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Rogers, AR Real Estate News

By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Andrew Jackson was born in Columbus, Nebraska back in 1886 to John and Annie. He attended Creighton Prep High School however, he was expelled for fighting. He joined the Nebraska Army National Guard reaching the rank of First Lieutenant. In 1906, he moved to Mobile, Alabama to enter the lumber business.He founded his business in 1922, more on that in a moment. He exported lumber from the Philippines, Central America and Africa. He needed a fleet to haul the cargo so he started building his own. At one time, he owned the largest fleet of sailing ships under American registry. What the issue was he needed shallow draft vessels to maneuver the waterways.His true calling didn’t come about until WWII and of course that is the rest of the story. Due to his experience in building boats with a ...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Today I’m writing about someone I would usually pass on however, I found her history fascinating so let’s get to it. It is unknown where Mary Roberts, maiden name unknown, was born or how she wound up in Charleston, South Carolina. She married Bishop who was a portrait, landscape and heraldry painter.He advertised in the Gazette in 1735 and again two years later offering his services. Bishop died in 1740, which also remains a mystery on the cause of death. Anyway, she advertised she had a printing press for sale during that same year. Again in 1776 she offered that same printing press for sale. It is unknown if she ever sold that press. In 1747, she was willed fifty pounds by a William Watkins. She died in 1761, age unknown and is buried at the St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church Cemetery.No...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Where did they go #1 Starting a new series of people who have vanished. Today I’m writing about James Derham who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He worked for several different doctors. One in particular was Dr. Bob Love. He encouraged James to work as a nurse until he reached the age of 20.He opened his medical practice in New Orleans around 1790 earning him an annual pay of more than $3,000.00. He met Dr. Benjamin Rush and Dr. Rush convinced him to move back to Philadelphia again where he became an expert in throat diseases. What you may not know about James Derham is that he was an African-American who disappeared in 1802. He simply vanished into thin air, never to be heard of again.Until tomorrow keep a smile on your face and a penny in your pocket. Ready for number 2, you’l...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Connie Douglas was born in Eagle Pass, Texas back in 1901 to William and Ada.  She attended Texas Woman’s University receiving an undergraduate degree in speech.  She went on to the University of Texas School of Law but had to withdraw due to the Great Depression. She started out teaching at Thomas Jefferson high School in San Antonio.  In her spare time, she was a riding instructor at a local stable. In 1936, she joined the equestrian program at Camp Waldemar where she taught horseback riding for 67 years. In 1942, she married Jack and worked on a 10,000-acre ranch owned by President Lyndon B. Johnson where they raised sheep and cattle, working there for 40 years. What you may not know about Connie Douglas Reeves is that she was the oldest member of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Charles Fremont was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania back in 1899 to William and Hannah.  In 1911, the family moved to Washington, Pennsylvania.  His father opened a drug store and later turned it into a grocery store.  Charles attended Washington High School and was an outstanding athletic. In 1920, he enrolled in Washington & Jefferson College where he played football, threw the javelin and was on field and track team.  By 1921, he was the starting quarterback.  During his time at the college he broke all kinds of records, more on that shortly.  After college he practiced medicine in Alexandra, Virginia for many years. He was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Service Award from Washington & Jefferson College.  Sadly he died in 1979, he was 80. What you may not know about Charles...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
William Williams was born in 1727 in Bristol, England.  From his birth until until 1747 nothing is written about him however, he is documented to be living in Philadelphia.  Don’t know where he got his money but he was instrumental in building America’s first theater, maintained an art studio thus giving Benjamin West his interest in painting. He finally wound up in New York City where he married Mary.  He returned to England in 1776, where he died in the Merchants’ and Sailors’ Almshouse in Bristol in 1791.  What you may not know about William Williams is that while he was not only a painter he also wrote a novel, The Journal of Llewellin Penrose, Seaman.  It is considered by many to be the first American novel.  The novel was not published until 1815 from a revised form. The original ...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Enzo Anseimo was born in Modena, Italy back in 1898.  He had little to no formal education however, at the age of 10 he witnessed something that forever stayed with him and set his future in motion.  During WWI, he served with the 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment of the Italian Army.  He was released in 1918 for health reasons. After his release, he worked for several car companies including Fiat and Alfa Romeo.  A fried have given him a necklace that he treasured, hence the emblem for the company he started in 1947.  As they say the rest is history.  If you can find one of his creations, you’ll need to dig deep in your pocket to own one.  Of course, today I’m writing about Enzo Anseimo Ferrari, the emblem for his company was the prancing horse.  The company merged with Fiat in 1969.  He...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
I’m writing today about Karl Drais. Sadly, I have no information as to where he was born, the year of his birth or much of anything else.  What I can tell you about Karl of course is the rest of the story, which I find quite fascinating, so let’s get to it. He was a prolific inventor, among his inventions was the Velocipede, which was a bicycle with the pedals. He also invented the earliest typewriter (1821) the first meat grinder, the first four-wheeled human powered vehicles and a foot driven powered rail-road vehicle “handrail”.  In spite of all his inventions due to the upheaval in Europe he died penniless in 1851.  Today he would be a multi-millionaire or better.  Until tomorrow keep a smile on your face and pass it on to someone in need.
