Tom Barnes's Blog: Tom's 'RocktheTower' Blog - Posts Tagged "jekyll"
Tombatone, Jekyll Island and Venita's Humor
'Doc Holliday's Road to Tombatone'
Excerpt:
Tuesday, November 1, 1881
Judge Spicer took the bench at nine a.m. rapped his gavel and gestured for the prosecution to call their witness.
A young spare built man with gray eyes took the stand and in answer to the first question said, "My name is William Allen. I live in Tombstone."
The lanky district attorney said in a quiet voice, "Tell us if you know any of the men who were involved in the difficulty on the afternoon of October 26, 1881?"
"I knew all of them, at least on sight.”
District Attorney Price slowly paced in front of his witness, chewing on a yellow pencil. "When were you first made aware that any difficulty existed between any of these men?"
"Well, that morning, I heard there was some trouble between Isaac Clanton and Doc Holliday. I also heard from Henry Fry that Tom McLowry had been hit with a pistol, by Wyatt Earp."
Tom Fitch got to his feet and said, "I object, Your Honor, the witness is testifying to hearsay."
"Objection sustained." Spicer then admonished the witness, "Just tell them what you yourself saw or heard."
The lanky Price gave his witness a not to worry look before he continued. "When did you first see any of the participants on the day of the difficulty?"
"I first saw Frank McLowry, pretty near the Grand Hotel, as they were riding into town. Frank McLowry and Billy Clanton were with an old gentleman I'm not acquainted with."
"What was the time of day when you saw these men and what occurred at that time?"
"It was about two o'clock in the afternoon. Frank McLowry, Billy Clanton and the old man went inside the Grand Hotel."
“What did you do?”
"I followed them into the bar. They were about ready to have a drink, and they asked me to join them."
“Did you all take a drink?”
"No. I called Frank off to one side and asked him if he knew what was going on, that Wyatt Earp knocked Tom McLowry down with a gun, on --"
"I object to this line of hearsay and request to strike from the record," Tom Fitch said.
"Sustained. Court reporter, strike that last statement from your record," Spicer then glared at the prosecutor.
The district attorney shook off the rebuke and gently asked his witness, "Then what happened after your conversation with Frank McLowry?"
“Frank McLowry said, ‘We won’t drink.’ Those are the last words I ever heard him say. They went out the door, got on their horses and rode off. Just before that he said, ‘I will get the boy’s out-of-town.’"
Doc scribbled a note to bring up the point of Allen's recollection, two sets of Frank's last words?
More Excerpts: (To be continued)
Georgia's Heritage
Jekyll Island
For sixty years prior to World War II Jekyll Island was the most exclusive private club in the world. The clubhouse was a most imposing Victorian structure and within those rooms slept the Astors, the Vanderbilts, the Rockefellers, the Goulds and Pulitzers.
From mid winter to Easter the richest men in America made Jekyll Island their retreat and they brought along their wives, their children and sometimes their mistresses.
Most members lived in individual houses, which they referred to as cottages, but to the average person they looked more like small mansions. However there was no great effort on their part to buy lavish interior furnishings, and the inside decor of most cottages looked like that of a typical beach house.
The most important part of their social life was the large gathering for their evening meal. The meal generally consisted of several courses that lasted from three to four hours. A special chef was loaned to them and imported in from Del Monico's in New York.
In the club's heyday from about 1890 to 1920 it is said that their membership controlled about one sixth of the country's wealth.
William Rockefeller's stock dividends alone amounted to more than two million a year and that was at a time when the American worker was bringing home about seven dollars a week. Of course those figures ar peanuts when compared to current business executives and their multi million dollar golden parachute rewards.
The Jekyll Island Club activities ceased at the beginning of World War II, however, the island had a long history before and after the Jekyll Island Club. The island was named by General Ogelthorpe after his friend and benefactor Sir Joseph Jekyll.
The year of 1859 saw the darkest hour of Jekyll Island's history. It was when the last cargo of African Slaves were unloaded onto the island nearly a half century after congress had outlawed the importation of slaves.
They were brought to the island on a sleek vessel named the Wanderer that flew the flag of the New York Yacht Club. On deck was an old iron kettle that was used to cook the corn meal mush that was fed to the slaves on their journey to America. That kettle was off loaded from the Wanderer and remains in a prominent location on the island. Legend has it and some islanders say that on nights when a hot wind blows off the marsh you can hear sounds and moans of what can only be described as unhappy human beings swirling around that old iron pot.
An expansive lawn spreads from the club house to the Jekyll River where many of the club members anchored their yacht's. And it was the main playground of the millionaires where they played tennis, croquet and swam in the pool that is still in use. To give you and idea of the power yielded by this group you would have to go no further than this one story.
At four o:clock on the afternoon of January 25, 1915. one of the first telephones on the island rang and was answered by a member of the club, Mr. Theodore Vale. Vale was the president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. On the other end of the line in Washington was President Wilson, Alexander Graham Bell was in New York and Thomas Watson was in San Francisco. And that was the first transcontinental telephone call. The conversation was of no significance, but the technical accomplishment of that call was a giant step in the area of communications.
