks at Home" (a/k/a "Swanee River") was written for Christy, and during the 1850's, Foster wrote most of his best-known songs, including "Camptown Races" and "My Old Kentucky Home." He married Jane Denny McDowell on July 22, 1850 and they settled in Pittsburgh, having one daughter, Marion. The troubled marriage was one of separations and reconciliations. During one such separation, he wrote "Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair," inspired by his estranged wife, and they reconciled after its publication. However, although Foster composed more than 200 songs in his lifetime, many still popular today, copyright laws in music were rarely enforced at the time and he made little money in his short life. By 1857, he was in a creative slump and in such economic straits that he sold all rights to any future songs for just under $2,000. He and his wife soon separated, but this one was to last until his death. He moved to New York City, living alone and suffering from acute alcoholism, which only added to his financial problems. Songs of the Civil War being fought at the time did not prove as popular as his previous songs. On January 13, 1864, he died in the charity ward of New York's Bellevue Hospital, being taken there after a protracted fever that had weakened him so much that he had collapsed and hit his head on a washbasin at home. Only two weeks before, he had composed his last great song, "Beautiful Dreamer."- After school he turned to law and then worked as a lawyer. Fillmore entered politics to co-found the "Anti-Masonic" Party as the third largest party in the American North. As one of the party leaders, he pushed for reforms in his state assembly. In the 1830s and 1840s, Fillmore served in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In this role he led his party into the newly founded Whig Party. In the 1848 campaign, Fillmore was elected vice president under President Zachary Taylor. When Taylor died unexpectedly in 1850, Fillmore succeeded him as US President. The new president took a balancing position in the conflict between northern and southern states over the slave issue. In this way he was able to bring about the compromise of 1850, which, however, only bridged the differences for a short time.
In addition, Fillmore pushed the project of a transcontinental railway line to be built by the US government. In the area of foreign policy, the president sought peaceful relations with other powers in order to stimulate US trade. For example, he established trade contacts in Japan. In the election campaign of 1852, Fillmore was no longer put forward as a Whig candidate. He therefore resigned from the presidency in 1853.
After a failed candidacy in the presidential election campaign of 1856, Fillmore retreated to Buffalo, where he became involved in urban political projects.
Millard Fillmore died on March 8, 1874 in Buffalo, New York State. - Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on 27 May 1794 in Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA. He was married to Francis Crawford and Sophia Johnson. He died on 4 January 1877 in New York City, New York, USA.
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Henry Tucker was born in 1826 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He died on 10 February 1882 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA.- Martha Roosevelt was born on 8 July 1835 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. She was married to Theodore Roosevelt Sr.. She died on 14 February 1884 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Ulysses S. Grant was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War in 1865 and thereafter briefly served as Secretary of War. Later, as president, Grant was an effective civil rights executive who created the Justice Department and worked with Radical Republicans to protect African Americans during Reconstruction.
- After college he studied law. Arthur then practiced as a successful lawyer in New York City. Beginning in 1857, Arthur was employed as a lawyer by the "Second Brigade" of the New York State Militia. In 1859 he married Ellen Lewis Herndon, daughter of a Virginia naval hero. The marriage resulted in three children. Ellen Lewis Herndon died of pneumonia in 1880 and was unable to live to see her husband's subsequent presidency. During the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865, Chester Arthur made a name for himself by supplying the troops. In 1868 he supported Ulysses S. Grant's presidential campaign. He also became chairman of the Executive Committee of the New York State Committee. He was heavily involved with the Republicans. In 1871 he was appointed director of customs for the Port of New York.
However, his involvement in the usual patronage of offices of the time resulted in his dismissal in 1878. In 1880, Arthur rose to vice president under the presidency of James Garfield. After his murder, Arthur succeeded to the presidency in September 1881. The new president initiated a reform of the civil service and the expansion and modernization of the fleet. He fought corruption in politics and led a reform-oriented government that enacted the first comprehensive civil service laws in the United States. Arthur also placed great emphasis on the representative aesthetics of his office, which he surrounded with new splendor. However, the Republican Party did not nominate Arthur to run for president in the 1884 presidential election. He therefore left office in 1885 and subsequently retreated into private life.
Chester Alan Arthur died on November 18, 1886 in New York. - Writer
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Poet Emma Lazarus was born into a wealthy family in New York City on July 22, 1849. Her first book of poems, "Poems and Translations", was published in 1867, when she was just 18. Renowned author Ralph Waldo Emerson was impressed with her work and praised it, and her next book, "Admetus and Other Poems" in 1871, was dedicated to him. She published a string of well-received poems and verse works over the next few years.
