#philander knox

[1900scartoons]

They Didn't Seem To Understand the Old Party - Went at Him Wrong

June 14, 1908

Taft feeds the G.O.P. Elephant Progressive Fodder and Roosevelt Policies. Reactionary candidates, Fairbanks, Knox, and Cannon attempt to feed the elephant's tail Reactionary peanuts.

The caption reads 'the Reactionaries Seem To Have Approached the Elephant the Wrong Way.'

Taft was the clear favorite for the Republican nomination, partially due to his embracing Roosevelt's progressive policies.

See Also: Joe Cannon; Philander Knox; William Howard Taft

From Hennepin County Library

Original available at: https://digitalcollections.hclib.org/digital/collection/Bart/id/6762/rec/1986

[beguines]

The steel industry was distinguished from other industries by a number of factors. The first, of course, was the large size of its plants and the sizable amount of capital invested in each location, something by which virtually every commentator has been struck. As Horace Davis notes, "American steel makers have astonished the world not only by the size of their furnaces and mills but by the way they scrapped an old plant before it was worn out, in order to build a bigger one". In addition, the industry, especially compared with wood, coal, and textiles, was distinguished by the concentration of ownership, which can be seen from Table 4.3. The top ten producers accounted for 84% of the steel capacity in the United States. While U.S. Steel was clearly the dominant firm in the industry, its sway was most important in western Pennsylvania and the Midwest. On the East Coast, it was Bethlehem that had the largest share of production. This horizontal combination was not based exclusively on the technical requirements of the industry. As Davis notes, even relatively smaller producers were sufficiently large and well capitalized to be at the vanguard of technical innovation and productivity in their plants. Rather, it was the need to control the market, prices, and ultimately profits that led to the increased concentration of ownership. The push for this concentration came from the banks and financiers who quite literally controlled the industry. Because of the need for large amounts of investment capital, Morgan financial interests not only controlled U.S. Steel, but had important interests in Bethlehem and other companies. Mellon interests had a major influence on many independents, while Mark Hanna's banking empire had important control over Republic Steel; also in evidence were the fingerprints of financier Cyrus Eaton, who by 1927 had become the major shareholder in the newly reorganized Republic Steel.

There was also little worry that the federal government would find any of these relations a violation of federal anti-trust laws. Some have suggested that capitalist influence on governments in capitalist societies is indirect, a result of societal "logic," not direct or, as they would say pejoratively, "instrumental." Such criticisms are mostly unfounded when one looks at the influence of the steel bourgeoisie: much of the federal government does indeed appear to be, in Marx's words, their "executive committee." Davis examines these ties in detail and they are indeed rather lurid. Philander C. Knox, the U.S. attorney general when U.S. Steel was formed in 1901, was the former chief council for Carnegie Steel Corporation and an intimate of Henry Clay Frick, a prominent USS director. When Knox was replaced (to become secretary of state), it was by George W. Wickersham, previously USS's attorney. Another former attorney for USS, Elihu Root, had preceded Knox as secretary of state. Secretary of the Navy was a position also filled by several former USS officials. When U.S. Steel received a tax rebate of 96 million dollars, it was Pittsburgh steel financier Andrew Mellon who was secretary of the treasury, who okayed the deal, supposedly guarding Americans' taxpayer dollars. These connections are just a titillating sampler. Of course, it is perhaps arguable that these connections were really secondary, and the welfare of USS was just part of the accepted ethos of ruling class America. Such is a legitimate conclusion that one might have drawn when the Supreme Court, in what Davis calls a "coat of judicial whitewash," exonerated USS for anti-​trust violations, the imprimatur being given by the highly liberal judge Oliver Wendell Holmes, whose bleeding heart went out to USS.

The bigger employers controlled a large percentage of the raw material and related product industries. U.S. Steel, for example, dominated most of the Great Lakes ore in the 1930s and more than 10% of the coal resources in the entire country. Certain major companies had their own steel mills, including International Harvester, which owned Wisconsin Steel in Chicago, and Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, which even recycled old automobile parts as scrap in making steel. Thus, the fate of literally millions of workers was controlled by decisions made by banking officials and top managers in steel and steel-​related industries. These companies and officials had the ability to mobilize enormous resources against any challenges to the absolute control of their labor forces.

Michael Goldfield, The Southern Key: Class, Race, and Radicalism in the 1930s and 1940s

[lboogie1906]

Dr. Samuel George Harker Philander (June 25, 1942) is Knox Taylor Professor Emeritus of Geosciences at Princeton University. Born in Caledon, Republic of South Africa, he received his BA from the University of Cape Town and his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Harvard University with a thesis titled “The Equatorial Dynamics of a Homogeneous Ocean.” After completing a year as a fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he spent six years as a research associate in the Geophysics Fluid Dynamics Program at Princeton University where in 1990 he became a professor in the Department of Geosciences.

He has been a visiting professor at the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, a distinguished visiting scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology, a consultant to the World Meteorological Organization in Switzerland, and a trustee of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.

