History

Chrysanthemum

October 1, 2019 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

Across a waste of moorland, bleak and bear,
A lonely bird is flying, calling low—
The last of all the feathered host to go,
And loth to leave still lingers, calling, there
Within my silent garden-passes, where
The flowers are withered that in summer blow,
I walk with murmuring ghosts, that to and fro
Sway gently in the chill November air;

When, lo! I mark a little way apart
The sovereign glory of this waning year
That now, alone, unheralded hath come,
In gorgeous robes — alas, my fickle heart
Forgets the dead, and laughs that she is here,
The royal queen of fall, Chrysanthemum.

“Chrysanthemum” by Albert Bigelow Paine (Rhymes by Two Friends, 1893)

Júhuā

Chrysanthemum was first cultivated as a flowering herb in China more than 3,000 years ago, and is a symbolic and therapeutic element of Chinese and East Asia traditions, culture and art.

Chinese scholars and poets frequently praise the chrysanthemum in ancient writings as a noble flower of elegance and strength, beautifully flowering during the cold days of autumn and early winter. It’s also designated as one of the Four Gentlemen, or Noble Ones, four plants depicted in Chinese art ‘bird and flower’ painting as far back as the Song dynasty (960 -1279), and later used by other artists in East Asia to represent the four seasons: orchid (spring); bamboo (summer); chrysanthemum (autumn); and plum blossom (winter).

Drinking chrysanthemum tea also dates back to the Chinese Song dynasty, and is still enjoyed today. It has a delicate floral aroma and light, refreshing taste, and is typically prepared by steeping dried flowers of Chrysanthemum morifolium or Chrysanthemum indicum in hot water, with sugar often added, and sometimes wolfberries (goji). The teapot of chrysanthemum flowers is customarily refilled with hot water several times during tea drinking, lightening the flavor and potency of the tea with each serving. While drinking chrysanthemum tea is believed to have cleansing and special healing properties, its effectiveness is uncertain, and it can cause side effects in some people. Therefore, best to consult your doctor before indulging. If you are allergic to ragweed, pregnant or nursing, avoid chrysanthemum tea and any type of supplement containing the flower.

Information/Resources:
You’ll find more history of chrysanthemum as well as planting/gardening information, tips and resources on the National Chrysanthemum Society (USA) website.
Be Careful – Chrysanthemums are toxic to dogs, cats and horses (Learn more about toxic plants ASPCA website)
General informational resource: Wikipedia – Chrysanthemum

See Spring Flowers blooming – right before your eyes

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Football mums feature photo is courtesy of Erol Ahmed/StockSnap CC0
Chrysanthemum (1722-1735) Xian’e Changchun Album by Giuseppe Castiglione/Wikimedia PD Chrysanthemum tea photo courtesy of Ornella Binni/StockSnap CC0

Family Mystery

September 21, 2019 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

"Bergische Haus" in Lennep — “Bergische Haus” in Lennep photo by Doris Antony CC BY-SA 3.0

Peter Albert Reinshagen was born on April 23, 1853 in the industrial “cloth making” town of Lennep located within the Prussian Rhine Province. Although now a borough of Remscheid, Germany, the history of Lennep dates back to the Middle Ages, and its town center still remains with more than 100 examples of 18^th century “Bergische Haus” architecture, distinguished by timber framed post construction, grey-black slate facades, white window frames with green shutters, and white door lintels.

Peter was the second child and oldest son of six children born to Peter and Julie Leverkus Reinshagen (a sister, Anna, born a year earlier, died four months after Peter’s birth, and Albert, the youngest child, died in 1865 at not quite 3 years old). Peter grew up with a younger brother, Carl Hermann (Karl), and two sisters, Auguste and Anna (she was born 8 years after the death of her older sister, Anna). The Reinshagen and Leverkus families were prosperous in their manufacturing businesses; however, family life changed when Peter was just 12 years old; his father passed away on March 13, 1864.

Das Land des Wieder Anfanges
-The Land of Another Beginning-

German Immigrants Boarding Steamer to New York — “From the Old to the New World” German immigrants boarding steamer to New York (Harper’s Weekly, Nov. 7, 1874) PD/Wikimedia

A massive wave of German migration to the United States began in the 1830s, with the number of arrivals spiking in the mid to late 1800’s. In the 50 year span between 1820 – 1870, over 7.5 million German immigrants came to the US, more than doubling its population. Although decisions to emigrate seem to have been primarily based on economic, religious and political issues, there does not seem to be a specific cause underlying the phenomenon. In fact, there are probably as many different motivations behind the 19th century migration from Germany to America as there were immigrants being that it was an extraordinarily diverse group with differing religious and cultural values, dissimilar political views, and varying geographical, vocational and educational backgrounds.

The diversity of these German-speaking people was due to the fact that since the end of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648, Germany had been divided into a patchwork of independent, monarchical states with distinct histories and competing interests. While political unrest and economic turmoil existed throughout the German states during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, the circumstances were never as extreme as the famine and oppression suffered in Ireland during the same time period. Consequently, German immigrants were not always escaping a desperate situation, and many had professional skills as well as capital to start a new life in America.

A mass emigration effort to establish German settlements on Texas land was conducted in the 1840’s by “The Society for the Protection of German Immigration in Texas” (known as “Adelsverein”, the “Nobility Society”) for the purpose of creating new world markets for German industry and promoting German maritime commerce. The endeavor resulted in successful colonies in central Texas that still exist today, but ended in 1853 because of Adelsverein leadership, financial and administrative shortcomings.

