http://www.thelizlibrary.org/fatherless/005.html
This child was the second of three children born to Quaker parents in Iowa. His early childhood was happy, but his father, a blacksmith, died from typhoid fever, when the child was only six years old. Then, three years late, when he was nine, his mother, a teacher and seamstress, contracted pneumonia and also died.
The child was sent to live with an uncle. His brother and sister went to live with other relatives, and they were all separated. At first the boy was moved from uncle to uncle, until about a year later, when he was taken to live with yet another uncle, who was emigrating to the Oregon territory.
When he was a child, he hiked and explored the countryside with his siblings, and learned to use a bow and arrow to hunt. Now living with his uncle, he was "put to school and the chores." His responsibilities included feeding and tending to ponies, milking the cow, and splitting wood. He attended school at a Quaker academy and did very well in mathematics, but not as good in his other subjects.
After graduating from school, he moved again with his uncle to help him open a new business in Oregon. He acted as an office-boy, and learned to type and keep books while also attending a a small local college. While doing this, he became interested in engineering. He succeeded in winning a place in the first class of the new Stanford University in California, which was then a tuition-free school; however, he had to get tutoring to get himself ready for classes.
While at Stanford, he majored in geology. He supported himself by holding a variety of jobs, including delivering newspapers, working in a laundry, and assisting his professors. In the summers, he worked with the United States Geological Survey. He was also elected treasurer of his junior class, and managed the university's football and baseball teams. He met a fellow student whom he later married.
He graduated with a degree in geology and went to work for a mining company in Nevada. Subsequently he got jobs with mining companies that took him to a number of other states and other jobs around the world, including London, Australia, and China. In China, he saw the Boxer Rebellion. For five years, he and his family circled the globe as he moved from one position to another.
During WWI, he helped organize relief for widespread food famines in Europe cause by German occupation of allied countries. His success at alleviating Belgian starvation brought him to the attention of the British Ambassador and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. The ambassador described him as a "simple, modest, energetic little man who began his career in California and will end it in Heaven, and he doesn't want anyone's thanks."
His work as a practical engineer and idealist brought him fame and welcome both abroad and in the United States.
Ultimately, he became the 31st president of the United States. After his inauguration, the country was hit with the Great Depression. He started the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to make government loans to save banks, farmers, railways, and other businesses from bankruptcy. He started projects such as the Coulee Dam, and flood control along the Missippi River, as well as negotiated a treaty with Canada to create the St. Lawrence Seaway. He increased the size of national parks and forests by five million acres. And he worked for child protection legislation, writing a Children's Charter calling for the protection from exploitation of all children of every race and creed.
After he left office, he continued public service throughout the rest of his life, being called on repeatedly by subsequent presidents for help in the areas of famine relief, organization of the executive branch, improvement of the economy, and government efficiency.
Herbert Hoover, a boy from a "fatherless home."
May 31, 2009
May 24, 2009
Fatherless Child - Expose Number Four
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/fatherless/004.html
This child was born in a log cabin in a southern state to two illiterate parents. His mother was a washerwoman. His father -- who periodically worked as a porter, a tavern servant, and a janitor, died when the child was three, some say in an attempt to rescue two drowning men.
The child was never formally educated, and was illiterate himself through his childhood. He was a ragged little boy, loose in the streets while his mother worked. He had one younger brother. When he was 10, his mother's new husband contracted him and his brother out in exchange for money to a tailor as so-called apprentices -- until age 21. The man used them like slaves, and beat them regularly, but he learned the tailoring trade. While there, he also met a kind man who would read aloud to him while waiting for services, and helped him learn the alphabet and gain a rudimentary reading ability.
When he was 16, he and his brother ran away from their master, an act that rendered them fugitives from the law, and required them to move from town to town and hide out. When he was 18, he came upon a one-room schoolhouse where he befriended the 16-year-old teacher. Over a period of 6 months, she taught him to read fluently, and also to do math and and to write. Then he married her while they were still teenagers. He started his own tailoring shop and settled down with her. He became interested in local politics.
By his early 20s, he had developed a voracious appetite for reading and self-education. He also was elected village alderman. His business began to flourish, and he had four children. He was well-liked and succeeded in politics. He dedicated himself to public service. He eventually came to hold nearly every important state and federal office: mayor, governor, senator, vice-president, and president.
