Little Egypt Heritage Articles Stories of Southern Illinois (c) Bill Oliver 4 April 2004 Vol 3 Issue: #14 ISBN: pending Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt, By the time that this sentence was finished it was "history". This past week contained the first day of April. There were and are plenty of jocularity on April Fool's Day. Yet, many wonderful things have happened on that day. On that date in the year 1816, Jane Austen responded to a letter from the Prince Regent of the British Empire suggesting that she write a romance novel. The famous author of "Sense and Sensibility" said that she couldn't do such a thing to "save" her life. One of the little facts attributed to her was that she wrote on small scraps of paper that could be hidden away quickly if she were interrupted while writing. Some folks are good for their word, even if it is tragic. Sylvania Milton, Governor of Florida during the WBTS. Governor Milton was a capable administrator and supported the Confederacy. Giving in to the stresses of his office, he addressed the legislature and is quoted as saying that "Yankees have developed a character so odious that death would be preferable to reunion with them." The Governor was 57 in 1865, when he put a pistol to his head. On April Fool's Day in 1877, prospector Edward Schieffelin began exploring for silver in southern present-day Arizona. His "buddies" taunted him saying that he would only find his own "tombstone". Well, a year later when he had found the extremely rich silver vein in the area, he named it the "Tombstone Lode". To "tout" his "smarts", he and his partners, after attracting vast amounts of eastern inventments, sold out in 1880-81 and departed for "civilized" localities. By that time the area had grown to more than ten thousand people, became the seat of Cochise County and the site where the Clantons and McLaurys met Doc Holliday and the Earp brothers at the OK Corral. They weren't the only "famous" in the area ... there was also, John Ringo .... William C Brocius .... and, Frank Leslie. Resting on its historic past glory, it has become the town "too tough to die", by catering to tourist attractions. On the Fourth of April in 1841, William Henry Harrison had been President of the United States for thirty one days, when he died of pneumonia at the White House. March 4th, inauguration day, was a bitter cold day. Harrison did not wear either coat or hat, made a two hour speech and attended at least three inaugural balls. Soon he developed pneumonia and the 4th of April became the date that John Tyler became the first individual in US history to reach the office of President through the death of a president. President George W. Bush imitated President Abe Lincoln by visiting his troops on the front line. At the invitation of General-in-Chief Ulysses S Grant, visited Grant's headquarters at City Point, Virginia. Lincoln thoroughly enjoyed his visit with Grant and General William T Sherman. He visited soldiers, and even chopped logs in front of the troops. On this day [4th of April] in 1865, Abraham Lincoln sailed up the James River to Richmond. While ashore, some workmen, recognizing him bowed to him. Lincoln, forever modest, said to them, "... kneel to God only, ...". April 4th, 1884 is the birthdate of Yamamoto Isoroku. He was absolutely correct that aircraft carriers would be very effective in long-range naval attacks. He was also correct in believing that Japan would lose any long drawn-out struggle with the United States. All in not ancient history to some of us. One of my favorite programs during the 1960s was the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. As funny as it was it was also a forum for irreverent political satire, no less than "Doonesbury" today. Their guests included Steve Martin, Sally Struthers, and Nelson Riddle. They were very popular comedians and singers, who spoofed everything from Mom's apple pie to religion, with politics in between. In 1969, on April 4th, the CBS network executives cancelled their show because they failed to submit an episode to them prior to broadcast. This cancellation provoked much comment about "free speech". On April 4th, 1939, Jack Benny, the perpetual "39" year old, was convicted of purchasing smuggled gems. Just a few months earlier, George Burns was convicted and fined for the same offense. Both comedians were given suspended jail-time sentences. Just one more .... In 1843, Yellowstone photographer, William Jackson, was born on April Fourth. These wonderful pictures of what became a National Park were taken in 1866. Can you imagine obtaining such wonderful works under very primitive conditions of that day? No longer would the "public" see these wonderful wonders through the eyes of painters. Here was "reality". e-la-di-e-das-di ha-wi nv-wa-do-hi-ya nv-wa-to-hi-ya-da. (May you walk in peace and harmony) Wado, Bill -=- PostScript: Other sites worth visiting: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SOIL http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ILMASSAC http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/state/BillsArticles/LittleEgypt/intro.html