(To be Continued)
Writers Notebook:
A friend of mine writes a humorous Internet blog and a while back she wrote: I Find it absolutely impossible to stay in a bad mood while singing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-A-Dee-A, My Oh My What a Wonderful Day, Plenty of Sunshine Heading My Way Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A…Mr. Bluebird on my shoulder etc.
Her name is Venita Louise and she applies that kind of humor. In her novel 'Mixed Nuts.' Venita has written a comedy using all the elements of farce without the pratfalls.
Review written by Tom Barnes.
Jingle writer, and head of the household, Frank Beal has distractions flying around his piano workplace like boomerangs. Son Matt has a slew of knock knock jokes; daughter Melinda is the moppet version of Inspector Cleseau with a hardhat while wife Joan angles for a new car in order to keep up with the Jones’s. And that’s just inside the house.
The next door neighbor’s gardener Tito is sure Frank Beal controls the outdoor snail population and accuses Frank of sending his snails next door, “to Meester Robert’s yard.”
You’ve got to empathize with Frank though and wonder how he is able to turn off the madness and produce jingles.
But you soon find out he’s had prior experience with madness when his brother Gene shows up in a skirt. Well, it’s not really a skirt, the clannish Uncle Gene shows up wearing a Kilt.
Venita’s world also includes a special mix of goofballs, voodoo spells, hex’s and a wandering peacock.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://TheHurricaneHunter.blogspot.com
Excerpt:
Tuesday, November 1, 1881
Judge Spicer took the bench at nine a.m. rapped his gavel and gestured for the prosecution to call their witness.
A young spare built man with gray eyes took the stand and in answer to the first question said, "My name is William Allen. I live in Tombstone."
The lanky district attorney said in a quiet voice, "Tell us if you know any of the men who were involved in the difficulty on the afternoon of October 26, 1881?"
"I knew all of them, at least on sight.”
District Attorney Price slowly paced in front of his witness, chewing on a yellow pencil. "When were you first made aware that any difficulty existed between any of these men?"
"Well, that morning, I heard there was some trouble between Isaac Clanton and Doc Holliday. I also heard from Henry Fry that Tom McLowry had been hit with a pistol, by Wyatt Earp."
Tom Fitch got to his feet and said, "I object, Your Honor, the witness is testifying to hearsay."
"Objection sustained." Spicer then admonished the witness, "Just tell them what you yourself saw or heard."
The lanky Price gave his witness a not to worry look before he continued. "When did you first see any of the participants on the day of the difficulty?"
"I first saw Frank McLowry, pretty near the Grand Hotel, as they were riding into town. Frank McLowry and Billy Clanton were with an old gentleman I'm not acquainted with."
"What was the time of day when you saw these men and what occurred at that time?"
"It was about two o'clock in the afternoon. Frank McLowry, Billy Clanton and the old man went inside the Grand Hotel."
“What did you do?”
"I followed them into the bar. They were about ready to have a drink, and they asked me to join them."
“Did you all take a drink?”
"No. I called Frank off to one side and asked him if he knew what was going on, that Wyatt Earp knocked Tom McLowry down with a gun, on --"
"I object to this line of hearsay and request to strike from the record," Tom Fitch said.
"Sustained. Court reporter, strike that last statement from your record," Spicer then glared at the prosecutor.
The district attorney shook off the rebuke and gently asked his witness, "Then what happened after your conversation with Frank McLowry?"
“Frank McLowry said, ‘We won’t drink.’ Those are the last words I ever heard him say. They went out the door, got on their horses and rode off. Just before that he said, ‘I will get the boy’s out-of-town.’"
Doc scribbled a note to bring up the point of Allen's recollection, two sets of Frank's last words?
More Excerpts: (To be continued)
Georgia's Heritage
Jekyll Island
For sixty years prior to World War II Jekyll Island was the most exclusive private club in the world. The clubhouse was a most imposing Victorian structure and within those rooms slept the Astors, the Vanderbilts, the Rockefellers, the Goulds and Pulitzers.
From mid winter to Easter the richest men in America made Jekyll Island their retreat and they brought along their wives, their children and sometimes their mistresses.
Most members lived in individual houses, which they referred to as cottages, but to the average person they looked more like small mansions. However there was no great effort on their part to buy lavish interior furnishings, and the inside decor of most cottages looked like that of a typical beach house.
The most important part of their social life was the large gathering for their evening meal. The meal generally consisted of several courses that lasted from three to four hours. A special chef was loaned to them and imported in from Del Monico's in New York.
In the club's heyday from about 1890 to 1920 it is said that their membership controlled about one sixth of the country's wealth.
William Rockefeller's stock dividends alone amounted to more than two million a year and that was at a time when the American worker was bringing home about seven dollars a week. Of course those figures ar peanuts when compared to current business executives and their multi million dollar golden parachute rewards.
The Jekyll Island Club activities ceased at the beginning of World War II, however, the island had a long history before and after the Jekyll Island Club. The island was named by General Ogelthorpe after his friend and benefactor Sir Joseph Jekyll.
The year of 1859 saw the darkest hour of Jekyll Island's history. It was when the last cargo of African Slaves were unloaded onto the island nearly a half century after congress had outlawed the importation of slaves.
