Tiger Woods Could Benefit From A Wife Like Alexander Hamilton’s December 22, 2009

There May Be a Good Reason Alexander Hamilton Got in So Many Duels

Hamilton: A Philandering Father?

On This Date in History: If  Tiger Woods could have had the skill of Alexander Hamilton, he might not be in the situation that he finds himself in now.  But, not only would he need the skills of one of our founding fathers, he also need someone like Hamilton’s accomodating wife.

  Alexander Hamilton’s face is on the $10 dollar bill. He was a confidant of General Washington and served as the first Secretary of the Treasury. He had a strong political disagreement with Thomas Jefferson as Jefferson favored a weak central government and Hamilton wanted a strong central government in relation to the power of the states. But, Hamilton had a way of rubbing people the wrong way beyond politics. He was known to duel to end disputes and was eventually gunned down in a duel by Aaron Burr, who was the sitting Vice-President at the time. What caused Hamilton to get in so many scrapes and raise the ire of so many people? This little tale may shed some light and make one ponder how he got to have his face on our money.

Hamilton apparently had flowing red hair and deep blue eyes and ladies found him quite aluring. He was married with children but his reputation as a ladies man persisted. In 1791, a woman came to his door asking for money, claiming that her husband had left she and her child destitute. Maria Reynolds did not receive money during that visit. Instead, Hamilton went to her boardinghouse room with $30 and then proceeded to take advantage of the situation. That was the beginning of a long affair. Eventually, she even visited him at his home when his family was away. All was fine until Mr. Reynolds showed up again.

Enquiring Minds Wanted To Know About Hamilton

Reynolds demanded financial satisfaction for his wife’s favors.   On this date in 1791,  Alexander Hamilton paid Reynolds $1000 to keep quiet. This did not end the affair though as Reynolds even encouraged Hamiton to continue as he wrote, “I find when ever you have been with her she is Chearful and kind. but when you have not in some time she is Quite the Reverse.” (note the grammatical errors) All was still fine until Reynolds got arrested for his involvement in a scam involving phony veterans claims. In an effort to gain his freedom, he hinted that the Secretary of the Treasury had been involved. Three Congressmen, including James Monroe, confronted Hamilton who produced 20 blackmail notes as a way of showing his innocence, claiming that he had but one mistaken dalliance. Hamilton must have had some pretty good bull because they bought it and the matter was dropped…until a drunken publisher who was not fond of Hamilton, James Callender, printed a widely circulated pamphlet detailing the sordid affair.

Curiously, Hamilton did not have a duel with Callender but instead published all of the blackmail letters. That did nothing but elevate suspicions that extend to this day. While the letters did have some grammatical and spelling errors, the vocabulary used was of a very educated indivicual which Mr. Reynolds was not. Speculation is that Hamilton may have forged the letters in an attempt to cover up his own corruption. Nevertheless, I suppose that all went away with the gunshot from Aaron Burr. All was forgotten and Hamilton ended up on the $10 bill. It is quite interesting what scandals are remembered by history and which are forgotten.  One who seemed to forget was Hamilton’s wife, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton.  

Probably Not Following Elizabeth Hamilton's Lead

On this date in 1780, the Hamilton’s were newlyweds, having married just 8 days before.  But, Alex’s eye for the ladies was not blinded.   Nevertheless, Elizabeth not only seemed to look the other way, she publically defended her husband against charges of philandering.  She also demanded for years that James Monroe apologize for his charges of Hamilton’s malfeasance in the Reynolds affair.  Somehow, I don’t think that Tiger’s wife is taking the same route as Elizabeth Hamilton and that may not be too bad.  See, Elizabeth outlived her gunned-down husband by 50  years.

Christmas Morning...That's Rain According to the NAM

Weather Bottom Line:  Get your Christmas shopping done today when we see some sunshine and moderating temperatures.  That’s because it all goes down from here.  Rain chances increase as a storm system comes around the bend out of the southwest and ejects northeast.  It will pass us to the west and we stay in the warm sector….which means rain.  It’s a deep low that will probably bring blizzard conditions to the plains.  Our rain chances go up with the temperatures on Wednesday and Christmas Eve looks to be especially wet and dreary.  Christmas morning we’ll see wet streets, not white lawns.  Now,this guy looks to become occluded and sluggish so we may see some snow for Friday, Saturday and Sunday as the GFS advertises a lot of wrap around moisture broadly spread through the Ohio Valley.  Most likely it would be extremely light and largely insignificant except that it indicates that we return to colder than average temperatures after the brief, milder and wetter holiday from the chilly conditions we’ve seen.