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Ethel Philip was born in Chelsea, London back in 1861 to John and Frances.  Prior to her marriage to Charles she worked as a secretary to James from 1893-94.  She died in Paris, France in 1920 at 58. While working for James he painted her in a number of full-length portraits.   What you may not know about Ethel Philip Whibley is that she was the lady James McNeill Whistler was interested in painting before his famous portrait of his mother.  Yes, I’m writing about that James Whistler and the lady that held his attention prior to that famous painting.  You can see her in his painting “Mother of Pearl and Silver, The Andalusian, Rose and Silver and of course the Portrait of Mrs. Whibley to name a few.   His nickname for Ethel was “bunny.”  Mother of Pearl and Silver can be found at the Na...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Enoch Crosby was born in Harwich, Massachusetts back in 1750 to Thomas and Elizabeth.  His family moved to Putnam County, New York.  At 16 he set out from home to find a career.  He found employment as an apprentice shoemaker.  When the Revolutionary War began he was in Danbury, Connecticut where he immediately enlisted as a soldier.He served until 1775, when he went back to being a shoemaker.  The call of  service would not let him go so he reenlisted in 1776.  Due to a mix up while headed to the Continental Army in White Plains he was asked to join a group of loyalist.  Taking the information he delivered it to John Jay who promptly arrested the loyalist.John then prompted Enoch to act as a spy which he did until hostilities had ceased.  After the war Enoch and his brother purchased a...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Maria Beasley was born in Philadelphia, the exact date of her birth is unknown, as well as who her parents were, where she went to school or if she did and so on.  However for this post none of that is important as the rest of the story.What I can tell you is that in 1865 she married and held various jobs over the course of her lifetime, one of those was a dressmaker.  Between 1891to 1896 the Chicago directories listed her occupation as an inventor, which of course is the rest of the story.She was granted her first patent in 1878.  She had invented a barrel-hooping machine which she showed at the World Industrial and Cotton Exposition in 1884.  While there she showed another invention, which was an improved life raft, patented in 1882.  Among some of her other inventions included a foot...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Joan Brady was born in San Francisco back in 1939 to Robert and Mildred. She worked as a dancer with the San Francisco Ballet and the New Your City Ballet.  While in New York City she enrolled in Columbia where she studied philosophy.  She met Dexter and they married in 1963.Shortly after the marriage they moved to England.Dexter died in1989.  She began writing, her first published works was in 1979.  In 1982 she published her autobiography.  As far as my research shows she is alive and well, her last book was published in 2010.What you may not know about Joan Brady Masters is that she is the first and only American-British writer to win the Whitbread Book of the Year Award for her novel “Theory of War”.  Among her other publications are The Imposter, The Unmaking of a Dancer and Prolog...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
John Freeman was born in New York City, New York back in 1835. Sorry but I do not have any information as to who his parents were, where or if he went to school and so on.  What of course I can tell you is the rest of the story.He entered the military in 1861, by 1862 he was serving aboard the USS Galena.  In May of that year the Union Navy sent five ships up the James River of which one of them was the USS Galena. The ships encountered heavy fire from Fort Darling that was held by the Confederates.  Most of the gun crew were killed in action.  John led a group who took over the operation of the guns for the remainder of the battle.He later served at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and the USS Seminole.  He retired in 1865 as an Orderly Sergeant. He died in 1910 and is buried at Arlington Ce...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
John Jacob was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts back in 1844 to John White and Sarah. He graduated from Weymouth High School and Harvard College in 1866 with a degree in law. He was admitted to the bar in 1872.Instead of going I into private practice he worked at the Union National Bank as an assistant cashier. When his father died in 1874 he assumed the position as cashier remaining there until his retirement in 1895 for health reasons.In 1888, he received a patent (US #392,046) for one of his inventions, more on that one in a moment. He also had two other patents, one for a firecracker cannon and another one for a toy cannon. He was an active genealogist and a founding member of the Weymouth Historical Society. In his spare time, he wrote poetry and songs.What you may not know about Jo...