At Princeton, he became chairman of his department in 1994 and served as director of its Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Program. He has been a fellow of the American Meteorological Society and the American Geological Union and he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Among his publications are his books El Niño, La Niña, and the Southern Oscillation, Is the Temperature Rising? The Uncertain Science of Global Warming, and Our Affair With El Niño: How We Transformed an Enchanting Peruvian Current into a Global Climate Hazard. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[chamerionwrites]

TIL about the US senator/Attorney General/Secretary of State named - and this is true - Philander Knox

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 3.4 (after 1900)

1901 – McKinley inaugurated president for second time; Theodore Roosevelt is vice president. 1908 – The Collinwood school fire, Collinwood near Cleveland, Ohio, kills 174 people. 1909 – U.S. President William Taft used what became known as a Saxbe fix, a mechanism to avoid the restriction of the U.S. Constitution's Ineligibility Clause, to appoint Philander C. Knox as U.S. Secretary of State. 1913 – First Balkan War: The Greek army engages the Turks at Bizani, resulting in victory two days later. 1913 – The United States Department of Labor is formed. 1917 – Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives. 1933 – Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd President of the United States. He was the last president to be inaugurated on March 4. 1933 – Frances Perkins becomes United States Secretary of Labor, the first female member of the United States Cabinet. 1933 – The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure – Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates an authoritarian rule by decree. 1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands; the first large scale British Commando raid. 1943 – World War II: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea in the south-west Pacific comes to an end. 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Fardykambos, one of the first major battles between the Greek Resistance and the occupying Royal Italian Army, begins. It ends on 6 March with the surrender of an entire Italian battalion and the liberation of the town of Grevena. 1944 – World War II: After the success of Big Week, the USAAF begins a daylight bombing campaign of Berlin. 1946 – Field Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim, the 6th president of Finland, resigns from his position for health reasons. 1955 – An order to protect the endangered Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis) is legalized. 1957 – The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90. 1960 – The French freighter La Coubre explodes in Havana, Cuba, killing 100. 1962 – A Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 crashes shortly after takeoff from Cameroon, killing 111 – the worst crash of a DC-7. 1966 – A Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-8-43 explodes on landing at Tokyo International Airport, killing 64 people. 1966 – In an interview in the London Evening Standard, The Beatles' John Lennon declares that the band is "more popular than Jesus now". 1970 – French submarine Eurydice explodes underwater, resulting in the loss of the entire 57-man crew. 1976 – The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London by the British parliament. 1977 – The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in eastern and southern Europe kills more than 1,500, mostly in Bucharest, Romania. 1980 – Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister. 1985 – The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for HIV infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States. 1986 – The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Halley's Comet and the first images of its nucleus. 1990 – American basketball player Hank Gathers dies after collapsing during the semifinals of a West Coast Conference tournament game. 1990 – Lennox Sebe, President for life of the South African Bantustan of Ciskei, is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by Brigadier Oupa Gqozo. 1994 – Space Shuttle program: the Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-62. 1996 – A derailed train in Weyauwega, Wisconsin (USA) causes the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days. 1998 – Gay rights: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex. 2001 – BBC bombing: A massive car bomb explodes in front of the BBC Television Centre in London, seriously injuring one person; the attack was attributed to the Real IRA.

[nordleuchten]

24 Days of La Fayette – Day 16: François-Louis Teissèdre de Fleury

Today’s aide-de-camp is François-Louis Teissèdre de Fleury, Marquis de Fleury and son of François Teisseydre de Fleury. He was born in 1749 and first served in the French army as a volunteer from 1768 onwards. In 1772 he was made sous-aide-major in the Rouergue Regiment.

While La Fayette and his group of fellow travelers are certainly among the most famous foreign personal in the continental army, their idea was by no means novel. There were several groups of Frenchman that tried one way or another to join the War in America (and for one reason or another). Fleury was part of such a group - and he was one of the, comparatively speaking, few successful ones.

He was made a Captain of Enginers by the Continental Congress on May 22, 1777 and was awarded 50 Dollar for his travelling expenses. William Heath wrote to George Washington on April 26, 1777:

The Three appear to be Officers of Abilities—They inform me that Mr Dean promised them that their Expences should be born to Philadelphia &c.—I must confess I scarcely know what to do with them, & wish Direction, I have advanced to Col. Conway, as advance pay 150 Dollars to enable him to proceed to Philadelphia—And to Capt. Lewis Fleury 50 Dollars—The latter is engaged as a Capt. Engineer.

“To George Washington from Major General William Heath, 26 April 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 9, 28 March 1777 – 10 June 1777, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999, pp. 277–280.] (12/16/2022)

He was initially assigned to a corps of rifleman but soon got promoted and re-assigned after he fought with distinction at the Battle of Brandywine, where his horse was shot from under him. A Boston newspaper wrote on December 4, 1777:

The Chevalier du Plessis, who is one of General Knox’s Family, had three Balls thro’ his Hat. Young Fleuri’s Horse was killed under him. He shew’d so much Bravery, and was so useful in rallying the Troops, that the Congress have made him a Present of another.

“Extract from a Boston Newspaper, [after 4 December 1777],” Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 25, October 1, 1777, through February 28, 1778, ed. William B. Willcox. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1986, pp. 244–245.] (12/16/2022)

Fleury also participated in the Battle of Germantown, where, in classical La Fayette-fashion, he was wounded in the leg. The General Orders from October 3, 1777 read as follows:

Lewis Fleury Esqr. is appointed Brigade Major to The Count Pulaski, Brigadier General of the Light Dragoons, and is to be respected as such.

“General Orders, 3 October 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 11, 19 August 1777 – 25 October 1777, ed. Philander D. Chase and Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2001, pp. 372–375.] (12/16/2022)

Fleury was ordered to defend Fort Mifflin on November 4, 1777, where he would be engaged in the attack on Fort Mifflin on November 15 of the same year. Fleury was again wounded but even more important, he kept a very detailed journal and his entries from October 15-19 were often cited to illustrate the events surrounding the attack.

Concerning his wounds (and his personal value) Colonel Samuel Smith wrote to George Washington on November 16, 1777:

Major Fleury is hurt but not very much. he is a Treasure that ought not to be lost.

To George Washington from Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Smith, 16 November 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 281–282.] (12/16/2022)

La Fayette became aware of Fleury’s brave conduct and wrote to Henry Laurens on November 18, 1777:

You heard as soon almost as myself of all the interesting niews on the Delaware. The gallant defense of our forts deserves praisespraise and her daughter emulation arethe necessary attendants of an army. I am told that Major Fleury and Captain du Plessis have done theyr duty. It is a pleasant enjoyement for my mind, when some frenchmen behave a la francoise, and I can assure you that everyone who in the defense of our noble cause will show himself worthy of his country shall be mentionned in the most high terms to the king, ministry, and my friends of France when I’l be back in my natal air.

