Americas
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Joshua Chamberlain and the Ghost
The American Civil War was in full rage by 1863. On July 1, 1863 the armies were massing around a small town in Pennsylvania called Gettysburg. The battle that followed was one of the bloodiest and crucial in the war. Joshua Chamberlain was the Colonel of the 20th Maine, promoted after the battle of Chancellorsville. The 20th Maine was described as a “hell of a regiment”, which was not a compliment. Apparently, they were unruly and had some deserters that had to be forced back to duty at the point of a bayonet. I imagine this was par for the course in those days, however. Chamberlain was told by General…
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The Crippen Murder
Hawley Harvey Crippen was a meek little man with a big problem. His wife was a cheating, gold digging narcissist. To complicate matters, he was in love with another woman. How did he get into this predicament? Crippen was born to a prosperous family in Coldwater, Michigan in 1862. Despite the fact the family was comfortable, they instilled in young Hawley a strict work ethic. Crippen completed a degree an M.D. from Cleveland Homeopathic Hospital after graduating from the University of Michigan. He set up practice in Brooklyn, NY and married a nurse named Charlotte Bell and the two had a son. Bell died suddenly, and Crippen sent their son…
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Pukwudgie
These magical creatures where capable of both good and evil. They where similar to the fairies and gnomes of Europe. They are usually described as being knee-high or even smaller. Their name literally means ‘person of the wilderness’ and are considered to be spirits of the forest. In some traditions, they have a sweet smell and are associated with flowers. Their stories come from Algonquian folklore. They are told throughout the northeastern United States, southeastern Canada, and the Great Lakes region but their stories differ between tribes. In the Ojibwe and other Great Lakes tribes, the pukwudgie (or bagwajinini) is considered a mischievous but basically good-natured creature who plays tricks…
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Chevalier Henri de Tonti- Thunder Arm
Born the son of an Italian banker in 1649, Henri de Tonti has illustrious relatives. His father, Lorenzo de Toni, was the governor of Gaeta and invented the tontine life insurance plan, where the initial investors split the returns until all but one dies. His brother Alphonse de Tonti was one of the founders of Detroit. His cousin Duluth went onto explore Minnesota and the city of Duluth is named for him. Henri is best remembered as the right hand man of French explorer, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. However, he has quite a story in his own right. The family was originally from Naples, but fled to France…
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The Nullification Crisis of 1832
It seems like as Americans we had been putting off the Civil War since the three fifths compromise. We were able to kick the issue of slavery down the line, but it reared it’s ugly head several times before the Civil War began. One of those flare ups was the Nullification Crisis. Andrew Jackson was president, and he did not like being crossed. His vice president was John C. Calhoun of South Carolina and he hated him as hard as he could. They had gotten off on the wrong foot when Calhoun’s wife, Flordie, refused to entertain Peggy Eaton, the wife of John Eaton. Eaton was a senator from Tennessee…