This child's later political career was marred by some controversy and strife. A powerful man serving in Congress was one of his enemies, and tried to get him impeached. Ironically, this man, successful Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, also had grown up in fatherless home; Steven's father had been an abusive alcoholic who had abandoned his family. Ultimately, the attempted impeachment did not succeed. Scholars now differ in opinion with regard to the legacy left by the 17th president of the United States,
Andrew Johnson, a boy from a "fatherless home."
This child was born in a log cabin in a southern state to two illiterate parents. His mother was a washerwoman. His father -- who periodically worked as a porter, a tavern servant, and a janitor, died when the child was three, some say in an attempt to rescue two drowning men.
The child was never formally educated, and was illiterate himself through his childhood. He was a ragged little boy, loose in the streets while his mother worked. He had one younger brother. When he was 10, his mother's new husband contracted him and his brother out in exchange for money to a tailor as so-called apprentices -- until age 21. The man used them like slaves, and beat them regularly, but he learned the tailoring trade. While there, he also met a kind man who would read aloud to him while waiting for services, and helped him learn the alphabet and gain a rudimentary reading ability.
When he was 16, he and his brother ran away from their master, an act that rendered them fugitives from the law, and required them to move from town to town and hide out. When he was 18, he came upon a one-room schoolhouse where he befriended the 16-year-old teacher. Over a period of 6 months, she taught him to read fluently, and also to do math and and to write. Then he married her while they were still teenagers. He started his own tailoring shop and settled down with her. He became interested in local politics.
By his early 20s, he had developed a voracious appetite for reading and self-education. He also was elected village alderman. His business began to flourish, and he had four children. He was well-liked and succeeded in politics. He dedicated himself to public service. He eventually came to hold nearly every important state and federal office: mayor, governor, senator, vice-president, and president.
This child's later political career was marred by some controversy and strife. A powerful man serving in Congress was one of his enemies, and tried to get him impeached. Ironically, this man, successful Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, also had grown up in fatherless home; Steven's father had been an abusive alcoholic who had abandoned his family. Ultimately, the attempted impeachment did not succeed. Scholars now differ in opinion with regard to the legacy left by the 17th president of the United States,
Andrew Johnson, a boy from a "fatherless home."
May 17, 2009
Fatherless Child - Expose Number Three
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/fatherless/003.html
This child's father died even before he was born in a small and provincial southern town. His mother then moved away to further her education, leaving the boy with his grandparents, who owned a small grocery store.
His mother came back when the child was four, having obtained her nursing degree. Then she remarried -- to a reputedly abusive alcoholic. The new family relocated to another town, and a half-brother was born.
The child was sent to school in public schools, and had no particular special advantages, although his mother did send him to summer music camp. Notwithstanding little unusual parental involvement in his academic career, he nevertheless excelled in his studies. He also learned to play the saxaphone, and became very fond of music. He worked hard at his studies in addition to school extracurricular activities.
When he was in high school, he was selected as a delegate to Boys Nation, and went on a trip to Washington, DC, where he got to tour the White House and meet the president.
His dedication to school work paid off when he was awarded a scholarship to an esteemed university. Then he got a scholarship to what is classically considered to be the world's foremost university. After that, he was accepted into the world's most prestigious law school.
When he was 27, he married a woman he had met in law school, and went into politics. He had one child.
It was said of him by locals that if he ever met you once, he would not forget your name, and upon happening to see you even years later, would go out of his way to cross the street to say hello. His charm and warmth became legendary.
After becoming the youngest governor of a state in the United States, this child eventually became the 42nd president of the United States, serving two terms in office. While president, he presided over the lowest unemployment rate in modern times and the longest-ever sustained economic growth of the country, and turned the federal deficit into a surplus.
Notwithstanding suffering a number of personal and political scandals, he ended his service as president with a 65% approval rating of the people -- the highest presidential approval rating of any president upon leaving office since WWII. Afterward, he wrote a book about his life called "My Life" and retired to do humanitarian work.
William Jefferson Clinton, a boy from a "fatherless home."
This child's father died even before he was born in a small and provincial southern town. His mother then moved away to further her education, leaving the boy with his grandparents, who owned a small grocery store.
His mother came back when the child was four, having obtained her nursing degree. Then she remarried -- to a reputedly abusive alcoholic. The new family relocated to another town, and a half-brother was born.
