The James Logan Courier

From wikipedia:
Rex Elvie Allen (December 31, 1920 – December 17, 1999) was an American film actor, singer and songwriter who is particularly known as the narrator in many Walt Disney nature and Western productions. For contributions to the recording industry, Rex Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Allen was born to Horace E. Allen and Luella Faye Clark on a ranch in Mud Springs Canyon, 40 miles from Willcox, Arizona. As a boy he played guitar and sang at local functions with his fiddle-playing father until high school graduation when he toured the Southwest as a rodeo rider. He got his start in show business on the East Coast as a vaudeville singer, then found work in Chicago as a performer on the WLS-AM program, National Barn Dance. In 1948 he signed with Mercury Records where he recorded a number of successful country music albums until 1952 when he switched to the Decca label where he continued to make records into the 1970s. He also recorded one album for Buena Vista (Disney, pictured) in the 1960s, although sources vary on the date of issue.

Read an interview with Rex Allen, free from classicmovies.org.

From wikipedia:
John White Geary (December 30, 1819 – February 8, 1873) was an American lawyer, politician, and a Union general in the American Civil War. He was the final alcalde and first mayor of San Francisco, California, and the governor of the Kansas Territory and Pennsylvania.

Geary was born in near Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, in Westmoreland County, the son of Richard Geary, an ironmaster and schoolmaster, and Margaret White, a native of Maryland. Starting at the age of 14, he attended Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, studying civil engineering and law, but was forced to leave before graduation due to the death of his father, whose debts he assumed. He worked at a variety of jobs, including as a surveyor and land speculator in Kentucky, earning enough to return to college and graduate in 1841. He worked as a construction engineer for the Allegheny Portage Railroad. In 1843, he married Margaret Ann Logan, with whom he had several sons, but she died in 1853. Geary then married the widowed Mary Church Henderson in 1858 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.


Read Message of his excellency John W. Geary to the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, January 8, 1873, free from the Internet Archive.

Madame de Pompadour (December 29, 1721 – April 15, 1764) was a well known courtesan and the famous mistress of King Louis XV of France.


Madame de Pompadour was born as Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson on December 29, 1721 in Paris. It is suspected that her biological father was the rich financier Le Normant de Tournehem, who became her legal guardian when her official father was forced to leave the country in 1725 after a scandal and she lived with her mother and sister. Her younger brother was Abel-François Poisson de Vandières (who would later become the Marquis de Marigny). She was intelligent, beautiful, and educated; she also learned to dance, engrave and play the clavichord.

She was married in 1741 (at the age of 19) to Charles-Guillaume Le Normant d'Etiolles, nephew of her guardian. With him, she had two children, a boy who died the year after his birth in 1741, and Alexandrine-Jeanne, born August 10, 1744, and nicknamed "Fanfan."

For more about Madame de Pompadour, visit http://www.madamedepompadour.com/

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Posted by courier at 12:24 AM. Filed under: In Quotes

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From wikipedia:
John Molson (December 28, 1763 – January 11, 1836) was an English-speaking Quebecker who was a major brewer and entrepreneur in Canada, starting the Molson Brewing Company.

Birth and early Life
In 1763, John Molson was born in the village of Moulton near Spalding, Lincolnshire, England. His mother was Mary Elsdale, eldest daughter of Samuel Elsdale of Surfleet. She married John Molson Sr. in 1760. Her brother, Robinson Elsdale, was a celebrated privateer, whose unpublished exploits formed the basis of Frederick Marryat's novel The Privateersman (1846). About two weeks before the marriage, John Molson Sr. inherited a property known as Snake Hall, which consisted of a home and various outbuildings associated with 38 acres (15 ha) of land.

Read more about John Molson at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography online.

From wikipedia:
Jean Toomer (December 26, 1894–March 30, 1967) was an American poet and novelist and an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance.