So, it seems, many Germans making the dangerous transatlantic voyage toward an uncertain future may have been lured by the promise of an expansive new world with greater opportunity and ideological freedom.

The Mosel passenger list 26 May, 1877 — Mosel Passenger List, 26 May 1877

We don’t know his reasons, but do know Peter, at 24 years old, set off for America on May 26, 1877 from the port city of Bremerhaven on the SS Mosel. We can, however, assume there were personal, complex motivations, rather than economic hardship, as he traveled alone on second class passage, leaving behind his mother and siblings, and never to see his homeland again.

Peter arrived in America shortly after the intensely disputed election of President Rutherford B. Hayes at the close of the Reconstruction Era, embarking on his odyssey during the outset of the Second Industrial Revolution (1870 – 1914), a period of rapid growth and great advancement in manufacturing and technology. At the same time, unresolved political, economic and social issues continued to afflict the country with conflict, suffering and violence.

It was the beginning of the family mystery.

Mother never talked about father. — C.H. Reinshagen (1891-1980)

What happened to Peter after he arrived in America? What sort of man was he, and how did he die? No one had answers, but there was plenty of speculation among his descendants.

Carl Peter Henry Reinshagen with his mother Emma Michel Reinshagen (about 1896) — Carl with his mother Emma (1896)

In 1891, less than 15 years following his immigration from Germany, Peter died a few days before his 38^th birthday and a few months prior to the birth of his only child, Carl Peter Henry (Charles Henry). Carl was raised in Comal County, Texas by his mother, Emma, and from the age of 7 years, a stepfather in a large, blended family of step and half siblings. Unfortunately, he was not given much information about his father, except Carl was made aware of his uncles, aunts and cousins in Germany. No one in the family had the most basic information as to Peter’s travels and work in America, the circumstances of his death, or the location of his grave. As a result, family legend developed depicting Peter as somewhat of an outcast, a “ne’er-do-well”, and bar owner, inferring the entire story was likely much worse. It seemed after so many years, the man, his son and family deserved better. In late 2014, the search began.

Finding Peter

There are no photographs of Peter, no written communication. Three treasured documents have survived— a family tree compiled in 1906, the May 26, 1877 Mosel passenger list, and Carl’s baptism certificate, dated November 15, 1891. Therefore, the first logical step of this investigation involved taking the information from the documents and search the internet. There was a feeling of determination and confidence at the start of this endeavor because there are so many online information resources, tools and data bases, including records of birth, death, marriage, US census, immigration/naturalization, military, and probate as well as genealogy websites and newspaper articles. But, after many long days and nights of intense googling, it became apparent the “Finding Peter Research Project” was not going to be quick and easy. Peter was not showing up on anything.

Then…Success! Found a record of Peter’s marriage to Emma Michel on February 20, 1887 in Comal County, Texas. Also, discovered some of the limitations of an online genealogical search and reasons Peter is so hard to find.

The biggest factor is that searchable 19^th century public records are limited, incomplete, and very often inaccurate or not available on the internet; therefore, genealogical research takes a lot more digging. Case in point, an online search of the US census records was a total bust, maddening until learning most of the 1890 census records (the year before Peter’s death) were damaged by a fire at the Commerce Department Building in January of 1921. It then became somewhat discouraging to realize the chance of discovering documentary evidence of Peter’s location and occupation in the US had been reduced to the statistical information of only one source—the 1880 census. This led to the conclusion the library was the best next stop on this journey.

The staff is friendly and helpful at the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives & Library in Austin, Texas, and it was fun exploring all the reference materials and collections. A search via an ancestry informational website (for free!) identified a record of Peter’s birth and baptism in Lennep. It wasn’t a lot, but a hopeful sign he was out there somewhere. Since his son Carl’s baptism took place at a church in San Antonio, Texas, it was likely Peter had died there. The recommendation from a library staff member was to go directly to Bexar County records to check for a death certificate.

An online search of county and city records as well as published obituaries in the Bexar County, Texas area was not successful, and things really got frustrating after a telephone conversation with a county research clerk resulted in zero findings and a certain amount of hoplessness. It became clear—the next place to try is the church.

Cornerstone of St. John's first church building (1860) — “To God Alone the Glory” St. John’s first church building cornerstone laid March 5, 1860

Founded by German immigrants in 1857, St. John’s Lutheran Church (Deutsche Evangelische St. Johannes Kirche) has substantial historical ties to San Antonio, and church volunteers have put in many hours preserving and making available its records which date as far back as its founding. The information and documents available on St. John’s website are extraordinary, yet again, there were problems locating anything related to Peter in the online church archives, and this was particularly perplexing because Carl’s baptism certificate was issued by St. John’s in 1891. Not ready to give up, made a call to the church office and left a message.

That call led to an email exchange with Maria, a volunteer genealogy researcher at St. John’s, and receipt of her email on December 12, 2014 was a memorable, emotional moment (more than a few tears!):

From city records: Peter died of consumption in the San Juan Mission settlement area on April 20, 1891. His doctor was William Meier. He had been a resident of Bexar County for 16 months, and was buried in Bexar County (“Lutheran”).

A few days later, Maria found Peter’s funeral listed in the church record books, and although a burial site was not identified and can’t be located in the church cemeteries, Peter Albert Reinshagen was added to the St. John’s cemetery “presumed burial” list because of the funeral record and the added note “Lutheran” in the city of San Antonio death record. A gracious acknowledgement very much appreciated by the family.

