Tag: graves

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 243

By Erik Loomis

In General

On May 20, 2018

This is the grave of Doc Holliday. Born in 1851 in Griffin, Georgia, John Holliday grew up during the Civil War and then left for dentistry school in Pennsylvania in 1870. When he finished, he moved to St. Louis and then Atlanta. He may have been involved in a scene of racial violence there, as […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 242

By Erik Loomis

On May 18, 2018

This is the grave of Jesse Owens. Arguably the greatest track star of all time and certainly the most historically important, Owens was born in 1913 to Alabama sharecroppers. In 1922, following so man

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 241

By Erik Loomis

On May 14, 2018

This is the grave of George Norris. Born in 1861 in Sandusky County, Ohio into a very poor family, Norris worked hard, graduated from from Baldwin University, and then got a law degree from Valparaiso

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 240

By Erik Loomis

In General

On May 10, 2018

This is the grave of Louis Brandeis. Born in 1856 in Louisville to secular Jewish immigrant parents from Prague, Brandeis grew up there mostly, although the family did return to Europe for a few years in the 1870s when the American economy slumped. The Brandeis family were relatively prosperous merchants who had the resources to […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 239

By Erik Loomis

On April 30, 2018

This is the grave of Preston Sturges. Arguably the greatest comedic director since Chaplin, Sturges was born in 1898 in Chicago. His mom was an artist-type and pretty eccentric. She left her husband w

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 238/Dead Horses in American History, Part 18

By Erik Loomis

On April 29, 2018

This is the grave of Whiskey the Horse. Whiskey was born in 1911 and came to Fort Snelling, Minnesota in 1921. It became a trick horse there, despite having a reputation as a difficult animal when it

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 237

By Erik Loomis

In General

On April 26, 2018

This is the future grave of John Paul Stevens. Born in 1920 in Chicago to a wealthy family, as a boy Stevens attended the famous Babe Ruth called shot game in the 1932 World Series at Wrigley Field, and he maintains he saw Ruth call the shot to the present. He went to the University […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 236

By Erik Loomis

On April 24, 2018

This is the grave of Joseph Coors. This loathsome troll, this utter scumbag, this cancer on America was born in 1917, possibly a worse event for the U.S. than World War I. He was born into the right-w

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 235

By Erik Loomis

On April 23, 2018

This is the grave of John Altgeld. Born in 1847 in what is today Germany, Altgeld’s parents immigrated to Ohio when he was an infant, settling on a farm near Mansfield. He grew up there, lied ab

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 234

By Erik Loomis

In General

On April 20, 2018

This is the grave of Lionel Hampton. Born in 1908 in Louisville, he and his mother moved frequently in his youth–to Birmingham, then to Kenosha, and then to Chicago. He took an interest in music from a young age, particularly in percussion. He started taking xylophone lessons as a boy and played the drums for […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 233

By Erik Loomis

On April 19, 2018

This is the grave of Ray Boone. Born in 1923 in San Diego, Boone was a star baseball player in high school. The Cleveland Indians signed him after high school and he played a bit in their minor league

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 232

By Erik Loomis

On April 18, 2018

This is the grave of Thomas McKennan. McKennan was born in New Castle, Delaware in 1794. His family moved to the frontier town of Washington, Pennsylvania, south of Pittsburgh, when he was young. He g

1 2 … 21 Next →