Love Polygon in the White House; Mazatlan Gets What is Left of Hurricane Rick October 22, 2009

Most “Active” President?

On This Date in History: On October 22, 1919 a baby girl named Elizabeth Ann was born to Nan Britton. That was no big deal to most people, unless you were aspiring to become President of the United States.

The Lovely Couple

Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding won his first term as Senator in 1914. He said he found the upper chamber of the Congress “a very pleasing place.” He was handsome and popular, having served in the Ohio State Senate and as Ohio Lt. Governor, though he lost a bid for Governor. He gave the nominated speech for President Taft at the 1912 Republican Convention. Let’s see…first term Senator from Midwest…handsome….popular…active in state politics and key speaker at a convention. Sound familiar?

Anyway, there was a snarl in the nominating process at the 1920 Republican convention and in one of those “smoke filled room” stories, party leaders agreed to make Harding the candidate. It is unclear if those party leaders would have even considered Harding had they known of his affection for the ladies.

Florence Harding: Infintesimally Scorned Woman?

In 1927, 3 years after Harding’s death, Nan Britton published a book called The President’s Daughter. In it, she claimed that she had fallen in love with Harding when he was 45 and she was but 14! In 1917, Nan moved from Ohio to New York and wrote Harding for help in finding a job. She said he came to her and “tucked $30 in my brand new silk stocking.” She claimed that they had a long romance but that she had burned all of the love letters that he had written her as per an agreement between them. She said that he had burned her letters too but, after his death, the real Mrs. Harding, burned all of his correspondence and up in smoke went any corroborating evidence. But, the charge remained that Elizabeth Ann was the only child of Warren G. Harding.

Wife of Harding's Friend

Warren G. Harding love letters to his mistress did eventually show up. Trouble is, they weren’t to Nan Britton but instead belonged to Carrie Phillips, the Ohio wife of one of Harding’s best friends. Not sure if that makes Warren his best man. The letters show that Carrie “was the love of Harding’s life.” Their 10 year affair began in 1909 when the two couples were touring Europe. I’m trying to figure out what Mr. Phillips and Mrs. Harding were doing when Mr. Harding and Mrs. Phillips were horsing around. Anyway, Warren didn’t just write letters to Phillips, he wrote novels. They were often as long as 40 pages and were sexually explicit.

But…there’s more! People today often try to make up excuses for their behavior. Well, Warren’s not around to do that but he has modern clinical analysts to do his bidding. There is a school of thought that President Harding was a victim of satyriasis. That is an unmangeable, excessive need for sex. They point to the fact that he kept a room next to the Oval Office reserved for quick action with any number of women that may wander his way. They also suggest it as a reason for his habit of writing such long, rambling, graphic love letters.

Teapot Dome Steamrolled Harding to Death?

I don’t know about all of that but I do think that, aside from the Teapot Dome Scandal, this type of catting around may be a good reason why many scholars over the years tried to make the case that when he died in 1923 it was murder and not food poisoning followed by a heart attack. If it was murder, it sounds as if there would be a long list of suspects, starting with Mrs. Harding and then carrying on through a long list of women as well as their husbands, boyfriends and fathers. One thing for certain, if a love triangle involves 3 people, then Warren G. Harding would have to be described as being involved in a love polygon.

Fools Challenge Waves in Mazatlan-Click for AP Gallery

Hurricane Rick…No Tropical Storm Rick…No More  I reported yesterday that I wasn’t too enthused about Hurricane Rick, even when it was blowing and going as a full blown category 5 hurricane.  That’s because of its proximity of cold water and its slow movement.  The media tried to hype it up and make it sound as a fact that it was going to blow Baja California off the map.  Well, Tropical Storm Rick ran into cold water and has moved into northern Mexico north of Mazatlan.  It is already disappaiting over the foothills of the Sierra Madre.  The reports say that it may drop an inch of rain inland.  Sounds like no big deal, right? Well, some of the areas where the rain will fall are desert regions and so an inch of rain in a relatively short period of time can cause flooding concerns.