In 1881 she became involved in the plight of the new waves of immigrants to the US, and became a strong advocate of the rights of immigrants, an unpopular stance during a time when many immigrant groups--especially those of Eastern Europe and Ireland--were under attack by anti-immigrant groups in the US, who said they were "polluting" US culture. Her most famous work, "The New Colossus", was chosen to be the inscription on the base of the Statue of Liberty, welcoming immigrants coming into New York harbor. It contains what are among the most well-known words in the English language: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free".
She published her last book in 1887, and died in New York City on November 19 that year.- Edward Payson Roe was born on 7 March 1838 in Moodna, New York, USA. Edward Payson was a writer, known for Barriers Burned Away (1925). Edward Payson was married to Anna Sands. Edward Payson died on 21 July 1888 in Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, New York, USA.
- Bartley Campbell was born on 12 August 1843 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a writer, known for The Crucible of Life (1918), My Partner (1916) and The Galley Slave (1915). He died on 30 July 1888 in Middletown, New York, USA.
- John C. Fremont was born on 21 January 1813 in Savannah, Georgia, USA. He died on 13 July 1890 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- William Kemmier was born on 9 May 1860 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He died on 6 August 1890 in Auburn, New York, USA.
- Dion Boucicault was born on 26 December 1822 in Dublin, Ireland, UK [now Republic of Ireland]. Dion was a writer, known for Conn, the Shaughraun (1912), Arrah-Na-Pogue (1911) and Kathleen Mavourneen (1919). Dion was married to Louise Thorndyke, Agnes Robertson and Anne Guiot. Dion died on 18 September 1890 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Joseph Whitley was born on 17 October 1816 in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, UK. He was married to Sarah Whitley. He died on 12 January 1891 in New York City, New York, USA.
- William Tecumseh Sherman was a general in the Union army during the American Civil War (and the man who coined the phrase, "War is hell"). He was regarded as one of the most able generals on either side, and his famous "March to the Sea" was credited with greatly shortening the length of the war and is considered by many military historians to be one of the first examples of "total war" in the history of modern warfare.
One of eight children, Sherman was born Tecumseh Sherman (in honor of the famous Shawnee Indian warrior) in Lancaster, OH, in 1820. His father was a judge who died when William was only nine. He was adopted by William Ewing, a family friend, and Ewing's wife added "William" to his name. At 16 years of age young William received an appointment to the US Army Military Academy at West Point, NY, graduating in 1840 near the top of his class. Upon graduation Sherman was posted to Florida, where he took part in the war with the Seminole Indian tribe, and he was later transferred to Fort Moultrie, SC. When the Mexican War broke out in 1848 Sherman was stationed in California as an administrative officer and was unable to take part in it. In 1850 he married Ellen Ewing--her father William, who had adopted Sherman as a youth, was by this time the US Secretary of the Interior--and the newlyweds settled in St. Louis, MO.
Sherman resigned from the army in 1853 and traveled to California to try his luck during the Gold Rush. He wound up taking a position in San Francisco with a St. Louis banking company. His business career, however, was severely damaged by the Panic of 1857. He found himself unemployed but was helped out by two friends from his West Point days, Braxton Bragg and P.G.T. Beauregard--who would later find themselves on the opposite side of Sherman during the Civil War as generals in the Confederate army--who got him a job as the superintendent of a military academy in Louisiana. However, when the Civil War broke out in 1861, Sherman resigned from the academy and rejoined the army as a colonel in that same year.
Sherman was given command of a brigade in the army of Gen. Irvin McDowell and took part in the First Battle of Bull Run, a disastrous defeat for the Union. Despite that, Sherman was promoted to Brigadier General and assigned to Kentucky as second-in-command to Gen. Robert Anderson. He did not fit well into that position and was soon transferred to the army of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, where he served as a division commander. Sherman took part in the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, and his performance so impressed his superiors that he was promoted to the rank of Major General.
Grant and Sherman worked extremely well together They planned and executed the siege and eventual capture of Vicksburg, MS, destroying the Confederate defenses and allowing Union supplies and reinforcements to use the Mississippi River again. Although Sherman suffered a defeat at the Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, he made up for that by capturing Fort Hindman, a feat that resulted in his being given command of the Union's XV Corps.
