NOVEMBER 23 — 1876 Senator Boss Tweed extradited from Spain; 1963 World mourns for JFK; 1778 Gen. Washington starts getting intel from his Culper spy network; 2016 Love scores 34 points in 1st quarter for Cavs
NOVEMBER 23
1804 Happy birthday Franklin “Handsome Frank” Pierce, #14.
…The only U.S. President to be born in New Hampshire, Pierce’s father served bravely as a hero in the American Revolution. In 1804 he attended Bowdoin College, then studied law and entered politics. At the young age of 24, Handsome frank was elected to the New Hampshire legislature, then two years later became its Speaker. In Washington, Pierce became a bored alcoholic who would calm down upon marrying Jane Appleton after an eight year engagement. Jane was Frank’s polar opposite. She was incredibly shy, deeply religious, was constantly sick, hated Washington D.C. and refused to live there, which may be the reason why Pierce gave up his seat in the Senate after his second term. Pierce would serve in the Mexican War from 1846-1848, then in 1852 at the Democratic Convention, where slavery was a huge topic, Pierce was seen as a man who could compromise interests between the north and the south.
The party supported the controversial Compromise of 1850, and the Whig party was divided on the issue. The Democrats balloted 48 times, and Pierce emerged as a dark horse, barely defeating Whig leader General Winfield Scott in a landslide victory. The Whig party would dissolve shortly thereafter. Prior to taking office, handsome Frank and Jane were involved in a train accident. While they got out of it unhurt, their 11 year old son Bennie was thrown out of the window and killed, right before their eyes. This would be the third and last child Frank and Jane had that died before adulthood, and Jane never fully recovered, and wanted nothing to do with her husbands presidential candidacy. During his inauguration, Pierce refused to put his hand on the Bible, stating that God already passed judgement when He took his son away from him. He didn’t actually ake oath, rather, he affirmed it. As president, Pierce’s quest for expansion in the United States angered Northerners, who accused him of wanting to extending slavery. Trying to acquire Nicaragua from England didn’t help things, which is a whole ‘nother story. Same thing when he tried to persuade Spain to sell Cuba. Pierce’s inept leadership in foreign policy matters simply aggravated foregn powers. In Havana, Spanish authorities seized the secret Osten Manifesto, which stated that the United States would take military force to occupy Cuba, if push came to shove. Pierce did, however, manage to open up trade with Japan, who was under Dutch rule for the last few centuries.
Finally in foreign affairs, Pierce authorized his Minister to Mexico James Gadsden to negotiate with Mexico for parts of present day Arizona and New Mexico so he could use a transcontinental railroad that would extend o the Pacific. Meanwhile, in the Executive Mansion, now known as the White House, Pierce had the first Christmas Tree, the first hot water system put in place, and Nathaniel Hawthorne dedicated his book, Our Old Home to Franklin Pierce. In addition, Pierce appointed Jefferson Davis as Secretary of War, who of course, would be the future President of the confederate States of America. Which leads us to Pierce’s biggest downfall in his presidential popularity, Bleeding Kansas. Yup! Handsome Frank did not author, but signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise and reopened the controversy of slavery in the West. It nullified the Missouri Compromise, and declared that the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska, not Congress, would determine the slavery issue in those areas. Anti-slavery Democrats, Free Soilers, and the left over Whigs would create the Republican party. Thousands of border ruffians from Missouri flooded Kansas, while anti-slavery settlers in Kansas opposed them.
The slavery issue was so huge at this point, in 1856 Representative Preston Brooks beat Senator Charles Sumner with his cane. Yes, Brooks was drinking booze, and beat Sumner repeatedly on the head until his cane split. Sumner had to rip out his desk from the floor to block the cane and stop the beating. Ugly. Going back to Bleeding Kansas.
When violence broke out, Pierce declined to send federal troops in, and his mismanagement of the situation caused the Democrats to refuse his renomination for president for a second term, instead choosing James Buchanan; another northerner with southern sympathies. Pierce left office at the age of 53, becoming a vocal critic of Abraham Lincoln’s Civil War, as well as the Emancipation Proclamation. In fact when Lincoln was assassinated, a mob threatened Piece at his house. Jane, meanwhile, was at this point suffering from tuberculosis, and passed away. On October 8, 1869, Franklin Pierce passed away from liver disease brought on by heavy drinking. He was 64 years old. Happy birthday Franklin!
1963 here are the headlines: Dallas Morning News: Kenney Slain on Dallas St.
The Oregonian: Johnson Pledges: I will do My Best!
Chicago Tribune: Assassin Kills Kennedy! Lyndon Johnson Sworn In. Just outside of the U.S.
Just outside the U.S., Toronto Weekend Telegram: World Weeps. As church bells solemnly rang in Moscow, Soviet officials were “greeted by great shock,” and denied that Kennedy’s alleged assassin , Lee Harvey Oswald, had any Soviet ties. Just the day before, as terror struck in the president’s limo, Deale Plaza, often called the birthplace of Dallas, was in chaos, and Oswald slipped away calmly. First to his apartment to grab a pistol, and hopped on a bus at Elm and Murphy, about the same time the president began to lose his pulse.
