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David Fiske

David Fiske's book, Solomon Northup's Kindred: The Kidnapping of Free Citizens before the Civil War, was published by Praeger in 2016. He is a co-author of the books Solomon Northup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave
(Praeger Publishing, 2013) and Madame Sherri: The Special Edition (Emu Books, 2014). Fiske also maintains the webpage solomonnorthup.com.

The Disappearance of Civil War Veteran Dudley Goodwin

March 20, 2022 by David Fiske Leave a Comment

Dudley Goodwin Missing Person Notice courtesy Ballston JournalOne hundred years ago a long-standing citizen of Ballston Spa went missing.

Usually known as Dudley Goodwin, his name was sometimes given as M. Dudley Goodwin (which is what appears on his tombstone). According to information on Find-A-Grave, his first name was Madison. He was born in Fulton County, on the second day of April, 1844. A sister was also born in Fulton County, about 1841, but Dudley’s other siblings were born in Saratoga County. [Read more…] about The Disappearance of Civil War Veteran Dudley Goodwin

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Ballston Spa, Civil War, Kayderossearas Creek, Malta, Milton, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable

Brooklyn’s Monkey Trial of 1906

September 3, 2020 by David Fiske 3 Comments

The Bostock Building at Coney Island's Dreamland, from the 1904 book, History of Coney IslandYou may be familiar with the “Scopes Monkey Trial.” In 1925, teacher Thomas Scopes was brought into court for violating a Tennessee law that forbade the teaching of evolution. Scopes was defended by famed lawyer Clarence Darrow, who actually asked the jury to find his client guilty in order that the case could be appealed to a higher court.

In 1927, Scopes’ guilty verdict was reversed on a technicality, without addressing the issue of the law’s constitutionality. (That matter was not resolved until 1968, when the United States Supreme Court struck down – on First Amendment issues – a similar law in Arkansas.)

Years earlier, Brooklyn, New York had a monkey trial – but one that was entirely different. The Brooklyn case did not involve Darwin’s theory of evolution in any way – it concerned an actual living, breathing, in-the-flesh monkey. [Read more…] about Brooklyn’s Monkey Trial of 1906

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Brooklyn, nature, Science, Wildlife

The Life and Death of Saratoga’s Statue to the 77th Regiment

July 23, 2020 by David Fiske 7 Comments

empty base courtesy Saratoga Springs Department of Public Safety During the American Civil War – which, despite attempts to argue otherwise, was in effect America’s crusade against slavery – several hundred thousand citizens from New York State enlisted in the United States Army.

Many from Saratoga County (and also some from Essex and Fulton Counties) joined the 77th Regiment, its unit number chosen to recall the 1777 Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution. It was known as the “Bemis Heights Regiment,” the place so evocative of the “turning point” of the War of Independence. [Read more…] about The Life and Death of Saratoga’s Statue to the 77th Regiment

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Civil War, Crime and Justice, Historic Preservation, Military History, Saratoga County, Saratoga Springs

Executions Ended ‘Lonely Hearts Killers’ Spree

March 12, 2020 by David Fiske Leave a Comment

Beck and FernandezThe modus operandi was to use “lonely hearts” ads to lure lonesome women into romantic situations in order to make use of their financial resources. In several cases (at least) the victims were then murdered.

Raymond Martinez Fernandez had come up with the scheme, then was joined in the enterprise by Martha Beck in the late 1940s. But their killing spree halted when they were arrested in Michigan, where they admitted to having murdered a woman and her young daughter. Because they were in a state with no death penalty, they also felt comfortable telling police there about a widow they had murdered in New York State. [Read more…] about Executions Ended ‘Lonely Hearts Killers’ Spree

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, New York City Tagged With: Albany, Crime and Justice, womens history

Authenticity and Authorship: Twelve Years a Slave

December 29, 2019 by David Fiske 9 Comments

Solomon Northup in a Sketch from Twelve Years a SlaveQuestions about the authenticity and authorship of Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave have been raised in the past, and have resurfaced following the release of the recent film version of his book.

