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John Slidell
Born in New York, in 1793 to merchant John (senior) and his wife Margery McKenzie from Scotland, John Slidell had at least two surviving brothers – Thomas and Alexander – and a sister, Jane, recorded. In 1810 at the age of 17 he graduated Columbia College (now university) and settled in Louisiana, where in 1835 he married Mathilde and had three children. Alfred, Marie and Marguerite. Following a career beginning in mercantile trade, much like his father, after his relocation to Louisiana, eventually settling in New Orleans, Slidell practiced law from around 1819. He served as District Attorney for four years until 1833, following up with a yearlong position within…
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Mary Seacole
Born Mary Jane Grant in 1805 in Kingston, Jamaica, Mary Seacole became one of the most important nurses in the Crimean War. She was the daughter of a free black Jamaican woman who was skilled in traditional medicine and a Scottish soldier. Mary learned her mother’s traditional remedies and gained a reputation as a ‘skilful nurse and doctress’ working in a boarding house caring for invalid soldiers and their wives. She married Edwin Horatio Seacole in 1836, and with her husband travelled to the Bahamas, Haiti and Cuba. While there, she studied local medicines and treatments and added them to her repertoire. Her husband died in 1844, and Mary was…
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Locusta the Poisoner
Rome was a rough and tumble place. Even in the golden years of the Pax Romana where everyone was supposed to gather around and celebrate being in the glory of the Roman Empire. Political intrigue was rife and there was more drama than Days of Our Lives even when Marlena was possessed by the devil. So what did you do if you have a political enemy that was really getting under your skin? You looked up Locusta of Gaul or as she was known, Locusta the Poisoner. Tacitus describes her in his Annals, “This was the famous Locusta; a woman lately condemned as a dealer in clandestine practices, but reserved…
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Ching Shih
Ching Shih’s early life is shrouded in mystery. Even her name isn’t really her own, as “Ching Shih” translates to “widow of Ching”. She first appears in the historical record in 1801. However, she left her mark on history as one of the most successful pirates. It is theorized Ching Shih was born around 1775 in the Guangdong province of China. One source records her birth name as Shil Xiang Gu. Nothing is known of her childhood, but I imagine it wasn’t one of ease. At the age of 26, she was a prostitute on a floating brothel in Canton. In 1801, she caught the eye of Ching Yi, who…
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Princess Olga of Kiev
When you think of a saint, most people think of a gentle, Godly person with great patience and faith. Princess Olga of Kiev proves that a saint can be a woman of God, but not take any crap either. No one is exactly sure of when Olga was born. Sources put it any where between 879 and 890. According to the Primary Chronicle, she was born in Pskov, a city northwest of Russia, to a family of Varyag origin. Varyag was the name given to Vikings or Norsemen who came to the area in the 8th and 9th centuries. Other sources say Olga was the daughter of Oleg Vershchy, the founder…
