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Black Caesar
Florida was, in many ways, a wild and lawless place well into the 19th century, so it's no surprise that pirate lore abounds. While there were most definitely real pirates operating off Florida's coasts for years, Floridians have also created pirate legends, most famously for example Jose Gaspar. There is absolutely no evidence that Gaspar ever existed, but at the beginning of the 20th century, Tampa's civic leaders wanted to create a festival to draw attention to the city, and they created Gasparilla, a week -long January festival that continues today, 120 years later.
Farther south, in the Keys, there is another legendary pirate called Black Caesar. In this case, there is at least a little historical fact to support Black Caesar's existence, but the details are very few and fuzzy. Florida Man fiction author Tim Dorsey mentions Black Caesar in one of his Serge Storms novels, and I looked him up. Caesar, real name unknown, may have been a West African warrior chieftain who was captured by slave traders. Stories say that he led a mutiny and took over the slave ship off of Florida's coast and began a profitable life of piracy. Other pirates joined his command, and he maintained bases in the Florida Keys from which to to attack passing ships. Supposedly, he buried treasure on Elliott and Old Rhodes Keys, but nothing has ever been found. He also supposedly acquired a harem of dozens of women, leading to dozens of women, and he ruled over a thriving pirate community in the early 1700s. At some point, he joined the infamous Blackbeard in his pirate adventures. There, history gets vague again. There is no reference to a Caesar in the stories of Blackbeard's capture and trial, but there are references to a "Negro" pirate lieutenant of great ability. Some stories claim that this man was captured and executed along with Blackbeard, or imprisoned. Other stories claim that Caesar survived Blackbeard's defeat and lived a law-abiding life, maybe in Virginia, maybe as a cooper.
"Don't cross Your Feet While Dancing Or it's a Sin"
In The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, one black character explains to other black characters that their churches are different, saying that in her church, they dance in church, but they never cross their feet when they dance because that would make the dance worldly and sinful. Even casual observers of Christianity in America know that methods of worship differ broadly from denomination to denomination as well as regionally and racially. Some churches incorporate music, dance, and other activities that other churches deem blasphemous, but I had never heard about a distinction being made on whether or not feet cross.
Scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s book and documentary of the Black Church also address music and dance in church services. Throughout the Old Testament, there are numerous examples of religious dancing to express joy and worship. However, in the first centuries following Jesus' crucifixion, dancing all but disappeared as a part of worship, and it was condemned by church leaders. According to early theologians, dance incited idolatry, paganism, lust, and damnation. Beginning in the ninth century, however, some church leaders started allowing dance to manifest itself during certain celebratory services, and by the 13th century, church leaders embraced the passages in the Old Testament that cited figures like Miriam and David dancing to the glory of God. St. Francis of Assisi was said to dance during his sermons. By the 16th century, however, Puritans and other Protestant sects brought dancing to an end, calling it sinful and even linking it to witchcraft. When African slaves were brought to America and converted to Christianity, they incorporated their traditions of music and dance into worship. I still haven't found specific references to crossing feet, but it was interesting to read a few articles about dancing in church.
Ross Allen Reptile Institute
Today, as it seems developers and politicians are racing to destroy every last square inch of undeveloped Florida, it's difficult to imagine things are much better now than in the past. One story that unites Florida attractions, zoological research, and animal abuse is the story of Ross Allen's Reptile Institute, founded in 1929 and operated until it finally shut down in 2015, after having been absorbed by the Silver Springs attraction in the 1970s. It was founded by herpetologist Ross Allen (1908-1981). An Eagle Scout born in Pittsburgh, he was drawn to nature from a young age, and he literally set the standards for numerous wildlife badges and programs for the Boy Scouts. After moving to Florida, he established the Institute for reptile research and became America's leading reptile expert. The role combined his passion for naturalism and his own personal Tarzan-complex. He even worked as a stand-in for Johnny Weismuller in some of the Tarzan movies filmed at Silver Springs.
However, I really across the horrifying stuff in Cathy Salustri's book Backroads of Paradise. During the 1950s and 1960s, Allen was one of many Florida purveyors of live exotic animals through the mail, sold through ads comic books to kids across the country. From the Institute, one could order alligators, crocodiles, snakes - including rattlesnakes and coral snakes, lizards, turtles, monkeys, and kinkajous at prices ranging from a dollar or two up to about $35 for a kinkajou. (The monkey ad pictured is not from Ross Allen, but another Florida dealer.) Sadly, as humans are still idiots, the exotic-animals-as-pets trend continues today.
Animals That Serve
A friend inspired this rabbit hole post with a mention of Corporal Jackie, a baboon in the South African army during World War I. That led me to think about other famous animals that served.
Corporal Jackie's story started when he was captured by a South African farmer named Albert Marr around 1910. When Marr was drafted in 1915, he refused to leave Jackie behind, and his commanding officer shockingly acquiesced. Jackie became a unit mascot for the 3rd South African Infantry Regiment, given a uniform, and trained to salute officers. He was an able sentry as well, with his heightened senses. He served along with his master in France and Egypt, suffering shrapnel wounds which led to the amputation of a leg. Sadly, he died at home a year after the war in a house fire.
Wojtek the Bear was born in 1942 in Iran, and members of a Polish artillery unit purchased him from an Iranian boy. He developed an appetite for condensed milk, fruit, marmalade, honey, syrup and cigarettes. He drank coffee in the morning, but his favorite drink was beer. The unit fought alongside British units in Italy, often marching alongside on two legs and carrying cases of equipment. He survived the war and lived the rest of his life in a Scottish zoo, dying in 1963.