They were brought to the island on a sleek vessel named the Wanderer that flew the flag of the New York Yacht Club. On deck was an old iron kettle that was used to cook the corn meal mush that was fed to the slaves on their journey to America. That kettle was off loaded from the Wanderer and remains in a prominent location on the island. Legend has it and some islanders say that on nights when a hot wind blows off the marsh you can hear sounds and moans of what can only be described as unhappy human beings swirling around that old iron pot.
An expansive lawn spreads from the club house to the Jekyll River where many of the club members anchored their yacht's. And it was the main playground of the millionaires where they played tennis, croquet and swam in the pool that is still in use. To give you and idea of the power yielded by this group you would have to go no further than this one story.
At four o:clock on the afternoon of January 25, 1915. one of the first telephones on the island rang and was answered by a member of the club, Mr. Theodore Vale. Vale was the president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. On the other end of the line in Washington was President Wilson, Alexander Graham Bell was in New York and Thomas Watson was in San Francisco. And that was the first transcontinental telephone call. The conversation was of no significance, but the technical accomplishment of that call was a giant step in the area of communications.
(To be Continued)
Writers Notebook:
A friend of mine writes a humorous Internet blog and a while back she wrote: I Find it absolutely impossible to stay in a bad mood while singing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-A-Dee-A, My Oh My What a Wonderful Day, Plenty of Sunshine Heading My Way Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A…Mr. Bluebird on my shoulder etc.
Her name is Venita Louise and she applies that kind of humor. In her novel 'Mixed Nuts.' Venita has written a comedy using all the elements of farce without the pratfalls.
Review written by Tom Barnes.
Jingle writer, and head of the household, Frank Beal has distractions flying around his piano workplace like boomerangs. Son Matt has a slew of knock knock jokes; daughter Melinda is the moppet version of Inspector Cleseau with a hardhat while wife Joan angles for a new car in order to keep up with the Jones’s. And that’s just inside the house.
The next door neighbor’s gardener Tito is sure Frank Beal controls the outdoor snail population and accuses Frank of sending his snails next door, “to Meester Robert’s yard.”
You’ve got to empathize with Frank though and wonder how he is able to turn off the madness and produce jingles.
But you soon find out he’s had prior experience with madness when his brother Gene shows up in a skirt. Well, it’s not really a skirt, the clannish Uncle Gene shows up wearing a Kilt.
Venita’s world also includes a special mix of goofballs, voodoo spells, hex’s and a wandering peacock.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://TheHurricaneHunter.blogspot.com
Tombstone Hearing, Jekyll Island and The Federal Reserve
'Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone'
Continue excerpts Spicer hearing..
After District Attorney Price finished questioning Allen, defense attorney Fitch stepped forward.
Tom Fitch’s first question in his cross-examination of Billy Allen was, "When you first got to Fremont Street, where was the Earp party?"
"Between Fly's building and the next house. The Earp's had already passed down Fremont Street when I got there."
"What were the first words you heard spoken between the two parties -- the Earp's and Holliday and the Clanton,s and McLowry’s?"
"I heard Tom McLowry say, ‘I haven’t got any arms."
“Where were you at that time?” Tom Fitch asked.
“I was standing about ten feet away, in front of Fly’s building.”
“When Tom McLowry said he hadn’t any arms, did he make any kind of gesture or movement?”
“He held the lapels of his coat open.”
"Did anyone other than Tom McLowry say anything?"
"Billy Clanton held up his hands and said, 'I don't want to fight."'
Doc nudged Wyatt and whispered, "Allen just said Billy Clanton held up his hands. Like hell he did. He was holding a six gun and was pointing it at either you or Virg."
Wyatt nodded and pointed to himself.
Tom Fitch stared at the witness. "Did you see the first shot -- who fired it?"
"The first shot came from the Earp party, the smoke came from Doc Holliday."
"I don't understand." Tom Fitch looked directly into Allen's eyes. "Are you saying Doc Holliday fired the first shot?"
"Well, I saw Doc swing his hand up and then I saw the smoke come from him and hearing the shot and seeing the smoke I just think it came from the Earp party."
"But you did not see Doc Holliday fire the first shot. You just think because some smoke swirled around at that time that it was Doc Holliday who fired the shot. You were behind the Earp party and couldn't see a thing. Maybe it was Billy Clanton that fired the first shot." Tom Fitch then said neutrally, "Who fired the second shot?"
"I did not see it, but I know from the sound that the second shot was fired from a shotgun. When the shotgun went off, Tom McLowry threw his hands up to his breast."
"What did you do when the firing commenced?"
"I ducked between the buildings, I got out of the way, quick!"
Wyatt turned to Doc. "Sounds to me like he used pretty good gumption, ducking in between the buildings."
"He might duck well, but he can't count for beans." Doc grinned. "If I'd fired the Parker when he said I did, the horse would have caught the buckshot, not Tom. And something else, Tom had already fired at Morg and was lining up another shot when I unloaded on him."
Tom Fitch softened his approach and gently said, "Now, when you were back on Allen Street with Mr. Coleman. You say he walked away and gestured you to come along and you said, 'I don't want to see it."' Then the attorney snapped. "You didn’t want to see what?"
"I didn't want to see the quarrel, I knew there would be one."
"Quarrel?" Tom Fitch said mockingly. "No. It was not a quarrel you were concerned about. There was to be a gunfight and you were privy to that information. You knew the cowboy's plans didn't you?"