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 1, December 7, 1776–March 30, 1778, Cornell University Press, 1977, pp. 151-153.

George Washington had recommended Fleury and as a result of this recommendation, Fleury was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel on November 26. La Fayette was very much in Fleury’s favour, and he wrote again to Henry Laurens on November 29, 1777:

The bearer of my letter is Mr. de Fleury who was in Fort Miflin, and as he is reccommanded by his excellency I have nothing more to say but that I am very sensible of his good conduct. (…) Mr. de Fleury receives just now the commission of lieutenant colonel, I think he wo’nt go to day to Congress, and I send this letter by one other occasion (…)

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 1, December 7, 1776–March 30, 1778, Cornell University Press, 1977, pp. 160-161.

Fleury was also recommended by Colonel Henry Leonard Philip, Baron d’Arendt, the commander of Fort Mifflin. Arendt wrote to Alexander Hamilton on October 26, 1777:

Col. Smith who is well acquainted with this place, its defence, and my Intentions respecting them, will make every necessary arrangement in my absence to maintain harmony between himself and Colo. [John] Green—I must do him the justice to say that he is a good Officer and I wish America a great many of the same cast. I must render the same justice likewise to Maj. Fleury who is very brave and active.

Notes of “To George Washington from Brigadier General David Forman, 26 October 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 13–16.] (12/16/2022)

George Washington also had something to say about this quarrel between his soldiers. He wrote to James Mitchell Varnum on November 4, 1777:

I thank you for your endeavours to restore confidence between the Comodore & Smith—I find something of the same kind existing between Smith and Monsr Fleury, who I consider as a very valuable Officer. How strange it is that Men, engaged in the same Important Service, should be eternally bickering, instead of giving mutual aid. Officers cannot act upon proper principles who suffer trifles to interpose to create distrust, & jealousy (…)

“From George Washington to Brigadier General James Mitchell Varnum, 4 November 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 128–129.] (12/16/2022)

I do not praise you often, but in this case I will – well said, Sir!

There was no division in the army at the present that Fleury could assume command of and he was therefor appointed sub-inspector under the Baron von Steuben. The General Orders from April 27, 1778 read:

Lieutt Coll Fleury is to act as Sub-Inspector and will attend the Baron Stuben ’till Circumstances shall admit of assigning him a Division of the Army—Each Sub-Inspector is to be attended daily by an Orderly-Serjeant drawn by turns from the Brigades of his own Inspection that the necessary orders may be communicated without delay.

“General Orders, 27 April 1778,” Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 14, 1 March 1778 – 30 April 1778, ed. David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2004, pp. 657–658.] (12/126/2022)

La Fayette, in the meantime, was lobbying for Fleury and other French officers – apparently to a degree or in a way that he later was unwilling to admit. The following passage was removed by the Marquis from a letter to George Washington from January 20, 1778:

I am told that Mullens is to be lieutenant colonel, if it is so, as that the same commission was done for Mssrs. de Fleury and du Plessis who are on every respect so much out of the line of Mullens who being by his birth of the lowest rank, and not so long ago a private soldier, I hope that those gentlemen are to be at least brigadier generals.

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 1, December 7, 1776–March 30, 1778, Cornell University Press, 1977, pp. 238-239.

It was around this time that preparations for the Canadian expedition were made – an expedition under La Fayette’s command that never came into fruition and probably was never really intended to do so. It was here that Fleury was appointed aide-de-camp to La Fayette. Horatio Gates wrote to our Marquis on January 24, 1778:

Congress having thought proper and in compliance with the wishes of this Board, from a Conviction of your Ardent Desire to signalize yourself in the Service of these States, to appoint you to the Command of an Expedition meditated against Montreal it is the Wish of the Board that you would immediately repair to Albany, taking with you Lt. Colo. de Fleury, and such other gallant French officers as you think will be serviceable in an Enterprise in that Quarter. (…)

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 1, December 7, 1776–March 30, 1778, Cornell University Press, 1977, pp. 249-250.

La Fayette in his turn wrote to Henry Laurens on February 4 and on February 7, 1778 respectively to inform him of the proceedings. He also used the opportunity to get a word for Fleury in and to gossip a bit about the same.

There is Lieutenant Colonel Fleury who not only out of my esteem and affection for him but even by a particular reccommandation of the board of war is destinated to follow me to Canada. I schould have desired of Congress every thing or employement which I could have believed more convenient to his wishes, had I not expected to see him before-you know he was upon my list. He desires to be at the head of an independent troop with the rank of Colonel. I do’nt know which will be the intentions of Congress but every thing which can please Mr. de Fleury not only as a frenchman but as a good officer, and as being Mr. de Fleury will be very agreable to me. (…) I have showed to Colonel Fleury the first lines of my letter, in order to let him know my giving willingly the reccommandation he asks for you. You know that gentleman's merit and that Duplessis and himself were made lieutenant colonels as reward of fine actions.

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 1, December 7, 1776–March 30, 1778, Cornell University Press, 1977, pp. 279-280.

You have seen Mr. de Fleury. I fancy entre nous that he will not be satisfied in so high pretensions. He is very unhappy that Mr. Duer is no more in Congress because he is his intimate friend and confident-that will perhaps surprise you.’ Mr. de Fleury is entre nous a fine officer but rather too ambitious. When I say such things I beg you to burn the letters.

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 1, December 7, 1776–March 30, 1778, Cornell University Press, 1977, pp. 282-283.

Henry Laurens replied on February 7, 1778 and his wording at the end especially is quite interesting given La Fayette’s previous letter.