Finding this long lost ancestor was both heartrending and joyous, and while more research is required to track Peter’s life in America from 1877 to 1891, the cause of death “consumption” is an important clue to the events leading to a tragedy. Consumption (also known as the “White Plague” and the “romantic disease” in reference to the high mortality rate among young and middle age adults during that time period) is a medical term used in the 19^th century for symptoms known today as tuberculosis, an infectious disease that commonly affects the lungs. At the time of Peter’s death, tuberculosis was widespread in Europe and North America, highly contagious as the population density and poor sanitary conditions of cities created a high risk environment, and deadly because there were no adequate treatments.

“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero

We are inherently compelled to search for long dead relatives. Many thousands of years ago, when humans began living in large settlements, they searched for connections to a trusted tribal group through common ancestry, eventually the practice evolved into a means of establishing links to prominent or heroic figures in order to validate social status. Today, a primary motivation is an instinctive desire to better understand who we are and how far we’ve come.

Finding Peter has answered some of those questions, but there are still missing pieces to the puzzle, and as so often happens, the answers have led to more questions. The Finding Peter Research Project, therefore, remains ongoing. Will update you with any new findings.

In the meantime, best of luck with your own family history research. Listed below are online resources I found helpful in tracing Peter Reinshagen from Germany to the US. If you have questions about the Finding Peter Research Project, would be happy to try to answer, and would enjoy learning about your family research projects as well.

Read about the German immigrant ship, SS Mosel, and Peter’s transatlantic voyage route → HERE.

Resources/References:

“German Immigration” US Immigration and Migration Library Reference, US History in Context

‘Big Wonderful Thing’ Excerpt: “Reason Had Left Its Throne” – excerpt from Stephen Harrigan’s book Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas*, Texas Monthly (October 2019) During the years before and after Texas independence from Mexico, a “steady surge” of German settlers arrived, and by 1850, they made up more than 5 percent of the population.

Wikipedia: Remscheid, Berg House, German History, Prussia, Thirty Years’ War, German Americans, Adelsverein, Reconstruction Era, Rutherford B. Hayes, Second Industrial Revolution, History of Tuberculosis

Family Search website (free online search of a large collection of genealogical and historical records)

US census research information: Genealogy FAQs

The National Archives and Records Administration “Resources for Genealogists”

Texas State Library & Archives Commission: Genealogy Resources & Online Public Access Catalog

St. John’s Lutheran Church website – History/”Church Archives” page

How To Make a Family Tree, the National Genealogical Society – References for Researching, a step-by-step tutorial

20 Reasons Why You Should Write Your Family History, by Carmen Nigro, New York Public Library (February 9, 2015)

*Zeester Media LLC may receive a small commission for a book purchase you make via the link within this page. This in no way affects the price you pay for the purchase.

Feature photo is courtesy of Brian Mann/Unsplash CC0

Birds of America

September 19, 2019 By Zola Zeester 1 Comment

Some time around 1820, French-American artist and naturalist, John James Audubon (1785-1851) started work on a personal project to paint every bird species located in North America, using unique methods and materials as well as extensive field observations. It was a tremendously challenging and costly endeavor, and many doubted Audubon’s ability to pull it off. In fact, the idea would seem a little wild & crazy even today with 21st century technology. But, Audubon was no ordinary guy. He was also totally committed to finding and illustrating every bird in North America for publication, working more than 15 years toward his goal and raising cash by teaching, selling art works, taking oil painting commissions, hunting and selling animal skins, and conducting exhibitions and demonstrations.

How to view and download John Audubon's extraordinarily beautiful illustrations in The Birds of America. — Common American Swan (The Birds of America, plate 411) is courtesy of the National Audubon Society, John James Audubon Center and Montgomery County Audubon Collection

The result of Audubon’s work is The Birds of America, first published in England as a series of 87 sets of prints between the years 1827 and 1838. Now considered to be the greatest study of birds in history as well as one of the greatest examples of book art, the original publication included 435 hand-colored, life-sized prints of North American birds on handmade paper that were produced from copperplate etchings and engravings with water-coloring applied by assembly-line colorists. An accompanying text (‘Ornithological Biography’) was written by Audubon and the Scottish ornithologist William MacGillvray and published separately in five volumes (1831-1839).

The cost of printing the first edition of The Birds of America was an amount equivalent to more than $2 million US dollars in today’s money. Audubon financed the massive print project with pre-paid subscriptions, but only the wealthy could afford the subscription price which limited the publication to no more than 200 complete sets. Consequently, more affordable editions were later produced using lithography and published during the mid-19^th century.

“The Birds of America’ will then raise in value as much as they are now depreciated by certain fools and envious persons.” — John James Audubon

Almost two centuries later, Audubon’s bird art is still captivating and revered among birders and art collectors, and his influence on ornithology and natural history has been widespread and enduring as The Birds of America and Ornithological Biography significantly contributed to the understanding of bird anatomy and behavior. Watching the short video, ‘Audubon’s Birds of America’ from the Lost Birds Project, you’ll get a sense of the massive beauty of these works of art as David W. Carson, curator of the History of Science Collection at Cornell University, conducts a private viewing of The Birds of America.