The child was sent to school in public schools, and had no particular special advantages, although his mother did send him to summer music camp. Notwithstanding little unusual parental involvement in his academic career, he nevertheless excelled in his studies. He also learned to play the saxaphone, and became very fond of music. He worked hard at his studies in addition to school extracurricular activities.
When he was in high school, he was selected as a delegate to Boys Nation, and went on a trip to Washington, DC, where he got to tour the White House and meet the president.
His dedication to school work paid off when he was awarded a scholarship to an esteemed university. Then he got a scholarship to what is classically considered to be the world's foremost university. After that, he was accepted into the world's most prestigious law school.
When he was 27, he married a woman he had met in law school, and went into politics. He had one child.
It was said of him by locals that if he ever met you once, he would not forget your name, and upon happening to see you even years later, would go out of his way to cross the street to say hello. His charm and warmth became legendary.
After becoming the youngest governor of a state in the United States, this child eventually became the 42nd president of the United States, serving two terms in office. While president, he presided over the lowest unemployment rate in modern times and the longest-ever sustained economic growth of the country, and turned the federal deficit into a surplus.
Notwithstanding suffering a number of personal and political scandals, he ended his service as president with a 65% approval rating of the people -- the highest presidential approval rating of any president upon leaving office since WWII. Afterward, he wrote a book about his life called "My Life" and retired to do humanitarian work.
William Jefferson Clinton, a boy from a "fatherless home."
May 10, 2009
Fatherless Child - Expose Number Two
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/fatherless/002.html
This child was born into a prosperous family and well-educated in his early youth. But then his father died when he was just 10, and he was sent off to live with his older half-brother. His formal education largely ended at that point, and he was sent to learn the trade of surveying, which he went to work at full-time by the age of 16.
When he was 20, his half-brother died of tuberculosis. Weary of the drudgery of surveying, and fortuitously now in possession of an inheritance from his half-brother that relieved him from that, he joined the army. Within three years he rose to the rank of colonel.
His military career was not uniformly positive, however; he gained a reputation for being brash, occasionally rude to superior officers to whom he wrote multiple lengthy letters espousing his differing opinions, and impatient with authority.
By the time he was 26 he left the army, and then married an older wealthy widow with two children. With their combined money, he retired for a while to be a gentleman farmer and went into local politics. He became very interested in science and agriculture.
Not long afterward, however, he was recruited to lead an army of revolutionaries against the soldiers he formerly had commanded as a colonel. His success in these endeavors won him fame and honor that would persist for centuries. His bravery at bring bringing his troops through hardship and losses made him respected and greatly admired. His reputation for integrity and wise leadership made him a beloved hero and legend in his own time.
He became the first president of the United States.
George Washington, a boy from a "fatherless home."
This child was born into a prosperous family and well-educated in his early youth. But then his father died when he was just 10, and he was sent off to live with his older half-brother. His formal education largely ended at that point, and he was sent to learn the trade of surveying, which he went to work at full-time by the age of 16.
When he was 20, his half-brother died of tuberculosis. Weary of the drudgery of surveying, and fortuitously now in possession of an inheritance from his half-brother that relieved him from that, he joined the army. Within three years he rose to the rank of colonel.
His military career was not uniformly positive, however; he gained a reputation for being brash, occasionally rude to superior officers to whom he wrote multiple lengthy letters espousing his differing opinions, and impatient with authority.
By the time he was 26 he left the army, and then married an older wealthy widow with two children. With their combined money, he retired for a while to be a gentleman farmer and went into local politics. He became very interested in science and agriculture.
Not long afterward, however, he was recruited to lead an army of revolutionaries against the soldiers he formerly had commanded as a colonel. His success in these endeavors won him fame and honor that would persist for centuries. His bravery at bring bringing his troops through hardship and losses made him respected and greatly admired. His reputation for integrity and wise leadership made him a beloved hero and legend in his own time.
He became the first president of the United States.
George Washington, a boy from a "fatherless home."
May 5, 2009
Need a father? Expose number one
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20090504/LOVELAND01/90504001
James Whitler's 11- and 13-year-old children are expected to deliver emotional testimony today in their father's first-degree murder trial.
Whitler is accused of trying to kill his 11- and 13-year-old children in May 2008 after beating process server Stephen Allen to death with a baseball bat after receiving divorce papers and a restraining order temporarily keeping him from seeing his children.
The trial begins its first full week of testimony today.