President Abraham Lincoln placed Grant in command of the Union Army in the west, and Sherman was promoted to Grant's former position of commander of the Army of the Tennessee. They took part in the Chattanooga campaign in November of 1863. In March of 1864 Grant was given command of all Union armies and Sherman was given command of the military division of the Mississippi, which included three entire armies. Sherman's campaign to invade Georgia began near Chattanooga, TN, in 1864 with 100,000 troops. Opposing Confederate forces were unable to stop them and were steadily pushed back. On Sept. 2 Sherman captured Atlanta, a major Southern industrial center and transportation hub, and its loss seriously damaged the South's war effort.
After capturing Atlanta, Sherman took more than 60,000 troops from his force and led them on the famous "March to the Sea", which was to end at the port city of Savannah. On its way, the army devastated the countryside, destroying railroads, farms, plantations, industrial areas, and anything that the South could use to further its war effort (it was also intended to "bring the war home" to the Southerners who had started the war in the first place). After taking Savannah Sherman turned his forces north through the Carolinas and headed for Virginia. However, the South was unable to continue the war anymore, and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his forces to Grant at Appomattox, VA, on 4/9/1865. Confederate Gen. Joseph Johnston surrendered the remainder of the Southern forces to Sherman on April 26 near Durham, SC, and the war was over.
After hostilities ended, Grant was promoted to four-star general and Sherman was promoted to Lieutenant General. Grant was elected US President in 1869, and he promoted Sherman to Commanding General of the Army, which he held until 1884. He retired to New York City, where he died in 1891. - Soundtrack
John H. Hopkins was born on 28 October 1820 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. John H. died on 14 August 1891 in Hudson, New York, USA.- Writer
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Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are Moby-Dick (1851); Typee (1846), a romanticized account of his experiences in Polynesia; and Billy Budd, Sailor, a posthumously published novella. Although his reputation was not high at the time of his death, the 1919 centennial of his birth was the starting point of a Melville revival, and Moby-Dick grew to be considered one of the great American novels.- Soundtrack
John Rogers Thomas was born on 26 March 1830 in Newport, Wales, UK. He died on 5 April 1896 in New York City, New York, USA.- Percy Gaunt was born in 1853 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Percy died on 5 September 1896 in Palenville, New York, USA.
- Arden Smith was born in 1827 in Sussex, England, UK. Arden was a writer, known for The Eagle's Nest (1915). Arden was married to Mary Berkley Hunter. Arden died on 21 October 1897 in New York, New York, USA.
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William J. Scanlan was born on 14 February 1856 in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. William J. was married to Maggie Jordan. William J. died on 18 February 1898 in White Plains, New York, USA.- Music Department
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Ottokar Novácek was born on 13 May 1866 in Fehértemplon, Serbia. He is known for Cousin Bette (1998) and Concert Magic (1951). He died on 3 February 1900 in New York City, New York, USA.- Soundtrack
Richard Hovey was born on 4 May 1864 in Normal, Illinois, USA. He died on 24 February 1900 in New York, New York, USA.- Edward Noyes Wescott was an American banker who began writing "David Harum" while he was recuperating from tuberculosis. He finished his book late in 1896, but failed to live to see its publication in 1898. "David Harum" went on to sell over a million copies during the decades before the Second World War and spawn two films.
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Charles Hale Hoyt was born on 26 July 1860 in Concord, New Hampshire, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for A Texas Steer (1915), A Midnight Bell (1921) and A Bunch of Keys (1915). He was married to Flora Walsh and Caroline Miskel. He died on 20 November 1900 in New York City, New York, USA.- James A. Herne was born on 1 February 1839 in Cohoes, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Hearts of Oak (1924), Hearts of Oak (1914) and Shore Acres (1914). He was married to Katharine Corcoran and Helen Western. He died on 2 June 1901 in New York City, New York, USA.
- William McKinley (January 29, 1843 - September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. He was president during the Spanish-American War of 1898, raised protective tariffs to boost American industry, and rejected the expansionary monetary policy of free silver, keeping the nation on the gold standard.