"I object. I strenuously object, Your Honor." The district attorney blurted out, "Mr. Fitch is badgering the witness."
"Calm down, Mr. Price." The judge gestured toward the overwrought attorney. "Objection sustained. Mr. Risley, strike Mr. Fitch's last remark from the record."
Tom Fitch grinned. "I have no further questions for this witness, Your Honor.”
Excerpts from Judge Spicer's hearing. (To be continued).
Jekyll Island Club Part 2
The charter members of the club didn't want a palatial and socially suffocating Newport. As a matter of fact a few years later when Palm Beach was in it infancy they scoffed at the p retention of it.
What the members wanted was a place to get away from the rigors of the business world.
Originally the Jekyll Island Club was a hunting club. They imported English phesants and legend has it that Italy sent them several dozen wild boar. The island already had turkey's, deer, alligators, spiders, snakes, scorpions, ticks and an especially pesky bug called the sand fly.
There were no roads across the great salt marsh that shields Jekyll Island from the outside world and it was just as well because that's the way the millionaires wanted it. At both ends of the island were posted armed guards and patrol boats on the river kept out strangers.
On March 20, 1899 President McKinley arrived on the island to enlist the millionaires support for his reelection. He arrived as a guest, but because the president was not a member of the club he was considered a stranger to the island. And according to strict club rules the president could only stay two weeks.
Few Georgians even knew McKinley was in the state, although one of men he talked to was Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of a chain of very influential newspapers. Of course Pulitzer kept his mouth shut because of another club rule forbidding any personal or hard news from leaving the island.
The members desire to socialize only among themselves did not necessarily mean that they were always friendly toward one another
These were powerful men and they had powerful enemies. One member that William Rockefeller absolutely detested was his next door neighbor John Pierpont Morgan, and Mr. Rockefeller didn't care too much for his son junior either.
But all in all the millionaires got along with about the same level of acrimony as any other large family.
There was a beautiful inter faith chapel where the members worshiped, gave their children in marriage and they had at least one funeral. Two English bus boys were drowned in the surf and they were buried on the island.
Probably the most valuable treasure left over from the millionaires era were two stained glass windows in the chapel. One was crafted and signed by Louis Tiffany and the other was done by Maitland Armstrong. They were stunning pieces of art given to the club by members and are considered priceless.
But even with that beautiful chapel and its stained glass windows social life on Jekyll did not center around the church. Most social intercourse between the millionaires and their families centered around the bridge table, club house, billiard room or a stroll through the gardens. Talks in the parlor were about children, servants, friends and fashions.
But despite the informality of life on the island a sense of money was always present. And to put that into perspective, we are reminded that a number of the members of the Jekyll Island Club would also play a psrt in the founding of The Federal Reserve Bank
(To be continued)
Writers Notebook:
Inside the front flap of my writer’s notebook are several notes and among them is one that always makes me stop and think.
‘What is the single most important piece of advice you’ve ever gotten about writing?’
I’m not quite sure, but this note contained in that same flap is high on the list. Stephen King once said, ‘I write about four hours a day – first draft – just write. Let it all hang out – don’t stop for misspelled words – punctuation – nothing. Let the passion and heat of the moment take charge. And don’t rewrite that same day. Write in am and rewrite in pm – no, no, no. Leave it alone, at least overnight.’
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://TheHurricaneHunter.blogspot.com
Continue excerpts Spicer hearing..
After District Attorney Price finished questioning Allen, defense attorney Fitch stepped forward.
Tom Fitch’s first question in his cross-examination of Billy Allen was, "When you first got to Fremont Street, where was the Earp party?"
"Between Fly's building and the next house. The Earp's had already passed down Fremont Street when I got there."
"What were the first words you heard spoken between the two parties -- the Earp's and Holliday and the Clanton,s and McLowry’s?"
"I heard Tom McLowry say, ‘I haven’t got any arms."
“Where were you at that time?” Tom Fitch asked.
“I was standing about ten feet away, in front of Fly’s building.”
“When Tom McLowry said he hadn’t any arms, did he make any kind of gesture or movement?”
“He held the lapels of his coat open.”
"Did anyone other than Tom McLowry say anything?"
"Billy Clanton held up his hands and said, 'I don't want to fight."'
Doc nudged Wyatt and whispered, "Allen just said Billy Clanton held up his hands. Like hell he did. He was holding a six gun and was pointing it at either you or Virg."
Wyatt nodded and pointed to himself.
Tom Fitch stared at the witness. "Did you see the first shot -- who fired it?"
"The first shot came from the Earp party, the smoke came from Doc Holliday."
"I don't understand." Tom Fitch looked directly into Allen's eyes. "Are you saying Doc Holliday fired the first shot?"
"Well, I saw Doc swing his hand up and then I saw the smoke come from him and hearing the shot and seeing the smoke I just think it came from the Earp party."
"But you did not see Doc Holliday fire the first shot. You just think because some smoke swirled around at that time that it was Doc Holliday who fired the shot. You were behind the Earp party and couldn't see a thing. Maybe it was Billy Clanton that fired the first shot." Tom Fitch then said neutrally, "Who fired the second shot?"
"I did not see it, but I know from the sound that the second shot was fired from a shotgun. When the shotgun went off, Tom McLowry threw his hands up to his breast."