Friday 8 AM

Weather Bottom Line:  We have a somewhat complicated situation coming up, but I suppose not too much so and also not unusual.  An area of low pressure will be coming out of the South-Central plains into our region from the mid-Mississippi Valley.  Also a cold front will be sinking down from the north.  As a warm front tries to lift our way on Thursday ahead of the front, high clouds will build up until over-running moisture is such that rain chances go up on Thursday night and they stick around all day Friday.  The GFS is throwing out 1.23″ of rain from Thurs. night into early Saturday morning while the NAM advertises 1.38″.  The NWS is suggesting something a bit more might be possible and that would certainly be a good call.  The weekend looks pretty good with clouds moving out by Saturday afternoon. It will be cool though with highs not getting to the 60′s until at least the early part of next week.

Judge Gives Spankings and Man Walks Around the World. Farther Than Forrest Gump? October 5, 2009

Not in School...Just in the Judges Chambers

Thomas dressed well for his photo.

So….there’s this judge in Alabama….sounds like the beginning of a joke.  But, it’s not and it may be a true story, depending on what a jury says.  Judge Herman Thomas was a district judge in Mobile.  He moved up to be a circuit judge but his career was short-circuited when inmates began to accuse him of paddling!  The former judge now faces more than 100 charges in a trial that begins with jury selection today.  Prosecutors say that the judge conducted spanking and paddling sessions against defendants as a way to acheive sexual gratification.  The prosecution says it has 15 accusers lined up to testify but Thomas’ lawyer expects at least some of the accusers will recant their testimony because the 15 men “are not trustworthy and are not believable” adding that, “We’re talking about murderers, burglars, drug dealers.”  Thomas is also charged with a number of counts of kidnapping, sodomy, assault, extortion and ethics violations.  Wonder if after  his trial is over Thomas will run for Congress?

 

That's some map

On This Date in History:

  Previously on these here pages I’ve pondered whether a man walking around the perimeter of the United States with a wheelbarrow was the inspiration for Forrest Gump.  Well, now I’ve got another one that may be more plausible.  If you recall, Gump just started running out of frustration with how events of his life were conspiring against him.  Well, in 1970 David Kunst of Waseca, MN said that he  “was tired of Waseca, tired of my job, tired of a lot of little people who don’t want to think, and tired of my wife.” So, on June 20 of that year, David Kunst left Waseca on a trip around the world…on foot.  He managed to get some sponsors and helped raise money for UNICEF.   He took along his brother John but John didn’t make it back home standing up.  Sadly, John was shot and killed by bandits in Afghanistan in 1972.  David was wounded.

Kunst Made It in Guiness

David returned to Waseca to heal his wounds but went back to Afghanistan to pick up his journey where he left off.  This time, he took his brother Peter, but Peter didn’t make it either.  He did not suffer John’s fate but did have to return home due to health complications.  David Kunst soldiered on and on this date in 1974, returned to Waseca, Minnesota.  He had walked 14,500 miles across the land of 4 continents and went through 21 pairs of shoes.  Another American claimed to have done the same thing about a century prior to Kunst, but the tales of George Shilling were never verified.  Not sure why Shilling thought it was a good idea to literally become a globe trotter.  Whether or not Shilling or Gump or Kunst had rational reasons for their efforts at least one man who has worn through a lot of shoe leather does have what he would call a good reason. 

Art Still Walking After 40 Years

Arthur Blessitt holds the world record for walking over 34,500 miles in his effort to spread the Gospel.  Blessitt has been walking since 1969, carrying a collapsable 12-foot cross while he hits the dusty trails and preaches to whomever will listen.  He has walked through over 290 countries on six continents.  Blessitt’s website now says he’s over 38,000 miles and 315 countries.   Seems like to me there’s an endorsement deal just waiting to happen.  But, if not, there’s always all of the Blessitt You-Tube postings.

Tuesday 8 PM EDT

Weather Bottom Line: We had a beautiful Monday after heavy morning fog when the sun came out with abundance and our temperatures moved to near 70.  Now, we have a warm front/cold front system coming through with the warm front lifting through Tuesday morning and the cold front following suit on Tuesday night.  Showers in the first part of the day would be possible with the warm front and then rain and t’storms in the afternoon and evening with the cold front.  Our temperatures don’t back off too much with the front as we get back to the 60′s on Wednesday and Thursday there’s a bit of return flow ahead of the next system so low 70′s may show up in much of the area then.  On Friday, a stronger cold front comes in bringing another chance for rain or t’storms but behind that…we will struggle to the low 60′s on Saturday and won’t get out of the 50′s on Sunday and Monday….look for frost on the pumpkin in outlying areas on Sunday and Monday morning.  I bet we have a great fall color season with the wet summer we had and now the early cool temperatures.