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Edwin Albert Jr. was born in Huntington, Indiana back in 1904 to Edwin Albert Sr. and Katherine. In 1910, the family moved to Binghamton, New York.In 1920, at 16 he took his first flying lesson. In 1927 he flew the first Cessna airplane ever delivered earning a living by barnstorming, charter flying and giving lessons.He was one of the first people to use a plane for advertising by using lights on the wings to spell out a message. He also designed submersibles for underwater archeology and research. He died in 1981 in Binghamton, New York at 77.What you may not know about Edwin Albert Link is that he is best known for inventing the flight simulator in 1929. He obtained more than 27 patents for aeronautic, navigation and oceanographic equipment. Not bad for a boy who never went to colleg...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Louis Burton Jr. was born in Kingsburg, California back in 1919 to Louis Sr and Sally.  At a young age he was an excellent horse rider.  To earn extra money, he rode broncos and roped steers in his early teens.  He graduated from Hanford High School.  After high school he joined the rodeo and became a well-known rodeo clown.  He joined the United States Army during WWII.  When the recruiter asked him his profession, he responded “Rodeo”.  The recruiter misunderstood his response as radio, so he spent his entire enlistment at a radio station in the American Midwest.He spent nearly 20 years in the rodeo.  In 1950, he got a role in the movies alongside of Errol Flynn.  His actual time in the movies started in 1946 and lasted until his death in 1983.  What you may not know about Louis Burto...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
William Harvey was born in 1856. Sorry I do not have any information as to where he was born, who his parents were and so on. What I can tell you is the rest of the story.He worked in the Ryan Building located on Brady Street in Davenport, Iowa. He maintained the building where a doctor had his office. When he was 17 he told the doctor, he had bent over in a cramped, stooping position when he heard something “pop” in is spine. He went on to tell the doctor he lost his hearing immediately and had not regained it back.He had been to several ear doctors who had treated him to no avail. The doctor persuaded him to let him treat him, after several times of asking William agreed. After just one treatment within a few days William had regained almost all his hearing.What you may not know about...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Phoebus Aaron was born in Zagare, Lithuania back in 1869. In 1891 he graduated from the Imperial Military Medical Academy with a MD. Later he developed an interest in biochemistry, which of course is the rest of the story.Because of the anti-Semitic issues his family moved to the United States where he started his medical practice in New York City. In his spare time, he enrolled at Columba University to further his education in biochemical research.In 1905, he was appointed head of the biochemical laboratory at the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research where he spent the rest of his career. I could go into all of his findings but frankly I don’t understand them all, so we’ll skip it to get to the point of this post.While you may not know the name Phoebus Aaron Theodore Leven you sur...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Edward Drummond was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts back in 1854. After attending public schools, he attended Boston University. After college he worked for the New England Glass Company starting in 1874.He rose through the ranks becoming president in the company from 1883 to 1886 when he moved to Toledo, Ohio. He founded the Toledo Museum of Art in 1901 where he served as president from 1901 to 1925. He moved to Ojai Valley, California when in 1917 most of the western-style downtown was destroyed by a fire.He helped to design, finance and build a new downtown more in line with the Spanish Colonial Revival style of architecture. To thank Edward the town celebrates his contributions on March the 2nd of each year. Two of his designs still stand to this day.While you may not know Edward Dru...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Leslie Lynch Jr. was born in Omaha, Nebraska bck inn 1913 to Leslie and Dorothy.  Just 16 days after his birth his mother left Leslie Sr., and moved to Oak Park, Illinois. After the divorce his mother married another man who owned a paint and varnish company.Leslie was not aware of his biological father until he turned 17.  The family moved to Grand Rapids where he attended Grand Rapids High School, he was also heavily involved in the Boy Scout’s achieving the Eagle Scout rank.  He went on to attend the University of Michigan where he took a part time position as a dish washer to help him through college.He also played football for Michigan, he was so good that the University retired his jersey No. 48.  In1935 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.  He joined the U.S....
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