- Prior to the outbreak of American Civil War, Edward Morrison Alfriend was working as an insurance underwriter at his father's firm in Richmond, Virginian. On 10 June, 1861 he was commissioned a 1st lieutenant in Company E of the 44th Virginia Infantry Division. Less than a year later, on 1 May, 1862, he was promoted to full captain. Alfriend distinguished himself in one battle when he came to the aid of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston after Johnston had become separated from his command and was in peril of being killed or captured by Union soldiers. Some time after the war ended Alfriend began his writing career while working as a partner in his father's insurance business in Richmond. After achieving some success he decided to relocate to New York City in the late 1880s. There he was described by one of his Northern associates as "a portly Southern gentleman with a walrus mustache". Some of Alfriend's more popular plays were "A Woman's Ordeal" (1877), "The Louisianan" (1892), "Across the Potomac" (1894) written with Augustus Pitou "The Diplomat" (1894), "The Great Diamond Robbery" (1895) written with A.C. Wheeler and "His Double Life" (1896). He also contributed articles to many of the popular periodicals of his day. Alfriend once interviewed Edwin Booth for an article he was writing about the acting career of John Wilkes Booth. In 1891 he wrote a Civil War era piece for Cosmopolitan titled "Social Life in Richmond during the War." Edward M. Alfriend had at least two brothers, Frank Heath Alfriend (1841-1887), an author, newspaper reporter, teacher and at the time of his death, assistant librarian for the US Senate. Frank Alfriend is primarily remembered as a friend and biographer of Jefferson Davis. "The life of Jefferson Davis" by Frank H. Alfriend is still available in bookstores today, 140 years after it was first published. Thomas Lee Alfriend (1843-1901) was a sergeant in the Virginia Infantry during the war and later became one of the more successful insurance executives in Virginia. Transcripts of letters Thomas wrote his brother Frank during the Civil War are kept in a special collection at the College of William and Mary Swem Library in Williamsburg, Virginia. Edward Morrison Alfriend passed away in New York City just six months after his brother Thomas had died in Virginia. Both Edward and Thomas' remains are interned at the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
- Leon Czolgosz was an American anarchist of Polish extraction who shot President William McKinley while the president was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York in September 1901.
Born in Michigan in May 1873, the 28-year-old Czolgosz was the son of ethnic Polish immigrants from Prussia. He arrived in Buffalo on August 31, 1901 and stalked the president once he arrived at the exposition. He bought a pistol on September 2nd and on September 6th, joined a receiving line at the Temple of Music whose members moved forward to shake hands with the president. The meet-and-greet was only expected to last was 10 minutes, but that was enough to change history.
The assassin had secreted his pistol wrapped in a handkerchief inside his pocket. When he made it to the head of the line and McKinley extended his hand, Czolgosz swatted it away and twice pulled the trigger of his weapon, shooting McKinley in the stomach. The two bullets fired at point-blank range staggered the president, but did not immediately kill him. (He lived on for a week and a day, expiring on the 14th.)
The crowd in the Temple of Music seized Czolgosz and beat him to the point of death before soldiers and police intervened. The near-dead Czolgosz was jailed and stood trial on September 23rd, nine days after McKinley died of his wounds. Czolgosz had been deeply influenced by the anarchists Alexander Berkman (himself the would-be assassin of Henry Clay Frick) and Emma Goldman, whom he had seen give a public speech and subsequently met.
Czolgosz's meeting with Goldman occurred the very same year he killed McKinley, and she was arrested as part of a possible conspiracy but was released for lack of evidence. It was apparent Czolgosz acted alone. Goldman tried to rally support for the assassin, comparing him in print to Brutus who had slain Julius Caesar, but many anarchists shunned Czolgosz, as he had brought opprobrium onto the movement. Theodore Roosevelt, the new president, had declared, "When compared with the suppression of anarchy, every other question sinks into insignificance.
At his arraignment, Czolgosz pleaded guilty, which is not allowed in a capital trial, and the judge changed his plea to "not guilty". His lawyers wanted to go with an insanity defense such as used for Charles J. Guiteau, the assassin of President James Garfield, but a defiant Czolgosz refused to cooperate with them as, to him, they were symbols of the authority he hated and had struck out against in the Temple of Music. He clearly wanted to be martyred, and he was, convicted after a two day trial when the jury came back with a guilty verdict after one hour. He was executed in the electric chair at Auburn State Prison (Auburn, New York) on October 29, 1901, 53 days after he shot and fatally wounded President McKinley. - Paul Leicester Ford was born on 23 March 1865 in New York City, New York, USA. Paul Leicester was a writer, known for Janice Meredith (1924) and The Great K & A Train Robbery (1926). Paul Leicester was married to Mary Grace Kidder. Paul Leicester died on 8 May 1902 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Annie Jones was born on 14 July 1865 in Smyth County, Virginia, USA. She was married to William Donovan and Richard Elliott. She died on 25 October 1902 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born on 12 November 1815 in Johnstown, New York. She died on 26 October 1902 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Topsy was originally a wild elephant, born in Southeast Asia c. 1875. She was captured by elephant traders while still a baby and smuggled into the United States by 1877 . Her new owner Adam Forepaugh (1831-1890) claimed that she was born in captivity and advertised her as the first American-born baby elephant. Forepaugh was the owner of Forepaugh Circus, one of the two largest circuses in the country. The other was Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Topsy served most of her life as a circus elephant, performing at various incarnations of the Forepaugh Circus from 1877 to 1902. She gained a bad reputation for allegedly injuring and killing circus workers. Sensational news reports claimed that she had killed 12 men, though a 21st-century finds these reports unreliable. There are reports that she injured one of two workers c. 1900, but not that she actually killed them.