I had the honour this Morning of receiving your Commands by the hands of Lt. Colo. Fleury. This Gentleman notwithstanding the aid of some able advocates in Congress has failed in his pursuit of a Colonel's Commission. You will wonder less, when you learn that the preceeding day I had strove very arduously as second to a warm recommendation from a favorite General, Gates, on behalf of Monsr. Failly, for the same Rank, without effect. The arguments adduced by Gentlemen who have opposed these measures, are strong & obvious. “We are reforming & reducing the Number of Officers in our Army, let us wait the event, & see how our own Native Officers are to be disposed of”-& besides, there is a plan in embrio for abolishing the Class of Colonel in our Army, while the Enemy have none of that Rank in the Field. Some difficulty attended obtaining leave for Monsr. Fleury to follow Your Excellency, Congress were at first of opinion he might be more usefully employed against the shipping in Delaware & formed a Resolve very flattering & tempting to induce him-but his perseverence in petitioning to be sent to Canada, prevailed. Monsr. Fleury strongly hopes Your Excellency will encourage him to raise & give him the Command of a distinct Corps of Canadians. I am persuaded you will adopt all such measures as shall promise advantage to the Service & there is no ground to doubt of your doing every reasonable & proper thing for the gratification & honour of [a] Gentleman of whom Your Excellency speaks & writes so favorably.

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 1, December 7, 1776–March 30, 1778, Cornell University Press, 1977, pp. 284-285.

With the failure of the expedition, Fleury once again longed for an independent command and La Fayette wrote to Charles Lee in June of 1778:

One of the best young french officers in America Mr. de Fleury wishes much to be annexed to the Rifle Corps and is desired by Clel. Morgan.

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 2, April 10, 1778–March 20, 1780, Cornell University Press, 1978, pp. 62-64.

In the end, Fleury was given command of a light infantry battalion on June 15, 1779. The General Orders for that day read as follows:

The sixteen companies of Light-Infantry drafted from the three divisions on this ground are to be divided into four battalions and commanded by the following officers;

4. companies from the Virginia line by Major Posey.

4—ditto from the Pennsylvania line by Lt Colo. Hay.

4—ditto two from each of the aforesaid lines by Lieutenant Colonel Fleury.

“General Orders, 15 June 1779,” Founders Online, National Archives,[Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 21, 1 June–31 July 1779, ed. William M. Ferraro. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, p. 176.] (12/16/2022)

He led his battalion into the attack of Stony Point on July 16, 1779. His conduct was, by all accounts, heroic and George Washington wrote on September 30, 1779:

Colo. Fleury who I expect will have the honour of presenting this lettr. to you, and who acted an important & honourable part in the event, will give you the particulars of the assault & reduction at Stony Point (…) He led one of the columns – struck the colours of the garrison with his own hands – and in all respects behaved with intrepidity & intelligence which marks his conduct upon all occasions.

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 2, April 10, 1778–March 20, 1780, Cornell University Press, 1978, pp. 313-319.

His actions were indeed so gallant that Congress awarded him a silver medal on July 26, 1779. This is indeed quite remarkable since he was the only foreign officer thus honoured. No other foreign officer, not even La Fayette, received such a silver medal during the Revolutionary War.

Fleury obtained a leave of absence from Congress in September of 1779 and left America on November 16. La Fayette was at this time in France as well and was eager to receive a first-hand account from Fleury with respect to political as well as to military matters. Although still in possession of his American commission, Fleury re-entered the French army and was made a Major of the Saintonge Regiment in March of 1780 (this might interest you @acrossthewavesoftime.) A few months later, in July of 1780, he joined General Rochambeau’s expeditionary force. Fleury was one of the French soldiers at the Battle of Yorktown. He left America for good in January of 1783 and sailed from Boston to France. It was only at this point, that he resigned his American commission. In France, he joined the Pondichéry Regiment and was named its Colonel. He was elevated to a maréshal de camp in 1791 and fought in the battle of Mons on April 28-30, 1792. During the retreat, he was wounded for the third time. While his previous injuries were all relative mild, this one appears to have been rather serious. He resigned from the army not long after.

Not much is known about Fleury’s later life, and I have seen drastically different accounts of the time of his death. While some editors of (La Fayette’s) letters/papers have put the date of his death around 1814, it is far more likely that he died in 1799. Fleury never married and there are no known children of his.

François Louis Teisseydre, Marquis de Fleury’s legacy is the De Fleury Medal that is granted to outstanding members of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

[ultralowoxygen]

VFPA1-010 by David Swift Via Flickr: Senator Philander Chase Knox House.Headquarters of General William Maxwell.Built 1738-1835

[weemsbotts]

Fallen And Not Forgotten: Andrew Leitch’s Short & Fascinating Life in Dumfries

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

On 10/05/1776, George Washington wrote to Samuel Washington describing the Battle of Harlem Heights and writing, “In this Ingagement poor Majr Leitch of Weedon’s Regiment received three Wounds through his Side, of which he died…” Dying so early in the Revolutionary War and away from home certainly meant hardships for his family. Due to his active political career and wealth, we can trace him and his family through different newspapers, court records, and letters/petitions to see how his family fought to honor his legacy and service.

On 03/04/1775, Andrew Leitch purchased “all those 2 lotts or 2 acres of land situate lying & being in the said county of Pr. Wm. & joing the N.E. end of the town of Dumfries beginning for 1 acre & the said land on the main street & on the town line opposite to the corner of Mr. Wm Graysons  lotts extending…the other lott or 1 acre is to join the said town on the level opposite to lotts of Mr. Thomas Chapman.” Moving from Maryland to Virginia the previous year, Leitch did not hesitate to establish his mercantile business and political interests. While in Dumfries, Andrew and his wife Margaretta Augustina Brice Leitch visited and dined with George Washington and established a strong enough connection for the later orphaned Leitch children to appeal directly for Washington’s help.