Though an expert on Solomon Northup, his book, the contemporary reactions to his book in the 1850s, and his later life (which included several years spent traveling to talk about his experiences), I am not a scholar of slave narratives. I have consulted some of them in connection with my work on Northup, as necessary. I leave it for others to draw detailed comparisons between Northup’s narrative and the others. [Read more…] about Authenticity and Authorship: Twelve Years a Slave

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Books, History Tagged With: Abolition, Black History, Essex County, Slavery, Solomon Northup

Pilgrimages Part of John Brown’s Farm History

May 23, 2019 by David Fiske 1 Comment

Barber in November 1912Memorial Day weekend is approaching, and along with the “unofficial start of summer,” the Adirondacks will experience its annual influx of vacationers. But in years past, visitors arrived in May for another purpose: a pilgrimage to the John Brown farm in North Elba, New York. At the farm, a wreath would be laid upon the abolitionist’s grave, and the song “John Brown’s Body” was sung. [Read more…] about Pilgrimages Part of John Brown’s Farm History

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Black History, John Brown, John Brown SHS

A NY Officer Killed One Day Before WWI Armstice

November 11, 2018 by David Fiske 1 Comment

Lonesome JackHerbert William Peart was born in 1894 in Australia. His parents, who were English, were both connected with the Salvation Army. His father, William Peart, was a principal in that organization and the Pearts carried on its work in Australia, where Herbert and his siblings were born.

In 1905, the Peart family moved to the United States, where Colonel Peart was the second-highest official in the organization’s American branch, working with General Evangeline Booth (daughter of Salvation Army founder William Booth). [Read more…] about A NY Officer Killed One Day Before WWI Armstice

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Military History, World War One

Charles Zimmy’s 1937 Swim from Albany to Manhattan

September 4, 2018 by David Fiske 4 Comments

Charles ZimmyOn August 23, 1937 a physician checked out Charles Zimmy at the Albany Yacht Club, which was located at the bottom of State Street hill. The doc’s approval having been given, some young men from Albany applied a thick layer of grease to Zimmy’s body, he lit a cigar, and hopped off a pier into the water of the Hudson River. As he bobbled a bit in the water, he lost his cigar. That wasn’t a problem, though, as there was a supply of 200 aboard the Penguin, a 50-foot boat which would shadow him as he made his way south towards New York City. The cigars, Zimmy told a reporter, were as much a necessity as the watertight goggles he wore during his swim.

According to an article in the Times-Union on August 24, Zimmy anticipated losing about 80 pounds during the challenge, which he thought would require him to swim the equivalent of 200 miles – more than the actual distance from Albany to Manhattan – because tides would sometimes push him back upstream, through water he’d already swum. He’d be swimming day and night, catching sleep an hour at a time while floating on his back. [Read more…] about Charles Zimmy’s 1937 Swim from Albany to Manhattan

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Albany, Hudson River, Manhattan, New York City, swimming

History Mystery: What Happened To Solomon Northup?

February 26, 2018 by David Fiske 8 Comments

young Harriet Tubman, who served as a spy and scout during the Civil War Solomon Northup, who was lured away from Saratoga Springs and into slavery before the Civil War, wrote a book, Twelve Years a Slave, following his fortuitous rescue in 1853.

Some of his post-slavery life can be tracked via property records, court documents, and newspaper stories. Thus, it is known that he purchased a home for his family in Glens Falls, that he undertook a lecture tour throughout the Northeast, and was involved in the apprehension and trial of the two men who had kidnapped him. [Read more…] about History Mystery: What Happened To Solomon Northup?

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Civil War, Military History, Saratoga Springs, Solomon Northup

A Unique Memorial To A Fallen World War One Soldier

September 24, 2017 by David Fiske 6 Comments

Morgan S. Baldwin 1915 Cornell YearbookHe was undoubtedly the first victim of the first World War whose name I learned. As a freshman at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, I would lower my stress levels by walking. I traipsed around the expansive campus, but I’d also venture onto city streets. I discovered that near the stately Llenroc mansion (built to be the home of Cornell founder, Ezra Cornell – though he never lived there), there was an impressive stone staircase, with a large terrace that was a perfect spot for looking down on “the bustling town” (as the Cornell anthem calls the city). A plaque identified the structure as a memorial for Morgan Smiley Baldwin, a 1915 graduate of Cornell, whose body lay “where he fell at Boni-France, September 29th, 1918.”

For years, this was what I knew about Baldwin. I assumed – as probably others have – that “Smiley” was a nickname, but it turns out it was his given middle name (his mother’s maiden name was Smiley). I did learn that the stairway had been erected by his aggrieved father. We are in the midst of the centennial of the “Great War,” and I decided to take a fresh look at Baldwin’s story. [Read more…] about A Unique Memorial To A Fallen World War One Soldier

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Cornell University, Military History, World War One

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