Six of the birds illustrated by John Audubon in The Birds of America are now extinct, and many more are endangered. Also — According to a recent study, North America has lost more than a quarter of its entire bird population during the past 50 years. [North America Has Lost 3 Billion Birds, Scientist Say by Nell Greefieldboyce (NPR, September 19, 2019)] ⇒⇒ Learn how you can help by visiting the National Audubon Society’s Action Center.

A copy of the complete The Birds of America series is available FREE of charge for viewing and high-resolution downloading via ⇒⇒ the National Audubon Society’s digital library, courtesy of the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove in Audubon, Pennsylvania and the Montgomery County Audubon Collection. Be sure to check it out, and let John Audubon inspire your own creative work.

Audubon’s personal copy of The Birds of America is held within the Stark Museum of Art Rare Books & Manuscripts Collections in Orange, Texas. An original, complete series is on public display (one page is turned each week) in the Audubon Room of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. It was purchased by the university in 1839 for the astonishing price of $970 (equivalent to approximately $80,000 today). Undoubtedly, a wise investment. In December 2010, a complete first edition from a private collection was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in London for US$ 11.5 million (a record breaking auction price).

Other permanent public display locations: Trinity College (Watkinson Library) in Hartford, Connecticut; University of Pittsburg (Hillman Library); Liverpool Central Library; Woodstock Inn in Woodstock, Vermont; and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (Ewell Sale Stewart Library) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Look around– there are surely more opportunities for viewing a first edition as there are currently 107 held by institutions, and many periodically offer special exhibits.

Information/Resources:
The Life of John James Audubon: The Naturalist (1869) [FREE ebook] The primary source material for this biography was Audubon’s notes and journals, written/edited by Lucy Green Bakewell Audubon and Robert Williams Buchanan. The JJ Audubon image is an engraving by H.B. Hall based on a portrait by Henry Inman that appears in the book.
John James Audubon – The Making of an American (2004) by Richard Rhodes*
Audubon’s ‘Birds of America’ at Yale: Creating a masterwork one feather at a time. Article by Mike Cummings, Yale News, June 30, 2015
“Ornithological Biography” or an Account of the Habits of the Birds of the United States of America Vol 4, (1838) by John James Audubon [FREE ebook].
Featured photo of Columbian Hummingbirds is from plate 425 of The Birds of America
Wikipedia: The Birds of America

If you just can’t get enough about birds, there’s more here ⇒ Bird ID Challenge (test your birding skills); Birdsong Melody (the music and magic of the mockingbird); The California Brown Pelican; and Fast and Fearless (the Hummingbird).

Audubon was the first, but there’s a new illustration of birds to get excited about! The Wall of Birds* tells the remarkable story of artist Jane Kim’s 2,500 square-foot mural celebrating the diversity and evolution of birds at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It took her 2 1/2 years to create the one-of-a-kind, life-size mural showcasing all 243 modern families of birds, and the book “is a visual feast, essential for those who love art, birds, and our natural world”.

*Zeester Media LLC may receive a small commission for a book purchase you make via a link to Amazon within this page. This in no way affects the price you pay for the purchase.

Mooncake

September 12, 2019 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

A mooncake (yue bing) is a Chinese pastry traditionally filled with a sweet, dense filling (make that very sweet, very dense) and one or more whole salted egg yolk (symbolizing the full moon). The tops of these delicacies are decorated with imprints of Chinese characters for longevity and harmony and the name of the bakery as well as images of the moon, flowers, vines, Chang’e (Chinese goddess of the moon), or a rabbit (symbol of the moon), and there hasn’t been a Mid-Autumn Festival celebrated in China without mooncakes since the Tang Dynasty (618-690 and 705-907) when they were first used as offerings to the moon and eaten during worship. Today, mooncakes are customarily offered and shared between friends, gifted to business clients and relatives, and eaten at family gatherings while celebrating the festival, and there are many different crusts, fillings and regional styles.

Although deeply rooted in ancient tradition, the sky’s the limit when it comes to contemporary-style mooncakes. The many modern creations include low-fat and sugar-free versions, exotic flavors and ingredients, and unique, custard-style fillings. Häagen-Dazs was one of the first to create an ice cream mooncake. They were a big hit (everybody loves ice cream!).

You might want to try this Home Baked Mini Cheese Shanghai Mooncake recipe (by Kimiya Lim, makes 16 small cakes) as it’s simpler and less time consuming than baking traditional mooncakes.

Ingredients

140g (1 cup) Cake flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
10g (1 tbsp) Custard powder
25g (1/4 cup) Milk powder
2 tsps Parmesan Cheese powder
40g (3 tbsps) Caster sugar
50g (1/3 cup) Softened butter
1 egg

4 Salted egg yolks (optional)*
320g (11 1/2 ounces) Lotus paste**
Black sesame seeds

Directions

Bake in preheated 130°C – 150°C (250°F – 300°F) oven for first 10 minutes, take out & cool for awhile then egg wash and sprinkle tops with a few black sesame seeds. Return to oven and bake for another 18-22 minutes or till golden on top. Baking time & temperature may vary depending on the type and accuracy of oven. You may need to adjust your oven temperature accordingly.

* Salted duck eggs are a common ingredient in Chinese cooking. Traditionally, they are preserved whole and raw in brine, and after a few weeks, the salt water draws out the moisture within the egg, concentrating its flavor. The yolks hardened into bright orange balls. Find them at your local Chinatown market or brine duck (or chicken) eggs ahead of time at home.
** Lotus seed paste is a sweet and smooth filling made from dried lotus seeds. Purchase ready-made at your local Chinatown market or make at home.