Born Nathan Pinchback Toomer in Washington, D.C., mixed racial and ethnic descent (Dutch, French, Native American, African-American, Welsh, German, Jewish). His parents were Nathan Toomer and Nina Pinchback. His maternal grandfather was Louisiana Governor P. B. S. Pinchback, the first African American to become Governor of a U.S. state. He spent his childhood attending both all-white and all-black segregated schools. In his early years, Toomer resisted racial classifications and wished to be identified only as an American after going to an all-black school in Washington D.C., then an all-white school in New Rochelle N.Y., then an all-black school in Washington D.C. again.

Read examples of Jean Toomer's writings, free from the Department of English, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

From wikipedia:
Isidor Feinstein Stone (December 24, 1907 – June 18, 1989; born Isidor Feinstein, better known as I. F. Stone and Izzy Stone) was an iconoclastic American investigative journalist.He is best remembered for his self-published newsletter, I. F. Stone's Weekly which was ranked 16th in a poll of his fellow journalists of "The Top 100 Works of Journalism in the United States in the 20th Century".

Stone was born Isidor Feinstein in Philadelphia. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants who owned a store in Haddonfield, New Jersey. His sister is journalist and film critic Judy Stone. He studied philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, and as a student he wrote for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Visit the I.F. Stone website.

From wikipedia:
Norman Fitzroy Maclean (23 December 1902 in Clarinda, Iowa — 2 August 1990 in Chicago, Illinois) was an American author and scholar most noted for his books A River Runs Through It and Other Stories (1976) and Young Men and Fire (1992).

Born in Clarinda, Iowa on 23 December 1902, Maclean was the son of the Rev. John Maclean, a Scottish Presbyterian minister, who managed much of the education of the young Norman and his brother Paul until 1913. The family relocated to Missoula, Montana in 1909. The following years were a considerable influence on and inspiration to his writings, appearing prominently in the short story The Woods, Books, and Truant Officers (1977), and semi-autobiographical novella A River Runs Through It (1976).

Read excerpts of Norman Maclean's work, free from the University of Chicago Press.

From wikipedia:
Deems Taylor (born Joseph Taylor) (December 22, 1885 - July 3, 1966) was a U.S. composer, music critic, and promoter of classical music.

Taylor was born in New York City and educated at New York University (NYU). He initially planned to become an architect; however, despite minimal musical training he soon took to music composition. The result was a series of works for orchestra and/or voices. In 1916 he wrote the cantata The Chambered Nautilus, followed by Through the Looking-Glass (for orchestra) in 1918, earning him public praise and recognition.

Read selections from Deems Taylor: selected writings, by Deems Taylor and James A. Pegolotti, from Google Books.

Politician, novelist and bon viveur, Benjamin Disraeli was a man with many interests. He was born December 21, 1804 in Bedford Row, London. In 1837, he became Prime Minister of England and held the job for nearly seven years. He died April 19, 1881 at Curzon Street, London.

Read Benjamin Disraeli's Endymion,< one of 18 of his works available free from Project Gutenberg.

Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 - December 9, 1965) was an innovative Major League Baseball executive best known for two things: breaking baseball's color barrier by signing the African-American player Jackie Robinson, and later drafting the first Hispanic superstar, Roberto Clemente; and creating the framework to the modern minor league farm system. His many achievements, and somewhat theatrical religiosity, earned him the nickname "The Mahatma".

Read Goodby to Some Old Baseball Ideas by Branch Rickey, free from baseballthinkfactory.org.


1914 E145 Crackerjack Branch Rickey Card

From wikipedia:
Minnie Maddern Fiske (Mrs. Fiske) (December 19, 1865 – February 15, 1932), was one of the leading American actresses of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. She also spearheaded the fight against the Theatrical Syndicate for the sake of artistic freedom.

Read Mrs. Fiske: Her Views on Actors, Acting and the Problems of Production, an interview recorded and transcribed by Alexander Woolcott, free from the Open Collections Program at Harvard University.