"What did you do when the firing commenced?"
"I ducked between the buildings, I got out of the way, quick!"
Wyatt turned to Doc. "Sounds to me like he used pretty good gumption, ducking in between the buildings."
"He might duck well, but he can't count for beans." Doc grinned. "If I'd fired the Parker when he said I did, the horse would have caught the buckshot, not Tom. And something else, Tom had already fired at Morg and was lining up another shot when I unloaded on him."
Tom Fitch softened his approach and gently said, "Now, when you were back on Allen Street with Mr. Coleman. You say he walked away and gestured you to come along and you said, 'I don't want to see it."' Then the attorney snapped. "You didn’t want to see what?"
"I didn't want to see the quarrel, I knew there would be one."
"Quarrel?" Tom Fitch said mockingly. "No. It was not a quarrel you were concerned about. There was to be a gunfight and you were privy to that information. You knew the cowboy's plans didn't you?"
"I object. I strenuously object, Your Honor." The district attorney blurted out, "Mr. Fitch is badgering the witness."
"Calm down, Mr. Price." The judge gestured toward the overwrought attorney. "Objection sustained. Mr. Risley, strike Mr. Fitch's last remark from the record."
Tom Fitch grinned. "I have no further questions for this witness, Your Honor.”
Excerpts from Judge Spicer's hearing. (To be continued).
Jekyll Island Club Part 2
The charter members of the club didn't want a palatial and socially suffocating Newport. As a matter of fact a few years later when Palm Beach was in it infancy they scoffed at the p retention of it.
What the members wanted was a place to get away from the rigors of the business world.
Originally the Jekyll Island Club was a hunting club. They imported English phesants and legend has it that Italy sent them several dozen wild boar. The island already had turkey's, deer, alligators, spiders, snakes, scorpions, ticks and an especially pesky bug called the sand fly.
There were no roads across the great salt marsh that shields Jekyll Island from the outside world and it was just as well because that's the way the millionaires wanted it. At both ends of the island were posted armed guards and patrol boats on the river kept out strangers.
On March 20, 1899 President McKinley arrived on the island to enlist the millionaires support for his reelection. He arrived as a guest, but because the president was not a member of the club he was considered a stranger to the island. And according to strict club rules the president could only stay two weeks.
Few Georgians even knew McKinley was in the state, although one of men he talked to was Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of a chain of very influential newspapers. Of course Pulitzer kept his mouth shut because of another club rule forbidding any personal or hard news from leaving the island.
The members desire to socialize only among themselves did not necessarily mean that they were always friendly toward one another
These were powerful men and they had powerful enemies. One member that William Rockefeller absolutely detested was his next door neighbor John Pierpont Morgan, and Mr. Rockefeller didn't care too much for his son junior either.
But all in all the millionaires got along with about the same level of acrimony as any other large family.
There was a beautiful inter faith chapel where the members worshiped, gave their children in marriage and they had at least one funeral. Two English bus boys were drowned in the surf and they were buried on the island.
Probably the most valuable treasure left over from the millionaires era were two stained glass windows in the chapel. One was crafted and signed by Louis Tiffany and the other was done by Maitland Armstrong. They were stunning pieces of art given to the club by members and are considered priceless.
But even with that beautiful chapel and its stained glass windows social life on Jekyll did not center around the church. Most social intercourse between the millionaires and their families centered around the bridge table, club house, billiard room or a stroll through the gardens. Talks in the parlor were about children, servants, friends and fashions.
But despite the informality of life on the island a sense of money was always present. And to put that into perspective, we are reminded that a number of the members of the Jekyll Island Club would also play a psrt in the founding of The Federal Reserve Bank
(To be continued)
Writers Notebook:
Inside the front flap of my writer’s notebook are several notes and among them is one that always makes me stop and think.
‘What is the single most important piece of advice you’ve ever gotten about writing?’
I’m not quite sure, but this note contained in that same flap is high on the list. Stephen King once said, ‘I write about four hours a day – first draft – just write. Let it all hang out – don’t stop for misspelled words – punctuation – nothing. Let the passion and heat of the moment take charge. And don’t rewrite that same day. Write in am and rewrite in pm – no, no, no. Leave it alone, at least overnight.’
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://TheHurricaneHunter.blogspot.com
Doc Holliday, Jekyll Island, Ghosts and Legends
Continue Excerpts of the Spicer Hearing...
Wednesday, November 2, 1881
To open the afternoon session District Attorney Price summoned Sheriff Johnny Behan to the stand. Everyone in the courtroom knew where the sheriff stood. He was a politician and when it came to a court of law he could tap dance around an issue with the best of them.
Once the sheriff settled into the witness chair Price asked, "When were you first made aware of a possible difficulty on the afternoon of October 26th?”
“I was in the barbershop when I heard there might be trouble with armed cowboys,” Sheriff Behan said, “and I took it upon myself to disarm the men."
"How did you go about disarming the cowboys?"
"I first ran into Frank McLowry, and told him he had to disarm, there is likely to be trouble and I've proposed to disarm everyone in town that has arms. He said that he would not give up his arms, as he did not intend to have any trouble. About that time I saw Ike Clanton and Tom McLowry down the street. I said to Frank, come along with me. We went down to where Ike and Tom were standing. I said to the boys, you must give up your arms."