Sgt. John Feyen, the first officer to arrive on scene, testified last week he saw James Whitler strangling both of his children. Deputies used Tasers to free the children from
Whitler's grasp, Feyen testified.
Lisa Whitler, testifying Friday, said her ex-husband seemed calm in the 30 minutes it took him to read the divorce papers and restraining order before he delivered the first of many blows from a tee-ball bat to Allen's body.
She also testified her children sent her "hate messages" through voice and text messages in the week before she filed for divorce, while they were living with their father.
When proceedings start up again at 9 a.m. today, Whitler's 11-year-old son is expected to testify, and prosecutors have also indicated jurors will see a 90-minute recording of the boy's interview with investigators.
Prosecutors also have said they will call Whitler's 13-year-old daughter to testify.
Whitler's attorneys, public defenders Eric Vanatta and Kathryn Hay, don't dispute their client killed Allen but argue he did so in an altered state of mind.
They also argued during opening statements that James Whitler loved his children and told them, "I have to protect you" just before he started strangling them.
The trial is going into its third day of testimony today. Prosecutors have indicated jurors will see more than 200 pieces of evidence during the two-week-long trial.
James Whitler's 11- and 13-year-old children are expected to deliver emotional testimony today in their father's first-degree murder trial.
Whitler is accused of trying to kill his 11- and 13-year-old children in May 2008 after beating process server Stephen Allen to death with a baseball bat after receiving divorce papers and a restraining order temporarily keeping him from seeing his children.
The trial begins its first full week of testimony today.
Sgt. John Feyen, the first officer to arrive on scene, testified last week he saw James Whitler strangling both of his children. Deputies used Tasers to free the children from
Whitler's grasp, Feyen testified.
Lisa Whitler, testifying Friday, said her ex-husband seemed calm in the 30 minutes it took him to read the divorce papers and restraining order before he delivered the first of many blows from a tee-ball bat to Allen's body.
She also testified her children sent her "hate messages" through voice and text messages in the week before she filed for divorce, while they were living with their father.
When proceedings start up again at 9 a.m. today, Whitler's 11-year-old son is expected to testify, and prosecutors have also indicated jurors will see a 90-minute recording of the boy's interview with investigators.
Prosecutors also have said they will call Whitler's 13-year-old daughter to testify.
Whitler's attorneys, public defenders Eric Vanatta and Kathryn Hay, don't dispute their client killed Allen but argue he did so in an altered state of mind.
They also argued during opening statements that James Whitler loved his children and told them, "I have to protect you" just before he started strangling them.
The trial is going into its third day of testimony today. Prosecutors have indicated jurors will see more than 200 pieces of evidence during the two-week-long trial.
Fatherless Child - Expose Number One
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/fatherless/001.html
This child was born into poverty to an unwed mother who was a servant on a sugar plantation in the Caribbean. His father was a shiftless sort from Scotland who abandoned her at a time when this was a scandalous and irreversible blight on the mother's life. She taught the child how to read, write, and do math. The child was left alone much of the time. She died when the child was thirteen, leaving him an orphan.
The child, somewhat small and runty -- he never grew beyond a slight 5'7" as an adult -- went to work as a clerk for a large and wealthy sugar- and slave-trading and importing company. His talent for math and writing and his conscientiousness soon enamored him of his bosses. By the age of 14, he was left for periods of time in charge of the entire company. By the time he was 17, his acumen had so spread around the island that locals took up a charity collection to send him to college. Thus, he went to New York, to King's College (later known as Columbia University.)
Having witnessed the horrors of slavery and discrimination, the child in his later life became the first of his kind to speak out vehemently and publicly against these abominations. He also spoke and wrote against aristocracies in favor of meritocracy. His lack of having grown up in a real family did not impede him at all from having a successful marriage to the woman he loved, including having eight children whom he adored.
Notwithstanding that he had no real prior experience in another field of work -- or his slight stature -- in his early 20s, he convinced the man who was then his boss to give him a chance to form and lead a new division in his company. His ideas and almost maniacal commitment and enthusiasm for his new task literally caused jaws to drop. He led his division in the Battle of Yorktown, a resounding success, and the turning point of the Revolutionary War.
He was the author of the Federalist Papers, the first treasury secretary of the United States, and without question, singlehandedly, the creator of the economic system of the United States. After the War, his leadership and his unique ideas and future vision turned a debt-ridden, wounded collection of thirteen bickering colonies into a world-class economic power in three years.