Meanwhile first lady Jackie was freaking out at the Secret Service after watching the lover of her life’s existence here on earth come to an end, but in the end the news of her husband’s death would be delivered to her by Dr. William Clark, . Bobby Kennedy got a phone call from J. Edgar Hoover. LBJ was briefed by Kenny O’Donnell, and Jack Ruby; the man who would assassinate the assassin Oswald, heard the news from Walter Cronkite on CBS like the rest of America. As Lyndon boarded Air Force one, the hunt was on for a white male, approximately 30, slender build, height 5-10:, weight 165 pounds. Police officer J.D. Tippet found Oswald, but Oswald drew his revolver and shot and killed the Tippet.
Eight blocks later, the sirens were sounding, so Oswald ducked into the Texas movie theater, running right past the clerk without even paying for a ticket, because you know, that isn’t obvious or anything from a man who fit the police description. Oswald found a seat the theatre that was playing the movie War Is Hell, when the clerk alerted the police, and the lights went up in the theater as police surrounded and handcuffed Booth, kicking and screaming on the way out.
Meanwhile, the news continued to hit the world. In Vienna, a tremendous outpouring of grief was reported, The city of Berlin basically closed down. Thousands gathered and mourned in the streets of Paris, an Angelica cathedral in Bombay, and thousands more in Yemen, Sudan, Tokyo, as well as many counties in Latin America.
1897 – Andrew J. Beard invented the Jerry coupler to connect railroad cars.
1778 — General Washington begins receiving intel about British movement from the Culper Spy Ring.
During the summer of 1778 the British abandoned Philadelphia and concentrated more troops in New York, the Continental Army moved out of Valley Forge, Washington’s army fought Sir General Henry Clinton’s army in a stalemate at the Monmouth courthouse in New Jersey. Meanwhile as the French and Americans, who signed a treaty earlier in the year, were beaten by the British in Newport, Rhode Island
. In order to win this war, Washington would need a lot more than just the help of the French; he would need a network of spies to make battle plans. Major Benjamin Tallmadge, or John Bolton as his code name, communicated directly with Washington, who had come up with the name Culper, after his old stomping grounds in Culpepper, VA. Culper Senior would be Abraham Woodhull and Culper Junior would be Robert Townsend. Caleb Brewster, Anna Strong, and Austin Roe, and a handful of others would also be involved in getting British troop information to Washington.
It was on this day in 1778 that Washington first received word from Woodhull with information about British troop movement in Long Island, as well as a request to get paid for his expensive and dangerous services. Washington was impressed with Woodhull’s work and supposedly wanted to have Tallmadge arrange a face to face meeting, a move which was tactically dangerous and unnecessary.
But this information was verrrrry helpful. The Culper Spy ring would be a game changer in many aspects to eh American Revolution, from the Benedict Arnold betrayal of West Point, to the top economic warfare, to Hessian activity in Trenton, all the way to the surrender of Cornwallis in Yorktown, it’s unlikely Washington would have defeated the British without the Culper Spy Ring. During the early phases of it in late 1778, Tallmadge at one point was ordered to hand his letters to General Israel Putnam instead of Washington directly. Interesting choice since many historians blame Putnam for losing Long Island to the British in August 76, but whether or not he knew what a Culper was exactly is unknown.
Back in New York in December of 78, Tallmadge recruited and Austin Roe hired innkeeper and postmaster Jonas Hawkins from Woodhull in Setauket, away from the city, to Tallmadge Bolton. At first, Woodhull wasn’t comfortable with yet one more person getting involved deep in the ring, but since Washington would be getting messages in one week from Hawkins deliver instead of two weeks from Woodhull, it worked out. The Redcoats were ruthless in New York City and Long Island, and Woodhull expressed the urgency of a Continental victory there.
As he wrote to Washington, “They have no regard for age, sex, Whig or Tory.” But now Washington would get his intel: map drawer Sir Robert Erskine and his 2500 men and three redoubts at South and East Hampton, movement at Canoe Place, flat bottom boats being built, Col. Howlett of the 3rd Battalion at Lloyd’s Neck, the Queens Raiders of 300 foot and light horse at Oyster Bay and with that, Washington would be able to plan his strategies.
1897 – African American John Lee Love patents the pencil sharpener. He called it the love sharpener. K creepy name but cool invention.
1835 – Henry Burden patents horseshoe manufacturing machine.
2011 — Rolling Stone magazine rated Jimi Hendrix as the greatest guitar player in history in a list which included Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend among the top ten.
2016 – Love scores 34 points in the first quarter for the Cavs.
Kevin Love, who’s uncle Mike was one of the Beach Boys, got real close to Klay Thompson’s record for the Warriors with 37 points in a quarter, but for this night set the record for the most points in the first quarter. During the first 12 minutes 137-125 victory over the Portland Trailblazers, Love was unstoppable: 14 from the field, 8 for 10 from downtown, and 4 of 4 from the line.