"How many men were in that group?" Price asked.
"I saw five standing there and asked them how many there were of them. They said four of us. The young man Claiborne said he was not one of the party. He wanted them to leave town. I saw the Earp's and Holliday coming down the sidewalk on the south side of Fremont Street. I said to the Clanton's. Wait here I see them coming and I'll go up and stop them."
“Then what did you do?”
"I went up the street and met them at Bauer’s butcher shop and told them not to go any further, that I was down there for the purpose of arresting and disarming the McLowry's and Clanton's. They did not heed me and I threw up my hands and said, "Go back. I'm Sheriff of this county and I'm not going to allow any trouble, if I can help it."
Then the witness shook his head and gave an embarrassed sigh. "They brushed past me. Then I turned and followed them by a couple of steps. When they got to within a few feet of the Clanton's and McLowry’s I heard one of them say, I think it was Wyatt Earp, ‘You sons-a-bitch’s you’ve been looking for a fight and now you can have it.’ About that time I heard a voice say throw up your hands. At that point I noticed a nickel plated pistol pointed at one of the Clanton party, I think Billy Clanton."
"Could you say with any certainty, who was holding the nickel plated pistol?"
"My impression, at that time, was that Holliday had the nickel plated pistol. I will not say for certain,” he added. “When the order was given, throw up your hands, I heard Billy Clanton say, ‘don’t shoot me, I don't want to fight.” Tom McLowry at the same time threw opened his coat and said, ‘I have nothing. Or I'm not armed.’"
"What was the position of Billy Clanton's hands, at that point?"
"I couldn't tell the position of Billy Clanton's hands at the time he said, ‘I don’t what a fight’, my attention was directed just at that moment to the nickel plated pistol."
"Who fired the first shot?"
"The nickel plated pistol was first to fire and another followed instantly."
"Both from the nickel plated pistol?"
"No. Those two shots were not from the same pistol, they were too nearly instantaneous to be fired from the same weapon."
"What happened after the second shot was fired?"
"All hell broke loose." The sheriff mopped his brow. "Two or three shots fired rapidly after that first shot."
"Who fired those shots?"
"By whom, I do not know." Behan cleared his throat. "The first two shots were fired by the Earp party."
“I have no further questions at this time, Your Honor."
When Judge Spicer adjourned court for the day the defense team stayed in their seats to discuss the day’s proceedings.
Doc picked up one of his notes. “Here’s something Behan said near Bauer’s Butcher Shop, which he conveniently left out of his testimony. I can recall him saying, ‘don’t go down there, they will murder you.’”
Wyatt perked up. “Damned if he didn’t say that, Doc. He sure as hell did.”
T.J. Drum said, “Good point but I doubt that we could prove it. Behan’s pretty slick with his answers. You might have noticed that he did not say that the cowboy’s hands were in any kind of position to surrender. He avoided that lie by simply saying that his attention was on the nickel-plated pistol.”
Excerpts from Judge Spicer's hearing. (To be continued)
The Jekyll Island Club Part 3
A central bank system, later called the Federal Reserve, didn't crop up over night. Bank failures and panics in 1873, 1893 and again in 1907 brought the problen to a head. In the fall of 1907 the United States was in a rescession and there were runs on several banks across the country with depositors demanding their money. A run on the Knickerbocker Trust Company in New York got everyones attention and forced the banking industry to look at the problem. After anslyzing the situation, industry leaders realized that there was no lender of last resort. When an individual bank got in trouble there was no one to turn to.
Once the problem was identified several banking leaders including Jekyll Island Club members George F. Barker, President of the First National Bank, and James Stillman, President of National City Bank met with fellow member J. Pierpont Morgan and began examining the assets of the troubled institutions. In short order a decision was made to offer loans to any of the banks that could show that they were solvent. And with a little help from the Treasury Department the banking community skated through the 1907 panic without a disaster.
However in 1908 Congress established a National Monetary Commission to oversee the banking community. That was only a temporary measure and another group was formed consisting of the chiefs of major corporations and banks that began to formulate a new policy that would be similar to a central bank. The group worked in secrete but eventually they needed a large, out of the way, facility that would make it less likely for anyone to leak the group plans before they had a chance to work out the details and have a working model that could stand up to scrutiny.
The Jekyll Island Club was chosen because it was isolated enough, and had meeting rooms and sufficient office space for small groups to do their work.
The main group, ostensibly heading off on a hunting trip, boarded a train at Hoboken, New Jersey and traveled south to Brunswick, Georgia. They were then taken by boat to the island.
The National Monetary Commission had laid the ground work for the banking and currency legislation, which the Jekyll Island group would use as the foundation on which to write the new banking law.
It took the men only ten days to work out the details.
The plan would then be presented to the congress as the completed work of the National Monetary Commission.
The reason for all the secrecy was that it was imperative that the true authors of the bill remain anonymous because of the overpowering resentment of the public toward bankers, and at that point no congressman would dare vote for a bill bearing a banking industry or Wall Street label, no matter how much they might have contributed to his campaign.
In truth the Jekyll Island plan was a Central Bank plan and in America there was a long tradition of struggle against any Central Bank. That thinking goes back to Thomas Jefferson's thoughts on the matter and his arguments against Alexander Hamilton's scheme for the First Bank of the United States.