While Leitch’s social affairs seemed solid, his indentured servants were actively fleeing from him. Leitch tried to control his labor force by placing the following runaway advertisement in the Virginia Gazette in 04/1775 for the stout William Pearce and strong Ralph Emmanuel, “2 convict servant men just imported from London in the Justitiae Capt. Kidd lying at Leedstown”. His luck at keeping his convict labor force fared no better later in 1774 as he placed another runaway ad for Joseph Fischer, a tailor with a “dark visage – down look”, tailer William Booth with a “wooden leg which he endeavors to hide with his trousers” and indentured tailor Patrick Creamer.

In 1774, Leitch joined the Prince William County Committee of Correspondence. Washington recorded lodging with Leitch with evening entertainment at the Graham’s as Washington reviewed the Independent Company in Dumfries. By 02/1776, Leitch was commissioned a captain in the 3rd Virginia Regiment and led the Prince William Battalion, later receiving a promotion to Major in the 1st Virginia Regiment. Major Leitch actively fought in the Battle of Harlem Heights (09/16/1776), at the head of the attacking column, and suffered three musket ball wounds in his abdomen. Although Washington and other officers seemed hopeful for his recovery, he died on 09/28/1776. Sidenote: To read more about the actual battle, check out the Emerging Revolutionary War Era blog here.��

(Source: Shannon, Joseph, Noel Francis Parrish, and W.C. Rogers & Co. Map of the upper part of the Island of Manhattan above Eighty-Sixth Street arranged to illustrate the Battle of Harlem Heights. [New York?: s.n, 1776] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/88694229/)

Further devastation to the family occurred when Margaretta died in 1781. Now orphaned, Sarah Leitch appealed on “behalf of herself and her Infant brother James Frisby Leitch” directly to George Washington in 01/1791:

“That their said father being a Merchant and possessing but a small Capital was in a great degree dependent on his personal exertions for the support of himself and his family, but actuated by Zeal in the cause of this Country entered into the Army of these States, and in the year 1776 Sacrificed his Life in executing the orders of his General—Your Petitioners on this Subject can only relate the information they have received from others, but, for the truth of these facts they are told, they may appeal with confidence to the knowledge of the Commander in Chief.

Your Petitioners further shew that the additional Misfortune of losing their Mother soon afterwards left them altogether dependent upon the bounty of friends, and while they contemplate these Melancholy Events they cannot but hope they shall receive from the Humanity and generosity of this Government the same compassion that they are informed others have experienced in similar circumstances—They humbly intreat therefore that the half pay of the Commission possessed by their said Father, may be extended to your Petitioners commencing from the date of his Death, or for such other provision as you may think most proper.”

Leitch’s inventory from 1777 indicated his “small Capital” included a book collection, mahogany desk and bookcase, and the following enslaved persons: Dinah, Harry, Hagar and her child estimating their “price” from 30 to 120 pounds. Although Secretary of War Henry Knox was in favor of granting the petition and the House of Representatives approved the petition in 02/1791, it is unclear whether anyone implemented it. On 06/30/1834, Congress resolved, “to the legal representatives of the late Margaret Leitch, widow of the late Major Andrew Leitch, a major in the army of the revolution . . . the seven years’ half pay” noting women and children received this entitlement from the Congressional resolution of 08/24/1780. This continued in the records into the 1840s as the family continued to affirm Leitch’s sacrifice in the Revolutionary War. Upon Sarah’s death in 1842, her children appealed to the courts and received “…from the Register of the land office, warrant or warrants due for the service of Andrew Leitch as Major in the Rev. war.”

Although Leitch was only active in Dumfries for a short time, his business as a merchant and enthuasiasm as a patriot directly impacted Prince William County. While he died early in the Revolutionary War, his family fought for decades for the recognition and rights based on his ultimate sacrifice. One lingering thought: Were Leitch’s tailors truly convicts and did the man with the wooden leg successfully hide it in his trousers?

Note: The Weems-Botts Museum is kicking back into high gear as we rush into September! From a featured guest speaker discussing Hessians in Dumfries to scheduled tours, we are excited to engage our community with both f2f and virtual programming! Check out our seasonal programs and tour availability on our website here.

(Sources: HDVI Archival Files; Orrison, Robert. “He Stood the Field with Great Bravery”: The Story of Major Andrew Leitch, Part 1 & 2, Emerging Revolutionary War Era Blog; “From George Washington to Samuel Washington, 5 October 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-06-02-0371. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 6, 13 August 1776 – 20 October 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase and Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1994, pp. 486–488.];“[March 1775],” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/01-03-02-0005-0005. [Original source: The Diaries of George Washington, vol. 3, 1 January 1771–5 November 1781, ed. Donald Jackson. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1978, pp. 311–317.] “To George Washington from Sarah Leitch, 25 January 1791,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-07-02-0156. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 7, 1 December 1790 – 21 March 1791, ed. Jack D. Warren, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, pp. 282–283.])

[anarcho-smarmyism]

"The miners had more power than other workers because American cities were heated on coal. Anthracite coal burns cleanly with little smoke, so consumers bought it to hear their homes. . .As the summer went on, the impending coal shortage worried policymakers. Pressure grew for a settlement. Mark Hanna once again called for negotiations, and even ex-president Grover Cleveland, notorious buster of the Pullman strike, agreed. . .President Theodore Roosevelt found the strike alarming. He also worried about the impact the coal shortage would have on congressional Republicans in the fall’s midterm elections. Roosevelt first looked into mediating the strike in early June, but Attorney General Philander Knox told him he had no authority to do so. Roosevelt; [who] frequently broke new ground in expanding the role of the President . . invited John Mitchell and the coal operators to the White House on October 3 to talk and settle the strike.