Resources/Information:

Mooncakes in Modern China, by Meredith Butenhoff, Allyn Wiggins, Hattie Grant, & Brandon Bank (Debunking Myths of China, Furman University, October 25, 2016), article includes recipe & instructions on how-to-make mooncakes
The Right Way to Eat Mooncake, by Ellen Duong (Sampan, August 5, 2016)
‘Mooncake’ (Wikipedia)

SHOP Mooncakes← ← Click/Tap on this link to shop for mooncakes on Amazon. [If you purchase a product or service directly through the link, Zeester Media LLC may earn a small commission. This in no way affects the price you pay for the purchase.]

More family tradition in the kitchen with fall favorites:
♥ German Chocolate Cupcakes
♥ Pumpkin Bread

Feature photo is courtesy of Flickr user, Chee Kweng Teoh, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

SS Mosel

September 6, 2019 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

Peter Albert Reinshagen made the journey from Bremen to New York on the SS Mosel in 1877, joining 2.9 million Germans immigrating to America during the years 1840 – 1880 (the largest group of immigrants in the US at the time). While attempting to track down clues about Peter’s life and death, the first research finding was the dire history of the ship he boarded on a late Spring day.

The ocean liner SS “Mosel” was built in 1872 by Caird & Co. of Greenock, Scotland for Norddeutscher Lloyd [North German Lloyd], one of the most important German shipping companies in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Although a steamship, the Mosel was rigged with sails as was typical during the time period, and at 3+ tons of iron construction, 349 feet long x 40 feet broad, it had service speed of 13 knots via screw propulsion, and accommodations for more than 800 passengers (90 1^st class, 126 2^nd class, and 600 3^rd class).

The ship’s name comes from the Mosel river that flows through France, Luxembourg, and one of Germany’s most beautiful river valleys with terraced vineyard hillsides, wine villages and castle ruins.

Maiden Voyage: April 1, 1873, Bremen-Southampton-New York

Ship’s Captain and Crew: August Hermann Friedrich Neynaber (1822-1899), served as captain of the Mosel and many other ocean liners from 1866 to 1881. The crews of North German Lloyd steamships were most often all German, and the stokers, or “firemen”, with the miserable job of shoveling coal into the furnaces to raise steam for the engines, usually outnumbered sailors two to one.

1875 bombing on docks of Bremerhaven resulted in deaths on SS Mosel — “Aftermath of the Mosel Bombing” (1875)

Catastrophic Crime on December 11, 1875 An infamous 19^th century criminal, Alexander Keith, Jr. (aka William King Thomas) masterminded an insurance fraud scheme involving the bombing of ships. In Bremerhaven, Germany, a time bomb Keith had placed in a shipping barrel detonated prematurely when dropped on the dock during loading. Two ships were overturned by the blast, 200 people injured and 80 killed, most aboard the Mosel.

Keith was on board another ship in Bremerhaven at the time of the explosion. After learning of the destruction and deadly consequences of his failed plan, he went to his cabin, shot himself, and died a week later.

May 26, 1877: Peter Albert began the voyage from Bremen to New York on the SS Mosel. The trip covers a distance of approximately 3,600 nautical miles, and the average travel time for the Mosel was 9+ days.

Hudson River offshore from Hoboken (Dec. 31, 1889)

While this route is recorded as starting from Bremen, the Mosel is docked and departs from the port city of Bremerhaven (Bremen’s harbor), a major European shipping center during the mid- to late 1800’s. However, the two cities are closely linked. In 1827, Bremen had purchased land located at the mouth of the Weser river on the North Sea to establish Bremerhaven as its seaport. Likewise, the Mosel didn’t actually dock in New York, but across the Hudson River from New York, in Hoboken, New Jersey. On June 30, 1900, a fire at the North German Lloyd piers at Hoboken resulted in many deaths and close to $10 million in damage.

Fire at Sea: Shortly after leaving Southampton for New York in early October 1879, a fire broke out on the Mosel. Captain Neynaber and the crew fought flames for more than four hours, saving the ship and her passengers. The Mosel docked at Hoboken on October 11th.

Wrecked on August 9, 1882: The Mosel, commanded by Captain Hesse, on its way to New York from Southampton, ran aground on rocks under a signal station at Lizard Point, Cornwall, the most southerly point of mainland Great Britain and a notorious shipping hazard. No lives were lost.

Read about the search for answers to the mystery of Peter Carl Reinshagen’s immigrant venture, life and death in America → HERE.

Information/Statistical Sources:

“Ships of our Ancestors“ by Michael J Anuta
“North Atlantic Seaway: An Illustrated History of the Passenger Services Linking the Old World with the New” by Nigel Reginald Pixell Bonsor (2nd ed. Jersey, Channel Islands: Brookside Publications)
Wikipedia: Norddeutscher Lloyd; Bremerhaven: Attack on the Mosel; German Americans; Bremen; Bremerhaven; Hoboken, New Jersey
“Bremen Sailors and the German Merchant Marines, North German Lloyd” by Maggie Land Blanck (The Family of Tom Blanck and Maggie Land Black)
“Fire on a Steam-Ship at Sea; The Cargo of the Mosel in Flames” The New York Times Archives, October 12, 1879
“A Steam-Ship on the Rocks”, The New York Times Archives, August 9, 1882

Feature photo of Lizard Point, Public Domain/Wikimedia
SS Mosel image taken from May 26, 1877 passenger list
Image ‘Aftermath of the Mosel bombing’, Public Domain/Wikimedia
Image ‘Hudson River offshore from Hoboken’ Public Domain/Widimedia

Bears Ears

August 24, 2019 By Zola Zeester 1 Comment

“Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. —- Theodore Roosevelt

Beauty of Bears Ears – Celebrating the New Monument by Corey Robinson

In order to protect more than 1.35 million acres of land containing historic, cultural and natural resources in the high desert country of southeastern Utah, President Barack Obama designated Bears Ears a national monument in December 2016 under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Bears Ears has long been considered sacred by Native American tribes, a place for spirituality, healing and reflection, and they have worked since the 1930’s to protect and preserve it as the presence of Native American culture within the area can be traced back many thousands of years.