Jack the Baboon was the pet and assistant of signalman James Wide, who worked for the Cape Town–Port Elizabeth Railway service. James "Jumper" Wide had been known for jumping between railcars until an accident where he fell and lost both of his legs at the knee. To assist in performing his duties, Wide purchased Jack in 1881, and trained him to push his wheelchair and to operate the railways signals under supervision. After initial skepticism, the railway decided to officially employ Jack once his job competency was verified. He was paid twenty cents a day, and half a bottle of beer each week. It is widely reported that in his nine years of employment with the railway company, Jack never made a single mistake (died in 1890).
Colonel Thomas Blood (1618-1680) is one of many rascals and rapscallions in English history. Blood was born to a prosperous Anglo family in Ireland. When the English Civil War erupted, Blood was a Royalist, a Cavalier, supporting King Charles I, but he switched sides during the war, joining the Roundheads of Oliver Cromwell. For his service, he was rewarded with land grants the a justice of the peace position. When the Restoration occurred, and Charles II took the throne, he lost all of that and fled to Ireland. Ruined, he became a leader of a growing Irish independence movement, He led a botched attempt to kidnap for ransom, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the 1st Duke of Ormond, an old nemesis. When that plot fell apart, he moved to London and took an assumed name and worked as either a physician or apothecary. He then plotted to murder Ormond, another failure.
Blood then set his sights on stealing the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. In 1671, he initiated his long-range plan. First, he formed a relationship over several months with the keeper of the jewels, even arranging to marry his nonexistent daughter to the keeper's son. One day, while visiting the Tower, a group of Blood's associates assaulted Blood and the keeper, tying up and blindfolding the keeper. Blood then used a mallet to flatten the Imperial State Crown and disassembled some other valuable pieces so that they could be hidden in the men's clothing for the getaway. The keeper's son surprised the men during the act, leading to a foot chase and Blood's capture. Blood refused to answer any questions from anyone but the king. Surprisingly, Charles II summoned him for interrogation. Even more surprisingly, when the "interrogation" ended, not only did Blood receive a full pardon, but he was also granted valuable land holdings in Ireland. There are multiple theories to explain why, but they're just theories. For the rest of his life, Blood was a bit of celebrity around London, even making appearances in the Royal Court, until he got into a dispute with the Duke of Buckingham, leading to his fall from royal favor.
Get Forked!
Forks have been around for a long time. Forks made of bone have been discovered dating back to around 2000 BC in China, and ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians all used forks, but these forks were mostly used as cooking utensils. Table forks seemed to have really caught on in the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire and became quite common by the 4th century. Persians used them by the 9th century, and they became prevalent throughout the Middle East by the 10th century. The rising popularity of pasta and the close contact and trade with the Byzantine Empire introduced forks to Italians in the 11th century and they became commonplace for the middle and upper classes. Catherine de Medici and her Italian courtiers then brought forks to France, and they spread to Portugal and Spain, but they were pretty much confined to nobility throughout southern Europe. They didn't really begin to grow in popularity in the rest of Europe until the 17th and 18th centuries. Some Europeans saw them as unmanly, Italian affectations. Spearing food was considered uncouth and barbaric. The Catholic Church even weighed in, with some Church leaders labeling the use of forks as the height of sinful vanity.
In the American colonies, forks were not all that common until after the American Revolution. The Puritans who settled Massachusetts Bay Colony disdained forks, believing them to be sinful. Puritan governor John Winthrop himself called forks evil and wrote that the only things worthy of touching God's food were fingers.
Christian Endeavor Society
The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was founded in February 1881 in the Portland, Maine home of Reverend Francis E. Clark, the idea of his wife Harriet. Thanks to the publicity of a magazine article and the work of its founders, the movement spread throughout the US, UK, and the British Empire within a few years. By 1908, there were some 67,000 chapters and 4 million members, operating internationally as the World's Christian Endeavor Union. The society was the first major international evangelical youth movement, and it was very much a part of the social gospel movement of the Gilded Age, based on the idea that Christians should work to better society and lift the less fortunate. Members worked in charitable projects, attended large state, national, and international meetings and conventions, and promoted causes like chastity and temperance. Many churches and denominations followed the Society's lead and began establishing their own youth ministries: the idea of specifically cultivating teens and young adults and tailoring church to them was a relatively new one.
The organization still exists today. The World's Christian Endeavor Union (WCEU) office is located in Ephrata in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. As of 2022 the society unites 40 independent National Christian Endeavor Unions in 32 countries around the world. According to the WCEU, Christian Endeavor Societies are under development in 20 additional countries.
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Linda Martell
If you've seen the track listings for Beyonce's new country album, you've seen the name Linda Martell attached to a couple of the songs, and you've probably wondered who she is. Linda Martell was born Thelma Bynem in South Carolina in 1941. Her father was a sharecropper and a preacher, and her mother worked in a chicken slaughterhouse. As she grew up, her family listened to and sang gospel and country music. As a teenager, she, a sister, and a cousin formed a girls trio and started singing R & B in venues in and around Columbia, S.C, and a local DJ convinced Bynem to change her name. In 1962, the trio recorded some songs for Fire Records in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Their music didn't take off, however, and the cousin eventually got married, so the trio fell apart. In 1969, a Nashville businessman heard Martell sing and decided that she could be the first black female star in country music, the female Charley Pride. Martell signed a management contract with him, moved to Nashville, and began recording. From 1969 to 1974, she was the most commercially successful black female country artist and appeared at the Grand Ole Opry, but she felt her management was neglecting her career in favor of their white artists. Martell left Nashville and performed in small clubs, forced to take other jobs during the week and perform on weekends. She retired as a school bus driver in South Carolina in the mid 2000s, and she last performed publicly in 2011. In the early 2000s, her contributions and importance in the music industry started being recognized, and Beyonce's nods on her new album will go far to garner the recognition that she deserves.
from Ebony Magazine, 1970
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