Her notoriety as a "killer elephant" was solidified in 1902, when she killed a spectator by the name of James Fielding Blount. Blount reportedly had been teasing the circus elephants, and throwing sand at Topsy's face. When he burnt the sensitive tip of her trunk with a lit cigar, Topsy grew angry and retaliated. She killed the man easily, although there are contradictory reports on the exact manner of his death.
The death of Blount generated much publicity. The Circus benefited for a time, when crowds of spectators kept arriving to see the "killer elephant". All went well for about a month, until a spectator by the name of Louis Dodero decided to tease the elephant himself. Dodero supposedly used a stick to tickle Topsy behind the ear. She used her trunk to seize him around the waist and then threw him to the ground. Dodero was apparently injured but not killed. The ongoing publicity turned negative and threatened the reputation of the Circus, and its owners decided to sell her.
In Summer 1902, Topsy was sold from the Circus to the Sea Lion Park, a Coney Island amusement park. Its owner was Paul Boyton (1848-1924), a showman best remembered as the inventor (or popularizer) of the immersion suit. The amusement park was famous for its aquatic circus and sea lions, but Boyton was seeking out additional attractions to face the competition. Topsy's animal handler from the circus, William "Whitey" Alt, was hired by Boyton to keep charge of Topsy.
Later that year, Paul Boyton leased the amusement park to aspiring businessmen Frederick Thompson and Elmer Dundy. The new owners started expanding the park, remodeling it, and renamed it to Luna Park. It continued using the name until destroyed by a fire. Taking advantage of Topsy's notoriety, the new owners had her working hard and transporting cargo and a new airship. The media broadcast her work, presenting as Topsy doing "penance" for her bad behavior.
Topsy was however soon involved in negative publicity again, mostly due to the erratic behavior of her handler William "Whitey" Alt . In October, 1902, Alt was arrested by the police for setting Topsy loose in the streets of New York City. In December, a drunk Alt used Topsy to attack a local police station and to scare away the police officers. His employers fired him, but there was the problem of what to do with Topsy.
The Luna Park tried to get rid of the problematic elephant, originally by trying to sell Topsy to someone else. No circus or zoo was interested in buying an elephant notorious for bad behavior. So the owners announced to the press that they would euthanize Topsy by electrocution. The initial plan was to publicize the event and sell admission tickets. A protest by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals resulted in the decision to avoid turning the death to a public spectacle. But the Society still allowed the plans for execution to continue, just demanding that the death should not be inhumane.
Uncertain whether electrocution would be enough to kill Topsy, the planners of the death added two additional ways to kill her. She would also be poisoned by ingesting poisoned food and strangulated by a machine. The execution was set for January 4, 1903, and initially attended by 1500 spectators and 100 press photographers. Only about 100 people were allowed to witness the death itself.
The execution had to be delayed by more than a hour. A new animal handler called Carl Goliath was supposed to lead Topsy over a bridge and towards the execution devices. But Topsy refused to cross the bridge and Goliath could not convince her to move at all. The planners offered 25 dollars to her former handler William "Whitey" Alt to help coax Topsy to the execution place. He refused to help kill the elephant in any way. Deciding to kill Topsy where she stood, the planners had to dismantle the execution devices and bring them to Topsy.