There are an estimated 1,000 archeological sites located in the Bears Ears landscape of red rock, juniper forests and high plateau, the majority not yet studied by western archeologists, including the visually stunning, 3,500 year old Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, great houses and villages, ancient roads, shrines, and rock art. Designation as a US national monument offers protection against excavation or destruction for these invaluable antiquities so that they may be preserved for the benefit of future generations. However, Bears Ears is again at risk as it has gotten caught up in politics.

In December 2017, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation that purports to overturn the creation of Bears Ears National Monument. Protests, lawsuits and congressional bills followed. Documents obtained from the US Department of Interior indicate that the purpose of revoking the Bears Ears National Monument designation was to open up the lands to oil and gas and uranium development. On July 26, 2019, the Trump administration released a management plan for Bears Ears that includes “chaining” potentially thousands of acres of Bears Ears. ‘Chaining’ is destructive for landscapes and archeological sites, and often done to prepare land for commercial cattle grazing by dragging a large naval anchor chain between tractors, or using an industrial chipper.

While 16 US presidents have designated 157 national monuments under the authority of the Antiquities Act (Devils Tower National Monument was the first in 1906) and federal courts have repeatedly upheld presidential national monument designations, it often arouses controversy over issues of industry/business development v. protection and preservation of federal lands and its natural resources. Just one example — the Grand Canyon. Today, it’s considered an American treasure, but not everyone was on board in the beginning.

A senate bill was first introduced in 1887 to establish the Grand Canyon a national park, but it died in committee and mining and logging were allowed to continue in the area. In 1908, President Teddy Roosevelt, an avid outdoorsman and conservationist, used his authority under Antiquities Act to proclaim more than 800,000 acres of the Grand Canyon a national monument. A bitter fight began and continued for more than a decade as opponents filed lawsuits claiming President Roosevelt had overstepped his authority and attempted to block all efforts to reclassify the Grand Canyon National Monument a national park. Fortunately, preservation advocates eventually prevailed. Grand Canyon National Park was established by an Act of Congress signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on February 26, 1919, and currently receives approximately 5 million visitors each year.

Defenders of the Grand Canyon did not give up, and more than a century later, the fight for Bears Ears National Monument is just as intense.

Information/Resources:

Bears Ears has been home to Hopi, Navajo, Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Zuni people for many centuries, and they have worked for decades to protect its countless archeological, cultural and natural resources. For more information about this remarkable cultural landscape and efforts to protect it, go to the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition website → HERE

TAKE ACTION – In July, 2019, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its final management plan for Bears Ears National Monument and it jeopardizes everything the monument was originally created to protect, including extraordinary, sacred landscapes and troves of priceless cultural resources. You can send a message of protest to BLM Acting Director William Perry Pendley via this National Parks Conservation Association link → Protest the BLM’s Bears Ears Plan

Bears Ears National Monument, US Bureau of Land Management, Department of Interior
Visitor Information – Utah Office of Tourism, Bears Ears National Monument The best times to go are March – June and September – October.

This is Bears Ears – Culture, Sport, Take Action, a multimedia experience from Patagonia

Indian Creek and Cliffside, Bears Ears National Monument, located in southeastern Utah, was designated a National Monument in December, 2016/US Bureau of Land Management — Indian Creek and Cliffside, Bears Ears National Monument, USBLM, PD

You’ll be amazed and inspired viewing On2In2™ special selection videos featuring the natural wonders of the world. FREE To WATCH, On-Demand Watch: Natural Beauty

Feature photo: House on Fire Ruin, Upper Mule Canyon near Comb Ridge, by John Fowler CC BY 2.0

Photo of Indian Creek and Cliffside, Bears Ears National Monument, courtesy of the US Bureau of Land Management, Public Domain

Legendary Lovers

August 8, 2019 By Zola Zeester 1 Comment

“If two people love each other, there can be no happy end to it.” — Ernest Hemingway

Love is an emotion…. a powerful emotion that creates in the human mind a longing and psychological dependence on a romantic partner. And, great loves make great reading. Here’s a list of Zola’s all-time favorites. All non-fiction.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton lived very public, extravagant lives (Hollywood glitz, glamour and scandal), but Furious Love by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, provides more to the story of these lustful lovers with an intimate look at the obsessions, conflict, and heartache in their tumultuous private lives and a view of the players and deals involved in the business of movie-making. When I started reading, I couldn’t put the book down.

I first got interested in the DiMaggio – Monroe love story after reading Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life by Richard Ben Cramer. It was a ‘true love’ marriage of a sports icon and Hollywood super-star, but not so surprisingly, it was ill-fated. In fact, they were tragically mismatch, and the relationship became volatile and abusive. Joe and Marilyn: Legends in Love by C. David Heymann fills in the details.

