Lima ... the rest of the story

Well, I accidentally hit the publish button on the previous Lima post instead of the save button.  So, in fact, I'm guessing it wasn't all that interesting after all.  But here's the rest of the story...

Remember that I was Ohio judging when I decided to investigate the story that my mom told us numerous times about my great-grandfather being hung for murdering his wife.  I had just found out that while there was no museum or a rope as Mom claimed; Lima had indeed been the site of the first public execution in that state and the convicted man was hung for murdering his wife.  Well, that piqued my interest, so I came home to San Diego and did some Internet research (of course).
Look what I found:


File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Judy Woerner judyw0113@yahoo.com May 7, 2006, 4:50 pm

Lima News January 29, 1928
ROPE IN SHERIFF’S OFFICE IS REMINDER OF ALLEN-CO HANGING
Lima News, January 29, 1928
Excerpts from the article:


"For more than five decades a piece of rope has hung in the office of the Allen-
co Sheriff. It is part of the rope that was used to hang ANDREW BRENTLINGER
on Friday, April 7, 1872. He was the only man ever executed in Lima.
BRENTLINGER, a resident of Shawnee-tp, stabbed his second wife, Sarah, to
death on October 24, 1871 and dug and buried her in a grave a short distance
from their home.
After his children gave the alarm, the murderer was found and although he had
swallowed poison, medical assistance saved his life.
A trial was held before Judge Mackenzie. BRENTLINGER was found to be guilty
and sentenced to be hanged January 20, 1872, however, the governor, RUTHERFORD
B. HAYES, granted a reprieve of 100 days.
Two days before the hanging, the BRENTLINGER children and grandchildren called at the jail. His aged father and his brothers did not visit him. His attorneys, ISAIAH S. PILLARS and C. M. HUGHES, visited him the following day. With them was T. E. CUNNINGHAM, who had assisted in the prosecution.
The night before the hanging the prisoner could hear the talk of a threatened mob. Fifty men were assembled to guard the jail. The prisoner arose early on the morning of the execution and ate a hearty breakfast. A Lutheran minister, Rev. BARTHOLOWMEW visited and offered prayer and readings from the Bible. The condemned man acted unconcerned through it all.
On the day of the hanging Sheriff COLBRATH led the prisoner to the scaffold. It was erected in the corridor of the jail and BRENTLINGER stepped from the landing of the stairway onto the death trap. Spectators remained on the main floor. The sheriff read the death warrant and the condemned man was asked to make a final statement, but he remained stoically silent. The black cap was adjusted while Rev. BARTHOLOMEW chanted the hymn “Eternity Is Waiting.” The trap was sprung and the scaffold disappeared from under the man. After BRENTLINGER’S body was prepared for burial, his bier was placed on the street where everyone could see him."

Mom talked of this story many, many times as I was growing up; but she didn't supply any true particulars and didn't even know her own mother's true last name.  Mom died of complications of Alzheimer's in 2005, so we'll never really know what the true story is. But it certainly leaves a question in my mind... how about yours?

What I like about me (I really know how to dance)

I woke up this morning in the mood to blog.  I can't decide what to blog about because at least three topics jumped to my mind, but I'm going with this title.  I'm not really that great a dancer, so if the title confuses you, either I'm too old to be blogging or you're too young to read my blog!

I have the ability to see humor in the oddest places.   And it's something I DO like about myself -- I can find joy in the mundane, I laugh at inopportune times.  I'm witty, I'm irreverent, and I am appropriately inappropriate.  Have you read my blog "MEMs"?  Read it.  Because at the very end, when the lights went up, I started laughing.  And laughing.  And I'm still laughing today. 

Laughter helps me cope with some of life's tougher times.  It can turn a tragic moment into a gentler memory, a softer memory.  When my mom was in mid-stage Alzheimer's, she came out of the bedroom  one day and said very seriously, "I think I have a problem."  Of course, my heart about stopped and I said, "What's up, Mom?"  At that moment, she yanked her shirt up to show me that she had her bra on backwards," Does this look right to you?"  I immediately started laughing and said, "Mom, unless you have boobs on your back now, I think we better turn that around."  And we both had a good laugh.  It sure beats crying...

                                                              ***

Somehow, whether through nature or nuture, both Larry and Jess own similar traits.  Here we are getting ready to decorate the Christmas tree.   This was about three weeks after I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I was undergoing test after test and everything was topsy-turvy.

You would think that we might be a little subdued, or least a little more traditional in our celebration.  But, not us.  It's not in our nature.  As the kids are trying to straighten the tree and put the lights on, I decide we need to document our holiday and go with an anit-drug theme -- "Say No to Crack."

Here's Jess with her first attempt with the tree.

Then she realizes that I really do have the camera.

Now it's becoming too difficult to work on the tree while holding one belt loop, so Larry steps in...

(ooh, maybe I should offer to wax that for him)

Allan refuses to part of this idiocy and stays on the sofa... he's a real stick in the mud sometimes.

And that's us.  I'm not sure we have any pics of the actual tree once it's decorated.  But I look at theses pics and I laugh.  It's a good memory. It's how we roll.

***

 

(P.S. I also rule with spelling and puncuation.)