Presidential Signature: James Monroe

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Our Friday special- that presidential post you all have been waiting for! On March 10, 1813, James Monroe was serving as Secretary of State under President James Madison. The US was in the middle of the War of 1812, and Monroe wrote this pass to allow a British agent free travel around Washington, DC, so he could negotiate the exchange of POWs. Eighteen months later, after the British burned both the White House and the Capitol, Madison would fire then Secretary of War John Armstrong, and appoint Monroe to the position. But, after his switch, a successor was not appointed as Secretary of State through February 1815 when the war ended; leaving Monroe to fill two cabinet positions. Before the Treaty of Ghent was signed and peace was official, Secretary of War Monroe had been planning an invasion of Canada- a fantasy many red-blooded Americans still hold today (not us, we love Canucks!). With the war over, Monroe returned to his position as Secretary of State, until he himself was elected president.

Wacky Whiskers Wednesday: Inventor, Abolitionist, Neck Beard Enthusiast

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Today's Wacky Whiskers Wednesday pick is the American industrialist, inventor, philanthropist, and (clearly unsuccessful) Presidential candidate, Peter Cooper! Chosen for his Santa white neck beard, Cooper was also a pretty cool dude (I mean, you would have to be to pull that off, right?). He’s so cool, it was hard to pick the coolest things about him so here (in no particular order) are his top 10:

- Very active in the anti-slavery movement
- A strong supporter of the Union during the Civil War
- An advocate for government-issued paper money
- Was dedicated to the protection and elevation of Native Americans
- Led the successful fight to build a public school system in New York
- Founded and gave his name to the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
- Designed and built the first steam locomotive in the United States
- Became one of the richest men in New York city when he invested in real estate and insurance, but lived a relatively simple and humble life
- Ran for president in 1876 for the Greenback Party, and at age 85 is the oldest person ever to be nominated by any political party for President
- Was an inventor and owned many patents for his inventions, including some for the manufacture of gelatin—the patents were later sold to a cough syrup manufacturer who developed a pre-packaged form which his wife named “Jell-O” (okay, this one is the coolest)

P. T. Barnum's First Star

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Today marks the 180th anniversary of the launch of P. T. Barnum's first US tour. His star attraction at the time was Joice Heth- a former slave women Barnum claimed to be 161 years-old and once the property of Augustine Washington; serving as nurse maid for an infant George Washington. When Heth passed away less than a year later, Barnum continued to try and profit off of her; hiring a doctor to perform a public autopsy for a large crowd. The plan backfired, when the doctor exclaimed that he had determined Heth's true age to be 79. Barnum then claimed this was not actually Heth's corpse and that she was away on a tour of Europe. The hoax haunted Barnum's career for the rest of his life.

Archives Find of The Week- Cherokee Muster Rolls

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Today, we got to take a look at some of the "Muster Rolls of Cherokee Indians Who Have Emigrated West of the Mississippi" from 1833. Tribes were being forced out of the Deep South, following the Indian Removal Act of 1830, to make way for white settlers. The law was initially merely to authorize the President to negotiate with tribes for their removal to federal lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for their ancestral homelands. But what was intended to be a voluntary move became a forced expulsion. In 1833, the Cherokee Nation was not yet being forced to head west, but the government was keeping track of those who left voluntarily- displaying some particularly colorful names. In the midst of the Georgia Gold Rush, President Andrew Jackson put increasing pressure on the tribes to move, and refused to protect them from state laws stripping the Nation of all land except personal residences (some strong supporting evidence in the case to get Andrew Jackson replaced on the $20 bill with Harriet Tubman- go Harriet!). The Treaty of New Echota was signed in 1835 by a minority party within the Cherokee Nation, ceding all its southeast territory and agreeing to the move west. The enforcement of this treaty led to what is now known as the Trail of Tears. The remaining Cherokees were forced to march 1000 miles to Oklahoma in the dead of winter, carrying everything they owned. Over 4000 people died, and the rest had to build new lives in foreign territory, with few possessions and little hope.