The 40 year marriage of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt was controversial because it seemed so out of the norm at the time, leading to much speculation about their relationship with one another and others. It was certainly complicated, and filled with tragedy, turmoil, and betrayal as well as devotion and commitment. Doris Kearns Goodwin recounts the Roosevelt presidency during the war years (1940-45) through the telling of their intriguing personal story in No Ordinary Time (Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II).

King Henry VIII’s love letters to Anne Boleyn are a fascinating read. Written in the years 1527-29, Henry professes his love and devotion to Anne beautifully, but the drama is in the knowing that by the year 1536, Henry had found a new mistress and Anne was beheaded. You can read the letters (including historical notes) online, free → HERE

Much has been written about these scandalous lovers, and it’s never enough. King Edward VIII’s love affair with the married American, Wallis Simpson, and his subsequent abdication in 1936 changed the course of history. Start with The Windsor Story by Charles J.V. Murphy/J. Bryan III and Wallis and Edward: Letters (1931- 1937), then move on and find more to the story. [A couple of these books were first published 25+ years ago, so you might have some luck finding them at your local, public library]

You’ve probably never heard of Sara and Gerald Murphy. I hadn’t when I picked up Everybody Was So Young (Gerald and Sara Murphy, A Lost Generation Love Story) by Amanda Vaill, but was immediately fascinated with the story of their love and friendships with artists and writers (including Hemingway, Fitzgerald & Picasso) while living in Paris and the French Riviera during the 1920’s. It seemed the party would never end, but it did, and the Murphy’s were forever changed after enduring the sufferings of great loss and facing financial trouble during the Depression.

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Feature photo is edited image provided by Josh Felise/Unspash CC0

Malibu Road

June 2, 2019 By Zola Zeester 2 Comments

Sometimes— bliss is found by chance at an unlikely place and time. A friend recommended Malibu as one of the “best places” to live in the Los Angeles area. I was more than skeptical, and thought she must have had a total misunderstanding of my financial resources, life-style and career goals. But, I was also intrigued and willing to check it out as the friend assured “it’s a beautiful community”, and I was very much in need of a refuge. As it turned out, the Bu was not just a beautiful place; it was a beautiful experience.

[su_quote cite=”Rachel Carson (1907-1964) “]To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.[/su_quote]

California Brown Pelicans in flight at Big Rock Beach, Malibu

Purple Shore Crab at Big Rock Beach, Malibu

To Jacy, the friend who turned me on2 Malibu……..

“I wanna thank you with all of my heart
It’s a brand new start
A dream come true
in Malibu” — Miley Cyrus

Zola’s Malibu Road Reading List*

The Story of Malibu (free to read online) historical account of this unique place, published by the Malibu Lagoon Museum

• The King and Queen of Malibu: The True Story of the Battle for Paradise by David K. Randall. In 1892, Frederick H. Rindge (1857-1905) bought the 13,300 acre Spanish land grant “Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit” (Malibu Rancho) for $10/acre, and just a few years later, an intense fight for Malibu and its beautiful, secluded beaches began.

• All For a Few Perfect Waves: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer Miki Dora by David Rensin

• Malibu (Images of America) by Ben Marcus and Marc Wanamaker

• Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival by Norman Ollestad

Read up on the amazing ‘California Brown Pelican‘

Malibu Travel Information/Resources:

Malibu Lagoon State Beach – water sports, hiking, bird and whale watching, and guided tours of wetlands and historical/cultural landmarks
Birdwatching field trips at Malibu Lagoon hosted by Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society (free, monthly)
Malibu Creek State Park – hike, ride, climb & explore stunning terrain and wildlife of California’s Santa Monica Mountains
Point Dume State Beach – swimming, surfing, scuba diving and fishing. Watch California gray whales during December to mid April migration period
Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach – an area of small beaches known as “pocket beaches”, including: El Pescador, La Piedra and El Matador
Adamson House and Malibu Lagoon Museum – tour 1929 Spanish Colonial Revival home and garden; and museum collection of artifacts, photos and documents depicting history of Malibu
The Getty Villa – art, architecture and gardens within a re-creation of an ancient Roman country house
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Top Ten Reasons to Visit

Looking for your own special refuge? Watch: Destinations,
an On2In2™ collection of short videos from around the world,
for dreaming and exploring

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Malibu photo collection courtesy of Zeester Media LLC, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Feature photo courtesy of Unsplash CC0

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Lost in Wars

May 21, 2019 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

“The sun has gone
A long time ago
We’re waiting for the dawn
That will never show
Our hearts are getting hard
Souls covered by scars
We are made of stars
But we are lost in wars”

— Battle Beast, Lost in Wars

2^nd LT John Robert Holt, Jr (1978-2009) was a graduate of Luther Burbank High School in San Antonio, Texas and the University of Texas – San Antonio. He served as a US Army combat medic in Iraq, and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.

In the short video documentary, Vincent Valdez: Excerpts for John, produced by filmmakers, Mark and Angela Walley, Vincent tells the story of his friendship with John Holt while he works to create a memorial to John and all the soldiers ‘lost in the fog of war’.