From wikipedia:
Graciano López y Jaena (December 18, 1856 - January 20, 1896[1]), was a Filipino writer and journalist in the Philippine Revolution. He was recognized as the "Prince of Filipino Orators" who wrote great and striking articles in the infamous newspaper La Solidaridad in Barcelona, Spain.

López Jaena was born in Jaro, Iloilo to Placido López and María Jacoba Jaena. His parents were poor, as his mother was a seamstress and his father a general repairman. At the age of six, López Jaena was placed under the care of Friar Francisco Jayme who raised him.

Read more about Graciano Lopez Jaena, free from the Aklan Forum Journal.

From wikipedia:
Erskine Preston Caldwell (December 17, 1903, Coweta County, Georgia – April 11, 1987) was an American author.

Caldwell was born in a house in the woods outside Moreland, Georgia, the son of a minister in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. His early childhood was spent moving from state to state across the South, as his father found a position in one church after another.

Visit the Erskine Caldwell birthplace and museum website.

From wikipedia:
Elizabeth Carter (December 16, 1717 – February 19, 1806) was a poet, classicist, writer and translator, and a prominent and learned member of the Bluestocking Circle.

Born in Deal, Kent, she was the daughter of a clergyman whose parish was in the town - her redbrick family home can still be seen at the junction of South Street and Middle Street, close to the seafront. Encouraged by her father to study, she mastered several modern and ancient languages (including Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic) and science. She rendered into English De Crousaz's Examen de l'essai de Monsieur Pope sur l'homme (Examination of Mr Pope's "An Essay on Man", two volumes, 1739); Algarotti's Newtonianismo per le donne (Newtonianism for women); the Discourses of Epictetus 1758; and wrote a small volume of poems.

See paintings of Elizabeth Carter, free from the National Portrait Gallery.

From wikipedia:
Margaret Chase Smith (December 14, 1897 – May 29, 1995) was a Republican Senator from Maine, and one of the most successful politicians in Maine history. She was the first woman to be elected to both the U.S. House and the Senate, and the first woman from Maine to serve in either. She was also the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for the U.S. Presidency at a major party's convention (1964 Republican Convention, won by Barry Goldwater). She was a moderate Republican, included with those known as Rockefeller Republicans. When she left office, Smith had the record as the longest-serving female senator in United States history, ranking 11th in seniority among the members of the Senate, a distinction that has not been surpassed.

Listen to Margaret Chase Smith's speech, A Declaration of Conscience, free from AmericanRhetoric.com.

From wikipedia:
Robert Plot (13 December 1640 – April 30, 1696) was an English naturalist, first Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum.

Born in Borden, Kent, he was educated and subsequently taught at Magdalen Hall, Oxford before moving to University College in 1676. He was a mature commoner at University College and donated a statue of King Alfred to the College (erroneously believed to be the founder of the College).

Read more about Robert Plot.

Henry Wells (December 12, 1805 – December 10, 1878) was an American businessman important in the history of both the American Express Company and Wells Fargo & Company.

Henry Wells was born in 1805 in Thetford, Vermont, the son of Shepley Wells, a Presbyterian minister who moved his family to central New York State in the westward migration of Yankees out of New England. As a child, Henry worked on a farm and attended school in Fayette. In 1822 he was apprenticed to Jessup & Palmer, tanners and shoemakers at Palmyra, New York.

Read more about Henry Wells, free from wellsfargohistory.com.

From wikipedia:
Kamehameha V (1830–1872), born as Lot Kapuāiwa, reigned as monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi from 1863 to 1872. He was born 11 December 1830 , and died on his 42nd birthday 11 December 1872. His motto was "Onipa`a": immovable, firm, steadfast or determined; he worked diligently for his people and kingdom and was described as the last great chief of the olden type, like his grandfather Kamehameha I. His full Hawaiian name prior to his succession was Lota Liholiho Kapuāiwa Kalanimakua Kalanikapuapaikalaninui Ali`iolani Kalani-a-Kekūanaō‘a.