Wacky Whiskers Wednesday: Colonel Badass

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For this installment of Wacky Whiskers Wednesday, we bring you Colonel Edward E. Cross of the 5th NH Cavalry! To put it frankly, Colonel Cross was quite the badass. He was six foot, two inches tall and would wrap a bandana around his head during battle, a lovely addition to his fancy uniform. Cross was in battle at Fair Oaks, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, where he lost his life on July 2, 1863 when he was shot by a sniper who was hiding some 40 yards away! Oh yeah...and he had quite the impressive beard! ‪

Wacky Whiskers Wednesday: Bulletproof

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For your Wacky Whiskers Wednesday viewing pleasure, we present Brigadier General Reuben Lindsay Walker, a VMI grad who fought 63 battles for the Confederate Army, without every being wounded! After the war, he went on to become superintendent of the Marine and Selma Railroad, and oversaw construction of the Texas State Capitol building.

Pimlico and Reconstruction

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Since the Preakness was this past weekend, here's a little bit of Pimlico Race Course history, courtesy of the Baltimore Provost Marshal files. Pimlico is widely known to have opened its doors in 1870- but there seems to have already been a race site nearby, called "Pimlico" or "Pemlico"- which in 1865, caused quite a stir. Following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, President Andrew Johnson declared June 1, 1865 a "National Day of Mourning." But, a horse race had already been planned for that day, and several participants refused to cancel. The State Attorney for Baltimore County wrote to Lieutenant Colonel John Woolley of the 8th Army Corps for assistance in preventing the race.

"Many persons have applied to the authorities of Baltimore County, to stop a Horse Race, which has been fixed to take place at the 'Pemlico Race Track,' about two miles west of Baltimore,, in this County, on Thursday next.... It is in a neighborhood where persons wish to attend church and observe in proper manner the day set apart by the President of the United States for Thanksgiving, and do not wish to be annoyed by this Race and do not think that this mark of disrespect to the authorities should be tolerated."

The US Army agreed that this event needed stopped, and Lt. Col. Woolley was ordered to:

"[S]end a squad of cavalry (10 men) in [the] charge of a commissioned officer to the Race course on the Reistertown pike about four (4) miles from Baltimore known as the Pimlico course, at an early hour to-morrow morning June 1st 1865, with instructions to prevent any assemblage of persons on said Track for any purpose inconsistent with or inimical to the object for which the day has been set apart by his Excellency, the President of the United States, as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer for the calamity to the nation by the assassination of President Lincoln."

No record in the Provost Marshal's file indicated the reception Woolley's men were given, but there were likely any disappointed race fans that day.

Animals for Cincinnati

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106 years ago, President William Howard Taft, of bathtub and Supreme Court fame, promised to send any animals he received as gifts to the Cincinnati Zoo, according to The Washington Post. The question that remains is: what bumpkin gifted him with "several dozen possums."

Wacky Whiskers Wednesday: Major Fox

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means: Wacky Whiskers Wednesday! This whiskered warrior is Brevet Major General Edward Hatch. He was not only a "major" fox, but also had an impressive military career, enlisting at the beginning of the Civil War as a private, having never served before, and rising through the ranks.

Illinois Representative Robert R. Hitt wrote to Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln (our boy's eldest son), recommending his commission to Brigadier General. He wrote on behalf of his many constituents that served under Hatch during the war:

"I know from their oft expressed admiration for their old commander, how valuable were his services, how distinguished his courage, how efficient he was in the daily work of an officer, as he was fortunate in being able, on several critical occasions to render conspicuous services to his country, especially at Colliersville and Moscow (at which last place he fell, shot through the right lung) and at Franklin and Nashville. It would be hard to find, among all the gallant and able men now in the service, and eligible to this position, one upon whom the mantle Genl McKenzie would more worthily fall; for his fitness and for his services."

Hotel Edison

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We always come across the coolest 19th and early 20th century stationary when we are looking through Civil War Pensions. This stationary from the Hotel Edison in NYC advertises a "radio in every room" and "1000 rooms with bath and shower"! Construction began on the Hotel Edison in 1931 and Thomas Edison himself was there to turn on the lights for its grand opening! Hotel Edison is still located at 46th and 47th Street, west of Broadway in NYC.