San Antonio native, Vincent Valdez, is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, and a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant for Painters and Sculptors. He focuses his creative work on cultural and historical themes with contemporary portrayals of human struggle, loss, sacrifice, war and injustice. In recognition of excellence in the arts, Valdez was designated a ‘Texas State Artist’ in 2015 by the Texas State Legislature. Exhibitions and collections include: Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The Ford Foundation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The National Portrait Gallery, Blanton Museum of Art, Parsons Paris, Bullock Texas State History Museum, OSDE Buenos Aires, the McNay Art Museum and Southwest School of Art. [Vincent Valdez website →here]

John, oil-on-canvas by Vincent Valdez, 2010-2012. It’s an intimate portrait of Vincent’s friend “in the midst of battle, an explosion and billowing smoke behind him, his eyes focused on an ominous sight that is invisible to the viewer and that anticipates John’s demise.” (Taina Caragol, co-curator, The Face of Battle: Americans at War)

Excerpts for John (2012) depicts the unfolding sequence of events and emotions Vincent Valdez experienced during his friend’s military funeral in a series of paintings created as an homage to Lieutenant Holt and “a eulogy for those who can’t find their way home”.

Information/Resources:

After more than a decade of war in the Middle East, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has become a critical health concern among American war veterans as the number of veterans seeking help for PTSD has dramatically increased and an estimated 18-22 veterans die from suicide each day.*

Soldiers of Conscience, Q&A What is PTSD & how to get help, PBS (October 2008)
PTSD Treatment for Veterans (treatment options & barriers to care) article by Miriam Reisman, NCBI, US National Library of Medicine (October 2016)*
National Center for PTSD: US Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Families United: PTSD healing resources and helpful reference materials for veterans & families

Artists reveal thoughts and feelings about their work
and living a creative life in “Creative Perspectives”,
an On2In2™ collection of videos– FREE To WATCH, On-Demand

Go to next → Watch: Introspection, an On2In2™ collection of videos featuring personal reflections on life that will move and inspire you — FREE To WATCH, On-Demand

Feature photo is a screen shot taken from the video, Vincent Valdez: Excerpts for John, produced by Walley Films

The Overview Effect

April 21, 2019 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

The iconic Earthrise photo was taken in 1968 by NASA astronaut William A. Anders during the Apollo 8 mission, the first manned spaceflight to orbit the Moon. Never before had a human observed the Earth rising, and Anders’ amazing, first-ever color photo of our stunningly beautiful planet emerging from a lunar horizon still takes your breath away.

“We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.” — William A. Anders

To See The Earth As It Truly Is*

[su_quote cite=”Frank Borman “]It was very, very sobering to see this little blue marble in the middle of all that darkness. [/su_quote]

The awe-inspiring effect of seeing the whole Earth from the vantage of space (known as “Earth gazing”) is most often described as an overwhelming sense that Earth is an “interconnected whole with one destiny”. An understanding that’s key to our survival. Of course, we can’t see it and feel it firsthand (only 24 humans out of 7.3 billion world population have had the experience) until space travel becomes practical for the general public, but innovative technology continues to provide us with more and better information and visuals.

The short documentary Overview (from Planetary Collective) explores a cosmic worldview with reflections from “Earth gazing” astronauts and philosophers as well as beautiful space imagery. Watch and be inspired by the “unity and oneness of all life on Earth”.

Earthrise: Remembering Apollo 8. Launched on December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 became the first manned spacecraft to reach the Moon, orbit it and return, and its crew became the first humans to see and photograph the Earth emerging from behind the lunar horizon. Watch as the Griffith Lab All Space Considered team recalls the lead up, events and discoveries of this historic mission in celebration of its 50th anniversary.

*”To see the earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold — brothers who know now they are truly brothers.” Archibald MacLeish (1892 – 1982) American poet

Take a virtual ride on a satellite for awesome views of Earth

Apollo 17 photo taken December 13, 1972 on the lunar surface — Moonwalk (December 13, 1972) NASA

Want to see more of what’s out there in space? The short video documentary, “The Last Steps” will take you to a ‘back to the future’ moment in time with original film footage, photographs and audio recordings from Apollo 17, NASA’s final Apollo program mission, and the last time a human walked on the moon. Watch more “out of this world” videos via the “Cosmos Channel“, free to watch, on-demand.

A retrospective look at discoveries and images of Saturn
captured during the 20 year Cassini Mission, plus some
info on when and how you can see Saturn in 2017

“The Overview Effect” is an edited version of an article originally published on the “Zblog” by Zeester Media LLC.

Earthrise photo credit: NASA

History

Chrysanthemum

Júhuā

Chrysanthemum was first cultivated as a flowering herb in China more than 3,000 years ago, and is a symbolic and therapeutic element of Chinese and East Asia traditions, culture and art.

Family Mystery

Das Land des Wieder Anfanges
-The Land of Another Beginning-

Finding Peter

Birds of America

Mooncake

SS Mosel

Bears Ears

Legendary Lovers

Malibu Road

Lost in Wars

The Overview Effect

MUCH 2 SEE

THINGS 2 DO

PLACES 2 GO

PEOPLE 2 MEET

FOOD & DRINKS

JUST LAUGHS

History

Júhuā

Chrysanthemum was first cultivated as a flowering herb in China more than 3,000 years ago, and is a symbolic and therapeutic element of Chinese and East Asia traditions, culture and art.

Das Land des Wieder Anfanges -The Land of Another Beginning-

Finding Peter

Footer

MUCH 2 SEE

THINGS 2 DO

PLACES 2 GO

PEOPLE 2 MEET

FOOD & DRINKS

JUST LAUGHS

Das Land des Wieder Anfanges
-The Land of Another Beginning-