Mitchell. . . offered to call off the strike if the owners agreed to full presidential mediation and a small wage increase to show good faith. The coal bosses flatly refused Roosevelt’s entreaties, even refusing to talk directly to Mitchell at the meeting. . . Roosevelt saw the mine owners’ haughty refusal to talk as a crisis of presidential authority and knew Americans wanted action. His infuriated response to the coal operators was a threat to nationalize the industry, sending in the U.S. military to open the mines and employ the workers to get coal to eastern customers. . . Roosevelt’s entreaties convinced Morgan to support mediation. On October 23, the UMWA ended the strike after 165 days.”

-A History of America In Ten Strikes, Erik Loomis

[lukas-siclare]

at The Philander Chase Knox Estate https://www.instagram.com/p/CT8WH5NtxudEPazqGTNguxNerg47pcCRkQajcs0/?utm_medium=tumblr

[1900scartoons]

Not a Game Bird-

June 13, 1908

Fairbanks, Hughes, and Knox frown at shooting a Vice Presidency crow. Murphy, Hammond, and Kellog approach in the background. Taft sits on a stump with a backpack labelled 704 votes for Taft filled with birds.

The caption reads "But the shooting is narrowing down until there isn't much left but crow."

Other than Taft, the men were all potential candidates for the Vice Presidency, as Taft was clearly the front runner in the Republican race.

See Also: Charles Evans Hughes; Philander Knox; William Howard Taft

From Hennepin County Library

Original available at: https://digitalcollections.hclib.org/digital/collection/Bart/id/5884/rec/1984

[irregularincidents]

On May 31 1889, a catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River 14 miles (23 km) upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The shear volume of water released when the dam broke (14.55 million cubic metres or 3.843 billion gallons), sweeping away trains and buildings, and causing the Gautier Wire Works to explode when the water hit the factory’s boilers.

It’s estimated that over 2,200 people died as a result of the flood, some becoming entangled in the barbed wire drifting around the place after the Wire Works explosion.

How did this event come to pass? Privatisation, basically.

Between 1838 and 1853 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania built the South Fork Dam as part of a cross-state canal system, the Main Line of Public Works. However, as trains began to overtake the canal barges as the means of transporting goods, the State decided to sell on the dam and Lake Conemaugh, the reservoir behind the dam to private investors.

These investors came in the form of Henry Clay Frick (a man who would later become notorious as a strike breaker), who along with other speculators moved in with the idea of converting the reservoir into a private lake for wealthy people to fish and hang out.

Frick and his friends went on to build cottages and a clubhouse to create the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, an exclusive and private mountain retreat. Membership grew to include more than 50 wealthy Pittsburgh steel, coal, and railroad industrialists. But the lake required some changes to fit the needs of new inhabitants of the area.

To do this, Frick and his investors lowered the dam to make its top wide enough to hold a road, and putting a fish screen in the spillway (the screen also trapped debris). Additionally, they did not bother to replace the old relief pipes which were intended to get rid of any excess water, but had previously been sold for scrap some time previously.

You see where I’m going with this?

On the morning of May 31, in a farmhouse on a hill just above the South Fork Dam, Elias Unger, president of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, awoke to the sight of Lake Conemaugh swollen after a night-long heavy rainfall. Unger ran outside in the still-pouring rain to assess the situation and saw that the water was nearly cresting the dam. He quickly assembled a group of men to save the face of the dam by trying to unclog the spillway; it was blocked by the broken fish trap and debris caused by the swollen waterline. They attempted to fix it, but it was too late: the dam broke and 2,209 people died.

Following the flood, the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club were (rightfully) blamed for the disaster, and were taken to court for improperly maintaining the dam... but were successfully defended by the firm of Knox and Reed (now Reed Smith LLP), whose partners Philander Knox and James Hay Reed were both Club members.

The Club was never held legally responsible for the disaster. The court held the dam break to have been an Act of God, and granted the survivors no legal compensation.

Frick and several members of the club did individually donate several thousand dollars to the survivors of the flood (many of whom were now homeless), but their charity was somewhat feeble considering how their actions lead to US$17 million in damage (about $450 million in 2015 dollars).

In 1892, an anarchist attempted to assassinate Frick by shooting him in the neck and stabbing him repeatedly in the leg with a sharped file in response to Frick’s actions in the Homestead Steel Strike (he brought in armed Pinkerton agents to shoot strikers among other things), but all this did was turn public opinion against the striking workers, sadly. They eventually caved, leading to 2500 people loosing their jobs and the rest having to accept halved wages.

Henry Clay Frick eventually died of a heart attack on December 2, 1919, weeks before his 70th birthday. Frank Shomo, the last known survivor of the 1889 flood, died March 20, 1997, at the age of 108.

[grandoldacademy]

Happy WINesday!! Garrett here!

It’s been a really busy and stressful week for me so far, guys, so I’m gonna have to postpone the drawing challenge I mentioned last week until next WINesday. But we still have some things to show off for you!

Yeah. Shit gets real in this game, guys.

In “truth continues to be stranger than fiction” news, you know that whole thing about Roger Stone? (I don’t really know what’s going on with him other than he got arrested, I’ve just been telling Robert that i do so he stops giving me history lessons, lol)

Did you know that he has a tattoo of Nixon? No, really.

Can you fuckin believe this shit? Tricky Dick tramp stamp.

And now some presidential trivia to end on! Who said this:

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.“

A) Richard Nixon

B) Calvin Coolidge

C) Ronald Reagan

D) Philander Chase Knox (okay, he’s a secretary of state, not a president. But he has a really funny name.)

Leave your guess as a comment, but don’t cheat! Remember, Principal Nixon doesn’t tolerate any dirty tricks.