In any event, no matter which side of the Federal Reserve argument you take, it is still very much a part of the Jekyll Island Club's legacy.
The millionaires would hardly recognize their island today, there is a large retirement community on the island and summer homes occupy the land where sand dunes use to be. Streets had been laid out before ecologist realized that the dunes kept the beaches in place. Acres of dunes were scraped off to provide land for motels with views of the ocean. Steps are now being taken to prevent any further man made erosion and newer property owners are required to protect native vegetation and the gnarled trees, which are rooted in the sand and help to stabilize the barrier against sea and storm.
New state laws also protect the delicate salt marshes where so much of the fish life in Georgia's off shore waters spawn. Those laws also protect the alligator as well as wild turkeys that meander through the deep wood and the deer that feed at night on the grass of the island's golf courses.
The Jekyll Island Club was the most exclusive club ever known, one hundred of the worlds wealthiest men quartered on an island nine miles long and one mile wide.
The club lasted for about sixty years and that was quite a long time in a society where fade and whim were common place.
The Jekyll Island club as an organization colsed its operation in the early days of World War II and the island was purchased by the state of Georgia in 1947. The clubhouse still remains as well as some thirty cottages.
You can visit the island today and enjoy it's natural beauty and while you're there you might also hear a few ghost stories. The Georgia coast is peppered with islands and they all have their favorite ghost stories and legends. Among them are Cumberland, Sapelo, Saint Simons and Jekyll. The iron kettle off the deck of the Wanderer, a few haunted millionaires cottages and just across the sound on the southwest side of Saint Simons Island is the place where the famous ' Legend of Ebo Landing,' got it's name.
Writers Notebook:
The word has the strength of a bulldog, genius is guided by it, no difficult task was ever accomplished without a touch of tenacity. None of the following slogans mention the word but in each case tenacity was a silent partner.
'It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.' Albert Einstein
'Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to always try one more time.' Thomas Edison
'If people knew how hard I have had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem wonderful at all.' Michelangelo
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://TheHurricaneHunter.blogspot.com
.
Wednesday, November 2, 1881
To open the afternoon session District Attorney Price summoned Sheriff Johnny Behan to the stand. Everyone in the courtroom knew where the sheriff stood. He was a politician and when it came to a court of law he could tap dance around an issue with the best of them.
Once the sheriff settled into the witness chair Price asked, "When were you first made aware of a possible difficulty on the afternoon of October 26th?”
“I was in the barbershop when I heard there might be trouble with armed cowboys,” Sheriff Behan said, “and I took it upon myself to disarm the men."
"How did you go about disarming the cowboys?"
"I first ran into Frank McLowry, and told him he had to disarm, there is likely to be trouble and I've proposed to disarm everyone in town that has arms. He said that he would not give up his arms, as he did not intend to have any trouble. About that time I saw Ike Clanton and Tom McLowry down the street. I said to Frank, come along with me. We went down to where Ike and Tom were standing. I said to the boys, you must give up your arms."
"How many men were in that group?" Price asked.
"I saw five standing there and asked them how many there were of them. They said four of us. The young man Claiborne said he was not one of the party. He wanted them to leave town. I saw the Earp's and Holliday coming down the sidewalk on the south side of Fremont Street. I said to the Clanton's. Wait here I see them coming and I'll go up and stop them."
“Then what did you do?”
"I went up the street and met them at Bauer’s butcher shop and told them not to go any further, that I was down there for the purpose of arresting and disarming the McLowry's and Clanton's. They did not heed me and I threw up my hands and said, "Go back. I'm Sheriff of this county and I'm not going to allow any trouble, if I can help it."
Then the witness shook his head and gave an embarrassed sigh. "They brushed past me. Then I turned and followed them by a couple of steps. When they got to within a few feet of the Clanton's and McLowry’s I heard one of them say, I think it was Wyatt Earp, ‘You sons-a-bitch’s you’ve been looking for a fight and now you can have it.’ About that time I heard a voice say throw up your hands. At that point I noticed a nickel plated pistol pointed at one of the Clanton party, I think Billy Clanton."
"Could you say with any certainty, who was holding the nickel plated pistol?"
"My impression, at that time, was that Holliday had the nickel plated pistol. I will not say for certain,” he added. “When the order was given, throw up your hands, I heard Billy Clanton say, ‘don’t shoot me, I don't want to fight.” Tom McLowry at the same time threw opened his coat and said, ‘I have nothing. Or I'm not armed.’"
"What was the position of Billy Clanton's hands, at that point?"
"I couldn't tell the position of Billy Clanton's hands at the time he said, ‘I don’t what a fight’, my attention was directed just at that moment to the nickel plated pistol."
"Who fired the first shot?"
"The nickel plated pistol was first to fire and another followed instantly."
"Both from the nickel plated pistol?"
"No. Those two shots were not from the same pistol, they were too nearly instantaneous to be fired from the same weapon."
"What happened after the second shot was fired?"
"All hell broke loose." The sheriff mopped his brow. "Two or three shots fired rapidly after that first shot."
"Who fired those shots?"
"By whom, I do not know." Behan cleared his throat. "The first two shots were fired by the Earp party."
“I have no further questions at this time, Your Honor."