Alexander Hamilton, a boy from a "fatherless home."
This child was born into poverty to an unwed mother who was a servant on a sugar plantation in the Caribbean. His father was a shiftless sort from Scotland who abandoned her at a time when this was a scandalous and irreversible blight on the mother's life. She taught the child how to read, write, and do math. The child was left alone much of the time. She died when the child was thirteen, leaving him an orphan.
The child, somewhat small and runty -- he never grew beyond a slight 5'7" as an adult -- went to work as a clerk for a large and wealthy sugar- and slave-trading and importing company. His talent for math and writing and his conscientiousness soon enamored him of his bosses. By the age of 14, he was left for periods of time in charge of the entire company. By the time he was 17, his acumen had so spread around the island that locals took up a charity collection to send him to college. Thus, he went to New York, to King's College (later known as Columbia University.)
Having witnessed the horrors of slavery and discrimination, the child in his later life became the first of his kind to speak out vehemently and publicly against these abominations. He also spoke and wrote against aristocracies in favor of meritocracy. His lack of having grown up in a real family did not impede him at all from having a successful marriage to the woman he loved, including having eight children whom he adored.
Notwithstanding that he had no real prior experience in another field of work -- or his slight stature -- in his early 20s, he convinced the man who was then his boss to give him a chance to form and lead a new division in his company. His ideas and almost maniacal commitment and enthusiasm for his new task literally caused jaws to drop. He led his division in the Battle of Yorktown, a resounding success, and the turning point of the Revolutionary War.
He was the author of the Federalist Papers, the first treasury secretary of the United States, and without question, singlehandedly, the creator of the economic system of the United States. After the War, his leadership and his unique ideas and future vision turned a debt-ridden, wounded collection of thirteen bickering colonies into a world-class economic power in three years.
Alexander Hamilton, a boy from a "fatherless home."
Welcome
I would like to welcome all who have stumbled on this blog. As a divorced mother who falsely believed that my children "NEED" their father, I have quickly come to realize that many children do much better if there is ONE caring parent, rather than one caring parent and one abusive parent. The purpose of this blog is to highlight recent (and not so recent) articles and stories about the children who would have been better off without a father, and those who had no father and how those children turned out.
I must thank first and foremost, Liz Kates, as without her site http://www.thelizlibrary.org, this site would not exist. Thank you Liz for the ideas behind this. I must also say that the recent huge increase in paternal inflicted familicides has also gave way to create this blog. One hears of the many women (which in all actuality are not that "many") who have killed or injured their children. The true stories highlighted here will be a massive joint effort amongst my colleagues and myself. So thanks must go to them as well.
Now without further ado, lets get on with the analysis at hand - do children really need fathers, or do they simply need positive role models - both female and male?
I must also add that comments will be moderated as I will NOT tolerate any hatred speech towards either men or women in general. My rules are also that you must discuss the case at hand. If I am speaking of Joe Blow, you cannot bring up Jane Doe. I have an email and if I deem a story important enough to have placement on this blog, then I will place it and give credit to you and to the original article author.
Last, but certainly not least, I will provide a link at the top of all my articles which will open in a new window. This will allow the reader to see the article in full (if I have only quoted portions of it) and read for themselves the travesties of justice being handed to our next generation.
I must thank first and foremost, Liz Kates, as without her site http://www.thelizlibrary.org, this site would not exist. Thank you Liz for the ideas behind this. I must also say that the recent huge increase in paternal inflicted familicides has also gave way to create this blog. One hears of the many women (which in all actuality are not that "many") who have killed or injured their children. The true stories highlighted here will be a massive joint effort amongst my colleagues and myself. So thanks must go to them as well.
Now without further ado, lets get on with the analysis at hand - do children really need fathers, or do they simply need positive role models - both female and male?
I must also add that comments will be moderated as I will NOT tolerate any hatred speech towards either men or women in general. My rules are also that you must discuss the case at hand. If I am speaking of Joe Blow, you cannot bring up Jane Doe. I have an email and if I deem a story important enough to have placement on this blog, then I will place it and give credit to you and to the original article author.
Last, but certainly not least, I will provide a link at the top of all my articles which will open in a new window. This will allow the reader to see the article in full (if I have only quoted portions of it) and read for themselves the travesties of justice being handed to our next generation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)