Vanderbilt Chivalry

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Today is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. As a former PSNC employee (who loves Gilded Age history and all things Vanderbilt), Alex used to hear a lot of family lore about one of America's richest (and most interesting) families while working at the Breakers. One story that always stuck with her was that of Alfred Gwyn Vanderbilt (the 4th child of Cornelius Vanderbilt II), who died while on board the Lusitania. Alfred was last seen removing his life vest and wrapping it around a woman with a baby.

Wacky Whiskers Wednesday: The OG of Facial Hair

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Because we promised you beards, we welcome you to our first installment of Wacky Whiskers Wednesday! What hump day would be complete without a historical beard? For our first installment, we decided to bring you the OG of beards, Major General Ambrose E. Burnside. You probably have heard of him even if you are not a Civil War buff, considering his distinctive facial hair became known as sideburns!

Shepard in Space

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54 years ago today, Alan Shepard, a former Navy pilot, was launched into space aboard the Mercury Freedom 7, becoming the first American and second human ever to make that trip (depiction of the lead up to this flight brought to you here by "The Right Stuff"). Almost ten years later. Shepard went into space again, as commander of Apollo 14, and became the first man to hit a golf ball on the moon.

The Last Voyage of Henry Hudson

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On June 22 or June 23, 1611, the crew of English explorer Henry Hudson mutinied, on his fourth voyage to discover the "Northwest Passage" through North America to Asia. Captaining the British East India Company's ship Discovery (which had earlier been one of the ships led by Captain Christopher Newport on the voyage which ended with the founding of Jamestown), Henry Hudson had sailed 'round the tip of Iceland and Greenland, then reaching the Hudson Bay in Canada; everything going according to plan until the ship became trapped in the ice in James Bay in November of 1610. Hudson and his crew were forced to disembark and spend the winter along the bay. After the ice cleared in the spring, Hudson wanted to resume his exploration, but the tired crew wished to return home, and staged a mutiny; setting Hudson, his son John, and a few sick and/or loyal crewmen adrift in a small river barge. None of these abandoned men were seen of or heard from again. Eight of the eleven mutineers survived the trip back to England, and named two of the deceased as the leaders of the rebellion. The surviving mutineers were never punished for their crimes- perhaps because the knowledge they carried of routes to and around the New World was too valuable.

This painting, entitled "The Last Voyage of Henry Hudson," was done in 1881 by English artist John Collier.

This painting, entitled "The Last Voyage of Henry Hudson," was done in 1881 by English artist John Collier.

1860 Marriage Equality

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"Marriage today is not what it was under the common law tradition, under the civil law tradition. Marriage was a relationship of a dominant male to a subordinate female. That ended as a result of this court's decision in 1982, when Louisiana's Head and Master Rule was struck down. Would that be a choice that state should be allowed to have? To cling to marriage the way it once was?" -The Notorious RBG

This week we listened to the oral arguments for Obergefell v. Hodges- the Supreme Court's current case about the legality of gay marriage bans while digging through a bunch of pension records (because we are nerds). Think the definition of marriage hasn't changed over time? Check out this government-issued 1860 marriage certificate from the city of St. Louis. Ladies, submit to your husbands, and gents, don't be bitter about it! No wonder Thomas and Catherine got divorced.

Now That's a Dress!

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Finding images in military records is rare, but we do occasionally come across a photograph, a tintype, or even a daguerreotype in the files. This daguerreotype was found by a gentleman doing genealogy research on his family- he was not as excited, since apparently it was great-great-great grandad's 1st wife, and his family descended from the 3rd, but we were PUMPED. As a warning to those about to attempt tracking down family genealogy, people in the 19th century got married A LOT!

Your Own Personal Jesus

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"I like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo T-shirt. 'Cause it says like, I wanna be formal but I’m here to party too." This 1887 baptism certificate is one of the more elaborate we've come across. It belonged to the daughter of a Civil War veteran, and was submitted by his widow as proof of their marriage, so she could receive a pension.