Topsy was first fed 460 grams of potassium cyanide in order to poison her. Then electrocuted with 6,600 volts for about 10 seconds. She fell to the ground following the electrocution, but the owners were not sure that she was dead. They uses a steam-powered winch to strangulate her for 10 minutes. A post-mortem examination of her corpse determined that the 10-second electrocution had already killed her. The winch was not needed at all. The poor innocent soul falsely thought to be a killer was dead. - Richard Henry Savage was born on 12 June, 1846, at Utica, New York, the son of Richard (1817-1903) and Jane Moorhead Savage (née Ewart). His father was a lawyer who became famous as one of the discoverers of the Comstock Lode in Nevada. During the Civil War he served in the Lincoln administration as Internal Revenue Collector and Federal Assessor. Savage's father is also remembered as one of the founders of the Californian Republican Party.
As a young boy growing up in San Francisco, Savage was among the first students there to be able to attend public school. At the age of twenty-two he graduated toward the top of his class at West Point Military Academy and soon saw service in the American West on the staffs of former Civil War generals, Henry Halleck (1815-1872), Edward Ord (1818-1883), George Thomas (1816-1870) and John Schofield (1831-1906). Between 1871 and 1872 he served as a Major in the Egyptian Army as Military Secretary to former American General Charles Pomeroy Stone (1824 -1887), who at that time was Chief of Staff and General aide-de-camp to Isma'il Pasha (1830-1895), Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. Later Savage served as American Vice-Counsel in Marseilles and Rome and was appointed to a commission investigating a border dispute between the United States and Mexico. After his retirement from government service in 1884, Savage traveled extensively carrying out geographical studies in Japan, China, Korea, Russia, Turkey, the Mid East, and Honduras. Some have suggested that the 1930s and 1940s pulp hero, Doc Savage, was at least in part based on the eventful life of Richard Henry Savage.
In civilian life Savage was a lawyer, but eventually writing became his chief occupation. Of the over 40 books he wrote, "My Official Wife", Delilah of Harlem", "The Mask of Venus", "Our Mysterious Passenger and Other Stories" and "In the Shadow of the Pyramids", a biography of Isma'il Pasha were among his most popular. Savage published some thirty volumes of prose and poetry along with several more volumes of essays and speeches culled from his many speaking engagements.
On 2 January, 1873, Savage married Mme. Anna Josephine Schible (1843-1910), a recently widowed German aristocrat. The wedding took place at the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., where Baron Schlozer, the German Ambassador, was the witness of honor for the bride. Their only child, a daughter, later married Anatol de Carriere, the Russian Imperial Councilor of State.
Savage volunteered during the American war with Spain and served with distinction in Cuba as senior Captain of the 27th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. After the war he was appointed Brigadier General and Chief Engineer of Spanish War Veterans.
Richard Henry Savage died on 11 October, 1903, eight days after a horse and wagon ran over him at the corner of 6th Avenue and 42nd Street in New York City. Ironically his 86 year old father passed away in San Francisco on the same day his son was fatally struck down. - George Francis Train was born on 24 March 1829 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was married to Wilhelmina Wilkinson Davis. He died on 5 January 1904 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Kirk La Shelle was born on 23 September 1862 in Wyoming, Illinois, USA. He was a writer, known for The Virginian (1929), The Virginian (1914) and The Virginian (1923). He was married to Mazie Nodine. He died on 16 May 1905 in Bellport, New York, USA.
- Mary Mapes Dodge was born on 26 January 1831 in New York City, New York, USA. Mary Mapes was a writer, known for The Magical World of Disney (1954), Silver Skates (2020) and Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates (1958). Mary Mapes was married to William Dodge. Mary Mapes died on 21 August 1905 in Onteora Park, New York, USA.
- Joseph Wheeler was born on 10 September 1836 in Augusta, Georgia, USA. He died on 25 January 1906 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Soundtrack
Composer, songwriter ("My Gal Sal", "On the Banks of the Wabash" [the official Indiana state song]), author, actor, singer, publisher and producer, educated at St. Meinrad's in Switz City, Indiana during training for the priesthood. He joined a medicine show at 16, then toured in vaudeville as a singer and monologist. In 1885, he was the 'end man' with the Billy Rice Minstrels. He joined the publishing firm of Howley, Haviland & Dresser, and then he formed his own firm. His other popular-song compositions include "Wide Wings", "The Letter That Never Came", "The Blue and the Gray", "Just Tell Them That You Saw Me", "Once Ev'ry Year", "The Curse of the Dreamer", "The Pardon Came Too Late"Don't Tell Her That You Love Her", "Your Mother Wants You Home, Boy", "Bethlehem", "The Outcast Unknown", "Mr. Volunteer", and "I Was Looking for My Boy, She Said".