[seehonduras]

Seehonduras_history_onthisdate

Monday, 29 September 1856, Birth of Miguel Dávila

He was born in Tegucigalpa on September 29, 1856. His parents were Juan Dávila and Gervasia Cuellar. Graduated with a degree in Jurisprudence from the University of Honduras in 1880. Lawyer and Notary. For his opposition to the government of Ponciano Leiva and Domingo Vásquez he became radical in Nicaragua dedicated to administrative and professional tasks. Appointed by the Provisional Government Junta, composed of Generals Miguel Oquelí Bustillo, Máximo B. Rosales and J. Ignacio Castro, to assume the presidency of Honduras on April 18, 1907, Miguel Rafael Dávila Cuellar takes office on that date. The first measures were to pacify the country and subdue the rebel leaders of the former regime of Manuel Bonilla. The influence of the governments of Nicaragua and El Salvador in intervening in the internal affairs of Honduras forced President Dávila Cuellar to mobilize troops towards the borders. The military campaign led by Tiburcio Carías Andino and José María Valladares defeats military forces in the service of Terencio Sierra. He appoints Dr. Ángel Ugarte as Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to the Government of the United States of America requesting recognition. On December 20, 1907, the General Treaty of Peace and Friendship was held in Washington to end the hostilities of Nicaragua and El Salvador against the government of Dávila. He began efforts in Washington to readjust through a loan the debt contracted during the administration of José María Medina with English and French banks for the construction of the interoceanic railroad. As a result of diplomatic efforts, the U.S. financial house Pierpont Morgan and Co., offers to lend the government of Davila ten million dollars to repay the debt. The agreement signed is known as the Knox-Paredes Agreement after the name of the U.S. and Honduran representatives, Philander Knox and Juan Paredes. It was rejected by the legislatures of both countries. Meanwhile, former President Manuel Bonilla, with the financial help of Samuel Zemurray and Guatemalan President Manuel Estrada Cabrera, was conspiring to regain power. Elected on March 1, 1908 for his constitutional term, the administration faced the invasion of Manuel Bonilla. Because of the seriousness of the political-military conflict, the U.S. government intervened. Negotiations between government forces and Manuel Bonilla's military opposition, known as the Tacoma Conferences, mediated by the U.S. government, were conducted aboard a U.S. warship anchored in the Bay of Puerto Cortes, in the presence of State Department representative Thomas C. Dawson. As a result of the talks, President Dávila resigns and Francisco Bertrand is appointed as provisional ruler. On March 28, 1911, he formalized his resignation before the National Congress. He died in Tegucigalpa on October 12, 1927.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 3.4

AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title princeps iuventutis (head of the youth). 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia. 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources. 938 – Translation of the relics of martyr Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, Prince of the Czechs. 1152 – Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany. 1238 – The Battle of the Sit River is fought in the northern part of the present-day Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia between the Mongol hordes of Batu Khan and the Russians under Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal during the Mongol invasion of Rus'. 1351 – Ramathibodi becomes King of Siam. 1386 – Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila) is crowned King of Poland. 1461 – Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI is deposed by his House of York cousin, who then becomes King Edward IV. 1493 – Explorer Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, aboard his ship Niña from his voyage to what are now The Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean. 1519 – Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and its wealth. 1628 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a Royal charter. 1665 – English King Charles II declares war on the Netherlands marking the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. 1675 – John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England. 1681 – Charles II grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania. 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army fortifies Dorchester Heights with cannon, leading the British troops to abandon the Siege of Boston. 1789 – In New York City, the first Congress of the United States meets, putting the United States Constitution into effect. 1790 – France is divided into 83 départements, cutting across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on ownership of land by the nobility. 1791 – The Constitutional Act of 1791 is introduced by the British House of Commons in London which envisages the separation of Canada into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario). 1791 – Vermont is admitted to the United States as the fourteenth state. 1794 – The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.S. Congress. 1797 – John Adams is inaugurated as the 2nd President of the United States of America, becoming the first President to begin his presidency on March 4. 1804 – Castle Hill Rebellion: Irish convicts rebel against British colonial authority in the Colony of New South Wales. 1813 – Cyril VI of Constantinople is elected Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. 1814 – Americans defeat British forces at the Battle of Longwoods between London, Ontario and Thamesville, near present-day Wardsville, Ontario. 1837 – The city of Chicago is incorporated. 1848 – Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will later represent the first constitution of the Regno d'Italia. 1849 – President-elect of the United States Zachary Taylor and Vice President-elect Millard Fillmore did not take their respective oaths of office (they did so the following day), leading to the erroneous theory that outgoing President pro tempore of the United States Senate David Rice Atchison had assumed the role of acting president for one day. 1861 – The first national flag of the Confederate States of America (the "Stars and Bars") is adopted. 1865 – The third and final national flag of the Confederate States of America is adopted by the Confederate Congress. 1882 – Britain's first electric trams run in east London. 1890 – The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Bridge in Scotland, measuring 8,094 feet (2,467 m) long, is opened by the Duke of Rothesay, later King Edward VII. 1899 – Cyclone Mahina sweeps in north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 metres (39 ft) wave that reaches up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) inland, killing over 300. 1908 – The Collinwood school fire, Collinwood near Cleveland, Ohio, kills 174 people. 1909 – U.S. President William Taft used what became known as a Saxbe fix, a mechanism to avoid the restriction of the U.S. Constitution's Ineligibility Clause, to appoint Philander C. Knox as U.S. Secretary of State. 1913 – First Balkan War: The Greek army engages the Turks at Bizani, resulting in victory two days later. 1913 – The United States Department of Labor is formed. 1917 – Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives. 1933 – Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd President of the United States. He was the last president to be inaugurated on March 4. 1933 – Frances Perkins becomes United States Secretary of Labor, the first female member of the United States Cabinet. 1933 – The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure – Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates an authoritarian rule by decree. 1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands; the first large scale British Commando raid. 1943 – World War II: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea in the south-west Pacific comes to an end. 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Fardykambos, one of the first major battles between the Greek Resistance and the occupying Royal Italian Army, begins. It ends on 6 March with the surrender of an entire Italian battalion and the liberation of the town of Grevena. 1944 – World War II: After the success of Big Week, the USAAF begins a daylight bombing campaign of Berlin. 1957 – The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90. 1960 – The French freighter La Coubre explodes in Havana, Cuba, killing 100. 1962 – A Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 crashes shortly after takeoff from Cameroon, killing 111 – the worst crash of a DC-7. 1966 – A Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-8-43 explodes on landing at Tokyo International Airport, killing 64 people. 1966 – In an interview in the London Evening Standard, The Beatles' John Lennon declares that the band is "more popular than Jesus now". 1970 – French submarine Eurydice explodes underwater, resulting in the loss of the entire 57-man crew. 1976 – The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London by the British parliament. 1977 – The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in eastern and southern Europe kills more than 1,500, mostly in Bucharest, Romania. 1980 – Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister. 1985 – The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for HIV infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States. 1986 – The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Halley's Comet and the first images of its nucleus. 1996 – A derailed train in Weyauwega, Wisconsin (USA) causes the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days. 1998 – Gay rights: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex. 1999 – Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu is crowned as Sultan of Terengganu (Malaysia) 2001 – BBC bombing: A massive car bomb explodes in front of the BBC Television Centre in London, seriously injuring one person; the attack was attributed to the Real IRA. 2002 – Afghanistan: Seven American Special Operations Forces soldiers and 200 Al-Qaeda Fighters are killed as American forces attempt to infiltrate the Shah-i-Kot Valley on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission. 2009 – The International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC since its establishment in 2002. 2012 – A series of explosions is reported at a munitions dump in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, killing at least 250 people. 2015 – At least 34 miners die in a suspected gas explosion at the Zasyadko coal mine in the rebel-held Donetsk region of Ukraine. 2018 – Former MI6 spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter are poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, England, causing a diplomatic uproar that results in mass-expulsions of diplomats from all countries involved. 2020 – Former Daredevil Nik Wallenda is the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua. 2021 – According to some QAnon supporters, former US President Donald Trump will be inaugurated, putting guards at the capitol on high alert, out of fear of another attack on the US capitol.