When Judge Spicer adjourned court for the day the defense team stayed in their seats to discuss the day’s proceedings.
Doc picked up one of his notes. “Here’s something Behan said near Bauer’s Butcher Shop, which he conveniently left out of his testimony. I can recall him saying, ‘don’t go down there, they will murder you.’”
Wyatt perked up. “Damned if he didn’t say that, Doc. He sure as hell did.”
T.J. Drum said, “Good point but I doubt that we could prove it. Behan’s pretty slick with his answers. You might have noticed that he did not say that the cowboy’s hands were in any kind of position to surrender. He avoided that lie by simply saying that his attention was on the nickel-plated pistol.”
Excerpts from Judge Spicer's hearing. (To be continued)
The Jekyll Island Club Part 3
A central bank system, later called the Federal Reserve, didn't crop up over night. Bank failures and panics in 1873, 1893 and again in 1907 brought the problen to a head. In the fall of 1907 the United States was in a rescession and there were runs on several banks across the country with depositors demanding their money. A run on the Knickerbocker Trust Company in New York got everyones attention and forced the banking industry to look at the problem. After anslyzing the situation, industry leaders realized that there was no lender of last resort. When an individual bank got in trouble there was no one to turn to.
Once the problem was identified several banking leaders including Jekyll Island Club members George F. Barker, President of the First National Bank, and James Stillman, President of National City Bank met with fellow member J. Pierpont Morgan and began examining the assets of the troubled institutions. In short order a decision was made to offer loans to any of the banks that could show that they were solvent. And with a little help from the Treasury Department the banking community skated through the 1907 panic without a disaster.
However in 1908 Congress established a National Monetary Commission to oversee the banking community. That was only a temporary measure and another group was formed consisting of the chiefs of major corporations and banks that began to formulate a new policy that would be similar to a central bank. The group worked in secrete but eventually they needed a large, out of the way, facility that would make it less likely for anyone to leak the group plans before they had a chance to work out the details and have a working model that could stand up to scrutiny.
The Jekyll Island Club was chosen because it was isolated enough, and had meeting rooms and sufficient office space for small groups to do their work.
The main group, ostensibly heading off on a hunting trip, boarded a train at Hoboken, New Jersey and traveled south to Brunswick, Georgia. They were then taken by boat to the island.
The National Monetary Commission had laid the ground work for the banking and currency legislation, which the Jekyll Island group would use as the foundation on which to write the new banking law.
It took the men only ten days to work out the details.
The plan would then be presented to the congress as the completed work of the National Monetary Commission.
The reason for all the secrecy was that it was imperative that the true authors of the bill remain anonymous because of the overpowering resentment of the public toward bankers, and at that point no congressman would dare vote for a bill bearing a banking industry or Wall Street label, no matter how much they might have contributed to his campaign.
In truth the Jekyll Island plan was a Central Bank plan and in America there was a long tradition of struggle against any Central Bank. That thinking goes back to Thomas Jefferson's thoughts on the matter and his arguments against Alexander Hamilton's scheme for the First Bank of the United States.
In any event, no matter which side of the Federal Reserve argument you take, it is still very much a part of the Jekyll Island Club's legacy.
The millionaires would hardly recognize their island today, there is a large retirement community on the island and summer homes occupy the land where sand dunes use to be. Streets had been laid out before ecologist realized that the dunes kept the beaches in place. Acres of dunes were scraped off to provide land for motels with views of the ocean. Steps are now being taken to prevent any further man made erosion and newer property owners are required to protect native vegetation and the gnarled trees, which are rooted in the sand and help to stabilize the barrier against sea and storm.
New state laws also protect the delicate salt marshes where so much of the fish life in Georgia's off shore waters spawn. Those laws also protect the alligator as well as wild turkeys that meander through the deep wood and the deer that feed at night on the grass of the island's golf courses.
The Jekyll Island Club was the most exclusive club ever known, one hundred of the worlds wealthiest men quartered on an island nine miles long and one mile wide.
The club lasted for about sixty years and that was quite a long time in a society where fade and whim were common place.
The Jekyll Island club as an organization colsed its operation in the early days of World War II and the island was purchased by the state of Georgia in 1947. The clubhouse still remains as well as some thirty cottages.
You can visit the island today and enjoy it's natural beauty and while you're there you might also hear a few ghost stories. The Georgia coast is peppered with islands and they all have their favorite ghost stories and legends. Among them are Cumberland, Sapelo, Saint Simons and Jekyll. The iron kettle off the deck of the Wanderer, a few haunted millionaires cottages and just across the sound on the southwest side of Saint Simons Island is the place where the famous ' Legend of Ebo Landing,' got it's name.
Writers Notebook:
The word has the strength of a bulldog, genius is guided by it, no difficult task was ever accomplished without a touch of tenacity. None of the following slogans mention the word but in each case tenacity was a silent partner.
'It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.' Albert Einstein
'Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to always try one more time.' Thomas Edison
'If people knew how hard I have had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem wonderful at all.' Michelangelo
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://TheHurricaneHunter.blogspot.com
.
Tom's 'RocktheTower' Blog
I do a variety blog and post every Wednesday. I am an actor, writer and hurricane hunter and my subjects are generally written about those fields. During Hurricane Season I do at least one story every
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