RIP Jeannie Woutersz

 

After the recent accidental death of honorary Grant Cottage board member Treat Williams, the loss of Jeannie Woutersz (pronounced Waters) hits closer to home, although since she was 93 years old it can hardly be called unexpected.

Jeannie was a solid working board member for many years, which she fitted in with a full range of other commitments.  I can't remember when I met her, but we got better acquainted when I was on the Grant Cottage staff as site interpreter for a couple of seasons in 2009-10. Since then I would run into her from time to time at events or at the cottage. We'd discuss and argue in friendly fashion about this and that -- board and regional politics, local history, preservation and journalism. It was always a pleasure.

I didn't know she had died until yesterday, when I was volunteering at the cottage and Ben Kemp told me. He said Jeannie had taken lately to spending more time sitting on the porch there.

 Fortunately I had time, when my shift ended, to go down the hill to Gurn Springs Cemetery on Ballard Road for the last service. I found the grave of legendary Grant Cottage caretaker Suye Narita Gambino, who died in 1984, and her husband Anthony. (They were the hosts when my girlfriend -- now wife -- Barbara and I first visited the cottage in 1983.) Suye was a good friend of Jeannie. 

Then the family and other mourners arrived, including a couple of board members I knew. I joined in some prayers, and in scattering earth over the urn which contained Jeannie's ashes when it was placed below ground level.

A life well lived.

Juneteenth at Grant Cottage

 

(Reginald Adams with his mural in Galveston, Texas)

My friend Steve Trimm (portraying Grant) and I will be doing a program at Grant Cottage on Monday. That's June 19 -- Juneteenth -- which will be the focus of our presentations. My PowerPoint lecture (with Q&A) will be more about Gordon Granger than this essay I wrote and posted here last year, but along the same general lines. Steve's presentation is at noon, mine at 1 p.m. See here:

Jun 19 2023 The History Behind Juneteenth - Monday, Jun 19, 2023 - Saratoga Springs, NY Events

RIP Treat Williams

 

I had the honor of giving the fine actor Treat Williams, who died Monday as the result of a motorcycle accident, his first tour of Grant Cottage on July 10, 2014. He was a pleasant, interested and knowledgeable visitor.

 Diana O'Brien, on left in photo, was then dressed as the poet Emily Dickinson for a program, and is now a board member of The Friends of Grant Cottage. Williams became an honorary board member and spoke at last year's fund-raiser. He also wrote and performed a one-man play about Ulysses S. Grant.

Zoomin' to Kansas, Open to All (time clarified)

 

 I will be giving a Zoom PowerPoint presentation on James Montgomery: Abolitionist Warrior to the Kansas Historical Society at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time (6:30 in Kansas) on Wednesday, April 12. It is open to the public, as explained below by the KHS.

Please feel to share this link to the program with your friends, family, coworkers, or anyone else who may be interested, https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0NuLXrMQQtSrCleMwLOWhA     This is the link to the Zoom webinar, and people watching through Zoom will need to register. We’ve also put a link there for people who would like to purchase your book in advance of your program. The webinar will also be streamed live on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEQsILc7_8ttaPAgv9KVWVPY95dkBnOdR

Another Review and a Note About Wikipedia

 

Another review of the Montgomery biography has come to my attention, this one by David Marshall at The New York Military Affairs Symposium (scroll down to Feb. 22). Like all the others I've seen (see my previous posts below, and the "praise" tab from publisher's page) it is a largely positive review. But it's the second one I've seen to criticize my alleged use of "Wikipedia as a source".

This is a reference to a sentence in my Preface and Acknowledgments which said: "I somewhat guiltily acknowledge frequent use of the online Wikipedia encyclopedia, while not relying on it as a cited source."

If that needs clarifying, what I meant was I did not use Wikipedia as a source but as a very useful tool. I bet most historians and other inquiring minds also use it, whether or not they are prepared to admit doing so. Yes, it may be slanted, itself insufficiently sourced, or even, on rare occasion, sabotaged. But I have found it generally accurate and a good first reference when first looking up someone or something.

I gave a couple of graciously received local talks last week, one to the Capital District Civil War Round Table (see photo below) in Watervliet, NY, and the other to the Academy for Lifelong Learning in Saratoga Springs.

The latter presentation was about my novel The Last Circle of Ulysses Grant. Published in 2018 by Square Circle Press and still in print, it has drawn less attention than the two biographies published by Casemate, but may be my favorite book -- which could be why I'm now working on (or at least planning) another novel.

 

More Reviews of Biographies

I found this one of the Montgomery book quoted on the publisher's page. The other quotes there are from reviews linked to in previous entries on this blog, which -- along with other reviews -- you can scroll down below to find. 

The new (to me) one is from the Midwest Book Review (scroll down to their Civil War Shelf) -- to whom a tip of the hat. It is anonymous and very short:

"With a special appeal and relevance to readers with an interest in the abolitionist movement to end slavery in Kansas and Missouri, the American Civil War in general, and the role of Union Colonel James Montgomery and his African-American troops in particular, 'James Montgomery: Abolitionist Warrior' is as informatively detailed [as] it is inherently fascinating. ... an extraordinary and welcome contribution to the growing library of American Civil War histories and biographies."

A yet newer review is of a considerably older book, the Granger biography which was published in 2013 and reissued in paperback last year. It's by Meg Groeling, to whom go my thanks for another positive review, and appears in the January 2023 print edition of Civil War News, but does not seem to be online yet. (They reviewed my Montgomery book last October.) 

Still More Reviews

Sprague Mansion (see below)

I'll have to do a review roundup soon for the Montgomery biography, but you can scroll down on this blog to see links to all that I'm aware of. Here's one I've linked to on other social media, but not yet here, from Military Review, the professional journal of the U.S. Army, by Richard A. McConnell, which he graciously sent me. 

And here is J. Daley from the Civil War Book Review, which I first saw on Twitter today. While I'd characterize all the reviews so far, including this one, as broadly positive, Daley's does have a few pointed criticisms which prompted me, perhaps unwisely, to fire off a tweet in response.

Meanwhile, I've been addressing Civil War Round Tables from Binghamton, NY (where I found some interesting IBM retirees) to Newton, NJ, with the highlight being a stop at the Sprague Mansion last month to address the annual dinner meeting of the Rhode Island CWRT. That's the birthplace of William Sprague IV, most famous in my view for a disastrous marriage to Kate Chase. (Next up is a Zoom presentation Sunday evening to the Westchester County, NY, CWRT.)

On the Rhode Island trip I also got to stay overnight at the old Providence house of -- and go out on the town with -- Mark and Annette Dunkelman. Mark is himself a Civil War author, and a country musician.

My Montgomery book, the reissued paperback biography of Gordon Granger, and the still-in-print Grant novel would all, I presume, make excellent Christmas gifts.