[whitepolaris]

Kenyon College

Bishop Philander Chase established Kenyon College on a hilltop overlooking the scenic Koksoing River Valley in 1925. The first permanent building-now known as “Old Kenyon”-went up in 1827-29. Over the years, Kenyon grew into a respected liberal arts college, and today it remains among Ohio’s top schools. 

Kenyon is also very much a haunted place. A large number of supernatural entities roam the building and grounds of its attractive campus in Gambier, Knox County-more than the average number for a private college of this size, it’s safe to say. 

Old Kenyon

The most tragic event in the history of Kenyon College spawned its darkest and most enduring ghost story: the devastating fire at Old Kenyon on February 27, 1949.

Nine male students were killed in the blaze, which leveled the school’s oldest and most prominent building. When it was rebuilt the following year using fireproof materials, students were moved back in. They immediately began to see and experience strange, even terrifying things. The spirits of the nine fire victims have been seen gliding down the halls of Old Kenyon, visible only from the knees up because the foundation of the rebuilt dorm is roughly ten inches higher than that of the old one. Some people have reported seeing the transparent of the ghosts hanging through the ceiling of a lower floor. The spooks flip lights on and off and flush toilets. Scenes of panic are reenacted in rooms where the students were trapped. Cries of “Get me out of here!” are heard, as is the violent shaking of closed doors. Screams, shouting, “Wake up, FIRE!” wake students at night. Yearbooks from 1949 are sometimes found open to the page with the names of the nine fire victims with a candle burning nearby. Although the building was restored, the lives of the young men never could be, and their spirits still haunt the place where their lives ended so abruptly and tragically. 

Shaffer Speech Building-Hill Theater

The Hill Theater, located inside the Shaffer Speech Building, was supposedly built on or near the site of a drunk-driving fatality. The ghost (or maybe ghosts) associated with the accident float around the building unscrew lightbulbs and opening curtains when no one is around. We don’t know why they choose these particular activities; ghosts have reason of their own. But guards have experienced these phenomena after hours. They’ve also encountered the spirits of someone (a stagehand, perhaps) who fell from a catwalk and died. The sound of his body thumping against the back of the stage can still be heard. 

Caples Hall

The angry ghost of a student who died in an elevator shaft pesters girls in Caples Hall. One story is that he was pushed; another is that he fell when he deliberately climbed into the shaft as part of some sort of prank. Either way, his spirit hangs around, appearing to mostly girls-perhaps out of animosity toward his girlfriend, whom he was visiting when he died. The girlfriend later felt icy hands on her face during her sleep and found her door blocked by her dresser on different occasions. It seems that their last argument, the one that led to his death, ended when she shoved her bureau against the door so that he couldn’t get in. Ever since then he appears, transparent, leaning against female students’ furniture. He pushes dressers against dorm-room doors and sometimes tries to harm the girls. On at least one occasion, he tried to smother a female student with her pillow.

Delta Kappa Epsilon

On October 28, 1905, Stuart Pierson was killed while pledging this fraternity. Pierson was struck by a train as he waited for DKE members on a trestle over the Kokosing River. Some people say he was tied to the trestle. Whether or not a train was excepted is not certain. It is certain that there was some sort of miscalculation of the risk involved in the hazing, and the young man was killed. His father, also a DKE, was in town to witness his son’s begin inducted into the family fraternity. When he found out about the accident, he refused to press charges, an action-or lack of one-that might have served to  incense Stuart’s ghost. Every year, on October 28, his ghost is said to stare out a window as a train passes. Whoever occupies his old room is made to vacate it on this anniversary so that Stuart can reclaim it for one day. Confined to the fourth floor, he opens and closes windows and causes footsteps to be heard overhead-despite the fact that there is no floor higher than the fourth. Now that the railroad tracks have been converted into a bicycle trail, one wonders if he continues his yearly vigil.