Read "Ali`iolani" - Mele Inoa for Kamehameha V, free from huapala.org.

From wikipedia:
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (10 December 1815, London – 27 November 1852, Marylebone, London), born Augusta Ada Byron, was the only legitimate child of poet Lord Byron. She is widely known in modern times simply as Ada Lovelace.

She is mainly known for having written a description of Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine. She is today appreciated as the "first programmer" since she was writing programs—that is, encoding an algorithm in a form to be processed by a machine—for a machine that Babbage had not yet built. She also foresaw the capability of computers to go beyond mere calculating or number-crunching while others, including Babbage himself, focused only on these capabilities.

Listen to a BBC radio program about Ada Lovelace.

From wikipedia:
Clarence Frank Birdseye II (December 9, 1886 – October 7, 1956) was an American inventor who is considered the founder of the modern frozen food industry.

Birdseye was born in Brooklyn in New York City. While a student at Amherst College, Birdseye worked as a field naturalist for the Unites States government in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana in order to help pay for his tuition. In the summers of 1910 and 1911, he captured several hundred small mammals and isolated several thousand ticks for research into the cause of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. His next field assignment, off and on from 1912 to 1915, was in Labrador, Canada, where he became further interested in food preservation by freezing, especially fast freezeing. He was taught by the Inuit how to ice fish under very thick ice. In -40°C weather, he discovered that the fish he caught froze almost instantly, and when thawed, tasted fresh. He recognized immediately that the frozen seafood sold in New York was of lower quality than the frozen fish of Labrador, and saw that applying this knowledge would be lucrative.

Learn more about Clarence Birdseye from www.birdseyefoods.com.

From wikipedia:
Potter Stewart (January 23, 1915 – December 7, 1985) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Education
Stewart was born in Jackson, Michigan while his family was on vacation. His father, James G. Stewart, was a prominent Republican from Cincinnati, Ohio. His father served as Mayor of Cincinnati for seven years and was later a judge on the Ohio Supreme Court.

Read more about Justice Potter Stewart at michaelariens.com.

From wikipedia:
Ira Gershwin (6 December 1896 – 17 August 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century.

Watch singer Michael Feinstein sing a Gershwin song, free from youtube.com

From wikipedia:
Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English poet, who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems. She is best known for her long poem Goblin Market, her love poem "Remember", and for the words of what became the popular Christmas carol "In the Bleak Midwinter".

Read Christina Rossetti's works, free from Project Gutenberg.

From wikipedia:
Lillian Russell (December 4, 1860 – June 6, 1922) was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th century and early 20th century, known for her beauty and style, as well as for her voice and stage presence.

Russell was born in Iowa but raised in Chicago. Her parents separated when she was eighteen, and she moved to New York with her mother. She quickly began to perform professionally, singing for Tony Pastor and playing roles in comic opera, including Gilbert and Sullivan works. She married composer Edward Solomon in 1884 and created roles in several of his operas in London, but in 1886 he was arrested for bigamy. Russell was married four times, but her longest relationship was with Diamond Jim Brady, who supported her extravagant lifestyle for four decades.

Hear Lillian Russell sing "Come Down Ma Evening Star," free from the Internet Archive.

MISCELLANEOUS
Air Force recruiters will be in Colt Court during lunch today.

Donate old phones to the Humanitarian Assistance Phone Drive, December 1 to January 10, 2010, and help people with AIDS in Africa. Drop by Colt Court during lunch.

The Cross Country Team Banquet will be December 8th. See Coach Webb for more info.

Julia Ann Moore, the "Sweet Singer of Michigan", born Julia Ann Davis in Plainfield Township, Kent County, Michigan (December 1, 1847–June 5, 1920), was an American poet, or more precisely, poetaster. Like Scotland's William Topaz McGonagall, she is famed chiefly for writing notoriously bad poetry.

Read some of Julia Ann Moore's poems, free from Western Michigan University.